218 



DESCENT TO THE COAST. 



adventure our persons in yet another manner. The 

 Mexican littera is a kind of oblong box, about a foot 

 deep, three feet wide, and six feet long, unfortunately 

 more frequently shorter than longer. Two long poles 

 passing down and fastened to the sides, project fore and 

 aft, and serve as shafts for two mules, to whose pack 

 saddles the ends are attached by straps. In short, a long 

 box instead of an upright one, a recumbent and supine 

 position, instead of a sitting one, and two four-footed 

 porters instead of two biped ones, are the main points of 

 difference between the littera and the sedan chair. It is 

 furnished with a leather awning and cotton curtains, and 

 ordinarily with a well-worn mattress, through which you 

 may feel the rough boards upon which you recline. 



We had heaid the litter described as the most luxu- 

 rious mode of travelling ; and accordingly, each slipped 

 into his independent vehicle, with a feeling of great sat- 

 isfaction. 



We formed a train of ten, with a horde of sumpter 

 mules. Each litter, besides its two mules, was furnished 

 with a mounted leader, a driver, and three spare animals, 

 to serve as relays. The price of each, to the coast, was 

 forty dollars. 



So down the deep paved street we clattered, amid the 

 plaudits of the poblanitas from window and balcony : 

 we were soon beyond the town, and travelled for- 

 ward for hours through the forests, which gradually 

 changed their character — the oak and his congeners 

 disappearing, and the mimosa taking their place. 



Night soon closed in ; and when we halted, we found 

 it was four o'clock in the morning, and that we had 

 reached the celebrated bridge called by the builders, 

 Puente del Rey ; still later, Puente Imperial ; and now 

 Puente Nacional ; where we were to lie quiet for twelve 

 hours, the heat being such as to forbid advance. We 

 had passed, between waking and sleeping, the villages 

 of Encero and Plan del Rio. 



I was now in some degree authorized to judge of the 

 luxury of the litter. Pourtales was, it is true, in ecstasy 



