central america and the republics composing it; a sketch of their history; area and population.—snakes, lizards, and other creeping things.—costa rica and its revolutions.—a president who couldn't read.—honduras and its resources.—visit to tegucigalpa.—yuscaran and its mineral wealth.—unfortunate financiering.—interesting social customs.—interoceanic canals; their present status.—the nicaragua canal; surveys, estimates, and description of the route; probable advantages to the world's commerce; terms of the concession; estimated cost, revenues, and saving of distances.—farewell to mexico.—the end.

after completing their description of the ruined cities of yucatan, frank and fred looked around for something new to occupy their attention. they were not long in finding it.

"i wish we could extend our journey to central america," said fred.

in a central american forest.

"so do i," answered his cousin, "but i'm afraid doctor bronson would not consent. his plans do not include a journey farther south than yucatan, and besides, i don't think he would relish the idea of

[pg 531]

making a trip through a region where the comforts of travel are as limited as they are between here and panama."

they sounded the doctor on the subject, but did not receive any encouragement. his arrangements were such that he was to be in new york by a date that would make it impossible to accomplish the proposed journey.

the youths cheerfully assented to the situation, and consoled themselves by collecting a fair stock of information about central america and entering it in their note-books; frank said this was the next best thing to seeing the country for themselves.

government palace, san josé.

"central america," wrote frank, "is about 900 miles long, and varies from 30 to 300 miles in width. it extends south about eleven degrees from the eighteenth parallel of north latitude, and is therefore entirely in the tropics. the geographers give it an area of 175,000 square miles, and a population of something less than three millions, the greater portion being native-born indians. the whites and creoles are nearly all of spanish descent, as the country was conquered and occupied by the spaniards soon after the conquest of mexico."

[pg 532]

fred suggested that a census of the snakes, lizards, birds, and beasts of central america would give a large population, as it was known to abound in those things to a very liberal extent. he declared in advance that he would not accept the office of animal census-taker, as he had understood that the serpents were numerous and dangerous, as is the case in tropical countries generally.

"i was reading this morning," said he, "of a snake of the constrictor species that was killed close to a hacienda where the writer of the narrative was stopping. it was fourteen feet long, and not unusually large of its kind. the people of the hacienda said it was fortunate that the creature had been despatched, as it would quite likely have killed one of the children; and they related many stories about babies being swallowed by these serpents.

"the same traveller, mr. wells, tells about a ceremony that he witnessed where a tamagasa, one of the most deadly snakes of central america, was burned alive in the public square of a village. two natives had found the snake basking in the sun; one threw his poncho over the reptile while the other held its head to the ground with a forked stick till its mouth could be sewed up, so that it could do no harm. the snake was about three feet long. the ceremony took place in the evening, and the village priest pronounced a malediction upon the creature before it was consigned to the flames. no remedy is known for the bite of this serpent, nor for that of the taboba, another venomous product of central america."

"to go on with the country," said frank, when fred paused at the end of his snake story, "we will remark that central america comprises five republics which are independent of each other, costa rica, honduras, guatemala, san salvador, and nicaragua. down to 1823 they were colonies of spain; in that year they formed themselves into a federal republic of states and declared their independence. they continued thus until 1839, when they dissolved their federation and became independent of each other. since then they have united again on two or three occasions, but have not remained so for any length of time. several attempts at a federation (one of them in 1888), have resulted in nothing. now and then the republics have wars among themselves, but the rest of the world goes on as if nothing had happened, as the moon did when the dog barked at it.

