city of
Mexico, might be deemed sumptuous apartments, overlooking the Cathedral
Square; so luxurious, in fact, that my Mexican friends were lavish in
their praises, though I confess my American visitors said much less. But
my domicil consisted of only two 'pieces,' one answering for both
bedroom and parlor, while in the other I dressed. Never mind the latter,
for it contained little else than one shelf, which was adorned with a
brown earthen pitcher and a gourd cut in two, for all my washing. My
drawing-room, however, deserves a more elaborate description. The walls
were frescoed, in a peculiarly gorgeous style; garlands of flowers were
represented as twining around piles of fruit, and it was hard to say
whether the profusion of the fruit, or the colors of the flowers, were
the severest tax on the imagination, though I always thought myself,
that they were both surpassed by incredible swarms of impossible
humming-birds, with very gold and silver wings. The floor was covered
with bran new matting, and the bedstead of cedar-wood was also new,
though the bullock-skin on which the mattress rested, had rather an
antiquated air. Moreover, I _had_ a pair of sheets which were not of a
bad color, although slightly patched. In addition, there was a Madonna
hanging on one wall, and a Saint looking at her from the other; and
against a door near the foot of my bed, stood a rocking-chair, which on
my conscience I believe must have been worth at least a dollar and a
half. As the door was fastened up, this rocking-chair was the favorite
resort of my first morning visitor, all subsequent callers having to
choose between the window-sill, the matting, and the bedstead.

'As for the neatness and cleanliness of my sanctum, it was
marvelous--for Mexico. I don't remember ever seeing more than ten
scorpions at one time there, and two or three tarantulas on the ceiling
were too much a matter of course to attract notice. Still, I had been so
long away from civilized society, and endured so many privations, that I
confess, notwithstanding the attractions that my home offered, I spent
but little of my time there, for I was warmly received by several
American families, and gladly availed myself of their hospitality and
friendly attentions. To own the honest truth, ere a month had elapsed, I
had so well compensated myself for past privations, that I had a serious
attack of illness.

'To this illness was I indebted for my second interview with my wo