Francisco the crowd was greater than at Tayug; and here was set out
for us another sumptuous tiffin, in a house built the day before for
this very purpose, of bamboo and nipa palm. Access to it was had by a
ladder and we sat down at a table, while the _señoras_ of the place
waited on us, every inch of standing-room being occupied by people
who had crowded in to see the performance of the Governor-General and
of his _comitiva!_ And perform we did--we had to! Ducks, chickens,
venison, _camotes_ (sweet potatoes), peppers, beer, red wine--no one
would have thought that but three-quarters of an hour before we had
just gone through the same thing. But it would have been the height
of discourtesy to give way to our inclination by showing a lack of
appetite; moreover, it is not often that a party is held in a house
built to be used merely one hour. So we did honor to the occasion,
but had to let out our belts before mounting immediately afterward.



CHAPTER III

Padre Juan Villaverde.--His great trail.--The beginning of
the mountain journey.--Nozo.


The point to which we had come, San Francisco, marks the beginning of
the Juan Villaverde trail from the Central Valley of Luzon through
the mountains before us, to the province of Nueva Vizcaya. All day
the chain we were to pierce had been in sight, and I for one had been
wondering where we were to find a practicable entrance, so forbiddingly
vertical did the range appear to be.