426 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



more perfect state of preservation. On one side the 

 combination was in the form of diamonds, simple, chaste, 

 and tasteful ; and at the head of the courtyard two gi- 

 gantic serpents, with their heads broken and fallen, 

 were winding from opposite directions along the whole 

 facade. 



In front, and on a line with the door of the convent, 

 is another building, on a lower foundation, of the same 

 general character, called Casa de Tortugas, from sculp- 

 tured turtles over the doorway. This building had in 

 several places huge cracks, as if it had been shaken by 

 an earthquake. It stands nearly in the centre of the 

 ruins, and the top commands a view all round of singu- 

 lar but wrecked magnificence. 



Beyond this, a little to the right, approached by pass- 

 ing over mounds of ruins, was another building, which 

 at a great distance attracted our attention by its conspic- 

 uous ornaments. We reached it by ascending two high 

 terraces. The main building was similar to the others, 

 and along the top ran a high ornamented wall in this 



form, from which it was called Casa de Palomos, or 

 House of Pigeons, and at a distance it looked more like 

 a row of pigeon-houses than anything else. 



In front was a broad avenue, with a line of ruins on 

 each side, leading beyond the wall of the convent to a 

 great mound of ruins, which probably had once been a 

 building with which it was connected ; and beyond this 

 is a lofty building in the rear, to which this seemed but 

 a vestibule or porter's lodge. Between the two was a 

 large patio or courtyard, with corridors on each side, 



