Wheat Grinding 227 
inflicting ugly gashes and often maiming each other for life. 
One-armed men are not uncommon; and I knew of two 
cases where an arm was chopped off in these encounters. 
Nearly every pay-week our medical officer was sent for to 
sew up the wounds that had been received. Fortunately 
even at these times they do not interfere with foreigners, their 
quarrels being amongst themselves, and either faction fights 
or about their women, or gambling losses. Many of the worst 
cases of cutting with knives were by the Honduraneans 
employed at the mines, who generally got off through the 
mountains to their own country. One who was taken 
managed to escape by inducing the soldiers who had him in 
charge to take him up to the mines to bring out his tools. 
He went in at the level whilst they guarded the entrance. 
Hour after hour passed without his returning, and at last 
they learnt that he had got through some old workings to 
another opening into the mine and had started for Honduras. 
Once in the bush pursuit is hopeless, as the undergrowth is 
so dense that it is impossible to follow by sight. 
We left Jinotega at seven in the morning, passed over the 
pine-clad ranges again, and at one o’clock came in sight of 
the town of Matagalpa. At the river a mill was at work 
grinding wheat. I went into the shed that covered it and 
found it to be simple and ingenious. Below the floor was a 
small horizontal water-wheel driven by the stream striking 
against the inclined floats. The shaft of the wheel passed 
up through the floor and the lower stone, and was fixed to 
the upper one, which turned round with it without any gear- 
ing. The flour made is dark and full of impurities, as no 
care is taken to keep it clean. 
We found the mules and horses we had left at Matagalpa 
in good condition, and after getting some dinner started 
again, taking the road towards Teustepe instead of that by 
which we had come, as we were told we should avoid the 
swamps by so doing, for more to the westward they had had 
no rain. We rode down the valley below the town and 
found it very dry and barren, the only industry worth 
naming being a small indigo plantation. Indigo seems to 
have been more cultivated formerly than now. In many 
parts I saw the deserted vats in which the plants were 
steeped to extract the dye. We ascended a high range to the 
P 
