12 PALENQUE. 



becomes more neaxly perpendicular. The south-east corner of the foundation can be 

 well seen in Plate XLVIII. 



These walls and terraces can be made out with certainty along the whole length of 

 this eastern face, but there is no trace of any stairway which could have given access 

 to the buildings above. 



On the north face of the mound the same breaking up of the surface into nearly 

 perpendicular walls and terraces can be made out. The lowest or basement wall is 

 well-preserved both at the east and west ends, and is formed of large slabs of well-cut 

 stone, similar in arrangement to that of the wall on the east side of the Western Court, 

 Plate XXVII. 



Whether this form of basement wall was carried all along the north face, or whether 

 it was interrupted in the middle by a flight of steps, it would be impossible now to 

 determine without removing the large mass of fallen masonry due to the almost total 

 destruction of the building which formerly stood on the northern edge of the mound. 

 All that can be said is that a careful examination under the present conditions did not 

 reveal any remains of such a stairway. Where the upper facing walls are still visible 

 they are seen to retain fragments of elaborate stucco decoration, and portions of huge 

 heads, both natural and grotesque, can still be made out ; and it seems probable that 

 the whole of the surface walls of the foundation mound were formerly decorated with 

 similar ornament, which was almost as certainly brilliantly coloured. Here and there 

 amongst the stucco ornaments are the remains of some gable-headed niches which may 

 be the walled-up entrances to burial chambers. There can be little doubt that the 

 base of the whole of the northern side of the foundation has given way. The detached 

 mass may have moved bodily towards the north, thus giving the bowed appearance to 

 the northern side of the basement, and causing the great rents which can be seen 

 across the walls of the houses A and D, and the almost total destruction of the house 

 or houses on the northern edge of the mound. 



Along the west face of the foundation an arrangement of walls and terraces can 

 here and there be made out, but there is no sign of a basement wall built of large 

 slabs, nor is there any trace of a stairway. Towards the southern end of this face the 

 walls are in better preservation, and are pierced by a few openings to admit light to 

 the vaulted corridors which are enclosed within the foundation itself. 



On the south side of the Palace the almost complete ruin of the buildings renders it 

 now impossible to make out the plan of the foundation. It is, however, clear that it 

 is different from that of the other sides, and that halfway up the slope there was a 

 projecting terrace about 40 feet in width, which was probably reached by a stairway. 



When we were living in the Palace we somehow became accustomed to regard the 

 courts as primary divisions, and all visitors naturally entered the larger or Western 

 Court first and examined all the chambers opening on to it, then passed through to the 

 Eastern Court and continued the examination in like order ; but in giving a detailed 



