408 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



ing this place from the ulterior. The whole trian- 

 gular region from Valladolid to the Bay of Ascension 

 on one side, and the port of Yalahao on the other, 

 is not traversed by a single road, and the rancho 

 of Molas is the only settlement along the coast. 

 It is a region entirely unknown ; no white man 

 ever enters it. Ruined cities no doubt exist, and 

 young Molas told us of a large building many 

 leagues in the interior, known to an old Indian, 

 covered with paintings in bright and vivid colours, 

 and the subjects of which were still perfect. With 

 difficulty we contrived to see this Indian, but he 

 was extremely uncommunicative ; said it was many 

 years since he saw the building ; that he had come 

 upon it in the dry season while hunting, and should 

 not be able to find it again. It is my beUef that 

 within this region cities like those we have seen 

 in ruins were kept up and occupied for a long time, 

 perhaps one or two centuries, after the conquest, and 

 that, down to a comparatively late period, Indians 

 were living in them, the same as before the discov- 

 ery of America. In fact, I conceive it to be not 

 impossible that within this secluded region may ex- 

 ist at this day, unknown to white men, a living ab- 

 original city, occupied by relics of the ancient race, 

 who still worship in the temples of their fathers. 



The reader will, perhaps, think that I have gone 

 far enough. We had now finished our voyage along 

 the coast, and the end which we had in view was 

 fully accomplished. We had seen, abandoned and 



