serving as a foundation for a floor of cement, which, from long
exposure to the rainy seasons, has now entirely disappeared.

At the back of the last-mentioned range of the Monjas is another, or
rather there are several ranges of buildings, standing lower than the
House of the Nuns, in irregular order, and much ruined.

To the first portion of these we gave the name of the House of the
Birds, from the circumstance of its being ornamented on the exterior
with representations of feathers and birds rudely sculptured. The
preceding engraving represents a part of these ornaments.

The remaining portion consists of some very large rooms, among which
are two fifty-three feet long, fourteen wide, and about twenty high,
being the largest, or at least the widest in Uxmal. In one of them are
the remains of painting well preserved, and in the other is an arch,
which approaches nearer to the principle of the keystone than any we
had yet met with in our whole exploration of ruins. It is very similar
to the earliest arches, if they may be so called, of the Etruscans and
Greeks, as seen at Arpino in the kingdom of Naples, and Tiryns in
Greece. (See engravings in the Appendix.)

From this range of buildings we descend to the House of the Dwarf, also
known by the name of la Casa del Adivino, or the House of the Diviner,
from its overlooking the whole city, and enabling its occupant to be
cognizant of all that was passing around him.

The courtyard of this building is one hundred and thirty-five feet by
eighty-five. It is bounded by ranges of mounds from twenty-five to
thirty feet thick, now covered with a rank growth of herbage, but
which, perhaps, once formed ranges of buildings. In the centre is a
large circular stone, like those seen in the other courtyards, called
the Picote.

[Engraving 27: West Front of the House of the Dwarf]

The plate opposite represents the west front of this building, with the
mound on which it stands The base is so ruined and encumbered with
fallen stones that it is difficult to ascertain its precise dimensions,
but, according to our measurement, it is two hundred and thirty-five
feet long, and one hundred and fifty-five wide. Its height is
eighty-eight feet, and to the top of the building it is one hundred and
five feet. Though diminishing as it rises, its shape is not exactly
pyramidal, but its ends are rounded. It is encased with stone, and
apparently solid from the plain.

A great part of the fr