The Republican journal., 1898-02-17

then, give us some eggs" mo hay
huevos," is the uncompromising answer.
''Some milk then mo hay leche;;'
and so on to the end of the chapter. until
some impatient traveller has fifty named
the country 1.-THE land of no hay" But
after good humor has been established by
proffering sundry reales (shillings) in adj
vance, the mesonero suddenly thaws out
| and remembers that there may be
chicken or two, and few eggs which he
had forgotten, and the COW or goat may
| be MIXED and that some beans, tortillas
and coffee are hidden somewhere about
later serves you for a bed, answers for a
| table-unless, by virtue of another trans
fer of the ''circulating medium the land
| lord can be persuaded to furnish table,
| The chances are that there is no such
thing in the house, and he of course
knows it; but wishing to earn the money
and prove himself obliging, he spends so
much time skurrying about the neighbor-
hood in search of table that the dinner
grows cold before one is found, if at all.
! The wiser way is to content yourself with
/ the original situation to spread one of
/ your own towels. or a newspaper on the
suspciously- bespeckled shelf and keep
sharp lookout for migratory vermin.
Knives, forks and spoons are never obtain
able in posada; therefore you must carry
such conveniences, or make shift like the
rancheros, with your fingers, or a tortilla
rolled up like a scoop, eating scoop and
all.
Before daylight in the morning the
mesonero comes into your room, without
preliminary knocking, (they never dream
of doing thaD bringing small mugs of
chocolate or coffee and little loaves of
sweetened bread-and his bill. The lat
ter is very long one, but the items are
intintesimal. Small as is the sum total,
he has not failed to cheat you some frac-
lions of every cent, according to his valua-
ton of things. The food and grain seem
absurdly cheap to Northerner; but you
are required to pay for good deal more
than has been consumed, and if you have
been SO unreasonable as to insist upon
having a chair, table, plate, or wash
stand, you are charged for its use nearly
its original value; and the candle which
dimly lighted you to bed, costs almost
as much as your supper When you de-
part from the posada in the morning, the
proprietor, who seemed SO inhospitable
your affectionate friend and insists on
shaking hands with you at parting, call
ing out after you with pious fervor Adios
Amigo querido, Naya con Dios; Flare
well, dear friend may God go with you"
Another interesting class in Costa Rica
is the cartmen. They usually travel in
long caravans. or professions, perhaps
with a hundred OF more OK teams in line.
They are about the most irresponsible
and Indifferent beings on earth. When
one chooses to stop, or meets with ali
dcClueuI, an lllS rest wall 1DI ullu. IL II
wastes week. Time was made for
slaves not for the cartmen of Costa
Rica, None will start until all his com
panons are ready, and often the road
5 blocked for miles, waiting the repairs
OF some damage. The oxen are large,
white, patient beasts, and are yoked by
hXrt ,,aal- in,
style - the heavy wooden beams
W hich bow the poor creatures heads to
the dust being dashed on with rawhide
thongs. They wear their yokes contin-
ually, night and day, and like matrimony
in Catholic countries, nothing but death
releases them from their bonds. The
different. They will always lift their
hats to the passing traveller and say with
fervor, May the Virgin guard you on
your Journey" You may send a thou
sand dollars in gold clear across the coun-
try by some tan colored carrier, and not
penny of it will be disturbed. Poor and
ignorant as he appears, what use has he
for filthy lucre? His regular wages,
(about 80 cents per diem), amply supply
every want of which he can conceive
Worthless things they will steal like mag
pies, for the mere pleasure of stealing.
The straps on your trunk, for instance,
are considered legitimate prey and are
bound to be taken off the very first mile;
and if you nail them on in an ungenerous
attempt to thwart the invariable custombre,
sure as the sun shines you will speedily
find that the leather has been cut into fine
bits by the cartmen out of revenge for
having deprived them of their perquisite.
They will steal the handle off a chest,
and pull the nails out of it, if they can;
they will even cut the telegraph wire and
tear up the railroad tracks, merely to Sc
cure the piece of metal, although they
have no particular use for it. Yet the
merchants send coin from city to city,
thousand of dollars every week, and none
is ever lost or stolen.
FANNIE BRIGHAM WARD.
Freedom Academy.