nged in Mitla. Asking him why he had not come to be measured
when he was told to do so, he replied that we had already measured him.
Telling him that lying would not save him, I commanded him to appear the
following morning for measurement,--that otherwise he would be sent a
prisoner to Oaxaca. In the morning he did not appear until officials
were sent to bring him. After he had gone through the ordeal of
measurement he swore eternal friendship to me, and at no time afterward
was I able to pass him, on the street or in the square, without his
begging me to drink _tepache_ with him.

Mitla is famous for its weaving; fine _mantas_ of wool are made there
in two chief styles--one a long strip of black or blue-black cloth, the
other a rich red, sometimes banded or striped with black. These Mitla
_mantas_ are widely sold to Zapotecs, in all the district around, and
form the characteristic women's dress. The Zapotecs of this district
wear something on their feet that more nearly resembles true shoes than
the footgear of any other Indians in southern Mexico. The sandal of the
man has a projecting heel-flap which is bound around the ankles by means
of thongs, and forms a good protection to the hind part of the foot. The
women have not only such a flap, even higher than that used by the men,
but also a broad strip of leather over the forward part of the foot,
leaving the toes peeping out in front; between the heel flap and the toe
covering, the foot is quite as well enclosed, excepting for the toes, as
in a white man's shoe.

It was quite impossible, with the amount of work we had to do, and the
difficulties under which we labored, to give the least attention to
the ruins. We arranged, however, to make a photograph of the town
authorities standing in the great court of one of the fine old
buildings--a court the walls of which are covered with beautiful mosaic
decorations, betraying taste and skill. The motley crew of half-drunk
officials, miserably dressed, degraded, poor, in this scene of past
magnificence, called up thoughts of the contrast between the government
of old Mitla and the present,--of past magnificence and modern squalor.

[Illustration: THE CONTRAST; PAST AND PRESENT--MITLA]

Having accomplished all we wished at Mitla, we again struck eastward
toward the land of the Mixes. Late in starting, we made no attempt to go
further than San Lorenzo that afternoon. The old road was familiar,
and from there on, through the