Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1901-04-20
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.o,olal correspond'n q, cD,aDa,, Mex.
sp pslsnque, state OF ch, s,ps = few
fSie %arch 10th, 1SOi-After q lew
leo, "a IN our camp the other siue
hours ,,0 ,.,' and a breakfast the best
Of on "nntry afforded. beans ana 'or,
tIllas We w. "a the town. 1t Is one OF
hour picturesque little villages 50 o.
ten sssn wider than others, the river
s0lis~" large. but the mountains are
no' in their coat OF evergreen .ss cen
.'ass ferns and vines where mere are
ue's' ,.s IN the valley the ground IS
~ red with thick green grass. chi
cow ,,o county seat, and has nearly
l0H t = inhabitants, but has no
uo.tof1ce. We were forced therefore to
Sslng our letters to the next 'owh'
v''I distance, four hours walk
,s' ,oods we're good as compared with
,h nS we had just passed, we uun. comm
usd up valley, OF Wlue ean'o n'
u uNsse5 low divide ana went GOWN an,
o, ~ couple Of leagues. we were al
o .ne, al the height OF the west
s S'",n,ein. which lowered up ten thou-
nOu" tost and on the sides of whlch
sanN some threatening clouds. laJa-
ies' e,os startled at our visit. Whlte
lon w." on foot And almost the whole
,ns en turned out to see US. while we
s,t.ned al the federal building TO post
e,,r mail We found the postmaster
yerv intelligent Mexican, ana obtained
,ron him much useful Information
about me roads and the country. An
other mountain TO ascend, another M
teen hundred or two thousand ieet 70
20 up. stared us In the race out we
started at once. for Cltaa was our des,
tInatIon. The climb was not so pad
as the descent, for on this side we
met with much mud and many DOGGY
places in The road. Ii was slip and slide
Tor the mule. and slip and slide for the
men. until when at dusk we reached
the river we were mud 10 our Knees
10 our surprise there was no bridge
across the stream. 1t was nearly up
TO our waists. but We had to wade,
there was no alternative. We found at
this village that only the school mas
ter and his housekeeper could speak
Spanish. The master was sick In bed
and the old woman was in a very bad
mood. There Is no feed for
your mule There is no tortillas IN
town" We had only one plate OF
beans. These were some Of the sharp
answers given 10 our inquiries We
provided little feed and the old lady
relented sufficiently to let us have the
beans and six tortilas. AS to our
sleeping quarters, there was the jail,
next door, or the porch We chose lhe
latter, and passed a miserable night
because Of the feas and other insects
At break OF day we were off again, and
the cool morning air did more than our
nights sleep to refresh US,
ENTER TROPICAL JUNGLE.
We have spoken much OF the beauties
OF the country The mountain sides
covered with all kinds Of green trees
and plants the flowers and the ferns,
but today, at four hours walk after we
left Citala we entered our first tropical
jungle. The trees were immense and
entirely covered the roadway. The
ferns were all sizes from the little leaf
next TO the ground to the large tree
fern twenty feet high. The flowers
were plentiful and rare, many Of them
giving a sweet odor, but the forest was
made jungle by the almost endless
growth Of vines From every tree, from
even the tallest hung vines that
horse could hardly break. Our road
was cut through, and In places paved.
so we had no trouble, at least none
until after we left Tumbala. which we
reached at noon. This town Is on the
Top OF the mountain. II contains an
old church, in ruins, and a few Indian
nuts, together with three Mexican
houses but little better than huts. On
lhe rlght piece from the village the
mountain overlooks deep valley. and
AUS abruptly nearly two thousand feet,
Ihls valley was hidden by a thick fov
as We passed and We appeared 10 look
INTO space below We had come 70 the
END OF the world But not quite 60 for
after leaving Tumbala we took an old
ROAD long since abandoned and in
y,aseS oVefgfown, and often DISTRACTED
W tsleh ioss' that was too earthly. too
ma. 70 De IN any other than this world.
a in,s c u me road travelled by Stevens
st. tatherwood fifty years ago, but al
t snal time II was the main thorough
i ie 70 Guatemala. But we were anx-
,vus 70 20 by the shortest cut and the
o ou ROAD was day longer.
s sn we have occasion to
again from Tumbala 10
IaIenque we could go around and atm
no one regrets the road we took The