118 



QUICACAN. 



sented a gay and cheerful appearance, which, contrasting with the for- 

 bidding aspect of the rocks we had just left, filled us with pleasurable 

 emotions, and indicated that we had exchanged a semi-barbarous for a 

 civilized society. The only drawback with me was excessive fatigue. 

 When Ijurra rode back to Cerro Pasco for the compass, he happened to 

 be mounted on my mule. This gave her extra work ; and the ride of 

 to-day was a long one, so that the little beast by this time could barely 

 put one foot before the other. There is scarcely anything more fatiguing 

 than to ride a tired horse; and when I arrived (at five) at the hospitable 

 gates of the hacienda of Quicacan, and with difficulty lifted myself out 

 of the saddle, it was with the deep sigh which always accompanies re- 

 lief from pain, and which was much more pleasurable than the sight of 

 waving fields and babbling brooks. 



The owner of the hacienda — an English gentleman, named Dyer, to 

 whom I brought letters from Cerro Pasco — received me and my large 

 party exactly as if it were a matter of course, and as if I had quite as 

 much right to enter his house as I had to enter an inn. The patio was 

 filled with horses, belonging to a large party from Huanuco bound to 

 Lima, and every seat in the ample portico seemed filled. I was some- 

 what surprised at the size and appointments of the establishment. It 

 looked like a little village of itself, with its offices and workshops. The 

 dwelling — a large, substantial, though low building, with a corridor in 

 front supported on massive arches, and having the spaces between the 

 pillars enclosed with iron wire to serve for cages for numerous rare and 

 pretty birds — occupied one side of the enclosed square; store-rooms 

 occupied another; the sugar-house, another; and a chapel, the fourth. 

 A bronze fountain, with an ample basin, decorated the centre. I was 

 strongly reminded of the large farm-houses in some parts of Virginia : 

 the same number of servants bustling about in each other's way; the 

 children of the master and the servant all mixed up together; the same 

 in the hospitable welcome to all comers; the same careless profusion. 

 When I saw the servants dragging out mattresses and bed-clothing from 

 some obscure room, and going with them to different parts of the house 

 to make pallets for the visitors who intended to spend the night, I 

 seemed carried back to my boyish days, and almost fancied that I was 

 at a country wedding in Virginia. We dined at six in another spacious 

 corridor, enclosed with glass, and looking out upon a garden rich with 

 grape-vines and flowers. After dinner, the party broke up into groups 

 for cards or conversation, which continued until ten o'clock brought tea 

 and bed-time. 



I conversed with an intelligent and manly Frenchman named Escudero. 



