278 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1887. 



another Indian woman. A few peas, beans, and perhaps peppers are 

 tied up in a blanket, which is knotted around her neck. She stops at 

 doors, calls out her wares, and trots along till she is sold out and her 

 blanket empty; and so, as we pass along, do you notice how much in 

 Mexico is carried by men and still oftener by Indian women." 



Tig. 31. 

 Carrying-yoke. A frame for shifting the jars to the back of a mule. 



(Cat. No. 126592, H. S. N M. Guadalajara, Mexico. Collected by Edward Palmer.) 



It is well known that the ancient Mexicans worked in the silver mines. 

 The art of mining is about as primitive now in Mexico as formerly. The 

 ore is placed in rude bags or baskets. The carriers work their way to 

 the surface by means of notched poles put across a part of the shaft in a 

 zigzag fashion, and they then give their load to the breakers, who knock 

 the ore into pieces exactly as if they were going to macadamize a road. 

 (Mexico Illustrated, Mark Beaufoy, p. 268.) 



Mr. W. A. Croffut speaks as follows about the remarkable carrying 

 capacity of those ubiquitous porters of Mexico, the cargadores : 



"In every part of the country have I observed them patiently following 

 the trails and carrying immense loads on their backs. I recollect seeing, 

 four years ago, near a railroad station, half a dozen of them squatting 

 on the ground, resting. One had a sofa upon his shoulders, strapped 

 on I could not see how; another bore a tower of chairs locked into each 

 other and rising not less than 8 feet above his head; another carried a 



