we came to a clearing, in which was situated the
hacienda of San Joaquin. The building was a mere rancho, erected only
for the residence of a mayoral, a person inferior to a major domo; but
there was a fine clearing around it, and the situation was wild and
beautiful. In the cattleyard were noble trees. In the platform of the
well were sculptured stones taken from the ancient buildings; it was
shaded by the spreading branches of a fine ramon or tropical oak, with
a foliage of vivid green; and crowning the top, and apparently growing
out of it, were the long, pale leaves of the cocoanut.

The hacienda, or rather rancho, of San Joaquin, on which the ruins of
Mayapan lie scattered, is ten leagues south from Merida. It forms part
of the great hacienda of Xcanchakan, the property of Don Jose Maria
Meneses, the venerable cura of San Cristoval, formerly provesor of the
Church of Yucatan. We had made the acquaintance of this gentleman at
the house of his friend Senor Rejon, secretary of state, and he had
sent instructions to his major domo, the same who had met us at the
last village, to place at our command all the disposable force of the
hacienda.

The ruins of Mayapan cover a great plain, which was at that time so
overgrown that hardly any object was visible until we were close upon
it, and the undergrowth was so thick that it was difficult to work our
way through it. Our's was the first visit to examine these ruins. For
ages they had been unnoticed, almost unknown, and left to struggle with
rank tropical vegetation; and the major domo, who lived on the
principal hacienda, and had not seen them in twenty-three years, was
more familiar with them than any other person we could find. He told us
that within a circumference of three miles, ruins were found, and that
a strong wall once encompassed the city, the remains of which might
still be traced through the woods.

[Engraving 2. A ruined Mound.]

At a short distance from the hacienda, but invisible on account of the
trees, rises the high mound which we had seen at three leagues'
distance, from the top of the church at Tekoh, and which is represented
in the following engraving. It is sixty feet high, and one hundred feet
square at the base; and, like the mounds at Palenque and Uxmal, it is
an artificial structure, built up solid from the plain. Though seen
from a great distance above the tops of the trees, the whole field was
so overgrown that it was scarcely visible until