350 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



carried up to Merida, Don Juan would betray him, 

 and in the morning the latter was found dead. It 

 was more than whispered that he died by the hand 

 of Molas. It is proper to add, what we heard after- 

 ward, that these stories were false, and that Molas 

 was the victim of a malicious and iniquitous perse- 

 cution. I should add, too, that the character of this 

 place has improved. Broken np as a pirates' haunt, 

 it became the abode of smugglers, whose business 

 being now comparatively unprofitable, they combine 

 with it the embarking of sugar and other products 

 of ranchos along the coast. 



We found one great deficiency at this place : there 

 was no ramon for the horses. At night we turned 

 » them loose in the village ; but the barren plain fur- 

 nished them no grazing, and they returned to the 

 house. Early in the morning we despatched Dimas 

 to a ramon tree two leagues distant, that being the 

 nearest point at which any could be procured ; and 

 in the mean time I set about searching for a canoa, 

 and succeeded in engaging one, but not of the best 

 class, and the patron and sailors could not be ready 

 in less than two or three days. 



This over, we had nothing farther to do in Yala- 

 hao. I rambled for a little while in the Castillo, a 

 low fortress, with twelve embrazures, built for the 

 suppression of piracy, but the garrison of which, 

 from all accounts, connected themselves somewhat 

 closely with the pirates. It was now garrisoned by 

 a little Meztizo tailor, who had run away from Sis- 



