PALENQUE. 3 



on the main road of communication between the Gulf of Mexico and Guatemala ; but 

 this route has long ago been given up, and Palenque has dwindled away to a village of 

 half-a-dozen white and Mestizo families and a small community of Indians. 



The ruins are six miles distant from Santo Domingo, and the first thing to be done 

 was to open the track to them, which was completely grown over, and to make 

 arrangements for a regular supply of labourers. At first all promised well ; my 

 general letter to the officials had a considerable effect, and my letter to the Governor 

 of the State had been already forwarded to him from Laguna. Palencpie is seven days' 

 journey from San Cristobal, the residence of the Governor, and two days' journey 

 from El Salto, the residence of the Jefe Politico, so that some time passed before the 

 answers to my letters reached me, but when they did arrive they were of the most 

 satisfactory character. 



Unfortunately, free voluntary labour is almost an unknown thing in these countries, 

 and without the aid of the local authorities nothing can be done. I had asked for 

 thirty labourers, and these were promised me ; but the number which came to work 

 did not at first exceed fifteen, and gradually dwindled to three or four. 



We stayed in the village for a week, riding backwards and forwards daily to see to 

 the construction of rough bridges across the narrow streams on the road, and to the 

 clearing of the most habitable-looking buildings amongst the ruins. 



On the 1st February we were joined by M. Chambon, who had returned from his 

 visit to Menche, and the track now being practicable for pack-mules we all set out to 

 take up our residence in the ruins. We expected discomfort, and certainly did not 

 escape it ; the showers were heavy, and the walls of the buildings were running with 

 water, and only a few square yards could be found in the best-preserved building where 

 the drip from the roof was not continuous. We had to do our own cooking, and only 

 from six to a dozen men came from Palenque to work each day. At the end of a week 

 we were told that no more labourers could come for some days on account of the 

 Carnival, so I rode back to Monte Cristo to look after the remainder of our baggage 

 in company with M. Chambon, who was continuing his journey through Mexico. 



On the 12th February I returned to the ruins. During the next few days we had 

 some heavy rain. On the 16th we received a visit from the Jefe Politico, Don Amada 

 Salozorgo, who regretted the small supply of labourers and assured me that there 

 would be no difficulty on that account in the future. He told me that all the able- 

 bodied men in the Province had to give four days' work on the roads, and as all the 

 principal road-making was now being carried on at some distance from Palenque, that 

 the contingents from Santo Domingo and its neighbourhood and from the larger village 

 of Las Playas de Catasaja should be sent to work at the ruins — fifteen men to come 

 from Santo Domingo and fifteen from Las Playas, to remain four days, when they would 

 be relieved by other companies, — that I should pay the wages of these men to the 

 municipal officers, who would employ the money in hiring labourers for the roads in 



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