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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6321.txt b/6321.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..69b11fb --- /dev/null +++ b/6321.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13693 @@ +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States +and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no +restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it +under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this +eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not +located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this ebook. + + +Title: The Naturalist in Nicaragua + +Author: Thomas Belt + +Release Date: August, 2004 [EBook #6321] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on November 26, 2002] +[Last updated: December 7, 2020] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NATURALIST IN NICARAGUA *** + + + + +This Project Gutenberg Etext Prepared Down Under In Australia by: +Sue Asscher <asschers@bigpond.com> +in connivance with her Californian co-conspirator +Robert Prince <rkp277@msn.com> + + + + + +THE NATURALIST IN NICARAGUA + +BY + +THOMAS BELT + +WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ANTHONY BELT, F.L.S. + +HOC SOLUM SCIO QUOD NIHIL SCIO. + +THE NATURALIST IN NICARAGUA + +BY + +THOMAS BELT. + + +EVERYMAN, I WILL GO WITH THEE, & BE THY GUIDE +IN THY MOST NEED TO GO BY THY SIDE. + + +LONDON: PUBLISHED BY +J.M. DENT & SONS LTD. +AND IN NEW YORK +BY E.P. DUTTON & CO. + +INTRODUCTION. + +In the "Life and Letters of Charles Darwin," edited by his son, Mr. +Francis Darwin (volume 3 page 188), the following passage occurs:-- + +"In the spring of this year (1874) he read a book which gave him +great pleasure, and of which he often spoke with admiration, "The +Naturalist in Nicaragua," by the late Thomas Belt. Mr. Belt, whose +untimely death may well be deplored by naturalists, was by +profession an engineer, so that all his admirable observations in +natural history, in Nicaragua and elsewhere, were the fruit of his +leisure. The book is direct and vivid in style, and is full of +description and suggestive discussions. With reference to it my +father wrote to Sir J.D. Hooker: 'Belt I have read, and I am +delighted that you like it so much; it appears to me the best of +all natural history journals which have ever been published.'" + +Now that the book so highly recommended by such an authority is +about to be introduced to a public which has hitherto only known it +by hearsay, it will be interesting to inquire into the reason of +its appreciation by such men as Darwin and Hooker--and Lyell, +Huxley, and Wallace, with other leaders of the scientific world of +that day, might be quoted to the same effect--and to give some +particulars of the author's short active life. + +The Belts were an old family which had been established at Bossal +in Yorkshire since the reign of Richard II. The main line died out +some twenty years ago, but about the beginning of the eighteenth +century a member of the family went to the Tyne to join the +well-known ironworks of Crawley at Winlaton. He and his descendants +remained with the firm for over a century, and he was the +great-great-grandfather of the grandfather of Thomas Belt born at +Newcastle-on-Tyne on November 27, 1832. + +Thomas was the fourth child of a family of seven. His mother +possessed a singularly sweet and beautiful disposition; his father, +much given to hobbies, was stern and unbending, and he himself +combined an almost womanly gentleness with a quiet determination +that unflinchingly faced all obstacles. With a high sense of +personal honour, unassuming and even-tempered, he was only roused +to anger by acts of oppression or wanton cruelty. Then his +indignation, though not loud, was very real, and he acted with a +promptitude which would hardly have been expected from his usually +placid demeanour. A story is told of how one day sitting at table +he saw through the window a man belabouring a woman. Without saying +a word, he rushed out, pinioned the offender by the elbows and, +running him to the top of a steep slope in the street, gave him a +kick which sent him flying down the declivity. The incident is +recalled merely as an illustration of his practical way of dealing +with difficulties which stood him in good stead in many an +out-of-the-way corner of the world when contending with obstacles +caused either by the perversity of man or the forces of nature. He +never carried fire-arms even when travelling in the most unsettled +districts, and his firm but conciliatory manner overcame opposition +in a wonderful way. In ordinary life he was the kindest and most +considerate of men, and his transparent sincerity made friends for +him everywhere. Nor was he ever happier than when assisting others +in those pursuits which occupied his own leisure. + +The interesting question as to what led Belt to become a naturalist +is difficult to answer. "Environment" nowadays accounts for much, +but none of his brothers--and all the family had a similar +bringing-up--showed any inclination for what with him became the +ruling passion of his life. And yet, in a wider sense, "environment" +had probably something to do with it. In the first half of the +nineteenth century Newcastle could boast of a succession of +field-naturalists unequalled in the country--Joshua Alder and +Albany Hancock, who wrote the monograph on British nudibranchiate +mollusca for the Ray Society; William Hutton and John Thornhill, +botanists; W.C. Hewitson, Dr. D. Embleton, and John Hancock, +zoologists; Thomas Athey and Richard Howse, +palaeontologists--these, and others like them, were +enthusiastically at work collecting, observing, recording, +classifying. Fresh discoveries were being made every day; what are +now commonplace scientific truisms wore then all the charm of +novelty; the secrets of nature were being unveiled, and modern +science was entering upon an ever-extending kingdom. + +Into all this scientific activity Belt was born, and from his +earliest years it may be said of him, as in the well-known lines it +was said of Agassiz:-- + + "And he wandered away and away + With Nature, the dear old nurse, + Who sang to him night and day + The rhymes of the universe." + + "And whenever the way seemed long, + Or his heart began to fail, + She would sing a more wonderful song, + Or tell a more marvellous tale." + +"If happiness," he wrote in his twenty-second year, "consists in +the number of pleasing emotions that occupy our mind--how true is +it that the contemplation of nature, which always gives rise to +these emotions, is one of the great sources of happiness." + +The earliest instance which has been remembered of his fondness for +animal life occurred when he was about three years old. He had been +in the garden and came running to show his mother what he had +found. Opening his carefully gathered up pinafore, out jumped two +frogs--to the great dismay of the good lady, for frogs are first +cousins to toads, the dire effects of whose glance and venom were +known to every one. + +He received the best education the town could give, and was +fortunate in his schoolmasters--first Dr. J.C. Bruce of antiquarian +fame, and then Mr. John Storey, second to none in his day as a +north-country botanist. + +Belt's father was much interested in horticulture; and, possessing +some meteorological instruments, entrusted him, when only twelve +years old, with the keeping of a set of observations which showed +not only the barometric and thermometric readings twice a day, and +the highest and lowest temperatures, but also the rainfall, the +state of the sky, the form of the clouds, and the force and +direction of the wind. The elaborately arranged columns, full of +symbols and figures, look very quaint in the careful boyish +handwriting, and must have absorbed much of his spare time. + +Insects, however, had the greatest attraction for him. He writes in +his journal: "I have made a great improvement in the study of +entomology, to which I have an ardent attachment." And a little +later: "I find I have not time to study so many things. I am afraid +that I will not be able to carry on entomology and botany together; +but entomology I will not give up." He had been studying +"electricity, astronomy, botany, conchology, and geology." At the +age of sixteen he wrote: "I feel a longing, a natural desire, to +explore and understand the ways of science. I am ambitious of doing +something that will deserve the praise or excite the admiration of +mankind." When the praise and admiration came, no one could have +been more indifferent to them than himself. Nature, his "nurse," +had become his queen; and never was there a more devoted, +whole-hearted subject, a more simple-minded follower of science for +its own sake without any thought of the honour or glory that might +accrue thereby. + +On August 10, 1849, he records: "I have been thinking for the last +few days about fixing on some subject or pursuit on which to devote +my life, as it is of no use first starting one subject and then +another, thus learning nothing. After giving it a good deal of +consideration, I have determined on studying 'Natural History,' not +confining myself to any one branch of that vast subject. As this is +a subject on which I intend to devote my leisure hours during the +greater part if not the whole of my lifetime, I consider it to be +of the greatest importance that I should lay a good foundation for +it. I therefore intend during the ensuing winter to study the +English language and composition, so as to be able to describe +objects and explain my sentiments with greater clearness and +precision than I can at present." The last sentence illustrates the +systematic thoroughness of all his work which was one reason of his +success. + +Belt's "leisure hours" were soon more numerous than he had +anticipated when recording his determination to devote them to +natural history. Already his health had shown signs of giving way, +and presently there was a nervous break-down which necessitated his +giving up all work and being out in the open air as much as +possible. But what appeared to be probably the wrecking of his life +provided the opportunity which might not otherwise have occurred of +encouraging and developing his inborn love of nature. Becoming a +member of the Tyneside Naturalists' Field Club, he interested +himself greatly in the local fauna and flora, and formed very +complete collections of the plants, insects, and shells. His name +occurs frequently in the "Transactions" of the Club as the recorder +of species new to the district. His health gradually improved, but +it was doubtful whether he would be able to bear the strain of any +indoor occupation, for which indeed he felt an ever-increasing +aversion. + +It was the time of the discovery of gold in Australia, and after +much discussion he and his elder brother joined the stream of +adventurers and sailed in 1852 for Victoria. In this rough "school +of mines" he acquired that insight into the building-up of the +earth's crust and that practical knowledge of minerals which served +him so well in after-life as a mining engineer. But although the +whole colony was in the grip of the gold-fever, Belt retained the +same quiet habits of observation which had marked him at home--for +there, as to whatever part of the world his work subsequently +called him, the engineer was always at heart a naturalist. He +proved an excellent observer, and a certain speculative tendency +led him to group his observations so as to bring out their full +theoretical bearing. + +Amid real hard work he found time to evolve a theory of whirlwinds +and to speculate upon the soaring of birds. A companion has +recorded in the following terms another matter which engaged much +of his attention at this time: "The boldest of his speculations, +and one of the soundest, as after-events proved, was his plan for +crossing the Australian continent. He proposed, at the time the +government expedition was mooted, to replace the costly plans of +the government by the following scheme:--That he and his brother +Anthony (who was unfortunately lost in the "Royal Charter") should +be conveyed to the Gulf of Carpentaria, with about twenty +pack-horses loaded with provisions and water; that an escort should +protect them for some twenty miles from the coast, and that then +the two voyagers only, with their pack-horses, should make their +way to Cooper's Creek, the farthest known accessible point from the +Victorian settled districts. Belt argued justly: 'If we fail, only +two lives will be lost, but all chances are in our favour; we are +provided with water and food more than ample to cover the distance +we have to travel. Every step of our road carries us homeward and +to safety. If we never find a drop of water on the road, our +animals have enough to carry those who have to bear the whole +journey to their goal, and as the animals succumb they will be shot +or turned adrift.' The event showed Belt's sagacity. The +unfortunate government expedition left Melbourne loaded with +camp-followers and impedimenta, and by the time they reached a few +stages beyond Cooper's Creek were well-nigh exhausted. Burke, the +leader of the expedition, in desperation started with his two men, +Wills and King, and bravely struck out for the Gulf of Carpentaria. +Through desert and fertile plains, not altogether destitute of +water, they reached in safety the northern shore of Australia; but +the energy, the courage, and the strength that took them this long, +weary journey did not suffice to carry them back over double the +distance to their camp. Brave hearts! they struggled on; but King +only, and as a worn-out man, ever saw Cooper's Creek again. Belt's +plan would have solved the problem without loss of life and at a +tenth of the cost." He always regretted that he had not the means +of carrying it out independently of government assistance. + +After eight years in Australia Belt returned to England, married, +and was successively manager of mining companies in Nova Scotia, +North Wales, and Nicaragua, sandwiching in between these +appointments a visit to Brazil to report upon some gold mines in +the province of Maranham. In whatever part of the world his work +took him he turned for rest and relaxation to the branches of +natural science for which the locality offered the greatest +opportunity. + +In Nova Scotia he began those investigations into the cause and +phenomena of the glacial period which were to be the study of the +last years of his life, and to which he himself attached the +greatest importance. In Wales he took up the question of the age of +the rocks in the neighbourhood of Dolgelly, and after much study of +their fossils proposed the now accepted classification of the +Lingula flags of the Lower Silurian system into the Maenturog flags +and slates, the Festiniog flags, and the Dolgelly slates. The +collecting of lepidoptera was his chief amusement in Brazil, where +he made his first acquaintance with the teeming life of the torrid +zone and laid the foundation for those observations on tropical +nature which his longer stay in Nicaragua gave rise to, and which +are recorded in this book. + +After his return from Central America, his services were in great +request as a consulting mining engineer, and the succeeding years +of his life were spent in almost continual travel: over all parts of +Great Britain, to North and South Russia, Siberia, the Kirghiz +Steppes, Mexico, and the United States. It was on one of his annual +visits to Colorado that he was seized with sudden sickness and died +on September 21, 1878, at the early age of forty-five. + +Thomas Belt was an accurate and intelligent observer possessed of +the valuable faculty of wonder at whatever is new or strange or +beautiful in nature, and the equally valuable habit of seeking a +reason for all he saw. Having found or imagined one, he went on to +make fresh observations, and sought out new facts to see how they +accorded with his supposed cause of the phenomena. "The Naturalist +in Nicaragua" has therefore a value and a charm quite independent +of the particular district it describes. As a mere book of travel +it is surpassed by scores of other works. The country and the +people of Nicaragua are too much like other parts of tropical +Spanish America, with their dull, lazy inhabitants, to possess any +novelty. There is little in the book that can be called adventure, +and still less of geographical discovery. + +And yet, the many and highly diversified phases in which life +presents itself in the tropics enabled the skilled naturalist to +fill a volume with a series of episodes, experiences, and +speculations of which the reader will never tire. His keen powers +of observation and active intellect were applied to various +branches of scientific inquiry with unflagging ardour; and he had +the faculty of putting the results of these inquiries in a clear, +direct form, rendered the more attractive by its simplicity and +absence of any effort at fine writing. He does not obtrude his own +personality, and, like all genuine men, he forgets "self" over his +subject. Instead of informing us whether or not he received "the +salary of an ambassador and the treatment of a gentleman," he +scatters before us, broadcast, facts interesting and novel, +valuable hints for future research, and generalisations which amply +repay a close study. Not alone the zoologist, the geologist, but +the antiquarian, the ethnologist, the social philosopher, and the +meteorologist will each find in these pages additions to his store +of knowledge and abundant material for study. + +With all this, the work is not a mere catalogue of dry facts: it is +eminently a readable book, bringing vividly before us the various +subjects with which it is concerned. Minutely accurate in his +description of facts and bold in his reasoning upon them, Belt +covered so much ground that some of his theories have not held +their own; but others have stood the test of time and been absorbed +into the world's stock of knowledge, while all bear witness to the +singular grasp of his mind and have stimulated thought and +observation--which is a great virtue in theories, be they true or +false. + +It has been already stated that Belt devoted the scanty leisure of +his last years to the study of the glacial period, entering with +zest into the consideration of its cause, the method of deposition +of its beds, and the time-relationship of man to it--complex +questions on which his imagination had full scope, and which, had +his life been prolonged, his patient accumulation of evidence might +have ultimately led him to suggest answers that would have been +generally accepted by scientific men. But the cause of the +remarkable change of climate during those late Tertiary and +post-Tertiary times known as the glacial period is still without a +completely satisfactory explanation. In Belt's day geologists were +inclined to get over the difficulty of accounting for the phenomena +by any feasible terrestrial change by explaining them as the result +of cosmical causes, and Croll's theory of the increase of the +eccentricity of the earth's orbit was widely received among them. +Belt, on the other hand, held that the cold was due to an increase +in the obliquity of the ecliptic. But these astronomical +explanations have not met with much acceptance by physicists; and +so chemists have been turned to by some geologists for support of +the hypothesis of the variation in the amount of carbon dioxide in +the air, or of other alterations in the atmosphere, while others +have gone back to the idea of geographical changes. That +considerable oscillations of the relative levels of land and sea +took place during the Ice Age has been now clearly established, and +the general result of the investigations favours Belt's opinion +that the land during part of that period stood much higher than now +over the northern regions of Europe and North America. It would, +however, lead us too far away from the present book to enter into +even a cursory examination of his views upon the glacial period, +and those readers who desire to pursue the matter will find +assistance for doing so in the bibliography at the end of this +Introduction. + +Of more immediate interest to us are the "observations on animals +and plants in reference to the theory of evolution of living forms" +which the title-page announces as a part of the narrative, and +which indeed form the main portion of the work. Upon the +publication of Darwin's "Origin of Species" in 1859, Belt had +become an ardent evolutionist, and was henceforth always on the +look-out for facts in support of the theories which had breathed +such new life into biological studies. In Nicaragua he devoted +special attention to those wonderful protective resemblances, +especially among insects, which Bates had explained by his theory +of "Mimicry;" and as the subject crops up again and again in this +book, the non-scientific reader will find it helpful to have before +him an outline of the expanded and completed theory--though he +should be warned that some writers have been too much inclined to +attribute to "mimicry" any accidental resemblance between two +species. How far such accidental resemblances may be carried is +probably well illustrated by the bee, the spider, and the fly +orchis of our own downs and copses. + +"Mimicry" proper is often confused with "protective resemblance," +and it will be advisable to begin with the consideration of the +latter. + +Concealment, while useful at times to all animals, is absolutely +essential to some; and it is wonderful in what different ways it is +attained. In cases of "cryptic resemblance to surroundings" the +shape, colouration, or markings are such as to conceal an animal by +rendering it difficult to distinguish from its immediate +environment. In most cases the effect is PROTECTIVE; but in snakes, +spiders, mantids, and other preying animals it is termed +AGGRESSIVE, since it enables these animals to stalk their prey +undetected. It is probable that this power, when possessed by a +vertebrate animal, nearly always bears the double meaning, as in +the green tree frog, where the colouration is protective so far as +it provides concealment from snakes, which are particularly fond of +these frogs, and aggressive in that it allows flies and other +insects to approach without suspicion. + +There may be either General Resemblance to surrounding objects or +Special Resemblance to definite objects. The plain sandy colour of +desert animals, the snow white of the inhabitants of the arctic +regions, the inconspicuous hues of nocturnal animals, the stripes +of the tiger and the zebra, the spots of the leopard and the +giraffe have all a cryptic effect which at a very short distance +renders the creatures invisible amid their natural surroundings. +Nor is it necessary in order to attain this invisibility that the +colouring should be really dull and plain. It all depends upon the +habitat. Mr. Wallace has described "a South American goatsucker +which rests in the bright sunshine on little bare rocky islets in +the upper Rio Negro where its unusually light colours so closely +resemble those of the rock and sand that it can scarcely be +detected till trodden upon." A little observation will supply large +numbers of instances of such protective colouration. + +It is, however, in the insect world that this principle of +adaptation of animals to their environment is most fully and +strikingly developed. "There are thousands of species of insects," +says Mr. Wallace again, "which rest during the day clinging to the +bark of dead or fallen trees; and the greater portion of these are +delicately mottled with grey and brown tints, which though +symmetrically disposed and infinitely varied, yet blend so +completely with the usual colours of the bark, that at two or three +feet distance they are quite undistinguishable." + +In protective resemblances at their highest state of perfection the +colouring is not constant but, as Professor Poulton puts it in his +delightful book on "The Colours of Animals", "can be adjusted to +harmonise with changes in the environment or to correspond with the +differences between the environment of different individuals." The +seasonal change of colour in northern animals is a well-known +instance of the former, and the chameleon's alterations of hue of +the latter. + +Besides General Resemblance, in which the general effects of +surrounding colours are reproduced, we have Special Resemblance, in +which the appearance of a particular object is copied in shape and +outline as well as in colour. Numerous instances will be found in +this book, and a "Leaf Insect" and a "Moss Insect" are illustrated. +But the classic example is the butterfly from the East Indies so +graphically described by Mr. Wallace, Kallima paralekta, which +always rests among dead or dry leaves and has itself leaf-like +wings spotted over with specks to imitate the tiny fungi growths on +the foliage it resembles. "It sits on a nearly upright twig, the +wings fitting closely back to back, concealing the antennae and +head, which are drawn up between their bases. The little tails of +the hind wings touch the branch and form a perfect stalk to the +leaf, which is supported in its place by the claws of the middle +pair of feet which are slender and inconspicuous. The irregular +outline of the wings gives exactly the perspective effect of a +shrivelled leaf." The wonderful "stick insects" in like manner +mimic the twigs of the trees among which they lurk. Nor need we go +abroad in search of examples, for among our own insects are +countless instances of marvellous resemblances to the inanimate or +vegetable objects upon which they rest. One of the most interesting +is that of the geometer caterpillars, which are very plentiful, and +any one can observe them for himself even in a London garden. They +support themselves for hours by means of their posterior legs, +forming an angle of various degrees with the branch on which they +are standing and looking for all the world like one of its twigs. +The long cylindrical body is kept stiff and immovable, with the +separations of the segments scarcely visible, and its colour is +obscure and similar to that of the bark of the tree. Kirby and +Spence tell of a gardener mistaking one of these caterpillars for a +dead twig, and starting back in great alarm when, on attempting to +break it off, he found it was a living animal. + +Sometimes concealment is secured by the aid of adventitious +objects. Many lepidopterous larvae live in cases made of the +fragments of the substances upon which they feed; and certain +sea-urchins cover themselves so completely with pebbles, shells, +and so forth, that one can see nothing but a heap of little stones. +Perhaps, however, the most interesting instance is the crab +described by Mr. Bateson, which "takes a piece of weed in his two +chelae and, neither snatching nor biting it, deliberately tears it +across, as a man tears paper with his hands. He then puts one end +of it into his mouth, and after chewing it up, presumably to soften +it, takes it out in the chelae and rubs it firmly on his head or +legs until it is caught by the peculiar curved hairs which cover +them. If the piece of weed is not caught by the hairs, the crab +puts it back in his mouth and chews it up again. The whole +proceeding is most human and purposeful." + +There is another class of colours in which not concealment but +conspicuousness is the object aimed at. Such colours are borne by +animals provided with formidable weapons of defence (the sting of +the wasp, for example), or possessed of an unpleasant taste or +offensive odour, and their foes come by experience to associate +this form of colouring with disagreeable qualities and avoid the +animals so marked. Belt was the first to account, in this way, for +the conspicuous colouration of the skunk; and it is now believed +that startling colours and conspicuous attitudes are intended to +assist the education of enemies by enabling them to learn and +remember the animals which are to be avoided. The explanation of +warning colours was devised by Mr. Wallace to account for the +brilliancy in the tints of certain caterpillars which birds find +disagreeable, and the subject has been principally studied by +experiments upon such caterpillars. But examples of warning colours +are recognised, among many others, in the contrasted black and +yellow of wasps, bees, and hornets, the bright red, black, and +yellow bands of the deadly coral snakes, and the brilliantly +coloured frog of Santo Domingo which hops unconcernedly about in +the daytime in his livery of red and blue--"for nothing will eat +him he well doth know." + +But--and here comes in the principle to which the term "mimicry" is +now restricted--if warning colours are helpful to noxious animals, +then defenceless animals acquiring these colours will share in the +protection afforded by them. And so we find a deceptive similarity +between animals occurring in the same district, but not closely +related, in which the mimicked form is unpalatable or has an odour +repulsive to birds and lizards. It must, of course, be understood +that the mimicry is unconscious, the result, as in the cases of +cryptic resemblance, having been brought about by natural +selection--the less perfect the mimicry the more liable are the +individuals to be attacked, and the less chance have they of +reproducing their kind. + +This imitation was first accounted for by Mr. Bates in the case of +the Heliconidae, a group of showy, slow-flying abundant butterflies +possessing "a strong pungent semi-aromatic or medicinal odour which +seems to pervade all the juices of their system." It does not +follow, of course, that what seems to us a disagreeably smelling +fluid should prove distasteful to the palate of a lizard or a bird. +But careful observation of the butterflies convinced both Bates and +Wallace that they were avoided, or at any rate not pursued, by +birds and other creatures; and Belt found that they were rejected +by his tame monkey which was very fond of other insects. So their +conspicuous wings, with spots and patches of yellow, red, or white +upon a black, blue or brown ground, may fairly be considered an +example of warning colouration--though Mr. Thayer has with great +ingenuity and acumen endeavoured to show that the markings are +effective for concealment and that their value as warning marks is +doubtful. Now, says Mr. Beddard, "in the same situations as those +in which the Heliconias are found there also occur, more rarely, +specimens of butterflies minutely resembling the Heliconias, but +belonging to a perfectly distinct family--the Pieridae. They belong +to the two genera Leptalis and Euterpe, consisting of numerous +species, each of which shows a striking likeness to some one +particular species of Heliconia. This likeness is not a mark of +near affinity; it affects no important character, but only the +shape and colouration of the wings." + +The particular resemblance here described was the origin of the +theory of Protective Mimicry, the conditions under which it occurs +being, according to Mr. Wallace: + +1. That the imitative species occur in the same area and occupy + the same station as the imitated. +2. That the imitators are always the more defenceless. +3. That the imitators are also less numerous in individuals. +4. That the imitators differ from the bulk of their allies. +5. That the imitation, however minute, is external and visible + only, never extending to internal characters or to such as do + not affect the external appearance. + +There are plenty of examples of this phenomenon, such as the +hornet-like moths and bee-like flies of our own country, and many +other instances will be found in these pages. One discovered in +tropical America by Mr. W.L. Sclater would have much delighted Belt +had he come across it. In that region of the world the leaf-cutting +ants present a very characteristic appearance as the column +proceeds homewards, each ant carrying a piece of leaf held +vertically in its jaws; and a homopterous insect has been found +that faithfully resembles an ant bearing its burden. The latter is +suggested by the thin compressed green body of the insect, and its +profile is precisely like that of the jagged edge of the fragment +of leaf held over the back of the ant. + +Of all the Nicaraguan fauna, judging from the narrative, the ants +occupy the most prominent position. Both indoors and out they are +ever in evidence. Belt describes the foraging ants, which do not +make regular nests of their own, but attack those of other species +and prey upon every killable living thing that comes in their way; +the leaf-cutting ants, whose attacks upon his garden were repelled +with so much difficulty; standing armies of ants maintained by +certain trees for their protection, and many other kinds, some of +which kept his attention constantly on the stretch. Much space is +devoted to their habits and wonderful instincts, amounting in many +cases, so Belt considered, to as clear an evidence of reasoning +intelligence as can be claimed for man himself. Indeed, after +reading the account of their freeing of an imprisoned comrade and +their grappling with problems arising out of such modern inventions +as carbolic acid and tramways, we need not feel surprised if an +observer accustomed to scrutinise the animal world so closely feels +sceptical on the subject of "instinct" viewed as a mysterious +entity antithetically opposed to "reason" and supposed to act as +its substitute in the lower orders. + +In reference to their methods of obtaining food, ants have been +classified as hunting, pastoral, and agricultural, "three types," +as Lord Avebury remarks, "offering a curious analogy to the three +great phases in the history of human development." As regards their +social condition they differ from mankind in having successfully +established communism. At the present day all the social +hymenoptera possess a unique interest on account of their +working-order or neuters. These, as is well-known, are females +whose normal development has been checked. Are we to assume that +"once upon a time" a woman's rights movement sprang up in bee-hives +and ant-hills which ended in reducing the males to a very +unimportant position and in limiting the number of the fully +developed females? Are we to expect that the "strong-minded" women +arising among us are the forerunners of a "neuter" order and the +heralds of a corresponding change in human society? + +"It is full of theories," says the author, writing of his book; +modestly adding, "I trust not unsupported by facts." And so +naturally does he dovetail the two together that the theories often +seem portions of the facts. On all kinds of subjects suggestive +reasons are proposed:--why the scarlet-runners which flowered so +profusely in his garden never produced a single pod; why the banana +and sugar-cane are probably not indigenous to America; why gold +veins grow poorer as they descend into the earth; why whirlwinds +rotate in opposite directions in the two hemispheres; why the +earthenware vessels of the Indians are rounded at the bottom and +require to be placed in a little stand--on all the varied matters +that come under his observant eyes he has something interesting to +say. You learn how the natives obtain sugar, palm-wine, and rubber; +what is the use of the toucan's huge beak, and how plants secure +the fertilisation of their flowers. You watch the tricks of the +monkey, the humming-bird's courtship, the lying in wait of the +alligator, and all the ceaseless activity of the forest--that +forest so monotonous in its general features, but fascinating +beyond measure when the varied life-histories working out within it +are realised--and you share in the keen joy of the naturalist who +has written with such simple eloquence of the beauty, the wonder, +and the mystery of the natural world. + +A.B. + +The following is a list of the works of Thomas Belt:-- + +An inquiry into the Origin of Whirlwinds, + Philosophical Magazine volume 17 1859 pages 47-53. +Mineral Veins: an Inquiry into their Origin + founded on a Study of the Auriferous Quartz Veins of Australia, + London 1861. +On some Recent Movements of the Earth's Surface + and their Geological Bearings [1863] Nova Scotian Institute of + Natural Science Proceedings and Transactions + volume 1 part 1 1867 pages 19-30. +List of Butterflies observed in the Neighbourhood of Halifax, + Nova Scotia [1863] Nova Scotian Institute of Natural Science + Proceedings and Transactions volume 2 part 1 1867 pages 87-92. +On the Formation and Preservation of Lakes by Ice Action, + Geological Society Quarterly Journal volume 20 1864 pages 463-465, + Philosophical Magazine volume 28 1864 page 323, + Nova Scotian Institute of Natural Science Proceedings and + Transactions volume 2 part 3 1867 page 70. +The Glacial Period in North America [1866] Nova Scotian Institute + of Natural Science Proceedings and Transactions + volume 2 part 4 1867 pages 91-106. +On some New Trilobites from the Upper Cambrian Rocks of North Wales, + Geological Magazine volume 4 1867 pages 294-295. +On the "Lingula Flags" or "Festiniog Group" are the + Dolgelly District, Geological Magazine + volume 4 1867 pages 493-495, 536-543; volume 5 1868 pages 5-11. +The Naturalist in Nicaragua, London 1874 2nd edition + revised and corrected 1888. +Glacial Phenomena in Nicaragua, American Journal of Science + volume 7 1874 pages 594-595. +An Examination of the Theories that have been proposed to account + for the Climate of the Glacial Period, + Journal of Science volume 4 1874 pages 421-464. +The Steppes of Siberia, Geological Society Quarterly Journal + volume 30 1874 pages 490-498, + Geological Magazine Decade 2 volume 1 1874 pages 423-424. +The Glacial Period, Nature volume 10 1874 pages 25-26. +Niagara: Glacial and Post-Glacial Phenomena, + Journal of Science volume 5 1875 pages 135-156. +The Drift of Devon and Cornwall: its Origin, Correlation with + that of the South-West of England, and Place in the Glacial + Series, Geological Society Quarterly Journal + volume 32 1876 pages 80-90; + Geological Magazine volume 2 1875 pages 622-624, + Philosophical Magazine volume 1 1876 pages 159-161. +On the Geological Age of the Deposits containing Flint Implements + at Hoxne, in Suffolk, and the Relation that Palaeolithic Man + bore to the Glacial Period, + Journal of Science volume 6 1876 pages 289-304. +On the First Stages of the Glacial Period in Norfolk and Suffolk, + Geological Magazine volume 4 1877 pages 156-158. +The Steppes of Southern Russia, Geological Society Quarterly Journal + volume 33 1877 pages 843-862; + Philosophical Magazine volume 4 1877 pages 151-152. +On the Loess of the Rhine and the Danube, + Journal of Science volume 7 1877 pages 67-90. +The Glacial Period in the Southern Hemisphere, + Journal of Science volume 7 1877 pages 326-353. +Quartzite Implements at Brandon, + Nature volume 16 1877 page 101. +On the Discovery of Stone Implements in Glacial Drift + in North America, Journal of Science volume 8 1878 pages 55-74. +The Superficial Gravels and Clays around Finchley, Ealing, + and Brentford, Journal of Science volume 8 1878 pages 316-360. +Notes on the Discovery of a Human Skull in the Drift near Denver, + Colorado, Proceedings of the American Association for the + Advancement of Science at St. Louis, + Missouri August 1878 volume 27 (1879) pages 298-299. + +[The notes within square brackets have been added to this edition +by the writer of the Introduction. ] + +[Title-page of the First Edition.] + +THE + +NATURALIST IN NICARAGUA + +A NARRATIVE OF + +A RESIDENCE AT THE GOLD MINES OF CHONTALES; + +JOURNEYS IN THE SAVANNAHS AND FORESTS; + +With Observations of Animals and Plants in Reference to +the Theory of Evolution of Living Forms. + + +BY THOMAS BELT, F.G.S. + +AUTHOR OF +"MINERAL VEINS," "THE GLACIAL PERIOD IN NORTH AMERICA," ETC. ETC. + + + "It was his faith--perhaps is mine-- + That life in all its forms is one, + And that its secret conduits run + Unseen, but in unbroken line, + From the great fountain-head divine, + Through man and beast, through grain and grass." + + LONGFELLOW. + +[Dedication of the First Edition.] + + + +TO + +HENRY WALTER BATES, + +WHOSE ADMIRABLE WORK, + +"THE NATURALIST ON THE RIVER AMAZONS," + +HAS BEEN MY GUIDE AND MODEL, + +I DEDICATE THIS BOOK, + +AS A TOKEN OF RESPECT AND FRIENDSHIP. + +(SKETCH MAP OF NICARAGUA.) + + + +CONTENTS. + +INTRODUCTION. + +CHAPTER 1. + +Arrival at Greytown.--The river San Juan.--Silting up of the +harbour.--Crossing the bar.--Lives lost on it.--Sharks. +--Christopher Columbus.--Appearance of the town.--Trade. +--Healthiness of the town and its probable cause.--Comparison +between Greytown, Pernambuco, and Maceio.--Wild fruits.--Plants. +--Parrots, toucans, and tanagers.--Butterflies and beetles. +--Mimetic forms.--Alligators: boy drowned at Blewfields by one. +--Their method of catching wild pigs. + +CHAPTER 2. + +Commence journey up San Juan river.--Palms and wild canes. +--Plantations.--The Colorado river.--Proposed improvement of the +river.--Progress of the Delta.--Mosquitoes.--Disagreeable night. +--Fine morning.--Vegetation of the banks.--Seripiqui river. +--Mot-mots.--Foraging ants: their method of hunting.--Ant-thrushes. +--They attack the nests of other ants.--Birds' nests, how preserved +from them.--Reasoning powers in ants.--Parallel between the +mammalia and the hymenoptera.--Utopia. + +CHAPTER 3. + +Journey up river continued.--Wild pigs and jaguar.--Bungos.--Reach +Machuca.--Castillo.--Capture of Castillo by Nelson.--India-rubber +trade.--Rubber-men.--Method of making india-rubber.--Congo monkeys. +--Macaws.--The Savallo river.--Endurance of the boatmen.--San +Carlos.--Interoceanic canal.--Advantages of the Nicaraguan route. +--The Rio Frio.--Stories about the wild Indians.--Indian captive +children.--Expeditions up the Rio Frio.--American river steamboats. + +CHAPTER 4. + +The lake of Nicaragua.--Ometepec.--Becalmed on the lake.--White +egrets.--Reach San Ubaldo.--Ride across the plains.--Vegetation of +the plains.--Armadillo.--Savannahs.--Jicara trees.--Jicara bowls. +--Origin of gourd-shaped pottery.--Coyotes.--Mule-breeding.--Reach +Acoyapo.--Festa.--Cross high range.--Esquipula.--The Rio Mico. +--Supposed statues on its banks.--Pital.--Cultivation of maize. +--Its use from the earliest times in America.--Separation of the +maize-eating from the mandioca-eating indigenes of America. +--Tortillas.--Sugar-making.--Enter the forest of the Atlantic +slope.--Vegetation of the forest.--Muddy roads.--Arrive at Santo +Domingo. + +CHAPTER 5. + +Geographical position of Santo Domingo.--Physical geography.--The +inhabitants.--Mixed races.--Negroes and Indians compared.--Women. +--Establishment of the Chontales Gold-Mining Company.--My house and +garden.--Fruits.--Plantains and bananas; probably not indigenous to +America: propagated from shoots: do not generally mature their +seeds.--Fig-trees.--Granadillas and papaws.--Vegetables. +--Dependence of flowers on insects for their fertilisation.--Insect +plagues.--Leaf-cutting ants: their method of defoliating trees: +their nests.--Some trees are not touched by the ants.--Foreign +trees are very subject to their attack.--Method of destroying the +ants.--Migration of the ants from a nest attacked.--Corrosive +sublimate causes a sort of madness amongst them.--Indian plan of +preventing them ascending young trees.--Leaf-cutting ants are +fungus-growers and eaters.--Sagacity of the ants. + +CHAPTER 6. + +Configuration of the ground at Santo Domingo.--Excavation of +valleys.--Geology of the district.--Decomposition of the rocks. +--Gold-mining.--Auriferous quartz veins.--Mode of occurrence of the +gold.--Lodes richer next the surface than at lower depths. +--Excavation and reduction of the ore.--Extraction of the gold.-- +"Mantos".--Origin of mineral veins: their connection with intrusions +of Plutonic rocks. + +CHAPTER 7. + +Climate of the north-eastern side of Nicaragua.--Excursions around +Santo Domingo.--The Artigua.--Corruption of ancient names. +--Butterflies, spiders, and wasps.--Humming-birds, beetles, and +ants.--Plants and trees.--Timber.--Monkey attacked by eagle. +--White-faced monkey.--Anecdotes of a tame one.--Curassows and +other game birds.--Trogons, woodpeckers, mot-mots, and toucans. + +CHAPTER 8. + +Description of San Antonio valley.--Great variety of animal life. +--Pitcher-flowered Marcgravias.--Flowers fertilised by +humming-birds.--By insects.--Provision in some flowers to prevent +insects, not adapted for carrying the pollen, from obtaining access +to the nectaries.--Stories about wasps.--Humming-birds bathing. +--Singular myriapods.--Ascent of Pena Blanca.--Tapirs and jaguars. +--Summit of Pena Blanca. + +CHAPTER 9. + +Journey to Juigalpa.--Description of Libertad.--The priest and the +bell.--Migratory butterflies and moths.--Indian graves.--Ancient +names.--Dry river-beds.--Monkeys and wasps.--Reach Juigalpa.--Ride +in neighbourhood.--Abundance of small birds.--A poor cripple.--The +"Toledo."--Trogons.--Waterfall.--Sepulchral mounds.--Broken +statues.--The sign of the cross.--Contrast between the ancient and +the present inhabitants.--Night life. + +CHAPTER 10. + +Juigalpa.--A Nicaraguan family.--Description of the road from +Juigalpa to Santo Domingo.--Comparative scarcity of insects in +Nicaragua in 1872.--Water-bearing plants.--Insect-traps.--The +south-western edge of the forest region.--Influence of cultivation +upon it.--Sagacity of the mule. + +CHAPTER 11. + +Start on journey to Segovia.--Rocky mountain road.--A poor lodging. +--The rock of Cuapo.--The use of large beaks in some birds. +--Comoapa.--A native doctor.--Vultures.--Flight of birds that soar. +--Natives live from generation to generation on the same spot.--Do +not give distinctive names to the rivers.--Caribs barter guns and +iron pots for dogs.--The hairless dogs of tropical America. +--Difference between artificial and natural selection.--The cause +of sterility between allied species considered.--The disadvantages +of a covering of hair to a domesticated animal in a tropical +country. + +CHAPTER 12. + +Olama.--The "Sanate."--Muy-muy.--Idleness of the people.--Mountain +road.--The "Bull Rock."--The bull's-horn thorn.--Ants kept as +standing armies by some plants.--Use of honey-secreting glands. +--Plant-lice, scale-insects, and leaf-hoppers furnish ants with +honey, and in return are protected by the latter.--Contest between +wasps and ants.--Waxy secretions of the homopterous hemiptera. + +CHAPTER 13. + +Matagalpa.--Aguardiente.--Fermented liquors of the Indians.--The +wine-palm.--Idleness of the Nicaraguans.--Pine and oak forests. +--Mountain gorge.--Jinotega.--Native plough.--Descendants of the +buccaneers.--San Rafael.--A mountain hut. + +CHAPTER 14. + +Great range composed of boulder clay.--Daraily.--Lost on the +savannahs.--Jamaily.--A deer-hunter's family.--Totagalpa.--Walls +covered with cement and whitewashed.--Ocotal.--The valley of +Depilto.--Silver mine.--Geology of the valley.--Glacial drift.--The +glacial period in Central America.--Evidence that the ice extended +to the tropics.--Scarcity of gold in the valley gravels. +--Difference of the Mollusca on the east and west coast of the +Isthmus of Darien.--The refuge of the tropical American animals and +plants during the glacial period.--The lowering of the sea-level. +--The land shells of the West Indian Islands.--The Malay +Archipelago.--Easter Island.--Atlantis.--Traditions of the deluge. + +CHAPTER 15. + +A Nicaraguan criminal.--Geology between Ocotal and Totagalpa. +--Preparations at Totagalpa for their annual festival. +--Chicha-drinking.--Piety of the Indians.--Ancient civilisation of +tropical America.--Palacaguina.--Hospitality of the Mestizos. +--Curious custom at the festival at Condego.--Cross range between +Segovia and Matagalpa.--Sontuli.--Birds' nests. + +CHAPTER 16. + +Concordia.--Jinotega.--Indian habits retained by the people. +--Indian names of towns.--Security of travellers in Nicaragua. +--Native flour-mill.--Uncomfortable lodgings.--Tierrabona.--Dust +whirlwind.--Initial form of a cyclone.--The origin of cyclones. + +CHAPTER 17. + +Cattle-raising.--Don Filiberto Trano's new house.--Horse-flies and +wasps.--Teustepe.--Spider imitating ants.--Mimetic species. +--Animals with special means of defence are conspicuously marked, +or in other ways attract attention.--Accident to horse.--The +"Mygale."--Illness.--Conclusion of journey. + +CHAPTER 18. + +Division of Nicaragua into three zones.--Journey from Juigalpa to +lake of Nicaragua.--Voyage on lake.--Fresh-water shells and +insects.--Similarity of fresh-water productions all over the world. +--Distribution of European land and fresh-water shells.--Discussion +of the reasons why fresh-water productions have varied less than +those of the land and of the sea. + +CHAPTER 19. + +Iguanas and lizards.--Granada.--Politics.--Revolutions.--Cacao +cultivation.--Masaya.--The lake of Masaya.--The volcano of Masaya. +--Origin of the lake basin. + +CHAPTER 20. + +Indian population of the country lying between the great lakes of +Nicaragua and the Pacific.--Discovery and conquest of Nicaragua by +the Spaniards.--Cruelties of the Spaniards.--The Indians of Western +Central America all belonged to one stock.--Decadence of Mexican +civilisation before the arrival of the Spaniards.--The designation +"Nahuatls" proposed to include all the Mexican, Western Central +American, and Peruvian races that had descended from the same +ancient stock.--The Nahuatls distinct from the Caribs on one side +and the Red Indians on the other.--Discussion of the question of +the peopling of America. + +CHAPTER 21. + +Return to Santo Domingo.--The birds of Chontales.--The insects of +Chontales.--Mimetic forms.--Departure from the mines.--Nicaragua as +a field for emigration.--Journey to Greytown.--Return to England. + +INDEX. + +. . . + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + +PLATE 1. SKETCH MAP OF NICARAGUA. + +PLATE 2. ALLIGATORS. + +PLATE 3. HEADS OF MOT-MOTS. + +PLATE 4. COMMISSIONER'S HOUSE AT SANTO DOMINGO. + +PLATE 5. NEST OF LEAF-CUTTING ANT. + +PLATE 6. MACHINERY OF CHONTALES GOLD-MINING COMPANY. + +PLATE 7. SECTION OF MINE SHOWING METHOD OF EXTRACTING THE ORE. + +PLATE 8. SECTION OF SAN ANTONIO LODE. + +PLATE 9. HUMMING-BIRDS (Florisuga mellivora, LINN.). + +PLATE 10. TONGUES OF HUMMING-BIRD AND WOODPECKER. + +PLATE 11. PITCHER-FLOWER (Marcgravia nepenthoides). + +PLATE 12. FLOWER OF THE "PALOSABRE." + +PLATE 13. ADVENTURE WITH A JAGUAR. + +PLATE 14. PENA BLANCA. + +PLATE 15. INDIAN STATUES. + +PLATE 16. PATH UP STEEP HILL. + +PLATE 17. QUISCALUS. + +PLATE 18. BULL'S-HORN THORN. + +PLATE 19. LEAF OF MELASTOMA. + +PLATE 20. NATIVE STILL. + +PLATE 21. NATIVE PLOUGH. + +PLATE 22. GEOLOGICAL SECTION NEAR OCOTAL. + +PLATE 23. HORNET AND MIMETIC BUG. + +PLATE 24. GEOLOGICAL SECTION AT MASAYA. + +PLATE 25. LONGICORN BEETLES OF CHONTALES. + +PLATE 26. LEAF INSECT. + +PLATE 27. MOSS INSECT. + +. . . + + + +PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. + +The following pages have been written in the intervals between +arduous professional engagements. Begun on the Atlantic during my +voyage home from Central America, the first half relieved the +tedium of a long and slow recovery from the effects of an accident +occurring on board ship. The middle of the manuscript found me +traversing the high passes of the snow-clad Caucasus, where I made +acquaintance with the Abkassians, in whose language Mr. Hyde Clark +finds analogies with those of my old friends the Brazilian Indians. +I now write this brief preface and the last chapter of my book +(with Bradshaw's "Continental Guide" as my only book of reference), +on my way across the continent to the Urals, and beyond, to the +country of the nomad Kirghizes and the far Altai mountains on the +borders of Tibet; and when readers receive my work I shall probably +have turned my face homewards again, and for weeks be speeding +across the frozen Siberian steppes, wrapped in furs, listening to +the sleigh bells, and wondering how my book has sped. It is full of +theories--I trust not unsupported by facts: some thought out on the +plains of Southern Australia; some during many a solitary sleigh +drive over frozen lakes in North America; some in the great forests +of Central and South America; some on the wide ocean, with the +firmament above and below blending together on the horizon; and +some, again, in the bowels of the earth when seeking for her hidden +riches. The thoughts are those of a lifetime compressed into a +little book; and, like the genie of the Arabian tale, imprisoned in +an urn, they may, when it is opened, grow and magnify, or, on the +contrary, be kicked back into the sea of oblivion. + +This much is necessary; not to disarm criticism, but to excuse +myself to those authors whose labours on some of the subjects I +have treated of I may not have mentioned. I have, during my +sojourns in England, worked hard to read up the literature of the +various questions discussed, but I know there must be many +oversights and omissions in referring to what others have done; +especially with regard to continental writers, for I know no +language but my mother-tongue; and their works, excepting where I +have had access to translations, have been sealed books to me. + +I am indebted to Mr. H.W. Bates for much assistance, and especially +for undertaking the superintendence of these sheets in their +passage through the press; to Mr. W.C. Hewitson, of Oatlands Park, +I am under many obligations, for taking charge of my entomological +collections, for naming many of my butterflies, and for access to +his magnificent collection of Diurnal Lepidoptera. Mr. Osbert +Salvin and Dr. P.L. Sclater have named for me my collection of +birds; and for much entomological information I am indebted to +Professor Westwood, Mr. F. Smith, and Dr. D. Sharp; whilst, in +botany, Professor D. Oliver, of Kew, has kindly named for me some +of the plants. Through the assistance of these eminent authorities, +I trust that the scientific names scattered throughout the book may +be depended upon as correct. + +Nijni Novgorod, + +October 9th, 1873. + + + +THE NATURALIST IN NICARAGUA. + + +CHAPTER 1. + +Arrival at Greytown. +The river San Juan. +Silting up of the harbour. +Crossing the bar. +Lives lost on it. +Sharks. +Christopher Columbus. +Appearance of the town. +Trade. +Healthiness of the town and its probable cause. +Comparison between Greytown, Pernambuco, and Maceio. +Wild fruits. +Plants. +Parrots, toucans, and tanagers. +Butterflies and beetles. +Mimetic forms. +Alligators. +Boy drowned at Blewfields by an alligator. +Their method of catching wild pigs. + +At noon on the 15th February 1868, the R.M.S.S. "Solent," in which +I was a passenger, anchored off Greytown, or San Juan del Norte, +the Atlantic port of Nicaragua in Central America. We lay about a +mile from the shore, and saw a low flat coast stretching before us. +It was the delta of the river San Juan, into which flows the +drainage of a great part of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and which is +the outlet for the waters of the great lake of Nicaragua. Its +watershed extends to within a few miles of the Pacific, for here +the isthmus of Central America, as in the great continents to the +north and south of it, sends off by far the largest portion of its +drainage to the Atlantic. In the rainy season the San Juan is a +noble river, and even in the dry months, from March to June, there +is sufficient water coming down from the lake to keep open a fine +harbour, if it were not that about twenty miles above its mouth it +begins to dissipate its force by sending off a large branch called +the Colorado river, and lower down parts with more of its waters by +side channels. Twenty years ago the main body of water ran past +Greytown; there was then a magnificent port, and large ships sailed +up to the town, but for several years past the Colorado branch has +been taking away more and more of its waters, and the port of +Greytown has in consequence silted up. All ships now have to lie +off outside, and a shallow and, in heavy weather, dangerous bar has +to be crossed.* [* Greytown is still the headquarters of Nicaraguan +trade with Europe and Eastern America though the attempts to +improve the harbour by dredging and building jetties have had only +partial success. Its great opportunity passed with the final +abandonment, in favour of the Panama route, of the scheme for an +inter-oceanic canal by way of the lakes, with its eastern terminus +a mile to the north of the town at a spot which was named +"America."] + +All we could see from the steamer was the sandy beach on which the +white surf was breaking, a fringe of bushes with a few coco-nut +palms holding up their feathery crowns, and in the distance a low +background of dark foliage. Before we anchored a gun was fired, and +in quick answer to the signal some canoes, paddled by negroes of +the Mosquito coast, here called "Caribs," were seen crossing the +bar, and in a few minutes were alongside. Getting into one of the +canoes with my boxes, I was rapidly paddled towards the shore. When +we reached the bar we were dexterously taken over it--the Caribs +waited just outside until a higher wave than usual came rolling in, +then paddling with all their might we were carried over on its +crest, and found ourselves in the smooth water of the river. + +Many lives have been lost on this bar. In 1872 the commander of the +United States surveying expedition and six of his men were drowned +in trying to cross it in heavy weather. Only a few mangled remnants +of their bodies were ever found; for what adds to the horror of an +upset at this place, and perhaps has unnerved many a man at a +critical moment, is that large sharks swarm about the entrance to +the river. We saw the fin of one rising above the surface of the +water as it swam lazily about, and the sailors of the mail steamers +when lying off the port often amuse themselves by catching them +with large hooks baited with pieces of meat. It is probable that it +was at one of the mouths of the San Juan that Columbus, in his +fourth voyage, lost a boat's crew who had been sent for wood and +fresh water, and when returning were swamped on the bar. Columbus +had rounded Cape Gracias a Dios four days before, and had sailed +down the coast with a fair wind and tide, so that he might easily +have reached the San Juan. + +Inside the bar we were in smooth water, for but a small stream is +discharged by this channel. On our right was a sandy beach, on our +left great beds of grass growing out of the shoal water--weedy +banks filled up the once spacious harbour, and cattle waded amongst +the long grass, where within the last twenty years a frigate has +lain at anchor. Wading and aquatic birds were abundant in the +marshes, amongst which white cranes and a chocolate-brown jacana, +with lemon-yellow under wing, were the most conspicuous. A large +alligator lazily crawled off a mud-spit into the water, where he +floated, showing only his eyes and the pointed scales of his back +above the surface. The town was now in full view--neat, +white-painted houses, with plume-crowned palms rising amongst and +over them, and we landed at one of several wooden wharves that jut +into the river. + +Greytown, though only a small place, is one of the neatest tropical +towns that I have visited. The houses, especially in the business +portion of the town, are well built of wood, and painted white with +brown roofs. Pretty flower gardens surround or front many of them. +Others are nearly hidden amongst palms and bread-fruit, orange, +mango, and other tropical fruit trees. A lovely creeper (Antigonon +leptopus), with festoons of pink and rose-coloured flowers, adorns +some of the gardens. It is called la vegessima, "the beautiful," by +the natives, and I found it afterwards growing wild in the +provinces of Matagalpa and Segovia, where it was one of the great +favourites of the flower-loving Indians. The land at and around +Greytown is perfectly level. The square, the open spaces, and many +of the streets are covered with short grass that makes a beautiful +sward to walk on. + +The trade in the town is almost entirely in the hands of foreign +residents, amongst whom Mr. Hollenbeck, a citizen of the United +States, is one of the most enterprising. A considerable import +trade is done with the States and England. Coffee, indigo, hides, +cacao, sugar, logwood, and india-rubber are the principal exports. +I called on Dr. Green, the British Consul, and found him a most +courteous and amiable gentleman, ready to afford protection or +advice to his countrymen, and on very friendly terms with the +native authorities. He has lived for many years in Nicaragua, and +his many charitable kindnesses, and especially the medical +assistance that he renders in all cases of emergency, free of +charge, have made him very popular at Greytown. His beautiful house +and grounds, with a fine avenue of coco-nut trees in full bearing, +form one of the most attractive sights in Greytown. I found Mr. +Paton, the vice-consul, equally obliging, and I am indebted to him +for much information respecting the trade of the port, particularly +with regard to the export of india-rubber, the development of which +trade he was one of the first to encourage. + +Behind the town there is a long lagoon, and for several miles back +the land is quite level, and interspersed with lakes and ponds with +much marshy ground. Perfectly level, surrounded by swamps, and +without any system of drainage, either natural or artificial, +excepting such as the sandy soil affords, Greytown might be thought +a very unhealthy site for a town. Notwithstanding, however, its +apparent disadvantages, and that for nine months of the year it is +subject to heavy tropical rains, it is comparatively healthy, and +freer from fever than many places that appear at first sight better +situated. Much is due to the porous sandy soil, but more I believe +to what appears at first sight an element of danger, the perfect +flatness of the ground. Where there are hills there must be +hollows, and in these the air stagnates; whilst here, where the +land is quite level, the trade winds that blow pretty constantly +find their way to every part, and carry off the emanations from the +soil. As a similar instance I may mention the city of Pernambuco, +on the eastern coast of Brazil, containing 80,000 inhabitants. It +is perfectly level like Greytown, surrounded and intersected with +channels of water, above the level of which it only stands a few +feet. The crowded parts of the town are noted for their evil smells +and filth, but, though entirely without drainage, it is celebrated +for its healthiness; whilst a little lower down the coast, the town +of Maceio, situated about sixty feet above the sea, surrounded by +undulating ranges and with a good natural drainage, is much more +unhealthy, fevers being very prevalent. As at Greytown so at +Pernambuco, the trade winds blow with much regularity, and there +are neither hills nor hollows to interfere with the movements of +the air, so that miasmatic exhalations cannot accumulate. + +Surrounding the cleared portions around Greytown is a scrubby bush, +amongst which are many guayava trees (Psidium sp.) having a fruit +like a small apple filled with seeds, of a sub-acid flavour, from +which the celebrated guava jelly is made. The fruit itself often +occasions severe fits of indigestion, and many of the natives will +not swallow the small seeds, but only the pulpy portion, which is +said to be harmless. I saw another fruit growing here, a yellow +berry about the size of a cherry, called "Nancito" by the natives. +It is often preserved by them with spirit and eaten like olives. +Beyond the brushwood, which grows where the original forest has +been cut down, there are large trees covered with numerous +epiphytes--Tillandsias, orchids, ferns, and a hundred others, that +make every big tree an aerial garden. Great arums perch on the +forks and send down roots like cords to the ground, whilst lianas +run from tree to tree or hang in loops and folds like the +disordered tackle of a ship. + +Green parrots fly over in screaming flocks, or nestle in loving +couples amidst the foliage, toucans hop along the branches, turning +their long, highly-coloured beaks from side to side with an +old-fashioned look, and beautiful tanagers (Ramphocaelus +passerinii) frequent the outskirts of the forest, all velvety +black, excepting a large patch of fiery-red above the tail, which +renders the bird very conspicuous. It is only the male that is thus +coloured, the female being clothed in a sober suit of +greenish-brown. I think this bird is polygamous, for several of the +brown ones were always seen with one of the red-and-black ones. The +bright colours of the male must make it very conspicuous to birds +of prey, and, probably in consequence, it is not nearly so bold as +the obscurely-coloured females. When a clear space in the brushwood +is to be crossed, such as a road, two or three of the females will +fly across first, before the male will venture to do so, and he is +always more careful to get himself concealed amongst the foliage +than his mates. + +I walked some distance into the forest along swampy paths cut by +charcoal burners, and saw many beautiful and curious insects. +Amongst the numerous butterflies, large blue Morphos and narrow, +weak-winged Heliconidae, striped and spotted with yellow, red, and +black, were the most conspicuous and most characteristic of +tropical America. Amongst the beetles I found a curious longicorn +(Desmiphora fasciculata), covered with long brown and black hairs, +and closely resembling some of the short, thick, hairy caterpillars +that are common on the bushes. Other closely allied species hide +under fallen branches and logs, but this one clung exposed amongst +the leaves, its antennae concealed against its body, and its +resemblance to a caterpillar so great, that I was at first deceived +by it. It is well known that insectivorous birds will not touch a +hairy caterpillar, and this is only one of numberless instances +where insects, that have some special protection against their +enemies, are closely imitated by others belonging to different +genera, and even different orders. Thus, wasps and stinging ants +have hosts of imitators amongst moths, beetles, and bugs, and I +shall have many curious facts to relate concerning these mimetic +resemblances. To those not acquainted with Mr. Bates's admirable +remarks on mimetic forms, I must explain that we have to speak of +one species imitating another, as if it were a conscious act, only +on account of the poverty of our language. No such idea is +entertained, and it would have been well if some new term had been +adopted to express what is meant. These deceptive resemblances are +supposed, by the advocates of the origin of species by natural +selection, to have been brought about by varieties of one species +somewhat resembling another having special means of protection, and +preserved from their enemies in consequence of that unconscious +imitation. The resemblance, which was perhaps at first only remote, +is supposed to have been increased in the course of ages by the +varieties being protected that more and more closely approached the +species imitated, in form, colour, and movements. These +resemblances are not only between insects of different genera and +orders, but between insects and flowers, leaves, twigs, and bark of +trees, and between insects and inanimate nature. They serve often +for concealment, as when leaves are imitated by leaf-insects and +many butterflies, or for a disguise that enables predatory species +to get within reach of their prey, as in those spiders that +resemble the petals of flowers amongst which they hide. + +(PLATE 1. ALLIGATORS IN SAN JUAN RIVER.) + +That I may not travel over the same ground twice, I may here +mention that on a subsequent visit to Greytown I rode a few miles +northward along the beach. On my return, I tied up the horse and +walked about a mile over the sand-bank that extends down to the +mouth of the river. A long, deep branch forms a favourite resort +for alligators. At the far end of a sand-spit, near where some low +trees grew, I saw several dark objects lying close to the water on +the shelving banks. They were alligators basking in the sun. As I +approached, most of them crawled into the water. Mr. Hollenbeck had +been down a few days before shooting at them with a rifle, to try +to get a skull of one of the monsters, and I passed a dead one that +he had shot. As I walked up the beach, I saw many that were not +less than fifteen feet in length. One lay motionless, and thinking +it was another dead one, I was walking up to it, and had got within +three yards, when I saw the film over its eye moving; otherwise it +was quite still, and its teeth projecting beyond its lips added to +its intense ugliness and appearance of death. There was no doubt, +however, about the movement of the eye-covers, and I went back a +short distance to look for a stick to throw at it; but when I +turned again, the creature was just disappearing into the water. It +is their habit to lie quite still, and catch animals that come near +them. Whether or not it was waiting until I came within the swoop +of its mighty tail I know not, but I had the feeling that I had +escaped a great danger. It was curious that it should have been so +bold only a few days after Mr. Hollenbeck had been down shooting at +them. There were not less than twenty altogether, and they swam out +into the middle of the inlet and floated about, looking like logs +in the water, excepting that one stretched up its head and gave a +bellow like a bull. They sometimes kill calves and young horses, +and I was told of one that had seized a full-grown horse, but its +struggles being observed, some natives ran down and saved it from +being pulled into the water and drowned. I heard several stories of +people being killed by them, but only one was well authenticated. +This was told me by the head of the excellent Moravian Mission at +Blewfields, who was a witness of the occurrence. He said that one +Sunday, after service at their chapel at Blewfields, several of the +youths went to bathe in the river, which was rather muddy at the +time; the first to plunge in was a boy of twelve years of age, and +he was immediately seized by a large alligator, and carried along +under water. My informant and others followed in a canoe, and +ultimately recovered the body, but life was extinct. The alligator +cannot devour its prey beneath the water, but crawls on land with +it after he has drowned it. They are said to catch wild pigs in the +forest near the river by half burying themselves in the ground. The +pigs come rooting amongst the soil, the alligator never moves until +one gets within its reach, when it seizes it and hurries off to the +river with it. They are often seen in hot weather on logs or +sand-spits lying with their mouths wide open. The natives say they +are catching flies, that numbers are attracted by the saliva of the +mouth, and that when sufficient are collected, the alligator closes +its jaws upon them, but I do not know that any reliance can be +placed on the story. Probably it is an invention to account for the +animals lying with their mouths open; as in all half-civilised +countries I have visited I have found the natives seldom admit they +do not know the reason of anything, but will invent an explanation +rather than acknowledge their ignorance. + + +CHAPTER 2. + +Commence journey up San Juan river. +Palms and wild canes. +Plantations. +The Colorado river. +Proposed improvement of the river. +Progress of the delta. +Mosquitoes. +Disagreeable night. +Fine morning. +Vegetation of the banks. +Seripiqui river. +Mot-mots. +Foraging ants: their method of hunting. +Ant-thrushes. +They attack the nests of other ants. +Birds' nests, how preserved from them. +Reasoning powers in ants. +Parallel between the Mammalia and the Hymenoptera. +Utopia. + +I FOUND at Greytown the mail-boat of the Chontales Gold-Mining +Company, which came down monthly in charge of Captain Anderson, an +Englishman who had knocked about all over the world. The crew +consisted of four Mosquito negroes, who are celebrated on this +coast for their skill as boatmen. Besides the crew, we were taking +three other negroes up to the mines, and with my boxes we were +rather uncomfortably crowded for a long journey. The canoe itself +was made from the trunk of a cedar-tree (Cedrela odorata). It had +been hollowed out of a single log, and the sides afterwards built +up higher with planking. This makes a very strong boat, the +strength and thickness being where it is most required, at the +bottom, to withstand the thumping about amongst the rocks of the +rapids. I was once in one, coming down a dangerous rapid on the +river Gurupy, in Northern Brazil, when we were driven with the full +force of the boiling stream broadside upon a rock, with such force +that we were nearly all thrown down, but the strong canoe was +uninjured, although no common boat could have withstood the shock. + +Having determined to go up the river in this boat, we took +provisions with us for the voyage, and one of the negroes agreed to +act as cook. Having arranged everything, and breakfasted with my +kind friends, Mr. and Mrs. Hollenbeck, I bade them adieu, and +settled myself into the small space in the canoe that I expected to +occupy for six days. Captain Anderson took the helm, the "Caribs" +dipped their paddles into the water, and away we glided into a +narrow channel amongst long grass and rushes that almost touched us +on either side. Greytown, with its neat white houses, and feathery +palms, and large-leaved bread-fruit trees, was soon shut from our +view, and our boatmen plying their paddles with the greatest +dexterity and force, made the canoe shoot along through the still +water. Soon we emerged into a wider channel where a stronger stream +was running, and then we coasted along close to the shore to avoid +the strength of the current. The banks at first were low and marshy +and intersected by numerous channels; the principal tree was a +long, coarse-leaved palm, and there were great beds of wild cane +and grass, amongst which we occasionally saw curious green lizards, +with leaf-like expansions (like those on the leaf-insects), +assimilating them in appearance to the vegetation amongst which +they sought their prey. As we proceeded up the river, the banks +gradually became higher and drier, and we passed some small +plantations of bananas and plantains made in clearings in the +forest, which now consisted of a great variety of dicotyledonous +trees with many tall, graceful palms; the undergrowth being ferns, +small palms, Melastomae, Heliconiae, etc. The houses at the +plantations were mostly miserable thatched huts with scarcely any +furniture, the owners passing their time swinging in dirty +hammocks, and occasionally taking down a canoe-load of plantains to +Greytown for sale. It is one of the rarest sights to see any of +these squatters at work. Their plantain patch and occasionally some +fish from the river suffice to keep them alive and indolent. + +At seven o'clock we reached the Colorado branch, which carries off +the greater part of the waters of the San Juan to the sea. This is +about twenty miles above Greytown, but only eighteen by the +Colorado to the sea, and is near the head of the delta, as I have +already mentioned. The main body of water formerly flowed down past +Greytown, and kept the harbour there open, but a few years ago, +during a heavy flood, the river greatly enlarged and deepened the +entrance to the Colorado Channel, and since then year by year the +Greytown harbour has been silting up. Now (I am writing in 1873) +there is twelve feet of water on the bar at the Colorado in the +height of the dry season, whilst at Greytown the outlet of the +river is sometimes closed altogether. The merchants at Greytown +have entertained the project of dredging out the channel again, but +now that the river has found a nearer way to the sea by the +Colorado this would be a herculean task, and it would cost much +less money to move the whole town to the Colorado, where by +dredging the bar a fine harbour might easily be made, but +unfortunately the Colorado is in Costa Rica, the Greytown branch in +Nicaragua, and there are constant bickerings between the two states +respecting the outlet of this fine river, which make any +well-considered scheme for the improvement of it impracticable at +present. A sensible solution of the difficulty would be a +federation of the two small republics. The heads of the political +parties in the two countries see, however, in this a danger to +their petty ambitions, and will not risk the step, and so the +boundary question remains an open one, threatening at any moment to +plunge the two countries into an impoverishing war. + +If the Colorado were not to be interfered with by man, it would, in +the course of ages, carry down great quantities of mud, sand, and +trunks of trees, and gradually form sandbanks at its mouth, pushing +out the delta further and further at this point, until it was +greatly in advance of the rest of the coast; the river would then +break through again by some nearer channel, and the Colorado would +be silted up as the Lower San Juan is being at present. The +numerous half filled-up channels and long lagoons throughout the +delta show the various courses the river has at different times +taken. + +Our boatmen paddled on until nine o'clock, when we anchored in the +middle of the stream, which was here about one hundred yards wide. +Distant as we were from the shore, we were not too far for the +mosquitoes, which came off in myriads to the banquet upon our +blood. Sleep for me was impossible, and to add to the discomfort, +the rain came down in torrents. We had an old tarpaulin with us, +but it was full of holes, and let in the water in little streams, +so that I was soon soaked to the skin. Altogether, with the +streaming wet and the mosquitoes, it was one of the most +uncomfortable nights I have ever passed. + +The waning moon was sufficiently high at four o'clock to allow us +to bring the long dreary night to an end, and to commence paddling +up the river again. As the day broke the rain ceased, the mists +cleared away, our spirits revived, and we forgot our discomforts of +the night in admiration of the beauties of the river. The banks +were hidden by a curtain of creeping and twining plants, many of +which bore beautiful flowers, and the green was further varied here +and there by the white stems of the cecropia trees. Now and then we +passed more open spots, affording glimpses into the forest, where +grew, in the dark shade, slender-stemmed palms and beautiful +tree-ferns, contrasting with the great leaves of the Heliconiae. At +seven we breakfasted on a sand-bank, and got our clothes and +blankets dried. There were numerous tracks of alligators, but it +was too early to look for their eggs in the sand; a month later, in +March, when the river falls, they are found in abundance, and eaten +by the canoe-men. At noon we reached the point where the Seripiqui, +a river coming down from the interior of Costa Rica, joins the San +Juan about thirty miles above Greytown. The Seripiqui is navigable +by canoes for about twenty miles from this point, and then +commences a rough mountain mule-track to San Jose, the capital of +Costa Rica. We paddled on all the afternoon with little change in +the river. At eight we anchored for the night, and although it +rained heavily again, I was better prepared for it, and, coiling +myself up under an umbrella beneath the tarpaulin, managed to sleep +a little. + +We started again before daylight, and at ten stopped at a small +clearing for breakfast. I strolled back a little way into the +gloomy forest, but it was not easy to get along on account of the +undergrowth and numerous climbing plants that bound it together. I +saw one of the large olive-green and brown mot-mots (Momotus +martii), sitting upon a branch of a tree, moving its long curious +tail from side to side, until it was nearly at right angles to its +body. I afterwards saw other species in the forests and savannahs +of Chontales. They all have several characters in common, linked +together in a series of gradations. One of these features is a spot +of black feathers on the breast. In some species this is edged with +blue, in others, as in the one mentioned above, these black +feathers form only a small black spot nearly hidden amongst the +rust-coloured feathers of the breast. Characters such as these, +very conspicuous in some species, shading off in others through +various gradations to insignificance, if not extinction, are known +by naturalists to occur in numerous genera; and so far they have +only been explained on the supposition of the descent of the +different species from a common progenitor. + +(PLATE 3. HEADS OF MOT-MOTS.) + +As I returned to the boat, I crossed a column of the army or +foraging ants, many of them dragging along the legs and mangled +bodies of insects that they had captured in their foray. I +afterwards often encountered these ants in the forests and it may +be convenient to place together all the facts I learnt respecting +them. + +ECITONS, OR FORAGING ANTS. + +The Ecitons, or foraging ants, are very numerous throughout Central +America. Whilst the leaf-cutting ants are entirely vegetable +feeders, the foraging ants are hunters, and live solely on insects +or other prey; and it is a curious analogy that, like the hunting +races of mankind, they have to change their hunting-grounds when +one is exhausted, and move on to another. In Nicaragua they are +generally called "Army Ants." One of the smaller species (Eciton +predator) used occasionally to visit our house, swarm over the +floors and walls, searching every cranny, and driving out the +cockroaches and spiders, many of which were caught, pulled or +bitten to pieces, and carried off. The individuals of this species +are of various sizes; the smallest measuring one and a quarter +lines, and the largest three lines, or a quarter of an inch. + +I saw many large armies of this, or a closely allied species, in +the forest. My attention was generally first called to them by the +twittering of some small birds, belonging to several different +species, that follow the ants in the woods. On approaching to +ascertain the cause of this disturbance, a dense body of the ants, +three or four yards wide, and so numerous as to blacken the ground, +would be seen moving rapidly in one direction, examining every +cranny, and underneath every fallen leaf. On the flanks, and in +advance of the main body, smaller columns would be pushed out. +These smaller columns would generally first flush the cockroaches, +grasshoppers, and spiders. The pursued insects would rapidly make +off, but many, in their confusion and terror, would bound right +into the midst of the main body of ants. A grasshopper, finding +itself in the midst of its enemies, would give vigorous leaps, with +perhaps two or three of the ants clinging to its legs. Then it +would stop a moment to rest, and that moment would be fatal, for +the tiny foes would swarm over the prey, and after a few more +ineffectual struggles it would succumb to its fate, and soon be +bitten to pieces and carried off to the rear. The greatest catch of +the ants was, however, when they got amongst some fallen brushwood. +The cockroaches, spiders, and other insects, instead of running +right away, would ascend the fallen branches and remain there, +whilst the host of ants were occupying all the ground below. By and +by up would come some of the ants, following every branch, and +driving before them their prey to the ends of the small twigs, when +nothing remained for them but to leap, and they would alight in the +very throng of their foes, with the result of being certainly +caught and pulled to pieces. Many of the spiders would escape by +hanging suspended by a thread of silk from the branches, safe from +the foes that swarmed both above and below. + +I noticed that spiders were generally most intelligent in