ARRIVAL AT THE VILLAGE OF XUL. 81 



portunity of telling our story to advantage, or of ma- 

 king friends. 



On the opposite side of the plaza was one of 

 those buildings which had so often sheltered us in 

 time of trouble, but now I hesitated to approach the 

 convent. The fame of the cura of Xul had reached 

 our ears ; report said that he was rich, and a money- 

 making man, and odd. Among his other posses- 

 sions, he was lord of a ruined city which we pro- 

 posed to visit, particularly interesting to us from the 

 circumstance that, according to the accounts, it was 

 then inhabited by Indians. We wished to procure 

 from him facilities for exploring this city to advan- 

 tage, and doubted whether it would be any recom- 

 mendation to his favour as a rich man to begin our 

 acquaintance by borrowing money of him. 



But, although rich, he was a padre. Without dis- 

 mounting, I rode over to the convent. The padre 

 came out to meet me, and told me that he had been 

 expecting us every day. I dismounted, and he took 

 my horse by the bridle, led him across the corridor, 

 through the sala, and out to the yard. He asked 

 why my companions did not come over, and, at a 

 signal, in a few minutes their horses followed mine 

 through the sala. 



Still we were not entirely at ease. In Yucatan, 

 as in Central America, it is the custom for a travel- 

 ler, whether he alights at the casa real, convent, or 

 the hacienda of a friend, to buy ramon and maize 

 for his horses ; and it is no lack of hospitahty in the 



Vol. IL— L 



