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78 outwit his conductors by untying his rosary, and occasionally dropping a bead on the earth. If he flattered himself that any hope existed of his being thus able to thread the blind maze through which he passed, and find the locality, one may imagine his chagrin, when once more arrived and set down at his own door, the first sight which met his uncovered eyes was the contented face of one of his Indian guides, and an outstretched hand, containing in its hollow the greater part of the grains of his rosary; while the guileless tongue of the finder expressed his simple joy at having been enabled to restore such a sacred treasure to the discomfited padre.

Entreaties and threats were now employed in vain. Gentle as the Indians were, they were not to be bent. Government was apprized of the circumstances, and commissioners were sent down to investigate the affair. The principal inhabitants were seized, and menace being powerless, torture, that last argument of the tyrant, was resorted to—all in vain, not a word could be wrung from them! Many were put to death; still their brethren remained mute; and the village became deserted under the systematic persecution of the oppressors. The most careful researches, repeatedly made from time to time by adventurers in search of the rich deposite, have all resulted in disappointment; and, to this day all that is known is, that somewhere in the recesses of those mountains lies the gold mine of La Navidad.

The following day, despite the temptation we felt to make various excursions in this interesting neighbourhood, we found ourselves necessitated to resume our route to the capital, twenty-three leagues distant. From the summit of the sierra, above the town of Real del Monte, a steep and rugged descent brings you to the level of the great plains which form the central land of Mexico; and over these we now proceeded slowly, in a suffocating heat. The first evening we reached a collection of mud huts and of plantations of nopal and maguey, disposed around a fine large picturesque church, called the San Matteo Grande.