"the governments of the states of central america are republican in form, modified by revolution and assassination; happily these modifications are not applied as frequently nowadays as in former times, but they

[pg 533]

are by no means unknown. to show how revolutions are started and how they sometimes turn out, let us take a page from the history of costa rica."

central american lodgings.

thereupon frank read from "the capitals of spanish america" the account of how the government of that republic was overthrown, and a new one established in 1871. substantially it was as follows:

the congress of costa rica had caused a railway to be surveyed from ocean to ocean across the state. it was necessary to seek foreign aid for the construction of the line, and the two banking houses at san josé, the capital city, were rivals for the appointment of government agent to negotiate the loan.

the defeated banker was, like his rival, an englishman (married to a costa rican lady), and the capital of his bank was english. in revenge, and with a view to business, he determined to overthrow the government and set up one of his own.

to this end he negotiated with a cowboy named thomas guardia, who had made a reputation as commander of a small force of cavalry in a war with nicaragua, to head a revolution, under promise of money and position. the army of the republic comprised about 250 men, and they were

[pg 534]

easily overcome by guardia, who assembled half that number of cowboys and rode suddenly into san josé one morning, capturing the whole place by surprise. it was one of the "revolutions before breakfast," to which central america is accustomed.

banana plantation in costa rica.

guardia imprisoned all the government officials who did not run away, and appointed himself dictator. among the fugitives was the constitutional president, and therefore it was necessary to hold an election for a new president, guardia being made provisional president until the election could be held. the english banker, who had started the revolution, named his father-in-law as the candidate for president, and it was expected that he would be elected without opposition.

[pg 535]

guardia concluded, from his experience as dictator, that it was not a bad thing to be president, and when the election came off he ordered his officers to secure the position for him, and leave the banker's father-in-law out in the cold. he was unanimously elected; 2000 votes were cast in a population of 200,000, and guardia received them all.

he was unable to read or write when he became president, but he was a man of decided ability, called wise counsellors to aid him, did everything he could for the advancement of his country, and altogether made an excellent ruler for the little republic.

don bernardo de soto, president of costa rica.

the present president of costa rica is don bernardo de soto, who was a favorite of guardia, and is a man of good education. he graduated at the college in san josé, and completed his studies in europe; and since his elevation to the high office he has shown ability and intelligence in the management of public affairs.

during their investigation of central america the youths met mr. wilson, of new york, an old friend of doctor bronson's, who had just

[pg 536]

returned from a visit to honduras. he readily replied to all the questions that were propounded by frank and fred, and his answers may be summed up as follows:

gen. luis bogran, president of honduras.

"i found honduras very interesting," said mr. wilson, "and was sorry that i could not remain longer. the country seems to have great promise, as it is exceedingly fertile, and the mountain regions contain great quantities of gold and silver. all tropical fruits grow there in abundance, and there might be a large product of coffee and sugar. at present the exports consist chiefly of cattle, mahogany, hides, and rubber, of a total value of about two millions of dollars annually, and the imports are nearly as much. the expenses of conducting the government are not far from one million dollars a year, sometimes exceeding the revenue, and sometimes falling below it.

"honduras has been unfortunate financially," continued the gentleman,

[pg 537]

"as it contracted a loan in england for building a railway across the country from ocean to ocean, and the greater part of the money went into private hands and not in the most honest way imaginable. twenty-seven million dollars' worth of bonds were negotiated in london, under the guarantee of the government, and all that the country has to show for this large amount of money is about sixty miles of poorly built railway. since 1872 the interest on this loan has not been paid, and probably it never will be; in the negotiations the government and the purchasers of the bonds were deceived, and the country never obtained more than a small fraction of the benefit that was promised.

tegucigalpa, capital of honduras.

"negotiations are now going on for wiping out the debt by issuing new bonds for a part of it, and creating a new loan by which the interoceanic railway can be completed and other railways constructed. the president of honduras, general bogran, is a man of great enterprise, and has done much for the country since he took possession of his office. his predecessor had built a fine boulevard from the capital part way to the pacific coast, but from that point there was only a mule-track, the same that

[pg 538]

had been there for three hundred years. general bogran made a contract with some american engineers to build a wagon-road from the coast to the end of this boulevard, and another from the capital, tegucigalpa, to yuscaran, the centre of the principal mining district."

street in yuscaran.

"please tell us about the mines of honduras," said frank, as mr. wilson paused for a moment.

