Under ordinary circumstances, such a bivouac would have been no more than what we were all prepared to expect, but I had unfortunately been attacked at Catorce by a violent rheumatism in the left shoulder, which gave me excruciating pain towards morning, when a Norther came sweeping over the plain, shaking to its very foundation the frail tenement in which we had taken up our quarters, and carrying away the cloaks and mangas by which we attempted to protect ourselves from its violence. I seldom recollect having suffered more acutely than I did during this storm; and at daybreak, when we began to flatter ourselves with the hope of reaching more comfortable quarters, we found that our chance of being able to proceed at all was exceedingly precarious. As no maize could be procured for the horses and mules on our arrival, they were turned out to make the most of the Zăcātĕ, or long grass with which the plains about the Bŏzăl abounded; and the servants, instead of placing one of the party to watch their motions during the night, abandoned them entirely to their fate, conceiving that they would not wander far from the houses, and the great "tanque" in their vicinity, at which alone water was to be procured. The consequence was, as might have been foreseen, that in the morning not a single animal was to be found; and although a few of the most quietly disposed were discovered at no great distance, and secured, yet even with their assistance it took the servants the whole of the early
