ay, near which was a
tower, the highest we had seen. We remarked a very considerable
village; the country was watered by many rivers. We discovered a bay
_where a fleet would have been able to enter_." This account is
certainly not so accurate as a coast survey would be at this day, but
it is more minute than most accounts of the early voyages of the
Spaniards, and, in my opinion, it is all sufficient to identify this
now desolate city. After crossing over from Cozumel, twenty-four hours'
sailing would bring them to this part of the coast; and the next
circumstance mentioned, viz., the discovery of a bay where a fleet
would have been able to enter, is still stronger, for at the distance
of about eight leagues below Tuloom is the Bay of Ascension, always
spoken of by the Spanish writers as a harbour in which the whole
Spanish navy might lie at anchor. It is the only bay along the coast
from Cape Catoche into which large vessels can enter, and constrains me
to the belief that the desolate place now known as Tuloom was that
"bourg, or village, so large that Seville would not appear larger or
better," and that the Castillo, from which we were driven by the
moschetoes, was that "highest tower which the Spaniards had seen."

Farther, it is my firm belief that this city continued to be occupied
by its aboriginal inhabitants long after the conquest, for Grijalva
turned back from the Bay of Ascension, again passed without landing,
and after the disastrous expedition of Don Francisco Montejo, the
Spaniards made no attempt upon this part of the coast, so that the
aborigines must have remained for a long time in this place unmolested.
And the strong impression of a comparatively very recent occupation is
derived from the appearance of the buildings themselves, which, though
not less ruined, owing to the ranker growth of trees, had in some
instances an appearance of freshness and good keeping that, amid the
desolation and solitude around, was almost startling.

Outside of the walls are several small buildings, no doubt intended for
adoratorios, or altars, one of which is represented in the following
engraving. It stands on a terrace, having a circular platform, on the
brow of the cliff, overlooking the sea, and measures fifteen feet front
by twelve deep. The doorway faces the north. The interior consists of a
single chamber, and against the back wall is an altar in such a state
of preservation as to be fit for its original uses. Ne