tence of a large
population in past days. Possibly they may be identified with a site
of the name of Naco mentioned by Las Casas and by Bernal Diaz (_Histoire
veridique de la conquete de la Nouvelle Espagne_, translated by D.
Fourdanet, 2nd ed., Paris, 1877, ch. 178, p. 690).

_Chiapas_ (Mexico).--The principal site is Palenque, the ruins of which
were amongst the earliest of all to attract attention. The style of
architecture, with the gigantic vaults and singular comb-shaped gables,
distinguishes Palenque from Copan and Quirigua, which it surpasses also
in the unequalled magnificence of its sculptures. Five out of the
remarkably uniform series of buildings may be specially mentioned. They
are the Great Palace, a complex structure of galleries and courts
commanded by a three-storeyed tower, the Temples of the Cross, which are
galleries constructed on terraces and containing the well-known reliefs,
the Temple of Inscriptions, the Sun Temple and the Temple of the Relief.
The sculptured figures of Palenque are familiar from many reproductions.
The most characteristic groups represent a deity standing between
worshippers who hold a staff surmounted by the water-god
Ah-bolon-tzacab, the "god of the nine medicines." The inscriptions on
the famous Cross and in the Sun Temple contain calendar-datings which
are remarkable as showing a particular combination of numbers and
hieroglyphs, which does not occur elsewhere.

A whole series of sites is included within the geographical limits of
Chiapas, which from the archaeologist's standpoint must be considered as
belonging properly to Guatemala. The country has been quite
insufficiently explored.

_Oaxaca_ (Mexico).--The bulk of the population of the province of Oaxaca
is composed of a distinct racial group, best represented by the
Zapotecs, who have been for an unknown length of time the intermediaries
between the Nahua civilization of Mexico on the west and the Mayan on
the east. The influence of the two separate currents may be detected in
the bastard calendar system no less than in the still undeciphered
inscriptions. The principal ruins are those of Mitla, the burial city of
the priests and kings of the ancient Zapotecs, which bear a quite
distinct character, though presenting certain analogies with the
Mexican. One of the chief structures is a step-pyramid, rising in three
steps to a height of 130 ft., another is a pyramid of brick. Besides
these there are courts, surrounded