"We cannot say that all of them are connected," was the reply; "but it is certain that some of them are. Many contain streams with perceptible currents, and it has been observed that at times the cenotés are full of alligators, while at others none can be found there. As the alligator cannot pierce its way through solid rock, there must be channels which connect with large bodies of water where the alligators live."
At the suggestion of alligators Frank and Fred intimated that they did not care to stay long in the water, and their search for eyeless fish was abandoned in favor of the larger game. Mr. Honradez laughed, and said there was not the slightest danger, as no alligator larger than a rat could possibly make its way into the place where they were, as all the entrance channels were very small.
Thus reassured, they remained tranquil, and enjoyed the plunge and swim in the cool water. Meanwhile their host explained that these sources of water supply had been known from very ancient times; long before the Conquest the inhabitants built their towns near the water-holes, and at the present time any one desiring to establish a hacienda seeks first a good cenoté, and locates his buildings near it.
On returning from the bath the host showed them the well which supplied the hacienda with water. Peons drew the water in buckets at the end of a long rope passing over a windlass, and poured it into a large trough, whence it was taken by the servants from the kitchen, or allowed to flow in pipes to the engine-house, stables, or wherever else it was needed.
AT A NORIA.
"In nearly every village throughout Yucatan," said Mr. Honradez, "you will find a well of this sort in the public square; it is called a noria, and the usual mode of drawing water is by an endless rope passing over a wheel and carrying small buckets. These bring up the water from below, and as they turn over the wheel they pour their contents into a trough. The system is almost an exact copy of that in use in Egypt centuries before Yucatan was heard of. The rude machine is propelled by a mule walking in a circle and driven by a boy. The mule is invariably an old one, fit for no other work, and sometimes a horse or ox, likewise old and poor, is found in its place."
"I suppose the village pays for the mule and the driver," one of the youths remarked.