Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from Getty Research Institute https://archive.org/details/dottingsonroadsiOOpimb_O JAVAL1 MINE_CHON TALES, NICARAGUA. 4 DOTTINGS ON THE ROADSIDE, IN PANAMA, NICARAGUA, AND MOSQUITO. BY BEDFORD PIM, Captain R.N., AND BERTHOLD SEEMANN, Ph.D., F.L.S., F.R.G.S., AUTHOR OP ‘THE NARRATIVE AND THE BOTANY OP H.M.S. HERALD,* ‘POPULAR HISTORY OP PALMS,* ‘ VITI, OR MISSION TO PIJIAN ISLANDS,* ETC. ETC. ETC. 3llu0tratet( im'tlj plates anli JHaps. LONDON: CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193, PICCADILLY. 1869. PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND CO. LITTLE QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN’S INN FIELDS. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD STANLEY, M.P., ETC. ETC. ETC., WHOSE EFFORTS TO RESTORE ENGLISH PRESTIGE ABROAD BY ELEVATING THE STANDARD OF OUR FOREIGN POLICY, COMMAND THE RESPECT OF ALL PARTIES, STJjts is, hg permission, Uetiicatetf, WITH FEELINGS OF WARM ADMIRATION , BY THE AUTHORS. PREFACE. —♦— Since the year 1846 the authors of this work have been practically acquainted with Central America, and have travelled over the greater part of it. They hope, therefore, that a few 1 Dottings on the Road¬ side ’ about countries so much talked of, yet so little known as Panama, Nicaragua, and Mosquito, may be acceptable. Their object has been to place before the public the knowledge they have gleaned in such a form that those who desire information on the subject may be assisted in forming a correct judgment as to the real condition of British relations with the American Continent. Since the time when Mr. Monroe undertook to lay down a trade doctrine for the New World, and claimed a monopoly of the entire Continent for his countrymen, the difficulty of transacting business there has steadily increased; nor is it likely to be lessened, so long as the folly is every year perpetuated of allowing 200,000 emigrants and at least £1,000,000 sterling to drift across the Atlantic, to swell the ranks of the gigantic Vlll PEEFACE. “Trades Union ” which the United States have now become. That the period is not far off when at least the northern part of the Western Hemisphere will be more or less closed to English commercial enterprise, seems clear from the following apparently acceptable counsel just given (April 1869) to the new President, General U. S. Grant:— “ Here are Cuba, St. Domingo, and Mexico, and the Cen¬ tral American States down to Darien. They are the locks and keys of the Calf and of the American Isthmus passages from ocean to ocean. A decisive American policy on the part of General Grant will absorb all these outlying islands and States, and add so largely to our material revenues as to reduce the national debt to a mere trifle. Then there are the Alabama claims, a proper basis upon which to negotiate the cession to the United States of her Britannic Majesty’s North American provinces of the New Dominion, from Hali¬ fax to Vancouver Island; for this thing, too, is in the order of “ manifest destiny.” To this subject, of which the “Mosquito Ques¬ tion” forms no inconsiderable part, the undersigned has devoted much time and attention, which he hopes may atone in some degree for the marked contrast be¬ tween the literary style of his part of the book and that of Dr. Berthold Seemann, who is still absent in Ni¬ caragua, but whose ‘ Dottings ’ have already appeared in the ‘ Atheneeum.’ The Plates are from sketches taken on the spot by Lieutenant Oliver, E.A., and Mr. George Chambers, PREFACE. IX both of whom accompanied the undersigned in some of his journeyings. The Maps, for which he is solely responsible, contain the latest reliable additions and corrections, the result of nearly ten years’ experience of the nature of the country. The Appendix has been carefully arranged, and in it—thanks to a great authority on Mosquitian affairs, Mr. Henry Jacobs,—will be found ample ma¬ terials for those who desire fuller details. BEDFORD PIM, Captain } Royal Navy. 11, Belsize Square, Hampstead, N.W. May, I860 CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. TAGE Attempted Negro Revolt at Panama.—General Olarte.—Petition from a Convict Boy.—Railroad across the Isthmus.—Improve¬ ments caused by it.—Foreign Enterprise.—Gold Mines of Barbacoas.—War between Spain and Chili.— Anecdote of Abraham Lincoln. I CHAPTER II. Treasure-trove. — The Story of the Cocos Island. — An Old Pirate.—The Divining Rod in the New World.—I awake and find myself famous. — Captain Dow.—M. Zeltner.—Chiriqui Inscriptions.—Their Singular Resemblance to the Ancient British.—A Bold Theory.17 CHAPTER III. Departure from Panama. — The Railroad Steamers. — Punta Arenas.—Expedition up the Rio Frio.—Modern Sirens.—Co- rinto. — Captain Cauty.—Leon. — A Disagreeable-smelling Plant.—Mimicry in Nature.—We Start for New Segovia . . 33 CHAPTER IV. A Deep Well.— A Short Cut.—Farm of Pilon.—Acluiapa.—The Schoolmaster Abroad.—Region of Oaks and Pines.—Bonbon. —Jamaili.—Future of Nicaragua.—Arrival at Ocotal ... 49 Xll CONTENTS. CHAPTER Y. PAGE General Interest of Spanish Americans in Mining.—Excursions to Maquelizo, Limon, and Depilto.—Departure from Ocotal.— Matagalpa.—Ocalca.— Sebaco.—A Royal Present .... 05 CHAPTER YI. Foreign Enterprise in Nicaragua.—Negative Result of our Journey through New Segovia and Matagalpa.—Resolve to try Chon- tales.—Sketch of the Exploration of that Gold District by Captain Pim and his Party.—Our Return to Leon . . . . 81 CHAPTER VII. Departure from Leon for Chontales.—Huge Tree at Nagarote.— Relieving a Thirsty Soul.—Managua.—General Martinez.— Lagoon of Tiscapa.—Arrival at Libertad.95 CHAPTER VIII. The Story of the Javali Mine.— Gold of Nicaragua.—Earth Eaters.—Vegetation.—Indians.—Antiquities.107 CHAPTER IX. Visit to'the Head-Quarters of the Chontales Company.—Rough¬ ing it.—Amusing Narrative of Nicaraguan Travel.—The Pur¬ chase of tiie Javali Mine determined upon.—Religious Service under Difficulties. — San Juan and San Miguel ,Mines.— Journey to Granada.—Acote.—Granada.—Homeward Journey. —Managua.—Leon.—Captain Dow.— Specimen of Popular Scientific Writing.. . . .129 CONTENTS. Xlll CHAPTER X. PAGE Punta Arenas.—Excursion to the Island of San Lucas.—Arrival in the Bay of Panama.—Note about South-American Pile- Builders.—A Geographical Puzzle about the Cocoa-Nut.—Ex¬ cursion to the Bayano River.—Reflections on the Ruins of Old Panama.149 CHAPTER XI. Rise of the Buccaneers. — Henry Morgan.—Invasion of the Isthmus of Panama.—Storming of Chagres.—Destruction of Old Panama.165 CHAPTER XII. Departure of Author for Panama.—Return to Nicaragua.—La Merced.—Natural Products of the Country.—The Javali Again. —Opening up Road to the Atlantic.—A Nocturnal Fete.— Two Dying-out Races.—Return to England.193 ■ CHAPTER XIII. A Geographical Lecture. — Kingston.—Coaling a Steamer.— Leave-taking and Shopping.—Negro Cruelty and Insolence.— Port Royal.—A Dignity.—Departure from Jamaica .... 209 CHAPTER XIY. Port Royal to Greytown.— A Gloomy Look-out.—Dr. Green and Mr. Cottrell.—Singular Silting.—Rolling. —The First Lieutenant’s and Doctor’s Views.—Homily.225 CHAPTER XV. Canoes and Canoemen.—Sailing on Friday.—Columbus Dis¬ covers Moscpiito.—Boundaries of Mosquito.—Early Account XIV CONTENTS. PAGE of Aborigines. —Eating Monkey not Cannibalism. — A Spanish Riot Act.—A Cacique’s Idea of the Pope.241 CHAPTER XVI. A Pleasure Trip.—Current and Coasting.—Aspect of Country and Soundings.—Pirn’s Bay and Cays.—Blewfields Bluff.— The King of Mosquito. — His Library.—Opinion of Yankees . 257 CHAPTER XVII. Mr. Miertsching.—Account of Mosquito Mission.—The Putina Indians. —Last Census Returns, 1868.—A Moravian Church. —History of the Moravians.—Their Form of Government.— The ‘ Messenger of Peace ’.274 CHAPTER XVIII. A Naive Confession.—Queen Dowager and Princesses.—Unso¬ phisticated Nature.—A Fleet of Turtlers.—A Hungry Shark. —His Majesty on Board.291 CHAPTER XIX. Aborigines.—Manners and Customs.—Births, Deaths, and Mar¬ riages.—Mosquito Indians v. Trades Unions.—Early History of Mosquito.—Nelson’s Attack on Nicaragua.—Bill of Fare. —An Interesting Comparison.—Bolivar’s Prediction.—Yearly Revolutions. CHAPTER XX. The Corn Islands.—Good Feeding-Ground.—A Rainy Fact.— Value of a Slave.—Cheap Philanthropy.—Buccaneer Haunts. — Old Providence.—St. Andrew’s.—Mosquito Treaty.—Dog CONTENTS. XY PAGE in the Manger.—Stars and Stripes.—Transit.—Statesmen or Politicians?.321 CHAPTER XXI. Nicaragua versus Mosquito.-—Transit.—The British Interpose.— A. Comparison between ’48 and ’68.—True Economy.—Di¬ plomacy and Intrigue.—Mr. Squier.—Destruction of Greytown. —Alabama.—Monroe Doctrine.— Use of Transits.—India- Rubber.—Pirn’s Bay.—Snakes.337 CHAPTER XXII. Popular Errors on Mosquito.—Revulsion of Feeling.—Adieu to the “ Shore.”—Early Transit Efforts.—Concession.—Journey- ings.—Chontales.—Nicaraguan Railway Company, Limited.— Mr. W. H. Webb.—Junction of Atlantic and Pacific.—Nicara¬ guan idea of Colonization.357 CHAPTER XXIII. Blewfields River.—The Great Storm of 1865.—Boat Impaled on Cocoa-nut Tree.—-New Field for Professor Owen and Dr. Gunther.—Strong and Weak Dollars.— How to Make a Chowpa.—Laying-in Provisions.369 CHAPTER XXIV. The Start up River.—Travelling by Night.—An Arctic Negro.— Brackish Water.—A Carib Breakfast.—Mosquitian Villas.— Hieroglyphics.—Woolwa Indians.—Kisilala. — Musli-La.—A Live Candlestick.—Mahogany. — Its Great Value.—Indian Manners.—Chocolate.—The Spanish Hammock . . . . .385 CHAPTER XXV. Up River Notes.—Indian Geographers.— Carka to Javali. XVI CONTEXTS. PAGE Ophir.—Iguana.—How to Fight “ I)e Debbel.”—Simon.— Arrive at Blewfields.—Result of Trip.—Dr. Seemann.—Conclu¬ sion .417 APPENDIX. Terms of Concession concluded in 1S59 between His Majesty the King and Commander Bedford Pim, Royal Navy .... 435 Terms of Railway Concession concluded in 1865 between the Go¬ vernment of Nicaragua and Captain Bedford Pim, of the En¬ glish Royal Navy.437 Treaty between Her Majesty and the Republic of Honduras re¬ specting the Bay Islands, the Mosquito Indians, and the Rights and Claims of British Subjects.446 Proceedings at a Public Meeting held at Blewfields, May 1st, 1867 450 Bibliography.457 King of Mosquito’s Certificate.468 MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. MAPS. Nicaragua and Mosquito. to face page 1 Part of Mosquito and Chontales.360 ILLUSTRATIONS. Javali Mine. to face Title Catching Sardines . 100 Ancient Grave and Headstone.126 Crossing tiie Bar at Greytown.229 Indian Hut. 295 Junction of Atlantic and Pacific.365 13^ °io° 8 ; 9° i Belize / J 8l&° 87 ° 8 6 84 ° 16I_ la c a.ndc TcLtjiu/it X \ ft 7 ^ S* 9 ^ Onithi Hog I s a C Honduras TOf* 'tjruateniaJa / M i < I San Salvador A-'"'___ ). o I5V — * ■ ?< Jy i_- S2° Gracias lfi£ /A TLANTI yOcotal K A • >$ ,V ‘A v» ■"■■wrn^^ bse/juuut Vd&Vrgc yj Lam 1» A C I FI C (> C If. AN MAP OF N J CARAGU A awd HQSQy IT®. WITH LATEST CORRECTIONS — 1860 ■—“ BY Captain Bedford Pim.K.N. rl Glvs- y* oCcrn/l* 1 Blewticld.? Srui Juan del Suv\^y —V '^\ T rt*. VI.