During the day I wandered amongst the huts within and near the hamlet in order to see something of the natives who lived in them and were said to follow the ancient customs and habits of domestic life. Near the borders of the savannah some Indians were building a large hut and I observed a method of construction which, although absolutely the reverse of any system that I had previously known, was most suitable for their wants. In the first place the roof is built. This when completed, looks like an open thatched shed resting upon upright poles. The eaves are brought down low, but sufficiently high to enable a man of moderate height to pass under them without stooping. When the roof is considered firm and secure, the four walls inclosing the room are made. They are usually constructed of crossed laths and sticks, and thickly plastered over with a kind of mud which has a good binding consistence. The walls are raised until they reach within a short distance from the slope of the roof, a sufficient space being left for the escape of smoke. The size of the hut and the height of the walls are determined by the width and slope of roof. A few rough cross poles are placed across the top of the walls for the purpose of hanging up any household goods, and sometimes at one end some of these poles are placed close together so as to form a platform, where bags of maize and other farm produce are kept or dried. When the roof is wide and the overhanging eaves are low there is an agreeable and well shaded space outside the main hut, where the Indians rest during the day.[77] As far as it was possible to judge from a passing observation the Indians at San Pedro seemed to be a contented race. They cultivated their milpas or corn fields sufficiently to get enough to supply them with maize bread and pozole, and at most of the huts there were fowls and a few pigs. The women laboured in some form of household work, and much of their time was occupied in grinding the maize to make tortillas. At this village, as in others chiefly inhabited by Indians, there was an absence of any human sounds. In the interior of the huts, as also outside them, all the occupations of life were performed in silence. In the evening, when the men returned home from their work, there was the same manner of moving about without noise. There appeared to be also an absence of all interest in what was happening around them, which gave an element of sadness to the scene. Their lives seem to be passed in a state of quiet melancholy and listlessness.