380 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



his place, which, however, though with some diffi- 

 culty, we avoided. 



I have not yet mentioned, what is a subject of re- 

 mark throughout Yucatan, and was particularly man- 

 ifest at this ball, the great apparent excess of female 

 population. This excess was said to be estimated 

 at the rate of two to one; but although it was an 

 interesting subject, and I was seeking for statistical 

 information which was said to exist, I could not ob- 

 tain any authentic information in regard to it. I 

 have no doubt, however, that there are many more 

 than one woman to one man, which the men say 

 makes Yucatan a great country to live in. Perhaps 

 this is one reason why the standard of morality is 

 not very high, and without wishing to reflect upon 

 our friends in Nohcacab, as this was a public ball, I 

 cannot help mentioning that one of the most per- 

 sonally attractive and lady-like looking women at 

 the ball was the amiga of a married man, whose 

 wife had left him ; the best dressed and most distin- 

 guished young lady was the daughter of the padre 

 who died in one of our rooms, and who, strictly 

 speaking, ought never to have had any daughters; 

 and in instances so numerous as not to be noticed 

 by the people, husbands without wives and wives 

 without husbands were mingling unrestrainedly to- 

 gether. Many of the white people could not speak 

 Spanish, and the conversation was almost exclusive- 

 ly in the Maya language. 



It was the first time we had appeared in society, 



