te reminded us of podophyllum, though it leaves a prickly sensation
in the mouth, much like that produced by fresh pineapples. There were
also many trees bearing little limes or lemons, of which we gathered
abundance for making lemonade. At two o'clock our man pointed out a
ranch-house near the road, in front of which two men sat eating, and
told us we could procure food and drink there if we wished, and that we
had plenty of time for stopping. We found the men at the table to be the
parish priest of Tantima and his servant. The priest informed us that
Tamalin was three and three-fourths leagues away, while Tantima was
four. The road for the greater part of the distance to the two places
was the same. We had an interesting conversation with the good priest,
and for the first time we met the curious prejudice, which exists
throughout this portion of the Huaxteca, against the Huaxtecs, and in
favor of the Aztecs. We were kept waiting some little time for our
dinner, but by three o'clock were again upon our way. Just as we
started, we crossed the first true stream which we had met, but during
the balance of the journey we crossed one or two others. Soon, leaving
the main road, we bore off to the left, and found several bad spots of
stiff black mud, into which our poor animals sank frightfully. After
five o'clock we saw, from the slope on which we were, for we had left
the _llano_ and were again in rolling country, a little village, and
higher and further to the left, a second. The first of these was
Gutierrez Zamora, which is Huaxtec, with a few Mexican families living
at one side; the second was our destination, Tamalin. We passed through
Gutierrez at six, and reached Tamalin at seven.

The _alcalde_ of the village was not there; in fact, we suspect that
he but rarely is. The _secretario_, likewise, was absent. We finally
prevailed upon his brother to help us to find an indian girl to cook our
meals, and a room in the _secretario's_ house. In this room there was
but a single bed and our helper thought me very particular in demanding
that _petates_ should be brought as beds for my companions. He assured
us that, when he traveled, he slept upon the floor, without _petates_.
It was long after 10 o'clock before we had supper and secured a
resting-place. We had planned to push out from here the following
morning; no sign, however, of our baggage had appeared, and we were
forced to spend two days at Tamalin waiting for its comin