Ports and harbours—La UniÓn—Population—Railway extensions—Lack of British bottoms—Carrying trade—H.B.M.'s Vice-Consul—Port of Triunfo—Bad entrance—Proposed railway—Acajutla—Loading and unloading facilities—Proposed improvements—Salvador Railway connections—La Libertad—Comandante and garrison—Loading and unloading facilities—Cable station and the service provided by Government—The staff of operators.

The western arm of the Gulf of Fonseca forms the capacious and land-locked harbour of La UniÓn, which is situated on the south-western shore, four and three-quarter miles above the entrance. On the north side of the bay are extensive mud-flats that contract the channel in places to less than a mile in width, while another in front of the town uncovers at half-tide, virtually cutting off all communication with the shore. This flat has encroached upon the anchorage since Sir Edward Belcher's survey was made, diminishing the depth slightly, and shifting the channel a little to the northward. A small pier facilitates landing at high-water, and on the outer end of it a light is sometimes shown; but it is of minor value, being dimmed by the lights in the town behind it. Coffee, cotton, hides, and balsam of Peru (so called, although it comes from Salvador), are exported. Beef, poultry, and oysters, can be obtained at reasonable rates. As ships find great difficulty in watering here, it is recommended to anchor and fill up at the spring, one mile below Chicarene Point.

Steamers coming to La UniÓn are given the following directions:

"If bound for La UniÓn, keep to port of all the islands, and steer to come between Conchaguita and the western shore under the volcano of Conchagua. When fairly in mid-channel, the entrance to the harbour will be seen ahead between Punta Sacate Island on the right and Chicarene Point, which terminates the eastern slope of the volcano on the left. Steer nearly for the Point, and even bring it a little on the starboard bow if the flood-tide is running, as it sets across the shoal north of Conchaguita. As the point is approached, open it a little from the north end of Punta Sacate and run past, giving the island the widest berth, as there is a rocky patch making out from the south-west point. It has been recommended to keep Chicarene Point close aboard, but a steamer drawing 15 feet touched a rock in doing so; therefore a safe rule would be to keep a little to the westward of mid-channel. During the springs the tide runs through the pass at the rate of three knots an hour."

The port of La UniÓn is the largest in the Republic, but, in spite of this fact, landing is sometimes difficult, and until some constructional improvements are made it will continue to be so. At present it is necessary to disembark from the steamer on to a launch; from the launch descend into a small row-boat, and from the small row-boat transfer to a "dugout." Even then the traveller is not at the end of his trials, since he has to leave the dugout for a ride on a man's back through several yards of surf before he can reach terra firma.

La UniÓn has a population of 8,000 people, including a garrison of 1,000 troops. It carries on a considerable amount of trade, chiefly in coffee exportation and foreign goods importation, in spite of the difficulties of approach by sea. The advent of the railway is likely to add to this volume of traffic, if only to a limited extent. It is noteworthy, however, that the people of La UniÓn are by no means enthusiastic regarding the approach of this railway, and they speak very pessimistically as to its prospects. In conversation with one of the leading citizens, I was informed that the railway "is hardly likely to prove profitable, since it is in the hands of the wrong people" (namely, an American group); and the case of the railway at Puerto Barrios, in Guatemala, which is controlled by some of the same entrepreneurs, is quoted as an example of what may be expected. So indifferently are passengers treated in connection with the Guatemala Railway, which is under the jurisdiction of the United Fruit Company of Boston, U.S.A., that no one now will travel upon it if he can possibly avoid it. It is quite probable, in view of the much-improved steamship service offered by the Salvador Railway (from Acajutla to Salina Cruz, Mexico), that this will continue to be the principal means of reaching the United States and Europe and for transmitting cargoes.

La UniÓn was at one time a port of call for the Pacific Steam Navigation Company of Liverpool, which, however, withdrew their service in 1898, apparently finding the competition with the Pacific Mail Steamship Company of San Francisco too keen, and the carrying business insufficient. The Pacific Steam Navigation Company sold out their interest to the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, and since then—much to the regret of all shippers and passengers alike in the Central American ports—its boats have not been seen at La UniÓn.

