PALACE OF THE QUICHE KINGS. 183 



referred to, marked B in the plate. The cura pointed 

 out to us one part of the ravine which, he said, accord- 

 ing to old manuscripts formerly existing in the convent, 

 but now carried away, was artificial, and upon which 

 forty thousand men had been employed at one time. 



The whole area was once occupied by the palace, 

 seminary, and other buildings of the royal house of Qui- 

 che, which now lie for the most part in confused and 

 shapeless masses of ruins. The palace, as the cura told 

 us, with its courts and corridors, once covering the whole 

 diameter, is completely destroyed, and the materials 

 have been carried away to build the present village. In 

 part, however, the floor remains entire, with fragments 

 of the partition walls, so that the plan of the apartments 

 can be distinctly made out. This floor is of a hard ce- 

 ment, which, though year after year washed by the 

 floods of the rainy season, is hard and durable as stone. 

 The inner walls were covered with plaster of a finer 

 description, and in corners where there had been less 

 exposure were the remains of colours ; no doubt the 

 whole interior had been ornamented with paintings. 

 It gave a strange sensation to walk the floor of that 

 roofless palace, and think of that king who left it at the 

 head of seventy thousand men to repel the invaders of 

 his empire. Corn was now growing among the ruins. 

 The ground was used by an Indian family which claim- 

 ed to be descended from the royal house. In one place 

 was a desolate hut, occupied by them at the time of 

 planting and gathering the corn. Adjoining the palace 

 was a large plaza or courtyard, also covered with hard 

 cement, in the centre of which were the relics of a fount- 

 ain. 



The most important part remaining of these ruins is 

 that which appears in the engraving, and which is call- 



