DECORATIONS OVER DOOR-WAY OF CASA DEL GOBERNADOR.
"We have mentioned the House of the Turtles, which is so called on account of a row of turtles ornamenting its façade. It is on the corner of the second terrace, and is supposed to have been the kitchen of the Palace. Fred thinks that if it was really a kitchen the ornamentation will go far to prove that the governor, whoever he was, had a fondness for turtle soup, like a good many governors of modern times. Wouldn't it be funny if turtle soup should prove to have had its origin in Yucatan? Doctor Bronson says that though the Yucateos may have had the article, they did not invent it, as turtle soup was known to the ancient Romans many centuries ago."
Frank and Fred found that a residence in a royal palace had its drawbacks, especially when night came and the bats appeared in large numbers. Furthermore, there were lizards and other creeping things in great abundance, and some of them were especially repulsive.
One of the worst annoyances of their visit to Uxmal was that whenever they moved about they became covered with garapatas. The garapata is a tick so small that it is hardly perceptible to the naked eye, but it is capable of making a bite or sting like that of a red ant or a hot needle. Frank and Fred were reminded of their troubles in Ceylon, when they became covered with land-leeches in their journey to Adam's Peak. Mr. Burbank told them that the best antidote to the garapatas was to rub one's body with petroleum before venturing where the insects abounded, and that they should change their clothing every time they came in from a walk.
Here is Frank's note concerning these pests of Yucatan:
"They cause a frightful itching, and whenever the fangs of the insect break off in the skin, and they do so very often, the wound is liable to fester and be some time in healing. Their attentions are not confined to humanity; they attack dogs and other animals, and the poor creatures are sometimes killed by them. M. Charnay gives an account of how a pet dog belonging to the wife of the consul at Merida suffered from the bites of these insects while out one day in the country. The little animal rolled on the grass and howled in agony, but the garapatas kept on with their biting as though it was all fun to them."
