A STUCCO ORNAMENT. 259 



ered with stucco, which had fallen down ; part of the 

 roof had given way, and the floor was covered with 

 ruins. In one of them was the same pitchy substance 

 we had noticed in the sepulchre at Copan. The roof 

 was formed. of stones, lapping over in the usual style, 

 and forming as near an approach to the arch as was 

 made by the architects of the Old World. 



In the back wall of the centre chamber was a door- 

 way of the same size with that in front, which led to an 

 apartment without any partitions, but in the centre was 

 an oblong enclosure eighteen feet by eleven, which was 

 manifestly intended as the most important part of the 

 edifice. The door \vas choked up with ruins to within 

 a few feet of the top, but over it, and extending along 

 the whole front of the structure, was a large stucco or- 

 nament, which at first impressed us most forcibly by its 

 striking resemblance to the winged globe over the doors 

 of Egyptian temples. Part of this ornament had fallen 

 down, and, striking the heap of rubbish underneath, 

 had rolled beyond the door of entrance. We endeav- 

 oured to roll it back and restore it to its place, but it 

 proved too heavy for the strength of four men and a 

 boy. The part which remains is represented in the en- 

 graving, and differs in detail from the winged globe. 

 The wings are reversed ; there is a fragment of a cir- 

 cular ornament which may have been intended for a 

 globe, but there are no remains of serpents entwining it. 



There was another surprising feature in this door. 

 The lintel was a beam of wood ; of what species we did 

 not know, but our guide said it was of the sapote-tree. 

 It was so hard that, On being struck, it rang like metal, 

 and perfectly sound, without a worm-hole or other 

 symptom of decay. The surface was smooth and 

 even, and from a very close examination we were of 



