The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-04-03
MINES OF GOLD AND DIAMONDS
A RIVER OF VINEGAR AND WOODS
WHICH STOP HEMORRHAGEs.
Trees Which Flow Cows Milk and
ChOcOlate-Sunday in Panama.

ical line on the face Of the globe. l am sit
ting on the deck of the steamship Santiago,
opposite, but out of sight of, the coast CT
Ecuador and almost exactly on the equator.
We shall cross it within an hour. If it were
not for a slight breeze which still follows
us from the northeast trade swindS the air
would be sitting. AT my right there is
vast extent of ocean, which the sun has
turned into molten silver. Ten billion dia-
monds are dancing up and down upon the
wavelets, and, although I am under cover,
the light of the sun as reflected from the
water dazzles my eyes as much as the d.
rect rays of a July sun at home. On the OPP
posite side of the vessel, in the shadow, the
water is of an indigo blue, and as l stand
up and look about me 1 see nothing but
vast expanse of what in the hot, hazy air.
seems to be a steaming sea. To the west
ward stretches the Pacific, q distance of
about 10000 miles, before it reaches the
lower part Of Asia, and to the east is the
equatorial region of South America, includ-
ing snow-capped Andes and the mighty
Amazon, my present field of travel. 1t is
now three days since L left Panama for
Guayaquil, the port of Ecuador, and until
this morning we have been sailing by the
coast of Colombia, but in many places $50
miles from the shore. In this way we have
saved four or five days of travel, and will
make Guayaquil in four days, while the
coasting steamers take ten.
The boats Of the southern Pacific are far
different from those on which l have
crossed at different times to Asia. They are
unlike the steamers of any other part of the
world. The cabins are larger, and the quiet
of the sea-for you seldom have storm
here-enables them to have several decks or
stories and to keep everything open. There
is about a quarter of a mile of walking
space on the two upper decks of the Sam
tiago, and on the top one there are places
where you could almost lay out croquet
ground and have room to spare. I awake
every morning thinking I am on my noun
tain farm in Virginia There is a bleating
of sheep, a growing of cocks and a quack-
ing and cacl1ling of geese and ducks. Now
and then a COW moos or pig squeals. We
carry all our meat with US. On the upper
deck, within ten feet of where I am writ
ing-there are two big coops full of chick
ems, ducks and geese. The coops are two
story affairs. walled with Stats. The chick
ems are in the upper story, some rrcsting
and others polxing their heads out to get at
the water and corn in the troughs outside.
The ducks and geese are on the ground
floor. A little further over there are crates
filled with potatoes and onions and others
containing oranges and pineapples. The
sheep and cattle are in pens and stalls two
floors below. They are in the Storage, near
the butcher shops and kitchens, and where
there is what you DO not find on other ships,
a travelling market. There are men who
pay big sums for the privilege of selling en-
the south Pacific ships to the people ut the
ports. Our marketmen have in their stock
at present about a dozen wagonloads Of
| oranges and pineapples from Panama and
ten cattle from Chile, and they will load up
with other things at Guayaquil. They will
take this stuff to the ports along the des-
erts of Peru and Chile, and, as nothing
grows there, will set very high prices.
Travel is very costly in these ships. There
| are two lines which sail between Panama
| and Valparaiso. One belongs to the Pacific
Steam Navigations Company and The other
to the Chileans. The two companies have
combined, and, as they have monopoly of
the business, they keep up the rates. have
never paid SO much for steamship travel as
I am now paying. The fare to Guayaquil
| from Panama is SCI in gold for a distance
| of about eight hundred miles, or more than
| s cents a mile. The fares to Europe by the
! first-claSs Atlantic liners do not run more
| than cents mile, and on some of the
| boats you can go for cents or less. The
| freight rates here are also very high, being
! about cent a pound for this trip These
lines have steamers every week north and
| south from Panama to Valparaiso, a dis
| lance of 5000 miles. The through rate is
| $154, but all passengers are charged extra
for stop-overs at the ports, and the local
rates are correspondingly higher
SOMETHING ABOUT COLOMBIA.
r IL
South American countries. The republic of
Colombia along which we have been sail
ing, and of which the Isthmus of Panama
forms part, is longer from north to south
than the distance between ST. Paul and
New Orleans and wider in some parts than
Decline from New York to Chicago. 1t
contains more than 100000 square miles. 1t
Is one-sixth the size of the United States
without Alaska, and it would make over
nine States the size of New York or ten as
| big as Ohio or Kentucky. The isthmus or
department of Panama has an area almost
| four times as big as that of Massachusetts,
| and the Colombian state of Cauca is almost
as large as Texas. 1 have met number
of Americans and others who have recent
| ly travelled in many parts of Colombia
/ They tell me the country is an undevei-
| oped empire and that a great part Of it is
as yet UNEMPLOYED. There are some Amer
| leans engaged in business of one kind or
| another in Colombia. Some are in the
extreme north in the Chiriqui lands of
the upper isthmus, raising coffee, and 9TH
! ers have been buying lands in the Cauca
/ valley. This valley is over the mountains
little back of the Pacific. 1t is several
hundred miles long. and about twenty or
more miles wide, and it is said to have
some Of the most fertile lands on the globe.
One American, named Elder. who has re-
| Gently died. is said to have left big for
tune made out OF his coffee plantations.
have heard 1t said that his income was
100000 year from them; and another had
a contract for railroad. upon which he
did so little work that the Colombian gov
ernment finally paid million dollars to
get rid Of him This was in the case OF the
concession for the Cauca Valley Railroad.
which was to connect this rich region with
| the port OF Ruenavenfura / am told fhaf