—B. S. The Castillo rapids being too formidable for the steamer to overcome, the travellers had to shift to another steamer, the ‘ City of Leon,’ which waited on the other side; but not being engaged on the regular transit trip, did not leave till half-past one o’clock on the 20th. In two hours they had safely passed the Toros, the last rapids on the river. L T p to this time they had been pursued by the rains, which at this season of the year are not expected much above Grey Town. About dark they arrived at San Carlos, a small fort built on the point where Lake Nicaragua runs off into the San Juan river. Upwards of thirty hours had thus been occupied in actual steaming on the passage from Grey Town to San Carlos, a distance of 119 miles, or as nearly as pos¬ sible at the rate of four miles an hour. Here the course of the Central American transit runs to the westward across the lake, while they had to go north about. In canoes, which had been brought thus far on the deck of the steamer, they started at 10 a.m. on the morning of the 21st. Favoured by a breeze, they arrived at four p.m. at San Miguelito—merely a col¬ lection of substantial huts (some of them with an upper story), perched upon rising ground, with savana land stretching away inland as far as the eye could reach—a most beautiful scene. This is the Ultima Thule of civilization in Chontales, San Carlos being simply a fort. From this point Captain Pirn decided on journey¬ ing overland through the interior of the country, so that Mr. Paul might have the fullest opportunity of mak¬ ing himself thoroughly acquainted with the district; Chap. VI.—B. S.] EIDE THE0UGH CHOXTALES. 87 but as time is not considered of importance by the natives of Central America, it was not until the 24th that the necessary number of horses could be pur¬ chased. At 9 A.ir. on the 24th the travellers were able to make a start for their long ride through Chontales. The cavalcade consisted of a guide, with a led horse, or rather one tied to the tail of his own animal, car¬ rying the baggage; next, Captain Pirn himself, with a spare horse tied to his horse’s tail in like manner, then Mr. George Chambers, the well-known painter, and lastly Mr. Paul; it being necessary to maintain single file, as the roads were only narrow tracks. The country was low, and in some places swampy, covered with high grass, and dotted all over with clumps of trees and shrubs, very much resembling an English park, but in certain places next to impassable in the wet season. About one o’clock they arrived at the Camastre, a broad estero, over which an enterprising native had thrown a bridge composed entirely of bamboo, and which, though fragile enough, served its purpose admirably. At three o’clock they reached, the river Tepinaguasapa, emptying itself into the lake. Here they stopped to dine, and afterwards, pushing on, reached a casera about five o’clock, where they remained the night. Sleep, however, was out of the question. A tiger entered the enclosure and nearly caused a stampede amongst the cattle, whilst smaller animals, scarcely less active, gave the ex¬ plorers no rest until daylight. They started soon after dawn, having breakfasted 88 DOTTINGS ON THE ROADSIDE. [Chap. VI.—B. S. off a good hot howl of coffee boiled in milk, for at the casera or milking-place of a hacienda, milk is always obtainable in the morning, through never in the evening. During this day’s journey the country was found to he more undulating. Palms were largely interspersed with the other trees and orchids. Just before twelve o’clock they arrived at Mayasan, where it was decided to remain to celebrate Christmas Day by a good dinner. The duena of the hacienda was most kind, and made active exertions to provide pud¬ dings, consisting of mashed plantains and fresh pork, fried shreds of dried pork, with pork sausages and garlic ; fried eggs and garlic ; minced pork and garlic; ripe plantains, boiled and fried; unripe plantains, boiled and roasted; quajado, or bitter cream cheese; milk in various stages of sourness; pinol (chocolate and Indian corn mixed with water); jerked beef in thin strips; tortillas de maiz (cakes of Indian corn) baked on a griddle ; and native cheese. This, for the country, magnificent bill of fare, did not afford the pleasure which the travellers had expected; they were unanimous in detesting garlic; neither did the bitter cheese and sour milk meet with their approval, while the stringy jerked beef got between their teeth, and was pronounced thoroughly indigestible; so that, al¬ together, they were not averse to renewing the jour¬ ney at three o’clock in the afternoon. At sunset they arrived at another hacienda, Las Animas, having passed through the same lovely scenery and crossed the river Oyate, abounding in alligators, although nearly twenty miles from the lake. Here they stayed Chap. VI.—B. S.] CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES. 89 the night; hut before going to rest, they got up a little tertulia, or ball, to the great delight of the peons, who were besides treated with English songs, having ringing choruses. The effect must have been very striking, for one of them was heard to say, u When these English sing, it is like an earth¬ quake.” When the travellers lay down for the night on the stretched bullocks’-hides, which serve as beds in this country, they found themselves as much tormented as on the previous evening, and heartily wished they had stopped at Mayasan, by far the cleaner of the two haciendas. The following morning saw them early in the saddles. The country they passed through was more hilly than hitherto, and, as Mr. Paul observed, seemed to indicate mineral riches in no ordinary degree,—in fact, reminding him forcibly of California. A little before dusk they arrived at Acoyapa, the capital of the department, with a plaza and a church and some two thousand inhabitants. During the whole of the journey they constantly passed numbers of cattle, quietly grazing close to the track, and not the least wild. Acoyapa lies about halfway between the Chontales mines and Lake Nica¬ ragua, and is well situated as a resting-place midway. There are three tracks leading from it to the mines : one through Lovogo and Libertad, another directly across the country, and the third by way of Esquipula. They adopted the first, simply to examine the country, for it is by far the most roundabout route. At a little past eleven o’clock on the 27th they mounted, and, soon after passing Lovogo, began to ascend the ridge 90 DOTTINGS ON THE ROADSIDE. [Chap. VI.—B. S. forming the watershed, between the lakes and the At¬ lantic. On the summit of one of the hills they had a magnificent view—Omotepec away to the S.S.W., at least eighty miles distant; Mombacho, quite distinct; while inland the peak of Pena Blanca, about fifteen miles, pointed out the exact position of the mines. The surrounding country was found to be very bare of trees, and the many dry river-beds and barren- looking hills again recalled California most forcibly. After crossing this dividing ridge, they descended on savana lands, similar to those ridden over on the other side of Acoyapa. It was seven o’clock, quite dark, before they arrived at Libertad, a small, though thriving mining town, built on the Mico, a branch of the Blewfields river, as yet in its infancy, and num¬ bering about one thousand inhabitants, thirty-five of whom are foreigners—French, Germans, Americans, and English. They had thus occupied about eight hours on the journey, a distance of about twenty miles between Libertad and Acoyapa, but then their ani¬ mals had scarcely ever gone faster than a walk. From Libertad they made various excursions then and subsequently, from which the following informa¬ tion is gleaned. Roughly speaking, the left bank of the Mico, for at least eight miles on its course from Libertad, may be taken as defining the edge of the primeval forest in the midst of which the mines are situated. Crossing the Mico, at a ford about five miles below Libertad, the forest is entered by a nar¬ row track or path, made by clearing away the trees and undergrowth, the stumps in many cases sticking Chap. YL— B. S.] BACK WOODS OF NICARAGUA. 91 out some feet above the ground. It would be quite impossible to give an adequate description of the idle¬ ness of this road, not alone because the unfortunate animals sink up to their bellies in the mud at every step, but because, in selecting the path, an utter con¬ tempt seems to have been felt for level ground; every¬ where the road leading straight on, and over the high¬ est and steepest hills. The track, only eight miles from the Mico to the mines, is as difficult as all the rest of the route to San Ubaldo put together. It took a whole day to ride to the mines from Libertad. From Libertad there is another route to the mines; one can at once cross the Mico, and proceed through a narrow track in the forest straight on, passing various work¬ ings on the way, such as Tigre, Calvario, Virginia, San Miguel, etc. This road is, in some respects, better than the one described, since it is not so directly across country as the other, and more attention has been paid to the grades; but being very narrow, it is, and will continue to be, nothing but a series of mud- holes until, by the felling of trees, the sun’s rays are admitted. The great want in Nicaragua is roads; but, looking to the very heavy nature of the rains in the wet season, and for other substantial reasons, it would be far cheaper to make tramroads, which can be con¬ structed of very durable wood, the nispero for rails, and the canelo, stone, or leopard-wood for sleepers, at a cost of #3 per running yard, or say #5000 per En¬ glish statute mile. The San Juan Mine, as already stated, is the oldest in Chontales. It is close to Libertad, on the opposite 92 DOTTINGS ON THE ROADSIDE. [Chap. VI.— B S. bank of the Mico, and tlie machinery upon it is worked by that river. The system of mining is that com¬ mon throughout Spanish America, and consists of sinking a pozo about twenty-five feet, and then driv¬ ing a banco or adit, at right angles to the pozo for the same length, and so on until water is reached, when the works come to a standstill. The labour of bring¬ ing up the ore, however, is immense, and increases in proportion to the depth, the miners having to carry one hundred pounds weight of the ore to surface by climbing notched poles, with the tanate (or leather bag) supported on their backs by a strap across the fore¬ head. For this labour they are paid S'9 , G0 per month, and their board, amounting to another d’i'S; total, <£17 - 60, say <£3. 15s. Several other mines were being worked during this first visit, some of which passed into the hands of the Foreign Lands, and subsequently, the Chontales Com¬ pany. They are beyond question rich in gold and silver, possessing broad veins, which it will require many years, with the most powerful and approved machinery, to exhaust. The whole of this district is covered with veins of gold and silver, of greater or less value, according to their breadth and the facility with which they can be worked and drained. The auriferous and argentiferous district of Chontales com¬ mences near the town of Libertad, in the mountain range, which runs nearly parallel to Lake Nicaragua; it is many miles in width, and continues from this point towards the east to an unknown distance. To give an idea of how little is known of these imex- Chap. YL—B. S.] GOLD AXD SILVER DISTRICTS. 93 plorecl wilds, it may be mentioned that when a piquet was cut, defining the boundaries of only ten caballerias of land surrounding the Javali Mine, some splendid ground was discovered, and a plantel or water-power, surpassing that of the Javali itself. The gold-bear¬ ing lodes in the Chontales district, as at present known, have not been laid bare beyond a breadth of a mile and a half; the yield, on an average, is one ounce of gold and several ounces of silver to the ton. The lodes seem to be only two in number, parallel to each other, and striking E.N.E. and W.S.W. Near the surface the quartz is friable, but it produces more visible gold with increased depth. These lodes thus present exceptions to the general mode of occurrence of gold in veins. In order to take advantage of what had thus been brought to public notice by Captain Pirn and his ex¬ ploring party (as detailed in this long digression), it was necessary for Captain Holman and myself to act at once, as the rainy season was about to set in, and there was no time to be lost. We rode hard to get to our journey’s end, and kept up through the day. The heat was so excessive that I arrived at Leon with a slight sunstroke, and was laid up for more than a week; but, to save time, I dispatched Captain Holman to Chontales, with instructions to inspect whatever mines might be offered for sale. Just when he was about to start, our servant and guide, Cleto, was not to be found. The mystery of his disappearance was soon cleared up by a messenger arriving to inform us that he had been seized by the 94 DOTTINGS ON THE ROADSIDE. [Chap. VI.