4G TIKaL. 



that the middle lintel must have represented some object of worship, and that the 

 carving on the three lintels formed one design, somewhat similar to the tablets of the 

 Temples of the Cross or the Sun at Palenque. 



In the year 1875 an English traveller, Mr. J. W. Boddam-Whetham, visited the 

 Lake of Peten and purchased from the Indians at Flores two fragments of carved 

 beams, which he presented to the British Museum ; one of these fragments I have 

 been able to restore to its proper place in the photograph and drawing on Plates 

 LXXI. and LXXIV. A photograph of the other fragment is given on Plate LXXI., 

 but its proper position cannot be ascertained. 



Temple A. (Plates LXIX. to LXXIV.) 



The base of the foundation-mound of this Temple measures 130 feet across the front 

 and slightly less on the sides. A steep stairway, 28 feet broad and projecting 19 feet 

 from the base of the mound, gives access to the Temple on the summit. A measure- 

 ment taken at the north-west angle from the base of the mound to the north-west 

 corner of the Temple gave 104 feet. 



The sides of the foundation-mound are stepped and panelled in a manner somewhat 

 similar to that shown in the plan and photographs of the Castillo at Chichen Itza (see 

 Plates LV. to LIX.). 



The base of the Temple itself measures about 41 feet by 26 feet. Unfortunately 

 the detail measurements of the sides and back have been lost. The height of the 

 Temple probably exceeded 45 feet, but part of the superstructure is broken away and 

 no accurate measurement could be taken. The exterior walls are plain up to the 

 height of the first string-course ; above that the superstructure (which recedes in 

 steps) appears to have been elaborately decorated in front, but left plain at the back. 

 The very curious division of the side walls, which is a marked feature of all the Tikal 

 Temples, can be seen on Plate LXX., b. 



The interior measurements are correct, and show the three para'lel chambers 

 connected by broad doorways. The floor of the middle chamber is raised a step above 

 that of the outer chamber, and the floor of the inner chamber is a step higher than that 

 of the middle chamber. 



The outer doorway and the doorways between the chambers are covered with lintels 

 made up of four or five beams of hard wood, probably the wood of the Chico Sapote. 

 The section of Temple B on Plate LXIX. shows the usual arrangement of these lintels. 

 The outer and inner lintels in Temple A have disappeared, and these are probabiy 

 amongst the beams removed at the instance of Dr. Bernoulli in 1877, and now lodged 

 in the Museum of Archaeology at Basle, photographs and a drawing of which are 



