NOTICES OP PERU. 



365 



our friends at the rancho. Mr. B then got up behind 



our third companion, after making the boy dismount. 



After riding about a mile, bewailing our ill accommodation, 



Mr. B asked Manuel for his pillion. "En que voy yo 



puez ?" — On what shall I go then ? asked Manuel in return. 

 Why, ride on the bare back, as I do !" 



como voy yo gustarmelo mejor que V™*^*? — How am I 

 going to like that better than you ? 

 <<But my pantaloons will be soiled." 

 Y tambien los mios — ^ y que me importa h mi si se ensu- 

 cien los pantalones de V"''^- o' no?" — And mine too — and what 

 is it to me whether your pantaloons are soiled or not ? — So 

 Manuel remained obstinate, and my friend was compelled to 

 ride on. 



Guacatambo was reached after a ride of a league through 

 bushes and stunted algarrobo trees. We found a single house, 

 built of adobes, standing in a barren spot, with two or three 

 common ranchos near. A number of dogs, some pointers, 

 hounds, and degenerate curs, came forward to meet us. The 

 "mayordomo," almost as immoveable as Manuel himself, 

 and three or four slaves, were sitting, or rather sprawling, be- 

 fore the door, in idleness. Amongst them was a sprightly 



mulatto, from whom we learned that Mr. C was <<en 



la sierra" — in the mountains — and that the horses were all 

 <^en el monte" (a common thickly overgrown with bushes 

 and small trees.) Disappointed in getting horses here, we ap- 

 pealed to Manuel, and endeavored to persuade him to accom- 

 pany us to Nepena, but in vain. Mr. B said he would 



keep the other horse, to which Manuel made no objection, 

 but replied, <^entonces me voy"^ — then I am going — and, 

 walking his horse up to where the other was standing, struck 

 it so smartly with the plaited end of his bridle, that Manuel 

 and both horses went off at full gallop, leaving us to get back 

 the best way we could. Though exercised at our expense, we 

 could not but laugh at the dexterity of Manuel, who shouted 

 from the edge of the woods, as he disappeared, " Adios ! Ca- 

 balleros, Adios !" 



It was near sunset, and we began to think seriously of eat- 



