404 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



to have it known that there was anything worth 

 carrying away. 



To get them out by our own efforts, however, 

 was impossible ; and, after conferring with the pa- 

 drecito, we procured a good set of men, and went 

 down with crowbars for the purpose of working 

 them out of the wall. Doctor Cabot, who had been 

 confined to the village for several days by illness, 

 turned out on this great occasion. 



The lintel consisted of two beams, and the outer 

 one was split in two lengthwise. They lapped over 

 the doorway about a foot at each end, and were as 

 firmly secured as any stones in the building, having 

 been built in when the wall was constructed. For- 

 tunately, we had two crowbars, and the doorway 

 being filled up with earth both inside and out, the 

 men were enabled to stand above the beam, and use 

 the crowbars to advantage. They began inside, and 

 in about two hours cleared the lintel directly over 

 the doorway, but the ends were still firmly secured. 

 The beams were about ten feet long, and to keep 

 the whole wall from falling and crushing them, it 

 was necessary to knock away the stones over the 

 centre, and make an arch in proportion to the base. 

 The wall was four feet thick over the doorway, in- 

 creasing in thickness with the receding of the inner 

 arch, and the whole was a solid mass, the mortar 

 being nearly as hard as the stone. As the breach 

 was enlarged it became dangerous to stand near it ; 

 the crowbar had to be thrown aside, and the men 



