RUINS OF THE PALACE. 
683 
side, they seem on the brink of a precipice; for there, this 
upper terrace rises stupendously from the plain beneath, its 
perpendicular on that face descending directly to the level 
earth ; whereas the base of the other three sides meet the in¬ 
tervention of the vast table surface of the great platform on 
which they stand, like a smaller hill on one of larger dimensions ; 
but being erected close to the western edge of the immense 
foundation which supports the whole, the walls of both terrace 
and platform taking there one perpendicular line, present a 
grand and fearful precipice. Five of the twelve columns in 
this western division, are still erect; the capitals are in tolerable 
preservation, and the bases of the whole equally perfect. From 
hence, to the eastern range of a similar number, is a distance of 
two hundred and sixty-eight feet. Four of those are standing, 
and the pedestals of four more are yet undemolished ; but the 
rest have been totally destroyed, or lie buried under masses of 
ruin, which become hillocks at this point; spreading very far, 
and indeed so deeply, as to form a regular slope to the walls of 
a spacious edifice, standing farther to the east on the great 
platform ; by which circumstance the face of the terrace in this 
quarter is almost completely lost. 
The form of the columns which compose the three distinct 
colonnades just described, is the same in all, and perfectly beauti¬ 
ful. (Plate XLV.) I gazed at them with wonder and delight. 
Besides the admiration which the general elegance of their form, 
and the exquisite workmanship of their parts excited, I never was 
made so sensible of the impression of perfect symmetry, comprising 
in itself that of perfect beauty also. The total height of each 
column is sixty feet; the circumference of the shaft is sixteen; 
and its length, from the capital to the tor, forty-four feet. The 
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VOL. i. 
