6 PALENQUE. 



through the clearing — in fact until that was clone it was a difficult gymnastic exercise 

 to get about from one building to another. Unluckily we missed the first opportunity of 

 burning the fallen bush when it was thoroughly dry after some excessively hot weather 

 in the month of March. It is always a great advantage to burn off the whole of a 

 clearing at one time, and I was then still hopeful of getting some more of the ground 

 cleared towards the south, where there was no heavy timber, when a sudden and 

 unexpected rain-storm broke on us. After that several " northers " accompanied by 

 heavy rain rendered firing impossible. Three times the plaza through which the 

 little stream runs was completely flooded, and in the buildings which we inhabited the 

 drip from the roof began afresh, and the floor of the chamber which I had arranged as 

 a dark room for photography was some inches deep in water. 



It was not until the 15th April that we were able to put fire through the clearing, 

 and then within two days Mr. Price laid out his base lines for the plane-table survey, 

 and I was able to take the large-sized views which appear amongst the plates. 



On the 12th May we returned to the village of Santo Domingo, and a day or two 

 afterwards arrived at Monte Cristo. Here I parted from Mr. Price and the Lopeses, 

 who were going, by way of Peten, to Coban in Guatemala, and I afterwards learnt that 

 they had a very hard journey, suffering much at one time both from want of food and 

 water and later from excessive rain. 



During our stay at the ruins we suffered from no fevers or other tropical maladies. 

 The bright little stream afforded capital bathing-places, and the drinking-water, 

 although heavily charged with lime, seemed to agree with us all. 



The northers and heavy rains were no doubt later than usual, but we had one 

 unusually hot week in March, when the thermometer inside the houses frequently went 

 up to 94°, and during this week the nights also were hot ; usually the nights were 

 pleasantly cool, and but for the myriads of mosquitos would have been most enjoy- 

 able. However, we could generally find some spot where there was a cool breeze and 

 we could escape their attacks ; and the beauty of the moonlight nights when we sat 

 smoking and chatting on the western terrace looking on to the illuminated face of the 

 Temple of Inscriptions and the dark forest behind it will never fade from my memory. 



Towards the end of April, and until the end of our stay, the days again became 

 hotter, but heavy clouds occasionally shaded us from the sun, and we never again 

 experienced the torrid cloudless days we passed through during the one hot week in 

 March. 



