Idaho County free press., 1924-07-31

and saddles your mules, shows the
way. does any odd thing you wish
while on the no~d, and may be de-
pended on always to get you 4 house
for the night. for. except In Amapala,
Tegucigalpa, Puerto Cortes or the
largest places, so-called hotels cannot
be found.
AS rule, the night will be spent In
a native house, sometimes little more
than nut. built of mud, matched or
rooted with tiles. One Is apparently
always welcome to the best the house
affords; but 1 hammock az part Of the
travellers outfit IL a necessity.
The monetary system of tho country
should be studied Immediately upon
landing. The standard is silver and
the rate Of exchange Is about two and
ene-half to one; in other words, the
Honduran dollar (psso or sol) II worth
40 cents gold. Funds should be taken
from the States In gold coin only;
this will pass everywhers and Is eager
ly sought for by the merchants. The
paper money Of the country Is a. good
a. the silver. but away from the largo
towns and cities 1t Ia hard to gak
small change for bill; hence 1t IL sd-
visable always to have good supply
OF silver to pay the charges met with
here and there on the road. "a
Arrived In Teguclgalpa, one discov-
ers that 1t Is not necessary to carry 4
large outfit from the States. The city,
with the adjacent town Of Comaya-
guela. boasts a population of from H.
900 to 10000 and has many good
stores where almost all the ordinary
things required ON such trip can ba
purchased. 3
II long trip into the interior from
Tegucigalpa is intended, a supply OF
canned food should be obtained In the
city; but along a regular trail tortil-
las, beans, rice, some sort of meat,
coffee and a few other things can
usually be obtained at small cost.
If one is to enter Honduras from
he Atlantic or Caribbean side, Puerto
Cortes. the principal northern port,
nay be reached by any one of several
ruit-line steamers running from New
Orleans or Mobile The mail boats
rom New Orleans take between FIVE
md six days to make the trip, as they
all at various ports on the coast; the
fobile boats make the run in three
nd four days.
From Puerto COrtes railroad runs
o La Plmienta, which means another
ay, although the distance is less than
0 miles. There begins a five or six
ays' ride on mules over fairly hard
rails, which are very bad In spots.
Land of Hills and Valleys.
Honduras is a country of hills and
alleys; of rain and sunshine; of
lrge and small rivers. A half dozen
Ivers may be crossed In one day, and,
-hile they are usually narrow and
nallow, few hours rain will turn
lem into roaring torrents, absolutely
npassable. One may be held up for
crossed was less than three feet In
apth. But given favorable conditions,
lie Puerto Cortes journey may be
lid to be only one-half as long In
me taken as the route via Amapala.
Honduras is on the whole not an un-
'althful country. Along the rivers
Id on some parts of the coast fevers
e to be expected at times, but are
It so frequent In the interior at alti-
des Of 1000 feet or more.
On the south slope of the country
e rainy season extends from about
e last of June to the first of Novem-
n; on the north slope 1t begips
rlier and lasts longer.
In time the country will be far bet
: known than 1t at present seems to
for it undoubtedly holds great min
n wealth among its natural re-
lrces.