CONTESTED ELECTION. 



333 



watched them as they reeled down the road, which 

 they seemed to find hardly wide enough for one 

 abreast, tm-ning to look back and make us another 

 reverence, and at length, when out of our reach, 

 they all stopped, sat down in the road, and again 

 took to their bottles. 



We had arrived at Nohcacab at an interesting 

 and exciting moment. The village had just gone 

 through the agony of a contested election. During 

 the administration of the last alcalde, various impor- 

 tant causes, among which were the improvements in 

 the plaza, had roused the feehngs of the whole 

 community, and a strong notion prevailed, particu- 

 larly among the aspirants to office, that the republic 

 was in danger unless the alcaldes were changed. 

 This feeling extended through all classes, and, 

 through the interposition of Providence, as it was 

 considered by the successful party, the alcaldes were 

 changed, and the republic saved. 



The municipal elections of Nohcacab are, per- 

 haps, more important than those of any other village 

 in the state. The reader is aware of the great 

 scarcity of water in Yucatan ; that there are no 

 rivers, streams, or fountains, and, except in the 

 neighbourhood of aguadas, no water but what is 

 obtained from wells. Nohcacab has three public 

 wells, and it has a population of about six thousand 

 entirely dependant upon them. Two of these wells 

 are called norias, being larger and more considera- 

 ble structures, in which the water is drawn by 



