Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1888-07-19
LIFE IN HONDURAS.
Primitive People Who Believe In Throw
ing OF Work and Worry.

PrimltINe IeOpie VINO DeieNc III Aho"-
ing OF Work and Worry.
/ do not need to tell you what an en-
ormous difference there is between San
Francisco and all its gayety and a
place like this, where we live in a
brush hut and eat corn-cakes (tortillas)
and brown beans. Our camp is in the
village of San Martin. Evidently there
has been no change in the peoples way
of living since the time of-well, let us
say Columbus, to be on the safe slde
The women to-day grind the corn in
the same little machine that they made
use of then. A stone slab, on which
the corn is placed after having been
soaked in lye-water, and stone roll
ing-pin form the whole outfit.
From morning till night one hears
the noise of this crude working. When
the corn, mixed with water, has
become dough, a pancake is made OF
it and baked over the fire. This is the
tortilla. The corn is allowed to re-
main in the water so long that it gets
entirely soaked through with lye, and
then afterward it is not properly
cleansed. The effect of lye on the sys-
tenn must be felt to be appreciated.
The baking ovens are half-round
structures built of adobe, and all the
cooking utensils are earthenware. Oc-
casionally we have meat, and some
times we snoot birds, but the natives
around here live mainly on tortillas
and beans. | have observed that the
people are, for the most part, honest.
One finds little downright stealing.
They live in one place generation after
generation. They are lazy; and if
they have made money enough the first
three days of the week to last them for
the next four, you may be sure they
will do no more work. They work
when they must, never when they feel
like it. The latter case is unknown.
When they think it about time to stop
work, they stop. Our American way
of days work for days pay is
something entirely and absolutely new
to them. Clocks are unknown, but
they tell the time accurately by the
sun; and they do have great deal OF
sun, as rule "a degrees in the huts at
noon. Neither the men nor the women
are good looking, but / understand
that in some of the other departments,
as, for instance, Olancho (the republic
of Honduras is divided into seven de-
partments), the race stands higher,
both physically and Intellectually.
They do not seem to marry. They be-
lieve in the doctrine of free love-
There are no priests for miles around.
Of course, in Choluteca, the capital of
this department. there are some, but
their visits are few and far between.
The maxim of these people, and they
/ live up to it, seems to be ''manana'
| (to-morrow). Every thing is manana,
or, as we would put it in English: "Do
not do to-day what you can put off till
tomorrow"
However, if their manana only meant
manana; but it generally means-some
time before Christmas.
We are novelty here, and we and
every thing we brought with us attract
general attention. Outside our hut lies
quantity of lumber, and before We
rise in the morning the planks are filled
by curious crowd, desirous of catch
ing the first glimpse of us. Our ablu
tions, which we have to make outside
the house, attract special attention
and seem to be source of astonish
ment to all.-George H. Meineke, "a
San Francisco Chronicle.