158 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



out the apartments. For brooms they had merely 

 to cut a handful of bushes, and to shovel out the 

 dirt they had then* hands. This over, we had our 

 luggage carried in, set up our beds in the back sala, 

 and swung our hammocks in the front. At nightfall 

 the Indians left us, and we were again alone in the 

 palace of unknown kings. 



We had reached the first point of our journey ; 

 we were once more at the ruins of Uxmal. It was 

 nearly two years since we originally set out in 

 search of American ruins, and more than a year 

 since we were driven from this place. The fresh- 

 ness and enthusiasm with which we had first come 

 upon the ruins of an American city had perhaps 

 gone, but our feelings were not blunted, and all the 

 regret which we had felt in being obliged to leave 

 was more than counterbalanced by the satisfaction 

 of returning. 



It was in this spirit that, as evening came on, we 

 swung in our hammocks and puffed away all trou- 

 bles. The bats, retiring to their nightly haunt, 

 seemed startled by the blaze of our fire. O wls and 

 other birds of darkness sent up their discordant cries 

 from the woods, and as the evening waned we found 

 ourselves debating warmly the great question of ex- 

 citement at home, whether M'Leod ought to be 

 hanged or not. 



As a measure of precaution, and in order to have 

 the full benefit of a medical man's company, we be- 

 gan immediately upon a course of preventive treat- 



