APPENDIX. 



429 



POPULATION OP YUCATAN. 



Statement showing the number of inhabitants in the five departments into 

 which the state is divided, distinguishing the sexes ; taken from the cen- 

 sus made by order of the government on the 8th of April, 1841. 



Departments. 



Men. 



48,606 

 32,915 

 58,127 

 45,353 

 39,017 



Women. 



Total. 



Merida . . 

 Izamal . . 

 Tekax . . 

 Valladolid . 

 Campeachy 



58,663 

 37,933 

 64,697 

 46,926 

 40,639 



107,269 

 70,848 



122,824 

 92,279 

 79,656 







472,876 



Note. — "This census is probably not very exact, because, having con- 

 tinually the fear of new contributions, and detesting military service, every 

 one reduces as far as possible the number of his family in the lists pre- 

 pared for the census. It appears to me that the total population of Yu- 

 catan may be fixed at 525,000 souls." — P. De R. 



" The best information I have been enabled to obtain goes to show that 

 the population of the state cannot fall short of 600,000 souls." — J. B. Jr. 



SYSTEM ADOPTED BY THE ANCIENT BUILDERS OF YUCATAN IN COVERING THEIR. 

 ROOMS WITH STONE ROOFS. 



The engraving No. 1 represents the arch referred to in the description of 

 theMonjas at Uxmal ; and as the stones are not quite horizontal, but stand 

 nearly at right angles to the line of the arch, it shows how near an ap- 

 proach was made to the real principle on which the arch is constructed. 



Throughout every part of Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan, 

 the same method is to be traced with slight modifications. The stones 

 forming the side walls are made to overlap each other until the walls al- 

 most meet above, and then the narrow ceilings are covered with a layer of 

 flat stones. In every case the stones were laid in horizontal layers, the 

 principle of constructing arches, as understood by us, being unknown to the 

 aboriginal builders. This readily accounts for the extreme narrowness of 

 all their rooms, the widest not exceeding twenty feet, and the width more 

 frequently being only from six to ten feet. In a few cases the covering 

 stone is wanting, and the two sides meet so as to form a sharp angle. At 

 Palenque the builders did not cut the edges of the stones, so as to form an 

 even surface, their practice differing in this respect from that adopted in 

 Yucatan, where in every instance the sides of the arch are made perfectly 

 straight, or have a slight curve, with the inner surfaces smooth. 



It may now be interesting to inquire if any similarity exists between the 

 American method and those observed among the nations of antiquity in 



