LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. ii^D-ilS icp^riB^t f XT Shelf .LE.4- UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THE NEW HONDURAS ITS SITUATION, RESOURCES, OPPORTUNITIES AND PROSPECTS, CONCISELY STATED FROM RECENT PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS. BY THOMAS R. LOMBARD. BRENTANO'S, CHICAGO. NEW YORK. 1887. >ib>wr "' OCT 8 mij^i Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1887, By THOMAS R. LOMBARD, In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. P. F. McBREEN, Printer, 6i Beekman St., New York. TO THE GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE OF HONDURAS, REPRESENTED BY THEIR ILLUSTRIOUS PRESIDENT, SENOR general don LUIS BOGRAN, THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY §u\mM BY THE AUTHOR, WHO TAKES THIS OPPORTUNITY OF GRATEFULLY TESTIFYING TO THE KINDNESS AND HOSPITALITY ALWAYS RECEIVED BY HIM IN HIS SOJOURNINGS AMONGST THEM. P \s'vS CONTENTS Dedication PAGE 3 Prefatory Statement . 5 Sources of information. CfiAPTER I. Introduction 7 Geographical features — Chief cities — lloutes and mode of travel. CHAPTER II. Historical Outline 18 Spanish tyranny — Independence — Civil conflicts — Peace. CHAPTER III. Climate. — Dr. Henry Tiuini ....... 26 The wet and the dry seasons — Natural attractions — Rules of health — Precautionary measures. CHAPTER IV. Political Condition. — Floyd B. Wilson • • ■ ■ 35 Constitutions — Schools — Culture — National progress — Concessions to investors — New roadway — Security of per- son and property. CHAPTER V. Agricultural Resources and Natural Products . . 43 Cotton — Sugar-cane — Coffee — Fruits — Precious woods — Vegetable fibres — Cattle — Opals. CHAPTER VI. The Mining Industry. — Past History .... 56 Placer-mining — Hand-labor — Early records — Population — Council of the Indies — Primitive methods — Mexico. CHAPTER VII. The Mining Industry. — Contemporary History . . 63 Obstructions — The water line — Posas — Ventilation — Peti- tion of 1799 — Santa Lacia — Mina Grande — Native work- men — Pay streaks — Smelting — Iron — Quicksilver. CHAPTER VIII. General Information Railway projects — Olaiicho — The Rosario mine — The Ani mas mine — Lead and fuel — President Bogran's attitude — Heat and disease — Character of the natives — New ma- chinery — Mines not exhausted — Why? — Trade — Gradual development — Exchange — Cost of labor — Outlook. CHAPTER IX. YUSCARAN Policy of the Government — Formation of syndicate — Yus- caran — Its situation, trade, early history — Discovery of mineral wealth^Calvo's adventure— Results — Growth of the camp — Chief veins — -Internecine struggles — Bennett's scheme — The great nugget — General desertion — Recent improvements — New awakening to activity — Social feat- ures — Concluding statement. 73 ILLUSTRATIONS.f ' Native Indian Hut ' YuSCARAN ' Tegucigalpa > Road-making in the Mountains ..... - Tunnel — San Antonio Mine San Antonio Village . Shaft House — Quemasones Mine — Yuscaran ■. Native Concentrating Vats ..... Native Method — Amalgamating Ore, "Patio Process" Erecting Machinery at Shaft, " Guayaiullas Mine,' Yuscaran Frontispiece 6 San Antonio Mines i8 34 43 55 62 70 80 88 100 t The illustrations are from pen-and-ink sketches from photographs taken by mj'self in Honduras. The frontispiece from a photograph. — T. R. L. ://.. /y.jrmyr //i PRE FACE. GONSIDERABLE interest has been manifested of late in regard to the agricultural and mineral resources of the republic of Honduras. The desire for some plain state- ment of facts relative to a subject at once so interesting and so important has become a positive want. To meet this v^rant the publishers beg to offer the short summary of information to be found in the succeeding pages. There are extant certain books of travel, exploration, and advent- ure, assuming to embrace the distinctive characteristics of this particular region within the scope of their pen-pictures. But the familiar couleur de rose which is the prevailing tint in these and similar records, renders the works of these writers liable rather to be set aside as mere tales of the traveler, than to engage the serious attention of any persons who might be glad, upon sufficient warrant, to avail them- selves of opportunities for the investment of capital in that locality. It may indeed be remarked that the present volume does not enter largely into details, although the subject pre- sents many and varied features. Fullness of treatment has been subordinated throughout to the requirements of an actual knowledge of the facts in hand. With the object kept clearly in view of furnishing reliable data only, care has been taken to eliminate all information of a doubtful character, such as might otherwise have afforded material for expansion. For the facts from which this book has been compiled, grateful acknowledgment is hereby made to the several b PREFACE. gentlemen who have kindly furnished the requisite material, gathered by themselves during the time of their personal residence in Honduras, covering a periJti so recent as to bring the reader almost to the very hour of publication. So substantial are the peculiar attractions of Honduras to-day, as a field for investment, that they will bear the closest investigation. With the avowed object of encourag- ing and assisting such investigation, the publishers put forth this book ; placing at the same time upon record a declara- tion of their confidence that with the full attainment of this object, the new Honduras will emerge from the obscurity in which she has so long lain dormant. For the dissemina- tion of an intelligent understanding of the opportunities she offers will result in a practical appreciation of them, which can have no other issue than the gradual and successful development of her great natural resources. Arhong those who have assisted in this work, both in writing the special chapters credited to them, and in furnish- ing valuable data from which other chapters were compiled, the editor desires particularly to name Floyd B. Wilson, Esq., Henry Timm, M. D., and Messrs. Henry Leeds, Jr., Thomas J. Foster and George S. Evans. THE NEW HONDURAS. • CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. |T" DAY'S journey in Honduras will disappoint one who ®/A expects to find there the luxuriant growth of vegeta- tion commonly supposed to adorn tropical and semi-tropical countries. Excepting along the river-banks near the coast, the vegetation partakes rather of the orderly character of the growths of the temperate zones than of the rank and noxious jungle barely penetrable by the rays of the sun. Once past the mahogany belt, covering the low land for twenty miles on the south coast and forty on the north, straightway we rise up among high plateaus and mountain valleys. Here the temperature is low enough for the pine to flourish, and yet so equable as to encourage the countless orchids which well nigh clothe the hillsides, as well as the abundant cacti and an endless variety of palms. The fact that Honduras does not present the exuberant characteristics'only too often figuring in vivid descriptions as the offspring of an artistic fancy, is due to the geological formation of the country rather than to its latitude. Geographical Features. — Lying between latitudes 13° and 16° north, and longitudes 83° and 90° west, it is in reality less tropical than some portions of Mexico situated further towards the north. This is readily accounted for by the comparatively narrow strip of swamp-land along either coast, and by the rapid rise of the surface of the coun- try to an altitude precluding the existence of a humid soil. The country has an area of 48,000 square miles, or about that of the State of Ohio. In its greatest length from 8 THE NEW HONDURAS. east to west, i.e., from Cape Gracias-a-Dios on the Atlantic, to the Cerro de Biujo on the boundary line of Guatemala, it covers a distance of 388 miles. The width, from the north coast to the Pacific, is about 175 miles as the crow flies. To the north lies the Bay of Honduras and the broad Atlantic ; eastward the republic of Nicaragua ; to the south, the Bay of Fonseca and San Salvador ; while the thriving re- public of Guatemala lies conveniently adjacent on the west. Honduras is a table-land. Its topography shows a se- ries of elevated plateaus, broad savannas and mountain ridges. Some peaks of the latter rise to an altitude of 8,000 feet or more, above sea level. The principal range of the Cordillera?, running east and west, marks off the two great divisions of the country. Of these, the wider extent of ter- ritory and the larger districts devoted to agriculture and cattle-raising belong to the northern section. On this side of the "divide" are the wide plains of Olancho and Yoro, and the fertile valleys and uplands of Comayagua and Santa Barbara, heavily timbered and rich in grasses and shrubbery. Innumerable streams water these districts, navigable only in exceptional cases and for short distances. The Guayape, draining the great Olancho country ; the Ulua, performing a like service for Santa Barbara ; and the Aguan, rising in the mountains of Yoro and finding its outlet east- ward of Truxillo as the Roman River. These streams are navigable only to the verge of the mountainous district ; yet in their windings they traverse even thus far a considerable territory. South of the Cordillera range, the one river of special importance is the Choluteca, receiving the contributions of several smaller streams from the mountains of Choluteca and Tegucigalpa. It has a southerly course to the Bay of Fonseca, south of the island of Tigre. Honduras has juris- diction over the Bay islands off the north coast, as well as INTRODUCTION. over the islands of Tigre and Sacate Grande, in the Bay of Fonseca. In this southern section the principal cities are Teguci- galpa, Comayagua, Juticalpa, Santa Barbara, Santa Rosa, San Pedro Sula, Truxillo, Yuscaran and Amapala. These points are the centres of trade and commerce for the country. The first mentioned, Tegucigalpa, is about 3,000 feet above sea level, at the junction of the Rio Chiquito and the Rio Grande. Its population is estimated at 12,000. Comayagua is advantageously located on a level plain, and has at present some 8,000 inhabitants. Old chroniclers assign to this city, which was founded by the Spanish ad- venturers, a population of no less than 40,000. At an early period of its history, it was undoubtedly an important sta- tion midway between the oceans, and far more populous than it is to-day. Near it are two rivers, the Comayagua and the Chiquito. The centre of trade in the western part of this section is Santa Rosa ; and in the Olancho district, Juticalpa, situated on the Guayape. These places have each about 4,000 inhabitants. In mining affairs, the present seat of activity is the town of Yuscaran, situated on the slope of a mountain over- looking a wide and pleasant valley. It is the capital of the Department of Paraiso, and its people are mainly employed in the mining industry. San Pedro Sula derives its importance from its nearness to Puerto Cortez, some forty miles distant. From Puerto Cortez great quantities of fruit are annually shipped to the United States. San Pedro is situated on the plain of Sula, at the foot of the mountain range of Santa Barbara. It is a depot of supplies for the northern and western part of the country. One of the chief ports of entry is Truxillo, over- looking the little Bay of Truxillo, formed by the projection of Point Castilla into the Atlantic. Hence are exported the 10 THE NEW HONDURAS. products of this western region. The town of Amapala is the only sea-port of Honduras on the Pacific side. It oc- cupies a commanding position on the island of Tigre, at the base of a low extinct volcano, and overlooking the beautiful Bay of Fonseca. This bay is beyond question one of the finest ports on the entire Pacific coast of the American continent. It is upwards of fifty miles long, by thirty in average width. Its entrance from the sea is about eighteen miles wide, between two towering mountains. Several large islands stand as though moored within this mighty harbor, completing the picturesque character of the scene, from whatever point of view the traveler beholds it. A direct trade is carried on between Amapala and the chief commercial ports of Europe and America. The bay abounds in fish, and its shores swarm with every variety of water-fowl, — cranes, herons, pelicans, ducks, curlews, &c. Large beds of oysters are found in the shallow waters and in the dependent bays. Their quantity seems to be inexhaustible. Huge piles of their shells are scattered along the shores of the islands and mainland, showing in what appreciation they are held by the natives. These oysters are about the size of the ordi- nary variety found around New York, and of excellent flavor. Crabs and lobsters are also abundant. The island of Tigre, a huge lofty cone, is the most im- portant in the bay. It was long a favorite resort of pirates. Here it was that Drake had his depot, during his famous operations in the South Sea. These smaller cities of Honduras vary somewhat in commercial importance, but the trade they foster furnishes occupation and sustenance in each case to a population of several thousands. Political Divisions. — Of these there are eleven, known as the Departments of Tegucigalpa, Comayagua, INTRODUCTION, 11 Olancho, Colon, Choluteca, Santa Barbara, Copan, Gracias, Paraiso, La Paz and Intibuca. The most important as regards population, mineral wealth, and agricultural resour- ces are, Tegucigalpa, Paraiso and Olancho. Some additional information concerning these three departments will there- fore be oi interest to the reader. The department of Tegucigalpa has undergone sub- division of late, but is still the third in size and perhaps the most important of the divisions of the republic. It includes the commercial centre and seat of government of Honduras, and some of the most famous mineral districts of Central America. The population of the capital city is given above. No census has as yet been taken of the whole province. The interior of this department is a plateau known as El Portero, where the capital is located, enclosed by mountains rising from two to three thousand feet above its own level. Here the climate is remarkably cool and salubrious, being compared with that of a perennial spring-time. The name Tegucigalpa is a Spanish corruption of an Indian word signifying "mountains of silver ;" and the hills around the city have yielded precious metal in such abun- dance as to warrant the appellation. Here are the minerals of Santa Lucia, San Antonio, Los Angeles, Guasucaran, Vi'ila Nueva, El Plomo, Cedros, San Juan de Cantaranas, Santa Anna, and Barrajanas. The chief resources of this region are myieral, the agricultural advantages not being so marked as in other sec- tions of the country elsewhere described. According to official statistical records, kept on file among the archives of the city, the mines of the adjacent territory have yielded immense quantities of gold and silver, and that too under the disadvantages of the crudest possible systems of mining and processes of reduction. Indeed it is believed that in no other known region of equal territorial extent are to be found so many veins bearing the precious metals. The 12 THE NEW HONDURAS. principal qualities at present extracted are those ores known as sulphuret and galena. It is true that to-day the native workmen produce but comparatively insignificant results, but this fact is owing to their primitive mode of operation and desultory efforts. That there is an abundance of ma- terial ready to hand, and only awaiting proper methods of mining and reduction to encourage the generous response of former days, does not admit of a doubt. For example, seven miles north of Tegucigalpa lies the Santa Lucia mine, one of the oldest and in time past one of the most richly productive districts of the whole country. The amount of wealth received in the form of royalties from this region by the crown of Spain, seems almost fabulous, although the facts are in the records. Though scarcely a league square, Santa Lucia is known to contain no less than two hundred distinct veins of ore. It is bisected by the Rio Chiquito, whose banks show the twofold rock formation of this particular region ; the south- ern side being characterized by limestone and the nonhern by porphyry. This river provides abundant water-power in close proximity to the mines. The village or pueblo of Santa Lucia itself is most picturesquely situated. It bears unmistakable evidence of having been founded in the ex- pectation that it would become a permanent centre of min- ing operations. The streets are paved and terraced, and the white washed adobe houses shine brightly in the sun, when viewed from the adjacent hills. An old aqueduct, built by the Spaniards, still furnishes the town with its water-supply for all ordinary purposes. Twenty miles beyond is the Los Angeles district, where similar conditions exist. About thte same distance to the southwest is the San Antonio mine, with two settlements, one on either side of a ridge containing the ore-body. In both these ?