Page:Here and there in Yucatan - miscellanies (IA herethereinyucat00lepl 0).djvu/78

 fathers. These people are ruled by a queen, named Maria Uicab. It is as much as one's life is worth to land at Tulum; the natives being very hostile, make it necessary to be always on the alert and ready to take to the boat or fight.

At dusk the captain of our craft ordered Antonio the Second to tell "Jim," the cook, to make a clearing on deck so that the passengers could lie down. With difficulty room was made for four or five. Two individuals from Spanish Honduras at once carefully monopolized it all by spreading a huge mattress for their own particular benefit, while we had to sit upright in the small space left.

As we were skirting the edge of the Gulf Stream, about midnight, waves washed over the deck. The Honduras people and their dog were not disturbed by it, being under a large sheet of oilcloth lined with blankets. We went down into the little hole called cabin, to find that the turtles did not leave room for more than one person. The atmosphere was sickening, but having a severe cold I remained below, sitting on the floor among the turtles, keeping out of reach of their horny bills, lest they should visit their just wrath on my innocent head.

After a while, insensibly to myself, one of my fellow sufferers was utilized as a pillow. I was aroused