Page:Travels in Mexico and life among the Mexicans.djvu/124

116 cool and dark, and in refreshing contrast to the glare and heat outside.

A strange bird lives in these cenotes, called the "Toh," a species of Momotus. He is about a foot in length, with fine silky feathers and a very curious tail. It is formed of two long feathers, which are stripped nearly to their tip, only the naked shafts remaining.

A friend. Professor George Gaumer, who has spent two years in Yucatan, says that he has often found the cenotes swarming with alligators at times, when at others not one could be found. From this he very reasonably infers an underground connection with large bodies of water by subterranean rivers.

There is said to be a cenote in the town of Tabi, in the centre of which, at midday, when the sun is perpendicularly above the water, there appears the image of a most beautiful palm tree. Near Tikoh is another, into which, says Cogolludo, writing in 1655, if any one enters without holding his breath, he dies instantly; therefore, none are desirous of bathing in it. In breathing, or making any other noise, they say the commotion of the water is excessive, and that the noise poisons the water, and that it has caused the death of many Indians while drawing water from it.

Another writer mentions another cenote, one of the largest in the peninsula, in the centre of the public square of the village of Telchaquillo. At a distance "the square seemed level and unbroken; but women walking across with cantaros, or water jars, on their heads, suddenly disappeared, and others seemed to rise up out of the earth."

There are many palm trees about Motul, and pawpaws, and other tropical plants. The flowers are profuse and beautiful, and the Mestiza girls as lovely as they can be. Yet we did not tarry long, but drove on, after a breakfast and a nap, through a fertile country of Sisal hemp and corn, to the next town. Driving rapidly over a good road, we entered the unending scrub plains of Yucatan. We passed a great many Indians, mostly women, and mostly more or less inebriated; not violently drunk, but enough to make them happy and smiling.