}iifie)-als, large quantities of ore are in sight, chiefly of the kind known as argentiferous galena. Tlie INTRODUCTION. 13 veins of Tegucigalpa vary in width from one yard to ten or twelve yards. The celebrated "blue vein " of Cedros runs as high as forty-five to sixty yards in some places ; but this is far above the average. Adjoining this department and formerly included with- in its limits is that of Paraiso. Here, within half a league of the town of Yuscaran, there are thirty-five known gold and silver mines.f Next in importance is the department of Olancho, about as large as the State of Maryland, and famous in Central America as a cattle district ; while everywhere its streams and alluvial deposits are marked with placer gold. In the dry season of the year, considerable quantities of gold are washed from the streams by the Indian women, who by the use of the primitive " pan system," are accus- tomed to make their living in this manner, alternately work- ing and idling. The river bed of Guayape has been famous for its yield of gold-bearing sands, from the landing of Columbus down to the present day. The average depth of this stream is three feet in the dry season. During nine months of the year the depth is greater, and such obstruc- tions to navigation as exist might readily be removed. These consist merely of rocks of no great size, which divide the course into narrow channels at various points. As their removal will open up one of the best natural water-ways from the interior to the coast, there is good reason to believe that the government will not long delay the accom- plishment of this improvement, which it has had under consideration for some time. The inhabitants of Olancho are remarkable for stur- diness of character and an intense love of locality. They have kept themselves somewhat aloof from the general gov- ernment, although rendering it al^ due and proper acknowl- edgment. Restive under political exactions, and impatient of control in matters concerning home affairs, they are yet, \ See Chapter IX. 14 THE NEW HONDURAS. in all their dealings with those who seek to elevate the con- dition of country and people, hospitable to a remarkable degree. Cattle-raising is one of the chief industries of this sec- tion. The department abounds in broad savannas, whose rich soil, well watered by numerous streams, produces luxuriant grasses ; while the climate is particularly mild and salubrious. Aside from the valuable woods obtained from the forests, as shown in the chapter on natural products,f it has been practically demonstrated that the soil of Olancho is capable of nourishing nearly all the ordinary products of more northerly climates. Six streams cross the plain of La Concordia, affording sufficient water for hydraulic work in the placer regions of that vicinity. Timber in plenty is available near at hand for the construction of suitable build- ings and mechanical appliances. A considerable outlay, however, would be required for the establishment of works for the extraction and reduction of gold in large quantities. Colon and Yoro are most noted for fruits and valuable woods. A greater amount of capital has been engaged in these industries than has ever been expended on the mineral prospects of the entire country. Comayagua and Santa Barbara are given over to a somewhat primitive system of agriculture. The soil of their plains is remarkably fertile in vegetable products. Both have an abundance of veins, bearing gold and silver as well as baser metals, to which little attention has been paid. Copan is devoted mainly to the cultivation of tobacco ; and Gracias is renowned for its opals, which rank with those of Hungary. Routes of Travel. — There are three recognized routes to Honduras from the United States. The first is via the Pacific Mail Steamship Company's line from New York to Aspinwall, thence by rail to Panama, and by the f See Chapter V. INTRODUCTION. 15 Central American Coast Line Steamers of the Pacific Mail Company to the Port of Ampala on the Pacific side. This journey requires fifteen days, and one first-class fare through is $165 in gold. The other routes are from New Orleans. The Messrs. Mecheca Bros., of that city, run three steamers monthly to Balize (British Honduras), and thence to Puerto Cortez. This line carries the British mail and furnishes a regular and efficient service. The third line is run by Oteri Brothers, whose steamers ply between New Orleans, the Bay Islands, and the Port of Truxillo. From New Orleans, by either of these latter routes, the fare is $35 in gold, and the trip occupies in each case from four to six days. A, word of praise is due to the management of these steamship companies for the well-ordered service and su- perior accommodations given to the traveling public. In- deed it would not be amiss to speak in complimentary terms of the experience, skill and courtesy of their commanding . officers. The ocean journey, of course, is one of ease and com- fort. Not until one is landed in Honduras does he en- counter some of the difficulties of travel. Prior to the cur- rent year a roadway from the coast was a thing talked of merely. The fact that such a road now exists is owing to the enterprise and perseverance of the several American mining companies now operating on the Pacific slope. With the single exception of this wagon-road, all points in the country are connected by mule-trails, taking the most direct course practicable from place to place. These lead up hill and down dale without regard to convenience, and are in many portions not without dangers. The wagon-road from the Pacific coast is one hundred and twenty-two miles long, and as yet is traveled only by wagons engaged in transporting heavy mining machinery from San Lorenzo on the coast to Yuscaran by way of the capital. Aside from this, freight transportation is still 16 THE NEW HONDURAS. carried on by the pack-mule system, and the traveler there must spend the better part of the day in the saddle. Although Tegucigalpa is but ninety miles from the Pacific coast, it is a three days' journey, ten leagues being the average distance covered in a day. The cost of trans- portation between these points by a pack-animal is ^6 for every two hundred and fifty pounds. A riding-animal may be hired for the trip for $8, with an additional $8 for the mozo or servant, who looks after the comfort of the traveler, and the feeding and care of the animal. Entering the country from Puerto Cortez, on the op- posite side, the Interoceanic Railway carries the traveler from that port to San Pedro Sula, a distance of thirty-eight miles, for the sum of $3 in Honduras money. With a little delay and a great deal of patience, a tolerable riding-animal may be secured at this point for the journey into the in- terior. The cost of a mule for riding, from San Pedro to Tegucigalpa, a journey of a week, ranges from $15 to $20, according to the season of the year, with a like amount for the servant. Cargo-mules, carrying two hundred pounds, necessitate an outlay of $12 each for the same journey. The cost of provisions for the servant and for the animal does not exceed seventy-five cents per day for both, or a dollar when the servant also has a riding-mule. The tour from Puerto Cortez to Tegucigalpa leads through the departments of Santa Barbara, Yoro, Com'aya- gua, and Tegucigalpa, a distance of about 250 miles. Though occupying over a week, this trip is one to be recommended, affording as it does a favorable opportunity to study the country and the people. The tourist sees bananas ripening for the northern market. There too are the mahogany for- ests and cuttings, the sugar and coffee plantations, and the native mining and reduction industries. By way of Truxillo, the other Atlantic port, ten days on mule-back are required to reach Tegucigalpa, at a cost INTRODUCTION. 17 of from $15 to $25 each for mules and for attendants. This trail runs through the plains of Yoro and Olancho, the great pasture-lands. It leads also through i\\t placer regions, which from time to time attract, quite as often as otherwise, however, to their ultimate regret, adventurous miners from our far western States. Note. — For the benefit of those who may hereafter travel in this region, the following recommendations are supplied from Parker's Guide to Guatemala and Honduras : "New-comers are advised to provide themselves with a rubber ' poncho ' or riding-cloak, riding-boots, cork helmet, hammock, a woolen blanket and one of rubber, spurs, riding-whip, two long towels to serve as protectors to neck and shoulders when the sun is high, a bottle of ammonia, 7io cumbersonie clothing, a small cooking outfit, — consisting of a methylated spirit-lamp and the requisite utensils, — and some canned edibles. Travelers are cautioned against tasting all waters found en route, and advised to drink cautiously at first, and to confine themselves to drinking at morning and at evening. Riding should cease at 11 a. m. for an hour and a half. There is little danger in traveling throughout the length and breadth of these countries — the worst danger being from an habitual use of stimulants. These, it should be added, are wholly inadmissible." CHAPTER 11. HISTORICAL OUTLINE. IN various parts of the republic of Honduras are found numerous evidences of the early existence of a people whose identity has baffled all attempts at discovery, and even whose mode of life and condition of civilization can only be conjectured. On some of the sculptured stones of Copan may be traced forms and characters bearing a striking similarity to the venerable relics of Eastern continents, but the bare fact of such resemblance furnishes no satisfactory clew to the mystery. Nothing has ever been definitely determined as to the people who inhabited that country centuries ago, long before the advent of the Spaniard. Their hieroglyphics, which adorn the ruined altars and massive idols of western Honduras, are their only extant records, and these have not as yet found a translator. It is true that the Castilian adventurers, who overran the country some three hundred and fifty years ago, reported this region as being very populous. Their historians refer to many tribes of the interior, and speak of them as at least numerically powerful. All such statistical opinions, how- ever, must be taken with a large grain of allowance, leaving a wide margin for their well-known liability to exaggeration. From an incident connected with the fourth voyage of Columbus, Honduras derived its name. It is related that after leaving Point Casinas, the great discoverer sailed east- ward toward Darien, encountering many severe storms, and being unable to find any anchorage until he reached the HISTORICAL OUTLINE, 19 point now known as Cape Gracias-a-Dios. Such was the feeling of thankfulness and relief after making successful soundings, that the spontaneous exclamation, " Thank God, we have passed those Hondura (deep waters)!" became memorable, and took permanence in the name of the Bay and of the country. Seven years after came Cortez, the accounts of whose expeditions would furnish many a theme for romance. The famous march of this indomitable leader through the untracked wilderness of Mexico and Guatemala, in order to arrest and punish a refractory lieutenant, takes high rank among the achievements of explorers. A very limited ex- perience of travel through the region of that journey of his, would suffice to convince any one of the magnitude and significance of such an undertaking. If true, as we have every reason to believe, the-n indeed is truth stranger than fiction. Out of the chain of fortresses established by the Spanish conquerors for the accomplishment of their plan of sub- jugation, grew the quiet settlements which have developed into the villages and towns of a later and more peaceful period. The intervals of space between them, from the coast to the interior, indicate with strongest probability the truth of this theory of their origin. One of the oldest towns of the interior is said to be Comayagua, very early estab- lished as a half-way station between the coasts. The legend of its foundation runs as follows: Once, when the Spaniards, closely pursued by a horde of native warriors, sought long and wearily a place of refuge, they came at last to a somewhat sheltered spot. Here the leaders commanded a halt, in order that the band of fugitives might pause to re- fresh themselves with food and drink. Having fortified the inner man, they took courage, and built a fortress for de- fence. Hence the place acquired the name it still retains, the meaning of which is, " Here we ate and drank." 