02995cam a22003613u 450000100060000000300070000600500170001300600020003000700050003200800410003701000130007804000110009104100170010205000100011910000310012924500290016026400510018930000470024033600260028733700260031333800360033950000310037550801750040652016730058153400630225465300460231765300570236365300350242070000400245585600760249585600430257199900190261477539UtSlPG20260610134809.0mcr n260607r20251927utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d  a27008477  aUtSlPG 7aen2iso639-1 4aF12011 aMason, Gregory,d1889-196810aSilver cities of Yucatan 1aSalt Lake City, UT :bProject Gutenberg,c2025  a1 online resource :bmultiple file formats  atextbtxt2rdacontent  acomputerbc2rdamedia  aonline resourcebcr2rdacarrier  aRelease date is 2025-12-23  aTerry Jeffress and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.)  a"Silver cities of Yucatan" by Gregory Mason is a travel and archaeological exploration narrative written in the early 20th century. Framed by a scholar’s preface and rich in firsthand detail, it follows a small expedition along the remote Caribbean coast of the Yucatán Peninsula to locate forgotten Maya cities, interweaving adventure at sea and in jungle with insights into Maya history, natural history, and coastal charting.

The opening of the narrative sets the scene with a vivid preface on eastern Yucatán’s reefs, lagoons, and Maya heritage, then outlines the Maya’s achievements in writing, astronomy, and architecture while dispelling popular myths of Old World origins and sketching their rise, renaissance, and decline. The story proper begins aboard the schooner H.S. Albert, introducing the crew—a field archaeologist, an ornithologist, a navigator, and the author—whose aims are to find undocumented ruins, collect scientific data on birds, and improve coastal knowledge. After a rough start through shoals and bars, they reach Payo Obispo, secure official support, and receive a promising lead to ruins near Boca de Paila and the lakes of Chunyaxché. Pressed by rumors of a rival explorer, they push north, pausing at Ambergris Key where the ornithologist bags noteworthy specimens, then brave the hazardous entrance to Chinchorro Bank. There, amid eerie lagoons teeming with herons, ibis, sharks, and crocodiles, they conduct intensive birding and exploratory forays, establishing the narrative’s blend of scientific pursuit, maritime challenge, and the lure of undiscovered Maya sites. (This is an automatically generated summary.)  pOriginally published:cNew York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1927  aYucatán (Mexico : State) -- Antiquities  aYucatán (Mexico : State) -- Description and travel  aMason-Spinden Expedition, 19261 aSpinden, Herbert Joseph,d1879-19674 uhttps://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=gri.ark:/13960/s2qrjb0b52x&seq=740uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77539  c118259d118259