r. They go down and down, even a hundred feet,
until they reach the liquid surface, from where they suck up the fluid
to aliment the body of the tree. They seem like many cables and ropes
stretched all round the sides of the well; and, in fact, serves as such
to some of the most daring of the natives, to ascend or descend to enjoy
a refreshing bath.

These _senotes_ are immense circular holes, the diameter of which varies
from 50 to 500 feet, with perpendicular walls from 50 to 150 feet deep.
These holes might be supposed to have served as ducts for the
subterranean gases at the time of the upheaval of the country. Now they
generally contain water. In some, the current is easily noticeable; many
are completely dry; whilst others contain thermal mineral water,
emitting at times strong sulphurous odor and vapor.

Many strange stories are told by the aborigines concerning the
properties possessed by the water in certain senotes, and the strange
phenomena that takes place in others. In one, for example, you are
warned to approach the water walking backward, and to breathe very
softly, otherwise it becomes turbid and unfit for drinking until it has
settled and become clear again. In another you are told not to speak
above a whisper, for if any one raises the voice the tranquil surface of
the water immediately becomes agitated, and soon assumes the appearance
of boiling; even its level raises. These and many other things are told
in connection with the caves and senotes; and we find them mentioned in
the writings of the chroniclers and historians from the time of the
Spanish conquest.

No lakes exist on the surface, at least within the territories occupied
by the white men. Some small sheets of water, called aguadas, may be
found here and there, and are fed by the underground current; but they
are very rare. There are three or four near the ruins of the ancient
city of Mayapan: probably its inhabitants found in them an abundant
supply of water. Following all the same direction, they are, as some
suppose, no doubt with reason, the outbreaks of a subterranean stream
that comes also to the surface in the senote of _Mucuyche_. A mile or so
from Uxmal is another aguada; but judging from the great number of
artificial reservoirs, built on the terraces and in the courts of all
the monuments, it would seem as if the people there depended more on the
clouds for their provision of water than on the wells and senotes. Yet I
feel conf