Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1875-05-23
AN OLD MINERS TRAVELS.
Letter from U. s. of Colombia.
At Bo,rdnquilla-A Quaint Old CITY
The Church BelI-Forty 1hon-
sand JockasseS-Mdlo Amer
icdno, Buena John Bull
U. s. of Colombia.
BARRANQUILLA,
ia RRANQU1LLA,
FSTADOS UNIDOS COLOMBIA.
April 30th. 1875.

Editors TTmeS:-My last was dated
at Panama, and shortly after mailing
it l crossed the Isthmus. Arrived
at Aspinwall, the vessel which was
to bear me on to fields Elysian was
all ready to sail, and l stepped on
board with such a sense of relief and
utter disregard for anything save
! personal comfort that l did not even
make a note of the trip. 1t is very
uninteresting and unsatisfactory ride
is about all that can be said of it
anyway. BY the date of my present
letter you will see am well on to-
wards my destinalion-the gold field
of the st. George, tributary of the
Magdalena river, of which this city
is the lower terminus of steam navi-
CATION. l arrived at
BARRANQUILLA
some eight days ago. 1t is quaint
old city and the Capital of the prov
ince of the same name. 1t lies in
land Is miles from the ocean and
Sabanilla, the port of entry, with
which it is connected by railroad. 1t
has population of $4,000 and boasts
of being the. first commercial centre
of the Republic. 1t is favorably but
not picturesquely situated, and the
climate OF the country is very at
tractive Notwithstanding all of its
tropical draw backs, the temperature
ranging from 20 to SO degrees. Like
every other Central and South Amer
lean city, people are away behind
the times in trade, mechanism and
all that relates to progressive civili-
cation. All OF the water used for
drinking and cooking purposes has
to be packed in from the river on the
roof of the gentle jackass, and such
a noise as those long cared disciples
of Bray make is enough to drive one
staving crazy. The water is very
dirty and has to be filtered before
using-and oh, so warm and unsat-
isfying! would give $50 for drink
of ice water. And then Barranquilla
is such a delightful place to sleep!
In the evening, when
"Slulnbers soft calm DER your heavy lids
creep
mosquitoes by the 100000, 100000
follow suit. At o'clock in the
morning, when you have fought the
mosquitoes and yourself into exhaus-
ton, the chimes from dozen beltrys
and each church has from to 80
bells-ring out their changing peals
for one hour continuously. This
wild hullabaloo of bells and chimes
awakens the sleeping jacks, and then
confusion worse COMPOUNDED reigns
supreme. You know what a noise
one of them can make (nothing per-
sonal intended)-well, there are
FORTY THOUSAND JACKAssEs
in Barranquilla, and after the first
tap of the Lells the diabolical chorus
commences, and it never let's up I'M
til the jacks are loaded with water
tanks and trudging along home. I
bid good bye to Barranquilla and its
braying brigade on The morrow, and
still have two days by steamer and
IA days by "bungo" Canoe from
here to the mines. AS to the latter l
can say but little as yet of my own
knowledge. l AIN told by all parties
here that the
MINES ARE VERY RICH
and plenty of them-gold, silver,
copper, lead, etc. have talked with
two Englishmen that have been
working quartz and placer mines in
this country for twenty years. They
speak we'll of the mines and, what
is better, have plenty of money
They tell me that some of the best
mines are in very unhealthy par,
OF the country, where they cannot be
worked without much risk. l am
sorry to say that Americans do no
stand well here, and are general
regarded as sharpers and bilks. Be
ing zone of those molo Americana
myself, l ask no favors and expect
none. Englishmen are "buena,'
(good) and are not slow to take ad
vantage OF good reputation. hav,
gathered little statistical informa
, ton about the country which may
prove interesting. The
, UNITED STATES OF COLOMBIA
was formerly a province of Spain
from which, with VENEZUELA ant
Ecuador, it achieved its indenpend