The paper molds of the carvings still in place had to be made from a scaffolding of large 

 and small poles bound together with ropes, native fashion. Some danger attended the work 

 because of the disintegrating condition of the walls and the continual movement and shaking 

 of the scaffolding which swung fully fifty feet above the temple terrace. Once we had the 

 work done and the paper molds ready to be dried by the hot sun when a storm arose and the 

 wind whipped our tarpaulins aloft like so many handkerchiefs and scattered the molds in bits 

 far and wide 



The greater portion of this once beautiful facade lay in a huge mass of 

 masonry, broken stone and lime, over thirty feet below the front platform 

 of the temple. The commingled mass had become compacted by rain 

 percolation and time pressure into a cement-like hardness. Over this 

 had accumulated a thick blanket of vegetable mold and trees had grown as 

 huge as those of a forest primeval. Their rotting trunks were still visible 

 and their myriad roots yet bound the stone masses as if with bands of iron. 



The work commenced by the clearing off of all the superficial accumula- 

 tion and debris upon the front chamber floor and the platform of the temple. 

 In so doing we came upon mementoes of earlier workers in the field. A long 



