CHAPTER XII
REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS
THE Republic of Honduras is situated immediately east of Guatemala and has a frontier line of perhaps two hundred miles next to that republic. On the Caribbean Sea its coast line from Guatemala to Cape Gracias-a-Dios (thanks to God) measures about four hundred miles. The true boundary line between Honduras and Nicaragua has caused much confusion and misunderstanding in the past, and it is hardly well defined yet, although several commissions have been appointed by the two governments and made their reports. It has but a small coast line on the Pacific in the Bay of Fonseca.
There are many rivers which rise in the interior and wend their way toward the ocean. The principal rivers flow northward and empty their waters into the Gulf of Mexico. Of these the largest is the Ulua, which drains a large expanse of territory and discharges a greater amount of water into the sea than any other river of Central America. It is navigable for a distance of a hundred and twenty-five miles for light-draft vessels, and regular service is now maintained on it by a small combined freight and passenger steamer operated by an American company. It opens up a rich agricultural district to commerce. The Aguan, Negro, Patuca and Coco, or Segovia, rivers are also considerable streams which are navigated by the natives. The Lake of Yohoa, the only lake of any note, is about twenty-five miles long and from three to eight miles broad.
Cortez reported to his sovereign that Honduras was a “land covered with awfully miry swamps. I can assure your majesty that even on the tops of the hills our horses, led as they were by hand, and without their riders, sank to their girths in the mire.” The great conqueror doubtless landed during the rainy season, when the rains are literally “downpours” and the rivers become torrents. At that season the mud does seem to be almost without bottom, and the immense areas of mangrove-tree swamps which cover the mud flats in the immediate vicinity of the mainland made the finding of a good landing-place a difficult matter. Although he found the natives tractable and the country was easily subdued, yet he could not control nature, which here exhibits herself in her wildest and most terrible aspects. He named his landing-place Puerto Caballos, because he lost a number of horses, but it has since been named in his own honour.
Honduras is not all swamp, for this condition only exists along the coast of the Atlantic and Pacific and for a distance varying from only a few miles to fifty miles inland. Then the land begins to rise, gradually spreading out into plains and plateaus, until the mountainous region is reached with its many volcanic peaks which lift their graceful heads above the clouds. The same general mountain system that has been described in Guatemala enters Honduras, and with many breaks takes a general southeasterly course through the republic to Nicaragua. The mean altitude is not nearly so high as in Guatemala, nor are there so many lofty peaks, but there can be found almost every possible variety of climate, soil and production.
Nature has been prodigal in her gifts to this republic, and nowhere upon the whole earth can greater returns be realized with a minimum of effort. It seems that all Nature is awaiting with welcoming arms the farmer, the rancher and the fruit-grower, for there is very little of the land that is not susceptible of some sort of profitable development. Nowhere on earth are there more fertile valleys, more genial suns, softer breezes, or fairer skies. And yet with all these natural advantages, and with all this inducement to labour and development, there is no place on this great globe where nature’s gifts are so poorly utilized or so little appreciated, and to-day Honduras is the least advanced of all the Central American republics.
It is as difficult and almost as long a journey from New York to reach the capital of Honduras as the capital of Persia, which seems so far away, while Central America is so near. One must go by steamer to Colon, across the Isthmus of Panama by rail, then a several days’ journey on the Pacific to Amapala, and lastly a three or four days’ journey by mule to Tegucigalpa; or, he can take the steamer to Puerto Cortez, railroad to San Pedro Sula, and an eight or ten days’ journey over the mountains on the long-eared, but short-legged, nondescript quadrupeds above named. There are no accommodations or comforts along the way and, on arriving at the capital, one is obliged many times to depend on the good will of citizens for a decent stopping-place as the hotel is not a very desirable hostelry.
The harbour of Puerto Cortez, in the northwestern corner of the republic, is large, commodious and safe. As our boat steamed through the blue waters of the bay, the town set in among clumps of cocoanut palms following the sweep of the shore, and with its background of mountains, made a beautiful picture that lingers in the memory. We passed by the Honduras navy resting at anchor. It consisted of a single vessel, the _Tatumbla_, which made a great show of strength with its two little guns which have seen little more warlike service than to fire a salute when a foreign man-of-war has appeared in the harbour. Formerly it was the private yacht of an American, then saw service in the Spanish-American war, after which it was sold to Honduras.
Puerto Cortez is the principal Gulf port of the country and is a fair-sized town of twelve hundred or more. There are a few frame and corrugated-iron buildings which house the railroad office, custom-house, steamship freight house, _commandancia_, and offices of the United Fruit Company, generally known as the banana trust. A few frame houses are the homes of the various consular agents stationed at this port. The native quarters are made up of a row of mud and thatch huts facing the bay and almost hidden by the foliage of the palms which overtower them. A syndicate is now at work filling up the lowlands and converting it into a modern seaport by the aid of steam shovels and a good force of workmen.
Puerto Cortez is very subject to yellow fever and is often quarantined for months at a time in the summer. I had one letter from a business man written in July in which he stated that they had been quarantined since May 22nd and that it would probably last until about the first of October. This condition seriously interferes with business, for visitors cannot come in and the planters all flee to the higher lands for safety. Anyone desiring to visit the country should do so from October to March when there is no danger of quarantine delay, and during the dry season travelling is much pleasanter. Some day, perhaps, the government may learn a lesson from Havana and Panama and introduce modern sanitation, and thus destroy the breeding places of the troublesome _stegomya fasciata_, the yellow-fever mosquito, which is at present the bane of the country.
The most pretentious building in the town is a large two-storied building surrounded by verandas, looking like an old colonial home. In the yard were two flag-poles, on one of which was the stars and stripes and on the other the blue and white flag of Honduras. A closer inspection showed that it was the home of the exiled Louisiana State Lottery, now known as the Honduras National Lottery. After being driven from the United States by the action of the Postmaster General, and later by the State government of Louisiana, that State having refused a renewal of its franchise, this insidious monster, which at one time absorbed profits of many millions of dollars annually from the people, and supported its officers in luxury, was obliged to seek a new domicile. Mexico refused it a charter and even poverty-stricken Colombia and liberal Nicaragua denied it a home. Honduras, however, gave it a local habitation and a name upon the promise to pay an annual license fee of twenty thousand dollars and twenty per cent. of its gross receipts. So here it was housed in a great building, and here once each month a drawing took place to see which one of the many foolish persons investing their money was the successful gambler. There is not a Spanish-American country, however, which does not charter some one or more public lotteries, generally to raise money for charitable purposes, and in almost all of these the vendor of lottery tickets is a familiar sight on the streets.
From Puerto Cortez a railway runs about sixty miles inland to Pimienta. The principal town on this transcontinental line, however, is San Pedro Sula, about thirty-eight miles from that port. The train runs every other day at irregular intervals, and is made up of some poor coaches, a poor engine, and banana freight cars something like the open cars for the transportation of live stock. The track at that time was in harmony with the equipment. This line was built by an English company which took the contract for constructing the line from coast to coast, passing through the capital. The company was to do the work on a percentage basis and the government to foot the bills. The construction company worked in so many extras and padded the bills so that the government was obligated for twenty-seven millions of dollars by the time the road reached San Pedro Sula, or nearly three-quarters of a million dollars per mile of actual track. By this time the government was bankrupted and construction work stopped. Most of the bonds issued have never been paid and a great part have been repudiated, although they are still the subject of international dispute.
The road passes through a fine stretch of tropical swamp and jungle. Sometimes there are veritable tunnels of palms which reach within a few feet of the track. Beyond there is an impenetrable net-work of vines, creepers, ferns, and trees covered with all kinds of orchids. For many miles the road passes through banana fields, or forests, they might be called, for these tropical plants grow fifteen or twenty feet high in this rich soil. It requires almost four hours to cover the distance between the two towns, but the entire run was fortunately made without an accident.
