It was a kind of comfort to see now and then some trincheras in these desolate regions.

At four o'clock we camped on a steep place amidst poor grass, and only a trickling of water in the bed of a little rill.
Here, at last, the men whom I had sent to Nacori for provisions overtook us, bringing eighteen dollars' worth of panoche, and two and a quarter fanegas of pinole.

Measuring by fanegas was then still in vogue in Mexico; a fanega equals about sixty-four kilograms.
This, the messengers stated, was all that the women would grind for us.

Twenty of them had been set to work to fill our order, and when they had laboured until their hands were tired, they declared they would grind no more; and if the _caballeros_ in the mountains wanted further quantities, they should come and make mills of themselves.

From this we judged that their tempers had risen in proportion to the heaps of pinole they were producing, and that they did not bless the day when we had come into their peaceful valley, since it meant so much hard work for them.
Though we were now provisioned for some time to come, I was anxiously looking forward to the day when we should reach the eastern side of the sierra.