their diet, nearly all suffer. [Illustration: FIG. 3.--Cross of tancasche bark worn by children.] INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITIES AGRICULTURE Of all the arts practiced by the Indian, agriculture is by far the most important; indeed the greater part of his time and labor are devoted to the milpa (_kol_), or corn plantation, which affords him his principal means of livelihood, for if the corn crop fails he knows that actual starvation will menace his family until the next crop is gathered. The virgin bush, in which the milpa is made, is cut down about December or January, only the large and hardwood trees being left standing. This is the most arduous part of the work, and the neighbors often assist in it, being helped in turn when making their own milpas. The bush is allowed to dry until the end of May (the dry season lasting from January to May), when it is burned off. After the burnt area has been cooled by the first shower of rain it is planted in corn (_ixim_). This is a simple operation, two or three men going over the ground, each with a bag of corn and a sharp-pointed stick, making small holes at fairly regular intervals, into each of which they drop a few grains of corn, and then cover them with earth. About October the corn begins to ripen, whereupon each stalk is bent about a foot below the ear and allowed to hang down for several days in order that rain may not gain entrance and spoil the grain in the final stages of ripening. During this period the owner spends nearly all his time in the milpa, sleeping there in a little palm-leaf shack at night, since many animals, as deer and wild hogs, are very fond of corn, which is subject to raids also by neighboring Indians and by tame pigs from the village. When the corn is ripe, it is stored, still in the husk, upon a low platform, in a small house specially built for the purpose, often, in order to avoid transportation, situated within the milpa. It is shelled as required for use, the surplus from that eaten by the family and stock being exchanged at the nearest village for cash or for cotton cloth, rum, iron cooking pots, ammunition, and other luxuries. The shelling is done by rubbing the husked ear against a rough flat surface, made by binding a number of corncobs (_bacal_) together into a circle with liana. Many fruits and vegetables besides corn are grown in the milpa, including yams (_xaci macal_), camote (_īs_), pumpkins (_kuum_), squashes (_xka_), tomatoes (_paak_), plantains (_haz_), colalu (_xterkoch_), aguacate (_on_), plums (_abal_), oranges (_pakaal_), siricote (_kopte_), sapodillas (_ya_), mamai (_chacal haz_), okra, garden egg, melon, breadfruit, sweet lime, pineapple, and a variety of others. PROCURING FOOD; COOKING