284 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



country ; and I take occasion to say that this visit 

 WRs made in the prosecution of a route recom- 

 mended to him by me after my return from my for- 

 mer interrupted journey of exploration among the 

 ruins of Yucatan. 



But to return. From the door of our hut some 

 of the principal buildings were in sight. We w^ent 

 first to those on the opposite side of the camino real. 

 The path led through the cattle-yard of the hacienda, 

 from which we passed out at one end by a range 

 of bars into the field of ruins, partially wooded, but 

 the greater part open and intersected by cattle-paths. 

 Garrapatas were as abundant as ever, and perhaps 

 more so from the numerous cattle running over the 

 plain, but the luxuries of an open country, and the 

 facihty of moving from place to place, were so great, 

 that these could not mar our satisfaction, which was 

 raised to the highest pitch by the ruins themselves. 

 These were, indeed, magnificent. The buildings 

 were large, and some were in good preservation; in 

 general, the fa9ades were not so elaborately orna- 

 mented as some we had seen, seemed of an older 

 date, and the sculpture was ruder, but the interior 

 apartments contained decorations and devices that 

 were new to us, and powerfully interesting. All 

 the principal buildings were within a comparatively 

 small compass ; in fact, they were in such proximity, 

 and the facilities for moving among them were so 

 great, that by one o'clock we had visited every 



