Show LAND OF THE QUETZAL I 1 A doctors in the opal mines of honduras GLITTER OF PRECIOUS STONES CHARMED on the mosquito frontier tho the doctor learns of the sacral lit gracyas a dios coasting and canoeing tile tho monastery acry tho at manc lne tho aba lenea indians A tempted Tax ider nine tile tho opal witch snake a and d lizards LI aria stuffed with glittering gonad lr about sixteen years ago I 1 was almost induced to set out upon an ail opal hunting expedition or of a novel noiel character at tho the time I 1 speak of dr S 0 tucker who if alive 19 probably in sao kau francisco or oakland resided in virginia city and hold tho the position pot llon of county physician the doctor da dahood billed A good deal in mining stocks with about ilia equal varying fortune of all amateur dealers at ono beason for a long lone time madame fortune stubbornly refused to favor him although lie ho was aa one on of tho the brave from a snug little stake of about 7 ho he found himself going gol down to zero lie ile then conceived a disgust A for in mining ining speculations on tile tho comstock Com tock while the doctor was in this mood ho be ono one day told me ho he know knew of sk bettor better thing than operating in ID mining shares something lie ho would venture upon could ho he leavo his business in virginia city I 1 inquired as ai to the nature of tho the bit business S when the doctor boctor said como come with me to my office and I 1 will tell you wondering what tho the speculation could be b I 1 accompanied the doctor when wo we wore were seated ho he turned to me and said 1 I want you to go to contra central america to honduras L to ITO look after mine manos doctor yos yes one kind of mines but neither mines of gold nor silver I 1 stated stared say saying I 1 ng by my wry fare face what other mines aro are worth lo looking after 1 I want ant you to go to honduras after opals opal aft after r opals I 1 know nothing about abou t mining for opals no matter you aro are not required lead to know now about the mining part you are only to know how to buy thit the I 1 gonia I 1 will port you in that will such a venture pay pay wily why good god its all payi pay no rl rooks ks al ali yes thoro there are risks but not as to the profits if you can set get out of the country with the goms gems how ant am I 1 to got get hold of the going gems whore am I 1 to buy bay theta them abl there 14 1 where the one floe work comes in that Is what I 1 must post you on I 1 hava acon where I 1 wish to send you you can go to tho the same spot I 1 shall give you full fall directions in r regard gard to tun tile locality I 1 will give you letters to persons in honduras I 1 propose to furnish all the money for the expedition and to give you half of what wo we make I 1 have a deposit at tho the office of wells fargo A co across the street of that you shall carry with you I 1 have enough money out outtie ide to get you an outfit red and pay your passage m find nd ex honses I 1 want you to land in ilk tho e opal mines mine with to your credit at a 11 certain banking house honc lu in honduras if you do its as well as all I 1 did that will bring ns its oarb each Is not that bettor better than taking de sperato chances chau reslo in mining stocks yel ye yo L hut but it appears to mf me that you are holding back something aro are there them not J chances to bo be taken in this opal busing busine qs well yes chances of course but after all not very desperate ones now I 1 will tell you how I 1 found out this opal speculation and will give to you a full account of my e I 1 patience to in it IL you will bo be ab able Is tove to aro sro from what I 1 did about what it will bo be necessary for you to do tile tho doctor then prot ceded to RIVO give mo me an account ol of hla his operations in the opal mines of honduras wo we had a doyen meetings and consultations at various times in regard to the proposed expedition the doctor gave mo me tho the pon route to to tho the mines by him and information in reward regard to town and settlements all at 0 which I 1 wrote awn awn at the time I 1 also for my guidance wrote down in a hook book the substance of several conversations had bad with tho the doctor tho the business proceeded so far that I 1 began to 11 study lady the iho spanish language and to show that thai he was able to fulfill his part of the agreement the iho doctor ono one day took mo me to well barro A co in order that tho the agent might show via mo that ho be had lying there ready for use age after all I 1 at last resolved at tho the last moment not to logo go into tho the business it seemed to bo be no moro more honest bait tho the average of the big deals deal in mining stocks from my notes and from what I 1 recollect of the several conversations conversation I 1 now offer TUB STORY 0 OT IF TUB THE TURFS IN THE HONDURAS oralein oral VIS Es eg being to in now new york city and out of health I 1 resolved to go to a warm climate for tho the winter instead at 0 going with tho the crowd crand to florid Florl dl I 1 determined to go to ki central america Amor lra where thre thor a was something now to bo be seen and old learned I 1 was proficient prod clent in taxi taxidermy dArm I 1 and on entomology to and very cry fond of botan izing central america offered a fine held field