WAKING UP IN THE MORNING.--THE PIGMY WORLD OF LILLIPUT.--L'ENCUERADO AND
THE BOTTLES.--MASSACRE OF THISTLES.--THE CHARCOAL-BURNING INDIANS.
I rose long before day and woke my companion. Lucien rubbed his eyes two
or three times, trying in vain to make out where he was. After some
moments, drawing the coverlet over him, he turned round to go to sleep
again.
"Now, then, young Lazybones!" I cried, "don't you hear the cock crowing,
telling us we ought to be on our road? Jump up and look round, and you
will see the birds and the insects are already busy."
The child got up, appearing half stupefied, and stretched himself with a
long yawn.
"Oh, papa!" he said, "I ache all over; I'm sure I shall never be able to
walk."
"You are quite mistaken," I replied, half supporting him. "You only feel
a little tired and stiff; your limbs will very soon work as freely as
ever. Go and warm yourself by the fire, where our kind hostess is
preparing coffee."
The little fellow did as he was told; but he limped sadly.
"Do your legs feel like mine?" he asked of l'Encuerado.
"No, Chanito; we did not walk far enough yesterday for that."
"You can't mean that we haven't walked far? Papa says that we are now
seven leagues from Orizava."
"Yes; that may seem a great deal to you, and perhaps too much; that is
why I wanted to put you up on the top of my pack. Now, come, let me see
where you suffer."
"All over my limbs, but particularly inside my knees."
"Wait a minute, and I'll soon cure you."
L'Encuerado then laid Lucien down in front of the fire, and began to rub
him after the Indian method, vigorously shampooing the whole of his
body. Next he made him walk and run with the longest strides he could
take; and, after repeating this process, brought him a cup of boiling
coffee. Having been revived and strengthened in this way, the lad quite
recovered his sprightliness, and soon asked when we were going to start.
I gave a small present to the old couple who had so kindly accommodated
us, and our little party began its second day's work; Gringalet sniffing
the breeze, and evidently enjoying the excursion as much as any of the
party.
When the sun rose, the sky was covered with grayish clouds, driven along
quickly by a north wind; but the weather was cool, and well adapted to
walking. A limestone mountain rose right in front of us, the slope of
which we had to climb; but ere we reached the top, we halted at least
twenty times to take breath. Our little companion, with his head bent
down towards the ground, struggled to retain his place by our side. At
last we reached the summit, and felt at liberty to rest.
Casting a glance on the plain beneath us, the boy surveyed a vast
prairie, dotted over with clumps of bushes. He silently contemplated the
panorama which was spread out beneath, although he failed to completely
comprehend all that he saw.
"Look at those black spots moving about over the plain," said he.
"They are oxen," I replied.
"Oxen! Why they are scarcely as big as Gringalet."
"Don't you know that you must not trust to appearances? Recollect the
trees you saw yesterday, which you thought were a forest."
"But if, from this height, the oxen appear no larger than sheep, the
sheep ought not to look greater than flies."
"You can easily judge; there is a flock of goats down below."
"A flock of goats! It is like a swarm of ants."
"Exactly; but look at them through the telescope."
Availing himself of the glass, which he used rather unskillfully, Lucien
raised a sudden cry.
"I see them! I see them!" he exclaimed. "How pretty they are! They are
running about and crowding together, in front of a little boy who is
driving them."
"It is most likely a man, who is diminished by the distance."
"The idea of men of that size!"
"Well, look at the foot of that wooded hill; the thin line which you
might easily take for a mere pathway is the main road. Perhaps you may
see an Indian family travelling along it."
[Illustration: "The basket and its bearer chased one another down the
hill."]
Lucien kept shifting his telescope about for some minutes without
descrying any thing; but at last he broke out in a fresh exclamation.
"Have you discovered any men?" I asked.
"Oh yes!--men, horses, and mules; but they are regular Lilliputians."
