"To describe all these ruins would be a difficult task; and besides, it would be dreary reading for anybody who is not an eager student of archæology. We will touch only upon some of the most important.
GREAT MOUND AT MAYAPAN.
"About thirty miles from Merida are the ruins of Mayapan, which is said to have been the ancient capital of the country. They are spread over an extensive plain, and though covering a considerable area, are less interesting than the ruins of Uxmal. The ground is covered with a dense growth of trees and plants, and every explorer who devotes any attention to Mayapan is obliged to incur quite an outlay for labor in cutting paths and clearing up the ground. We did not go there, but gathered our information from a gentleman who has been on the spot several times.
"He told us that the most conspicuous object at Mayapan is a pyramid, not unlike that on which the Dwarf's House at Uxmal was built. It is 100 feet square at the base, and about sixty feet high; it is ascended by a stone staircase similar to that of the pyramid of the Dwarf's House and about twenty-five feet wide. There is no building on the top of the mound, only a stone platform, and explorers do not agree as to whether there was ever any edifice there or not. Excavations have been made at several places in the mound, and subterranean chambers discovered. Their use cannot be positively determined; of course there are the usual stories about the concealment of treasures within the mounds, but nothing has ever been found there.
CIRCULAR EDIFICE AT MAYAPAN.
"It is the general belief that most of the buildings of Mayapan were of wood or sun-dried brick, instead of stone, as most of them have disappeared. There is one curious-looking edifice still in position—a circular structure twenty-five feet in diameter, and standing on a pyramidal foundation thirty-five feet high. If you want a detailed description of it look in Baldwin's 'Ancient America,' where there is a picture which shows how it looks to-day.