THE MULE ROAD AND GUADUAS. 



95 



side except at one place near the foot of the descent, where it ran 

 over a hard stone lying in strata, which sloped in the same direction 

 as the surface of the soil, so it was like riding- along on a roof with 

 no foothold for our animals. 



Alice, in her nervousness from loss of sleep and from thinking 

 about the road ahead of us, had not eaten anything before leaving 

 Consuelo, and was now feeling faint from hunger, so we stopped at 

 an inn at the foot of the mountain, and tried to get something to 

 eat. I asked in succession for eggs, bread, coffee, plantains, rice, 

 etc., until I had exhausted my vocabulary, but received the same 



ROADSIDE INN NEAR GUADUAS. 



answer to all my requests, " No hay " (there is none), so we had to 

 push on. 



From this point for about two miles the road ran o\ev compara- 

 tively level ground, crossing two little streams on the way. The 

 land was cultivated in places, and there were on either side of the 

 road a number of little huts surrounded by small groves of orange- 