for fill all those pursuits and stud studios lea in central america I 1 might indulge in this trio of hobbles both to my pleasure and profit thoro there I 1 would bo be likely to find bird birtle plants anu and lit insects sects both rare fin and d va lumble ablo indeed I 1 calculated upon being able to soil sell my collections upon my return to now york for enough at least lait to py pay all the alp expense ex pease eases incident to my trip after purchasing ft a suitable I 1 went down to I 1 arrived there ra undecided as to va n bat region thence to proceed flolly this ahls question tion was decided by my finding a schooner hooner nc ready to frail all to Tro zIllo llo honduras town on the mosquito frontier in tho the schooner which was going to truxillo for a cargo of mahogany and dyo dye woods I 1 at on once took passage in ili duo due time and after about to in tho the gulf of mexico and the caribbean sea the proper num number berof of days dayn wo we galled balled into the harbor of Trux tilo saluting and saluted by the little fort supposed to tek defend ilia ti town A short stay at showed me that I 1 could leopld find nothing 0 much variety T in the tb surrounding country an english physician whose acquaintance I 1 boon made told we mo that it if I 1 could capture a specimen or two of at the quor the royal and sacred bird of the aborigines of central AFe america erlea I 1 would have a prize worth carry carrying ng hrim homo I 1 asked where tho the barj birj was to be found and was as told that it could only bo be found in ono one that place was wai the stale itale or dr de par lmont or grai gra la a at the extreme I 1 north wt point of a a place blaco I 1 11 to which I 1 was wassol not likely to to kt as a I 1 tho english doctor said to hla his surprise falch I 1 told him it was tho the very place to w which I 1 would RO go and that when 1 I returned to truxillo I 1 would bring with trio me tile tho I qu elial TIIE THE I 1 took passage eoon on a small coasting sol that was bound up lip toward port cortes irom from this vessel when it lad had reached its ita stopping stepping place I 1 took look passage on another similar little craft find and so 0 on until I 1 reached tile tho month ol of tho the ulus ulua or ulloa river in tho the BAY of hen clarag thir fis I 1 traveled on tho the little selling cratt craft that piled ald between for or the reason billat illat hat tile tho frequent StOP PARO gave mo me an opportunity of 0 going ashore and collecting specimens this was a bemine sn that thai tho the natives could not well kiell understand all tho the plants and birds appearing to to thorn them so common the bug buff hunting they thought ridiculous an and d joked mn me about it because I 1 they hey at first thought I 1 atiq ans catching insects to mystify and bambo olo them for tho the same reason that I 1 followed tho the coast in uncomfortable little boats I 1 took a round alicent roid to gracyas ft a illo flos L I 1 concluded to go to comayagua for formell form mely esly valladolid la nueva in the department of honduras of which it Is the capital and thence into the ilia department of Gra Graci clas aa to the wort went I 1 hail had A desire to see comayagua tor for the reason that it it 19 a very old town having been founded in 1140 and because in tho the P place hire is 9 A very fit lily endowed hospital light draft steamers run up kip the river a din tanco of 70 to 80 miles after steaming and sailing settle goinn twenty miles h aliva A small town to it called I 1 canto camo nto into a branch of tho the UNA ulua called the vil illch la Is swift and only navigable for canons by this stream I 1 could go to comayagua in the course of time and cannot navigation would just suit me and favor me lit in the indulgence indo I 1 of my three hobbles all I 1 wanted to 10 know of my ra norman was that the city to which I 1 was going goin stood immediately oa art the ilia bank of the river and th thai at some day wo we would arrive there TheIrld the indians lang who ho poled the eanno wei boio a always ready to stop and give me a chance at A bird it was a holiday trip for all hands an and to no mo it was a pano panorama ramp of beauties and wonders front from start to finish I 1 remained two weeks lit in comayagua and mado made many good friends I 1 found several americans americana and set tied fed in the place it I 1 Is said that before fore it was burned bureeda by the monarchical faction of guatemala in lot 1127 ilia iho city contained a population of but since never more than its cathedral Is the ibo pride of the I 1 arranged to make Comay my headquarters and source of supplies and then hiring riding find and pack animals animals sot set out for dion distant forty miles in a northwesterly direction I 1 found tile the town situated in a large plain it contained about families famIlle 4 and was wag quite a brisk place but the iho surrounding plains though fine and fertile did not seem likely to be tho the habitat of the quetzal I 1 unloaded toy my pack mules males and established a sort of copot in gracyas a dlos storing my ll 11 traps with an american trader then prepared to out into some forest region I 1 was dire directed clout to go goto to this tom it of Erand que ail situated to lo the center of the opal mining district as about tho