FOREWORD
The term “gringo”—a word of vague origin, once applied with contempt to the American in Mexico—is now used throughout Latin America, without its former opprobrium, to describe any foreigner.
The Spanish “mañana”—literally “to-morrow”—is extremely popular south of the Rio Grande, where, in phrases suggesting postponement, it enables the inhabitant to solve many of life’s most perplexing problems.
This book covers various random wanderings in Mexico, Guatemala, Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. It deals with a romance or two, a revolution or so, and a hodge-podge of personal experience. The incidents of the earlier chapters precede, while those of the later ones follow, the author’s vagabond journeys recorded in “The Adventures of a Tropical Tramp,” and “A Beachcomber in the Orient.”
The chapter on the Yaqui Indians is published with the permission of the editor of “The Open Road.” The photographs of the Guatemalan revolution were taken by Roy Neil Bunstine, of Guatemala City.
CONTENTS
| [CHAPTER I] | On the Border |
| [CHAPTER II] | Bandits! |
| [CHAPTER III] | In Sleepy Hermosillo |
| [CHAPTER IV] | Among the Yaqui Indians |
| [CHAPTER V] | Down the West Coast |
| [CHAPTER VI] | Those Dark-eyed Señoritas! |
| [CHAPTER VII] | In the Days of Carranza |
| [CHAPTER VIII] | The Mexican Capital |
| [CHAPTER IX] | Intermission |
| [CHAPTER X] | The Land of the Indian Vamps |
| [CHAPTER XI] | Those Chronic Insurrections! |
| [CHAPTER XII] | Up and Down Guatemala |
| [CHAPTER XIII] | In Sunny Salvador |
| [CHAPTER XIV] | The Revolution in Honduras |
| [CHAPTER XV] | Where Marines Make Presidents |
| [CHAPTER XVI] | A Long, Long Way to Costa Rica |
| [CHAPTER XVII] | Adios! |
| [Transcriber’s Notes] |
ILLUSTRATIONS
- [A Chieftain Dressed for the Easter Ceremony of the Yaqui Indians]
- [In Those Days Trains Did Not Venture to Run at Night Across the Sonora Desert]
- [An Escort of Soldiers Occupied a Freight Car Ahead as a Precaution Against Bandits]
- [A Burro Train Laden with Bullion from the Mines]
- [La Colorada, Once the Home of Gold Mines, Now Served Only as a Depot for Trucks That Crossed the Desert]
- [Indian Women, Pounding Clothes upon the Rocks Beside a Shallow Brook, Ceased Their Work to Stare]
- [The Christ Was Represented by a Cheap Rag Doll Cradled in a Wicker Basket]
- [For Three Days the Indians Neither Ate Nor Slept, Refreshing Themselves Only with Mescal]
- [The Mexican Señorita Has Always Been Portrayed in Our Fiction as a Wild Vampire]
- [In the Days of Carranza One Frequently Saw a Bandit Hanging Around the Railway]
- [Pedro Zamorra Had Removed a Few Ties Where the Train Came Around a Bend]
- [So Worthless Were the Federal Troops That Many Americans Professed a Preference for Bandits]
- [The Orange Trees in Guadalajara’s Plaza Were Golden Throughout the Year]
- [Mexico City, One of the Most Ornate Capitals in the Western Hemisphere, Somewhat Resembled Paris]
- [The Mexican Pyramids Probably Antedate Those of Egypt by a Thousand Years or More]
- [In the Gardens of Xochimilco, Relics of an Aztec Paradise, Only the Cabbages Were in Bloom]
- [Mexican Policemen in White Spats]
- [No Latin-American Village Is So Tiny But That It Has a Square Devoted to Bartering]
- [The Mexican Peon So Loves the Excitement of the Market That He Refuses to Sell His Goods Elsewhere]
- [The Tehuana Maidens Regarded a Man as a Luxury Rather Than a Necessity]
- [The Abundant Central-American Volcanoes Fertilize the Coffee Fincas with Lava Dust]
- [Guatemala’s Population Includes a Million Pure-blooded Aborigines]
- [Occasionally the Resultant Earthquakes Knock Down a City or Destroy the Guatemalan Cathedral]
- [When Orellana Started a Revolution, President Herrera Made No Strenuous Objection]
- [The Only Casualties Were a Few Policemen Who Mistook the Revolution for a Disorderly Demonstration]
- [A Banana-Boat Loading on the East Coast]
- [In These Pleasant Tropical Countries No Peon Girl Escapes Maternity]
- [From His Palace the President Could Watch the Treasury to See That No One Stole the National Debt]
- [Soldiers Stopped a Pedestrian at Every Corner to Search for Weapons]
- [The Warship Rochester Had Anchored at Amapala on What Was Described as a Courtesy Visit]
- [The American Intervention Had Brought Peace, but Managua’s Dusty Streets Suggested no Prosperity]
- [If the American Marines Were Withdrawn from Nicaragua a Revolution Would Transpire Over-Night]
- [For Three Days the Boatmen Poled the Launch Through Shallows Framed in Rank Green Jungle]
- [Greytown Was a Typical East Coast Port—Low, Swampy and Unattractive—With Black Complexions Prevailing]
- [San José Contains the Most Delightful Plazas and the Most Beautiful Women in the World]
- [A Machine-Gun Tower Built by the Tyrant Tinoco]
- [In Its Interior Decoration the Costa Rican National Theater Equals Any Theater in the United States]