20 THE NEW HONDURAS. According to the old Spanish tales, every advance attempted in the gradual occupation of this territory was resisted by force of arms. There are, however, but one or two recorded cases in which the foreigner was the sufferer, and in these instances the punishment was well deserved, and tardily inflicted. Indeed, the history of Honduras from the time of its discovery by Columbus in 1502, until the declaration of its independence in 182 1, may be summarized in the statement that it was a period of continual oppression and occasional massacre of the natives by the Spanish settlers. Inhuman- ity follows inhumanity, until the story of the conquest and settlement of the country becomes only another chapter in the record of Spanish adventure on the American continent. The struggle for gold, and the erection of what was practi- cally a feudal system, all but exterminated the Indian race. The policy of the famous "Council of the Indies," whose jurisdiction included the colonies of Spain, from the latter part of the seventeenth century to that of the eighteenth, tended to retard rather than to further the development of the resources of the country. A vivid description of the atrocities perpetrated by the Spanish rulers upon the helpless Indian, is given in a letter to Charles V. by a missionary of the sixteenth century, Bartolome de las Casas. His estimate of the population is probably an exaggerated one ; but of the cruel practices of his countrymen he undoubtedly had personal knowledge. The condition of slavery to which the unhappy Indians were reduced, appears from his account to have been the most distressing imaginable. They were compelled not only to extract the precious metals from the earth and to supply their conquerors with luxuries, but to serve in place of mules and horses in carrying tremendous burdens. It is related of the redoubtable Diego de Velasco that he slaughtered over 10,000 of them in a single month. So HISTORICAL OUTLINE. 21 great indeed were the cruelties practiced upon the natives, that the remnant fled at last from their brutal task-masters, and betook themselves to the mountains, leaving the Span- iards to their own resources and in a state of destitution bordering on famine. Thus runs the record of Las Casas. From the discovery of this territory until the independ- ence, no step was left untaken by the Council of the Indies to restrain all efforts looking to the intellectual advance- ment of the natives, or even, for that matter, of the descend- ants of the conquerors themselves. This Council ruled all the Spanish colonies, and in so doing endeavored to keep the inhabitants in a state of ignorance, the better by this means to control the wealth of the country. Only a few years prior to the independence did the people awaken to the fact that the rest of the world was not dominated by Spain and under tribute to its crown. In order to make the province more dependent upon the mother-country, the cultivation of any product of the soil of Spain, and the manufacture of any commodities made in Spain, were prohibited by law. For this reason the vine- yards planted on the north coast of the province in the first year of settlement, and producing a superior wine, were afterward abandoned. To keep the inhabitants in a help- less condition, resulting from continued ignorance, any intercourse with foreigners or relationship to neighboring Spanish colonies, for trading or other purposes, was de- clared not only criminal but capital. All books were for- bidden by the Inquisition, except the catechism and the prayer book. As to any knowledge of the history of the early conquest of the country, the people were kept as far as possible in the dark. The idea of an independence apparently took its rise not so much from this extreme tyranny as from the levying of excessive contributions to aid the mother- country in her desperate warfare at home. Such contributions were 22 THE NEW HONDURAS. exacted from rich and poor alike, and served for once to unite master and slave in a common cause against a common adversary. In the year 1812, several insurrections took place in Salvador and Nicaragua. These were summarily put down. It was not until after the success of the patriotic cause in Mexico that the separation of the Spanish provinces from the mother-country was finally accomplished. On the 15th day of September, 182 1, Honduras declared its independ- ence and assumed the position of a sovereign State. Since that time, until the year 1876, the republic has been more or less disturbed by the constant warring of political factions. During this latter period of fifty- five years, Honduras acquired the reputation of a revolutionary republic. In justification of these more recent disturbances, it must be said that they were the result of a struggle for po- Htical principles. The predominating desire has been cither for the political union of the five Central American States or for their individual independence. The final separation from Spain had been accomplished without difficulty. It was soon followed, however, by conflicts between the several States, caused by the efforts of ambitious politicians to attain personal control of the general government. These dark pages of the country's history are illumined by a galaxy of heroes, whose exploits, if done in other lands, would have won for them imperishable glory in the -annals of the world. Chief among these is Morazan, the "Washington" of Honduras. Wise in counsel, a most humane and energetic military chieftain, his immortal fame is one of the proudest boasts of Central America, the his- toric field of his heroic and self-sacrificing achievements. For ten years past, the country has enjoyed an era of peace, enabling the people to turn their attention to the ad- vancement of their material interests. A complete change of spirit is manifest among them ; and, while pronounced HISTORICAL OUTLINE. 23 political opinions are still retained, changes are now wrought at the ballot-box instead of at the point of the bayonet. Under the efficient government that now con- trols the affairs of Honduras, marked advantages are rapidly- accruing to the country. Compulsory education has been- established. A constitution modeled upon that of the United States has been put in force and is being lived up to with admirable strictness. Special effort is constantly made for the development of national interests. For co-operation in furthering these objects, exceptional advantages are offered. The people realize that they are not sufficiently ad- vanced in the arts and sciences to enable them to achieve, without the aid of foreign capital, that position of wealth and independence which the natural resources of their country guarantee, and to which they zealously aspire. As a consequence, they are to-day more ready to welcome the invading forces of enlightenment and progress than their predecessors were of old to repel the encroachments of the Spanish adventurer. It has been truly said of Honduras that nature has done everything for the country, and man has done nothing. For this no blame should attach to the people. From a condition of utter ignorance, to be suddenly uplifted by the longings and ambitions of free men, would render them only the easy prey of unscrupulous demagogues. Thus their energies and resources have been frittered away in futile endeavors to decide abstract political questions. But the last few years have seen such rapid advances that anew character, pregnant with future promise, seems to have de- veloped among them. As a people, they are mild in dispo- sition, and upright in character. Possessing much native shrewdness, they quickly become intelligent workmen when their labors are skillfully directed ; while a prevailing docil- ity of temperament ranks them among the most tractable of employees. True, their labor at present commands 24 THE NEW HONDURAS. comparatively small wages, but this is due rather to the sim- plicity of their wants than to any inferiority in their work. When treated with firmness and consideration, they are quite as amenable to discipline and to the requirements of orderly living as any other class of workmen. The Honduranians of the present day may be divided into four classes, according to their race-origin. The Cas- tilians, who trace their line to the Spaniard ; the Indians, antedating the conqueror ; the Half-breeds, including the " cross " either with the Spaniard or with the negro ; and those in whose veins flows the blood of all three races. In features, the Honduranians are rather prepossessing ; in form, as a rule, symmetrical and graceful. When rightly treated they are faithful in the discharge of their duty. In fact, more than one traveler has observed, that whatever their lack of progress in the finer arts of modern civilization, they are still happily unlearned in the sophistries that have filled the records of that civilization with instances of broken faith and violated trust. A further peculiarity is the marked difference between the interior and the coast region, but especially the north coast, observable in the character of the native populace. In the north are found a large proportion of " Caribs," as they are called — a race of blacks believed to have descended from the negroes originally transported thither as slaves. These people display all the familiar characteristics of the African race, a correspondence extending even to the matter of their religious observances. They live in towns and villages where the inhabitants are almost exclusively of their own race, preferring to mingle but little with either the Spanish element or the native Indian. They are accus- tomed to make their living by working on the fruit farms, by fishing, and by mahogany cutting. It is seldom that they care to go into the interior, except it be in the capacity of servants to European or American travelers. They inake HISTORICAL OUTLINE. 25 good servants, being tidy, obliging, intelligent, and full of clever expedients in cases of emergency. Their language is a dialect of their own, although they can converse in Spanish, as well as in a kind of Macaronic lingo, or pigeon-English, very difficult at first for an American to understand. In our own day, in short, this whole region rejoices in a revival of general prosperity, which bids fair to issue in the most desirable results for the country and its inhabi- tants. The coast lines are still sparsely settled, but the territory adjacent to the lowlands nevertheless presents most favorable opportunities to the enterprising and energetic farmer and cattle-raiser. From the boundary-line of Guatemala to that of Nicaragua, there are about four hundred miles of coast, in many portions as yet unexplored save by the nomadic Indian tribes, known as the Wacos or Mosquitos, scattered along the eastern shores. Several navigable rivers offer rich returns to those who in future shall have the good fortune to open up to the world of com- merce the forests of rosewood and mahogany, the ungrazed pasture lands, and the auriferous mountain-streams whose treasures only await appropriation. Some results of the recent impulse given by the local government to business schemes during the last few years are discernible already, and may be noted here. On the north- coast have been successfully established two large concerns, one for lumbering and the other for fruit-raising. The mining companies operating in the interior of the country are under the management of Englishmen, Frenchmen and Americans, — the latter predominating. Every commer- cial project thus far undertaken, with a judicious com- bination of capital and skill, has been eminently successful. The liberality of the legal regulations governing the general transactions of trade, at home and abroad, confers upon this locality the strongest attractiveness to all who are interested in the development of rich but latent natural resources. CHAPTER III. THE CLIMATE. JT^O know the latitude and topography of a country is to ■*- know something of its climate. The conditions of the latter are modified by the configuraHon of the adjacent territory as well as by the chemistry of the soil. Lying between the 13° and 16° of north latitude, Honduras is near enough to the equator to have a certain degree of tropical heat. Being, however, but 200 miles in width with one coast open to the north-east trade-winds of the Atlantic, and the other saturated by the moist breezes of the Pacific, the climate is rather to be called semi-tropical. The higher table-lands enjoy the climate of the temperate zone. The surface is broken by numerous mountain-ranges, which, with the valleys, savannas, and table-lands, afford every variety of climate. The heat on the Pacific coast is not as oppressive as on the Atlantic ; less, perhaps, on account of any marked difference in temperature than on account of the greater dryness and clearness of the atmosphere. The north-east trade-winds which sweep over the Atlantic reach the continent saturated with vapor, and pass over the whole of Honduras, leaving the atmosphere moist and invigorating. When these winds are heavily charged with moisture they are intercepted by the mountain centres, the vapor is precipitated from the clouds and flows back to the Atlantic through numerous streams and rivers. These mountains are from 6,000 to 8,000 feet high, and are covered with extensive forests, through which sweep the pure soft ocean breezes, giving an atmosphere that is as invigorating THE CLIMATE. 27 as it is delightful. In the low lands on the coast the fever- germs generate, giving this region a somewhat miasmatic character. It is not, however, any more marked by malaria than the marshes of Indiana or the bottom-lands of Kansas. So keen an observer as Charles Dickens found little else than fever, ague, chills and living skeletons in a region which is now rapidly becoming one of the most productive and prosperous sections of the United States. Thus many travelers who visit only the coasts of Honduras, bring back reports that tend to discourage tourists. And this, too, of a country which had many flourishing cities as far back as 1540, and which still maintains a hardy and vigorous people. There are, speaking generally, but two climatic seasons in Central America ; the rainy season, corresponding to our summer and autumn ; and the dry season, correspond- ing to our winter and spring. The rainy season begins about the middle of May. The rains are at first intermittent, and gradually increase until the maximum is reached in July or August, when rain falls every day; then they gradually diminish, ceasing entirely in November. These showers come up about two o'clock in the afternoon and last until five or six o'clock. They are often preceded by strong winds, with thunder and almost continuous lightning. Sometimes these storms last all night, when the roads become heavy, and the streams so swollen that fording is difficult. Vegetation shows new life, and the flora with their wealth of brilliant tropical colors are all fresh and smiling after their bath. The difference of temperature between day and night is notable. Owing to constant evaporation from the soil along the coasts, rivers and lakes, the atmosphere becomes moist and chill through condensation. The dry season follows, usually from January to April, when little if any rain falls. This is the most convenient time for travelers to visit the Central American countries. True, it is with us 28 THE NEW HONDURAS. the winter season, but the winter season of Honduras is in reality its summer, since the thermometer averages a few degrees higher than it does during the wet months corre- sponding to our summer. Even when the thermometer reaches its highest point, the heat is not oppressive, and, the air being dry, the nights are refreshingly cool. In the elevated regions of the interior, on the table-lands, and on the crests of the Cordilleras, we find a mild even climate with luxuriant tropical surroundings. The mountains which rise around the fertile valleys are ascended by terraces, crowned with forests of pine and oak and carpeted with grass. The summits of the mountains sometimes run up in peaks, but generally constitute broad table-lands, more or less undulating, and often spreading out in rolling fields, traversed by low ridges of vendure, and yellow belts of trees which droop over streams as clear and as cool as those of New England. Here the familiar blackberry is native to the soil, and the bushes which im- pede the traveler are covered with fruit in its season. Fields of grain, billowing beneath cool mountain breezes, and orchards of peach trees, struggling against man's neg- lect, give to these districts all the natural aspects of the temperate zone. Up on the higher mountain crests, where the short and hardy grass betokens a temperature too low for luxuriant vegetation of any kind, the pines and gnarled oaks are draped in a sober mantle of long gray moss, which waves to and fro in the passing wind, like frayed and dusty ban- ners from the walls of old cathedrals. The very rocks themselves are browned with mosses, and except the bright springs gushing from beneath them here and there, and trickling away with a musical murmur, there is no sound to break the stillness. On the northern coast, the mountains and hills are more diversified with verdure, and there is a greater variety THE CLIMATE. 