wood's horse, which had belonged to Don Simon
Peon, and through the horse he recognised me, having seen me with Don
Simon at the fair at Jalacho, on the strength of which he immediately
offered his house for a posada, or inn, which offer, on looking at the
casa real, we did not hesitate to accept.

We were still on the great burial-ground of ruined cities. In the
corridor of the house were sculptured stones, which our host told us
were taken from the ancient buildings in the neighbourhood; they had
also furnished materials for the foundation of every house on the
plaza; and besides these there were other memorials. In the plaza were
eight wells, then furnishing an abundant supply of water, and bearing
that stamp which could not be mistaken, of the hand of the ancient
builders. Below the plaza, on the declivity of the hill, was water
gushing from the rocks, filling a clear basin beneath, and running off
till it was lost in the woods. It was the first time in our whole
journey that we had seen anything like a running stream, and after the
parched regions through which we had passed, of almost inaccessible
caves, muddy aguadas, and little pools in the hollows of rocks, it was
a refreshing and delightful spectacle. Our Indian carriers had taken up
their quarters under a brush fence, in sight and within reach of the
stream, and to them and the muleteers it was like the fountain to the
Arab in the desert, or the rivers of sweet water promised to the
faithful in the paradise of Mohammed.

The history of this village has all the wildness of romance, and,
indeed, throughout this land of sepulchred cities the genius of romance
sits enthroned. Its name is derived from this stream of water, being
compounded of the Maya words _Becan_, running, and _chen_, a well.
Twenty years ago the country round about was a wilderness of forest. A
solitary Indian came into it and made a clearing for his milpa. In
doing so he struck upon the running stream, followed it until he found
the water gushing from the rock, and the whole surface now occupied by
the plaza pierced with ancient wells. The Indians gathered round the
wells, and a village grew up, which now contains six thousand
inhabitants; a growth, having regard to the difference in the resources
of the country and the character of the people, equal in rapidity to
that of the most prosperous towns in ours.

These wells are all mere excavations throng a stratum of limestone
rock, varying in