by fresh ones, the general ordered the passengers, some of whom
were ladies, to remain in the hotel, while he put ten of his most daring
Zouaves inside the coach to fill their places. These men were specially
instructed, and half of them were disguised as women, the others having
their uniforms covered from sight. The driver was sworn to secrecy under
a threat of being shot if he disobeyed orders, and was directed to go on
his way as usual. By-and-by, when the coach had arrived at a certain
point, the driver suddenly drew up his horses, for he saw a row of
muskets in the hands of a dozen men ranged across the road, pointing at
him, and heard the usual order to stop. A moment later the leader of
these men came to the door of the coach, where he saw, apparently, a
lady, and in a peremptory voice ordered the passengers to get out upon
the roadway. The door being thrown open, the pseudo woman who sat next
to it was aided to descend to the ground by the leader of the brigands
on one side and his lieutenant on the other. At the instant this
individual alighted, two simultaneous pistol-shots were heard. The
passenger standing between the two robbers had pressed the triggers of
two pistols, held one in his right and one in left hand, quite
unobserved. The leading brigand together with his lieutenant fell dead
upon the road. In the mean time the opposite door of the coach had been
quickly opened, whence the other nine Zouaves, trained athletes, sprang
like cats to the ground, each one selecting his foe among the robbers,
who, on their part, were taken so completely by surprise that they fired
their muskets at random, while the Zouaves with their keen sword
bayonets literally chopped them to pieces. There were fourteen of these
gentlemen of the road, only one of whom escaped alive, and he was so
severely wounded that he bled to death in a native hut among the hills.
There was no more brigandage, as the reader may well imagine, in the
vicinity where the French troops were stationed.

A small and rather peculiar party of Indians was observed here, some
special occasion having lured them from their agricultural hamlet. They
were not attached to any hacienda, but lived in a primitive manner,
illustrating a communistic idea, a practice, it appears, which is not
uncommon among this class in some parts of the country. Their cabins
are of adobe. Indeed, wooden buildings are almost unknown, wood being
seldom used, even in the cities, for