52 A NATURALIST IN MEXICO, 



length. It consisted of three distinct parts, differing very 

 much in style. The whole long fagade was ornamented 

 with sculptured stone, of good workmanship. On the left 

 end of the principal building, in the angle of the corner, 

 was the most curious and elaborate ornament we had as yet 

 seen. It represented the open jaws of an alligator, enclos- 

 ing a human head. 



In the platform in front of the buildings were several 

 circular holes leading to subterranean chambers, dome- 

 shaped, eleven feet long, seven wide and ten high, to the 

 center of the arch. These chambers were probably used as 

 storehouses for maize. As we observed at Uxmal, the 

 fagade below the cornice was of plain stone without orna- 

 mentation of any kind, while above it was covered with 

 sculptured stones. There were about twenty doors facing 

 the front, and the rear elevation was perfectly blank. 

 Above this building, and built upon its roof, was a second, 

 much smaller, with an elaborately sculptured facade. This 

 building was divided into several rooms. The doors here 

 had an addition, not before observed in any building in 

 Uxmal; this was two pillars of stone dividing the doorway 

 into three apertures. This character was not observed in the 

 buildings below. The roof was much fallen and overgrown 

 with large and small trees, which were running their roots 

 into the crevices among the stones, and slowly but surely 

 causing the rain of these interesting relics of by-gone days. 



In the interest of our work, I had not discovered that 

 thousands of garrapatas were crawling over me. These 

 insects are the scourge of Yucatan, and altogether were a 

 more constant source of annoyance and suffering than any we 

 encountered in the country. These, in color, size, and num- 

 bers, were like grains of sand, and dispersed themselves all 

 over my body, getting into the seams of my clothes, and 

 burying themselves in my flesh. Their habit was to attach 



