Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1875-08-05
SILVER CITY, NEVADA, THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 1875.

touch at Savanialla. Two of these
are English. Royal Mail and Liver
pooD, one French, one German, and
one American, Pacific Mail.) The
two English lines touch at this port,
and report says steamers of the Paci-
fic Mail will do the same after the
present month.
This is said to be the best harbor
on the coast, but the present connec-
ton (by canaD with the Magdelena
river is cut off, so that Savanialla
temporarily receives. the benefit of
the river trade, as it has railroad
Q5 miles) to Barranguilla, on the
river. Eleven steamers ply on the
Magdalena, and this number will be
increased to fourteen this summer.
They ali run to Honda, 600 miles,
and some of them above. Freight
from Brrranquilla to Honda is 81
per cargo, (250 pounds) passage $65,
with $40 extra added for stateroom.
The boats are loaded with goods sup
plies, tools, etc, for the towns, mines,
plantations, going up; and coming
down are freighted with coffee, to-
bacco, cigars, sugar, chocolate, cot
ton, rubber, java-nuts, hides and sew
eral varieties of dye-wood. Add to
this some silver ore and about $780,
600 in bullion freighted every ten
days during the mining season, which
lasts from five to seven months
Where water holds out, mining is
carried on the year round.
Bogota, the capital of the United
States of Colombia, is about three
days ride by mule from Honda, so
that most travel that way seeks the
river instead.
The climate of this country, of
course, is tropical, but good health
can be sustained here as in colder
latitudes. Americans who come
here, as a rule, drink too much
brandy and native liquors, and de-
vour fruit immoderately. The
weather is warm, and there is no
ice to help its temperature, 50 many
foreigners take more kindly to
brandy and water or rum and
water. This leads frequently to
excess; drunkards are the result,
and South America is no good
country for drunkards. On the
rivers and lowlands malarial fevers
abound: bnt in the coast towns,
relieved by the sea breeze, or back
in the mountains, where pure air
is not wanting, there is no trouble
on the score of health. This city
(Cartagena) is as healthy as Hele-
ma, and Bogota is the same. 1t is
warm, but not changeable. The
main drawback is in getting
through the intermediate country
to the mountain interior There
is no way to get up to the water
sources but by balquitana or canoe,
so that one is exposed to the rain
and heavy dews at night for
period of 25 or 30 days. The river
banks are low, inviting inundations
and overflow. Not unfrequently it
is difficult to find camping place,
and one must sit up in a canoe and
do the best he can at a "snooze"
until dawn comes again. In this
situation the traveller must combat
the stencil of decaying vegetation,
of which the water is sometimes so
thickly covered as to make it diff
cult for the "Bogars" to pole the
canoe through it. had six days
experience of that sort, and / am
satisfied to let that answer for the
present-taking mule in mine here
after on that route.
Tomorrow 1 am invited to take
ride five leagues Fifteen miles, out
in the country, to place called
Tobaca, where Santa Anna, of
Mexican fame, lived for some years
during his banishment. The day
after (26th) is my steamer day. I
am hopeful that 1 shall not be
forced to wait at Barranquilla for a
boat. That is a great bother in
this "blarsted country" as an Eng
lishman might possibly term it.
one can never go Wnere ne wants
to, and, as Jim w. would say.
how can q fellow practice "eqin-
omony" under such circumstances ?
1t costs more per mile to travel
here than it does in Montana. 1t
is no place for poor man, without
he has good hackers. At hotels it
costs So in coin per day, and trans
portation expenses are as high as
any place 1 was ever in. If man
gets "broke" and seeks work he
can only obtain from 81 to SO per
month. 1 never want to see