"The mountain on this island which I said was opposite the Northern region, on the one side, which is a continuous cliff, is hard natural rock. Beneath the mountain a vast temple was cut and fashioned, hollowing out the living rock, a temple of such marvellous workmanship that it seems impossible for it to have been made by human hands. All the works, images, columns, reliefs, workrooms, which are there are carved in the massive stone of the mountain, all of which seems to pass beyond the bounds of nature; indeed, the proportions and the symmetry with which each figure and everything else is made would be well worth the while of any painter to study, even if he were Apelles. This temple is 35 bracas long, 25 wide and about 4 high. And what greater monument to pride could men fashion than to hollow out a very hard natural rock by means of iron and sheer tenacity, and thereby to enter into such vast spaces?"