La Casa
(The House at the ranch)
THE ONLY AMERICAN-BUILT HOUSE IN THIS SECTION OF THE COUNTRY
An orange tree stands at either side of the front steps. See p. 70
A JOURNEY IN
SOUTHEASTERN MEXICO
NARRATIVE OF EXPERIENCES, AND OBSERVATIONS
ON AGRICULTURAL
AND INDUSTRIAL
CONDITIONS
BY
HENRY H. HARPER
PRINTED PRIVATELY FOR THE AUTHOR
BY THE DE VINNE PRESS, N. Y.
BOSTON—MCMX
Copyright, 1910,
By Henry H. Harper
All rights reserved
A LIMITED NUMBER OF COPIES OF THIS WORK HAVE
BEEN ISSUED PRIVATELY FOR DISTRIBUTION
AMONG THE AUTHOR'S FRIENDS AND
BOOK-LOVING ACQUAINTANCES,—MOSTLY
TO MEMBERS OF
THE BIBLIOPHILE SOCIETY
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
The volume here presented to the readerdoes not profess to be a history or descriptionof Mexico as a whole, nor does it claim to betypical of all sections of the country. It dealssimply with an out-of-the-way and little-knownregion, accompanied by a history of personalexperiences, with comment upon conditions almostor quite unknown to the ordinary traveler.
Many books upon Mexico have been written—afew by competent and others by incompetenthands—in which the writers sometimes chargeeach other with misstatements and inaccuracies,doubtless oftentimes with reason. However thatmay be, I have yet to discover among them anarrative, pure and simple, of travel, experiencesand observations in the more obscure parts of thatcountry, divested of long and tedious topographicaldescriptions. Narrations which might be ofinterest, once begun, are soon lost in discussionof religious, political, and economic problems,or in singing the praises of "the redoubtableCortez," or the indefatigable somebody else whois remembered chiefly for the number of peoplehe caused to be killed; or in describing thebeauty of some great valley or hill which thereader perhaps never saw and never will see.
I have always felt that a book should never beprinted unless it is designed to serve some worthypurpose, and that as soon as the author haswritten enough to convey his message clearly heshould stop. There are many books in whichthe essential points could be encompassed withinhalf the number of pages allotted to their contents.A good twenty-minute sermon is better than afairly good two-hour sermon; hence I believein short sermons,—and short books.
With this conviction, before placing this manuscriptin the hands of the printer I sought to ascertainwhat possible good might be accomplishedby its issue in printe