810 PAPERS RKLATING TO ANTHROPOLOGY. 



the wee small hours, chilled through. The northeast wind bore a cold 

 mist, almost a drizzling rain. After dressing I wrapped myself in a 

 blanket and again turned into my thick canvas hammock, only to 

 shiver until daybreak. We left Copan early, and ascending the ridge, 

 looked back to see the valley a lake of fog, above the surface of which 

 the temple and the mound in the village rose like islands. This ridge 

 is of the same rock as the statues, a soft, whitish trachyte, which hardens 

 on exposure to air and sun. It may have been worked easily with flint 

 implements. 



After passing the Honduras line we left the valley, and turned to 

 the right, ascending by a zig-zag trail. Near the crest of the ridge we 

 struck the road, so-called, between Jocotan and Gualan, and kept it 

 through the pass and down the other side. The pines on the south side 

 became more lofty and scattered until near the top they were almost as 

 thin as on a lawn, the shade not being dense enough to interfere with a 

 rich growth of grass. Suddenly this vegetation gave way to dense 

 forest matted with creepers. In place of the pines were innumerable 

 varieties of tropical and semi-tropical trees, their leaves dripping with 

 water from the mist. The road was miry, and the banks were graced 

 with ferns. We had crossed the crest, and were seeing the effects of 

 the moisture-laden northeast " trades." 



Along the road at short intervals we met parties of Indians carrying 

 heavy loads of corn or other merchandise on their backs, with hands 

 across their foreheads, the loads resting on their hips. Down hill or on 

 the level they go in a shambling trot, and make better time over the 

 mountain roads than the mules do. Over a great part of the reijublic 

 the mail is carried by Indians on foot. I was assured that by following 

 more difficult but shorter trails, they made the trip from Copan to Za- 

 capa in a day. It took me a day and a half and Mr. Stephens three and 

 a half. 



About 10 o'clock the morning after leaving Copan we reached the 

 crest of the ridge east of Zacapa. As usual it was enveloped in thick 

 mist, almost a rain. The trees were giant pines, draped in gray moss, 

 and ferns were abundant. Descending a little we came to the lower 

 edge of the canopy of mist, and looking out fi-om under this curtain, we 

 had the valleys of the Motagua and Zacapa in full view. Beyond was 

 the great range of the Vera Paz in blue with strata of white clouds 

 along the sides. Around us, all save the moss was green, and the ferns 

 were dripping with moisture, while we looked through the vistas of the 

 pines, with their festoons and streamers, at the scorched and glittering 

 valley below. We were standing under the edge of the clouds, and less 

 than 5 miles away the vegetation was parched and the leaves were gray 

 with dust. 



I was in the City of Guatemala on the evening of the 29th, and spent 

 next day there. The collection of antiquities in the Museo JSTacioual was 

 insignificant. I noticed the two tripods of the Luna ware described 