In fact, no British steamers have called there except an occasional Leyland or a Lamport and Holt steamer sent to load coffee, and the reappearance of the British flag has been entirely due to the efforts of the Salvador Railway Company.

The Pacific Mail Steamship's Company's freight charges are now $3 gold (12s. 6d.) per ton for carrying coffee from La UniÓn and other Central American ports to San Francisco, U.S.A., but they formerly charged $8 (33s. 4d.) per ton. The considerable reduction is due to the severe competition which this octopus-like company has had to meet with from both the Kosmos Company and the Salvador Railway.

The annual export of coffee from La UniÓn amounts to 150,000 sacks, all of which are carried to Europe (Hamburg, Havre, etc.), the Kosmos Company taking by far the greater part. Day by day the Pacific Mail Steamship Company loses ground and popularity throughout Central American ports owing to its extortionate charges (where there is no competition), to its indifferent management, and, above all, by reason of the gross discourtesy with which its clients are sometimes treated by the uncouth and half-savage officials whom it employs.

British interests at La UniÓn, such as they are, are represented by Mr. John B. Courtade, His Britannic Majesty's Vice-Consul; and this gentleman also acts as French, Chilian, and Norwegian Consul. Mr. Courtade, who is a Frenchman by birth, has been a resident of La UniÓn for thirty-three years, and he is one of the best-known and most-respected inhabitants of the place. The "palatial" offices which enshrine H.B.M.'s Vice-Consulate will be noted with satisfaction by the patriotic.

Between La UniÓn and La Libertad is situated the port of Triunfo, which is 60 miles from the latter, and 156 miles from the former. Triunfo, however, has a very poor natural entrance, owing to the heavy surf which is continually breaking on the shore. It is to this port, nevertheless, that an American syndicate are about to construct a railway, with the idea of handling the large quantity of coffee which is grown in the neighbourhood, and consigned to this port for shipment abroad. So dangerous was Triunfo formerly considered as a landing-place, that Lloyd's had been advised by their agents not to issue insurances, but to allow shippers to take the risk. With the contemplated improvements at the port, however, in conjunction with the railway, Triunfo will probably be ranked with La UniÓn as a safe and convenient port. At present the steamers of the Salvador Railway Company call there on their way to and from Corinto to Salina Cruz.

During last year the Government encouraged measures to maintain a first-class service of loading and unloading cargo at the various ports, while attending also to the embarking and disembarking of passengers, recognizing the necessity of putting both these branches of service upon a more satisfactory footing. Serviceable and commodious port-boats have been provided for each of the Comandantes at La UniÓn, La Libertad, and Triunfo. The latter port is now used, as mentioned above, for the shipping of coffee almost exclusively; and it is through El Triunfo that is exported the produce of the bountiful coffee harvest yielded by the Department of UsulutÁn, which represents more than a third part of the whole of the Republic's coffee produce.

Acajutla, the port of Sonsonate, is an open bay about sixty-two miles to the east of San JosÉ; it is sheltered from the south-east by the Remedios reef, a dangerous and extensive shoal, extending from a point of the same name. The salt water here is considered injurious to cables and copper. Ships anchor in 9 to 11 fathoms. Landing is occasionally difficult, and ought to be effected in a good boat. Merchant vessels load and discharge their cargoes by means of bongos, or large craft in the shape of whale-boats. A substantially-built pier, fitted with cranes, facilitates the landing, although at times the surf renders it hazardous. By giving short notice, fresh provisions may be obtained in large quantities from Sonsonate. The active volcano of Izalco, on a north-east by north bearing, forms a good leading mark for this part, and Point Remedios, long, low, and thickly wooded, may easily be recognized.

The sea-bathing at Acajutla contributes to the attraction of the place. Nowhere upon the coast of these Central American countries will a smoother or wider sand-beach be found; and at all times of the year, while at most hours of the day, women and children are found disporting themselves in the swelling and sometimes boisterous surf. The comparative freedom from the attacks of sharks and other predatory fish is also a great benefit, although there are stories current of men and women having been seized and carried away by these prowling tigers of the sea. An "old inhabitant" of some twenty-five years' residence, however, informed me that he had never known of a case where death had ensued, and, while he himself had heard of the shark stories referred to, he had no personal knowledge of their accuracy.

