in
saying, must have been one of the largest ever seen." There is, however,
nothing to show us certainly the actual size of any of these ancient
cities. It is manifest that some of them were very large; but, as only
the great structures made of stone remain to be examined, the actual
extent of the areas covered by the other buildings can not be
determined.

[Illustration: Fig. 25.--Arch of Las Monjas.]

The chief peculiarity of these ruins, that which especially invites
attention, is the evidence they furnish that their builders had
remarkable skill in architecture and architectural ornamentation. All
who have visited them bear witness that the workmanship was of a high
order. The rooms and corridors in these edifices were finely and often
elaborately finished, plaster, stucco, and sculpture being used. In one
room of a great building at Uxmal Mr. Stephens says "the walls were
coated with a very fine plaster of Paris, equal to the best seen on
walls in this country." Speaking of the construction of this edifice, he
says, "throughout, the laying and polishing of the stones are as perfect
as under the rules of the best modern masonry." All the ruins explored
have masonry of the same character. The floors, especially of the courts
and corridors, were made sometimes of flat stones admirably wrought and
finely polished, and sometimes of cement, which is now "as hard as
stone." Mr. Stephens, describing corridors of the "Palace" at Palenque,
says "the floors are of cement, as hard as the best seen in the remains
of Roman baths and cisterns." We give two illustrations of their method
of constructing the arch. Figure 25 shows an arch of Las Monjas, at
Uxmal. Figure 26 shows the most common form of the arch in the older
ruins.

[Illustration: Fig. 26--Common Form of Arch.]

The ornamentation is no less remarkable than the masonry and
architectural finish. It is found on the walls within and without, and
appears in elaborate designs on the heavy cornices. The exterior
ornamentation is generally carved or sculptured on the smooth surface
of the stone, and must have required a vast amount of time and labor, as
well as skillful artists. In some of the ruins inscriptions are
abundant, being found on walls, tablets, and pillars. The general effect
of the exterior decoration is thus described by Mr. Stephens in the
account of his first view of the ruins at Palenque: "We saw before us a
large building richly ornamented with stuccoe