San Pedro Sula lies in a beautiful broad valley sixty miles long and from five to thirty miles in width, which is known as the plain of Sula. It is drained by several rivers, is comparatively low and level, and is one of the richest districts in the entire republic. In spite of its low altitude it is remarkably salubrious, which is due to the constant winds. Banana fields surround it on all sides except one where it nestles close to an imposing mountain. It is the most modern town in Honduras and contains many good frame buildings. There are also a couple of fairly good hotels in this city conducted by Americans, so that an American can stop here under pretty favourable conditions so far as physical comfort is concerned. A number of streams of clear water run through the town which add to its attractiveness and cleanliness. There is, of course, a native quarter much similar to other towns, but the foreign influence has had a good effect even among them.
While in San Pedro an American “gentleman of colour” and a Jamaican negro got into an altercation and the latter was terribly cut by the other, for of course the weapons used were knives. The latter, although seriously cut and unable to walk, was arrested, and the former was tied with ropes and conducted to the jail. It is an almost invariable rule that both parties to an affray are arrested and thrust into prison. They are there held “_incommunicado_.” This means to be incarcerated seventy-two hours in solitary confinement, without bail, at the end of which time a judicial examination is given. Their theory is that after a man has been kept in solitude for three days with only his own thoughts for company, he is more likely to tell the truth than if he had been in communication with his lawyers, friends and reporters all that time. Witnesses are sometimes held in the same way, so that it is advisable for a stranger to keep away from scenes of trouble or, if it arises in his vicinity, to get out of that neighbourhood as soon as possible.
The railroad runs inland a few miles farther, but San Pedro Sula is generally made the starting point for the capital for it is easier to secure good mules and _mozos_ at this point. It is necessary not only to have those but a certain amount of _impedimenta_ in the shape of hammocks, blankets, etc. must be carried along, and it is even advisable to carry such provisions as will not be affected by the climate. The trail to the capital, Tegucigalpa, is nothing but a mule path, narrow and winding, and for the average traveller it is an eight days’ journey. The road passes through forests which comprise an enchanted wilderness where the white-faced monkeys peer at you from the branches of the trees and gaily-plumed parrots screech as they fly overhead; again it winds among the mountains on a narrow ledge which causes the uninitiated traveller to hold his breath when he gazes at the chasm below; at other times it follows the bed of streams which, during the rainy season, are raging torrents.
There are no hotels and few public inns on the route. It is generally necessary to stop with the natives in the villages, or the public _cabildo_, which is always at the service of the wayfarer. Hammocks are used for sleeping on account of the insects. As one writer has put this superabundance of insects:—“There will be sometimes as many as a hundred insects under one leaf; and after they have once laid their claws upon you, your life is a mockery, and you feel at night as though you were sleeping in a bed of red pepper.”
Richard Harding Davis has given us an amusing account of his experience one night as follows: “I took an account of the stock before I turned in, and found there were three dogs, eleven cats, seven children, five men, not including five of us, three women, and a dozen chickens, all sleeping, or trying to sleep, in the same room and under the one roof. And when I gave up attempting to sleep and wandered out into the night, I stepped on the pigs, and startled three or four calves that had been sleeping under the porch and that lunged up out of the darkness.”
The only town of any importance that is passed is Comayagua. This was the former capital and at one time the largest city in the country. This city was selected under direct orders of Cortez who directed one of his lieutenants to lay out a capital midway between the two oceans. If a straight line should be drawn across the country, Comayagua would be in the exact centre. Its one time thirty thousand inhabitants are now reduced to seven thousand who sleep and dream away life in the warm sunlight and surrounded by groves of orange trees. It is a dull and desolate place of one-storied buildings and contains a half dozen or more old churches, some of them with roofless walls overgrown with moss and vines that stand as a silent reminder of the religious fervour of the earlier days. There is a fine old cathedral which stands as a good example of the Spanish-Moorish architecture so prevalent in every land colonized by the Spaniards. This, the second city in the republic, is situated in a broad fertile valley which stretches away for miles, while dim, cloud-crowned mountains surround it like grim sentinels. The elevation is less than two thousand feet. It has gradually lost its former prestige since the seat of government was removed to its rival.
Tegucigalpa, the capital since 1880, is situated on a bare, dreary plain and is surrounded by several abrupt hills which guard the sleeping city. It is a city of twelve thousand inhabitants and is a typical Spanish-American town with all the characteristics which have heretofore been described. The houses are usually painted pink, blue, yellow, green, white or some other pronounced colour. The public buildings are not pretentious, although it contains the administration buildings, hospitals, colleges, etc. A clock on the cathedral tower marks the time of which the inhabitants have a supply more than equal to the demand. The town is divided by a small stream which is the public laundry, and this is the only industry that is always running, for women may be seen here from early morning until late at night rubbing and pounding their clothes to a snowy whiteness. Although the hills contained enough water to supply the city in abundance no effort was made until a few years ago to utilize it, and all the water used was carried into the city in jars from the river upon the heads of the women. A reservoir has been constructed in the mountains a few miles away from which water is now brought to the city by a pipe line so that the city is well supplied with this necessity.
Tegucigalpa was founded in 1579 and soon grew to be as large a town as it now is. For venerable antiquity Americans must doff their hats to this old city. While Chicago was yet the site of Indian wigwams and long before our great Eastern metropolis was more than a small town, Tegucigalpa was a noted city. The name of the town comes from two native words—_Teguz_, meaning a hill, and _Galpa_, meaning silver; thus it means the “city on the silver hill.” A half-century ago it was perhaps a larger town than it is to-day. There are several public squares of considerable beauty. In Morazan Park, the principal square, there is a fine equestrian statue of General Morazan, the liberator of Central America. For a wonder in a Spanish town there is neither a theatre nor a club, so that the cafés furnish the only social centres. Although hard to believe from its somnolent character, yet Tegucigalpa has been the scene of stirring events and has been a hotbed of revolutions. Only a few years ago Tegucigalpa was besieged for six months, and many buildings show the mark of bullets fired by the revolutionists. In this city the execution of revolutionists has frequently taken place along the walls of one of the churches, and there is a row of bullet holes in the wall just about the height of a man’s chest. A revolutionist meets death bravely and stoically as though he looked forward to that end with pleasure. He is often compelled to dig his own grave which he does with equanimity. He takes the gambler’s chance in a revolution. Success may take him into the presidential chair and failure will probably place him before a squad of soldiers with guns aimed at his heart.
Richard Harding Davis in “Three Gringos in Venezuela and Central America” gives the following instance of the varying fortunes of revolutionists: “I saw an open grave by the roadside which had been dug by the man who was to have occupied it. The man who dug this particular grave had been captured, with two companions, while they were hastening to rejoin their friends of the government party. His companions in misery were faint-hearted creatures, and thought it mattered but little, so long as they had to die, in what fashion they were buried. So they scooped out a few feet of earth with the tools their captors gave them, and stood up in the hollows they had made, and were shot back into them, dead; but the third man declared that he was not going to let his body lie so near the surface of the earth that the mules could kick his bones and the next heavy freshet wash them away. He accordingly dug leisurely and carefully to the depth of six feet, smoothing the sides and sharpening the corners. While he was thus engaged at the bottom of the hole, he heard shots and yells above him, and when he poked his head up over the edge of the grave he saw his own troops running down the mountain-side and his enemies disappearing before them.”
