sonry is much like that
seen in the structures at Palenque, but the finish of the workmanship
appears to have been more artistic and admirable. These ruins are
remarkable among those of the country where they are found. All who have
seen them speak much as Dupaix speaks of the perfection of the masonry,
the admirable design and finish of the work, and the beauty of the
decorations. Their beauty, says M. Charnay, can be matched only by the
monuments of Greece and Rome in their best days. One fact presented by
some of the edifices at Mitla has a certain degree of historical
significance. There appears to be evidence that they were occupied at
some period by people less advanced in civilization than their builders.
M. Charnay, describing one of them, points out this fact. He says of the
structure:

"It is a bewildering maze of courts and buildings, with facings
ornamented with mosaics in relief of the purest design; but under the
projections are found traces of paintings wholly primitive in style, in
which the right line is not even respected. These are rude figures of
idols, and meandering lines that have no significance. Similar paintings
appear, with the same imperfection, on every great edifice, in places
which have allowed them shelter against the ravages of time. These rude
designs, associated with palaces so correct in architecture, and so
ornamented with panels of mosaic of such marvelous workmanship, put
strange thoughts in the mind. To find the explanation of this
phenomenon, must we not suppose these palaces were occupied by a race
less advanced in civilization than their first builders?"

Two miles or more away from the great edifices here mentioned, toward
the west, is the "Castle of Mitla." It was built on the summit of an
isolated and precipitous hill of rock, which is accessible only on the
east side. The whole leveled summit of this hill is inclosed by a solid
wall of hewn stone twenty-one feet thick and eighteen feet high. This
wall has salient and retiring angles, with curtains interposed. On the
east side it is flanked by double walls. Within the inclosure are the
remains of several small buildings. The field of these ruins was very
large three hundred years ago. At that time it may have included this
castle.

AN ASTRONOMICAL MONUMENT.

In this part of Mexico Captain Dupaix examined a peculiar ruin, of which
he gave the following account: "Near the road from the village of
Tlalmanalco to that cal