TOWNS, PRODUCTIVE INDUSTRY, ETC. 
247 
houses, and a population of 680, of whom no more than three- 
fourths speak Spanish. Distant from the shores of the Pacific, 
and approachable only by a wretched road, the inhabitants have 
comparatively little social intercourse with other settlements. 
Their products are nevertheless much more numerous than those 
of more favored places, and considerable quantities of oranges, 
maize, tobacco, and ixtle are annually transported by means of 
balsas down the Rio del Corte, for the supply of El Barrio, Pe- 
tapa, &c. The dexterity with which the Indians manage these 
balsas (often heavily laden), in passing over terrible rapids and 
through narrow passages filled with rugged rocks, where even a 
canoe could not possibly live, is truly surprising. These rafts 
are rudely constructed from the jonote, an exceedingly light 
wood, which grows in great quantities. The river abounds in 
excellent fish, and the inhabitants, whose cattle, from the want 
of grazing lands, are very limited, eat scarcely any other animal 
food. The scenery on the Eio del Corte is unequalled in beauty, 
and the abundance of valuable timber, as the pine, live-oak, and 
cypress, invest this part with peculiar interest, and cannot fail 
to attract a share of the future timber trade of the Isthmus. 
Of the date of the original settlement of the Chimalapas, noth- 
ing is now preserved, except a vague tradition that they were 
built by a remnant of the Zoque tribe, who escaped from the 
malady which depopulated Chimalapilla, a large and thriving 
town on the river of that name, more than a hundred years ago. 
The ruins of this ancient place are still visible within sixteen 
miles of Santa Maria ; and as the dead were left unburied, the 
ground is said to be strewn with bones and skulls. This has 
given rise to the belief that the spot is haunted, and no reward 
would be deemed sufficiently great to induce the Indians to 
visit it. 
At Santa Maria Chimalapa there is a family of Albinos, 
whose appearance forms a striking contrast with the sombre 
color of the Zoques. The quality of oranges raised here are su- 
perior to those of any part of the Isthmus, and constitute an 
important part of the trade of the town. * * * * 
* Returning again to the central division of the Isthmus, the 
road from El Barrio to Tehuan tepee takes a direction nearly south, 
