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Updated: June 13, 2025
In the western part of Honduras, adjoining the province of Guatemala, are extensive ruins, which stretch for more than two miles along the banks of the river Copan. The outer walls, which run north and south along the margin of the stream, are from sixty to ninety feet high; while other walls, of a similar character, surround the principal ruins.
The captured town, called Copan, afterward gave its name to the remains of this nameless ancient city, which were first discovered in 1576, and described by the Spanish licentiate Palacios.
"The man in the helmet is Graham, the manager of the Copan Silver Mines. They've just unloaded them on Fiske. That's why they're so thick with him." "And who was the chap who insulted Laguerre?" I asked. "The one whose face I slapped?" "Face you slapped? Ha!" Miller snorted. "I hope you'll never slap my face. Why, don't you know who he is?" he exclaimed, with a grin.
"But where does the idol of gold come in?" "I'm coming to that," said Tom. "Though, if Professor Bumper has his way, the idol will be coming out instead of coming in." "You mean he wants to get it and take it away from the Copan valley, Tom?" "That's it, Ned. It has great value not only from the amount of pure gold that is in it, but as an antique.
Those who have sought to discredit what is told of the Aztec civilization and the empire of Montezuma have never failed to admit fully the significance of Copan, Palenque, and Mitla.
Or might he not be a spy? This occurred to Tom no less than to Professor Bumper. They looked at one another while Val Jacinto bowed again and murmured: "At your service!" "Can you provide means for taking us to the Copan valley?" asked the professor. "You are right in one respect. I am a scientist and I purpose doing some exploring near Copan. Can you get us there?"
The ruins of Palenque are deemed important by archæologists partly on account of the great abundance of inscriptions found there, which, it is believed, will at length be deciphered, the written characters being similar to those of the Mayas, which are now understood. The ruins known as Copan are situated in the extreme western part of Honduras, where they are densely covered by the forest.
I have fairly good directions as to how it may be reached. We will have little difficulty in getting to Honduras, as there are fruit steamers frequently sailing. Of course going into the interior to the Copan valley is going to be harder. But an expedition from a large college was recently there and succeeded, after much labor, in excavating part of a buried city.
"Considerable excavation has been done in Central America," went on Professor Bumper, "and certain ruins have been brought to light. Near us are those of Copan, while toward the frontier are those of Quirigua, which are even better preserved than the former. We may visit them if we have time.
Meanwhile, keep in mind that the ruined cities did not begin their present condition until the civilization that created them had declined; and, also, that if we could determine exactly the date when they were deserted and left to decay, we should only reach that point in the past where their history as inhabited cities was brought to a close. Take Copan, for instance.
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