In the morning we visited the Government storehouse for _aguardiente_. The inspector wanted us to taste the fire-water, which was so strong that it seemed to blister the tongue. The sale of this liquor is a Government monopoly, yielding a very considerable revenue.[12] A distiller at this place has a license, for which he pays four hundred dollars per month; and he must furnish a minimum of sixty-five bottles _per diem_, paying twenty-five cents a bottle for all over this amount. All the product is brought to the public store, where it is tested at 50°; and the retailers send in their written orders for the number of bottles they require. The _estancas_ (or drink-shops) pay forty dollars per month. The unfortunates who drink take a small tumblerful at a time. I bought a mare—_yegua colorada_—for sixty dollars; and as all bills of sale and receipts must be in Spanish, we, with the help of the postmaster, composed the following simple affair on stamped paper:— COBAN, 13 de Novr. de 1883. _Saben_: [Illustration] Que yo Miguel Reyes vicino de Coban, Alta Verapaz, he vendido y vendo a Don Guillermo T. Brigham una yegua colorada con el hierro del margen en la suma de sesenta pesas en efectivo. En constancia firmo yo el vendidor. [Illustration: Miguel Reyes] The paper is not only stamped, but also water-marked, and is for sale at the principal shops. As the stamps are changed every two years, the Government has to redeem all stamped paper on hand at the end of each biennial period. [Illustration: Cuartillo of Guatemala (enlarged three times).] CHAPTER IV. FROM COBAN TO QUEZALTENANGO.