Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/552

532 Bărrāncă Hōndă to the mĕsōn, are exceedingly steep and rugged. In one of the worst parts of the road we were reconnoitred by six men on horseback, the only suspicious characters that we fell in with upon our whole journey, who, after observing us for some time from the top of a hill that overlooked the road, moved off at a very rapid pace on our advancing towards them in our turn. They probably thought the party too formidable to be attacked, for we were both more numerous and better armed than themselves.

Our accommodations at Ătŏtŏnīlcŏ were of the very worst kind, the house being half in ruins, and the dirtiness of the rooms quite indescribable. For our supper I had fortunately provided by shooting three or four hares, and ten quails of a remarkably large kind, upon the way. They are a very delicate bird, and are found in great abundance on the road from the Mezquite to Sŏmbrĕrētĕ, and from thence again to Guădălajāră. As they run for a considerable distance after each flight, and are easily lost amongst the bushes, I found that the best mode of shooting them was to make a servant follow the covey on horseback after I had fired, and keep his eye upon them until I could reload and ride up to him again. In this way I could, at any time, procure as many as we wanted, for they fly straight, and are a very easy shot. Between Ătŏtŏnīlcŏ and Lă Sălādă we saw proofs both of the abundance of cŏyōtēs, and of the facility with which they may