CHICKEN 1TZA. 23 



back wall of the building, which is furnished with no such superstructure, that is 

 giving way. 



The rigid stone rings which stand out from the sides of the building from under- 

 neath the upper cornice were probably used to support an awning, and the square 

 holes along the top of the front wall may have held wooden beams for the same 

 purpose. 



In the interior of the outer chamber of the Casa Colorada is the hieroglyphic 

 inscription figured in Plate XXIV. ; it runs from end to end of the wall just above the 

 inner doorways. 



Four or five Sapote wood beams are fixed across the vault, their ends imbedded in 



the masonry. 



To the north of the foundation a mound of stones runs out in a manner similar to 

 that described as attached to No. 6, and it naturally suggests itself that if the principal 

 buildings were temples these lower buildings attached to them may have been for the 

 accommodation of attendants. 



jVb. 8. — At right angles to the face of the Casa Colorada is a low foundation which 

 must have supported a single-chambered house with eight columns along its front. 

 At the west end of this building is another foundation (Plate II., No. 8) similar to that 

 of the Casa Colorada. 



A stairway of 15 steps leads up to the terrace, at the back of which stands a small 

 half-ruined building divided transversely into two chambers. 



In front of the stairway are the remains of some rectangular terraces, one to two 

 feet high, on which are to be seen the remains of two " picotes," single upright stones 

 a few feet high, with their edges rounded off", supported on a square basement. 

 Further on to the south is a long mound with traces of columns and steps, of which 

 only a rough measurement was taken. 



Returning now to the north end of the mound between numbers 6 and 7, traces 

 of two parallel walls can be just made out, marking the sides of a roadway which leads 

 towards the temple No. 9. At the distance of 250 feet these walls turning to the 

 right and left broaden out and become mere confused heaps of stones. 



The wall turning to the west ends in the ruins of some structures, amongst which 

 remains of house-walls and columns can still be seen. The wall turning to the east 

 runs in that direction for about 230 feet, then again turns nearly at right angles 

 and separates the level plain from the rough ground to the east of it. This plain or 

 plaza is enclosed on the north and west by similar long heaps of stones, which vary in 

 height and breadth, and, as already explained, may in some places be the remains of 

 walls and in others of narrow buildings. 



No. 9.— Standing almost in the centre of this Plaza is a square-based truncated 



