The Brunswick times. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 188?-1900, 1897-07-04
T the Editor of Tle Times;

San Nicolas del Orc Estado de Guerro,
Mexico, June /, 1S97.-Our much antic-
ipated, long talked of journey over two
mountain chains of Mexico, with its real
a fancied dangers and haJdships, is at
last an accomplished fact, and we find
ourselves safe and sound, after twelve days
OF mountain elm ing, coz!y keeping
house in cloudland on the side OF one of
the giants of the Sierra Madre del Sur.
That we occupied twelve days in making
the trip implies greater distance from
the metropolis of Mexico than really eX-
lists as all the members of onr party eX-
cept your correspondent and eel nino
grande," as our son is called, had severa
times made a record of but five days in
transit. This last expedition being more
in the nature of pleasure jaunt, time was
not an object, and we were also hampered
with i'm pediments in the way of baggage
bedding, a tent, servants and many ami
mails.
We left the City of Mexico Thursday
morning, May Goth, going by rail to Tolu-
ca, thoroughly Mexican town of consid-
cradle size, ten thousand feet above sea
level. Here we made a few additional
purchases for our outfit which we then
had conveyed by tramroad to San Juan de
los Huertas, where the iron road found its
termination, and where our mountain.
horses were awaiting us. Our first night
was spent here, twelve thousand feet high,
close to the snowy crest Of Mt. Toluca, in
a little Mexican hotel, and from here our
horseback journey began, by agreement at
five o'clock a. m, but in reality, after the
Mexican fashion of representation, at
two p. m.
Nothing in the way of beautiful noun
tain scenery a"d deliciously fresh noun
ia air could exceed our first days eXpe-
rience. 1t was the very breath of life that
filled our lungs, scented by the flower lad
en- bushes and trees of the mountain for
ests, with always new and varied "vistas'
opening panorama before rs. Our late
start was the first of series of well-laid
plans miscarried, and night overlook us
at a wretched hamlet, Comunidad, too late
to get our tent up and therefore dependent
on the rough hospital y of rock sharty
with mud floor and several millions
of feas to the square inch. But for all its
appearance of squalor, palatable dish
OF chicken and potatoes was served us,
with the never failing tortillos and frijOles
Knives and forks were supplied from our
saddle-bags as among these people tortil-
los always take the place of these articles
of cutlery, and often serve also as plates
so that instead of washing the dinner
dishes they are eaten at the last, as dessert.
Our pre-arranged start at five o'clock
the following morning resolved itself into
nine o'clock, so that after long hard
scramble over rocky trails all day we again
failed to make our stopping place, M son
Niego, before darkness overlook US and
once more we spent the night with the
tieaS in the best room of the least forbid
ding house, in the village. AS it was the
only room in the house, our hosts gave US
the hest they had, drove the chickens,
dogs and p gs out and themselves slept
under the shed.
The third day we did vast deal of
clambering and scram bling down noun
tain sides, through gorges along the rocky
ds of streams following aiwa's a trail
so ind stinct, rough and prenipltJus as to
make the name of Famine del rea" pub
l,c highway appear CHASTITY joke. Bur
70 pack trains are constantly passing over
the trail, and have been for hundreds of
years. Where the rock is soft, deep fur
rows have been worn by the t cad of their
sharp hoofs, but on the hard strata and on
the stones of The creek bottoms only no.
tceabe smoothness of the rocks indicate
the line of travel Apparently no work
has been done to fashion road except
where blasting has been necessary along a
precipitous mountain side to secure a shelf
wide enough for a h )rse's foothold.
The danger is on these narrow lodges
wnen mountain torrents laeve worn gull
lies across the paths, or loose stones prove
treacherous to the foot of the careful
beast. Quite as trying to the inexperien
ced rider are the extremely abrupt decliv-
tiles down which it seems impossible for
horse or rider to get without pitching head
long. More exciting still is it to come
suddenly in the marrow mountain path to
huge boWlder across the way, too big for
any horse to step over, a solid wall of rock
rising on oneside, sheer declivity descen-
ding on the other. There is not even room
for despair, or the horse, to turn round in
so the courageous beast under you gives
a peculiar humping motion, throws both
fore FEET high in the air, fastens them
on the rock above and, with another pow
erful muscular spring, he draws his hind
feet up and you a'e on top, much shaken
up, hol ling on TO the horses name with
one hand with death-like grip, and to
the aperture in the rear of the saddle with
the other. 1t is not hard to realize that
ones lite is in the strength, intelligence
and training of his mountain horse. /
watched the road for the bleaching bones
OF man and beast that had not Jared as
well as we were doing, but in all the Jour
ney saw no evidences of tragedy excert
one poor broken-legged burro abandoned
to die by the rocky way.
By night-fall Of the third day we
had descended several thousand feet from
our highest elevation, and were happv To
find a poO1 Mav;ooo bo4a1