60 ESTA CERQUITA. 
Rio Pecos, near the frontier settlements, I met 
with a shepherd, of whom I anxiously inquir- 
ed the distance to San Miguel. “O, it is just 
there,” responded the man of sheep. “Don’t 
you see that point of mesa yonder? It is just 
beyond that.” This sea information 
cheered me greatly ; for, owing to the extraor- 
dinary transparency of the atmosphere, it 
appeared to me that the distance could not 
exceed two or three miles. “Esta cerquuta,” 
exclaimed the shepherd as I rode off; “ahora 
esta V. alla” —“it is close by; you will soon 
be there.” 
I set off at as lively a pace as my jaded 
steed could carry me, confident of ehionk 
dinner in San Miguel. Every ridge I turned 
I thought must be t the last, and thus I jogged 
on, hoping and anticipating my future com- 
forts till the shades of evening began to ap- 
pear ; when I descended into the valley of the 
Pecos, which, although narrow, is exceedingly 
fertile and beautifully lined with verdant fields, 
among which stood a great variety of mud 
cabins. About eight o’clock, I called at one 
of these cottages and again inquired the dis- 
tance to San Miguel; whena sormnihy lola 
ranchero once more saluted mine ee with 
“ Esta cerquita; ahora esté V. allé.” Although 
e distance was designated in precisely the 
same words used by the shepherd eight hours 
before, I had the consolation at least of be- 
lieving : 
