16 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



them all relatives, which they said w^as the case 

 since the reduction of their numbers by the cholera. 

 They w^ere, in fact, all kinsfolk, but it was allow- 

 able for kinsfolk to marry except in the relationship 

 of brothers and sisters. They were very strict in at- 

 tendance upon the ceremonies of the Church, and 

 had just finished the celebration of the carnival two 

 weeks in advance of the regular time ; but when 

 we corrected their chronology, they said they could 

 celebrate it over again. 



Early in the morning we set out for the ruins of 

 Zayi, or Salli. At a short distance from the rancho 

 we saw in an overgrown milpa on our left the ruins 

 of a mound and building, so far destroyed that they 

 are not worth presenting. 



After proceeding a mile and a half we saw at 

 some distance before us a great tree-covered mound, 

 which astonished us by its vast dimensions, and, 

 but for our Indian assistants, would have frightened 

 us by the size of the trees growing upon it. The 

 woods commenced from the roadside. Our guides 

 cut a path, and, clearing the branches overhead, 

 we followed on horseback, dismounting at the foot 

 of the Casa Grande. It was by this name that the 

 Indians called the immense pile of white stone build- 

 ings, which, buried in the depths of a great forest, 

 added new desolation to the waste by which they 

 were surrounded. We tied our horses, and worked 

 our way along the front. The trees were so close 

 that we could take in but a small portion of it at 



