388 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



base was sculptured, and, on examination, we found 

 a continuous line of hieroglyphics. Mr. Cather- 

 wood made drawings of these as they lay scattered 

 about, but, as I cannot present them in the order in 

 which they stood, they are omitted altogether. 



In the centre of the platform is a range of stone 

 steps forty feet wide and twenty in number, leading 

 to an upper terrace, on which stands the building. 

 This building is one hundred and fifty-one feet front, 

 and the moment we saw it we were struck with the 

 extraordinary richness and ornament of its facade. 

 In all the buildings of Uxmal, without a single ex- 

 ception, up to the cornice which runs over the door- 

 way the facades are of plain stone ; but this was 

 ornamented from the very foundation, two layers 

 under the lower cornice, to the top. 



The reader will observe that a great part of this 

 facade has fallen ; toward the north end, however, 

 a portion of about twenty-five feet remains, which, 

 though not itself entire, shows the gorgeousness 

 of decoration with which this facade was once 

 adorned. The plate opposite represents this part, 

 exactly as it stands, with the cornice over the top 

 fallen. 



The ornaments are of the same character with 

 those at Uxmal, alike complicated and incompre- 

 hensible, and from the fact that every part of the 

 facade was ornamented with sculpture, even to the 

 portion now buried under the lower cornice, the 

 whole must have presented a greater appearance of 



