Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/332

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316
MEXICO IN 1827.

journey from the coast. Four greyhounds and another terrier died mad upon the sands, within a league of Veracruz; but this little creature being younger, suffered less from the sun; and, from the moment that we reached the Table-land, formed, at once, an attachment to the mules, which continued unchanged during the whole of my stay. In defiance of heat and dust, the dog always accompanied the leading mule; at night he slept amongst the packsaddles, where his vigilance was of great use; and except to be fed, nothing ever induced him to enter a house. He still, I believe, continues the same career, as I thought it a pity, on my departure, to separate him from his friends, with whom he has since been to Catorce and Tĕpāntĭtlān.

I shall finish this general outline of travelling in Mexico, by saying that in the hot months of May, July, and August, in the course of which, from the extreme dryness of the season in 1826, I was enabled to visit Tlălpŭjāhuă, Tĕmăscāltĕpēc, Real del Monte and Zĭmăpān, we used to set off long before day-break in the morning; so that we usually got our day's journey over by twelve or one o'clock. In Mexico, you never stop upon the road to bait, but perform the whole distance, whatever it may be, without a halt. It is better for the horses and mules, as they have a longer time together for rest and food, which, in so hot a climate, they do not enjoy without water, and this cannot be given them, in any quantity, until the day's work is done. Nor