—B. S. pressgang, and was for the present safely locked in prison, with a lot of other young fellows, until the authorities should decide what to do with him. For¬ tunately, Colonel Gross, the Military Governor of Matagalpa, was staying at the same hotel as we did, and he was good enough to procure poor Cleto’s dis¬ charge, and thus enable him to accompany Captain Holman to Chontales. 95 CHAPTER VII. DEPARTURE FROM LEON FOR CHONTALES.-HUGE TREE AT NA- GAROTE.— RELIEVING A THIRSTY SOUL.-MANAGUA.-GENERAL MARTINEZ.-LAGOON OF TISCAPA.-ARRIVAL AT LIBERTAD. By keeping as quiet as the numerous visitors who called upon me to offer mining and other properties would let me, and by constant application of cold water, I was able to put my poor head once more in something like working order; and as soon as I found myself sufficiently well I started for Chontales, quite by myself, as the servant I had engaged left me in the lurch the last moment. Passing and stopping for a few hours at Pueblo Nuevo, with its curious cactus fences, I put up for the night at Nagarote, where I measured a famous geni- saro-tree (Pithecolobium Saman , Benth.), belonging to the Mimosa tribe, of which the villagers are justly proud, and for which 200 dollars have been offered—a high price in a country where timber abounds; and yet they had the public spirit—the rarest of virtues in 96 DOTTINGS OX THE ROA.DSTDE. [Chap. VII.—B. S. a Spanish American—to refuse the offer (others say the Government made them refuse). The tree, of which a woodcut is given in Squier’s ‘Central America,’ is hut 90 feet high; hut some of the lower branches, which are quite horizontal, are 92 feet long and 5 feet in diameter. The stem, 4 feet above the base, is 21 feet in circumference, and the crown of the tree, de¬ scribes a circle of 348 feet. A whole regiment of sol¬ diers may seek repose in its shade. If this vegetable monster had been a denizen of any part of the Eastern hemisphere, it would have become a fit object of tree-worship, that singular religion which flourished long before temples and churches were thought of, and which enjoyed a more extensive geographical range than any creed has done since. At one time it was diffused over the whole of Europe, Asia, A frica, and Polynesia. Throughout Europe and some islands of Polynesia it has been supplanted by Christianity; in parts of Asia and Africa by Moham¬ medanism ; but nowhere have its rites been entirely suppressed. Deprived of their religious character and import, many of them have survived to this day, everwhere associated with mirth, good feeling, and festivity. No trace of tree-worship has been noticed amongst the natives of Australia, nor amongst those of the New World, though it had penetrated to the east¬ ernmost islands of Polynesia. The fact is most singu¬ lar, as no continent boasts of such magnificent and venerable trees as America. In the virgin forests of Brazil there are trunks of such gigantic size that fifteen Indians with outstretched arms could hardly span Chap. VII.—B. S.] TREE WORSHIP. 97 them; trunks which, by counting the concentric rings of their wood, must have been in existence when Homer wrote his immortal poem. In Upper California and along the whole north-western coast of America, the vegetation attains enormous dimensions and age. Three hundred feet is no uncommon height for a tree, and some of the Wellingtonias overtop St. Peter’s, and almost rival the height of the pinnacle of Cheops, whilst their age is such that they must have been in full growth long before the Saxon invasion of Eng¬ land. Yet these peculiarities do not seem to have made any impression on the mind of the American Indian, evidently proving that size, venerable look, and age of trees are not sufficient to account for their worship by the largest section of the human race. Indeed, tree-worship can scarcely have sprung from simple admiration. We have plenty of people among us with a strong leaning that way, and can pretty well judge of its range and scope. The Eev. Charles Young tells us that from childhood, nothing in nature had a greater attraction for him than trees, and a giant tree, such as that of which the bark existed at the Crystal Palace, had been the height of his ambition among the sights of nature. To gratify this feeling he made purposely a voyage to the Amazon, of which he has given an interesting account inGalton’s ‘Vacation Tourists,’ and one might suppose that when at last he found himself amongst the vegetable giants of Brazil, feelings superior to those of gratified curiosity would come to the surface. But there was nothing of the kind; even a botanical interest does not appear to H 98 DOTTINGS OX THE ROADSIDE. [Chap. YII.—B. S. have been roused in him. Mr. Young’s predilection is rather prevalent in the United States, where travellers are almost bored to death by being taken to see big trees. Dr. Russell, who went thither for a very diffe¬ rent purpose, and during a period of great civil com¬ motion, repeatedly mentions his being forced to visit such objects; and he tries to account for the admira¬ tion Americans have for their vegetable monsters by the fact that in the United States few things are old and venerable, and any exception to that rule is care- folly noticed. I remember, in passing through Cam¬ bridge, Massachusetts, seeing a black board, record¬ ing that the mayor and aldermen of that town had been such Yandals as to cut down an old and large tree which stood in the middle of the road, and under¬ neath was written with chalk, “ Let this be remem¬ bered at the next election ! ” Leaving Yagarote, and travelling about two hours, I came in sight of Lake Managua, along the shores of which the road passes for some miles, overshaded by huge trees, a fine breeze blowing across the water, and the waves breaking on the beach, and throwing up snags, branches of trees, and other matter. Here and there one obtains glimpses of the whole lake, to which bold volcanoes form a magnificent background. The next village was Matiaris de la Merced, where we stopped to breakfast. Whilst thus engaged, a man of the place came into the house, and, after steadily gazing at me for some time, rather startled me by the information that his brother was in Purgatory. All I could do was to assure him that I was very sorry to Chap. VII.—B. S.J A SOUL IN PURGATORY. 99 hear it. “But couldn’t you do anything to get him out df it?” he asked. “ I don’t think that I have any direct influence in that quarter,” was my reply. “ Yes, you have,” the stranger assured me. “ I am going to have Masses said for his soul, and should feel obliged by your giving a few reals towards paying the cost.” I was so much pleased with the novel and neat way of getting money out of me that I acceded to his wishes. He thanked me politely, but there was a look about the fellow that made me think that, after all, I had merely contributed towards relieving “ a thirsty soul.” A few more hours’ ride brought me to Managua, which became, a few years ago, the capital of Nica¬ ragua, and which may he described as a large village of native huts, to which a few European houses have been added. The largest of these houses is the Palacio Nacional, with verandas and balconies, in which the public offices and the residence of the President of the Republic are situated. It overlooks the great square and the beautiful Lake of Managua, across which there always blows a fresh breeze. Fish is tolerably abun¬ dant in this lake, and the most esteemed are two very small kinds, belonging to the genera Tetragonopterus and Antherinichthys , Sardina and Pepesca, the former being in season in March, the latter during the rainy months of the year.* The Sardina is the smallest of the two, and so much resembles whitebait in look, * The specimens of these fish, which I deposited in the collections of the British Museum, are held by Dr. Gunther to be the young of two species which grow much larger than they are eaten at Managua, a fact of which the natives are, I believe, quite unaware. H 2 100 DOTTINGS ON THE ROADSIDE. [Chap. VII.—B. S. size, and flavour, that at a dinner at Greenwich, given by Captain Pim to General Martinez, the late Presi¬ dent of Nicaragua thought that English whitebait was the Sardina of his native lakes. The Pepesca is like the anchovy, and has not such a delicate flavour as the Sardina. Both kinds are eaten fried, toasted, or made into cakes; and they are caught during the daytime, and in hand-nets by men and women, who take their stand on steep parts of the lake’s shores, and behind some green boughs put up to prevent the fish from seeing the reflection of their captors in the water. There is here absolutely nothing we associate with the idea of a capital of a country—no public libraries, museums, theatres, places of amusement, etc. About eight o’clock at night all is as quiet as in a city of the dead. By that time, the lamps which house¬ holders are compelled to light at sunset have con¬ sumed their allotted quantity of oil, and are expiring one after the other. Perhaps here and there a gam¬ bling party may prolong its u nh oly occupation; but the generality of the inhabitants have gone to sleep— I was almost going to say, bed ; but that would be a misstatement, as there is no such thing as a bed in .the whole country. You may see roughly-made wooden bedsteads, over which cow-hides are stretched ; but there is no bedding. Even the best families use no linen sheets. The upper classes lie down with most of their clothes on; and, in the morning, get up, shake, but do not wash themselves, light a cigarette and drink a cup of coffee. The so-called lower classes Z'lA NICARAGUA-METHOD OF CATCHING SARDINES ON THE SHORES OE LAKE MANAGUA Chap. VIE— B. S.] SLEEPING ACCOMMODATION. 101 take off nearly every rag of clothing when they go to sleep, and lie down around the houses, often in the middle of the yard. They do not seem to mind either the dew or the moon, and the blanket, which every one carries, is scarcely ever used, except just before dawn. All classes are dreadfully afraid of water; and whenever they see a European wash himself, es¬ pecially early in the morning, they never fail to tell him of the danger which he is running. I watched some of the dons, in whose company I was thrown for a week, and found they never touched water during the whole of that time. To my broad hints, they replied that they had a slight attack of fever, or a cold just approaching. With a few exceptions, the houses are very filthy, and full of vermin. This remark applies with full force to New Segovia and Matagalpa, where a broom is a curiosity made of palm-leaves, when, on some festive occasion, the house is to be swept. I strongly advise future travellers to provide themselves with a tent, and thus escape the necessity of seeking any other shelter but their own. I could not help recalling to mind the neat houses and clean persons of the so- called Polynesian savages. After profiting for more than three centuries by Christianity and European civilization, the Central Americans compare unfavour¬ ably—socially, politically, intellectually, and morally —with the South Sea Islanders. Nicaraguans, though generally ignorant of the most elementary knowledge, for instance, talking of Great Britain and the United States as one country, and of 102 DOTTINGS ON T1IE 110ADSIDE. [Chai>. VII.