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CENTIUL AMERICA; ^ 
 
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 CHONTALES 
 
 BY- 
 
 COL. IB. J^. HjE^EIE^, 
 
 FOREIGN EDITOR, TIMES-DEMOCRAT,' 
 
 Author of " Yzabelita, or a Trip to the Land of the Maya. 
 
 (COPYRIGHT SECUHEU.) 
 
 NEW ORLEANS: 
 E. A. BRANDAO & CO., PUBLISHERS, 34 MxiGAZINE STREET. 
 
 1885, 
 
CENTRAL AMERICA; 
 
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 Li 
 
 -AND- 
 
 CHONTALES 
 
 -BY- 
 
 OOXj. E.' .A-. I-iE^EIE^, 
 
 FOREIGN EDITOR, TIMES-DEMOCRAT, 
 
 Author of " Yzabelita, or a Trip to the Land of the Maya. ' 
 
 (COPTKIGHT BECUBBD.) 
 
 NEW OELEANS: 
 E. A. BKANDAO & CO., PUBLISHERS, 34 MAGAZINE STREET. 
 
 1885. 
 

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 TO THE SURVIVING FOLLOWERS OF THE 
 IMMORTAL MOEOZAN, 
 
 AND THEIR POLITICAL DISCIPLES, 
 
 the sincere Uuiouists of Central America, this volume is 
 cordially inscribed by 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 A generation has passed away since Stephens informed the 
 scientific world that, in the hidden depths of the primeval for- 
 ests of Central America, he had discovered the ruins of numer- 
 ous aboriginal cities, whose crumbling temple walls and fallen 
 towers imparted the sad story of their decline and fall. More 
 than thirty years ago Squiers published an interesting work 
 which advocated the building by Americans of an inter-oceanic 
 railroad across the Eepublic of Honduras, from Puerto Cortez 
 to Amapala. About the same time an American mineralogist, 
 named Wells, gave to the public a detailed account of the 
 mineral resources of the famous Honduranean departments of 
 Olancho and Yoro. 
 
 Since the above mentioned writers published their works on 
 Central America no other American author has occupied his 
 pen with this important subject. "Meanwhile a momentous 
 revolution in Gruatemala placed the reins of power in the hands 
 of the Liberals, and that republic has entered upon an era of 
 regeneration, of political freedom, and of material progress. 
 
 The Liberals of Guatemala were no sooner triumphant than 
 they lent a helping hand to their struggling brethern of Hon- 
 duras and San Salvador. Thus those governments also enjoy 
 an enlightened and liberal form of government. The people 
 of Nicaragua and of Costa Rica have unassisted worked out 
 their political and material reform. In the former, the en- 
 lightened statesmen. Quadra, Zavala and Cardenas, led the 
 progressive movement, while Costa Rica's regeneration was 
 accomplished by two patriotic citizens, Guadia and Fernandez. 
 
 At present the five Central American re{)ublics are pros- 
 perous and happy. The era of revolutions, of anarchy and of 
 bloodshed has passed away, and an indusfcrious, intelligent 
 and contented people have earnestly bent their energies to 
 the prosecution of the different branches of industry. Public 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 schools are found in every village, mining and agriculture 
 have been revived, while the iron horse has become a familiar 
 sight to the descendants of those aborigines who so bravely 
 but vainly defended their native land against the mail-clad 
 Spanish conquistadores. 
 
 The foreign traffic of this naturally rich country has for 
 many years attracted the serious attention of the principal 
 commercial nations of Europe. France, England and Germa- 
 ny have earnestly competed for its acquisition. Within the 
 past decade IsTew York city has striven to possess it, and in 
 conjunction with the commercial metropolis of the Pacific 
 coast, has succeeded in wresting no small portion of this trade 
 from the transatlantic competitors. 
 
 IN'or have the merchants of the Crescent City looked on su- 
 pinely while their northern and European rivals were strug- 
 gling for this i^romising traffic. The Macheca Bros., Oteri, 0. 
 A. Fish & Co., and Miller & Henderson, have captured the 
 greater portion of the tropic fruit trade, while Schmidt & 
 Zeigler, Smith Bro. & Co., H. Dudley Coleman, Eice, Born & 
 Co., Woodward, Wight & Co., John Adams, and others, have 
 acquired a fair share of the provision, coffee, hardware and 
 lumber traffic. 
 
 But if the merchants of New Orleans have accomplished a 
 great deal in this direction, they should not rest until the 
 greater portion of Central American traffic is in their hands. 
 This city is advantageously situated for the requirements of 
 this trade; thus, if it does not eventually flow hither, the 
 blame can only rest upon our Crescent City merchants. 
 
 The intention of the writer of this work is to furnish the 
 people and merchants of this section with a brief description 
 of the forest, agricultural and mineral resources of the land 
 of the Quiches and the Chontales, together with a short his- 
 torical account of these erstwhile Spanish colonial possessions 
 from the epoch of the conquest down to the present day. 
 
 The author has several times visited each of the Central 
 American republics. Last year he crossed Guatemala, Hon- 
 duras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, from ocean to ocean, and 
 traveled through San Salvador. He writes, therefore, from 
 
PREFACE, 
 
 personal experience and observation. He has likewise made 
 the history and geography of Central America a special study. 
 Conscious of its many imperfections, it is with serious mis- 
 givings the writer submits this unpretentious work to the 
 public. If, however, the information it imparts should in any 
 way influence the movement of southern capital and southern 
 enterprise into the localities it treats of, his object will be 
 attained and his earnest hopes realized. 
 
 InTew ORLEANS; March 8, 1885. 
 
BRITISH HONDURAS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Works relating to the Colonj-. Mr. Wilson's Admirable Almanac. Pro- 
 gress of the country under the Barlee administration. Death of 
 that Statesman. Discovery of the Spanish main by Columbus. 
 Settlement of the colony by the pirate, Wallice. 
 
 Within the past two decades several Eugiisli tourists have 
 visited the iiDiqiie and to them almo.st hitherto uukuowu British 
 Colony of Belize, Central America. Upon their return to the 
 mother country, they published narratives of their tour. These 
 works are both interesting and valuable, notwithstanding the 
 writers occasionally permitted themselves to be swayed by the 
 insular and clannish prejudices for which the English are so 
 celebrated. Mr. A. li. Cibbs, in 1883, published in London, 
 a fair sized volume, entitled "British Honduras, an historical 
 and descriptive account of the Colony from its settlement, in 
 1670." This work is quite popular in England, but is almost 
 unknown in the United States. A Mr. Morris, not long since, 
 devoted several months' time to visiting the different locali- 
 ties of the province. His book " The Colony of British Hon- 
 duras, its Resources and Prospects," is probably the best 
 work of the kind that has, as yet, issued from the E]]giish 
 press. The local government purchased a number of volumes 
 which are retailed to tourists at a price less than cost. 
 
 During the Barlee regime, tbe private secretary of that 
 functionary, Mr. Wm. Grey Wilson, published a so-styled Al- 
 manac, which contains more statistical and other information 
 than all the rest of the works oh British Honduras published 
 by English authors. But, being an Officeholder, Mr, Wilson's 
 work was deemed, by the sturdy colonists, to favor the Crown's 
 interests overmuch ; for that reason the Almanac has never 
 been poi)ular in the country it treats of. 
 
2 BRITISH HONDUEAS. 
 
 Notwithstauding' the amount of matter printed regarding 
 this ont-of-the-way British possession, the statesmen and 
 oiBfioials of England, until very lately, knew more of the in- 
 terior of Africa than they did of their Central American pro- 
 vince. One of them, in a public document, speaks of " British 
 Honduras and other islands," while it would doubtless puzzle 
 the great premier himself, to furnish, on the spur of the mo- 
 ment, a fair estimate of the actual imi)ortance and value of 
 the Colony. 
 
 A southern journal, the Times-Democrat^ was the first Amer- 
 ican periodical which published to the world a plain and un- 
 varnished statement of facts regarding this colonial possession 
 of the British crown. Major E. A. Burke, the enterprising 
 and indefatigable owner and editor of that paper, three years 
 ago perceived the importance of attracting the traf&c of the 
 Colony toll^ew Orleans. This undertaking could only be carried 
 out by making the merchants of both places better acquainted 
 with each other and with their mutual traffic possibilities and 
 facilities. New York and Europe had hitherto enjoyed a mon- 
 opoly of the Colony's trade. He determined to wrest a por- 
 tion of it at least, from the commercial rivals of New Orleans. 
 The means he employed to accomplish this desideratum, was 
 to educate the merchants of this section regarding the value 
 and importance of the growing traffic of the Colony. To that 
 end a member of the editorial staff of the Times-Democrat was 
 sent to British Honduras, with instructions to examine thor- 
 oughly into its trade resources and possibilities. 
 
 The results of this mission, which were made known to the 
 world through a series of letters published in the above men- 
 tioned journal, proved highly satisfactory. The merchants, 
 and residents of the Colony were gratified by the attention 
 bestowed upon their province, by the great newspaper of the 
 Southwest, while the business men of New Orleans had their 
 attention drawn to this hitherto neglected locality, by these 
 authentic accounts of its traffic resources. The letters were 
 extensively reproduced by English periodicals. The result of 
 this latter action proved very favorable, and gave an impetus 
 to the material progress of the Colony. Capital began to 
 
BRITISH HONDURAS. 
 
 seek investment in that hitherto ignored locality. Emigration 
 flowed thither, and in three years, British Honduras has, if 
 we may believe the assertions of local statisticians, nearly 
 doubled its foreign trade, while the fruit planting industry 
 has augmented in value and importance more than twenty fold. 
 
 Notwithstanding that newspaper enterprise, in this case, 
 proved so influential and beneficial to the material advance- 
 ment of the Colony, there was another factor which exerted 
 a j)aramount influence toward bringing about its regeneration. 
 A wise and honest man, the Hon. F. P. Barlee, was appointed 
 by the British government to rule the province. During an 
 entire decade, the commerce of Belize had dwindled to alinost 
 absolute insignificance. A few logs of mahogany, a limited 
 quantity of log wood, and some bundles of skins and hides, con- 
 stituted its entire export traffic. Its import trade consisted of 
 small annual cargoes of general merchandise from New York, 
 and the mother country, and limited shipments of western 
 produce from New Orleans, in schooners, which also carried 
 on a fair fruit traffic with the Spanish American settlements 
 to the south. 
 
 An American writer has observed, that : " if a colony of 
 Anglo Saxons should suddenly, while clogged with all their 
 human attributes, be transported to heaven, they would soon 
 find fauh with, and protest against the celestial system of 
 government." It is needless to say that many of the sturdy 
 British colonists of Belize soon became dissatisfied with Gov. 
 Barlee's administration. He was denounced as a despot. His 
 acts were stigmatized as arbitrary, and it was not long 
 before the well-intentioned functionary became extremely un- 
 popular. 
 
 But Governor Barlee was neither arbitrary nor despotic. 
 He had the welfare of the Colony near at heart, and deter- 
 mined to bring about its regeneration, despite the murmurs 
 of the discontented and reckless opposition faction which con- 
 stantly strove to thwart his measures. The Home Govern- 
 ment, which entertained the highest opinion of his ability and 
 patriotism, resolutely sustained him, and in the end, he suc- 
 ceeded in carrying out his numerous measures of reform. 
 
BRITISH HONDURAS. 
 
 After a thorough exaiiiiiiatiou of the situation he concluded 
 that the future welfare of the Colonj^ depended upon its close 
 commercial connection witli this country. To bring about this 
 disideratum, he established a line of steamers between Belize 
 and !New Orleans, and granted the enterprise a heavy mail 
 subsidy. This measure, which at the time was very unpop- 
 ular, proved the salvation cf the Colony. Through it, the 
 fruit plantiug industry was promoted and fostered; commer- 
 cial intercourse between the province and New Orleans was 
 established, traffic revived and the little colony entered upon 
 a new era of commercial and material progress. 
 
 The passage of time and the course of events have vindi- 
 cated the policy pursued during Governor Barlee's adminis- 
 tration, ]Srot long since this good and wise man died at the 
 island of Trinidad, to which government he had been i^ro- 
 moted. The news of his demise proved a shock to Belize 
 society. Even his old political enemies, while deploring this 
 sad event, have been heard to acknowledge that he was en- 
 titled to be styled the savior of the Colony. 
 
 The English residents of British Honduras who number 
 perhaps but 450, in a population of 30,000, are a fair type of 
 the Anglo Saxon race. As merchants and traders, they are 
 active, intelligent;, and energetic. Politically, the highest title 
 they aspire to, is to be recognized as British subjects, and 
 they demand the same status they would hold in their native 
 country. The Crown colonial system of government which 
 obtains in the province, and in which an American, at least, 
 can see but little to recommend, is very unpopular with the 
 people. In their colonial ignorance and simplicity, they can- 
 not imagine why men, who leave their country, their homes, 
 and their friends ; who spend the better part of their lives 
 in assisting to build up England's commercial prosperity 
 and supremancy abroad ; who, through the medium of their en- 
 ergy, business spirit, and natural courage, after braving innu- 
 merable dangers and risks, have wrested from the tiopic wilds 
 of Central America a rich jewel for the British crown, should 
 be disfranchised, as it were, by a system of government which 
 reduces them almost to the level of a conquered people; a 
 
BRITISH HONDURAS. 
 
 system of government in which the crown officials have the 
 preponderance, and which levies taxes without adequate rep- 
 resentation of the people. 
 
 U nder the administration of an executive of arbitrary dispo- 
 sition, the crown government system degenerates inro pure 
 absolutism. The people of British Honduras, as also their fel- 
 low countrymen of Jamaica, deprecate the form of govern- 
 ment under which they live, and will never rest contented 
 uutil they recover all the rights and privileges to which they 
 are entitled as free born, true blue British subjects. 
 
 The present Governor of Belize, Mr. G-oldworthy, is de- 
 servedly very popular with the people. He seems to possess 
 many of the same characteristics as his illustrious predecessor, 
 Mr. Bariee,'aud appears desirous of leaving behind him, when 
 he retires from the scene of his present labors, the same uni- 
 versal opinion that the material progress of the province was 
 the unwearied object of his administrative aim. 
 
 The territory of British Honduras, so its residents claim, 
 was discovered by the immortal Oristoval Colon (Columbus) on 
 his third voyage to the west. 
 
 Tradition hath it that he landed on the little island that 
 faces the present city of Belize in the year 1502. 
 
 The Colony is at present kuowu as British Honduras ; the 
 name of Belize being confined to the pretty tropic city, which 
 is the captial of the British possessions on the main land. To- 
 gether with the numerous cays that nestle lovingly close to 
 the coast, British Honduras comprises about 6400 square miles, 
 or 4,096,000 acres of laud, English measurement. 
 
 According to tradition, the Colony received its name from a 
 celebrated Scotch buccaneer named " Wallice." As there is 
 no " W" in the Spanish alphabet, the name of the famous pi- 
 rate chief was pronounced "Baliz" by his Spanish enemies. 
 In the course of time it was corrupted into " Belize." Thus 
 a buccaneer chieftain gave his name to one of the fairest 
 and most valuable colonial possessions of the British crown. 
 
 As near as can be ascertained, the pirate Wallice, in the 
 beginning of the seventeenth century, established his head- 
 quarters on the site now occupied by the city of Belize. From 
 
6 BRITISH HONDURAS 
 
 here he sallied on his buccaneering expeditions to the Spanish 
 main ; nor was it long before he became a terror to the whole 
 coast, from the port of Vera Cruz, in Mexico, southward along 
 the Mexican gulf, and the Caribbean sea, to the isthmus of 
 Darien. 
 
 From the year 1630, nothing more is heard of him. Whether 
 he died a natural death and was buried on the Spanish main 
 or at his little settlement in Belize, or was killed on one of his 
 piratical incursions into Spanish America, is unknown, but 
 about the date given above his headquarters at Belize were 
 abandoned and the territory was claimed by the Spanish crown. 
 
 The first purely English settlement founded at Belize was 
 composed of a few seamen who were wrecked on the coast 
 in the year 1638. By the year 1670 the Colony was in a 
 prosperous condition, much more so, in fact, than any other 
 of the British possessions in America. Its enterprising citi- 
 zens exported log wood and mahogany to the mother country. 
 
 But Spain never relinquished her assumed rights to the ter- 
 ritory for more than two centuries, although from the year 
 1798, the British government '' exercised both territorial and 
 imperial rights openly and unrestrictedly." 
 
 On the ninth of September, 1798, a Spanish fleet, composed 
 of fifteen sail, was utterly defeated by a small British force, 
 assisted by the gallant colonists at St. George's Cay. JFrom 
 the date of that event the British have held undisputed sway 
 over this possession on the main, as well as over about 100 
 square miles of cays that lie along the coast. 
 
 In the year 1861, by consequence of a memorial signed by 
 the greater part of the inhabitants of the city of Belize, the 
 Territory of British Honduras was raised to the dignity of a 
 crown colony, the Spanish claims to the country were quietly 
 ignored by consequence of the defeat of their fleet at St. George's 
 Cay and in 1798, it was declared an English conquest, and a 
 governor was appointed to rule the settlement, in the name of 
 the British sovereign, by the home government. 
 
 The absorption of this strip of Central American territory, 
 that was so hotly contested by Spain, and whose own right to 
 which was so often tacitly relinquished by the British govern- 
 
BRITISH HONDURAS. 
 
 merit, was simply a preliminary step looking toward the con- 
 quest of the entire Caribbean coast, from the mouth of the 
 Hondo river, southwest, to the confines of Costa Eica. In the 
 chapters of this work devoted to Mcaragua the writer will 
 enter more at length into the discussion of this subject, will 
 endeavor to point out the steps taken by the British govern- 
 ment toward the acquirement of this vast territorj^, and will 
 explain how, when the success of the movement seemed cer- 
 tain, it suddenly and unexpectedly failed of accomplishment. 
 
 The people of the go-ahead and prosperous little Latin 
 American republic of Guatemala as yet regard British Hon- 
 duras with wistful eyes, and would, doubtless, if the oppor- 
 tunity presented itself, endeavor to annex the coveted territory 
 to their own country. 
 
 Hitherto British Honduras had been a dependency of the 
 Colony of Jamaica, and its executive ranked only as Lieuten- 
 ant Governor. Two months since, the happy colonists received 
 the pleasant news that their adopted country had been created 
 an independent government by Her Gracious Majesty, Queen 
 Victoria, and its executive elevated to the rank of full Gov- 
 ernor and Commander-in-chief of the Colony. The joy of the 
 gratified colonists was intense, and, notwithstanding the fact 
 that their Governor already received more salary than the 
 chief Magistrate of the great State of Kew York; they at 
 once voted him a large increase of annual pay lo enable him 
 to sustain, with dignitv, the honors of his new rank. 
 
CHAPTER IL 
 
 Description of British Hondurae. Its present population. The import 
 aud export traffic. Approach to the City of Belize, from the north : 
 view from the harbor. The cleanest aud neatest city on the Conti- 
 nent. 
 
 The writer has gleaned the following interesting facts, cod- 
 cerning the Colony from the Almanac pnblished by Mr. Grrey 
 Wilson : 
 
 "For the most part British Honduras is flat, with vast 
 swamp and lagoons, having a depth of about three feet. It is 
 to be remarked that nearly all these latter run parallel with the 
 coast, indicating a probable old sea coast of which the present 
 one formed the outer reef. 
 
 " The principal ones are : New River (twenty miles long), 
 Crab Catchers, Revenge, ISTorthern, Southern and Mexico. 
 Apart from mahogany and log wood. the forests of the Colony 
 display a great wealth of tropical vegetation, including the 
 cedar, rosewood, bullet tree, fustic, lignum vitai, sapodilla, 
 Santa Maria, iron wood, red and white pine and India rubber 
 trees, and the sarsaparilla, cochineal cactus, agave, pita, silk 
 grass, istle, Yucatan hemp, indigo, and numerous other useful 
 plants and shrubs, many of which possess medicinal pro- 
 perties. The cocoanut abounds, as does the cahoon palm 
 and the groundnut, locally known by the name of pindas 
 (carachis hypogaea), so exteusivelj- grown in and exported from 
 Western Africa, which produces an oil equal to olive oil for 
 domestic purposes, and is also excellent for fodder for horses 
 and cattle. 
 
 " The only mountains are the ' Coxcomb' range, with an ex- 
 treme elevation above the level of the sea of 4000 feet ; behind 
 which there lay an unknown country until last year, when 
 this portion of the Colony was, more or less, explored by Mr. 
 Fowler; — the colonial secretary — two Europeans and ten In- 
 dians, Starting from Garbutt's Falls, on the Old River, a 
 southeast course was struck to the seacoast at Deep river. 
 
BRITISH HONDURAS. 9 
 
 The country crossed was a series of hills and valleys at an 
 elevation of from 1200 to 3000 feet. The westerly portion was 
 slightly undulating prairie, affording a magnilicent pasture. 
 No inhabitants were met, but several stone ruins, evidently 
 of great antiquity, were discov^ered. The soil was as a rule 
 rich, but interspersed with barren and rugged spots. 
 
 " A serviceable and direct road is now opened between Be- 
 lize and the Grautemala frontier, leading to Paten. 
 
 "Traveling is almost all done by water in light-draft boats, 
 ordorys,' the rivers are tortuous in their course, and in the 
 dry season are almost unserviceable. The Hondo, the north- 
 ern boundary dividing Honduras from Yucatan, is navigable 
 for about sixty miles ; the ISTew river, sixty miles ; the Belize 
 or Old river, which rises in Guatemala, for about 120 miles; 
 the Sibuu, the former southern limit of the Colony, thirty 
 miles; the Manitee, sixteen miles; Mullino and Sittee, six- 
 teen miles; North Sturm creek, eighteen miles; the Monkey, 
 Deep, Hope creek and Golden Stream, Maho, and the Tomagh, 
 are all navigable for a few miles. The Sarstoon, forming the 
 southern boundary, is a wide and deep stream, navigable by 
 tolerable-sized vessels for ten miles from its mouth. 
 
 " The country along the banks of all these rivers is fertile, 
 and affords good pasture land. 
 
 "A sea breeze is prevalent during eight or nine months of 
 the year, rendering the climate, which is damp and enervating, 
 fairly healthy. Ej)idemics are of rare occurrence." 
 
 The population of British Honduras, in 1871, in round num- 
 bers, was 25,000, but on account of the extreme difficulty of 
 taking the census this number cannot be relied on. The pop- 
 ulation in 1880, according to the figures given by the late 
 Oapt. George Marriner, chief of police, is about 28,000. 
 
 In 1870, the statement of the public receijjts and expendi- 
 tures was : 
 
 Eevenue, $133,617 ; Expenditures, $131,013 ; Public debt, 
 $147,950 ; Imports, $921,685 ; Exports, S859,885 
 
 The same for 1880 was : 
 
 Eevenue, $216,173; Expenditures, $189,613; Public debt, 
 January 1, 1880, .S8,204 ; Imports, $945,380 ; Exports, $873,785. 
 
10 BRITISH HONDURAS. 
 
 From the year 3 871 to 1876, inclusive, the imports and ex- 
 ports ag-gregated about $1,900,000, but in 1877 thej^ fell off^— 
 why, it is impossible to ascertain — to about $1,450,000. 
 
 There is no export duty on the produce of the province, 
 while the import duty is, with very few exceptions, but ten 
 per cent ad valorem. 
 
 Her Majesty's Colony of British Honduras is protected by a 
 volunteer force composed of some twenty officers and about 
 350 non-commissioned officers and privates. 
 
 The commerce of the settlement has within the last six years 
 gradually increased. In 1880 the number o± its registered 
 vessels — which averaged twenty-five tons each — was sixty- 
 five ; the number of unregistered vessels was. fifteen, making' 
 a total of eighty vessels then belonging to the Colony. 
 
 Taxation, in all different phases and tints, will amount to 
 about $5 per head upon a population of 30,000. 
 
 The land tax on the annual valuation of property in the 
 towns is three per cent. If unoccupied or unused, one-and-a 
 half per cent. Mahogany and log wood works, at the rate of 
 $24 per mile base. 
 
 A plantation under ten acres, $100 ; lands on cays, per 
 square mile, $100; house on caj'-s whether used or not, three 
 per cent, all other lands, per square mile, $200 ; spirits man- 
 ufactured in the Colony, per proof gallon 75c ; a still license, 
 $500. 
 
 Other taxation, wheels of carts, carriage in Belize, each, 
 $200 ; horses and mules used in Belize, Corozal or Orange 
 Walk, S500; dogs in Belize, Corozal or Orange Walk, $200. 
 
 Although there are many other taxable articles, etc., from 
 which the colonial government derives its support, the above 
 mentioned are the principal sources from which the revenue 
 is obtained." 
 
 As the steamer from N"ew Orleans approaches Belize from 
 the north, it passes between a large cay named Nanger island, 
 and the main land. Thisisletis thirty-six nautical miles distant 
 from the town of Belize. From this point to the port, on the 
 left hand, as the vessel steams onward it passes a succession 
 of cays and islets, covered with cocoanut and mango groves. 
 
BRITISH HONDURAS. 11 
 
 They are under the domiuiou of the British crowu and 
 belong- to the colony of Belize. They are private property, 
 most of them being possessed by the Belize Estate and Pro- 
 duce Company, whose agents gather from the thousands of 
 trees many myriads of eocoanuts annually, which are generally 
 shipped to the United States per the Macheca steamers and 
 American schooners. On one or two of these little islets 
 small vegetable gardens h'ave been established. 
 
 If the steamer approaches in the night, the lights of the 
 little seaport gradually begins to dawn on the western horizon. 
 They grow brighter and brighter, until the city appears in 
 sight, and soon afterwards the anchor drops off the cay 
 fronting the city, where m years gone by a small fort, armed 
 with several cannons and manned by the sturdy English col- 
 onists, protected the settlement from sack and destruction at 
 the hands of the buccaneers who then infested the coasts and 
 made their headquarters in the numerous islands that are 
 bosomed on the blue Caribbean sea., 
 
 The harbor of Belize is very spacious, and is remarkably 
 well protected. It is almost entirely land-locked by the nu- 
 merous islets which in reality form it. Large ships entering 
 steer a generally northwest course to the middle buoy, but are 
 compelled to anchor at least a mile and a half or even two 
 miles off the city front. From this buoy the water gradually 
 shoals. To the left of Fort Island, the mud brought down by the 
 Belize river forms a bar which seldom carries more than three 
 and a half to four feet of water. Inside this bar the soundings 
 average ten feet up to the landing place fronting the custom- 
 house. 
 
 The charming little city of Belize, the capital of British Hon - 
 duras, presents a very picturesque view from the anchorage, 
 directly opposite the deserted islet which fronts the mouth of 
 the river. 
 
 Far off to the right, situated on a low point, are several long- 
 buildings, which are the barracks of the volunteer forces. In 
 their immediate front is a wide level parade, while to the left 
 various neat and comely looking houses comprise the quarters 
 of the officers. Cocoanut trees, laden with their precious bur- 
 
12 BRITISH HONDURAS. 
 
 den of both meat and drink, rear their tall heads high above 
 the houses, while along the barracks to the Point a row of 
 young mango trees, many of them bearing fruit, thrive luxu- 
 riantly, in this climate so congeuial to their production, a cli- 
 mate of perennial spring and of perpetual vegetation. 
 
 From the entrance of the military reservation the sea runs 
 a few hundred feet into the land, which soon again stretches 
 outward and forms a little cape called Cox's point. At its ex- 
 tremity is an old schooner, which lies high and dry, having 
 been stranded for some time back. From Oox's point the land 
 along the city front curves inward, its greatest concavity 
 being at that point where the signal station is situated. Then 
 the curve gradually lessens until, at the governor's residence, 
 it flushes with Cox's point. 
 
 The whole city front, from the extreme end of the military 
 reservation to a little beyond the governor's residence is about 
 one and a half miles. 
 
 A few hundred yards from Cox's point is situated a beau- 
 tiful residence, deeply embowered in fruit trees and shadowed 
 over by tall cocoanut trees, the nearest of which lean grace 
 fully over the roof of the house. This edifice is owned by a Mr. J. 
 H. Phillips, a rich merchant of the place This gentleman is one 
 of the colonial commissioners to the ]S"ew Orleans Exposi- 
 tion. 
 
 A small space further to the left is the mouth of the Belize 
 river. This latter discharges its waters inio the harbor imme- 
 diately o]>posite the inner edge of Fort island, and is naviga- 
 ble for small boats ior 120 miles. It is the longest river in 
 British Honduras, and has its source in the interior of Gaute- 
 mala. It possesses a second mouth about four miles to the 
 north of the one above-mentioned. 
 
 The cay which lies a few hundred feet from the mouth of the 
 river has long been deserted. 
 
 Between this islet and the shore the water is very shoal, 
 while much of the space is filled by a luxuriant growth of man- 
 groves. Many of them attain the height of at least ten feet. 
 Beneath their branches, which spread downward into the 
 water, shoals of diiferent kinds of fish seek the cool shade and 
 
BRITISH HONDURAS. 13 
 
 Sport among their roots, whicli, in some cases, curve upwards 
 and protrude above tbe water and then agaiu strike down- 
 ward into the muddj^ bottom. 
 
 Still further to the left a tall flag-staff, painted white, stands 
 fronting the wharf. This is the sigual station, upon which 
 are hoisted the flags that apprise the colonists of the approach 
 of a vessel, of her class and of her nationality. 
 
 In the vicinity of this station are situated the court-house, 
 the police barracks, the council chamber and several other 
 public offices. Immediately over the oiSce of the chief of police, 
 stands the Belize light-house. A few yards more to the left 
 is the Presbyterian church, while near it is the Wesleyau 
 church, which is one of the largest in the city. The rectory, 
 occupied by the pastor of the Church of England, is a pretty 
 but modest and unassuming building. Again, further to the 
 left is, the residence of the colonial secretary. This is one of 
 the finest buildings in the Colony. It is surrounded by 
 numerous cocoauut trees, some of which are very tall, while 
 all bend under their load of fruit. At the end of the curve, or 
 arc, as seen from the entrance, of the harbor, stands the house 
 of his excellency the governor of the Colony. It is a very fine 
 building, is airy and well ventilated, and also is shaded by a 
 number of fine cocoanut trees. From this point the shore 
 agaiu seems to recede and curve inward to th<^. left. A few 
 hundred yards from the governor's residence stands a lone, 
 solitary house, which may be considered as the last or most 
 suburban building of the city. 
 
 Belize,, the capital of British Honduras, is one of the clean- 
 est cities, if not the very cleanest, on God's foot-stool. The 
 writer certaiulj' has never seen iu any other Latin American 
 country a town so clean and spruce, and one that presents 
 such a neac appearance. Its streets are level and are kept in 
 admirable order, the centre of them, for about twelve or fifteen 
 feet, being macadamized with calcareous rock, which is broken 
 fine by the long term convicts, Who are not permitted to leave 
 the prison yard. These streets are cleaned and kept in repair 
 by the convicts of the common jail, several gangs of whom 
 may be seen, at any time during the day, working in the 
 
14 BRITISH HONDURAS. 
 
 different quarters of the city. They are well fed and not over- 
 worked, while they are never ill-treated or abused. One 
 policeman is enough to watch a gang of six or eight of these 
 unfortunates. 
 
 The convicts of Belize are almost all negroes — miscalled 
 Caribs. There are some few half-castes or descendants of 
 Spaniards and Indians among them, though a very few. 
 
 The author never saw a white convict on tne streets, nor 
 when he visited the jail. This certainly argues well for the 
 morality of the white colonists, particularly when the circum- 
 stance of Belize being a seaport toAvn is taken into consid- 
 eration. 
 
 The buildings of the capital are mostly constructed of wood, 
 and are light and airy. Many of them are roofed with thin 
 corrugated galvanized iron, and some with tiles. 
 
 Almost every private residence in Belize has its yard at- 
 tached, which is adorned by flower gardens, and cocoanut trees. 
 The population of the city is about 7000, according to the last 
 census, which was taken by the late energetic chief of police, 
 Capt. George Mariner. A large portion of the inhabitants is 
 composed of the descendants of Jamaica negroes, and blacks 
 from other localities, who are miscalled Caribs, for they resem- 
 ble the genuine Carib Indians about as much as an Anglo 
 Saxon does a full-blooded Esquimaux. In fact, but few 
 of the descendants of the brave but ferocious Caribs, who so 
 gallantly defended their native country against the Spanish 
 invaders, now remain. Some of the gentlemen of Belize do 
 not hesitate to assert that the race is extinct. ' 
 
 Quite a number of half-castes live in Belize, but they do not 
 possess that proud and independent mien which so essentially 
 distinguishes their Mexican "costeiio" bretheru. The num- 
 ber of European inhabitants, or those of pure European 
 descent, is very small when compared to the negroes and half- 
 castes. . . 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 The principal business houses of Belize. Seaports along the coast. The 
 fruit planting industry ; principal fruit plantations. The proposed 
 I'ailroad to the Guateraaltean frontier. American enterprise in the 
 Colony. Greneral prosperity in the Province. 
 
 For such a small city Belize will compare favorably with 
 Brooklyn, even, iu number of her churches, for she boasts of 
 no less than fifteen, two of which are Episcopalian, five are 
 Eoman Catholic, six are Wesleyan, one is Baptist and one is 
 a Scotch Kirk. The number of members and communicants 
 belonging to each denomination is difBcult to ascertain, but 
 when the absence of white convicts is taken into consideration, 
 an impartial observer can scarcely help from assuming that 
 about all of the white colonists must be church members. 
 
 Nor do the pious city guardians of Belize care less for the 
 educational wants than they do for the spiritual necessities of 
 their people, for, if the former head-quarters of the piratical 
 Wallice boasts fifteen churches, it none the less possesses 
 numerous schools, which receive goverment aid to the tune of 
 nearly $10,000 annually, including inspe(;tor's salary and 
 prizes for the scholars. Each pupil costs the Colony S5 62^, 
 therefore^ more than one-sixth of the entire population of 
 Belize consists of children actually at school. This curious 
 fact may account for the scarcity of jail-birds in Belize, as 
 well as for the still more singular fact that, of the present con- 
 victs now serving out their time iu jail, less than one-half <»f 
 them are natives of the Colony, while but very few belong to 
 the city. 
 
 As the capital is the commercial centre of British Hon- 
 duras, most of the principal business firms are established 
 there. They are: 
 
 Wm. Guild & Co., B. Cramer & Co., P. Leckie & Co., 
 Belize Estate Co., P. Lefebrre, John Gentle & Co., Chas, 
 Pahmeyer, Henry Gansy, A. B. Morlan, Brodie & Cuthbert, 
 Beattie & McDonald, V. H. McDonald, C. T. Hunter, Dr. A. 
 
16 BRITISH HONDURAS. 
 
 Hunter, F. H. Bowen, Henry Lind & Co., 0. Metzgeii, John 
 Harley, tSteven Bros. & Co., Panting & Co., A. H. Brinston, 
 A. A. Richurd, Phillips & Co., J. Lainfiestu, John McDonald 
 A. Williamson, Chas. Peters. 
 
 The Belize Estate and Produce Company is a huge corpor- 
 ation which owns at least one-quarter of the entire Colony. 
 It is managed by Mr. A. S. Kindred, and is said to swing a 
 very large capital. 
 
 Beside the above mentioned firms there is a syndicate known 
 as the British Honduras Fruit Company'- It comprises 300 
 shares of £10 each. These shares are isot to be bought, except- 
 ing an a large premium. 
 
 A savings bank has been lately established under the sys- 
 tem invented by the x)resent postmaster general of the British 
 Empire. It is said to have already accomplished very benefi- 
 cial results. 
 
 It is safe to assume that the greater part of the banking 
 business of the city and the Colony is in the hands of the 
 Belize Estate and Produce Company, and that the profits 
 from it add greatly to the annual revenue of the association. 
 
 There is a fine opening for an American bank with American 
 capital in Belize, at least so the leading merchants of the place 
 assert. 
 
 Belize contains a jail, one poor house and one lunatic 
 asylum. In each of these institutions are separate, appart- 
 ments for females, which are under charge of experienced 
 matrons. There are but comparatively fewpanpers in the poor 
 house and fewer still who receive out-door relief. 
 
 Ten foreign consuls reside in Belize, most of whom are mer- 
 chants doing business in the Colony. The American Consul 
 the Hon. A B, Morlan, unlike many of his colleagues of the 
 Caribbean coast, is a merchant of standing and consideration. 
 He is courteous and polite to tourists and maintains the dig- 
 nity of his office. His house is open to all visitors of respec-" 
 tability, and his beautiful and accomj)lished lady dispenses the 
 hospitalities of the consulate in a most graceful and charming 
 manner. 
 
BRITISH irOlMDUKAS. 17 
 
 The entire length of the coast of British Honduras, from 
 the Hondo river on the north to the Sarstoon river which is 
 the southern boundary of the Colony, is 160 miles. The 
 average width of the strip of land which forms the province 
 is about forty miles, while the whole area is estimated at 
 6400 square miles. 
 
 The capital and seaport, Belize, is situated nearly an equal 
 distance from either boundary line. Several flourishing little 
 ports have been opened to domestic commerce and a number 
 of settlements are established at different points along the 
 coast. 
 
 The town of Corozal is situated about ninety miles north of 
 Belize. It contains 5000 inhabitants and enjoys considerable 
 traffic. Numerous small coasting vessels, dorys, sloops and 
 little schooners, ply up and down the coast and connect the 
 town with Belize and the other settlements. Corozal is pro- 
 bably the most picturesquely situated town in Honduras. It 
 presents a cleanly and neat appearance, although most of its 
 buildings are thatched with palm leaves. It is the centre of 
 a flourishing and progressive agricultural district. Sugar is 
 the principal staple crop. 
 
 In this happily situated locality, the climate is equable, and 
 considering the latitude, is singularly cool, pleasant and 
 healthy. Epidemic fevers never occur, while diptheria, and 
 in fact all bronchial and pulmonary diseases are unknown. 
 Unlike the centres of population in the West Indies of the 
 same latitude, British Honduras is never afflicted with the 
 yellow fever; not even a sporadic case has occurred within the 
 memory of the oldest inhabitant. 
 
 In the Corozal district the sugar caue attains a size and 
 yield truly marvelous. There exist plantations that have 
 not been replanted for many years, yet the ratoon cane 
 readily yields an average of 3000 pounds of crude sugar to 
 the acre. Cane five or six years planted will often return as 
 high as 6000 pounds to the acre. 
 
 Lack of capital and a corresponding want of modern sugar 
 making machinery prevents the planters of Corozal from 
 deriving the full benefit from their energy and industry. Yet 
 
 2 
 
18 BRITISH HONDURAS. 
 
 they manage to make a good profit upon their investments, 
 and the crude sugar and rum they manufacture finds a ready 
 sale and fair price at Belize and the markets of this country 
 and Europe. The names of the principal merchants are 
 Jones & Young, Brodie & Cuthbert, and Mrs. Hinkes. 
 
 Orange Walk, as its name indicates, was once at least, 
 famous for its yield of a most delicious fruit. The settlement 
 is situated forty miles inland on the bank of the New River, 
 a tortuous narrow little stream, which is, however, navigable 
 for dorys for many miles from its mouth. It is the military 
 headquarters of the northern district, and in days past, when 
 the Indians of Yucatan were troublesome, was an important 
 station. The population is rather mixed, but few inhabitants 
 save those of the military profession are white. Escalante & Co. 
 is the principal business firm of the locality. 
 ^ .San Pedro, a little town containing some 1200 inhabitants, 
 is situated on Ambergris cay. The town engages in quite a 
 prosperous trafitic with the main land, which is carried on by 
 small sailing vessels and dorys. 
 
 South of Belize several prosperous settlements have, within 
 the past few years, been established. One or two of them 
 however are almost contemporary with Belize. The principal 
 industry is fruit planting. 
 
 Mullin's Eiver is a small settlement, situated at the mouth 
 of the river of the same name. It contains a mixed popula- 
 tion of about 500 inhabitants. At this place the fruit j)lan ting- 
 industry has made great progress. The Belize Fruit Company 
 possesses a valuable property with many acres of bananas 
 under cultivation, whose annual yield mnj be estimated at 
 50,000 bunches of the standard size. The Excelsior Fruit 
 Company is also a prosperous corporation, but as its establish- 
 ment is of more recent date than that of the former, it yields 
 but about 12,000 bunches per annum. 
 
 Stann Creek, at the mouth of the creek of the same name, 
 is quite an important place. It contains some 2000 inhabi- 
 tants, most of whom are Caribs. These singular people are 
 remarkably industrious. The men are laborers and mahogany 
 cutters, and the women are the planters of the locality. A, 
 
BRITISH HONDURAS. 19 
 
 fuller description of this race will be given in another 
 place. 
 
 AH Pines, which is situated somewhat to the south of Settee 
 Eiver, is a settlement that contains a mixed population of 500 
 inhabitants. This locality, or rather Settee river, boasts sev- 
 eral tiourising banana walks. The Eoss plantation yields 
 annually 12,000 bunchesj the Smith plantation 15,000 bunches; 
 The Cramer plantation 10,000. Punta Gorda, situated on 
 the coast, contains a half-caste and Oarib population, number- 
 ing 1700 inhabitants. It is quite an important place and 
 carries on a flourishing traffic with Belize. 
 
 About ten miles back of Punta Gorda, at a locality called 
 Toledo, is a new settlement established by Americans. This 
 Colony contains but about 700 inhabitants in all. The Amer- 
 icans are principally engaged in sugar planting. Several of 
 them own valuable plantations. The yield of sugar to the 
 acre is even greater than at Corozal. The planters at present 
 send the bulk of their harvest to New York. 
 
 At Monkey Eiver, certain enterprising gentlemen have 
 lately established banana plantations at favorable localities. 
 The Waliz Company exports 17,000 bunches annually and 
 the Coleman plantation 8,000 bunches . Other parties have 
 also invested in this industry but liave not as yet begun to 
 export fruit. 
 
 If the late Governor Barlee, by his wise measures, established 
 the commerce of British Honduras on a prosperous basis, the en- 
 ergetic and go-ahead British colonists have taken equally wise 
 steps to keep what they have acquired. The presen t import traffic 
 of the Colony, which consists of general merchandise from this 
 country will reach to nearly $1,500,000 annually. The export 
 traffic consisting of mahogany and other precious woods, sar- 
 saparilla, skins, hides, etc., and bananas, cocoanuts and other 
 tropic fruits, amounts to almost $2,000,000, annually and is 
 constantly augmenting. 
 
 S. Oteri, one of the most prosperous business men of New 
 Orleans, is the pioneer fruit dealer who first opened the fruit 
 trade between the ports of the Caribbean coast and the Crescent 
 City. He began with one schooner, and carried on a small 
 
20 BRITISH HONDURAS. 
 
 traffic with Belize and the ports to the south. His vessel 
 brought back cocoanuts, plantains, bananas and j)ine apples. 
 From this small beginning Mr. Oteri has bniltup a very large 
 and prosperous business. He has three steamers in the trade, 
 several sailing vessels, and also receives and disposes of the 
 fruit brought thither by other dealers. 
 
 But of late years Mr. Oteri has practically abandoned the 
 British Honduras fruit traffic and has directed his attention 
 principally to the development of the fruit planting interests 
 of the Bay Islands and the Spanish main, at and contiguous 
 to Trusillo. 
 
 The development and the present prosperous condition of 
 the fruit planting industry of British Honduras is principally 
 due to the influence exerted by the establishment of the 
 Macheca line of steamers. In 1880, Capt. James Leitch, who 
 had traded along the Caribbean coast for many years, in 
 various schooners, obtained from Governor Barlee a valuable 
 mail subsidy. He entered into an arrangement with the 
 Macheca Bros., who put staunch little steamers on the route 
 between the Crescent City and the ports of British Honduras, 
 Gruatemala, and Honduras as far east as Tela. At that period 
 the Macheca Bros, had several schooners running on the same 
 route. 
 
 When the colonists became satisfied that the Macheca line 
 was apermanentinstitution, numerous of the most enterprising- 
 devoted their attention to fruit planting. Many plantations 
 were started and a fair amount of capital was invested in the 
 industry. It would be safe to assume the j'ield of the various 
 plantations, large and small, at 200,000 commerciable bunches 
 aunuallj^ This crop at fifty cents, the average price per 
 bunch, gives an annual amount of $100,000 derived from the 
 yield of bananas and plantains alone. 
 
 At different localities along the coast are situated flourishing 
 cocoanut groves. ]!fumerous cays which lie on the bosom of 
 the sea, near the coast, are also planted with this fruit. It is 
 impossible to ascertain the annual yield of the groves, but the 
 value of the nuts must be great, as an important and con- 
 
BRITISH HONDURAS. 21 
 
 stantly increasing traffic in this product is carried on with 
 England, and with our own country. 
 
 The plan of this work will not permit the author to enter 
 into a minute and detailed account of the various spontaneous 
 and cultivated products ot British Honduras. Mr. Morris, in 
 his admirable little book, has not only mentioned the princi- 
 pal of them but has described the method employed in the cul- 
 tivation of the most important. 
 
 Foreigners who propose establishing frnit plantations in 
 Central America, might study Mr. Morris's book to their 
 advantage. 
 
 Before the development of fruit planting, mahogany and log- 
 wood cutting was the principal industry of the Colony. In 
 fact the prosperity of the inhabitants was ganged by the 
 price of precious woods in the European markets. 
 
 For many decades, even after the price of dye woods declined 
 in Europe, this industry continued in a flourishing condition. 
 But in the course of time the trees, most accessible to the 
 streams, were cut, and the expense attendant upon road 
 making to the cuttings, and hauling the logs to the river, has 
 reached the maximum point. Thus the old industry of British 
 Honduras cannot be considered profitable unless the price of 
 wood rules high in foreign markets. 
 
 But Mr. Henry Fowler, the present colonial secretary, during 
 his long and hazardous e\j>lor:ng expedition into the interior, 
 discovered many localities where grand mahogany, cedar and 
 dye forests are flourishing. When railroad enterprise develops 
 these regions, wood cutting will again become a profitable 
 industry, but not until then. 
 
 An attempt is being made to bring about the construction 
 of a railroad from the port of Belize, to the eastern frontier 
 of Guatemala, by Mr. Walter Began, and several other gen- 
 tlemen of this city. Mr. Regan has several times assured 
 the author that his ultimate prospects of success are very 
 promising. 
 
 Altogether British Honduras is a prosperous and flourishing- 
 Colony. Itsfewwhiteiuhabitantsarefully aware of the value of 
 the territory they control, and are endowed with the business 
 
22 BRITISH HONDURAS. 
 
 courage, energy and perseverance requisite to bring about the 
 sj)eedy development rf the vast natural resources of their new 
 country. But they must learn that the future prosperity of 
 their Colony does not depend uj)ou their European connec- 
 tions, but solely upon the interest manifested in them and 
 their commerce by the capitalists of this couutry. They must 
 cast forever aside their clannish and insular prejudices and 
 sincerely welcome the enterprise of the American merchant, 
 capitalist and emigrant. 
 
REPUBLIC OF GUATEMALA- 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Geographical situation. Area and population. Eevenues. Import and 
 Export traffic. Telegraph lines. Free schools and educational sys- 
 tem employed, xidvance of the Eepublic under the wise administra- 
 tion of Gen. Barrios. The principal departments. 
 
 The Eepublic of Guatemala is situated immediately south 
 of the Mexican State of Chiapas and south and west of the 
 peninsula of Yucatan, It is the third in size of the Central 
 American republics, Honduras and Nicaragua both containing 
 a greater area of territory. It possesses but a small line of 
 coast on the eastern side, which is washed by the deep blue 
 waters of the placid Caribbean sea. On the western or Pacific 
 side the coast line is much more extended and is blessed by 
 two very fine harbors. One of these ports, San Jose de Gaute • 
 mala, is spacious, fairly protected and carries deep water 
 almost to the beach. 
 
 The Eepublic contains an area of 44,800 square miles, or 
 28,672,000 acres of land. The climate on either coast line, from 
 the beach to the foot hills, an average distance of thirty-five 
 miles, is warm and enervating, while during the rainy season 
 malarial fever and chills and fever are somewhat prevalent. 
 
 The "vomito" or yellow fever, is unknown on the Caribbean 
 coast; while, if at rare intervals exceptional cases have appeared 
 on the Pacific side, it has never become epidemic. By conse- 
 quence the sanitary condition of the Caribbean coast of Guate- 
 mala will compare with the interior of the United States, along 
 the great river courses, from Cairo south to the Gulf coast. 
 
 But in the interior of the Eepublic, along the tall ridges and 
 the foot hills, and amid the beautiful and fertile valleys that 
 break the continuity of the gigantic mountain ranges, the 
 atmosphere is pure and bracing, and during the entire year 
 inflates the lungs of the Guatemaltecan with a constant sup- 
 ply of healthy and invigorating air. 
 
24 aUATEMALA. 
 
 The popalation of Guatemala may be safely estimated at 1,500,- 
 000 people, of whom, perhaps, at least 950,000 are full blooded 
 Indians, and the other 550,000 are Creoles and foreign whites. 
 
 The annual revenue of the Republic was in 1883 ,$4,800,000 
 one-third of which was derived from duties on imports. The 
 expenditures of the government were a little less than its rev- 
 enue. The public debt, which in 1875 nearly reached $4,000,000 
 is now reduced to about $3,000,000. The greater part of this 
 debt was contracted during a war with the Republic of San 
 Salvador, the Dictator, Gren. Barrios, having carried into effect 
 his system of paying for the provisions consumed by his army 
 instead of living on the enemy's country, a system never before 
 heard of in Spanish -American warfare. 
 
 In the year 1883, the imports of the Republic reached the 
 sum of, in round numbers, $3,500,000 annually, while the 
 exports amounted to at least $4,500,000. This year it is esti- 
 mated that the imports will reach $4,000,000, and the exports 
 about $5,000,000 ; for the foreign commerce of the Republic is 
 constantly increasing, while the cutting of mahogany and dye- 
 woods and the exportation of hides, skins, sarsaparilla and 
 fruits during the last four years has wonderfully augmented. 
 
 By consequence of the comparatively recent opening of the 
 little port of Livingston to free foreign commerce, the cultiva- 
 tion of colfee at Alta Paz, this side of the mountain range 
 has received a most astonishing impetus. In 1879, the receipts 
 of coffee at the town of Panzos could not have been more than 
 1,500,000 pounds. The planters of that section estimate their 
 crop for 1884, at 3,000,000 ]>ounds, notwithstanding the 
 coffee trees of Alta Paz received injuries, estimated at 
 §5,000,000, during the unprecedented cold weather four winters 
 ago. For some days the thermometer ranged many degrees 
 lower than it had been known to fall since the epoch of the 
 conquest, or for over 300 years. Many of the planters, to save 
 their youngest trees, cut them to within a few inches of the 
 ground. This precaution has proven a most wise one, for the 
 plants thus treated have sprung up afresh and are reported 
 as healthy and vigorous, Avhile those neglected invariably 
 withered and died. 
 
GUATEMALA. 25 
 
 Gruatemala boasts of but two active railroads. One from 
 Sau Jose to the capital. The Champerico road runs from the 
 port of that name to Eetalhulen, a distance of twenty-ei^ht 
 miles from the coast. Since opening both have paid running- 
 expenses, as well as interest on the capital stock, while their 
 freight and passenger traffic is constantly increasing. 
 
 In March, 1881, the number of miles of telegraph wires that 
 crossed the country was announced to aggregate to 2150 miles. 
 Along these lines a message maj- be sent to their utmost limits 
 for twenty-five cents per ten words. 
 
 'These telegraph lines are all, excepting that which belongs to 
 therailroad,ownedby the government, and are under its control. 
 
 For many years since the era of its independence, Guate- 
 mala languish! d under a retrograde system of government, 
 but, in 1871, the Liberals arose en masse and overthrew the 
 Conservatives. Since that period, under the rule of the Lib- 
 eral chieftain, Barrios, the Eepublic has made great strides 
 forward in the path of material progress 
 
 Every month — nay, every week — witnesses the inauguration 
 of some new reforms. 
 
 Before the revolution two or three parochial schools pro- 
 vided for the education of more than half a million of children. 
 To-day over 1000 free schools are in full operation. Education 
 is compulsory, and every adult male in the Republic is taxed 
 to support the new school system. 
 
 With political emancipation came commercial regeneration, 
 and at present Guatemala is one of the hap^nest, and probably 
 the most prosperous, of the many little republics that lie to 
 the far South of us. Agriculture and commerce are both 
 flourishing, and telegraph wires bring the most distant limits 
 of the Eepublic in constant communication with the capital 
 and with each other. 
 
 Guatemala is washed by two oceans, and possesses a most 
 fertile soil. It has three fine ports on the Pacific side, and on 
 the Caribbean — Port Livingston, and Puerto Barrios. Coffee 
 constitutes its most valuable staple, and it exports about 
 3,500,000 pounds annually. The greater part of the crop goes 
 to California and Europe. The Macheca steamers often bring 
 coffee to this port for reshipment to New York or Europe. 
 
26 GUATEMALA. 
 
 The only cause that can be assigned for this avoidance of 
 our market is self-evident. The merchants of the Crescent 
 City have made no effort to secure any of this traffic, while it 
 might be said that they have been equally as indifferent 
 in the introduction of their goods in Central American 
 markets. 
 
 Meanwhile, English, French and German commercial agents 
 are actively canvassing Latin American countries, and, 
 although the greater part of the goods they sell are inferior 
 to American articles of a similar class, they make larger 
 sales and almost glut these markets with their textile manu- 
 factures. 
 
 The acquisition of this city's small share of Central American 
 trade can be attributed to the fruit merchants of this section, The 
 Macheca Brothers and the Oteri Brothers have built up the 
 traffic by their enterprise and through the risk of their capital. 
 They began first with small vessels in fruit importing. Then 
 they took orders for goods until their schooners had to 
 be replaced by steamers, and the traffic swelled into its present 
 magnitude. They have thus succeeded in wrestling no small 
 Ijortion of Central American trade from the grasp of their 
 Eastern rivals, while, as a natural consequence, they have 
 begun the introduction of American textile goods into these 
 consuming centres. 
 
 The Republic is divided into twenty-two departments, each 
 of which has its military commander and corresponding civil 
 officials. Several of these political divisions merit special 
 mention, that of Yzabal being most accessible to this country. 
 
 The department of the Yzabal is bounded on the north by 
 the gulf of Amatique and the r>ay of Honduras, and on the 
 south by the Motagua River. It is one of the richest provinces 
 in natural resources in the Republic of Gautemala, and con- 
 tains a population of 54£0 souls, composed of Ladinos, Indians 
 and Caribs, with an area of 4500 square mi^es. 
 
 The climate is delightful, a perpetual spring. The ther- 
 mometer ranges between 80 and 95 degrees for the year round. 
 During the dry season, which lasts from the first of February 
 to the middle of June, the trade winds set in about two o'clock 
 
GUATEMALA. 27 
 
 in the evening and last until eight or nine at night. They 
 are followed by a land wind, which makes the nights cool and 
 pleasant. 
 
 The sanitary condition of the department is good. The only 
 sickness is chills and fever, which yields very readily to 
 proper treatment. Yellow fever, Ohagres fever, cholera and 
 epidemic diseases are uuknown. 
 
 The forests abound in mahogany, cedar, rosewood, ebony, 
 vera, amarrillo, logwood, fustic, oak, laurel and other valuable 
 timber, as also in india-rubber trees, sarsaijarilla, wild cacao 
 and the precious vanilla vine. 
 
 The lands on the Motagua and Dulce rivers and on Lake 
 Tzabal are rich alluvial deposits, well adapted to the cultiva- 
 tion of sugar-cane, coffee, cacao, bananas, plantains, rice, corn, 
 cocoanuts, oranges, limes, mangoes, guavas, pineapples and 
 all classes of the tropical fruits. 
 
 The remaining lands are very suitable for grazing purposes, 
 and a large traffic in cattle is carried on with the markets of 
 Belize and Guatemala City. 
 
 The President of the Republic, Gen. J. Rufino Barrios, with 
 the laudable intention of encouraging agriculture in the depart- 
 ment, has, in company with Don Cayetano Rascon and Don 
 Felipe Marquez, established a large cattle ranch, called the 
 " Hacienda del Pilar," some fifteen miles east of Yzabal. The 
 hacienda contains about 36,000 acres of land, and at present 
 is stocked with 4000 head of cattle. The pasturage is abun- 
 dant and of good quality. It may be safely said that the 
 enterprise is a success, for the proprietors are constantly 
 adding to the number of their cattle. 
 
 The President, in company with Col. Henry Toriello, has 
 established a large sugar plantation, on the north side of Lake 
 Yzabal. The land is good, and the work of clearing and plant- 
 ing is being pushed forward with energy, Ool. Toriello is also 
 largely engaged in banana culture, near Livingston. At 
 present he is cutting about 500 bunches per month. 
 
 The extensive cocoauut plantation of Point Manibique has 
 been leased by Capt. James Leitch and Michael ISTorrich. This 
 
28 GUATEMALA. 
 
 grove contains about 10,000 bearing- trees, and will, no doubt, 
 prove a good investment for.these enterprising gentlemen. 
 
 There are quite a number of cocoanut, cacao, banana and 
 pineapple plantations in the neighborhood of Livingston, all 
 of which are being cultivated with profitable results. Cocoa- 
 nuts sell readily for $18 per thousand ; bananas, fifty cents 
 per bunch; plantains, seventy -five cents per hundred ; pine- 
 apples, seveuty-five cents per dozen ; corn, seventy-five cents 
 per fanega (400 ears) ; rice four cents per pound. 
 
 The free port of Livingston is situated ou a bluft' sixty feet 
 above the level of the sea, at the mouth of the Rio Dulce, and 
 is fast becoming a place of importance. It is connected with 
 New Orleans by the Macheca, Black and National lines of 
 steamers, and with England and the Continental ports by the 
 vessels of the London Line. The river steamers Muncy and 
 Panzos, owned by Messrs. Anderson and Owen, make regular 
 trips between Panzos, touching at Yzabal and San Felipe, and 
 connecting with the Macheca Line every week. 
 
 The imports from the United States are flour, pork, cotton 
 goods, canned goods, kerosene and lumber. The exports are 
 mahogany, coffee, india-rubber, sarsaparilla, hides, cocoanuts, 
 bananas, i^lantains, pine-apples and other tropical fruits. 
 
 G-en. Barrios, President of the Eepublic, is very much inter- 
 ested in the progress and development of this department, and 
 cordially invites emigration. He particularly desires Ameri- 
 can emigrants to come and make their honK\s hero, and assist 
 in developing the vast agricultural and mineral wealth of the 
 country. 
 
 A gentleman who has lived in this department for the past 
 fourteen j^ears, told the author that he has never been molested 
 in any way, and that life and property are as secure at Yzabal 
 as in anj' other part of the world. 
 
 The department of Sacatepequez, of which old Guatemala 
 city is the capital, is one of the finest agricultural regions 
 of the Republic. Its principal products are corn, indigo, sugar- 
 cane, coffee, croton oil plant and precious woods, honey etc. 
 Some mines were worked in the Magdalena district during the 
 
G^UATEMALA. 29 
 
 Spanish regime. The department possesses an area of 250 
 square miles and a population of 50,000. 
 
 The department of Ohimaltenango, is also a grand agricul- 
 tural region. It contains 800 square miles of territory and 
 produces anatto, yams, beans, coffee, corn, sugar-cane, cotton, 
 and in the higher altitudes excellent wheat. The mountain 
 slopes, foot-hill sides and grand semi-tropic valleys of this 
 department contain vast forests of furniture and building 
 timber. When railroads are introduced into this region, these 
 forests will become very valuable. Several beautiful streams 
 and watercourses, containing perennial supplies of this preciou s 
 fluid reticulate the department in all directions and render 
 irrigation remarkably easy. 
 
 The department of Suchitepequez is one of the most exten- 
 sive political divisions of the Republic. It contains an area 
 of 2510 square miles and 75,000 inhabitants. It is watered 
 by numerous perennial rivers. Its principal agricultural pro- 
 ducts are coffee, cacao, (chocolate) (;orn, yams and sugar- 
 cane. The annual export of cacao alone from this district 
 amounts to more than 1,000,000 pounds. The department 
 boasts a large aboriginal population, which still retain many 
 of their ancient customs and habits, particularly their mode of 
 dressing. 
 
 The department of Quetzal ten ango is also noted for its 
 valuable agricultural products, among which may be men- 
 tioned an annual yield of 6,000,000 pounds of Indian corn, 
 2,000,000 pounds of coffee, 2,400,000 pounds of wheat and 
 20,000 pounds of wool. It is one of the finest stock raising 
 localities in the Republic, while the capital possesses a few 
 profitable textile factories. Several fine streams of water flow 
 through its wide savannas. 
 
 The department of Retalhulen is not only celebrated for 
 its agricultural activity but also for its vast forests of furni- 
 ture and building timber. It boasts many valuable coffee 
 and sugar estates whose products are exported from the port 
 of Ohamperico. 
 
 The department of San Marcos contains 750 square miles of 
 territory and 75,000 population. Its agricultural products are 
 
30 aUATEMALA. 
 
 sugar-cane, coffee, cacao, corn, wheat and other cereals. The 
 following graphic description of the country contiguous to the 
 volcanoes of Tacana and Tajumulco is takenfrom the interesting 
 work of Don Antonio Batres, entitled "A Sketch of Guatemala." 
 
 " The volcano ot Tacan4 forms a regular cone, while that of 
 Tajumulco is capricious in its configuration. They are the 
 chief features of the district, which is traversed by the same 
 Cordillera that extends through Central America. Between 
 slopes of the last named volcano, the Cabus river has its source 
 and then runs a considerable distance through wide woodlands, 
 fertile and arable fields, and sandy deserts. Two suspension 
 bridges span this stream, while another very handsome one has 
 been thrown across the Cotzutcbima river. The IsTaranjo, 
 Tilapa and Pacaya rivers form the Ocos bar. Hydrographi- 
 cally, San M4rcos is traversed by other water courses and 
 brooks irrigate its fertile territory and carry vegetable life 
 into that opulent zone, joining their waters finally with those 
 of the Soconusco. The topographical aspect it unfolds is 
 something superb ; as far as the eye can reach, snow-capped 
 eminences ; precipices and ravines, the latter the offspring of 
 cataclysms, of which history has no record ; fertile highlands 
 diversified by broad acres of waving cereals, and clustering 
 farm houses ; the virgin forest with its giants overrun by 
 creepers and intertwining lianas ; the fragrant coffee blossoms 
 perfuming the boundless uplands ; emerald horizons made up 
 of cane and wheat fields which are surrounded by tall and 
 erect mountain ranges, on whose declivities flocks of sheep 
 find abundant nourishment, while the huts of herdsmen keep 
 watch over them." 
 
 The extensive department of Huehuetenango is corrugated 
 by tall montain ranges which enclose numerous fertile valleys 
 where the temperate climate prevents the production of tropical 
 plants and fruits. It contains 141 villages and thirty-six con- 
 siderable towns, many of whose inhabitants are engaged in 
 the manufacture of course woolen goods. On the border of 
 the river of the same name, are found the remains of the abori- 
 ginal fort Tz*ac — ulen, where the justly famous Indian king, 
 Oaibil Calan, for a long time heroically defended this last strip 
 
GrUATBMALA. 31 
 
 of his ancient patrimony against the repeated assaults of the 
 imi>etuous Governor Don Pedro de Alvarado. The suspicious 
 death of tbe great chief taiu dispirited his followers, and in the 
 final assault the Spaniards captured the fort. The locality is 
 noted for its abundant yield of all the cereals and fruits of the 
 temperate zone, and also for its deposits of gold, silver, iron, 
 lead and salt. 
 
 The department of Quiche is famous as the locality where 
 the aboriginal kings of the country founded their great capital 
 Utatlan. Its last mouarch mustered an army of 75,000 men to 
 oppose the march of the famous Alvarado. Its products are 
 Indian corn, wheat, sarsaparilla, hemp, vanilla, textile fibre 
 made from the Agave, white copal, wild incense, India rubber, 
 almonds, copalchi, anatto, aniseed, tea, coffee. 
 
 The department of Chiquimula covers an areaof nearly 2200 
 square miles, and contains 55,000 inhabitants, the majority of 
 whom are engaged in agriculture. According to the report 
 of Mr. Batres, its products are wheat, Indian corn, rice and 
 other sorts of grain ; beans, tamarinds, divi-divi and vegetables ; 
 coffee and India rubber 5 tobacco, sarsaparilla ; almonds, yuca, 
 storax gum, sesamum orientale, cotton, liquid amber, sugar, 
 indigo, lignum vitai, fustic, aripin, mahogany and cedar wood, 
 silver, antimony, copper, lead, and iron ores. The celebrated 
 Olotepeque mines are still being worked. The general aspect 
 presented by the department is of the most varied kind, pic- 
 turesque and overflowing with resources. 
 
 'The city of Chiquimula is the capital. It contains 11,000 
 inhabitants and is situated at an altitude of 990 yards above 
 the level of the sea, with a warm yet salubrious climate. 
 
 The above is a brief mention of the most productive and 
 populous departments into which the republic is divided, 
 Alta and Vera Paz will be more generally treated in another 
 chapter devoted to Guatemalean industries. 
 
CHAPTER 11. 
 
 The ancient people of Guatemala. The Popal Vuh. The founders of 
 Palenque aud Copan. First aboriginal liings. Curious traditions. 
 Human sacrifice. Advance sta;;e of civilization, etc., etc. 
 
 Four decades ago Messrs. Squires, Stephens aud Wells, 
 anuouuced to the wondering savant of the scieutilic world the 
 discovery of ruins of numerous ancient cities in Chiapas and 
 Central America. Some time previous Yucatecan antiquarians 
 had published descriptions of the grand ruins of TJxmal, of 
 Chicken-Itza, Kabak, ISTohpot, Labuoh. Ake, and other abori- 
 ginal cities, but the servile insurrection which soon afterward 
 occurred, put a termination to further archseological discov- 
 eries in Yucatan. The victorious savages reconquered their 
 ancient patrimony ; the Creoles were driven to the country 
 contiguous to the coast, aud the localities where these vast 
 ruins are situated were, for the time being, occupied by the 
 revolted peons. 
 
 But in G-uatemala no less interesting remains of the past 
 eras of civilization were discovered at different points. Those 
 of Quirigua, iu particular, excited great interest by conse- 
 quence of their extent aud their contiguity to the coast. In 
 the department of Copan, in Honduras, are the ruins of a city 
 which, in its apogee of prosperity, must have contained at 
 least 600,000 inhabitants. It is known to the scientific world 
 as Copan, and was first visited and described by the celebrated 
 Arnerican traveler, John L. Stephens. 
 
 The ruins of Palenque, iu the Mexican State of Chiapas, 
 were also visited by Stephens, who published a graphic and 
 interesting account of the remains of that ancient capital. It 
 takes its name from an insignificant little village situated near 
 it, but we now know that it was called by the aborigines 
 " Nachan." 
 
 In 1870, the author of this work, in company with several 
 Mexican archaeologists, explored the ruins of Uxmal, Kabak 
 Chicken Itza, in Yucatan, and Palenque, in Chiapas. In 1871, 
 
GUATEMALA. 33 
 
 accompanied by two young gentlemen of Philadelphia, he 
 visited the extensive ruins of Papantla, in the State of Vera 
 Cruz, Mexico. It is very probable that he and his two com- 
 panions were the first persons of Anglo-Saxon descent who 
 ever saw the ruined temples, palaces and vast edifices of this 
 ancient capital. 
 
 During the past year the columns of the Times Democrat 
 have contained numerous articles descriptive of Central 
 America, particularly of the republics of Honduras and G-uate- 
 mala. These publications have attracted the attention not 
 only of merchants and business men in general, but of scien- 
 tists and archseologists as well. Again the question has been 
 agitated, who were the founders of these large ruined cities, and 
 what degree of civilization did they attain. 
 
 As yet tbis problem has not been solved. The hieroglyphics 
 that cover the temple walls, the monuments and obelisks of 
 Central American ruins, have only been more than partially 
 deciphered ; thus their historical records are almost a sealed 
 book to the scientific world. 
 
 All we know is that, at a remote period, races of highly 
 enlightened people inhabited the southern portion of Mexico, 
 and almost the entire area of Central America. 
 
 In a recent tour through the republics of Honduras and 
 Guatemala the author was presented by Gen. Luis Bogran, now 
 president of Honduras, with a copy of the unfinished history 
 of Central America, written by Don Jose Milla, a famous 
 Guatemaltican scientist. This accomplished scholar died 
 shortly after he had finished the second tome of his work. The 
 first volume is prefaced by an t^ssay upon the aboriginal inhab- 
 itants of Central America. This interesting historical sketch 
 has never, we believe, been published in the English tongue. 
 Believing that a knowledge of these legends, and the tradi- 
 tions relating to the former inhabitants of Central America 
 would be pleasing to the readers of this book, the writer has 
 translated the principal and most interesting portions of Mr. 
 Milla's sketch of the aborigines of his country. 
 
 That vast territory which is situated between the Isthmus 
 of Tehuantepec and that of Panama, and the Atlantic and 
 
34 GUATEMALA. 
 
 Pacific Oceans, and whicli for three centuries was subject to 
 the Spanish crown, has, since the era of independence, received 
 the political denomination of Central America, on account of 
 its geographical position. 
 
 The old mines found in different localities of Central America 
 attest not only a most remote antiquity, but likewise an 
 advanced stage of civilization. ISTeither the mysterious con- 
 struction of Quirigua, of Palanque, of Copan, and of Tikal, nor 
 the remains of the edifices and temples of Quiche and Tecpan, 
 Guatemala ; nor the many other ruins of ancient cities that 
 strew Central America reveal the least insight into the origin, 
 the customs or the habits of the people who raised such mon- 
 uments. The annals of those great nations are entirely lost, 
 or cannot be deciphered. The inscriptions that cover the walls 
 of the ruined temples, or the huge obelisks and columns that 
 have been found in the tropic forests, have not as yet revealed 
 to the eye of the observer their hidden meaning. The origin 
 of the inhabitants of these countries is a problem which history 
 has not been able to solve, notwithstanding the advance that 
 has been made in the study of American arch geology, ethnology 
 aad linguistics, (during late years. We may hope, however, 
 that the interest that has been awakened in the scientific world 
 by the monuments that cover our soil, will augment day by 
 day, particularly as many scientists are now convinced that 
 this country was the cradle of the former civilization of this 
 continent, if not of the world. 
 
 Few, unfortunately, are the remaining historical documents 
 relating to ancient Central America. Some data have reached 
 us, furnished by Indians whom the Spaniards taught to write 
 in Latin characters. It is doubtful what degree of confidence 
 should be placed in the truth of these narrations, in which 
 events are frequently expressed by symbols or hieroglyphics, 
 whose true sense is very often difficult to understand. 
 
 One of these historical fountains is the Popal Vuh, or national 
 book of the Quiches, of which there are two versions ; the 
 Spanish of the historian Ximenez, and the French of the Abbot 
 Brasseur de Bourbourg. Without differing very materially 
 these two authors interpret differently the legendary and 
 
GUATEMALA. . 35 
 
 mythological portion of this curious historical document. The 
 translation of the Spaniard has in its favor the authority of an 
 author who was a profound scholar and who for thirty years 
 had studied the Indian languages. On the other hand, the 
 French translation reveals the vast knbwledge possessed by 
 its author of the languages and the antiquities of the indigenes. 
 The narration of Quiche appears adorned with thoughts that 
 it is very possible were never the real sentiments of the Indian 
 editor of the Popal Vuh. 
 
 In the interiDretation of various passages, Ximenez pays 
 tribute to the ideas of his ej)och, a fault the Abbot Brasseur 
 should have avoided, writing as he did, in a more enlightened 
 century. Besides the Abbot, in a posterior work, established 
 a new theory concerning the history of ancient America, that 
 contradicted his former interpretation of the Popal Vuh, and 
 other ancient texts. 
 
 Another historical document, almost as interesting as the 
 above mentioned, is a Cakchiquel manuscript, of which there 
 is no other version than that possessed by the Abbot Brasseur. 
 He frequently cites it as authority in his writings by the name 
 of the Memorial of Tecpan Atitlan. 
 
 He has also made frequent use of the ''Titulas Territoriales" 
 of certain Indian peoples to procure information of events an- 
 terior to the conquest and also of the military operations of 
 the Spaniards. We have no knowledge of any other than the 
 Casa de Ixcuin Nihaib, although Brasseur mentions others, 
 and refers often to them in the notes of his translation of the 
 Popal Vuh. He carried away with him the original, and no 
 copies remain. 
 
 The historian Fuentes cites some Indian manuscripts, from 
 which he asserts he has taken facts relative to the history of 
 these countries anterior to the arrival of the Spaniards. We 
 do not doubt the existence of these documents, but cannot say 
 as much with respect to the fidelity of the translations. Their 
 substance differs notably on various points to all the others we 
 have seen, and as there are many errors in the work of Fuentes, 
 and even falsehoods which appear intentional, the faithful his- 
 torian finds himself obliged to doubt these data. Bat unfor- 
 
36 GUATEMALA. 
 
 tunately these errors or misstritemeuts have been widely circu- 
 lated, and have formed until now the basis of the history of 
 the epoch anterior to the conquest, for they have been adopted 
 and popularized by Don Domingo Juarros in his history of the 
 city of Guatemala, which latter in great part is a copy of the 
 chronicle of Fuentes. 
 
 As we before stated it is very difficult, if not impossible, to 
 say who were the true indigenes of the country. Going back 
 to the most ancient traditions we find mention of the coming 
 of Votan, who found the Territory of Tabasco, where it is sup- 
 posed he disembarked, peopled by savage tribes, to whom that 
 chieftian and those who accompanied him, were compelled to 
 submit before he was able to civilize them. To him is attributed 
 the foundation of the great city, whose ruins are now known 
 under the name of Palenque, bat whose original name was 
 i^achau or I^a — chan. This city became the capital of a vast 
 and powerful empire, which Votan and his successors extended 
 until it embraced certain provinces of Mexico and a portion of 
 Central America. This empire is designated by Indian his- 
 torians under the name of Xibalba or Xibalbay. 
 
 The Bishop of Chiapas Nunez de la Vega, and two other 
 writers, Ordonez and Cabrera, have furnished many circum 
 stances relating to that personage (Votan), who they assure 
 us; left a written memorial, in which he refers to his great 
 deeds and his long and dangerous journeys, and also gives a 
 minute account of the dynasty of the "Votauldes." Yet there 
 are many who even doubt that this hero ever existed, consid- 
 ering him as nuTcly the personification of one of the most 
 ancient epochs of Central American civilization. 
 
 According to the authors who sustain this opinion, the 
 legend of Votan is of Asiatic origin, and presents certain affin- 
 ities to others of the old continent. 
 
 Afterwards came the Xahuas, or Nahoas, generally known 
 by the name of Tultecs. They founded the city of Tula, ( whose 
 ruins are near Ocosingo), to the southwest of Palenque, in the 
 modern Mexican State of Chiapas. The chief of this people, 
 whose mechanical skill and advanced civilization merited the 
 eulogies of ancient writers, was Quetzalchutl, whom the Mexi- 
 
GUATEMALA. 37 
 
 cans worshipped as a god, and the Giiatemaltecan traditions 
 designated by the name of Gucumatz. 
 
