PALENQUE, Rum fat', are on the Rio Chacamas, a branch of the river 1.7sumasinta, in the state of Chiapas, 'Mexico. 8 in. s.e. of the village of Santo Domingo de Pa'clique, let. 17° 30' n., long. 92' 26' west. The ruins extend over a large area, covered witu a dense tropical forest, and are of difficult exploration. They consist of vast artificial terraces, or terraced truncated pyramids, of cut stone, surmounted by edifices of pecul iar and solid architecture, also of cut stone, covered with figures in relief, or figures and hieroglyphics in stucco, with remains of brilliant colors. .Most of the buildings are of one story, but a few are two, three, and sonic may have been four stories. The principal structure, known as the palace, is 228 ft. long, 180 ft. deep, and 25 ft. high, standing on a terraced truncated pyramid of corresponding dimensions. It was faced with cut stone, cemented with mortar of line and sand, and the front covered with stucco and painted. A corridor runs around the building, opening into four interior courts, which open into many smaller rooms: On slabs of stone are carved numerous colossal figures, and the remains of statues more resemble Grecian than Egyptian or Hindu art. Other spacious and elaborately ornamented buildings appear to have been
temples of religion. These ruins were in the same condition when Cortez conquered Mexico, as now, overgrown with a forest, and their site forgotten. They were only discovered in 1750. Three explorations were made by the government, but they were little known until visited by Messrs. J. .L, Stephens and F. Catherwood, and their account published with plans and drawings. Sec Stephens's Incidents of Travel in Central America, etc., and Catherwood's Views of Ancient .Monuments of Central America, etc. There are in Mexico dim traditions of the existence, at a remote period, of the capital of a theocratic state, the center of a since extinguished civilization, of which the only traces are these wonderful ruins and unexplained hieroglyphics.