soldier
was coming to seize and kill him; that the meat-pot in which he
was to be cooked was already on the fire, while the skulls of other
unfortunates that had been eaten were lying in a heap near one of the
tents. He alluded apparently to four skulls which I had taken out of
an ancient burial cave. In explanation I will say that some time ago
he had been arrested for some crime and had broken away from jail;
soldiers, or rather, the police, were after him, and he mistook
Mr. Hartman for one of his pursuers and ran for safety.

The incident proved somewhat unfortunate for us. In consequence
of the wild stories he told about us, the Indians, of a suspicious
nature anyway, sent messengers all over the sierra, warning the people
against the man-eaters that were coming. Our strange proceedings in
Cusarare, namely, the photographing, had already been reported and
made the Indians uneasy. The terrible experience of our runaway guide
seemed to confirm their wildest apprehensions, and the alarm spread
like wildfire, growing in terror, like an avalanche, the farther it
went. We found the ranches deserted on every hand, women and children
hiding and screaming whenever they caught a glimpse of us. At every
turn our progress was impeded. Wherever I came I was abhorred as
the man who subsisted on babies and green corn, and the prospect
of my ever gaining the confidence of the Indians was exceedingly
discouraging for the next four or five months.

Though it was impossible to secure a new guide, I still made a start
next day, following a fairly good track which leads south toward
Guachochic. Yet further obstacles presented themselves. The animals
began to give out. It was the season of the year when they change their
coats, and are in poor condition even under the best circumstances,
and mine were exhausted from lack of food. They would not eat the dry
grass, and the green pasture was still too scanty to suffice for their
maintenance. The information that the natives had burned all the grass
proved correct to its fullest extent, so there was nothing for me to
do but to establish a camp, scarcely a day's journey off, at Tasajisa,
where there was some pasture along the ridges that had as yet escaped
the fire of the Indians. Leaving the larger part of my outfit and
about half of my mules in charge of my chief packer, Mr. Taylor and
I continued the journey with the best and strongest of the animals,
making a circuitous tour to the li