"certainly, i'll do so with great pleasure," was the reply. "honduras was the first part of the main-land of north america visited by columbus and his companions, and as soon as cortez had completed the conquest of mexico and established himself firmly on its soil he proceeded to the subjugation of honduras. from the time of the conquest down to 1820 the mines of honduras yielded enormously of gold and silver; the government took as its share twenty per cent. of the gross product, and whenever a district proved to be unusually rich the king acknowledged the good-fortune by 'decorating' the place. this was a much more economical proceeding than reducing the taxes or granting a sum in money for public improvements.

"perhaps you don't understand me," said mr. wilson, as he observed a puzzled expression on the faces of the youths. "when i was at tegucigalpa i examined some old documents in the government library, and came upon one containing the following paragraph:

"'the flourishing state of the mining interests and the large returns

[pg 539]

they brought the crown influenced the king, so that on the 17th day of july, 1768, there was given to the pueblos (villages) of san miguel, tegucigalpa, and heredia the honorable title of villas (cities).'

"a decree of that sort is exactly like conferring a decoration on an individual," continued the gentleman. "it costs nothing to the giver, and makes the recipient proud of his distinction, at least that is supposed to be the purpose of a decoration.

old bridge at tegucigalpa.

"to show you how rich were the mines of honduras, let me instance the guayabilla mine in the yuscaran district. it is about fifty miles east of tegucigalpa, and near the line of nicaragua, at an elevation of 3250 feet above the sea-level. in the old days the ore was so rich that the owners of the mine did not reduce any that yielded less than sixty dollars per ton, and after the mine was deserted $60,000 was obtained from it by a gentleman who now lives in the country. from 1812 to 1817 the king's fifths from this mine amounted to $400,000, so that in five years the product of the mine was $2,000,000. in 1837 the mine had been worked to a depth of 300 feet, when the miners were impeded by water. accordingly they prepared to abandon the mine, and did so by removing the pillars for the sake of the ore they contained. of course the mine caved in soon after the pillars were removed, and the same was the case with other mines that were similarly maltreated."

fred asked mr. wilson how many productive mines there were in honduras during the time of its occupation by the spaniards.

[pg 540]

"as to that i cannot say exactly," was the reply, "but at a rough calculation there were not fewer than fifty in the yuscaran district that were once active and paid royalties to the king. in the choluteca and tegucigalpa districts there were fully 100 mines, so that we may safely count 150 in all. under the enlightened policy of president bogran americans and other foreigners have interested themselves in the mineral wealth of honduras, and several of the mines are now being operated with modern appliances, which give promise of great results. some of them are producing ore in such quantities as to fully justify their former reputation. under the old system there was no arrangement for getting rid of superfluous water and foul air. modern pumping and ventilating machinery has been adopted, and the old annoyances that hindered operations or suspended them altogether will be of comparatively little consequence."

"please tell us something about tegucigalpa, the capital city," said frank.

statue of morazan, tegucigalpa.

"it received its name," said mr. wilson, "from two indian words signifying 'mountain of silver.' it is about 3000 feet above sea-level, and

[pg 541]

[pg 542]

eighty miles from the seaport, on the bay of fonseca. it has 15,000 inhabitants, its houses are of adobe, and the streets narrow and paved with stone. the most interesting structures are the cathedral and an old bridge over the rio grande, the latter consisting of seven massive arches that appear to be as strong to-day as when first erected. in the public square there is a bronze equestrian statue of francisco morazan, who is honored as the liberator of central america, as bolivar is of south america. he was born in honduras in 1799, was foremost in the war of independence, became president or general-in-chief of the republic of central america in 1835, was exiled in 1840, and assassinated in 1842."

"his history is not unlike that of the majority of patriots in spanish america," remarked frank, as mr. wilson paused.

frank then asked about the people and their customs. mr. wilson said they were not materially different from those of other spanish american countries. the dress of the natives is practically the same as that of the natives of yucatan, while that of the higher classes follows in a general way the fashions of paris. "while i was at tegucigalpa," said he, "i attended a fashionable ball, which was quite a social event, as the president and his ministers were there. the gentlemen were in evening dress, as they would have been at a ball in new york, and the ladies were robed as for an evening reception in paris or london.

