o plough a
large piece of land and raise enough corn to sell some. But corn is
seldom converted into money.

Here we packed the most necessary things on our best mule, and with
the guide and two Indians, who carried bundles, we descended to the
river. The road was fairly good, but as we approached the river we
came to several bad places. In one of these the mule's aparejo struck
a rock, which caused the animal to lose its foothold. Unresistingly
it slid down the steep slope for about seven yards and came against a
tree, forefeet on one side, hindfeet on the other. The boy who led it,
eager to do something, managed to get the halter off, so that there
was nothing by which to hold the animal except its ears. I held fast
to one of these, steadying myself on the loose soil by grabbing a root
sticking out of the ground. The intelligent animal lay perfectly still
over the trunk. Finally I managed to get out my bowie-knife and cut
the ropes off the pack, which rolled down the hill, while the mule,
relieved of its bulky burden, scrambled to its feet and climbed up. It
was born and bred in the barranca, otherwise it would never have been
able to accomplish this feat.

Toward evening we arrived at the section of a barranca called Ohuivo
(Ovi = return, or "the place to which they returned") on the Rio
Fuerte. The Indians here, although many of them have been affected
by the nearness of the mines, are reticent and distrustful, and our
guide evidently had not much influence with them. They refused to
be photographed, and even the gobernador ran away from the terrible
ordeal.

During the several days I remained in this valley the heat never
varied from 100 deg., day and night, which was rather trying and made
doing anything an exertion. The country looked scorched, except for
the evergreen cacti, the most prominent of which was the towering
pithaya. Its dark-green branches stand immovable to wind and storm. It
has the best wild fruit growing in the north-western part of Mexico,
and as this was just the season when it ripens, the Indians from all
around had come to gather it. It is as large as an egg and its flesh
soft, sweet, and nourishing. As the plant grows to a height of twenty
to thirty-five feet, the Indians get the fruit down with a long reed,
one end of which has four prongs, and gather it in little crates of
split bamboo, which they carry by straps on their backs. It is a sight
to see men, women, and children start out g