COPAN, a village of Central America, in the republic of Honduras, famous for the remarkable ruins in its neighbourhood. It is situated not far from the frontier of Guatemala, on the right bank of the Rio Copan, a tributary of the Motagua, about thirty miles east of Chiquimula, in 14° 45' N. lat. and 90* 52' W. long. The ruins occupy a rectangular area of about 1600 feet in length and 900 feet in breadth; and the outer walls appear to be about 25 feet thick at the bottom. The principal building is an immense terrace with a perpendicular front towards the river, extending a distance of 624 feet, and attaining a height of about 70 feet above the soil. It has been calculated that this single structure must have required upwards of 26,000,000 cubic feet of stone. Numerous obelisks and statues are still standing, covered in bewildering profusion with grotesque sculpturings, which in many cases can only have been ornamental, but in others belong pretty evidently to some hieroglyphical system of symbols. The presence of what appear to be altars in front of several of the figures gives reason to suppose that they were worshipped as deities. That these erections were the work of a people of considerable artistic and engineering skill is abundantly evident; but not the slightest datum is afforded by tradition for any conjecture in regard to their origin. An identification at one time attempted with the city which offered so brave a resistance to Hernando de Chaves in 1530 is now considered as unsatisfactory. The ruins unfortunately are exposed not only to the destructive influences of nature, but also to the attacks of an ignorant populace; and according to Dr Bernouilli, who visited the spot in 1870, the dangers from the latter source are rapidly increasing as the little hamlet, ...