in the wall,
somewhat different from those in the facades of other buildings, and
more fanciful. The interior consisted of but a single apartment,
fifteen feet long and nine feet wide. The ceiling was high, and in the
layer of flat stones along the centre of the arch was a single stone,
like that seen for the first time at Kewick, ornamented with painting.

This building stood in front of another more overgrown and ruined,
which had been an imposing and important edifice. The plan was
complicated, and the exterior of one part was rounded, but the rounded
part was a solid mass, and within the wall was straight. In the back
wall was a recess, once occupied, perhaps, by a statue. Altogether,
there was much about this edifice that was new and curious; and there
were other cerros or mounds, of undistinguishable ruins.

Short as my visit was, there were few considerations that could have
tempted me to remain longer. The garrapatas would soon be over, but
they continued with the rainy season, and, in fact, increased and
multiplied. I discovered them the moment I dismounted, and at first
attempted to whip them off, but wishing to get through before night, I
hurried round this building, creeping under branches and tearing aside
bushes, and, actually covered with the abominable insects, started for
the road.

In hurrying forward I unwittingly crossed the track of a procession of
large black ants. These processions are among the extraordinary
spectacles of that country, darkening the ground for an hour at a time;
and the insect has a sting equal to that of hornets, as I quickly
learned on this occasion. When I reached the road I was almost numbed
with pain, and when I mounted I felt that nothing could tempt me to
live in such a country. The hacienda was in an unusually pretty
situation. Opposite was a long line of hills; the sun was setting, and
it was precisely the hour and the scene for a country ramble; but the
owner of thousands of acres could never diverge from the beaten path
without bringing these pests upon him.

I returned to the house, where the major domo kindly provided me with
warm water for a bath, which cooled the fever of my blood. At night,
for the first time in the country, we had at one end of the room the
hammocks of the women, but this was so bad as ants or garrapatas.

CHAPTER XIV.

Village of San Jose.--Thatched Church.--The Cura--A refractory
Indian.--Attachment o