"You are quite right," said Sumichrast; "how do we know that Dr. Swift
did not first form his idea of 'Gulliver's Travels' from looking at the
world from the top of a high mountain?"
After a time, I was obliged to take the young observer away from this
point for contemplation to proceed on our journey. The ridge of the
mountain was soon crossed, and we began to descend the other side. I
took Lucien by the hand, for the slope was so steep that it needed the
utmost care to avoid rolling down over the naked rocks. Several times I
slipped, and scratched my legs among the bushes. Sumichrast, who had
taken his turn in looking after the boy, was no better off than myself.
The descent was so steep that we were often forced to run, and sometimes
the only thing possible to retard our impetus was to fall down, and run
the risk of being hurt. Therefore, in spite of Lucien's promise to walk
prudently and with measured step, I declined to allow him to go alone.
We at last, to our great satisfaction, got over about two-thirds without
any accident, when l'Encuerado, losing his equilibrium, fell, turning
head over heels several times; the basket and its bearer chasing one
another down the hill, finally disappearing into a thicket.
"Look after Lucien," I said to my companion, who was a few paces in
front. And I dashed forward anxiously to assist l'Encuerado.
I feared that I should find the unfortunate Indian with some of his
bones broken, even if not killed; so I called to him, when he replied
almost immediately; but his voice sounded not from below, but from a
spot a little to my left. I could not stay my rapid course except by
grasping a tuft of brush-wood, to which I hung. Then, turning towards
the left, I soon encountered the Mistec, who had already begun to
collect his burden.
"Nothing broken?" I asked.
"No, Tatita; all the bottles are safe."
"It's your limbs that I mean, my poor fellow!"
"Oh! my nose and arms are a little scratched, and my body is rather
knocked about; but there's not a single rent either in my jacket or
breeches," added he, looking with complacency at the leathern garments
which had given him the name of l'Encuerado.
"Well, you have had a narrow escape."
"Oh! senor, God is good! In spite of the basket-work case, the bottles
might have been broken, and they are not the least hurt."
For my part, I was more inclined to recognize God's goodness in
l'Encuerado's almost miraculous preservation. As to the basket, the
Indian had tied it up so strongly, that I was not at all surprised to
find that our provisions were uninjured.
"Give a call-cry," said I to the Indian, "Sumichrast can not see us, and
may think that you are killed."
"Chanito, hiou, hiou, hiou, Chanito!"
"Ohe! ohe!" replied Lucien.
And the boy, looking pale and alarmed, almost immediately made his
appearance. He rushed up to his friend, threw his arms round his neck,
and embraced him. The brave Mistec, who had been but little injured by
his terrible descent, could not help weeping at this proof of Lucien's
attachment.
"It was nothing but a joke," he said. "You'll see me perform many a feat
like that."
"Your face is all over with blood!"
"That's a mere joke, too. Would you like me to do it again?"
"No, no!" cried the child, catching the Indian by the jacket.
I dressed l'Encuerado's hurts, and we were about to continue our
journey.
"I say," said Lucien, archly, just as the Indian was hoisting his basket
on to his back; "how would it have been if I had been perched on it?"
"Then I should not have fallen," replied l'Encuerado, with the utmost
gravity.
In a minute or two more we were at the foot of the mountain, when
Lucien, overjoyed that the descent was accomplished, gave a leap which
showed me that the back of his trowsers had suffered in the late
struggle.
"There's a pretty beginning!" I cried; "how did you manage to get your
trowsers in that state?"
"It is my fault," said Sumichrast, with consternation; "wishing to
descend more rapidly, and fearing another tumble, I advised him to sit
down and slide carefully. I did not foresee the very natural results of
such a plan."
"Well, papa! it does not matter in the country."
"If my advice had been taken," broke in l'Encuerado, "he would have had
a pair of leathern pantaloons, which wouldn't suffer from such
contingencies. Never mind, Chanito, we'll mend them with the skin of the
first squirrel which comes within reach of my gun."
