ad gone on, and the little difficulties of overtaking him,
procuring another for a change of route, and perhaps losing a day, were
now serious objections; besides, there was no end to the ruins.

Leaving the hacienda, we entered, with a satisfaction that can hardly
be described, upon a broad road for carretas and calesas. We had
emerged from the narrow and tangled path of milpas and ranchos, and
were once more on a camino real. We had accomplished a journey which we
were assured, on setting out, was impracticable; and now we were coming
upon the finest portion of the state, famed for its rich sugar
plantations. We met heavy, lumbering vehicles drawn by oxen and horses,
carrying sugar from the haciendas. Very soon we reached Tekax, one of
the four places in Yucatan bearing the name of a city, and I must
confess that I felt some degree of excitement. Throughout Yucatan our
journey had been so quiet, so free from danger or interruption of any
kind, that, after my Central American experience, it seemed unnatural.
Yucatan was in a state of open rebellion against Mexico; we had heard
of negotiations, but there had been no tumult, confusion, or bloodshed.
Tekax alone had broken the general stillness, and while the rest of the
country was perfectly quiet, this interior city had got up a small
revolution on its own account, and for the benefit of whom it might
concern.

According to the current reports, this revolution was got up by three
patriotic individuals, whose names, unfortunately, I have lost. They
belonged to the party called Los Independientes, in favour of declaring
independence of Mexico. The elections had gone against their party, and
alcaldes in favour of a reannexation to Mexico were installed in
office. In the mean time commissioners arrived from Santa Ana to
negotiate with the government of Yucatan, urging it not to make any
open declaration but to continue quietly in its state of independence
de facto until the internal difficulties of Mexico were settled, when
its complaints would be attended to and its grievances redressed.
Afraid of the influence which these commissioners might exercise, the
three patriots of Tekax resolved to strike for liberty, went round
among the ranches of the sierra, and collected a band of more than
half-naked Indians, who, armed with machetes, a few old muskets, and
those primitive weapons with which David slew Goliath, descended upon
Tekax, and, to the great alarm of the women and