The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1897-12-04
GUATEMALA.
OLD GUATEMALA IS PASSING
AWAY AND WILL SOON VANISH
River TOurney-"Cityo OF Flowers on the
Shores OF Laeo de Yzabel-A Heritage
frem Cortes-Missionarie Arrive and are
Received With Open Arms.

GUATEMALA LA NUEV. Spe-
ctal Correspondence-It is sad u unrnn that
when commerce opens this country It's charm
will he lost. So it has been in Mexico
When visited that country first, only about,
fifteen years ago, just before the two main
lines of railway were built, it was as primi-
tive, picturesque, and altogether charming
place as could be found on the eartl's sur
face The Nile region of today is not as
Quaint as was old Mexico, with It's "crown ct
thorns' streets and body of Christ pull
Querias, its bull fights and passion plays its
bonnetlcss senoritas and sombreroed hidal-
goes and zeraped lower classes, the customs
and traditions Of the Moors and early Span
iards almost intact. But now, owing to
the mighty influx of prosaic North Americans
and the progressive era Of Dictator DiaZ,
all this is changed, and not entirely fer the
better. True, railways and manufactures
and modern agricultural implements have
largely displaced peon labor and Indian hand
looms, and the forked-stick pillow OF Pha-
raohs day; the peon nomenclature of the con-
quistadores has given place to something
like John Smith street instead Of the Gale
del Madre de Dios; the passion play and
the bull fight are superseded by poker and
baccarat, horse racing, and prize fighting, to
the accompaniment Of poor whisky, in lieu
Of natures pulque; the clergy, erstwhile the
prosecutors, are now the prosecuted, nuns
and monks driven into exile, converts robbed
and dismanted, the ringing of church bella
and the wearing Of priestly garb forbidden.
and reign Of infdelity begun; and saddest
of all in the line, beauty lost forever, the
gui1eless, soft-eyed senorita, in her becom-
ing lace mantilla, such as enhanced the
charms of the grande danes Of old CASTLE, is
merged into calculating, corseted, up-to-
date young woman in French millinery aud
fashionable furbelows.
Primitive Guatemala Will Vanish.
So it will presently be in Guatemala. The
screaming locomotive will jerk the traveller
from coast to capital in single day, where in
the good old times it took week OF p.rssed
vagabOndage, of mule back riding, and "a noe
ing, of hammock sleeping and al fresco Seed
ing on wild fruits and tortillas and b:oiled
monkey meat. The modern way of getting
into cushioned car and being fired, as it
were, at the mark of our destination maybe
a cheaper and more comfortable mode Of
transit, but it will rob these strange coun-
tries of their natural flavor. Therefore, I
earnestly advise all genuine travellers who
contemplate visiting Guatemala, to do so be-
fore the projected railways are built and the
commercial era, already inaugurated, has
wrought the ruin of romance and beauty.
Among the most important of the several
lines now in process of construction is that
from Livingston to Coban, a distance of 100
miles, or therea bouts, which will open the
fine coffee region Of Alta Verapez, and so en-
courage the extension of cafetals Coffee plan
tations) that the crops, which now all 60 to
England, may sometimes come to our mar
kets and give us revelation of what good
coffee really is. The road will pass through
the mahogany and pine forests north of the
Lago de Yzabel, and will be- comparatively
easy to construct and sure to pay it's way
from the first train. Today all the coffee of
that prolific region is taken by oxcart to
Pansos and shipped to Livingston by the river
steamboats,, at very heavy freight, but the
time is at hand when the traveller will look
In vain for the picturesque camps of the OK
drivers by the roadside, for they and he and
the coffee and other freight will all be whirled
through the Incompatible scenery in few
hours. - ''
\ River Journey.
Travelling up the Rio Dulce in a modern
steamer, one feels like rude intruder into
natures sanctuary. Once came up the river
in dCry, spending happy week between
Livingston and Pansos-the latter village at
the head Of navigation on the smaller Rio
Polochic; and then the centuries slipped
away like tale that is told, back to the days
Of the cOnquerOrs Three hundred and sixty
years ago Cortez and his handful Of ad-
venturers sailed and roW'ed and padded up
! the same watery track, from the sea into the
Sweet river, thence through the lake like
"Golfete," and the narrow passage into the
2 broad Lago de Yzabel and on to the crooked
river Polochic. There he saw the same palm
thatched houses, OF some just Like them, the
same canoes, followed from single logs of
mahogany or cedar The bows of their YES
sells were set toward the same apparently I'M
broken mountain wall; as they sped before
the breeze the high limestone cliffs slid
apart Just enough to let the river through
and Immediately behind them seemed to close
up and shut out the world, exactly as today.
Like Cortez, we were explorers, eagerly
watching tine banks-not for eenn1ies or
traces of treasure, but for wonders and novel
ties OF any sort. All was as fresh and bright
three centuries and a half ago. wajtered nav
be, by the magic spring which Ponce de
Leon searched for in vain; white cliffs tower
ing hundreds of feet above the swift but quiet
stream palms stretching upward, and vines
trailing downward herons and famfaeoes
posing immovable in e-Leg attHszr1e.,
strange birds fitting across from tree .: &-aa,.
chattering derisively at their clothed and
,"evoluted" relatives. But though the face
Of nature remains unchanged, the conquista-
lores left their mark upon the country anc
now we may travel in safety the ways they
found beset with deadly perils. Away up the
river, where are now unbroken forests, Corte2
found many populOus-and always hostile
indian villages; and in one OF their many at
tacks, as he drifted down the narrow Polochic
the arrow of a native, whose tribal name ever
an end to the career Of the conqueror of Mex.
+ leo. .st F
getty of Flowers"
1t was upon the shore of the Lago de Yzabe
that Cortez's rebellious captain planted thu
little colony OF Marco, and was hangedfor hi
pains. The whole country north OF it, ex'
tending away up to Central Yucatan, en-
braces an almost unbroken wilderness, which
is still looked upon terra incognita. II
the Heart of this wild, mysterious region L
the lake of liza, or Peten. The lake has nt
outlet, and is one of those freaks OF nature
which may be compared to gigantic basir
scooped ont of the solid rock, into which the
waters trickle from the surrounding hills
filing it to the brim, to be drained only BY
the thirst of the summers sun. An irreg'
ular sheet of blue, fifty miles long by hall
as broad, occupies the basin, and toward ont
end of it rises knob of rock, almost cir
cular in FORM on which is built the quaintes
city in Guatemala, called Flores. This cit.
Of flowers, on rock surrounded by water il
the midst of wilderness, is worthy its name
The little island, hardly two miles in circum
ference has paved streets and government
buildings, cocoa palms bending their feather1
leaves over whitewashed stone houses, ant
gardens and patios of wonderful beauty. o.
the highest point Of the knob is the quadran
gular plaza. overlooking an enchanting bit o
scenery, including several palm crowned pyg
my islands in the lake, and the hamlet o
San Benito on the opposite shore. On on,
cid of tho 10 o1H Snanish church AMI