332 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OP 



already forgotton how to count in their own language, and use 

 only the Spanish numerals. 



On the other hand, the people of the Atlantic slope, protected 

 by their nearly impenetrable country, and their active hostility to 

 the Spanish race, have retained their languages in much greater 

 purity, and their customs almost unaltered from the times of their 

 ancestors. Only since the beginning of Mr. Gabb's exploration 

 has the government of Costa Rica obtained a political foothold in 

 the country. The hostility against the Spaniards does not extend 

 to the other white races. English speaking people have been 

 trading with them for about half a century, have always treated 

 them fairly, and are respected. A red beard is the best passport 

 in the country. The most influential man among them is Mr. John 

 Lyon, a Baltimorean, who has been living among them as a trader 

 for the last eighteen years, and is more respected and looked up 

 to than the native chiefs. He is the only white man who has ever 

 established himself in the country, and the exploration owes its 

 success to his active co-operation and sympathy. 



The physical characters of the Indians are a short stature, rather 

 thick set. The average height of the men is about 5 feet 4 inches, 

 that of the women a couple of inches less. Tall men are extremely 

 rare, and there is probably not a person in the country over 5 feet 

 10 inches in height. The hair of the head is coarse, black, and 

 abundant, while it is almost entirely absent on all other parts of 

 the person. Men and women alike are accustomed to carrying 

 heavy loads resting on the back and suspended from the forehead 

 by a strip of bark cloth. In this way they carry with ease from 

 50 to 75 pounds an entire day, and some have been known to carry 

 5 arrobas (125 pounds) ten or a dozen miles in a day over rough 

 mountain trails. 



Their dress is very simple. The men wear only a breech cloth, 

 a strip of cloth, a foot wide, and seven or eight feet long, wound 

 around the loins. The women wear a petticoat made of a piece 

 of cloth wound round the hip's, reaching from the waist to the 

 knees and suspended by a belt. Some of the latter wear an 

 extremely short chemise or jacket, more for ornament than for 

 any use that it serves in covering the person. The men, especially 

 those who have been out of their country, are gradually adopting 

 trowsers or shirts, although the two garments rarely go together. 

 The women braid their hair, parting it in the middle, and exhibit 

 considerable taste in its arrangement. Formerly, the men wore 

 their hair very long, gathered into a queue, wound tightly with 

 cloth, and rolled into a flat mass at the back of the head. Others 

 disposed of it in two braids hanging down the back like the 

 Spanish American women. Now, however, most of them wear it 

 cut rather short. 



The men often decorate their heads with a tiara of feathers, and 

 both sexes paint their faces in simple patterns on the cheeks, and 