—B. S. tlieir inhabitants as heathens who have never had the benefit of Christian sacraments, believe their republic to be in the van of civilization; and they are never tired of asking foreigners to confirm that delusion. I tried to escape telling such an untruth by dwelling on the vast resources and great natural beauties of Nicaragua, and avoiding the point they wished me to bo eloquent upon ; because, like all Spanish Ameri¬ cans, they are extremely thin-skinned, and regard every unfavourable opinion as an ill-natured depre¬ ciation. One who desires to stand well with them should therefore be careful of what he says and writes. Travellers who have been simple-minded enough to speak out, have had their books burnt in the public square, as such things ought to be in countries the history of which has not yet passed the period of the dark ages. I had several interviews with the President of the Republic, General Martinez, to whom the country is indebted for ten years of peace. I found that he and the Ministers of State were men of intelligence, and were fully impressed with the high responsibili¬ ties they had undertaken. In early life General Mar¬ tinez travelled over every part of his native country, and thereby obtained that practical knowledge which, in after years, was destined to be of incalculable value. Actuated by that patriotism which every true lover of his country must feel in her hour of need, he joined, in 1854, the army formed to repel the invaders under the filibuster Walker. That he was eminently suc¬ cessful, both on the field of battle and in the Cabinet, Chap. VII.—B. S.] GENERAL MARTINEZ. 103 is proved by the fact that in 1856 be was made Pro¬ visional President, while in the following year peace having been restored, mainly through his instrumen¬ tality, he was unanimously elected President. During the years 1857-62 he filled the chair as Chief Magis¬ trate of Nicaragua with ability and satisfaction, not only to his own countrymen, but to those foreigners who were brought to Nicaragua either by business or pleasure. At the expiration of his term of office he was re-elected President, and occupied that position until February, 1867, when Don Fernando Gusman assumed office. It was not, and never will be, the fate of any man, however able, to take a prominent part in the government of his country without experi¬ encing trials and troubles. In 1863, Salvador, in alli¬ ance with Honduras, declared war against Nicaragua. In April of that year the allies invaded the Pepublic and marched straight on Leon; in the meantime the standard of revolt was raised in the southern part of Nicaragua, and thus the President found himself sur¬ rounded by foes on all sides. But the man who mainly contributed to the downfall of Walker was equal to the occasion. The battle of Leon finished the campaign in favour of the Government,—a battle in which the General displayed great gallantry. During his pro¬ tracted career of power, General Martinez never, in a single instance, was guilty of sacrificing the life of a fellow-creature in cold blood. Besides the humanity which so thoroughly characterizes him, he understood in how great a degree a nation’s happiness and great¬ ness depends on commercial prosperity, and never lost 104 DOTTIXGS OX TILE EOADSIDE. [Chap. VIL—B. S. an opportunity of encouraging foreign commerce and. enterprise. Early in the morning, I generally went with Eon Antonio Silva, a Guatemalan gentleman, who held the office of Minister of Culture, to bathe in the lake or rather lagoon of Tiscapa, which is about a mile and a half from town, and occupies the bottom of a deep crater-like valley, surrounded by trees. An Indian tradition asserts, that once upon a time, this lagoon was brought from Salvador in a gourd-shell. If so, it must have been a pretty large one, and difficult to carry. But what of that ? Once call fancy to your aid, and all things are easy of accomplishment. Tis¬ capa is said to be inhabited by only one alligator, and has no known outlet. The water is generally very clear, but at times it becomes turbid and smells badly, in fact, undergoes fermentation, or, as the people ex¬ press it, “ gets sick.” Whilst the sickness lasts, the inhabitants carefully avoid all contact with the la¬ goon ; but no sooner has the w r ater assumed its usual appearance, than men and women flock to it for wash¬ ing and bathing purposes, and there is, especially early in the mornings, rather an animated scene. Women, old and young, of all colours, and in a state of almost absolute nudity, are busy washing clothes on large flat stones; men swimming about, or sitting on their rugs and pillons preparatory for a plunge into the cooling water; horses and mules are driven in to be bathed at the same time as their masters. If Tiscapa were a little nearer to town, it would be visited much more than it is, as the place is really very pretty. But it is 105 Chap. YII.— B. S.] AEEIVAL AT LIBEETAD. just too far to walk, and so tlie bulk of tlie Mana- guanS wash and bathe in the lake.* A ride of three days from Managua, by way of Tipitapa and Juigalpa, brought me to Chontales, the finest and most fertile district of Nicaragua. Ap¬ proaching it from the west, as I did, you find your¬ self amongst rich undulating grass lands, which even at the end of the dry season retain their verdure and afford pasture to thousands of heads of cattle. On nearing Libertad, the ground becomes more elevated, the climate considerably cooler, and you get occa¬ sional glimpses of the Lake of Granada, with its islands and majestic volcanoes. Libertad is rapidly rising to the dignity of a town, and is now full of people from all parts. House-room is very limited, and I had difficulty in finding even a place for my hammock. Close to Libertad commences a dense vir¬ gin forest, which extends to the Atlantic seaboard, * “ At seventeen miles from Tipitapa, and one mile and one-eighth, from the city of Managua, is the Lake of Tiscapa, which is circular, a quarter of a mile in diameter, surrounded by almost perpendicular cliffs, 80 feet high, and has every appearance of being the crater of an extinct volcano. It has no outlet; but its water is on the same level as Lake Managua, although its depth, as I ascertained by sound¬ ing, was 150 feet in the centre. Its water, of which the specific gravity is 13, is highly charged with sulphuretted hydrogen, and, like that of Tipitapa, contains neither muriates nor sulphates. The pro¬ portion of sulphuretted hydrogen in the atmosphere contiguous to the lake varies considerably, the disagreeable smell being at times almost intolerable. A curious fact in connection with this lake is the almost constant presence of a large quantity of dead fish on its margin, which attracts a number of turkey-buzzards.”— Capt. Bedford Finis Paper “ On the Mineral and Thermal Waters of Nicaragua ,” read before the British Association, at Bath, in 1861. 106 DOTTING S ON T11E ROADSIDE. [Chap. VII.-B. S. and a singular feature of which is, that the stems of the trees are of a very light grey, as well indicated by Mr. George Chambers in some of his clever sketches; but the correctness of which I was inclined to doubt until I had actually seen it in the landscape itself. 107 CHAPTER VIII. THE STORY OF THE JAYALI MINE.-GOLD OF NICARAGUA.- EARTH EATERS.-VEGETATION.-INDIANS.-ANTIQUITIES. The stillness of the virgin forests, which to this clay cover a great part of Chontales, would probably not have been broken for generations if it had not been for the discovery of a very productive gold-mine, which, until recently, was the property of a Spanish American, and has now passed into the hands of English capitalists. Eor many years the first owner had drawn none but blanks in the great lottery of mining enterprise. Lucas Quiroz—for that was his name—had been one of the first settlers at Libertad, a place which derived its name from a grog-shop where everybody had liberty to do pretty much as he liked. One day, when hopelessly embarrassed, a man with the image of St. Peter passed the house, asking whether anybody wished to offer up prayers to the saint. The poorer classes of Nicaragua do not always give money to these wandering image-bearers, 108 DOTTINGS ON THE ROADSIDE. [Chap. Till.—B. S. but frequently whatever good tilings they may have in their possession, such as cacao beans, chocolate, lumps of sugar, wax candles, etc.; and the wife of the impoverished miner could lay her hands on nothing better than a piece of scented soap. But she promised to present a chalice to the village church if St. Peter would let her husband, who had been so singularly unfortunate in gold-mining, find a good silver-mine. The husband having fully ratified the vow, both awaited with confidence the asked-for intercession. They were not doomed to be disappointed. A short time afterwards an Indian called, and the miner’s mi¬ serable plight became at once the topic of conversa¬ tion. “ If it is rich stones you are harping after,” said the Indian, “ I can take you to a place where you shall find enough to last you a lifetime.” The offer was gladly accepted, on condition that if the place turned out as rich as represented the Indian should receive three cows for showing it. Chopping-knife in hand, and a few provisions on then’ back, the two entered the thick virgin forest which stretches from Libertad to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. After travelling several leagues, they arrived at a place where the Indians were in the habit of shooting javalis, a kind of wild boar. “Will this satisfy you?” asked the guide triumphantly. The miner was dumfounded. After years of fruitless toil and search, he saw at last before him a property combining all the features of a good mine. On the slopes of a hill rising five hun¬ dred feet above a river-bed, and ensuring a natural drainage, he found a wide lode of quartz rock, 109 Chap. VHL—B. S.] DISCOVERT OF THE JAVALI. rich in silver and gold, and traceable for several miles; magnificent waterfalls available for setting in motion the most powerful machinery; and in every direction timber of excellent quality for mining pur¬ poses. This was the now famous Javali mine, the ore of which up to that time was taken out in small quan¬ tities only, and ground to powder in mortars cut out of the solid rock of the river-bed, whenever the Indians required gold for trading purposes. Hastening to re¬ gister his claims officially, the enraptured miner tried to raise the funds necessary for turning this valuable discovery to account; but his credit was so low that not one of his countrymen would lend him a few dol¬ lars to buy picks and shovels. He would have been obliged to abandon all thought of working the mine if a generous foreigner had not come forward with the necessary fimds, and also stood between him and his relentless creditors, when the richness of the Javali came to be known. In a short time the miner was able to pay off all his and his father’s debts, and purchase houses and estates. The chalice promised to St. Peter’s shrine was not forgotten. It was made of thirty-six ounces of gold, and by the hands of a German goldsmith, under whose hospit¬ able roof the miner was living when his wife regis¬ tered the vow. The mine proper consists solely of a strip of land, 200 varas wide, by 1000 varas long, running nearly due east and west, and its water-power, or “plantel,” is derived from the Javali river, which, within a few yards of the vein, takes a leap of about 150 feet. 110 DOTTINGS ON THE ROADSIDE. [Chap. VIII.