HONDURAS. 



397 



ing 162,894 letters, 2,290 postal-cards, and 134,- 

 430 newspapers and samples: together, 299,614 

 items of mail-matter. The receipts amounted to 

 $4,090, and the expenses to $22,913. 



Ports. On the Atlantic there are Trujillo, 

 Puerto Cortez, Ornoa, Yriona, and Ruatan ; 

 on the Pacific there is Amapala. The port 

 of Puerto Cortez affords an excellent harhor- 

 age for vessels of all draughts, and perfect pro- 

 tection from ''northers." On the north side 

 of the harbor are the wharf and depot of the 

 Interoceanic Railroad, this being the Atlantic 

 terminus of the partially completed railway 

 that is to cross the Republic of Honduras to 

 the Gulf of Fonseca on the Pacific, 220 miles. 

 Prior to the building of this section of the road 

 Puerto Cortez was known as Point and Bay of 

 Caballos, and of no importance ; at present it 

 is the business center for all the shipping in- 

 terests of the interior and surrounding coun- 

 try, which formerly, and for nearly 300 years, 

 were assembled at Omoa, ten miles westward. 

 In order to afford the New York market a 

 steady supply of cabinet- woods and bananas 

 from this part of Honduras, the United States 

 Mail teamship Company now runs fast steam- 

 ers direct between Puerto Cortez and New 

 York, with an average cargo of 3,000 bunches 

 of bananas. 



Ruatan Island, with its neighbors, forming 

 the group known as the Bay Islands, although 

 comparatively unknown, is one of the most 

 fertile. It formerly belonged to British Hon- 

 duras, but for the past twenty years has been 

 under the Republic of Honduras, and yields a 

 fair amount of revenue. Ruatan is thirty -seven 

 miles in length, and from three to four miles 

 wide, and has an undulating surface, the hills 

 rising from 200 to 600 feet. The land yields 

 cocoanuts, bananas, plantains, and pineapples. 

 The annual value of cocoanuts is about $500,- 

 000, and of pineapples $1,000,000. The bulk 

 of imports is from the United States via New 

 Orleans by steamers every seven days, sailing 

 under the Honduras flag, and carrying the mails. 

 Some of the so-called " cocoanut walks," or 

 plantations, consist of 8,000 to 10,000 trees, 

 each bearing 100 to 200 nuts, which are sold 

 at $15 to $30 a thousand. 



Mines. The causes that led to the long aban- 

 donment of the Honduras mines, and have 

 prevented their reopening by the natives, are 

 common to all the Spanish-American mining 

 districts, and are the same that caused the old 

 Trias" mine in Tolima, Colombia, and the 

 "El Callao" of Guayana, Venezuela, to remain 

 un worked for over fifty years. The separation 

 from Spain revolutionized the labor conditions 

 of these countries. The liberated slaves either 

 refused to work, or were impressed into the 

 military service of the rival revolutionary fac- 

 tions. In the mean time the mines filled up 

 with water or caved in, and were abandoned. 

 In the Spanish-American method of mining, 

 machinery was unknown, and all work, of 

 whatever magnitude, was done with men, or 



left undone. The mines below water-level, or 

 those above, to which, owing to their situation, 

 it was impossible to drive adits for drainage, 

 were kept free of water by gangs of men who 

 carried it out in hide-buckets on their backs. 

 Another cause of the abandonment of many 

 mines was deficient ventilation. Natural ven- 

 tilation was the only system known, and, when 

 two openings with considerable difference of 

 level could not be obtained, the extent of the 

 work was limited. The mining- tools were the 

 bar and the horn spoon. In hard rock a short 

 drill and powder were used. The mines were 

 opened sometimes with drifts or adits, but 

 most frequently on the crop. An opening 

 was, for example, made twelve feet in depth, 

 and a notched log set up the side for a ladder. 

 A platform or shelf was left, and a second hole 

 sunk and another log set up; this process was 

 continued until the water or lack of ventila- 

 tion compelled a halt. At convenient distances 

 levels were driven in the vein and the richest 

 chimneys of ore worked out. The roof was 

 kept up with natural pillars or with wood, 

 which is abundant. All the water and mate- 

 rial were carried up these ladders on the backs 

 of men, and this is still the case in the mines 

 worked under native auspices. 



The methods of reduction were as crude as 

 the system of mining was primitive. The ore 

 was prepared for the " arrastra," in which it 

 was pulverized, by being broken into small 

 pieces with hand-hammers. The best pieces 

 were selected for treatment, and, after being 

 ground in the ''arrastra," were amalgamated 

 by the barrel or u patio " process. Good au- 

 thorities estimate that not more than 60 per 

 cent, of the assay value of the ore is saved by 

 this treatment, while the expense, owing to 

 the time consumed, labor expended, and loss 

 of mercury, is very great. The lowest cost at 

 present of mining and working the ore?, by 

 the native methods, at Tuscaran, is $25 a ton. 



In order to encourage the development of 

 mines, the mining laws have during late years 

 been modified so as to place foreigners on an 

 equality with natives in taking up new or re- 

 opening abandoned mines. Mining machinery 

 and supplies are admitted duty free, and there 

 are no export duties on the products of mines. 

 Meanwhile the Government of Honduras, with 

 the view of informing the American people as 

 to the resources of Honduras, caused samples 

 of ores and minerals to be made and shipped 

 to San Francisco, where a collection of them 

 was placed on exhibition. Similar steps to 

 advance the material interests of the country 

 were supplemented by the grant, under au- 

 thority of the legislature, of valuable aban- 

 doned mines and reduction rights to American 

 capitalists, and are now bearing fruit in the 

 rapid development of the country. The min- 

 eral or mining district of Tuscnran is in one of 

 the most healthful and delightful departments 

 of the republic. It is 3,000 feet above the 

 level of the sea, and the climate varies during 



