198 SPORT AND TRAVEL PAPERS 



terrible isthmus swamps in drinking shop and gambling hell, 

 of which the town seemed almost entirely composed. Bar ad- 

 joined bar, resplendent as night came on in dazzling light 

 reflected by numerous mirrors, all crowded with swarthy men 

 decked out in holiday attire, all armed and reckless, drinking, 

 gambling, quarrelling, becoming more noisy and quarrelsome 

 as evening went on. 



At this festive season Colon, no doubt, looked its brightest 

 and best ; the inhabitants and visitors turned out in their 

 newest garments to see and to be seen, and to take the air in 

 the only respectable part of the town among the cocoa-palms 

 along the sea shore. Here, on the fashionable alameda strutted 

 the sable ladies decked out to their utmost satisfaction in every 

 shade of dazzling colour, truly gorgeous, from marvellous hat 

 to dainty boot of golden bronze. Be-plumed and be-flowered, 

 head proudly thrown back, they marched passed, ogling here, 

 and smiling there, vigorously fanning themselves all the while, 

 thoroughly well pleased with themselves and apparently well 

 content with all the world. Here, indeed, the air from the sea 

 direct was pure, the only pure thing in all Colon. 



Flags were fluttering everywhere in the light wind, from the 

 ships in the harbour, the consuls' houses, and those of the many 

 shipping agents, the small line of blue between broad stripes 

 of yellow and red of the United States of Colombia being 

 naturally most conspicuous. Some unkind people thus interpret 

 the colours of this flag : There is but a small chance of escape 

 from the far greater chances of death from yellow fever, or 

 during bloody revolution. Let those abandon hope who fall 

 into the hands of the soldiery here, for a more ruffianly-looking 

 lot than the Colombian men of war it would be impossible to 

 imagine, unless, perchance, the captive be able and willing to 

 pay handsomely for his release. The Minister of War appa- 

 rently has a standing contract with every old- clothes man in the 

 world for the supply of any cast-off uniforms to be picked up 

 anywhere, with a hat thrown in here and a boot there. No two 

 men are dressed alike, but they all have a cigarette between 

 their lips and the same hungry, cut-throat appearance. As a 

 means of amusing the crowd and reducing the population of 

 Colon, a mad bull was led into the main street, and, he not 

 liking the appearance of the city and the people in it, made with 



