Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-04-14
IN LAZY NICARAGUA.
Son of Admiral Walker Complies an In
terestinq Book.

cara qua as q surveyor OIL lIlc pIOpoocC
canal route.
Nicaragua, he tells us, is country OF
beautiful scenery and delicious climate
Gin places): everything necessary to
the material needs of man is ready for
him, and he can get anything else ne
desires by a little cultivation. The At
lantic slope is much more densely tim
bered than the Pacific side, owing to
the constant rains that fall there-as
much as 800 inches per annum in some
ocalities-whereas the Pacific gives
nearly six months of sunshine uninter-
rupted and 1t is in that side that most
of the civilized folk live.
The land has been called Mahomet's
Paradise; Mahomet would be hard to
please If it did not content him; even
the hours are not absent. Four hun
dred thousand people dream their lives
away here, half arousing themselves
only when a revolution roars past their
palm Swallowed huts; clothing is mere
ly concession to the claims of decen-
cy. and Nicaraguans are not nation OF
prudes. AS we journey thru the coun-
try we see everywhere little clearnigs
and cottages, where groups of half
nude sun Drowned women stand knee
deep in water, washing clothes, gossip
ing and lazily putting wreaths of blue
smoke from puros of domestic make
Altho rather below our standard OF
height these people are extremely we'll
formed, particularly the women, whose
graceful figures. erect carriage, clear
dark compilations and liquid black eyes
make them far from unattractive. Both
men and women are indolent by nature
but show great physical endurance up
on occasion, walking surprising dis
tances barefooted or shod with sandals
of primitive design.
1.-The women all thru the country
seem more Industrious than the men
cutting wood. cooking or standing ir
the river for hours al time with
strips of cloth twisted around their
loins washing clothes, while their lords
lie about in the shade or ride to visit
their neighbors. Sobriety is an unap-
preciated virtue among them, and their
mroals are not of the best, but they are
a simple, childlike race, who perhaps
should not be blamed for lacking quail
ties which they have never been laugh.
to value. Until the rainy season began
Cat La For) there were dances every
night at the house of an old woman
who. for a tritling consideration, dis
penses aguardiente of astonishing
strength A little matched hut, with
its walls Of poles thru which the feeble
light of a single dip hickered uncertain
ly: the forest In the background, black
and grim against flood of moonlight.
the crowd of merry makers, black eyed
country girls and Whitehead mozos
(peasantsl, their cigaret tips glowing
like fireflies as they danced strange ma
tive dances to the half-barbaric music
of miranda and guitar all combined to
produce a scene of strange interest and
beauty. Spurs jingled on naked feet,
machetes swung and clashed, and as
the fumes of aguardiente perfumed the
cool night air the dancers pace in
creased. In their last stages these af-
fairs were not always pleasant specta .
cles. but we usually left early, mindful
OF the morrow
But it is not all black eyed halfnude
houris in Nicaragua. There are also
insects and other animals of uneasy
character. During the first few
days at lola our camp was infested
with rats, but an unexpected ally APP
peared upon the scene and dispersed
them effectually. Strollng from the
mess tent one evening after supper we
came upon huge snake in the very
act of swallowing one of our tor
mentors. Restraining a natural impulse
to seize a machete and decapitate our
guest, we watched him dis
pose of his rat and glide off into the
jungle. Nearly every night after that
he visited our camp, winding silently
around beneath our cots, the OCCASION
al rattle of box or tin can alone
revealing his presence. The rats dis
with magical rapidity, and
we soon came to look upon our noe
turnal visitor as a friend.
I'VE killed a fine specimen Of the
dreaded coral snake between the office
tent and the kitchen: he was of un-
usual size. feet inches long. The
brush and rotting logs which lay about
our clearing, too wet to burn, furnished
a refuge for quantities of scorpions,
whose presence was constant dis
to us. The scorpion of the
forest is venomous beast, whose sting
Is exceedingly painful and frequently
attended by nausea. local paralysis and
an annoying swelling of the tongue.
After being twice stung and subse-
quently shaking monster from my
shoe one morning, I conceived dislike
for the species, which made welcome
the appearance of an army of canivor-
Gus foraging ants, who waged bitter
war against the scorpions with ulti-
mate success. They drove them from
their hiding places, swarmed all over
them, attacking them between the
joints of their armor, and despite des-
perate and prolonged resistance, event.
ually tore them limb from limb Nor
were scorpions their only victims; bee
ties, spiders, centipedes, and even BIRDS
habits are perhaps due to the
fact that they soon depopulate their i'm
mediate neighborhood."
But one occasionally enjoys the luxu-
ry of town life, as at Castillo. The
town is not embarrassing. There is an
old Spanish fort upon a steep hill close
to the river, and along the bank runs
the single street Of the town. All the
houses drain into it and the result is
Shiny, offensive thoroughfare encum-
bered with pigs, chickens and naked
children. The best houses are wretched
of wood and adobe while the
others are built of cane and can be seen
tYli lyn Lot RI he lott