 The capital ot the Tultecs became, in time, more powerful 
 than the Empire of Xibalba, and wrested from the latter the 
 supremacy of the country. The Xibalbaides were obliged to 
 emigrate, and were scattered in different directions. Some of 
 them founded to the north of the present Oity of Mexico 
 another capital, to which they gave the name of Tula, and 
 established a new kingdom, which, according to certain writers, 
 existed four centuries. Tl^e historian Clavigero says this mon- 
 archy was established in the seventh century, and was de- 
 stroyed in the eleventh by a famine occasioned by the scarcity 
 of rain and the plague that followed in the train of the famine. 
 Other writers assert that the last Tultec king of Mexico, who 
 was named Topiltz Acxitl, emigrated with the remnant of his 
 people to Honduras, where he established the kingdom of 
 Hueytlato and fixed his residence at Oopautl. 
 
 There are likewise traditions of other emigrations, as for 
 instance, that of certain tribes from the north, who came 
 under the command of two families named Tamub and Hocab. 
 They took possession of the country and completed the de- 
 struction of Tula and l^^achan. This race was afterward known 
 under the name of Mam, since corrupted to Mem, which signi- 
 fies stutterers. This appellation was ai)plied to that people 
 on account of the difficulty they encountered in pronouncing 
 certain letters of the Cakchiquel alphabet. 
 
 Remnants of the Tultecs, who were formerly established on 
 Mexican territory, were those tribes, which, in this country, 
 took the name of Quiches, as well as others also who came 
 with them. They conquered the people they encountered and 
 took possession of the greater part of the country. There 
 likewise came from Mexican Territory other immigrants who, 
 some time before, had spread along the southern coast as far 
 as the locality, which, at present, marks the boundary line 
 between the Republics of Honduras and Nicaragua. These 
 tribes bore the name of Chorotegas, or Ohorotecas, from which 
 came that of Oholuteca, a city they founded near the point 
 which terminated their progress to the south. 
 
38 GUATEMALA. 
 
 The editor of the Popal Yuh confases these different emigra- 
 tions and refers to the arrival of his nation in this country, 
 accompanying the narrative of the event with mythological 
 and allegorical circumstances, amid which it is necessary to 
 search for those historical facts which the writer seems to 
 have done his utmost to disfigure, if not conceal. 
 
 He says: " that having departed from a region jn the east," 
 which he does not particularize, " the tribes of the Quiche, of 
 Tamub of Eabinal, the Cakchiqueles, those of Tziquinaha, by 
 Balam-Quitzi, Balam-Agab, Muhuentah and Iq-Balam, they 
 came to a place named Tulanzu, according to the Spanish 
 translator, or Tulan-Zuiva, according to the French transla- 
 tor. It is designated also by the name of the Seven Caves 
 and the Seven Barrancos, but it is no other than the city of 
 Tula, founded, as we have before said, by the ISTahuas, in the 
 State of Chiapas. 
 
 He adds : " that at this place the languages of the tribes 
 became so altered and diversified that they could ho longer 
 understand each other." Here they separated 5 each nation 
 taking a separate route. They were compelled to cross the 
 sea, which they did in a miraculous manner, for the water 
 divided, and they journeyed over several long straight lines 
 of stones. 
 
 The Quiches settled in the wooded foot hills of Hacavitz, 
 in Yerapaz, to the north of Eabinal, and did little else, for a 
 long time, save commit acts of vandalism upon the neighbor- 
 ing people, the Mames, who, on their part, vainly exerted 
 themselves to destroy these adventurers by force or by strat- 
 agem. 
 
 The object of these raids of the Quiches was to capture 
 human beings, for the purpose of offering them, as victims, 
 on the altars of Tohil, a sanguinary deity, who with Abilitz 
 and Hacavitz formed the Trinity of the religious system of 
 these people. 
 
 The tribes which inhabited the immediate vicinity of this 
 Quiche colony were compelled to submit to the yoke of the 
 latter, who were led by four fortunate captains. When they 
 had accomplished their mission these chieftains disappeared 
 
aUATEMALA. 39 
 
 in a mysterious mauuer, leaving the government to their three 
 sons, Qocaib (son of Balam-Quitze), Qoacutee (son of Balam- 
 Agab) and Qoahau (sou of Manucutah). The fourth chieftain, 
 Iq-Balam, left no successor. 
 
 In conformity with the advice given by their fathers, before 
 they disappeared, the three new chieftains made a long jour- 
 ney to the East. They crossed the sea with facility, and pre- 
 sented themselves before a great monarch named Nacgic, who 
 invested them with the supreme command and also with the 
 symbols of sovereignty, and instructed them in the principles 
 of government. On their return they were received with joy 
 by all the tribes, who immediately separated and colonized 
 different localities, for the population had increased to such 
 an extent that the limits of Hacavitz could no longer con- 
 tain it. 
 
 One of the localities they populated was named Chi-Quix- 
 Che, or simply Quix Che, from which doubtless is derived 
 Quiche. This latter afterward became the name of the nation. 
 They built a city which they called Izmachi, in whose con- 
 struction they used stone and lime, more solid materials 
 than they hitherto utilized in building their miserable habi- 
 tations. 
 
CHAPTER 111, 
 
 Pall of the First Invaders and Rise of the Quiches- -They Rapidly Con- 
 solidate Their Power — The Sanguinary Wars of the Latter, in which 
 they are luvariably Victorious — Their Form of Government — They 
 Arrive at the Apogee of Power. 
 
 The occupation of a great part of Guatemaltecan territory 
 by the Quiches, according to the French translator of the 
 Popal Yuh, took place between the fifth and sixth centuries of 
 our era. They established four monarchies, under as many 
 different branches of the royal family; named of Oavek, of 
 ]!^ihiab, of Ahau Quiche and of Ilocab. The principal of these, 
 and that which presents the most historical interest, is the 
 Cavek, which exercised a certain degree of supremacy over 
 the rest. At the epoch of which we treat, their settlements 
 extended from the country of the Lacandoues to the Pacific 
 Ocean, with the exception of the eastern districts near Lake 
 Ysabal and the maritime provinces of Escuintla. 
 
 In establishing — although with some feeling of doubt — the 
 position of the numerous tribes who occupied the territory 
 which is now the Eepublic of Guatemala, we place in the 
 centre the tribe of Tamub, whose capital was situated near 
 Santa Cruz Quiche. That of Ilocab peopled the territory 
 which extended to the south and west of the country of the 
 Tamub. These two nations, in conjunction with another 
 whose name is lost, constituted, in conformity with the Tultec 
 system, a confederation which was the head of a grand em- 
 pire, and which ruled over other sovereignties of less import- 
 ance. 
 
 The Pokomanes, who formed a part of the "Thirteen tribes 
 of Tecpan," settled Verapaz and the lands south of the Mota- 
 gua river. The Mames extended to the frontier of Chiapas. 
 One of the various branches of this powerful nation took for 
 its capital Qulaha, which became an important city. It was 
 situated at the foot of the volcano of Santa Maria, or Excanul, 
 and was also called Mma — Amang — the grand city. When 
 
GUATEMALA. 41 
 
 conquered by the Quiclies it received the name of Xelaluon, 
 or Xelahun — Quich (i. e., under the ten deers). After the 
 conquest it was called Quezaltenango. 
 
 The Quiche nation played an important part in the history 
 of Central America before the Si)anish conquest. The Popal 
 Yuh furnishes a list of fourteen kings from Balau-Quitze to 
 Don Juan de Rojar and Don Juan Cortes, the last sovereigns, 
 who exercised a merely nominal sovereignty un'der the yoke 
 of the conquerors. The latter judged it prudent to preserve, 
 for a time, the shadow of the Indian monarchy. Other authors 
 give the Quiche uation twenty-four kings. Of course it is im- 
 possible to decide which list is correct. 
 
 According to the Popal Yuh, Balan-Quitze was the founder 
 of the Quiclie monarchy, and the first of its sovereigns. This 
 king has left no other record than that of having brougiit his 
 people to this country, and his acts of vandalism and robbery 
 of human beings for sacrifice. The most memorable act per- 
 formed by his son Qocabib was his journey to the East, of 
 which we have made mention. The translation of the Quiche 
 nation from Hacavitz to Chi-qui-che, and the founding of the 
 city of Izmachi, which the Popal Yuh attributes to Qocabib, 
 according to the Spanish translator, are events which the 
 French author supposes to have occurred during the reign of 
 the third king, Balan-Conache. The truth is, the Indian man- 
 uscript is somewhat obscure on this point, for in another place 
 it states that the arrival at Chi qui-che, and the founding of 
 capital, took place in the fourth generation, or during the 
 reign of the fourth of the Quiche monarchs. 
 
 The version of Ximinez designates this last king by the 
 names of Cotuha-Zttayul), but the French translation derives 
 two distinct personages from this name. Cotuha exercised 
 the functions of Ahau-Ahpop, or sovereign, and Zttayub, or 
 Iztayul, those of Ahpop-Camha, or associate in command, 
 according to the laws and customs of the Tultecs. The Popal 
 Yuh speaks sometimes of Cotuha-Iztayul as of one person, 
 and then again mentions the King Cotuha and the King Izta- 
 yul. It is probable they were two different personages, who 
 governed the nation in conjunction. 
 
42 GrUATEMALA. 
 
 The kingdom of Quiche possessed three great families at 
 that epoch : That of Oabiquib, commonly called the Cavek ; 
 that of Mhaibab, and that of Ahau-Qaiche. All lived in their 
 new establishments tranquil and pacific. But the envy of the 
 kindred tribe, ruled by the family of Ilocab, according to 
 some, or the alarm occasioned by the ambitious projects of 
 Cotuha and Iztayul, according to others, occasioned a san- 
 guinary war. The Ilocab entered with a large army into the 
 territory of the first (Quiche nation. Cotuha and Iztaj^ul were 
 not taken by surprise. They gathered their numerous hosts, 
 attacked the invaders and defeated them with great loss. 
 Some of the conquered were reduced to slavery and others 
 were immolated at the altar of the sanguinarj' god, Tohil. 
 
 The Popal Yuh adds that this victor}^ gave rise to the Quiche 
 custom of human sacrifices, forgetting that it had attributed 
 this horrible invention to the first King Balan-Quitze. 
 
 Their first enemies subjugated, the Quiches continued to 
 grow more and more powerful. They fortified their city, and 
 established the custom of celebrating the weddings of their 
 daughters with grand feasts. These feasts were paid for from 
 the presents received on the occasion. They might be regard- 
 ed as semi-religious ceremonies, and were considered a thanks- 
 giving for the augmentation of the population. 
 
 At that epoch the nation was divided into seven capules, 
 which may be designated as seven judicial districts. 
 
 In the translation of Ximinez, Grucumatz-Cotuha figured as 
 fifth king. He was known as "the first of the marvelous or 
 prodigious," a name given him by consequence of the super- 
 natural deeds attributed to him by the entire nation. It is 
 said that the king went to heaven for seven days, and he also 
 passed seven days in hell. Afterward he transformed himself 
 into a serpent for a similar length of time, and immediately 
 after changed into a tiger, which form he also retained for 
 seven days. Another time he took the figure of an eagle for 
 a week, and for another seven days appeared as congealed 
 blood, "and indeed," adds the credulous Quiche annalist, 
 " great was the respect paid him for these marvelous trans- 
 
GUATEMALA. 43 
 
 formations, which were effected before all the lords and all the 
 people of his kingdom." 
 
 G-rave quarrels between the principal families, who were 
 raised far above all other classes of society, occurred during 
 the government of G-ucumatz, The version of Ximenez, of 
 the Popal Vuh, throws but feeble light on the cause of these 
 quarrels. It says : '' There were conflicts regarding the invi- 
 tations extended at the weddings of their daughters,' for not 
 offering liquor to the judges of the wards." The French 
 'translation is still more confused on this point, and simply 
 says: "Their quarrels assumed a serious aspect, and they 
 threw at each other the bones of the dead." 
 
 Whatever may have been the origin of these disputes, they 
 gave rise to occurrences of transceudant importance. The first 
 was the removal of the capital from Izmachi to Utatlan, an 
 ancient and venerable city wliioh was in a ruinous condition. 
 It received the name of Gumarcha, which signifies old or rot- 
 ten cabins. The second important occurrence was the subdi- 
 vision of the three great fiimilies into twenty-four noble 
 houses, obliging the chief of each to build a palace in the new 
 capital. 
 
 The French translator of the Popal Yuh conceives that the 
 object of Grucumatz in subdividing the three great families, 
 and creating new dignitaries, was to satisfy the ambition of 
 the inferior nobility, and to diminish the power of the high 
 aristocracy. He opines, also, that the removal of the capital 
 was a wise measure that effectually contributed toward ter- 
 minating all discord, by employing many people and a great 
 amount of treasure in the construction of the grand temple, of 
 the numerous pajaces, and of the other edifices erected in 
 Utatlan. 
 
 The kingdom gained a great access of power and majest^^ 
 under the firm and prudent reign of Gucumatz, without hav- 
 ing recourse to arms to force the neighboring people to respect 
 the orders of that sovereign. His wise^ policy, which the 
 Quiche annalist is always anxious to attribute to his super- 
 natural powers, obtained the respect of his own people and 
 the obedience and fear of the other tribes who inhabited the 
 country. 
 
44 GUATEMALA.. 
 
 The son and successor of this monarch was Tepepul, the 
 sixth sovereign, who reigned in conjunction with another 
 prince of the name of Iztayul. They left behind no record of 
 any memorable action. 
 
 The seventh monarch was Caquicab. or Cabiquicab, who 
 reigned with Oavizimah and extended the Quiche domination 
 by means of conquest. Chuvila, near the mountains of Vera- 
 paz, inhabited by the Rabinals, Cobkeb, Zacahaba, Zaculen, 
 Ohuvi-Megena, Xelahu, Ohuva Tzak and other numerous 
 towns of the Oakchiquels and of the Mames fell under the 
 iron yoke of the Quiches, who passed through the country 
 with fire and sword, reducing to slavery those of their enemies 
 " they did not tie to trees and cruelly shoot to death with 
 arrows." 
 
 The Indian annalists eulogize the courage and strength of 
 Quicab, and compare him to the lightning. He cut to pieces 
 with his sword the rocky mountains of the localities he con- 
 quered. To prove this assertion the Indian historian mentions 
 a certain cut rock, in the ancient city of Colche, and another 
 on the coast called Petayab, and which is still in plain sight 
 of all passers-by. 
 
 He built a wall around the city, to which labor all his vassals 
 were called upon to assist. Fearing doubtless for the security 
 of his dominions, which were gained in great part by conquest, 
 he established watch towers along the frontier, where sentinels 
 noted the movements of his enemies. He jealously fortified 
 many towers and heights which served as an outer wall to his 
 kingdom. 
 
 That these prudent measures were not uncalled for, and that 
 the numerous precautions taken were insufficient to prevent a 
 catastrophe, is succinctly related in the Cakcliiquel manu- 
 script, although the Popal Vuh passes in silence over the dis- 
 asters which befell the Quiche nation during the reign of 
 Quicab. 
 
 The first was the civil war. The plebe demanded to be ex-, 
 empted from the taxes and tributes to which tliey were sub- 
 ject as vassels. Six of the principal agitators demanded of 
 the king and his assistant sovereign the redress of these griev- 
 
GUATEMALA. 45 
 
 ances. They were refused a hearing and immediately hung. 
 This violent measure was adopted by the advice of the nobility, 
 and was productive of the most disastrous consequences. A 
 formidable sedition broke out ; but strange to say, this rebel- 
 lion was headed by the sons and two grandsons of Quicab. 
 They were not inspired by a sentiment of justice toward the 
 inferior class, but by the culpable desire to despoil their old 
 father of the power and riches he possessed. 
 
 The palaces of the nobles were invaded and sacked by the 
 rebels, many of the aristocracy were assassinated, and the 
 king himself was reduced to prison. Quicab was compelled 
 to accede to the demands of the people, several of whom were 
 soon elevated to the principal of&ces of the monarchy. By 
 means of these concessions the old king was permitted to exer- 
 cise the executive power, but his authority was really gone. 
 The victorious popular classes were turbulent and ungovern- 
 able, and, as is generally the case in such situations, a puerile 
 and insignificant cause served as a pretext for a serious and 
 disastrous -sedition. 
 
 From the epoch to which we have arrived in our narration, 
 the history of the Quiches is intimately connected with the 
 Oakchiquel monarchy. The latter was a feudatory and ally 
 of the former, but had preserved its political entity. It had 
 proved a faithful ally of Quicab in the wars he waged against 
 the other tribes of the country. Established in the moun- 
 tains of Ohiavar and Tzupitayah, and thus near neighbors to 
 the great nation, frequent and daily intercourse took place 
 between the peoples. At the close of the fourteenth century, 
 or the beginning of the fifteenth, according to the calculations 
 of the French translator of the Popal Vuh, Huntoh and Yuku- 
 batz held the scepter of the Oakchiquel monarchy. In con- 
 formity with the Tultec custom, the sovereign power was 
 exercised by a king and his associate (joined in power) which 
 custom also obtained among the Quiches. 
 
 These two princes enjoyed the affection and protection of 
 the old Quicab, their feudal lord, and visited him frequently 
 at the caj)ital. One day a Oakchiquel woman went to the city 
 to sell tortillas, a common food of the people in those days as 
 
46 GUATEMALA. 
 
 also in the present.^" One of the soldiers of the plebeian guard 
 of Qiiicab attempted to rob the woman of her stock. She 
 defended herself and ended by beating the wonld-be robber 
 with a stick. The law relating to robbery being extremely 
 severe, the Quiche authorities sentenced the soldier to be hung; 
 but the people rebelled, and not only prevented the man's 
 punishment, but demanded the woman's death. The kings of 
 the Cakchiquel interfered and released the woman from the 
 fury of the crowd. Then the popular ire turned against them 
 and the matter assumed serious proportions. Some wished 
 to avenge themselves on the two kings personally, but others, 
 more prudent, limited the matter to a demand upon their owu 
 king to procure redress for the alleged wrong done the Quiches. 
 
 A meeting of the council of the nation was immediately 
 called. The violent petition against the kings of the Cakchi- 
 quels, demanding their heads, was heard. The petitioners 
 plainly evinced their jealousy against these, the onlj^ princes 
 in the country, who continued reigning in splendor amid the 
 ruin of the nations which had fallen under the exterminating 
 yoke of the Quiches. They demanded the persons of the 
 monarch and his associate, and menaced Quicab with death 
 if he refused to accede. 
 
 But the king sternly refused and managed to evade the 
 difficulty, which success the Cakchiquel chronicler attributed 
 to his wisdom, his magic powers, and his knowledge of the 
 mysterious science of the Tultecs, of which he was a consum- 
 mate master. The truth is that Quicab perfectly understood 
 the situation, and foreseeing the tempest that menaced both 
 him and his proteg^., called them secretly to him, and indi- 
 cated the only means of avoiding it. 
 
 " This war, my sons, is not directed against me alone, but 
 against you also. Do not think that it has concluded. It has 
 but just commenced. You have seen what the people have 
 done to me. They have destroyed my family, and robbed me 
 of my slaves and riches. They wish to do the same to you. 
 Come, then, to a firm and decisive resolution. Go, dear friends ; 
 abandon this vile city, filled with a villainous and rebellious 
 population, who neither respect nor listen to you. Gro to. 
 
GUATEMALA. 47 
 
 Iximche, upon the Eatzamut; erect there your palaces, and 
 a city where your i)eople will be enabled to live in peace, for 
 it is certain you can no longer remain in Chiavar." 
 
 This discourse, which concluded with an imprecation against 
 the plebeians, made a lasting impression upon the Oakchi- 
 quel princes, and they hastened to put in execution the pru- 
 dent advice given by Quicab. They heard the opinion of the 
 old men of their nation, and theu abandoned the cities of 
 Ohiavar and Txupitayah, followed by their people, who dis- 
 plaj'ed their animosity against the Quiches by burning all the 
 A'illages on the road. Arriving at Iximche, also called Tecpan- 
 Quauhtemalan, they took up their abode in that famous city, 
 which, from that date, became the capital of the Cakchiquel 
 monarchy. It is very probable that it was also the capital of 
 the first kings of the Tultecs, judgiug from the title given it 
 by the Indians of the Oher Tinamot or old capital. 
 
 They immediately began to fortify tbe city and make prepar- 
 ations for defense, for they plainly saw that before long the 
 horrors of War would be upon them. The seven factions — or 
 parties — into which the nation was divided, unanimously, and 
 with enthusiasm, approved the action of the king and his 
 associate, and sent ambassadors to congratulate aud commend 
 them on their resolution to preserve their independence. They 
 bestowed upon the sovereigu the title of Ahpozotzil or Eey 
 De Los Murcielagos, (i. e., king of the bats), which was an 
 ancient nickname of his family, and upon his associate that of 
 Ahpoxahil. 
 
 The struggle soon commenced. The Quiche had garrisons 
 in Chakilya and Xivanul, frontier towns near the territory of 
 the Cakchiquels, which after the Spanish conquest took the 
 names of San Gregorio and Santo Tomas. The Cakchiquels, 
 on their part, had not neglected to place forces in the towns 
 near the garrison of their enemies. It was not long before 
 fighting took place. The Quiches were the aggressors, for 
 they attacked the fortified posts of the Cakchiquels. They 
 were not only defeated and their general slain, but they lost 
 the towns Chakilaya and Xivanul, which so demoralized them 
 that for the time being they desisted from further hostilities. 
 
48 GUATEMALA. 
 
 The Oakchiquel kings, relieved from all anxiety on this score, 
 bestowed their attention to certain interior regulations. They 
 distributed their subjects among the chiefs of the tribes, embel- 
 lished their city, and proclaimed for their nation complete 
 independence. 
 
 Some years after these occurrences Huntoh died, and was 
 succeeded by his son Lahunah, or Lahuh-Ah. Upon the death 
 of Huntoh's associate, Yakubatz,his son Oxluhuhtzi succeeded 
 him. The Oakchiquel chronicler eulogizes the wisdom and 
 heroism of these princes, which rendered them terrible to their 
 enemies. He speaks of the campaigns they conducted, but 
 does not mention against what enemies. Upon the death of 
 Lahuh-Ah, his son Cablahuh Tihax mounted the throne and 
 reigned jointly with Oxlahuhtzi, "and whose majesty com- 
 menced to shine after the death of Quicab, the enchanter king 
 of the Quiches." 
 
 The history of the two nations, so intimately connected 
 during the reign of this monarch, was even more so in the 
 reign of Tepepul II, the ninth king of the Quiches, who had 
 for associate in the government, Iztayul III. 
 
 The hatred entertained by the chiefs of the Quiche army 
 and people against the Oakchiquels, restrained by the respect 
 they still retained for Quicab, was openly manifested as soon 
 as that monarch's eyes were closed in death. Jealous of the 
 greatness of the city of Quahtemalau — ancient Iximche — 
 which evinced signs of great progress since it became the 
 capital of the Cakchiquels, they awaited with '• malignant 
 envy" an opportune occasion to discharge their ire upon that 
 centre of population. An unfortunate circumstance occurred 
 which afforded the Quiches the long sought for opportunity. 
 In consequence of an excessively cold spell, which destroyed 
 the cereal crop, a famine wrought sad havoc among the 
 poorer classes of the city. Upon information of this event, 
 the chiefs of the Quiches took counsel together and resolved 
 to make war upon their unfortunate neighbors. They armed 
 the entire fighting population of their nation, and taking with 
 them, on a platform borne on the shoulders ot porters, L heir- 
 god, Tohil, they began their march. Their principal captains 
 
GUATEMALA. 49 
 
 '■' osteutationsly adorned their heads with beautiful feathers 
 and their persons with golden ornaments and precious stones." 
 The Cakchiquels, although prepared for war, by no means 
 appreciated the extent of the danger that menaced them. A 
 Quiche deserter presented himself before the kings, Oxla- 
 huhtzi and Gablahuh-Tihax, and informed them of the approach 
 of the enemy. "They are coming," he said, " not in legions 
 of 8000 and 10,000 and 6000 men, but in multitudes. Day 
 after to-morrow they will be here, and their irruption will be 
 terrible, for they will level the city to the ground and put its 
 inhabitants to the sword." 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Fall of the Quiche Nation — Foundation of the Cakchiqiiel Empire. 
 Wa.rs with Other Nations — Their Civil Wars — Arrival of the Span- 
 iards and Destruction of the Aboriginal Nations. 
 
 The kings of the Cakchiquels were not intimidated by the 
 approach of the Quiche lords ; and far from fearing the result 
 of a battle, were desirous of deciding the quarrel in the field 
 by the force of arms. They rapidly concentrated their arms 
 and took position at the place where their enemy was likely 
 to appear. The first combat proved favorable to them ; thus 
 animated by these partial triumphs, they prepared to receive 
 near their capital the main body of the Quiche army. The 
 description given by the Indian annalist of the battle fought 
 in the vicinity of Quahtemaian is animated and picturesque. 
 
 " From ^the moment the first rays of the rising sun com- 
 menced to tint the tall summits of the neighboring hills and 
 mountains with a flood of golden glory, the war shouts of the 
 hosts sounded across the wide valley ; the battle flags were 
 spread to the wind ; the drums and shells sounded, and in the 
 midst of the confusion the Quiches, whose files moved with 
 menacing velocity, were seen descending the mountains in all 
 directions. When they arrived on the bank of the river that 
 courses near the city, they occupied the houses and formed in 
 line of battle under the command of their kings, Tepepul, Iz- 
 tapul." 
 
 " The meeting of the rival forces was terrible. The war cries 
 and the sound of the military musical instruments frenzied 
 the combatants, wliile the heroes of either army utilized all 
 their powers of enchantment. IsTevertheless, in a short while 
 the files of the Quiche were broken and confusion entered 
 thieir ranks. 
 
 "The greater part of their army fled without striking a 
 blow, and the carnage was terrible. Among those who fled 
 were the kings, Tepepul and Iztayul, who were afterwards 
 captured with their god Tohil, the G-alel-Achi, the Ahpop- 
 
GUATEMALA. 51 
 
 Achi, the grandfather and the son of the keeper of the jewels, 
 the sculptor, the treasurer and the secretary (dignitaries of 
 the Quiche court), and a vast number of the plebeians, all were 
 put to the sword. Our old men say, my sons, that it was im- 
 possible to count the Quiches who fell by the hands of the 
 Cakchiquels on that memorable day. Such were the heroic 
 deeds by which the kings Oxlahuhtzi and Cablahuh-Tihax, as 
 also the heroes Eoimox and Rokelbatzin, rendered forever fa- 
 mous the mountains of Iximche." 
 
 This memorable battle established the power of the Cakchi- 
 quels on a firm basis and secured them the principal position 
 among the Central American kingdoms, which before had 
 been held by their conquered rivals, the Quiches. 
 
 Prom that date history makes but little more mention of 
 the latter nation than give a list of its seven later kings, in- 
 cluding the two shadows who reigned for a while after the 
 conquest of the country by the Spaniards. 
 
 The battle of the Quahtemalan did not extend to the other 
 nations the blessings of peace. The Cakchiquels, filled with 
 pride, gave way to ambitious designs ; openly aspired to the 
 domination of the whole country, and soon began to develop 
 their plan of conquest. The first country on which they cast 
 ambitious eyes was the territory of the Akahales, a branch of 
 their own people, who occupied a large portion of what is 
 now the Eepublic of Guatemala, from the volcano of Pacaya 
 to the vicinity of the Golfo Dulce. 
 
 These people were vassals of the monarchs of Quahtema- 
 lan, and their capital, Holom, rivaled that city. The prince 
 Tchal-Amoyac was guilty of a serious crime, in the eyes of 
 the courtiers of Oxlahulitzi; his great riches, of which the.y 
 decided to despoil him. Eesolved on his ruin, they had him 
 called to the capital, and although he had a presentment of 
 his fate, he obeyed the summons and presented himself, ac- 
 companied only by a few of his counsellors. As he entered 
 the saloon of the palace, the courtiers fell upon him and his 
 five companions and cruelly assassinated him in the very 
 presence of the kings, immediately after the occurrence" of 
 this villainous action, the towns and villages of the Akahales 
 
52 aUATEMALA. 
 
 were occupied, and soon afterwards were incorporated with 
 the dominions of the Cakchiquels. 
 
 These events alarmed the neighboring States. A confede- 
 ration was formed by a great number of nations who were 
 resolved to defend their independence which was so seriously 
 menaced by the ambitious princes of Quahtemalan. The 
 chiefs of this confederation were Wookaok, king of the Atzi- 
 qninibayi, who occupied the banks of the lake Atitlan, and 
 Belche-Gih, whose principality was situated in the mountains 
 near the Quiche nation. . 
 
 Wook'aok erected in his capital, Paraxtennya, a castle or 
 fortress, surrounded by entrenchments and deep barrancos. 
 Confiding in these defenses he calmly awaited the Oakchiquel 
 attack. The kings of the latter nation, proud of their victories, 
 delayed tut a short time, before marching against this enemy, 
 and besieged the fortress. - The strugle was deadly, after 
 fifteen days of continuous combats, the besiegers mounted to 
 the assault. They entered the place and beheaded all the 
 surviving defenders. The unfortunate Wookaok paid with 
 his life the crime of having dared to resist the unjust enemies 
 of his country. 
 
 The powers of the sovereigns of Quahtemalan had reached 
 its apogee. The nation possessed the same supremacy that, 
 years before, had belonged to the Quiches, whose kingdom, 
 under the reign of the great Quicob was the most powerful of 
 all the Central American nations. Such was the situation of 
 these countries, when, during the last years of the fifteenth 
 century, Cristobal Colon landed on the shores of the Kew 
 World. 
 
 The copy of the Cakchiquel manuscript, from this epoch, 
 proceeds in a detailed chronological order, furnishing dates 
 for each of the events to which it refers. In the year 1497 a 
 serious insurrection broke out in the capital, which placed in 
 great peril the authority of the kings whose influence appeared 
 to have been firmly established by the triumphs they had 
 secured and the supremancy they had acquired over their 
 rivals. 
 
 The inhabitants of Quahtemalan divided into two factions ; 
 the Zotziles and the Tukuches, and although both chiefs be- 
 
GUATEMALA. 53 
 
 longed to the royal family, and were vassals of the same 
 sovereign, they occupied different quarters of the ciry ; the 
 first held that portion surrounding the royal palace and was 
 under the immediate rule of the sovereign. The second, re- 
 cognized as chief, one of the individuals of the minor branch 
 of the royal family, who exercised at court the functions of 
 Atzih-Winak. (He who gives and he who makes the presents.) 
 
 This position was filled by Oay-Huuahpu, an ambitious 
 prince, who, in consequence of his great riches and numerous 
 vassals, exercised vast influence in the country. By paying 
 court to the aristocracy^, he succeeded in ijlaciug himself at 
 the head of a large party. He secretly aspired to the throne 
 and simply awaited an opportunity to carry out his designs. 
 It was not long before one presented itself. 
 
 The Tukuches, vassals and clients of the haughty lord, quar- 
 reled with Akahales, who since their confederation with the 
 Cakchiquels had remained tranquil. The quarrel had its origin 
 jn a violent act committed by the Tukuches who attempted to 
 destroy a field of grain belonging to the Akahales, the latter 
 defended their property and repulsed the aggressors. The 
 dispute between the two factions assumed a grave character, 
 and the king and his associate went to the locality to decide 
 the question. Cay-Hunahpu improved the occasion to carry 
 out his design. He demanded the lives of the Akahals, a bold 
 and unjust demand, as the latter were clearly in the right for 
 they had been attacked by the Tukuches. The kings refused 
 to acceed. Then the insurrection broke out in full force openly 
 headed by the evil minded prince Hunahpu. 
 
 The movement assumed alarming proportions. The terrified 
 kings endeavored to come to an understanding with the insur- 
 gents. But their efforts proved fruitless, none of their con- 
 ciliatory measures sufficed to placate the anger of the chief of 
 the Tukuches. Then the monarch and his associate were weak 
 enough to accede to that act of injustice they had so energeti- 
 cally refused to commit before. The Akahales were delivered 
 up and were sacrificed, but this concession did not improve the 
 situation. Cay-Hunahpu was reconciled to the king. The con- 
 ciliatory policy of his rivals, far from inclining him to peaceful 
 
54 GUATEMALA. 
 
 settlements, stimulated his pride and caused him to judge the 
 enterprise in which he was engaged as easy of accomplishment, 
 nevertheless, subsequent events showed the error into which 
 the ambitious chieftain had fallen. 
 
 Publicly and without the least attempt at concealment, he 
 continued taking steps to carry out his plans. He appointed 
 a day upon which his armed vassals were to attack the capital, 
 for which purpose he marched them but to a position near the 
 river, which flanked the city. He organized his forces and had 
 begun to make dispositions for the attack, when the faction 
 of the kings i>erceiving that a conflict was inevitable, decided 
 to seek the enemy and give him battle outside the city. 
 
 " What a terrible spectacle it was" says the Cakchiquel 
 annalist •' that was presented of the innumerable hosts of the 
 Tukuches, whose divisions were not counted by 8,000 10,000 
 or 6,000 men." Their chieftains' feather head-dresses were 
 placed over crowns of gold and precious stones. At the sound 
 of the drums dnd trumpets the combat commenced. 
 
 Among the partisans of the kings were four women, accom- 
 panied by as many warriors, who used their bows with such 
 skill and displayed so much strength that their arrows reached 
 as far as the litter of Chacuibatzin, one of the most fiery and 
 gallant chiefs of the Tukuches. At length these heroines 
 suddenly disappeared ; then one of the divisions of the de- 
 fenders of the city furiously charged a position held by the 
 enemy. The latter could not resist the shock but fled, and 
 abandoned the position they had occupied. This circumstance 
 decided the battle ; the Cakchiquels gallantly charged along 
 the whole line and completely defeated the Tukuches. The 
 prisoners, men, women and children, were put to the sword, 
 Cay-Hunahpu and the other princes of his party paid with 
 their Jives their crime of rebellion, while the remains of that 
 immense army which had menaced the capital with destruc- 
 tion dispersed and sought refuge in the neighboring towns 
 and villages. 
 
 But the victory of the kings was far from pacifying the 
 monarchy. The chronicle of the Oakchiquels records an un- 
 interrupted series of civil insurrections and foreign wars with 
 
GUATEMALA. 55 
 
 the other nations of the country. Among the latter the king 
 of Zacatepequez took ui:) arms against the Cakchiquels and 
 struggled to free his country from this heavy yoke. He finally 
 succeeded, and was hailed by his gratified people by the title 
 of Achi-Calel, and established his capital in the kingdom of 
 Yampuk. This monarch built forts in various places to de- 
 fend his dominions from the attacks of the Cakchiquels, and 
 was always jealous of their movements. 
 
 Once, when a number of Pokomane emigrants, who came 
 from Ouscottan, begged him to receive them, he did so,- but 
 placed them in a situation as remote as possible from the Cak- 
 chiquels frontier. This monarchy of Yampuk had but two or 
 three kings up to the time of the conquest. 
 
 Thirteen years afterwards (1510) Oxlhuhtzi died, and in the 
 following year his associate, Cablahuh-Tihax. They were 
 succeeded by their sons, Hunig and Lahuh-l^foh, the dignities 
 of AhpOzatzel (king) and Alpoxahil (associate or assistant 
 king). In the first year of their reign an event happened that 
 left an indelible mark in the history of those people. A Mex- 
 ican embassy arrived at the Cakchiquel capital. Much has 
 been written about this embassy, but little concerning it is 
 actually known, nor of the object the Emperor of Mexico had 
 in view. The CakchiqueJs annalist simply says that "Mexi- 
 can embassadors arrived and that they were numerous." 
 
 Fuentes and the writers who have followed him mention 
 this famous embassy. They do not attribute it to Montezuma 
 but to Ahuitzotl, the eighth king of the Mexicans. They add 
 that its object or pretext was to propose an alliance between 
 the Quiches, the Cakchiquels and the Tzutohilo, and refer to 
 the result of the mission. The embassadors first presented 
 themselves at the court of the King o± Quiche at Utatlan, who 
 sent them away without listening to their message, under the 
 singular pretext that he did not understand their language. 
 They next went to Quahtemalan, where, it seems, they were 
 better received, but nothing is said as to the success of their 
 mission. They next proceeded to Atitlan, but the ferocious 
 princes of that monarchy drove them away with a volley of 
 arrows. They returned to Utatlan, but the Quiche king or- 
 
56 GUATEMALA. 
 
 dered them to leave the capital the same day and the kingdom 
 within twenty-four days. Fuentes says " the Grnatemaltecan 
 people believed they came for the purpose of learning the con- 
 dition and number of the forces, of studying the roads and of 
 selecting the best points of attack. 
 
 If this event took place at the epoch mentioned in the Cak- 
 chiquel's manuscript, it is not probable that the Mexican em- 
 peror had the object in view, attributed to him by Fuentes. 
 In the year 1512, the Spaniards had already established settle- 
 ments- on the eastern shores of the Continent. As it is 
 likely that Montezuma had been informed of this (to him) 
 extraordinary event, it is very likely that he desired to get 
 more accuratei information, and probably, also, to form alli- 
 ances to defend the country from the danger that menaced it. 
 
 If such was the object of this embassy it failed completely, 
 by consequence of the terror inspired by the Mexican emperor, 
 and also by the want of forethought on the part of those to 
 whom it was directed. The Mexican empire was invaded 
 before the monarchies of Central America were, but far from 
 assisting the Mexicans, one of these kingdoms solicited the 
 protection of the foreign invaders. 
 
 In this place it might be well to examine the assertions of 
 certain authors who assert that at one time Guatemala was 
 subjected to the empire of Mexico. We cannot find records 
 among the Indian documents, ot any notice of such a tran- 
 scendent occurrence. In fact, neither the Popal-Yuh, the 
 Cakchiquel manuscripts, nor any of the ancient historical 
 documents of the country (with the single exception of one 
 called Titulo de la Casa de Ixcuin ]!^ehiab, ) make mention of 
 any foreign conquest of Gruatemala. It seems certain, how- 
 ever, that Ahuitzotl, a warlike Mexican monarch, led his army 
 to Nicaragua along the Pacific coasts, but there is no record 
 of his having penetrated into the interior of the country. 
 
 The American author, Mr. Prescott, speaking of the limits 
 of the Aztic empire, observes that : " at the period of the 
 Spanish invasion the monarchy of the Montezuemas," did not 
 include any x)ortion whatever of Guatemala. 
 
GUATEMA.LA. 57 
 
 War between the Cakchiquels and the Quiches broke out 
 again in the year 1513. The generals of the former entered 
 the Quiche country, and according to their custom, celebrated 
 their triumphs by the sacrifice of human victims. 
 
 But if the fortunes of war still clung to the banners of the 
 Cakchiquels, they were singularl}^ unfortunate in other par- 
 ticulars. In the year 1515, a terrible invasion of locusts, 
 which were preceded by numerous flocks of i)igeons, devas- 
 tated their fields. The same year the greater portion of their 
 capital was destroyed by fire. Yet the Cakchiquel's manu- 
 script refers to the successful termination of several wars 
 during this epoch. But, nevertheless, misfortunes crowded 
 thick and fast upon the nation. A plague broke out in Quah- 
 temalau. It attacked the high and the low. The king Hunig 
 and his oldest son, Ahpop-Achi-Balam, the associate king, 
 Lahuh Noh, and forty great lords, among them some princes 
 of the royal fam.ily, succumbed in a few days. The death rate 
 among the people was so great, that the living were unable 
 to bury the dead. The effluvia from decaying corpses assisted 
 the spread of the plague which almost depopulated the city. 
 The remains of many of those who fled to the mountains served 
 to fatten the thousands of Zopolotes — buzzards — that infested 
 the locality. 
 
 Upon the death of the king, Hunig, and his eldest son, 
 Achi-Balam, as his other princes were yet very young, his 
 younger brother, Balam-Qat, was elevated to the dignity of 
 Ahpozatzil, and Cahi-Imox, son of Luhuh-Noh, became Ah- 
 poxahil. This latter prince died before the plague ceased. 
 
 These princes, upon learning of the occupation of Mexico 
 by Cortes, and the irresistible power of the Spaniards, deter- 
 mined to send an embassy to the stranger chief and solicit 
 assistance and protection against their enemies. This inci- 
 dent, which certain authors either never mention or appear to 
 doubt, is clenrly proved by a letter from Cortes to the Em- 
 peror Charles Y., dated Mexico, October 15, J 824. The authors 
 referred to never heard of this letter. 
 
 The period that transpired from the sending of the above 
 
58 GUATEMALA. 
 
 mentioned embassy until the arrival of Pedro de Alvarado in 
 the country was marked by continued wars between the vari 
 ous kingdoms of Gruatemala. A revolution having broken out 
 in Atitlan, the kings of that country were obliged to take 
 refuge in Quahtemalan. They solicited the assistance of the 
 Cakchiquels, who acceded to their requests and marched 
 against the rebels. They took twelve cities from the insurrec- 
 tionists, which they set fire to after having thoroughly sacked 
 them. The remaining rebels took refuge in a strong fortress, 
 to which the Cakchiquels laid siege. It at length surrendered, 
 and the fugitive mouarchs were replaced on the throne. 
 
 The rivalry between the different nations gave rise to fresh 
 discords and more disastrous wars, when at length a foreign 
 invader crossed the Quiche border. In a series of sanguin- 
 ary battles nation after nation was subdued, and in a short 
 time the lately powerful and flourishing Indian kingdoms of 
 Guatemala were destroyed, and the unfortunate people were 
 forced to submit to the heavy yoke of Spain. 
 
 With the advent of the Spaniards in Central America ter- 
 minates the historical part of Mr. Jose Milla's essay on the 
 aboriginal people of Gruatemala. The remainder of this ad- 
 mirable article is devoted to the legends, the traditions, the 
 habits, the customs, the laws and the religion of these singu- 
 lar people, who had established flourishing kingdoms, reared 
 grand palaces and temples, and built cities whose ruins to-day 
 attest the high degree of civilization, enlightenment and me- 
 chanical skill to which they had attained. 
 
 But neither Mr. Milla nor any other Central American au- 
 thor attempt to sustain the opinion advanced bj^ the American 
 writer, John L. Stephens, Esq., that the numerous ruins which 
 are scattered over the surface of Central America were the 
 work of the people found by the Spaniards at their arrival in 
 the country. 
 
 The principal of the ruined cities of Yucatan, Chiapas,, 
 Guatemala and Honduras undoubtedly belong to an epoch far 
 anterior to the advent of the people mentioned in that portion 
 of Mr. Milla's essay which we have already translated. Late 
 
GUATEMALA. 59 
 
 explorers have no hesitancy in asserting that Oopan, in Hon- 
 duras, and Chichen-Itzi, Yacatan, were built thousands of 
 years ago, while the opinion is daily gaining ground that the 
 grand city of Papantla, whose remains are found near Tuspam, 
 Mexico, was in ruinS long before the builders of Thebes or 
 Karnac laid the foundations of their famous capitals. 
 
CHAPTER y. 
 
 The destruction of the Central American republic — Eeign of terroninder 
 Carrera — Defeat of the reactionary party — Accession of Biirrios to 
 power — Eumors regarding that statesman — Pacification and regen- 
 eration of Guatemala. 
 Uljon the death of Gen. Morazan and the disintegration of 
 the republic of Central America, Guatemala, in sad company 
 with her four unfortunate sister States, was long the prey of 
 contending political factions. The defeated Liberal party 
 fought the triumphant Serviles until its chiefs were either dead 
 or in exile, and then, in despair desisted from further efforts. 
 But although flushed with triumph, the Serviles, led by the 
 clergy of Guatemala, were doomed to meet with a crushing 
 disappointment. In their struggle they had made use of a 
 terrible instrument who wrested the reins of power from the 
 united Serviles, nobles and clergy, and held them with a firm 
 hand for nearly thirty years. 
 
 During the latter part of the civil war a half-breed — ladino — 
 named Carrera, had placed himself at the head of a horde of 
 Indians, and on several stubbornly contested battlefields suc- 
 ceeded in wresting victory from the gallant Liberals. 
 
 This person was a fair type of that class of men who in civil 
 wars rise to the political surface, turn passing events in their 
 favor, grasp control of power and burden history with dark 
 deeds and tales of license and uncontrolled brutality. He could 
 read and write a little, but was otherwise *totally uneducated. 
 In early life he had been an humble servant in a patrician 
 family. Soon afterward he was a swine-herd, and while roving 
 the hillsides and valleys in search of food for his employer's 
 herds, became acquainted with certain disaffected Indian chief- 
 tains, and with them concerted a plan of insurrectian against 
 the government of the Creoles, a part of which plan was the 
 total extermination of the entire race, and the elevation of the 
 aboriginal tribes to the position they held at the epoch of the 
 conquest. 
 
aUATEMALA. .61 
 
 The rebellion of tbe Serviles against the laws of reform and 
 the Liberal party furnished him the long-sought-for opportu- 
 nity ', but he waited until several battles had been fought, and 
 both parties were nearly exhausted before lie issued from his 
 mountain fastnesses at the head of his sanguinary hordes and 
 joined the Serviles. He soon crushed the despairing Liberals. 
 
 His next step was to capture the city of Gruatemala, which 
 he succeeded in accomijlishing. Then was inaugurated a ver- 
 itable Reign of Terror. The principal leaders of the Liberal 
 party were summarily executed without any form of trial, 
 upon the mere identification of their persons. Others, of less 
 importance in the political arena^ were exiled, their property 
 was confiscated, and their families were persecuted and sep- 
 arated. 
 
 In the first flush of success he restored to the church a por- 
 tion of the power she had once used and abused. The clergy 
 were regranted many of their most onerous privileges, while 
 even the so-called nobles, descendants of the conquerors, or first 
 settlers, were amused and partially contented with vain titles 
 and specious privileges. But when the clergy and the nobles 
 meddled with politics and endeavored to obtain a share of 
 power he sternly repressed them. He reminded the prelates 
 that their mission on earth was one of peace and had for its 
 object tlie propagation and preservation of the one universal 
 religion, while the patricians were coldly advised to cultivate 
 and improve their estates, but to leave politics alone, that he 
 was the State, and would govern the republic to suit himself. 
 The high-spirited leaders of the Servile party, who were 
 deeply chagrined that their humble instrument had become 
 their master, rebelled. The cowardly tyrant fled to an estate, 
 he had appropriated. But his brother, at the bead of a small 
 but determined band of adherents, retook the capital, trod out 
 the embers of the insurrection and conducted the dictator in 
 triumph to the palace. His return was marked by many san- 
 guinary executions, and the Reign ot Terror was revived. His 
 faithful Indian allies sent deputations to congratulate him on 
 the failure of the insurrection and to place thousands of armed 
 aborigines at his disposal. 
 
62 GUATEMALA. 
 
 Then the tyrant showed himself in his true colors, and if 
 his da^'S were spent in govermental dnties, his flights were 
 passed in lust and debauchery. Woe to the matron or maid 
 that pleased his brutal^ fancy, nor were there wanting in- 
 stances where patrician ladies sacrifices theraselved to save 
 the life of a brother, a sou or a father. 
 
 Although rough and uneducated, the man certainly pos- 
 sessed great natural talents and an aptitude for governing. 
 Had he had the advantages of an education, his career might 
 have been the brightest of liis country's history, instead of 
 the darkest, every page of which is written in blood. Not- 
 withstanding the numerous insurrections that were inaugu- 
 rated against his government, and the various plots that were 
 formed to assassinate or poison him, he died peacefully in his 
 bed, in the plenitude of power, surrounded by the humble 
 instruments who, although occupying high positions, trembled 
 in his presence and servilely obeyed his orders. 
 
 Such was the terrible reputation of the tryant and such the 
 impression his administration had left on the minds of his 
 countrymen, that for some time his successors governed 
 through the influence of his name and memory. But the 
 three decades of servile rule had bred a new generationfof 
 Liberals. The names of Morozan, (3abanos, Soto and other 
 Republican martyrs were repeated with respect and venera- 
 tion by thousands of young men who burned to follow their 
 example and free their country from the galling and oppres- 
 sive yoke that weighed so heavily upon it. 
 
 At length the flames of civil war broke out. After years 
 of cruel strife, after seas of blood had been ^hed on numerous 
 battlefields, the Liberals were eventually successful, and Gen. 
 Granados, surrounded by many of the most gallant young 
 Liberal chieftains of Central America, entered the city of Gua- 
 temala in triumph. In his cortege were two young men who 
 were destined to make a lasting impression on the history of 
 Central America. One was Gen. Euflno Barrios, actual pres- 
 ident of Guatemala, and the other was Marco. A. Soto, the 
 reformer of Honduras and its ruler during seven years. 
 
GUATEMAX,A. 63 
 
 The three decades of servile rule had almost entirely cor- 
 rupted the morals, the intelligence and the politics of the 
 country ; thus, notwithstanding his acknowledged talents, his 
 unswerving patriotism, his strong liberal principles and the 
 purity of his intention, Gen. Miguel Granados confessed he 
 was not capable of working out the reformation of his country 
 and he cast his eyes over the Liberal leaders in search of a 
 man able to perform the task he was about to give up in de- 
 spair. The choice of the Liberals fell upon Gen. Rufino Barrios, 
 and, with a brave heart and a determination to succeed, this 
 chieftain accepted the trust. 
 
 His first measure was the reorganization of the army. He 
 dismissed all lukewarm officers and named for chiefs of bat- 
 talions men whom he could trust. He then humbled the 
 clergy — took from them the education of the young and ex- 
 pelled the Jesuits. He sternly repressed the patricians, and 
 inculcated that dogma of freedom, that all men are born free 
 and equal, and that notwithstanding the accidents of heredi- 
 tary wealth and social position, all men are equal in the 
 eyes of the law. He reformed the laws and ordained that 
 they should govern the rich as well as the poor. The costly 
 rite of church marriage was declared illegal, and that only the 
 civil marriage was binding on the contracting parties. "Cou- 
 ples marrying by the civil law might afterwards, if they chose, 
 have their union blessed by the church, but when the latter 
 ceremony alone occurred, children born to such an union were 
 illegitimate; and the parents' brothers, sisters, and even the 
 most remote relatives of parties married solely by the church, 
 could, in case of their demise, inherit their property to the 
 total exclusion of their children. ISTotwithstanding the strin- 
 gency of this decree it was often evaded by the clergy. 
 
 Then a law was enacted making it a criminal act for a priest 
 to marry a couple according to the ceremonies of the church 
 until the certificate of their i^revious marriage by the civil 
 magistrate was produced. The penalty attached to such 
 action was a heav3^ fine together with imprisonment for a long 
 period. This late proved effective. 
 
 The commerce of the country was at a complete standstill. 
 The roads were ruined and were almost impassable, while petty 
 
64 GUATEMALA. 
 
 chieftains ruled each department and municipality. Agricul- 
 ture was limited to the simple production of a few cereals that 
 supplied wants of the laboring classes. 
 
 Barrios then turned his attention to the public highways. 
 Each municipality was ordered to repair the roads in its imme- 
 diate vicinity. Those villages too poor to accomplish much 
 were assisted from the federal treasury. In a short time the 
 old roads were repaired and new ones together with bridle 
 paths were cut in different localities. Several of the most 
 onerous taxes that burdened commerce were abolished and 
 honest and efficient revenue officers were appointed at the 
 various ports. Instruction was made public, obligatory and 
 gratis, and no priests or ministers of any sect whatever were 
 permitted to control institutes of public instruction. The mu- 
 nicipal and departmental governments were reformed or, per- 
 haps, it might be better to say remodeled. Agriculture was 
 taken under the protection of the government. Land was 
 granted on easy terms to planters and farmers, and bounties 
 paid from the federal treasury encouraged the cultivation of 
 sugar, cacao, coffee and bananas. 
 
 The final separation of church and state was the grandest 
 undertaking accomplished by this great reformer. Hitherto 
 the church had overshadowed the state and the clergy com- 
 prised a caste whose privileges rendered them independent of 
 the laws. They claimed as inalienable rights all the numerous 
 and onerous taxes hitherto granted their hierarchy, and to 
 make good those claims more than once plunged their country 
 into civil war. Barrios felt that to succeed in curtailing 
 their power and political influence he must first lake away their 
 privileges. This he did. For a long period this formidable 
 caste bitterly hostilized him. But the passage of time has 
 proved his greatest auxiliary. The rising generation of Gua- 
 temaltecans is essentially liberal. Although many young men 
 from traditional reasons may detest his person and even his 
 political course, at the same time they cheerfully acquiesce in 
 his war against the ancient church regime and cordially sus- 
 tain his acts in this direction. 
 
 An impartial student of Central American history must 
 acknowledge that the pacifi^cator and regenerator of Guate- 
 
GUATEMALA. 65 
 
 mala, Don EufiTio Barrios, is one of the most wonderful per- 
 sonages treated of in its pages. While finely educated, he 
 owes more to his natural abilities than to his scholastic at- 
 tainments. As a soldier, he certainly ranks peer with any 
 officer developed during the interminable civil wars that have 
 heretofore devastated his native land. In statecraft, he bears 
 comparison with such Latin American diplomats as Juarez, 
 . Lerdo and Diaz, and is naturally cool and deliberate. 
 
 His dearest hope and greatest ambition is to bring about 
 the speedy reunion of the disintegrated fragments of the once 
 powerful Eepublic of Central America. If any man can, in 
 the present i)olitical situation, accomplish this grand work, 
 he certainly will. His influence in Central American politics 
 is felt even in the distant Eepublic of Costa Eica, while the 
 Presidents of San Salvador and Honduras are closely bound 
 to him by the ties of both gratitude and interest. His strong- 
 arm sustains the unpopular Zaldiva in Salvador, while his 
 potent influence restrains tlie factious chieftains of the Soto 
 party in Honduras from attempting any revolutionary move- 
 ment in either of the three northern republics. 
 
 The enemies of this truly remarkable man have published 
 the most whimsical and absurd stories regarding him. They 
 have .depicted-^ him as an inhuman monster, and as the incar- 
 nation of all that is terrible and criminal. He is said to have 
 beaten monks and nuns to death with his own hands, and to 
 have dragged shrieking women about the streets by the hair. 
 Blood-curdling tales have been promulgated regarding the 
 innumerable victims he has sacrificed at his political shrine, 
 while he has been compared to Tiberius and Kero, to Caracala 
 and Caligula. 
 
 The fact of the case is that General Barrios, in order to 
 bring about the social and political reforms he meditated, was 
 compelled to resort to extraordinary means. During the brief 
 period of his dictatorship he unhesitatingly swept from his 
 path the factious and lawless spirits who constantly endeav- 
 ored to thwart his measures. Yet but few, even of the most 
 criminal of his and his conntry's enemies, were executed. 
 Imprisonment and exile were the punishments he resorted to; 
 
 5 
 
66 GUATEMALA. 
 
 and if he shot three or four irreclaimable revolutionists, he 
 simply banished many desperate characters who either medi- 
 tated or attempted his assassination. 
 
 To his unswerving patriotism and great military and dip- 
 lomatic talents the Eepublic of Guatemala owes its political 
 regeneration. He is emphatically the Juarez of Central 
 America, and like that hero has been vituperated and villifled. 
 He is a fond and indulgent father and an exemplary husband. " 
 If his is dictatorial and never brooks open contradiction, he is 
 open to conviction and readily yields to the opinions of 
 others, when convinced that he is in error. His friends esteem 
 and love him, but his enemies fear and respect him. During 
 the last two years he has gradually softened the rigor of his 
 rule and has become popular even with his old enemies, the 
 clergy. 
 
 General Barrios wields a facile and powerful pen. His 
 sentences are terse and brief, and his language simple and 
 unconstrained. His famous letter to Soto, which annihilated 
 that gentleman's pretensions to patriotic abnegation, was a 
 masterpiece irony and invective. His state papers are re- 
 markable for their clearness and conciseness, to prove which 
 assertion the following, one of his late passages, is reproduced 
 verbatim, but the reader must not forget that in a translation 
 the purity and elegance of the original language is often 
 marred : 
 
 '' I hail with the utmost satisfaction the arrival of the day 
 upon which you resume the ordinary reunions of the Legisla- 
 tive Power, in the fourth year of the first Constitutional period. 
 
 " Brief and simple is the report 1 have to present you, re- 
 garding the situation of the country and the labors that have 
 occupied the attention of the government -, but nevertheless, 
 the cordial welcome I extend you is none the less sincere in 
 this solemn moment of the opening of your session. 
 
 " Peace has continued showering its blessing upon the Ke- 
 public. Under these favorable circumstances the government 
 has earnestly endeavored to improve the condition of the 
 country. 
 
GUATEMALA, 67 
 
 "Our actual relations with all America and the various 
 powers of Europe, are frank and friendly, and the fraternal 
 embrace of Guatemala is happily extended, to-day, to all the 
 Eepublics of Central America. In accord with the President 
 of San Salvador, I accredited a commissioner, who, in union 
 with another appointed by him, was sent to propose to the 
 other republics the reconstruction of a national Union. If 
 this measure can be carried out, in the pacific and friendly 
 manner with which it has been proposed, it will prove of im- 
 mense significance to the future of Central America. The 
 commissioners have neither returned nor rendered an official 
 account of their mission. 
 
 "The serious questions that were pending during your last 
 ordinary reunion have since been completely and happily 
 settled. Military discipline is improving every day. Public 
 instruction has been continued, although certain points have 
 been suppressed which were considered superfluous. Especial 
 attention has been given to the preservation of the interior 
 order, and the independent and the regular march of justice, 
 while constant protection and impulse has been extended to 
 all classes of useful enterprise. 
 
 u Work has begun on the railroad lines from Escuintla and 
 Ohamperico to the capital. The work on the latter has con- 
 siderably advanced ; the construction company has brought 
 to our coast, the rails and all other indispensable materials; 
 while, if the enterprise is not further advanced, it may be 
 attributed to the scarcity of workmen ; for there has not been 
 wanting persons who endeavored to prevent the laboring 
 classes from engaging in these enterprises. I propose, how- 
 ever, to dictate effective measures to place at the disposition 
 of the comi^any all the laborers necessary, which is all that is 
 required to rapidly conclude this important line. The heads 
 of the department, in their respective reports, will give a de- 
 tailed enumeration of the dispositions taken to obtain those 
 interesting results that in all these different branches has 
 occupied the attention of the administration. 
 
 "The fall in the price of coffee has exerted a prejudicial 
 influence on the public and private wealth of all the countries 
 
68 GUATEMALA. 
 
 that produce this jirecious staple, oreatiug a crisis more or 
 less serious and prolonged. It has also, naturally, affected 
 our national revenues and prevented a healthy condition of 
 the public treasury, notwithstanding the prudent economy, 
 that has been introduced in the public service. The dimuni- 
 tion of the price of our most valuable article of export will 
 not, in my conception, continue much longer. More favorable 
 notices have arrived to strengthen the faith of our agricultu- 
 rists and merchants, and by the suppression of all unnecessary 
 expenses in cultivation and production, and also by means of 
 the excellent mode of preparation that is gradually being 
 perfected among us, coffee production will continue furnishing 
 profit to the planters, and will also insure the equilibrium of 
 the national revenues. The low price of the article, at the 
 same time, will prove an excellent reason to the planters to 
 develop those other classes of agricultural riches with which 
 prodigal nature has blessed our priviledged country. 
 
 The Minister of this Eepublic to the government of the 
 Queen of England has arranged with the bondholders of the 
 Exterior Debt for its gradual extinction. The government is 
 at present occupied in the examination of this arrangement 
 and will soon take,, with respect to it, such resolutions as the 
 true interests of the country require, and will submit these 
 resolutions, if necessary, to your examination. 
 
 " Referring you for information on other points to the neads 
 of the departments, I entertain sincere hopes that your de- 
 liberations will be fruitful in happy results for the country, 
 and that the most complete success will crown your efforts." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 San Jose cle Guatemala— Establishment of the Port— Its Former Impor- 
 tance — Fleets Built by the Conquerors — Port Livingston— Pictur- 
 esque Towns — Its Increasing Commerce — The Curious Carib Resi- 
 dents. 
 
 Immediately after the conquest of the principal Indian king- 
 doms of Guatemala, by the chivalrous and impetuous Pedro 
 de Alvarado, measures were taken to open communication 
 with Panama, and the port of San Jose de Guatemala was es- 
 tablished in the southwestern portion of the new province, on 
 the Pacific coast. 
 
 At this locality the coast is low and unprotected from the 
 winds, which, during the entire year blow from the south and 
 the west. The sea is constantly more or less agitated, and 
 the breakers dash high on the shallow sandbars that guard 
 the shore. 
 
 Early in the morning and in the evening it is almost impos- 
 sible to land on the beach with a small boat. The surf is at 
 least six feet high, and the breakers come rolling in toward 
 the shore with an increasing and monotonous regularity, 
 while their sullen thud is heard for miles in the interior. 
 
 Within twenty years after the conquest the port of San 
 Jose became a place of great importance. Timber was carried 
 Irom the pine forests of the interior, on the backs of thou- 
 sands of Indian tamanies, or porters. 
 
 Ironwork, sails, rigging, etc., were transported to the coast 
 in the same manner, and numerous vessels were built at the 
 little port, which carried on a profitable traffic with Acapulco, 
 to the north, and Panama and Callao in South America. 
 
 It is true that each plank, each spar and each anchor used 
 to construct and equip those vessels was moistened with the 
 bloody sweat of the poor Indian peones, of whom thousands 
 fell dead on the highway, on their weary journey from the 
 forests to the port, beside the heavy loads they were forced to 
 bear. 
 
70 GUATEMALA. 
 
 There has been no correct list of the number of vessels con- 
 structed by the Spanish under such difficult circumstances 
 during the first century of the occupation of the country. 
 We know, however, that the conquerors and their immediate 
 descendants built several formidable fleets at this locality, 
 and equipped them for long voyages of discovery. Some of 
 these squadrons crossed the wide Pacific and trafficked with 
 the East Indies ; others coasted the extended shores of North 
 America as far as Vancouver's Island, while others regularly 
 traded with Chili, Peru and Panama. 
 
 The interior of G-uatemala is extremely broken and moun- 
 tainous. From the capital to Port Livingston and Santo To- 
 mas, on the Caribbean sea, the roads are bad and need con- 
 stant attention to keep them in condition. Although during 
 the Spanish regime vast quantities of bullion and other freight 
 were transported on muleback over these mountain paths to 
 the Atlantic, the bulk of the country's commerce passed 
 through the port of San Jose. 
 
 G-uatemala City is situated about sixty miles, by the road, 
 from San Jose. The highway has always been kept in a fair 
 condition. Thus the productions of the indigo, cochineal and 
 cacao plantations were collected at San Jose, and transported 
 from thence to Spain via the expensive and difficult route 
 across the Isthmus of Panama. Articles bought for the con- 
 sumption of the province, in the markets of Spain, by the 
 time they reached Gruatemala City via the Isthmian route, 
 often cost five times their original value in freight charges 
 alone. Olives, wines, cloths, linen, arms, munitions of wa,r, 
 ironware, tinware, etc., were all imported from the mother 
 country. The exports were silver and gold bullion, cacao, 
 cochineal, sugar, indigo, hides, sarsaparilla and other tropic 
 products. 
 
 In less than a century from the epoch of the conquest the 
 formidable buccaneers made their appearance in the lN"orth 
 Atlantic and harried the commerce of the loyal provinces. A 
 bold pirate captured Tigre Island, in the Bay of Pouseca, and 
 from this point sallied forth on the Spanish vessels which 
 trafficked along the coasts. In a few years the western com- 
 
GUATEMALA. 71 
 
 merce of Guatemala was almost destroyed. That of Panama, 
 Chili and Peru was greatly distressed, and the pirates, seeing 
 there was no more plunder for them in this locality, boldly 
 steered their crafts across the wide Pacilic and attacked the 
 Spanish fleets and settlements in the Bast, 
 
 From this epoch until the era of independence the port of 
 San Jose was almost deserted. About once a year two or three 
 vessels from Peru and Panama stole slowly along the coast, 
 their crews keeping a good watchout for the dreaded pirates, 
 and landed precious cargoes of much needed supplies of 
 various kinds, at the little port. A portion of the commerce 
 of G-uatemala passed over the expensive and difficult roul;e to 
 the Caribbean, but this freight consisted principally of silver 
 and gold bullion. 
 
 Meanwhile the agricultural industry was almost destroyed 
 by, the unwise policy of Spain. The government, fearing the 
 colonies would become self-supporting, prohibited the cultiva- 
 tion of vines, olives and other products throughout their Amer- 
 ican possessions. These unjust decrees reduced the colonies 
 to the utmost distress. The planters produced but a small 
 quantity of indigo, cochineal and cereals, the latter entirely 
 for their own use. The principal industry was mining. But 
 the high cost of breadstuffs and the exactions of the crown 
 soon paralyzed this industry also, and in the beginning of the 
 nineteenth century the once flourishing commerce of Gruate- 
 mala had almost ceased to exist. 
 
 The separation of the province from the yoke of Spain im- 
 parted a new and vigorous impulse to industry. Coffee plan- 
 tations were established, tbe cultivation of cacao, indigo and 
 cochineal was revived, and in a few years the little port of 
 San Jose presented a bustling and lively appearance. During 
 the numerous civil wars that have since convulsed the country, 
 both commerce and agriculture were greatly distressed, but if 
 these industries languished they were never entirely destroyed. 
 
 The town of San Jose is built on a sandy ridge running 
 parallel with the coast. It possesses a few wooden buildings 
 which are surrounded by Indian cottages built after the fashion 
 of the country. During the rainy season this ridge is sep- 
 
72 GUATEMALA. 
 
 arated from the rest of the town by a bayou. The latter is 
 empty during the dry months. 
 
 The port is visited b}^ English, French and German steamers, 
 and is connected with Mexico and California, and with Panama 
 and South America by the Central American branch of the 
 Pacific Mail Steamship Line. In April last six foreign sail 
 vessels, from England, France, Germany and the States, were 
 anchored off the port. Its commerce is carried mostly by sail 
 vessels, which bring their cargoes via Cape Horn ; yet its traffic 
 with Panama and San Francisco is very considerable. The 
 village of San Jose contains, perhpaps, 1000 inhabitants. 
 
 An English company has built a long iron wharf out into 
 the harbor. It is at least 200 feet long and cost $400,000. The 
 traveler, at first, may be inclined to grumble at being com- 
 pelled to pay SI from the steamer to the wharf, Si more for 
 the privilege of landing and seventy-five cents per 100 pounds 
 on his baggage. But when he casts his eyes on the high, white 
 line of breakers that sullenly dash against the beach he is 
 reconciled to the expense and inwardly confesses he would pay 
 five times as much more for the certainty of escaping the duck- 
 ing that he would experience if he attemped to land in a small 
 boat. 
 
 A narrow gauge railroad, in good condition, connects San 
 Jose with the city of Guatemala, some sixty miles inland, in 
 a straight line from the coast. This road was lately finished 
 by the Huntington syndicate, and forms part of their Central 
 American system. 
 
 Livingston, the principal seaport of Eastern Guatemala, on 
 the Caribbean, is situated on a high bluff that overlooks the 
 Bay of Honduras on its eastern side, and the mouth of the 
 Rio Dulce on the southern. It contains 500 houses and about 
 3000 inhabitants. 
 
 Until October, 1879, the town of Yzabal, situated on the 
 lake of the same name, was the eastern port of Guatemala, 
 but at that date the government of the republic decreed the 
 village of Livingston a port of entry, and the custom-house 
 and other government buildings were erected at the foot of 
 the bluff, on the southern or river side of the town. 
 
aUATEMA.LA. 73 
 
 President Barrios two years ago declared Livingston and 
 the country for eight leagues on all sides of it a free port and 
 zone. So the custom-house has been removed again to Tzabal, 
 and the latter town is now the port of entry for Easteru Gua- 
 temala. The ports of Santo Tom as and Puerto Barrios are 
 also within this free zone limit. 
 
 Directly opposite Livingston the water of the Eiver Dulce is 
 sufficiently deep for vessels of any draft to anchor within a short 
 distance of the beach, but beyond the town to the northward 
 a few hundred yards the mud from the winding river forms a 
 long, narrow bar that reaches to the opposite bank of the river, 
 is quite wide and carries but about six feet of water. It is 
 dangerous to cross in the afternoon when the cool and refresh- 
 ing sea breeze sets in about 2 p. m. 
 
 The bluff upon which the little town is built is in no place 
 less than sixty feet high. On the river side, near the wharf, 
 it ascends abruptly up to the height of at least 100 feet. 
 
 The port derives its name from an English gentleman who, 
 some decades ago, was the British consular agent at the Island 
 of Euatan, Spanish Honduras. Tradition hath it, that the 
 climate of the Caribbean Island not agreeing with his health, 
 he removed to this port and lived for many years. His grave 
 is pointed out to the traveler by the grateful Oaribs, among 
 whom he passed his time, teaching them how to read and write. 
 Such, in brief, is the only information that can be elicited why 
 this little Spanish- American settlement bears an essentially 
 American name. 
 
 By far the greater part of the inhabitants of Livingston are 
 Caribs, at least so they are called and so they style themselves, 
 but it is doubtful if a single drop of Indian Carib blood courses 
 through the veins of many among them, for the miscalled 
 Oaribs are seemingly of pure negro origin, and they possess all 
 the characteristics, as well as the features, of the black race ; 
 not of the Gruinea negroes, however, but of the tribes that once 
 roved the wilds of southern Africa. Their complexion is rather 
 lighter than that of the unmixed Southern negro, nor are their 
 noses as flat or their foreheads so retreating. They resemble^ 
 
74 aXTATBMALA. 
 
 ill fine, the pictures of the Zulos, but are by no means as fine 
 a race, physically, as the latter are represented to be. 
 
 As far as the genuine Oaribs are concerned, but little doubt 
 exists in the minds of the English officials at Belize of their 
 almost total extermination by the Spaniards within thirty 
 years after the discovery of the Antilles by Columbus, in 1492. 
 They possessed villages along the entire coast of Central 
 America, from the northern extremity of British Honduras to 
 the Isthmus of Darien, They were a brutal and a ferocious 
 race, ever at war with their neighbors or with each other, for 
 the Carib nation was sub-divided into several tribes, who united 
 their forces only when attacked by the warriors of some other 
 nation. It is said that they stubbornly and successfully re- 
 sisted the attempts of the monarchs of the ancient Indian 
 kingdoms to subdue them, while they met the Spanish " con- 
 quistadores " man to man on'^the shores, or beside the rivers 
 of their native land, and continued their resistance until the 
 greater part of their people had fallen under the swords of the 
 invaders, when a small remnant of their once large nation 
 retreated to the mountains and joined the inhabitants of those 
 inaccessible sierras in an eternal warfare against the Spaniards. 
 
 They were undoubtedly cannibals, or at least they ate the 
 prisoners they captured in battle, while so terrible was the 
 reputation they acquired among their foes that the Spaniards 
 dreaded to encounter them, and out of respect to their prowess 
 and undaunted courage named the vast sheet of water that 
 washed their inhospitable shores ^' El Mar de Los Caribes" — 
 the sea of the Caribs. Such were the indigines of the eastern 
 coast of Central America during the sixteenth ceutury. 
 
 It has been asserted that some of the present race of negroes 
 who live ou this coast and who are miscalled Caribs, are prin- 
 cipally Jamaicans, who have emigrated since the emancipa- 
 tion. The greater part of them, however, are said to be the 
 descendants of a cargo of slaves. The ship in which they were 
 brought from Africa, and which was directed to the Jamaican 
 slave mart, was driven into the Caribbean Sea by a terrible east- 
 erly gale, and was wrecked on the coast of British Honduras. 
 Whether this latter information is correct or not, one fact is cer- 
 
GUATEMALA. 75 
 
 taialy self-evident, these people are not Oaribs, but are almost 
 full-blooded negroes. 
 
 They inhabit the entire coast from the southern extremity 
 of the peninsula of Yucatan to the Isthmus of Darien, and may 
 number in all about 20,000. 
 
 They are a quiet, iadrastrious and peaceful race of people, 
 but when roused are capable of long and untiring resistance 
 to tyranny, and make excellent soldiers, for when well treated 
 they are extremely docile and susceptible to discipline. 
 
 In G-uatemala they are possessed of privileges which are 
 denied the half castes and Creoles of that republic, for before 
 Lividgston was declared a free port they were permitted to 
 import whatever they needed for the use of their families at 
 but 12 per cent ad valorem duty. Such is the strictures with 
 which they kept their faith with the government, that but few 
 instances occurred of their attempting to evade the tariff or of 
 their selling the goods they entered for their own use to for- 
 eigners or to their halt-caste neighbors . 
 
 The men are of medium size and are very stout and muscular, 
 while the women appear to be a shade or two lighter than the 
 males, are generally short, but are remarkably well formed, 
 as well as exceedingly graceful in their movements. 
 
 While not more than one-half of them understand Spanish 
 they all speak English ; that is to say, the same mumble-jumble 
 kind of language spoken by the Barbado and Jamaica negroes, 
 for it is as unintelligible to an American traveler as is the 
 dialect of the miners of Cornwall. 
 
 Several careless or superficial observers have asserted that 
 these poor people are loose in their morals and that they never 
 marry. These writers are wofully mistaken, for this singular 
 people are exceptionally chaste as compared with the peasantry 
 of almost any European country. 
 
 The young girls, as they approach maturity, are watched 
 with jealous care by their parents, and are seldom allowed to 
 associate with the opposite sex of their own years. Upon 
 arriving at the proper age they are given in marriage, and 
 this simple ceremony is considered as binding between the 
 contractiug parties. When a Oarib sees a girl he fancies he 
 
76 GUATEMALA. 
 
 at once asks her to unite fortunes with him. If the girl likes 
 him she will answer : " Have you a plantation ready for me?" 
 That is suiflcient. The Carib goes earnestly to work, and clears 
 and plants an acre or two of land with yuca, plantains, bananas, 
 etc., builds a hut, and then returns to claim his bride. The 
 latter, with one of her friends, goes and examines the new plan- 
 tation. If it suits her she so informs her dusky admirer, and 
 then, in the presence of their frieads, they drink a cup of coffee 
 between them. This is generally all the marriage ceremony 
 that takes place, but it is considered binding audi rrevocable. 
 From that time forward the woman is the owner and absolute 
 mistress of the little plantation, and from its products she 
 generally supports her lord and children. 
 
 It is probable her husband may have other wives, for poly- 
 gamy seems quite common among these strange people. In 
 such case the tawny Don Juan lives stated periods with each 
 of his wives during the year. 
 
 These so-called Oaribs are very intelligent, and are fairly 
 industrious. The men occupy their time in fishing — for they 
 are essentially a race of waterman ; or in building dories — 
 canoes. These boats are of different sizes, from the small 
 dory that can easily be carried on a man's back to the boat of 
 ten or twelve tons. They are fashioned out of the trunks of 
 trees, and are similar to our southern dugout. Strange and 
 incredible as it may appear to an untraveled reader, some of 
 these boats are very large. The author has seen vessels, con- 
 structed out of single trees that were large enough to carry 
 twenty-five beef cattle. Such boats are common on the Pacific 
 side of the Isthmus of Darien. 
 
 The female Caribs are yet more industrious than their hus- 
 bands, fathers and brothers, for they are the agriculturists of 
 the settlements, and when not engaged in their household 
 duties are either working in their fields or accompany their 
 husbands on their fishing expeditions. 
 
 So stalwart and hearty are they that they can accomplish as 
 much work in a day as their brothers, and when they " work 
 out" obtain the same wages as the men. Since the Gruate- 
 
GUATEMALA. 77 
 
 maltecans have beeu induced to establish fruit plantations, 
 the Oarib laborer has advanced from 18f to 50 cents per day. 
 
