The Indians passed ropes under the body; the husband himself supported the head, and so it was lowered into the grave. The figure was tall, and the face was that of a woman about twenty-three or twenty-four years old. The expression was painful, indicating that in the final struggle the spirit had been reluctant to leave its mortal tenement. There was but one present who shed tears, and that was the old mother of the deceased, who doubtless had expected this daughter to lay her own head in the grave. She held by the hand a bright-eyed girl, who looked on with wonder, happily unconscious that her best friend on earth was to be laid under the sod. The shawl was opened, and showed a white cotton dress under it; the arms, which were folded across the breast for the convenience of carrying the body, were laid down by the sides, and the shawl was again wrapped round. The husband himself arranged the head, placed under it a cotton cloth for a pillow, and composed it for its final rest as carefully as if a pebble or a stone could hurt it. He brushed a handful of earth over the face; the Indians filled up the grave, and all went away. No romance hangs over such a burial scene, but it was not unnatural to follow in imagination the widowed Indian to his desolate hut. We had been disappointed in not seeing any relic of Indian customs, and, as it was now eleven o'clock and we had not breakfasted, we did not consider ourselves particularly indemnified for our trouble. CHAPTER XII. Means by which the City was supplied with Water.--Aguadas.--A delightful Bathing-place.--Manner of Living at the Ruins.--How to roast a Pig.--Nameless Mound.--Excavations made in it.--Great Exertions.--A bitter Disappointment.--An Attack of Fever.--Visit from the Cura of Ticul.--Departure for Ticul.--A painful Journey.--Arrival at the Convent.--Arrival of Dr. Cabot, ill with Fever.--Gloomy Prospects.--A simple Remedy for Fever.--Aspect of Ticul.--The Church.--Funeral Urn.--Monument and Inscription.--Convent.--Character of the Cura Carillo.--The Date of the Construction of the Convent unknown.--Probably built with the Materials furnished by the Ruins of former Cities.--Archives of the Convent. In the account of my former visit to the ruins of Uxmal, I mentioned the fact that this city was entirely destitute of apparent means for obtaining water. Within the whole circumference there is no well, stream, or fountain, and nothing which bears the appearance of having been used for supplying or obtaining water, except the subterraneous chambers before referred to; which, supposing them to have been intended for that purpose, would probably not have been sufficient, however numerous, to supply the wants of so large a population.