And those returning goods which lie upon our quays, fresh from the hold of the steamer which brought them hither, have their own origin stamped upon them, and often betray by their aroma their special nature. Who has not walked upon the docks and remarked with interest the bales of coffee, the piles of hides, the sacks of ore, the packages of raw cocoa and other raw material sent hither, the product of industrious natives of the picturesque _hacienda_ and the mine? Your commercial traveller, too, if he be a man of parts--and such he must be to treat successfully in these communities--smells the battle from afar, and, setting forth again, girds himself thereto, prepared to exercise that needful show of courtesy which even commercial dealings require in those lands where Spanish and Portuguese is the medium of barter or sale, and schools his tongue to speak in their softer accents. The trade of Latin America is now a much coveted field. The English merchant, who long held this field, has now to contend with the keen competition of others. There was, before the war, the German, who by ability and craft had firmly and remuneratively established himself therein, and who now seeks to build up the trade edifice which the punishment of his criminal war has caused to fall. There is the American, as keen as any, studying by what means he may overcome the disadvantages which worked against his more successful exploitation of the Latin American sphere in the past, and thinking, perhaps, to predominate over his rivals. There are the French, the Italian, the Spaniard and others, all demanding their share; and coming forward now is the Japanese, acclaiming his right to whatever he may wrest, either from the sphere of his competitors or in the finding of fresh pastures. From whence is this keen desire to profit by the trade of the Central and South American States? Despite its attendant risks, of distance, of long credits, of "slow payers" and repudiated debts, it must be profitable. There must be a demand for goods, a wide and sufficient market and a margin of considerable balance over costs and expenses. This is, in fact, the case; but as we shall note, it is possible to overdraw these attractions of the counting-house and the manufactory. Latin America is a territory whose wealth and population are growing. There is an increasing class demanding the things of luxury and necessity which Europe and North America produce, and which Japan produces--for it will be unwise to leave these sharp-witted traders of Asia out of our survey. The Latin American peoples are plastic and emotional, imitative, pleasure-loving, fond of personal adornment. They are emerging from the poverty and austerity of the influence of the Colonial period. Some of them are very wealthy. Their women must be clad in expensive finery; their homes must be furnished with showy furniture; upon their tables must lie the delicacies that other nations enjoy.