HISTORY OF THE SPANISH CONQUEST OF YUCATAN AND OF THE ITZAS

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strength went on diminishing very quickly, knowing for truth the
proverb which the Biscayans, my fellow countrymen, say: 'It is the guts
which carry and support the legs and not the legs, the guts.' Among
these high hills which we passed over, there is a variety of old
buildings, excepting some in which I recognized apartments, and though
they were very high and my strength was little, I climbed up them
(though with trouble). They were in the form of a convent, with the
small cloisters and many living rooms all roofed over, and arched like
a wagon and whitened inside with plaster, which is very abundant
through that region, since all the ridges are composed of it. So that
these buildings do not resemble those which are here in this Province,
for the latter are of pure worked stone, laid without mortar,
particularly the part which relates to arches; but the former are of
rough stone and mortar, covered with plaster."


False Hopes; Further Hardships. "It seemed to us that these buildings