We were now passing through a dark gorge full of thick brush-wood. In
front of us rose a wooded mountain, which we had to climb. The shrubs
were succeeded by gigantic thistles, which compelled us to advance with
extreme care. These troublesome plants grew so thickly that we were
obliged to use our knives to clear a passage. L'Encuerado, putting down
his load, taught Lucien how to handle his; showing him that a downward
cut, if the weapon slipped or met with but little resistance, might be
dangerous. Enchanted with his lesson, and cutting down several stalks at
a blow, our young pioneer soon opened for us an avenue rather than a
path. The thistles gradually became fewer. Sumichrast walked in front,
destroying the last obstacles that severed us from the under-wood.
It was now breakfast-time, and as we continued our course we looked out
for a favorable spot to halt at, when the measured strokes of an axe
fell upon our ears. This noise told of the presence of wood-cutters, who
were certain to be provided with maize-cakes and beans; so we resolved
to make our way up to them, and thus economize our own resources. After
an hour's difficult ascent, just as we were despairing of reaching the
Indian, whose axe had ceased to sound, Lucien cried out:
"Look, papa, there's a fire!"
At the same moment Gringalet began barking furiously, and a few paces
more brought us to a burning charcoal-oven. The charcoal-burner, who was
surprised at our visit, seized his long-handled axe. But the presence of
the child appeared to reassure him.
"Good-morning, Don Jose," said I, using the common name which is applied
in Mexico to all the Indians.
"God preserve you," replied he, speaking in broken Spanish.
"Are you all alone?"
"No. I have six companions."
"Well, will one of you sell us some maize-cakes, and give us some
water?"
"We have neither water nor cakes."
"I'm quite sure you will be able to find some," I replied, placing a
half-piastre in his hand.
[Illustration: "Almost immediately the foliage was pushed aside."]
The Indian took off his straw hat, scratched his forehead, and then,
placing two fingers in his mouth, whistled a prolonged note. Almost
immediately the foliage was pushed aside, and a boy about fifteen years
old, wearing nothing but a pair of drawers, made his appearance, and
halted, as if terrified at the sight of us.
"Run to the hut, and ask for cakes and some capsicums, and bring them
here," said the wood-cutter, in the Aztec language.
"It's quite needless," I replied, in the same idiom; "we can breakfast
much more comfortably in the hut."
The wood-cutter looked at me in artless admiration, then taking my hand,
placed it on his breast. I spoke his language, and I was therefore his
friend. This is a feeling common to all men, whatever may be their
nationality or social position.
Following the young Indian, in five minutes we reached a very primitive
dwelling; being but four stakes supporting a roof made of branches with
their leaves on. The wood-men in Mexico construct such temporary places
of shelter, for at the commencement of the rainy season they cease to
dwell in the forests.
An Indian girl warmed us a dozen of those maize-flour fritters, which
are called _tortillas_, and are eaten by the natives instead of bread.
She also brought us a calabash full of cooked beans, which hunger
rendered delicious.
"Why don't they serve the meat first?" asked Lucien.
"Because they have none," replied Sumichrast.
"Haven't these Indians any meat? Poor fellows! How will they dine,
then?"
"Don't you know that the Indians never eat meat more than three or four
times a year; and that their usual food is composed of nothing but black
beans, rice, capsicums, and maize flour? Have you forgotten our dinner
yesterday?"
"I fancied that we had arrived too late for the first course, and that
all the meat had been used. But shall we live on beans the whole of our
journey?"
"No; our meals will not be quite so regular as you seem to think. Yet we
shall have plenty of meat when we have been lucky in shooting, a little
rice when we have been unfortunate, and fried beans whenever chance
throws in our way any inhabited hut."
"And we shall have to go without dessert?" said the child, making up his
face into a comical pout.
"Oh no, Chanito, there will be dessert to-day," replied l'Encuerado.
