remained in Coixtlahuaca several days, no beds were forthcoming, though we referred to them often enough; nor did the private boarding-house materialize.  We, however, found a little place in the village where we got plenty of good food cheaply.  Nor did the ride on horseback through the neighboring villages, which had been so pleasantly suggested by the jefe, materialize.  However, each day of our stay we were assured that all arrangements had been made for it to take place on the morrow.

We have already mentioned the plaza as large in proportion to the size of the town.  On Sunday it was crowded, and while many things were bought and sold, the trade in sombreros surpassed all others.  This is a specialty of all the district; throughout the Chocho towns, they make an excellent grade of palm-hats and everyone engages in the making.  Both men and women braid palm, and in every yard there is excavated in the soft, tufaceous rock, a cueva, or cave, in which they work.  Here the palm is left between times, and here two persons generally work together, each braiding at a hat, while a little cross, cut in the rock-wall, looks down upon the work, for good luck.  These caves have a narrow opening upward and are scarcely large enough to admit the two persons who sit at their work.  The object of the cave is to keep the work moist, as the plaiting cannot be well done, if the palm dries out.

The Monday we were there, the victory of February 5th was celebrated.  The day began with music by the brass-band, from the roof of the presidencia.  The band, a large one, consisted almost entirely of boys about fifteen years of age.  Only the director and one among the players were men grown.  At sunrise the national flag was raised, and at seven the church-bells were rung.  Through the afternoon, games of ball and cock-fights furnished amusement.  Among the crowd, at the house of the bride, we had met a little, stout man of about twenty-five or thirty years, who considered himself superior to the other people, and who variously attempted to make himself familiar.  At several times during our measuring and bust-making, he had hung around, making smart remarks, but we had never invited him to submit to measure, as he did not seem to be a really full-blood indian.  He had made a nuisance of himself, but, finally, one day, when he was standing in the crowd, which was looking on, he called my attention to a friend of his, remarking that here was a good subject.  On calling this young man to be measured, we met with unexpected resistance.  He was purely indian, short, well-dressed, and well-mannered, but he refused to be measured.  We had had some little trouble with our subjects that afternoon, and therefore insisted that he should undergo the operation.  He refused.  Of course, the officials were on our side, and the police led him off to jail.  When he saw that there was no escape, he consented to be measured, and they brought him back, under guard,