130 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



and interesting specimens, we remounted, and very 

 soon reached mounds of earth, fragments of sculp- 

 tured stones, broken walls, and fallen buildings, in- 

 dicating that we were once more treading upon the 

 sepulchre of an aboriginal city. 



At eleven o'clock we came to a clearing, in which 

 was situated the hacienda of San Joaquin. The 

 building was a mere rancho, erected only for the 

 residence of a mayoral, a person inferior to a major 

 domo ; but there was a fine clearing around it, and 

 the situation was wild and beautiful. In the cattle- 

 yard were noble trees. In the platform of the well 

 were sculptured stones taken from the ancient 

 buildings ; it was shaded by the spreading branches 

 of a fine ramon or tropical oak, with a foliage of 

 vivid green ; and crowning the top, and apparently 

 growing out of it, were the long, pale leaves of 

 the cocoanut. 



The hacienda, or rather rancho, of San Joaquin, 

 on which the ruins of Mayapan lie scattered, is ten 

 leagues south from Merida. It forms part of the 

 great hacienda of Xcanchakan, the property of 

 Don Jose Maria Meneses, the venerable cura of 

 San Cristoval, formerly provesor of the Church of 

 Yucatan. We had made the acquaintance of this 

 gentleman at the house of his friend Senor Rejon, 

 secretary of state, and he had sent instructions to 

 his major domo, the same who had met us at the 

 last village, to place at our command all the dispo- 

 sable force of the hacienda. 