 They invariably demand their pay in advance. If a for- 
 eigner hires a laborer for fifteen days he must first give him, 
 or her, $7 50 before a stroke of work is done. Then the work- 
 man goes happy and contented to his labor. When one breaks 
 his contract — which is seldom — the justice of peace, besides 
 punishing him with a fiue, compels him to fulfill his bargain. 
 
 Although beef cattle are very cheap, and the adjacent for- 
 ests abound in various kinds of game, these people seldom eat 
 meat. Their principal diet is composed of fish, of plantains, 
 which are boiled and roasted ; bananas, which are generally 
 eaten raw ; jiineapples and other fruit, while the bread of the 
 country is the cazabe, and is made from a species of yam, 
 called by the people yuca. 
 
 This root is ground fine and is then subjected to a severe 
 pressure, for it contains a semi-poisonous juice. When prop- 
 erly prepared, the cazabe bread is very palatable and nutri- 
 trious, while the yuca root from which it is made is as great 
 a blessing to the Caribs as is the bread-fruit to the islanders 
 of the Pacific. 
 
 The commerce of Port Livingston has increased wonderfully 
 during the last few months. Its imports for 1880 were : 6000 
 packages of miscellaneous merchandise, a total of 574,000 
 pounds ; 1839 barrels of flour, 5646 sacks of salt — a total of 
 1,139,200 pounds. 
 
 The exports during the same period were : 17,000 sacks of 
 coffee (2,125,000 pounds), 2000 hides, 650 bales of sarsaparilla, 
 100 bales of skins, 20,000 pounds hule (caoutchouc) and $6000 
 worth of tropic fruits. 
 
 This traffic, both export and import, has increased at the 
 rate of 20 per cent for 1883 and 40 per cent for the year 1884, 
 Lately the gold mining excitement that prevails on the banks 
 ot the Motagua river has caused the little town of Livingston 
 to assume quite a lively appearance. 
 
 The coffee traffic of Livingston may be said to be princi- 
 pally in the hands of the English and the North American 
 merchants. Several invoices have been sent to Kew Orleans, 
 
78 GUATEMALA. 
 
 but for some unknown reason the results were not as favor- 
 able as the shipments to other ports have proven. The price 
 in England ruled a very little higher than that obtained in 
 New York, while the sales in l^^ew Orleans fell far below those 
 of England. 
 
 It is barely possible that the shipments sent to our city 
 may have been of an inferior quality, but merchants of Liv- 
 ingston assert that the article in each case was identical, and 
 that for some unknown reason G-uatemala coffee seems to be 
 better appreciated in the North and in Europe than in New 
 Orleans. 
 
 Some of this coffee has been lately sampled in New Orleans, 
 and was pronounced superior to the ordinary grades of Eio 
 that come to this maket, and nearly, if not quite, equal to the 
 Mexican Cordoba staple. Nearly four j'^ears ago two enter- 
 prising young Americans, Messrs. Anderson and Owen, estab- 
 lished steamboat communication on the river Poliche and the 
 Golfe Bulce. Thus almost all this coffee and freight trafi&c 
 passes through their hands, for such is the confidence they 
 have inspired among the merchants of the interior that they 
 are permitted to ship it when and how they please. This 
 enterprise has greatly influenced the increase of traffic from 
 Port Livingston, and it is said that the firm will soon need 
 mrre boats. 
 
 The port of Gharaperico, on the Pacific coast, has lately be- 
 come quite important, for a large quantity of coffee is shipped 
 to foreign countries. The port is connected with a town 
 twenty-eight miles in the interior by a well-constructed narrow 
 gauge railroad. This road passes through a most prolific 
 agricultural region. 
 
CHAPTER YIL 
 
 Guateiriiiltecan Centres of Populiition— The Present Capital of the Ee- 
 public — Old Guatemala-Euins of La Antigua Guatemala— Charitable 
 Institutions — The Legal, Medical, Politechnique and Beleu Institutes 
 of Learning — Primary Schools— The Residences of the Wealthy In- 
 habitants of the Capital — Public Squares, etc. 
 
 While more than a hnndred flourishing cities and towns are 
 found within the limits of Guatemala, a city of the same name 
 is the capital of the Eepublic, and the principal centre of 
 population that exists throughout the extended territorial 
 area of Central America. 
 
 Three different cities bearing the same name were founded 
 by the Spaniards during their occupation of the country. 
 The first, or la CiudadVieja, was situated upon the site of the 
 ancient capital of the aboriginal kings, which had been par- 
 tially destroyed by Alvarado during the conquest. The new 
 city boasted many fine buildings and imposing churches, 
 monastaries and convents. It was suddenly overwhelmed, 
 early the morning of the 11th of ISTovember, 1541, by a torrent 
 of water that burst from the side of the tall mountain of 
 Hunahpa. For two or three days before this catastrophe 
 occurred, floods of rain fell from the surcharged clouds, and 
 terrible squalls of wind, at intervals, burst over the devoted 
 city, l^eur the summit of the volcano a vast lake or natural 
 deposit of rain water had gradually collected. About two 
 o'clock, that fatal Sunday morning, a series of earthquakes 
 were experienced ; the shocks were both prolonged and severe. 
 Of a sudden, " a great noise like the simultaneous firing of a 
 thousand cannons" was heard by the terrified inhabitants. 
 The porphyritic ribs of the great mountain were torn asunder 
 by the earthquake's convulsions^ and the waters of the vast 
 aereal lake, released from its confinement, pdured down the 
 stee}) side of the tall mountain and deluged the adjacent 
 plain. The beautiful city was instantaneously overwhelmed- 
 The moiety of its solid edifices and all the houses of the 
 
80 GUATEMALA. 
 
 ikborigines were swept away, while tlie majority of the inhabi- 
 tants were submerged by the delnge. Among those who 
 perished was the beautiful but haughty and imperious Beatriz 
 de la Cueva, the wife of the impetuous and chivalrous con- 
 queror, Pedro de Alvarado. 
 
 The few surviving Oastillians determined to found a new 
 city. A site, about three miles from the former, was chosen, 
 and in a few years the " proud Ciudad de los Caballeros de 
 Santiago," adorned with magnificent churches and proud 
 monastaries and convents, graced the edge of a verdant val- 
 ley whose southern boundary was formed by the volcano 
 whicb had destroyed La Ciudad Vieja. 
 
 This new city, or as it is now called, La Antigua Gruatemala, 
 existed 232 years. It was equal in size and wealth to any of 
 the great capitals founded by the Spaniards in the New World, 
 excepting that proud city of the lakes, the Tenoctitlan of 
 the Aztecs, Mexico, the metropolis of the vast province of 
 New Spain. 
 
 In the year 1773, this second colonial capital was destroyed 
 by a series of earthquakes which followed each other with 
 astonishing rapidity. Several of its proud churches, whose 
 ruins to-day attest their vast strength and architectural beauty, 
 were overthrown, while not one of the numerous chapels, 
 monastaries and convents escaped the devastating effects of 
 the earthquake. Almost all the private residences were des- 
 troyed, while numerous of its unfortunate inhabitants were 
 swallowed up in the huge chasms that yawned open for awhile 
 and then suddenly closed. To-day a few people inhabit the 
 ruined city, but its streets are almost deserted, while the 
 mouldering ruins of its famous religious edifices indicate to 
 the awe stricken tourist what it once had been. 
 
 The situation of this formerly fl.ourishing centre of popula- 
 tion is extremely picturesque. Its convent yards, spacious 
 squares and beautiful gardens have been transformed into 
 coffee groves, while half-naked Indian laborers, of both sexes, 
 stare with stupid wonder upon the immense piles where once 
 holy monks murmured their daily orisons. They patiently 
 gather the harvest which timidly hides from the fierce glare 
 
GUATEMALA. 81 
 
 of the tropic sun, under the deep green foliage of the coffee 
 trees, that flourish in the once spacious gardens where gentle 
 nuns chased the gaudy butterfly which in all its tinted glory 
 flitted from branch to branch and from flower to flower. 
 
 Two tall mountains guard the approach of this magic 
 valley. The water volcano, inactive since the epoch of the 
 destruction of the first city, rears its bold summit 13,350 feet 
 above the level of the sea; while the fire volcano, which at 
 times sullenly emits huge volumes of mingled fire and smoke, 
 attains an attitude of 12,900 feet. 
 
 The present[capital of the Eepublic, the far-famed city of 
 Guatemala, was founded in the year 1794 by the terrified in- 
 habitants of the lately destroyed Oiudad de los Caballeros de 
 Santiago. That is to say, numerous of the most wealthy in- 
 habitants of the former city fled to the site of the present 
 capital immediately after the destruction of La Antigua. 
 
 It was some time, however, before the home government 
 permitted the removal of the provincial government to the 
 present city. Guatemala, therefore, in comparison with some 
 of its sister centres of population — Escuintla, for instance — 
 is one of the most recently founded cities of the Eepublic. It 
 is situated on the edge of a vast plain, which on all sides is 
 surrounded by high mountain ranges, and contains a popula- 
 tion of at least 60,000 souls. 
 
 The site of the capital was formerly known by the name of 
 El Valle de los Vacas, from the fact that the plain was occu- 
 pied by one of the companions of the conquerer, a certain 
 Hector de la Barreda, as a stock farm, where were collected 
 he first cattle introduced into the province, in the year 1529. 
 
 This locality enjoys one of the most delightful and healthy 
 climates of the known world. Although the valley attains an 
 altitude of but about 3000 feet above the level of the sea, the 
 calenturas and other malarial fevers, so prevalent along the 
 sandy shores of the Pacific slope never surmount the mountain 
 barriers that guard the entrance to the wide plain. 
 
 The small pox, that loathsome and dread disease which was 
 introduced into Mexico in 1520, by a negro who followed the 
 forces of Pamfilio iSiavaaz, rapidly spread among the tribes and 
 
82 GUATEMALA. 
 
 uatious of the New World. For 350 years it has periodically 
 made its appearance in differeut localities of Mexico and Cen- 
 tral America. In 1884 it ravaged the aboriginal settlements 
 of Guatemala and San Salvador. At differeut periods it has 
 become epidemic in the capital. Under the present enlightened 
 and truly paternal government, the sanitary condition of the 
 capital has been vastly improved, thus whenever sporadic cases 
 of the disease appear the utmost care is taken to prevent its 
 spread. Isolated cases of Typhus and Typhoid fever have 
 occasionally occurred but; the fever has never assumed the pro- 
 portions of an epidemic. Upon the whole the capital may be 
 pronounced an exceptionally healthy city. Foreigners who 
 take up their residence in it enjoy excellent health. 
 
 An excellent system of cleanliness i)revails; every day early 
 in the morning the streets are swept while no garbage of any 
 kind is allowed to remain on the sidewalks or in the gutters. 
 
 The city is supplied with excellent water, from the differeut 
 localities by aqueducts built in the old Spanish style, about 
 live miles long. Thirty public fountains adorn the public 
 squares and plazas from which reservoirs the poorer inhabitants 
 draw their daily supply of the precious fluid. A few years ago, 
 Gen. Barrios granted a franchise to a company to establish a 
 '' water works "' for the purpose of supplying the growing de- 
 mands of the capital with water from the river Zapote. 
 
 Several of the churches of Guatemala would adorn the proud- 
 est city in the world. The cathedral, although of modern con- 
 struction, is a truly grand edilice. It faces the principal plaza. 
 On one side of the square are the offices of the municipal gov- 
 ernment, and the telegraph and railroad dej[)artments. Directly 
 fronting the cathedral is the Federal palace which occupies an 
 immense square and contains all the numerous departments 
 and offices of the general government. On the left side, as one 
 stands in front of the church, with his back to it, is a row of 
 fine stores where foreign and domestic manufactured merchan- 
 dise is exposed for sale. The cathedral and the bishop's pal- 
 ace occupy the front of an entire square. 
 
 This grand edifice is over three hundred feet long and is 
 nearly as wide as it is long. It contains five naves, while the 
 
GUATEMALA. S3 
 
 stoDe portal is exquisitely sculptured. A short distance from 
 the main entrance, fronting the plaza, stand colossal statues 
 of the four evangelists, while within the s;>acious edifice, in the 
 tall columns and the high walls, hang some of the finest ])aint- 
 rngs that can be found on the continent. The churches of 
 San Francisco, La Merced and Santo Domingo, are also fair 
 examples of Spanish- American architecture. 
 
 The former contains the celebrated negro Christ whose 
 votaries number legion, and whose miracles have shed a glory 
 over the one universal religion and the church of Central 
 America. While other images may enjoy a local reputation, 
 this one in particular is famed throughout the extensive area 
 of Latin America as one of the most poteot of the numerous 
 sacred statues that grace the niches of the various edifices 
 dedicated to the worship of the Eed^emer of mankind. An 
 impartial Christian n)ight well hesitate were he called upon to 
 decide as to the superiority of the claims to miraculous power 
 advanced by the enlightened devotees of the three famous 
 images of the Virgin of Guadeloupe of Mexico ; that of Re- 
 medies ; or the famous Cristo Negro of Guatemala. There are 
 at least a score of other fine churches that might be mentioned 
 but the above noticed four are most remarkable on account of 
 their architectural beauty and superior reputation for sanctity. 
 
 The heretical government administered by the great reformer 
 Don J. Rufino Barrios, has taken possession of the principal 
 of the grand monastaries and convents and transformed them 
 into government offices. The new post office is an example of 
 this kind. Other monastic edifices have been turned into 
 private dwellings, and no few of the elite of the capital have 
 incurred the penalty of excommunication by having jjurchased, 
 repaired, altered and lived in buildings that once were the prop- 
 erty of the church. 
 
 The National Theatre is a fine edifice of modern construction. 
 It is situated in the centre of a vast square, which is walled in 
 and provided with benches of solid masonry. This theatre 
 will compare favorably, as to .size and convenience with most 
 of the buildings of the same kind in Christendom. The pit, or 
 orchestra, is generally reserved for gentlemen. Around the 
 
84 ' GUATEMALA. 
 
 vast area lour tiers of boxes capable ofholding inanj" spectators 
 are arranged. The first two tiers are specially devoted to the 
 wealthy descendants of the chivalrous conquerors, the third 
 row is occupied by the bourgeoise, while the fourth and last 
 tier is the exclusive domain of the masses. As the opera and 
 theatre are the principal public diversions of the Gruatemalte- 
 cans, the government, through the medium of one of the fed- 
 eral departments arranges for all theatrical representations. 
 Some of the best companies of Italy and Spain are lured thither 
 by the heavy subsidies paid them from the treasury, nor would 
 it be an exaggeration to assert that the paternal government 
 of Gen. Barrios, has, within the past twelve years, paid in 
 theatrical subsidies, a large enough sum to build and equip a 
 half a dozen fine gun-boats. 
 
 The people of the city, boast with pride of the numerous 
 benevolent institutions they possess. The general hospital is 
 a vast structure where seldom less than five hundred patients 
 are daily treated. A special fund is set apart for its mainten- 
 ance, while skilful native jjhysicians, many of whom are grad- 
 uates of the most celebrated medical colleges of the United 
 States and of Europe, attend to the vast number of sick com- 
 mitted to their charge. The military hospital, in the south- 
 western portion of the city, (or rather in the suburb of that 
 quarter) is also a most admirably conducted institution. The 
 sick are well cared for while the convalescents are furnished the 
 most nourishing and nutritious diet that money cai;! purchase. 
 A gymnasium for the exercise of the most advanced convales- 
 cents, has been established while pleasant walks and beautiful 
 gardens adorn tjie grounds in which the edifice is situated. The 
 Hospitium is an institution for the reception of crippled chil- 
 dren and confirmed invalids. It is divided into two separate 
 departments, one of which is devoted exclusively to the male 
 and the other the female patients. The children undergo a 
 thorough course of primary education during their stay in this 
 humane institution. There are also two maternal asylums 
 where indigent mothers can leave their offsprings while em- 
 ployed in their daily labor. 
 
 Almost immediately after he assumed the reins of govern- 
 ment, the great liberal chieftain, Gen. Barrios, conferred upon 
 
GUATEMALA. 85 
 
 bis couutiy an admirable public school system, exclusively 
 devoted to secular education. Be'^fore bis advent to power the 
 education of the young was almost entirely in the hands of 
 the priesthood. The result may easily be imagined. The 
 pupils were compelled to devote no small portion of their time 
 to purely theological studies, while even the children of the 
 poor, whose opportunity for study and improvement was necess- 
 sarily very limited, were more thoroaghly grounded in the cate- 
 chism, doctrines and dogmata of their religion than the secular 
 elementary branches which certainly were calculated to prove 
 of more material benefit to them in their temporal career. The 
 new system of education being purely secular, as was above 
 stated, has certainly brought about a great change in the so- 
 ciology of Gruatemala. The masses are gradually becoming 
 elevated to a higher grade of civilization, while every insigni- 
 ficant little Indian village boasts atleast one primary school. 
 
 The capital possesses the most celebrated and best appointed 
 higher educational institutions in Central America. The legal 
 college is a splendid and spacious building where numerous 
 law students receive a first class training. Its library contains 
 more than ten thousand volumes. The medical college, the 
 school of engineers, and the Politechnique, are in every way 
 peers with their sister institute the legal college. 
 
 The National Institute, devoted to secondary instruction 
 may fairly be considered one of the most perfect institution s 
 of its kind on the continent. More than five hundred students 
 from all parts of Central America are daily instructed within 
 its walls. "It is endowed with a zoological museum, a well 
 appointed cabinet for physics and chemistry, an astronomical 
 observatory five story s high, together with numerous out*build- 
 ings which complete the establishment." 
 
 The Deaf and Dumb asylum, to which is added a school for 
 the unfortunate inmates, is conducted on the same liberal prin- 
 ciple as its sister charitable institutions. The moiety of its 
 regular occupants are the offspring of the indigent class of 
 inhabitants. 
 
 The Belen Female Seminary occupies the principal appoint- 
 ments of the old convent of the same name, and is well attended, 
 
86 GUATEMALA. 
 
 The i)upils receive an excellent education. In this institution 
 Mr. Batres assures us nothing but English is spoken. 
 
 Besides these institutes of learning there are numerous pub- 
 lic schools devoted to primary instruction in the different quar- 
 ters of the city. As education is compulsory these latter schools 
 are invariably well attended. 
 
 The private residences of the wealthy inhabitants are noted 
 for their elegant appearance. They are invariably furnished 
 in a most luxurious style, while their spacious courtj^ards are 
 adorned with flower gardens which contain the most exquisite 
 exotics of the tropics. As the capital is the residence of the 
 most wealthy and enterprising planters, mine owners and mer- 
 chants of the republic, the number of beautiful and costly pri- 
 vate houses may be readily imagined. 
 
 Numerous public squares furnish walks and promenades for 
 that class of inhabitants whose means will not permit the 
 luxury of horses and carriages. On certain evenings of the 
 week the membersof the elite of Guatemaltecau society frequent 
 these squares and listen to the music of the military bands, 
 while promenading along the flower bordered walks. 
 
 Several lines of street cars furnish ample transportation for 
 the inhabitants of the city. One line from the Palacio Nacioual 
 to the Hippodrome, or race course, is particularly patronized 
 by the middle class who every evening ride down the spacious 
 Prado to the terminns of the line. 
 
 The city of Guatemala possesses the best organized, ap- 
 pointed and efficient police force of any city in Latin America. 
 During his visit to the United States, three years ago, Presi- 
 dent Barrios was greatly pleased with the appearance of the 
 New York police force. He determined to organize a similar 
 body in his own capital. He engaged the services of an experi- 
 enced New York police officer, Capt. Pratt, and put his inten- 
 tion into immediate execution. This officer has succeeded in 
 carrying out Gen. Barrios' idea to jjerfection, and has already 
 done wonders with the crude material given him to mould into 
 shape. 
 
 If it possesses no grand manufactories like New York, Phil- 
 adelphia or Chicago, Guatemala contains numerous forges, 
 
GUATEMALA. 87 
 
 carpenter sliops, and small factories of various kinds which 
 have flourished under the present liberal administration. The 
 native artisans of all classes are skilful and patient workmen, 
 and with better tools and some further practical instruction 
 would rank peer with any of their class in the world. As stone 
 masons they are unrivalled. In some branches of this work 
 they are superior workmen to their fellows of the United States 
 and Europe. 
 
 With its clean, well paved streets, its numerous grand pub- 
 lic buildings and its finely appointed baths ; its spacious mili- 
 tary barracks and its grand and beautifully adorned squares, 
 Guatemala, the proud capital of the prosperous and go-ahead 
 Central American republic, is truly one of the finest cities 
 within the extended limits of Latin America. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Mountain Ranges and Foot-Hills — The Cochineal Insect — Coffee District 
 of Retalhulen — Mr. Batre's List of Asricultural and. Forest Products 
 — Torrents, Rivers, Lakes and Watercourses — The River Dulce and 
 the Grolftte— The Coffee Regions of Alta Paz— Coffee Production in 
 Gauteniala a Complete Success. 
 The surfrtce of thd republic is corrugated by numerous moun- 
 tain ranges, by their spurs and also by chains of tall foot hills 
 which divide the country into numberless plains, savannas, 
 and valleys. On the Pacific coast the mountain flanks slope 
 abruptly downwards, leaving between them and the sea a vast 
 fertile plain in which are situated the cities of Eetalhulen and 
 Escuintla. They are the centres of promising and flourishing 
 agricultural districts. This plain — or rather, as the country is 
 broken by mountain spurs here and there — these valleys are 
 noted for their prolific yield of sugar cane, indigo, corn, rice 
 and cochineal. The latter valuable article of commerce, is a 
 very minute insect which thrives on a species of the nopal or 
 prickly pear. Vast plantations of this cactus are cultivated. 
 When the harvest approaches, sheets are placed under the 
 plants, which arc violently shaken, and the insects by thou- 
 sands fall upon them. As soon as they leave the parent and life 
 sustaining leaves they immediately die, and losing their bright 
 crimson color, turn to a dingy hue. The color returns, how- 
 ever, in the i)rocess of transforming the insect into the brilliant 
 dye which, for a long time, superceded in the markets of Europe 
 the Tyrian purple that for more than thirty centuries was the 
 most valuable and famous dying extract known to the world. 
 
 The entire Pacific slope, from the mountain bases to the 
 ocean, is susceptible of being brought into the highest grade of 
 productiveness, but its climate is hot and arid, and its products 
 are essentially those of the torrid zone. Eetalhulen, which is 
 situated at an altitude of about 2000 feet above the sea, is the 
 centre of a great cofl'ee growing district. It is also the pres- 
 ent terminus of the Champerico railroad. 
 
aUATEMALA. 89 
 
 The agricultural and forest products are numerous, valuable 
 and varied. The following- list furnished by Mr. Batres in his 
 '' Sketch of Guatemala" may be considered as complete, as far 
 as the present knowledge of the subject extends, for there are 
 vast stretches of territory in the northeastern portion of the 
 republic where the foot of white man has never trodden, and 
 where most probably hitherto unknown species of medicinal 
 and other valuable plants will yet be discovered. 
 
 " Who, then, can for a moment doubt the dazzling future of 
 this portion of the New World ? It is sufficient to take into 
 consideration its geographical position, its fertile soil, its val- 
 uable productions and all the natural riches it contains. Both 
 oceans bathe with their crested waves the hot sands of the 
 extended coast-lines of Central America. The variety of 
 climate is so extraordinary that this fertile region furnishes the 
 greatest diversity of forest and agricultural resources. While 
 on the oue hand exist inexhaustible deposits of gold, silver, 
 lead, opals and coal in deposits, hitherto but superficially 
 worked, we, on the other hand, encounter virgin forests a bound- 
 ing with valuable woods. The coffee shrub exhibits its white 
 blossoms and ruby-colored fruit ; iudigo (aiiil) is cultivated on 
 a vast scale. Thus over a vast expanse of territory we find 
 growing wild the balsam tree, baptized by naturalists with a 
 great many names (the myroxilon Sonsonatense, myrospermum 
 pereirse, myroxilon punctatus,* miroxilion robinia-folium, my- 
 rospermum Salvatoriense) ; there are entire forests of the India 
 Rubber tree (Siphonia elastica), at present a source of incal- 
 culable wealth ; there are waving fields of the sugar cane ; the 
 most exquisite textile plants, like, for example, the maguey 
 (Agave Americana), the saltwort, the soft rush (carludovica 
 palmata), the capulin (tidia argentea), the soft aloe (furcroya 
 gigantea), all capable of becoming the basis for remunerative 
 industry ; resins, gums and balsams are met with on all Iiands, 
 like, for instance, the liquid amber (styracifera), the mangle 
 (rhizofera), the guapinol (himenea courbarie), the co[)al tree, 
 the estoraque or officinal storax, the turpentine fir, vegetable 
 wax (myrica cerifera), vegetable soap tree (myristica sebifera), 
 the sarsaj)arilla root (smilax zarzaparrilla), the nanacascalote 
 
90 GUATEMALA. 
 
 (Divi-divi) tree, and the chan (salvia-chio), quinine bark, 
 vanilla beans, cocoa (tlieobroma cacao), the Chiapas pimento 
 tree (Eugenia pimetta), the tjimariud tree, and a great many 
 other valuable trees^ indigenous to those latitudes.. Over 
 broad fields tlie'gokbin wheat and tall Indian corn undnlate in 
 the wide expanse, while at the same time the fruits of all zones 
 are exhibited in the same market. Thanks to the extreme 
 variety of temperature, all of them are in a small extent of 
 territory. Cochineal, cabinet and dye-woods, vie in abundance 
 and excellence in Central America, together with hides, skins 
 of numerous animals, etc., etc. 
 
 While the native writers of Gruatemala dwell with just enthu- 
 siam upon the numbv;^r of beautiful rivers that water the soil, 
 there exist but few worthy of the name. The Polochic and 
 Motagua, the Passion and the Dulce, the Usumacinta and the 
 Michatoya are the only ones that are navigable for small boats. 
 The other rivers of the republic are mere mountain torrents or 
 watercourses. 
 
 On his journeys through the country the traveller notices 
 many small bodies of fresh water which are denominated lakes 
 by the people of the vicinity. But four of them in reality 
 deserve this imposing title. These are the lakes of Atitlin, 
 Yzabal, Petin and Itzal, and are situated in localities widely 
 separated from each other. 
 
 The little G-uatemaltecan port of Livingston is washed on 
 one side — the southern — by the waters of El Eio Dulce, the 
 river of sweet water. This winding river, at its mouth, is very 
 wide and deep. After a course of fifteen miles to the west, it 
 spreads and forms a wide but deep sheet of water, called by the 
 natives, " Bl Golfite," which is about nine miles wide by fifteen 
 long. A short distance to the west it spreads out much wider 
 than before and becomes the^La^funa de Yzabal" the Lake of 
 Yzabal, which body of water is navigable for vessels of deep 
 draft. Lake Yzabel covers a superficial area of about 65,000 
 acres. During the rainy season severe wind and rain storms 
 not unfrequently visit this usually calm region, and vent their 
 fury on the unprotected lake, whose waters are lashed into foam 
 by the irresistable squalls that sweep down from the contigv 
 uous mountain summits. 
 
GUATEMALA. 91 
 
 On the right side of the lake, as oue journeys from the 
 mouth of the river towards the interior, is situated the little 
 town of Tzabal, which is again the single port of entry for 
 the eastern coast of the Eepublic. A trip from the port of 
 Livingston, as far as the town of Yzabal, is one long vista of 
 beautitful tropical scenery. At one place, about five miles 
 from whei'e the river flows into the "Golflte," its waters have 
 burst through a vast rocky barrier and cut a passage to the sea 
 through this flinty obstacle. On either side the rocks rise high 
 and precipitous over the rushing flood beneath, and form a long 
 line of palisades, far superior in scenic effect to those of the 
 Hudson, while the fantastic shapes, assumed by the rocks which 
 were torn apart at some remote geologic period, strike the eye 
 of the beholder as the work of Titanic sculptors. At one place 
 the statue of a woman is seen, clearly cut and defined standing 
 on a pedestal, while the figure must be at least forty-five feet 
 high. As the tourist nears the statue it loses its faultless 
 outline, but at the distance of a mile or so it has the appear- 
 ance of a,perfect work of art. Temples and palaces, domes 
 and towers, crowd upon the bewildered vision of the traveler 
 as his craft follows the turns of the winding river, and it is 
 only when the boat passes directly under them that he dis- 
 covers the palaces, domes and statues he saw are the mere 
 vagaries of his fancy, which had been conjured into existence 
 by the fantastic shapes assumed by the surface of the rocky 
 barrier. 
 
 From the mouth of the Eio Dulce to the Lake Yzabal is full 
 thirty miles. The lake is twenty-six miles long, thus the hither 
 end at the mouth of the Rio Polochic. which might be termed 
 a continuation of El Rio Dulce, is fifty-six miles from Port 
 Livingston. The Polochic river runs a generally eastern course, 
 from its source in the vast mountain range that cuts the re- 
 public from north to south, of about eighty miles before it min- 
 gles its waters with those of Lake Yzabal. 
 
 About forty miles from its mouth is situated the little town 
 of Panzos, the head of navigation and the commercial centre 
 of all Eastern Guatemala. The actual distance from Panzos 
 to Lake Yzabal is much greater by water, in consequence of 
 the serpentine course pursued by the Polochic. This river is 
 
92 GUATEMALA. 
 
 deep in places but is often along its entire course obstructed 
 by shoals, yet it is in reality uari.o;-able far above Panzos for 
 large dorys. IsTot far from Panzos is situated the town of 
 Coban, which is the centre of the great coffee region of Gua- 
 temala, for Alta Paz is not far from Coban, and at tliis former 
 locality the principal coffee plantations of Eastern G-uatemala 
 are congregated. 
 
 It is safe to assume that the coffee industry of Alta Paz will 
 represent a capital of at least §10,000,000. As each of the 
 planters are annually setting out more trees, the yearly increase 
 of the acreage of the staple is estimated at about 150 manzanas, 
 or 300 acres. Four winters ago, for the first time since the 
 conquest of the country by the Spaniards, frost visited Coban, 
 and blighted millions of the younger plants. 
 
 Some of the farmers pruned the trees thus injured clovse to 
 the ground. They have grown up again, and in two years 
 bore equally as well as an ordinary five year old tree. Those 
 injured plants that were not thus treated invariably died. Their 
 places have since b.^en filled by young trees which have 
 begun to bear. ITotwithstahding this misfortune, the ensuing 
 coffee crop was even larger than the one that preceded it. 
 The harvest of 1884, produced 3,500,000 pounds for export, 
 besides a large quantity consumed in the country. 
 
 The coffee trees of Alta Paz flourish in an atmosphere and 
 in a soil in every way congenial to the perfect development of 
 their fruit. The neighboring mountains covered with luxuriant 
 growth of forest tnnber, attract rain and conduce to moisture, 
 and as the coffee tree is an essentially tender shrub, it shrinks 
 from the intense glare of the tropic sun and thrives best in 
 moist and humid localities. 
 
 For several years even after it has begun to bear, it requires - 
 protection from the sin, and is generally planted between rows 
 of trees or under th^^ protecting shade of the huge leaved 
 banana. An hour's exposure to the vertical tropic sun would 
 most probably great: 3^ injure, if not destroy, a four year old 
 tree, thus, it may be .seen if the cultivation of coffee is profit- 
 able, the planter mut t be ever on the lookout and guard his 
 precious trees from any sudden exposure to the heat. 
 
GUATEMALA 93 
 
 The eight year old trees of Cobau, or rather Alta Paz, will, 
 so it is asserted, yield an average of two and a half pounds per 
 tree each jncking season. Those of Cordova, Mexico, are even 
 more prolific and will give about three pounds, under favorable 
 circumstances. The coffee plant of Cos<a Rica and San Sal- 
 vador, of Nicaragua and Brazil will not average more than one 
 pound and a half per tree. There is one locality, however, at 
 Uruapan, Mexico, where the coffee tree grows larger and yields 
 more than in any other part of the world. From some as yet 
 unexphiined cause, the plant assumes the appearance of small 
 apple trees, while numerous of them have several times yielded 
 from twelve to forty-eight pounds per harvest. 
 
 But if no such* phenomenal growth and production of the 
 coffee plant takes place at Alta Paz in Guatemala, its growth 
 is steady, and it arrives at maturity at the age of five years, 
 from which period it will produce a constant yield of about 
 two and a half pounds yearly until it reaches the age of, per- 
 haps, forty years. This industry is destined to become one of 
 the most important of the agricultural enterprises of Eastern 
 Guatemala. If at times the price has ruled low, in the end its 
 cultivation is extremely profitable, for it has been estimated 
 that if the staple sold on the place for but six cents per pound, 
 it would pav 12 per cent on the actual money invested in its 
 production. 
 
 The following is a list of the principal merchants and coffee 
 growers of Coban. A glance at it will satisfy even the 
 most careless observer as to the nationality of these same 
 planters and merchants. 
 
 Sarg Hermanos, Duseldorff & Co., Pablo Surra & Co., 
 Francisco Pianos, Van JSTostiz & Co., W. A. Duseldorff, D. H. 
 Turkheim, D. M. Connell, Henry Littlepage, S. M. Slattern, 
 Julius Wolter, Herman Helmrich, L. Castelauo. 
 
 Of these houses, seven are either German or bear German 
 names, three are Spanish or native, while but two are English. 
 
 It will be safe to calculate that although two-thirds of the 
 products of Central America go to Englaad, two thirds of the 
 merchants of the five republics ai-e German or are of German 
 descent. 
 
94 GUATEMALA. 
 
 Notwithstanding these gentlemen are extremely patriotic, 
 and at their social gatherings <lriuk dee[)ly to their dear 
 " fatherland," they are not so jjatriotic as to send their i)rodLice 
 to Germany if they can get a better price for it in England or 
 in the United States. 
 
 In their capacity of planters they have to feed many thou- 
 sands of laborers, and they need American produce to enable 
 them to do so. By conseqaeuce they are very anxious to enter 
 into closer trade relations with tlie United States. If the mer- 
 chants of New Orleans ignore this promising traffic, those of 
 New York and Philadelphia do not. 
 
 Last month three steamers from the former [)ort, ar,d two 
 from the latter touched at all the Central American ports, from 
 Belize southward along the coast to Costa Eica, while certain 
 English ocean tramps regularly take cargo at Livingston. 
 
 As was said before, the giant range of mowntains that sep- 
 arate Guatemala into two parts, about e'qua/ly wide, is an 
 almost impassable barrier betw^een the two section!? of the Re- 
 l)ublic. It will be several years before the enterprise of man 
 will unite the Pacific ocean and the Caribbean sea by a rail- 
 road. Until the desideratum is accomplished, Eastern and 
 Western Guatemala will be virtually separated ; at least com- 
 mercially so. Thus the entire commerce of Eastern Guatemala 
 is destined to centre at or nearPanzos. From this point com- 
 munication with the sea is easy and safe and is rapid, while the 
 Government has ordered the construction of large receiving 
 warehouses at Port Livingston to accommodate the growing 
 couimerce of the locality. 
 
 While New Orleans can put coffee in Philadelphia for ^c, per 
 pound, she has made no effort to secure the control of the flour- 
 ishing coffee trafBc of Guatemala. The crop this year will 
 amount to about 3,500,000 pounds, of which a million pounds 
 is consumed in the country, the remainder of which will be 
 freighted to Europe, to New York and to California. The 
 coffee crop of Alta Paz should seek this market by consequence 
 of the contiguity of New Orleans to the producing centre, in 
 comparison with New York and Euro])e, for the Crescent City 
 is but 900 miles distant from Port Livingston and the latter is 
 
GUATEMALA. 95 
 
 about 100 miles from the plantations of AltaPaz. Thus New 
 Orleans is just 1000 miles distant from the eastern coffee fields 
 of Guatemala; l!^ew York about twice as far and England is, 
 in round numbers, say, 6000 miles distart. This coffee trade 
 should be enjoyed by the merchants of the Mississippi valley, 
 and might be, were the dealers in the article to make as sin 
 cere efforts to secure it as their Eastern and English rivals do 
 to retain it. 
 
 The coffee crop of Central Guatemala is very abundant this 
 year. For some time the low price at which this staple has 
 luled in Europe and America has had a most depressing effect 
 throughout the coffee-producing centres of the^ hemisphere. 
 While the planters of Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Kica 
 and Nicaragua have been constantly losing money for the last 
 three years, their more fortunate brethern of Honduras, Gua- 
 temala and Mexico have mani:ged to make somewhat more 
 than their expenses. In the three last mentioned countries the 
 rate of wages for agricultural labor yet rules comparatively 
 lew. in Brazil the gradual emancipation of the slaves will, 
 doubtless, decrease, the acreage of coffee planting. In Ven- 
 ezuela, Colombia, Costa Eica and Nicaragua (all of which re- 
 publics are iu direct and constant communication with the 
 Isthmus of Panama) the labor market is seriously affected by 
 the comparatively high rate of wages paid laborers by the 
 Panama Canal Company. This latter enterprise employs thou - 
 sands of workmen at an average price of |1 50 per day. Coffee 
 planters cannot afford to pay such extravagant prices tor labor, 
 and, by consequence, these four republics are experiencing an 
 alarming shrinkage in their coffee-producing area. 
 
 Another advantage, beside the low rate of wages that obtains 
 in Guatemala, is experienced by the planters of the latter 
 country. Its enterprising and enlightened President, Gen. 
 Barrios, has several times issued decrees regulating the labor 
 supply. Criminals instead of being carefully housed, fed on 
 the fat of the land and maintained at government expense, are 
 compelled to work on railroad enterprises and plantations In 
 a population of 1,500,000 souls are found 950,000 of the work- 
 ing class. But this aboriginal race hates to labor for the patri- 
 
96 GUATEMALA. 
 
 cian caste, and will only work when necessity compels them- 
 Gen. Barrios, by suppressing; and enacting severe laws against 
 voluntary pauperism, has driven avast number of hitlierto non- 
 producers into the coffee groves, the cane and nopal fields and 
 the mahogany forests. In rural centres of population the most 
 incorrigibly lazy adults are pressed into the army, and the 
 rest are compelled to labor in the coffee fields for a certain 
 number of days per annum. But while thus rendering labor 
 compulsory, the health, well-being, comfort and wages of the 
 laborers receive the strict attention of the government, and 
 in no case has the just complaint of the wn^rkman against his 
 employer been unheeded. The beneficial effect of this legisla- 
 tion was remarkably apparent during the last two years. The 
 railroad enterprises were at a stand-still for warn ot laborers. 
 Hundreds of idle Indians were drafted and put to work on the 
 Guatemala Central and Champerico roads- The coffee trees 
 were growing wild and neglected; sufficient agricultural la- 
 borers were dispatched to the plantations to insure the safety 
 of the harvest and the plants. 
 
 Thus the high rate of wages that rules in other coffee-pro- 
 ducing centres, and the comparatively low price tliat obtains 
 in Guatemala, together with the ample amount of either vol- 
 untary or enforced labor disposable, seems to render the future 
 success of the coffee producing industry of Guatemala beyond 
 question. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Few Wagon Roads and Bad Bridle Paths— Mule and Donkey Pack 
 Trains— Unique System of Transportation— The Guatemala Central 
 and Champerico Railroads — The Northern Line — The Shea and Cor- 
 nick Contract — The Lyman and Gordon Concession — Mahogany 
 Cutting — Mining Industry — Manufactures — Future of the Country. 
 
 While there are several fine roads, leading from the capital 
 in different directions, they degenerate into mere bridle paths 
 at the distance of a few leagues from the city. The road to 
 Escuintla is a fair highway; that to Coban was constructed 
 at a vast expense. The road to the old cities of Guatemala 
 passes through a broken and rugged mountain country. The 
 rest of the republic is traversed by mountain and bridle paths- 
 The system of transportation employed is naturally slow and 
 expensive, pack mules and donkeys being principally employed 
 in this industry. 
 
 If, as political economists assert, the prosperity of a nation 
 depends upon its cheapness of transportation, Central America 
 is far from being a prosperous territory. But the present 
 energetic and patriotic ruler of Guatemala, Gen. Barrios, has 
 turned his attention to this important problem, and quick and 
 cheap passenger and freight transportation has been decreed. 
 A few years since he started a subscription to build a railroad 
 from the Pacific port of San Jose to the capital. A line was 
 eventuallj' constructed from the coast to Escuintla, a distance 
 of about twenty-eight or thirty miles. For a long time the 
 enterprise hung fire, but about two years ago Messrs. Crocker, 
 Stanford and Huntington, of San Francisco, bought the line 
 from its original owners and continued it to the capital city. 
 This syndicate has entered into arrangements for the construc- 
 tion of several other Central American railroads, while the 
 principal of their undertakings have their scene of operations 
 within the limits of Guatemala and San Salvador. 
 
 About four years since, Messrs. Lyman & Fenner, two enter- 
 prising American gentlemen, obtained a concession to construct 
 
98 GUATEMALA. 
 
 a, line from the. little Pacific port of Cham peri co to the city of 
 Eetalhuelan, a distance of some twenty-eight or thirty miles. 
 Mr. Bell, a well known Californian banker, provided the funds 
 and the Government furnished a liberal subsidy besides a large 
 grant of land. If the assertions of the Guatemaltecan states- 
 men may be credited, the subsidy, which is being paid with 
 the utmost regularity, will cover the entire expenses of con- 
 struction. This arrangement, which certainly must meet the 
 approval of the owners of the line, seems also to suit the 
 Government and the people, for if the former advanced their 
 money at a time when Guatemaltecan securities were at a low 
 figure, and took what at that epoch seemed a great risk, the 
 planters of the Retalhuelan coffee district are contented with 
 the simple circumstance of having secured quick and certain 
 transportation to the coast. 
 
 Shortly after construction work was commenced on the road, 
 Mr. Lyman, for some reason not explained, withdrew from the 
 enterprise, which, since that epoch, has continued under the 
 sole management of his partner. Dr. D. P. Fenner. 
 
 This little enterprise has proved to be extremely remunera- 
 tive to all concerned. Quite a quantity of mixed freight is 
 daily shipped at the several stations and numerous passengers 
 are constantly traveling between the port of Ohamperico and 
 Eetalhuelan. During the coffee season, business is unusually 
 brisk, and the Pacific Mail Steamship Company's vessels 
 touch at the port once a week. 
 
 It will not be long before this enterprise is extended to the 
 capital, for the Government has offered its manager extremely 
 liberal terms. Thus another grand agricultural region will 
 be opened to commerce and immigration, and flourishing 
 plantations, now virtually cut off' from the capital and the sea 
 port, will be placed in rapid and regular communication with 
 both. 
 
 The golden dream of both the government officials and the 
 people in general is to secure rail communication between the 
 Pacific and Caribbean coasts. The prolongation of the Gua- 
 temala Central from the town of Escuintla to the capital has 
 solved the first portion of the problem. No sooner had Gen* 
 
GUATEMALA. 1)1) 
 
 Barrios made arrangements with the Huntington syndicate 
 for the coutinuatiou of the Esouintla branch to Guatemala 
 City than he turned his serious attention towards the realiza- 
 tion of the remaining part of the plan. After mature deliber- 
 ation he determined that all the inhabitants of the Republic 
 should bear a portion of the burden, and. that the proposed 
 road should be the property of the people as well as of the 
 nation. Two years ago he issued a decree which constituted 
 each male and female inhabitant of the lv.epublic who earned 
 the sura of eight dollars per month a shareholder. Each per- 
 son so situated is required to pay $40 in ten years for one 
 share, or rather more than four per cent per annum on his or 
 her gross earnings. He at once subscribed and paid cash for 
 five hundred shares. All of the principal military and civil 
 officers followed his example and took as many shares as their 
 means warranted. Many who occupied subordinate positions, 
 and who took but one share, paid for it at once. All the rest 
 are compelled to make quarterly payments of $1 at a time. 
 
 Contrary to the expectations — and perhaps the hopes — of 
 the remaining political enemies of the administration, who 
 predicted that the promulgation of this, in their eyes, arbi- 
 trary and unconstitutional decree, would culminate in a disas- 
 trous revolution and the overthrow of the government, the 
 measure, instead of rendering Gen. Barrios odious, has, if pos- 
 sible, increased his popularity. The merchants of the capital, 
 and the planters and land owners whose property lies contig-^ 
 uous to the proposed route of the new road, have subscribed 
 liberally. The military and civil officials are proud of the 
 opportunity offered them of thus sustaining- the project of 
 their beloved chieftain ; while the Indian rancheros, store- 
 keepers, arriaros, artisans and laborers, whose monthly earnings 
 bring them within the limits'of the decree, pay their quarterly 
 instalments with the utmost promptness, and seemingly with 
 corresponding pleasure, for their vanity is gratified by being 
 stockholders in the great undertaking. This new line is 
 known as the Northern Eailroad, and the president or mana- 
 ger of the concern is the famous Don Angel Pefia, a gentle- 
 man whose name has long been looked upon as a synonym for 
 honesty and integrity by his fellow citizens. 
 
100 GUATEMALA. 
 
 The entire cost of the undertaking from Guatemala City to 
 the coast, a distance of about 206 miles, was estimated at 
 $12,000,000 by the government engineer, Sylvanus Miller, 
 Esq., an American gentleman, who for many years has been 
 identified with the railroad movement of Central America. 
 This engineer has carefully surveyed the country from the 
 capital to the coast, and has chosen the definite direction of 
 the line. The route runs from Guatemala City in a general 
 northeasterly course and strikes the Motagua river at a point 
 near Zacapa. From thence it runs to El Mico, not far from 
 the hacienda of Gen. Eascon. From this latter point it pro- 
 ceeds directly to the coast, and terminates at Port Barrios, 
 the site chosen for the eastern terminus. 
 
 Within a few mouths after the decree was promulgated, the 
 rapid payment of subscriptions, by the wealthier inhabitants, 
 swelled the railroad fund in the coffers of the President to at 
 least S500,000,aud bids were asked for the construction of the 
 first division of the road, from Port Barrios, on the Caribbean 
 coast, to El Mico, a point some sixty-two miles in the interior. 
 An American citizen — resident of Guatemala, named Millen, 
 entered into a contract with the government for the cojastruc- 
 tion of the first division of the road. This gentleman made 
 his own terms with the management of the enterprise who ac- 
 cepted his figures and specifications without comment. But 
 it was soon apparent that Mr. Millen had been remarkably 
 unfortunate in his calculations, for the excavation and other 
 construction work cost much more than his estimates, and he 
 was in a short time compelled to suspend further operations. 
 Meanwhile the attention of the well known railroad con- 
 tracting firm of Shea, Cornick and Shea, of Knoxville Tenn., 
 was drawn to this enterprise. In March, 1884, Mr. Cornick 
 and Mr. Tim. Shea, accompanied by the author of this work, 
 proceeded to Guatemala city, and assisted by the influence and 
 advice of Dr. D. P. Feuner secured a most favorable contract 
 for the construction of the first division of the road from Port 
 Barrios to El Mico. This work has proceeded very favorably 
 up to date. The principal dif&culty encountered by the con- 
 tractors has been the labor supply, which is inconstant and not 
 
GUATEMALA. 101 
 
 oviiT good. They have been compelled to rely principally on 
 imported labor, several hundred of negroes having been sent 
 to the scene of operations from ]^ew Orleans alone. 
 
 Within a few days after Shea, Cornick & Co. secured their 
 contract, and before they had begun their work, the govern- 
 ment entered into still another arrangement for the comple- 
 tion of the proposed road from El Mico to the capital city, 
 with Messrs. Lyman and Gordon of Kew York. The Lyman 
 in question is the same gentleman who was interested for a 
 period in the Ohamperico railroad, and his partner is the cele- 
 brated ex-Oonfederate general, J. B. Gordon. As far as can be 
 ascertained, these gentlemen have fulfilled all their preliminary 
 engagements with the government, such as filing their bond 
 and making surveys,etc., and will soon begin construction work 
 at the city of Guatemala. 
 
 There are several other different railroad enterprises spoken 
 of in government circles which may soon be undertaken. One 
 in particular, although a comparatively small affair, would 
 prove very profitable to the parties owning it. The coffee dis- 
 trict of old Guatemala city is practically cut off from the coast 
 during the rainy months. A line from the destroyed city to 
 tap the Guatemala Central would drain this entire district and 
 could be constructed at a minimum cost. 
 
 The other important enterprise spoken of is a line to connect 
 the port of Belize, British Honduras, with the capital of Gua- 
 temala. This road would cut directly west, through the Eng- 
 lish Colony, and then taking a general southwesterly direction 
 would drain the richest and fairest portion of the country. 
 Several well known capitalists have had this matter under con- 
 sideration for some time, and but little doubt is entertained 
 that when the concurrence of the two governments is obtained 
 that the enterprise will be undertaken. 
 
 Even under the present defective transportation system that 
 obtains, the republic enjoys a fair domestic and foreign traffic. 
 The former may safely be set down at $75,000,000 per annum 
 and the latter, in imports and exports at $9,000,000. With 
 better wagon roads and the completion of the present projected 
 railroad system the general traffic of the republic will increase 
 
102 GUATEMALA. 
 
 at a rapid ratio, and Guatemala will become one of the most 
 prosperous, wealthy and powerful among the Latin American 
 sisterhood of nations. 
 
 The republic has never enjoyed as high a reputation for for- 
 est products, as either British Honduras, Spanish Honduras, 
 or Mcaragua. Yet several parties are now busily engaged in 
 mahogany cutting on the banks of the Motagua river. Messrs. 
 Ford, Anderson and Owen and the Saarg Brothers have at 
 dfferent times shipped large quanties of furniture woods to the 
 United States and Europe. 
 
 The fruit planting industry has been treated of in another 
 chapter. The government has fostered and protected it and 
 has iuvariably assisted indigent persons who have started the 
 cultivation of bananas. The principal scene of this industry is 
 in the neighborhood of Port Livingston. The vast stretch of 
 unoccupied laud along the banks and contiguous to Lake 
 Yzabal will eventually be occupied by banaua and sugar plan- 
 tations, while the fruit planting industry of Eastern Gruatemala 
 fs destined to assume imposing proportions. 
 
 About a year since a Boston syndicate begun the cultivation 
 of bananas, plantains and pine-apples on a large scale near 
 Port Livingston. Up to date their enterprise has been re- 
 markably successful, and hopes are entertained by its sanguine 
 j)romoters that they will soon have a large supi)ly of fruit 
 ready for shipment. 
 
 Since the epoch of the independence the mining industry of 
 Guatemala has steadily declined until within the past five 
 years, when the discovery of valuable gold placer deposits on 
 the Motagua river and several of its branches gave it a new 
 and vigorous impulse. 
 
 During the Spanish regime a vast quantity of gold dust was 
 shipped by Guatemala to the mother country, while several 
 famous silver mines were also worked. It is now a con- 
 ceded fact that numerous valuable silver deposits have been 
 discovered and located in the mountains near the Honduranean 
 frontier. When the fortunate owners can procure capital to 
 work these lodes the district will probably prove a second 
 Potosi. Mr. Sanchez, the secretary of treasury, showed the 
 
GUATEMALA. 103 
 
 author a piece of crude silver that weighed 160 ounces, which 
 was the result of a working assay of 2500 pounds of rock taken 
 at hap-hazzard from his mine. Competent judges have proved 
 this property to be extremely valuable, so Mr. Sanchez pro- 
 poses to form a company to work it. 
 
 About sixty miles from Yzabal are situated the rich placer 
 mines of the Eio Bobos (a tributary of the Motagua), upon 
 which are located the auriferous lands of the Friedman Mining 
 Company of ISTew York. The manager, Mr. Edgar Friedniao, 
 has opened a good wagon road, seven miles long, and is now 
 busily engaged in getting up machinery and in -piping and 
 opening the main ditch for his supply of water. On the op- 
 posite side of the river are the hydraulic works of Messrs. 
 Papadophul, Paximo and Arias. This company bring their 
 water in ditches and flumes, a distance of about two miles. 
 They have sufficient pressure, and are working very success- 
 fully. Adjoining these are the lands of Messrs. T. J. Potts 
 and John W. Knight, formerly of Louisiana. These gentle- 
 men have had preliminary surveys made preparatory to put- 
 ting up hydraulic works on a large scale. Water is plentiful 
 and conveniently situated, and it is calculated that the ground 
 will yield twenty -five cents of gold dust to the cubic yard. 
 
 The gold extracted is of a very fine quality ; worth about 
 S18 40 per ounce troy at the IJuited States Mint. Another 
 American syndicate has recently denounced a placer near Lake 
 Yzabal. There are also rumors of the discovery of lead and 
 mercmy in the same vicinity. These reports, however, as yet 
 lack confirmation. 
 
 The republic boasts but few manufactories worthy of the 
 name. The principal supplies of textile goods come from Eng- 
 land, notwithstanding the fact that American cotton goods, 
 particularly calicoes, are highly thought of in Guatemaltecan 
 markets. If American manufacturers of this class of goods 
 would consult the taste and customs of their purchasers, they 
 could not only acquire'the dry goods trade of the republic but 
 of all the other Latin American markets as well. 
 
 There are numerous articles of domestic manufacture that as 
 yet may be considered as unknown beyond the limits of the 
 
104 GUATEMALA 
 
 republic. Certain localities furnish fine straw hats, others are 
 famous for tule and straw mats, while in others a warm woolen 
 cloth is made, which furnishes the poorer classes of the higher 
 altitudes warm and comfortable clothing. 
 
 The departments of the interior possess numerous mountain 
 streams which can be readily utilized for moving machinery. 
 Thus when the manufacturing era — which the numerous nat- 
 ural products of the republic indicate will soon be inaugurated 
 — dawns upon Guatemala a thousand perennial mountain 
 watercourses will furnish a cheap method of manufacturing to 
 the future mill kings of the country. 
 
 The author has often been asked if he could conscientiously 
 advise American capitalists to invest their money in the devel- 
 opment of the forest, the agricultural and the mineral resources 
 of this republic in i^articular, and of Central America in gen- 
 eral. In answer he has pointed to the different enterprises 
 that have been undertaken upon the information imparted by 
 him to the interested parties, all of which have up to date, 
 proved remarkably successful. These enterprises will neces- 
 sitate the eventual employment of several millions of dollars. 
 Among them the Shea, Cornick & Co.'s railroad construction 
 work, in Guatemala, and the Honduras timber and fruit plant- 
 ing companies in Spanish Honduras may be cited as examples. 
 
 As far as the natural resources of Central America are con- 
 cerned it is impr ssible to exaggerate their importance or esti- 
 mate their value. The cane plantations of Guatemala, average 
 a yield of 4000 pounds of crude sugar to the acre. Cotton pro- 
 ducts, 1250 pounds of lint fiber to the same area of land, while 
 in various localities upland rice returns the grateful planter a 
 harvest of 250 barrels for one planted. The steep hill sides 
 yield the simple Indian who merely drops the corn in: a hole 
 and draws the earth over it with his bare toes, sixty bushels 
 per acre, while the fertile valleys return almost fabulous har- 
 vests of wheat, rye and other cereals. 
 
 Mr. Hawley, an English traveler who explored the hitherto 
 unknown portion of the republic, in the Peteu region, dis- 
 covered grand forests of mahoganj^ and tropic cedar, and vast 
 stretches of land covered with the valuable Brazil tree. In, 
 
GUATEMALA. 105 
 
 one of his elaborate political essays, the deceased Guatemal- 
 tecan historian. Don Jose Milla, estimated the market value 
 of the different classes of furniture wood trees, fit to cut, now 
 standing in the primeval forests of .Central America, at the 
 vast sum of $700,000,000. This estimate e:xcludes trunks of 
 less than fifteen inches in diameter. When the immense quan- 
 tity of dye woods and construction timber is added to the 
 above estimate, the curious enquirer may manage to conceive 
 a faint idea of the great value of the forest productions of this 
 fortunate land. 
 
 Of the mineral resources of Central America no just esti- 
 mate can be made. Each of the five republics contain almost 
 innumerable deposits of gold and silver ore. In some locali- 
 ties of Honduras paying placers of silver dust have been 
 discovered. In the same republic a majoritj^ of the streams 
 and rivers course over beds that are literally impregnated 
 with golden particles. Throughout the wide area of the Yoro 
 and Olancho Departments it is almost impossible to turn over 
 a spade full of earth without finding " color." This assertion 
 sounds like a tale of the Arabian Kights, but it is nevertheless 
 borne out by stubborn facts. 
 
 If, in several cases, American miners have gone thither and 
 have not succeeded, a thousand reasons might be advanced 
 to account for their failure. Overflowing with vanity and 
 pride; considering themselves superior in all things to th-e 
 natives of the country, they imagine they know everything 
 and only awake from their delusion when they find that their 
 woful ignorance has undone them. They prosecute their w^ork 
 in the rain or under the rays of an intense tropic sun, and 
 when their reckless exposure culminates in sickness, they 
 blame the- climate, but lose sight of their gross imprudence. 
 Their failure simply proves their inferiority to their Spanish 
 predecessors, who, with less advantages, and by the employ- 
 ment of the simplest and most primitive methods, for nearly 
 three centuries, forced the unwilling earth and rocks to yield 
 rich tributes of precious metals. If, for the first few decades 
 of their occupation of the country, the Spanish conquerors 
 forced the unwilling natives to work for them, the labor sup- 
 
106 GUATEMALA. 
 
 ply was soon exhausted, and their successors were generally 
 compelled to work with their own hands and amass their for- 
 tunes by the sweat of their brow. 
 
 The American emigrant invariably follows the pernicious 
 example of the American miner. He wishes to introduce the 
 system of farming that obtains in his own country, and often 
 fails where his neighbor, a native of the localitj', is rewarded 
 for his judicious management by profitable harvests. 
 
 By studying the peculiarities of the climate, and grafting 
 certain American farming principles upon the native system 
 of cultivation, foreign emigrants, if they are prudent and 
 persevering, can scarcely help but succeed. One great draw- 
 back to their advancement has been commented upon by the 
 natives. As a general thing they reach the scene of their 
 future labor almost penniless. Many cases may be cited where 
 having planted large areas of sugar cane and cotton, they 
 have been unable to harvest their crops for want of means to 
 purchase sugar machinery, or to pay for the picking of their 
 cotton. 
 
 As far as Guatemala is concerned it seems destined to enjoy 
 a brilliant future, under the lule of its able and patriotic Pres- 
 ident, Gen. Barrios. It is already the wealthiest and most 
 prosperous of the Central American republics. A new genera- 
 tion of statesmen, imbued with liberal sentiments and privi- 
 leges, has grown up around him ; thus ,when he resigns the 
 reins of power, or if death should suddenly strike him in the 
 midst of his glorious career, there are many able to succeed 
 him and carry out the great work of reform he has so ably 
 inaugurated. 
 
 With its immense and valuable forest resources, its salubri- 
 ous climate, and remarkable fertile soil; with its numerous 
 rich deposits of gold and silver ore, and vast placer dig- 
 gings as rich as the auriferous fields of California or Australia. 
 Guatemala is destined to command the attention of foreign 
 capitalists. Then its fertile soil will be cultivated, its grand 
 forests utilized and its valuable deposits of precious metals 
 be forced to yield their rich tribute. Thus, wealthy, prosperous 
 and happy Guatemala will, before long, assume a proud posi- 
 tion among the sisterhood of Latin American JS'ations. 
 
REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS- 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Discovery of Honduras — Colnmbns' Adventurous Voyage — Origin of 
 the Name of the Country — The Man Hunters of the Caribbean — 
 Destruction of the Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Antilles and the 
 Introduction of Natives from the Continent as Slaves. 
 
 Twelve years had transpired since that memorable day, 
 October 12, 1492, on which the famous navigator, Cristobal 
 Colon, viewed for the first time the shores of the Western 
 Hemisphere, 
 
 During these twelve years this extraordinary man had ex- 
 perienced all classes of vicissitudes. His life was often en- 
 dangered by the tempests of the ocean, or the rage of his 
 exasperated companions; while, on the other hand, he had 
 been greeted with the praise and distinction of his sovereigns 
 and the enthusiastic eulogies of the entire people of Europe, 
 upon his return to his native country, after his astonishing 
 discovery of a uew world. Later on he was calumniated and 
 met with cruel treatment and persecution, which indignant 
 public opinion loudly condemned ; while his sovereign, who, 
 if he did not authorize these wrongs, gave ground for them 
 by the plenary powers with which he invested those who had 
 carried them into execution. He afterward rendered the illus- 
 trious man tardj^ justice. All these circumstances had tried 
 that great soul, but, without for a moment diminishing the 
 confidence he entertained in his destiny, which he believed 
 yet called him to open new and still unheard of paths of for- 
 tune to the human race. 
 
 Although his body was racked by physical sufferings, at 
 the advanced age of 76 ^''ears, the admiral started upon his 
 fourth and last voyage. He left Cadiz the 9th of May, 1502, 
 
108 REPUBLTC OP HONDURAS. 
 
 in command of five small vessels, the largest of which was 
 scarcely seventy tons' measurement, manned by one hundred 
 and fifty adventurers. 
 
 He was accompanied by his brother — the "Adelantado' 
 Don Bartolome Colon, an intrepid and experienced mariner 
 and a man of excellent Judgment — and his younger son, Don 
 Fernando, a mere child in years, but whose tender age was 
 supplemented by great strength of mind, which he undoubt- 
 edly inherited from his illustrious father. 
 
 A terrible tempest, that Colon had predicted and provided 
 against, placed his fragile vessels in imminent danger, when 
 off the Island of Santo Domingo, whose Governor, obeying 
 the instructions he had received from court, refused an asylum 
 in these critical circumstances to him who had years before 
 discovered the same island. The storm dispersed and nearly 
 destroyed the vessels, and it was some days before they col- 
 lected again, at a port on the western coast of Santo Domingo, 
 where they were repaired. 
 
 Continuing his journey, the admiral touched at several 
 small islands and cays which he had seen on his former voy- 
 ages, and on the 30th of July arrived at Guanaja, which he 
 named the Isle of Fines. This was the first land discovered 
 by the Spaniards in Central America in the sixteenth century, 
 
 Don Bartolome Colon, with some of the crew, having dis- 
 embarked on the island, witnessed the arrival of a canoe of 
 large dimensions, made of the trank of a single tree. To pro- 
 tect its passengers from the sun and rain it had in the centre 
 a sort of a cabin, formed of mats. In this enclosure were 
 women, children and merchandise. It is supposed that the 
 canoe and cnrgo belonged to Indian traders, who had loaded 
 it on the coast, a short distance from Yucatan. 
 
 The admiral regarded the people of these islands as much 
 more civilized than those of the Antilles, discovered by him 
 during his anterior voyages. The fact of their not being- 
 frightened or astonished by the Spanish vessels, nor afraid to 
 approach the strangers ; their being better dressed than the 
 West Indians and the class of goods in which they traded, 
 gave force to the admiral's opinion. 
 
REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 109 
 
 The diary of the historian (or notary) of the expedition,. 
 Diego de JPorros, and the narrative of this voyage written by 
 Colon for the sovereigns of Spain, are sterile of details, and 
 make no meulion of meeting with this canoe. But the inde- 
 fatigable historian, Herrera, who, when writing his interesting 
 "Decades," had access to the works of the first discoverers 
 and conquerors of the New World, says '• that those Indian 
 merchants carried copper hatchets, metal plates, and a species 
 of crucible in which to fuze metals. They also possessed 
 superior arms to those common to the West Indies ; such as 
 wooden swords, with canals on the edges of the blades, in 
 which were secured sharp, strong pieces of flint, that were held 
 in their places by a kind of cement, or else were fastened with 
 stout cords. They also had vases and other utensils of earth- 
 enware, of marble, and of hard wood ; and sheets, dickies and 
 overshirts, without sleeves or collars ; chocolate in abundance, 
 corn, yams and other alimentary roots, and likewise a bever- 
 age, which, from the description given of it, seems to have 
 been a local drink called oMcha.^^ 
 
 Proceeding onward, the squadron reached the main land on 
 the 14th of August. The admiral and some of his followers 
 landed, and on that day, for the first time, mass was cele- 
 brated on Central American soil. This was an event well 
 worthy of record, tor it was the commencement of the estab- 
 lishment of a new religion, which was to .substitute that false 
 and sanguinary worship which for centuries had cursed this 
 portion of the planet. That place, which was called, then, 
 Caxinas, is the same locality where the port of Truxillo was 
 afterward established. 
 
 Against contrary winds the squadron continued advancing 
 along the coast, but without going far from it, and anchoring 
 at night under its shelter. At fifteen leagues from the point 
 of Caxinas a deep river (the Tinto) emptied into the gulf. 
 The boats went a short "\yay up it. The admiral landed with 
 some of his people. On the 17th of August he raised the royal 
 standard of Spain, and took possession of the country in the 
 name of the Spanish sovereign. In Caxinas a new religion 
 was inaugurated, and at the river Tinto, a domination that 
 
110 KEPUBHC OF HONDURAS, 
 
 was destined to last three hundred years. These events were 
 the points of departure of the civil and religious transforma- 
 tion that these countries have since ex[)erienced. 
 
 A number of Indians, who differed from the people of the 
 Antilles in language and physiognomj', visited the Spaniards 
 at the Possession river (which was the name they then gave 
 the Tinto). Neither did these ludians dress alike. Some 
 covered half the body, others wore cotton jackets without 
 sleeves, and the chiefs cotton caps, either- painted or white. 
 Some went entirely naked, but had their bodies covered with 
 streaks of paint and figures of animals of divers colors. They 
 offered the Spaniards provisions, and in return the latter gave 
 them sdme objects of but little worth, but the natives regarded 
 them as of great value. 
 
 For many days Colon and his companions coasted that land, 
 to which they gave the names of Guayinura, of Hibueras and 
 of Honduras, which latter it retains to this day. They called 
 itGuaymura because that was the name of an Indian town on 
 the coast. Hiburas, on account of having found in the sea a 
 great number of pumpkins, called, in Santo Domingo, tribures; 
 Honduras, because having sailed a long distance without find- 
 ing anchorage, when Dhey came once more upon soundings 
 they exclaimed, '' Thank G-od, we have at length passed these 
 honduras," {i. e.) deep places. A fearful storm endangered 
 the safety of the vessels and the precious lives they carried. 
 
 "The ships were leaking, the sails torn, the anchors, por- 
 tions of the rigging, cables, boats- and much provisions were 
 lost." Thus the admiral wrote to the sovereigns, adding : 
 " Other hunncanes I have seen, but none to last so long, nor 
 so terrible." 
 
 The narrative expresses in plain terms the bitterness that 
 stirred that grand soul. Kot because the noble old mariner 
 thought of his personal peril. The fate of his son, of thirteen 
 years, and of his brother, who sailed in the worst of the shi])s, 
 and who had, against Oolons's desire, come with him simply be- 
 cause of the great affection he bore him, painfully affected his 
 spirit. On the other hand, to find himself far from his country, 
 soon probably to perish in the solitudes of the ocean, whose 
 
REPUBLIC OF HONDUEAS. Ill 
 
 waves tlireateued to sepulchre, from one instant to tlie other, his 
 dreams of glory and his hopes of further distinction. He sor- 
 rowfully thought of the misfortunes of his family, to whom he 
 could not leave eveu a ])oor roof to shelter their heads, and he 
 expressed, in his letter to the sovereigns, the confidence (which 
 perhaps he did not entertain) that they would restoi-e to his 
 eldest son, Don Diego, the honors and the treasures they had 
 dispossessed him of. 
 
 Wearied with physical sufferings, unable to rise from his 
 bed, he caused a little temporary (;abin to be built on deck, from 
 which he directed the movements of the squadron. But the 
 danger became so extreme that the sailors confessed to each 
 other, and thus prepared for death. 
 
 At length, after a long and weary struggle with the elements, 
 on the 12th of September they rounded a cape, the tempest 
 calmed, and a fair wind carried the vessels toward the south. 
 Colon, overcome with gratitude and religious devotion toward 
 the Supreme Being, gave the name of Cabo Gracias a Dios 
 (Cape thank Grod), to the point of laud where he experienced 
 the favorable change of wind. 
 
 The squadron proceeded along that shore, which afterward 
 received the name of the Mosquito coast. The natives called 
 it Oariay. Being compelled to obtain wood and water, the 
 boats entered one of the several rivers that empty into the 
 Gulf. On their return a stiff breeze began to blow. The sea 
 rose and dashed against the boats, upsetting one of them whose 
 crew was drowned. In memory of this unfortunate event the 
 name of '' Disaster " was given to this river by the admiral. 
 
 Notwithstanding the bad condition of the vessels, they slowly 
 and with difficulty proceeded, and at length anchored off" a 
 small island which the natives called Quiribiri. The Spaniards, 
 however, gave it the name of Huerta — orchard — in consequence 
 of the numerous fruit trees they found on it. 
 
 The inhabitants of the contiguous coast were greatly fright- 
 ened at the sight of the ships and the singular beings aboard 
 of them, and made preparations to defend themselv^es. Colon 
 managed with great prudence, and endeavored to inspire them 
 with confidence. He would not embark that day nor the next. 
 
112 REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 
 
 but occupied the time in repairing his vessels, examining' his 
 provisions, and resting his worn-out crews. 
 
 The Indians perceiving that the strangers had no intention 
 of injuring them, began to make signals of peace, by displaying 
 their white cloaks, and eventually swam to the ships, bringing 
 with them some cotton cloths, and a few pieces of inferior gold, 
 which they offered to the Spaniards, calling it guanin. The 
 admiral refused to accept their gifts, but on the contrary wished 
 to present them some European articles he thought might 
 please them. But the rejection of their presents wounded their 
 feelings, and they likewise refused the admiral's offering. The 
 next day the Spaniards found on the beach the playthings they 
 had given to the Indians strung on a line. 
 
 The natives, however, continued evincing the greatest desire 
 to have the strangers, who had so excited their curiosity, come 
 on shore, and made various attempts to induce them to do so. 
 One day an old man came to the beach, and shook a white flag 
 to attract the Spaniards' attention. He was accompanied by 
 two young girls, whom he offered as hostages. Colon received 
 them on board with kindness; dressed them in European 
 clothes, and then returned them to their conductor. On their 
 part they were greatly pleased with the welcome they met with. 
 
 At length the admiral, accompanied by some of his people, 
 went on shore, but wishing to procure information regarding 
 the country, began to question the natives by signs, and or- 
 dered the notary to take tlown their answers. But the moment 
 the latter brought ont his tablets and made preparations to 
 write, the Indians became alarmed, and doubtless attributed 
 that operation to witchcraft. They ran away, but quickly re- 
 turned with some powders, which they burnt, and waved the 
 smoke over the Spaniards. The latter being no less supersti- 
 tious than the natives, thought also that the latter were en- 
 deavoring to bewitch them. Even Colon, who was so superior 
 to his contemporaries, paid tribute to the ideas of his epoch, 
 and believed in the supposed witchcraft of the Indians. 
 
 The admiral made excursions into the interior, but without 
 finding what he sought — gold. The Spaniards procured only 
 some jewels, made of inferior metal, but which were unable to 
 
REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 313 
 
 satisfy the avarice of those who had abandoned their country 
 and exposed themselves to the greatest dangers to obtain the 
 longed-for precious metal. 
 
 In certain of the houses they found corpses. Some were 
 embalmed, while others were perfectly preserved in cotton 
 cloth and covered- with ornaments. On the boards of which 
 the coffins were made, were engraved figures of animals and 
 portraits of faces which were pronounced the likenesses of the 
 parties interred. 
 
 The admiral, on his departure, carried with him two Indians 
 to serve as guides, to the great grief of the people, who sent 
 to beg him to return their companions. The admiral suc- 
 ceeded in pacifying the messengers, but was not equally suc- 
 cessful in calming the alarm of the rest of. the natives. 
 
 The remainder of this last voyage of the great navigator 
 took him beyond the limits of Honduras. He soon returned 
 to Europe, and died believing that he had merely reached the 
 shores of India, He never imagined nor appreciated the vast 
 results that were destined to flow from his discoveries. On 
 his deathbed he exclaimed with bitterness : '' I have only 
 opened the door for others to enter." 
 
 Shortly after their occupation of the principal islands of the 
 Antilles, the Spaniards divided the natives among them, and 
 reduced the poor unfortunates to the most galling slavery. 
 
 The chieftains were, in some exceptional cases, exempted 
 from this fate, but in other instances they shared the same 
 destiny as their former vassals, and, urged by the cruel lash 
 of their unfeeling task-masters, moistened with their bloody 
 sweat the soil that had descended to them as their patrimony 
 from many generations of ancestors. 
 
 In a few years the cruelty of their masters, the arduous and 
 unceasing labor, from sunrise to sunset, and often later, had 
 so thinned their numbers that the Spanish colonists of the 
 Antilles were compelled to search elsewhere for more slaves. 
 They sent vessels to cruise along the lesser islands and the 
 numerous cays that dot the gulf, and in a short while almost 
 depopulated them. The discovery of the continent opened a 
 
114 REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 
 
 new field tor the enterprise of these man -hunters, and it was 
 not long before the^ plowed along its extended coasts, and 
 filled their vessels with the shrieking captives whom they 
 ruthlessly tore from their families and their beautiful tropic 
 homes. 
 
^ CHAPTER 11. 
 
 Expedition of Pedro de Alvarado into Guatemala— Cortez Sends a Force 
 into Honduras — He Journeys Thither by Land Himselt — Conquest 
 and Occu,pation of the Country by the Spaniards — Later History of 
 Honduras. 
 The five fragments of the former Central American republic 
 bear such an intimate relation with each other that the his- 
 torian will find it almost impossible to compile the history of 
 one of these little republics without constantl.y referring- to that 
 of the other four. The entire country was conquered by the 
 Spaniards about the same time, for the mail-clad soldiers who 
 destroyed the Indian natives of Nicaragua and Costa Eica, 
 met on the northern confines of the former province their 
 fellow-countrymen who had overthrown the aboriginal empires 
 and kingdoms of Honduras, Guatemala and Yucatan. 
 
 The conquest of the Aztec empire achieved, Cortez, the 
 stern " conquistador," like another Alexander, sighed for more 
 worlds to conquer ; but, unlike the " Macedonian madman," 
 he did not sigh in vain. For on three sides of his possessions, 
 to the north, to the south and to the far west, great kingdoms, 
 whose plains groaned under the weight of their rich harvests, 
 whose mountains teemed with reins of silver and gold, and 
 whose streams, arroyos and rivers coursed over sand impreg 
 nated with gold dust, invited his soldiery to invade and pos- 
 sess them. 
 
 Scarcely had the dense clouds of smoke that lowered over 
 the smouldering ruins of Mexico— the famed island city of the 
 Montezumas — been dissipated by the pure breezes that de- 
 scended from the adjacent mountains and refreshed the deso- 
 lated plains, when the restless and avaricious conqueror sent 
 formidable expeditions out in all directions to explore and t® 
 conquer the country, in the name and for the glory of Charles, 
 the Emperor King of Spain, and to bring the millions of the 
 idol- worshipping natives of these terras incognitas to a knowl- 
 edge of and an iuheritance in the one church universal. 
 
