A GRINGO IN MAÑANA-LAND
[Illustration: A CHIEFTAIN DRESSED FOR THE EASTER CEREMONY OF THE YAQUI
INDIANS]
A GRINGO IN
MAÑANA-LAND
BY HARRY L. FOSTER
Author of “The Adventures of a Tropical Tramp,”
“A Beachcomber in the Orient,” etc.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN BY THE AUTHOR
[Illustration]
NEW YORK
DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
1924
Copyright, 1924,
By DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY, Inc.
PRINTED IN THE U. S. A. BY
The Quinn & Boden Company
BOOK MANUFACTURERS
RAHWAY NEW JERSEY
FOREWORD
The term “_gringo_”--a word of vague origin, once applied with contempt
to the American in Mexico--is now used throughout Latin America,
without its former opprobrium, to describe any foreigner.
The Spanish “_mañana_”--literally “to-morrow”--is extremely popular
south of the Rio Grande, where, in phrases suggesting postponement, it
enables the inhabitant to solve many of life’s most perplexing problems.
This book covers various random wanderings in Mexico, Guatemala,
Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. It deals with a romance
or two, a revolution or so, and a hodge-podge of personal experience.
The incidents of the earlier chapters precede, while those of the later
ones follow, the author’s vagabond journeys recorded in “The Adventures
of a Tropical Tramp,” and “A Beachcomber in the Orient.”
The chapter on the Yaqui Indians is published with the permission
of the editor of “The Open Road.” The photographs of the Guatemalan
revolution were taken by Roy Neil Bunstine, of Guatemala City.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I ON THE BORDER 1
II BANDITS! 4
III IN SLEEPY HERMOSILLO 13
IV AMONG THE YAQUI INDIANS 24
V DOWN THE WEST COAST 47
VI THOSE DARK-EYED SEÑORITAS! 70
VII IN THE DAYS OF CARRANZA 93
VIII THE MEXICAN CAPITAL 112
IX INTERMISSION 145
X THE LAND OF THE INDIAN VAMPS 149
XI THOSE CHRONIC INSURRECTIONS! 170
XII UP AND DOWN GUATEMALA 187
XIII IN SUNNY SALVADOR 216
XIV THE REVOLUTION IN HONDURAS 241
XV WHERE MARINES MAKE PRESIDENTS 282
XVI A LONG, LONG WAY TO COSTA RICA 327
XVII ADIOS! 352
ILLUSTRATIONS
A Chieftain Dressed for the Easter Ceremony of the Yaqui Indians
_Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
In Those Days Trains Did Not Venture to Run at Night Across the Sonora
Desert 8
An Escort of Soldiers Occupied a Freight Car Ahead as a Precaution
Against Bandits 8
A Burro Train Laden with Bullion from the Mines 16
La Colorada, Once the Home of Gold Mines, Now Served Only as a Depot
for Trucks That Crossed the Desert 30
Indian Women, Pounding Clothes upon the Rocks Beside a Shallow Brook,
Ceased Their Work to Stare 30
The Christ Was Represented by a Cheap Rag Doll Cradled in a Wicker
Basket 42
For Three Days the Indians Neither Ate Nor Slept, Refreshing Themselves
Only with Mescal 42
The Mexican Señorita Has Always Been Portrayed in Our Fiction as a Wild
Vampire 80
In the Days of Carranza One Frequently Saw a Bandit Hanging Around the
Railway 60
Pedro Zamorra Had Removed a Few Ties Where the Train Came Around a Bend
100
So Worthless Were the Federal Troops That Many Americans Professed a
Preference for Bandits 100
The Orange Trees in Guadalajara’s Plaza Were Golden Throughout the Year
114
Mexico City, One of the Most Ornate Capitals in the Western Hemisphere,
Somewhat Resembled Paris 114
The Mexican Pyramids Probably Antedate Those of Egypt by a Thousand
Years or More 130
In the Gardens of Xochimilco, Relics of an Aztec Paradise, Only the
Cabbages Were in Bloom 130
Mexican Policemen in White Spats 142
No Latin-American Village Is So Tiny But That It Has a Square Devoted
to Bartering 172
The Mexican Peon So Loves the Excitement of the Market That He Refuses
to Sell His Goods Elsewhere 172
The Tehuana Maidens Regarded a Man as a Luxury Rather Than a Necessity
156
The Abundant Central-American Volcanoes Fertilize the Coffee Fincas
with Lava Dust 222
Guatemala’s Population Includes a Million Pure-blooded Aborigines 190
Occasionally the Resultant Earthquakes Knock Down a City or Destroy the
Guatemalan Cathedral 222
When Orellana Started a Revolution, President Herrera Made No Strenuous
Objection 206
