iod of time the use of iron and steel was known on this continent,
and that the knowledge had become lost among the later inhabitants.

From the great terrace a large structure is seen at a distance
indistinctly through the trees, and, pointing it out to an Indian, I
set out with him to examine it. Descending among the trees, we soon
lost sight of it entirely, but, pursuing the direction, the Indian
cutting a way with his machete, we came upon a building, which,
however, I discovered, was not the one we were in search of. It was
about ninety feet in front, the walls were cracked, and all along the
base the ground was strewed with sculptured stones, the carving of
which was equal to any we had seen. Before reaching the door I crawled
through a fissure in the wall into an apartment, at one end of which,
in the arch, I saw an enormous hornet's nest; and in turning to take a
hasty leave, saw at the opposite end a large ornament in stucco, having
also a hornet's nest attached to it, painted, the colours being still
bright and vivid, and surprising me as much as the sculptured beams. A
great part had fallen and it had the appearance of having been wantonly
destroyed. The engraving below represents this fragment. The ornament,
when entire, appears to have been intended to represent two large
eagles facing each other; on each side are seen drooping plumes of
feathers. The opposite end of the arch, where hung the hornet's nest,
had marks of stucco in the same form, and probably once contained a
corresponding ornament.

[Engraving 46: Stucco Ornament]

Beyond this was the great building which we had set out to find. The
front was still standing, in some places, particularly on the corner,
richly ornamented; but the back part was a heap of ruins. In the centre
was a gigantic staircase leading to the top, on which there was another
building with two ranges of apartments, the outer one fallen, the inner
one entire.

In descending on the other side over a mass of ruins, I found at one
corner a deep hole, which apparently led into a cave, but, crawling
down, I found that it conducted to the buried door of a chamber on a
new and curious plan. It had a raised platform about four feet high,
and in each of the inner corners was a rounded vacant place, about
large enough for a man to stand in; part of the back wall was covered
with prints of the red hand. They seemed so fresh, and the seams and
creases were so distinct, that I made sev