48 COPAN. 



Stela E. (Plate XLIX.) 



Approximate height 10 feet. Average breadth 2 feet 3 inches. 



Stela E is a fallen and defaced monument, lying on the terrace to the east of mound 

 No. 1, Plate I. No photograph was taken of it. The inscription on the sides and 

 back (Plate XLTX.) has been drawn from a plaster cast in the South Kensington 

 Museum. 



-> ♦ » *■ < - 



Stela F. (Plates L. to LIE, see also b, Plates IV. and LIV.) 



[Compare Stephens's ' Central America,' vol. i. p. 152 ; and Catherwood's 



Views, Plate 3.] 



This monument (F, Plate I.), which stands on the east side of the Great Plaza and 

 faces west, is in such a bad state of preservation that but little can be said about it. 

 The principal figure is carved in high relief, and the dress and ornaments are similar to 

 those already described. Below the face is an ornament, which appears to be connected 

 with the moustache, like that already noted in Stela B. The head is surmounted by a 

 grotesque mask, above which are traces of a seated human figure. 



The sides of the monument (a, Plate LI.) are ornamented with serpents' heads and 

 small grotesque figures, one above the other, and an arrangement of feathers with 

 rosettes on them. 



The feather-work is continued over the back of the monument (b, Plate LI.), as are 

 also the twisted bodies of the serpents, which are twined in and out of the hieroglyphic 

 inscription, breaking it up into groups, each containing four glyphs. 



The inscription is given on Plate LIE, drawn from photographs, with some additions 

 taken from Catherwood's plates, as the monument was in a somewhat better state of 

 preservation when his drawings were made. 



The altar standing in front of this monument to the west (Plates L. and b, LI.) 

 almost baffles description. The east and west sides are alike, and appear to represent 

 a grotesque face without a nose and without a lower jaw. A triple band, similar to 

 those already noted on the bracelets and anklets of some of the large figures, is tied in 

 three knots over the forehead. Lying partly over this band are two bent limbs with 

 tiger-like claws. Between the eyes a smooth blank space is left on the stone, and it 

 seems probable that the nose may have been cut from a separate block of stone and 

 afterwards fitted into its place, but no trace of such a detached nose could be seen. 

 Two projections ornamented with scrolls rise from the sides of the altar, and almost 

 divide the top surface across the centre. 



