Page:Travels in Mexico and life among the Mexicans.djvu/134



FTER the last ball, the good General insisted upon staying and ascertaining the quality of the remainder of the Doctor's three dozen of beer; and at three, seeing that it was likely to be an all-night session, I crept into the kitchen and took possession of one of the hammocks. This kitchen was the usual structure devoted to that use in Yucatan, of loose poles driven into the ground, forming a square pen, topped by a roof of thatch. Lorenzo Acosta, who owned the house the Doctor hired, and who piloted me to this retreat, had a rancho in the logwood district, which he invited me to visit, promising plenty of flamingoes and wild turkeys. We were to start early in the morning, before the Consul and John would be stirring, and, as the ride was to be a long one, had made good our escape from the General in order to gain a few hours' sleep. Two old women and a boy occupied this apartment, but the latter was unceremoniously ejected from one of the hammocks, which Lorenzo and I appropriated.

Perhaps the reader is not acquainted with the Yucatan way of sleeping, two in a hammock, and I will proceed to enlighten him. As the first one lies down in the hammock, he carefully takes up only one half, measured longitudinally, leaving the remainder for his friend. This the latter occupies, with his feet toward and parallel with the other's head, so that the two are packed "heads and points," like sardines. This leaves a kind of partition between the sleepers which effectually separates them; though, if one is inclined to kick in his sleep, the other must guard well his nose. In any event, a person at all fastidious might object to this style of packing, and prefer sleeping