IN THE PACIFIC. 253 



to be the best sportsman in the place, but he 

 proved to be a better hand with the bottle than 

 with the " scatter-pellet," as he called it. He 

 told us confidentially that he came with us 

 because the next day was a fast day, and that 

 he always made a point of getting drunk on 

 those occasions. Leaving Acapulco about three 

 p.m., we followed our guide over the mountains 

 in single file ; a worse bit of travelling it would 

 be difficult to imagine, the track was merely a 

 water-course, intercepted by rocks and roots of 

 trees, and it was wonderful how our horses kept 

 their feet. After riding through a forest for 

 some miles, we reached the top, and descended 

 into the valley below, reaching the village of 

 Pied-de-la- questa about sundown. "We put up 

 for the night at a ranch, kept by an aged crone 

 and two buxom daughters, and we passed a 

 pleasant evening over our pipes and grog. Our 

 guide entertained us with an amusing account 

 of his adventures, in all of which he was the 

 hero. By his own account he was a deserter 

 from an American man-of-war, had distinguished 



