250 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



under the guidance of the mayoral, with some In- 

 dians to clear the way. The whole intervening 

 space was overgrown with woods, the ground was 

 low and muddy, and, as the rains still continued, the 

 aguada was at that time a fine sheet of water. It 

 was completely imbosomed among trees, still and 

 desolate, with tracks of deer on its banks ; a few 

 ducks were swimming on its surface, and a king- 

 fisher was sitting on the bough of an overhanging 

 tree, watching for his prey. The mayoral told us 

 that this aguada was connected with another more 

 to the south, and that they continued, one after the 

 other, to a great distance ; to use his own expres- 

 sion, which, however, I did not understand literally, 

 there were a hundred of them. 



The general opinion with regard to these agua- 

 das is the same with that expressed by the cura of 

 Tekoh respecting that near Mayapan ; viz., that 

 they were "hechas a mano," artificial formations or 

 excavations made by the ancient inhabitants as res- 

 ervoirs for holding water. The mayoral told us that 

 in the dry season, when the water was low, the re- 

 mains of stone embankments were still visible in 

 several places. As yet we were incredulous as to 

 their being at all artificial, but we had no difficulty 

 in believing that they had furnished the inhabitants 

 of Uxmal with water. The distance, from what 

 will be seen hereafter, in that dry and destitute coun- 

 try amounts to but little. 



