once stood an idol. The inner walls of the building are ANALYSIS. plastered, and ornamented with paintings now much defaced. "The height of the building, including the terraces, is little short of sixty feet. 1. Inner walls. 2. Height of the building3. Other buildings. a. See 4 & 5, page 79. 4. Hiero glyphics. 8. A few hundred feet northwest from the building last described, are two others, each upon elevated terraces. 'The most interesting object in the first of these, which is yet in a state of good preservation, is a large stone tablet covered with hieroglyphics. The farther terrace and building are fast going to decay. These are the only buildings which are still standing on the west side ments, c. of the high road, but the vestiges of extensive mounds, with remains of buildings upon them, and colossal stones, and fragments of sculpture, strew the plain in great profusion. 5. Mounds, ruins, frag 6. The Tower." b. See No. 6, page 79. 7. The mound on tohich i stands. 9. Passing from these ruins across the high road, we come to the Castle or Tower, the grandest and most conspicuous object among the ruins of Chichen. 'It stands upon a lofty mound faced with stone, measuring, at the base, two hundred and two feet, by one hundred and ninety-six, and rising to the height of seventy-five feet. "On the west side is a staircase thirty-seven feet wide; 8. Staircases, and on the north is one forty-four feet wide, and containing ninety steps. At the foot of this staircase are two colossal serpents' heads, ten feet in length, with mouths open and tongues protruding. The platform on the top of Upper plat the mound measures sixty-one feet by sixty-four, and the building forty-three by forty-nine. and serpent's heads. form, &.c. 10. Single doorways face the east, south, and west, 10. Doorways. having massive lintels of wood covered with elaborate carvings, and jambs ornamented with sculptured human. figures. The principal doorway facing the north is twenty feet wide, and has two massive columns, eight feet eight incbes high, with large projections at the base, entirely covered with elaborate sculpture. "The building itself is 11. Height of twenty feet high, forming, in the whole, an elevation of nearly a hundred feet.-"A short distance east of this 12. Groups of structure is an area of nearly four hundred feet square, inclosed by groups of small stone columns from three to six feet high, each consisting of several separate pieces, like millstones. the building. columns. page 79. 11. "Several hundred feet northwest is another struc- 13. Immense parallel ture, consisting of immense parallel walls, each two hun- toalls. dred and seventy-four feet long, thirty feet thick, and one c. See No. 7. hundred and twenty feet apart. "One hundred feet from 14. Buildings each extremity, facing the open space between the walls, are two buildings considerably in ruins, each exhibiting the remains of two columns, richly ornamented, rising at the extremities. ANALYSIS. among the rubbish. 'In the centre of the great stone walls, 1. Massive exactly opposite each other, and at the height of twenty stone rings. feet from the ground, are two massive projecting stone rings, four feet in diameter and thirteen inches thick, hav. ing on the border two sculptured entwined serpents. 2. Importance of these rings. similar rings, and their uses. 12. These stone rings are highly important, as a ray of historic light gleams upon them, showing the probable 3. Herrera's object and uses of this extraordinary structure. 'Herrera, account of in his account of the diversions of Montezuma, in describing a game of Ball, has the following language: "The place where they played was a ground room,-long, narrow, and high, but wider above than below, and higher on the sides than at the ends; and they kept it very well plastered, and smooth, both the walls and the floor. On the side walls they fixed certain stones like those of a mill, with a hole quite through the middle, just as big as the ball; and Important he that could strike it through there won the game." *If ed from this the objects of this structure are identical with the Tennis Court, or Ball Alley, in the city of Mexico, the circumstance establishes, with little doubt, an affinity between the people who erected the ruined cities of Yucatan, and those who inhabited Mexico at the time of the conquest. fact establish circumstance. 5. Description of a building adjoining one of these parallel walls. 6. Ruins of Uxmal. 7. The "House of the 13. At the southern extremity of the most eastern of these parallel walls, and on the outer side, is a building consisting of two ranges; one even with the ground, and the other about twenty-five feet above it,—the latter being in a state of good preservation, and having conspicuous, on the cornice, a procession of tigers or lynxes. The rooms of both divisions abound with sculptures, and designs in painting, representing human figures, battles, houses, trees, and scenes of domestic life. RUINS OF UXMAL.* 1. "The ruins of Uxmal are about fifty miles south of Merida, the principal city and the capital of Yucatan. "The most conspicuous building among the ruins is Governor." called the "House of the Governor," so named by the a. See No. 1, Indians, who supposed it the principal building of the 8. How situa- ancient city, and the residence of its ruler. next page. ted. This build ing stands on the uppermost of three ranges of terraces, 9. The first each walled with cut stone. "The first terrace is five and second terraces. hundred and seventy-five feet in length, and three feet high. Above this, leaving a platform fifteen feet wide, rises a second terrace, twenty feet high, and five hundred forty-five feet long, having rounded corners instead of Pronounced Oox-mal. The ", in Spanish, when sounded, is pronounced like double o. sharp angles. The several terraces were found covered ANALYSIS. wah trees, which have been cleared away since the exploration of the ruins. 1. Terracea, how covered. pillar. 