In Indian Mexico (1908) Part 13

The _presidente_ stated that, at the _pueblito_ of Santa Maria, where we should go upon the morrow to see some Totonacs, they had just celebrated their annual _costumbre_. He said that it might be somewhat similar, as they had sent him a headless turkey, as a gift. In the morning, we visited this village accompanied by the two brothers. A half hour's ride brought us to the spot, from which one gets one of the most lovely views in all this picturesque country. Standing on the end of a little spur upon which the village lies, one sees the handsome river below, which separates this _municipio_ from that of Villa Juarez. To the left, rise magnificent mountains covered with brilliant green vegetation, broken here and there by bare rock faces, from the base of which gentle slopes, extending down to the river, are covered with little corn-fields.

Cuauhtepec, a Totonac pueblo, where all are said to dress in white, lies upon this stream, and immediately back from it the cultivated fields of the village stretch up to the very crest. To the right, is seen the little ranch Tanchitla, with its fields, a strip of green forest separating these from the fields of the next village, Tlapajualla. The stream abounds in fish of various kinds, which form an important food supply. They are, however, rapidly being destroyed by the practice of exploding dynamite cartridges in the water, by which not only the adult fish, but the young, of all ages, are killed. Unless the practice soon ceases, and there are rigid laws against it, there will soon be no fish left in any of the streams of this whole region. This particular stream bears different names in different portions of its course--thus it is called Tanchitla, Pahuatlan, San Marcos, Caxones, Xico, etc.

Having noticed that here, as at Pahuatlan, the banana trees were badly injured, we learned that this havoc was the result of two recent hail-storms, which were felt over a wide area, and which were of almost unexampled severity. By the time we had enjoyed the outlook, and learned a little of the village, the messenger who had been sent to call the people together had performed his duty, and a picturesque group of our long-sought Totonacs were at hand. The women wear _quichiquemils_ of native cotton cloth, the neck opening of which is over-hemmed with black wool. Lines of crosses, rosettes, birds, etc., are worked in various-colored wools upon them. Many of them have a broad line of color, in geometrical combinations, running vertically up the middle.

The men wear _cotones_ of black and white.

Twenty-five or thirty of the more important men of the village were now taken to the schoolhouse, where the _presidente_ inquired, for me, in regard to the _costumbre_. At first a little hesitancy was shown, but soon all were interested and talked freely. The _costumbre_ comes at about the same time each year, though not upon a fixed date. Its purpose is to secure health, good weather and crops for the coming year, though it may be held on the occasion of pestilence. Everyone, even widows and old maids, brings something for the feast. The celebration is held in some large house, and lasts through two days; floral decorations are arranged in the four corners of the room, candles are lighted, and _copal_ is burned. The first day, each person brings a handful of earth from his field, which is placed in a heap upon the floor. Fowls and animals are slaughtered for the occasion; their heads are cut off and their blood is sprinkled upon the earth. After feasting and drinking, a dance follows, the dancers wearing crowns and necklaces of yellow arnica flowers, and carry in their hands wands made of pine-splints wrapped with corn-husks, and with a flower of arnica tied to each end. The second day, corn on the ear and beans are brought instead of earth, and these are sprinkled with blood. On both days, blood-sprinkled material is carried home, and the seed and earth are later put into the field. In the feasting-room, two paper lanterns are hung from the ceiling; these are stuck over with gilt and colored paper disks and stars. They represent the sun and stars. Upon these lanterns a cross of blood is made, at the time when the earth and seed are sprinkled. After the dance ends on the second day, children shoot at the lanterns with small arrows and try to break them. Disappointed that no mention had been made of bark paper in connection with this ceremonial, we asked whether they ever used it. They answered promptly in the affirmative. For what? To wrap _ocotes_. With this, the man who told me hastened out and came back with a little parcel in his hand. This consisted of twelve little sticks of pine about three inches long; they were tied together with a band of thread or bark fibre, and were stained with blood; these were wrapped in a piece of green banana leaf, the upper face of the leaf being placed inside and the base of the leaf kept downward. When it had been thus carefully folded, it was carried to the field and buried in a hole, carefully dug, so that the top of the package was close to the surface of the ground, and the face of the leaf wrapping was directed toward the rising sun. To anyone who has studied American indian religions, these two _costumbres_ suggest much of interest.

The young man who had been most interested in our proper understanding of the _costumbre_ was anxious that we should see the village idols.

These are kept concealed, apparently in a cave, though it is possible that they are buried in the ground. At all events, they exist, and in considerable number. A lively discussion ensued as to whether it would be proper to show them to us, and it was decided that nothing ought to be done until the old woman, who is at the head of the pagan practices of the village, should be present. It seems that in the _costumbre_, already described, there are four priests or leaders. One of these is the old woman just mentioned, and the other three are men. She was sent for, and while we waited, we were told that, if we desired to see the lanterns that were used in the last _costumbre_, they were still preserved in the _santocalli. Santocalli_ is a mongrel word--from Spanish _santo_, saint, and the Aztec _calli_, house. It was a little structure of adobe and canes, close to the schoolhouse, and fronting with it upon the little _plaza_ of the village. It had a two-pitched thatched roof and a single door in the front. After some demur, it was opened, and we entered. It consisted of a single plain room with two benches made of beams along the wall. At the back was a terrible Christ and Virgin, and, to the right and behind, another Virgin. These Virgin figures were both small and unattractive, and both wore _quichiquemils_.

In front of the Christ and larger Virgin was a simple altar built against the wall. In the floor, directly in front of it, were four small hollows. To the right of the altar, a flat stone was set into the floor.

In front of the altar stood a small table on which were censers and candle-sticks. Underneath this table, the s.p.a.ce between the four legs was occupied by a heap of ashes; in front and behind this were ill-defined basin hollows. To beams in front of these were hung the almost globular paper lanterns already mentioned. When we had seen these lanterns, and were about to leave, the old _bruja_ appeared, with her female acolyte. She was furious over the desecration of strangers entering the _santocalli_, without her presence. She was a striking figure; very small, with a wrinkled, shrewd and serious, but not unkind, face; her white hair was almost concealed by her _rebozo_, which was folded square and laid upon her head with a portion flowing behind.

