fast of eggs and frijoles was prepared for us. The eggs, the beans, the bread, and a bottle of tolerable claret went down famously, with the seasoning of our mountain appetites; but I cannot say as much for the stew of mutton and fish fresh from the river. What with onions, and lard, and garlic, and chilé peppers, I never tasted such a mess. We unanimously resolved to leave it as a precious bonne bauche for some Spanish successors, to whose bowels such a compound may be more savory than to North Americans.
Having dispatched this collation, we again mounted the diligence. I had seen an officer in command of some cavalry at the door of our inn, and recollecting that the succeeding post is represented to be one of the most dangerous on the route, I told our Yankee driver that I thought he might as well take my order for the escort, and a bundle of cigars, and try their effect upon the military. Whether it was the order or the Principés I am unable to say, but four dragoons were immediately mounted for our service. If the odor of that offspring of the "Vuelta de Abajo" still floats in the memory of the Lieutenant, and a well-supplied traveller happens hereafter to pass the Puente Nacional while he is in command, let me suggest that a similar gift may be received as thankfully and effectively. When our driver cracked his whip, and the horses sprang off ftom the lassos of the grooms at full gallop, the "bold dragoon" stood with cap in hand, and I could catch a glimpse of a head bowing most gracefully in the midst of a cloud of fragrant smoke.
Our route westward to Plan del Rio was through a mountainous country of short and gradual ascents, in most of its characteristics resembling the one we had passed over during our morning ride. At length, a steep descent over a road as smooth as a bowling-green brought us to the village of Plan. The guard trotted after us leisurely; the day had become cloudy and the scenery dreary, and the fear of robbers among these solitary wildernesses again came over us. We felt, indeed, more anxiety than since our departure.
Mine host at Plan del Rio received us warmly, though his house was as cold and uninviting as the day. He speedily produced a smoking dinner of fowls and rice, to which I found myself able to do but little justice. But the dinner had been served—we had tasted it—a bottle of claret had been drunk, and though our appetites had been frugal, the nine of us were obliged to pay two dollars each for the service! The two fowls which made the stew, cost, at the most, a real each; the rice as much; the salad grew for the planting, and the claret stood our host about seventy-five cents the bottle: so, for what, with service and cooking and original cost, taxed our Padrone not more than three dollars at the extreme, he had the modest assurance to charge our coach-load eighteen! If this statement will induce any of our enterprising Yankee boys, who are whittling sticks for want of knowing how to turn an honest penny, to come out to Plan del Rio and set up an "Opposition Stage-House", I wish them joy of their under-taking. It absolutely requires, as I have shown, no capital worth men-