—B. S. This narrow strip of land is traversed throughout its entire length by a ridge, varying in height above the general level of the ground at its base. At its eastern limit, which is the point where the vein is crossed by the Javali river, the elevation is very low, but it increases towards the westward, so that at this end its height is more than 200 feet. Through the central line of this ridge runs the lode ; in fact, the ridge is the lode itself, with a slight covering of earth and vegetable matter. This undulation, or rise, affords great convenience for driving levels on the lode far below any of the present old workings, and thereby giving great advantages for bringing the ore to the mills at any level desired. The workings are com¬ paratively superficial, save, perhaps, those of the So¬ corro, the bottom of which is 150 feet from the sur¬ face, consisting of 10 pozos and bancos. The advan¬ tages thus afforded for the cheap and complete drain¬ age and ventilation of the mine are very great. Such an elevation of the lode secures, in the most perfect manner, the complete drainage of all the works which can be carried on in this mine for many years to come. The ledge slopes from a point near its western limit 462 feet above the water level, to the bed of the Javali river, at its eastern boundary. The lowest tunnel to be driven from this latter level would, of course, drain all the works above it, and keep them perfectly dry. A few hundred yards lower down the river there is another fall, of 160 feet, so that by driving a cross¬ cut from the foot of this fall into the Javali lode, which continues on the other side of the river in the Chap. YIIL—B. S.] MIXERAL RICHES. Ill same direction, the drainage of this second section would, undoubtedly, be secured, and that continuation, or cabazeles, as it is called, could also be worked, at how great a profit will be apparent when it is men¬ tioned that the lode is quite as broad and rich on this side of the river as on the opposite bank. Those who have had to contend against the difficulties and great expenditure caused by a flooded mine can thoroughly estimate the value and importance of so favourable a location; indeed, it is not too much to say that here is the proper spot to commence operations on a large scale. The Javali river is, and must continue, the only real basis of mining operations in this district, until further explorations disclose other “plantels” or water-power of a like force. The quality of the ore, iu respect to the ease with which it may be ground, is very good; in some parts of the vein it is more or less hard, but the majority of it is quite soft and friable; the hardest of it could without difficulty be reduced by proper stamps and modern machinery, even without calcination. The ley or percentage of gold in the ore seems to increase with the descent from the surface. The supply may be said to be inexhaustible. The width of the vein varies from two to as many as twenty yards; taking the average width as only three, there would then be contained in this first section of the lode before spoken of as the one situated above the water line of the Javali river, not less than 231,957 cubic yards of ore, or about 475,512 tons. In the second section there is contained, assuming the same average width 112 DOTTINGS ON THE ROADSIDE. [Chap. VIII.—B. S. of the vein, 100,000 cubic yards, or 328,000 tons, all of which will probably yield at least a general average of one ounce per ton, and perhaps more, for the quality of the ore improves the deeper the mine is driven. But when large quantities of auriferous quartz can be obtained in a country where the price of labour is not high, as in Nicaragua, it is not necessary that it should contain a large amount of the precious metal in order to render its treatment, by the aid of well-constructed machinery, remunerative. At Schemnitz, in Hungary, the managers extract with advantage one-eighth of an ounce per ton; and the St. John del Bey, in the Brazils, yields a noble profit with five-eighths of an ounce per ton. Again, the average yield of gold from the quartz reefs in the colony of Victoria, for the year 18G6, was 10 dwts. 16|- grs., a little more than half an ounce to the ton of quartz, at a cost of raising, crushing, and management of about 13s. per ton; the actual profit would, therefore, be about 17s. on every ton of quartz crushed. The very tailings of the Javali, which have now accumulated for many years, are equal in richness to the quartz reefs of Australia, the yield being 11 oz. of silver, and \ oz. of gold to the ton. The discovery of the Javali, or rather the betrayal of its existence by the Indian, led to the exploration of the surrounding district, and the finding of more than three hundred mines of more or less importance. A proper geological survey of this undoubtedly rich district, rich in both silver and gold, has, however, as yet not been attempted, though it might be expected Chap. VIII.— B. S.] DISCOVERT OF THE JAVALI. 113 to lead to results which would more than a thousand¬ fold repay the expenses of such an undertaking. But Nicaragua, like most parts of Spanish America where the foreign element has as yet not penetrated, is so poor that it has no funds for projects of this nature. Though all mines are national property, the discovery and tracing of them out is entirely left to the individual enterprise of people who have acquired a certain amount of empirical geological knowledge, and who, when they find rich spots, make them their own by registering them officially. As long as the mines are worked, and worked properly, the title thus acquired is undisputed; hut if for two years no work is done in them, they revert once more to the nation, and may be registered anew. Some of the most important mines of Chontales are now owned by foreigners, who are gradually introducing a better system of working them. The natives still go on mining in the most ex¬ pensive and primitive manner. Deep shafts they can¬ not sink, because they do not know how to timber the ground; and, not having deep shafts, they cannot avail themselves of even such a simple contrivance as a tackle, and have to carry all the ore on the backs of men in leather bags fastened by a strap round the forehead. A man carries about a hundredweight at a time, and has to climb up steep trunks of trees in which notches have been cut. In damp weather these primitive ladders are very slippery, and cause numerous accidents. The ore is ground by water¬ power, and in arrastras , heavy rocks of quartz and basalt being used for crushing. i 114 DOTTINGS ON TIIE ROADSIDE. [Cuap. VIII.—B. S. Many of the miners arc natives of the neighbouring Republic of Honduras. They are better workmen than the Nicaraguans, but enjoy the reputation of being great thieves. Amongst them are some who practise the revolting habit of earth-eating. These eartli-eaters do not constitute a separate tribe, hut are principally negroes and half-castes, seldom Indians, never pure whites. They are easily recognized by their pecu¬ liarly livid and sickly colour. Their nickname, “toros” (hulls), must have been given them, not on account of their bodily strength, for they are poor emaciated people, but more probably because they lick the ground, as bulls are sometimes wont to do. The earth which they eat maybe compared with the edible earth of Syria, to which Ehrenberg’s researches apply, and with that mentioned some time back by the ‘ Pharmaceutical Journal.’ It is a Steatitic clay, and called “jabonada,” because when moist it has a certain soapiness, and causes some foam when brought into contact with the saliva. It is cream-coloured, often tinged with pink, and has a slightly fatty taste. When well selected there is no sand in the pieces, the whole substance dissolving on the tongue; but, as tit-bits of this kind are not always obtainable, a slight admixture of sand is not objected to. Earth- eating is a vice which, like any other vice, grows upon people, and when carried to excess kills its victims without mercy. The same arguments which arc applied to the suppression of drunkenness are applied, generally with as little success, to earth- eating. One of the miners in the Javali gave me Chap. YITI. — B. S.] EARTII-EATERS. 115 • a full account of the way lie used to go on. lie was about .twelve years old when he took to the habit, and carried it on till he was twenty-five. Com¬ mencing little by little, he ultimately ate several pounds a day, and he lived successive days upon no¬ thing but earth, always drinking a good quantity of water, and feeling little or no appetite for any other kind of food. At most times he used to eat the earth as it came from the mine, but sometimes he would vary the flavour by an admixture of common brown sugar, or by toasting the clay over the fire. At last he carried earth-eating to such an excess that he be¬ came seriously ill, and had to give it up to save his life. More than two years had elapsed since that time, but he retained nevertheless the livid look pecu¬ liar to earth-eaters, and thought that he should never regain his natural colour. It is very difficult to say what proportion of the mining population of Chontales are addicted to earth-eating. As the majority regard it as a vice, many practise it on the sly ; but from my own observation I should say they amount to about ten per cent. In these mountains a species of caoutchouc (known here by its Aztec name of Ule), vanilla, sarsaparilla, quassia, fustic, and other valuable woods abound, and there are many vegetable productions which are rare or perfectly new to science. Amongst the most note¬ worthy are a species of Marcgraavia , every umbel of which terminates in five flower-bearing pitchers filled with water, a large white Sobralia, and a tree (Ilerranici purpurea , Decaisne) with fingered leaves and small i 2 116 DOTTINGS ON THE ROADSIDE. [Chap. VIII.—B. S. round seeds, which are occasionally offered for sale by the Indians, and from which chocolate of a flavour superior to that of the common cacao is manufac¬ tured. Some day this chocolate-tree will doubtless be extensively grown by Europeans; and, as it occurs in these woods together with the common naturalized cacao, it may have been cultivated when this district was more thickly inhabited by Indians than it is at present. The Chontales gold region appears to be a favourite haunt of plants with variegated leaves. There are some fine species of Costus (including, besides the well-known C. zebrinus and Malortianus , several new ones); two beautiful species of Cissus, one with bright scarlet flowers (introduced by me into English gar¬ dens); and several Marantacese and Aroideae. But the finest of these is the one I have named Cyrtodeira Chontalensis , a Gesneraceous plant. The leaves are purple on the under side, and on the upper light green (like those of Begonia smaragdina), with very dark green blotches. The flowers, which appear in Novem¬ ber and December, are lilac, and as large as a crown piece, with a yellow centre, and a whitish tube. The roots are fibrous (not catkin-like rhizomes, as in the Achimenes tribe); and in habit the plant resembles the only other known species of the genus (C. cu- preata , Hanstein), which, however, has smaller and scarlet flowers, and a hairy ovary. It was found at the Pavon end of the Javali Mine, where it grew in only a very small spot—shady groves on the banks of a rivulet. Although we became afterwards well ac- Chap. Yin.