The most striking thing was her great devotion, and complete unconcern regarding all around her. Entering, she hastened to the altar, knelt,--touched her forehead to the edge--and in a clear but not loud voice crooned an impa.s.sioned cry to Christ, to San Jose and to the Virgin. Imperiously turning to her acolyte, she seized the censer filled with copal, and, having lighted it, incensed the figures. Turning to the _presidente_, she asked whether he were going to placate the saint for invasion by giving _aguardiente_ and candles, both of which appeared, as if by magic, when she was given money. Pouring _aguardiente_ from the bottle into a gla.s.s, she poured into the four basins in the ground before the altar, before the Virgin, before and behind the heaps of ashes under the table, and then placed it to the lips of the Virgin and Christ, lovingly requesting them to partake. She then compelled each of the three men priests to make the same libation. Taking the unlighted candles, she made pa.s.ses with them, over and across the figures, first to one side and then to the other, brus.h.i.+ng the wicks against them.

This, too, had to be done by the three a.s.sistants, after which the old lady began to make vigorous personal use of the bottle of spirits, though she was not at all selfish, urging, not only her acolytes, but the _presidente_, his brother, and the chief guest, to partake. It was too late to suggest a visit to the idols, but the curious scene we had witnessed gave sufficient food for thought. Hurrying back to Tlacuilotepec, we ate a last excellent dinner, which had been long waiting, and at three left for Pahuatlan. Our host, who had been unremitting in his attention, refused all money. At certain indian houses which we pa.s.sed upon our homeward way, we saw curious pouches made of armadillo-sh.e.l.ls, hanging upon posts or on the house walls. We learned that they were used at planting-time for holding seed-corn.

When the sh.e.l.l is freshly removed from the animal, it is bent into the required shape, and then packed full with wet ashes, to make it retain its form in drying. Though it was half-past three when we left, the way was so cool and delightful that we made the journey in three hours.

During our day at Pahuatlan, with a guide furnished by the _presidente_, I made the journey on foot to Atla, an Aztec town, famous for the little cotton sacks with red wool patterns, which are almost universally carried by men throughout this district. White _cotones_, with narrow, dark stripes and a transverse band of red decoration at each end, and white _quichiquemils_, decorated with brilliant designs in red wool, are also made here. Our object was not so much to see the village and the garments, as to visit a famous witch's cave, situated in the n.o.ble pinnacle of rock, plainly visible from Pahuatlan. The whole party started out from Pahuatlan, but at the bottom of the great slope, I left my companions to swim, while the guide and I, crossing a pretty covered bridge, scarcely high enough for a man of my height wearing a _sombrero_, went on. It was a long climb to the village, but, when we reached there, my _mozo_ with great glee called my attention to _bruheria_ directly at the side of the church. In front of the building, to the right of the door as one enters, is a hole in the ground, into which a few large stones have been clumsily thrown or laid. Here chickens, flowers, eggs, etc., are buried, in order to secure good luck or to restore health. Carefully removing some of the stones, we saw ample evidences of such offerings, in bones, bits of egg-sh.e.l.ls, and dried flowers. From here, the climb was easy to the crest overlooking the village, and to the curious tower-like ma.s.s projecting conspicuously from it. The cave is situated in this ma.s.s of rock and faces almost east; it is a shallow cavern, well-sheltered and dry, perhaps fifty feet wide along the cliff's front, though only the eastern third, which is the more completely worn out, is used for ceremonies; it is, perhaps, no more than eight or ten feet deep, and has greater height than depth.

Within the cave itself we found a little table, a small chair, and two blocks for seats. On either side of the table, a pole was set obliquely against the wall. The upper end of the left-hand pole was tied with a strip of palm which was looped through a hole in the rock wall. At two or three other places, strips of palm had been slipped through natural holes in the wall, behind bars of stone, and then tied. To the left, were a censer and two candle-sticks, behind which, lying obliquely against the wall, were twenty-five or thirty dance-wands. These were sticks wrapped with corn-husks and tufted with cl.u.s.ters of flowers tied about the middle and at each end. The flowers used were mostly the yellow death-flower and purple ever-lastings. Two or three of them were made with the yellow death-flower--_cempoalxochil_--alone. A few were made of _xocopa_ leaves. While only twenty-five or thirty were in position, hundreds of old ones lay on the bank to the left. Three small crosses of wood were placed near the wands; much white paper, clipped and cut into decorated designs, was lying about, as also wads of cotton, colored wools, long strings of yarn, and bits of half-beaten bark fibre.

Near the front edge of the cave was a hole with large stones; here, with a little scratching, we found feathers and bits of bone of turkeys and hens, that had been sacrificed, as well as splints of pine tied together with bark string. Wooden spoons, probably used in the banquets of the witches, were stowed away in crevices of the rock. Chains of the yellow death-flower were looped up against the wall. It is said that the people of the town never enter here, but only _brujas_. Nor is it the exclusive property of the witches of Atla, of whom there are but two or three, but those of several pueblos make their rendezvous in this cave. In fact, from the crest, we could see two other little towns that are interested in this cave, though located in another valley.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE PAGAN PRIESTESS AND HER ACOLYTE; SANTA MARIA]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE WITCH'S CAVE AT ATLA]

Don Antonio, at whose house we stayed, told us that San Pablito is worse for _bruheria_ than Atla. He says the people of that town make use of _munecos_ of wood, of various sizes. For these he makes many little shoes, for which he charges five or six _reales_ a pair; at that time he had orders for three pairs, and showed us the little forms or lasts he employs, and the special leather; they are particular about this, using black for shoes for males and red for females. He says they also use little hats, _serapes, enaguas_ and _quichiquemils_, for their _munecos_. Some of these dolls they place on the altar in the church, and consider them as sacred, though they remove them when they expect the priest. Others they take to a lake in the district of Tenango, near San Pablo el Grande, and leave them there as offerings. They also throw money and other offerings into the lake.

