44 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



not bite, and then put him away in the shade. This 

 refined cruelty was to avoid the necessity of kiUing 

 him immediately, for if killed, in that hot climate he 

 would soon be unfit for food ; but, mutilated and 

 mangled as he was, he could be kept alive till night. 



This over, we moved on in a body, carrying the 

 Iguana, to the next building, which was situated in 

 a different direction, about a quarter of a mile dis- 

 tant, and completely buried in woods. It was sev- 

 enty-five feet long, and had three doorways, leading 

 to the same number of apartments. A great part of 

 the front had fallen ; the plate opposite represents 

 that which remains. With some sHght difference 

 in the detail of ornament, the character is the same 

 as in all the other buildings, and the general effect 

 pleasing. Growing on the roof are two maguey 

 plants. Agave Americana, in our latitude called the 

 century plant, but under the hot sun of the tropics 

 blooming every four or five years. There are four 

 species of this plant in Yucatan : the maguey, from 

 which is produced the pulque, a beverage common 

 in all the Mexican provinces, which, taken in ex- 

 cess, produces intoxication ; the henneken, which 

 produces the article known in our markets as Sisal 

 hemp ; the sabila, with which the Indian women 

 wean children, covering the breast with the leaf, 

 which is very bitter to the taste ; and the peta, hav- 

 ing leaves twice as large as the last, from which a 

 very fine white hemp is made. These plants, in 

 some or all of their varieties, were found in the neigh- 



