The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1888-06-26
THE IDLERs or HONDURAs.
People Who Believe That the Acme of uu

People Who Believe That the Acme of nu-
man Happiness is to do Nothing.
From the san Francisco Chronicle.
had taste Of what it means to be in
Spanish country without knowing one word OF
the language during my stay in Libertad for
six days. 1T was two CLOCK, or in other
words the hottest time in the day, and as L
walked along the pier to the town there was
no sign OF any hotel or restaurant. 1 lodged
in and out of small streets and alleys, where
there seemed to be no shelter, and l found
everything was closed. 1t was the time when
everybody was taking his siesta At
last spied in the distance the word
"hotel." l dragged myself to the place-95
in the shade-and sank down in a chair in the
first room came to, fierce-looling Span
lard, dressed in white, was sitting at a table
with some sort Of drink before him. lie was
the only person in the room. OF course L got
hold of my Meisterschalt to find out what
would be the proper thing to say in this case.
But no, nothing seemed to fit the occasion.
He never moved. At last l got desperate,
and summoning all the pure Castillian
/ knew, said: ''Habla Ingles?" / waited
a little while No answer. At last the
party in white shook his head. 1t was no 20.
/ tried the same question with French instead
OF English. Same result. The bottles behind
the bar kept blinking and smiling at me. L
could not stand it any longer. got up, adj
vanced slowly, went behind the bar, took
bottle of beer, opened it and emptied it. Then
! looked at my friend in white He was still
sitting in the same place and had only turned
his head to look at me. l uttered tho word
proprietor" with as much interrogation in
my tone as | could a last l had struck
vital spot The man smiled and nodded.
Then he got up and remarked: "Quatro
reales." paid and returned to my Meister-
Chaft.
After long continued wrestling, succeeded
in finding some words which could use, and
when | told him was doomed to stay at his
place for a week, he was my sworn friend.
Almost every evening did 1 spend with him
reading the bewldering sentences from Mois-
terschaft. / inquired after the health of his
family, of grandparents long ago dead and
buried. | asked after everything that q man
could not need, and, Oh misery! | sprang
what Rosenthal calls his foundation sem
tence on him. That was where 1 made
a mistake. The sentence is Call me very early
in the morning." and unfortunately 1 knew
not the "open sesame" which could undo the
demand Consequently every day was awak-
ened at four, ami | can assure one day in
Libertad, beginning at four a. M, is a triHe
long, without anybody to speak to- However,
/ Jared pretty well at the hotel, though con-
fess felt happy when | saw the Pacific mail
steamer, San Juan, come into the harbor
La Libertad is built on the same plan as all
the Mexican and Central American towns on
the coast, with adobe houses. But the hotel
there is better than any ] found elsewhere.
The surroundings OF the town are very pic
turesque and considerable business is done in
coffee, The surf bathing is excellent, aud
during January and February the beach is
crowded. a good many people como down
from Salvador The bathing arrangements are
most primitive People either undress right
on the beach or in some brush huts built q
little way off, The women wear long
chemiso for a bathing suit. At the start it is a
perfect protection from inquiring glances, but
on the return hardly as much can be said
At last ! arrived at Amapola, twenty-five
days after my departure from San Francisco.
AS you know, or as possibly you do not
know, Amapola is built on an island in the
Bay of Fonseca, and it is quite n trip 10 the
main land. At eight o'clock in the evening ]
started in a sailboat, with q pilot and three
sailors, and arrived at San Lorenzo ut three a.
m, after a pretty rough passage. found
there Il guide awaiting me with mules, and
after n few hours sleep started for san Mar
tin. Muling is not exactly pleasant. but when
you have to be on mulehack six or seven hours
i'll the broiling sun it gels trcsOmc, 10
say the least The country through
which L came is mountainous, some six OF
eight miles away from the coast, and tie
views from some of the mountain tops towards
the bay and the Pacific are wonderfully beau
tifui, especially at sunset. Although it is now
the dry season, the landscape looks fairly
green, but when riding through the woods one
sees that the vines running from tree to tree
are dried up, and one can understand that in
the rainy season, with hundreds OF orchards in
bloom and everything green and fresh, the
sight must be doubly beautiful.
| do not need 10 tell you what an enormous
all its gayety and place like this, where we
live in IL brush hut and eau comcakes Qortillas)
and brown beans Oar camp is III the village
of San Martin. Evidently there has been no
change in the peoples way of living since the
time of-well, let us say Columbus, to be on
the safe side. The women today grind the
corn in the same little machine that they
made use of then. a stone slab, on which the
corn is placed, after having been soaked in
lye-watcr, and stone roling-pin form the
whole outfit.
i'tom morning TIL night ono hears the noise
of this crude working, When the corn. mixed
with water, has become a dough, a pancake is
! made OF il and baked over the tire. This is the
/ tortilla. The com is allowed to remain in the
( water so long that it gets entirely soaked
| through with iye, and then afterwards il not
! properly cleanSed The effect Of I've on the
| system must hetelt TO be appreciated
The baking ovens are half-round structures
/ built OF adobe, and all the cooking utensils
/ are eaithcnW0ro. Occasionally we have meat
/ ana soluetmtS We shoot birds, hut the natives
/ around here live mainly en- toytillas and beans
J l have observed that the people are. for the
I most pa.t honest, One finds little downright
/ stealing. They live in one place generation
| after generation. They are lazy, and il they
have made money enough the first three DAYS
| OF the week to last them for the next fourvou
! may be sure they will do no moro work. They
! work when they must, never when
/ they feel like it, The latter case is unknown.
When they, think it about time
] " stN WIN tANN NANl's bNT American way
/ OF a day swolk for days pay is .onc,hiug
| entirely ana absolutely new 10 them. Clocks
are unknown, hut they tell the time accurately
/ by the sun, and they do have q great deal of
sun. as rulo :" degrees in the hats at noon.
1 Neither the m1u nor the women are good
/ looking but ] understand that m some If the
/ other departments, a., for instance blanche,
Z (the republic If Honduras Is divided into
seven depatlmentsl, the race stands higher,
both physically and intellectually Ihcy do
not seem TO marry they believe in the doe
ulne Of free love. There are no priests for
miles around. Ol course, in Chuiutcea. the
/ capital OF this department. there aye some,
I but their visit, are few mud iar between.
The maxim Of these people and they live lp
70 1t, seems 90 lie "mduJna' tomorrow
Every thing is mauaua. or. IS we would put il
IN English, do hot do today what YOU can
put of tll tomorrow
HoweNe r, II their manaua only meant
( manaua. but IL generally means some time he
fore Christmas
Weare novelty here and VIC and every
ETEsGTkNA EEEsEsEMT