BarbarousMexico JOHN KENNETH TURNER

THE SLAVES OF YUCATAN
and prods and whacks the slaves at will. I do not
remember visiting a single field in which I did not see
some of this punching and prodding and whacking
going on.
I saw no punishments worse than beating in Yucatan,
but I heard of them. I was told of men being strung
up by their fingers or toes to be beaten, of their being
thrust into black dungeon-like holes, of water being
dropped on the hand until the victim screamed, of the
extremity of female punishment being found in some
outrage to the sense of the modesty in the woman. I
saw black holes and everywhere I saw the jail dormitories,
armed guards and night guards who patrolled
the outskirts of the farm settlements while the slaves
slept. I heard also of planters who took special delight
in personally superintending the beating of their chattels.
For example, speaking of one of the richest planters
in Yucatan, a professional man of Merida said to
me: "A favorite pastime of was to sit on his
horse and watch the 'cleaning up' (the punishment) of
his slaves. He would strike a match to light his cigar.
At the first puff of smoke the first stroke of the wet
rope would fall on the bare back of the victim. He
would s moke on, leisurely, contentedly, as the blows fell,
one after another. When the entertainment finally palled
on him he would throw away his cigar and the man
with the rope would stop, for the end of the cigar was
the signal for the end of the beating."
The great plantations of Yucatan are reached by private
mule car lines built and operated specially for the
business of the henequen kings. The first plantation
that we visited was typical. Situated fifteen miles west
of Merida, it contains thirty-six square miles of land,
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