Page:Here and there in Yucatan - miscellanies (IA herethereinyucat00lepl 0).djvu/41

 one corner there was a pile of cocoanuts, to which we immediately began adding others. We were throwing one after another as fast as possible when the old priest of the village introduced himself and said he was glad to find out what the noise was, as he had feared it might be an earthquake coming on; though they had never had one in Cozumel. Father Rejon was in shirt sleeves, for, said he, "I cannot afford to wear a coat every day." He invited us to go and play cards with him in the evening; and also gave us the welcome intelligence that our house was haunted.

We were still throwing the nuts when an Indian girl came running across the square to invite us to dine with her mistress. We therefore locked our doors and went to the house of Dona Concha. In her sitting-room we found Captain Low—in whose schooner Aryetis we had arrived—and several unfortunate hens tied in pairs by the feet, struggling on the floor. The poultry of Cozumel are of superior size and quality, and when taken to Key West always fetch a good price. Captain Low wanted five dozen that had to be collected from all over the village. He paid 36 cents for each, though for the same birds the villagers only charged each other 25 cents. The captain also wanted a load