Great sink-hole in the limestone plain similar to the cenote except that the casing in has not reached 

 water level. Such a sink-hole forms a fairy grotto with its cool depths hung with vines and long thread- 

 like roots 



to a narrow vaulted passage that leads 

 neither into portico nor the sanctuary. 

 The decoration of the temple consists 

 of sculptured door jambs and lintels, 

 all in bad repair; a mask panel or 

 highly conventionalized serpent head 

 in front view, on the outer walls above 

 each door; two columns, already men- 

 tioned, that represent feathered serpents 

 with the heads at the base and the tails 

 serving as the capitol, and an open-work 

 roof ornament reproducing the Greek 

 meander. 



From the shaded porch of Mr. Thomp- 

 son's residence we look across a lawn 

 where the fountain plays and the orange 

 trees hang their golden fruit, to a splen- 

 did relic of ancient glory — the great 



20 



building known as the Monjas or Nun- 

 nery. This rambling structure, richly 

 decorated with grotesque faces and geo- 

 metric designs, is of especial interest to 

 the archaeologist because it shows differ- 

 ent periods of growth. In the first place 

 the substructure of the principal range 

 of buildings has been enlarged several 

 times as is made clear by excavations 

 leading into the solid mass. The ground 

 level wing on the east was added after 

 the substructure had received its final 

 enlargement. The small chamber at 

 the top of the Monjas, which may be 

 called the third story, was not contempo- 

 raneous with the range of rooms beneath 

 it, first because some of these rooms had 

 to be filled in with earth to support the 



