INTERIOR OF THE GOVERNOR'S HOUSE. 431 



and others had fallen down altogether. In fact, except 

 in the house of the nuns the greatest destruction was from 

 the decay and breaking of these wooden beams. If the 

 lintels had been of stone, the principal buildings of this 

 desolate city would at this day be almost entire ; or, if 

 the edifices had been still occupied under a master's eye, 

 a decaying beam would have been replaced, and the 

 buildings saved from ruin. In the moment of greatness 

 and power, the builders never contemplated that the 

 time would come when their city would be a desolation. 



The Casa del Gobernador stands with its front to the 

 east. In the centre, and opposite the range of steps 

 leading up the terrace, are three principal doorways. 

 The middle one is eight feet six inches wide, and eight 

 feet ten inches high ; the others are of the same height, 

 but two feet less in width. The centre door opens into 

 an apartment sixty feet long and twenty-seven feet deep 9 

 which is divided into two corridors by a wall three and 

 a half feet thick, with a door of communication between 

 of the same size with the door of entrance. The plan 

 is the same as that of the corridor in front of the palace 

 at Palenque, except that here the corridor does not run 

 the whole length of the building, and the back corridor 

 has no door of egress. The floors are of smooth square 

 stone, the walls of square blocks nicely laid and smooth- 

 ly polished. The ceiling forms a triangular arch with- 

 out the keystone, as at Palenque £\ ; but, instead of 

 the rough stones overlapping or being covered with 

 stucco, the layers of stone are bevilled as they rise, and 

 present an even and polished surface. Throughout, the 

 laying and polishing of the stones are as perfect as un- 

 der the rules of the best modern masonry. 



In this apartment we determined to take up our abode, 

 once more in the palace of an unknown king, and under 



