

Complete carapace of the new glyptodont Brachyoslracon, foui' feet eiglit Inches long, 

 three feet one inch high 



of half a dozen American families. Thus there was a ride to and from 

 the specimen, which consumed several hours each day, but the changing 

 rural scenes more than compensated for the loss of time. Every mile was 

 through scenes primitive as in Bible times. It is difficult to realize that 

 within four days' travel from New York, people are using the methods 

 of soil culture employed two thousand years ago. In the valley, white- 

 clad men cultivated the fields with wood pointed plows drawn by oxen, or 

 planted sugar cane, while on the hills and high above on the mountain sides 

 others worked in the fields of century plants from which tcquilr, the native 

 alcoholic drink, is brewed. 



The peon field hand is a picturesque figure in his white cotton shirt 

 and trousers, with a straw sombrero and fil)re sandals. A bright red blanket 

 over his shoulder serves as a coat when the air is chill, and at night is his 

 bed. In the early hours of the day groups of blanketed figures shuffle along 

 the road to and from town, some carrying immense loads on their heads or 

 backs. Jkit the burro is the common carri(>r of the mountainous districts. 

 What the camel is to desert Africa, the burro is to Mexico. Caravans file 

 over the mountain trails loaded with bales, boxes and lumber. At first 

 sight it is rather disconcerting to see a stack of hay or a shock of corn 

 ni()\ing along' the road api)ar('iitly of its own volition. Closer scrutiny 

 however reveals four tiny feet uiKlcrncatii, sudicient exidence that a. burro 

 is the motive power. 



Straggling grf)ups of adobe lints and thatched shelters of the peons are 



17S 



