To the Gulf of Cortez 



Our friend, Don Manuel Murillo, had recom- 

 mended us both to Alvarez and to his sister, 

 Senora Paula, but both of these were absent. 

 Don Manuel had also urged us to get the 

 Indian Anastasio for a guide. 



"For heaven's sake," he said, "don't venture 

 without a guide. You may perish from thirst, 

 as others have done before you." 



We tried at first to hire burros and let our 

 mules rest, but the Indian who owned the 

 burros stated that his terms were "one burro, 

 one day, one dollar" — an impudent attempt at 

 robbery, which we resented. 



We interviewed Anastasio, however, who 

 said he would start at any moment; and, leav- 

 ing Oscar to guard the wagon, we packed two 

 mules, saddled two more for J. B. and myself, 

 and, giving Anastasio the tow-rope of a pack- 

 mule, we started after him. Anastasio was 

 the most interesting figure of the trip, and I 

 must be pardoned if I go into some detail 

 about him. He spoke some Spanish and 

 understood a good deal. When he did not 

 understand, he never stated that fact, but 

 either assumed a stony look or answered at 

 cross-purposes ; so that we did not get to know 

 a great deal about each other for some time. 



65 