— B. S.] CYKTODEIRA CHONTALEXSIS. 117 quainted with the Yegetation of the district, we never met the plant anywhere hut there; and after we had taken up sixty specimens, and planted them in a mi¬ niature Wardian case, fire was set to the very spot where the Cyrtodeira grew, for the purpose of clearing it. The sixty specimens readily took root, and on our departure a hoy was engaged to carry them on his saddle before him to Leon, a distance of about eighty leagues. All went on well, till one evening darkness overtook us on the immense grassy plains of Tipitapa, and the boy’s mule fell into one of those wide cracks which dining the dry season in the tropics always form where the ground is clayey. Down came the Wardian case with a heavy crash, and one-half of our plants were lost. The other half looked well enough till within two miles of the port of embarkation, when the waggon in which, for greater safety’s sake, they had been placed, went into a deep hole, and turned right over. This time all but six specimens were destroyed, and these were so much injured that when we arrived at London, and handed them to Mr.W. Bull, of Chelsea, the enterprising plant merchant, only one was found to be in a sound condition; but that one has become the progenitor of a numerous race, which now orna¬ ments our hothouses. This little narrative shows what trouble the intro¬ duction of new plants requires, and how unforeseen accidents will interfere with well-devised plans, but it also reminds us of the changes constantly going on in the nature and aspect of the vegetation of the inha¬ bited globe, changes so great that it is almost as diffi- 118 DOTTINGS ON TIIE ROADSIDE. [Ohap. YIII.—B.S. cult to conjure up by pen or pencil the flora of a country as it was in times gone by, as it would be that of any former geological period. By not taking these changes into account, those who endeavour to give us vivid pictures of the past—historians, histo¬ rical painters, and romance writers—often fall into the error of using, as a' background for ancient historical events, the country in which they happened in its modern aspect, an anachronism as painful to a botanist as a wrong note is to a musical ear. In a well-known print, “ Joseph Sold by his Brethren,” the artist has carefully represented the date-palm and other features of the desert, but he has committed the blunder of introducing the American cactus, which did not reach Syria till several thousand years after the time of Joseph’s death. Some time ago, I saw in a Euro¬ pean capital a play founded upon some incident of early Roman history. The stage accessories had been executed with pre-Rafaelitic accuracy. There was the Roman landscape in all its beauty; the melancholy cypress, and the stone-pine of Italy, the outline of which Pliny so happily compares with the smoke of Vesuvius as it issued from the crater 1800 years ago, and still issues in our year of grace, but there was also, unfortunately, the American aloe ( Agave\ which at present forms such a prominent feature of many a South European landscape, but was confined to the New World before the days of Columbus. Amongst plants a silent struggle for the possession of the soil is constantly going on. Even when no foreign elements are introduced into the flora of a Chap.VIII.— B.S.J STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE. 119 country, it is ever at work; but it becomes much more intense- when species from abroad appear on the held, or, at all events, from our being able to recognize at a glance the opposing elements, we are in a better posi¬ tion to watch the struggle and its issue. A prominent example of such a battlefield, if so martial a term be admissible, is the island of St. Helena, where the na¬ tive vegetation is at present almost entirely superseded by a foreign one, some of the singular indigenous tree- Compositce now existing in only one or two old spe¬ cimens. In many parts of the Cape of Good Hope an equally great change is noted, and many species are in danger of becoming altogether extinct. I remember the venerable explorers, Ecklon and Zeylier, taking me to the foot of Table Mountain to see a few silver-trees (Lcucadenclron argenteum ), which, they assured me, were the only specimens in South Africa. Dr. Hooker, in his suggestive papers ‘ On the Struggle of Existence amongst Plants,’ has well pointed out the rapid spread of European species in Hew Zealand, and the displacement of the indigenous. The altera¬ tions wrought in Europe by the naturalization of foreign plants arc familiar to us all; and Central Ame¬ rica and many other parts of the inhabited globe might be pointed out where the same phenomenon is observable. Foreign plants deport themselves towards the indigenous as an invading army does towards the inhabitants of a hostile country. Before the bulk of the army advances, outposts make their appearance, consisting of the most daring and hardy fellows. In the vegetable kingdom the office of outposts is per- 120 DOTTINGS ON THE ROADSIDE. [Chap. YIII.-B. S. formed by those plants which we call weeds , the real nature of which is as yet but little understood. Considering that weeds are found in every part of the inhabited world, it is singular that so few lan¬ guages have a full equivalent of the term “weed” and that so useful an idea as that popularly embodied in it should not have been, long ere this, translated into science. The Latin “ herb a” or Spanish “ yerba” certainly do include our ‘weed;’ but whilst every weed is a herb, not every herb is a weed. What, then, is the real meaning of ‘ weed ’ ? Dictionary writers do not help us much by qualifying ‘ weed ’ as a mean or troublesome herb, for the popular mind asso¬ ciates with the nature of a weed several other charac¬ teristics not mentioned by them. We talk of plants bearing “ a weedy look,” and though most of us know what that means, nobody has as yet made it clear to those who do not know. The term ‘ weedy ’ would be misapplied to the aloes, but fit exactly the generality of the Alsinea. We would never say of the heather that it had a weedy look; in fact, the term would never suggest itself in connection with that species. The vegetation of New Holland would not be de¬ scribed, speaking generally, as bearing a weedy look, whilst that of the lower coast region of most tropical countries could scarcely be better defined than by that phrase. One of the most essential characteristics of a weed is, therefore, that it should look weedy, or, in other words, that its stem and foliage should be neither too fleshy nor too leathery, but of a soft, flaccid, or membranaceous description. Chap. YHL—B.S.] WEEDS AXD THEIR CHARACTERISTICS. 121 Another important characteristic is, that a herb, to be considered a weed, should propagate itself either by seeds or buds at a rapid rate, grow fast, and over¬ power those plants which may check its progress. I take it to be, that this characteristic is emphatically conveyed in the etymology of the word “weed,” which, through the Low German verbs “ wiien” (to weed), the Bavarian u wuteln” and “ witchem” (= to spread or multiply with more than ordinary rapidity), is connected with Wodan or Wuotan (= Odin), the name of the supreme, all-overpowering, irresistible Saxon god, to whom Wednesday, or Wodensday, is dedicated.* A third, and perhaps more important characteristic is, that a weed appears only on ground which, either by cultivation or some other manner, has been disturbed by man. Virgin lands, such as the tops of high mountains, have no weeds; I saw none in the Arctic regions except Tetrapoma pyriformis , a Siberian im¬ migrant, which was growing at the Bussian outpost in Norton Sound, on the only cultivated patch I met with in that country. Weeds are therefore essentially intruders, colonists, foreigners, or whatever one likes to call them,—never endemic children of the soil on which they flourish. They may have come from the immediate neighbourhood, but they have always been translated, though the distances may have been but limited. Weeds have therefore to bear up against all the prejudice which the popular mind in all countries * This view is borne out by Jacob Grimm, ‘ Deutsche Mythologie, 2nd edit. vol. i. chap. vii. 122 DOTTINGS OX THE ROADSIDE. [Chap. VIII.—B. S. invariably entertains against foreigners. The German contemptuously calls weed “ Unkraut ,” which is the antithesis of Kraut (= herb), and means “no herb,” or “strange herb,” just as Ding (—tiling) is the antithesis of Unding (= strange thing, or monster), thus clearly expressing that weeds do not belong to the herbs of the country, but are something strange, unrecognized. Sometimes national prejudices are pointedly expressed in the popular names given to newly imported weeds. Thus the North American Indian names Plantago major, the “Footsteps of the White Man ;” and the German, the troublesome Peru¬ vian Galinsoga parviflora, “ Frenchman’s Weed,” though the French are probably quite innocent of its having become a pest in the sandy districts of Prussia and adjacent States. Have the plants we designate “weeds” always been weeds? is a question to be answered. If the definition of the term given, and the views taken of the nature of these plants be correct, they cannot have been weeds in their native country; and the deportment of weeds on being translated from one part of the world to another would seem to bear out this view. There are no complaints against our watercress for impeding our rivers and rivulets; though assisted by cultivation, it is by no means a common or troublesome weed. But look at it in New Zealand, where it threatens to choke up al¬ together the still rivers, and where its stems often attain twelve feet in length, and three-quarters of an inch in diameter. Galinsoga parviflora is local enough Chap.YIIL— B.S.] KEWLY-DISCOVEEED LAW. 123 in Peru; but mark its extraordinary increase in Europe since it effected its escape from our botanic gardens ! But if weeds have to surmount tlic obstacles wliicli new-comers in all countries have to face, they also benefit by the advantages derived from their organiza¬ tion coming for the first time in contact with a soil to them altogether virgin. This contact acts so power¬ fully that, provided the climate and other conditions required for the existence of a species are fulfilled, the new-comers will invariably become the victors in the great struggle for existence which immediately commences between them and the natives. This law seems to apply to the whole of organized nature, and man’s own history furnishes some of the most striking proofs of its catholicity. The whites and blacks have usurped the place of the American Indians, and the light-skinned Polynesian, though a dying-out race in the Hawaiian Islands and Hew Zealand since the arrival of new-comers of Teutonic origin, has never¬ theless managed to establish his ascendancy over the indigenous dark-skinned Papuan in many parts of Yiti. Hew-comers, always provided they gain a firm footing, have ever the advantage over those species or races established in the country before their arrival. This is well known to farmers and gardeners, and induces them to procure from distant parts stock and seeds of kinds identical with those already in their possession, because they know that the newly imported succeed better than their own. The law is further illustrated by a system of rotation crops, in which one kind of 124 DOTTIXGS OX THE ROADSIDE. [Chap. VID.