222 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



of my horse, and I could never learn by what name 

 they are called. 



At half past six we reached the village of Opoche- 

 que. In the centre of the plaza was a large fount- 

 ain, at which women were drawing water, and on 

 one side was a Mestizo family, with two men play- 

 ing the guitar. We stopped for a cup of water, and 

 then, pushing on by a bright moonlight, at nine 

 o'clock reached the village of Moona, which the 

 reader of my former volumes may remember was 

 the first stage of our journey on leaving Uxmal for 

 home. 



Early the next morning we resumed oar course. 

 Immediately behind the village we crossed the sier- 

 ra, the same broken and stony range, commanding 

 on both sides the same grand view of a boundless 

 wooded plain. In an hour we saw at a distance on 

 our left the high mound of ruins visible from the 

 House of the Dwarf, known under the Indian name 

 of Xcoch. About five miles before arriving at Ux- 

 mal, I saw on the right another high mound. The 

 intervening space was covered with trees and thorn- 

 bushes, but I reached it without dismounting. On 

 the top were two buildings about eighteen feet each, 

 with the upper part of the outer walls fallen. Of 

 both, the inner part was entire. 



At twelve o'clock I reached Uxmal. The extent 

 of my journey had been thirteen leagues, or thirty- 

 nine miles ; for though I had varied my route in re- 

 turning, I had not increased the distance, and I had 



