THE ANCIENT CITY. 



151 



with the sacramental cup upon it, an object of venera- 

 tion to the fanatic Indians. 



But the agitation of the padre destroyed whatever 

 there was of comic in the scene. Recovering from the 

 shock, he told us not to go back through the town ; that 

 there was a road direct to the old city ; and concealing 

 the tablet under his gown, he walked out with a firm 

 step, and in a strong, unbroken voice, rapidly, in their 

 own unintelligible dialect, called to the Indians to bring 

 up our horses, and directed the guide to put us in the 

 road which led direct to the molina. He feared that the 

 Indians might discover our sacrilegious act; and as we 

 looked in their stupid faces, we were well satisfied to 

 get away before any such discovery was made, rejoicing 

 more than the padre that we could get back to the mo- 

 lina without returning through the town. 



"We had but to mount and ride. At the distance of 

 a mile and a half we reached the bank of an immense 

 ravine. We descended it, Don Saturnino leading the 

 way ; and at the foot, on the other side, he stopped at 

 a narrow passage, barely wide enough for the mule to 

 pass. This was the entrance to the old city. It was 

 a winding passage cut in the side of the ravine, twenty 

 or thirty feet deep, and not wide enough for two horse- 

 men to ride abreast ; and this continued to the high table 

 of land on which stood the ancient city of Patinamit. 



This city flourished with the once powerful kingdom 

 of the Kachiquel Indians. Its name, in their language, 

 means " the city." It was also called Tecpan Guati- 

 mala, which, according to Vasques, means " the Royal 

 House of Guatimala," and he infers that it was the cap- 

 ital of the Kachiquel kings ; but Fuentes supposes that 

 Tecpan Guatimala was the arsenal of the kingdom, and 

 not the royal residence, which honour belonged to Gua- 



