Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-07-19

'eNas space ID periect jungle OF African
hioiscus Lilies. most Of the rare plants that
grace our conservatories ct home and
a thousand others unknown 70 us.
We are prone to hnger and enjoy
Its sweets, but tempus fugit. 80 we cross The
| railroad track and find ourselves sauntering M
the long main street Of Colon facing the sea
and lined with . succession Of quaint succeed
and frame buildings, built in some cases with
most astonishing disregard for architecture
the arched verandas suggesting with their
gaily clad women, their bright masses of color
and shrubs, some town of sunny Spain. The
shops are mostly closed, but the saloons, Of
which there are many. are in full blast filed
with motley crowd OF many races and nation
aiities The streets are dirty 10 an alarming
degree and filed with an ever-changing swarm
OF native Colonbians, negroes from Martinique.
Jamaica, Santa Lucia, and here and there
stray Arab selling his wares
NEaLIsrE COSTUMES IN ooLoRs.
Inc costumes. too, what there is Of them,
demand our constant attention and in rare
cases admiration. Here is q little child, girl
OF about elk years, leaning against a yellow
stone wall, her olive skin. her darby curling
mar ana brilliant eyes forming an effective
contrast to the one white garment that falls
loosely around her. revealing the perfect
bronze OF her shoulders as she looks up at us
with startled gaze She has face that re-
mains with us Ia memory all day, sweeter far
than many of her fairer sisters Farther on
we pass young negress from Martinique,
straight as an arrow and clad in a stiffiy
starched white gown, which she holds up very
DANNY, while twinkling in her are curl
Gus heavy earrings that shine next her dark
SKIN and call attention to her glowing turban
and neckerchief, the turban tied and wound in
q wonderful fashion so that in the center there
rises tuft like some brilliant plume of trop-
ical bird. Following her comes another whose
sole ralment consists of one loose white gar
ment cut terribly ''decollete," with a long lace
friii encircling the neck Spanish fashion. No
shoes were on her feet, but with q touch of
coquetry that seems to cling to the Spanish
women despite age or adversely she has placed
In her HAIR a brilliant flower.
The men are not proiigal IN adjoining
themselves, and in many one pair OF
trousers, worn solus, constitutes their entire
wardrobe, and the younger portion Of the pop
uiatlon doesn't seem to possess even these. for,
IN most instances, they are in the garb popu-
larry supposed to have been worn in the Gar
den OF Eden, with the difference that the fig
leaf Is not in style here, although nature has
provided an abundant supply.
The market is a curious medley OF tropical
fruits and colors. am foolish enough to pur-
chase pair OF paroquets at what seems to me
the astonishingy low price of so cents Ameri-
can money for the pair and cage; but. finding
that the freight on them to San Francisco would
be % per bird, wisely turn them over to one
OF the waters at discount
A COLON CARRIAGE AND coAcHMAN.
The equipage in which we made our appear
ance in the better part Of the town would be
worthy Of description by some one equal TO
the task. L confess that am not. The horse
IN 1t was horse) was small and bony. Then
the two-seated carriage las suppose / must
call II In courtesy to our coachman, who was by
FAR the most stylish part Of the outfit in a
natty white suit and hat. and actually sporting
eyeglasses with white cord) looked simply
prodlglous from a side view. Once seated in
the affair counted just on my side ten differ
ent and alarming rents in the curtains, sup
ports, DC. put together with extremely anti
quated-lookIng cord.
We drove down on the beach to the quaint
little English church and through the portion
OF the town occupied by the Notwithstanding
residents, mostly employees of the Panama rail-
road or the steamship company, and then to
the French hospital, where a sweet-faced Sister
OF Mercy gave us lovely flowers in profusion
Then we managed, with many creaks and
groans on the part Of our wonderful one-horse
shay and the animal before it, which /
secretly thought was . mule, to get back to the
ship.
ACROSS THE IsTHMUs.
Then We take the waiting train that is to bear
us to the Pacific shore. Our route lies through
a dense growth of palms and tropical vegeta-
ton, varied by glimpses OF the great canal now
truly in u state Of ''Inocuous desuetude" and
lined with machinery and dredges, waiting
mutely and rustily, fear, judging by the
amount Of dampness that fills and permeates
the air. for the moving power of man to re-
store them to their former usefulness and ac-
tlvlty. Here at the stations along the way one
might imagine from the heavily matched huts
with whole families at the doors in all stages
of attire, from the eldest hopeful fashionably
attlred III a pair Of trousers and a shirt but
minus shoes or collar, to the Youngest. in puris
naturallbus, that we had been dropped
on the Sandwich or South Sea Islands Once
stare, perhaps, too intently az a strapping
negress alfred in a sweeping robe of pink
calico, evidently her holiday garb, and with
her woody head pulled and frizzled literally
'seven ways for Sunday" and before can re-
cover from my sstonishment she has thrown me
KISS from the tips Of her ebon-hued fingers
A little farther on We pass an antiquated
Spanish dame with the inevitable rose behind
the ear, and she glances up coquettshly and cries
as the train moves on, ''Addios, Senior, Adde'S 4"
This three hours ride is a perfect revelation
to us and when the train steams into Panama
we all agree that this is the most novel Sabbath.
II not altogether orthodox, that We have spent
We find a steam launch in waiting and soon
we are steaming out into the bay to the good
ship that is to bear us to San francisco. IL
lies here for some time and We vary the
monotony by taking a sail over to the quiet old
town, where we visit the old cathedral and the
plaza, the most interesting points in the city,
Since the cessation OF work on the canal things
the islands Of the bay is Totoga, q mound of
living green, from whence come what are re-
puted the finest pineapples in the world. After
eating them served in Spanish fashion, in
sugar and brandy or sherry, we are fully con-
WINGED as to their superiority.
sTEAMINa UP THE PACIFIC COAST
Leaving the bay and the smiling country
wherein lies, like the serpent in Eden, the germ
of deadly fever, our good ship sweeps along
past the verdantly slopng shores of Costa Rica
and Nicaragua. under the burning tropical sun
by day and the paler splendor of the south.rn
cross by night, till we reach La Libertad, the
port of entry of Salvador City, the capital of
San Salvador.
About 80 miles back from the coast lies the
active volcano Isalco. and the air being very
clear We can see the stream of fire and smoke
that pours unanimously from it Here we get
quite cargo OF the staple Of the country
coffee.
Our next port is San Jose. Guatemala Back
In the interior about seventy miles lies Guate-
mala City, go-ahead place of about IS 600 in
haDltants, The average native here. being WELL
TODD, has travelled considerably and the results
are made manifest in the improvements, &C., to
be found in the city. Guatemala City has a good
street railway. electric lighting, &c. The coffee
crop has been unusually large this season and
when one reflects that the cost of gathering
and preparing the coffee for market is never
more than S5 or sc per 0-pound sack, 10
be disposed Of later at SIS or $50 per sack. he
can readily see how the planters and their
wives wear such profusion of diamonds and
spend their spare months abroad, most Of
them do. Considerable indigo and sugar cane
also grow here. Rising early q few mornings
later To see the most gorgeous of spectacles a