ourney had been
thirteen leagues, or thirty-nine miles; for though I had varied my
route in returning, I had not increased the distance, and I had seen
seven different places of ruins, memorials of cities which had been and
had passed away, and such memorials as no cities built by the Spaniards
in that country would present.

The ruins of Uxmal presented themselves to me as a home, and I looked
upon them with more interest than before. I had found the wrecks of
cities scattered more numerously than I expected, but they were all so
shattered that no voice of instruction issued from them; here they
still stood, tottering and crumbling, but living memorials, more worthy
than ever of investigation and study, and as I then thought, not
knowing what others more distant, of which we had heard, might prove,
perhaps the only existing vestiges that could transmit to posterity the
image of an American city.

As I approached, I saw on the terrace our beds, with moscheto-nets
fluttering in the wind, and trunks and boxes all turned out of doors,
having very much the appearance of a forcible ejectment or ouster for
non-payment of rent; but on arriving I found that my companions were
_moving_. In the great sala, with its three doors, they had found
themselves too much exposed to the heavy dews and night air, and they
were about removing to a smaller apartment, being that next to the last
on the south wing, which had but one door, and could more easily be
kept dry by a fire. They were then engaged in cleaning house, and at
the moment of my arrival I was called in to consult whether the rooms
should undergo another sweeping. After some deliberation, it was
decided in the affirmative, and about two bushels more of dirt were
carried out, which discouraged us from carrying the process of cleaning
any farther.

Daring my absence an addition had been made to our household in a
servant forwarded from Merida by the active kindness of the Dona
Joaquina Peon. He was a dark Mestizo named Albino, short and thick, and
so near being squint-eyed that at the first glance I thought him a
subject for Doctor Cabot to practise on. Bernaldo was still on hand, as
also Chaipa Chi, the former under the doctor's instructions, as chef de
cuisine, and Chaipa still devoting all her energies to the business in
which she shone, the making of tortillas.

In the afternoon we were comfortably settled in our new quarters. We
continued the precaution of kindling a f