306 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



did not commence till three or four o'clock, and the 

 weather was clear always in the morning, it alone would 

 not have been sufficient to prevent our attempting it ; 

 but there were other difficulties, which embarrassed us 

 from the beginning, and continued during our whole res- 

 idence among the ruins. There was not an axe or spade 

 in the place, and, as usual, the only instrument was the 

 machete, which here was like a short and wide-bladed 

 sword ; and the difficulty of procuring Indians to work 

 was greater than at any other place we had visited. It 

 was the season of planting corn, and the Indians, under 

 the immediate pressure of famine, were all busy with 

 their milpas. The price of an Indian's labour was 

 eighteen cents per day ; but the alcalde, who had the 

 direction of this branch of the business, would not let 

 me advance to more than twenty-five cents, and the 

 most he would engage to send me was from four to six 

 a day. They would not sleep at the ruins, came late, 

 and went away early ; sometimes only two or three ap- 

 peared, and the same men rarely came twice, so that 

 during our stay we had all the Indians of the village in 

 rotation. This increased very much our labour, as it 

 made it necessary to stand over them constantly to di- 

 rect their work; and just as one set began to understand 

 precisely what we wanted, we were obliged to teach the 

 same to others; and I may remark that their labour, 

 though nominally cheap, was dear in reference to the 

 work done. 



At that time I expected to return to Palenque ; 

 whether I shall do so now or not is uncertain ; but I am 

 anxious that it should be understood that the accounts 

 which have been published of the immense labour and 

 expense of exploring these ruins, which, as I before re- 

 marked, made it almost seem presumptuous for me to 



