A FIT OF ENTHUSIASM. 219 



The door of El Laberinto, instead of opening into 

 a hill-side, opened into this mound, and, as near as I 

 could judge from the ruins along the base, was ten 

 feet high, and the Laberinto, instead of being sub- 

 terraneous, or, rather, under the surface of the earth 

 was in the body of this mound. Heretofore it had 

 been our impression that these mounds were solid 

 and compact masses of stone and earth, without any 

 chambers or structures of any kind, and the discov- 

 ery of this gave rise to the exciting idea that all the 

 great mounds scattered over the country contained 

 secret, unknown, and hidden chambers, presenting 

 an immense field for exploration and discovery, and, 

 ruined as the buildings on their summits were, per- 

 haps the only source left for acquiring knowledge of 

 the people by whom the cities were constructed. 



I was really at a loss to know what to do. I 

 was almost tempted to abandon everything else, send 

 word to my companions, and not leave the spot till 

 I had pulled down the whole mound, and discover- 

 ed every secret it contained ; but it was not a work 

 to be undertaken in a hurry, and I determined to 

 leave it for a future occasion. Unfortunately, in 

 the multiplicity of other occupations in distant re- 

 gions of the country, I never had an opportunity of 

 returning to this mound. It remains with all its 

 mystery around it, worthy the enterprise of some fu- 

 ture explorer, and I cannot but indulge the hope that 

 the time is not far distant when its mystery will be 

 removed and all that is hidden brought to light. 



