hich no household can go on
well. The mayoral had given us no hope of being able to procure one;
but in the midst of our anxieties, and while we were preparing
breakfast for ourselves, we perceived him coming across the terrace,
followed by a train of Indians, and closing the procession was a woman,
at that time really a welcome visiter. The mayoral said that the
evening before, on his return to the hacienda, he had gone round to all
the huts, and proposed to woman after woman, promising liberal pay and
good treatment, but they all refused until he came to this one, and
with her he had been obliged to stipulate that she should not remain at
the ruins in the night, but should return home every evening. This was
a great drawback, as we wanted to breakfast early, but we had no
choice, and were glad to get her upon her own terms.

She was taller than most of the Indian women, and her complexion was
somewhat darker. Her dress fitted more closely to her body, and she had
more of it. Her character was unimpeached, her bearing would have kept
presumption at a distance, and, as an additional safeguard, she had
with her a little grandson, named Jose, whose complexion indicated that
the descending line of her house had no antipathies to the white race.
Her age might be a little over fifty, and her name was Chaipa Chi.

The preliminaries being settled, we immediately installed her as _chef
de cuisine_, without assistants, and sent off the mayoral to direct the
Indians in some clearings which we wished made immediately. The first
essay of Chaipa Chi was in boiling eggs, which, according to the custom
of the country, she boiled para beber, or to drink; that is, by
breaking a small hole in the shell, into which a stick is inserted to
mix together the white and yolk; the egg is to be disposed of through
this hole in the primitive way which nature indicates to the new-born
babe. This did not suit us, and we wished the process of cooking to be
continued a little longer, but Chaipa Chi was impenetrable to hints or
signs. We were obliged to stand over her, and, but for the name of the
thing, we might as well have cooked them ourselves. This over, we gave
up, and left our dinner to the mercies of our chef.

Before we were in a condition to begin an examination and exploration
of the ruins, we had a serious business before us in making the
necessary clearings. These were not required for picturesque effect;
indeed, overgrown as the ruins w