The Only Casualties Were a Few Policemen Who Mistook the Revolution for
a Disorderly Demonstration 206
A Banana-Boat Loading on the East Coast 286
In These Pleasant Tropical Countries No Peon Girl Escapes Maternity 236
From His Palace the President Could Watch the Treasury to See That No
One Stole the National Debt 254
Soldiers Stopped a Pedestrian at Every Corner to Search for Weapons 266
The Warship _Rochester_ Had Anchored at Amapala on What Was Described
as a Courtesy Visit 254
The American Intervention Had Brought Peace, but Managua’s Dusty
Streets Suggested no Prosperity 306
If the American Marines Were Withdrawn from Nicaragua a Revolution
Would Transpire Over-Night 306
For Three Days the Boatmen Poled the Launch Through Shallows Framed in
Rank Green Jungle 330
Greytown Was a Typical East Coast Port--Low, Swampy and
Unattractive--With Black Complexions Prevailing 330
San José Contains the Most Delightful Plazas and the Most Beautiful
Women in the World 354
A Machine-Gun Tower Built by the Tyrant Tinoco 344
In Its Interior Decoration the Costa Rican National Theater Equals Any
Theater in the United States 354
A GRINGO IN MAÑANA-LAND
A GRINGO
IN MAÑANA-LAND
CHAPTER I
ON THE BORDER
I
It was my original plan to ride from Arizona to Panama by automobile.
In fact, I even went so far as to purchase the automobile. It had been
newly painted, and the second-hand dealer assured me that no car in all
the border country had a greater reputation.
This proved to be the truth. The first stranger I met grinned at my new
prize with an air of pleased recognition.
“Well! Well!” he exclaimed. “Do _you_ own it now?”
So did the second stranger, and the third. I had acquired not only
an automobile, but a definite standing in the community. People who
had hitherto passed me without a glance now smiled at me. There was
even some discussion of organizing a club, of which I was to be the
president, my term of office to continue until I could sell the car to
some one else.
When I announced that I meant to drive to Panama--down through Mexico,
Guatemala, Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and any other
republics which I might discover along the way--every one who heard of
the idea offered encouragement:
“You’ve got the right car for _that_ trip, my boy. Since you’ll find no
roads down there, you’ll need a companion to walk ahead and chop down
the cactus or level off the mountains, and if you step hard on the gas,
you’ll just about be able to keep up with him.”
II
I suspected that there was an element of insincerity in this
encouragement.
I was rather young, however, at the time of that first venture at
foreign travel. It was only a few months after the Armistice, and I
felt disinclined to return to cub-reporting on a daily newspaper.
I elected myself to the loftier-sounding profession of Free-Lance
Newspaper Correspondent. I purchased a palm-beach suit and an automatic
pistol. I was going south into the land of romance--of tropical moons
glimpsed through whispering palm-trees--of tinkling guitars echoing
through Moorish _patios_--of black-eyed _señoritas_ and red-nosed
soldiers of fortune--of all the many things beyond the ken of mere
cub-reporters.
Despite the encouragement, I tacked my banner to the back of my car,
and set out upon a round of farewells.
III
My departure was very dramatic.
Men shook hands with an air of finality. Two or three girls kissed me
good-by with conventional little pecks that seemed to say, “I’ll never
see the poor devil again, so I may as well waste some osculation on
him.”
I had made the entire circuit, until there remained only a couple of
village school-marms, who happened--most unfortunately--to live on
top of the highest hill in town. Half-way to the summit, I perceived
that my car was never destined to climb that hill. It slackened speed.
It stopped. It commenced to roll backward. I was forced to throw it
into reverse, just as the school-marms appeared in their doorway. The
situation was humiliating. I became slightly flustered. I meant to step
on the brake, but I stepped on the gas.
Wherefore, after some one had picked me out of the débris, I started
southward by train.