116 REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 
 
 An aruiy of these couquistadoies, uuder the command of 
 Pedro de Alvarado, one of the most gallant and chivalrous of 
 the captains formed under the eye of that great commander, 
 Hernando Oortez, penetrated to the far south, crossed the wild 
 jungles, climbed the tall mountains of Chiapas, and passed the 
 boundary line which separates that State from the present 
 republic of Gautemala. The brave captain was informed of 
 great kingdoms which existed to the south of the point he had 
 then reached — of kingdoms whose sovereigns iiosKsessed im- 
 mense stores of gold, silver and precious stones, and who were, 
 in point of riches and power, but little inferior to the powerful 
 Mexican monarch, whose empire had been lately overthrown 
 and whose capital Jiad been so recently entered, sword in hand, 
 by the same ruthless conquering adventurers. 
 ■ The conquistador immediately retraced his steps and re- 
 turned to Mexico. Here he obtained the necessary authority to 
 raise a suiiicient force to conquer these powerful Indian king- 
 doms. So with the title of captian general and governor of 
 countries he should discover, conquer and occupy, he started 
 on his adventurous journey, nor was it long before he had over- 
 come the Indian nations who vainly attempted to arrest his 
 progress. After a series of sanguinary combats and battles, 
 he reduced the greater part of that territory which is known 
 as Guatemala, and also a portion of Honduras, to subjection to 
 the crown of Spain. 
 
 In the meantime Oortez himself had sent an expedition along 
 the coast, southward from Vera Oruz, to colonize and conquer 
 that section of Centra] America at present known as Spanish 
 Honduras. ' After a series of adventures, the commander of 
 the expedition planted his colony and then sent expeditions into 
 the interior to explore and conquer the country. As usual,, 
 the brave and reckless but mail-clad soldiers of Spain prevailed 
 over the naked hordes of Indian patriots who sturdily at- 
 tempted to bar their progress, nor was it long before the colony 
 and province of Honduras was added to the already vast Amer- 
 ican possessions of Spain. 
 
 From that period, until the cry of independence resounded 
 over the mountain tops and careered over the wide plains of 
 
REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. ^ 117 
 
 Spanish America, the enslaved Indian peoples who were sunk 
 into the depths of hopelessness and despair, toiled in the mines 
 or cultivated the fertile lands for the descendants of the ra- 
 pacious conquerors. Millions of the indigenes were swept 
 away by the small-i)ox and other terrible diseases introduced 
 into their country froni Europe. Millions more tell under the 
 keen swords and the sharp lances of the " conquistadores " 
 during the wars of the conquest, but millions more wore away 
 their weary lives in the mines that were hidden deep in the 
 bowels of the tall mour.tains, or patiently wasted away on the 
 cane, and indigo fields, under the burning sun that shone down 
 apou the plains from a cloudless tropical sky. 
 
 But after three centuries of oppression and^cruelty the^cry 
 of independence, raised by the intrepid priest, Hidalgo,|in 
 Mexico, 1810, was wafted over the provinces of Oaxaca and 
 Chiapas, and fell upon the ears of the long-suffering and en- 
 slaved Indians and lialf-castes of Central America. It was also 
 gladly welcomed by the indignant Creoles, who, if they indi- 
 vidually loved their Spanish fathers, hated the Spanish race 
 with an intensity equalled only by the indigenes, who had three 
 long centuries of sanguinary oppression to avenge. The result 
 of the struggle is well known. 
 
 The revolted colonies eventually gained their liberty. All 
 Central America was united under one government, and the 
 Kepublic of Central America took its i)lace amoung the nations 
 of the earth. 
 
 But in 1838 the nobles and the clergy succeeded in over 
 throwing the Liberal party, and the republic was destroyed. 
 It separated into five parts, which are to-day known as the 
 republics of Guatemala, San Salvador, Honduras, JSTicaragua 
 and Costa Rica. 
 
 Until within a comparatively recent date Spanish Honduras 
 was the least known and mentioned of the several fragments 
 which comprise that geographical division known as Central 
 America. 
 
 Upon the disintegration of the republic, each fraction es- 
 tablished a separate government. Then the Honduraneans 
 founded their little republic, which is comprised within the 
 
118 * REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 
 
 following limits : It is bounded on the north by Guatemala 
 and the Caribbean sea, on the east by the latter, on the south 
 by the Eepublic of Nicaragua, Pacific ocean and theEepublic 
 of Salvador, and on the west by Guatemala and Salvador. 
 It contains 48,000 square miles and a population of about 
 500,000 souls. The two principal cities are Comayagua and 
 Tegucigalpa. The latter, since 1880, has been declared the 
 capital of the country. It contains about 13,000 inhabitants. 
 
 The republic is divided into twelve departments, each of 
 which is under the jurisdiction of a Governor. The names of 
 the departments are as follows : Copan, Gracias, Santa Bar- 
 bara, La Paz, Comayagua, Yoro, Colon, or Mosquitia, Olancho, 
 El Paraiso, Tegucigalpa, Choluteca, Islas de Bahia (Bay 
 Islands). 
 
 Honduras enjoys a liberal republican government, which 
 was established and carried into effect by the late President 
 of the republic. Lie. Marco A. Soto. In the year 1876 this 
 gentleman was chosen by the people of Honduras to re-estab^ 
 lish the government. He assumed the functions of provisional 
 President at Amapala, on the 27th of August. In the year 
 1880, after having restored peace and prosperity to the country, 
 he was elected constitutional President, which position he 
 held until ill health compelled his resignation in August, 1883. 
 
 The present constitution ot the republic is one of the most 
 liberal and perfect that ever emanated from human wisdom. 
 The articles which may be deemed interesting to Americans 
 are in whole or in part as follows : 
 
 Honduras* should be considered as a portion of the disinte- 
 grated republic of Central America j in consequence, it recog- 
 nizes the duty and urgent necessity of returning to a union 
 with the other separate fragments of said republic. * * * 
 
 Art. 2. The Honduras nation is a sovereign, free and inde- 
 pendent republic. 
 
 Art. 6. The Constitution guarantees to all the inhabitants 
 of the republic, natives or strangers, the inviolability of human 
 life, individual security, liberty, equality and rights of prop- 
 erty. 
 
REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS, 119 
 
 Art. 7. The republic recognizes the guarantee of the habeas 
 corpus. 
 
 Art. 8. The slave that treads the soil of Honduras shall be 
 forever free. Traffic in slaves is a penal offense. 
 
 Art. 10. Before the law, neither privilege of caste nor class 
 can exist. 
 
 Art. 13. All foreigners possess equal privileges, and shall 
 enjoy the same civil rights as the Honduraneans. By conse- 
 quence they can buy, sell, locate, exercise industries and pro- 
 fessions, possess all kinds of property, and dispose of it 
 according to law ; visit with their ships the ports of the 
 republic and navigate in its seas a,7id. rivers. They are exempt 
 from extraordinary contributions (or forced loans), and are 
 guaranteed entire liberty of conscience. They may erect 
 churches and establish cemeteries in any place in the rebublic. 
 Their matrimonial contracts cannot be invalidated by not being 
 in conformity with the religious requirements of any sect or creed. 
 
 Art. 16. Service in the army is obligatory. Each Hondu- 
 ranean, between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five years is 
 considered a soldier of the active army, and each fi"om thirty- 
 five to forty years of age a soldier of the reserve. Naturalized 
 citizens are exempted from military service for ten years. 
 
 Art, 24, The State considers it a sacred duty to foment 
 and protect public instruction in all its diverse branches. 
 Primary instruction is obligatory, is secular and is gratis. * 
 * * No minister of a religious sect shall be permitted to direct 
 any school or college maintained by the State. 
 
 Art. 26. The navigation of the rivers of the republic is free to 
 all flags. *■ 
 
 The government is divided into three branches — the execu- 
 tive, the legislative, and the judicial. 
 
 The executive power is exercised by a citizen who is styled 
 the President of the Republic. He must be a native of Cen- 
 tral Am erica, *Df thirty years of age, and must be in i)ossessiou 
 of all the rights and privileges of citizenship at the time of 
 his election. He is chosen by the popular vote. The term of 
 office is for four years. He is eligible to re-election, but can- 
 not be chosen for a third official period until a lapse of four 
 years from the termination of his second term of office. 
 
120 REPUBLIC OF HONDUEAS. 
 
 The members of the Cabinet have the power to be preseut 
 at the sessions of Congress and to take part in the debates 
 but have no vote. They are compelled to answer any ques- 
 tion put by a member regarding any subject that comes with- 
 in the jurisdiction of Congress, excepting in matters relating 
 to foreign telations and war when the President considers 
 secrecy necessary. 
 
 The legislative branch of the government is invested in a 
 single chamber of deputies, or representatives, in the National 
 Congress. This body possesses somewhat similar functions 
 to the combined powers of the Senate and Congress of our 
 country. One deputy should be elected to represent every 
 ten thousand inhabitants, but as the congressional districts 
 have not yet been declared, each depg.rtment elects three rep- 
 resentatives, excepting the Bay Islands, which is allowed but 
 one. 
 
 Congress may transact business provided three-quarters of 
 the whole body, which constitutes a quorum, are present. A 
 simple majority determines the resolution of a question. Each 
 member of Congress is inviolable, and at no time, either in 
 the present or in the future, can be called to account for ideas 
 written or spoken by him in the course of his duty. 
 
 This constitution was promulgated on the first of December, 
 1880. The executive and the governors of the departments 
 have earnestly endeavored to carry out its provisions, and 
 have so well succeeded that peace, prosperity and the partial 
 development of the resources of the republic have attended, 
 their patriotic efforts. 
 
 Upon the resignation of President Soto, Gens. Bogran and 
 Delgado and Mr, Arias were candidates for the high office he 
 was compelled to vacate. The elections were held for three 
 consecutive days. Out of 45,000 votes cast, G-en. Luis G-- 
 Bogran received 42,000 ; the remaining 3000 being about 
 equally divided between his two competitors. 
 
 Gen. Bogran enjoys the reputation of being one of the most 
 gallant and skillful soldiers Central America has produced 
 since the death of Morozan. At an early age he entered the 
 military service of his country, and during the interminable 
 
REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 121 
 
 civil wars that have devastated Hoiidaras, took part in many 
 combats and battles. He is but 36 years old and has been in 
 public service twenty years. 
 
 Although he has tilled the executive chair but little more 
 than a year, he has already inaugurated and carried out sev- 
 eral important measures of reform. If he lives until the end 
 of his term of office, he will have accomplished more to bring 
 about the complete regeneration of his country than any of 
 his predecessors. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Houduras the Eden of Central America— The Extreme Fertility of the 
 Eastern Slope— Healthy Climate — Admirable Stock Raising Country 
 —Dry Appearance of the Western Regions — Monutains Rich in Silver 
 and Gold Ore — Imports, Exports, etc. 
 
 The famous traveler and scientist, Baron von Humbolt, re- 
 marked that Mexico was the garden of the world, but that the 
 province of Valladolid (the State of Michoacan) was the Eden 
 of Mexico. If the great geographer was right, then Hondu- 
 ras, which in many respects resembles Michoacan, may justly 
 merit the appellation of the Eden of Central America. 
 
 The republic is about two hundred miles wide. Its entire 
 northern coast is bathed by the generally placid waters of 
 the island-dotted Caribbean sea, while a small portion of its 
 southern and western limits are washed by the long rolling- 
 billows of the Pacific ocean. For a few leagues from the coast, 
 on either side, the laud is low, and, in some places, marshy 
 and damp. Here lurk the fever germs, which very often 
 attack the traveler. But the fevers of the coast are 
 easily cured and are but seldom fatal. With the adoption of 
 slight precautions, combined with temperance in eating and 
 drinking, the foreigner trbm a colder climate is seldom 
 troubled more than once by the insidious disease, and then 
 the attack is usually very light. 
 
 At a distance of about fifty miles from the northern coast 
 the land gradually begins to rise, and the traveler soon reaches 
 an altitude where the soft zephyrs which sigh amid the foliage 
 of the plantain, palm and cocoanut groves are met by and are 
 tempered by the cool fresh breezes which almost constantly 
 blow down from the adjacent mountain tops. A few miles west 
 and south from San Pedro Sula the rank dense vegetation of 
 the tropics ceases, and gives place to the arboreal exuberance 
 of the semi-tropics. In this hapijy locality fevers are but sel- 
 dom known, while the various pulmonary diseases that are at 
 
REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 123 
 
 present makiug such ravages in the homes of our own 
 country are never experienced by the Honduraneans of 
 the interior. The word consumption is not found in the 
 "medica" of Honduras, while bronchitis, diphtheria and rheu- 
 matism have never yet been heard ot by the healthy natives 
 of the republic. 
 
 At Sehuatepeque, some thirty miles northeast of Coma 
 yagua — the ancient capital of the republic — the climate is 
 cool, refreshing and bracing. The wide plain of the same 
 name is inclosed by tall mountains, which are covered to their 
 summits with a rich growth of pine, larch and oak forests. 
 The sides of these mountains, in many spots, are singularly 
 fertile, and produce admirable crops of corn, barley, wheat 
 and rye, while the valley beneath groans under the weight 
 of profuse crops of cotton, sugar cane and coffee. 
 
 The topography of Honduras presents a scene as broken 
 and as diversified as is witnessed in the Island of Jamaica. 
 In fact, the greater part of the territory of the republic is cor- 
 rugated by the numerous spurs into which the great mountain 
 range of the continent is here divided. Huge hills and tall 
 mountains inclose thousands of beautiful, fertile and pleasant 
 little valleys, which are covered, during the rainy season and 
 several of the months that follow it, by a rich carpet of nutri- 
 tious grass, which provides subsistence to thousands of fat 
 cattle. 
 
 When the extreme heat of the tropic sun parches the grass 
 and literally kills it, the copious dews that fall on the moun- 
 tain slopes moisten vast patches of a species of wild Gruinea 
 grass, which is also very good food for cattle. During periods 
 of drouth, when even the dcAvs cease to fall, and when all 
 classes of vegetation seem to gradually disappear, the cattle 
 find a sufficient and an excellent kind of nourishment among 
 the undergrowth that flourishes in the grand primeval forests. 
 
 For nature seems to have showered its richest blessings 
 upon this glorious countrj^ and has produced an infinite vari 
 ety of shrubs, plants and trees that sustain animal life equally 
 as well as grass. There is one tree in particular, vulgarly 
 called by the people the horse tree, whose foliage fattens cattle 
 
124 REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 
 
 and other stock even better than the best gras§ or corn. The 
 preservation and increase of the number of these singular 
 trees has always been considered of paramount consequence 
 by the government, therefore the destruction of a single speci- 
 men is punished by a rigorously enacted fine of three dollars. 
 Thus, notwithstanding the constantly recurring drouths that 
 afflict the republic by consequence of the absolute neglect of 
 irrigation and the culpable ignorance of the. natives of the 
 simplest laws that govern agriculture, the cattle of the inte- 
 rior never suffer for want of food, and even during the most 
 protracted drouth present a fat and sleek appearance. 
 
 The country to the north and east of Tegucigalpa^ — the 
 capital of the republic — is extremely well watered. The 
 various mountain -spurs contain numerous springs, which flow 
 down their sides, and, as they near the plains, aggregate and 
 form rushing torrents of pure cold water, which fall tumbling 
 and foaming into the valleys below. Thus the irrigation of 
 the plains and valleys is not only practicable, during the dry 
 seasons, but is extremely feasible; while thousands of eligible 
 sites are presented for the erection of saw, grist and stamp 
 mills in every one of the mountain districts of the country. 
 
 To the south of Tegucigalpa, after the tourist has'crossed 
 the high mountain range that environs the capital, he descends 
 into a long irregular valley which reaches to' the^coast. This 
 locality presents a different aspect than is witnessed in the 
 northern districts. Perennial streams and rivers are few and 
 far between, while none of the so-called rivers are navigable 
 during the dry months; in this season the mountains present 
 a brown and parched appearance; but few of the trees which 
 grace the plains retain their foliage, while the ground is arid 
 and drj^, and in many places cracked wide open. These fissures 
 occur often and render traveling over the plains very danger- 
 ous after nightfall, in case the tourist should wander from the 
 road. 
 
 Yet this very soil which presents such a parched aspect, is 
 remarkably fertile and productive. Could the inhabitants 
 rely upon a fairly wet season they would ask no further favor 
 from providence. The few months of rain would mature their 
 
REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 125 
 
 crops to such a tle^Tce that they would ripen almost as soon 
 as the dry season sets iu. But, uDtbitunately, the rainy season 
 is often retarded, while, frequently, scarcely enough rain falls 
 to quicken the grass into growth. Then the inhabitants suffer 
 for want of a sufficiency of corn — the sttiple cereal — while the 
 lack of pasture endangers the well-being of the cattle. 
 
 But the mountains that divide Honduras, on the Pacific 
 slope, are remarkably rich in metal bearing ore, principally 
 silver. There are nnmerous valuable mines in the neighbor- 
 hood of Tegucigalpa, some of which are, even now, being 
 worked in a somewhat primitive manner. Thus, while nature 
 has prevented this locality from developing- into a profitable 
 agricultnral region, she has been prolific of other gifts. The 
 climate, up to a short distance of the coast, is healthy. The 
 forests abound with valuable woods, and the mountains groan 
 under their burden of i)recious inetals. 
 
 While the northern and southern coasts abound in precious 
 woods, such as mahogany, cedar, vera, san jy.au, rosewood, 
 ebony, sandal-wood, an infinite number of different kinds of 
 ]ia]m trees, etc., the interior, where the land attains an altitude 
 of from 3000 to 8000 feet above the level of the sea, produces 
 all the various kinds of timber that are found in the more 
 temperate regions of this hemisphere. Live oak forests are 
 common in the semi tropic zone, while the huge proportions 
 of the trees and their rough, gnarled branches indicate their 
 value as ship-building material. « 
 
 The pine forests which adorn the mountain and hill sides of 
 the temperate and the cold zones are equal to any found in 
 our own country. In fact, they cover the principal portion of 
 the republic. The trees are large and tall, and are, in many 
 cases, near to the winding branches of the Ulua, Blanco and 
 Ohamilicon rivers. 
 
 From the accessibility of Honduras to the great lumber 
 marts of Mexico, the West Indies, and South America, it is 
 evident that the manufacture of lumber in this country is 
 destined to become a very important Honduranean industry 
 in the very near future. Already these vast virgin ijine forests 
 have begun to attra the attention of foreign capitalists. 
 
126 REPUBLIC OP HONDUR'AS. 
 
 The great drawback to the progress and the prosperity ot 
 Honduras has hitherto been the total lack of cheap trauspcr 
 tatiou between the ports and the cities of the interior. The 
 country is so mountainous that the principal roads are mere 
 bridle-paths, over which the imports and exports are carried 
 on muleback at vast expense. It costs at least |100 a ton to 
 transport freight from Puerto Cortez to Tegucigalpa, a distance 
 of 175 miles. 
 
 In 1876 the country could not boast a single mile ol tele- 
 graph. To-d^iY the principal ports on either ocean are united 
 to the capital by iron wires, and 1800 miles of telegraphs en- 
 able the government to communicate with the most remote 
 limits of the country. 
 
 The ancient Spanish system of jurisprudence obtains in Hon- 
 duras. Government has improved all branches of the judiciary 
 and has issued the following codes : The civil and jjenal ; the 
 laws that govern mining and commerce; the military code ; 
 regulation of public instruction and the code custom duties. 
 
 There existed no army nor regular military organization. 
 Recruits were brought to the barracks in bonds, and were 
 forced to serve at the dictation of each petty chief. Dreading 
 the anarchic period that obtained prior to August, 1876, a com- 
 plete military system has been organized and the republic to- 
 day can call to arms a fairly disciplined army of 41,992 men. 
 This JSTational Guard is a guarantee for public peace and in- 
 terior tranquility. Th^ republic also possesses sufficient ele- 
 ments of war for the defense of her rights and her territory. 
 
 The establishment of the postal service on a firm basis was 
 one of the late President's principal eiibrts of reform. He suc- 
 ceeded in carrying it into effect. Honduras was the first re- 
 public of Central America to enter into the postal union. The 
 constitution of 1880 may be justly considered as one of the 
 most liberal and progressive documents ever submitted to a 
 people. 
 
 The public school system is remarkably efficient and ijrac- 
 ticai. ^Notwithstanding the fact that the last famine affected 
 the attendance of pupils at the schools, the government in 1881 
 sustained 356 boys' schools, and in 1882 440; in 1881 110 girls' 
 
EEPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 127 
 
 schools, and in 1882, 133; in 1881, 13,463 boys attended school 
 in 1882 15,720; in 1881 the girls's schools numbered 3852 pupils, 
 and in 1882 4430. 'The expense attending these effoi-ts in 1881 
 amounted to $63,940 and in 1882 $73,646. 
 
 During the past and the present administration several for- 
 eign companies have invested quite large amounts of capital 
 in various enter])rises connected with mining and agriculture. 
 
 During the era of peace brought about by the triumph of 
 liberal principles, the agricultural interests; have'greatly im- 
 proved both in system and value,lwhile all other industries 
 have progressed to such a degree that the future development 
 of the country seems to be secured. 
 
 Commerce, both in importation and exjjortation, has won- 
 derfully increased during the last five years. The last six 
 months of the year 1882 the imports at Amapala reached 
 1401,453, and the duties collected amounted to $182,660. The 
 exports were $162,964, and the export duties $1691. In Sep- 
 tember and October of the same year the imports at Truxillo 
 amounted to $118,211, and the duties to $8391. The exporta. 
 tion during the same months reached $245,755, and the expor- 
 tation duties to $31,379. A.t Puerto Cortez and Omoa, from 
 March to IS^ovember, the imports reached $422,247, and the 
 duties to $85,650. At the same ports for the same period the 
 exports amounted to $542,751, and the export duties to $9060. 
 
 The domestic or interior commerce of the country may amount 
 to $20,000,000 per year while its foreign traffic — imports and 
 exports combined — will reach to about $4,000,000 ; thus the 
 entire.traflic of the republic^ill aggregate $24,000,000 per an- 
 num, or to almost $50 per capita. This may be considered as 
 a very small estimate, for even the veriest drone in the great 
 national hive will certainly earn and spend that sum per an- 
 num, while many thousands, of course, gain and expend much 
 more. 
 
 Some idea of the anomalous condition of this traffic may be 
 derived from a presentation of the fact that in a particular lo- 
 cality a fine steer or fat cow will not sell for more than $6 or $8, 
 while some leagues distant the same cattle are worth from $12 
 
128 REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 
 
 to $15 per liead. A good beef bide sells for from $1 to $1 20 
 at Santa Barbara ; at Seguatepeque for eighty cents, but at the 
 coast the article will readilj^ bring from S3 to $3 50. 
 
 While much of this stagnation of traffic may be attributed 
 to the total lack of good roads, and the consequent high rate 
 of freight tariff which obtains between the centres of produc- 
 tion and the ports of the coast, no small part of the blame must 
 be attached to the people themselves, who have never made 
 any very serious attempts to improve their highways. Many 
 of the mountain paths might be made more practicable. This 
 subject has, however, attracted the serious attention of Gen. 
 Bogran, the present enlightened President of the republic, who 
 has called upon Congress to provide ways and m'eans for the 
 establishment of a better system of public highways. 
 
 Honduras boasts of but one small railroad of which a descrip- 
 tion will be given in another chapter. Several lines, however, 
 are projected. Certain New Orleans parties have obtained 
 from the President a franchise to construct a railroad from 
 Puerto Cortez along the coast to Truxillo. This projected line 
 will open a vast region to commercial and agricultural enter- 
 })rise. 
 
 The people of Honduras, of whom a moiety are pure Indians, 
 are extremely hospitable and do not appear to entertain that 
 jealous sentiment toward foreigners so common to the Latin 
 American people. The better class are intellectual and are as 
 a rule finely educated. "Most of them have traveled extensively 
 in Europe and the United states, and are consequently zealous 
 promoters of all projects which have for their purpose the de- 
 velopment of the vast natural resources of their country. 
 
 The Indians of the interior are a pure and unmixed race. 
 They are peaceful and docile and are excellent laborers. They 
 possess intellectual faculties of a high order, as no few of the 
 lawyers and statesmen of the country are of that race. Under 
 the present efficient and liberal public school system the status 
 of the Indian people is being gradually improved, while in all 
 localities where it is possible to do so, primary schools for the 
 education of children have been established. 
 
REPUBLIC OP HONDURAS. 129 
 
 On either coast tlie people are more mixed. In many local- 
 ities a new race has been created by the inter-marriages of the 
 blacks and Indians. The mingling- of the whites with this 
 unique race instead of improving seems to deteriorate it. In 
 a few generations this miscegenated stock dies out, for the males 
 are weak and sickly, and the females, as a general case, give 
 birth to unhealthy offspring. Colonies of Caribs — so called — 
 are established at different points on the Caribbean coast, while 
 to the eastof Truxillo, Zambos, Mestizos and Mosquito Indians 
 are the principal Inhabitants of the country. 
 
 Although the Honduraneans claim to be Roman Catholics, 
 they by no means seem to constitute religion a serious busi- 
 ness of their existence. The principles of liberalism have swept 
 over the republic, and, to say the least, the better class are 
 remarkably liberal in their religious sentiments. The priests 
 possess but little influence, are not overwell paid and do not 
 seem to be so universally respected as their caste was under 
 the Spanish and Conservative regimes. Some parishes have 
 been entirely abandoned, while the rural churches, as a general 
 case, present a dilapidated appearance. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Puerto Cortez and its Suirouudings — Fine Situation -Placer Gold Dijr- 
 gings Near Omoa — The Fruit Planting Industry— The Pacific Sea- 
 port of Amapala — The Grand Gulf of Fonseca — The People of the 
 Pacific Slope — The luteroceanic Railroad. 
 
 The beautifal and spacious harbor of Puerto Cortez derives 
 its name from the celebrated Hernando Cortez, the conqueror 
 of the Indian empire of the Montezumas. 
 
 lu the year 1524 a Spanish adventurer, named Gil Gonzales 
 de Avila, set sail from the Island Santo Domingo, armed with 
 authority from the good monks, to whom the Emperor Charles 
 Y. had given jurisdiction in such matters, to pacify and con- 
 quer the heathen i)eople who inhabited the tierra firme. A 
 favorable breeze wafted his little squadron safely over the 
 long rolling billows of the gulf and the placid waters of the 
 Caribbean sea, and after some days of pleasant navigation he 
 sighted the high mountains of Spanish Honduras. In a few 
 days he anchored in a wide bay, whose southern shore was 
 lined with pretty little Indian towns, that were surrounded 
 with luxuriant plantain, banana and mango groves. 
 
 During the following night some of his horses sickened and 
 died. When the tide receded he threw their carcasses over- 
 board for fear the Indians of the vicinity, who were in deadly 
 fear of those animals, should discover that they were mortal, 
 and afterwards hold them in less esteem. This circumstance 
 impressed the conqueror's mind so profoundly that he gave 
 the bay the name of Puerto Caballos, or Port of the Horses. 
 Gil Gonzales deemed the loss of these animals such an evil 
 omen that he refused to form a settlement in the localitj^ and 
 left the bay next day. He sailed farther on to the Cape of 
 Tres Puntas, or Manibique, where he established a colony, to 
 Avhich he>gave the name of San Gil de Buena Yista. 
 
 A few years after this occurrence the conqueror, Hernando 
 Cortez, vv^ho went to Honduras for the purpose of chastising 
 his rebellious lieutenant, Cristobal de Olid, explored that port 
 
REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 131 
 
 whicli was so distasteful to Gil Gonzales. His quick, military 
 eye at once noted its superior advantages as a harbor, and he 
 gave orders for the establishment of a town, which he marked 
 out himself, near the site now occupied by the village of Oien- 
 eguita. From that date the Spanish colonists have called the 
 harbor Puerto Gortez, thus ignoring the name given it by Gil 
 Gonzales. 
 
 This fine bay is wide and long. At the further end a lagoon 
 runs to the westward and almost connecrs with the river Cha- 
 melicon. In fact, it may not be long before a short canal will 
 be cut from the river to the lagoon. If this is accomplished, 
 another cutting about three miles long would connect the river 
 Uloa with the Chamelicon. The two canals would bring 
 the entire country, watered and drained by these two long 
 rivers, in direct communication with the town and harbor of 
 Puerto Cortez, thus cutting off the ugly bars .at the mouths 
 of those waterways, which are at times absolutely impassable. 
 
 As the steamer enters the bay the laud to the right hand is 
 low and flat, and is covered with numerous detached groves of 
 cocoanut trees. Some distance around the right hand point, 
 which is washed by the Caribbean, is siluated the town of 
 Omoa, which was, during the Spanish regime, strongly forti- 
 fied. A large castle was constructed for the purpose of pro- 
 tecting the roadstead, while several water-batteries were erect- 
 ed whose fires flanked the harbor. Behind this town, a short 
 distance into the interior, are several well known placer mines 
 which were worked, but not exhausted, by the Spaniards at 
 intervals for more than 250 years. 
 
 If we may give credence to the tales of certain Carib fruit 
 cultivators, the Spaniards, notwithstanding their thirst for 
 gold, passed by or neglected large areas of auriferous earth in 
 this vicinity, which now lie waiting capital and enterprise to 
 develop them. The true reason the placers were not worked 
 more vigorously may be attributed to a want of labor. The 
 Spaniards tasked their Indian slaves to such a degree that 
 they rapidly decreased in number. Thus only the most pro- 
 lific gold lands were worked from the era of the first conquer- 
 ors down to the epoch of the independence of the country. 
 
132 REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 
 
 The flat land noticed on the right hand, as the traveler en- 
 ters the harbor, is remarkably fertile, as well as very easy to 
 work. Within the past three years the fruit-planting Industry 
 has received a vigorous impulse from the regular communication 
 established between Puerto Oortez and I'J'ew Orleans through 
 the medium of theMacheca and other lines of steamers. Each 
 month the supply of fruit is greater than the one preceding, 
 for the people are constantly planting. So the steamers and 
 the numerous schooners that frequent the port, can now count 
 on full cargoes of bananas each trip. 
 
 It is reported that parties at Oieneguita have lately set out 
 many thousands of cocoanut trees, while others have gone quite 
 extensively into rubber and cacao planting. There is no 
 reason why these branches of agriculture should not be estab- 
 lished in this vicinity, for it is a well known fact that exten- 
 sive cacao plantations are being laid out at or near Port Liv= 
 ingston. Guatemala, and that many thousand rubber trees have, 
 within the last three years, been planted at San Pedro Sula. 
 
 Almost directly opposite Puerto Cortez, but separated from 
 it by the entire width of the harbor, is situated the pretty little 
 native village of Cieneguita. This place is fast assuming im- 
 portance as a fruit producing centre. One negro planter is 
 now cutting at least 1000 bunches per month ] that is to say he 
 furnishes each of the Macheca steamers 500 bunches per trip. 
 
 The fruit is cut green, and is generally brought off to the 
 vsseles in dories or dugouts. Some of these boats are quitelarge 
 and will carry 100 bunches. The majority of them, however, will 
 not bear more than twenty-five or thirty. Many of the Ladinos 
 and Oaribs at this place have little banana patches, and sell 
 the steamers from five to fifty bunches per tri}>. Occa'^ionally 
 steamers from New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore run into 
 the harbor and purchase cargoes. If a Macheca steamer hap- 
 pens to be in port at the same time the price of fruit advances, 
 for the latter vessels canuot afford to lose time and are com- 
 pelled to load quickly. Some pineapples and cocoanuts are 
 purchased each trip by the regular line from the iruit producers 
 of this place. 
 
 Messrs. A. Mueller & Oo,, also do a thriving fruit traffic with 
 this port. Notwithstanding the many cocoanut trees that line 
 
REPUBLIC OP HONDURAS. 133 
 
 the shore of the harbor, but little, comparatively speaking, of 
 this fruit is exported. Most of the existing trees are old, while 
 those which bear, yield small and very inferior fruit. But if, 
 as is reported, the people of the coast are actually planting 
 cocoauiit groves, in eight or ten years the exportation of this 
 class of fruit will assume considerable importance. 
 
 The laud, from Cieneguita around the shore to the lagoon, 
 situated near the head of the bay, is also extremely fertile. 
 The greater part of it has been pre-empted by the enterprising 
 Ladinos and Caribs of the locality. 
 
 The little town of Lagoona is the largest place in the harbor. 
 It contains about 1200 inhabitants, and possesses quite a num- 
 ber of wooden edifices. The majority of the houses, however, 
 are built in the usual style of the country and are heavily 
 thatched with ]3alra leaves. The stranger who enters one of 
 these dwellings will be surprised at the number of places where 
 daylight shines through the roof, and doubtless will sympa- 
 thize with the occupants during the rainy season, yet from 
 some undiscovered reason, the water never, even during the 
 heaviest and longest rains, penetrates through the openings. 
 Some of these thatches are three feet thick ; a completely new 
 one will last for five years without needing repairs. 
 
 Notwithstanding tlie dry and combustible materials these 
 houses are made of, and the careless maunerthe occupants use 
 fire, it is but seldom conflagrations occur. The traveler who 
 cros'ses the continent from this port to the Pacific may see on 
 his route some ruined or deserted huts, but it is seldom the 
 charred remains of one of them meets his sight. 
 
 Puerto Cortez, the little town where the railroad depot and 
 the government customhouse are situated, is located on the 
 north or left hand side of the harbor, as the traveler enters 
 the bay. It contains about 800 inhabitants and extends along 
 a sandy neck of land, which is but a few yards wide. Indeed, 
 the houses on the left of the railroad track are often in danger 
 of being overflowed during the wet season by the water that 
 floods the bayou which leads from the lagoon. Yet, strange 
 to say, although the water in the marsh, back of the town, 
 stagnates during the dry months, Puerto Cortez is remark- 
 
134 REPUBLIC! OF HONDURAS. 
 
 ably healthy. While the caleuturas and chills and fever are 
 prevalent at Oieneguita and the villages across the harbor, 
 this little hamlet is comparatively free from both. 
 
 The villa of Puerto Cortez is the head of the municipality, 
 and the other towns of the vicinity are tributary to it. It is 
 the residence of the collector of the port, who also controls the 
 custom-house at Omoa, of the jefe politico, of the justice of the 
 peace, of the postmaster and the other members of the munic ■ 
 ipality. The principal business firms areDeBrot, P. Arnoux, 
 W. C. Merrilles, Chas. Carou, G. Collier and J. Tolaso. The 
 well known and esteemed Mrs. Berard keeps the Washington 
 Hotel, which institution is deservedly very popular with 
 travelers. 
 
 The railroad edifices were once quite imposing. But all of 
 them, the locomotive and repair shops, have become dilapi- 
 dated from the eftects of time and lack of care. 
 
 The total import and export trafiic of Puerto (3ortez will 
 aggregate somewhat more than Sl,200,000 annually. The im- 
 ports are machinery, Western produce, cotton goods, hard- 
 ware and general articles of merchandise. The principal 
 exports are tropic fruits, sarsaparilla, hides, rubber, mahog- 
 any, cedar, rosewood,eboDy, dye woods, etc. 
 
 The exports of precious woods will undoubtedly increase 
 greatly within the next twelve months, by consequence of the 
 wood-cutting privileges President Bogran has granted Ameri- 
 can companies. The fruit planting industry is in such a pros- 
 perous condition that a remarkable augmentation in the in- 
 crease of the exportation of tropic fruits may also be relied 
 upon. Puerto Cortez is at present the principal port of the 
 republic, as its import and export traf&c is now greater than 
 that of Amapala on the Pacific coast. 
 
 Tela, an important fruit producing centre, will soon be de- 
 clared a port of entry. The principal business firm and fruit 
 jjlantiug corporation, the Honduras Fruit Company, is not 
 only doing a fine general traffic, but is cultivating a vast 
 banana plantation. Mr. Chas. Mills, of Grand Rapids, Mich., 
 is the president of the syndicate and its business manager at 
 Tela. 
 
ItEPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. • 135 
 
 While there are several flourishing fruit planting localities 
 on the coast, such as Belfate and Ceiba, the country contigu- 
 ous to the port of Trujillo is the most important. This sea- 
 port carries on a large import and export traffic with our 
 country and Europe, besides its constantly increasing fruit 
 trade with 'Sew Orleans. Bonaca, Ruatan and Utila are the 
 principal ports of the Bay Island. 
 
 The enterprising S. Oteri has several steamers constantly 
 plying between these ports and the Orescent City. He prob- 
 ably carries on a larger fruit traffic than any other house in 
 the South. 
 
 As a great influx of people from the Spanish main may be 
 expected this winter, the various steamers on these routes will 
 be strained to their utmost capacity to carry all the freight 
 and passengers oflered them. 
 
 The principal seaport on the Pacific coast is Amapala, which 
 is situated on Tiger island, in the bay or gulf of Fonseca. This 
 grand sheet of water presents one of the safest and most ex- 
 tensive harbors, not only on the Pacific coast, but on the 
 planet. Three considerable rivers, the Choluteca, the IsTacaome, 
 and the Guascaran, discharge their turgid currents into its 
 capacious bosom and discolor the deep clear blue waters which 
 flow into it from the tranquil Pacific ocean. 
 
 The gentle swells of this gulf wash the coast ol three iude- 
 pendent nations, San Salvador, Honduras and Mcaragua, each 
 of which possesses a port of entry within its limits. La Union 
 is the seaport of Salvador, and is situated at the head of a sub 
 ordinate bay of the same name. Estero Eeal, on the margin 
 of a long, deep estuary, which runs far into Nicaragua, in a gen- 
 eral northerly direction, is the seaport of that republic, while 
 Amapala, situated on the northern slope of a mountainous 
 island, is the Pacific seaport of the progressive republic of 
 Honduras. 
 
 The gulf of FonsecR is fifty-two miles long by about twenty- 
 nine wide, and would, were it not for the numerous islands that 
 dot its surface, and shelter its havens from the force of the trade 
 winds, which sweep the vast area of the Pacific, contain nearly 
 1500 square miles. It is not only famed for its extent and se- 
 
136 REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 
 
 curity bat for its depth of water. There is but oue shallow spot, 
 towards the north, which reaches from the island of Martin 
 Perez to the low northern shore of Honduras. Ships of the 
 deepest draft may anchor within a stone's throw of the town 
 of Amapala, while between it and the island of Esposicion, the 
 water is very deep and the entering and returning tides often 
 flow through the strait with great violence. 
 
 The entrance from the sea is about twenty miles wide, but 
 immediately across it lie two huge islands, named Concha- 
 guita and Miauguera, which belong to San Salvador. These 
 islands break the entrance into three separate channels, and 
 thus serve to protect the wide expanse of the bay from the 
 long high swells that roll before the force of the trade winds 
 which blow steadily across the wide Pacific for nearly the 
 entire year from the same direction. The island of Coucha- 
 guita is 1562 feet high, and that of Mianguera is nearly 1200. 
 At the entrance to the bay are two volcanic mountains 
 named Conchagua which is 4000 feet high, and Oosiguina 
 which is 3000 feet above the level ot the sea. 
 
 The site of Amapala is a narrow strip of level ground on 
 the northern coast of Tiger island. It contains about 3000 in 
 habitants and boasts of a fair share of commerce. Ships from 
 the eastern ports of the United States and from Europe via 
 Cape Horn, after a passage of from 120 to 150 days, cast anchor 
 off the port. The Pacific mail steamers touch several times 
 a month, in their trips up and down the coast, while, occa- 
 sionally, small boats from i^icaragua and Salvador visit the 
 port. 
 
 Amapala is almost destitute of coast trade and possesses 
 no vessels of any kind, save a few primitive looking launches 
 and Indian doreys or canoes. Its only commerce, therefore, 
 is foreign, nor can it be said that this traffic is augmenting to 
 any satisfactory degree. The town boasts several houses 
 which trade direct with Europe and the United States. The 
 Casa General de Agencies, which does the business of the 
 mail steamers, is at present in charge of Gen. Carlos Eoloff, 
 an adventurous Pole, who distinguished himself in Cuba 
 during the late revolution. 
 
REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 137 
 
 The houses of Amapala are mostly of wood and are thatched 
 -with tiles made on the main land. The lumber of which they 
 are constructed comes from abroad, although a few miles in- 
 land the sides of the mountains are covered with a vigorous 
 growth of stnrdy yellow pine trees. 
 
 The, population of Amapala fluctuates; at times, 5000 people 
 crowd the little town, while probably, three months latter, not 
 more than 3000 souls can be found within its limits. Good 
 wages in Salvador or Nicaragua will cause quite an exodus to 
 those republics, while a failure of the corn crop invariably 
 brings about an immigration of the most enterprising laborers. 
 
 The women are clean and neat in their dress and person, 
 while each morning the children are scrubbed and bathed 
 until their little copper-colored hides shine. The men are 
 generally dissipated but are hard workers and excellent and 
 intrepid watermen. Although the bay abounds in fish, but 
 few specimens are seen in the markets, while fruit and vege- 
 tables, from the neighboring islands and the main land, and 
 corn, the staple food of the people, fill the stalls and form the 
 principle objects of domestic traffic. The chief exports are 
 hides, tobacco and woods. 
 
 The Honduraneans are possessed with a deep faith in the fu- 
 ture great importance of this port,and rely on the much-talked-of 
 interoceanic railroad to elevate Amapala into a great commer- 
 cial depot. Mr. Squier advanced the same favorable opinion. 
 It would be difficult to furnish substantial arguments to sus - 
 tain this supposition, for the very railroad which is relied 
 upon as the source of Amapala's future greatness, will cer- 
 tainly prove its death blow. At present, Tegucigalpa and 
 the towns and Pueblos south of it are supplied with their 
 foreign merchandise through Amapala. Should the railroad 
 be built the traffic line will change and all the markets from 
 the northren coast to Tegucigalpa will obtain their supplies 
 direct from Europe and the United States via Puerto Oortez. 
 That the railroad, sooner or later, will be built is, of course, 
 certain, and then the importance of the Pacific seaport of 
 Honduras will be sensibly diminished. 
 
 The only hope for Amapala is that the vast fertile plains 
 from Savana Grande to the southern coast may be cultivated 
 
138 REPUBLIC OP HONDURAS. 
 
 and made to yield their rich tributes of cocoa, fruit, coffee, 
 sugar, indigo, etc., and that the numerous mines which exist 
 among the mountains may be worked by enterprising "miners." 
 The rocky hills might be made to yield large^and profitable 
 annual harvests of henequin or sisal grass, while the forests 
 contain almost inexhaustible quantities of valuable woods. 
 When these natural resources of the country south of Savana 
 G-rande are developed, then and only then, can Amapala hope 
 to regain that wealth and importance it will certainly lose 
 upon the completion of the much-talked-of and even more 
 longed-for Honduras interoceanic railroad. The amounts of 
 the import and export traffic of this port are given in another 
 place. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Grand Valley of Sau Pedro Snla— The Rich Forest Resources of this 
 Vast Plain — Marvelous Yield of the Cotton Plant— The Celebrate d 
 Interoceanic Railroad — The Flora of Honduras — Opportunities for 
 Investment of American Capital — A Fertile Soil and Prolific Harvests. 
 
 To the east of the villa of San Pedro lies a plain commonly 
 known as the Valley of Snla. It extends from the coast toward 
 the south for about sitxy miles, and averages from thirty bo 
 fifty miles in width. It is traversed by the rivers Ohamelicon 
 and Ulna. 
 
 This immense plain is densely wooded, for the most i)art with 
 a beautiful palm the attalea cohuina, which covers thousands 
 of square miles along the rivers, and also the northern coast 
 of Honduras, This tree grows nowhere but on the most fertile 
 soil. 
 
 At localities amidst this enormous palm forest are found in- 
 exhaustible quantities of mahogany, cedar, fustic and rose- 
 wood, which are cut for exportation along the banks of the 
 aboved-named rivers. 
 
 The India rubber tree, (siphonia elastica) gTows luxuriantly, 
 and furnishes the rubber exported from Puerto Cortez. Also, 
 the sarsaparilla (smilax officinalis) is found in abundance and 
 furnishes a valuable article of export. 
 
 Air the wild growing fruit trees are found which are indi- 
 genous to tropical America. The corozo palm, which is pro- 
 duced in countless numbers, funishea drupes weighing from 
 eighty to 100 pounds, consisting of nuts, resembling diminu- 
 tive cocoanuts, which yield a very superior oil. 
 
 The terminal bud of the corozo palm, as well as of the cab- 
 bage palm [euterpe montana), furnishes a culinary vegetable 
 which compares favorably with cauliflower. 
 
 Vanilla abounds in the forest. Xear the banks of the rivers 
 and rivulets grows the pita {bromelia Jibresta) in paying quan- 
 tities for commercial purposes. The fruits of the wild fig tree 
 
140 REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 
 
 and breadnut, or niasica, as well as the leaves of the latter 
 tree, serve to feed and fatten stock. 
 
 All kiuds of tropical fruits grow here to the highest perfec- 
 tion. Those cultivated are plantains, bananas, pineapples, 
 oranges, limes, lemons, aguacates, mangoes, guanabauas, or 
 sour-sops, chirimoyas, matasanos, rose-apples, akee, or vege- 
 table eggs {cupa7iia sapida). The other productions are cacao, 
 coffee, sugar-cane, corn, which gives from three to four crops 
 in the year, rice, of a very good quality, and cotton, which, 
 instead of being an annual plant, as it is in the United States, 
 is here perennial, and growing much larger, yields more than 
 twice the amount it does in the most favored locality of the 
 former country. 
 
 Together with these tropical plants may be seen many of the 
 vegetables of the temperate zone, which are cultivated with 
 facility, and can be produced the whole year round. Cabbages, 
 turnips, radishes, lettuce, eggplants and tomatoes grow lux- 
 uriantly. Vines have been tried and yield very fine grapes, 
 which fact, considering that the grape is here indigenous, 
 was to be expected. Olives and almonds would grow here to 
 perfection, the soil and climate being just what they require. 
 
 This beautiful valley is watered by the rivers Ulua and Oha- 
 melicon, both of which ma3^ be navigated for some distance 
 by light draught vessels. It is sparsely inhabited, only a few 
 small villages and establishments of mahogany cutters being 
 found over the whole of its extent. 
 
 The villa of San Pedro is situated on the eastern border of 
 the valley of Sula, which plain, extending about three miles 
 further east from the town, is closed in by a chain of moun- 
 tains runuiug from north to south, which separates it from the 
 great valley of Quimistan, famous for its gold mines since the 
 early days of the Conquest. 
 
 San Pedro has about 2500 inhabitants and is a thriving 
 little town. The foreign element is well represented, the priu- 
 c'lpal merchants as well as planters being foreigners. Two 
 saw-mills are running ; one cotton-gin is erected, and the town 
 is surrounded by banana, plantain, cane, cotton and India 
 rubber j)lantations. An American company proposes to es- 
 
REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 141 
 
 tablish a central factory for the manufacture of sugar, having 
 obtained liberal concessions from the goveriiraeut. 
 
 Apart from the Americans and Europeans established here, 
 miners and prospectors are passing through continually, on 
 account of the proximity of the gold fields of the valley of 
 Quimistan ; thus the traveler is agreeably surprised to hear 
 everywhere the English language spoken. 
 
 The old town of San Pedro was founded in the year 1536 by 
 the famous conqueror, Pedro de Alvarado, about two miles 
 to the west of the present villa. It was destroyed in the sev- 
 enteenth century by buccaneers, when the few remaining in- 
 liabitants commenced to build on the site where the villa now 
 stands. The opening up of the country by the railway drew 
 a number of foreigners to the town, and since that time it has 
 been- steadily growing. 
 
 The temperature throughout the valley rises from 62° Fah- 
 renheit in November, December and January, to 95° Fahren- 
 heit in the shade in April and May, these two last being the 
 hottest months in the year. However, even in these months 
 the thermometer rises very seldom above 92° Fahrenheit. The 
 nights are always cool and pleasant, which is caused by the 
 vicinity of the forest-clad mountains, the altitude of the town 
 above the level of the sea being about 900 feet. 
 
 At the time of the conquest by the Spaniards the whole 
 valley of Sula and surrounding country was thickly inhabited 
 by Indians. Everywhere through the forest and on the banks 
 of the rivers are found relics of that unfortunate race, which 
 in such an incredibly short space of time was exterminated by 
 the ruthless conquerors. The Indians were taken b;y thou- 
 sands, branded like cattle and divided among the Spaniards, 
 who treated them with the utmost cruelty. Believing the 
 supply to be inexhaustible, they forced them to toil beyond 
 their strength at the plantations and mines, where death from 
 privation and overwork soon relieved them of their suffering. 
 
 Of the amount of labor then at the disposal of the Spaniards 
 one may judge by reading, in Jose Milla's History of Central 
 America, that Pedro de Alvarado, when he landed at Puerto 
 Oaballos (now Puerto Cortez), in the year 1539, on his return 
 
142 REPUBLIC OP HONDURAS. 
 
 from Spain, to assume again the government of Guatemala, 
 conquered by him a few years before, bad a road made from 
 Puerto Oaballos to San Pedro. This highway was wide 
 enough to permit two trains of loaded mules, if meeting, to 
 pass each other. It was completed in the short space of ten 
 days, so that he, his wife, Dona Beatriz, and her maids oi 
 honor, as well as his numerous followers, with their cumber- 
 some luggage, armaments, etc., could pass with ease and 
 comfort. 
 
 As the only railroad in the country runs through this valley 
 a brief description of the enterprise might be interesting to 
 the American public. Its history may be briefly summed up 
 as follows: 
 
 The government of Honduras, naturally emulous of the 
 prosperity and the material progress witnessed in the sister 
 republics of Central America, determined to construct a rail- 
 road from ocean to ocean, across the territory of the re})ublic, 
 a distance, in round numbers, of 244 miles. Certain English 
 speculators offered to undertake the enterprise. The govern- 
 ment granted them a most favorable franchise for the con- 
 struction of a narrow-gauge road from Puerto Cortez, on the 
 Caribbean sea, to Amapala, on the Pacific ocean. This con- 
 cession virtually put the vast and valuable forest resources of 
 the re])ublic in the hands of the con)pany. In fact, what with 
 wood-cutting and mining privileges, and the grant of ten 
 square miles of land for each mile of road constructed, the 
 franchise gave the constructors so much valuable j'roperty 
 that they would have been able to build the road, equip and 
 run it for twenty j^ears without a cent of income upon the 
 mere sale or development of the lauds — the forest resources 
 and the mining property carried in the grant. 
 
 But in its haste to see the good work accomplished and 
 likewise in consequence, perhaps, of a want of experience in 
 such matters on the part of the Houduranean officials, the 
 government granted the company the privilege of issuing 
 bonds, on the completion of a certain number of miles of road 
 and the acceptance of the same by the goverr.ment engineers. 
 Unfortunately no stipulation was made as to the amount of 
 
REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 143 
 
 bonds to be issued. The government depended upon the good 
 faithj of the constructors, and the latter relied upon this 
 generous confidence as a means to feather their nests most 
 effectually. 
 
 Under these happy auspices the British company set earn- 
 estly to work to carry out their designs. Some hundreds of 
 tons of light iron rails and other construction materials were 
 dispatched to Puerto Cortez; an imposing wharf was con- 
 structed at the latter place, and the breaking of ground and 
 the laying of the first few sleepers was the signal for a grand 
 barbecue that lasted several days, and which resulted in the 
 permanent occupation of the country by several enthusiastic 
 young English engineers, who never recovered from the effects 
 of that fatal carouse. 
 
 The route located by the company i)resented no engineering 
 ])roblems, from the coast to the further end of the great plain 
 of San Pedro Sula. This latter point was some miles within 
 the stipulated distance to be finished before the company 
 could issue its bonds. But the English speculators were 
 equal to the emergency. By their orders the locating engi- 
 neers so twisted and turned the route that the required num- 
 ber of miles were made up within the desired terminal point, 
 and the company at once proceeded to issue its first bonds. 
 
 But these first bonds proved to be the last also, for they 
 were issued so thick and so fast that some $30,000,000 worth 
 were placed before the company wearied of issuing. It is true 
 that when the issue reached high up among the millions, the 
 bonds were sold at a very low figure, but as long as they sold 
 at all the company flooded the market with them and — then 
 desisted from further efforts, including all work on the unfor- 
 tunate road as well. 
 
 As but sixty milcB of track were laid, over a route that ex- 
 tended across a long level plain, the enterprise, if the assertion 
 of the British company may be credited, cost the modest sum 
 of $500,000 per mile. 
 
 Of course, the Honduras Grovernment refused to acknowl- 
 edge such a fraudulent debt. Then the British bondholders 
 appealed to their government. The members of that govern- 
 
144 REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 
 
 ment sympathized with their unfortunate countrymen, but 
 plainly intimated to them that their enterprise being of an 
 entirely speculative nature, government would not interfere 
 in the premises, and they must settle the matter as they best 
 could. Thus, for many years, this so-called debt has hung, 
 like a dark cloud, over the Republic of Honduras, preventing 
 the influx of foreign capital and the consequent development 
 of its vast natural resources. But of late the British bond- 
 holders have shown signs of relinquishing a great portion of 
 their preposterous demands, for, two years ago, their agent 
 proposed to scale this debt of $30,000,000 to 12,500,000. 
 
 While not exactly acceding to their proposition. President 
 Bogran has not refused to entertain it. The settlement of this 
 unjust claim has long been one of his dearest hopes. It is 
 more than probable that he will enter into a favorable arrange- 
 meTit with the holders of these bonds when the opportunity 
 presents itself 
 
 During the past few years this road has been under numer- 
 ous managements. In 1881 a Mr. Hayden contracted with 
 the government to run it, but the unfortnnate gentleman, after 
 he had sunk about all he possessed, was drowned in a vessel 
 that foundered near the coast. The elder Mr. Merrilles then 
 took charge of it and retained control of the property until a 
 company, rejiresented by Messrs. Waterbury and Hance, of 
 ISTew York, obtained a concession from the Honduranean 
 Government to continue the line to the Pacific coast. As this 
 firm, never, if we may credit the assertions of the Honduranean 
 government, carried out any portion of its contract, President 
 Bogran took it out of their hands and turned it over to the 
 management of Mr. Edward Kraft, an enterprising American 
 resident of San Pedro. 
 
 This latter gentleman since he has had charge of the enter- 
 prise has laid out a large sura of money for repairs and rolling- 
 stock. The road is at length in fair working order, while Mr. 
 Kraft's management seems to give general satisfaction. 
 
 The valley of San Pedro Sula, with the adjacent high lands, 
 contain a fair representation of the flora of Honduras, which 
 also may be considered as general throughout Central A mericar; 
 
REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 145 
 
 The names of the principal forest trees and medicinal plants 
 of the Eepublic are as follows. 
 
 HA.RDWOODS. 
 
 1. Madre y Po-t^re (mother and father) — A small tree, from 
 eight to twelve inches in diameter ; principally used for fence 
 posts. It should be cut when green. When dry is is so hard 
 that no ax can make an impression on it. In wet or damp land 
 it will outlast iron. 
 
 2. Mora — ThQ fustic of commerce; is used for dyeing purposes 
 and for house and fence posts, etc. House posts that have 
 been interred not more than ten feet trom runuing^water, on 
 being taken out, after fourteen years, had not lost their bright 
 golden color. There are two kinds of mora or fustic. One is 
 all yellow ; the other has a hard, stringy heart, of dingy black 
 color. 
 
 3. Laurel — called Laurel in Spanish, and in botany Laurel 
 guindo or Laurel regio. This wood (the black laurel), like the 
 fustic or mora, will equal iron for posts in damp localities, if 
 cut at maturity and under favorable circumstances. There 
 are three kinds, black, yellow and white. The first is the only 
 kind used for out-door purposes. It will eventually become 
 a valuable export. 
 
 4. Sempisqui — A large tree, which often reaches from eighteen 
 to twenty-two feet in diameter in various localities, ft is ot 
 regular form and also of imposing appearance. The sap is 
 pale yellow, the first formation is rose-red, and the heart, or 
 hard wood, dark brown. It is very hard and fine-grained. 
 
 5. Silimere — Of medium size, and regular form. The wood 
 is hard and fine-grained, its color dark rose red and its heart 
 dark brown. It is very durable. 
 
 6. iSile — Of medium size, hard, fine-grained and durable. 
 The color of this wood is a dark rose-red. The heart is deep 
 brown. It is very hard, fine grained and heavy to handle, 
 
 7. FrijoUo (called by the Belize and Jamaica negroes Billy 
 Webb) — It is of large growth and very superior quality. The 
 color of the wood, from the bark to the heart, is light lead. 
 The heart in very old specimens is a deep dark red color ; of 
 fine grain and very heavy. 
 
146 REPUBLIC OP HONDURAS. 
 
 8. Madre Cacao — This wood is equal, if not superior, on ac- 
 count of the many uses to which it can be put, to mahogauy. 
 Its color is a bright yellow, its grain fine. It is very heavy 
 and not liable to crack or split. 
 
 9. Oak (Encima, S.) — There are four varieties to be found 
 in various localities, viz : white, red, black, and live oak — the 
 moss oak of Louisiana. 
 
 10. Pitch pine and yellow pine, with the same qualities as 
 the pure timber of the temperate zone. There arc immense 
 quantities all over the country. 
 
 11. Almendro — A heavy, solid, fine-grained wood. The 
 color of this timber is a pale yellow. 
 
 12. Cortez — A large tree, very durable. Color of all the 
 wood — a i)ale yellow. Very fine grain, 
 
 13. Balsanio — A large tree ; qualities same as the former. 
 Color of wood, yellow ; heart, red. 
 
 TIMBER USED IN HONDURAS FOR BUILDING PURPOSES. 
 
 1. Laurel — ^Yellow and white, is much used for inside work, 
 such as beams, rafters, door and window frames^ etc. It is 
 strong and durable. 
 
 2. Mahogany — Too well known all over the world to require 
 any particular notice. In Honduras it is not used for building 
 purposes with but few exceptions. 
 
 3. Cedar — Is very plentiful, and reaches a large size. 
 
 4. Manacapa — Superior to the yellow or white laurel or ma- 
 hogany for general building use, etc. 
 
 5. Calan — A heavy, fine-grained wood, which is equal to 
 mahogany in durability. Its color is yellow. 
 
 6. Yaya — Has all the appearance and qualities of lance- 
 wood, of which, probably, it is a variety. 
 
 7. Yellow Pine — Is but little utilized in Honduras, except, 
 in localities where it is abundant and other kinds of timber 
 are scarce. 
 
 8. Manteca — (Lardwood) — Used for the same purposes as 
 yellow pine. It is a heavy, close-grained wood, much stronger 
 than pine and more elastic. 
 
 9. Bloodwood — {Falosangre) — This is believed to be the ze- 
 brawood of Europe, as known in commerce. Is seldom usedi 
 
REPUBLIC OP HONDUllAS. 141 
 
 10. Jabon — Is not so durable as the before-mentioned bard 
 woods, but still is quite lasting. What it lacks in durable 
 qualities it makes up in color, being of a very rich, bright- 
 orange tint, and is heavy and close-grained. 
 
 11. Maquelize — This wood is like mountain ash and is used 
 for like purposes. It can be readily bent, when green, into 
 any desired form. 
 
 12. Giruelia — A species of wild plum tree, very much like 
 the zebrawood. It is occasionally used to make furniture. 
 
 13. Rosewood — Is found in various localities, but the quality 
 is said to be somewhat inferior of that of Santo Domingo. 
 
 There are many other varieties of durable woods, suitable 
 for building and other purposes. 
 
 MEDICINAL TREES AND PLANTS. 
 
 1. Jiole — A large tree of very pretty appearance, growing to 
 the height of seventy and eighty feet. ' It possesses medicinal 
 qualities. The bark and leaves are used as a beverage, like 
 tea or coffee. It is pleasant, agreeable and slightly aromatic. 
 The fresh juice is used to close and cure wounds; as a poultice 
 to the feet, in fever and*ague, or fever; to ease the head; in 
 cases of sick headache the leaves are placed on the temples. 
 The bark and leaves are used in water for sickly, weak per- 
 sons to bathe in. 
 
 2. Bamon — A medium sized tree of common appearance. 
 The sap of this tree is used as a remedy for bites of venomous 
 insects. 
 
 3. Mato Palo — A very curious tree ; the juice taken fresh 
 from the bark, spread over a piece of strong calico or thin 
 leather, is applied to reducing inflammation, swellings and 
 what is also commonly called windy swellings. It is good for 
 man and beast, and is celebrated all over the country. 
 
 4. Sansapote or Oraca — The kernel of the fruit is used as a 
 remedy in summer for bowel complaint and dysentery. 
 
 5. Chicalaca — This is a tree of medium height. The flowers 
 are used in combination with elder flowers (called flores de 
 sauco) in fever and ague and for fevers generally. 
 
 6. Chichapate — The bark of this tree is used in the above 
 mentioned disease. 
 
148 KEPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 
 
 7. Carlos Santo — A small plaut ; the seed and root are used 
 as a remedy in dropsy. 
 
 8. Orosul — An herb; all tlie herb is used in combination 
 with senna as a cathartic for colds and catarrh. 
 
 9. Chillitidron — This is a tree of medium size; the seed is used 
 to care toothache by being put in the cavity of the tooth. 
 
 9. Guaco—A vine used as antidote for the poison of snake 
 bites. 
 
 10. Contra Yerha—A small herb used in a great many sick- 
 nesses, viz : Fever and ague, fever, snake bites, stings of in- 
 sects, etc.; and also as a tisane in fevers. 
 
 11. Escorchinera — An herb used as a remedy for sick head- 
 ache, inflammation in the throat, and to bring on the catame- 
 nial periods. 
 
 12. Nawapate — A plant used as a remedy for boils, ulcers, 
 etc. It is taken in decoction and applied as a powder and 
 poultice, and also as injections for pains of the bowels. 
 
 13. Ariana — An herb used as a remedy for dysentery, etc. 
 
 14. Candala — An herb used as a poultice for boils, etc. 
 
 15. Ojo Fuerco — A plant used as a remedy for snake poison. 
 
 16. Yerba el Toro— ^Used in painful inflammations, etc. 
 
 17. Siwapate — A tree ; the bark is used as a tisane in flatu- 
 lent colic, etc. 
 
 18. Ojo Sierra — An herb ; used as a tisane to cool and purify 
 the blood. 
 
 19. Suntul — Herb ; used as a tisane in colds, catarrh, coughs. 
 
 20. Vivoran — Herb; used as a powerful vomit, taken to 
 break up colds, catarrh, etc. In some districts it is known by 
 the name of " leaf of the wind," and " leaf of the air." 
 
 21. Malva — Herb; used for injections, fomentations and 
 poultices. 
 
 22. EsGohilla Amarga — Herb ; used as malva, etc. 
 
 23. Frijolio — Herb; used with malva sylvestre and malva 
 castilla, in the same diseases as the two former, and often as 
 a beverage. 
 
 24. Cinco Negritos — A medium sized tree ; the bark used as 
 tisane in fever and ague. It is a powerful sudorific. 
 
 25. Falo Quesillo — A plaut ; used as a remedy for private 
 diseases. ♦ 
 
RKPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 14(V 
 
 26. Pericon — A medium sized tree ; the juice of the leaves 
 is used to relieve afterpains in child-bearing and tor wind 
 colic, coughs, etc. 
 
 27. Bitimo — A small plant; the leaves are utilized as a 
 tisane to atop bleeding from the lungs and anus. It grows in 
 abundance. 
 
 .28. Sueldo con Sueldo — An herb ; the leaves are bruised and 
 applied as a poultice in sprains, dislocations, etc. 
 
 29. Limoncilla — A plant or shrub; the bark is used as a 
 tisane, or a vomit, but it is very powerful, and for this reason 
 is seldom used. 
 
 30. Chuchilo — A tree of more than medium size ; the bark 
 is made into a tisane. As a cathartic, its effects are powerful. 
 
 31. — Ouacuco — A tree; the fruit is used as a tisane in the 
 localities where it is found. 
 
 32. Orejuela — A large tree ; the shell which covers the seed 
 is the part used. An ointment is made of it to close the soft 
 part of the heads of infants. It is applied to the child from 
 the age of six weeks to two months. 
 
 33. Michoacan — An herb; the bulbous root is the part used, 
 and is taken as a cathartic, like the Carlos Santos. 
 
 34. Bedoma (commonly called Esponga) — The fruit of a vine 
 which contains a round, soft, fibrous matter or substance, 
 from which it takes the name of sponge. It is used as a quick, 
 easy vomit. 
 
 34. Chiamora—A vine ; its seed is used as a strong cathar- 
 tic; is given to infants particularly to chew on, for the pur- 
 pose of cleansing and strengthening their stomachs, cart- 
 being taken that they do not chew too mucb. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Ilondurauean Agiicultural System— Primitive Method yet in Voyue — 
 Spontaneous Frnit trees — Sugar Cane, Cotton, Coifee, Tobacco and 
 other Tropical and Semi-Tropical Products — The Cereals of the Tem- 
 perate Belt — Tropic Fruit Trade, Wood Cutting, aud Mining Enter- 
 prises the Principal Business of the Past. 
 The system of agriculture followed by the inhabitants of this 
 country is as primitive as that employed by the grandsons of 
 Noah, while it may not fairly be considered as effective. The 
 ignorant husbandman clears a small space on the most con- 
 venient mountain side, opens the soil, at intervals, with an iron- 
 shod stick, drops a few kernals of corn in each hole, which he 
 covers by drawing the soil over it with his bare foot. Such 
 fields constitute the celebrated milpas or maize patches, which 
 supply the greater part of the people with corn from which 
 they manufacture their indigestible tortillas or so called corn 
 bread. 
 
 The plains although the most fertile and productive localities, 
 are seldom cultivated. When they are, the ground is merely 
 scratched by a steel- pointed stick, called by habit a plow. Yet 
 fields thus prepared produce bountiful crops of wheal, rye and 
 barley. There is a vast quantity of land, in the higher valleys, 
 that are hidden amid the tall mountains which corrugate the 
 suiface of the country, where cereals of all kinds may be pro- 
 duced in the utmost profusion. When the country is occupied 
 by immigrants, and the application of modren agricultural im- 
 plements is made, these little valleys will become blooming and 
 productive farm lands, competent to furnish a large popula- 
 tion with breadstufis. 
 
 The peculiar toijographical formation of the country renders 
 its climate extremely diversified. While the people of the 
 mountains, in the morning, crouch over their fires, or smother 
 themselves under several blankets, their brethern in the valleys 
 distant but a few thousand feet from (below) them, are swel- 
 tering under the fierce rays of the tropic sun that beats down 
 upon them from the brazen cloudless sky above. 
 
REPUBLIC OF HONDUEAS. 151 
 
 By cousequence of these singular local extremes of heat and 
 cold the flora of the republic is remarkably varied and exten- 
 sive. Every plant, tree and shrub that flourishes in any part 
 of this hemisphere can be produced within the fertile limits of 
 Honduras. The sturdy dwarfed pine that braves the cokl 
 blasts of the winds that come rushing down from the moun- 
 tain tops may, while casting its long shadow down the hillside 
 at evening, darken the spot where the tender fern or the sen- 
 sitive shrub of the semi-tropicl vegetates. Thus there is no 
 limit to the nature of the production of this fertile soil, while 
 many landholders embrace within a single tract of their terri- 
 tory the cold, the temperate, the semi-tropic and the tropic 
 climates. 
 
 Honduras produces all the spontaneous alimentary food 
 found within the limits of the tropics, beside some species pe- 
 culiar to Central America alone. The cherrimoya assumes a 
 size and possesses a flavor equal to the Mexican species. The 
 aguacate is large, mellow and well-flavored. Orange trees de- 
 velop into large proportions, while their uncared for and un- 
 pruned branches bend under the weight of a profusion of 
 golden fruit. 
 
 The hill and mountain sides are covered with rare plants 
 and shrubs, which bear luscious and to us literally unknown 
 fruits. Even the forests yield their tribute, while a huge 
 specimen of tbe banyan, or wild fig, bears a succulent bulb, 
 which is greedily devoured by cattle, horses and mules. 
 
 Coffee flourishes in various localities. The departments of 
 Santa Barbara and Oopan are noted for their tobacco and 
 coffee farms. l!*5"umerous profitable j)lantations exist in the 
 vicinity of Chinda and Santa Barbara, which now, in conse- 
 quence of the prompt opening of the river Ulua by the Shears 
 enterprise, may export their crops to the outer world. The 
 coffee of Honduras is large and is exceedingly well flavored, 
 while by consequence ot the cheap tariff of wages for the agri- 
 cultural labor that can be obtained in the locality, it is pro- 
 duced at a much less cost than is the general rule in Central 
 America. 
 
 The cotton i)lant grows to perfection in the numerous tropi- 
 cal and semi-tropical plains that dot the country. Its fibre 
 
153 REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 
 
 seems as large aud as fine as the bes|; Louisiana staple. Some 
 months ago, Mr. W. A*. Coleman, a planter of San Pedro, sent 
 some fine specimens of cotton-bolls to the Times-Democrat 
 office. A letter which accompanied the samples, and which 
 fully described the wonderful productiveness of the plant, was 
 published in the columns of that journal. 
 
 It will not be long before the cotton fields of Honduras 
 (which may be made to produce at least 1200 pounds of gin- 
 ned cotton per acre) will enter into competition with the 
 Egyptian cotton lands in the marts of Europe. Labor is so 
 cheap that it can be produced and picked at a minimum cost; 
 thus the price of its cultivation will not ascend to more than 
 one-third the cost that obtains in our Southern States. 
 
 Sugar cane attains a size and yield scarcely to be imagined 
 by the Louisiana planter. The crop is perennial. There are 
 numerous fields on the coast that have not been cultivated or 
 replanted for twenty-five years, yet their minimum yield is 
 stated to be about 2500 pounds per acre. Where care is taken 
 in the cultivation of the crop, the yield will reach 3500 pounds 
 per acre of ratoon or old cane. There are various localities 
 in this highly favored country where the cultivation of sugar 
 cane might become a flourishing industry. 
 
 A great many farmers of the country have begun to culti 
 vate Guinia grass. The foot-hills of the tropics and semi- 
 tropics are chosen as the localities most favorable for the 
 production of the grass. Its cultivation bids fair to become 
 a most valuable branch of agriculture, for it is stated that 
 beef fed on it possesses a superior flavor to any other. The 
 seed was originally imported from Jamaica, but the plant 
 thrives better in Honduras than in the West Indies. 
 
 Every class of vegetables found in the markets of the 
 United States can be produced in Honduras. Onions, cab- 
 bages, carrots, beets, turnips, etc., when cultivated grow to a 
 prodigious size, while pumpkins, squashes, melons of all kinds, 
 cucumbers, etc., yield fabulous returns to the patient hus- 
 bandman. Potatoes of the finest quality thrive in the valleys 
 of the temperate belt, while the gardens adjacent to the city 
 of Tegucigalpa supply the local markets with a superior speci- 
 men of this valuable table esculent. 
 
REPUBLTC OF UONBUKAS. 153 
 
 When the railroad penetrates the Tegucigalpa valley and 
 connects the interior with the coast, a. thriving traffic in vege- 
 tables will be carried on with the people of the tropical dis- 
 tricts of the republic, while the same fertile lands will furnish 
 the tropic marts with apples, peaches, plums, pears, cherries, 
 currants and all the varied fruits and vegetables of the colder 
 zones. 
 
 Tobacco is cultivated in many parts of the republic, but 
 that of Oopan enjoys a just pre-eminence over all others for 
 flavor. While it cannot be said to equal the Mexican leaf, or 
 possess its exquisite aroma, the Honduras tobacco will com- 
 pare very favorably with the average plant produced through- 
 out Latin-America. 
 
 The government possesses a monopoly of the tobacco trade. 
 It buys the leaf and sells it at retail. Fo one can sell cigars 
 without a license, or manufacture them without permission. 
 At the same time the export of both the manufactured article 
 and the leaf is free, and tons of both are sent to Guatemala 
 and Salvador annually. The government also enjoys a mono • 
 poly of the liquor trade, thus no small portion of its revenue 
 is derived from these sources. 
 
 The forests of the tropics abound with hule or rubber trees; 
 or rather not long since did; for their number, by consequence 
 of the vandalic system employed by the Indians in extracting 
 the precious gum, is gradually decreasing. Some years ago 
 Mr. Edward Kraft, together with several other enterprising^ 
 foreign residents of the valley of San Pedro, inaugurated the 
 rubber planting industry. Mr. Kraft possesses several thou- 
 sand trees, from one to six years old ; Mr. Jose Soube, 4000 ; 
 the Coleman brothers an equal number, perhaps, while nu- 
 merous natives have planted many thousands more. 
 
 The rubber tree should not be tapped until it has attained 
 the age of ten years, when it will yield annually twenty-five 
 pounds of excellent caoutchouc. A tree will readily net its 
 possessor $6 a year ; thus Mr. Kraft's trees will return him a 
 large income in the course of a few years. An acre of ground 
 produces 160 trees ; thus 100 manzanas or 200 English acres 
 will yield 32,000 trees. 
 
154 rb:^ublic of Honduras. 
 
 This industry is destined to assume great proportions in the 
 course of the uext two decades. Meanwhile the spontaneous 
 production of the rubber tree is still going on. It will be 
 many years before this natural supply will be exhausted. It 
 is safe to assume then, that the rubber industry of Honduras 
 will form an important factor in the future traffic of the re- 
 public. 
 
 Bananas of various kinds, together with several species of 
 the plantain thrive luxuriantly on the tropic plains of San 
 Pedro and La Paz, and also along the extended northern coast. 
 The cultivation of these valuable fruits for exportation has 
 long been a chief desideratum with the present truly liberal 
 government, which, on its part, has made every endeavor to 
 foster and encourage this nascent industry. 
 
 Hitherto, the energies of .the people have been principally 
 directed to the wood cutting and raining industries. But the 
 establishment of the Oteri and Macheca lines of steamers, and 
 the marvelous development of the tropic fruit traffic in this 
 country, have brought about a corresponding development of 
 the fruit planting industry along the Caribbean coast. At 
 Puerto Oortez a fair amount of capital is invested in this in- 
 terest, and flourishing plantations are established at the La- 
 goona, Cieneguita, and other points along this pretty bay, 
 while around the point, in the neighborhood of Omoa, banana 
 and plantain raising has become the principal industry of the 
 inhabitants. 
 
 Within the past six years several foreign and native resi- 
 dents of the Sula valley at or near San Pedro, have established 
 extensive fruit plantations. The miserable condition of the 
 railroad has prevented the planters from freighting their fruit 
 to the coast. The Macheca Bros, and Oteri, have often lost 
 money by accidents on the road. Several instances have oc- 
 curred where cars laden with bananas have jumped the track 5 
 before they could be replaced the fruit was spoiled. As the 
 planters were aware of the uncertainty attending transporta- 
 tion over this route they refused to furnish fruit unless they 
 were paid for it before the cars left San Pedro station. The 
 loss consequently always fell upon the shippers, who, after 
 
REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 155 
 
 haviug beon bitten several times refused to run any further 
 risks. For, quite a period, then, the San Pedro fruit planting 
 industry languished. Thousands of marketable bunches of 
 bananas rotted monthl j^ on the trees, while the farmers not only 
 took no further steps to increase their acreage of cultivation, 
 but CA'^en neglected the land already planted. 
 
 But the new management of the railroad, under Mr. Kraft's 
 supervision, has repaired the track and rendered passenger 
 and freight traffic tolerably certain The planters have re- 
 covered their courage, have again begun to bestow more atten- 
 tion upon their almost deserted plantations, and once more 
 trains loaded with bananas, for shipment may be seen leaving 
 the San Pedro depot. 
 
