370 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



hours we had a tempest of wind and rain, with terrific 

 thunder and lightning. One blast burst open the door 

 and scattered the fire, so that it came very near burn- 

 ing down the convent. Between the smoke and mos- 

 chetoes, it was a matter of debate which of the two 

 to choose, suffocation or torture. We preferred the 

 former, and had the latter besides, and passed a miser- 

 able night. 



The next morning the justitia came to say that the 

 bogadores were not ready and could not go that day. 

 The price which he named was about twice as much as 

 the cura told us we ought to pay, besides possol (balls of 

 mashed Indian corn), tortillas, honey, and meat. I re- 

 monstrated, and he went off to consult the mozos, but 

 returned to say that they would not take less, and, after 

 treating him with but little of the respect due to office, 

 I was obliged to accede ; but I ought to add, that 

 throughout that country, in general, prices are fixed, 

 and there is less advantage taken of the necessity of 

 travellers than in most others. We were loth to re- 

 main, for, besides the loss of time and the moschetoes, 

 the scarcity of provisions was greater than at Palenque. 



The sexton bought us some corn, and his wife made 

 us tortillas. The principal merchant in the place, or, 

 at least, the one who traded most largely with us, was 

 a little boy about twelve years old, who was dressed in 

 a petate or straw hat. He had brought us some fruit, 

 and we saw him coming again with a string over his 

 naked shoulder, dragging on the ground what proved 

 to be a large fish. The principal food of the place 

 was young alligators. They were about a foot and a. 

 half long, and at that youthful time of life were con- 

 sidered very tender. At their first appearance on the 

 table they had not an inviting aspect, but ce n'est que le 



