hree public wells, and it
has a population of about six thousand entirely dependant upon them.
Two of these wells are called norias, being larger and more
considerable structures, in which the water is drawn by mules, and the
third is simply a poso, or well, having merely a cross-beam over the
mouth, at which each comer draws with his own bucket and rope. For
leagues around there is no water except that furnished by these wells.
All the Indians have their huts or places of residence in the village,
within reach of the wells; and when they go to work on their milpas,
which are sometimes several miles distant, they are obliged to carry a
supply with them. Every woman who goes to the noria for a cantaro of
water carries a handful of corn, which she drops in a place provided
for that purpose: this tribute is intended for the maintenance of the
mules, and we paid two cents for the drinking of each of our horses.

The custody and preservation of these wells are an important part of
the administration of the village government. Thirty Indians are
elected every year, who are called alcaldes of the well, and whose
business it is to keep them in good order, and the tanks constantly
supplied with water. They receive no pay, but are exempted from certain
obligations and services, which makes the office desirable; and no
small object of the political struggle through which the village had
passed, was to change the alcaldes of the wells. Buried among the ruins
of Uxmal, the news of this important election had not reached us.

Though practically enduring, in some respects, the appendages of an
aristocratic government, the Indians who carried us on their shoulders,
and our loads on their backs, have as good votes as their masters; and
it was painful to have lost the opportunity of seeing the democratic
principle in operation among the only true and real _native American_
party; the spectacle being, as we were told, in the case of the
hacienda Indians, one of exceeding impressiveness, not to say
sublimity. These, being criados, or servants, in debt to their masters
and their bodies mortgaged, go up to the village unanimous in opinion
and purpose, without partiality or prejudice, either in favour of or
against particular men or measures; they have no bank questions, nor
questions of internal improvement, to consider; no angry discussions
about the talents, private characters, or public services of
candidates; and, above all, they are fr