A CRISIS IN MONEY MATTERS. 79 



time calculated for his overtaking us had passed, 

 and he did not come. We should have thought 

 nothing of a little delay but for our pressing neces- 

 sities. Some accident might have happened to him, 

 or the temptation might have been too strong. Our 

 affairs were approaching a crisis, and the barbarism 

 of the people of the country in matters of finance 

 was hurrying it on. If we wanted a fowl, food for 

 horses, or an Indian to work, the money must be 

 ready at the moment. Throughout our journey it 

 was the same ; every order for the purchase of an ar- 

 ticle was null unless the money accompanied it. 

 Brought up under the wings of credit, this system 

 was always odious to us. We could attempt no- 

 thing on a liberal and enlightened scale, were always 

 obliged to calculate our means, and could incur no 

 expense unless we had the money to defray it on 

 the spot. This, of course, trammelled enterprise, 

 and now, on a mere miscalculation, we were brought 

 suddenly to a stand still. On counting the scatter- 

 ing medios of private stock, we found that we had 

 enough to pay for transporting our luggage to the 

 village of Xul, but if we tarried over the night and 

 Albino did not come, both ourselves and our horses 

 must go without rations in the morning, and then 

 we should have no means of getting away our lug- 

 gage. Which of the two to choose] Whether it 

 was better to meet our fate at the rancho, or go on 

 to the village and trust to fortune 1 



In this deUcate posture of affairs, we sat down to 



