596 THE INSCRIPTIONS AT COPAN. 
to ascend from the neighboring plain to all the eminences and places where sacri- 
fices were made, by steps which in many places are now deteriorated and lost. 
The little plaza [the Eastern Court] surrounding the church is 21 yards above the 
level of the river, and ascent from it is made also by steps which surround it on 
four sides to the place of sacrifice, to the north, to the west, and to the precipice 
on the bank of the river. (This is shown from the opposite side of the river under 
No. 3.) It is a wall of partially quarried stone, the height of which, as now shown, 
is 47 yards. It contains three openings, called windows, the principal and highest 
of which, wherein the body of a man can be placed, is 1 yard and 13 inches high 
and 30 inches at its greatest width. (See fig. 4.) (I estimate the vara or yard at 
32 inches, and the latter is a half inch longer than the Castillian vara or yard.) It 
is constructed, without mortar, of large quarried stones, and extends directly into 
the hill at the same level and size until it terminates at the same height as the floor 
of the little plaza, and communicates only with the latter; it 1s difficult to guess 
its use, because it evidently was not used for drainage. ‘The window farthest to 
.the north can not be entered on account of its small size, inasmuch as the bottom 
thereof being filled with earth, constituting a solid terrace, there is only left an 
aperture 16 inches wide by 8 inches high. The window nearest the water is larger, 
but is filled in a yard from its mouth or opening. The whole of said wall is very 
much deteriorated and broken up, although it still has two whole sections built of 
small, square stones. 
Among many excavations, I made one at a place ending in the small plaza 
[the Eastern Court], where the highest window is located. First I encountered the 
opening of this window, and excavating to a greater depth, we entered a sepulchral 
chamber, the floor of which is 4 yards and g inches lower than that of the small 
plaza. It is 2 yards and 6 inches high, 2 yards wide, and 3 yards and 1g inches 
long, extending directly from north to south, in accordance with the compass, which 
in these countries has a variation of 9° to the east. The outline of its form is 
shown in No. 5. It has two niches on each side which are 18 inches high from the 
floor and which are 16 inches deep, 19 inches high and 28 inches wide, and both the 
niches and the floor of the sepulcher were filled with pieces of red earthenware 
coated with tar, such as dishes, wash-bowls, frying-pans, and pitchers. I took out 
more than 50 of superior workmanship, and some of these were full of human bones, 
mixed with lime, sharp razors, and with a material that the Mexicans used to call 
“Ttzli,”’ with a small head (see No. 6), which seemed to represent the head of a 
corpse, the eyes almost closed, the lower jaw fallen, and protruding lips, there being 
many symmetrical holes in the back, as for hanging or shaking the same, the whole 
head being made of a fine stone covered with green enamel,! the same as two 
strings of beads which I also found in the vault, together with many shells of 
snails and oysters, which undoubtedly were brought from the sea in compliance 
with some superstition. Besides, there were stalactites brought from some cave 
to be deposited here. The whole floor of the subterranean vault was filled with 
fragments of bones, and under them there was a layer of lime on the solid pavement 
of stone. The stones from which this vault is constructed are 10 inches thick and 
10 inches wide and long, and were not set in mortar. 
To the west of the square and a little above the steps, there is the gigantic 
bust (No. 7), called by the common people “The Bull”; it is 2 yards high, although 
the crest is made of stone separated from the head.?. On the same steps, but a little 
below and in the direction of the place where sacrifices were performed, there is a 

1Galindo here doubtless refers to jade. *See Stephens, 1841, vol. 1, plate facing page 143. 
