Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
and I noticed that he was very generous in his allowances of years, probably in hopes that we
would be the same with the tips.
In Oaxaca there was a great deal of excitement about the revolution. Under the arcades of
the town hall - a stately old building that dates back to the Spanish colonial times - bulletins
were placed on the walls, and crowds of men, many of whom wore the large, classical Mex-
ican sombreros and coloured ponchos with Aztec designs, were reading the latest news, or
listening to others doing this for them, whilst little groups stood near discussing the situation.
AlthoughIwasinvitedandalmostbeggedtoremaininthetownlonger,Ihadtothinkabout
movingalong,soafteradelightfulweekIwasagainreadytoseeifwecouldaccomplishwhat
I considered would be the last problematic and really difficult lap, that is to say, the trip from
thistowntoPuebla.Ofcourse,IguessedthatallwouldnotberosesfromtheretotheU.S.bor-
der, for there are large stretches of uninhabited semi-desert towards the north but, compared
with what we had already been through, I thought the northern regions of Mexico would be
relatively easy to cross.
ThemilitaryauthoritiesinOaxacahadbeenparticularlyattentiveandkindtome,andwhen
I left I was accompanied by a fresh escort. The horses they had were 'green' and only half
tame,andtomakethingslivelier,someofthesoldierswerenohorsemen-infact,oneofthem
had never ridden before. As soon as we were out in the open country the horses began to act
worse than ever, and at times I might have believed myself to be at a Wild West Show. Those
of us who were accustomed to the saddle, or who were lucky enough to be mounted on tame
animals, had plenty to laugh at, and every now and again we had to chase after a horse which
had 'unloaded' his would-be rider. Possibly it was due to carelessness, or owing to the fact
that the animals were too wild, that none of them had been shod, and the result was that some
horses began to go lame when their hoofs had worn down on the rocky ground.
The Federal Army, to which my new escort belonged, was on the
qui vive
, for it was ex-
pected that General Serrano of the revolutionary force, which was bottled-in near Vera Cruz,
might attempt to escape by crossing the mountains and forests towards the Pacific coast.
It was evident that my escort, with horses in such condition, could not make the journey
over the mountains that now lay before us. When we prepared to spend the night in the police
station of the village we had reached the soldiers made sure that the horses would not disap-
pear overnight by packing them into the fair-sized jail and then locking it! The unfortunate
animals were wedged together like sardines and were given nothing to eat until morning, and
theofficersaiditwoulddothemgoodtofastandsufferalittle, asthiswaslikely totakesome
ofthe
brios
(spirit)outofthem.TheescortwasnotsorrywhenIexplainedthatIwouldsooner
travelalone,andwhenIpointedoutthattheirhorseswereunfitformountaintravel,especially
without shoes.
