d the whole, loaded as it is with ornament, conveys
the idea of vastness and magnificence rather than that of taste and
refinement.

This building has on curious feature. It is erected over, and
completely encloses, a smaller one of older date. The doorways, walls,
and wooden lintels of the latter are all seen, and where the outer
building is fallen, the ornamented cornice of the inner one is visible.

[Engraving 22: View from the Nuns]

From the platform of the steps of this building, looking across the
courtyard, a grand view presents itself, embracing all the principal
buildings that now tower above the plain, except the House of the
Dwarf. The engraving opposite represents this view. In the foreground
is the inner facade of the front range of the Monjas, with a portion of
the range on each side of the courtyard. To the left, in the distance,
appears the Casa de la Vieja, or of the Old Woman, and, rising grandly
above the front of the Monjas, are the House of the Turtles, that of
the Governor, and the Casa de Palomos, or the House of the Pigeons.

[Engraving 23: East Side of the Courtyard of the Monjas]

The last of the four sides of the courtyard, standing on the right of
the entrance, is represented in the plate opposite. It is the most
entire of any, and, in fact, wants but little more than its wooden
lintels, and some stones which have been picked out of the facade below
the cornice, to make it perfect. It is, too, the most chaste and simple
in design and ornament, and it was always refreshing to turn from the
gorgeous and elaborate masses on the other facades to this curious and
pleasing combination.

The ornament over the centre doorway is the most important, the most
complicated and elaborate, and of that marked and peculiar style which
characterizes the highest efforts of these ancient builders. The
ornaments over the other doorways are less striking, more simple, and
more pleasing. In all of them there is in the centre a masked face with
the tongue hanging out, surmounted by an elaborate headdress; between
the horizontal bars is a range of diamond-shaped ornaments, in which
the remains of red paint are still distinctly visible, and at each end
of these bars is a serpent's head, with the mouth wide open.

[Engraving 24: Southeast Corner of Monjas]

The engraving opposite represents the southeast corner of this
building. The angle exhibits the great face before presented, with the
stone curving upward