314  SELLING  LATIN  AMERICA

ashore.  Without  being  conversant  with  these
conditions  one  can  hardly  realize  the  strain
and  pressure  exerted  upon  packing  cases  at
such  times.
After  the  goods  have  been  brought  to  land
by  the  none  too  gentle  longshoremen,  they  are
opened  by  the  customs  authorities  and  examined, ­
  and  are  then  placed  upon  trains  for
forwarding  into  the  interior  points,  for  practically ­
  all  these  ports  are  the  terminus  of  some
railway  leading  into  the  remote  inland  districts. ­
  When  they  have  gone  as  far  as  the
train  can  take  them,  they  are  then  consigned
to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  muleteer,  aided
and  abetted  by  the  llama,  burro  or  mule,  and
may  be  weeks  on  the  road  to  their  final  destination. ­

The  varying  climatic  changes  to  which  they
are  subjected  should  also  be  given  due  consideration. ­
  Leaving  the  ice-bound  northern
ports  of  the  States  in  winter,  they  come
through  the  storm  tossed  waters  of  either  or
both  oceans  to  the  port  of  disembarkation,
where  for  days  they  may  rest  under  the  broil ­