148 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



tonishraent of the gaping Indians, the doctor, as he 

 wheeled his horse, shot a hawk that was hovering 

 over the pinnacle of the gateway, and we rode up 

 to the house. 



I trust the reader has not forgotten this fine ha- 

 cienda. It was the same to which, on our former 

 visit, we had been borne on the shoulders of In- 

 dians, and in which we had taken a bath in a 

 senote, never to be forgotten. We were once more 

 on the hands of our old friend Don Simon Peon. 

 The whole hacienda, horses, mules, and Indians, 

 were at our disposal. It was but ten o'clock, and 

 we intended to continue our journey to Uxmal, but 

 first we resolved upon another bath in the senote. 

 My first impression of the beauty of this fancy 

 bathing-place did not deceive me, and the first 

 glance satisfied me that I incurred no risk in intro- 

 ducing to it a stranger. A light cloud of almost 

 imperceptible dust, ascribed to the dripping of the 

 waters of the rainy season, or perhaps made visible 

 by the rays of the midday sun, rested on the surface, 

 but underneath were the same crystal fluid and the 

 same clear bottom. Very soon we were in the wa- 

 ter, and before we came out we resolved to postpone 

 our journey till the next day, for the sake of an 

 evening bath. 



As the reader is now on ground which I trust he 

 has travelled before, I shall merely state that the 

 next day we rode on to the hacienda of San Jose, 

 where we stopped to make some preparations, and 



