The Occidental Railway starts at the important port of Champerico and, with the Guatemala Central, forms a through line to the capital city. It has been in operation for several years and has aided very much in the development of this section of the country. The first city touched by it on the way to the capital is Retalhuleu, the capital of a department and one of the principal cities of the republic, which boasts a population of twelve thousand inhabitants. The buildings are nearly all one-storied, and the streets are narrow and ill-paved. The sidewalks are scarcely wide enough for two people to walk abreast. Door-steps and window-sills project beyond the houses to such an extent that walking abroad at night is rather dangerous. It has an elevation of nearly a thousand feet above sea level so that its temperature is much better than on the coast. It is now one of the principal shipping points of the coffee for which this region is famous, and quite a number of Germans are engaged in that business in the city. There are no manufacturing industries outside of the small plants needed for local wants.
[Illustration: From the Bulletin of the International Bureau of American Republics. A SCENE ALONG THE OCCIDENTAL RAILWAY.]
The road passes through many coffee _fincas_, or plantations, after passing a small junction point, Mulua. From this place a branch line runs to San Felipe, within about twenty-five miles of Quezaltenango, which city for a long time was in control of the coffee market of the country and the second city in the republic. The earthquake of 1902 not only ruined that city but destroyed many a fine coffee plantation. It lies in a basin surrounded by hills nearly a mile and a half above sea level and is shadowed by the volcano Santa Maria. Before disaster overtook it, the city housed a population of twenty-five thousand people. It has always been noted as one of the strongest centres of the priestly power—at least second only to the capital. The road to Quezaltenango in the rainy season is almost impassable. Take one of our country lanes, cut ditches across it, dig deep pits in it, throw some big stones in the centre of it, and run a few streams across it, and you have a fair sample of what this road is when the rains are beating upon it each day. A concession has been granted to complete this branch to Quezaltenango, and it is an improvement much needed. The completion of the line is promised in the near future by the government.