T/1E THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES DISCOVERIES IN AND WEST INDIES BY W. W. WHEELER AUTHOR OF "THREE MONTHS IJT FOREIOX LARDS* "A GLIMPSE OF THE PACIFIC ISLES" AND "ENCIRCLING THE GLOBE- WITH OVE HUNDRED AND TWELVE VIEWS IN THE SOUTHI UOPTKIO8TKP lull BT W. W. WHEELER INDEX Page Pernambuco 7 Sao Paulo 11 Santos 19 Montevedio 21 Argentina 27 Across the Andes 45 Santiago :....'.' " :..... 55 Valparaiso 61 Magellan Strait 73 Punta Arenas 75 Rio Janeiro 81 Bahia 107 Para 115 Brazil 119 St. Thomas 125 San Juan, Porto Rico 127 Jamaica 137 Kingston 139 Panama Canal 147 La Guayra, Venezuela 157 Caracas 159 Venezuela 161 Trinidad 165 Barbados 173 St. Pierre, Martinique . .... I . 175 Dominica " 177 Santo Domingo 181 Santiago de Cuba 183 Havana , , , ,. . : 187 Nassau . . 195 EXPLAXATORY. As to the name of this little book, we do not claim to be the first discoverers of this part of the world. Columbus and other early navigators did that, four hundred years ago, and they are entitled to the thanks of mankind for their efforts, but we discovered many things which the early navigators did not see. They never discovered the "Panama Canal," or the greatest cities of the southern half of the world, or the first great railway across the Andes, and many other things, which the lapse of time has brought into view. Therefore, we think we have the best of them in the discoveries. Recently a friend said to me, "while you are away on these delightful journeys, do you ever think of us, who would be so pleased to make these trips with you, if our circumstances permitted ?" \Ye certainly do think of you every day \vhile away, and for that reason have made these photographs and notes of what we saw, that we might impart to our friends as much of the pleasure of making the trip as possible, and we hope you may find the following pages entertaining and instructive. Yours very sincerely, W. \Y. WHEELER. 1482075 PERNAMBUCO We made a short visit to this city of one hundred and fifty thousand people on February 2nd, 1911. It is a pretty place, with two canals running north and south, and a shel- tered harbor, which makes it look somewhat like a Venice. It is sometimes called "The Venice of Brazil," although the tropical trees, flowers and fruit gave it a much more beautiful appearance than the Italian city. The Holland Dutch took this place from the Portuguese in 1631, and held it for sev- eral years, and even now there are traces of their visit in the glazed tiled buildings, and the fair complexion of a few of the natives. The color of these people is varied, ranging from Dutch white to African negro. The majority being brown, of the Portuguese type, and they all speak the Portuguese language. \\'e arrived on a Holy Day, not Sunday, and saw a large gathering at a church to christen an infant. The many little girls were beautifully dressed in white, and made a very pretty show, but their faces showed a mixture of the different races. The temperature here is almost always warm, being only eight degrees south of the Equator. Still it never gets extremely hot ; the usual register is from 80 to 85 ; it was 84 when we were there, and a good sea breeze made it quite pleasant. We had here our first experience with Brazilian money. The currency used here is called "Reis." The paper bills are handsomely engraved, and printed in denominations of 5.000. 10.000, and 20.000 Reis. and silver 500 and i.ooo Reis. and small coins in nickel. For $15.00. we bought 42.000 Reis. When we had such a large number of Reis. we felt like a millionaire, until we came t<> spend it. then it runs out so rapidly. A street car ride costs 200 Reis: the car- SOUTH AMERICA PERNAMBUCO riage hire is 6,000 Reis per hour. In paying it out, we felt like we were becoming bankrupt very rapidly; i.ooo Reis in paper or silver is worth thirty-two cents in our money. Per- nambuco is expending eight million dollars (gold) in im- providing her harbor and main streets. The break-water is a stone wall built on a natural coral reef, about four hundred yards from the dock, and forms a fairly good harbor for half a mile along the city front. This harbor is being made deep and a fine stone dock is being built. The buildings along the city front are being torn down, and a wide Avenida will be built, also two wide Avenidas will radiate to the two large bridges which cross the canals. \Yhen this is done the city will present a fine appearance and will be very convenient for loading and shipping large exports of sugar and cotton. This is the largest sugar exporting city in South America, and considerable cotton is also shipped out from here. One large steamer loaded with cotton for the English market was just sailing as we entered the harbor. This port is fifth in rank in amount of exports from Brazil ; there were six steamers and about thirty sailing vessels in the harbor when we were there. The streets are narrow, but many small parks with beautiful tropical vegetation make the appearance of the city pleasing in spots. The street cars are moved by mule power, two men are required, one to drive and one to weild the whip. \Ye saw but one beggar, and he was a fellow citizen of the United States, a poor drunken hobo. It seems we are represented by a few of that class in nearly every foreign port of the world. \Ye met the Secretary of the Local Y. M. C. A., Mr. John H. Warner, of Dayton, Ohio, a very pleas- ant gentleman. He gave us a cheerful report of the work of the association here. He has been here three years, and the association now have three hundred and seventy-five mem- bers, and are having a healthy growth, but they still have much opposition. SOUTH AMERICA SAO PAULO. Sao Paulo, where we visited February 6th, is the second city in Brazil, having a population of over four hundred thou- sand; they claim seven hundred thousand. Situated fifty miles from its sea port of Santos, and three thousand feet above the sea level, it was a great surprise to us. It is a clean, well sewered city, with fine wide Avenidas. beautiful parks one of the wealthiest cities in South America, and a pleasant place for a residence. There are seventy-five miles of first- class electric street railways in Sao Paulo. \Ye took a trolley ride over nearly the whole system and saw the city in all parts; great improvement is now going on. \Ye were told by the superintendent of the street railway, that there are now being built fifteen hundred handsome residences each year. The city looks so new ; it has the appearance of being built yesterday, and the building is still going on at a great rate. There are miles of broad Avenidas which are lined on both sides with homes that cost from twenty to one hun- dred thousand dollars each. They are built of concrete, plastered on the outside with cement, colored a pale yellow tint, some with pale blue tint; very handsome architectural style, with spacious grounds. On some of the porches are beautiful frescos, painted on the outside walls, making a pretty picture to be seen from the street ; these beautiful resi- dence sections look very pleasing to the traveler. \Ye in- spected the new opera house, built by the city at a cost of five million gold ; for architectural style and artistic beauty it is not equaled in the United States, and very seldom in Europe. It is not quite finished, but will be ready for use in a month: the ground occupied is equal to three ordinary city blocks. The grand staircase is a copy of the staircase in the Grand Opera House at Paris, France. There is a small park adjoining this grand opera house and the city is about to con- demn and tear down two blocks of buildings in the central part to make a larger and more beautiful city park. These i i SOUTH AMERICA SAO PAULO people do not hesitate to spend millions for improving and beautifying their city. The passenger railway station is also well worthy of mention. It is larger and better than any in the United States, with three or four exceptions ; built of steel and concrete, entirely fire-proof, very commodious and hand- some. We do not think there is sufficient passenger traffic at present to justify such a great railway station. The lan- guage of all Brazil is Portuguese, but the greater number of the residents of Sao Paulo are Italians, or of Italian descent, and the language mostly spoken here is Italian. In all this great and rapidly growing city, there is not a hotel fit for a white man to dwell in. We had intended to stay over night here, but after viewing two hotels, which they called the best, we decided to return to our quarters on the ship. It is said that a grand new hotel, to cost eleven million dollars gold, will soon be built here by a Swiss hotel company, and it is certainly greatly needed. This rapidly growing city is en- tirely caused by the coffee industry of Brazil. Over ninety million dollars worth of coffee is shipped through Sao Paulo, and its seaport Santos, per year, being eight-tenths of all the coffee used in the world. Sao Paulo is the market for the coffee districts of Brazil, being situated where the tempera- ture is pleasant and mild ; many of the wealthiest coffee grow- ers are making their homes here. The consumption of coffee throughout the world has doubled in the last ten years, and the industry here has increased accordingly. Another thing which has done much for the increase of Sao Paulo is the building of the Sao Paulo railroad to Santos; this railroad is entitled to a separate chapter of description. The Sao Paulo Railway Company a few years ago ob- tained a charter to build this road to Santos, thus giving Sao Paulo practically a seaport. Heretofore all transportation was done on the backs of donkeys, mules and horses, by pack trains. The charter of this railroad company requires them to SOUTH AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA SAO PAULO pay over to the state all net earnings in excess of a fixed amount, (some told us 7 per cent and some 12 per cent) per annum. As they have had an immense traffic, their earnings have been enormous, and for above reasons have been spent in improvements. The road was built with a solid concrete road-bed and an endless steel wire cable, used to climb the mountain; thickness of the cable is i 3 A inches. This cable line extends for about ten miles, and in that distance they climb the mountains, rising three thousand feet. The cables are driven by four steam power plants located along the lines about every two and one-half miles. The trains are small and light, with a light engine, having enough steam power to handle the brakes, and move the cars a short distance in case of accident. The down trains help pull the up trains, as all arc gripped to the heavy endless cable; there are a very few short tunnels and one high steel trestle. For almost the entire mountain section, where the cables are used, each side of the track has a gutter built with rock and cement, and in every place along the track where water would collect has been built a stone gutter or waterway, lined with cement, so that the heavy rains will not disturb the track. The scenery along this ten miles of mountain climbing is grand and beau- tiful. The employees of the road are native Brazilians, mostly of Portuguese descent, and handle this immense traffic with care and skill. The railroad company have built houses for their employees at all points along the line where needed. After the road had been in operation for some years the com- pany decided to build a parallel line, which new road has the same plan of cable for climbing the mountains, and separate power house for pulling the cables, so that the company now have two separate and complete lines for this hill climbing. The new line takes a slightly different course, and is from 100 to 500 feet above the old road, on the side of the moun- tain. We went over the new road, but the old road was nearly always in plain view, a few hundred feet below us. The build- ing of this second line will illustrate the immense traffic this SOUTH AMERICA SANTOS road has and the great profit they make. Both these roads are best construction of rock and cement we have seen in railroad building. They have put their profits into perma- nent betterments of their railroads and it is claimed that this is the best built piece of railroad in the world. SAXTOS \Ye landed at Santos, the shipping port for Sao Paulo, on February 6th. This port has a record in years past of having been one of the worst yellow fever places in South America, but it now has the appearance of being a bright, clean little seaport, population sixty thousand. The Santos River, with mountains on either side form a beautiful harbor, the town being about six miles inland from the sea entrance. The river has been dredged out, so that the larger steamers come up to the dock. These docks are over a mile long, with solid rock and cement built wharf all the way. There are large corrugated iron warehouses the entire length of the wharf or dock, with a double track railroad between the dock and the warehouses, and steel power cranes, for loading and un- loading ships, giving every possible advantage for the hand- ling of large freight cargoes. At the time we were in Santos there were thirteen large ocean steamers tied up at the dock, l>esides some sailing vessels. This is not the coffee season, and there is not much of that crop moving at present, but these great warehouses are filled with incoming merchandise of every description. Brazil manufactures but a small por- tion of the wares which she consumes, and we found here consigned to Sao Paulo, or more distant points, a wonderful variety of merchandise, such as white print paper, for news- papers, beer, bottled waters, wines, brandies, billiard tables, cotton cloth, railway engines, steel rails, railway cars, car rg SOUTH AMERICA o 5 H > H H z o MONTEVEDIO wheels, iron water pipe, ropes, glass, nails, dry goods, medi- cines, etc. It would take the whole day to mention all the varieties of merchandise that this country uses and imports from other countries. We notice that almost every article comes from Europe. Our own country, which should supply a good share of South American needs, gets but little of their trade, although we are their best customers, and buy more of their coffee and rubber than any other country. In fact, we purchase from Brazil nearly half of their exports. The peo- ple of Santos are Portuguese, or their descendents. This is the largest port for exports of any point in Brazil ; the value of all shipments from Santos in 1909 was one hundred and thirty million dollars gold. The handling of this large vol- ume of merchandise is the chief employment of the people at Santos. There is a good line of horse cars in the central part of the city, and an excellent trolley line runs about eight miles to a surf bathing beach, in the suburban residence sec- tion. With the improvements established in recent years, San- tos is a fairly healthy port, although one of the hottest places in Brazil. MOXTEVEDIO, This beautiful modern city of three hundred and fifty thousand population, situated at the mouth of the great river, La Plata, has a fair harbor, since it is protected by a breakwater. Before the building of this breakwater, it was a very poor harbor. The city has made a great effort to serve the shipping world; very extensive docks have been built in the last three years and the largest ships can now come alongside. There were twenty-one steamers and many large sailing vessels in port on February loth, 1911. The climate is delightful, being latitude 35 south; there is no frost. 