of a texture suitable to her rank and wealth, and as it is not
considered proper to expose their faces in public, the scarf is
generally drawn over the features so as to conceal all but their
ravishing eyes. And it is well that this is so, for they plaster their
faces with a composition of magnesia and the whites of eggs that gives
them a ghastly appearance, and effectually conceals, as it ultimately
destroys, the freshness and purity of their complexions. This stuff is
renewed at frequent intervals, and is never washed off.
There is a popular prejudice against bathing. A man who has been on a
journey will not wash the dust off his face for several days after
arrival, particularly if he has come from a lower to a higher altitude,
as it is believed that the opening of the pores of the skin is certain
to bring on a fever.
While passing over a dusty road upon a hot, sultry day I dismounted at a
foaming brook, rolled up my sleeves, and commenced to bathe my head and
face and arms. The guide who was with me cried “Caramba!” in
astonishment, and tried to pull me away. When I demanded an explanation
of his extraordinary behavior he begged me for the love of the Virgin
not to wash my face, for I would certainly come down with the fever the
next day. I smiled at this remonstrance, and gave myself a refreshing
bath, while he looked on as solemnlv as if I intended to commit suicide.
For an hour after, as we travelled on, he muttered prayers to the
Virgin and his patron saint to protect me from the fever, and to-day no
doubt believes that I was saved by the interposition of Divine power in
answer to his petitions. He afterwards reproached me for not having made
a vow because of my remarkable deliverance.
[Illustration: COFFEE-DRYING.]
However, if anybody supposes that the inhabitants of the little republic
are uncouth, unmannerly, or uneducated, he makes a great mistake. They
are quite up to our standard of intelligence, and although education is
not so universal as in this country, the leading families of Costa Rica
are as cultivated as our own. They surpass us in social graces, in
conversational powers, in linguistic and other accomplishments. They
have keener perceptions than we, are more carefully observant of the
nicer proprieties, can usually speak one or two languages besides their
own fluently, and have a cultivated taste for music and the arts. No
Costa-Rican lady or gentleman is ever embarrassed; they always know how
to do and say the proper thing, and while in many cases their
sympathetic interest in your welfare may be only skin-deep, and their
affectionate phrases insincere, they are nevertheless the most
hospitable of hosts and the most charming of companions. In commerce as
well as in society this deportment is universal; in their stores and
offices they are as polite as in their parlors, and the same manners are
found in every caste. No laborer ever passes a lady in the street
without lifting his hat; every gentleman is respectfully saluted,
whether he be a stranger or an acquaintance, and in the rural districts
whoever you meet says, “May the Virgin prosper you!” or “May Heaven
smile upon your errand!” or “May your patron saint protect you from all
harm!” He may not care a straw whether you reach the end of your journey
or not, and may not have any more regard for your welfare than the fleas
on his coat, and if you ask him how far it is to the next place he will
tell you a falsehood, but he recognizes and practises the beautiful
custom of the country, and says, “God be with you!” as if he intended it
as a blessing.
The Government supports a good university at San José, under the
direction of Dr. Juan F. Ferras, and a system of free graded schools,
managed by the Minister of Education, who is a member of the cabinet.
Education is compulsory, the law requiring the attendance of all
children between the ages of eight and fourteen; and it is enforced,
except in the sparsely settled districts where the schools are
infrequent. Those who send their children to private schools, or do not
send them at all, are subject to a heavy fine, which goes into the
school fund. There is also a poll-tax for the support of the educational
system. The schools are entirely free from sectarian influences. In
fact, both the Minister of Education and the Director of the University
belong to the German school of materialists, towards which all men of
education in these countries drift when they leave the Mother Church.
There is no other place for them to go. The Protestants in San José have
a little chapel where the Church of England service is recited, hymns
are sung, and usually Sabbath mornings a selected sermon from some
published volume is read by a lay member; but the flock is too small to
support a pastor, and none of the missionary societies in England or
America appear to care to enter the field. During the administration of
President Guardia there was a constitutional amendment adopted
separating the Church and the State. The monks and nuns were expelled
from the country, the monasteries and nunneries confiscated, and by
legislation the priests were deprived of much of their power and
perquisites. In 1884, a few months before his death, the late President
Fernandez expelled the archbishop from the country. The latter went to
him demanding a voice in the management of the university, and a share
of the public funds for the use of the Catholic Theological Seminary.
The controversy was heated, and when the archbishop departed from the
Presidential mansion he left the curse of Rome behind him. Fernandez,
hearing that his Grace was talking about a revolution, sent him a
passport and a file of soldiers to escort him out of the country, to
which he has not been allowed to return.