We started at eight o'clock the following morning, bound for Tenango del Doria. For a little time, after leaving Pahuatlan, we mounted, soon finding ourselves at the top of a magnificent crest. From here the descent was rapid and profound; in front of it rose an equally abrupt slope to an even greater height; toward the left this presented a wonderful knife-edge crest, jagged and toothed astonis.h.i.+ngly, and on this great slope, below the level where we were, we saw San Pablito, prettily located. As it was Sunday, most of the people were on their way to market, and we saw many Otomis, whose dark color and broad faces reminded us of those in the state of Mexico, though they did not present so marked a type. The _enaguas_ of the women consisted of an upper white strip and a lower striped one, the colors in the latter being blue and white, or white with a broad band of purplish blue, in which were woven white designs. Their _quichiquemil_ was usually rather plain; white with a broad band of red, magenta or purple, parallel to the edge. It might, however, be decorated with a number of very small geometrical, floral, and animal figures, worked in brown, purple and blue, which were never so crowded as to destroy the white background. At 9:30 we reached the schoolhouse and called out the teacher, to whom we delivered a letter which the _presidente_ of Pahuatlan had given us for him. He summoned the town authorities and we made known our wish to see some of the bark paper. At first there was some hesitancy, but, at last, an old woman produced two sheets which, she said, she made the day before. At our wish she then brought out the _tabla_, or board of wood on which the beating is done, and the stone for beating. The latter was smaller than the ancient beating-stone, and not grooved upon the beating surfaces; it had, however, the side notches for convenient holding in the hand. The board on which the beating is done is smooth, and is constantly cleaned and soaped. Two kinds of bark are used, _moral_ and _xalama_, the former giving white, the latter a purplish paper. The bark is thoroughly washed with lye-water taken from soaked maize; it is then washed with fresh water and thoroughly boiled; it is split into thin strips which are carefully arranged upon the board. First the border is laid out the size of the sheet to be made; then, within this, strips are laid lengthwise, side by side. All of this is then beaten with the stone until the sheet of paper results. The paper when finished, presents two sides quite different from each other; one, smooth and finished, is the surface that was below in the beating, while the other, rougher, is the one that was beaten with the stone. The sheets are dried in the sun, carefully folded into convenient size, and done up in packages of a dozen, which are sold to the indians in all the country round about. We secured seventeen dozen sheets of this paper, and samples of the bark, and the board and stone used in the beating.

While arrangements were being made for showing us these details regarding paper-making, we visited the village church, which was very mean and bare; we were disappointed to find nothing suspicious in the way of _munecos_. It was suggested that we should visit the _oratorio_, where we found more. Here they held their _costumbre_ in June, or thereabouts. Saints were arranged in the back of the room on a raised altar; in front of this, running through the middle of the room, was a table on which stood censers and small candle-sticks of rude pottery.

Upon the wall, over the saints, were decorations of rushes. Here the whole village feast and dance. There were no _munecos_ present, but we found plenty of cut paper, most of which was probably decorative; the most curious was cut into groups of human figures, some of which had crowns and horns, or tufts of hair, upon the top of their heads. These were said to be decorations for Montezuma, in whose honor the feast was given. Leaving San Pablo at eleven, we rapidly made what remained of the great ascent. As we neared the jagged crest of rock, it appeared more irregularly gashed and pinnacled than ever. At the crest, leaving the old road, which pa.s.sed directly through the fantastic ma.s.s of rocks, we reached San Nicolas, from which, on looking backward, we gained a magnificent view of the valley and a fine waterfall, which shone like a sheet of polished metal, far up the mountain side. From here our road descended gently, but winding, in and out, through a series of narrow valleys, lying between parallel ridges. As we pa.s.sed the crest, we saw a level field of green corn, which looked as if we must reach it in a few minutes. But the curves of the road proved frightfully long. It was after two o'clock before we reached the green field, and, just below it, Tenango del Doria, and made our way to the _jefatura_.

When the _jefe_ came, we found, to our surprise, that he was the Don Pablo Leyra of whom Xochihua had told us two years before. He is a pure indian, tall, smooth-faced, of gentlemanly manner, and with all the reserve characteristic of his race. He has lived at Huehuetla since boyhood, forty-four years, till just now, and has but recently come to take the position of _jefe politico_. He has not yet moved his family from Huehuetla, and occupies a single room in his office-building. He secured us a pleasant room, with good beds for the older, and good mattresses for the younger, members of our party, in a house near-by upon the hill. The _jefatura_ fills one side of the little _plaza_; around the other side are _tiendas_, with high-pitched single roofs, and private houses. The town suffers much from _nublina_, and is cold most of the time.

[Ill.u.s.tration: INDIANS FIs.h.i.+NG IN STREAM]

[Ill.u.s.tration: PAGANISM AND CHRISTIANITY]

We asked Don Pablo about the lake, concerning which we had heard. He says it is not as much visited as formerly. While used by Otomis, and others of this district, it is most favored by the Huaxtecs, parties of whom go there from long distances. They visit it when there is drought, for fear that the siren, who lives in it, is annoyed at their neglecting to make gifts; when there is too copious rain, they visit it to beg her to desist from sending more, and, when crops have been destroyed, to placate her anger. Sometimes two or three hundred indians are in these companies. They bring _munecos_ of wood, cloth, clay, or even metal; such are shod, clad and hatted. They leave these upon the sh.o.r.e. They also bring seeds and strew them in the water, and some throw money in.

They also make offerings of turkeys and hens. Sometimes these bands spend several days on the sh.o.r.e, dancing and eating.

We found that Don Pablo had arranged all our plans. We were to leave at nine, dine at twelve at San Bartolo, leave there at one, and reach Huehuetla between five and six. It was really only a quarter-past-nine when we did start, and the _jefe_, himself, saw us on our way. The journey was uneventful; the descents were gradual; we saw San Bartolo long before we reached it; and, between it and us, there lay a valley, like a narrow gash, down which we had to go, and up the other side of which we had to climb. We pa.s.sed Santa Maria, an insignificant town, just before reaching the edge of this gully. From there we saw, in the mountain ahead, above and behind San Bartolo, a great cavern which we believe must belong to witches. Arriving at San Bartolo, we found the market in full progress, and had ample opportunity to see the characteristic dress of the women, with the little black, red and purple designs embroidered upon the white ground. We were impressively received at the town-house, for Don Pablo had telephoned them to be ready. Still, we waited a long time for the promised dinner, but at half-past-one climbed up a steep hill, in the rear of the town-house, to the home of the _presidente's_ father, where a very elaborate meal had been prepared, with wine and luxuries. All payment was refused, and, after we had rested and refreshed ourselves, we left at half-past-two. The road was long; it followed the side of a great gorge, into which it descended abruptly; in this gorge we saw magnificent vegetation. The trees were heavily hung with long vines and ferns; parasitic fig trees, hugging victims whose life sap they were stealing, were abundant. The country was of limestone. On the whole, the road was good, but, here and there, were patches where we traveled over sharp and jagged out-croppings of rock, and near Huehuetla we were forced to make some stiff climbs up the cliff sides. Flocks of parrots were numerous, especially toward evening.

The stream was a handsome one, with clear, deep water; we crossed and recrossed many times. The foot-paths rarely crossed, being cut sometimes, as a narrow trail, in the rock of the cliff. Noticeable were numerous silvery lines of water falling over the cliff, several of which must have been hundreds of feet in height; these little threads of water were impregnated with lime, and deposited material in a sheet upon the bank over which they flowed, so that trails of brown tufa marked their location; the lower ends of these deposits expanded into fan-like ma.s.ses of tufa, over which the water trickled, dripped or fell. Where there was not sufficient water to produce a stream and fall, but enough to keep the tufa moist, the growth of ferns, and other delicate vegetation, was brilliant and striking. We pa.s.sed a number of coffee and sugar ranches on the road. It was dark long before we reached Huehuetla, and had it not been for the moonlight struggling through the clouds, we should have had difficulty in traveling the last portion of the road. At 7:35 we arrived, and went at once to the large and handsome house of Don Pablo himself, where we were expected, and where an elaborate supper was being made ready. The largest room in the house was put at our disposal and good beds and cots, beautifully clean and carefully made, were ready.