29 of trees. Cliffs and rocky crests are few, the forests dense, and full of multitudinous forms of animal life. The average temperature of Tegucigalpa, Comayagua, Juticalpa and Gracias, the principal towns, is 74°. In the plain of Comayagua, situated in the very centre of Honduras, and equidistant from the two great seas, more or less rain falls during every month in the year. During the dry season, however, on the Pacific slope, it appears in the form of showers of brief duration, while during the wet season the rains are long and heavy. The temperature of the Pacific slope ranges from 70° to 95° ; the highest being from 12 o'clock noon to 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and the lowest from four to six in the morning. The climate, in general, is healthful. The strip of low marshy land along the coast does not in any way render the country liable to epidemics, providing dietetic and hygienic laws are properly observed. On the Pacific coast along Fonseca Bay, the traveler comes upon a table-land, free from marshes and miasmatic fever-beds. The forest is not, as is usual in the tropics, so dense as to check or hinder the life of ordinary undergrowth, nor are the sun's rays prevented from reaching the soil and cleansing it from miasmatic poison and bacteria. To avoid taking the disease-germs into one's system, the traveler must abstain from drinking stagnant water, except it first be boiled, and from eating any of the numerous delicious fruits, save only the lemon, lime and orange. The saccha- rine fruits cannot be indulged in at all, as the bacteria adhere to their surface. To sleep always under shelter, in order to avoid the heavy dews, is a simple yet very sensible precaution. If the tourist follows these dietetic and hygi- enic rules, he is as safe as in any other country. Every climate has its own laws, and he who will not obey them must take the consequences. For example, the soldiers of the Federal army perished by thousands in the South, not so much from the effects of the climate as from exposure 30 THE NEW HONDURAS. and from lack of wholesome food. Again, a man from New Hampshire, unused to eating watermelons, devours one in Kansas and dies of dysentery, and his friends say it is the climate ! The climate of all countries is more uniform than is commonly supposed ; and the tourist who accepts these few suggestions on entering the great tropical garden of Honduras, will there be brought into contact with such a variety of vegetable and animal life and natural scenery as cannot fail to benefit him, both in mind and in body. He receives a new impulse to activity that shows itself in exhil- arated spirits, always conducive to vigorous respiration and circulation. Furthermore, the clear soft atmosphere of the higher altitudes invariably acts as a sedative to catarrhal affections of the respiratory organs. Inflammatory diseases of these organs are unknown there. All the organs are relieved from pressure, and the heart is stimulated to a more energetic action by the pure, rarefied atmosphere. Many are the victims of that dread disease, consumption, in our severe northern climate, who could be relieved and restored by the wonderful climatic therapeutics wherewith nature has endowed this mountainous region. Diseases of. the digestive apparatus are in most cases of a bacterial origin, and caused by indiscretions in food and drink, or by disregard of hygienic rules, resulting in a disturbance of the nervous system. The problem of acclimatization is easily solved if the laws of hygiene are obeyed ; no alteration of the normal condition of the different organs need occur. Precaution during the rainy season is necessary to protect the system from the effects of sudden changes. This may be accom- plished by the use of light flannel underwear. Before the rain-fall, an oppressive heat prevails, the whole body becomes wet with perspiration, and the cool breeze which usually follows will render one liable to chill unless the skin is thoroughly rubbed and the clothing changed. THE CLIMATE. 31 The explanation of this is simple and familiar. Perspiration stops the circulation, and by contracting the blood-vessels, drives to the internal organs the greater part of the blood. Hence arise congestion and inflammatory affections. By a daily sponge-bath, or a bath in the rivers, afterwards rub- bing the skin with coarse towels, and by the use of suitable clothing, the skin can be kept in an active and healthy condition, thus averting all danger of this kind. If a chill is felt after a rain or cool breeze, one should at once rub briskly the entire surface of the body. Follow this up with physical exercise, and take, if available, five grains of sulphate of quinine. Reaction will follow, and the healthy relation between the skin and internal organs be re-estab- lished. Thus every man has at his own command the remedy for this malady. Animal food, more especially fat, should be taken sparingly, as it retards digestion. This in turn tends to produce biliousness and other disturbances of the digest- ive organs, which may develop into more complicated disorders. Hard work of any sort, traveling or other vigorous exercise, should be undertaken only in the early part of the day, in order to avoid the heat at noon and its consequent waste of strength, and to preserve the tone of the physical economy. Sleep, " tired nature's sweet restorer," should be allowed time enough to do its work thoroughly. " Early to bed " is a rule to be guided by here, as well as "early to rise." Those who live in Honduras maintain that it is the garden spot of the world ; while those who visit it bring back reports tinted in glowing colors. It may be said in conclusion that the climate is made up neither of cloud nor of sunshine, but of a happy combination of the two. The elixir of life has not yet been discovered in any of its heal- ing plants ; neither, on the other hand, are the entire con- tents of Pandora's box to be found within its borders. Men 32 THE NEW HONDURAS. may or may not live there to be three-score years and ten. The contributor of this chapter has spent part of his life in Europe, part in the United States, and part in Honduras. His health has never suffered from climatic shock. It is well-known that men travel around the world and live on to a ripe old age. This goes far to show how absurd is the popular notion of the fatality of a climate near the equator, or in fact of any climate within the temperate or torrid zones. A great portion of Honduras enjoys the climate of the temperate zone, and supports in abundance the vege- table and animal life with which we in our own country are familiar. In order to illustrate the influence of the climate, as above described, upon the conditions and requirements of labor in the lower forest region, and to show how the two climatic seasons govern the choice of time for active work, we subjoin an account of the cutting of mahogany trees. This will afford an insight into the nature of an important and steadily increasing industry. It should be remembered, however, that precisely the same limitations, as to labor dur- ing the hours of day-time, do not obtain in any of the mining districts, owing to the greater elevation and lower tempera- ture which are uniformly characteristic of the table-lands. The mahogany season commences in August, as the wood is not then so apt to split in falling, nor so likely to " check " in seasoning, as when cut earlier in the year. Laborers are divided into gangs of from twenty to fifty men, with a " captain," who acts as superintendent and pay- master. There is also a "hunter," whose duty it is to select beforehand a group of trees, to which he will guide his comrades through the forest. This selection must be made secretly from the top of some tall tree, and requires much shrewdness in order to prevent another gang from discovering the " cutting ground " and appropriating its treasures. THE CLIMATE. 33 The tree is commonly cut about ten or twelve feet from the ground, a stage being erected for the axe-man engaged in leveling it. Accidents rarely happen. The trunk, from its dimensions, is deemed the most valuable ; but for purposes of ornamental work, the limbs or branches are generally preferred, their grain being much closer, and the veins richer and more variegated. A sufficient number of trees being cut, the preparations for "trucking" begin by the opening of a road to the nearest river. Auxiliary roads and bridges must often be built, requiring great labor and considerable time. In this way the men are kept busily employed until December, when the trees are sawn into logs of various lengths, in order to equalize the loads which the oxen are to draw. A rest is then called until the following April or May, when, the wet season being now on the wane, the trucking begins in earnest. The number of trucks worked is proportioned to the strength of the gang, and the distance generally from six to ten miles. Take a gang of forty men, capable of working six trucks, each of which requires seven pair of oxen and two drivers, leaving sixteen men to cut food for the cattle and twelve to load. The night hours are chosen for work, in order to avoid the heat of the sun. Loading begins at about midnight, and is accomplished in three hours by means of temporary inclined planes. The drivers now return to the river-side by torch-light (having left there with empty trucks at six the evening before), reaching the chief establishment generally by eleven in the morning. There the logs are marked on each end with the owner's initials, and thrown into the water. During the balance of the day, all the gang are resting, to gather strength for a repetition of the routine above described. At about the end of May, the incessant rains put a stop to the trucking; the cattle are turned into the pasture, 34 THE NEW HONDURAS. and the trucks housed. Towards the last of June, the rivers swell tremendously, the logs float down stream a distance of, say, two hundred miles, followed by the gangs in pit-pans (a kind of flat-bottomed canoe), to disengage the logs from the branches of overhanging trees, till they are safely lodged in some situation convenient to the mouth of the river. Each gang then separates its own cutting by the mark on the ends of the logs, and forms them into large rafts, in which state they are brought down to the wharves of the proprietors. Here they are taken out of the water, and undergo a second process of the axe to make the surface smooth. The ends, which frequently get split and rent by the force of the current, are also sawed off, after which the mahogany is ready for shipping. '-4mm I vlfi^i m4 '"""™|«™™| "iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii KOAD MAKING IN THE MOUNTAINS. CHAPTER IV. POLITICAL CONDITION. ^ f I^HE republics of Central America have long been -1- regarded either as nations warring with each other, or as being absorbed in civil dissensions. Their past is full of such incidents, but their present is not. Since the revo- lution of 1S21, under the leadership of Morazan, which resulted in the separation of Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica from the mother-country, Spain, these people have been learning self-government. ' At first it was a question of mere following, in order to determine who shou'd rule. Like the old feudal lords of Europe, each man of wealth and intelligence had his followers. It is an accepted historical fact that the early English kings were, as a rule, little else than pirates, and that it was not until the reign of Henry VI. that the government took a rational form. The change then brought about was not due so much to the success of the house of Lancaster, as to the revival of learning. Learning in England, prior to the sixteenth century, had been almost wholly confined to the clergy. Men then, however, began to think for themselves. Up to this time the nobility were little better than robbers, the peasantry little better than slaves. Now, the same conditions existed in Central America in the early and middle part of the present century, except- ing that the claims of royalty had been overthrown. The wealth and intelligence of the country was possessed by the few, and they ambitious for power. A united republic was not permitted to stand. The result of the disinte- gration was five separate ones. Even then, spirited contests 36 THE NEW HONDURAS. arose, of the nature of revolutions, in order to determine who should rule. He who became president was virtually dictator, and the so-called republic an absolute monarchy. In later years these conditions have been greatly changed. Constitutions have been adopted and their pro- visions are carefully maintained by those in power. In some of these constitutions it is provided that no president can be his own successor. He may be re-elected, but some other must directly succeed him before he again becomes eligible to the office. Such and like provisions are to-day religiously kept. The growing intelligence of the people demands it. These rules and methods of government are subject to the will of the people. Naturally those in office are not wont to circumscribe their own powers. The people must do that. To-day the true idea of a republic, based upon the principle that they who govern derive all their just powers from the consent o,f the governed, is gaining ground in Honduras. It may take years to develop fully. That is inevitable. But the influence of this limited democracy is now strongly felt, and the forward strides these republics have made in the past fifteen years are both marked and permanent. Education is now generally compulsory, and free schools, although primitive in character as yet, are found in every village. The college in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, has a very fair course of studies, and the university at Guatemala City has, in addition to the course for the degree of Bachelor of Arts, a school of law, and one of medicine. To this university a number of indigent students from each department of the republic are appointed, and the entire expense of their years in college is met by the govern- ment. Hence, the advantages 'of the best institution in the country are not only open to the poor, but are distributed throughout the republic, so that the educational influence becomes general. Latin, English and French are taught in POLITICAL CONDITION. 