1898-99.] | DECIPHERING HIEROGLYPHIC INSCRIPTIONS OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 109 
Catholic missionaries to assume that knowledge of Christianity had been 
brought to that part of America long before their arrival; and they 
adopted the belief that the gospel was preached there by St. Thomas. 
This furnished excellent material for the hagiologists of that age; but, 
like everything else peculiar to these monkish romancers, it betrayed 
great lack, of knowledge. * * * What more will be found at 
Palenque, when the whole field of its ruins has been explored, can not 
now be reported. The chief difficulty by which explorers are embar- 
rassed is manifest in this statement of Mr. Stephens. ‘ Without a guide, 
we might have gone within a hundred feet of the buildings without 
discovering one of them.’ More has been discovered there than I have 
mentioned, my purpose being to give an accurate view of the style, finish, 
decoration, and general character of the architecture and artistic work 
found in the ruins, rather than a complete account of everything 
connected with them. The ruins of Palenque are deemed important by 
archeologists, partly on account of the great abundance of inscriptions 
found there, which, it is believed, will at length be deciphered, the 
written characters being similar to those of the Mayas, which are 
now understood.” 
Dr. Short says: ‘‘Nothing of a definite nature is known of the style of 
roof with which the palace was covered, since every vestige of it has 
disappeared. Castaneda represents it as sloping and plastered, while 
Du Paix refers to it as consisting of large stone flags, carefully joined 
together. The neighboring buildings, such as the Temple of the Three 
Tablets, the Temple of the Cross, and the Temple of the Sun, each have 
well preserved roofs of masonry, which are quite remarkable. The first 
of these stands upon its lofty pyramidal base, measuring one hundred 
and ten feet on the slope, with continuous steps on all sides. The 
temple, which is thirty-five feet high, is crowned with a sloping 
ornamental roof of great beauty. The roof is divided into three parts ; 
the lower section recedes from the cornice with a gentle slope, and 
resembles the corresponding section of a French or Mansard roof. The 
stucco decorations of this lower section, which is also painted, add 
considerably to the general effect. Five solid square projections with 
perpendicular faces, suggestive of the attic windows of a modern French 
roof, are found in this section, corresponding to the several doors of the 
temple immediately below. The second section, which slopes back at a 
more acute angle, is of solid masonry. The crowning section seems to 
have been purely ornamental, consisting of a line of pillars of stone and 
mortar, eighteen inches high and twelve inches apart, surmounted by a 
layer of flat stones with projecting sides. The Temple of the Cross and 
