In Indian Mexico | Page 7

Shortly after we started, the
moon rose and, from its shining full on the light sand, it was almost as
bright as day. We were in single file, our guide, Herman, and I. At sight
of every bush or indistinct object, our guide clutched his club and
crossed himself, as he mumbled a prayer. When we met anyone, we
kept strictly to our side of the road, they to theirs, and, in passing,
barely exchanged a word of greeting. The timidity and terror of our

guide increased as we advanced, until I concluded to be prepared for
any emergency and carried the revolver in my hand, instead of in my
pocket. Mile after mile we trudged along through the heavy sand, into
which we sunk so far that our low shoes repeatedly became filled and
we had to stop to take them off and empty them. We passed through
San Pablo, left the Hacienda of San Andres to one hand, and, finally, at
10:10 found ourselves in the great indian town of San Gabriel de Chila.
It was much larger than we had anticipated and almost purely indian.
We walked through a considerable portion of the town before we
reached the plaza, the church, and the curato. Our journey had probably
been one of fifteen miles. All was dark at the _curato_; an indian was
sleeping in the corridor, but he was a traveller and gave us no
information on being awakened. At our third or fourth pounding upon
the door, Ernst appeared at the window; on learning who we were he
hastened to let us in. He reported trouble in the camp; the padre had
gone hastily to Oaxaca to see the archbishop; our telegram had not been
received; our letter came that morning. We found that things were
packed ready for removal. A good supper was soon ready, but while it
was being prepared we took a cool bath, by moonlight, in the trough
bath-tub out in the patio.
In the morning we heard the full story. Formerly there was here a priest,
who devoted his whole life to this parish, growing old in its service; in
his old age he was pensioned, with sixty pesos monthly from the parish
receipts. The priest who succeeded him, coming something over three
years ago, was a much younger man. During his three years of service,
he was continually grumbling; the work was hard, his health was bad at
Chila, the heat was intolerable; he wished another parish. The
archbishop finally took him at his word; without warning he transferred
him to another parish, and sent our friend, the archaeologist here, in his
place. This did not suit the man relieved; Chila itself was much to his
liking; what he really wanted was to be relieved from the support of his
superannuated predecessor. No sooner was he transferred than he began
to look with longing on his former charge and to make a vigorous effort
to regain it. Accusations were hurried to Oaxaca; the new priest was
pursuing agriculture as a means of profit; he had not paid the dues to
the aged priest; he had himself admitted to parishioners that his object
in coming to Chila was more to study antiquities and natural history

than to preach the gospel. It is claimed that, immediately on receiving
this communication, the archbishop sent a peremptory letter to the
padre demanding an explanation; this letter, Ernst said, never was
delivered, hence no explanation was sent. The prelate acted promptly;
orders were sent to our friend to give up the parish to the former priest,
who appeared on the scene to receive his charge. Then, and then only,
it is said the delayed letter came to light. The padre had left, at once, for
Oaxaca and his archbishop. From there he sent messages by telegraph:
"Pack up, and come to Tehuacan;" "Wait until you hear further." A
third came the morning we were there: "Pack up; meet me at Tehuacan,
ready to go to a new parish."
It was really sad to look about the new home, to which he had come
with such buoyant hopes and of which he had been so soon
dispossessed. When he arrived, the place was neglected and filthy; two
whole days were necessary to clean it. It had contained practically no
furniture; he had made it look like a place in which to live. He had
improved and beautified its surroundings. He had planted a little corn
and set out some young banana trees; he had gathered many species of
cactus from the neighboring hills and had built up a fine bed of the
strange plants in his patio. Passionately fond of pets, he had two
magnificent greyhounds and a pug--all brought from Guatemala--a
black collie, doves, hens and turkeys