390 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



moulding of the wall, we looked out upon the 

 boundless ocean, and deep in the clear water at the 

 foot of the cliff we saw gliding quietly by a great 

 fish eight or ten feet long. 



The plate opposite represents the front of the 

 Castillo. A few of the trees which grew around it 

 appear in the engraving, and one is left growing on 

 the top of the lower range, with its gnarled roots 

 binding the front wall and obstructing the doorway, 

 but no words and no drawing could convey a 

 true idea of the solemnity of its living shroud, or 

 of the impression made upon us when the ring of 

 the axe first broke the stillness that had so long pre- 

 vailed around. The building, including the wings, 

 measures at its base one hundred feet in length. The 

 grand staircase is thirty feet wide, with twenty-four 

 steps, and a substantial balustrade on each side, still 

 in good preservation, gives it an unusually imposing 

 character. In the doorway are two columns, ma- 

 king three entrances, with square recesses above them, 

 all of which once contained ornaments, and in the 

 centre one fragments of a statue still remain. The 

 interior is divided into two corridors, each twenty- 

 six feet long ; the one in front is six feet six inches 

 wide, and had at each end a stone bench, or divan ; 

 and again on the walls we found the mysterious 

 prints of the red hand.* 



* While these pages were passing through the press the author 

 had an opportunity of conferring with Mr. Schoolcraft, a gentle- 

 man well known for his researches into the character and habits 



