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be able to tell. It has been estimated that 10,000 Indians 
perished. The luxuriant mass of vegetation and well ordered 
estates was a huge desert of grey ashes and sand. What was 
formerly the richest coffee zone in the country was now an 
arid desert. It is calculated that something like 20,000 
million tons of ashes and pumice fell in Guatemala territory 
alone. Curiously enough this eruption, undoubtedly one of 
the greatest of modern times, escaped with the barest mention 
in the English press. 
Some of the coffee estates have been restored and re- 
organised. There are many others where the ashes still 
remain to a depth of many yards which will never rise till, 
in course of time, Nature once more converts her destructive 
elements into a rich bed of creative energy. Though disas- 
ters of this kind mean ruin to many there can be no doubt 
that the ultimate result will be beneficial, for the principal 
constituent of the rich soil necessary for the cultivation of 
coffee is this very debris. The effects of the eruption already 
prove beyond doubt that the volcanic ejecta contains most 
valuable manuring properties, for the class of coffee has 
improved throughout the district since the disaster. 
The coffee planters have a curious labour question to 
trouble them. Owing to the extreme fertility of the soil 
and to their very few requirements, the Indians, who con- 
stitute the labour element of the country, can supply their 
wants by tilling their fields for a few weeks in the year. Should 
their crops of maize and black beans be good they have no 
need to go to the estates for work. The authorities have to 
compel them to work. Once on the estates the Indians are 
tempted to get into debt by advances of money, to such an 
extent generally that it is quite impossible for them to pay 
it back during the harvest. This is what the planter wants, 
for as long as there is a sum owing in the little book which 
the Indian has to carry, he is bound by law to work it off. 
Many planters suffer great losses through these difficulties 
in securing labour and frequently coffee has to be allowed 
to rot on the trees. 
The Indians are a very curious study. Centuries of Spanish 
oppression have crushed out the fierce spirit they once possessed 
and left them but poor broken-spirited beings, without the 
wish or the will to better their lot. They are extremely 
conservative ; still speaking their own varied languages and 
often refusing to learn or speak Spanish, the official language 
of the country. They adhere to their old customs, and it is 
practically impossible to introduce among them a new notion 
or method. They still spin and weave their own cloth, using 
