Mr. Huertis rejoined, through the same interpreter, that he could destroy any number of armed men, on the swiftest horses, before they could approach him, as the chief had already seen; and since he could enforce his exit from the city whenever he thought proper, he would enter it upon his own terms, either as a conqueror, or as a friend, according to the reception he met with; that there was now no race of conquerors to whom the city could be betrayed, even if he were disposed to do so, as the people of the whole country, of all races, were now living in a state of perfect freedom and equality; and that, therefore, there was no necessity for those unsocial and sanguinary laws which secluded the Iximayans from friendly intercourse with their fellow-men. Saying which, and without waiting for further colloquy, he ordered his party to dismount, restore the horses to their owners, and march with the train of mules toward the city, in the usual style of travel. With this order, his Indians complied very reluctantly, but on assuring them that it was a matter of the highest policy, they evinced their wonted confidence in his judgment and ability. To the young chief he restored his own richly caparisoned steed, which had fallen to the lot of the unfortunate Mr. Hammond, who was now lying desperately wounded, in the care of the faithful Antonio. For himself and Senor Velasquez, Mr. Huertis retained the horses they had first seized, and placing themselves on each side of the Iximayan commander, with their friend Hammond borne immediately behind them, in one of the cane couches of the cavern, on the backs of two mules yoked together, they advanced to the head of their party, while the red troopers, followed by the surviving bloodhounds leashed in couples, brought up the rear. Huertis, however, had taken the precaution to add the spears and hatchets of these men to the burdens of the forward mules, to abide the event of his reception at the city gates. The appearance of the whole cavalcade must have been unique and picturesque; for Velasquez informs us, that while he wore the uniform of a military company to which he belonged in San Salvador, much enhanced in effect by some brilliant additions, and crowned with a broad sombrero and plume, Huertis wore that of an American naval commander, with gold epaulettes; his riflemen and muleteers generally were clothed in blue cotton and grass hats, while the native cavalry, in the brilliant tunics and feathered coronals, already described, must have completed the diversity of the variegated cortege. Had poor Hammond been mounted among them, his costume would have been as equivocal as his new complexion, for he had attired himself in the scarlet coat of a British officer of rank, with several blazing stars of glass jewels, surmounted by a white Panama hat, in which clustered an airy profusion of ladies' ostrich feathers, dyed blue at the edges.