A LEGEND. 



437 



the idol called Haboc he founded a village called 

 Santa Maria, by which means he sought to sweep 

 away the memory of so great idolatry." 



It is unnecessary to comment upon these ac- 

 courts. Testimony, never intended for that pur- 

 pose, proves, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that 

 these great mounds had upon them temples and 

 idols, and the habitations of priests, in the actual 

 use of the Indians who were found occupying the 

 country at the time of the conquest ; and, in my 

 opinion, if it stood alone, unsupported by any other, 

 it is sufficient to dispel every cloud of mystery that 

 hangs over the ruins of Yucatan. 



At the present day Izamal is distinguished 

 throughout Yucatan for its fair, but it has a stronger 

 hold upon the feelings of the Indians in the sancti- 

 ty of its Virgin. From the history of the proceed- 

 ings of the monks, it appears that the Indians con- 

 tinued to worship El Demonio, and the venerable 

 padre Landa, after severe wrestling with the great 

 enemy, proposed to procure an image of the holy 

 Virgin, offering to go for it himself to Guatimala, in 

 which city there was a skilful sculptor. At the 

 same time, another was wanted for the convent at 

 Merida. The two images were brought in a box, 

 and though there was much rain on the way, it nev- 

 er fell on the box, or on the Indians who carried it, 

 or within some steps of them. At Merida the 

 monks selected for their convent the one which had 

 the most beautiful countenance and seemed most 



