HIS POPULARITY. 91 
down six dollars, the stipulated sum of pur- 
chase, I bowed myself out of the presence of 
the ladies, not a little impressed with my own 
insignificance, in the eyes of these fair dofas, 
contrasted with the grandeur of my sable 
companion. But the popularity of negroes in 
Northern Mexico has ceased to be a matter 
of surprise to the traveller. 
ith regard to Don Jorge, if I was sur- 
prised at the marks of attention paid him by 
a white lady, I had cause to be much more 
astonished shortly after. As the sooty don 
was lounging about my wagons, a clever- 
visaged youth approached and placed in his 
hands a satin stock, with the compliments of 
his sister (the officer's wife), hoping that he 
would receive that trifle, wrought by her own 
hand, as a token of her particular regard! 
But, notwithstanding these marks of distinc- 
tion (to apply no harsher epithet), George was 
exceedingly anxious to engage in my em- 
ploy, in whatsoever capacity I might choose 
to take him; for he had discovered that 
such honors were far from ‘affording him a 
livelihood: yet I did not then need his ser- 
vices, and have never heard of him since. 
On the 22d we left Durango, and after a 
few days’ march found ourselves once more 
in the camino real that led from Chihuahua to 
Batata All the frightful stories I had 
heard about robbers now began to flash upon 
my memory, which made me regard every 
man I encountered on the road with a very 
suspicious eye. As all travellers go armed, it 