-B. S. plants is most advantageously replaced by another; and here, at last, we get at a chemical explanation of the advantages enjoyed by new-comers, and why, in a struggle for existence between them and the natives of the soil, they must ever come off victorious. A weed, then, in our language, signifies a na¬ turalized herb, which has a soft and membranaceous look, grows fast, propagates its kind with rapidity, and spreads, to the prejudice of endemic or cultivated plants, in places in some way or other disturbed by the agency of man. Whence do different countries derive their weeds ? is a question that naturally suggests itself. Off-hand, one would be inclined to answer that all countries indiscriminately, having a climate similar to that of Europe, would be the sources whence Europe derived its weeds. And to a great measure this is true. Many European weeds have an undoubted Asiatic and African origin; but if any part of the world might be expected to have supplied its due share, it would be the temperate parts of the North American con¬ tinent, where many European plants, such as thistles, have become naturalized to such an extent as to . have become a perfect pest. From the constant in¬ tercourse between Europe and North America, and the number of North American plants cultivated in European gardens, one would have expected a great many North American plants to be naturalized in Europe; but this is by no means the case. North American plants, however easily grown in European gardens, do not show any great disposition to escape Chap.T ill.— B. S.] THE INDIANS OF CHONTALES. 125 from cultivation, and drive the native flora off the field. - The same is true of Australian plants; and this contrasts strangely with the extraordinary rapidity with which European plants spread in the southern hemisphere, supplanting in New Zealand, New Hol¬ land, etc., the native vegetation. “Hitherto,” says Dr. Hooker, “no consideration of climate, soil, or circumstance has sufficed to explain this phenomenon.” If what I have traced out, that new arrivals have always the advantage over old, he a sound law, it ought to apply to this case as well as the others; and to all appearances it does. We know, from the re¬ searches of Unger, Ettingshausen, and others, that a vegetation very similar to, not to say absolutely identical with, that of the southern parts of the United States, existed in Europe at the Lignite period, and that a vegetation very similar to, if not absolutely identical with that of Australia, existed in Europe at the Eocene period. But we have no knowledge of the existence of a European Flora in either North America or in Australia, at any former geological periods. Plants from Australia and North America would therefore not enjoy in Europe the advantage of new-comers, but would rather be like wanderers re¬ turning to a country where their part has already been played out. You still see pure Indians in the Chontales Moun¬ tains, but they are not numerous, and are retiring into the solitude of the forest as fast as the white men, or the more numerous half-castes, approach. Twenty years ago there are said to have been many 126 DOTTINGS ON THE ROADSIDE. [Chap. VIII.-B. S. Indian families about Libertad, but there are now a few only. Earlier still, centuries, ages ago, there must have been a large Indian population in the grassy districts of Cliontales. A great number of ancient tombs, met with in almost every direction, sufficiently attest this. These tombs are found in plains having a rocky soil and good drainage. The Indians never selected ill-drained sites for their villages, and many of the most healthy towns built by the Spaniards in America are in localities originally selected by Indians. From what I saw, it would seem that in these ancient Cliontales villages the houses were in the centre, and the tombs, placed in circles around, formed the out¬ skirts. The tombs are of different heights and sizes. One of the largest, which was about twenty feet long by twelve feet wide and eight feet above ground, I saw opened by people in search of golden ornaments. It took four men about a fortnight to remove the heap of stones placed on the top of the grave, and to lay the grave itself completely open. No gold was found, but a round pillar, seven feet high and eighteen inches across, which was standing upright in the centre of the tomb, a hand-mill for grinding corn or’ cacao, in shape like those still in use in the country, a knife ten inches long, a hatchet like a reaping-hook, of which I give a woodcut, and a tiger’s head (natural size)—all of stone—and, besides, some broken crocks and a quantity of balls as large as peas, and made of burnt clay. In some instances gold ornaments have been met with, but not in sufficient num¬ bers to offer much inducement for people to destroy DEPARTMENT OT CHONTALES, NICARAGUA. ANCIENT GRAVE & HEADSTONE ANTIQUITIES. 127 Chap. Till.—B. S.] these venerable relics. Men of science will, therefore, find about Juigalpa, San Diego, Libertad, and other places a sufficiently large number to enable them to throw some light upon the stone age of these extinct tribes. The Indians who before the Spanish conquest iu- habited Nicaragua did not construct any large tem¬ ples or other stone buildings, as some of the other natives of Central America have done. But in some parts they cut stone figures of considerable dimen¬ sions, some of them reminding us of those of Easter Island, in the Pacific. These stone figures, often of colossal size, are of two different descriptions,—those which closely represent the human figure in dignified repose, and have a mild, inoffensive expression of countenance, and those which do not so closely repre¬ sent the human figure, often a combination between man and animal, and have a wild, terrifying expres¬ sion of countenance. Illustrations of both, from Mr. George Chambers’s sketches, are given. Some people have supposed that the mild-looking figures 128 DOTTINGS ON THE EOADSIDE. [Chap. VITI.—B. S. may be intended as genuine representations of de¬ parted Indian chiefs, and the terrifying ones as idols calculated to overawe. But it is just possible that the figures with mild expression are idols worshipped by the Nicaraguans previous to the Aztec (Mexican) conquest, which doubtless brought along with it the bloody rites of the dominant religion of the plains of Anahuac, of which Cortez and his companions were the unwilling spectators during their memorable stay in Mexico. A most finished piece of sculpture I found near the Limon mine in New Segovia. It was a large font broken in halves, having on the outside a human face representing the sun, the hair doing duty for the rays, as shown in the rough cut below. But what struck me as singular was the circumstance that there was a long pair of moustaches, such as no Indian ever had; and the question at once suggested itself, Did fancy induce the Indian artist to add this long appen¬ dage, or did he copy it directly or indirectly from a bearded race with which his countrymen had come in contact ? 129 CHAPTER IX. VISIT TO THE HEAD-QUARTERS OP THE CHONTALES COMPANY.- ROUGHING IT.-AMUSING NARRATIVE OF NICARAGUAN TRAVEL. -THE PURCHASE OF THE JAVALI MINE DETERMINED UPON.- RELIGIOUS SERVICE UNDER DIFFICULTIES.-SAN JUAN AND SAN MIGUEL MINES.-JOURNEY TO GRANADA.—ACOTE.-GRANADA. HOMEWARD JOURNEY. MANAGUA. LEON.—CAPTAIN DOW. SPECIMEN OF POPULAR SCIENTIFIC WRITING. After this long digression, it is high time to resume my narrative. The reader will please to recollect that I had arrived at Libertad, a rising little town in the Chontales district, inhabited principally by people who either work in the mines or supply them with imple¬ ments, clothes, and provisions. I stayed only one night at this place, and then-pushed on for St. Do¬ mingo, the head-quarters of the Chontales Company, Mr. Rodriguez, with whom I had come from Managua, kindly showing the way. Captain Paul, the mana¬ ger of the mines, was absent; but the gentleman left in charge, and all the other officers, received me hospitably, and were good enough to show me over the whole of the extensive and valuable mining pro- K 130 DOTTINGS ON THE ROADSIDE. [Chap. IX.—B. S. perty belonging to the company. At that time, i. c. in May, 1866, there was but little house-room at St. Domingo, the fine buildings now to be found there having hardly been commenced, and nearly all the officers and the family of the manager were obliged to live in a small house, not a hundredth part so good as an ordinary English stable. In the room in which I was invited to sleep, eight other gentlemen took their nightly repose, as well as their daily meals, hammocks being slung one over the other. There were no chairs as yet, but a long table, used in the daytime for dining and writing, at night as a bedstead, stood alongside one of the walls. A small window, the open door, and numerous crevices, admitted light and air, and allowed the escape of smoke which from the back kitchen penetrated into the apartment. Yet this house, with all its drawbacks, was a great improve¬ ment upon the native dwellings, and one really expe¬ rienced a feeling of comfort, odd as it may sound, creeping over one on entering this commencement of a European settlement. Everything was being done to improve upon the existing state of things; and every day some articles were made or arrived from home which contributed towards the comfort of the em¬ ployes of the company. On the day when the first chairs had made their appearance, two Englishwomen arrived, who were to take up their abode in the mines. I was stand¬ ing at the door, and never shall forget their utter de¬ jection when to their question how far St. Domingo, the head-quarters of the Chontales Company, was from ROUGHING IT. 131 Chap. IX.—B. S.] there, I was obliged to tell them,—politely handing them two of the first chairs ever seen in that wilder¬ ness,—that the place they were now at was their desti¬ nation, and the house they had entered the principal building of the mines. The elder of the two was wear¬ ing a black lace shawl, and I could not help thinking that that, and many similar articles, had been sent out at least twenty years too early. She had used all her influence to obtain the employment on the duties of which she was about to enter, and left unheeded the warnings of those who were familiar with the nature and inconveniences of new countries. But roughing it is tempting to many minds. To prepare for sleeping under a fine old tree, with the silvery rays of the moon piercing through the green boughs, a good supper cook¬ ing by a bright camp fire, and swarthy natives singing snatches of plaintive songs, is so romantic, so much like a real gipsy life, that people who, from one year’s end to another, have to go through the common rou¬ tine of life such as it is in our large towns, may be pardoned if imagination gets the better of judgment, and they rashly embark in enterprises beyond their physical strength or mental grasp. The elderly lady gave me a running, and to me highly amusing, yet not unfaithful, narrative of all the dangers she had passed through since leaving the comfortable West Indian mail steamer. Nearly swamped in the surf on landing, she found herself at Grey town in an atmo¬ sphere only fit for hothouse plants; and, fond as she was of fresh air, her discomfort was augmented by her being thrust at night under the protecting shelter of a k 2 132 DOTTINGS ON THE ROADSIDE. [Chap. IX.