128 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



rafters to reach the corn and beans, would strike 

 upon the calabash, and fall to the ground. 



Being provided for ourselves, v^^e next looked to 

 our horses. There was no difficulty about their 

 food, for a supply of corn had fallen into our hands, 

 and the grass on the savanna was the best pasture 

 we had seen in the country ; but we learned, to our 

 dismay, from the little boy, who was the only person 

 we saw, that there was no water. The place was 

 worse supplied than any we had yet visited. There 

 was neither well, cueva, nor aguada, and the inhabi- 

 tants depended entirely upon the rain-water collect- 

 ed in the hollows of the rocks. As to a supply for 

 four horses, it was utterly out of the question. Any 

 long stay at this place was, of course, impossible ; 

 but immediate wants were pressing. Our horses 

 had not touched water since morning, and, after a 

 long, hot, and toilsome journey, we could not think 

 of their going without all night. 



The little boy was hovering about the rancho in 

 charge of a naked sister some two years old, and 

 commissioned, as he told us himself, to watch that 

 we did not take anything from the hut. For a me- 

 dio he undertook to show me the place where they 

 procured water, and, mounting his little sister upon 

 his back, he led the way up a steep and stony hill. 

 I followed with the bridle of my horse in my hand, 

 and, without any httle girl on my back, found it dif- 

 ficult to keep up with him. On the top of the hill 

 were worn and naked rocks, with deep hollows in 



