hite inhabitants;--they
were desolate, and overgrown with trees. For a brief space the
stillness that reigned around them was broken, and they were again left
to solitude and silence. Time and the elements are hastening them to
utter destruction. In a few generations, great edifices, their facades
covered with sculptured ornaments, already cracked and yawning, must
fall, and become mere shapeless mounds. It has been the fortune of the
author to step between them and the entire destruction to which they
are destined; and it is his hope to snatch from oblivion these
perishing, but still gigantic memorials of a mysterious people. The
descriptions are accompanied by full illustrations from Daguerreotype
views and drawings taken on the spot by Mr. Catherwood, and the
engravings were executed under his personal superintendence.

CONTENTS
OF
THE FIRST VOLUME.

* * * * *

CHAPTER I.

Embarcation.--Fellow-passengers.--A Gale at Sea.--Arrival at
Sisal.--Orinthological Specimens.--Merida.--Fete of San Cristoval.--The
Lottery.--A Scene of Confusion.--Principle of the Game.--Passion for
Gambling.--A deformed Indian.

CHAPTER II.

Housekeeping.--Description of a Bull-ring.--A
Bull-fight.--Spectators.--Brutal Torments inflicted on the
Bulls.--Serious Accidents.--A noble Beast.--An exciting
Scene.--Victims to Bullfighting.--Danger and Ferocity of
Bull-fights.--Effects on moral Character.--Grand Mass.--A grand
Procession.--The Alameda.--Calesas.--A Concert, and its
Arrangements.--Fete of Todos Santos.--A singular Custom.--An
Incident.

CHAPTER III.

An Old Friend.--Brief Account of Yucatan.--Early Voyages of
Discovery.--Columbus.--De Solis and Pinzon.--Expedition of
Cordova.--Voyages of Grijalva.--Expedition of Cortez.--Mission of
Montejo, who receives a Grant from Charles V.--Discoveries, Conquests,
and Sufferings of Montejo and his Companions.--Efforts to convert the
Natives.--Contreras.--Farther Particulars relating to the Conquest of
Yucatan.

CHAPTER IV.

Political State of Yucatan.--Alliance with Texas.--Presentation to the
Governor.--His Character and Personal Appearance.--A Cordial
Reception.--An Arrival of Strangers.--A Citizen of the World.--Another
old Acq