THE ISTHMUS OF TEHUANTEPEC 



997 



native: 



pieced out with Spanish words and sen- 

 tences. 



Somewhat below medium height, the 

 Indians possess unusual muscular 

 strength. They are often able to carry 

 for several hours on their shoulders, 

 under the rays of the tropical sun, car- 

 goes weighing from lOO to 200 pounds. 

 Deformed Indians among the isthmus 

 tribes are very unusual. Their habits 

 are exceedingly simple and their senses 

 tmusually acute, especially that of sight. 



They still cling to their ancient mode 

 of tilling the land with their primitive 

 wooden plows. Foreign commerce, ex- 

 ample — nothing has been able to shake 

 their belief in the idea that their way is 

 good enough. 



The women are gracefully built, and 

 in some tribes remarkably beautiful. 

 With the exception of the Zapotecos, 

 there is nothing unusual in the costume 

 ■of these natives. They are garbed ac- 



!\BORliRS Photo from Russell Hastings Millward 



cording to the climate, the women in 

 heavy or light weight cortcs and a che- 

 mise ; the men in once-white cotton trou- 

 sers and a shirt of the same material, 

 with a zarape, if the weather be cool. 



The mountain Indians wear an odd 

 raincoat, much like the raincoat used by 

 the Japanese peasant, made of plaited 

 straw. These coats seem to shed the 

 rain quite as well as our modern mac- 

 intoshes, and certainly are much more 

 picturesque. 



TEHUANTEPKC, ''the HILL OE THE 



tiger'' 



Tehuantepec is one of the important 

 towns of the isthmus, and is mainly in- 

 habited by Zapotecos. Its market place, 

 "El Centro Mercantil," is always full of 

 interest. Women of all ages sit here ; 

 tiny girls, exact miniatures of their 

 mothers, play about. 



From early morning the long, red- 



