THE VOYAGE OF THE HASSLER 159 
The next day, May 2, Thursday, we had a beauti- 
ful journey. To be sure part of it was through a sandy 
plain not fertile, but broken by a thorny mimosa 
scattered all over it; but it was bordered by Cordil- 
lera of the Andes on one hand and by the mountains 
of the coast range on the other. Then we came into a 
more fertile soil watered by many rivers, and we were 
constantly fording small streams. Here the houses 
were frequent (that is, the wayside cabins), and as our 
driver changes horses frequently and was long about 
it, I had a chance to make acquaintance with many 
of these little houses, so poor and so pretty. In one a 
young girl was sitting by a fire on the floor on which 
was simmering a casuela, a national dish between a 
stew and a soup, and a pot of beans; from the thatch 
hung a shallow cradle made out of coarse woven 
straw with a baby asleep; another lay on the floor 
kicking and crowing. They were twins. Over the 
porch of a neighboring hut was a grapevine and we 
bought excellent grapes there. Many of the better 
elass of these thatched cabins serve as a kind of coun- 
try hostelries for the drivers and poorer travellers. 
You see the table in the porch covered with a white 
cloth, a plate of tortillas, the bread rolls of the country 
baked in the ashes, a bottle or two of wine (such as 
may be had here for ten cents) set out for any chance 
comer. Sometimes we passed a village market in the 
open air full of picturesque groups. In the middle of 
the day we crossed a deep river, of course in a raft. 
You must add to all the rest of the enjoyment the 
perfect beauty of the weather, the soft haze of Indian 
