Page:Travels in Mexico and life among the Mexicans.djvu/95

Rh del Elefante, the "Corner of the Dead Duck," and the "Street of the Monkey," pale Luna was swallowed up in the stronger light of day. Through the grated windows, then being thrown open, we got glimpses of pretty, brown-skinned girls, with black hair and dark eyes, and loose-hung uipils, just leaving their hammocks.

On the borders of the city we encountered many mule teams, with loads of hemp, the mules tired and the drivers sleepy. Some of them had come from Valladolid, one hundred and twenty miles distant. There were also groups of Indians with great heaps of grass on their backs, and huge bundles of ramon, or leaves of trees used for forage, and girls and women bearing heavy loads on their shoulders supported by bands across their foreheads. They, too, were tired, some of them having travelled all night. At a distance, the glowing skins of these half-naked Indians appeared brick-red in the sun.