Page:Narrative of an Official Visit to Guatemala.djvu/135

CH. VIII.] the place. A few of these trees would be very useful on Hounslow Heath, on a rainy review day; for each of them is calculated to shelter at least half a regiment of horse. Of course, our mules and horses wanted no other stabling, and there was plenty of accommodation left for the retinue of a large party of ladies and gentlemen who arrived shortly after us, on their way from the capital to the interior. They were all mounted on mules; some of them with single and others with double saddles: the lady's single saddle consists of a small dickey, or three-sided cushioned seat, with a step for the feet; in short it is a lady's Brighton donkey-saddle. When they ride double, the gentleman sits on the mule's haunches, with a saddle properly shaped for the purpose, having a flat square surface in front, on which his fair companion is seated, with her legs on the off side or rather shoulders of the animal: in this case, she has no step or stirrup to support her feet, but generally sits cross-legged, trusting, for her