escaping, +and did not, like the cockroaches and other insects, take shelter +in the first hiding-place they found, only to be driven out again, +or perhaps caught by the advancing army of ants. I have often seen +large spiders making off many yards in advance, and apparently +determined to put a good distance between themselves and their foe. +I once saw one of the false spiders, or harvest-men (Phalangidae), +standing in the midst of an army of ants, and with the greatest +circumspection and coolness lifting, one after the other, its long +legs, which supported its body above their reach. Sometimes as many +as five out of its eight legs would be lifted at once, and whenever +an ant approached one of those on which it stood, there was always +a clear space within reach to put down another, so as to be able to +hold up the threatened one out of danger. + +I was much more surprised with the behaviour of a green, leaf-like +locust. This insect stood immovably amongst a host of ants, many of +which ran over its legs, without ever discovering there was food +within their reach. So fixed was its instinctive knowledge that its +safety depended on its immovability, that it allowed me to pick it +up and replace it amongst the ants without making a single effort +to escape. This species closely resembles a green leaf, and the +other senses, which in the Ecitons appear to be more acute than +that of sight, must have been completely deceived. It might easily +have escaped from the ants by using its wings, but it would only +have fallen into as great a danger, for the numerous birds that +accompany the army ants are ever on the look out for any insect +that may fly up, and the heavy flying locusts, grasshoppers, and +cockroaches have no chance of escape. Several species of +ant-thrushes always accompany the army ants in the forest. They do +not, however, feed on the ants, but on the insects they disturb. +Besides the ant-thrushes, trogons, creepers, and a variety of other +birds, are often seen on the branches of trees above where an ant +army is foraging below, pursuing and catching the insects that fly +up. + +The insects caught by the ants are dismembered, and their too bulky +bodies bitten to pieces and carried off to the rear. Behind the +army there are always small columns engaged on this duty. I have +followed up these columns often; generally they led to dense masses +of impenetrable brushwood, but twice they led me to cracks in the +ground, down which the ants dragged their prey. These habitations +are only temporary, for in a few days not an ant would be seen in +the neighbourhood; all would have moved off to fresh +hunting-grounds. + +Another much larger species of foraging ant (__Eciton hamata__) hunts +sometimes in dense armies, sometimes in columns, according to the +prey it may be after. When in columns, I found that it was +generally, if not always, in search of the nests of another ant +(Hypoclinea sp.), which rear their young in holes in rotten trunks +of fallen timber, and are very common in cleared places. The +Ecitons hunt about in columns, which branch off in various +directions. When a fallen log is reached, the column spreads out +over it, searching through all the holes and cracks. The workers +are of various sizes, and the smallest are here of use, for they +squeeze themselves into the narrowest holes, and search out their +prey in the furthest ramifications of the nests. When a nest of the +Hypoclinea is attacked, the ants rush out, carrying the larvae and +pupae in their jaws, only to be immediately despoiled of them by +the Ecitons, which are running about in every direction with great +swiftness. Whenever they come across a Hypoclinea carrying a larva +or pupa, they capture the burden so quickly, that I could never +ascertain exactly how it was done. + +As soon as an Eciton gets hold of its prey, it rushes off back +along the advancing column, which is composed of two sets, one +hurrying forward, the other returning laden with their booty, but +all and always in the greatest haste and apparent hurry. About the +nest which they are harrying everything is confusion, Ecitons run +here and there and everywhere in the greatest haste and disorder; +but the result of all this apparent confusion is that scarcely a +single Hypoclinea gets away with a pupa or larva. I never saw the +Ecitons injure the Hypoclineas themselves, they were always +contented with despoiling them of their young. The ant that is +attacked is a very cowardly species, and never shows fight. I often +found it running about sipping at the glands of leaves, or milking +aphides, leaf-hoppers, or scale-insects that it found unattended by +other ants. On the approach of another, though of a much smaller +species, it would immediately run away. Probably this cowardly and +un-antly disposition has caused it to become the prey of the Eciton. +At any rate, I never saw the Ecitons attack the nest of other +species. + +The moving columns of Ecitons are composed almost entirely of +workers of different sizes, but at intervals of two or three yards +there are larger and lighter-coloured individuals that will often +stop, and sometimes run a little backward, halting and touching +some of the ants with their antennae. They look like officers +giving orders and directing the march of the column. + +This species is often met with in the forest, not in quest of one +particular form of prey, but hunting, like _Eciton predator_, only +spread out over a much greater space of ground. Crickets, +grasshoppers, scorpions, centipedes, wood-lice, cockroaches, and +spiders are driven out from below the fallen leaves and branches. +Many of them are caught by the ants; others that get away are +picked up by the numerous birds that accompany the ants, as +vultures follow the armies of the East. The ants send off exploring +parties up the trees, which hunt for nests of wasps, bees, and +probably birds. If they find any, they soon communicate the +intelligence to the army below, and a column is sent up immediately +to take possession of the prize. I have seen them pulling out the +larvae and pupae from the cells of a large wasp's nest, whilst the +wasps hovered about, powerless, before the multitude of the +invaders, to render any protection to their young. + +I have no doubt that many birds have acquired instincts to combat +or avoid the great danger to which their young are exposed by the +attacks of these and other ants. Trogons, parrots, toucans, +mot-mots, and many other birds build in holes of trees or in the +ground, and these, with their heads ever turned to the only +entrance, are in the best possible position to pick off singly the +scouts when they approach, thus effectually preventing them from +carrying to the main army intelligence about the nest. Some of +these birds, and especially the toucans, have bills beautifully +adapted for picking up the ants before they reach the nest. Many of +the smaller birds build on the branches of the bull's-horn thorn, +which is always thickly covered with small stinging honey-eating +ants, that would not allow the Ecitons to ascend these trees. + +Amongst the mammalia the opossums can convey their young out of +danger in their pouches, and the females of many of the tree-rats +and mice have a hard callosity near the teats, to which the young +cling with their milk teeth, and can be dragged away by the mother +to a place of safety. + +The eyes in the Ecitons are very small, in some of the species +imperfect, and in others entirely absent; in this they differ +greatly from those ants which hunt singly, and which have the eyes +greatly developed. The imperfection of eyesight in the Ecitons is +an advantage to the community, and to their particular mode of +hunting. It keeps them together, and prevents individual ants from +starting off alone after objects that, if their eyesight were +better, they might discover at a distance. The Ecitons and most +other ants follow each other by scent, and, I believe, they can +communicate the presence of danger, of booty, or other +intelligence, to a distance by the different intensity or qualities +of the odours given off. I one day saw a column of __Eciton hamata__ +running along the foot of a nearly perpendicular tramway cutting, +the side of which was about six feet high. At one point I noticed a +sort of assembly of about a dozen individuals that appeared in +consultation. Suddenly one ant left the conclave, and ran with +great speed up the perpendicular face of the cutting without +stopping. It was followed by others, which, however, did not keep +straight on like the first, but ran a short way, then returned, +then again followed a little further than the first time. They were +evidently scenting the trail of the pioneer, and making it +permanently recognisable. These ants followed the exact line taken +by the first one, although it was far out of sight. Wherever it had +made a slight detour they did so likewise. I scraped with my knife +a small portion of the clay on the trail, and the ants were +completely at fault for a time which way to go. Those ascending and +those descending stopped at the scraped portion, and made short +circuits until they hit the scented trail again, when all their +hesitation vanished, and they ran up and down it with the greatest +confidence. On gaining the top of the cutting, the ants entered +some brushwood suitable for hunting. In a very short space of time +the information was communicated to the ants below, and a dense +column rushed up to search for their prey. + +The Ecitons are singular amongst the ants in this respect, that +they have no fixed habitations, but move on from one place to +another, as they exhaust the hunting grounds around them. I think +_Eciton hamata_ does not stay more than four or five days in one +place. I have sometimes come across the migratory columns. They may +easily be known by all the common workers moving in one direction, +many of them carrying the larvae and pupae carefully in their jaws. +Here and there one of the light-coloured officers moves backwards +and forwards directing the columns. Such a column is of enormous +length, and contains many thousands, if not millions of +individuals. I have sometimes followed them up for two or three +hundred yards without getting to the end. + +They make their temporary habitations in hollow trees, and +sometimes underneath large fallen trunks that offer suitable +hollows. A nest that I came across in the latter situation was open +at one side. The ants were clustered together in a dense mass, like +a great swarm of bees, hanging from the roof, but reaching to the +ground below. Their innumerable long legs looked like brown threads +binding together the mass, which must have been at least a cubic +yard in bulk, and contained hundreds of thousands of individuals, +although many columns were outside, some bringing in the pupae of +ants, others the legs and dissected bodies of various insects. I +was surprised to see in this living nest tubular passages leading +down to the centre of the mass, kept open just as if it had been +formed of inorganic materials. Down these holes the ants who were +bringing in booty passed with their prey. I thrust a long stick +down to the centre of the cluster, and brought out clinging to it +many ants holding larvae and pupae, which probably were kept warm +by the crowding together of the ants. Besides the common +dark-coloured workers and light-coloured officers, I saw here many +still larger individuals with enormous jaws. These they go about +holding wide open in a threatening manner, and I found, contrary to +my expectation, that they could give a severe bite with them, and +that it was difficult to withdraw the jaws from the skin again. + +One day when watching a small column of these ants, I placed a +little stone on one of the ants to secure it. The next that +approached, as soon as it discovered the situation of the prisoner, +ran backwards in an agitated manner, and communicated the +intelligence to the others. They rushed to the rescue, some bit at +the stone and tried to move it, others seized the captive by the +legs, and tugged with such force that I thought the legs would be +pulled off, but they persevered until they freed it. I next covered +one up with a piece of clay, leaving only the ends of its antennae +projecting. It was soon discovered by its fellows, which set to +work immediately, and by biting off pieces of the clay, soon +liberated it. Another time I found a very few of them passing along +at intervals. I confined one of these under a piece of clay, at a +little distance from the line, with his head projecting. Several +ants passed it, but at last one discovered it and tried to pull it +out, but could not. It immediately set off at a great rate, and I +thought it had deserted its comrade, but it had only gone for +assistance, for in a short time about a dozen ants came hurrying +up, evidently fully informed of the circumstances of the case, for +they made directly for their imprisoned comrade, and soon set him +free. I do not see how this action could be instinctive. It was +sympathetic help, such as man only among the higher mammalia shows. +The excitement and ardour with which they carried on their +unflagging exertions for the rescue of their comrade could not have +been greater if they had been human beings, and this to meet a +danger that can be only of the rarest occurrence. Amongst the ants +of Central America I place the Eciton as the first in intelligence, +and as such at the head of the Articulata. Wasps and bees come next +to ants, and then others of the Hymenoptera. Between ants and the +lower forms of insects there is a greater difference in reasoning +powers than there is between man and the lowest mammalian. A recent +writer has argued that of all animals ants approach nearest to man +in their social condition.* (*Houzeau, "Etudes sur les Facultes +mentales des Animaux comparees a celles de l'Homme.") Perhaps if we +could learn their wonderful language we should find that even in +their mental condition they also rank next to humanity. + +I shall relate two more instances of the use of a reasoning faculty +in these ants. I once saw a wide column trying to pass along a +crumbling, nearly perpendicular, slope. They would have got very +slowly over it, and many of them would have fallen, but a number +having secured their hold, and reaching to each other, remained +stationary, and over them the main column passed. Another time they +were crossing a water-course along a small branch, not thicker than +a goose-quill. They widened this natural bridge to three times its +width by a number of ants clinging to it and to each other on each +side, over which the column passed three or four deep. Except for +this expedient they would have had to pass over in single file, and +treble the time would have been consumed. Can it not be contended +that such insects are able to determine by reasoning powers which +is the best way of doing a thing, and that their actions are guided +by thought and reflection? This view is much strengthened by the +fact that the cerebral ganglia in ants are more developed than in +any other insect, and that in all the Hymenoptera, at the head of +which they stand, "they are many times larger than in the less +intelligent orders, such as beetles."* (* Darwin, "Descent of Man" +volume 1 page 145.) + +The Hymenoptera standing at the head of the Articulata, and the +Mammalia at the head of the Vertebrata, it is curious to mark how, +in geological history, the appearance and development of these two +orders (culminating, one in the Ants; the other in the Primates) +run parallel. The Hymenoptera and the Mammalia both make their +first appearance early in the secondary period, and it is not until +the commencement of the tertiary epoch that ants and monkeys appear +upon the scene. There the parallel ends. No one species of ant has +attained any great superiority above all its fellows, whilst man is +very far in advance of all the other Primates. + +When we see these intelligent insects dwelling together in orderly +communities of many thousands of individuals, their social +instincts developed to a high degree of perfection, making their +marches with the regularity of disciplined troops, showing +ingenuity in the crossing of difficult places, assisting each other +in danger, defending their nests at the risk of their own lives, +communicating information rapidly to a great distance, making a +regular division of work, the whole community taking charge of the +rearing of the young, and all imbued with the strongest sense of +industry, each individual labouring not for itself alone but also +for its fellows--we may imagine that Sir Thomas More's description +of Utopia might have been applied with greater justice to such a +community than to any human society. "But in Utopia, where every +man has a right to everything, they do all know that if care is +taken to keep the public stores full, no private man can want +anything; for among them there is no unequal distribution, so that +no man is poor, nor in any necessity, and though no man has +anything, yet they are all rich; for what can make a man so rich as +to lead a serene and cheerful life, free from anxieties, neither +apprehending want himself, nor vexed with the endless complaints of +his wife? He is not afraid of the misery of his children, nor is he +contriving how to raise a portion for his daughters, but is secure +in this, that both he and his wife, his children and grandchildren, +to as many generations as he can fancy, will all live both +plentifully and happily." + + +CHAPTER 3. + +Journey up river continued. +Wild pigs and jaguar. +Bungos. +Reach Machuca. +Castillo. +Capture of Castillo by Nelson. +India-rubber trade. +Rubber-men. +Method of making india-rubber. +Congo monkeys. +Macaws. +The Savallo river. +Endurance of the boatmen. +San Carlos. +Interoceanic canal. +Advantages of the Nicaraguan route. +The Rio Frio. +Stories about the wild Indians. +Indian captive children. +Expeditions up the Rio Frio. +American river steamboats. + +AFTER breakfast we again continued our voyage up the river, and +passed the mouth of the San Carlos, another large stream running +down from the interior of Costa Rica. Soon after we heard some wild +pigs (Dicoteles tajacu) or Wari, as they are called by the natives, +striking their teeth together in the wood, and one of the boatmen +leaping on shore soon shot one, which he brought on board after +cutting out a gland on its back that emits a musky odour, and we +afterwards had it cooked for our dinner. These Wari go in herds of +from fifty to one hundred. They are said to assist each other +against the attacks of the jaguar, but that wary animal is too +intelligent for them. He sits quietly upon a branch of a tree until +the Wari come underneath; then jumping down kills one by breaking +its neck; leaps up into the tree again and waits there until the +herd depart, when he comes down and feeds on the slaughtered Wari +in quietness. We shortly afterwards passed one of the large boats +called bungos, that carry down to Greytown the produce of the +country and take up merchandise and flour. This one was laden with +cattle and india-rubber. The bungos are flat-bottomed boats, about +forty feet long and nine feet wide. There is generally a little +cabin, roofed over at the stern, in which the wife of the captain +lives. The bungo is poled along by twelve bungo-men, who have +usually only one suit of clothes each, which they do not wear +during the day, but keep stowed away under the cargo that it may be +dry to put on at night. Their bronzed, glistening, naked bodies, as +they ply their long poles together in unison, and chant some +Spanish boat-song, is one of the things that linger in the memory +of the traveller up the San Juan. Our boatmen paddled and poled +until eleven at night, when we reached Machuca, a settlement +consisting of a single house, just below the rapids of the same +name, seventy-miles above Greytown. + +We breakfasted at Machuca before starting next morning, and I +walked up round the rapids and met the canoe above them. About five +o'clock, after paddling all day, we came in sight of Castillo, +where there is an old ruined Spanish fort perched on the top of a +hill overlooking the little town, which lies along the foot of the +steep hill; hemmed in between it and the river, so that there is +only room for one narrow street. It was near Castillo that Nelson +lost his eye. He took the fort by landing about half a mile lower +down the river, and dragging his guns round to a hill behind it by +which it was commanded. This hill is now cleared of timber and +covered with grass, supporting a few cows and a great many goats. +In front of the town run the rapids of Castillo, which are +difficult to ascend, and as there is no road round them excepting +through the town of Castillo, advantage has been taken of the +situation to fix the custom-house there, where are collected the +duties on all articles going up to the interior. The first view of +Castillo when coming up the river is a fine one. The fort-crowned +hill and the little town clinging to its foot form the centre of +the picture. The clear, sparkling, dancing rapids on one side +contrast with the still, dark forest on the other, whilst the whole +is relieved by the bright green grassy hills in the background. +This view is the only pleasant recollection I have carried away of +the place. The single street is narrow, dirty, and rugged, and when +the shades of evening begin to creep up, swarms of mosquitoes issue +forth to buzz and bite. + +I here made the acquaintance of colonel McCrae, who was largely +concerned in the india-rubber trade. He afterwards distinguished +himself during the revolutionary outbreak of 1869. He collected the +rubber men and came to the assistance of the government, helping +greatly to put down the insurrection. Originally a British subject, +but now a naturalised Nicaraguan, he has filled with great credit +for some time the post of deputy-governor of Greytown, and I always +heard him spoken of with great esteem both by Nicaraguans and +foreigners. He showed to me pieces of cordage, pottery, and stone +implements brought down by the rubber men from the wild Indians of +the Rio Frio. Castillo is one of the centres of the rubber trade. +Parties of men are here fitted out with canoes and provisions, and +proceed up the rivers, far into the uninhabited forests of the +Atlantic slope. They remain for several months away, and are +expected to bring the rubber they obtain to the merchants who have +fitted them out, but very many prove faithless, and carry off their +produce to other towns, where they have no difficulty in finding +purchasers. Notwithstanding these losses, the merchants engaged in +the rubber trade have done well; its steadily increasing value +during the last few years having made the business a highly +remunerative one. According to the information supplied to me at +Greytown by Mr. Paton, the exports of rubber from that port had +increased from 401,475 pounds, valued at 112,413 dollars, in 1867, +to 754,886 pounds, valued at 226,465 dollars, in 1871. India-rubber +was well-known to the ancient inhabitants of Central America. +Before the Spanish conquest the Mexicans played with balls made +from it, and it still bears its Aztec name of Ulli, from which the +Spaniards call the collectors of it Ulleros. It is obtained from +quite a different tree, and prepared in a different manner, from +the rubber of the Amazons. The latter is taken from the Siphonia +elastica, a Euphorbiaceous tree; but in Central America the tree +that yields it it is a species of wild fig (Castilloa elastica). It +is easily known by its large leaves, and I saw several whilst +ascending the river. When the collectors find an untapped one in +the forest, they first make a ladder out of the lianas or "vejuccos +" that hang from every tree; this they do by tying short pieces of +wood across them with small lianas, many of which are as tough as +cord. They then proceed to score the bark, with cuts which extend +nearly round the tree like the letter V, the point being downwards. +A cut like this is made about every three feet all the way up the +trunk. The milk will all run out of a tree in about an hour after +it is cut, and is collected into a large tin bottle made flat on +one side and furnished with straps to fix on to a man's back. A +decoction is made from a liana (Calonyction speciosum), and this on +being added to the milk, in the proportion of one pint to a gallon, +coagulates it to rubber, which is made into round flat cakes. A +large tree, five feet in diameter, will yield when first cut about +twenty gallons of milk, each gallon of which makes two and a half +pounds of rubber. I was told that the tree recovers from the wounds +and may be cut again after the lapse of a few months; but several +that I saw were killed through the large Harlequin beetle +(Acrocinus longimanus) laying its eggs in the cuts, and the grubs +that are hatched boring great holes all through the trunk. When +these grubs are at work you can hear their rasping by standing at +the bottom of the tree, and the wood-dust thrown out of their +burrows accumulates in heaps on the ground below. The government +attempts no supervision of the forests: any one may cut the trees, +and great destruction is going on amongst them through the young +ones being tapped as well as the full-grown ones. The tree grows +very quickly, and plantations of it might easily be made, which +would in the course of ten or twelve years become highly +remunerative. + +We left Castillo at daylight the next morning, and continued our +journey up the river. Its banks presented but little change. We saw +many tall graceful palms and tree ferns, but most of the trees were +dicotyledons. Amongst these the mahogany (Swietonia mahogani) and +the cedar (Cedrela odorata) are now rare near the river, but a few +such trees were pointed out to me. High up in one tree, underneath +which we passed, were seated some of the black congo monkeys +(Mycetes palliatus) which at times, especially before rain and at +nightfall, make a fearful howling, though not so loud as the +Brazilian species. Screaming macaws, in their gorgeous livery of +blue, yellow, and scarlet, occasionally flew overhead, and tanagers +and toucans were not uncommon. + +Twelve miles above Castillo we reached the mouth of the Savallo, +and stayed at a house there to breakfast, the owner, a German, +giving us roast wari, fowls, and eggs. He told me that there was a +hot spring up the Savallo, but I had not time to go and see it. +Above Savallo the San Juan is deep and sluggish, the banks low and +swampy. The large palm, so common in the delta of the river, here +reappeared with its great coarse leaves twenty feet in length, +springing from near the ground. + +Our boatmen continued to paddle all day, and as night approached +redoubled their exertions, singing to the stroke of their paddles. +I was astonished at their endurance. They kept on until eleven +o'clock at night, when we reached San Carlos, having accomplished +about thirty-five miles during the day against the current. San +Carlos is at the head of the river, where it issues from the great +lake of Nicaragua, about one hundred and twenty miles from +Greytown. The mean level of the waters of the lake, according to +the survey of Colonel O.W. Childs, in 1851, is 107 1/2 feet, so +that the river falls on an average a little less than one foot per +mile. The height of the lowest pass between the lake and the +Pacific is said to be twenty-six feet above the lake, therefore at +that point the highest elevation between the two oceans is only +about 133 feet; but even allowing that an error of a few feet may +be discovered when a thorough survey is made across from sea to +sea, there can be no doubt that at this point occurs the lowest +pass between the Atlantic and the Pacific in Central America. This +fact, and the immense natural reservoir of water near the head of +the navigation, point out the route as a practicable one for a ship +canal between the two oceans. + +Instead of cutting a canal from the head of the delta of the San +Juan to the sea, as has been proposed, the Colorado branch might be +straightened, and dredged to the required depth. Higher up, the +Torre, Castillo, and Machuca Rapids form natural dams across the +river. These might be raised, locks formed round them, and the +water deepened by dredging between them. In this way the great +expense of cutting a canal, and the fearful mortality that always +arises amongst the labourers when excavations are made in the +virgin soil of the tropics, especially in marshy lands, would be +greatly lessened between the lake and the Atlantic. Another great +advantage would be that the deepening of the river could be +effected by steam power, so that it would not be necessary to bring +such a multitude of labourers to the isthmus as would be required +if a canal were cut from the river; the whole track, moreover, +passes through virgin forests rich in inexhaustible supplies of +fuel.* (* The commission appointed by the United States Government +to examine into the practicability of making a canal across the +isthmus reported in favour of the Nicaraguan route, and the work +was begun at Greytown in 1889. But after an expenditure of 4,500, +000 dollars, the scheme was abandoned, for political reasons, in +favour of the Panama route.) + +San Carlos is a small town at the foot of the great lake, where it +empties its waters into the San Juan river, its only outlet to the +ocean. On a hill behind the town, and commanding the entrance to +the river, are the ruins of a once strong fort built by the +Spaniards, the crumbling walls now green with the delicate fronds +of a maiden hair fern (Adiantum). The little town consists of a +single rugged street leading up from the lake. The houses are +mostly palm-thatched huts, with the bare earth floors seldom or +never swept. The people are of mixed origin, Indian, Spanish, and +Negro, the Indian element predominating. Two or three better built +stores, and the quarters of the military governor, redeem the place +from an appearance of utter squalor. Behind the town there are a +few small clearings in the forest, where maize is grown. Some +orange, banana, and plantain trees exhaust the list of the +productions of San Carlos, which is supported by being a calling +place for all vessels proceeding up and down the river, and by the +Ulleros or rubber-men who start from it for expeditions up the Rio +Frio and other rivers. We found there two men who had just been +brought down the Rio Frio by their companions, greatly injured, by +the lianas up which they had made their ladder to ascend one of the +rubber trees, having broken and precipitated them to the ground. I +learnt that this was a very unusual accident, the lianas generally +being very tough and strong, like great cables. + +Most fabulous stories have been told about the Rio Frio and its +inhabitants; stories of great cities, golden ornaments, and +light-haired people, and it may be useful to relate what is known +about it. + +The Rio Frio comes down from the interior of Costa Rica, and joins +the San Juan, near where the latter issues from the lake. The banks +of its upper waters are inhabited by a race of Indians who have +never been subjugated by the Spaniards, and about whom very little +is known. They are called Guatuses, and have been said to have red +or light-coloured hair and European features, to account for which +various ingenious theories have been advanced; but, unfortunately +for these speculations, some children, and even adults, have been +captured and brought down the river by the Ulleros, and all these +have the usual features and coarse black hair of the Indians. One +little child that Dr. Seemann and I saw at San Carlos, in 1870, had +a few brownish hairs amongst the great mass of black ones; but this +character may be found amongst many of the indigenes, and may +result from a very slight admixture of foreign blood. I have seen +altogether five children from the Rio Frio, and a boy about sixteen +years of age, and they had all the common Indian features and hair; +though it struck me that they appeared rather more intelligent than +the generality of Indians. Besides these, an adult woman was +captured by the rubber-men and brought down to Castillo, and I was +told by several who had seen her that she did not differ in any way +from the usual Indian type. + +The Guatuse (pronounced Watusa) is an animal about the size of a +hare, very common in Central America, and good eating. It has +reddish-brown fur, and the usual explanation of the Nicaraguans is +that the Indians of the Rio Frio were called "Guatuses" because +they had red hair. It is very common to find the Indian tribes of +America called after wild animals, and my own opinion is that the +origin of the fable about the red hair was a theory to explain why +they were called Guatuses; for the natives of Nicaragua, and of +parts much nearer home, are fond of giving fanciful explanations of +the names of places and things: thus, I have been assured by an +intelligent and educated Nicaraguan, that Guatemala was so-called +by the Spaniards because they found the guate (a kind of grass) in +that country bad, hence "guate malo," "bad guate,"--whereas every +student of Mexican history knows that the name was the Spanish +attempt to pronounce the old Aztec one of Quauhtemallan, which +meant the Land of the Eagle. I shall have other occasions, in the +course of my narrative, to show how careful a traveller in Central +America must be not to accept the explanations of the natives of +the names of places and things. + +The first people who ascended the Rio Frio were attacked by the +Indians, who killed several with their arrows. Exaggerated opinions +of their ferocity and courage were in consequence for a long time +prevalent, and the river remained unknown and unexplored, and +probably would have done so to the present day, if it had not been +for the rubber-men. When the trade in india-rubber became fully +developed, the trees in the more accessible parts of the forest +were soon exhausted, and the collectors were obliged to penetrate +farther and farther back into the untrodden wilds of the Atlantic +slope. Some more adventurous than others ascended the Rio Frio, and +being well provided with fire-arms, which they mercilessly used, +they were able to defy the poor Indians, armed only with spears and +bows and arrows, and to drive them back into the woods. The first +Ulleros who ascended the river were so successful in finding +rubber, that various other parties were organised, and now an +ascent of the Rio Frio from San Carlos is of common occurrence. The +poor Indians are now in such dread of fire-arms, that on the first +appearance of a boat coming up the river they desert their houses +and run into the woods for shelter. The Ulleros rush on shore and +seize everything that the poor fugitives have left behind them; and +in some cases the latter have not been able to carry off their +children, and these have been brought down in triumph to San +Carlos. The excuse for stealing the children is that they may be +baptised and made Christians; and I am sorry to say that this +shameful treatment of the poor Indians is countenanced and connived +at by the authorities. I was told of one commandante at San Carlos +who had manned some canoes and proceeded up the river as far as the +plantain grounds of the Indians, loaded his boats with the +plantains, and brought them down to San Carlos, where the people +appear to be too indolent to grow them themselves. All who have +ascended the river speak of the great quantities of plantains that +the Guatuses grow, and this fruit, and the abundant fish of the +river, form their principal food. Their houses are large sheds open +at the sides, and thatched with the "suiti" palm. As is often the +case amongst the Indians, several families live in one house. The +floor is kept well cleaned. I was amused with a lady in San Carlos +who, in describing their well-kept houses to Dr. Seemann and +myself, pointed to her own unswept and littered earth floor and +said, "They keep their houses very, very clean--as clean as this." +The lad and the woman who were captured and brought down the Rio +Frio both ran away--the one from San Carlos, the other from +Castillo; but neither could succeed in reaching home, on account of +the swamps and rivers in their way, and after wandering about the +woods for some time they were recaptured. I saw the lad soon after +he was taken the second time. He had been a month in the woods, +living on roots and fruits, and had nearly died from starvation. He +had an intelligent, sharp, and independent look about him, and kept +continually talking in his own language, apparently surprised that +the people around him did not understand what he was saying. He was +taken to Castillo, and met there the woman who had been captured a +year before, and had learnt to speak a little Spanish. Through her +as an interpreter, he tried to get permission to return to the Rio +Frio, saying that if they would let him go he would come back and +bring his father and mother with him. This simple artifice of the +poor boy was, of course ineffectual. He was afterwards taken to +Granada, for the purpose, they said, of being educated, that he +might become the means of opening up communication with his tribe. + +The rubber-men bring down many little articles that they pillage +from the Indians. They consist of cordage, made from the fibre of +Bromeliaceous plants, bone hooks, and stone implements. Amongst the +latter, I was fortunate enough to obtain a rude stone hatchet, set +in a stone-cut wooden handle: it was firmly fixed in a hole made in +the thick end of the handle.* [* Figured in Evans' "Ancient Stone +Implements" second edition page 155. In Evans' first edition it is +erroneously stated in the text to be from Texas. It has been +pointed out that early man adopted the opposite method to the +modern in the mounting of his axes: we fix the handle into a hole +in the axe head; he jammed the head into a hole in the handle.] It +is a singular fact, and one showing the persistence of particular +ways of doing things through long ages amongst people belonging to +the same race, that, in the ancient Mexican, Uxmal, and Palenque +picture-writings, bronze axes are represented fixed in this +identical manner in holes at the thick ends of the handles. + +We slept on board one of the steamers of the American Transit +Company. It was too dark when we arrived at San Carlos to see +anything that night of the great lake, but we heard the waves +breaking on the beach as on a sea-shore, and from further away came +that moaning sound that has from the earliest ages of history +connected the idea of the sea with sorrow and sadness.* (* "There +is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet" Jeremiah 49:23.) The +steamer we stayed in was one of four river-boats belonging to the +Transit Company, which was at this time in difficulties, and +ultimately the boats were sold; part of them being bought by Mr. +Hollenbeck, and used by the navigation company which he +established. These steamers are built expressly for shallow rivers, +and are very different structures from anything we see in England. +The bottom is made quite flat, and divided into compartments; the +first deck being only about eighteen inches above the water, from +which it is divided by no bulwarks or other protection. Upon this +deck are placed the cargo and the driving machinery. A vertical +boiler is fixed at the bow, and two horizontal engines, driving a +large paddle-wheel, at the stern. The second deck is for +passengers, and is raised on light wooden pillars braced with iron +rods about seven feet above the first. Above this is another deck, +on which are the cabins of the officers and the steering apparatus. +The appearance of such a structure is more like that of a house +than a boat. The one we were in, the "Panaloya," drew only three +feet of water when laden with 400 passengers and twenty tons of +cargo. + + +CHAPTER 4. + +The lake of Nicaragua. +Ometepec. +Becalmed on the lake. +White egrets. +Reach San Ubaldo. +Ride across the plains. +Vegetation of the plains. +Armadillo. +Savannahs. +Jicara trees. +Jicara bowls. +Origin of gourd-shaped pottery. +Coyotes. +Mule-breeding. +Reach Acoyapo. +Festa. +Cross high range. +Esquipula. +The Rio Mico. +Supposed statues on its banks. +Pital. +Cultivation of maize. +Its use from the earliest times in America. +Separation of the maize-eating from the mandioca-eating + indigenes of America. +Tortillas. +Sugar-making. +Enter the forest of the Atlantic slope. +Vegetation of the forest. +Muddy roads. +Arrive at Santo Domingo. + +As daylight broke next morning, I was up, anxious to see the great +lake about which I had heard so much. To the north-west a great +sheet of quiet water extended as far as the eye could reach, with +islands here and there, and--the central figure in every view of +the lake--the great conical peak of Ometepec towered up, 5050 feet +above the sea, and 4922 feet above the surface of the lake. To the +left, in the dim distance, were the cloud-capped mountains of Costa +Rica; to the right, nearer at hand, low hills and ranges covered +with dark forests. The lake is too large to be called beautiful, +and its vast extent and the mere glimpses of its limits and +cloud-capped peaks appeal to the imagination rather than to the +eye. At this end of the lake the water is shallow, probably filled +up by the mud brought down by the Rio Frio. + +We had still a voyage of sixty miles before us up the lake, and +this was to be accomplished not by paddling, but by sailing; so we +now rigged two light masts, and soon after seven o'clock sailed +slowly away from San Carlos before a light breeze, which in an +hour's time freshened and carried us along at the rate of about six +miles an hour. The sun rose higher and higher; the day waxed hotter +and hotter. About noon the wind failed us again, and the sun right +overhead, in a clear pitiless sky, scorched us with its rays, while +our boat lay like a log upon the water, the pitch melting in the +seams with the heat. The surface of the lake was motionless, save +for a gentle heaving. We were almost broiled with the stifling +heat, but at last saw a ripple on the water come up from the +north-east; soon the breeze reached us, and our torment was over; +our sails, no more idly flapping, filled out before the wind; the +canoe dashed through the rising waves; our drooping spirits +revived, and there was an opening out of provisions, and life again +in the boat. The breeze continued all the afternoon, and at dark we +were off the islands of Nancital, having been all day within a few +miles of the north-eastern side of the lake, the banks of which are +everywhere clothed with dark gloomy-looking forests. One of the +islands was a favourite sleeping-place for the white egrets. From +all sides they were flying across the lake towards it; and as night +set in, the trees and bushes by the water-side were full of them, +gleaming like great white flowers amongst the dark green foliage. +Flocks of muscovy and whistling ducks also flew over to their +evening feeding-places. Great masses of a floating plant, shaped +like a cabbage, were abundant on the lake, and on these the white +egrets and other wading birds often alighted. The boatmen told +me--and the story is likely enough to be true--that the alligators, +floating about like logs, with their eyes above the water, watch +these birds, and, moving quietly up until within a few yards of +them, sink down below the surface, come up underneath them, catch +them by the legs and drag them under water. Besides the alligators, +large freshwater sharks appear to be common in the lake. Sometimes, +when in shallow water, we saw a pointed billow rapidly moving away +from the boat, produced by some large fish below, and I was told it +was a shark. + +After dark the wind failed us again, and we got slowly along, but +finally reached our port, San Ubaldo, about ten o'clock, and found +an officer of the mining company, living in a small thatched hut, +stationed there to send on the machinery and other goods that +arrived for the mines. A large tiled store had also just been built +by the owner of the estate there, Don Gregorio Quadra, under the +verandah of which I hung my hammock for the night. Mules were +waiting at San Ubaldo for us, and early next morning we set off, +with our luggage on pack mules. We crossed some rocky low hills, +with scanty vegetation, and, after passing the cattle hacienda of +San Jose, reached the plains of the same name, about two leagues in +width, now dry and dusty, but in the wet season forming a great +slough of water and tenacious mud, through which the mules have to +wade and plunge. + +In the midst of these plains there are some rocky knolls, like +islands, on which grow spiny cactuses, low leathery-leaved trees, +slender, spiny palms, with plum-like fruit, prickly acacias, and +thorny bromelias. This spiny character of vegetation seems to be +characteristic of dry rocky places and tracts of country liable to +great drought. Probably it is as a protection from herbivorous +animals, to prevent them browsing upon the twigs and small branches +where herbaceous vegetation is dried up. Small armadillos abound +near these rocky knolls, and are said to feed on ants and other +insects. We had a long chase after one, which we observed some +distance from the rock, over the cracked and dried-up plain: though +it could not run very fast, it doubled quickly, and the rough +cracked ground made odds in its favour; but it was ultimately +secured. Pigeons, brown coloured, of various sizes, from that of a +thrush to that of a common dove, were numerous and very tame. One +of the smallest species alights and seeks about in the streets of +small towns for seeds, like a sparrow, and more boldly than that +bird, for it is not molested by the children--more perhaps from +indolence than from any lack of the element of cruelty in their +dispositions. After crossing the plains we rode over undulating +hills, here called savannahs, with patches of forest on the rising +ground, and small plains on which grows the ternate-leaved jicara +(pronounced hickory), a tree about as large as an apple-tree, with +fruit of the size, shape, and appearance of a large green orange, +but growing on the trunk and branches, not amongst the leaves. The +outside of the fruit is a hard thin shell, packed full of seeds in +a kind of dry pulp, on which are fed fowls, and even horses and +cattle in the dry season; the latter are said sometimes to choke +themselves with the fruit, whilst trying to eat it. Of the bruised +seeds is also made a cooling drink, much used in Nicaragua. The +jicara trees grow apart at equal distances, as if planted by man. +The hard thin shell of the fruit, carved in various patterns on the +outside, is made into cups and drinking-vessels by the natives, who +also cultivate other species of jicara, with round fruit, as large +as a man's head, from which the larger drinking-bowls are made. In +the smaller jicaras chocolate is always made and served in Central +America, and, being rounded at the bottom, little stands are made +to set them in; these are sometimes shaped like egg-cups, sometimes +like toy washhand-stands. In making their earthenware vessels, the +Indians up to this day follow this natural form, and their +water-jars and bowls are made rounded at the bottom, requiring +stands to keep them upright. + +The meals of Montezuma were served on thick cushions or pillows. +This was probably on account of the rounded bases of the bowls and +dishes used. The gourd forms of bowls possibly originated from the +clay being moulded over gourds which were burnt out in the baking +process. It is said that in the Southern States the kilns in which +the ancient pottery was baked have been found, and in some the +half-baked ware remained, retaining the rinds of the gourds over +which they had been moulded. Afterwards, when the potter learned to +make bowls without the aid of gourds, he still retained the shape +of his ancient pattern. + +The name, too, like the form, has had a wonderful vitality. It is +the "xicalli" of the ancient Aztecs, changed to "jicara" by the +Spaniards, by which they mean a chocolate-cup; and even in Italy a +modification of the same word may be heard, a tea-cup being called +a chicchera. + +On top of one of the hills we just got a glimpse of a small pack of +wolves, or coyotes, as they are called, from the Aztec coyotl. They +are smaller than the European wolf, and are cunning, like a fox, +but hunt in packs. They looked down at us from the ridge of the +hill for a few moments, then trotted off down the other side. Their +howlings may often be heard in the early morning. + +Cattle, horses, and mules are bred on these plains. Male asses are +kept at some of the haciendas. They are not allowed to mix with any +of their own kind, and are well fed and in good condition; but they +are only of small size, and the breed of mules might be greatly +improved by the introduction of larger asses. + +The vegetation on the plains was rapidly drying up. Many of the +trees shed their leaves in the dry season, just as they do with us +in autumn. The barrenness of the landscape is relieved in March by +several kinds of trees bursting into flower when they have shed +their leaves, and presenting great domes of brilliant colour--some +pink, others red, blue, yellow, or white, like single-coloured +bouquets. One looked like a gigantic rhododendron, with bunches of +large pink flowers. The yellow-flowered ones belong to wild +cotton-trees, from the pods of which the natives gather cotton to +stuff pillows, etc. About one o'clock we reached rather a large +river, and after crossing it came in sight of the town of Acoyapo, +one of the principal towns of the province of Chontales. we stayed +and had dinner with Senor Don Dolores Bermudez, a Nicaraguan +gentlemen who had been educated in the States, and spoke English +fluently. He very kindly took me over the town, and I always found +him ready to give me information respecting the antiquities and +natural products of the country. Acoyapo and the district around it +contains about two thousand inhabitants. The store-keepers, +lawyers, and hacienderos are of Spanish and mixed descent. Amongst +the lower classes there is much Indian and some negro blood; but +there are many pure Indians scattered through the district, living +near the rivers and brooks, and growing patches of maize and beans. +In the centre of the town is a large square or plaza, with a +stucco-fronted church occupying one side, and the principal stores +and houses ranging around the other three sides. A couple of +coco-palms grow in front of the church, but do not thrive like +those near the sea-coast. It was Saturday, the 22nd of February, +when we arrived; this was a great feast-day, or festa, at Acoyapo, +and the town was full of country people, who were amusing +themselves with horse-races, cock-fights, and drinking aguardiente. +Their mode of cock-fighting is very cruel, as the cocks are armed +with long sickle-shaped lancets, tied on to their natural spurs, +with which they give each other fearful gashes and wounds. All +classes of Nicaraguans are fond of this amusement; in nearly every +house a cock will be found, tied up in a corner by the leg, but +treated otherwise like one of the family. The priests are generally +great abettors of the practice, which forms the usual amusement of +the towns on Sunday afternoons. I have heard many stories of the +padres after service hurrying off to the cock-pit with a cock under +each arm. Bets are made on every fight, and much money is lost and +won over the sport. + +Like most of the Nicaraguan towns, Acoyapo appears to have been an +Indian city before the Spanish conquest. The name is Indian, and in +the plaza Senor Bermudez pointed out to me some flat bared rock +surfaces, on which were engraved circles and various straight and +curved characters, covering the whole face of the rock. Some rude +portions of stone statues that have been found in the neighbourhood +are also preserved in the town. The Spaniards called the town San +Sebastian; but the more ancient name is likely to prevail, +notwithstanding that in all official documents the Spanish one is +used. Acoyapo is a grazing district, and there are some large +cattle haciendas, especially towards the lake. The town suffers +from fever owing to the neighbouring swamp. Much of the land around +is very fertile; but little of it is cultivated, as the people are +indolent, and content if they make a bare livelihood. We left +Acoyapo about three o'clock: our road lay up the river, which we +crossed three times. Excepting near the river, the country was very +thinly timbered; and it was pleasant, after riding across the open +plains, exposed to the hot rays of the sun, to reach the shady +banks of the stream, by which grew many high thick-foliaged trees, +with lianas hanging from them, and bromelias, orchids, ferns, and +many other epiphytes perched on their branches. At these spots, +too, were various beautiful birds, amongst which the Sisitote, a +fine black and orange songster, and a trogon (Trogon +malanocephalus, Gould), were the most conspicuous. + +We reached and crossed a high range, from the summit of which we +had a splendid view over the plains and savannahs we had crossed, +to the great lake, with its islands and peaked hills, and beyond +the dark dim mountains of Costa Rica, amongst which dwell the +Indians of the Rio Frio and other little-known tribes. Before us +were spread out well-grassed savannahs, thinly timbered, excepting +where dark winding lines of trees or light green thickets of +bamboos marked the course of rivers or mountain brooks. Here and +there were dotted thatched huts, in which dwelt the owners of the +cattle, mules, and horses feeding on the meadows. Far in the +distance the view was bounded by a line of dark, nearly +black-looking forest, which, there commencing, extends unbroken to +the Atlantic. Near its edge, a seven-peaked range marked the +neighbourhood of Libertad--the beginning of the gold-mining +district. Descending the slope of the range, we found the savannahs +on its eastern side much more moist than those to the westward of +it; and as we proceeded, the humidity of the ground increased, and +the crossings of some of the valleys and swamps were difficult for +the mules. The dry season had set in, and these places were rapidly +drying up; but in many it had just reached that stage when the mud +was most tenacious; at one very bad crossing, called an "estero," +my mule fell, with my leg underneath him, pinning me in the mud. +The poor beast was exhausted, and would not move. Night had set +in--it was quite dark, and I had lagged some distance behind my +companions: fortunately they heard my shouts, and, soon returning, +extricated me from my awkward predicament. Without further mishap +we reached Esquipula, a village inhabited mostly by half-breeds, +and slung our hammocks for the night in a small thatched house +belonging to the mining company, who kept many of their draught +bullocks at this place on account of the excellent pasture around. +The village of Esquipula is built near the river Mico, which, +rising in the forest-clad ranges to the eastward, runs for several +miles through the savannahs, then again enters the forest and flows +into the Atlantic at Blewfields, a broad and deep river. This river +must have had at one time a large Indian population dwelling in +settled towns near its banks. Their burial places, marked with +great heaps of stones, are frequent, and pieces of pottery, broken +stone statues, and pedestals are often met with. Near Esquipula +there are some artificial-looking mounds, with great stones set +around them; in fact, this and another village, a few miles to the +south, called San Tomas, are, I believe, both built on the sites of +old Indian towns. The Indians of the Rio Mico gave the Spaniards +some trouble on their first settlement of the country. About two +leagues from Acoyapo, the site of a small town was pointed out to +me, now covered with low trees and brushwood. Here the Spaniards +were attacked in the night-time by the Rio Mico Indians, and all of +them killed, excepting the young women, who were carried off into +captivity, and the place has ever since lain desolate. + +Many extravagant stories have been told of the great statues that +are said to have been seen on the banks of the Mico, much lower +down the river than where we crossed it; but M. Etienne, of +Libertad, who descended it to Blewfields, and some Ulleros of San +Tomas, who had frequently been down it after india-rubber, assured +me that the reported statues were merely rude carvings of faces and +animals on the rocks. They appear to be similar to what are found +on many rivers running into the Caribbean Sea, and to those which +were examined by Schomburgk on the rocks of the Orinoco and +Essequibo. As others like them, of undoubted Carib workmanship, +have been found in the Virgin Islands, it is possible that they are +all the work of that once-powerful race, and not of the settled +agricultural and statue-making Indians of the western part of the +continent. + +We started from Esquipula early next morning, and crossed low +thinly-timbered hills and savannahs to Pital, a scattered +settlement of many small thatched houses, close to the borders of +the great forest; on the edge of which were clearings, made for +growing maize, which is cultivated entirely on burnt forest land. +At some parts they had already commenced cutting down trees for +fresh clearings; these would be burnt in April, and the maize sown +the following month, in the usual primitive way, just as it was in +Mexico before and at the Spanish conquest. In commencing a +clearing, the brushwood is first cut close to the ground, as it +would be difficult to do so after the large trees are felled. The +big timber is then cut down, and in April it is set fire to. All +the small wood and leaves burn well; but most of the large trunks +are left, and many of the branches. Most of the latter are cut up +to form a fence round the clearing, this at Pital and Esquipula +being made very close and high to keep out deer. In May, the maize +is sown; the sower makes little holes with a pointed stick, a few +feet apart, into each of which he drops two or three grains, and +covers them with his foot. In a few days the green leaves shoot up, +and grow very quickly. Numerous wild plants also spring up, and in +June these are weeded out; the success of the crop greatly +depending upon the thoroughness with which this is done. In July +each plant has produced two or three ears; and before the grain is +set these are pulled off, excepting one, as if more are left they +do not mature well. The young ears are boiled whole, and make a +tender and much-esteemed vegetable. They are called at this stage +"chilote," from the Aztec xilotl; and the ancient Mexicans in their +eighth month, which began on the 16th July, made a great festival, +called the feast of Xilonen. The poor Indians now have often reason +to rejoice when this stage is reached, as their stores of corn are +generally exhausted before then, and the "chilote" is the first +fruits of the new crop. In the beginning of August the grains are +fully formed, though still tender and white; and it is eaten as +green corn, now called "elote." In September the maize is ripe, and +is gathered when dry, and stowed away, generally over the rooms of +the natives. A second crop is often sown in December. + +Maize is very prolific, bearing a hundredfold, and ripening in +April. From the most ancient times, maize has been the principal +food of the inhabitants of the western side of tropical America. On +the coast of Peru, Darwin found heads of it,* along with eighteen +species of marine shells, in a raised beach eighty-five feet above +the level of the sea (* "Geological Observations in South America" +1846 page 49 and "Animals and Plants under Domestication" volume 1 +page 320.); and in the same country it has been found in tombs +apparently more ancient than the earliest times of the Incas.* +(*Von Tschudi "Travels in Peru" English edition page 177.) In +Mexico it was known from the earliest times of which we have any +record, in the picture writings of the Toltecs; and that ancient +people carried it with them in all their wanderings. In Central +America the stone grinders, with which they bruised it down, are +almost invariably found in the ancient graves, having been buried +with the ashes of the dead, as an indispensable article for their +outfit for another world. When Florida and Louisiana were first +discovered, the native Indian tribes all cultivated maize as their +staple food; and throughout Yucatan, Mexico, and all the western +side of Central America, and through Peru to Chili, it was, and +still is, the main sustenance of the Indians. The people that +cultivated it were all more or less advanced in civilisation; they +were settled in towns; their traders travelled from one country to +another with their wares; they were of a docile and tractable +disposition, easily frightened into submission. It is likely that +these maize-eating peoples belonged to closely affiliated races. In +the West India Islands they occupied most of Cuba and Hayti; but +from Porto Rico southwards the islands were peopled by the warlike +Caribs, who harassed the more civilised tribes to the north. From +Cape Gracias a Dios southward, the eastern coast of America was +peopled on its first discovery by much ruder tribes, who did not +grow maize, but made bread from the roots of the mandioca (Manihot +aipim); and still in British Guiana, on the Lower Amazon, and in +north-eastern Brazil, farina made from the roots of the mandioca is +the staple food. Maize has been introduced by the Portuguese, but +it has no native name, and is used mostly for feeding cattle and +fowls, scarcely at all for the food of the people. This fundamental +difference in the food of the indigenes points to a great +distinction between the peoples to which I shall have in the sequel +to revert. In the West India Islands, Cuba and Hayti seem to have +been peopled from Yucatan, and Florida, Porto Rico, and all the +islands to the southwards, from Venezuela. + +In Central America, the bread made from the maize is prepared at +the present day exactly as it was in ancient Mexico. The grain is +first of all boiled along with wood ashes or a little lime; the +alkali loosens the outer skin of the grain, and this is rubbed off +with the hands in running water, a little of it at a time, placed +upon a slightly concave stone, called a metlate, from the Aztec +metlatl, on which it is rubbed with another stone shaped like a +rolling-pin. A little water is thrown on it as it is bruised, and +it is thus formed into paste. A ball of the paste is taken and +flattened out between the hands into a cake about ten inches +diameter and three-sixteenths of an inch thick, which is baked on a +slightly concave earthenware pan. The cakes so made are called +tortillas, and are very nutritious. When travelling, I preferred +them myself to bread made from wheaten flour. When well made and +eaten warm, they are very palatable. + +There are a few small sugar plantations near Pital. The juice is +pressed out of the canes by rude wooden rollers set upright in +threes, the centre one driving the one on each side of it by +projecting cogs. The whole are set in motion by oxen travelling +round the same as in a thrashing-mill. The ungreased axles of the +rollers, squeaking and screeching like a score of tormented pigs, +generally inform the traveller of their vicinity long before he +reaches them. The juice is boiled, and an impure sugar made from +it. I do not think that the sugar-cane was known to the ancient +inhabitants of the country: it is not mentioned by the historians +of the conquest of Mexico and Peru, nor has it, like maize and +cacao, any native name. + +As soon as we passed Pital we entered the great forest, the black +margin of which we had seen for many miles, that extends from this +point to the Atlantic. At first the road lay through small trees +and brushwood, a second growth that had sprung up where the +original forest had been cut for maize plantations; but after +passing a brook bordered by numerous plants of the pita, from which +a fine fibre is obtained, and which gives its name to Pital, we +entered the primeval forest. On each side of the road great trees +towered up, carrying their crowns out of sight amongst a canopy of +foliage; lianas wound round every trunk and hung from every bough, +passing from tree to tree, and entangling the giants in a great +network of coiling cables, as the serpents did Laocoon; the simile +being strengthened by the fact that many of the trees are really +strangled in the winding folds. Sometimes a tree appears covered +with beautiful flowers, which do not belong to it, but to one of +the lianas that twines through its branches and sends down great +rope-like stems to the ground. Climbing ferns and vanilla cling to +the trunks, and a thousand epiphytes perch themselves on the +branches. Amongst these are large arums that send down aerial +roots, tough and strong, and universally used instead of cordage by +the natives. Amongst the undergrowth several small species of +palms, varying in height from two to fifteen feet, are common; and +now and then magnificent tree ferns, sending off their feathery +crowns twenty feet from the ground, delight the sight with their +graceful elegance. Great broad-leaved heliconiae, leathery +melastomae, and succulent-stemmed, lop-sided-leaved begonias are +abundant, and typical of tropical American forests. Not less so are +the cecropia trees, with their white stems and large palmated +leaves standing up like great candelabra. Sometimes the ground is +carpeted with large flowers, yellow, pink, or white, that have +fallen from some invisible tree-top above, or the air is filled +with a delicious perfume, for the source of which one seeks around +in vain, as the flowers that cause it are far overhead out of +sight, lost in the great overshadowing crown of verdure. Numerous +babbling brooks intersect the forest, with moss-covered stones and +fern-clad nooks. One's thoughts are led away to the green dells in +English denes, but are soon recalled; for the sparkling pools are +the favourite haunts of the fairy humming-birds, and like an arrow +one will dart up the brook, and, poised on wings moving with almost +invisible velocity, clothed in purple, golden, or emerald glory, +hang suspended in the air; gazing with startled look at the +intruder, with a sudden jerk, turning round first one eye, then the +other, and suddenly disappear like a flash of light. + +Unlike the plains and savannahs we crossed yesterday, where the +ground is parched up in the dry season, the Atlantic forest, bathed +in the rains distilled from the north-east trades, is ever verdant. +Perennial moisture reigns in the soil, perennial summer in the air, +and vegetation luxuriates in ceaseless activity and verdure, all +the year round. Unknown are the autumn tints, the bright browns and +yellows of English woods, much less the crimsons, purples, and +yellows of Canada, where the dying foliage rivals, nay, excels the +expiring dolphin in splendour. Unknown the cold sleep of winter; +unknown the lovely awakening of vegetation at the first gentle +touch of spring. A ceaseless round of ever-active life weaves the +forest scenery of the tropics into one monotonous whole, of which +the component parts exhibit in detail untold variety and beauty. + +To the genial influence of ever-present moisture and heat we must +ascribe the infinite variety of the trees of these forests. They do +not grow in clusters or masses of single species, like our oaks, +beeches, and firs, but every tree is different from its neighbour, +and they crowd upon each other in unsocial rivalry, each trying to +overtop the other. For this reason we see the great straight trunks +rising a hundred feet without a branch, and carrying their domes of +foliage directly up to where the balmy breezes blow and the sun's +rays quicken. Lianas hurry up to the light and sunshine, and +innumerable epiphytes perch themselves high up on the branches. + +The road through the forest was very bad, the mud deep and +tenacious, the hills steep and slippery, and the mules had to +struggle and plunge along through from two to three feet of sticky +clay. One part, named the Nispral, was especially steep and +difficult to descend, the road being worn into great ruts. We +crossed the ranges and brooks nearly at right angles, and were +always ascending or descending. About two we reached a clearing and +hacienda, belonging to an enterprising German, named Melzer, near a +brook called Las Lajas, who was cultivating plantains and +vegetables, and had also commenced brick and tile making, besides +planting some thousands of coffee trees. His large clearings were a +pleasant change from the forest through which we had been toiling, +and we stayed a few minutes at his house. After riding over another +league of forest-covered ranges, we reached Pavon, one of the mines +of the Chontales Company, and passing the Javali mine soon arrived +at Santo Domingo, the headquarters of the gold-mining company whose +operations I had come out to superintend. + + +CHAPTER 5. + +Geographical position of Santo Domingo. +Physical geography. +The inhabitants. +Mixed races. +Negroes and Indians compared. +Women. +Establishment of the Chontales Gold-Mining Company. +My house and garden. +Fruits. +Plantains and bananas; probably not indigenous to America: + propagated from shoots: do not generally mature their seeds. +Fig-trees. +Granadillas and papaws. +Vegetables. +Dependence of flowers on insects for their fertilisation. +Insect plagues. +Leaf-cutting ants: their method of defoliating trees: their nests. +Some trees are not touched by the ants. +Foreign trees are very subject to their attack. +Method of destroying the ants. +Migration of the ants from a nest attacked. +Corrosive sublimate causes a sort of madness amongst them. +Indian plan of preventing them ascending young trees. +Leaf-cutting ants are fungus-growers and eaters. +Sagacity of the ants. + +The gold-mining village of Santo Domingo is situated in the +province of Chontales, Nicaragua, in latitude 12 degrees 16 +minutes north and longitude 84 degrees 59 minutes west, nearly +midway between the Atlantic and the Pacific, where Central America +begins to widen out northward of the narrow isthmus of Panama and +Costa Rica. It is in the midst of the great forest that covers most +of the Atlantic slope of Central America, and which continues +unbroken from where we had entered it, at Pital, eastward to the +Atlantic; westward it terminates in a sinuous margin about seven +miles from the village, and there commence the lightly timbered and +grassy plains and savannahs stretching to the Lake of Nicaragua. +The surface of the land in the forest region forms a succession of +ranges and steep valleys, covered with magnificent timber and much +undergrowth. Santo Domingo lies about 2000 feet above the level of +the sea, and the hills around it rise from 500 to 1000 feet higher. +It is built in the bend of a small stream, the head waters of a +branch of the Blewfields river, on a level, low piece of ground, +with the brook winding almost round it, and, beyond that, encircled +by an amphitheatre of low hills in the hollow of which it lies. The +road to the mines runs through it, and forms the main street, +having on each side thatched stores and irregularly built houses. +The inhabitants, about three hundred in number, are entirely +dependent on the mines around, there being no cultivation or any +other employment in the immediate neighbourhood. The people are of +a mixed descent, in which Indian blood predominates, then Spanish +with a slight admixture of the Negro element, whilst amongst the +rising generation many fair-haired children can claim paternity +amongst the numerous German and English workmen that have been +employed at the mines. The store-keepers form the aristocracy of +the village. They are indolent; lounging about, or lying smoking in +their hammocks the greater part of the day, but generally civil and +polite. They are particular in their dress, and may often be seen +in faultless European costume, silk umbrella in hand, in twos or +threes, taking a short quiet walk up the valley. The lower class of +miners are scantily and badly clothed, especially when they come +first to the mines. They are bare-footed, with poor ragged cotton +trousers and a thin jacket of the same material. Generally, after +being a year or two at the mines, they begin to wear better +clothing, and may often be seen with a new shirt, which to show off +is worn hanging down outside, like a surtout coat. Amongst these +are many pure Indians, short sturdy men, who make the steadiest +workmen, patient and industrious, but with little appreciation of +the value of money, and spending the whole of their wages at the +end of the month, before they resume work. At these times the +commandant comes in from the town of Libertad, about nine miles +distant, with half-a-dozen bare-footed soldiers carrying old +muskets on their shoulders, and levies blackmail upon the poor +patient "Mosas," as they are called, in the shape of a fine for +drunkenness. But the "aguardiente," a native-made rum, is +nevertheless always kept on hand, being a government monopoly, and +ever ready, so that the Mosas may have no excuse to be sober and +escape being fined. + +Even in their drink the poor Indians are not very violent, and get +intoxicated with surprising stolidity and quietness. Amongst the +half-breeds, especially where the Negro element exists, there are +often quarrellings and rows, when they slash away at each other +with their long knives or "machetes," and get ugly cuts, which, +however, heal again quickly. + +Both the Negroes and Indians are decidedly inferior to the whites +in intellect, but they do not differ so much from the Europeans as +they do from each other. The Negro will work hard for a short +while, on rare occasions, or when compelled by another, but is +innately lazy. The Indian is industrious by nature, and works +steadily and well for himself; but if compelled to work for +another, loses all heart, and pines away and dies. The Negro is +talkative, vivacious, vain, and sensual; the Indian taciturn, +stolid, dignified, and moderate. As freemen, regularly though +poorly paid and kindly treated, the Indians work well and +laboriously in the mines; but the Negro seldom engages either in +that or any other settled employment, unless compelled as a slave, +in which condition he is happy and thoughtless. I do not defend +slavery, but I believe it to be a greater curse to the masters than +to the slaves, more deteriorating to the former than to the latter. +The Spaniards at first enslaved the Indians, but they died away so +rapidly that in a very short time the indigenes of the whole of the +once-populous islands of the West Indies were exterminated, and +large numbers of Indians were carried off from the mainland to +supply their places, but died with equal rapidity; so that the +Spaniards found it more profitable to bring negroes from Africa, +who thrived and multiplied in captivity as readily as the enslaved +Indians pined away and died. In Central America there never were +many black slaves; since the States threw off the yoke of Spain +there have been none; and this comparative scarcity of the Negro +element makes these countries much more pleasant and safer to dwell +in than the West Indies, where it is much larger. The Indian seldom +or never molests the whites, excepting in retaliation for some +great injury; whilst amongst the free Negroes, robbery, violence, +and murder need no other incentives than their own evil passions +and lust. + +The women at Santo Domingo are much the same as those found at all +the small provincial towns of Central America. Morality is at a low +ebb, and most of them live as mistresses, not as wives, for which +they do not seem to suffer in the estimation of their neighbours. +This is greatly due in Nicaragua, as it is throughout Central and +South America, to the profligate lives led by the priests, who, +with few rare exceptions, live in concubinage more or less open. +The women have children at an early age, and make kind and +indulgent mothers. + +(PLATE 4. COMMISSIONER'S HOUSE AT SANTO DOMINGO.) + +The village is bounded to the eastward by the mines and hacienda of +the Chontales Mining Company, whose houses, workshops, and +machinery are on rising ground on each side of the valley, with the +brook running down between. About fifty acres of the forest have +been cut down, and a great deal of this is fenced in and covered +with grass. Going up the valley from the village, on the right hand +side, about fifty yards from the road, on a grass-covered slope, +stand the houses of the commissioner and cashier, in the latter of +which the medical officer also lives. The former, a large, +white-washed, square, two-storied, wooden house, with verandahs +round three sides of it, and communicating by a covered passage +with a detached kitchen behind, had been built by one of my +predecessors, Captain Hill, R.N., who did not live to inhabit it. +It was a roomy, comfortable house, commanding a view of the +machinery, workshops, and part of the mines on the other side of +the valley, and formed my residence for upwards of four years. + +The slope in front of the house, down to the river, was covered +with weedy bushes when I arrived; but I had these cleared away, and +a fine greensward of grass took their place. On this I planted +young orange, lime, and citron trees; and I had the pleasure, +before I left, to see them beginning to bear their fine fruit. To +the west of the house was a dell, covered with fallen logs and +rubbish thrown from the hill, in which was a perennial spring of +limpid water. I had the logs and rubbish gathered together and +burnt, put a light fence round it, and formed a small vegetable, +fruit, and flower garden. The mango and avocado trees had not come +into bearing before I left; but pineapples, figs, grenadillas, +bananas, pumpkins, plantains, papaws, and chioties fruited +abundantly. The last named is a native of Mexico; it is a climbing +plant with succulent stems and vine-like leaves, and grows with +great rapidity. The fruit, of which it bears a great abundance, is +about the size and shape of a pear, covered with soft prickles. It +is boiled and eaten as a vegetable, and resembles vegetable marrow. +At Santo Domingo it continues to bear a succession of fruits during +eight months of the year. + +Next to maize, plantains and bananas form the principal sustenance +of the natives. The banana tree shoots up its succulent stem, and +unfolds its immense entire leaves with great rapidity; and a group +of them waving their silky leaves in the sun, or shining ghostly +white in the moonlight, forms one of those beautiful sights that +can only be seen to perfection in the tropics. There are a great +many varieties of them, and they are cooked in many ways--boiled, +baked, made into pastry, or eaten as a fruit. The varieties differ +not only in their fruits, but in the colour of their leaves and +stems; the natives can distinguish them without seeing the fruit, +and have names for each, by which they are known throughout all +Central America, Mexico, and Peru. These names are of Spanish +origin; and this fact, together with the absence of any native, +Mexican, or Peruvian name for the fruit, inclines me to adopt the +opinion of Clavigero, who contends, in opposition to other writers, +that the plantain and banana were not known in these countries +before the Spanish conquest, but were first brought from the +Canaries to Hayti in 1516, and from thence taken to the mainland. + +Neither the sugar-cane* nor the plantain is given in the list of +the indigenous productions of Mexico by the careful and accurate +Hernandez. (* The sugar-cane is said never to bear seed in the West +Indies, Malaga, India, Cochin China, or the Malay Archipelago. +--Darwin's "Animals and Plants under Domestication" volume 2 page +169.) The natives made sugar from the green stems of the maize. +Humboldt thinks that some species of plantain were indigenous to +America; but it seems incredible that such an important fruit could +have been overlooked by the early historians. In the old world the +cultivation of the banana dates from the earliest times of which +tradition makes mention. One of the Sanscrit names was +bhanu--fruit, from which probably the name "banana" was derived.* +(* Humboldt's "Aspects of Nature" volume 2 page 141.) + +Both the plantain and the banana are always propagated from shoots +or suckers that spring from the base of the plants; and it is to be +remarked that the pineapple and the bread-fruit, that are also +universally grown from cuttings or shoots, and have been cultivated +from remote antiquity, have in a great measure lost the faculty of +producing mature seed. Such varieties could not arise in a state of +nature, but are due to selection by early races of mankind, who +would naturally propagate the best varieties; and, to do this, seed +was not required. As the finest kinds of bananas, pineapples, and +bread-fruit are almost seedless, it is probable that the nutriment +that would have been required for the formation of the seeds has +been expended in producing larger and more succulent fruits. We +find some varieties of oranges, which also have been cultivated +from very early ages, producing fruits without seeds; but as these +trees are propagated from seeds, these varieties could not become +so sterile as those just mentioned. There can be no doubt that the +seedless varieties of banana, bread-fruits, and pineapples have +been propagated for hundreds of years; and this fact ought to +modify the opinions generally entertained by horticulturists that +the life of plants and trees propagated from shoots or cuttings +cannot be indefinitely prolonged in that way. Perhaps this may be +the case in trees, such as apples, that have come under their +notice; and the reason that the varieties die out after a certain +time, if not reproduced from seed, may be that the vigour of the +trees is at last used up by the production of mature seed, but that +in the seedless bananas, pineapples, and bread-fruits this does not +happen. + +Figs grow well in Nicaragua, and by many their luscious fruit is +preferred to all others. My trees suffered greatly from the attacks +of a large and fine longicorn beetle (Taeniotes scalaris, Fab.) +which laid its eggs in the green bark, and produced white grubs +that mined into the stem. I had to dig down to them with a knife to +extricate them and prevent them destroying the young trees. We were +surrounded at a short distance by the forest, in which grow many +species of wild fig-trees; and this probably was the reason that my +trees suffered so much, for at Granada the fig-growers were not +troubled with this insect. + +The grenadilla is the fruit of one of the passion-flowers +(Passiflora quadrangularis), and is shaped like a large oblong +apple, which it also resembles in perfume. It makes fine tarts and +puddings, being somewhat like the gooseberry in taste. I had much +difficulty in preserving it from being eaten by small forest rats +that came out of the woods, where they had already been accustomed +to eat the wild fruit of this climber. + +The moist, warm climate seemed to suit the papaw tree, as it grew +with great vigour, and produced very large and fine melon-like +fruits. The green fruits are excellent for making pastry, if +flavoured with a little lime-juice. + +In vegetables, I grew three species of sweet potatoes--yellow, +purple, and white skinned, and which differ also in their leaves +and flowers; cabbages, kidney-beans, pumpkins, yuccas (Jatropha +manihot), quequisque (a species of arum, Colocasia esculenta), +lettuces, tomatoes, capiscums, endives, parsley, and carrots. + +The climate was too damp to grow onions; neither could I succeed +with peas, potatoes, or turnips. Scarlet runners (Phaseolus +multiflorus) grew well, and flowered abundantly, but never produced +a single pod. Darwin has shown that this flower is dependent, like +many others, for its fertilisation upon the operations of the busy +humble-bee, and that it is provided with a wonderful mechanism, by +means of which its pollen is rubbed into the head of the bee, and +received on the stigma of the next plant visited.