age and build, differed also in
dress, but on the occasion of one of their visits, they were taken with
the crazy notion of exchanging clothes, and proceeded to undress, making
the exchange, and re-clothing themselves in garments ridiculously
non-fitting--all with the utmost gravity and unsteadiness. During
the day, our _carretas_ were being prepared. Apologizing for the
inconvenience of the preceding day, Eustasio proposed to fix our cart
"as fine as a church." He put a decent cover over it, and laid our sacks
of plaster on the floor. Upon this, he spread a layer of corn-stalks,
and over them, a new and clean _petate_. To be sure, the space left
above was low for comfort, and we were horrified when we saw him loading
up the second one, not only with the balance of our luggage, but high
with maize, fodder, and great nets of ears of corn, to feed the animals.
We had supposed that two persons and part of the luggage would go in
each of the carts, and never thought of carrying food enough to last
four oxen eight days. Crowding four people into our _carreta_ made it
impossible to lie down in comfort. Still, such is the custom of the
country, and we submitted. During the day we heard a woman crying in
a house. Upon investigating, we found that she was the wife of a
_carretero_ who had been injured on the road, and for whom a _carreta_
had been sent. Shortly afterward, they brought the poor fellow into
town, amid weeping and lamenting. When they took him from the _carreta_
in which he had been brought, he was supported by two men and helped
into the house, where he was laid upon a hammock. He groaned with pain,
and a crowd of curious villagers pressed into the room.

It was easy to locate four broken ribs behind, and he complained of
great internal bleeding. It seemed that he had started to climb up onto
his moving cart in the usual way, and the stake which he had seized
broke, letting him fall to the ground under the wheel of the
heavily-loaded cart, which passed over his body.

Finally, all was ready, and at about five in the evening we started.
Packed like sardines in a box, we were most uncomfortable. Personally, I
did not try to sleep, neither lying down, nor closing my eyes. Shortly
after leaving town, we crossed a running stream, and from the other side
went over a piece of corduroy, upon which we jounced and jolted. Soon
after, we descended into a little gully, from which our team had
difficulty in drawing us. The b