La croÌnica. (San Francisco, Calif.) 1914-1917, 1915-09-25

oSdoO j. OA1s III LII L a. SiORS~
the winter months are rainy while
the summer months are dry. The
summer being the months from
January to May.
In the greater part of the coun-
try of curse there is little frost
in some parts the blight of frost
is never felt, while in the higher
heights of the mountainous re-
gions, snow is not infrequent in
the winter season. However, the
hottest months of the year are
those of April, May and August.
The wealth of the country con-
sists in its rich soil, which, accord
ing to its altitude, yields the pro
ducts of every zone. The shores
are lined with mangoes, the rivers
with bamboos, beyond which rise
the forests, where the mahogany,
the cocoa-nut, cohune and other
palms tower above the wild bana-
mas, ferns and gingers that scan
tily cover the bare soil below,
whilst the exhuberance of orchids
and trailing parasites confuses the
identity of the trees.
In the uplands are forests of
huge pines and spruces and oaks,
agaves appear on the hillside and
thick grass covers the ground.
These uplands provide splendid
range for cattle during the entire
year, of which there is almost a
sufficient number grown to prov
ide for the domestic consumption.
There are many mineral springs
throughout the table lands pos
sessing healing qualities.
The scenery of the mountain
Gus regions is beyond the des-
criptive powers of any but the
most imaginative of writers. To
climb into the high mountains one
gets a view of great valleys which
nature has spread out, under the
clearest of skies, with a profusion
of wild flowers unknown to dwell
lers of temperate regions, small
streams traversing the plains sill
emily passing to the precipitous
descents where they make mad
rushes for the leap into the sea.
The trees filled with birds more
beautiful of plumage than a be
found in the northern stores of the
bird fancier, singing songs UNI
known to the ears of the Northern
tourist. Ascend the streams TO
the mountain regions and there
waters leap and dash in their mad
fury, hurrying from their great
heights in the mountain creSts on
ward, ever onward, to the sea.
Great falls, immense in height,
drag the waters down with such
terrific roar that one cannot hear
his own voice. The streams rush
on between high stony walls only
a few yards apart, and so great is
the growth of the trees along the
mountain sides that the boughs
above the streams frequently in
termingle so that the sunlight is
shut out of these canyons all day
long.
In some remote place, a high
plane in the forests, there will
greet one a view of virgin forest
which is amazing. Great trees
standing in their beauty, not one
of whose fellows has ever known
the ruthless touch of the woods
mans axe, reach up toward the
skies to an enormous height be-
fore putting forth a single limb.
There also one meets with great
groves of the most beautiful
palms, which in their stately gran
deur compel one to imagine that
he is in some enchanted land.
The landscape most gorgeous,
the foliage of the trees and plants
most beautiful, the cloud-color-
ings the most fantastic, the eli
mate the most invigorating, the
forests the most alluring, the
people the most obliging, with the
great Ocean washing both shores E;
Guatemala is a place to be desir-
ed by the tourist as the ideal
spot, where to find rest amid the
beauties of the land and the incest
climate of all!
rrrnaD1H M nrrE