NOTES ON SOUTHERN MEXICO 



317 



San 



for San Cristobal, 

 which has caused 

 the trees to assume 

 grotesque, dwarfed 

 forms. Effects of 

 frost were evident 

 until we descended to 

 about 4,000 feet. A 

 fine feature of this 

 day's trip was a 

 stretch where the road 

 followed the bank of 

 the Osumatinta River 

 through a gorge, the 

 sides of which ranged 

 between 500 and 1 ,000 

 feet high. The side 

 of the gorge opposite 

 the road was covered 

 with a rank growth 

 of ferns and other 

 vegetation, rare i n 

 these regions. 



The oaks around 

 Ixtapa have also been 

 pollarded to furnish 

 fuel for the town. 

 For miles about all 

 the towns in this re- 

 gion every piece of 

 available wood has 

 been removed and fuel has often to be 

 carried a distance of 10 or 12 miles on 

 the backs of Indians. As soon as the 

 higher ridge is reached the whole valley 

 of the Grijalva is visible from the top of 

 an almost perpendicular cliff about 2,000 

 feet high. The view is more like that 

 from a balloon than anything we had ever 

 seen. The descent from here is constant 

 and a very severe strain on the ears. 



While in Tuxtla we secured samples 

 of a curious double-eared corn that was 

 at first thought to be merely an abnor- 

 mality. We soon found these ears in 

 such quantities, however, as to lend color 

 to the statements of the natives that this 

 was a real variety that always came true 

 to seed. It is certainly not a case of 

 simple fasciation, for the ears are not 

 grown together, but have branched just 

 inside the husk. Kernels are borne en- 

 tirely around each of the branches. We 



lytapa /«, 



Santa Lucia^. 



an B ar t ol orne 



R.S.SHAW 



SKETCH MAP OF SOUTHERN MEXICO, SHOWING THE ROUTE OF 

 MESSRS. COLLINS AND DOYLE 



secured specimens with three branches, 

 and four are said to be not uncommon. 

 Aside from the peculiar form of the ears, 

 this corn is a type distinct from anything 

 else found at Tuxtla, and every ear that 

 we saw had at least two branches. It is 

 one of the most popular varieties here 

 and is said to yield very good crops. 



As an evidence of the isolation of 

 Tuxtla and to show the extent to which 

 primitive customs still prevail, the fact 

 may be mentioned that cacao is still used 

 as money in the market, a custom that 

 was general in many parts of tropical 

 America at the time of the discovery. A 

 common expression for cheap articles in 

 the market is that they sell so many 

 for a "cinco." This originally meant 5 

 cacao beans, but to allow for the fluctuat- 

 ing value of the cacao a "cinco" actually 

 consists of from 2 to 5 cacao seeds, but 

 the ratio will be uniform throughout the 



