Treasure Seekers: Code of the Maya Kings Page #4

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was different from Copan's,

but Stephens noticed many similarities,

particularly the mysterious writings.

Examining it carefully,

he reached a remarkable conclusion:

There is room for the belief that

the whole of this country

was once occupied by the same race,

speaking the same language,

or at least having the same

written characters.

The Indians Stephens met

spoke many languages

and were as mystified

by the ruins as he was.

Yet, intuitively, Stephens seemed

to sense a link between them.

Stephens, I think, is the first person

who can make the connection

between the Indians that he sees

and meets and the ancient ruins.

Whereas other people want to say,

oh, these pathetic peasants,

these miserable Indians,

they could never have built this.

We must look for some

alternative solution

to where these things

would have come from.

He believes that here

is complete continuity.

And that, I think, is one of the most

radical ideas to come out of his book.

At night, Stephens and Catherwood

slept in the imposing ruin

they called The Palace.

The rainy season had begun,

and the mosquitoes,

venomous during the day,

were even worse at night.

Catherwood was already

racked with malaria,

but somehow they kept on working,

for 22 days and sleepless nights,

bewitched by the beauty of Palenque.

Exhausted, they pushed on,

further north and east to the Yucatan,

but Catherwood was too ill

to continue.

Vowing to return,

they headed home to New York.

In 10 months the two explorers

had accomplished the impossible.

They had rediscovered an ancient

American civilization grander

than anyone had ever dreamed.

Now they were ready to

astound the world with its story.

Stephens's books was incredible popular

when it appeared in the summer of 1841,

Incidents of Travel

in Central America,

Chiapas, and Yucatan.

Harper and Brothers had printed up

a goodly print run,

and it sold out pretty quickly.

Stephens writes a real page-turner.

It is such a personal view,

and it becomes one of the great

bestsellers of the entire 19th century.

It goes through dozens of editions.

And there is an enormous American

desire to know more about

this part of the world.

They were lionized

after the publication.

They were quite the thing

in New York.

It was reviewed everywhere.

Just an amazing publication epic,

so the trip was a success

and they planned to go again.

Seventeen month after they'd left Mexico,

Stephens and Catherwood

were back in the Yucatan,

exploring the city of Uxmal.

On this second journey,

they concentrated their efforts

on this one region of Mexico.

Inching their way through the jungle,

they discovered many ruined cities

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