rth the grant above referred to, and that an Indian
named Juan Can had importuned him with a claim of right to the said
lands on account of his being a descendant of the ancient Indians, to
whom they belonged; that the Indian had exhibited some confused papers
and maps, and that, although it was not possible for him to justify the
right that he claimed, to avoid litigation, he, the said Don Lorenzo de
Evia, agreed to give him seventy-four dollars for the price and value
of the said land. The petition introduces the deed of consent, or
quit-claim, of Juan Can, executed with all the formalities required in
the case of Indians (the original of which appears among the other
title papers), and prays a confirmation of his former grant, and to be
put in real and corporeal possession. The instrument confirms the
former grant, and prescribes the formal mode of obtaining possession.

Under the deed of confirmation appears the deed of livery of seisin,
beginning, "In the place called the edifices of Uxmal and its lands,
the third day of the month of January, 1688," &c., &c., and concluding
with these words: "In virtue of the power and authority which by the
same title is given to me by the said governor, complying with its
terms, I took by the hand the said Lorenzo de Evia, and he walked with
me all over Uxmal and its buildings, _opened and shut some doors_ that
had several rooms, cut within the space some trees, picked up fallen
stones and threw them down, drew water from one of the aguadas of the
said place of Uxmal, and performed other acts of possession."

The reader will perceive that we have here two distinct, independent
witnesses testifying that, one hundred and forty years after the
foundation of Merida, the buildings of Uxmal were regarded with
reverence by the Indians; that they formed the nucleus of a dispersed
and scattered population, and were resorted to for the observance of
religious rites at a distance from the eyes of the Spaniards. Cogolludo
saw in the House of the Dwarf the "marks of copal recently burned,"
"the evidence of some idolatry recently committed;" and the private
title papers of Don Simon, never intended to illustrate any point in
history, besides showing incidentally that it was the policy of the
government, and "doing God service," to break up the Indian customs,
and drive the natives away from their consecrated buildings, are
proofs, which would be good evidence in a court of law, that the
India