Honduras has perhaps suffered more from revolutionary disturbances than any of the other Central American republics. Bordering as she does on all these states, except Costa Rica, she has not only had to contend with her own troubles but has been the helpless and unwilling battleground for contentions between Nicaragua on the one side and San Salvador or Guatemala on the other. Weaker than any of these her own government has often been dictated by one or more of her more powerful neighbours. With all the machinery of a republic and with an excellent constitution and laws on paper, a change of rulers is usually effected by a revolution as that seems to be the only way the will of the people can be determined. They are sometimes almost bloodless as two armies manœuvre around until one decides it is weaker than the other and takes to flight. Selfish partisanship too often passes for patriotism, and the leaders are only too willing to plunge the country into war to gain the spoils of office for themselves and their followers.
Although many men may not be killed in these revolutions, as very many times they are only local, nevertheless they keep the country in a continual ferment, for the vanquished never quite forgive the victors. The most formidable disturbance in recent years was a war between Nicaragua and Honduras in the winter of 1906–07. This war resulted in a victory for Nicaragua, partly because of the revolutionary party in Honduras grasping advantage of the conditions and taking arms against the government. As a result Manuel Bonilla, who had been president for several years, was driven from office and General Miguel Davila became his successor. This war-revolution lasted for several months and as a result the business was demoralized to a great extent for the whole country was involved. United States marines were landed at Truxillo and Puerto Cortez to preserve order. Since that time there have been no serious disturbances. The agreement recently entered into between the five republics promises to do away with the interferences from other more powerful states in the internal affairs of Honduras, and the extension of railroads and telegraphs, and the investment of foreign capital promise much better conditions for the future.
Most presidents have begun their career as revolutionists, or, I suppose, they would rather be termed reformers. A man is spoken of as a “good revolutionist” as we would speak of a “good lawyer” or a “good doctor,” meaning that he is successful in that line of work. The fate suffered by many unsuccessful revolutionists would not be a bad one for some of our own corrupt and selfish politicians. The history of Honduras down to 1840 is so closely identified with Guatemala that it does not need special mention. With the election of Francisco Ferrera as president in that year it began a separate existence. There was much agitation among the various towns because of the heavy burdens imposed on them, and in 1847, during the Mexican war, one president practically declared war against the United States, which challenge was ignored. On several occasions Great Britain sent warships to the coast of Honduras to enforce her demands which were not always just. During a part of the time that Carrera was ruling Guatemala, President Guardiola was in charge of the affairs in Honduras. He was a man of the same stripe, part negro, and is said to have been “possessed of all the vices and guilty of about all the crimes known to man. At the very mention of his approach, the inhabitants would flee to the woods.” One writer calls him “the tiger of Central America.” He was finally assassinated. Internal trouble and disputes with her neighbours kept Honduras in turmoil down to 1880, when President Soto was inducted into office. During his term of three years, and that of his successor, General Louis Bogran, progress began, agriculture was stimulated and trade increased.
Honduras is a country about the size of Ohio and contains forty-six thousand four hundred square miles of territory, although the estimates vary greatly for no accurate surveys have ever been made. For governmental purposes it is divided into sixteen departments, each of which has a civil head. Its governmental divisions and its legislative and judicial systems are very much like those of Guatemala. The president is assisted by a cabinet and circle of advisers.
On the Atlantic coast are five large and a number of smaller islands, known as the Bay Islands. One of these, Roatan, has been described as a lazy man’s paradise. It is forty miles long and about three miles in width, with a population of three or four thousand. It is a beautiful and prolific island where the people are lazy because work is not necessary. Even the cocoanuts will drop to the ground to save the inhabitants the necessity of climbing after them, and all he has to do is to strike them on a sharpened stake driven into the ground in order to prepare them for eating. Native yams will grow to a weight of forty or fifty pounds, and a piece of cane stuck into the ground will renew itself almost perennially. Roses and flowers grow wild. The climate ranges from 66 degrees to 88 degrees, and the air is not even disturbed by revolutions. The only jail is a little one-room hut in which a drunk occasionally sleeps off a stupor.
Cassava bread, one of the staple articles of food, is made from the tuberous roots of the manioc which often weigh as much as twenty pounds. The roots are grated into a coarse meal which is then washed carefully to remove the grains of starch. The mass is next placed in a primitive press and the poisonous juice pressed out. The squeezed mass is then made into flat loaves which are dried and then baked. It is said to make a nutritious and quite palatable food. This bread forms one of the principal articles of food of these natives.
The half-million inhabitants include a considerably smaller percentage of Spanish descendants and a much larger number of negroes than Guatemala. The “Zambos,” a mixture of Indian and negro, used to be quite numerous along the Mosquito coast, but many of them have migrated to Nicaragua. They were formerly ruled by a hereditary king. The Caribs, who were originally inhabitants of St. Vincent, have taken their place in the Gulf settlements. They are the best sailors along the coast and can be seen at any time out on the sea in their dories. These dories are hewed out of solid logs, equipped with sails, and vary in length from thirty to sixty feet, and are from three to eight feet across the beam. Their houses are always the same, with a high, peaked and thatched roof, sometimes twenty-five to thirty feet in height. No nails are used in the construction. They sometimes look almost like huge stacks of hay from a distance.
The Caribs are said to have lived on the island of St. Vincent, where, at the conclusion of the war between England and France, they were found to be in such sympathy with the French that they were deported to the island of Roatan. From there they drifted to the mainland and established a number of settlements all along the coast. One writer describes them as follows:—“They are peaceable, friendly, ingenious and industrious. They are noted for their fondness of dress, wearing red bands around their waists to imitate sashes, straw hats turned up, clean white shirts and frocks, long and tight trousers. The Carib women are fond of ornamenting their persons with coloured beads strung in various forms. They are scrupulously clean and have a great aptitude for acquiring languages, many of them being able to talk in Carib, Spanish and English. Polygamy is general among them, some of them having as many as three or four wives; but the husband is compelled to have a separate house and plantation for each. It is the custom when a woman cannot do all the work for her to hire her husband. Men accompany them on their trading expeditions, but never by any chance carry the burdens, thinking it far beneath them.”
The average native or half-breed on the higher lands lives from year to year in his thatched hut. He may look after a few cows and make cheese from their milk. He plants a small patch of maize each year and grows a few bananas and plantains for food. He is content to live on the plainest food and in the simplest way in order to live an indolent life. Thus he exists during his allotted years until he drops into his grave and in a year or two there is not even a sign to show where he was laid. Occasionally graves of the early inhabitants are found, but the burial-places of later generations are practically unmarked and no attempt is made to preserve their location as there are no tombstones and after a few months there is nothing to show its location.
Beggars are not very common except the blind, the lame and the sick. The necessaries of life are so easily procured, so little clothing is required, and any one may find land upon which to plant a little maize or bananas that it does not require much money or much exertion to sustain life. The condition of those who are helpless, however, is pitiable in the extreme and the sympathy of a stranger is aroused each day by a sight of some poor unfortunate.
Next to maize (corn) bananas and plantains form the principal food. The latter are cooked in many ways, boiled, baked or made into pastry, but are never eaten raw. Maize was indigenous on those shores, because the Spanish conquerors found it growing and it formed the principal food of the people. The banana is believed to have been introduced by the Spaniards, and the one argument used for this theory is that all the names of this plant are of Spanish derivation. In Honduras a sort of beer is brewed from maize that the natives are very fond of, but they prefer on “_fiestas_” the _aguardiente_ (brandy) because it is stronger and affords more exhilaration. This is a drink brought by civilization, for the earlier inhabitants, not having any distilled liquors, had to be contented with the milder fermented forms of intoxicants.[3]
Footnote 3:
_Note._ “On the warmer plains the wine-palm is grown. The wine is very simply prepared. The tree is felled and an oblong hole cut into it, just above the crown of leaves. The hole is eight inches deep, passing nearly through the trunk. It is about a foot long and several inches broad; and in this hollow the juice of the tree immediately begins to collect, scarcely any running out at the butt where it has been cut off. In three days after cutting the wine-palm the hollow will be filled with a clear yellowish wine, the fermented juice of the tree, and this will continue to secrete daily for twenty days, during which the tree will have yielded some gallons of wine.”—_Thomas Belt._
Cock-fighting is one of the principal forms of amusement among the people of Honduras. Their mode of cock-fighting is very cruel, as they usually tie long sickle-shaped knives onto their natural spurs with which they are able to give each other fearful gashes and wounds. It is no unusual sight to see a game cock tied up at the door by the leg, or in some other part of the house, and being treated as an honoured member of the family. The comb is cut off near the head in order that his opponent cannot grasp him there and thus place him at a disadvantage. Bets are made on every fight and considerable money is lost and won on this sport.
