s were rather vague. Being desirous of
knowing what was going on among his neighbours, he had no compunction
about opening the few letters they got; not that he destroyed them
after reading them--he very coolly handed them over opened. The people
did not like this, and considered it rather high-handed on his part;
but then, what was there for them to do about it?

He said he had heard that I could cure people. When a man is called
Doctor, the Mexican peasantry expect him to possess comprehensively
all useful knowledge in the world. Looking at me for a moment, this
healthy, ruddy-cheeked man suddenly, without saying a word, took hold
of my hand and pressed it against his forehead for a little while;
then, all the time in silence, he carried it backward until my fingers
touched a small excrescence on his back. Now was the chance to find
out whatever was the matter with him!

On my next visit to his office he received me with a queer, hesitating
expression on his face, and suddenly blurted out, "Can you cut out
trousers?" For some time he had had a piece of cloth in his house,
and he said he would pay me well if I could help him to have it made
into trousers. To cure people, mend watches, repair sewing-machines,
make applejack, do tailoring, prognosticate the weather--everything
is expected from a man who comes from far away. And the good people
here are astonished at a confession of ignorance of such matters, and
take it rather personally as a lack of good-will toward them. It is
the old belief in the medicine man that still survives in the minds
of the people, and they therefore look upon doctors with much greater
respect than on other persons.

People who live outside of civilisation are thrown upon their own
resources in cases of sickness. The daughter of my Mexican guide was
confined and the coming of the afterbirth was delayed. I give here, for
curiosity's sake, a list of the various remedies applied in the case:

1. The carapace of the armadillo, ground and taken in a little
water. This is a Tarahumare remedy, said to be very effective for
the trouble mentioned.

2. The skunkwort (the herb of the skunk).

3. The patient to hold her own hair in her mouth for half an hour.

4. The wood of _Palo hediondo_, boiled.

5. _Urina viri_, half a cup. This remedy is also externally used for
cuts and bruises.

6. Fresh excrement from a black horse. A small quantity of water is
mixed with it, then pressed out through