This town is large and well built, though not very compact; enough so, however, to make it a very desirable place of residence. It is town and country, beautifully intermingled. It has a fine open square, church, and market-place, and several stores.
The church, occupying one corner of the square, is built in the form of a cross, and has a well-proportioned dome to set it off. The mass of devotees that assemble here daily are decently dressed and good-looking. The curate is a middle-aged man, who has read much, and figured considerably in the late political revolutions of the province; and is, probably, more conversant with the history of his country than any man in it. Some of the most interesting ruins of the country are within his curacy, and he was the only person I encountered in the country who had devoted much time to an examination of them. He received me very cordially, and was exceedingly kind and attentive during my stay.
The market-place is small; but it is well supplied, and kept clean. It was rather a strange sight to me to see cattle butchered in the open streets and public thoroughfares of the town, as is the custom here.
This town enjoys a notoriety for its pretty Mestizas, or half-breed Indian women; which, as far as I am able to judge, it justly deserves. They are well formed, and have regular features and brunette complexions, which are in fine contrast with their long black hair and simple loose dress. Their dresses are always neat, and hang from the shoulders without being girded at the waist. They are trimmed off by the fair hands of the wearers with ornamental borders, &c., &c.
The convent in the rear of, and immediately adjoining the church, is an immense pile of stone, built in 1624, and was formerly inhabited by monks of the order of St. Francis. The only habitable part of this vast structure, at present, is occupied by the curate, the padre, and myself. A suite of three rooms were given to me; but, in my humble way, I made two suffice. Its blackened walls, its spacious halls and corridors, dilapidated casements, its numerous squares and gardens, all going to ruin, presented the same melancholy picture that is to be seen in all the principal towns in the province.
A large portion of the inhabitants are Mestizos, who are orderly and well to do in the world. Their houses, in the borders of the town, are comfortable; and the wide-spreading palm, growing near, gives to them quite a picturesque appearance. They manufacture hats for exportation, and earthenware for home use.
The health of the town is good. This may be attributed not only to the climate, but to the uniform temperance of these people, both in eating and drinking.
The roads to and from the principal towns are kept in excellent order. Portions of them, in the immediate vicinity, with the low stone walls at the sides, covered with vegetation, resemble those of England.
In the adjoining districts, there are several large sugar plantations. Near the town of Tekax, considerable attention is paid to the cultivation of sugar, which is raised entirely for domestic consumption.
The ruins of Ichmul are situated about a half league north of the town of Ticul. The padre, with a few friends, accompanied me to visit them. What was my surprise, on arriving at this place, to observe a succession of mounds, or tumuli, extending many miles around, in every direction, as far as the eye could reach—the sepulchres, perhaps, of millions! who, in their turn, possibly, have looked upon similar appearances, that exist no longer, with the same thoughts as we give utterance to in beholding these! The grounds are now covered with grass and trees—a range for cattle! Some of these mounds were forty feet high. Several of them had been opened by the direction and under the superintendence of the curate, and within were found rooms, and skeletons deposited in a sitting posture, with small pots at their feet, which was the position in which the ancient Mexicans were in the habit of burying their dead. The walls and ceilings were quite perfect. Large pieces of hewn stone and pillars were lying scattered around these places, affording ground for the presumption that they were formerly portions of a once great and populous city.