ECONOMIC CONDITION OF GUATEMALA. 



241 



tlie plateaux, the bridging of the Motagua, and other difHculties, have arrested 

 the progress of the line, the total length of which is estimated at 186 miles. 

 Even good carriage-roads are still rare, and the only bridge crossing the Motagui 



Fi^. 102. — Guatemalan Alcaldes, Altos Eerion-. 



has been swept away by the floods. Meanwhile, all merchandise destined for the 

 Atlantic has to be transported by pack mules. In the thinly-peopled regions of 

 the interior the postal service is still carried on, as in the time of Montezuma, by 



49 



