212 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



bourhood, and he had a large house in the village, 

 at w^hich we stopped. My object in coming to this 

 place w^as to visit La Cueva de Maxcanu, or the 

 Cave of Maxcanu. In the evening, w^hen notice 

 w^as given of my intention, half the village was ready 

 to join me, but in the morning my volunteers were 

 not forthcommg, and I was reduced to the men 

 procured for me by Don Lorenzo. From the time 

 consumed in getting the men together and procuring 

 torches, cord, &c., I did not get off till after nine 

 o'clock. Our direction was due east till we reached 

 the sierra, ascending which through a passage over- 

 grown with woods, at eleven o'clock we arrived at 

 the mouth, or rather door, of the cueva, about a 

 league distant from the village. 



I had before heard so much of caves, and had 

 been so often disappointed, that I did not expect 

 much from this ; but the first view satisfied me in 

 regard to the main point, viz., that it was not a nat- 

 ural cave, and that, as had been represented to me, 

 it was hecha a mano, or made by hand. 



La Cueva de Maxcanu, or the Cave of Maxcanu, 

 has in that region a marvellous and mystical repu- 

 tatioi^Wt is called by the Indians Satun Sat, which 

 meanHn Spanish El Laberinto or El Perdedero, the 

 Labyrinth, or place in which one may be lost. Not- 

 withstanding its wonderful reputation, and a name 

 which alone, in any other country, would induce a 

 thorough exploration, it is a singular fact, and ex- 

 hibits more strikingly than anything I can mention 



