igh mound, which
at three leagues' distance towered above the plain, a mourning monument
of the ruins of Mayapan, the capital of the fallen kingdom of Maya.

On our return we found the cura, Don Jose Canuta Vela, waiting to
receive us; he had been notified of our coming, and had expected us the
day before. His curacy consisted of nearly two thousand souls, and,
except his ministro, we did not see a white man among this population.
He was under thirty, born and bred in Merida, and in manners and
attainments apparently out of place in such a position; but his
feelings and sympathies were identified with the people under his
charge. The convent was a great stone building, with walls several feet
thick, and in size corresponded with the church. Being so near Merida,
it was more than ordinarily well supplied with comforts; and, among
other things, the cura had a small collection of books, which, for that
country, constituted quite a library.

He relieved us of all difficulty arising from the want of an
interpreter, and, sending for the Indian alcaldes, made immediate
arrangements to forward our luggage, and to accompany us himself the
next day to the ruins of Mayapan. We had again made a beginning with
the padres, and this beginning, in heartiness of welcome and goodness
of cheer, corresponded with all that we had before received at their
hands. We had the choice of cot or hammock for the night, and at
breakfast a group of Indian musicians were seated under the corridor,
who continued making a noise, which they called la musica, till we
mounted to depart.

The cura accompanied us, mounted on one of the best horses we had seen
in the country; and as it was a rare thing for him to absent himself a
day from his parochial duties, he set out as for a holy-day excursion,
worrying our poor nags, as well as ourselves, to keep up with him.

The road upon which we entered turned off abruptly from the camino
real. This royal road itself, like most of the others which bore that
name, would not be considered, in other countries, as indicating a very
advanced state of internal improvement, but the one into which we now
struck was much rougher and more stony, entirely new, and in some
places still unfinished. It had been but lately opened, and the reason
of its being opened at all illustrates one striking feature in the
character of the Indians. The village to which it leads was under the
pastoral charge of our friendly companion, and