and undergoing a whipping; but this the principal citizens prayed me to suppress.

Misdemeanors or faltas. Males. Females. Ladinos. Indios. Read. Write.

A notable fact in regard to punishments in Guatemala is their publicity. In New England every effort is made to conceal criminals from public gaze; the punishment which is intended to deter others from a similar act is, foolishly enough, merely a matter of hearsay to the bulk of the population. A silly sentimentality hides the convicts in prisons better and more commodious than the homes of a majority of the people, feeds them with sufficient and wholesome food, and in general wastes more pity on them than it vouchsafes to the honest poor, and all this at the expense of innocent citizens! In Guatemala I examined many prisons, finding them all open to inspection. The passer-by can see through the grated door of the carcél all the prisoners within. When finally sentenced, the criminals are put upon the public roads and set to work under guard and chained, so that every one may be reminded that the "way of transgressors is hard." In the prisons In the prisons they sleep on mats, and receive from the Government a real (twelve and a half cents) a day, with which to buy food. In the new prisons all the modern improvements are introduced, and

hard labor is provided in great variety. I believe also that as large a proportion of crimes is detected and punished as in any other country. I have been enabled to follow several cases through the courts, and found the decisions in strict accordance with the law, both in criminal and civil actions.

It would be unfair to pass in complete silence the darker scenes in the life of the Guatemaltecan republic; but I confess to an ignorance as to the exact truth of the stories that have been whispered about, whispers indeed that I heard myself while in the City of Guatemala. Distinguished members of the old conservative party assured me that they lived in daily dread of the Government. Spies and informers were ready at all times to entrap them if in an unguarded moment they should utter their opinion of the political situation, or condemn official corruption. Trial by court-martial-that most odious form of injustice

might result in their banishment or death; and I was told that the laws, however generally wise, really depended on the caprice of the President, who could suspend or annul them whenever he saw occasion. I am sure that these persons believed what they told me with bated breath; but I also know to what extreme opinions political dislikes will lead in these Southern republics. On the death of Barrios and the accession of Barillas, it is said that eight hundred political prisoners were released from the prisons where they had been immured by the late President, often without even the form of a trial. The universal rule of favoritism is too evident to be concealed, and the amigo del Presidente has certainly undue power. To our Northern haste the tedious delay of all official work is a marked contrast, for the

power

officials have not the skill, wisdom, or cunning of the members of our Northern legislatures, who remain in session an unconscionable time, apparently overwhelmed with work, although when they at last adjourn, the records show scant results. The Government of Guatemala is republican in name only, the President having actually as much irresponsible power as the Czar; but so far as actually proved, this is used with moderation, and is perhaps a political necessity of the country and race, however repugnant to Anglo-Saxon ideas. As in all small governments, there is much form and red-tape, and the individual or company who has business with the authorities must have an accredited agent at the seat of Government to present petitions, press suit, or patiently await the result; no person at a distance has any prospect of prompt attention. With the exception of some of the higher officials, there are but few Guatemaltecans who really welcome foreigners, and among the Indios there is little attempt to conceal the feelings of jealousy or distrust with which outsiders are regarded. While the future growth of the country depends on the introduction of foreign capital, there are not many, now that Barrios is no more, who will dare to offend popular prejudices by openly taking the part of foreigners who either have invested capital here, or intend to do so. The popular idea of the day is a renewed confederation of the five republics, with Guatemala at the head; this means no extension of foreign relations, but the impotent self-sufficiency that has always distinguished Central America and retarded her advance.

Many indications point to an attempt in the near future to renew the confederation of the five republics, and it is

not improbable that Mexico may be included in the Central American Estados Unidos. It was the ambition of General Barrios to become emperor or president (the name matters little) of all Central America; and he lost his life in the attempt. His death will not deter the politicians of the several States from attempting a revolution which may aggrandize their private fortunes in the general disturbance. If Mexico- a very inferior nation both in the character of her population and in natural resources — could be left out, it would seem very possible to unite again the fortunes of Guatemala, Honduras, San Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica; but such a confederacy would not attract foreign capital as readily as a treaty alliance between quite independent republics, owing to a widespread distrust of the permanency of any confederacy. If the laws of the United States stretched to the Isthmus of Darien, doubtless capital would eagerly enter this rich field; but at present it is as safe under the laws of Guatemala as under those of any Central American country.

As England and Germany always protect the interests of their subjects wherever invested, and as the United States Government has neither the will nor the power to guard the interests of her people in foreign lands, it is not strange that Englishmen and Germans embark in profitable enterprises in the Central-American Republics while Americans hesitate. At present we have to trust for our commercial rights to the general laws of nations and the favorable inclinations of the existing Government.

CHAPTER XI.

VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL PRODUCTIONS.

ROPICAL vegetation cannot well be described; but

TROI

the fact that even when seen it is hard to understand, need not prevent an attempt to sketch the general features. The real trouble that meets the novice on the threshold of the tropics is the utter inadequacy of the English language to express the variety and luxuriance he sees in the vegetable world. Even in color his vocabulary fails him, and he must include in the name "green so many distinct tints that at last he relinquishes the difficult task and falls back upon the commonplace epithets, or leaves his tale untold. In the abundance, in the confusion, of plant-life the observer sees that as he goes from shore to mountain the trees and plants are not the same, and he will readily divide the vegetation into four tolerably distinct regions; these are the Shore, the River-bottoms, the Upland, and the Arid plain.

On all the low Cayos that are almost awash with every wave, and on the low margin of the mainland, extending up the wide rivers for miles, are the mangroves (Rhizophora mangle), giving the landscape a dull look not at all attractive. They make indeed a hedge of interlaced branches and tangled roots inhospitably forbidding landing on the shores. In their