left of the trunk near the ground that it was deemed necessary to remove
the cross. The diggers were surprised to find that it had never set more
than a foot into the sand. This shows the greatness of the miracle.

[A] Survivals of Paganism in Mexico. The Open Court. 1899.

The padre had been assigned to the parish of Chila, a great indian town,
near Tehuacan. Early the next morning he left for his new home.



Not only did the padre, while in Oaxaca, urge us to call upon him in
his new parish; after he was settled, he renewed his invitation. So we
started for Chila. We had been in the _tierra caliente_, at Cordoba.
From there we went by rail to Esperanza, from which uninteresting town
we took a street-car line, forty-two miles long, to Tehuacan. This saved
us time, distance, and money, and gave us a brand-new experience. There
were three coaches on our train, first-, second-, and third-class. When
buying tickets we struck acquaintance with a Syrian peddler. Three of
these were travelling together; one of them spoke a little English,
being proficient in profanity. He likes the United States, _per se_, and
does not like Mexico; but he says the latter is the better for trade.
"In the United States, you sell maybe fifteen, twenty-five, fifty cents
a day; here ten, fifteen, twenty-five dollars." The trip lasted three
hours and involved three changes of mules at stations, where we found
all the excitement and bustle of a true railroad station.

The country was, at first, rolling, with a sparse growth of yuccas, many
of which were exceptionally large and fine. On the hills were occasional
_haciendas_. This broken district was succeeded by a genuine desert,