26 PALENQUE. 



All three passages have vaulted roofs, and the face of the vaults where the steps 

 descend are decorated with stucco ornament now almost destroyed. 



A mould was made of the best preserved of these decorations (above the steps in the 

 western passage), and a photograph of the cast is given in Plate XLVIL, a. 



All the doorways in the three corridors had wooden lintels. 



An excavation of the mound of broken stones which lies above the roof of the west 

 part of the northern Enclosed Corridor, and of the passage leading to it, revealed the 

 remains of walls and of some chambers which have been purposely blocked up, and 

 a curious arrangement of stone shelves at the end of one of the chambers (see 

 Plate XLV.). 



The Temple of Inscriptions. ((2) on Plate I. and Plates XLIX. to LXII.) 



To the south-west of the Palace a lofty foundation-mound has been raised against a 

 steep spur of the hills, and supports the building known as the Temple of Inscriptions. 



Stone-faced terrace-walls can here and there be seen amongst the debris with which 

 the sides of the mound are strewn ; but the stairway, which probably runs up the front 

 of the mound, is completely hidden from view. 



At the height of 60 feet there is a terrace, from which rises a second foundation 

 9 feet in height, which is ascended by a stairway 13 feet wide, flanked on either side by 

 a leaning slab of stone, on which is the mutilated remains of a human figure carved in 

 low relief (see plan on Plate LIL). The steps are nine in number, and are made of 

 large and well-worked blocks of stone. 



The building raised on these foundations faces the north ; it is still in good condition 

 and its walls are entire. 



On the piers at each end of the face of the building are the remains of a hieroglyphic 

 inscription arranged in eight columns. The piers between the doorways (Plates LIII. 

 to LVI.) are ornamented with human figures, but unfortunately the whole of this stucco 

 decoration has been very greatly damaged. 



The plaster ornament on the frieze has been almost totally destroyed. Very little is 

 left of the ornamented superstructure which rose from the middle line of the roof, but 

 in all probability it was similar to that which can be seen on the other temples. 



