hree hundred pyramids, all of them covered
with ruins. In this connection he refers to the assertions of some of
the early Spanish voyagers, that, when skirting the shores of Tobasco,
they "saw on the shore, and far in the interior, a multitude of
structures, whose white and polished walls glittered in the sun." On one
large pyramid, one hundred and fifteen feet high, he found the remains
of a building two hundred and thirty-five feet long.

This building is named the palace. In this building we met with the type
that we have learned is the prevailing one further south--that is, three
parallel walls, forming two rows of rooms. In general, the rooms are
not well arranged for comfort, according to our opinion; but they were,
doubtless, well adapted to the communal mode of life prevalent among
the Indians. M. Charney seems to have been strongly impressed with the
number and importance of the ruins in this State; but, strangely enough,
others have not mentioned them.<42> He says: "I am daily receiving
information about the ruins scattered all over the State of Tobasco,
hidden in the forests.... The imagination fails to realize the vast
amount of labor it would involve to explore even a tithe of these
ancient sites. These mountains of ruins extend over twelve miles. We
still see the hollows in the ground whence the soil was taken for the
construction of these pyramids. But they did not consist merely of
clay; bricks, too, entered into their construction, and there were
strengthening walls to make them firmer. These structures are more
wonderful than the pyramids and the other works at Teotihuacan, and they
far surpass the pyramids of Egypt."

In the neighboring State of Chiapas, we find the location of several
groups of ruins. At Ocosingo, we have the evident traces of a large
settlement. Mr. Stephens mentions four or five pyramids crowned with
buildings. Immediately beyond these pyramids he came upon an open
plateau, which he considered to have been the site of the city proper.
It was protected on all sides by the same high terraces, overlooking for
a great distance the whole country around, and rendering it impossible
for an enemy to approach from any quarter without being discovered.
"Across this table was a high and narrow causeway, which seemed partly
natural and partly artificial, and at some distance on which was a
mound, with the foundation of a building that had probably been a
tower. Beyond this the causeway exten