ound one
or more human faces, while full-sized figures are not entirely absent.
This cut represents but a small portion of the facade. It gives us,
however, an idea of the whole. We notice, over the doorway again, the
elephant's trunk ornament.

The northern building, standing high above the rest, on its own terrace,
was doubtless intended to have the grandest front of all. It was,
however, in such a ruined state, and the few remaining fragments so
complicated, that no drawings have been given us. Human figures are
represented in several places; two are apparently playing on musical
instruments. We recall that at Palenque, the roof of some of the temples
bears a curious two-storied work, erected apparently for ornamental
purposes. The same instinct reappears in this building. At regular
intervals along the front they carried the wall above the cornice,
forming thirteen turret-like elevations ten feet wide, and seventeen
feet high. These turrets were also loaded with ornaments. Another
curious feature about this building is, that it was erected over, and
completely inclosed, a smaller building of an older date. Wherever the
outer walls have fallen, the ornamented cornice of the inner building is
visible.

When we reflect on the patient labor that must have been expended on
this pyramid and these buildings, we are filled with admiration for
their perseverance and ingenuity. They had neither domestic animals
or metallic tools. The buildings were massively built and richly
ornamented. The sculptured portion covers over twenty-four thousand
square feet.<48> The terraced mound supporting the house contained over
sixty thousand cubic yards of materials, though this may not be
wholly artificial. To our eyes, as these rooms had neither windows nor
fire-places, they are not very desirable. But we may be sure that the
builders considered them as models of their kind.

Leaving this interesting ruin, we will now visit one of the temples.
This is east of the Nunnery, and is marked "D" on the plan. The mound on
which this building stands is high enough to overlook the entire field
of ruins. This cut represents the eastern side of the mound, up which a
flight of stone steps lead to the building on the summit. There are
some grounds for supposing a grander staircase, supported on triangular
arches, led up the western side.

Illustration of Temple, Uxmal.-------------

The building on the top is not large--only seventy-two feet