4 ARCHJilOLOGIUAL AND ETHNOLOGICAL 



workmanship than those now used there. They also difFerecl from the present ones 

 in being curved longitudinally, while the latter are fiat. There were likewise many 

 fragments of pottery, which, however, did not seem to consist of burnt clay, but 

 of a kind of burnt stone-eartii, as the surface of the fracture was of a dark color, 

 containing a great deal of mica. I have noticed in other places such fragments of 

 ancient pottery, made of a similar material, containing mica. 



On the slope of the hill at various places were the remains of a wall, the use 

 of which could not be explained, unless it was to fortify the site. The hill con 

 sists of a kind of granite composed of quartz, felspar, and augite replacing the 

 mica. The soil of the hill is entirely barren, and tliere is no spring of water ; but 

 traces of streams running down in the wet season are visible. The nearest brook 

 is at quite a distance. 



In Rabinal, I observed the primitive mode of barter. No smaller coin than a 

 cuartlUo — that is, a quarter of a real — 3g cents, being in use, various articles are 

 employed for the subdivision of the cuartiUo, namely a quinto, or the fiftli part of 

 a cuartillo. Five Cacao beans are most commonly offered for a qniato, and always 

 accepted. For the cacao, as many red peppers (aji), or a few leeks, some salt, or a 

 piece of soap, may be substituted. Such barter is carried on in almost all country 

 places, where the products are cheaper, and even in the cities, but in these to a 

 less extent, on account of the higher price of articles and consequently less need 

 for a smaller coin than a cuartillo. 



Leaving Rabinal, I went first to the city of Salamti, the capital of the depart- 

 ment of Baja (lower) Vera Paz. I was told that there and in tlie neighborhood a 

 kind of Mexican language is spoken ; but it was impossible for me to get a vocab- 

 ulary of it. I then passed the village of Taltic, whicli is, as I am informed, 

 remarkable in tliis respect, that the language of its inhabitants is only spoken 

 there and in four neighboring villages. 



I proceeded next to the village of Santa C!ruz, where I stopped for the night. There 

 the municipality had less trouble in deciphering the letter of recommendation from 

 the Corregidor of tlie Provincf^, on account of the presence of the Secretary; while 

 in Taltic, in the absence of that functionary, and none of the members of the 

 Common Council being able to read, the Cv,ra had to be sent for to read the letter. 

 The Secretary, who is likewise the schoolmaster, was very courteous, and treated 

 me well, his hospitality even extending to a bowl of milk — a great luxury in most 

 parts of Central America. The salary for Ins double functions amounts to six 

 dollars a month, exactly the wages wliich a common laborer gets, with the differ- 

 ence that tho laborer is fed, wliile the secretary and sclioolmaster has to board 

 himself. It is true, the qualifications of a village schoolmaster in Guatemala are 

 not very extensive, nor his duties very arduous, no books being used. His func- 

 tion consists in hearing tlie few children who frequent the school, and whose number 

 in some villages does not surpass a dozen, read and repeat, parrot-like, the procla- 

 mations which the municipality receives from the government. A similarly kind 

 treatment I experienced from nearly all the village schoolmasters in Guatemala 

 with Avhom I came in contact. 



On the roads of the Province of Vera Paz, and on some roads in the other Re» 



