ACROSS THE CONTINENT, WESTWARD TO COBAN. 83 
We arrived at Chamiquin early in the afternoon, and 
found the hamlet consisted, as far as we could see, of 
two very inferior houses and as many sheds. A fine 
grove of mango-trees, but no fruit; a hen-house built in 
the second story only, and accessible by ladder; palms, 
with the withered leaves still clinging to the stem 
(cultivated for the nuts, but dreary looking); limestone 
cropping out on the neighboring hills, — comprised the 
distinctive features of the place. Our room was new and 
clean, lined with banana-leaves, and the hard earth floor 
was of course uncarpeted. The furniture was simply a 
table and a bench; but frugal as the furnishing was, our 
dinner surpassed it,—a few tortillas, four eggs, and some 
nasty coffee for two hungry men! We had our own 
candles, or we might not have seen how little it was. 
Perhaps our hostess did as well as she could, for the 
twenty-five dogs that besieged our room while we ate 
were evidently half starved. 
All through the country the dogs are very ill condi¬ 
tioned, and I several times remonstrated with their 
owners for what seemed to me cruel treatment • for 
although I detest this unclean brute, I do not like to 
see him suffer. But I was always assured that the 
dogs were underfed, not on account of cruelty, but to 
make them good hunters and scavengers. It certainly 
made them useless for the only purpose besides hunting 
that dogs seem to have been created for, — human 
food. Guatemala canines are certainly a contrast to 
the juicy little poi dogs of the Hawaiians (which 
are fed only on poi , sweet potato, and milk), or the 
excellent dogs always hanging in the butcher-shops in 
China. 
