Departure from Uxmal. — Indian officials at Abalá. — Indian Ceremonies. — Worship of demons. — Baptismal customs. — Laws of the Emperor Charles V. for the government of the natives in Yucatan. — Superstitions. — An Indian Well. — Halt at night. — Merida. — Convent of the Conceptionistas. — Sisal. — The Basque brig Aguinaga. — Departure for Cuba and Florida. — Tampa. — Cedar Keys. — Buccaneers. — Shell Mounds. — Ancient Burial Mounds. — Florida Indians 360 CHAPTER XIX. Mounds and Earthworks in North and Central America. — Migrations of the Toltecs and Aztecs. — The Quichés. — Aboriginal races. — Palenque. — Hieroglyphs. — Temples. — Desertion of the Temples and stone buildings in Yucatan. — Conquest of Yucatan by the Aztecs. — Antiquity of Palenque and Uxmal. — Aztec custom of imprisoning captives in cages and sacrificing them to the gods. — Civilisation of the Toltecs. — Note upon the symbol or Totem of the Serpent 378 CHAPTER XX. Conjectures respecting the descendants of the tribes who built the Temples. — Knowledge and education of the Caciques and Priests. — Traditions of the arrival of white strangers from the East. — Las Casas. — Quetzal-Coatl. — Crosses found in Yucatan. — Gomara. — Legend of the flight of Spaniards by sea towards the West after the conquest of Spain by the Saracens. — Fabulous island of Antilia. — Columbus on his outward voyage steers for Antilia. — Trade-winds. — Considerations upon the probabilities of vessels being driven across the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans towards America 400 INDEX 423 ILLUSTRATIONS. PLATES. PAGE. ALTAR-PIECE, TEMPLE OF THE CROSS, PALENQUE _Frontispiece_. BEAVER DAM, LODGE AND POND, NEAR ISHPEMING 36 CHIPPEWA CHIEF (West of Lake Superior) 50 INDIAN MOUNDS, CAHOKIA 108 CHIPPEWA ENCAMPMENT 116 SIOUX ENCAMPMENT 116 SPIRIT ROCK 118 PAWNEE, (SHA-TO-KO) Blue-Hawk 132 PAWNEE WOMAN 136 PRAIRIE AND BOULDERS, NORTH IOWA 142 PRAIRIE DOGS, NEBRASKA 142 INDIAN, SALT LAKE VALLEY, UTAH 146