THE TEMPLE OF THE JAGUARS 270 



varnishings, were packed and so made safe against all ordinary dangers and 

 mishaps. 



The description, delineation, measurements and molding of the facade 

 portion still in place, and so capable of serving as guide in the restoration 

 of the fallen facade, having been completed, the rest of the report deals with 

 the accumulated material on the floor of the Ceremonial Court. Every 

 cubic foot of this immense mass of fallen material must be carefully gone 

 over, not a stone fragment however small is to be thrown aside without 

 having been carefully examined. 



The dimensions of the fallen facade having been determined, the zones 

 of varied designs on the northern facade portion still in place, were measured, 

 numbered and given names. For example: the "Frieze of the Jaguars and 

 the Shields" was analyzed and its intent studied. By computation it 

 was found that the frieze, if of unbroken continuity in front, should hold 

 three shields and eight jaguars. In time the three shields were found, no 

 more and no less; and enough jaguars or fragments of jaguars to complete 

 the required number, thus the continuity of design on that line of frieze was 

 logically established, and so on with the other bands. This was the task in 

 the round. The problems involved were many and varied, the mere mold- 

 ing of the carved stones found being among the least of them. 



Not only were the factors of displacement, fracture, and actual demoli- 

 tion to be considered, but others not subject to the natural laws of falling 

 bodies. For instance, some time between 1721 and 1840, corrals were 

 built and drinking troughs made on the plantation of the Chichen from 

 stones some of which certainly were and others may have been taken from 

 the falling facade. Again, during the middle of the last century, a 

 strange microbe seems to have invaded the brain of a Jefe Politico of the 

 City of Valladolid, some thirty miles distant, and under its influence he 

 sent carts and men to Chichen Itza and took therefrom carved stones and 

 serpents' heads, to adorn the plaza of Valladolid, and some of these at least 

 came from the level space of the Ceremonial Court. As the carts went on 

 through the forest road toward Valladolid some broke down under their 

 heavy burdens and their contents still lay in the forest where they were 

 dumped. Later, half a century later, some of these carved stones that did 

 reach Valladolid were once more removed, taken to the Musco Yacateco at 

 Merida, where they now are. All these incidents and many others not 

 necessary to mention, made the task by no means an easy one, but for that 

 reason the more fascinating. 



The methods by which the undertaking has been accomplished, the 

 details by which the final result has been obtained, are so varied that much 

 of the original monotony of such hard labor was missing, and the interest 

 of even the slowest-witted native on the work so awakened that they often 

 of their own volition continued lugging and hauling, digging around some 



