COPAN. 29 



details. The examples in this design are, turning the backs of the seated figures into 

 huge grotesque faces and ornamenting the tongue of the dragon to the west of the 

 doorway with scrolls derived from the eye, nostrils, and teeth, which are peculiarly 

 characteristic of the frequently-occurring dragon or serpent. This last may at first sight 

 appear to be a fanciful suggestion, but it will be clearly appreciated when hereafter 

 the serpent symbol is more fully examined and described. 



The floor and walls of the outer chamber, as well as the surface of the steps and 

 terrace outside the house, bear traces of a coating of several layers of plaster, each layer 

 differently coloured, showing that the plaster had been frequently renewed, and this 

 plaster coating appears also to have extended over the carved surface. 



The inner chamber is without ornament. Two stone incense-burners shaped into 

 grotesque heads and some patches of charcoal were found above the cement floor. The 

 back wall of the house was only just traceable. The outer surface of the front wall 

 facing the Eastern Court had almost disappeared ; but that it must once have been 

 elaborately ornamented is proved by the number of headless busts and other fragments 

 of sculptured stone lying near it in all directions. 



On the outside wall of the building at the south-west corner are the remains of 

 a huge grotesque face made up of several stones (Plate XVII., c), much the same in 

 design as the faces which form the principal decoration of some of the buildings in 

 Yucatan. However, the trunk-like nose, which has there so greatly exercised the 

 speculative powers of travellers, if it existed here, cannot now be traced. I opened a 

 passage (-*) about 4 feet wide between the west end of this house and another much 

 ruined building, and on this west wall I was able to see some of the ornament, if not 

 exactly in position at least giving evidence whence it had fallen. 



Three female figures, standing out in full relief from the waist upwards (Plate XVII., 

 a and b), with the left arm held across the body and the right hand extended in front, 

 palm outwards, as if about to clap hands when in the act of singing, had been ranged 

 along the upper part of this wall ; and broken pieces of similar figures, found in other 

 places, lead me to suppose that this decoration was continued all round the temple. 



Almost in the centre of the Eastern Court I turned over a large flat slab of 

 stone which bore traces of sculpture on the upper surface, and dug beneath it to 

 the depth of 12 feet without finding anything worth notice. Many other fragments 

 of sculptured stone are lying in this court, some of which are shown on Plate XIX. 

 On the west side of the court are two flights of steps; those at the south-west corner 

 [No. 23] are quite plain, but the centre stairway [No. 24] is ornamented on each side 

 with large figures of rampant jaguars (Plate XVIII., b and c) carved out of several 

 blocks of stone, which are built into the slope ; and at the top of the stairway is a 

 huge human head issuing from the jaws of an animal (Plate XVIIL, a). These 

 carvings are marked red in Plate I. 



On the level terrace above this stairway is an oblong space [No. 25] marked out by a 

 border of stones, but there is no indication of any building having stood on it. Turning 



