﻿214 
  

  

  THE 
  NATIONAL 
  GEOGRAPHIC 
  MAGAZINE 
  

  

  . 
  . 
  .■ 
  ■".":.. 
  ... 
  

  

  Photograph 
  by 
  H. 
  Wimmer 
  

  

  TALAMANCA 
  INDIANS 
  WEIGHTED 
  DOWN 
  WITH 
  HEAVY 
  STONES 
  TO 
  AID 
  IN 
  MAINTAIN- 
  

   ING 
  FOOTHOTD 
  IN 
  CROSSING 
  A 
  SWlETEY 
  FLOWING 
  STREAM 
  I 
  COSTA 
  RICA 
  

  

  Costa 
  Rica 
  is 
  watered 
  by 
  innumerable 
  rivers, 
  some 
  of 
  which 
  flow 
  into 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  and 
  others 
  

   into 
  the 
  Pacific, 
  but 
  few 
  of 
  them 
  are 
  navigable 
  and 
  those 
  only 
  in 
  their 
  lower 
  courses. 
  

  

  or, 
  if 
  he 
  be 
  farther 
  from 
  civilization, 
  sees 
  

   a 
  troop 
  of 
  monkeys 
  just 
  out 
  of 
  reach, 
  

   making 
  faces 
  at 
  him, 
  while 
  in 
  the 
  low- 
  

   lands 
  a 
  flock 
  of 
  macaws 
  is 
  generally 
  near 
  

   by, 
  to 
  add 
  splashes 
  of 
  riotous 
  color 
  to 
  the 
  

   scene. 
  

  

  The 
  peasants, 
  who 
  make 
  up 
  so 
  large 
  a 
  

   proportion 
  of 
  the 
  population, 
  are 
  an 
  in- 
  

   teresting 
  class. 
  Their 
  lives 
  are 
  primitive, 
  

   without 
  any 
  dispute; 
  they 
  have 
  little 
  

   more 
  in 
  the 
  way 
  of 
  material 
  possessions 
  

   than 
  their 
  ancestors 
  had 
  when 
  Columbus 
  

   traded 
  tin 
  knives 
  and 
  hawks' 
  bells 
  for 
  

   their 
  gold 
  ornaments. 
  They 
  cannot 
  be 
  

   considered 
  industrious, 
  for 
  Nature 
  pro- 
  

   vides 
  a 
  living 
  too 
  easily. 
  The 
  usual 
  pro- 
  

   cedure 
  is 
  to 
  burn 
  off 
  the 
  sides 
  of 
  some 
  

   ravine, 
  plant 
  it 
  as 
  a 
  truck 
  garden 
  for 
  two 
  

   or 
  three 
  years, 
  and 
  then 
  abandon 
  it 
  in 
  

   favor 
  of 
  another 
  piece 
  of 
  virgin 
  soil. 
  

  

  Small 
  black 
  beans 
  (frijoles) 
  are 
  the 
  

   staple 
  crop, 
  which 
  with 
  the 
  tortillas, 
  or 
  

   hoecakes 
  of 
  Indian 
  corn, 
  a 
  little 
  rice, 
  and 
  

   such 
  fruit 
  as 
  can 
  be 
  had 
  without 
  labor, 
  

   make 
  up 
  the 
  exclusive 
  diet 
  of 
  a 
  large 
  part 
  

   of 
  this 
  agricultural 
  population, 
  save 
  for 
  

  

  an 
  occasional 
  bit 
  of 
  game 
  which 
  the 
  head 
  

   of 
  the 
  house 
  brings 
  in. 
  This 
  will 
  prob- 
  

   ably 
  be 
  a 
  small 
  monkey, 
  the 
  flesh 
  of 
  which 
  

   is 
  esteemed 
  a 
  great 
  delicacy, 
  even 
  by 
  

   white 
  people 
  who 
  have 
  been 
  able 
  to 
  over- 
  

   come 
  their 
  anthropophagous 
  squeamish- 
  

   ness 
  ; 
  but 
  the 
  mortality 
  among 
  the 
  four- 
  

   handed 
  tribe 
  is 
  kept 
  down 
  to 
  reasonable 
  

   limits 
  by 
  the 
  government's 
  stringent 
  en- 
  

   forcement 
  of 
  a 
  law 
  which 
  prohibits 
  im- 
  

   portation 
  of 
  any 
  guns 
  except 
  muzzle- 
  

   loaders. 
  

  

  CHINESE 
  IMMIGRATION 
  IS 
  A 
  BIG 
  PROBLEM 
  

   IN 
  CENTRAL 
  AMERICA 
  

  

  Corn 
  is 
  probably 
  grown 
  in 
  the 
  peas- 
  

   ant's 
  dooryar.d, 
  but 
  the 
  rice 
  will 
  have 
  

   come 
  from 
  a 
  Chinese 
  trader 
  in 
  the 
  neigh- 
  

   boring 
  village. 
  

  

  Chinese 
  immigration 
  is 
  more 
  of 
  a 
  prob- 
  

   lem 
  in 
  Central 
  America 
  than 
  it 
  ever 
  was 
  

   in 
  California, 
  if 
  the 
  inhabitants 
  only 
  knew 
  

   it, 
  for 
  the 
  Orientals 
  do 
  not 
  stoop 
  to 
  

   manual 
  labor, 
  but 
  have 
  taken 
  possession 
  

   of 
  a 
  large 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  retail 
  trade. 
  It 
  is 
  

   an 
  insignificant 
  town 
  that 
  has 
  not 
  one 
  or 
  

  

  