21 SOUTH AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA ONE OF THE LEADING DENIZENS OF THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN, MONTEVEDIO. MONTEVEDIO The general architectural appearance is much like Italy ; many beautiful parks and a grand opera house, built at the expense of the city, covering two acres, with many attractions. \Ye took lunch at Pocito Hotel, a beautiful suburb, where sea bath- ing is fine, and a great resort for the society of Montevedio. The republic of Uraguay is the smallest in South America, being about one and half times as large in area as the state of New York, and has a population of a little over one mil- lion. The products are sheep, cattle, ostriches, indian corn, barley, wheat, flour, oats, flax, and almost all kinds of animals and vegetables, such as grow in our United States. The money standard is the Peso, worth $1.04 in gold; one hun- dred Centisimos make one Peso; very easy for the foreigner to learn. The language is Spanish, and if one cannot speak that language he will find it very difficult to transact any business in this city. Education is enforced by law, and all children must attend primary schools. Montevedio is noted for its culture, educational facilities, its museum, libraries and many schools; also its excellent university, as well as many charitable institutions. We spent two hours in the zoological garden, which has the largest variety and the most interest- ing collection of any we have ever seen. The greatest variety of birds, from canary to the ostrich, all manner of fowls, rep- tiles, animals, both wild and domestic ; all this great display is done at the expense of one of Montevedio's public spirited citizens. In this garden is the cemetery of those animals which have departed this life. A fine monument which cost several hundred Pesos is set up over a dead monkey. Another over the remains of a dog; one for a lion, another over a cobra snake, and a great many others. There are at least forty of these monuments, and in fact a beautiful cemetery. This is the only cemetery for animals we have ever heard of. and we hope this peculiar idea may not exist elsewhere, as the money would be so much better spent if invested in hospitals for the benefit of unfortunate humanitv. SOUTH AMERICA ARGENTINA. Has an area about as large as the United States east of the Mississippi river, and a total population of a little over six million, nearly one-quarter of which are in the City of Buenos Aires. It is the second Republic in size in South America, and at present is making more rapid progress than any other of these South American countries. Immigration is coming in at the rate of one-quarter of a million per year. A great amount of railroad building is going on. About fif- teen thousand miles are now in operation, and extensive im- provements are being made in every part of the Republic. Ex- ports are increasing at a rapid rate. Wheat, corn, flax and oats being the principal agricultural exports, while wool, frozen beef and mutton are shipped out in large quantities to Europe. It is claimed that Argentina now exports more food- stuff than any other country in the world. There are thirty- five steamship lines that sail regularly from Buenos Aires. The Government is patterned after our United States, prim- ary education is free, and compulsory, for all children be- tween six and fourteen years of age. The population is prin- cipally of Spanish descent, but the great Italian immigration now coming in make some sections almost like Italy. On Sat- urday night, Eebruary Tith, we left Montevedio on the side wheel steamer "Viena," for Buenos Aires, where we arrived the next morning, coming up the La Plata River, about 100 miles. This is one of the wonderful rivers of the earth; at Buenos Aires, 100 miles from its mouth, the La Plata is thirty-one miles wide. \Ve went to the top of the La Prenza tower, 120 feet high, and could not see across the river. It is like an ocean in appearance, except that the water is colored yellow by the great amount of earth which is washed down. This great body of water colors the sea for 100 miles out. Buenos Aires is in many respects a copy of Paris, in architecture, SOUTH AMERICA O ARGENTINA streets, sidewalks and restaurants, which cover the sidewalks with their customers chairs. The Palermo Park is much like Bois De Bologne of Paris. The population of the city is a million and a quarter, mostly Spanish and Italians, and the Spanish language is generally spoken. The city is claimed to be the most wealthy per capita in the world. Buenos Aires is situated on a flat plain and has a great harbor. The dock extending for miles along the river front. Being the capital of Argentina, and a great seaport, nearly all the commerce of the Republic centers here. They are now build- ing an underground or subway for street car lines, and a great many other improvements are going on. Regarding this river harbor or dock, there are now twenty-seven miles of stone built docks, costing the enormous sum of forty-seven million dollars, affording the greatest convenience for re- ceiving and discharging cargo, and yet there is not room enough for this large water traffic. Steamers sometimes are compelled to anchor out in the stream for over a month, be- fore they can get an opportunity to come alongside of the dock. We saw a dozen large steamers anchored mid-stream as we came in. Warehouses are continuous along these docks, and more are now being built. There is one wool warehouse which has had fifty-seven million pounds of wool on storage at one time. The La Plata is not very deep, and the harbor authorities have marked with buoys (which bear a light at night), a channel all the way to the ocean. As the river water is so loaded with sand and mud. a great many dregde boats are kept constantly at work dredging the channel. \Ye called at the La Prenza, the greatest newspaper building in the world, built by the La Prenza Newspaper Company, and oc- cupied by them as a printing house. This great company have almost a city inside of their beautiful buildings. There is a concert hall, which looks much like the banquet hall in the Windsor Castle. England, and is finished elaborately; also a royal suite of rooms, consisting of a banquet hall, sniok- 29 SOUTH AMERICA s 1 ARGENTINA ing hall, ladies' reception room, library and ladies' boudoir, all very large and fitted out in truly royal style. In fact, we have not seen finer furnished or finished rooms in any of the palaces of Europe. These handsome apartments are simply in readiness to entertain royalty, or persons of renown. They tell us that the last United Stater, or "North American" who was entertained here was the famous, or infamous Dr. Cook, who claimed to have discovered the North Pole, and who now admits that perhaps he did not. There are also found in this great building a bank, restaurant for employees, a free medical dispensary, a free employment agency, and free law library, with lawyers in attendance, to give advice to poor persons, without charge, and other rooms devoted to philan- thropic work, besides the printing establishment of the La Plaza Newspaper, said to have the largest circulation of any newspaper in South America. There are some wide Ave- nidas in Buenos Aires. The most important of these is the Avenida de Mayo, which has the president's residence at one end, and the National capitol hall at the other. This great thoroughfare is a mile long and 150 feet wide, with a double row of arc lights down the middle. It is built up the entire length with a fine class of buildings occupied by hotels, thea- ters, restaurants, large department stores and office buildings. No heavy traffic is allowed on this Avenida. only carriages and automobiles, and this traffic is as heavy and continuous as on Fifth Avenue. New York a continuous stream of ve- hicles. There is no speed limit here for automobiles: they are permitted to drive as fast as they choose, and they choose a speed of twenty-five to thirty-five miles an hour: we wonder how it is that they do not have more accidents. The Avenida in very smooth, swept clean and an ideal place for driving, if the street was not so crowded. Standing at the monument in front of the President's mansion, we could see the entire length of this great street, and saw the dome of the capitol at the other end. The pleasure seekers here do not get really waked up until about nine o'clock at night, and from that 31 SOUTH AMERICA ARGENTINA hour until three in the morning every carriage and automobile is on the run, quite like Paris in this respect. We had been told that Buenos Aires was the most expensive city in the world to live in, but we did not find it so. The hotels are first-class, and no more expensive than New York. The car- riage hire is 66 cents the first hour, and 53 cents per hour after that. The first-class automobiles are $4.40 per hour; second-class $3.52 per hour. Hotels pay their waiters $22.00 per month and board. Their chamber-maids $17.60 per month and board. We stopped at Cecil Hotel which is new and first-class, with French cooking, located on the Avenida de Mayo, in the best part of the city ; their prices were no higher than for the same accommodations in New York. We mention this because our United States minister, Mr. Sherill, has recently made many speeches in the United States, giv- ing the impression that labor in Argentina is paid about twice as much as in our country, which is a great mistake. Labor here is not paid as much as in the United States. Let no man who is working for wages leave our country, anticipating higher wages here, as he will be bitterly disappointed. If a man is young and has no family, with good ability, and a few thousand dollars capital, this is a good place for him to make a fortune in the cattle and sheep business, provided he is will- ing to put up with the hard, rough and severe knocks he is likely to get in a new country. If he has a family, then don't come at all, as the customs are so different from ours, that the ladies have very little consideration, and every one of the ladies we met from the United States were homesick, and glad to get back on almost any terms. The side streets in Buenos Aires are narrow, generally only thirty feet wide. On these narrow streets the traffic is only permitted to travel in one direction, and on '"Florida" street all the vehicles are prohibited between five and seven o'clock in the afternoon, and during these hours the whole street is filled with men and women walking. The traffic on this street is greatly con- gested, in fact, all the central streets are greatly overcrowded. 33 SOUTH AMERICA ARGENTINA and the increase which is to come must be located on other streets. The Colon Theater is the pride of the city, cost ten million dollars, one of the largest and finest theater build- ings in the world; the cheapest seats are 25 pesos, and the box seats are 70 pesos; seating capacity is 5,000. The city is gridironed with street railway tracks, an excellent electric trolley system; fare 4 4-10 cents for short rides. The stand- ard of money in Argentina is a pesos, which is worth here 44 cents. Small paper bills are issued by the government in denominations of one, five and fifty pesos, printed on poor paper: we would think the country would be flooded with counterfeits. Their fractional currency is 100 centimes to the pesos ; small nickel coins are five, ten and twenty centimes. The city has a good waterworks system, with good water ; also a good sewage system. The streets are kept clean and the health of the city is excellent. The tempera- ture is in fact never cold ; no snow or frost, but sometimes in summer it is hot. There are very many handsome public institutions, private residences and beautiful city parks, with palm trees and flowers. It is a beautiful city and compares favorably with the best cities in Europe or United States, and is destined to become one of the largest cities in the world. The boulevard to Palermo Park is about 200 feet wide, and in the afternoon is full of carriages and automobiles. Every conveyance in the city is pressed into service for a drive to this park during the fashionable driving hours, \\hile we were there the people had several days of festivities, wind- ing up with a "masked fete." Many were driving in car- riages on Avenida de Mayo and Palermo Park, dressed like clowns, with faces covered with masks: they seem to enjoy this masquerading. The race-course is situated on Palermo Park drive, and is claimed to be the largest and best in the world; there are three circular tracks, each TOO feet wide. The grandstand where the finish of the race is made is set 100 feet back from the track and the space between is laid SOUTH AMERICA ARGENTINA out in flower gardens, and looks much like fairyland. The best seats are sold at seven Pesos, or $3.25 gold, each. The grandstand will seat about 50,000, and ladies do not attend the races. The betting is on a large scale, and there is a race on every half hour from three to five-thirty. All these are running races; trotting races are too slow for the peo- ple of Argentina. There are two race days each week, the whole year round, Sundays and Thursdays. They have the best race-horses in the world, and their carriage horses are not excelled for style in any country. The Japanese Hippo- drome, or Circus, is located on this drive, and we went there one night. The place is an architectural copy of the old Roman Forum, a wonderful show place, with first-class en- tertainment. One day we went out to the Tigre River, and Parana River, about thirty miles from Buenos Aires, by rail, through their most beautiful suburb Belgrano. At the Tigre station we took small steam launches for a two-hour sail on the beautiful Tigre River; the scenery on this river is enchanting. There is a boat club here of 300 members, and they have built landings and bungalows along the river, which is usually from 100 to 200 feet wide, with banks set with palm and Eucalytus trees intersperced with apple, peach and quince trees. In many places for a long distance the banks, down to the water edge, are covered with quince trees ; the fruit is fine, large, yellow and ripe. At a little hotel 1 where we took lunch we sat under a grape arbor 100 feet square, the roof thickly matted with grape vines and leaves, and the great big bunches of purple ripe grapes hanging down in pro- fusion to tempt us. Our dessert was grapes, from the roof, and we enjoyed them very much. The weather was ideal, and we spent here one of the most pleasant days of our stay in Argentina. Another day our party went out twenty-five miles by rail to an "Estanchion," or lanch. as we call it. This is the show place of Argentina for live stock, horses, cat- tle and sheep, all of the best grades to be found in this part of the world. There is none too good, or too expensive for these 37 SOUTH AMERICA SODA WATER PEDDLER, BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA. ARGENTINA "Estanchions." There were a great many prize animals, which cost the owner many thousand pesos each ; it was like a live stock county fair, only more so. The animals were curried and combed in the neatest style, with prize ribbons on their horns or halters, and made a great show. This par- ticular "Estanchion" contains about 15,000 acres, and is owned by one of the richest natives in Argentina. These grounds have been under the care of an Italian landscape gardener for many years, and present the most beautiful appearance, with double rows of palm trees, intersperced with small lakes and many flowering plants; probably it is the most beautiful stock farm in Argentina. There is no winter here like we have in our country; very seldom a frost in this section of Argentina. The plant life flourishes the year round, which helps the landscape gardener to do what we could not accomplish in our climate. Also the stock on this wonderful "Estanchion" do not get in thin flesh on account of cold in winter, but keep on growing fat on grass, and become fine large bullocks of 1000 pounds at three years of age. without any grain. In fact, scarcely any grain is fed to horses and cattle in this country. Argentina Railways 13,250 miles cost about $850,000.000. That would be $64,000 per mile, which is preposterous. The whole of Argentina has suffered much with a drought which has prevailed for the last two years, but most severely felt during the last few months. Many cattle and horses have died for lack of food and water. In one sec- tion, that is the Southwestern Argentina, back towards the mountains, there has been a continuous drought for the past four years, and the cattle have mostly been driven out or died, and the sheep are having a very bad chance to get enough to keep them alive. The locusts in this dry part of Argentina are a great pest, and come in such swarms that they devour what little grass is left. The wheat crop this year was not more than an average half crop. Fortunately, the country has in the last few days been visited with a great 30 SOUTH AMERICA O O SOUTH AMERICA CQ H BJ OJ O a a SOUTH AMERICA ARGENTINA big general rain, which extended nearly over the whole of Argentina, and the wheat land is now in condition to plow, but the horses are too thin and weak to work, as they do not feed their farm horses grain, but make them live simply by grazing. As there had been no rain for a long time, there was scarcely any grass, but since the rains this month, the grass is now growing, and in three or four weeks the horses will be in condition to work on the plows again. In the meantime, the farmers, many of them, are trying to find gaso- line engines to do their plowing by power. These large level wheat fields can be plowed by gasoline engines very conven- iently. \Ye met a salesman for the International Harvester Company, of Chicago, who has been here for four years, selling harvesters, and he reports that, on account of the drought he has not sold more than half the usual number of harvesters, and now he can sell more gasoline engines than he can get. In some sections where they had local rains their wheat crop was fairly good, but in many places the crop was an entire failure the past season. The United States sell most of the harvesting machines, sewing machines, typewrit- ing machines and gasoline engines that are used here. The greater part of Argentina is still a grazing land, all that part adjacent, or lying near the Andes mountains, gets too little rain to be worth much for agricultural purposes: really not worth very much for grazing. Some parts of it even gets too little rain to produce any grass. Along the Atlantic coast for 150 or 200 miles the rains are usually quite regular, and in this part of Argentina wheat, corn, oats, rye and flax, and all that class of crops are raised, where the rains are reason- ably regular. Further back than that the rains are more ir- regular; the farther west we go. the thinner the rainfall is, and the poorer the grass becomes. The price of ordinary draft horses here is $35 to 845, and fat steers are today quoted in the Huenos Aires market at $20 gold, per head: cows $12 to $15. Quite recently, just before the rains of this month, grazing stock could be bought for almost any price, 4J5 SOUTH AMERICA w tf O x H tf 03 H S 2 P 03 02 H THE ANDES but the conditions are now looking much better. \Ye were told that an Italian came to Buenos Aires about two months ago, with a good lot of money, and found the prices of live stock on the western ranges so very cheap that he bought a large amount, although they were dying at the time, and it was supposed they were almost worthless. Since then, the fine rains have come, and the value of the cattle has increased many fold, and the conditions now are looking very much more cheerful. At present grazing lands are said to be cheap here, but we have been unable to get definite information as to values. Farm labor is paid about $22 per month. Cattle herders $30 per month, gold, and freight rates to Europe are very much cheaper than from United States. Also the rail- way haul on wheat is short, as the wheat land now under cultivation is along