ATA RIO FLORIDO 
church, which is in good condition, and is hung with 
pretty good pictures of a large size. An advantage 
in these pictures was, that the name of the subject was 
painted beneath each of them, a piece of information 
that would have been acceptable in the case of many 
others we had seen. 
By the advice of our friend, we here left the direct 
road, which he informed us was rough and hilly, with 
some bad arroyos to cross, where wagons were often 
disabled, and took that to Cuencamé, about twenty 
miles distant, which we reached early in the afternoon. 
Cuencamé, or Quincamé, was once a place of some 
importance, judging from its many well-built houses 
and churches. It has three of the latter, one of which, 
on the plaza, is quite an imposing edifice. The houses 
on the plaza are large, and plastered outside. The 
shops, of which there are many, are well filled with 
goods, and have a show of business. 
As the escort furnished us at Cerro Gordo left us 
at La Noria, I called on the Prefect of Cuencamé with 
the letter of General Trias, and requested him to fur- 
nish me another to El Alamo de Parras, or the first 
military post in the State of Coahuila. He received 
me politely, and expressed a willingness to further my 
views as far as lay in his power. There were no sol- 
diers in the place; but he agreed to procure for us 
seven reliable men, if I would allow them the usual pay 
of privates, and something extra for the corporal; an 
offer which I readily accepted. He could not furnish 
them animals to ride, as there were but few in the 
place. 
Between here and Parras is the most dangerous 
