Page:Here and there in Yucatan - miscellanies (IA herethereinyucat00lepl 0).djvu/49

 roasted some conchs, but found they were much nicer uncooked, though they had to be softened by hammering them with a stone.

We sailed all day, and toward evening saw in the distance some huts that we decided should be our hotel that night. We were lured on by what appeared to be a massive and extensive wall; only after landing we discovered that what looked like a magnificent fortification was in fact millions of shells, principally conchs, that formed a high perpendicular bank. There was also a smaller shelf composed of thousands of tons of dry sponge and seaweed that might be utilized for commercial purposes. Near by, on the top of a rock, was a small shrine and a stone snake-head. Afterward we found others of the same kind at intervals along the coast. They were altars, to which at the time of the conquest—according to the historians—fishermen went to make offerings and burn copal to their divinities of the sea.

Heavy clouds warned us to hasten to our boat, and sail back to the huts. We found them in good condition, and some dry wood close by. Happily the rain held off; we, therefore, soon had a blazing fire, and supper, consisting of coffee, bread, conchs, and a heron, whose breast was even a better tidbit