It may be concluded that Palenque consists of a group of mounds having buildings upon them exclusively devoted to the purposes of religion. In the year 1840, five of the mounds had temples upon their summits which were in a fair state of preservation. The survey of Captain Antonio Del Rio was made in the year 1787, and, as he was an officer of the Artillery, his Report, with respect to the general plan, and the bearings and distances of the mounds then remaining, may be accepted as being correct. He states that he visited the ruins called Casas de Piedras (stone houses) on the 5th of May, and finding that nothing could be distinctly made out in consequence of the forest, he engaged a large number of Indians from Tumbalá, who felled the trees and afterwards cleared the ground by fire, thus opening up a sufficient space to enable him to observe the true positions of the mounds and buildings. He found that they were all contained within a rectangular area, four hundred and fifty yards long and three hundred yards wide. In the centre was the mound upon which stood the largest structure. This was surrounded by other edifices, “namely: five to the northward, four to the southward, one to the south-west, and three to the eastward.” Thus it appears that in 1787 there were thirteen mounds with buildings upon their summits, besides the large platform earthwork upon which was placed the “Palace.” In 1806, nearly twenty years afterwards, the Spanish Government ordered another survey to be made. The expedition was placed under the orders of Captain Dupaix, who had served as an officer in the Dragoons. He reported that, at that time, eleven temples were still standing. Thirty-four years later, Mr. Stephens could only discover five temples not utterly ruined. It is strange that in these short intervals of time, such changes should have happened amongst monuments of this nature. With regard to this subject, it is of consequence to notice the statements given by the local authorities who made the original discoveries which led to the survey of Del Rio. The explorations were conducted, under the orders of the Spanish authorities at Guatemala, by one of the principal inhabitants of the village of San Domingo, named Calderon, aided by the Government architect, Bernasconi. In their Report, which was made only three years before that of Del Rio, they declared that there were evidences of the ruins of numerous houses occupying a large space of land to the west of the temples. Nothing was known by my Indians upon this subject. It should, however, be observed, with respect to undiscovered ruins, that any rumours relating to what may, or may not, exist in the heart of a tropical forest, must necessarily be doubtful, for where nothing can be seen, except what may happen to be found in the direction of the path, much must be unknown.