Island.--Second Mission of the Monks.--Sent away by
the Indians.--Expedition of Don Martin Ursua.--Arrival at the
Island.--Attacked by the Indians, who are defeated.--Don Martin takes
Possession of Itza.--Temples and Idols of the Indians.--Destroyed
by the Spaniards.--Flight of the Indians into the
Wilderness.--Preparations.--Illness of Mr. Catherwood.--Effects of
Gambling.--From the Church to the Gaming-table.--How People live at
Iturbide.--Departure.--Rancho of Noyaxche.

Our journey in this direction is now ended. We were on the frontier of
the inhabited part of Yucatan, and within a few leagues of the last
village. Beyond was a wilderness, stretching off to the Lake of Peten,
and that region of Lacandones or unbaptized Indians, in which,
according to the suggestion made in my previous volumes, lay that
mysterious city never reached by a white man, but still occupied by
Indians precisely in the same state as before the discovery of America.
During my sojourn in Yucatan, my account of this city was published in
one of the Merida papers, and among intelligent persons there was a
universal belief that beyond the Lake of Peten there was a region of
unconverted Indians of whom nothing was known. We had been moving on in
the track of ruined cities. A venerable ecclesiastic in Merida had
furnished me with an itinerary of the journey through the wilderness to
the Lake of Peten, and I had some hope of being led on from place to
place until we should reach a point which might unravel all mystery,
and establish a connecting link between the past and present; but this
hope was accompanied by a fear, and, perhaps fortunately for us, we did
not hear of ruins beyond. If we had, we should not have attempted to go
in search of them, and it would have been painful to turn back. I am
far from believing, however, that because we did not hear of them none
exist. On the contrary, it may well be that wrecks of cities lie buried
but a few leagues farther on, the existence of which is entirely
unknown at the village of Iturbide, for at that place there was not a
single individual who had ever heard of the ruins at Labphak, which we
had visited just before, until they heard of them from us.

As yet, however, our face is still set toward the Lake of Peten. In
this lake are numerous islands, one of which is called Peten Grande,
Peten itself being a Maya word, signifying an island; and before
turning back I wish to present this island for one