CHAPTER III.
A CANONIGO—HOW TO ROAST A FOWL—EXTEMPORE SHOEMAKING—MOTAGUA RIVER—BEAUTIFUL SCENE—CROSSING THE RIVER—THE LUXURY OF WATER—PRIMITIVE COSTUMES—HOW TO MAKE TORTILLAS—COSTLY TIMBER—GUALAN—OPPRESIVE HEAT—SHOCK OF AN EARTH-QUAKE—A STROLL THROUGH THE TOWN—A TROUBLESOME MULETEER—A LAWSUIT—IMPORTANT NEGOTIATIONS—A MODERN BONA DEA—HOW TO GAIN A HUSBAND—A KINGDOM OF FLORA—ZACAPA—MAKING FREE WITH A HOST.
Before daylight I was out of doors. Twenty or thirty men, muleteers and servants, were asleep on the ground, each lying on his back, with his black chamarro wound round him, covering his head and feet. As the day broke they arose. Very soon the Frenchman got up, took chocolate, and, after an hour's preparation, started. The canonigo set off next. He had crossed the mountain twenty years before, on his first arrival in the country, and still retained a full recollection of its horrors. He set off on the back of an Indian, in a silla, or chair with a high back and top to protect him from the sun. Three other Indians followed as relay carriers, and a noble mule for his relief if he should become tired of the chair. The Indian was bent almost double, but the canonigo was in high spirits, smoking his cigar, and waving his hand till he was out of sight. The Pavons started last, and we were left alone.
Still none of our men came. At about eight o'clock two made their appearance; they had slept at a rancho near by, and the others had gone on with the luggage. We were excessively provoked; but, enduring as we might the discomfort of our clothes stiff with mud, saddled and set off.
We saw no more of our caravan of mules, and our muleteer of the barometer had disappeared without notice, and left us in the hands of two understrappers.
Our road lay over a mountainous country, but generally clear of wood; and in about two hours we reached a collection of ranchos, called El Pozo. One of our men rode up to a hut and dismounted, as if he were at home. The woman of the house chided him for not having come the night before, which he gruffly ascribed to us; and it was evident that we stood a chance of losing him too. But we had a subject of more immediate interest in the want of a breakfast. Our tea and coffee, all that we had left after the destruction of our stores by
