Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-10-04
BEAUTIFUL CozUMEL.
A SPoT NATUREHASFAvoRED
An Hand or ferumu ard Lsz'n'ss-fse
Pearl. and Tbs,r mssosr. sad cus'o~'-

a. Y.,.,a as fe,u,ssy ard Lszinsss-fhe
P.sp,. and Their msnnsrs sHd Customs
Rriss.
New York Tribune.l
Ten miles from the eastern coast OF
yrc,,sn lies the island Cozumel. one
Of natures favored spots. where there
is perpetual spring, and to live in the
open air is delight. But we wanted
a house all the same, and were not by
snv means charmed when informed that
Il would be very difficult to find lodg-
ing. The centre Of the village oil ot'
Miguel is an immense grass-gro"n
square, bounded on the west oy
the sea. on the east by a thstched
church. and on the north and south
by matched dwellings. The rest
Of the village is scattered along
the beach and little way back OF the
square: but not far. for there are only
five hundred inhabitants. Having no
tents to pitch in the great square, we
insisted upon house. and were nj last
allowed TO take possession OF a one
room residence at the southeast corner
of the square. 1t was gloomy, damp,
dirty. the floor thickly strewn with dry
cocoanuis, and there were two doors,
but no window. In one corner
there was pile OF cocoanuts, to
which we Immediately began adding
the others. We were throwing one
after another as fast as possible when
the old priest of the village introduced
himself and said he was glad to find
out what the noise was, as he had feared
it might be an earthquake coming on,
though they had never had one in Co
zumel. Father Rejon was in shirt
sleeves, and said he could not afford to
wear coat every day, but he invited
us to 70 and play cards with him in the
evening. He also gave us the welcome
intelligence that our house was haunted.
We were still throwing nuts when an
Indian girl came running across the
SQUARE to invite us to dine with her
mistress, so we locked our doors
and went to the house of Dona
Concha. In her sitting-room we
found Captain Low, in whose
schooner we had arrived, and several
unfortunate hens tied in pairs by the
feet, strue gling on the floor. The
poultry of Cozumel is of superior size
and quality, and when taken to Key
West always fetches good price, so
Captain Low wanted five dozen tina
had to be collected from all over the
village. He paid thirty-six cents for
each, though for the same birds the
villagers only charged each other
twenty-five cents. The Captain also
wanted a load Of fruit, but that he
could not have. Dona Concha said it
was impossible, because only week or
two before a tornado had swept over
the island uprooting every fruit tree.
These periodical tornadOes are the
only drawback to life in Cozumel.
Perhaps that is one Of the reasons why
it is almost hinhabited. Neyerthe-
less, when the Spanish Conquerors ar
rived there more than $50 years ago
the population numbered 100, 900, be-
sides $4,000 pilgrims who yearly visited
the shrines. The island was then called
Cozmil, which means in Maya language
1.-THE place of swallows" The soil is
strewn with vestiges Of ancient dwell
ing that are concealed beneath forests
rich with valuable timber. Among
the trees are the ebony, Brazil
wood, cedar. sapote, ramon, rose
wood, and the Sac-ha-na (house OF
white water, under whose roots there is
always a spring Of pure, clear water.
The thickets are alive with pheasants,
quails, pigeons, and other game, and
with little care every kind Of tropical
fruit, of very fine quality, grows album
d d PstIBa yssRRs 53fSEsf %Ia m nqa JSgRssy
as we'll as honey and wax, the product
of harmless wild bees. Only labor is
needed to turn all this to wealth; the
natives have quite as much work as
they care to do, being contented to live
from hand TO mouth. We found few
Americans from New Orleans and Key
West living there, and they said
that they could make plenty Of money
if they had good laborers. Tobacco
grown in Cozumel is quite equal to the
weed produced in Cuba, and many CT
CARS sold as Havsnas " are from Coz
umel, whence they are sent boxed
ready for the market. The principal
planter there took US through his plan
tation, and gave us little useful infor-
nation. When the plant is two feet
high the top is broken of to prevent
further growth, so that the whole
strength and virtue may DO taken
up by the leaves already formed,
: only a few plants being left to
run to seed. The same soil doe,
not serve for tobacco more than
! one year, but during that time three
} crops can be raised. Such leaves as
) turn yellow before the wood is ready to
. pluck must be cut off, and are used in
, in second-rate cigars; and the ground
must be kept perfectly free Of all other
weeds. When ripe the plant is hung
up for eight or ten days, within doors,
. to dry thoroughly. Each leaf is then
separately moistened in decoction Of
tobacco and strung on a fine wire. The
wires are stretched in lines, one above
another, in building kept for the pur-
pose. The operation of drying and
moistening is repeated four or five times,
\ after which the leaves are tied up in
4 bundles, put in hogsheads, and covered
S over to sweat" 1t is upon this
< sweating" operation that the favor
e and odor OF the cigar depend.
: Near the plantation there were some
< curious little buildings that had once
T. served as temples to very diminutiv,
5 race Of people whose existence is proved
l by whole cities Of similarly small house.
b. on the east coast of Yucatan. We ex
c amined the small houses, but the owne
$ of the plantation said that there wer,
9 some much more interesting at a plac
n called Buena Vista, so we decided t,
9 60, though the Indian selected as
guide said the road was bad. W
started with him and his four small
hunting dogs, and soon acknowledge
that the road might be better. The fac
d is, there was no road, nothing but foot
q path through the dense forest, and S,