162 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



cing the west, and shown in the engraving, noble 

 and majestic as it was, was actually the rear of the 

 building, and the front, facing the east, presented the 

 tottering remains of the grandest structure that now 

 rears its ruined head in the forests of Yucatan. 



In front was a grand courtyard, with ranges of 

 ruined buildings, forming a hollow square, and in 

 the centre a gigantic staircase rose from the court- 

 yard to the platform of the third story. On the 

 platform of the second terrace, at each end, stood a 

 high square building like a tower, with the remains 

 of rich ornaments in stucco ; and on the platform 

 of the third, at the head of the grand staircase, one 

 on each side of it, stood two oblong buildings, their 

 facades adorned with colossal figures and ornaments 

 in stucco, seemingly intended as a portal to the 

 structure on the top. In ascending the grand stair- 

 case, cacique, priest, or stranger had before him this 

 gorgeously ornamented portal, and passed through it 

 to enter the centre apartment of the upper story. 



This apartment, however, does not correspond 

 with the grandeur of the approach, and, according 

 to our understanding of proprieties, the view of it is 

 attended with disappointment. It is twenty-three 

 feet long, only five feet six inches wide, and perfect- 

 ly plain, without painting or ornament of any kind. 

 But in this lofty chamber were strange memorials, 

 tokens of recent occupation, indicating, amid the des- 

 olation and solitude around, that within a few years 

 this ruined edifice, from which the owners had per- 



