while and something distinct from the others. All of them should be seen by the visitor who wants to know Panama.

Region No. 1 comprises the two terminal cities of Panama and Colón and the Panama Canal Zone. This is the region most commonly seen by the visitor with limited time. Things to be visited are primarily the Canal in operation, the beautifully landscaped gardens of the Canal Zone towns of Ancón and Balboa, the ruins of Old Panama, which was destroyed by the pirate Henry Morgan in 1671, and present-day Panama City, steeped in tradition and rich in historical landmarks dating from its founding in 1673. Since the opening of the BoydRoosevelt Highway across the Isthmus, the one-day trip can be made by rail-launch. transportation in one direction and by automobile in the other. And last but by

no means least comes the opportunity to shop in Panama City's and Colón's bazaars of all nations. Here the traveler will find the world's best products assembled for his inspection.

To visit Region No. 2, one must be willing to fly or to go by launch along the coast. This region embraces the entire Caribbean coastline and includes the lovely San Blas Islands. Although these islands are only 89 miles from the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal, the Indians who make their homes on about 35 of the 365 islets are centuries away from modern civilization. The turquoise water, white coral islands, and graceful palms provide scenery which might be a Hollywood dream. The friendly Indians wear gold rings in their noses, dress in bright red, green, yellow, and blue costumes, paint black lines to make their noses seem

longer, and bind their arms and legs with strings of beads to keep them thin.

For those interested in historical things, Region No. 2 offers the town of Portobelo. Named "Beautiful Harbor" by Columbus, Portobelo was once the Spaniards' greatest market town and was the scene of one of the fiercest pirate attacks on Panama. The ruins of the five great forts which once guarded the town may still be seen, as well as traces of the stone-paved "King's Highway" which led across the Isthmus.

With a little more time travelers may fish in the beautiful bay of Bocas del Toro to the west of Colón. Those interested in new products will do well to arrange a visit to the United Fruit Co.'s great abacá (Manila hemp) plantations and processing plant at Changuinola.

Region No. 3 of tourist interest embraces the central provinces and is easily reached by automobile over the National Highway or by local air services. This is the land of Panama's handicrafts, of miles of white sand beaches, of simple peasants and

cattlemen, of village festivals. This area, the portion of the Isthmus first settled by white men, is rich in legends. San Carlos is reported to have once been saved from invasion by its patron saint and an army of birds; Ocú is known as the town the Saint moved; it was at San Francisco de Veraguas that the simple monks strove to preach equality of all races through the wood carvings decorating their 16thcentury church. In Natá of the Knights one of the oldest churches in the Western Hemisphere still in use may be visited; Chitré is famous for its leather crafts. Los Santos, noted for its devil dancers, is the scene of one of the most impressive of the Holy Week processions, in which the town's little girls, dressed in pink and blue angels' costumes, ride on floats escorted by the prettiest maidens in white carrying candles. Watch closely, because the village engagements are announced by a simple expedient: girl's candle blows out, serious suitor immediately lights it. And who can say that the wind is not sometimes

assisted by those demure-looking maidens? Region No. 4, on the Pacific side, is for those who are willing to go farther afield, who like beaches and islands, deep-sea fishing, and primitive Indians in the deepest jungle. Here one goes by boat or on foot through the wild-rubber, mahogany, and balsa-wood forests. Little is really known of the Chocó Indians, who wear sarongs and bead girdles, paint their bodies in intricate geometrical designs (the wife's always matches the husband's and only chiefs may use triangles), and build great flat-bottomed canoes called piraguas capable of carrying thirty or forty persons.

Deep-sea fishermen will find the vicinity of the Pearl Islands one of the world's best

fishing grounds. Here Pacific sailfish, giant wahoo, and record black marlin are plentiful from May through November. Fishing has not yet been much commercialized in Panama and it is still difficult to rent launches. However, several local businessmen are considering investing in equipment similar to that used in Florida.

Have you always yearned to live right on a beautiful bathing beach? To fish from native boats? To collect coral and shells? To explore a quaint native village? Taboga, Island of Flowers, 12 miles from Panama City and a popular resort since the 16th century, is the answer. There is a new hotel-Paraíso la Restinga owned by the Panama National Tourist Commission and managed by "Tillie," who has been hostess at Taboga for many years. There is launch service twice daily to and from Balboa and hotel rates are moderate.

Chiriquí, the western province bordering Costa Rica, is Region No. 5. It should not be neglected by the traveller. Here headquarters may be made at the new and luxurious Hotel Nacional at David. Owned by the Panamanian government, this hotel is managed by the American Hotels Corporation and is considered one of Central America's finest. David is the center of a rich agricultural area where sugar cane, bananas, rice, and potatoes form the principal sea-level crops, while oranges, limes, pineapples, coffee, and all kinds of flowers are grown on the steep sides of 11,000-foot Volcán Baru. are great cattle ranches, tumbling trout streams, fine hunting, and unbelievably beautiful mountain scenery.

Here

Yes, Panama is really a land of contrasts. In this relatively small area you can find things you would otherwise have to travel many miles to see. It is a country well worth your acquaintance and a friendly place where you are always welcome.

PEOPLE in New Orleans were surprised last November when six tons of Honduran culture- plus a violinist-were unloaded from a steamer for an eight-day exhibition in the city's International House. They hadn't been thinking of Honduras in just that way. It was still considered when at all-in terms of bananas, of which indeed it produces plenty, and of revolutions, which in fact it has not had in some fifteen years.

The exhibit was presented by a Honduran cultural mission which had come to New Orleans at the invitation of Mayor DeLesseps S. Morrison, a Latin American enthusiast. Covering floor space which

according to pictures must have been measured in acres, it represented a fair cross section of cultural activity in Honduras. Among other manifestations, it included those archeological specimens. that could be readily transported, colonial and contemporary paintings, ancient and modern ceramics, and books and magazines plus the violinist.

Those who accompanied the exhibit estimate that some 50,000 persons saw it. Whatever the number, the pity is that it was not multiplied by a thousand, that it did not remain in the United States one or two or five years. For this is exactly the sort of activity needed to foment the

type of inter-American understanding we have been talking about for a long time.

But Honduras, a solvent yet not a rich nation, simply cannot think in terms of the expenses a tour of that kind would involve. Suggestions by appreciative observers that the cultural mission proceed to other United States cities were not accompanied by checks to cover expenses, and no angel stepped in to fill the gap. Therefore a return to Honduras was the only possible conclusion.

Nevertheless, the mission left its mark. It demonstrated again that Honduras, if not quite at the relative altitude on the ladder of Western culture reached by its ancestor, the Mayan civilization, is making its own definite and individual contribution to the intellectual pattern of twentiethcentury America.

Fine arts

Appropriately, the cultural mission was headed by Arturo López Rodezno, director of Tegucigalpa's National School of Fine Arts and the Republic's leading graphic artist. Thirty-seven of his paintings, pencil and pen-and-ink drawings, decorated tiles, and other creations composed an important part of the exhibit.

In no field is present-day Honduran cultural activity more pronounced than in the graphic arts. This is due largely to the establishment of the National School of Fine Arts in 1940 and to its outstanding direction under López Rodezno, who combines admirably the esthetic and the practical. He is president of the Tegucigalpa Rotary Club, in which the notion of the cultural mission was born. Paris-trained, López Rodezno is intensely New World in