A SINGULAR STONE, 



181 



The platform of this terrace is a noble terra plana, 

 five hundred and forty-five feet long and tv^o hun- 

 dred and fifty feet wide, and, from the remains still 

 visible upon it, once contained structures and orna- 

 ments of various kinds, the character of which it is 

 now difficult to make out. On our first arrival the 

 whole was covered with a rank growth of bushes 

 and weeds ten or twelve feet high, on clearing which 

 away these remains were brought to light. 



Along the south end there is an oblong structure 

 about three feet high, two hundred long, and fifteen 

 feet wide, at the foot of which there is a range of 

 pedestals and fragments of columns about five feet 

 high and eighteen inches in diameter. There are 

 no remains of a roof or of any other structure con- 

 nected with them. 



Near the centre of the platform, at a distance of 

 eighty feet from the foot of the steps, is a square en- 

 closure, consisting of two layers of stones, in which 

 stands, in an oblique position, as if falling, or, per- 

 haps, as if an effort had been made to throw it down, 

 a large round stone, measuring eight feet above the 

 ground and five feet in diameter. Thi^ stone is stri- 

 king for its uncouth and irregular proportions, and 

 wants conformity with the regularity and symmetry 

 of all around. From its conspicuous position, it 

 doubtless had some important use, and, in connex- 

 ion with other monuments found at this place, in- 

 duces the behef that it was connected with the cer- 

 emonial rites of an ancient worship known to have 



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