ngle
exception, up to the cornice which runs over the doorway the facades
are of plain stone; but this was ornamented from the very foundation,
two layers under the lower cornice, to the top.

The reader will observe that a great part of this facade has fallen;
toward the north end, however, a portion of about twenty-five feet
remains, which, though not itself entire, shows the gorgeousness of
decoration with which this facade was once adorned. The plate opposite
represents this part, exactly as it stands, with the cornice over the
top fallen.

[Engraving 39: Portion of a richly-sculptured Facade]

The ornaments are of the same character with those at Uxmal, alike
complicated and incomprehensible, and from the fact that every part of
the facade was ornamented with sculpture, even to the portion now
buried under the lower cornice, the whole must have presented a greater
appearance of richness than any building at Uxmal. The cornice running
over the doorways (which is stamped on the cover of this work), tried
by the severest rules of art recognised among us, would embellish the
architecture of any known era, and, amid a mass of barbarism, of rude
and uncouth conceptions, it stands as an offering by American builders
worthy of the acceptance of a polished people.

The lintels of the doorways were of wood; these are all fallen, and of
all the ornaments which decorated them not one now remains. No doubt
they corresponded in beauty of sculpture with the rest of the facade.
The whole now lies a mass of rubbish and ruin at the foot of the wall.

On the top is a structure which, at a distance, as seen indistinctly
through the trees, had the appearance of a second story, and, as we
approached, it reminded us of the towering structures on the top of
some of the ruined buildings at Palenque.

The access to this structure was by no means easy. There was no
staircase or other visible means of communication, either within or
without the building, but in the rear the wall and roof had fallen, and
made in some places high mounds reaching nearly to the top. Climbing up
these tottering fabrics was not free from danger. Parts which appeared
substantial had not the security of buildings constructed according to
true principles of art; at times it was impossible to discover the
supporting power, and the disorderly masses seemed held up by an
invisible hand. While we were clearing off the trees upon the roof, a
shower came up suddenly,