140 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



outside to the terraces, and thence to the holy places 

 within to pay their adoration in the temple. 



Within this enclosure are two rectangular court- 

 yards, having ranges of steps ascending to terraces. 

 The area of each is about forty feet above the river. 

 Of the larger and most distant from the river the steps 

 have all fallen, and constitute mere mounds. On one 

 side, at the foot of the pyramidal wall, is the monument 

 or idol" marked B, of which the engraving repre- 

 sents the front. It is about the same height with the 

 others, but differs in shape, being larger at the top 

 than below. Its appearance and character are tasteful 

 and pleasing, but the sculpture is in much lower relief ; 

 the expression of the hands is good, though somewhat 

 formal. The figure of a man shows the relative height. 

 The back and sides are covered with hieroglyphics. 



Near this, at the point marked A, is a remarkable 

 altar, which perhaps presents as curious a subject of 

 speculation as any monument in Copan. The altars, 

 like the idols, are all of a single block of stone. In 

 general they are not so richly ornamented, and are 

 more faded and worn, or covered with moss ; some 

 were completely bmied, and of others it was difficult to 

 make out more than the form. All differed in fashion, 

 and doubtless had some distinct and peculiar reference 

 to the idols before which they stood. This stands on 

 four globes cut out of the same stone ; the sculpture is 

 in bas-relief, and it is the only specimen of that kind 

 of sculpture found at Copan, all the rest being in bold 

 alto-relievo. It is six feet square and four feet high, 

 and the top is divided into thirty-six tablets of hiero- 

 glyphics, which beyond doubt record some event in the 

 history of the mysterious people who once inhabited the 