* (* "Gardener's +Chronicle" October 24, 1857 and November 14, 1858; also T.H. Farrer +in "Annals of Natural History" October 1868.) There are many +humble-bees, of different species from ours, in tropical America; +but none of them frequented the flowers of the scarlet runner, and +to that circumstance we may safely ascribe its sterility. An +analogous case has been long known. The vanilla plant (Vanilla +planifolia) has been introduced from tropical America into India, +but though it grows well, and flowers, it never fruits without +artificial aid. It is the same in the hothouses of Europe. Dr. +Morren, of Liege, has shown that, if artificially fertilised, every +flower will produce fruit; and ascribes its sterility to the +absence, in Europe and India, of some insect that in America +carries the pollen from one flower to another.* (* Taylor's "Annals +of Natural History" volume 3 page 1.) When those interested in the +acclimature of the natural productions of one country on the soil +of some distant one, study the mutual relations of plants and +animals, they will find that in the case of many plants it is +important that the insects specially adapted for the fertilisation +of their flowers should be introduced with them. Thus, if the +insect or bird that assists in the fertilisation of the vanilla +could be introduced into and would live in India, the growers of +that plant would be relieved of much trouble, and it might be +thoroughly naturalised. Judging from my experience, it would be +useless to attempt the acclimature of the scarlet-runner bean in +Chontales unless the humble-bee were also introduced. + +Caterpillars, plant-lice, bugs, and insect pests of all kinds were +numerous, and did much harm to my garden; but the greatest plague +of all were the leaf-cutting ants, and I had to wage a continual +warfare against them. During this contest I gained much information +regarding their habits, and was successful in checking their +ravages, and I shall occupy the remainder of this chapter with an +account of them. + +LEAF-CUTTING ANTS. + +Nearly all travellers in tropical America have described the +ravages of the leaf-cutting ants (Oecodoma); their crowded, +well-worn paths through the forests, their ceaseless pertinacity in +the spoliation of the trees--more particularly of introduced +species--which are stripped bare and ragged with the midribs and a +few jagged points of the leaves only left. Many a young plantation +of orange, mango, and lemon trees has been destroyed by them. Again +and again have I been told in Nicaragua, when inquiring why no +fruit-trees were grown at particular places, "It is no use planting +them; the ants eat them up." The first acquaintance a stranger +generally makes with them is on encountering their paths on the +outskirts of the forest crowded with the ants; one lot carrying off +the pieces of leaves, each piece about the size of a sixpence, and +held up vertically between the jaws of the ant; another lot +hurrying along in an opposite direction empty-handed, but eager to +get loaded with their leafy burdens. If he follows this last +division, it will lead him to some young trees or shrubs, up which +the ants mount; and then each one, stationing itself on the edge of +a leaf, commences to make a circular cut, with its scissor-like +jaws, from the edge, its hinder feet being the centre on which it +turns. When the piece is nearly cut off, it is still stationed upon +it, and it looks as though it would fall to the ground with it; +but, on being finally detached, the ant is generally found to have +hold of the leaf with one foot, and soon righting itself, and +arranging its burden to its satisfaction, it sets off at once on +its return. Following it again, it is seen to join a throng of +others, each laden like itself, and, without a moment's delay, it +hurries along the well-worn path. As it proceeds, other paths, each +thronged with busy workers, come in from the sides, until the main +road often gets to be seven or eight inches broad, and more +thronged than the streets of the city of London. + +After travelling for some hundreds of yards, often for more than +half a mile, the formicarium is reached. It consists of low, wide +mounds of brown, clayey-looking earth, above and immediately around +which the bushes have been killed by their buds and leaves having +been persistently bitten off as they attempted to grow after their +first defoliation. Under high trees in the thick forest the ants do +not make their nests, because, I believe, the ventilation of their +underground galleries, about which they are very particular, would +be interfered with, and perhaps to avoid the drip from the trees. +It is on the outskirts of the forest, or around clearings, or near +wide roads that let in the sun, that these formicariums are +generally found. Numerous round tunnels, varying from half an inch +to seven or eight inches in diameter, lead down through the mounds +of earth; and many more from some distance around, also lead +underneath them. At some of the holes on the mounds ants will be +seen busily at work, bringing up little pellets of earth from +below, and casting them down on the ever-increasing mound, so that +its surface is nearly always fresh and new-looking. + +Standing near the mounds, one sees from every point of the compass +ant-paths leading to them, all thronged with the busy workers +carrying their leafy burdens. As far as the eye can distinguish +their tiny forms, troops upon troops of leaves are moving up +towards the central point, and disappearing down the numerous +tunnelled passages. The out-going, empty-handed hosts are partly +concealed amongst the bulky burdens of the incomers, and can only +be distinguished by looking closely amongst them. The ceaseless, +toiling hosts impress one with their power, and one asks--What +forests can stand before such invaders? How is it that vegetation +is not eaten off the face of the earth? Surely nowhere but in the +tropics, where the recuperative powers of nature are immense and +ever active, could such devastation be withstood. + +Further acquaintance with the subject will teach the inquirer that, +just as many insects are preserved by being distasteful to +insectivorous birds, so very many of the forest trees are protected +from the ravages of the ants by their leaves either being +distasteful to them, or unfitted for the purpose for which they are +required, whilst some have special means of defence against their +attacks. None of the indigenous trees appear so suitable for them +as the introduced ones. Through long ages the trees and the ants of +tropical America have been modified together. Varieties of plants +that arose unsuitable for the ants have had an immense advantage +over others that were more suitable; and thus through time every +indigenous tree that has survived in the great struggle has done so +because it has had originally, or has acquired, some protection +against the great destroyer. The leaf-cutting ants are confined to +tropical America; and we can easily understand that trees and +vegetables introduced from foreign lands where these ants are +unknown could not have acquired, excepting accidentally, and +without any reference to the ants, any protection against their +attacks, and now they are most eagerly sought by them. Amongst +introduced trees, some species of even the same genus are more +acceptable than others. Thus, in the orange tribe, the lime (Citrus +lemonum) is less liked than the other species; it is the only one +that I ever found growing really wild in Central America: and I +have sometimes thought that even in the short time since the lime +was first introduced, about three hundred years ago, a wild variety +may have arisen, less subject to the attacks of the ants than the +cultivated variety; for in many parts I saw them growing wild, and +apparently not touched. The orange (Citrus aurantium) and the +citron (Citrus medicus), on the other hand, are only found where +they have been planted and protected by man; and, were he to give +up their cultivation, the only species that would ultimately +withstand the attacks of the ants, and obtain a permanent footing +in Central America, would be the lime. The reason why the lime is +not so subject to the attacks of the ants is unknown; and the fact +that it is so is another instance of how little we know why one +species of a particular genus should prevail over another nearly +similar form. A little more or less acridity, or a slight chemical +difference in the composition of the tissues of a leaf, so small +that it is inappreciable to our senses, may be sufficient to ensure +the preservation or the destruction of a species throughout an +entire continent. + +The ravages of this ant are so great that it may not be without +interest for me to enter upon some details respecting the means I +took to protect my own garden against their attacks, especially as +the continual warfare I waged against them for more than four years +made me acquainted with much of their wonderful economy. + +In June 1869, very soon after the formation of my garden, the +leaf-cutting ants came down upon it, and at once commenced denuding +the young bananas, orange, and mango trees of their leaves. I +followed up the paths of the invading hosts to their nest, which +was about one hundred yards distant, close to the edge of the +forest. The nest was not a very large one, the low mound of earth +covering it being about four yards in diameter. At first I tried to +stop the holes up, but fresh ones were immediately opened out: I +then dug down below the mound, and laid bare the chambers beneath, +filled with ant-food and young ants in every stage of growth; but I +soon found that the underground ramifications extended so far, and +to so great a depth, while the ants were continually at work making +fresh excavations, that it would be an immense task to eradicate +them by such means; and notwithstanding all the digging I had done +the first day, I found them the next as busily at work as ever at +my garden, which they were rapidly defoliating. At this stage, our +medical officer, Dr. J.H. Simpson,* came to my assistance, and +suggested pouring carbolic acid, mixed with water, down their +burrows. (* This gentleman, beloved by all who knew him, of rare +talent, and with every prospect of a prosperous career before him, +died at Jamaica from hydrophobia, between two and three months +after being bitten by a small dog that had not itself shown any +symptoms of that disease.) The suggestion proved a most valuable +one. We had a quantity of common brown carbolic acid, about a pint +of which I mixed with four buckets of water, and, after stirring it +well about, poured it down the burrows; I could hear it rumbling +down to the lowest depths of the formicarium four or five feet from +the surface. The effect was all I could have wished: the marauding +parties were at once drawn off from my garden to meet the new +danger at home. The whole formicarium was disorganised. Big fellows +came stalking up from the cavernous regions below, only to descend +again in the utmost perplexity. + +Next day I found them busily employed bringing up the ant-food from +the old burrows, and carrying it to a new one a few yards distant; +and here I first noticed a wonderful instance of their reasoning +powers. Between the old burrows and the new one was a steep slope. +Instead of descending this with their burdens, they cast them down +on the top of the slope, whence they rolled down to the bottom, +where another relay of labourers picked them up and carried them to +the new burrow. It was amusing to watch the ants hurrying out with +bundles of food, dropping them over the slope, and rushing back +immediately for more. They also brought out great numbers of dead +ants that the fumes of the carbolic acid had killed. A few days +afterwards, when I visited the locality again, I found both the old +burrows and the new one entirely deserted, and I thought they had +died off; but subsequent events convinced me that the survivors had +only moved away to a greater distance. + +It was fully twelve months before my garden was again invaded. I +had then a number of rose-trees and also cabbages growing, which +the ants seemed to prefer to everything else. The rose-trees were +soon defoliated, and great havoc was made amongst the cabbages. I +followed them to their nest, and found it about two hundred yards +from the one of the year before. I poured down the burrows, as +before, several buckets of water with carbolic acid. The water is +required to carry the acid down to the lowest chambers. The ants, +as before, were at once withdrawn from my garden; and two days +afterwards, on visiting the place, I found all the survivors at +work on one track that led directly to the old nest of the year +before, where they were busily employed making fresh excavations. +Many were bringing along pieces of the ant-food from the old to the +new nests; others carried the undeveloped white pupae and larvae. +It was a wholesale and entire migration; and the next day the +formicarium down which I had last poured the carbolic acid was +entirely deserted. I afterwards found that when much disturbed, and +many of the ants destroyed, the survivors migrate to a new +locality. I do not doubt that some of the leading minds in this +formicarium recollected the nest of the year before, and directed +the migration to it. + +Don Francisco Velasquez informed me, in 1870, that he had a powder +which made the ants mad, so that they bit and destroyed each other. +He gave me a little of it, and it proved to be corrosive sublimate. +I made several trials of it, and found it most efficacious in +turning a large column of the ants. A little of it sprinkled across +one of their paths in dry weather has a most surprising effect. As +soon as one of the ants touches the white powder, it commences to +run about wildly, and attack any other ant it comes across. In a +couple of hours, round balls of the ants will be found all biting +each other; and numerous individuals will be seen bitten completely +in two, whilst others have lost some of their legs or antennae. +News of the commotion is carried to the formicarium, and huge +fellows, measuring three-quarters of an inch in length, that only +come out of the nest during a migration or an attack on the nest or +one of the working columns, are seen stalking down with a +determined air, as if they would soon right matters. As soon, +however, as they have touched the sublimate, all their stateliness +leaves them: they rush about; their legs are seized hold of by some +of the smaller ants already affected by the poison; and they +themselves begin to bite, and in a short time become the centres of +fresh balls of rabid ants. The sublimate can only be used +effectively in dry weather. At Colon I found the Americans using +coal tar, which they spread across their paths when any of them led +to their gardens. I was also told that the Indians prevent them +from ascending young trees by tying thick wisps of grass, with the +sharp points downwards, round the stems. The ants cannot pass +through the wisp, and do not find out how to surmount it, getting +confused amongst the numberless blades, all leading downwards. I +mention these different plans of meeting and frustrating the +attacks of the ants at some length, as they are one of the greatest +scourges of tropical America, and it has been too readily supposed +that their attacks cannot be warded off. I myself was enabled, by +using some of the means mentioned above, to cultivate successfully +trees and vegetables of which the ants were extremely fond. + +(PLATE 5. NEST OF LEAF-CUTTING ANT.) + +Notwithstanding that these ants are so common throughout tropical +America, and have excited the attention of nearly every traveller, +there still remains much doubt as to the use to which the leaves +are put. Some naturalists have supposed that they use them directly +as food; others, that they roof their underground nests with them. +I believe the real use they make of them is as a manure, on which +grows a minute species of fungus, on which they feed;--that they +are, in reality, mushroom growers and eaters. This explanation is +so extraordinary and unexpected, that I may be permitted to enter +somewhat at length on the facts that led me to adopt it. When I +first began my warfare against the ants that attacked my garden, I +dug down deeply into some of their nests. In our mining operations +we also, on two occasions, carried our excavations from below up +through very large formicariums, so that all their underground +workings were exposed to observation. I found their nests below to +consist of numerous rounded chambers, about as large as a man's +head, connected together by tunnelled passages leading from one +chamber to another. Notwithstanding that many columns of the ants +were continually carrying in the cut leaves, I could never find any +quantity of these in the burrows, and it was evident that they were +used up in some way immediately they were brought in. The chambers +were always about three parts filled with a speckled, brown, +flocculent, spongy-looking mass of a light and loosely connected +substance. Throughout these masses were numerous ants belonging to +the smallest division of the workers, which do not engage in +leaf-carrying. Along with them were pupae and larvae, not gathered +together, but dispersed, apparently irregularly, throughout the +flocculent mass. This mass, which I have called the ant-food, +proved, on examination, to be composed of minutely subdivided +pieces of leaves, withered to a brown colour, and overgrown and +lightly connected together by a minute white fungus that ramified +in every direction throughout it. I not only found this fungus in +every chamber I opened, but also in the chambers of the nest of a +distinct species that generally comes out only in the night-time, +often entering houses and carrying off various farinaceous +substances, and which does not make mounds above its nests, but +long, winding passages, terminating in chambers similar to the +common species, and always, like them, three parts filled with +flocculent masses of fungus-covered vegetable matter, amongst which +are the ant-nurses and immature ants. When a nest is disturbed, and +the masses of ant-food spread about, the ants are in great concern +to carry every morsel of it under shelter again; and sometimes, +when I had dug into a nest, I found the next day all the earth +thrown out filled with little pits that the ants had dug into it to +get out the covered up food. When they migrate from one part to +another, they also carry with them all the ant-food from their old +habitations. That they do not eat the leaves themselves I convinced +myself; for I found near the tenanted chambers, deserted ones +filled with the refuse particles of leaves that had been exhausted +as manure for the fungus, and were now left, and served as food for +larvae of Staphylinidae and other beetles.* (*This theory that the +leaf-cutting ants feed on a fungus which they cultivate has been +confirmed by Mr. Fritz Muller, who had arrived at it independently +in Brazil. His observations on this and various other habits of +insects are contained in a letter to Mr. Charles Darwin, published +in "Nature" of June 11, 1874.) + +These ants do not confine themselves to leaves, but also carry off +any vegetable substance that they find suitable for growing the +fungus on. They are very partial to the inside white rind of +oranges, and I have also seen them cutting up and carrying off the +flowers of certain shrubs, the leaves of which they neglected. They +are particular about the ventilation of their underground chambers, +and have numerous holes leading up to the surface from them. These +they open out or close up, apparently to keep up a regular degree +of temperature below. The great care they take that the pieces of +leaves they carry into the nest should be neither too dry nor too +damp, is also consistent with the idea that the object is the +growth of a fungus that requires particular conditions of +temperature and moisture to ensure its vigorous growth. If a sudden +shower should come on, the ants do not carry the wet pieces into +the burrows, but throw them down near the entrances. Should the +weather clear up again, these pieces are picked up when nearly +dried, and taken inside; should the rain, however, continue, they +get sodden down into the ground, and are left there. On the +contrary, in dry and hot weather, when the leaves would get dried +up before they could be conveyed to the nest, the ants, when in +exposed situations, do not go out at all during the hot hours, but +bring in their leafy burdens in the cool of the day and during the +night. As soon as the pieces of leaves are carried in they must be +cut up by the small class of workers into little pieces. I have +never seen the smallest class of ants carrying in leaves; their +duties appear to be inside, cutting them up into smaller fragments, +and nursing the immature ants. I have, however, seen them running +out along the paths with the others; but instead of helping to +carry in the burdens, they climb on the top of the pieces which are +being carried along by the middle-sized workers, and so get a ride +home again. It is very probable that they take a run out merely for +air and exercise. The largest class of what are called workers are, +I believe, the directors and protectors of the others. They are +never seen out of the nest, excepting on particular occasions, such +as the migrations of the ants, and when one of the working columns +or nests is attacked; they then come stalking up, and attack the +enemy with their strong jaws. Sometimes, when digging into the +burrows, one of these giants has unperceived climbed up my dress, +and the first intimation of his presence has been the burying of +his jaws in my neck, from which he would not fail to draw the +blood. The stately observant way in which they stalk about, and +their great size, compared with the others, always impressed me +with the idea that in their bulky heads lay the brains that +directed the community in its various duties. Many of their +actions, such as that I have mentioned of two relays of workmen +carrying out the ant-food, can scarcely be blind instinct. Some of +the ants make mistakes, and carry in unsuitable leaves. Thus grass +is nearly always rejected by them, yet I have seen some ants, +perhaps young ones, carrying in leaves of grass. After a while +these pieces were invariably brought out again and thrown away. I +can imagine a young ant getting a severe earwigging from one of the +major-domos for its stupidity. + +I shall conclude this long account of the leaf-cutting ants with an +instance of their reasoning powers. A nest was made near one of our +tramways, and to get to the trees the ants had to cross the rails, +over which the waggons were continually passing and repassing. +Every time they came along a number of ants were crushed to death. +They persevered in crossing for several days, but at last set to +work and tunnelled underneath each rail. One day, when the waggons +were not running, I stopped up the tunnels with stones; but +although great numbers carrying leaves were thus cut off from the +nest, they would not cross the rails, but set to work making fresh +tunnels underneath them. Apparently an order had gone forth, or a +general understanding been come to, that the rails were not to be +crossed. + +These ants do not appear to have many enemies, though I sometimes +found holes burrowed into their nests, probably by the small +armadillo. I once saw a minute parasitic fly hovering over a column +of ants, near a nest, and every now and then darting down and +attaching an egg to one entering. Large, horned beetles (Coelosis +biloba) and a species of Staphylinus are found in the nests, but +probably their larvae live on the rotten leaves, after the ants +have done with them. + + +CHAPTER 6. + +Configuration of the ground at Santo Domingo. +Excavation of valleys. +Geology of the district. +Decomposition of the rocks. +Gold-mining. +Auriferous quartz veins. +Mode of occurrence of the gold. +Lodes richer next the surface than at lower depths. +Excavation and reduction of the ore. +Extraction of the gold. +"Mantos". +Origin of mineral veins: their connection with intrusions + of Plutonic rocks. + +THERE is scarcely any level land around Santo Domingo, but in every +direction a succession of hills and valleys. The hills are not +isolated; they run in irregular ranges, having mostly an east and +west direction, but with many modifications in their trend. From +the main valleys numerous auxiliary ones cut deeply into the +ranges, and bifurcate again and again, like the branches of a tree, +forming channels for carrying off the great quantity of water that +falls in these rainy forests. The branching valleys, all leading +into main ones, and these into the rivers, have been excavated by +subaerial agency, and almost entirely by the action of running +water. It is the system that best effects the drainage of the +country, and has been caused by that drainage. + +The wearing out of valleys near Santo Domingo proceeds more rapidly +than in regions where less rain falls, and where the rocks are not +so soft and decomposed. Even during the few years I was in +Nicaragua there were some modifications of the surface effected; I +saw the commencement of new valleys, and the widening and +lengthening of others, caused not only by the gradual denudation of +the surface, but by landslips, some of which occur every wet +season. + +The rocks of the district are dolerytes, with bands and protrusions +of hard greenstones. The decomposition of the dolerytes is very +great, and extends from the tops of the hills to a depth (as proved +in the mines), of at least two hundred feet. Next the surface they +are often as soft as alluvial clay, and may be cut with a spade. +This decomposition of the rocks near the surface prevails in many +parts of tropical America, and is principally, if not always, +confined to the forest regions. It has been ascribed, and probably +with reason, to the percolation through the rocks of rain-water +charged with a little acid from the decomposing vegetation. If this +be so, the great depth to which it has reached tells of the immense +antiquity of the forests. + +Gold-mining at Santo Domingo is confined almost entirely to +auriferous quartz lodes, no alluvial deposits having been found +that will pay for working. The lodes run east and west, and are +nearly perpendicular, sometimes dipping a little to the north, +sometimes a little to the south, and near the surface, generally +turning over towards the face of the hill through which they cut. +The trend of the main ranges, also nearly east and west, is +probably due to the direction of the outcrops of the lodes which +have resisted the action of the elements better than the soft +dolerytes. The quartz veins now form the crests of many of the +ranges, but are everywhere cut through by the lateral valleys. The +beds of doleryte lie at low angles, through which the quartz veins +cut nearly vertically. Excepting that they are very irregular in +thickness, and often branch and send thin offshoots into the +enclosing rocks, they resemble coal seams that have been turned up +on edge, so as to be vertical instead of horizontal. They run for a +great distance. Near Santo Domingo they had been traced for two +miles in length, and probably they extend much further. They are +what are called fissure-veins, owing their origin to cracks or +fractures in the rocks that have been filled up with mineral +substances through chemical, thermal, aqueous, or plutonic +agencies. In depth, the bottom of fissure-veins has never been +reached, and taking into consideration the deep-seated forces +required to produce fissures of such great length and regularity, +we may safely assume that they run for miles deep into the +earth--that their extension vertically is as great as it is +horizontally. The possibility that they extend to immense depths is +increased when we reflect that mineral veins occur in parallel +groups that run with great regularity for hundreds of miles; and +further by the fact that, in all the changes of the earth's +surface, by which deep-seated rocks have been brought up and +exposed by denudation, no instance is known of the bottom of a +fissure-vein having been brought by such movements within the reach +of man. + +The gold-mines of Santo Domingo are in veins or loads of auriferous +quartz that run parallel to each other, and are so numerous that +across a band more than a mile in width one may be found every +fifty yards. All that have been worked vary greatly in thickness; +sometimes within a hundred yards a lode will thicken out from one +to seventeen feet. Their auriferous contents vary still more than +their width. The richest ore, worth from one to four ounces per +ton, occurs in irregular patches and bands very small in comparison +with the bulk of the ore stuff, which varies in value from two to +seven pennyweights per ton. The average value of all the ore +treated by the Chontales Mining Company, up to the end of 1871, has +been about seven pennyweights per ton, and during that time small +patches have been met with worth one hundred ounces of gold per +ton. The gold does not occur pure, but is a natural alloy of gold +and silver, containing about three parts of the former to one of +the latter. Besides this metallic alloy (to which, for brevity, I +shall, in the remarks I have to make, give its common designation +of gold), the quartz lodes contain sulphide of silver, peroxide of +manganese, peroxide of iron, sulphides of iron and copper, and +occasionally ores of lead. + +The quartz is generally very friable, full of drusy cavities, and +broken up into innumerable small pieces that are often coloured +black by the peroxide of manganese. The gold is in minute grains, +and generally distributed loosely amongst the quartz. Pieces as +large as a pin's head are rare, and specimens of quartz showing the +gold in it are seldom met with, even in the richest portions of a +lode. The fine gold-dust can, however, easily be detected by +washing portions of the lode-stuff in a horn. The quartz and clay +is washed away, and the gold-dust sinks to the bottom, and is +retained in the horn. This is the usual way in which a lode is +tested by the mining agents, and long practice has made them very +expert in valuing the ore by the wash in the "spoon." Although most +of the gold occurs loose, amongst the soft portions of the lode, +the hard quartz also contains it disseminated in minute grains +throughout. These can be obtained in the horn by pounding the +quartz to powder and then washing it. + +(PLATE 6. MACHINERY OF CHONTALES GOLD-MINING COMPANY.) + +One feature in the distribution of gold in the quartz lodes of +Santo Domingo led to a most exaggerated opinion of their value when +they were first mined by English companies. On the hills, near the +outcrops of the lodes, the ore was in some places exceedingly rich. +One thousand ounces of gold were obtained from a small patch of ore +near the surface of the Consuelo lode, and at Santo Domingo, San +Benito, San Antonio, and Javali lodes, very rich ore was also +discovered within a few fathoms of the surface. When, however, +these deposits were followed downwards, they invariably got poorer, +and at one hundred feet from the surface, no very rich ore had been +met with. Below that, when the works are prosecuted still deeper, +there does not appear to be any further progressive deterioration +in the value of the ore, and it varies in yield from two to seven +pennyweights of gold per ton, upon which yield further depth does +not seem to have any effect. The cause of these rich deposits near +the surface does not appear to me to be that the lodes originally, +before they were exposed by denudation, contained more gold in +their upper portions than below, but to be the effect of the +decomposition and wearing down of the higher parts, and the +concentration of the gold they contained in the lode below that +worn away. We have seen that in the decomposed parts of the lode +the gold exists in loose fine grains. During the wet season water +percolates freely from the surface down through the lodes, and the +gold set free by the decomposition of the ore at the surface must +be carried down into it, so that in the course of ages, during the +gradual degradation and wearing away of the surface, there has, I +believe, been an accumulation of the loose gold in the upper parts +of the lodes from parts that originally stood much higher, and have +now been worn away by the action of the elements. + +This accumulation of loose gold near the surface of auriferous +veins, set at liberty from its matrix by the decomposition of the +ore, and concentrated by degradation, is probably the reason of the +great richness of many of what are called the "caps" of quartz +veins; that is, the parts next the existing surface, and has also, +perhaps, originated the belief that auriferous lodes deteriorate in +value in depth. I at one time, after having studied the auriferous +quartz veins of Australia, advocated this theory, which was first +insisted upon by Sir R.I. Murchison, but further experience in +North Wales, Nova Scotia, Brazil, and Central America has led me to +doubt its correctness, excepting in cases such as we have been +considering, where there has been an accumulation of gold in the +superficial portions of lodes since their original formation. Gold +is distributed in quartz veins in bands, and in patches of richer +stone of more or less extent. These richer portions of the lodes, +if sunk upon perpendicularly, will be passed through, but so also +they would be if followed horizontally, their extent in one +direction being as great as it is in the other. The chances of +meeting with further patches of rich ore in depth, after one has +been passed through, are about the same as they are in driving +horizontally, and the frequency therefore with which the auriferous +ores are met with along the surface will, as a rule, be an index of +their occurrence in depth, if we be careful in distinguishing +deposits belonging to the original condition of the lodes, and +those due to subsequent concentration. To do this we must get below +the immediate surface, and take as our guide the gold occurring in +the solid undecomposed quartz, and not the loose grains contained +in the fissures and cavities. + +(PLATE 7. SECTION OF MINE SHOWING METHOD OF EXTRACTING THE ORE. + SECTION OF GOLD MINE. + Diagram showing method of excavating ore at Santo Domingo Mines. + A, Levels. + B, Rise, down which the ore is thrown. + D, Stopes. + C, Stopes refilled with clay and barren rock. + Lowest level, Tramway to Stamps.) + +The lodes of Santo Domingo are worked by means of levels driven +from near the bottoms of the valleys that intersect them. When +these levels have entered sufficiently far into the hills, shafts +are driven upwards from them to the surface, and other levels +driven sixty feet higher than the first. This process is continued +until the lode lying above the lowest level has been divided off +into horizontal bands, each about sixty feet in depth. The quartz +is then excavated above the topmost level, and thrown down the +shafts to the lowest, where it is received into waggons and +conveyed to the reduction works. As both the ore and the enclosing +rocks are greatly decomposed and very soft, the whole of the ground +has to be securely timbered as the work proceeds. The levels are +timbered with "nispera," a wood of great durability and strength, +but the excavated portions between them are only temporarily +secured with common soft wood, and at the end of every fortnight +filled up with clay and barren rock. The mining is entirely +executed by native workmen, principally Mestizos from the border +lands of Honduras and Nicaragua, where they have been engaged in +silver-mining. They are paid according to the amount of ground +excavated, and are very industrious when poor; but when they +accumulate a little money, they take fits of idleness and +dissipation until it is spent. + +The ore is taken down to the reduction works in waggons that run +down by gravitation, and are drawn up by mules. It is then stamped +to powder by iron beaters, each of which is lifted by cams, and let +fall seventy times per minute. The stamped ore, in the form of fine +sand, is carried by a stream of water over inclined copper plates +covered with mercury, with which is mixed a little metallic sodium. +Nearly the whole of the free gold is caught by the mercury, for +which it has a great affinity, and accumulates as amalgam on the +copper plates, from which it is cleaned off every twelve hours. The +sand and water then pass over inclined tables covered with +blankets, the fibres of which intercept particles of gold and +mercury that have escaped from the first process, and afterwards +into a concentrating box, where the coarsest grains of sand and the +sulphurets of iron, copper, and silver are caught, and with the +sand from the blankets re-treated in arrastres. These arrastres are +round troughs, twelve feet in diameter, paved with stones. Four +large stones of quartz are dragged round and round in this trough, +and grind the coarse sand to fine powder. The gold liberated sinks +into the crevices in the stone pavement, a little mercury being put +into the trough to form it into amalgam. The arrastres and all the +amalgamating apparatus is cleaned up once a month. The amalgam +obtained is squeezed through thin dressed skins, and is then of the +consistence of stiff putty, and of a silver colour. These balls of +amalgam are placed in iron retorts, and the mercury driven off by +heat and condensed again in water. The balls of gold so obtained +are then melted into bars weighing about one hundred ounces each, +and in that state sent to England. At Santo Domingo about two +thousand tons of ore are treated monthly, and the whole cost of +treatment, including all charges for mining, carriage, reduction, +amalgamation, and management, is only about eight shillings per +ton. The loss of mercury is about twenty pounds for every thousand +tons of ore treated; the smallness of the loss in comparison with +that of many other gold-extracting establishments being greatly due +to the employment of sodium in the amalgamating process. The loss +of mercury usually occurring in amalgamation work is principally +caused by its mineralisation, and sodium has such an intense +affinity for oxygen and sulphur, that it reduces the mercury to its +metallic form again, and prevents its being carried off in light +mineralised flakes and powder. + +(PLATE 8. SECTION ACROSS SAN ANTONIO LODE. + A, Lode. + B, Decomposed doleryte. + C, Surface soil. + D. Quartz rocks in surface soil.) + +The band of auriferous quartz veins worked at Santo Domingo +continues westward for eight miles, as far as the savannahs near +Libertad, and has been largely mined in the neighbourhood of that +town, and between that point and Santo Domingo. Besides the working +of the mines proper, some surface deposits, called by the Spaniards +"Mantos," are also worked for gold, especially in the neighbourhood +of Libertad. The "Mantos" consist of broken quartz, covering the +faces of the hills in the neighbourhood of some of the lodes. In +some places they form a broken but regular stratum over the whole +side of a hill, and I was much puzzled at first to account for +their origin. + +I have already mentioned that the lodes near their summit incline +over towards the face of the hill through which they cut. In some +cases, as in the San Antonio mine, the lode is in parts bent +completely round, as shown in the section in Plate 8. This bending +over of the lodes is always towards the face of the hill, and is, I +think, produced by successive small landslips. It is evident that +if carried still further than in the case shown in the diagram, the +lode would be brought down over the face of the hill, and the +result has, I think, been achieved in some places, and a regular +"Manto" produced. I have already stated that small landslips are of +frequent occurrence on the sides of the hills. We had several times +the entrance to our mines temporarily closed by them in the wet +season. + +Mr. David Forbes,* (* "Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society" +volume 17.) in his account of the geology of Peru and Bolivia, has +advanced the opinion that auriferous quartz veins belong to two +different systems, one occurring in connection with Granitic, the +other with Diorytic intrusive rocks. In later papers he has shown +that this occurrence of gold is not confined to South America, but +appears to prevail in all parts of the world.* (* "Geological +Magazine" September 1866.) One of the latest writers on the +subject, Mr. R. Daintree, in his "Notes on the Geology of +Queensland", has shown that the auriferous veinstones in that +colony occur in connection with, or in the near vicinity of certain +intrusive trap-rocks, and that even some of the trappean dykes +themselves are auriferous.* (* "Quarterly Journal of the Geological +Society" volume 28 page 308.) Several years ago, I endeavoured to +show that mineral veins in granitic districts occurred in regular +sequences, with certain intrusive rocks, as follows:--first, +Intrusion of main mass of granite; second, Granitic veins; third, +Elvan dykes; and, lastly, Mineral veins, cutting through all the +other intrusive rocks.* (* See "Geological Survey of Canada" pages +141 and 173.) Later observations have led me to conclude that a +similar sequence of events characterised the occurrence of +auriferous quartz veins in connection with the intrusive rocks, +commonly designated Greenstones, in some districts consisting of +diabase, as in North Wales, near Dolgelly; in others of dioryte, as +in Santo Domingo; and in many parts of South America and Australia. +In North Wales we have, firstly, an intrusion of diabase, occurring +in great mountain masses; secondly, Irregular tortuous dykes of +diabase; thirdly, Elvan dykes; and, lastly, auriferous quartz +veins. In every region of intrusive plutonic rocks that has been +thoroughly explored, a similar succession of events, culminating in +the production of mineral veins, has been proved to have taken +place,* (* "Mineral Veins" page 16.) and it appears that the origin +of such veins is the natural result of the plutonic intrusion. +There is, also, sometimes a complete gradation from veins of +perfectly crystallised granite, through others abounding in quartz +at the expense of the other constituents, up to veins filled with +pure quartz, as at Porth Just, near Cape Cornwall; and, again, the +same vein will in some parts be filled with felspar; in others, +contain irregular masses of quartz, apparently the excess of silica +beyond what has been absorbed in the trisilicate compound of +felspar.* (* Mr. John Phillips in "Memoirs, Geological Survey of +Great Britain" volume 2 page 45.) Granitic, porphyritic, and +trappean dykes* also sometimes contain gold and other metals; (* +Sir R.I. Murchison "Siluria" pages 479, 481, 488 and 500; and R. +Daintree "Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society" volume 28 +pages 308, 310.) and I think the probability is great that quartz +veins have been filled in the same manner--that if dykes and veins +of granite have been an igneous injection, so have those of quartz. +By an igneous injection, I do not mean that the fused rock owed its +fluidity to dry heat. The celebrated researches of Sorby on the +microscopical fluid cavities in the quartz of granite and quartz +veins, have shown beyond a doubt that the vapour of water was +present in comparatively large quantities when the quartz was +solidifying. All strata below the surface contain water, and if +melted up would still hold it as super-heated steam; and M. Angelot +has suggested that fused rock under great pressure may dissolve +large quantities of the vapour of water, just as liquids dissolve +gases. The presence of the vapour of water would cause the +liquefaction of quartz at a much lower temperature than would be +possible by heat alone, unaided by water.* (* H.C. Sorby "Journal +of the Geological Society" volume 14.) I know that this opinion is +contrary to that usually held by geologists, the theory generally +accepted being that mineral veins have been produced by deposits +from hot springs; but during twenty years I have been engaged in +auriferous quartz-mining in various parts of the world, and nowhere +have I met with lodes, the phenomena of which could be explained on +this hypothesis. The veinstone is pure quartz containing water in +microscopical cavities, as in the quartz crystals of granite, but +not combined as in the hydrous siliceous sinter deposited from hot +springs. The lodes are not ribboned, but consist of quartz, jointed +across from side to side, exactly like trappean dykes. There is +often a banded arrangement produced by the repeated re-opening and +filling of the same fissure; but never, in quartz veins, a regular +filling up from the sides towards the centre, as in veins produced +by deposits from springs. Quartz veins extend sometimes for miles, +and it is necessary to suppose on the hydro-thermal theory that the +fissures remained open sufficiently long for the gradual deposition +of the veinstones, without the soft and shattered rocks at their +sides falling in, nor yet fragments from above; although there are +many lodes, fully twenty feet in width, filled entirely with quartz +and mineral ores, without any included fragments of fallen rocks, +and nowhere showing any trace of regular deposition on the sides. +The gold also found in auriferous lodes is never pure, but forms +varies alloys of gold, silver, copper, lead, iron, and bismuth; and +no way is known of producing these alloys except by fusion. + +It is true that mineral veins contain many minerals that could not +exist together undecomposed with even a moderate degree of heat; +but it is only here contended that the original filling of the +lodes was an igneous injection, not that the present arrangement +and composition of all the minerals is due to the same action. +Since the lodes were first filled they have been subjected to every +variety of hydro-thermal and aqueous influence; for the cooling of +the heated rocks must have been a slow process, and undoubtedly the +veins have often been the channels both for the passage of hot +water and steam from the interior, and of cold water charged with +carbonic acid and carbonate of lime from the surface, and many +changes must have taken place. Auriferous quartz veins have +resisted these influences better than others, because neither the +veinstone nor the metal is easily altered, and such veins therefore +form better guides for the study of the origin of mineral lodes +than fissures filled with calc spar and ores of the baser metals, +all readily dissolved and re-formed by hydro-thermal agencies. Our +mineralogical museums are filled with beautiful specimens of +crystals of quartz, fluor spar, and various ores deposited one on +the other; and the student who confines his attention to these is +naturally led to believe that he sees before him the process by +which mineral veins have been filled. But the miner, working far +underground, knows that such crystals are only found in cavities +and fissures, and that the normal arrangement of the minerals is +very different. The deposition of various spars one on the other in +cavities is a secondary operation even now going on, and has +nothing necessarily to do with the original filling of the lodes; +indeed, their arrangement is so different that it helps to prove +they have been differently formed. + +It would take a volume to discuss this question in all its +bearings, and as I have already entered more fully into it in +another place,* (* "Mineral Veins" by Thomas Belt. John Weale 1861. +) I shall only now give a brief resume of the conclusions I have +arrived at respecting the origin of mineral veins. + +1. Sedimentary strata have been carried down, by movements of the +earth's crust, far below the surface, covered by other deposits, +and subjected to great heat, which, aided by the water contained in +the rocks and various chemical reactions, has effected a +re-arrangement of the mineral contents of the strata, so that by +molecular movements, the metamorphic crystalline rocks, including +interstratified granites and greenstones, have been formed. + +2. Carried to greater depths and subjected to more intense heat, +the strata have been completely fused, and the liquid or pasty +mass, invading the contorted strata above it, has formed perfectly +crystalline intrusive granites and greenstones. + +3. As the heated rocks cooled from their highest parts downwards, +cracks or fissures have been formed in them by contraction, and +these have been filled from the still-fluid mass below. At the +beginning these injections have been the same as the first massive +intrusive rocks, either granite or greenstone; but as the rocks +gradually cooled, the fissures reached greater and greater depths; +and the lighter constituents having been drawn off and exhausted, +only the heavier molten silica, mingled with metallic and aqueous +vapours, has been left, and with these the last-formed and deepest +fissures have been filled. These injections never reached to the +surface--probably never beyond the area of heated rocks; so that +there have been no overflows from them, and they have only been +exposed by subsequent great upheaval and denudation. + +4. Probably the molten matter was injected into the fissures of +rocks already greatly heated, and the cooling of these rocks has +been prolonged over thousands of years, during which the lodes have +been exposed to every degree of heat, from that of fusion to their +present normal temperature. During the slow upheaval and denudation +of the lodes, they have been subjected to various chemical, +hydro-thermal, and aqueous agencies, by which many of their +contents have been re-arranged and re-formed, new minerals have +been brought in by percolation of water from the surrounding rocks, +and possibly some of the original contents have been carried out by +mineral springs rising through the lines of fissures which are not +completely sealed by the igneous injection, as the contraction of +the molten matter in cooling has left cracks and crevices through +which water readily passes. + +5. Some of the fissures may have been re-opened since they were +raised beyond the reach of molten matter, and the new rent may have +been filled by hydro-thermal or aqueous agencies, and may contain, +along with veinstones of calcite derived from neighbouring beds of +limestone, some minerals due to a previous igneous injection. +Crevices and cavities, called "vughs" by the miners, have been +filled more or less completely with crystals of fluor spar, quartz, +and various ores of metals from true aqueous solutions, or by the +action of super-heated steam. + +6. By these means the signs of the original filling of many mineral +lodes, especially those of the baser metals, have been obscured or +obliterated; but in auriferous quartz lodes both the metal and the +veinstone have generally resisted all these secondary agencies, and +are presented to us much the same as they were first deposited, +excepting that the associated minerals have been altered, and in +some cases new ones introduced, by the passage of hot springs from +below or percolation of water from the surface. + + +CHAPTER 7. + +Climate of the north-eastern side of Nicaragua. +Excursions around Santo Domingo. +The Artigua. +Corruption of ancient names. +Butterflies, spiders, and wasps. +Humming-birds, beetles, and ants. +Plants and trees. +Timber. +Monkey attacked by eagle. +White-faced monkey. +Anecdotes of a tame one. +Curassows and other game birds. +Trogons, woodpeckers, mot-mots, and toucans. + +THE climate of Santo Domingo and of the whole north-eastern side of +Nicaragua is a very damp one. The rains set in in May, and continue +with occasional intermission until the following January, when the +dry season of a little more than three months begins. Even during +the short-lived summer there are occasional rains, so that although +the roads dry up, vegetation never does, the ground in the woods is +ever moist, and the brooks perennial. In the shady forest, +mosquitoes and sand-flies are rather troublesome; but the large +cleared space about the houses of the mining company is almost free +from them, and in the beautiful light evenings one can sit under +the verandahs undisturbed, watching the play of the moonbeams on +the silky leaves of the bananas, the twinkling north star just +peeping over the range in front, with "Charlie's Wain" in the upper +half of its endless circlings, whilst in the opposite direction the +eye rests on the beautiful constellations of the southern +hemisphere. On the darkest nights innumerable fire-flies flash +their intermittent lights as they pass amongst the low bushes or +herbage, making another twinkling firmament on earth. On other +evenings, sitting inside with lighted candles and wide opened +doors, great bats flap inside, make a round of the apartment, and +pass out again, whilst iris-winged moths, attracted by the light, +flit about the ceiling, or long-horned beetles flop down on the +table. In this way I made my first acquaintance with many +entomological rarities.* (* In moths, numerous fine Sphingidae and +Bombycidae; and in beetles, amongst many others, the rare Xestia +nitida (Bates) and Hexoplon albipenne (Bates) were first described +from these evening captures.) + +The heaviest rains fall in July and August, and at these times the +brooks are greatly swollen. The one in front of my house sometimes +carried away the little wooden bridge that crossed it, and for an +hour or two became impassable, but subsided again almost as soon as +the heavy rain ceased falling, for the watershed above does not +extend far. Every year our operations were impeded by runs in the +mines, or by small landslips stopping up our tramways and levels, +or floods carrying away our dam or breaking our watercourses; but +after August we considered our troubles on this score at an end for +the season. Occasionally the rains lasted three or four days +without intermission, but generally they would come on in the +afternoon, and there would be a downpour, such as is only seen in +the tropics, for an hour or two, then some clear weather, until +another great bank of clouds rolled up from the north-east and sent +down another deluge. In September, October, and November there are +breaks of fine weather, sometimes lasting for a fortnight; but +December is generally a very wet month, the rains extending far +into January, so that it is not until February that the roads begin +to dry up. + +I had much riding about. The mines worked by us, when I first went +out, extended from Consuelo, a mile higher up the valley, to Pavon, +a mile below Santo Domingo; and even after I had concentrated our +operations on those nearer to our reduction works, there were many +occasions for me to ride into the woods. I had to look after our +wood-cutters and charcoal-burners, to see that they did not +encroach upon the lands of our neighbours, as they were inclined to +do, and involve us in squabbles and lawsuits; paths had to be +opened out, to bring in nispera and cedar timber, our property +surveyed, and new mines, found in the woods, visited and explored. +Besides this, I spent most of my spare time in the forest, which +surrounded us on every side. Longer excursions were frequent. The +Nicaraguans, like all Spanish Americans, are very litigious, and +every now and then I would be summoned, as the representative of +the company, to appear at Libertad, Juigalpa, or Acoyapo, to answer +some frivolous complaint, generally made with the expectation of +extorting money, but entertained and probably remanded from time to +time by unscrupulous judges, who are so badly paid by the +government that they have to depend upon the fees of suitors for +their support, and are much open to corruption. These rides and +strolls into the woods were very fruitful in natural-history +acquisitions and observations. I shall give an account of some of +those made in the immediate vicinity of Santo Domingo, and I wish I +could transfer to my readers some of the pleasure that they +afforded me. They gave the relief that enabled me to carry on for +years an incessant struggle, under great difficulties, to bring the +mines into a paying state, continually hampered for want of +sufficient capital, with most inadequate machinery, and all the +annoyances, delays, and disappointments inevitable in carrying on +such a precarious enterprise as gold-mining far in the interior of +a half-civilised country. + +The brook that ran at the foot of the bank below my house, and +there called the "Quebrada de Santo Domingo," is dignified half a +mile lower down, after passing the mines of the Javali Company and +receiving the waters of another brook coming down from the +westward, by the name of the Javali river. The Indians, however, +both at the Indian village of Carca, seven miles back in the +mountains, and those lower down the river itself, call it "Artigua." +The preservation of these old Indian names is important, as they +might some time or other throw considerable light on the early +inhabitants of the country. In all parts of the world the names of +mountains, valleys, lakes, and rivers are among the most certain +memorials of the ancient inhabitants. The reason the names of the +natural features of a country remain unchanged under the sway of +successive nations, speaking totally different languages, appears +to be this. The successful invaders of a country, even in the most +cruel times, never exterminated the people they conquered; at the +least, the young women were spared. The conquerors established +their own language, and to everything they had known in their own +land they gave their own names; but to things quite new to them, +which nearly always included the mountains, valleys, lakes, and +rivers, and often the towns and many of the natural productions, +they accepted the existing names from the survivors of the +conquered people. Often the names were corrupted, the new +inhabitants altering them just a little, to render their +pronunciation easier, or to make them significant in their own +language. Thus the fruit of the Persea gratissima was called +"ahuacatl" by the ancient Mexicans; the Spaniards corrupted it to +"avocado," which means an advocate; and our sailors still further, +to "alligator pears." The town of Comelapa, in Chontales, the name +of which means, in Spanish, "Eat a macaw," is undoubtedly a +corruption of some old Indian name of similar form to that of the +neighbouring village of Comoapa, although the Spaniards give an +absurd explanation of it, evidently invented, according to which it +was so called because a sick man was cured of a deadly disease by +eating the bird indicated. + +The Artigua--I shall call it so, to do what I can to save the name +from oblivion--is woefully polluted by the gold-mining on its +banks, and flows, a dark muddy stream, through the village of Santo +Domingo, and just below it precipitates itself one hundred and +twenty feet over a rocky fall. One of the forest roads leads down +its banks for several miles to some small clearings, where a few +scattered, Spanish-speaking Indians and half-breeds cultivate maize +and plantains. After leaving Santo Domingo, it at first follows the +left bank of the stream, through low bushes and small trees of +second growth, then crosses a beautiful clear brook coming down +from the east, and finally winding round a slope covered with great +trees and dense undergrowth, reaches the site chosen for the +machinery at Pavon, where a large space has been cleared, much of +which is covered with grass. After descending a steep hill, the +Artigua, with its muddy water, is crossed. Here, in the dry season, +in the hot afternoons, the wet sandy banks were the favourite +resorts of multitudes of butterflies, that gathered in great masses +on particular moist spots in such numbers that with one swoop of my +net I have enclosed more than thirty in its gauzy folds. These +butterflies were principally different species of Callidryas, +yellow and white, mixed with brown and red species of Timetes, +which, when disturbed, rose in a body and circled about; on the +ground, looking like a bouquet; when rising, like a fountain of +flowers. In groups, by themselves, would be five or six specimens +of yellow and black Papilios, greedily sucking up the moisture, and +vibrating their wings, now and then taking short flights and +settling again to drink. Hesperidae, too, abounded; and in a +favourable afternoon more than twenty different species of +butterflies might be taken at these spots, the finest being a +lovely white, green, and black swallow-tailed Papilio, the first +capture of which filled me with delight. Near the river were some +fallen-down wooden sheds, partly overgrown with a red-flowered +vine. Here a large spider (Nephila) built strong yellow silken +webs, joined one on to the other, so as to make a complete curtain +of web, in which were entangled many large butterflies, generally +forest species, caught when flying across the clearing. I was at +first surprised to find that the kinds that frequent open places +were not caught, although they abounded on low white-flowered +shrubs close to the webs; but, on getting behind them, and trying +to frighten them within the silken curtain, their instinct taught +them to avoid it, for, although startled, they threaded their way +through open spaces and between the webs with the greatest ease. It +was one instance of many I have noticed of the strong instinct +implanted in insects to avoid their natural enemies. I shall +mention two others. The Heliconidae, a tribe of butterflies +peculiar to tropical America, with long, narrow, weak wings, are +distasteful to most animals: I have seen even spiders drop them out +of their webs again; and small monkeys, which are extremely fond of +insects, will not eat them, as I have proved over and over again. +Probably, in consequence of this special protection, they have not +needed stronger wings, and hence their weak flight. They are also +very bold, allowing one to walk close up to flowers on which they +alight. There is one genus with transparent wings that frequents +the white-flowered shrubs in the clearings, and I have sometimes +advanced my hand within six inches of them without frightening +them. There is, however, a yellow and black banded wasp that +catches them to store his nest with; and whenever one of these came +about, they would rise fluttering in the air, where they were safe, +as I never saw the wasp attack them on the wing. It would hawk +round the groups of shrubs, trying to pounce on one unawares; but +their natural dread of this foe made it rather difficult to do so. +When it did catch one, it would quietly bite off its wings, roll it +up into a ball, and fly off with it. Again, the cockroaches that +infest the houses of the tropics are very wary, as they have +numerous enemies--birds, rats, scorpions, and spiders: their long, +trembling antennae are ever stretched out, as if feeling the very +texture of the air around them; and their long legs quickly take +them out of danger. Sometimes I tried to chase one of them up to a +corner where on the wall a large cockroach-eating spider stood +motionless, looking out for his prey; the cockroach would rush away +from me in great fear; but as soon as it came within a foot of its +mortal foe nothing would force it onwards, but back it would +double, facing all the danger from me rather than advance nearer to +its natural enemy. + +To return to the spiders. Besides the large owner and manufacturer +of each web who was stationed near its centre, there were on the +outskirts several very small ones, belonging, I think, to two +different species. I sometimes threw a fly into one of the webs. +The large spider would seize it and commence sucking its blood. The +small ones, attracted by the sight of the prey, would advance +cautiously from the circumference, but generally stop short about +halfway up the web, evidently afraid to come within reach of the +owner; thus having to content themselves with looking at the +provisions, like hungry urchins nosing the windows of an +eating-house. Sometimes a more audacious one would advance closer, +but the owner would, when it came within reach, quickly lift up one +of its feet and strike at it, like a feeding horse kicking at +another that came near its provender, and the intruder would have +to retire discomfited. These little spiders probably fed on minute +insects entangled in the web, too small for the consideration of +the huge owner, to whom they may be of assistance in clearing it. + +(PLATE 9. HUMMING-BIRDS (Florisuga mellivora, LINN.).) + +(PLATE 10. TONGUE OF HUMMING-BIRD AND WOODPECKER. + TONGUE OF HUMMING-BIRD, WITH THE BLADES A LITTLE OPENED. + TONGUE OF LARGE RED-CRESTED WOODPECKER.) + +Soon after crossing the muddy Artigua below Pavon, a beautifully +clear and sparkling brook is reached, coming down to join its pure +waters with the soiled river below. In the evening this was a +favourite resort of many birds that came to drink at the pellucid +stream, or catch insects playing above the water. Amongst the last +was the beautiful blue, green, and white humming-bird (Florisuga +mellivora, Linn.); the head and neck deep metallic-blue, bordered +on the back by a pure white collar over the shoulders, followed by +deep metallic-green; on the underside the blue neck is succeeded by +green, the green from the centre of the breast to the end of the +tail by pure white; the tail can be expanded to a half circle, and +each feather widening towards the end makes the semicircle complete +around the edge. When catching the ephemeridae that play above the +water, the tail is not expanded: it is reserved for times of +courtship. I have seen the female sitting quietly on a branch, and +two males displaying their charms in front of her. One would shoot +up like a rocket, then suddenly expanding the snow-white tail like +an inverted parachute, slowly descend in front of her, turning +round gradually to show off both back and front. The effect was +heightened by the wings being invisible from a distance of a few +yards, both from their great velocity of movement and from not +having the metallic lustre of the rest of the body. The expanded +white tail covered more space than all the rest of the bird, and +was evidently the grand feature in the performance. Whilst one was +descending, the other would shoot up and come slowly down, +expanded. The entertainment ended in a fight between the two +performers; but whether the more beautiful or the more pugnacious +were the accepted suitor, I know not. Another fine humming-bird +seen about this brook was the long-billed, fire-throated +Heliomaster pallidiceps (Gould), generally engaged in probing long +narrow-throated red flowers, forming, with their attractive nectar, +complete traps for the small insects on which the humming-birds +principally feed, the bird returning the favour by carrying the +pollen of one flower to another. A third species, also seen at this +brook, Petasophora delphinae, Less., is of a dull brown colour, +with brilliant purple ear-feathers and metallic-green throat. Both +it and Florisuga mellivora are short billed, generally catching +flying insects, and do not frequent flowers so much as other +humming-birds. I have seen the Petasophora fly into the centre of a +dancing column of midges and rapidly darting first at one and then +at another, secure half-a-dozen of the tiny flies before the column +was broken up; then retire to a branch and wait until it was +re-formed, when it made another sudden descent on them. A fourth +species (Heliothrix barroti, Bourc.), brilliant green above, white +below, with a shining purple crest, has also a short bill, and I +never saw it about flowers, but always hovering underneath leaves +and searching for the small soft-bodied spiders that are found +there. Two of them that I examined had these spiders in their +crops. I have no doubt many humming-birds suck the honey from +flowers, as I have seen it exude from their bills when shot, but +others do not frequent them. The principal food of all is small +insects. I have examined scores of them, and never without finding +insects in their crops. Their generally long bills have been spoken +of by some naturalists as tubes into which they suck the honey by a +piston-like movement of the tongue; but suction in the usual way +would be just as effective; and I am satisfied that this is not the +primary use of the tongue, nor of the mechanism which enables it to +be exserted to a great length beyond the end of the bill. The +tongue, for one-half of its length, is semi-horny and cleft in two, +the two halves are laid flat against each other when at rest, but +can be separated at the will of the bird and form a delicate +pliable pair of forceps, most admirably adapted for picking out +minute insects from amongst the stamens of the flowers. The +woodpecker, which has a similar extensile mechanism for exserting +its tongue to a great length, also uses it to procure its food--in +its case soft grubs from holes in rotten trees--and to enable it to +pull these out, the end of the tongue is sharp and horny, and +barbed with short stiff recurved bristles. + +Continuing down the river, the road again crosses it, and enters on +the primeval forest almost untouched by the hand of man, excepting +in spots where the trees that furnish the best charcoal have been +cut down by the charcoal-burners, or a gigantic isolated cedar +(Cedrela odorata) has been felled for shingles, bringing down in +its fall a number of the neighbouring trees entangled in the great +bush ropes. Such open spots, letting in the sunshine into the thick +forests, were favourite stopping-places; for numerous butterflies +frequent them, all beautiful and most varied in their colours and +marking. The fallen trees, too, are the breeding-places of +multitudes of beetles, whose larvae riddle them with holes. Some +beetles frequent different varieties of timber, others are peculiar +to a single tree. The most noticeable of these beetles are the +numerous longicorns, to the collection of which I paid a great deal +of attention, and brought home more than three hundred species. +More than one-half of these were new to science, and have been +described by Mr. Bates. To show how prolific the locality was in +insect life, I need only state that about two hundred and ninety of +the species were taken within a radius of four miles, having on one +side the savannahs near Pital, on the other the ranges around Santo +Domingo. Some run and fly only in the daytime, others towards +evening and in the short twilight; but the great majority issue +from their hiding-places only in the night-time, and during the day +lie concealed in withered leaves, beneath fallen logs, under bark, +and in crevices amongst the moss growing on the trunks of trees, or +even against the bare trunk, protected from observation by their +mottled brown, grey, and greenish tints--assimilating in colour and +appearance to the bark of the tree. Up and down the fallen timber +would stalk gigantic black ants, one inch in length, provided with +most formidable stings, and disdaining to run away from danger. +They are slow and stately in their movements, seeming to prey +solely on the slow-moving wood-borers, which they take at a great +disadvantage when half buried in their burrows, and bear off in +their great jaws. They appear to use their sting only as a +defensive weapon; but other smaller species that hunt singly, and +are very agile, use their stings to paralyse their prey. I once saw +one of these on the banks of the Artigua chasing a wood-louse +(Oniscus), very like our common English species, on a nearly +perpendicular slope. The wood-louse, when the ant got near it, made +convulsive springs, throwing itself down the slope, whilst the ant +followed, coursing from side to side, and examining the ground with +its vibrating antennae. The actions of the wood-louse resembled +that of the hunted hare trying to throw the dog off its scent, and +the ant was like the dog in its movements to recover the trail. At +last the wood-louse reached the bottom of the slope, and concealed +itself amongst some leaves; but the ant soon discovered it, +paralysed it with a sting, and was running away with it, turned +back downwards, beneath itself, when I secured the hunter for my +collection. All these ants that hunt singly have the eyes well +developed, and thus differ greatly from the Ecitons, or army ants. + +The road, continuing down the Artigua, crosses it again, winds away +from it, then comes to it again, at a beautiful rocky spot overhung +by trees; the banks covered with plants and shrubs, and the rocks +with a great variety of ferns, whilst a babbling, clear brook comes +down from the ranges to the right. Some damp spots near the river +are covered with a carpet of a beautiful variegated, velvety-leaved +plant (Cyrtodeira chontalensis) with a flower like an achimenes, +whilst the dryer slopes bear melastomae and a great variety of +dwarf palms, amongst which the Sweetie (Geonoma sp.), used for +thatching houses, is the most abundant. About here grows a species +of cacao (Herrania purpurea) differing from the cultivated species +(Theobroma cacao). Amongst the larger trees is the "cortess," +having a wood as hard as ebony, and at the end of March entirely +covered with brilliant yellow flowers, unrelieved by any green, the +tree casting its leaves before flowering. The great yellow domes +may be distinguished amongst the dark green forest at the distance +of five or six miles. Near at hand they are absolutely dazzling +when the sun is shining on them; and when they shed their flowers, +the ground below is carpeted as with gold. Another valuable timber +tree, the "nispera" (Achras sapota), is also common, growing on the +dryer ridges. It attains to a great size, and its timber is almost +indestructible, so that we used it in the construction of all our +permanent works. White ants do not eat it, nor, excepting when +first cut, and before it is barked, do any of the wood-boring +beetles. It bears a round fruit about the size of an apple, hard +and heavy when green, and at this time is much frequented by the +large yellowish-brown spider-monkeys (Ateles), which roam over the +tops of the trees in bands of from ten to twenty. Sometimes they +lay quiet until I was passing underneath, and then shaking a branch +of the nispera tree, they would send down a shower of the hard +round fruit. Fortunately I was never struck by them. As soon as I +looked up, they would commence yelping and barking, and putting on +the most threatening gestures, breaking off pieces of branches and +letting them fall, and shaking off more fruit, but never throwing +anything, simply letting it fall. Often, when on lower trees, they +would hang from the branches two or three together, holding on to +each other and to the branch with their fore feet and long tail, +whilst their hind feet hung down, all the time making threatening +gestures and cries. Occasionally a female would be seen carrying a +young one on its back, to which it clung with legs and tail, the +mother making its way along the branches, and leaping from tree to +tree, apparently but little encumbered with its baby. A large black +and white eagle is said to prey upon them, but I never witnessed +this, although I was constantly falling in with troops of the +monkeys. Don Francisco Velasquez, one of our officers, told me that +one day he heard a monkey crying out in the forest for more than +two hours, and at last, going to see what was the matter, he saw +one on a branch and an eagle beside it trying to frighten it to +turn its back, when it would have seized it. The monkey, however, +kept its face to its foe, and the eagle did not care to engage with +it in this position, but probably would have tired it out. +Velasquez fired at the eagle, and frightened it away. I think it +likely from what I have seen of the habits of the spider-monkeys +that they defend themselves from this peril by keeping two or three +together, thus assisting each other, and that it is only when the +eagle finds one separated from its companions that it dares to +attack it. + +Sometimes, but more rarely, we would fall in with a troop of the +white-faced cebus monkey, rapidly running away, throwing themselves +from tree to tree. This monkey feeds also partly on fruit, but is +incessantly on the look-out for insects, examining the crevices in +trees and withered leaves, seizing the largest beetles and munching +them up with great relish. It is also very fond of eggs and young +birds, and must play havoc amongst the nestlings. Probably owing to +its carnivorous habits, its flesh is not considered so good by +monkey-eaters as that of the fruit-feeding spider-monkey, but I +never myself tried either. It is a very intelligent and mischievous +animal. I kept one for a long time as a pet, and was much amused +with its antics. At first, I had it fastened with a light chain; +but it managed to open the links and escape several times, and then +made straight for the fowls' nest, breaking every egg it could get +hold of. Generally, after being an hour or two loose, it would +allow itself to be caught again. I tried tying it up with a cord, +and afterwards with a raw-hide thong, but had to nail the end, as +it could loosen any knot in a few minutes. It would sometimes +entangle itself round a pole to which it was fastened, and then +unwind the coils again with great discernment. Its chain allowed it +to swing down below the verandah, but it could not reach to the +ground. Sometimes, when there were broods of young ducks about, it +would hold out a piece of bread in one hand, and, when it had +tempted a duckling within reach, seize it by the other, and kill it +with a bite in the breast. There was such an uproar amongst the +fowls on these occasions, that we soon knew what was the matter, +and would rush out and punish Mickey (as we called him) with a +switch, which ultimately cured him of his poultry-killing +propensities. Once, when whipping him, I held up the dead duckling +in front of him, and at each blow of the light switch told him to +take hold of it, and at last, much to my surprise, he did so, +taking it and holding it tremblingly in one hand. He would draw +things towards him with a stick, and even use a swing for the same +purpose. It had been put up for the children, and could be reached +by Mickey, who now and then indulged himself with a swing on it. +One day, I had put down some bird-skins on a chair to dry, far +beyond, as I thought, Mickey's reach; but, fertile in expedients, +he took the swing and launched it towards the chair, and actually +managed to knock the skins off in the return of the swing, so as to +bring them within his reach. He also procured some jelly that was +set out to cool in the same way. Mickey's actions were very +human-like. When any one came near to fondle him, he never +neglected the opportunity of pocket-picking. He would pull out +letters, and quickly take them from their envelopes. Anything +eatable disappeared into his mouth immediately. Once he abstracted +a small bottle of turpentine from the pocket of our medical +officer. He drew the cork, held it first to one nostril then to the +other, made a wry face, recorked it, and returned it to the doctor. +Another time, when he got loose, he was detected carrying off the +cream-jug from the table, holding it upright with both hands, and +trying to move off on his hind limbs. He gave the jug up without +spilling a drop, all the time making an apologetic grunting chuckle +he often used when found out in any mischief, and which meant, "I +know I have done wrong, but don't punish me; in fact, I did not +mean to do it--it was accidental." Whenever, however, he saw he was +going to be punished, he would change his tone to a shrill, +threatening note, showing his teeth, and trying to intimidate. He +had quite an extensive vocabulary of sounds, varying from a gruff +bark to a shrill whistle; and we could tell by them, without seeing +him, when it was he was hungry, eating, frightened, or menacing; +doubtless, one of his own species would have understood various +minor shades of intonation and expression that we, not entering so +fully into his feelings and wants, passed over as unintelligible.