ay, and our work went finely.
Between the town officials and the priest, subjects were constantly
supplied. Among the indians who presented themselves for measurement was
old Manuel, sacristan from Xaya; he is a _h'men_, and we had hoped that
he would show us the method of using the _sastun_, or divining crystal.
He is a full-blood, and neither in face nor manner shows the least
emotion. Automatic in movement, he is quiet and phlegmatic in manner;
having assumed the usual indian pose for rest, a squat position in
which no part of the body except the feet rests upon the ground, or any
support, he sat quietly, with the movement of scarcely a muscle, for
hours at a time. He sang for us the invocation to the winds of the four
quarters, which they use in the ceremony of planting time. Though he is
frequently employed to say the "milpa mass" and to conjure, he claims
that he never learned how to use the _sastun_, but told us that another
_h'men_ in his village knew it well.

One of the _padre's_ companions has been ill ever since he came to
Yucatan; Sunday he suffered so greatly that a doctor was sent for
in haste. Nothing was told us as to what his trouble might be, but
personally I suspected that he had the small-pox. In connection with his
illness, we learned for the first time that another companion of the
priest, brought from Spain, died in the room I was occupying, less
than two weeks before, from yellow fever. We had known that one of his
companions had died of yellow fever, but supposed it was some months
earlier. Toward evening the priest was sent for by a neighbor, who
needed the last service. On the _padre's_ return, we learned that this
person was believed to be dying from _vomito_. For a moment we were in
doubt what was best to do, especially as the police had told us that the
_padre_ had permitted no fumigation of his premises after his comrade's
death, simply sprinkling holy water about the place. That night the
young man in the next room suffered greatly, and I could not help but
wonder what ailed him. However, I decided that what danger there might
be from the disease we had already risked, and as we expected to remain
but one or two more days, it seemed hardly worth while to make a change.
Monday we planned a visit to San Juan and Xaya. The horses had been
ordered for five o'clock, but mass had been said, chocolate taken, and
all was ready, long before they appeared. Six, seven, eight all passed,
and at last