Two witnesses were brought, and the business was settled with
commendable promptitude.
I think it was Garcia himself who explained, some time afterwards, that
as the dead man wore a full beard and whiskers, it was easy enough to
hide the strings passing from his ears and chin to the foot of the bed
under the coverings.
In this connection I have since heard that one of the legal ceremonies
in a coroner's inquest in Central America is to solemnly ask the
deceased who killed him.
To return to the point, however; if such things exist among those in the
highest positions of trust it is not surprising to find wholesale
chicanery among the lower orders; that they realise their shortcomings
is evidenced by the fact that if they wish to impress you with the truth
of a statement, they add "palabra de Ingles," i.e., "on the word of an
Englishman."
Their Indian descent is answerable for a great deal, the white and black
blood being so mixed that it is almost impossible to note the dividing
line. Their dusky ancestors were blessed with an extremely limited
intelligence, only being able to count up to four. The following
incidents were related to me by an old estanciero. He once saw a
trainload of Indian prisoners who had had oranges given them throwing
the skins against the windows and showing great surprise when they fell
inside.
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