22 CHICHEN ITZ.i. 



Above the notched cornice, which surmounts these small doorways, the masonry is 

 now reduced to a confused heap of stones. 



As can be seen from the photographs, which give views of the best preserved parts, 

 the building is in a very ruinous condition. The stones on the upper portion are loose, 

 and it was with no little difficulty and risk that measurements could be taken. 



Where the masonry has fallen, the probable outline of the building is marked in 

 dotted lines on the plan and section. 



No. 6. — The next building to be described (Plate II., No. 6) is in a still more ruined 

 condition. A flight of 15 steps leads to a terrace, 10 feet high and about 55 feet 

 square, on the back of which stands the remains of a building. Two columns originally 

 supported the roof in front, but as the architrave has cracked with the weight of the 

 roof, a third support has since been added. 



The front wall of this building only is standing, the remainder is broken away, but 

 enough is left to enable the ground-plans to be traced and shows it to have been 

 somewhat similar in plan to the temples at Palenque. 



From the back wall two short walls ran out and turned at right angles to enclose 

 that which, judging from the Palenque plan, was a sanctuary, but I could find no trace 

 of inscribed stones amongst the debris. 



To the south of the terrace there projects a tumbled heap of stones now about 4 

 feet high, which may at one time have supported a roofed building. 



In front of No. 6, but more to the north, is a mound 85 feet long and 16 feet high, 

 which probably supported a double-chambered house. The bases of six columns can 

 still be seen on the west side. 



No. 7. — Directly to the west of this is the building commonly known as the Casa 

 Colorada (Plate II., No. 7, plan and section on Plate XXII., views Plate XXIIL), 

 which is still in good condition and in which I took up my quarters until the Casa de 

 las Monjas was cleared. On the west side a stairway of 18 steps leads to the top of 

 a foundation of the usual shape and 22 feet high. This foundation and the building 

 which stands on it are so well shown in the photographs, that it needs little description. 

 The wall-surfaces of the building are plain and ornamented only with the usual notched 

 cornices. On the top of the building along the front is a wall highly decorated 

 with grotesque faces and frets, and another still higher wall running parallel to it, 

 pierced by many small openings and decorated with notched cornices, stands imme- 

 diately over the wall dividing the outer from the inner chambers. These superstructures 

 not only add considerably to the appearance of the buildings, but must also have added 

 greatly to the security of the structure by pinning down with their weight the ends of 

 the roofing-stones, and it was for this reason no doubt that such superstructures were 

 also in common use both at Palenque and Menche. In this instance it is only the 



