hroughout the ruins is more frequently seen than any other. In the
engraving the centre presents a long, flat, smooth surface. This
indicates a projecting ornament, which cannot be exhibited in a front
view; but, as seen in profile, consists of a stone projecting from the
face of the wall, as shown in the following cut; and the reader must
suppose this stone projecting in order clearly to understand the
character of the ornament last presented. It measures one foot seven
inches in length from the stem by which it is fixed in the wall to the
end of the curve, and resembles somewhat an elephant's trunk, which
name has, perhaps not inaptly, been given to it by Waldeck, though it
is not probable that as such the sculptor intended it, for the elephant
was unknown on the Continent of America. This projecting stone appears
with this combination all over the facade and at the corners; and
throughout all the buildings it is met with, sometimes in a reversed
position, oftener than any other design in Uxmal. It is a singular
fact, that though entirely out of reach, the ends of nearly all of them
have been broken off; and among the many remains in every part of the
walls throughout the whole ruins, there are but three that now exist
entire. Perhaps they were wantonly broken by the Spaniards; though at
this day the Indians believe these old buildings are haunted, and that
all the monefatos or ornaments are animated, and walk at night In the
daytime, it is believed, they can do no harm, and for ages the Indians
have been in the habit of breaking and disfiguring them with the
machete, believing that by so doing they quiet their wandering spirits.

The combination of the last two engravings is probably intended to
represent a hideous human face; the eyes and teeth appear in the first,
and the projecting stone is perhaps intended for the nose or snout. It
occupies a space in breadth equal to about five feet of the wall. To
present the whole facade on the same scale would require an engraving
sixty-four times as long as this. The reader will perceive how utterly
unprofitable it would be to attempt a verbal description of such a
facade, and the lines in the engraving show that, as I remarked in my
former account, there is no tablet or single stone representing
separately and by itself an entire subject, but every ornament or
combination is made up of separate stones, each of which had carved on
it part of the subject, and was then set in i