Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
AN ESCORT THROUGH BANDIT
-
INFESTED REGIONS
When these soldiers - who escorted the author through
bandit-infested regions in Mexico - got tired of walking they commandeered donkeys from owners
along the route.
ThereisagoodroadtoOaxaca,andasthemenwerenotinconditiontoproceedIleftthem
nextmorningandcontinuedalone.Itwasquiteachangetobebymyselfoncemore,andIhad
a better chance to observe things as I went along. I have been asked countless times if I did
not find it dull and lonely to be on my own out in the wilds. Although very talkative when
in company of friends, I never feel in the slightest dull when I am alone. The company of a
horse or a dog is a wonderful thing, and with Mancha and Gato I never felt the want of any
better.Theworkoffeedingandlookingafterthemhaditsrecompense,fortheyhelpedtopass
many hours away that would otherwise have been - excuse the expression - an empty hell.
Usuallytherewassomuchtoseeandtodothatthedayspassedlikesomanyhours,andmany
a long conversation did I hold with the horses, who were always glad to hear my voice. They
learnt to understand quite a few words; thus they would prick up their ears and look around
nervously if I asked them
que hay
? (what's up?), or they would sniff the air if I said
puma
(South American lion).
Chuck-chuck
meant fodder, and
agua
water, and these they knew as
well as a baby does 'daddy' and 'mummy'; if I happened to say,
vamos
,
vamos
, they woke up
and stepped out faster, and a slow
bueno
never had to be repeated to make them stop.
The wide and sandy road towards Oaxaca was very busy the day I rode over it. Men and
women trotted along it on foot, others were mounted on burros, mules or horses, and covered
