72 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



Beyond the woods we came out into a compara- 

 tively open field, in wliich we saw on all sides through 

 the trees the Xlap-pahk, or old walls, now grown 

 so familiar, a collection of vast remains and of many 

 buildings. We worked our way to all within sight. 

 The facades were not so much ornamented as some 

 we had seen, but the stones were more massive, and 

 the style of architecture was simple, severe, and 

 grand. Nearly every house had fallen, and one long 

 ornamented front lay on the ground cracked and 

 doubled up as if shaken off by the vibrations of an 

 earthquake, and still struggling to retain its upright 

 position, the whole presenting a most picturesque 

 and imposing scene of ruins, and conveying to the 

 mind a strong image of the besom of destruction 

 sweeping over a city. Night came upon us while 

 gazing at a mysterious painting, and we returned to 

 the casa real to sleep. 



Early the next morning we were again on the 

 ground, with our Indian proprietor and a large par- 

 ty of his criados ; and as the reader is now some- 

 what familiar with the general character of these 

 ruins, I select from the great mass around only such 

 as have some peculiarity. 



The first is that represented in the plate opposite. 

 It had been the principal doorway, and was all that 

 now remained of a long line of front, which lay in 

 ruins on the ground. It is remarkable for its sim- 

 plicity, and, in that style of architecture, for its gran- 

 deur of proportions. 



