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GUARANTY. 
 
 Some siatements in these pag-es are desig-ned to correct errors which are by 
 many accepted as general truths about the tropics. To save the time and work of 
 reading- a larg-e amount of evidence which supports our statements, the following- 
 o-uaranty is made, without any mental reservation or secret evasion of mind 
 whatever. I will g-ive 100 hectares (247 acres) of land worth $2,500 to any one who 
 
 shall prove : 
 
 1. That the climate and healthfulness of northern Nicarag-ua are not as de- 
 scribed by me in this pamphlet. 
 
 2. That the rivers, soil and topography of the Comarca of Cabo Gracias a Dios 
 are not as g-ood as I describe them in this pamphlet. 
 
 3. That the cost, yield and value of the productions mentioned in the following- 
 pag-es are not as advantag-eous to the planter as I state them to be. 
 
 4. That the sale of 5,000 hectares, described herein, was not properly made tO) 
 
 me, as stated in this pamphlet. 
 
 Edward W. Pekky,. 
 
ADVANTAGES. 
 
 1. Our lands lie along- one of the greatest of Central American rivers. The Uarig' 
 requires no work to make it safe and easy for vessels. 
 
 2. More than fortj^ settlements stand on the banks of the lower Uang-. None 
 are asked to g^o to a wilderness. 
 
 3. More than twent}' g"old mines near our lands have been developed. Larg-e 
 sums have been spent in putting- them into working shape. The)- are now said to 
 be profitabl}' operated. 
 
 4. Our port is a town of size, established two centuries or more. It is the cap- 
 ital of the Comarca, has g-overnor's offices, custom house, warehouses, wharf, post 
 office, schools and stores, hotel and other conveniences. 
 
 5. Steamships from New York visit us at stated dates. Mail boats and other 
 vessels arrive and leave at short periods. 
 
 6. Steamships of several lines pass within sight of our land. Thej will stop 
 when required. 
 
 7. We have sheltered water where ships can quietly handle cargo at any time. 
 
 8. Nicaragua gives unclouded and unassailable title to her lands. 
 
 'i. Nicaragua has a debt reported as equal to only 3| cents per acre.- 
 
 10. Our colonists are to be* exempt from heavy duties and taxes. 
 
 11. We have an ample supply of laborers. 
 
THE PERRY LAND GRANT. 
 
 In 1S97 the State of Nicaragua, of the Greater 
 RepubHc of Central America, sold to Edward W. 
 Perry 5,000 hectares (12,355 acres), to be by him 
 taken from anypubliclands of theComarca of Cabo 
 Gracias a Dios. A condition of that sale is that 
 efforts shall be made to induce people of desirable 
 character to make homes and plantations in, and 
 to otherwise aid in the development of the great 
 natural resources of Nicaragua. Another condi- 
 tion is that the grantee and his assigns shall not 
 be required to pay taxes of any kind other or 
 greater than shall be paid by the most favored 
 person or company. 
 
 Notice has been received that agreement and sale 
 was ratified by the Congress of Nicaragua during 
 its session of 1898, and is part of the law of the land. 
 
 The C0M.A.RCA OF Cabo Gracias a Digs is in the 
 extreme northeastern corner of Central America. 
 Its port is the town of Gracias, some 960 miles 
 south from New Orleans; and 1,735 niiles, or as 
 far as Denver is, from New York. Steamers in 
 the fruit trade between the United States and 
 
 the banana fields of Nicaragua, Costa Rica and 
 of South America pass within sight of Gracias 
 nearly every day. Steamships go there from 
 New York City at stated times. 
 
 The Comarca (district or province) extends 
 from the Rio Uang or Wanks, on the 15' N. lati- 
 tude, southward some 70 miles; and from the 
 Caribbean Sea westward some 200 miles to a 
 point not yet definitely fixed, on the Rio Uang. 
 TOPOQRAPHY ^ rolling, well watered plain 
 -•;•..*- covers the eastern half of the 
 Comarca. Near the sea this is sandy, often lying 
 in low swells parallel with the coast line. A few 
 lakes are between these low ridges. Bej^ond these 
 the;soil is gravelly loam. The whole is covered 
 by grass which is always green, and fringed by 
 long-leafed pine forests. 
 
 Some 70 or 80 miles from the sea the hills of the 
 Uaspuc (Waspook) rise from the plain to a height 
 of 300 to 1,200 feet. They are heavily tim- 
 bered, fertile and rich in gold. Many streams, 
 pure, cool and never-faihng, flow from these hills, 
 
which cover the greater part of the western half 
 of the Comarca. 
 
 The vallej^ of the Uang is broad and of exceed- 
 ing fertility. Along the lower reaches of the 
 river are large areas only 12 to 16 inches above 
 the level of the sea, admirably suited to coco 
 growing. Hundreds of palms rise from these low 
 lands and give to the river the Waika name of 
 Uang. for which the English name is "cabbage 
 palm," and the Spanish is "palma real" or palm 
 royal. 
 
 "The Rio Coco or Segovia [the Uang] 
 KIVtKs. |g considered as one of the largest in 
 Central America," says an official report which is 
 to be published by the Bureau of Statistics of 
 Nicaragua. " It has for a long time been little 
 known, although without doubt it was much 
 frequented by the filibusters of Bluefields. 
 
 "It has a course of 300 miles from west to 
 northeast, and may be divided into four parts. 
 The first is not navigable; the second is no 
 miles in extension, and may be navigated by 
 small boats or canoes, with which the descent 
 may be made in 14 days, and the ascent in 20 
 days. The third has only 52 miles, is peopled on 
 both banks by families of Indians, but presents 
 much current — dangerous and difficult of naviga- 
 
 tion The fourth and last, of 142 miles, is navi- 
 gable by large vessels or by small steamboats. 
 The breadth of the river amounts, in this part, to 
 300 yards and its depth varies between 4 and 10 
 feet. At the entrance are two arms which form 
 an island, where was the principal establishment 
 of the mahogany cutters, and at their discharge 
 into the sea present two bars of 5 to 6 feet depth. 
 A third arm which parts from the river four 
 miles from the sea, is that which forms the 
 laguna of Cabo Gracias a Dios." 
 
 The first section above mentioned lies in a 
 mountain region, where gold and silver mining 
 has been carried on for centuries. Copper, lead 
 and cinnabar are said to exist in considerable 
 quantities, but lack of roads has prevented the 
 development of mining there. The hills are cov- 
 ered by yellow pine, and are fair pastures, al- 
 though the rainfall is comparatively small. In 
 the valleys among these hills bananas, rice and 
 beans, maize and fruits are raised. All fruits of 
 California may be profitably grown here, for the 
 soil is equal to, and the climate is much more 
 favorable than that of the Golden State. Limited 
 quantities of coffee, cacao and tobacco of superior 
 quality are now produced among the hills of the 
 Segovia. 
 
MANAGL'A. 
 
The second section of the Segovia or Uang 
 flows through a more fertile region \\ hich is 
 rather hilly. Cedar, mahogany and other woods 
 of high value abound, and rubber, cacao and 
 vanilla may be found growing wild. The third 
 section is in a valley where the mountains are 
 separate knobs or ranges of hills from 200 to 1,200 
 feet height, wooded from top to bottom. The 
 lands between are covered by rich growths. Bam- 
 boo overhanging the river banks, and the coroso 
 palms showing further back give evidence of the 
 richness of the soil. In six or seven places hard, 
 igneous rocks split the stream into many chan- 
 nels. Most of these rapids may perhaps be made 
 safely navigable ; but one of them will probably 
 remain impassible for steamboats 
 
 The fourth section extends from the rocky 
 rapids of Cap-li-pini to the Caribbean Sea, a dis- 
 tance variously estimated as 140 to 200 miles. It 
 is broad, free from serious obstructions and deep 
 enough for safe navigation by light-draft steam- 
 boats, even in exceedingly low stages. It touches 
 no hill of more than 60 or 75 feet height, and cuts 
 into the gravelly, pine covered prairie in half a 
 dozen spots. By far the greater part of its length 
 runs gently between banks of sandy and exceed- 
 ingly rich alluvium, where coroso palms, bam- 
 
 boos, morning glories and other vegetation make 
 a dense border, and bananas yield enormously. 
 
 L.'^ Fantasma (Phantom or Ghost) is the first 
 large tributary of the Uang, or Segovia. La 
 Fantasma drains the northern slope of the great 
 range of mountains of the same name, which rises 
 to a height of 3.500 feet above sea level. Most of 
 the large branches of the Uang come from the 
 south, the region north of the Uang being drained 
 by the Guayape, only a few miles away. 
 
 The Bocai is the largest tributarj^ of the Uang. 
 It flows in a course generally nearly parallel with 
 and not far from the larger river, and discharges 
 into its long, quiet second section or division. At 
 the junction of the two streams are several young 
 coffee plantations having some 300,000 trees, and 
 there is a village of some 125 inhabitants. 
 
 The Locc.a. (Locust) is a rocky stream of about 
 the size of La Fantasma. The Locca comes from 
 hills where much rubber has been gathered, and 
 vast quantities of cabinet woods grow. It enters 
 the third section of the Uang. 
 
 The Umra flows from hills rich in placer gold. 
 A few miles of its lower reaches are navigable. 
 It enters the Uang about 170 miles from the sea. 
 
 The Uaspuc (Uas, water ; puc, red or dark), is 
 one of the most important streams in northern 
 
Nicaragua. It joins the Uang at a point some 150 
 miles from its mouth. Yahuc or Yahook fal], a 
 few miles up the river, makes necessary a port- 
 age of all goods to or from the gold mines on the 
 upper river and its tributaries. The Uaspuc has 
 long been the highway to this, the richest known 
 deposit of gold in all Central America The ores 
 yield an average of at least an ounce, it is said: 
 assays from several lodes gave $12.50 to $1,790, 
 averaging $528 per ton. 
 