* +There is a third species of monkey (Mycetes palliatus), called by +the natives the congo, which occasionally is heard howling in the +forest; but they are not often seen, as they generally remain quiet +amongst the upper branches of particular trees. + +[* Mickey came into Belt's possession in rather an interesting way. +He belonged to the well-known German botanist Dr. Seemann, who was +the manager at that time of the neighbouring Javali mine. Seemann +died at Javali; and when Belt went to read the Burial Service over +him, as was his custom upon the death of any European, the monkey +sprang upon him and, seizing him by the neck, clung to him with all +his might. So determined was he to adopt Belt as his protector that +the matter ended by his being taken back to Chontales where he +lived in great contentment. + +This frantic clinging to some one for protection was always the +conclusion of Mickey's short experiences of freedom. He probably +did not find his captivity at all irksome, for on getting loose +from his chain he made no attempt to escape into the adjoining +forest, but contented himself with running round and round the +house and garden thoroughly enjoying the hue and cry after him. But +becoming either alarmed at or weary of his escapade, he always +ended by making a rush for the eldest of the children whom he half +throttled with his sinewy little arms while offering voluble +excuses in his own language. On one occasion, however, it was +feared that Mickey was really gone, for, contrary to all precedent, +he had left the garden and betaken himself to the forest where of +course all trace of him was at once lost. But after nightfall a +pattering of small feet was heard in the passage, and there was +Mickey with a very woe-begone and penitent expression on his white +face, asking to be received and forgiven.] + +One day, when riding down this path, I came upon a pack of pisotes +(Nasua fusca, Desm.), a raccoon-like animal, that ascends all the +small trees, searching for birds' nests and fruits. There were not +less than fifty in the pack I saw, and nothing seemed likely to +escape their search in the track they were travelling. Sometimes +solitary specimens of the pisoti are met with, hunting alone in the +forest. I once saw one near Juigalpa, ascending tree after tree, +and climbing every branch, apparently in search of birds' nests. +They are very fond of eggs; and the tame ones, which are often kept +as pets, play havoc amongst the poultry when they get loose. They +are about the size of a hare, with a taper snout, strong tusks, a +thick hairy coat, and bushy tail. When passing down this road, I at +times saw the fine curl-crested curassow (Crax globicera), as large +as a turkey, jet black, excepting underneath. This kind would +always take to the trees, and was easy to shoot, and as good eating +as it was noble in appearance. The female is a very +different-looking bird from the male, being of a fine brown colour. +Dr. Sclater, in a paper read before the Zoological Society of +London, June 17th, 1873, stated that in the South and Central +American species of Crax there is a complete gradation from a +species in which the sexes scarcely differ, through others in which +they differ more and more, until in Crax globicera they are quite +distinctly coloured, and have been described as different species. +The natives call them "pavones," and often keep them tame; but I +never heard of them breeding in confinement. Another fine game bird +is a species of Penelope, called by the natives "pavos." It feeds +on the fruits of trees, and I never saw it on the ground. A +similar, but much smaller, bird, called "chachalakes," is often met +with in the low scrub. + +Mountain hens (species of Tinamus) were not uncommon, about the +size of a plump fowl, and tasting like a pheasant. There were also +two species of grouse and a ground pigeon, all good eating. + +Amongst the smaller birds were trogons, mot-mots, toucans, and +woodpeckers. The trogons are general feeders. I have taken from +their crops the remains of fruits, grasshoppers, beetles, termites, +and even small crabs and land shells. Three species are not +uncommon in the forest around Santo Domingo. In all of them the +females are dull brown or slaty black on the back and neck, these +parts being beautiful bronze green in the males. The largest +species (Trogon massena, Gould) is one foot in length, dark bronze +green above, with the smaller wing feathers speckled white and +black, and the belly of a beautiful carmine. Sometimes it sits on a +branch above where the army ants are foraging below; and when a +grasshopper or other large insect flies up and alights on a leaf, +it darts after it, picks it up, and returns to its perch. I found +them breaking into the nests of the termites with their strong +bills, and eating the large soft-bodied workers; and it was from +the crop of this species that I took the remains of a small crab +and a land shell (Helicina). Of the two smaller species, one +(Trogon atricollis, Vieill.) is bronze green above, with speckled +black and white wings, belly yellow, and under feathers of the tail +white, barred with black. The other (Trogon caligatus, Gould) is +rather smaller, of similar colours, excepting the head, which is +black, and a dark blue collar round the neck. Both species take +short, quick, jerky flights, and are often met with along with +flocks of other birds--fly-catchers, tanagers, creepers, +woodpeckers, etc., that hunt together, traversing the forests in +flocks of hundreds together, belonging to more than a score +different species; so that whilst they are passing over, the trees +seem alive with them. Mr. Bates has mentioned similar gregarious +flocks met with by him in Brazil; and I never went any distance +into the woods around Santo Domingo without seeing them. The reason +of their association together may be partly for protection, as no +rapacious bird or mammal could approach the flock without being +discovered by one or other of them, but the principal reason +appears to be that they play into each other's hands in their +search for food. The creepers and woodpeckers and others drive the +insects out of their hiding-places under bark, amongst moss, and in +withered leaves. The fly-catchers and trogons sit on branches and +fly after the larger insects, the fly-catchers taking them on the +wing, the trogons from off the leaves on which they have settled. +In the breeding season, the trogons are continually calling out to +each other, and are thus easily discovered. They are called "viduas," +that is, "widows," by the Spaniards. + +Woodpeckers are often seen along with the hunting flocks of birds, +especially a small one (Centrurus pucherani, Mahl), with red and +yellow head and speckled back. This species feeds on fruits, as +well as on grubs taken out of dead trees. A large red-crested +species is common near recently-made clearings, and I successively +met with one of an elegant chocolate-brown colour, and another +brown with black spots on the back and breast, with a +lighter-coloured crested head (Celeus castaneus, Wagl.). + +Of the mot-mots, I met with four species in the forest, all more or +less olive green in colour (Momotus martii and lessoni, and +Prionyrhynchus carinatus and platyrhynchus), having two of the +tail-feathers very long, with the shafts denuded about an inch from +the end. The mot-mots have all hoarse croak-like cries, heard at a +great distance in the forest, and feed on large beetles and other +insects. + +The toucans are very curious-looking birds, with their enormous +bills. They hop with great agility amongst the branches. The +largest species at Santo Domingo was the Rhamphastus tocard, +Vieill., twenty-three inches in length, of which one-fourth was +taken up by the long bill and another fourth by the tail; above, +all black, excepting the tail-coverts, which are white; below, +throat and breast clear lemon yellow, bordered with red, the rest +black, excepting the under tail-coverts, red. When alive, the bill +is beautifully painted with red, brown, and yellow. I kept a young +one for some time as a pet until it was killed by my monkey. It +became very tame, and was expert in catching cockroaches, +swallowing them with a jerk of its bill. + +After passing through some low scrubby forest, very thick with +tangled second growth, the clearings of the mestizoes were reached, +about five miles below Santo Domingo. Maize, plantains, and a few +native vegetables were grown here, and the owners now and then came +up to the village to sell their produce. Their houses were +open-sided low huts, thatched with palm-leaves; their furniture, +rude bedsteads made out of a few rough poles, tied together with +bark, supported on crutches stuck in the ground, with raw-hides +stretched across them; their cooking utensils a tortilla-stone and +a few coarse earthenware jars and pans; their clothing dirty cotton +rags. This was the limit of my journeys in this direction, although +the path continued on to the savannahs towards San Tomas. The soil +at this place is good, and I think that it has been long +cultivated, as much of the forest appears of second growth, in +which small palms and prickly shrubs abound. + + +CHAPTER 8. + +Description of San Antonio valley. +Great variety of animal life. +Pitcher-flowered Marcgravias. +Flowers fertilised by humming-birds. +By insects. +Provision in some flowers to prevent insects, not adapted for + carrying the pollen, from obtaining access to the nectaries. +Stories about wasps. +Humming-birds bathing. +Singular myriapods. +Ascent of Pena Blanca. +Tapirs and jaguars. +Summit of Pena Blanca. + +ON the northern side of the Santo Domingo valley, opposite to my +house, a branch valley came down from the north, which we called +the San Antonio Valley. It intersected all the lodes we were +working, and I constructed a tramway up it as far as the most +northern mine, called San Benito, by which we brought down the ore +to the stamps and the firewood for the steam-engine, and in a short +time we had cleared all the timber from the lower part of the +valley; and a dense scrub or second growth sprang up, through which +numerous paths were made by the woodcutters. I was almost daily up +this valley, visiting the mines, or in the evening after the +workmen had left, and on Saturday afternoons, when they +discontinued work at two o'clock. On Sundays, too, it was our +favourite walk, for the tramway was dry to walk on; there were +tunnels, mines, and sheds at various parts to get into if one of +the sudden heavy showers of rain came on; and there were always +flowers or insects or birds to claim one's attention. I planned the +whole of the tramway; the upper half I surveyed and levelled +myself; and my almost daily walks up it familiarised me with every +bush and fallen log by its side, and with every turn of the clear +cool brook that came prattling down over the stones, soon at the +machinery to lose its early purity, and be soiled in the ceaseless +search for gold. + +(PLATE 11. PITCHER-FLOWER (Marcgravia nepenthoides).) + +(PLATE 12. FLOWER OF THE "PALOSABRE.") + +The sides of the valley rose steeply, and a fair view was obtained +from the tramway in the centre over the shrubs and small trees on +each side, so that the walk was not so hemmed in with foliage, as +is usual in the forest roads. Insects were plentiful by this path. +In some parts brown tiger beetles ran or flew with great swiftness; +in others, leaf-cutting ants in endless trains carried aloft their +burdens of foliage, looking as they marched along with the segments +of leaves, held up vertically, like green butterflies, or a mimic +representation of a moving Birnam wood. Sometimes the chirping of +the ant-thrushes drew attention to where a great body of army-ants +were foraging amongst the fallen branches, sending the spiders, +cockroaches, and grasshoppers fleeing for their lives, only to fall +victims to the surrounding birds. On the fallen branches and logs I +obtained many longicorn beetles; the woodcutters brought me many +more, and from this valley were obtained some of the rarest and +finest species in my collection. On the myrtle-like flowers of some +of the shrubs, large green cockchafers were to be found during the +dry season, and a bright green rosechafer was also common. I was +surprised to find on two occasions a green and brown bug (Pentatoma +punicea) sucking the juices from dead specimens of this species. +The bug has weak limbs, and the beetle is more than twice its size +and weight, and is very active, quickly taking wing; so that the +only way in which it could be overcome that I can think of is by +the bug creeping up when it is sleeping, quietly introducing the +point of its sharp proboscis between the rings of its body, and +injecting some stupefying poison. In both instances that I +witnessed, the bug was on a leaf up a shrub, with the bulky beetle +hanging over suspended on its proboscis. Other species of bugs +certainly inject poisonous fluids. One black and red species in the +forest, if taken in the hand, would thrust its sharp proboscis into +the skin, and produce a pain worse than the sting of a wasp. +Amongst the bushes were always to be found the beautiful scarlet +and black tanager (Rhamphocoelus passerinii, Bp.), and more rarely +another species (R. sanguinolentus, Less.). Along with these, a +brownish-coloured bird, reddish on the breast and top of the head +(Phoenicothraupis fusicauda, Cab.), flew sociably; whilst generally +somewhere in the vicinity, as evening drew on, a brown hawk might +be seen up some of the low trees, watching the thoughtless chirping +birds, and ready to pounce down when opportunity offered. Higher up +the valley more trees were left standing, and amongst these small +flocks of other birds might often be found, one green with red head +(Calliste laviniae, Cass.); another, shining green, with black head +(Chlorophones guatemalensis); and a third, beautiful black, blue, +and yellow, with yellow head (Calliste larvata, Du Bus.). These and +many others were certain to be found where the climbing Marcgravia +nepenthoides expanded its curious flowers. The flowers of this +lofty climber are disposed in a circle, hanging downwards, like an +inverted candelabrum. From the centre of the circle of flowers is +suspended a number of pitcher-like vessels, which, when the flowers +expand, in February and March, are filled with a sweetish liquid. +This liquid attracts insects, and the insects numerous +insectivorous birds, including the species I have mentioned and +many kinds of humming-birds. The flowers are so disposed, with the +stamens hanging downwards, that the birds, to get at the pitchers, +must brush against them, and thus convey the pollen from one plant +to another. A second species of Marcgravia that I found in the +woods around Santo Domingo has the pitchers placed close to the +pedicels of the flowers, so that the birds must approach them from +above; and in this species the flowers are turned upwards, and the +pollen is brushed off by the breasts of the birds. In temperate +latitudes we find many flowers fertilised by insects, attracted by +honey-bearing nectaries; and in tropical America not only bees, +moths, and other large insects carry the pollen from one flower to +another, but many flowers, like the Marcgravia, are specially +adapted to secure the aid of small birds, particularly +humming-birds, for this purpose. Amongst these, the "palosabre," a +species of Erythrina, a small tree, bearing red flowers, that grew +in this valley, near the brook, often drew my attention. The tree +blooms in February, and is at the time leafless, so that the large +red flowers are seen from a great distance. Each flower consists of +a single long, rather fleshy petal, doubled over, flattened, and +closed, excepting a small opening on one edge, where the stamens +protrude. Only minute insects can find access to the flower, which +secretes at the base a honey-like fluid. Two long-billed +humming-birds frequent it; one (Heliomaster pallidiceps, Gould), +which I have already mentioned, is rather rare; the other +(Phaethornis longirostris, De Latt.) might be seen at any time when +the tree was in bloom, by watching near it for a few minutes. It is +mottled brown above, pale below, and the two middle tail feathers +are much longer than the others. The bill is very long and curved, +enabling the bird easily to probe the long flower, and with its +extensile cleft tongue pick up the minute insects from the bottom +of the tube, where they are caught as if in a trap, their only way +of exit being closed by the bill of the bird. Whilst the bird is +probing the flower, the pollen of the stamens is rubbed in to the +lower part of its head, and thus carried from one flower to +fecundate another. The bottom of the flower is covered externally +with a thick, fleshy calyx--an effectual guard against the attempts +of bees or wasps to break through to get at the honey. +Humming-birds feed on minute insects, and the honey would only be +wasted if larger ones could gain access to it, but in the flower of +the palosabre this contingency is simply and completely guarded +against. + +Many flowers have contrivances for preventing useless insects from +obtaining access to the nectaries. Amongst our English flowers +there are scores of interesting examples, and I shall describe the +fertilisation of one, the common foxglove, on account of the +exceeding simplicity with which this object is effected, and to +draw the attention of all lovers of nature to this branch of a +subject on which the labours of Darwin and other naturalists have +of late years thrown a flood of light. The pollen of the foxglove +(Digitalis purpurea) is carried from one flower to another by the +humble-bee, who, far more than the hive bee, that "improves each +shining hour," deserves to be considered the type of steady, +persevering industry. It improves not only the hours of sunshine, +but those of cloud, and even rain; and, long before the honey-bee +has ventured from its door, is at work bustling from flower to +flower, its steady hum changing to an importunate squeak as it +rifles the blossoms of their sweets. The racemes of purple bells +held up by the foxglove are methodically visited by it, commencing +at the bottom flower, and ascending step by step to the highest. +The four stamens and the pistil of the foxglove are laid closely +against the upper side of the flower. First a stamen on one side +opens its anthers and exposes its pollen. The humble-bee, as it +bustles in and out, brushes this off. Then another stamen exposes +its pollen on the other side, then another and another; but not +till all the pollen has been brushed off does the cleft end of the +pistil open, and expose its viscid stigma. The humble-bee brushes +off the pollen onto its hairy coat from the upper flowers of one +raceme and carries it direct to the lowest flowers of another, +where the viscid stigmas are open and ready to receive it. If the +humble-bee went first to the upper flowers of the spike and +proceeded downwards, the whole economy of this plant to procure +cross fertilisation would be upset.* (* Darwin mentions having seen +humble-bees visiting the flowering spikes of the Spiranthes +autumnalis (ladies' tresses), and notices that they always +commenced with the bottom flowers, and crawling spirally up, sucked +one flower after the other, and shows how this proceeding ensures +the cross fertilisation of different plants.--"Fertilisation of +Orchids" page 127.) The open flower of the foxglove hangs +downwards. The lower part, or dilated opening of the tube, is +turned outwards, and has scattered stiff hairs distributed over its +inner surface; above these the inside of the flower hangs almost +perpendicularly, and is smooth and pearly. The large humble-bee +bustles in with the greatest ease, and uses these hairs as +footholds whilst he is sucking the honey; but the smaller +honey-bees are impeded by them, and when, having at last struggled +through them, they reach the pearly, slippery precipice above, they +are completely baffled. I passed the autumn of 1857 in North Wales, +where the foxglove was very abundant, and watched the flowers +throughout the season, but only once saw a small bee reach the +nectary, though many were seen trying in vain to do so. + +Great attention has of late years been paid by naturalists to the +wonderful contrivances amongst flowers to secure cross +fertilisation; but the structure of many cannot, I believe, be +understood, unless we take into consideration not only the +beautiful adaptations for securing the services of the proper +insect or bird, but also the contrivances for preventing insects +that would not be useful, from obtaining access to the nectar. Thus +the immense length of the nectary of the Angraecum sesquipedale of +Madagascar might, perhaps, have been completely explained by Mr. +Wallace, if this important purpose had been taken into account.* (* +"Natural Selection" by A.R. Wallace page 272.) + +The tramway in some parts was on raised ground, in others excavated +in the bank side. In the cuttings the nearly perpendicular clay +slopes were frequented by many kinds of wasps that excavated round +holes of the diameter of their own bodies, and stored them with +sting-paralysed spiders, grasshoppers, or horse-flies. Amongst +these they lay their eggs, and the white grubs that issue therefrom +feed on the poor prisoners. I one day saw a small black and yellow +banded wasp (Pompilus polistoides) hunting for spiders; it +approached a web where a spider was stationed in the centre, made a +dart towards it--apparently a feint to frighten the spider clear of +its web; at any rate it had that effect, for it fell to the ground, +and was immediately seized by the wasp, who stung it, then ran +quickly backwards, dragging the spider after it, up a branch +reaching to the ground, until it got high enough, when it flew +heavily off with it. It was so small, and the spider so heavy, that +it probably could not have raised it from the ground by flight. All +over the world there are wasps that store their nests with the +bodies of spiders for their young to feed on. In Australia, I often +witnessed a wasp combating with a large flat spider that is found +on the bark of trees. It would fall to the ground, and lie on its +back, so as to be able to grapple with its opponent; but the wasp +was always the victor in the encounters I saw, although it was not +always allowed to carry its prey off in peace. One day, sitting on +the sand-banks on the coast of Hobson's Bay, I saw one dragging +along a large spider. Three or four inches above it hovered two +minute flies, keeping a little behind, and advancing with it. The +wasp seemed much disturbed by the presence of the tiny flies, and +twice left its prey to fly up towards them, but they darted away +immediately. As soon as the wasp returned to the spider, there they +were hovering over and following it again. At last, unable to drive +away its small tormenters, the wasp reached its burrow and took +down the spider, and the two flies stationed themselves one on each +side the entrance, and would, doubtless, when the wasp went away to +seek another victim, descend and lay their own eggs in the nest. + +The variety of wasps, as of all other insects, was very great +around Santo Domingo. Many made papery nests, hanging from the +undersides of large leaves. Others hung their open cells underneath +verandahs and eaves of houses. One large black one was particularly +abundant about houses, and many people got stung by them. They also +build their pendent nests in the orange and lime trees, and it is +not always safe to gather the fruit. Fortunately they are heavy +flyers, and can often be struck down or evaded in their attacks. +They do good where there are gardens, as they feed their young on +caterpillars, and are continually hunting for them. Another +species, banded brown and yellow (Polistes carnifex), has similar +habits, but is not so common. Bates, in his account of the habits +of the sand-wasps at Santarem, on the Amazon, gives an interesting +account of the way in which they took a few turns in the air around +the hole they had made in the sand, before leaving to seek for +flies in the forest, apparently to mark well the position of the +burrow, so that on their return they might find it without +difficulty. He remarks that this precaution would be said to be +instinctive, but that the instinct is no mysterious and +unintelligible agent, but a mental process in each individual +differing from the same in man only by its unerring certainty.* (* +"Naturalist on the River Amazons" page 222.) I had an opportunity +of confirming his account of the proceedings of wasps when quitting +a locality to which they wished to return, in all but their +unerring certainty. I could not help noting how similar they were +to the way in which a man would act who wished to return to some +spot not easily found out, and with which he was not previously +acquainted. A specimen of the Polistes carnifex was hunting about +for caterpillars in my garden. I found one about an inch long, and +held it out towards the wasp on the point of a stick. The wasp +seized the caterpillar immediately, and commenced biting it from +head to tail, soon reducing the soft body to a mass of pulp. Then +rolling up about one half of the pulp into a ball, it carried it +off. Being at the time amidst a thick mass of a fine-leaved +climbing plant, it proceeded, before flying away, to take note of +the place where the other half was left. To do this, it hovered in +front for a few seconds, then took small circles in front, then +larger ones round the whole plant. I thought it had gone, but it +returned again, and had another look at the opening in the dense +foliage down which the other half of the caterpillar lay. It then +flew away, but must have left its burden for distribution with its +comrades at the nest, for it returned in less than two minutes, and +making one circle around the bush, descended to the opening, +alighted on a leaf, and ran inside. The green remnant of the +caterpillar was lying on another leaf inside, but not connected +with the one on which the wasp alighted, so that in running in it +missed the object and soon got hopelessly lost in the thick +foliage. Coming out, it took another circle, and pounced down on +the same spot again, as soon as it came opposite to it. Three small +seed-pods, which here grew close together, formed the marks that I +had myself taken to note the place, and these the wasp seemed also +to have taken as its guide, for it flew directly down to them, and +ran inside; but the small leaf on which the fragment of caterpillar +lay, not being directly connected with any on the outside, it again +missed it, and again got far away from the object of its search. It +then flew out again, and the same process was repeated again and +again. Always, when in circling round it came in sight of the +seed-pods, down it pounced, alighted near them, and recommenced its +quest on foot. I was surprised at its perseverance, and thought it +would have given up the search; not so, however, for it returned at +least half-a-dozen times, and seemed to get angry, hurrying about +with buzzing wings. At last it stumbled across its prey, seized it +eagerly, and as there was nothing more to come back for, flew +straight off to its nest, without taking any further note of the +locality. Such an action is not the result of blind instinct, but +of a thinking mind; and it is wonderful to see an insect so +differently constructed using a mental process similar to that of +man. It is suggestive of the probability of many of the actions of +insects that we ascribe to instinct being the result of the +possession of reasoning powers. + +Where the tramway terminated at San Benito mine, the valley had +greatly contracted in width, and the stream, excepting in time of +flood, had dwindled to a little rill. A small rough path, made by +the miners to bring in their timber, continued up the brook, +crossing and recrossing it. The sides of the valley were very +steep, and covered with trees and undergrowth. The foliage arched +over the water, forming beautiful little dells, with small, clear +pools of water. One of these was a favourite resort of +humming-birds, who came there to bathe, for these gem-like birds +are very frequent in their ablutions, and I spent many a half-hour +in the evenings leaning against a trunk of a tree that had fallen +across the stream four or five yards below the pool, and watching +them. At all times of the day they occasionally came down, but +during the short twilight there was a crowd of bathers, and often +there were two or three at one time hovering over the pool, which +was only three feet across, and dipping into it. Some would delay +their evening toilet until the shades of night were thickening, and +it became almost too dark to distinguish them from my stand. Three +species regularly frequented the pool, and three others +occasionally visited it. The commonest was the Thalurania venusta +(Gould), the male of which is a most beautiful bird--the front of +the head and shoulders glistening purple, the throat brilliant +light green, shining in particular lights like polished metal, the +breast blue, and the back dark green. It was a beautiful sight to +see this bird hovering over the pool, turning from side to side by +quick jerks of its tail, now showing its throat a gleaming emerald, +now its shoulders a glistening amethyst, then darting beneath the +water, and rising instantly, throw off a shower of spray from its +quivering wings, and fly up to an overhanging bough and commence to +preen its feathers. All humming-birds bathe on the wing, and +generally take three or four dips, hovering, between times, about +three inches above the surface. + +Sometimes when the last-mentioned species was suspended over the +water, its rapidly vibrating wings showing like a mere film, a +speck shot down the valley, swift as an arrow, as white as a +snowflake, and stopping suddenly over the pool, startled the +emerald-throat, and frightened it up amongst the overhanging +branches. The intruder was the white-cap (Microchera parvirostris, +Lawr.), the smallest of thirteen different kinds of humming-birds +that I noticed around Santo Domingo; being only a little more than +two and a half inches in length, including the bill; but it was +very pugnacious, and I have often seen it drive some of the larger +birds away from a flowering tree. Its body is purplish-red, with +green reflections, the front of its head flat and pearly white, +and, when flying towards one, its white head is the only part seen. +Sometimes the green-throat would hold its ground, and then it was +comical to see them hovering over the water, jerking round from +side to side, eyeing each other suspiciously, the one wishing to +dip, but apparently afraid to do so, for fear the other would take +a mean advantage, and do it some mischief whilst under water; +though what harm was possible I could not see, as there were no +clothes to steal. I have seen human bathers acting just like the +birds, though from a different cause, bobbing down towards the +water, but afraid to dip their heads, and the idea of comicality +arose, as it does in most of the ludicrous actions of animals, from +their resemblance to those of mankind. The dispute would generally +end by the green-throat giving way, and leaving the pugnacious +little white-cap in possession of the pool. + +Besides the humming-birds I have mentioned, there were four or five +other small ones that we used to call squeakers, as it is their +habit for a great part of the day to sit motionless on branches and +every now and then to chirp out one or two shrill notes. At first I +thought these sounds proceeded from insects, as they resemble those +of crickets; but they are not so continuous. After a while I got to +know them, and could distinguish the notes of the different +species. It was not until then that I found out how full the woods +are of humming-birds, for they are most difficult to see when +perched amongst the branches, and when flying they frequent the +tops of trees in flower, where they are indistinguishable. I have +sometimes heard the different chirps of more than a dozen +individuals, although unable to get a glimpse of one of them, as +they are mere brown specks on the branches, their metallic colours +not showing from below, and the sound of their chirpings--or rather +squeakings--being most deceptive as to their direction and distance +from the hearer. My conclusion, after I got to know their voices in +the woods, was that the humming-birds around Santo Domingo equalled +in number all the rest of the birds together, if they did not +greatly exceed them. Yet one may sometimes ride for hours without +seeing one. They build their nests on low shrubs--often on branches +overhanging paths, or on the underside of the large leaves of the +shrubby palm-trees. They are all bold birds, suffering you to +approach nearer than any other kinds, and often flying up and +hovering within two or three yards from you. This fearlessness is +probably owing to the great security from foes that their swiftness +of flight ensures to them. I have noticed amongst butterflies that +the swiftest and strongest flyers, such as the Hesperidae, also +allow you to approach near to them, feeling confident that they can +dart away from any threatened danger--a misplaced confidence, +however, so far as the net of the collector is concerned. + +At the head of the tramway, near the entrance to the San Benito +mine, we planted about three acres of the banks of the valley with +grass. In clearing away the fallen logs and brushwoods, many +beetles, scorpions, and centipedes were brought to light. Amongst +the last was a curious species belonging to the sucking division of +the Myriapods (Sugantia, of Brandt), which had a singular method of +securing its prey. It is about three inches long, and sluggish in +its movements; but from its tubular mouth it is able to discharge a +viscid fluid to the distance of about three inches, which stiffens +on exposure to the air to the consistency of a spider's web, but +stronger. With this it can envelop and capture its prey, just as a +fowler throws his net over a bird. The order of Myriapoda is placed +by systematists at the bottom of the class of insects; the sucking +Myriapods are amongst the lowest forms of the order, and it is +singular to find one of these lowly organised species furnished +with an apparatus of such utility, and the numberless higher forms +without any trace of it. Some of the other centipedes have two +phosphorescent spots in the head, which shine brightly at night, +casting a greenish light for a little distance in front of them. I +do not know the use of these lights, but think that they may serve +to dazzle or allure the insects on which they prey. We planted two +kinds of grasses, both of which have been introduced into Nicaragua +within the last twenty years. They are called Para and Guinea +grasses, I believe, after the places from which they were first +brought. The former is a strong succulent grass, rooting at the +joints; the latter grows in tufts, rising to a height of four to +five feet. Both are greatly liked by cattle and mules; large +bundles were cut every day for the latter whilst they were at work +on the tramway, and they kept in good condition on it without other +food. The natural, indigenous grass that springs up in clearings in +the neighbouring forest is a creeping species, and is rather +abundant about Santo Domingo. It has a bitter taste, and cattle do +not thrive on it, but rapidly fall away in condition if confined to +it. They do better when allowed to roam about the outskirts of the +forest amongst the brushwood, as they browse on the leaves of many +of the bushes. This grass is not found far outside the forest, but +is replaced on the savannahs by a great variety of tufted grasses, +which seem gradually to overcome the creeper in the clearings on +the edge of the forest; but at Santo Domingo the latter was +predominant, and although I sowed the seeds of other grasses +amongst it, they did not succeed, on account of the cattle picking +them out and eating them in preference to the other. + +There were many other paths leading in different directions into +the forest, and I shall describe one of them, as it differed from +those already mentioned, leading to the top of a bare rock, rising +fully 1000 feet above Santo Domingo. + +This rock, on the southern and most perpendicular side, weathers to +a whitish colour, and is called Pena Blanca, meaning the white +peak. It is visible from some points on the savannahs. During the +summer months it is, on the northern side, covered with the flowers +of a caulescent orchid (Ornithorhynchos) that has not been found +anywhere else in the neighbourhood; and the natives, who are very +fond of flowers, inheriting the taste from their Indian ancestors, +at this time, often on Sundays ascend the peak and bring down large +quantities of the blossoms. Its colour, when it first opens, is +scarlet and yellow. With it grows a crimson Mackleania. Once when I +made an ascent, in March, these flowers were in perfection, and in +great abundance, and the northern face of the rock was completely +covered with them. When I emerged from the gloomy forest, the sun +was shining brightly on it, and the combination of scarlet, +crimson, and yellow made a perfect blaze of colour, approaching +more nearly to the appearance of flames of fire than anything I +have elsewhere seen in the floral world. + +(PLATE 13. ADVENTURE WITH A JAGUAR.) + +The last ascent I made to the summit of Pena Blanca was in the +middle of June 1872, after we had had about two weeks of +continuously wet weather. On the 17th, the rain clouds cleared +away, the sun shone out, and only a few fleecy cumuli sailed across +the blue sky, driven by the north-east trade wind. I had on +previous visits to the peak noticed the elytra of many beetles +lying on the bare top. They were the remnants of insects caught by +frogs; great bulky fellows that excited one's curiosity to know how +ever they got there. Amongst the elytra were those of beetles that +I had never taken, and as they were night-roaming species, I +determined to go up some evening and wait until dark, with a +lanthorn, to see if I could take any of them. We had one heavy +shower of rain in the afternoon, so that the forest was very wet, +and the hills slippery and difficult for the mule. The path ascends +the valley of Santo Domingo, then crosses a range behind a mine +called the "Consuelo," enters the forest, descending at first a +steep slope to a clear brook; after crossing this, the ascent of +the hill of Pena Blanca begins, and is continuous for about a mile +to the top of the rock. The ground was damp, and the forest gloomy, +but here and there glimpses of sunshine glanced through the trees, +and enlivened the scene a little. I startled a mountain hen +(Tinamus sp.) which whirred off amongst the bushes. The dry slopes +of hills are their favourite feeding-places, and around Pena Blanca +they are rather plentiful; and so, also, in their season, are the +curassows and penelopes. In the lower ground, the footmarks of the +tapir are very frequent, especially along the small paths, where I +have sometimes traced them for more than a mile. They are harmless +beasts. One of our men came across one near Pena Blanca, and +attacked and killed it with his knife. He brought in the head to +me. It was as large as that of a bullock. I often tried to track +them, but never succeeded in seeing one. One day in my eagerness to +get near what I believed to be one, I rushed into rather unpleasant +proximity with a jaguar, the "tigre" of the natives. I had just +received a fresh supply of cartridge cases for my breech-loader, +and wishing to get some specimens of the small birds that attend +the armies of the foraging ants, I made up three or four small +charges of Number 8 shot, putting in only a quarter of an ounce of +shot into each charge, so as not to destroy their plumage. I went +back into the forest along a path where I had often seen the great +footmarks of the tapir. After riding about a couple of miles, I +heard the notes of some birds, and, dismounting, tied up my mule, +and pushed through the bushes. The birds were shy, and in following +them I had got about fifty yards from the path, to a part where the +big trees were more clear of brushwood, when I heard a loud hough +in a thicket towards the left. It was something between a cough and +a growl, but very loud, and could only have been produced by a very +large animal. Never having seen or heard a jaguar before in the +woods, and having often seen the footprints of the tapir, I thought +it was the latter, and thinking I would have to get very close up +to it to do it any damage with my little charge of small shot, I +ran along towards the sound, which was continued at intervals of a +few seconds. Seeing a large animal moving amongst the thick bushes, +only a few yards from me, I stopped, when, to my amazement, out +stalked a great jaguar (like the housekeeper's rat, the largest I +had ever seen), in whose jaws I should have been nearly as helpless +as a mouse in those of a cat. He was lashing his tail, at every +roar showing his great teeth, and was evidently in a bad humour. +Notwithstanding I was so near to him, I scarcely think he saw me at +first, as he was crossing the open glade about twenty yards in +front of me. I had not even a knife with me to show fight with if +he attacked me, and my small charge of shot would not have +penetrated beyond his skin, unless I managed to hit him when he was +very near to me. To steady my aim, if he approached me, I knelt +down on one knee, supporting my left elbow on the other. He was +just opposite to me at the time, the movement caught his eye, he +turned half round, and put down his neck and head towards the +ground as if he was going to spring, and I believe he could have +cleared the ground between us at a single bound, but the next +moment he turned away from me, and was lost sight of amongst the +bushes. I half regretted I had not fired and taken my chance; and +when he disappeared, I followed a few yards, greatly chagrined that +in the only chance I had ever had of bagging a jaguar, I was not +prepared for the encounter, and had to let "I dare not," wait upon +"I would." I returned the next morning with a supply of ball +cartridges, but in the night it had rained heavily, so that I could +not even find the jaguar's tracks, and although afterwards I was +always prepared, I never met with another. From the accounts of the +natives, I believe that in Central America he never attacks man +unless first interfered with, but when wounded is very savage and +dangerous. Velasquez told me that his father had mortally wounded +one, which, however, sprang after him, and had got hold of him by +the leg, when it fortunately fell down dead. + +The path up Pena Blanca hill gets steeper and steeper, until about +fifty yards from the rock it is too precipitous and rugged to ride +with safety, so that the rest of the ascent must be made on foot. +Tying my mule to a sapling, I scrambled up the path, and soon +emerging from the dark forest, stood under the grey face of the +rock towering up above me. It has two peaks, of which the highest +is accessible, footholds having been cut into the face of it, and +the most difficult part being surmounted by a rude ladder made by +cutting notches in a pole. Above it the rock is shelving, and the +top is easily reached. I found a strong north-east wind blowing, +which made it rather uncomfortable on the top, but the view was +very fine and varied. To the south-east and east the eye roams over +range beyond range all covered with dark forest, that partly hides +the inequalities of the ground, the trees in the hollows growing +higher than those on the hills. On this side the rock is a sheer +precipice, going down perpendicularly for more than three hundred +feet; the face of the cliff all weathered white. The tops of the +trees are far below, and as one looking down upon them hears the +various cries and whistles of the birds come up, and marks the +vultures wheeling round in aerial circles over the trees far below +one's feet, then it is that you realise that at last the forest, +with its world of foliage, has been surmounted. Looking down on the +trees, every shade of green meets the eye, here light as grass, +there dark as holly, whilst the fleecy clouds above cast lines of +dark shadows over hill and dale. + +Directly south-east is a high rock, about three miles distant, and +beyond it the Carca and the Artigua rivers must meet, judging from +the fall of the country. The course of the Carca is marked by some +patches of light green, that look like grass, and are probably +clearings made by the Indians. + +To the south the eye first passes over about six miles of forest, +then savannahs and grassy ranges stretching to the lake, which is +only dimly seen, with the peaks of Madera and Ometepec more +distinct, the latter bearing south-west by west. Alone on the +summit of a high peak, with surging green billows of foliage all +around, dim misty mountains in the distance, and above the blue +heavens, checkered with fleecy clouds, that have travelled up +hundreds of miles from the north-east, thoughts arise that can be +only felt in their full intensity amid solitude and nature's +grandest phases. Then man's intellect strives to grapple with the +great mysteries of his existence, and like a fluttering bird that +beats itself against the bars of its cage, falls back baffled and +bruised. + +(PLATE 14. PENA BLANCA.) + +Another shower of rain came on, quickly followed by sunshine again. +Great banks of vapour began to rise from the forest, and fill the +valleys, and now looking down over the precipice, instead of +foliage there was a glistening white cloud spread out below, up +through which came the cries of birds. The hills stood up through +the cloud of mist like islands. To the south-west, over the +savannahs, the air was clear, and the peak of Ometepec was a fine +object in the distance. A white cloud enveloping its top looked +like a snow-cap, and this, as the night came on, descended lower +and lower, mantling closely around it, and conforming to its +outline. That the savannahs should not give off the same vapour as +the forest has been ascribed, and, I believe, with reason, to the +fact that their evaporating surfaces are much smaller than those of +the latter, with their numberless leaves heated by the previous +sunshine. + +As night came on, a wetting mist drove over the top of the peak, +and the wind increased in strength, making it very cold and bleak, +for there was no shelter of any kind on the summit. Such a night +was not a favourable one for insects, but I got a few beetles that +were new to me on the very top of the rock, where only rushes are +growing. They appeared to be travelling with the north-east trade +wind, and were sifted out by the rushes as they passed over. On a +finer night I have no doubt many species might be obtained. I +suppose that the wind was moving at the rate of not less than +thirty miles an hour, so that the beetles, when they got up to it +from the forest below, where it was comparatively calm, might +easily be carried hundreds of miles without much labour to +themselves. I added two fine new Carabidae to my collection; and +about eleven o'clock started back again, having many a fall on the +slippery steep before I reached the place where I had left my mule. +It was a very dark night, and the oil of my small bull's-eye +lanthorn was exhausted, but the mule knew every step of the way, +and, though slipping often, never fell, and carried me safely home. + + +CHAPTER 9. + +Journey to Juigalpa. +Description of Libertad. +The priest and the bell. +Migratory butterflies and moths. +Indian graves. +Ancient names. +Dry river-beds. +Monkeys and wasps. +Reach Juigalpa. +Ride in neighbourhood. +Abundance of small birds. +A poor cripple. +The "Toledo." +Trogons. +Waterfall. +Sepulchral mounds. +Broken statues. +The sign of the cross. +Contrast between the ancient and the present inhabitants. +Night life. + +TOWARDS the end of June, in 1872, I had to go to Juigalpa, one of +the principal towns of the province of Chontales, on business +connected with a lawsuit brought against the mining company by a +litigious native. I started early in the morning, taking with me my +native boy, Rito, who carried on his mule behind him my blankets +and a change of clothes. I carried in my hand a light +fowling-piece. The roads through the forest were excessively muddy, +and it took us four hours to get over the seven miles to Pital; the +poor mules struggling all the way through mud nearly three feet +deep. Shortly after leaving Pital, we passed the river Mico; and +two miles further on, across some grassy hills, reached the small +town of Libertad. It is the principal mining centre of Chontales. +There are a great number of gold mines in its vicinity, several of +which are worked by intelligent Frenchmen. The gold and silver +mines of Libertad are richer than those of Santo Domingo, and many +of the owners of them have extracted great quantities of the +precious metals. + +The town is situated near to the edge of the forest, being +separated by the Rio Mico, across which it is proposed to build a +wooden bridge, as during floods the river is impassable. Whether +the bridge will ever be built or not I cannot tell. Several times +rates have been levied, and money collected to build it, but the +funds have always melted away in the hands of the officials. There +is an alcalde and a judge at Libertad. Every one worth two hundred +dollars is liable to be elected to the latter office. Only +unimportant cases are tried by him, and his decisions depend +generally on the private influence that is brought to bear upon +him. He is often a tool in the hands of some unprincipled lawyer. +The church at Libertad is a great barn-like edifice, with tiled +roof. At one side is a detached small bell-tower, in which hang two +bells, one sound and whole, the other cracked and patched. The +latter was a present from one of the mining companies, and had +excited a great scandal. The mining company had a fine large bell, +with which they called together their workmen. The priest of +Libertad, thinking it might be much better employed in the service +of the church, made an application for it. The superintendent of +the mine could not part with it, but having an old broken bell, he +had it patched up, and sent it out with a letter, explaining that +he could not let them have the other, but that if this one was of +any use, they were welcome to it. The priest heard that the bell +was on the road, and thinking it was the one he had coveted, got up +a procession to go and meet it, to take it to its place with +befitting ceremony. But when he saw the old battered and broken +article that had been sent, his satisfaction was changed to rage, +instead of blessing he cursed it, threw it to the ground, and even +kicked and spat upon it. His rage for a time knew no bounds, as he +thought that he had been mocked by the heretical foreigners, and +his indignation was at first shared by some of the principal +inhabitants of the town, but when the explanatory letter had been +interpreted to them, their feelings changed, and the poor bell was +put up to do what duty it could. There are some good stores in +Libertad, the best being branches of Granada houses that buy the +produce of the country--hides, india-rubber, and gold--for export, +and import European manufactured goods. + +Captain Velasquez joined me at Libertad, and, after getting +breakfast, we started. The road passes over grassy hills, on which +cattle and mules were feeding. The edge of the forest is not far +distant to the right, and all the way along it there have been +clearings made and maize planted. As we rode along, great numbers +of a brown, tailed butterfly (Timetes chiron) were flying over to +the south-east. They occurred, as it were, in columns. The air +would be comparatively clear of them for a few hundred yards, then +we would pass through a band perhaps fifty yards in width, where +hundreds were always in sight, and all travelling one way. I took +the direction several times with a pocket compass, and it was +always south-east. Amongst them were a few yellow butterflies, but +these were not so numerous as in former years. In some seasons +these migratory swarms of butterflies continue passing over to the +south-east for three to five weeks, and must consist of millions +upon millions of individuals, comprising many different species and +genera. The beautiful tailed green and gilded day-flying moth +(Urania leilus) also joins in this annual movement. When in Brazil, +I observed similar flights of butterflies at Pernambuco and +Maranham, all travelling south-east. Mr. R. Spruce describes a +migration which he witnessed on the Amazon, in November 1849, of +the common white and yellow butterflies. They were all passing to +the south-south-east.* (* "Journal of the Linnean Society" volume +9.) Darwin mentions that several times when off the shores of +Northern Patagonia, and at other times when some miles off the +mouth of the Plata, the ship was surrounded by butterflies; so +numerous were they on one occasion, that it was not possible to see +a space free from them, and the seamen cried out that it was +"snowing butterflies."* (* "Naturalist's Voyage" page 158.) These +butterflies must also come from the westward. I know of no +satisfactory explanation of these immense migrations. They occurred +every year whilst I was in Chontales, and always in the same +direction. I thought that some of the earlier flights in April +might be caused by the vegetation of the Pacific side of the +continent being still parched up, whilst on the Atlantic slope the +forests were green and moist. But in June there had been abundant +rains on the Pacific side, and vegetation was everywhere growing +luxuriantly. Neither would their direction from the north-west +bring them from the Pacific, but from the interior of Honduras and +Guatemala. The difficulty is that there are no return swarms. If +they travelled in one direction at one season of the year, and in +an opposite at another, we might suppose that the vegetation on +which the caterpillars feed was at one time more abundant in the +north-west, at another in the south-east; but during the five years +I was in Central America, I was always on the look-out for them, +and never saw any return swarms of butterflies. Their migration +every year in one definite direction is quite unintelligible to me. + +We gradually ascended the range that separates the watershed of the +Lake of Nicaragua from that of the Blewfields river, passing over +grassy savannahs. About two leagues from Libertad there are many +old Indian graves, covered with mounds of earth and stones. A +well-educated Englishman, Mr. Fairbairn, has taken up his abode at +this place, and is growing maize and rearing cattle. There are many +evidences of a large Indian population having lived at this spot, +and their pottery and fragments of their stones for bruising maize +have been found in some graves that have been opened. Mr. Fairbairn +got me several of these curiosities, amongst them are imitations of +the heads of armadillos, and other animals. Some of these had +formed the feet of urns, others were rattles, containing small +balls of baked clay. The old Indians used these rattles in their +solemn religious dances, and the custom is probably not yet quite +obsolete, for as late as 1823 Mr. W. Bullock saw, in Mexico, Indian +women dancing in a masque representing the court of Montezuma, and +holding rattles in their right hands, to the noise of which they +accompanied their motions. Several stone axes have been found, +which are called "thunderbolts" by the natives, who have no idea +that they are artificial, although it is less than four hundred +years ago since their forefathers used them. Like most of the sites +of the ancient Indian towns, the place is a very picturesque one. +At a short distance to the west rise the precipitous rocks of the +Amerrique range, with great perpendicular cliffs, and huge isolated +rocks and pinnacles. The name of this range gives us a clue to the +race of the ancient inhabitants. In the highlands of Honduras, as +has been noted by Squiers, the termination of tique or rique is of +frequent occurrence in the names of places, as Chaparriistique, +Lepaterique, Llotique, Ajuterique, and others. The race that +inhabited this region were the Lenca Indians, often mentioned in +the accounts given by the missionaries of their early expeditions +into Honduras. I think that the Lenca Indians were the ancient +inhabitants of Chontales, that they were the "Chontals" of the +Nahuatls or Aztecs of the Pacific side of the country, and that +they were partly conquered, and their territories encroached upon +by the latter before the arrival of the Spaniards, as some of the +Aztec names of places in Nicaragua do not appear to be such as +could be given originally by the first inhabitants; thus Juigalpa, +pronounced Hueygalpa, is southern Aztec for "Big Town." No town +could be called the big town at first by those who saw it grow up +gradually from small beginnings, but it is a likely enough name to +be given by a conquering invader. Again Ometepec is nearly pure +Aztec for Two Peaks, but the island itself only contains one, and +the name was probably given by an invader who saw the two peaks of +Ometepec and Madera from the shore of the lake, and thought they +belonged to one island. The Lenca Indians nowhere appear to have +built stone buildings, like the Quiches, and Lacandones of +Guatemala, and the Mayas of Yucatan, who were probably much more +nearly affiliated to the Nahuatls of Mexico than the Lencas. + +We reached the top of the dividing range, and now left the main +road, taking a path to the left, that is very rocky and narrow. We +began rapidly to descend, and found an entire change of climate on +this side of the range. It had been raining for weeks at Libertad, +and everywhere the ground was wet and swampy, but two miles on the +other side of the range the ground was quite dry, and so it +continued to Juigalpa. Dry gravelly hills, covered with low scrubby +bushes and trees, succeeded the damp grassy slopes we had been for +hours travelling over. Prickly acacias, nancitos, guayavas, +jicaras, were the principal trees, with here and there the one +whose thick coriaceous leaves are used by the natives instead of +sandpaper. The beds of the rivers were dry, or at the most +contained only stagnant pools of water, until we reached the +Juigalpa river, which rises far to the eastward; the north-east +trade wind in crossing the great forest that clothes the Atlantic +slope of the continent, gives up most of its moisture; and this +range, rising about three thousand feet above the sea, intercepts +nearly all that remains, so that only occasional showers reach +Juigalpa. + +On one of the low gravelly hills that we passed, not far from the +path, we saw a troop of the white-faced monkey (Cebus albifrons) on +the ground, amongst low scattered trees. Their attitudes, some +standing up on their hind legs to get a better look at us, others +with their backs arched like cats, were amusing. Though quite ready +to run away, they stood all quite still, watching us, and looked as +if they had been grouped for a photograph. A few steps towards them +sent them scampering off, barking as they went. + +Soon after this, I got severely stung by a number of small wasps, +whose nest I had disturbed in passing under some bushes. About +thirty were upon me, but I got off with about half-a-dozen stings, +as I managed to kill the rest as they made their way through the +hair of my head and beard, for these wasps, having generally to do +with animals covered with hair, do not fly at the open face, but at +the hair of the head, and push down through it to the skin before +they sting. On this and on another occasion on which I was attacked +by them, I had not a single sting on the exposed portions of my +face, although my hands were stung in killing them in my hair. It +is curious to note that the large black wasp that makes its nest +under the verandahs of houses and eaves of huts, and has had to +deal with man as his principal foe, flies directly at the face when +molested. + +Without further adventure we reached Juigalpa at dusk, and took up +our quarters not far from the plaza, in a house where one large +room was set apart for the accommodation of travellers. We found we +should have to stay for a couple of days before our business was +concluded; and whilst waiting for some law papers to be made out, I +determined to try to see some of the Indian antiquities in the +neighbourhood. We had hard leather stretchers to sleep on, the use +of mattresses being almost unknown. + +Next morning I was up at daylight, and, after getting a cup of +coffee and milk, started off on horseback on the lower road towards +Acoyapo. This led over undulating savannahs, with grass and jicara +trees, and small clumps of low trees and shrubs on stony hillocks. +Wild pigeons were very numerous, and their cooings were incessant. +On the rocky spots grew spiny cactuses, with flattened pear-shaped +joints and scarlet fruit. I reached the Juigalpa river about two +miles below the town. Near the crossing it ran between shelving +rocky banks, with here and there still reaches and pebbly shores. +Shady trees overhung the clear water; and behind were myrtle-leaved +shrubs and grassy openings. The morning was yet young, and the +banks were vocal with the noises of birds, that chattered, +whistled, chirruped, croaked, cooed, warbled, or made discordant +cries. I doubt if any other part of the earth's surface could show +a greater variety of the feathered tribe. A large brown bittern +stood motionless amongst the stones of a rapid portion of the +stream, crouching down with his neck and head drawn back close to +his body, so that he looked like a brown rock himself. Kingfishers +flitted up and down, or dashed into the water with a splashing +thud. At a sedgy spot were some jacanas stalking about. When +disturbed, these birds rise chattering their displeasure, and +showing the lemon yellow of the underside of their wings, which +contrasts with the deep chocolate brown of the rest of their +plumage. Parrots flew past in screaming flocks, or alighted on the +trees and nestled together in loving couples, changing their +screaming to tender chirrupings. Numerous brown and yellow +fly-catchers sat on small dead branches, and darted off every now +and then after passing insects. A couple of beautiful mot-mots +(Eumomota superciliaris) made short flights after the larger +insects, or sat on the low branches by the river-bank, jerking +their curious tails from side to side. Swallows skimmed past in +their circling flights, whilst in the bushes were warbling +orange-and-black Sisitotis and many another bird of beautiful +feather. One class of birds, and that the most characteristic of +tropical America, was decidedly scarce. I did not see a single +humming-bird by the river-side. On the savannahs they are much less +frequent than in the forest region. Insects were not so numerous as +they had been in preceding years. Over sandy spots two speckled +species of tiger-beetles ran and flew with great swiftness. I saw +one rise from the ground and take an insect on the wing that was +flying slowly over. On one myrtle-like bush, with small white +flowers, there were dozens of a small Longicorn new to me, which, +when flying, looked like black wasps. + +It was very pleasant to sit in the cool shade, and listen to, and +watch, the birds. There was here no fear of dangerous animals, the +only annoyance being stinging ants or biting sand-flies, neither of +which were at this place very numerous. Snakes also were scarce. I +saw but one, a harmless green one, that glided away with wavy folds +amongst the brushwood. The natives say that alligators are +plentiful in the river, but that they are harmless. I saw one small +one, about five feet long, floating with his eyes, nostrils, and +the serratures of his back only above water. Every one bathes in +the river without fear, which would not be the case if there had +been any one seized by them during the last fifty years; for no +traditions are more persistent than tales of the attacks of wild +beasts. Anxious parents pass on from generation to generation the +stories they themselves were told when children. + +As I sat upon the rocks in the cool shade, enjoying the scene, +there came hobbling along, with painful steps, on the other side of +the river, a poor cripple, afflicted with that horrible disease, +elephantiasis. He crossed the river with great difficulty, as his +feet were swollen to six times their natural size, with great horny +callosities. One of his hands was also disabled; and altogether he +was a most pitiable object. Such a sight seemed a blot upon the +fair face of nature; but it is our sympathy for our kind that makes +us think so. If the trees were sympathetic beings, not a poor +crippled specimen of humanity would have their pity, but the +gnarled and half-rotten giants of the forest, threatening to topple +down with every breeze; whilst to our eyes the dying tree, covered +with moss and ferns, and, maybe, clasped by climbing vines, is a +picturesque and pleasing sight. So, the fishes would pity their +comrades caught by the kingfisher, the birds those in the claws of +the hawk--every creature considering the fate that overtook its +fellows, and which might befall itself--the great blot in nature's +plan. + +The poor cripple told me he was going into Juigalpa. He had, +doubtless, heard that a stranger had arrived in the town; for every +time I had been there he had turned up. His best friends are the +foreigners, who look with greater pity on his misfortune than his +neighbours, who have grown accustomed to it. + +The blind, the lame, and the sick are the only beggars I ever saw +in Nicaragua. The necessaries of life are easily procured. Very +little clothing is required. Any one may plant maize or bananas; +and there is plenty of work for all who are willing or obliged to +labour; so the healthy and strong amongst the poorer classes lead +an easy and pleasant life, but the sick and incapacitated amongst +them are really badly off. There is a great indifference amongst +the natives to the wants of their comrades struck down by sickness +or accident, and hospitals and asylums are unknown. + +I was told that the cripple, lame as he was, often took long +journeys, and had even gone as far as Granada. He had been a +soldier in one of the revolutions, when John Chamorro was +President, and ascribed the commencement of the disease to getting +a chill by bathing when he was heated. + +After he had hobbled off, I bathed in the cool river, and then +rambled about on the other side, where I found some large mango +trees full of delicious ripe fruit. It was getting on towards noon: +the sun was high and hot, and the birds had mostly retired into the +deepest shades for their mid-day sleep. I could have lingered all +day, but it was time for me to return, as I had arranged with +Velasquez to accompany him in search of some Indian graves he had +heard of about three miles away. + +As I left the river, I heard the whistle of the beautiful "toledo," +so called because its note resembles these syllables, clearly and +slowly whistled, with the emphasis on the last two. Following the +sound, it led me to a deep, thickly-timbered gully, at the bottom +of which was the bed of a brook, consisting now only of detached +pools, over one of which, on the limb of a tree, sat a large +dark-coloured hawk, with white-banded tail, watching for +fresh-water and land crabs, on which it feeds. I had a long chase +after the toledo. As soon as I got within sight of it, sometimes +before, it would dart away through the brushwood, generally across +the brook, and in a few minutes I would hear its deep-toned whistle +again as if in mockery of my pursuit. I had to climb and reclimb +the steep banks of the gully: but at last, creeping cautiously, and +just getting my head above the bank, I got a shot. There were two +of them sitting close together. I brought both down, and they +proved to be in fine plumage. The toledo (Chirosciphia lineata) is +about the size of a linnet, of a general velvety black colour. The +crown of the head is covered with a flat scarlet crest, and the +back with what looks like a shawl of sky-blue. From the tail spring +two long ribbon-like feathers. Its curious note is often heard on +the savannahs, in the thick timber that skirts the small brooks; +but it is not often seen, as it is a shy bird and frequents the +deepest shades. + +There were several of the yellow-breasted trogon (T. +melanocephalus) sitting amongst the branches, and now and then +darting off after insects. This species often breaks into the nest +of the termites, and feeds on the soft-bodied workers. Another +trogon about here, with red breast (T. elegans), has a peculiarly +harsh, croaking voice, very different from the other species, and +more resembling the cry of a mot-mot. + +As I rode back over the savannahs to Juigalpa, the nearly vertical +rays of the sun were reflected from the dry, hot, sandy soil. Not a +sound was now heard from the numerous birds. The shrill cicada +still piped its never-ending treble. No wind was stirring, and the +air over the parched soil quivered with heat. + +I was glad to get back to my "hotel," and have breakfast, with +chocolate served up in jicaras. After an hour's rest, I started +with Velasquez in search of the Indian antiquities. We rode up the +right side of the river, high up above the stream, as the banks are +rocky and precipitous; then down a shelving road to a lower level, +and across undulating savannahs thinly timbered. After about three +miles, we came out on a small flat plain, probably alluvial, about +twenty acres in extent, mostly covered with grass, with a few +scattered jicara trees. On the further end of this plain was a +mud-walled, thatched hut, called "El Salto," from a fall of the +river close by. A man was lounging about, and a woman bruising +maize for tortillas. The man told us that the "worked stones," as +he called them, were on the side of the plain we had crossed. +Before going to look at them, we went down to the river to see the +waterfall. Just opposite the house the Juigalpa river, which comes +flowing down over a flat bed of trachyte, leaps down a deep narrow +chasm that it has cut in the hard rock. This chasm is about fifty +feet deep, and only twenty wide. The river was low, and poured all +its water in at the end of the deep notch; but when flooded, it +must rush in over the sides also, and make a magnificent turmoil of +waters. Even when I saw it, the water, as it rushed along at the +bottom of the narrow chasm, boiling and surging amongst great +masses of fallen rock with a steady roar, looked as if it would +carry all before it. Deep pot-holes, some of them ten feet deep, +were worn into the trachyte rock, and sections of several were +shown in the sides of the chasm, which could only have been formed +when the falls were many yards lower down. The trachyte is very +hard and tough. The sections of the pot-holes are as fresh as if +they had been made but yesterday. + +In reply to my assertion that the falls had produced, and were now +working back the chasm, our guide, the lounging man from the house, +said the rocks had always been as they were: he had lived there ten +years, and there had been no change in them. Perhaps, if the buried +Indians could rise from their graves where they were laid to rest +more than three hundred years ago, they, too, would testify that +there had been no change, that the rocks and the leaping river were +as they had been and would be for ever. The untrained mind cannot +grasp the idea of the effect of slowly-acting influences extending +over vast periods of time. + +(PLATE 15. INDIAN STATUES.) + +We asked the guide if there were any cairns near, and he said there +was one on the top of a neighbouring hill. Up this we climbed. It +was the rounded spur of a range behind, jutting out into the small +plain before mentioned, and might be partly artificial. On the +summit, which commanded a fine view of the country around, with the +white cliffs and dark woods of the Amerrique range in front, was an +Indian cairn, elliptical in shape, about thirty feet long and +twenty broad. Several small trees had sprung up amongst the stones. +Near the centre two holes had been dug down about four feet deep. +Our guide told us that he and his brother had made them, to hide +themselves in from the soldiers during the last revolutionary +outbreak. Not a very likely story, that they should have chosen the +top of a bare hill for a hiding-place, when all around in the +valleys there were thickets of brushwood. He said they had found +nothing in the holes. We, however, soon found fragments of two +broken cinerary urns, one of fine clay, painted with red and black, +the other much coarser and stronger, without ornament. The custom +of the Chontales Indians appears to have been to burn their dead, +and place the ashes in a thin painted urn, inclosed within a +stronger one. This was buried, along with the stone for grinding +maize, and a cairn of stones built over the grave, in the centre of +which was sometimes set up the statue of the deceased. + +It was evident that the tomb had been ransacked in search of +treasure; but our guide was very reticent about it. He admitted, +however, on further questioning, that he had found a broken +"metlate," or maize-grinder, in the grave. Velasquez got down into +the deepest hole, and unearthed some more fragments of pottery, but +nothing more. + +We then descended the steep face of the hill again, and crossed the +plain to where the "worked stones" were lying. We found them to be +broken fragments of statues, one larger, better worked, and in much +fairer preservation than the others. They had all been much +battered and broken. The greater size and solidity of this one had +made it more difficult to deface. It was in two parts, the head +being severed from the body. The total length of the two fragments +was about five feet. The face had been much shattered. The nose was +gone and the mouth defaced, but enough was left to show that the +latter had been protruding. The eyes were in good preservation, +prominent, and with the eyeballs projecting. Around the head was an +ornamented circlet, like a crown. The arms were laid over the +breast, and were continued upwards over the shoulder, and partly +down the back, as if it had been intended to indicate the +shoulder-blades. The legs were doubled up, and continued round to +the back, in the same way as the arms. + +The back of the figure was elaborately carved, the most noticeable +features being a wide ornamented belt around the waist, and two +well-carved crosses, one on each shoulder. + +The other stones lying about were broken portions of other smaller +figures and of pedestals. All were made out of very hard, tough +trachyte; and the labour required to make the principal one out of +such difficult material without tools of iron must have been +immense. + +The fragments were all lying out on the bare plain. I thought they +must have been brought from some burial-place of the ancient +Indians. Our guide, on being asked, said he had seen other cairns +of stones besides these on the hill-top, but could not recollect +where. He was very uneasy when questioned; and at last said he had +business to attend to, and left us abruptly. In his absence we +examined all around for traces of graves. Between the plain and the +river was a thicket of low trees and undergrowth. Peering into +this, we saw some heaps of stones; and, pushing in amongst the +bushes, found it was full of old Indian graves, marked by heaps of +stones, in the centres of some of which still stood the pedestals +on which the statues had been placed. Most of the heaps were about +twenty feet in diameter, and composed of stones of the average size +of a man's head; but one, from the centre of which grew an immense +cotton-wood tree, was made of about a dozen very large stones, some +about five feet long, three broad, and one thick. Here we got a +clue to the behaviour of our guide. When he told us that he knew +not where there were any more cairns, he was standing within thirty +feet of one hidden by the thicket, which bore evident marks of +having been recently disturbed. It was the cairn of big stones. One +of these had been overturned, and some fresh-cut poles, that had +been used as levers, were lying alongside, with the green bark +broken and bruised. A hole had been dug underneath it, and filled +up with stones again. Our lounging friend had been doing a little +exploring on his own account. Many of the natives believe that +treasure is buried under these heaps of stones; and the interest +that foreigners take in them they ascribe to their wish to obtain +these treasures. Our guide, wishing to get these himself, had taken +us to the single grave on the top of the hill, which he had already +ransacked, and professed ignorance of the others. I only hope that +he did not compound with his conscience for the lies he had told us +by coming back after we left, and trying to break off the nose of +another idol, as the natives call the images. They think they show +their zeal for Christianity by defacing them. This is why scarcely +any of the noses of the images are left. They form the most salient +points for attack. And that the images have not been utterly +destroyed by the ill-usage they have had for three hundred years is +due to the hard, tough rock of which they are made. It is probable +that the statues at El Salto were brought out from the cairns into +the plain, and publicly thrown down, defaced, and broken, when the +Spaniards first took possession of the Juigalpa district, and +forced Christianity upon the Indians; for the conquerors everywhere +overthrew and mutilated the "idols" of the Indians, set up the +cross and their own images, and forced the people to be baptised. +The change was not a great one. Already the cross was an emblem +amongst them and baptism a rite; and the images they were called +upon to adore did not differ so greatly from those they had +worshipped before. They easily conformed to the new faith. D'Avila +is said to have overthrown the idols at Rivas, and to have baptised +nine thousand Indians. Then the Spaniards, having Christianised the +Indians, made slaves of them, and ground them to the dust with +merciless cruelties and overwork, which quickly depopulated whole +towns and districts. + +The presence of the cross in Central America greatly astonished the +Spanish discoverers. In Yucatan and throughout the Aztec Empire it +was the emblem of the "god of rain." There has been much +speculation by various authors respecting its origin, as a +religious emblem, in Mexico and Central America. It has even been +supposed that some of the early Icelandic Christians of the ninth +century may have reached the coast of Mexico, and introduced some +knowledge of the Christian religion. But the cross was a religious +emblem of the greatest antiquity, both in Syria and Egypt, and +baptism was a pre-Christian rite. This and other observances, such +as auricular confession and monastic institutions, were so mixed up +with the worship of a great number of gods, at the head of which +was the worship of the sun, and were associated with such horrid +human sacrifices and pagan ceremonials, that it is more likely that +they acquired the cross, with other pagan traditions handed down to +them from a remote antiquity, from the common stock from whence +both the inhabitants of the Eastern and Western hemispheres were +descended. There is good evidence for supposing that young children +were offered up in sacrifice to Thaloc, the god of rain, the very +god whose emblem was the cross--a contrast too great to the "Suffer +little children to come unto me" of the loving Saviour, not to make +the mind revolt against the idea that the cross of the god of rain +was derived from the cross of the Christian. + +I see no reason for supposing that the images of El Salto were +idols, as supposed by the early Spaniards, and still by the +degenerate half-breeds. They are more likely portrait-statues of +famous chieftains who led the tribe to many a victory. When they +died, a loving people, with wailings and lamentations, celebrated +their obsequies. The funeral pyre was built, the body burnt, and +the ashes carefully gathered together, and placed in the +finely-wrought urn and painted cinerary, and this in one larger and +coarser. These were buried with the stone maize-grinder, and +sometimes weapons and earthen dishes and food. Over the grave a +pile of stones was raised, and skilful artificers were set to work +on the hardest and toughest stone they could find to make a statue +of the chief whose memory they reverenced. It must have taken +months, if not years, to have fashioned the statue I have figured +out of the trachyte without tools of iron, and it strikes one with +wonder to think of the patience and perseverance with which the +details were worked out. No eye-servers were these Indians; before +and behind they bestowed equal pains and labour on their work, +undeterred by the hardness of the materials or the rudeness of +their tools. + +When we turn from these works and remains of a great and united +tribe to the miserable huts of the present natives, we feel how +great a curse the Spanish invasion has in some respects been to +Central America. The half-breed, wrapped up in himself, lives from +year to year in his thatched hut, looking after a few cows, and +making cheese from their milk. He perhaps plants a small patch of +maize once a year, and grows a few plantains, content to live on +the plainest fare, and in the rudest style, so that he may indulge +in indolence and sloth. So he vegetates and drops into his grave, +and in a year or two no mark or sign tells where he was laid. The +graves of the old Indians are still to be found, but no mounds mark +the spots where the inhabitants of the valley since the conquest +have been laid to rest. They have passed away, as they lived, +without a record or memorial. + +The builders of these cairns and the fashioners of these statues +were a different and a better race. They stood by each other, and +reverenced and obeyed their chiefs. They tilled the ground and +lived on the fruits of it. From the accounts of all the historians +of the Spanish conquest, the Pacific side of Nicaragua was so +densely populated when the Spaniards first arrived that the greater +part of it must have been cultivated like a garden; and it is +probable that the population was ten times greater than it is now. +Another point that strikes the observer is, that not only the +descendants of the Spaniards and the Mestizos are sunk far below +the level of the old Indians, but that the nearly pure Indians, of +whom there are many large communities, have so degenerated that it +is hard to believe that they are the very same people that, four +hundred years ago, had advanced so far in their peculiar +civilisation. They are not so sunk in sloth as the half-breeds. +They still till the ground, grow maize, cacao, and many fruits; +they still make the earthenware dishes of the country, though far +inferior to those of their ancestors; but they have lost their +tribal instincts, they do not support each other; they acknowledge +no chiefs; each one is absorbed in his own affairs, and they are +only a little less slothful than the half-breeds. Will these +Indians ever again attain to that pitch of civilisation at which +they had arrived before the conquest?--I fear not. The whip that +kept them to the mark in the old days was the continual warfare +between the different tribes, and this has ceased for ever. War is +not always a curse. "There is some soul of goodness in things +evil." Before the Spanish conquest no small isolated communities +could exist. Those in which the tribal instinct was strongest, who +stood shoulder to shoulder with their fellows, reverenced and +obeyed their chiefs, and excelled in feats of strength and agility, +would annihilate or subjugate the weaker and less warlike races. It +was this constant struggle between the different tribes that weeded +out the weak and indolent, and preserved the strong and +enterprising; just as amongst many of the lower animals the +stronger kill off the weaker, and the result is the improvement of +the race, or at any rate the maintenance of the point of excellence +at which it had arrived in former times. + +Since the Spanish conquest there has been no such process of +selection in operation amongst the Indians. The most indolent can +obtain enough food, whilst the climate makes clothing almost a +superfluity. The idle and improvident live their natural terms of +years, and increase their kind even faster than the provident and +industrious. The tribal feeling is destroyed; the selfish and +sensual instincts are developed, and year by year the Indian +degenerates. + +Mr. Bates, at the end of his admirable work on the natural history +of the Amazon, speculates on the future of the human race, and +thinks that under the equator alone will it attain the highest form +of perfection. I have had similar thoughts when riding over +hundreds of miles of fertile savannahs in Central America, where an +everlasting summer and fertile land yield a harvest of fruits and +grain all the year round where it is not even necessary "to tickle +the ground with a hoe to make it laugh with a harvest." But +thinking over the cause of the degeneracy of the Spaniards and +Indians, I am led to believe that in climes where man has to battle +with nature for his food, not to receive it from her hands as a +gift; where he is a worker, and not an idler; where hard winters +kill off the weak and brace up the strong; there only is that +selection at work that keeps the human race advancing, and prevents +it retrograding, now that Mars has been dethroned and Vulcan set on +high. + +In destroying the ancient monarchies of Mexico and Central America, +the Spaniards inflicted an irreparable injury on the Indian race; +for whether or not a republic is the highest ideal form of +government (and doubtless it would be if man were perfect), it is +not adapted for savage or half-civilised communities, and I +cordially agree with the truth enunciated by Darwin when, writing +of the natives of Tierra del Fuego, he says, "Perfect equality +among the individuals composing the Fuegian tribes must for a long +time retard their civilisation. As we see those animals whose +instinct compels them to live in society, and obey a chief, are +most capable of improvement, so is it with the races of mankind. +Whether we look at it as a cause or a consequence, the most +civilised always have the most artificial governments. For +instance, the inhabitants of Otaheite, who, when first discovered, +were governed by hereditary kings, had arrived at a far higher +grade than another branch of the same people, the New Zealanders, +who, although benefited by being compelled to turn their attention +to agriculture, were republicans in the most absolute sense."