The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-10-07

| dashed between two poles and carried
| each Of them by eight bearers, for the
| road was very steep and rough
We started forward down the mount
| ain, and in an hour we had left the re-
gion of snow behind ard entered the
| cedar forests. These great trees grew
| in groups, which were separated py
| glades of turf, the home of herds OF
deer. So thick was their foliage thal a
| twilight reigned beneath them, Whlie
from every branch hung fringe OF
| gray Spanish moss that swayed to and
fro in the draught of the mountain
breeze. Everywhere stretched vistas
/ rooted by the impenetrable boughs OF
these cedars, that brought to my NINA
memories of the dimly lighted nave OF
the great cathedral at Mexico, whereof
the trunks might have been the sup
| porting columns and the scent Oh the
leaves the odor Of incense.
After the cedar belt came the oak
groves and then miles of beautifui turf
slopes clothed in rich grass starred Win
flowers. Truly it was lovely lano-
1t was late in the afternoon before we
descended the last of these slopes ana
entered the tract of alluvial soil that
lay between them and the lake, where
the climate was much warmer.
1t was easy to see by the irrigation
bitches and other signs that TINS peil
of country had always supplied the IN
habitants of the city Of the Heart with
corn and other necessary crops. 1ere
grew great groves of sugar cane anu
cocoa bushes laden with their purple
pods, together with many varieties OF
fruit trees planted in separate orch
ards. Soon it became clear to US that
the greater part of these ancient orcn-
ards were untended, since their fruit
rotted in heaps upon the ground ENl-
IDENTIFY they had been planted in more
prosperous days and now their supply
exceeded the wants of the population
At length, as the evening began 10
fall, we entered the village of corn
growers, half ruined place, of which
the houses were for the most part built
of adobe or mud bricks and rooted with
a concrete of white lime. In the centre
Of the village was plaza planted rouho
with trees and having in its midst a
fountain, near to which stood a simple
altar piled with fruit and flowers. Close
to this altar the inhabitants Of the vii
lage, to the number of a hundred or SO,
were gathered to meet US. Most of the
men had but just come in from their
: labors, for their garments and feet were
stained with fresh earth, and they held
copper hoes and reaping hooks IN their
| hands.
! All these men wore upon their faces
the same look of WEAKNESS OF MIND
, which we had noticed in the bearers.
So monotonous were their counten-
ances indeed, that 1 turned my eyes
impatiently to the group of women who
were standing behind them. Like their
> husbands and brothers, these women
were very fair for Indians and hand
some in person, but they also had been
, stamped with melancholy.
The sight of the senor's white skin
and chestnut-colored beard seemed for
some few moments to rouse them'from
, their attitude Of listleSs Indifference.
. Soon, however, they fell into it again,
and began to chat idly or to play with
and pull to pieces the flowers that ev-
> cry one of them wore at her girdle.
. There was hardly any children among
the crowd, and it was strange to OBJ
, serve how great was the resemblance
! of the individuals composing it to each
other. Indeed, had they all been men,
; bers of a single family it could not
have been more marked, seeing that it
was difficult for a stranger to distin-
guish one woman from another of about
the same age.
, When Zibalbay descended from his
, litter, all those present Frustrated them
selves and remained thus till, followed
by some of the head men, he had
passed into house, which was made
r ready for his use, leaving us without.
do all your people look so sad?" l
= asked the lady Maya.
: Yes" she answered.; that is, all the
common people who labor 1t is other
wise with the mobiles, who are of a diff
[ ferent blood. Here, Don Ignatio, there
are two classes, the lords and the peo-
: pie; and Of the people each family is
forced to work for three months in the
l year. the other nine being given to them
for rest. The fruits of their labor are
gathered into storehouses and distrib-
nA-.l -.
Heart, but the temples, the cacique and
many Of the mobiles have their own
serfs, who have served them from faith
er to son."
And what happens if they will not
l work." asked the senior
Then they must starve for nothing
is served out to them or their families
from the common store, and when they
grow hungry they are set to the heavi-
est tasks.''
, Now we understood why these people
| looked so weary and lstless. What
i could be expected of men and women
e without ambition or responsibility, the
gain of whose toll was placed to the
i public credit and doledN out to them in
rations? In my old age 1 have heard
s that there are teachers who advocate
: such system for all mankind but OF
n this L am sure, that had they dwell
= among the people of the Heart. where
: 1t had been in force for many centuries
they would cease to preach this doc.
|. Urine, for there, at least, it did not pro.
7 mote the welfare of the race
r Presently messenger came from lib.
8 albay to summon us into the house
: where we found an ample meal prepar.
ed. consisting chiefly of fish from the
. lake, baked with fowl, and many. sorts
d OF fruit BY the time we had Finished
eating and had drank the chocolate thai
5 was served to us in cups of hammered
; silver the night had fallen completely
asked Zfbalbay if we should sleer
d there, to which he replied shortly thai
t we were about to start for the city.
t Accordingly we set out by the light
Y OF the moon. and We're guided to a lit.
s tie harbor in the shore of the lake
:, Where large canoe fitted with a mast
h and sail and manned by ten Indians
r was waiting for us. We embarked
IL and the breeze being off the land, hoist.
s ed the sail and started toward The
It island of the Heart, which stood at .
# distance of about fifteen miles from the
l, mainland.
e The breeze was light, but after the
!. cold Of the mountains, the air was Sc
soft and balmy and the scene so new
u and strange, that 1 for one did not re-
greet our slow progress. Nobody spoke
y In the boat, for all of us were lost ir
e our own reflections, and the indians
II were awed to silence by the presence
. of their lord, who alone seemed impa.
e tient, since from time to time he pulled
his beard and muttered to himself.
y SO we glided across the blue lake
o whose quiet was broken only by the
: whistling wings of the wild fowl trav
cling to their feeding grounds, by The
sudden leaps of great fish rising in pur
y suit of some night fly, and by the lap