Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 1.djvu/268

240 Zăcătēcăs, which, though defended by three hundred Royalists, was carried by surprise, by a small detachment of Mina's troops during the night of the 19th. On the 22d, after three days of forced marches, during which they crossed a country desolated by the war, where neither provisions, nor houses, were to be found, Mina's advanced guard fell in with a party of the Insurgents of the Băxīŏ, under the command of Don Crĭstōvăl Nāvă, with whom he at last opened the long-desired communication.

Robinson's description of Mina's new allies is very correct, and very characteristic. He represents them as fine athletic men, admirably mounted, armed with lances and sabres, (in the use of which they all excel) with round jackets, decorated with a quantity of gold or silver-lace, velveteen breeches, (also embroidered,) deer-skin wrappers round the leg, gartered at the knee, shoes of the country, open on one side above the ankle,—immense iron spurs, inlaid with silver, with rowels four inches in diameter,—open shirt-collars, and hats of the country, with a very broad brim, and silver band, ornamented in front with a picture of the Virgin of Guădĕlūpĕ, (the patroness of the Insurgents) inclosed in a frame, and protected by a glass. Such was, and is, the costume of those men, by whom the first shock was given to the power of Spain in America. They compose the agricultural population of the country, and are known in the towns by the denomination