CRUDE METHODS OF TRANSPORTATION ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS BEFORE York State, is situated just south of tainous, salubrious country toward the Pacific. The Atlantic abounds in luxurious growth. On the train from Puerto Barrios we passed azaleas and orchids growing wild in the forest, vast lands planted with bananas, mangoes, cactus, palms, mahogany, and pineapples, growing with the ease and pro and luxurious tropical growth, its picturesque and often grand buildings, its distinct view of mountains, some thirteen thousand feet high, one feels well repaid for the tedious journey of two hundred miles from the coast. There is now a railroad running the whole distance from Puerto Barrios. When I went there in 1906 it had only been completed to Zacapa, so the rest of the journey-sixty miles-was made on mule-back, with a drive of some dozen miles at the end. Steamers run regularly from New Orleans and, I The In imports to Guatemala the United States leads, but in exports Germany commands over fifty per cent. greater part and the best of the great staple of the country-coffee-goes to Germany. Cotton is the next important export. With the completion of the railroad to the Atlantic, thus making an all-rail carry from the Pacific possible, much more of the export trade should turn toward our shores. In and around the city of Guatemala are many beautiful parks, luxuriant with the gay-colored flowers of the rises in its majesty close to this park and back of the cathedral is the great market. Here the Indians bring their produce in the early hours of the morning, carrying it in a basket fastened on their backs and traveling, in spite of this encumbrance, at a jog-trot for many miles across country. Most of our riding was done on mules, though sometimes a good horse was procurable. They were invariably small, however, and seldom had a good trot. The "trotte," as they call it in Spanish, is not "au fait"; nor were our riding breeches, which were a constant source of gaze and even merriment. The natives ride in long trousers and prefer to sit a gentle pacer rather than be incommoded by rising to a trot. On these they can amble along without exertion to themselves, stopping to talk with the fair damsels who sit waiting for an afternoon call behind windows, carefully barred. The bull fight, gambling, and cockfighting are the amusements of the people. Siestas are the order of the day after breakfast, which comes at eleven or twelve o'clock. Guatemalans are early risers and do their morning's work on a cup of coffee. In the evenings, except when there is a band con stead of dodging, as we supposed he would do, the man stood waiting for the bull to approach, and just as he seemed on the point of being gored and thrown a lifeless mass in the ring, jumped forward with arms extended and made a perfect dive straight between the horns of the angry animal. The crowd held their breaths in intense excitement. The bull raised his head and came to a stop. The man, with a firm grip around the huge neck of the animal, was thrown high in the air, but held firm and fell gracefully back, his body coming squarely between the dicament of the prostrate man, at once rushed forward and by waving red cloaks distracted the bull's attention from his victim. Some of the spectators then cried out to kill the bull. Fortunately the authorities refused to gratify this call for blood from those. who felt defrauded at not seeing some spilt, as at a regular bull fight. It was quite exciting enough, however, for me, who had never seen the regular article and never desire to see it. The railroad from the capital to the Pacific gives one a grand panorama of the huge volcanic mountains, one of horns. Then came a struggle for mastery, the bull throwing his head now up and now to one side. Gradually he began to tire when he found how relentlessly the man clung to him. But the man grew weak also, his grip gradually loosened, and after a few minutes more of struggle he slipped onto the ground, exhausted by his efforts to choke the bull into submission. What was our horror to see him fall directly under the bull's nose. Surely a ghastly sight would soon meet our eyes! But the bull seemed dazed and the waiting attendants, seeing the dangerous pre which was responsible for the destruction of the old capital. A visit to its ruins, a few miles from Guatemala City, is a favorite and most interesting excursion. A short distance from the present capital we pass near the shores of Lake Amatillan and can see spots where the water bubbles with such fierceness from the hot sands below that one can boil eggs in it, while other parts of the lake are temperate and others freezing cold. After an interesting and comfortable journey we reach the port of San Jose. Here there is no harbor, merely a straight sandy |