A Swiss settler on the bank of Sarapiquí

Abstract

Starting in September 1869, recently established as an agricultural settler on the banks of the Sarapiquí River in Costa Rica, Léonce Pictet sent six letters to her family in Switzerland, detailing her experiences at that site. They were published with the title Un colon genevois sous les tropiques (A Generaine Settler in the Tropics) in the Journal de Genève (Journal of Geneva), between December 1869 and May 1870. Although they were translated by the diplomat Manuel María Peralta, and published in 1871-1872 in the newspaper El Costarricense, the numbers in which they appeared were lost. However, due to its historical value, its digital versions were located and transcribed here, translated again. In addition to interpreting various aspects of its content, they are illustrated and supplemented with information about the geography, biology and history of the Sarapiquí region.