"At the first village where we landed, on the other side of the lake, the alcalde and his constable came to meet us, as they had heard the day before that we were coming, through a message sent by our guide. The alcalde was a short, stout man, and carried a gold-headed cane, which was his staff of office; he wore his shirt outside his trousers, after the custom of the country, and he had a dress-coat over it, evidently made for him years ago when he was thinner. He wore a bell-crowned hat, tilted on one side, like some of the men you see on Broadway, and he had wooden shoes on his stockingless feet. Behind him came the constable, who was a great contrast to his master in shape and form; he was thin as a fishing-rod, and carried his hat in his hand, while his feet were quite bare. One of us made a rough sketch of the pair while they were talking with Mr. Segovia and the Doctor. "We are told that the Spanish alcaldes generally get rich in a few years, if they happen to be in good districts; but there are some that go away as poor as they came. The governor rewards his friends by securing their election to good places where they may make money. This may seem very strange to you at home, but you must remember that we are in Luzon, on the other side of the world from America; of course nothing like it was ever heard of in the United States. "We engaged saddle-horses for an excursion among the mountains, and some porters to carry our baggage; the latter started off in advance, and we were to overtake them at a village where we would pass the night. There was no trouble in getting the horses, as their owners were quite willing to hire them out; but the engagement of the porters was not so easy. The people are not fond of hard work, and you may be sure it is no joke to carry ever so small a parcel in this hot climate. The mayor arranged it for us and selected the men, and he also fixed the price for us to pay. When they were assigned to the work, each man picked up the lightest thing he could find--one an umbrella, and another a field-glass that didn't weigh a pound, while a third seized a little dressing-case belonging to Mr. Segovia. They were about to move off with these loads when the alcalde called them back, and made them distribute the baggage evenly. When it was properly arranged, they had about twenty-five pounds apiece, which was not at all too much. [Illustration: AN AVENUE OF PALM-TREES.]