Dismounting from our mules, we entered the open door, and here we found
two Frenchmen dressed in sailor costume, with a quantity of coarse
shirts, pantaloons, stockings, and other small articles, together with
_aguardiente_, which they designed retailing to such of the natives in
the vicinity as chose to become their customers. They were itinerant
merchants, or pedlars, and had opened their wares here for a day or two
only, or so long as they could find purchasers.
Having determined to remain here the residue of the day and the night,
we inquired of the Frenchmen if there was any family in the place that
could furnish us with food. They directed us to a house on the opposite
side of the plaza, to which we immediately repaired. The senora, a
dark-skinned and rather shrivelled and filthy specimen of the fair sex,
but with a black, sparkling, and intelligent eye, met us at the door of
the miserable hovel, and invited us in. In one corner of this wretched
and foul abode was a pile of raw hides, and in another a heap of wheat.
The only furniture it contained were two small benches, or stools, one
of which, being higher than the other, appeared to have been
constructed for a table.
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