FEARS OF THE INDIANS. 



219 



Others of the same kind, and to save our horses, back- 

 ed them out to the edge of the aguada, and moved 

 cautiously around it ourselves. These pits were no 

 doubt of modern date, and we could not discover 

 any indications of ancient wells ; nevertheless, such 

 may exist, for the aguada has been disused and neg- 

 lected for an unknown length of time. Soil had 

 accumulated, without removing which, the charac- 

 ter and construction of the bottom could not be as- 

 certained. 



I returned from the aguada in time to assist Mr. 

 Catherwood in taking the plan of the buildings. 

 Our appearance in this wilderness had created as- 

 tonishment among the Indians. All day, whenever 

 we drew near to the buildings, the women and chil- 

 dren ran inside, and now, when they found us en- 

 tering their habitations, they all ran out of doors. 

 The old major domo, unused to such a commotion 

 among the w^omen, followed us close, anxiously, but 

 respectfully, and without uttering a word ; and when 

 we closed the book and told him we had finished, 

 he raised both hands, and, with a relieved expres- 

 sion, exclaimed, " Gracios a Dios, la obra es acaba- 

 da !" " Thank God, the work is done !" 



I have nothing to say concerning the history of 

 these ruins. They are the only memorials of a city 

 which, but for them, would be utterly unknown, and 

 I do not find among my notes any memoranda show- 

 ing how or from whom we first received the intelli- 

 gence of their existence. 



