36 CI-IICHEN ITZA. 



principal figure has a death's head. One of the carved door-jambs from the north 

 porch and one from the western doorway are figured in Plate LIX. 



It is very difficult to account for the coating of cement which covers some of the 

 sculptures. I am inclined to think that the designs must, at some time, have failed 

 to give satisfaction, and that they were plastered over and the columns redecorated 

 with colour only. 



The top of the roof of the Castillo is quite flat, and has been covered with a thick 

 layer of cement, now much broken up by the roots of shrubs and other plants which 

 have found holding ground in it. Round the edges the cement has broken away and 

 some of the masonry has fallen, but fortunately the north-west corner is still intact, 

 and it was here that I had the good fortune to find in position portions of the Greek 

 fret ornament which had long been a puzzle to me, and which has been made use of 

 in the restoration of the Great Ball Court Temple. 



I had frequently seen fragments of this ornament whilst making a survey of the site 

 of the ruins, and had been fortunate in finding two entire frets half buried in the side 

 of the mound No. 18 (see Plate LXIL, b). The tenons attached to them showed that 

 they had stood out from a surface of masonry, and I was inclined to fall into the error 

 of thinking that they had been let into the sides or corners of buildings somewhat in 

 the manner of the grotesque noses, until I had the good fortune to find three together 

 in position at this corner of the Castillo ; rather more than half of each fret had been 

 broken away, but measurements and careful comparison with those found lying on the 

 ground make it almost certain that they were of similar design, and that they must 

 have formed an important feature in the ornament of the flat-topped buildings. 



To the east of the Castillo is a large group of buildings which has not received 

 much attention from earlier visitors, and has never previously been surveyed or 

 described. 



A plan (Plate LX.) gives the principal features on a scale of 50 feet to an inch. 

 Commencing at the northern end (No. 16) there are the remains of four rows of eight 

 columns, each 2 feet 6 inches in diameter, standing on a low terrace with an enclosing 

 wall running along the north and east sides. The fallen stones from No. 17 prevented 

 the continuation of the wall being traced on the south side. The north wall forms 

 the side of a rectangular mound which may at one time have served as the foundation 

 for a building. These walls are all buttressed on the outer side. In the centre of 

 the east or back wall are the remains of a doorway leading into an enclosed court 

 containing 20 columns. 



This building, and indeed each group of pillared buildings shown on the plan, 

 presents very great difficulties in the matter of roofing ; for not only has the roof in 

 each case fallen in, but there is not one instance of an architrave or a fragment of 

 roofing being found in position. In some cases the distance between the supports 



