The Bryan eagle. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1880-1913, 1911-08-10

kinds Of fruits, etc. The climate is
certainly delightful; the average tenn
perature is about so; always a re-
freshing breeze blowing; at night one
at times uses a light covering.
AS ] sit here Aeon hill looms away
up skyward. / am told one can see
both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans
from its summit. One thing seems
very queer to me-the sun rises in
the Pacific and sets in the Atlantic.
All Central America is volcanic in.
origin, as are most OF the West Indies.
AS result, only about one-sixth of
the surface is level. Many mountain
peaks tower up in its center Yester-
day quite an interesting little party of
us made visit to old Porto Bello. II
was here that Morgan, the noted
pirate, after capturing the little post
at the mouth of Chagres river, made
desperate and successful charge
against the fort and after capturing
it took the nuns from the old convent,
placed them in front of his band OF
pirates and charged old Panama After
capturing the place he burned every
house In the town. Our party ram
bled all over the old fort and ! counted
some fifteen or twenty old rusty can
mons, some still in position, where
they have been the silent watchdogs
of old Porto Bello for the past three
hundred years. The cathedral, so an
old Indian told me, Is over three hun
dred and fifty years old. It certainly
! looks it, for trees ten feet high are
growing from its roof. After many
hours of rambling through the quaint
old place we noticed that the Indians
get their drinking water up the noun
tain, so all being thirsty We started
out for the watering place. We climbed
and climbed, up through the dense
| tropical underground, over rocks and
boulders. At every step someone would
find something more beautiful than the
last to behold and wonder at. Here
we saw great orchids growing from
four to ten feet high out of some Curl
Gus tree, many bright and odd colored
flowers, strange, beautiful birds, tiny
I trailing delicate vines, great ferns OF
many species, butterflies with as many
colors as Joseph's coat. Indeed, it
seemed we were in fairyland. At last
we found an open spot big enough to
spread our dinner on, and oh, we did
eat! We could see the old ocean away
in the distance, and the bright blue
of the sky above us, the tiny rivulet
trickling beside us, the birds and mon
keys welcoming us. II was a picture
hard TO forget We gathered a few
guayas and chocolate beans to bring
home with us, but large fruit, like
the papayas or bread fruit and man.
goes, were too bulky TO carry. All
tired out and as dirty as pigs, we all
bid a reluctant goodbye to the "Foun-
tain of Youth" as Miss Martha Field
ing, one of the ladies', named our little
spring in the mountains of Panama.
Interest in this engineering marvel
is focusing attention on Central Amer
lea, and Panama, so soon TO be divided
by the isthmian canal, is becoming
mecca for American tourist travel,
This is as it should be. Too long have
these Central American republics re-
manned unknown lands American
travellers have visited every corner of
Europe and have even penetrated Aus
tralia and New Zealand; but few of
them have seen these interesting lands
upon the western border Of the Carib-
bean sea. They have learned through
fiction perhaps something of the ro-
nance of the Spanish main, or read
of the conquistadores and the buc-
cancers, of fernando Cortez and Sir
Henry Morgan, but 1t has never oc-
Cured to them that these lands, full
of exciting interest, still exist, They
are certainly interesting from every
point of view. A trip can be taken.
including many interesting points, at
a cost less than one from Bryan to
Colorado and in as short time. New
Orleans lies six hundred miles nearer
Panama than any other great seaport,
and the trip can be made in six days.
Now we can all clasp the hands of our
reformed South American neighbors,
bidding them a hearty welcome TO
come over and hear our dear old Eagle
give a generous United States scream
or our A. G. NJ cadets their famous
college yell.