Education is not far advanced although the number of schools has been increased each year. There are very many full-grown boys and girls who do not even know their letters. Perhaps not more than half the inhabitants can boast of even a rudimentary education. There are only about seven hundred schools for primary instruction in the entire republic, with an average attendance of about twenty-five thousand pupils. The wealthier families send their boys to the famous university in Guatemala City for their education. They are not so much interested in the matter of education for girls.
A large force of soldiers is always kept under arms—that is, large in proportion to the population. Its standing army is almost half as great as our own with about one one-hundred and fiftieth of the population. Every town and village of any size has its _commandancia_, or barracks, in which a force of troops is quartered. They are not formidable looking troops, and yet they sometimes have a reckless way of shooting that is destructive to human life. Military service is compulsory for men from twenty-one to thirty years of age, and after that they remain members of the reserve until they are forty. This is the written law but the unwritten law of the revolutionary leader is far more potent.
As I have stated above, Honduras is the least progressive of the five republics of Central America, and yet it is a country of wonderful natural resources and is burdened with plenty of opportunities. The low coast land sloping up to the high mountain plateaus furnish every variety of climate and give a wide range of agricultural possibilities. Bananas, cocoanuts, oranges, sugar cane, wheat, corn, rice, rye, barley are among the list of profitable products that can be cultivated. Few fields are properly plowed and the care bestowed on growing crops amounts to nothing. The ground is so fertile that the mere insertion of a kernel of corn in the earth is sufficient. A kernel thus planted on Thursday has been found four inches high by the following Monday. With all this fertility there is sometimes an insufficient food supply for the cities. Agriculture is in the most primitive condition and will probably remain so until there are better roads, better markets and cheaper transportation facilities.
In many parts of Honduras there are lands well suited to cattle raising. They may be found grazing on the sterile slopes of the mountain ranges as well as in the more fertile valleys. There is much fine rolling land, well watered during the rainy season and rich in pasturage, to be found in the republic, which is well suited to this industry. In the dry season, however, many of those plains, or savannahs, furnish scant fodder for the cattle. As irrigation has not been attempted the cattle have a feast half the year and a famine the other half. No care whatever is taken of their herds by the owners and they are left to forage as best they can. It is not much wonder that the grade of stock is poor, although hundreds of thousands of cattle are raised in this way, and wander over the public domain. Each rancher has his own brand which is recorded the same as in the United States. Thousands more would be raised and sent out of the country were it not for the heavy export tax.
There are no industries in the country worthy of mention except _aguardiente_ manufacture which is a government monopoly. The sugar cane growers enter into a contract with the government to furnish a stipulated amount of this brandy each month, and it is then sold by the government to the regularly licensed dealers at a fixed price. A large part of the revenue of the republic is derived from this source as many hundred thousand gallons are consumed each year. A cheap grade of “Panama” hat is also manufactured in one province which is exported to the neighbouring republics and the United States.
Nearly the whole of the republic, except the lowlands, is mineralized. Old workings among the gold-bearing formations show that the aboriginal tribes understood the art of separating the gold from quartz. Documents deposited in the archives of Tegucigalpa show that the Spaniards found the mines of Honduras very profitable, and the king’s tithe no doubt aided in building real castles in Spain. The Spaniards were good prospectors but poor workers, for they did their work in the most primitive way. Their work was mostly done by slave labour so that this was an inexpensive item to them. Any of the natives could be drafted into this work upon the initiative of the government. They were seldom carried to any great depth, so that there are hundreds of mines scattered over the country to-day which are abandoned and filled with water. They cannot be operated successfully until roads are constructed over which machinery can be transported.
The chief mining district is not far from the capital city. The Rosario Mining Company is the most successful and best-known company and has been placed on a profitable basis. Silver ores are the most abundant but gold has been washed on the rivers of Olancho for many years in small quantities. Silver is generally in combination with lead, iron, copper or antimony. There are some valuable copper deposits in some places containing eighty per cent of pure copper. Iron ores are common, zinc occurs, but coal has been found only in very small quantities. Opals have been found in considerable numbers and many of them are large and beautiful. About one million dollars’ worth of the various minerals have been mined annually in recent years.
Honduras has a small coast line on the Pacific with Amapala as its only seaport on that ocean. It is situated on the island of Tigre about thirty miles from the mainland, and nearly in the centre of the magnificent Bay of Fonseca. This is a very poor open roadstead with no pier, so that lighters are the only means of loading and unloading vessels. The Atlantic coastline is much longer and well protected by outlying islands which affords much better protection to vessels. Ceiba is a pretty little port at the foot of the Congrehoy, the highest volcanic peak in the country. It has a population of several thousand and is in the centre of a rich banana belt. Recently a short railroad of about thirty miles in length has been constructed here which reaches out through this fertile field and will aid in developing this section of the country. Many hundred thousand bunches of bananas are shipped from this port each year and the number constantly increases. Truxillo, or Trujillo, is another fair harbour on this coast. The town is not very large yet, although it is nearly four centuries old, having been founded in 1525. The filibusterer William Walker, who made himself dictator of Nicaragua at one time, was captured by Honduras’ troops at this place and executed, thus ending a romantic and venturesome career.
Honduras has never attained the prominence in commerce that her natural resources would warrant one to reasonably expect. The total imports for the year ending July 31st, 1908, were $2,829,979, according to the statistics of that government. Of this amount the United States furnished more than half. The exports to the United States for the same period amounted to nearly $3,000,000, which was nearly five-sixths of the whole exports. This is accounted for by the fact that the principal export is bananas nearly all of which are sent to the various ports of Uncle Sam. After minerals coffee and hides furnish the next two largest items of export. All import duties are levied by weight, so that the duties on many articles comparatively inexpensive in first cost become expensive luxuries in Honduras. An ordinary cooking range might be cited as an example. The shipping of imports and exports is almost entirely in the hands of Germans who conduct all the great commission houses and do a very profitable business. The importation of goods is oftentimes a complicated matter for in addition to the fixed import duties there are the fees for manifest, custom-house permit, transfer fee, sanitary fee on goods destined for the interior, and a municipal impost at some towns. Add to this the brokerage fees and the total expense oftentimes amounts to quite a sum.
The money of Honduras is on a silver basis and is subject to all the fluctuations of that metal. Guatemalan and Chilean silver coins are the principal currency in circulation although one bank is authorized to issue paper currency which passes at par with the silver. The silver peso or dollar is the standard. As exchange varies from 215 to 250 per cent it will be seen that its value ranges from about forty to forty-five cents in gold. Even this is better than the paper money of Guatemala.
What shall be done with this great unimproved country? That question is reserved for the future to decide. I believe that the influence of America and Americans will do far more toward the settlement of the turmoil which has been so general in that country and the development of the natural resources than any other one influence. The number of Americans residing in Honduras is increasing each year, and their influence is already being felt wherever they reside. Sometime the people themselves may awaken to the fact that they have been living in poverty with wealth at their very doors. The eastern coast is developing more rapidly than the western because of the nearness to the markets of the United States. Good steamship service is now maintained so that it is only a four or five days’ journey to New Orleans and Mobile. Let Americans waken up to the great possibilities of trade and development that lie at their very door. Let American merchants and manufacturers exploit their goods and secure the trade of this country that is now controlled by British and German merchants. The people generally prefer American goods, but the merchants of this country have never learned the art of dealing with the Spanish-American. It is a situation that must be studied, but success is worth the effort.