 The Calabash or Falling Waters is a branch 
 of the Uaspuc. It comes from a range which is 
 as rich in gold as are the hills of the Uaspuc. 
 There are several developed mines on the 
 Falling Waters, as on the river into which it 
 empties. 
 
 The Sansan (Accacia) is a gold-bearing stream 
 which is not navigable any considerable distance. 
 It unites with the Uang below the Uaspuc. 
 
 It is asserted that nuggets of one to twenty 
 ounces are not uncommon in the placer mines on 
 the streams mentioned, They have long been 
 known, but little worked except by the Indians 
 and a few others. Recently Americans and Brit- 
 ish subjects have invested money in the develop- 
 ment of these properties, and this may soon cause 
 a rush which will make a ready market for pro- 
 
 CLIMATE. 
 
 ducts of our plantations. Much of the food for the 
 mines is now imported from the United States. 
 
 No part of North America has a 
 climate as even, healthful and de- 
 lightful as is that of Northern Nicaragua. The 
 northeast trade winds almost constantly sweep 
 across the whole country, keeping the air nearly 
 absolutely pure The skies are always bright, 
 even in the rainy seasons, of which there are two 
 each year. For even when rain is falling heavih- 
 in one spot, sunshine is seen often onh' a few feet 
 or a few rods away. Perhaps the most charming 
 climate is that of the mountain country near the 
 Pacific, and drained by the river Uang. There 
 spring is literally never-ceasing, yet harvest is 
 continuous. 
 
 Even on the. low, sandy shore of the Caribbean 
 sea the days are uniformly bright, except during 
 the very rare " temporals," when an entire day 
 may be overcast. There nearly every hour of 
 every day the sea breeze comes drawing in, mak- 
 ing comfortable every spot, even in the sunshine. 
 One is always cool enough in the shade there. ' 
 
 „ ^ „ At the seaside the extreme 
 
 TEflPERATURE. . , , . 
 
 range ot temperature, m a 
 
 period of many years, has been from 60' during 
 a norther to 90" Fahr. during two hours of a calm 
 
one afternoon in Jaly. Among the mountains 
 back from the sea the mercury sometimes sinks 
 as low as 50', and in valleys climbs to S5 on ex- 
 cessively hot days. 
 
 This is in strong contrast with the record in 
 New York when the mercury rose to 11 1 Fahr. 
 Julv 3. 1S9S, according to the thermometer of the 
 "Herald;" 112 at 4 p. m., 60 feet above the 
 street, by the thermometer of a contributor of 
 the •• Press," and 120' at street level at 3:3^ the 
 same day. The papers reported that " Heat Tor- 
 ture Kills Babies," " .Vlany Deaths Due to Scorch- 
 ing Heat," etc. The newspapers of July 5 and 6 
 recorded the death of 11 people, and the pro'^tra- 
 tion of 1 5 from heat in those two daj-s. At the 
 same time they reported the deaths of some 30 
 people and destruction of much property through 
 squalls and lightning. New York newspapers of 
 Sept. S, 189S, reported four cases of madness, 44 
 prostrations and 30S deaths caused by heat in that 
 city in the next preceding eight days. 
 
 Cyclones and tornados are recorded almost 
 every montn of every summer in the States, while 
 blizzards carry death to large districts nearly every 
 winter. 
 
 In Nicaragua cyclones and tornados, frost and 
 excessive heat are unknown. A hurricane far at 
 
 RAINFALL. 
 
 sea brushed Cabo Gracias eight years ago, with a 
 gale such as is seen every year along the At- 
 lantic coast of the States. It terrified the people 
 so that to this day they dwell with awe on the 
 story of the great hurricane. 
 
 Every month has its rains, except, 
 perhaps, December, January, Feb- 
 ruary and March, and there are showers in those 
 months. From May to July showers are fre- 
 quent, pass quickly and leave the ground watered 
 enough to force vegetation to most luxuriant 
 growth under the sunshine which fills much of 
 every day. Heavier and longer-continued show- 
 ers fall from October until Decemb!.-r; but such 
 continuous, dismal rains as are common in North- 
 ern States are exceedingly rare in Nicaragua. 
 Even in the middle of the so-called wet season, 
 part of each day is clear, and often days and even 
 weeks pass with scarcely a shower 
 
 The average annual rainfall of the Comarca is 
 ab ut the same as that of Charleston, S. C, Pen- 
 sacola, Fla., and Vicksburg, Miss. On the hills it 
 is heavier and comes earlier than on the broad 
 coast plain. As the rainfall depends upon the 
 trade winds, and as they never greatly change 
 direction, force or temperature, it is scarcely pos- 
 sible that any considerable change in weather or 
 
 10 
 
HEALTHFULNESS. 
 
 rainfall will come. There will probably never be 
 such droughts as have ruined the crops in other 
 parts of the world. 
 
 Few parts of the United 
 States equal and none sur- 
 pass northern Nicaragua in healthfulness. There 
 is in the Comarca of Cabo Grades no disease 
 which can be truly ascribed to climate or to local 
 causes, except perhaps an occasional mild attack 
 of ague. Fevers, pneumonia and consumption, 
 diphtheria, scarlet fever and rheumatism are 
 almost unknown. During the last year observed, 
 iSgb-'gy, deaths of adults were scarceh* one per 
 1,000. Among the 500 inhabitants of the town of 
 Gracias there were only thr-^e deaths in iS months. 
 Absolutely pure air, even and delightful tem- 
 perature and long, sunny days in which no rain 
 will fall ; even breezes sweeping across miles of 
 salt lagoons, sea bathing, fishing and sailing; long 
 reaches of bayous where one may paddle among 
 acres of lilies and water poppies, or beside banks 
 of fuscias and morning glories; a profusion of 
 fruit, flowers and bright birds; abundant fish and 
 game, ducks, pigeons and turkeys, deer, pigs and 
 tigers ; the soft warmth of every day of the year 
 — these should make northern Nicaragua a favorite 
 resort for the consumptive, the rheumatic, the 
 
 TOWNS. 
 
 aged and others who would enjoy leisure in a 
 country of leisure, amid novel scenes which the 
 masses can not overrun. 
 
 Gr.acias, port and seat of government 
 of the Comarca of Cabo Gracias a Dios, 
 is the largest town in northeastern Nicaragua. 
 It has a custom-house and its wharf, governor's 
 ofi&ces, police station and schools, and stores kept 
 by native Central Americans, by Chinese, by 
 British subjects and by Americans It is some 
 two miles from the sea, and on the sandy western 
 shore of a lagoon five or six miles long. This 
 laguna is connected by a narrow, shallow canal 
 with the river Uang. 
 
 Elay.a. is an Indian town on the left bank of the 
 Uang, nearly opposite the end of the canal men- 
 tioned, and some four miles from the sea. Clutca 
 is a larger Indian village some 10 miles by river 
 above Elaya The next village is Leven or La- 
 bring Creek, a distance estimated at 45 miles 
 from the sea. Above that town is Boom, where 
 mahogany cutters had booms for holding their 
 logs a quarter of a century or more ago. Boom 
 is the largest town on the river, and is 50 miles 
 from the ocean. Above Boom is a succession of 
 villages, hamlets and single homes along the 
 banks of the river. There are 48 such settlements 
 
LABORERS. 
 
 on the river banks, below Cap-li-pina or White 
 Water, at the head of the lower section of the 
 Uang. If the length of this part of the river is 
 140 miles, as stated by the government report, 
 the average distance between the settlements is 
 less than three miles. All distances given in this 
 pamphlet are estimated. Ahich of the banks of the 
 river is covered by banana plantations which sup- 
 ply a large part of the food required by the in- 
 habitants and their domestic animals. 
 
 Some 2,000 people dwell on the 
 banks of the Uang, and about 
 4,000 in all the Comarca. From infancy all are 
 skillful in the use of paddle and machete. They 
 do good work of its kind in plantations, but are 
 wholly unacquainted with plow, hoe and shovel. 
 They are as willing and honest as and more docile 
 and law abiding than are the negroes of the 
 Southern States. They love their homes, and are 
 glad to work for white men who treat them with 
 a show of fairness. Many of the men have some 
 skill as lumbermen, and the women are good 
 workers in plantation and in canoe. Wages of 
 men are S12 to $20 per month; those of women 
 about half as much. Rations of seven pounds of 
 flour and four pounds of pork per capita, or their 
 equivalents, per week form part of the laborers' 
 
 pay. They cook for themselves, and when begin- 
 ning work in a new place, are allowed time for 
 making for themselves houses of poles and thatch. 
 Bananas are, to millions in 
 PRODUCTIONS, j^^p.^ j^^^g_ ^jj ^j^^^ potatoes 
 
 have been to Ireland, and more. Man and do- 
 mestic animals of all kinds greedily eat bananas. 
 They give to the native near the sea his best 
 market crop, and keep many steamships and hun- 
 dreds of men carrying them to other lands. The 
 United States use more than 15,000,000 bunches 
 annually. They are eaten green or ripe, raw or 
 cooked. In food value 2,000 pounds of this fruit, 
 at a cent a pound, are worth only 19 cents less 
 than the like weight of potatoes at the same price 
 per pound, and the ton of bananas may be pro- 
 duced at cost of $2.95 a ton, or even less. 
 
 Much valuable information has been given by 
 the Hand Books of American Republics, by 
 United States Consular Reports arid by other 
 publications of the Department of State and the 
 Department of Agriculture, at Washington, by 
 government publications from Jamaica, Trinidad 
 and other British colonies, and by many others, 
 about the products of the tropics, their cost, yield 
 and profits. 
 
 A report by U. S. Consul Peterson stated in 
 
 12 
 
1893 that the cost of making, cultivating and har- 
 vesting banana plantations in Spanish Honduras 
 was $17.34 an acre; that the first crop gave 173 
 bunches per acre, and their value was $43 25. Af- 
 ter the first year the annual yield was 592 bunches, 
 valued at $189.37, leaving a profit of S146. 12. 
 
