258 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



consequence of some misunderstanding, no coche 

 was in readiness, and I set out on horseback. It 

 was my interval day, and at the moment the bare 

 absence of pain was a positively pleasant sensation. 

 In this humour, in the beginning of our ride, I lis- 

 tened with much interest to the cura's exposition of 

 different points and localities, but by degrees my at- 

 tention flagged, and finally my whole soul was fixed 

 on the sierra, which stood out before us at a dis- 

 tance of two leagues from San Jose. Twice be- 

 fore I had crossed that sierra, and had looked upon 

 it almost with delight, as relieving the monotony of 

 constant plains, but now it was a horrible prospect. 

 My pains increased as we advanced, and I dis- 

 mounted at the hacienda in a state impossible to be 

 described. The mayoral was away, the doors were 

 all locked, and I lay down on some bags in the cor- 

 ridor. Rest tranquillized me. There was but one 

 Indian to be found, and he told the cura that there 

 were none to make a coche. Those in the neigh- 

 bourhood were sick, and the others were at work 

 more than a league away. It was impossible to 

 continue on horseback, and, fortunately, the may- 

 oral came, who changed the whole face of things 

 and in a few minutes had men engaged in making 

 a coche. The cura went on before to prepare for 

 my reception. In an hour my coche was ready, 

 and at five o'clock I crawled in. My carriers were 

 loth to start, but, once under way, they took it in 

 good part, and set off on a trot Changing shoul- 



