THE CARACOL. 



299 



from the last step, stands the building. It is twen- 

 ty-two feet in diameter, and has four small door- 

 ways facing the cardinal points. A great portion of 

 the upper part and one of the sides have fallen. 

 Above the cornice the roof sloped so as almost to 

 form an apex. The height, including the terraces, 

 is little short of sixty feet, and, when entire, even 

 among the great buildings around, this structure 

 must have presented a striking appearance. The 

 doorways give entrance to a circular corridor five 

 feet wide. The inner wall has also four doorways, 

 smaller than the others, and standing at intermedi- 

 ate points of the compass, facing northeast, north- 

 west, southwest, and southeast. These doors give 

 entrance to a second circular corridor, four feet wide ; 

 and in the centre is a circular mass, apparently of 

 solid stone, seven feet six inches in diameter; but in 

 one place, at the height of eight feet from the ground, 

 was a small square opening choked up with stones, 

 which I endeavoured to clear out ; but the stones 

 falling into the narrow corridor made it dangerous 

 to continue. The roof was so tottering that I could 

 not discover to what this opening led. It was about 

 large enough to admit the figure of a man in a stand- 

 ing position, to look out from the top. The walls 

 of both corridors were plastered and ornamented 

 with paintings, and both were covered with the tri- 

 angular arch. The plan of the building was new, 



