t he could not bite, and then put
him away in the shade. This refined cruelty was to avoid the necessity
of killing him immediately, for if killed, in that hot climate he would
soon be unfit for food; but, mutilated and mangled as he was, he could
be kept alive till night.

[Engraving 9: Building at Sabachshe]

This over, we moved on in a body, carrying the iguana, to the next
building, which was situated in a different direction, about a quarter
of a mile distant, and completely buried in woods. It was seventy-five
feet long, and had three doorways, leading to the same number of
apartments. A great part of the front had fallen; the plate opposite
represents that which remains. With some slight difference in the
detail of ornament, the character is the same as in all the other
buildings, and the general effect pleasing. Growing on the roof are two
maguey plants, Agave Americana, in our latitude called the century
plant, but under the hot sun of the tropics blooming every four or five
years. There are four species of this plant in Yucatan: the maguey,
from which is produced the pulque, a beverage common in all the Mexican
provinces, which, taken in excess, produces intoxication; the henneken,
which produces the article known in our markets as Sisal hemp; the
sabila, with which the Indian women wean children, covering the breast
with the leaf, which is very bitter to the taste; and the peta, having
leaves twice as large as the last, from which a very fine white hemp is
made. These plants, in some or all of their varieties, were found in
the neighbourhood of all the ruins, forming around them a pointed and
thorny wall, which we were obliged to cut through to reach the
buildings.

While Mr. C. was engaged in drawing this structure, the Indians told us
of two others half a league distant. I selected two of them for guides,
and, with the same alacrity which they had shown in everything else,
nine volunteered to accompany me. We had a good path nearly all the
way, until the Indians pointed out a white object seen indistinctly
through the trees, again uttering, with strong gutturals, the familiar
sound of "Xlap-pahk," or old walls. In a few minutes they cut a path to
it. The building was larger than the last, having the front ornamented
in the same way, much fallen, though still presenting an interesting
spectacle. As it was not much overgrown, we set to work and cleared it,
and left it for another, in regard to which I form