A CORDIAL RECEPTION. 



83 



their views. The governor shrank from the hazard 

 of extremes, was vacillating, undecided, and une- 

 qual to the emergency. In the mean time, the en- 

 thusiasm which led to the revolution, and which 

 might have achieved independence, was wearing 

 away. Dissatisfaction and discontent prevailed. 

 Both parties blamed the governor, and he did not 

 know himself to which he belonged. 



There was nothing equivocal, however, in his re- 

 ception of us. He knew the object of our return to 

 the country, and offered us all the facilities the gov- 

 ernment could bestow. Whatever was to be the 

 fate of Yucatan, it was fortunate for us that it was 

 then free from the dominion of Mexico, and repu- 

 diated entirely the jealous policy which threw im- 

 pediments in the way of strangers seeking to ex- 

 plore the antiquities of the country ; and it was also 

 fortunate, that on my former visit Yucatan had im- 

 pressed me favourably ; for, had it been otherwise, my 

 situation might have been made uncomfortable, and 

 the two journals of Merida, the " Commercial Bul- 

 letin" and the "Nineteenth Century," instead of 

 giving us a cordial welcome, and bespeaking favour 

 for us, might have advised us to return home by the 

 same vessel that brought us out. 



Our only business in Merida was to make inqui- 

 ries about ruins and arrangements for our journey 

 into the interior, but in the mean time we had no 

 lack of other occupation. 



The house of the Dona Micaela was the rendez- 



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