the Atlantic coast. \Yith average seasons there should be profit in wheat raising here, if the price of land is not too high. ACROSS THE ANDES. \Ve left Buenos Aires for a trip across the continent of South America on February i6th, 1911. over the Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway. This is the most extraordinary railway we have ever seen 5 feet ft inch gauge, well built with a good equipment, and does a very large business, both in freight and passengers. For four hundred miles out of Buenos Aires, going west, there is not a cut, a fill or a bridge worth mentioning, and in one section the road is perfectly straight for 175 miles. This road runs through the largest level plain, or pampas, we have ever seen. For about 200 miles the land is under cultivation, mostly wheat raising. After that the wheat fields grow less, by degrees, and the country is given over to pasturage and is literally covered 45 SOUTH AMERICA ,, c o> ffi- PC w r h O fc- 1 Si ^g THE ANDES with horses, cattle, sheep and ostriches. \Ye have never seen such great numbers of animals, 10,000 in sight on every side. They are now doing well, and will soon be fat, if the favor- able rains continue. As before stated, there are no rivers or streams to bridge, but occasionally a small lake or marsh, which serves to hold water for the stock. There are a great many windmills all over this plain, for pumping water from wells. The horses on this Pampas are generally of a small and inferior quality, but the cattle are well graded stock, many of them Durhams, Herefords, and other good grades, for beef. The sheep are also of good quality, but we could not state regarding the ostriches, whether they were the best grades or otherwise. They are great big birds and graze quietly along with the horses and cattle. There are enough ostriches on this Pampas to furnish every woman in Argentina with a fine plume, and leave a great surplus to export. To our surprise in this stock-raising section, there is scarcely a building" to be seen for many miles, just a hut occasionally, which is occupied by the cowboys and their families. Xo buildings of any kind to protect the stock. There is not a wind-break for 500 miles. The wind storms which are very sudden and destructive are of short duration. There are many wire fences; we suppose every owner has his land fenced. Also there are many small fields of alfalfa scattered over this plain, and we were told that the cattle owners are now making arrangements to put up hay. that they may prevent the starvation of their stock in times of drought. The great drawback to cattle raising here is the danger of loss by starva- tion in times of drought. If the alfalfa hay proves to be suf- ficient to keep the cattle alive during these occasional dry times, it will give a great impetus to the cattle raising in- dustry in this section. Moving along over this great Pampas by train we saw mirages at a little distance, of perhaps half a mile, a smooth placid lake appeared on the horizon. At first, we would not believe it was simply an optical illusion, but when we passed 47 SOUTH AMERICA THE ANDES by several of these places, where the lake appeared to be, we were convinced that it was a mirage, due to the peculiarities of these plains. As it was our first experience of this kind, to us it seemed a very novel sight. \Ye arrived at Mendoza the next morning, after a very unpleasant and dusty ride in the sleeping car. The fine pulverized dust covers the cars on the western section of the road near the mountains, and everything on the train, including ourselves, penetrating the mouth, nose and lungs, and it was a great relief to breathe fresh mountain air. The sleeping cars are quite comfortable, being compartment cars, with corridor on the side, and we were not troubled with dust during the day, as there had been a rain recently, which wet the dusty plain for about 500 miles or more west of Buenos Aires; but I awakened about eleven o'clock with the dust so intolerable that I felt I could not exist very long in the compartment. Therefore, I quietly dressed myself and thought I would go out into the corridor, supposing that the air would be better and the dust not so bad. I soon found my mistake, however, as the wind was quite strong, the cars are not tightly put together, and there was a regular dust storm sweeping down the corridor, which drove me back again into my compartment. After enduring this unpleasant condition for a while, I resorted to the plan of opening the window wide, and it so happened that the wind was from our side of the train and blew the dust away from us. so that we got along fairly comfortable, although this section of the road which is near the Andes mountains on the eastern side, receives very little rain, and some places none at all. and has a great reputation for being dusty. The City of Mendoza gets no rain at all, as the clouds in this part of the world come from the west, are caught by the Andes Mountains, and the rain precipitated on the western slope, but enough snot*. 1 falls on the eastern side to make water for irrigation. The whole country adjacent to Mendoza is de- voted to the cultivation of grapes and wine making, and there .'ire thousands of acres of grape vines now loaded with large 49 SOUTH AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA THE ANDES bunches of blue grapes. The city lies at the foot of the great Cordirilla range of the Andes, 2500 feet above the sea level, and here we changed to a narrow railway, one meter, or three feet, three inch gauge, which climbs the mountains. From seven o'clock until three in the afternoon we were climbing this great mountain chain, much of the time over a cog rail, where the grade is too steep for plain rails. During this time we gradually ascended until we were 10,468 feet above the sea level. The rugged mountain scenery is grand beyond de- scription, and without vegetation of any kind. The many sharp peaks challenge our admiration at every turn. As there are no observation cars on this road we sat on the rear plat- form most of the way with our camera, and ready for a shot when something might open up more beautiful than the aver- age. Really, there is not a mile of this whole mountain climb- ing which would not make a beautiful picture. Just before we reached the tunnel we had a sight of old Anconcagua. the highest mountain peak in this hemisphere, between 23,000 and 24,000 feet. It seemed to be not more than a mile dist- ant and covered with everlasting snow it is sublime. \Ye entered the Andes tunnel, which is about two miles long, at three o'clock, and were out in the sunshine of Chile in nine minutes; this tunnel penerates the mountains 2,000 feet below the summit. \Ye would rather have climbed over the summit on mule back, or by stage, but since the completion of the tunnel, the stages have been taken off. and there are but few mules to be had. Also, it is reported that there are brigands on this trail now, who will rob. and if necessary, kill the trav- eler unless they are well armed, and in parties large enough to bluff the would-be robbers. The government of Argen- tina furnished an armed escort for our train from Mcndoza to the tunnel, and the government of Chile furnished an armed escort from the tunnel down to Los Andes. So far as we could sec. there was no necessity of this armed escort, but the two governments probably know more about what is needed here than we do. The statue of "Christ of the Andes" SOUTH AMERICA O SANTIAGO is located at the highest point on this pass, marking the boun- dary between Argentina and Chile. The descent on the Chil- ian side of the mountains is more grand and awe inspiring, if possible, than the ascent on the eastern side. The inclines are steeper and more continuous. We dropped clown 8000 feet to Los Andes in less than three hours, and by midnight we were comfortably housed in the Grand Hotel at Santiago. Chile. SANTIAGO This is the capitol of Chile population 350,000; a beau- tiful city, lying 1,800 feet above the sea level, between the Cordirilla and the coast range. The climate is delightful on the average, and the streets present a good appearance, some of them are wide Avenidas. and the many handsome public buildings give the city more than ordinarily a fine ap- pearance. By chance we met Dr. \Y. E. Browning on the street ; a native Missourian, educated at Parkville College, forty miles from our home in St. Joseph. Missouri. \Ye had never heard of him. and the accidental meeting goes to show how small our world is. as we meet Missourians in all parts of the earth. Dr. Browning is president of the English Col- lege for Boys, in Santiago, and has 250 boys in his college. He has been here for fifteen years, and speaks the Spanish language more correctly than the native Chilian. He is a de- lightfully pleasant gentleman in every way. and was kind enough to personally show us the sights of the city. The drive through the Agricultural Experimental 1'ark was inter- esting, as Chile is experimenting with tiees. grains, vegetables and flowers that they may learn of all that is adapted to their soil and climate. \Ye called at the Academy of Fine Arts, which is a handsome large building, set in a beautiful park; SOUTH AMERICA WOMAN CONDUCTOR ON STREET CAR, SANTIAGO, CHILE. SOUTH AMERICA o 02 H X w o QQ W SOUTH AMERICA USUAL DRESS AND HEAD COVERING WHILE SHOPPING OR GOING TO CHURCH, SANTIAGO, CHILE. SANTIAGO also we visited the Catholic cemetery and the general ceme- tery, both are a credit to the city and nation, and very beau- tiful. \\'e noticed a man carrying in his arms a dead infant, the face was exposed to the gaze of all passers by, and to the rays of a very hot sun. Dr. Browning explained that this was the custom here, to carry the bodies of their dead infants through the streets and into the houses of their acquaintances, as by so doing they gain merit, supposedly carrying a littie angel through the street; to us it seems a revolting custom. The most important thing to see in Santiago is the Santa Lucia Park, situated in the central part of the city. In this park is a rock 200 feet high. About half way up is a Plaza where the people of the city congregate in the evening to listen to the public bands of music which play here every evening, and on the top of the rock is a platform to view the surrounding city, and the setting sun, which is a beautiful sight from this elevated place. There is an extensive electric trolley system in Santiago ; their power to run the cars comes from the Maipo river, where a great water-power electric generating plant has been erected, costing three million dol- lars, gold, furnishing 4,000 horse power, enough to run all the street car lines and electric lighting in Santiago. \Ye notice that the conductors on these street railways are women ; they are not much for style or beauty, but do the work satisfac- torily. If the trolley jumps off the wire, they are adapt in putting it back in place ; they do not have as many pockets as men, and therefore do not knock down as much. The Grand Hotel at Santiago is managed by a woman, and she is well qualified for the business, handles all the money, directs all the help; she keeps an excellent hotel, judged from the Span- ish viewpoint, at any rate, we found it more satisfactory than we had anticipated. General O'lliggins, an Irishman, was the first president of Chile, and was an important factor in establishing the independence of his adopted country. His bronze statue stands on the Alameda, and his grave in the general cemetery is marked by a handsome monument. 59 SOUTH AMERICA VALPARAISO. One morning we went by train from Santiago through a delightful scenic valley to Valparaiso, the most important shipping point on the western coast of South America. This city has a population of 200,000, and a good harbor, when the weather is fair, but a very poor place for shipping in a storm, as the entrance is so wide that the sea sometimes rolls in tremendously and many vessels have in times past been driven ashore. Valparaiso has now made arrangements to build a breakwater 1200 feet long across part of the har- bor entrance, which will no doubt be a great security for shipping. \Ye noticed that our captain was alert enough to anchor the Blucher near the entrance, with her bow towards the sea. This harbor is a very busy place, filled with steam- ers and sailing vessels from every important port on the globe. It is sometimes called the San Francisco of South America. The docks for two miles are loaded with all kinds of mer- chandise, machinery and produce, stacked without cover, as there is no rain expected at this season of the year. Arrange- ments have been made to build two loading docks, then large steamers may come alongside to discharge cargo. The har- bor is situated like an amphitheater; the stage side is the ocean entrance, the harbor is the parquette, and the hills ris- ing all around the bay are the seats for the audience. The city is unique, in lying around the harbor, the hills rising about two hundred or three hundred feet; the business houses are located near the water, and the residences on the hills. There are many elevators, called ".Ascensions." which lift the pedes- trian to the higher level ; fare equal to two cents in our money. Viewed from our ship at night, the rows of lights on the hills around the harbor make the scene look like fairyland. The Chilians have a queer way of tying or hitching a horse, when they leave him for a few minutes on the street: they strap the horse's forelegs together, or hobble him. and the animal seems to think it is a good plan, and stands quite contentedly. \Ye 61 SOUTH AMERICA had the extreme good fortune to meet here Dr. John Trumbull and his interesting family, wife and two daughters. The great grandfather of Dr. Trumbull was Jonothan Trumbull, the Governor of Connecticut under King George, and the first Governor of Connecticut under the United States. He was a friend and advisor of George Washington, and by Washington was generally spoken of as "Brother Jonothan." The father of Dr. Trumbull was one of the first missionaries from the United States to Chile, and became a naturalized citizen of Chile, that he might have more influence with the Chilian congress in getting necessary laws passed, and was instrumental in getting the marriage laws of Chile passed; also in getting a charter from the Chilian government whereby the mission may buy and own land for their church and school purposes. Dr. John Trumbull is a native of Chile, but was educated at Yale, in the same class with President Taft. He is a man of very superior ability, and gave us much informa- tion regarding Chile. We were invited to their beautiful home for breakfast and enjoyed meeting their family, after which Mrs. Trumbull escorted us to the most beautiful suburbs of the city, "Vina Del Mar," several miles out. The most beautiful residences in Chile are here, also a great race track, polo grounds, baseball, cricket and foot ball, and a very beau- tiful surf bathing beach ; the Chilians are not behind in races or sports. From Dr. Trumbull we had a description of the ter- rible earthquake, "Terramoto." which occurred in Valparaiso in 1906, by which 7000 lives were lost, and millions of dollars worth of property destroyed. The loss of life here was ten times as great as the two earthquakes which occurred at San Francisco and Kingston combined. The property damages have been mostly repaired. They still have quakes at short intervals, but not of import- ance. Two weeks ago there was a good strong quake at San- tiago, but did very little damage. In 1^33. Valparaiso was destroyed by an earthquake, and the city has at other times been severely shaken, with loss of life and property. When this 63 SOUTH AMERICA VALPARAISO 1906 quake began, the Trumbulls were at dinner at 8 p. m. ; the quake lasted severely for five minutes. Almost immediately the chandelier dropped on the table, and the dishes were thrown off. The mantel-piece fell into the center of the room with a crash, all electric and gas lights went out, leaving them in total darkness, with pictures falling from the walls, plas- tering, ceiling and floors falling. A large telephone pole two feet thick, which carried a great number of wires, and stood in front of their house, fell across the roof, knocking in one wall and a part of the roof, but there was such a din and roaring going on around them that they did not hear or feel the fall of the telephone pole. Fortunately none of their fam- ily were injured, but they camped in the street for that night, although it was raining. After the first great shock the earth continued to quiver with occasionally a hard shake for forty- eight hours, and during that time very little could be done by any one to relieve the injured and dying. Strange as it may seem to us, these people cling to their hill homes just the same as if they never had an earthquake. Last year the statistics show that Valparaiso lost over 4.000 by death from smallpox, and there is an epidemic now, of smallpox, but Dr. Trumbull said he thought it was diminishing. Chile is nearly 3.000 miles long, averaging about 100 miles wide, extending from the tropics nearly to the Ant- arctic zone. The population of Chile is three million, princi- pally Spanish, with a good mixture of Indians. About 3.000 educated politicians rule Chile. The great mass of the people are illiterate. \Yhile education is free, there are almost no schools outside of the cities. Chile raises nearly every kind of vegetables, fruit and flowers, also all animals that we have, and many more. The country is rich in minerals, and opportunities to make fortunes in developing the country are open to all who make an effort in good faith, and the country is opening up wonderfully fast; the land titles are now good and property safe: great fortunes have