"upon entering the salon each guest was presented with handsomely painted egg-shells by servants who carried them about on trays. these shells were filled with gold and silver tinsel. gentlemen broke them over the heads of ladies whom they wished to favor with their attentions, and the ladies did likewise towards the gentlemen. nearly all the ladies and some of the gentlemen carried atomizers filled with perfumery. when one found an atomizer aimed at his face it was the proper thing to stand firm, receive the spray without wincing, and then join in the laugh which followed. the effect of the egg-shells and atomizers was to make the party very sociable and agreeable and break the ice of formality."

[pg 543]

mr. wilson was called away at this moment, and consequently the talk about honduras came suddenly to an end.

bird's-eye view of the nicaragua canal.

then the youths turned their attention to nicaragua, and especially to the proposed ship-canal which is to make use of lake nicaragua for a part of its route. on this subject they questioned doctor bronson, and received the following reply:

profile of nicaragua canal.

"the idea of an interoceanic canal originated soon after the spanish conquest. in 1550 galvo, a portuguese navigator, presented a plan for such a canal, and pointed out four possible routes, those of darien, panama, nicaragua, and tehuantepec, and it is a singular circumstance that no other routes have been discovered since his time. the world's commerce then and for more than 200 years afterwards was not sufficient to justify the construction of a canal, and the first step towards such a work was taken in 1779, when lord nelson seized the mouth of the san juan river, in nicaragua, as a preliminary to the control of the river and lake, and the opening of a water-way across the isthmus.

a section of the canal.

"very soon after lord nelson's action a spanish exploring expedition arrived at the mouth of the san juan, and the complications arising between the english and spanish governments prevented any active operations towards the making of the canal. in 1823 the president of nicaragua opened negotiations with the government of the united states with that object in view, but nothing was accomplished. in 1826 the government of mexico made a preliminary survey of the isthmus of tehuantepec to ascertain the possibility of a canal across it, and two years later the

[pg 544]

government of new grenada permitted a survey of the isthmus of panama for the same object. in 1844 nicaragua gave a concession to a belgian company, which accomplished nothing; and in the same year louis philippe authorized a survey of the isthmus of panama.

river san juan at toro rapids.

"in 1849 an irish adventurer published a book in england in which he declared that he had crossed and recrossed the isthmus of darien several times, and that there would be only three or four miles of deep cutting for the entire distance. on the basis of this book, some english capitalists sent an engineer, who made an equally rose-colored report that resulted in the formation of an english company, with a capital of $75,000,000. the engineer does not seem to have crossed the isthmus at all, and only penetrated a few miles into the interior. the darien route was explored by lieutenant strain, of the united states navy, in 1854, who demonstrated that the reports of the english engineer were

[pg 545]

'conspicuously inexact,' and a canal would cost very much more than his estimates.

"in 1849 negotiations between the government of nicaragua and our minister to that country led to the formation of an american company, of which commodore vanderbilt was a stockholder, with the object of making a canal by the nicaragua route. col. o. w. childs and a staff of assistants surveyed the route, but the enterprise was broken up by the filibustering expedition of walker, 'the gray-eyed man of destiny,' which caused the nicaraguan government to revoke the concession.

street in greytown.

"from this time onward the interest of americans in the canal project continued active. several exploring expeditions were sent out by individuals and associations, mr. frederick m. kelley, a wealthy new yorker, sending out four expeditions, and spending $125,000 out of his own pocket. between 1870 and 1875 the united states government sent out nine expeditions for the survey of canal routes between the atlantic and pacific oceans, and altogether a valuable amount of information was gathered on the subject.

"in 1876 lieut. bonaparte wyse obtained a concession from the government of colombia for a canal at panama. his concession was transferred

[pg 546]

to m. de lesseps, the famous builder of the suez canal; and you know all about the history of the panama canal, as it has been recorded in the daily newspapers and other publications.

el castillo, san juan river.

