SAN PEDRO. 271 



dians left us to return that night to Tumbala ! Our la- 

 bour was excessive ; what must it have been to them ! 

 though probably accustomed to carry loads from their 

 boyhood, they suffered less than we ; and the free- 

 dom of their naked limbs relieved them from the heat 

 and confinement which we suffered from clothes wet 

 with perspiration. It was the hottest day we had expe- 

 rienced in the country. We had a farther violent de- 

 scent through woods of almost impenetrable thickness, 

 and at a quarter before four reached San Pedro. Look- 

 ing back over the range we had just crossed, we saw 

 Tumbala, and the towering point on which we stood 

 the evening before, on a right line, only a few miles dis- 

 tant, but by the road twenty-seven. 



If a bad name could kill a place, San Pedro was 

 damned. From the hacienda of Padre Solis to Tum- 

 bala, every one we met cautioned us against the In- 

 dians of San Pedro. Fortunately, however, nearly the 

 whole village had gone to the fete at Tumbala. There 

 was no alcalde, no alguazils ; a few Indians were lying 

 about in a state of utter nudity, and when we looked 

 into the huts the women ran away, probably alarmed 

 at seeing men with pantaloons. The cabildo was occu- 

 pied by a travelling party, with cargoes of sugar for To- 

 basco. The leaders of the party and owners of the car- 

 goes were two Mestitzoes, having servants well armed, 

 with whom we formed an acquaintance and tacit alli- 

 ance. One of the best houses was empty ; the propri- 

 etor, with his family and household furniture, except 

 reed bedsteads fixed in the ground, had gone to the 

 fiesta. We took possession, and piled our luggage in- 

 side. 



Without giving us any notice, our men deserted us to 

 return to Tumbala, and we were left alone. We could 



