In the final chapters, xix-xx, will be found the conclusions that I have formed with regard to the temple and tablet of the cross.
See frontispiece.
The areas occupied by the temples differed considerably in their extent. The largest of them which I measured was that of the Temple of the Cross.
Its interior dimensions were forty-three feet seven inches long by twenty-five feet four inches deep; the outer walls were three feet thick. Therefore the ground space covered by the building was nearly fifty feet in frontage and a little more than thirty-one feet in depth. Its exterior height was about twenty feet. The measurements of the temple on the adjoining pyramid were less.
A clear and instructive memoir by Professor Charles Rau, upon the subject of the interpretation of the Palenque hieroglyphs, is to be found in one of the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, published in 1879.
Investigations have also been made in England, France and Germany. I believe it has been ascertained that a dot means one, a bar five, a bar with two dots seven, and two bars represent ten. It has also been discovered that the hieroglyphs are to be read from left to right, and from the top downwards. If this is correct it is a discovery of considerable importance. Upon an examination of the illustration in the frontispiece of the Palenque altar tablet it will be observed, from the position of the leading groups of figures on the left slab, that the heads are probably intended to represent the chiefs of the Toltec tribe.
The numerous explorations that have latterly taken place throughout Mexico, Guatemala and Yucatan have practically determined the positions and extent of all the ancient Indian ruins that still exist in those lands. Therefore it is not expected that any more discoveries of importance will be made. It is however possible that one or more small temples or structures may be found hidden among the forests in the line of direction between Ocosingo and Flores.