Formerly, Don Pablo was the _presidente_ of the town. His successor was at the house to meet us, within five minutes after our arrival, and took supper with us. It is needless to say that in this town we met with no delays in our work. To our surprise, we found a fellow countryman, a civil engineer named Culin, from Philadelphia, who has done and is doing much work for the pueblos of this region.

Huehuetla is a large town, occupying a long valley hemmed in between mountains and bordering a stream. The streets are regular, and the view from the hills about, looking down upon the well-built houses and the intersecting streets, is very pretty. The houses have substantial walls of stone and mud, and many of them are white-plastered outside; all have a thick and heavy thatch. The _plaza_ lies before the house where we stopped, and, to the right, the large church stands on a terrace somewhat above the town. A large school building, finer than many of the best in some large cities, was just being finished; its construction was due to Don Pablo's influence, and it was soon to be occupied. Meantime, the children were given instruction in the church, and at noon and evening, when their lessons were closed, they marched in double file, down the flight of steps in front of the church and across the _plaza_, where they separated and made their way home. During the time that we were working at this town, when the school children filed past, they always removed their hats in the most respectful manner. While there are many _mestizos_ in the town, it may truly be called an indian town, the largest of those belonging to the Tepehuas. According to Orozco y Berra, Tepehua is not related to any other language in Mexico. We have not studied it sufficiently to be sure that he is right; it is, however, certain that the language has been much affected by the Totonac, if it is not related to it, and many words in the two languages are the same.

The people of this tribe have a great reputation, more or less deserved, for cleanliness; probably it is comparative, contrasting with the neighboring Otomis, rather than positive. However that may be, both men and women are usually dressed in clean white clothing. The _enaguas_ of the women are plain white; their belts have a foundation of white cotton, but raised designs of black wool are so thickly worked upon them that the white is quite inconspicuous.

The _camisas_ and _quichiquemils_ are generally white, with a vertical band of red, and with a few animal figures. Women wear many necklaces of bright beads, and braid their hair into two braids, which end with tapes of various colors,--brown, red, green, maroon, and black. These braids are brought together over the head and knotted in place. We secured no women for measure until we had practically completed the work with men, when they came with a rush, the whole twenty-five at once, dressed in their best clothing, and insisted that the work must be done inside the schoolhouse, out of sight, instead of on the street, where we had operated on the men. We had no opportunity to see any of the popular _danzas_, in some of which, we were told, songs were sung in the Tepehua language, but we did see examples of the little _teponastls_, or drums, used on these occasions; they are made from a round block, perhaps ten inches long and three inches in diameter; these are hollowed out below, so that two thin lips only are left above, which, when struck, give out far more musical tones than one might expect. The two nights that we were at Huehuetla, we saw men and women fis.h.i.+ng in the stream; carrying blazing torches in their left hands, they waded out into the water and watched to see the dark bodies of the fish against the pebbly bottom of the stream; in the right hand they carried a _machete_, about a foot in length, with which they stabbed the fish, rarely missing.

We were now ready for the last tribe of the season, the Totonacs of Pantepec. Pantepec is in the district of Huachinango, and we had no order from the _jefe_; Don Valentino, the _presidente_ of Huehuetla, said, however, that the _presidente_ of Pantepec was his friend, and that he would give us a letter of introduction, which would serve all purposes. As we were to return by Huehuetla, we left the busts which we had made, and all but our most necessary baggage, at Don Pablo's house.

Though we started at ten, we took the journey slowly, photographing and hunting birds. The road was a trail in a ravine, with all the beautiful scenery with which we now were so familiar. At one point we saw a curious phenomenon. The cliff rose vertically from the water's edge, at a place where the stream made a right angle; this cliff consisted of almost horizontal strata of varying hardness, so that some of the layers were worn a little more than others, leaving these projecting. In the s.p.a.ce between these projecting layers, round river-pebbles, from the size of hen's eggs up to the size of a man's fist, were firmly wedged, so that it was with difficulty that they could be dislodged. Not a few, but hundreds of the pebbles, were thus wedged, so regularly and firmly that we could not believe the work to be that of nature, but suspected human hands. We learned, however, that nature really had done the work, on the occasion of a flood, the result of a cloud-burst, which swept into the valley two or three years before. At several places in this stream, we saw groups of from two or three to ten or twelve Totonac indians, who were fis.h.i.+ng with little nets. Our trail led back and forth across this stream many times, and before we reached Pantepec we had made thirty-nine crossings. From our last crossing, we climbed a steep ascent, pa.s.sing the little village of Tenasco, and found ourselves at Pantepec. We rode at once to the town-house, and were told that the _presidente_ was sleeping; we went then to his house, where we were informed that he could not be disturbed. We left word that we must see him as soon as possible, and that he would find us at the _municipio_.

Nearly three hours pa.s.sed before he put in his appearance. Inasmuch as we had seen this man's _jefe_, and he knew our errand, we told the _secretario_ to send a message for us to him at Huachinango. We carefully wrote out the message for forwarding, in which we told the _jefe_, that we had waited three hours for attention from the town officials, and asked how much longer we should put up with delay. We never heard his answer, but in less than ten minutes, the _presidente_, covered with perspiration, was waiting for our orders and every policeman or the force was ready for our bidding. The message he received from the _jefe_ must have been vigorous, for not only was everything done for our comfort, but work was rushed. During the next day we measured ninety-eight men, photographed twelve subjects, and made moulds for all our five busts--an unparalleled day's labor. We were fortunate in one respect--that the men had been summoned that day for public labor. So far as men were concerned, they gave no difficulty as subjects. With the women it was different, and full half a day was taken in getting together our twenty-five types; not but what there were plenty of them, for our second day at Pantepec was market-day, and the _plaza_ was gay with women, but they did not wish to be measured, and the whole town force, from _presidente_ to the meanest _topil_, was afraid to meddle with them; at first, too, we had none but the most wretched cases, women broken down and worn out with years of labor. When nearly half our number had pa.s.sed through our hands, and all presented this same unsatisfactory type, we were forced to make a sharp remonstrance, and only so did we get fair samples of young and middle-aged women.

