Rambles in Yucatan; or, Notes of Travel Through the Peninsula: Including a Visit to the Remarkable Ruins of Chi-Chen, Kabah, Zayi, and Uxmal. 2nd edNorman, Benjamin Moore
History
Rambles in Yucatan; or, Notes of Travel Through the Peninsula: Including a Visit to the Remarkable Ruins of Chi-Chen, Kabah, Zayi, and Uxmal. 2nd ed
Contiguous to this front are two irregular buildings, as represented in
the plan. The one on the right, situated some twenty-five feet from it,
(about two feet off the right line,) has a front of about thirty-five
feet, its sides ten wide, and its height twenty feet, containing one
room similar in its finish to those before described. The front of this
building is elaborately sculptured with rosettes and borders, and
ornamental lines; the rear is formed of finely cut stone, now much
broken. Near by are numerous heaps of hewn and broken stones, sculptured
work and pillars.
[Illustration: Decoration]
The other building on the left, is about eight feet from the principal
front, measuring twenty-two feet in length, thirteen in width, and
thirty-six in height. The top is quite broken, and has the appearance of
having been much higher. The _agave Americana_ was growing thriftily
upon its level roof. On all sides of this building are carved figures,
broken images, in sitting postures; rosettes and ornamental borders,
laid off in compartments; each compartment having three carved hooks on
each side and angle. This building contains but one room, similar to
that on the right. A soil has collected on the tops or roofs of these
structures to the depth of three or four feet, in which trees and other
vegetation are flourishing.
From these portions of the ruins I worked my way through the wild
thicket, by which they are surrounded, to the north side of the main
building, in the centre of which I found a flight of small stone steps,
overgrown with bushes and vines, which I cut away, and made an ascent by
pulling myself up to the summit, a distance of forty feet. This platform
is an oblong square, one hundred by seventy-five feet. Here a range of
rooms were found, occupying about two-thirds of the area; the residue of
the space probably formed a promenade, which is now filled up with
crumbling ruins, covered with trees and grass. These rooms varied in
size; the smallest of which measured six by ten, and the largest six by
twenty-two feet.
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