320 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



family ; this room with the small altar, we may suppose, 

 was what would be called, in our own times, a royal 

 chapel. 



With these helps and the aid of the plan, the reader 

 will be able to find his way through the ruined palace 

 of Palenque ; he will form some idea of the profusion 

 of its ornaments, of their unique and striking character, 

 and of their mournful effect, shrouded by trees ; and 

 perhaps with him, as with us, fancy will present it as it 

 was before the hand of ruin had swept over it, perfect 

 in its amplitude and rich decorations, and occupied by 

 the strange people whose portraits and figures now adorn 

 its walls. 



The reader will not be surprised that, with such ob- 

 jects to engage our attention, we disregarded some of 

 the discomforts of our princely residence. "We ex- 

 pected at this place to live upon game, but were dis- 

 appointed. A wild turkey we could shoot at any time 

 from the door of the palace ; but, after trying one, we 

 did not venture to trifle with our teeth upon another ; 

 and besides these, there was nothing but parrots, mon- 

 keys, and lizards, all very good eating, but which we 

 kept in reserve for a time of pressing necessity. The 

 density of the forest and the heavy rains would, how- 

 ever, have made sporting impracticable. 



Once only I attempted an exploration. From the 

 door of the palace, almost on a line with the front, rose 

 a high steep mountain, which we thought must com- 

 mand a view of the city in its whole extent, and per- 

 haps itself contain ruins. I took the bearing, and, with 

 a compass in my hand and an Indian before me with 

 his machete, from the rear of the last-mentioned build** 

 ing cut a straight line up east-northeast to the top. The 

 ascent was so steep that I was obliged to haul myself 

 up by the branches. On the top was a high mound of 



