obtain drawings of the sculptured columns. Even in this there was great difficulty: the designs were very complicated and so different from anything Mr. Catherwood had ever seen before, as to be perfectly unintelligible. The cutting was in very high relief, and required a strong body of light to bring up the figures; and the foliage was so thick and the shade so deep, that drawing was impossible.

"After much consultation we selected one of the idols, and determined to cut down the trees around it and thus lay it open to the rays of the sun. Here again was difficulty. There was no axe; and the only instrument which the Indians possessed was the machete, which varies in form in different parts of the country. Wielded in one hand it was useful in clearing away shrubs and branches, but almost harmless upon large trees, and the Indians, as in the days when the Spaniards discovered them, applied to work without ardor, carried it on with little activity, and like children were easily diverted from it. One hacked into a tree, and when tired, which happened very soon, sat down to rest, and another relieved him. While one worked there were always several looking on. I remembered the ring of the woodman's axe in the forest at home, and wished for a few long-sided Green Mountain boys. But we had been buffeted into patience, and watched the Indians while they hacked with their machetes, and even wondered that they succeeded so well. It is impossible to describe the interest with which I explored these ruins. The ground was entirely new; there were no guide books or guides; the whole was a virgin soil. We could

not see ten yards before us, and never knew what we should stumble upon next. At one time we stopped to cut away branches and vines which concealed the face of a monument, and then to dig around and bring to light a fragment, a sculptured corner of which protruded from the earth. I leaned over with breathless anxiety while the Indians worked, and an eye, an ear, a foot or a hand was disentombed: and when the machete rang against the chiseled stone, I pushed the Indians away and cleared out the loose earth with my hands. The beauty of the sculpture, the solemn stillness of the woods, disturbed only by the scrambling of monkeys and the chattering of parrots, the desolation of the city, and the mystery that hung over it, all created an interest higher, if possible, than I had ever felt among the ruins of the Old World."

Many drawings of the sculptures above described, have been published in the work of Mr. Stephens. Viewed with reference to their rank as works of art, they may be placed high in the scale of architectural sculpture. To the elegance and sublimity of the Greek and Roman schools, they have no pretensions whatever; nor have they the severe grandeur of the best specimens of the Egyptian; but they appear to be vastly superior to anything which India or China or Japan has ever produced. Their chief merit lies in their general effect. The figures are ill proportioned, and even hideous, and the subordinate parts confused and overcharged; but they differ from all the barbarous styles of sculpture with which we are acquainted, in this, that their general effect is not only rich and beautiful, but dignified and imposing to a

degree which we could hardly have supposed possible to result from the combining of so many uncouth and incongruous parts.

At Palenque, in Mexico, are very interesting antiquities, surrounded with thick woods, like those of Copan. They consist of palaces and other structures of stone abounding in sculptures. As works of art they are greatly superior to the antiquities of Copan. All of these are built on high terraces, forming the summit of a truncated pyramid. The largest structure stands on an artificial elevation of an oblong form, forty feet high, three hundred long, and two

hundred and sixty broad. The roof of the building was made to curve in a sort of arch by successive layers of stones, each overlapping that immediately beneath it, and plastered over so as to represent a smooth curved surface. The top of the doorway in the middle wall is by this means wrought into an exact resemblance of a Gothic arch. This structure abounds with courts, corridors, galleries, towers, &c., and was, without doubt, a royal palace. The piers, or square columns, of which there are many, are covered with bas reliefs in stucco. The faces of the human figures are all in profile, which seems to indicate the want of a sufficient skill to delineate the front face but the limbs are correctly formed, and frequently graceful. There is also some attempt to arrange the figures in groups, so as to tell a story; and a variety of expressions, of the same imperfect kind as is seen in the Egyptian paintings, can be recognized in the countenances. On one piece is represented an armed warrior, with two half-naked figures crouching submissively on either side of him. On another, we see an armed warrior brandishing his weapon over the head of a person who seems to kneel and beg for life. On another, a standing figure is placing an ornament upon a person sitting in front of him, &c.

enque,

The most curious among all the sculptures at Palhas been found in one of the smaller buildings. It represents an ornamented cross, surmounted by the Quezale, or royal bird of Quiche. Two persons, dressed apparently in sacerdotal garments, stand on the right and left, facing the cross, and one of them holds out something as an offering, which appears to

be a young child. The whole representation is surrounded by hieroglyphics which no one has been able to decipher. No doubt can be entertained that these sculptures existed previous to the arrival of the Spaniards in America; and therefore the circumstance of the cross being found represented in a picture of what is evidently a religious ceremony, has given rise to much curious speculation. There is another tablet which is almost a fac-simile of this; and hieroglyphical characters are to be seen in other parts of the ruins. They have been found to bear a close resemblance to those exhibited by the ancient Mexican manuscripts.

At Uxmal, in Yucatan, are also ancient buildings in good preservation. One of these, as described by Mr. Norman, who recently visited this region, stands