At Pantepec the centre of the town is _mestizo_; the Indians consist of Otomis, of whom there are thirty households, and Totonacs forming the bulk of the population. It is easy to distinguish the women of the two tribes by the difference in dress. The _quichiquemils_ are particularly picturesque. Both are more heavily loaded with embroidery than any Indian garments we had ever seen, but the styles of the two decorations are completely different. The _quichiquemils_ of the Otomis are smaller and completely covered with red and black embroidery; those of the Totonacs are much larger, and portions of the white foundations may still be seen, notwithstanding the heavy patterns in brilliant colors--red, green, yellow and blue. Mothers put babies onto one side, with their little legs astride a hip, and then tie them firmly in place with an _ayate_, or carry-cloth, of cotton, thus leaving their hands free for work or other burdens. If we had difficulty measuring the Totonac women, we had still greater difficulty in photographing satisfactory groups of them. Neither pleadings nor bribes on our part, orders nor threats on the part of the officials, had much influence.

Pantepec is a large town, situated near the edge of the great mountain ma.s.s, and looking across a valley, which is backed by what appears to be a flat-topped, straight-edged, table mountain. The houses of the town are scattered over a considerable area upon the slope. The walls are of poles, heavily daubed with mud which is neatly and smoothly laid on. The corners of this mud covering are rounded, instead of angular, as usual elsewhere. The thatch is heavy and firm, and squarely cut along its lower edge, where it projects far beyond the walls. The _plaza_ is above the town-house, and is extremely ugly; a kiosk, which certainly can lay no claim to beauty, stands in the centre; ugly shacks, used as _tiendas_, border a part of it along the main road. Striking, at this time, in the village were the _colorin_ trees, some of which occurred in almost every enclosure; they were in bloom, and had long, slender, flaming-red, cigarette-shaped flowers, which appeared before the leaves, from trunks that were gnarled and brown and almost branchless. Many popular _danzas_ are celebrated here, but none was taking place during our stay. San Gregorio, the town of paper-making, is not far from Pantepec, and large quant.i.ties of the bark paper are beaten in the little village of Ixcoyotla, which belongs to this _municipio_. Asking an old Otomi whether he knew about this paper, he answered us, with great cunning, that we probably knew as much of it as he did. He finally condescended to state that the _munecos_ of it were used in curing disease; that anyone who has a disease secures one of these _munecos_ and applies it to the diseased part. The _presidente_ insisted that this paper was not made from _jonote_, but from _uli_, and that formerly it was much used in making strong and durable belts.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

In starting back the next morning, we went down a different slope from the one by which we had come, with the result that we had to cross the stream five times more than before, making the full forty-four crossings, of which we had been warned by Culin while we were at Huehuetla. We made our way leisurely, stopped when we pleased, and at one point noticed a cave, which we had not seen before, just across the stream, at a point where it was at its deepest. The cave was so near the water's edge, that it could only be approached from the stream. The boys swam across and entered it to see if perchance they might find some of the paper figures used in _bruheria_. They found little of interest within; the walls and rocks were marked with crosses, and on the floor were hundreds of little sticks cut to various lengths. We were glad, indeed, to reach Don Pablo's house, to eat his good supper, and to occupy his good beds. Before we went to bed, Dona Panchita suggested that we ought to see certain _munecos_ kept by a man named Diego, and used as idols by the village. Accordingly, she sent orders that the man should bring his _munecos_ to the house for us to see. To this request, he returned the proper reply, that he would not do so; that they would be offended; that they were not toys to be carried about at the nod and beck of everyone. This greatly increased our interest, and we arranged for a trip to his house. We first sent a messenger forward, with word that we were coming, and ordered him to stay there to see that Diego did not run away or hide the idols. After supper, Dona Panchita, our company, Mr. and Mrs. Culin, and one or two others, picked our way by moonlight across the stepping-stones and foot-bridge, up a trail by coffee groves along a purling brook-side. We were soon at the house, and after some hesitation, Diego led us to the Holy of Holies. The _munecos_ were kept in a little house, which contained an altar built of boards, with fresh flowers for decoration. At the back of the altar, against the wall, were prints of Christian saints; on the altar were censers and an open bundle of _copal_. Two wooden boxes were at the right end of the altar, against the wall. These contained _munecos_ which, for some time, Diego hesitated to produce. Finally he took out an idol of rather fine-grained, brownish-gray stone; the head was large and infantile, with the Mongolian cast of countenance; its badly shaped and scrawny arms were raised so as to bring the hands together on the chest; the body was shapeless. This figure was clad in a suit of unbleached cotton, much too long and slender for it, and the arms of the _camisa_, and the legs of the _calzones_ hung limp. When we had duly admired this figure, a second was produced--a pottery female-head, fairly shaped, with no body to speak of; this had gla.s.s earrings fastened in the ears. Next, a small headless figure was brought out; it was old, though probably made after the Conquest, and we agreed that it represented a _padre_. Next was a simple pottery head. Last was a figure, with small head and pointed cap, made apparently of pottery; the body had been pieced out to disproportionate length with wood, and ended in a pair of wooden feet; this was dressed in black velvet, and wore a black hat. These, Diego a.s.serted, were all he had. After having expressed our delight with them, and our regret that we had not known what we were to see, that we might have brought with us some fine white _copal_ as incense for these G.o.ds, we set them up in a straight line on the edge of the altar to make a flashlight picture. As we left, we gave Diego two _reales_ to spend for the benefit of his G.o.ds. After we left, we were a.s.sured that he had finer ones of black stone, which he dresses in red, but we were content with the ones we had seen. These figures are particularly used on September 16th, San Miguel's day. They are also used at sowing-time, at harvest, and at the first cutting of sugar-cane. On these occasions, incense and candles are burned, the idols are taken in the hands, and to the sound of music, wors.h.i.+ppers move the figures, causing them to dance.

Pleased with this, they give good rains to the faithful wors.h.i.+ppers.

When there is too much rain, they go in procession to the river, playing music and dancing dolls; when arrived, they peg down many _ayates_ and sacks, made for the purpose, into the water against the flow. These are dams, to stay the flood. On the other hand, when there is drought, a procession carries the idols to a cave, where a feast is given and a dance, with wands of flowers carried in the hands, indulged in.

