The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-09-27

Spanish colonies. Report has 1t haunt ed by lively company of ghosts, Of both sexes and all nationalities, and in-
 numerable romantic traditions are rife
 concerning it. Those who have read
 the Rev. Charles Kingsley's incompar-
 able novel entitled Westward Ho,"
 (and who has not?) will be interested to learn that this is the very case in
 which the Rose of Devon dwelt with her Spanish lover, and here she was found by Frank and Ayrna's Leigh. The author states that ''the castle stood un- der the shadow of a gloomy looking
 fortress" The latter, which looks like giantic mud wasp's nest c1ipging to I the dark red rocks-is now in ruins, and the four-miIe long tunnel which for
 mally connected the two by an under
 ground passage has mostly caved in.
 Past this fortress the ancient abode
 of love and tragedy, Spanish knights and captive maidens, runs three routes
 to the capital-an ancient wagon road.
 a still more ancient mule-trail and modern railway. It is only six or seven
 miles to Caracas from the port as the crow flies, but thirty or more by the
 only available paths over and around La Silla (the Saddle)-the glorious
 mountain that intervenes. the highest
 in the world that rises abruptly from the sea. When the Spaniards took pos
 session of this country, not quite four
 centuries ago; they found a wel-worn foot path over this mountain, or the
 rich valley on it's southern side, now oc-
 cupied by the city of Caracas. The
 conquerors named this trail, which In- dians had trOd for centuries before Columbus discovery, Dos Aquados" It is still much used only by the Indians
 of to-day, and by adventurous travel
 CTS who prefer sublime scenery to
 greater ease of railway transportation.
 Later on in the history of the country, when the colonies were yet young,
 camino Real (royal roa6 was built from the sea to the capital, across La
 Silla.. It still exists, but is much less
 used than the mule trail. Its abandon ed gradients are interesting relics of old
 time methods, which suggest that the American aborigines had task-masters
 as severe as those who weighed the straw and tailed the brick for the op-
 pressed Hebrews. Every foot of the en- tire roadway was beautifully paved l first laid out in parallel lines. three feet apart between which were planted
 lines of cobble stones set on edges. Cross lines of stone were then set up at
 intervals of three feet, so that mile af- i ter mile shows regular three foot
 squares, filled with diagonal lines of smaller cobble stones. also set on edge.
 The remarkable railway. which starts
 only two feet above high tide level and
 in less than fifteen miles reaches an al- titude of SIPS feet, is really one of the
 wonders of the world in the line of en- gineering. Its, tracks cling to the per pendicular surface of the mountain l like the tiny tendrils of vine on stone wall and the trains crawl along
 the edge of It's precipices. or twist
 themselves into the shape of a horse shoe magnet, so that the engineer on his locomotive can look directly across
 bottomless chasm into the windows of the rear car. The views from this train as it pants and puffs on it's way to
 Caracas are the most beautiful com
 bination of sea. plain and mountain
 eyes ever beheld, Higher and higher you go.
 FANNIE B. WARD.