/ 



38 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



Other edifice, holding aloft a high wall, like that we 

 had seen at Zayi, extraordinary in its appearance 

 and incomprehensible in its uses and purposes. 

 From the tact and facility w^e had now acquired, a 

 short time sufficed for our examination of this place, 

 and, with one more added to our list of ruined cit- 

 ies, we mounted, and resumed our journey. 



At half past five we reached the rancho of Sa- 

 bachshe, lying on the camino real from Ticul to 

 Bolonchen, and inhabited entirely by Indians. The 

 casa real stood on an elevation in an open place ; 

 it was thatched with palm leaves, had mud walls, 

 and an arbour before it, and a table and benches 

 within. Altogether, it was better in appearance 

 and furniture than the others we had encountered, 

 which, as we afterward learned, was owing to 

 the circumstance that, besides its regular uses, it 

 was intended for the residence of the mistress on 

 her annual visits to the rancho. But much more 

 interesting and important was the fact, that this 

 rancho was distinguished by a well, the sight of 

 which was more grateful to us than that of the 

 best hotel to the traveller in a civilized country. 

 We were scratched with thorns, and smarting with 

 garrapata bites, and looked forward to the refresh- 

 ment of a bath. Very soon our horses had the ben- 

 efit of it, the bath being in that country, where the 

 currycomb and brush are entirely unknown, the only 

 external refreshment these animals ever get. The 



