Tres Zapotes 
Deoember 18, 1938 
Mi querido jefe y oompanero: 
Don’t be alarmed* This will not be a letter in Spanish* 
I have been quite isolated from the outside world, and only 
last night received your letter of December 5th; that is, the 
duplicate sent to Santiago Tuxtla. 
Everything is under control* I did not foresee just 
how much cash I would need for this pert of the trip, and so 
got into a little jam through not having provided myself with 
enough Mexican currency* That is what sent me to Tlaootalpan 
to telegraph you* In the meantime, the work here went right 
on, the men being quite willing to wait for their pay, Miguel 
took charge, assisted by a local master builder, 
A bad norther made us lose one day, and sinoe then the 
mud has been so bad that it has been impossible to reach the 
site except on horseback. 
The first day here was Friday the 9th* That day we 
cleared the brush from the irainediate vicinity of the Cabeza, 
made paths over and around the nearby mounds, end cleared the 
site i selected for our ” rancher I a% Ixi view of the night life 
in Tres Zapotes (firecrackers and stray bullets from the pistol 
of some drunk, serenades at two in the morning, barking contests 
among the dogs, grunting and mooching of pigs, crying babies, 
cocks crowing at 3 A.M., chickens peeping and turkeys gobbling 
soon after that), I decided that we would under no circumstances 
camp in the village. I chose a. level area just east of the 
large mound toward which the Cabeza looks* It is : one of the 
few spots that gets shade in the afternoon. Our doors will 
afford a nice view of the Tuxtla mountain. I think you are 
going to like our quarters pretty well. There ere a couple of 
surprises I have in store for you, and despite the likelihood 
that more men have been roped in on the job than probably would 
be necessary if these people were doing the job for themselves 
(at least that is what I suspect), the total cost of everything 
is really ridiculously small* Your Impression of the people 
was correct* They are a darned good lot of men* Wages here run 
from one and a half to two pesos a day* I have been paying two, 
except to those taking special risks like climbing the palm trees 
to cut calm leaf and those who had to go to the mountains to chop 
down trees and haul them, * these I pay a.50* When they were 
willing to work half a day Sunday, and once when it was especially 
hot in the middle of the day, I treated them to a round of beer* 
Beer costs only 20 and 25 centavos* 
There is no sense in my writing more about things now, as 
we shall soon see each other and then I can tell you in greater 
detail the experiences I have had, some of them quite amusing* 
One thing of importance, though, is this. By all means come the 
way you did before, via Alvarado and Tlaootalpan* You will save 
two days in travel and an license amount of discomfort. 
