Page:Travels in Mexico and life among the Mexicans.djvu/140

132 My friend had hitherto ridden perched upon two packs of luggage, and I had used his horse, while the Indian carried a great load on his back, supported by a band passing across his forehead. We both dismounted here and pursued the rest

of our way on foot; and I shot a chachalalka, a kind of pheasant, and from a little gem of an aguada we put up three large ducks. The gallinules, Alonzo tells me, are pajaros preciosos, or very precious birds; and they are, indeed, a rare