210 



NOPALUCA. 



I furnish you with the following note made at the mo- 

 ment of my scrutiny : — 



" Carbine L Much worse for wear — no flint and a 

 broken trigger — cannot imagine how it is to be dis- 

 charged. 



"Carbine II. Seen much service, no flint, no ramrod. 

 u Carbine III. Lock broken short off, and otherwise 

 damaged. 



" Carbine IV. Utterly devoid of all appearance of lock. 



"Carbine V. Furnished with all the outward signs ex- 

 cept ramrod ; but from its appearance, doubt very 

 much its efficiency, especially as I have no proof that 

 there is a single cartridge, either in the weapons or 

 in the cartridge boxes." 



So much for the arming of our escort. Now as to their 



valour. 



For what purpose were they hired — at the cost of 

 eighteen dollars, to ride by the side of the coach, from 

 La Pueblo to Perote ? To scare away thieves and rob- 

 bers. But if the thieves would not be frightened — 

 to fight ? No ! such an idea never came into their 

 heads. To fight ! — he, he — ha, ha — ho, ho ! — to get 5 

 perhaps, a shot from a real carbine, or a slash across the 

 nose — or at least to be lassoed, half strangled, dragged 

 from horseback, and ground to powder, by being hur- 

 ried along the road for a few hundred yards — and all that 

 for only eighteen dollars ! and for the pleasure of their 

 valours, the three heretic dons ? No, the idea is ridicu- 

 lous ! Does it not appear almost such to you ? Se- 

 riously speaking, I believe an escort in Mexico is never 

 expected to fight, not only because I never heard of a 

 well-accredited case of their doin^ so, but from the pe- 

 culiar style and character of the arms wherewith they 

 are furnished. This strange circumstance apart, I 

 must give our dragoons a good character. They gave 

 us no trouble, always stuck to the carriage, spoke not 

 an unnecessary word, and were dismissed at Perote, 

 where all danger from banditti was supposed to be at 

 an end. 



To resume the notice of our journey. Six leagues 