been made here by Germans. English, and a few Americans. \V. R. Grace, form- "5 SOUTH AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA VALPARAISO erly Mayor of Xe\v York, is at the head of \Y. R. Grace & Co., the largest bankers and commission firm in Chile. Not- withstanding the great opportunities offered here, we think there are greater opportunities in our own fair land, and would not recommend our countrymen to come here to invest. On leaving Valparaiso we steamed down the western coast of South America for three days. Our course lay almost due south, ancf not far off land ; every day we saw large isl- ands lying near the coast along the lower part of South America ; they are generally mountainous and bleak in ap- pearance, from our ship. This part of the southern Pacific ocean is usually rough, as the wind from the west has an unobstructive sweep for 20,000 miles, all the way round the globe, as there is no other land on earth in this latitude, and we had the ordinary heavy sea. \Ye thought of the great navigator, Captain Cook, who sailed across this, the widest ocean on earth, over 100 years ago, in a small sail craft, and discovered nearly all the islands of the Pacific. Such a tre- mendous long sail, without sight of land in an unknown ocean, against head winds in heavy seas, must have taxed his nerv- ous system, as well as his skill as a navigator. Conditions are very different now, when nearly every island on the face of the globe is marked on a chart, and most of them support a lighthouse, and all the best steamers supplied with charts and wireless telegraph, so we can almost all the time, talk with the land wireless system and tell them of our distress, if we have anv. r> SOUTH AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA H MAGELLAN STRAIT. Early in the morning of the fourth day out we sighted the "Three Sisters," on our port bow, and very shortly after "Cape Pillar," on the starboard, the captain passed the word that we were entering the Magellan Strait. As we had been anticipating the call, we were soon on deck with our camera ready for shooting. This strait, which is very crooked, is really a deep crack across the Andes mountain chain, near the lower end of the continent of South America. To the south of the strait lies the island of "Terre-del-Fuego," or the "Cold Land of Fire," and "Cape Horn" is on the extreme southern end of the island, about 120 miles south. Steam- ers now prefer to pass through this strait, as it cuts off over 100 miles distance, but sailing vessels prefer the route "Around the Horn." The Magellan strait is much like a big river in appearance ; it is as deep as the sea, from 600 to 6000 feet, and has a heavy current of water running through it from the Pacific ocean. The scenery on both sides was grand and interesting beyond description, and it continued for every moment, from "early morn, to dewy eve." By many, it is said to be better than the Fjords of Norway. At any rate it is the grandest we have ever seen. The snow capped mountains rise on both sides of the strait thousands of feet. In many places the ice glaciers can be seen, and in three places these glaciers come down to the water's edge, and grad- ually slide into the channel. It looked wonderful to us, to see a stream of solid ice many feet thick, and half a mile wide, extending from near the top of some great mountain, thou- sonds of feet high, down to the water, always sliding. They have perhaps been a thousand years in forming, and every year adds as much ice and snow on top as it loses at the bot- tom, thus making it automatic, a self-propelling stream, which SOUTH AMERICA PUNT A ARENAS. will continue as long as the world stands. This is the 26th day of February, one of the last days of summer here, cor- responding with the last days of August in our latitude, and this ice and snow now in sight will be mostly carried over until another year, and who can tell how many years yet to come. We had a whole day of this grandest of scenery. Although we took breakfast and lunch, we begrudged the time so spent, and shall recall the day with the greatest of pleasure all our lives. PUNTA ARENAS \Ye anchored at Punta Arenas about nine o'clock at night, and the next morning, early, took small boats and went ashore for a few hours to visit this little city of 12,000 population. It is unique in many respects, being situated on the extreme southern end of the continent of South America, and the most southerly city in the world. As this is their summer, the little city is at its best now, and the flow- ers are in bloom : really the place looks better than we had anticipated. There are some good residences, and a few sub- stantial business buildings, and some others being built; but there are many of the poor people living in houses built of corrugated iron, and on the whole the place has a rather deso- late appearance. There is not much competition with neigh- boring cities, as the nearest city of importance is about 1,500 miles distant. This is the only stopping place in this part of the world for ships, and a coaling station is maintained here. Fortunately, there is a coal mine back in the mountains a few miles, and a small railroad is built to bring the coal down. There is a good pier, built several hundred feet out in the channel, where small ships may receive and discharge cargo, but ships of ordinary size must anchor a short distance out. 75 SOUTH AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA PUNTA ARENAS The temperature in Punta Arenas is 60 degrees today, Feb- ruary 27th, 1911, and it seldom gets higher, but in the winter it is frequently 10 degrees below zero, with much snow. \Ye went star-gazing last night, and the "Southern Cross" is al- most directly overhead ; the stars seem brighter here than we have seen them. The "Milky Way" is very bright, and ex- tends entirely across the sky, from the horizon on the north, to the horizon on the south, and Jupiter looks as large as a baseball. The moon lies far to the north, and its crescent is open to the north. Those who live always in the north lati- tudes have only seen the moon's crescent open towards the south. The sun at mid-day lies away to the north. Summer here is winter in our northern home everything, seasons, sun, moon and stars are turned around ; we cannot get accus- tomed to it. The chief industry in this part of the world is sheep raising, and some large fortunes have been made in this business. There is good grass in the small valleys between the mountains and on the lower mountain sides, so that the sheep live by grazing all the year round. The quality of these flocks is the best; the wool and mutton high grade. This wool is shipped in bales, and the mutton may be delivered in frozen carcass to any part of Europe in the best condition. On leaving Punta Arenas we had several hours of sailing before getting out of the strait and into the Atlantic ocean. On this part of the strait the country is very flat and low. almost on a level with the sea, but there is some grass grow- ing on these low lands, and there are large cattle and sheep ranches on them. At several places along this eastern coast there are abattoirs, or slaughter houses, where the cattle and sheep are made ready for the market, and shipped almost di- rect from the pasture to Europe no expense for railway. These growers of wool, mutton and beef can undersell the American product, and still make a large profit, but their meat cannot be as good quality as our corn-fed animals. The fish in these cold southern waters are excellent. \Ye ate "Sea- Spiders." and their meat was better than lobster. They are SOUTH AMERICA RIO JANEIRO something like the lobster, and evidently of the lobster family, but are more hideous and repulsive in appearance, similar to a great big spider that would weigh fifteen pounds. This morning we saw four large whales playing in the sea, not far from our steamer, and we have seen a few seals. There are plenty of sealskins for sale in Punta Arenas, but the United States customs prohibits their entry, we did not purchase. This is the home of the albatross, but we did not see any, as it is probably their hatching season, and they are nesting on shore. RIO JANEIRO On the morning of March nth, 1911. we were called early to see the entrance of the harbor of Rio Janeiro. It is called in this part of the world "Reo." As we had so often been told of this beautiful harbor, we made haste to go on the hurricane deck to view the scene. The sun was just rising, and throwing a hazy mellow light over the sea, and the mountain cliff. \Ye were soon at the "Entrada," which is guarded by two granite mountains, one on each side. These mountains, 1200 to 1500 feet high, are so rugged and steep that no vegetation can grow on them, and form a natural defense to the entrance of the harbor. The channel through which we entered is one mile wide, water very deep. On either side are many big guns ready to call a halt on any craft that is not satisfactory to Brazil. As our mission was entirely peaceful we entered without challenge, and passed near the two largest Brazilian battleships which were lying just inside the harbor, and we were soon at anchor in the central part of this great port. \Ye took a launch for transfer from our ship to the shore. On the way we sailed past the army barracks which were bombarded by the sailors of the Si SOUTH AMERICA N g O 5n O (D 51-1 P 5 O G tJ o SOUTH AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA RIO JANEIRO articles for sale included the octopus, or devil fish, also many small rat-like animals with monkey face, called Marmosets. They are a species of monkey, about the size of a small kit- ten, and have a monkey, or human face in appearance, with feet shaped like human hands; they are very timid, and will nestle in your pocket if you give them an opportunity. There was also a fine assortment of larger monkeys, about a foot tall, like those carried around in America by the organ grinder. All these are natives of Brazil, and are found in the jungles in this section ; there were also many kinds of birds with bright plumage, including most beautiful parrots, as well as a great variety of everything that can be used for food. The light and power company of Rio Janeiro, owned by United States and Canadian stockholders, have a large and valuable property here. They own all the street railways in the city and have covered the principal streets with their tracks, except those Avenidas that are reserved entirely for carriages and automobiles. They also control the car lines to the nearby mountain resorts, furnish all the electric lights in this city, and own the city gas light plant. They charge 200 Reis, equaled to seven cents, for a short ride. If you go a little farther, they charge 400 Reis. and if still a little farther, they charge 800 Reis, so that some of the long rides cost from 64 to 96 cents, gold. They are continually adding to their lines, and are now putting up a large office building for their own use. All their power is made by water power several miles out in the mountains, and they have more than twice the power that is now in use. \Yhile their ordinary labor is the native help, and a few of their foremen and of- fice force are Brazilians, most of their employees, where ability is required, are from the United States or Canada. The man- agement is altogether from the United States and Canada, and most of their office force also. As we were going up the mountain to the International Hotel, we met two young men who were clerks in the Light and Power Company office; when they learned that we were Americans they were de- 101 SOUTH AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA ROCK CAVERN ON MOUNTAIN TUJUCA. Near Rio Janeiro, Brazil. RIO JANEIRO lighted to talk with us, as they were homesick. I asked one of them where he was from, he said Hannibal, Missouri; this is a great state, and has her sons scattered in many parts of the earth. Rio has a great many handsome public buildings, among the most beautiful is the Municipal Opera House, com- pleted two years ago at a cost of three and one-half million dollars, gold. The new public library, also treasury building, all located on Avenida Central, would do credit to any capitol in the world. The City of Rio Janeiro is located 22 1 /*> degrees south of the equator, has a population of 900,000, Portu- guese, Indians and Negroes, is growing rapidly, and by many it is called the most beautiful city in the world. In driving or walking one may turn, in passing, either to the right or left, both are proper and correct in Brazil. The street num- bers are all even on one side, and odd on the other; I was looking for number 76, Avenida Central, and supposed when I came to number 77, it would be directly across the street, but such is not the case, as I found number 76 about two blocks farther down the street. That is the peculiar way they have of numbering their buildings ; each building has a num- ber without regard to the street front, and the odd numbers are not always opposite the even numbers ; it is just the peculiar Portuguese way of numbering houses. Rio has more delight- ful summer resorts close at hand than any other place we have visited. The streets, all parks, Central and suburbs, are kept remarkably clean, and the sidewalks in the central part of the city are many of them laid with mosaic in-laid tile, quite ex- pensive, and very beautiful. There are several short railway lines that run out from Rio from 100 to 300 miles, and one which runs to Sao Paulo, about 500 miles. These should bring much commerce to Rio Janeiro, as the country is very fertile, but the land back a few miles is as yet mostly a tropical jungle, and requires great effort and well directed labor to clean it up, but when that is done it will blossom like the rose. One great obstacle to railroad building and manufacturing is the lack of coal; there is no coal in this part of Hraxil. and 105 SOUTH AMERICA BAHIA but little in any part of South America on the east coast. All the coal we saw was imported from England, and the timber in all the tropics is not suitable to make lumber for building purposes, being mostly small trunks, about the right size for railroad ties, and many times 100 feet tall. It is valuable for making dye woods and for mahogany furniture; also for making charcoal, which is the only fuel used here for cooking. \Ye have seen scarcely any trees large enough to be called saw timber in any part of South America. BAHIA. This city was founded by the Portuguese in 1549. The correct name of the city is Sao Salvador, and it was the first capital of Brazil, situated thirteen degrees south oi the equa- tor; it is always summer time, population 260.000, and 90 per cent of them are negroes, or mixed blood. The harbor is a wide bay open to the sea, and although it was very calm the day we entered, we think it would be a poor harbor in a storm. Viewed from our steamer, it looked like a beautiful city, as warehouses and heavy business is located along the sea level; this part of the city is called "Low Bahia." The greater part of the city is built on an elevation of about 200 feet, and is called "High Bahia" ; elevators are located at convenient points and take us up for 100 Reis, or about three cents for the trip. \Ve called at Bahia on Sunday, as that was the only day our steamer would remain in port, and took a long street car ride over the entire city and suburbs. It was in fact the only means of transportation in the city, as there are but four automobiles here, and no carriages to be seen in the place ; no doubt there are a few carriages in Bahia, but we were on the street several hours and did not see one. 10; SOUTH AMERICA STREET SCENE, BAHIA, BRAZIL. BAHIA By legal regulation no man can ride in the street cars here unless he wears a coat; as the weather was very warm, some of our passengers carried their coats on their arms and were required to put them on or leave the car. One boy, about fourteen years old, in our party, had left his coat on the steamer and had his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows, he was forced to leave the car, as he had no coat ; we had never heard of a rule enforced so strictly, but it is no doubt a good rule for Bahia. The donkey and mule are used as pack animals to carry all sorts of merchandise. There are 300 churches in the city, and it is the most strict Sabbath observ- ing place we were ever in. Every business house in the central part of the city was closed, except the butcher shops; we saw many places open for the sale of meat. Out in the suburbs it was quite different, as that part of the population seem to use the Sabbath as a general wash day, and a large part of the hills were covered with laundry spread out to dry. Quite a large portion of the population are negroes, who live in the poorest kind of tumble-down shacks, without floors, and have very little clothing, and that very inferior and rag- ged; this part of the people are the kind who will not work unless they are forced by hunger to do so. When Bahia was first occupied by Portuguese they proceeded to make the na- tive Indians their slaves ; the Jesuit fathers had been teaching these Indians and had converted many of them, having great influence over them; they objected to the Portuguese plan of forcing them into slavery. Thereupon, the master Portu- guese proceeded by force to import the African negro into Bahia as slaves; the climate suits the negro, and he has mul- tiplied much faster than any other class. These slaves were liberated by law in 1888, without war or turmoil, By Dom Pedro II. They have so increased in numbers that Bahia will forever be a negro state ; the Portuguese have no race prejudice, and there is no color line in Bahia, everything seems to run along smoothly, without regard to race, color or pre- 109 SOUTH