IN THE CHINANTLA
(1900)
Once more we found ourselves in picturesque Cuicatlan. Walking up the familiar street, we again found lodging with Doña Serafina. Having settled, and taken a look out over the beautiful landscape visible through our windows, we interviewed the jefe politico, whom we we found the same nerveless, well-meaning individual as ever. After grumbling, and insisting that it was impossible to fit us out on such short notice, he finally promised that all should be ready the next morning. It was a sorry outfit that we found; one medium-sized mule for myself, and four small burros for the other members of the party. A boy from the jail was sent with us as mozo to carry our instruments. It was still early when we started through the hot, sandy, flat land, covered with gigantic cactus trees, which swarmed with little birds of many beautiful kinds. We soon began to climb the great, red rock cliffs, up, and up, and up, endlessly. We had forgotten how long the road was; but it was longer than ever on account of the beasts we rode. Long before we reached Papalo, Manuel and Louis were on foot, rather than longer submit to the torture of riding their little burros. As we neared the town, we were surprised to find a cloud effect almost as fine as that near Juquila in the Mixe country. Had it had clearly defined banks on both sides, its resemblance to a cataract would have been complete. As it was, there was no boundary back of the side towards us, and the clouds plunged over and downward as well as in the direction of the flow of the main mass. No one in the town recognized us. Supper and a night's lodging were readily supplied, but when we wished to secure new animals for the onward journey, there was difficulty. They were promised, indeed, for seven o'clock, but it was long after eight before we saw any signs of their appearance. Remonstrating, we were told that there was other business to attend to, and that the town officials could not devote themselves to us. With great difficulty, by 10 o'clock all preparations were made, and we started on the journey. The animals were not bad, but we had been told that there were eight leagues of hard road between us and Tepanapa, and six more from there to San Juan Zautla, our destination; we were told that we should spend the night at Tepanapa, reaching Zautla the second day. As we left the town we overtook a funeral procession on its way to the little hill-crest cemetery which we passed soon after. At first the road was good, gradually ascending. 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. From here, the trail descended rapidly over surfaces of slippery stone and patches of mud; the air was heavier and heavier with moisture. Ferns abounded, and presently great tree ferns were to be seen, here and there, in all directions. Shortly, our road was through a true gorge, where the footing for the horses was precarious. Great masses of lycopods of several species covered the rocks and little round tufts of a dark green plant with feathery foliage dotted the decaying tree trunks. The descent seemed endless, and for more than two hours we descended deeper and deeper into the dampness and darkness. It was six o'clock when we came out upon a slope where the trail was easier and almost level, and it was after dark before we reached the first hut of the miserable ranchito of Tepanapa. Checking our horses, we called, but received no answer. Sending our mozo to the house, we asked for food and shelter, but were refused everything, as they said that they were in bed. A little lad, however, agreed to show us to the next hut, and we followed him as well as we could in the darkness and over the slippery road, some rods further. We found there two empty huts within an enclosure, and, taking possession of one, brought in our things out of the mist, and soon had a fire built and a candle lighted. In vain we urged our mozo to hunt for food. He said that all the houses were empty, and, if perchance one were occupied, no one would turn out so late to supply us. All were extremely hungry, as we had eaten nothing since morning except a tortilla or two with some eggs as we rode along. Manuel, Louis and Frank slept in the loft, Ramon and I upon the floor below. The two mozos with the saddles slept in the other hut. The night was cold and the damp air penetrating. We arose early to go upon our way, but unfortunately yielded to the request of Louis and Ramon, permitting them to go in search of food. Two full hours passed before they returned with a few tortillas and two eggs; so that it was half-past-eight when finally we started.
The road was slippery and muddy, descending constantly; a large portion of the way was through woods: at the
SAN JUAN ZAUTLA
bottom of the slope we found ourselves by a fine brook, which we forded. Then began an ascent as precipitous, slippery and unpleasant. The trail followed the bank of the stream. Passing through a dense jungle of vegetation, where the air was hot and wet, the flora was characteristic. Trees with large, coarse, broad pods enclosing two or three great seeds, trees with acorn-shaped red fruits, quantities of sensitive plants covered with pink flowers, occasional orchids bearing flowers of brilliant flame color, and vines with lovely blue pea-flowers made up the bulk of the tangled growth through which we passed. At two places we crossed pretty streams, with cascades and narrow gorges, opening on to the gorge along the sides of which we were travelling; where these streams crossed our trail there were great masses of caladiums with their leaves of green velvet. We passed two little coffee plantations, the first of which was sadly neglected and overgrown with weeds, the second neatly kept. From this we rose again, and having gained the summit, looked down upon the village of San Juan Zautla.
