RETURN TO UXMAL. 



223 



seen seven different places of ruins, memorials of 

 cities which had been and had passed away, and 

 such memorials as no cities built by the Spaniards 

 in that country would present. 



The ruins of Uxmal presented themselves to me 

 as a home, and I looked upon them with more in- 

 terest than before. I had found the wrecks of cities 

 scattered more numerously than I expected, but they 

 were all so shattered that no voice of instruction 

 issued from them ; here they still stood, tottering 

 and crumbling, but living memorials, more worthy 

 than ever of investigation and study, and as I then 

 thought, not knowing what others more distant, of 

 which we had heard, might prove, perhaps the only 

 existing vestiges that could transmit to posterity the 

 image of an American city. 



As I approached, I saw on the terrace our beds, 

 with moscheto-nets fluttering in the wind, and 

 trunks and boxes all turned out of doors, having 

 very much the appearance of a forcible ejectment 

 or ouster for non-payment of rent ; but on arriving 

 I found that my companions were moving. In the 

 great sala, with its three doors, they had found them- 

 selves too much exposed to the heavy dews and 

 night air, and they were about removing to a small- 

 er apartment, being that next to the last on the south 

 wing, which had but one door, and could more ea- 

 sily be kept dry by a fire. They were then engaged 

 in cleaning house, and at the moment of my arrival 

 I was called in to consult whether the rooms should 



