162 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



tresses, for one of our greatest wants was a wom- 

 an to cook, make tortillas, and perform those nu- 

 merous domestic offices without which no house- 

 hold can go on well. The mayoral had given us no 

 hope of being able to procure one ; but in the midst 

 of our anxieties, and while we were preparing break- 

 fast for ourselves, we perceived him coming across 

 the terrace, followed by a train of Indians, and clos- 

 ing the procession was a woman, at that time real- 

 ly a welcome visiter. The mayoral said that the 

 evening before, on his return to the hacienda, he had 

 gone round to all the huts, and proposed to woman 

 after woman, promising liberal pay and good treat- 

 ment, but they all refused until he came to this one, 

 and with her he had been obliged to stipulate that 

 she should not remain at the ruins in the night, but 

 should return home every evening. This was a 

 great drawback, as we wanted to breakfast early, but 

 we had no choice, and were glad to get her upon her 

 own terms. 



She was taller than most of the Indian women, 

 and her complexion was somewhat darker. Her 

 dress fitted more closely to her body, and she had 

 more of it. Her character was unimpeached, her 

 bearing would have kept presumption at a distance, 

 and, as an additional safeguard, she had with her a 

 little grandson, named Jose, whose complexion indi- 

 cated that the descending line of her house had no 

 antipathies to the white race. Her age might be a 

 little over fifty, and her name was Chaipa Chi. 



