chairs. A tablecloth served also for napkins, and the dishes were of many patterns, colors, and degrees of dirtiness. It seemed absurd to call for a clean plate; but we did so, to see what would happen. Besides our own party of four, we had a padre and an Italian as fellow-boarders; and a little observation of the habits of these polite friends helped us much in our new circumstances.

A large tame duck used to waddle under my chair, and at last would take bits of tortilla from my hand. Several mangy dogs and cats had to be driven out whenever we sat down to eat; but the hens were not disturbed, for they contributed so much to our larder that they were privileged, and one nested in an old felt hat on a corner shelf, while another came cackling out of one of the dark bedrooms that opened on either side. In spite of all these drawbacks, we liked the cookery, and did ample justice to it.

As the ancient Romans in their luxury had entertainment for the eye as they reclined at meat, we in our simplicity had a constantly moving panorama at our street door. Stout Carib women, straight as one could wish, walked by, with every burden, however insignificant, balanced on the head. Half a pound of sugar or a dose of salts would be placed above the turban as surely as would a heavy jar of water or a house-timber. Some fine forms, both of men and women, made part of this procession; and the latter wore garments short at either end, fastened over one shoulder only, and displaying the bust perfectly. A soldier came along once in a while, but only his cap and musket told his class. Boys wrestling but seldom fighting, dogs fighting for a bone,

helped us to prolong our meal. It was difficult to make the boys understand that they must not spit on the floor as they handed us the dishes. A large brick oven in the courtyard furnished bread for a number of families, and good bread.

In our walks about the town we were often politely invited into the houses, and so had a chance to see the cassava bread making. The tuberous roots of the manioc (Manihot utilissima) often attain a weight of twenty or thirty pounds, and are full of a poisonous juice, deadly when swallowed. A mahogany board is provided, into which broken crystals of quartz are inserted, and this serves to grate the root into a coarse meal, which is washed carefully (the starch is partly removed, and settles in the water as tapioca), and is then placed in a long sack of basket-work, called very appropriately serpiente. This ingenious press is fastened at one end to a house-beam, while on a lever placed through the loop at the other end all the children of the family sit in turn, or together if they are small; and the squeezed mass is dexterously made afterwards into flat loaves about three feet in diameter, and not more than a quarter of an inch thick, dried, and then baked. The result is a wholesome and very nutritious bread, which keeps a long time and is capital on an excursion. Later on, when our own housekeeping was in order, we found it made excellent puddings, and was better than crackers in soup; while in the woods it was indispensable. It is also a capital diet in dyspepsia, can be eaten in sea-sickness when all other food is rejected, and serves to fill out the bony outlines of an emaciated human frame better than anything else. The clean white loaves can be easily exported, and are very