* (* +"Naturalist's Voyage" page 229.) + +Dusk was coming on before we left the small plain, with its broken +statues, and the steep hill overlooking it, on which probably +religious rites had been celebrated and human sacrifices offered +up. This people have entirely passed away, and the sparse +inhabitants of the once thickly-populated province have not even a +tradition about them. In Europe and North America more is known +about them, and more interest taken in gleaning what little +vestiges of their history can be recovered from the dim past, than +among their own degenerate descendants. + +Half way to Juigalpa was an Indian hut and a small clearing made +for growing maize. The fallen trunks of trees were a likely place +for beetles, and as I had brought a lantern with me, I stayed to +examine them whilst Velasquez rode on to get some food ready. At +night many species of beetles, especially longicorns, are to be +found running over the trunks, that lie closely hidden in the +day-time. The night-world is very different from that of the day. +Things that blink and hide from the light are all awake and astir +when the sun goes down. Great spiders and scorpions prowl about, or +take up advantageous positions where they expect their prey to +pass. Cockroaches of all sizes, from that of one's finger to that +of one's finger-nail, stand with long quivering antennae, pictures +of alert outlook, watching for their numerous foes, or scurry away +as fast as their long legs can carry them; but if they come within +reach of the great spider they are pounced upon in an instant, and +with one convulsive kick give up the hopeless struggle. Centipedes, +wood-lice, and all kinds of creeping things come out of cracks and +crevices; even the pools are alive with water-beetles that have +been hiding in the ooze all day, excepting when they come up with a +dash to the surface for a bubble of fresh air. Owls and night-jars +make strange unearthly cries. The timid deer comes out of its close +covert to feed in the grassy clearings. Jaguars, ocelots, and +opossums slink about in the gloom. The skunk goes leisurely along, +holding up his white tail as a danger-flag for none to come within +range of his nauseous artillery. Bats and large moths flitter +around, whilst all the day-world is at rest and asleep. The night +speeds on; the stars that rose in the east are sinking behind the +western hills; a faint tinge of dawn lights the eastern sky; loud +and shrill rings out the awakening shout of chanticleer; the grey +dawn comes on apace; a hundred birds salute the cheerful morn, and +the night-world hurries to its gloomy dens and hiding-places, like +the sprites and fairy elves of our nursery days. + +It was very dark when I started to return, excepting that flashes +of lightning now and then illumined the path, but I left my mule to +herself, and she carried me safely into Juigalpa, where I found +dinner awaiting me. It took me until midnight to skin the birds I +had shot during the day; and as I had been up since six in the +morning, I was quite ready for, and took kindly to, my hard +leathern couch. + + +CHAPTER 10. + +Juigalpa. +A Nicaraguan family. +Description of the road from Juigalpa to Santo Domingo. +Comparative scarcity of insects in Nicaragua in 1872. +Water-bearing plants. +Insect-traps. +The south-western edge of the forest region. +Influence of cultivation upon it. +Sagacity of the mule. + +THE site of Juigalpa is beautifully chosen, as is usual with the +old Indian towns. It is on a level dry piece of land, about three +hundred feet above the river. A rocky brook behind the town +supplies the water for drinking and cooking purposes. The large +square or plaza has the church at one end; on the other three sides +are red-tiled adobe houses and stores, with floors of clay or red +bricks. Streets branch off at right angles from the square, and are +crossed by others. The best houses are those nearest the square. +Those on the outskirts are mere thatched hovels, with open sides of +bamboo poles. The house I stayed at was at the corner of one of the +square blocks, and from the angle the view extended in four +directions along the level roads. Each way the prospect was bounded +by hills in the distance. North-east were the white cliffs of the +Amerrique range, mantled with dark wood. The intervening country +could not be seen, and only a small portion of the range itself; +framed in, as it were, by the sides of the street. It looked close +at hand, like a piece of artificial rockery, or the grey walls of a +castle covered with ivy. The range to the south-west is several +miles distant; and is called San Miguelito by the Spaniards, but I +could not learn its Indian name. + +Our host was a musician, and his wife attended to the guests. As +usual, a number of relations lived with them, including the mother +of our hostess and two of her brothers. It was a very fair sample +of a family amongst what may be called the middle class in +Nicaragua. The master of the house plays occasionally in a band at +dances and festas, and holds a respectable position at Juigalpa, +where the highest families keep stores and shops. + +The only work is done by the females--the men keep up their dignity +by lounging about all day, or lolling in a hammock, all wearied +with their slothfulness, and looking discontented and unhappy. One +brother told me he was a carpenter, the other a shoemaker, but that +there was nothing to do in Juigalpa. I suggested that they should +go to Libertad, where there was plenty of work. They said there was +too much rain there. As long as their brother-in-law will allow +them, they will remain lounging about his house; and that will +probably be as long as he has one, for I noticed that the wealthier +Nicaraguans are rather proud of having a lot of relations hanging +about and dependent on them. Now and then they do little spells of +work--get in the cows or doctor one that is sick--but I doubt if +any of them average more than half an hour's work per day. Even +this may be an equivalent for their board, which does not cost +much, being only a few tortillas and beans. + +To this have the descendants of the Spanish conquerors come +throughout the length and breadth of the land. With perennial +summer and a fertile soil they might drink the waters of abundance, +but the bands of indolence have wound round them generation after +generation, and now they are so bound up in the drowsy folds of +slothfulness that they cannot break their silken fetters. Not a +green vegetable, not a fruit, can you buy at Juigalpa. Beef, or a +fowl--brown beans, rice, and tortillas--form the only fare. When +Mexico becomes one of the United States, all Central America will +soon follow. Railways will be pushed from the north into the +tropics, and a constant stream of immigration will change the face +of the country, and fill it with farms and gardens, orange groves, +and coffee, sugar, cacao, and indigo plantations. No progress need +be expected from the present inhabitants. + +Having finished our business in Juigalpa, we arranged to start on +our return early the next morning, Velasquez going round by Acoyapo +whilst Rito accompanied me to the mines. I had a fowl cooked +overnight to take with us, and set off at six o'clock. I shall make +some remarks on the road on points not touched on in my account of +the journey out. After leaving Juigalpa, we descended to the river +by a rocky and steep path, crossed it, and then passed over +alluvial-like plains intersected by a few nearly dry river beds, to +the foot of the south-western side of the Amerrique hills, then +gradually ascended the range that separates the Juigalpa district +from that of Libertad. The ground was gravelly and dry, with stony +hillocks covered with low trees and bushes. After ascending about a +thousand feet, the ground became much moister, and we reached an +Indian hut on the side of the range, where a few bananas and a +little maize was grown. Indian women, naked to the waist, were, as +usual, bruising maize, this being their employment from morning to +night, whilst the men were sitting about idle. Some mangy-looking +dogs set up a loud barking as we approached. To one of them clung a +young spider-monkey. A number of parrots also gave evidence of the +great fondness the Indians have for animal pets. There is scarcely +a house where some bird or beast is not kept; and the Indian women +are very clever in taming birds, probably by their constant +kindness and gentleness to them, and by feeding them out of their +mouths and fondling them. From near here we had a fine view, and +saw that we had come up the side of a wide valley, bounded on the +right by the Amerrique range, on the left by high rounded grassy +hills, on one of which we could make out the cattle hacienda of La +Puerta. Lines of trees and bamboo thickets marked the course of +numerous brooks that joined lower down and formed the small rivers +we had crossed. Looking down the valley it opened out into a wide +plain, with here and there sharp-topped conical hills, such as +abound in Central America, where they appear to have been taken as +landmarks by the Indians, as many of the old roads lead past them. +Beyond the plain in the grey distance were the waters of the lake +and the peaks of Ometepec and Madera. + +We had now to ascend the side of a ravine, the road, or rather +path, being through a bamboo thicket for about a mile, the bamboos +touching our knees on either side and arching close overhead, so +that we had to lie on the mules' necks a great part of the way. +Some portions of the road were dangerously steep and rocky; but as +fully a league in distance is saved by taking this by-path, instead +of the main road by way of La Puerta, I generally preferred +travelling by it, especially as I often took rare and new beetles +on the bushes. I usually, when travelling, carried a net fixed to a +short stick, and caught the insects as I passed along, off the +leaves, without stopping; so abundant were they, that it was very +rare for me to take the shortest journey without finding some new +species to add to my collection. On this journey I did not, +however, take many insects, as the latter half of the year 1872, +for some reason or other, was a very unfavourable season for them.* +[* It is curious that Mr. W.H. Hudson should have selected this +same summer of 1872-73 as affording on the pampas of South America +an exceptionally good example of one of those "waves of life" in +which there is a sudden and inordinate increase in many forms of +animal life. See "The Naturalist in La Plata" chapter 3.] The +scarcity of beetles was very remarkable. The wet season set in a +little earlier than usual, but I do not think that this caused the +dearth of insects as at Juigalpa, where there had been scarcely any +rain, there were very few compared with the two former years. The +year before, when the season was nearly as wet, beetles, especially +longicorns, had been very abundant; and the first half of 1872 had +not been characterised by any scarcity of them. Some of the fine +longicorns that appear in April were numerous. No less than five +specimens of a large and beautiful one (Deliathis nivea, Bates), +white, with black spots, that we considered one of our greatest +rarities, were taken in that month. It was not until the end of May +that the great scarcity of beetles, compared with their abundance +in former years, became apparent. I think all classes of beetles +had suffered. Many fine lamellicorns, that were generally numerous, +were not seen at all; neither were many species of longicorns, +usually common. A fig-tree that I had growing in my garden had been +much injured by a longicorn (Taeniotes scalaris) in 1870 and 1871, +but was not touched in 1872. + +Butterflies were also scarce, but it was the second season that +they had been so. Some ants were affected; in others, such as the +leaf-cutter, I noted no perceptible diminution in number. A little +ant (Pheidole sp.) that used to swarm on a passion flower which +grew over the house, attending on the honey glands, and scale +insects, disappeared altogether; and another species (Hypoclinea +sp.) that it used to drive away took its place. A small stinging +black ant (Solenopsis sp.), that was a great plague in the houses, +was also fortunately scarce. In the beginning of June nearly all +the white ants or termites ("Comiens" of the Nicaraguans) died. In +some parts of my house they lay in little heaps, just as they +dropped from the nests above in the roof, and most of the nests +were entirely depopulated. I examined some of the dead termites +with a magnifier, but could detect no difference in them, excepting +that they seemed a little swollen. + +That some epidemic prevailed amongst the insects there can be no +doubt; and it is curious that it should have attacked so many +different species and classes. I am not sure that it was confined +to the insects, for there was also a great mortality amongst the +fowls, many dying from inflammation of the crop, and two large +parrots fell victims to the same disease. This disease amongst the +birds may not, however, have been connected in any way with that +amongst the insects. I recollect that in 1865 there was a somewhat +similar mortality amongst the wasps in North Wales. In the autumn +of the preceding year they had been exceedingly abundant, and very +destructive to the fruit. In the next spring, numerous females that +had hibernated commenced making their paper nests, and I +anticipated a still greater plague of wasps in the autumn than we +had had the year before; but some epidemic carried off nearly all +the females before they finished building their nests, and in the +autumn scarcely a wasp was to be seen. I saw also in the Natural +History magazines notices of their scarcity in all parts of +England. + +The great mortality amongst the insects of Chontales in 1872 has +some bearing on the origin of species, for in times of such great +epidemics we may suspect that the gradations that connect extreme +forms of the same species may become extinct. Darwin has shown how +very slight differences in the colour of the skin and hair are +sometimes correlated with great immunity from certain diseases, and +from the action of some vegetable poisons, and the attacks of +certain parasites.* (* "Descent of Man" volume 1 page 242; and +"Animals and Plants under Domestication" volume 2 pages 227-230. I +have taken the examples given from the same author.) Any varieties +of species of insects that could withstand better than others these +great and probably periodical epidemics, would certainly obtain a +great advantage over those not so protected; and thus the survival +of one form, and the extinction of another, might be brought about. +We see two species of the same genus, as in many insects, differing +but little from each other, yet quite distinct, and we ask why, if +these have descended from one parent form, do not the innumerable +gradations that must have connected them exist also? There is but +one answer; we are ignorant what characters are of essential value +to each species; we do not know why white terriers are more subject +than darker-coloured ones to the attacks of the fatal distemper; +why yellow-fleshed peaches in America suffer more from diseases +than the white-fleshed varieties; why white chickens are most +liable to the gapes; or why the caterpillars of silkworms, which +produce white cocoons, are not attacked by fungus so much as those +that produce yellow cocoons? Yet in all these cases, and many +others, it has been shown that immunity from disease is correlated +with some slight difference in colour or structure, but as to the +cause of that immunity we are entirely ignorant. + +At last we reached the summit of the range, which is probably not +less than three thousand feet above the sea, and entered on the +district of Libertad. Rounded boggy hills covered with grass, sedgy +plants, and stunted trees replaced the dry gravelly soil of the +Juigalpa district. The low trees bore innumerable epiphytal plants +on their trunks and boughs. Many of these are species of +Tillandsia, which sit perched up on the small branches like birds. +They have sheathing leaves that hold at their base a supply of +water that must be very useful to them in the dry season. Insects +get drowned in this water, and the plants may derive some +nourishment from their decomposing bodies, but I believe the +principal object is to obtain a supply of moisture, as the roots of +the plants do not hang down to the ground, like those of many other +epiphytes in the tropics, nor are they provided with bulbs like the +orchids. Some plants that hold liquids in cup-shaped leaves are +simply insect traps, many of them growing in bogs, where the supply +of moisture is perennial and constant. Such is the Indian-cup +(Sarracenia) that grows in the bogs of Canada, and the Californian +pitcher-plant (Darlingtonia californica), which also grows in bogs, +and is such an excellent fly-trap, that there is generally a layer +of from two to five inches of decomposing insects lying at the +bottom of the cup.* (* See "Nature" volume 3 pages 159 and 167.) +The different species of Drosera, or sun-dews, possess quite a +different apparatus for catching insects, and they also live in +bogs, which supports the inference that plants growing in such +situations have some especial need to obtain nutriment, which they +cannot draw from the decaying vegetation on which they live. +Possibly they obtain the salts of potash in this way. I did not +notice any provision in the leaves of the Bromeliaceous epiphytes +of Chontales to ensure the capture of insects, but often saw their +dead bodies in the water held at the base of the leaves, and any +that came to drink would be very liable to slip into the water from +off the nearly perpendicular side of the leaf and be drowned. It is +not impossible that the small supply of mineral salts required for +the organisation of these plants that do not draw any nutriment +from the earth may be obtained from dead insects, but, as I have +already stated, I believe that the principal object is to lay up a +store of water to carry them safely through the dry season. +Incidentally, the further advantage has been gained that insects +fall into the receptacles of water and are drowned, affording in +their decomposition nourishment to the plants. + +Our road now lay over the damp grassy hills of the Libertad +district. It edged away from the Amerrique range on our right. To +our left, about three miles distant, rose the dark sinuous line of +the great forest of the Atlantic slope. Only a fringe of +dark-foliaged trees in the foreground was visible, the higher +ground behind was shrouded in a sombre pall of thick clouds that +never lifted, but seemed to cover a gloomy and mysterious country +beyond. Though I had dived into the recesses of these mountains +again and again, and knew that they were covered with beautiful +vegetation and full of animal life, yet the sight of that +leaden-coloured barrier of cloud resting on the forest tops, whilst +the savannahs were bathed in sunshine, ever raised in my mind vague +sensations of the unknown and the unfathomable. Our course was +nearly parallel to this gloomy forest, but we gradually approached +it. The line that separates it from the grassy savannahs is sinuous +and irregular. In some places a dark promontory of trees juts out +into the savannahs, in others a green grassy hill is seen almost +surrounded by forest. When I first came to the country, I was much +puzzled to understand why the forest should end just where it did. +It is not because of any change in the nature of the soil or +bedrock. It cannot be for lack of moisture, for around Libertad it +rains for at least six months out of the twelve. The surface of the +ground is not level on the savannahs, but consists of hill and +dale, just as in the forest. Altogether the conditions seemed to be +exactly the same, and it appeared a difficult matter to account for +the fact that the forest should end at an irregular but definite +line, and that at that boundary grassy savannahs should commence. +After seeing the changes that were wrought during the four and a +half years that I was in the country, I have been led to the +conclusion that the forest formerly extended much further towards +the Pacific, and has been beaten back principally by the agency of +man. The ancient Indians of Nicaragua were an agricultural race, +their principal food then, as now, being maize; and in all the +ancient graves, the stone for grinding corn is found placed there, +as the one thing that was considered indispensable. They cut down +patches of the forest and burnt it to plant their corn, as all +along the edge of it they do still. The first time the forest is +cut down, and the ground planted, the soil contains seeds of the +forest trees, which, after the corn is gathered, spring up and +regain possession of the ground, so that in twenty years, if such a +spot is left alone, it will scarcely differ from the surrounding +untouched forest. But it does not remain unmolested. After two or +three years it is cut down again and a great change takes place. +The soil does not now contain seeds of forest trees, and in their +stead a great variety of weedy-looking shrubs, only found where the +land has been cultivated, spring up. Grass, too, begins to get a +hold on the ground; if it prevails, the Indian, or Mestizo, does +not attempt to grow corn there again, as he knows the grass will +spoil it, and he is too indolent to weed it out. Often, however, +the brushwood has been cut down and burnt, and fresh crops of corn +grown several times before the grass has gained such an advantage +that the cultivator gives up the attempt to plant maize. There is +then a struggle between the weedy shrubs and the grass. The +leaf-cutting ants come to the aid of the latter. Grass they will +not touch, excepting to clear it away from their paths. The thick +forest they do not like, possibly because beneath its shade the +ground is kept too damp for their fungus beds. But along the edge +of the forest, by the sides of roads through it, that let in the +air and sunshine, and in clearings, they abound. They are +especially fond of the leaves of young trees, many of which are +destroyed by them. Should the brushwood ultimately prevail, and +cover the ground, the Indian or Mestizo comes again after a few +years, cuts it down, and replants it with maize. But as most of his +old clearings get covered with grass, he is continually encroaching +on the edge of the forest, beating it back gradually, but surely, +towards the north-east. As this process has probably been going on +for thousands of years, I believe that the edge of the forest is +several miles nearer the Atlantic than it was originally. + +In this way many acres in the neighbourhood of Pital were taken +from the forest, and added to the grass-lands, whilst I was in the +country. The brushwood-land does not yield such good crops as the +virgin forest, but it is nearer to the huts of the cultivators, who +live out on the savannahs, so that whenever the weedy shrubs gain +possession of a spot sufficiently large for a clearing, and choke +off the grass, these places are again cut down and burnt, and thus +the forest is never allowed to establish outposts, or advanced +stations, in the disputed ground. What would be the result if man +were withdrawn from the scene, I do not know, but I believe that +the forest would slowly, but surely, regain the ground that it has +lost through long centuries. The thickets and dense brushwood that +always spring up along the edge of the forest, and consist of many +shrubs that the leaf-cutting ants do not touch, would gradually +spread, and beat back the grass. In their shade and shelter, seeds +from the forest would vegetate and grow, and thus, I think, very +slowly, inch by inch, the forest would regain its long-lost +territory, and gradually extend its limits towards the south-west, +until it reached its old boundaries, where a change in the physical +character of the land, or in the amount of moisture precipitated, +would stay its further progress. It is far more likely, however, +that man will drive back the forest to the very Atlantic than that +he will quit the scene. + +After passing the Indian graves, about a league from Libertad, we +turned off to the right, by a path that led directly to the Mico, +without going through the town. After crossing several rounded +grassy hills, we reached the river, and found it swollen with +recent rains, but fordable. Sometimes travellers are detained +several days, unable to cross, and I was always glad when, +returning to the mines, I had put it behind me. Now and then a +traveller is drowned when attempting to cross the swollen river, +but these accidents are rare, as it is well known, by certain rocks +being covered, when it is unfordable. If carried away, a traveller +has little chance to save his life, as just below the crossing the +river is rapid and the banks precipitous. I heard of one man who +had had a very narrow escape. He was trying to cross on mule-back, +but his beast lost its footing, rolled over, and was rapidly washed +away. The poor man was carried into the roaring rapids, and would +soon have been drowned, but a herdsman on the bank, who was looking +for cattle, threw his lasso cleverly over the drowning traveller, +and dragged him on shore. Some of the "vacqueros," as the herdsmen +are called, are wonderfully adroit in throwing the lasso; when +riding at full speed, they throw it over the horns of the cattle, +or the heads of the horses, and can hold the strongest if sideways +on. But I have seen some old bulls that knew how to get loose; they +would run straight away from the vacquero in places where he could +not ride round them, and getting a straight pull on the lasso, +would break it, or draw it out of his hands. There are no horses or +mules, and very few cattle, however, that know how to do this, I +was told by the herdsmen. + +After crossing the river, we soon reached Pital, where I had a cup +of tea and got a fresh mule. We now turned nearly at right angles +to our former course, and struck into the dark forest, the road +through which I have already described. It was very wet and muddy. +In some places, although it was only the commencement of the wet +season, the mules sank above their knees. On this occasion, as on +many others, I had often to notice how well the mule remembered +places where in some former year it had avoided a particularly bad +part by making a detour. I was riding a mule that had tender feet, +having just recovered from the bite of a spider, that had +occasioned the loss of one of its hoofs, and when it came near to a +place where it could escape the deep mud by going over a stony part +it would slacken its pace and look first at the mud, then at the +stones, evidently balancing in its mind which was the lesser evil. +Sometimes, too, when it came to a very bad place, which was better +at the sides, I left it to itself, and it would be so undecided +which side was the best, that making towards one it would look +towards the other, and end by getting into the worst of the mud. It +was just like many men who cannot decide which of two courses to +take, and end by a middle one, which is worse than either. And just +as in men, so in mules, there is every variety of disposition and +ability. Some are easily led, others most obstinate and headstrong; +some wise and prudent, others foolish and rash. The memory of +localities is much stronger in horses and mules than in man. When +travelling along a road that they have been over only once, and +that some years before, where there are numerous branch roads and +turnings, they will never make a mistake, even in the dark; and I +have often, at night, when I could not make out the road myself, +left them to their own guidance, and they have taken me safely to +my destination. Only once was I misled, and that through the too +good memory of my mule. Many years before it had been taken to a +pasture of good grass, and recollecting this, it took me several +miles out of my road towards its old feeding-ground, causing me to +be benighted in consequence. + +I reached the mines at nine o'clock, and found that during my +absence it had been raining almost continuously, although at +Juigalpa there had been only a few slight showers. + + +CHAPTER 11. + +Start on journey to Segovia. +Rocky mountain road. +A poor lodging. +The rock of Cuapo. +The use of large beaks in some birds. +Comoapa. +A native doctor. +Vultures. +Flight of birds that soar. +Natives live from generation to generation on the same spot. +Do not give distinctive names to the rivers. +Caribs barter guns and iron pots for dogs. +The hairless dogs of tropical America. +Difference between artificial and natural selection. +The cause of sterility between allied species considered. +The disadvantages of a covering of hair to a domesticated animal + in a tropical country. + +IN July of the same year, 1872, I made the longest journey of any I +undertook in Nicaragua. It had been for some time difficult to +obtain sufficient native labourers for our mines, and, as we +contemplated extending our operations, it was very important that +it should be ascertained whether or not we could depend upon +obtaining the additional workmen that would be required. Nearly all +our native miners came from the highlands of the province of +Segovia, near to the boundary of Honduras. The inhabitants of the +lower country are mostly vacqueros, used to riding on horseback +after cattle, and not to be tempted, even by the much higher wages +they can obtain, to engage in the toilsome labour of underground +mining. The inhabitants of Segovia, on the contrary, have been +miners from time immemorial, and it is work they readily take to. I +had often desired to see for myself what supply of labour could be +obtained, but the journey was a long and toilsome one, and it was +not until the labour question became urgent that I resolved to +undertake it. + +(PLATE 16. PATH UP STEEP HILL. THE ROAD AND ROCKY LEDGE.) + +Having determined on the journey, I soon completed my preparations. +I took my Mestizo boy, Rito, with me; Velasquez was to join me on +the road; a pack-mule carried our equipment, consisting of some +bread, rugs, a large waterproof sheet, a change of clothes, and a +hammock. We started at seven o'clock on the morning of the 11th +July, and, as usual, made very slow progress through the forest as +far as Pital, in consequence of the badness of the road, which was +now worse than when I had passed over it a month before. After +reaching the savannahs, we proceeded more rapidly. We followed the +Juigalpa road until we got two leagues beyond Libertad, when we +turned more to the north, taking a path that led over mountain +ranges. This road was very rocky and steep; we were continually +ascending or descending, and as it rained all the afternoon, the +footing for our beasts was very bad. I was riding on a horse, and +he not being so sure-footed or so cautious as a mule, often +stumbled on the steep and slippery slopes. In some places the path +led along the top of the narrow ridge of a long hog-backed hill; in +others, by a series of zigzags, we surmounted or came down the +precipitous slopes. I nearly came to grief at one place. We had +climbed up one of the steep hills, and at the top a rocky shelf or +cap had to be leaped, at right angles to the narrow path that +slanted up the face of the hill. I put my horse to it, but he +slipped on the smooth rock and fell. If he had gone back over the +narrow path, he must have rolled down the abrupt slope; but he made +another spring, fell again, but this time with his fore-feet over +the rock, and on the third attempt scrambled over and landed me +safely on the top, but, I confess, much shaken in my seat. My +straw-hat came off in the struggle, and was rolling merrily down +the hill, when it was caught in a low bush, much to Rito's +satisfaction, who was anticipating a long tramp after it. We had a +fine view from the top of this range over a deep valley, bounded +with precipitous cliffs and dark patches of forest. Over our heads +floated drifting rain-clouds from the north-east that sometimes +concealed the mountain tops, sometimes lifted and showed their +craggy summits. + +Our beasts were tired out with the rough travelling, and we moved +along slowly. About five o'clock we came in sight of the rock of +Cuapo, an isolated perpendicular cliff rising about 300 feet above +the top of a hill that it crowns. After descending a long, steep +range, we reached, near dusk, a small hut, called Tablason, and +here we determined to pass the night, although the accommodation +was about the scantiest possible. A man and his wife, six children, +and a woman to grind the maize for tortillas, lived in the hut. The +greatest portion of it was quite open at the sides, without even a +fence to keep out the pigs. At one end a place about ten feet +square was partitioned off from the rest, and surrounded with +mud-walls, and in this the whole family slept. Both the people and +the house were very dirty. The remains of a broken chair was the +only furniture, excepting the rough bedsteads made by inserting +four sticks into the ground, on which were laid two long poles, +kept apart by two shorter ones at the end, over which rude frame a +dry hide was stretched. I was offered one of these couches for the +night, and accepted it; though if it had not been for the rain I +would rather have slept outside, but all around was sloppy and wet; +night had set in; our mules and horse were tired; we ourselves were +fatigued, and there was no other shelter within several miles. They +had no food to sell us, and appeared to have nothing for +themselves, excepting a few tortillas and a little home-made +cheese. We opened out some of our preserved meats. Whilst I was +eating, the whole family crowded around me, apparently never having +seen any one eat with a fork before. Fortunately we had brought +candles with us, or we should have been in darkness, for they had +none; nor did they appear to use them, as they had no candlesticks, +and the children and our host himself took it by turns to hold our +lights. All wore ragged, dirty cotton clothes, that only +half-covered them. They had four cows, and pigs, dogs, and poultry. +The land around was fertile; they might take as much of it as they +liked to cultivate, and, with a little trouble, might have grown +almost anything; but the blight of Central America--the curse of +idleness, was upon them, and they were content to live on in +squalid poverty rather than work. + +We were so tired that, notwithstanding our miserable and crowded +quarters, we slept soundly, but were up at daylight, and soon ready +for our journey again, after Rito had made a little coffee, and I +had compensated our host for our lodging. The scenery around was +very fine, and the place might have been made an earthly paradise. +To the north-east a spur of the forest came down to within a mile +of the house; in front were grassy hills and clumps of brushwood +and trees, with a clear gurgling stream in the bottom; and beyond, +in the distance, forest-clad mountains. As usual, the family had a +pet animal. Before we left, a pretty fawn came in from the forest +to be fed, and eyed us suspiciously, laying its head back over its +shoulders, and gazing at us with its large, dreamy-looking eyes. +The woman told us it had a wild mate in the woods, but came in +daily to visit them, the dogs recognising and not molesting it. Our +road still lay within a few miles of the dark Atlantic forest, the +clouds lying all along the first range, concealing more than they +exposed. There was a sort of gloomy grandeur about the view; so +much was hidden, that the mind was left at liberty to imagine that +behind these clouds lay towering mountains and awful cliffs. The +road passed within a short distance of the rock of Cuapo, and, +leaving my horse with Rito, I climbed up towards it. A ridge on the +eastern side runs up to within about 200 feet of the summit, and so +far it is accessible. Up this I climbed to the base of the brown +rock, the perpendicular cliff towering up above me; here and there +were patches of grey, where lichens clung to the rock, and orchids, +ferns, and small shrubs grew in the clefts and on ledges. There +were two fine orchids in flower, which grew not only on the rock, +but on some stunted trees at its base; and beneath some fallen +rocks nestled a pretty club-moss, and two curious little ferns +(Aneimea oblongifolia and hirsuta), with the masses of spores on +stalks rising from the pinnules. The rock was the same as that of +Pena Blanca, but the vegetation was entirely distinct. To the +south-west there was a fine view down the Juigalpa valley to the +lake, with Ometepec in the distance, and some sugar-loaf hills +nearer at hand. The weather had cleared up, white cumuli only +sailed across the blue aerial ocean. The scene had no feature in it +of a purely tropical character, excepting that three gaudy macaws +were wheeling round and round in playful flight, now showing all +red on the under surface, then turning all together, as if they +were one body, and exhibiting the gorgeous blue, yellow, and red of +the upper side gleaming in the sunshine; screaming meanwhile as +they flew with harsh, discordant cries. This gaudy-coloured and +noisy bird seems to proclaim aloud that it fears no foe. Its +formidable beak protects it from every danger, for no hawk or +predatory mammal dares attack a bird so strongly armed. Here the +necessity for concealment does not exist, and sexual selection has +had no check in developing the brightest and most conspicuous +colours. If such a bird was not able to defend itself from all +foes, its loud cries would attract them, its bright colours direct +them, to its own destruction. The white cockatoo of Australia is a +similar instance. It is equally conspicuous amongst the dark-green +foliage by its pure white colour, and equally its loud screams +proclaim from afar its resting-place, whilst its powerful beak +protects it from all enemies excepting man. In the smaller species +of parrots the beak is not sufficiently strong to protect them from +their enemies, and most of them are coloured green, which makes +them very difficult to distinguish amongst the leaves. I have been +looking for several minutes at a tree, in which were scores of +small green parrots, making an incessant noise, without being able +to distinguish one; and I recollect once in Australia firing at +what I thought was a solitary "green leek" parrot amongst a bunch +of leaves, and to my astonishment five "green leeks" fell to the +ground, the whole bunch of apparent leaves having been composed of +them. The bills of even the smallest parrots must, however, be very +useful to them to guard the entrances to their nests in the holes +of trees, in which they breed. + +I believe that the principal use of the long sharp bill of the +toucan is also that of a weapon with which to defend itself against +its enemies, especially when nesting in the hole of a tree. Any +predatory animal must face this formidable beak if seeking to force +an entrance to the nest; and I know by experience that the toucan +can use it with great quickness and effect. I kept a young one of +the largest Nicaraguan species (Ramphastus tocard) for some time, +until it one day came within reach of and was killed by my monkey. +It was a most comical looking bird when hopping about, and though +evidently partial to fruit, was eager after cockroaches and other +insects; its long bill being useful in picking them out of crevices +and corners. It used its bill so dexterously that it was impossible +to put one's hand near it without being struck, and the blow would +always draw blood. That in the tropics birds should have some +special development for the protection of their breeding-places is +not to be wondered at when we reflect upon the great number of +predatory mammals, monkeys, raccoons, opossums, etc., that are +constantly searching about for nests and devouring the eggs and +young ones. I have already mentioned the great danger they run from +the attacks of the immense armies of foraging ants, and the +importance of having some means of picking off the scouts, that +they may not return and scent the trail for the advance of the main +body, whose numbers would overcome all resistance. + +After examining round the rock without finding any place by which +it could be ascended, I rejoined Rito in the valley below, and we +continued our journey. We passed over some ranges and wide valleys, +where there was much grass and a few scattered huts, but very +little cattle; the country being thinly populated. On the top of a +rocky range we stayed at a small house for breakfast, and they made +us ready some tortillas. As usual, there seemed to be three or four +families all living together, and there were a great number of +children. The men were two miles away at a clearing on the edge of +the forest, looking after their "milpas," or maize patches. The +house, though small, was cleaner and tidier than the others we had +seen, and in furniture could boast of a table and a few chairs, +which showed we had chanced to fall on the habitation of one of the +well-to-do class. The ceiling of the room we were in was made of +bamboo-rods, above which maize was stored. The women were +good-looking, and appeared to be of nearly pure Spanish descent; +which perhaps accounted for the chairs and table, and also for the +absence of any attempt at gardening around the house--for the +Indian eschews furniture, but is nearly always a gardener. + +We finished our homely breakfast and set off again, crossing some +more rocky ranges, and passing several Indian huts with orange +trees growing around them, and at two o'clock in the afternoon +reached the small town of Comoapa, where I determined to wait for +Velasquez. Looking about for a house to stay at, we found one kept +by a woman who formerly lived at Santo Domingo, and who was glad to +receive us; though we found afterwards she had already more +travellers staying with her than she could well accommodate. + +I had shot a pretty mot-mot on the road, and proceeded to skin it, +to the amusement and delight of about a dozen spectators, who +wondered what I could want with the "hide" of a bird, the only +skinning that they had ever seen being that of deer and cattle. A +native doctor, who was staying at the house, insisted on helping +me, and as the mot-mot's skin is very tough, he did not do much +harm. The bird had been shot in the morning, and some one remarking +that no blood flowed when it was cut, the doctor said, with a wise +air, that that class of birds had no blood, and that he knew of +another class that also had none, to which his auditors gave a +satisfied "Como no" ("Why not?"). He also gave us to understand +that he had himself at one time skinned birds, for being evidently +looked up to as an authority on all subjects by the simple country +people, he was unwilling that his reputation should suffer by it +being supposed that a stranger had come to Comoapa who knew +something that he did not. Having skinned my bird and put the skin +out in the sun to dry, I took a stroll through the small town, and +found it composed mostly of huts inhabited by Mestizos, with a +tumble-down church and a weed-covered plaza. Around some of the +houses were planted mango and orange trees, but there was a general +air of dilapidation and decay, and not a single sign of industry or +progress visible. + +Velasquez arrived at dusk, having ridden from Libertad that day. +About a dozen of us slung our hammocks in the small travellers' +room, where, when we had all gone to rest, we looked like a cluster +of great bats hanging from the rafters. No one could get along the +room without disturbing every one else, and the next morning all +were early astir. We got our animals saddled as soon as possible, +and set off on our journey. It was a clear and beautiful morning, +and a cool breeze from the north-east fanned us as we rode blithely +over grassy savannahs and hills. High up in the air soared a couple +of large black vultures, floating on the wind, and describing large +circles without apparent movement or exertion, scanning from their +airy height the country for miles around, on the look-out for their +carrion food. Like all birds that soar, both over sea and land, +when it is calm the vultures are obliged to flap their wings to +fly; but when a breeze is blowing they are able to use their +specific gravity as a fulcrum, by means of which they present their +bodies and outstretched wings and tails at various angles to the +wind, and literally sail. How often, when becalmed on southern +seas, when not a breath of air was stirring and the sails idly +flapped against the mast, have I seen the albatross, the petrel, +and the Cape-pigeon resting on the water, or rising with +difficulty, and only by the constant motion of their long wings +able to fly at all. But when a breeze sprang up they were all life +and motion, wheeling in graceful circles, now presenting one side, +now the other to view, descending rapidly with the wind, and so +gaining velocity to turn and rise up again against it. Then, as the +breeze freshened to a gale, the petrels darted about, playing round +and round the scudding ship, at home on the wings of the storm, +poising themselves upon the wind as instinctively and with as +little effort as a man balances himself on his feet. The old times +recurred as I rode over the savannah, and the soaring vultures +brought back to my mind the wheeling stormy petrels that darted +about whilst under close-reefed topsails we struggled against the +gale, rounding the stormy southern cape; when great blue seas, +"green glimmering towards the summit," towered on every side, or +struck our gallant ship like a sledge, making it shiver with the +blow, and sending a driving cloud of spray from stem to stern. Then +the petrels were in their element; then they darted about--above, +below, now here, now there--all life and motion; as if their chief +pleasure was, like Ariel, "to ride on the curled cloud" and "point +the tempest."* (* The Duke of Argyll, in his "Reign of Law", has +some excellent remarks on the flight of birds that soar, or hover. +My remarks, of which the above account is a paraphrase, were +written out in my journal in 1852, but were not published.) + +We were travelling nearly parallel with the edge of the great +forest which was two or three miles away on our right; in all other +directions the view was bounded by ranges, some grassed to their +tops, others with forests climbing up their steep sides, excepting +where white cliffs gave no foothold for the trees. We passed +several grass-thatched huts inhabited by half-clad Indians or +Mestizos, who generally possess a few cows, and, away on the edge +of the forest, small clearings of maize. These people, with +unlimited fertile land at their disposal, were all sunk in what +looked like squalid poverty; but they had a roof over their heads, +and sufficient, though coarse, food, and they cared for nothing +more. Our road lay a couple of miles to the north of the village of +Huaco, where much of the maize of the province is grown; the road +then led over many swampy valleys, and our beasts had hard work +plunging through the mud. We passed through La Puerta, a scattered +collection of Indian huts; then over a river called the Aguasco, +running to the east, and probably emptying into the Rio Grande. +There were a few orange trees about some of the huts, but most of +the people were Mestizes, or half-breeds, and nothing but weeds +grew around their habitations. Their plantations of maize were +always some miles distant, and they never seem to think of moving +their houses nearer to their clearings on the edge of the forest. +Nearly always when I asked the question, I found that the grown-up +people had been born on the spot where they lived, and they are +evidently greatly attached to the localities where they have been +brought up. Probably when the settlements were first made, forest +land lay near, in which they made their clearings and raised their +crops of corn. Since then the edge of the forest has been beaten +back some miles to the north-east; but the people cling to the old +spots, where, generation after generation, their ancestors have +lived and died. A new house could be built in a few days, closer to +the forest; but they prefer travelling several miles every day to +and from their clearings, rather than desert their old homes. + +Beyond the Aguasco, we had to travel over a swampy plain for about +a mile, our animals plunging all the time through about three feet +of mud. This plain was covered with thousands of guayava trees, +laden with sufficient fruit to make guava jelly for all the world. +After floundering through the swamp, we reached more savannahs, and +then entered a beautiful valley, well grassed, and with herds of +fine cattle, horses, and mules grazing on it. The grass was well +cropped, and looked like pasture-land at home. The ground was now +firmer, and we got more rapidly across it. A flock of wild Muscovy +ducks flew heavily across the plain, looking very like the tame +variety. I do not wonder at sportsmen sometimes being unwilling to +fire at them, mistaking them for domestic ducks. The tame variety +is very prolific, and sits better on its eggs than the common duck. +I have seen twenty ducklings brought out at a single hatching. They +are good eating, and a large one has nearly as much flesh upon it +as an average-sized goose. + +About dusk on these plains, which extended around for several +miles, we reached the cattle hacienda of Olama, where was a large +tile-roofed house, near a river of the same name. The natives of +Nicaragua seldom give distinctive names to their rivers, but call +them after the towns or villages on their banks. Thus, at Olama, +the river was called the Olama river; higher up, at Matagalpa, the +same stream is called the Matagalpa river; and at Jinotego the +Jinotego river. The Caribs, however, who live on the rivers, and +use them as highways, have names for them all; but to the +agricultural Indians and Mestizos of the interior, they are but +reservoirs of water, crossed at distant points by their roads, and +everywhere amongst them I found the greatest ignorance prevailing +as to the connection of the different streams, and their outflow to +the ocean. All the streams about Olama flow eastward, and join +together to form the Rio Grande, that reaches the Atlantic about +midway between Blewfields and the river Wanks. It is very +incorrectly marked on all the maps of Nicaragua that I have seen. + +The Caribs from the lower parts of the river occasionally come up +in their canoes to Olama, and bring with them common guns and iron +pots that they have obtained from the mahogany cutters at the mouth +of the river. These they barter for dogs. I could not ascertain +what they wanted with the dogs, but both at this place and at +Matagalpa I was told of the great value the Caribs put on them. +Although the people of Olama expressed great surprise that the +"Caritos," as they call the river Indians, should take so much +trouble to obtain dogs, they had not had the curiosity to ask them +what they wanted them for. Some people near the river have even +commenced to rear dogs to supply the demand. The Caribs had a +special liking for black ones, and did not value those of any other +colour so much. They would barter a gun or a large iron pot for a +single dog, if it was of the right colour. + +The common dogs of Central America are a mongrel breed--not +differing, I believe, from those of Europe. There are usually a +number of curs about the Indian houses that run out barking at a +stranger, but seldom bite. + +The hairless dogs, mentioned by Humboldt, as being abundant in +Peru,* (* "Aspects of Nature" volume 1 page 109.) are not common in +Central America, but there are a few to be met with. At Colon I saw +several. They are of a shining dark colour, and are quite without +hair, excepting a little on the face and on the tip of the tail. +Both in Peru and Mexico this variety was found by the Spanish +conquerors. It would be interesting to have these dogs compared +with the hairless dogs of China, which Humboldt says have certainly +been extremely common since very early times. Perhaps another link +might be added to the broken chain of evidence that connects the +peoples of the two countries. + +A large naked dog-like animal is figured by Clavigero as one of the +indigenous animals of Mexico. It was called Xoloitzcuintli by the +Mexicans; and Humboldt considers it was distinct from the hairless +dog, and was a large dog-like wolf. Its name does not support this +view; Xoloitzcuintli literally means "a servant dog," from "Xolotl," +a slave or servant, and itzcuintli, a dog; and we find the word +Xolotl in Huexlotl, the Aztec name of the common turkey, which was +domesticated by them, and largely used as food. I am led to believe +from this that Xolotl was applied to any animal that lived in the +house or was domesticated, and that the Xoloitzcuintli was merely a +large variety of the hairless dog. Clavigero's description of it +would fit the hairless dog of the present day very well, excepting +the size; he says it was four feet long, totally naked, excepting a +few stiff hairs on its snout, and ash coloured, spotted with black +and tawny. + +Tschudi makes two races of indigenous dogs in tropical America. + +1. The Canis caraibicus (Lesson), without hair, and which does not + bark. +2. The Canis ingae (Tschudi), the common hairy dog, which has + pointed nose and ears, and barks.* (* J.J. von Tschudi quoted by + Humboldt "Aspects of Nature" English edition volume 1 page 111.) + +The small eatable dog of the Mexicans was called by them Techichi; +and Humboldt derives the name from Tetl, a stone, and says that it +means "a dumb dog," but this appears rather a forced derivation. +Chichi is Aztec for "to suck;" and it seems to me more probable +that the little dogs they eat, and which are spoken of by the +Spaniards as making very tender and delicate food, were the puppies +of the Xoloitzcuintli, and that Techichi meant "a sucker." + +Whether the hairless dog was or was not the Techichi of which the +Mexicans made such savoury dishes is an open question, but there +can be no doubt that the former was found in tropical America by +the Spanish conquerors, and that it has survived to the present +time, with little or no change. That it should not have intermixed +with the common haired variety, and lost its distinctive +characters, is very remarkable. It has not been artificially +preserved, for instead of being looked on with favour by the +Indians, Humboldt states that in Peru, where it is abundant, it is +despised and ill-treated. Under such circumstances, the variety can +only have been preserved through not interbreeding with the common +form, either from a dislike to such unions, or by some amount of +sterility when they are formed. This is, I think, in favour of the +inference that the variety has been produced by natural and not by +artificial selection, for diminished fertility is seldom or never +acquired between artificial varieties. + +Man isolates varieties, and breeds from them, and continuing to +separate those that vary in the direction he wishes to follow, a +very great difference is, in a comparatively short time, produced. +But these artificial varieties, though often more different from +each other than some natural species, readily interbreed, and if +left to themselves rapidly revert to a common type. In natural +selection there is a great and fundamental difference. The +varieties that arise can seldom be separated from the parent form +and from other varieties until they vary also in the elements of +reproduction. Thousands of varieties probably revert to the parent +type, but if at last one is produced that breeds only with its own +form, we can easily see how a new species might be segregated. As +long as varieties interbreed together and with the parent form, it +does not seem possible that a new species could be formed by +natural selection, excepting in cases of geographical isolation. +All the individuals might vary in some one direction, but they +could not split up into distinct species whilst they occupied the +same area and interbred without difficulty. Before a variety can +become permanent, it must be either separated from the others or +have acquired some disinclination or inability to interbreed with +them. So long as they interbreed together, the possible divergence +is kept within narrow limits, but whenever a variety is produced, +the individuals of which have a partiality for interbreeding, and +some amount of sterility when crossed with the parent form, the tie +that bound it to the central stock is loosened, and the foundation +is laid for the formation of a new species. Further divergence +would be unchecked, or only slightly checked, and the elements of +reproduction having begun to vary, would probably continue to +diverge from the parent form, for Darwin has shown that any organ +in which a species has begun to vary is liable to further change in +the same direction.* (* "See Animals and Plants under +Domestication" volume 2 page 241.) Thus one of the best tests of +the specific difference of two allied forms living together is +their sterility when crossed, and nearly allied species separated +by geographical barriers are more likely to interbreed than those +inhabiting the same area. Artificial selection is more rapid in its +results, but less stable than that of nature, because the barriers +that man raises to prevent intermingling of varieties are temporary +and partial, whilst that which nature fixes when sterility arises +is permanent and complete. + +For these reasons I think that the fact that the hairless dog of +tropical America has not interbred with the common form, and +regained its hairy coat, is in favour of the inference that the +variety has been produced by natural and not by artificial +selection. By this I do not mean that it has arisen as a wild +variety, for it is probable that its domestication was an important +element amongst the causes that led to its formation, but that it +has not been produced by man selecting the individuals to breed +from that had the least covering of hairs. I cannot agree with some +eminent naturalists that the loss of a hairy covering would always +be disadvantageous. My experience in tropical countries has led me +to the conclusion that in such parts at least there is one serious +drawback to the advantages of having the skin covered with hair. It +affords cover for parasitical insects, which, if the skin were +naked, might more easily be got rid of. + +No one who has not lived and moved about amongst the bush of the +tropics can appreciate what a torment the different parasitical +species of acarus or ticks are. On my first journey in Northern +Brazil, I had my legs inflamed and ulcerated from the ankles to the +knees from the irritation produced by a minute red tick that is +brushed off the low shrubs, and attaches itself to the passer-by. +This little insect is called the "Mocoim" by the Brazilians, and is +a great torment. It is so minute that except by careful searching +it cannot be perceived, and it causes an intolerable itching. If +the skin were thickly covered with hair, it would be next to +impossible to get rid of it. Through all tropical America, during +the dry season, a brown tick (Ixodes bovis), varying in size from a +pin's head to a pea, abounds. In Nicaragua, in April, they are very +small, and swarm upon the plains, so that the traveller often gets +covered with them. They get upon the tips of the leaves and shoots +of low shrubs, and stand with their hind-legs stretched out. Each +foot has two hooks or claws, and with these it lays hold of any +animal brushing past. All large land animals seem subject to their +attacks. I have seen them on snakes and iguanas, on many of the +large birds, especially on the curassows. They abound on all the +large mammals, and on many of the small ones. Sick and weak animals +are particularly infested with them, probably because they have not +the strength to rub and pick them off, and they must often hasten, +if they do not cause their death. The herdsmen, or "vacqueros," +keep a ball of soft wax at their houses, which they rub over their +skin when they come in from the plains, the small "garrapatos" +sticking to it, whilst the larger ones are picked off. How the +small ones would be got rid of if the skin had a hairy coat I know +not, but the torment of the ticks would certainly be greatly +increased. + +There are other insect parasites, for the increase and protection +of which a hairy coating is even more favourable than it is for the +ticks. The Pediculi are specially adapted to live amongst hair, +their limbs being constructed for clinging to it. They deposit +their nits or eggs amongst it, fastening them securely to the bases +of the hairs. Although the pediculi are almost unknown to the +middle and upper classes of civilised communities, in consequence +of the cleanliness of their persons, clothing, and houses, they +abound amongst savage and half-civilised people. A slight immunity +from the attacks of acari and pediculi might in a tropical country +more than compensate an animal for the loss of its hairy coat, +especially in the case of the domesticated dog, which finds shelter +with its master, has not to seek for its food at night, and is +protected from the attacks of stronger animals. In the huts of +savages dogs are greatly exposed to the attacks of parasitical +insects, for vermin generally abound in such localities. Man is the +only species amongst the higher primates that lives for months and +years--often indeed from generation to generation--on the same +spot. Monkeys change their sleeping places almost daily. The +ourang-outang, that makes a nest of the boughs of trees, is said to +construct a fresh one every night. The dwelling places of savages, +often made of, or lined with, the skins of animals, with the dusty +earth for a floor, harbour all kinds of insect vermin, and produce +and perpetuate skin disease, due to the attacks of minute sarcopti. +If the dog by losing its hair should obtain any protection from +these and other insect pests, instead of wondering that a hairless +breed of dogs has been produced in a tropical country, I am more +surprised that haired ones should abound. That they do so must, I +think, be owing to man having preferred the haired breeds for their +superior beauty and greater variety, and encouraged their +multiplication. + + +CHAPTER 12. + +Olama. +The "Sanate." +Muy-muy. +Idleness of the people. +Mountain road. +The "Bull Rock." +The bull's-horn thorn. +Ants kept as standing armies by some plants. +Use of honey-secreting glands. +Plant-lice, scale-insects, and leaf-hoppers furnish ants + with honey, and in return are protected by the latter. +Contest between wasps and ants. +Waxy secretions of the homopterous hemiptera. + +WE rode up to the large hacienda at Olama, and were asked to alight +by a man whom I at first took to be the proprietor, but afterwards +discovered to be a traveller like ourselves, buying cattle for the +Leon market. The owner of the house and his sister were away at a +little town three or four miles distant; and I was a little nervous +about the reception we should have when they returned and found us +making ourselves at home at their house. Velasquez had, however, no +apprehensions on that score, as he knew that throughout the central +departments of Nicaragua it is the custom for travellers to expect +and to receive a welcome at any house they may arrive at by +nightfall. Excepting in the towns, and on some of the main roads, +there are no houses where travellers can stop and pay for a night's +lodging. Every one expects to be called on at any time to give a +night's shelter. This is all that is afforded, as travellers carry +with them their hammocks and food. About an hour after dark, the +owner and his sister returned on mules, and the gentleman seemed +pleased at finding us at his house. I was about to offer a chair to +the sister; but Velasquez told me it was not the custom to show any +civilities to the ladies, as they would probably be misconstrued. +After a while, the master had some chocolate brought to him by his +sister, who waited upon him. The wife, the sister, and the daughter +in the departments seldom sit down to their meals with the master +of the house, but attend upon him like servants. + +Whilst coffee was preparing next morning, I strolled about the +outbuildings, and was much amused at the antics of the jet black +Quiscalus, called "sanate" by the natives. They are about the size +of a magpie, with much of the active movements of that bird. They +are generally seen about cattle, sometimes picking the garrapatos +off them, but more often one on each side, watching for the +grasshoppers and other insects that are frightened up as the cattle +feed. On this morning there were several of them on the top of a +shed. Every now and then one would ruffle out its feathers, open +its wings a little, give a step or two forward towards another, +stretch out its neck, open its bill, and then give rather a long +squeak-like whistle. As soon as it had done this, it would +hurriedly close its feathers and wings, and hold its head straight +up, with its bill pointing to the sky. All its movements were +grotesque; and its sudden change in appearance after delivering its +cry was ludicrous. It appeared as if it was ashamed of what it had +done, and was trying to look as if it had not done it--just as I +have seen a schoolboy throw a snowball, and then stand rigidly +looking another way. After a few moments, the "sanate" would lower +its head, and, in a short time, go through the same performance +again, repeating every movement automatically. + +Bidding adieu to our host, we rode over grassy savannahs, with much +cattle feeding on them, and in about five miles reached a small +village called Muy-muy, which means "very-very." I think it is a +corruption of an old Indian word "Muyo," met with in other Indian +names of towns, as, for instance, in Muyogalpa. After riding all +round the plaza, which formed three-fourths of the town, we at last +found a house where they consented to make us some tortillas, on +condition that we would buy some native cheese also. The land +around was fertile, but the people too lazy to cultivate it. Many +of the houses were dilapidated huts. The place altogether had a +most depressing aspect of poverty and idleness. I asked one man +what the people worked at. He said, "Nada, nada, senor," that is, +"Nothing, nothing, sir." Some of them possess cattle; and those +that have none sometimes help those that have, and get enough to +keep them alive. The principal subject of interest seemed to be the +"caritos," who had come up the river and given them guns and iron +pots for their black dogs; but no one had had the curiosity to ask +what they wanted the dogs for. It was Sunday, and many of the +country people from around had come into the village. All that had +any money were at the estanco, drinking aguardiente. The men were +dressed alike, with palm-tree hats, white calico jackets and +trousers, the latter often rolled up to the thigh on one leg, as is +the fashion in this part of the world. Nearly all were barefooted. + +(PLATE 17. THE "SANATE," OR QUISCALUS) + +Having breakfasted off tortillas and cheese, we continued our +journey, and crossed two rivers running to the eastward; then +ascended a high and rocky range, along the top of which the path +lay. We took this mountain-path to avoid some very bad swamps that +we were told we should encounter if we went by the main road. The +mountain range was bare and bleak, but we had a fine view over the +surrounding country. Opposite to us, on the other side of a wide +valley, was a similar range to that along which we were travelling, +the sides partly wooded and partly cleared for planting maize. We +passed several Indian huts with grass-thatched roofs, and met a +party of Indians travelling down the mountain in single file, each +man carrying his bow and arrows. They were going down to Huaco to +buy corn, the maize crop having failed around Matagalpa the last +season. The mountain road, though dry, was rocky, with steep +ascents, and our mules got very tired. About five o'clock we +descended from the hills into the valley of Ocalca, near to which +there had been some gold workings, now abandoned. Here we came in +sight, for the first time, of the pine forests, a high range a few +miles to the north being covered with them. + +About dusk, we reached an Indian hut, and proposed staying there +for the night. The owners were pure Indians; the women, engaged as +usual in grinding maize, were naked to the waist. There was an old +man and his son, and some children. The old Indian looked +distressed at our proposal to take up our quarters there for the +night, but he made no objection. The accommodation was very poor, +there being no hammocks or bedsteads; and I think all the inmates +must have slept above on some bamboos that were laid across the +beams. Learning from the old man that there was a large and better +house a little further on, we relieved him of our company, and +crossing a river, reached a cattle hacienda owned by a very stout +native named Blandon, who made us welcome. The house was a large +one; and there were a number of mozos and women-servants about. We +asked if we could buy anything to eat, and Senor Blandon said he +would get supper prepared, at which we were much pleased, as we had +had nothing all day excepting a drink of coffee at daylight, and +some tortillas and cheese at Muy-muy. After waiting a long time, we +were invited to our supper; and on going into an inner room, found +it consisted only of coffee and two small cakes called "roskears" +for each of us; and we were told they had nothing else to offer us. +So, munching our dry roskears, we mumbled over them as long as we +could, and did not waste a crumb, wondering how our host got so fat +on such fare. We were as hungry when we finished as when we began, +and soon laid down on our hard couches to forget our hunger in +sleep. + +We started off early the next morning, as we were within a few +leagues of the town of Matagalpa, and knew when we got there we +should obtain plenty of provisions. About a league before arriving +at Matagalpa there is a high range, with perpendicular cliffs near +the summit. Rito told us that near the base of these cliffs there +was a carving of a bull, and that the place was enchanted. I had +heard in other parts stories of bulls being engraved or painted on +rocks, but was very doubtful about their being true, as, up to the +advent of the Spaniards, the Indians of Central America had never +seen any cattle; and since the conquest they appear to have +entirely given up their ancient practice of carving on stone, +whilst the Spaniards and half-breeds have not learnt the art; so +that I have never seen a single carving in the central departments +that could be ascribed to a later period than the Spanish conquest. + +Tired and hungry though we were, I was determined to put this story +to the test; so Velasquez and I climbed up to the cliffs, and +searched all round them, but could find no carving. At one place +there was a large black stain on the cliff, produced by the +trickling down of water from above, and I afterwards learnt that +this stain at a distance somewhat resembled a bull, and a little +imagination completed the likeness. The lady of the house where we +stayed at Matagalpa assured us she had seen it, and that everything +appertaining to a bull was there. This she insisted on with a +minuteness of detail rather embarrassing to a fastidious auditor. + +Clambering down the rocks, we reached our horse and mule, and +started off again, passing over dry weedy hills. One low tree, very +characteristic of the dry savannahs, I have only incidentally +mentioned before. It is a species of acacia, belonging to the +section Gummiferae, with bi-pinnate leaves, growing to a height of +fifteen or twenty feet. The branches and trunk are covered with +strong curved spines, set in pairs, from which it receives the name +of the bull's-horn thorn, they having a very strong resemblance to +the horns of that quadruped. These thorns are hollow, and are +tenanted by ants, that make a small hole for their entrance and +exit near one end of the thorn, and also burrow through the +partition that separates the two horns; so that the one entrance +serves for both. Here they rear their young, and in the wet season +every one of the thorns is tenanted; and hundreds of ants are to be +seen running about, especially over the young leaves. If one of +these be touched, or a branch shaken, the little ants (Pseudomyrma +bicolor, Guer.) swarm out from the hollow thorns, and attack the +aggressor with jaws and sting. They sting severely, raising a +little white lump that does not disappear in less than twenty-four +hours. + +These ants form a most efficient standing army for the plant, which +prevents not only the mammalia from browsing on the leaves, but +delivers it from the attacks of a much more dangerous enemy--the +leaf-cutting ants. For these services the ants are not only +securely housed by the plant, but are provided with a bountiful +supply of food, and to secure their attendance at the right time +and place, the food is so arranged and distributed as to effect +that object with wonderful perfection. The leaves are bi-pinnate. +At the base of each pair of leaflets, on the mid-rib, is a +crater-formed gland, which, when the leaves are young, secretes a +honey-like liquid. Of this the ants are very fond; and they are +constantly running about from one gland to another to sip up the +honey as it is secreted. But this is not all; there is a still more +wonderful provision of more solid food. At the end of each of the +small divisions of the compound leaflet there is, when the leaf +first unfolds, a little yellow fruit-like body united by a point at +its base to the end of the pinnule. Examined through a microscope, +this little appendage looks like a golden pear. When the leaf first +unfolds, the little pears are not quite ripe, and the ants are +continually employed going from one to another, examining them. +When an ant finds one sufficiently advanced, it bites the small +point of attachment; then, bending down the fruit-like body, it +breaks it off and bears it away in triumph to the nest. All the +fruit-like bodies do not ripen at once, but successively, so that +the ants are kept about the young leaf for some time after it +unfolds. Thus the young leaf is always guarded by the ants; and no +caterpillar or larger animal could attempt to injure them without +being attacked by the little warriors. The fruit-like bodies are +about one-twelfth of an inch long, and are about one-third of the +size of the ants; so that an ant carrying one away is as heavily +laden as a man bearing a large bunch of plantains. I think these +facts show that the ants are really kept by the acacia as a +standing army, to protect its leaves from the attacks of +herbivorous mammals and insects. + +(PLATE 18. BULL'S-HORN THORN.) + +The bull's-horn thorn does not grow at the mines in the forest, nor +are the small ants attending on them found there. They seem +specially adapted for the tree, and I have seen them nowhere else. +Besides the Pseudomyrma, I found another ant that lives on these +acacias; it is a small black species of Crematogaster, whose habits +appear to be rather different from those of Pseudomyrma. It makes +the holes of entrance to the thorns near the centre of one of each +pair, and not near the end, like the Pseudomyrma; and it is not so +active as that species. It is also rather scarce; but when it does +occur, it occupies the whole tree, to the exclusion of the other. +The glands on the acacia are also frequented by a small species of +wasp (Polybia occidentalis). I sowed the seeds of the acacia in my +garden, and reared some young plants. Ants of many kinds were +numerous; but none of them took to the thorns for shelter, nor the +glands and fruit-like bodies for food; for, as I have already +mentioned, the species that attend on the thorns are not found in +the forest. The leaf-cutting ants attacked the young plants, and +defoliated them, but I have never seen any of the trees out on the +savannahs that are guarded by the Pseudomyrma touched by them, and +have no doubt the acacia is protected from them by its little +warriors. The thorns, when they are first developed, are soft, and +filled with a sweetish, pulpy substance; so that the ant, when it +makes an entrance into them, finds its new house full of food. It +hollows this out, leaving only the hardened shell of the thorn. +Strange to say, this treatment seems to favour the development of +the thorn, as it increases in size, bulging out towards the base; +whilst in my plants that were not touched by the ants, the thorns +turned yellow and dried up into dead but persistent prickles. I am +not sure, however, that this may not have been due to the habitat +of the plant not suiting it. + +These ants seem at first sight to lead the happiest of existences. +Protected by their stings, they fear no foe. Habitations full of +food are provided for them to commence housekeeping with, and cups +of nectar and luscious fruits await them every day. But there is a +reverse to the picture. In the dry season on the plains, the +acacias cease to grow. No young leaves are produced, and the old +glands do not secrete honey. Then want and hunger overtake the ants +that have revelled in luxury all the wet season; many of the thorns +are depopulated, and only a few ants live through the season of +scarcity. As soon, however, as the first rains set in, the trees +throw out numerous vigorous shoots, and the ants multiply again +with astonishing rapidity. + +(PLATE 19. LEAF OF MELASTOMA.) + +Both in Brazil and Nicaragua I paid much attention to the relation +between the presence of honey-secreting glands on plants, and the +protection the latter secured by the attendance of ants attracted +by the honey. I found many plants so protected; the glands being +specially developed on the young leaves, and on the sepals of the +flowers. Besides the bull's-horn acacias, I, however, only met with +two other genera of plants that furnished the ants with houses, +namely the Cecropiae and some of the Melastomae. I have no doubt +that there are many others. The stem of the Cecropia, or trumpet +tree, is hollow, and divided into cells by partitions that extend +across the interior of the hollow trunk. The ants gain access by +making a hole from the outside, and then burrow through the +partitions, thus getting the run of the whole stem. They do not +obtain their food directly from the tree, but keep brown +scale-insects (Coccidae) in the cells, which suck the juices from +the tree, and secrete a honey-like fluid that exudes from a pore on +the back, and is lapped up by the ants. In one cell eggs will be +found, in another grubs, and in a third pupae, all lying loosely. +In another cell, by itself, a queen ant will be found, surrounded +by walls made of a brown waxy-looking substance, along with about a +dozen Coccidae to supply her with food. I suppose the eggs are +removed as soon as laid, for I never found any along with the +queen-ant. If the tree be shaken, the ants rush out in myriads, and +search about for the molester. This case is not like the last one, +where the tree has provided food and shelter for the ants, but +rather one where the ant has taken possession of the tree, and +brought with it the Coccidae; but I believe that its presence must +be beneficial. I have cut into some dozens of the Cecropia trees, +and never could find one that was not tenanted by ants. I noticed +three different species, all, as far as I know, confined to the +Cecropiae, and all farming scale-insects. As in the bull's-horn +thorn, there is never more than one species of ant on the same +tree. + +In some species of Melastomae there is a direct provision of houses +for the ants. In each leaf, at the base of the laminae, the +petiole, or stalk, is furnished with a couple of pouches, divided +from each other by the mid-rib, as shown in the figure. Into each +of these pouches there is an entrance from the lower side of the +leaf. I noticed them first in Northern Brazil, in the province of +Maranham; and afterwards at Para. Every pouch was occupied by a +nest of small black ants, and if the leaf was shaken ever so +little, they would rush out and scour all over it in search of the +aggressor. I must have tested some hundreds of leaves, and never +shook one without the ants coming out, excepting on one +sickly-looking plant at Para. In many of the pouches I noticed the +eggs and young ants, and in some I saw a few dark-coloured Coccidae +or aphides; but my attention had not been at that time directed to +the latter as supplying the ants with food, and I did not examine a +sufficient number of pouches to determine whether they were +constant occupants of the nests or not. My subsequent experience +with the Cecropia trees would lead me to expect that they were. If +so, we have an instance of two insects and a plant living together, +and all benefiting by the companionship. The leaves of the plant +are guarded by the ants, the ants are provided with houses by the +plant, and food by the Coccidae or aphides, and the latter are +effectually protected by the ants in their common habitation. + +Amongst the numerous plants that do not provide houses, but attract +ants to their leaves and flower-buds by means of glands secreting a +honey-like liquid, are many epiphytal orchids, and I think all the +species of Passiflora. I had the common red passion-flower growing +over the front of my verandah, where it was continually under my +notice. It had honey-secreting glands on its young leaves and on +the sepals of the flower-buds. For two years I noticed that the +glands were constantly attended by a small ant (Pheidole), and, +night and day, every young leaf and every flower-bud had a few on +them. They did not sting, but attacked and bit my finger when I +touched the plant. I have no doubt that the primary object of these +honey-glands is to attract the ants, and keep them about the most +tender and vulnerable parts of the plant, to prevent them being +injured; and I further believe that one of the principal enemies +that they serve to guard against in tropical America is the +leaf-cutting ant, as I have observed that the latter are very much +afraid of the small black ants. + +On the third year after I had noticed the attendance of the ants on +my passion-flower, I found that the glands were not so well looked +after as before, and soon discovered that a number of scale-insects +had established themselves on the stems, and that the ants had in a +great measure transferred their attentions to them. An ant would +stand over a scale-insect and stroke it alternately on each side +with its antennae, whereupon every now and then a clear drop of +honey would exude from a pore on the back of the latter and be +imbibed by the ant. Here it was clear that the scale-insect was +competing successfully with the leaves and sepals for the +attendance and protection of the ants, and was successful either +through the fluid it furnished being more attractive or more +abundant.