Page:Guatimala or the United Provinces of Central America in 1827-8.pdf/297

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passed the evening with us, and introduced Gall and Spurzheim's theory, of which he was a zealous disciple;—new organs were discovered in new places, and localities given to the old ones, widely different from those Dr. Gall has chosen for them. But with his employers he passed for a most erudite physician, and that was sufficient. Quackery is not confined to age or country. Were a modest and intelligent foreigner to settle here, he would meet with little encouragement; prejudices would be strong against him, and if he did not talk of nerves and vapours, he would get no practice.

Other kinds of labour are not so well paid. The poor barber who travelled the same thirty miles every week to shave the beard of our worthy host, only received a dollar; and the Indian who traversed the same ground with his daily load of provisions, thought himself happy in gaining a sum equal to ninepence sterling. So widely do professions differ, even when the talents of the individuals may be pretty nearly on a par.

The Indians, who may be considered as serfs of the soil, generally perform these commissions with fidelity. The only risk lies in their encountering spirituous liquors on the way; a temptation often too powerful to be resisted. This estate contained about two hundred of these poor creatures, who at different times had