that this ruin is nearer Palenque than any of the places in
Yucatan yet described. Stucco ornaments, so apparent at the latter
place, were now becoming numerous again. At Uxmal stone for building
could be had in the greatest abundance--it was not as plenty here. The
builders, apparently, adapted their ornamentation to the material at
hand; and, while at Palenque they employed stucco in ornament, at Uxmal
they carved stone.<53>

We must now leave this interesting section of Yucatan, though only a few
places have been mentioned. The reader is well aware of the difference
of opinion with which these ruins are viewed. Some of them are
unquestionably temples. If we regard the others as palaces and the
public buildings of great cities, we are at once puzzled to account
for their great numbers. If we look on the majority of them as communal
residences of the inhabitants, we are amazed at the mass of decorations
with which they are adorned. But our admiration stops there--we are
accustomed to speak of them as stately edifices. This is owing to their
exterior ornaments, and their position on terraced mounds. The houses
are often of great length, but not striking in other regards. The rooms,
in the majority of cases, are small, low, dark, and ill ventilated. A
great amount of useless labor was bestowed upon the walls, which were
unnecessarily massive.

Near the center of the northern part of the peninsula is seen a place
marked Chichen, to which is generally added the word Itza, making the
entire name of the place Chichen-Itza. In this case the ancient Maya
name has come down to us with the ruins--Chichen meaning the "mouth of
wells," having reference to two springs which supplied the place with
water. Itza is the name of a branch of the Maya people. This place is of
interest to us in several ways. It was, unquestionably, a renowned city
in aboriginal times. Here the Spaniards met with a very severe repulse.
As a ruin it attracted the attention of early writers, and it has been
the subject of antiquarian research in recent times. The description of
the buildings will not detain us long. They are, evidently, the work of
the same people as those whose structures we have already described.

One of the most important buildings is known as the Nunnery, reminding
us at once of the collection of buildings of that name at Uxmal. In this
case, however, the pyramid is represented by a solid mass of masonry
one hundred and twelve by one