e. We soon emerged into open daylight, and there,
for the first time since the conquest of Mexico by Cortes, the eyes of a
white man rested upon the gigantic ruins of _La Casa Grande_.

These ruins are far more extensive than any yet explored by travelers in
Central America. Hitherto, they have entirely escaped observation. The
natives of the country are not even aware of their existence, and it
will be many years before they are visited by the curious.

But here they were, a solid reality! Frowning on the surrounding gloom
of the forest, and the shadows of approaching night, they stretched out
on every side, like the bodies of dead giants slain in battle with the
Titans.

Daylight was nearly gone, and it soon became impossible to see anything
with distinctness. For the first time, the peculiarity of my lonely
situation forced itself upon my attention. I was alone with the Carib
boy. I had not even brought my side-arms with me, and I know that it was
now too late to make any attempt to escape through the forest. The idea
of returning by the subterranean aqueduct never crossed my mind as a
possibility; for my nerves flinched at the bare thought of the shrill
whistle of Pio, and the mysterious obedience of the stones.

Whilst revolving these unpleasant ideas through my brain, the boy
approached me respectfully, opened a small knapsack that I had not
before observed he carried, and offered me some food. Hungry and
fatigued as I was, I could not eat; the same peculiar smile passed over
his features; he rose and left me for a moment, returned, and offered me
a gourd of water. After drinking, I felt greatly refreshed, and
endeavored to draw my companion into a conversation. But all to no
purpose. He soon fell asleep, and I too, ere long, was quietly reposing
in the depths of the forest.

It may seem remarkable that the ruins of _Casa Grande_ have never been
discovered, as yet, by professional travelers. But it requires only a
slight acquaintance with the characteristics of the surrounding country,
and a peep into the intricacies of a tropical forest, to dispel at once
all wonder on this subject. These ruins are situated about five miles in
a westerly direction from those known as _El Palacio_, and originally
constituted a part of the same city. They are as much more grand and
extensive than those of _El Palacio_ as those are than the remains at
Uxmal, or Copan. In fact, they are gigantic, and reminded me forcibly of
the