AMERICA BAHIA vious condition of servitude. \Ye visited the San Francisco Cathedral, which is over 300 years old, and said to be the richest church in South America ; it is quite similar to many of the churches in Spain, but has more gilded carving than any other church we ever saw. Extraordinarily ornate, the cloister is panelled all around an inside square, with pictures of the Saints, and others, in blue tile; the confessional is fin- ished in walnut, elaborately carved. The San Francisco fath- ers are very proud of their cathedral, and took much pleas- ure in showing our party around. The principal crop in this section is tobacco. The value of this product is about twenty- five million per year; a great many Bahia cigars are made here, of fairly good quality, and much tobacco is exported to Europe. The oranges grown here never get yellow, but are green in color when they are ripe; they are very large and fine flavor, and the bananas are the best we have had in South America. We did not learn how much cotton is raised in this section, but there are twelve cotton mills here, some of them large; they have a combined capital of five million dollars. There are three lines of railway running out from Bahia 200 or 300 miles, which makes some business for the city, but it does not look prosperous; in general, the public build- ings have an old and worn appearance, and lack of paint. The public parks are not kept up in tidy appearance. Most of the streets in the suburbs are not paved ; that may not make much difference, as they apparently do not use wheeled vehicles. Just near the landing where we disembarked is a beautiful little park with the residence of a government official in the rear, and a very high monument in front for Dom Pedro TI. who was the greatest emperor of Brazil, and reigned fifty- eight years, or until the government was made a Republic. In the last years of his reign the slaves were liberated. i i i SOUTH AMERICA PARA. On the morning of March 24th, 1911, when we stepped out on the promenade deck, we found the Blucher slowly nos- ing her way up stream on the great Amazon river. This branch of its several mouths is known locally as the Para river. As there was no land in sight we should have thought we were in the wide ocean had it not been for the dark muddy color of the water, which plainly indicated that we were on the Amazon. After a few hours we came to the light-ship and halted long enough to take on a pilot, as the mud and sand which filled the water are continually making small islands and sandbars and so changing the channel that it re- quires a pilot who is every day on this stream, to keep a ship from running aground. As we could not see land we guessed that this arm of the river may have been fifty to seventy-five miles wide. After steaming some distance up the river we discovered the large island of Marajo on our starboard side, as large as some of the small states of our union ; a few miles further up the river and we began to see in the distance the low flat mainland of Brazil. At this time the temperature was eighty, and the humidity very great. The sky was cov- ered with dense dark clouds ; drizzling rain was falling and the mist so filled the air it was hard to tell whether we were breathing air or water. \Ye were sailing in such a mixture of water and earth that one could not readily determine how much of earth there was in this water, or how much of water there was in this earth. In fact, the component parts of our firmament at this point were in solution, and relative propor- tions not determined. It reminded us of that time of the creation of the earth when the scriptures tell us that the earth was without form. Indeed, it is still forming here, as new islands are being continually made and the mainland increased by the loads of earth in solution which flows down the great A ma /.on. For eighty miles we were guided up stream by our river pilot to the city of Para, which we reached near night SOUTH AMERICA PARA in a deluge of rain. This we were told, however, should be called only a drizzle, as the regular rains for the season have not yet begun. This is the land where the mosquito thrives to the greatest proportions. However, our usual good luck attended us, and we did not see, hear or feel a mosquito while on our steamer, for which we were duly thankful. We were anchored three miles off from the city, and possibly had not been found by Mr. Mosquito, who has the credit of inocu- lating unwilling victims with the yellow fever. This is prob- ably the originating place of this dread pestilence, and there is hardly ever a time when there is no yellow fever here. A member of our party was taken suddenly ill four days after leaving Para, and we were much relieved when she recovered without having the yellow fever. Para, or Belem, which is the local name of the city, is the capital of the state of Para, has a population of 200,000, Portuguese and Indians, and is situated one degree south of the equator. The next morning the sun was shining and we were sticky and hot when we went ashore; some new stone docks have been recently con- structed, and more are being built; also several large dock warehouses of corrugated iron are located here. The ship- ping is not great at present, as there were only a few vessels in port; it is not the active shipping season for rubber. This port ships out thirty-nine million dollars' worth of crude rub- ber per annum, while Manaos, which is further up the river, exports forty-five million dollars' worth of crude rubber per annum, both together do nearly all the crude rubber exporta- tion from Brazil, and our United States takes over half of their exports. The city is nearly flat, as is all the surrounding country, and is nearly 300 years old. The great impetus of the rubber trade in recent years has benefited Para, and many city improvements have been and are now being in- stalled. Electric street railway lines cover the most import- ant streets, electric lights and telephones are in general use; water pipes and sewer pipes are being laid ; a fine new rail- way station is nearing completion : there are many automo- SOUTH AMERICA o O3 H H H PARA biles, and a few carriages; the old city is being rejuvenated. Most of the buildings have a mossy and mouldy look, caused by an over abundance of rain; vegetation of all kinds has a rank and tropical growth here. We never saw so many streets covered with grass, yet business is brisk in the central sec- tion for a tropical city. The streets in the central part are being paved with granite blocks, and the outlying districts are not generally paved at all. The buildings in the central part are two or three stories, with many beautiful parks, while the suburbs are the poorest kind of tumble-down shacks. The people seem to have plenty of employment, and look healthy and strong; the infants usually go entirely naked until six or eight years old. The parents do not provide clothing for the little children until they know whether they will live; of course, there are many exceptions to this rule in the city. There were eleven children looking at us from two windows, and the clothing on the whole lot would not fill the pocket of one of our school boys in our United States. Fruit and flow- ers are very plentiful, and the markets filled with native products, monkeys and parrots of endless variety, size and quality were offered for sale continually, and many of our passengers bought, and are taking them home. We have quite a collection of monkeys and parrots on board, bound for the United States. As we left Para and sailed down the river the sun was shining and gave us a fine view of the country residences which are located along the shore for many miles. There are very pretty homes, with wide grass plats around them; beautiful palm trees and a wealth of tropical verdure of all kinds, the darkest green we have ever seen, with gravel drives and walks, and usually a small boat pier to each resi- dence made the most entrancing scenery. Further down the banks were solidly covered with the largest tropical trees and almost impenetrable jungle, for the greater part never ex- plored by white man or Indian, where all kinds of tropical animals, birds and serpents flourish in their native state, without fear of molestation by man. 1 17 SOUTH AMERICA FERN TREES, BOTANICAL GARDEN, RIO JANEIRO, BRAZIL. BRAZIL. Taking this country as a whole, it has a larger area than the United States, not including Alaska, and a population of twenty millions, lying almost entirely in the tropics. By reason of its geographical position, being such a hot country, it has been very slow to fill with population. The weather is generally too debilitating to encourage a white man to make his home here. Discovered by Pedro Alveras Cabral, a Portuguese, April 22nd, 1500, only eight years later than the date when Columbus discovered America, compared with United States, progress has been very slow. In Bahia where the people are almost entirely negroes, they will increase in numbers rapidly, as this climate is suited to them. The coffee and rubber industries, both of which have been recently won- derfully profitable, and which are admirably suited to Bra- zilian climate, have already given this country quite an impetus and no doubt will have considerable influence in peopling Brazil in future. The Brazilian Empire, taken as a whole, however, on account of the climatic conditions, is so far in- ferior as a home for the white man who has been reared in the temperate zone, that there is not the slightest prospect of our country becoming depopulated by immigration thither. Still it is one of the most interesting places for a visit, as nearly everything in this wonderful country is so very different from our own fair land, the people and their customs being all new and strange to us. The Brazilians have a very friendly feeling for the United States, and well they may have, as they sell us nearly half of their exports, and our commercial relations are likely to become even more intimate in the fu- ture. As United States becomes more densely populated, very likely a part of the overflow of population from Europe, which has been coming to us may be turned to South America and cause that country to increase or develop more rapidly than theretofore. As a nation our United States are growing rapidly in the manufacturing of nearly all classes of merchand- 119 SOUTH AMERICA BRAZIL ise, and will soon need a foreign demand to keep our factories going. With this in view, our congress should subsidize steamers to carry our mails direct to all South American neighbors; also we should cultivate by every means in our power, the most friendly relations with them. We have, under the Monroe doctrine shielded them from foreign invasion for a century, yet some of these southern Republics still have an idea that we want some of their territory. We should treat them so generously that they will change that idea and believe what is true, that we want none of their territory, but we do want their trade. 121 WEST INDIES WEST INDIES WEST INDIES ST. THOMAS On February 2/th, 1909, we sailed for a month's cruise in the West Indies. Our first stop was St. Thomas, a Danish possession in the tropics. The weather was like July in the United States, we suffered with the heat even after changing to our thinnest summer clothing. This little harbor is very pretty, being almost surrounded by land. It is always quiet and deep enough for large ships. Our steamer anchored about a half mile from the shore, as there are no piers or docks here. The town lies in a semi-circle around the harbor and presents a beautiful appearance from the sea; the population is about ten thousand, but does not look so large; houses mostly built of cement and painted white with red tile roofs. In the central or business section the buildings are generally two stories, while the residences are one story and poor at that. This was the home of sea pirates in days when that profession was lucrative, and the most prominent landmarks in the city are two pirate castles which are built on the tops of two high hills. The Blue Beard castle is nearest the harbor entrance about two hundred and fifty feet above sea level. The castle itself is a square stone building with a tower which has a winding stair-case rising forty-six steps. We climbed to the top and were rewarded with a delightful view over the harbor and the city. This castle was built so long ago there is no history of the builders or early occupants, but the location was well chosen and the pirate chief could view the ocean for some miles and judge the strength of all craft coming into the harbor. The other, called Black Beard's castle, is built on a side hill above the central part of the city, a very well chosen home for the pirate, as he could view every ship before she came to anchor, 125 WEST INDIES BLUE BEARD'S CASTLE, ST. THOMAS. PORTO RICO and decide whether he wished to be at home to callers or not. This pirate was called Black Beard because he wore a long black beard, but his real name was Ed Teach ; he had the reputation of being a fighter and a terror to the ships which frequented these waters two hundred years ago. Indeed he became such a menace to ships sailing West India waters that the Governor of Virginia offered a reward of one hund- red pounds sterling for his capture. A Yankee sea captain named Maynard had an encounter with Teach and during the melee the pirate accidently got in the way of a bullet and was killed, and thus ended the career of a noted bad man. The people of St. Thomas are a mixture of Negro, Danes, French and Spaniards, the amalgamation has been going on for three hundred years, and now their color ranges all the way from jet black to white; their language is Danish and English, both being taught in their schools, and there is apparently no race prejudice among them, all colors and kinds associating on a brotherly equality. SAN JUAN, PORTO RICO. We landed in the harbor of San Juan, Porto Rico, on March 4th, 1909. This is one of the most beautiful and fertile islands in the West Indies ; it was handed to us by Spain in 1898. The harbor is fine and well protected from storms, but is not deep. A government dredge is now con- tinuously in use to make it deep enough for the largest ships. The city of San Juan is situated on the north side of the island, and is the capital, and the governor, with his force of assistants and the United States troops, are located there. It is a walled city of forty thousand population, and most of the old walls are standing; they were built of stone, brick and cement about three hundred years ago and are not easy 127 PORTO RICO to tear down. Old Fort Moro, which guards the entrance to the harbor, is very strong", and occupies a commanding situation on a hill one hundred and fifty feet high just at the harbor entrance, which is not more than a half mile wide at this point. We obtained permission from the commanding general, and inspected the fort; it is well worth the time and labor to see this ancient and massive fortification ; the walls are as solid and strong today as ever. We Americans think we know something about the use of cement and concrete, but these cement walls, which are not steel reinforced, were built three hundred years ago, and will stand for one thous- and years to come, and then require dynamite to knock them down. Admiral Sampson threw a few shells into this old fort when he was hunting for the Spanish fleet, but did not do much damage; he knocked out one corner of the wall on the sea side and did a little damage on the inside, but so little that it has not been found necessary to repair it. We climbed to the top and the view from that point is certainly fine, over the harbor and city. We had thought we would take a few shots at the old fort ourselves, but the soldier in charge at the gate requested us to leave our kodak outside, and on this account we regret we cannot show our friends photos of the inside of "Old Moro." The city inside of the walls is entirety built of brick, stone and cement, walls very heavy and thick. The houses from one to four stories, streets about twenty feet wide, sidewalks two or three feet wide, and the same style of architecture as Cadiz and Seville, Spain, and reminds us much of these two cities. San Juan is built on the hills, streets paved with brick, looks very clean and is a healthy place. We took a ride in a railway train out fifteen miles to a sugar refinery. This part of the island is pleasantly undulating and covered with fields of sugar cane, pine apples, bananas, and dotted here and there with Palm trees, from twenty to forty feet high, altogether making a beautiful landscape. The crop of sugar cane now being harvested is said to yield well, although the 129 WEST INDIES WEST INDIES WEST INDIES WEST INDIES PORTO RICO cane stalks are not as large as we have seen elsewhere. This sugar cane land is held at a very high price; the sugar busi- ness is increasing and no doubt very profitable. The Porto Rican population as it is today is a mixture of the negroes who were brought here centuries ago as slaves, and Spanish blood; they range in color all the way from black to white, but usually about copper color or a shade darker. They are fairly good day laborers, and their pay is about 50 cents per day ; they do not as a usual thing work while they have money. If they can supply their wants by working four days a week that is all the work they will do, and when they get their wages will not work again until they have spent it. They live in very poor houses or huts, in the country, built of a few poles covered with banana leaves for a roof, and many times when that roof is worn in holes they do not take the trouble to repair it. The huts are built on posts two or three feet above the ground to give free air circulation under