Page:Pictures of life in Mexico Vol 2.djvu/28

8 in parties. Cut off from much communication with the world around them excepting the information they gain from a few meagre newspapers the respectable inhabitants of country estates and haciendas generally receive the passing traveller as a welcome guest, for the sake of the news he may be able to communicate. Intelligence from the United States is received in much less time than formerly; but direct news from Europe only arrives monthly. The information of the country newspapers is usually several weeks old; and goes the round of all the journals in turn.

The Mexican mails were formerly, for the most part, carried by Indians on foot; who, to gain time, would venture over difficult paths, through mountain gorges, and on the edge of precipices, where all other means of transport were impracticable. As nothing was entrusted to them but letters, they went unarmed; and the facts of the case being well known to the ladrones, they were allowed to pursue their journeys without molestation. This system of postal communication yet prevails in the more distant and almost impassable portions of the country.