ecrets they
contain, but physical force can never unravel the mystery that involves
this sculptured tablet.

[Engraving 39: End Facade of the Monjas]

Leaving this building, and following the path indicated in the map, at
the distance of one hundred and fifty yards westward we reach a modern
stone fence, dividing the cattle-field of the hacienda, on the other
side of which appears through the trees, between two other buildings
the end facade of a long, majestic pile, called, like one of the
principal edifices at Uxmal, the Monjas, or Nuns; it is remarkable for
its good state of preservation, and the richness and beauty of its
ornaments, as represented in the plate opposite. The view comprehends
the corner of a building on the right, at a short distance, called the
Eglesia, or Church. The height of this facade is twenty-five feet, and
its width thirty-five. It has two cornices of tasteful and elaborate
design. Over the doorway are twenty small cartouches of hieroglyphics
in four rows, five in a row, barely indicated in the engraving, and to
make room for which the lower cornice is carried up. Over these stand
out in a line six bold projecting curved ornaments, like that presented
from the House of the Governor at Uxmal, resembling an elephant's
trunk, and the upper centre space over the doorway is an irregular
circular niche, in which portions of a seated figure, with a head-dress
of feathers, still remain. The rest of the ornaments are of that
distinctive stamp, characteristic of the ancient American cities, and
unlike the designs of any other people, with which the reader must now
be familiar. The tropical plants and shrubs growing on the roof, which,
when we first saw it, hung over the cornice like a fringe-work, added
greatly to the picturesque effect of this elegant facade.

[Engraving 40: Front of the Monjas]

The plate opposite represents the front of the same building. It is
composed of two structures entirely different from each other, one of
which forms a sort of wing to the principal edifice, and has at the end
the facade before presented. The whole length is two hundred and
twenty-eight feet, and the depth of the principal structure is one
hundred and twelve feet. The only portion containing interior chambers,
is that which I have called the wing. This has two doorways opening
into chambers twenty-six feet long and eight feet deep, behind each of
which is another of corresponding dimensions, now filled up