Though the price for animals from Huehuetla to Las Tortugas was exorbitant, we had agreed to pay it--but told the man that, if he left later than six, it should be cut two dollars. It was long after eight before they appeared, and then it was only our own animals that were ready. We were forced to leave the packing to be done by the man himself without direction; we ourselves hurried along the trail, hardly stopping at San Bartolo on the way, arriving at Tenango at 4:15. Our animals were f.a.gged, and we were soaked to the skin, having travelled through _nublina_ most of the afternoon. Don Pablo received us with his usual courtesy, and had arranged for us to sleep at the same house, where we had been before. At bed-time, our man with the mules had not appeared, and we had received most contradictory and discouraging statements regarding him. He had started at nine with two mules and left half our stuff for another day; he had been seen at the river near San Bartolo with two mules heavily loaded, unable to proceed; he had concluded to stop at San Bartolo for the night, to push on to Tenango the next day, and reach Las Tortugas on the third. Dissatisfied and uncertain, we went to bed; still, we determined to leave at five, and so gave orders to our _mozo_. We rose at 4:15 and the horses were ready before five.

Contradictory stories were again told us regarding our animals. Some said the man had pa.s.sed with them at five o'clock; others that he had not yet come; others that he had spent the night at Santa Maria. Our foot _mozo_ did not come, and sending the rest ahead, I waited for him.

Hardly had they started, when Ramon galloped back to announce that the man was in town, that he had three animals and was nearly ready to leave. As he, himself, had told us that he must leave Tenango at three in order to reach Las Tortugas in time for the train, this was not rea.s.suring. Ramon hastened on with the party. At six the _mozo_ appeared and started at once. In a few minutes we pa.s.sed our _arriero_ who was packing, but not ready to start. I urged him to hasten, but did not wait. Mist had settled during the night, but it was now rising, and we could see the scenery, which, in wildness and beauty, was almost the equal of anything in Mexico, though with a character quite its own. Our trail ran along the side of a precipice; to our left rose great cliffs presenting almost vertical faces of smooth rock; the summits were jagged, and suggested that the ma.s.s consisted of stratified rocks tilted up on end. Just as we left town, two narrow and lofty parallel rocks suggested a gate-way. Further down, a ma.s.s was worn out into a sharp column, a little separated from the rock ma.s.s behind. On the right, was the precipice, ever abrupt, and sometimes the almost vertical bank of a yawning chasm. After an hour and a half over the fairly good road, we came to a grand ascent. It was magnificent, though difficult. In some spots the road was muddy, and at others it was a series of rough stone steps; at still others, it was the unmodified bed of a mountain torrent.

As we followed up this gorge, side-gorges joined it, in which we glimpsed pretty cascades, pits worn by little falls, trees, the trunks of which were covered with thick sheets of green moss, quant.i.ties of tree-ferns blighted by the late frost, cliffs, and wild forms of rock, in wonderful variety. At last I reached the summit and overtook Manuel, whose horse was completely f.a.gged, and who had been forced to drop behind; for some time we saw the others before us, but somewhere they took a different trail, and we saw them no more. After a considerable descent, we made our final but easy rise. From here we were on a level road, which constantly improved until near Mepetec, while beyond it, we came to a true cart-road. From here a fine view presented itself, over a forest of pine trees to the clean brown plain so typical of Hidalgo, swept, as we soon found, by the equally typical Hidalgo wind. We rode rapidly from the _herreria_ of the Trinidad to Metepec, and then to Las Tortugas, where we arrived at 11:40, having been five hours and a half upon the road. To our surprise, Louis and Ramon were not there. Having waited some time, as it was almost the hour for the train, we ordered dinner for two, but before we had begun to eat the others appeared.

They had taken a short road, which did not go by Metepec, and travelled slowly that we might overtake them. After a good meal, we waited for our man with the pack animals. Meantime the train was preparing, and we watched it, realizing that if we missed it, we had a day of dust and scorching sun and heavy wind before us. The train's crew made all ready, the cry of "_Vamonos_" was given, and we settled down in desperation to await our tardy man. An hour after the train left, he arrived, received his fee less the two dollars, and started homeward. Twenty-three hours later we took the train, and our season's work was done.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

CHAPTER XXI

IN THE HUAXTECA

(1901)

The scenery on the Tampico branch was at its best, as there had been recent rains, and everything was fresh and green. At Tampico, we resisted the attractions of the hotels "where Americans always stop,"

and went to the unpretentious Pan Cardo. Here we were comfortably located, and early the next morning tried to define our plans. We were in uncertainty as to what towns we should visit in order to examine the Huaxtecs. The ancient Huaxtecs were among the most interesting of Mexican tribes. They are a northern offshoot of that great family, of which the Maya of Yucatan is the type. The linguistic relations.h.i.+p is evident upon the most careless comparison. The ancient area occupied by the Huaxtecs was near the Gulf of Mexico, and on both sides of the Panuco River, near the mouth of which some of their important centres were located. To-day Mexicans divide the Huaxteca into two parts,--the Huaxteca Veracruzana and the Huaxteca Potosina--the former in the state of Vera Cruz, the latter in the state of San Luis Potosi. At first, we thought to visit the latter, but the difficulty of reaching it was presented so forcibly, and the ease of reaching the Huaxteca Veracruzana so emphasized, that we determined upon the latter, and selected the town of Ozuluama for our central point. We could go by canoes across the river to Pueblo Viejo, where we could secure horses for the further journey. We were led to believe that it would be easy to make the trip in a single day. We had arranged for a canoe over night. It belonged in Pueblo Viejo, and it was to come over early in the morning; we were at the wharf at six, ready to start, but no canoe was in sight. Not only so, but a norther was blowing, and comforters, lounging on the wharf a.s.sured us that no canoe would come from Pueblo Viejo until the storm ceased, which would not be for twenty-four hours. We were loath to believe this information, and brought all our baggage from the various storing-places, where we had left it, out onto the wharf. Time pa.s.sed; the norther continued, and no canoe from Pueblo Viejo came. Thinking that it might be possible to secure a canoe from here to Pueblo Viejo, we d.i.c.kered with a boatman at the wharf. We had agreed to pay for the canoe ordered $1.00 for the journey, which was something more than the regular price. The man with whom we now were talking declared that he would not take us across for less than $3.50. We were on the point of yielding to necessity, when a rival appeared and offered to do the work for $2.50. Such is human perversity that we now insisted that he must go for $2.00, which he finally agreed to do. Hurrying away to get his canoe, he soon appeared, and our hearts sank. The man who had demanded $3.50 had a large, well-built boat, which should stand any wind and water. The man whom we had engaged had a canoe so narrow, low, and small that we doubted his ability to perform his contract; however, he a.s.sured us that all would be well, and showed himself so skilful in packing our stuff into his boat, that we ourselves embarked, and started down the little lagoon in his canoe. So long as we remained in this narrow, sheltered stream, all was well; but when he poled from its mouth out to the open river, we found it a different matter. More than this, we saw two or three canoes dancing over the white caps, and managed with great difficulty, although not loaded. The courage of our boatman was a little dashed; he suggested that we leave Ramon, Louis, and Manuel on an old scow standing on the bank and fast going to ruin, while he poled myself and the luggage over, after which he would return for my companions.

