The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-03-22
A Trip to the Tropics.

tlc hiA 1850 #.
,,,4av morning | stood one -n.
y IF ut Colon watching a crow. ..
.sr and not oyer-valiant negroes g~s.
inc = herd of half-wild cattle tav.-.s
tho side of a ship. The deck of the
vas fully twenty feet higher than -..
wharf. so | decided to wait and spo ...
tho loading was going TO he cd...-.
Cracking their whips the negroee l,
the moor animals so closely togetAcc r.r
+b.r soon formed a dense stru--.
mass Occasionally some young .u
vould make 4 brave dash for H"orE.
causing a momentary stampede; o"' ..-
+or much laughing, yelling, ana h"aE~.-
ing of whips, the rebel was 'a'h l.""
3niron hack TO the drove. At leu-tA
l,sso was deity thrown over the hr.~
If y bull and for a moment Il WHO StrN-.
r.1o onsnea the animal alternately i@..
mo away and charging upon hhN torm'
+orS Rut this was soon stopped, for St.
ond Of The rope was fastened to Il pull
bancinc above the deck or the snip al"
in NJ instant the bull was dangling III tH.
air the pressure Of his whole Immrts-
weight being borne by his horns, After
, furious fcht the animal was secure.
and one after another of his companl".-
v-os subjected to the same brutal trrl,-
meut. turned away III disgust, am.
hurryiug to the railway station. "at'
| ed the pay car on which had been Ia.
yited TO make a trip across the lsthun~
ia Panama. The car was a very cou.
Portable one divided into two rooms. oue
with easy chairs and sofas-for com
fort: the other arranged for buNlle~N
ox,ctlv like a miniature bank, with 81
wire nartition at the end and Il sma.
window at which stood the treasurer of
tbe Panama Railroad. On the table and
floor were great boxes filled Wltd
money. for this was TO be payday aJou-
the line. Al Il signal from the condur-
fora North Carolinian-the train moved
off and was soon passing through JW'
worst part of Colon. the houses and
tents being built on piles driven INTO the
stagnant mud. No wonder yellow fever
sometimes prevails here; am only sur
prised that fcvers of every color OF th"
rainbow do not sweep off Ill the poor
creatures who live in this way. The
porches are crowded with negroes, CIlu-
csc and some whites and M"u@rc.r.
Absolutely naked children gaze in wou-
der at the car and its passcn-rs,
Strange TO say, though. the faces WlJrH
| closely scanned. seemed all healthy anl
happy. and this | continued to notice a..
along the line.
Passing a lagoon we were soon thUu
dering through apparently u virgin
forest graceful palms. huge trees of va
rious sorts. some of them covered with
flowers, others green with parasite.
Now we pass through marshes crowded
with b~ull-rushes or tuddcd with great
clusters of white lilies. Now Il thickct
of tall reeds and an ~impenetrable jun
gle knotted together with vines seem
to rush by us. Now comes a new spc-
cies of palm, now Il wild banana plant
with Il great bunch Of useless fruit and
dropping purplehead. Tho flowers and
birds are, however, less numerous and
less brilliant than we had expected. lN2<
we are skirting the Chagres river ~
originator of malarial fevers, a -
we pass a village Of hlts built
right bamboo and thatchcd VIII
palm-leaves. the roofs steep and poih. .
Other villages have large frame houses
built on high posts and under these
houses, III many instances, the families
are gathered with their hogs and goats.
Even the cooking and eating are attend
ed to under some of the houses. AS we
get further into the interior Indian blood
shows itself more distinctly III the faces
Of the people and many of tho young
girls are decidedly pretty. At Matachin
(Which means slaughter Of the Chinese
fifteen hundred of them once committed
suicide here in u single day., i saw Il
girl ut the station whose beauty ! have
seldom seen cquallcd anywhere. She is,
| was told, half Spanish and half In
dian.
Thus We Travelled for three hours, oc-
casionally stopping to pay off a gang
of WOrkmon. AS we aDDroacHpI
Panama we passed many groups Of
nude or half nude negro women ami
girls standing III the streams waShing
clothes for their employers i'll the city.
But at length VIZ have reached the end
Of our journey and like Balboa are anX-
lous to see for the first time the great
PACING ocean. Let us take IA cab, for
the way IS long and sunny, and thr
charge Is only twelve cents. Panama j.
a real Spanish town, with cobblcd streets
and stone houses-each Of the latter iii
orally supplied with shady porchcs which
over-hang the streets. The streets circle
about III such a way as to guarantee am
attenuation Of shade and sunshine at all
hours OF the day. The cathedral IS an
Inspiring structure even from an Euro
pean standpoint, and the pretty sauarcs
are Well supplied with palm trees and
shrubbery. The posters on the WALL
moreover, show that Spanish blood ruIo,
ne town and still delights in Sunday
afternoon chicken and bull fights.
rom the esplanade one has a heauti-
1lll view down the bay Of Panama.
studded with islands blue in the distance.
beyond which lies the vast Pacific. And
as | stand and gaze, let me whisper in
me gentle readers sympathetic ear.
'hese picturesque verses of an Istlmiar
poet:
| SIT on my lofty piazza,
overlooking the restless sea:
'Ahd a spider glides over my foro-
head
\ cockroach sits on my kneeD
he god OF the dr. l. nrn.a