37 these schools ; and there is hardly an officer in a prominent position, but speaks, besides his native language, French or English, or both. The effect of this more general culture is to put an adequate check upon the exercise of despotism in the gov- ernment of the people and upon any tendency to anarchy among them. The necessity of good laws and the impor- tance of enforcing them are principles now fully recognized. All shrink from war, and as a consequence these republics are to-day as secure in peace as most nations of the world. The rights of property and of personal security are regarded as sacred, and punishment for violation of law is speedy and severe. Occasionally filibustering bands of adventurers may attempt to overthrow the government, but they are easily put down. Certainly their attempts are unworthy the name of revolution. They are riots, led by lawless men, such as occur at times in the cities of the most civilized and enlightened countries of the world. Besides the error of confounding the condition of these republics to-day with that of their earlier history, another mistake is made by those who assu«me that the same kind of civilization and government exists in all the Spanish repub- lics of this continent. Mexico, for instance, has its armed bands of desperadoes, but such organizations have no existence in Central America. The native laborer may be unskilled, ignorant, lazy ; but he is always simple, willing, obedient and teachable. Under more permanent and progressive forms of gov- ernment, the people are being awakened to the fact that the advancement of their country depends not wholly upon themselves. There are resources of wealth in the mines and in agriculture, to develop which fully will require the concentration of large capital, the importation of machinery, and the employment of skilled workmen who have enjoyed a more special training than their country affords. 38 THE NEW HONDURAS. The local governments began some ten years ago to encourage the North American to come to the rescue. Concessions were made granting special privileges to com- panies formed for the purpose of inducing foreign capi- tal and skill to work there. This giving of grants was a natural outgrowth. It was not the purpose of the president of a single republic only. It was rather a common senti- ment of the people, which grew out of their own intellect- ual development. The president granted the concessions and the congress confirmed them ; but it was after all the intelligence of the people of the nation, that really demanded that they should be made. They who owned mines or other properties felt the need of this foreign element to make them valuable. The merchant knew that emigration meant an increase of business for him, the workmen that labor would be more abundant and trade more liberal. Those who governed, therefore, only followed out the wishes of the people in their liberal -grants to foreigners. In this brief survey of the history and development of these republics, the question as to the security of foreigners in their investments there, is already completely answered. The fact to be noted is not so much that the foreigner is seeking concessions, but rather that these Central American countries are seeking him. The political wheel of fortune may place a conservative or a liberal at the head of the nation, but this desire and determination to deal fairly and liberally with foreigners who bring capital and skill into the country have become a settled principle in the national economics. Unfortunately, it has often happened that adventurers have sought and obtained concessions, and have done nothing under them. About the time of their lapsing, petitions have been sent on praying for an extension of time in which to commence operations, and these petitions have been denied. Then these same adventurers are heard POLITICAL CONDITION. 39 loudly denouncing the government for denying their requests. But while the negotiations were in progress, the republic through its representatives investigated the record of the applicants ; and, if petitions have been denied, it has been plainly because the petitioners proved unable to perform the conditions necessary to render valid the desired con- cessions. In extended business relations with these countries, the writer has always found them ready to extend every favor possible, when justified in so doing. Their history shows that privileges granted under any concession have been enlarged rather than abridged, by succeeding adminis- trations, in response to fair and upright dealing. To illustrate these generalizations, a short history of some of the companies represented by the writer as attorney will be in place. The Yuscaran Mining Company was formed upon a concession granted by the Honduras gov- ernment to Mr, Thomas R. Lombard, of New York, during the administration of the Hon. Marco A. Soto, in May, 1882. Under this, the conipany was granted six historical mines in the district of Yuscaran (mines which had formerly been abandoned because they had been worked to the water- line), with the proviso that work should be begun in a busi- ness-like way within two years. Work on one- of the mines was to be deemed a full compliance with these terms. In November of 1882, work was commenced by sinking a shaft on one of these, the Quemazones, and the vein was touched early in the following spring. The Hon. Marco A. Soto resigned the presidency of Honduras in September, 1883, and an election was called in accordance with the provisions of the constitution. At the election. General Luis Bogran was elected con- stitutional president by the vote of the people. General Bogran shortly afterward wrote to Mr. Thomas R. Lombard, the General Manager of the company aforesaid, prom- ising to do everything in his power to foster foreign 40 THE NEW HONDURAS. investments in his country, whether made under con- cessions granted by Mr. Soto, or under those of any former president. Prior to the resignation of Mr. Soto, liberal concessions had been granted to the Central Ameri- can Syndicate Company by the Honduras government, and up to the time of the election of General Bogran nothing had been done under them. This assurance of President Bogran gave confidence to investors, and soon the Paraiso Reduction Company was formed, under a grant giving it the sole right to establish custom reduction works in the Mineral de Yuscaran, together with other valuable franchises. During the three succeeding years, other companies have been organized, and have commenced active operations, there being about a thousand native laborers employed at present at the works of the several organizations. During this time President Bogran has been found always ready to give the representatives of these companies an audience and to aid them in the active prosecution of their interests. The greatest favor asked for was the building of a wagon- road from the Port of San Lorenzo on the Pacific coast to Yuscaran, via Tegucigalpa, a distance of about one hundred and twenty-five miles. Pack-mules over the mountain-paths had carried all the machinery up from the coast, excepting pieces weighing over two hundred pounds, which had been tied to poles and carried up by men. Such a road would prove, of course, useful to the government, but it was abso- lutely indispensable to the success of these enterprises. General Bogran, in the liberal progressive spirit that has characterized his policy, recognized this need, and through his prompt action the government undertook the work. The building of this road occupied eleven months and cost Honduras nearly one hundred thousand dollars. All the concessions made during the administration of Mr. Soto have been ratified and confirmed during the pres- ent administration. New and valuable ones have lately POLITICAL CONDITION. 41 been granted to the Central American Syndicate. Marked courtesy has been shown to all interested parties visiting Honduras, by President Bogran and by other officials of government, as well as by private citizens of the republic. In visiting these countries, the writer has made careful inquiries as to the several republics, in regard to the general security of investments. It was found that by them all the self-same favor and protection is uniformly extended. ^ A prominent citizen of Balize, in referring to certain losses of property suffered in Honduras about fifteen years ago by subjects of Great Britain, declares that these losses occurred at the time of a revolution, and that upon the pre- sentation of the claims to the government they were promptly made good. An Englishman who has a coffee plantation in the republic of Salvador where he employs three hundred and fifty natives, and who has been in busi- ness in this and in the other republics for over twenty years, gives his personal testimony that the policy uniformly is to protect foreigners in their rights, and that new presidents are zealous in even adding to the rights and privileges granted by their predecessors. Americans, Englishmen and Germans of long experi- ence in business dealings in Central America, bear unani- mous witness to the fact that these republics welcome and protect all foreigners working under government grants. The Hon. Henry C. Hall, United States Minister to Central America, a man of long diplomatic experience in these Spanish republics, avers that he can recall no case where an appeal to the United States government was needed to secure to any of its citizens the full enjoyment of the most liberal construction of the rights and powers granted them in concessions made at any time. Since the recording of the concessions to the Syndicate in the State Department at Washington, the Hon. Secretary of State has asked the United States Consuls in Honduras 42 THE NEW HONDURAS. to' make special reports on the condition of these and other business concerns there, in which citizens of this country are interested. This action of the State Depart- ment is, in itself, an assurance that our own government will take a more active interest hereafter in the protection of its citizens in their investments abroad under franchises received trom other nations. In fact a United States Con- sulate has been created at Yuscaran, simply because of the large operations carried on in that particular district of Honduras by United States citizens. Since April, 1881, the writer has represented in a legal way a number of New York companies engaged in business in Honduras, and thrice during that time has visited the country. During these six years the representatives of these companies have received complete protection and many wise suggestions from the executives and officials of the republic. The prospect of the future must be judged not merely by the records of the past, but by these records coupled with the progressive national sentiment of the people. This sentiment has been seen to be most favorable to the foreign element engaged in business in this locality; and the respect for law and justice, which is born of intelligence and grows with it, has become in itself a complete guaranty of the security of such investments. t:^-f. h> TUNNEL — SAN ANTUNIO MINKS. CHAPTER V. AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES AND NATURAL PRODUCTS. ^EW countries of the world possess natural advantages of climate and soil equal to those of Honduras. Comparatively little labor is needed to produce any of the crops of the torrid or temperate zones. The harvest which rewards industrious cultivation will yield a rich income to the agriculturist. For example, in the level lands of the coast region, sugar, indigo, and cotton grow abundantly in response to the jnost moderate encouragement. Sugar does not require to be replanted as in other countries, but will bear crop after crop for many years. Again, there is an important trade in tropical fruits, chiefly in bananas and cocoanuts, large quantities of which are shipped every year to the United States. Then there are immense resources needing little or no expenditure of capital or of labor upon the soil. Various kinds of valuable woods flourish in the forests ; mahogany, cedar, log-wood, the india-rubber tree, and several varieties of hard wood similar to rose-wood and ebony, suitable for the purposes of the builder and the cabinet-maker. Fibrous plants are found in some districts in the greatest profusion, affording a wealth of raw material for the manufacture of ropes and cordage. In the interior of the country the wide ranges offer unsurpassed facilities for the grazing of cattle, an industry 44 THE NEW HONDURAS. long appreciated by the inhabitants, and already developed to a considerable degree. Cotton. — This staple was successfully cultivated in Honduras during the period of civil strife in the United States, and the product was pronounced a very superior article. The conditions of the country are favorable to its growth. There is little doubt that the raising of cotton in Honduras could, if rightly undertaken, be made very profitable. It was tried on a small scale by an American planter who went to that country shortly after the close of the war of the Rebellion, and settled in the town of San Pedro Sula. Several acres of cotton were grown by him from seed brought from Georgia, of the variety known as the Sea Island cotton. The stalk was about eight feet high, and the bush averaged fifteen feet in circumference. In certain seasons it is covered at the same time with open boles, immature ones, and blossoms. This gentleman gathered, from this field, cotton to the amount of five hundred pounds to the acre, giving him four pickings a year ; and owing to the absence of frost in that section, he never was troubled with yellow cotton. The chief difficulty he had to contend with was getting pickers for it, the people not understanding how to do the work properly. If, however, some one having sufficient capital were to plant a large plantation and import southern negroes from the United States, who understood culti- vating and picking the article, and were then to put up his own gins and presses, a fine business could be opened that would pay large profits on the investment. This par- ticular cotton had been planted twelve years, and there appeared no reason why it should not yield for several years longer, although it was decreasing slightly in its yield, the growth going mostly into the trunks and branches. There is, in some of the gardens of the country, a native AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES. 46 cotton which grows on a long vine. There is said to be a pink variety of this, that is to say, a kind giving a pink fibre, instead of the white one so familiar in the fields, the press- rooms and warehouses, and the marts of trade. Sugar-Cane.