The Republican journal., 1896-10-08
suit is a delicious drink.

Our room is typical sleeping apart
ment in the wealthy Hondurian's casa.
Besides the much berutled beds, each
with Frenchy looking stand at it's
head to uphold the nightly candles.
there is little else but a quaint iron
frame to hold the washbowl, and bio
round Ola, or jar of red pottery, in
one corner, full OF water, which is cooled
! by evaporation through the porous clay.
The ola, being much the shape of an egg
shell, would not stand upright without
support, but is held in place by nest, or
| framework, of twisted grass. There is
long stemmed gourd for dipping out the
water, and if any is spilled OF spattered in
course OF the sponge bath it is of no CON
sequence; for in Honduras there are no
room carpets to spoil, the cement
| floors being covered with rushes woven by
Indian hands into mats six or eight feet
long by yard OF SO wide, and over these
are scattered the tawny skins of leopards,
killed IN the near by hills. The one great
window has no glass in it's easement. but
the thick wooden shutter is studded with
the conical heads of nails, wrought by
native blacksmiths and set in ornamental
designs; nd both window and door open
directly into the fiowery patio, or unroof-
ed central court yard, where more of The
family life goes on in waking hours than
inside the house.
The business of the day is pretty much
all done up before almuerzo, or mid day
breakfast. The servants 60 to market
the workmen to the fields or mines, the
| master to his office, the ladies to their
/ shopping or visiting. The shops, or
tiendas, of Tegucigalpa are long, dark
cool buildings, one stored like most of
the houses, with enormous doors and
windows extending from roof to sidewalk,
| protected by iron bars outside, and wood
en- shutters within. Many OF the mer-
chants speak English, and their goods
are usually OF general merchandise"
such as one finds i'll rural villages Of the
United States, a few drugs and dry goods,
some cutlery and crocbtly, hardware and
hair switches, soap, noasses and mil
hnery, high heeled, tooth pick toed,
| patent-leather Shoes for the .'haughty
sous, +" and deliberately stitched kid shoes
Tor the senoritas, often scarlet pink,
white, blue ol yellow, such as our North
ern babies sometimes wear, for the fair
Hondurians have passion for dainty
foot gear. Nearly all the sales are on
credit, though the purchasers have the
money in their pockets, it being the GUS
tom of the country not to do anything to-
day which can be postponed until to-mor-
row, even to the paying of bills. But the
+ people, of high or low degree, invariably
spend good deal of time over a bargain,
whether the amount involves dollar OF Il
dime. Often the ''store' is one corner of
a front room, opening on the street and
resembling an old fashioned cup board,
filled with laces, groceries. dried meats,
salted fish, elegant jewelry, and what not, in
wild confusion. The retail price of an az
tcle is always less than the same thing in
large quantity-the price being double
N the latter case, because the amount de-
sired shows that you want it, and, there
fore. you must pay well for it. 1t looks
queer enough in the poorer shops to see
women using wooden and string scales
and coins for weights. To the market
place the country people bring their corn,
beans, oranges, pine apples, melons,
cheese, poultry: in short, everything
from the haciendas to tempt or APP
pease the appetite There the young
daughter of the mestozo farmer -
of more than half Indian blood, the
rest of an unclassifeG and unguess-
able mixture of Spanish, Negro, Mongo-
liam, what not-drives brisk trade with
foreigners, if any happen to be on hand.
Hers is the vivacious style of beauty and
conversation, as piquant as a pin in the
seat of a chair. Her dark olive skin has
been we'll washed for the occasion until it
shines like oiled mahogany; her snow
white camisa embroidered with blue or
yellow around the very low neck and
sleeveless armholes, does not quite reac h
her waist, while the sagging skirtband
independent of any support above, leaves
broad, brown belt of natural hide be-
tween; and gaily she smokes her cigarette
and laughs with the bargainer, while her
sparkling eyes entice him to purchase at
an exorbitant price.
One of our favorite walks in the early
morning is to the summit of La Leona,
(''the Loness'') little concal hill. per-
haps mile from the plaza, which the
government has converted into park. A
large space on the top has been graded,
and in the centre stands an octagonal
wooden building, well provided with