186 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



Ill the evening Don Juan's brother, the alcalde, 

 called upon Dr. Cabot for advice for a sick child, 

 which the course he w^as pursuing would soon have 

 put beyond the reach of medicine. Doctor Cabot 

 made him desist, and in the morning it was so much 

 better that all the people conceived a good opinion 

 of his abilities, and determined to patronise him in 

 earnest. 



The condition of the whole country in regard to 

 medical aid is deplorable. Except at Campeachy 

 and Merida there are no regular physicians, nor 

 even apothecaries' shops. In the villages where 

 there are curas, the whole duty of attending the sick 

 devolves upon them. They have, of course, no reg- 

 ular medical education, but practise upon some old 

 treatise or manuscript recipes, and even in their 

 small practice they are trammelled by want of med- 

 icines. But in villages where there are no curas, 

 there is no one to prescribe for the sick. The rich 

 go to Campeachy or Merida, and put themselves un- 

 der the hands of a physician ; the poor linger and 

 die, the victims of ignorance and empiricism. 



Dr. Cabot's fame as a curer of biscos had spread 

 throughout the country, and whenever we reached 

 a village there was a curiosity, which threw Mr. 

 Catherwood and me into the shade, to see the 

 medico. Frequently we overheard the people say, 

 "Tanjoven," "So young:" "Es muchacho," "He 

 is a boy ;" for they associated the idea of age with 

 that of a great medico. He was often consulted upon 



