136 
RUBBER PLANTING ON THE 
had a blossom that for size put in the shade anything that I had ever 
seen. I do not recall the botanical name, but it is of the family that 
produces what is known as the “Dutchman’s pipe.” We saw several 
of them, and finally secured a blossom. In size it was as large as an 
old fashioned Shaker bonnet, and must have weighed a pound and a 
half. It was not pretty, except in a bizarre tropical sense, but was 
simply a type of what the richest of soil, plenty of moisture, and con- 
stant warmth can produce. 
There seem to be few poisonous plants ; the most common is a lux- 
uriant shrub with a crown of handsome white flowers, which acts like a 
gigantic nettle, instantly paralyzing the hand that grasps it. This is 
very plentiful, and its Spanish name means “the evil woman plant.” 
None of the forest through which we passed would be called prime- 
val as there were no trees that were over one hundred and fifty years 
old. Just why this is so, none can tell, but that the land was once 
densely inhabited is proved by bits of pottery, arrow heads, etc., that are 
to be found on every plantation, and in the railroad cuttings in great 
abundance. And that reminds me that at La Junta Mr. Shufeldt gave 
me a hideously interesting little clay idol which he found in a vegetable 
garden there. I unwittingly left it on the table in my room at La 
Buena Ventura, and I wish to warn the genial householder that I am 
coming down soon purposely to recover it. 
Meanwhile, hot, perspiring but cheerful, we were plodding on 
towards the Tehuantepec Railway that was miles and miles in the dis- 
tance. Finally, however, we reached Sanborn, soon to be a metropolis : but 
when we arrived it was simply a camp where men were grading, felling 
the forest, and getting ready to put up a modern railway station, which 
is to have a telegraph and telephone office, and all sorts of modern 
conveniences. This place, by the way, is about eight miles from La 
Junta, and will be its railway station. It is named after one of the 
prominent officials, who, besides his interest in rubber planting, has 
purchased a big block of land, and is going into lumbering, brick making, 
and a variety of industries that will be of marked benefit to that section. 
At Sanborn we struck good luck, for we had not been there five minutes 
when a locomotive whistled, and soon the construction train crawled 
into sight. We boarded the flat car in front to keep from being set 
afire by sparks from the wood burning engine, and we continued our 
journey. 
Arriving at Santa Lucretia in due time, we disembarked and 
wended our way to the town proper which consists of a hotel on stilts, 