Riding to the town-house, we met the presidente and secretario, the latter an intelligent fellow, who told us that the town was dwindling, numbering at present but 80 contribuentes. He ordered a capital dinner for us of chicken, fried bananas, eggs, frijoles, tortillas and coffee. Though the secretario was intelligent, the presidente was otherwise. He was good-natured, but a fool. With pride he frequently remarked, "yo soy presidente" (I am president). Then he whispered and mumbled, kissed my hand, assumed an air of great intelligence, and walked off with a peculiar tottering movement. These performances took place not once or twice, but every time the official made his appearance. Having fed us, the secretario disappeared, and did no more for us. While waiting for him, our attention was attracted by a curious drumming noise. It was due to women who were beating cotton. At the first house we visited we found three women all busily occupied. An old woman sitting in the doorway was spinning thread; a second, somewhat younger woman with a baby in a blanket on her back, sitting on the ground, was weaving cloth; a third woman sat, with a great cushion of moss in a bag of matting on the ground before her, over which was spread a deer-skin on which was laid raw cotton, which she briskly beat with beaters made of five or six divergent sticks fastened together at one end. Such beating sticks are called mapaho; one is held in each hand, and the beating is briskly done, alternately with one and the other; the beating is intended to spread the raw cotton into a thin and even sheet before it is spun into thread. Returning to the town-house, we began our work, but were soon interrupted. The town is situated on a slope over which the houses are scattered. From the porch of the municipal house where we sat, we could see several huts upon the slope above. Groups of women and children gathered on the little terraces before the houses to look down upon us at our work. The presidente and other officials had gone to bring us subjects, when we heard an outcry upon one of these terraces. A man cried out to the officials; struggled, apparently with a woman, then fell. The police rushed up the path. A moment later a surging crowd of a dozen persons were struggling together with cries and shouts. In spite of the commands of the segundo secretario, we started for the scene of the disturbance, but long before we reached the spot, met a big topil with his head cut open and blood streaming down his face, soaking his garments. His arm was thrown around another man's neck, whose wrist he held, dragging him thus a prisoner toward the jail. Two others followed, holding a bad-looking little man between them. The two had fought, and when the topil tried to take them, the little man, seizing a rock, split open his head. The two persons were thrust into the jail and a guard set. Great effort was made to find the stone with which the blow was dealt, in order that it might be used as evidence. The secretario told the topil not to staunch nor wash the wound. With natural curiosity, the presidente and other men were clustered around the jail, looking in at the prisoners, when the segundo secretario ordered them from the door.
This man is a strange one. He is a Cuicatec, who married a Chinatec wife. He is little, but important. He ever carries a queer old sword. When he first appeared before us, he impressively said, "No tengas cuidado" (Have no care.) He told us that our comfort and our orders should be cared for, even though we were in a pueblo of mere brutes, unreasoning beings; he should charge himself and the officials with our needs. There were scarce three hours of daylight in the afternoon, and night set in chilly and damp. Meantime, the secretario, the segundo, the presidente and the topils, all had disappeared. In vain we urged that arrangements should be made for fuel, for beds, and for a mozo, whom we had ordered should be supplied to accompany the man from Papalo back to that town with the horses. It was now dark and late, with no sign of attention to our wishes. Through the darkness, we picked our way over a muddy road, slippery and soaked with water, to the secretario's house, where we forcibly made known our wishes, and said that attention must be paid to them. Before we got back to the town-house our shoes were soaked with water and heavy with mud, while our clothing was soaked through with moisture from the air filled with mist and drizzling rain; and this in the midst of the dry season!
