At this writing it is impossible to foresee the fate of the bill in the House, but if it can be brought to a vote it will undoubtedly be passed.

CHAPTER IV.

FROM GREYTOWN TO THE LAKE.

ALTHOUGH much has been said about the harbor of Greytown, the town itself has so far claimed only an occasional reference. In appearance it differs widely from Spanish-American towns, the only point of resemblance being the plaza or public square. Except for the palms and other tropical trees about the houses and open places, it could readily be taken for a town in the southern part of the United States. The buildings are all of wood, one or two stories in height, painted white, with green blinds and brown roofs. Many of the residences are embowered by palms and tropical fruit trees, among which are the large-leaved bread-fruit, the orange and the mango. Others have around, or in front of them, pretty flower gardens, of which a conspicuous feature is a lovely creeper (Antigonon leptopus), with clusters of pink and rose-colored flowers. It

is called by the natives la vegessima, "the beautiful." The public square is covered with a fine greensward, and in it are many lofty cocoanut palms, which at the time of my visit, April, 1891, were loaded with ripening fruit. There are numerous stores, some of them large and well stocked, and prices are surprisingly low; which is explained by the fact that Greytown is a free port. There are two hotels, the Victoria and the San Juan. The former has better rooms, but the latter is preferred for its table. Other features of the town are a wellappointed club house and a horse railroad through the principal street.

The town is healthy, but not so cool as America, because there is a strip of woods between it and the beach, while the latter is open to the ocean. The population is about 1,500, including a considerable element cf North Americans and Europeans, in addition to the usual mixture of Spanish-Americans and half-breeds common to other Nicaraguan towns. Gambling, chiefly in the form of keno, is openly carried on all day on Sunday in some of the saloons, and cock fights in the streets during the after

noon are a favorable amusement. The principal festival is Semana Santa, "the feast of Holy Week," when a burlesque performance of the Passion Play is given in street pageants. Although until recently carried on under greatdifficulties much of the foreign commerce of Nicaragua has always been done through Greytown. A line of steamers on the San Juan brings down rubber, coffee, hides, dyewoods and other produce from the interior; there is a semimonthly line of steamers to New York; a coasting steamer connects at Bluefields with a weekly line of steamers to New Orleans; and a British mail steamer touches at the port once a month.

I have already shown by trustworthy statistics, that this part of Nicaragua is exception-. ally healthy, but as there is a very general belief to the contrary in the United States, I may be permitted to quote the following testimony of a competent observer: "Perfectly level, surrounded by swamps, and without any system of drainage, either natural or artificial, excepting such as the sandy soil affords, Greytown might be thought a very unhealthy site for a

town. Notwithstanding, however, its apparent disadvantages, and that for nine months of the year it is subject to heavy tropical rains, it is comparatively healthy, and freer from fever than many places that appear at first sight better situated. Much is due to the porous sandy soil, but more I believe to what appears at first sight an element of danger, the perfect flatness of the ground. Where there are hills there must be hollows, and in these the air stagnates; while here, where the land is quite level, the trade winds, that blow pretty constantly, find their way to every part, and carry off the emanations of the soil. As a similar instance I may mention the city of Pernambuco, on the eastern coast of Brazil, containing 80,000 inhabitants. It is perfectly level; like Greytown, surrounded and intersected with channels of water, above the level of which it only stands a few feet.

"The crowded parts of the town are noted for their evil smells and filth, but, though entirely without drainage, it is celebrated for its healthiness; while a little lower down the coast, the town of Maceio, situated about sixty feet above