284 OTHER RUINS. 



edifices, placed on the uppermost of three terraces. The plan 

 of these buildings is quadrangular, with a courtyard in the 

 centre. The walls are, like the others, ornamented with rich 

 and intricate carving, presenting a scene of strange magnifi- 

 cence. One of the buildings is 170 feet long, and is remark- 

 able for the two colossal entwined serpents which run round 

 it, and encompass nearly all the ornaments throughout its 

 whole length. These serpents are sculptured out of small 

 blocks of stone, which are arranged in the wall with great 

 skill and precision. One of the serpents has its monstrous 

 jaws distended ; and within them is a human head, the face 

 of which is distinctly visible in the carving. 



The most tastefully ornamented edifice is know as the 

 " House of the Dwarf." It stands on the summit of a lofty 

 mound, faced with stone, nearly ninety feet high, the building 

 itself being seventeen feet high. Its purpose it is difficult to 

 divine. 



Scattered throughout the ruins are a number of dome- 

 shaped subterraneous chambers, from eight to ten feet deep, 

 and from twelve to twenty in diameter. The floor is of hard 

 matter, and the walls and ceilings of plaster. A circular hole 

 at the summit of each, barely large enough to admit a man, is 

 the only opening into them. It is not known whether they 

 were used as cisterns, or for granaries, like those of Egypt. 



OTHER RUINS. 



The whole country to the south of Uxmal is covered with 

 ruins. At a place called Labra, there is a tower richly orna- 

 mented, forty feet in height, which stands on the summit of 

 an artificial elevation. In another place there is one forty- 

 five feet high ; along the top of which, standing out from the 