them, making it cooler and more healthy. They use almost no fire at all, the little cooking they have is done with charcoal ; no fire is used for heat in these huts. and in fact very little is needed. They are a mild mannered, pleasant speaking people, not given to contention and not hard to govern. The only soldiers now in the island are eight hundred native Porto Ricans; they are dressed in khaki uniforms and are proud to be soldiers in the United States army. As a general thing the people are greatly pleased to be tinder the United States rule rather than under the old regime of Spanish authority ; and still there are some that are discontented and want all the governing power left to the natives. At present their laws are made by two houses, the lower, or representative body, is elected by popular votes of the people: the upper house is appointed by our President. five being Porto Ricans and six Americans. The highest federal officers in the island are appointed as the six Ameri- can representatives. All the taxes are used for the benefit of the people. After the governing expenses are paid, the '35 JAMAICA balance is spent in building wagon roads throughout the island. The United States Government does not get any of the taxes, so that they have about all now that they could in justice ask. There are many people from the United States located here in business and farming. This influx gives an air of prosperity to the whole island. Quite a city has been built outside the walls, on the main land ; these houses are light frame structures, similar to many cheap homes which we see in the United States. The Swift Packing Company and other mercantile interests from the United States are located in San Juan, but the city is still Spanish in all respects and very little English is spoken, except by the children and very young people, and those who have located here from the United States. In the shops or stores usually one clerk will speak English, and that not fluently, but the Americans have established public schools almost everywhere, American teach- ers are employed, Spanish and English languages are taught, and probably in fifty years the English will be generally in use. We were much pleased with Porto Rico, and if we had a good American cook, with pleasant company, would like to camp out a month here, visiting the whole island. JAMAICA. We arrived at Kingston March /th, 1909, and took a train at once for Port Antonio, eighty-five miles across the low mountain range to the Xorth Coast. This railway is well built, but the country is so mountainous it was very expensive to build. There are thirty-five tunnels on the line and the temperature in them is very hot and suffocating: time, four hours for the railway trip. On the north side of the island, the whole country is covered with banana fields and cocoa- nut palms, on mountain side and plain, everywhere is the 137 WEST INDIES KINGSTON banana; the trees in many fields average fifteen feet high. This part of the island, which is devoted to fruit growing, is quite prosperous. The United States Fruit Company, an American corporation, who own many thousand acres of banana fields, run a line of steamers direct from Port An- tonio to New York to transport their fruit. One would think there are enough bananas grown here to supply the whole world. ^ r e found the Hotel Titchfield most desirable; it is splendidly situated on a small peninsula, at the entrance of the harbor, on a hill about one hundred feet above the sea, and has three sides facing the water. It is a large frame structure, size about four hundred by one hundred feet, four stories, with large commodious rooms, an elevator, a wide summer veranda, a large ball room and an excellent band which plays twice a day, also a good swimming place in the harbor; the grounds have beautiful royal palms, cocoanut palms and tropical flowers in profusion ; an ideal hotel to tempt the tourist to remain for an indefinite time. KINGSTON. The capital, population claimed sixty thousand, is situated on the south side of the island and has fine large harbor, deep enough for our steamer, which draws twenty-five feet, to come alongside the dock. This is the largest city and the most important shipping point on the island, situated on level ground, with the mountains in the background, the effect is pleasing. The earthquake two years ago nearly destroyed the business section, and it will be many years before it will be completely rebuilt. l*p to the present time comparatively little rebuilding has been done and man blocks lie in ruins WEST INDIES COCOA TREE, WITH A GOOD CROP OP COCOA BEANS. JAMAICA. KINGSTON as they were left after the destructive quake. Nearly every church in the city was destroyed. The residences suffered little, as most of them are built of wood. The shops or small stores are doing business in many cases in improvised build- ings and hope to get back in their old quarters sometime. Some parties are now rebuilding, using the reinforced con- crete style of construction, which may be able to withstand future shocks, but we think such a quake as destroyed King- ston would ruin almost anything which man could build. The climate in Jamaica is very mild and it is a pleasant place for the people of the United States to spend the winter; usual temperature about eighty degrees and rather humid, rainfall eighty-seven inches per annum ; the winter is their dry season. There are many well macadamized graded roads in the island, two thousand miles in all. and the seeker for pleasure will find the automobile a first class method of visit- ing the whole island; there are plenty of automobiles for hire in Kingston. The island has belonged to England since Cromwell took it from the Spanish about two hundred and fifty years ago. The population are mostly negroes, and there are more full-blooded black negroes here than we have seen in the other West India Islands we have visited. The English do not seem to amalgamate as readily with the negroes as the Spanish. The Jamaican negro is a better worker than the Spanish-Negro mixture of Porto Rico. The negroes run the railway trains, street cars, drive carriages, are clerks in stores. work at the trades, work on the plantation; in fact they occupy nearly all the places in all lines of labor and business. The pilot who took our ship out of the harbor was a negro. The English own most of the business firms and banks. The Pank of Novia Scotia is about completing a very fine build- 141 WEST INDIES APPULET PALM, JAMAICA. WEST INDIES KINGSTON, JAMAICA. After the Cocoanuts. WEST INDIES KINGSTON ing in Kingston. Many Americans are also engaged in business on the island, also some Chinese and East Indians. There are some cattle in the island, and most of the heavy work is done by oxen, with a straight yoke tied to their horns. Goats are seen almost everywhere, kept for their milk; they are small, not more than half as large as those raised in the United States. The horses used here are similar to the Porto Rican ponies, or the Philippine ponies, small, not more than half the size of our horses and generally in poor flesh, as they do not get enough to eat. The products of Jamaica are anything that can be grown in the tropics : We saw a few patches of Indian corn growing on the mountains, but their principal products are sugar, rum, coffee, pimento, cocoa, cocoanuts, bananas and dye woods. We saw many logwood trees growing in the mount- ains. There is one large Banyan tree in the public park in Kingston which covers with its spreading branches more than a quarter of an acre of ground, very thick with foliage. There is an excellent line of street cars in Kingston, which extends several miles out in the country. One line runs to the Constant Springs Hotel, six miles out; this is the only good hotel which Kingston has at present, very finely located about seven hundred feet above sea level on the mount- ain side. English money is the currency used in Jamaica, but they are all glad to take American money and will allow a prem- ium of two per cent on it in most of the stores. It is not necessary to provide yourself with English money when going to Jamaica, as you will get along all right if you have plenty of American money. '45 WEST INDIES PANAMA CAXAL \Ye arrived at Colon March, loth, 1909, and immediately took a train for Panama and spent one day visiting in the canal zone. Nearly everyone who reads, knows more or less about the Panama Canal, and the impressions made by a visit of one day to this stupendous work may not be of much importance to the public, and in fact we may not tell any- thing which has not already been many times told. Still the most of us would like to have the opportunity of one day's visit here and would think we knew more about this work after a day's visit. The Panama Railway, which is owned and operated by the United States Government, as almost everything else in the canal zone, is fifty miles long from Colon to Panama, and follows near the proposed line of the canal. It is a well built road and well operated, was built fifty years ago and came into the possession of the United States with the pur- chase of the canal rights from the French government. It is literally strewn from one end to the other with old cast-away locomotives, grading machinery, light railway iron, and an immense amount of old scrap iron junk, which was in use by the French, but lay idle for ten years after the failure of the French company and was worthless when we bought the canal rights. The railway itself was kept up and operated by the French until we took the property, as it is the only connec- tion between Panama and Colon for transportation of pas- sengers and freight. The United States Ciovernment has 147 PANAMA CANAL recently decided to use crude oil for fuel on the railway and canal machines, and have laid a pipe line alongside of the railway, so that they can readily pipe oil to all parts of the work. We think this is a wise move, for the coal which is used here must all come from the United States, or England, and is much more expensive for fuel, in this locality, than oil. As the United States has decided to build a lock canal, a large part of this road will have to be rebuilt, as the present line will be flooded by the lake which will be formed by darning the Chagres river; in fact, this change is now being made, and a large part of the new railway line has already been constructed. We stopped at the Gatun dam, which is only seven miles out from Colon, for a view of the work in course of con- struction. The newspaper talk which has been spread broad- cast in the United States, about this dam settling, is no doubt pure fiction, as the dam will be no more likely to settle than the surrounding hills which will also operate as a dam for many miles. The plan is to dam the Chagres river so as to raise the water eighty-five feet. This lift is to be over- come by three sets of locks, twenty-eight and a half feet lift to each set of locks. The dam will form an artificial lake from forty-five to ninety feet deep covering an area of one hundred sixty- four square miles, and will form twenty-three miles of the canal, from Gatun Locks to the Culebra Cut. This cut, which is near the Panama end, will be nearly nine miles long and about two hundred feet deep at the point where the hills are highest. This immense excavation is well under way. The material to be removed is a formation of blue shale rock, and while WEST INDIES PANAMA CAXAL not very hard to remove, still it is rock and has to be blasted and broken up in chunks small enough to be handled by the steam shovels. After the cut is passed, we come to the site of the two Pedro Migual Locks and the two Mira Flores Locks, where boats will be dropped down to the sea level at the Pacific end. After passing over this line and seeing the tremendous amount of work that will be required, we do not think there is any doubt but that it is the greatest undertaking ever essayed by man : at least we do not know of any such gigantic work heretofore accomplished. \Yhen it will be completed and at what cost is largely conjecture: for instance, the eminent French engineers under DeLesseps estimated a sea level canal to cost one hundred sixty-nine million dollars, and after ex- pending two hundred and sixty million dollars failed and sold their rights to the United States, for forty million dollars. When our engineers took up the work, they had in consulta- tion for examination, estimates and advice, the most learned and experienced engineers of the world, and estimated the cost at two hundred fourteen million, seven hundred and five thousand, two hundred dollars, and now it is admitted by the engineers in charge of the work that it will probably cost three hundred and seventy-five million dollars; so much for the ability of the wisest men in this line of work, to forecast the cost. The United States have done a great amount of work in getting things ready. They have built sanitary houses for the officers and workmen along the whole line; really have built several young cities. The houses are built of wood, elevated a few feet from the ground, allowing free ventilation under the buildings, a veranda perhaps ten feet wide all around the house and all this veranda screened to keep out mosquitos and flying insects, as there are very few WEST INDIES PANAMA CANAL flies in the Canal Zone. The roof extends several feet over all. The buildings are painted dark blue with white trim- mings, and are almost always located on a side hill where the drainage is best. This excellent plan of construction, with the rigid sanitary laws in force both in Panama and Colon, as well as all along the line, will come as near making the canal zone a healthy place as possible. The laborers now employed in the canal work are Ja- maica Negroes who are paid fifteen cents per hour, and there seems to be more of them than any other kind. Next in number are the Spaniards, who are paid twenty cents an hour, and it is claimed are the best laborers on the work. There are some Americans, who are generally bosses, some Italians and a few of many other nationalities. The commercial interests of the world and our naval interests demanded that this canal should be built, and it is perhaps our duty to do this stupendous work. Whether it should have been undertaken in this century, or deferred until the next, should have been a question for careful considera- tion. If we can complete and successfully operate this canal as now contemplated, at a cost of three hundred and seventy- five million dollars, and have it ready for actual use in 1915. as now claimed by the engineers in charge, we shall have done a work which perhaps could not be done by any other nation and for which the whole world will be under obligations to the United States. The City of Colon, which is on the Atlantic end of the canal, has a mixed population of about fifteen thousand. Houses are two stories, frame, and the best of them have been built by our I'ncle Sam as homes and boarding houses for the canal and railway employes. It gives one the im- '53 WEST INDIES ^ .- , . -, ^iVWWlSu^ ^gf^s^l?: . : -^ ^V"' /' >: ^*f-1!?^ ' * -' \ =* ^ : j\^ mr V ' vBV >1 ft !r V*i PANAMA CAXAL pression of a very rough and tough city, and not one which would be desirable as a place for a residence. The City of Panama is two hundred years old, was built by the Spanish, population forty thousand, mixed people from nearly every quarter of the globe; there are probably more Jamaica Negroes and Chinese than any other class. The buildings are of every kind of construction ; in the main business part are brick, plastered with cement, and usually two stories high with narrow streets, while the residence portion is built mostly of wood and of the cheapest possible construction. The United States Government has built a hotel here of three hundred rooms, light and airy and intended princi- pally as a place of residence for the canal officers and their families. This hotel is called "Tivoli," and is the only first class hotel in this part of the world ; we had luncheon there, and it was excellent. This is the only hotel that we know of that is owned and operated by Uncle Sam. The most important building in Panama is the Ancon Hospital, built by the French at a cost of five million dollars. The city is situated on low hills, which gives good opportunity for drainage, and with the strict sanitary laws now in force, will be much more healthy than heretofore. The population are of a low order, who herd together in poor quarters. As the city is only nine degrees north of the equator, it will require great care and vigilence by the sanitary officers to prevent epidemics such as are frequent in the tropics. The Pacific end of the canal is about four miles west of Panama at LaBoca. WEST INDIES LA GUAYRA After three days' delightful sailing, where the trade winds temper the heat, we arrived at the town of La Guayra, Venezuela, on the morning of March I3th, 1909. There is not much of a harbor here; it is simply a small bay, with nothing to prevent the heavy swells of the ocean from coining in, as they do nearly all the year. This part of the ocean is swept by the trade winds, which blow steadily six months of the year from the southeast. The water is deep, and the largest ships can anchor a half mile out. The town is built on the side of a mountain, four thous- and five hundred feet high, and approaching from the sea, the buildings look like toy houses. They are built of sun- dried bricks, with red tile roof, and not a tree or blade of grass near, which makes the place look very hot; indeed, it is said to be the hottest place on earth, but there was a nice breeze the morning we landed and we did not suffer from the heat. A small fort is located on the mountain a few hundred feet above the town. There is a Catholic church, and a