IGNORANCE OF THE INDIANS. 383 



making inquiries. All the ruins scattered about the 

 country are known to the Indians under the gener- 

 al name of "Xlap-pahk," which means in Spanish 

 " paredes viejas," and in English " old walls." The 

 information we obtained was in general so confused 

 that we were unable to form any idea of the extent 

 or character of the ruins. We could establish no 

 standard of comparison, as those who told us of one 

 place were, perhaps, not familiar with any other, so 

 that it was necessary to see all ; and we had one 

 perplexity, the magnitude of which can hardly be 

 conceived, in the extraordinary ignorance of all the 

 people, whites and Indians, in regard to the geog- 

 raphy of their own immediate neighbourhood. A 

 place they had never visited, though but a few 

 leagues distant, they knew nothing about, and, from 

 the extreme difficulty of ascertaining the juxtaposi- 

 tion of places, it was hard to arrange the plan of 

 a route so as to embrace several. To some I made 

 preliminary visits ; those from which I expected 

 most turned out not worth the trouble of going to, 

 while others, from which I expected but little, proved 

 extremely interesting. Almost every evening, on 

 returning to the convent, the padrecito hurried 

 into our room, with the greeting, " buenas noticias ! 

 otras ruinas !" " good news ! more ruins !" and at 

 one time these noticias came in so fast that I sent 

 Albino on a two days' excursion to " do" some pre- 

 liminary visits, who returned with a report justify- 

 ing my opinion of his judgment, and a bruised leg 



