Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-04-02

as it is the very sea seems to steam. AT
my right there is vast extent of ocean,
which the sun has turned into molten silver
Ter billion diamonds are dancing up and
down upor the wavelets, and, although /
am under cover. the light of the sun as re-
f1ected from the water dazzles my eyes as
much as the direct rays of a July sun at
home. On the opposite side Of the vessel,
in the shadow, the water is of an indigo
blue. and as l stand up and look about HE
i see nothing but a vast expanse of what,
In the hot, haZy air, seems to be a steam
ing sea. To the westward stretches the
Pacific, a distance of about 10000 miles, be-
fore it reaches the lower part of Asia. and
To the east is the equatorial region of South
America. Including snow-capped Andes and
the mighty Amazon, my present field of
travel 1t is now three days stree 1 left
Panama for Guayaquil, the port of Ecuador,
and until this morning We have been sail
ing 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.
SOmethiI e About Colombia.
1 am astouEded at the extent of these
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
New Orleans and wider in some parts than
a Decline from New York to Chicago. 1t
contains more than J0.UO square miles. 1t
Is one-siXth the size of the United States
without Alaska. and it would make over
niEe states tie size of New York or ten as
big rs Ohio or Kentucky. The isthmus or
department of Panama has an area almost
four times as big that of Massachusetts,
and the Colombian state of Cauca is almost
as large as Texas. l have met a number
of Americans and others who have recent
1y Travelled in many parts of Colombia.
They tell me the country is an undeveH
OEet empire and that q great part of it is
as yet unexplored There are some Amer
leans engaged in business of one kind
or another in Colombia. Some are III
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 noun tains
a little back cf the Pacific. 1t is several
hUrdred 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 d big for
tTne made out of his coffee plantations. l
have heard IL said that his income was
100000 year from them; and another had
a contract for a 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 Buenaventura. / am told that
En- glish capitalists have now the concession
and that they will complete the road 1t is
ROW about twenty miles long, and the in
tertion is TO build it on to the capital of
the province, the city of Call. which is
siNty-four miles from BUenaventura. In
addition 10 this road, there are half doz-
en- other little railroads in the country
comprising altogether about 400 miles of
track. more than oEe-foGrth Of which has
beer built by Americans. The chief bank
or TtaEg.a
American. The head of the firm came to
Panama with p cents thirty years ago.
He is now worth several million dollars and
lives in Paris.
River of Vinegar.
The chief means of getting about through
Colombia is on the rivers and on the mule
and donkey paths which cross the noun
tains everywhere. There is no country
which has greater number more curl
Gus streams. What would you think of a
river of vinegar? Colombia has one. 1t is
the upper part OF the Cauca river The
Cauca rises in the southern part of the
country near Ecuador and flows $50 miles
north and empties into the Magdalena.
During the first part Of its course ii has
waters which contain IL parts of sulphuric
acid and parts of hydrochloric acid in
every thousand. II is so sour within some
miles of its source that no fish can live In
It, and il goes by the name of the Rio Vim
iagre. which means the Vinegar river. The
hdRudlcnd. the cn1el river OF Colon Ola,
corresponds with our Mississippi. 1t is
more than 900 miles long. 1t Is as wide.
but not so deep, as the Mississippi but it
cuts the country right in two. Steamers of
light draft sail weekly from BarranQuila
on the Caribbean sea. up the Magdaiena
to Hondo. where you take mules and climb
up to the great plain of Bogota, on which
Bogota. the Colombian capital, is situated.
Then there are branches of the Amazon
and of other big rivers in Colombia. so that
the country is almost as well watered as
China Ten Of the little steamers on the
Colombia were made at Pittsburg aud
brought from New York in pieces and here
put together.
Just a word or so about Bogo.a It is a
town of 100000 inhabitants, and il has
electric lights and a street railroad which
were put in by Americans. II has a uni
versity ninety-five years CID a national
,fheater. library of 10000 volumes an
astronomical observatory and poor house
The town is on plain about a half mile
higher up in the air than Denver, and its
climate Is. I am told, much the same
This is the headquarters of the army and
the scene of a revolution now and then
Land Of Fat Conversations.
1t Is at Bogota that the president lives,
and here the congress reets. 1t Is here
that the fat concessions are given out.
Colombia h q land Of concessions. have