"an impartial consideration of the various reports upon the surveys of all the routes has shown that the most favorable one for a ship-canal from ocean to ocean is that across nicaragua. this was the decision of a commission appointed by president grant, and consisting of commodore (since admiral) daniel ammen, chief of the bureau of navigation, gen. a. a. humphreys, chief of the united states engineer corps, and mr. c. p. patterson, superintendent of the coast survey. briefly, their report said: 'the nicaragua route possesses, both for the construction and maintenance of a canal, greater advantages, and offers fewer difficulties from engineering, commercial, or economical points of view, than any one of the other routes shown to be practicable.'

"careful scientific surveys have been made of the nicaragua route. the first was in 1872 and 1873, by commander hatfield and commander lull, of the united states navy; and the second, in 1880, by civil engineer a. g. menocal, also of the united states navy. in 1884 the same officer, with several able assistants, made another survey; with all the figures and descriptions of the different surveys, the nature of the work to be accomplished in cutting the canal can be readily understood."

for further information doctor bronson referred the youths to the printed reports of mr. menocal and commander lull, which he had in his possession, and also to articles in harper's weekly and harper's magazine. frank and fred made a careful study of the subject, and the substance of what they learned may be set down as follows:

the route of the proposed canal will be entirely through the state of nicaragua, except for a small part of the eastern division, where it will be on the south bank of the san juan river, which is the dividing line between

[pg 547]

nicaragua and costa rica. the latter state has agreed to all the conditions named by nicaragua in its concession to the american company that is undertaking the work, so that the question of boundary will not interfere with the enterprise.

in march, 1887, a contract was signed with the republic of nicaragua by a representative of the nicaragua canal association of new york, securing to the association the exclusive right of way for the construction of a ship-canal between the atlantic and pacific oceans. the company is allowed two and a half years from the date of the contract for beginning operations; it has a grant of 1,000,000 acres of land, and immunity from taxation and all imposts of every kind for a period of ninety-nine years. it is believed that the entire work will be completed and the canal made ready for the passage of ships within six years from the commencement of the dredging and digging.

view on lake nicaragua.

the length of the canal will be 170 miles from ocean to ocean. of this distance there will be 130 miles of navigation on lake nicaragua and the san juan river, leaving only forty miles for excavation or cutting. the surface of lake nicaragua is 110 feet above the level of the sea, and to reach or descend from this elevation there will be four locks between each end of the lake and the ocean from which it is separated. the lake is 110 miles long by 35 wide, and is a beautiful sheet of water in a basin 8000 square miles in extent. the plans are for locks 650 feet long and 65 feet wide, which will float any ship now in existence.

[pg 548]

mozo in full dress.

for convenience of description we will suppose the canal to be in three divisions, eastern, middle, and western. the eastern division begins at greytown, on the caribbean sea, at the mouth of the san juan river, and extends to the arroyo de las cascades, a distance of nineteen and one-half miles. this division contains sixty-three per cent. of the excavation required for the whole canal; it will include the digging of a channel through the low lands of the coast, and then through rising ground and hills, where locks must be made to raise the canal to the level of the lake.

at the end of the eastern division a dam across the san juan river will fill the channel of that stream to a depth sufficient for the passage of sea going vessels, and also create a lake, or basin, where ships may pass each other, and also halt for repairs if any are needed. in some places the river must be dredged to reach the requisite depth, but these points are not numerous or difficult. the river is 1000 feet wide, so that ships will have plenty of room for moving either way, and there will be about eighty-three miles of river navigation from the dam to the lake.

on lake nicaragua the distance from the head of the san juan river to the beginning of the western division is fifty-six and one-half miles, and here there is abundant depth of water except in one place where some rock-blasting and dredging will be needed.

rio lajas, on the western shore of the lake, will be the end of the middle, or navigable, portion of the canal, and the beginning of the western division, which extends seventeen and one-quarter miles to the pacific ocean. on this division ships coming from the east will descend by four locks, while those from the west will rise by the same means. the last of the locks, the one nearest the pacific, will have a varying depth to accommodate itself to the rise and fall of the ocean tide, which is about nine feet. the entrance of this lock will be of a funnel shape, and a port will be formed by throwing out jetties on each side of the little bay of brito, and converting it into a secure harbor.

