In Yucatan, as in Egypt, where great monoliths were used far | 
_ from the quarries in which they were cut, the question of transpor- 
_ tation is a puzzle, particularly as, in America, there were no large 
beasts of burden. Still the builders in Yucatan used no such mon- 
strous stones as are found in Peru and the massive ruins along the 
Mexican plateau; but these countries, so far as we know, labored 
under the same difficulties. But the size of the stones, apart from the 
quantity of this material used in the Yucatan structures, is amazing, 
and the wonder is increased when we realize the carvings on the 
exposed faces of the stones. These carvings, in the rough at least, 
were made before the stones were placed in their permanent position. 
As in Egypt, and along the Tigris and Euphrates, the sculptur- 
ings of the Mayas are conventional; but these art works are not, so 
far as we can see, intended to be likenesses, but, rather, architectural 
decorations like the gargoyles and Atlantes used in medieval and | 
modern architecture. Speaking of these mural or facade designs, 
Professor Holmes says, with force and eloquence: ‘ Words fail to give 
a clear notion of the work, for what definite conception is conveyed 
when it is stated that in a single continuous facade upward of 
twenty thousand stones were used, not only hewn of varied special 
~ shapes, but each sculptured to represent some individual part of a 
face, figure, or geometrical design, and all fitted together with such 
skill as to give the effect of an unbroken whole.” 
But it was not only in arranging hewn stones into systematic 
forms that these people excelled, for, after the material was in posi- 
tion, they lavished on its final decoration, in the way of stucco and 
painting, an amount of careful and artistic work that wins the admi- 
ration of the beholder, while he asks, without hope of answer, Cui 
bono? Yet, with all this effort at magnificence, there are certain 
defects in all this architecture that indicate a state of progress that can 
hardly be called advanced, from our standpoint. It would be inter- 
esting to follow Professor Holmes in his clear description of the mate- 
nial and work of the Mayan builders, but it is our purpose to speak 
of those interesting ruins as they now are, rather than to speculate as 
to the methods and purposes of the designers. _ 