 There are numerous steamers and a number oi schooners en- 
 gaged in freighting fruit from Central America to the Crescent 
 City. Yet six years ago three or four small schooners sufficed to 
 carry on this traffic. But the business spirit of the elder (S). 
 Oteri, and the enterprise of the Macheca Bros, and C. A. Fish 
 & Co., has developed the tropic fruit traffic into vast propor- 
 tions. The business manager of the Macheca's on the Carib- 
 bean coast, Capt. James Leitch, has, if he was not chiefly in- 
 strumental — greatly influenced the development of the fruit 
 iflanting interest along the Caribbean coast from Belize south- 
 ward and eastward as far as Tela. He encouraged the natives 
 to plant and in many instances assisted them with means. 
 While at times the simple people have treated him with abso- 
 lute injustice, have deliberately broken their contracts, and 
 have given fruit, which he had bought, and which certainly 
 belonged to him, to occasional IsTew York or Philadelphia 
 steamers, they cannot cite a single instance where he has dealt 
 unjustly with them. But by fair dealing and strict adherence 
 to his contracts, Capt. Leitch has won the confidence of this 
 people and is deservedly popular with them. 
 
 It is fortunate, however, that the Honduras coast is so exten- 
 sive and that so mich unoccupied land may be utilized, for 
 banana planting- This crop is even more deleterious to the soil 
 than tobacco. In five years a plantation is worn out, and the 
 planter must prepare new land for further crops, while the 
 
156 REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 
 
 wasted soil, on tlie lately occupied place needs years of rest 
 before it can thoroughly recuperate. 
 
 President Bogran has declared his intention of creating 
 Puerto Cortez, Omoa, and the territory contiguous to them a 
 free zone. If this plan is carried out a most favorable impetus 
 will be given to the fruit planting interests. The results of 
 such experiments have proven so favorable at Port Livingston, 
 Guatemala, that the present government of Honduras, will, 
 when some arrangement can be made toward carrying out the 
 inter-oceanic railroad enterprise certainly favor Gen. Bogran's 
 project. 
 
CHAPTEK Vll. 
 
 The Wood Cutting Industry — Its Importauce — Description of Mahogany 
 Cutting Methods — The Honduras and Grand Rapids Timber Com- 
 pany — Origin of ibs Establishment — Its Admirable Success — Stock 
 Raising — Tobacco Planting — Manufacture of Rum, Hats and Other 
 Articles— Cities and Towns. 
 
 Ever since the first ai^pearance of the buccaneers on the 
 Caribbean coast, furniture wood cutting has been one of the 
 principal industries of the native and foreign residents. It 
 was this tra£Bc that brought about the first settlement of 
 British Honduras, which ultimately culminated in the conquest 
 and permanent occupation of that province by our trans- 
 atlantic cousins. The principal furniture woods are mahogany, 
 cedar, ebony, rosewood, and amarillo. There are numerous 
 other kinds of Central American hard timber, as yet unknown 
 to foreign commerce, but which are destined to become, before 
 long, both known and appreciated. The dye woods — fustic, 
 brazil, logwood and bragillito — are valuable objects of com- 
 merce. 
 
 Camps are formed for mahogany logging at the beginning 
 of the dry season. Experienced men select the proper trees, 
 which are felled, hewed into shai)e and the floatable logs are 
 cast into the rivers and streams to be carried to the sea. The 
 dye woods will not float, and are consequently transported in 
 crates. The methods employed in getting out timber could be 
 improved upon, but are at the same time very good, labor 
 being abundant and cheap, and the appliances simple. On 
 account of the hard work required in cutting mahogany trees 
 close to the ground, the natives direct their axes to a point 
 from six to eight feet above it, leaving an average of probably 
 from 300 to 500 feet of the best part of the tree, so far as beauty 
 of grain is concerned, on each stump, besides the roots which 
 are gnarled and twisted, and bear the same proportionate ad- 
 ditional value to the body of the tree that a walnut root does, 
 being admirable for veneers. The bottom of the tree is wide 
 
158 REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 
 
 and spreads out. Two thotisand feet is a modest estimate oi 
 the amount secured from au average trunk, Irrespective of the 
 waste. A tree lately cut in Honduras made three log\s which 
 were sold in Europe and brought over $11,000. The ma- 
 hogany tree ranges from one to seven feet in diameter, is often 
 sixty feet to the first branches, and frequently exceeds ninety 
 feet in height, the cedar averages about the same in diam- 
 eter. The Honduras mahogany comes to market in logs from 
 two to four feet square, and twelve to fourteen feet long, 
 planks sometimes being obtained that are seven feet wide. Its 
 grain is very open, and often irregular, with black or grey 
 specks. The veins and figures are often very distinct and 
 handsome, that which is of golden color and free from specks 
 being considered the best. It is said to hold glue better than 
 any other wood. The weight of a cubic foot of mahogany 
 varies from thirty-five to fifty- three pounds. As compared 
 with oak, which is called 100 per cent, the strength of ma- 
 hogany is be tween sixty-seven and ninety-six, its stiiiness is 
 from seventy-three to ninety-three, and its toughness from 
 sixty-one to ninety-nine per cent. The d^^e woods are generally 
 small, and are cut into small pieces. 
 
 The government engineer of Honduras estimates the total 
 value of the trees, such as are regarded fit to l.e cut, at $200,- 
 000,000 while the smaller trees not ready to cut are also worth 
 a large amount. 
 
 Europe possesses few furniture woods, and has held the im- 
 ports from Honduras and other countries in high esteem. This 
 appreciation, born of the necessities of the case, has resulted in 
 securing better prices for mahogany and other valuable woods 
 in the European markets than can be obtained in the ports of 
 the United States. However, these conditions are likely to 
 change, and a more direct business will grow up with the com- 
 mercial centres of the United States. The railroads are begin- 
 ning to be interested, and are making overtures favoring 
 international traffic, and it is expected it will not be long be- 
 fore Honduras woods will be shipped in large volume to New 
 Orleans, and thence to Chicago, thus reaching a main western 
 distributing point direct, instead of drifting in a circumnavi- 
 
EEPUBLIG OF HONDURAS. 159 
 
 gable manner to New York city, and thence westward, as 
 heretofore. . 
 
 Eegarding means of transportation, there are several lines 
 of steamei-s running between Honduras and IsTew Orleans. The 
 cost of freighting mahogauj-, for instance, from Honduras to 
 jS"ew Orleans is more than to London, England. The average 
 cost to the latter port from $5 75 to $10 per ton, while to New 
 Orleans it is about $12. These are given as bottom figures. 
 The schooners being small craft, find it more profitable to carry 
 fruits and other lighter cargo than to load with heavy timber. 
 On account of the scarcity of many of the hard woods of the 
 United States, consumers are forced to seek foreign supplies. 
 Hitherto, or until within a recent period, this country has not 
 been impressed with the necessity of going heavily into the 
 importation of fancy woods, consequently the traffic has been 
 comparatively'' moderate. Moreover, a large home investment 
 of capital has been called for m developing the internal traffic 
 of our own country, and with vast resources of her own, the 
 United States has not until lately been required to go abroad 
 to seek a market for her surplus manufacture. 
 
 But within the past five years our home industries have be- 
 gun to produce more than a sufficiency to furnish our domes- 
 tic/^ supply, thus, the Qianufacturers have been compelled to 
 seek foreign markets for their surplus wares. Central Amer- 
 ica has hitherto exchanged the products of her vast and val- 
 uable forests for European manufactures. If our merchants 
 are only true to their interests and display the same untiring 
 energy towards building up our foreign commerce as they 
 have evinced in developing our domestic traffic, this desidera- 
 tum can readily be accomplished. 
 
 To prove this assertion, the following instance might be 
 cited: When ex-President Soto was in Chicago, somewhat 
 more than a year ago, he informed the author that he was de- 
 sirous of establishing closer trade relations between the Great 
 Republic and his own beautiful inter-tropical country. He 
 mentioned the Hondurauean wood-cutting interest and ex- 
 pressed a hope that American capitalists would find it to their 
 advantage to invest in it. This coaversation culminated in 
 
160 REPUBLIC OP HONDURAS. 
 
 the purchase by the author of a valuable wood-cuttiug frau- 
 chise iu the name of the firm of Robinson & Lacey, of Grand 
 Rapids, Mich. These gentlemen formed a company in their 
 native city which immediately proceeded to carry out the con- 
 ditions of the grant, one of which was the absolute possession, 
 with the right to export free of duty or any charge whatever, 
 10,000 first-class mahogany trees, together with the privilege 
 of cuttiug cedar trees at a minimum rate for stumpage. The 
 syndicate, under the able management of Mr. Jas. D, Lacey, 
 has already accomplished vast results, and has nearly, if not 
 quite, 1,500,000 feet of first-class mahogany timber ready for 
 transportation to our markets. 
 
 Stock raising may fairly be estimated as the next important 
 Honduranean industry. In fact, if proper steps were taken 
 towards its development it would most probably become in a 
 few years the most important. On the Pacific^ coast, where 
 the I'ainy season seems neither as prolonged nor as consistent 
 as on the Atlantic slope, stock raising is less profitable, for it 
 is attended with more risks. There are few perennial streams 
 in that locality, and during the dry season the parched arid 
 plains yield but scanty provision for the starving herds. 
 Often hundreds of cattle die before the rain sets iu, while 
 numerous cases occur where they become so debilitated that 
 they cannot endure the scouring effect produced by the new 
 grass, and die in the most intense agony. If on the vast 
 plains that lie between the Naocame, the Guaarcarin and the 
 Oholuteca rivers the grass is rich and plentiful and the cattle 
 are sleek and plump in the rainy months, the barrenness of 
 the same localities during the dry months, unless irrigation is 
 employed, will forever preclude the probability of this region, 
 becoming a great cattle producing centre. 
 
 On the Caribbean — or Atlantic — slope the situation is 
 vastly different. The country, while corrugated by mountain 
 ranges, spurs and foothills, is reticulated by numerous per- 
 ennial streams. Between these watercourses the land is gen- 
 erally level and liable to overflow in many localities. It is 
 true that the water quickly subsides, probably in a few hours ; 
 yet the soil has been sufficiently irrigated to revivify the. 
 
REPUBLIC OF HONDUHAS. 161 
 
 grass, the shrubs and the other herbage that cattle depend 
 upon for their subsistence. 
 
 At Sehuatepeque, for instance, the wet season lasts from 
 eight to nine months. During the height of said season it 
 rains almost constantly ; thus the high table lands, the moun- 
 tain slopes and the foothill sides of this locality always fur- 
 nish sufficient herbage not only to sustain the cattle, but to 
 keep them in good condition for the market. On the wide 
 plains of Olanoho, and beyond to the eastward in the Depart- 
 ment of Mosquitia, cattle raising may safely be considered the 
 prime industry. Vessels loaded with fat steers are constantly 
 sailing from Trujillo to Cuban ports, while the Departments 
 of Santa Barbara and Comayagua supply both the Belize and 
 Havana markets with well conditioned beeves. 
 
 While even the most enthusiastic admirer of Honduras 
 cattle would not affirm that this stock equals the improved 
 breeds that roam the vast plains of Texas and California, yet 
 the Honduranean beev^es compare favorably with the so-called 
 Spanish cattle of Florida and Northern Mexico. 
 
 President Bogran has taken steps to procure some blooded 
 stock for his own ranche. Capt. Aruoux, Mr. Zuniga, Mr. 
 Zelaya, Mr. Alonzo Yalenzuela, and several of the ranchmen 
 of the Northern coast, either have, or purpose, to follow his 
 example ; thus in a few ^ears the present breed will be vastly 
 improved. 
 
 But little can be said in favor of Honduranean horses and 
 mules. They are as a general case small, but at the same 
 time are exceedingly wirey. The freight transportation of the 
 country is carried on, almost in its entirety, by pack trains of 
 mules and donkeys ^burros). This transportation system is 
 extremely expensive, but is the only one that can obtain until 
 railroads become more general and cart roads are opened in 
 the most important localities. 
 
 Vast herds of goats and sheep abound in the semi-temperate 
 and cool regions. In all seasons of the year these hardy 
 animals find ample subsistence where larger cattle would die 
 of starvation. Wool producing has not yet arrived at the 
 degree of an important industry, although it well might, if 
 
1()3 REPUBLIC OP HONDURAS. 
 
 i 
 
 Steps were taken to promote its develonmeiit. Both sheep and 
 goats are raised principally for their meat. In many cases 
 their hides are not even preserved. 
 
 While tobacco planting is a flourishing industry in the de- 
 partment of Copau, the i^lant is generally cultivated through- 
 out the entire country. The leaf, for lack of proper curing, 
 is not equal to the prime Mexican staple, but is, nevertheless, 
 of a very fine grade. Thus the manufacture of cigars and 
 cigarettes is carried on in every town, village and hamlet. It 
 must be admitted that the common Honduranean cigar is not 
 a first-class article, yet it is very cheap. Good ordinary cigars, 
 equal to those exposed for sale in this country for five dollars 
 per hundred, are bought at retail for seventy-five cents per 
 hundred ; cigarettes are correspondingly cheap. 
 
 The government monopolizes the sale of tobacco, that is to 
 say, all tobacco in the leaf; cigars and cigarettes sold within 
 the limits of the republic are retailed by persons duly author- 
 ized by Government, and who buy from the national depos- 
 its the leaf for cash. The dealers are not allowed to charge 
 more than five per cent over the government price. This 
 monopoly yields quite a revenue to the national treasury. 
 
 The manufacture and sale of runi is also a government 
 monopoly. This liquor is extracted from molasses and is called 
 ron de cana and also aguadiente. In some localities a species 
 of rutn is extracted from the mescal, a [<iant of the aloe family. 
 This liquor is much superior to cane rum, and justly merits 
 the appellation of mescal brandy. Eum, of a fair quality, but 
 of singular flavor, is extracted from the banana. Several 
 parties along the coast have lately inaugurated this business, 
 which, in time, promises to assume verv fair proportions. 
 
 There are other minor classes of native industries which,- 
 while they may exert some local influence, are but little known 
 or appreciated beyond the limits where they are practiced. 
 Thus certain towns are famous for the palm leaf hats made 
 by their inhabitants; others for the manufacture of pottery 
 and earthenware; others for preserves and prepared fruits, 
 and others yet, for thB various kinds of mats exposed for sale 
 in front of the houses, etc., etc. 
 
REPUBLIC OK ilONDUllAS. H).') 
 
 As stated in another chapter, the interior lands situated at 
 a high altitude above the sea are admirably adapted to the 
 cultivation of wheat and other cereals. In these fortunate 
 regions the intense heat of the tropical sun is partially lost 
 in the extremely rarified atmosphere and is also tempered by 
 the cold winds that blow from the adjacent bleak mountain 
 tops. At night, the dense clouds which during the day cling- 
 pertinaciously to the tall summits of the mountains, descend 
 to the low lands, and — during the dry months — shed a copious 
 fall of dew over the plains and valleys. Thus, where in the 
 hot regions near the coast the vegetation assumes a dry and 
 parched appearance, in the higher altitudes, it is invariably 
 fresh and green, and the crops produced in the latter localities 
 are remarkably plenteous. 
 
 The unexperienced traveler often notices with astonishment 
 that while in one locality the people enjoy a plentiful supply 
 of Indian corn — which is the staple food of the masses — at 
 another point, situated perhaps but sixty or seventy miles 
 distant, they actually suffer from a lack of this, to them, in- 
 dispeusible cereal The cause for this anomalous situation is 
 easily explained. The districts where famines temporarily 
 prevail have expe'ienced a drouth during the rainy season. 
 The parched soil las refused to return its usual prolific yield 
 of the cereal, and, as the mountain bridle paths are almost im- 
 passible during ctrtain seasons of the year, and as transpor- 
 tation is always extremely costly, the price of corn by the time 
 it reaches the disti'ict where a scarcity prevails, is so exorbi- 
 tant that the poorer classes in many cases are totally unable to 
 pay for it. An example to prove this assertion may be cited. 
 
 In the years 188L and 1882, the districts on the Pacific slope, 
 between the capital city, Tegucigalpa and the coast, experi- 
 enced an unusual and prolonged drouth. The corn crops ut- 
 terly failed twice n succession, and the starving people were 
 compelled to substitute the seed of the broom corn for the ac- 
 customed cereal. On the Atlantic slope, and also on the east- 
 ern table lands, tl^*. crops were unusually prolific, but the cost 
 of transportation from this locality to the Pacific slope was 
 so great, that wieu Grovernraent wiis compelled to come to 
 
164 
 
 REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 
 
 the rescue of the starving people, and famish them with Indian 
 corn, it was found much cheaper to purchase the article in San 
 Ffaucisco, pay freight on it to Amapala, aud thence to Na- 
 caome, the centre of the famine afflicted reigou, than to draw 
 upon the ample domestic supply in the eastern districts. Thus 
 while corn sold for SI 50 a fanega — 400 ears— in San Pedro 
 Sula, at Nacaome it readily brought from $5 to $6. 
 
 The same lack of transi^ortation methods prevents the wheat 
 and flour of the interior table lands from being sent to the 
 coast on either side, and the natives of i San Pedro on the At- 
 lantic slope, and JSTacaome, and Guascaian on the Pacific side, 
 And it much cheaper to purchase their supplies of this impor- 
 tant food stuff in the New Orleans aud San Francisco markets. 
 
 While there are several primitive grisj; njills in the republic 
 which turn out very fair flour, their prodjicts exercise but a 
 limited influence, which is felt only in the mtirkets of the local- 
 ities where they are established. The condition of the roads 
 aud the high price of transportation will account for this sin- 
 gular situation. Two years ago a young German planted a 
 vegetable garden, and a large quantity of wteat near the Po- 
 
 tosi mining company's property. He depei 
 
 ded iipon the de- 
 
 mand at the mines for a market for his pr(^duce. The flour 
 furnished from his wheat field also finds a reidy market in the 
 neighboring pueblos. He intends putting np a smaJl grist 
 mill and planting a larger area of wheat. 
 
 The gigantic ''Tabor" enterprise on the ^atook river has 
 also established a grist mill on one of its pro lerties. As some 
 of its lands produce a very fine quality of wheat, the syndi- 
 cate proposes planting a vast area of this lereal during the 
 present season. The local superintendent, A onzo Hicks, Esq., 
 has put several saw mills into operation alid is getting out 
 furniture and construction timber for transprtation. 
 
 The Pacific slope is partially watered bv four streams, or 
 rivers, which in the dry months contain but litle water. They 
 are the Guascaran, Nacaome, Oholuteca and Black rivers. The 
 latter is the boundary line between Hondunis and Nicaragua. 
 On the Atlantic coast nature has been more polific of her gifts 
 in this direction, for besides numerous littlestreams that ir- 
 
REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 165 
 
 rig' ate the country there are several navigable rivers. The 
 TJlua, Chimalicon, Blanco, Sauta Barbara, Patook, Stephens 
 and the Wanks are fine rivers whicb, with their branches, drain 
 the entire Atlantic slope. The Patook river is navigated by 
 the boats, of the Tabor synflicate,'the Ulna by the Sheers com- 
 panj^, and the Tinto by the Trujillo and Puerto Oortez Eail- 
 road Co. 
 
 Comyagua, the former capital city, contains about 8,000 in- 
 habitants and is situated in a vast plain watered by the Com- 
 yagua river. This latter contains a perennial supply of the 
 precious fluid, but it is only navigable in restricted localities. 
 
 Tegucigalpa, the present capital of the republic, is situated 
 on the edge of a wide valley, close to the base of a tall moun- 
 tain range. It contains 12,000 inhabitants and boasts several 
 imposing churches and edifices. It is the centre of a rich min- 
 eral region. Its wealthier residents are all engaged — more or 
 less — in ininiug operations. 
 
 While there are numerous centres of population of from 
 3,000 to 6,000 inhabitants in the republic the two aboved named 
 are the principal cities. Santa Barbara, the capital of the 
 same name, may also be considered as important, as it lies in 
 the centre ol a rich mineral and agricultural region. 
 
. CHAPTER Vm. 
 
 The Mmiug Industry — Recent American Investments — The Chicaao Syn- 
 dicate — Silver Placers— The Kraffc and Osgood Diggings— Tabor's 
 Navigation and Minins' Enterprises on the Patook River — The Rich- 
 est Miiierfil Region on the Continent. 
 
 Within the past fiv^e years the miniug iudustry of Honduras 
 has been partially revived, and several American, French and 
 native companies have begun the development of various val- 
 uable deposits. Ex-Presideut Soto is at the head of a syndi- 
 cate which is working- several mines in the Yuscarau district. 
 A Chicago company is developing the v<ist Potosi mineral 
 property in the Department of Santa Barbara. A French 
 association is taking ore out of the Santa Cruz deposit, and a 
 New York company has made considerable progress towards 
 developing the Camalote mine. A Colorado syndicate is in 
 possession of a most valuable mineral property at, or near, 
 Juticalpa, while Messrs. Collyer, Conners and Don Abelardo 
 Zelaya are working profitable mines near Tegucigalpa on their 
 own account. Gen. Bogran, the President of the Republic, is 
 the possessor of several paying placer gold, and, strange to 
 say, one placer silver mine. Edward Kraft owns some six 
 square miles of placer diggings that were formerly abandoned 
 by the Spaniards. This valuable gold deposit was rediscov- 
 ered by him, IsTumerous natives are operating placer gold 
 mines in a quiet and unostentatious manner in different local- 
 ities of the republic. 
 
 During the three hundred years the Spanish crown held 
 Tropic America in subjection, Honduras was esteemed one of 
 the most valuable of its transatlantic possessions. ^STuraerous 
 profitable silver and gold mines were opened and worked, 
 while notwithstanding the badness of the roads and the prim- 
 itive methods employed to extract precious metals from the 
 ore, each mule train that wended its way to either coast car- 
 ried large sums in silver and gold in bars. 
 
 But besides the inexhaustible ledges of silver and gold- 
 bearing rock that seam the mountain sides, vast plains lying- 
 
HEPUBLIC OF HONDUEAS. 167 
 
 between the principal rivers,* and tbe beds of the numberless 
 smaller streams and mountain torrents, were found to contain 
 paying quantities of gold dust. Many of these placer diggings 
 were worked by the avaricious Spaniards, but a majority of 
 them are still virgin, although their existence is known to 
 most of the natives who live in their vicinity. The Depart- 
 ment of Olancho may be regarded as a vast placer mine, while 
 there are many other localities in the republic where still 
 richer placer deposits have lately been found. 
 
 Unlike California and Lower California, Sonora and Chihu- 
 ahua, Honduras is reticulated by numerous rivers and streams 
 of water admirably adapted to gold-washing purposes. Trav- 
 elers seldom take the trouble to carry water with them, for 
 every two or three miles of their journey they pass perennial 
 streams of the i)recious fluid. The placers of Honduras can 
 therefore be worked at a minimum cost. 
 
 There can be no reasonable doubt entertained as to the 
 value of the mineral resources of this little republic. All that 
 has hitherto retarded their development has been the lack of 
 capital and enterprise. Both these wants have lately been 
 filled. Foreign capital is investing heavily in the mines al- 
 ready known, while American enterprise is pushing into the 
 neglected mountain districts, where a number of sturdy expe- 
 rienced prospectors are engaged in searching for hitherto un- 
 discovered mineral deposits. 
 
 One of the most prolific gold-bearing regions in Central 
 America is found near the centre of the extensive Department 
 of Olancho. The cream of these placers, consisting of a well 
 watered locality containing sixty-seven square miles, is owned 
 by an enterprising Chicago gentleman named Dr. Osgood. 
 The doctor bought the property from a Cuban prospector, 
 who had located the mines but failed in forming a company to 
 work them. 
 
 In the spring of the past year, Mr. Osgood succeeded in 
 overcoming the usual difficulties that all pioneers of mining 
 enterprises always seem destined to encounter, and formed a 
 company to carry out his vast plans. He first went to Hon- 
 duras and carefully examined his property. Several experts 
 
168 REPUBLIC OP HONDURAS. 
 
 accompanied him and thorouglily prospected the locality. 
 Their reports were in the highest degree favorable, and might 
 be termed unanimously so, for the lowest estimate, of the yield 
 of the gold bearing soil, was forty -five cents to the cubic yard 
 of earth. 
 
 Before he returned to Chicago the doctor organized several 
 working parties who are at present engaged in taking out 
 paying quantities of gold dust. When the necessary placer 
 working machinery is on the ground and in operation, the 
 work will be carried out on a grand scale. From the knowl- 
 edge now possessed of this enterprise it seems destined to 
 become one of the most valuable mining properties south of 
 the Rio G-rande. 
 
 The Tabor syndicate, mentioned above, has received valu- 
 able mineral and navigation franchises from the Honduranean 
 G-overnment. One concession grants them the exclusive privi- 
 lege of the navigation of the Patook river, for a long period 
 of years. The president of this company is Senator Tabor, 
 of Denver, Colorado. The general manager is Captain Bur- 
 rows, a gentlemen well known in the mining circles of Colo- 
 rado, Arizona and E^ew Mexico. The superintendent of the 
 several camps is Mr. Alonzo Hicks, of Flushing, Long Island. 
 
 The syndicate has placed two little steamboats on thePatook 
 river and is busily engaged in removing the obstructions that 
 impede navigation in the upper part of this water course. 
 Captain Burrows is sanguine regarding the ultimate success 
 of his navigation enterprise and has announced that, in a few 
 months, the river will be navigable for his steamboats for 150 
 miles from its mouth, 
 
 Besides this enterprise, the Tabor syndicate is busily en- 
 gaged in developing several valuable mining properties. Mr. 
 Hicks writes that he has already got out 600 tons of fine ore, 
 which he will immediately proceed to mill. Captain Burrows 
 has purchased, and sent to the locality, all the mining ma- 
 chinery necessary for present operations, so this entire grand 
 enterprise, in all its different branches, may safely be pro- 
 nounced already on a promising footing. 
 
 As an indication of the great and valuable mineral resour- 
 ces possessed by the republic, the following extract from the 
 
EEPtlBLIC OF HONDURAS. 109 
 
 official report of Dr. Fritzgaertner, the goverumerit geologist 
 iiikI mineralogist, may prove interesting to the American 
 render : 
 
 " The government of Honduras has adoj^ted similar mining 
 hiws to those of the United States, in their main features. 
 Mining })roperty is not taxed, and there is no duty on the ex- 
 ])ortation of ores or bullion. The government'will tender all 
 assistnnce in its power for the transportation of machinery, and 
 will admit it free of importation duties. 
 
 iSIative gold in nuggets, scales and dust is found in numerous 
 placer grounds, also in fissure veins, and occurs often in the 
 form of wire gold. It is likewise found in eombiriatidn with 
 ores of copper, iron and tellurium. Platinum is found in nu- 
 merous river beds in scales and in grains. Silver is very abun- 
 dant, and exists principally in the following forms : Native 
 silver in plates and wires, chloride and bromide of silver, ar- 
 gentile, silver glance, ruby silver, argentiferous grey copper 
 and galena. 
 
 Tin is known to me in paying quantities in two localities. 
 Bismuth and antimoisy are also very frequently found. Cop- 
 per has been discovered in many parts of the^ Republic. The 
 quality is excellent and the quantity inexhaustible, while the 
 ore, as a rule, contains a very large percentage of silver and 
 gold. Lead is found in large deposits and fissures. This metal 
 is not worked for its intrinsic value, but only in case the ore 
 contains gold and silver in paying quantities. Whole moun- 
 tains of fine magnetic iron exist both near the coast and in the 
 interior. The natives use clean and fine ore directly in their 
 forges. The iron produced is of a very superior quality and 
 greatly resembles steel in all its characteristics. Coal is very 
 abundant on the Atlantic coast, near the river Ulua, the quality 
 being a semi-bituminous kind. As the quantity seems to be 
 quite considerable, this mineral will, in the near future, become 
 a valuable article of commerce along the Caribbean coast. 
 There are numerous old mines of historical fame, formerly 
 worked by the Spaniards. There are in Honduras a great 
 many abandoned mines which were worked, as far as the water 
 level, by the conquerors, while local traditions speak of the 
 
170 REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 
 
 fabulous suras taken from many of them. In tins paper I will 
 take the provinces in their order and give a list of the most 
 noted of these old workings. 
 
 Province of Ohaluteca; the extreme southern department of 
 Honduras, contains many deposits of high grade silver ores. 
 The most famous of the old Spanish mines, in this section, are 
 the Corpus, the Guyal and the St. Martin. The province of 
 G-racias, in the southwestern portion of Honduras, possesses 
 a most salubrious climate. The ore of the Coloal copper mines 
 contains 50 per cent of copper and from 50 to 200 ounces of 
 silver per ton. The historical mine of Sacramento contains 
 chloride of silver in large quantities. The district of Evan- 
 dique is known for its fine opals, which command high prices 
 in London. 
 
 The province of Tegucigalpa, abounds in fissure veins. Al- 
 most everywhere old Spanish workings are encountered ; nearly 
 all are abandoned and partly caved in. The most noted mining 
 localities are Yuscaran, with about 120 mines including the 
 once famous " G-uavabillas " which sixty years ago produced 
 $400,000 in six mouths, and " La Veta de Paraiso " " Gruada- 
 lupe " " Mercedes," " El E-oble," etc. The veins at Yuscaran 
 average from three to six feet in thickness, and the ores are 
 all high grade. 
 
 ISTot far from Yuscaran is located San Antonia, a once cele- 
 brated mining camp. It contains four horizontal beds of ar- 
 gentiferous galena and carbonate of lead. The four layers are 
 stratified, lying one above the other. Another rich camp is 
 " Santa Lucia," with many old mines, of which I will mention 
 only " La MinaG-rande." This vein is in many places ten feet 
 wide, and is composed of colespar and galena, with chlorides 
 and sulphides of silver with copper. Two other well known 
 mines, at present worked b^^ natives, are " Veta Azul," and 
 " La Mina de San Bartolo," both containing chloride of silver. 
 The mine of Guasacaran, with a productive silver ore deposit, 
 is well worthy of notice. 
 
 The province of Oomayagua forms the centre of Honduras. 
 The Honduras Interoceanic Railroad will pass through this 
 section and thus render some of its mining districts more ac- 
 
REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 171 
 
 C(^ssible. The principal of these are "Aramaciaa," "Laiiteri- 
 que," " Las Piedras," and "La Paz." Tin ore was fouud by 
 me iu this province in combination with copper. On this 
 section ]nauy old dumps exist which contain thousands of 
 tons of valuable ore. 
 
 Province of Olancho — a district of 11,000 square miles, but 
 with very few inhabitants. In this district are numerous 
 placers containiug gold in paying quantities. Olancho is the 
 historical ground on which Gil Grouzalez and his followers 
 reaped their golden treasures. 
 
 The mountains of Olancho have never been practically ex- 
 plored, although numerous veins of gold quartz have already 
 been discovered. 
 
 While traveling through the province of Yoro, I fouud shot 
 gold in man;v water courses. The latest information I have 
 received is that gold gravel has been discovered in this local- 
 ity that pays one and a half ounce per day, to the pan workers. 
 
 The province of Santa Barbara borders on the Atlantic. 
 Grold placers have recently been discovered that have attracted 
 considerable attention abroad. This auriferous ground is near 
 Quimistan and extends to the bay of Ysabal, Guatemala. 
 
 There are in the valley of Quimistan, three valuable mines; 
 Santa Cruz, Camalote and Monte Cristo. They are being 
 actively worked by foreign companies and will shortly have 
 fifty stamps iu operation. The gold ore is of a free milling 
 character and is both abundant and fairly rich. 
 
 During my sojourn in Honduras I was authorized to organ- 
 ize the National Museum. I exhibited in the rooms of the 
 museum, specimens from 580 different localities, which were 
 forwarded to me or collected personally. A list of mines, both 
 ancient and modern, showed 410 working. About sixty mines 
 are at present operated, fifty of which are worked in a most 
 primitive and wasteful manner. 
 
 The Rosario Mining Company, of ITew York, has lately 
 taken possession of an old mine and will, without doubt, re- 
 ceive large returns if the property is i>roperly managed. By 
 order of ex-president Soto, I took charge, for two months, of 
 the Lonia Larga mine. It was caving badly at the time and 
 
172 REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 
 
 was partly filled with water. There were no ladders and their 
 place was supplied by poles, with notches cut in them, the 
 ore haying to be carried in rawhide sacks from the bottom 
 of the mine. The result of my two months' work was gold 
 and silver bullion to the amount of S45,000, at an outlay of 
 $15,000. 
 
 The foregoing lines clearly demonstrate the fact that in 
 former days mining was carried on to a very considerable ex- 
 tent in Honduras. We know from the reports of tljc conquer- 
 ors that immense deposits of the precious metals were brought 
 to light in that country. The old excavations left by them 
 verify their glowing accounts. The records of the mints of 
 Guatemala and Tegucigalpa show the amount of $6,004,242 
 as being coined during the period between the years 1705 and 
 1825, from bullion reduced in Honduras. We must remember 
 that this was only a small portion of the actual gold and sil- 
 ver product of that period, as the greater i>art of it found its 
 way into the marts of the world as bullion iu bars. 
 
 After the victorious war of independence against Spain, the 
 Spanish aristocracy, the then owners of these rich mines, left 
 Honduras, and their- property reverted to the government. A 
 number of their mines were taken up by the natives, but from 
 want of knowledge and lack of industry and capital, together 
 with their crude and v$rasteful way of reducing the ores, the 
 profits were small, and they gradually abandoned the claims, 
 or most of them. 
 
 At present a moiety of the natives are engaged in agricul- 
 tural pursuits, and consequently a large number of valuable 
 mines are lying idle. The introduction of modern methods of 
 mining and reducing, with a small amount of capital, would 
 certainly bear good results. 
 
 The attention of the mining world is already again being 
 directed toward Mexico, and will no doubt soon get down to 
 Honduras, which will in a short time become one of the 
 world's greatest mining fields. 
 
 In conclusion, I would state that in my capacity of geolo- 
 gist of the government of Honduras, I visited all parts of the 
 country and was. thereby furnished an excellent opportunity 
 
REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 173 
 
 ot examining most of this abandoned mining property, to- 
 gether with many localities where placer diggings and gold 
 and olher mines were known to exist, but which as yet have 
 never been even located or appropriated by mining corpora- 
 tions." 
 
 The greater portion of the grand valley of San Pedro Snla 
 is as yet unoccupied. Its fertile soil is covered by immense 
 tracts of cahoon palms, mahogany, cedar and ceiba trees, and 
 the winding streams that water it are the home of the wild 
 fowl that nightly come in from the sea. 
 
 President Bogran is anxious to see this vast tract of land 
 settled by foreign emigrants, and has offered ever^^ induce- 
 ment to heads of families and young couples to make their 
 home in the country. Land will be furnished all who really 
 desire to cultivate it. Every moral and material aid that can 
 be extended them, emigrants may expect from his govern- 
 ment, while the Honduras people will be giad to welcome 
 them as fellow-citizens. 
 
 About fifteen leagues — forty-five miles — to the westward of 
 San Pedro, is situated a large sheet of water called lake Yojoa. 
 The country surrounding this lake is not only remarkably 
 beautiful but its soil is fertile and its climate is that of per- 
 petual spring. A portion of the lands of this locality are at 
 the disposition of emigrants, for as this situation is central 
 and near the route of the proposed interoceanic railroad, 
 President Bogran is anxious to see it occupied as soon as 
 possible. 
 
 The short space allowed by the plan of this little work pre- 
 vents the author from entering into further details regarding 
 the vast, the varied and the valuable forest, agricultural and 
 mineral resources of this truly wonderful tropic republic. If 
 it is impossible to describe their infinite variety and estimate 
 their value, it is none the less impossible to exaggerate their 
 future importance in the commercial world. 
 
 In company with its sister republic Guatemala, Honduras is 
 blessed with a truly liberal system of government. Gen. Luis 
 Bogran, the President of the country is one of the most brilliant 
 young statesmen as yet produced by Central America, and he 
 
174 REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 
 
 labors earnestly to bring about the thorough social and material 
 regeneration of his country. He has wisely eschewed the tra- 
 ditions, the sentiments and the customs engen(Iered»by 350 
 years of Spanish misrule and five decades of anarchy and rev- 
 olution ', he ignores the sullen system of conservatism en- 
 grafted upon Government methods by nearly 400 years of 
 theocratic rule ; and has boldly taken the precepts of Morozan, 
 Ocampo and Juarez, as his guides in the path of reform he has 
 marked out and entered. His life is exceedingly precious to 
 his country, for if he lives until the expiration of his term of 
 office, he will surely accomplish the regeneration of his country. 
 
 As it may be some time before the Interoceanic Railroad is 
 constructed, Government has given a franchise to certain 
 Americans to build a line from Trujillo to Tegucigalpa, a dis- 
 tance of nearly 200 miles. This road, in conjunction with the 
 McOonnico system, will open a vast stretch of territory to en- 
 terprise and commerce. As the latter will eventually connect 
 with the Guatemala ifortheru Railroad, the capital of the land 
 of the Quiche will be placed in regular, but somewhat round- 
 about, communication with Tegucigalpa. 
 
 With its vasts forests of precious woods, its fertile soil which 
 returns such prolific crops, its tall mountains laden with rich 
 mineral deposits, its wide plains where the bed-rock has col- 
 lected and upheld the particles of gold that for countless cen- 
 turies have washed down from the adjacent mountains, with its 
 rapid rivers whose beds are impregnated with golden sand, 
 Honduras is not only the most promising division of Central 
 America, but it is probably the most valuable mineral territory 
 for its extent on the planet. 
 
SAN SALVADOR. 
 
 Plan of this Work — The Two rirand Divisions of Central America — Diffi- 
 cnlfcy of Coinmnnicatiou Between the Two Oceans — Conquest of San 
 Salvador— Spanish Rej^ime — [ndependence— War of 1876 — Eegenera- 
 tion of the Country — Imports — Exports — Industries — Manufactures — 
 Cities — Seaports — Projected Railroad System. 
 
 The object of this little work is" to present to the people of 
 this section and of the Mississippi valley a brief account of 
 the natural resources of Central America. For that reason 
 the Caribbean coast and the territories contiguous to it, or in 
 communication with its ports by railroads, wagon roads or 
 Jjridle paths, as the case may be, have been accorded as much 
 space as the plan of the wort permitted, while the Pacific 
 coast, with its superior ports, its wide cultivated savanas and 
 its industrious and prosperous people, has been little more 
 than briefly mentioned. The author's reason for the adoption 
 of this plan is obvious, ^ew Orleans (and also the Missis- 
 sippi valley through this port) is in direct communication 
 with the centres of the commerce of the Caribbean coast 
 by the Oteri, Macheca, Muller & Co., Miller, and C. A. Fish 
 & Co.'s lines of steamers. The first three lines commu- 
 nicate with the ports of the republics of Guatemala and 
 Honduras, and also those of British Honduras, every few 
 days, while the Miller and 0. A. Fish lines touch at the ports 
 of Nicaragua, the Mosquite Reservation and the Republic of 
 Costa Rica, every month. The steamship Lucy P. Miller ex- 
 tends her trips to Aspinvval] (Colon), Isthmus of Panama. 
 
 Central America, from the boundary line that separates its 
 territory from Mexico, on the north, to the Isthmus of Panama, 
 may be divided into two almost equal portions ; which are 
 known as the Atlantic — or Caribbean —and Pacific slopes. 
 These two grand divisions are virtually separated by an im- 
 
17G HEPUBLIC OF SAN SALYADOR. 
 
 meiise mouiitaiu chain called the Central Cordillera. As the 
 mountains are tall, rugged and very broken, the roads that 
 lead over them are mere bridle paths, and. for a great portion 
 of the year, are almost impassible. The difficulty of trans- 
 porting effects over the Cordillera, and the high rate of freight 
 tariff that in consequence obtains, has virtually resulted in a 
 commercial separation between the two slopes, reiulering them 
 almost totally independent of each other as far as traffic is 
 concerned. This situation will continue until railroads, that 
 connect the two oceans, are constructed. 
 
 The Eepublic of San Salvador, although one of the most 
 enlightened, prosj)erous and wealth}' of the numerous Latin 
 American Illations, as it lies exclusively on the Pacitic coast, 
 and is cut off", by the mountain range above mentioned, from 
 all commercial communication with the Caribbean seaboard, 
 excites compa,tatively little interest in the American ])eople, 
 east of the Eocky mountains. While it carries on a profitable 
 and constantly augmenting commerce with San Francisco 
 and Europe, per steamers to Panama, thence across the isth- 
 mus by rail, and then again by steamers to the east, from the 
 very nature of things has no communication with l!^ew Orleans, 
 nor does a dollar's worth of trade with our port. 'A mention 
 of this republic then will suffice for the plan of this work. 
 
 The history of San Salvador, from the epoch of the conquest 
 of the country by tlie Spaniards, is incorporated with that of 
 the rest of Central America. The first mention of it we find 
 in the archives of Hispano-Americo-Central History is, that 
 the first explorers tound the country thickly settled b}' a 
 powerful and industrious race of indigenes who were excellent 
 miners and most successful agriculturists. The}' were known 
 as the Pipiles, were divided into several nations and were . 
 ruled by wealthy and powerful ca<tiques — kings. 
 
 As soon as he had subdued the Cakchiquel Kingdom of 
 Guatemala, the intrepid but sanguinary conquistador, Pedro 
 de Alvarado, advanced against the city of Atehuan, one of 
 the most eastern centres of population of the great and power- 
 ful Kingdom ot Cuzcaltan, which comprehended a great por- 
 tion of modern Salvador. The king and nobles had made 
 
REPUBLIC OP SAN SALTADOR. 177 
 
 extensive preparations for the reception of the Spanish com- 
 mander as ,a friend. At Atehuan, Alvarado was met by a 
 commission of nobles who were charged to offer him obedience 
 and to acknowledge themselves as vassals of the Spanish 
 crown. 
 
 The conqueror immediately i^roceeded to the capital where 
 he and his followers were received in the kindest and most 
 hospitable manner. G-ood quarters and an abundance of excel- 
 lent provisions were provided, and the king came in person to 
 pay his guest a ceremonious visit. But the infamous and un- 
 grateful conduct of the Spaniards and the ravages committed 
 b}^ their auxiliaries soon drove the disappointed and ill treated 
 natives to desperation. They deserted their beautiful city, 
 and fled to the woods and mountains. The poor peoi)Ie cap- 
 lured by the conquerors were immediately branded and sold 
 as slaves. 
 
 Alvarado sent envo^^s to the fugitives, with a threatening 
 message ordering them to return immediately, and acknow- 
 ledge vassalage to the monarch of Spain. The king justly in- 
 dignant at the treatment his people had met with at the hands 
 of those whom they had received as guests, answered that he 
 knew no other monarch than himself and neither was, nor ever 
 would be, vassal to any one ; that if he wanted him and his 
 people he must come and seek them, and he would be received 
 on the points of their sharp lances. The general sent an ex- 
 pedition against them, which was defeated with terrible loss. 
 Eleven horses were slain in this combat. Alvarado, upon the 
 return of his shattered forces, resorted to pacific measures. He 
 sent another envoy " with a honeyed message," but the king 
 refused to receive him. He then marched against '' the rebels" 
 with all his forces but was unable to subdue them. Irritated 
 at this unexpected turn of affairs Alvarado instituted "a legal 
 process'^^ against the fugitives. They were declared in a state 
 of rebellion against their natural sovereign, the king of Spain. 
 The king and principal nobles were sentenced to be hung, while 
 the whole population of the country were condemned to be 
 l^ublicly branded and sold as slaves. 
 
 He continued seventeen days at Ouzcatlan, but was unable 
 to come to terms with the people who refused to treat on any 
 
178 REPUBLIC OF S4N SALVADOR. 
 
 pretext whatever with the ferocious invaders of their country. 
 As the rigor of the season prevented further military opera- 
 tions in the mountains, he was compelied to retreat, deferring- 
 for a period the conquest of this rich and populous country. 
 
 In the year 1525, the Spanish commander sent another ex- 
 pedition against the Cuzcatlan king, who had returned with 
 his people to his capital. The natives, who foolishly encoun- 
 tered the invaders in the open field where the cavalry could 
 manoeuvre with facility, were defeated in several partial com- 
 bats and, at length, in a pitched battle. The conquerors entered 
 Cuzcatlan in triumph and immediately carried out the san- 
 guinary provisions dictated by Alvarado during his first expe- 
 dition. 
 
 In a short while the whole territory was entirely subdued 
 by the indefatigable, but ruthless conquerors, who divided the 
 lands among them, while the natives, like so many cattle, were 
 branded and parceled out with the soil they were forced to 
 cultivate. 
 
 In 1522, the territory which is now comprised within the 
 limits of the modern republic of San Salvador contained a pop- 
 ulation of niore than 3,000,000 industrious and contented na- 
 tives ; some of the tribes had elected and deposed their chiefs 
 or caciques at will, and it was only when the immediate an- 
 cestor of the king who so gallantly repulsed Alvarado's first 
 attack, conquered the various tribes and united them under 
 his dominian that an aboriginal feudal system was established 
 in this locality. 
 
 For three hundred long years San Salvador continued a 
 Spanish province. The few aborigines that remained, in the 
 capacity of serfs or peons, tilled the fertile soil or toiled in the 
 mines situated deep in the interior of the giant mountains. 
 Meanwhile the deep hatred the natives bore their oppressors 
 was inherited by the Ladinos, or that mixed race which sprang 
 from the intercourse of the conquered and the conquerors. 
 This sentiment was entertained in a greater degree, if pos- 
 sible, by the Creoles or pure blooded descendants of the Span- 
 iards, who treated their children born in the province of 
 Spanish mothers as inferior beings to themselves and the. 
 other fortunate mortals who first saw the light in Old Spain. 
 
REPUBLIC OF SAN SALVADOR. 179 
 
 When the daj of reckoning came, the Indians, Ladinos and 
 Creoles united and bitterly avenged the three centuries of 
 opj)ression they and their ancestors had groaned under; and 
 after a series of sanguinary conflicts, the Spaniards were 
 mostly driven out of the country. 
 
 During the long years of anarchy, revolution and civil strife 
 subsequent to the declaration of independence, San Salvador 
 suffered all the ills and misfortunes consequent upon such a 
 situation. The mines were deserted, and in the course of time 
 even the localities of the most valuable were forgotten. Com- 
 merce, both external and internal, was paralyzed, while the 
 little traffic that yet survived was almost entirely in the hands 
 of strangers and aliens. Agriculture was but faintly carried 
 on, and a thousand flourishing plantations, farms and ranches 
 were abandoned. 
 
 This unfortunate condition continued until the year 1876, 
 when Barrios, the reformer of Guatemala, the chief of the 
 Liberal party of Central America, could no longer shut his 
 eyes to the retrograde policy that swayed the administration 
 of President Vaile, and demanded an interview with that func- 
 tionary. The parties met at Ohingo and formed a plan for the 
 regeneration of San Salvador and Honduras. But Yalle had 
 no intention of carrying out the compact. He merely wished 
 to gain time to prepare for war, which was soon afterwards 
 declared. 
 
 In the spring of the same year Barrios entered Salvador at 
 the head of a large, well-armed and finely disciplined army. 
 He totally defeated the Salvadorean forces and entered the 
 capital in triumph. Thus the little republic was entirely at 
 his mercy, while the Liberals of Honduras, weary of anarchy 
 and confusion, were ready to enter into any arrangement he 
 chose to propose to them. Then Gen, Barrios might have 
 realized the ambitious dream of his life, the reunion of the old 
 Central American republic. But he threw away the opportu- 
 nity, and after pacif;ying Honduras and binding Salvador to 
 him by a treaty of alliance, he withdrew his victorious troops 
 from Salvadorean territory and returned in triumph to his 
 capital. 
 
180 REPUBLIC OF SAN SALVADOR. 
 
 Since that epoch Sau Salvador has been indirectly under 
 his dominion, while his potent influence is felt throughout the 
 wide area of Ceutral America. But Salvador has greatly 
 gained by the change. Ko revolution can change her tran- 
 quility while the protecting arm of Barrios extends over her. 
 In fact, the very political existence of the great Liberal de- 
 pends upon the situation in San Salvador, for in the very na- 
 ture of things Salvador must either be a friendly and allied 
 power or a conquered province. Barrios cannot for a moment 
 permit the existence in Salvador of a dominant party which 
 is, or might become, inimical to his interests. It is probable, 
 therefore, that while he lives his voice will have paramount 
 influence in the administration of the public affairs of this re- 
 public. 
 
 There seem to be but few persons in this country or in 
 Europe who realJy understand the political status in Central 
 America. The subject is worthy the study and attention of 
 American statesmen, who, in case of further complications in 
 Central America, should be better posted on the political sit- 
 uation that obtains in that to them almost terra incognita. 
 
 San Salvador is the smallest of the Central American re- 
 publiciS. It is bounded on the north and east by Guatemala 
 and Honduras, and on the south and west by Honduras and 
 the Pacific ocean. It possesses an area of 71526 square miles, 
 or 4,624,640 square acres. The population is somewhat more 
 than 600,000; that is, if we may believe the assertions of 
 prominent Salvadorean statesmen. It now possesses a repub- 
 lican form of government, although the spirit of conservatism 
 is indicated in the constitution, which prohibits suffrage to 
 persons of no stated occupation and to servants. The execu- 
 tive, with the title of President, is chosen by popular vote — 
 with the restrictions specified by the constitution — and serves 
 for a term of four years. The Senate is composed of twelve 
 members and the Houses of Deputies of twenty-four. Com- 
 plete toleration in religious matters is guaranteed, but the 
 constitution is not as liberal as that enjoyed by the sister Re- 
 public of Honduras. The expenditure of the government is 
 somewhat less than the revenues, while the national debt, 
 which is now very small, is being gradually extinguished. 
 
REPUBLIC OF SAN SALVADOR. 181 
 
 Salvador is one of the most flourishing of the Latin Ameri- 
 can nations. Its commerce, both internal and external, is 
 constantly augmenting. In 1883 its exports amounted to 
 somewhat more than $5,000,000, and its imports to $3,500,000. 
 The principal exports are coffee and indigo, but sugar is also 
 exported to a small extent, while rubber, gums, skins, hides, 
 tan bark, etc., are shipped to California and Europe. In fact, 
 England enjoys more than half the foreign commerce of the 
 republic. 
 
 Quite a lively traffic is carried on between Salvador and the 
 neighboring republics. Honduras sends vast quantities of 
 tobacco in the leaf, mats and straw hats to her sister republic, 
 while the latter exi)orts coffee, indigo and certain gums to the 
 markets of the former. Gruatemala receives a large annual 
 amount of cattle from her thriving neighbor, and in return 
 sends back to its markets numberless articles which find a 
 ready sale. 
 
 The country is corrugated by numerous mountain spurs that 
 s]>read out fan like, from the great range that divides Central 
 America. In several districts along the coast, the tall foot- 
 hills come down to the very ocean that bathes with its long 
 rolling billows their rocky bases, while wide verdant plains 
 and beautiful tropic valleys are burdened with prolific crops of 
 indigo, sugar-cane and nopals, whose pale green leaves give 
 life and food to the purple cochineal which, even comparatively 
 re(!ently, was such a valuable article of commerce. 
 
 The cultivation of indigo has become the principal industry 
 of the country. Experience has proved it to be a prolific crop 
 and a great deal of money is invested in its production. It is 
 prepared for export on the haciendas and is principally shipped 
 from the port of Acajutla, in sailing ships to Europe via Gape 
 Horn, and per steamers north to San Francisco, Cal., and south 
 to Panama, where it is transported across the isthmus to Colon 
 and from thence transhipped to the Atlantic seaboard and 
 Europe. 
 
 The cultivation of coffee is fast assuming imposing propor- 
 tions. It is true that last year Guatemala shipped more of the 
 precious staple than either Salvador or Costa Rica, but it is 
 
182 REPUBLIC OF SAN SALVADOR. 
 
 no less true that the quantity cultivated in either o( the two 
 last named republics far exceeds that produced by Gruatemala. 
 The higher regions, where the table lands spread out into wide 
 expanses between the bases of the giant mountains, and attain 
 an altitude of between 2000 and 3500 feet above the level of 
 the sea, are the chosen localities for the cultivation of this val- 
 uable article of commerce. In those fertile districts, where 
 the cool bracing winds that career down from the summits of 
 the contiguous mountains, encounter the hot breezes of the 
 tropics which are tempered by its refreshing currents, the 
 coffee plant attains its highest degree of productiveness, while 
 the dews which nightly fall heavily in these regions enfold in 
 their humid embrace the younger plants and refresh and in 
 vigorate thera after the hot ordeal they have passed through 
 during the long tropic day. For the coffee plant is ranked 
 among the most tender of all the numerous specimens of the 
 troi^ic flora. After it is placed in the ground it requires con- 
 stant and perfect protection from the intense heat of the sun. 
 It thrives best in damp places and under the grateful shade of 
 neighboring trees, while it is invariably planted, on the At- 
 latic slope, between rows of the huge leaved plantains or 
 bananas. 
 
 In Western G-uatemala and in Salvador, the trees are set out 
 during the rainy- season and generally, by the time the dry 
 months set in, have acquired sufficient strength to live through 
 that trying period. Yet sometimes before the wet period ar- 
 rives the young plants assume a sickly yellowish appearance 
 and they must be irrigated with the greatest regularity, or 
 they will certainly die. The coffee industry in 1881, was re- 
 markably prosperous and more than 20,000,000 pounds were 
 shipped from the ports of the re])ublic. This quantity repre- 
 sented somewhat more than $2,000,000 in the currency of the 
 country. 
 
 The low price lately obtained for the article, in foreign mar- 
 kets, has had a depressing effect on this industry. The plant- 
 ers, for the last three years, have done little towards increasing 
 the acreage of cultivation, and have, in a measure, turned 
 their attention and energy to the production of other crops ' 
 
KBPUBLIC OF SAN SALVADOR. 183 
 
 .Thus indigo planting has received a new impulse, while stock 
 raising lias become a promising industry. 
 
 Althf»ugh there are several famous mining localities in the 
 re])ublic, agriculture has always been the principal occupation 
 of the i)eople. Shortly after the conqu^^st the Spaniards ex- 
 tracted a large amount of silver and gold dust from the rocks, 
 river beds and gulches, which they of course sent to the mother 
 country. But the mining industry soon flagged, for on the 
 warm, sultry Pacific slope, the natives quickly died under the 
 lashes of their cruel task-masters, and the Spaniards, unable 
 to endure the hardships entailed upon the prosecution of this 
 industry, were forced to abandon it almost entirely. 
 
 The tropic fruit traffic has excited but little interest in San 
 Salvador. The republic lies too far from the great Pacific 
 market to render the shipment of bananas, plantains and 
 oranges, either safe or profitable. As their is no demand, 
 there exists no reason to j)roduce a supply, so this branch of 
 industry is limited to furnishing the domestic market. 
 
 Quite a profitable trade has been done in dye woods and 
 furniture timter since the regeneration of the country under 
 the Zaldiva regime. Ships frequent even the little out of-the- 
 way roadsteads that indent the coast, and receive on board 
 valuable cargoes of precious woods. The ports of the republic 
 again witness the arrival of vessels destined to carry on this 
 traffic. They generally bring outward freights of European 
 mannfactiire for the supply of the interior markets. 
 
 The improvement of the breed of cattle, and increase of 
 the herds, has lately received increased attention from the 
 agriculturalists. Vast stretches of territory which had lain 
 idle and fallow since the epoch of the conquest, and fer- 
 tile mountain slopes and foothills that had never been dis- 
 turbed by the hand of man since the primitive inhabitants 
 were exterminated by their oppressors, have lately been trans- 
 formed into cattle walks, and furnish vast herds with excellent 
 pasturage. President Zaldiva has offered premiums for speci- 
 meus of improved breeds of native stock. The farmers and 
 stock raisers have entered into a friendly emulation, while 
 Uopes are entertained that it will not be long before cattle 
 
184 REPUBLIC OF SAN SALVADOR, 
 
 raising will be considered one of the principal industries ol 
 the country. 
 
 There exist several llourisliing cotton factories in different 
 localities which turn out a coarse cotton cloth. There are 
 many kinds of domestic manufactures, which of course are not 
 known to the outside world. 
 
 The wagon roads and bridle paths of this republic are by far 
 the best constructed and kept in repair that can be iound in 
 Central America. The roads that connect the principal cities 
 with the coast, and with each other, are either paved or mmt, 
 adamized, while those of the interior are kept in repair by the 
 municipalities they traverse. 
 
 Some three j^ears ago the Huntington syndicate of Califor- 
 nia obtained concessions;;vrhich virtually put all the projected 
 railroad system of the republic in their power. They have 
 surveyed the principal lines and have done considerable work 
 on some of them. 
 
 There are numerous tine cities, towns and villages within 
 the boundaries of the little republic. San Salvador is the 
 capital. It contains many imposing churches and public and 
 private edifices. It is not situated far from the coast, to 
 which it is as yet unconnected by rail. 
 
 Three principal seaports, two of which may be considered 
 mere roadsteads, are the receiving depots for the foreign traffic 
 of the country. They are La Union, La Libertad and Aca- 
 jutla. The latter was founded about the same time as San 
 Jose de G-uatemala, and carries on quite a promising com- 
 merce. 
 
 Altogether, San Salvador may be looked upon as a promis- 
 ing, progressive and enterprising little republic. But it can 
 never, until both its own and the Honduranean and G-uate- 
 maltecan railroad systems are completed, hold direct commer- 
 cial communications with this city and section. 
 
NICARAGUA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Belief in a Natural Passage Between the Two Oceana — Gil Gonzalez' 
 Journey Through Costa Eica and Nicaragua — lie visibs Nicoya and 
 Nicaro — Discovery of the Great Eakes — Expedition of Cordoba — Gra- 
 nadSi, Leon and Segovia Founded — Cordoba Declares Against Pedra- 
 rias— Is Defeated and Executed— Death of Gil Gonzalez and Pedrarias — 
 Cruel Treatment of the Natives by the Spaniards. 
 
 The Emperor Charles V. at the very commencement of his 
 reign, evinced the greatest anxiety to know the exact where- 
 abouts of the much talked of strait that was said to connect 
 the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The conquest of Mexico 
 once achieved, he ordered his victorious captain, Hernando 
 Cortez, to send expeditions along either coast, both north and 
 south, to search for the much longed-for passage. Pedrarias, 
 the Spanish governor of Darien, received the same peremptory 
 orders and at once set about carrying them into effect. 
 
 About this time a certain Spanish cahallero named Gil Gon- 
 zalez de Avila, arrived at Darien. He had been commissioned 
 by the emperor to fit out an expedition to explore the Pacific 
 coast for a distance of 200 leagues. Pedrarias sent with him as 
 pilot, Andres I^ino, who had accompanied Hurtado when the 
 latter discovered the gulf of San Lucar. Gil set sail the 21st 
 of January, 1521, from the gulf of San Miguel. 
 
 After a voyage of about 100 leagues to the northwest, he 
 discovered that his vessels had sustained some damage and 
 hauled them out for repair. He took advantage of this cir- 
 cumstance to penetrate into the interior with 100 infantry and 
 four horsemen. But he suffered terribly. The country was 
 marshy and overflowed and he was compelled to cross several 
 rivers on rafts. 
 
 During this adventurous expedition he passed through nu- 
 merous Indian villages belonging to a cacique named Mcoya. 
 
 13 
 
180 REPUBLTC OF NICARAGUA 
 
 •The latter informed Gil tbat the iinrae of the country was 
 Orotina, and that some distance farther to the north he would 
 find several large lakes of fresh water. 2!Ticoya consented to 
 submit to the ceremony of baptism, and his example was fol- 
 lowed by 6000 of his countrymen and vassals. The Spanish 
 commander having made many inquiries regarding gold and 
 where deposits of it might be found, the cacique presented 
 him with a quantity of the precious metal that amounted to 
 $60,000, together with six goo(i sized idols, also of pure gold. 
 
 When his followers were rested and in condition to proceed, 
 Gil again took the field accompanied by porters and interpre- 
 ters, and shortly afterwards arrived in the country of the 
 Niquiriuos. This people had made preparations to attack 
 him, but the interpreters sent with the expedition by Xicoya 
 assured them of the good intentions and peaceful disposition 
 of the Spaniards, so they threw down their arms and received 
 the strangers with shouts of welcome. 
 
 Kicarao, the cacique of the country, a much more powerful 
 l)otentate than Kicoya, entertained the adventurers at his court 
 and also made them many pj-esents, among which was a quan- 
 tity of gold valued at $100,000. Gil Gonzales de Avila, gave 
 him in return some silk dre^sses and other European articles, 
 and then set himself earnestly to work to convert the Indian 
 monarch to Christianity. The questions asked by Nicarao re- 
 garding the Catholic dogmata, and his conversations with the 
 missionary who had undertaken this important conversion, 
 prove that he was a man of gieat talent. At length, the mon- 
 arch having succeeded in convincing his council of giiegiie — 
 ancients — of the truth of the christian religion, he and his 
 principal military and civil officers, with 9000 of his vassals, 
 were solemnly baptized and received into the bosom of the 
 Catholic church. 
 
 Gil soon left his hospitable host, accompanied by an Indian 
 tapaliqiil — general — who served him as interiireter, and halted 
 not far from Nicarao's capital, which was situated in the midst 
 of the great lake of Cocibolca, on a mountainous island called 
 Ometepe. The Spaniards gave this lake the name of 'Sic- 
 arao-agua, or the waters of Nicarao. From this incident the 
 
REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA. 187 
 
 word Nicaragaa is derived, which has since been bestowed 
 upon the whole republic. 
 
 Gil had learned that the lake Oocibolca discharged its sur- 
 plus waters into the Atlantic, but that it had no direct coinmu- 
 nication with the Pacific. Yet his new friends informed him 
 that it was connected with another lake, further to the west, 
 which latter might possibly empty into the ocean. The ob. 
 jectof his present expedition was to ascertain the truth of this 
 information. Unfortunately he w?is unable to reach the locality 
 where the lakes, were said to unite, in consequence of a san- 
 guinary war that was going on between Diriangen, cacique of 
 Diriambra, and Tenderi, cacique of Nindiri. He was compelled 
 to make a wide detour to the west to the district of Fograndans 
 and saw lake Xolotlan (now lake Managua) from Jubila, the 
 capital of the ISTagrandanos. In this city he was received by 
 the Monexia — the united military and civil councils — who were 
 in session at the time and were about to proceed to the elec- 
 tion of a new cacique. 
 
 Further to the north Gil discovered a great gulf that was 
 known as the Chorotega, but which he thought was a third 
 large lake. From this point of observation it was impossible 
 for the Spaniards to ascertain with'certainty it this arm of the 
 Pacific really did communicate with lake Xolotlan. Some of 
 the Indians told him a river from this lake communicated 
 with the gulf; others pretended that this river, or strait, had, 
 just before, been closed during a terrible convulsion of the 
 earth caused by an eruption of a volcano — Momotombo — situ- 
 ated near its edge, and since that occurrence the lake Xolot- 
 lan empties into the Cocibolca. 
 
 Eelying upon the statements of his new found friends, Gil 
 made no further attempt to explore in this direction. One of 
 the principal Indians informed him that the gulf of Chorotega 
 (now the Fonseca) communicated directly with the Atlantic 
 through a strait situated behind the great volcano Oonchagua 
 and the range to which this latter jieak belonged. Delighted 
 with having discovered the secret of the existence of the long 
 desired and sought for strait, and fearing that some of his fol- 
 lowers might obtain the same information, Gil hastened away 
 
188 REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA. 
 
 Irom the locality. After having- collected his scattered people 
 at the capital of ISTicarao, he proceeded to Orotina, where he 
 found his pilot, Andres iSTino, who iu his absence had navi- 
 gated along the coast for 350 leagues and had reached the 
 limits of G-uatemala. The Spaniard embarked at this point 
 with all his people and returned to Panama, having been ab- 
 sent nearly two years. 
 
 From this epoch may be dated the long series of misfortunes 
 that overwhelmed the gallant discoverer of IS^icaragna. Gil 
 Gonzalez de Avila was of a frank, communicative and gener- 
 ous disposition, and was greatly beloved by his subordinates. 
 Pedrarias, the Governor of Darien, was valiant, audacious 
 and intelligent 5 but he possessed a tyrannical and jealous dis- 
 position. He was very ambitious, but he was also cruel and 
 sanguinary. Gil having solicited the future government of 
 the regions he had just explored, Pedrarias, desirous of appro- 
 priating to himself the results of said expedition, refused Gil's 
 just demand under the pretext that the territory in question 
 was not that which Gil had been authorized by the king to 
 conquer, but the same that had been discovered by his (Ped- 
 rarias') lieutenants, Ponce and Hurtado. Irritated at such 
 injustice, Gil embarked for Santo Domingo and laid his griev- 
 ances before the Eeal Audencia. This body, enchanted 
 with the relation of his discoveries, and desirous, above all, to 
 expedite the discovery of the connecting passage between the 
 two oceans which Gil assured them existed, gave him the full 
 and legal title of Governor of Nicaragua. 
 
 According to a map which was drawn up from informa- 
 tion he had received from the Indians, Gil thought that the 
 Gulf of Fonseca could not be far distant 'from the Bay of 
 Honduras. He departed for the latter with the ships, men 
 and horses which had been furnished him in Santo Domingo. 
 He arrived without accident, but when about to disembark a 
 terrible tempest arose ; and his horses becoming sick, he was 
 compelled to throw them into the sea. Shortly afterwards he 
 disembarked in a line bay a little to the north of the scene of 
 his misfortunes and founded a settlement which he called San 
 Gil de Buenavista. 
 
REPUBLIC OF NICARAaUA. 189 
 
 lu the meantime, Pedrarias, whom the story of Gil's former 
 expedition had inspired with an unconquerable desire to add 
 Nicaragua to the provinces under his jurisdiction, resolved 
 to send an expedition thither, to form an establishment. But 
 to realize this object it was necessary to find a commander 
 who, with the valor to conquer and the talent to establish a 
 colony, should lack the ambition and enterprise to declare 
 himself independent. 
 
 There was at Panama, among the unemployed adventurers 
 who swelled the little court of the governor, the same Fran- 
 cisco Fernandez de Cordoba, who had explored Yucatan before 
 Grijalva's expedition thither. He was a gentleman of good 
 family and had been one of the first settlers of Cuba, where 
 he had made a fortune. His expedition to Yucatan, which he 
 had undertaken at his own cost, had ruined him. He was not 
 able to continue his discoveries in that direction for want of 
 means. He had, therefore, been compelled to seek for employ- 
 ment. Cordoba was past the middle age. His vast experience 
 had dispelled the illusions of youth and he was noted for his 
 philosophic temperament. He was sufficiently brave to con- 
 quer, and disinterested enough not to inspire fears of his 
 appropriating what he had conquered. 
 
 Pedrarias therefore hastened to offer the command of the 
 expedition he intended to send into ISTicaragua, to Cordoba. 
 Upon the latter's acceptance of the trust he furnished him 
 with a sufficient force, well fitted out, and also sent with him 
 the same pilot who had guided the fleet of G-il Gonzalez de 
 A Vila. Cordoba, who came (originally from Andalusia, chose 
 for his followers from among Pedrarias' soldiers, all who were 
 natives of that part of Spain. These adventurers were the 
 forefathers of the principal Nicaraguan families of to day. 
 
 After having disembarked at Orotina, he founded a city at 
 'the mouth of the Salto, which he called Bruselas, in memory 
 of the recent military achievements of the Spaniards in Flan- 
 ders. He then marched to the territory of Mcarao and entered 
 into an alliance with him. He shortly afterwards, but not 
 without some difficulty, entered the country of the Dirianes, 
 where the king — cacique — permitted him to found a city close 
 
190 REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA. 
 
 to Subteba. He named it Grauada, after one of the principal 
 cities in Spain. As he found this locality very healthy he 
 resolved to make the new city the centre of his future opera- 
 tions. He fortified it and erected a magnificent churcli, 
 which he dedicated to his patron, San Francisco. Desirous 
 of exploring the lake as soon as possible, a brigantine was 
 brought, in pieces, fromBruselas, on the backs of the Indians, 
 porters of the neighborhood. He soon discovered that the 
 lake (Nicaragua) communicated only with the Atlantic. 
 
 Gil Gonzalez, who had been engaged in exploring the 
 country to the north, in search of that strait which constantly 
 seemed to elude him, learned from certain Nicaraguan Indians 
 that the country had been invaded by one of Pedrarias' lieu- 
 tenants. He immediately gathered his people together and 
 accompanied by numerous Indian auxiliaries marched against 
 the invaders. 
 
 The distance was greater and the country more broken than 
 he had imagined, and while he was slowly penetrating the 
 district of Olancho, Cordoba heard of his intentions and ad- 
 vanced to meet him as far as the country of the ]!!Tigrandos, 
 where he founded Leon, not far from the margin of lake Xol- 
 otlan, near Imbita. 
 
 Here he fortified his camp and calmly awaited Gil's ap- 
 proach. After some time had elapsed he was informed that 
 his adversary had flanked his position and entered the coun 
 try of the Chontales. He marched out to find- him. At length 
 the forces met near Toreba. The battle was deadly. Cordoba, 
 almost victor in tlie first combat, was utterly defeated in thfe 
 second and lost many men, all his horses and almost $425,000 
 in gold. 
 
 Gil made preparations to pursue him and reconquer all 
 Nicaragua, when he was informed that a Spanish fleet had 
 appeared off his settlement of San Gil. Deeply impressed by 
 this fact, he preferred to lose the results of his victory, and 
 resolved to return to his northern conquests. His greatest 
 fear was that the intruders intended searching for the strait, 
 which he constantly imagined he was about to discover him- 
 self. Cordoba took advantage of this retreat to follow him, 
 
REPUBLIC OF NICARA&UA. 191 
 
 at a (listajice, us far as the river Ooco, where he stopped sliort 
 and founded a cAiy, which he named Nueva Segovia. 
 
 The quarrels that arose in Honduras between Gil, Las Casas, 
 Olid and Cortez, irritated the Keal Audiencia of Santo Do- 
 mingo to such a degree that this body at length sent a hidalgo 
 named Moreno to Central America, with instructions to pacify 
 the country. Moreno disembarked in Trujillo, deposed Las 
 Casas, and appointed Juan Ruauo governor ad interim of 
 Honduras and Nicaragua. Having installed the new func- 
 tionary, Moreno commanded Cordoba, who was then at Leon, 
 to submit to Ruano, to obey tlie orders of the Eeal Audiencia, 
 and ignore the instructions of Pedrarias. 
 
 Cordoba resolved to take advantage of the situation and 
 declare himself independent of all parties save the King of 
 Spain. But Pedrarias had in Granada numerous relatives 
 and friends who opposed this movement. Cordoba endeavored 
 to force them to submit, but the Granadans rebelled against 
 his authority, and under the command of Captains Soto and 
 Campeon marched to encounter him. The ancient feud be- 
 tween the Indian nations of ISTagrando and Diriamba swelled 
 the ranks of both combatants. The rebels of Granuda were 
 compelled to retire before the forces of Cordoba. Soto and 
 Campeon fled to Bruselas and afterwards to Chiriqui. From 
 this latter locality they sent word to Pedrarias of all that had 
 taken place. 
 
 This latter chieftain, enraged at the treachery of his former 
 obedient lieutenant, resolved to chastise him. He collected 
 an ample force and set sail for Bruselas. He from thence 
 proceeded to Leon, which he captured, and immediately or- 
 dered the unfortunate Cordoba to be beheaded. He marched 
 afterwards to Trujillo, raised the whole province against 
 Euano, and obliged him to flee for his life. 
 
 Ruano returned to Santo Domingo followed by Gil, who had 
 remained quiet in the hopo. of eventually succeeding him in 
 the government. The Audiencia resolved to send him to 
 Spain with a detailed report of the events that had lately 
 taken place in Central America, and ^Nicaragua in particular. 
 They also petitioned that Gil might be aj)poiuted Governor, 
 
192 REPUBLIC OP NICARAaUA. 
 
 as he was the ouly man, in their estimation, who could pacify 
 the country. 
 
 Gil was well received by the court and was appointed to fill 
 the post he had so long struggled for. But scarcely had he 
 triumphed over his enemies, and obtained his just rights, 
 when he sickened and died at Valledolid in the beginning of 
 the year 1526. 
 
 With the execution of Cordoba and the untimely death of 
 the chivalrous Gil Gonzales de Avila, ends the romantic and 
 adventurous era of the conquest of Nicaragua. The cold 
 blooded Pedrarias in person took an active part in the subju- 
 gation of the country. The two former adventurers were kind 
 and friendly to the natives, who readily followed them on their 
 various expeditions and fought valiantly under their orders. 
 
 Meanwhile the King of Spain (Charles V.) had appointed 
 Diego Lopez de Salcedo Governor of Honduras and Nicaragua 
 in place of the deceased Gil Gonzales. On his arrival at the 
 scene of operations, this functionary found Savaadra, a lieu- 
 tenant of Cortez, in command. He immediately deposed him, 
 put him in prison for awhile, and then, after confiscating his 
 property, exiled him to Cuba. But Pedrarias, who had waited 
 quietly at Leon until Cortez returned to Mexico, sent his 
 lieutenant, Kojas, against Salcedo. The latter was able to 
 maintain his pretensions ; so, after a series of sanguinary con- 
 flicts, Eojas entered into a compact with him by which Pedra- 
 rias was recognized as Governor of the iNicaraguan territory 
 as far as the jurisdiction of Mcarao extended. Pedrarias, who 
 was dissatisfied with this arrangement, refused his consent to 
 it, and determined to go to Spain and petition the king for a 
 legal title to his conquests. 
 
 After a prosperous voyage, Pedrarias reached the peninsula 
 and immediately proceeded to the court. He was well re- 
 ceived by the king and succeeded in obtaining the title of 
 Governor of Nicaragua, with instructions to leave Salcedo in 
 charge of the government of Honduras. 
 
 The news of this arrangement having reached Leon, the 
 municipality of that city laid hold oi Salcedo and reduced him 
 to prison. When Pedrarias arrived he had him tried for 
 
REPUBLIC OP WICARAGXTA. 193 
 
 haviug destroyed Bruselas, and kept him prisoner for eight 
 mouths, when he eventutiily released him and allowed him to 
 proceed to HouduraSj where he was soon after poisoned by 
 his enemies. 
 
 Pedrarias who had treated the Indians with the utmost se- 
 verity and had suppressed the least sign of resistance to his 
 power with the most bloody reprisals, on his return to Pan- 
 ama encountered a change in the situation. Taking advan- 
 tage of the quarrels between their oppressors, the Indians had 
 broken out in open rebellion But Pedrarias was equal to the 
 situation, and fought the Indians without cession. Nnmeroi^s 
 combats, and six battles took place. At first the Indians ob- 
 tained many advantages but they were eventually defeated, 
 with terrible loss, and iinaliy, submitted to Pedrarias in 1529. 
 
 This latfcer chieftain inaugurated a system which he denom- 
 inated the " Period of organisation.^^ The chiefs of the Indian 
 rebels were thrown to the bloodhounds which tore them to 
 pieces. The survivors were forced to embrace the Catholic re- 
 ligion under the penalty of death. The masses were subjected 
 to heavy tributes and severe tasks. The repartamiuto system 
 of labor was introduced, and generalized, and the natives were 
 divided like cattle among the cruel conquerors. Those indi- 
 viduals who resisted were ruthlessly tortured, and when com- 
 munities rebeled, their towns and villages were destroyed, 
 and the miserable inhabitants put to the sword. The Indians 
 were reduced to the most abject slavery. Their property was 
 taken and they were branded like cattle with red-hot iron. The 
 Antilles having been depopulated through this system of 
 cruelty, the Spanish residents sought slaves on the main land. 
 Thousands of the unfortunate natives were chained and sent 
 to Trujillo to be transported to Cuba and Santo Domingo to 
 be sold as slaves. 
 
