Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/491

Rh dĕ Săn Bărtōlŏ; and the sight of any thing like water or vegetation was delightful, after the deserts which we had passed, covered with broken rocks, the cactus, and dwarf palms. I rode to the reservoir on one of the Count's horses, not of the old breed, for which the Hacienda was celebrated before the Revolution, (for that has become almost extinct,) but spirited, and with high, though easy action.

Nothing could be more hospitable than our reception at the Jărāl, with the exception of the absence of the master, who either from shyness, or, as it was alleged, from urgent business, left the Hacienda with his family the day before our arrival, and deputed his Administrador to do the honours. We found, however, a splendid dinner prepared, and the whole house thrown open for our accommodation, with a crowd of servants in waiting to take charge of the baggage, and to arrange it in the different rooms. On the following morning, when, notwithstanding the solicitations of the Administrador, we pursued our journey towards San Luis, a mule was sent with us, laden with a whole sheep, a dozen fowls, four cheeses, a quantity of bread and fruit, and four bottles of a strong spirit called vino Mescal, resembling whiskey in flavour, but extracted from the Măgūey, in a distillery recently established by the Count.

The Jărāl is the last place of any note in the State of Guănăju͞atŏ. The village attached to the Hacienda contains three thousand inhabitants, five hundred of whom are more immediately