74 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[December i, 1905. 



overlooking the street. The heat was really terrific and the 

 sandy streets of the town shot it up into the rooms until it 

 seemed almost unbearable. Our stout companion by this time 

 had a splitting headache, so we put him to bed and began to 

 take care of him. I secured for him a cup of tea, part of 

 which he drank. Another got him a glass of lemonade, which 

 seemed to do him more good than the tea, and then for the 

 moment he felt so much bet- 

 ter that we got a waiter to 

 bring him up a light meal, 

 after which, discovering that 

 the hotel afforded ice cream, 

 he had a plate of that. Then 

 he began to feel ill again ; in 

 fact quite sick at the stomach ; 

 indeed I think he would have 

 refunded all he had eaten had 

 I not shown him the bill, 

 which is repeated in the mar- 

 Tea $10. gin. Thrifty 



Lemonade. 



Food 



Ice cream .. . . 



j„; New Eng- 

 '5- lander that 



Total $3;, he was, he 



subdued nature and in a swel- 

 ter of perspiration announced his intention of keeping what 

 he had paid so high for. 



Our British hostess did not have any time to spend upon us, 

 and as English was an unknown language in the town, we were 

 doubly fortunate in making the acquaintance of Julius Caesar 

 Visbal, a coffee colored, barefooted urchin brought up in Ja- 

 maica, who spoke English fluently and melodiously. His pres- 

 ence so cheered the sick one that he suddenlybecame convales- 

 cent, lost his headache, got up and joined us while we did the 

 town. Julius was indeed a treasure. He explained everything 

 to us briefly and quaintly, and incidentally gathered at his 

 heels one-half of the population of the town, who cared not a 

 whit for us but who wanted to hear him talk English. 



That night we 

 dined in the main 

 dining hall, but 

 my appetite was 

 spoiled by a sign 

 on the wall which 

 read as indicated 

 herewith : 



Ice cream $ is. 



Sliced ham . 41. 



Ox tongue 100. 



After dinner we 

 walked around in 

 the cool of the 

 evening, bought 

 some Aztec pot- 

 tery warranted to 

 be genuine, and 

 later retired to 

 our room. It was 

 then that we be- 

 gan to appreciate 

 the deadly stillness of the tropics. The dog fight that started 

 in the hallway opposite our room ended in the room, as the 

 combatants fell against the door and burst in. This, mingled 

 with the evening song of several cats, the katydid chorus, and 

 the constant whistling of the police patrol, soon lulled us to 

 sleep; that is, accurately speaking, it lulled one of us. who, 

 when he once lost himself, had the whole tropical chorus beaten 



MOUTH OF THE SINU RIVER 



PANORAMIC VIEW OF CARTAGENA- 



to a Standstill. As an originator of strange gasps, groans, sobs, 

 and strangling snorts, he outclassed anything that we had ever 

 heard before, and while we did not sleep, we lay and listened, 

 filled with awe as in the presence of the emperor of all snorers. 

 In the morning, desirous of showing our appreciation of 

 what Julius had done for us, we asked him to name hisown re- 

 ward, and he decided that he would like a pair of shoes. We 



therefore purchased for him 

 for $30 a pair of stout leather 

 shoes, and for $15 more a pair 

 of stockings. Then loath to 

 part with him we gave him 

 money to purchase a ticket to 

 ride down to Savanilla with 

 us and see us off. This he did 

 in the thriftiest sort of fashion 

 by buying a third class ticket, 

 round trip, for $10, and enter- 

 ing our first class car and 

 calmly putting himself under 

 our protection and ignoring 

 the expostulations of the out- 

 raged conductor. We found 

 incidentally that the fact that 

 Julius went away with us caused a wave of indignation to run 

 throughout the town, as they believed we had practically ab- 

 ducted him. A British friend also who had remained aboard 

 the steamer, was very much surprised to see the treatment that 

 we accorded Julius and asked an explanation of it, in reply 

 to which the Manufacturer said, jocosely : 

 " Him and me is partners." 



" I am sure you are, from your grammar," replied the Briton, 

 with a sarcastic emphasis that was delightful. 



We had dinner on the boat and alter dinner I rendered an 

 account of my stewardship, which the figures show : 



Ticket, Julius. . . $ 10. 

 Total $1:^36 



All this money for 

 24 hours of doubt- 

 ful pleasure. I 

 have forgotten 

 whether I re- 

 marked that $1 of 

 Uncle Sam's mo- 

 ney was readily 

 taken by the Co- 

 lombians for $100 

 of their own. 



The reason for 

 the great depreci- 

 ation in Colombi- 

 an currencj'is 

 said to be that 25 

 years ago Colom- 

 bia coined both 

 gold and silver 

 which circulated 

 at par, but the law 

 allowed all debts to be paid in silver, which was the cheaper, 

 and in a very short time gold went out of use and became a 

 subject for speculation rather than a circulating medium. 



We got away at 11 o'clock that night and on the following 

 morning were out of sight of land, continuing so all day. As 

 there were no ladies aboard, and as it was exceedingly hot, we 

 lived in pajamas and came nearer to being comfortable than we 



