44 



LA MESSA. 



tales in his various changes of costume, and his whimsical 

 contrivances for banishing ennui ; and emulating the 

 sailors in their expeditions to the top-gallant- mast head. 

 After landing, we had lost sight of him. We heard, 

 however, that he had been delivered up by the captain 

 with a regular bill of lading to the Mexican consul at 

 New York, and to his utter dismay and disappointment, 

 not being considered accomplished enough, had been sent 

 to a 44 finishing academy" in Pennsylvania. Many adven- 

 tures, and the multitude of strange personages with w hom 

 we had come in contact during the rambles of the two 

 past years, had driven him out of our remembrance, till 

 most unexpectedly we found his two long, Indian-shaped 

 arms loc ked round our necks at La Messa, a brown 

 athletic Mexican, utterly forgetful of all the polite edu- 

 cation he had undergone, curbing a wild horse, and 

 hunting a wilder leopard. He seemed to be absorbed in 

 his hunting schemes ; and, instead of a collection of 

 books, valued himself upon the number of lion, ounce, 

 and wildcat skins which decorated his apartment. His 

 thin and meager French was richly larded with noble 

 sounding Spanish words and phrases ; but we contrived 

 to converse about old and new times. 



La Messa, the property of his uncle, to whom he 

 seemed to be considered as future heir, was the centre 

 of a vast estate stretching many leagues on every side. 



From the specimen before us, however, nothing could 

 exceed the poor homely style and rough living of these 

 wealthy proprietors at a distance from the capital. 



Our evening meal, which we were invited to take with 

 the family, was a sleepy entertainment, in w 7 hich we tast- 

 ed nothing but the burning Chile or red pepper with 

 which every dish was seasoned ; and that done, we all 

 packed together with Amiable et execrable Tampico into 

 a small apartment, where, fortunately, the cold air of the 

 norte, which was still blowing, prevented us from being 

 at once suffocated by heat, and bitten to madness by the 

 moschetoes. 



The following morning, after a loving adieu from our 



