54 
GUATEMALA. 
able, and we were parched with thirst. Santiago came to 
our aid; and selecting a rough-looking vine, of which we 
could not see the leaves, cut from it a length of some three 
feet, and from this trickled a tumblerful of clear, cool, 
tasteless water. This vejuco de agua was as large as 
a man’s wrist, of tender substance and very porous. The 
mozos declared that if the vejuco was 
cut only once, the juice would all run 
up from the pendent end; so it was 
necessary to cut at once above, and 
block its retreat. On the palm-trees 
were often found clusters of nuts of 
various sizes, some with such hard 
shells that even the parrots must have been baffled. We 
cracked several kinds, and found them more woody and 
less oily than the coconut. Several mahogany-trees came 
in our way, and they impressed me more than the sequoias 
of California or the banians and baobabs of India. Rising 
with a straight and uniform stem far above the surround¬ 
ing trees, they then spread their dense foliage like a 
massive oak above the tree-top plane. Rosewood, palo de 
mulatto, sapodilla, ironwood, and many other kinds were 
recognized, and our exploration ended for the day with a 
bath on board the boat, in which we dashed the cool river 
water over each other. The air was 86°, while the water 
Avas 78°. Our men who had been sent up stream to build 
a champa, or native house, returned to us at sundown in 
true monkey style, swinging down on to the boat from the 
branches of the tree overhanging the “ Progreso.” The ab¬ 
sence of mosquitoes puzzled us, as it had the night before. 
After the rain ceased, the next morning about seven, 
we paddled up stream in the cayuco. I have never seen 
Section of 
Vejuco de Agua. 
