384 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



upon our departure ; but there was no place in our 

 whole journey that we left with more regret. 



From the point at which we left the island, the 

 opposite coast of Yucatan was dimly visible, and I 

 would remark, that, from our own observation and 

 from information given to us by others, it is the only 

 point from which the opposite coast can be seen at 

 all, whence it is a conclusion almost unquestionable 

 that it was from this same point Grijalva steered 

 for Yucatan. The wind was high, the sea rough, 

 and a strong current was sweeping us down toward 

 the point of Cape Catoche. About an hour before 

 dark we got across the current, and stood up along 

 the coast, passing three low, square buildings, appa- 

 rently in a good state of preservation, but the sea 

 was so rough that we could not land to examine 

 them. The account of the expedition of Grijalva 

 says, " After leaving the island of Cozumel we saw 

 three large villages, separated two miles from each 

 other. They contained a great number of stone 

 houses, with high towers, and covered with straw." 

 This must have been the very part of the coast 

 where these villages were seen. The whole is now 

 covered with forest, but it is not unreasonable to 

 suppose that the stone buildings visible on the shore 

 are tokens of the buried towns in the interior. We 

 ran on till after dark, and came to anchor under a 

 projecting point, behind a reef of rocks. In the 

 edge of the water was a square enclosure for turtle, 

 and on the shore a deserted fisherman's hut. 



