The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-03-22
In FAR NICARAGUA.
Scenes in the SebastopOl of
Central America.
IN THE HEART OF NICARAGUA.
Some Examples of Primitive Housekeeping
Granada Under Siege-Riding the
Bounding BillOws.

city of fifteen thousand souls, INCLUDING
the suburban municipality of JalataVa)
and the collegiate center of the Republic to
my mind this Nicaraguan Granada is
THE OLDEST PLACE HAVE YET STUMBLED INTO
Its mother across the sea, for whom it was
named-the ancient Granada Of the Moors,
IN the south Of Spain-cannct be more
quantity picturesque and uncomfortable in
all its appurtenances and belongings; and
we long ago discovered that discomfort and
picturesqueness are synonymous terms,
representing something pleasant to look
upon at long range-the longer the better
but not to be lived with enjoyment. At
any rate. those Moorish kings of the eighth
century, and the doughty califs OF Cordova
who succeeded them, and the later SOW
ereigns of CASTLE, each in his little day on
the banks of the Jenil and the Guadiaro
and among the sierras of Ronda and Al
pujarrGS-never attempted to contrast a
queerer people than are crowded together
in this Central American namesake of that
long-disputed territory bordering the Med
iterranean.
Nestled at the feet of a dark and lofty
range of mountains called the Buombachs,
and skirted on the other side by the great
lake of Nicaragua, Granadas situation is
certainly all that could be desired. So, ev-
identity. its founders believed, for Hernandez
de Cordova and his followers, who built it
in the year of our Lord 1922, expended upon
it all their architectural resources and a
vast amount sof dinerO (money)-the latter
mostly borrowed from the conquered
aborigines. Many gigantic works still re
main to attest those early splendOrs. The
wide and handsome streets are remarkably
well-paved the churches magnificent in
their proportions, and many of the spacious
and massive cGSGs yet show upon their
deliberately carved fronts the arms of some
of the noblest houses of old CASTLE.
Granada used to be the seat of many thirty
ing commercial establishments, and before
the civil war of 1854, the national water way
TO the Caribbean sea, via lake Nicaragua,
and the San Juan river was covered with
the pdrdJtdS and fiat-bottomed boats of the
GranadianS, carrying indigo, cocoa, wool
and hides to the port of San Juan del Norte,
now renamed Graytown.
From the spring of that year QS5D till
late in the following February,
GRANADA WAS UNDER SIEGE;
but was bravely and successfully defended
by Senior Don F'ruto ChamorSo, the social
leader of the conservative" clerical
party. In 1856, after the untimely death of
Don Chamorro, the city was surprised and
the following year by the Conservatives.
AS natural result, between two such hotly
opposite elements, the old town was almost
annihilated, and more wreck and ruin was
wrought in one short year than the winds
and storms of three centuries had been able
to accomplish. Since the establishment of
peace, efforts have been made to effect
Granada's restoration; but her wounds
were too many and the scars too deep for
obliteration.
Though rejoicing under the name of the
''SebaStopOl of Nicaragua the inhabitants
are now wretchedly poor-even those who
live in the grandest stone cdSGS, with their
balconies of turned wood before the win
dows and pendant ornaments, curiously
carved, swaying from the projecting roofs,
like the little balls on bull-fghter's som
brero.
Some of the long streets struggle down to
the lake and apparently plunge into 1t for a
much-needed bath. AT the foot of one Of
them-built out over the water-is an an
cient fort, dismantled and overgroWn with
trees and bushes, a dismal wreck, too shaky
TO venture into, and infested with snakes,
bats, rats, bugs, insects and ghosts, maybe.
1t is very interesting, however, viewed at
respectful distance, as a relic of the first
Europeans who set foot on the American
continent. it being, beyond doubt, the very
fortress that CordOva built just 367 years
ago.
Under the walls of the mOldy ruin, within
the scanty shade Of trees growing near it,
and bushes growing out of it, the Indian
women of Granada wash their garments
and hang them up TO dry. Others wade
out with their water Jars, passing beyond
the breakers to obtain water clear of sand.
At any time between daybreak and dark
the scene is always the same-the women
with their washing and their water jars !;
CNs-ir0
presence of spectators; servants bringing
horses and mules to drink: few pdrdgIdS,
native boats) padding about, or hauled up,
high and dry on the shore. We hired one
of the latter for sunset row,-but were
glad to return after an exceedingly short
VOYAGE for though the exceedingly narrow
boat forty feet long and drawing three feet
of water)
RODE THE BOUNDING BELLOWS LIKE A BIRD,
it seemed too much like going too sea in an
egg-sheu to enduce feeling of safety.
The Granadians live after a simple fash
ion of their own, which is common enough
in this part of the world but seems odd to
strangers. A northern lady who has lived
here several years, gave US many interest
ing items of her experiences as house
keeper la NicdrdgudncSe. There are no
boarding houses, the hotels are very few,
very poor and very expensive; consequently
IL
better plan is to set up casa OF your own.
You hire an unrented house, finding only
bare walls covered with cebwebs like
tapestry of strong Irvine flor the spiders
are big, busy and numerous here) and tiled
floors over which Lizards, snakes, lguanas,
ct al wander at will. Tables, chairs, beds,
dishes, in short the most common articles
of household necessity, command the most
exorbitant prices, if obtainable at all The
native merchants appear to have as many
prices for their goods as there are calls
upon them, always expecting to haggle and
eventually "cOme down" to at least third
of the sum originally asked. They have no
respect for the purchaser who is so green
as to close with the first offer, and consider
cheating him as merely legitimate business.
The northern lady above mentioned as
sures me that she paid $3.50 per dozen for
cups and saucers of the most ordinary quail
ity; % per dozen for knives and forks with
clumsy horn handles; small pot of mustard,
81; broom, 75c. slaked lime for white
washing, So per bushel, etc. etc. But food,
such as can be obtained. is cheap enough to
make up for extraordinary expenses in
other directions, and if one eats to live. in
stead of living to eat, the native fare will
do well enough. Every article not pro-
duced in the country brings an excessive
price, and everything requiring severe
manual labor is hardly to be procured at
all.
Our friends house will do as well as any
other for model of
THE TYPICAL CASA GRANADIAN.
IT is of adobe, plastered and succeed till
Il loolre like marble and though of marvel