 Consul-General Villafranca of Costa Rica is 
 quoted by the Hand Books of American Republics, 
 No. I, to the eii'ect that the cost of making a banana 
 plantation in that republic, and of cultivating it 
 two years, is $96.52 per acre; that the yield is 
 7S2 bunches, or 391.3 yearly, and the profit $147.39 
 per crop. These figures gave the averages of 
 many experiences, and were approved by the 
 superintendent of the Costa Rica Railroad. 
 
 Hon. Thos. O'Hara, lately U. S. Consul at 
 Graytown, Nicaragua, is an able and careful col- 
 lector of data, and brings the mind of a highly 
 trained lawyer to the analysis of evidence offered. 
 He says in Consular Reports, No. 203, that gov- 
 ernmental and other statistics show that 197 
 plantations of the Bluefields district had 1,420,515 
 plants on 7,100 acres, which gave annually 2,101,- 
 000 bunches of bananas, valued at $855,107, which 
 was equal to 40.7 cents per bunch. The labor 
 and provisions used in producing these cost an 
 average of $13.49 P^r acre. The average annual 
 
 yield is thus shown to have been 296 bunches, the 
 average cost 4. 7 cents per bunch, and the profit 
 $196.98 an acre yearly. 
 
 It is said that the Boston Fruit Company was 
 formed in 1887 with a capital of $200,000 and now 
 has a capital of $500,000, a reserve of $1,000,000, 
 owns 28,000 acres and rents 16,000 acres of land 
 in Jamaica, annually ships more than 4,600,000 
 bunches bananas, 5,000.000 cocoanuts and quanti- 
 ties of cocoa, alspice and other products, in carry- 
 ing whi<"h it uses twelve steamships. 
 
 A seemingly careful statement of the cost of 
 banana growing on 5.000 acres in Mexico states 
 that for eight j^ears the average was 11^ cents 
 but the general averages of reports covering ex- 
 periences of fifteen years or more, by hundreds of 
 planters in various parts of Central America, show 
 that the cost of clearing and planting, cultivating 
 and harvesting banana plantations averaged $23 1 7 
 per acre, the yield was 300)^ bunches annually, 
 worth $107.20, or 35.7 cents per bunch. This 
 equalled an annual profit of $84.03 per acre or 
 28 cents per bunch, or 362.3 per cent, on the cost 
 of production. As these figures accurately rep- 
 resent the worst as well as the best, and all inter- 
 mediate results obtained by men of all degrees of 
 industry and skill under different conditions, it is 
 
clear that they must be more trustworthy as a 
 base of calculation than can be the experience of 
 any individual planter. 
 
 A banana plantation of say lo hectares (24.7 
 acres) would at these rates cost $572.30 in addi- 
 tion to the cost of the land. If the price of the 
 land be say $10 per acre the whole cost would be 
 $819.40, the first crop would be 7,400 bunches 
 worth §2,641.80, which would be $1,822.40 more 
 than the entire cost. 
 
 Careful study of all available information shows 
 that in banana growing: 
 
 Per Per 
 
 Hectare. Acre. 
 
 Cleariiij,' and planting- can be done for §37 $15.00 
 
 Cultivatinyand harvesting can be done for- $20 S8.00 
 
 With plants 15 feet apart there are 549 222 
 
 Yield averag-es a crop each nine months, 
 or yearly, bunches 730 294 
 
 Value of crop at H of lowest price of Cen- 
 tral American bananas 5146 SS8.80 
 
 Value of crop at 14 of hig-hest price of Cen- 
 tral American bananas--- S584 §253.20 
 
 Cash profit on crop at K lowest present 
 
 wholesale price in New York §89 §35.80 
 
 Cash profit on crop at K of hig-hest New 
 
 York wholesale price §527 S212.20 
 
 Average cost of first crop, per bunch 10.4c. 
 
 Average cost of subsequent crops, per 
 
 bunch - 7.4c. 
 
 If i,ooo hectares (2,471 acres) of our land should 
 be planted at once with bananas, they would give 
 750,000 bunches annually. Without the fruit 
 from plantations of others, these will be enough 
 to keep steamships running regularly once a week 
 from Gracias to the United States. This will in- 
 sure a readj^ cash market, and the benefits which 
 will come from the use of fully $200,000 more year- 
 ly than now goes to the Comarca. These benefits 
 will include the further rapid development of the 
 Comarca, and consequent increase in value of our 
 lands ; the incoming of new planters and of arti- 
 sans, who will be required to make houses, furni- 
 ture, tools and other things for the community, 
 and probably to put products of plantations into 
 tins, glass and other packages. 
 
 To hasten these benefits we are selling 3,000 
 acres of the choicest banana land, in lots of 10 
 hectares (24.7 acres) each, four per cent, of the 
 price to be paid down, two per cent, each of the 
 next eight months, and So per cent, from half of 
 the first products of the lots thus sold. One-fifth 
 of each such lot is to be planted withbananas within 
 six months after it shall be so bought. If the 
 profits be invested in planting until all be in ba- 
 nanas, and if none of the fruit should sell for more 
 than 20 cents a bunch or one-quarter of the lowest 
 
present wholesale price in New York for the 
 lowest grade of Central American bananas, the 
 account with such a lot will be, not including 
 price of land: 
 
 FIRST YEAR. 
 Clearing- and planting- 2 H. at $37 (4.9 acres at $15) -- S 74 
 
 Cultivating- and harvesting- at $20 40 
 
 Profit from 2 H. 178 
 
 Total, equals value of 1,460 bunches at 20 cents-- S292 
 SECOND YEAR. 
 
 Clearing: and planting 2.5 H. at $37 - Sill 
 
 Cultivating and harvesting 4.5 H 90 
 
 Profit from 4.5 H 483 
 
 Total, equals value of 3,420 bunches at 20 cents-- S684 
 THIRD YEAR. 
 
 Clearing and planting 5.5 H. at S37--- --- S 204 
 
 Cultivating and harvesting 10 H --- 200 
 
 Profit on 10 H - 1,056 
 
 Total, equals value of 7,300 bunches at 20 cents-- Sl,460 
 
 Bananas are worth 50@75c. at the seaside near- 
 est the plantations. At 50 cents the cash profit 
 on the crop the first year would be $566; the sec- 
 ond year $2,691, plus the value of the land and 
 improvements. 
 
 We are also prepared to offer: 
 
 To clear and plant with bananas for buyers the 
 land offered ; provided that they will pay for such 
 
 planting at the rate of $37 per hectare ($15 per 
 acre), on drafts at 10 days' sight, each such draft 
 to be accompanied by a certificate which shall 
 state the area that shall have been so planted, 
 and that 200 banana plants were, at the time of 
 making such draft, growing on each acre for the 
 planting of which said draft shall be made. 
 
 To cultivate and harvest all bananas for one 
 year ; provided that the owner will pay quarter- 
 yearly at the rate of $5 per hectare ($2 per acre), 
 for so cultivating and harvesting, on drafts at 10 
 days' sight, each such draft to be accompanied by 
 a certificate which shall state the area which shall 
 have been so cultivated during the quarter year 
 for which payment shall be so drawn. 
 
 To carry to and deliver aboard a steamship 
 near the mouth of the river Uang all saleable 
 fruit from such land; provided that the owners 
 will on sight drafts pay 5 cents for each bunch 
 of fruit which so delivered, each of said drafts to 
 be accompanied by a certificate which shall state 
 the number of such bunches which shall be so 
 delivered. 
 
 Advantages offered by our plan are: i. Clear- 
 ing and planting are done by natives, skillful at 
 and content with such work, the food and wages. 
 2. Under our first plan buyers pay down merely 
 
 IS 
 
FRKIGHT TRAIN IN MATAGAI.PA. 
 
HARVESTING BANANAS. 
 
enough to "bind the bargain," and other instal- 
 ments enough to make the money payments equal 
 two-fitths of the price, leaving three-fifths to 
 be paid by half the products of the land. Buyers 
 will have half these products, even if for years the 
 other half should be too httle to pay that three- 
 fifths. 3. Clearing and planting, cultivating and 
 harvesting are to be paid for only after they have 
 been done. Often the plants will have been grow- 
 ing weeks before those payments must be made. 
 4. Buyers can stay at home, enjoying their pres- 
 ent incomes until this small investment for land 
 and for its improvement will give income enough 
 to support a family in the United States, or to pay 
 their way to the new home and keep them in 
 comfort there. 
 
 We are ready to contract to take bananas at 25 
 cents per bunch in payment for all accounts due us 
 for land, labor or goods. This practically insures 
 you as good profits as are shown by our estimates 
 of cost and income from banana growing. It makes 
 ours the safest and most profitable of enterprises 
 open to people of moderate means ; and offers prac- 
 tically a business-like profit-sharing undertaking. 
 
 CocoANUTS thrive wherever planted on the 
 Caribbean shore, and as far as 50 to 7 5 miles from 
 the sea. The annual yield is said to range from 
 
 80 to 400 nuts per tree, and their selling value 
 from Si 5 to $45 per 1,000. Planted 30 feet apart 
 there would be 56 per acre, which should give 
 4,480 to 22,400 yearly, worth S67.20 to $672. The 
 cost of a cocal where conditions are like these on 
 our coast may be safely estimated as below per 
 100 acres: 
 
 5,600 sprouted nuts at 2 cents $1,120 
 
 5 men 3 months at Sl2 each per month 180 
 
 5 women 1 month at 30 
 
 Rations for laborers 25 
 
 Total cost of making' cocal §1,555 
 
 1 man 5 years at $144 $ 720 
 
 Rations for man 150 
 
 Tools 50 
 
 Total cost of makingr and maintenance $2,275 
 
 Cocoanuts begin yielding when 5 years old and 
 continue to give fruit 50 to So years, at no cost 
 other than for husking and gathering the nuts, 
 which should not be more than $2 per 1,000. 
 
