AN IMPOSING STRUCTURE. 253 



their forefathers, being the same way in which those 

 respectable people cooked men and women, as Ber- 

 nal Dias says, " dressing the bodies in their manner, 

 which is by a sort of oven made with heated stones, 

 which are put under ground." They made an ex- 

 cavation on the terrace, kindled a large fire in it, 

 and kept it burning until the pit was heated hke 

 an oven. Two clean stones were laid in the bot- 

 tom, the pig (not alive) was laid upon them, and 

 covered over with leaves and bushes, packed down 

 with stones so close as barely to leave vent to the 

 fire, and allow an escape for the smoke. 



While this bake was going on I set out on a bu- 

 siness close at hand, but which, in the pressure of 

 other matters, I had postponed from day to day. 

 On a fine with the back of the Casa del Gobernador 

 rises the high and nameless mound represented in 

 the frontispiece, forming one of the grandest and 

 most imposing structures among all the ruins of 

 Uxmal. It was at that time covered with trees and 

 a thick growth of herbage, which gave a gloominess 

 to its grandeur of proportions, and, but for its regu- 

 larity, and a single belt of sculptured stones barely 

 visible at the top, it would have passed for a wood- 

 ed and grass-grown hill. Taking some Indians 

 with me, I ascended this mound, and began clearing 

 it for Mr. Catherwood to draw. I found that its 

 vast sides were all incased with stone, in some pla- 

 ces richly ornamented, but completely hidden from 

 view by the foliage. 



22 



