Note III-22 — Chapter III · ANTIQUITIES OF SALVADOR AND HONDURAS. RUINS OF COPAN.

This court may have been Fuentes' circus, although the latter is represented as having been circular. The terrace between it and the river is stated by Stephens to be only 20 feet wide; according to the plan it is at least 50 feet. Stephens' Cent. Amer., vol. i., pp. 142-4, 133, 140. The pavement of the court is 20 yards above the river; the gallery through the terrace is 4 feet high and 2½ feet wide; the vault below the court is 5½ by 10 by 6 feet, its length running north and south with 9° variation of the compass. Galindo, in Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact., vol. ii., p. 547. 'Una plaza muy bien fecha, con sus gradas á la forma que escriben del Coliseo romano, y por algunas partes tiene ochenta gradas, enlosada, y labrada por cierto en partes de muy buena piedra é con harto primor.' The river-wall 'háse caido y derrumbado un gran pedazo, y en lo caido se descubrieron dos cuevas debajo del dicho edificio,' a statement that may possibly refer to the gallery and vault. Palacio, in Pacheco, Col. Doc. Inéd., tom. vi., pp. 37-8.