“_Adios_,” with the Spaniard means “how do you do,” “good-bye,” and “a pleasant journey to you.”
I close this narrative with this one word to the reader which is greeting, benediction and farewell, all three combined, trusting that our acquaintance has been mutually beneficial.
ADIOS.
APPENDIX I
THE following table gives the names of the departments in Guatemala, the name of the chief town, or capital, and the number of inhabitants and elevation of that city, the compilation being made from the latest and most reliable statistics available:—
DEPARTMENTS CHIEF TOWN INHABITANTS ELEVATION (feet)
Alta Verapaz Coban 24,475 4,010
Amatitlan Amatitlan 10,000 4,212
Baja Verapaz Salamá 7,125 2,831
Chimaltenango Chimaltenango 14,000 5,365
Chiquimula Chiquimula 10,602 1,232
Escuintla Escuintla 12,000 1,248
Guatemala Guatemala 85,000 4,810 City
Huehuetenango Huehuetenango 10,000 7,052
Izabal Livingston 1,500 45
Jalapa Jalapa 10,000 4,777
Jutiapa Jutiapa 12,000 2,821
Peten Flores 6,000 478
Quezaltenango Quezaltenango 22,265 7,351
Quiché Sante Rosa 6,237 5,492 del Quiché
Retalhuleu Retalhuleu 10,000 968
Sacatepequez Antigua 8,000 5,314
San Marcos San Marcos 10,000 7,150
Santa Rosa Cuajinicuilapa 2,000 3,214
Sololá Sololá 15,000 6,974
Suchitepequez Mazatenango 10,000 1,085
Totonicapan Totonicapan 25,196 7,894
Zacapa Zacapa 12,000 536
APPENDIX II
THE Republic of Honduras is composed of sixteen departments, or provinces, and one territorial district. The territory of Mosquitia is situated in the extreme northeastern section of the country and is the second largest political division in the republic, comprising about one-fifth of the entire landed surface and with a population of four thousand, mostly a mixed race of negroes and Indians. This is an average of about one person for every two square miles. The country is covered with a dense forest of tropical verdure, through which the waters of several rivers course. Along the rivers the lands have been partially explored but much of the interior is still unknown. The Bay Islands department comprises a group of five low islands lying at a distance of from twenty-five to fifty miles from the northern shore. The names of the islands are Utila, Roatan, Elena, Barbareta and Bonaca, and they contain a total population of about five thousand whites, negroes and Indians. The English language is quite commonly used on those islands for they were long under the sovereignty of England.
The names of the different departments, together with the capital city, its population and elevation, according to the best and most recent statistics available, are as follows:—
DEPARTMENT CAPITAL POPULATION ELEVATION (feet)
Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa 12,000 3,200
Copan Santa Rosa 10,000 3,400
Choluteca Choluteca 8,636 250
Gracias Gracias 5,324 2,520
Olancho Juticalpa 11,103 1,500
El Paraiso Danli 8,878 2,300
Santa Santa 3,593 750 Barbara Barbara
Valle Nacaome 8,913 110
Comayagua Comayagua 7,206 1,650
La Paz La Paz 4,490 2,000
Intibuca La Esperanza 4,026 4,950
Cortes San Pedro 7,182 255 Sula
Yoro Yoro 6,127 2,000
Colon Truxillo l4,040 sea level
Atlantida La Ceiba 3,379 sea level
Bay Islands Coxin Hole l500 sea level
The uneven character of the configuration of the earth’s surface and the effect of the trade winds gives the Central American republics a great variety of climate. The so-called “seasons,” the wet and dry, do not always express the real conditions, for local conditions influence the temperature and amount of rainfall. There is a wide difference, for instance, between the Atlantic and Pacific slopes. On the Atlantic coast there is literally no dry season. The central plateaus have a climate of their own subject neither to excessive droughts or heavy rains. When you consider that the highest temperature inland rarely exceeds 90° F. and does not go below 50° F. it will be seen that the land is quite inhabitable, for there are no great extremes. The “wet” season from May to November is called _invierno_, or winter, and the “dry” season from November to May is termed _verano_, or summer.
In order to set forth clearly the temperature I herewith give a table of the thermometer readings at Tegucigalpa for an entire year as given in a handbook compiled by Mr. A. K. Moe, formerly United States Consul at that city, and issued by the International Bureau of the American Republics, to which same book I am indebted for some other valuable information herein contained:—
AVERAGE AVERAGE EXTREME MONTHS MINIMUM MAXIMUM LOWEST HIGHEST DIFFERENCE January °F. 60 °F. 76 °F. 54 °F. 79 °F. 25 February 60 81 52 84 32 March 61 83 55 88 33 April 63 84 56 89 33 May 67 84 63 90 27 April 63 84 56 89 33 May 67 84 63 90 27 June 67 82 65 86 21 July 67 81 64 84 20 August 66 81 62 84 22 September 65 82 61 84 23 October 65 79 61 83 22 November 65 78 61 82 21 December 59 75 50 81 31
APPENDIX III
VOLCANOES
PEOPLE living in volcanic regions do not seem to fear the presence of these lofty peaks any more than people living in mountainous regions fear their overhanging ridges. One would think that the terrible and destructive eruptions of Vesuvius would leave that region depopulated, but no sooner have the earth’s tremblings ceased than the people flock again to their accustomed haunts, and the fertile fields once more respond to the efforts of the farmer and gardener. And so it is in Central America, where volcanic peaks abound and mild earthquakes are common. The volcanoes of Hawaii are larger, those of South America loftier, some in Italy and Java more destructive, but nowhere on the world is there such an unbroken line of volcanic peaks as along the Pacific coast of Central America. The Atlantic coast has but one distinct cone of any great height and that is the Congrehoy (8,040 ft.), which runs clear to the water’s edge. It is the only lofty peak in Honduras and has perhaps the sharpest and most clearly marked cone in that section of the world.
Little is known of the early history of the eruptions of these volcanoes and earthquake disturbances, called by the natives “_temblors_.” The early natives believed that earthquakes were caused by a god, Cabracan, who was in the habit of shaking the mountains. The stories of the Spanish conquerors are so mingled with devils and their work that they are incredible and convey no enlightening information. Their chroniclers tell an amusing instance of the attempt of a friar to draw up the lava, which had the appearance of molten gold, in an iron bucket from a crater. The bucket and chain as well melted as soon as it approached the seething lava.
History records the birth of the volcano, Izalco, in San Salvador in 1770. For several days strange subterranean noises accompanied by earthquake shocks had been heard in that vicinity and the people fled in terror. After a few days a lateral opening appeared in a field from which fire, smoke and lava belched forth. This was followed by sand and stones from which a cone has been gradually built up, until now it is higher than Vesuvius. It has been named the “lighthouse of Salvador” by the sailors, because it is nearly always visible at night.
I append an account of an ascent of Santa Maria made a few months after its destructive eruption of 1902, which appeared in the Scientific American:—
“I began the ascent of the volcano from the plantation of La Sabina, a favourite health resort famous for its springs of mineral water. Journeying from Palmar to La Sabina we passed two plantations whose buildings were ruined and fields devastated. We found the hotel of the town buried many feet beneath mud. I found the crater a huge pit some 500 feet in depth, from the bottom of which spouted a magnificent geyser. The steam issued with terrible force, roaring and crackling. Almost at my very feet arose another geyser, through the vapour of which there could be dimly seen a large pool formed by the condensed steam. Besides the large geysers, innumerable small jets of steam spouted from the edge of the crater in a vapourous fringe, sending forth little clouds toward the centre. At intervals a strong odour of sulphur assailed the nostrils. It is probable that when the volcano was in full eruption the entire crater was open, for the earth seemed to have fallen in and to have formed a kind of floor. Otherwise it would be impossible to account for the enormous mass of material ejected by the crater.”
