They talked to me as if they had known me all their
lives, acted as my guides and showed me all there was to see. They
generally followed me in a row, with their arms round each other's
neck in a most affectionate way, and I never heard any of them use
one angry word amongst themselves. The few days that I spent here,
I wandered through the narrow lanes and collected a few birds and
butterflies. These lanes were very dusty at the time, and were hemmed
in with an uninteresting shrubby growth on each side. The country round
Florida Blanca was for the most part covered with rice-fields, which,
at the time of my visit, were parched and covered with short stubble,
this being the dry season. I was not very successful in my collecting,
and looked forward to my visit to the mountains, which I could see
in the distance, and which appeared well covered with damp-looking
forests. I noticed quantities of white egrets, which settled on the
backs of the water buffaloes. I would often pass these water buffaloes
with their heads sticking out of a way-side pond of mud and water. They
were generally used for drawing the curious wagons of the country,
which were rather like those one sees in Mexico, with solid wooden
wheels.
Pages:
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87