74 
little inclined to work, but their natural docility leads us to 
believe that it would not be difficult to make them industrious 
and useful. They have not the disagreeable appearance of 
the Mijes and Soques, and if they are not to be compared to 
the Zapotecos, the difference is chiefly owing to the excessive 
use of strong spirits, as well as the habit acquired from child¬ 
hood of eating earth, which deforms them, and imparts to their 
complexion a sickly hue. 
Jaltipan is celebrated among the Indian villages of this 
territory for having been the birth-place of the enchanting 
Malinche (Dona Marina), who by her fidelity and sagacity 
materially assisted the conquests of Cortes. 
The women of this village are famed, and not undeservedly 
as the handsomest throughout the district; but in common, 
with the rest of their sex in the Isthmus they cannot boast of 
very strict ideas of propriety. It is also said that the male 
population, instead of watching them with a jealous eye, carry 
their ideas of hospitality to a very peculiar length. 
A singular circumstance, deserving the attention of the eth¬ 
nologist, is the existence of a race of dumb people, of which 
there are numerous families in Jaltipan. However strange 
this may appear it is nevertheless certain, and the Rancho de 
los mudos (settlement of the dumb), established a few years 
since near the lower part of the island of Tacamichapa, owes 
its designation to the fact that the individuals are all dumb 
who inhabit the three or four houses which form this settle¬ 
ment. 
The Mestizos are a mixed race of Europeans and Indians. 
They are in general more rational and industrious than the 
latter; but, like them, indulge in intemperate habits, and are 
much more turbulent. The number of Mestizos exceeds that 
of the Europeans. 
CLIMATE. 
The climate of this part of the Isthmus is damp, but its 
temperature being generally low, compared not only with the 
southern division of the Isthmus but even with the other coasts 
