THE REPUBLIC OF GUATEMALA. 315 
only tortillas, frijoles, and huevos; these staples are 
always well cooked. 
Of the industrial and mechanical arts Guatemala has 
very little to show, apart from the woven fabrics and pot¬ 
tery already alluded to. Tailors and shoemakers abound, 
— and this in a climate where the former might almost 
be dispensed with, and where the latter work for not a 
moiety of the population. On the other hand, there are 
few cabinet-makers, although the native woods offer the 
choicest material for the skilled workman. There are no 
foundries or forges worthy the name, and all machinery is 
imported, and repairs must be made in San Francisco or 
New Orleans. Glass, porcelain, and stoneware is all im¬ 
ported, although the materials, of the best quality, are 
found here in abundance. Fibre-plants and rags are plen¬ 
tiful, and the consumption of paper is large; but every 
sheet is imported, — that used for stamps being made in 
France. While coconuts, sesame, cohune, castor-bean, 
and croton grow abundantly, there is no commercial 
manufacture of the vegetable oils; and we have seen 
that more than fourteen thousand dollars’ worth were 
imported in 1884. 
While the general climate of Guatemala is remarkably 
healthy, the people are exceedingly careless of all sani¬ 
tary precautions, especially in the matter of drainage and 
the waste products of the human body, trusting to the 
intervention of vultures and dogs to remove health- 
endangering filth. Yellow fever was common through 
the hot lowlands of the Pacific coast in 1883, and 
whooping-cough, measles, and small-pox prevailed in 
many parts of the country. The consumption of patent 
medicines and empirical preparations, obtained from the 
