walked in
my rear, stepped hastily up, and asked:

"What did yer say, Cap'n?"

"Oh! nothing, Sergeant," stammered I, in some confusion.

Notwithstanding my assurance, I overheard Lincoln whisper to his nearest
comrade:

"What ther old Harry hes got into the cap?"

He referred to the fact that I had unconsciously hooked myself half a
dozen times on the thorny claws of the pita-plant, and my overalls began
to exhibit a most tattered condition.

Our route lay through a dense chaparral--now crossing a sandy spur,
covered with mezquite and acacia; then sinking into the bed of some
silent creek, shaded with old cork-trees, whose gnarled and venerable
trunks were laced together by a thousand parasites. Two miles from the
rancho we reached the banks of a considerable stream, which we
conjectured was a branch of the Jamapa River.

On both sides a fringe of dark forest-trees flung out long branches
extending half-way across the stream. The water flowed darkly
underneath.

Huge lilies stood out from the banks--their broad, wax-like leaves
trailing upon the glassy ripple.

Here and there were pools fringed with drooping willows and belts of
green _tule_. Other aquatic plants rose from the water to the height of
twenty feet; among which we distinguished the beautiful "iris", with its
tall, spear-like stem, ending in a brown cylinder, like the pompon of a
grenadier's cap.

As we approached the banks the pelican, scared from his lonely haunt,
rose upon heavy wing, and with a shrill scream flapped away through the
dark aisles of the forest. The cayman plunged sullenly into the sedgy
water; and the "Sajou" monkey, suspended by his prehensile tail from
some overhanging bough, oscillated to and fro, and filled the air with
his hideous, half-human cries.

Halting for a moment to refill the canteens, we crossed over and
ascended the opposite bank. A hundred paces farther on the guide, who
had gone ahead, cried out from an eminence, "_Mira la caballada_!"
(Yonder's the drove!)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

ONE WAY OF TAMING A BULL.

Pushing through the jungle, we ascended the eminence. A brilliant
picture opened before us. The storm had suddenly lulled, and the
tropical sun shone down upon the flowery surface of the earth, bathing
its verdure in a flood of yellow light. It was several hours before
sunset, but the bright orb had commenced descending towards the snowy
cone of Orizava, and his rays had assumed that golde