一个好奇的水劳动。
“瓜伊马斯自来水厂”,顺便说一下,写公关ess correspondent in Mexico, deserve more than passing mention, being as quaint and primitive as those of ancient Palestine. Printers' ink cannot do justice to them—they must be seen to be appreciated in their native picturesqueness. Just outside the city limits are several wells, one belonging to the city, the others owned by private individuals, close together in a field near the roadside, each well surrounded by a high adobe frame and furnished with a big wheel and two little ones. Imagine the closely encircling mountains, clad in russet brown, and the arid surroundings, enlivened only by cactus growths and an occasional palm ; the constant procession of donkeys, coming and going, each little beast with a big water-bag of ox-hide slung on each side of him and reaching nearly to the ground, while behind the bags, almost on the animal’s tail, sits the boy who peddles the water. Here there are no Rebeccas at the wells, as in most parts of Mexico, and the sterner sex completely monopolize the business. Besides the boys I noticed a few Yaqui Indians, with long, black locks flying uncovered in the wind, and several full-grown "Greasers’’ hiding their heads under big sombreros, but not a female among them. The great pannier-like water skins, most of them with the hair of the animal still dinging to the outside, look green and slimy from long use ; and into the bottom of each bag a cow’s horn is stuck, through which the fluid flows when retailed to consumers. Small boys, mounted upon the adobe frames, make the mill wheels spin around by hand right merrily from dawn to dark, while the procession of comers and goers never ceases. This agua Julct (” sweet water"), being all that is drinkable in GuaymaH, is carried around to the houses and peddled in quantities to suit purchasers, as we sell milk, and it bring* almost as high a price. All day long and far into the night the donkey-boys come and go. the bare-headed, bare-footed little rascals guiding their patient beasts without bridle or stick. The life-giving fluid may not l>e very clean, and is certainly not cool ; but then it is wet, and your choice lies between it and the briny Occam And even this, like the water from all the wells in Western Mexico, has a brackish, unpleasant taste, and produces temporary diseases with those unaccustomed to its use. In this climate the wiser way is to drink as little as possible, restricting one's self mostly to coffee and wine. The dust, the intense heat and the rapid evaporation causes a burning and gnawing thirst, but a tiny pebble held in the mouth, a grain of oorn or a bit of alum will relieve :he wretched feeling better than a drink of the warm, brackish water, which instantly creates a craving desire for more.
“瓜伊马斯自来水厂”,顺便说一下,写公关ess correspondent in Mexico, deserve more than passing mention, being as quaint and primitive as those of ancient Palestine. Printers' ink cannot do justice to them—they must be seen to be appreciated in their native picturesqueness. Just outside the city limits are several wells, one belonging to the city, the others owned by private individuals, close together in a field near the roadside, each well surrounded by a high adobe frame and furnished with a big wheel and two little ones. Imagine the closely encircling mountains, clad in russet brown, and the arid surroundings, enlivened only by cactus growths and an occasional palm ; the constant procession of donkeys, coming and going, each little beast with a big water-bag of ox-hide slung on each side of him and reaching nearly to the ground, while behind the bags, almost on the animal’s tail, sits the boy who peddles the water. Here there are no Rebeccas at the wells, as in most parts of Mexico, and the sterner sex completely monopolize the business. Besides the boys I noticed a few Yaqui Indians, with long, black locks flying uncovered in the wind, and several full-grown "Greasers’’ hiding their heads under big sombreros, but not a female among them. The great pannier-like water skins, most of them with the hair of the animal still dinging to the outside, look green and slimy from long use ; and into the bottom of each bag a cow’s horn is stuck, through which the fluid flows when retailed to consumers. Small boys, mounted upon the adobe frames, make the mill wheels spin around by hand right merrily from dawn to dark, while the procession of comers and goers never ceases. This agua Julct (” sweet water"), being all that is drinkable in GuaymaH, is carried around to the houses and peddled in quantities to suit purchasers, as we sell milk, and it bring* almost as high a price. All day long and far into the night the donkey-boys come and go. the bare-headed, bare-footed little rascals guiding their patient beasts without bridle or stick. The life-giving fluid may not l>e very clean, and is certainly not cool ; but then it is wet, and your choice lies between it and the briny Occam And even this, like the water from all the wells in Western Mexico, has a brackish, unpleasant taste, and produces temporary diseases with those unaccustomed to its use. In this climate the wiser way is to drink as little as possible, restricting one's self mostly to coffee and wine. The dust, the intense heat and the rapid evaporation causes a burning and gnawing thirst, but a tiny pebble held in the mouth, a grain of oorn or a bit of alum will relieve :he wretched feeling better than a drink of the warm, brackish water, which instantly creates a craving desire for more.
