JOURNEY. 



363 



to cut the banks with a kind of straight hoe, in 

 order to make room for the animal to pass, 

 although the baggage was laid as much on the 

 back as possible. I cannot at all divine why 

 my friend Losano advised me to use mules in 

 crossing the mountain, except that, from a 

 remnant of the old Spanish inertitude, he never 

 took the trouble of informing himself of the 

 best means of travelling here, although it must 

 have been a subject of constant conversation 

 with many people whom he was in the daily 

 habit of meeting. 



About one o'clock we were joined by Senor 

 Ortegas, his peons having arrived soon after 

 we had left him. At this time the road be- 

 came so bad, that 1 was forced to dismount 

 and proceed on foot ; the herbage and vege- 

 tation had here grown so luxuriantly, as in 

 many places to cover the banks above, like a 

 canopy over our heads, rendering it nearly 

 dark. 



We arrived at two o'clock at a hut called 

 La Tapia, where the wood is a little cleared 

 away ; from this point there is an extensive 

 view of mountains, covered with verdure to 

 the summit; but mountain scenery does not 



