. Incidents of travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan . a S •a ,0 O o aO a a 6 es e o THE ELEPHANTS TRUNK. 171 The engraving opposite represents that part of theornament immediately above the preceding; it occu-pies the whole portion of the wall from the top of thehead-dress to the cornice along the top of the build-ing. This ornament or combination appears on allparts of the edifice, and throughout the ruins is morefrequently seen than any other. In the engravingthe centre presents a long, flat, smooth indicates a projecting ornament, which cannotbe exhibited in a front
. Incidents of travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan . a S •a ,0 O o aO a a 6 es e o THE ELEPHANTS TRUNK. 171 The engraving opposite represents that part of theornament immediately above the preceding; it occu-pies the whole portion of the wall from the top of thehead-dress to the cornice along the top of the build-ing. This ornament or combination appears on allparts of the edifice, and throughout the ruins is morefrequently seen than any other. In the engravingthe centre presents a long, flat, smooth indicates a projecting ornament, which cannotbe exhibited in a front view ; but, as seen in profile,consists of a stone projecting from the face of thewall, as shown in the following cut; and the reader. must suppose this stone projecting in order clearly tounderstand the character of the ornament last present-ed. It measures one foot seven inches in length fromthe stem by which it is fixed in the wall to the end ofthe curve, and resembles somewhat an elephants 172 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. trunk, which name has, perhaps not inaptly, been giv-en to it by Waldeck, though it is not probable that assuch the sculptor intended it, for the elephant wasunknown on the Continent of America. This pro-jecting stone appears with this combination all overthe facade and at the corners; and throughout allthe buildings it is met with, sometimes in a reversedposition, oftener than any other design in is a singular fact, that though entirely out ofreach, the ends of nearly all of them have beenbroken off; and among the many remains in everypart of the walls throughout the whole ruins, there arebut three that now exist entire. Perhaps they werewantonly broken by the Spaniards; though at this daythe
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