268 CRUISE OF THE BARRERA 



girls of this ranch, however, seemed very apathetic 

 and dull, and they were wholly incapable of sensing 

 a situation of probable advantage to themselves. 

 While our stock of Spanish words was limited, 

 we nevertheless could get on quite well with whom- 

 soever we encountered, even essaying at times 

 little pleasantries. As long as we flew low we 

 had no serious accidents, but here our linguistic 

 accomplishments utterly failed. With our host 

 alone could we converse, and with no one else. 

 About the main house a swarm of domestic ani- 

 mals prowled about in search of food. Green 

 parrots squawked, roosters crowed, turkeys gob- 

 bled, dogs barked, pigs grunted, and above the 

 animal chorus arose always the cries of the women- 

 folk directed at the children. These sprawled 

 about, fell off chairs or steps, and howled at the 

 slightest provocation. Some peculiar-looking farm 

 hands hung about sullenly watching us, giving 

 us the somewhat unpleasant feelings of a visitor 

 to the dangerous ward of an insane asylum. 



The scenery about the finca is fine, although 

 too shut in by dominating heights and heavy for- 

 est to be wholly pleasing. Nature here seemed 

 almost overpowering. The mountain gave a 



