Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-05-30
oaverns would be the Mecca of curiosity

caverns would be the Mecca of curiosity
| hunters. There is every reason why this
region should become the health resort OF
| America-eXcept the one important con-
i sideration of hotel accommodations. The
! Journey hither IS most delightful. Turing
| the traveller onward by ever-interesting
attractions; the atmosphere IS the fneat III
| the world, especially during the mild and
balmv winters, and the life-giving hot
| springs Of FL Topo Chico, near Monterey,
| are pronounced by medical experts to be
| superior to those of Arkansas. Virginia or
Carlsbad. But it needs some Anglo-Saxon
| enterprise 10 prepare the way for the on
coming host of health-SeekerS and make
them comfortable when arrived. The
! Mexican cuisine with its eternal grease
! garlic and chill, is enough to rain the
! digestion of an ostrich, and the pale inya-
lid would soon succumb to its terrors.
/ But 70 return TO our party, whom We
! left, ike Moses, on the mountain top. No
/ pen can paint that homewarl Journey
! First the sliding of our horses over the
loose stones that strew the precipiccs, and
then that endless road to town. Within
half the distance we gave out, aCknoWl-
edged ourselves unable to 20 another stem.
ANONYMOUSLY Slid from cur saddles, ami
sat down by the dusty roadside to await
| the return Of the guide who had been sent
ahead for 4 coach. But coaches are not
always obtainable III these small hamlets,
and when found the invariable Mexican
Dl0nGHa (to-mOwow), lnterfercs with dis
patch. II was 10 o'clock before the wei
come sound of hoofs was heard and mean.
while dinneTleSs and supper,ess party
perch6d by the wayside amid q waste Of
cactus, watching the stars as they came ont
one by one and winked at us in derision,
and the tardy moon sailed up over the
mountain tops to light the way for hungry
coyotes to these daughters Of Jerusalem
whose harps were tigurat;yely hung upon
the willows
As our train was long since gone, there
was no alternative but 10 make q night Of
1t Ill the comforuess village Being no
hotel, there was but one thing TO dO.-and
We did it-viz, raided a Mexican casa and
took possession. Somewhere in the "wee
sma hours supper was served, the morn
ing , Dlejlu repeated, with no variation. As
the mansion contained but one apartment,
we could not rest our wearied bones il bed,
but sat upon the floor till daylight, with
aching backs against the wall.
Betsy. said l. earnestly, It was oar
duty, and We did; but if We live through
this we will never DO it again" Not for
y u
Even tie door step, four inches high. pre-
scented formidable obstacle 70 stiifened
muscles, and mounting into the coach was
!ittIcsless than mutyrdO1u. Every foot in
the rocky road called forth series Of ex-
carnations, and more than once The Ma
zepPa Of yesterday conGded to me that she |
never did like horseback riding, To this |
day Betsy and prefer saying our prayers |
IN standing posture, and preserve a |
SphlnX-hkc silence. with sundTy black-and +!
blue spots III our minds eye, whenever !
Pesquegi is mentioned.
High up in desoiatc canyon about SO !
miles from Monterey the traveller on the |
Mexican National Railway sees the ruins |
of an ancient casa, whose Crumbling walls |
are usually mistaken for one of the many |
lOrtihCations left in the wake of our Gen |
cral Taylor. But this gh0stly place has !
sadder history. II was the scene of a mid |
night tragedy, the actors il which-if sto- |
ries be truc-still prowl about the premises, |
though their bodies have been dust for q |
century or more. The story. III brief is |
this: About the year i7S1 proud-spirited |
Spaniard lived here, who inherited all the |
jealousy. suspicion and bad blood of his |
race. His beautiful wife. whom he once |
adorcd, had refused another sUitoI TO marry |
him, and the discarded lover determined |
and caused OthellO'a ears 20 be filled With |
cunning tales OF his own invention Jcal-
ousy once reused in Southern blood IS d |
madness that knows 10 bounds but death
The Infatuated husband carefully devised |
his plans, leigned business in Monterey,
but caused fleet b0rscs to be stationed every
five miles along the route. During the 81 !
lent watches OF The night he returned TO !
his home, murdered his gentle wife in her /
bed, and accomplished the l20 miles before |
day broke. tLyideudy mat ancient Span !
lard Was better rider than either Betsy or |
j. Being found next morning in Mon |
terey, nobody suspected the husband Of the |
crime. Bus the Gendiah Iago could !
not disguise his cyultation, and !
il the gushing confidence of
too much slc7rai tMexican tangle-foGti I
he disclosed the diabo,ical plot When |
convinced beyond doubt Of his wife inno-
ccuce, Othcllo plunged q poigHard into his |
mcuy's heart, ana theu iUtOh his own The
orphan children were taken to Monterey
and reared rs the Church, and to-day their
descendants represent some Of the most
prominent families Of the States Of Nueya
Leon and CuaLuila The deserted casa
stands a. a monument to the unhappy pair,
and the ventuTCs0mc WhO have visited il |
assert that gruans and screams are nightly |
heard in The lonely gorge, and that figures
are seen TO tiit about the aOlduriug walls |
FANNIE 3. WARD. |
Mexico May =. 1885. I