The Republican journal., 1899-08-24
Letter From the Mines of Zarunia

| 1OoI cdulub lIOu I'LL CtuS, ana
sleeping in the same room. Our baggage
has not come in yet, so we have no dishes,
no extra clothing, not even pair ofshoes,
and the only thing we have to cook on is
an old patched up oil stove, which is great
for smoke, but not much for heat, with
oil seventy cents gallon and very scarce
at that. The stove we ordered failed to
get here; but we shall soon have one.
Fortunately for us our mattress and
springs came in ahead of US, so we have
a good bed; and another great blessing is
that we are both perfectly well, for which
we feel very thankful.
j. is working now on our tent house, SO
that we shall soon have more ROOM
When our tents came, we found they
were smaller than we expected they would
be, being only large enough for one room;
but the wide covered veranda at the side
and end takes the place of two rooms, and
really all one needs here is sleeping
room, as living out of doors is the most
desirable thing in this climate. Of course
we have our cook room besides, in another
building.
And now you will want to hear about
our trip up the mountains. 1t is rather
hard to describe so that it will be clearly
understood, but will do what | can.
DR.. and Mrs. X, Mr.. and Mrs R., and
j. and | started from Santa Rosa on mule
| q
our first day was quite easy, being mostly
level riding, although there was plenty of
mud to wallow through.
We forded the Santa Rosa river twenty
seven times that day, reaching Yarba Il
know nothing about the spelling of these
names, but spell them as they sound when
spoken at 6 30 p. M, and there we halted
for the night. Yarba is only settlement
composed of a few native huts; and we
all slept in one of them in one room-I on
the table, j. in hammock, and the others
on cots which they brought with them.
We started the next morning at seven,
ossed the river ten more times, and then
started to climb.
have no words with which to describe
this part of the journey, only it is some
thing grand? | never enjoyed anything
more in my life,
The trail is deep cut, five or six feet
deep and as many wide most of the way,
and the turns in places are very short,
not more than twice the length of the
mule and when turned and looked down
to the riders who were at the other end of
the mule train, they looked to be hun
dreds of feet below.
One of these places is known as the
"Devil' Ladder" Coming up this place
we passed tiny cave IN which is little
cross, and every one who passes is sup
posed to place lighted candle in it, so
there are several burning there all the
time.
At noon on Saturday, we reached a
cattle shed called Sambo Tambo, where
we rested for half an hour and ate lunch
of rather poor bread and excellent water
For the rest of that day we were going
up and down, up and down, with the
mud almost to the mules bodies-a mud
in the spring when the frost is coming
out.
Going down the steep places it is so slip
perry that the mules brace their feet and
slide. They always stop in mud puddle,
so you can imagine what a shower of mud
we get. In one place for quite a distance
my mule braced his fore feet and sat down
behind, and slid. 1t is perfectly wonder
full how secure one feels in the saddle,
even in such places as are found in climb
ing the Andes mountains. There is no
need of being tied on, as We thought there
might be. | never rolled or lurched once,
and great deal of the time only held on
with one hand. But then | had the best
mule in the train. The DR.. had spirited
down several times, but you know it would
take quite disturb ance to throw him from
his saddle. All day Saturday it rained;
all the afternoon it just poured, and when
hard looking crowd. had on denim
riding skirt, and for half its length You
could not tell what it was made of, it was
so soaked with mud and water. The only
dry spots on me we're my feet Il had on
rubber boots) and around my waist had
dry pair of stockings, aud an extra shirt
waist in my grip, SO L dried myself that
much, and the sun the next morning soon
dried my skirt.
Ayapamba is quite a village, bu5 oh, the
ignorance and uncleanness of the natives
is shocking. The women go about with
very little clothing on and with bare feet,
bnt they consider US "Americanos" very
immodest because we ride our mules
astride.
Each night of our ride the natives got
us supper of boiled eggs, rice, bread
and coffee OF course there were cock
reaches in the rice and bread, but one
doesn't mind such trifles when he is
| hungry and the coffee is ALWAYS excel