[pg 549]

at the eastern end of the canal jetties will be thrown out in the same way to form a harbor at the mouth of the san juan river close to the old harbor of greytown, which has been partially filled by the sands brought down by the river, and has a depth of only twenty-one feet at its entrance. the current of the river will be utilized for washing out the entrance of this harbor, just as that of the mississippi was utilized by captain eads for deepening the passes of the great "father of waters" at its mouth.

frank and fred made careful note of the above, and then asked doctor bronson how much it was expected the canal would cost, and how the profits had been calculated.

fort san carlos.

"the estimates of the engineers," was the reply, "place the cost of the whole work at $60,000,000 in round figures; some of them make it ten or twelve millions less, but as estimates nearly always fall short of the actual cost, we will suppose that the figures are $100,000,000. i think it is safe to say the canal can be built for that amount of money."

"how does that compare with the suez and the panama canals?" fred asked.

"the cost of the suez canal was $100,000,000, and it has been a very profitable enterprise. double that amount of money has been expended

[pg 550]

on the panama canal, and only one-fourth the work is done; even if it should ever be completed, the revenues cannot be sufficient to pay a good dividend on the cost after deducting the running expenses. the nicaragua canal will have a great advantage over the one at panama, for the reason that the latter is in the region of equatorial calms, while the former is within the sweep of steady winds. consequently the panama canal will be of little use for sailing-ships, and they would all be attracted to the nicaragua route."

native boats, lake nicaragua.

"what is the estimate of the amount of business of the nicaragua canal, and the revenues from it?" queried frank.

"i can best answer that question," replied the doctor, "by quoting from a writer in harper's magazine. he says the wheat trade between our pacific coast and europe requires a million tons of shipping, and as each ship must pass twice through the canal, this trade alone would be two millions of tons a year. the coasting trade between the atlantic and pacific ports of the united states would add another million tons, and the tea trade between europe and china and japan, the guano and nitrate trade of south america, the whaling trade of the pacific, the wool trade between australia and europe, would altogether bring the business of the canal up to five or six millions of tons a year. at two dollars a ton, the

[pg 551]

toll that is charged by the suez canal, there would be a revenue of ten or twelve million dollars without considering the growth of the world's commerce from year to year. it is estimated that the running expenses and repairs to the canal would not exceed half a million dollars annually, so that there would be a good profit on the outlay of $100,000,000."

fred asked what saving of distances would be effected by the canal.

central american hacienda.

"between the atlantic and pacific ports of the united states," was the reply, "the saving would be 8000 or 9000 miles over the cape horn route. from new york to ports in asia and australasia there would be a saving of 500 to 3000 miles over any route except by suez, and between europe and japan sailing-vessels will save 3000 miles by taking the nicaragua route. there can be no reasonable doubt that the world's commerce will be greatly benefited by the opening of the proposed canal, and in a few years we may see it operated to its full capacity, of every year passing eleven thousand ships from ocean to ocean."

fred was ready with another question, but before it was put a friend called to tell them that a steamer for havana and new york had just arrived at progreso, and would leave in a few hours.

nicaraguan canals and all other central american subjects were

[pg 552]

dropped, and preparations immediately made for departure. already their farewell calls had been made on friends and acquaintances at merida, baggage was quickly in readiness, they were at the station in ample time for the train, and before sunset were on the deck of the steamer, which speedily put her machinery in motion, and steamed away to the eastward.

birds of nicaragua.

and so ended the tour of the boy travellers in mexico. the land of the aztecs and toltecs disappeared in darkness and distance, and when morning dawned only sea and sky were visible from the deck of the vessel.

"wonder what country we will see next?" said fred.

"quien sabe?" was the laconic reply.