cura, after a severe tussle, drove
him out of the town.

Thirty or forty years afterward, "when I," says the doctor Don Sanchez
de Aguilar, "was cura of the said city, this demonic returned to infest
some of my annexed villages, and in particular one village, Yalcoba,
coming at midnight, or at one in the afternoon, with a great whirlwind,
dust, and noise, as of a hurricane; stones swept over the whole pueblo;
and though the Indians promptly put out the fires of their kitchens, it
did not avail them, for from the flames with which this demonio is
tormented proceeded flashes like nightly comets or wandering stars,
which set fire to two or three houses at once, and spread till there
were not people enough to put out the fire, when I, being sent for to
come and drive it away, conjured this demon, and, with the faith and
zeal that God gave me, commanded him not to enter that village; upon
which the fires and the whirlwinds ceased, to the glory and honour of
the Divine Majesty, which gave such power to the priests." Driven out
here, this demonio returned to infest the village of Valladolid with
new burnings; but by putting crosses in all the hills this evil ceased.

For generations this demonio has not been heard of, but it is known
that he can take any shape he pleases; and I fear me much that he has
at last entered the padres, and, taking advantage of that so-called
amiable weakness which I before hinted at in confidence to the reader,
is leading them along seeming paths of roses, in which they do not yet
feel the thorns.

I have none but kind feelings toward the padres, but, either as a cause
or in consequence of the ascendency of this demonio, the people of
Valladolid seemed the worst we had met with, being, in general, lazy,
gambling, and good for nothing. It is a common expression, "Hay mucho
vago en Valladolid," "There are many idlers in Valladolid;" and we saw
more gamecocks tied by the leg along the walls of the houses than we
had seen in any other place we visited. Part of our business was to
repair our wardrobe and procure a pair of shoes, but neither of these
undertakings could we accomplish. There were no shoes ready made, and
no artist would promise to make a pair in less than a week, which we
learned might be interpreted as meaning at least two.

In the mean tittle we were making inquiries and arrangements for our
journey to the coast. It is almost impossible to conceive what
difficulty we had in learning a