ISTHMUS OF TEHUANTEPEC 



137 



a railway station, and a few native huts as a background. With a rail- 

 way camp close by, and with the many Americans constantly going and 

 coming, the town really presented a busy scene. The hotel is run by 

 Major Elliott, a powerful man with a military bearing, very friendly to 

 those who behave, but a trifle stern with the semi-worthless natives that 

 are ever to be found at a railroad end. We had an excellent dinner, 



WILD RUBBER TREE ON COATZACOALCOS RIVER. 



partly of native food, and partly canned goods from the States. Speak- 

 ing of the latter, American manufacturers do not seem to realize that 

 one of the best supply markets in the world is to be found among the 

 planters and small hotel men in the tropics. Some do, of course, and 

 some of the great merchants and mail order houses are cultivating the 



