TWO NIGHTS IN SOUTHERN MEXICO. 77 



against one of them, would have been transfixed by it 

 as surely as though it had been of steel. We pushed 

 on, however, in Indian file, following the two guides, 

 who kept at the head of the party, and making our 

 way through places where a wild cat would have 

 difficulty in passing : through thickets of mangroves, 

 mimosas, and tall fern, and cactuses with their thorny 

 leaves full twenty feet long, the path turning and 

 Avinding all the while. Now and then a momentary 

 improvement in the nature of the ground enabled us 

 to catch a glimpse of the whole column of march. 

 We were struck by its picturesque appearance, the 

 guides in front acting as pioneers, and looking out on 

 all sides as cautiously and anxiously as though they 

 had been soldiers- expecting an ambuscade ; the grace- 

 ful forms of the women bowing and bending over 

 their horses' manes, and often leaving fragments of 

 their mantillas and rebozas on the branches and 

 thorns of the labyrinth through which we were 

 struggling. But it was no time to indulge in con- 

 templation of the picturesque, and of this we were 

 constantly made aware by the anxious vociferations 

 of the Mexicans, " Vamos ! por Dios, vamos f " cried 

 they, if the slightest symptom of flagging became 

 visible in the movements of any one of the party ; 

 and at the words, our horses, as though gifted with 

 understanding, pushed forward with renewed vigour 

 and alacrity. 



On we went up hill and down, in the depths of 