This seemed good sense, and the boys were left behind. It was interesting to see the skill with which the man handled our rather awkward craft, loaded at it was almost to the water's edge. He had no motive power but his long pole. We did not s.h.i.+p a single drop of water, and at last entered the quiet, broad, ca.n.a.l-like lagoon on the other side of the river. A moment more, and we were unloading our luggage onto the sh.o.r.e. To do this, we were forced to wade through mud up to the knees. But at last all was safe, and with his empty canoe, our boatman started merrily back for his other pa.s.sengers. When they arrived, only a few minutes were necessary for reloading the canoe, and we started up the lagoon. Little side lagoons opened frequently into the one through which we pa.s.sed. At their mouths were V-shaped weirs of stakes, driven into the bottom and wattled together with flexible twigs. These were open at the mouth, and in the openings were set dip-nets, which could be lowered into the water. Just now, with the heavy norther blowing, thousands of _camaron_ (shrimps) were driven into the nets, and at each one we saw fishermen busily occupied. The lagoon abounded in water-birds of many kinds, and hardly had we entered it, when Louis shot a pretty, small white heron.

Believing that the owner of animals to whom we had been referred was demanding too high a price for his horses and mules, we decided to see what the town authorities would do for us, and went to the _municipio_.

The _presidente_ told us, with delight, that the _jefe politico_ of Ozuluama was there with his family, rusticating, and at once summoned him to meet us. He was a gentlemanly fellow, who told us that the price demanded was regular, but advised us to travel in a different way.

"Here," he said, "you can get a large canoe; starting now, you can travel all night; reaching La Llave in the early morning, you can get horses and go the seven leagues remaining comfortably. Take a little something to eat before you start, and carry something for the way."

This seemed an opportunity for a new experience, and, though the price was little, if any, less than we were asked to pay for animals, we decided to try it. Arrangements were begun at once, breakfast ordered, and a light lunch prepared for carrying. Meantime, the _jefe_ told us that there were few Indians in Ozuluama, but that in Citlaltepec we would find abundance. He gave us orders to his _secretario_, who represented him during his absence, and bade us G.o.d-speed. We left at one o'clock, in a great canoe, a heavy, timber-framed boat, propelled by long poles, by oars in quiet and deep water, and by a clumsy sail. A framework of poles, covered with matting, roofed over the middle of the boat, and a piece of matting was spread upon the floor. Hanging blankets to shelter ourselves from the heavy wind yet blowing, we busied ourselves variously, the boys skinning birds which they had shot, and I making up my various notes. The lagoon which we now entered was a large stretch of open water. We raised our sail, and made easy work. Having crossed the large lagoon, we entered the mouth of what probably would be considered a fair-sized river, which at first was closely bordered by a tangle of trees and vines, and presented a truly tropical appearance.

Palms were abundant, and, here and there, one of unusual size towered high above the rest. The other trees were densely hung with long gray moss. Now and then, we disturbed alligators along the banks, and we were told that snakes were abundant in the gra.s.s. The quant.i.ty of water-birds was astonis.h.i.+ng--great and small white herons, large blue herons, little blue herons, the curious, dark wry-necks, and ducks by thousands. The positions and att.i.tudes of these long-necked and long-legged birds, in the water and on the trees, were curious and striking. The boys kept busy shooting and skinning birds all the afternoon. In the evening, the men built a fire with charcoal in a tin-lined box in the end of the canoe, and toasted _tortillas_ and made coffee. The awning was scarcely large enough to cover the whole party comfortably, when we lay down to sleep, but we wrapped up in blankets and spread mats for beds. We suffered intensely with the cold, sleeping little. At five o'clock our boat came to a stop along the bank, and at six it was light enough to disembark and explore. Climbing up a little bank of clay, we found ourselves on a flat meadow, covered with gra.s.s and weeds, through which narrow trails ran to a few scattered palm-thatched huts. With a letter from the _jefe_, we called at Senora Mora's house. This lady was a widow, whose husband had but lately died; she was well to do, and promised to supply us with animals after we should have had our breakfast. This was long preparing, but at last good coffee, fine _enchiladas_ and cheese were served, and, after eating heartily, we found six animals ready for us. When we asked for our account, the good lady replied that the bill was $2.00. It was plain that she had made no charge for either breakfast or animals, but only something for the boys whom she sent along to bring back the beasts. At about eleven, we started on what was called seven leagues, but what was certainly the longest nine leagues we had travelled for a long time. We had excellent horses that kept up a steady jog. Still, it was after five when we reached Ozuluama. The journey was for the most part over a _llano_, thicket-covered and sprinkled, here and there, with groves of palm; the soil was dark clay, which in spots, wet by recent rains, was hard travelling for the animals. We caught sight of the town, prettily located upon a hill-slope, about an hour before we reached it. From it, we looked out over an extensive stretch of dark green plains, broken, here and there, by little wooded hillocks, none of them so large as that upon which Ozuluama itself is situated. Riding to the town-house, the _secretario_ was at once sent for. He ordered supper, and put a comfortable room, behind the office, at our disposal. On the back porch, just at our door, was chained a tiger-cat. It belonged to the _jefe_, and was a favorite with his little children, but since they had been gone, it had been teased until it had developed an ugly disposition. It was a beautiful little creature, graceful in form and elegantly spotted.

But it snarled and strove to get at everyone who came near it. The _secretario_ at once told us that Citlaltepec was not the point we ought to aim for, as it was purely Aztec; our best plan was to go to Tamalin, where we would find one congregation of Huaxtecs. From there, if we needed further subjects, we might go to Tancoco, although it did not belong to this district, but to that of Tuxpan. In the course of our conversation, I was reminded that Ozuluama is the home of Alejandro Marcelo, a full-blooded Huaxtec, who once published a book upon the Huaxtec language. Expressing an interest in meeting this man, he was sent for. He is far older than I had realized, celebrating his 74th birthday that very week. He was a man of unusual intelligence and most gentle manner. At nine o'clock next morning, supplied with new animals, we started for Tamalin, said to be thirteen leagues distant. We were well mounted, and the journey was much like that of the preceding day.

For three hours we were impressed with the loneliness of the road; no people were to be seen anywhere. Here and there, set far back from the road, were country houses. The road itself was an extremely wide one, cut through a woods, which consisted for the most part of low and scrubby trees, with scattered clumps of palm trees here and there.

