ISTHMUS OF TEHUANTEPEC 



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which burrows in the flesh, and which when approaching maturity is 

 about an inch long. It is supposed to be hatched from the egg of a fly, 

 some say a butterfly, and is very easily disposed of if one knows what 

 it is. When once imbedded in the flesh, it has the appearance of a blind 

 boil, but under a magnifying glass, the head of the creature can be seen 

 just above the skin, and a little sticky substance, such as rubber sap, 

 suffocates it, and it is easily extracted. 



The next two days were set apart for more plantation visiting, but 

 my good luck, as far as weather was concerned, suddenly fled. It rained 

 so hard that traveling would have been torture, and visiting folly, so on 

 the third day I turned my face towards the City of Mexico a far cry, 

 however, for first must come a long afternoon's tramp along the railroad 

 track to Achotal. We did it, reaching the town at dusk. Then followed 



FILISOLA IN ITS PALMY DAYS. 



[Photo Copyright by C. B. Waite.] 



the wait until one in the morning, when the train arrived. We waited 

 on cots in Antonio's palatial shed, which we shared with mozos, dogs, pigs, 

 mules, horses, and the "murderer." The last named was the only really 

 interesting bit of scenery there. He appeared soon after the rest were 

 asleep, and crouched by the side of the door of the next hut, his sullen 

 face filled with hate, his hand toying with the hilt of a wicked looking 

 knife. He wasn't after us, so we let him alone. At 12.30 we got up, 

 took our traps, stumbled over a family of sleeping porkers that were 

 lying in the passage between the huts, sidled down a narrow plank. to 

 the railroad track, squeezed in between a lot of mozos who, wrapped 

 in blankets, covered the depot platform, and awaited the coming of the 



