300 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



other, it is ornamented with sculpture. In the cen- 

 tre is a gateway ten feet eight inches wide, spanned 

 by the triangular arch, and leading to the courtyard. 

 On each side of this gateway are four doorways 

 with wooden lintels, opening to apartments avera- 

 ging twenty-four feet long, ten feet wide, and seven- 

 teen feet high to the top of the arch, but having no 

 communication with each other. 



The building that forms the right or eastern side 

 of the quadrangle is one hundred and fifty-eight feet 

 long ; that on the left is one hundred and seventy- 

 three feet long, and the range opposite or at the end 

 of the quadrangle measures two hundred and sixty- 

 four feet. 



These three ranges of buildings have no door- 

 ways outside, but the exterior of each is a dead 

 wall, and above the cornice all are ornamented 

 with the same rich and elaborate sculpture. On 

 the exterior of the range last mentioned, the designs 

 are simple, and among them are two rude, naked 

 figures, which have been considered as indicating 

 the existence of that same Eastern worship before 

 referred to among the people of Uxmal. 



Such is the exterior of this building. Passing 

 through the arched gateway, we enter a noble court- 

 yard, with four great facades looking down upon it, 

 each ornamented from one end to the other with 

 the richest and most intricate carving known in the 

 art of the builders of Uxmal ; presenting a scene 

 of strange magnificence, surpassing any that is now 



