346 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



same props under it which we placed there. In the 

 engraving it is given in its original position on the wall. 

 The stone on the right is broken, and, unfortunately, 

 altogether destroyed ; most of the fragments have dis- 

 appeared ; but, from the few we found among the ruins 

 in the front of the building, there is no doubt that it 

 contained ranges of hieroglyphics corresponding in gen- 

 eral appearance with those of the stone on the left. 



The tablet, as given in the engraving, contains only 

 two thirds of the original. In Del Rio's work it is not 

 represented at all. In Dupaix it is given, not, however, 

 as it exists, but as made up by the artist in Paris, so as to 

 present a perfect picture. The subject is reversed, with 

 the cross in the centre, and on each side a single row 

 of hieroglyphics, only eight in number. Probably, when 

 Dupaix saw it (thirty-four years before), it was entire, 

 but the important features of six rows of hieroglyphics 

 on each side of the principal figures, each row con- 

 taining seventeen in a line, do not appear. This is the 

 more inexcusable in his publishers, as in his report 

 Dupaix expressly refers to these numerous hieroglyph- 

 ics ; but it is probable that his report was not ^accom- 

 panied by any drawings of them. 



The principal subject of this tablet is the cross. It 

 is surmounted by a strange bird, and loaded with in- 

 describable ornaments. The two figures are evidently 

 those of important personages. They are well drawn, 

 and in symmetry of proportion are perhaps equal to 

 many that are carved on the walls of the ruined tem- 

 ples in Egypt. Their costume is in a style different 

 from any heretofore given, and the folds would seem 

 to indicate that they were of a soft and pliable texture, 

 like cotton. Both are looking toward the cross, and 

 one seems in the act of making an offering, perhaps of 



