ning in the rocky surface, like the mouth of a cave. The
descent was by irregular steps cut and worn in the rocks. Over head was
an immense rocky roof, and at a distance of perhaps five hundred feet
from the mouth was a large basin or reservoir of water. Directly over
the water the roof was perhaps sixty feet high; and there was an
opening above which threw down a strong body of light. The water had no
current, and its source was a mystery. During the rainy season it rises
a little, but never falls below a certain point, and at all times
it is the only source of supply to the inhabitants. Women, with their
water-jars, were constantly ascending and descending; swallows were
darting through the cave in every direction, and the whole formed a
wild, picturesque, and romantic scene.

At this village we found waiting for us the major domo of the hacienda
of San Joaquin, on which stand the ruins of Mayapan. Leaving the
senote, we mounted and followed him.

At the distance of half a mile he stopped near a great cave that had
lately been discovered, and which, he said had no end. Tying our horses
to the bushes, we turned off to visit it. The major domo cut a path a
short distance into the woods; following which we came to a large
hollow, overgrown with trees, and, descending, entered a great cavern
with a lofty roof, and gigantic passages branching off in different
directions, and running no one knew whither. The cave had been
discovered by the major domo and some vaqueros while in pursuit of
robbers who had stolen a bull; and no robber's cave in romantic story
could equal it in wildness. The major domo said he had entered it with
ten men, and had passed four hours in exploration without finding any
end. The cave, its roof, base, and passages, were an immense fossil
formation. Marine shells were conglomerated together in solid masses,
many of them perfect, showing a geological structure which indicated
that the whole country, or, at least, that portion of it; had been
once, and probably at no very remote period, overflowed by the sea.

We could have passed a day with much satisfaction in rambling through
this cave, but, remaining only a few minutes, and taking away some
curious and interesting specimens, we remounted, and very soon reached
mounds of earth, fragments of sculptured stones, broken walls, and
fallen buildings, indicating that we were once more treading upon the
sepulchre of an aboriginal city.

At eleven o'clock