THE MULE ROAD AND GUADUAS. 



99 



such water be found. Others have attributed it to Kving at high 

 altitudes, but there are many people hving in higher regions than 

 Guaduas who are not affected. In Guaduas I found that the women 

 were more affected than the men, especially the women of the 

 laboring class. The carrying of heavy burdens partly supported 

 bv a band pa'Ssing across the forehead necessitates a tension in the 

 muscles of the neck and throat which may have some influence in 

 producing the enlargement. So accustomed to it are the people 

 here that (I was told) they even regard the goitre as a mark of per- 

 fection, and those who do not have it are considered as departing 

 from the normal. 



I also saw many children with some of the nails missing from 

 their toes, and was told that this was caused by neglecting to pick 

 out the " chigoes," or " nigoes," as they are sometimes called. 

 These little vermin burrow under the nail and deposit their eggs 

 in a sac. This can be easily picked out with a needle, but if 

 neglected until the eggs hatch they produce ugly sores, sometimes 

 attended by loss of the nail. 



When the proprietor finally returned, to our surprise we found 

 that he was a Virginian, a Mr. David Bain, who had been out in 

 Colombia for over twenty years, and who boasted of being even 

 more indolent than the natives. Upon learning that we also were 

 Virginians, he did all in his power to make us more comfortable, 

 and gave Alice and myself the room over the entrance, which had 

 the advantage of having a window facing on the plaza. The hotel 

 was once a private dwelling, and must have belonged to a person of 

 relatively considerable wealth. The floors were paved with a large 

 coarse tile, as thick as our brick, but about ten inches square. 

 These were warped, and had wide cracks between them which were 

 strongholds for innumerable fleas. In going over the house, I no- 

 ticed at one place, where the plaster had fallen off, that the laths, 

 which were of split reeds, were fastened to the joists by being tied 

 with a slender vine, and not nailed as ours are. 



At night, as I was feeling no better, I found the doctor of the 