* (* I have since observed ants attending scale-insects on +a large plant of Passiflora macrocarpa in the palm-house at Kew.) I +have, from these facts, been led to the conclusion that the use of +honey-secreting glands in plants is to attract insects that will +protect the flower-buds and leaves from being injured by +herbivorous insects and mammals, but I do not mean to infer that +this is the use of all glands, for many of the small appendicular +bodies, called "glands" by botanists, do not secrete honey. The +common dog-rose of England is furnished with glands on the +stipules, and in other species they are more numerous, until in the +wild Rosa villosa of the northern counties the leaves are thickly +edged, and the fruit and sepals covered with stalked glands. I have +only observed the wild roses in the north of England, and there I +have never seen insects attending the glands. These glands, +however, do not secrete honey, but a dark, resinous, sticky liquid, +that probably is useful by being distasteful to both insects and +mammals. + +If the facts I have described are sufficient to show that some +plants are benefited by supplying ants with honey from glands on +their leaves and flower-buds, I shall not have much difficulty in +proving that many plant-lice, scale-insects, and leaf-hoppers, that +also attract ants by furnishing them with honey-like food, are, +similarly benefited. The aphides are the principal ant-cows of +Europe. In the tropics their place is taken in a great measure by +species of Coccidae and genera of Homoptera, such as Membracis and +its allies. My pineapples were greatly subject to the attacks of a +small, soft-bodied, brown coccus, that was always guarded by a +little, black, stinging ant (Solenopsis). This ant took great care +of the scale-insects, and attacked savagely any one interfering +with them, as I often found to my cost, when trying to clear my +pines, by being stung severely by them. Not content with watching +over their cattle, the ants brought up grains of damp earth, and +built domed galleries over them, in which, under the vigilant guard +of their savage little attendants, the scale-insects must, I think, +have been secure from the attacks of all enemies. + +Many of the leaf-hoppers--species, I think, of Membracis--were +attended by ants. These leaf-hoppers live in little clusters on +shoots of plants and beneath leaves, in which are hoppers in every +stage of development--eggs, larvae, and adults. I believe it is +only the soft-bodied larvae that exude honey. It would take a +volume to describe the various species, and I shall confine my +remarks to one whose habits I was able to observe with some +minuteness. The papaw trees growing in my garden were infested by a +small brown species of Membracis--one of the leaf-hoppers--that +laid its eggs in a cottony-like nest by the side of the ribs on the +under part of the leaves. The hopper would stand covering the nest +until the young were hatched. These were little soft-bodied +dark-coloured insects, looking like aphides, but more robust, and +with the hind segments turned up. From the end of these the little +larvae exuded drops of honey, and were assiduously attended by +small ants belonging to two species of the genus Pheidole, one of +them being the same as I have already described as attending the +glands on the passion-flower. One tree would be attended by one +species, another by the other; and I never saw the two species on +the same tree. A third ant, however--a species of Hypoclinea--which +I have mentioned before as a cowardly species, whose nests were +despoiled by the Ecitons, frequented all the trees, and whenever it +found any young hoppers unattended, it would relieve them of their +honey, but would scamper away on the approach of any of the +Pheidole. The latter do not sting, but they attack and bite the +hand if the young hoppers are interfered with. These leaf-hoppers +are, when young, so soft-bodied and sluggish in their movements, +and there are so many enemies ready to prey upon them, that I +imagine that in the tropics many species would be exterminated if +it were not for the protection of the ants. + +Similarly as, on the savannahs, I had observed a wasp attending the +honey-glands of the bull's-horn acacia along with the ants, so at +Santo Domingo another wasp, belonging to quite a different genus +(Nectarina), attended some of the clusters of frog-hoppers, and for +the possession of others a constant skirmishing was going on. The +wasp stroked the young hoppers, and sipped up the honey when it was +exuded, just like the ants. When an ant came up to a cluster of +leaf-hoppers attended by a wasp, the latter would not attempt to +grapple with its rival on the leaf, but would fly off and hover +over the ant; then when its little foe was well exposed, it would +dart at it and strike it to the ground. The action was so quick +that I could not determine whether it struck with its fore-feet or +its jaws, but I think it was with the feet. I often saw a wasp +trying to clear a leaf from ants that were already in full +possession of a cluster of leaf-hoppers. It would sometimes have to +strike three or four times at an ant before it made it quit its +hold and fall. At other times one ant after the other would be +struck off with great celerity and ease, and I fancied that some +wasps were much cleverer than others. In those cases where it +succeeded in clearing the leaf, it was never left long in peace. +Fresh relays of ants were continually arriving, and generally tired +the wasp out. It would never wait for an ant to get near it, +doubtless knowing well that if its little rival once fastened on +its leg, it would be a difficult matter to get rid of it again. If +a wasp first obtained possession, it was able to keep it; for the +first ants that came up were only pioneers, and by knocking these +off it prevented them from returning and scenting the trail to +communicate the intelligence to others. + +Before leaving this subject, I may remark that just as in plants +some glands secrete honey that attracts insects, others a resinous +liquid that repels them, so the secretions of different genera of +the homopterous division of the Hemiptera are curiously modified +for strikingly different useful purposes. We have seen that by many +species of plant-lice, scale-insects, and leaf-hoppers, a +honey-like fluid is secreted that attracts ants to attend upon +them. Other species of aphides (Eriosoma) that have no honey-tubes, +and many of the Coccidae, secrete a white, flocculent, waxy cotton, +under which they lie concealed. In many of the Homoptera, this +secretion only amounts to a white powder covering the body, as in +some of the Fulgoridae. In others it is more abundant, and it +reaches its extreme limit in a species of Phenax that I found at +Santo Domingo. The insect is about an inch in length, but the waxy +secretion forms a long thick tail of cotton-like fibres, two inches +in length, that gives the insect a most curious appearance when +flying. This flocculent mass is so loosely connected with the body +that it is difficult to catch the insect without breaking the +greater part of it off. Mr. Bates has suggested that the large +brittle wings of the metallic Morphos may often save them from +being caught by birds, who are likely to seize some portion of the +wide expanse of wing, and this, breaking off, frees the butterfly. +Probably the long cumbersome tail of the Phenax has a similar use. +When flying, it is the only portion of the insect seen; and birds +trying to capture it on the wing are likely to get only a mouthful +of the flocculent wax. The large Homoptera are much preyed upon by +birds. In April, when the Cicadae are piping their shrill cry from +morning until night, individuals are often seen whose bulky bodies +have been bitten off from the thorax by some bird. The large and +graceful swallow-tailed kite at that time feeds on nothing else. I +have seen these kites sweeping round in circles over the tree-tops, +and every now and then catching insects off the leaves, and on +shooting them I have found their crops filled with Cicadae. + +The frog-hoppers, besides exuding honey in some genera and wax in +others, in a third division emit, when in the larval state, a great +quantity of froth, in which they lie concealed, as in the common +"cuckoo-spit" of our meadows. + + +CHAPTER 13. + +Matagalpa. +Aguardiente. +Fermented liquors of the Indians. +The wine-palm. +Idleness of the Nicaraguans. +Pine and oak forests. +Mountain gorge. +Jinotega. +Native plough. +Descendants of the buccaneers. +San Rafael. +A mountain hut. + +AT noon we arrived at Matagalpa, the capital of the province of the +same name. The town contains about three thousand inhabitants; the +province, or department, about thirty thousand. Matagalpa is built +close to the river, on a rocky surface, with stony knolls rising up +in some parts amongst the houses. It contains three churches, and +the usual large square or plaza. Around, the country appeared very +dry and barren, and there is scarcely any cultivation in the +immediate neighbourhood. We put up at one of the best houses in the +town. The family consisted of a stout lady about fifty and her +husband, their daughter and her husband, and an unmarried son. The +two younger men appeared to do nothing; the elder one had a +contract with the government to manufacture aguardiente for three +towns, and spent nearly all his time at a small hacienda, a league +distant, where he grew sugar-cane and maize, and distilled the +spirit. + +There is a great deal of aguardiente, an inferior kind of rum, sold +throughout Nicaragua, and most of the Indians make it a point to +get drunk on their feast-days, but at other times are a sober race. +They do not owe the introduction of intemperance to the Spaniards, +though they can now obtain stronger liquor than in the old times, +as the ancient Indians do not appear to have known how to distil, +but they made several kinds of fermented liquors. In Mexico the +chief drink was "pulque," the fermented juice of the agave or +maguey plant. In Nicaragua "chicha," a kind of light beer, made +from maize, is still the favourite Indian beverage. On the warmer +plains, the wine-palm (Cocos butyracea) is grown. I saw many of +them near San Ubaldo. The wine is very simply prepared. The tree is +felled, and an oblong hole cut into it, just below the crown of +leaves. This hole is eight inches deep, passing nearly through the +trunk. It is about a foot long and four inches broad; and in this +hollow the juice of the tree immediately begins to collect, +scarcely any running out at the butt where it has been cut off. +This tendency of the sap to ascend is well shown in another plant, +the water liana. To get the water from this it must be cut first as +high as one can reach; then about a foot from the ground, and out +of a length of about seven feet, a pint of fine cool water will +run; but if cut at the bottom first, the sap will ascend so rapidly +that very little will be obtained. In three days after cutting the +wine-palm the hollow will be filled with a clear yellowish wine, +the fermented juice of the tree, and this will continue to secrete +daily for twenty days, during which the tree will have yielded some +gallons of wine. I was told that a very large grove of these trees +was cut down by the government near Granada, on account of the +excesses of the Indians, who used to assemble there on their +festivals, and get drunk on the palm-wine. The Indians of +Nicaragua, when the Spaniards first came amongst them, objected to +the preaching of the padres against intemperance. They said +"getting drunk did no man any harm." + +The manufacture of aguardiente is a government monopoly, which is +farmed out to contractors. The contracts are always given to the +political supporters of the party in power. + +There are many private illegal stills in the mountains. They are +generally amongst thick forest, near a small brook, with some dense +brushwood close at hand for the distiller to slip into if any +government officers should come up. One day, when rambling in the +woods near Santo Domingo, I came across one of these "sly grog" +manufactories. The apparatus was very simple. It consisted of two +of the common earthenware pots of the country, one on the top of +the other, the top one having had the bottom taken out and luted to +the lower one with clay. This was put on a fire with the fermented +liquor. The spirit condensed against the flat bottom of a tin dish +that covered the top vessel, and into which cold water was poured, +and fell in drops on to a board, that conducted it into a long +wooden tube, from which it dropped directly into bottles. + +(PLATE 20. NATIVE STILL.) + +Matagalpa does not rise above the dulness of other Nicaraguan +towns; and there is a stagnation about it, and utter absence of aim +or effort in the people, that are most distressing to a foreigner +used to the bustle, business, and diversions of European cities. A +few women washing in the river, or making tortillas or cigars in +the houses, was all I saw going on in the way of work. The men, as +usual, lolled about in hammocks, smoking incessantly. A few houses +were in process of building, or, rather, were standing half +finished. Now and then, a little is done to them; and so they take +months and years to finish; and men will show you, with the +greatest complacency, a half-built house on which nothing has been +done for two years, telling you they are so busy with it that they +cannot undertake anything else. There are no libraries, theatres, +nor concert-rooms: no public meetings nor lectures. Newspapers do +not circulate amongst the people, nor books of any kind. I never +saw a native reading, in the central provinces, excepting the +lawyers turning over their law books, or some of the functionaries +in the towns looking up the government gazette, or children at +their lessons. Night sets in at six o'clock. A single dim dip +candle is then lighted, in the better houses, set up high, so as to +shed a weak, flickering light over the whole room, not sufficient +to read by. The natives sit about and gossip till between eight and +nine, then lie down to sleep. + +A single billiard-table, in a dimly-lighted room, at which three or +four play all the evening, until the closing hour, at nine, and a +dozen others sit round the walls on benches; a gambling room, +licensed by the government, where only the smallest sums are +staked; cock-fighting on Sundays; a feast day; and perhaps a +bull-fight once or twice a year; private gambling carried on to a +considerable extent by the higher classes, and aguardiente-drinking +by the lower, complete the list of Nicaraguan diversions. + +On entering the Matagalpa district, we had found the roads dry and +dusty; and we now learnt that whilst at Santo Domingo the season +had been unusually wet, near Matagalpa it had been so dry that the +maize crops were suffering greatly from the drought. We had been +travelling nearly north-west, and were getting gradually further +and further away from the Atlantic, into a region where the +north-east trade wind, having to travel over a greater stretch of +land, gets drained of its moisture. + +Our mules and horses were completely tired out; and we expected to +have been able, without difficulty, to hire fresh animals to take +us on to Ocotal in Segovia; but we were disappointed. We lost the +afternoon by depending upon a man who undertook to get us some. He +went away, saying he was going after them. Hour after hour passed, +and he did not return. We went to his house; and his wife told us +that he was getting the mules for us. Night set in, and still he +came not. At last, about nine o'clock, we found him at the +billiard-room. He said he thought, when he did not return, we would +take it for granted that he had not been able to find the mules. I +believe he had never been further than the billiard-saloon looking +for them. These people get through the days with such ennui and +difficulty, that they have no idea of people economising time. A +story is told about them which, whether true or not, illustrates +this. When the steamboats were first put on the Lake of Nicaragua, +the natives complained that they were charged as much as they were +in the bungos, although they got sometimes a week's sailing in the +latter, and only one day in the steamboat. We were in a dilemma +about mules. I wished to push on, as I found the journey was a +longer one than I expected when I set out; and it was important +that I should get back to the mines by the end of the month. At +last, our host offered us mules to take us as far as Jinotega, +charging us three times as much as was usual; and we determined to +go on there, and seek animals to continue our journey. We got our +own mules put into a good portrero of Para grass just below the +town, resisting our host's invitation to leave them with him, +fearing he might use them instead of feeding them. He had to send +out to his hacienda for the fresh ones; and although he promised +them at seven, it was ten o'clock the next day before they arrived; +and the delay in waiting for them quickened my appreciation of the +laziness and want of punctuality of the people of Matagalpa. + +On leaving the town, we crossed the river, and ascended a range on +the other side. Here, for the first time, I got amongst pine trees +in the tropics; and they gave a very different aspect to the +country from what I had before seen. No brushwood grows under them, +and they stand apart at regular intervals, not shouldering each +other, as in the Atlantic forest, where the trees crowd together, +each trying to overtop its neighbour. No lianas hang from the +trees, and, excepting a few narrow-leaved Tillandsias, no epiphytes +nestle on the branches and trunks. Below, instead of shrubby palms, +large-leaved heliconias, and curious melastomae, the ground was +bare and brown from the fallen leaves of the pines, excepting that +in some places light grass had sprung up; in others the common +bracken-fern of Europe. All that I thought characteristic of a +tropical forest had disappeared; and the whistling of the wind +through the pine-tops, which I had not heard for years, carried me +back in imagination amongst the Canadian forests. The road was +rocky, and to the left rose mountains of nearly bare cliffs, up +which clung straggling pines, reaching to the summits, relieving, +but not concealing, their nakedness. Clumps of evergreen oaks were +the only other trees; and these, like the pines, grew in social +groups on the hills. In the valleys, the oaks and pines gave place +to a variety of trees and brushwood, different species of acacia +being the most abundant. Occasionally a tree-cactus appeared, its +curious flattened, kite-shaped joints, covered with prickles, +looking like great leaves, and its stem, formed of the same, +thickened at the bottom into a round filiform trunk, not differing +much from the trees around, but in the branches showing all the +gradations by which the flat constricted joints thicken out into +stems. In some parts, as we travelled on, we found the oak trees +and many of the pines completely draped with hanging festoons of +the grey moss-like Tillandsia usneoides, or "old man's beard." Not +a bough but had a great fringe hanging down, sometimes as much as +six feet long, like a grey veil swaying in the breeze, and giving +the trees a strange and venerable look. The ride was delightful +after the stagnation at Matagalpa: everything was fresh and new to +me. The aspect of the country, the trees, shrubs, and flowers, the +birds and insects, the aromatic perfume from the pines, claimed my +attention every minute. + +After four hours' riding across the pine-clad ranges, we reached a +gorge leading up to the heights overlooking the valley of Jinotega. +The path was along the steep side of this gorge, often along the +side of a precipice, where a few logs were laid to prevent the +mules going over, but really increasing the danger, for they were +old and rotten. Large boulders, imbedded in dark-coloured earth, +lay on the steep slopes, and about these grew small herbaceous +ferns in the greatest variety and profusion--a very paradise for a +fern-collector. In some parts a light green maiden-hair fern +covered the ground with its beautifully tender foliage, reminding +me of shady banks in the north of England, covered with the equally +lovely oak-fern. Every few yards discovered some new species, +filling the mind with delight at their beauty and variety. In dryer +and more stony places, a pinnatifid club-moss stood up amongst the +stones in crisp tufts, like the parsley fern on mountain-sides at +home. A black and blue bird (Cyanocitta melanocyanea), about the +size of a jackdaw, flew in small noisy flocks; and I noticed a +beautiful trogon, with burnished green back, and rose-coloured +breast. The highest points of the ranges enclosing this ravine were +covered with pine trees (Pinus tenuifolia); lower down grew +evergreen oaks, and lower still a variety of small trees, shrubs, +and herbaceous plants, reaching to the dry bed of the brook. + +(PLATE 21. NATIVE PLOUGH.) + +After a steep and rocky ascent, we reached the top of the range, +and before us lay the upper end of the valley of Jinotega. Here it +was very narrow, hemmed in by rocky ranges capped with pine +forests. Descending the steep and rocky slope, we soon left the +pines and oaks above us, and came down on a narrow alluvial flat, +gradually widening out as we proceeded down the valley. On each +side of the road were fields of maize, suffering greatly from the +drought. The soil was a fine deep, dark loam, and for the first +time in Nicaragua I found they ploughed their land, and made +permanent fences. The plough was a primitive implement, not unlike +some of those still in use in parts of Spain. It was entirely of +wood, excepting that the point was shod with an iron plate. Many of +the fences were hedges, amongst which grew the lovely creeper +Antigonon leptopus, with festoons of pink and rose-coloured +flowers. The Indian and Mestizo girls bind it in their hair, and +call it "la vegessima," "the beautiful." It does not wither for +some time after being cut, and so is very suitable for garlands and +bouquets. It has been carried to Greytown and the West Indies; and +whenever it flourishes, it is a great favourite. + +About a mile down the valley we reached the small town of Jinotega, +and put up at the estanco kept by a very polite and dignified +elderly gentleman, who, in the customary phrase of the country, +placed himself, his house, and all he possessed, at our service. +His wife, a bustling young woman, not more than half the age of her +husband, set to work at once to get our dinner ready. There were +several women-servants and many children about the house. It was +kept cleaner than is usual in Nicaragua, and I noticed in the yard +behind that some attempt at drainage had been made. Our host +appeared to be in comfortable circumstances. Outside the town he +had a small farm where he grew maize and wheat. He complained +greatly of the drought, and said it had never occurred before in +his recollection that the maize had failed in Jinotega for want of +rain. He found us a man who promised to supply us with mules or +horses to take us to Ocotal, but as they had to be brought up from +the "Campos" or plains he could not let us have them early, and it +was ten o'clock the next day before we started again. + +Whilst waiting for the mules we strolled around the town. In the +centre most of the houses are substantially built and tiled; on the +outskirts there are small grass-thatched huts with high-pitched +roofs. Wheat, maize, potatoes, and beans are the principal things +grown. Many of the people have light sandy-coloured hair and blue +eyes, and I thought at first they might be the offspring of a +number of Americans that settled in Jinotega during the civil war +in the States, but afterwards abandoned the place. I found, +however, some elderly people with the same distinctive marks of +ancestry other than the Spaniards, Indians, or Negroes, and I am +inclined to believe that on the breaking up of the bands of +buccaneers by Morgan, at the end of the seventeenth century, many +of them found a refuge up the Rio Grande and Rio Wanks. They were +well acquainted with these rivers, and made many forays up them to +harry the Spanish settlements on the Pacific slope. In 1688 a body +of about three hundred French and English pirates abandoned their +ships in the Gulf of Fonseca, forced their way across the country, +and descended the Rio Wanks to the Atlantic. The fair-haired and +blue-eyed natives of Matagalpa and Segovia are probably the +descendants of the outlaws who made these provinces their highway +from one ocean to another. + +Jinotega is pleasantly situated, and has many advantages over other +Nicaraguan towns. The climate is temperate and moderately dry, the +land very fertile. Pine trees on the surrounding ranges furnish +fuel and light. Pasture is abundant; for two miles below the town +the valley opens out into wide "campos" covered with grass, on +which a large number of horses, cattle, and mules are reared. + +Our road lay down the valley. On the sides of the enclosing ranges +there were many cultivated patches, and we saw whole families, men, +women, and children, weeding amongst the maize. A few showers had +fallen during the night and given them some hopes of saving their +crops. We passed a village called Apanas and then struck across the +plains, and on the other side reached low flat-topped ranges +covered with small trees and brushwood, amongst which were many +clearings well fenced and planted with maize. Passing over an +undulating country, the hills covered with oak forests, the +lowlands well grassed, we reached about two o'clock San Rafael, a +small town that has used up all its houses in forming the plaza in +front of a barn-like church. As usual, the half-breed population +were sunk in idleness and poverty. + +We stopped at one of the houses to get a drink of "tiste," and were +visited by a fussy little man who told us that he was secretary to +the judge and keeper of the "estanco," and in fact the ruling power +in the town, which he placed at our disposal. We, however, wanted +nothing but our "tiste" and to get some information about a cave we +had heard was in the neighbourhood. Our friend knew all about it, +and got a boy to show us the way for a couple of dimes. Under his +guidance we crossed a brook, and passing through a pine forest soon +reached the cave, which was on the side of the precipitous bank of +a small stream. It was only a small one, extending for about twenty +feet back, hollowed out of a sandy conglomerate, probably by the +action of the brook when it ran at a higher level. I dug a little +into the floor, but had not time to do much, and found nothing. +There were signs of its having been recently occupied, the walls +and roof were blackened with smoke, and numerous shells of the +common fresh-water melania were lying about. We were told that the +Indians when travelling used it, and that during the last +revolution the inhabitants of San Rafael hid their valuables in it, +though what they consisted of I am at a loss to say. + +On leaving the cave our guide put us on the wrong road, and we did +not discover the mistake until we had travelled a couple of miles. +We then arrived at some huts in the pine forest, where we were told +that the road to Ocotal was half a mile distant, across a stream +and a high steep range opposite. We had either to return to San +Rafael to take the right road or to cross the range. The latter +looked rather formidable, but we determined to try it. It was very +steep and rocky, but amongst the pines there was no underwood, so, +after some stumbling and slipping, our beasts managed to scramble +to the top, and we soon after regained the road. + +We now travelled over steep ranges, composed of great moraine-like +heaps of clay, with large angular boulders. Pine and oak trees +covered the heights, shrouded with long fringes and festoons of the +moss-like Tillandsia. Many epiphytes grew on the oaks, amongst +which the mottled yellow flower of an orchid hung down in spikes +six feet long. + +Five miles after regaining the road we reached the top of a high +range of hills, and found a single hut on the summit. Night was +coming on, it was raining, and we were told that there was a very +bad road before us over mountains, and no other house for three +leagues. We determined to stay at the hut, although the prospect of +our night's entertainment was a most cheerless one. The hut was +about twenty feet square, with a small attached shed for a kitchen. +The floor was the natural earth, littered with corn husks and other +refuse. There was not a bit of furniture, excepting some rough +sleeping-places made of hides stretched over poles. There was not a +stool nor even a log of wood to sit down upon. In this miserable +hut dwelt three families, consisting of nine individuals; men, +women, and children. + +The land around appeared to be poor. A patch of the forest in front +of the house, sloping down the side of a steep valley, had been +cleared, and planted with maize and wheat. We were told that there +were a few other houses down this valley. The people in the hut +seemed miserably poor. I said to Velasquez that they must have been +born on the settlement, as I could not imagine any one coming from +outside the mountains to live at such a spot, and on inquiry we +found that every one was a native, born within a mile of the hut. +It was perhaps bleaker than usual that evening, a continuous rain +was falling, and a high wind whistling through the pine-tops. Pigs, +dogs, and fowls were constantly in one's way, and the only cheering +sign was the bright blaze and fragrant smell of the burning pine +splinters. I asked one of the men if he preferred this place to +Jinotega, where the fertile slopes and grassy plains had so pleased +our eyes. He answered he did, the air was fresher and there was +less fever. + +They made for us some tortillas, and we had tea with us. The only +ingenious thing about the place was a sort of stove, dome-shaped, +made of clay, with two holes through the top like a cooking-stove, +on which they put their earthenware cooking vessels. I turned into +my hammock early, with all my clothes and my boots on, and my coat +buttoned tightly round me, as the bleak wind found many a crevice +to whistle through, and the open network of the hammock, agreeable +enough in the warm lowlands, was too slight a protection against +the cold of the mountains. A few poles placed across the doorway +partially closed it, but some of the smallest pigs got through, and +were rooting and grunting amongst our baggage all night. + +As soon as daylight broke next morning we were up, stiff, chilled, +and cramped, and got some hot coffee made, which warmed us a +little. We then had a better look round than we had had the night +before. It was a most desolate spot, with scarcely any grass; and a +poor half-starved horse came up to get a small feed of maize. + +The people of the mountain regions of Europe cannot, if they would, +take up land in the fertile lowlands, as they are already occupied, +but in the central provinces of Nicaragua the greater part of the +land is unappropriated, and these people might, if they liked, make +their homesteads where, with one-half the labour they spend on +their barren mountain ridge, they might live in abundance. But they +have been born and bred where they live, and knowing how strong is +the force of custom and how attached the Indians are to their +homes, I do not wonder that they stay from generation to generation +on this bleak range. I can imagine that if removed to the lowlands +they would sigh for their mountain home, to smell the fragrance of +the pine trees, and to hear once more the wind whistling through +their branches. I have already noticed how the Indians cling +generation after generation to the same spot, even when a short +removal would be manifestly to their advantage. I fear there is a +more ignoble reason that has as much to do with this as their love +of home, their confirmed and innate laziness. They shrink from any +labour that they are not forced to undertake. As an instance, no +one during at least two generations that the house had been +occupied had brought in even a log of wood for a seat, and a table +would, I fancy, be beyond their wildest dreams of comfort. An +Avocado tree grew before their door, the only fruit tree to be +seen, and it was nearly destroyed by being deeply cut into. I asked +why they had injured it, and they said they fired at it as a +target, and, lead being scarce, they dug out the bullets with their +knives; yet within thirty paces of their hut there were plenty of +pine trees that would have done equally well as a target, but then +they would have had to walk a few yards from their door. + +How was such a spot first chosen for settlement? All the names of +the places around are Indian, and probably in the old times when +there was continual warfare amongst the tribes, the remnants of +one, conquered and nearly extirpated, fled to the mountains, and +occupied a locality from necessity and for safety that they would +not otherwise have chosen. Afterwards when a new generation arose +they looked on the pine-clad hills as their home and birthright. + + +CHAPTER 14. + +Great range composed of boulder clay. +Daraily. +Lost on the savannahs. +Jamaily. +A deer-hunter's family. +Totagalpa. +Walls covered with cement, and whitewashed. +Ocotal. +The valley of Depilto. +Hawks and small birds. +Depilto. +Silver mine. +Geology of the valley. +Glacial drift. +The glacial period in Central America. +Evidence that the ice extended to the tropics. +Scarcity of gold in the valley gravels. +Difference of the Mollusca on the east and west coast + of the Isthmus of Darien. +The refuge of the tropical American animals and plants + during the glacial period. +The lowering of the sea-level. +The land shells of the West Indian Islands. +The Malay Archipelago. +Easter Island. +Atlantis. +Traditions of the deluge. + +BIDDING adieu to our hosts, we mounted our mules and descended the +ridge on which their hut is built. The range was very steep, and +fully 1200 feet high, composed entirely of boulder clay. This clay +was of a brown colour, and full of angular and subangular blocks of +stone of all sizes up to nine feet in diameter. The hill on the +slope that we descended was covered with a forest resembling that +around Santo Domingo, though the trees were not so large; but +tree-ferns, palms, lianas, and broad-leaved Heliconiae and +Melastomae were again abundant. In these forests, I was told, the +"Quesal," the royal bird of the Aztecs (Trogon resplendens), is +sometimes found. + +After descending about 1000 feet, we issued from the forest and +passed over well-grassed savannahs surrounded by high ranges, on +the eastern slopes of which were forests of pine-trees. The ground +was entirely composed of boulder clay, and not until we had +travelled about five miles did we see any rock in situ. This +boulder clay had extended all the way from San Rafael, and ranges +of hills appeared to be composed entirely of it. The angular and +subangular stones that it contained were an irregular mixture of +different varieties of trap, conglomerate, and schistose rocks. In +the northern states of America such appearances would be +unhesitatingly ascribed to the action of ice, but I was at the time +unprepared to believe that the glacial period could have left such +a memorial of its existence within the tropics, at no greater +elevation above the sea than 3000 feet. + +Riding on without stopping, we passed through Yales, a small +village of scattered huts, and reached a river flowing north +through a fine alluvial plain almost uninhabited. After crossing +the river three times, we turned off to the north-west, and passed +over low grassy ranges with scattered pine-trees, and in the +hollows a few clearings for growing maize, wheat, and beans. At +noon we halted for an hour to let our mules feed on a small +alluvial flat, for they had had nothing to eat the night before on +the bleak mountain summit. + +Continuing our journey, we arrived at Daraily, where was a fine +large clearing, with stone walls and a sugar-mill. The house was +about half a mile from the road, at the foot of a hill covered with +scattered pine-trees, forming a fine background to the scene. The +farm was well cultivated, and kept clean from weeds. Altogether the +scene was a most unusual one for the central provinces of +Nicaragua, and reflected great credit on the proprietor, Don +Estevan Espinosa. Had Nicaragua many such sons they would soon +change the face of the country, and turn many a wilderness into a +fruitful garden. + +Passing over a stony range, we descended by a steep pass into the +valley of the Estely, and followed it down to the westward across +low dry hills with prickly bushes and scrub. About five o'clock we +reached an extensive plain, covered with prickly trees and shrubs, +and pressed on to get to the village of Palacaguina, where we +proposed to pass the night. There were many paths leading across +the plain, and there was no person to be seen to direct us which to +take; whilst the scrubby trees interrupted our view in every +direction. Rito had once before been in the neighbourhood, and +thought he knew the way, so we submitted ourselves to his guidance; +but, as it proved, he took a path which led us past, instead of to, +the town. Night set in as we were pushing across dry weed-covered +hills, destitute of grass or water, every minute expecting to meet +some one who could tell us about the road. Rito was still confident +that he was right, although both Velasquez and myself had concluded +we must have got on the wrong road. The only animal we met with was +a black and white skunk, with a young one following it. The mother +ran too fast up a rocky slope for the young one, which was left +behind, and came towards us. It was very pretty, with its +snow-white bushy tail laid over its black back. We were, however, +afraid to touch it, fearing that, young as it was, it might have a +supply of that foetid fluid that its kind discharge with too sure +an aim at any assailant. The skunks move slowly about, and their +large white tails render them very conspicuous. Their formidable +means of defence makes for them the obscure colouration of other +dusk-roaming mammals unnecessary, as they do not need concealment. + +Hour after hour passed, and we reached no house, nor met any one on +the road; and at last, about nine o'clock, we determined to stop at +a spot where there was a little grass, but no water, as the poor +jaded mules had been ridden since daylight, excepting for an hour +at midday. We spread our waterproof sheet from the branch of a +tree, and lay down dinnerless and supperless, having had nothing +but a little sweet bread and native cheese all day; we were now too +thirsty to eat even that. Hearing some frogs croaking in the +distance, Velasquez went away in the direction from whence the +sound came, hoping to find some water: but there was none, the +frogs being in damp cracks in the ground. About eleven we heard the +noise of men talking; and holloaing to them, our shouts were +returned. We ran across the plain, through the bushes, and found +two Indians, who were returning from some plantations of maize to +their home, several miles distant. Both were nearly naked, the +youngest having only a loin-cloth on. When talking to us, they +shouted as if we were many yards distant; and as soon as one began +to answer a question, the other went on repeating, in a higher key, +what the first said. + +They told us that we had come two leagues past Palacaguina, and +were on the road to a small town called Pueblo Nuevo, and directed +us how we should find the right track in the morning for continuing +our journey to Ocotal. They were highly amused at our misadventure, +and laughed and talked to each other about it. Rito also laughed +much at the mistake he had made, and though disposed to be angry at +his obstinacy in bringing us several miles out of our course, we +knew that he had done his best. All the native servants, when they +make a mistake, or do any damage accidentally, treat it as a joke; +and it is best, under such circumstances, to be good-humoured with +them, as, if reproved, they are very likely to turn sulky, and do +some more damage. They are independent, and care nothing about +being discharged, as any one can live in Nicaragua without working +much. Rito was an active, merry fellow, and might every now and +then be observed laughing to himself; if asked what it was about, +he was sure to answer that he was thinking about some little +accident that had occurred. I once, when trying to loop up the side +of my hammock, fell out of it, and next day Rito could not control +himself, but was continually exploding in a burst of laughter; and +for days afterwards any allusion to it would set him into +convulsions. When we returned to Santo Domingo, it was one of his +stock stories. He used to say he wanted very much to come to my +assistance, but could not for laughing. + +Next morning we started at daylight, and soon found the path the +Indians had told us about, which took us to a place called Jamaily +(pronounced Hamerlee), where was an extensive indigo plantation. +About 100 men were employed weeding and clearing the ground. No +fences are required for indigo growing, as neither horses nor +cattle will eat the plant. A mile beyond Jamaily we saw, amongst +some bushes, a poor-looking, grass-thatched hut, with the sides +made of an open work of branches and leaves. We went up to it to +try to buy something to eat, but found only three children in it; +the oldest, a very dirty little girl of about five years of age, +with a piece of cloth worn like a shawl, her only clothing, and the +two younger quite naked. A little boy, about three years old, was +very talkative, and prattled away all the time we were there. He +said that some people living near had four cows, but that they had +none; that his father shot deer and sold their skins, and that two +days before he fired at a rock, thinking it was a deer. + +We heated some water and made tea, and with some sweet bread and +native cheese managed to allay our hunger, the little boy amusing +us all the time with his prattle. Pointing to a mangy dog lying on +the floor covered with some old rags, he said it had fever, and +that at night it threw off the rags, and the fleas got at it, but +that during the day he kept it well covered up. I was amused with +the little fellow, who in that squalid hut, without a scrap of +clothing, and fed with the coarsest food, was as happy as, if not +happier than, any child I had seen. By and by an elder girl came +along from some other hut, and told us that the man was away +hunting for deer, and that his wife had gone to her mother's, about +a mile distant. She also informed us that the hunter had not a gun +of his own, but gave half the meat of the deer he killed for the +loan of one. He had a trained ox, which, as soon as it saw a deer, +commenced eating, and walking gradually towards it; whilst the man +followed, concealed, and thus got within distance to shoot it. He +generally got two when he went out, and sold the hides for twenty +cents per pound, the skins averaging five pounds' weight each. It +is astonishing that deer should be so little afraid of man as they +are, after having been objects of chase for probably thousands of +years. Sometimes when one is encountered in the forest it will +stand within twenty yards stupidly gazing at a man, or perhaps +striking the ground impatiently with its forefoot, and often +waiting long enough for an unloaded gun to be charged. The woman of +the house came in before we left and we paid her for the use of her +fire. She did not know how old her children were, and Velasquez +told me that very few of the lower classes in Nicaragua knew either +their own age or that of their children. + +The soil about here, for many leagues, was full of small angular +fragments of white quartz. They had attracted my attention the day +before, and I now found they were derived from thick beds of +conglomerate, the decomposition of which released the fragments of +quartz, of which it was mainly composed. Many of these beds of +conglomerate were inclined at high angles. I noticed also some +contorted, highly inclined talcose schists, full of small quartz +veins, generally running between the laminae of the schists. +Probably the conglomerates had been produced by the wearing down of +these schists. + +We passed through two Indian towns--the first Yalaguina, the second +Totagalpa. At the last the church looked very clean and pretty, and +was ornamented with a single square tower, built of rough stones, +and covered with white cement that glistened like marble at a short +distance. The peculiar shining appearance of the cement is due to +the admixture of a fine black sand in the whitewash used. The +cement itself is strong and durable, and its manufacture was known +to the Indians long before the advent of the Spaniards. Bernal Diaz +de Castillo, one of the followers of Cortez, often speaks, in his +history, of the houses built of stone and lime, and covered with +cement. On their march to Mexico, when they arrived at Cempoal, he +says, "Our advanced guard having gone to the great square, the +buildings of which had been recently plastered and whitewashed, in +which art the people are very expert, one of our horsemen was so +struck with the splendour of their appearance in the sun that he +came back in full speed to Cortez to tell him that the walls of the +houses were of silver." We also learn from the same historian that +the city of Cholula "had at that time above 100 lofty white towers, +which were the temples of their idols." + +Between Yalaguina and Totagalpa there was much of the conglomerate +rock that I have already mentioned. Over this the soil was dry and +stony, and filled with small quartz pebbles. The vegetation was +scanty, principally thorny shrubs and trees. Amongst the former the +Pinuela, a plant closely allied to the pine-apple, and used to make +fences, was the most abundant. In the alluvial flats were many fine +patches of maize looking extremely well, for in Segovia the crops +had not been injured by drought. The low hills were very sandy and +dry, and the beds of the brooks waterless, but a little beyond +Totagalpa we found a small running stream, and stopped an hour to +refresh our mules and to eat some provisions we had bought at +Yalaguina. + +All through Segovia the country is divided into townships, +embracing an area of from twenty to twenty-five square leagues. +Over each of these there is an alcalde, living in the small central +town, and elected by the inhabitants of the townships. The +boundaries are marked by heaps of stones surmounted by wooden +crosses, set up on the roads leading from one town to another. + +After riding a few more leagues over rocky hills with scanty +vegetation, we came in sight, from the top of one of the ranges, of +the town of Ocotal, the capital of Segovia, with its white walls +and red-tiled roofs. Descending a long rocky slope we forded one of +the affluents of the Rio Wanks, and half a mile further on arrived +at the town, situated on a dry plain. A heavy thunderstorm broke +over us as we entered the town, and the rain came down in torrents +whilst we were searching for a house to put up at. In answer to our +inquiries we were directed to the best house in the town. It was +situated at the corner of the plaza, had lofty well-built walls, +large doors and gateway, clean tiled floors, and in the courtyard +behind a pretty flower garden, with a tank to hold rain water. We +were received by two elderly ladies, the sisters of the owner Don +Pedro, who made us welcome in a stately sort of way, and got some +dinner prepared, consisting of beans, tortillas, avocados, and +coffee. + +We learnt that the present town was about seventy years old and not +very flourishing, as the land around was dry and sterile. The old +capital of Segovia was situated five leagues further down the +river, where the land around was fertile. But the buccaneers came +up the river in their boats and sacked the town, and the site was +deserted for one more difficult of access, the river being much +shallower and obstructed by rapids higher up. At the site of the +old town the church still stands, but only a few poor Negroes live +there now. Two branches of the river unite a little below the +present town, and following it down for about four days' journey a +place named Cocos is reached, which is the furthest settlement of +the Spaniards towards the Atlantic. To this point large bungos come +up the river, and Don Pedro had been very wishful to get it opened +out above for navigation, but had not succeeded. + +There were very few men to be hired at Ocotal, and we determined to +go on to Depilto, a small mining town near the Honduras boundary, +where we were assured there were plenty to be obtained. We had only +engaged the mules to come as far as Ocotal, and had great +difficulty in getting others to go on with. I think the people at +first were afraid that we might cross the boundary and never +return. We afterwards learnt that robberies of mules often took +place; some rogues making a business of stealing mules out of +Honduras, bringing them into Nicaragua, selling them, and stealing +others to return with. There were, however, some people in Ocotal +who had worked at the mines and knew us, and when this information +spread we had the offer of several animals. If we had known the +cause of the reluctance of the people to let us have mules at +first, we should easily have got over the difficulty by leaving the +value of the animals in the hands of some responsible person, but +the owners had made all sorts of excuses for not lending them, and +we had not suspected the true cause. We had been travelling +continually for nine days, and looked more like brigands than +honest travellers, and the good easy-going people of Ocotal had +their suspicions about us. + +As I have said, when satisfied of our good faith, the mule owners +soon offered us the use of their beasts, and next morning Velasquez +and I started at seven o'clock on two fine fresh mules and rode +merrily up the valley of the Depilto. The river rises in the high +ranges that form the boundary between Honduras and Nicaragua, and +running down past Depilto joins the Ocotal river a little below the +capital. Our road lay up the valley close to the river, which we +crossed and recrossed several times. The vegetation was scanty, but +the morning was a lovely one after the thunderstorm of the night +before, and we greatly enjoyed our ride. We did not see many birds, +a pretty hawk that I shot being the most noticeable. Hawks of +various kinds are very abundant in the tropics, and if the small +birds had to personify death, they would certainly represent him as +one, for this is the form in which he must generally appear to +them. Towards evening the hawk glides noiselessly along and alights +on a bough, near where he hears the small birds twittering amongst +the bushes. Perhaps they see him and are quiet for a little, but he +sits motionless as the sphinx, and they soon get over their fear +and resume their play or feeding. Then suddenly a dark mass swoops +down and rises again. It is the hawk, with a small bird grasped in +his strong talons, gasping out its last breath. Its comrades are +terror-struck for a moment and dash madly into the thickets, but +soon forget their fear. They chirp to each other, the scattered +birds reunite; there is a fluttering and twittering, a rearranging +of mates, then again songs, feeding, love, jealousy, and +bickerings. + +The banks of the river were sandy and sterile, and the soil +contained much small quartz. The bed rock was a talcose schist near +to Ocotal, but higher up the river it changed to gneissoid and +quartz rocks, the latter in hard and massive beds. As we ascended +the valley, the ranges bounding it got higher and steeper, the soil +more sandy and barren, with scattered pine trees growing amongst +the rocks. Great, bare, rounded masses of hard quartzite protruded +through the scanty soil, and in the river were enormous boulders of +granite-like gneiss. + +Depilto is only nine miles from Ocotal, but we took three hours to +reach it, as I made many stoppages to examine the rocks and to +catch fleet-limbed speckled tiger-beetles on the sandy roads. The +little town was not half populated, the silver-mines had been +closed for some time, most of the houses were empty, and the people +still clinging about the place seemed to have nothing to do, for +the land is too barren for cultivation. We made known our +requirements for labourers, and were assured that plenty would be +glad to go to Santo Domingo. They would not, however, bind +themselves there, but preferred to go down untrammelled with any +conditions about pay or work, and I may anticipate here by saying +that the result of our visit was very satisfactory, numbers of +workmen having been obtained for the mines. + +After getting some breakfast at a house that seemed to be the hotel +of Depilto, we set out to visit a silver-mine named "El Coquimba." +We had to ascend a high range opposite the town, and found riding +over the steep bare exposures of quartz rock so difficult and +dangerous that about half way up we tied our mules to some young +pine trees and proceeded on foot. The mine was abandoned, and the +shafts and levels were closed by falls of rock. Some of the ore, +sulphide of silver, was lying at the mouth of one of the old +shafts. Our guide told us that the lode was two feet wide. Both it +and the containing rock was very hard, and the miners had also +water to contend against. I do not think from what I saw that the +mine could be made to pay on a large scale, though next the surface +small remunerative deposits of ore had been found. In depth the +hardness of the rocks would make the sinking of shafts and driving +of levels, the "dead work" of the miners, very costly. + +We started on our return down the valley at three o'clock, and took +particular note of the succession of the rocks, as I had become +much interested in finding these quartz and gneissoid beds, which I +had no doubt were the same Laurentian rocks that I had seen in +Canada and Brazil--the very backbone of the continent, ribbing +America from Patagonia to the Canadas--the fundamental gneiss which +is covered, in other parts of Central America that I had visited, +by strata of much more recent origin. Going down the valley of the +Depilto the massive beds of quartz and gneiss are soon succeeded by +overlying, highly inclined, and contorted schists, and as far as +where the road from Ocotal to Totagalpa crosses the river, the +exposures of bed rock were invariably these contorted schists, with +many small veins of quartz running between the laminae of the rock. +On the banks of the river, from about a mile below Depilto, +unstratified beds of gravel are exposed in numerous natural +sections. These beds deepen as the river is descended, until at +Ocotal they reach a thickness of between two and three hundred +feet, and the undulating plain on which Ocotal is built is seen in +sections near the river to be composed entirely of them. These +unstratified deposits consist mostly of quartz sand with numerous +angular and subangular blocks of quartz and talcose schist. Many of +the boulders are very large, and in some parts great numbers have +been accumulated in the bed of the river by the washing away of the +smaller stones and sand. Some of these huge boulders were fifteen +feet across, the largest of them lying in the bed of the river two +miles below Depilto. Most of them were of the Depilto quartz rock +and gneiss, and I saw many in the unstratified gravel near Ocotal +fully eight miles from their parent rock. Near Ocotal this +unstratified formation is nearly level, excepting where worn into +deep gulches by the existing streams. The river has cut through it +to a depth of over two hundred feet, and there are high precipices +of it on both sides, similar to those near streams in the North of +England that cut through thick beds of boulder clay. + +(PLATE 22. GEOLOGICAL SECTION NEAR OCOTAL. + Section of Strata between Depilto and the hill three miles + south-west of Ocotal. + Gravel with boulders of trap and conglomerate. + Gravel with boulders of gneiss and quartz rock. + Contorted schists. + Quartz rock and gneiss.) + +The evidences of glacial action between Depilto and Ocotal were, +with one exception, as clear as in any Welsh or Highland valley. +There were the same rounded and smoothed rock surfaces, the same +moraine-like accumulations of unstratified sand and gravel, the +same transported boulders that could be traced to their parent +rocks several miles distant. The single exception was, I am +convinced, one of observation and not one of fact, namely, I saw no +glacial scratches on the rocks; but geologists know how rare these +are on natural exposures in some districts that have certainly been +glaciated, and will not be surprised that in a hurried visit of +only a few hours I should not have discovered any. Glacial +scratches are seldom preserved on rock surfaces exposed to the +action of the elements. Even in Nova Scotia, where scratches and +grooves are met with wherever the rock surface has been recently +laid bare, I do not remember having ever seen any on natural +exposures. It is only where protected by a covering of clay or +gravel from the action of the elements, that they have been +preserved through the ages that have passed since the glacial +epoch, and as I did not see any rock surfaces near Depilto that had +been recently bared, it is not surprising that, notwithstanding the +other proofs of glacial action, I should not have seen any ice +scratches or grooves. + +I could no longer withstand the evidence that had been gradually +accumulating of the presence of large glaciers in Central America +during the glacial period, and these, once admitted, afforded me a +solution of many phenomena that had before been inexplicable. The +immense ridges of boulder clay between San Rafael and Yales, the +long hog-backed hills near Tablason, the great transported boulders +two leagues beyond Libertad on the Juigalpa road, and the scarcity +of alluvial gold in the valleys of Santo Domingo, could all be +easily explained on the supposition that the ice of the glacial +period was not confined to extra-tropical lands, but in Central +America covered all the higher ranges, and descended in great +glaciers to at least as low as the line of country now standing at +two thousand feet above the sea. + +In my description of the mines of Santo Domingo I have only briefly +alluded to the scarcity of alluvial gold in the valleys. It may be +correlated with a similar scarcity in the glaciated valleys of Nova +Scotia and North Wales, in the neighbourhood of auriferous quartz +veins, and is probably due to the same cause. Glacier ice scoops +out all the contents of the valleys, and in deepening them does not +sort the materials like running water or the action of the waves +upon the sea coast. I have in another place* (* "The Glacial Period +in North America" by Thomas Belt. Published in "Transactions of the +Nova Scotian Institute of Natural Science" 1866 page 91.) shown +that in Nova Scotia, in the neighbourhood of rich auriferous quartz +veins that have been greatly denuded, grain gold is only sparingly +disseminated throughout the drifts of the valleys, whilst in +Australia every auriferous quartz vein has been the source of an +alluvial deposit of grain gold, produced by the denudation and +sorting action of running water. When the denuding agent was water, +the rocks were worn away, and the heavier gold left behind at the +bottom of the alluvial deposits; but when the denuding agent was +glacier ice the stony masses and their metallic contents were +carried away, or mingled together in the unassorted moraines. + +That the transportation of boulders in Nicaragua was due to +glaciers, and not to floating icebergs, may be argued on zoological +grounds. The transported boulders, near Ocotal, are about three +thousand feet above the sea, those near Libertad about two thousand +feet. The low pass between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, +through the valley of the San Juan and the Lake of Nicaragua, is +less than two hundred feet above the sea,* (* See ante, Chapter 4.) +and to allow for the flotation of icebergs at the lower of the two +places named, a channel of more than eighteen hundred feet in depth +would have connected the two oceans. This supposition is negatived +by the fact that the mollusca on the two coasts, separated by the +narrow Isthmus of Darien, are almost entirely distinct, whilst we +know that since the glacial period there has been little change in +the molluscan fauna, nearly, if not all, the shells found in +glacial deposits still existing in neighbouring seas. In the +Caribbean province, which includes the Gulf of Mexico, the West +Indian Islands, and the eastern coast of South America as far as +Rio de Janeiro, the number of marine shells is estimated by +Professor C.B. Adams at not less than 1500 species. From the +Panamic province, which, on the western coast of America, extends +from the Gulf of California to Payta in Peru, there has been +catalogued 1341 distinct species of marine molluscs. Out of this +immense number of species, less than fifty occur on both sides of +the narrow Isthmus of Darien. So remarkably distinct are the two +marine faunas, that most zoologists consider that there has been no +communication in the tropics between the two seas since the close +of the miocene period, whilst the connection that is supposed to +have existed at that remote epoch, and to account for the +distribution of corals, whilst advocated by Professor Duncan and +other eminent men, is disputed by others equally eminent. No +zoologist of note believes that there has been a submergence of the +land lying between the Pacific and the Atlantic since the pliocene +period, and icebergs could not have floated without such +submergence, so that, in the cases I have mentioned, the boulders, +if ice-borne, have been carried by glaciers and not by floating +ice. + +Whilst I thus found evidence of the ice of the glacial period +reaching, in the northern hemisphere, to within the tropics; in the +southern hemisphere Professor Hartt has found glacial drift +extending from Patagonia, all through Brazil to Pernambuco, and +Agassiz has even announced the discovery of glacial moraines up to +the equator. I have myself seen, near Pernambuco, and in the +province of Maranham, in Brazil, a great drift deposit that I +believe to be of glacial origin; and I think it highly probable +that the evidence that is accumulating will force geologists to the +conclusion that the ice of the glacial period was not only more +extensive than has been generally supposed, but that it existed at +the same time in the northern and southern hemispheres, leaving, at +least, on the American continent, only the lower lands of the +tropics free from the icy covering. + +I shall not enter upon the question of the cause of the cold of the +glacial period. It is probably closely connected with the cause of +an exactly opposite state of things, the heat of the miocene +period, when the beech, the hazel, and the plane lived and +flourished in Spitzbergen, as far north as latitude 78 degrees, +and, according to Heer, firs and poplars reached to the North Pole, +if there was then land there for them to grow upon. I consider that +the great extension of the ice in the glacial period supports the +conclusion of Professor Heer, founded on the northern extension of +the miocene flora, that these enormous changes of climate cannot be +explained by any rearrangement of the relative positions of land +and water, and that "we are face to face with a problem whose +solution must be attempted and doubtless completed by the +astronomer."* (* I have since discussed this question in the +"Quarterly Journal of Science" for October 1874.) + +There is another branch of the subject that I cannot so easily +leave. It is the answer to the question, What became of the many +peculiar tropical American genera of animals and plants, when a +great part of the tropics was covered with ice, and the climate of +the lower lands much colder than now? For instance, the Heliconii +and Morphos are a group of butterflies peculiar to tropical +America, containing many distinct genera which, on any theory of +descent from a common progenitor, must have originated ages before +the glacial period. How is it that such peculiarly tropical groups +were not exterminated by the cold of the glacial period, or if able +to stand the cold, that they did not spread into temperate regions +on the retreat of the ice? I believe the answer is, that there was +much extermination during the glacial period, that many species and +some genera, as, for instance, the American horse, did not survive +it, and that some of the great gaps that now exist in natural +history were then made; but that a refuge was found for many +species, on lands now below the ocean, that were uncovered by the +lowering of the sea caused by the immense quantity of water that +was locked up in frozen masses on the land. + +Mr. Alfred Tylor considers that the ice cap of the glacial period +was the cause of a great reduction of the level of the sea, +amounting to at least 600 feet.* (* "Geological Magazine" volume 9 +page 392.) But if we admit that the ice existed in both hemispheres +at the same time, we shall have to speculate on a lowering of the +level of the sea to at least 1000 feet. We have many facts tending +to prove that during the extreme extent of the glacial period the +land stood much higher relatively to the sea than it now does. +Professor Hartt believes that during the time of the drift, Brazil +stood at a much higher level than at present,* (* "Geology and +Physical Geography of Brazil" by Ch. Fred. Hartt page 573.) and we +can, on the supposition of a general lowering of the sea all over +the world, account for the distribution of animal life over islands +now separated by shallow seas. Thus Mr. Bland, in a paper read +before the American Philosophical Society, on "The Geology and +Physical Geography of the West Indies, with reference to the +distribution of Mollusca," states his opinion that Porto Rico, the +Virgins, the Anguilla group, Cuba, the Bahamas, and Hayti, once +formed continuous dry land that obtained its land molluscs from +Central America and Mexico. The land molluscs of the islands to the +south, on the contrary, from Barbuda and St. Kitt's down to +Trinidad, are of two types, one Venezuelan, the other Guianian; the +western side of the supposed continuous land, namely, Trinidad, +Tobago, Grenada, the Grenadines, St. Vincent, and St. Lucia, +belonging to the first type; the eastern side, from Barbados to +Antigua, to the second.* (* Quoted in "At Last" by Charles Kingsley +page 305.) + +Commenting on Mr. Bland's valuable communication, Mr. Kingsley +justly says: "If this be so, a glance at the map will show the vast +destruction of tropic land during almost the very latest geological +epoch; and show, too, how little, in the present imperfect state of +our knowledge, we ought to dare any speculations as to the absence +of man, as well as of other creatures, on those great lands +destroyed. For, to supply the dry land which Mr. Bland's theory +needs, we shall have to conceive a junction, reaching over at least +five degrees of latitude, between the north of British Guiana and +Barbados; and may freely indulge in the dream that the waters of +the Orinoco, when they ran over the lowlands of Trinidad, passed +east of Tobago, then northward between Barbados and St. Lucia, +afterwards turning westward between the latter island and +Martinique, and that the mighty estuary--for a great part at least +of that line--formed the original barrier which kept the land +shells of Venezuela apart from those of Guiana."* (* Loc cit page +306.) + +A very similar theory has been propounded by Mr. Wallace to account +for the distribution of the faunas of the Malay Archipelago, in his +admirable work on the natural history of that region.* (* "The +Malay Archipelago" volume 1 page 11.) Java, Sumatra, and Borneo are +separated from each other, and from the continent of Asia, by a +shallow sea less than six hundred feet in depth, and must at one +time have been connected by continuous land to allow of the +elephant and tapir of Sumatra and Borneo, the rhinoceros of Sumatra +and Java, and the wild cattle of Borneo and Java, to spread from +the continent to these now sea-surrounded lands, as none of these +large animals could have passed over the arms of the sea that now +separate them. The smaller mammals, the birds, and insects, all +illustrate this view, almost all the genera found in any of the +islands occurring also on the Asiatic continent, and the species +being often identical. On the other hand, the fauna of islands to +the eastward are more closely connected with Australia, and must at +one time have been joined to it by nearly continuous land. +Honeysuckers and lories take the place of the woodpeckers, barbets, +trogons, and fruit thrushes of the western islands, and the many +mammals belonging to Asiatic genera are no more seen. + +Mr. Wallace ascribes the present isolation of the islands, and +their separation from the adjoining continents, to the submergence +of the channels between them caused by the abstraction of matter +thrown out by the numerous volcanoes. Looking, however, at the fact +that at the time when these islands were probably connected with +the continents of Asia on the one side and Australasia on the +other, namely, at the close of the pliocene period, England was +connected with the continent; Malta, as shown by its fossil +elephants, with Africa; the West Indies with Yucatan and Venezuela; +it seems to me more probable that the cause was not a local one, +but a general lowering of the waters of the ocean all over the +world to at least one thousand feet, produced by the prodigious +quantity of water locked up in the frozen masses that covered a +great part of both hemispheres. + +The wide diffusion of the Malayan dialects over the Pacific, +reaching as far as the Sandwich Islands, shows the great extension +of that race in former times. On numerous islands in Polynesia +there are cyclopean ruins utterly out of keeping with their present +size and population. Who can look at the pictures of little Easter +Island, with its gigantic images standing up in unworshipped +solitude, without feeling that that insignificant islet could never +have supported the race that reared the monuments. But if that and +other islands were once hills overlooking peopled lowlands, the +sense of incongruity vanishes. We see the images, not gazing +gloomily over the ocean that narrowly circles them in, but proudly +looking across wide plains peopled by their worshippers, who from +their villages and fields behold the gods they adore, and implore +their protection and support. + +Was the fabled Atlantis really a myth, or was it that great +continent in the Atlantic laid bare by the lowering of the ocean, +on which the present West Indian Islands were mountains, rising +high above the level and fertile plains that are now covered by the +sea? Obscurely the accounts of it have come down to us from the dim +past, but there is a remarkable coincidence between the traditions +that have been handed down on the two sides of the Atlantic. + +In a fragment of the works of Theopompus, who lived in the fourth +century before the Christian era, is an account of a conversation +between Silenus and Midas, the king of Phrygia, in which the former +tells the king that Europe, Asia, and Africa were surrounded by the +sea, but that beyond them was an island of immense size, in which +were many great cities, and nations with laws and customs very +different from theirs. Plato, in his "Timaeus and Critias," relates +that Solon was told by a priest of Sais, from the sacred +inscriptions in the temple, how Solon's country "once opposed a +power which with great arrogance pushed its way into Europe and +Asia from the Atlantic Ocean. Beyond the entrance which you call +the Pillars of Hercules there was an island larger than Libya and +Asia together. From it navigation passed to the other islands, and +from them to the opposite continent which surrounded that ocean. On +this great Atlantic island there was a powerful and singular +kingdom, whose dominion extended not only over the whole island, +but over many others, and parts of the continent. It ruled also +over Libya as far as Egypt, and over Europe as far as Tyrrhenia. +This kingdom with the whole of its forces united tried to subjugate +in one campaign your country and ours, and all the country within +the strait. At that time, O Solon, your nation shone out from all +others by bravery and power. It was placed in great danger, but it +defeated the attacking army, and erected triumphal monuments. But +when at a later period earthquakes and great floods took place, the +whole of your united army was swallowed up during one evil day and +one evil night, and at the same time the island of Atlantis sank +into the sea." Crantor, quoted by Proclus, corroborates the account +by Plato, and says that he found this same story retained by the +priests of Sais, three hundred years after the period of Solon, and +that he was shown the inscriptions on which it was recorded. + +Turning to the western side of the Atlantic, we find in the "Teo +Amoxtli," as translated by the Abbe Brasseur de Bourburg, an +account of the overwhelming of a country by the sea, when thunder +and flames came out of it, and "the mountains were sinking and +rising." Everywhere throughout America there are traditions of a +great catastrophe, in which a whole country was submerged, and only +a few people escaped to the mountains; and the Spanish conquerors +relate with wonder the accounts they found amongst the Indians of a +universal deluge. Amongst the modern Indians the traveller, Catlin, +relates that in one hundred and twenty different tribes that he had +visited in North, and South, and Central America, "every tribe +related, more or less distinctly, their tradition of the deluge, in +which one, or three, or eight persons were saved above the waters +on the top of a high mountain."* (* "Lifted and Subsided Rocks in +America" by G. Catlin page 182.) + +If Atlantis were lowlands connecting the West Indian Islands with +America, the other islands mentioned by Plato may have been the +Azores, also greatly increased in extent by the lowering of the +ocean; and the overwhelming of this lowland, on the melting of the +ice at the close of the glacial period, may be that great +catastrophe that is recorded on both sides of the Atlantic, but is +more clearly remembered in the traditions of America, because all +the highlands there had been covered with ice, and the inhabitants +were restricted to those that were overwhelmed by the deluge. + +I approached this subject from the side of Natural History. I was +driven to look for a refuge for the animals and plants of tropical +America during the glacial period, when I found proofs that the +land they now occupy was at that time either covered with ice or +too cold for genera that can now only live where frost is unknown. +I had arrived at the conclusion that they must have inhabited +lowlands now submerged, and following up the question, I soon saw +that the very accumulation of ice that made their abode impossible +provided another for them by the lowering of the sea. Then pursuing +the subject still further, I saw that all over the world curious +questions concerning the distribution of races of mankind, of +animals, and of plants, were rendered more easy of solution on the +theory that land was more continuous once than now; that islands +now separated were then joined together, and to adjacent +continents; and that what are now banks and shoals beneath the sea +were then peopled lowlands. + +I have said that during the glacial period, if, as I believe, it +was contemporaneous in the two hemispheres, the sea must have stood +at least 1000 feet lower than it now does. It may have been much +lower than this, but I prefer to err on the safe side. When +geologists have mapped out the limits of ancient glacier and +continental ice all over the world, it will be possible to +calculate the minimum amount of water that was abstracted from the +sea; and if by that time hydrographers have shown on their charts +the shoals and submerged banks that would be laid dry, fabled +Atlantis will rise before our eyes between Europe and America, and +in the Pacific the Malay Archipelago will give place to the Malay +Continent. Here is a noble inquiry, an unexplored region of +research, at the entrance of which I can only stand and point the +way for abler and stronger minds; an inquiry that will lead to the +knowledge of the lands where dwelt the peoples of the glacial +period who lived before the flood. + +Vague and visionary as these speculations must seem to many, to +others who are acquainted with the enormous glaciation to which +America has been subjected they will appear to be based on +substantial truths. The immense accumulation of ice over both +poles, reaching far down into the temperate zones, in some +meridians encroaching on the tropics, and in Equatorial America +certainly all the land, lying 2000 feet above the level of the sea, +supporting great glaciers, involve conditions which must have +greatly drained the sea. Lands now submerged must have been +uncovered, and on the return of the waters at the close of the +glacial period many a peopled lowland must have been overwhelmed in +the nearly universal deluge. + + +CHAPTER 15. + +A Nicaraguan criminal. +Geology between Ocotal and Totagalpa. +Preparations at Totagalpa for their annual festival. +Chicha-drinking. +Piety of the Indians. +Ancient civilisation of tropical America. +Palacaguina. +Hospitality of the Mestizos. +Curious custom at the festival at Condego. +Cross range between Segovia and Matagalpa. +Sontuli. +Birds' nests. + +WE got back to Ocotal, from Depilto, before dark, and made +arrangements for setting out on our return to the mines the next +morning. Whilst sitting under the corridor, looking across the +pretty flower-garden at the glowing western sky, illumined by the +last rays of the setting sun, a poor fettered criminal, holding up +by means of a string the thick chain that bound together his +ankles, came limping along, with a soldier behind him armed with +gun and bayonet. He had been brought out of prison to beg. In most +of the towns of Nicaragua no food is given to the prisoners, +whether convicted or merely charged with crime. Those that have no +money to buy food are sent out every day with an armed escort to +beg. The prisoner that hobbled up to me was under twenty years of +age, and had been convicted of murder and condemned to death. He +had appealed against the sentence to a higher court, but I was told +that there was scarcely any chance of a decision in his favour, and +that he would probably be shot in a day or two. Notwithstanding his +critical position, he was lively and cheerful, and when I gave him +a small piece of silver was as overjoyed as if he had got news of +his reprieve. Jumping away, his clanking fetters making ghastly +music, he gleefully showed to his guard the coin that would +probably procure him food the few days he had to live. His wretched +appearance, impending fate, and shocking levity had chased away the +peaceful feelings with which I had watched the quiet sunset; but as +he hobbled off, night, like a pall, fell over the scene; the +trembling stars peeped out from the vault of heaven, and soon a +million distant orbs proclaimed that the world was but a grain of +dust in the vast universe, that the things of earth were but for a +moment, and, as a shadow, would pass away. + +Next morning, when we wished to settle up with our kind +entertainers, they absolutely refused to accept any payment. We had +been recommended to the house, and told that we could pay for what +we got; but we now learnt that no one was ever refused +entertainment, and that no charge was made. We were total +strangers, nor should I have any opportunity of returning their +hospitality, as I had determined shortly to return to Europe; but +all I could prevail upon them to accept was a present to a little +girl that lived with the ladies, and of whom they were very fond, +calling her "the daughter of the house." Leaving the hospitable +Senoras Rimirez with many thanks, we started on our return journey +about seven o'clock. + +After crossing the river, I noticed boulders of conglomerate in the +drift, none of which had occurred in the valley of Depilto. The bed +rock was still contorted schists, with many quartz veins. At the +top of a steep rise, beyond the river, is a small plateau, or level +terrace, fringing the range, formed of a gravelly boulder deposit; +then another steep ascent led us to a second higher plateau, like +the first, covered with boulders, lying on the level surface. The +first beds of the quartz-conglomerate occurred about half-way +between Ocotal and Totagalpa. Between it and the contorted schists +we passed over some soft, decomposing trap-rocks, which, both here +and elsewhere, appeared to intervene between these two formations. +Over the whole country between Ocotal and Totagalpa were spread +many large boulders, great blocks of conglomerate, and of a hard +blue trap-rock that I did not see in situ, lying on the upturned +edges of the schistose rocks. I should have liked to have worked +out the exact relative positions of the quartz-conglomerate and the +contorted schists, for I have no doubt that a day or two's search +amongst the ravines would have shown many natural sections that +would have thrown great light upon the subject; but I had no time +to devote to it. We were hurrying on every day as far as our mules +could carry us, as it was important that I should get back to the +mines before the end of the month, and I was only able to note down +the exposures that occurred within sight of the road. These, +however, were sufficient to show me that the gneiss of Depilto was +overlain conformably by the contorted schists; that the latter were +followed by soft trappean beds, and these by thick beds of +quartz-conglomerate, apparently derived from the degradation of the +schistose rocks, with their numerous quartz veins. + +We reached Totagalpa about eleven o'clock, and remained there some +time engaging labourers. We stayed at the house of a man who made +the common palm-leaf hats, worn throughout the central provinces by +both men and women. The palm-leaves are first boiled, then bleached +in the sun, split into small strips, and platted together like +straw. It was Sunday, and most of the people were in town, sitting +at the doors of their huts, or under their verandahs. Nearly all +the inhabitants of Totagalpa are pure Indians, and are simple and +inoffensive people. They sat listening to three men, one with a +whistle, the others with drums, each striving to make as much noise +as possible, without any attempt at harmony or tune, whilst an +enthusiast in discord kept clanging away at the bells of the +church. + +They had no padre of their own, but one occasionally came over from +Somoti, four leagues distant, to celebrate services or visit the +sick. The next day was the great feast of Totagalpa, and they were +preparing for it. As we sat under a verandah opposite the church, a +procession of the town authorities issued from it, bearing a table +and all the silver and brass ornaments. The principal officials +each carried his stick of office, but none, excepting the Alcalde, +could boast a pair of shoes. Their looks of importance and gravity +showed, however, that they considered themselves the chief actors +in an important ceremony. The procession slowly traversed half the +round of the plaza, whilst the bells clanged, the whistle squeaked, +and the drummers thumped their loudest. Stopping at a house at the +corner of the plaza, the officials seated themselves on a bench +outside. Then was brought out to them in bowls, nearly as large as +wash-hand basins, the old Indian drink, "chicha," made from +fermented corn and sugar. Each man had one of the great bowls and a +napkin; the latter they spread over their knees, and rested the +bowl on it, taking long sips every now and then with evident signs +of satisfaction. Little have these people changed from the times of +the Conquest. Pascual de Andagoya, writing of the people of +Nicaragua when they were first subjugated by Hernandez de Cordova, +in 1520, says, "The whole happiness of the people consists in +drinking the wine they make from maize, which is like beer, and on +this they get as drunk as if it was the wine of Spain; and all the +festivals they hold are for the purpose of drinking."