The sanitary conditions of Acajutla are at present poor, and it is scarcely surprising to hear that cases of fever and other maladies exist in certain seasons. All this could easily be changed by a more strict municipal supervision, and an ordinance which rendered penal the perpetration of the prevailing habits of the people. Such deadly fever-dens as the local "hotel," for instance, should be swept away without remorse or hesitation, and a system of house-to-house inspection introduced. In view of the fact that many foreigners as well as natives have, of a necessity, to spend a certain amount of time in the port, awaiting their steamers proceeding north or south, it is the bounden duty of the local authorities to see that their lives are not endangered by pestilential conditions existing in the town. The small but important colony of hard-working port and railway officials should also be considered, and especially as among them are some few Europeans who are not accustomed to the unsanitary system in vogue. I have little doubt that, once the attention of the Salvador Government is directed to this matter, some improvement will be introduced, and, once introduced, will be carefully maintained.

Whatever prospect is in store for the port of Acajutla depends to a great extent upon the success of the new shipping arrangements in connection with the Salvador Railway, and these, as I have already pointed out elsewhere, are making consistent and steady progress. It is but a small place, and, although very picturesquely situated upon a typically tropical coast, it is at some seasons found rather trying, especially to Europeans. The surrounding scenery, like all the country in Salvador, is attractive to the eye, the long line of blue ocean, fringed with its lacelike foam, for ever gathering and breaking in dazzling green and white waves upon the smooth and sandy beach; the brilliant green of the mangrove, the cocoanut palms, and the banana patches lend vividness of colour, while the distant mountain-peaks, innumerable and fantastic of shape, give the port of Acajutla a decidedly romantic aspect.

Although during the dry season a strong and cool wind blows for several hours of the day, and at sunset changes to a pleasant land-breeze, blowing sometimes steadily, and at others decidedly gustily, during the night, the hours of darkness never seem so long nor so trying, on account of the heat, the dryness, and the mosquitoes, as is the case in so many parts of South and Central America. Some day, maybe, this place will be taken in hand by the speculative builder, and as great improvements effected as have been introduced at PanamÁ, at Puerto LimÓn (Costa Rica), and at San JosÉ, in the same Republic, but on the Pacific side of that Republic. Acajutla is just as open to, and capable of, improvement and reformation; between the enterprise of the Salvador Government and the Salvador Railway Company there is no reason why this port should not eventually become one of the most important in Central America.

La Libertad is the second of the three Salvadorean ports, as already mentioned, Acajutla and La UniÓn being the other two. It is a small but well-formed roadstead, but does not invariably offer good shelter to the largest vessels, since sudden rollers come in which are apt to snap ship's cables unless with a long range. The foreshore is narrow, and is backed up by some lofty hills—scarcely high enough to be called mountains, however—which are partially cultivated, and form a pleasing setting to the Port itself. The buildings are few as yet, but such as there are they seem to be well constructed and of superior character both outwardly and inwardly; the usual style of Latin-American architecture is followed in regard to the one-story edifice, except in the case of the Comandancia—official residence and office of the chief authority—which is a large wooden edifice of two stories, the lower portion forming the quarters of the garrison, and the upper part the residence of the Comandante. About 100 men form the garrison, the regiment quartered there being the 5th Artillery. They possess several pieces of modern ordnance, which they know how to handle with great expedition and efficiency. The guns are kept exceedingly clean, and frequent drills serve to keep the artillerymen both smart and interested. The Comandante of the Port, Captain Angel Esteves, is quite a young man, possessed of a very pleasing face and figure, as well as of charming manners. He has travelled in the United States, and speaks English fairly well. He expressed to me his intention of shortly visiting England in order to study military matters, and "to see a country of which he had always heard great accounts, and for which he entertained a profound admiration."

