these
edifices were for purposes of religious ceremonial, the object of many
of them can scarcely be conjectured. Their builders appear to have been
people of a peaceful nature, and their dwellings do not generally bear
evidence of defensive design. The architectural skill of the Mayas must
have been of a very high order. Among the buildings which exist some
are nearly perfect units of design, and seem almost to argue the use of
"working drawings," as the plan and detail must have been perfected as
a whole before the building was begun. This architectural skill of
conception, however, has been common in many countries. Some of the
buildings were in use when Cortes landed and fought on the shores of
Yucatan, nearly four hundred years ago; nevertheless, they are in a
remarkable state of preservation, notwithstanding the ravages both of
Nature and of man, tending towards their destruction; for on the one
hand, the roots of trees and profuse vegetation of a tropical region
are efficient levers in the throwing down of the masonry, and on the
other, the vandal ignorance of the surrounding inhabitants of the
modern towns of the region permits them to make use of the stones in
their own walls.

The ruins of Chichen-Ytza, the prehistoric city in the northern part of
Yucatan, are among the most important and best preserved of any of the
stone structures of the Americas. The ruins are grouped around two
great natural wells, the _cenotes_, famous in this remarkable
peninsula. Indeed, the derivation of the name of the old city is from
Maya words meaning the "Mouth of the Well," and it serves to show the
value in which these singular water-supplies were held in this
riverless region of Yucatan. Among the most interesting of the
structures of Chichen and Uxmal is that of the buildings known as El
Foloc, or "the Church." Another is that known as the "House of the
Nuns," and yet another the "Temple of the Tigers," which latter shows a
sculptured procession of tigers or lynxes. Again, "the Castle" is
remarkable, set upon a pyramid rising more than 100 feet above the
plain. The "Governor's Palace," the "House of the Pigeons," and "House
of the Turtles," are others of these remarkable structures.

The profuse and extraordinary, yet barbaric-appearing sculpture of the
facades and interiors of these buildings arrests the observer's
attention, and, indeed, fills him with amazement, as does their
construction in general. What instruments of