rse, produced. Of no
avail! No one must land. But just when the steamer was about to sail a
boat full of officials appeared at the steamer's side, called out my
name, and lo! to the wonder of the other passengers, I was allowed to go
ashore. This was satisfactory, and I at once took train to the capital,
climbing or soaring as in a flying-machine the steep graded but
excellent road (most picturesque) to Caracas. There I found that the
Mardi Gras Carnival was just beginning. In my hotel was the war
correspondent of the _New York Herald_, just convalescing from an attack
of yellow fever and still incapable of active work. He was good enough
to ask me to fill his place should hostilities ensue. No other
correspondent was in the country and he himself had to put up a 10,000
dollar bond. I willingly agreed, and so stayed nearly two weeks in
Caracas awaiting eventualities. During this time, owing to the Carnival,
the town was "wide open"; every night some twenty thousand people danced
in the Plaza Bolivar, a huge square beautifully paved with tiling. The
dancers were so crowded together that waltzing simply meant revolving
top-wise. A really splendid band provided the music. What a gay, merry
people they are! And how beautiful these Venezuela women, and how
handsome the men! In the streets presents of great value were tossed
from the carriages to the signoras on the balconies. At a ball the men,
the fashionables, wore blue velvet coats, not because of the season, but
because it is the customary male festive attire. Caracas was delightful
and extraordinarily interesting. What splendid saddle mules one here
sees! Castro every day appeared with his staff all mounted on mules. All
the traffic of the country is done with them, there being no feasible
wagon roads. Castro had a most evil reputation. The people hated but
feared him. His whole army consisted of Andean Indians, and he himself
had Indian blood in his veins. The climate at Caracas is delightful.
After two weeks and nothing developing, and not feeling quite well, I
returned to La Guayra and took steamer back to Colon. Feeling worse on
the steamer I called in the doctor, and was greatly alarmed when he
pronounced yellow fever. On arriving at Colon, of course, I was not
permitted to land so had to continue on the ship to Jamaica. The attack
must have been a very mild one, as when we reached Jamaica I was nearly
all right again.

Jamaica is a beautiful island with a delightf