nuts. It may be
eaten dry, but is much more commonly mixed with water. The indian dips
up a _jicara_ full of clear spring water, and then, taking a handful of
_posole_ from his pouch, kneads it up until a rather thick, light-yellow
liquid results, which is drunk, and is refreshing and satisfying.

Almost all the _carreteros_ at this camp were Juchitecos. They were
great, strong fellows, and almost all of them wore the old-fashioned
indian breech-clout of red cotton under their drawers or trousers.
When they were working at their carts, greasing the wheels, or making
repairs, they were apt to lay by all their clothing but this simple
piece of cloth, and their dark-brown bodies, finely muscled, hard and
tough, presented handsome pictures. The little fellows who accompanied
them, up to the age of twelve, usually ran about with no article of
clothing save their little breech-clouts and white cotton shirts. In the
early afternoon, serious work began, and everywhere we saw these men
patching coverings, greasing wheels, readjusting cargoes, feeding and
watering their animals, harnessing, and making other preparations for
leaving. During the idle portion of the day, dice were in evidence,
and Eustasio was fascinated with the game. The stakes, of course, were
small, but he kept at it persistently until he had lost five pesos,
when, with forcible words, he gave up. I am sure the dice were loaded,
but I am equally sure, from all I know of Eustasio, that the next time
he makes that journey, he will have some loaded dice himself. Setting
out at 3:30, we were at the head of a long line of cars, and were soon
making another steady zigzag to ever greater heights than those before
climbed. According to the official _itinerario_, the distance from
Dolores to San Miguel is five leagues; we had left Dolores a league
behind in arriving at Carizal, and we naturally assumed that four
leagues would bring us to San Miguel. Eustasio, however, who never
under-estimated, claimed that it would take constant travelling until
eight in the morning to reach Los Pinos, which is still this side of San
Miguel. This is a fair example of the inaccuracy of figures published by
the government. As I looked behind at the long line of carts, some of
which were empty, and able to journey at good speed, the desire took
possession of me to hire one, at least for a short distance, in the hope
of getting a little sleep. Looking over the line, to make my choice, I
had