13 
No matter what the business or pleasure that takes you to 
Yucatan, you will find it impossible to escape the lure of 
Maya-land. To see something of what yet remains, in part 
restored, of that former most advanced of native American 
civilizations is a temptation not to be denied; at least it 
was not by the members of our primarily biological expedition. 
So it came about that when Dr. Daiber had completed his 
mangrove swamp study, we headed north, skirting the coast at) 
this time on our way back to Cozumel. We had been intrigued by 
two brief bits of information in the U. S. Navy Hydrographic 
Sailing Directions for the East Coasts of Central America and 
Mexico (H.O. Pub. 20, Fifth edition, 1952, p. 198): 
"Salta Iman (Kilbride Cliffs) are conspicuous as 
they are the only cliffs along this [otherwise low, 
flat, and densely wooded] coast. They are about 80 
feet high and front the coast for about three miles. 
At their northern end are the ruins of a large square 
watchtower . 
"Tancah, about 4 miles north-northeastward of Salta 
Iman, is a small settlement that may be identified by 
a white sandy beach that forms a break in the otherwise 
slightly elevated land. There is a small pier at the 
se ttlement . " 
Because of the pier and its promise of landing facilities , 
Tancah became our next objective. But well before Tancah we 
glimpsed that "large square watchtower" atop the Kilbride Cliffs 
