112 



THREE YEARS IN THE PACIFIC. 



From rough, the road now became smooth; the south wind 

 swept fresh and cool across it. Pepe untied the poncho from 

 his middle, and thrusting his head through its centre, concealed 

 the upper part of his figure in its drapery. Manuel cast off the 

 trace from his saddle girth, and went away with the capataz. 

 Pepe put spurs, lashed his heavy whip right and left, and made 

 a cheering noise to the animals. They pricked up their ears; 

 the one in the shafts set off in a rapid trot, while that on which 

 the postillion rode advanced in a beautiful canter. Pepe sat 

 like a part of the animal upon which he was, his poncho flap- 

 ping, and the ends of the handkerchief round his head fluttering 

 on the breeze. Quick motion is the most pleasant stimulant in 

 the world, whether on shore or afloat. Pepe commenced a 

 song in the nasal yet melancholy tone of the country, accom- 

 panied by the jingle of his huge spurs and the rattling of the 

 wheels over the hard dry ground. My companion, as well as 

 myself, during the slow ascent of the hill, had sunk back, each 

 into his corner ; he enjoyed a sort of revery, enveloped in the 

 smoke of a cigar which stole quietly upwards in a little blue 

 stream from the corner of his mouth, while I watched the 

 horses' heads as they alternately nodded up and down ; for I 

 found nothing to look at but the ascent before us. We now 

 both roused up, and looked back at the bay and the ocean, and 

 then forward. The country, as far as the eye could reach, was 

 uncultivated, barren, and irregular. We saw now and then a 

 solitary palm tree waving its beautiful green head on the 

 breeze. Our horses, mules, and capatdz had disappeared in 

 some of the gullies or by-roads. 



This palm is very valuable, supplying a substitute for honey 

 in a country where there are no bees. It grows from forty to 

 fifty feet high ; the limbs all spring upwards from the top, and 

 falling over, form a graceful round head. The fruit is in every 

 respect like the cocoa-nut, except that it is not larger than a 

 walnut. At particular seasons the trunk is bored, and the 

 sap, by evaporation, forms a honey, which, distilled, yields an 

 intoxicating liquor, called "guarap6,'' much prized by the 

 lower classes. The annual produce of a single tree is estimated 

 to be worth ten dollars. 



