n to
make him tortillas, and to provide him warm water for his bath at
night. He procures one, sometimes by the providence of the master,
without much regard to similarity of tastes or parity of age; and
though a young man is mated to an old woman, they live comfortably
together. If he finds her guilty of any great offence, he brings her up
before the master or the alcalde, gets her a whipping and then takes
her under his arm and goes quietly home with her. The Indian husband is
rarely harsh to his wife, and the devotion of the wife to her husband
is always a subject of remark. They share their pleasures as well as
their labours; go up together with all their children to some village
fiesta, and one of the most afflicting incidents in their lot is a
necessity that takes the husband from his home.

In the suburbs of the village we commenced ascending the sierra, from
the top of which we saw at the foot the hacienda of Santa Maria. Behind
it rose a high mound, surrounded by trees indicating that here too were
the ruins of an ancient city.

Descending the sierra, we rode up to the hacienda, and saw three
gentlemen sitting under a shed breakfasting. One of them had on a fur
hat, a mark of civilization which we had not seen for a long time; an
indication that he was from the city of Tekax, and had merely come out
for a morning ride.

The proprietor came out to receive us, and, pointing to the mound, we
made some inquiry about the building, but he did not comprehend us,
and, supposing that we meant some old ranchos in that direction, said
that they were for the servants. Albino explained that we were
travelling over the country in search of ruins, and the gentleman
looked at him perhaps somewhat as the inn-keeper looked at Sancho Panza
when he explained that his master was a knight-errant travelling to
redress grievances. We succeeded, however, in coming to an
understanding about the mound, and the master told us that he had never
been to it; that there was no path; that if we attempted to go to it we
should be eaten up by garrapatas, and he called some Indians, who said
that it was entirely in ruins. This was satisfactory, for the idea of
being loaded with garrapatas to carry about till night had almost made
me recoil. At the same time, the other gentlemen told us of other ruins
at a league's distance from Tekax, on the hacienda of Senor Calera. I
felt strongly disposed to turn off and visit the latter, but our
carrier h