we have a sketch of
a real 'character:'

'Entering an _estanquillo_, or shop licensed to sell cigars, we
met two or three faces so decidedly Anglo-Saxon in complexion and
feature that we at once accosted them in English, and were
answered by one of the party with a drawl and twang so peculiarly
'Down East,' that Marble, Hackett, or Yankee Hill, might have
taken lessons from him. We soon ascertained that they belonged to
the American circus company then performing at San Luis, and on
telling them who we were, they at once invited us to their _meson_
to supper. The first speaker, who proved to be a regular
Vermonter, was not a little surprised to see us out without a
guard, and asked if we had received permission to that effect. His
astonishment was removed when we told him that we were allowed to
leave our quarters on parole.

'In five minutes after our arrival at the hotel of the
equestrians, I found that our Vermont acquaintance was one of the
quaintest specimens of the Yankee race I had ever seen, and not a
few examples had I met previous to my encounter with him. He had a
droll impediment in his speech which gave to his actions and
gestures a turn irresistibly comic, and then he told an excellent
story, played the trombone, triangle, and bass viol, spoke Spanish
well, drove one of the circus wagons, translated the bills, turned
an occasional somerset in the ring, cracked jokes in Spanish with
the Mexican clown, took the tickets at the entrance with one hand,
while with the other he beat an accompaniment to the orchestra
inside on the bass-drum, and, in short, made himself 'generally
useful.' After partaking of an excellent supper, we spent an
agreeable hour in his room, listening to story after story of his
adventures. He 'come out' to Mexico, to use his own words, by way
of Chihuahua, accompanying the traders from Jonesborough, on Red
River, in the first and only expedition across the immense
prairies. They were some six or eight months on the road, and
suffered incredible hardships for want of water and provisions.
Our Yankee was a stout man when we saw him, but he told us that he
was a perfect transparency when he first arrived at the Mexican
settlements--so poor, in fact, that according to his own account,
'a person might have read the New-England Primer through him