A LARGE TABLET. 



345 



the other is ornamented with a figure in bas-relief, but 

 faded and ruined. 



The interior, again, is divided into two corridors run- 

 ning lengthwise, with ceilings-as before, and pavements 

 of large square stones, in which forcible breaches have 

 been made, doubtless by Captain Del Rio, and exca- 

 vations underneath. The back corridor is divided into 

 three apartments, and opposite the principal door of 

 entrance is an oblong enclosure, with a heavy cornice 

 or moulding of stucco, and a doorway richly ornament- 

 ed over the top, but now much defaced ; on each side 

 of the doorway was a tablet of sculptured stone, which, 

 however, has been removed. Within, the chamber is 

 thirteen feet wide and seven feet deep. There was no 

 admission of light except from the door ; the sides were 

 without ornament of any kind, and in the back wall, 

 covering the whole width, was the tablet given in the 

 engraving opposite. It was ten feet eight inches wide, 

 six feet four inches in height, and consisted of three 

 separate stones. That on the left, facing the spectator, 

 is still in its place. The middle one has been removed 

 and carried down the side of the structure, and now lies 

 near the bank of the stream. It was removed many 

 years ago by one of the inhabitants of the village, with 

 the intention of carrying it to his house ; but, after great 

 labour, with no other instruments than the arms and 

 hands of Indians, and poles cut from trees, it had ad- 

 vanced so far, when its removal was arrested by an 

 order from the government forbidding any farther ab- 

 straction from the ruins. We found it lying on its back 

 near the banks of the stream, washed by many floods 

 of the rainy season, and covered with a thick coat of 

 dirt and moss. We had it scrubbed and propped up, 

 and probably the next traveller will find it with the 



Vol. II.— X x 30 



