The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-06-28
THROUGH COSTA
RICO ON MULE BACK
The Journey of a Former North CaroIinian- -Nicaraguan8
Sympathize With Spain.

Pacific mail steamship City OF Sydney.
which has since gone to Manila for
| Uncle Sam, we followed the lovely noun
tainous coast of Colombia until, two
DAYS later, we reached untarehaS-thc
only Pacific seaport OF costa hlca.
Puntarenas is a pretty little town III
n grove of cocoanut trees. The streets
| are wastes of deep sand, bordered with
orange trees loaded with yellow fruit.
, The houses are white and most Of them
are only one story high. The one hotel
| of the place is by no means Il palace, the
only accommodation | could obtain be
inc a bedstead with no mattress IN Il
room whose walls reached only half way
ND to the ceiling-no. there was no ceii-
ing: above me was the tiled roof through
whose cracks l watched the stars until
| fell asleep. At 4 o'clock l was awaken
ed by the growing Of roosters-apparent-
ly hundreds of them. Central America
svarms with the most energetic ROSTERS
in the world. and cock fighting is a ma
tional sport ever more popular than bun
fighting. revolutions and other bloody
paStimeS.
At II o'clock | left Puntarenas III 4
snecial train. as the guest of Mr.. Perez
zeledon. n Costa Rican official, who WAS
formerly Minister in Washington. Inc
scenery along the way was exceedingly
tropical and picturesque. the native nuts
| of bamboo. matched with palm leaves,
being especially interesting. Most OF the
gardens. instead of being surrounded
| with fences. were bOrdercd with huge
cacti-manv of them fifteen feet high.
At Esparta we were most hospitality
| entertained for several hours by Mr..
Matamoros. the superintendent of the
| railway. who has the reputation of beng
! stainch friend of the United States.
Indeed. | found the Costa Ricans gem
orally we'll disposed towards us. though
everywhere else in Central America pun
lie OpiniOn seems to be at present bitterly
Spanish-the Monroe doctrine beng TO
these people very much like Il slice of PIE
to !; small boy, something to be enjoyed,
but hardly worth being grateful for.
Costa Rica is the best governed. the
most progressive and the wost prosper
Gus of the Central American republics.
At length the mules We're brought be
fore the door. MI. Zeledon's black, mine
chestnut. and the guides gray. Then
followed the hustle of strnpplng on sad
dIebagS. tightening spurs. looking for
forgotten pieces Of baggage. shaking Of
hands-and away we went. the chestnut
mule appearing to its inexperienced rider
terribly volcanic in its movements. Pass
ing through the struggling village we
th1obSh q ioi'''S ,C'1'
try. exceedingly fertile and much of it
cultivated. Large fruit trees bordered
the roads in many places-mangoeS with
dense foliage, orange trees beautiful with
their dark green leaves and golden balls,
and many other trees and bushes bear
ing fruits luscious in appearance. but
insipid in taste. Strange to say, the
natives care little for their oranges which
are really excellent. They prefer tho
,,.prno which bayo q ctronv foctn nf !
turpentine and are so juicy that the only
place where they can be eaten with com
fort is in Il bath tub.
In this more elevated part of the
country the cactus is rarely seen, its
place as a garden borderer being taken
by Il species of the pineapple plant known
as the pinnela.
After riding about ten miles we sud
denly entered the path of Il rain storm
from the mountains which caused us
with considerable enthusiasm to seek
refuge in IA native hut. The house con
sisted of one room and Il shed, for both
o. which Mother Earth supplied the
floor. Without d~ismounting we hurried
into the shed, causing a great commotlon
among the chickens and pigs which fled
in terror into the inner room.
In one corner of the Shed-rOOm stood
a modest bedsteai, in another an OK cart
whose spokeless wheels each consisted
OF Il single circular slab of wood. A
rough bench completed the furniture of
the apartment. From the. door Of the adj
joining room two extremely lightly
clad children peeped at us. while their
barefOOtcd mother and sisters hustled
about preparing Il modest dinner of san
cocho "a sort Of thick vegetable soup
and fried bananas.
When ut length the rain ceased we
hurried on until we reached San Mateo
where We stopped for the night at the
village inn. The inns in Central America
are not. as | have already minated. as
good as they might be, and that night at
San Mateo | think | shall never forget.
In the first place the heat was almost
sitting and. as several guests were
crOWded into one room. sleep was I'M
possible. although we were exhausted by
our rough ride. Accordingly at > O'Clock
we were ready for our coffee and shortly
afterwards we We're again on the road,
moving cautiously through Egyptian
darkness and trusting blindly to the
sagacity of the mules. We were among
the mountains. and our journey soon be
came a scramble up rocky hills and down
into deep ravineS through which noun
tain torrents rushed and roared in Il
manner doubly terrifying owing to their
being hidden in the darkness. At one
place on approaching u narrow bridge
| heard the rumble of an OK cart and
attempted to force my mule to the right
to avoid a possible collision. but in spite
of Il liberal application of the left spur.
the animal took a stand as firm as that
of Fitz James in his defiance Of Roder-
lex Dhu. Becoming convinced that there
might be some reason in his Obstinacy.
J gazed down into the darkness until
my eyes became somewhat accustomed
to it. Then my hair showed an inclin,-
ton to rise on end. for | found that the
mules feet were within twelve inches
OF a precipice at the bottom of which q
mountain stream was churning itself 70
foam on the rocks. From that homer
| nave regarded the much maligned mule
as a embodiment Of sdsacity and various