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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



six days to make the trip, as they call at 

 various ports on the coast; the Mobile 

 boats make the run in three and four days. 



From Puerto Cortes a railroad runs to 

 La Pimienta, which means another day, 

 although the distance is less than 60 miles. 

 There begins a five or six days' ride on 

 mules over fairly hard trails, which are 

 very bad in spots. 



Honduras is a country of hills and val- 

 leys ; of rain and sunshine ; of large and 

 small rivers. A half dozen rivers may be 

 crossed in one day, and, while they are 

 usually narrow and shallow, a few hours' 

 rain will turn them into roaring torrents, 

 absolutely impassable. I have been held 

 up for five days by a stream that when I 

 first crossed it was less than three feet 

 in depth. When I wanted to cross the 

 second time, a few weeks later, it had 

 been raining, and even the natives re- 

 mained on whichever side they chanced 

 to be until it went down again. But, 

 given favorable conditions, the Puerto 

 Cortes journey may be said to be only 

 one-half as long in time taken as the route 

 via Amapala. 



GENERAL CLIMATIC CONDITIONS 



Honduras is not an unhealthful coun- 

 try, but a small medicine case of standard 

 remedies should be taken. Quinine is the 

 most useful of all. Along the rivers and 

 on some parts of the coast fevers are to 

 be expected at times, but are not so fre- 

 quent in the interior at altitudes of 1,000 

 feet or more. 



On the south slope of the country the 

 rainy season extends from about the last 

 of June to the first of November; on the 

 north slope it begins earlier and lasts 

 longer. 



In time the country will be far better 

 known than it at present seems to be, for 

 it undoubtedly holds great mineral wealth 

 among its natural resources. 



There are no hour mills, yet three crops 

 of wheat can be raised a year; there are 

 no sugar refineries, vet cane grows lux- 

 uriantly ; there is no cotton industry, yet 

 cotton will bloom all the year round ; 

 bananas are raised on the north coast, yet 

 thev will grow as well in the interior, but 



there is no transportation for them or 

 for anything else. 



Honduras is said to be the most back- 

 ward of all the Central American repub- 

 lics, and she will remain so until railroads 

 cross the country and the government be- 

 comes stable. Then there will be great 

 opportunities here for many, and Amer- 

 icans and American capital will always be 

 welcome. 



The country is just a little larger than 

 the State of Pennsylvania, yet it has a 

 population of only a little more than half 

 a million. It has the largest per capita 

 debt of any country on the face of the 

 globe except New Zealand — at least it 

 had before the present European war up- 

 set all statistical conditions. It owes $220 

 per capita. Most of this debt was created 

 by loan-shark methods, however, for 

 Honduras would agree to pay $10 to get 

 one — or some such ridiculous proportion. 



The name of the country is said to be 

 derived from a Spanish term meaning 

 "depth," the early explorers having found 

 difficult}- in striking water shallow enough 

 for anchorage. They were so delighted 

 when they reached the Nicaraguan shore 

 near by that they called the headland 

 "Cape Gracias a Dios" (Cape Thanks to 

 God ) , a name it still holds. 



Honduras, Salvador, and Nicaragua all 

 border on Fonseca Bay, one of the finest 

 harbors on the west coast of either Amer- 

 ica. Guatemala and Salvador have also 

 built a link of railroad between Zacapa 

 and La Union, which makes another 

 transcontinental railway. It is the con- 

 flict of the interests of these States that 

 produced the protests of Central America 

 against the treaty between Nicaragua and 

 the Lnited States, involving canal and 

 naval rights in that bay. 



It may be added that a knowledge of 

 Spanish, attending strictly to one's own 

 business, and a realization that the natives 

 are far from being savages will help a 

 person get through the country better 

 than a revolver, although the latter may 

 be carried for a case of extreme emer- 

 gency. However, the ability to speak a 

 little of the language is the most impor- 

 tant thing- of all. 



INDEX FOR JANUARY- JUNE, 1916, VOLUME READY. 

 Index for Volume XXIX — January-June, 1916 — will be mailed to members upon request. 



