258 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[May 1, 1911. 



Thk Banana Ruat Off Xieiw Amsterdam. 



spite of the fact that this was her first railroad jouriu-y. she did 

 not forget to buy the best bananas at the lowest market price, the 

 ripest grcnadilhis, or to supply all of our needs, deftly, quietly 

 and with the most respectful, dignified courtesy. 



After much good-natured confusion, the third-class coaches 

 were filled with their freight of animated ebony, the superintend- 

 ent wished us bon voyage and gave the signal to start, and in- 

 cidentally it was on schedule time to the second. To the ac- 

 companiment of the clanging bell that gave out a peculiarly solid 

 tone, and the shrill warning of the whistle that blew at every 

 street, bridge and curve, with minor salutes between, the train 

 pulled out of the station, ran down the main street through the 

 whole length of the town and out into the open country. The 

 streets were lined with sightseers and every window was a frame 

 for dusky faces, the train being the cbject of their interested 

 regard. 



The roadbed was excellent and was balasted witli white sand 

 taken from the great deposits in the interior. The day was 

 cloudy and the white ribbon of 

 road did nut try the eyes in the 

 least bit, but when the sun 

 shines, engineers, conductors 

 and many passengers wear col- 

 ored glasses to guard against the 

 fiercely reflected rays from this 

 white roadway. We were so 

 comfortable in this slowly mov- 

 ing train with its speed of 20 

 miles an hour that it did not 

 seem possible that we were with- 

 in five degrees of the equator, 

 but those who built the railroad 

 appreciated it. At the great 

 sand savanah which covers some 

 tliousands of acres, the heat was 

 so intense that day work was 

 abandoned and all of the grading 

 and track laying was done by 

 the coolies, who worked through 

 the cool damp of the tropical 

 night and slept through the day. 



Shortly after leaving the city 

 we passed the site of the pro- 

 jected Dutch Settlement Colony, 

 a pet plan of the government, 

 the idea being to offer homes to 

 a large number of Dutch col- 



onists. It does net find favor among the 

 residents of the colony, as they claim that 

 the descendants of Europeans if born and 

 bred in the tropics, do not show the stamina 

 or enterprise of their parents. 



We passed several cattle ranches, but this 

 is not a particularly good cattle country, 

 as the native tigergrass affords little nutri- 

 ment. The course of the road was marked 

 by innumerable flag stations, consisting of 

 a few native huts, a diminutive store and 

 a church. The huts were quite picturesque 

 and even when thatched with palms had a 

 suggestion of Dutch architecture. In them 

 the coolies or negroes lived, with a cow and 

 numerous chickens, in perfect content. 



.\ little way out of the city we crossed 

 the great Wanica canal, which connects the 

 .Surinamc and the' Saramacca rivers. The 

 first station for stopping was Leiydorp. 

 Here we passed the down train and paused 

 while crowds of coolies and Dutch negroes 

 crowded about with baskets of fruit at ridiculously low prices. 

 The negn es in the rear cars bought cocoanuts and bananas as 

 long as their money lasted, the transaction accompanied by much 

 gesticulation and many wordy battles. After a long interval our 

 train slowly pulled out and the journey was continued. Although 

 the country was nearly flat it was not uninteresting, for we 

 passed through heavy forests, the large trees bound together by 

 bushrope and decorated with orchids and epyphites. On either 

 side of the single track the constantly encroaching bush was cut 

 back, and often drains from eight to ten feet deep were dug in 

 the clayey soil to carry ofT the water that in the rainy season 

 would otherwise leave no vestige of track or road. We crossed 

 many little streams, some running bright and clear, others as 

 black as ink. The flowers along the way, although not appear- 

 ing in great profusion, were gorgeous. Notable among them 

 was the scarlet "parrot's tongue," which the coolies say be- 

 tokens rich soil. 



We crrssed a branch of the Para river at Republick, a neat 



Where the Steam Cars Leave Paramaribo. 