 Pineapples are often planted 18 to 24 inches 
 apart, or 10,890 to 19,360 per acre. Of these 75 
 per cent, are expected to yield within 12 to 18 
 months after planting, or to give 8,ooc to 14,000 
 fruits worth $2,000 to $3,500 per annum per acre. 
 Good pineapples are raised on the sandy loam of 
 the savana in the eastern half of the Comarca, 
 
 18 
 
COLONISTS CAMPING ON THE BEACH. 
 
without cultivation and with no other preparation 
 of the ground than digging the little holes in 
 which to set the sprouts. The fertile, moist sides 
 of the hills farther back, and the sandy ridges 
 near the sea are well suited to growing pineap- 
 ples. Even if they should sell for no more than 
 a cent apiece they would pay good profits. 
 
 The quality of the pineapples grown in the Co- 
 marca, and at Pearl Lagoon, some 140 miles to 
 the south, where there is a cannery, is quite equal 
 to that of Cuba and Jamaica fruit. The canning 
 of pineapples may be easily made profitable on 
 the Uang. 
 
 Oranges of excellent quality and size are grown 
 on seedling trees in the Comarca. Thej^ can be 
 grown and boxed there and placed in New York 
 at a cost less than that of carrying oranges from 
 California to the Atlantic. While it would, be- 
 yond doubt, pay well to deeply dig up the soil be- 
 fore setting the trees, the fact is that scores of 
 orange trees in the Comarca give good crops with- 
 out having ever received any cultivation. No en- 
 riching of the soil is required. 
 
 Other Fruits, as guavas, mangoes and maran- 
 ones, figs, grapes and plums, persimmons, etc., 
 may be made sources of great revenue for the 
 Comarca, as most of these may be put in tin or in 
 
 glass for export to Europe, or to the United 
 States. Sale for considerable quantities of pre- 
 served fruits may be had in the Repiiblica Mayor, 
 where duties on such foods are very high. 
 
 Of fruits which are usually not preserved, and 
 others which add to the long list of enjoyable 
 foods of the Comarca, there are many, including 
 aguacates, nisperos and sapodillas, granadillas, 
 sapotes and coco plums, star apples, melons and 
 papayas. The hills will produce apricots, peaches 
 and plums, olives, possibly apples and certainlj'- 
 blackberries, raspberries and strawberries. Con- 
 siderable quantities of such fruits, dried, are im- 
 ported from California, and sold at high prices in 
 Nicaragua. A fruit preserving and turtle canning 
 factory will be established in the Comarca as 
 early as practicable. 
 
 Coffee grows luxuriantlj^ on the banks of the 
 Uang, even on lands only 35 to 50 feet above sea 
 level. The hills of the Uaspuc and the Falling 
 Waters, rising to 1,000 feet in places, will proba- 
 bly prove excellent coffee grounds. Planters there 
 would have easy and cheap transportation by the 
 Uang to Cabo Gracias, and there be practically 
 fully 1,000 miles nearer to European markets 
 than are planters of Matagalpa and Jinotega, or 
 those of Salvador and Guatamala. 
 
 20 
 
BENEATH THE COCO PALMS. 
 
At Bocai are plantations of some hundreds of 
 thousands of coffee trees, from which the first 
 crop was shipped this year. At San Florida on 
 the Uang, 113 miles by river from the sea, and at 
 Bocai also, trees only 24 to 30 months old bore 25 
 to 50 berries on a branch. 
 
 Hon. Thomas T. Crittenden, U. S. Consul- 
 General at Mexico, said in effect in Consular Re- 
 ports No. 192 that the hrst four years of a coffee 
 plantation in that country the outlay would be, 
 for 100 acres, $17,937.50, including $2,500 for 
 machinery and houses, and that the yield in the 
 last two of those years would be coffee worth 
 $22,500. He quoted Joseph Walsh of Philadel- 
 phia to the effect that the value of a coft'ee plan- 
 tation in full bearing is $600 to $800 an acre, and 
 that a cafetal will pay 100 to 300 per cent, annually 
 on the capital invested, each tree giving 3 to 10 
 pounds a year, and that while the average cost of 
 production is 7 cents the selling price was 20(0^22 
 cents per pound. Prof. Moses of the University 
 of California visited Mexico in 1895, and reported 
 that the cost of producing coffe there was, in gen- 
 eral, between 8 and 10 cents per pound, and that 
 it sold at 25 to 32 cents. U'. S. Consul Schaefer 
 reported from Mexico that during its first four 
 years a cafetal cost some $84.93 per acre, and 
 
 gave a crop worth $93. The American managers 
 of four young cafetals in Managua, Nicaragua, 
 say that the cost of such plantations during their 
 first four years will be $207, the crops 900 pounds 
 wortli $270. This shows a profit of $63 in money 
 in addition to the value,of the improvements paid 
 for by the $207. The estate of El Tacaniste, in 
 southern Nicaragua, harvested some 80,000 
 pounds of coffee which cost $ii.85@$i4.30 per 
 quintal, and sold at S25@$3o, a profit of $13.15® 
 $15.70 per quintal. An elaborate and manifestly 
 most careful report published by the Department 
 of State, January 17, 1S9S, shows that the cost of 
 a cafetal in Hawaii is, at the end of its fourth 
 year, $250 per acre. 
 
 The averages of the reports examined indicate 
 that it will be safe to calculate the cost of a coffee 
 estate in its fourth year, or the time of its first 
 full crop, at $270 per acre; that it will then yield 
 1,200 pounds of coffee of a value of say $378, and 
 a profit of $139. 90 per acre. After that the yearly 
 cost should be $65 to I70, the yield 1,200 to i,Soo 
 pounds, and the income S240@$36o per acre, or 
 $175 to $190 per acre profit. 
 
 Cacao seeds were used as money for centuries 
 in Central America. Chocolate and cocoa are made 
 from cacao. The trees are found wild in the 
 
SHIPPING BANANAS. 
 
forests of northern Honduras and in Nicaragua, 
 and are to some extent cultivated there. They 
 bear when about five years old, require little care 
 and get less from the natives, yet they give 
 greater profits than are obtained from coft'ee. No 
 machinery is required for curing the seeds. 
 
 Seiior Don Santiago Callejos, formerly a mem- 
 ber of the cabinet of President Zelaya of Nica- 
 ragua, was commissioned in 1S95 to study the 
 Atlantic coast of Nicaragua and make a report 
 upon its resources. The report is published by 
 the Bureau of Foreign Commerce at Washington. 
 It contains the following relating to cacao grow- 
 ing on the Atlantic shore of our State : ' ' The 20th 
 we continued our journey 25 miles above to the 
 settlement of Sixacuas. At a short distance from 
 this place there are some plantations of cacao 
 and sugarcane, which are cultivated with good 
 results. I talked with a Mr. Rojas, who has 4,000 
 cacao trees which produced this year 240 medios 
 (12,000 pounds) of good cacao as the first crop. 
 The price at which it is sold there is 50 cents per 
 pound. * * * * There is also found a species 
 of wild cacao, and I was assured that it grows and 
 bears as well as any in the best lands of the De- 
 partment of Rivas. Mr. Blakesley, a merchant 
 of this place, told me stories so surprising that 
 
 they would have seemed untruthful had I not 
 known that he was a person of reliability. He 
 also assured me that he had found as many as 42 
 pods of very good cacao on a wild tree." 
 
 Kola (the sterculia nut) is becoming highly 
 prized, and may be a source of profit to planters, 
 of the valley of the Uang. Its use is extending 
 in the United States. 
 
 Beans of many varieties are grown in Central 
 America, yet great quantities of beans are im- 
 ported. Frijolitas negras are little black or dark 
 brown beans unsurpassed in flavor, and a favorite 
 food from Mexico to South America. Enormous, 
 quantities may be raised, and sold at good profit. 
 
 Grain of any kind other than maize and rice is 
 unknown to the agriculture of the Comarca of 
 Gracias a Dios. Yet rice, corn, wheat flour and 
 other foods are imported to feed the laborers on 
 plantation, in forest and in mine. Flour sells at 
 $10 per half barrel. 
 
 Vegetables of many kinds may be produced 
 successfully in Central America, but the people 
 are with reason contented with the cassava, cocos 
 and sweet potatoes, squashes, yams and tomatoes, 
 which yield so abundantly for little care or labor. 
 
 Cassava may be made quite profitable. It is 
 grown by many if not by all families in the Co- 
 
 24 
 
A WAIKNA MANSION. 
 
marca of Cabo Gracias. Bitter cassava contains a 
 juice strong with hydrochloric acid, a deadly 
 poison which is easily expelled by heat in cook- 
 ing. Its leaves usually have seven branches or 
 points. Those of the sweet or wholesome cassava 
 are usually five pointed. The "Treasury of 
 Botanj' " says that both varieties are extensively 
 cultivated over the greater part of tropical Amer- 
 ica, and yield an abundance of wholesome and 
 nutritious food. The poisonous juice, allowed to 
 settle, deposits a large quantity of starch known 
 as Brazilian arrowroot or tapioca, from which the 
 tapioca of the shops is made simply by heating 
 the moist starch on hot plates. The heat causes 
 the starch cells to swell, burst and become ag- 
 glutinated together. The leaves are much rel- 
 ished by cattle. 
 
 The United States Department of Agriculture 
 gives, in its Bulletin No. 44, published in 1894, 
 much valuable information about methods of cul- 
 ture, yield and products of cassava. Its conclu- 
 sions, based on careful experiments and inquiry, 
 are as follows; 
 
 It will yield with fair treatment on the sand 
 soils from four to five tons per acre. 
 
 It will give, when properly manufactured, from 
 
 20 to 25 per cent, of the weight of the fresh root 
 in starch of high grade. 
 
 The starch is naturally in a pure state, and no 
 chemicals of any kind are required in its manu- 
 facture. 
 
 The starch resembles in its physical properties 
 the starch of maize, and can be used as a substi- 
 tute therefor in all cases. 
 
 An excellent article of tapioca can be made 
 from the starch of the cassava plant. 
 
 Glucose can be prepared directly from the 
 starch, or more profitably from the pulp of the 
 peeled root. 
 
