New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-05-22

The realization Of the Honduras Railway scheme
would place them in a very advantageous staaeoh'
as even Omoa il obliged tO buy the few productions
necessary 10 the hfe of It's inhabitants from 'he
CARDS.
This is what could learn Of the history and
present state Of Santo Tomas, place which has
become 20 conspicuous in the development OF IN
favorable opinions in reference Ia colonization IN
tropical regions 4" ReLdtd r,tero."
As We continued IN ascend the river, the scenery
became still more beautiful. Lined by thickets OF
an elegant diminutiye species OF pains tree-"hIeh
might be kept among the ornamental PiaA', VI
drawiug-room, showing. on miniature scale, AL
the relative proportions of the most characteristic
representative Of pGimacea- fringed, stu higher
up, by the gigantic hghtgreen waits OF the oaM-
boo that drop gently over the waters surface IKE
the downy pumes of delicate marab0uts-the
banks rise twenty or thirty feet above the d'
erage hight Of the rlver Fine sayannas extend on
ole side or the other interrupted, IN Pirk-hHe
manner BY patches OF forest or clusters OF trees.
Here the maiestic shafts of the caJbage-patm, rep
resenting natural prototype of the Grecan col
umn and smooth like it's marble, stand IN p'dste
beauty while the cOrO-O may be considered as the
most perfect type Of the picturesque IN tropical vese
taton With liz trunk clad in the richest drapery
of parasitic aroideG orchda and brometidceG, us
feathery leaves bend in elegant curves by the weight
Of their own luxuriance, or the burden OF orna-
r
tree can only be- compared to a beautiful Indian
| maiden, such as may have charmed the court OF
| the Aztec princes or of the lneas OF Peru.
| At no place do these pam-trees concur TO com
| pose more charming scene than IN the nelghoor-
heed of what is called the Boom. Here they stand,
scattered over the smooth surface OF beautiful
prairie over which numerous herds OF cattle are
roaming Land and cattle are the property OF Mr..
b, wealthy man, if the mere possession OF
valuable thincs without the inclination or capacity
| Of turning them to useful purpose, constitutes
wealth But, while we passed night uhder
the hosritable roof Of Mr. b., We had an opportu,
nifty of seeing the owner Of square leagues oil lahd
| and Of immense herds Of cattle deprived even oil
that degree Of comfort which, in the United States,
NAV be found in the og-cabin of the squatter. And
| this in the neighborhood Of a town like Belize
where cattle for the consumption of the inhabitants
| are -irnported almost weekly by sea from OInOa,
| and where hides received as a remittance from
Omoa and TruXillo, among the export staples Oh
| commerce. A Yankee in the place oil Mr. b. would
| have mOnopolized the cattle market oil DeiZe' a
| norton Of his lands be would have parceed out III
| half a thousand farms. He would have laid out on
his propcriy Oh the river several towns; and farms
| AZ we'll "a town lots he would have sold to some
| tbousands Of emigrants, whom be would have known
how TO induce to settle there; and after hay ing real
lied some millions Of dollars by the operation, he
| would either have built palace AS ms iaInily seat
| AT the Boom, or TetlTeu 10 eoht VI
cities of the United States OF Europe. But then
| il must be remembered, if such men were to be
found at Belize or at the place on the river Where
we passed that night, British Honduras would be a
| different thing altogether
| The Boom will some time become the site If con-
siderable town, aud delightful site it will be-
We left early in the morning, and about 3 o'clock IN
the afternoon arrived at Bakers, whefa we remained
for the rest of the day. spending the time III fishing,
shooting parrots and other beautiful birds and TAX
| ing a walk to the neighboripg pine region.
AS from the borders Of the river you pass TO that
region, the whole aspect of nature is changed The
| uxuriance Of tropical vegetation is gone Sur
rounded by scattered pine trees aud groups Of pal
mettos, you find yourself on sandy soil, covered
with low growth of poor grass OF very Inferior
quality The country looks great deal better than
Tie pine regions of the Carolinas do but neyerthe-
less. YOU might imagine yourself to have been sud
denly removed to some place in the Palmetto State
have had 40 opportunity OF examining or IN
curing into the agricultural qualifications OF this
region, which comprises so great portion of east
ern Central America Some parts OF II are SAID "a
| have very fine pastures, and numerous ponds OF
little lakes foim natural reservoirs OF good drinking
water never failing even in the dry season.
| The soil, however, appears to be poor,
| though il may be very hit tor the cul-
| tiyatOn Of some particular kinds or vegetable
| productions. One thing, however, Is certain-the
| pine regions of this country are an lneXhauStIolt
| source Of turpentne. The quantity reslnous mat
ter contained in the wood is great that whenever
torch is wanted here, slice is cut from the side
Of the first trunk met with and it will burn freely
AS any torch artlfcally manufactured for nightly
| procession OF German Turner'S or American Know.
| No,hings in Broadway.
In the higher regions of the interior, the pine dis
trcts am told present by far a better aspect. In
the State of Honduras they the best grazing dis
trcts nourishne millions of cattle which an ntcl-
gent Swiss gentleman tells me are finer than the best
| race Of Switzerland.
A few miles from Bakers is sugar plantation,
owned by ii resident of Belize, and called NewBOs-
| ton. ] was greatly mortified when, after having
returned 10 Belize | learned that on this plantation
there are Indian ruins Of the same character as those
of Yucatan and that idols and other antiquities have
often been found there As | could not spare the
time for another trip up the river, must leave the
| examination OF the locality to "a future traveller.
The following day we returned TO Belize. Had
we extended "trip higher up the river some hours
would have brought US to the lower rapids-the first
of series Of falls which interrupt the navigation of
| the river Canoes can 90 higher up, but must be
dragged overland at those rapids.
| In general ! cannot omit stating that the Belize
| RIVER Us far as l have II, has made very
| favorable impression upon me, and the country, l
am told is still improving higher up IN almost every
respect. | cannot but consider this as very
inviting region for emigrants who choose to settle la
a tropical country where Slavery does not exist.
| The experience in the mahogany cuttings fully
proycs that free native hbOrers may be trained to
| become Woodworking and very useful hands. OF
this shall speak more in one Of my future letters
| JULIUS FRoEBEL
|
KANSAS.
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