The following table gives a list of the principal volcanic peaks in Guatemala, all of which are classed as “extinct,” or “quiescent,” except Santa Maria:—
VOLCANIC PEAK HEIGHT feet
Tajumulco 13,814
Tacana 13,334
Acatenango 13,012
Fuego 12,821
Agua 12,300
Atitlan 11,849
Cerro Cerchil 11,830
Cerro Quiché 11,160
Cerro Calel 10,813
Santa Maria 10,535
Cerro Quemado 10,200
Quezaltenango 9,238
Pacaya 7,675
Ipala 6,019
Chingo 6,019
APPENDIX IV
RUINS OF COPAN
NO American has spent so much time in exploring the ruins of this mysterious city of Honduras as Mr. George Byron Gordon. For a number of years he spent the greater part of the year in making excavations, removing debris, and in exploring every nook and corner of this ancient seat of civilization. Through the courtesy of The Century Company I am permitted to give the following description of Copan as written by Mr. Gordon and published in the Century Magazine, which, though greatly abbreviated, is yet sufficiently full to give the reader a fair idea of the one-time grandeur and magnificence of this ancient city:—
Hidden away among the mountains of Honduras, in a beautiful valley which, even in that little-travelled country, where remoteness is a characteristic attribute of places, is unusually secluded, Copan is one of the greatest mysteries of the ages. Not only do the recent explorations confirm the magnitude and importance of the ruins, but the collection of relics now in the Peabody Museum is sufficient to convince the most skeptical that here are the remains of a city, unknown to history, as remarkable and as worthy of our careful consideration as any of the ancient centres of civilization in the Old World. Whatever the origin of its people, this old city is distinctly American—the growth of American soil and environment.
The area comprised within the limits of the old city consists of a level plain seven or eight miles long and two miles wide at the greatest. This plain is covered with the remains of stone houses, doubtless the habitations of the wealthy. The streets, squares, and courtyards were paved with stone, or with white cement made from lime and powdered rock, and the drainage was accomplished by means of covered canals and underground sewers built of stone and cement. On the slopes of the mountains, too, are found numerous ruins; and even on the highest peaks fallen columns and ruined structures may be seen.
On the right bank of the Copan River, in the midst of the city, stands the principal group of structures—the temples, palaces, and buildings of a public character. These form part of what has been called, for want of a better name, the Main Structure—a vast, irregular pile rising from the plain in steps and terraces of masonry, and terminating in several great pyramidal elevations, each topped by the remains of a temple which, before our excavations were begun, looked like a huge pile of fragments bound together by the roots of trees, while the slopes of the pyramids, and the terraces and pavements below, are strewn with the ruins of these superb edifices. Its sides face the four cardinal points; its greatest length from north to south is about eight hundred feet, and from east to west it measured originally nearly as much, but a part of the eastern side has been carried away by the swift current of the river which flows directly against it.
Within the Main Structure, at an elevation of sixty feet, is a court one hundred and twenty feet square, which, with its surrounding architecture, must have presented a magnificent spectacle, when it was entire. It was entered from the south through a passage thirty feet in width, between two high pyramidal foundations, each supporting a temple. The court itself is inclosed by ranges of steps or seats rising to a height of twenty feet, as in an amphitheatre; they are built of great blocks of stone, neatly cut, and regularly laid without mortar. In the centre of the western side is a stairway projecting a few feet into the court, and leading to a broad terrace above the range of seats on that side. The upper steps in this stairway are divided in the midst by the head of a huge dragon facing the court, and holding in its distended jaws a grotesque human head of colossal proportions.
One temple, in many ways the most interesting yet explored, furnishes a typical example of this class of building. From the stone-paved terrace above the western side of the court, a great stairway, with massive steps, leads up to a platform which runs the whole length of the building, and is carried out at each end upon solid piers to the line of beginning of the steps. From the head of the stairway two graceful wing stones, extending across the platform, guard the approach to the first entrance, which gives access to the outer chambers. This doorway is nine feet wide, and was covered with a vaulted roof, now fallen. Directly opposite it, in the interior, is a second doorway, leading to the inner chambers. In front of this second entrance is a step two feet high, ornamented on the face by hieroglyphics and skulls carved in relief. At each end a huge death’s-head forms a pedestal for a crouching human figure supporting the head of a dragon, the body of which is turned upward, and is lost among the scrollwork and figures of a cornice that runs above the doorway. All the interior walls were covered with a thin coat of stucco, on which figures and scenes were painted in various colours; and the cornices were adorned with stucco masks and other ornaments, likewise painted. The roofs, with the massive towers which they supported, had fallen and filled the chambers completely. The horizontal arch formed by overlapping stones was always used in the construction of roofs—a type that is common to all the Maya cities. The outside of the building, profusely ornamented with grotesques at every line, bears witness to the ambitious prodigality of the architect, his love of adornment, and his aversion to plain surfaces—a characteristic that is manifested on all the monuments and carvings at Copan. An elaborate cornice with foliated design, adorned with plumage, all beautifully carved, ran around the four sides. Higher up, a row of portrait-like busts was also carried around the entire building. Whatever of plain surface remained was covered with pure white stucco, and the same material was used upon the sculptures to give a finish to the carving and a suitable surface for the colours that were used to produce the desired effect.
The northern slope of the main structure goes down abruptly, in a broad, steep flight of steps, to the floor of the plaza, which stretches away to the north, and terminates in an amphitheatre about three hundred feet square, inclosed on the eastern, northern, and western sides by ranges of seats twenty feet high. The southern side is open, except that its centre is occupied by a pyramid that rose almost to a point, leaving a square platform on top. In the plaza stood the principal group of obelisks, monoliths, or stelae, as they are variously designated, to which Copan owes its principal fame. There are fifteen in all scattered over the plaza, some overthrown and others still erect. Although affording infinite variety in detail, in general design and treatment these monuments are all the same. They average about twelve feet in height and three feet square, and are carved over the entire surface. On one side, and sometimes on two opposite sides, stands a human figure in high relief, always looking toward one of the cardinal points. Upon these personages is displayed such a wealth of ornament and insignia that the figures look over-burdened and encumbered, giving the idea that the chief object of the artist was the display of such adornment. While nearly all these human figures are disproportionately short, the accurate drawing and excellent treatment of the smaller figures in the designs surrounding the principal characters show that this is not owing to deficient perception on the part of the sculptor.
The sides of the monuments not occupied by human figures are covered by hieroglyphic inscriptions. In front of each of the figures, at a distance of a few feet, is a smaller sculpture, called an altar. These measure sometimes seven feet across and from two to four feet in height. The design sometimes represents a grotesque monster with curious adornments; but a common form of altar is a flat disk seven or eight feet in diameter, with a row of hieroglyphs around the edge. Much of the carving on these obelisks and altars is doubtless symbolical; and until this is better understood it is useless to speculate upon the character of the monuments themselves—speculations in which our ignorance would allow us unlimited scope. Two of the figures have their faces hidden by masks, a circumstance which seems to preclude the theory that they are portraits, although that is suggested by the striking individuality of many of the faces. But who can tell? The statues may be those of deified kings or heroes; on these altars a grateful people may have paid the tribute of affection; or, as some would have us believe, they may have been idols, insatiate monsters, on whose reeking altars the bloody sacrifice prevailed. We would fain believe that the Mayas were a humane and gentle people, given to generous impulses and noble deeds; that these relics of their art, in which the thought and feeling of the people strove to find expression, had for their object and inspiration a better motive than the deliberate shedding of human blood.