 The plant furnishes an excellent human and 
 cattle food, deficient, however, in nitrogen. It 
 would make a well-balanced ration for cattle 
 when mixed with one-fourth its weight of cotton- 
 seed oilcake. 
 
 As climate and soil of the Comarca of Cabo 
 Gracias are much more favorable to the growth 
 of cassava than are those of the districts referred 
 to by the Bulletin, the gains will be greater in 
 Nicaragua than they could be in the United 
 States. 
 
 Cores are the taro of the Sandwich Islands, or 
 the Elephant's Ear (colocasia esculenta) of the 
 florists. Root and leaf are excellent food, and 
 
 26 
 
A BIT OF CABO GRACIAS A DIGS. 
 
yield large crops. The bulb is of slightly sweet 
 flavor, easily prepared for the table, and it likely 
 will afford quite as much food for a given cost as 
 will cassava. It may best be grown on wet 
 lands, or land under four to eight inches of water. 
 Most of the cocos grown in Central American 
 states is from moist lands along the river banks, 
 but we have along the lower Uang thousands of 
 acres of lower land, suited for the produciion of 
 cocos and rice. 
 
 Sugarcane is grown in every part of Nicaragua. 
 It is much richer than that cultivated in the 
 States, and gives heavy crops for generations in 
 succession, without replanting. Large sugar 
 plantations and mills are in southern Nicaragua. 
 One in the Comarca would no doubt pay well, for 
 the duty is high, and all the sugar used in eastern 
 Nicaragua is imported. 
 
 Tobacco equal to the Havana leaf grows every- 
 where in Nicaragua. Cotton trees grow to a 
 height of 20 to 30 feet, live 25 to 40 years or more 
 and give a never ceasing crop of fair quality. 
 
 Vanilla culture has received some attention in 
 Nicaragua, where the government offers a bounty 
 for its encouragement. Sarsaparilla may become 
 most profitable, as might the growing of peanuts, 
 pecans, chestnuts, grapes and many other pro- 
 
 ducts. Almost every fruit grown in California or 
 the Southern States may be produced in Nicara- 
 gua at less cost. 
 
 Rubber gathering employed hundreds in the 
 Comarca, but as they were killing most of the 
 trees, the government forbade gathering, hand- 
 ling or exporting the gum, except from planta- 
 tion?, during the next ten years. A liberal bounty 
 is offered to encourage planting of rubber trees. 
 It is asserted that such trees may be tapped when 
 eight or ten years old, and will give $2,000 profit 
 per acre yearly when in full yield. The cost of 
 planting is very small. 
 
 Woods of fine grain are common in the forests 
 of Nicaragua. Mahogany has been for genera- 
 tions the chief export of the Atlantic coast of the 
 States; but none has been cut near the Uang in 
 the last quarter of a century. Large areas near 
 the river have never been touched by lumber- 
 men A single tree on one of the lots we sell may 
 be worth more to ttie buyer than the lot will cost. 
 
 Spanish cedar is even more abundant than mia- 
 hogany iilong the Uang. It is worth almost as 
 much as is mahogany. Rosewood, cocobolo, dus- 
 pouni, santa maria and other fine cabinet woods 
 are common there. 
 
 Yellow pine is perhaps the most valuable forest 
 
 28 
 
s^ii^a* 
 
 MONOTOMBO. 
 
product of the Comarca, although its price per foot 
 is lower than that of other woods. It fringes nearly 
 every mile of the great savana, which is some 80 
 miles square In many places the pine extends 
 miles out into the prairie. Lumber can be made of 
 it at small cost, to supply the demand which will 
 surely come as soon as settlers begin the develop- 
 ment of the Comarca, or the construction of the 
 Nicaragua ship canal shall begin. 
 
 Live stock thrives on the savanas. The grass 
 there is always green, pure water abundant at 
 short distances, there is never any excessive heat 
 nor uncomfortable cold. Beeves sell freely at S20 
 to $35, and milch cows at S30 to $40 in the coast 
 towns of Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. 
 Pigs, poultry and cheese all sell well and cost 
 little. Cheese brings 30@;36c., beef j^moc,, 
 pork io(ft20c. per pound, and chickens 25(r/..50C. 
 each. 
 
 G.AME is in plenty in the Comarca. Deer fatten 
 by hundreds on the savanas, and are on every 
 pine-covered hill in northern Nicaragua. Agoutis 
 or Indian rabbits, armadillos and raccoons, opos- 
 sums, monkeys and iguanas, tapirs, the collared 
 peccaries and an occasional manatee or sea-cow, 
 are killed for food. Quail, pigeons and ring-doves. 
 
 pheasants, ducks and plover, cuam and curassow 
 or turkeys are among our game birds. 
 
 Alligators of gigantic size frequent many 
 lagoons seldom visited by man. Ocelots are 
 often seen close to towns, and the spotted tiger or 
 jaguar is found in the forests of every part of the 
 country, sometimes on the very sea beach. Its 
 fierce cousin the tigre negro or black tiger is 
 sometimes found in the dense woods of the hill 
 country, and the puma or mountain lion is more 
 often found in the inhabited country. 
 
 Of fish there are tarpon in schools, while Span- 
 ish mackerel, baracouta, and kingfish, red snap- 
 per, junefish and many others, swarm along the 
 coast and in the lagoons. Green and hawksbill 
 turtle, terrapin and oysters abound. They will 
 employ many in a factor}- which will preserve 
 fruit, fish and oysters there. 
 
 From New York to Gracias are $75 
 first cabin, and $35 second cabin. The 
 steamers are large, seaworthy and comfortable. 
 They usually pass Cape Maysi, at the eastern ex- 
 treme of Cuba, touch Port Moran or perhaps at 
 Kingston, Jamaica, and thence run directly west 
 by south to Cabo Gracias a Dios. The voyage re- 
 quires some seven or eight days. 
 
 Those who prefer can go to New Orleans or 
 
 FARES 
 
 30 
 
BANANAS AS THEY GROW. 
 
COST OF LIVING. 
 
 iVIobile, and thence by steamers which pass with- 
 in four or five miles of the lighthouse at Cabo 
 Gracias a Dios. These steamers will laud pas- 
 sengers or freight whenever there may be enough 
 to warrant. Fares from Mobile or New Orleans 
 are about S30 first cabin and $15 second-class. 
 The voyage takes four days. The price of pas- 
 sage will be reduced as soon as a considerable num- 
 ber of passengers can be brought together for the 
 voyage. Special rates by rail may be obtained at 
 the same time, from competing points inthe States. 
 In Gracias, for two men, 
 averaged Si. 24 each per da5^ 
 They employed a good cook and a house servant; 
 and their fare consisted of fresh beef three days 
 of the week, fresh fish every day if they wished; 
 green turtle steaks, roasts and soup; oysters, 
 ducks and pigeons, venison and wild pig; poultry 
 and eggs. They had good wheat bread, biscuits 
 and cakes ; breadfruit, cassava and cocos, sweet 
 potatoes, yams and rice, beans and peas. For 
 fruit they had aguacates, oranges and melons, 
 papayas, mangos and marafiones, pineapples, 
 limes and bananas, plantains, tomatoes and other 
 fruits. There were tea and coffee with cow's milk 
 or cocoanut milk, the latter preferred, apd always 
 limes with which to make limeade. 
 
 One can live without privation on a plantation 
 for little more than Si 75 a year, keeping one ser- 
 vant, and a family of five can live in comfort for 
 S3 00 a year. 
 
 „, „„ Fle.'i.s infest the Indian 
 
 DISAGREEABLES. , , .^, t ,. 
 
 towns along the Lang, 
 
 and even in Gracias they are as great a pest as 
 they are in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Chigoes 
 are minute fleas which work through the outer 
 to the inner layers of the skin, usually of the feet, 
 and staj' there while maturing their eggs. If 
 neglected they multiply greatly and become an- 
 noying, but seldom painful. They are easih' re- 
 moved by needle or penknife, or if in great 
 numbers, by use of kerosene emulsion. They 
 seldom trouble people of cleanly habits. 
 
 Mos(jLiTos are less numerous and annoying near 
 the coast or on the savanas than in the suburbs of 
 Manhattan or in most towns in the United States. 
 There are few in the mountains. Sandflies are 
 found in some places on the seashore, while other 
 places are quite free from them. When the sea 
 breeze sinks away for a few minutes, as it seldom 
 does, these minute white gnats annoy new- 
 comers. Houseflies are practically unknown, and 
 waterbugs and bedbugs are never seen there. 
 
 Scorpions, tarantulas and centipedes are as sel. 
 
 32 
 
KL!i^sHtf**^ 
 
 THREE-YEAR-OLD COFFEE FINCA. 
 
dom seen in Nicaragua as are bumblebees in New 
 York, and are about as harmful as are such bees. 
 Their sting or bite is seldom if ever fatal. In the 
 forests and on pastures are cattle ticks such as are 
 common in the southern states. They are some- 
 what annoying, but do no serious harm. They 
 rarely trouble people in settlements. 
 
 Venomous serpents are seen in Nicaragua no 
 more frequently than they are in New York or 
 Pennsylvania. Two species of venomous snakes 
 are known in the Comarca of Cabo Gracias a 
 Dios; the coral, which is said to be the most 
 deadly, and the tamagas. The bite of the last 
 named is less harmful than that of the rattlesnake 
 of the plains of the southwest. Both these snakes 
 are timid, and not often seen. It is probable that 
 the fires which burn over the savanas, and the 
 wild pigs which keenly hunt every rod of forest. 
 keep down the numbers of snakes. Even of use- 
 ful serpents, such as the boa, few are seen in 
 Nicaragua — none of large size. 
 POAns ^^ ^^^ Comarca are mere footpaths, 
 but they may easily be made wagon- 
 ways, particularly on the prairie, which covers a 
 territory of some 6,400 square miles. The State 
 has agreed that E.W. Perry and his assignees shall 
 have the right to make, improve and to use any 
 
 road and any waterway in the Comarca, on terms 
 as favorable as may be granted to any person or 
 company. A strip wide enough for a good public 
 highway along the boundaries of each tract of 100 
 hectares of the Perry land grant, is reserved for 
 perpetual use by the public. 
 
