78 



REAL DEL MONTE. 



outwit his conductors by untying his rosary, and occa- 

 sionally dropping a bead on the earth. If he flattered 

 himself that any hope existed of his being thus able to 

 thread the blind maze through which he passed, and find 

 the locality, one may imagine his chagrin, when once 

 more arrived and set down at his own door, the first 

 sight which met his uncovered eyes was the contented 

 face of one of his Indian guides, and an outstretched 

 hand, containing in its hollow the greater part of the 

 grains of his rosary ; while the guileless tongue of the 

 finder expressed his simple joy at having been enabled to 

 restore such a sacred treasure to the discomfited padre. 



Entreaties and threats were now employed in vain. 

 Gentle as the Indians were, they were not to be bent. 

 Government was apprized of the circumstances, and 

 commissioners were sent down to investigate the affair. 

 The principal inhabitants were seized, and menace being 

 powerless, torture, that last argument of the tyrant, 

 was resorted to — all in vain, not a word could be wrung 

 from them ! Many were put to death ; still their brethren 

 remained mute ; and the village became deserted under 

 the systematic persecution of the oppressors. The most 

 careful researches, repeatedly made from time to time 

 by adventurers in search of the rich deposite, have all re- 

 sulted in disappointment ; and, to this day all that is 

 known is, that somewhere in the recesses of those moun- 

 tains lies the gold mine of La Navidad. 



The following day, despite the temptation we felt to 

 make various excursions in this interesting neighbour- 

 hood, we found ourselves necessitated to resume our 

 route to the capital, twenty-three leagues distant. From 

 the summit of the sierra, above the town of Real del 

 Monte, a steep and rugged descent brings you to the 

 level of the great plains which form the central land of 

 Mexico ; and over these we now proceeded slowly, in 

 a suffocating heat. The first evening we reached a col- 

 lection of mud huts and of plantations of nopal and ma- 

 guey, disposed around a fine large picturesque church, 

 called the San Matteo Grande. 



