GIGANTIC HEAD. 



143 



circus of Fuentesj but which, instead of being circular, 

 is rectangular, one hundred and forty feet long and nine- 

 ty broad, with steps on all the sides. This was proba- 

 ' bly the most holy place in the temple. Beyond doubt 

 it had been the theatre of great events and of imposing 

 religious ceremonies ; but what those ceremonies were, 

 or who were the actors in them, or what had brought 

 them to such a fearful close, were mysteries which it was 

 impossible to fathom. There was no idol or altar, nor 

 were there any vestiges of them. On the left, standing 

 alone, two thirds of the way up the steps, is the gigan- 

 tic head opposite. It is moved a little from its place, 

 and a portion of the ornament on one side has been 

 thrown down some distance by the expansion of the 

 trunk of a large tree, as shown by the drawing. The 

 head is about six feet high, and the style good. Like 

 many of the others, with the great expansion of the 

 eyes it seems intended to inspire awe. On either side 

 of it, distant about thirty or forty feet, and rather lower 

 down, are other fragments of sculpture of colossal di- 

 mensions and good design, and at the foot are two co- 

 lossal heads turned over and partly buried, well worthy 

 the attention of future travellers and artists. The 

 whole area is overgrown with trees and encumbered 

 with decayed vegetable matter, with fragments of curi- 

 ous sculpture protruding above the surface, which, prob- 

 ably with many others completely buried, would be 

 brought to light by digging. 



On the opposite side, parallel with the river, is a 

 range of fifteen steps to a terrace twelve feet wide, and 

 then fifteen steps more to another terrace twenty feet 

 wide, extending to the river wall. On each side of the 

 centre of the steps is a mound of ruins, apparently of 

 a circular tower. About half way up the steps on this 