During the afternoon, we had seen a curious-looking indian, dressed in a red flannel shirt, white drawers and a cap, but with the regular red Chinantec neck-cloth. He was a Mixtec from San Francisco Huitzo, who is in charge of the well-kept little coffee finca which we passed upon the road. He showed us a bottle of coffee essence of his manufacture. It was a heavy, oily, clear liquid which I understood he had distilled from a weaker and darker coffee extract. It was exceedingly strong, and was supposed to be used for making coffee, a small quantity of the essence being put into a cup with hot water and sugar. He desired us to test this, but a look at it was quite sufficient. He was a handy fellow, and did much to hasten the fulfillment of our orders. Under his direction, sleeping mats were brought, and he, himself, served our supper, when finally it was ready. We were so tired that directly after supper we laid down upon the mats spread on the damp earthen floor. We had hoped to start our man from Papalo back with our horses early; the officials had promised that the mozo to accompany him should be ready; but, of course, neither breakfast nor mozo was to be seen. So we again started for the secretario's house. The secretario himself was lying drunk in bed, and the segundo was almost as bad. In vigorous words I made known my dissatisfaction. The segundo, with his sword in one hand and tortillas in the other, almost too drunk to walk, led us to the town-house and summoned the people before him. He thundered forth his orders: "You dogs, children of a degraded race! Wretched brutes! What do you mean? Why are you not bringing in breakfast for these gentlemen? Eggs, tortillas, frijoles, chicken? Why are you not supplying them? Obey his order. Fulfill your duty. You hear? If you do not fulfill your duty, you shall be punished. Hear and obey at once." Under this impulse the men started and breakfast was soon disposed of.
Work being slack, the boys went bird-hunting. Manuel fetched in a rara avis, a little old man of 95 years, who had an extra thumb on his right hand. Notwithstanding the small population of the town, there were three cases of extra digits. In addition to this old man with his extra thumb, two persons in the town each had an extra toe upon one foot. We have already stated that the presidente of the village was a fool. He had plenty of companions. One of the men, who made himself quite useful to us was an imbecile; he crossed himself, kissed our hands, nodded his head, and told us the most surprising things in regard to the subjects whom he brought before us. In connection with each case he cried and carried on at a great rate, and finally insisted that he was going to bring me a raw egg as an offering of friendship, which he did. One of his subjects was his cousin, who was both idiotic and a deaf-mute. My impression was that there were several cases of deaf-mutism in the village. One man, whenever any of our party spoke to him, or in any way turned our attention to him, piously and vigorously crossed himself, grimaced and gesticulated as if in a fit. One man, who seemed exceptionally intelligent, after he had seen us make a plaster bust of one of his townfellows, stated with great delight, that it was an idol, representing Jesus Christ, and that we were going to use it in the church. Unlike any other indian town we have visited, there is not even the pretence of an open school in this place. Nowhere else have women and children showed so great a fear of us and our work. From the moment that I showed an interest in the mapaho, the beating of cotton ceased, and the village was quiet. At no time during our stay did women or children come to the town-house. Shortly after sending back our horses to Papalo, we found that there were no animals for riding in San Juan Zautla. Fortunately, our next point, San Pedro, was but two leagues distant, and rather than wait until animals could be brought from Cuicatlan, we decided to walk. The night before we were to leave, we made arrangements for our carriers. The secretario had set the price at two reales a man; four were ordered, and an early hour set for the departure. When the time came, our men were in open rebellion. They refused to go upon the journey. We told the town officials that, if these men failed us, they themselves must do the work. The men were really scared, and stated that the people of San Pedro had threatened to kill us all, if we came to their town. In vain we argued—they were sure that the whole party were going to their doom. For such a paltry sum no man would risk his life. At last, however, the officials decreed obedience, and our party started. At first we led the company and the carriers came behind. The road led straight down the mountain-side to a brook, and then up the opposite side to the summit, just beyond which lay our goal. As we started, he who had recognized the bust of Jesus insisted upon accompanying us a way for friendship, and on the journey made various wise remarks regarding the busts. Hardly had we started when our men again rebelled; they would not make the journey for the price agreed upon, the risk was too great; they must be paid more, if they went at all. I felt that patience had ceased to be a virtue. Telling them that we would no longer go ahead, we ordered them to take up their burdens and precede us, at the same time threatening to shoot them, if they stopped without permission. After marching along in this new order for a time, they indicated a desire to parley. They would carry their burdens to the foot of the hill, where they would leave them by the brook-side. We could then go on to the village of San Pedro and send back carriers to bring them. To this proposition we gave no encouragement. The descent was abrupt. At the bottom was a fine brook, with a hanging bridge of vines swinging from tree to tree across it. Here we stopped to drink the fresh cool water, cut some sugar-canes, catch butterflies, and take views. One of the trees from which the vines hung was a perfect mass of ferns, orchids and bromelias of many kinds. On the great slope back of us, toward the gap through which the brook had broken, were great cliffs of massive rock; otherwise the whole mountain slope was a sheet of richest green. The ascent was long and difficult, and the party went slowly, with many rests. It was amusing, how, even at this distance, as we mounted the slope, we could hear the constant beating of the mapaho in the village behind us, as if in rejoicing at our departure. As we neared the summit, our carriers again made signals of a desire to converse. They would fulfill their whole duty, and would carry their burdens to the town-house in San Pedro, but would we have the kindness, from here on, to take the lead? Oh, yes, we answered, we would take the lead, and they should see that nothing would happen. No one would harm us; we were not about to die.