The confessional is open and public by law, and the priests are
forbidden to wear their vestments in the streets. But these statutes are
not enforced, and, regardless of the offensive attitude of the
Government, the devotion of the masses to the Church is quite as marked
as in any of the Catholic countries. The intelligent families, however,
are gradually growing unmindful of their ancestral religion, and the
next generation will see a more rapid decline of the power of the
priests. Business and professional men never attend mass, leaving that
duty to their wives and daughters and servants. They are seldom seen
inside a church, except upon occasions of ceremony or at funerals. But
the women invariably attend mass each morning.
A familiar sight in Costa Rica is a death procession. When some one is
dying the friends send for a priest to shrive him. The latter comes, not
silently and solemnly, a minister of grace and consolation, but
accompanied by a brass band, if the family are rich enough to pay for it
(the priest receiving a liberal commission on the business), or, if they
are poor, by a number of boys ringing bells and chanting hymns. Behind
the band or bell-boys are two acolytes, one bearing a crucifix and the
other swinging an incense urn. Then follows the priest in a wooden box
or chair, covered by a canopy, and carried by four men wearing the
sacramental vestments, and holding in his hand, covered with a napkin,
the Host--the emblem of the body of Christ. People upon the streets
kneel as the procession passes, and then follow it. Reaching the house
of the dying, the band or bell-ringers stand outside, making all the
disturbance they can, while the priest, followed by a motley rabble,
enters the death-chamber, administers the sacrament, and confesses the
dying soul. Then the procession returns to the church as it came. Going
and coming, and while at the house, the band plays or the bells are rung
constantly, and all the men, women, and children within hearing fall
upon their knees, whether in the street or at their labor, and pray for
the repose of the departing spirit.
Funerals are occasions of great ceremony. Notices, or _avisos_, as they
are called, are printed and posted upon all of the dead-walls, like
announcements of an auction or an opera, and printed invitations are
sent to all the acquaintances of the deceased. The priests charge a
large fee for attendance, proportionate to the means of the family, and
when they are poor it is common for some one to solicit contributions to
pay it. The spectacle of a beggar sitting at a street corner asking alms
to pay the burial fee of his wife or child is a very common one, and
quite as often one can see a father carrying in his arms to the cemetery
the coffin of a little one, not being able to pay for a priest and a
carriage too.
The number of illegitimate births in the country is accounted for, not
so much by a low state of morals; as by the enormous fees exacted by the
priests for performing marriage ceremonies. Unfortunately the Government
has not yet established the civil rite, as is the case in several of the
Spanish-American States. It takes all a peon can earn in three months to
pay the priest that officiates at his nuptials.
The Government of Costa Rica consists of a President, two
Vice-Presidents, who are named by the President, and are called
Designado Primero and Designado Segundo (the first and second
designated). They have authority to act in the place of the President in
case of his absence from the seat of government, or in the event of his
death or disability, and he is responsible for their official conduct.
There is a Congress, consisting of a Senate of twelve members and a
Chamber of Deputies of twenty-four, elected biennially, as in the United
States. Also a Council of six men, selected from the Congress by the
President, who act as a sort of cabinet and Supreme Court combined. They
are continually in session, have power to review the decisions of the
courts, to reverse or affirm them, to issue decrees which have the force
of law until the next session of the Congress, to audit the accounts of
the Treasury, and perform various other acts. This Council is confirmed
by the Congress, and is supposed to act as a check upon the President
and the judiciary. The President has a cabinet of two members, appointed
by himself, and they are usually the two Vice-Presidents, or Designados.
To one he will assign the duty of looking after foreign affairs and the
finances of the Government, while the other will have the army, the
educational system, and other internal affairs to manage.
The successor of the famous cow-boy President, Guardia, was his
brother-in-law, General Prospero Fernandez, one of his lieutenants in
the revolution by which he came into power,
[Illustration: DON BERNARDO DE SOTO, PRESIDENT OF COSTA RICA.]
and who was made commander-in-chief of the army of two hundred and fifty
men when Guardia took the Executive chair. He was a man of fine
appearance, but of dull and slow mental powers, spending most of his
time upon his hacienda, or plantation, and leaving the affairs of the
State to his secretaries, Don Jesus Maria Castro and Don Bernardo de
Soto. Fernandez died before the expiration of his term, in the spring of
1885, and was succeeded by De Soto, a young man of whom much is
expected. He was a pet and protégé of the great Guardia, and after
graduating at the University of San José was sent to Europe to complete
his education, and by a study of the world as well as books to qualify
himself to succeed his patron in the Presidential chair. Guardia died,
however, before De Soto had reached the age that made him eligible to
the Presidency, and Fernandez stepped in to fill the interim. He
conscientiously acted as a sort of trustee or executor of Guardia’s
will, and made the young man, then only twenty-seven, his Minister of
War, Education, and Public Works. When Fernandez died De Soto assumed
the Presidency, just as if he had inherited a crown, there being no
other candidate. The President has just passed his thirtieth birthday,
and commands the respect and confidence of the people.
