The Isthmus of Tehuantepec. 165 



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modest traveler usually resigns himself to his fate and takes 

 the place upon the bed reserved for him. Each sleeper has 

 his or her own blanket, and all lie under one musketo net. 



The occupation of the men is either cutting mahogany 

 and rafting it down the river to the sea, driving mule-trains, 

 carrying indigo or herding cattle. 



Mahogany grows all through the swampy portions of the 

 isthmus. The trees generally stand singly, but the con- 

 ditions which favor the growth of one induce many, so 

 that when a hunter finds one he is generally sure of others 

 not far off. 



The trees are hard to find ; they are not plenty anywhere, 

 and near the river banks and roads have long since been 

 cut away. 



A special class of men, called mahogany hunters, make it 

 their business to search for these trees, and are paid a small 

 sum by the leader of a gang of axe-men or choppers for 

 each tree they may bring news of. 



When a hunter finds a tree, he puts his private mark upon 

 the bark, which is respected by all his competitors. 



When the leader receives notice of a tree or number of 

 trees, he sends to the seaport for government permission to 

 fell it, and pays a tax of fifty cents on each tree. As all the 

 trees must be felled and drawn to the river bank in the dry 

 season, a few days time will sometimes hinder or allow a 

 tree being cut on the same season when found. 



Light canoes are often seen during the last days of 

 the dry season hurrying to or from the seaport with or for 

 the government permission, as rapidly as the men can 

 drive them, hardly stopping for sleep or food. 



All the logs must go in rafts to market. A record of the 

 tax paid by each cutter is kept by the government officer 

 in his hut at the mouth of the river : he is able to detect 

 fraud, if any tree felled has not been paid for. 



The choppers draw the logs over rude corduroy roads, 



