Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1889-03-09
scenes In central Anaericao

| Correspondence OF the Alexandria GAZETTE
MALICATAN, GUATEMALA, Q a F.. I,
1889 Since 10Y lest have Travelled sbout
$50 miles acrcss the great central mountain
ranges and descended thePacif &c slope 80 that
now am once more in 81 torrid Cine where
summer never ends, and abefe flowers are
over blooming aud fruits sEe eiways in sea-
son. Green beeus, backberries and roast
| ing.ears sie sl! TO be had here now Is with
you in July. The neat is intense at ali sea-
sons but now il is almost beyond endurance.
except TO the natives VINO are seen with
only grdle, hat and sandals. In ipaDy Of
| the Indian huts along the tfai We have
passed over during the last few days we saw
all entirely naked. Ghe children were seen
up in the wild fruit trees feeding" on the
fruit like wild monkeys Parrots with
many other beautiful birds and wild game
are plentiful, while orange are strown Oh tie
road side for miles atong the way. There
are no wagon roads here ard hence pack
| mu les and Indians are the beasts ofburden."
The average native will carry 100 pounds
200 miles over the mountain and deliver
all in excellent order for about l:!ty centO
per day. All the NATIVES sre quiet and hon
est, and never have besn refused stop
ping place for the night 10 any part Of Cen
tral America.
To give YOUR readers an ides of how the
people travel here will describe my own
outfit which is in keeping with the customs
OF the country. Itravel on horse-back with
an Indian on foot, who carries about 100
pounds Of baggage, serves as servant and
guide, and when hired by the month costs
I1,, Il r-ith nna ne
he is cheaper and better taeu mule, and
no white man travels here without hia seTv-
ant. In addition ! carry SO caibre
Smith 6, Wesson pistol, knife, and often
sword, the servant carries the same minus the
pistol. | also carry pair of blankets and
hammock, the former for the cold up
country and the latter for the hot low lands
Hotels are rarely furnished with bed clothes
and hence every man carries his Own and
every Indian has the same, and his bed is by
the road side wherever night overtakes him
and water is to be found. The houses or
| huts are the thermometers that mark the
general temperature OF the climate. On the
plateau they are built OF adobe mud brick
with tile or thatched roofs while here they
are cane or coru-stalk pens, with a grass
roof, dirt floor, wooden chunks Tor chairs,
and bull.rush mat for q bed yet in many
places we see an open shed rooted over with
out walls. The corn is ground by hand, the
| bread is baked in eaftheu plates, and all
else is equally primitive. On the upland
| all the land used in cultivation is dug up
with the hoe and all the crops are cultivated
in the same way plows are unknown. The
wheat is tramped out by horses or failed
out and all else ia equally primitive: hence
the cost Of production is high and living is
yery expensive Since | cnme TO Central
America have never found board and room
Tor less than from s. to $40 per week with
out bedding, and only two meals per day.
In all the Spanish American countries
American products are at high premium.
There is no country north of the Rio
Grande where foreigner is more respected
by the government and the natives than
here in Guatemala, and American money
passes at from 80 to 81 per cent premium
over all Central and South American mon
ey. all things considered one can enjoy
life about as we'll in the Old Dominion as in
any place / have seen since left it, and
have nov seen the great plateaus, plains
| and valleys between the two oceans and
from Canada 10 the Isthmus. Before ny
readers see this | will have returned to
North America by way of the Pacific on
board one of the Panama and San Francis
co steamers Then I will return to the
States after which l may tell your readers
something of the Paris Exposition and
scenes on the other side of the Atlantic
but they will hear from me soon again from
the Pacific. RAMBLER.
Buct1len's Arnica SaIye.