242 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



Free from all apprehensions, we were now in the full 

 enjoyment of the wild country and wild mode of trav- 

 elling. But our poor Indians, perhaps, did not enjoy it 

 so much. The usual load was from three to four arro- 

 bas, seventy-five to one hundred pounds ; ours were 

 not more than fifty ; but the sweat rolled in streams 

 down their naked bodies, and every limb trembled. 

 After a short rest they started again. The day was 

 hot and sultry, the ground dry, parched, and stony. 

 We had two sharp descents, and reached the River 

 Dolores. On both sides were large trees, furnishing a 

 beautiful shade, which, after our scorching ride, we 

 found delightful. The river was about three hundred 

 feet broad. In the rainy season it is impassable, but in 

 the dry season not more than three or four feet deep, 

 very clear, and the colour a grayish green, probably 

 from the reflection of the trees. We had had no water 

 since we left the suspension bridge, and both our mules 

 and we were intemperate. 



We remained here half an hour ; and now apprehen- 

 sions, which had been operating more or less all the 

 time, made us feel very uncomfortable. We were ap- 

 proaching, and very near, the frontier of Mexico. This 

 road was so little travelled, that, as we were advised, 

 there was no regular guard ; but piquets of soldiers were 

 scouring the whole line of frontier to prevent smug- 

 gling, who might consider us contraband. Our pass- 

 ports were good for going out of Central America ; but 

 to go into Mexico, the passport of the Mexican authori- 

 ties at Ciudad Real, four days' journey, was necessary. 

 Turning back was not in our vocabulary ; perhaps we 

 should be obliged to wait in the wilderness till we could 

 send for one. 



In half an hour we reached the Rio Lagertero, the 



