order efficacious.
We had a long talk with the _jefe_, who told us that few indians lived
in the town, and that none of them were Totonacs; he assured us that,
though there were no Totonacs in Huachinango, we could find them in
abundance at Pahuatlan, to which he recommended us to go. The nearest
indian town to Huachinango is Chiconcuauhtla, but it is Aztec. The next
day was spent in town, waiting for our other baggage, and for the _jefe_
to arrange our orders and lay out our journey. My day of fever was on,
and I spent it mostly in bed. There were many indians in the market,
most of whom were Aztecs, though a few were Otomis. The men wore dark
brown or black _cotones_; the _enaguas_ of the women were wool and were
dark blue or black. Many carried on their shoulders carry-pouches,
consisting of two rectangular frames of sticks, corded together along
the lower side, and kept from opening too widely, above, by a net of
cords at the ends. The indians of Chiconcuauhtla are easily recognized
by their little flat, round caps. Late in the afternoon the bands of
maskers, here called the _huehuetes_, were out. There were a dozen of
them, dressed in absurd costumes; a bewhiskered Englishman in loud
clothing, a gentleman, a clown, a lady, etc. These all went, by twos,
on horseback; a clown and a devil and a boy with a prod, on foot,
accompanied them. The duty of the latter, who remotely resembled death,
was to prod the unhappy devil. They were accompanied by noisy crowds the
several times they made the rounds of the town, keeping up the peculiar
trilling, which we had noticed at Tulancingo. At dusk, these maskers
dismounted and promenaded in couples about the _plaza_.

Nowhere, as in this region, have we had so much difficulty with regard
to animals. The demands were so exorbitant that we insisted upon the
_jefe_ making the arrangements. He received us in anything but a
pleasant mood, but acceded, and finally we secured four horses and four
mules, for which we were to pay for two full days, and a foot _mozo_ to
whom we also were to pay two full days' wages. As the _jefe_ himself
had made this arrangement, we consented to it, but the man who was
outfitting us then demanded pay for the _mozo_ who went to bring back
the horses and for the fodder of the animals. At this, even the _jefe_
balked, declaring that he was not in favor of really robbing the
gentlemen. Paying him the seventeen dollars and twenty-five cents, in
order that the