:::;::::»x TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO M^::;-::: 



foot by innumerable very small and very dirty little 

 Mexicans, almost as unliampered by clothes as their 

 furred and feathered playfellows. 



We were glad, however, to accept the shelter of the 

 great bare guest-house, for the first night. Our Mex- 

 ican cook rolled u]) in his blanket on the porch outside, 

 but the hosts of fleas drove him to the dining-table, 

 which was also on the porch. Here he alternately 

 dozed and did battle with a rooster, which j^ersisted 

 in perching upon and crowing from the head of the 

 unfortunate youth. Indoors our cots kept us out of 

 trouble, but a vampire annoyed us for an hour or tAvo, 

 fluttering close to our heads and making sleejJ im- 

 possible. The horses next morning showed evidence 

 of visits from these bloodthirsty bats — long streaks of 

 blood on their necks and shoulders. 



A thorough search of the neighbourhood, on horse- 

 back, revealed, about a mile away from the house, 

 an open glade which was some twenty yards from 

 a stream. Here we decided to make camp. We could 

 not refuse our friend's oifer of assistance, and, under 

 the strong hands of a half-dozen sturdy Mexicans and 

 Indians, our tents were unrolled and set up, the camp 

 site cleared and a barrier of thorns erected, all as if by 

 magic. Milk and 5»e/oH zcq')otes — a delicious melon- 

 like fruit which grew at the top of a tree — were pro- 

 mised, and our opinion of the middle-class Mexican 

 character rose another notch. 



«4 268 ^ 



