16 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



my great surprise he called me by name. He was an 

 American named Higgins, whom I had seen last at my 

 own office in New- York. He was coming from Real- 

 ejo, and was on his way to San Juan, with the intention 

 of embarking for the United States. We sent our lug- 

 gage on and dismounted ; and besides the pleasure of 

 the meeting, I am under great obligation to him, for I 

 was riding at the time on an alvardo, or common sad- 

 dle of the country, very painful for one not used to it. 

 My own saddle hurt my macho ; and as his journey 

 was nearly at an end, he gave me his in exchange, which 

 I rode on afterward till I left it on the shores of Yuca- 

 tan. He gave me, too, a line in pencil to a lady in 

 Leon, and I charged him with messages to my friends 

 at home. When he rode off I almost envied him ; he 

 was leaving behind him tumults and convulsions, and 

 was going to a quiet home, but I had still a long and 

 difficult journey before me. 



In about three hours, after a desperately hot ride, we 

 reached Managua, beautifully situated on the banks of 

 the lake. Entering through a collection of thatched 

 huts, we passed a large aristocratic house, with a court- 

 yard occupying a whole square, the mansion of an ex- 

 patriated family, decaying and going to ruin. 



Late in the afternoon I walked down to the lake. 

 It was not so grand as the Lake of Nicaragua, but it 

 was a noble sheet of water, and in full sight was the 

 Volcano of Momontanbo. The shore presented the 

 same animated spectacle of women filling their water- 

 jars, men bathing, horses and mules drinking, and in 

 one place was a range of fishermen's huts ; on the edge 

 , of the water stakes were set up in a triangular form, 

 and women with small hand-nets were catching fish, 

 which they threw into hollow places 'dug, or rather 



