The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-06-03
lN AlNrIAGo DE ouRA.
Recent Rambles Around One of the Oldest Cities on the Western Hemis- phere With a Camera.

Oldest Cities on the Western Hemis- phere With Camera.
 Special Correspondence of the Journal and
 Courier.
 Washington, May 30, 1898.
 Should Columbus and his contempo- raries come on a ghostly cruise over the course they took more than four centuries ago, they would have no dif- flculty in recognizing this old city of St. James, such an ancient and Iberian savor has 1t retained to this day. Be- side 1t our boasted San Augustine is a trife gray and weary when the Pil- grim Fathers first sighted Plymouth Rock. What checkered career it has had since that autumn day in 1514, when Don Diego de Velazquez chris tened it in honor of Spains patron saint Ponce de Leon lived here before ever he began searching for the Foun- tain of Eternal Youth. Cortez sailed from this place to the conquest of Mexico. Juan de Grijalva made it his base of supplies when, in 1518, he start ed for the conquest of Yucatan. Mar varez recruited the four hundred men here for the first invasion of Florida, all of whom were lost in the cypress swamps of that land of promise and mystery; and here De Sotos expedi- ton tarried awhile in 1528. Since in Santiago the red and yellow flag of Spain was first raised for the conquest of the two Americas it seems in "the eternal fitness of things" that here the decisive naval battle should be fought which will forever banish the banner of blood and gold from this side of the world.
 visited Santiago Q few weeks ago. as usual with notebook and camera. In a previous letter I told you about the marrow, winding channel which leads from the open sea into the har- bor, persuing sinuous course past the Moro and other Notifications of quaint construction, between low hills and broad meadows, cocoanuts groves and fishing hamlets, all the time so close to shore on either side that you seem to be navigating an inland river, till suddenly you turn a sharp angle of the hills and enter the broad and shell tered bay which old seamen call one of the most magnificent in the world. It is not so big as the bay of Rio de Ja- neiro, and not so beautiful in some re- spects; but like the Brazilian harbor, it is studded with islets and mountains are encamped around it. The water is too shallow for large vessels to ap- proach it's wharves, and steamers ar- chor a mile or more from shore. The weather-beaten quartermaster in the forecastle applies the match to his brass twelve -pounder, and hardly have the reverberations died away among the hills before the steamer is sur- rounded by a swarm of boatmen in queer little covered canoes, clamoring to land passengers and their luggage But unlike other West Indian ports, there is nobody bathing in the lumi- nous waters, and not an urchin offers to dive for coins. The harbor is full of sharks, big, hungry ones of the man. eating variety. You may count doz- ems of them from the deck of the ves- sel, especially at night. So extremely phosphorescent is the water that when the wind blows every ripple makes lit tie sparks of fire in the darkness. A fish swimming through it has the same effect as the wind, leaving a trail of fire behind him like the tail of a comet. Every big, stationary spot of phos- phorescent light you see is caused by a shark laziIy moving his fins as he lies in wait for meal. They are the tigers of the ocean-the terror of the local boatmen. However good swimmer a man may be, he has no chance for his fall board is simply to be torn limb from limb, without raising once to the sur- face.
 Landing at the wharf you are in- stantly beset by the drivers of half a dozen vo1antes and victorias, whose antiauated vehicles comprise the entire wheel transit of Santiago; and they fail to secure a passenger unless it be an unusually verdant "Gringo" be- cause the steep streets are so atro- ciously paved that everybody who does not ride a horse or mule prefers to trust his own two feet. The hills which enclose Santiago on three sides, rising in green terraces from the waters edge to the farther mountains, are beautiful to look upon and afford excellent drainage to the city, but are no end of a nuisance for daily climbing. Start ing at the surf line, the narrow stony streets run sharply up one hundred an fifty feet or more and appear to have never been repaired since the days of Velazquez Tropical rains have washed great gullies down them, in some places several feet deep, and the traffic of nearly four centuries has up- rooted the original cobble-stones and worn dangerous pitfalls and man. traps. The street which our consul lives in Gone of the principal thorough fares) is not passable at all for vehi- cles, nor for horsemen after dark, and to walk through it at any time is al most at the risk of your neck. Most of the narrow streets are lined with ce- ment sidewalks from ten to fifteen inches wide; but others have no side walk at all and in them pedestrians are obliged to take the road, lodging don keys, carts and naked children. The latter are always to be encountered, without a rag of clothing on them, playing in the streams of dirty water that percolate through the broken stones. It is no wonder that this old city is so notoriously unhealthy. Housewives and servants come to their