164 



The Isthmus of Tehuantepec. 



often mothers at the ages of twelve and thirteen : the families 

 of children seem large. The children appear to have 

 very little care ; they wear no clothes in childhood. Long- 

 evity is rare. I saw none who appeared to be fifty years 

 old, and few as old as forty. The women seem to live 

 longer than the men. They appear, at all ages, to be honest 

 and faithful, and to have no fear of theft from each other. 

 The owner of a hut will leave it for days, fastened with a 

 wisp of bark and containing his whole store of maize, beef, 

 and also his tempting flask of corn whiskey called agua 

 diente, which he is sure to find on his return. 



The Mexican robbers live in the neighborhood of the 

 cities and are aided by their more civilized neighbors. I 

 came, alone, through the most lonely part of Mexico, over 

 three hundred miles, entirely unarmed, among Indians who 

 perhaps had not seen a white man before, and was received 

 with uniform kindness, and hospitality. 



Excepting one woman who was cross-eyed and a few 

 marked with small pox, I saw no cases of deformity. 

 Other travelers on the isthmus have remarked that they 

 had observed few cases of physical deformity. 



The huts are usually upon the river bank, although that 

 is not the most healthy location. 



They are very simple. Four stakes are driven into the 

 ground a few inches. A wall of twigs is woven between 

 them. These are plastered with mud which hardens in the 

 sun. The whole is covered with a roof of grass or large 

 leaves called Ocha Blanca. Two men will' build a house 

 in two or three days which will perhaps shelter them and 

 their children for generations. Usually one end of the sin- 

 gle room is occupied by a lattice of laths to be used as a 

 bed. It is as long as a man, and as wide as the size of the 

 family calls for. Upon this bed all the occupants of the 

 house lie — man, wife, children and guests. After one night 

 spent outside upon the ground in the heavy dew, the most 



