from saltillo to jaral.—a journey by diligence.—peculiarities of diligence travel.—brigandage; how the government suppressed it.—robbers turned into soldiers.—stories of brigands and their work; their treatment of prisoners.—a case of politeness.—dinner at a way-side inn.—chile con carne.—description of chihuahua.—the santa eulalia mines; romantic story of their discovery.—torreon and lerdo.—cotton in transit.—statistics of cotton in mexico.—fresnillo.—calera.—a bad breakfast.—arrival at zacatecas.—lodged in an old convent.

bright and early the next morning our friends were ready for the journey to jaral, where they were to connect with the train on the international railway to carry them farther into mexico. the distance is about forty miles, and was to be made by diligence, as the railway from jaral to saltillo was not then completed. they by no means regretted this, as a ride in one of these vehicles would be a novelty. the boys had read and heard a great deal about diligence travel in mexico, and were more than willing to have an experience of it.

departure of the diligence.

the start was made about seven o'clock in the morning, and there was a considerable crowd in the street to see them off. the arrival and departure of the diligence is an event in a mexican town, though less so than it was before the days of the railway. it is probable that by the time this book is in the hands of the reader, the locomotive will have a finished track between saltillo and jaral, and the diligence will be known no more, except as a relic of past days. those who have been jolted for hours and days in these heavily built carriages and over bad roads will give the heartiest kind of a welcome to the new order of things. the diligence will long continue on many of the side roads in mexico, where it will not pay to build the railway, just as the stage-coach still exists in parts of the united states; but the great through routes have lost it for all time.

immediately on their arrival at saltillo, before going to buena vista, doctor bronson secured places for the trio in the diligence for jaral; at the diligence offices all through mexico, the rule of "first come first served" is followed as in a steamship or a pullman car, and when the vehicle

[pg 67]

is full the traveller whose place is unsecured must wait for the next journey, extra carriages being very rarely put on. if the weather is good, an outside seat (el pescante) is decidedly preferable, as it affords a much better view of the scenery along the route. american tourists generally take the chances of the weather, and select outside places; but the native, who does not care for the prospect, and desires nothing beyond making the journey as speedily as possible, is quite content with the inside (el interior).

on the road.

mexican roads are bad, and mexican carriages are constructed with a view to withstanding all the shaking that a rough road can give. the

[pg 68]

result is that at the end of a long journey the traveller feels very much as though he had been passed through a patent clothes-wringer or an improved threshing-machine. but no such fear troubled our friends, as the distance to jaral was but forty-two miles, and the schedule time for the journey seven hours. the road was bad enough, it is true, but the youths heeded the advice of doctor bronson, and consoled themselves with the reflection that it might have been a great deal worse than it was.