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 Andes 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 