 Pedrarias died, as he had lived, in harness, in the year 1531, 
 Through his own personal efforts and those of his Lieutenants 
 he achieved the conquest of that vast stretch of territory ex- 
 tending from the equator, north, to the southern limits of Gua- 
 temala. But his cruel system of government prevailed for a 
 long period after his death, and the miserable remnant of In- 
 dians, he still permitted to exist, moistened their native soil 
 with their bloody sweat, or dragged out a brief and painful 
 existence in the mines or gold placers. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Rapid Depopulation of Nicaragua — Spanish Regime — Oppnission of the 
 Creoles and Half Castes— Revolt of the Residents of Granada— Inde- 
 pendence Declared — Annexation. of Central America to Mexico — Fall 
 of Itnrhide — Central American Republic Established — ItsDestrnction 
 in 1838 — English Oppression^Granada Captured by British TroojJS — 
 Clayton-Bulwer Treaty — Regeneration and Reform of the Republic. 
 
 Wben the adventurer, Gil Gonzalez de Avila, first landed 
 on the coast and penetrated to tlie borders of tbe great lakes? 
 NicaragUH contained within its limits a happy and industrious 
 Indian population of 3,000,000 souls. In less than ten years, 
 more than two million and a half of the natives had perished 
 in battle, were worked to death in the mines, or had starved 
 amid the mountain fastnesses which proved their last refuge 
 from Spanish oppression. The very year of Pedrarias' death, 
 1531, a terrible famine prevailed. The small-pox and scarlet 
 fever followed in its train, and at least 250,000 more of the 
 miserable Indians perished. Thus, in 1810, when the first 
 movement towards realizing the independence of the country 
 was made, an impartial observer unhesitatingly estimated the 
 entire aboriginal population of the province at but 90,000 
 souls. 
 
 The history of the long Spanish rule in Nicaragua com- 
 prises but little more than a series of combats with Indian 
 rebels and of quarrels between the two rival cities of Leon 
 and Granada. The home government oppressed the descend: 
 ants of the conquerors almost as much as the latter did their 
 Indian vassals. The inter-marriage of the first conquerors 
 and settlers with the daughters and female relatives of the 
 aboriginal caciques brought about the creation of a new race 
 who were indifferently called Creoles and Ladinos '>y the 
 Spaniards. But the Spanish fathers treated their half bree<l 
 children with contempt and their native wives with a good 
 humored assumption of superiority. The issue of these mar 
 riages naturally feared their fathers and loved their mothers, 
 
REPUBLIC OF NICAEAaUA. 195 
 
 and invariably sympathised with the oppressed aboriginal 
 population. Kone but native Spaniards were permitted to fill 
 the public posts or hold commissions in the army, thus the 
 half castes were relegated to a life of toil or idleness. 
 
 Meanwhile the English had landed at various points on the 
 Atlantic slope, aud eventually formed permanent establish- 
 ments. The Mosquite tribe and the Zambos joined their 
 standard and waged a ferocious and interminable war against 
 the Si)aniards and the Indians who remained faithful bo them. 
 The English entered into a vast contraband trade with the 
 Ladinos and also with many disaffected Spaniards, and prom- 
 ised them material assistance whenever the^^ saw fit to make 
 a bold strike for their independence. In the beginning of the 
 present century the English were virtually masters of the 
 entire Caribbean coast, while the restless Creoles and Ladinos, 
 of the interior, and the entire Indian population were ready 
 to av^euge the long dark period of Spanish misrule and made 
 secret preparations for revolt. 
 
 At length, in 1810, the news arrived aud was promulgated, 
 that in 1808, the armies of the Lion of Corsica had entered 
 Spain and had deposed the taciturn Ferdinand VII. ; that 
 Quito had raised the standard of liberty over hei- public build- 
 ings and that the Mexican priest, EQdalgo, had proclaimed 
 the independence of Mexico. 
 
 The patriots of Leon followed the example of the so-called 
 rebels of Mexico and New Grenada and deposed their gover- 
 nor, Jose Salvador. The Spanish Cortes, upon information 
 of this event, decreed that Nicaragua should be governed 
 by a council composed of the deputies of Leon, Costa Rica, 
 Grauada, Eivas, Segovia, Matagalpa and Nicoya. This coun- 
 cil met in 1812 and decreed the promulgation of the liberal 
 Spanish Constitution. 
 
 But the patriots were di.^satisfied with this arrangement. 
 The people of Granada took the initiative. They deposed all 
 the Spanish functionaries and demanded independence. Troops 
 were sent from Leon to suppress the revolt, and several san- 
 guinary conflicts took place. Various patriots, among whom 
 were Arguello and Cel^da, were sent prisoners to Spain. 
 
196 REPUBLIC OP NiCAEAaXJA. 
 
 Upon the fall of Napoleou, Ferdinand reascended the throne 
 of his ancestors and the liberal Constitution was abolished. 
 But many of the Spanish functionaries in Central America de- 
 precated this restoration of absolutism. The Creole and Ladiuo 
 patriots endeavored, in conjunction with this new element of 
 opposition, to bring about an entire separation from the mother 
 country, but their efforts were fruitless and much precious 
 blood was shed in vain. 
 
 In 1820, the successful conspiracy of Gen. Riego, the fall of 
 the absolute party and the new promulgation of the Constitu- 
 tion of the Cortez decided the fate of Guatemala. The exiles 
 of 1814, returned and the patriot party pronounced openly in 
 favor ^of complete independence. Gainza, the Captain General, 
 favored this movement hoping to direct and manage it for his 
 personal benefit. At length Guatemala was solemnly declared 
 free and independent on the 15th of September, 1821. 
 
 An election for deputies to Congress was immediately held, 
 but before the Congress in question met, the new republic was 
 annexed to the ephemerel empire established by Iturbide, in 
 Mexico. Then two political parties divided Central Anerica. 
 The one in favor and the other against annexation The larger 
 cities adhered to the compact, but those of second order^ 
 Granada, for instance — demanded separation from the empire. 
 The patriot inhabitants, under the leadership of one Ordonez, 
 refused to submit and arnachy and civil war prevailed until 
 the fall of the Iturbide regime, in 1823. 
 
 June 24th J 823, a Congress was held in Guatemala, which 
 is known in history as the National Constitute Assembly. On 
 the 1st of July the united provinces of Central America were 
 declared free and independent, and from that date may be reck- 
 oned the actual emancipation of the country. 
 
 On the 17th of October, the same year, a constitution was 
 submitted to Congress, for discussion. The 17th of April, 1824, 
 slavery was abolished. At that epoch there were not more 
 than a thousand slaves in Central America. The owners were 
 immediately paid their full value. At length the First Federal 
 Constitution was promulgated on the 22d of November, 1824. 
 Each province was elevated to the posit'on of a sovereign state, - 
 
REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA. 197 
 
 with its independent Congress or legislature, while a E"ational 
 Congress was to hold its regular periodical sessions at Guate- 
 mala the capital of the republic. The new Constitution was 
 sworn to by the public officials April 15, 1825, and the first 
 federal Congress met on the 1st of the following September. 
 This Constitution, notwithstanding the numerous revolutions 
 that menanced its existence, was considered the fundamental 
 law of the entire country until 1838, when it was overthrown 
 and the republic was destroyed by the tiiumphant serviles. 
 
 While the Constitution was being drawn up and the republic 
 founded, Nicaragua was the prey of factions whose struggles 
 converted the state into a theatre of battle and bloodshed. 
 The ancient ri^'alries of the cities of Leon and Granada broke 
 out afresh. The residents of one city favored the federation of 
 the five republics ; those of the other declared for the absolute 
 separation of the provinces and their entire independence of 
 each other. The Federalists became known as the liberal 
 party and the anti-annexionists as the serviles. 
 
 In the beginning of the year 1824 the province was governed 
 by an administrative council, which substituted the govern- 
 ment of Sarabia. But it scarcely had time to pass a few 
 measures, among which was the abolition of slavery, when its 
 authority was destroyed by the terrible struggle between the 
 two parties. On the Ith of July a revolution broke out. On 
 the 22d of the same month, after a sanguinary conflict, Leon 
 was captured and sacked by the enraged Liberals. 
 
 In March, 1825, Honduras and Nicaragua seceded from the 
 federation ; and on the 10th of April a Congress, presided 
 over by Zamora, met and gave a constitution to the free and 
 sovereign State of Nicaragua. On the 22d of the same month 
 Cerda and Arguella, who had been exiled in 1811, were elect- 
 ed, the one a supreme chief and the other vice chief of the 
 State. 
 
 But this attempt at political organization was made too late. 
 The parties had committed such excesses against each other 
 that their reconciliation was impossible. But the principal 
 canse of further troubles was the quarrel that took place be- 
 tween Cerda and Arguello. Each became chief of one of the 
 
]9S REPUBLIC OF NICARA&TJA. 
 
 two parties that divided society, A cruel civil war broke out. 
 Durinjr its course the subject of dissention was completely 
 lost sight of, and a terrible conflict, tliat lasted years, devas- 
 tated the couutry. 
 
 From this epoch may be dated that strange Nicaragu^n 
 custom which made it incumbent upon each member of society 
 to declare himself a partisan of One of the political parties 
 which were constantly striving to obtain possession of the 
 government. The females were as bitter and rancorons jis 
 their male relatives and contributed, in no small degree, to the 
 intensity of the conflict. The idea of submitting to the j)oliti- 
 cal supremacy of the opposite party was too humiliating to 
 be borne by the high minded people, thus as fast as one fac- 
 tion gained the upper haud the other rebelled and strove to 
 overthrow it. . 
 
 According to the historian, Lev3% "this unfortunate situation 
 brought about a corresponding corruption of morals Each 
 ambitious man strove either to govern or take part in the 
 government. Those who o(;cupied the principal posts sought 
 to enrich themselves. Property was violated and individual 
 liberty ignored. Justice was pro.stitnted and only the phan- 
 tom of a government existed.. The conquered party was the 
 object of inhuman rei)risals, and, desirous of avenging those 
 of its numbers who had been shot like dogs, grasped the first 
 opportunity to renew the strife. Treason, hypocrisy, seduc- 
 tion, conspiracy and assassination were introduced into poli- 
 tics, and the country became the ])rey of the most horrible 
 disorders." This terrible condition of affairs prevailed until 
 the death of Oerda, who was shot at Rivas, in 1829. 
 
 About this time the Liberal General, Morozan, attempted to 
 reorganii:e the government and put an end to the civil wars 
 that desolated each of the five states of the federation. For a 
 period his efforts were successful and the serviles were about 
 to give over the struggle in despair, when the brutal and fero- 
 cious Carrera of Guatemala appeared in the political arena. 
 Morozan's star paled before that of the fortunate ladiuo, and 
 he was driven into exile. He returned to Costa Riea in 1840, 
 
REPUBLIC OF NICARAaUA. 199 
 
 but was defeated, captured and shot at San Jos6. With him 
 fell the Central American republic. 
 
 In 1838, the federal Congress dissolved the federation, declar- 
 ing the states free, to govern themselves as they saw fit, with 
 the single restriction that the form of government should be 
 republican. On the 30th of April, 1838, IsTicaragua proclaimed 
 her absolute independence, and promulgated a new Constitu- 
 tion. Each state assumed its proportion of the debt contracted 
 by the federation. 
 
 But before the declaration of the state's independence the 
 internal disorders had continued. The rivalry between the 
 cities of Leon and Granada served as a pretext for the most 
 bloody struggles. The poorer politicians established a situa- 
 tion of war against all who owned property, without distinc- 
 tion of party. Zepeda was cruelly assassinated at Leon, and 
 the vice governor, ISTufiez, assumed the functions of chief of 
 the nation. 
 
 The last Federal Congress closed its sessions on the 30th of 
 June, 1838^ and Pablo Buitrogo was elected the first supreme 
 director, with instructions to establish the Constitution of 
 April 30th. He was soon succeeded by Don Mannei Perez. 
 
 The federal cause was totally lost. The dictator. Carreia, 
 held the key of the situation and by his declaration of Guate- 
 mala as a separate and independent rei)ublic definitely dis- 
 solved the federation. Then Perez, the supreme dictator of 
 Nicaragua, endeavored .to bring about a union of tlie three 
 States of Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua!. A convention 
 was held in 1842, but the exalted passions of the different 
 political parties soon put an end to the deliberations of this 
 body, and the plan of partial federation fell to the ground. 
 
 Lett to its fate, Nicaragua continued the prey of the most 
 complete anarchy, and for five years a continuous situation of 
 civil war obtained. In 1844, Malespin invaded Leon and 
 overthrew Perez. Jose Leon Sandoval assumed the functions 
 of supreme dictator. This gentleman endeavored to reform 
 his country but was unsuccessi'ul. He sent an agent to Eng- 
 land to attempt the solution of the Mosquite question and to 
 solicit assistance for the Nicaragua oanal^ which had been 
 
200 REPUBLIC OF NIOARAGIJA. 
 
 projected by Baily, in 1838. This mission failed and, in 1847j 
 Sandoval resigned and Jos6 G-uerrero was chosen to fill the 
 position he had vacated. 
 
 As early as 1836, the Mcaraguan G-overnment resolved to 
 dispossess some English fillibusters who had captured Grey- 
 town in 1824, and had even gone so far as to establish a 
 customhouse at that point. Colonel Quijano was sent with 
 sufficient forces to oust them. He succeeded in his mission. 
 The English retired but sent an envoy to Belize to ask assist- 
 ance trom Grovernor McDonald. This latter official acceded 
 to their petition, sent forces to the scene of operatious and 
 retook the port, which was, however, evactuated shortly after- 
 wards. 
 
 When the English troops retired Quijano immediately re- 
 occupied the place. The English and i!>Iicaraguau Groveruments 
 from that moment entered upon an augry correspondence. 
 The former claimed jurisdiction along the entire Caribbean 
 coast. The latter naturally demanded that England should 
 repress her fillibustering subjects and leave l^icaragua in 
 peace. Then the English incited the Mosquite Indians to 
 attack the port, but government soldiers repulsed them time 
 and again until Captain Lock, by order of the Governor of 
 Jamaica, Sir Charles G-rey, at the head of a large force, took 
 possession of the port, ascended the San Juan river and occu- 
 pied Granada, He held possession of this city until he made 
 a formal arrangement with the l!^icaraguan Government, on 
 the 7th of May, that it would no longer interfere witli the 
 sovereignty of the Mosquite Nation over the Atlantic coast. 
 The foreign residents of the port, in gratitude for the action 
 of the Governor of Jamaica, gave it his name, and since that 
 epoch it has been generally known as Greytown. 
 
 This disgraceful circumstance had— temporarily at least — a 
 very beneficial eifect upon the people. The fact that a small 
 body of foreign soldiers had, almost without resistance on 
 their part, captured their principal Caribbean seaport, pene- 
 trated far into the interior of their republic and occupied 
 their second city in importance and wealth, humiliated them 
 
REPUBLIC OF NICABAGUA. 201 
 
 to such a degree that tliey dropped their arms and put an end 
 to their interminable civil wars. 
 
 In 1849, Norberto Ramirez succeeded Guerrero. This year 
 was marked by the arrival of the American Minister Plenipo- 
 tentiary, Mr. Squier, and IS'icaragua entered into a treaty of 
 peace and friendship with the great republic. About the 
 same time an American named Brown entered into a contract 
 to construct the canal, and Vanderbilt, the great American 
 ship-owner, obtained permission to transport freight and pas- 
 sengers, for California, through the country from Greytown, 
 on the Caribbean coast, to the Pacific, 
 
 But these measures, although a step forward in the right 
 direction, were far from satisfying the irritated state of feel- 
 ing consequent upon the repeated violations of national terri- 
 tory, and the Central Americans again demanded possessioy 
 of the Bay Islands and the port of San .Juan del Norte — Gray- 
 town. The English, upon these manifestations, immediately 
 occupied Tigre Island, in the gulf of Fonseca. Then the 
 United States interfered and demanded the recognition of the 
 Monroe doctrine. At length the Claytou-Bulwer treaty was 
 entered into. The absolute independence of the Central 
 American republics was assured as well as the neutrality of 
 all future canals that might be cut through this territory. But 
 the American statesmen, in their anxiety to prevent the fur- 
 ther extension of slavery and the acquisition of territory to 
 the south that might be utilized for that purpose, lost sight of 
 the Mosquito coast question and foolishly entered into a stip- 
 ulation which virtually rendered American influence null in 
 Central America. Thus, if the ratification of this treaty was 
 a glorious event for the little Latin- American republics, it was 
 an ignominious compact for our own country to be bound by, 
 and cannot be abrogated too soon. 
 
 On the first of January, 1851, the first Vanderbilt steamer 
 arrived at Greytown. The supreme director, Laureano Pin- 
 eda, placed at the disposition of the enterprise the two ports 
 of La Virgen and San Juan del Sur. This step was taken for 
 the purpose of diminishing the length of the transit, as hith- 
 erto the route led through Realejo and Granada. 
 
202 REPUBLIC OF NIOABAaUA. 
 
 The same j'ear the town of Managua was declared the capi- 
 tal of the republic, for the purpose of putting a stop to the 
 disastrous rivalry that still existed between the cities of Leon 
 and Granada. A third convention decreed the union of the 
 three States — Honduras, San Salvador and Nicaragua. In 
 1852 a national assembly was held at Tegucigalpa for the pur- 
 pose of conferring a constitution on the new federation, but no 
 result was arrived at, and the plan of the confederation was 
 definitely abandoned. 
 
 In 1853 Don Fruto Ohamorro was elected Supreme Director. 
 This gentleman was one of the most intelligent statesmen and 
 accomplished scholars that Central America had as yet pro- 
 duced. He was a sincere patriot and entertained liberal, but 
 not radical, sentiments. He set himself earnestly to work to 
 pacify his country and regenerate society. In 1855 a constit- 
 uent assemby abolished the constitutien of 1838, changed the 
 title of state to republic, and that of supreme dictator to pres- 
 ident. The chieftains of the radical faction fled to San Salva- 
 dor, but soon returned to Nicaragua at the head of a party of 
 ardent followers, and at Leon were joined by a great number 
 of recruits. Ohamorro jilaced himself at the head of the army 
 and stood a siege of nine months in Granada. 
 
 The radicals then invited the American filibuster. Walker, 
 to join their ranks, and in 1855 the latter disembarked at Brito 
 and attacked Ruas. But the young Nicaraguans, irrespective 
 of party, banded against him and he suffered a total defeat. 
 This adventurer again returned to the country. The sequel 
 of his romantic career will be given in another place. For five 
 years he disturbed the country and prevented the prosecution 
 of the plans of reform meditated by the patriot Ohamorro. 
 
 The death of Walker, and the final dispersion of the unpatrit 
 otic Nicaraguans who had followed his desperate fortunes so 
 faithfully, inaugurated a new era of peace and reform. Under 
 the Presidents Martinez, Guzman and Quadra, and somewhat 
 later Zavala and 04rdenas, Nicaragua has slowly but surely 
 entered upon a new political existence. 
 
 The war for the conquest of the country by the Spaniards, 
 which has been marked by so many sangninaj-y scenes and 
 
REPUBLIC OF NTCARAaUA. 203 
 
 heart-sickeuiuiLi' atrocities, and the long', dark, sullen Spanish 
 regime, which brutalized the indigiues and terrorized and em- 
 bittered the Creole and ladino population, were the causes 
 which eventually led to the cruel wars and bloody emeutes 
 which devastated the country for five long decades after its in- 
 dependence. When the oppressed Creoles and ladinos rebelled 
 against their former masters, the lessons of the past three cen- 
 turies had been well digested, and, when victorious they turned 
 against each other the arms they had taken up to battle for 
 their freedom. But liberty is a coy damsel who can only be 
 won by force, while her conduct is so capricious and her prin- 
 ciples so ambiguous that their true meaning is difficult to be 
 ascertained. She so much resembles license that many of 
 her votaries mistake it for her, and, enveloped in error, com- 
 mit a thousand excesses before the truth dawns upon them. 
 A people before they can achieve liberty must be purified by 
 a baptism of blood, while the capricious goddess is only 
 reached after wading through a sea of slaughter. Such has 
 been the history of every people who have striven for indepen- 
 dence, and such was the history of unfortunate if icaragua for a 
 period of nearly fifty years. 
 
 It would seem almost impossible then that a people who had 
 for so long a period been surrounded by such corrupting influ 
 ences could even seriously undertake, and eventually achieve, 
 the political, social and material reformation of their country. 
 Yet the I^icaraguans have accomplished all this within the 
 brief period of a decade and a half. The good work of regen- 
 eration was begun by President J. Vincente Quadras. His 
 successors, particularly Zavala, the last president and Dr Oar- 
 demas the present enlightened Executive, have faithfully fol- 
 lowed his example and have at length fairly solved the problem 
 he first undertook. In fact Nicaragua in some respects has 
 progressed further on the path of political and material re- 
 form than her northern sisters. She has extinguished her 
 foreign debt, and has inaugurated a grand railroad system 
 which will in a few years net-work the entire republic with 
 iron bands. Steps have been taken to restore the port of 
 Graytown to its former condition and improve the navigation 
 
204 REPUBLIC OF NIC ARA.GUA. 
 
 of the rapid river San Juan, and the government, desirous of 
 filling the waste lands with indus^trious settlers, has olBtered 
 advantageous terms to foreign immigrants. 
 
 The reader will observe, therefore, that the terrible lessons 
 of the past have not been unheeded by the people of IS^icaragua, 
 and that in a comparatively brief period they have reformed 
 the abuses that obtained in their system of government. They 
 have regenerated the republic. They merit the respect and 
 esteem of their fellowmeu and deserve to be classed among the 
 most progressive and liberal of all the people of Latin America. 
 
CHAPTER 111. 
 
 Walker's Invasion — He Seizes the Government — Proclaims Slavery — 
 American Abolitionists Declare Against Him — Great Britain also 
 interferes — He Is Defeated and Seeks Safety on an English Vessel — Is 
 Delivered Up to His Enemies and Shot — British Oppression in Cen- 
 . tral America— Settlement of Bluefields— The Treaty of 1860— The 
 Mosquite Reservation. 
 Thirty years ago the Republic of Nicaragua was better 
 known to the civilized world than any other portion of Cen- 
 tral America. A band of brave American filibusters, under 
 the command of the famous Walker, for several years waged 
 a war of conquest on Mcaraguan territory. After a series of 
 sanguinary combats and romantic adventures, the intrepid 
 Walker, assisted by a few discontented Nicaraguan chieftains 
 and their followers, eventually prevailed. He seized the reins 
 of power and for a brief period controlled the destinies of the 
 countr}'. 
 
 Notwithstanding the avowed hostility of the British Gov- 
 ernment and the undisguised enmity of the people of the 
 northern section of the great republic to his person and pro- 
 jects, hundreds of volunteers flocked to the standard of the 
 filibuster chieftain. Thousands more would have cast their 
 fortunes with him and his success would then have been fully 
 assured, when he was betrayed into an impolitic act which 
 speedily brought about his downfall. The moiety of his forces 
 were natives of the Sunny South. They were naturally deeply 
 imbued with the political sentiments and the traditions cur- 
 rent in that section. Their greatest ambition was to bring 
 about the establishment of a slavocracy in Central America, 
 and they induced the reckless adventurer to declare slavery 
 an institution of the new Americo-Latin Eepublic. 
 
 From the moment that imprudent resolution was taken, 
 and the decree establishing slavery promulgated, the fillibus- 
 tering movement was doomed. The British Grovernment 
 openly interfered and supplied the patriot chieftains with 
 arms and money. The abolitionists of the northern section 
 
206 REPUBLIC OF NICARAaUA. 
 
 of the United States denounced the new alave-holding power 
 and the G-overnment was compelled, by the voice of popular 
 opinion, to prevent all further shipment of material of war, 
 and of volunteers to Nicaraguan ports. 
 
 Deprived of reinforcements, of munitions of war and of sup- 
 plies, surrounded on all sides by a hostile and irreconcilable 
 people, the gallant but misguided American chieftain, after 
 almost superhuman efforts to sustain his sinking cause, was 
 delivered by the English into the hands of his >n placable ene- 
 mies and was executed as a filibuster. He met his fate calmly 
 and courageously ; but before he died he is reported, in the 
 bitterness of his disappointment, to have uttered tbe follow- 
 ing significant and j)rophetic remarks : 
 
 " I have been deserted by countrymen. They promised me 
 means, arms and reinforcements. I fought their battle in a 
 foreign country, but it will not be long before the struggle 
 will be renewed in my own southland and the forces of pro- 
 slavery and abolition will contend for political supremacy on 
 the cane fields and cotton plantations of the South." 
 
 The deep significance and great importance of the problem 
 Walker attempted to solve was not at the time comprehended 
 by the world at large, nor, did he himself aj)preciate, to its full 
 extent, the work he had undertaken. Walker was not a mere 
 adventurer. He was an acute observer and had, notwithstand- 
 ing his assertions to the contrary, arrived at the conclusion 
 that the institution of slavery had reached its apogee in the 
 United States. Several of his old comrades at arms who yet 
 survive have said that his intention was to found a new slave 
 empire where the soil, the climate and all the surroundings 
 warranted the success of his grand enterpi-ise. 
 
 Nicaragua once subdued and his army reinforced with thou- 
 sands of adventurers from every land, but particularly from' 
 the southern section of the United States, he would have pro- 
 ceeded northward, and Honduras, Guatemala and San Salva- 
 dor would in turn have been subdued. These conquests 
 consolidated, he would have added Costa Rica and the isthmus 
 to his vast domain, and then, but not till then, would have 
 declared himself emperor of United Central America. 
 
RBPi BLIC OP NICARAeUA. 207 
 
 But to carry this grand enterprise to a successful issue 
 would have required vast sums of money and large armies. 
 The gold and silver mines found in the mountains of Guate- 
 mala, Honduras and the Department of Segovia could have 
 supplied the former; the reckless and adventurous youth of 
 the south the latter ; and had he not betrayed his pro-slavery 
 tendencies too prematurely, he might have succeeded. In this 
 case, the war of secession in the United States might have 
 been delayed, if not altogether averted, for a more congenial 
 clime for the permanent establishment of slavery would have 
 been furnished, while the institution would, naturally have be- 
 come unprofitable in our own Sunny Southland. 
 
 But Walker's grand project fell to the ground, and the 
 soldier paid with his life the penalty of his failure. 
 
 But the romantic career and subsequent martyrdom of 
 Walker solved one problem that had sorely perplexed the 
 statesmen of both Europe and America. He struck a fatal 
 l;low at English supremacy in the Caribbean sea. When the 
 British delivered him over to execution, they fondly imagined 
 that the greatest foe to their ambitious designs was thus re- 
 moved. But they were mistaken. The United States and 
 France at last awakened to an appreciation of England's in- 
 sidious Central American policy and remonstrated against 
 its continuance. The result of this interference was the treaty 
 between l^icaragua and England in 1860, which restored to 
 the former country the territory which had been wrested from 
 her by the latter power. The Cape Gracias and Graytown 
 districts were returned to Nicaragua in fall sovereignty. Yet 
 certain commercial restrictions were maintained which even 
 the most prejudiced enemy of Great Britain must confess have 
 proved beneficial to the localities in question. The Mosquito 
 reservation was established, and England, ostensibly at least, 
 renounced her absurd pretentions to political supremacy in 
 Nicaragua. A treaty between Honduras and Great Britain 
 restored to the former the possession in full and absolute sov- 
 ereignty of the Caribbean archipelago commonly known as 
 the Bay Islands. 
 
 As England's designs on Central America eventually as- 
 sumed such significant political proportions, and as Nicaragua 
 
208 REPUBLIC OF NICAEAaUA. 
 
 was the principal victim of that insidious policy, a brief sketch 
 of the history of Great Britain's endeavor to acquire absolute 
 'political preponderance in Central America might be inter- 
 esting to American readers. 
 
 In the year 1589, a pirate, or filibuster, named Blan veldt 
 founded a colotiy at Blueflelds. Other pirates established 
 themselves at Pearl Lagoon and other different points ; and in 
 a few years acquired such strength that they openly defied the 
 majesty and power of the Sf>anish monarchy. They soon con- 
 vinced the surrounding Indian tribes that they were most im- 
 placable enemies of the red man's deadly foe, the Spaniards, 
 and eventually acquired an unbounded influence over the un- 
 tutored sous of the forest. Through their intermarriages with 
 the Indian woman, and the subsequent miscegenation of 
 ladinos, negroes, caribs, Indians and their own [)arti-colored 
 issue, a new race of people was created whose descendants 
 live still at different localities along the extended Mosquito 
 coast. 
 
 As the majority of these pirates were English — (their leaders 
 almost invariably were)— they naturally looked to the mother 
 country for moral, if not for material, support to consolidate 
 and increase the number of their conquests. For two centu- 
 ries these ferocious and brutal, but at the same time reckless 
 and desperate adventurers, harried the islands of the Antilles 
 and the vast stretch of coast along the Spanish main. Their 
 piratical ships infested the Mexican gulf, the wide Caribbean 
 sea, and even extended their incursions as far east and south 
 as the mouth of the Eio de la Plata. 
 
 A filibuster craft of ordinary tonnage would unhesitatingly 
 attack a Spanish vessel of triple its size. The ferocious pirates 
 were generally victors in these sanguinary combats. The 
 Spanish crews, and male passengers, were either slaughtered ' 
 immediately, or were reserved and afterward compelled "to 
 walk the plank" for the amusement of their blood-thirsty 
 captors, but the female captives were doomed to an even 
 more terrible fate. While a portion of the filibusters, pirates, 
 buccaneers, or whatever they should be styled, were the mas- 
 ters of the southern seas, their companions made long and 
 
REPUBLIC OF NIC AR AQUA. 209 
 
 victorrous incursious into the interior of G-uatemala, of Nica- 
 ragua, and of Costa Kica, and devastated the country for 
 miles on either side of their line of march. 
 
 Thus amid such constantly recurring scenes of murder, of 
 rapine, and of license, the blood cemented foundations of 
 England's future commercial and political predominance in 
 Central America were laid. 
 
 In the year 1655, Cromwell dispatched a powerful fleet to 
 the Antilles. His intention was to wrest Cuba, Puerto Eico, 
 Jamaica, and in fact all the West Indian possessions of Spain, 
 from the degenerate successors of Charles V. and the absolute 
 and all powerful Phillip II. The commanders of the land 
 forces and the fleet quarreled, thus the conquest of the Island 
 of Jamaica was the only result accom]3lished by the expedition. 
 But the sullen Protector was greatly dissatisfied with his in- 
 capable subordinates and was meditating the dispatch of 
 another and more formidable expedition to the Antilles, when 
 death put an end to his ambitious projects. 
 
 Had this wonderful man, this indomitable spirit, controlled 
 the destinies of Great Britain a decade longer, or if his im 
 mediate successor had possessed a tithe of his talent and 
 patriotism, the English flag would to-day wave in the gentle 
 breezes that sway the cane fields and wanton over the wide 
 savanahs of Cuba, Puerto Eico and Hayti, and fly on the 
 summits of the tall mountain ranges which enclose the fertile 
 valleys and elevated table lands of Central America. 
 
 From the epoch of the conquest of Jamaica, British influ- 
 ence was predominant on the coast of the Spanish main from 
 Campeche, south and east to the reeking feiis and tropic 
 jungles of the distant Isthuius of Panama. The paw of the 
 British lion pressed heavily upon the Bay Islands. The gov- 
 ernment laid claim to that territory since known as British 
 Honduras and, in 1798, achieved its ultimate conquest. The 
 entire Caribbean coasts of Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua 
 and Costa Eica were virtually subject to English rule, while 
 the savage and yet unconquered tribes of Southern Yucatan, 
 of Eastern Honduras and of Nicaragua, looked to Great 
 
210 REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA. 
 
 Britain for material support against their common enemy, the 
 Spaniards. 
 
 Although the courts of Madrid and London were seldom 
 at enmitj' "during this long period of British oppression -in 
 Spanish America,' the subjects of both waged an unremitting 
 war in the seas that washed the Spanish i30Ssessions and 
 along their extended coasts. If the Court of St. James dis- 
 avowed the piratical acts of the filibusters, the most success- 
 ful of their leaders were welcomed at Whitehall and even 
 enobled by the degenernte Stuarts. It was not until the buc- 
 caneers began to prey upon British commerce that any attempt 
 was made by the island sovereign to repress them. Then the 
 British Government awoke to a sense of their crimes and 
 assisted Spain to annihilate them. 
 
 While retaining their hold upon their numerous settlements 
 along the Caribbean coast, the English peojjle adopted a new 
 method of aggression in Central America. If the most fero- 
 cious and abandoned pirates were destroyed, the most humane 
 gradually became peaceful merchants and civilized smugglers. 
 If the sullen roar of piratical cannon and the sharp rattle of 
 British musketry no longer sounded in the ears of the terrified 
 Spanish-Americans, the gaily dressed English " contraband- 
 ists " defied the rigor of the Spanish authorities and flooded 
 Latin American marts with British manufactured goods. 
 
 The Caribbean coast of Nicaragua was the favorite resort 
 of these gentry, while Graytown, Blueflelds and Corn Island 
 were their principal headquarters. Again and again were 
 they assailed by the Spanish naval and military forces, but 
 they generally succeeded in beating off their assailants, and 
 became more aggressive after each victory. 
 
 During the Napoleonic wars the fleets of Great Britain 
 swept triumphantly over the gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean 
 sea, and Trinidad and several other important Spanish Amer- 
 ican possessions were permanently annexed to the British em- 
 pire. Upon the assumption of the Spanish crown by Joseph 
 Bonaparte, the Spanish colonies, incited by British emissaries, 
 refused to acknowledge his authority, and after his fall re- 
 belled against the mother country. Aided by the moral influ- 
 
REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA. 211 
 
 ence, aud in many oases by the material assistance, of Great 
 Britain, the rebellion was snccessful, and from the year 1821 
 a majoritj'^ of the present Latin American nations date the 
 epoch of their independence. 
 
 The diseutegration of the vast colonial empire of Spain ren- 
 dered its feeble fragments an easy prey to European avarice. 
 The eiinnciation of the Monroe doctrine and the jealousy of 
 the great powers prevented the conquest of Latin-America by 
 England, France and Prussia, and the reconquest of portions 
 of it by Spain. But England never relinquished her hold 
 upon Central America until the successful termination of the 
 Americo-Me.xican war warned her that the young colossus of 
 the West was then her equal in power, and was destined in 
 the very nenr future to entirely overshadow her and eventu- 
 ally succeed to the heritage of her American possessions. 
 
 Then tlie British government sullenly relinquished its pre- 
 tentiouvs to political predominence in Central America. In 
 their ignorance and simplicity, American statesmen were 
 gulled into entering into the disgraceful Clayton Bulwer 
 treaty ; and b> this act of supreme folly the spread of tine re- 
 publican institutions was retarded, and the political influence 
 01 the United States in Central America was shattered for 
 thirty years. 
 
 During the sixth decade of the present century the violence 
 of the abolition agitation in the ISTorth, the birth of the Eepub- 
 lican party and the promise it indicated of political supremacy 
 in the near future, gave rise to a renewal of British aggres- 
 sion in Central America. The English statesmen foresaw the 
 approach of that terrible civil war which eventually devas- 
 tated the fairest section of our country, and in alliance with 
 the ambitious monarch of Prance determined to make a per- 
 manent European impression upon Latin-America. France 
 was to have Mexico, and England the entire eastern, or Car- 
 ibbean, coast of Central America^ 
 
 But that combat of the Titans, the battle between the Con- 
 federate ironclad Merrimac, aud the Federal Monitor, in Hamp- 
 ton roads, JMarch 9, 1862, taught England that none of the 
 magnificent war ships she possessed at that epoch were able 
 
212 REPUBLIC OF NIOARAaUA. 
 
 to cope with vessels of the construction of either of the two 
 American ironclads. That memorable naval combat eventually 
 shattered the triple alliance that sought to subvert Mexico, 
 while the success of the Federal Governmont in the war of 
 recession forever destroyed the fond hopes entertained by 
 England of the appropriation of Central America. 
 
 Since 1885, (Ireat Britain has faithfully carried out the pro- 
 visions of her treaties with the Central American republics, 
 but jealous of the growing power and influence of the United 
 States clings with desperate tenacity to the Clayton — Bulwer 
 treaty which documents many ot the American people now 
 justly regard as so much waste paper. 
 
 Such in brief is the history of ])ast British aggression in 
 Oentral America. The filibustering expedition of Walker, in 
 Mcaragua first opened the eyes of our people to its significance, 
 the Federal successes, in 1865, shattered Great Britain's future 
 political influence in Central America forever. 
 
 At least so thought the American statesman of that era, but 
 events which have subsequently occurred have proved that 
 once more they had become the simple dupes of astute English 
 diplomists. The treaty entered into, between Great Britain 
 and jSTicaragua, in 1860, was so cunningly worded (notwith- 
 standing the deep interest America took in this treaty) that 
 innumerable pretexts might be seized to warrant further aggres- 
 sion. In fact England has several times interfered with the 
 tariff arrangements at Cape Gracias and Graytown, while the 
 existence of Mosquito Eeservation is a constant menace to 
 the Monroe doctrine, and an insult to iSTicaragua sovereignty. 
 
 No matter how much an American might sympathize with 
 the efforts made to civilize his people by the present Mosquito 
 chief (and hereditary king) of the Mosquito Indians, politically 
 speaking, the United States should never have permitted Eng- 
 land's interference in the matter. Great Britain had no just 
 right to claim j urisdictiou over any part of the Caribbean coast, 
 while the treat}'- of 1860 leaves that power the actual protector 
 of the Mosquito Eeservation. 
 
 By the terms of this famous treaty, over 7000 square miles 
 have been wrested from the jurisdiction of the Eepublic. If 
 
REPUBLIC OF NICAEAGUA. 213 
 
 the latter is guaranteed ostensible sovereignty over the terri. 
 tory in question, the Eeservation is virtually independent, and 
 under the rule of an ambitious chieftain might be the cause of 
 serious complications, if not a sanguinary war, between the 
 Indian tribes and the Republic. 
 
 The present chief, or king, as many style him, G-eorge William 
 Albert Handy, is untutored as far as boaks are concerned, but 
 is naturally sharp, shrewd and diplomatic. He has shown 
 neither as much ambition nor skill as a warrior, as his dead 
 brother Sula displayed, but having on several occasions evinced 
 both courage and determination, there is no knowing what 
 steps he might take were he assured of the material aid ot Great 
 Britain. He could render his little capital at Bluefields, or, 
 his residence at Pearl Lagoon, impregnable to the assaults of 
 the government forces, while 6000 brave warriors would as- 
 semble at his call, who could occasion infinite trouble and blood- 
 shed before they were subdued. 
 
 Meanwhile the Mosquito Reservation, with its large com^ 
 merce, and the constant influx of immigrants, might eventually 
 become the weak flank of the IsTicaragua government. In case 
 of war with any foreign power, it would prove an excellent base 
 of operations, while the capture and occupation of the ports of 
 Graytown and Cape Gracias would effectually cut Mcaragua 
 off from all communication with the Caribbean coast. 
 
CHAPTKR IV. 
 
 Northern and Southern Boundaries— Both Yet Undetermined —Principal 
 Mountain Eanges — Volcanic Peaks — Active Fire Mountains and Ex- 
 tinct Crates — La Madera and Omotepe — Momotombo and Cosegnina — 
 Small Lakes and Ponds — Varied Tropic Flora — The Great Lakes of 
 Managua and Nicaragua. 
 
 If the small space ISTicaragua occupies on the globe seems 
 to warrant the cause of its present apparent political insig- 
 nificance in the sisterhood of nations, the vast natural re- 
 sources found in its fertile soil, its grand forestis and its prolific 
 mines point it out as a locality destined to become more and 
 more important as the wants of the commercial world become 
 more importunate and varied. 
 
 The Republic of Mcaragua comprises that portion of Cen- 
 tral America found between the limits of 10° 45' and 15° 10' 
 north latitude and 83° 11' and 87° 38' west longitude from 
 G-reenwich. Its boundaries are the Atlantic ocean, or that 
 l)art of the Atlantic between the West Indies and the conti- 
 nent, commonly called the Caribbean sea, on the east ; on 
 the south the Republic of Costa Rica; to the west the Pacific 
 ocean, and on the north the Republic of Honduras. 
 
 The dividing lines that separate Nicaragua from the neigh- 
 boring republics have never been fairly determined. As far 
 as the line on the Honduras frontier is concerned, ancient 
 documents prove that the boundary between the two pro 
 vinces on the Atlantic coast terminated at CapeCamaron. A 
 capitulation made with the King of Spain, by Diego Guiterrez, 
 dated November 29, 1540, tor the conquest of the locality 
 now known as the Mosquitia, plainly says so. It is a well 
 known fact that all the country comprehended between the 
 Tinto and Coco rivers was subdued by Rojas, a lieutenant of 
 the G-overnor of Nicaragua, in whose name he founded the 
 City of Natividad, at Cape Gracias 4 Dios. 
 
 Yet Juarros in his geography of the kingdom of Guatemala 
 says that " the province of Honduras is limited on the east 
 
REPUBLIC OF NiCARAaUA. 215 
 
 and southeast by Mcaragaa, and that the last of the Hondu- 
 ranean rivers is the 'Plateuas'." On both modern and ancient 
 maps this is a little river situated between the Black river and 
 the Patook. Thus according to this authority Honduras never 
 extended further to the east and south than the Patook. 
 
 The same Juarros says that on the Pacific coast Honduras' 
 ancient limit never passed the mouth of the Oholuteca river, 
 which empties into the Gulf of Fonseca. All the old docu- 
 ments that bear on this question say the same. Therefore the 
 former boundary between Honduras and Mcaragua might be 
 considered as lying directly on a straight line drawn from the 
 mouth of the Patook river on the Atlantic to that of the Cho 
 luteca on the Pacific coast. 
 
 ]!^ot long since a commission from either republic was di- 
 rected to re-establish the proper boundaries. Mcaragua 
 claimed the line just mentioned; Honduras demanded as her 
 limit the Coco river in all its extent, and the Black river on 
 the pacific slope. The Honduras commission never for an in- 
 stant denied that the original limit of their republic was near 
 Cape Camaron, but they said that none of the country from 
 Cape Camaron to Boca del Toro (to the south of Costa Rica) 
 ever belonged to the Spanish, but to Indians, who were always 
 under the protection of the English. Therefore, the day that 
 England ostensibly renounced said protectorate, a portion of 
 this country belonged to each of the three republics, Honduras, 
 Nicaragua and Costa Eica, and that Honduras claimed as far 
 south as the river Coco on the Atlantic side, and the Negro 
 river on the Pacific side. 
 
 The commission eventually decided upon the following boun- 
 dary : 
 
 The line on the Bay of Fonseca to be located at a point 13° 3' 
 north latitude, on the margin of the Negro river, and to follow 
 that river until its union with the Guasaule, the Guasaule unti) 
 its junction with the Torondauo, and the Torondauo up to its 
 head. From thence over the mountains to the point where the 
 range of Dipitlo separates. The line follows this range to the 
 northeast as far as the plains, and from thence in a direct course 
 to False Cape, to the north and east to the mouth of the Coco 
 
216 REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA. 
 
 or Wanks river. The most eastern point of this dividing line 
 is situated in latitude 15° 11' north, and longitude 83° 25' west. 
 
 By this arrangement Nicaragua was deprived of more than 
 3000 square miles of territory. On the west it lost some very 
 valuable mineral lands, and on the' east the beautiful lake of 
 Carastaca. The Moaraguan Congress has never ratified this 
 treaty, thus the dividing line between these two republics has 
 never been fixed. 
 
 Nor have the Governments of Mcaragua and Costa Eica 
 yet settled their boundary question with satisfaction to either, 
 while the subject still gives rise, from time to time, to angry 
 disputes. Nicaragua claims the territory of Guanacaste, which 
 certainly was under her jurisdiction until 1825. Costa Rica 
 maintains: First, that both Guanacaste and Nicoya belong to 
 her as far as La Flor river, which stream, in times past, divi- 
 ded Nicoya from Subtiaba ; second, that the margin of Lake 
 Nicaragua and the right bank of the San Juan river, along 
 its entire course, as far as El Castillo, belong to the jurisdic- 
 tion of Guanacaste, and as the latter by right pertains to her, 
 so does the territory claimed by Nicaragua ; third, that the 
 right bank of the river San Juan, from El Castillo to the port 
 of Graytown, belongs to her, legally, in virtue of various 
 ancient documents, but above all, by the "real cedula" of the 
 18th of February, 1574, which named Diego de Artieda y- 
 Chirinos, Governor of Costa Rica, and defined the limits of his 
 jurisdiction. The Costa Rican officials also point to the '"Capi- 
 tulacion " of the 29th of November, 1540. 
 
 To these specious arguments Costa Eica adds those that she 
 derives from her geographical position, according to which 
 her natural limits are the banks of the San Juan river, the 
 southwestern bank of Lake Nicaragua and the Sapoa river, as 
 far as the Bay of Salinas, and the fact of the annexation of 
 Guanacaste to Costa Eica in 1825, which was legalized by the 
 Federal Congress of the united Central American republic — 
 since destroyed — of the same year. 
 
 Such was the situation in 1857. 
 
 In 1858, very shortly after the expulsion of the American 
 filibusters, the two governments entered into a boundary treaty 
 
REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA. 217 
 
 on the 15th of Ai^ril. The government of Nicaragua has since 
 rejected this treaty. The terms of article 2 of this compact are 
 as follows : 
 
 The boundary line of the Caribbean coast begins at the point 
 of the castle at the mouth of the river San Juan, and follows 
 the right bank south of the Castillo, at a distance of three 
 miles from the fortifications. From this locality it forms a 
 curve, the centre of which is said fortifications, but the curve 
 constantly maintains the distance of three miles from the fort 
 up to a point above the castle, and two miles from the bank of 
 the river. The line continues parallel to the turns of the river 
 and the southern bank of the lake, at the distance of two miles 
 from same to the river Sapoa. From this point, which is well 
 determined, that is, two miles north of the lake, an imaginary 
 line is drawn to the centre of the Salinas Bay, on the Pacific. 
 
 At the epoch of the independence the province of Nicaragua 
 claimed to possess about 58,000 square miles. The treaties with 
 Honduras and Costa Rica have reduced its territory to some- 
 where about 40,000 square miles. The modern republic, then, 
 is 200 miles long by about the same width. Its shape very 
 much resembles an isosceles triangle, whose base is the Carib- 
 bean coast and whose apex is the cone of the volcano of Cos- 
 eguina. 
 
 The Caribbean coast, from Cape Gracias 4 Dios south to 
 Gra:vtown, is 300 miles long. Of this extent, 150 miles north 
 and south and fifty miles into the interior is set apart for the 
 Mosquito reservation, which latter comprises some 7500 square 
 miles. The Pacific coast, from northwest to southeast, is about 
 20Q miles long, and possesses two fine ports. Corinto is situ- 
 ated on a pretty little bay, and is the terminus of the railroad. 
 San Juan del Sur is a fine, safe harbor, but is com[)aratively 
 unimportant at present. The Caribbean ports are Gracias, 
 Pearl Lagoon, Bluefields, Corn Island and Graytown. 
 
 The central knot of the Honduras-Nicaraguan chain of moun- 
 tains is situated at, or near, Sulaco, in the centre of the Re- 
 public of Honduras. The principal range follows a south- 
 western course, and under the name of the Sierra de Macuelizo 
 or San Marcos, reaches as far south as Frijolillo. From thence 
 
 15 
 
218 REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA. 
 
 it suddenly turns to the southeast and follows this general 
 course amid many turns and windings as far as the valley of 
 the San Juan river. This last e^^tension may be divided into 
 four principal sections. The first extends from the hill of Fri- 
 jolillo to the mountain .of Jinjajapa, or Boete. It commences 
 in the Sierra de la Botija, whose principal peaks are the Ya- 
 riador, the San Sebastian and the Caguasca. Then follow 
 two notable necks, the Portillo Liso and the Portales, and 
 afterwards the Sierra de las Tablas. 
 
 The second section extends between the hills of Jinjajapa 
 and the barranca of Tamarindo. It is more irregular and merits 
 special attention. It at first takes a northerly direction, pass- 
 ing by the hills of Yuscaran as far as Moropotente. At this 
 point it turns to the east passing by the Rodeo and the moun- 
 tain of Tali, and from thence proceeds to the south and widens 
 into a tableland between San Rafael and Jiuotega, dividing the 
 waters of the San Rafael river, which empties into lake Ma- 
 nagua, from the river San Grabriel. Between Jinotega and 
 Matagalpa it bears the name of the Sierra of Guaguali or 
 Robles, and takes a general southwesterly direction, up to the 
 valley of San Salvador, from whence it turns towards the south 
 passing by the hills of Piedra Colorada and Picota. This last 
 forms a neck — or isthmus- which unites with the hill of 
 Pando. 
 
 Such is the line of the Cordillera in Central Nicaragua not- 
 withstanding volcanic convulsions posterior to its formation, 
 disturbed the primitive harmony of the mountain syf?tem and 
 its spurs ; but more than all in the section first described. The 
 watercourses of the department of Matagalpa, which un- 
 doubtedly should find their way to lake Managua, have been 
 violently diverted from their course by a formidable obstruc- 
 tion, the mountain of Guisisil — 4500 feet above the plain — 
 which is situated in the tableland of Totumbla. 
 
 The third section commences at the cerro of Pando and ter- 
 minates in the mountain of Qiiimichapa. Its most notable 
 elevations are, the range of the Ojos de Agua, the hill of Cer- 
 badilla, the mountain of Siguatepe — dominated by the hill of 
 Pans — the Portillo de das Lajas, the Oluma, the Tablazon, 
 
REPUBLIC OF NICAKAaUA. 219 
 
 the table of Oatnoapa, the neck or collar of the Paso Eeal, that 
 of the Puerto at the foot of the hill of Buenavista, the peak of 
 Santa Bula and the hills of Tierra Ooloracla. 
 
 The fourth section reaches from the mountain of Quiraichapa 
 to the neck, or collar, of the Castillo, in the valley of the San 
 Juan. This chain, which has several peaks that range from 
 3000 to 4000 feet above the plain, gradually descends to an 
 elevation ol but 600 to 700 feet. It traverses a mountain which 
 has never been explored on account of the deep chasms and 
 fissures that seam its sides. 
 
 There are several famous volcanoes in Nicaragua which of 
 late years have shown signs of activity. They do not form a 
 chain of mountains nor do they belong to any particular range, 
 but rise lone and isolated, high above the plains and table 
 lands. Their peaks form regular cones and present two es- 
 pecial features : First, all their summits are in the same rec- 
 tilinear direction. Second, this direction is, at the same time, 
 almost parallel with the Pacific coast and with the central 
 Cordillera. For that reason the great valley of Nicaragua to 
 the Pacific should be divided into four distinct lines. 1. The 
 coastline. 2. The foot-hills, which are the spinal column cf 
 the neck, that separates the lakes from the ocean. 3. The line 
 traced by the volcanos, and 4. the Cordillera itself which forms 
 the limit of the grand valley that contains the lakes. 
 
 The volcanic peaks of Nicaragua may be seen by the mariner, 
 who skirts the Pacific coast, a long distance from the shore and 
 serve as land marks. As their latitude and longitude is well 
 known, the sight of their tall summits indicates to the naviga- 
 tor their precise position in the watery waste. 
 
 The first Nicaraguan volcano in the long chain south, is La 
 Madera. Its peak, which attains an altitude above the plain 
 of 4190 feet, is truncated. It has a common base with its near 
 neighbor Ometipe whose summit is 5350 above the tableland. 
 Both these volcanos are situated on an island in the great lake 
 of Nicaragua. Their craters show no signs of even compara- 
 tively late activity, nor are any traditions extant concerning 
 past eruptions. 
 
220 REPUBLIC OF NlCARAaUA. 
 
 The peak of Zapatera, although properly s])eaking is not a 
 volcano, yet presents undoubted evidence of volcanic origin. 
 Higher up but on the main land, near the city of Granada the 
 truncated peak of Mombacho rises 4588 feet above the surface 
 of the lake. It has for a long time been quiet, but during the 
 period of its activity, the aspect it presented must have been 
 grand and sublime. A short distance from Mombacho is sit- 
 uated the truncated peak of Masaya, 3000 feet above the level 
 of the plain. It was in a state of activity a few years since. 
 Its last eruption took place on the tenth of November, 1858 ; 
 on the sixteenth of March, 1772, it vomited forth a torrent of 
 lava two miles wide, which to-day covers with unsightly heaps 
 of scoria all the northeastern side of the mountain, presenting 
 a huge, black, desolate stain in the wide zone of vegetation 
 which on three sides surrounds it. 
 
 The peninsula of Ohiltepe advances from the southern bank 
 of Lake Managua, near the capital, far into its waters. It is 
 similar to the island of Zapatera, a volcanic mole whose posi- 
 tion in the general line of Nicaragiiau volcanoes will not permit 
 one to doubt its volcanic character. Its highest elevation is 
 2800 feet. 
 
 In the northeast angle of Iiake Managua the majestic sharp 
 peak of Momotombo rears its tall summit 6121 feet above the 
 sufrouuding waters. A short distance to the right is situated 
 its miniature or counterpart, the Momotombito, which forms 
 an islet on the bosom of the lake. Momotombo, for a long pe- 
 riod inactive, awoke from its lethargic slumber in 1852. But 
 up to date its eruptions have not been formidable, although it 
 constantly emits m^ore or less smoke. At times a rumbling 
 sound is heard within its vast interior and slight earthquake 
 shocks invariably, follow. , 
 
 After Momotombo, the line traced by the volcanic chain 
 inclines to the west. The cones that compose it are united at 
 their bases and form a range called la Serra de los Marrabios. 
 It occupies a centre of a general geologic elevation whose most 
 perfectly known portion is the plain of Leon. The slopes of 
 this table incline insensibly downward on the northern side, 
 but to the south present a series of stony branches, broken by 
 
REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA. 221 
 
 numerous chasms which extend to the sea, between the neck — 
 or isthmus — ot Nagarote and that of Rama Gacha, and the 
 volcanoes of Santa Clara. The principal of these volcanoes are 
 Asososca, Las Pilas, two peaks 4000 feet high ; Orota 2,700, 
 Telica 4190, Santa Clara and El Viejo, which latter is a sharp 
 peak 6266. To these might be added the Chonco, which fol- 
 lows the sierra of the Marrabios, although physically it does 
 not form part of it. There are in this region numerous other 
 volcanic peaks, but they are insignificant when compared with 
 the aboved mentioned volcanoes. 
 
 Forty miles to the northeast of the Viejo rises the truncated 
 cone of Ooseguiua, 3835 feet in the air. This volcano is 
 famous for its terrible eruption in 1835, when it threw ashes 
 over a circle of 1500 miles in diameter. It occupies the centre 
 of a peninsula that extends far into the soutliern side of the 
 gulf of Fonseca. On the north side of this gulf is the volcanic 
 cone of Oonchagua, 3866 feet high. It is situated near the 
 port of La Union, San Salvador. From this point the vol- 
 canic chain extends almost to the southern limit of Mexico. 
 
 These two gigantic mountains guard the entrance to the 
 grand gulf of Fonseca and present admirable opportunities for 
 tri angulation, which will certainly be taken advantage of 
 when an exact topographical map of the country is made. 
 
 In that portion of Nicaragua situated between the great 
 lakes and the central Cordillera, it seems evident that another 
 line of volcanoes was once in process of formation. A vast 
 number of elevated cones run almost parallel with the vol- 
 canic chain just described, notwithstanding in certain places 
 their proximity to the Cordillera proves that they are not ex- 
 actly isolated, but rather form part of the spurs of that chain, 
 whose physical condition has often been completely modified 
 as far as its western slopes are concerned. These latter ex- 
 tend over a region that is eminently volcanic. Many of the 
 hills are visible from the lake, the most important being Yeu- 
 tanillas, from which flows the river Tule. 
 
 There are several small lakes without outlets which seem to 
 owe their origin to the volcanoes — at least such bodies of 
 water only occur in Central Ameiica in regions that indicate 
 
222 REPUBLIC OF NIOARAaUA. 
 
 volcanic disturbances. The first is called the Appyo or 
 Diriomo, near Granada. The surface of its water is 780 feet 
 above the level of the sea. It is picturesquely situated in a 
 vast amphitheatre, whose wall rises 900 feet high. It con- 
 tains an area of four square miles and is said to be very deep. 
 
 l^ear Masaya is situated the lake of the same name. It is 
 340 feet lower than the city, which is 750 feet above the sea. 
 It has an area of ten square miles ; and as it has never been 
 properly sounded, the ignorant people of the neighborhood 
 think it has no bottom. 
 
 A short distance from the city of Managua is found the 
 little lake Tiscapa. It is but a half mile in diameter, with a, 
 depth of 80 feet at its edges and 160 in the centre. ¥ear it 
 are situated the ponds of Nejapo and Asosasca. This region 
 seems to have been the scene of numerous geological changes. 
 The volcanic hill Motastape, located between these two small 
 lakes, is the result of some snch convulsion. These two ponds 
 are each about a half mile in diameter and possess a depth of 
 from 250 to 300 feet. 
 
 In the peninsula of Chiltepe is the pond Jilua, and in the 
 hills of Los Marrabios are several other small ponds, such as 
 El Tigre and the Moyotepe. 
 
 While many of the volcanic mountains, mentioned, are bleak 
 and bare, the bases and far up the sides of those which may 
 be considered as extinct are covered with an exquisite and 
 varied growth of vegetation. The little valleys at their bases 
 are carpeted with luxuriant grass, intermingled with flowers 
 and flowering shrubs, while in certain localities, vast numbers 
 of giant tropical trees strike their huge roots deep into the 
 fertile soil. At the bases of the mountains the mahogany, 
 cedar, ceiba and tamarind mingle their frondose foliage. Fur- . 
 ther up their sides, the oak, the beach and the sycamore find 
 a congenial soil and climate, while still further upwards the 
 hardy pine thrives in the cold breezes that career downward 
 from the bleak summits of the volcanic peaks. 
 
 These mountain slopes and foot-hill sides produce extended 
 areas of grass which furnishes excellent pasturage for large 
 and small cattle ; vast herds of fat steers roam amid the cha- 
 
REPUBLIC OP NICARAaUA. 223 
 
 paral that follows the forest growth, while in the region where 
 the oak thrives best, hardy goats and sheep find perennial 
 herbage that affords nutritious subsistence. These localities 
 are destined, in the near future, to furnish an ample supply 
 for the beef markets of the West Indies and, perhaps, those 
 also of Europe. 
 
 A thousand little valleys lie snugly eusconsed within the 
 mountain chain and its numerous spurs and ramifications. 
 Constant streams of water net- work their surface, and irriga- 
 tion may be employed with perfect success. But the majority 
 of the little tropic paradises- are unoccupied and lie idle, 
 awaiting the hand of man to develop their productiveness. 
 Their soil has lain fallow and untouched for 350 years, for the 
 ruthless sword of the conqueror and the deadly march of 
 famine and pestilence have swept away the millions of happy 
 and industrious natives who once harvested prolific crops, 
 where, to-day, the cry of the wild bird is the only sound that 
 breaks the funereal silence that reigns in these lone localities. 
 
 Lake Managua, which was known to the aboriginies by 
 the name of Xolotlan, is about thirty-seven iniles long by 
 twelve miles (average) wide, and contains an area of 444 square 
 miles. Its altitude is 169 feet above the level of the Pacific 
 ocean. Two points from the opposite sides advance far into 
 waters and give it the appearance of a figure 8. The north- 
 ern point is low and may be considered a continuation of the 
 hill Gruisisil, the other is the volcanic ])eninsula Ohiltepe. The 
 only island within its limits is that which serines as a base for 
 the peak of Momotombito. 
 
 This lake is rather shallow and contains numerous movable 
 sandy bars which render its navigation somewhat dangerous 
 for fair sized vessels. Several small steamers, at present, ply 
 over its waters, while a daily line affords communication bet- 
 ween Leonviejo, the present terminus of the Central railroad, 
 and the city of Managua, thecapital of the republic. 
 
 The margins of the northern side are almost unoccupied ; 
 on the southern bank are found the cities of Mateares, Mana- 
 gua and Tipitapa. There are numerous little rivers and streams 
 
224 REPUBLIC OF NICARAaUA. 
 
 which discharge their* waters into its bosom, but they are 
 generally dry in the summer season. 
 
 The river Tipitapa is the outlet, or rather strait, that con- 
 nects the two great lakes. It is sixteen miles long, but is not 
 navigable on account of the rapids and rocks that line its bed. 
 Its average width is 125 yards. 
 
 The greatlakeKicaragua, is ninety-six miles long and forty 
 miles wide in one place. As its average width is twenty miles 
 it possesses an area of about 2000 square miles. Its depth is 
 irregular ; in some places the surroundings are forty-five fath- 
 oms, in others from twelve to twenty-five and thirty feet. Cur- 
 rents are visible but their direction is uncertain, while strange 
 to say its waters are infested with huge sharks which are ex- 
 ceedingly voracious. It is 129 feet above the Caribbean sea 
 at its lowest stage. During the dry mouths its waters are 
 from five to seven feet lower than in the height of the rainy 
 season. 
 
 A great many rivers and streams, some of them constant, 
 empty into the lake, while numerous islets, the most of them 
 inhabited, dot its calm bosom. The port of G-ranada is formed 
 by a curve in the beach and is protected by a group of more 
 than 100 little islets. It carries from twenty to twenty-four 
 feet of water with a sandy bottom that proves excellent hold- 
 ing ground for anchors. The island of Ometepe is twelve miles 
 long. Its northern portion is rocky, but the southern half is 
 extraordinarily fertile and contains two little villages. 
 
 The city of Granada, the second centre of population in size 
 and in importance in i^icaragua, is situated on its margin and 
 is connected with the capital by an excellent wagon road. 
 
 The western coast is quite close to the Pacific, being separ- 
 ated from it by only a narrow isthmus but seventeen miles 
 wide. This neck of land presents but few obstacles to the con- 
 struction of a canal which would unite its waters with the great 
 ocean. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Nicaragnan RiTers— The Coco, or Wanks — The Sio Grande — The Mico 
 or Blueflelds and the San Juan Rivers — They are Divided into Three 
 Portions as the Land Gradually Slopes Down to the Sea — Grand 
 Tropic Forests — Eich Mineral Lands — Marvelously Fertile Soil — Port 
 of Graytown to be Restored — Principal Rivers and Ports on the Pa- 
 cific Coast. 
 The eastern slope of the great Kicaraguan Cordillera carries 
 to the Caribbean coast the waters of numerous rivers whose 
 copiousness is derived from the leugth of their course, the num- 
 ber of their affluents, and the great quantity of water that falls 
 on the wilds they traverse. Four of these rivers are of the 
 first order and are navigable for a considerable distance. They 
 are the Coco or Wanks, the Rio Grande, the Mico .and the 
 San Juan. 
 
 G-enerally the course of these rivers may be divided into three 
 parts. The first portion waters the high lands and the moun- 
 tain slopes and are not navigable. It comprises numerous 
 little streams and watercourses, of but little individual impor- 
 tance, but which unite and form the principal river. The 
 second portion is navigable only for small boats, but the bed 
 is obstructed and in many places rapids and falls impede the 
 way. The third portion is quite deep and is navigable for fair 
 sized steamers from the last rapid or fall to the sea coast. The 
 freshets that occur during the rainy season, which swell the 
 violence of the current, tears immense trees from the banks 
 .which sink and in time the accumulated debris forms little 
 islands, or shallow bars, that more or less obstruct navigation. 
 This is invariably the case at the mouths of each of the rivers 
 of Central America, for even the mouth of the Mico or Blue- 
 field river has a bar that carries but twelve feet of water. 
 
 The Coco is the least known of all the Central American 
 rivers, yet it has often been navigated by buccaneers, tourists 
 and missionaries. The filibuster Ravaneau published a fair 
 account of it. The Jesuit father, liTavarro, and the English 
 
226 REPUBLIC OF NICAEAaUA. 
 
 captain, Haly, have also described it. The Coco is three hun- 
 dred miles long, but as it runs through a narrow valley and 
 has but few feeders, it does not contain the volume of water 
 warranted by its length. Its general course is from the west 
 to the northeast. It rises at the Portillo Liso, where is is known 
 by the name of the river Tapacac, and a short distance to the 
 east receives the waters of several little streams. Where it 
 unites with the Macuelizo it takes the name of Ocotal. On its 
 further course it is swelled by the contents of numerous moun- 
 tain torrents, and when it joins with the Jicaro, it is known as 
 the Telpaneca river. Many miles further to the northeast it 
 passes through a wide plain called el Llano Coco. From this 
 point it takes the name of the Coco river, and thus it is gen- 
 erally called by the natives of the country. 
 
 But this river possesses a vast number of other names by 
 which it is indifferently called by foreigners. The English 
 mahogapy cutters always style it the Wanks or l>enks. The 
 mariners of the same nation know it as the Cape river. The 
 buccaneers, who ascended it as high as Segovia, which place 
 they several times sacked, called it the Segovia river. The 
 Spaniards invariably mention it as the Gracias river, and the 
 missionaries, as the Phantasm or Encuentro, while the Indians 
 invariably style it the Toro. This last is probably the true 
 name, or at least that which it bore at the period of the con, 
 quest. 
 
 Four miles above the mouth a creek, that flows from lake 
 Gracias a Dios, empties into the right side of the river; on 
 the west side of this lake is situated the port of Gracias or 
 Cape town. Two hundred years ago this lake, or rather little 
 bay, which now has an area of six square miles, was an excel-, 
 lent port. It has but twelve or fifteen feet of depth while the 
 entrance is not more than twenty yards wide, with from seven 
 to eight feet of water on the bar. 
 
 The Rio Grande, or the Matagalpa, river rises in the sierra 
 of Guaguali 5 eight miles from its source it passes by Mata- 
 galpa, the capital of the department of the same name. A 
 little below the town of Sebaco it takes the name of Chocoyas 
 and runs in a southerly direction — receiving by the way the 
 
REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA. 227 
 
 waters of numerous rivulets and streams — to tlie little town 
 of Esquipulas, and from this point is known as the Rio 
 Grande. From its source to its junction with the Oloma, at 
 Yulvul, its length is but eighty miles. On this stretch of its 
 course it is not navigable. At Vulvul ends the civilized por- 
 tion of the country, and the river's banks, as far as Tooma, 
 are dotted with the habitations of aborigines. But these 
 natives are harmless and peaceable, and assist the traveler in 
 every jiossible manner suggested by their simple views of 
 hospitality. From Vulvul to Tooma is sixty miles. From 
 Tooma to the sea the distance is about 100 miles. Along this 
 portion of the river the scenery is majestic. It averages 300 
 yards wide and fifteen feet deep in the channel, while naviga- 
 tion is unobstructed. About ten miles from the bar it widens 
 into a little lake, on the northern end of which is situated the 
 Mosquite town of Walpa. 
 
 The bar is very dangerous and seldom carries more than 
 eight feet of water. It was at this place Columbus lost a boat 
 and its crew. He baptized the river bj^ the name of El Rio 
 del Desastre. With exception of the difflculties presented by 
 the bar, the last ninety miles of the Rio Grande is a magnifi- 
 cent water highway, and offers the most excellent advantages 
 for agriculturists and emigrants. 
 
 The river Mico or Bluefields rises in a sierra near the town 
 of Libertad, in the centre of the mineral district of Ohontales, 
 and in the course of a few miles receives the waters of the 
 Bala, the Jabali, Sal to, and many other rivers and streams of 
 more or less importance, all of which, with their rapid cur- 
 rents, furnish excellent water power. Its general course is 
 from west to east. About fifteen miles from La Libertad it 
 enters the uncivilized region and is navigable for the small 
 boats of the aborigines, who call it the Rushwass. It waters 
 a vast region covered with virgin forests interspersed with 
 flowering plains. For fifty miles its course is frequently inter- 
 rupted by rapids and snigs, and this condition continues 
 until its junction with the Wapee or Escondido. 
 
 This latter is formed by the two rivers, Murra and Siquia, 
 which form their currents at the foot of the hill Wapee. Its 
 
228 REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA. 
 
 scenery is very beautiful and varied, and at Kisilala are found 
 the falls of the same name which are 100 feet high. The val- 
 leys of the rivers Murra and Siquia present extraordinarily 
 excellent opportunities for the establishment of various kinds 
 of enterprises. 
 
 Below its junction with the Wapee, the Mico is navigable to 
 its bar, a distance of forty miles, for vessels of twelve feet 
 draft. It empties into the Blueflelds bay, and besides its prin- 
 cipal mouth, has more than twenty others, which may be 
 entered by small boats. 
 
 The lagoon, or bay, of Blueflelds, in the Mosquito reser- 
 vation, possesses an area of 100 square miles. Its principal 
 entrance is just five miles south of the mouth of the Mico. 
 The bar that separates it from the Caribbean sea is never dan- 
 gerous, but it seldom carries more than twelve feet of water. 
 The lagoon, in some places, is quite deep, but it is gradually 
 filling up with sediment brought down by the Mico and 
 several other small rivers which empty with it. In the centre 
 of the entrance to the bay is the islet of Casada, and in front, 
 on the opposite margin, is situated the Mosquito city of Blue- 
 fields at the foot of the hill Aberdeen. 
 
 The San Juan river is probably the most important water- 
 course in Central America, for it is the outlet for the great 
 lakes of Managua and Nicaragua and carries their surphis 
 waters to the sea. In consequence, Mr. L^'vy, the French en- 
 gineer who so thoroughly explored Nicaragua and published 
 an interesting work regarding the republic in 1870, considers 
 the valley of the San Juan as extending from the western 
 bank of Lake Managua to the sea at the Grraytown bar. He 
 divides it into four sections, which he separates as follows : 
 
 1. Lake Managua and all its tributary rivers. 
 
 2. The river Tipitapa, which unites the two great lakes. 
 
 3. Lake Nicaragua and all rivers that enter into it. 
 
 4. The outlet through which is discharged the waters of the 
 vast hydraulic system of Central Nicaragua. 
 
 The lakes have been described briefly in the foregoing 
 pages. The outlet so called by Mr. Levy is a large river that 
 under any and all circumstances is destined to be always 
 
REPUBLIC OF NICABAaUA. 229 
 
 utilized as the principal transportation via of southeastern 
 Nicaragua. It flows from the southeastern extremity of the 
 lake, between Sau Carlos and the river Frio. Its length is 
 120 miles and its general aspect is that of a great river, with 
 an average width of 150 yards. Its banks are covered with 
 extensive virgin forests. 
 
 From San Carlos to El Castillo the San Juan may be justly 
 considered as a mere prolongation of the lake. At this point 
 the waters flow over a species of rapids into another bed, nine 
 feet below. A!: San Carlos, which is commonly considered the 
 end of the lake, the San Juan is about a quarter of a mile 
 wide and seven or eight feet deep during the dry season. 
 Thus, when the waters are lowest the volume that passes over 
 the rapids is at least 4800 cubic yards per minute. 
 
 At Toro, a distance of four miles from San Carlos, the river 
 is obstructed by a collection of rocks, which have on one 
 side a channel of eight feet depth. With the exception of 
 rocks at Bl Toro, the bottom of the river is sandy. From this 
 point to the sea it is navigable for small steamers the whole 
 year round. At its mouth is situated Graytowu, the principal 
 port on the Caribbean sea. 
 
 Within the memory of the present generation of American 
 seamen, San Juan del ISTorte, or, as it is styled by foreigners, 
 Graytown, was one of the best and most spacious seaports on 
 the Caribbean coast of Central America 
 
 During the early years of the sixth decade of the present 
 century, the celebrated American ship owner, Com. Cornelius 
 Vanderbilt, established a weekly line of steamers between 
 Kew York City and Graytown. This enter])rise was under- 
 taken for the purpose of facilitating the transportation of ad- 
 venturous Americans to the gold fields of California. They 
 were landed at Graytown and carried by small steamboats up 
 the grand river San Juan to the lakes, and from thence to San 
 Juan del Sur, on the Pacific side, where they re-embarked in 
 steamers for the port of San Francisco. This system of light 
 freight and passenger transportation proved very convenient 
 to travelers tmd profitable to the steamship lines, until the 
 successful opening of the Panama railroad to passenger and 
 
230 REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA. 
 
 freight traffic, in the latter part of the year 1855. Yaritlerbilt 
 theu directed his steamers to the new port of Aspinwall, since 
 denominated Colon, by the authorities of the republic of Co- 
 lombia, and the Caribbean port of ISIicaragua was virtually 
 deserted. 
 
 In the same year — 1855 — the mighty mass of water that forms 
 the current of the San Juan river burst its left bank near the 
 Colorado, and discharged a vast portion of its volume over the 
 adjacent lowlands into that little stream. The bar at the mouth 
 of the San Juan, which until that epoch had carried thirty feet 
 of water at low tide, no longer experiencing the scouring effects 
 of the former quantity of water that had hitherto poured over 
 it, began gradually to receive the muddy deposits that came 
 down held in solution by the water. The wide expanse fronting 
 the port also began to fill, and grew shallower as years passed, 
 until to-day, where twenty-five years ago vessels of the deepest 
 draft swung safely at anchor, a long, low island covered with 
 bamboo cane and willow trees, stretches out to the thither side 
 of the liver. 
 
 The unfortunate political condition of the republic, the 
 Walker troubles, the interminable emeutes and revolutions 
 that desolated the country for the succeeding decade prevented 
 the government from taking any steps toward restoring the 
 port to its former condition and improving the navigation of 
 the river. In the words of Mr. Theodore Hocke, who lately 
 surveyed the San Juan from its source in the lake to Gray- 
 town : 
 
 "The San Carlos river brings in tremendous quantities of 
 silt, which has almost entirely filled up the old bed of the San 
 Juan to Grraytown, and with great damage done to the port by 
 shifting bars, it has made navigation almost an impossibility, 
 as the vast muss of the San J nan water is directed into the 
 channel of the Rio Colorado and lost to In icaragua. This will 
 be remedied by cutting a canal from the head of San Carlos 
 river entrance along the San Juauillo to Graytowu, and by 
 there building a breakwater. With some dredging it is ex- 
 pected 10 form a harbor of sufficient depth to receive the Royal 
 Mail steamships of twenty-six feet draft. 
 
REi^UBLIC OF NICARAGUA. 231 
 
 " The surveys for this work are under way and will soon be 
 completed. , The government will advertise for bids to do the 
 work by contract. The approximate cost is estimated at from 
 $2,500,000 to $3,000,000. To secure payment the government 
 will soon make a loan in Europe." 
 
 A Nicaraguan envoy was last year in England watching the 
 money market. He received fair i)ropositions from various 
 " syndicates, but as Nicaragua's credit is unsurpassed, from the 
 fact of her well known solvency, this gentleman refused to 
 enter into any arrangement, basing his action upon the hope of 
 obtaining still better terms than those offered him. 
 
 It will be safe to assume that early in the year 1885 the 
 work Of re opening the San Juan river to navigation will be 
 commenced. 
 