To make a favorable impression, we asked for a drink of water at the first house we came to, and passed a greeting with the few men, women and children whom we met on our way into town. The greater part of the population was at church, where we found a service in progress, and we were obliged to wait until it was over before we saw the town officials. I told the secretario to summon the town government to the municipal-house, which was a small affair, no more than 15 or 18 by 20 feet, with walls of lashed poles and a palm roof. A narrow bench ran around the four sides, and two tables, one long and one short one, set at right angles, occupied the greater portion of the open space. A long wide bench was placed alongside of the larger. At one end there was a santo, in a little shrine decorated with flowers and leaves. A little fire was built upon the floor, over which wax was melting, in which candles were being dipped.
The secretario chanced to be a man whom I had met at Cuicatlan the year before. He recalled our work, and taking us to his own house, we soon had an excellent dinner. He seemed to be well-to-do, and had two houses built of slabs lashed vertically together. Nets full of jícaras, great stacks of corn neatly laid out, good tableware in quantity, and a kerosene-lamp, all were evidences of his wealth. We ate at a good table, in the house, where the corn was stored. The most astonishing thing, however, in the house was an old-fashioned piano, long beyond use. How it was ever brought over the mountains to this village is a wonder. When we asked him, what we were to pay for the dinner, he replied, nothing; that we would begin to pay later. The impression made upon us by San Pedro was more agreeable than that produced by Zautla. The town government is large and vigorous, comprising a dozen well-built young fellows. On account of the church festival, plenty of subjects had been brought together. We did not understand what the secretario expected, and therefore took up our quarters at the town-house. We paid dearly for our misunderstanding. We waited long for supper, but none came. The presidente and the older men were at church. The secretario was nowhere to be found. While we were waiting, the young fellows who were making candles, and a crowd of boys, crouched about the fire and watched the work. Presently they lay down a couple of serapes on the floor, and the whole group, eighteen or twenty in number, dropped down upon them, a perfect mass of humanity, packed close together in the most curiously twisted attitudes, and were fast asleep in no time. They had no covering, but seemed to keep each other warm. After they were fast asleep, some of the other men appeared, and we urged the bringing in of supper. A handful of tortillas and two fried eggs were not a hearty meal for six hungry persons, nor were our sleeping accommodations satisfactory. With difficulty we got some mats, and I lay down upon the smaller table, Frank on the larger, Louis and Manuel rolled up on the ground below the latter, and Ramon and the mozo on the long bench. Half a dozen of the older men remained sitting about the fire. It can be understood that the room was fairly full. The men made no pretense of sleeping until past ten o'clock, and two or three times during the night they broke out into loud conversation.
