EASTERN FAÇADE OF INNER WING OF THE PALACE, PALENQUE.
The gallery inside was decorated with fantastic, terrible, monstrous figures of Indian deities. Our cut shows the best preserved, if we except the relief, which recalls the masks on the frieze. It may also be observed that the north end is a plain wall, which was separated from the fallen gallery by a narrow passage, while to the south the double gallery ended with two apertures leading to the yard where stands the palace tower. The gallery opposite to this is connected with the west gallery by a narrow doorway, the interior of which is quite plain; if medallions were here, no trace is left of them on the polished stucco walls. This gallery opens on a small courtyard, blocked up by the west wing of the palace to the west, by the main gallery to the north, and by the tower to the south. This courtyard is likewise irregular and much narrower than the other, measuring 19 feet 6 inches to the north, and 22 feet to the south. The basement of the gallery in this court is as rich as in the main gallery; sculptured pillars are distributed at a distance of 6 feet, divided by beautiful flags with katunes, which fit admirably.
TOWER IN THE PALACE.
The tower is not the least curiosity in this wonderful palace; trees grow over and about it, whose roots surround the walls like iron circles; unfortunately every explorer, whether to draw or photograph it, has had the roots of the trees removed, and this will greatly accelerate its complete downfall. It is a square tower, which rose by three storeys over a ground floor, ornamented to the north with pointed niches; the top storey has disappeared, and the great trees to the right bend over, ominously threatening it with utter destruction. It is not unlike the Comalcalco tower; but the decorations were in all probability less rich, for beyond some stucco coatings still facing some portions, I saw nothing in the remains which could compare with the great decorative subjects of that city.
THE PALACE, WESTERN FAÇADE.
The west wing of the palace is the best preserved, but unlike the other two, it has no longer a double gallery. The interior has three long, narrow apartments which open on the courtyard, and communicate with the exterior by two doorways at each end. The outer gallery is also the best preserved; the façade is entire, except the centre of the north-west angle, while all the pillars still bear traces of the beautiful reliefs with which they were once ornamented.
The south end of this gallery shows clearly that the monument ended here, and that the cloisters, as we have named them, constituted a separate pile, which was divided from the group of dwellings. Opposite to this, some 325 feet distant to the west, rose another pyramid crowned with a temple, of which nothing but mouldering ruins remain.
