Our Indians met us at the entrance. They had already cleared the brushwood which had overgrown the quadrangles, and had removed all that interfered with any exploring work that they thought we might wish to carry out. The luxuriance of the vegetation was surprising. In one of the open courts we observed a large plant which we found to be a species of arum. The leaves were of an extraordinary size, and averaged four feet six inches long by three feet six inches wide; the stalks were over seven feet high. The greater part of the day was occupied in making a survey of the ground plans of the building, as far as it was possible to trace them amongst the accumulations of fallen ruins. Upon the completion of this work, and after having made an examination of the series of small chambers below the corridors, it became evident that the building was erected with the intention of establishing a monastery, similar to those which were described by the historians of the conquest of Mexico as being dedicated to the use of the priests who worshipped and performed ceremonies at the shrines of the god Quetzalcoatl, and who, in addition to those duties, were given the charge of educating the children of the chiefs. They also trained those youths who were intended to become priests. It is to be regretted that this great structure was called by its first discoverers “The Palace,” and that its purpose was rendered perplexing by theories connected with the dwellings of Kings or Caciques. According to the investigations of Mr. Stephens, its extreme dimensions were two hundred and twenty-eight feet long, by one hundred and eighty feet wide. The height of the rectangular mound upon which it is placed has been variously estimated. It appears to have been about twenty feet high. Upon the summit of this platform was built with stone and mortar, the various foundations upon which the buildings and galleries of the monastery were erected. The base upon the east front was about ten feet high. The height of the building may be estimated to have been nearly twenty-four feet. Thus it may be concluded that the whole height from the ground to the roof must have been approximately fifty-four feet. The architectural proportions seem to have been well designed.