238 MEXICO, CEXTEAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. 



for its lofty verdure-clad pyramid, the most majestic Maya structure seen by 



Maudslay during liis explorations of Central America. Here Bernouilli found 



about a dozen hieroglypliical tablets of sapota wood, whicb are now preserved in 

 the Museum of Basle. 



Economic Condition of Guatemala. 



The population of Guatemala is steadily increasing almost exclusively by the 

 natural excess of births over the mortality. Foreign immigration is so slight that 

 not more than 2,000 strangers are settled in the rej)ublic. Of these the most 

 numerous are the "Tiroleses," a term applied generally to all North Italians, whose 

 industrious habits have earned for them the contempt of the Indians, hitherto 

 accustomed to regard their white masters as a superior race above the necessity of 

 manual labour. Since 1778 the population has grown from 260,000 to 1,450,000, 

 and the increase has been uniform in all the departments, except in some of the 

 northern districts on the Atlantic coast. At the same time illegitimacy is exces- 

 sive, especially amongst the Ladinos, or "civilised" Indians, nearly one-half of 

 whom are returned as born out of wedlock. 



"With the exception of wheat grown with potatoes on the Altos (uplands), the 

 agricultural produce amply suffices for the local demand. Like those of Mexico, 

 the Indians of the temperate zone live almost exclusively on maize, beans, and 

 bananas ; even taaajo, or jerked meat, is a rare delicacy, and pork is eaten only on 

 feast-days. "Water is their usual drink, except on pay-day, when they get drunk 

 on a fiery brandy here bearing the Peruvian name of " chicha," or on other fermented 

 liquors such as tisté and pulique, which, like the pomla of Tabasco, is food and 

 drink combined. 



When Guatemala proclaimed her independence, next to nothing was raised for 

 the foreign markets ; but cochineal, for which the country is as well suited as Oaxaca 

 itself, soon became a lucrative industry, especially in the Amatitlan and neigh- 

 bouring districts. The export rose from 16,000 pounds in 1827 to nearly 2,250,000 

 in the middle of the century. But the cochineal industry was ruined by the dis- 

 covery of dyes extracted from coal, and nopal-fields are now rarely seen. They 

 have been replaced by coffee, which is now the staple of the export trade. In the 

 districts where it is cultivated— Boca Costa, between Retalhuleu and Escuintla, 

 Antigua, Petapa, Amatitlan — the shrub thrives in the shade of leafy trees from 

 2,000 to 3,000 feet above the sea, and on open plantations up to 4,000 and even 

 5,000 feet. The Guatemalan coffee is highly esteemed, and the plant has hitherto 

 escaped the ravages of parasites. The crop of 1890, yielded by over 50,000,000 

 shrubs, was estimated at 30,000 tons,, worth £3,000,000. 



The temperate zone is also suited for sugar-growing, although, for want of 

 capital, Guatemala is unable to compete with the wealthy planters of Cuba, Louis- 

 iana, and Brazil. Nevertheless, from 5,000 to 6,000 tons are raised in the Costa 

 Cuca and Costa Grande districts, for the local wants and for the production of rum. 

 But distillers are so heavily taxed that little profit ifj made, excej^t by smugglers. 

 The cultivation of cacao {tJieohroma) has been almost abandoned, although the 



