"The ruins, which are completely hidden in a thick tropical forest, stand about three-quarters of a mile from the left bank of the river Motagua and about five miles from the miserable little village of Quiriguá, from which they take their name. They consist of numerous square or oblong mounds and terraces varying from six to forty feet in height, some standing by themselves, others clustered in irregular groups. Most of these mounds were faced with worked stone and were ascended by flights of stone steps. "The interest centers in the thirteen large carved monoliths which are arranged irregularly round what were probably the most important plazas. Six of these monuments are tall stones measuring three to five feet square and standing fourteen to twenty feet out of the ground. The other five are oblong or rounded blocks of stone shaped so as to represent huge turtles or armadilloes or some such animals. All these monuments are covered with elaborate carving. Usually on both back and front of the tall monoliths there is carved a huge human figure standing full face and in a stiff and conventional attitude. The sides of the monuments are covered with tables of hieroglyphs, most of them in fairly good preservation. In addition to these tables of hieroglyphs there are series of square or cartouches of what appears to be actual picture writing, each division measuring about eighteen inches square and containing usually two or three grotesque figures of men and animals. The design of these picture writings shows considerable variety and freedom of treatment as compared with that of the large sizes human figures in the execution of which the artist seems to have been bound by conventional rules.