Costa Rica was the first discovered of all the countries on this
Continent, but of its resources the least is known. The Cordilleras of
the Andes pass through the republic from the south-east to the
north-west. South of Cartago they divide into two ranges, one running up
the Pacific coast, and the other tending towards the Atlantic until it
is broken off at Lake Nicaragua. These ranges not only enclose rich
valleys, in the chief of which is San José, but along their slopes on
either side are extensive tracts of land already cleared and abounding
in fertility. Along the coast are large areas of jungle and plains of
more or less extent, only slightly developed because of the malarious
atmosphere. The Pacific coast is healthier and more thickly settled. A
large prairie covers the northern part of the republic, upon which many
cattle are grazed, and it extends over the Nicaragua boundary. In the
north-eastern corner is an extensive forest, inhabited by bands of
roaming Indians, and full of the most valuable timber.
What the country needs is enterprise and capital, and these it must
secure by immigration. The population has increased somewhat during the
last half century, but entirely from natural causes, as more people have
moved away than have come in to settle. No attempt has been made by the
Government to attract immigrants until recently, for years ago the
conservative element of the population were opposed to inviting
strangers into their midst. This sentiment has, however, died out, and
there is an increasing desire to do something to call in capital and
labor.
The staple products of the country are coffee, corn, sugar, cocoa,
bananas, and other tropical fruits, but only coffee and bananas are
exported in any quantity. The increase in the coffee crop has been very
large, the product in 1850 being fourteen million pounds, while in 1884
it was over forty million. The quality is said to be superior to that
grown elsewhere, and the yield greater in proportion to the number of
trees. England and France take the greater share of the crop, the
exports to the United States reaching only eight million five hundred
thousand pounds in 1884. The land is practically free, for the
Government sells it at a nominal price per acre, and allows long time
for payment. Quite a number of settlers from the United States and the
West Indies have come in recently and located on the line of the eastern
road, which is to connect Port Limon, on the Atlantic, with the
interior.
NOTE TO SECOND EDITION.--On the 29th and 30th of December, 1888,
Costa Rica was visited by the most destructive earthquake ever
known there. Nearly all the cities and settlements suffered more or
less, but San José was almost entirely destroyed. Three-fourths of
the buildings were either shaken down or shattered beyond repair,
including all the official structures, the Capitol, the President’s
residence, and the Cathedral. The loss to the Government alone is
estimated at $2,000,000, while that suffered by private individuals
was several times that amount. No official report upon the loss of
life has been made, and the estimates vary from three hundred to
seven hundred and fifty.
BOGOTA.
THE CAPITAL OF COLOMBIA.
Although geographically one of our nearest neighbors, Bogota, the
capital of the United States of Colombia, is almost as far distant by
days, if not by miles, from New York as the interior of India, and quite
as difficult to reach. Until recently there has been no direct
communication by steam between the ports of Colombia and those of our
own country. Within the last three years an English company has
established a line of steamships between New York and the mouth of the
Magdalena River. Two trips a month are made, the vessels touching at
several of the West India ports en route, and making the voyage to
Barranquilla in fifteen days. Three times a month the Pacific Mail
steamers leave New York for Aspinwall, where a steamer for the Colombian
ports and Europe sails almost every day, under the flag of England,
Germany, France, Spain, Italy, or the Netherlands. The voyage _via_
Aspinwall requires about the same time as the other, fifteen days. There
ought to be direct communication not only from New York, but from the
Gulf ports, as the demands of commerce require it; and a much larger
trade might be obtained if conveniences of transportation existed. But
the policy of the United Stated Congress in refusing to aid steamship
lines, even by the payment of reasonable compensation for the carriage
of mails, prohibits capitalists from investing money in such
enterprises, as they would be compelled to compete with the subsidized
companies of Europe.
Excepting Aspinwall, which is a cosmopolitan place, the city of
Barranquilla is the principal port of Colombia, and to it all
merchandise and passengers bound for Bogota and the interior of the
country must go. In the old Spanish colony times Carthagena was the
greatest commercial metropolis of Colombia, or New Granada, as it was
then called; and it is one of the quaintest, as it is one of the oldest,
cities in South America. In the time of Philip the Second it was the
most strongly fortified place on the continent, and the headquarters of
the Spanish naval forces in the New World. It was the rendezvous of the
Spanish galleons which came to South America for treasure. There are
many rich mines in the mountains back of the city, which have produced
millions in silver and gold. Here came the pirates to plunder. They
committed so much damage that the King of Spain thought it worth his
while to build a wall around the entire city, on the top of which forty
horses can walk abreast, and which is said to have cost ninety million
dollars.
[Illustration: BARRANQUILLA.]
