The Republican journal., 1896-12-31

suhereu greatly, many dying of starva-
ton and the epidemic that broke ont
among them. Grenada was the strono-
hold of the Conservatives. or clerical mar
ty; and after all its brave defence it was
surprised and taken by the Liberals lin
1867 owing to the untimely death of Don
Furto Chamorro, the Conservative leader.
The latter party regained it in the follow.
ing year; but in this game of battledore
and shuttlecock the proud old town was
well nigh annihilated. Efforts have since
been made to effect her restoration. Int
her wounds we're too many and her scars
too deep for obliteration. Most of the
people are now wretchedly poor, and as
they are poverty stricken labor of any
sort towards re- establishing their fortunes
is quite out of the question. There is a
fine old university here, where law, medi
cine and theology We're taught under direc-
ton OF the Bishop; but now a days all fam
lilies who can afford it send their sons to
Europe to be educated. AS for the girls,
nobody dreams of educating them in the
love of books, beyond the barest rudi
1nents which our children acquire in the
primary departments of the public
schools. If a ''little learning is danger
Gus thing for femaies--too much of if
would be ruinous in the eyes of our Span
ish-American friends. 1.-The new woman,
would be regarded as monstrosity not
to be tolerated in decent society; but hap
| ply she is unknown in this Acadia The
Senoritas are taught little music. and n
great deal about las vidas de los Santos
/ (the leaves OF the Saints and other re-
ligous matters; they are adopts at en-
broidery and lace work, and the making
OF artificial flowers, and dulcies (sweet
meats) as maidens they are charming,
and as wives and mothers, their superiors
are not to be found on earth.
The only mechanical industry in Gren-
ada, If so it can be called, is the making of
what are known as Panama Chains of
gold WIRE, either compact or hollow, link
ed together something like our old fashion
ed mar CHAINS These are fine as the fin
est lace work, yet strong as cables-per-
feet masterpieces of the goldsmith's art,
but seldom seen outside of Nicaragua.
Near the city are a number of extensive
cocoa plantations whose combined pro-
ducts bear no mean reputation in the com
mercial world. 1t is strange that SO MANY
foreigners in these countries turn to
coffee planting, and so few to the equally
profitable business of growing cacao, in
which there is practically no competition,
and the possibilities are almost unlimited
trees, which bear the precious bean. are
a species of Theobrom, and grow wild in
great abundance in the primeval forests
OF the Atlantic Seaboard. When properly
cultivated, they yield the most profitable
crops that can be produced, far ahead OF
coffee in net results. The worlds supply
of the preparations known to us as cocoa
and chocolate, comes mostly from Fcua-
dor and Venezuela, with a small amount
from the West Indies; and these Repub-
lies. in which the bean attains its greatest
perfection, furnish comparatively little
for expectation. In Nicaragua the cocoa
is found to thrive best beneath the shade
OF the coral tree-a species of Erythrina
which has come to he known as 1.-The
mother of the cacao.' 1t grows to a
height of 10 os 30 feet, and when in bloom
presents dense mass OF crimson bios
SONS.
Wherever one Turns in Grenada, the
eye is delighted by a series of beautiful
views; the blue lake, the dark forests.
hills near and far, the bright emerald of
cacao and banana groves Mombacho, the
extinct volcano close to the town. covered
from base to crown with a mantle of ever
lasting green, and its more dangerous
neighbor, Cosequina, from whose crater
among the clouds thin wreaths of smoke
are constantly seen, silvery by day, but
showing red and sulpburous tints in the
darkness. About sixty years ago this
volcano INDUCED in one of the most fear
full eruptions ON record. 1t continued for
four days and covered the country for
hundreds of miles round about with
ashes and lava, and wrought such des-
truction of life and property that the
Nicaraguans did not recover from their
panic for many years. 1t is an actual
fact, though hard to believe that Cose-
quinas explosions were of such force
that ashes fell in the city of Bogota,
Colombia, 1900 miles away as the crow
flies and at an altitude of / l, 600 feet above
the sea, 5000 feet higher than the sum-
nit of this volcano. Ashes fell in the
West India Islands, and also far in the in
terror Of Mexico, and showers of them
that obscured the sun caused terror and
CONSERVATION in all the neighboring Re-
publics, whose people believed that the end
of the world had come. Vessels sailing on
the Pacific, miles and miles away, had their
decks covered with lava and ashes and
several sailors were injured by falling
stones; and the ocean for $50 miles was
Strewn with floating ashes and pumice-