ast to west. They are from fourteen
to sixteen feet in height, four feet on each side, and are composed of
separate stones, from one to two feet in thickness. But few have
fallen, though some have lost their upper layer of stones. There are no
remains of any structure or of a roof. If there ever was one, it must
have been of wood, which would seem most incongruous and inappropriate
for such a solid structure of stones. The whole mound was so overgrown
that we could not ascertain the juxtaposition of the pillars till the
growth was cleared away, when we made out the whole, but with little or
no enlargement of our knowledge as to its uses and purposes. It was a
new and extraordinary feature, entirely different from any we had seen,
and at the very end of our journey, when we supposed ourselves familiar
with the character of American ruins, threw over them a new air of
mystery.

In the same vicinity are other mounds of colossal dimensions, one of
which is also called the Palace, but of a different construction and
without pillars. On another, at the head of the ruined staircase, is an
opening under the top of a doorway, nearly filled up, crawling through
which, by means of the crotch of a tree I descended into a dark chamber
fifteen feet long and ten wide, of rude construction, and of which some
of the stones in the wall measured seven feet in length. This is called
Akabna, casa obscura, or dark house. Near this is a senote, with the
remains of steps leading down to water, which once supplied the ancient
city. The ruins cover a great extent, but all were overgrown, and in a
condition too ruinous to be presented in a drawing. They were ruder and
more massive than all the others we had seen, bore the stamp of an
older era, and more than any others, in fact, for the first time in the
country, suggested the idea of Cyclopean remains; but even here we have
a gleam of historic light, faint, it is true, but, in my mind,
sufficient to dispel all unsettled and wavering notions.

In the account of the march of Don Francisco Montejo from the coast,
presented in the early part of these pages, it is mentioned that the
Spaniards reached a town called Ake, at which they found themselves
confronted by a great multitude of armed Indians. A desperate battle
ensued, which lasted two days, and in which the Spaniards were
victorious, but gained no easy triumph.

There is no other mention of Ake, and in this there is no allusion
whatever to