Gazette and sentinel., 1860-09-01
THE BAY

who resides at Ruatan, who had but re-
Gently arrived from there, and who expect.
I cd 10 return in a few days. From him
". learnt much that was new and interesting
to US relative to those islands, and think that
it will be equally so to our readers; but we
! shall fall far short Of the glowing and enthu.
siastic style in which it was communicated to
US, and will also necessarily dIsremember
much Of the detail that served SO much to en-.
rich his description.
The Bay Islands lie in the caribbean Sea,
in what is termed the Bay Of Honduras, par
allel to and in sight Of the Central American
State of that name, by which they are claims
ed. They are six in number, lying close to.
gether, Of which Ruatan is the largest. COL
lectiyely they compose an area as large as the
Stste of Tennessee, and Of an exterior similar
to that State, though its mountains are high.
er-the highest peak being some 10000 feet.
The soil is extremely rich-equally so on the
sides Of the mountains, as in the rolling high
lands and valleys. You can find any climate
you please to settle in-an eternal Spring, if
you like, in the low lands, where the crops
are ever g%erminS and maturing; or ascending
higher, will experience almost any description
Of climate, except the most frigid.
Those Islands, our informant asserts. are
evidently Of volcanic origin, from the vertical
shape Of the rocks. They have been uninhs>
tied until within the last three or four years,
and but three or four hundred persons now on
Ruatan, consequently agriculture can scarcely
be said to have commenced. Fruit Of every
description peculiar to the tropics have thus
far been the main attraction, and they grow
in the greatest perfection and abundance, and
everything with scarcely any cultivation
Higher up, peaches, apples, &c, and other
fruits and plants pecuI ar to the Middle States,
thrive equally well. Tobacco Las been pro-
duced in quantity and quality never before
known. With the exception Of Irish potatoes,
all the known vegetables are produced abun.
dainty. The sweet pOtatoe, cucumber, celery,
squash, water.melions, grow TO enormous size.
Coffee and cocoa are indigenous to the soil.
Our informant had seen sugar cane thirty feet
in length, largrr round than a mans arm, and
full Of the richest saCchsrjne matter it would
trail along the ground nearly the whole dis
lance, and then throw up a shoot some eight
feet high. He brought specimens with him.
The population, which is located near a
port in Ruatan, the name OF which We forget,
is composed mainly of colored persons Of
very superior mora aud Industrious habit,
three or four Americans, and the balance En-
glish-some three or four hundred in all
The timber Of those Islands, moreover, said
our informant, are the most valuable in the
world for dye woods and furniture-such as
mahogany, rose wood, ebony, lignum vitD,
&c, and particularly a species Of cedar, very
large, which gives a polish superior to them
all. The India Rubber tree is also a native,
and the maple grows tot perfection and beau
ty unknown in this country, and exudes rich
Ct NV q EiVdAVi dtIOuIl " SlCCndIlU I'VE JUICE
to the tree than ever found in the West Be.
sides, it had been proved beyond question
that gold and silver, copper and lead were to
be found there, also coal: there we're never
falling evidences establishing these facts: and
on our informant's place be had discovered a
valuable marble quarry-a piece Of which he
brought with him to New Orleans to have ties.
ted, which proved to be a beautiful black with
red and white veins, and producing a superior
polish. As curious circumstance, he men,
toned that no venomous snakes, wild, savage
beasts and monkeys, nor mosquitoes either,
were known to exist on the Islands, while
just opposite in sight, in Honduras, they were
IN great abundance.
The exports Of this incipient State, contin
ued our agreeable and cultivated informant,
had reached about SIC, 900. lie concluded by
saying that be had travelled much. particular.
" in South America and Mexico Che was him
self a Tennesseesn) and had seen many beau.
tiful places, but he pronounced the Bay ISL
ands as unquestionably the Paradise Of Earth
for human habitation, and hopes and prays
that our Government will make some effort to
get possession Of it before the English, which
country is doing all she can to obtain q foot
hold, when, in such case, farewell to American
interests.
Ruatan is the place where all emigrants
and volunteers desiring to join Walker must
proceed. Truxillo, on the main land, that he
has just taken, lies nearly opposite we believe.