high, five feet six inches wide, and two feet eight inches thick.
The chief figures carved on it are that of a man on the front, and that
of a woman on the back. The sides are covered with inscriptions similar
in appearance to those at Copan. Some of the other standing obelisks are
higher than this. It seems reasonable to infer that the structures at
Quirigua were more ancient than those at Copan.

[Illustration: Fig. 30.--Ruins at Mitla.]

MITLA.

The ruins called Mitla are in the Mexican State of Oxaca, about twelve
leagues east from the city of Oxaca. They are situated in the upper part
of a great valley, and surrounded by a waste, uncultivated region. At
the time of the Spanish Conquest they were old and much worn by time and
the elements, but a very large area was then covered by remains of
ancient buildings. At present only six decaying edifices and three
ruined pyramids, which were very finely terraced, remain for
examination, the other structures being now reduced to the last stage
of decay. Figures 30 and 31 present views of some of these structures,
as given by Von Temski. Figure 32, from Charnay's photograph, shows a
ruin at Mitla.

[Illustration: Fig. 31.--Great Hall at Mitla.]

These important ruins were not described by Stephens and Catherwood.
Captain Dupaix's work gives some account of them, and Desire Charnay,
who saw them since 1860, brought away photographs of some of the
monuments. Four of the standing edifices are described by Dupaix as
"palaces," and these, he says, "were erected with lavish magnificence;
* * * they combine the solidity of the works of Egypt with the elegance
of those of Greece." And he adds, "But what is most remarkable,
interesting, and striking in these monuments, and which alone would be
sufficient to give them the first rank among all known orders of
architecture, is the execution of their mosaic relievos, very different
from plain mosaic, and consequently requiring more ingenious combination
and greater art and labor. They are inlaid on the surface of the wall,
and their duration is owing to the method of fixing the prepared stones
into the stone surface, which made their union with it perfect." Figure
33, taken from Charnay's photograph, shows part of the mosaic decoration
on a wall of one of the great edifices at Mitla.

[Illustration: Fig. 32.--Ruined Palace at Mitla.]

[Illustration: Fig. 33.--Mosaics at Mitla.]

The general character of the architecture and ma