February, 1918 C. U. C. P. ALUMNI JOURNAL 27 ^ 



evening- meal is eaten and we spread our blankets under the protecting- thatch. 

 The boatmen are not supposed to occupy the sleeping quarters with the passen- 

 gers and must find such accommodations as they can upon the shore, even thoug-h 

 there be no protection against the rain. Very romantic are our experiences dur- 

 ing these nights and many are the weird sounds that come to disturb our rest. 



The marketing of garden truck and other produce, largely bananas, plan- 

 tains and oranges, is to a great extent performed by means of these rafts. Some- 

 times they are very small, barely keeping above the surface with their load of 

 ])roduce and their single paddler. Not rarely we may see the novel spectacle of 

 one or more members of a party, usually the boys of the family, swimming be- 

 side the raft, even upon a long journey. When the load has been disposed of, 

 they will make the return journey as passengers or paddlers. 



Land travel, by the great masses of the people, is almost all on foot, and the 

 average amount of walking performed in a year by the average individual would 

 astonish our slaves to train and trolley service. A walk to the neighboring vil- 

 lage, thirty to fifty miles distant, is not a matter of note, and calls for no other 

 preparation than an early breakfast. The peon will carry his fruits and poultry 

 upon his — more often upon her — back to the market place, as far away as from 

 New York to Philadelphia or Baltimore, with no more concern than would affect 

 one of us in preparing for a walk of eight or ten miles. On any day of travel 

 we will encounter men, women and children pursuing their journeys of a hun- 

 dred miles |or more. 



Of course all who can will ride upon horse, mule or donkey. Very often 

 there will be one or two animals for a family, the members of which will take their 

 turns at riding. Occasionally they will double up on a single animal. As we 

 descend the river road, we meet many boatmen walking and carrying their huge 

 paddles. They have taken a loaded raft or canoe down the stream, perhaps two or 

 three hundred miles, have abandoned their craft rather than incur ,the labor of 

 taking it upstream again, and are now returning on foot for another cargo. They 

 are ver}' business like. They address us politely but shortly, and lose no time, 

 scarcely for an answer to our question, before they hurry onward. When we 

 glance back for another look at them, we may be surprised to find that they have 

 progressed much farther than we upon our riding animal. They are often not 

 only walkers but porters as well, being glad to get letters or small parcels to be 

 delivered, at a very moderate price, along the road or at their destination. The 

 mail service being very scanty, people employ this foot messenger service upon a 

 large scale. On market days, which occur weekly in the smaller towns, the 

 greater part of the produce may have come from points from one to three days' 

 distant. Most of it has come upon the backs of pack animals, but there will be 

 many bales transported by the human porters. If we meet these market men 

 * upon the road, we are very rarely able to induce them to part with any portion 

 of their produce, even at an exorbitant advance in price. This man has set out 