 On the Pacific slope the distribution of perennial water- 
 courses is less diffuse, while but few of the rivers are navi- 
 gable even for small boats. The Pacific coast of the republic 
 is about 200 miles long, from the gulf of Fonseca to that of 
 Salinas. The water is bold up to the very coast, while neither 
 reefs nor shallows render navigation dangerous The waves 
 dash high on the steep sandy beach, while the surf, which is 
 denominated "LaTasca" by the natives, is remarkably violent 
 and constant. The two extremities of the coast termijiate in 
 bays. These latter form first-class harbors, which as yet are 
 unfrequented. The distance between the coast and the foot- 
 hills being very short, the watercourses which drain this re- 
 gion are inconstant and of but little importance. 
 
 The bay, or gulf, of Fonseca has every appearance of having 
 once been an interior lake, but some grand convulsion of na- 
 ture tore the huge coast line of mountains asunder and left an 
 opening eighteen miles wide and of vast depth, which com- 
 municates with the ocean. 
 
 The first river of importance on this coast is the Oholuteca, 
 which courses through a territory claimed by both Honduras 
 and iSTicaragua. It rises in the mountains of ITle and Lepa- 
 terique. Its course is remarkably serpentine, and it receives 
 so many affluents that its volume is considerable. It passes 
 close. to the citj^ of Tegucigalpa, in Honduras, and empties 
 
232 REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA. 
 
 into the gulf of Ponseca, A.t)oiit ten miles from its mouth, on 
 its left bank, is situated the city of Choluteca. The mouth 
 forms a wide, deep creek, through which the ocean tides pen- 
 etrate a long distance into the interior. 
 
 The Eio Negro, or Black river, rises in the foothills of Ca- 
 guasca, and during its course receives the waters of numerous 
 little streams, the principal of which is the Queso. It flows 
 for a short distance to the south and then turns to the west. 
 Its course forms a small semi-circle. One of its branches, the 
 Guasaule, is as large and important as the main river, and has 
 been proposed as the boundary limit between Honduras and 
 Nicaragua. At the village of Amatillo the Eio Negro for- 
 merly flowed in a direct course to the sea, but its bed below 
 this point was entirely filled up with ashes during the famous 
 eruption of the volcano Coseguino in 1835. Et opened another 
 way towards the northeast and emptied in a wide marsh called 
 Salinas G-raudes. This new course was closed in 1844, in con- 
 sequence of an earthquake. Then the river crossed its old 
 bed and flowed towards the southeast. This bed filled up in 
 1853 during an unusual freshet, and the river forced its new 
 course to the south and empties into a marshy lagoon called 
 Los Peregilos. The river Palo Blanco also empties ii^to this 
 lagoon. 
 
 At the southern extremity of the gulf of Ponseca a wide, 
 deep creek extends some fifty miles into the interior. It is 
 300 yards wide, and thirty miles from its mouth carries three 
 fathoms of water. It is known as El Estero Eeal. 
 
 The peninsula of Goseguina contains several safe ports. 
 The port of Eosario is quite spacious. Eight miles to the 
 westward is a group ot rocky islets named lios Farallones. 
 
 Several small rivers empty into the harbor of Corinto, which 
 is one of the best protected anchorages on the coast. The 
 little town of Corinto is the principal seaport possessed by 
 Nicaragua on the Pacific slope and is the terminus of the rail- 
 road from Lake Managua. 
 
 Between Corinto to Cape Desolado, a distance of forty-five 
 miles, are the mouths of the rivers Leon and Tamarindo. The. 
 
REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA. • 233 
 
 entrance to the last named river forms a pretty little port, 
 which carries deep water close to the shore on either side. 
 
 Between Cape Desolado and Point Oaseras, numerous small 
 rivers empty into the sea. The greater number of them are 
 dry in the summer season, but their outlets form deep creeks 
 into which vessels of fair draft may enter and seek shelter 
 from the storms that, in the wet months, often rage along this 
 coast. Point (Jasares shelters a fine anchorage. Between 
 this place and the Bay of Salinas— a stretch of thirty-five 
 miles — are the ports of El Brito, Nacascolo and San Jaan del 
 Sur. This latter is small but deep and safe. It is connected 
 with the Great Lake by a macadamized road which was made 
 by Vanderbilt, when his ships touched at Greytown, from 
 1851 to 1855. 
 
 The Bay of Salinas forms a beautiful deep port, of circular 
 shape, which contains an area of about eight square miles. 
 No river enters into it, thus, in consequence, it receives no 
 sedimentary deposits. In the middle of the bay is an island 
 which marks the western terminus of the boundary line, bet- 
 ween Nicaragua and Oosta Rica, according to the treaty of 
 1858. The valleys that open upon the bay are extremely fer- 
 tile and possess a remarkably healthy climate. It is difiScult 
 to comprehend why such an advantageous locality should be 
 neglected. While emigrants from Europe are seeking homes 
 in cold Canada and dry and arid Australia, it seems strange 
 that lands so happily situated, so fertile and, above all, blessfed 
 with such healthy climates, should continue abandoned and 
 desolate while millions of human beings, in the Old World, 
 scarcely manage to gain a miserable living, by the sweat of 
 their brow, cultivating a worn out soil that, even with the 
 use of the best fertilizers, scarcely returns paying crops. 
 
 A general impression prevails that Central America is a 
 vast region whose surface is dotted by unsightly bleak and 
 barren mountains, and whose few plains are watered by rivers 
 whose banks are marshy and reek with malaria and pestilence. 
 A few Americans who have visited San Jose, Acajutla,Corinto, 
 San Juan del Sur, Salinas and Punta Arenas, on the Pacific 
 coast, and Trujillo, Gracias, Bluefields, Pearl Lagoon, Gray- 
 
 16 
 
234 • REPUBLIC OP NICARAGUA. 
 
 town and Port Limou, on the Oa,ribbean side, where malarial 
 fevers of a light type are prevalent in the summer, season as 
 a general case, return their homes and report Central America 
 as being an unhealthy territorj^, where deadly fevers rage, in 
 epidemic form, the year round. 
 
 As these self-styled travelers have seldom penetrated into 
 the interior, they are utterly ignorant of the sanitary situation 
 in Central America. There are numerous officers of steamers 
 sailing out of this port to the Central American coast and the 
 Bay Islands who circulate the" same doleful accounts of the 
 climate of Guatemala and Spanish Honduras. As they have 
 never been any distance "into the interior, they know as little 
 of the climatic condition of those republics as a person who has 
 touched at Port Eads, but has not ascended the river does of 
 the climate and surroundiugs of the Crescent City. 
 
 The fact is almost two-thirds of the entire territory of Cen- 
 tral America, from the Sarstoon river to the southern limits 
 of Costa Rica, is blessed by as healthy a climate as the most 
 favored locality on the planet. At from thirty to fifty miles 
 from the Caribbean coast the land suddenly rises until it attains 
 an altitude of from 2000 to 4000 feet above tne level of the sea. 
 At this elevation the exuberant vegetation of the tro])ics ceasev* 
 and is superseded by the exquisite flora of the semi-tropic zone. 
 If certain fruits of the extreme tropics languish and will not 
 develop there are other species that still thrive well, while 
 thfe coffee plant, the orange, the lemon, the citron, the lime and 
 other fruits of a hardier nature are produced in a soil and fos- 
 tered by a climate in every way conduci\'e to their perfect 
 development. 
 
 At a distance of 3000 feet above the level of the sea the ma- 
 hogany, brazil, cedar, tamarind vera and amarilio disappear, 
 and the oak, the larch, the sycamore and giant laurel mingle 
 their foilage with the z'apote and the ahuehuete, and at an ele- 
 vation of 4000 feet the southern pine reaches a size and height 
 far superior to the stunted specimens seen iu northern climes. 
 
 The City of Guatemala is situated at an altitude of 4500 feet 
 above the sea. San Jose, Costa Eica, is 4000 feet. Teguci- 
 galpa, Honduras, is 3000 feet. Segovia, Nicaragua, is 5000 
 
REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA. 235 
 
 feet. Tims all these .cities, although lying in the extreme 
 tropics, enjoy a semi-temperate climate. 
 
 At an elevation of 2500 feet above the level of the sea ma- 
 larial fevers, chills and fever and all the sickness incident to a 
 low latitude and hot climate are entirely unknown. As bron- 
 chial and pulmonary diseases never visit such localities, these 
 regions may safely be pronounced even healthier than most of 
 our Northern and Eastern States. 
 
 It is safe to assume that two-thirds of Guatemala, Honduras 
 and Costa Eica, and at least one-half of l^Ticaragua and San 
 Salvador, are situated at an altitude of from 2500 to 7000 feet 
 above the sea. The climate of these localities varies from semi- 
 temperate to fairly cold ; thus it is just to assert that by far 
 the greater portion of Central America possesses an excep- 
 tionally bracing and healthy climate. 
 
CHAPTER Yl. 
 
 Political Divisions of Nicaragua — Their Area, Principal Products, Cities, 
 Towns and Villages — Population of the Departments — Their Pacific 
 and Coast Ports — The Commercial City of Granada — Managua, the. 
 Capital City — It, is Surrounded by Coffee Plantations — City of Leon — 
 The Great Cathedral -- Indian Town of Subtiaba — Its Ancient 
 Church— Mineral Wealth of Segovia — Uncivilized Eegiou. 
 
 The Eepublic of l^icaragua is divided, politically, into seven 
 departments, which are as follows : 
 
 Area in Miles. Population 
 
 Granada 2,500 65,000 
 
 Leon 2,500 45,000 
 
 Eivas ». 1,000 25,000 
 
 Cliinandega 1,500 " 25,000 
 
 Chontales 3,000 35,000 
 
 Matagalpa 2,500 31,000 
 
 Segovia 3,000 32,000 
 
 Uncivilized Eegion .24,000 40,000 
 
 40,000 298,000 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF GRANADA. 
 
 This is the most important department of the republic, both 
 on account of its commerce, its population and the proportion 
 of its cultivated lands in ratio to its area. It is situated in 
 the civilized portion of the republic and possesses coasts on 
 both lakes, as well as on the Pacific. It is in direct commu- 
 nication, by fair wagon roads, with the departments of Leon, 
 Matagalpa, Rivas and Chontales, without takiug into consid- 
 eration the route via the lake and the river San Juan to 
 Graytown, which latter port is in monthly communication 
 with New Orleans per steam«^r Lucy P. Miller. 
 
 The portion of this department that borders oq the Pacific 
 lies between the bay of San Martin and the mouth of the river 
 Escalante. This coast is iorty miles long, and the water that 
 washes its beach is bold and without reefs or any other impedi- 
 
REPUBLIC OF NICARAaUA. 237 
 
 ments to navigation. It possesses little ports at the mouths of 
 the rivers San Diego, Sitalapa, San Rafael, Masachapa, San 
 Pablo,Oalero, Achiote 8nclEscalante. These watercourses are 
 inconstant and during the summer are generally dry. They 
 water an exceedingly fertile territory which unfortunately has 
 been neglected since the date of the conquest. 
 
 The lake coast presents notable characteristics. In front of 
 the mouth of the Ochomogo river lies the great island of Za- 
 patera. Between the latter and the coast is situated the fine 
 port of Oharco Muerto. This excellent harbor is almost un- 
 frequented, although it is spacious enough to admit a large 
 squadron. It carries from seven to eight fathoms of water. 
 The island of Zapatera is separated from the coast, on the south, 
 by a narrow channel called the Boquete. To the north and 
 south are numerous islets, all inhabited save one called La 
 Oeiba. 
 
 A short distance from the harbor of Oharoco Muerto is a 
 group of small islands, the majority of which are remarkably 
 fertile. The length of this portion of the department on 
 the borders of the lake is about forty miles. 
 
 The stretch of coast along the margin of lake Managua is 
 fifty miles, or twenty-five miles each side of the ancient fall of 
 Tipitapa. The expression " ancient fall " is here used because 
 the waters of the river or strait of Tipitapa no longer fall into 
 the lower bed, but filter through under the rocks. 
 
 The general 'aspect presented by this department is that of 
 a vast tableland whose slopes decline 'gradually toward the 
 lakes, but are broken and abrupt in the direction of the Pa- 
 cific. A central mountain range divides it in nearly two equal 
 portions The scarcity of water in the region of former vol- 
 canic disturbances, naturally causes one to wonder why this 
 locality was chosen by its primitive inhabitants, in preference 
 to other contiguous places more adaptable for farming. The 
 hillsides alone are cultivated and almost invariably return ex- 
 cellent crops. 
 
 The department of Granada has no navigable rivers. Those 
 on the Pacific are intermittaut, while on the lake side the 
 Ochomogo is the only one that merits mention. Between the 
 
238 RBPUELIO OF NICARAGUA. 
 
 city of G-ranada aud the strait or creek of Panaloya, are two 
 marshy lagoons named Tisma and Jenicero. They are formed 
 by the surplus waters of the Tipitapa before it enters the lake. 
 
 The climate of the central tableland is hot but is tempered 
 by the northeast winds. On the higher lands it is quite cool. 
 Jinotepe, one of the most important centres o± population is 
 situated at an altitude of 2513 feet above the sea. 
 
 The department contains twenty-two cities and towns of 
 consideration. The four principal are : 
 
 Granada, with a population of 12,000. 
 
 Managua, with a population of 10,000. 
 
 Masaya, with a population of 14,000. 
 
 Jiuotipe, with a population of 5,000. 
 
 G-ranada, the second city in size and importance in the re- 
 public, is situated at the northwest extremity of Lake Mc- 
 aragua, near the foot of the volcano of Mombacho, at an alti- 
 tude of 218 feet above the sea. It was founded in the year 
 1523 by the gallant, but unfortunate, Francisco de Cordoba, be- 
 tween the lake and the Indian city of Salteba, which now forms 
 one of its suburbs. 
 
 During the epoch that the filibusters flourished and later 
 still when the country became the prey of factious during the 
 interminable civil wars that followed the era of independence. 
 Granada suffered more than any other Latin American city, 
 not excepting Panama. It was totally destroyed by the Eng- 
 lish pirate Edward David, in 1665, and was attacked and par- 
 tially ruined by the English buccaneer Gallardillo in 1670, Both 
 jiirate chieftains entered the country by tlie river San Juan. 
 It was also burned by a large body of pirates who disembarked 
 at the Pacific port of Bscalante. It was after occupied 
 and partially destroyed by different political factions during 
 the long period of anarchy subsequent to the declaration ol' 
 independence, and at length was almost ruined by Walker, the 
 American filibuster, ISTovember 22, 1856. 
 
 The city contains a population of 12,000 souls, mixed castes 
 aud Creoles. It has almost arisen from its ruins, yet several 
 blocks remain covered with ashes over which grows a vigorous 
 vegetation. The principal church has never been rebuilt. It 
 
 / 
 
, REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA. 239 
 
 contains numerous fine public and private edifices and in con- 
 sequence of the advantages oft'ered by the topography of the 
 neighborhood might be readily and effectually fortified. Its 
 commerce with foreign countries and the other departments is 
 quite important and valuable. 
 
 Managua, the capital of the republic, is 220 feet above the 
 level of 'the sea. It is situated on the margin Of the lake of the 
 same name on the site of a great aboriginal city that was totally 
 destroyed during the war of the conquest. Although it now 
 contains 10,000 inhabitants, it was a mere village when it was 
 chosen — on account of its situation about midway between 
 Leon and Granada -as the seat of government. This measure 
 was adopted with the hope that the sanguinary rivalry which 
 existed between the great cities would cease, when the inhab- 
 tants of neither could claim precedence. 
 
 The situation o( the capital is picturesque in the extreme. 
 Behind it rises a range of foothills whose soil is admirably 
 adapted to the cultivation of cofi'ee. In fact this region boasts 
 more than 200 coffee plantations with an annual yield of 
 1,500,000 pounds of the precious berry. The coffee industry 
 bids fair to assume great inportance, particularly when immi- 
 gration flows into the district and a permanent supply of labor 
 can be obtained. 
 
 Managua can boast of but few imposing public or private' 
 edifices. The government palace is probably the largest and 
 best appointed building in the city, while the parish church 
 presents the finest appearance of the several places of worship. 
 The capital is the head, or centre, of the sub-prefecture of the 
 same name. This political arrangement renders it in a measure 
 independent of the departmental government. The centres 
 of population on the banks of the river San Juan, although 
 they are virtually dependent on the department of Granada, 
 are independent as far as their elections are concerned, which 
 they hold in conjunction with the perfection of Acoyapa. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF LEON. 
 
 This department is bounded on the north by those of Mata- 
 galpa and Segovia, on the east by Chinandega, on the south 
 by the Pacific ocean and' the west by the department of Gra- 
 nada. It is watered by several rivers which empty into Lake 
 
240 REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA. 
 
 Managua, or the Pacific. The coast extends from Boca 'Falsa 
 to San Martin bay. The most notable points, are First, the 
 month of the river Leon, at which is situated a small port, 
 where considerable salt is deposited by the sea; the river Ta- 
 marindo, with its well conditioned port, and Cape Desolate, 
 which might be considered a promontory. It contains eight 
 cities, towns and villages of importance. The four principal 
 are : 
 
 Leon, with a population of 28,000. 
 
 Subtiaba, with a population of 7,000. 
 
 El Sauce, with a population of. . 2,000. 
 
 Telica, with a population of . . . 2,000. 
 
 The portion of the lake coast that belongs to this department 
 has an extension of about thirty miles. At Imbita, or Moabita, 
 one found the ruins of the old city of Leon, close to which is a 
 fine port on the south side of the volcauo Momotombo, but whose 
 entrance is partially closed by the volcanic island Motombito. 
 Further around to the east is the semi-circular bay Maboto, 
 in whose bosom two important rivers, the Encuentros and the 
 Eio Grande empty. These watercourses are navigable for quite 
 a distance from their nj^uth. 
 
 The topography of this department is less mountainous and 
 broken than its sister political divisions, yet in its centre rises 
 ' the tall sierra of Marrabios. Its climate is rather hot, yet to 
 the north the slopes of the Cordillera enjoy a fresh and brac- 
 ing atmosphere. 
 
 The city of Leon is the seat of departmental government. 
 It contains 28,000 inhabitants, of mixed race, and is situated 
 in the centre of a vast plain which is well watered and exten- 
 sively cultivated. The first city of this name was founded on 
 the banks of Lake Managua, in 1523, by Cordoba. In 1610, the 
 inhabitants frightened at the threatening aspect presented 
 by the volcano Momotombo, deserted the town and founded a 
 new city close to the ancient Indian capital, Subtiaba. As the 
 new city increased in size it gradually approached the Indian 
 town, from which it is now separated only by the width of a 
 street. These two centres of population have separate muni- 
 cipal government. 
 
REPUBLIC OP NICARAGUA. 241 
 
 Leon was the ancient capital of ISTicaragua and the residence 
 of the Spanish authorities. Although it has passed through 
 many vicissitudes it has never been entirely destroyed like 
 Granada. It is therefore the monumental city of the Republic. 
 Its streets are well paved and lighted. The principal public 
 edifice is the great cathedral which was commenced in 1746, by 
 Bishop Martin B. Figueroa; was finished by Bishop Carlos 
 Cabrera in 1774, and was dedicated by Bishop Esteban de 
 Tristan. It is said that the plan of the building was furnished 
 by a British traveler and that its construction cost $5,000,000. 
 This edifice occupies an entire square, but its height is too low 
 to correspond with such a vast base. In former years it pos- 
 sessed many valuable ornaments, but having been pillaged 
 several times during the civil wars it now boasts but few ar- 
 ticles of value. In the sacristy is a collection of portraits, said 
 to be genuine, of all bishops who have filled the See of I^ica- 
 ragua. From the summits of the towers a glorious panorama 
 is presented to the view. The Bishop's palace, the National 
 palace, the barracks and the old convents of La Merced, La 
 Eecoleccion, San Francisco and the Hospital of Saint John of 
 God, are the few other buildings worthy of mention. 
 
 The Indian town, or suburb, of Subtiaba boasts one of the 
 finest sacred edifices in Nicaragua, which is also the most an- 
 cient in the republic. It possesses many valuable and curious 
 ornaments. At the epoch of the conquest this Indian capital 
 contained more than 100,000 inhabitants, who were engaged in 
 commerce and agriculture, and were celebrated for their in- 
 dustry as well as pacific inclinations. Both Leon and Sub- 
 tiaba are noted for numerous springs of excellent drinking 
 water in different localities. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OP RIVAS. I 
 
 This department is bounded on the north by that of Gra- 
 nada, on the south by the Republic of Costa Rica, on the west 
 by the Pacific ocean as far as the bay of Salinas, on the east 
 by lake Nicaragua. The sea coast of the department extends 
 from Salinas bay to the mouth of the Bscalante river and has 
 the following ports : Caseras bay, the port of Brito, the mouth 
 
242 REPUBLIC OF NICAEAaUA. 
 
 of the Rio Grande de Tola, the port of ]S"ascascola, San Juan 
 del Sur and Oape Natau, 
 
 The lake coast is broken by the mouths of many little unim- 
 portant rivers which rise in the volcanic regions of Costa Eica. 
 The other princii>al localities are Tortugas- point, the mouth 
 and port of the river Sapoa, those of the rivers Santa Clara, 
 La Lajas and the Gil Gonzalez, the port of La Virgin and the 
 two points or Capes Del Palmar and EI Menco. The large 
 island of Ometepe also belongs to this department. 
 
 The Department of Rivas is situated between the Pacific 
 ocean and lake Nicaragua and forms a narrow isthmus re- 
 markably fertile, and watered by numerous little streams and 
 rivers. It is therefore, in ratio to its size and the number of 
 its inhabitants, the most progressive locality of the republic, as 
 far as agriculture, the amount of its exports and its industries 
 are concerned — and even for the development of its sjstem of 
 public instruction. The different routes marked out for the 
 Nicaragua canal pass through its territory. Thus its future 
 will be remarkably brilliant should this grand enterprise ever 
 be carried out. 
 
 The climate is damp, but the evening and morning breezes 
 are so fresh that the region may be considered fairly healthy. 
 The population is mostly collected around the city of Rivas, 
 the capital of the department. It contains ten considerable 
 towns and villages. The four principal are: 
 
 Rivas, with a population of 10,000 
 
 San Jorge, with a population of 3,000 
 
 Potosi, with a population of . . 2,500 
 
 El Obrage, with a population of 3,000 
 
 The city of Rivas possesses an altitude of 177 feet above the 
 level of the sea and contains 10,000 inhabitants, of mixed 
 blood, [t was founded on the site of the ancient Indian city 
 of Nicarao, and was called Nicaragua until the beginning of 
 the present century, when the name was changed to Rivas. 
 
 It contains no edifices worthy of mention. This city has 
 been several times partially destroyed by earthquakes, and 
 was nearly ruined during the war of the filibusters. It is 
 
REPUBLIC or NICARAGUA. 243 
 
 noted as the place where Walker sustained a siege of five long 
 months during the year 1856. 
 
 The lake port of Rivas, San Jorge, contains about 2500 in- 
 habitants. The principal port on the Pacific is San Juan del 
 Sur, which carries ou quite a large import and export traffic, 
 but does not contain more than 400 inhabitants. 
 
 The principal locality of note in this department is the island 
 of Ometepe, which is washed by the calm swells of the Great 
 lake. From the summit of its tall volcano may be witnessed 
 one of the most beautiful panoramas presented to human 
 sight in any region ol the World. The ascent is quite easy, 
 as it is gradual and very little broken. This island contains 
 many antiquities, the most of which are found in tombs many 
 centuries old. 
 
 An idea of the importance of this little department may be 
 gleaned from the fact that besides its numerous stock raising 
 establishments and coffee plantations, it possesses more than 
 a million and a half cacao (chocolate) trees, and 175 indigo 
 vats, which produced, in 1880, 275,000 pounds of this costly 
 article. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF CHINANDEGA. 
 
 This district is bounded on the north by the department 
 of Segovia, on the east by that of Leon, on the south by the 
 Pacific ocean, from Cape Ooseguina to Boca Falsa, and on the 
 west by Honduras. 
 
 The department is most admirably situated. In its centre 
 extends that vast plain which is watered by the Estero Real 
 and its afflaen.ts. In the south are numerous little rivers 
 which water that portion which lies between the Pacific and 
 the foot hill range of Marrabios ; and in the north rise the 
 slopes of the temperate lands from which flow the Black river 
 and its branches. The southern district is admirably adapted 
 for all kinds of agriculture, and the northern portion for stock 
 raising purposes and mining enterprises. The various pro- 
 ducts of the soil, the forests and the mines may be readily 
 exported from the numerous little ports, on the Pacific coast, 
 belonging to the department. 
 
244 REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA. 
 
 Ohinandega has seven considerable cities and towns, the 
 principal of which are : 
 
 Ohinandega, with a population of .9,000 
 
 El Viejo, with a population of .4,500 
 
 Ohichigalpa, with a population of 3,500 
 
 Eealejo, with a population of 1,500 
 
 Ohinandega, the capital of the department, is built on the 
 site of an ancient Indian city. It contains a mixed population 
 of 9,000 souls and has an altitude of 121 feet above the level 
 of the Pacific. In times past it was quite an important bus- 
 iness locality, but the gradual filling up of the port of Realejo, 
 upon which it depended, and the opening of that of Corinto, 
 which is connected with Leon by a fine wagon road, caused its 
 traffic to revert to the latter city. The completion of the rail - 
 road from Leon Viejo to Corinto, which passes close to Ohinan- 
 dega, has in a measure revived commerce and it is now quite 
 a flourishing business centre. 
 
 It possesses no fine edifices, but its houses are generally 
 situated in the midst of cultivated plots of ground, which 
 gives the town the appearance of a vast orchard. Its neigh- 
 borhood is quite picturesque, while it is surrounded by numer- 
 ous plantations of sugar cane and cotton. 
 
 The port of Realejo was founded by Alvarado, in 1534. It 
 was sacked and burnt several times by the buccaneers, and 
 also by the filibusters under Walker, it once boasted 15,000 
 inhabitants, but now contains but one tenth that number. 
 
 Corinto is an admirable little port. Since the completion 
 of the railroad it has become the principal sea port of the 
 republic. It has two deep entrances. Ships of the greatest 
 tonnage may anchor close to the beach, 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF OHONTALES. 
 
 This department is bounded on the north by that of Mata- 
 galpa, on the east by the Caribbean sea, on the south by the 
 river San Juan, and on the west by G-ranada. , 
 
 The civilized region of this department presents the aspect 
 of a series of almost circular valleys, separated by the western 
 spurs of the Cordillera, excepting the northern portion, which 
 might be considered a knot of irregular mountains. The cH- 
 
REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA. 245 
 
 mate is temperate on the plains but cold on the higher lands. 
 The principal products are cattle and gold. 
 
 It contains nine towns and villages, the four principal of 
 which are : 
 
 Acoyapa, with a population of 7,500 
 
 Juigalpa, with a population of 3,500 
 
 La Libertad, with a population of 3,200 
 
 Boaco, with a population of 5,000 
 
 The capital, Acoyapa, is a mere collection of adobe houses 
 and Indian huts, and is connected with the lake by a bad 
 bridle road, which terminates at the port of San Ubaldo. 
 
 The soil is remarkably fertile, while the climate of the table 
 lands is bracing and healthy. There is no finer spot on the 
 planet for the establishment of a colony of American emi- 
 grants, were it only connected with the Caribbean coast by a 
 good wagon road. 
 
 . DEPARTMENT OF MATAGALPA. 
 
 This region is bounded on the north by the Coco river, on 
 the east by the Atlantic and the uncivilized portion of the re- 
 public, on the south by the Departments of Granada and 
 Choutales, and on the west by those of Leon and Segovia. 
 
 The country is broken by irregular mountain spurs that 
 hold in their embrace numerous fertile valleys, which are 
 watered by many i)erennial water-courses and streams. The 
 climate is not only temperate, but is absolutely cold in the 
 higher table lands. Fine wheat crops are produced, together 
 with all the vegetation of the temperate zone. 
 
 It contains twelve towns andvillages. The four principal 
 are: 
 
 Matagalpa, with a population of 10,000 
 
 Jinotega, with a population of. 7,000 
 
 Metapa 4,500 
 
 Sebaco, with a population of 2,500 
 
 The principal industry is stock raising ; yet several valu- 
 able mines are worked on a small scale. 
 
 Matagalpa, the capital, is situated 2000 feet above the Car- 
 ibbean sea and is surrounded by high mountains, that shut 
 out the horizon on all sides. It has been several times de- 
 stroyed by the Zambo and Mosquito Indians. 
 
246 REPUBLIO OP NICARAGUA. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF SEGOVIA. 
 
 Is bounded on the north and west by Honduras, on the east 
 by the Uncivilized Region, and u)n the south by the Depart- 
 ments of Chinandega and Leon. 
 
 Many of the rivers that empty into the Coco have their 
 sources in this department, but none of them are navigable — 
 not even the Coco, until its junction Mith the Jicaro. The 
 principal industry is cattle raising, although a small quantity 
 of coffee and indigo is produced. It contains seventeen towns 
 and villages, the principal of which are : 
 
 Ocotal, with a population of 12,000 
 
 Coudega, with a population of 3,000 
 
 Somoto, with a population of 1,500 
 
 Bsteii, with a population of 3,000 
 
 Ocotal, or Segovia, is situated in a picturesque locality on 
 the banks of the river Telpaneca. It was founded in 1524 by 
 Cordoba, and has been many times destroyed since that date 
 by the pirates and Mosquito Indians, who ascended the Coco 
 river in small boats. It contains no fine buildings, but boasts 
 a population, together with its suburbs, of 12,000 souls. 
 
 The climate of this department is cool and remarkably 
 healthy. Its soil is very fertile and is watered by many con- 
 stant rivers and water-courses. It contains some of the richest 
 silver and gold mines in the World, but they were mostly 
 abandoned during the struggle for independence. 
 
 THE UNCIVILIZED REGION. 
 
 This district is divided into two parts ; the Mosquito reser- 
 vation and that portion of the republic inhabited by native 
 tribes. The latter are harmless, inoffensive and remarkably 
 friendly. The author lived with the Smoos for two months, 
 in 1874, and was treated in the kindest and most hospitable 
 manner. They readily yield their lands to English or Ameri- 
 cans. When their country is settled by immigrants it will be 
 one of the most flourishing districts of the republic. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Form of Government — The Constitution — Seatricted Suffrage — Presidents 
 Quadra, Zavala, and Cardenas — The Patriotism and Wise Adminis- 
 tration of Cardenas — Payment of the Public Debt — Solvency of the 
 Eepublic — Wise Financial Measure — Railroad System — Industries — 
 Coffee Planting — Agricultural Products — Stock Raising— Demand for 
 Beeves — Wood Cutting Industry — Rubber Traffic — The Inter-Oceanic 
 Canal — Prospects for Immigrants. 
 
 Tiie system of government administered in Nicaragua may 
 be designated as moderate republican. If the actual adminis- 
 tration of public affairs is undoubtedly conducted in as demo- 
 (iratic a manner as is practiced in any of the other republics, the 
 constitution is by no means as liberal as those which have, 
 coni])aratively latelj^, been piomulgated in Honduras and Gua- 
 temala. 
 
 The Constitution, which was modeled upon that of the. 
 United States, is supposed, by the framers, to avoid certain 
 dangerous or equivocal declarations which they deemed to think 
 darkened the pages of the immortal work of our forefathers. 
 With exception of the slavery clause — the cause for which has 
 since been abolished in this country — it would be difficult to 
 find a single passage, in which the Coi.ititution of the little 
 republic expresses more enlightened or li^ eral sentiments than 
 may be found in its great model. 
 
 • Yet, the Constitution of Mcaragua is an admirable docu- 
 ment and is well worthy of being carefully studied and ex- 
 amined. If it is more conservative than that of Guatemala, 
 or of Honduras, it is certainly more practical. Under the 
 two latter, liberty, fraternity and equality are carried almost 
 to t!ie verge of socialism, while the Charter of Mcaragua, 
 like that of Salvador, stops short at quaiilied suffrage. 
 
 The government of the republic is separated into three dis- 
 tinct branches; the Executive, the Legislative and the Judi- 
 cial. The first is exercised by a citizen w^ho must be in entire 
 possession of all the rights and attributes of citizenship. He 
 
248 EEPUBLIG OF NICARAaUA. 
 
 must be a married mau and at least thirty years old. Under 
 the title of President, he is the chief magistrate and holds 
 office for the term of four years. The legislative power is 
 vested in a Congress whose members are elected by the popu- 
 lar vote. The judicial functions are vested in magistrates, 
 whose office is also elective. 
 
 The present chief magistrate is Dr. Adan Cardenas. This 
 gentleman is a profound scholar and speaks several modern 
 languages fluently. He, for several years, represented his 
 government at Washington, and is, therefore, well known and 
 highly appreciated in this country. He has occupied numer- 
 ous public positions, and is one of the shrewdest and most 
 consummate diplomats in Central America. Dr. Cardenas 
 belongs to the conservative party, yet his so-called conserva- 
 tism might rather be termed rational liberalism, for he is as 
 liberal in his principles as any other Central American Presi- 
 dent. If he is not constantly descanting on the sublimity and 
 beauty of equality or fraternity, his public acts prove that he 
 entertains wise and enlightened sentiments, while he certainly 
 has shown himself a sincere promoter of the material interests 
 of his country. 
 
 With his vast experience in public affairs, his enlightened 
 ideas and his profound patriotism, Dr. Cardenas is essentially 
 the right man in the right place; it is safe to assume that if 
 the rest of his term of office is marked by as many wise public 
 acts, as the period he has already exercised his official func- 
 tions has been, his name will occupy a bright j)lace in the future 
 history of his country. 
 
 The late civil wars and revolutions which so devastated Nica- 
 ragua left among other burdens a large debt for posterity to 
 discharge. That indebtedness has been fully paid, while the 
 citizens of the republic justly boast, that theirs is the only 
 Latin American nation that owes neither a foreign nor a do- 
 mestic debt. The Gaceta Ojicial, in its issue of December 12, 
 1884, published the following article, which is reproduced in 
 full: 
 
 " For eight years government certificates, called state notes, 
 have been in circulation. They are of the first an<l second 
 
REPUBLIC OF NIOABAGMTA. 249 
 
 order, with privileged six per ceut bituda, all required to be 
 paid in flues uud cnstoin duties. 
 
 The cancellation of orders for custom duties proved a com- 
 plicated and confused business, because a moiety had to be 
 paid in money, and a certain percentage in these certificates. 
 The merchant was compelled to procure this paper to enable 
 him to pay his custom duties, or else to obtain security that he 
 would pay the value of the certificates. The press cried out 
 against these different classes of certificates which circulated in 
 commercial transportation, which caused confusion therein and 
 also in the accounts of the national treasury. Many of these 
 certificates were issued without proper care or formality,,J;hus 
 giving scope for forged utterances of the same, with grave in- 
 jury to the interests of the state as well as of individuals. 
 
 For these reasons President Vincente Quadra proposed to 
 Congress in 1871, the consolidation of all these certificates into 
 one debt. This proposition was rejected, doubtless because 
 the necessity of such a measure was not clearly realized then, 
 or because, as often happens with all innovations, an opposite 
 financial result was feared to that held in view. 
 
 But the course of time proved the correctness of President 
 Quadra's views and the desired conversion took place March 
 24, 1867. The new certificate was circulated under the name 
 of the " consolidated bonds," which bore five per cent interest 
 from the first of December of the same year. This law decreed 
 that custom duties should be paid, in the hundred, at sixty-five 
 cents cash, and the rest in old certificates, or in fifty cents cash, 
 and fifty cents in consolidated bonds. As may be seen this 
 last arrangment resulted in obliging all to indirectly adopt the 
 converted paper as the law dictated. 
 
 At first the new paper was greatly depreciated and sold at 
 thirty- five per cent ; but the regularity with which the interest 
 was paid, and the bonds gradually canceled inspired confidence. 
 The increase of importations raised year by year the value of 
 these bonds until they reached par and eventually a very high 
 premium. This result proved to the world the value of gov- 
 ernment promises. But at length it became a serious question 
 with merchants who had to buy these bonds at a high premium, 
 
 17 
 
250 EEPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA. 
 
 for they could not compete in the sale of their g'oods with those 
 who had tought them uj) at a cheap rate some time before. To 
 remedy this evil, Congress, September last, passed a law, au- 
 thorizing the payment of these bonds, with accrued interest, 
 in ready money, granting government the power to raiee a loan, 
 if necessary, on those conditions it deemed the most favorable. 
 But the government could not realize the required loan as the 
 terms offered were too severe. As the amount of the consoli- 
 dated loan became gradually less, the government no longer 
 needed a loan, and, on the first of the present month. Congress 
 passed a law withdrawing the bonds and authorizing their 
 payi|^nt, with interest up to date, in ready cash. Thus the 
 interior debt is cancelled and Nicaragua has neither foreign 
 nor native creditors nor owes a single dollar to anyone. 
 
 The history of this interior debt is very interesting. The 
 total value of the consolidated bonds was $1,751,732 50. Taking 
 this sum with the amounts paid iu the former certificates, we 
 find that the total interior debt, acknowledged and paid, 
 amounts to the large sum of $3,503,465 60. 
 ■ This plain statement clearly indicates the present financial 
 situation iuISTicaragua; add to this, that commerce is flourish- 
 ing, railroads are being constructed, new plantations are es- 
 tablished, and mining and stock raising being pushed, it will 
 be seen that Nicaragua, if not as rich as San Salvador for 
 instance, is in an equally prosperous condition. 
 
 In the foregoing six chapters the author has endeavored to 
 furnish a brief account of tbe past history of the republic, as 
 well as a description of the topography of the country. Men- 
 tion has been made of the several departments, their natural 
 resources, their rivers, plains, mountain slo[)es, mines and 
 above all, the climate and the nature and productiveness of 
 the soil. As the plan of this work will not permit any de- 
 tailed account of these various interesting subjects, the author 
 deems that enough has been said to draw the attention of the 
 American public to a country but little known to or under- 
 stood by them and to ])rove that the Eepublic of Mcaragua, 
 with its liberal laws, its cordial invitation to immigrants, its 
 fertile soil and rich mines, is one of the best localities where 
 
REPUBLIC OF NICAKAGUA. 251 
 
 parties possessing little capital, but plenty of energy and 
 enterprise, , may not only find a fortune in agriculture but a 
 happy home and the climate best suited to their health or 
 habits. 
 
 Nicaragua can boast of but few manufactures, while those 
 are of a simple and primitive order. The numerous mountain 
 torrents that descend to the plains afford thousands of oppor- 
 tunities for the establishment of factories and quartz mills, 
 when the time comes to utilize this vast hydraulic motor 
 power. 
 
 The railroad construction system adopted by the republic, 
 and which is being pushed gradually forward, is as unique in 
 its conception as it is practical in its methods. Government 
 has undertaken the construction of the proposed roads. It 
 owns and runs the line already built, whose earnings last year 
 not only paid all expenses, but an interest of six per cent 
 clear on every dollar thus far expended on the work. This 
 line is about seventy miles long. Its Pacific terminus is the 
 pretty little port of Oorinto. It passes through one of the 
 most productive agricultural regions on the planet ; skirts 
 the two great cities of Cbinandega and Leon, and strikes lake 
 Managua at a point near Leon Yiejo. The city of Managua, 
 which is distant, by land, from Leon Viejo, about forty-two 
 miles, will soon be connected with it by rail, as the proposed 
 line, to skirt the lake to the -capital city, is now in course of 
 construction and will be finished in two years. From Mana- 
 gua to Granada, which is thirty miles, the road will be Duilt 
 in 1887. But meanwhile the government intends, as before 
 mentioned, to restore the port of Graytown, or San Juan del 
 Norte, to its former favorable condition, and also to render 
 the San Juan navigable for vessels drawing eight feet of water, 
 from Graytown to the Great lake. All this work is expected 
 to be accomplished by the end of 1887. Thus, in three years, 
 the people of the republic confidently expect to he able to 
 cross from ocean to ocean, by rail and water transportation, 
 in a comparatively brief period of time. 
 
 The principal industries of Nicaragua are foreign and domes- 
 tic commerce, precious Avood cutting, agriculture, stock raising 
 
252 REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA. 
 
 and miniu^. The total foreign traffic for the year 1S83, ex- 
 cludiug the traffic of tlie Mosquito reservation, was: imports 
 $1,600,000 ; exports 12,200,000. The domestic commerce may 
 be estimated at $25,000,000 per annum. 
 
 Coffee planting has become a staple industry, while labor 
 on the coasts is both scarce and costly ; in the interior and 
 particularly in the distant departments it rules reasonably 
 low as yet. Within the past five years not only have numer- 
 ous new plantations been established, but on the old ones the 
 area of cultivation has been greatly increased. Although the 
 coast, on either side, is lined with fine cocoanut groves, but 
 little attempt has been made to increase the acreage of this 
 valuable product. 
 
 The fruit planting industry has been totally neglected. If 
 on the Pacific coast the fruit producing centres are too distant 
 from San Francisco to enable a traffic in hananas and plan- 
 tains to become profitable, the Caribbean coast is but five days' 
 distant from ISTew Orleans, and the fine lands on the Coco, the 
 San Juan and the Matagalpa rivers, might be utilized to great 
 advantage in this industry. The banks of the Mico, or Blue- 
 fields, river, in the Mosquito reservation, are now crowded 
 with flourishing banana plantations. The fruit produced in 
 this latter locality is the best that finds its way into our mar- 
 kets, so there is no reason why the other river banks which 
 possess equal advantages, should not produce as fine fruit. 
 
 Tobacco, indigo, vanilla and numerous other tropic articles 
 of commerce are produced in the tierra caliente, while wheat, 
 rye, oats, barley and many kinds of vegetables and fruits grow 
 to perfection on the temperate table lauds. Indian corn and 
 broom corn flourish in all localities at less than 10,000 feet 
 above the sea. 
 
 Stock raising has, within the past five years, excited con- 
 siderable attention. The sui)i)ly of the Guatemala, West In 
 dian and Isthmian markets has created a demand for beef 
 cattle along the entire coast. In the northern departments, 
 near the Honduranean line, the number of cattle has been 
 greatly increased. There is sufficient land in IsTorthern Nica- 
 ragua and Southern Honduras, at present entirely unoccupied, 
 
REPUBLIC OP NICARAGUA. 253 
 
 to furnish 5,000,000 beef cattle annually, without withdrawing 
 from agriculture the most fertile lands. Yet Texas undoubt- 
 edly contains more cattle than the Central American republics 
 combined. 
 
 On the Texas and I'Torthern Mexican cattle ranges the aver- 
 age pasture allotted each beef is three acres. In Honduras 
 and N"icaragua it is no exaggeration to assert that the pastur- 
 age found on the mountain and foothill sides, and the banks 
 of the numerous streams and water-courses which irrigate the 
 countr}^, is so varied and so plentiful that one acre will not 
 only maintain, but will fatten, one beef for market. 
 
 The peculiar topographical formation of numerous portions 
 of Central America renders them particularly adapted to 
 cattle raising. It is true the American people do not either 
 know, or seem to care to know, this fact 5 but the time will 
 come (indeed the time is not far distant) when the meat sup- 
 ply problem will attract the serious attention of our states- 
 men. The Mexican states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Tamaulipas, 
 l!^uevo Leon and Co^ihuila have already been drained to meet 
 the demands of our market. The central and southern states 
 of Mexico have large and constantly augmenting populations 
 to feed, and cannot be relied upon even to make good the an- 
 nual drafts drawn upon our domestic supply. Thus, Central 
 America and Colombia and Venezuela will soon be called upon 
 to till the demands of the beef markets of these United States, 
 of the West Indies and Europe. 
 
 ISTotwithstanding that many of our patriotic statisticians may 
 deny this statement, it is nevertheless true. Already our At- 
 lantic ports are engaged in shipping vast quantities of refrig- 
 erated beef to Europe, while Florida and Texas annually send 
 great numbers of beef cattle to the West Indies in general, 
 but Cuba in particular. These latter demands of cattle upon 
 our x)roduction of beef cattle are already being felt, nor will it 
 be long before the advanced price of the article in our home 
 markets will seriously eifect this new traffic. 
 
 Meanwhile the governments of the beautiful and fertile 
 inter-tropical Republics of ISTicaragua and Honduras invite 
 American stock raisers to come and occupy their waste lands. 
 
254 REPUBLIC OF NICABA.aXJA. 
 
 They desire them to bring blooded stock to improve the breed 
 of the domestic cattle. The same opportunities are offered 
 sheep farmers, and millions of acres of land admirably adapt- 
 ed to the raising and feeding of sheep and goats can be easily 
 and readily obtained. 
 
 Since the Walker troubles the wood-cutting industry on the 
 Caribbean coast has dwindled to comparative insignificance. 
 Years ago the banks of the Wanks, the Matagalpa, the Mico 
 and the San Juan rivers were crowded with mahogany and 
 cedar cutters' camp, and a great amount of timber was shipped 
 from the different ports of the coast. To day but few mahogany 
 camps are in operation, for the rubber industry has drawn 
 away the greater part of the disposable labor. 
 
 On the Pacific slope a vast annual quantity of dye woods 
 are shipped at Corinto. Fustic is the principal object of com- 
 merce, while Campeche and Brazil — for there is a difference 
 between the two— come next. On the Estero Eeal and other 
 watercourses and rivers some mahogany and cedar is occa- 
 sionally cut, but not enough to make much impression on Eu- 
 ropean markets. 
 
 In the very near future the wood-cutting industry on the 
 Caribbean coast will again revive. The available mahogany 
 and cedar trees in Honduras and British Honduras are being 
 thinned out, and the magnificent forests of Nicaragua will be 
 called upon to yield their tribute until the younger trees of 
 the two other localities shall have grown sufficiently to cut. 
 
 The Department of Segovia contains some mines whose 
 names were once famous. They are mostly abandoned or are 
 worked in the most primitive manner. The author visited 
 several of them last May and was presented with numerous 
 remarkably rich specimens There is one lode whose ore 
 averages $540 per ton of gold, while a silver lead was pointed 
 out to him whose average working yield was $266 per ton. 
 Neither of these mines are being operated — at least not in form 
 — as the owners only work them at stated periods, merely to 
 comply with the law and retain their possession. 
 
 It may read like a fable to assert that there are in the De- 
 partment of Segovia at least sixty mines equal to any that 
 
REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA. 255 
 
 have yet been worked in IN'evada, California, Colorado or IS^ew 
 Mexico. Yet such is undoubtedly the case, while the names 
 of fifty-four can be cited whose ore averages more than $150 
 to the ton, worMng assay. 
 
 Should the curious reader ask why these, to him, fabulously 
 rich mines are not worked, numerous reasons might be ad- 
 vanced, anyone of which woukl answer his question. The 
 hitherto unsettled and revolutionary condition of society, the 
 natural apathy and indolence of the Creoles ; the former inse- 
 curity of life and property 5 the lack of capital to inaugurate 
 enter]3rises ; the bad condition of the roads and the great cost 
 of transporting mining machinery over the tall and rugged 
 mountains are a few of the causes that might be cited to show 
 why these mines have not lately been operated. To-day Nica- 
 raguan society is no longer revolutionary^ but is inclined to 
 peace and pacific pursuits. The people are arousing from their 
 long lethargic slumber and have begun to manifest a deep in- 
 terest in the material progress of their fertile and rich country. 
 The lack of capital will soon be supplied from foreign money 
 markets. Foreign arms will assist native muscle to cut good 
 roads from the mines to the central railroad system, while to- 
 day, both life and property are as safe (if not actually safer) in 
 Central America, as in any of our southwestern territories. 
 These are not merely assertions 'they are stubborn facts and 
 are borne out by irrefragible testimony. 
 
 While American miners are satisfied with the possession of 
 property that will turn out $25 to, the ton, and are making 
 large investments, in their utter ignorance of tlie mineral re- 
 sources of Honduras, and the Mcaraguan department of Se- 
 govia, they refuse to believe in the disinterested statements of 
 travelers. Let those who doubt, but yet have money to' invest 
 in mining enterprises, go to the department of Olaucho, Toro 
 and Tegucigalpa in Honduras, and Segovia in Nicaragua, and 
 their own eyes will speedily convince them of the vast mineral 
 resources of those localities. 
 
 For tv^o decades the greater number of the people of Eastern 
 Nicaragua, including the inhabitants of the Mosquito Eeser- 
 vation, have bended their entire energies to gathering- rubber. 
 
256 REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA. 
 
 It would be impossible to estimate the quantity of this valuable 
 article, supplied by the forests contiguous to the Caribbean 
 coast within the past twenty years. It must have aggregated 
 to several millions of pounds annually. But lately the price 
 of rubber, in consequence of the many substances that are em- 
 ployed in adulterating the pure gum, has seriously declined. 
 . The cost of gathering it is almost as great as the price it obtains 
 on the spot. If this situation continues much longer the rub- 
 ber gatherers will be compelled to seek other employments. 
 In this case the wood cutting industry will be revived and* 
 fruit planting on a large scale inaugurated. 
 
 The Caribbean ports of IsTicaragua are virtually free ports ; 
 at Gracias and G-raytown ten per cent duties are collected on 
 imports, at Bhietields and Corn Island, Mosquito Reservation, 
 but three per cent on imports are levied. This anomalous con- 
 dition obtains by consequence of the treaty of 1860, with Great 
 Britain, which deiined the extent of the Mosquito Eeservation 
 and the tariff duties to be collected at the Caribbean ports of 
 the Eepublic. 
 
 On the Pacific coast the government tariff of customs pre- 
 vails. As the greater portion of the import and export traffic 
 of the republic is carried on in that locality, the federal treasury 
 suffers but little, while the inhabitants ot the Eastern coast are 
 greatly benefited by the arrangement. 
 
 So much has been said and written concerning the proposed 
 Nicaraguan inter oceanic canal that it is almost needless to 
 mention it here. The Americo-Mcaraguan treaty lately dis- 
 cussed by the American Senate, and which treated of the 
 eventual construction of said canal, failed ratification by that 
 body. Whether some other foreign nation or individuals may 
 undertake the great enterprise or not is more than can now be 
 conjectured. But one thing is certain: sooner or later the 
 canal will be constructed, and then future American states- 
 men will severely censure the timid or conservative policy that 
 permitted the control of the great artificial strait to pass be- 
 yond the pale of American influence. 
 
 Sufficient information regarding Mcaragua has been fur- 
 nished in the preceding pages to give the reader a faint idea 
 
REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA. 257 
 
 of the vast agricultural possibilities and the forest and min- 
 eral resources the little republic possesses. It has been shown 
 that the lands are marvelously fertile and at least one-half of 
 the country enjoys a climate as healthy and agreeable as that 
 of any other portion of the planet. If j^icaragua, three de- 
 cades ago, was the prey of revolutionary factions and life and 
 property were insecure, two decades of peace which have been 
 employed in pushing the material advancement of the country 
 has brought about a new condition of affairs. Life and prop- 
 erty are respected in Mcaragua as much as they are in the 
 Orescent City, while money invested in agricultural, mineral 
 or wood-cutting enterprises returns an almost fabulous profit 
 as compared with general investments in this country. It is 
 safe to assume, then, that those who wish to better their for- 
 tunes, who have a small amount of capital to invest, could 
 find no safer or more promising locality than Nicaragua, the 
 scene of the exploits ^f the chivalrous Gil and Cordoba — the 
 native land of Cardenas and Zavala. 
 
COSTA RICA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Priestly Theories Eegarding tlie American Indigines — Dr. Plongeon's Dis- 
 coverieb in Yucatan — America the Older World — The Yucatecan Story 
 of Adam and Eve, and the Death, of Abel— The Lost Atlantis— Ruins 
 of Ancient Cities in Costa Rica — First Spanish Expedition— Journeys 
 of Gil, Cordoba and Pedrarias — Combats with the Indians— Pizarro's 
 Campaig-n — Invasion of the Territory of Urraca — Gallant Defense 
 Made by Him— Battle With Pedrarias — Subsequent Death and Defeat 
 of Urraca — Subjugation of the Province. 
 
 IS'otwithstaiiding thatmany learned theologiausliave, during 
 the past three centuries, published ponderous tomes to prove 
 that the continent was originally" populated by colonies from 
 both Asia and Europe, their adversaries have successfully 
 refuted their arguments and assert that America is the older 
 World and was most probably peopled long before any portion 
 of the Eastern Hemisphere. 
 
 The researches of Dr. Aguste Plongeon, who, accompanied 
 by his accomplished and scientific wife, spent several years in 
 examining the ruined cities of Yucatan, have resulted in bring- 
 ing to light many historical facts that had long been buried 
 in the mists of ages. He found inscribed on the columns, 
 obelisks, mural ornaments, and temple walls of the ancient 
 city of Uxmal, the story of Adam and Eve, with a detailed 
 account of the killing of Chaakmol (Abel) by his worthless 
 brother Ake, while Cay (Cain), the high priest, in vain en- 
 deavored to save him. Engravings of Abel's wife (and sister) 
 Moo, and his mother, father, sisters and brothers, weeping 
 over his ensanguined corpse, are sculptured on the facades of 
 several ruined temples, while deep in the interior of a huge 
 mound were found his (Chaakmol's) statue, the urn which 
 
260 REPUBLIC OF COSTA RICA. 
 
 once contained his heart, together with some primitive orna- 
 ments and the knife (made of light colored flint) that killed 
 him. 
 
 If the orthodox reader may doubt the truth of Dr. Plongeon's 
 revelations, the facts of the case are to-day accepted by nu- 
 merous scientists and antiquarians. Egypt was the scene 
 of the early childhood, the school days (if such term may be 
 used) and the manhood and prime of the Hebrew law-giver, 
 Moses. It is a well known fact that this great reformer and 
 natural leader of men, was skilled in all the learning but, par- 
 ticularly, m the theology of the Egyptians. Dr. Plongeon 
 believes he can prove that this latter people received the light 
 of civilization probably 150 centuries ago, from Yucatan. In 
 this case the subjects of Chemi were taught the story of the 
 creation of the world, of Adam arid Eve, of Abel (Chaakmol), 
 Oay (Caiu), and Ake, by the learned priests of the great 
 Maya temples of Uxmal. 
 
 During his visit to TJxmal, the scientific explorer made a 
 Still more remarkable discovery. He deciphered hieroglyphi- 
 cal inscriptions, he found engraved on the temple walls of the 
 ruined capital, which furnish an account of the submergence 
 of the lost continent, Atlantis. Thus the narrative of Hero- 
 dotus, the father of history, is in every essential correct, and 
 thousands of feet below the troubled surface of the stormy 
 Atlantic lies a vast territory that once was the scene of human 
 greatness and of an elevated civilization, far superior to that 
 which confronted the truthful ancient traveler in Egypt, 2300 
 years ago. 
 
 If we may believe the assertions of Central American news- 
 papers, the truth of Dr. Plongeon's statements regarding the 
 lost continent, has recently been attested by a fortunate dis- 
 covery, of which the Caribbean coast of Mcaragna was the 
 scene. In excavating a deep hole some workmen came upon 
 a large rock, forty feet below the surface. This huge stone is 
 covered with hieroglyphics and engravings, which give a 
 brief account of the sudden submergence of the vast territory 
 which once was sitaated in the wide space that is now covered 
 by a great portion of the Atlantic ocean. This event, accord- 
 
REPUBLIC OF COSTA RICA. 261 
 
 ing to Egyptian records, took place some 7000 or 8000 years 
 before the Christian era. The hieroglyphical accounts of the 
 history and snbsfqueut assassination of Chaakmol (Abel) 
 speak of Atlantis several times. Later inscriptions also men- 
 tion it, thus it is safe to assume that the statue of Ghaakmol 
 is at least 12,000 or 13,000 years old. 
 
 Dr. Plongeon discovered many other curious facts, among 
 them the last words of Christ, "Eli Eli lama sebachthani 
 are pure Maya and literally mean, It in finished and darJcness 
 comes over my face. '^'^ This is almost the precise meaning of the 
 phrase, given by one of the Evangelists. Again, the scientist 
 says that the names of many of the letters of the G-reek alphabet, 
 are Mayn, while the appelations of numerous objects and also 
 various Egyptian phrases are ur.donbtedly of genuine Maya 
 origin. 
 
 Accordingly the learned Doctor believes that Yucatan was 
 the cradle of human civilization and from that once densely 
 populated land emanated the knowledge, the sciences and arts 
 which rendered ancient Egypt so famous, while the religion of 
 the land of Ohemi, and the mysteries, practiced by the white 
 robed priests of Thebes, were first preached to the world in 
 the spacious temple of the Sun, at Uxmal, 
 
 Of course theologians have pronounced the Doctor's asser- 
 tions as utterly false and denounced him as a madman. As 
 the gentleman in question is undoubtedly sincere, as he is in- 
 clined to persist in his opiiiious, had he lived in the good old 
 days of the Inquisition, when burning, branding and other 
 ingenious methods of torturo, were emi)loyed against all who 
 presumed to utter a word against the dogmas, tne teachings 
 and the pre(;epts of the Church, he would beyond doubt long 
 ere this have been handed over to the mercies of that saintly 
 institution. But he fortunately lives in an era of enlightenment 
 and investigation, thus his life at least is safe, even if the 
 priesthood of all sects deride his opinions As far as his being 
 a madman is concerned, the learned Boucher de Perthe was 
 for a period of fitteen years considered a poor, harmless lunatic 
 by the Galic Church, and even by those learned parties the 
 members of the French Institute, because he asserted that the 
 
262 REPUBLIC OF COSTA RICA. 
 
 flint knives, arrows and lance beads, he discovered imbedded in 
 the clay at Abbeville were the workmanship of pre-historic men. 
 
 Sufficient facts have been elicited to prove that Southern 
 Mexico, (Yucatan in particular) Guatemala, British Honduras, 
 Spanish Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and the Isthmus of 
 Panama, were once the cradles of a high order of civilization. 
 But nothing more is known of the dynasties and kingdoms 
 which flourished at that remote age than is told by the hiero- 
 glyphical inscriptions, and the carved engravings found on the 
 columns, monuments, and temple walls of the ruined cities of 
 Central America. 
 
 Certain localities of Costa Rica are strewn with ruins of 
 undoubtedly great antiquity. Positive ])roofs exist that cen- 
 turies upon centuries anterior to the Spanish conquest — cer- 
 tainly before the first Egyptian pyramid was built — the whole 
 extent of the territory now known as Costa Rica was inhab- 
 ited by a race of men who were much more highly civilized 
 than the inhabitants of Nicaragua, who welcomed the mail- 
 clad Spanish warriors of Gil Gonzales to their hearts and their 
 homes. Several ancient tombs found in remote localities, 
 "whose crumbling sides were overgrown with tropic bowers, 
 lately gave up the secrets contained in their hidden interiors 
 for oeous of ages. Pottery of singular shape but of skilled 
 workmanship, stone hatchets, axes, and cooking implements, 
 and penates made of gold, were found resting side by side with 
 huge stones covered with inscriptions and hieroglyi)hics of a 
 nature and form t^ir different from the pictures and carved 
 signs that cover the temple walls of [Jxmal and Chichen-Itza. 
 Until some future savant shall decipher these mysterious in- 
 scriptions nothing can be known of the history of those who 
 carved them, but the belief is gradually gaining ground that 
 the mystery that shrouds these monuments will yet be dis- 
 pelled and that many authentic pages will be added to the 
 past history of this continent. ' 
 
 In that portion of this work relating to Guatemala, three- 
 chapters of the ancient history of the aborigines are given. 
 The reader has seen that authentic records furnish the history 
 of several flourishing aboriginal kingdoms that were governed 
 
REPUBLIC OF COSTA RIGA. 263 
 
 by dynasties of mouarchs for centuries anterior to the con- 
 quest. They teach us that Votan, 400 years before the Chris- 
 tian era, founded the ^reat empire of the Votanides, whose 
 capital city was Palenque. The rains of this ancient metrop- 
 olis cover many square miles of area, while in its apogee it 
 must have contained at least 2,000,000 inhabitants. 
 
 The Votanides were eventually driven to send out colonies, 
 which penetrated to the south and founded kingdoms in Gua- 
 temala, Honduras, and probably in Nicaragua also. The tra- 
 ditions relative to these occurrences, as well as the Cakchiquel 
 and Popal Vuh manuscripts, distinctly aver that wherever 
 this conquering peoi>le emigrated they always found people 
 more or less civilized. 
 
 At the period of the Spanish conquest neither I^icaragua 
 nor Costa Rica was the seat of a powerful aboriginal king- 
 dom, like the monarchies of the Montezumas, the Quiches and 
 the Cakchiquels, or the empire of the Incas of distant Peru. 
 While their people were highly civilized, were noted astrono- 
 mers, agriculturalists and goldsmiths, and lived in large and 
 populous centres of population, they were more democratic 
 and were ruled by caciques. With some of the nations the 
 office of cacique was elective. The people chose their rulers 
 and in certaiu cases deposed them at will. With other nations 
 the cacique was the hereditary head of the government, and 
 in some isolated cases possessed absolute power. 
 
 If the indigines of Costa Rica, shortly anterior to the con- 
 quest, were more divided than those of Guatemala and Yuca- 
 tan, if no powerful monarch had uuitod them into a great 
 kingdom by conquest or jjersuasion, the system of division 
 and government cannot fairly be set down as merely tribal. 
 If one hundred caciques drew out their forces, and in a stub- 
 born battle contested against the valiant Spanish captain, 
 Pedrarias, there were but four principal caciques present on 
 that occasion ; the others were merely subordinate chieftains 
 or head men of villages and towns. 
 
 Costa Rica was discovered by Colon, during his last voyage 
 to the 'Sew World, in the year 1504. Several years passed 
 before other navigators followed in his traces, and it was not 
 
264 REPUBLIC OF COSTA RICA. 
 
 until the year 1513, that the famous bat unfortunate Yasco 
 Nunez de Balboa, from the summit of a tail mountain peak, 
 saw the lon^ rolling billows of the Pacific ocean. 
 
 The news of the discovery of a vast sea to the westward of 
 the Isthmus of Darien, infused a new spirit of enterprise in 
 the hearts of the intrepid Spanish adventurers, who languished 
 at the little settlement of Darien, on the Caribbean coast of 
 the isthmus. They longed for an opportunity to push their 
 discoveries still further to the north and south, along the 
 coasts washed by both oceans. 
 
 About this time a celebrated Spanish caballero, named Pedro 
 Pedrarias Davila, was appointed Governor of the Spanish 
 settlements of Darien, and Captain General of the vast south 
 sea. He arrived at Darien about the year 1514, accompanied 
 by numerous Spanish gentlemen who, having wasted their 
 fortunes in ari unfortunate Italian expedition, were only too 
 anxious to seek a fresh field of enterprise in the ^ew World, 
 
 The gallant Kunez de Balboa married his daughter, but the 
 ferocious chieftain, jeilous of the fame acquired by his new 
 I'elative, accused him of high treason against the crown, and 
 the hero was beheaded in the presence of his relentless enemy. 
 
 But, as is mentioned in that portion of this work relative 
 to Nicaragua, if Pedrarias was cold-blooded, avaricious and 
 ferocious, he was one of the most skillful captains and intrepid 
 soldiers formed during the wars of the Spanish conquest of 
 tropic America. As a general he ranked second only to Cortes 
 on the list of heroes who won so many kingdoms, provinces 
 and countries for Spain. As an audacious and successful 
 soldier, he may be considered as peer with either Cortes or 
 Pizarro, and during the eighteen years that he commanded 
 on the isthmus, he added a vast area of territory and millions 
 of people to the proud colonial empire of Charles V. 
 
 In the year 1516 he sent a fleet towards the northwest, which 
 coasted along the shores of that territory now known as Costa 
 Eica and Nicaragua. The expedition was commanded by two 
 Captains, named Hernan Ponce and Bartolome Hurtado. On 
 the beach of a little bay in Costa Rica, they saw drawn up in 
 battle array a long line of natives, but, declining the combat, 
 
REPUBLIC OF COSTA RICA. 265 
 
 the Spaniards held on. their way to the north and west. The 
 people who so readily assembled to defend their native coasts, 
 were known as the Ohiuchires, a brave and gallant nation of 
 indigenes, which afterwards gave the Spaniards infinite trouble 
 and annoyance before they were definitely subdued. 
 
 The Spanish chieftains at length reached a port that bore 
 the name of Chira, which they called San Lucar, but which 
 was afterwards known as Mcoj^a. As gallant and patriotic 
 as their neighbors, the Ohiuchires, the aboriginies of Ohira 
 assembled in their canoes and fearlessly attacked the large 
 vessels of the explorers. They filled the air with the sounds 
 of martial music, and made menacing signs at the strangers. 
 When they had approached near enough to use them with 
 effect, they bent their long bows and discharged a cloud of 
 arrows at their foes. The Spaniards answered with their light 
 cannon. Several of the canoes were sunk and many natives 
 slain by the first broadside. Terrified by the noise of the 
 cannon and at the deadly eifect produced by their discharge, 
 the natives lost heart and without waiting to pick up the 
 crews of the destroyed canoes, who were struggling in the 
 water, turned and fled towards the shores. 
 
 The Spanish vessels moved nearer to the beach and fired at 
 the Indian troops who, drawn up in columns of battle, had 
 witnessed the signal defeat of their fleet. A few broadsides 
 served to disperse them and they fled into the interior. 
 
 The Spanish captains not liking the looks of the coast any 
 more than the hostile aspect of the natives, and at the same 
 time anxious to i;j|pturn to the isthmus, turned in their tracks 
 and soon reached Panama. Although Pedrarias was greatly 
 dissatisfied with the meagre results obtained by the expedition, 
 he afterward claimed jurisdiction over the coast skirted by 
 these two adventures and eventually obtained the governorship 
 of both Costa Rica and Mcaragua. 
 
 This chieftain was admirably seconded by several gallant 
 Spanish captains whose names already were, or afterwards 
 became, famous. Among these were Ponce, Hurdado, Cordoba, 
 Soto, Ojeda, Olid, Rojas, Pizarro, and the Licenciate Gaspar 
 de Espinosa,. who it seems was more devoted to a military life 
 
266 REPUELTC OF COSTA KICA. 
 
 than to his professional labors. This latter caballero, diiriug 
 one of his excursions penetrated as far as Orotiuo, or some two 
 hundred leagues to the northwest. 
 
 In 1520 Espinosa conducted an expedition of two small ships, 
 in search of a group of islands, called by the natives, Oebaco, 
 whichwassituatedabontseveuty leagues northwest of Panama. 
 Meanwhile, the future conqueror of Peru, Francisco Pizarro, 
 advanced in the same direction by land. All that is known of 
 Pizarro's campaign is that he fought many combats, and suc- 
 ceeded in finally subjugating the natives. 
 
 The Islanders, (inhabitants of the Oebaco group), although 
 very numerous, were utterly disheartened by the successes ob- 
 tained by Pizarro on the main land, and warned by the terrible 
 treatment experienced by the brave Chinch ires at the hands 
 of the conquerors hastened to enter into peaceful relations 
 with Espinosa. During his stay at the Islands the Spanish 
 captain was unwearied in his search for gold. One of the 
 native caciques informed him, that the mountains, gulches and 
 rivulets of the contiguous main land contained numerous de- 
 l»osits of the precious metal, and that the locality, in question, 
 w^as dominated by a powerful cacique named Urraca, and was 
 called Burica. 
 
 But Urraca was a gallant chieftain who, ever since the ex- 
 pedition of Ponce and Hurdado, had been preparing means of 
 resistance when, as he foresaw, he should be visited by the 
 hated strangers. He sent all the women, old men, and chil- 
 dren to the fastnesses of the neighboring mountains, and when 
 his spies informed him of the approach of ^le Spaniards he 
 marched forth to meet them. 
 
 The vanguard of the Spanish forces, composed of friendly 
 Indians, was totally destroyed before the white men could come 
 to their rescue. Then Urraca hurled his forces on the little 
 Spanish army. The powerful bows of the natives discharged 
 long, sharp arrows, which wounded the horses and in many cases 
 penetrated the steel a.rmor of the invaders. The Spaniards, 
 almost disheartened, were slowly retreating toward their ships 
 when they were unexpectedly reinforced by Hernando de Soto, 
 who had shortly before been sent by Pizarro on an excursion 
 
REPUBLIC OF COSTA KICA. 267 
 
 towards the coast. This timely assistance reanimated the in- 
 vaders and they again advanced and slowly ibrced the Indians 
 backwards until they came to a locality so broken by rocky 
 chasms, and wide arroyos, that the cavalry conld no longer 
 manenver. The natives rallied and fought desperately. While 
 a portion of them defended the new position tliey had taken, 
 other bodies attacked the flanks and rear of the Spanish forces 
 and reduced them to the greatest extremity. At length Espinosa 
 was compelled to retreat. During the ensuing night he en- 
 deavored to reach his ships, but the Indian cacique was on the 
 alert and again hurled his columns upon the 'tired fugitives. 
 The latter fought with the courage of despair, and at length 
 succeeded in breaking through the enemies lines and reached 
 their ships. 
 
 Esi)inosa landed at different points along the coast and 
 fought several more actions with the natives. He captured 
 many of the latter whom he carried to Panama and sold as 
 slaves. Before he departed from the neighborhood, however, 
 he left at Burica, a small detachment of Spaniards under the 
 command of a captain named Oompanon, 
 
 When Urraca was informed that all the Spaniards had left 
 his coast save a small detachment, he at once determined to 
 destroy it. He collected his forces and laid siege to the for- 
 tified post occupied by Compaiion. The latter defended him- 
 self for several days but would have eventually fallen into the 
 hands of his implacable enemy, had not reinforcements, under 
 the command of Hernan Ponce, arrived in time to succor him. 
 Urrica, without^attempting to dispute the disembarkation of 
 the new comers, retired in good order to his mountain fastnesses. 
 
 Pedrarias deeming the occasion worthy his own efforts deter- 
 mined to go in person and destroy the indomitable Indian 
 cacique. He set out from Panama at the head of 140 Spaniards 
 and numerous auxiliaries. Francisco Pizarro commanded his 
 advance guard and the artillery. 
 
 Urraca meanwhile had made arrangements to meet this new 
 
 and more formidable foe. He entered into an alliance with a 
 
 neighboring cacique named Exquegua. The combined Amer- 
 
 •icau forces occupied a most advantageous situation, and the 
 
268 REPUBLIC OF COSTA RICA. 
 
 relentless Urraca was appoiuted commandei^-iu-chief. When 
 Pedrarias discovered the Indian position he halted and ex- 
 amined it carefully before attacking. For awhile he hesitated, 
 but upon reflection determined to make the attack, for he well 
 knew that were he to retreat without striking a bh)w, after 
 coming so far in search of his enemy, he might lose prestige 
 with his own followers and would certainly incur the contempt 
 of the aborigines. 
 
 The battle lasted nearly from sunrise to sunset. The Span- 
 iards lost many meu and horses and Pedrarias was compelled 
 to exert his greatest skill to avoid a serious disaster, At length 
 an opportunity was afforded to use his artillery. The balls 
 made huge gaps in the ranks of the assailants who eventually 
 retired about night fall. During the three ensuing days 
 Urraca attacked the Spanish camp vari\i)us times but was in- 
 variablj'' repulsed. He at length retreated into the mountains 
 where he selected and fortified an admirable position and de- 
 fled Pedrarias' efforts to dislodge him. The Spaniard subdued 
 the neighboring country, divided its inhabitants among his 
 men as slaves, founded the town of Nata, and leaving his lieu- 
 tenant Diego de Albitez in command returned to Panama. 
 
 Shortly afterwards Francisco Oampanon was again placed 
 in command of the dispirited district. Despairing of being 
 able to subdue the persistent Urraca by force he resorted to 
 strategem. He invited the chief to a confereucf». The latter 
 relying ujion the captain's "safe conduct" proceeded to Il^ata, 
 where he was immediately imprisoned by the treacherous 
 Spaniard. He managed to escape after a few jnonths confine- 
 ment and fled to his people who welcomed him with tlie wildest 
 demonstrations of joy. He again raised a large army and 
 marched to Nata. Against his usual policy he met the Span- 
 iards in the open field. The battle was sanguinary and was 
 most stubbornly contested. Many of the invaders were killed 
 and wounded, while the wide plain was literally covered with 
 the bodies of slain Indians. European arms and valor event- 
 ually prevailed. The natives at length sullenly retired to their 
 mountain fastnessess leaving the Spaniards master of the 
 open country. 
 
REPUBLIC OF COSTA RICA. 269 
 
 For a period of nine years tlie courageous Urraca waged a 
 relentless war against the invaders, until the majority of his 
 people, worn out by so many efforts, abandoned their cacique 
 and submitted to the conquerors. Urraca, accompanied by a 
 few faithful followers, iied to the confines of Nicaragua, but 
 the Spaniards who respected his valor and constancy made no 
 attempt to follow him. A few months afterwards he died heart- 
 broken and was, in accordance with his earnest instructions, 
 buried in a mountain cave, far beyond the reach of his impla- 
 cable enemies. 
 
 After the death of this heroic leader the Spaniards quickly 
 consolidated their conquests. The Indian warriors who had 
 deserted their gallant chieftain were compelled to labor as por- 
 ters, delve deep in the mountain sides in search of precious 
 metals, and with the sweat of their brows to moisten the soil 
 they had formerly possessed themselves. Before the death of 
 Pedrarias, which occurred in 1531, Costa Rica was completely 
 pacified, and the province was he.d in the tenacious grasp of 
 Spain until the descendants of the conquerors and of the Indian 
 followers of Urraca, broke the gtilling chains that fettered them, 
 and won their independence in 1821. 
 
CHAPTEHi II. 
 
 Form of Government — Provinces and Principal Cities— Population — 
 , Civilized Aborigiuies — The Pacitic Coast^Brave Men and Beautiful 
 Women — Seaport of Punta Arenas — It is Freqxiented by many 
 Steamers and Ships — Provinces of Guanacaste, Liberia, Alajueia, 
 Heredia, San Jos€, Cartago and the District of Limon — Populousuess 
 of the Country Anterior to the Conquest — The Capital City — Fair 
 Residents — The Natural Products of the Soil — The Atlantic Coast — A 
 Vast Wilderness — Savage Indians — Mountains and Rivers. 
 
 Oosta Eioa, is the most southern republic of Central America, 
 and, until recently, was, with the exception of Salvador, the 
 most prosperous. It is bounded on the north by Nicaragua, 
 on the east by the Caribbean sea, on the south by the Pacific 
 ocean and the isthmus of Panama, and on the west by the 
 Pacific ocean. It contains an area of 21,500 square miles or 
 13,700,000 square acres of territory and about 230,000 inhabi- 
 tants, mostly of Spanish descent. 
 
 The form of government is repubLcan. The Executive power 
 is vested in a President who holds office for a term of four 
 years. Two vice presidents are elected at the same time the 
 President is chosen. The senior of these two officials assume 
 the functions of the Executive office during the disability, or 
 absence of the President. Tne deputies to the national con- 
 gress are also chosen for four years and bold annual sessions. 
 
 The present Constitution was promulgated in the year 1871, 
 but since that date has been several times slightly modified. 
 Its provisions are extremely liberal. 
 
 The republic is divi^Ied into seven provinces, and one dis- 
 trict, or territory, namely : 
 
 Popuhvtion. Capital. Population. 
 
 San Jos6, province 60,000 San Jos6 25,000 
 
 Cartago, province .45,000 Cartago 15,000 
 
 Heredia, province 40,000 Heredia 12,000 
 
 Alajueia, province 35,000 Alajueia 8,000 
 
 Guanacaste, province 12,000 Santa Cruz 2,000 
 
 Liberia, province 6,000 Liberia 2,500 
 
 Punta Arenas, province. ... 8,000 Punta Arenas 2,000 
 
 Limon, district 4,500 Limon ' 2,000 
 
 210,500 68,500 
 
REPUBLIC OF COSTA RICA. 271 
 
 Besides the number of inhabitants shown by the above table, 
 the northeastern portion of the republic contains an uncivilized 
 aboriginal population amounting to at least 14,000. The num- 
 ber of civilized Indians, of pure aboriginal descent, may be com- 
 puted at somewhere in the neighborhood of 6,000. Thus the 
 entire population of the republic may safely be estimated to be 
 a-] least 230,000. 
 
