RECENT DISCOVERY OF KABAH. 415 



and in some places towering above the tops of the 

 trees. The discovery, hovrever, created not the 

 sUghtest sensation ; the intelUgence of it had never 

 reached the capital ; and though, ever since the dis- 

 covery, the great edifices were visible to all who pass- 

 ed along the road, not a white man in the village had 

 ever turned aside to look at them, except the padre- 

 cito, who, on the first day of our visit, rode in, but 

 without dismounting, in order to make a report to 

 us. The Indians say of them, as of all the other 

 ruins, that they are the works of the antiguos ; but 

 the traditionary character of the city is that of a 

 great place, superior to the other Xlap-pahk scatter- 

 ed over the country, coequal and coexistent with 

 Uxmal ; and there is a tradition of a great paved 

 way, made of pure white stone, called in the Maya 

 language Sacbe, leading from Kabah to Uxmal, on 

 which the lords of those places sent messengers to 

 and fro, bearing letters written on the leaves and 

 bark of trees. 



At the time of my attack, Mr. Catherwood, Doc- 

 tor Cabot, and Albino were all down with fever. I 

 had a recurrence the next day, but on the third I 

 was able to move about. The spectacle around was 

 gloomy for sick men. From the long continuance 

 of the rainy season our rooms in the convent were 

 damp, and corn which we kept in one corner for 

 the horses had swelled and sprouted. 



Death was all around us. Anciently this coun- 

 try was so healthy that Torquemada says, " Men die 