2 Broken 2. In the middle of the second terrace is an inclined, broken, round pillar, five feet in diameter and eight feet high. Two hundred and fifty feet from the front of this & Staircase. second terrace, rises a grand staircase, one hundred and thirty feet broad, and containing thirty-five steps, ascending to a third terrace nineteen feet above the second. This uppermost terrace is three hundred and sixty feet 4. Uppermost long, and nearly a hundred broad and on its platform building on stands a noble stone building, of elegant proportions, three hundred and twenty-two feet in length, thirty-nine feet broad, and twenty-four feet high. The front view of a portion of this building is represented in the annexed engraving. (See aext page.) terrace; and its platform. doorways of 3. "This front has thirteen doorways, the principal of 5. The front which is in the centre, opposite the range of steps leading the bullding. The centre door is eight feet six inches up the terrace. the edifice. vide, and eight feet ten inches high. The others are of the same height, but two feet less in width. The walls & Walls of of the edifice are of plain stone up to the mouldings that run along the tops of the doorways; above which, to the top of the building, are ornaments and sculptured work in great profusion, without any rudeness in the designs, but of symmetrical proportions, and rich and curious workmanship. The building is divided into two ranges 7. of rooms from front to rear. The floors are of cement, and the walls are of square stones smoothly polished, and laid with as much regularity as under the rules of the best modern masonry. a The room Plan.' next page. ANALYSIS. 1. The roof. the doorways. GROUND PLAN OF BUILDING No. I, UXMAL. 4. 'The roof, like those of most of the ruins in Yucatan, forms a triangular arch, constructed with stones overlapping, and covered by a layer of flat stones. A thick vegetable mould has accumulated on the roof, and the 2. Lintels of whole is overgrown with shrubbery. "The lintels of all the doorways are of sapote wood, many of them still hard and sound in their places, but others perforated by wormholes, cracked, and broken, and to the decay of which the falling of the walls may be attributed. Had the lintels been of stone, as they are in most of the ruins of Yucatan, the principal buildings of Uxmal would be almost entire at this day. 3 Description of the" House 5. At the northwest corner of the second terrace, there the T is a building which has been called the "House of the Turtles," a name which originated from a row of turtles Plan page sculptured on the cornice. This building is ninety four ties." a. See the 83. 4. Two ruin ed edifices far feet in front, and thirty-four feet deep. It wants the rich and gorgeous decorations of the "House of the Governor," but it is distinguished for the justness and beauty of its proportions, and the chasteness and simplicity of its ornaments. This noble building is, however, fast going to decay. The roof has fallen, and the walls are tottering, and with a few more returns of the rainy season the whole will be a mass of ruins.* 6. A short distance north of this building are two ruinther north ed edifices, seventy feet apart, each being one hundred Stephens. 1841. and twenty-eight feet long, and thirty feet deep. The ANALYSIS. sides facing each other are embellished with sculpture; and there remain, on both, the fragments of entwined colossal serpents, which once extended the whole length of the walls. 1. Four ranges of edifices. See No. 2, Plan of the page 83. buildings 7. 'Continuing still farther north, in the same direction, we arrive at an extensive pile of ruins, comprising four great ranges of edifices, placed on the uppermost of three terraces, nineteen feet high. "The plan of the buildings is quadrangular, with a courtyard in the centre. The en- The entrance trance on the south is by a gateway ten feet eight inches on the south. wide, spanned by a triangular arch. The walls of the 3. Ornamen four buildings, overlooking the courtyard, are ornamented, from one end to the other, with rich and intricate carving, presenting a scene of strange magnificence. 8. The building on the western side of the courtyard is one hundred and seventy-three feet long, and is distinguished by two colossal entwined serpents, running through and encompassing nearly all the ornaments throughout its whole length. These serpents are sculptured out of small blocks of stone, which are arranged in the wall with great skill and precision. One of the serpents has its monstrous jaws extended, and within them is a human head, the face of which is distinctly visible in the carving. "The whole number of apartments opening upon the courtyard is eighty-eight. 9. East of, and adjoining the range of buildings just described, is another extensive courtyard; passing through which we arrive at a lofty mound faced with stone, eightyeight feet high, and having a building seventeen feet high on its summit; making, in the whole, a height of one hundred and five feet. This building is called the "House of the Dwarf," and the Indians have a curious legend concerning its erection. It presents the most elegant and tasteful arrangement of ornaments to be seen in Uxmal, but of which no adequate idea can be given but in a large engraving. 10. There are several other extensive buildings at Uxmal; but a sufficient number have been described to give an idea of their general character. They cannot be fully understood without elaborate engravings accompanying the descriptions, for which the reader is again referred to the highly valuable works of Mr. Stephens. ted walls. Building on the west of the court yard, with ita colossal sculp tured ser penis. 5. Apart ments. 6. Another mound, and the Dwarf" b. See No. 3, courtyard, "House of page 83. 7. Other buildings at Urmal. neous chem 11. Another interesting feature of these ruins, how- 8. Subterraever, should not be overlooked. Subterraneous chambers "bers in the are scattered over the whole ground covered by this ruined city. They are dome-shaped-from eight to ten feet deep, and from twelve to twenty in diameter, the walls the ruins. |