* (* Hakluyt +Society. "Narrative of Pascual de Andagoya" Translated by C.R. +Markham page 34.) + +The cross, candlesticks, and other ornaments were arranged on a +table, and were each carefully and solemnly washed with hot water. +This they do every year the day before their feast, and it makes +the occasion for the procession and chicha-drinking. Most of the +men of the township were gathered around, and in all the straight +coarse black hair and Indian features were unmistakable. The +chicha-drinking was too long a business for our patience, and we +went over to the church, where we found a number of the Indian +women with great baskets full of most beautiful and sweet-smelling +flowers, making garlands and bouquets to decorate the holy images +and church. The beautiful flowers were twined in wreaths, or stuck +on prepared stands and shapes, and their fragrance filled the +church. The love of flowers is another beautiful trait of the old +Indians that their descendants have not lost. The ancient Mexicans +decorated their altars and temples with flowers, and in their +festivals crowned themselves with garlands. + +I mentioned the glistening white tower of the church in the account +of our journey out. I now learnt that it was only finished the year +before our visit, and had cost these poor people over 700 dollars +in money, besides gifts of stone, wood, and labour amounting to +more than as much again. At other Mestizo towns, where the churches +were like dilapidated barns, we heard much of the religious fervour +of the Indians of Totagalpa. At one time, when building the tower, +both their funds and the lime were exhausted. In this strait the +Alcalde called the people of the town together, and told them that +the tower, on the building of which they had already spent so much, +could not be finished without lime. Then and there they determined +themselves to carry the limestone from the quarries, near Ocotal, +ten miles distant. Next morning, before daylight, the whole village +set out, and at night a long line of men, women, and children came +staggering back into Totagalpa, every one with a block of +limestone; and so zealous were they to bring as large stones as +they could carry, that some of them had great sores worn between +their shoulders where they carried their loads, slung, Indian +fashion, from their foreheads. Here survives the same old Indian +spirit, only turned in another direction, that impelled their +forefathers, with great labour and patience, to bring from a +distance and pile up great cairns of stones over the graves of +their chieftains. + +This care of their church is quite spontaneous on their part, as +they have no padre; indeed, from my experience of the priests in +other towns, I think it likely that if they had one, he would +intercept most of the offerings expended on the church and images. +There are exceptions, but generally the padres of Central America +are rapacious and immoral. They are much now as they were in Thomas +Gage's time, more than two hundred years ago, and the poor Indians +are just as humble and respectful to them. In his quaint book, "A +New Survey of the West Indies", he says: "Above all, to their +priest they are very respectful; and when they come to speak to him +put on their best clothes and study their words and compliments to +please him. They yielded to the popish religion, especially to the +worshipping of saints' images, because they look upon them as much +like their forefathers' idols. Out of the smallest of their means +they will be sure to buy some of these saints, and bring them to +the church that they may stand and be worshipped by them and +others. The churches are full of them, and they are placed upon +stands, gilded and painted, to be carried in procession on their +proper day. And hence comes no small profit to the priests; for on +such saints' days the owner of the saint makes a great feast in the +town, and presents the priest sometimes two or three, sometimes +four or five crowns for his mass and sermon, besides a turkey and +three or four fowls, with as much cacao as will make him chocolate +for all the octave or eight days following. The priest, therefore, +is very watchful over these saints' days, and sends warning +beforehand to the Indians of the day of their saint. If they +contribute not bountifully, then the priest will chide and threaten +that he will not preach."* (* Loc cit pages 332-334.) + +When we left Totagalpa, they were still drinking "chicha;" and I +shall not forget the solemn satisfied look of the shoeless +corporation, as they sipped their drink in sight of their +townspeople, now and then singling out some friend, to whom they +signed to come and quaff at the big bowl. The warm drink had +loosened the tongue of the solemn alcalde. He came, and with many +compliments, wished us a good journey. He, good man, had reached +the summit of his ambition--he was the chief of his native town; he +wore shoes; and what more could he hope for or desire? + +The central government interferes but little with the local +officials; and the small towns in the interior are almost +self-governed. Neither do they pay any direct taxes, the only +contributions to the national exchequer being fees for killing +cattle, selling land or houses, and making agreements, and a +government monopoly in the sale of tobacco and spirits. So the +country folks lead an easy life, excepting in times of revolution, +when they are pressed into the army. The Indian townships are +better managed than those of the Spaniards and Mestizos; the plazas +are kept freer from weeds, and the roads in good order. Probably +nowhere but in tropical America can it be said that the +introduction of European civilisation has caused a retrogression; +and that those communities are the happiest and the best-governed +who retain most of their old customs and habits. Yet there it is +so. The civilisation that Cortez overthrew was more suitable for +the Indians than that which has supplanted it. Who can read the +accounts of the populous towns of Mexico and Central America in the +time of Montezuma, with their magnificent buildings and squares; +their gardens both zoological and botanical; their markets, +attended by merchants from the surrounding countries; their +beautiful cloth and feather work, the latter now a lost art; their +picture writing; their cunning artificers in gold and silver; their +astronomical knowledge; their schools; their love of order, of +cleanliness, of decency; their morality and wonderful patriotism, +without feeling that the conquest of Mexico was a deplorable +calamity; that if that ancient civilisation had been saved it might +have been Christianised and purified without being destroyed, and +to-day have stood one of the wonders and delights of the world. Its +civilisation was self-grown, it was indigenous, it was unique: a +few poor remnants of its piety, love of order, and self-government +still remain in remote Indian townships; but its learning, +magnificence, and glory have gone for ever. + +On leaving Totagalpa, we took the road for Yalaguina. About a mile +from the first-named town, the contorted schists cropped up again, +and were followed, as before, by beds of soft decomposing trap, and +these again by thick beds of quartz-conglomerate. This succession +was repeated two or three times during the day's journey. The trap +beds formed, by decomposition, a dark fertile soil. Wherever maize +was planted on it, it was thriving greatly. We reached Yalaguina +about two o'clock, and pushed on for Palacaguina, four leagues +further on, passing for a considerable part of the road along the +banks of a small stream, by the side of which were some large and +fine fields of maize and beans. + +We reached Palacaguina an hour before dark, and on asking for +lodging for the night, were directed to a small poor-looking house. +The front door of this was closed when we rode up, but was opened +with haste, and about a dozen young men rushed out, who, it turned +out afterwards, had been gambling, and hence the closed doors. We +were asked to alight; one man took the gun; others offered to take +our hats, to unload the pack-mule, etc. Two or three of them were +Zambeses, and not very good-looking; they made themselves so +officious, that Velasquez confessed to me afterwards that he was +rather afraid of them, and thought they were too pressing in their +attentions, and meant to rob us. Our fears were groundless; they +had been suddenly startled in the midst of an illegal game, and +were glad to find that we were not government officers pouncing +upon them. The house itself was dirty and small, with one hammock +and one chair for its furniture; we should have fared badly if one +of the men, Don Trinidad Soso, had not recollected having once seen +Velasquez before, and on the strength of that considered himself +bound to take our entertainment into his own hands. He was the +nephew of the padre, who was absent, and he invited us to his +uncle's house, where we were soon installed, and found much more +comfortable quarters. The padre had a good-looking housekeeper, who +was also an excellent cook; and she got us ready a supper of +venison, tortillas, eggs, and chocolate, to which we did not fail +to do justice. Then the padre's bedstead was placed at my disposal, +so that altogether we had been most fortunate in meeting with our +good friend Don Trinidad. + +Most of the people living at Palacaguina were half-breeds with a +large infusion of Negro blood; and the weed-covered streets and +plaza and dilapidated church compared unfavourably with the not far +distant Indian town of Totagalpa. The Mestizos are a thriftless, +careless people, but I care not here to dilate on their +shortcomings. Let only the hospitality and kindness I experienced +in Palacaguina live in my mind, and let regret draw a veil over +their failings, and censure forget to chide. + +Next morning Don Trinidad went himself to get us milk for our +chocolate, three or four others assisted us as kindly on our +departure as they had welcomed us on our arrival, and we rode away +with more pleasant recollections of the weedy-looking town than if +we had been entertained by grandees; for these people were poor, +and had assisted us out of pure good-nature. The country at first +was level, and the roads smooth and dry. The morning was +delightfully cool; and as we trotted along our spirits were high +and gay, and snatches of song sprang unbidden to our lips. How +delightful these rides in the early morning were! how all nature +seemed to be in accord with our feelings! Every bush and tree was +noted, every bird-call heard. We would shout to one another, "Do +you see this or that?" or set Rito off into convulsions with some +thin joke. Every sense was gratified; it was like the youth of +life. But as the day wore on, the sun would shine hotter and +hotter, what had been a pleasure became a toil, and we would push +on determinedly but silently. The day would age, and our shadows +come again and begin to lengthen; the heat of the day was past, but +our spirits would not mount to their morning's height. The +beautiful flowers, the curious thorny bushes, the gorgeous +butterflies, and many-coloured birds were all there; but our +attention could only be called unwillingly to them. Our jaded +animals trudged on with mechanical steps, and, tired ourselves, we +thought of nothing but getting to the end of our day's journey, and +resting our weary frames. + +We did not return from Palacaguina by the road we had come, but +took one much more to the westward. This we did, not only to see a +fresh line of country, but to gratify Rito with a visit to his +relations, whom he had not seen for two years. Two miles beyond +Palacaguina, we crossed a river, beyond which I saw no more of the +quartz-conglomerate that I have so often mentioned whilst passing +through Segovia. From this place to the mines the rocks were soft +decomposing dolerites, with many harder bands of felsite, and, +occasionally, plains composed of more recent trachytic lavas. + +We passed through another weedy, dilapidated town, called Condego, +where they have a singular custom at their annual festival held on +the 15th of May. For some weeks before this date, they catch all +the wild beasts and birds they can, and keep them alive. During the +night preceding the feast-day they plant the plaza in front of the +church with full-grown plants of maize, rice, beans, and all the +other vegetables that they cultivate; and amongst them they fasten +the wild beasts and birds that have been collected; so that the sun +that set on a bare, weedy plaza rises on one full of vegetable and +animal life. The year before, a young jaguar that had been caught +was the great attraction. It has now grown so large, that they are +afraid of it, and do not know what to do with it. It is kept in an +empty house at Pueblo Nuevo, along with a dog, to which it is +greatly attached, although it is the one that caught it when young. +The custom of planting the square with vegetables, and bringing +together all the wild animals that can be collected, is doubtless +an Indian one. The ancient Nicaraguans are said to have worshipped +maize and beans, but the service may not have had more significance +than our own harvest feasts. + +We reached the edge of the savannahs of the plain of Segovia and +began to ascend the high ranges that divide it from the province of +Matagalpa, and soon entered a mountainous country. Our course at +first lay up the banks of a torrent that had cut deeply into beds +of boulder clay filled with great stones. The lower part of the +range was covered with trees of various kinds, but none of them +growing to a great height; higher up we reached the sighing pine +trees, and higher still, the hills were covered with grass, and +supported herds of cattle. About noon, we arrived at a poor-looking +hacienda near the top of the range. The proprietor owned about two +hundred cattle, and lived in a house, mud-walled and +grass-thatched, consisting of one room and a kitchen. Round the +sides of the room were crowded eight rude bedsteads, and hammocks +were slung across the centre. A mob of twenty-one men, women, and +children lived at the house, and must have herded together like +cattle at night. There were a great number of half-clothed and +naked children running about. The women, of whom there were six, +made us some chocolate and tortillas ready, and we rested awhile. +Before we left, the men came in with the milking cows and calves. +There were two men on horseback, but as the country was too rough +for riding fast, they were accompanied by three boys on foot, who +were sweating profusely with running after the cattle. The calves +were separated from the cows and fastened up. The cows would keep +near the corral until the next morning, when they would be milked, +and the calves turned out with them again. + +We continued to ascend for a mile further, and then reached the top +of the range, which was bare of trees and covered with sedgy grass. +Heavy rain came on, with tremendous gusts of wind, and as the path +lay along the very crest of the mountain range, we were exposed to +all the fury of the storm. In some places the cargo mule was nearly +blown down the steep slope, and the one I was riding had to stop +sometimes to keep its feet. The wind was bleak, and we were +drenched with rain, and very cold. Fortunately the storm of rain +did not last for more than half-an-hour, but the high cold wind +continued all the time we were on the ridge, which was several +miles long, with steep slopes on either side. We were glad when we +got to a more sheltered spot, where some mountain oak trees +protected us from the wind, and at four o'clock, reaching a small +scattered settlement called Sontuli, we determined, although early +in the day, to stay there, as it was Rito's birthplace, and his +only sister, whom he had not seen for two years, lived there. All +the hamlet were Rito's friends, and he had soon a crowd about him +talking and laughing. + +None of the lands around were enclosed--all seemed to be common +property; and every family had a few cows and two or three brood +mares. A little maize was grown, but the climate was rather too +bleak and wet for it. We were now close to the boundary of the +province of Matagalpa, and began again to hear of the drought that +had destroyed most of the maize crop in that province, although in +Chontales, on one side of it, we had had rather more rain than +usual, and in Segovia, on the other, we had seen that the crops +were excellent. Probably the high ranges that bound Matagalpa on +every side had intercepted the rains and drained the winds of their +moisture. + +Having made such an early halt, we intended to have made up for it +by an equally early start the next morning, but were detained by +our mules having strayed during the night, and it was seven o'clock +before they could be found. We had a long day's journey before us, +during which we should not be able to buy any provisions, so, over +night, Rito's sister had cooked a fowl for us to take with us. She +had married one of the settlers of Sontuli, and, although still +young and fresh-looking, had already three lusty children. The +great number of children at all the houses had surprised me +greatly, as I had been told that the country was decreasing in +population. This, I have no doubt, is a mistake, and the +inhabitants, if the country should remain at peace, would multiply +rapidly. + +On leaving Sontuli, the road led over mountain pastures and through +woods of the evergreen oak draped from top to bottom with the grey +moss-like Tillandsia, which hung in long festoons from every +branch, and was wound around the trunks, like garlands, by the +wind: the larger masses, waving in the breeze, hung down for four +or five feet below the branches. The small birds build in them, and +they form excellent hiding-places for their nests, where they are +tolerably secure from the attacks of their numerous enemies. I had +often, when in the tropics, to notice the great sagacity or +instinct of the small birds in choosing places for their nests. So +many animals--monkeys, wild-cats, raccoons, opossums, and +tree-rats--are constantly prowling about, looking out for eggs and +young birds, that, unless placed with great care, their progeny +would almost certainly be destroyed. The different species of +Oropendula or Orioles (Icteridae) of tropical America choose high, +smooth-barked trees, standing apart from others, from which to hang +their pendulous nests. Monkeys cannot get at them from the tops of +other trees, and any predatory mammal attempting to ascend the +smooth trunks would be greatly exposed to the attacks of the birds, +armed, as they are, with strong sharp-pointed beaks. Several other +birds in the forest suspend their nests from the small but tough +air roots that hang down from the epiphytes growing on the +branches, where they often look like a natural bunch of moss +growing on them. The various prickly bushes are much chosen, +especially the bull's-horn thorn, which I have already described. +Many birds hang their nests from the extremities of the branches, +and a safer place could hardly be chosen, as with the sharp thorns +and the stinging ants that inhabit them no mammal would, I think, +dare to attempt the ascent of the tree. Stinging ants are not the +only insects whose assistance birds secure by building near their +nests. A small parrot builds constantly on the plains in a hole +made in the nests of the termites, and a species of fly-catcher +makes its nest alongside of that of one of the wasps. On the +savannahs, between Acoyapo and Nancital, there is a shrub with +sharp curved prickles, called Viena paraca (come here) by the +Spaniards, because it is difficult to extricate oneself from its +hold when the dress is caught, for as one part is cleared another +will be entangled. A yellow and brown flycatcher builds its nest in +these bushes, and generally places it alongside that of a banded +wasp, so that with the prickles and the wasps it is well guarded. I +witnessed, however, the death of one of the birds from the very +means it had chosen for the protection of its young. Darting +hurriedly out of its domed nest as we were passing, it was caught +just under its bill by one of the curved hook-like thorns, and in +trying to extricate itself got further entangled. Its fluttering +disturbed the wasps, who flew down upon it, and in less than a +minute stung it to death. We tried in vain to rescue it, for the +wasps attacked us also, and one of our party was severely stung by +them. We had to leave it hanging up dead in front of its nest, +whilst its mate flew round and round screaming out its terror and +distress. I find that other travellers have noted the fact of birds +building their nests near colonies of wasps for protection. Thus, +according to Gosse, the grassquit of Jamaica (Spermophila olivacea) +often selects a shrub on which wasps have built, and fixes the +entrance to its domed nest close to their cells. Prince Maximilian +Neuwied states in his "Travels in Brazil", that he found the +curious purse-shaped nest of one of the Todies constantly placed +near the nests of wasps, and that the natives informed him that it +did so to secure itself from the attacks of its enemies. I should +have thought that when building their nests they would be very +liable to be attacked by the wasps. The nests placed in these +positions appear always to be domed, probably for security against +their unstable friends. + + +CHAPTER 16. + +Concordia. +Jinotega. +Indian habits retained by the people. +Indian names of towns. +Security of travellers in Nicaragua. +Native flour-mill. +Uncomfortable lodgings. +Tierrabona. +Dust whirlwind. +Initial form of a cyclone. +The origin of cyclones. + +SOME of the ranges were very craggy, and one was so steep and rocky +that we had to dismount and lead our mules, and even then one of +them fell several times. These craggy ranges were covered with the +evergreen oaks, and we saw but few pine trees. Now and then we +passed over the tracks of the leaf-cutting ants, who were hurrying +along as usual, laden with pieces of foliage about the size of a +sixpence. There were but few birds, and insects also were scarce, +the bleak wet weather doubtless being unsuitable for them. + +We now began to descend on the Matagalpa side of the elevated +ranges we had been travelling over, and crossed many small valleys +and streams, the latter everywhere cutting through boulder clay, +with very few exposures of the bed-rock. In the lower lands were +many patches cultivated with maize and beans, but the country was +very sparsely inhabited. At noon, we reached a small town called +Concordia, where the houses were larger and better built than those +in the small towns of Segovia. The church, on the other hand, was +an ugly barn-like building, apparently much neglected. The rocks +were trachytes, and the soil seemed fertile, but there was very +little of it cultivated. Many of the men we met wore long swords +instead of the usual machetes. There is a school for learning +fencing at Concordia, and the people of the district are celebrated +for being expert swordsmen. They have often fencing matches. The +best man is called the champion, and he is bound to try conclusions +with every one that challenges him. + +After leaving Concordia we had only one more range to cross, then +began to descend towards the plains below Jinotega, and about dusk +reached that town and were kindly received by our former +entertainers. Doubtless much European blood runs in the veins of +the inhabitants of Jinotega, but in their whole manner of living +they follow the Indian ways, and it is the same throughout +Nicaragua, excepting amongst the higher classes in the large towns. +All their cooking vessels are Indian. Just as in the Indian huts, +every pot or pan is of coarse pottery, and each dish is cooked on a +separate little fire. The drinks in common use are Indian, and have +Indian names; tiste, pinul, pinullo, and chicha, all made from +maize, sugar, and chocolate. As before observed, whatever was new +to the Spaniards when they invaded the country retained its Indian +name. It is so with every stage of growth of the maize plant, +chilote, elote, and maizorca. The stone for grinding the maize is +exactly the same as those found in the old Indian graves, and it is +still called the metlate. All the towns we passed through in +Segovia retained their Indian names, though their present +inhabitants know nothing of their meaning. The old names of many of +the towns are probably remnants of a language earlier than that of +the inhabitants at the time of the conquest, and their study might +throw some light on the distribution of the ancient peoples. +Unfortunately the names of places are very incorrectly given in the +best maps of Central America, every traveller having spelt them +phonetically according to the orthography of his own language. +Throughout this book I have spelt proper names in accordance with +the pronunciation of the Spanish letters. + +Many of the names of towns in Nicaragua and Honduras end in "galpa," +as Muyogalpa, Juigalpa, Totagalpa, and Matagalpa. Places +apparently of less consequence in Segovia often end in the +termination "lee" strongly accented, as Jamaily, Esterly, Daraily, +etc., and in "guina," pronounced "weena," as in Palacaguina and +Yalaguina. In Chontales many end in "apa," or "apo," as Cuapo, +Comoapa, Comelapa, Acoyapo, and others. + +The Spaniards, whenever they gave a name to a town, either named it +after some city in Spain or after their Saints. There are dozens of +Santa Rosas, San Juans, and San Tomases. Even some of the towns, +which have well-known Indian names, are called officially after +some Spanish saint, but the common people stick to the old names, +and they are not to be thrust aside. + +We had a long talk with our courteous host of the estanco at +Jinotega. He had a small library of books, nearly all being missals +and prayer-books. He had a little knowledge of geography and was +wishful to learn about Europe, and at the same time most desirous +that we should not think that he, one of the chief men of the town, +did not know all about it. That England was a small island he +admitted was new to him, as he thought it was part of the United +States or at least joined to them. He asked if it was true that +Rome was one of the four quarters of the globe. We explained that +it was only a large city, to which he replied gravely that he knew +it was so, but wished to have our opinion to confirm his own. + +No newspapers come to Jinotega, excepting occasionally a government +gazette, and only a few of the grown-up people are able to read. +News travel quickly from one town to another, but every incident is +greatly exaggerated; and many extravagant stories are set afloat +with no other foundation than the inventive faculties of some idle +brain. To appreciate what an immense aid a newspaper press is to +the dissemination of truth one must travel in some such country as +Nicaragua where newspapers do not circulate. It is impossible to +get trustworthy intelligence about any event that has happened a +hundred miles away, and stories of murders and robberies that were +never committed are widely circulated amongst the credulous people. +As far as my experience goes highway robbery is unknown in +Nicaragua. Foreigners entrusted with money have stated they have +been robbed, but there has always been suspicions that they +themselves embezzled the money that they said they lost. Personally +I never carried arms for defence in the country, and was never +molested nor even insulted, though I often travelled alone. The +only dangerous characters in the country are the lower class of +foreigners, and these are not numerous. Petty thefts are common +enough, and at the mines we found that none of the labouring class +were to be trusted; but robberies of a daring character or +accompanied by violence were never committed by the natives to my +knowledge. + +In their drinking bouts they often quarrel among themselves, and +slash about with their long heavy knives, inflicting ugly gashes +and often maiming each other for life. One-armed men are not +uncommon; and I knew of two cases where an arm was chopped off in +these encounters. Nearly every pay-week our medical officer was +sent for to sew up the wounds that had been received. Fortunately +even at these times they do not interfere with foreigners, their +quarrels being amongst themselves, and either faction fights or +about their women, or gambling losses. Many of the worst cases of +cutting with knives were by the Honduraneans employed at the mines, +who generally got off through the mountains to their own country. +One who was taken managed to escape by inducing the soldiers who +had him in charge to take him up to the mines to bring out his +tools. He went in at the level whilst they guarded the entrance. +Hour after hour passed without his returning, and at last they +learnt that he had got through some old workings to another opening +into the mine and had started for Honduras. Once in the bush +pursuit is hopeless, as the undergrowth is so dense that it is +impossible to follow by sight. + +We left Jinotega at seven in the morning, passed over the pine-clad +ranges again, and at one o'clock came in sight of the town of +Matagalpa. At the river a mill was at work grinding wheat. I went +into the shed that covered it and found it to be simple and +ingenious. Below the floor was a small horizontal water-wheel +driven by the stream striking against the inclined floats. The +shaft of the wheel passed up through the floor and the lower stone, +and was fixed to the upper one, which turned round with it without +any gearing. The flour made is dark and full of impurities, as no +care is taken to keep it clean. + +We found the mules and horses we had left at Matagalpa in good +condition, and after getting some dinner started again, taking the +road towards Teustepe instead of that by which we had come, as we +were told we should avoid the swamps by so doing, for more to the +westward they had had no rain. We rode down the valley below the +town and found it very dry and barren, the only industry worth +naming being a small indigo plantation. Indigo seems to have been +more cultivated formerly than now. In many parts I saw the deserted +vats in which the plants were steeped to extract the dye. We +ascended a high range to the left of the valley, on the top of +which were a few pine trees. These we were told were the last we +should see on the road to Chontales. On the other side of the range +the descent was very steep, and the road was carried down the +precipitous and rocky slope in a series of zigzags, so that we saw +the mules a few score yards in advance directly under our feet. + +From the hill we had seen a house in the valley, and as night was +setting in we sought for it, but the whole district was so covered +with low scrubby trees with many paths running in various +directions that it was long before we found it. When at last we +discovered it, the prospect before us of a night's lodging was so +discouraging that had it not then been getting quite dark, and +being told that we should have to travel several miles before +coming to another house, we should have sought for other shelter. +The small hut was as usual filled with men, women, and children. +Two of the women were lying ill, and one seemed to be dying. There +was no room for us in the hut if we had been willing to enter it. +We slung our hammocks under a small open-sided shed near by and +passed a miserable night. A strong cold wind was blowing, and the +swinging of the hammocks caused by it kept a number of dogs +continually barking and snapping at our hammocks and boots. We rose +cold and cramped at daylight, and without waiting to make ready any +coffee, saddled our beasts and rode away. + +A little maize was grown about this place, and the people told us +that sugar thrived, but the plantations of it were small and +ill-kept, and everything had a look of poverty and decadence. They +said that twenty years ago there was no bush growing around their +house. The country was then open grassed savannahs, and there was +less fever. Now the bush grows up to their very doors, and they +will not take the trouble to cut it down even to save themselves +from the attacks of fever. Here as everywhere throughout the +central provinces, deep ingrained indolence paralyses all industry +or enterprise, and with the means of plenty and comfort on every +side, the people live in squalid poverty. + +For four leagues we rode over high ranges with very fine valleys +separating them, containing many thatched houses and fields of +maize, sugar, and beans. Where not now cultivated the sides of the +ranges were covered with weedy-looking shrubs and low trees, +proving that all the land had at one time been cropped, and this +was further shown by the old lines of pinuela fences and ditches +that were seen here and there amongst the brushwood. As we got +further south the alluvial flats in the valleys increased in size +and fertility, and the cultivated fields were enclosed with +permanent fences. On some of the ranges we crossed, the rocks were +amygdaloidal, containing nests of a white zeolite, the fractured +planes of which glittered like gems on the pathway. + +Eight leagues from Matagalpa we reached the small town of +Tierrabona, where, as the name implies, the land is very good. +Every house had an enclosure around it, planted with maize and +beans: and though it was evident that the land was cropped year +after year, it still seemed to bear well. We stopped at a small +brook just outside the town, and ate some provisions we had brought +from Matagalpa. Some speckled tiger-beetles ran about the dusty +road, and on wet muddy places near the stream groups of butterflies +collected to suck the moisture. Amongst them were some fine +swallow-tails (Papilio), quivering their wings as they drank, and +lovely blue hair-streaks (Theclae). The latter, when they alight, +rub their wings together, moving their curious tail-like appendages +up and down. Great dragon-flies hawked after flies; while on the +surface of still pools "whirligigs" (Gyrinidae) wheeled about in +mazy gyrations, just as they are seen to do at home. + +Savannahs, sparingly timbered, were next crossed; then we reached +one of those level plains, with black soil and blocks of porous +trachyte lying on the surface, which are swamps in the rainy +season, and have for vegetation sedgy grasses and scattered jicara +trees, cactuses and thorny acacias. Up to the time we passed, there +had been no rain in these parts, and the plain was dry and bare, +with great cracks in the black soil. The grass had not sprung up, +not a breath of air was stirring, and the heated air quivered over +the parched ground, forming in the distance an imperfect mirage. + +Directly overhead the noonday sun hung hot in the hazy sky. As we +moodily toiled over the plain, my attention was arrested by a dust +whirlwind that suddenly sprang up about fifty yards to our left. +The few dry leaves on the ground began to whirl round and round, +and to ascend. In a minute a spiral column was formed, reaching, +perhaps, to the height of fifty feet, consisting of dust and dry +dead leaves, all whirling round with the greatest rapidity. The +column was only a few yards in diameter. It moved slowly along, +nearly parallel with our course, but only lasting a few minutes. +Before I could point it out to Velasquez, who had ridden on ahead, +it had dissolved away. I had been very familiar with these air +eddies in Australia, and had hoped to carry on some investigations +concerning them, begun there, in Central America; but, though +common on the plains of Mexico and of South America, this was the +only one I witnessed in Central America. + +The interest with which I regarded these miniature storms was due +to the assistance that their study was likely to give in the +discussion of the cause of all circular movements of the +atmosphere, including the dreaded typhoon and cyclone. The chief +meteorologists who have discussed this difficult question have +approached it from the side of the larger hurricanes. There is a +complete gradation from the little dust eddies up through larger +whirlwinds and tornadoes to the awful typhoons and cyclones of +China and the West Indies; and it has long been my opinion that if +meteorologists devoted their attention to the smaller eddies that +can be looked at from the outside, and their commencement, +continuance, and completion watched and chronicled, they could not +fail to obtain a large amount of information to guide them in the +study of cyclonic movements of the atmosphere. + +Unless the smaller whirlwinds are quite distinct from the larger +ones in their origin, the theories advanced by meteorologists to +account for the latter are certainly untenable. According to the +celebrated M. Dove, cyclones owe their origin to the intrusion of +the upper counter trade-wind into the lower trade-wind current.* (* +"Law of Storms" page 246.) More lately, Professor T.B. Maury has +stated that "the origin of cyclones is found in the tendency of the +south-east trade-winds to invade the territory of the north-east +trades by sweeping over the equator into our hemisphere, the +lateral conflict of the currents giving an initial impulse to +bodies of air by which they begin to rotate." Cyclones having thus +originated, Professor Maury considers that they are continued and +intensified by the vapour condensed in their vortex forming a +vacuum.* (* "Quarterly Journal of Science" 1872 page 418.) + +Humboldt had long ago ascribed whirlwinds to the meeting of +opposing currents of air.* (* "Aspects of Nature" volume 1 page 17. +) There is this dynamical objection to the theory. The movements of +the air in whirlwinds are much more rapid than in any known +straight current, such as the trade winds; and it is impossible +that two opposing currents should generate between them one of much +greater force and rapidity than either. If force A joins with force +B, surely force C, the product, must have the power of both A and +B. But even if this fundamental objection to the theory could be +set aside, the small whirlwinds could not thus arise, as they are +most frequent when the air is nearly or quite motionless. + +Then, again, when we turn to Professor Maury's theory that the +cyclones, having been initiated by the conflict of contrary +currents, are continued and intensified by the condensation of +vapour in their vortex forming a vacuum, we find it negatived by +the fact that in the smaller whirlwinds the air is dry, and there +is consequently no condensation of vapour; yet, in comparison with +their size, they are of as great violence as the fiercest typhoon. +Tylor describes the numerous dust whirlwinds he saw on the plains +of Mexico,* (* "Anahuac" by E.B. Tylor page 21.) Clarke those on +the steppes of Russia, and Bruce those on the deserts of Africa, +and nowhere is there mention made of any condensation of vapour. I +have seen scores of whirlwinds in Australia, many rising to a +height of over one hundred feet; yet there was never any +perceptible condensation of vapour, though some of them were of +sufficient force to tear off limbs of trees, and carry up the tents +of gold-diggers into the air. Franklin describes a whirlwind of +greater violence than any of these. It commenced in Maryland by +taking up the dust over a road in the form of an inverted +sugar-loaf, and soon increased greatly in size and violence. +Franklin followed it on horseback, and saw it enter a wood, where +it twisted and turned round large trees: leaves and boughs were +carried up so high that they appeared to the eye like flies. Again +there was no condensation of vapour. + +We thus see that whirlwinds of great violence occur when the air is +dry, and there can be no condensation. When, however, they are +formed at sea, and occasionally on land, the air next the surface +is saturated with moisture; and this moisture is condensed when it +is carried to a great height, forming clouds, or falling in showers +of rain and hail. This condensation of vapour is an effect, and not +a cause, and takes place, not in the centre, but at the top or at +the sides of the ascending column. This is well shown in an +account, by an eye-witness, of a whirlwind that did great damage +near the shore of Lough Neagh, in Ireland, in August 1872.* (* +"Nature" volume 6 page 541.) It was about thirty yards in diameter. +It destroyed several haystacks, and carried the hay up into the air +out of sight. It partially unroofed houses, and tore off the +branches of trees. The railway station at Randalstown was much +injured; great numbers of slates, and two and a half hundredweight +of lead were torn from the roof. When passing over a portion of the +lake, it presented the appearance of a waterspout. On land +everything that it lapped up was whirled round and round, and +carried upwards in the centre, whilst dense clouds surrounded the +outside and came down near to the earth. + +As above mentioned, I had in Australia many opportunities of +studying the dust whirlwinds; and as I looked upon them as the +initial form of a cyclone, I paid much attention to them. On a +small plain, near to Maryborough, in the province of Victoria, they +were of frequent occurrence in the hot season. This plain was about +two miles across, and was nearly surrounded by trees. In calm, +sultry weather, during the heat of the day, there were often two at +once in action in different parts of it. They were only a few yards +in diameter, but reached to a height of over one hundred feet, and +were often, in their higher part, bent out of their perpendicular +by upper aerial currents. The dust and leaves they carried up +rendered their upward spiral movement very conspicuous. No one who +studied these whirlwinds could for a moment believe that they were +caused by conflicting currents of air. They occurred most +frequently when there was least wind; and this particular plain +seemed to be peculiarly suitable for their formation, because it +was nearly surrounded by trees, and currents of air were prevented. +They lasted several minutes, slowly moving across the plain, like +great pillars of smoke.* (* A friend of mine tells me that he saw a +similar whirlwind rise at noon one still summer day, and traverse +the dusty road on the Chesil Bank between Portland and Weymouth. It +travelled fully half a mile, about as fast as he could walk; and +the point where it met the ground was not thicker than his walking +stick. By and by it swept out to sea, where the dust gradually +fell.) + +When attentively watched from a short distance, it was seen that as +soon as one was formed, the air immediately next the heated soil, +which was before motionless, or quivering as over a furnace, was +moving in all directions towards the apex of the dust-column. As +these currents approached the whirlwind, they quickened and carried +with them loose dust and leaves into the spiral whirl. The movement +was similar to that which occurs when a small opening is made at +the bottom of a wide shallow vessel of water: all the liquid moves +towards it, and assumes a spiral movement as it is drawn off. + +The conclusion I arrived at, and which has since been confirmed by +further study of the question, was, that the particles of air next +the surface did not always rise immediately they were heated, but +that they often remained and formed a stratum of rarefied air next +the surface, which was in a state of unstable equilibrium. This +continued until the heated stratum was able, at some point where +the ground favoured a comparatively greater accumulation of heat, +to break through the overlying strata of air, and force its way +upwards. An opening once made, the whole of the heated air moved +towards it and was drained off, the heavier layers sinking down and +pressing it out. Sir George Airey has suggested to me that the +reason of the particles of air not rising as they are heated, when +there is no wind blowing, may be due to their viscosity: and this +suggestion is correct. That air does not always rise when heated, +appears from the hot winds of Australia, which blow from the heated +interior towards the cooler south, instead of rising directly +upwards. Sultry, close weather, that sometimes lasts for several +days, would also be impossible on the assumption that air rises as +soon as it is heated. + +This explanation supplies us with the force that is necessary to +drive the air with the great velocity with which it moves in +whirlstorms. The upper, colder, and heavier air is pressing upon +the heated stratum, and the greater the area over which the latter +extends, the greater will be the weight pressing upon it, and the +greater the violence of the whirlwind when an opening is formed for +the ascent of the heated air. There is a gradual passage, from the +small dust eddies, through larger whirlstorms such as that at Lough +Neagh, to tornadoes and the largest cyclone; every step of the +gradation might be verified by numerous examples; and if this book +were a treatise on meteorology, it might be admissible to give +them; but to do this would take up too much of my space, and I +shall only now make some observations on the largest form of +whirlstorm--the dreaded cyclone. + +Just as over the little plain at Maryborough, protected by the +surrounding forest from the action of the wind, the heated air +accumulates over the surface until carried off in eddies, so, +though on a vastly larger scale, in that great bight formed by the +coasts of North and South America, having for its apex the Gulf of +Mexico, there is an immense area in the northern tropics, nearly +surrounded by land, forming a vast oceanic plain, shut off from the +regular action of the trade-winds by the great islands of Cuba and +Hayti, where the elements of the hurricane accumulate, and at last +break forth. In this and such like areas, the lower atmosphere is +gradually heated from week to week, and, as in Australia the +quivering of the air over the hot ground foreshadows the whirlwind, +and in Africa the mirage threatens the simoom, so in the West +Indies a continuance of close, sultry weather, an oppressive calm, +precedes the hurricane. When at last the huge vortex is formed, the +heated atmosphere rushes towards it from all sides, and is drained +upwards in a spiral column, just as in the dust-eddy, on a gigantic +scale. Unlike the air of the dust-eddy, that of the hurricane +coming from the warm surface of the ocean is nearly saturated with +vapour, and this, as it is carried up and brought into contact with +the colder air on the outside of the ascending column, is condensed +and falls in torrents of rain, accompanied by thunder and +lightning. + +I advanced this theory to account for the origin of whirlwinds in a +paper read before the Philosophical Institute of Victoria in 1857. +It was afterwards communicated by the Astronomer-Royal to the +"London Philosophical Magazine", where it appeared in January 1859. +A suggestion that I at the same time offered, that the opposite +rotation of cyclones in the two hemispheres was due to the same +causes as the westerly deflection of the trade-winds from a direct +meridional course, has been generally adopted by physicists, and I +am not without hopes that the main theory may also yet be accepted; +but whether or not, I am confident that a study of the smaller +eddies of air is the proper way to approach the difficult question +of the origin of cyclones. + + +CHAPTER 17. + +Cattle-raising. +Don Filiberto Trano's new house. +Horse-flies and wasps. +Teustepe. +Spider imitating ants. +Mimetic species. +Animals with special means of defence are conspicuously marked, + or in other ways attract attention. +Accident to horse. +The "Mygale." +Illness. +Conclusion of journey. + +AFTER crossing the trachytic plain, we reached a large cattle +hacienda, and beyond, the river Chocoyo, on the banks of which was +some good, though stony, pasture land. We saw here some fine +cattle, and learnt that a little more care was taken in breeding +them than is usual in Nicaragua. The country, with its rolling +savannahs, covered with grass, is admirably suited for +cattle-raising, and great numbers are exported to the neighbouring +country of Costa Rica. Scarcely any attention is, however, paid to +the improvement of the breeds. Few stations have reserve potreros +of grass. In consequence, whenever an unusually dry season occurs, +the cattle die by hundreds, and their bones may be seen lying all +over the plains. Both Para and Guinea grass grow, when planted and +protected, with the greatest luxuriance; and the latter especially +forms an excellent reserve, as it grows in dense tufts that cannot +be destroyed by the cattle. When not protected by fencing, however, +the cattle and mules prefer these grasses so much to the native +ones, that they are always close-cropped, and when the natural +pasturage fails there is no reserve of the other to fall back on. I +planted both the Para and Guinea grasses largely at the mines and +at Pital, and we were able to keep our mules always in good +condition with them. + +About four o'clock in the afternoon our animals were getting tired, +and we ourselves were rather fatigued, having been in the saddle +since daylight, with the exception of a few minutes' rest at +Tierrabona. We halted at a thatched cottage on some high stony +savannah land, and were hospitably received by the peasant +proprietor, Don Filiberto Trano. He informed us that we had entered +the township of Teustepe, and that the town itself was eight +leagues distant. The family consisted of Don Filiberto, his wife, +and four or five children. They had just prepared for their own +dinner a young fowl, stewed with green beans and other vegetables, +and this they placed before us, saying that they would soon cook +something else for themselves. We were too hungry to make any +scruples, and after the poor, coarse fare we had been used to, the +savoury repast seemed the most delicious I ever tasted. I think we +only got two meals on the whole journey that we really enjoyed. +This was one, the other the supper that the padre's housekeeper at +Palacaguina cooked for us, and I have recorded at length the names +of the parties to whom we were indebted for them. + +Don Filiberto had about twenty cows, all of which that could be +found were driven in at dusk, and the calves tied up. As they came +in, the fowls were on the look-out for the garrapatos, or ticks; +and the cows, accustomed to the process, stood quietly, while they +flew up and picked them off their necks and flanks. The calves are +always turned out with the cows in the morning, after the latter +are milked, so that if not found again for some days, as is often +the case in this bushy and unenclosed country, the cows are milked +by them and do not go dry. They give very little milk, probably due +to the entire want of care in breeding them. It is at once made +into cheese, which forms a staple article of food amongst the +poorer natives. + +The small house was divided into three compartments, one being used +as a kitchen. It was in rather a dilapidated condition, and Don +Filiberto told me that he was busy building a new residence. I was +curious to see what progress he was making with it, and he took me +outside and showed me four old posts used for tying the cows to, +which had evidently been in the ground for many years. "There," he +said, "are the corner-posts, and I shall roof it with tiles." He +was quite grave, but I could not help smiling at his faith. I have +no doubt that, as long as he lives, he will lounge about all day, +and in the evening, when his wife and children are milking the +cows, will come out, smoke his cigarette, leaning against the +door-post of his patched and propped-up dwelling, and contemplate +the four old posts with a proud feeling of satisfaction that he is +building a new house. Such a picture is typical of Nicaragua. + +Don Filiberto told us that there was a limestone quarry not far +from his house; and as I wished to learn whether it occurred in +beds or veins, I proposed next morning to walk over to it, but he +said we should need the mules to cross the river. Thinking, from +his description, that it was only about a mile distant, I started +on mule-back with him; but after riding fully a league, discovered +that he actually did not know himself where it was, but was seeking +for another man to show him. We at last arrived at the house of +this man. He was absent. A boy showed us a small piece of the +limestone. It was concretionary, and I learnt from him that it +occurred in veins. I was vexed about the time we had lost, and the +extra work we had given the poor mules; my only consolation was +that as we rode back I picked a fine new longicorn beetle off the +leaves of an overhanging tree. + +When we came to settle up with our host he proposed to charge us +twenty-five cents, just one shilling, or fourpence each. They had +given us a good dinner and put themselves to much inconvenience to +provide me with a bedstead, and this was their modest charge. Nor +did they make it with any expectation that we would give more. It +is the universal custom amongst the Mestizo peasantry to entertain +travellers; to give them the best they have and to charge for the +bare value of the provisions, and nothing for the lodging. We could +so depend upon the hospitality of the lower classes that every day +we travelled on without any settled place to pass the night, +convinced that we should be received with welcome at any hut that +we might arrive at when our mules got tired or night came on. The +only place in the whole journey where we had been received with +hesitation was at the Indian house a day's journey beyond Olama. +There the people were pure Indians, and other circumstances made me +conclude that the Indians were not so hospitable as the Mestizos. + +We finally started about nine o'clock and rode over dry savannahs, +where, although there was little grass, I was told that cattle did +well browsing on the small brushwood with which the hills were +covered. All the forenoon we travelled over stony ranges and dry +plains and savannahs. At noon we reached the dry bed of a river and +crossed it several times, but could find no water to quench our +thirst, whilst the sun shone down on us with pitiless heat. About +one o'clock we came to some pools where the bed of the river was +bare rock with rounded hollows containing water, warm but clean, as +the cattle could not walk over the smooth slopes to get at it. Here +we halted for an hour and had some tiste and maize cakes, and cut +some Guinea grass that grew amongst the rocks for our mules. Over +the heated rocks scampered brown lizards, chasing each other and +revelling in the sunshine. Butterflies on lazy wings came and +settled on damp spots, and the cicada kept up his shrill continuous +monotone, but not so loudly as he would later on when it got +cooler. The cicada is supposed by some to pipe only during midday, +but both in Central America and Brazil I found them loudest towards +sunset, keeping up their shrill music until it was taken up by +night-vocal crickets and locusts. + +We were returning parallel to our course in going to Segovia, but +several leagues to the westward, and this made a wonderful +difference in the climate. There we were wading through muddy +swamps and drenched with continual rains. Here the plains were +parched with heat, vegetation was dried up, and there was scarcely +any water in the river beds. The north-east trade-wind, before it +reaches thus far, gives up its moisture to the forests of the +Atlantic slope, and now passed over without even a cloud to relieve +the deep blue of the sky or temper the rays of the sun. + +The vegetation on the plains was almost entirely composed of thorny +plants and shrubs; acacias, cacti, and bromeliae were the most +abundant. Animal life was scarce; there were a few flycatchers +amongst the birds, and armadillos were the only mammals. +Horse-flies (Tabanus) were too numerous, and drops of blood +trickled down our mules' faces where they had feasted. In some +parts large, banded black and yellow wasps (Monedula surinamensis, +Fabr.) came flying round us and had a threatening look as they +hovered before our faces, but they were old acquaintances of mine +in Brazil, and I knew that they were only searching about for the +horse-flies with which they store their nests, just as other wasps +do with spiders, first benumbing them with their sting. I noted +here another instance of the instinctive dread that insects have of +their natural enemies. The horse-flies were so bloodthirsty that we +could kill them with the greatest ease with our hands on the mules' +necks, or if we drove them away they would return immediately. As +soon, however, as a wasp came hawking round, the flies lost their +sluggish apathy and disappeared amongst the bushes, and I do not +think that excepting when gorged with blood they would easily fall +a prey to their pursuers. + +We were joined on the road by a storekeeper on his way to Teustepe. +He was armed with pistols, which it is the fashion to carry in +Nicaragua, though many travellers have nothing more formidable in +their holsters than a spirit flask and some biscuits. He talked as +usual of threatened revolutionary risings, but these form the +staple conversation throughout Central America amongst the middle +classes, and until they really do break out it is best not to +believe in them. He told us also that the drought had been very +great around Teustepe, and that the crops were destroyed by it. + +About three we reached the town, and after buying some provisions +to take with us, pushed on again. Below Teustepe we crossed the +river Malacatoyo which empties into the Lake of Nicaragua, and +beyond it the road passed over a wild alluvial flat with high +trees, amongst which we saw a troop of white-faced monkeys. + +On the leaves of the bushes there were many curious species of +Buprestidae, and I struck these and other beetles off with my net +as I rode along.* [* Naturally the example of their chief inspired +all the mining officials with an ardour for collecting insects; +but, when riding with any of them through the forest or over the +plains, Belt's trained eyes always saw so many more than the others +that a saying arose that his mule assisted him by stopping before +any specimen he had failed to notice!] After one such capture I +observed what appeared to be one of the black stinging ants on the +net. It was a small spider that closely resembled an ant, and so +perfect was the imitation that it was not until I killed it that I +determined that it was a spider and that I had needlessly feared +its sting. What added greatly to the resemblance was that, unlike +other spiders, it held up its two fore-legs like antennae, and +moved them about just like an ant. Other species of spiders closely +resemble stinging ants; in all of them the body is drawn out long +like an ant, and in some the maxillary palpi are lengthened and +thickened so as to resemble the head of one. + +Ant-like spiders have been noticed throughout tropical America and +also in Africa.* (* See "Nature" volume 3 page 508.) The use that +the deceptive resemblance is to them has been explained to be the +facility it affords them for approaching ants on which they prey. I +am convinced that this explanation is incorrect so far as the +Central American species are concerned. Ants, and especially the +stinging species, are, so far as my experience goes, not preyed +upon by any other insects. No disguise need be adopted to approach +them, as they are so bold that they are more likely to attack a +spider than a spider them. Neither have they wings to escape by +flying, and generally go in large bodies easily found and +approached. The real use is, I doubt not, the protection the +disguise affords against small insectivorous birds. I have found +the crops of some humming-birds full of small soft-bodied spiders, +and many other birds feed on them. Stinging ants, like bees and +wasps, are closely resembled by a host of other insects; indeed, +whenever I found any insect provided with special means of defence +I looked for imitative forms, and was never disappointed in finding +them. + +Stinging ants are not only closely copied in form and movements by +spiders but by species of Hemiptera and Coleoptera, and the +resemblance is often wonderfully close.* (* Amongst the longicorn +beetles of Chontales, Mallocera spinicollis, Neoclytus Oesopus, and +Diphyrama singularis, Bates, all closely resemble stinging ants +when moving about on fallen logs.) All over the world wasps are +imitated in form and movements by other insects, and in the tropics +these mimetic forms are endless. In many cases the insect imitating +is so widely removed, in the normal form of the order to which it +belongs, from that of the insect imitated, that it is difficult to +imagine how the first steps in the process of imitation took place. +Looking however at the immense variety of insect life in the +tropics, and remembering that in early tertiary times nearly the +whole world was in the same favourable condition as regards +temperature (vegetation, according to Heer, extending to the +poles), and must have supported a vast number of species and genera +that were destroyed during the glacial period, we must suppose +that, in that great variety of forms, it sometimes occurred that +two species belonging to distinct orders somewhat resembled each +other in form or colouration, and that the resemblance was +gradually increased, when one species had special means of +protection, by the other being benefited the more nearly it +approached it in appearance. + +It is to be remarked that the forms imitated have always some kind +of defence against insectivorous birds or mammals; they are +provided with stings or unpleasant odours or flavours, or are +exceedingly swift in flight; excepting where inanimate nature is +imitated for concealment. Thus I had an opportunity of proving in +Brazil that some birds, if not all, reject the Heliconii +butterflies, which are closely resembled by butterflies of other +families and by moths. I observed a pair of birds that were +bringing butterflies and dragon-flies to their young, and although +the Heliconii swarmed in the neighbourhood and are of weak flight +so as to be easily caught, the birds never brought one to their +nest. I had a still better means of testing both these and other +insects that are mimicked in Nicaragua. The tame white-faced monkey +I have already mentioned was extremely fond of insects, and would +greedily munch up beetle or butterfly given to him, and I used to +bring to him any insects that I found imitated by others to see +whether they were distasteful or not. I found he would never eat +the Heliconii. He was too polite not to take them when they were +offered to him, and would sometimes smell them, but invariably +rolled them up in his hand and dropped them quietly again after a +few moments. There could be no doubt, however, from the monkey's +actions, that they were distasteful to him. A large species of +spider (Nephila) also used to drop them out of its web when I put +them into it. Another spider that frequented flowers seemed to be +fond of them, and I have already mentioned a wasp that caught them +to store its nest with. + +Amongst the beetles there is a family that is just as much mimicked +as the Heliconii are amongst the butterflies. These are the +Lampyridae, to which the fireflies belong. Many of the genera are +not phosphorescent, but all appear to be distasteful to +insectivorous mammals and birds. I found they were invariably +rejected by the monkey, and my fowls would not touch them. + +The genus Calopteron belonging to this family is not +phosphorescent. In some of the species, as in C. basalis (Klug), +the wing-covers are widened out behind in a peculiar manner. This +and other species of Calopteron are not only imitated in their +colour and markings by other families of beetles, but also in this +peculiar widening of the elytra. Besides this, the Calopteron when +walking on a leaf raises and depresses its wing cases, and I +observed exactly the same movement in a longicorn beetle (Evander +nobilis, Bates), which is evidently a mimetic form of this genus. +In addition to being mimicked by other families of beetles, +Calopteron is closely resembled by a species of moth (Pionia +lycoides, Walker). This moth varies itself in colour; in one of the +varieties it has a central black band across the wings, when it +resembles Calopteron vicinum (Deyrolle), in another this black band +is wanting, when it resembles C. basalis. Professor Westwood has +also pointed out to me that the resemblance to the beetle is still +further increased in the moth by raised lines of scales running +lengthwise down the thorax. + +The phosphorescent species of Lampyridae, the fireflies, so +numerous in tropical America, are equally distasteful, and are also +much mimicked by other insects. I found different species of +cockroaches so much like them in shape and colour that they could +not be distinguished without examination. These cockroaches, +instead of hiding in crevices and under logs like their brethren, +rest during the day exposed on the surface of leaves, in the same +manner as the fireflies they mimic. + +Protective resemblances amongst insects are so numerous and +widespread, and they have been so ably described by Bates and +Wallace, that I shall only mention a few of the most noticeable +examples that came under my attention, and which have not been +described by other authors. Amongst these were the striking +modifications of some beetles belonging to the Mordellidae. These, +in their normal form, are curious wedge-shaped beetles, which are +common on flowers, and leap like fleas. In some of the Nicaraguan +species the body is lengthened, and the thorax and elytra coloured, +so as to resemble wasps and flies. In the Mordellidae the head is +small, and nearly concealed beneath the large thorax; and in the +mimetic forms the latter is coloured so as to resemble the large +head and eyes of the wasp or fly imitated. The species that +resembles a wasp moves its antennae restlessly, like the latter +insect. + +The movements, as well as the shape and colour of the insect +imitated, are mimicked. I one day observed what appeared to be a +hornet, with brown semi-transparent wings and yellow antennae. It +ran along the ground vibrating its wings and antennae exactly like +a hornet, and I caught it in my net, believing it to be one. On +examining it, however, I found it to belong to a widely different +order. It was one of the Hemiptera, Spiniger luteicornis (Walk.), +and had every part coloured like the hornet (Priocnemis) that it +resembled. In its vibrating coloured wing-cases it departed greatly +from the normal character of the Hemiptera, and assumed that of the +hornets. + +All the insects that have special means of protection, by which +they are guarded from the attacks of insectivorous mammals and +birds, have peculiar forms, or strongly contrasted, conspicuous +colours, and often make odd movements that attract attention to +them. There is no attempt at concealment, but, on the contrary, +they appear to endeavour to make their presence known. The long +narrow wings of the Heliconii butterflies, banded with black, +yellow, and red, distinguish them from all others, excepting the +mimetic species. The banded bodies of many wasps, or the rich +metallic colours of others, and their constant jerky motions, make +them very conspicuous. Bees announce their presence by a noisy +humming. The beetles of the genus Calopteron have their wing-cases +curiously distended, and move them up and down, so as to attract +attention; and other species of Lampyridae are phosphorescent, +holding out danger signals that they are not eatable. The reason in +all these cases appears to be the same as Mr. Wallace has shown to +hold good with banded, hairy, and brightly coloured caterpillars. +These are distasteful to birds, and, in consequence of their +conspicuous colours, are easily known and avoided. If they were +like other caterpillars, they might be seized and injured before it +was known they were not fit for food.* (* In a paper on "Mimicry, +and other Protective Resemblances amongst Animals" first published +in the "Westminster Review" July 1867, afterwards in "Natural +Selection", Wallace has elaborately discussed this question. My +observations are supplemental to his and to the original ones of +Bates.) + +(PLATE 23. HORNET AND MIMETIC BUG) + +Amongst the mammals, I think the skunk is an example of the same +kind. Its white tail, laid back on its black body, makes it very +conspicuous in the dusk when it roams about, so that it is not +likely to be pounced upon by any of the carnivora mistaking it for +other night-roaming animals. In reptiles, the beautifully banded +coral snake (Elaps), whose bite is deadly, is marked as +conspicuously as any noxious caterpillar with bright bands of +black, yellow, and red. I only met with one other example amongst +the vertebrata, and it was also a reptile. In the woods around +Santo Domingo there are many frogs. Some are green or brown, and +imitate green or dead leaves, and live amongst foliage. Others are +dull earth-coloured, and hide in holes and under logs. All these +come out only at night to feed, and they are all preyed upon by +snakes and birds. In contrast with these obscurely coloured +species, another little frog hops about in the daytime dressed in a +bright livery of red and blue. He cannot be mistaken for any other, +and his flaming vest and blue stockings show that he does not court +concealment. He is very abundant in the damp woods, and I was +convinced he was uneatable so soon as I made his acquaintance and +saw the happy sense of security with which he hopped about. I took +a few specimens home with me, and tried my fowls and ducks with +them, but none would touch them. At last, by throwing down pieces +of meat, for which there was a great competition amongst them, I +managed to entice a young duck into snatching up one of the little +frogs. Instead of swallowing it, however, it instantly threw it out +of its mouth, and went about jerking its head as if trying to throw +off some unpleasant taste.* (* Probably the strongly contrasted +colours of the spotted salamander of Southern Europe and the +warning noise made by the rattlesnake may be useful in a similar +manner, as has been suggested by Darwin.) + +After travelling three leagues beyond Teustepe, we reached, near +dusk, a small house by the roadside, at which had put up for the +night a party of muleteers, with their mules and cargoes. Our +beasts were too tired to go further, so we determined to take our +chance of finding room for our hammocks. Soon after we alighted, as +I sat on a stone near the door of the house, a gun went off close +to us, and my horse sprang forward, nearly upon me. We soon found +it was our own gun, which had been given to Rito to carry. He had +strapped it behind his saddle, and one of the other mules had come +up, rubbed against it, and let it off. The poor horse was only four +feet from the muzzle, and the contents were lodged in its loin. A +large wound was made from which the blood flowed in a great stream, +until Velasquez got some burnt cloth and stanched it. Fortunately +the charge in the gun was a very light one, and no vital part was +touched. We arranged with the muleteers to take our cargo to +Juigalpa for us, and determined to leave Rito behind to lead the +horse gently to Pital. The horse, which was a very good one, +ultimately recovered. + +At this house the woman had eight children, the eldest, I think, +not more than twelve years of age. The man who passed as her +husband was the father of the youngest only. Amongst the lower +classes of Nicaragua men and women often change their mates. In +such cases the children remain with the mother, and take their +surname from her. Baptism is considered an indispensable rite, but +the marriage ceremony is often dispensed with; and I did not notice +that those who lived together without it suffered in the estimation +of their neighbours. The European ladies at Santo Domingo were +sometimes visited by the unmarried matrons of the village, who were +very indignant when they found that there were scruples about +receiving them. They were so used to their own social observances, +that they thought those of the Europeans unwarrantable prudery. + +Before turning out the mules, Rito got some limes and squeezed the +juice out upon their feet, just above the hoof. He did this to +prevent them from being bitten by the tarantula spider, a species +of Mygale that makes its nest in the ground, and is said to abound +in this locality. Many of the mules are bitten in the feet on the +savannahs by some venomous animal. The animal bitten immediately +goes lame, and cannot be cured in less than six months, as the hoof +comes off, and has to be renewed. The natives say that the Mygale +is the aggressor; that it gets on the mule's foot to bite off the +hairs to line its nest with, and that if not disturbed it does not +injure the mule, but that if the latter tries to dislodge it, it +bites immediately. I do not know whether this story be true or not, +and I had no opportunity of examining a Mygale's nest to see if it +was lined with hairs, but Professor Westwood informs me that all +that he knows are lined with fine silk. Possibly the mules, when +rambling about, step on the spider, and are then bitten by it. +Velasquez told me that when he was a boy he and other children used +to amuse themselves by pulling the Mygale out of its hole, which is +about a foot deep in the ground. To get it out they fastened a +small ball of soft wax to a piece of string, and lowered it down +the hole, jerking it up and down until the spider got exasperated +so far as to bury its formidable jaws in the wax, when it could be +drawn to the surface. + +We had part of the kitchen to sleep in, and were so tired, and +getting so accustomed to sleep anywhere, that we had a good night's +rest, rose early next morning, and were soon on the road again, +leaving Rito to bring on the lamed horse. We had a good view of the +rock of San Lorenzo, a high cliff capping a hill, and resembling +the rocks of Cuapo and Pena Blanca, but with less perpendicular +sides. About this part, which lay high, as well as where we stayed +the night before, there had been rains; but on the lowlands lying +between the two places there had been none. Our road again lay over +grassy plains and low, lightly-timbered hills, with very few +houses--probably not more than one in a league. The country was now +greener; they had had showers of rain, and fine grass had sprung +up. Passing as we did from a dried-up district into one covered +with verdure, feelings were awakened akin to those with which in +the temperate zone we welcome the spring after a long winter. + +As we rode on, the grass increased; there were swampy places in the +hollows, and now and then very muddy spots on the road. On every +side the prospect was bounded by long ranges of hills--some of them +precipitous, others covered to the summits with dark foliaged +trees, looking nearly black in the distance. About noon we came in +sight of the Amerrique range, which I recognised at once, and knew +that we had reached the Juigalpa district, though still several +leagues distant from the town. Travelling on without halting we +arrived at the hacienda of San Diego at four o'clock. Velasquez +expected to find in the owner an old acquaintance of his, and we +had intended staying with him for the night, as our mules were +tired out; but on riding up to the house we found it untenanted, +the doors thrown down, and cattle stabling in it. We pushed on +again. I thought I could make La Puerta, a hacienda three leagues +nearer Libertad than Juigalpa, and as the road to it branched off +from that to Juigalpa soon after passing San Diego, and Velasquez +had to go to the latter place to make arrangements for getting our +luggage sent on, I parted with him, and pushed on alone. Soon +after, I crossed rather a deep river, and in a short time my mule, +which had shown symptoms of distress, became almost unable to +proceed, so that it was only with the greatest difficulty I could +get along at all. After leading--almost dragging--it slowly for +about a mile I reached a small hut, where they told me that it was +three leagues to La Puerta, and only one to Juigalpa. The road to +Puerta was all up hill, and it was clearly impossible for me to +reach it that night, so I turned off across the savannahs, in the +direction of Juigalpa, wishing that I had not separated from +Velasquez. My poor beast was dragged along with much labour, and I +was getting thoroughly knocked up myself. Several small temporary +huts were passed, in which lived families that had come down from +the mountains, bringing with them their cows to feed on the plains +during the wet season. I was tempted to put up at one of these, but +all were full of people, and I persevered on until it got quite +dark. Just then I arrived at a hacienda near the river, and engaged +a young fellow to get his horse and ride with me to the town. When +my mule had a companion it went better, and being very tired I got +on its back again. It was extremely dark, and I should not have +found the road without a guide. We passed over the small plain, +where the broken statues lie, but my guide, who had lived all his +life within a mile of them, had never heard of them. My mule fell +heavily with me in a rocky pass, but I escaped with a slight +bruise. We had great trouble to get it on its legs again, and +ultimately reached Juigalpa about nine o'clock. + +Next morning I awoke with a dreadful headache and pain in my back, +brought on either by the fatigue of the day before, or by having +been tempted to eat some half-ripe guayavas when coming across the +plains tired and hungry. I lay in the hammock until ten o'clock, +and then feeling a little better, got on my mule and started. I was +so ill as to be obliged to hold on to the pommel of my saddle and +several times to get off and lie down. We had brought some "tiste" +with us made from chocolate and maize, and drinks of this relieved +me. I at last reached Libertad at four o'clock, and went to bed +immediately. Having fasted all day in place of taking medicine, I +rose pretty well next morning, and we rode through the forest to +the mines, reaching them at noon on the 29th July, after an absence +of nineteen days. + + +CHAPTER 18. + +Division of Nicaragua into three zones. +Journey from Juigalpa to lake of Nicaragua. +Voyage on lake. +Fresh-water shells and insects. +Similarity of fresh-water productions all over the world. +Distribution of European land and fresh-water shells. +Discussion of the reasons why fresh-water productions + have varied less than those of the land and of the sea. + +I SHALL ask my readers to accompany me on one more journey. I have +described the great Atlantic forest that clothes the whole of the +eastern side of Nicaragua. I have gone through the central +provinces, Chontales, Matagalpa, and Segovia; from the San Juan +river, the south-eastern boundary of Nicaragua, away to the +confines of Honduras on the north-west. I now propose to leave the +central provinces, amongst which we have so long lingered, and to +describe one of my journeys to those lying between the great lakes +and the Pacific. + +Whilst the country to the north-east of the lakes is mostly +composed of rocks, of great age, geologically, such as schists, +quartzites, and old dolerytic rocks, with newer but still ancient +trachytes, that to the south-west of them is formed principally of +recent volcanic tufas and lavas, the irruption of which has not yet +ceased. Most of the land, resulting from the decomposition of the +tufas, is of extreme fertility; and, therefore, we find on the +Pacific side of Nicaragua, indigo, coffee, sugar, cacao, and +tobacco growing with the greatest luxuriance. + +Nicaragua is thus divided into three longitudinal zones. The most +easterly is covered by a great unbroken forest; the principal +products being india-rubber and mahogany. The central zone is +composed of grassed savannahs, on which are bred cattle, mules, and +horses. It is essentially a pasturage country, though much maize +and a little sugar and indigo are grown in some parts. The western +zone skirts the Pacific, and is a country of fertile soil, where +all the cultivated plants and fruits of the tropics thrive +abundantly; the rich, fat land might, indeed, with a little labour, +be turned into a Garden of Eden. + +In the autumn of 1871, it became necessary for me to proceed to +Granada to empower a lawyer there to act for us in a lawsuit in +which we were engaged. Taking Velasquez and a servant with me, I +rode over to Juigalpa on the 1st of November. We had intended to go +by land to Granada, but we learnt that, through continued wet +weather, much of the low land of the delta of the Malacatoya was +impassable, so we determined to make for the lake, and try to get a +boat to take us to Los Cocos, from which place there was a good +road to Granada. We found at Juigalpa a Libertad storekeeper, named +Senor Trinidad Ocon. He had already engaged a boat, and courteously +offered, if we could not find one when we got to the lake, to give +us a passage in his. + +We started from Juigalpa the next morning; and for the first few +miles our road lay down by the river, a deep branch of which we +crossed. The alluvial plains bordering the river were covered with +fine, though short, grass, amongst which were some beautiful +flowers. The orange and black "sisitote" (Icterus pectoralis, Wagl. +) flew in small flocks amongst the bushes; and the "sanate" +(Quiscalus) was busy amongst the cattle. Their usual plan of +operations is for a pair of them to accompany one of the cattle, +one on each side, watching for grasshoppers and other insects that +are frightened up by the browsing animal. They keep near the head, +and fly after the insects that break cover, but neither encroaches +on the hunting ground of the other. + +We stopped at a little hacienda perched at the top of a small hill. +It was called "El Candelera," and was a small cattle station, +surrounded by plains. We then crossed the valley, and made for a +range of hills between us and the lake. The ascent was steep and +rocky; and it took us two hours to get to the top. We then saw the +great lake, like a sea, lying spread out before us, but still at a +considerable distance. The descent was very steep, and we had to +make long detours to avoid precipitous ravines. At last we reached +level ground; but it was even worse than the mountain roads to +travel, being in many parts wet and swampy. After missing our way, +and having to retrace our steps for more than a mile, we reached +Santa Claro, a cattle hacienda, at dusk. Here we found Senor Ocon's +boat, but there was no other. The boatmen said we must embark at +once. We made an arrangement with a man who had accompanied Ocon to +take our mules to San Ubaldo, as we proposed to return that way. +The boat was small, and there were seven of us; so that with our +saddles and luggage we were much cramped for room. + +They poled the boat for two miles down a small river that emptied +into the lake, but just before we reached it, the boatmen stopped +and said it was too rough to proceed that night, and +notwithstanding our remonstrances they tied the boat to some +bushes. Our cramped position was very irksome; the river was +bordered by swamps, so that we could not land, and thousands of +mosquitoes came about and rendered sleep impossible. About +midnight, the moon rose, and two hours later we prevailed on the +boatmen to set sail, but, notwithstanding their excuse about it +being too rough, there was so little wind that we made slow +progress. At eight we went on shore, where there was a hut built +close by the lake below Masaya. The lake was flooded, and the water +had been over the floor of the hut during the night. All around +were swamps, and the mosquitoes were intolerable. We could buy no +food at the miserable shanty, and soon set sail again. A little +more wind afterwards springing up, we reached Los Cocos at eleven +o'clock. There is a small village at this place, where we got +breakfast cooked, and did justice to it. We hired horses to take us +to Granada; but as the road for a league further on was overflown +by the lake, we went on in the boat, and a boy took the horses +round to meet us, swimming them across the worst places. + +Glad we were to get on horseback again, and to canter along a hard +sandy road, instead of sitting cramped up in a little boat, with +the sun's rays pouring down on us. The path led amongst the bushes, +and was sometimes overflowed, but the soil was sandy, and there was +no mud. All the beach was submerged, or we should have ridden along +it. The last time I had passed by this part of the lake was in July +1868. Then the waters of the lake were low, and we rode along the +sandy beach, black in some parts with titanic iron sand. The beach +resembled that of a sea-coast, with the waves rolling in upon it, +and to the south-east the water extended to the horizon. Along the +shore were strewn shells thrown up by the surf; and on examining +them, I found them all to belong to well-known old-world +genera--Unio, Planorbis, Ancylus, and Ampullari. + +On this journey, all the beach was, as I have said, covered with +water, and I saw no shells; but in the pools on the road were +water-beetles swimming about, and these showed a surprising +resemblance to the water-beetles of Europe. Gyrinidae swam round +and round in mazy circles; Dytiscidae came up to the surface for a +moment, and dived down again to the depths below with a globule of +air glistening like a diamond. Amongst the vegetation at the bottom +and sides of the pools Hydrophilidae crawled about, just as in +ponds in England. Not only were those familiars there, but they +were represented by species belonging to the typical +genera--Gyrinus, Colymbetes, and Hydrophilus. Over these pools flew +dragon-flies, whose larval stages are passed in the water, closely +resembling others all over the world. All the land fauna was +strikingly different from that of other regions; but the water +fauna was as strikingly similar. + +The sameness of fresh-water productions all over the globe is not +confined to animal life, but extends to plants also. Alphonse de +Candolle has remarked that in large groups of plants which have +many terrestrial and only a few aquatic species the latter have a +far wider distribution than the former. It is well known to +botanists that many fresh-water and marsh plants have an immense +range over continents, extending even to the most remote islands.