[V-17] This beam was taken to N. Y., where it shared the fate of Stephens' other relics.
[V-18] Stephens favors the former theory, Waldeck and Charnay the latter, insisting that the hammock is consequently an American invention. Norman goes so far as to say that the grooves worn by the hammock-ropes are still to be seen on some of these timbers.
[V-19] Waldeck, Voy. Pitt., p. 97, speaks of real or false doors made of a single stone in connection with this building, but his examination of it was very slight. Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., p. 177, speaks of interior decorations as follows: 'Ay vn lienço en lo interior de la fabrica, que (aunque es muy dilatado) à poco mas de medio estado de vn hombre, corre por todo èl vna cornisa de piedra muy tersa, que haze vna esquina delicadissima, igual, y muy perfecta, donde (me acuerdo) avia sacado de la misma piedra, y quedado en ella vn anillo tan delgado, y vistoso, como puede ser vno de oro obrado con todo primor.'
[V-20] From Stephens' Yucatan, vol. i., p. 174; also in Baldwin's Anc. Amer., p. 132. Charnay's photograph 48 shows the opposite or northern end in connection with another building.
[V-21] From Stephens; one of them also in Baldwin's Anc. Amer.
[V-22] A cut of this hook is also given by Norman, and by Waldeck, who, Voy. Pitt., p. 74, attempts to prove its identity with an elephant's trunk, and that it was not molded from a tapir's snout.
[V-23] Charnay, Ruines Amér., phot. 46, shows the whole eastern façade. Photograph 47 gives a view on a larger scale of the portion over the principal doorway. Stephens, Yucatan, vol. i., frontispiece, represents the same front in a large plate, and in his Cent. Amer., vol. ii., p. 434, is a plate showing a part of the same. Norman gives a lithograph of the front. Rambles in Yuc., p. 158. His enlarged portion of the front from Waldeck does not belong to the Governor's House at all. 'Couvert de bas-reliefs, exécutés avec une rare perfection, formant une suite de méandres et arabesques d'un travail non moins capricieux que bizarre.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., p. 23. Decorated with 'gros serpents entrelacés et d'anneaux en pierre.' Friederichsthal, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1841, tom. xcii., p. 308. 'Chiefly the meander, or the Grecian square border, used in the embroidery of the mantles and robes of Attica.' Jones' Hist. Anc. Amer., p. 98. 'The length of the upper platform (in English feet!!) is seen to correspond nearly with the number of days in the year, and the mysterious emblem of eternity, the serpent, is found extending its portentous length around the building.' Frost's Great Cities, p. 271. 'Du haut de ses trois étages de pyramides, il se dresse comme un roi, dans un isolement plein de majestueuse grandeur.' 'L'ornementation se compose d'une guirlande en forme de trapèzes réguliers, de ces énormes têtes déjà décrites, courant du haut en bas de la façade, et servant de ligne enveloppante à des grecques d'un relief très-saillant, reliées entre elles par une ligne de petites pierres en carré diversement sculptées; le tout sur un fond plat de treillis de pierre. Le dessus des ouvertures était enrichi de pièces importantes, que divers voyageurs ont eu le soin d'enlever. Quatre niches, placées régulièrement, contenaient des statues, absentes aujourd'hui.' Charnay, Ruines Amér., pp. 372-3. 'One solid mass of rich, complicated elaborately sculptured ornaments forming a sort of arabesque.' 'Perhaps it may with propriety be called a species of sculptured mosaic; and I have no doubt that all these ornaments have a symbolical meaning; that each stone is part of a history, allegory, or fable.' Stephens' Yucatan, vol. i., pp. 166, 173. 'The ornaments were composed of small square pieces of stone, shaped with infinite skill, and inserted between the mortar and stone with the greatest care and precision. About two-thirds of the ornaments are still remaining upon the façade.... The ground-work of the ornaments is chiefly composed of raised lines, running diagonally, forming diamond or lattice-work, over which are rosettes and stars; and, in bold relief, the beautiful Chinese border.' Norman's Rambles in Yuc., pp. 158-9. 'A travers ces grands méandres formés par l'appareil se montrent, ici encore, la tradition des constructions de bois par empilages, en encorbellement et le treillis. Cette construction est une des plus soignées parmi celles d'Uxmal.' Viollet-le-Duc, in Charnay, Ruines Amér., p. 70.
[V-23] 'La décoration du parement de cet édifice ne consiste qu'en une imitation de palissade formée de rondins de bois. Sur la frise supérieure, des tortues saillantes rompent seules les lignes horizontales.' Viollet-le-Duc, in Charnay, Ruines Amér., p. 69. Photograph 48 shows the north front of the Casa de Tortugas. Stephens, Yucatan, vol. i., p. 184, gives a plate showing the southern front. Waldeck's plan would make this building's dimensions about 60×185 feet. The column structure will be illustrated by engravings in connection with the ruins of Zayi and others.
[V-24] Stephens' Yucatan, vol. i., p. 181; Norman's Rambles in Yuc., p. 156. From this rather meagre information Mr Jones proves, in a manner entirely satisfactory to himself, that the whole platform was surrounded in its original condition by a double row of columns, 230 in number, placed 10 feet apart, each 18 inches in diameter and 12 feet high, with a grand central column, 6 feet in diameter, and 60 feet high. Hist. Anc. Amer., p. 119.
[V-25] 'A shaft of gray limestone in an inclined position, measuring twelve feet in circumference and eight in height; bearing upon its surface no marks of form or ornament by which it might be distinguished from a natural piece.' Norman's Rambles in Yuc., p. 156. 'Une espèce de colonne dite pierre du châtiment, où les coupables devaient recevoir la punition de leurs fautes.' Charnay, Ruines Amér., p. 372. 'Una enorme columna de piedra, cuya forma semicónica le da el aire de un obelisco, aunque de base circular y sin adornos.' M. F. P., in Registro Yuc., tom. i., p. 364.