The Republican journal., 1897-11-11
Cartago DE Las Angeles.
costa Rica's Former Capital and the Oldest City In
Central America. A Horseback Ride Through
a Rich Country.

CARRIAGE, COSTA RIGA, Sept %, 1897.
capital without taking peep at the older
one, only thirteen miles distant. The
little journey from San Jose to Carriage
may be made in an hour, by two daily
trains that run between, over what is
known as the Central Division of the
Trans continental railway. The time of
-tarting from either end is not strictly
according to schedule, but at the conven-
fence of shippers and officials, and is an
n0unced twenty minutes in advance by
four ear piercing whistles, which wake
the echoes and warn passengers to haste
~ the station. Until recently this
branch of the road extended only from
Alajuela to Carriage. but is now connect
I'd with the Atlantic end, a continuous
Inc to Port Limon; and when completed
to Punta Arenas, on the Pacific, will be
- miles long, crossing the heart of Costa
Ica from ocean to ocean and connecting
}N the principal towns like the beads on
i rosary, The railway journey between
he old capital and the new is "a joy
9reyer' in the line of beautiful scenery
Ms more than a thousand feet are to be
lsceuded in Is miles, Carriage lying J, 900
ieet above the sea and san Jose little
ess than $1,000, some steep grades are
imbed The track curves in and out
md up and down along the face of the
mountain range which conceals the grim
.olcanOes and shelters the smiling valley.
tar as the eye can reach the country
ippears to be one vast coffee plantation,
4riegated with meadow lands and forest
covered hills-a panorama of Arcadian
oveliness, dotted with rural homes and
Peaceful villages.
The sophisticated traveller, however,
prefers to make his pilgrimage to the
ancient capital via the old Canine Real,
pr kings highway. A dilapidated dill
-encia vet clatters to and fro, amid clouds
IF dust-three horses harnessed abreast,
With perhaps pair of mules, or a horse
and a mule, for Misunderstanding down
he hill and through the valleys with
amazing disorder, whip cracking and
rofanity. Private carriages may also be
-ired in the several livery st ables of san
lose, as we'll as saddle horses and saddle
mules, for any length of time. Long
distance Journeys in Costa Rica are usual
r,t,1a hook a1thn,,nh he
small horses of the country are remark
4bly sure footed and enduring.
Our party was unanimous in favor of
the saddle, and, acc ording to CUSTOM
set out long before sunrise. The first
Few miles were a sleepy impression of
office groves in bloom, looking in the
dim twilight of the morning as if snow
storm had powdered them during the
night. No words can convey an idea of
the glory Of the mountains and the COR
-eousness of tropical coloring at their
base, as the day advanced; emerald mead
ows veined with sparkling streams; wave
ike, wooded hills, scanned with red cart
roads: yermiliion tinted farm houses half
hidden III rich foiages; luscious fruits
growing wild 10y the wayside; long, I'M
.!ulatng plumes of the banana and
-preadipg arms Of the bread fruit tree
md. peryadiug the picture at every
lQint, the great, lonely central range,
miles away, dissolving in the mel
'4w sunlight One who has gone
DOWN into the Carriage valley ceases to
wonder that its Spanish discoveries forgot
heir native land In the middle of the
valley lies a broad lagoon, along whose
margin tall white cranes stalk composed
~ and pink breasted hamingoes pursue
-heir lazy fishing. Beyond this shallow
lagoon the porteros, or pasture grounds,
Begin each oblong portero marked off
with hedges of coral bean, cacti and pine
apple Farther on, the green hills of
aqua Caliente close up the valley; peer
NJ over their shoulders are the Candelaria
Mountains; and farther on the shadowy
heights of the Andean chain assert their
sovereignty.
Though now a dismal wreck, the old
city of Carriage, nestled close up under
lie volcano Irazu, must once have been
charming. Founded as early as 1868, by
bon Juan Vasquez de Coronado, the con-
9ueror of Costa Rica, it became a royal
tapital under the Spanish Crown, second
10 none in the New World. Thomas Gage.
an English writer, who visited the coun-
Try in 1913, says in his queer Book of
Travels" that he was the first Protestant
ever known here, and that in his time
Cartago was rich and powerful beyond
compare and its opulent citizens trafficked
directly with the Peninsula. The city
was divided into two parasitic Spaniards
occupying one and the mulatos (native
Indians) the other, The Cruz de Cara
VEGA, which marks the boundary of the
mulato quarter, still stands, but it is
doubtful if a full blooded mulato exists
in the world. They are described by their
oonquerors as having been unusually large
in stature, spirited, warlike, and resem,
bling the Mexicans in general characters