354 EXCURSIONS. Eook II. 
In order to complete my catalogue of the government 
measures, I must here refer to the military colonies, of 
which I have already spoken in the previous chapter. I 
then commented upon their uselessness. A totally dif- 
ferent military system — the introduction of a well-armed 
militia — arming the whole population, with at the same 
time freedom of movement — in short, the decentralisation 
of all offensive and defensive measures, and the encou- 
ragement of every manifestation of individual strength, 
would soon keep these savages in check, and eventually 
get rid of them, if only a Mexican government possessed 
sense and energy enough for such a system. 
There is one way, however, in which individual enter- 
prise in this direction has been excited. The government 
has set a high reward for every Indian either captured or 
killed. It gives 200 dollars for every adult Indian, alive or 
dead. In the last case the scalp and ears of the victim must 
be exhibited in proof of the fact. An Indian woman, alive, 
is valued at 150 dollars; a living boy at the same sum, 
while for one dead 100 dollars is given. Captive Indian 
children are placed by the government in good families to 
be brought up. I have seen many such quite civilized. 
The girls become good servants ; but the boys, as a rule, 
run away as soon as they have reached a certain age. 
From this digression I return to an account of my ex- 
cursions. One of the first was to the summit of the Cerro 
Grande. The steep sides of this isolated mountain, which 
consist of grey and reddish trachytic porphyry, are covered 
with grass, interesting varieties of cacti, and other plants* 
peculiar to this region. From the summit you overlook 
a wide range of bare valleys, plains, and mountains. At 
the base, to the south-east, a vein of manganese rises to 
the surface. The ore is Psilomelan. A superficial shaft 
