WELLS OF BOLONCHEN. 143 



with gold-headed canes, came over to " call upon 

 us." All were profuse in offers of services ; and as 

 it was the hour for that refreshment, we had a per- 

 plexing number of invitations to go to their houses 

 and take chocolate. Among our visiters was a young 

 man with a fine black beard all over his face, well 

 dressed, and the only one wearing a black hat, whom, 

 as we knew they were about drilling companies in 

 the villages to resist the apprehended invasion of 

 Santa Ana, we supposed to belong to the army, but 

 we afterward learned that he was a member of the 

 church militant, being the ministro, or assistant, of the 

 cura. The cura himself did not come, but one of 

 our visiters, looking over to the convent, and seeing 

 the doors and windows closed, said he was stiU ta- 

 king his siesta. 



We had time to look at the only objects of inter- 

 est in the village, and these were the wells, which, 

 after our straits at Chunhuhu, were a refreshing spec- 

 tacle, and of which our horses had already enjoyed 

 the benefit by a bath. 



Bolonchen derives its name from two Maya 

 words : Bolon, which signifies nine, and chen, wells, 

 and it means the nine wells. From time immemo- 

 rial, nine wells formed at this place the centre of a 

 population, and these nine wells are now in the pla- 

 za of the village. Their origin is as obscure and un- 

 known as that of the ruined cities which strew the 

 land, and as little thought of. 



These wells were circular openings cut through 



