AN ANCIENT INDIAN VILLAGE. 



369 



which everybody drank. * * ^ ^ They then left us 

 alone, and we entered the village, where all the 

 houses were built of stone. Among others, we saw 

 five very well made, and commanded by small tow- 

 ers. The base of these edifices is vei'y large and 

 massive ; the building is i^ery small at the top. 

 They appeared to have been built a long time, but 

 there are also modern ones, 



" That village, or bourg, was paved with concave 

 stones. The streets, elevated at the sides, descend- 

 ed, inclining toward the middle, which was paved 

 entirely with large stones. The sides were occu- 

 pied by the houses of the inhabitants. They are 

 constructed of stone from the foundation to half the 

 height of the walls, and covered with straw. To 

 judge by the edifices and houses, these Indians appear 

 to be very ingenious ; and if we had not seen a num- 

 ber of recent constructions, we should have thought 

 that these buildings were the works of the Span- 

 iards. This island appears to me very handsome. 

 * * * ^ We penetrated, to the number of ten men, 

 three or four miles in the interior. We saw there 

 edifices and habitations separated one from another, 

 and very well constructed.'' 



On the tenth of Feburary, 1519, the armament of 

 Cortez rendezvoused at this island. Bernal Dias 

 was again a companion, and was an actor in a scene 

 which he describes as follows : " There was on the 

 island of Co^umel a temple containing some hideous 

 idols, to which all the Indians of the neighbouring 



Vol. II. — A a a 



