Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/635

Rh, which the Governor was good enough to give me the evening before my departure, I heard several very respectable amateur performers, particularly two sisters who played a duet together on the pianoforte with great facility of execution. But the queen of the evening was a young professional singer from Gūārĭsămĕy, (the Pasta of Durango,) whose talents were undergoing the necessary cultivation to qualify her for sustaining the part of Prima Donna at the opera of the town. Her vocal abilities had been discovered by a friend of the Governor's, who recommended her to his protection; and though I cannot in reason be expected to be as enthusiastic in her praise as her "Apasionados" in Durango, I must confess that she had a most powerful voice, which, when modified by a little tuition, might possibly be rendered agreeable.

I reached Sŏmbrĕrētĕ without difficulty in ten hours; and after dining, and passing the night at Mr. Anitua's, I resumed my journey South on the following morning in the same manner; five relays of horses having been stationed for me on the road to Zacatecas—at the Rancho of Pancho Malo, Atotonilco, La Escondida, Rancho Grande, and Las Tortolas. At Fresnillo I expected to find my own horses, with which I intended to proceed direct to Zacatecas; but to my great surprise, I overtook Mrs. Ward and Mr. Martin there, the coach having been delayed a whole day at Atotonilco by a wheel giving way in passing a barranca a little to the