102 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



State of preservation. We ascended by large stone 

 steps, in some places perfect, and in others throv^n down 

 by trees vv^hich had grovrn up between the crevices, and 

 reached a terrace, the form of which it was impossible 

 to make out, from the density of the forest in which it 

 was enveloped. Our guide cleared a way with his ma- 

 chete, and we passed, as it lay half buried in the earth, 

 a large fragment of stone elaborately sculptured, and 

 came to the angle of a structure with steps on the sides, 

 in form and appearance, so far as the trees would ena- 

 ble us to make it out, like the sides of a pyramid. Di- 

 verging from the base, and working our way through 

 the thick woods, we came upon a square stone col- 

 umn, about fourteen feet high and three feet on each 

 side, sculptured in very bold relief, and on all four of 

 the sides, from the base to the top. The front was the 

 figure of a man curiously and richly dressed, and the 

 face, evidently a portrait, solemn, stern, and well fitted 

 to excite terror. The back was of a different design, 

 unlike anything we had ever seen before, and the sides 

 were covered with hieroglyphics. This our guide called 

 an " Idol;" and before it, at a distance of three feet, was 

 a large block of stone, also sculptured with figures and 

 emblematical devices, which he called an altar. The 

 sight of this unexpected monument put at rest at once 

 and forever, in our minds, all uncertainty in regard to 

 the character of American antiquities, and gave us the 

 assurance that the objects we were in search of were in- 

 teresting, not only as the remains of an unknown peo- 

 ple, but as works of art, proving, like newly-discovered 

 historical records, that the people who once occupied 

 the Continent of America were not savages. With an 

 interest perhaps stronger than we had ever felt in wan- 

 dering among the ruins of Egypt, we followed our 