— The principal product of the depart- ment of Comayagua to-day is sugar-cane, which is now cultivated to meet the limited demand of the local markets. It is indigenous to the soil, and very luxuriant. In Olancho, one witness speaks of sugar-cane growing without care upon the plains during a period of thirty years, while a political disturbance was in progress, and declares that this valuable plantation failed only for the want of men to gather in the crops. In nearly all departments of Honduras, in fact, the climate and soil are both eminently adapted to the growth of sugar-cane. At preseut this industry is confined in most quarters to the small growers who cultivate it for the pur- pose of producing aguadicnte, a native rum. Under the laws of Honduras the latter article is a government monopoly. Any person desirous of making the same can do so by getting permission from the government, and agreeing to sell all of the manufactured article to the government, which in turn retails it, through agents established at each town, to the people. It is sold by the bottle at about six shillings, Central American money. The sugar cane itself is of a superior quality, produc- ing large white crystals when refined with care, and only needs replanting once in ten or twelve years, according to the locality where it is grown. Almost every farmer throughout the country raises a small patch of cane for the purpose of feeding his stock with it. A few years ago a gentleman from Balize obtained a concession from the gov- ernment for a large tract of land in the valley of the Sula, proposing to raise sugar-cane and to establish a 46 THE NEW HONDURAS. refinery there. He went to England, expecting to secure the necessary capital for the purchase of machinery, etc., but was unsuccessful. There is little doubt that this coun- try could be made one of the largest producing districts for sugar in the world, provided that capital and intelligence were directed to that end. Coffee.— Coffee of excellent quality flourishes freely in Honduras, although it has never been adopted as an article of general production, not even to the extent of supplying the people of the country. The Department of Gracias, for instance, has some coffee gardens ; but while the bushes are heavily laden with berries in their season, proper care is not taken of the crops, chiefly for lack of workmen to attend to them. As a record of actual and recent results in this branch of agricultural industry, it may be mentioned that out of one million sacks of coffee exported during the year 1885 from all Central America, Honduras furnished twenty thousand sacks, without any special exertion. There are, in fact, people of almost all nationalities, including principally Germans and Italians, at present engaged in planting, raising and gathering coffee, cocoa, etc. Some of the coffee raised is shipped, along with other prod- ucts of the country, to American ports. But the greater part of the export, as well as of the import trade, is carried on with England and Germany, as has been the case for many years. The plains of Comayagua are admirably adapted to the cultivation of coffee and kindred staples. There is every reason for believing that coffee of equally good qual- ity with that of Costa Rica may be produced in Honduras, which possesses every requisite variety of soil and climate. Fruits. — For a brief survey of the traffic in tropical fruits, one of the chief indiistries of Honduras, the depart- AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES. 47 ment of Colon may be taken as a representative district; fruit culture for exportation being extensively carried on through all the region watered and drained by the Guayape river and its tributaries. Here the simple native willingly assists, for the smallest compensation, in gathering for distant markets the abundant treasures of the tropical orchard-fields. Bananas, custard- apples, rose-apples, grapes, plums, limes, lemons, oranges, pomegranates, citrons, melons, pawpaws, mangoes, giia^'as, maranones, agiiacates, achiote and cocoa ; all these con- tribute to the rich store of native delicacies from which the dealer makes selections for his foreign customers. The banana, in fact, grows wild in the country. Five kinds of cocoa are found, each with its specific use and value.. Of the sapote there are four varieties; of the aguacaie three. Of the guava fruit, the favorite is known as the " arrallan," growing on the savannas or plains ; this kind is preferred to the common as well as to the Peruvian variety. A very good quality of olive thrives in this country, besides a similar fruit, negritos^ commonly called "the olive." Besides these fruits, the vegetable products of the soil include tobacco, indigo, sassafras, Peruvian bark, vanilla, ipecac, pimento, ginger, pepper and sarsaparilla. For pro- visions, the kidney-bean, potato, rice, wheat, corn, the yam, which grows here to an immense size, and the plantain, next to the maize the principal reliance of the people of the tropics as an article of food. The yield of the plantain is simply enormous, the product of a single acre, according to Humboldt, exceeding the crop of a hundred acres of wheat, or of forty acres of potatoes. Yoro is one of the north coast states of Honduras, and second in size to Olancho. Its principal wealth is in its agricultural resources. Especially abundant here are the banana and cocoanut. The great plantations of Puerto Sal are said to yield over $100,000 worth annually of cocoa-nut 48 THE NEW HONDURAS. oil alone. The principal cocoa-farm is eighteen miles wide, and counts over 22,000 productive trees. About the same number are growing on the Ysopo farm. Elaboration by machinery produces from the cocoa, in addition to the oil which is so valuable an article of com- merce, four different kinds of tow. After the oil is extracted from the pulp, the residue is utilized as a desirable food for cattle. Another large industry is that engaged in the produc- tion and exportation of sarsaparilla. This commodity, which commands a ready and extensive sale in nearly all countries of the world, is readily obtainable in Yoro, as elsewhere in Honduras, and from this department valuable consigriments are made every year to the wholesale dealers in the United States and Europe. At the present time, a railroad is said to be projected by Western capitalists, having for its object the opening up for trade of the whole coast line of Yoro, between Truxillo and Puerto Cortez. The principal traffic contemplated is in fruits, chiefly bananas, cocoanuts, and pineapples, for the United States. Precious Woods. — At the present time, the many varieties of precious woods constitute an important item in the exports of Honduras. Those best known are the cedar, the mahogany, and the rose-wood. The mahogany grows in nearly all parts of the country, in the valleys of the various streams. It is, however, most abundant upon the low ground bordering the rivers that flow into the Bay of Honduras, where it also attains its greatest size and beauty. In the valleys of Comayagua, there is any quantity of mahogany, lignum vitce and cedar. The finer qualities found along the banks of the Sulaco river, are so far dis- tant from the coast as to have little or no commercial value. Those varieties which grow in the mountainous districts are AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES. 49 the tallest and of the greatest diameter, and thrive alike in all temperatures. The pine and oak are abundant on the hills. The department of Olancho has even greater variety to show in forest products. There is one wood called rofiron, held to be unrivalled for the manufacture of hand- some and durable furniture. In Juticalpa, the capital city of Olancho, the resident artisans have utilized this superior material in the construction of household furniture, such as sofas, chairs, bureaus, and cabinets. By so doing they are enabled to compete with foreign dealers in these necessary articles. This district furnishes also large quantities of walnut, black-wood, tamarind, mulberry, log-wood, and other dye- woods ; several varieties of oak, including the evergreen oak, the sturdy San Juan, and Guanacaste; fig tree, ccibas, gi-anadillo, guayacan, teguaje, alazar, esphio verde, masicaran, chihipaete, coyote and guano, the last named being a sort of native American palm. All these flourish in abundance, in addition to the forests of mahogany and cedar, which almost everywhere prevail. Some of the above-mentioned trees produce food for both nian and beast ; some yield a species of cotton well adapted for household uses; and others are exceptionally rich in resins, gums, and oils for various purposes. Among the latter may be specified gum copal, balsam, talascan and guapinal. The caoutchouc is found in sufficient quan- tities to repay constant attention, its product being used for making water-proof cloth. There are also endless tracts of pine forest, in part situated conveniently near the sea, and along the banks of rivers navigable by steamboats, making them very easy of access. In the same neighbor- hood, from the coast to the confluence of the Guayape and the Guayambre rivers, are great forests of balsams, limas, cedars, and mahogany. Innumerable varieties of dye-woods shade the wide valley of Juticalpa, crossed by the Guayape. 50 THE NEW HONDURAS. Whoever shall be enterprising and persevering enough to open up the districts traversed by this river, bringing its magnificent timber-lands into tribute to his business energy, will reap a rich harvest in return for his exertions. Vegetable Fibres. — Of the different kinds of fibrous plants so prolific throughout the country, those deserving of special notice are the 7nagiiey or agave (commonly called mescal), the pita plant, and the Junco or Panama straw, flourishing chiefly in the department of Comayagua. The mescal leaf is about three feet six inches long, white and strong in fibre. The pita is finer, of a silky .texture and lustre, about four feet long, suitable for mixing with silk fabrics, as proved by experiment. This fibre is exceedingly tough, and is capable, under proper treatment, of almost endless subdivision into the finest threads. The jiinco is the well-known water-plant of which Panama hats are made. The following careful description of one of these fibres will prove interesting reading : Pita. — The pita plant differs from an aloe proper (the European aloe belongs to the lily family), and also from the cactus, with both of which it has too frequently been confounded. Mr. Richard Whiting, in a letter to " The New York World," some three years ago, speaks of the planters of Mauritius cultivating it for its valuable fibre, and names it a species of aloe {aloe Mexicana); and Dr. Trowbridge, United States Consul at Vera Cruz, in 1880, is reported as saying, in speaking of a variety of this plant, if not actually the same species : " There is a species of cactus here commonly called pita (I do not know its -botanical name), some of the fibres of which are sixteen feet long. It is strong and silky, and capable of being drawn into threads, from which gossamer webs might be AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES. 51 woven. In fact a few months ago a Vera Cruzan sent some of the fibre to England, and had a few handkerchiefs made, which were extremely beautiful, and appeared more like silver tissue than linen, and were quite strong." Both Mr. Whiting and Dr. Trowbridge were mistaken as to the botanical name, although correct in what they say in refer- ence to its adaptability. Pita is most generally known as the American aloe or agave plant [agave Americana). It belongs to the amaryllis family, and it has been put to a great variety of uses in southern Mexico and the several republics of Central America. The dried flower-stems have been extensively utilized to make thatched roofs for tropical houses, the strength of the fibre giving to such roofing wonderful dura- bility. The sap of the leaves of one species of the American aloe (a coarser species than the one which is the subject of this article), becomes, when fermented, the well-known Mexican drink pulque, and when distilled, the pleasant but deceptive vitio mescal. The fibre, which is the most valuable and wonderful quality of the pita plant, has been extensively used by the natives for hammocks, cordage and ropes. It extends the entire length of the leaf, and the natives extract it by first pounding the leaf on a rock, next expos- ing it to the rays of the sun (whereby the bark of the leaf becomes crumbled), and then giving it a second pounding followed by a combing, which produces a clean fibre. This process is nece&sarily slow and expensive, which accounts' for the fact that the use made of the fibre has been almost entirely confined to the tropical countries producing it. ^\it pita plant of Central America seems to yield a finer fibre than that of Mexico; however, there is a marked differ- ence in this particular in localities on the same parallel. In the lowlands of Honduras and Nicaragua, where /zVa; grows most luxuriantly, the leaf is straight, varying from three to 52 THE NEW HONDURAS. four inches in width, having no middle stalk, and from a few feet to eighteen feet in length. In its growth here it monopolizes the soil, taking exclusive possession, excepting, of course, the space occupied by the tropical forest trees. From the fact that this plant has, as yet, received no systematic cultivation or cutting, it is impossible to deter- mine the exact annual yield ; but, from the best available sources, this yield (by cutting the leaves three or four times a year, so as to bring up an average of six feet in length), will be from three to five tons of clean fibre per acre. The territory occupied by this plant is exceedingly extensive. Along some of the water-courses, and extending back from them, single tracts can be found containing a thousand acres. The crude fibre is equal in value to manilla hemp, when applied to light uses ; but in fineness, strength and durability, it is far superior. The ultimate fibre is even finer than that of the threads of silk spun by the silk-worm. f Experiments have been made of weaving this fibre, when flossed, with cotton, wool, or silk; and it has been found that this can be done advantageously with any of them. As the pita fibre possesses a silky gloss of its own, it has been thought by manufacturers that it would be found valuable to mix with silk, especially in the manufacture of heavy curtain fabrics where weight, strength, durability and finish are required. Companies have been organized for the purpose of bringing this fibre into the market for general use, and con- siderable sums of money have been invested in machinery for separating the fibre ; but, at present writing, complete satisfaction with any of these machines has not been reached in the tests made ; and a wide field seems here to open itself to the inventor. Years of patient work of inventive f The writer of this was shown the two under a powerful microscope at Lyons, France, and heard many exclamations of surprise on the part of manufacturers at this unexpected result, and at the further fact that the pita