e top is crested with a comb of thatch, neatly
applied. Off to the right from the village lay a magnificent valley,
with massive rock walls clad with green forest. The low masses of clouds
and great banks of mist but emphasized the impression made by those
parts of the scene that were visible. Soon we had passed the ridge and
looked down again into the Zautla valley. The road was not as bad as
we had anticipated. As we made our upward climb, we found that the
flame-colored orchids, few when we last passed that way, were out in
quantity. They are a terrestrial species, and the colors are a beautiful
combination of flame-red with chrome-yellow. The other day only the
outer and lower flowers of the racemes were blown, but on this occasion
the whole cluster was in bloom. We noticed strikingly, what had before
suggested itself to us, that through this district flowers of certain
colors mass themselves together. Thus, on this slope, the hundreds of
bunches of flame-colored orchids were rivalled by clusters of a tubular
flower perhaps an inch in length, of almost the same hues. Along the
glen-road near Tepanapa all sorts of flowers seemed to be pink or
flesh-colored, while along the jungle-bank, near the coffee plantation,
everything was blue or purple. When we reached Zautla, neither the
_presidente_, the _secretario_ nor the _segundo_ was in town. The big
_topil_, whose head was healing, did the honors of the place. We had
intended to make an early start, but it was half past six before we
mounted and were on our way. Going back over the old road, we soon
reached the little coffee _finca_ in charge of our Mixtec friend, and
here we left the familiar trail, for what our guide insisted was a
better one. We struck up and up and up the slope to avoid little ravines
which he assured us were very bad. At last, when it was certain that he
had completely lost his way, we started down into the forest. For a time
we followed a bad and disused trail, but soon even this disappeared, and
we tore our way through the tropical vegetation as best we could. Often
the men had to cut the way with their _machetes_; sometimes we slid for
yards over the wet mud; frequently our heads were caught by hanging
vines, and faces and hands were scratched with brambles. When at last
we came out upon a cleared space, we found ourselves at the Chinantec
village of Santa Maria. Perhaps there were four houses in the village.
Our appearance caused great excitemen