I will make here a short digression in order to describe these sculptures, that with the knowledge we possess to-day of the history of the founders of the principal ruined cities of Mayax, afford us another proof that the builders of that city of Tiahuanuco belonged to a then highly civilized nation, which sent colonists to the remotest parts of the earth, as the English do to-day, and to whose historical annals may be traced many of the primitive traditions of mankind. This city was already in ruins when Manco Capac laid the foundation of the Inca's empire, and had been constructed by _giants before the sun shone in heaven_, as the natives said to the Spaniards when questioned as to its antiquity. We have seen that the members of the family of king _Can_, are still worshiped in the temples of Japan, as of old they were in those of Egypt; we now meet unimpeachable records of them, carved on very ancient monuments, on the shores of lake Titicaca, at the foot of the great glaciers of Sorata and Illimani, as we have found them in mythological lore of India and Greece. Will it be said that these are mere coincidences? [Illustration] The front of this monolithic gate was once upon a time as highly polished as the material, trachite, will permit. The whole space above the doorway is divided into four bands about eight inches high. The lower band contains seventeen small heads, in low relief, adorned in a somewhat similar manner to that of the central figure. _Seven_ of these, those directly under that figure wear, like it, a badge that seems to be a plume composed of _three_ feathers. These small heads are separated by _grecques_ having macaw's heads at their salient sides; these _grecques_ are the symbol of power and strength. In the ancient Maya and Egyptian alphabets the _grecque_ is equivalent to our latin letter H. _Ah_ is the Maya masculine article, and it conveys to the mind the idea of might and power; this, taken in connection with the _macaw's_ head, totem of Moo, the queen of Chichen, signifies the mighty, the powerful Moo. The other bands are divided into squares of the same size, except in the center over the doorway, where there is a figure 32 by 21 inches.