—B. S. mosquito curtain, which, once incautiously lifted, let in regular swarms of minute tormentors, too swift to catch, and yet too tantalizing to be ignored. Then that horrid river San Juan, with its rank vegetation and fever-breathing swamps; and, above all, those frightful creatures, the alligators ! Who could look at them without a shudder ? Why couldn’t the go¬ vernment of the country order the instant and total destruction of these monsters ? How could they ever expect well-brought-up white people to come to Ni¬ caragua, when at the very gates they were frightened out of their wits by such things as those ? She felt quite relieved when landing at San Ubaldo, after crossing Lake Nicaragua in a steamer, which might be rendered ten times more comfortable, and should be more comfortable if the steamboat company ever expected people to take a pleasure trip in them. She now hoped to have a fine gallop over the plains. 13ut oh! what a misnomer to call a continued mud- flat, varied only by deep holes of dirty water, a plain ! What must geographers have been thinking about Avhen applying that term to what in other countries would simply be a swamp ? She had been some days on the road from the Lake to the mines, and not been able even to trot, let alone gallop. However, she consoled herself that on arriving at some town or other she would have at least a good night’s rest; but in this she was disappointed. Arrived at Acoyapa, she was put into an open shed, and had not a wink of sleep. Insisting upon having a lamp burning at night, all animal creation in and about the premises Chap. IX.—B. S.] AMUSIXG N ARE ATI YE. 133 seemed to liave made it a point to come and have a look at her. To say nothing of insects too numerous to mention, no sooner was the place quiet than the rats began rustling in the palm thatch, and causing bits of rubbish to fall in her face. Then the cats began their hunt; then two cows entered the building, trying to pick up whatever stray leaves of Indian corn might be left on the floor; then the dogs barked furiously, and she thought robbers or wild Indians were about to attack the house and murder her and all the other inmates. That alarm passed off, she was about to close her eyes when a new kind of noise arrested her attention, and she beheld with terror close to her head an ugly lizard, all covered with scales, and nigh six feet long. At last sleep began to demand its right, and, in spite of all the surrounding horrors, she began to close her eyes; but at that moment two fighting cocks which shared the same roof with her began to crow. She endeavoured to drive them away, but found that they were thought so precious by their owner as to have been chained up. Of course, sleep was now altogether out of the question, and she almost welcomed the joyous notes of the chanticleers as announcing dawn of day, and de¬ livery out of the dreadful place she found herself in. The next, and the next day she had to go through similar ordeals, till at last she found herself at the head-quarters of some of the richest gold mines in the world, of which, however, she could as yet see but little evidence. She would not go over those dreadful roads again for £100. Did I ever see such roads? They were nothing but a broad streak of mud, so soft 134 DOTTINGS ON THE ROADSIDE. [Chap. IX.— B. S. that tlie poor mules frequently stuck fast. For a long time slie could not believe that she was actually tra¬ velling on the “ Royal roads ” of the country, as they were most improperly called, but fancied that the muleteers must necessarily have lost their way, and were trying to find it again by riding across country with her. Roads were one of the first things to be made in a country. It was quite ridiculous for Nica¬ ragua having a congress, an army, ministers of state, diplomatic representation, and other nonsense of that kind, when there was not half a mile of good road in the whole country. Why couldn’t those lazy soldiers she had seen about not be made to construct roads ? Why not punish crime, which she heard was so rife in this part of the world, by compelling every culprit to finish at least a mile of road before he again obtained a liberty which he was never able to enjoy as long as these muddy tracts, miscalled roads, existed ? Captain Holman, who, it will be recollected, came on by himself to Chontales, when I was taken ill at Leon, had made good use of his stay in these moun¬ tains, by inspecting all the mines which were offered for sale, a list of which was supplied him by Mr. Sy- monds, the Surveyor of the Chontales Company. The very first mine on this list was the Javali, owned by Don L. Quiroz, who had grown an old and rich man since working it, and was desirous of retiring from a business for which his advancing years disqualified him. All the European, as well as the native, miners of the district agreed that the Javali was the gem of Chontales, and Captain Holman had also seen at a Chap. IX.— B. S.] RELIGIOUS SERVICE DISTURBED. 135 glance that here, at last, was the property we had been searching for so long. On arriving, I found him to be in a great state of excitement; he had heard that there were several parties prepared to buy the Javali, and he was afraid it might slip through our fingers before my arrival. After we had examined it together, I determined to purchase it; and at once sent a trust¬ worthy agent to the vendor, whilst Captain Ilolman and myself remained in Chontales to go over the surround¬ ing mines, some of which we found to be very rich, though none of them enjoyed the combined advantages of the Javali. The day after my arrival at St. Domingo was a Sunday; and on the morning of that day a number of soldiers arrived, commanded by an officer, to prevent a breach of the peace. It appears that one of the Directors of the Chontales Company, having a rather strong religious leaning, had sent out a number of prayer and hymn books, and encouraged one of the officers to preach to the men. Amongst the small com¬ munity at the mines, there were men of all religious de¬ nominations, and some of them did not like a Methodist —especially a layman—to preach to them, or to listen to Methodist hymns. Some of the Catholics therefore hit upon the expedient of rousing the bigotry of the natives,—all Eoman Catholics to the backbone,—and the consequence was that when the service commenced, the natives began to shout loudly, swinging their machetes, and vow that they would kill every heretic who dared to set up a false religion among them. As soon as the row commenced the preacher ran away in 136 DOTTINGS ON THE ROADSIDE. [Chap. IN.—B. S. great fright, shut himself up in the only house which had solid walls, and vehemently demanded that at once soldiers should be sent for to put down the na¬ tives and protect the lives of the Protestants. How¬ ever, all passed off without any bloodshed, the object of the natives having merely been to frighten the Methodists, so as to make them abstain from further singing of hymns. That attained, all was quiet again. On the following Sunday, when the soldiers had arrived, the objectionable service was again proceeded with, the shoeless warriors being posted with their guns, bayonet mounted, around the shed in which the service was held, and no breach of the peace took place. The company, however, had every reason to rue the steps taken to preserve order at this price. The soldiers quartered themselves upon the already overcrowded premises, and had to be fed and paid by the shareholders at home, until my friend the late Captain Hill, when Commissioner of the Company, finally ejected them, and thereby incurred a great deal of abuse from the sons of Mars. Leaving St. Domingo on the 23rd of May,—the first shower of rain fell on that day,-—I stopped a^ few days at Libertad, in order to examine, together with Captain Holman, the San Juan and San Miguel mines. At the inn, kept by an American lady, I met Captain Watson, R.N., who had been sent out by the Mineral Rights Association, together with an engineer, to purchase mining properties in Nicaragua. The natives thought that here was a fine chance of raising the price of their mines ; but I soon came to an under- Chap. IX.—B. S.] RIDE TO GRANADA. 137 standing with Captain Watson, that neither of us would outbid the other; and when I found that he was anxious to have the San Juan, I went away without even making an offer for it. It was rather amusing to see all the artifices to which the natives resorted in order to make us run a race in acquiring properties. They looked quite disappointed, and could hardly believe their eyes, when I took my departure without opening the big purse to which they knew I had free access. I took the direct road to Granada, where the owner of the Javali resided, passing Juigalpa, and, after a long and dreary ride through an uncultivated country, reaching Acote. The latter is merely a farm at the banks of a small river, and famous for the myriads of mosquitoes with which it is infested during the rainy season. The people are a well-to-do Zambo family, a widow, with several sons and daughters, who do all in their power to make travellers comfortable. They have everything the country produces in plenty, both for man and beast, and are very moderate in their charges. The house which they inhabit is open on two sides, with the kitchen partitioned off by canes, but otherwise built of substantial timber. We were told that in some wet seasons the rivulet rose to such a height that the water entered the house, and at one time they had to save their lives by climbing on the roof; all their things floating away, and they themselves nearly starving. Before our hostess and family went to bed they had very long prayers, the mother intoning them, and the rest of the com- 138 DOTTINGS ON THE ROADSIDE. [Ciiap. IX.-B. S- munity responding. Her voice was extremely un¬ pleasant, and a nasal twang wliich, like most Nica¬ raguans, slie put on when singing, was not calculated to soften it. The same religious observance was gone through the next morning, long before dawn, and even if we had intended to sleep longer, it would have been quite impossible to do so. I was much amused at there having been another observer besides my¬ self of the strange scene, for, when we started, a very clever green parrot (Chrysotis auripalliatus ), a species peculiar to Central America, mimicked the old lady’s chanting to perfection, and as I saw her feeding and fondling the bird, I presume that she did not mind being noticed. Granada, where we arrived on the 28th of May, may be termed the real capital of the republic, though at present, by the jealousy of local political parties, not enjoying its natural advantages. It is charmingly situated on the shores of Lake Nica¬ ragua, and maintains a direct steam communication with the Atlantic Ocean by way of the San Juan river. Almost entirely destroyed by the American filibusters, as Walker’s party was termed ultimately, or “ Saviours of the Country,” as it was when first called in,—the town is now fast recovering, and new houses are being built on the ruins of the old. Even the churches, which suffered severely from being used as fortresses during the siege, are being repaired. There had been rather heavy and continuous earthquakes a short time previous to my arrival, and light, temporary sheds had Chap. IX.— B. S.] SAGACITY OF A MULE. 139 been built in the public squares and other open places in which the inhabitants took refuge. The priests did not allow this occasion to slip by without obtain¬ ing considerable contributions from the frightened and repenting multitude. The longer the earthquakes continued, the faster money was coming in. There were three slight shocks on the day after my arrival, interpreted by the inhabitants as the harbinger of the wet season; and sure enough, in the evening of the same day, the rain came down in torrents, rapidly converting the dusty streets into foaming rivers. Everything having been arranged satisfactorily about the purchase of the Javali Mine, which I finally obtained for