attracted our attention almost immediately after leaving Pĕrōtĕ, and which, on a nearer approach, we found to be composed entirely of masses of lava, so black and gloomy, as to give to the whole the appearance of having very recently emerged from the bowels of the earth.
The house in which we were lodged at Tĕpĕyăgūālcŏ, contained one large Sala, which served us for bed-room, dining-room, and every other purpose; in this, however, the whole extent of the accommodations consisted, for no provisions of any kind were to be procured, and the servants having neglected to lay in a stock at Pĕrōtĕ, we were reduced to very short allowance. Fortunately, we had a couple of cases of preserved meat with us, which we converted into soup, and this, with a few crusts of bread which were discovered in one of the carriages, saved us from a course of Tortillas and Chile, upon which the servants were dieted, ad libitum, as a proper recompense for not having been better purveyors.
Few people like this dish at first, although it constitutes the food of two-thirds of the population of Mexico. There is an unpleasant taste in the maize, to which, as well as to the extreme pungency of the Chile, it requires some time to get reconciled. I never learnt to eat it with pleasure, though I have sometimes had recourse to it in the absence of more palatable food.
After a most detestable breakfast, we set off, at an early hour on the 26th, for Nŏpălūcă, (a town about
