we see a spot to receive us in its shade, as the sun was vertical, and the few lofty rocks we passed cast no shadow. No path ran on either side downwards, which might afford us hopes of reaching water, and the few cypresses which indicated it to us were too far down in the bottoms for us to attempt to get to them. Our cattle became more and more tired, and at last hardly able to move, when the sun had sunk a long way on the western horizon. We halted several times in the shadow of large rocks to let our cattle breathe, and gave them the juicy pear-shaped fruit of the cactus, which grew here abundantly, and they eagerly devoured it. My comrades also ate them contrary to my advice, and several of them became very unwell in consequence. Such a rest could not do us much good, and so we continually urged our horses on, till after passing about sunset between tremendous crags, we found a broad path, which soon wound down the eastern slope, when about a mile farther on we saw a copse of low cypresses. With great delight we accepted their invitation, and followed the path which ran into a small glen, where we found good grass and splendid spring-water. Here, too, we found the traces of several Indian camps, some of which seemed to be quite recent. The few halting-places in the vicinity of this mountain path are well known to the savages who go over these mountains, and are used by them like hotels by travellers in the civilized world. We kept up a large fire during the night, as we here heard for the first time the howls of the jaguars rising from the valley to us, so soon as darkness lay over the earth. We allowed our cattle to graze till far into the night, when they lay down, and we brought them near our fire and slept quietly till dawn.