They all were anxious to have me feel their pulse, whether there was anything the matter with them or not.  They firmly believed that this mysterious touch enabled me to tell whether they were afflicted with any kind of disease and how long they were going to live.  A woman in delicate condition wanted me to feel her pulse and to tell her from that when her child was going to be born.  I only hope that my practical advice and the little medicine I could give them relieved some of their backaches and sideaches, their felons, croups, and fevers and agues, and above all, their indigestion, which is the prevailing trouble in that section of the country.  But I confess that I was nearly tired out with these consultations.  In consequence of frequent intermarriages there are many deaf and dumb persons among them, and epilepsy and insanity are by no means rare.

On the other hand, I was assured that such a character as a thief was here unknown.  However this might be, it was certain that the Mexicans of Eastern Sonora were a nice class of people.  They were pleasant to deal with, very active and obedient, and I never wish for better men than those I then had in my camp, nearly all of whom were from these parts.  The people were poor, but genuinely hospitable.  Of course they were ignorant, and might not, for instance, recognise a check unless it was green.  In each town, however, I found one or two men comparatively rich, who knew more of the world than the others, and who helped me out in my difficulties by going from house to house, collecting all the available cash in town, or what coffee and sugar could be spared to make up the deficiency.  One thing is certain, I should never have gotten on so well had it not been for the friendly and obliging attitude of the Mexicans everywhere.  As an instance, when the great scarcity of grass began to tell seriously on the animals, I was efficiently helped out by the courtesy of some influential men.  Without any personal letters of introduction I received many services whenever I showed my letters of recommendation from the Governor of the State, and had a hearty welcome.

I was so much impressed with the readiness of the people to accommodate and serve me that my notebook contains the remark:  “I find the Mexicans more obliging than any nation I have ever come in contact with.”  It has been my lot to travel for years in Mexico, and my experience with her people only tended to deepen the pleasant impression I received at the outset.  Anyone who travels through Mexico well recommended and conducts himself in accordance with the standard of a gentleman is sure to be agreeably surprised by the hospitality and helpfulness of the people, high and low, and it is not a meaningless phrase of politeness only by which a Mexican “places his house at your disposal.”