432 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



a roof tight as when sheltering the heads of its former 

 occupants. Different from ruins in the Old "World, 

 where every fragment is exaggerated by some prating 

 cicerone, in general, in this country, the reality exceeded 

 our expectations. When we left Captain Fensley's 

 brig we did not expect to find occupation for more than 

 two or three days. But a vast field of interesting la- 

 bour was before us, and we entered upon it with ad- 

 vantages of experience, the protection and kind assist- 

 ance of the proprietor, and within the reach of comforts 

 not procurable at any other place. We were not buried 

 in the forest as at Palenque. In front of our door rose 

 the lofty house of the dwarf, seeming almost to realize 

 the Indian legend, and from every part of the terrace 

 we looked over a field of ruins. 



From the centre apartment the divisions on each 

 wing corresponded exactly in size and finish, the de- 

 tails of which appear in the plan, and the same uni- 

 formity was preserved in the ornaments. Throughout 

 the roof was tight, the apartments were dry, and, to 

 speak understandingly, a few thousand dollars expended 

 in repairs would have restored it, and made it fit for the 

 reoccupation of its royal owners. In the apartment 

 marked A the walls were coated with a very fine plas- 

 ter of Paris, equal to the best seen on walls in this 

 country. The rest were all of smooth polished stone. 

 There were no paintings, stucco ornaments, sculptured 

 tablets, or other decorations whatever. 



In the apartment marked B we found what we re- 

 garded as a most interesting object. It was a beam of 

 wood, about ten feet long and very heavy, which had 

 fallen from its place over the doorway, and for some 

 purpose or other been hauled inside the chamber into a 

 dark corner. On the face was a line of characters 



