zen years. He was stout, active, and
vivacious; he claimed to have been in every town in Chiapas, and gave
us much advice regarding our journey to that state; he called upon us
several times during our stay, and shared the general disgust over our
sick man, who, he assured us, had nothing serious the matter, and only
needed to arouse himself to throw off the bilious attack from which he
suffered. On the streets we met the baron who had been with us on our
voyage from Tampico. He told us that after one day in Merida, he and
his lady decided that they preferred Progreso, and were stopping there,
going down upon the day-train when they wished to visit Merida. He also
warned us that we need never expect to see the forty dollars which we
had advanced through the vice-consul, as whatever disposition should be
made of our complaint regarding customs charges by the government, no
such money was ever known to leave his hands. Following events entirely
confirmed this gentleman's dire prophecy; neither Mr. Thompson nor Senor
Solis have paid the least attention to communications regarding the
matter sent after our return to our own country. It is little likely
that the Mexican government refused to refund the payment; but we shall
probably never know.

The remarks of the baron suggested a new line of action. Why longer
wait in Merida for our boat? Progreso is cleaner, cooler, enjoys a sea
breeze, and gives as good living for less than half the price we were
paying. For comfort, for the benefit of our sick man, for the advantage
of our pocket, we would be better off at Progreso than in Merida. While
there were cases of small-pox in the little seaport, there were none of
yellow fever. In every way it looked attractive, and on Monday morning
we left, and found ourselves, before noon, comfortably located in the
curious little hotel, La Estrella de Oro, in Progreso. To be sure,
our rooms were mere stalls, being separated from each other by board
partitions scarcely eight feet in height, and without ceiling, so that
it was impossible to escape the conversation in neighboring rooms at
night. The table, however, was excellent, and the price, compared with
what we had been paying, economy itself. Having seen my companions
comfortably located, I returned to Merida, where there was still some
business demanding attention. This time I found a room in the Hotel
Concordia, which was the most comfortable I enjoyed in Merida, although
the price of