Page:Travels in Mexico and life among the Mexicans.djvu/66



URIED in the wildernesses of Yucatan, ruined cities await in silence the coming of the traveller,—cities that had their birth so far back in the twilight of time that not a tradition even remains to tell who built them. Within a radius of one hundred miles from Merida are such magnificent ruins as Mayapan, Aké, Chichen-Itza, Kabah, and Labná, and scores of others. But none is more interesting than UXMAL, which is also very accessible, being within forty miles of the capital, in a straight line, and sixty miles by road. At four o'clock in the morning after the last ball of the carnival, the Consul woke me. He had just returned from the scene of revelry and yet wore his official uniform; but in half an hour he had exchanged this for a plainer garb, had packed a small valise with articles for a trip, and was ready for an excursion to Uxmal. The morning was very cold, the stars were still shining brightly, while the Great Bear was crouched away west of the north star, hanging above it with his tail in the air.

The volan came at five, the driver tied valises and gun-cases to the axle, and we crawled in and lay down on the mattress. Early as it was, there was some life astir,—men wrapped in their sarapes, and a cart with women from the country. We cleared the city limits before daybreak, passing through the gate of San Cristobal, meeting many teams, loaded with wood and hemp, with people perched on top under little shelter, all shivering with the cold.

Travelling in Yucatan is attended with some difficulties, owing to the heat of day and the bad state of the roads. To avoid the heat, all long journeys are performed by night. To