Possessed of a remarkably fine climate, a favorable geographical situation, and great variety in its fertile soil, Guatemala has a population poor and unable to undertake important works which require capital. Money must therefore be sought abroad to develop the riches of the land, which are in agricultural products rather than in mines; and the Government offers to any industrious, respectable colonists suitable tracts of public land (_terrenos baldíos_), together with exemption from duties and taxes for ten years. That this offer may not seem too attractive, it must be added that the best public lands remaining undisposed of are remote from ports, with no adequate means of communication. They are also covered for the most part with dense forests, to be cleared away only at great expense. Besides, it is well known that whenever virgin soil is broken up, mysterious fevers and malarial emanations are liberated from the soil; and although these are not dangerous to men of good constitution, they certainly are not pleasant. Not only enterprise and perseverance are needful for the planter, but a respectable capital as well; for the colonist has to build his own houses, wharves, and bridges, make his own roads, and own his tools, animals, boats, and carts. Labor is both by the day and by the task, and wages are very low. A day’s labor—from six o’clock in the morning to six at night, with an hour from ten o’clock to eleven for breakfast (almuerzo), and another from one o’clock to two for rest—is paid from twenty-five to fifty cents. Laborers are also hired by the month, with allowance for rations. On the Atlantic coast the Carib is a good, strong workman when properly managed, while in the interior the Indios and ladinos supply fully the present demand. Articles of food are cheap, and some of the prices, as given by the Minister of the Interior, are as follows: beef, pork, and mutton, eight cents per pound; fowls of good size, thirty-seven and a half to sixty-two cents; rice, a dollar and a half to two dollars per arroba (twenty-five pounds); flour, eight to nine dollars per quintal (one hundred pounds); maiz, a dollar and a half to three dollars a fanega (four hundred ears); beans, white, black, or red, four to six dollars a quintal; eggs, a dollar and a half a hundred; milk, six cents a bottle; cheese, twelve to twenty-five cents a pound; butter, sixty-two cents per pound. Guatemaltecan cookery, although simplicity itself in its instalment, is excellent and wholesome,—none of the vile saleratus-bread, tough doughnuts, and clammy pies (I have great respect for a good tart) which are the curse of the country cooking of New England. But let the comida consist of only tortillas, frijoles, and huevos; these staples are always well cooked.