244 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



was satisfactory, for the idea of being loaded with 

 garrapatas to carry about till night had almost made 

 me recoil. At the same time, the other gentle- 

 men told us of other ruins at a league's distance 

 from Tekax, on the hacienda of Senor Calera. I 

 felt strongly disposed to turn off and visit the latter, 

 but our carrier had gone on, and the little difficul- 

 ties of overtaking him, procuring another for a 

 change of route, and perhaps losing a day, were 

 now serious objections ; besides, there was no end 

 to the ruins. 



Leaving the hacienda, we entered, with a satis- 

 faction that can hardly be described, upon a broad 

 road for carretas and calesas. We had emerged 

 from the narrow and tangled path of milpas and 

 ranchos, and were once more on a camino real. 

 We had accomplished a journey which we were 

 assured, on setting out, was impracticable ; and now 

 we were coming upon the finest portion of the 

 state, famed for its rich sugar plantations. We met 

 heavy, lumbering vehicles drawn by oxen and hor- 

 ses, carrying sugar from the haciendas. Very soon 

 we reached Tekax, one of the four places in Yu- 

 catan bearing the name of a city, and I must con- 

 fess that I felt some degree of excitement. Through- 

 out Yucatan our journey had been so quiet, so free 

 from danger or interruption of any kind, that, after 

 my Central American experience, it seemed unnat- 

 ural. Yucatan was in a state of open rebellion 

 against Mexico ; we had heard of negotiations, but 