 Transportation in the Comarca is almost wholly 
 by canoes dug from tree trunks and paddled by 
 Indians. Carrying by this means costs some 44 
 cents a ton per mile. This would equal $1.25 a 
 bunch for carrying bananas from the Uaspuc to 
 the sea. They may be carried by suitable steam- 
 boats for 10 cents per bunch. 
 
 Another difficulty or drawback the Comarca has 
 is the want of a secure harbor where freight may 
 be transferred from ship and shore. This adds 
 largely to the risk and cost of operations there, as 
 all goods and passengers are taken in open boats 
 between the anchorage and Gracias, a distance of 
 fully two miles. This difficulty will be removed. 
 
 These are the only obstacles or drawbacks of 
 which we know. We describe them frankly. The 
 Comarca is not a paradise — if it was we'd charge a 
 high price for land there. But it is a place where 
 money can be easily and surely made by any who 
 sees fit to invest there the price of a seat at the 
 theater each week, or that of a few cigars, glasses 
 
 34 
 
of beer or dishes of ice cream, which not only give 
 evanescent pleasure but help to fix a habit of 
 spending which will do much to hold one all his 
 life in salaried bondage. 
 
 GOVERNMENT, ""^'^l^^^^ ^^'^-'^l ^'^'^ 
 see the Lomarca the home ot 
 
 a prosperous people as soon as possible, and to 
 further that aim has given explicit assurances 
 that law-abiding and industrious people shall be 
 welcomed and protected there. Those who may 
 buy our lands will have no land tax to pay, 
 nor will they at any time be required to pay other 
 or larger taxes of any kind than shall be at the 
 same time required of the most favored person or 
 company in that country. Nor will they have to 
 pay duties on seeds or plants, animals or machin- 
 ery imported for improvement of native pro- 
 ducts. The rebellions which are such a source of 
 uneasiness to people of the north, usually prove a 
 benefit rather than a lasting injury to the foreigner 
 who does not meddle with politics there. 
 
 Will depend on the 
 purposes for which it 
 is wanted. If for banana growing, it will be bet- 
 ter to take rich alluvium adjoining the Rio Uang, 
 because it will probably be overflowed by the 
 river once or twice a year, and be so enriched by 
 
 SELECTION OF LAND 
 
 sediment that other fertilization will not be re- 
 quired to keep the yield up to a high standard. 
 
 If cocoar\uts are to be grown sandy land close 
 to navigable salt water should be taken. 
 
 If the purpose is to raise oranges, lemons or 
 limes, mangos, pineapples or vegetables, for home 
 use or for sale to the exporter or to the mines, 
 the fertile savana or the hill sides should be 
 chosen. For coffee and cacao the higher parts of- 
 the hills will be best. 
 
 We will select, to the best of our ability, for our 
 customers the very best situations in the Comarca. 
 Our years of acquaintance with the country and 
 the requirements for different uses, will enable us 
 to do this well, and our own interests demand 
 that it shall be done to the profit of our pur- 
 chasers. 
 
 All living creatures must eat. 
 Man will buy food before pay- 
 ing for clothing or other necessaries. Land which 
 will give food is the only absolutely safe invest- 
 ment. It has value according: r. To its food 
 producing capacity ; 2. To the cost of producing 
 that food; 3. To the cost of putting that food in- 
 to possession of consumers ; 4. To the value of 
 that food. 
 
 An acre of bananas annually yields 15,700 
 
 INVESTMENTS. 
 
 36 
 
PICKING COFFEE. 
 
pounds of fruit equal in food value to 260 bushels 
 of potatoes. The fruit costs $10.50, including in- 
 terest on the price of land, its clearing and plant- 
 ing, and the cost of cultivating, harvesting and 
 delivery of the crop at the waterside. 
 
 The chief crops of the United States in 1897 
 gave average results shown in the table below. 
 The last column shows the difference per acre in 
 favor of growing bananas on our lands; 
 
 Crops. 
 
 Tiehi 
 pi-r acre. 
 
 Value 
 per acre. 
 
 Faz'or of 
 bananas. 
 
 Potatoes, bushels 
 
 Wheat, bushels 
 
 64.7 
 13.4 
 24.5 
 20.9 
 16.1 
 23.8 
 27.2 
 1.43 
 
 S35.39 
 10.83 
 9.24 
 8.80 
 7.20 
 6.25 
 5.77 
 9.47 
 
 % 71.81 
 96.37 
 97.96 
 
 Buckwheat, bushels. ... 
 
 98.40 
 100.00 
 
 
 100.95 
 
 
 101.43 
 
 
 97.73 
 
 
 
 General averag-es 
 
 $ 8.26 
 
 $ 98.94 
 
 In the United States a farm which yields a 
 yearly profit of $60 an acre is worth more than 
 $600 per acre. One acre of bananas on our land 
 will yield a net profit of S60 an acre annually even 
 even if its crops should sell for no more than one- 
 quarter of the 1 owest price of the lowest quality 
 of Central American bananas in New York today: 
 therefore an acre of our land should be worth $600. 
 
 Can you anywhere buy land on safer or more 
 profitable terms ? Can you invest money more 
 safely or profitably ? If you buy a home to save 
 rent, you may be doing wisely ; but the moment 
 you stop work you begin eating up that home. 
 It is non-productive. But if you own a few acres 
 of plantation you have in them safe insurance 
 against such privations as come through business 
 changes, accident, illness or old age. Nor must 
 you who pay for such insurance be disabled or 
 die before any one can enter upon its enjoyment. 
 Every day you will share its material benefits 
 with others for whose sake you labor. You may 
 la}' aside care and toil, secure in the certainty that 
 whether you are asleep or awake, idle or toiling, 
 sick or well, at home or abroad, your crops will 
 go on growing, renewing themselves and yielding 
 their fruit, an ample support for you and for 
 youi"s. 
 
 You may not be well acquainted with the condi- 
 tions of climate, soil and labor, or with the cost 
 of any or all the items which go to make up the 
 expense for fruit growing in Nicaragua. The 
 terms we offer give ample time to become thor- 
 oughly acquainted with all these, and to discover, 
 all errors or other possible cause for discontent 
 before your payments shall have amounted to 
 
 38 
 
BANANAS BV '1 HE TLACII) KIXER. 
 
more than the mere chance to secure such a plan- 
 tation is worth. Thus all risks are reduced to a 
 minimum. 
 
 These facts should convince you that our pur- 
 pose is to first honestly prepare the way for a pros- 
 perous colony, then to induce the owners to make 
 their homes on or near their properties. If they 
 will build*homes near each other on the open, 
 sunny, healthful savana they will have all the ad- 
 vantages of village life, of association with others 
 of intelligence and of like tastes, and thus avoid 
 the isolation which makes farm life in the States 
 so distasteful, costly, and at times intolerable. 
 
 No one is asked to accept with- 
 out thorough investigation the 
 statements made herein. The more complete and 
 searching the examination the better for all con- 
 cerned ; for the resources of Nicaragua will thus be- 
 come better known and the Comarca will the more 
 quickly fill with people of prudence, enterprise 
 and intelligence, and our property rise rapidly in 
 value. Among the publications which may be 
 profitably studied are the U. S. Consular Reports, 
 the Hand Books and Monthly Bulletins of the 
 Bureau of American Republics, Washington; 
 "Honduras,"' by Cecil Charles, Rand & McNally. 
 
 INVESTIGATE. 
 
 ENDORSEriENT. 
 
 Chicago, publishers ; Notes on Central America, 
 by E. G. Squire, Harper Bros., New York, 
 publishers; Symmonds' Tropical Agriculture; 
 cyclopedias and other works which may be found 
 in well equipped public libraries. 
 
 The Consul-General of Great- 
 er Republic of Central Amer- 
 ica wrote as follows, under date of October 17, 
 1898: 
 Mr. Edward W Pekry, 
 
 Dear Sir: — I have carefully examined the state- 
 ments made in the pamphlet entitled "Nicaragua, 
 A Rich New Field," written by you. I am 
 pleased to say that I have official notice of the 
 concession made to you by the Government o£ 
 Nicaragua, and to which you refer in the said 
 pamphlet. 
 
 I am happy to add that from olficial documents 
 I know that you have enjoyed the confidence of the 
 Government of Nicaragua, rendering important 
 services in which you have proved your ability 
 and integrity. 
 
 N. BoLET Peraza, 
 Consul-General of the Greater Republic of Cen- 
 tral America. 
 
 40 
 
ENDORSEHENTS. 
 
 Following are copies of letters addressed to, or relating to Mr. E. W. Perry, by business men well 
 established in Central America, and by others whose opinions are founded on intimate acquaintance 
 with him or with the affairs of those states; 
 
 Matagalpa, Nicaragua, Nov. 12, 1897. 
 My Dear Mr. Perry: 
 
 Yours of recent date to hand and in reply to 
 your request for the expression of my personal 
 observations andconvictions concerning the safety 
 and protection of foreigners and their properties, 
 in general, in Nicaragua, especially during revo- 
 lutionary disturbances. I would say the govern- 
 ment of Nicaragua does everything in its power 
 for guaranteeing protection to foreigners and 
 their property. So much so that after seven years' 
 experience I have never known but one instance 
 where any foreigner ever suffered directly from 
 a revolution here, and that being only the loss of 
 a saddle mule, in 1893. 
 
 However, indirectly the interests of everybody 
 suffer during political disturbances, just the same 
 as during an election in the United States, when 
 business comes to a standstill. 
 
 But the termination of these disturbances re- 
 sults in many citizens being expelled from the 
 country, which opens many new opportunities for 
 the more enterprising foreigners to extend all 
 branches of their business. 
 
 This, in brief, is the result of my observations, 
 and hoping you will understand what I have tried 
 to make clear, I remain. 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 P. E. ViGGE. 
 
