to our bedchamber, that
tropical sky, with its constellations, all new to us northerns, and
every star magnified by the effect of the atmosphere to an incredible
size. Mars and Saturn, Venus and Jupiter, had all disappeared; the
great and little Bear were still to be seen; in the far distance the
ship Argo and the glowing Centaur; and, beautiful above all, the
glorious sign of Christianity the colossal Southern Cross, in all its
brightness and sublimity, glittering in silvery magnificence out of
its setting of dark blue crystal.

We were travelling with a state and a degree of luxury that would have
excited the contempt of our backwoodsmen; but in a strange country we
thought it best to do as the natives did; and accordingly, instead of
mounting our horses and setting forth alone, with our rifles slung
over our shoulders, and a few handfuls of parched corn and dried flesh
in our hunting pouches, we journeyed Mexican fashion, with a whole
string of mules, a _topith_ or guide, a couple of _arrieros_ or
muleteers, a cook, and one or two other attendants. While the latter
were slinging our hammocks to the lowermost branches of a tree--for in
that part of Mexico it is not very safe to sleep upon the ground, on
account of the snakes and vermin--our _cocinero_ lit a fire against
the rock, and in a very few minutes an iguana which we had shot that
day was spitted and roasting before it. It looked strange to see this
hideous creature, in shape between a lizard and a dragon, twisting and
turning in the light of the fire; and its disgusting appearance might
have taken away some people's appetites; but we knew by experience
that there is no better eating than a roasted iguana. We made a hearty
meal off this one, concluding it with a pull at the rum flask, and
then clambered into our hammocks; the Mexicans stretched themselves on
the ground with their heads upon the saddles of the mules, and both
masters and men were soon asleep.

It was somewhere about midnight when I was awakened by an
indescribable sensation of oppression from the surrounding atmosphere.
The air seemed to be no longer air, but some poisonous exhalation that
had suddenly arisen and enveloped us. From the rear of the ravine in
which we lay, billows of dark mephitic mist were rolling forward,
surrounding us with their baleful influence. It was the _vomito
prieto_, the fever itself, embodied in the shape of a fog. At the same
moment, and while I was gasping for br