THE PACIFIC AGAIN. 



395 



shrink as if touched with a hot iron. I was unwilling 

 to put the apparecho upon her back, and tried to hire a 

 mule from one of the muleteers, but could not, and, 

 putting the cargo upon the other mule, made Nicolas 

 walk, and the cargo-mule go loose. I left the appare- 

 cho in the boca of the mountain : a great piece of 

 profligacy, as Nicolas and the guide considered it. 



We wound for a short distance among the hills that 

 enclosed us, ascended a slight range, and came down 

 directly upon the shore of the sea. I always had a 

 high feeling when I touched the shore of the Pacific, 

 and never more so than at this desolate place. The 

 waves rolled grandly, and broke with a solemn roar. 

 The mules were startled, and my macho shrank from 

 the heaving water. I spurred him into it, and at a mo- 

 ment when I was putting in my pocket some shells 

 which Nicolas had picked up, he ran away. He had 

 attempted it several times before in the woods; and 

 now, having a fair chance, I gave him the full sweep 

 of the coast. We continued nearly an hour on the 

 shore, when we crossed a high, rough headland, and 

 again came down upon the sea. Four times we mount- 

 ed headlands and again descended to the shore, and the 

 heat became almost intolerable. The fifth ascent was 

 steep, but we came upon a table covered with a thick 

 forest, through which we proceeded until we came to a 

 small clearing with two huts. We stopped at the first, 

 which was occupied by a black man and his wife. He 

 had plenty of corn ; there was a fine pasture-ground 

 near, so hemmed in by the woods that there was no 

 danger of the mules escaping, and I hired the man and 

 woman to sleep out of doors, and give me the hovel to 

 myself. 



