THE REPUBLIC OF GUATEMALA. 307 
nected by more than three thousand miles of wire, with 
seventy offices. The expenditures of this bureau seem to 
be nearly twice the amount of the receipts, and from the 
nature of the country the cost of maintenance must be very 
great, owing to the rapid growth of tropical vegetation and 
the destruction wrought by insects, especially the comajen ; 
yet the tariff is reasonable, and one can, while paying for 
a message, pay also for the answer (contestation pagado). 
Both the designs on the telegraph blanks and the paper 
used are much better than the companies in the United 
States supply to their customers. By cable Guatemala 
has communication with South America, Mexico, the 
United States, and Europe. 
The mail service is excellent between the principal 
towns and foreign ports ; but owing to the nature of the 
country the time consumed over the less-frequented roads 
is very great. As a fair indication of the development of 
the country since 1871 under the administration of Pres¬ 
ident Barrios, the great increase in the amount of matter 
sent through the mails may be cited ; for in that year the 
total number of letters, papers, and circulars did not 
reach fifty thousand, while in 1884 it exceeded three 
millions. Guatemala has joined the Postal Union, but 
demands ten cents per rate on letters leaving her ports. 
While so many of the great nations put upon their post¬ 
age-stamps the portraits of their rulers or most distin¬ 
guished men to be spit upon and defaced, this republic, with 
better taste, submits only the national bird (quetzal) to 
this rough treatment. 1 
1 A new series of stamps was issued in 1886; and it is reported that they 
were furnished to the Government free of cost by a private individual, who 
asked as his only compensation the entire lot of stamps of the old issue then. 
