RUINOUS STATE OF THIS STRUCTURE. 53 



confused were the ornaments that a distinct repre- 

 sentation could not be made even with the Daguer- 

 reotype, and the only way to make out all the details 

 was near approach by means of a ladder ; we had 

 all the woods to make one of, but it was difficult 

 for the Indians to make one of the length required; 

 and when made it would have been too heavy and 

 cumbersome to manage on the narrow platform in 

 front. Besides, the wall was tottering and ready to 

 fall. One portion was already gone in a perpen- 

 dicular line from top to bottom, and the reader will 

 see in the engraving that on a line with the right of 

 the centre doorway the wall is cracked, and above 

 is gaping, and stands apart more than a foot all the 

 way to the top. In a few years it must fall. Its 

 doom is sealed. Human power cannot save it ; but 

 in its ruins it gave a grand idea of the scenes of bar- 

 baric magnificence which this country must have 

 presented when all her cities were entire. The fig- 

 ures and ornaments on this wall were painted ; the 

 remains of bright colours are still visible, defying the 

 action of the elements. If a solitary traveller from 

 the Old World could by some strange accident have 

 visited this aboriginal city when it was yet perfect, 

 his account would have seemed more fanciful than 

 any in Eastern story, and been considered a subject 

 for the Arabian Nights' Entertainments. 



At the distance of a few hundred feet from this 

 structure, in sight at the same time as we approach- 



