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Chapter 7
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Chapter 7 Before I move on to the account of a new journey, I would like the reader to know something more detailed about life in my little house in Huatusco. As I explained in the previous chapter, it lies secluded in a charming valley, a good quarter hour from the village to which a narrow stone path leads. I frequently wandered this path in order to visit some friends whom I will mention here. The first whom fate had thrown here was a German, Herr Wilhelm Ziehl, who with zealous industry had opened a small store and maintained his residence there. He knew most of the naturalists who had explored that region earlier, and I turned up at his house as often as I wished. I cannot sufficiently praise his extraordinarily pleasant personality, his highly honest and upright character, his kindness and hospitality; I will never forget them. I passed many pleasant hours with him, and in the process of my later return home we shared many small adventures. One afternoon it rained frightfully and the night was damp. Since I knew my narrow footpath well enough, I decided to make the trip without lighting . Concerned, however, Herr Ziehl forced a lantern upon me, and with this and a walking stick I took up my evening journey. The path, which led through a few deep ditches among dense undergrowth, was especially dirty and more than anything else slippery. I slowly climbed up the hill; unable to maintain myself on the extremely sheer place, I fell, tossed my beloved lantern on the ground, and sat in the ominous night on the road without knowing how I could have been reduced to such circumstances. At length I picked myself up, seized what remained of the lantern, and tried to set out on my way. But since I was at times in the underbrush, at other times at the edge of the road, I had reason to fear a dangerous fall. Moreover, I could see nothing at all, so that everything depended on my sense of touch, and as it happened I came down the hill more on all fours than on two legs. But my difficulties had by no means ended; for I had to pass a mountain stream that surged tempestuously near my house, and over which lay nothing more than a tree trunk, which served as a bridge. It was hard enough to balance on this trunk in the 78 / Part 1: Veracruz, Puebla, and Mexico daytime; at night it was nearly impossible. There remained no other option, therefore, than to sit on the tree trunk and ride over it, something that was a very safe but extraordinarily comical manner, over which we later laughed quite heartily. I recount these small adventures in order to show how often, and unexpectedly , one can find oneself in a highly difficult situation. I would need many pages to cover all these trifling episodes I experienced in the Americas. However,I cannot leave unmentioned a remarkable phenomenon that caught me by surprise. It was once more a gloomy night when suddenly the entire horizon lit up, and a fiery ball, which seemed to spit flames, traveled through the air from south to north with unbelievable speed. For a moment all things stood before me in a clear light. Such phenomena are not unknown in the tropics during the rainy season, and as it moved along with tremendous power, this heavenly occurrence seemed to me an altogether natural event. Beyond the family of Herr Ziehl, there were a few others of Spanish descent in that place, individuals whom I sometimes visited, and by whom I was well received. In particular I must praise Huatusco, since it is still one of the few Mexican towns that for the longest time has maintained lawfulness and a sense of integrity, something that seemed to be very much facilitated by its isolated location in the mountains. We now turn to the affairs of my own small household. The hut in which I resided lay in the midst of these tobacco fields, so frequently cultivated in Huatusco, and Herr Ghiesbrecht had earlier encircled it with a fence in order to be able to plant something different inside. Although it was now quite neglected , I spared no pains in decorating the surroundings as nicely as possible. In my free hours I planted palms, treelike ferns, small flowering beets, and banana groves. I hung lovely orchids on...