 While the western slope of Costa Eica is comparatively 
 thickly settled, the Atlantic, or Caribbean side, is as yet a vast 
 and untenanted wilderness. There are large tracts of territory 
 where the foot of white man has seldom trodden, while certain 
 almost inaccessible regions were avoided by the hardy followers 
 of Cordoba and Gil Gonzales, of Pedrarias and Eojas during the 
 war of the conquest. The inhabitants of these terras incognita 
 steadilj met tiie Spanish conquerors on the borders of their 
 rivers, streams and lagoons, man to man, and almost invariably 
 came off victors in the combats that ensued. They often en- 
 ticed their enemies into the depth of their mountain, and forest 
 fastnesses, and slaughtered them iii detail. 
 
 PUNTA ARENAS. 
 
 This province is situated on the western slope and is bat 
 thinly inhabited. The coast is washed by the long rolling bil- 
 lows of the great Pacific, and is marked by two mountainous 
 peninsulars which reach far out into the ocean and enclose the 
 two pretty little bays or gulfs, called respectively, el Golfo de 
 Mcoya, and el Golfo Dulce. 
 
 For a short distance from the coast the land is low and sandy, 
 and during the rainy season is converted into a vast marsh. 
 The forest growth is insignificant, from the beach, eastward 
 into the interior, up to the banks of the turbulent and incon- 
 stant E,io las Barrancas. There the scene changes as if by 
 magic. The acasia, and the date, cocoa and caboon palms, 
 give place to the tall spreading ceiba, the frondose mahogany, 
 and the gigantic cedar, while the mountain slopes, and the 
 foothill sides are covered with a dense growth of dyewood, live 
 oak, laurel, zapote, amarillo, and vera trees, whose thick foliage 
 shelters a thousand different kinds of creeping plants, beau 
 tifuUy tinted flowers and aromatic shrubs. 
 
272 REPUBLIC OF COSTA RICA. 
 
 This tropic paradise is inhabited by a hardy, brave, fine- 
 looking and contented race of ladiuos, who, as far as personal 
 appearance is concerned, certainly rank peer with any of the 
 jmixed races of the continent. In Honduras, Guatemala and 
 iSan Salvador, the ladinos, who are the dominant class, retain 
 much of the diirk complexion, and many of the characteristics 
 of the former aboriginal occupants of the country, from whom 
 they are descended. In I^Ticaragua, particularly, on either 
 coast slope, the people are an essentially miscegenated race. 
 The white, black and red branches of the human family, having 
 each contributed their quota of blood. If the members of this 
 race retain few of the striking characteristics of either of the 
 three castes from which they sprang, they still possess the pride 
 and courage of the whites, the patience, indolence and te- 
 nacity of the Indians, and the stalwart proj)ortions, and crisp 
 hair of the negroes. But their comi^lexiou is neither white, 
 red, nor black. It might better be described as a bright, but 
 not disagreeable yellow, while the skin is softer and smoother 
 than that of the eastern or mongolian people. 
 
 On the western coast of Gosta Rica, while there are many 
 specimens of the same class of yellow people, that is met with 
 on either coast of Eicarsigua, the majority of the inhabitants 
 have a soft, light nut-brown or brunet complexion like the 
 rosados of Mexico and the peninsula of Yucatan. In this in- 
 stance the white blood seems to have j)redominated over the 
 other streams with which it has mixed, and the people are 
 almost white. Tradition also hath it, that the aboriginal in- 
 habitants, the followers of the tenacious king Urraca, possessed 
 much lighter complexions than the people to the north and 
 south of them. Be this as it may ; the fact that the inhabi- 
 tants of the western and central portions of Gosta E,ica are of 
 much lighter complexions than their northern and southern 
 Latin American neighbors, is both well known and generally 
 acknowledged. 
 
 The males are tall, well formed, and are also active and in- 
 telligent. They make excellent soldiers, being particularly 
 famous for their courage, constancy and patriotism. They 
 proudly assert that one Gosta Kican soldier is equal, in com- 
 
REPUBLIC OF COSTA RICA. 273 
 
 bat to five men from auy other portiou of Central America. 
 They are opposed to the union of their little republic with its 
 four northern neighbors. 
 
 The women of this caste are, as a general case, remarkably 
 handsome, fascinating and engaging. They are almost white, 
 while their hands and feet are small and faultlessly shaped. 
 Their hair, which it is their delight and pride to dress and 
 adorn, is of a rich brown color, and when unconflned hangs far 
 down the back and almost sweeps the ground. Even the 
 married women, although their forms have never been com- 
 pressed by the corset, retain, to a great degree, their fine figures 
 to an extreme old age. They are very clannish and almost in- 
 variably marry with members of their own caste. Their features 
 are regular, the face oval, mouth small and filled with white 
 well shaped teeth, while their eyes are large, deep brown or 
 black and are full of expression. This race of people, although 
 in social position they occupy the same grade as their ladino 
 neighbors, of the same caste, to the north and south of them, 
 occupies the entire territory, from the Eio de las Barrancas on 
 the west, to Carillo on the east, and north and south as far as 
 the civilized limits extend. 
 
 While a few of the male inhabitants of the province of Punta 
 Arenas, dedicate a small portion of their time to agriculture, 
 the majority of them frequent the port, (of the same name) 
 where they gain a pecarious livelihood by discharging the ships 
 that frequent the bay, by fishing, by engaging io the coast 
 trade, or by selling shells and curiosities to the passengers, of 
 the steamers that at regular intervals touch at the port. 
 
 The few agriculturalists raise small crops of corn, beans and 
 some vegetables. Indian corn, made into an indigestable kind 
 of bread, which is known as the tortilla, throughout the entire 
 extent of Latin America, is the staple lood of the masses, while 
 the numerous spontaneously produced fruits of the tropics 
 supplement this humble fare. N"ot withstanding the forests 
 teem with deer and other kinds of game, and the branches of 
 the trees that adorn the primeval forests shelter a hundred 
 different kinds of game birds, meat food is but seldom seen on 
 the boards of the poorer class of people. 
 
274 • REPUBLIC OF COSTA RICA. 
 
 The little seaport of Puuta Arenas is situated on a narrow 
 neck of land that is washed by the waters of the Pacific. It 
 contains but few pretentious buildings ; the majority of the 
 houses being built of wood. They are necessarily well ven- 
 tilated, for during- the dry season the weather is unusally hot 
 and sultry, while sand flies and musquitos are a perfect scourge 
 at night. The town contains, about 2,000 inhabitants and is 
 the capital of the province. 
 
 The principal traffic centred at this port until the Caribbean 
 coast railroad was constructed as far as Sucio or Carillo. Since 
 that date no small portion of the import trade passes over the 
 latter route. As the coffee plantations are mostly on the Pacific 
 slope the greater bulk of the harvest is shipped from Punta 
 Arenas, on the Pacific Mail coast steamers, which connect the 
 port with Panama on the south, and Central American, Mex- 
 ican, and American ports to the north. 
 
 Besides the Pacific Mail steamers which touch at regular 
 intervals at this port, sail vessels, freighted with English dry- 
 goods and other merchandise, also frequent the place. These 
 ships generally return to Europe, via Cape Horn, "laden with 
 cargoes of precious woods, hides, sarsaparilla, rubber and even 
 coffee. Punta Arenas is the principal seaport of the republic, 
 and will continue so to be until the eastern railroad is completed 
 to San Jose, the capital of the re]>ublic. 
 
 GUANACASTE AND LIBERIA. 
 
 These two districts, until lately formed but one, which was 
 known as the province, or department of Gnanacaste. This 
 territory is noted for its salubrious climate, rich mines aud 
 admirable pasture lands. The greater portion of theproviuce 
 is still claimed by ]!^icaraguM, which republic refuses to satisfy 
 the boundry treaty that gave GuanHcaste and Nicoya to Costa 
 Eica. The topography of the district is broken by numerous 
 spurs, of the central mountain range which divides the 
 rei)ub1ic into almost two equal portions. Hiddeu away among 
 the tall mountains are numerous beautiful little valleys, whose 
 fertile soil, well irrigated by the streams that issue from the 
 hillsides, can produce all the varied flora of the tropics. The 
 
REPUBLIC OF COSTA RICA. 275 
 
 foothill slopes, which are utilized by the hardy Indians for 
 their milpas^ or corn patches, return remarkably bounteous 
 harvests, while the little tablelands that, here and there, break 
 the mountain ranges, produce fine crops of wheat, rye, oats and 
 other cereals of the temperate zone. 
 
 Anterior to the conquest Guauacaste and Liberia contained 
 within their limits a dense aboriginal population, while in cer- 
 tain localities are found the ruins of cities that rival in anti- 
 quity the remains of the temples and palaces of Milta and 
 Papantla, of Copan and Qairigua. When Cordoba and Gil 
 Gonzales first penetrated into these regions they were wel- 
 comed by a hardy race of people who, with awe, pointed out 
 these ruins and told them that many cycles of ages ago, when 
 their fathers first occupied the country, the same ruins, the 
 same relics of past grandeur, met their wondering eyes. But 
 little did the Indian hosts of the conquerors think, that in the 
 nineteenth century, a race of men differing in religion, in lan- 
 guage in characteristics from their guests would wander over 
 their once thickly populated country and wonder what had be- 
 come of their race. For the aborigines of Guanacaste, of Liberia, 
 of Nicoya and the land of Nicarao, have almost passed away, 
 and but a miserable remnant of the 600,000 red people who 
 sheltered Gil and Cordoba, numbering not more than two or 
 three thousand souls, roam listlessly over the broad savanas, or 
 hunt amid the tropic jungle whose soil, four hundred years ago 
 was cultivated by their industrious and contented ancestors. 
 For the records of the early conquerers teem with comments 
 regarding the prosperous condition of the aborigines anterior 
 to the conquest. The red men of Costa Eica have passed away. 
 The race that succeeded them is also slowly dying out, and in 
 another century will be entirely extinct, unless its mixture 
 with a newer and hardier stock, the infusion of a fresher and 
 a healthier blood shall bring about the creation of a new race 
 which, imbued with liberal sentiments, and energetic and in- 
 dustrous habits, shall restore Costa Rica to a prosperous and 
 happy condition similar to that presented anterior to the 
 Spanish conquest. 
 
 It is immigration and a fusion of the races only that can 
 accomplish ihis great end. The people of Costa Eica, of all 
 
276 REPUBLIC^ OF COSTA RICA. 
 
 Latin America, approach the nearer in form, characteristics 
 and complexion to the Europeans. The children born of mar- 
 riages between the intrusive arid the native races, are fine 
 specimens of humanity, for the males are stalwart, vigorous 
 and brave, and the females are beautiful, high-minded and pure. 
 The ladino inhabitants ot Guanacaste possess the same phy- 
 sical characteristics of their bretheni of San Jose and Cartago. 
 While some few engage in mining pursuits, and the cultivation 
 of the soil, the majority are'stock raisers and are noted horse- 
 men and partisians. The capital of the department is a little 
 town called Liberia, which contains but 2500 inhabitants. 
 
 ALAJUELA. 
 
 This province is situated in the central portion of the republic 
 and is limited by Heredia on the east and Punta Arenas on 
 the west. While portions of the country are rugged and broken, 
 no small part of its territory is level land, admirably adapted 
 to cultivation. The fertile soil produces all the varied fruits 
 of the tropics, while the higher lands are being laid out into 
 coffee plantations. During the Spanish regime this district 
 was famous for its production of indigo, sugar and cochineal. 
 While the two former are still produced, the latter no longer 
 excites tiie interest it formerly did. The discovery of numerous 
 substitutes for the dye f int extracted from the cochineal insect, 
 has so reduced its price in European markets, that nopal plan- 
 tations are no longer cultivated, nor are the insects that thrive 
 on the remaining plants always harvested. 
 
 The production of indigo, which once proved such ah imi)or- 
 tant industry has been in a measure abandoned, for coffee 
 planting has usurped its place. 
 
 Beyond doubt the tropic plains of Alajuela are destined in 
 the very near future to supply no insignificant portion of the 
 crude sugar demand of the markets of the world. The soil is 
 admirably adapted to the cultivation of the precious cane, 
 which attains the highest degree of development, and returns 
 from 4000 to 6500 pounds of crude sugar, or melado, to the 
 acre. When the railroad that purposes to connect the cities of 
 Alaguila and Heredia with the^westeru division of Bsparza 
 is finished, the sugar planting industry will assume larger 
 proportions and become of greater importance, year by year. 
 
REPUBLIC OF COSTA RICA. 277 
 
 The city of Alajuela, which is tlie capital of the province, 
 coutains about 8000 inhabitants, the most of whom areLadinos. 
 The people are mostly supported by agriculture while a few 
 are engaged in the manufacture of hats, pottery, or follow the 
 occupation of mule drivers, (carpenters, masons, etc. The city 
 boasts but few large or imposing edifices, and but one really 
 fine church. Alajuela is the western terminus of the railro^'d 
 and is distant twenty-seven miles from San Jose, the ca])ital of 
 the republic, and forty-two miles from Cartajo. 
 
 HEREDTA. 
 
 This department, or province, is limited by Alajuela on the 
 west and San Jose on the east. Its boundaries to the north 
 and south, being ill defined, cannot be stated with correctness. 
 It ranks third among the provinces in importance, wealth and 
 populousness. The greater portion of its inhabitants are 
 clustered around the city of the same naaie, while far to the 
 north and south stretch vast regions inhabited only by savage 
 Indians, and wild beasts that roam free and unmolested, 
 the only denizens of the primeval forests and tangled .tropic 
 jungles. 
 
 The capital of the province, Heredia, has 12,000 inhabitants 
 and ranks as the third city, in size and importance, in the 
 country. It is in daily rail communication with Alajuela on 
 the west and San Jose and Cartago on the east. It is the cen- 
 tre of a flourishing agricultural regioji whose products are 
 principally of a tropical nature. 
 
 SAN JOSE. 
 
 This province is the most important and the densest settled 
 of the political divisions into v\^hich the country is divided. 
 It is the centre of the traffic of the eastern and western slopes 
 while the greater portion of its cultivated lands is divided 
 into numerous flourishing coffee plantations. The bulk of its 
 import and export traffic is carried on through the Pacific 
 port of Punta Arenas. The coffee harvest is principally 
 shipped from that point on the steamers of the Pacific Mail 
 line. The other products are tropic fruits, sugar and indigo. 
 
 The capital city, San Jose, is situated in the central portion 
 of the province, in a beautiful valley surrounded by fertile 
 
278 REPUBLIC OF COSTA BICA. 
 
 foot hills that are cultivated almost up to their very summits. 
 It contains 25,000 inhabitants and is adorned by numerous 
 iine churches, public edifices and private residences. As the 
 the site of the city is 3880 feet above the level of the sea the 
 climate is remarkably healthy, ^o fevers of any kind are 
 prevalent, even during the rainy season, while pulmonary 
 diseases of any description or nature whatever arc practically 
 unknoA^n. 
 
 The native inhabitants of San Jose, as far as physical and 
 intellectual qualities are concerned, rank equal to any people 
 in the world. Numerous of the males possess ruddy com- 
 plexions and lig'ht hair, while a still greater number of their 
 fair sisters are positive l.londes. The men are a fine-looking, 
 stalwart race, while the women, with their large, dark, lustrous, 
 deep blue or black eyes, their long flowing tresses, small but 
 perfectly shaped hands and feet, and lithe, graceful, exquisitely 
 formed figures are second to none, in personal attraction, to 
 any of their foreign sisters. 
 
 The^.apital carries on a flourishing traffic with the neigh- 
 boring cities and towns. The wealthy planters who own the 
 coffee plantations in the vicinity reside within its limits and 
 form a separate social caste, very exclusive and also very proud. 
 The streets are well lighted and well paved, and it will not be 
 long before the entire municipal limits will be lighted with 
 electricity. A line of gtreet cars, that will pass through the 
 principal thoroughfares, will soon be in operation. The work- 
 shop of the railroad company is well provided with different 
 kinds of machinery, while the dejiot is a spacious and commo- 
 dious building. The locality is well provided with cabs, while 
 all the wealthy residents owji at least one family carriage. 
 Three good hotels afford ample accommodations for travelers 
 and native guests. 
 
 San Jos6 is connected with the town of Carillo, or Sucio, 
 which is the present terminus of the Costa Eican Central Bail- 
 road, by a cart road over the mountains, twenty-six mil*^s 
 long. During the rainy season this road is almost impassable 
 in some places, and both freight and passengers are trans- 
 ported on mule-back to the foot of the mountains, but when 
 
REPUBLIC OF COSTA RICA. 279 
 
 the dry season comes on it is quickly repaired and becomes 
 one of the most frequented thoroughfares in the country. 
 
 CARTAGO. 
 
 This department is inferior to San Jos6 alone in wealth and 
 commercial importance. It lies between the province of San 
 Jose and the Coraarca — zone or district — of Limon, and is 
 noted for its numerous coHee plantations and stock farms. 
 
 The capital city of the same name is connected with San 
 Jose by a branch railroad fifteen miles long, while a projected 
 line, that will strike the Central route, where the latter crosses 
 the river Eeventazon, fifty miles long, will soon connect it 
 with the Caribbean seaport. This city contains 15,000 inhabi- 
 tants and is the centre of a flourishing agricultural district. 
 It draws its foreign su[)plies from the ports on eithei slope, 
 but the greater portion of its cofl'ee crop goes to Port Limon 
 for shipment. 
 
 COMARCA, OR ZONE, OF LIMON. 
 
 The boundary limits of this vast region have never been 
 correctly defined. Some native geographers consideiinthat it 
 extends^ along the entire stretch of coast washed by the blue 
 waves of the Caribbean sea, and as far back as the town of 
 Carillo, or Sucio, seventy-two miles inland. 
 
 With the exception of a narrow strip of land extending along 
 either side of the Central Eailroad, from the town of Carillo 
 to the coast, the rest of this extensive district is a meie wil- 
 derness, inhabited only by wild beasts and still wilder Indians. 
 The coast is low and is indented by lagoons, little bays and 
 the mouths of numerous rivers, streams and creeks. This re- 
 gion is covered with a grand forest growth that has seldom 
 been disturbed siuce the era of the conquest. Several nations 
 of savage Indians still rove the undisturbed masters of this 
 wilderness. The tribes which once held the Spaniards at bay 
 in the territory watered by the Eeventazon and Pacuar rivers 
 have been exterminated by their ferocious neighbors. 
 
 The Pranzos nation occupies the lands along the banks of 
 the Frio river; the Bizeita tribe the territory drained by the 
 turbulent Sixaula river; while the warriors of the Terrbis 
 tribe still maintain their bold on the vast forests and wild 
 
280 REPUBLIC) OF COSTA RICA. 
 
 plains that border the Chiriqui country. These savages are 
 perfectly independent of the Costa Rican government and 
 wage relentless war against each other. They trade with 
 coasting vessels from Nicaragua and the isthmus, and barter 
 hides, rubber, skins, sarsaparilla and turtle shells for arms, 
 powder, tobacco and rum. They are exceedingly licentious 
 and intemperate. The men occupy themselves with fishing, 
 hunting and fighting. The women cultivate corn, beans and 
 pumpkins, and are the submissive slaves and drudges of their 
 lords and masters. 
 
 Until within a few months since this entire district was a 
 free zone. The customhouse ind revenue officials were sta- 
 tioned at Oarillo. Complaints having been made to the gov- 
 ernment that a vast amount of smuggling was carried on, or, 
 in other words, that goods imported into the district were 
 smuggled into San Jose and Cartago, the free zone privilege 
 was rescinded and the custom and revenue offices were again 
 established at the port. While some mahogany and cedar 
 logs ar4j.cut at different points along the coast, the most im- 
 portant industry is tropical fruit planting. 
 
 Port Limon is situated at the head of a little bay that car- 
 ries deep water up to the very wharf. It contains a few 
 wooden buildings mostly owned by foreigners. The greater 
 number of the inhabitants are civilized Caribs and Jamaica 
 negroes. The white residents are mostly Americans, who are 
 either employes of the railroad or are engaged in commerce. 
 The principal business firm is Keith & Co., who control the 
 greater part of the traffic that passes through the port, while 
 the enterprising head of the firm owns numerous fruit and 
 sugar plantations along the line of the railroad. 
 
 Port Limon presents all the characteristics of a Jamaican 
 village. The streets are crowded with untidy but good-hu- 
 mored negro women and lazy, intemperate black men, who 
 work only when compelled by actual necessity. The women, 
 as a general case, support both their husband and children; 
 while the latter are a worthless, frolicsome, good-natured set 
 of liitle vagabonds, who are in very early life corrupted by the 
 immoral atmosphere that surrounds them. 
 
REPUBLIC OF COSTA RICA. 281 
 
 The central portion of the j^epublic is famous for several 
 very tall moniitain peaks, or volcanoes, as they are called by 
 the natives. Poas attains an elevation of 8895 feet above the 
 level of the sea. Barba peak is 8700 feet high ; Irazu 11,300, 
 and Turrialba 11,350 feet. The great mountain Dota range, 
 which extends from the Pacific almost to the Caribbean ceast, 
 is from 7000 to 9000 feet high, while the tall Kemu, or Pico 
 Blanco, reaches an altitude of 12,000 feet above the level of 
 the Caribbean. 
 
 Costa Eica is watered by numerous perennial, but unnavi- 
 gable, rivers. On the Pacific slope the Tempisque and Las 
 Piedras rivers flow into the gulf of Mcoya, while the rivers 
 Pirris, Guanacaste, El Barranco, Eio Grande, Narango and 
 their numerous affluents, drain the fertile lands that lie be- 
 tween the ocean and the central mountain range. 
 
 On the Caribbean coast the Eio Frio, San Carlos, Saripique 
 and Colorado flow into the great San Juan river, while the 
 Eeventazon, Pacuar, Chiripo, Sixaula, Changuenola and Chir- 
 iqui empty into the lagoons that break the low coast line. 
 
 19 
 
CHAPTER 111. 
 
 Kailroad System — The Late President's Anxiety to Complete the Inter- 
 oceanic Liue— Death of th.at Statesman—Difficulty attending Construc- 
 tion — A Eoute. Surveyed to Cartago — One Hundred and Thirty-two 
 Miles of Road Completed — Nascent Manufactures — Learned Profes- 
 sions, Authors, Artists and Journalists — Education and the Free 
 School System — Mining Ladustry and Valuable Mines— Agriculture — 
 Sugar Cane, Lidigo, Indian Corn and Coffee Planting— Coffee the 
 Chief Staple Product — Fruit Planting — Wood Culture — The Labor 
 Problem — General Prospero Fernandez. 
 
 The railroad system of Oosta Rica would probably have 
 beeu further developed had not two uufortaiiate circumstances 
 intervened. About three years ago, General G-uadia, one 
 of the most interesting characters depicted in the history of 
 Central America, suddenly died. - He had ruled Costa Rica 
 for an eventful period of ten years. For a time he was abso- 
 lutely dictator, but when he had reformed the most glaring 
 abnse,s which had, through years of anarchy and confusion, 
 crept into government methods, and re-established the affairs 
 of the republic upon a firm basis, he returned to the constitu- 
 tional regime, and governed the republic for some years as 
 Constitutional President. 
 
 His chief ambition was to complete the construction of the 
 inter-oceanic railroad, before his death or retireoient from 
 office. He was pushing the work rapidly from both extremi- 
 ties of the proposed line, when the government engineers in- 
 formed him that the proposed route, from Carillo to San Jos6, 
 a distance of twenty-six miles over the mountain range that 
 separates the j)lateau of San Jose from the low lands on the 
 Caribbean, was impracticable. He asked what they meant 
 by their report. They answered that to construct the twenty- 
 six remaining miles of the road, over the rugged mountain 
 chain, would, if it were actually possible, necessitate an out- 
 lay of at least $100,000 per mile. The chief engineer supple-. 
 
REPUBLIC Ol'' COSTA TJICA.. 283 
 
 men ted tliis assertion witli aiioLber, to the effect that a siugle 
 locomotive cnah] scarcely monut the steej) incline even if the 
 road were built, nnleSwS it was supplied with wings, " Con- 
 struct locomotives with wing's then," was the chieftain's 
 answer, ISTew surveys of the route were made by other 
 engineers, but as no practicable pass could be found the 
 President was obliged to give ui) the point, and ordered his 
 engineers to search for a ronte around the mountains either 
 to the north or south. 
 
 At length, a practicable route was discovered to Cartago, 
 from a point on the Port Limon and Carillo line, where it 
 crosses the Reventazon river, a distance of fifty miles. Had 
 this route been chosen in the first place it would have saved 
 the republic the cost of the Port Limon — or Central — line 
 from the Keventazon river to Sucio. Or, in other words, 
 would have jj roved an economy of twenty -five miles of con 
 struction work. 
 
 Genera] Guadia gave orders to grade the road-bed, over the 
 new route, and some progress was made, when the sudden 
 fall of the price of coffee put an end to further work. With 
 the decline in the price of the staple product of the country 
 came a corresponding financial crisis, thus the new division 
 of the road has not yet been completed. 
 
 In 1871 the government obtained a loan of £1,000,000, in 
 London, and work on the present incomplete railroad system 
 was begun. In 1872 another loan of £2,40u,000 was obtained. 
 This latter debt was contracted for the express purpose of con- 
 structing the inter-oceanic railroad. Of this sum £1,200,000 
 were actually expended on the enterprise by the end of 1873, 
 when work was suddenly suspended. Up to the present date 
 nothing further has been done to complete the proposed rail- 
 road system as far as actual construction work is concerned. 
 
 Although two large gaps in the inter-oceanic line remain to 
 be filled before direct rail communication between the two 
 coasts is assured, the little republic boasts the possession of 
 more miles of railroad than any of her sister Central American 
 nations. The complete railroad divisions are as follows : 
 
284 BEPUBLIO OF COSTA RIGA. 
 
 Port Limon to Carillo 72 miles. 
 
 Oartago to San Jose 15 '' 
 
 San Jose to Alajuela 27 " 
 
 Esparza to Punta Arenas 18 " 
 
 Total 132 " 
 
 The two large gaps, or breaks, in the purposed route, are : 
 From the Reventazou river where it crosses the 
 
 Port Limou and Carillo road to Carillo. ...... 50 miles. 
 
 From Alajnela to Esparza 66 " 
 
 Total..., 116 " 
 
 Thus the entire Interoceanic line, when completed from sea 
 to sea, by the only practicable route, that can be found around 
 the mountains to Cartago, and from Alajuela to Esparza, which 
 divisions also present difficult engineering problems, will be 
 248 miles long. 
 
 The financial trouble that followed the fall in tiie price of 
 coffee can not De said to have as yet terminated, thus the gov- 
 ernment has not been able to procure the necessary funds to 
 complete the proposed railroad system. A few mouths ago. 
 Minor C. Keith, Esq., of the well known house of Keith & Co., 
 of Port Limon and San Jose went to London, to arrange for 
 the bonding of the old debt and, at the same time to procure 
 a new loan of at least £500,000. Mr. Keith has returned to 
 San Jose but the true history of his mission, and its results, 
 have not yet been made public. The newspapers of the re- 
 public hint that he was successful on all points, and assert that 
 work will soon be commenced on the gaps between the Eeven- 
 tazon river and Cartago, and that within two years this division 
 will be completed. 
 
 With cheap transportation, from the centres of production 
 to the Caribbean coast, the traffic of the country would soon 
 reach its former prosperous status. Since the year 1875, the 
 value of the imports of foreign wares and the export of domestic 
 produce has shown a gradual and alarming decline. The im- 
 port traffic for 1883, amounted to £650,000. The exports to 
 about $3,000,000. The value of exports to the United States, 
 
REPUBLIC Of COSTA RICA. 285 
 
 for the same period, was $800,000. The imports from the 
 United States amounted to S700,000. Of this $1,500,000 traffic, 
 New Orleans, and the Mississippi valley, notwithstanding the 
 close proximity of the Crescent City to Port Limon, got only 
 $124,000. This includes the fruit trade also, which, sorrowful 
 to say, amounted to 4,162 bunches of bananas only. The 
 domestic traffic of the republic will aggregate to about 
 S14,000,000 annually. 
 
 The manufacturing industry of Costa Rica is confined to a 
 few unimportant branches. Certain articles, whose use or value 
 are neither known nor appreciated outside the republic, are 
 manufactured for the domestic demand only. Sugar and rum 
 are produced to some extent, but are seldom exported. Indigo, 
 of a superior class, is made on the plantations and exported 
 from Punta Arenas to Europe and Sau Francisco, Cal. Quan- 
 tities of palm leaf hats are made and sold in the country, while 
 
 excellent tiles and burnt brick are manufactured at different 
 localities to fill the house demand. i 
 
 As far as the learned professions are concerned, in ratio to 
 its population, Costa B-ica can certainly boast that as many 
 of her sons are doctors, lawyers, mining and civil engineers, 
 theologians, philosophers, and scientists of different kinds, as 
 can be found in any of her greater and more fortunate sister 
 nations. Indeed one of the common sayings of the people is : 
 " Costa Biica would be a greater and wealthier country if more 
 of her citizens were miners and planters, and fewer of them 
 lawyers and theologians.'" 
 
 Each of the five repy.b]ic8 has produced noted writers. Some 
 of the latter have acquired local reputations as historical 
 essayists and political writers, others as novelists, while the 
 number who are famed for their political talents is legion. 
 
 Costa Eica possesses her fair share of all these classes of 
 writers, while not a few of her younger citizens have already 
 displayed no small amountof artistic talent. Portait jjainters 
 abound. In fact, each educated Costa Rican may be consid- 
 ered as a fair writer and an amateur artist and musician. 
 
 The capita] city possesses several well appointed colleges 
 and academies. Schools for primary instruction are found in 
 every village, while education is compulsory. 
 
286 REPUBLIC OF COSTA RICA. 
 
 The miuiug industry nevei^, even during' the Spanish regime, 
 excited as much interest as in other portions of Central 
 America. Shortly after the conquest the richest placer gold 
 diggings were exhausted. The deposits of precious metals 
 known to exist in the uncivilized regions have never been dis- 
 turbed, on account of the irreconcilable hostility of the abo- 
 rigines. Yet traditions hath it that anterior to the advent of 
 the Spaniards the native caciques drew large supplies of gold 
 dust from that almost terra incognita. 
 
 Costa Rica is undoubtedly rich in precious and useful min- 
 erals. Grold, silver, lead, copper, iron, nickle, zinc and tin 
 mines and valuable quarries of marble have been discovered 
 from time to time, but only gold, silver and copper deposits 
 are worked to anj- extent. 
 
 About eleven miles from Punta Arenas, near the old road 
 to Esparza, is situated the famous gold mine of Trinidad. 
 During the Spanish rule it furnished no small portion of Cen- 
 tral America's annua) quota of bullion to the Spanish court. 
 The ore is extracted from the side of a mountain. The princi- 
 pal tunnel is 1200 feet above the level of the Pacific ocean. 
 This mine is at present worked on a small scale by a native 
 company. 
 
 The Corro del Aguacate contains several well defined gold 
 ledges. One mine in particular, called El Aguacate, has been 
 worked for more than two hundred years; while another, the 
 Sacra Familia, has been in operation for nearly as long a pe- 
 riod. It has two separate ledges. One composed of galena 
 and zinc blend, with silver and grey copper ores, which latter 
 also yield a few ounces of silver to the ton. The other lode is 
 gold quartz, very similar, in nature and quality, to that of 
 Trinidad. 
 
 The vast quantity of gold dust and golden idols, ornaments 
 and thin plates of the same precious metal given by the na- 
 tive caciques to the first explorers, and the numerous placer 
 diggings that were afterwards found close to the ocean and 
 worked by the avaricious Spaniards, induced the latter, in 
 their delight at having at length hit upon such an " Eldorado," 
 to bestow upon the Pacific slope the name since given to the 
 
REPUBLIC OF COSTA RICA. 287 
 
 whole province, or modern republic, viz., Costa Eica, or the 
 rich coast. 
 
 But long before the era of independence the Creoles and 
 Spaniards discovered that the true source of Costa Rica's pros- 
 perity lay not in its mines, but in its unrivaled agricultural 
 possibilities. Before the star of Spanish domination sunk in 
 a sea of slaughter never again to appear above the political 
 horizon, this fact was known and recognized by the masters 
 of the soil. It is true the unjust colonial policy pursued by 
 Spain inflicted a lasting injury upon the agricultural industry 
 of the province, yet its provisions were sometimes evaded or 
 openly disregarded in the most temote localities, and many of 
 the prohibited products were grown on Costa Eican soil. 
 
 The declaration of independence and the subsequent sepa- 
 ration of the colony from the mother country, give a new 
 and vigorous impulse to agriculture. Capital that had long 
 lain buried or hidden away was restored to circulation or in- 
 vested in new indigo, cochineal, sugar and tobacco plUntations 
 and thousands of acres of extremely fertile land, which had not 
 been employed since the tirst days of thb conquest, again 
 bloomed with valuable and i)roliflc harvests. For a long time 
 cochineal production and indigo planting were the chief agri- 
 cultural industries, and eventually sugar cane, tobacco and 
 coffee plantations were established, and the new branches ot 
 agriculture proved remarkably profitable. 
 
 While to-day somewhat more than one-twentieth of the en- 
 tire republic is under cultivation, but a comparatively small 
 portion of this area is devoted to sugar culture. This indus- 
 try, strange to say, has attracted but little attention. Only a 
 common kind of sugar is manufactured, while the greater por- 
 tion of the crude article is turned into rum. 
 
 Indigo planting is a much more important branch of agri- 
 culture. The plant is produced and the article manufactured 
 on the spot. It is then despatched to Punta Arenas for ship- 
 ment. It is very doubtful, however, if Costa Rica produces 
 as much indigo as San Salvador. A.t one time, the little 
 republic shipped more of this article than her diminutive 
 northern neighbor. 
 
288 REPUBLIO OF COSTA RICA. 
 
 The discovery of chemical extracts that eventually sup- 
 planted cochineal as a valuable dye stuff, almost destroyed 
 the production of this hitherto precious insect. Numerous 
 plantations were abandoned and the nopal plants, no longer 
 receiving proper care and attention, soon deteriorated and 
 became as worthless as their sister species. Some few plan- 
 tations are yet operated but it is very doubtful if this industry 
 will ever be revived on a large scale. 
 
 Tobacco is produced in all the different provinces. That of 
 Alajuela enjoys the highest reputation for both quality and 
 flavor. The sale of the leaf, and cigars and cigarettes, is yet 
 monopolized by the government, but exportation of both the 
 leaf and the manufactured article is free. 
 
 Indian corn, being the staple food stuff of the natives, is 
 cultivated more than any other produtition. It is very prob- 
 able that more than a half of the area of land under cultiva- 
 tion is devoted to the production of this invaluable cereal. 
 The foot hiil sides and mountain slopes are cleared, and, 
 just as the rainy season commences, the Indian ranchero 
 plants his niilpa or corn patch. Small quantities ot wheat are 
 produced in the temperate regions of the higher altitude, as 
 well as barley and oats for horse provender. 
 
 But the principal agricultural resource of the country is 
 coffee. The provinces of Saw Jose and Cartago are the chief 
 centres of this industry. The grand plateau of San Jose, in 
 particular, is divided into hundr*'ds of flourishing plantations 
 which tax the labor supply of the neighborhood to its full 
 capacity to care for and harvest the yield of the trees. 
 
 Mention has been made of the late gradual decline of this 
 profitable industry which has been brought about by the con- 
 tinued low price of the berry in foreign markets. This situa- 
 tion cannot continue much longer. The price of coffee must 
 go up, for the supply cannot fill the increasing demand. The 
 reason for this assertion is based upon a true knowledge of 
 the situation. The continued low price of the article, has had 
 the effect, if not decreasing, at least of not increasing the area 
 of production in all the coffee growing regions of the globe, 
 while in Brazil, slavery agitation has already had a most per- 
 
REPUBLIC OF COSTA RICA. 289 
 
 verse effect upon this industry. If, then, the area of coffee 
 cultivation is, to say the least, at a stand still, while the amount 
 of consumption is constantly increasing, the increased demand 
 will cause an increase in the price, and the coffee planting in- 
 dustry will continue profitable until future over production 
 will again glut the markets of the world. 
 
 Even at the present low price of coffee that now rules, its 
 production in Costa Eica would be very profitable if it were 
 not for the scarcity of labor and the comparatively high tariff 
 of wages that obtains. Costa Eican planters assert that if 
 they can sell their produce, on the spot, at 6^ cents American 
 money tbey will still realize a handsome profit. But the high 
 rate of wages, and the maximum cost of transportation to the 
 coast, renders it impossible for the Costa Eica coffee planters 
 to compete with the slave produced coffee of Brazil. When 
 the Interoceanic railroad is completed and direct and cheap 
 transportation to the coast is afforded, the coffee planting 
 industry of Costa Eica will again flourish even at the low price 
 of the article that now obtains 
 
 Within the past three years tropic fruit planting has become 
 a most important industry in the Limon district. In 1884, 
 120,000 commerciable bunches were exported to New York by 
 the Atlas and Harrison line of steamers. The greater portion 
 of the land along the line of the railroad, for a distance of fifty 
 miles from Port Limon, for several hundred yards on either 
 side of the track, is devoted to banana cultivation. The fruit 
 attains a size and excellence equal to the famous bananas of 
 the Isthmus of Panama, of the Island of Jamaica and even of 
 the Bluefields river in Il^icaragua. 
 
 One ISTew York house has hitherto almost monopolized the 
 fruit traffic of Limon for the past two years. Eecent events 
 have destroyed this monopoly, so in the future the steamers of 
 the Fish and Miller lines will be allowed to freight with bananas 
 at Limon for New Orleans. In this case the steamers on the 
 route will not be able to handle the trade, so larger vessels will 
 soon be required. If the tropic fruit traffic of Limon should 
 once be directed to the Crescent City, it will never again seek 
 another channel, for experience has taught the banana pro- 
 
290 REPUBLIC OF COSTA RICA. 
 
 ducers that the great seaport of the south, the gateway of the 
 Mississippi valley, is destined in the very near future to become 
 the principal tropic fruit emporium in the world. 
 
 But the American friends of Costa Rica have lately begun 
 to conceive doubts of the future of the fruit planting industry in 
 the Limon district. About a year and a half ago government 
 decreed the entire stretch of country between Limon and Carillo 
 a free zone. This wise measure soon produced beneficial effects. 
 A most vigorous imimlse was given to the fruit planting in- 
 dustry, and many natives invested money in establishing banana 
 walks at different points along the railroad line. In the month 
 of August, however, the government under the pretence that 
 no apparent increase in the size of the village of Limon, or 
 augmentation of its traffic, was visible, rescinded the decree 
 which had made the district a free zone, the Customhouse was 
 removed again to Limon and all the former vexations and 
 onerous custom restrictions have been re-established. 
 
 Parties residing in the Limon district have written to friends 
 in the Crescent Citj', declaring that the abolition of the free 
 zone privileges will work incalcuable injury to the fruit planting 
 interests. While this recent government action will certainly 
 not prove in any way beneficial to this nascent industry, it 
 cannot be more injurious than the former monopoly of the en- 
 tire fruit traffic by one single house. The vessels engaged in 
 the trade could not possibly meet its requirements, thus thou- 
 sands of marketable bunches of bananas rotted on the trees 
 monthly, while the ]S"ew Orleans steamers, the Heredia and the 
 Lucy P. Miller, were compelled to stop at Bluefields and Corn 
 Islands to pick up scanty cargoes of fruit. 
 
 As far as the banana traffic is concerned, as long as a mar- 
 ket for the fruit is obtained a sufficient quantity will always be 
 produced to fill the demand, but if the planters are compelled 
 to sell their produce to one particular firm and are not allowed 
 to encourage competing purchasers, bur little reasonable hopes 
 can be entertained of the future development of the Costa Rican 
 tropic fruit i3lanting industry. All Messrs. C. A. Fish & Co., 
 can ask or should desire is to be allowed to compete with ISTew 
 York houses for this valuable trade. If this privilege is 
 
KEPUBLIC OF COSTA EICA. 291 
 
 accorded this New Orleans firm the greater part of the traffic 
 will be diverted to the Crescent City. 
 
 The rubber trade, during the past two decades has gradually 
 assumed increased importance. The vast forests of the eastern 
 sloj)e contain innumerable rubber trees whose sap, when con- 
 gealed, furnishes the crude substance which is converted into 
 so many manufactured articles, in this and other civilized 
 countries. If the same vaudalic system of exhausting the trees 
 and killing them at one operation that is persued in other por- 
 tions of Central America, is also followed by the native rubber 
 collectors of Costa Rica, the supply in the latter country far 
 exceeds that remaining in the northern republics, while the 
 savage Indians jealously guard their trees and furnish but 
 enough rubber to serve as a medium of barter for the few for- 
 eign articles they covet or require. 
 
 Quite a traffic in hides and skins is carried on by the mer- 
 chants of either coast with the interior, who ship them to 
 Europe, San Francisco and ISTew York. 
 
 The Costa Eican forests contain a great number of valuable 
 timber trees and dye woods, such as mahogany, cedar, rose- 
 wood, sandal wood, ebony, vera, zapdte, amarillo, fustic, Brazil 
 and oak. The wood-cutting industry languishes on the western 
 slope but since the cessation of British protection, agression, 
 or interference, or whatever it may be styled, on the Mosquito 
 coast, it has almost died out in that locality. But the increased 
 demand for dye woods and furniture timber in the markets of 
 this countr}' and Europe, will certainly bring about its speedy 
 revival. If the forests of British Honduras, Guatemala and 
 Spanish Honduras, are partially denuded of accessible trees, 
 the Mosquito coast, from Cape Gracias south and east to Boca 
 del Toro, is almost virgin territory, has scarcely re-echoed the 
 sound of the woodman's axe. 
 
 Along the Caribbean coast of Costa Eica, in particular, this 
 situation obtains. The uncivilized Indians lurk in the forests 
 or hide in the cane jungles that fringe the river banks, and 
 sturdily battle with all intruders. But their numbers are 
 gradually decreasing. TheJr interminable tribal quarrels and 
 thei,r ferocious system of warfare is gradually bringing about 
 
292 REPUBLIC OF COSTA RICA. 
 
 their extinctiou. It will not be long before the Costa Rican 
 Government will be compelled to either subdue or exterminate 
 them, for, cruel as it may seem to make such an assertion, 
 their territory is too valuable, and the vast forest and mineral 
 resources it contains are so necessary to the growing require- 
 ments of commerce that they cannot much longer be permitted 
 to retain possession of it. As they live like beasts of prey 
 and are as fierce and un tameable, they will be compelled to 
 bow to inevitable destiny and make way for a more civilized 
 race of people. Their fate will furnish but yet another in- * 
 stance of that terrible and inexorable law of nature : " the 
 unproducers must give way to the producers," 
 
 It is impossible to estimate the advantages that will accrue 
 to the little republic when this great tract of fertile and valu- 
 able territory is opened to immigration and settlement. The 
 few travelers who have penetrated any distance into this 
 wilderness, and have had the fortune to return, have told the 
 most marvelous tales of its fertility and productiveness They 
 tell of the remains of great aboriginal capitals, whose ruins 
 strew many square miles of land and, above all, they report 
 the existence of valuable placer deposits, as rich as those found 
 and worked by the Spaniards, during the era of the conquest. 
 
 But serious obstacles seems to militate against the further 
 development of the resources of Costa Rica ; the scarcity of 
 the labor supply, the increasing demand for it and the conse- 
 quently high tariff of wages that obtain throughout there- 
 public. Before the Panama canal drained the neighboring 
 countries, and even Jamaica, Santo Domingo and Island of 
 Trinidad, of their surplus labor, those localities furnished a 
 constant supply of hands who willingly worked for the wages 
 that were then usual. Bur the blacks of the West Indian 
 islands will not labor on Central American coffee, indigo or 
 fruit plantations for from $18 to S25 per month, when they 
 can procure steady work, for a long period, at from $1 20 to 
 $2 00 per day. As the isthmus not only occupies a vast num- 
 ber of laborers, but also eonsumes many hundreds of them 
 annually, the supply will never equal the demand in Costa 
 Rica, until the canal enterprise is finished. Thus, until that 
 
KEPUBLIC OF COSTA EICA. 293 
 
 happy period arrives, the labor question will coutiuue to be 
 the most serious problem presented to the statesmen and agri- 
 culturists of the little republic. 
 
 The actual Presi'deut of Costa Eica, General Prospero Fer- 
 nandez, is a most liberal minded and enlightened statesman. 
 He is connected, by marriage, with the family of the late 
 President Guadia, and upon the latter's demise succeeded to 
 his office. General Fernandez is active and industrious. He 
 is also remarkably well disposed towards foreigners. His 
 immigration laws are extremely liberal, while he is most 
 anxious to attract American and European settlers to Costa 
 Rica. He is popular with the masses and is easy of access to 
 all who wish to see him on business. Under his vigorous rule 
 his country has made rapid strides forward in the path of 
 prosperity, and could he but satisfactorily solve the vexed 
 labor problem that so materially interferes with the develop- 
 ment of the natural resources of Costa Rica, it would not be 
 long before he would realize his greatest ambition, his dearest 
 aspiration, which is the speedy elevation of his beloved little 
 republic to the highest pitch of internal prosperity and poli- 
 tical consideration abroad. 
 
m mm m ran mi 
 
 STEAMSHIP LINE. 
 
 ):o:( ^ 
 
 No. 3S Soiitli Peters Street^ 
 
 THE STEAMSHIP 
 
 -«ifli»i«df ^yL' \m/ ^ ^a^r' 9 "^^L" W '«§»' ^JL -g&r -jj.- 
 
 3 
 
 Sails about the 5tli of each month for Bhiefields, 
 
 Grey town, Liinon and Colon ; calling at 
 
 Corn Island on return trip. 
 
 THE STEAMSHIP 
 
 llll imIm B_&anmJ ee^zis ^^ fl uiiiiiiiB H I I mJ^ ff jAiM la 
 
 Sails every twentj' days for Blueiields and Limon. 
 
 First-class Passenger Accommodations at Low Rates 
 
 Oonsignments of Tropical Products Solicited . 
 
CHAS. SMITH. THOS. SMITH. J. B. SINNOTT. 
 
 SMITH BROTHERS & CO., 
 
 — -y — 
 
 IMPORTADORES DE CAFE, 
 
 NOS. 102, 104 Y 106 CALLE DE POYDRAS 
 Mueva Orleans, La., E. U. de A. 
 
 SMITH HERMANOS T CIA., 
 
 Cordoba, Mexico. Yzabal, Guatemala. 
 
 CHAS. SMITH. THOS. SMITH. J. B. SINNOTT. 
 
 SMITH BROTHERS & CO., 
 
 Nos. 102, 104 and 106 Foydras Street, 
 
 NEW ORLEANS, LA. 
 
 o 
 
 Cordoba, Mexico. Yzabal, Guatemala. 
 
 
 • 
 
^1 Cim^s-fiemorrat, 
 
 -DK— 
 
 NUEVA OBLEANS, LA. 
 
 Tiene la circulacion mas grande en el Sud y Sud Oeste de los 
 
 Estados TJnidos y es el udIco de ese pais que 
 
 circula en grande escala en la 
 
 REPUBLIOA MEXIOAKA, 
 
 LA AMERICA CENTRAL, 
 
 COLOMBIA, 
 
 VENEZUELA, 
 
 Y LAS ANTILLAS. 
 
 Tiene 400 Corresponsales, y recibe diariamente 24,000 pala- 
 bras de Noticias Telegraficas, 
 
 ^1 " MimES-t>pmoDi|cit/' 
 
 SU^CRICION ANUAL. 
 
 El Diario ..$12 00 
 
 El Semanario 150 
 
 
 SE PUBLICAN MENSUALMENTE 
 QUE TEATAN DE 
 
 MEXICO Y DE LA AMERICA CE:N^TRAL. 
 
JOHN P. RIGHABDSON, 
 
 psr Mayor He km j llik ie kiiiii^ 
 
 Nos. 79, 81, 83, 85, 87 7 89 CALLE DE COMMON, 
 
 7 Nos. 11 7 13 CALLE LE MAGAZINE, 
 
 ]VXJEA^^4. OIML.E^^PfS, E. XT. de A. 
 
 Tiene un grande y selecto surtido de especialidades adap 
 tadas a los pedidos del comercio de Centro-America, consisti- 
 endo eii breves palabras, de : 
 
 G:eNEROS. 
 
 Estampados, Cuadros de varies Colores, Eayados de Colores, 
 Sobrecamas, Algodones, Hilados, Mantas Blancas 
 y Oscuras, Tejidos para Corset, Silecias, Algo- 
 dones Oscuros "Lona," y Franellas. 
 
 VARIEDAD DE NOVEDADES. 
 
 Papeleria, Perfumeria, Jabones de Toilet, P^ines, Boquillas, 
 
 Cuchilleria, Botones, Alfileres, Agujas, Joyeria, Cepillos, 
 
 Efectos para la Pesca, Anzuelos, Ligas, Dedales, 
 
 Agujas para Crochet, Portamonedas para Senoras, 
 
 Carteras, Espejos, Collares, Lazos para 
 
 Zapatos, Ciutas 6 Cintillas, de 
 
 Alpaca y de Hiladillo. 
 
 ROPA INTERIOE PAEA SENOEAS T CABALLEEOS. 
 
 Camisas, Camisetas, Chamarras, Calcetiues, Calzoncillos 
 de Algodon, Eopones, Corbatas, Cuellos, Punos, Lazos para 
 Senoras, y Cuellos de Lino, Tirantes, Medias, Guantes, Cor- 
 sets, Panuelos, Sombrillas y Paragiias, Abanicos, Lazos Bor- 
 dados y Efectos para Vestidos de Senoras, Cencillos para Ye- 
 rano, de Seda, Satin y Terciopelo. 
 
 Ademas, una variedad de Lino de Casa, todos los cuales 
 serdn vendidos ^ los precios mas bajos. 
 
 Los Comerciantes que visiten a Nueva Orleans, son cordial- 
 mente invitados d que visiten 6 inspecten esta grande y 
 variada coleccion. Se solicita correspondencia. 
 
 JOHE^ P. RBCHARDSON. 
 
CE 
 
 STEAMSHIP LINE. 
 
 ):o:( 
 
 ii ^k isP^GS.'Ear ^Jiiu tfnei 
 
 No. 3S South Peters Street, 
 
 THE STEAMSHIP 
 
 Lucy P. Miller, 
 
 Sails about the 5th of each month for Bluefields, 
 
 Greytown, Limon and Colon ; calling at 
 
 Corn Island on return trip. 
 
 THE STEAMSHIP 
 
 jidL JiLi ..cx/ JBj jLD -L -r\- y 
 
 Sails every twenty days for Bluefields and Limon. 
 
 First-class Passenger Accommodations at Low Rates 
 
 OonsignmentB of Tropical Products Solicited. 
 
ROBT. H. CHAFFE. JOHN C. CHAFFE. 
 
 R. H. Chaffe & Bro., 
 
 ESPECIEROS FOR MSYOR 
 
 Y COMEECIANTES EN 
 
 Vinos, Licores, Tabaco y Cigarros, 
 
 Nos. 7 y 9 Calle de Peters y 36 a 44 Calle de Common, 
 
 Apartado No. 329 
 
 ROBT. H. CHAFFE. JOHN C. CHAFFE. 
 
 R. H. CHAFFE & BRO., 
 
 WHOLESALE GR0CER8, 
 
 AND DEALERS IN 
 
 Wines, Liquors, Tobacco and Cigars, 
 
 Nos. 7 and 9 Peters and 36 to 44 Common Sts,, 
 
 p. O. Box 329. 
 

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 El gran camino contiimo para Pasajeros y 
 desde Kueva Orleans hasta todos los 
 puntos Il^orte, Este y Oeste. 
 
 Elete 
 
 El gran Ferrocarril Jackson es construido con Uielas de 
 Acero ! Medida Corriente ! Equipos Mejorados ! Garnino soli- 
 damente construido, y Bapidez Aumentada ! La mas igual^ la 
 mas segura j la mas agradable linea de Nueva Orleans d Bos- 
 ton, Nueva York, Filadelfia, Baltimore, Washington, Buffalo, 
 Chicago, San Luis, Cincinnati, j todas las ciudades del Norte 
 J del Este. 
 
 Los carros salones, palaciales, para dormir, de Pullman 
 salen diariamente de N'ueva Orleans para Cairo, Chicago, Cin- 
 cinnati, San Luis, Memphis, Kansas City y Louisville, sin cam- 
 bio; y cambian solamente una vez para las ciudades del Este. 
 
 Frenos Atmosfericos ! Plataformas de Miller! y todas las 
 ultimas mejoras para la seguridad y la conveniencia de los 
 pasajeros. 
 
 Llega a Chicago 12 horas, y a San Luis 8 horas mas pron- 
 to que cualquiera otra linea, y con gran rapidez d las otras 
 principales ciudades. 
 
 Precios de pasaje siempre tan bajos como los de otras 
 lineas que sou inferiores. 
 
 Oficina para Boletas de Pasaje : Pickwick Club Build- 
 ing, cor. Canal and Carondelet, Nueva Orleans, La. 
 
 Comprando sus boletas de pasaje por via de la Gran 
 EuTA Jackson, los viajeros estan seguros de ganar tiempo 
 y distancia. 
 
 L I wm, I T, jErrm, 
 
 J, W, COLEM, 
 
 Agent* General de Pasajeros, 
 
 A Chicago. 
 
 General Superintendent, Ass't Agente General de Pasajeros, 
 A Chicago. A Nueva Orleans. 
 
SCHMIDT & ZIEGLEB, 
 
 EstaT>lisliecl 184S. 
 
 Nos. 49, 51, 53 and 55 South Peters Street, 
 
 NETflT ORLEANS, LA., 
 
 AND RECEIVERS OF 
 
 Coffee, Sugar, Molasses and Rice. 
 
 Also agents for Otard Dupuy & Co., Seignouret Freres, G. H. 
 Mumm & Co., Marie Brizard, and Eoger. 
 
 And importers of E. & J. Burke, Bass & AUsopps' Ale and 
 Guiness' Stout, Old Irish and Scotch Whisky, Edouard Pernod Ab- 
 sinthe and Kirsch. 
 
 Our stock of Canned Goods and Fancy Groceries, being the most 
 complete in the South, we are prepared to sell at low figures. Send 
 us a trial order and judge for yourself. 
 
 Estaljlecido en 184S. 
 
 Nos. 49, 51, 53 y 55 Calle de South Peters, 
 
 WUEVA ORIiEAi^'S. 
 
 1SPECIEB©S P@R HAY0B, 
 
 T KECIBIDORES DE 
 
 CAFE, AZUGAR, MELASE y AROZ. 
 
 AGENTES Y IMPORTADOEES TAMBIEN DE 
 
 Otard, Dupuy & Co., Seignouret Freres, Gr. H. Mumm & Co., 
 
 Marie JBrizard, y Eogers. 
 
 E. & J. Burke, Bass & Allsopps' Ale and Guiness Stout, Old 
 
 Irish and Scotch Whisky, Edouard Pernod 
 
 Absinthe and Kirsch. 
 
 NTTESTRO SUBTIDO DE 
 
 Conservas Alimenticias y Abarrotes Finos. 
 
 es el mas complete del Sur. Estamos preparados a vender a los pre- 
 cios mas bajos. Mandesenos ordenes de prueba y sirvanse juzgar 
 por Vdes mismos. 
 
CHAS. SMITH. THOS. SMITH. J. B. SINNOTT. 
 
 SMITH BROTHERS & CO., 
 
 ; mmmi [or lYiajor 
 
 — IT — 
 
 IMPORTADORES DE CAFE, 
 
 NOS. 102, 104 y 106 CALLE DE POYDRAS, 
 Nueva Orleans, La., E. U. de A. 
 
 SMITH HERMANOS T CIA., 
 
 Cordoba, Mexico. Tzabal, Gruatemala. 
 
 CHAS. SMITH. THOS. SMITH. J. B. SINNOTT. 
 
 SMITH BROTHERS & CO , 
 
 Nos. 102, 104 and 106 Poydras Street, 
 
 NEW ORLEANS, LA. 
 
 o 
 
 tmith Hcrmano^ ti ©ia., 
 
 Cordoba, Mexico. Yzabal, Guatemala 
 
H. DUDLET COLEMAN, 
 
 Sspa de las dalles de Uapolia j Srato, j No. 9 Calle FerdidO: 
 
 Maquinas de Vapor, Maquinas para acerrar Maderas, 
 
 Oalderas, Molinos para Maiz, 
 
 Despepitadores de Algodon, 
 
 Horuilias 6 Ceniceros i^ara Maquinas, 
 Poleas, Prensas para Algodon. 
 
 Fachadas de hierro para Edificios, Oolumnas de hierro, 
 
 Forjaduras para Prisoues, 
 
 y Sercas de hierro. 
 
 Pid4nSenos Oirculares Ilustradas y Precios. 
 
 La casa de Maquinarias y Calderas que tiene el mas grande 
 surtido en el Sur! 
 
 Trabajos de Oalderas y Obras de hierro colauo de todas 
 descripciones. 
 
 Hdgase una prueba de nuestros efectos. 
 H. DUDLEY COLEMAN, 
 
 Fiindicion, Esquina de las Galles de Magnolia y Erato. 
 
 Almacen y Oficina, l^o. 9, Calle Perdido, 
 IVueva Orleans, La-^ E. XJ. cle j\. . 
 
B.EEMINGTON & SONS, 
 
 MANUFACTUEERS OF 
 
 WILITARY, SPORTING, HUNTING and TARGET 
 
 SHOT GUNS AND PISTOLS, 
 
 ALSO, 
 
 Cartridges, Primers, Eullets, Shot, Shells, 
 
 LOADING IMPLEMENTS, RIFLE CANES, 
 
 AND 
 
 K^Els^IlsrOTOIN" 
 
 MANUFACTURERS OF 
 
 Agricultural Implements, Patent Clipper Steel and 
 
 Carbon Plows, Cultivators, Cast Stojel 
 
 Shovels, Porks, Hoes, Garden 
 
 Rakes, Planters' Handled 
 
 Hoes, Mowers. 
 
 Wheel Horse Rakes and Hslj Tedders, Iron Bridges, 
 
 The Remington Pire Engine, operated by 
 
 hand or horse power. Hose Carts, 
 
 Ladder Trucks, etc., etc. 
 
 The Universal Fibre Decorticator 
 
 To supersede hand labor on Jute, Ramie, Sisal, Hemp, and 
 all fibrous plants. 
 
 IMCaxnifactoiry and Offices : 
 
 ILION, HERKIMER COUNTY, NEW YORK, U. S. A. 
 
77, 79 y 81 Galle de Camp, Nueva Orleans, E. U, A., 
 
 Ferreteria y Quinoalleria, 
 
 SIN SUPERIOR en los ESTADOS UNIDOS ! 
 
 HEREAMIENTAS SUPERIORES DE 
 
 !^^^5j2Si^fcgg^g6^te ^j^^ ^Sa^iB7y 
 
 Agriciiltura, Caipinteria, Herreria, Albanileria, Hojalateria, 
 
 Toneleria, etc. 
 
 Pistolas, Carabiuas, Cartiichos de Metal y Muaiciones, Hornillas y 
 
 Estufas de Cocina. Alambres, lisos y con pugas, para 
 
 Cerciidos, Eomanasj Pinturas, etc. 
 
 Caidado esyjeciai al Empaque para Exportacion. 
 Correspondencia en Espanol. 
 
T. J. WOODWAED. PEARL WIGHT. CHAS. W. MACKTK. 
 
 "Woodisrard^ ISTiglit & Co., 
 
 COMMISSION AND FOUWAEDING MEHCHANTS, 
 40 and 42 Canal Street, New Orleans, La. 
 
 Also Agents in Mfiv Orleans for 
 
 Boston Marine Insurance Co.; Mexican Central Railway Co. (limited), Boston, Mass.; 
 The "E. D. Albro Co." Cincinnati, 0.; Averill's Celebreted Mixed Paints; Bridgewater 
 Yellow Metal Sheathing and Nails : Portland Cotton Sail Duck ; American Ship "Wind- 
 lass Company's Steam Power Capstau.s ; Empire Chain Works Coil, Cable and Mill Chain; 
 The Jno. A. Robeling'a Sons Co.'s Steel wire Hoisting Rope and Standing Wire Rigging; 
 Stone's Ship's Pamps and Steerers; CarroUton (Mich.) Oar Factory; Bagnall & Loud's 
 Blocks, all kinds and sizes; Leonard & Ellis' Valvoline Cylinder and Machine Oils; 
 Downer's 300° Fire Test Mineral Sperm aTid other Oils ; Revere Rubber Co.; Kewbury- 
 port Iron Foundry and Machine Works ; Belden & Reinhard, Oil Manufacturers; Simp- 
 son's Diamond Creamery Butter, in 5 and 10 lb. cans; Cushing Process Whi.sky. 
 
 J-. :Fi^iEi3i_.A.isriDE:E?. Sc oo., 
 COMMISSION MERCHANTS, 
 
 p. O. Box 2616. NEW ORLEANS, LA. 
 
 E. A. BRANDAO. J- H. GINTZ. 
 
 E. A.. BK/A-lsriD A.O Sc CO., 
 
 Book and Job Printers, 
 
 Blank Book Manufacturers, 
 
 34 Magazine Street, New Orleans, La. 
 
 Poiitheru Agents for Ullman & Philpott Printing Inks. 
 
I^M. WESTON, J. D. LACEY, A. G. HODENPYLE, 
 
 President. Vice President. Sec'y and Treas. 
 
 7 
 
 CUTTERS AND IMPORTERS OF 
 
 Mahogamy, Spamigh Cedar, 
 
 AND OTHER 
 
 TROPIC WOODS 
 
 Grand Rapids, Mich.. 
 
 36 Carondelet St., New Orleans, La. 
 
 I. M. WESTON, J. D. LACEY, A. G. HODENPYLE, 
 
 Presideute. Vice Presidente. Secretario y Teso. 
 
 H:o]sriDUK.jLS 
 TIMBER COMPANY, 
 
 COKTADOEES E IMPORT ADOBES DE 
 
 CAOBA, OBDEO ESPANOL, Y OTRAS MADERAS DE 
 LOS TROPICOS, 
 
 NO. 2 CALLE MONROE, 
 
 GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. 
 
 No. 36 Calle Carondelet, New Orleans. La., E. U. de A. 
 
T li E 
 
 New Orleans and Belize 
 
 STEAHSMIP LIME. 
 
 steamship ^''€1T^ OW m^E,£>^8,^^ 
 
 (914 Tons.) C. W. READ, Master. 
 
 (^531 Tons.) C. W. CLAEK, Master. 
 
 Steamship ^^Mlanche Memdersom^'^^ 
 
 (578 Tons.) L. PETERSON^, Master. 
 
 Calling at Belize in British Honduras, Livingston in Guate- 
 mala, and Puerto Oortez in Spanish Honduras. Under con- 
 tract to carry the Eoyal English Mails; also carrying the 
 United States, Guatf^nnala and Spanish Honduras Mails ; and 
 having fine accommodations for passengers to Central Amer- 
 ica and Jamaica. 
 
 For freight or passage apply at the office of 
 
 MAOHUCA BEOTHEBS, Managers, 
 
 I-To. 129 Bscatur 3t., ISTew Orleans. 
 
 agents op^ the line : 
 John Hunter, Anderson & Owen, W. C. Mirrielees, 
 Belize. Livingston. Puerto Cortes. 
 
 CONNECTING LINES: 
 
 In I^ew York — Office of Morgan Steamship Line, Pier 36, 
 
 ]5rorth River, and office of Cromwell Steamship Line, 86 
 
 West Street. 
 In Livingston, Gruatemala — Steamer Georgia Muncy, for Isa- 
 
 bal, Panzos and G-ulf of Dulce. 
 In Puerto Cortes, Spanish Honduras — Interoceanic Railway, 
 
 for San Pedro Sula and Interior. 
 
I. L. IL^^OInTS & CO., 
 
 Almacenistas y Droguistas por Mayor e Im porta dores, 
 
 Manufactureros Quimicos y 
 
 IsTegociantes en Instrumentos de Oirugia, 
 
 Nos. 42 y 44 Oalle de Oamp y 109, 111, 113, 115 y 117 Oalle 
 de Gravier esquiua a Camp, 
 
 FEW OELEANS, LA., E. U. de A. 
 
 o 
 
 Propietarios de: las Pildoras de "Brodies" para el Higado. Cordial Astringente 
 de "Brodies" para la Diarrea. Elixir "Looocks" para la Tos. Linimento Arnica de 
 "Abrams." Ungiieiito "Abvams" para el Sarpullido y Enfermedades Cutaneas. Ex- 
 seucia "Lyons" de Gengibre de Jamaica. TGnico de "Abrams" para Calenturas y los 
 Frios. Aiaargos Corroborantes de "Garry Owen." 
 
 "Wholesale Dmggists, Importers and Manufacturing Chemists 
 
 AND DEALERS IN SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS, 
 42 and 44 Camp, and 109, 111, 113, 115 and 117 Gravier St., 
 
 (CORI^EIl OF CAMP STEEET,) 
 
 N E W O RLE A N S . L A . 
 
 Proprietors — Brodie's Liver Pills. Brodie's Astringent Cordial for Diarrhoea, etc. 
 Locock's Cough Elixir. Abram's Arnica Liniment. Abram's Tetter and Ringworm 
 Ointment. Lyon's Essence Jamaica Ginger. "Abram's" Chill and Fever Tonic. "Gar- 
 ry Owen" Strengthening Bitters. 
 
 The leading paper of !S"ew Orleans and of tho South, equal to any in circulation and 
 second to none in merit, is THE NEW ORLEANS DAILY PICAYUNE, published by 
 Nicholson & Co. This great daily newspaper, established nearly fifty years ago, by 
 practical enterprising men, as a step forward in American journalism at the South, has 
 grown with the growth of the city and is a power in the land . 
 
 '--STHMJ ^WJEEM:L"5r ]P X C A Y U I>J 13 . 
 THE WEEKLY PICAYUNE, made up of the most important matter that appears 
 in the daily, with an original synopsis of the news of the week, is intended for country 
 circulation. Its condensed news, literature features, correspondence, devotion to agri- 
 cultural interests, makes it the most desirable home ]>aper to be found — certainly in the 
 South — for tbe low price of one dollar and fifty cents per year. The Weekly Picayune, 
 fifty-two papers in a year, is a library of information and pleasant reading, and a history 
 of the events of each week. It should be found in every Southern home. 
 
 Althou^ included in ihe daily subscription, THE NEW ORLEANS SUNDAY 
 PICAYUNE has special featirres, and may be received separately by subscribers when 
 desired. It is usually a mammoth paper of sixteen papers, and in addition to the full 
 telegraphic, home, foreign and local news reports. The Sunday Picayune contains regu- 
 lar Paris and New York correspondence, with the best information on fashions, house- 
 hold matters, science, the drama, society news and gossip in New Orleans and out. of 
 town, and choice selections of poetry, stories and miscellaneous matter, and original con- 
 tributions from "Catherine Cole,"' Jenny June, MoUie E.Moore, J. H. Haynie, "Vi- 
 dette,'' and many others- The Sunday Picayune is deservedly a popular favorite with 
 
 DAILY. 
 (8 to 14 pp, 7 papers a week) 
 
 Twelvemonths |12 00 
 
 Six months 6 00 
 
 Three months 3 00 
 
 WEEKLY. 
 (16 pp.) 
 
 Twelve months. $1 50 
 
 Six months 75 
 
 Three months 50 
 
 SUNDAY PICAYUNE. 
 (By mail, 16 pp.) 
 
 Twelve months $2 00 
 
 Six months 1 00 
 
EOBT. H. CHAFFE. JOHN C. CHAFFE. 
 
 R H. Chaffe & Bro.. 
 
 ESPECIEROS FOR MAYOR 
 
 Y COMEECIANTES EN 
 
 Vinos, Licores, Tabaco y Cigarros, 
 
 Kos. 7 y 9 Callb db Peters y 36 4 44 Calle de Common, 
 
 Apartado No. 329. 
 
 EOBT. H. CHAFFE. JOHN C. CHAFFE. 
 
 R. H. CHAFFE & BRO., 
 
 WHOLESALE GROCERS, 
 
 AND DEALERS IN 
 
 Wines, Liquors, Tobacco and Cigars, 
 
 Nos. 7 and 9 Peters and 36 to 44 Common Sts., 
 
 p. O. Box 329. 
 
Miller & Henderson's 
 
 —LINE OF— 
 
 OCEAN STEAMSHIPS, 
 
 COMPRISING STEAMERS 
 
 Capt. ]^ILLER<, 
 
 LIZZIE :HE]XDER.SO]V, 
 S. J. COOHI^.^]V, 
 
 Blanclie Hend-erson, 
 
 RUNNING FROM 
 
 NEW ORLEANS 
 
 —TO- 
 BAY ISLANDS, HONDURAS, TAMPA, 
 
 KEY WEST, JAMAICA, 
 
 — AND— 
 
 CENTRAL AMERICAN PORTS. 
 
 Also ports contiguous to the Grulf of Mexico. 
 
 Steamers for sale or charter. 
 
 R. B. POST & SON, ^ 
 
 > Agents, 
 C. A. FISH & CO., ) 
 
 New Orleans, La. 
 
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 El gran camino coiitinuo para Pasajeros y Elete 
 
 desde IS'ueva Orleans liasta todos los 
 puiitos I^orte, Este y Oeste. 
 
 El gran Ferrocarril Jackson es coirstrnido (Jon Uielas de 
 Acero I Medida Gorriente ! Uquipos Mejorados ! Oamiiio soli- 
 dameDte construido, y Eapidez Aumentada I La mas igual, la 
 mas segnra y la mas ngradable linea de jSTueva Orleans a Bos- 
 ton, Niieva York, Piladeliia, Baltimore, Washington, Buffalo, 
 Chicago, San Luis, Cincinnati, y todas las ciudades del IsTortc 
 y del Este. 
 
 Los carros salones, palaciales, para dorinir, de Pullman 
 salen diariaraente de J^ueva Orleans para Cairo, Chicago, Cin- 
 cinnati, San Luis, Memphis, Kansas City y Louisville, sin cam- 
 bio; y cambian solameute una vez para las ciudades del Este. 
 
 Frenos Atmosfericos ! Plataformas de Miller! y todas las 
 ultira;ss mejoras para la seguridad y la conveniencia de los 
 pasajeros. 
 
 Llega 4 Chicago 12 horas, y a Sau Luis 8 horas mas pron- 
 to que cualquiera otra linea, y con gran rapidez a ias otras 
 principales ciudades. 
 
 Precios de pasaje siempre tan bajos eomo ios de otras 
 liueas que ^on inferiores. 
 
 Oficiua para Boletas de Pasaje: Pickwick Club Build- 
 iNa, cor. Canal and Carondelet, Nueva Orleans, La. 
 
 Oomprando sus boletas de })asaje por via de la G-ran 
 RuTA Jackson, los viajeros estan seguros de ganar tiempo 
 y distaucia. 
 
 h. I mm 
 
 Agente deneral de Pasajeros, 
 
 A Chicago. 
 
 1 1, JEFFESV 
 
 J, W, COLS 
 
 General Superintendent, Ass't Agente General de Pasajeros, 
 A Chicago. A Nueva Orleans. 
 
 MAY 
 
 
Tulane" de la Louisiana, 
 
 •JLeanSg JE. 17. cle ^V. 
 
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 Hou. Eandall ].. (iiiiSON (Seimdoi- de los E. U.), Pn^sidcute. 
 
 Oliciuas, " Salim Tulane," CaJ'". Diyades eiitie Ctuiimon y Canal, 
 
 Wm. Preston Johnston, Pre§id^|;t#-de Ja Uuiversidad. 
 AVm. F. Mellon, Esq., Dean del Dei>aitaiuentn de Leyes. 
 T. Ci. EiCHARDsoN, ]\I, I)., Deaif del Colegio' de Mediciiui. 
 
 l*"!] Ciierpo compuesto de teiuta Pi-ofesores expeitos en todos lus DepaitameDttis ili- 
 ' -. Instiuccidn. 
 
 Ciirsos conipletos en Lenguas, Literatni a v Qien^na:; La instnucion eii Latin, Giiei;o. 
 Mate.mfitica.s, Leuoua Tngleea. y LitcratUTa>e.s cieniTiiV*an'u'nt<^ peifeita. Lenuna.s ilo- 
 deruas con ej^pecialidad, Finances, Aleman, Espanol.- e Italiauu. son consideradas en la 
 Literatura y eonio niadre de lenguas ; con hospedage en bueiins himiliLis. que hablau I'stas 
 lenguas correctanieute. , "" ' ;-iv -,"'5: • .V- 
 
 -Bw el Dcpaytamcnto de Fisica, Mccanica y Qiniiiim-^^v O,'' : ' vi especial atencion diiecta 
 a la relacion de estas rauiifteacioneR de la Cki^iia-iiivbisi i i ir este pais. La Mi'Kiuiua 
 de Vapoi', el' Telegrafo, el Tel6fono, la Luz Ei<ifetiieffy Fotiigrafia: la teoiia y uso del 
 Saccliaioraetio en Detei'minacion de Azueares, leciben tanibien atejicinn. Las niateiias 
 sou de lleno, ilustradas por experimentos v corao iirritlca, los estudiaiites misuu)s vciiilen 
 los experiiuentps. tJn ciirso d« Partida DoTjle, Tenesluiia de.Libi-os v Caligrafia, estan 
 adoptailos. . "s^ 
 
 La Altn FjScuela—'Ew la Ensefianza Preparatoria d-^' DepnVtfiiiieuto Colecial, recibeu 
 los estndian'tes h la edad de 12 anos : Latin, tiiiego, x{€w;\ :£lf mental y Qu'iiuiea: Alf- 
 nian. Fiances, E.spaSol, Italiano y Dibujo que es com]jtj"u<]i<i<>' couio una adicion ;i estas 
 niateria,s, necesario para una buena educacion in^'sa, -,»'"' Ur ■' 
 
 Vna Escuela de Manual Ujercicioit — Est;l OTgnuizada pni«a la iustruccion en talleres d" 
 ti-abajos; bajo los principios de las Artes Mecildi&as. ,iEjy?v.Sls;i;-uela est:"' bajo la diree- 
 ciou del Profesoi' J. M. Oixiway, perteneciente alSInf!tituTo,,Kk'"t'eologia, de lioston, Mass. 
 
 X>(7/(y'o— TJn profesov de Dibujo se lia agregado a )a FaCwltad, y los estudiautes tienen 
 iao]>oitunidaiLde instmirse en este Arte de'tanta utilidad, ," 
 
 El Dcpartaniento de Jfedic/jirt— En este .sfio, que forma eT ciucuenta y dos do estableci- 
 do este Departamento, tenemos nueve Profesores empleadQS'. Los e'studiantes usan el 
 . gvan Hospitai,de Caridad como escuela de prslt a pain su iristruccion. 
 
 < WM. O. KOGEIW, ScfaSfstaii^delaUniversidad,