Page:Life in Mexico vol 2.djvu/379

Rh will have, who, for aught we know, may by extra high-pressure, be able to

We, however, saw some few specimens of saints and angels, very defective in the sketch, but beautiful in the coloring, and quite sufficient to prove to us that there was no exaggeration in these accounts.

7th.—We rode yesterday to the shores of the lake, where we embarked in a long canoe, formed of the hollow trunk of a tree, and rowed by Indians, a peculiarly ugly race, with Tartar-looking faces. The lake was very placid—clear as one vast mirror, and covered with thousands of wild ducks, white egrets, cranes and herons; all those water-fowl who seem to whiten their plumage by constant dipping in pools and marshes and lakes. On the opposite shore, to the right, lay the city of Tzinzunzan, and on a beautiful island in the midst of the lake, the village of Janicho, entirely peopled by Indians, who mingle little with the dwellers on the main land, and have preserved their originality more than any we have yet seen. We were accompanied by the Prefect of Pascuaro, whom the Indians fear and hate in equal ratio, and who did seem a sort of Indian Mr. Bumble;—and after a long and pleasant row, we landed at the island, where we were received by the village alcalde, a half-caste Indian, who sported a pair of bright blue merino pantaloons! I suppose to distinguish himself from his blanketed brethren. The island is entirely surrounded by a natural screen of willow and ash trees; and the village consists of a few scattered houses, with small cultivated patches of ground—the alcalde's house, and an old church.