y known in foreign pharmacy.

The village of Ticul, to which we were thus accidentally driven, was
worthy of the visit, once in his life, of a citizen of New-York. The
first time I looked upon it from the balcony of the convent, it struck
me as the perfect picture of stillness and repose. The plaza was
overgrown with grass; a few mules, with their fore feet hoppled, were
pasturing upon it, and at long intervals a single horseman crossed it.
The balcony of the convent was on a level with the tops of the houses,
and the view was of a great plain, with houses of one story, flat
roofs, high garden walls, above which orange, lemon, and plantain trees
were growing, and, after the loud ringing of the matin and vesper bell
was over, the only noise was the singing of birds. All business or
visiting was done early in the morning or toward evening; and through
the rest of the day, during the heat, the inhabitants were within
doors, and it might almost have passed for a deserted village.

Like all the Spanish villages, it was laid out with its plaza and
streets running at right angles, and was distinguished among the
villages of Yucatan for its casas de piedra, or stone houses. These
were on the plaza and streets adjoining; and back, extending more than
a mile each way, were the huts of the Indians. These huts were
generally plastered, enclosed by stone fences, and imbowered among
trees, or, rather, overgrown and concealed by weeds. The population was
about five thousand, of which about three hundred families were
vecinos, or white people, and the rest Indians. Fresh meat can be
procured every day; the tienda grande, or large store of Guzman, would
not disgrace Merida. The bread is better than at the capital.
Altogether, for appearance, society, and conveniences of living, it is
perhaps the best village in Yucatan, and famous for its bull-fights and
the beauty of its Mestiza women.

The church and convent occupy the whole of one side of the plaza. Both
were built by the Franciscan monks, and they are among the grandest of
those gigantic buildings with which that powerful order marked its
entrance into the country. They stand on a stone platform about four
feet high and several hundred feet in front. The church was large and
sombre, and adorned with rude monuments and figures calculated to
inspire the Indians with reverence and awe. In one place, in a niche in
the wall, was a funeral urn, painted black, with a white streak around