No regular burying-place has yet been found at Copan, but a number of isolated tombs have been explored. The location of these was strange and unexpected—beneath the pavement of courtyards and under the foundations of houses. They consist of small chambers of very excellent masonry, roofed sometimes by means of the horizontal arch, and sometimes by means of slabs of stone resting on the top of the vertical walls. In these tombs one, and sometimes two, interments had been made. The bodies had been laid at full length upon the floor. The cerements had long since moldered away, and the skeletons themselves were in a crumbling condition, and give little knowledge of the physical characteristics of the people; but one fact of surpassing interest came to light concerning their private lives, namely, the custom of adorning the front teeth with gems inlaid in the enamel, and by filing. The stone used in the inlaying was a bright-green jadeite. A circular cavity about one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter was drilled in the enamel of each of the two front teeth of the upper row, and inlaid with a little disk of jadeite, cut to a perfect fit, and secured by means of a bright red cement.
Besides the human remains, each tomb contained a number of earthenware vessels of great beauty and excellence of workmanship, some of them painted with figures in various colours, and others finished with a peculiar polish resembling a glaze. Some of these vessels contained charcoal and ashes; in others were various articles of use and adornment. The beads, ear-ornaments, medallions, and a variety of other ornaments, usually of jadeite, exhibit an extraordinary degree of skill in the art of cutting and polishing stones, while the pearls and trinkets carved from shell must have been obtained by trade or by journeys to the coast. In the same tombs with these ornaments were frequently found such objects of utility as knives and spear-heads of flint and obsidian, and stone hatchets and chisels. These were doubtless family vaults, though none of them contained the remains of many burials.
As to the antiquity of the city, although we have no data that will enable us to fix a date, there are certain historical facts that remove it from the reach of history or tradition, and place the era of its destruction long anterior to the discovery of America.
APPENDIX V
BIBLIOGRAPHY
For the benefit of those who may wish to pursue their study of these countries more extensively I append herewith a list of a few of the books which give information about Guatemala and Honduras:—
_Bard, S. A._: Waikna: Adventures on the Mosquito Shore. London, 1855.
_Brasseur de Bourbourg_: Popul Vuh. Sacred book of the Quiché Indians. Paris, 1861.
_Bancroft, Hubert Howe_: History of Central America. San Francisco, 1886.
_Bancroft, Hubert Howe_: The Native Races of the Pacific Coast of North America. San Francisco, 1880.
_Brigham, William T._: Guatemala: The Land of the Quetzal. New York, 1887.
_Casas, Bartolomeo de Las_, Bishop of Chiapas: London, 1699. This is a narrative of an eye witness of the Spanish invasion in Mexico and Central America. A very interesting and very rare book.
_Charles, Cecil_: Honduras: The Land of Great Depths. Chicago, 1890.
_Curtis, William Eleroy_: Capitals of Spanish-America. New York, 1888.
_Diaz del Castillo, Bernal_: True History of the Conquest of New Spain. Madrid, 1632. An English edition. London, 1844.
_Dunn, Henry_: Guatemala in 1827–8. London, 1829.
_Davis, Richard Harding_: Three Gringos in Venezuela and Central America. New York, 1896.
_Humboldt, Alexander von_: Political Essay on New Spain. Berlin, 1811.
_Keane, A. H._: Central America and West Indies. London, 1901. (Stanford’s compendium of geography and travel.)
_Morlan, A. P._: A Hoosier in Honduras. Indianapolis, 1897.
_Maudslay, Anne C. and Alfred P._ A glimpse at Guatemala and some notes on the ancient monuments of Central America. London, 1899.
_Pepper, Charles M._ Guatemala, the country of the future; a monograph, Washington.
_Squier, E. G._: Honduras; descriptive, historical, statistical. London, 1870.
_Stephens, John Lloyd_: Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan. New York, 1841.
_Vincent, Frank_: In and Out of Central America. New York, 1896.
_Wells, William V._ Explorations and Adventures in Honduras. New York, 1857.
INDEX
Agriculture, 26, 91; in Honduras, 272.
Aguardiente, 270.
Agua, volcano of, 55.
Agua Caliente, 31.
Aguacate, 98.
Alcaldes, 120.
Alvarado, Pedro de, 13, 14, 166.
Amapala, 275.
Amatitlan, Lake of, 6, 27.
American Club, 70.
Americans, 43–44.
Amusements, 68.
Aniline dyes, 139.
Animals, wild, 88.
Ants, 83.
Antigua, 55–58.
Aqueducts, 77.
Army, the, 127.
Atitlan, Lake of, 6.
Aztecs, the, 149.
Balconies, 111.
Bamboo, the, 83.
Bananas, 99, _et seq._, 253.
Banana plantations, 47.
Baptism of natives, 204.
Barillas, President, 22.
Barrios, J. Rufino, 67, 70, 76, 124, 141, 188, 190–194.
Barrios, José Maria, 196.
Bargaining, 73.
Bay Islands, 265, 282.
Bear, playing the, 112–123.
Beds, native, 35.
Beggars, 269.
Belgian colony, 46.
Belize, 235, 238, 244.
Belize River, 240, 244.
Bibliography, 300–301.
Birds, 86–87.
Bogran, General, 264.
Books, Ancient, 153–154.
Bonilla, Manuel, 263.
Boys, 114.
Brandy, native, 97.
Bull-fight, 68–69, 111.
Butterflies, 89.
Cabrera, President, 24, 126, 195–201.
Cabildo, the, 122.
Caballeria, 92.
Cacao, 97–98.
Cakchiquels, 14.
Calendar of the ancients, 155.
Campeche, 244.
Cantinas, 44.
Caribs, 127–128, 240, 267.
Caribbean Sea, 235–236, 264.
Carcaste, 123.
Cargadors, 122–125.
Carera, Rafael, 181–187.
Casa, the, 110.
Cassava bread, 266.
Cathedral, the, 59, 66.
Cattle raising, 273.
Ceiba trees, 83, 276.
Central America. United Provinces of, 175, 193.
Central America, conquest of, 12. _et seq._
Central Railroad, 138–139.
Cerna, Vicente, 187.
Chocon River, 50.
Cholera, 181.
Champerico, 19, 23.
Chicle, 244.
Churches, 209.
Cisterns, 241.
Cities, location of, 61.
Clayton-Bulwer treaty, 237.
Climate, 8, 10, 60, 248, 284.
Clothing, 121–122.
Coban, 7, 50, 146–147.
Cochineal, 25, 139.
Cocoanut palm, 95.
Cock-fighting, 270.
Coffee, 105–108, 136.
Columbus, Christopher, 13, 165.
Colon, statue of, 63; theatre, 67.
Comayagua, 257–258.
Commandancias, 127.
Commerce in Honduras, 276–278.
Congress, First, 175.
Congrehoy, 276, 286.
Conventionality, 113–114.
Copan, ruins of, 151, 160, 164, 290, _et seq._
Cordilleras, 9.
Corn, 91.
Cortez, Hernan, 90, 246.
Costa Rica, 100.
Costume, 129.
Courting customs, 112–113.
Credit, 117, 224.
Creoles, 109, _et seq._, 212.
Cruelty of Spaniards, 166, 205.
Crusades, the, 203.
Currency, 220–221.
Customs, 33, 65, 71–73, 110–111, 227.
Custom-house, 20.
Dandies, 65.
Davila, Miguel, 263.
Debt, 117.
Departments of Guatemala, 281; of Honduras, 283.
Diaz, Porfirio, 12, 199.
Dogs, 138.
Drunkenness, 129.
Earthquakes, 5, 287–288.
Education, 75, 114–115, 219; in Honduras, 271.
El Carmen, church of, 58.
El Rancho, 141.
