And so the most valiant efforts have failed to rouse it from its invincible slumber.

The capital which the newcomers sought to improvise with such extreme haste has remained unfinished, and has almost ruined the nation.

The Government, legislators, and functionaries only camp there, fleeing directly the warm weather sets in so as to escape the pernicious climate.

The hotels and shops even put up their shutters, and the streets and promenades become deserts, the city having failed to acquire any life of its own, and relapsing into death as soon as the artificial life instilled into it is withdrawn.

So all remains in suspense in this purely decorative capital, where only a fresh growth of men and money can finish and people the huge useless piles of the new districts.