312 CAVE AND CUFF D WELLERS. 
along some of the steepest cliffs and most 
nigged mountain sides, and must have 
been a work of great expense, for after 
every rainy season, lasting from June till 
September, these are badly washed out 
and require continuous repairs. The 
usual Mexican method is to abandon a 
badly washed trail and strike out in a new 
direction. Thus one finds all sorts of 
paths in the mountains, and it is necessary 
to have a good guide who knows the way 
thoroughly, or bring up suddenly on the 
washed-out ledge of an unused trail and 
then retrace your steps to its junction 
with another. Long before we reached 
Batopilas we came upon some of the 
massive work being constructed at that 
point, and were in a measure prepared for 
the energetic American activity, but not 
for the castle-like structure, the hacienda 
