CHARACTER OF THE MASONRY. 173 



tempt a verbal description of such a facade, and the 

 lines in the engraving show that, as I remarked in 

 my former account, there is no tablet or single stone 

 representing separately and by itself an entire sub- 

 ject, but every ornament or combination is made up 

 of separate stones, each of which had carved on it 

 part of the subject, and was then set in its place in 

 the wall. Each stone by itself is an unmeaning 

 fractional portion, but, placed by the side of others, 

 makes part of a whole, which without it would be 

 incomplete. Perhaps it may with propriety be 

 called a species of sculptured mosaic ; and I have 

 no doubt that all these ornaments have a symbolical 

 meaning ; that each stone is part of a history, alle- 

 gory, or fable. 



The rear elevation of the Casa del Gobernador is 

 a solid wall, without any doorways or openings of 

 any kind. Like the front, above the cornice it 

 was ornamented throughout its whole length with 

 sculptured stone. The subjects, however, were less 

 complicated, and the sculpture less gorgeous and 

 elaborate ; and on this side, too, a part of the facade 

 has fallen. 



The two ends are thirty-nine feet each. The 

 following engraving represents the southern end. It 

 has but one doorway, and of this, too, the sculptured 

 subjects were more simple. 



The roof is flat, and had been covered with ce- 

 ment ; but the whole is now overgrown with grass 

 and bushes. 



