im.

Our hasty dinner over, we asked for Indians to guide us to the ruins,
and were somewhat startled by the objections they all made on account
of the garrapatas. Since we left Uxmal the greatest of our small
hardships had been the annoyance of these insects; in fact, it was by
no means a small hardship. Frequently we came in contact with a bush
covered with them, from which thousands swarmed upon us, like moving
grains of sand, and scattered till the body itself seemed crawling. Our
horses suffered, perhaps, more than ourselves, and it became a habit,
whenever we dismounted, to rasp their sides with a rough stick. During
the dry season the little pests are killed off by the heat of the sun,
and devoured by birds, but for which I verily believe they would make
the country uninhabitable. All along we had been told that the dry
season was at hand, and they would soon be over; but we began to
despair of any dry season, and had no hopes of getting rid of them.
Nevertheless, we were somewhat startled at the warning conveyed by the
reluctance of the Indians; and when we insisted upon going, they gave
us another alarming intimation by cutting twigs, with which, from the
moment of starting, they whipped the bushes on each side, and swept the
path before them.

Beyond the woods we came out into a comparatively open field, in which
we saw on all sides through the trees the Xlap-pahk, or old walls, now
grown so familiar, a collection of vast remains and of many buildings.
We worked our way to all within sight. The facades were not so much
ornamented as some we had seen, but the stones were more massive, and
the style of architecture was simple, severe, and grand. Nearly every
house had fallen, and one long ornamented front lay on the ground
cracked and doubled up as if shaken off by the vibrations of an
earthquake, and still struggling to retain its upright position, the
whole presenting a most picturesque and imposing scene of ruins, and
conveying to the mind a strong image of the besom of destruction
sweeping over a city. Night came upon us while gazing at a mysterious
painting, and we returned to the casa real to sleep.

Early the next morning we were again on the ground, with our Indian
proprietor and a large party of his criados; and as the reader is now
somewhat familiar with the general character of these ruins, I select
from the great mass around only such as have some peculiarity.

[Engraving 15: Doorway at Kewick]