er which the road passed. Water trickled through this
limestone mass and dripped and collected in little basins, which had
been excavated in the ledge close by the roadside. Some grateful passer
had set up little crosses by the water pools, and they were gay that day
with purple orchids plucked from a near-by tree. In this tree, amid the
brilliant clumps of yet unplucked blossoms of the orchids, were a number
of toucans with their enormous, brightly colored bills--the _picos de
canoa_ (canoe beaks) of the people.

Tuxtla Gutierrez is a town of some thousands population, with a central
plaza where the local band plays almost every evening, and a market
place of exceptional interest. Here, as nowhere else, we saw crowds of
the purest indians in native dress. Chiapas is the home of at least
thirteen tribes, each with its own language. Among the most interesting
indians we saw in the market were the Tzotzils, from Chamula, who wore
heavy, black woolen garments. The indians of the town and its immediate
vicinity are Zoques.

Few Mexican governors possess the breadth of view and the intelligent
enterprise of Governor Leon, whom we encountered here. A man of middle
age, of fair stature though slight in build, with dark complexion,
iron-gray hair, beard and whiskers carefully trimmed after the French
fashion, his appearance creates a favorable impression. He did
everything in his power for our comfort and assistance, and supplied us
with letters to the _jefes politicos_ of the districts through which we
were to pass. We congratulated him upon the cart-road over which we
had come from Zanatepec, an important public work for this part of the
world; he told us he began it three years ago with a force of but nine
men; that it would be extended to San Cristobal and San Bartolome; that
he was no engineer, but that he could tell quite well when a road was
passable for a cart. We found him greatly interested in a congress
which he had called of persons interested in labor questions. Among the
questions which he hoped to see considered was the abolition of the
system of _peonage,_ which still exists in full development in the
state.

Less than three leagues from Tuxtla Gutierrez is Chiapa, famous for the
brightly painted gourds and calabash vessels there manufactured and
sent out to all parts of the republic. Toys, rattles, cups, and great
bowl-basins are among the forms produced. We visited a house where five
women were making prett