Engineers, American, 147.
Escuintla, 26, 138–139, 140.
Exports, 221–222; of Honduras, 277.
Farming, 92.
Fiestas, 38, 77, 207.
Flores, Vice-President, 6, 176.
Flowers, 241–242.
Fonseca, Bay of, 245, 276.
Food, 32.
Foreigners, 71.
Foreign trade, 221–222.
Forests, tropical, 81, _et seq._
Fruits, 98, 241.
Fuego, Volcano of, 5, 55.
Gainza, Gavino, 172–173.
Golfete, Gulf of, 48.
Gracias-a-Dios, Cape, 245.
Granados, 187, 188, 189.
Granadilla, 98.
Gualan, 42, 143.
Guardiola, President, 264.
Guardia Viejo, 77.
Guatemala, Kingdom of, 13.
Guatemala, area of, 9; population of, 11; travelling in, 24, _et seq._
Guatemala City, 8, 54, _et seq._, 115, 141, 271; destruction of, 5, 55.
Guatemala Northern Railway, 100.
Hidalgo, 170.
Hieroglyphs, 155, _et seq._, 294.
Holidays, 121.
Honduras, 100.
Honduras, History of, 204.
Hotels, 78, 254, 256.
Houses, 62.
Humming birds, 53.
Hustler, a tropical, 101.
Hut, building of, 45.
Idols, 156.
Iguala, Plan of, 174.
Iguana, 88–89.
Imports, 221–222; of Honduras, 277.
Improvidence, 117–119.
Indians, 31, 38, 74, 116; Customs of, 115–118.
Independence, 173, _et seq._
Industries, lack of, 273.
Inquisition, 167.
Insects, abundance of, 52, 86, 89, 256.
Izabal, Lake, 6, 8, 47, _et seq._, 100; town, 49.
Java, an American, 82.
Jefe, 123.
Jesuits, 190.
Labor, laws of, 93.
Land, cost of, 92.
Las Casas, 167.
Laundries, public, 77.
Livingston, 7, 47, 128.
Logwood, 84, 94, 243.
Lotteries, 25.
Machete, 42, 84.
Mahogany, 83, 94, 244.
Maize, 91.
Mañana, 143, 227.
Mango, 99.
Mangrove-tree Swamps, 246.
Manufacturing, 228.
Manzana, 96.
Marimba, the, 125.
Markets, 72–74, 114, 241.
Marriage, 112–113.
Matapolo, the, 85.
Mayas, the, 150, 297.
Mazatenango, 9, 122, 138.
Medicinal plants, 93.
Mexican War, 264.
Mexico, Annexation to, 175.
Military service, 272.
Minerva, Festival of, 219; temple of, 77.
Mining, 229; in Honduras, 274–275.
Missions, Protestant, 191, 214–216.
Mistletoe, 34.
Monroe Doctrine, 2, 226.
Montagua River, 144, 157–158, 230.
Montezuma, 151.
Money, 20, 72, 220–221, 278.
Monkeys, 86–87.
Morazan Francisco, 176–179, 184, 259.
Mosquito coast, 236, 266.
Mountains, 3, 247.
Mozo, the, 116–117, 122–125.
Mulua, 137.
Music, 124–125, 210.
Museum, 75.
Nature, Prodigality of, 247–248.
Natives of Honduras, 267–269.
National Palace, 63.
Navy of Honduras, 249.
Negroes, 144, 238.
Newspapers, 219.
New Orleans, 145.
“No hay,” land of, 117–118.
Nopal, the, 25.
Northers, the, 243.
Northern Railroad, 140–145.
Nutmegs, 98.
Occidental Railroad, 134, 136–138.
Ocos, 5, 18, 146.
Opportunities, 222; in Honduras, 278–279; in British Honduras, 243.
Orchids, 83, 242.
Outlaws, 182.
Oxen, use of, 29.
Pacific slope, 105.
Palms, 82, 94.
Panama, 135.
Panama hats, 274.
Pan American Railroad, 134–136.
Panzos, 146.
Parasitic growths, 83.
Parks, 76.
Parrots, 86.
Paseo de la Reforma, 76.
Passion-flower, fruit of, 98.
Patio, 63.
Patulul, 138.
Peonage, 119–121.
Peten, Lake, 6, 50, 151.
Picture writing, 154.
Pirates, 235–236.
Plaza de Armas, 63.
Plants, medicinal, 93.
Political divisions, 11.
Polochic River, 7, 50, 146.
Popul Vuh, 152.
Possibilities in tropics, 225.
Post office, 75.
Pottery, 229.
Presbyterian missions, 71, 191, 214–216.
President, term and election of, 12.
Prisoners, 79.
Priests, Spanish, 153, 206.
Prisons, 254–255.
Pronunciamentos, 171.
Processions, Religious, 212.
Protestant Missions, 214.
Puerto Barrios, 7, 46, 145–146.
Puerto Cortez, 249–252.
Quahtemala, Kingdom of, 90.
Quetzalcoatl, 201–202.
Quetzal, 75, 86.
Quezaltenango, 8, 137, 176.
Quiché Indians, 14, 208–209.
Quirigua, 151, 155, _et seq._
Railroads, 132, _et seq._, 231; of Honduras, 252–253, 276.
Rancho San Agustin, 39.
Religion of ancients, 151.
Retalhuleu, 9, 23, 122, 136.
Revolutions, fear of, 22, 261–263.
Rio Dulce, 47, 91.
Rivers of Honduras, 245–246.
Roads, 33.
Roatan, Island of, 265, 267.
Routes to Honduras, 248.
Royal palm, 95.
Rubber, 96.
Ruins, 149, _et seq._, 202.
Saint day, 121.
Salina Cruz, 16.
Salvador, San, 143.
Santa Maria, Volcano of, 4, 6, 137, 288.
San Benito, 17.
Sanarate, 34.
San Felipe, Fort of, 49.
San Felipe, 137.
San Jose, 139.
San Juan, Fort of, 79.
San Pedro Sula, 252–254.
Santo Tomas, 46.
Sarsaparilla, 85.
Scavengers, 138.
Schools, 75.
Señoras, 114.
Señoritas, 111–113.
Servants, 116.
Sierra de Santa Cruz, 47.
Sierras de las Minas, 40, 47.
Sloth, the, 88.
Smoking, 130–131.
Snakes, 88.
Soldiers, 64, 79, 126–127, 271.
Spaniards, Government by, 165, _et seq._
Spanish-American women, 101–101.
Staring, custom of, 111.
Sugar cane, 96–97, 274.
Superstition, 209.
Tacana, Volcano of, 4.
Tajumulco, Volcano of, 4.
Tapachula, 22, 134.
Tegucigalpa, 248, 255, 258–259.
Temperature of Honduras, 284.
Theatre, 111.
Tierra caliente, 9, 42.
Tierra fria, 10.
Tierra templada, 10.
Timber, variety of, 93.
Tobacco, 98.
Toltecs, the, 150.
Tortillas, 75.
Totonicapan, 8.
Travelling, 61, 255.
Tram cars, 79.
Transportation, 132.
Tropics, vegetation of the, 51.
Tropical fruits, demand for, 104.
Truxillo, 276.
Tula, 150.
Turtles, 88.
Umbrella ants, 90.
University of Guatemala, 75.
Vanilla, 85.
Vegetation, 37.
Volcanoes, 4, 56, 286–290.
Wages, 221.
White-eye, 97.
Wizards, Indian, 209.
Women, 110, 128–129, 140.
Yellow fever, 250.
Yohoa, Lake of, 246.
Yucatan, 149.
Zacapa, 143.
Zambos, 236, 266.
Zutugils, 14.
● Transcriber’s note:
○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.
○ Typographical errors were silently corrected.
○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only when a predominant form was found in this book.