THE VOYAGE OF THE HASSLER 159 



The next day, May 2, Thursday, we had a beauti- 

 ful journey. To be sure part of it was through a sandy 

 plain not fertile, but broken by a thorny mimosa 

 scattered all over it; but it was bordered by Cordil- 

 lera of the x\ndes on one hand and by the mountains 

 of the coast range on the other. Then we came into a 

 more fertile soil watered by many rivers, and we were 

 constantly fording small streams. Here the houses 

 were frequent (that is, the wayside cabins), and as our 

 driver changes horses frequently and was long about 

 it, I had a chance to make acquaintance with many 

 of these little houses, so poor and so pretty. In one a 

 young girl was sitting by a fire on the floor on which 

 was simmering a casuela, a national dish between a 

 stew and a soup, and a pot of beans; from the thatch 

 hung a shallow cradle made out of coarse woven 

 straw with a baby asleep; another lay on the floor 

 kicking and crowing. They were twins. Over the 

 porch of a neighboring hut was a grapevine and we 

 bought excellent grapes there. Many of the better 

 class of these thatched cabins serve as a kind of coun- 

 try hostelries for the drivers and poorer travellers. 

 You see the table in the porch covered with a white 

 cloth, a plate of tortillas, the bread rolls of the country 

 baked in the ashes, a bottle or two of wine (such as 

 may be had here for ten cents) set out for any chance 

 comer. Sometimes we passed a village market in the 

 open air full of picturesque groups. In the middle of 

 the day we crossed a deep river, of course in a raft. 

 You must add to all the rest of the enjoyment the 

 perfect beauty of the weather, the soft haze of Indian 



