Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-12-28
Sights on Land and River ON the Way to IL,

ais themselves either preserve 81
lence or deaf IN glittering general
tiles, as from one who sees through a
glass darkly or through universal
shower bath obscurely. The remedy
for this discomfort is to visit the
Falls in the cold, dry season. There
were only a few hours in one day of
cloudy. threatening weather in my
weeks visit in July. The wettest sf
the wet season is usually from De
cenbcr to April.
on for Asuncfon.
THE visitor to the Falls should. IL
time permits, take advantage OF
the opportunity to VISIT Paraguay.
Asuncion was Unexpectedly interest
ing. It had been impressed upon US
that barefootedness was a Paraguay
an national habit. But half Of the
groups at the stations in our ali-day
ride through the republic wore shoes
Asuncion had been pictured as town
OF historic associations, interesting IL
it's decay. There were plenty Of re-
minders Of Dictator Francia, OF the
Dlctators Lopez and of the glorious
put vain struggle against Brazil Ar
gentina and Uruguay which pros-
trated Paraguay and decimated the
Paraguayans. But there are also az
many evidences OF modern house build
ing and municipal dressing Up, as IL
any other South American city. Para
guayan prosperity, as indicated by
the DOMINIC Of shoes and by the
Asuncion building boom, is attributed
to the recent profitable cotton grow
ing In the republic. And Asuncion
was sprucing up to celebrate the In
auguratton OF a president, constltu-
tionany elected by ballot and not by
bullet, to which event II had invited
the South American diplomats
world.
Asuncion Is interesting IN its great
gardens, Enclosed in high stone walls,
ablaze with great masses OF bouga!n-
villea on walls and climbing TO the
very tops Of tall trees, and IN its
wonderful wealth of roses
Fascinating Souvenirs.
The ladies OF our party found NOR.
in Asuncion of characteristic souve-
Mrs than IN any other South Aneri-
can city. There was delicate, cob
webby Nanduty lace; and mate
gourds and bombillas OF infinite va
riety, both for actual use and in min
iature in silver as ornaments and
souvenirs. There were snakeskin
mounted as ornaments. There were
Turs and skins in wonderful variety.
There were characteristic clay fig
ures, arttstically nodded and col
ored, one, for example, showing a ma
tive woman sucking the bombiIla and
another a market woman mounted on
a donkey and smoking the long black
Paraguayan cigar Of the Uncle Joe
Cannon model.
A drive through Asuncion brings
reminders in bullet holes Of recent
revolutions, OF the great fighting I'M
der Dictator Lopez, and still earlier
of the long reign Of Dictator FrancIa.
The novel, ''El Supreme" makes ar
interesting subsidiary guide book in
visit TO Paraguay, with its minute
descriptions, based upon the observa-
lions, at first hand Of the brothers
Robertson, OF customs and conditions
OF Francia's time, many Of which still
prevail, either intact or with luodif-
cations.
Fiction and the Traveller.
But Eel Supreme" rnonotonous and
verbose, does not stir and thrill tn.
traveller like such books as that OF
Bulwer exploiting Pompeii, those of
Ebers picturing Egypt, those Of Rider
Haggards imagination concerning
South Africa and Mexico, and those
Of Lew Wallace concerning the Holy
Land and Mexico.
Author Edward Lucas White labors
under the disadvantage of never hay
| ing visited the Paraguay which he
| pictures, Charles Reade, in "A Sim
pleton," described vividly the dia-
| mond-producing section Of South
Africa and the conditions of Boer life,
| though he had never visited South
Africa. White lacks Reade's mas
| terry of crisp, picturesque, forcible
| English in picturing in words the condi-
| tionS which others have crudely de-
scribed for his benefit.
Whites "El Supreme" will not
| serve as the South American travel
| ers joy and inspiration. That novel,
| when II is written, will doubtless be
| located not IN Paraguay, but in Inca
| land.
In popularization through fiction
| South Africa is distinctively the land
| of Rider Haggard, a resident South
African, and of the people of his
| imagination. Here IS the site Of
! King Solomon's mines; here is the
| cottage in Pretoria in which Jess
| lived. This Is the land of She, Of AL
| Ian Quartermain and of the redoubt-
| able Zulu, Umslopogaas the Slaugh-
| terer.
May not South America have. at
least, its Rider Haggard?
Wanted An IncaIand Romance.
tNIAY we not hope that in the near
future the imaginative romance
Of some capable novelist Will do for
| Titicaca lake and plateau what Bull
wer's genius did for Pompeii, what
Ebers has done for Egypt and what
Lew Wallace has done for the Holy
| Land and Constantinople. and in '"rhe
Fair God" for Mexico? Rich materials
for such romance are at hand. The
hero will doubtless be a prince of the
Inca Empire stretching from Ecuador
to Chile. The villain will probably be
disclosed as one of the Iieutenants of
Pizarro. The scenes will naturally be
laid first at Cuzco, at that time the
greatest and most interesting city OF
the New World, with its 100000 in
habitants. with its magnificent Tenn
pie Of the Sun, studded with gold
plates outside and gold lined inside,
and with the massive walls OF Sacsa-
huaman fort; then on Titicaca and
It's sacred islands; then at La Paz,
with its unique location, elevated
10000 feet 81 air and sunk to the bot
tom OF a basin with precin!tous sides
LOO feet deep; and, finally. among
the unconquerable Araucanians of
Chile, where the hero first finds
refuge after. disaster, then success
against the SpanIard, and. thereafter
merited happiness. The ancient en-
pre- with its curious customs, its
wonderful roads overcoming for thou
n mi oil OF tue ~