CHINANTEC GIRL SPINNING; SAN JUAN ZAUTLA
CHINANTEC WEAVING; SAN JUAN ZAUTLA
Just outside the town-house, under a thatched shelter, a group of old women were cooking atole in great ollas until a late hour. This gruel they ladled out to those men and boys who had been working, and doled out to them drinks from black bottles. The men and boys, with their red head-cloths or neck-cloths, went forth from time to time in groups upon some public errand. Towards evening, eight or ten little fellows came from the forest with bundles of firewood upon their heads and great machetes hanging at their sides. In the morning, the same group of youngsters came in loaded with bunches of green leaves and holly to be used in decorating the church. At eight o'clock there was a procession in the churchyard; the saint, dressed in flowing garments, was carried about, accompanied by banners and a band of music. During the festival, everyone drank; even the little boys of eight or nine years, who brought in their loads of wood, received their spirits, which they drank like old topers. There was no evidence of bad temper as a result of this drinking, but an increasing stupidity. When, in the morning, we found our breakfast to consist of nothing but coffee, we realized our mistake of the night before, and promptly betook ourselves to the house of the secretario, where we spent the following day. The demands of the church during the day were so heavy that we did little work. The day itself was dark and dismal. In the late morning the boys brought in great loads of poinsettia, from which they fashioned brilliant rosettes and garlands for the church. At night, a wooden platform was brought in for a bed, upon which Louis, Manuel and I slept, while the others made a bed of broad boards upon the floor. Being behind with his developing, Louis set to work as soon as the lights were out, and kept at it until half-past-one. Scarcely had he come to bed and promptly fallen asleep, when there was a pounding at the door, which was almost immediately after broken in. Rising, I called out to see what was wanted, and four or five indians, all very drunk, came staggering in. The oldest of the party carried a great machete, and one of them closely hugged a bottle full of spirits. After begging pardon for disturbing us, they built a smoky fire, near the drying negatives. Fearing that their drunken movements and the smoke would work disaster, I made them change their place of rest and fire, moving them to the other end of the room. There they built another fire, and, before morning, they had consumed three bottles of spirits. What with the firelight and smoke, the noisy laughter, the loud talking and constant movement, it was impossible for me to sleep. Only for a single hour, when they fell back upon the floor in drunken slumber, and their fire burned down, did I get a bit of rest. If seems that they were an official guard put to watch the town store of grain which was kept in the building, and which was subject to the depredations of animals. During the following day we completed our work upon Chinantecs. The type is one of the best marked. In the child, the nose is wide, flat at the tip, with a straight or even concave bridge; the eyes are widely separated and often oblique; the mouth is large, the lips thick and the upper lip projects notably beyond the lower; the face is wide, and flat at the cheek-bones. With age, this type changes, the nose becomes aquiline, and of moderate breadth, the upper lip becomes less prominent, the skin lightens.
For two days more, days of darkness, rain and cold that penetrated to the marrow, we remained prisoners in the village, waiting for the horses for which we had sent the day of our arrival. It was impossible to make photographs, nor was it feasible to look around the town, or into the adjoining country. The secretario, indeed, showed us the way in which spirits are distilled from the sap of sugar-cane, and we had ample opportunity to examine the dress of the people and the mode of weaving. All the women dress in garments of home-woven cotton, and the red head-cloths, so characteristic a feature of the dress of men and boys, are woven here from thread already dyed, bought in other places. The little figures of animals or birds or geometrical designs worked in them in green or yellow worsted are woven in, at the time of making the cloths, with bright bits of wool.
At last our animals appeared. They had been sent from Papalo, and we made arrangements, as we supposed, for using them through to Cuicatlan. The animals arrived at 9:30 in the morning and the mozo with them reported that the roads were bad from the constant rains of the past several days. We decided to leave that afternoon, stopping at Zautla for the night, and then, making an early start, to push through in a single day. The presidente, alcalde, and other town officials accompanied us to the border of the village, where they bade us adieu, begging for a real for drink. As we left, the sky was clear and the mists were rising from the valleys. For the first time we gained some idea of the beauty of the country all around us. The houses of the town are well built, with walls of poles or narrow slabs neatly corded together in a vertical position. The roofs are thatched with palm; they pitch sharply from a central ridge and the ends pitch also from the ridge in independent slopes. The top is crested with a comb of thatch, neatly applied. Off to the right from the village lay a magnificent valley, with massive rock walls clad with green forest. The low masses of clouds and great banks of mist but emphasized the impression made by those parts of the scene that were visible. Soon we had passed the ridge and looked down again into the Zautla valley. The road was not as bad as we had anticipated. As we made our upward climb, we found that the flame-colored orchids, few when we last passed that way, were out in quantity. They are a terrestrial species, and the colors are a beautiful combination of flame-red with chrome-yellow. The other day only the outer and lower flowers of the racemes were blown, but on this occasion the whole cluster was in bloom. We noticed strikingly, what had before suggested itself to us, that through this district flowers of certain colors mass themselves together. Thus, on this slope, the hundreds of bunches of flame-colored orchids were rivalled by clusters of a tubular flower perhaps an inch in length, of almost the same hues. Along the glen-road near Tepanapa all sorts of flowers seemed to be pink or flesh-colored, while along the jungle-bank, near the coffee plantation, everything was blue or purple. When we reached Zautla, neither the presidente, the secretario nor the segundo was in town. The big topil, whose head was healing, did the honors of the place. We had intended to make an early start, but it was half past six before we mounted and were on our way. Going back over the old road, we soon reached the little coffee finca in charge of our Mixtec friend, and here we left the familiar trail, for what our guide insisted was a better one. We struck up and up and up the slope to avoid little ravines which he assured us were very bad. At last, when it was certain that he had completely lost his way, we started down into the forest. For a time we followed a bad and disused trail, but soon even this disappeared, and we tore our way through the tropical vegetation as best we could. Often the men had to cut the way with their machetes; sometimes we slid for yards over the wet mud; frequently our heads were caught by hanging vines, and faces and hands were scratched with brambles. When at last we came out upon a cleared space, we found ourselves at the Chinantec village of Santa Maria. Perhaps there were four houses in the village.