 New York, March 8, 1898. 
 Mr. E. W. Perry, 
 
 Cape Gracias 4 Dios, Nicaragua. 
 Dear Sir: — I certainly believe that the Mer- 
 chants' Association could exert and influence bet- 
 ter trade relations than nov/ exist between the 
 United States and Nicaragua, where I have re- 
 sided for a good many years. 
 
One thing that hurts these relations is the wild 
 publications in some of the New York papers, of 
 some of the street wars occuring in some of the 
 Pacific towns, magnifying them into revolutions ; 
 all sorts of dangerous reports, scareing capital 
 away and injuring both interests. 
 
 In justice to Nicaragua I can say that I have 
 always seen foreign capital well protected, and 
 personally received none but favors from, its 
 rulers and subordinate officers, for the asking. 
 That part of Central America is certainly un- 
 known, as, to my practical knowledge of the 
 country, I do not know any in which capital 
 could be better invested than in its development. 
 Its resources are unlimited, but unknown from 
 the American public, who are now rushing M'ild 
 millions into the unfit-to-live Klondike. Nicara- 
 guans do not need to go into the polar region as 
 they have their Klondike at home, but it is 'yet 
 unknown and undeveloped. Enterprises and 
 manufactures could be created there which would 
 enrich the United States and that country, if the 
 New York Merchants' Association would help to 
 stop the prejudice created by foolish, false and 
 sensational reports published by some papers 
 which erroneous reports prevent capitalists in- 
 vesting in that country. 
 
 42 
 
 You can tell the Association that there is no 
 country where capital, and especially foreign 
 capital, is better protected than in Nicaragua. 
 The London branch of the Morgan banking house 
 is well satisfied of it, and has some capital in 
 there ; but you know the English go everywhere. 
 Lately I have noticed that Americans in some of 
 the southern and eastern cities are investing 
 gradually in its gold mines and fields, but manu- 
 facturers are yet behind the times; they have no 
 agents there, no travelers, and it is only due to 
 the enterprise of a few Americans scattered in 
 the country that American manufactures are 
 known, and where known replace to advantage 
 English and German goods. Let American manu- 
 facturers realize that the trade of these near-at- 
 home foreign markets is worth having, and when 
 they appreciate it and make some effort to get it, 
 they will not have so many strikes amongst their 
 laborers as they have now. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 C. Carlos. 
 It is a significant fact that most English and 
 German houses continue to do business in 
 Latin-American countries through disturbances 
 of the peace, and very seldom if ever complain 
 that their property has been damaged; never 
 
that it has been taken by either party to the dis- 
 turbances witliout ample satisfaction having been 
 ■voluntarily given therefor. This is a truth 
 "worthy of careful consideration by Americans. 
 
 Rev. J. E. Everett says, in a letter dated Jan. 
 25, 1898: "A careful re-reading of the encyclope- 
 dias thoroughly convinces me that the cocoanut 
 is the crop for eventual growth. It looks, too, as 
 if the pineapple might be grown near it for earlier 
 returns. * * * * There is no question as to 
 the profitableness of the vanilla crop." 
 
 Lieut. Com. Charles A. Wright, U. S. S. 
 Avenger, wrote, Aug. 11, 1865: "I take pleasure 
 in recommending for promotion Edward W. 
 Perry, mate. Having been under my command 
 nearly one year, I can testify to his good official 
 capacities, strictly moral and temperate habits, 
 and his deportment as an officer and gentleman." 
 
 In 1869, O. R. Johnson & Co., of which U. S. 
 Senator Frank B. Stockbridge was a member, 
 wrote: "We cheerfully recommend Mr. E. W. 
 Perry to the confidence of anyone needing the 
 services of a trustworthy young man." Without 
 any other being having knowledge of his inten- 
 tention, and seemingly when no other person had 
 thought of his fitness for the office, Mr. Perry 
 
 published strong reasons for nominating Mr. 
 Stockbridge for the governship of Michigan. His 
 party took up the idea, and he would have been 
 nominated but for a trade with Bagley. 
 
 U. S. Consul D. W. Herring wrote in 18S7 to 
 Mr. Perry: " You have shown yourself a gentle- 
 man and a man of your word. For a time you 
 were the observed of all observerB, and your 
 name was on the telegraph wires, upon the ca- 
 bles, and on the tongues of the many. Your consul 
 telegraphed of you and the situation to your min- 
 ister. It was Boulanger in France, Bismark in 
 Germany, Blaine in the United States and Perry 
 in Honduras. If circumstances had widened 
 your fame — as for a while it seemed they would — 
 as far as that of Walker, you at least would have 
 been blessed by a Christian world and warmly 
 applauded by the enlightened sentiment of the 
 XIX century!" 
 
 In 1889 Consul Herring wrote: "Your con- 
 duct in Tegucigalpa was that of a gentleman — a 
 very sober, intelligent, energetic and highly 
 moral man. The best proof of your standing 
 and influence with the powers that be, is the 
 very great success you had in obtaining what is, 
 to my mind, the most valuable concession in 
 Honduras." 
 
 43 
 
Senor Don Jeronimo Zelaya, then minister of 
 Foreign Relations of Honduras, wrote, July 8 
 1890: " In fitting time, that is, when you return, 
 the government will issue a decree giving you 
 command of the Department of Mosquitia, as 
 governor. All of us are desirous of seeing you 
 here." 
 
 The Government of Honduras offered to Mr. 
 Perry a contract for construction of waterworks 
 in the city of Tegucigalpa, and also in the city of 
 Jutigalpa; for building a custom house at Tru- 
 jillo and at Caratasca; for supplying all things 
 required by the government ; for operating, for 
 25 years, the postal and telegraph lines of that 
 republic; for making any and all wagon roads in 
 Honduras, and for using them for 25 years after 
 they should be so made ; a commission for nego- 
 tiating a §5,000,000 loan for the government, and 
 for other works. 
 
 Mr. Joseph Frank, financier, and secretary and 
 treasurer of the Ogallala Land and Cattle Co., 
 the Swan Brothers & Frank Cattle Co., and 
 other important companies, wrote, Sept. 30, 
 1891: "I take pleasure in introducing to your 
 kind consideration Mr. E. W. Perry, formerly of 
 this city, but now of the republic of Honduras. 
 Mr. Perry has very valuable concessions and 
 
 grants from the government of Honduras. He 
 needs the co-operation of moneyed men to utilize 
 these privileges. I have known Mr. Perry some 
 time, and he is entitled to full credence." This 
 was addressed to M. H. Perkins, president of the 
 Importers & Traders Bank of New York. 
 
 A. F. Wanner, president of the Union Type 
 Foundry, Chicago, Oct. 3, 1891, wrote: '"The 
 bearer, Mr. E. W. Perry, has been a customer of 
 mine for the last twelve years. He has bought a 
 good many thousand dollars' worth of goods 
 from us, and has always paid his bills. Our busi- 
 ness relations have brought us quite intimately 
 into connection with him, and we believe him to 
 be a thoroughly capable business man, and firmly 
 believe he will be successful in any undertaking 
 he goes into. He is a man of the highest integ- 
 rity, and we confidently recommend him as 
 worthy of any trust placed in him." 
 
 Mr. J. M. Stover, president of a fruit canning 
 company at Edgemont, Md., wrote in 1894: 
 "Could I see my way clear, I would want noth- 
 ing better than to associate with you in this en- 
 terprise, accepting the offer you make in the ba- 
 nana plantation ; but at present I am unable to do 
 so. In reply to your note about referring to me, 
 especially in relation to your Honduras enterprise* 
 
 44 
 
I am quite willing to say that my business ac- 
 quaintance with you has been very agreeable, 
 and that I believe you to be worthy of the ut- 
 most confidence. I can add that I have learned, 
 from relatives, friends and others, enough about 
 that part of Honduras in which you are interested, 
 to convince me that it is a most agreeable, health- 
 ful and profitable region, affording opportunities 
 for investment that I would readily take advan- 
 tage of if I were not just now loaded down with 
 a large overstock of goods. I will be glad to go 
 into your fruit and road enterprise as soon as I 
 can safely do so." 
 
 Mr. Isaac B. Potter, President of the L. A. 
 W., wrote Oct. 3, 1894, as follows: "I have 
 known you three years, as client and friend, and 
 during that time your superior knowledge and 
 splendid treatment of the subject have done 
 much, not only to advance the cause, but to es- 
 tablish your own place among its prominent 
 movers. I hope the future may develop many 
 more of the same sort." 
 
 Mr. George M. Stearns, then of the Trust 
 Company of America, and later actuary of an in- 
 surance company of St. Louis, wrote in 1895: 
 "Please let me know if you can now manage to 
 go as we talked when I last saw you. I am not 
 
 sure of completing arrangements, but if any man 
 can succeed in that southern country, I am as- 
 sured you can. Your personal acquaintance with 
 so many high officials, and your standing with all 
 influential parties in Honduras makes me more 
 confident than ever that if you were to go you 
 would be welcomed, and that there would be 
 money to all parties concerned." 
 
 Mr. a. K. Johnston, of the S. S. White Dental 
 Manufacturing Co. of New York, wrote: "I am 
 happy to state that I met you some four or five 
 years ago, after having heard some most excel- 
 lent reports of your previous career, and that dur- 
 ing my intercourse, which has been somewhat 
 frequent since that time, I have had no occasion 
 to doubt your ability and integrity, and especially 
 your acquaintance with Central American coun- 
 tries and affairs." 
 
 March 17, i8q6, the then Minister of War of 
 Nicaragua, wrote at the request of President 
 Zelaya: "SenorDon Eduardo W. Perry, bearer 
 of this, has rendered important services to the 
 cause of the government, as Military Engineer. 
 He goes to Cabo Gracias a Dios on particular 
 business. As evidence of our appreciation of the 
 sympathy and good deportment of Sefior Perry, 
 in the name of the government, it gives ma 
 
 45 
 
pleasure to recommend him to all the authorities 
 ir this voyage, that they may give him the atten- 
 tion to which he is entitled." 
 
