For several days it was fairly easy traveling. There were many trails, the country was fairly level, and the forests were open. But the district seemed absolutely uninhabited. Then, as we began to ascend the foothills, the trails became fewer and at last vanished; the country became wilder, and we were obliged to go entirely by the general direction and the easiest route. Often large streams, deep ravines or impassable cliffs barred our way, and we were forced to make long detours. But ever nearer and nearer the great mountains loomed ahead, and ever steeper became our way. Then one day we came suddenly upon the ruins of what had once been a great temple. I became hopeful again. Here was proof that the district had once been inhabited, that the Mayas had been here. Carefully I examined the sculptured lintels of the massive doorways searching for date-glyphs.[3] The few that had remained unobliterated by time were chipped, flaked and partly effaced, but among them I found two that bore dates that proved the building to go back to the Old Empire. That was reassuring. If there was any truth in the old legend, if the Mayas had migrated this way towards the hidden city, it was reasonable to suppose that their migration took years to accomplish, that they erected temples and monuments on the way. And almost daily we came upon monuments; sometimes rudely carved rocks; sometimes stellae covered with figures and symbols; and at other times remains of buildings. And as I examined these, as I realized what stupendous labor must have gone into the cutting of the great stone blocks, the time that must have been expended upon carving the intricate ornate decorations that covered every inch of their surfaces, the ever present mystery of how it was accomplished came back to me with redoubled force. [3] Engraved characters disclosing or registering dates. By what means, by what magic had the ancient people accomplished feats in stone-cutting, in sculpture that we, with modern methods and steel tools, could not duplicate in years of unremitting labor? Was I fated to solve that riddle? What a scientific triumph it would be if I did succeed in finding an isolated city of the Mayas, a spot where they still carried on their ancient arts, where I could actually watch the process by which they accomplished their wonderful feats? Filled with such conjectures, possessed with a strange feeling of assurance, I led my Indians onward. * * * * *