PACKING  AND  SHIPPING  315
ing  tropical  sun.  As  they  follow  their  path
to  the  interior,  on  train  and  by  beast  of  burden, ­
  they  pass  through  torrid  heat  and  tropical
rains,  across  wind  swept  plateaus,  through
sand  and  snow  storms,  sleet  and  hail,  above  the
clouds  in  high  altitudes,  and  down  into  green
valleys,  across  swollen  streams,  and  on  again
up  the  sides  of  steep  canyons,  and  through
gloomy  woods.  Each  night  they  are  unstrapped ­
  from  the  animals’  backs,  and  roughly
thrown  on  the  ground  along  the  trail  or  in  the
filthy  barnyard  of  some  mountain  hospice.
Before  the  stars  have  stopped  their  twinkling
in  the  early  dawn  they  are  again  piled  upon
the  backs  of  the  unwilling,  resisting  beasts  and
the  dreary,  wearying,  monotonous  march  resumed. ­

Custom  has  decreed  the  exact  weight  each
burro,  llama  or  mule  will  carry  and  let  me  add
that  these  animals  know  to  a  nicety  their  load,
and  are  life  members  of  a  union  that  prohibits
its  initiates  from  carrying  more  than  is  expected ­
  of  them.  Attempts  to  overload  bring
forth  growls,  groans  and  moans,  and  if  these