Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/224

210, who continue, all their lives, to cultivate the spot upon which they are born, and transmit from generation to generation an estate, which supports themselves and their children, in comfort, and comparative affluence. He received us with great hospitality, and gave us a most excellent supper, with some Pulque, which, unaccustomed as we were to the beverage, most of our party thought exceedingly agreeable. This was not the case with the Chile, a powerful species of Capsicum, both green and red, of which the Mexicans make an immoderate use in most of their dishes: the taste is not disagreeable, but the pungency is so great, that a stranger finds it difficult to taste it without inconvenience. Robinson states, in his account of Mina's expedition, that with many of the American officers, who were compelled to live for some days upon Tortillas and Chile, on their march towards the Interior, excoriation was the consequence.

Our next stage from Ăcŏcōtlăn was Cūāutmănzīngŏ, where we were advised to pass the night, although the distance was only seven leagues, on account of the difficulty of reaching any other resting-place calculated to receive so large a party. The road was mostly good, but as it continued to wind around the foot of the Mălīnchĕ, it was occasionally intersected by deep barrancas, (or ravines,) which although perfectly passable for horsemen, retarded the progress of the carriages considerably. In one place we came to a descent of about twelve feet