Peon had one in manuscript, which she
was so kind as to place at our disposal, but with notice that it was
not correct; and, in order to keep a record of our own track from the
time we left Merida until we returned to it, we took the bearings of
the roads, noted the number of hours on each day's journey, and the
pace of our horses, and at some places Mr. Catherwood took an
observation for latitude. From these memoranda our map is prepared. It
is correct so far as regards our route, but does not fix accurately the
location of places which we did not visit.

At the distance of a league we passed a fine cattle hacienda, and at
twenty minutes past one reached Timucui, a small village five leagues
from Merida. This village consisted of a few Indian huts, built around
a large open square, and on one side was a sort of shed for a casa
real. It had no church or cura, and already we experienced a difficulty
which we did not expect to encounter so soon. The population consisted
entirely of Indians, who in general throughout the country speak
nothing but the Maya; there was not a white man in the place, nor any
one who could speak in any tongue that we could comprehend.
Fortunately, a muleteer from the interior, on his way to Merida, had
stopped to bait his mules under the shade of a large tree, and was
swinging in a hammock in the casa real. He was surprised at our
undertaking alone a journey into the interior, seeing that we were
brought to a stand at the first village from the capital; but, finding
us somewhat rational in other respects, he assisted us in procuring
ramon leaves and water for the horses. His life had been passed in
driving mules from a region of country called the Sierra, to the
capital; but he had heard strange stories about foreign countries, and,
among others, that in El Norte a man could earn a dollar a day by his
labour; but he was comforted when he learned that a real in his country
was worth more to him than a dollar would be in ours; and as he
interpreted to his nearly naked companions, crouching in the shade,
nothing touched them so nearly as the idea of cold and frost, and
spending a great portion of the day's earnings for fuel to keep from
freezing.

At three o'clock we left the hamlet, and at a little after four we saw
the towers of the church of Tekoh. In the suburbs of this village we
passed the campo santo, a large enclosure with high stone walls; over
the gateway of which, and in niches along t