378 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



Don Manuel de Aguila was expelled because Carillo 

 wanted to be chief. 



We continued in the woods till about two o'clock, 

 when, turning off by a path to the right, we reached a 

 clearing, on one side of which was the hacienda of 

 Aranjuez. The entrance to the house was by a ladder 

 from the outside, and underneath was a sort of store- 

 house. It was occupied by a major-domo, a Mestitzo, 

 and his wife. Near it was the cucinera, where the wife 

 and another woman were at work. The major-domo 

 was sitting on the ground doing nothing, and two able- 

 bodied men were helping him. 



The major-domo told us that he had a good potrero 

 for the mules, and the house promised a good resting- 

 place for me. Outside, and extending all around, was 

 a rough board piazza, one side of which commanded a 

 view of the ocean. I seated myself on this side, and 

 very soon Nicolas brought me my dinner. It consisted 

 of tortillas, rice cooked with lard, which he brought in 

 a shell, and salt in his hands. I finished with a cup of 

 chocolate, and could not but think of the blessings 

 wasted by this major-domo. In the same situation, 

 one of our backwoodsmen, with his axe, his wife, and 

 two pairs of twins, would in a few years surround him- 

 self with all the luxuries that good land can give. 



After dinner I led the mules to a stream, on the banks 

 of which were tufts of young grass, and while I was 

 sitting here two wild turkeys flew over my head and 

 lighted on a tree near by. I sent Nicolas for my gun, 

 and soon had a bird large enough for a household din- 

 ner, which I sent immediately to the house to be con- 

 verted into provender. At sundown I returned, and 

 then discovered a deficiency in my preparations which 

 I felt during the whole journey, viz., of candles. A 



