us, and the clouds plunged over and downward as well as in the direction of the flow of the main mass.  No one in the town recognized us.  Supper and a night’s lodging were readily supplied, but when we wished to secure new animals for the onward journey, there was difficulty.  They were promised, indeed, for seven o’clock, but it was long after eight before we saw any signs of their appearance.  Remonstrating, we were told that there was other business to attend to, and that the town officials could not devote themselves to us.  With great difficulty, by 10 o’clock all preparations were made, and we started on the journey.  The animals were not bad, but we had been told that there were eight leagues of hard road between us and Tepanapa, and six more from there to San Juan Zautla, our destination; we were told that we should spend the night at Tepanapa, reaching Zautla the second day.  As we left the town we overtook a funeral procession on its way to the little hill-crest cemetery which we passed soon after.  At first the road was good, gradually ascending.  It led us up a rising pine-covered crest, with a little hollow of deciduous trees in the midst.  We were again getting into a region where the great hills presented two differing slopes, one dry, pine-clad; the other moist and covered with the dense tropical forest.  We soon found ourselves upon the damp slope in a forest, almost the counterpart of those with which we were familiar in the land of the Mixes.  Great oaks were loaded with bromelias and dotted with orchids; ferns of many beautiful kinds grew along the roadside.  Unlike the forest of the Mixes, the trees here were hung with masses of golden-yellow moss, presenting a curious and mysterious aspect.  From here, the trail descended rapidly over surfaces of slippery stone and patches of mud; the air was heavier and heavier with moisture.  Ferns abounded, and presently great tree ferns were to be seen, here and there, in all directions.  Shortly, our road was through a true gorge, where the footing for the horses was precarious.  Great masses of lycopods of several species covered the rocks and little round tufts of a dark green plant with feathery foliage dotted the decaying tree trunks.  The descent seemed endless, and for more than two hours we descended deeper and deeper into the dampness and darkness.  It was six o’clock when we came out upon a slope where the trail was easier and almost level, and it was after dark before we reached the first hut of the miserable ranchito of Tepanapa.  Checking our horses, we called, but received no answer.  Sending our mozo to the house, we asked for food and shelter, but were refused everything, as they said that they were in bed.  A little lad, however, agreed to show us to the next hut, and we followed him as well as we could in the darkness and over the slippery road, some rods further.  We found there two empty huts within an enclosure, and, taking possession of one, brought in our things out