he does, nothing loath, and pronounces it fresh.
_Pulque_ is a refreshing and not unwholesome drink. It is not a spirit,
although in quantities it is intoxicating. Its manufacture is unknown
outside Mexico, and in Peru the _chicha_, or _maiz_ beer of the
natives, takes its place.

I quaff a gourd of the liquid; custom has rendered it not unpleasant to
the palate, and its singular odour I disregard. And in the cool shade
of the interior of the most respectable of the _adobe_ huts we rest
awhile until the sun's fiery disc has descended somewhat from the
zenith. Then I distribute some small largesse to the woman and her
numerous progeny, for am I not an _ingles_, of that famous race whose
pockets are ever lined with silver and who are known even throughout
these remote regions?

How do these people live? The only vegetation at hand is some gaunt
_nopales_ or prickly pear cactus, forming a protective hedge around the
settlement, and a few other specimens, all armed with spines and
prickles after the fashion of Nature's handiwork in arid regions.
Truly, these outcasts must gather "grapes of thorns and figs of
thistles" if they reap anything here! But probably at the head of the
_arroyo_ there is a little tilled patch of _maiz_ and _alfalfa_, such
as supply the inevitable _tortilla_ for the denizens of the place, and
fodder--and thereby some small revenue, as in our own case--for the
beasts of passing travellers.

But this region is not always dry. At certain seasons heavy rainstorms
occur, and a veritable deluge descends upon the cracked ground and
fills the dry river-beds and _arroyos_ with a turgid flood. In some
situations, as, for example, on the river Nazas, a wave of water comes
down, covering 10 or 15 feet deep and 500 feet wide in an irresistible
flood what a few moments before was a parched and sandy bottom. In the
great gullies of the plains similar conditions occur, and woebetide the
unfortunate horseman or foot passenger who may be journeying along them
at the moment! These sudden freshets are a remarkable feature of the
hydrography of the great plateau, and have been more fully described in
another chapter.

Such a storm we shall have encountered in our expeditions. The rain
comes down in torrents, and the lightning flashes and the thunder
reverberates among the rocks and canyons; for we have approached a
mountain spur, perhaps, in our examination of its mineral resources.

The _peon_ in such situations,