CHICHEN ITZA. 19 



The central grotesque face over the doorway appears to have had a small figure 

 seated above its nose. Part of the head-dress of this figure is all that now remains. 



On either side of this central face are two squares, each containing two seated figures 

 facing inwards, all headless and much mutilated. The inside figure on the southern 

 6quare is that of a humanized turtle, and the figure on the northern square that of a 

 humanized alligator. The two other figures are also grotesque — half human, half 

 animal ; but their exact nature cannot be made out. 



The building is capped by the notched cornice with an additional band of ornament 

 in the lower angle of the cornice, similar to that on the east wing. 



On the west side this cornice is surmounted by a highly decorated wall ornamented 

 with three huge grotesque faces of unequal sizes and very irregularly put together, 

 giving the impression that they have been built up of previously-used material. This 

 wall extended along the west face of the building only, and is decorated with cross-bar 

 work on its east side. 



The single chamber in the interior of the building has apparently been covered with 

 mural paintings ; and the remains of a line of hieroglyphs running round the top of 

 the wall, moulded in plaster and painted, can just be made out. 



A rough line of stones, possibly the remains of a wall, runs from the north-west 

 corner of the Casa de Monjas to a small ruined foundation to the north. 



No. 2. — Between the Casa de Monjas and the building called Caracol, from its supposed 

 resemblance to a snail-shell (Plate II., No. 5), there are some small heaps of stones and 

 broken fragments of columns, which mark the remains of buildings raised on low 

 terraces or foundations. Of these mounds, No. 2 is perhaps the most distinct, and is 

 still about 6 feet in height, and is approached by steps on the east side. The bottom 

 of the balustrade of this stairway is fashioned into a serpent's head, a form of decoration 

 of frequent occurrence in these ruins. (Cf. Plate XXV., a.) 



No. 3. — To the east of this mound is another of more importance (Plate II., No. 3). 

 On the west side a stairway with balustrades ending in serpents' heads leads up to a 

 terrace (about 10 feet high), from which rises what must have once been a roofed 

 building, but is now merely a heap of stones. The total height of the mound is now 

 23 feet. 



No. 4. — Between this building and the Ak at 'Cib (Plate II., No. 4) are, again, traces 

 of buildings which can with difficulty be made out. The Ak at 'Cib itself (Plates XVIII. 

 and XIX.) is not a particularly interesting building, but its smooth wall-surfaces, free 

 from all decoration except notched wall-plate and cornice, would probably have long 

 withstood the attacks of the weather and the vegetation had it not been systematically 

 robbed of its facing-stones, and had not holes been wantonly broken through the inner 



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