Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan, Vol. 1: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan, Vol. 1, credited to John Lloyd Stephens, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan, Vol. 1 by John Lloyd Stephens. Read by Sue Anderson The year is 1838. The scene is the dense Honduran forest along the Copán River. Two men, John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood, are about to rediscover Mayan civilization. Their guide, slashing through the rampant growth with his machete, leads them to a structure with steps up the side, shaped like a pyramid. Next they see a stone column, fourteen feet high, sculptured on the front with a portrait of a man, “solemn, stern and well fitted to excite terror,” covered on the sides with hieroglyphics, and with workmanship “equal to the finest monuments of the Egyptians.” Stephens records these discoveries and also his travels in Central America, where he had been sent by President Van Buren as special ambassador to the ill-fated Republic of Central America. The republic being engulfed in civil war when Stephens arrives in Guatemala, he finds himself dodging revolutionary armies while he hunts for a “legitimate government” to which to present his credentials. Catherwood, meanwhile, directs his immense artistic talent to illustrating views of Mayan architecture. Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan was a best seller in its day and has been called an “Indiana Jones” saga by modern reviewers. (Summary by Sue Anderson)

Recording facts

• Recording title: Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan, Vol. 1
• Author credits: John Lloyd Stephens
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 25
• Listed recording duration: 15:11:02

Catalogue topics

• Indians of Mexico -- Antiquities
• Mayas -- Antiquities
• Central America -- Description and travel
• Chiapas (Mexico) -- Description and travel
• Yucatán (Mexico : State) -- Description and travel
• Stephens, John Lloyd, 1805-1852

Opening tracks: first 24 of 25

1. 01 - Arrival at Balize; A Visit to the Carib Indians — 44:23
2. 02 - Perils by the Way; A well-spiced Lunch — 45:26
3. 03 - How to roast a Fowl; How to gain a Husband — 40:40
4. 04 - Arrest; Imprisonment — 34:38
5. 05 - The State of Honduras; Village of Copan — 35:41
6. 06 - First View of the Ruins; Thoughts of Buying Copan — 32:14
7. 07 - Commencement of Explorations; Buying a City — 34:50
8. 08 - Tablets of Hieroglyphics; Idols Originally Painted — 33:36
9. 09 - Antiquity of Copan; Separation — 31:12
10. 10 - Esquipulas; A Death Scene — 36:23
11. 11 - Murder of Vice-President Flores; Political State of Guatemala — 40:28
12. 12 - Lazoing; Taking the Black Veil — 34:31
13. 13 - Farewell of the Nun; Carrera Heads the Insurgents — 38:20
14. 14 - Interview with Carrera; His Character — 37:10
15. 15 - Party to Mixco; A Night Brawl — 33:41
16. 16 - Volcano de Agua; Cultivation of Cochineal — 37:30
17. 17 - Arrival at the Pacific; A Roving American — 37:04
18. 18 - Arrival of Mr. Catherwood; New Year's Day — 30:54
19. 19 - Hunt for a Government; Attack of Fever and Ague — 36:23
20. 20 - Visit to the Volcano of Izalco; Sickness and Mutiny — 36:00
21. 21 - Zillenthal Patent Self-acting Cold Amalgamation Machine; Coffee Plantations of San Jose — 37:43
22. 22 - View of the Two Seas; Departure for Guatemala — 35:00
23. 23 - Herds of Deer; An Earthquake — 33:59
24. 24 - Belle of Guanacaste; Route of the Great Canal — 37:41

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This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.