SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



85 



neath us, seemed to lead the eye to the waters 

 of the Pacific, to which the mountain-torrents 

 we had passed were hastening. The descent 

 now became very steep, so that in many places 

 we were obliged to alight from our mules, and 

 proceed, with cautious steps, over broken 

 masses of basalt and other volcanic sub- 

 stances, where not a trace of the labour of 

 man was visible, or any circumstances that 

 could remind us of being in an inhabited 

 country ; except occasionally meeting small 

 groups of Indians, carrying the productions 

 of their little farms to the market of Tolluca, 

 or even as far as to that of Mexico. From 

 these simple people the unprotected traveller 

 has nothing to fear; they are the most 

 courteous, gentle, and unoffending creatures 

 in existence, never passing a stranger without 

 offering a courteous salutation. Their bur- 

 thens consist generally of fruit, fowls, tur- 

 keys, mats, shingles of wood for roofs of 