 Judge Thos. O'Hara, then U. S. Consul at 
 Graytown, wrote, in April, 1S97, to a Cincinnati 
 firm: "As I wrote you at the outset, I have much 
 faith in Mr. Perry's ability to handle a matter of 
 this kind. He is cool headed, cautious, courteous, 
 of pleasing address, knows these people well, and 
 is full of tact and resources; do not think you 
 could have found a better man." 
 
 RoLARDO KuEHN, M. D., Bluefields, Nicaragua, 
 wrote, Nov. 7, 1S97: "I heard of your contract 
 and the success you are having; also I saw the 
 Wanks river and its lands. It is a bonanza. It 
 is one of the greatest mining and agricultural 
 regions on earth. I want to buy an interest ; am 
 still trying to buy an interest, even if small. 
 * * * * I understand you have been honored 
 by the post of president of the Citizens' Com- 
 mittee, the only representative body in the 
 Comarca. No better man, no man more able, 
 could have received the honor, as you are best 
 posted and able to give accurate information 
 about the industries of this region. * * * * 
 I know the Wanks has a great future. It wants 
 
 only the right man to lead— so lead on to vie 
 tory." 
 
 Mr. Geo. B. Pense, mining engineer and expert, 
 recently wrote: "Is it likely that, cripple for 
 life as I am, I would invest my last dollar in j^our 
 enterprises if I did not know that you ai-e honest 
 and thoroughly know this country and its re- 
 sources?" 
 
 Don Diego Meany of Salvador, wrote, years 
 ago: "I am so thankful to you that I am unable 
 to find words to express my deep gratitude. My 
 heart is full. I beg God to pour blessings on you 
 and your family. Let these blessings be ever so 
 many, they shall always be short of what you 
 deserve." 
 
 Gen. J. Fred Pierson wrote, July i, 1898: "I 
 have yours of the 29th ulto. I will do as you 
 wish me to do in the matter, leaving my interests 
 in your hands." General Pierson takes six lots 
 of 10 hectares each. 
 
 Such expressions as are contained in the letters 
 quoted are stronger endorsements than any num- 
 ber of ordinary letters of introduction. Stronger 
 than any of them was that given when Gen. Luis 
 Bogran tendered his resignation of the presidency 
 of the Republic of Honduras in support of Mr. 
 Perry's interests and undertakings. If such 
 
 46 
 
thing has been done for any other man by the 
 president of a republic, it has not become known. 
 
 Palmer & Co., Mar. 25, 1898. — "The parties 
 to whom we went at your solicitation spoke very 
 highly as to your honesty, and also of your being 
 straightforward in all your dealings with him." 
 
 J. A. Owens, Jan. 17, 1898.— "Mr. E. W. Perry 
 is a man of large affairs, who is in a good thing 
 with a few of us. I hope you will give him half 
 an hour. It may do some of your friends great 
 good. You may depend on whatever he will say." 
 
 J. J. Norton, Feb'y 21, 1898. — "Mr. Perry is a 
 gentleman well qualified to interest investors, as 
 having been for years in Nicaragua; and being 
 now largely interested there he speaks with 
 authority, and has the strongest kind of docu- 
 ments back of all his statements. I fully endorse 
 Mr. Perry as being, to the best of my belief, a 
 thoroughly honest, reliable gentleman, and hav- 
 ing, it seems to me, interests that one can hardly 
 afford to not investigate." 
 
 Senor Don N. Bolet Peraza, Consul-General of 
 the Greater Republic of Central America, under 
 date of October 17, 1898, wrote: 
 "Mr. Edward W. Perry, 
 
 "Dear Sir: — I have carefully examined 
 the statements made in the pamphlet, entitled 
 
 ' Nicaragua, a Rich New Field,' written by you. 
 I am pleased to say that I have official notice of 
 the concession made to you by the Government 
 of Nicaragua, and to which you refer in the said 
 pamphlet. 
 
 " I am happy to add that from the official docu- 
 ments you have shown me, I know that you have 
 enjoyed the confidence of the government of 
 Nicaragua, rendering important services in which 
 you have proved your integrity and ability." 
 
 El Diario Nicaraguense published in Granada, 
 Feb. 29, i8g6, the following: "Last night the 
 steamer 'Managua' bombarded the port of Mono- 
 tombo, with very good result. It is known posi- 
 tively, by reports from Nagarote, that serious 
 injury was inflicted, preventing the launching of 
 the steamer 'Eleventh of July.' She was de- 
 stroyed. The enemy replied with three pieces of 
 artillery." Another account published the same 
 day says: "The naval gunner, Seiior Perry, 
 gave proof of his skill by extinguishing, one by 
 one, with the guns the lights of the port, and de- 
 stroying the little steamer 'Eleventh of July' 
 that had been brought from Paso Caballo to Lake 
 Managua, at the moment when they were about 
 
 47 
 
to put it afloat, and causing the enemy great loss. 
 The soldiers of the enemy were seen, by the light 
 of the moon, fleeing in great panic from certain 
 death." 
 
 The Gaceta Official of Managua, on March 19, 
 1896, published over the signature of the Presi- 
 dent and the Minister of War, thanks for services 
 rendered bj^ Mr. Perry to the government. 
 
 INDEX TO ENDORSEflENTS, 
 
 Carlos, C, merchant 41 
 
 Consul General of the Republica Mayor 47 
 
 Diario Xicaragruense, El 47 
 
 Frank, Joseph, financier 44 
 
 Herrings, Hon. D. W., former U. S. consul 43 
 
 Honduras Government 44 
 
 Johnson & Co., O. R 43 
 
 Johnston, A. K., capitalist 45 
 
 Keuhn, Rolando, M. D 46 
 
 Meany, Diego 46 
 
 Minister of War of Nicarag'ua 45 
 
 Norton, J. J 47 
 
 O'Hara, Thos., former U. S. consul 46 
 
 Owens, J. A., manufacturer 47 
 
 Palmer & Co., merchant tailors 47 
 
 Pense, Geo., mining eng'ineer 46 
 
 Pierson, Gen., J. F., manufacturer 46 
 
 Potter, I. E., Pres't L. A. W 45 
 
 Stearns, Geo. M., Trust Company of America 45 
 
 Vig-g-e, Pedro E., merchant 41 
 
 Wanner, A. P., President U. Type Foundry Co 44 
 
 Wright, Chas. A., Lieut, Commanding, U. S. N 43 
 
 Zelaya, General Don Jose Santos, Pres't Nicaragua 44 
 
 48 
 
INDEX. 
 
 AUTHORITIES: QUOTED. page. 
 
 Bureau American Republics 12 
 
 Central America, Notes on 40 
 
 Consular Reports, U. S 23 
 
 Encyclopedia of Tropical Agriculture 40 
 
 O'Hara, Judge Thos 13 
 
 Honduras 40 
 
 Jamaica, Ag-ricultural Reports 12 
 
 Tropical Fruits, U. S. Dept. of Ag-riculture 40 
 
 Villafranca, Consul of Costa Rica 13 
 
 CABO QRACIAS A DIOS: 
 
 Climate 9 
 
 Comarca 5 
 
 Healthfulness 11 
 
 Location 5 
 
 Rai nf all 10 
 
 Rivers 6 
 
 Roads 34 
 
 Topography 5 
 
 DISAGREEABLES: 
 
 Fleas 32 
 
 Mosquitoes 32 
 
 Scorpions 34 
 
 Snakes 34 
 
 Tarantulas. 
 
 32 
 
 FARES: 
 
 New York to Cabo Gracias a Dios 30 
 
 New Orleans to Cabo Gracias a Dios 32 
 
 Mobile to Cabo Gracias a Dios 32 
 
 GOVERNMENT: 
 
 Attitude 36 
 
 Friendly to foreigners 36 
 
 Rebellions advantageous 36 
 
 INVESTIGATE: 
 
 Investigation desired 40 
 
 Publications giving information 40 
 
 Sources of information 40 
 
 INVESTHENTS: 
 
 Agriculture safest 36 
 
 Land better than manufactures or trade 38 
 
 LABOR: 
 
 Supply of laborers 12 
 
 Wages and rations 12 
 
 Quality of labor 13 
 
LAND: 
 
 Character and value of 36 
 
 Payments for 18 
 
 . Selection of lots sold 36 
 
 Planting- IS 
 
 Cultivating IS 
 
 LIVING: 
 
 Cost of living in the Comarca of Gracias 33 
 
 PERRY LAND GRANT: 
 
 Contract with g-overn ment 5 
 
 Character of 5 
 
 Location of 5 
 
 PRODUCTIONS: 
 
 Bananas 13 
 
 Beans 34 
 
 Cacao 33 
 
 Cassava 24 
 
 Cocoanuts 18 
 
 Coffee 30 
 
 Game 30 
 
 Grain 34 
 
 Kola 34 
 
 Live stock 30 
 
 Orang-es 20 
 
 Pineapples 18 
 
 Rubber 38 
 
 Sugarcane 38 
 
 Tobacco 38 
 
 Vanilla 28 
 
 Woods 38 
 
 1RIVER5: 
 
 Bocai 8 
 
 Coco 6 
 
 Locca 8 
 
 Uaspuc 9 
 
 Umra 8 
 
 Uang 6 
 
 ROADS: 
 
 Condition of the 34 
 
 Right to make and use 34 
 
 TIHBER: 
 
 Cedar, dus pouni, cocobolo 38 
 
 Mahogany, mangrove, oak 28 
 
 Pine .38 
 
 TOPOGRAPHY: 
 
 Hills of the Uaspuc, gold bearing 5 
 
 Lakes or sounds 5 
 
 Prairies, soil, timber, etc 5 
 
 TOWNS: 
 
 Boom 11 
 
 Clutca, Elaya 11 
 
 Gracias 11 
 
 Labring Creek 11 
 
 Other towns on the Uang 12 
 
 TRANSPORTATION: 
 
 Canoes and rafts 34 
 
 Cost of carriage by present means 34 
 
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