Usually the trail was single, but where we came on mud patches, many little trails were distributed over the whole breadth of the road. Here and there, where there were particularly bad spots, into which our horses would have sunk knee-deep, we were forced to take trails back among the trees. While the earlier part of the journey was through rolling country, we came at noon into a true plain, though wooded. We found many cross roads, broad and straight, cut through the woods, and were impressed by the great number of dry _barrancas_ into which we had to descend, and out of which we had to climb. Most of these were actually dry, but many of them contained a dirty pool of stagnant water.

At many places, the road was bordered with plants, the leaves of which somewhat resembled those of the pineapple. They were light green in color, narrow and long-pointed at the upper end, and spiny along the sides. This plant, named _guamara_, bears spikes of yellow fruits which are pointed at the upper end, but in color, size, texture, structure and taste reminded us of podophyllum, though it leaves a p.r.i.c.kly sensation in the mouth, much like that produced by fresh pineapples. There were also many trees bearing little limes or lemons, of which we gathered abundance for making lemonade. At two o'clock our man pointed out a ranch-house near the road, in front of which two men sat eating, and told us we could procure food and drink there if we wished, and that we had plenty of time for stopping. We found the men at the table to be the parish priest of Tantima and his servant. The priest informed us that Tamalin was three and three-fourths leagues away, while Tantima was four. The road for the greater part of the distance to the two places was the same. We had an interesting conversation with the good priest, and for the first time we met the curious prejudice, which exists throughout this portion of the Huaxteca, against the Huaxtecs, and in favor of the Aztecs. We were kept waiting some little time for our dinner, but by three o'clock were again upon our way. Just as we started, we crossed the first true stream which we had met, but during the balance of the journey we crossed one or two others. Soon, leaving the main road, we bore off to the left, and found several bad spots of stiff black mud, into which our poor animals sank frightfully. After five o'clock we saw, from the slope on which we were, for we had left the _llano_ and were again in rolling country, a little village, and higher and further to the left, a second. The first of these was Gutierrez Zamora, which is Huaxtec, with a few Mexican families living at one side; the second was our destination, Tamalin. We pa.s.sed through Gutierrez at six, and reached Tamalin at seven.

The _alcalde_ of the village was not there; in fact, we suspect that he but rarely is. The _secretario_, likewise, was absent. We finally prevailed upon his brother to help us to find an indian girl to cook our meals, and a room in the _secretario's_ house. In this room there was but a single bed and our helper thought me very particular in demanding that _petates_ should be brought as beds for my companions. He a.s.sured us that, when he traveled, he slept upon the floor, without _petates_.

It was long after 10 o'clock before we had supper and secured a resting-place. We had planned to push out from here the following morning; no sign, however, of our baggage had appeared, and we were forced to spend two days at Tamalin waiting for its coming. Here, too, we found that there were no Huaxtecs, the town being, so far as it was indian, purely Aztec. We decided, therefore, to try Tancoco, returning, if need be, to Gutierrez. Both Gutierrez and Tancoco were in the district of Tuxpan. Fortunately, we still carried our last year's letter from the governor of Vera Cruz to serve us with the local authorities, as it would be most inconvenient to go to Tuxpan for orders. Seeing that it was impossible to leave that day, I walked in the afternoon to Tantima to visit the priest. Between the two towns rises a fine, high rock hill. The ascent from Tamalin was in three slopes, with short levels between; the crest was but a few yards wide; the descent to Tantima was abrupt and short. From the summit we looked down upon the pretty, level, enclosed valley occupied by a rather regular town, built about a large plaza which, the day being a market day, was gay with booths and people. I met almost the whole population of Tamalin on my way over, as they returned from market. All the men were drunk; some were so helpless that they sprawled upon the road, while others were being helped by their more sober comrades. I reached the plaza just thirty-seven minutes after leaving Tamalin, and at once telegraphed to Ozuluama about the baggage. When I inquired for the priest's house, the telegraph operator informed me that the _padre_ had told him all about us and our errand and that he would accompany me to the _curato_.

Crossing the square, we found the _padre_ living in a comfortable place, close by the great, pretentious, stone church. We were warmly welcomed, and orders were at once given for coffee. The Aztec servant hastened to bring some, piping hot, and was quite abashed at being sharply reproved for offering it directly to me. No, indeed, a gentlemen so distinguished was not to be thus served; the table was moved up before my chair, a clean cloth spread, sweet cakes were sent for, a gla.s.s of fresh milk placed, and then the coffee was set upon the table. Thus, in solitary grandeur, I sat and ate and drank, while the priest and operator took their cups of coffee in their hands. Though we had ordered horses for the following morning, the baggage had not come, and we waited all the day. Strolling around the village, we found it a pretty place, through which ran a fine stream, separating the houses into groups or cl.u.s.ters.

It is a true Aztec town, and the houses are well-constructed. Several houses are set irregularly within a single enclosure; the walls are built of poles set upright, but these are so heavily daubed with a mixture of mud and chopped straw that they are strong and durable. In applying this daub, the hand is used, and a simple block of wood of rectangular form, with a projecting edge extending midway of the upper side, is used as a trowel for spreading it, and giving it a smooth finish. The thatchings are thick, and project far beyond the walls; they are of palm, and neatly cut at the edges; a cresting, thin, but evenly placed and firmly pegged down, projects over the ridge, down either slope, and its edges form the only break in the smooth surface. Many of the houses had _temascals_, differing considerably from those of Puebla and Tlaxcala. They are rectangular; the walls are built of poles, set upright, close together, and strengthened by being lashed to a horizontal timber set midway of their height. The roof is a round vault or arch of poles set lengthwise. The whole is neatly plastered over with a mixture of mud and chopped straw, and in the front a cross is worked in the clay mixture, to insure good fortune. The women here wove cotton in the usual indian fas.h.i.+on, but few wore the old dress, and those few were mostly aged. We noticed quant.i.ties of pottery here, and throughout the Huaxteca, but none of it is local in manufacture. Most of it has come from the two towns, Huejutla, an Aztec town, and Panuco. We were forced to spend a third night at Tamalin. The _secretario_ had been at home for two days and had fairly done his duty; still, our animals were late when we were ready to start the following morning, and we were not off until 9:30. It was a steady climb, over a long series of ascents, until we reached a crest from which Tancoco could be seen. We made a long descent and then a little upward climb to the town, which is notable for its cleanliness and the industry and cleanness of its inhabitants. The town is situated upon a little hill, from which one looks out on a sea of green forests, with little rocky hillocks covered with trees rising from it, here and there, like wooded islands. Between us and Tamalin rose a semi-circle of ridges, sweeping from us off to the left and forward in the distance. In f