Mr. Ranldng on the Ruins of Palenque, 139 



at each end, and in the centre an oratory, three yards square, 

 presenting, on each side of the entrance, a perpendicular stone, 

 whereon there is the image of a man in bas-relief, as in Figs. 

 24, 25. On entering, the entire front is occupied by three 

 stones, joined together, upon which there are the allegorical 

 objects represented by Fig. 26. The outward decoration is a 

 moulding, finished with small stucco bricks, and the bas-reliefs, 

 Nos. 11 and 12. The pavement is smooth, and eight inches 

 thick. In the centre, at the depth of about half a yard, was 

 found a round earthen vessel, about a foot in diameter, fitted, 

 horizontally, with lime to another of the same size. A quarter 

 of a yard deeper, a circular stone was found, about a foot in 

 diameter, and, on removing it, there was a cylindrical cavity, a 

 foot wide, and a third of a foot deep, containing a flint lance, 

 two small conical pyramids, with the figure of a heart in dark 

 crystallized stone, named challa; and common in these parts'^. 

 There were also two small earthen jars, or ewers, with covers, 

 containing small stones, and a ball of vermilion. There was 

 another similar cavity in each of the corners at the entrance 

 of the oratory, containing the little jars Nos. 17 and 18. These 

 things convey to the mind, that this was the spot where they 

 venerated the memory of their greatest heroes, for the charac- 

 ters and bas-reliefs surrounding them evidently prove it. 



The other two edifices vary only in the allegorical subjects 

 of the bas-reliefs on the stones. In the second were found the 

 delineations of men, as in Figs. 27, 28, and the front exhibited 

 the three stones displayed in Fig. 29. On excavating, there were 

 discovered a flint lance, two conical pyramids, the representa- 

 tion of a heart, and two earthen jars, numbered 19, 20, 21, 22, 

 Figure 30, the last of this collection, shows the interior front 

 of the third oratory ; it is like the others. If due attention be 

 given to the bas-reliefs thereon, the conclusion is, that the an- 

 cient inhabitants lived in extreme darkness f. In other similar 

 edifices, completely in ruins ; on digging there were found 

 an earthen vase, broken to pieces, which contained some 

 small pieces of challa, in the shape of lancets, or thin 



• The IncaHuayna Capac, who died in 1527, desired that his body should be 

 •ent to Cuzco, and his heart to his beloved city of Quito,— Vega, ii, 414. 

 •|* See remark on Plate xii. 



