138 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



city, all to meet again at Bolonchen in the even- 

 ing. 



Doctor Cabot and myself v^ere warned that the 

 path we proposed taking was not passable on horse- 

 back. For the first league our arms and legs were 

 continually scratched and torn by briers, and only 

 our hats saved us from the fate of Absalom. In that 

 hot climate, it was always uncomfortable to tie 

 the sombrero under the chin ; and there were few 

 things more annoying than to have it knocked off 

 every five minutes, and be obliged to dismount and 

 pick it up. Our Indian guide moved easily on foot, 

 just clearing the branches on each side and over- 

 head. We had one alternative, which was to dis- 

 mount and lead our horses ; but, unused to having 

 favours shown them, they pulled back, so that the 

 labour of dragging them on added greatly to the fa- 

 tigue of walking. 



Emerging from this tangled path, we came out 

 upon a large hacienda, and stopped before an im- 

 posing gateway, under the shade of great seybo 

 trees, within which were large and well-filled water- 

 tanks. Our horses had drunk nothing since the af- 

 ternoon before ; we therefore dismounted, loosened 

 the saddle girths, and, as a matter of form, sent Al- 

 bino to ask permission to water them, who returned 

 with the answer that we might for a real. At 

 Chunhuhu it always cost us more than this in the la- 

 bour of Indians ; but the demand seemed so churUsh 

 at the gate of this large hacienda, that we refused to 



