table
hill of a perfect oval, rising like the palisades of Hudson River; some
three hundred feet, with a dead flat surface, and but one gateway-like
aperture leading to the summit--making altogether a most regular and
inaccessible natural fortress. My guide assured me, there was a deep,
clear lake on top, and many acres of good soil.

The sun was getting high up, when we drew bridles at a fork of the road,
beneath a wide-spreading tree, and in fact the only one to be seen.
Here, squatted on a stone, was a jolly old gentleman, with a great
earthen jar of pulque, and platter filled with the same sour
fermentation, on the grass before him; the guide, as in honor bound,
swallowed a centavo's worth, but I was contented with a little diluted
museal, which is far more palatable, and has much the taste of Scotch
whiskey. Both preparations are made from the same species of plant--the
American Argave--and to see the immense extent of land under
cultivation--the great droves of beasts carrying the juice to market,
one might readily believe enough was made to keep the whole Mexican
nation in one continued state of intoxication. The keeper of the small
ambulating pulperia informed us that a pronunciamento had taken place
that very morning at San Juan de Lagos, and that large bands of armed
men had entered the town at daylight. Padre Jarauta had destroyed my
appetite the night previous, and this news equally perplexed me--for
there was but one route directly through the town, and I had no
inclination to run a muck; so following the advice of my guide Jose
Maria, to lay by a few hours, and learn the state of affairs from some
one passing along the road, we descended a small ravine entirely
sheltered from view, where the horses were unsaddled, and a temporary
screen made with the serapas, to shield us from the noontide sun. Here I
stretched myself upon the grass, and before many minutes elapsed had cut
buttons and straps from my jacket: the uniform I wore was generally
taken for that of a Mexican cavalry officer, but in this instance I was
resolved to make assurance doubly sure, and not be mistaken for a
gringo: and accordingly hurled buttons and lace far down the gully.

Two hours past meridian I was awakened by Jose, who reported having
heard firing in the town, and that he had learned from a paisano, in hot
haste from Lagos, that Senor Jarauta, after making a forcible razzia of
all animals to be found, marched with over a hundred