TO THE READER. 



Gentle Reader : The work you are going to 

 peruse is not a voluminous one, neither did I take 

 any pains whatever as to the elegance of the style. 

 I wrote to make myself understood by the un- 

 learned as well as the learned. The price of the 

 work may seem high, on account of the small num- 

 ber of pages it contains : but it must be recollected 

 that it encloses the revelation of a secret that has 

 filled thousands of the wise and unwise with aston- 

 ishment. I have received, as a gratification, more 

 than two thousand dollars, from several Mexican 

 gentleman, for breaking a single horse, in this 

 manner, in their presence. I shall always feel 

 grateful for the kind and generous reception I 

 every where met with, when travelling through 

 their country. From Louisiana to Mexico — from 

 the Califoruias to Guatemala — and all over the 



