ME RID A. 



15 



gun protrude on one side, and a bird fall. He had 

 seen at Sisal, egretes, pelicans, and ducks which 

 were rare in collections at home, and an oscillated 

 wild turkey, which alone he thought worth the voy- 

 age to that place ; and now, our attention being par- 

 ticularly directed to the subject, in some places the 

 shrubs and bushes seemed briUiant with the plumage 

 and vocal with the notes of birds. On the road he 

 saw four different species which are entirely un- 

 known in the United States, and six others which 

 are found only in Louisiana and Florida, of most of 

 which he procured specimens. 



We stopped at Huncuma during the heat of the 

 day ; at dark reached Merida, and once more rode 

 up to the house of Dona Micaela. Coming di- 

 rectly from home, we were not so much excited as 

 when we reached it after a toilsome and comfortless 

 journey in Central America ; but even now it would 

 ill become me to depreciate it, for the donna had 

 read the account of my former visit to Merida, and 

 she said, with an emphasis that covered all the rest, 

 that the dates of arrival and departure as therein 

 mentioned corresponded exactly with the entries in 

 her book. 



We had arrived at Merida at an opportune mo- 

 ment. As on the occasion of our first visit, it was 

 again a season of fiesta. The fete of San Cristoval, 

 an observance of nine days, was then drawing to 

 its close, and that evening a grand function was to 

 be performed in the church dedicated to that saint. 



