t. Our pack-animals bade fair to
destroy the maize and other plantings in the field. In the trail were
oxen, which had to be gotten out of our way for fear of being driven to
frenzy by our mere passing. They assured us that we were on the road to
Tepanapa, so we completed the descent to the brooklet and started up a
trail which at any time would have been steep, stony, slippery, all at
once. We were compelled, finally, to dismount and lead our animals;
Frank, before he did so, tumbled his horse three times down the bank. At
one place two of the horses fell together in a struggling mass, and for
a moment things looked serious. All the animals but my own fell, at
least once, before we reached the summit. From there, it was an easy
ride over a level district until we were in sight of Tepanapa, which, by
sunlight, presented a most attractive appearance. The houses are spread
over a gentle slope, to the very edge of a little _barranca_. Each had
a little enclosure, with a group of banana plants. Butterflies of
brilliant hues lazily flew about, and a few birds uttered their
characteristic cries. We could not, however, delay. Before us lay a
tremendous ascent; the first part, which we had passed after dusk, we
found rougher than we realized; rock masses here were covered with a
thick cushion of brilliant crimson moss, a kind of sphagnum. The gully
trail had not been improved by the recent rains, and it taxed our
animals severely to reach the summit. Arrived in the district of the
trees loaded with beards of golden-yellow moss, we caught a magnificent
view back over the valley. With one sweep of the eyes, we could almost
follow our whole round of wandering. The ridges on which lay San Juan
Zautla and San Pedro Soochiapan both were in sight, as were the valleys
in which Santa Maria and Tepanapa lay. But the only actual feature which
we could see and recognize was the little coffee _finca_ this side of
Zautla. The combination of green mountains, blue ridges and bare rock
cliffs was grand. Here our road forked, and at this point we had a
moment's excitement. We met an old indian man with a baby tied upon his
back, and his old wife, carrying a burden, followed after. Before them a
black bull was calmly walking. The moment the old man saw us, he waved
his arms and cried out, in great excitement, "_Toro, muy bravo_!" (Bull,
very fierce!) and hastened forward to catch the lasso wound round the
horns of the beast to lead him out of our w