required
in constructing modern buildings. Much of the country is thinly
inhabited, and parts of it are heavily wooded. It is there that the
remains of a prior civilization have best escaped the hand of man, more
to be dreaded than the ravages of time.

The stone edifices of Uxmal are numerous, and are generally placed upon
artificial elevations; they are not crowded together, but are scattered
about singly and in groups over a large extent of territory. The most
conspicuous is an artificial pyramidal mound, upon the top of which is a
stone building two stories in height, supposed to have been used as a
sacrificial temple. One side of this mound is perpendicular; the
opposite side is approached by a flight of stone steps. The building on
the top, and the steps by which the ascent is made are in good
preservation. Some of the large buildings are of magnificent
proportions, and are much decorated with bas reliefs of human figures
and faces in stone, and with other stone ornaments. The writer does not
recollect seeing any stucco ornamentation at this place, though such
material is used elsewhere. What are popularly called "House of the
Governor" and "House of the Nuns," are especially remarkable for their
wonderful preservation; so that from a little distance they appear
perfect and entire, except at one or two points which look as if struck
by artillery. The rooms in the ruins are of various sizes, and many of
them could be made habitable with little labor, on removing the rubbish
which has found its way into them.

The impression received from an inspection of the ruins of Uxmal was,
that they had been used as public buildings, and residences of officers,
priests and high dignitaries. Both Stephens and Prescott are of the
opinion that some of the ruins in this territory were built and occupied
by the direct ancestors of the Indians, who now remain as slaves upon
the soil where once they ruled as lords.[21-*] The antiquity of other
remains evidently goes back to an earlier epoch, and antedates the
arrival of the Spaniards. If the Indians of the time of the conquest
occupied huts like those of the Indians of to-day, it is not strange
that all vestiges of their dwellings should have disappeared. Mr.
Stephens gives an interesting notice of the first formal conveyance of
the property of Uxmal, made by the Spanish government in 1673, which was
shown him by the present owner, in which the fact that the Indians,
then, worshipp