Our appearance caused great excitement. Our pack-animals bade fair to destroy the maize and other plantings in the field. In the trail were oxen, which had to be gotten out of our way for fear of being driven to frenzy by our mere passing. They assured us that we were on the road to Tepanapa, so we completed the descent to the brooklet and started up a trail which at any time would have been steep, stony, slippery, all at once. We were compelled, finally, to dismount and lead our animals; Frank, before he did so, tumbled his horse three times down the bank. At one place two of the horses fell together in a struggling mass, and for a moment things looked serious. All the animals but my own fell, at least once, before we reached the summit. From there, it was an easy ride over a level district until we were in sight of Tepanapa, which, by sunlight, presented a most attractive appearance. The houses are spread over a gentle slope, to the very edge of a little barranca. Each had a little enclosure, with a group of banana plants. Butterflies of brilliant hues lazily flew about, and a few birds uttered their characteristic cries. We could not, however, delay. Before us lay a tremendous ascent; the first part, which we had passed after dusk, we found rougher than we realized; rock masses here were covered with a thick cushion of brilliant crimson moss, a kind of sphagnum. The gully trail had not been improved by the recent rains, and it taxed our animals severely to reach the summit. Arrived in the district of the trees loaded with beards of golden-yellow moss, we caught a magnificent view back over the valley. With one sweep of the eyes, we could almost follow our whole round of wandering. The ridges on which lay San Juan Zautla and San Pedro Soochiapan both were in sight, as were the valleys in which Santa Maria and Tepanapa lay. But the only actual feature which we could see and recognize was the little coffee finca this side of Zautla. The combination of green mountains, blue ridges and bare rock cliffs was grand. Here our road forked, and at this point we had a moment's excitement. We met an old indian man with a baby tied upon his back, and his old wife, carrying a burden, followed after. Before them a black bull was calmly walking. The moment the old man saw us, he waved his arms and cried out, in great excitement, "Toro, muy bravo!" (Bull, very fierce!) and hastened forward to catch the lasso wound round the horns of the beast to lead him out of our way. Just then the bull took matters into his own control, and, with a snort and plunge, started wildly away, dragging the old fellow at a wild run down the trail, finally whirling him and the baby into a heap by the roadside, while he himself took up the mountain-side. It was after dark before we reached Papalo.
After much grumbling, supper was prepared and a solemn promise given that we should leave at seven in the morning. When we were ready, no animals were to be seen. The presidente asserted that the price which we had paid was only to that point, and that if we wanted animals for Cuicatlan we must make a new arrangement. This was sheer blackmail, because there had been no misunderstanding in the matter, and a liberal price had been paid. After wrangling for an hour, we shook the dust of Papalo literally from our feet, and started to walk to Cuicatlan, telling the town authorities that our burdens must be taken by mozos to the cabecera before three o'clock, and that we should pay nothing for the service. Probably we should not have been so ready to take this heroic action if we had not remembered that the road was down hill all the way, and good walking. Still, fifteen miles is fifteen miles, and the sun was hot, and though we left at 8:30, it was two o'clock before we entered Cuicatlan. We had no adventures by the way, except the killing of a coral snake which lay in the middle of the road. At three the mozos with their burdens arrived, and felt it very hard that we kept our promise of paying nothing for their service.