The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-05-09

home. As before mentioned, not only the hills that environ Curacoa are bare and sterile, but the whole island is al-
 most without vegetation, there being no streams, or springs, or fresh water of any kind. The natives depend altogeth- CT for their water-supply upon the in-
 frequent rains, or that brought in bar rels from the Venezuelan coast, fifty miles away, or condensed sea-Water. Sometimes not drop of rain falls for more than a year; and then a glass of stale, luke-warm, imported water costs more than the same quantity of wine or beer. Wherever water can be had for
 irregation, as in few private gardens, vegetation is luxurious, as elsewhere in the tropics. If some modern Moses,
 capable of re-enacting the old miracle
 of striking water from the rock, were to
 come here or some irregation- expert
 with a practical system of artesian
 wells, the fortune that would presently
 pile in upon him would far exceed that
 of the Cornish miner who struck 1t rich' in phosphates.
 Everybody has heard of the liqueur,
 or cordial called "Curacao"-a word
 which Thackery, like most Americans
 to the present day. spelled wrong, with
 an "oa," elimination instead of the 1 proper "ao." It is not made in the isl ] land, as most people suppose, but in Amsterdam and shipped back to the isl-
 and for exportation. All over Cur
 acao, wherever water can be turned on
 now and then, are groves of natural
 orange trees. The fruit is small and httar n,,J omSp {ry vt
 they fall before maturity. They are | picked up before turning yellow, are peeled--quartered and shipped in half
 barrels, to Holland-and to Holland
 only. The oil distilled from these bit ter, unripe skins gives a distinct and
 distinguishing character to the genuine
 Curacao" and probably the two long
 voyages have something to do with it, as it is well known that transportation
 across the ocean changes the flavor Of most wines. Made nowhere else in the
 world but in Amsterdam, Curacao is
 put up in queer Dutch bottles with
 necks as long as the bodies, each hold
 ing less than half a pint and labelled
 diagonally across it's face in three col-
 ors, according to grade All the grades
 are perfectly pure, but not of equal eX- cellence. The peel is digested in sweet
 ened spirits along with a little cinna-
 mon, and often with mace or cloves.
 The spirits used are generally reduced
 to about 56 under proof and contain about three and a half pounds of sugar to a gallon The cordial is often color
 ed by digesting in it, for week or ten days, a little powdered Brazil wood, and then mellowing the color by means of burned sugar The peel or quar- tered oranges, bring on an average two dollars per pound on the plantation; and the final result-as you are well aware if you ever bought bottle of the real "Curacao''-is about equal to it's weight in gold. , Though the dry fields of this island are covered chiefly with cacti and spiny shrubs, it has been proved that all tropical fruits would grow here to perfection, if only water could be ap- plied-pineapples, paw-paws, mangos, guavas sour-sops, custard apples, l .aguacates-the whole citrus family | There Is only one tree that thirves in this stony desert and that is the nispero | or sapadillo, famed throughout the Spanish Main for it's vast green bulk and tasteless yellow fruit They say there is excellent hunting here-enough | to keep the ordinary sportsman pleas antly employed the year round. Every | little salt lagoon between the shoreWard | cliff is fairly crowded with tall herons, | famngoes and other water birds; all | the rocks covered with lizards, | l old plantations are rabbits, turtle doves curlew, troupeals and paroquits, wild pigs and some larger game fre- quent the highlands and interior for ests, and the shade of every wide- spreading mispero tree is lighted up by golden candelarias and, jewelled hum ming birds darting among the leaves. Nowhere Is there healthier place for the invalids' sojourn, especially if he be of consumptive tendencies, nor 8 pleas- anter in wbich to dream the time away. Constantly blowing winds temper the remarkable dryness of the atmo sphere, and ther is plenty of Kennebec | Ice in store to make palatable the fil- tered cistern water of which every household has usually a sufficient sup ply. All around the extensive bay, which occupies the crate of long-ex- tinct volcano, are commodious country residences where hospitality to the stranger is unbounded. Occasionally an opera troupe, 0 ra vagrant circus, strays through the tropics and fingers T week or two In Curacao. When these fail there is always the music of the band in the moon-lighted plaza, mild festivities at the governors residence, weddings and funerals, md above all for Advertisement. the arrival and departure of steamers bringing news from all the world. There are clubs, too, by the 1ozen-though mostly mems clubs; the irst society of Curacao has resolved it. self into an amateur dramatic company, which aspires even to the plays of The Roman Catholic re- igion prevails throughout the island, except perhaps two thousand Protest lnts and half as many Jews. The lat CT race controls the retail trade, while he wholesale is mainly in the hands of he Dutch. Curacao is a free port, you znow, and business Is pretty brisk. One vast bookstore, the "Libreria is said to supply the whole of Venezuela and the north oast of South America with books In he Spanish language. A deal of bust
 I