GUATEMALA, THE COUNTRY OF THE FUTURE 618 



SKETCH MAP OF GUATEMALA 



It was my good fortune to stay at sev- 

 eral of these Uncas, and none more lovely 

 than Pacayal, a coffee plantation way up 

 in the mountains at an altitude of 5,000 

 feet. It is a 30-mile horseback ride after 

 leaving the railroad at the station of 

 Cocales. We stopped over night at the 

 Indian town of Patalul, where there is 

 a new hotel, primitive but clean. We 

 rode into this town at sunset to find our- 

 selves in the midst of a real country fair. 



It was an odd scene, the booths of 

 bamboo and groups of dark-faced In- 

 dians squatting around camp-fires. The 

 sound of bells and discordant music 

 reached us, and as we came in front of 



the church a procession was just coming 

 out, headed by a life-size figure of the 

 Virgin, borne on the shoulders of women. 

 It was the finishing touch to an already 

 unusual scene, as it wended its way down 

 the crooked streets between the fires, the 

 twinkling lights of many waxen tapers 

 and the crimson glow of the sunset 

 heightening the already brilliant coloring 

 of the native costumes. 



THE CULTIVATION OE COEEEE AND THE 

 INDIAN LABOR 



Pacayal, an estate of some 8,000 acres, 

 boasts some of the finest coffee in Guate- 

 mala. Coffee is not a natural product 



