The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-03-13
F. G. Carpenters Winter Sail over the
Caribbean Sea and Outline of His
South American Tour.
A TRIP COVERING $4,000 MILES
IT'S PROBABLE COST, THE TIMER
AIRY AND HOW HE WILL TRAVEL.
The Population of Colon and Sundry
other Facts About Land where
the Cemeteries Thrive.

Copyright 1898, by Frank G.. Carpenter.)
COLON, March 81 write this letter on
the eastern shore of the Isthmus of Pan
anna. am in the Washington House, the
special quarters of the officials of the PAN
anna Railroad. In front of me is the green
Caribbean sea, whose waves, coming in on
the evening tide, are dashing UP silvery
spray almost at my feet A long row of
cocoanut palms runs between me and the
beach, and each of these is loaded with
great punches of green cocoanuts, every
one of which is as big as the head of that
half-naked Jamaica negro baby who is
playing there on the edge OF the water
The air from the land is that of a hot July
at home, but the sea breeze is soft, cool
and delicious. When I left New York a
week ago it was in the snow of midwinter
Here 1 am in the heat of midsummer and
all my surroundings are those of the tropics
$1,000 MILES OF TRAVEL.
For the next year l shall be travelling
largely in the tropics During that time
shall make trip of $4,000 miles for news
paper letters, covering much of the great
continent of South America and including
some Of the hottest as well as some of the
coolest regions Of the globe. Among the
SHOWS of the Andes shall be nearer heav-
EN- than you can get at any place on this
earth except in some parts Of the Hima-
laya mountains, and in the cold winter of
TERRA del Fuego, at the lower end of our
hemisphere, / shall be at the southern
most point of the habitable globe. AS to
the red-hot tropics, it is warm enough here
but q few weeks from now I shall be strad-
ding the equator in Ecuador, and within
nine months, if I succeed in eluding the
yellow fever, / shall sail right along the
line of the equator into the heart of South
America on the Amazon river. My trip
began ten days ago, when left New York
on the steamer Advance, of the Panama
Railroad Steamship line, for a 2,000-mile
sail to Colon. This afternoon shall cross
the Isthmus of Panama by railroad to the
city of Panama, and thence later on take
ships from port to port down the west
coast of South America to the Straits of
Magellan. I shall make a number of ex-
petitions into the interior, describing the
countries of Colombia Ecuador, Peru, Be-
livia and Chile, spending some time in the
Andes and travelling quite extensively on
the plateau of Bolivia. On Lake Tfticaca
I shall steam about above the clouds at an
altitude more than two miles above the
cities of New York or Washington, on the
highest big fresh water lake OF the world,
and in the rainless zone along the coast OF
Peru / shall be travelling through a desert
quite as wonderful as that Of Sahara After
a trip over the Transandean road, which
is now being built to connect the Atlantic
and Pacific, describing the work that is
now going on in the Andes, and after hay
ing travelled extensively in Chile, / shall
make my way up the Atlantic coast of
South America with numerous expeditions
into the interior. In the Argentine / shall
visit the great grain and stock-raising plan
tations, shall travel over the pampas, where
the ostriches run wild, and from BUenos
Ayres shall sail up the Rio de Ia Plata,
Parana and Paraguay rivers for more than
a thousand miles, stopping some time at
Asuncion, the Paraguayan capital Uru-
quay will be my next country to describe,
and after that / shall visit the cities of Bra
I'll and make several long expeditions into
the interior, visiting some of the biggest
coffee plantations of the world and travel
ing 1900 miles or more on the Amazon
through some of the least known regions of
the earth After leaving the Amazon my
itinerary is not fixed, but shall probably
sail from the mouth Of this great river for
New York. stopping. perhaps at some of
the West Indian islands on the way
The preliminary preparations for news
paper trip of this kind are important, and
it may interest you to know something of
my outfit. You cannot take tour of this
kind as one of Cooks tourists does that
to Europe, putting all your necessaries in
a valise You must have different kinds
of clothing for different climates. You
cannot buy the books and Photographic
thing rust be carefully packed to with
stand the kicking of the obstreperous pack
mule and the miasmatic dampness of the
tropics. have five pieces of baggage, and
as already know by the excess baggage
charges they weigh just 400 pounds. Only
200 are allowed free from New York to
Colon, the excess being charged for at 2
cents a pound, and in crossing the isthmus
on local ticket only fifteen pounds of bag
gage goes free and all above that pays 8
cents in silver a pound. My Photographic
outfit is comparatively light. l have two
cameras, a 4x5 and a SKI. each fitted out
with good lenses and shutters. 1 have a
few glass plates, but chiefly cut and rell
film. This has been especially prepared
for the tropics being sealed up in tins to
keep out the dampness. Then L carry the
small typewriter, on which am now click
ing out this letter, and a lot OF reference
books, when are as heavy as so much
lead. have, of course. plenty of letters
of introduction from Washington, includ-
ing a special one from the secretary of
state asking our consuls and diplomates to
render me every assistance in my travels.
MONEY AND EXPENSES.
My money 1 take in the shape of letter
Of credit on London, for English gold is
best south of the equator. as it viii bring
more silver in exchange My signature
identifies me, and all have to do is to
present it at any bank in South America
and sign a check and the money will be
paid me. Here on the isthmus and in Cen
trail America our geld is even better than
English gold. and have ten 500 gold pieces,
which will, hope. see me through Panama.
The expenses of such a trip are heavy. In
planning a new expedition for newspaper
letters debated some time whether South
America or Africa would be the more in
teresting field. and I got steamship rates
for both continents. could have gone to
the Cape Of Good Hope for 500 less than to
the Straits of Magellan. The time is just
about the same, but the fare from New
York to Valparaiso in Chile is 1856. and you
are still about SIS above the straits. The