ARRIVAL AT UXMAL. 411 



seen. The family of Peon, under the Spanish domin- 

 ion, had given governors to the province of Yucatan. 

 On the establishment of independence, its present head, 

 a stanch Royalist, retired in disgust from all kinds of 

 employment, and the whole of the large family estates 

 were managed by the Senora Donna Joaquina. Unfor- 

 tunately, Don Simon had left for Merida, and we had 

 missed him on the way. Moreover, owing to the heat 

 of the sun and our awkward saddles, we arrived at the 

 end of this triumphal march in a dreadfully jaded and 

 forlorn condition, and perhaps we never dismounted 

 more utterly worn out and uncomfortable. 



The hacienda of Uxmal was built of dark gray stone, 

 ruder in appearance and finish than any of the others, 

 with a greater appearance of antiquity, and at a distance 

 looked like an old baronial castle. A year before it 

 had been given to Don Simon by his father, and he 

 was making large repairs and additions to the building, 

 though, as his family never visited it, and he only for a 

 few days at a time, for what purpose I could not con- 

 ceive. It had its cattle-yard in front, with tanks of 

 water around, some with green vegetation on the top, 

 and there was an unwholesome sensation of dampness. 

 It had, too, its church, which contained a figure of nu- 

 estra Senor, " Our Lord," revered by the Indians of all 

 the haciendas around, the fame of which had reached 

 the household servants at Merida, and Avhich was the 

 first object that attracted the attention of our guide. 

 The whole hacienda was immediately at our disposal; 

 but, worn down with heat and fatigue, we took at once 

 to our hammocks. 



The hacienda had two major-domos, one a Mestitzo, 

 who understood the language and business, and in the 

 other we found an acquaintance, or, at least, what seem- 



36 



