Salvador of the Twentieth Century

by Percy F. Martin

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.

Mr. Charles T. Spencer;
General Manager of the Salvador Railway. Appointed May, 1911.

Don Juan Amayo;
Governor of the Department of Cuscatlán.

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.