The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1902-12-15

I waits ana matched roofs Shaded by CO.
| coa-palms-a nearer approach discIOses
| filth and squaIOr, in the midst Of which
| black pigs and yariou5ly colOred babies
roll around together. The moagrel ne
| gr0es of this section are mixed with
Indian, Latin and Anglo-Saxon blood,
50 that blue eyes, freckled skins and
even red wool are not uncommon
among them. They lead a most happy
! Eo-lucky existence. subsisting upon the
fruits that grow wild in wonderful pro-
| fusion and such accommodating fish as
will nibble at bit of bacon on a hook
suspended from the branch Of a tree,
at whose other end lies q sleepy dar
key, fat on his face in the sun.
! The city of Honda, nearly eight hun
dred miles above the mouth of the
J Magdalena and the present terminus
of hte steamboat routes, is by no means
the head" of that rivers navigable
! waters. The growing town which has
acquired consequence only on account
of the river trade, is beautifully situat-
ed at he junction of two great streams,
! for here the GauIe comes rushing down
| to join the Magdalena. and on every
side rise rugged mountains. Otherwise
there is nothing about Honda to distin-
guish it from thousand other towns
| of Spanish-America. 1t has the usual
plaza and tall-tOwered church and rows
of white washed houses rooted with red
| tiles and suburban cottages matched
with straw, all shaded by cocoa trees
and groups of graceful palms. There
are few very old buildings of Spanish
| origin, whose enormously thick walls
We're built with especial view to with
| standing the earthquakes that are fire.
| quent in this locality; but in spite of
their solidity, most Of the old houses
were long ago shaken into ruins. To
my mind the most interesting thing
about the place is the remains of an
antique bridge, which the conquerors
built in the year 1901. Its quaint arches
are yet entire and the high stone walls
on either side show nitches, now dis
mantled, where saints and crucifxes
used to stand, command the worship of
all Way-farers. Those stern crusaders
| built for all time; and in the midst of
their cruelty and greed for gold, they
never forgot the outward tokens of re-
! ligion.
The Magdalena river which is to Co
lombia what the Nile is to Egypt, is
navigable for small vessels many miles
above Honda. 1t runs through nearly
all the rich state of Tolima, which, be-
| ing level with the stream, and regular
| ly OVerfiOWer with it's rising tide after
the rainy season, is the best agricul-
tural portion of the Republic. Until
within the last few years, Tolima sup
piled the greater portion Of Colombia's
export agricultural trade Lately, how
ever, the two eastern states have been
more extensively cultivated; and these
besides being so conveniently situated
for foreign trade, possess remarkable
fertility of soil and the added advan-
tage of being intersected by several
considerable streams. So for the last
decade they have been yielding at least
tWo-thirds of Colombias entire export
produce. The Cauca river which runs
through this region, is itself navigable
for light draught steamers to Cali,
place about IS miles from the Pacific
seaport, Buenventura. In our favored
land one can hardly realize what an
inestimable boon a navigable river is in
a roadless country. The Cauca valley
is best described as level upland
being as cries of uncultivated mead
oWs, lying nearly six thousand feet
above the sea, overgrown with tall rank
grasses. 1t is the ideal grazing land of
the world and besides might easily be
made to produce cotton, coffee, sugar
cane, tobacco, as we'll as corn, potatoes
and other produces of the temperate
zone. It's average temperature is only
Il degrees Fair. and its present popu-
lation is below 100000. Another mag
nificent river is the Atrato whose val
ley is much like that of the upper Mag
dalena.
Bogata de Santa Fe, the capital of
Colombia. is only seventy miles from
Honda but the journey thereto, lead
ing over the main cordillera of the An
des, is extremely tedious and can only
be made on mule-back. From time to
time during the last quarter-century
various North American companies
have attempted the construction of
railroad between these points, Some
forty-fve miles of track have actually
been laid; but those in charge of the
work have been compelled, again and
again, to abandon it, on account of
revolutions and the impossibility of Sc
curing laborers. The natives will not
work, and so far, no amount of pay of
fered has been able to secure immigra-
ton. Notwithstanding these idsadvan-
tages, the enterprise has not been
abaned. Having received substantial
encouragement from the Colombian
government in the way Of IMMIGRANTS
and an extended concession" it will
doubtless be finished sometime. Mean
while the government, on its own ac-
count, has projected a railway from
Hogata to Honda; and has also given
liberal concession for the construction
of another line leading from the Cauca
valley, where the richest gold mines in
all the world are supposed to exist
the same that produced those hundreds
of millions which the Viceroys sent to
Spain.
FANNIE B. WARD.
AN ABBREVIATED SNOWSTORM. |
Mechanical devices are now made