CHAPTER XI 
Start on journey to Segovia—Rocky mountain road—A poor lodging 
—The rock of Cuapo—The use of large beaks in some birds— 
Comoapa—A native doctor—Vultures—Flight of birds that soar 
—Natives live from generation to generation on the same spot— 
Do not give distinctive names to the rivers—Caribs barter guns 
and iron pots for dogs—The hairless dogs of tropical America— 
Differences between artificial and natural selection—The cause of 
sterility between allied species considered—The disadvantages 
of a covering of hair in a domesticated animal in a tropical country. 
In July of the same year, 1872, I made the Jongest journey 
of any I undertook in Nicaragua. It had been for some time 
difficult to obtain sufficient native labourers for our mines, 
and, as we contemplated extending our operations, it was 
very important that it should be ascertained whether or not 
we could depend upon obtaining the additional workmen 
that would be required. Nearly all our natives miners came 
from the highlands of the province of Segovia, near to 
the boundary of Honduras. The inhabitants of the lower 
country are mostly vacqueros, used to riding on horseback 
after cattle, and not to be tempted, even by the much higher 
wages they can obtain, to engage in the toilsome labour of 
underground mining. The inhabitants of Segovia, on the 
contrary, have been miners from time immemorial, and it is 
work they readily take to. I had often desired to see for 
myself what supply of labour could be obtained, but the 
journey was a long and toilsome one, and it was not until 
the labour question became urgent that I resolved to under- 
take it. 
Having determined on the journey, I soon completed my 
preparations. I took my Mestizo boy, Rito, with me; 
Velasquez was to join me on the road; a pack-mule carried 
our equipment, consisting of some bread, rugs, a large water- 
proof sheet, a change of clothes, and a hammock. We 
started at seven o’clock on the morning of the 11th July, 
and, as usual, made very slow progress through the forest as 
far as Pital, in consequence of the badness of the road, which 
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