The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1897-05-21
A New Garden of Eden.


seriousness that Honduras was the gar
den OF Eden. Certainly it might be made
very beautiful The climate is healthy
except a narrow strip along the coast
Soil is rich and with the ever changing
scenery OF mountains, lakes and rivers
fertile valleys, genial suns and tropical
breezeS, it is hard to depict a more lovely
spot, yet the people that live here are fol
the most part blind to the true value OF
their possessions. Some day they will
awake as from a dream and see where
they have been living in poverty, where
with a little ambition they might live
in atfluence Nothing could be more
primitive than country life in Honduras
where a plow is unknown, the machetta
and a sharp stick are all the tools ma
tive needs to plant his crop of plantains,
bananas, beans and corn of which he can
raise two crops year.
The Indians are a docile, contented
thriftless race, whose forefathers were
here when the Spainards conquered Cen
trail America. Their blood is now much
mixed with the SpainardS. They live in
primitive huts made of poles and thatch-
ed with the leaf of the palm. Spainards
of the better class build their houses of
sun dried bricks and the roofs are cover
ed with tile, the pattern of which was
brought from Spain hundreds of years
ago. The rooms are large and few in
numbers. The floors are made of large
square bricks, doors and shutters of solid
mahogany. Such ahouse is considered a
casa grande, spendid enough to create
envy. Wells and ciSterns are not known
all the water is carried from rivers in
earthern jars on the heads of women.
furniture is scarce, a person might travel
through the interior and never see a
table or chair, knives, forks or dishes.
Two or three bull hides spread on the
f11th hnI fol Al aln inc.
fact everything. Gourds serve for dlshes
the cooking is done in earthern pots of
native make, and the baking is done in
an oven built of brick, as there are no
stoves in Central Honduras AS there
are no wagon roads everything has to be
packed on the backs of the patient mule.
There are no hotels after leaving the
coast, so person travelling will stop at
any house he may find and be sure of the
kindest of treatment, be the house large
or small The wise man carries his ham
mock and blankets and if not he will re-
gret it. Outlaws are almost unknown.
A person can travel all over Honduras in
perfect safety as far as the natives are
Everyone goes armed as
there are tiger and mountain lions in the
unsettled districts.
Cattle raising is ? great industry as it is
one OF the best grazing countries in
Try of the American and English inhabi-
tants, but until railroads are built so ma
chinery and supplies can be got into the
mineral bearing districts, there will be
few fortunes made in mining, although
the Guayapa and julian rivers are flowing
with golden sands. The women do all
the gold washing in wooden trays called |
'Botteras." The men have very stiff |
necked ideas in regards to what is a fit
for them. They will dig gold |
and silver in the mines but to wash it out |
of the rivers after custom has degraded |
it to woman's work they will not do.
The day will come when Honduras,
with her undevelOped wealth of minerals,
soil and beautiful cabinet woods will sur
prise the people of the United States.
Already there are a great many people
coming here to engage in raising of ba-
nanas, coffee and chocolate as this is a
good soil and climate for growing the best
of coffee. Here at Santa Cruz the soil is
some black, the balance of a
Oranges and all tropical fruits grow to
perfection. We are seventy miles from
the coast and at an elevation 1900 feet
above the sea. The air is pure and clear,
no maleria or fevers. 1t is extremely
healthy, the average amount of rainfall is
125 inches per year.
Mr.. F. A. Morris and | have been in the
Cruz fourteen months and the highest
the thermometer has registered is 80
degrees, the lowest 90 degrees Fahrenheit
making this one of the most even climates
in America.
A great deal has been written about the
insects of Central America which is
more or less true, but they are worse on
the coast and in the river bottoms, there
are no more insects in the interior than
the generality of the United States.
Taking everything into consideration
there is no place in America where a
young, energetic man of small capital
can make an independent home easier
than he can here in Honduras. But
everything is not gold that gliUters. A
man has to deprive himself of a great
many comforts and undergo privatiOns in
opening up a home as tins country is
three hundred years behind the times
There is a telegraph Office here and we
have a weekly mail so you see we are
not quite isolated in this inter-tropical
country.
GEORGE J. ESTEY.