442 
ILLNESS AND 
The plain on which the town stands is intersected with 
many arroyos^ or dry water-courses, which, after heavy 
rains, become filled, inundate the country, and endanger 
the town. Several extensive haciendas are situated in 
the vicinity ; among which are those of Santa Rita, El 
Molino, Guadalupe, and Tapahui. 
A theatrical company from Mazatlan was perform- 
ing while I was a resident here ; but, either from want 
of patronage or indolence in the actors, the represen- 
tations took place only once or twice a week. Each 
entertainment was publicly announced by a troop with 
a band of music parading through the town. The 
theatre was a court yard in the open air, and the stage 
a rude frame work filled with earth ; the spectator 
being at liberty to look before or behind the scenes, as 
best suited his taste. Seats were not furnished, each 
person bringing his own, or standing during the per- 
formance. The prompter was ensconced in a sort of 
well in the front part of the stage, his head covered with 
a tin-plate screen, which strongly resembled a patent 
Dutch oven. He read the entire play in an under 
tone, and the actors repeated it after him. The whole 
affair was tedious, and a poor apology for an evening’s 
entertainment. 
The laborers of Ures and of other towns in the 
central and lower parts of Sonora are* the Yaqui Indians. 
They fill the same place and perform the same duties 
as the lower class of Irish do in the United States. I 
was told that they are invariably honest, faithful, and 
industrious, traits of character which cannot be said to 
belong to the lower order of Mexicans. I saw these 
men at work in a broiling sun, with no garment save 
