INVESTIGATIONS IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA. 5 



publics of Central America, are erected, every few miles, ranches for the accommoda- 

 tion of travellers. They consist of a roof supported by six posts set in the ground. 

 The northern part of this Province, called Alta Vera Paz, forming the limits of the 

 State, and bordering on that free territory supposed to be inhabited by the Lacan- 

 dones and other yet unconquered tribes, is very thinly populated. The dead in 

 that section are buried within rectangular buildings in the shape of chapels, which 

 are called Eremitas. At one end of the interior stands an altar,^ that is, a rough 

 table covered with some cotton cloth. On this is placed the wooden figure of a 

 saint or a cross, with other smaller crosses of different sizes at each side. All these 

 are draped in various kinds of white or colored cotton, and adorned with flowers, 

 which, however, are most of the time withered. Along the sides of the structure 

 are planks resting on stones, forming benches about two feet high. Strangely 

 enough, according to our notions, these Eremitas are used by travellers, as they 

 frequently were by myself, as resting places, and especially to sleep in at night, as 

 the tight walls offer a good protection against storms. The bench along the wall 

 is also used as a bed. These semi-civilized people sleep witiiout any scruple in the 

 place where the dead are buried, while among civilized nations few persons would 

 be found willing to pass a night in a graveyard. 



Coming to the river Chlia, I encountered the first aboriginal suspension-bridge. 

 It was constructed of the stems of creeping plants, with three small trunks of trees 

 to walk on. These trees are fastened together by slender creepers, and suspended 

 by ropes of thicker ones, on either side, twisted from strong vines, and fastened 

 to trees on each bank of the river. The bridge vibrates so much that but one 

 person can pass over it at a time. 



On reaching Salinas, which takes its name from strong saline springs there, the 

 water of which is boiled to make salt, I did not find a boat to convey me on my 

 expedition, nor men to accompany me, as was promised in Guatemala. I waited 

 in vain a month for the arrival of some Lacandones, who are said to send every 

 year one or two boats to obtain salt. My intention was, in case they should come, 

 to go with them, but tiie story, as usual, proved to be false, and I was obliged to 

 give up the expedition, at least for that time. 



My visit to the Salinas was not without some good results. I became acquainted 

 with a country and its inhabitants which had not been visited before. 



The municipality of Coban claims these salt springs, which are leased. The 

 lessee informed me that by using only a small proportion of the water, he makes 

 2500 pounds of salt daily, while if all the water were utilized, he could make 100,()()0 

 pounds. At the commencement of making salt there the rent amounted to eighty 

 dollars a year; subsequently it was raised to a thousand dollars; and at the time 

 of my visit tlie lessee had a four years' lease at five hundred dollars a year. By 

 the terms of the lease, he has the privilege of taking from the settlements in the 

 vicinity, by force, as many laborers as are needed. These laborers are compelled 

 to work in the Salinas for one month ; but as the country is thinly peopled, each 

 laborer has to return after tlirec or four months' rest. The wages of a common 

 laborer are fourteen reals, $1.75, and of the men at the pan twenty reals, $2.50 

 per month. Both kinds of laborers receive in addition two meals daily, each meal 



