Situated about three rods south-west of the ruins of the Dome, are those of the HOUSE OF THE CACIQUES. I cut my way through the thick growth of small wood to this sublime pile, and by the aid of my compass was enabled to reach the east front of the building. Here I felled the trees that hid it, and the whole front was opened to my view, presenting the most strange and incomprehensible pile of architecture that my eyes ever beheld—elaborate, elegant, stupendous, yet belonging to no order now known to us. The front of this wonderful edifice measures thirty-two feet, and its height twenty, extending to the main building fifty feet. Over the door-way, which favors the Egyptian style of architecture, is a heavy lintel of stone, containing two double rows of hieroglyphics, with a sculptured ornament intervening. Above these are the remains of hooks carved in stone, with raised lines of drapery running through them; which, apparently, have been broken off by the falling of the heavy finishing from the top of the building; over which, surrounded by a variety of chaste and beautifully executed borders, encircled within a wreath, is a female figure in a sitting posture, in basso-relievo, having a head-dress of feathers, cords, and tassels, and the neck ornamented. The angles of this building are tastefully curved. The ornaments continue around the sides, which are divided into two compartments, different in their arrangement, though not in style. Attached to the angles are large projecting hooks, skilfully worked, and perfect rosettes and stars, with spears reversed, are put together with the utmost precision. The ornaments are composed of small square blocks of stone, cut to the depth of about one to one and a half inches, apparently with the most delicate instruments, and inserted by a shaft in the wall. The wall is made of large and uniformly square blocks of limestone, set in a mortar which appears to be as durable as the stone itself. In the ornamental borders of this building I could discover but little analogy with those known to me. The most striking were those of the cornice and entablature, _chevron_ and the _cable_ moulding, which are characteristic of the Norman architecture. [Illustration: THE HOUSE OF THE CACIQUES. CHI-CHEN RUINS.] The sides have three door-ways, each opening into small apartments, which are finished with smooth square blocks of stone; the floors of the same material, but have been covered with cement, which is now broken. The apartments are small, owing to the massive walls enclosing them, and the acute-angled arch, forming the ceiling. The working and laying of the stone are as perfect as they could have been under the directions of a modern architect.