fibre did not lose its strength when reduced to the fine floss state. AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES. 53 brains were required before proper machinery was perfected to produce renii fibre from the stalk, and some waiting may still be necessary before a practical machine shall be com- pleted capable of reducing the green leaf of the pita plant to a marketable product. When that is done, a new and valuable fibre will have daily quotation in our market- reports, and manufacturers will find for it a hundred uses, not only because of its wide adaptability, but because it is found, by actual tests, to be the strongest vegetable fibre known. Cattle. — Cattle, hides and deer-skins form the chief exports of the department of Olancho, relatively, and for this reason, the richest of all the departments of Honduras in actual available property. It exports also considerable quan- tities of sarsaparilla, tobacco and bullion; but the gold-wash- ings themselves are secondary in value to the cattle-herds as a source of wealth to this region. Vast herds wander over the spacious cattle-runs of Olancho, finding, in the wide savan- nas and open forests, ample pasturage and congenial roving- grounds. The ox grows to a size above what in our own country is regarded as a good average, and is of remarkable beauty and strength of form, short, compact and powerful. The cows do not as a rule yield a large quantity of milk, but its quality is good. These animals are successfully raised in various portions of Honduras, and constitute an important share in the property of the people. Large num- bers of oxen, broken to the yoke, are supplied to the mahogany-works along the north coast. Exports of cattle are made chiefly to the neighboring states of Central America and to Cuba. Guatemala and San Salvador consume a full proportion, the latter country, in common with Balize, drawing nearly all its entire supply of cattle from Honduras. Numbers are sent also every year to Panama. Hides are destined soon to become a still 54 THE NEW HONDURAS. more important article of export, owing to the improved methods of transportation now being introduced into the country. The general character of the country, abounding throughout its entire area in natural and unfailing meadows, affords immense facilities for cattle raising, and is eminently favorable for the increase of this kind of property to an indefinite extent. Opals. — The omission of one minor point of peculiar interest would be deemed inexcusable. For this reason attention is called, at the close of this chapter of miscellany, to the opals of Honduras, celebrated by the gem-loving cavaliers of Spain in both song and story. The opal mines of Honduras are situated in the de- partment of Gracias. They have been worked, principally, by foreigners, for a number of years. The fire-opal of Honduras takes equal rank with that of Hungary. Some specimens are very beautiful, although as a rule the ordinary or milk-opal is a very insignificant-looking stone. At an exhibition of the products of Honduras recently given in San Francisco, a collection of opals belonging to ex- president Soto excited great interest. Some of these were very large and beautiful, and carved in different shapes. One represented a tortoise, another a scarabceus. A larger speci- men, said to be the largest precious opal ever found, was a miniature castle situated on a cliff, — the whole being about five inches high and three inches square at the base. A small fire-opal found by Mr. Peacock in his mines a few years ago, was so very beautiful that, although not larger than an ordinary white bean, it brought $350 in the London market. It seems a pity that these gems should have been so long excluded from the American jewelry-market solely because of the absurd superstition regarding them. This familiar superstition is of comparatively recent origin, having SAN ANTONIO VILLAc;E. AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES. 55 received considerable impulse from the prominence given to it in a novel by Sir Walter Scott. Afterwards it was fostered by Parisian jewelers at a time when the scarcity of the stone made it impossible for them to meet the demand, their object being to turn the demand away from this gem to others more available. The ancients held this stone in very high esteem. It was long believed to be the luckiest of all the jewels, as wit- ness the following lines : " Gray years ago a man lived in the East, Who did possess a ring of worth immense From a beloved hand. Opal the stone, Which flashed a hundred bright and beauteous hues, And had the secret power to make beloved, Of God and man, the one Who wore it in this faith and confidence." CHAPTER VI. THE MINING INDUSTRY. ITS PAST HISTORY. ^ I ^HE mining industry of Honduras may be said to have A begun with the discovery of the country by Columbus in 1502. The attention of the great navigator's followers was drawn immediately to the mineral resources of the country. Their cupidity was strongly aroused at sight of the gold orna- ments worn by the Indians who traded with them on the Mosquito coast, now known as the department of Colon. As a result of that first expedition, the conquest of Honduras was determined upon. Two years later the plan was put into execution. Truxillo, Puerto Cortez, and Omoa were the points first settled, and from these the ear- liest expeditions were made into the unexplored interior. Next followed the establishment of trading-posts, the nuclei of present towns and cities. The district now known as the department of Olancho, most conveniently entered from the port of Truxillo, seems to have been the Mecca of the Spanish adventurer in Cen- tral America. All its rivers and streams flowed over the precious gold-bearing sands that promised untold wealth to the Castilian. It is commonly believed that the only kind of mining done during the first half-century of the Spanish occupation was that designated //ar^r. The virgin streams of the north coast offered the most remunerative fields to the gold- hunter, involving as they did no special outlay of skill, labor, or capital. The processes of extraction and separation used by the early miners were very simple, being in fact on a level with THE MINING INDUSTRY. ITS PAST HISTORY. 57 the intelligence of the conquered Indians, who were forced to toil for the enrichment of their hard and pitiless task- masters. A shallow wooden dish, not unlike the chopping- bowl of domestic use, was the only requisite appliance. Into this was put fifteen or twenty pounds of river-sand, and water having been added, a centrifugal motion was imparted to this mixture by twirling the bowl horizontally in the hands. The difference in specific gravity of the component parts, under the influence of this centrifugal motion, caused the heavier grains to settle towards the bottom. Gold, being the heaviest, formed the substratum, and the outer component materials were then washed away. To the early Spanish settler in Honduras the problem of mining was one to be solved by simple hand-labor. As to the amount of hand-labor available at that period in the history of the new country, a glance may be taken at some of the records still extant. The priestly chroniclers of those expeditions of conquest and occupation people Honduras with hordes of fierce savages, to subjugate whom required the waging of an incessant warfare. The tales of wholesale slaughter contained in these records recall the accounts of massacres in the days when the historic nations of southern Europe were struggling for the mastery of the world. Such exaggerated estimates as to the population of the country are scarcely in accord with the complaints, continually repeated by these same chroniclers, of the great difficulty of obtaining laborers to work the mines. But a few years were required, it seems, to subdue the native tribes and to bring them under the influence of the Roman Church. And yet from the outset, till the last ves- tige of Spanish authority disappeared from the country, the scarcity of labor was the chief obstacle encountered. In view of this important fact, the old Spanish estimate of the population is hardly to be accepted. It plainly grew out of an overweening desire to magnify the deeds of valor 58 THE NEW HONDURAS. performed by the Spanish soldiers. No excuse is to be offered for the cruelties practiced upon a weak and defence- less people. Much, however, might be said in admiration of that mere handful of determined men who courageously met and skillfully overcame the opposing forces of savage tribes, whose numerical preponderance alone seems sufficient to have annihilated the little band of invaders. For instance, in a battle fought on the plains of Coma- yagua, the chief of one native tribe is said to have mustered thirty thousand warriors. This, according to the usual method of estimate, would give to that section of the country a pop- ulation of at least one hundred thousand, a greater number than could have found sustenance there. Such an estimate, if proportionately continued, gives to the limited area of Honduras a population, at that time, of some three millions, or about ten times what it is thought to be at present. Peopled to that extent, Honduras could not have been the country it was pictured, a succession of dreary plains, wide savannas, and immense forests, ranged by dangerous wild beasts. The habits of a migratory people lead them to follow the water-courses of a country, for reasons obvious yet different from those which gave to the invaders of Honduras their prime motive. By the attraction of the gold-bearing sands of the rivers, the Spaniards were held to those local- ities ; while the fish of the streams and the game which frequented the river-banks afforded sustenance to the aboriginal. Probably the Spaniard, following the courses of the streams, came in contact with all the Indian dwellers of the country, and made a false estimate of the population of the whole district by allotting to interior and uninhabited portions a proportionate number. Furthermore, it is not to be presumed that where the Spaniards were opposed by a considerable number, the opposition was purely local. Difficulties between neighboring tribes are often laid aside in order to combine against a common foe. While it THE MINING INDUSTRY. — ITS PAST HISTORY. 59 is possible that thirty thousand Indians were gathered on the plains of Comayagua to give battle to the Spaniards, it is more than probable that this force was recruited from all the tribes of the surrounding country. The region in question is centrally located, and well adapted for the assem- bling of a large force with intent to make a last determined stand against the encroachments of an invader. For more than fifty years, indeed, the tribes held under the sway of the Spanish sword had suffered untold miseries, and a consolida- tion of the fighting forces of the natives for one mighty resist- ance to the terrible tyranny grinding them down into bitterest servitude, is the natural explanation of the existence of such an army — if the statement as to its existence is to be received. Subsequently to the battle of Comayagua, all vigorous attempts to oppose the rule of Spain seem to have been abandoned. The unhappy native, ceasing to be lord of the domain, becomes no better than a beast of burden. Certain old manuscripts, which have survived the edicts of the Spanish crown, recite acts of barbarism on the part of the invading bands too horrible almost for belief. If we are to take the statements of these eye-witnesses, the story of the conquest of Honduras reads more like a series of cold- blooded butcheries than a record of the valorous exploits of military heroes. So disgraceful to Spanish arms were these recitals, that the publication of them was interdicted, and care was taken to put before the people an account which reflected honor and credit upon both Church and State. One of the earliest discouragements to the mining industry was a revolt of the peons employed in the gold washings. Unable to endure any longer the increasing hardships of their lot, and aware of the futility of a resort to arms, the Indian slaves fled to the mountains, leaving their masters behind them in a helpless condition without even the assistance necessary in tilling the ground. The lesson of such a predicament, involving the danger of star- 60 THE NEW HONDURAS. vation to the Spaniards, was naturally not lost upon them. So soon as by conciliatory measures the natives could be induced to return, the policy was adopted of actively pro- moting agricultural industries. That this policy was gladly fostered by the Church may reasonably be supposed. In the year 151 1, a council to provide for the better govern- ment of the Spanish colonies was created under the title of "The Council of the Indies." This Council passed a decree, among others, that a fifth part of the product of the mining industry should be paid to the King of Spain ; while to the Church there should be paid a royalty consisting of a tithe of the agricultural product. Taking into consideration the indubitable fact that the Church rapidly acquired great wealth in Honduras and that its revenue was derived solely from the tillage of the soil, it is beyond- question that labor was largely diverted to agri- culture, even to the detriment of " the King's fifth." No other reason so plausible can be adduced for the prevailing distaste for work in the mines, a feeling apparently amount- ing to a strong superstition, and continuing until after the independence in 1821, when the whilom slave became a miner on his own account. The best evidence of the scarcity of laborers for this important industry as conducted during the period of the Spanish rule, is to be found in the numerous petitions to the crown, still extant, wherein the mines are shown to be capable of greater production, unattainable for lack of men to work them. Another drawback causing frequent com- plaint was the drafting of miners in preference to plantation- laborers, into military service on the north coast. The buccaneers who infested the Spanish main, lying in wait for Spanish treasure-ships, often descended upon the coast. Owing to the constant fear of these robber-raids a large force of soldiers was kept in requisition to protect the principal points on the coast. Still another cause for com- THE MINING INDUSTRY. — ITS PAST HISTORY. 