44 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



Struck. Long before this he had broken silence to ut- 

 ter an exclamation which seemed to come from the 

 bottom of his heart, that, if he had known of this 

 mountain," I might have come to Central America 

 alone ; if I had had any tendency to be a little uplifted 

 by the honours I received at Balize, I was brought 

 down by this high way to my capital. Shortly after 

 Augustin's mule fell backward ; he kicked his feet out 

 of the stirrups, and attempted to slide off behind ; but 

 the mule rolled, and caught him with his left leg under, 

 and, but for his kicking, I should have thought that 

 every bone in his body was broken. The mule kick- 

 ed worse than he ; but they rose together, and with- 

 out any damage except that the mud, which before lay 

 upon them in spots, was now formed into a regular 

 plaster. 



We were toiling on toward the top of the mountain, 

 when, at a sudden turn, we met a solitary traveller. 

 He was a tall, dark-complexioned man, with a broad- 

 brimmed Panama hat, rolled up at the sides ; a striped 

 woollen Guatimala jacket, with fringe at the bottom ; 

 plaid pantaloons, leather spatterdashes, spurs, and 

 sword ; he was mounted on a noble mule with a 

 high-peaked saddle, and the butts of a pair of horse- 

 man's pistols peeped out of the holsters. His face 

 was covered with sweat and mud ; his breast and 

 legs were spattered, and his right side was a complete 

 incrustation ; altogether, his appearance was fearful. 

 It seemed strange to meet any one on such a road; 

 and, to our surprise, he accosted us in English. He 

 had set out with muleteers and Indians, but had lost 

 them in some of the windings of the woods, and was 

 seeking his way alone. He had crossed the mount- 

 ain twice before, but had never known it so bad; he 



