d to the lowness of the building. The lintels over the doors are
of stone.

[Engraving 43: Building (Casa no. 3)]

Leaving this building, and crossing an overgrown and wooded plain, at
the distance of about three hundred and fifty yards we reach the
terrace of Casa No. 3. The platform of this terrace, too, had been
planted with corn, and was easily cleared. The plate opposite
represents the front of the edifice, which, when we first came upon it,
was so beautifully shrouded by trees that it was painful to be obliged
to disturb them, and we spared every branch that did not obstruct the
view. While Mr. Catherwood was making his drawing, rain came on, and,
as he might not be able to get his camera lucida in position again, he
continued his work, with the protection of an India-rubber cloak and an
Indian holding an umbrella over the stand. The rain was of that sudden
and violent character often met with in tropical climates, and in a few
minutes flooded the whole ground. The washing of the water from the
upper terrace appears in the engraving.

This building is called by the Indians la Casa de la Justicia. It is
one hundred and thirteen feet long. There are five apartments, each
twenty feet long and nine wide, and all perfectly plain. The front is
plain, except the pillars in the wall between the doorways indicated in
the engraving; and above, in front, at the end, and on the back are
rows of small pillars, forming a simple and not inelegant ornament.

[Engraving 44: Triumphal Arch]

Besides these, there are on this side of the camino real the remains of
other buildings, but all in a ruinous condition, and there is one
monument, perhaps more curious and interesting than any that has been
presented. It is a lonely arch, of the same form with all the rest,
having a span of fourteen feet. It stands on a ruined mound,
disconnected from every other structure, in solitary grandeur. Darkness
rests upon its history, but in that desolation and solitude, among the
ruins around, it stood like the proud memorial of a Roman triumph.
Perhaps, like the arch of Titus, which at this day spans the Sacred Way
at Rome, it was erected to commemorate a victory over enemies.

These were all the principal remains on this side of the camino real;
they were all to which our Indian guides conducted us, and, excepting
two mentioned hereafter, they were all of which, up to that time, any
knowledge existed; but on the other side of the camino real