Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 228, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 September 1910 — In the DEPTHS of HONDURAS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

In the DEPTHS of HONDURAS

HONDURAS is a particularly appropriate name for that coantry of hills and valleys. It Is said that Las Honduras (The Depths) is the name given the country by the Spanish Conquistadores In their march northward during their conquest of Central America- —probably so named for the difficulties encountered in making trail over the mountains.

Entering the republic on the Pacific or south side, we landed at Amapala, a well-protected port situated on El Tigre island in the Bay of Fonseca. There is only a short wharf at Amapala to accommodate vessels of light draught, so we were hustled into a canoe and rowed to the wharf by a native boatman. Here we were set upon by a throng of natives ranging from small boys to gray-haired men, every one of whom wished to carry our baggage to the hotel. After much bickering, one youth agreed to carry all our bundles, fifteen in number, from ihe wharf to the custom house and thence to the hotel for 2% pesos, the equivalent of one dollar In our coin, and the bargain was made. We found the hotel to be a twostory wooden structure, old, dirty and infested with rats, bedbugs and other vermin. In settling for our meals we were obliged to change some of our money for the coin of the country, and received two and one-half for one, one peso being worth approximately 40 cents United States coin. We next entered a gasoline launch for the trip to San Lorenzo, the mainland port of Honduras in the Bay of Fonseca. We wound our way through channels between the heavy everglades, twisting and turning until I wondered at our boatman’s being able to find the way at all. In places we entered lanes the trees would approach one another till only a few feet of water remained on either side of the boat, only to emerge Into open water again and'perhaps to be startled by the sudden rising of a flock of cranes or atgrets. Arriving at San Lorenzo, we found a flatboat unloading provisions and merchandise for the San Rosario mine at S&n Juancito, 120 miles away. These supplies were loaded upon heavy bull carts of crude construction; the wheels were of solid wood four inches in thickness and about three feet in diameter. The oxen were hooked to the pole of the cart by a curious wooden yoke which fits upon the heads of the beasts and is lashed there with buckskin thongs and rags. It is a very crude method of yoking oxen, butyls Invariable throughout Central America.

After partaking of a breakfast of tortillas, honey, turtles' egg and chicken, we were informed that our beasts were waiting to take us to the capital, Tegucigalpa. We found awaiting us the poorest and scrawniest lot of stock that I have ever had the misfortune to encounter, and the saddles simply beggared description; some were discarded cavalry saddles of antique design, #me were old Spanish saddles and pome were simply pieces of stiff cowhide stretched over wooden frames. However, we mounted and set oat upon our way northward. The road lies over a succession of rolling hills covered with a beautiful growth of tropical verdure. Cattle and hogs of interior breeds were scattered through the country and paid no attention to us as we passed by. At irregular Intervals we passed native huts by the roadside, some built of vertical poles set upright a few inches apart, and thatched with palm leaves or "monkey tall,” a sort of thick jungle grass; others of adobe with red clay tile roofs. These huts of the poorer people have only the earth for floors, and the furniture seldom comprises more than actable and a chair or two. The poorer ones seldom see and money and the commodoties are exchanged by a system of barter. Hence we see a few scattered "milpas’’ or crops of com or sugar cane, seldom exceeding a couple of acres in extent, while underbred cattle and stock graze over leagues of as rich agricultural soil as is found anywhere la the world. We stopped at one or two .of the huts for a lunch, but the best to be had was a tortilla, a piece of curd, a banana or a plantain. The capital with its environs boasts

30,000 inhabitants, and is built along; the lines laid down by the Spanish occupants—narrow streets, adobe houses with thick walls, embrasured windows and heavily-barred doors. The Rio t Grande de Tegucigalpa flows tbroughl the city and divides 4 into two sections, the capital proper and Comyaguela, the poorer section. On the MgW , bank of the capital side and at onei end of the large concrete bridge which! spans the river, is situated the palace! of the president, a three-story frame; building, at every entrance to which is stationed an armed sentry solemnly pacing back and forth in the “goosq step’’ of the German army. On the! west side of the plaza is the American legation, a two-story frame butydingj the finest edifice in Honduras. Prom the capital we set out for thei department of Olancho and 1 * the placet! gold country. After leaving the city, we followed narrow trails, the only; roads. All travel and transportation is by beast. In Olancho the attitude of the people is as listless as elsewhere in tho republic, except' that the women are more industrious than the men, and la fact they support the men and children by their own efforts. Prom May to December all the streams are lined’ with camps of native families engaged in placer-gold washing. The women! are much more expert in this tban thej men, and do practically all ot the work.} Nearly every streak In Honduras! bears gold, though seldom Is it found! in sufficiently heavy deposits to justify! Americans in working it I There are legends of fabulously rich* placer deposits in Mosquitia, the farthest northeast of the departmentsof Honduras*, and I have seen many nuggets weighing from four to fifteen ounces, brought out by the This region, however, is an unexplored jungle, impassable for beast and nearly so for man. In the northwestern part of Honduras are some very rich placer mines worked by Americans, and a few ledge mines owned by foreigners. At Sani Juancito, seven leagues east of the capital, is the Rosario mine, owned and operated by New York and native) capitalists, and this is the richest! mine in the country. There are no industries worth tha mention in Honduras; the are «hy of investing, fearing the him stableneas of the government, and natives lack the capital wherewith to develop their natural resources. Concessions have been recently letl to American promoters for two ralV roads, and work has been already begum >on the road from Irlona, in tha department of Mosquitia, to tap the rich! rubber and mahogany lands of the interior. When these roads are completed, and an outlet is had for riclx rubber deposits, cattle and precious woods, there is no reason why Honduras should not become a prosperous republic, and a country world-famous for its agricultural and mineral products.

REX.

ROAD FROM TEGUCIGALPA TO THE COAST