Leper Hospital a short distance out. A fine large flour mill, which is not running now, is located in the city. This mill was put up under the Castro regime at a cost of fifty thousand dollars, by a Yankee miller from Minneapolis. At that time there was an import duty of two dollars per barrel on flour, and no duty on wheat. Since Castro has been deposed, the duty on flour has been removed, hence the mill must of necessity go out of business; it is said to be the property of Castro. The town is called the chief seaport of Venezuela, but is not of much importance. We went immediately from the steamer to the railway train which was waiting for us. and 157 WEST INDIES o fe o PQ cn P m P 02 CARACAS left for Caracas, the capital, six miles inland, but twenty-two miles railway travel is required to climb the mountains. The scenery on this railway is magnificent ; it is very mountainous and picturesque, many wonderful flowering trees and unusual plant life to us. The railway is a three foot gauge and the shortest curves have one hundred and forty feet radius ; quite a large part of the track is three and a half per cent grade. The highest point on the line is over three thousand feet, but the scenery is not as beautiful as the mountains of Switzer- land, as their mountains are usually green, while here there is scarcely a blade of grass or a green shrub, except in the bot- tom of the ravines. There is not enough green in these moun- tains to keep a goat, and generally they are too steep for a goat to climb. The train creeps around the sides of the mountains, always climbing, and frequently we could see three or four tracks beneath us. The railway trip from La Gauyra to Cara- cas is simply grand, and any one who cares for wild and rough scenery will be more than delighted with this trip. CARACAS. We arrived at Caracas at 3 :oo p. m., and after a good lunch at the Grand Hotel Klint, took a carriage to view the sights of the most interesting city of this interesting country. Caracas has a population of seventy-five thousand ; it is Spanish, and over three hundred years old. The streets are regularly laid out, twenty feet wide, and in the business sec- tion the buildings are all brick, plastered outside and inside with cement. The city lies in a very pretty valley, twelve miles long and three miles wide, a clean healthy location ; elevation three thousand and eighteen feet: the p.ir is light and refresh- ing. At night and in the early morning a light overcoat is comfortable. There are several beautiful city parks, and many fine 159 WEST INDIES VENEZUELA homes, with large grounds, filled with the most beautiful tropical flowers and shrubbery. This is their dry season, but the vegetation is irrigated and has plenty of water which makes the homes and parks beautiful. The Capitol buildings, situated in the central part of the city, are very imposing, and compare favorably with many in the United States. The hotels are small and of Spanish type, many of the rooms having no windows, only the door for light and air. The room which we occupied had only one window, about two feet square, and that was very near the ceiling and opened out on an inside hallway. These people do not have our ideas of fresh air for sleeping rooms. There are a great many retail stores or shops in Caracas, but they are usually very small ; the largest carry very small and inferior stocks of goods. The carriages here are drawn by two tough little Spanish horses, which usually go on the run. Most of the streets are paved with large cobble stones, and going over them on a gal- lop gives one a great shaking up. We went to a bull fight at night. The audience seemed to be much pleased, judging from the great applause; we saw five bulls tortured and wounded, and two killed ; also one woman bull-fighter dangerously injured. I am more fully convinced now, than ever before, that the bull fight is de- grading and vicious in its tendency, and should be prohibited bv law. VENEZUELA. Early the next morning we were off on a railway jour- ney to Puerto Cabello, a distance of two hundred miles, taking ten hours to make the trip, over the great Vene/uela railway, built by a (lermnn company, and the Puerto Cabello and Va- lencia railway. On this all day trip through the central part of this very interesting country \vc had a great opportunity WEST INDIES VENEZUELA to see the people and their ways, as well as the great railway line. There are eighty-six tunnels on this line, and two hun- dred and twelve iron bridges and viaducts. Two and a quar- ter miles of the road is eight per cent grade ; on this part there is a cog wheel in the middle of the track and a cog wheel in the engine, and the decline was very easily made, dropping us one thousand feet. Then there is four miles three and a half per cent grade, dropping us another eight hundred feet, and that is getting down to the sea level rapidly. The road is well built and trains good. A great part of the country is very mountainous and rough and the scenery is almost beyond description. We passed through three small valleys where the vege- tation under irrigation was very fine, but the mountainous country is barren and sterile, and no animals, except goats and burros could subsist, and they are generally in thin flesh. One valley contains the Lake of Tacarigua, a sheet of water about fifteen miles long and a half mile to three miles wide, a beau- tiful lake about two thousand feet above sea level. In this valley, which is fertile, we saw many good looking cattle, fine fields of sugar cane, bananas, some fields of cotton, and a lit- tle corn. On the sea coast a few miles west of Puerto Cabello is a forest of organ cacti trees of several hundred acres. These cacti trees are from ten to thirty feet high, a good strong tree, with trunks and many branches, but not a leaf. It is a dreary desert, and certainly looks uncanny. The native Venezuelans are a mixture of Spanish, Negro and Indians, a kind, laxy, easy going people, not given to much labor, and as a general thing are in the greatest poverty ; they need but few clothes, and the infants as a rule wear no clothing at all until they are three or four years of age. These '63 WEST INDIES TRINIDAD people are very prolific, children swarm everywhere, and in nearly every group will be seen one or more naked brown babies astride the mother's hips, or in her arms. The animals are principally goats and burros, and these hardy friends of man can live where other animals would starve, and for that reason are well adapted to the mountains of Venezuela. There are many birds of beautiful plumage offered for sale in cages at nearly all the railway stations, from the par- rot to the humming bird. We were well treated while in Venezuela, and had better fare than we expected ; in fact the meals were generally better than we had while in Spain, several years ago. The trip was made without great discomfort ; the tem- perature of course is high, and one making this trip should take the lightest summer clothing, at the same time a light overcoat for use in the evening and in the early morning. TRINIDAD. Port of Spain, with a population of sixty thousand, is the capital and principal city. The island of Trinidad, the most southerly of all the isles of \Yest Indies, is a British possession and has been held as a crown colony by that nation for more than one hundred years. While I do not especially wish to praise the English, it is certainly a fact that these colonies have been much benefited by English occupation. When compared with the Spanish colonies, which originally occupied nearly all of the West Indies, the English colonies are far superior, and the island of Trinidad is one example. We visited the Port of Spain, which is the principal town on Trinidad, and found it the best town in West Indies, ex- cept San Juan and Havana. The streets arc well laid out. WEST INDIES HAND-CAR LOADED WITH ASPHALT ON TROLLEY RUNNING TO STEAMER, TRINIDAD. TRINIDAD about forty feet wide. The business houses, usually two stor- ies, are built of brick, plastered inside and out with cement, and streets paved with asphalt. The city is clean, and usually healthy. We took a long carriage drive and had an excellent op- portunity to see the whole town. There is a large grass plat, called the Savannah, or Queen's Park, several hundred acres in extent, adjoining the city. It is a treat to the eye to see such a beautiful park, dotted with fine palm trees. This park is used by the public as a cricket ground, baseball, polo ground, and for all sorts of public amusements. Separated from it by a fine asphalt drive is the Botanical Garden, a de- light to the visitor. All kinds of tropical and spice trees are growing here, the cinnamon, pepper and clove : we had not seen a clove tree before; the cloves were just full grown, and maturing, and it is a beautiful tree. The nutmeg tree is also found here and looks very much like a small hickory tree. We saw many palm leaf trees all about the city. This is a beautiful palm tree, but quite different from any other kind of palm which we have seen, usually grows from ten to twenty feet high, with many spreading branches and wide leaves which look like palm leaf fans. Our drive took us past many elegant suburban residences with very handsome wide grounds with tropical trees and flowers. The houses are very tastefully built, and the gen- eral effect is very pleasing. Our drive took us out to a suburb called Coolie Town, which is occupied entirely by people from the East Indies. Their houses are of the cheap kind, and small, but quite com- fortable. This suburb lies along the sea coast for a mile or more. The whole of Coolie Town gives one a vivid impres- sion of East India. On our return drive we passed the Leper Hospital; it is large and airy, occupied by lepers, almost all of whom are from among the East Indian people. The stores in Trinidad are stocked with a better class of merchandise than we have seen in most other West Indian TRINIDAD cities, but to one accustomed to the large and varied stocks of merchandise carried in the United States, even the best of stores in West Indies are very inferior. When you go to West Indies don't anticipate buying any- thing, for you will not find the best quality, and the prices are as high as in the United States. The island of Trinidad is not so mountainous as Vene- zuela; there are many tracts where fine sugar cane fields and other crops are cultivated. In order to get labor to cultivate sugar crops the people from East India have been brought here on a five years' contract. The government guarantees the East Indians one shilling per day for five years, house room and medical attendance free, and pays one-third of the steamer fares, and the planter two-thirds; this makes it cost the sugar planter about forty cents per day for this Coolie labor. After the five years' contract they have their fare paid back to India, if they wish to return, and about one in five returns. There is usually about five boat loads or five thou- sand of these people brought here each year, and about one thousand return each year ; the result, after some years of this plan is, that there are now about one hundred thousand of these East India people who have become residents of the island. They still cling to their own style of dress, and one will see a good many of these people on the streets of the city, with legs thin and bare to the body, their only dress being white cotton cloth wrapped about their body in their own peculiar fashion. We saw many of their women with large silver or gold rings in their noses, the rings hang down over the mouth, and must be much in the way when eating or drinking. The harbor of Port of Spain is only a wide bay, the water shallow, about fifteen feet deep, for a long distance out. Our ship was compelled to anchor two miles out and send the pas- sengers to the wharf in small boats: this is very inconvenient when the sea is rough. The language of the island is English, the greatest nuni- loq. WEST INDIES TRINIDAD ber of the people are Negroes, called here Creoles, a small number of English, with a few Germans, French and Amer- icans constituting the population. Our steamer stopped two hours at the La Brea point, Trinidad island, for us to see the great Pitch Lake, from whence all the asphaltum comes, which is used to pave the streets of nearly, or quite every American city. This Pitch Lake is about one mile from shore, fifty feet above sea level, and has an area of one hundred and ten acres of asphalt ; it is apparently inexhaustible. As fast as it is dug out and re- moved it fills in again, and the shipping out of two hundred thousand tons per year does not diminish the amount. An American corporation has leased this asphalt lake, paying the Trinidad government ninety cents per ton royalty, and are making a fortune out of their lease. They have es- tablished an endless wire rope line from the lake to their loading dock, so that they simply dig out the asphalt in large chunks and load it into small iron cars, which run on the rope to the vessel, and are dumped, and the empty car is pulled back by the loaded car going down, the most economical way of handling this heavy material. It is of a coal tar nature, possibly coal in its formation period, although very different. The Trinidad government gets about fifty thousand dollars per year royalty from this Pitch Lake. On coming out of the Port of Spain harbor about six p. m. we sailed along the coast for two hours, viewing the scenery, which is beautiful, pronounced by some to be equal to that of the Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence. A great many people in the city have homes all along this coast. 171 WEST INDIES BARBADOS. We called at the island of Barbados, which is a colony of England, sometimes called "Little England." The natives are negroes, descendant from African stock, brought here as slaves centuries ago. There are a few half-bloods and quar- ter bloods, but they are mostly of pure African descent. The climate is so salubrious that they have multiplied greatly, and at present there is a population of over 200,000 on this small island of one hundred and sixty-six square miles of territory, about the most densely populated country on earth. It is warm and dry here during the winter months, and many with lung troubles come here during the season from the United States and England. There were one hundred and twenty boarders at the Marine Hotel when we were there, and some of them had been coming for several seasons. The harbor of Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados, where we landed is very poor, and cannot really be classed as a harbor, as it is only a shallow bay with a wide open side to the sea. For- tunately, this so-called harbor lies on the west side of the island, and the trade winds which prevail here regularly for six months of the year, always blowing from the southeast, blow over the island, which is low, and the water in the har- bor is usually calm. We anchored about a mile out and landed in small tenders. There was much shipping tied up to the wharf, mostly sail boats which trade with the adjacent islands. The central part of the city is compactly built of stone or brick, and the outskirts are the poorest kind of one-room shacks. We took a carriage and drove to the Governor's pal- ace, which is situated on a slight elevation. The palace is also the Governor's office, and a fort, as there are several cannons located in the front and rear. The soldiers are Ne- groes, recruited from the native population. From there we drove several miles across the island and passed many sugar '73 WEST INDIES SUGAR CANE MILL RUN BY WIND POWER. BARBADOS. BARBADOS plantations and cotton fields. The sugar cane is ground with the old fashioned Holland windmills, with huge arms forty feet long used for power. There are a great many of these quaint old windmills all over the island. The cotton fields are now in blossom and generally look like there would he a good crop. \Ye asked our coachman when they gathered the cotton; he replied, "when it is ripe." The principal crops are cane sugar, cotton and Xegro babies. The last seems to be the most prolific. These children go to school, as we saw many of their school rooms filled to overflowing. All study aloud in the Chinese fashion. They are the most polite colored people we have ever met, almost always bowing respectfully and say- ing, "good morning marster." They all speak English, and appear healthy, well fed and contented. In our drive across the island we passed many large and well built Villas which were vacant. The grass and weeds growing in what once were well-kept driveways. There is a general appearance of decline in the agriculture conditions. In a suburb of the city called "Belleville" are many quite pretty summer residences, with gardens well kept, and ornamented with that most beau- tiful of all tropical trees, the royal palm. ST. PIERRE, MARTIXIQt'K. We sailed close along the shore of Martinueque to view the ruins of the City of Saint Pierre, destroyed by the great volcano, Mt. Peele. One bright May morning, seven years ago, this prosper- ous city of thirty thousand souls, was destroyed by the gas and fumes of Mt. Peele. in a moment, putting to death in- stantly every individual in the city, except one. who was in a dungeon, in that part of the jail most distant from the volcano. The walls of the houses are still standing, but the WEST INDIES DOMINICA place today looks more like Pompeii, than any other place I know of; in fact, it looks more dreary, if anything, than Pompeii. It is not likely ever to be re-built. There are a few fishermen living there now. We saw one house which appeared to be habitable, as it had a new roof. There stands Mt. Peele, looking down on this desolated city, and still steaming and smoking ; it may have gas enough left to