THE PALACE. 
EDIFICE ‘No; 41. 
Edifice No. 1, or the Palace, as the natives term it, is a most 
imposing structure. It is 64 feet high and, raised by terraced 
substructures, it towers 80 feet above the surrounding level, while 
its massive northern walls loom up like the face of some grim fortress; 
and, in truth, who can tell how many fierce frays have in the ancient 
time taken place in the shadow of these walls! This is the principal 
edifice of the group and is a composite structure, forming, with its 
two wings, three sides of an inclosure too irregular to be called a 
hollow square, with the open portion facing the south. The central 
portion (seen from the southeast in Pl. XII, from the northeast in PI. 
XIII, and from the northwest in Pl. XIV), is a massive pile, fully 60 feet 
high, faced with worked stone and terminating in a much smaller 
upper structure of two rooms, probably a shrine or Aw. A wide stair- 
case, its foundation a solid mass of rubble faced with carved stone 
ornaments, occupies fully one-third of the whole southern front, and 
extends upward to the narrow terrace in front of the shrine. 
The chambers of the lower story are ranged on the sides of this 
great stairway. Those upon the west of the stairway are two in 
number, and are measurably well preserved. The principal facade is 
partially destroyed, but the roof is still intact and gave me shelter for 
many days. The central portion is entirely covered with sculptured 
ornament. The facade of the western wing—a five-chambered struc- 
ture—is plain below, but the upper zone is a mass of projecting orna- 
mental work, partly in stone and partly in stucco. The serpent 
motive is a prominent feature in the embellishment, pervading it more 
fully, perhaps, than in any other ruin | have seen save Uxmal and 
Chichen Itza. 
The eastern wing, a structure of five rooms, two of which are 
still preserved, is now detached from the main building by a narrow 
open space that was once probably covered. Its facade is almost 
unadorned. An undulating band of rosette-like ornaments projects 
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