Note 15 — Chapter IV · FROM COBAN TO QUEZALTENANGO.

It is well to explain that the framework used for carrying small articles on the back is called kataure by the Caribs, and carcaste by the Indios of the interior. Ramón carried in his not only all my photographic apparatus,—the camera and box of plates being carefully wrapped in water-proof material,—but also our cooking utensils and his own luggage. After he left us we found so much trouble in hiring suitable carcastes that we purchased one for a few reals and fitted it up with pita cords, which served our purpose very conveniently. When a desirable view presented, a whistle brought the mozo to our side, and from ten to fifteen minutes only were required to unpack, set up, expose one or two plates, repack, and remount our animals. It may be interesting to state that in all this long journey, where plates were carried in this way, not one was broken, nor was a piece of the apparatus damaged.