Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 1.djvu/563

Rh On the 10th we arrived at Forlon, rather a populous village, with a small church, the first that we had seen since leaving Altamira.

Forlon is situated on the banks of a river, and is distant from Apanoche about six leagues. We rested a day at this place, and on the 12th drove on about three leagues, and halted for the night on a plain. Our road the next day was tolerably good, which enabled us to accomplish three leagues and a half.

On the 14th, finding ourselves short of water, we dispatched a cart with three barrels to fetch some;—before it returned, (on the 16th,) we were all suffering from excessive thirst; our provisions had also failed us, and we were all on short allowance, but being without water our appetites did not incommode us so much as they otherwise might have done.

On the 17th, we arrived at Croix, a large village in a most miserable state, distant from Forlon fourteen leagues, and not far from Padilla, where Iturbide was shot. Between Croix and Forlon we did not meet with a single habitation; we halted here two days, and repaired some of our damaged wheels, &c. The heat was intolerable during our stay at this place, the thermometer being seen to rise as high as 120º, in the shade.

We left Croix on the 19th, and crossed a river almost immediately after starting; the road was good, and we drove on until one o'clock, when one of the carriages, owing to its having been driven out of the road, came down: nothing but a wheel being broken, I set every thing right again before the cook had got our dinner ready. We here met a coach that had been despatched from Catorce by the Obregones to meet us, and convey us to the Real. At this stage of our journey, however, it was impossible to leave the carriages without doing a manifest injury to the enterprise; and we therefore only detatched Mr. Medina to give some account of our proceedings. After dining, mending the broken wheel, and disposing of Medina and the coach, we again began to move on, and found our road so very good that we were enabled to perform five leagues in the course of the day. We halted at the top of a hill of no great height, whence we could discern most distinctly the Saddle-hill, near Monterey, which was said to be very little short of ninety leagues