A GRAND STRUCTURE. 



161 



building. By afternoon the clearing was finished, 

 and he made his drawing, which appears in the en- 

 graving opposite. 



The lowest range or story is one hundred and 

 forty-five feet in length. The roof and a portion 

 of the facade have fallen, and almost buried the cen- 

 tre doorways. The apartments containing the stair- 

 cases are indicated in a plan hereinafter presented. 

 Each staircase consists of two flights, with a plat- 

 form at the head of the first, which forms the foot 

 of the second, and they lead out upon the roof, un- 

 der the projection which stands like a watch-tower 

 in the wall of the second range, and from this range 

 two interior staircases lead out in the same way to 

 the platform of the third. 



The reader will observe that in the second and 

 third ranges there are no openings of any kind ex- 

 cept those at the head of the staircases, but simply 

 a plain, solid wall. At first sight of this wall we 

 thought we had really at last found a casa cerrada, 

 and almost wished for the cura with his bombas. 

 The major domo, looking up at it, called it so ; but 

 it seemed strange that such a character had ever 

 been ascribed to it ; for, barely working our way 

 round the platform of the terrace, we found ranges 

 of doorways opening into apartments, and that this 

 was merely what we had often seen before, a back 

 wall without doors or windows. And we made an- 

 other much more interesting and important discov- 

 ery. The elevation which we came upon first, fa- 



VoL. XL— X 