The streets of La Libertad are mostly paved with hewn stones, and the whole place, consisting of but 700 or 800 inhabitants, is kept in excellent sanitary order. A market is held here every week, and a considerable amount of local trade is carried on from day to day. The extensive warehouses and Customs sheds are also well filled with foreign goods received from different ports of Europe and the United States; but while as many as three or four ships call there every week, I understand that these do not include any British bottoms other than the steamer Salvador, belonging to the Salvador Railway Company. The Comandante informed me that during the two years that he had been in La Libertad he had not seen another British vessel at the Port, the vessels calling there being either American, German or French.

A large amount of coffee is exported from La Libertad, the bags arriving out-bound from San Salvador, the capital, which is only eight leagues (about twenty-four miles) distant, and the journey usually being performed in a day and a half by ox-waggon, or in three or four hours on mule-back.

Between the Capital and the Port are situated two towns—Zaragosa and Santa Tecla—both of some importance. Around both also are located many coffee and sugar fincas, such as that of La Laguna, near San Salvador, the property of Herr FÉdor Deininger, of whom I have made mention elsewhere in this volume, and who is one of the wealthiest, as well as one of the most enterprising, coffee-planters and sugar-manufacturers living in Salvador.

La Libertad possesses a strong and well-designed iron pier, some 450 feet in length, with two large covered warehouses, steam-cranes, and all the necessary apparatus for loading and unloading lighters. There is a double set of rails running from the pit-head to the Customs-house, and a fair equipment of flat-cars and platforms-cars. The warehouses are kept scrupulously clean and airy, everything being maintained in admirable working condition.

The pier and the wharf were constructed by a local company some forty years ago, and the concession which covered that period having only expired last year (1910), the pier and everything connected with it have now become the property of the Salvadorean Government. It is not intended, however, to make any additions or alterations to the structure, which is in all respects equal to the port's requirements at the present time. In all probability La Libertad will not much increase in importance as a port, in view of the extensions at Triunfo and at Acajutla, which already possesses a railway to the Capital, and of La UniÓn, which ere long will also have one to the interior of the Republic.

La Libertad must nevertheless always count as of some consequence, if only on account of its being the one cable-station in the Republic of Salvador, and which serves at the same time as a receiving-station for Costa Rica, the one Central American Republic which has no cable-station of its own. La Libertad shares with ColÓn the monopoly of despatching and receiving all the cable-messages from Central America and the United States. Its cable extends to Salina Cruz, in Mexico, messages being thence transmitted to Galveston, U.S.A. La Libertad's cable, although in constant use, is regarded more as a "stand-by" in the event of a breakdown on the Panama line, an eventuality of by no means infrequent occurrence, especially in time of political trouble and when the fierce Atlantic storms prevail. A full equipment is therefore always maintained, although the active staff employed consists of but two individuals—Mr. A. H. Hooper, an American of great linguistic ability and remarkable literary judgment, and a young Danish telegraphist, FÉdor Michaelson. Both officials are expert instrument-operators, and in depending upon the La Libertad station as a substitute or a "stand-by," the Cable Company are leaning upon no hollow reed. Messrs. Hooper and Michaelson are highly competent officers, the latter, indeed, being one of the quickest and most accurate operators that I have met with in any part of the world.

In La Libertad a number of press and Government messages from all parts of the world are received every day, and sometimes almost all day. The instruments used include Muirhead's automatic transmitter, which will send 200 letters per minute, and Sir William Thompson's patent recorder, as well as a complete fault-finding apparatus, which enables the officials to at once trace the seat of any breakdown which may occur to the cable, and thus despatch the repair-ship to the necessary spot. While visiting the La Libertad cable-station, I witnessed several messages being despatched and received (and actually corresponded with Salina Cruz, Mexico), the average speed being a little over fifty words in three minutes, or, say, seventeen words a minute received and recorded.

At this cable-station above mentioned, a service of cablegrams received for the Salvadorean Government averages 2,000 words a day. The service is supplied free of all charge by the Government to the Salvador newspapers, and is greatly appreciated by the reading public. The source of supply is New York, and the Correspondent responsible is the New York Correspondent of La Prensa, the great Argentine daily newspaper, which enjoys the proud position of possessing the most palatial offices of any newspaper in the world. The news-cables are very informative, and are at the same time commendably free from political bias or personal opinions—a rare recommendation indeed, considering the land of their origin.