half sarcastic.. Dropping his blanket, he walked deliberately up
to the pole, flanked by two soldiers, each of whom took hold of his
hands, and by putting them crosswise on the further side of the pole,
made the culprit hug the pole very tightly. Now another man, wrapped
closely in his blanket, stepped briskly up, drew as quick as a flash
a leather whip from under his garment, and dealt four lashes over
the shoulders of the prisoner, who was then released, and stolidly
walked back to his seat, as if nothing had happened.

Now came the woman's turn to be punished for her part in the
thefts. They took off her blanket, but left on a little white
undergarment. She was marched to the pole and held in the same manner
as the man; but another man acted as executioner. She, too, received
four lashes, and wept a little when they struck her; but neither she
nor her fellow-sufferer made any attempt at, or sign of, revolt against
the sentence of the court. While the chastising went on, the audience
rose and stood reverently. After returning to her seat, the woman
knelt down, and both delinquents shook hands with the chief judge.

There still remained the second part of the accusation to be dealt
with, the one relating to the marital complications. The man asked
permission to leave his first wife, as he wanted to marry the woman
with whom he ran away. But no divorce was granted to him. He was
ordered to return to his legitimate spouse, who was present at the
proceedings with her child in her arms. Evidently disappointed, he
slowly stepped over to where she was standing and greeting him with
a happy smile.

But the woman with whom he had been living had now to be provided
with another husband. Who would take her? The judge addressed the
question to a young man, a mere boy, standing near by, and he replied
that he would marry her, if she were willing. She said yes, so he sat
down beside her. Their hands were placed together, the gobernador
said a few admonishing words to them, and they rose, man and wife,
duly married. How was this for rapid transit to matrimonial bliss?

The next day the guide took us up along some higher ridges, and
after ten or twelve miles of slow ascent, we arrived at the summit of
Barranca de Cobre, where we made a comfortable camp about half a mile
back of the point at which the track descends into the canon. Here
we had an inspiring view; deep gorges and ravines, the result of
prolonged weathering and erosi