The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-06-26
THROUGH COSTA
RICO ON MULE BACK
The Journey of Former North acknowledgements
Sympathize With Spain.

, Al the very summit of the mountains
we met a large party of horsemen--or,
rather, mulemen-a among them the Costa
| Rican Minister of Foreign Affairs, the
| Gnatemaan Minister, and other officials,
| on their way down to Puntarenas to
meet the Nicaraguan commissioners and
! avert war by signing a treaty of peace
on board the United States steamer
! Alert. While at war ourselves we had,
in the interest of our smaller neighbors,
| placed one of our war vessels at their
| service in order to preserve peace among
them, and yet--in spite of such friendly
acts on our part-these people feel no
| gratitude and, while accepting our fav-
ors, do not falter in their openly express
! ed sympathy for our enemies. In taking
! the Nicaraguan commissioners to ana
1 from Puntarenas the Alert used about
! fifty tons of coal, but when on its re-
| turn to Nicaragua it became necessary
| to purchase more to replace that thus
| consumed. the Nicara;guan authorities
at first refused to allow it to be taken
on board, alleging as an excuse that TINS
might be regarded as Il breach of neu-
trality.
The sun shone relentlessly down upon
/ us as we trotted on towards Atenas. Not
a breath of air was moving, and even, the
| vegetation seemed overcome with
languor and drowsiness. High up in the
sky a few buzzards fioated in circles,
| but the only living things visible along
| the road were a few iguanas (crested
lizards a foot or more in length which
the natives regard as a delicacy when
properly cooked and an occasional par
rot brilliant with red, blue, yellow and
green plumage. The heat rapidly be-
e,tfr
up by the mules, so dense that our
tongues were parched and swollen when
at length we reached Atenas. After
resting three hours we resumed our jour
ney and struggled on, suffering the com
bined horrors of dust, heat, thirst and
soreness, passing frequently the remains
of dead ca ttle-in some cases bare Fskel-
etons, in others the Cleanly picked bones
were still covered with the hide, while
in many instances flocks of vultures
were still engaged in their horrid feast.
AT Alaiuela we completed our long
ride. and seating ourselves in a fairly
/ comfortable railway car soon reached
! San Jose. the capital of the republic.
San Jose is a pleasant little city stu
ated at the foot of an extinct volcano,
nearly four thousand feet above sea
| level It's straight streets are cobbed
| and are bordered by low, white houses.
As in most other towns of tropical
/ America. the streets are not shaded. the
result being that during the heat of the
day the glare is almost unbearable. San
| Jose is connected by rail with Port Lii
mon, on the Caribbean Sea, from which
place steamers run every week to the
| United States.
Having spent fifteen hours in the CAPT
tai city, ! took the train back ito Ala
juela alone and there boarded" my
| mule with the intention of spending the
night Mt Atenas As / rode along in soli-
| tude-my guide had mysteriously desert
i ed mel noticed . popularity of the
1 country which Afterwards observed to
be general in Central America every
man and boy carries a machete hanging
at his waist. This gave a sinister appear
ance to the men whom / met on the
road, but the little boys looked simply
ridiculous with their huge knife orna-
ments.
At Atenas the mystery of my guides
| disappearance was xplained-Domingo
had taken advantage o. my absence to
reduce himself to a state of hopeless in
toxication by partaking too freely of a
native drink made from the juice Of the
| pineapple. / was in despair, but one
of the walters at the inn Kindly offered
in consideration of the payment to him
of So, to 90 back and rescue my saddle
bags and other belongings. His offer
was quickly accepted and he at once dis
appeared in the darkness, armed with
two revolvers q, machete and a power of
attorney bearing my signature At
midnight he triumphantly reappeared
I.,, ,A.1 he b.,I 4
for my possessions. Poor Domingo,
never saw thee again. but ] hope that
thou art still able to sip the juice OF the
seductive pineapple without leaking at
the throat!
At "A. m. we-my mule and I--were
again on the road but / will not harrow
the feelings of the readers by trying to
describe the sufferings of that shadeless
ride of thirty miles under a red-hot sun,
up and down steep mountains, along Il
winding rocky road. Suffice it to say
that though during my visit to Central
America | encountered several earth
quakes Of considerable violence | can
truthfully say that they were tame in
comparison with the jolting of that mule
At sunset | reached Esparta and at
the inn was lifted from the back of my
= faithful steed by the united efforts Of
the innkeeper and the village school
master. After good nights rest,
: took the train and was soon being whirl-
ed along at the startling rate Of six
miles an hour. These trains carry two
classes Of passengers-tho of the first
class ride in an odd little, u.rty. dingy
car with seats upholstered in mating,
while second-class ticket entities it's
possessor to a seat on a pile Of coffee
bags on a flat-car.
About II o'clock the engine gave a
curious shrek to notify the passengers
that we were no longer moving-in fact
that we had reached our destination
/, Puntarenas. Very slowly and deliberate
ly ! descended from the car and limped
to the wharf whence three stout negroes
in a rowboat soon brought me to the Pa
cific mail steamer Barraconta, bound
. north to Acapulco, from whose deck at
; noon ! watched the palms of Puntarenas
disappearing below the horizon, leaving
, me on the whole only very pleasant
recollections Of my journey on muleback
: among the coffee plantations Of Costa