a place of pilgrimage for the curious; and that it would be a
much better operation to put a fence around it and charge for
admission, than to sell the stone for paving streets.

By this time we had reached the foot of the terrace, and a few steps
brought us into the corn-field. The system of agriculture in Yucatan is
rather primitive. Besides hemp and sugar, which the Indians seldom
attempt to raise on their own account, the principal products of the
country are corn, beans, and calabazas, like our pumpkins and squashes,
camotes, which are perhaps the parent of our Carolina potatoes, and
chili or pepper, of which last an inordinate quantity is consumed, both
by the Indians and Spaniards. Indian corn, however, is the great
staple, and the cultivation of this probably differs but little now
from the system followed by the Indians before the conquest. In the dry
season, generally in the months of January and February, a place is
selected in the woods, from which the trees are cut down and burned. In
May or June the corn is planted. This is done by making little holes in
the ground with a pointed stick, putting in a few grains of corn and
covering them over. Once in the ground, it is left to take care of
itself, and if it will not grow, it is considered that the land is not
worth having. The corn has a fair start with the weeds, and they keep
pace amicably together. The hoe, plough, and harrow are entirely
unknown; indeed, in general neither of the last two could be used, on
account of the stony face of the country: the machete is the only
instrument employed.

The milpa around the ruins of Uxmal had been more than usually
neglected; the crop turned out badly, but such as it was, the Indians
from three of Don Simon's adjoining haciendas, according to their
obligation to the master, were engaged in getting it in. They were
distributed in different parts of the field; and of those we came upon
first, I counted a small group of fifty-three. As we drew near, all
stopped working, approached Don Simon, bowed respectfully to him, and
then to us as his friends. The corn had been gathered, and these men
were engaged in threshing it out. A space was cleared of about a
hundred feet square, and along the border of it was a line of small
hammocks hanging on stakes fixed in the ground, in which the Indians
slept during the whole time of the harvest, each with a little fire
underneath to warm him in the cool night air, and drive away th