ADVENTURING DOWN THE WEST COAST OF MEXICO 



499 



The hinterland is a rich one, and be- 

 fore the war, was very prosperous. Only 

 a day's ride away is Rosario, which has 

 been a mining camp since the Spaniards' 

 time. The old church there is made of cut 

 stone fitted together without mortar, and 

 once was almost plated inside with 

 precious metals. 



Back in the hills the lucky ones may 

 get on good terms with the Indians. They 

 are not hostile — precisely — but neither do 

 they welcome strangers. 



THi: AZTEC GAME OF HIPBAEE IS STILE 

 PLAYED 



It is near here that the game of hipball 

 is played. The Indians use a solid rub- 

 ber sphere weighing more than twelve 

 pounds. It must not be touched with the 

 hands, but is caught upon, or thrust by, 

 the hip. . It is a dangerous and exciting 

 game, not often seen nowadays by white 

 men, and comes to the poor Indians of 

 to-day in straight descent from their 

 proud ancestors. 



In Aztec days courts were built with 

 carved stone walls, and stone rings were 

 set against them through which the ball 

 was to be hurled. Successful players 

 were often enriched by the delighted 

 spectators. Archaeologists have found the 

 remains of these great courts in many 

 places throughout the Republic (see illus- 

 tration, page 500). 



The waters about Mazatlan swarm with 

 fish. There are more than 100 species 

 and subspecies within a radius of 60 

 miles, of which 40 are of commercial 

 value and 20 are found in sufficient quan- 

 tities to permit of commercial canning 

 operations. 



Of these the most interesting from the 

 non-expert's viewpoint is the striped mul- 

 let. They are such intelligent fish that 

 they leap over the seines set by the natives. 



But fish brain is not yet the equal of 

 man brain, and the Indians set canoes at 

 a little distance back of the net, into which 

 the leaping fish shower by the hundred. 

 When the fisherman has a canoe-load he 

 paddles home. 



To uncommercial-minded travelers the 

 sight that never palled was the parade of 

 wild birds along the crescent shores of 

 the bay. One morning thirty wild geese 

 flew over so low that we could see their 



SOMEHOW, THEY ALWAYS SEEM HAPPY 



There are no more lovable people than the 

 Mexican Indians, even though we admit their 

 faults. They are always poor, often half 

 starved, always more or less oppressed by the 

 upper classes, and yet they always seem to be 

 happy. 



beady little eyes glisten. A game shot 

 could kill, anywhere along this coast, up 

 to the limit of his shame. 



Even his conscience would be protected, 

 for the buzzards doze with their toes in 

 the edge of the surf, waiting for the 

 flotsam of the bay, and they would dis- 

 pose of his kill before he had time to 

 grow morbid over murder. 



EACH STUPID PELICAN ACCOMPANIED BY A 

 ROBBER GULL 



As I stood there watching the geese, 

 two long strings of pelicans flew parallel 

 with the sea wall, 40 feet in the air. 



"Look at the gulls !" said my com- 

 panion. 



Each fishing pelican seemed to have its 

 attendant gull. When the pelican seized 

 his fish and disposed himself on the water 

 to swallow it, the gull hovered near. The 



