| Show efroin I 1 from the london lit I 1 new newa I 1 PANAMA HATS Behind he tho principal chain of the andes extends ten ciff olt on the fie banks of the and the marioa in an immense plain inclined to the C alsed by mountain ranges and which ea 6 called c d in peru the aion Alon montana talla tatia real under a in sky bleh which bieh is often disturbed by thunder 6 ja the eternal verdure of the primordial I 1 ats es s charms the eye cf the traveler whilst e J the marshes the enormous bents ants tie innumerable insects arrest his ci Si tating lating march this region through agh which c 11 t e s communications are difficult is called lower peru there grow in all the luxuriance of a limited vegetation atlon the most beautiful and gigantic 3 n fio tio plants the be loveliest and most odorous flowers 0 ers erb th thein theia ino ost t useful ful fui shrubs the herbs th he richest b lh ii as to production and value ma ina y bof of which arple yens unknown in europe though eminently in the country itself in lower pern crows erows the or hat straw resembling sem bling so as to form a tuft af of marsh reeds the ol 01 gor for is a delicate green the hats bats called railed panama hats and made from the bombon axa hl huyg bigg received ived ired the name they bear from haying having mist fist been imported from froin panama into the emited states in truth lie lle however wever the adi idi a hats are exported from nearly the south american coast certain classes of indians devote themselves exclusively to the making caking of the bats the process is a very long one and this ia is one reas reain n why the price of these hats is so high the minute delicate labor is ion lon loner ioner longer er or shorter according to the quality for whilst common art cles demand scarcely more than two or three days those of the best description require entire months of care and a the plaiting palting pai pal ting of these thes bats occupies the whole of the indian colony of on the banks of the amazon ito to the no th of lower peru in this village mn and women children and old n en are equally busy the inhabitants are all seen seated before their cottages plaiting hats and ald brn Bin smoking oking cigarettes the straw is plaited on a thick piece of wood which the workman hold holds between his knees the tho centre is begun first and he work continued outward to the rim the time the most favorable for this kind of work is the morning morning 0 or rainy days when the atmosphere is saturated edwith with moisture at noon erchen the weather is 13 clear and dry the straw is apt to break and these breaking appear in the form of knots when the work is done the leaves of the bombon axa to be fit to be used are g gl hered before their complete development they are steeped in ha tut h A water until they become white when thia thib operation ia is terminated each plant is separately dried in a chamber whre a high temperature is kept up the bombon axa is then b cached for tor two or three crays days the straw thus ihus prepared ia is de spat 2 patched ched to all the places where tae toe inhabit inhabitants ints occupy themselves with plaiting hats hate and the indians if cf peru employ the straw not only for hats but also in making those delic delicious ious ions little cigar char g cases which are often sold for 5 or 10 etch when an indian has mada made a dozen or so of alier these hats bats he sets out for the residence of a dealer in the article and generally arrives in in the evening nothing is more curious than to see the cunning indian bib bis merchandise bid lid under the folds of his poncho advancing toward the toe house bouse of the supposed purchaser waiting walting 0 without stirring and looking at the door in i lenc wun wuen the dealer examines a hat which the indian has shown him the latter aska asks an enormous price which is generally three times the value of the article and an J when after a long discussion he at last decides decad esto eato to conclude a bargain one se a him examining with distrust the money which be has received and rubbing it in order to try whether it is good it if the sellers of the hats are to tile the number of two or three be he who concludes tue the bargain passes to 10 the oth others rs the sum paid in that they may also se bee see whether it is honest money if it the money pleases them the first man draws from hie inexhaustible poncho a second a third or a twentieth hat bat as a conjuror draws every variety of articles from a hat and for each of the pajamas panamas Pa the same scene of distrust is renewed for the verification of the money we can easily understand the slowness which results from this mode of sale it is difficult to buy more than twenty hats a da ili in L giving ang the best bea price thus in order to collect 2000 hats bata representing a value of a sojourn of three or four months in the country ia is required and aa as transactions with Pa a savages such as those in lower peru are difficult dealers are obliged to carry about with them both the money and the merchandise notwithstanding these difficulties the trade in bats hats is on one ona e of the barest surest and most moat lucrative in the land moyobamba Moyo bamba exports every year ten or eleven thod thousand band sand hata bata the province of panama produces much more than P peru pru ru it is supposed that not otless less than sixty or eighty thousand hats hata are annuala annually exported from the province of 11 panama anima TE it the average price of a hat bat is reckoned at two pla pias treb tres their exportation export aton on will wil represents represent a value of about the greater part yarl of the hats bats are exported from lima but of late years yearb the exportation bas baa likewise t taken aken iken place by way of tile the amazon hitherto the high price of the tha panama baia bata his ha hindered their transportation into europe As the average price of the tho bat has baa fallen to 10 about xa 1 they ara are now within the reach of nearly every one the pajamas panamas are distinguished from all other hats bats in lit being in a pingle piece marvellously light and of incomparable elasticity they can be rolled and put in the pocket without any danger ct of being broken in rainy weather they become black bint but they recover their natural color when steeped in soapy water what constitutes and maintains the reputation of the panama hat is that thal neither heat nor insects which devour everything under the torrid suri eun of the equator can effect t the b bo dombo bombo naca naza straw in the long run nothing bothin but h humidity can destroy them th y last eight times as iong long as a leghorn hat bat the aney T are easily carried about they can be folded fol foi aea ded and rolled by the dozen li kethe couite net n e merchandise in short the trade in i panama hats is 19 the very best in south america and it would be easy to estah establish lish it in algeria Af gerna geria in the west indies and in guiana there has been an importation into france ot of panama hats not pot more than two years the importation into england has just begun but it is sure grealy grea lrea ly to extend |
