Statues at Nohpat.
Skull and Crossbones.
RUINS OF KABAH.
Interior Steps at Kabah.
In the same region, some five or six miles southward from Nohcacab, and perhaps ten or twelve miles south-eastward from Uxmal, is a most extensive group of ruins, probably the remains of an ancient city, known as Kabah. Sixteen different structures are located in a space about two thousand by three thousand feet, on Mr Stephens' plan, which, however, was not formed by measurements, but by observation from the top of a pyramid. Norman is the only visitor, except Stephens and Catherwood, and his description amounts to nothing. I proceed to describe such of Kabah monuments as differ in construction and sculpture from those we have previously examined, and consequently throw additional light on Maya architecture.
A mound forms a summit platform, raised twenty feet, and measuring one hundred and forty-two by two hundred feet. Ascending the terrace from its south-western side, buildings of the ordinary type appear on the right and left; the former resting on the slope instead of on the summit of the terrace,—that is, the rear wall, of great thickness, rises perpendicularly from the base. In the centre of the platform is an enclosure seven feet high and twenty-seven feet square, formed of hewn stones, the lower tier of which was sculptured with a continuous line of hieroglyphics extending round the circumference. No picote, however, was found within the enclosure. Directly in front, or on the north-east side of the platform, a stairway of twenty steps, forty feet wide, leads up to a higher terrace, the arrangement being much like that of the northern building of the Casa de Monjas at Uxmal. But in this case the upper platform, instead of being long and narrow as usual, is nearly square, and supports a building of the same shape, whose front at the top of the stairway measures one hundred and fifty-one feet. The advanced state of ruin in which the whole structure was found, made it difficult to form an idea of its original plan, and Mr Stephens' description in this case fails to present clearly the idea which he formed on the subject. The front portion of the edifice, however, which is the best preserved of all, has two double ranges of apartments, separated by a very thick wall, and all under the same roof. Two peculiarities were noted in these rooms. The inner rooms of the front range have their floors two feet and eight inches higher than the outer, and are entered from the latter by two stone steps; while in one case at least these steps are cut from a single block of stone, the lower step taking the form of a scroll, and the walls at the sides are covered with carvings, as shown in the cut. Over the rear wall of the front range rises a structure of hewn stone four feet thick and fifteen feet high, which, like the turrets over the northern building of the Nunnery and the Casa de Palomas at Uxmal, could only have been intended as an ornament, but which from the ground beneath presents every appearance of a second story. The exterior sculpture of this front, except a small portion at the northern end, has fallen, but enough remains to indicate that the decorations were most rich and elaborate, though uniform; and, unlike those of any structure yet met with, they covered the whole surface of the front, both above and below the central cornice. The cut shows the general appearance of these decorations.[V-58] This building is called by the natives Xcoↄpoop, or 'straw hat doubled up.'