the opal mines I 1 would find a coald considerable bablo number of indians descended from the ancient lenead who he would be able to tolt tell me all ail about tile the que quetzal trall AT A MONASTERY arriving at al F in the nolah boyhood ocul of which place are situated many any opal mines mine I 1 was told of a small monastery or priory situated lit at the edge of an extensive forest in the ilia forest I 1 would mould ond find ample opportunity for the indulgence dul gence of my trio of hobbles and might obtain my meals and perhaps lodgings at tho the priory the of finding board at tho the priory wai an inducement du cement rement for mo me to go thither as I 1 had bad neither the skill nor patience to cook for myself and lad found during my calla banoo trip up tho the huanya nui miya the cooking of t tho he natives almost unendurable in swallowing their mosses ono one never knows their composition I 1 bavo no tas taste to for either cither boiled monkey or iguana c cooked ked a la creolia cr lolla iolia A man cannot enjoy ok monkey lonkey monto lonto who has hall not acquired a is taste to for such food by having occasionally eaten a young baby I 1 found at the priory half a doz dozen till monks on applying for lodgings I 1 was wag given possession of a small detached building buil dlug find and told that I 1 could remain there as long as I 1 wished shed this suited mo me well and the rent asked was small Comay agon Is s the see of a bishop whose jurisdiction extends over all this part of the country and when m hen I 1 told tile the prior print that I 1 had made the acquaintance of his is bishop and visited the cathedral catho drAl cede 10 seminary find and hospital at the town named in tho the company 0 of f tho the right reverend father in G god il I 1 WAS was well received sod aud no 0 was made about providing me meals from the monastery the charge per week seek being a trillo trifle to ono one from this united slates I 1 awong my hammock lu in the quarters assigned me and was soon quite nt at homo battle I 1 found that the priests had charge char goof of an aa opa opal I 1 mine in tho the neighborhood at w aich were employed A number of lonca lenca I 1 visited tho the mine in company with a young priest in order to qui alinn the Tildia indians lis about tile the llau ot fal al thov 41 first told mo file that tho the birds were to bo be found in tho the vicinity but when they found that I 1 intended to kill them they stood aghast at once the birds became faw and the ilia places whore where they wore were to ho he met with in the mine or quarry wore were employed a number of and to the theo them o the advised mo me to address addres my illy inquiries shoot tho the sacred bird as they had little reverence for tho the old superstitions of the however it was thought best to riot not broach the abo matter at on onre 19 even to those these men after wo we led had returned to tho the monastery the brother showed mo me a great quantity of opals in ili the rough they were v very I 1 r beautiful and out of mere idle curiosity I 1 asked the value of tho the stones bow the prices ranged from tho the smallest is t up to the largest larR Piat tile tho young priest pries wen went into tinto an elaborate esplan explanation tion 0 of tho the villio of tho the grams gams show showing that ahr more depended upon fire find and play LIF of n colors colon than on more mere size 16 I 1 alito with it no more interest or attention I 1 than fin p politeness lit Ift eness required then wont went to my term to mount some home lnora captured during tho to the alno THE OPENING or OF TIIE THE OPAL traffic after I 1 visa thoroughly established in my now quarters I 1 as out every lay jay in search ol of birds plants and insects I 1 soon observed that I 1 happened to bu be at work near the opal in ina I 1 was clit blithely hely watched by tho I 1 attributed tri buted this to lo their fear for tho safety of tile tho sacred quetzal fineday I 1 went bot botnen lit in a direction free that brought mo ina to a strip of dense primitive forest at no lea great distance dl stanco front tile opal mino of the monastery I 1 hail rny my fowling piece with roe me and happening to find several small birds of plumage I 1 tired fired two or shots presently as s I 1 was wa reload ing roy my runt gun an indian made ills ilia appearance stealthily parting the undergrowth aud and ilana or hanging inot at tile th first firm glance I 1 thought uio the fellow might hali lio illo intentional but I 1 soon perol ved as hn he advanced that he bo bad no weapon bot even a bow and arrows on oa drawing near bear tho the indian ameled and minted tied mo me tn lit a friendly manner llo ito pretended to examine flike birds I 1 limit just killed lilt great Hi iti terest teren asked about tho ilia hook bartu in m which aleh I 1 placed tho the flowers and plan plants IS collected looked at ilio ilia box in which I 1 cairned ln lit meets bocis and atlant I 1 hall had with mo 10 only such much as word more to him common and of no do value hi he asked if I 1 camato camo to tho ilia place on oil no other business than that of gathering such trifles trillia when I 1 told film that ILI nil I 1 camo came for was as to collect tholo things llie ilia follow fellow lecurer at mo me cunningly slid said that |