84 (Beoorapbical motes on 



forming the head-piece to them all extends one long and narrow panel of carving, a 

 high relief of the natural stone on a crimson ground. The whole fagade is composed of 

 a series of these panels, from the straight line of the foundation-stone to the straight 

 line of the summit, nine panels being on each side of the entrance, arranged in three 

 tiers, divided by horizontal bands of the natural stone. In some of the panels, the 

 ground retains still a faint tint of its former rich vermillion, in others, all color has 

 subsided into the soft neutral shade of the freestone. The designs are wonderfully rich 

 and varied, thirteen different patterns being represented on this fagade alone ; all these 

 designs are remarkable for the straight lines in which they are executed and the absence 

 of all curves. Throughout all the ruins, upon the walls of which appear twenty-three 

 different models of carving, only two of these represent any curve in their design. In 

 one of these two there is visible the form of the Arabic letter ' L ' placed horizontally, 

 and in the other a double curve ' S,' possibly intended to represent or suggest the snake. 

 With these exceptions the designs are of the Greek key pattern, variations on this, or 

 parallelograms. 



" Behind this fagade is a narrow court, roofless as all the courts are, and empty, save 

 for six colossal pillars standing at even distances down the centre, and giving to this 

 chamber the name of Hall of the Monoliths. Each pillar is one solid stone, eleven 

 feet high and eleven feet in circumference. A low stone passage leads from this 

 chamber northward to the smallest and richest court of all, entering it at the southeast 

 corner. There is comparatively little trace of the destructiveness of the elements or 

 the iconoclasm of man here. The court and all the four chambers opening from it are 

 perfect and singularly rich in carving. The court is perfectly square and the chambers 

 are entered from it, each through one square doorway, the roof of which is formed by 

 a huge monolith, thirteen feet long and with a richly carved face. Of these four lin- 

 tels each has a separate design. Each of the four walls has six panels, the uppermost 

 extending the whole length of the wall, two smaller panels being on either side of the 

 entrance, and one long narrow one above it. Between the panels stand out in high 

 relief the horizontal and vertical edges of the freestone, forming a symmetrical frame 

 to each panel. 



" Within the four chambers the walls are designed differently, the carving running 

 simply and evenly round the entire room in three straight horizontal bands, each band 

 possessing a separate pattern and being about three feet in width. Beneath these 

 bands of carving was originally, evidently, a dado of vermillion stucco, of such fine 

 and delicate quality that the smooth and polished surface resembles marble. Portions 

 of this delicate stucco still adhere to the crumbling walls in places and are of various 

 colors, scarlet, black and white. In some instances this stucco seems to have been 

 plain, simply bearing a brilliant polish, in others, there remains distinctly traced in 

 white upon a crimson ground, a wierd, fantastic, yet handsome design, the head ; half 

 horse, half dragon, repeated in four inch squares. This latter ornamented stucco, how- 

 ever, does not appear except in the fourth palace, containing the Spanish church, where 

 it is visible on the walls of one of the courts, now used as a stable for the padre's horse. 

 Leaving the richest of the centre palaces, passing through a gap in the ruined wall on 

 the south side, descending the elevation on which it is placed and ascending the op- 

 posite eminence, the patio of the second palace is reached. This is almost wholly in 

 ruins ; three of the fagades that face the court remain indeed, but the great smooth 

 slabs with which the walls were faced have been torn away at the base, and most of the 

 beautiful panels of carving stripped from the front. Yet it is in this ruined palace that 

 one lingers longest and to which one's feet return, drawn by an irrisistible fascination ; 

 for this palace contains the tomb and the pillar of death. 



" This subterranean vault is called by general consent a sepulchre, but there is no 

 line of history, no record, no tradition even, left to explain to us its origin and use. It 



