Mexico to the Mountains . 93 



Emanuel Hivarez, who has five hundred peons at 

 work. The water used for irrigation, without 

 which nothing could be grown, is brought in an 

 adobe aqueduct for several miles. It is an old 

 settlement and very dirty, abounding in fleas and 

 vermin of all descriptions. Yet when one comes 

 to a hacienda with water all round, brought from 

 some mountain stream, the contrast between the 

 desolate land we have travelled and the exuberant 

 luxuriance of vines, figs and magna gives a beauty 

 which almost makes me, with my hatred of every- 

 thing Mexican, admire our surroundings. Mock- 

 ing-birds are all around us, and could I linger to 

 explore, I have no doubt I could have added many 

 new birds to my list, but with cholera hanging 

 round, breaking out, in a mild form it is true, at 

 every place w^e stop at, we must push on. 



We daily pass cacti of three species, as well as 

 miles of aloes, yet not enough nourishment to feed 

 a horse in the whole of them, and through this 

 country we start tomorrow for Chihuahua. We 

 have one hundred and fifty-seven mules and horses 

 and fifty-seven men, and are in good spirits. We 

 hear Chihuahua is our best route, but we may 

 have different information at Parral and go 

 through Sonora. 



May 2gth. Parras is like all Mexican towns 

 I have seen, a few French and Americans, some 

 with a Mexican wife, others with a housekeeper; 



