At four o'clock I set off with Don Lorenzo Peon, a brother of Don
Simon, for Maxcanu. Our mode of conveyance, much used in Yucatan, but
new to me, was called a caricoche. It was a long wagon on two large
wheels, covered with cotton cloth as a protection against the sun, and
on the bottom was stretched a broad mattress, on which two persons
could recline at full length. If they would sit up, it was large enough
for three or four. It was drawn by one horse, with a driver riding as
postillion, and another horse followed to change. The road was broad,
even, and level. It was the camino real between Merida and Campeachy,
and would pass in any country for a fair carriage-road. All along we
passed parties of Indians returning from the fair. In an hour we came
in sight of the sierra which traverses at that point the whole
peninsula of Yucatan from east to west. The sight of hills was
cheering, and with the reflection of the setting sun upon them, they
presented almost the first fine scenery I had encountered in the
country. In an hour and ten minutes we reached Maxcanu, twelve miles
distant, being by far the greatest speed at which I ever travelled in
Yucatan.

The hacienda of Don Lorenzo was in this neighbourhood, and he had a
large house in the village, at which we stopped. My object in coming to
this place was to visit La Cueva de Maxcanu, or the Cave of Maxcanu. In
the evening, when notice was given of my intention, half the village
was ready to join me, but in the morning my volunteers were not
forthcoming, and I was reduced to the men procured for me by Don
Lorenzo. From the time consumed in getting the men together and
procuring torches, cord, &c., I did not get off till after nine
o'clock. Our direction was due east till we reached the sierra,
ascending which through a passage overgrown with woods, at eleven
o'clock we arrived at the mouth, or rather door, of the cueva, about a
league distant from the village.

I had before heard so much of caves, and had been so often
disappointed, that I did not expect much from this; but the first view
satisfied me in regard to the main point, viz., that it was not a
natural cave, and that, as had been represented to me, it was hecha a
mano, or made by hand.

La Cueva de Maxcanu, or the Cave of Maxcanu, has in that region a
marvellous and mystical reputation. It is called by the Indians Satun
Sat, which means in Spanish El Laberinto or El Perdedero, the
Labyrinth, or place in wh