destroy another city. The steam and vapor made a cloud which hid the top of the mountain from us. There is a deep cut, or canal running all the way down from the peak to the sea, as wide as a street, and some places perhaps fifty feet wide, a channel made by lava flowing into the sea. The whole place gives one a shock on looking at it, as it brings the horrible tragedy so forcibly to the mind. The island of Martinique looks very prosperous and fer- tile in other parts, except that devastated by this great vol- cano. DOMINICA. Our ship made a short call at Roseau, the capital city of Dominica. The island has no harbor, but a small pier on the sea beach ; the ocean is deep at this place and ships come close in to the shore. The town claims six thousand popula- tion, all black or mulatto, speaking French Patio and Pigeon English. The island has been under the care of the English since 1/56. and while it is a pretty little island, it is not of much importance. \Ve went ashore for a few hours. There are a few good looking residences, a very good park and a botanical garden. As there was but one carriage in Roseau, and that was engaged before we could reach it. we walked a mile or two out to the small hills. The island of Dominica is noted as being the home of the "Last of the Caribs." They are the original Indians, which inhabited all of West Indies 177 WEST INDIES WEST INDIES STATUE OF rOU'.MWS. SANTO DOMINGO, WKST 1NDIKS. WEST INDIES '' SANTO DOMINGO before they were discovered by Columbus. There are only a few families of them left; they live near the south end of Dominica by themselves, and have but little communication with the other inhabitants of the island. They are fast dying off, and in a few years there will be none left to tell their sor- rowful tale. SANTO DOMINGO. On March 2Oth, 1909, we called at this, the oldest city of the Western Hemisphere, founded by Columbus in 1496. We saw the casket containing the body of Christopher Colum- bus. We also saw Christopher Columbus' body in the cathedral at Seville, Spain, about four years ago ; which place has the real body we could not guess. This is a walled city, built four hundred years ago. The wall is about twenty feet high, built for protection against the Indians ; the material is brick and mortar; most of it is standing today. The residence and fort built by Don Diego Columbus, son of Christopher, is on the city wall near where we landed, and is in good repair, con- sidering the age. The city is situated on the west bank of the Ozama river, which affords a quiet little harbor, for such ships as Columbus used, but is so shallow that ordinary steam- ers of the present day cannot get in, and we anchored out about two miles, going in with small tenders. Santo Domingo has about ten thousand population ; they are generally full blooded Negroes, but we saw few white, or but slightly mixed with African blood. This is a Negro republic, and has many so-called revolutions. The government is not of great sta- bility, though said to be very more stable and better in every way than the sister republic. Haiti. There is very little pro- gress shown here: in fact, the city is on the down grade. 181 WEST INDIES SANTIAGO cle CUBA Early in the morning of March 22nd, 1909, we sailed into the beautiful harbor of Santiago. \Ye had read much about this harbor, still we were surprised at the hidden appearance ; also the general beauty of the surroundings. Certainly if there had been no "Old Moro," fort on the hill we might have read- ily passed the inlet without suspecting that inside lay one of the best harbors, six miles long and three miles wide. The entrance is only six hundred feet wide ; on the right stands "Old Moro" Castle and fort arising two hundred feet above the sea. Looking straight into the harbor, after you have fairly entered, you see a hill in front of you, and apparently there is no way in. but slow down the engine and go cau- tiously, you will find a channel turning to the left, still you will have to go very carefully, as the channel again turns sharply to the right, with hills ahead one hundred feet high, or more. One passenger remarked "a boat should have hinges to go through this place," but one more turn and you are in the harbor of 'Santiago, a beautiful body of water, deep enough for any ship, and as calm as an inland lake, which it really is. The storms of the sea have no effect upon it. as it is surrounded by hills, covered with perpetual green. It is beautiful, and will not soon be forgotten. This is where the Spanish Admiral. Cervera, with his fleet, remained for more than forty days, securely hidden from our navy, under Admiral Sampson. I have always had sympathy for Admiral Cervera. There he was. with his five battleships, the flower of the Spanish navy, bottled up. with the cork left out. Our army was approaching from the land side, and our Naval Squadron lay three miles out of the harbor, like a cat. watch- ing for a mouse. If he remained in harbor he would soon have General Shafter's cannon popping at him. and if he es- 18; WEST INDIES SANTIAGO de CUBA saved to go out, he would have to meet our fleet, with a force double his own. Certainly, he was between the "devil and the deep sea." After consideration, he chose the latter horn of the dilemma, and the rapid fire guns of our ships soon laid everyone of his vessels on the beach, where their bones still lie, bleaching in the tropical sun. The gallant Hobson's part of this actual warfare should not be forgotten, for when he, with eight other men, who are entitled to just as much glory as he, sunk the Merrimac in this channel, they certainly per- formed the bravest act of the Spanish War. Santiago lies at the head of this harbor, and is a pretty place of fifty thousand Cubans. We landed at a very pretty little "Lake house" style of a pier, in what it is called the "Marine Park," where we took a carriage for a drive, in order to make the most of our short stay. The city has a first-class electric street car system, many wholesale shipping warehouses, very good retail stores and an old cathedral, said to be larger than that in Havana, and several plazas, which add to the beauty of the place very much. Our drive took us out in the country three miles to the far famed battlefield of San Juan Hill. This hill is a high elevation, and one obtains here a fine view of the battlefield of El Caney, three miles to the northward in the valley. About all the real fighting which occurred on land during the Span- ish war was done here. We saw here the block house which has been rebuilt of brick, also the marble monument, to mark the battlefield. The famous "Peace Tree," where general Shafter received the surrender of the Spanish army under General Toral, on July ijth, 1898, stands here. There is also a fine marble gateway, recently built near this spot by a mis- guided lady philanthropist, "in honor of the brotherhood of man." We say mis-guided because we do not think there is anything in this vicinity to suggest "the brotherhood of man." but quite the contrary. 18; WEST INDIES HAVANA We arrived here March 24th, 1909, and went at once OR an excursion, first to the fortifications and "Moro" Castle. The view of the bay and city from "El Moro" is very beau- tiful indeed. The elevation is about one hundred feet above the sea. The Cuban army use these fortifications as barracks and parade grounds. We saw about one thousand Cuban sol- diers here, and about one-third of them were green recruits, being drilled without guns. Nearly all of these soldiers are Negroes. Not more than one in five are white. They now dress in khaki uniforms, and make a passible showing while drilling. The Cuban bond were playing and gave us several very good pieces of music. They number about one hundred musicians ; a few Negroes, but more were Spanish or white. There is no race distinction in the Cuban army, so far as we could observe. This army is certainly a useless luxury, so far as interference of other nations are concerned, and could be entirely dispensed with, as no other nation is likely to trouble Cuba while our government protects her. The real purpose of her army is no doubt to put down rebellions and revolu- tions among themselves, and for that purpose they may be needed. The Havana harbor is admirably situated. "Kl Moro" castle and light house stands at the entrance, which is about one thousand feet wide, while the harbor is about three miles long and one mile wide. As we sailed in at / a. in. the city made a very pleasing impression. The water is deep enough for the largest vessels, and is visited by ships from all parts of the world. The black and rusty hull of our battleship '"Maine," which was destroyed ten years ago. still lies in the central part of the harbor, and a very unpleasant reminder of the loss of two thousand and sixty-seven of our brave sailor boys. The city of Havana has a population of four hundred thousand, and is a thriving, prosperous place. Several large .87 WEST INDIES HAVANA business houses, three or four stories, and some of steel frame concrete construction, are now being built. In the suburbs many fine residences are also being built. The streets are well paved, and the city as clean as an American city. Elec- tric street car lines run to all parts of Havana, and give ex- cellent service, fare five cents, American money, or seven cents, Spanish money. The Pradeo is a beautiful street, run- ning through the central part, one hundred and eighty feet wide, with a driveway of fifty feet on each side, and the mid- dle eighty feet devoted to park purposes, with three strips of grass, three rows of shade trees and two wide walks, paved with flag stone. The houses on either side of this Pradeo are from two to four stories high and painted in bright colors, giving them a fresh new appearance, and taken as a whole, this great street is certainly a credit to Havana, and would be a credit to any American city. Generally, however, the streets are only about twenty feet wide and sidewalks three feet wide, just like the old Spanish cities. Many shopping streets are so narrow that carriages are only permitted to go through them in one di- rection. Yet through these narrow streets electric cars are permitted to lay their tracks. In many places the tracks are so near the walls of buildings that they force the pedestrians to give up the sidewalks and go across the street. The retail stores carry well selected stocks, and will compare favorably with our large cities, except that the stores are generally quite small. The hotels are said to have greatly improved since the American occupation. We stopped at the Sevilla, which has only recently been built, and is a beautiful clean looking hotel; the meals were cooked American style, but not good, and the prices very high. In fact, living at the Havana hotels is more expensive for what one gets than in Xew York City. \\ e visited the cathedral where the bones of Christopher Columbus were said to have rested about two hundred years, 189 WEST INDIES WEST INDIES WEST HAVANA but were transferre- after the Spanish war. This reminds us of the e our country made for the sake of Cuba. We fight with Spain, and spent the lives of our sol< ions of our money in pure philanthropy, to fre* he unjust burdens of Spain. Then putting them or L we told them to form a Re- public, and govern themselves. When they failed in their first attempt, we again took charge of their affairs, until they could make a second attempt. History does not record any parallel of such unselfish national philanthropy, and yet, with all that we have done for Cuba, we do not believe they have any love or gratitude for our country. The natives, each and every one of them, desire to be the treasurer of Cuba, and as there are too many of them to fill the offices, there is likely to be revolutions frequently. Should we have to send our army here again to require the Cubans to keep peace among themselves, I think it would be wise for us to annex Cuba, and give them a stable government. The prices of real estate in Havana have advanced very much during the last few years, even with the unstable conditions which have existed, and a Cuban business man said to me "the prices on real estate in Havana are high, and should we have another revolution, then Uncle Sam will take hold again, and that would make it all the better for us." While our forces were in charge here, the bull fighting, which has been the chief amusement of the Cubans, was discontinued, and has not yet been revived. In place of bull fighting the Cubans now have an athletic ball game called "Jai Alai." a little like tennis, but played with small baskets; the game is played with great vigor, and betting on the game is the important part of the amusement. The sugar crop this year is one of the largest ever raised here, and the prices good. The island is certainly the best in the West Indies, and for sugar and tobacco growing, is probably not equalled by any other place. Havana is so ac- cessible to the residents of the United States on the Atlantic coast, that it will become popular as a winter resort. 193 WEST INDIES NASSAU. We arrived at Nassau, March 2/th, 1909, and after pass- ing the customs officer, which cost us nothing, as we had no whiskey, and only a few cigars, which we brought from Ha- vana, which we left in the custody of the custom house of- ficers until we should depart. We were soon installed at the beautiful Colonial, which is one of the Flaglers. and a high grade hotel : the rates are high, but the service and rooms are first-class. The tropical gardens and surroundings of this hotel are among the finest and a delight to the eye. Nassau harbor is good for small crafts, but steamers drawing more than ten feet of water are compelled to anchor out in the wide ocean. This harbor is about six miles long, and a half mile wide, sheltered by "Hog Island." While the city of Nassau has about two thousand population, still the Colonial Hotel is the all important part of the town ; it has room for five hundred guests, and is open from January ist, to April ist, each year. The city has a quaint old-fashioned look; most of the residences look like they were built before Columbus discovered America, and have not been painted or repaired since. The northern tourist is the best crop in Nas- sau: the climate is so delightful that the Colonial is filled to overflowing during the season, and some Americans have built homes here. While there are many pleasant places in the \Yest Indies \o spend the winter, we think the climate of Nas- sau is about the best, at least, it is nearly perfection. The sailing is fine; sail boats are plenty, and rates reasonable. One of the amusements is the "Sea Garden." about three miles from Nassau on the inside of "Hog Island." The glass bot- tom boats give one an opportunity to view the peculiar fish and sea plants, and the water is so clear, that the bottom of the sea can be plainly seen. Fish of many kinds and colors, and sea weeds, growing on the bottom, swaying in the water, 195 WEST INDIES NASSAU make quite an interesting picture. The surf bathing is excellent on the outside of "Hog Island'' and a large swim- ming pool is a part of the hotel. There are amusements enough here to keep many guests through the season. Most of the churches are represented in Nassau. \Ye attended the Church of England ; the congregation was composed of black and white people ; Among others, the Governor of the island, was present. The edifice is called ''The Cathedral" ; the music was excellent, but we cannot say as much for the sermon. Six of the choir boys were white, and six were black. The ushers were three white and three black. Very evenly di- vided as to the officers. There is certainly no race preju- dice in this church. Sponge fishing is the principal industry of the people, and there is quite a fleet of small sail boats in the harbor which are engaged in the sponge fishing trade. They do not dive for the sponges, but have hooks on long poles and pull the sponges off the sea bottom and lift them out of the water with these hooks. There is a long shed on the dock called the "sponge market." and there are many deal- ers called "sponge merchants," who make this their business. More than four-fifths of the population are Negroes, and they are the blackest we have ever seen, the shining jet black, with but very few mulattos. These Negroes are the most in- telligent and best looking that we have seen in the West Indies. They speak the English like the Englishman, with the broad A. The small local army are all Negroes, and they are as black as the "Ace of Spades." \Ye saw them in their dress uniforms this morning marching into church, and they were a fine looking company of soldiers. On leaving Nassau we boarded a small steamer for one night's sail across the gulf stream, which is the most wonder- ful stream in the world, flowing through the ocean with a strong current for thousands of miles, and making the coast of England and Ireland mild and warm, although they are so near the cold parts of the earth. The (iulf Stream be- tween Nassau and Florida -is usually quite rough, and we were WEST INDIES ONE ROYAL PALM, NASSAU ISLAND. NASSAU glad when we were landed at Miami, Florida. In fact, we are always more glad to get back to our Native land than we are to leave it. The more we see of foreign lands, the better sat- isfied we are with our own UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Did you ever for a moment consider How greatly you were blest \Yhen the stork dropped you here Instead of in a Hindu's Nest? Then think of your many blessings Count them, one by one, And never forget that you're living In the best land under the sun. \Y. \Y. W. 199 PRESS OF COMBE PRINTING CO., ST. JOSEPH. MO., U.S.A. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. REC'D LD-URL AR22197;) ,/ o Form L9-Series 4939