A. RUSTIC BRIDGE. 



225 



of hiring for the night the bedsteads of the principal in- 

 habitants, but there was not one in the village ; all 

 slept on the bosom of mother earth, and we had part 

 of the family bed. Fortunately, however, and most im- 

 portant for us, our mules fared well. 



Early in the morning we resumed our journey. 

 There are warm springs in this neighbourhood, but we 

 did not go out of our way to visit them. A short dis- 

 tance from the village we crossed a river and commen- 

 ced ascending a mountain. On the top we came upon 

 a narrow table of land, with a magnificent forest on 

 both sides far below us. The wind swept over the lofty 

 height, so that with our ponchas, which were necessary 

 on account of the cold, it was difficult to keep the sad- 

 dle. The road was broken and stony, and the track 

 scarcely perceptible. At about ten o'clock the whole 

 surface of the mountain was a bare ridge of limestone, 

 from which the sun was reflected with scorching heat, 

 and the whiteness was dazzling and painful to the eyes. 

 Below us, on each side, continued an immense forest 

 of gigantic pines. The road was perfectly desolate ; 

 we met no travellers. In four hours we saw on our 

 left, at a great distance below, a single hacienda, with 

 a clearing around it, seemingly selected for a magnifi- 

 cent seclusion from the convulsions of a distracted 

 country. The ridge was broken by gullies and deep 

 ravines ; and we came to one across which, by way of 

 bridge, lay the trunks of two gigantic pines. My macho 

 always pulled back when I attempted to lead him, and 

 I remained on his back, and was carried steadily over ; 

 but at the other end we started at a noise behind us. 

 Our best cargo-mule had fallen, rolled over, and hung 

 on the brink of the precipice, with her feet kicking in 

 the air, kept from falling to the bottom only by being 



Vol. II.— F f 



