262 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



person, and forthwith established himself as inquisi- 

 tor. Some who had died obstinately in the secret 

 practice of idolatrous rites had been buried in sacred 

 ground ; he ordered their bodies to be dug up, and 

 their bones thrown into the fields ; and, in order to 

 strike terror into the minds of the Indians, and root 

 out the memory of their ancient rites, on a day ap- 

 pointed for that purpose, attended by the principal 

 of the Spanish nobility, and in the presence of a 

 great multitude of Indians, he made them bring to- 

 gether all their books and ancient characters, and 

 publicly burned them, thus destroying at once the 

 history of their antiquities. Those envious of the 

 blessed father, says the historian, gave him the title 

 of cruel ; but very differently thought of the action 

 the Doctor Don Pedro Sanchez de Aguilar, in his 

 information against the idolaters of this country. 



The sight of this painting made me more earnest 

 in pushing my inquiries for other memorials, but 

 this was all ; the Indians had no more to show, and 

 I then inquired of the alcalde for ancient archives. 

 He knew nothing about them, but said we could 

 examine for ourselves, and the key of the apartment 

 in which they were kept was with the second al- 

 calde. 



The schoolmaster of the village, who had re- 

 ceived a letter in our behalf from our friend the 

 cura Carillo of Ticul, accompanied me to look for 

 the second alcalde, and, after tracing him to several 

 places, we procured the keys, and returned to the 



