SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



121 



foundations of this palace, it must have oc- 

 cupied some acres of ground. It was com* 

 posed of huge blocks of basaltic stone, of 

 about four or five feet long, and two and a 

 half or three feet thick, cut and polished with 

 the utmost exactness. The great church 

 which stands close by, is almost entirely built 

 of the materials taken from the palace, many 

 of the sculptured stones from which may be 

 seen in the walls, though most of the orna- 

 ments are turned inwards. Indeed our guide 

 informed us, that whoever built a house at 

 Tezcuco made the ruins of the palace serve as 

 his quarry. On visiting this city the anti- 

 quarian will find many things worthy of his 

 notice. I suspect that most of the buildings 

 are little altered from what they were before 

 the arrival of the Spaniards, who must them- 

 selves have employed, at least for some time, 

 the same workmen and materials as the ori- 

 ginal inhabitants. In many of the walls and 