61 plaint was found in the discrimination made by the authori- ties in favor of Salvador, in this same matter, to the prejudice of the mines of Honduras. Miners were drafted and sent to the former country, probably because of the proximity of Honduras to Guatemala, the seat of vice-royalty at that time. The discovery of silver was made some fifty-seven years after the first Spanish invasion, but no attempt was made to open up the mines. The work of conquest was in hand, and the gold-bearing streams and surface-veins offered a readier and more profitable venture. About the beginning of the seventeenth century the opening of the silver veins was undertaken. The mountains around what is now Santa Lucia were the scene of these primary operations. The adjoin- ing districts, or minerals, of Santa Lucia and San Juan de Cantarranos (which latter a few years ago was subdivided by the creation of the mineral of San Juancito) are designated as the first regular mining-camps established in Honduras. In these mining districts are to be found to-day evi- dences of the methods of mining employed by the workmen of those early days. These evidences indicate that such natural difficulties as were successfully removed were over- come by mere brute force. No scientific knowledge what- ever appears to have been applied to the task ; in fact the degree of intelligence which directed these pioneer efforts could not have been great. From the time when miners were accustomed to split rocks by heating and then suddenly cooling portions of the surface, until a very recent date, Honduras has been as far behind Mexico, in the improve- ment of its mining processes, as Mexico has been behind the United States in this respect. In forming an estimate of the mineral possibilities of Honduras, a comparison of that country with Mexico is naturally suggested. But beyond the fact that a common language is employed in the two countries, little is found upon investigation to warrant a comparison. 62 THE NEW HONDURAS. Prescott shows that when the Spaniard first appeared upon this continent, Mexico was already a well-established empire, teeming with a great population, intelligent and skilled in the arts fostered by an era of prosperity and peace. Honduras, on the other hand, was the home of nomadic tribes subsisting by the chase. Mexico was already rich. Thither the Spanish chieftain, seeking his fortune in America, directed his steps. There he established a close relationship with the old world, and enjoyed the advan- tages derived therefrom ; while Honduras fell to the lot of the rough and turbulent soldier. It was a mutiny of the men under leadership of a headstrong lieutenant that led the immortal Cortez to make his celebrated march from the city of Mexico, through trackless and at times hostile regions, in order to arrest and punish the rebels, — a march remaining to this day without a parallel in military history. Mexico, with its vast population, providing an abun- dance of labor, and with evidences of wealth on every side, claimed the immediate notice of the mother-country, Spain. It gained as a result the fullest development possible under the existing conditions of the mining industry. Enjoying this close intimacy with Spain, it is no wonder that Mexico took such forward strides. Honduras was able to com- municate with its "protector," making known its wealth and its wants, only with difficulty and indirectly, /. e., through Guatemala, and thence to Europe by way of Cape Horn. While it is probable that no country, in proportion to its area, contains so much mineral wealth as Honduras, yet like many another colony it was for a long time over-shadowed by more populous neighbors, continuing to contribute its quota to the wealth of Spain. And this it is known to have done without that encouragement which unques- tionably, had it been given, would have brought this region into the front rank of Spain's most valuable possessions. CHAPTER VII. THE MINING INDUSTRY. CONTEMPORARY HISTORY. I N the development of the mining industry, there exists no evidence of great undertakings. Wherever the signs of extensive operations appear, they are surrounded by those natural conditions which would make such oper- ations practicable with the simplest of appliances in the hands of the least intelligent of workmen. Whenever a state of affairs was reached requiring a system of artificial ventilation or drainage for the sake of further progress, abandonment was the result. Whether such abandonment was encouraged by the fact that there was an abundance of other veins to be worked, or whether it resulted from a lack of knowledge of the proper principles of mining, it is difficult at this time to determine. The fact remains that abandonments occurred when these obstructions were met with, apparently without regard to the value of the property. This may be observed, for instance, in the case of the Corpus Christi mine in the department of Choluteca. This mine is said to have produced fabulous sums of gold ; but the inability to drain off water caused a suspension of work, and to-day the property remains in possession of that obdu- rate foe to Honduras mining. Native mining in Honduras at the present day is a fair index to that of the past. Where, for example, a ready means of artificial ventilation presents itself, the water-line limits active operation. Again, in the absence of such means of ventilation, a still narrower limit results, arising from the difference between the temperature 64 THE NEW HONDURAS. within the shaft and that at the mouth of the mine, a differ- ence controlling the flow of air-currents. How serious a problem this matter of water was to the miner of Honduras in former times, as well as at the present day, may be understood from the following statement. Ore and water are removed from the mines in leather bags carried by men. In shaft mining, the interior is reached by means of notched timbers, about ten feet long, used as ladders. The shaft consists of a series of sections, or posos, so that the whole resembles, more than anything else a flight of stairs intended for the use of the giants of ancient fable. In order properly to state the water problem, it is assumed for the sake of illustration that a certain mine has a depth of say one hundred and fifty feet, and that it contains one hundred thousand gallons of water. To reach that depth, fifteen notched poles must be climbed. Hence the force of men employed in raising the water is limited to fifteen, part of these ascending while the others descend the shaft. The maximum of round trips daily made by these men would not exceed forty for each, and the quan- tity of water raised by each man per trip would not be greater than fifteen gallons or one hundred and twenty-four pounds. Thus nearly twelve days would be consumed by this force of men (the greatest number capable of being employed in such a shaft), in raising the one hundred thousand gallons. Whereas, in the State of Pennsylvania, over three million gallons have been pumped and lifted by machinery in twenty-four hours. From the foregoing it may be seen that a small amount of water, at an insignificant depth, means the loss of the mine, at least under the disadvantages of the mode of operation that has just been described. For, in order to recover the mine, it is necessary that no more water should flow into the shaft. If the shaft is receiving water at the rate of say ten thousand gallons, it is making a thousand THE MINING INDUSTRY. CONTEMPORARY HISTORY. 65 gallons per day more than can be raised to the surface by the aid of ladders and tanateros. Again, in the matter of ventilation, quite as serious difficulty is experienced as in the water problem. Judging from the methods evidently in use in the older and more extended operations, there was but little science employed. Only where the natural conditions were favorable is any attention to ventilating-shafts or tunnels observable. And in these cases no great difference of altitude exists between the points chosen for the entrance and exit of air-currents. Nor is there any evidence of the air having been drawn from, or forced into, the mines by the aid of machinery of any kind. Tunnels of considerable length are found having an access to air sufficient to the carrying on of the work, the ventilation being obtained by means of lumbreras (sky-lights), driven from the surface above. The distance between the surface and the tunnel in such cases generally permits the opening of these air-shafts at a moderate expense. The principle of the Bunsen pump was adopted in Honduras in the first half of the present century, but it does not appear that its use has ever been extended beyond the furnishing of a blast to the primitive native smelting- works. Furthermore it does not appear that any extensive shafts or tunnels were cut until about the same period. Indeed, so far behind the Mexican was the Honduranian miner, that the device known as the arrasfer, worked by water, was not introduced into the country of the latter until after the discovery, in the year 1747, of the mineral wealth of the district of Yuscaran. Prior to that time, the ore was ground to pulp by hand, or by means of the appli- ance known by the name of the Chili mill. One of the most interesting of the petitions presented to the Spanish crown by the miners of Honduras, praying 66 THE NEW HONDURAS. for the improvement of their condition, is dated 1799. Its contents afford a fair illustration of the difficulties under which the mining industry was laboring both before and after that year. The miners of Yuscaran assembled for the purpose of expressing their dissatisfaction with the existing state of affairs, and of suggesting to the Crown some means for bringing about a revival of the all important industry. Among the hardships complained of, the following are worthy of note : {a) Lack of laborers, {d) Excessive taxation, aggravated by the " red tape " of the local government, which subjected the miners to use- less expenditures, involving circumstances entirely without benefit to themselves and very harrassing. {c) They complain, further, of the refusal of the local government to give to the mineral of Yuscaran some forty- five workmen, who had been drafted for the service of the mines in that district. Also, of being taxed six and" a quarter cents per capita a week for the services of workmen never sent to the mines, {({) That foreigners and merchants bringing produce and other wares to the markets of Yuscaran had been so unjustly taxed that they no longer came thither on business expeditions. {e) That the laborers designated for their mines were either sent away to San Salvador or drafted for military ser- vice on the north coast. (/) They submit, that these abuses had greatly inter- fered with the prosperity of mining in the district ; so much so, in fact, that of the thirty-five known veins of gold and silver, only a few were being worked at all ; and whereas, formerly seventeen native reduction-works had been constantly in operation, at that time but three were active. THE MINING INDUSTRY. CONTEMPORARY HISTORY. 67 They plead, in conclusion, that their difficulties are not owing to failure of ore in the mines, but to the want of workmen. While the foregoing petition has reference to but one mining district, it tells the story of the others. How limited were the mining operations of the country, is best seen from the stress laid in that petition upon a request for the early delivery of some six hundred pounds of quicksilver, for amalgamating purposes, which indispensable material is therein stated to be in the city of Comayagua. The historical importance of the above protest is con- sidered sufficient warrant for introducing into these pages a translation of the terms of the petition. Since the beginning of the present century, and up to about the year 1823, a more decided development seems to have been effected, particularly in the iniim^al of Santa Lucia. It is said that shafts four hundred feet in extent, and tunnels of even greater length, have been driven in this district, as well as in that of Yuscaran. It does not follow, however, nor is it shown in the description of these mines, that the shaft-developments were accompanied by drifts and tunnels of corresponding magnitude, or vice-versa. Indeed, the entire absence of machinery for ventilating and pump- ing, and the lack of knowledge of the principles involved in these problems, show absolutely that depth was habitually sacrificed to development upon the surface-side of the vein, or, where conducted by means of tunnels, that the lateral developments had no depth to correspond. The slow growth of mining skill, as evidenced in the history of Honduras, may be illustrated by a reference to the efforts of the Rosas to open the celebrated Mina Grande mine of Santa Lucia, by means of a tunnel. They had successfully worked the vein of this mine from the top of a mountain, also called Mina Grande, to a depth of four hundred feet. There, however, the work terminated ; not 68 THE NEW HONDURAS. because of a failure of the ore-body, but simply for want of ventilation. At that depth, they were still some eight hun- dred feet above the natural water-level, the Rio Chiquito, no water being found upon the Mina Grande mountain. Unable to cope with the difficulty thus presented, the Rosas imported a number of Mexicans for the purpose of driving a tunnel from a point six hundred feet below the old works. This fact indicates that the Mexican miner was esteemed by the Honduranian as his superior, if not indeed as a master of his trade. The work of the Mexicans upon the Mina Grande, however, proved a failure. The tunnel, still in existence, was driven in a semi-circle, missing the vein altogether. No explanation can be given for this apparent stupidity, except that the miners had no instrument by which to ascertain or to regulate the direction of their work. Another tunnel, still in existence, known as the Gatal, was driven at the same time. The inaccuracy of the work, the expense, or the political entanglements of the owners, or all three causes combined, led the Rosas to abandon, about the year 1823, this and all other operations in the Santa Lucia district. From that time until the present year, little has been done towards the recovery of these once famous properties. What has been said of the Santa Lucia applies as well to the other mining districts of the country. It may be added, in general, that the Honduranian does better work as a smelter and gleaner than as a miner. Every mineral district of Honduras shows the lack of ability to apply correct principles of ventilation, or to handle large quantities of water economically and effectively. In all the mines opened by the Spaniards, the veins were attacked from the highest available point, and worked from that point as long as possible. When a depth was reached too great to permit of bringing to the surface the poorer THE MINING INDUSTRY. CONTEMPORARY HISTORY. 69 grades of ore, the work was discontinued, except so far as necessary in order to get at the richer portions of the vein. When ore was mined at a considerable depth, the richer portions were selected and the poorer portions used as material for "filling" or "backing" elsewhere in the subterranean work. The Spanish miners of Honduras were scarcely unaware of the advantage to be gained by attacking the mine accord; ing to well-defined plans, involving the driving of tunnels, shafts, adits, vent-holes, etc. But it was beyond the reach of their resources to provide the requisite amount of expend- iture and of labor. In order to a fuller understanding of the situation at the present time, some description of native methods of mining will not be amiss here. The Honduranian, though an excellent judge of the quality of ore as revealed by natural indications, still, as a miner, has not improved to any degree upon the skill of his predecessors. In opening a mine, his first efforts are directed to digging a shaft, called in mining vernacular a poso. To meet the requirements of the mining code of the country, this /