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TABLETS AND FIGURES. 353 



drawings of the same subjects, which I thought, being 

 printed, would please them better ; but they had exam- 

 ined Mr. Catherwood's drawing in its progress, and 

 were not at all satisfied with the substitute. The mo- 

 ment I saw these tablets I formed the idea of purchas- 

 ing them and carrying them home as a sample of Pa- 

 lenque, but it was some time before I ventured to broach 

 the subject. They could not be purchased without the 

 house ; but that was no impediment, for I liked the 

 house also. It was afterward included among the sub- 

 jects of other negotiations which were undetermined 

 when I left Palenque. 



The two figures stand facing each other, the first on 

 the right hand, fronting the spectator. The nose and 

 eyes are strongly marked, but altogether the develop- 

 ment is not so strange as to indicate a race entirely dif- 

 ferent from those which are known. The headdress is 

 curious and complicated, consisting principally of leaves 

 of plants, with a large flower hanging down ; and among 

 the ornaments are distinguished the beak and eyes of a 

 bird, and a tortoise. The cloak is a leopard's skin, and 

 the figure has ruffles around the wrists and ancles. 



The second figure, standing on the left of the specta- 

 tor, has the same profile which characterizes all the 

 others at Palenque. Its headdress is composed of a 

 plume of feathers, in which is a bird holding a fish 

 in its mouth; and in different parts of the headdress 

 there are three other fishes. The figure wears a richly- 

 embroidered tippet, and a broad girdle, with the head 

 of some animal in front, sandals, and leggins : the right 

 hand is extended in a prayerful or deprecating position, 

 with the palm outward. Over the heads of these mys- 

 terious personages are three cabalistic hieroglyphics. 



We considered the oratorio or altar the most interest- 



Vol. II.— Y y 