"Perhaps as good as the cook would provide at home; but, at any rate, it
is sweet enough. Look at it!"
The Indian girl brought a calabash full of water, and a cone of black
sugar, weighing about half a pound.
"What is that?" cried Lucien.
"_Panela_," answered the Indian girl.
"Poor man's sugar," interposed Sumichrast. "The manufacture of white
sugar, which you saw yesterday, costs a good deal, for the laborers
employed to make it have to work night and day, and thus it becomes
expensive. Now, some sugar-makers avoid all this outlay, and they merely
boil the juice, so that it will harden in cooling. This dark-colored
sugar costs about one-half as much in making as the other."
"I can well believe it," said the child; "but it contains all that nasty
scum which we saw."
"That makes it the nicer," said l'Encuerado; "it has a richer flavor."
And taking a morsel of the _panela_, he soaked it in the water in the
calabash and sucked it.
When Lucien saw that we, too, imitated the Indian, he soon made up his
mind to do likewise, the sweet taste overcoming his repugnance.
When we had finished, our young companion was anxious to know how
charcoal was made. Sumichrast led him close to a recently-felled oak,
the small branches of which an Indian was cutting into pieces two or
three inches long, by means of an instrument something like an enormous
pruning-knife. A little farther, on the open ground, two men were
collecting these pieces of wood in circular rows. This pile was already
seven feet in circumference, and about the same in height, although it
was not half finished. Lucien could easily see this when he approached
the Indian who was looking after the lighted furnace, in which the wood,
completely covered with earth, formed a kind of dome, from the summit of
which a blue flame was hovering, proving that the mass inside was in a
red-hot state. The Indian kept walking round and round the furnace,
plastering damp earth on any holes through which the flame started. For,
as Sumichrast properly observed, a charcoal of good quality must be
smothered while it is being burned.
"Suppose the fire went out?" said Lucien.
"Then all the work must be begun over again."
"But the fire might burn only one side."
"They would then have badly-burned charcoal, nearly half wood, which
would cause a bad smell when it was used. The wood in the oven we are
looking at will be entirely charred to-night; for the fire, which was
lighted at the centre, is trying to break through all round the outside.
Before long the Indians will cover up the opening at the top, over which
the blue flame is hovering. The fire will then be quite deprived of air,
and soon afterwards go out. In about eight days your mamma may perhaps
buy this very charcoal which you have seen burned."
"Suppose the charcoal went on burning?"
"Then the Indian, to his great vexation, would find nothing left but
ashes. But he will take good care not to lose the fruit of his labor. He
will use as many precautions to prevent the fire burning up again as he
does now to hinder it going out."
A little farther on a man was filling up his rush bags with charcoal
which had cooled. As it would take him more than one day to reach the
town, he was lining his sacks with a kind of balm, the penetrating odor
of which always announces, in Mexico, the approach of a
charcoal-carrier. This plan is adopted to preserve the charcoal from
damp.
"When I used to see the Indians carrying on their backs their four
little sacks of charcoal," said Lucien, "I had no idea that they were
obliged to live in the woods, and cut down great trees to procure it;
and that they had to pass several nights in watching the oven."
"No more idea, perhaps," I replied, "than the little boys in Europe have
of the sugar-cane plantations; and that without the plant all those
beautiful _bon-bons_, which delight the sight as much as the taste,
could not be made."
"But, papa, haven't I heard you tell the Mexicans that in France they
make sugar with beet-root?"
"Yes, certainly you have; and, in case of need, it might be extracted
from many other roots, plants, or fruit; but beet-root alone yields
enough sugar to repay the trouble of extraction."
It was quite time for us to be off; so I put an end to the ceaseless
questions of the young traveller.
Our host told me that if we went on along the same path which had led us
to their place, we should come, in less than two hours, to a hut
situated on the plateau of the mountain. The Indians certainly seemed to
forget that Lucien's short legs might delay our progress.
[Illustration]