314 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



sixty-one feet from north to south, and sixty-four 

 from east to west ; and the building measures in 

 the same directions forty-three feet and forty-nine. 

 Single doorways face the east, south, and west, 

 having massive lintels of sapote wood covered with 

 elaborate carvings, and the jambs are ornamented 

 with sculptured figures, one of which is represented 

 in the engraving opposite. The sculpture is much 

 worn, but the head-dress, ornamented with a plume 

 of feathers, and portions of the rich attire still remain. 

 The face is well preserved, and has a dignified ap- 

 pearance. It has, too, earrings, and the nose bored, 

 which, according to the historical accounts, was so 

 prevalent a custom in Yucatan, that long after the 

 conquest the Spaniards passed laws for its prohibi 

 tion. 



All the other jambs are decorated with sculpture 

 of the same general character, and all open into a 

 corridor six feet wide, extending round three sides 

 of the building. 



The doorway facing the north, represented in the 

 engraving, presents a grander appearance, being 

 twenty feet wide, and having two short massive 

 columns, eight feet eight inches high, with two large 

 projections at the base, entirely covered with elab- 

 orate sculpture. This doorway gives access to a 

 corridor forty feet long by six feet four inches wide 

 and seventeen feet high. In the back wall of this 

 corridor is a single doorway, having sculptured 

 jambs, over which is a richly-carved sapote beam. 



