Page:Pictures of life in Mexico Vol 1.djvu/41

Rh was one of the most irritable of his class: only give him an idea that you do not consider the city of Mexico the wonder of the world, and his the best establishment of the kind in it,—or that you do not think he conducts it in the most perfect manner,—and out you must budge, bag and baggage; with the most abusive epithets imaginable ringing in your ears.

Mollified by our entreaties, the door at last turned upon its hinges; and our eyes were refreshed by the sight of an avenue of sheds and rooms, beginning at the entrance, and embracing in its course a feeble attempt at a blacksmith's shop. The fond, or eating-house of the meson, was at the extreme end of the range; sheeps' fodder lay littering in every corner; a dilapidated old coach, with two turkeys dozing beneath it, blocked up the centre; and a number of raw hides hung drying on the walls around. I courteously preferred a request for rooms and refreshments; speculating in my own mind the while, as to where they—especially the rooms—could be found.

"No hai! no hai; Nada; no hai!" "We have nothing, nothing! We have no rooms; no refreshments: we cannot accommodate