the general view we see a tower rising up from the mass of ruins. Mr.
Stephens speaks of this tower as follows. "This tower is conspicuous
by its height and proportions, but an examination in detail is found
unsatisfactory and uninteresting. The base is thirty feet square, and it
has three stories. Entering over a heap of rubbish at the base, we found
within another tower distinct from the outer one, and a stone staircase,
so narrow that a large man could not ascend it. The staircase terminated
against a dead stone ceiling, closing all further passages, the
last step being only six or eight inches from it. For what purpose a
staircase was carried up to such a bootless termination we could not
conjecture. The whole tower was a substantial stone structure, and
in its arrangements and purposes about as incomprehensible as the
sculptured tablets."

At the best we can do, it is hard to give such a description of this
ruin that it can be readily understood, so we will present a restoration
of it by a German artist,<14> taken, however, from Mr. Bancroft's
work.<15> This is very useful to us, since it conveys an idea of how
the palace looked when it was complete. This view also includes a second
structure, which we will examine soon. We notice the numerous doorways
leading into the first corridor, the ornamental pier-like portions of
the wall separating the doors, and the several buildings on the court;
rising over all, the tower, which would have been better if the spire
had been omitted.

Illustration of Palace, Palenque.-----------

This may have been a real palace. Its rooms may have been the
habitations of royalty, and its corridors may have resounded with the
tread of noble personages. M. Charney thinks the palace must have been
the home of priests, and not kings--in fact, that it was a monastery,
where the priests lived who ministered in the neighboring temples.
He thinks Palenque was a holy place, a prehistoric Mecca. We must be
cautious about accepting any theory until scholars are more agreed about
the plan of government and society among the Central American tribes.
But, whatever it was, many years have passed by since it was deserted.
For centuries tropical storms have beat against the stuccoed figures.
The court-yards and corridors are overrun with vegetation, and great
trees are growing on the very top of the tower. So complete is the ruin
that it is with difficulty the plan can be made out. The traveler, as