re seen the oblong stones hollowed
out like troughs, which at Uxmal were called pilas, or fountains, but
here the Indians called them holcas or piedras de molir, stones for
grinding, which they said were used by the ancients to mash corn upon;
and the proprietor showed us a round stone like a bread roller, which
they called kabtum, brazo de piedra, or arm of stone, used, as they
said for mashing the corn. The different names they assigned in
different places to the same thing, and the different uses ascribed to
it, show, with many other facts, the utter absence of all traditionary
knowledge among the Indians; and this is perhaps the greatest
difficulty we have to encounter in ascribing to their ancestors the
building of these cities.

The last day we returned from the ruins earlier than usual, and stopped
at the campo santo. In front stood a noble seybo tree. I had been
anxious to learn something of the growth of this tree, but had never
had an opportunity of doing it before. The cura told me that it was
then twenty-three years old. There could be no doubt or mistake on this
point. Its age was as well known as his own, or that of any other
person in the village. The following woodcut represents this tree. The
trunk at the distance of five feet from the ground measured 17 1-2 feet
in circumference, and its great branches afforded on all sides a
magnificent shade. We had found trees like it growing on the tops of
the ruined structures at Copan and Palenque, and many had for that
reason ascribed to the buildings a very great antiquity. This tree
completely removed all doubts which I might have entertained, and
confirmed me in the opinion I had before expressed, that no correct
judgment could be formed of the antiquity of these buildings from the
size of the trees growing upon them. Remarkable as I considered this
tree at that time, I afterward saw larger ones, in more favourable
situations not so old.

[Engraving 18: Seybo Tree]

The campo santo was enclosed by a high stone wall. The interior had
some degree of plan and arrangement, and in some places were tombs,
built above ground, belonging to families in the village, hung with
withered wreaths and votive offerings. The population tributary to it
was about five thousand; it had been opened but five years, and already
it presented a ghastly spectacle. There were many new-made graves, and
on several of the vaults were a skull and small collection of bones in
a box or t