50 



CHICONTEPEC. 



existence and roll down on their short but furious course 

 to the gulf. 



It was just at this period of our journey, when toiling 

 over the broken ground, amid the green twilight shed 

 into the deep defile through an almost impervious cano- 

 py of the most gigantic forest trees, covered from the 

 foot to the topmost twig with lithe creepers and enor- 

 mous parasites, that the rain, which had now menaced 

 for several days, began to descend upon us in torrents. 

 If there was wind, we were not sensible of it at this 

 depth ; but the rain poured perpendicularly down, as 

 from a water spout. At the same time every object be- 

 came shrouded in mist. We nevertheless dragged our- 

 selves forward, till it appeared as though the vale termi- 

 nated in a cid de sac against the precipitous but forested 

 side of the mountain, when a sudden turn was given to 

 the track, and following it, it began to ascend to the right, 

 by a steep zigzag mule path. Climbing and dragging 

 our spent horses after us, we surmounted one turn after 

 another, till we thought that we should never arrive at 

 the last. There was no sign of our gaining the summit. 

 Whenever the mist rose or shifted for an instant, we 

 caught a glimpse of the steep flanks of the mountain to 

 the left, which seemed but a stone's throw distant. At 

 length, after nearly two hours' climb, we suddenly reached 

 the plateau, and entered the principal street of Chi- 

 contepec. At this elevation we were above the region 

 of the rain, and nearly above that of the clouds, for the 

 mist was driving and thin, and an occasional gleam of 

 sunshine gave us a glimpse of the objects around. The 

 houses were much more substantial than any we had 

 seen in the lower country, and a large church with a 

 tower rose above a declivity we had surmounted. At 

 what elevation Chicontepec is situated, I cannot guess, but 

 it must be considerable. It is quite on the barren rocky 

 crest of the mountains, which should be seven in number, 

 according to the interpretation of the name; and must 

 command a view of great extent, but of which we saw 

 nothing. After some trouble we discovered a poor meson, 

 where we were allowed to dry and refresh ourselves. 



