It led us up a rising pine-covered crest, with a little hollow of deciduous trees in the midst.

We were again getting into a region where the great hills presented two differing slopes, one dry, pine-clad; the other moist and covered with the dense tropical forest.

We soon found ourselves upon the damp slope in a forest, almost the counterpart of those with which we were familiar in the land of the Mixes.

Great oaks were loaded with bromelias and dotted with orchids; ferns of many beautiful kinds grew along the roadside.

Unlike the forest of the Mixes, the trees here were hung with masses of golden-yellow moss, presenting a curious and mysterious aspect.