A YOUNG NATURALIST. 



325 



graphical information; he had heard the names of Orizava 

 and Tehuacan, but never having visited these towns, he 

 knew nothing of the distance we were from them. For 

 forty years, with the exception of the relations of his sons 

 and daughters-in-law, who paid him a visit annually, we 

 were the first persons who had disturbed his solitude. 

 We availed ourselves of the trunk of a tree to cross the 

 brook, when our guide soon stopped in front of a hut. 

 Four naked children, the eldest of whom might have been 

 ten years old, inspected us with comical curiosity. They 

 had never before seen a white man, and although we were 

 dreadfully bronzed, their surprise was very great. A young 

 woman, whose clothing consisted of a piece of cloth folded 

 round her hips, saluted us in broken Spanish, and bid us 

 welcome. The old man introduced us to his eldest son, 

 named Torribio, a man about forty years of age. His 

 clothing was not quite so primitive as that of his father, 

 but consisted of slashed trowsers ornamented with silver 

 buttons, a cotton shirt, and a felt hat covered with varnish- 

 ed leather. The little colony employed themselves in col- 

 lecting cochineal, which Torribio carried to Puebla for sale, 

 and this fact accounted for his more civilized costume. At 

 length the old man asked us to come into his hut, round 

 which a large part of his family were assembling. He call- 

 ed his wife, who was a little old woman, dressed in a long 

 cotton gown ; then he addressed us, pointing to his chil- 

 dren and grandchildren, and said : 



" You are my guests ; my house is at your disposal, and 

 all my relatives are your servants." 



