The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1897-02-11

'foreign colony" composed of five lone
some Americans has whist club of four
members, the fifth acting as substitute
whenever any of the four chance to have
other engagements; and adds: "But as
there is no one here with whom one can
have an engagement, the substitute is sell
dom called upon. He told me in conf
dence that he had been sitting by smoking
and watching the Others play whist, for a
month now, and hoped that one of them
would soon have sun stroke.' The five
foreigners all live in the hotel, and SO
does Uncle Samuel's representative in
serves both England and the United
States as Consular agent. His case re-
minds us of Mr.. Richard Harding Davis
remark on the subject. That entertain
ing young writer says: ''Much might be
written of Consular agents in Central
American that would differ widely from
the reports written by themselves and
published by the State department. The
most interesting thing about them, to my
mind, is the fact that none of them ever
seem to represent a country which they
have ever seen, and that they are always
citizens of another country to which they
are anxious to return. | find that after
Americans, the Germans make the best
American Consular agents, and English
Al.
while French Consular agents would be
useful to their countrymen if they could
speak French as well as they do Spanish"
There is miniature market house in Cor
into, where fruits and flowers are the chief
commodities sold but the favorite place for
purchasing those articles is under the palm
where some women preside with great
dignity over low tables on which tiste,
sugar cane joints, dulces and boquets
are spread The Pueblo women of Hon
duras and Nicaragua are remarkably
handsome. They are very dark, plainly
showing their Indian extraction, but their
skin is satin smooth, hair black as the
ravens wing, and their large, lustrous
eyes have in them the same pathetic look
one sees in the eyes of dog, or a deer.
This expression does not by any means
denote sadness but is rather an indication
of lack of intelligence. All are in snow
white chemises and gay colored skirts,
with little bouquet stuck in their shin
ing hair, feet bare, and plump brown arms
and shoulders, ditto. When in full dress
for extra occasions, such as church
fiesta or a cock-fght OF promenade in
the plaza, they wear over the chemise
silk shawl of solid color, vivid green, or
scarlet, yellow, sky blue. or purple, which
they are continually arranging, loosening
and re-arranging; now tossing one end
over shoulder now letting it slip far,
far, down, chemise and all, showing as
much arm and shoulder and bust as a So
ciety lady displays at a ball Presently
the shawl is picked up and drawn tightly
around the figure, and anon is thrown
over the head like a Monks cowl. leaving
only pair of roguish eyes peering out,
for the undoing of all male creatures.
These Shawls are as characteristic a part
of the wardrobe of middle class Nicara-
guam women as the lace mantilla is of
their richer sisters, as universally worn as
the manta in Peru and the ribosa in Mexi-
co; and for purposes of Irritation they
answer as well as the fan serves any
woman who has drop OF Spanish blood
in her veins 1t is the one bit of splendor
which these women possess, and each
shaw represents years of toll and careful
savings, and may be an heirloom
descended from mother or grandmother.
One reason why these women of the
people, such as you see standing in the
doorways of mud-huts and selling things
in the market place, are SO much hand
somer than their aristocratic sisters, is
because they have never known the bur-
den of corset or tight gown or a shoe.
From childhood they have been accus-
toned to carry great water jars and other
heavy burdens on their heads, which gives
them fearless uplifting of the head, an
erect carriage, and the ease and grace of
an antelope. In sorry contrast are the
ladies of the upper classes in Nicaragua.
like most others in Spanish America.
They are always badly dressed, or ab-
surdly overdressed, slouchng gowns made
after some forgotten Partisan fashion,
feet crowded into high heeled shoes sew
eral sizes too small, giving ridiculous
toddle to their gait, faces obscured under
drifts of powder, and hair banged and
frizzied and garnshed to an astonishing
extent.
There are two scenes in Corinto of
which one can never tire, the outlook
over the bay, where the long, meas
ured swells of the Pacific come rolling
in from the other side of the world, and
the landward view from the adjacent hill
tops. The harbor is even more charm
ing by night than when sparkling in
the sunlight. After dark its waters
are so full of phosphorescence that fish