Carthagena was the seat of the Inquisition, and in Charles Kingsley’s
novel, “Westward Ho!” its readers will find a charming description of
the place. It was here that Frank and the Rose of Devon were imprisoned
by the priests, and the old Inquisition building in which they were
tortured and burned is still standing. But it is no longer used for the
confinement and crucifixion of heretics. For nearly sixty years after
the overthrow of the Catholic Church it stood empty, but it is now
occupied as a tobacco factory. There is an underground passage between
the old Inquisition building and an ancient fortress upon a hill
overlooking Carthagena, through which prisoners used to be conducted,
and communication maintained in time of siege; but, like everything else
about the place, it has long been in a state of decay. Some years ago a
party of American naval officers attempted to explore the passage, but
found it filled with obstructions, and were compelled to abandon the
enterprise. The old castle is obsolete now, and in a state of ruin,
being used only as a signal station. When a vessel enters the harbor a
flag is run up by a man on guard to notify the Captain of the Port and
the merchants of its arrival.
[Illustration: CARTHAGENA.]
There are some fine old churches and palaces in Carthagena constructed
of stone, which show the magnificence in which the old grandees lived
when the city was a commercial metropolis. Many of them are empty now,
and others are used as tenement-houses. In the cathedral, which is one
of the largest and most elaborate to be found on the hemisphere, is a
curious object of interest. It is a magnificent marble pulpit covered
with exquisite carvings. It ranks among the most beautiful specimens of
the sculptor’s art in the world. The people of Carthagena think there is
nothing under the sun to equal it, and the story of its origin adds
greatly to its value and interest. Two or three hundred years ago the
Pope, wishing to show a mark of favor to the devout people of Colombia,
ordered the construction of a marble pulpit for the decoration of the
grand cathedral at Carthagena. It was designed and carved by the
foremost artists of the day at Rome, and when completed was with great
ceremony placed on board a Spanish galley bound for the New World. While
en route the vessel was captured by pirates, and when the boxes
containing the pulpit were broken open, and their contents found to be
of no value as plunder, they were tipped overboard. But by the
interposition of the Virgin, none of the pieces sank; and the English
pirates, becoming alarmed at the miracle of the heavy marble floating on
the water, fled from the ship, leaving their booty. The Spanish sailors
got the precious cargo aboard their vessel again with great difficulty,
and started on their way; but before they reached Carthagena they
encountered a second lot of pirates, who plundered them of all the
valuables they had aboard, and burned their ship. But the saints still
preserved the pulpit; for, as the vessel and the remainder of the cargo
were destroyed, the carved marble floated away upon the surface of the
water, and, being guided by an invisible hand, went ashore on the beach
outside the city to which it was destined.
There it lay for many years, unknown and unnoticed. Finally, however, it
was discovered by a party of explorers, who recognized the value of the
carvings and took it aboard their ship en route for Spain, intending to
sell it when they reached home. But the saints still kept their eyes
upon the Pope’s offering, and sent the vessel such bad weather that the
captain was compelled to put into the port of Carthagena for repairs.
There he told the story of the marble pulpit found upon the beach, and
it reached the ears of the Archbishop. His Grace sent for the captain,
informed him that the pulpit was intended for the decoration of the
cathedral, and related the story of its construction and disappearance.
The captain was an ungodly man, and intimated that the Archbishop was
attempting to humbug him. He offered to sell the marble, and would not
leave it otherwise. Having repaired the damage of the storm, the captain
started for Europe, but he was scarcely out of the harbor when a most
frightful gale struck him and wrecked his vessel, which went to the
bottom with all on board; but the pulpit, the subject of so many divine
interpositions, rose from the wreck, and one morning came floating into
the harbor of Carthagena, where it was taken in charge by the Archbishop
and placed in the cathedral for which it was intended, and where it now
stands.
Near the miraculous pulpit, in the same church, is the preserved body of
a famous saint. I forget what his name was, but he is in an excellent
state of preservation--a skeleton with dried flesh and skin hanging to
the bones. He did something hundreds of years ago which made him very
sacred to the people of Carthagena, and by the special permission of the
Pope his body was disinterred, placed in a glass case, and shipped from
Rome to ornament the cathedral of the former city, along with the
miraculous pulpit. The body is usually covered with a black pall, and is
exposed only upon occasions of great ceremony, but any one can see the
preserved saint by paying a fee to the priests. I purchased that
privilege, and was shown the glass coffin standing upon a marble
pedestal. The bones are bare, except where the brown skin, looking like
jerked beef, covers them, and are a ghastly spectacle. During a
revolution at Carthagena some impious soldiers upset the coffin and
destroyed it. In the _melée_ one of the saint’s legs was lost, or at
least the lower half of it from the knee down; but the priests replaced
it with a wax leg, plump and pink, which, lying beside the original,
gives the saint a very comical appearance.
[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO THE OLD FORTRESS, CARTHAGENA.]