* +(* Darwin "Origin of Species" page 417.) The close affinities of +fresh-water animals and plants have been noticed by many +naturalists. Darwin saw with surprise, in Brazil, the similarity of +the fresh-water insects, shells, etc., and the dissimilarity of the +surrounding terrestrial beings compared with those of Britain.* (* +Darwin "Origin of Species" page 414.) Dr. D. Sharp informs me that +water-beetles undoubtedly present the same types all over the +world. He believes there is no family of Coleoptera in which +tropical or extra-tropical species so closely resemble one another +as in the Dytiscidae. Cybister is found in Europe, Asia, Africa, +Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and North America; and the species +have a very wide range. Dr. Sharp remarks that this wide +distribution and great similarity of the Dytiscidae is of special +interest when we recollect that they are nothing but Carabidae +fitted for swimming, and yet that the Carabidae are one of the +groups in which the tropical members differ widely from the +temperate ones. + +For following up this branch of inquiry the study of the +distribution of the mollusca offers special advantages. There are +numerous marine, fresh-water, and terrestrial species and genera. +They are slow moving; they have not the means of transporting +themselves great distances, like insects, for example, that may +easily and often pass over arms of the sea, or fly from one country +to another. Their shells are the commonest of fossils; and in +islands such as Madeira and St. Helena, where we have abundant +remains of extinct land shells, there are few, if any, of extinct +animals of other classes or of plants. + +Taking the shells of Europe, we find a remarkable difference in the +distribution of the land and fresh-water species. According to Mr. +Lovell Reeve, who has specially studied this question, out of many +hundreds of land mollusks inhabiting the Caucasian province at its +centre in Hungary and Austria, only ninety extend to the British +Isles, and of these thirty-five do not reach Scotland. Upwards of +two hundred species of Clausilia are to be found in the centre of +the province, and of these only four reach England, and only one +Scotland. Out of five hundred and sixty species of Helix inhabiting +the Caucasian province, there are but twenty-four in Britain. + +Whilst the distribution of the terrestrial mollusks of Europe is +thus restricted in range, though the species are numerous, the +fresh-water shells are few in species, but of wide distribution. +Quoting again from Mr. Reeve:--Of the Lymnaeacea "there are not six +species, it maybe safely stated, in all Europe, more than there are +in Britain. They have no particular centre of creation. There is no +evidence to show whether the alleged progenitors of our British +species were created in Siberia, Hungary, or Tibet. There is +scarcely any variation either in the form or number of the species +in those remote localities. Of Planorbis scarcely more than fifteen +species inhabit the whole Caucasian province, and we have eleven of +them in Britain." "Of Physa and Lymnaea, it is extremely doubtful +whether there are any species throughout the province more than we +have in Britain. Neither of Ancylus, which lives attached, +limpet-like, to sticks and stones, and has very limited facilities +of migration, are there any species throughout the province more +than we have in Britain."* (* Lovell Reeve "British Land and +Fresh-Water Mollusks" page 225.) + +The wide distribution of species inhabiting fresh water compared +with those living on land has not, as we have seen, escaped the +comprehensive mind of Darwin, and in explanation of the fact, he +has shown how fresh-water shells may be carried from pool to pool, +or from one river or lake to others many miles distant, sticking to +the feet of water-fowl, or to the elytra of water-beetles. Whilst +the distribution of water-mollusks may be thus accounted for, the +greater variety and more restricted range of the land species is +not explained. They have at least equal means of dispersion, +compared with the sluggish, mud-loving water-shells of our ponds +and ditches. Why should the one have varied so much and the other +so little? We might at first sight have expected the very reverse, +on the theory of natural selection. In large lakes and in river +systems isolated from others, we might look for the conditions most +favourable for the variation of species, and for the preservation +of the improved varieties. + +It is evident that there must have been less variation, or that the +varieties that arose have not been preserved. I think it probable +that the variation of fresh-water species of animals and plants has +been constantly checked by the want of continuity of lakes and +rivers in time and space. In the great oscillations of the surface +of the earth, of which geologists find so many proofs, every +fresh-water area has again and again been destroyed. It is not so +with the ocean--it is continuous--and as one part was elevated and +laid dry, the species could retreat to another. On the great +continents the land has probably never been totally submerged at +any one time; it also is continuous over great areas, and as one +part became uninhabitable, the land species could in most cases +retreat to another. But for the inhabitants of lakes and rivers +there was no retreat, and whenever the sea overflowed the land, +vast numbers of fresh-water species must have been destroyed. A +fresh-water fauna gave place to a marine one, and the former was +annihilated so far as that area was concerned. When the land again +rose from below the sea, the marine fauna was not destroyed--it +simply retired farther back. + +There is every reason to believe that the production of species is +a slow process, and if fresh-water areas have not continued as a +rule through long geological periods, we can see how variation has +been constantly checked by the destruction, first in one part, then +in another, of all the fresh-water species; and on these places +being again occupied by fresh water they would be colonised by +forms from other parts of the world. Thus species of restricted +range were always exposed to destruction because their habitat was +temporary and their retreat impossible, and only families of wide +distribution could be preserved. Hence I believe it is that the +types of fresh-water productions are few and world-wide, whilst the +sea has mollusks innumerable, and the land great variety and wealth +of species. This variety is in the ratio of the continuity of their +habitats in time and space. + +It follows also, from the same reasoning, that old and widespread +types are more likely to be preserved in fresh-water areas than on +land or in the sea, for the destruction of wide-ranging species is +effected more by the competition of improved varieties than by +physical causes; so that when variation is most checked old forms +will longest survive. Therefore I think it is that amongst fishes +we find some old geological types still preserved in a few of the +large rivers of the world. + +To illustrate more clearly the theory I have advanced, I will take +a supposititious case. In the southern states of America there is +reason to suppose that since the glacial period there has been a +great variation in the species of the fresh-water mollusk genus +Melania, and in different rivers there are distinct groups of +species. Now let us suppose that the glacial period were to return, +and that the icy covering, gradually thickening in the north, +should push down southward as it did once before. The great lakes +of North America would be again filled with ice, and their +inhabitants destroyed. As the ice advanced southward, the +inhabitants of one river-system after another would be annihilated, +and many groups of Melania entirely destroyed. On the retreat of +the ice again the rivers and lakes would reappear, but the +varieties of animals that had been developed in them would not, and +their places would be taken by aquatic forms from other areas, so +that the number of species would be thereby greatly reduced, and +wide-spreading forms would be freed from the competition of many +improved varieties. + +Viewed in this light, the similarity of fresh-water productions all +over the world, instead of being a difficulty in the way of the +acceptance of the theory of natural selection, becomes a strong +argument in favour of its truth; for we perceive that the number of +marine, terrestrial, and freshwater animals is in proportion to the +more or less continuous development that was possible under the +different conditions under which they lived. + +The same line of argument might be used to explain the much greater +variety in some classes of terrestrial animals than in others. The +land has often been submerged in geological history, and the +classes that were best fitted to escape the impending catastrophes +would be most likely to preserve the varieties that had been +developed. The atmosphere has always been continuous, and the +animals that could use it as a highway had great advantages over +those that could not, and so we find the slow-moving terrestrial +mollusks few in number compared with the multitudinous hosts of +strong-flying insects; similarly, the mammals are far outnumbered +by the birds of the air, that can pass from island to island, and +from country to country, unstopped by mighty rivers or wide arms of +the sea. + + +CHAPTER 19. + +Iguanas and lizards. +Granada. +Politics. +Revolutions. +Cacao cultivation. +Masaya. +The lake of Masaya. +The volcano of Masaya. +Origin of the lake basin. + +THE road passed along a sandy ridge only a little elevated above +the waters of the lake, and the ground on both sides was submerged. +As we travelled on we were often startled by hearing sudden plunges +into the water not far from us, but our view was so obstructed by +bushes that it was some time before we discovered the cause. At +last we found that the noise was made by large iguana lizards, some +of them three feet long, and very bulky, dropping from the branches +of trees, on which they lay stretched, into the water. These +iguanas are extremely ugly, but are said to be delicious eating, +the Indians being very fond of them. The Carca Indians, who live in +the forest seven miles from Santo Domingo, travel every year to the +great lake to catch iguanas, which abound on the dry hills near it. +They seize them as they lie on the branches of the trees, with a +loop at the end of a long stick. They then break the middle toe of +each foot, and tie the feet together, in pairs, by the broken toes, +afterwards sewing up the mouth of the poor reptiles, and carrying +them in this state back to their houses in the forest, where they +are kept alive until required for food. The raccoon-like "pisoti" +is also fond of them, but cannot so easily catch them. He has to +climb every tree, and then, unless he can surprise them asleep, +they drop from the branch to the ground and scuttle off to another +tree. I once saw a solitary "pisoti" hunting for iguanas amongst +some bushes near the lake where they were very numerous, but during +the quarter of an hour that I watched him, he never caught one. It +was like the game of "puss in the corner." He would ascend a small +tree on which there were several; but down they would drop when he +had nearly reached them, and rush off to another tree. Master +"pisoti," however, seemed to take all his disappointments with the +greatest coolness, and continued the pursuit unflaggingly. +Doubtless experience had taught him that his perseverance would +ultimately be rewarded: that sooner or later he would surprise a +corpulent iguana fast asleep on some branch, and too late to drop +from his resting-place. In the forest I always saw the "pisoti" +hunting in large bands, from which an iguana would have small +chance of escape, for some were searching along the ground whilst +others ranged over the branches of the trees. + +Other tree-lizards also try to escape their enemies by dropping +from great heights to the ground. I was once standing near a large +tree, the trunk of which rose fully fifty feet before it threw off +a branch, when a green Anolis dropped past my face to the ground, +followed by a long green snake that had been pursuing it amongst +the foliage above, and had not hesitated to precipitate itself +after its prey. The lizard alighted on its feet and hurried away, +the snake fell like a coiled-up watch-spring, and opened out +directly to continue the pursuit; but, on the spur of the moment, I +struck at it with a switch and prevented it. I regretted afterwards +not having allowed the chase to continue and watched the issue, but +I doubt not that the lizard, active as it was, would have been +caught by the swift-gliding snake, as several specimens of the +latter that I opened contained lizards. + +Lizards are also preyed upon by many birds, and I have taken a +large one from the stomach of a great white hawk with its wings and +tail barred with black (Leucopternis ghiesbreghti) that sits up on +the trees in the forest quietly watching for them. Their means of +defence are small, nor are they rapid enough in their movements to +escape from their enemies by flight, and so they depend principally +for their protection on their means of concealment. The different +species of Anolis can change their colour from a bright green to a +dark brown, and so assimilate themselves in appearance to the +foliage or bark of trees on which they lie. Another tree-lizard, +not uncommon on the banks of the rivers, is not only of a beautiful +green colour, but has foliaceous expansions on its limbs and body, +so that even when amongst the long grass it looks like a leafy +shoot that has fallen from the trees above. I do not know of any +lizard that enjoys impunity from attack by the secretion of any +acrid or poisonous fluid from its skin, like the little red and +blue frog that I have already described, but I was told of one that +was said to be extremely venomous. As, however, besides the repute +of giving off from the pores of its skin poisonous secretion, it +was described to be of an inconspicuous brown colour, and to hide +under logs, I should require some confirmation of the story by an +experienced naturalist before believing it, for all my experience +has led me to the opinion that any animal endowed with special +means of protection from its enemies is always either conspicuously +coloured, or in other ways attracts attention, and does not seek +concealment. + +About four o'clock we reached the city of Granada, and, passing +along some wide streets and across a large square, found the hotel +of Monsieur Mestayer, where we engaged rooms for the night. The +hotel, like most of the houses in the city, was built, in the +Spanish style, around a large courtyard, in the centre of which was +a flower-garden. Madame Mestayer was very fond of pets, and had +macaws and parrots, a tame squirrel, a young white-faced monkey +(Cebus albifrons), and several small long-haired Mexican dogs. I +was interested in watching the monkey examining all the loose bark +and curled-up leaves on a large fig-tree in search of insects. In +this and other individuals of this species, a great variety of +countenances could be distinguished, and I could easily have picked +my own monkey out of all the others I have seen by the expression +of its face. I was told that the one in the garden at Monsieur +Mestayer's did not touch the figs on the tree, and I believe it; +the Cebus is much more of an animal than a vegetable feeder, whilst +the spider-monkeys (Ateles) live principally on fruits. + +Granada was entirely burnt down by Walker and his filibusters in +1856, and the present city is built on the ruins of that founded by +Hernandez de Cordova in 1522. The streets are well laid out at +right angles to each other, and there are many large churches, some +of them in ruins. In one of the latter a company of mountebanks +performed every evening, and the circumstance did not seem to +excite surprise or comment. + +The streets are built in terraces, quite level for about fifty +yards, then with a steep-paved declivity leading to another level +portion. One has to be careful in riding down from one level to +another, as horses and mules are very liable to slip on the smooth +pavement. The houses are built of "adobe" or sun-dried brick. The +walls are plastered and whitewashed, and the roofs and floors +tiled. They are mostly of one storey, and the rooms surrounding the +courtyards have doors opening both to the inside and to the street. + +There are no factories in Granada, but many wholesale stores, kept +by merchants, who import goods from England and the United States, +and export the produce of the country--indigo, hides, coffee, +cacao, sugar, india-rubber, etc. Many of these merchants are very +wealthy; but all deal retail as well as wholesale; and the reputed +wealthiest man of the town asked me if I did not want to buy a few +boxes of candles. The highest ambition of every one seems to be to +keep a shop, excepting when the revolutionary fever breaks out +about every seven or eight years, when, for a few months, business +is at a stand-still, and the population is divided into two +parties, alternately pursuing and being pursued, but seldom +engaging in a real battle. + +There was one of these outbreaks whilst I was in Nicaragua, and the +whole country was in a state of civil war for more than four +months, nearly all the able-bodied men being drafted into the +armies that were raised, but I believe there were not a score of +men killed on the field of battle during the whole time; the town +of Juigalpa was taken and retaken without any one receiving a +scratch. The usual course pursued was for the two armies to +manoeuvre about until one thought it was weaker than the other, +when it immediately took to flight. Battles were decided without a +shot being fired, excepting after one side had run away. + +Of patriotism I never saw a symptom in Central America, nothing but +selfish partisanship, willing at any moment to set the country in a +state of war if there was only a prospect of a little spoil. The +states of Central America are republics in name only; in reality, +they are tyrannical oligarchies. They have excellent constitutions +and laws on paper, but both their statesmen and their judges are +corrupt; with some honourable exceptions, I must admit, but not +enough to stem the current of abuse. Of real liberty there is none. +The party in power is able to control the elections, and to put +their partisans into all the municipal and other offices. Some of +the Presidents have not hesitated to throw their political +opponents into prison at the time of an election, and I heard of +one well-authenticated instance where an elector was placed, +uncovered, in the middle of one of the plazas, with his arms +stretched out to their full extent and each thumb thrust down into +the barrel of an upright musket, and kept a few hours in the +blazing sun until he agreed to vote according to the wish of the +party in power. A change of rulers can only be effected by a +so-called revolution; with all the machinery of a republic, the +will of the people can only be known by the issue of a civil war. + +With high-sounding phrases of the equality of man, the lower orders +are kept in a state almost approaching to serfdom. The poor Indians +toil and spin, and cultivate the ground, being almost the only +producers. Yet in the revolutionary outbreaks they are driven about +like cattle, and forced into the armies that are raised. Central +America declared its independence of Spain in 1823, and constituted +itself a republic, under the name of the United States of Central +America. The confederacy, which consisted of Guatemala, San +Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, was broken up in +1840, when each of the States became an independent republic. Ever +since, revolutionary outbreaks have been periodical, and the +States, with the exception of Costa Rica, have steadily decreased +in wealth and produce. + +It would be ungenerous of me, in this condemnation of the political +parties of Central America, not to state that there are many +individuals who view with alarm and shame the decadence of their +country. Such, however, is the state of public opinion, that their +voices are unheard, or listened to with indifference. There seems +to be some radical incapacity in the Latin races to comprehend what +we consider true political economy. The will of the majority is not +the law of the land, but the will of the strongest in arms. They +cannot understand that a republic has no more divine right than a +monarchy; that a country having an hereditary sovereign at its +head, if it is governed in consonance with the wishes of the +greatest number of its inhabitants, is freer than a republic where +a minority rules by force of arms. They make a principle out of +what is a mere detail of government--whether the chief of the state +be elective or hereditary--but the fundamental principle of good +government, namely, that the will of the majority shall be the law +of the land, is trampled under foot and treated as the dream of an +enthusiast. + +The environs of Granada are very pretty; it is situated only a mile +from the lake, and a few miles lower down the sleeping volcano of +Mombacho juts boldly out, rising to a height of nearly 5000 feet, +and clothed to the very summit with dark perennial verdure. The +cacao of Granada and Rivas is said to be amongst the finest grown, +and there are many large plantations of it. The wild cacao grows in +the forests of the Atlantic slope, and when cultivated it still +requires shade to thrive luxuriantly. This is provided at first by +plantain trees, afterwards by the coral tree, a species of +Erythrina, called by the natives Cacao madre, or the Cacao's +mother, on account of the fostering shade it affords the cacao +tree. The coral tree rises to a height of about forty feet, and +when in flower, at the beginning of April, is one mass of bright +crimson flowers, fairly dazzling the eyes of the beholder when the +sun is shining on it. + +One of the principal courts of law is held at Granada, and whilst +we were there a priest was being tried for having seduced his own +niece. He was afterwards convicted, and, to show the moral +torpidity of the people, I may mention that his only punishment was +banishment to Greytown, where he appeared to mix in Nicaraguan +society as if he had not a spot on his character. + +Having finished our business in Granada, we started for Masaya, +where I wished to consult a lawyer, Senor Rafael Blandino, who most +deservedly bears a very high character in Nicaragua for probity and +ability. We had a difficulty in obtaining horses, and did not get +away until noon. The road was a good one, having been made by the +late President, Senor Fernando Guzman, who seems to have done what +little lay in his power to develop the resources of the country. +The soil was entirely composed of volcanic tufas, and was covered +with fine grass; but there were no springs or brooks, all the +moisture sinking into the porous ground. Lizards were numerous, and +on damp spots on the road there were many fine butterflies, most of +them of different species from those of Chontales. + +At four o'clock we entered Masaya, and passed down a long road +bordered with Indian huts and gardens. The town is said to contain +about 15,000 inhabitants, nine-tenths of whom are Indians. It +covers a great space of ground, as the Indian houses are each +surrounded by a garden or orchard; they stand back from the road, +and are almost hidden amongst the trees. There was no water when I +visited Masaya, excepting what was brought up from the lake which +lies more than 300 feet below the town, surrounded, excepting on +the western side, by precipitous cliffs, down which three or four +rocky paths have been cut. Up these, all day long, and most of the +night, women and girls are carrying water in Indian earthenware +gourd-shaped jars, which they balance on cushions on their heads, +or sling in nets on their backs. No men, or boys above ten years of +age, carry water, and the women seemed to have all the labour to +do. I believe it would have been impossible to find ten men at work +in Masaya at any one time. + +I spent the next day exploring around Masaya, as I was greatly +interested with the geological structure of the country. One of the +paths down to the lake has been made passable for animals taken +down to drink. I rode my horse down, but in the steepest part he +slipped on to his side, and I was content to lead him the rest of +the way. The scene was one which is only possible in a +half-civilised tropical land. Women, with the scantiest of +clothing, or less, were washing linen, standing up to their waists +in the water amongst the rocks, on which they thumped the clothes +to be cleansed; laughing and chatting to each other incessantly. +Men with mules and horses were bathing themselves and their animals +at a small sandy beach, and girls were carrying off great jars of +water, which they obtained further down, where the water was less +tainted with the ablutions. Great rocks, that had fallen from the +cliffs above, lined the shore; and amongst these grew many shrubs +and plants new to me. The cliffs themselves were, in some parts, +green with lovely maidenhair ferns, belonging to three different +species. + +(PLATE 24. GEOLOGICAL SECTION AT MASAYA. STRATA AT MASAYA.) + +On the opposite shore rises the cone of the volcano of Masaya, and +the streams of lava that have flowed down to the lake and covered +the old precipitous cliffs on that side are plainly visible. The +cliff encircles the whole lake, excepting where concealed by the +recent lava overflow. At the time of the conquest of Nicaragua, in +1522, the volcano of Masaya was in a state of activity. The +credulous Spaniards believed the fiery molten mass at the bottom of +the crater to be liquid gold, and through great danger, amongst the +smoke and fumes, were lowered down it until, with an iron chain and +bucket, they could reach the fiery mass, when the bucket was melted +from the chain, and the intrepid explorers were drawn up half dead +from amongst the fumes. Since then there have been several +eruptions; and so late as 1857 it threw out volumes of smoke, and +probably ashes. The whole country is volcanic. For scores of miles +every rock is trachytic, and the earth decomposing tufas. + +The lake itself is like an immense crater with its perpendicular +cliffs. I spent some time in making an accurate section of the +strata as exposed in the rocky paths leading down to the water. The +whole section exposed is 348 feet in height from the surface of the +lake to the top of the undulating plain on which Masaya is built. +This measurement was kindly given to me by Mr. Simpson, an +enterprising American engineer engaged in erecting a steam-pump to +raise the water for the supply of the town. At the bottom are seen +great cliffs of massive trachyte (Number 1 in section). Above this +is an ash bed, then a bed of breccia containing fragments of +trachyte, then another bed of cinders, which looks like a rough +sandstone, but is pisolitic, and contains pebbles of the size of a +bean. This bed is surmounted by one that possesses great interest +(Number 5 in section). It is composed of fine tufa, in which is +imbedded a great number of large angular fragments of trachyte, +some of which are more than three feet in diameter. It is the last +bed but one, the surface being composed of lightly coherent strata +of tufaceous ash, worn into an undulating surface by the action of +the elements. + +I believe there is but one explanation possible of the origin of +these strata, namely, that the great bed of trachyte at the base is +an ancient lava bed; that this, perhaps long after it was +consolidated, was covered by beds of ashes and scoriae thrown out +by a not far distant volcano, and that at last a great convulsion +broke through the trachyte bed and hurled the fragments over the +country along with dense volumes of dust and ashes. The angular +blocks of trachyte imbedded in the stratum Number 5 in section are +exactly the same in composition as the great bed below, and in them +I think we see the fragments of the rocks that once filled the +perpendicular-sided hollow now occupied by the lake. Looking at the +vast force required to hollow out the basin of the lake, by +blasting out the whole contents into the air--distributing them +over the country so that they have not been piled up in a volcanic +cone round the vent, but lie in comparatively level beds--I cannot +expect that this explanation will be readily received, nor should I +myself have advanced it if I could in any other way account for the +phenomena. Still, within historical times, there have been volcanic +outbursts, not of such magnitude, certainly, as was required to +excavate the basin of the lake of Masaya, but still of sufficient +extent to show that such an origin is not beyond the limits of +possibility. + +Thus, in the same line of volcanic energy, not far from the +boundary line of the States of Nicaragua and San Salvador, there +was an eruption of the volcano of Cosaguina, on the 20th of January +1835, when dense volumes of dust and ashes, and fragments of rocks, +were hurled up in the air and deposited over the country around. +The vast quantity of material thrown out by this explosion may be +gathered from the fact that, one hundred and twenty miles away, +near the volcano of San Miguel, the dust was so thick that it was +quite dark from four o'clock in the evening until nearly noon of +the next day; and even at that distance there was deposited a layer +of fine ashes four inches deep. The noise of the explosion was +heard at the city of Guatemala, four hundred miles to the westward, +and at Jamaica, eight hundred miles to the north-east. + +In St. Vincent, in the West Indies, there was a great eruption on +April 27th, 1812, which continued for three days, and was heard six +hundred and thirty miles away on the llanos of Caracas. It has been +so graphically narrated by Canon Kingsley that I shall once more +quote from his eloquent pages. "That single explosion relieved an +interior pressure upon the crust of the earth which had agitated +sea and land from the Azores to the West Indian Islands, the coasts +of Venezuela, the Cordillera of New Granada, and the valleys of the +Mississippi and Ohio. For nearly two years the earthquakes had +continued, when they culminated in one great tragedy, which should +be read at length in the pages of Humboldt. On March 26th, 1812, +when the people of Caracas were assembled in the churches, beneath +a still and blazing sky, one minute of earthquake sufficed to bury, +amid the ruins of the churches and houses, nearly ten thousand +souls. The same earthquake wrought terrible destruction along the +whole line of the northern Cordilleras, and was felt even at Santa +Fe de Bogota and Honda, one hundred and eighty leagues from +Caracas. But the end was not yet. While the wretched survivors of +Caracas were dying of fever and starvation, and wandering inland to +escape from ever-renewed earthquake shocks, among villages and +farms which, ruined like their own city, could give them no +shelter, the almost forgotten volcano of St. Vincent was muttering +in suppressed wrath. It had thrown out no lava since 1718, if, at +least, the eruption spoken of by Moreau de Jonnes took place in the +Souffriere. According to him, with a terrific earthquake, clouds of +ashes were driven into the air, with violent detonations from a +mountain situated at the eastern end of the island. When the +eruption had ceased, it was found that the whole mountain had +disappeared. Now there is no eastern end to St. Vincent nor any +mountain on the east coast, and the Souffriere is at the northern +end. It is impossible, meanwhile, that the wreck of such a mountain +should not have left traces visible and notorious to this day. May +not the truth be, that the Souffriere had once a lofty cone, which +was blasted away in 1718, leaving the present crater-ring of cliffs +and peaks; and that thus may be explained the discrepancies in the +accounts of its height, which Mr. Scrope gives as 4940 feet, and +Humboldt and Dr. Davy at 3000, a measurement which seems to me to +be more probably correct? The mountain is said to have been +slightly active in 1785. In 1812, its old crater had been for some +years (and is now) a deep blue lake, with walls of rock around, 800 +feet in height, reminding one traveller (Dr. Davy) of the lake of +Albano. But for twelve months it had given warning, by frequent +earthquake shocks, that it had its part to play in the great +subterranean battle between rock and steam; and on the 27th April +1812 the battle began." + +"A Negro boy--he is said to be still alive in St. Vincent--was +herding cattle on the mountain-side. A stone fell near him, and +then another. He fancied that other boys were pelting him from the +cliffs above, and began throwing stones in return. But the stones +fell thicker, and among them one and then another too large to have +been thrown by human hand. And the poor fellow woke up to the fact +that not a boy but the mountain was throwing stones at him; and +that the column of black cloud which was rising from the crater +above was not harmless vapours, but dust, and ash, and stone. He +turned and ran for his life, leaving the cattle to their fate, +while the steam mitrailleuse of the Titans--to which all man's +engines of destruction are but pop-guns--roared on for three days +and nights, covering the greater part of the island with ashes, +burying crops, breaking branches off the trees, and spreading ruin +from which several estates never recovered; and so the 30th of +April dawned in darkness which might be felt. + +"Meanwhile, on the same day, to change the scene of the campaign +two hundred and ten leagues, 'a distance,' as Humboldt says, 'equal +to that between Vesuvius and Paris,' the inhabitants, not only of +Caracas, but of Calabozo, situate in the midst of the llanos, over +a space of four thousand square leagues, were terrified by a +subterranean noise, which resembled frequent discharges of the +loudest cannon. It was accompanied by no shock, and, what is very +remarkable, was as loud on the coast as at eighty leagues inland; +and at Caracas, as well as at Calabozo, preparations were made to +put the place in defence against an enemy who seemed to be +advancing with heavy artillery. They might as well have copied the +St. Vincent herd-boy, and thrown their stones, too, at the Titans; +for the noise was, there can be no doubt, nothing else than the +final explosion in St. Vincent far away. The same explosion was +heard in Venezuela, the same at Martinique and Guadeloupe; but +there, too, there were no earthquake shocks. The volcanoes of the +two French islands lay quiet, and left their English brother to do +the work. On the same day, a stream of lava rushed down from the +mountain, reached the sea in four hours, and then all was over. The +earthquakes which had shaken for two years a sheet of the earth's +surface larger than half Europe was stilled by the eruption of this +single vent. + +"The strangest fact about this eruption was, that the mountain did +not make use of its old crater. The original vent must have become +so jammed and consolidated, in the few years between 1785 and 1812, +that it could not be reopened even by a steam-force the vastness of +which may be guessed at from the vastness of the area which it had +shaken for two years. So when the eruption was over it was found +that the old crater-lake, incredible as it may seem, remained +undisturbed, as far as has been ascertained. But close to it, and +separated only by a knife-edge of rock some 700 feet in height, and +so narrow that, as I was assured by one who had seen it, it is +dangerous to crawl along it, a second crater, nearly as large as +the first, had been blasted out, the bottom of which, in like +manner, is now filled with water. + +"The day after the explosion, 'Black Sunday,' gave a proof, but no +measure, of the enormous force which had been exerted. Eighty miles +to windward lies Barbados. All Saturday a heavy cannonading had +been heard to the eastward. The English and French fleets were +surely engaged. The soldiers were called out, the batteries manned, +but the cannonade died away, and all went to bed in wonder. On the +1st of May the clocks struck six; but the sun did not, as usual in +the tropics, answer to the call. The darkness was still intense, +and grew more intense as the morning wore on. A slow and silent +rain of impalpable dust was falling over the whole island. + +"The trade-wind had fallen dead; the everlasting roar of the surf +was gone; and the only noise was the crashing of the branches +snapped by the weight of the clammy dust. About one o'clock the +veil began to lift, a lurid sunlight stared in from the horizon, +but all was black overhead. Gradually the dust-cloud drifted away; +the island saw the sun once more, and saw itself inches deep in +black, and in this case fertilising, dust. + +"Those who will recollect that Barbados is eighty miles to windward +of St. Vincent, and that a strong breeze from east-north-east is +usually blowing from the former island to the latter, will be able +to imagine, not to measure, the force of an explosion which must +have blown the dust several miles into the air above the region of +the trade-wind. Whether into a totally calm stratum or into that +still higher one in which the heated south-west wind is hurrying +continually from the tropics toward the pole."* (* "At Last" by +Charles Kingsley volume 1 page 90.) + +I have quoted this graphic account of the great volcanic eruption +of St. Vincent in 1812 from Canon Kingsley's delightful work to +impress on my readers, in more eloquent language than I can +command, the fact of great explosions having taken place in recent +times similar in character, though much inferior in extent and +force, to that by which I believe the great basin of the Lake of +Masaya and similar basins in the same and adjoining Pacific +provinces have been blasted out. I do not shut my eyes to the fact +that great as was the force in operation in 1812 at St. Vincent, +that necessary to excavate the great chasm at Masaya was +incomparably greater. No one is more disinclined than I am to +invoke the aid of greater natural forces in former times than are +now in existence. But I believe there is good reason to infer that +at the close of the glacial period volcanic energy was much more +intense than now. So strained is the earth's crust at some parts +that it is surmised that even a great difference in the pressure of +the atmosphere such as occurs during a cyclone, may be sufficient +to bring on an earthquake or a volcanic eruption already imminent. +Whether this be so or not, there can be no doubt that at the +melting away of the ice of the glacial period there was an enormous +change in the strains on the earth's crust. Ice that had been piled +up mountains high at the poles and along the chain of the Andes all +through tropical America melted away and ran down to the ocean +beds. This great transference of weight could not have been +accomplished without many rendings of the earth's crust and many +outpourings of lava and volcanic outbursts. Let us reflect, too, +that not only was an enormous mass of matter, before lying over the +poles, removed nearer to the equator, and many mountain-chains +relieved of the ice of thousands and tens of thousands of years, +but that there must have been an actual change in the earth's +centre of gravity. All our experience shows that the ice was more +developed on some meridians than others; probably nowhere in the +whole world did it lie so thick as along the American continents; +and everywhere it must have been greater over the land than over +the sea. When it assumed its liquid form, and arranged itself +freely according to its specific gravity, the centre of gravity of +the earth must have been effectively changed. All who have studied +the present statical condition of the earth's crust will readily +admit that such a change might produce greater volcanic outbursts +than any known to history. + +Then when we turn to the most ancient traditions of the human race +in both the old and the new worlds, and find everywhere fire and +water linked together in the accounts of the great catastrophes +that are said nearly to have annihilated the human race, I for one +am inclined to accept them, and to believe that when, in the "Leo +Amontli," as translated by Brasseur de Bourbourg, we read of "the +volcanic convulsions that lasted four days and four nights," of +"the thunder and lightning that came out of the sea," of "the +mountains that were rising and sinking when the great deluge +happened," and that when Plato on the other side of the Atlantic +speaks of the earthquakes that accompanied the engulfment of +Atlantis, we hear the dim echoes that have been sounding down +through all time from that remote past, of the fearful volcanoes +and earthquakes that terrified mankind at the time of the great +cataclysm. + +In these remarks on the origin of some of the lakes of Nicaragua I +except the largest ones, namely, the lake of Managua and the great +lake of Nicaragua, which probably occupy areas of depression +produced by the large amount of material abstracted from below and +thrown out by ancient volcanoes. + + +CHAPTER 20. + +Indian population of the country lying between the great lakes + of Nicaragua and the Pacific. +Discovery and conquest of Nicaragua by the Spaniards. +Cruelties of the Spaniards. +The Indians of Western Central America all belonged to one stock. +Decadence of Mexican civilisation before the arrival of the Spaniards. +The designation "Nahuatls" proposed to include all the Mexican, + Western Central American, and Peruvian races that had descended + from the same ancient stock. +The Nahuatls distinct from the Caribs on one side and the Red Indians + on the other. +Discussion of the question of the peopling of America. + +I RODE for some distance around the Lake of Masaya, and reached an +Indian village named Nandasme, about two leagues from the city. As +usual the streets were laid out at right angles, and the houses of +the Indians embowered in trees, many of which are grown entirely +for the beautiful odoriferous flowers they produce. There are +several other Indian villages around the lake, from each of which +paths have been cut through the forest down to the water, along +which the women are constantly ascending and descending to fill +their vessels for the supply of their houses. + +All the fertile country lying between the great lakes and the +Pacific was densely populated at the time of the conquest, and it +was not far from Masaya that the great chief, Diriangan, lived, who +tried, but tried in vain, to stem the onward course of the +Spaniards. Gil Gonzales de Avila was in command of the first +expedition sent to explore the country of Nicaragua. He sailed from +Panama with one hundred followers and four horses, the latter, +auxiliaries whose aid was never dispensed with in these expeditions +on account of the superstitious terror with which the unaccustomed +sight of a man and a horse, apparently joined together, inspired +the Indians. He landed somewhere on the Gulf of Nicoya, near which +he entered the country of a powerful chief, after whom the gulf was +named. Nicoya entertained the Spaniards courteously, supplied them +with food, and embraced the Christian religion, being baptised +himself along with all his people, six thousand in number. + +Pushing on to the northward for fifty leagues, Gonzales entered the +territories of a great chief named Nicaragua, whose country +comprised the present province of Rivas. Nicaragua had been +informed of "the sharpness of the Spanish swords" and received +Gonzales with hospitality, presenting him with much gold, equal to +"25,000 pieces of eight," and garments and plumes of feathers. He +asked the Spaniards many shrewd questions: about the flood, and +about the sun, moon, and stars; their motion, quality, and +distance; what was the cause of night and day and the blowing of +the winds? how the Spaniards got all their information about +heaven; who brought it to them, and if the messenger came down on a +rainbow? We are told that "Gonzales answered to the best of his +ability, commending the rest to God." Probably his interrogator +knew more of the visible heavenly bodies than he did, for Nicaragua +was of the Aztec race, a people who knew the true theory of +eclipses, and possessed an astronomical calendar of great accuracy. + +Pedrarias, who was then in command at Panama, stimulated by the +accounts of the rich country that Gonzales had discovered, sent +Hernando de Cordova in 1522 to subdue and settle the country of +Nicaragua. Pascual de Andagoya tells the story of the rich land, +"populous and fertile, yielding supplies of maize, and many fowls +of the country, and certain small dogs which they also eat, and +many deer and fish. This is a land of abundance of good fruits and +of honey and wax, wherewith all the neighbouring countries are +supplied. The bees are numerous, some of them yellow, and these do +not sting." The poor Indians, too, could not sting, they were +powerless with their coats of feathers and swords of stone against +the arms of the Spaniards, who treated them like a hive of +stingless bees, turning them out and eating up their riches. "They +had a great quantity of cotton cloths, and they held their markets +in the open squares, where they traded. They had a manufactory +where they made cordage of a sort of nequen, which is like carded +flax; the cord was beautiful and stronger than that of Spain, and +their cotton canvas was excellent. The Indians were very civilised +in their way of life, like those of Mexico, for they were a people +who had come from that country, and they had nearly the same +language." + +They had even in one direction reached a pitch of civilisation that +some of our philanthropists are only now hoping for. Women's rights +were acknowledged, and, if anything, they appear to have had too +much of them. Pascual says: "They had many beautiful women. The +husbands were so much under subjection that if they made their +wives angry they were turned out of doors, and the wives even +raised their hands against them."* (* This and the other quotation +are from the "Narrative of Pascual de Andagoya" translated by C.R. +Markham for the Hakluyt Society.) Much have the Indians changed +since then under the dominion of the Spaniard, and now all the toil +and labour fall to the lot of the weaker sex. One custom still +remaining amongst the Masaya Indians may be a relic of the old days +of woman's superiority. When they marry, the goods that the wife +had before her marriage still belong to her, and if she had a mule +or horse, and her husband had none, he cannot use hers without her +permission. + +The poor Indians were ground down to the dust by the Spaniards with +pitiless barbarities. All their possessions were seized, and they +themselves exported to Panama and Peru, and sold as slaves to work +at the mines. Even in Pascual's time the country had been greatly +depopulated by these means. The people were harmless and patient, +but there was a noble independence about them that could not be +eradicated, and the Spaniards found it was cheaper to bring the +negro from Africa, with his light and careless nature, than to try +to enslave a people who did not resist, but who sought a refuge +from their persecutors in the grave rather than continue in +slavery. I shall not harrow the feelings of my readers with the +mass of treachery, avarice, blasphemy, and horrible cruelties with +which the conquerors rewarded the noble people who entertained them +so courteously. To me the conquest of Mexico, Central America, and +Peru appears one of the darkest pages in modern history. One virtue +indeed shone out--undaunted courage; and the human mind is so +constituted that this single redeeming point irresistibly enlists +our sympathies. But for this, Pizarro would be execrated as a +monster of cruelty, and even the fame of Cortez, immeasurably +superior as he was to the rest of the conquerors, would be +tarnished with innumerable deeds of violence, cruelty, and +treachery. + +As has been already mentioned, the Pacific provinces of Nicaragua +were inhabited by a people closely related to the Mexicans, and +their language was nearly the same. According to Squier, who has +more than any other traveller studied the different races, the +Indians living at the island of Omotepec at the present time are of +pure Mexican or Aztec stock. So many of the names of towns in the +central provinces are also of Aztec origin, that they must have had +a considerable footing there also. They called the older +inhabitants, whom they had probably dispossessed and driven back to +the interior, "Chontalli," "barbarians," and hence the name of the +province of Chontales, where these tribes still existed in +considerable numbers at the time of the conquest. + +All these races, differing as they did in language and in the +degree of civilisation at which they had arrived, were closely +affiliated.* (* According to Prescott the Aztecs and cognate races +believed their ancestors came from the north-west, and were +preceded by the real civilisers--the Toltecs.) The American +archaeologist, Mr. John D. Baldwin, is of opinion that they were +the descendants of indigenes. That at some very remote period, +before they had attained a high degree of civilisation, they +separated into two branches, one of which occupied Peru, the other +Central America and Mexico. Both branches advanced greatly in +civilisation, and both afterwards deteriorated by being conquered +by ruder but more warlike people belonging to the same stock. From +Mexico the ancient people spread northward and southward. The +northern emigrants peopled the banks of the Mississippi, and were +the mound-builders. The southern emigrants peopled Central America. +Then came an immigration from the far north-west, of nomadic tribes +from north-eastern Asia, who drove out the mound-builders. The +latter retreated back to Mexico, that their fathers had left ages +before, and were the ancient Toltecs. Later on, the Aztecs, who +were the southern branch of the ancient Mexicans, invaded Mexico +from the south, and supplanted the Toltecs. Another branch of the +same ancient stock were the Mayas of Yucatan.* (* "Ancient America" +by J.D. Baldwin, A.M.) + +Looking then far back we have, according to the old traditions, a +few people who had escaped a great cataclysm, when fire and water +both fought against mankind; remnants perhaps of many tribes, who, +when the lowlands were overwhelmed, escaped to the mountains, +speaking a variety of languages, and bringing with them some +remembrances of the civilisation of their ancient homes. They +increased and multiplied in their new abodes. Some in Mexico, some +in Yucatan, and others in Peru arrived at a great pitch of +civilisation. Ages passed away, they had developed into several +distinct peoples, all showing traces of their common descent, but +having branched off in different directions in their lines of +progress; all underlaid by a few great principles: in their +religion, by the worship of the heavenly bodies; in their +government, by complete and absolute obedience to their kings and +leaders; in their mode of life all agriculturists and dwellers in +regular towns and villages. They spread northward and occupied the +valley of the Mississippi, and in summer time sent off large bodies +of workmen to extract the copper of Lake Superior. Then came the +nomadic tribes from the north-west, the Red Indians of the present +day, and drove out the mound-builders, who were turned back on +their ancient home, of which they had lost all recollection, and +where they appeared as immigrants and invaders. In the subjugation +of the ancient Choluans by the Toltecs, and afterwards the Toltecs +by the Aztecs, we see what has often occurred in the world's +history--a highly civilised race conquered by a ruder people, who +had advanced farther in the arts of war, and so overcame the people +who had advanced farther in the arts of peace. Therefore the +Choluans were replaced by the more warlike Toltecs, the Toltecs by +the ruder Aztecs, and those who look at the miserable towns and +villages of the present inhabitants alongside of the ruins of the +grand edifices, the roads and aqueducts of ancient Mexico and Peru, +may say, the Aztecs by the less civilised Spaniards. + +The term Brown Indians has been proposed to distinguish the races +of Mexico, Central and South America, from the Red Indians of the +north; but it is a too general term, as it includes not only the +highly-civilised Aztecs, Mayas, and Peruvians, but the much ruder +Caribs of the eastern coasts of South America and the Antilles, who +were widely removed from them in race and language. Squier has +proposed the term Nahuatls for the people of Mexico and Central +America, and if it might be strained to include the Peruvians also, +and all the peoples descended from that ancient civilised race that +had spread northward and southward, it would supply a want that I +have greatly felt in studying these peoples. The Nahuatls--I use +the term in this extended sense--are one of three great Indian +races that occupy the greater part of North and South America. They +had the Red Indians to the north of them, the savage Caribs to the +south-east. From both these races they were profoundly different, +though not in equal degrees. To the Red Indian they have scarcely +any affinity, excepting such as had been brought about by the +nomads, who came down from the north-west, taking the women of the +Nahuatls, whom they conquered, for their wives, and thus bringing +about some points of structural resemblance, such as are to be seen +in a lesser degree in the citizens of the United States, through +whose veins the blood of the half-breeds of the earlier settlements +still courses. In Florida, and around the northern side of the Gulf +of Mexico, there had probably been a greater fusion of the two +races. But in origin the two peoples are distinct; the one came +from north-eastern Asia, the other, I believe, from a tropical +country joined on to the present continent, that was submerged at +the breaking up of the glacial period. + +Was that country to the east or the west of the present continent? +Was it Atlantis, or was it a submerged country in the Pacific? I am +inclined to the latter opinion, and to believe that the inhabitants +of ancient Atlantis were the ancestors of the warlike and +adventurous Caribs. The Nahuatls, in their peaceful dispositions +and agricultural pursuits, are much more nearly allied to the +Polynesians, and their present preponderance on the western coast +favours the idea that they had a western origin.* (* I have already +at page 46 alluded to the fundamental difference in the food of the +Nahuatls and the Caribs.) + +The Caribs, who were found in possession of most of the West Indian +Islands, and of the eastern coast of South America, were a warlike, +fierce, and enterprising race. Even in Columbus's time they were +found making long voyages to ravage the villages of the +peace-loving Nahuatls. If there be any truth in the story told to +Solon by the priests of Sais, they are a much more likely people to +have invaded the countries around the Mediterranean than the +Nahuatls. What seems foreign in the customs and beliefs of the +latter appears to have come from the west--from China and +Japan--whilst there are some few points of affinity between the +Caribs and the peoples of Europe and Africa. Thus, Mr. Hyde Clarke +states that the greater part of Brazil is covered by the Guarani or +Tupi languages, which are allied to the Agaw of the Nile region, +the Abkass of Caucasia, etc. + +There is one singular custom amongst the Carib races of America, +and amongst some ancient peoples in Asia, Europe, and Africa, the +existence of which on both sides of the Atlantic cannot, I think, +be explained excepting on the theory that there was a remote +intercourse or affinity amongst the peoples who practised it. I +allude to the singular custom of the "couvade," in which the father +is put to bed on the birth of a child. I take the following account +of this curious practice from Mr. Tylor's philosophical "Early +History of Mankind". + +The couvade is developed to the highest degree in South America and +the West Indies. The following account is given by Du Tertre of the +Carib couvade in the West Indies. When a child is born, the mother +goes presently to work, but the father begins to complain, and +takes to his hammock, and there he is visited as though he were +sick, and undergoes a course of dieting "which would cure of the +gout the most replete of Frenchmen." The imaginary invalid must +repose and take careful nursing and nourishing food. In Brazil, on +the birth of a child, the father was put to bed and fed with light +food, whilst the mother was unattended to, and went about her work. +The practice of the couvade was universal, in some form or other, +amongst the Carib races, but was unknown amongst the peoples whom I +have called the Nahuatls. + +On the other side of the Atlantic the couvade has been noticed in +West Africa, and "amongst the mountain tribes known as the +Miau-tsze, who are supposed to be, like the Sontals and Gonds of +India, remnants of a race driven into the mountains by the present +dwellers of the plains." "Another Asiatic people, recorded to have +practised the couvade, are the Tibareni of Pontus, at the south of +the Black Sea, among whom, when the child was born, the father lay +groaning in bed with his head tied up, while the mother tended him +with food and prepared his baths." In Europe the couvade may be +traced up from ancient into modern times in the neighbourhood of +the Pyrenees. Above 1800 years ago Strabo mentions the story that, +among the Iberians of the north of Spain, the women, after the +birth of a child, tend their husbands, putting them to bed instead +of going themselves; and this account is confirmed by the evidence +of the practice amongst the modern Basques. In Biscay, says Michel, +"in valleys whose population recalls in its usages the infancy of +society, the women rise immediately after childbirth and attend to +the duties of the household, while the husband goes to bed, taking +the baby with him, and thus receives the neighbours' compliments." +"It has been found also in Navarre, and on the French side of the +Pyrenees. Legrand d'Aussy mentions that in an old French fable the +king of Torelose is 'au lit et en couche' when Aucassin arrives and +takes a stick to him and makes him promise to abolish the custom in +his realm. The same author goes on to state that the practice is +said still to exist in some cantons of Bearn, where it is called +'faire la couvade.' Lastly, Diodorus Siculus notices the same habit +of the wife being neglected, and the husband put to bed and treated +as the patient among the natives of Corsica about the beginning of +the Christian era." + +For a fuller account of the couvade I must refer my readers to +Tylor's "Early History of Mankind", from which I have so largely +quoted; his summing up of this curious custom is profound and +philosophical. He says: "The isolated occurrences of a custom among +particular races, surrounded by other races that ignore it, may be +sometimes to the ethnologist like those outlying patches of strata +from which the geologist infers that the formation they belong to +once spread over intervening districts, from which it has been +removed by denudation; or like the geographical distribution of +plants, from which the botanist argues that they have travelled +from a distant home. The way in which the couvade appears in the +new and old worlds is especially interesting from this point of +view. Among the savage tribes of South America it is, as it were, +at home, in a mental atmosphere, at least, not so different from +that in which it came into being as to make it a mere meaningless, +absurd superstition. If the culture of the Caribs and Brazilians, +even before they came under our knowledge, had advanced too far to +allow the couvade to grow up fresh among them, they at least +practised it with some consciousness of its meaning; it had not +fallen out of unison with their mental state. Here we find, +covering a vast compact area of country, the mental stratum, so to +speak, to which the couvade most nearly belongs. But if we look at +its appearances across from China to Corsica the state of things is +widely different; no theory of its origin can be drawn from the +Asiatic and European accounts to compete for a moment with that +which flows naturally from the observations of the missionaries, +who found it not a mere dead custom, but a live growth of savage +psychology. The peoples, too, who have kept it up in Asia and +Europe seem to have been, not the great progressive, spreading, +conquering, civilising nations of the Aryan, Semitic, and Chinese +stocks. It cannot be ascribed even to the Tartars, for the Lapps, +Finns, and Hungarians appear to know nothing of it. It would seem +rather to have belonged to that ruder population, or series of +populations, whose fate it has been to be driven by the great races +out of the fruitful lands to take refuge in mountains and deserts. +The retainers of the couvade in Asia are the Miau-tsze of China and +the savage Tibareni of Pontus. In Europe they are the Basque race +of the Pyrenees, whose peculiar manners, appearance, and language, +coupled with their geographical position, favour the view that they +are the remains of a people driven westward and westward, by the +pressure of more powerful tribes, till they came to these last +mountains, with nothing but the Atlantic beyond. Of what stock were +the original barbarian inhabitants of Corsica we do not know; but +their position, and the fact that they, too, had the couvade, would +suggest their having been a branch of the same family who escaped +their persecutors by putting out to sea and settling in their +mountainous island."* (* E.B. Tylor "Early History of Mankind" +pages 288-297.) + +Let us now return to the Nahuatls, and see if they present any +affinities to the nations of the old world. Humboldt's well-known +argument, in which he sought to prove the Asiatic origin of the +Mexicans, was based upon the remarkable resemblance of their system +of reckoning cycles of years to that found in use in different +parts of Asia. Both the Asiatic and Mexican systems of cycles are +most artificial in their construction, and troublesome in practice, +and they are very unlikely to have arisen independently on two +continents. Humboldt says: "I inferred the probability of the +western nations of the new continent having had communication with +the east of Asia long before the arrival of the Spaniards from a +comparison of the Mexican and Tibeto-Japanese calendars, from the +correct orientation of the steps of the pyramidal elevations +towards the different quarters of the heavens, and from the ancient +myths and traditions of the four ages or four epochs of destruction +of the world, and the dispersion of mankind after a great flood of +waters."* (* Humboldt "Aspects of Nature" volume 2 174.) + +Whilst there are undoubtedly many curious coincidences in the +customs of the ancient Mexicans and the peoples of eastern Asia, +there are, on the other hand, so many differences that I believe it +is safer to infer that they were essentially distinct in origin, +and that there had been communication between the two peoples in +very early times, but that the foreign influence in Mexico was +extremely feeble, and too weak to check the growth of an +essentially indigenous civilisation. Possibly sun and serpent +worship, baptism, and the use of the cross as a sacred emblem, were +the survival of religious beliefs that had obtained in the very +cradle of the human race. We cannot, however, believe that mankind +had, before the separation and dispersion of the eastern and +western nations, attained to any great astronomical knowledge, and +it is quite possible that the extraordinary coincidences between +the chronological and astronomical systems of the Nahuatls and the +eastern Asiatics might have been brought about by some of the +latter having been stranded on the American shore. + +Humboldt argued that, "as the western coasts of the American +continent trend from north-west to south-east, and the eastern +coasts of Asia in the opposite direction, the distance between the +two continents in 45 degrees of latitude, or in the temperate zone, +which is most favourable to mental development, is too considerable +to admit of the probability of such an accidental settlement taking +place in that latitude. We must then assume the first landing to +have been made in the inhospitable climate of from 55 to 65 +degrees, and that the civilisation thus introduced, like the +general movement of population in America, has proceeded by +successive stations from north to south."* (* Humboldt "Aspects of +Nature" volume 2 176.) If we are obliged to assume that the people +themselves came from the old world, such an origin might be sought +for them as well as any other; but all research since Humboldt's +time has favoured the idea that there are no signs of the Nahuatls +being a newer people than the nations of Asia. And if it is not the +derivation of the people, but of some coincidences in their +observances and knowledge, we may seek for it some simpler solution +than the migration of a whole people down through North to Central +America. That solution is, I believe, to be found in the fact, not +taken into consideration by Humboldt, that the great Japanese +current, after traversing the eastern coast of Japan, sends one +large branch nearly directly east across the Pacific to the coast +of California, and an offshoot from it passes southward along the +Mexican coast and as far as the western coast of Central America. +In Kotzebue's narrative of his voyage round the world, he says: +"Looking over Adams' diary, I found the following notice--'Brig +Forester, March 24, 1815, at sea, upon the coast of California, +latitude 32 degrees 45 seconds north, longitude 133 degrees 3 +minutes west. We saw this morning, at a short distance, a ship, the +confused state of whose sails showed that they wanted assistance. +We bent our course towards her, and made out the distressed vessel +to be Japanese, which had lost both mast and helm. Only three dying +Japanese, the captain and two sailors, were found in the vessel. We +took these unfortunate people on board our brig, and, after four +months' nursing, they entirely recovered. We learned from these +people that they had sailed from the harbour of Osaka, in Japan, +bound for another seaport, but were overtaken by a storm, in which +they lost the helm and mast. Till that day their ship had been +drifting about, a mere butt for the winds and waves, during +seventeen months; and of thirty-five men only three remained, all +the others having died of hunger.'" Is it not likely that in +ancient times such accidents may have occurred again and again, and +that information of the astronomical and chronological systems of +eastern Asia may thus have been brought to the Nahuatls, who, from +the ease with which they embraced the religion of the Spaniards, +are shown to have been open to receive foreign ideas? + +The three arguments on which Humboldt principally relied to prove +that a communication had existed between the east of Asia and the +Mexicans may be explained without adopting his theory that the +Nahuatls had travelled round from the old world. The remarkable +resemblance of the Mexican and Tibeto-Japanese calendars might +result from the accidental stranding of a Japanese or Chinese +vessel on their shores, bringing to them some man learned in the +astronomy of the old world. The correct orientation of the sides of +their pyramidal temples was but the result of their great +astronomical knowledge and of the worship of the sun. And the +resemblance of their traditions of four epochs of destruction and +of the dispersion of mankind after a great flood of waters, arose +from the fact that the great catastrophes that befell the human +race at the melting of the ice of the glacial period were universal +over the world. + + +CHAPTER 21. + +Return to Santo Domingo. +The birds of Chontales. +The insects of Chontales. +Mimetic forms. +Departure from the mines. +Nicaragua as a field for emigration. +Journey to Greytown. +Return to England. + +HAVING finished our business at Masaya, we rode back to Granada on +the evening of the second day, and the next morning took a passage +in a fine steamboat that Mr. Hollenbeck, of Greytown, had placed on +the lake to convey passengers and goods between Granada and San +Carlos, at the head of the river San Juan. We arrived at San Ubaldo +at two o'clock, and found our mules safe but foot-sore, through +travelling over the rocky hills from Santo Claro. The San Jose +plains were in a dreadfully muddy state, and for five miles we went +plunging through the swamps. Most of the mules fell several times, +and we had great difficulty in getting them up again. We passed two +travellers with their mules up to their girths in mud, and +incapable of extricating themselves, but could not help them, as we +dared not allow ours to stand, or they would stick fast also. We +had met, at San Ubaldo, the son of Dr. Seemann, on his way home to +England. His pack-mule had stuck fast in the plains the night +before, and he had passed the night sitting on his boxes, half sunk +in the mud, and attacked by myriads of mosquitoes that had covered +his hands, face, and neck with blisters. + +It was two hours after dark before we got across the weary plains. +We found shelter for the night at a small hut on their border, +where, for a consideration, the occupants gave up to us their +mosquito curtains and stretchers, and sat up themselves. I suppose +in such situations people get used to the mosquitoes, but to us +they were intolerable. They buzzed around us and settled on our +hands and face, if the former were not incessantly employed driving +them off. Those of our party who had no curtains had a lively time +of it. A gentleman of colour, from Jamaica, who was returning to +the mines after escorting young Mr. Seemann to the port, and who +could find no place to rest in, excepting an old hammock, kept his +long arms going round like a windmill, every now and then wakening +every one up with a loud crack, as he tried to bring his flat hand +down on one of his tormentors. A mosquito, however, is not to be +caught, even in the dark, in such a way. It holds up its two hinder +legs as feelers; the current of air driven before a descending blow +warns it of the impending danger, and it darts off to one side, to +renew its attack somewhere else. The most certain way to catch them +in the dark is to move the outstretched finger cautiously towards +where one is felt, until a safe striking distance is reached. But +what is the use of killing one when they are in myriads? None +whatever, excepting that it is some occupation for the sleepless +victim. The black gentleman was a thinker and a scholar, and used +to amuse himself at the mines by writing letters addressed to Mr. +Jacob Elam, Esquire (himself), in which he informed himself that he +had been left legacies of ten, twenty, or thirty thousand pounds, a +few thousand more or less costing nothing. Pondering during that +weary night over the purpose of creation, he startled me about one +in the morning with the question, "Mr. Belt, sir, can you tell me +what is the use of mosquitoes?" + +"To enjoy themselves and be happy, Jacob." + +"Ah, sir! if I was only a mosquito!" said Jacob, as he came down +with another fruitless whack. + +At the first cock-crow we were up, and as the cheerful dawn lighted +up the east, we were in our saddles, and the miseries of the night +Were but the jests of the morning. The mules even seemed to be +eager to leave that dismal swamp, where malaria hung in the air, +and mosquitoes did their best to drive mankind away. The dry +savannahs were before us, our hearts were young as the morning, the +tormenting spirits of the night had flown away with the darkness, +and jest and banter enlivened the road. We reached Acoyapo at nine +o'clock; my good friend Don Dolores Bermudez lent me a fresh mule, +and, riding all day, I reached Santo Domingo in the evening. + +I have little more of interest to relate. Years had sped on at +Santo Domingo; and the time approached when I should be set free +from the worries and responsibilities attending the supervision of +gold-mines, the products of which were just at that tantalising +point, on the verge between profit and loss, that made their +superintendence a most irksome and anxious duty. The difficulty of +the task was vastly increased by the capital of the company having +been originally wasted in the erection of machinery that proved to +be useless; so that financial questions constantly retarded the +completion of the works. This book has not been written, however, +to tell the story of the struggles of a mining engineer; and I turn +aside with pleasure from this slight digression to say what little +more I have to tell of my natural history experiences. + +I did not, until near the conclusion of my stay, commence +collecting the skins of birds, contenting myself with watching and +noting their habits. I obtained the skins of ninety-two species +only; but small as this collection was, it proved an important +addition to the knowledge of the bird-fauna of Nicaragua. The +eminent ornithologist, Mr. Osbert Salvin, published in the "Ibis" +for July 1872 a list of seventy-three species that I had up to that +time sent to England. Altogether, only one hundred and fifty +species, including those that I had collected, were known from +Nicaragua. Fragmentary as our knowledge is, it is sufficient, in +Mr. Salvin's opinion, to indicate, with tolerable accuracy, to +which of the two sub-provinces of the Central American fauna the +forest region of Chontales belongs. The birds I sent to England +proved nearly conclusively that the Costa-Rican sub-province +included Chontales in Nicaragua, and that the boundary between it +and the sub-province of Southern Mexico and Guatemala must be +sought for more to the north-west. + +Of the southern species, which in Chontales find their northern +limit, so far as is known, there are in my small collection +thirty-two species, whilst belonging to the northern sub-province, +and not known to range further south, there are only seven species; +showing that the connection with Costa Rica and the south is much +closer than that with Guatemala and the north, and that the +boundary between the two sub-provinces is not found, as was +supposed, in the depression of the isthmus occupied by the great +lakes and their outlet the San Juan river, but must exist further +towards, if not in, Honduras. Mr. Salvin says, "What I suspect to +be the case, though I cannot as yet bring evidence to prove it, is, +that the forests of Chontales spread uninterruptedly into Costa +Rica, but that towards the north and north-west a decided break +occurs, and that this break determines the range of the prevalent +Costa Rican and Guatemalan forest forms."* (* "The Ibis" July 1872 +page 312.) I can confirm Mr. Salvin's supposition. The San Juan +river forms no greater break in the forest than a dozen other +rivers that run through it and fall into the Atlantic. But a +decided interruption does occur to the north-west. It is found in +the valleys of Humuya and Goascoran in Honduras, which, along with +the central plain of Comayagua, constitute a great transverse +valley running north and south from sea to sea, and cutting +completely through the chain of the Cordilleras.* (* Squier "States +of Central America" page 681.) The highest point of this pass is +2850 feet above the sea, and the country around is composed of +undulating savannahs and plains covered with grass. The Gulf of +Honduras, cutting deeply into the continent, also plays an +important part in preventing the intermingling of the faunas of the +two sub-provinces, but the principal barrier is the termination of +the great Atlantic forest north-westward, which even at Cape +Gracias begins to give place to plains and savannahs next the +coast. + +(PLATE 25. LONGICORN BEETLES OF CHONTALES. + 1. Evander nobilis, Bates. + 2. Gymnocerus beltii, Bates. + 3. Polyrhaphis fabricii, Thom. + 4. Deliathis nivea, Bates. + 5. Taeniotes praeclarus, Bates. + 6. Chalastinus rubrocinctus, Bates. + 7. Cosmisoma Titania, Bates. + 8. Carneades superba, Bates. + 9. Amphionyca princeps, Bates.) + +My entomological collections were much more complete than my +collections of birds, especially those of the butterflies and +beetles.* [* The author's bird and insect collections were +purchased at his death by Messrs Godman and Salvin who also +acquired from Mr. H.W. Bates the types and other specimens of +coleoptera described by him which had not remained in the original +collection. These are all now in the British Museum, together with +the Hewitson bequest, in which are many of the lepidoptera types. +It may not be out of place to add that Mr. Hewitson left in his +will the sum of two hundred pounds to Belt in recognition of the +way in which the latter's collections had been placed at his +service.] Mr. W.C. Hewitson has described twenty-five new species, +but no list of the whole of the butterflies known from Nicaragua +has yet been published. In Coleoptera I made large collections, but +the extensive families of the Elateridae, Lamellicorns, and others +are still uncatalogued, and very many species remain to be +described. The only beetles that have been catalogued as yet with +sufficient completeness to warrant any general conclusions are the +Longicorns. I collected about 300 different species, and Mr. H.W. +Bates has enumerated 242 of these in a paper "On the Longicorn +Coleoptera of Chontales, Nicaragua," published in the "Transactions +of the Entomological Society" for 1872. In an interesting summary +of the results he gives the following analysis of the range of the +species:-- + +Peculiar to Chontales: 133 species. + +Common to Chontales and Mexico: 38 species. + +Common to Do. and the West India Islands: 5 species. + +Common to Do. and the United States: 5 species. + +Common to Do. and New Grenada or Venezuela: 24 species. + +Common to Do. and the Amazon Region: 22 species. + +Common to Do. and South Brazil: 10 species. + +Generally distributed in Tropical America: 5 species. + +Total: 242 species. + +Omitting the peculiar species and those generally distributed in +Tropical America, we have thus forty-three that are found in +Chontales and in Mexico or the United States, and sixty-one that +are found in Chontales and countries lying to the southward. The +preponderance of southern forms is not so great as in the birds, +but when we reflect on the large number of peculiar species, and +that the Longicorns of the Atlantic slope of Costa Rica are yet +scarcely known, it appears likely that many of the Chontales +species will be found ranging southward across the San Juan river, +and that the Insect fauna will be shown to have the same relations +as the Bird fauna; for, as the Atlantic forest continues unbroken +much further southward than northward, so will the insects peculiar +to the forest region have a greater range in that direction. + +Mr. Hollick has beautifully drawn on wood a few of the +characteristic Longicorns of Chontales, all of them, with one +exception (Polyrhaphis fabricii), being as yet only known from that +province, but probably extending into Costa Rica. + +One of these, the lovely little Cosmisoma Titania, Number 7 in +Plate 25, has been appropriately named after the Queen of the +Fairies by Mr. Bates. It was first found by Mr. Janson, junior, who +came out to Chontales purposely to collect insects; and I +afterwards obtained it in great numbers. The use of the curious +brushes on the antennae is not known. Another longicorn, about the +same size (Coremia hirtipes), has its two hindmost legs greatly +lengthened, and furnished with brushes: one I saw on a branch was +flourishing these in the air, and I thought at first they were two +black flies hovering over the branch, my attention being taken from +the body of the beetle by the movement of the brushes. + +Another fine longicorn, figured in Plate 25, Deliathis nivea, looks +as if made of pure white porcelain spotted with black. It is a rare +beetle, one or two specimens each season being generally all that +are taken. It is usually found on the leaves of young trees from +twelve to twenty feet from the ground. I have taken the rather +heavy-bodied female by throwing a stone at it and causing it to +fall within reach, but the male is more active on the wing, and it +was long before I obtained a specimen. + +(PLATE 26. LEAF INSECT.) + +(PLATE 27. MOSS INSECT.) + +Amongst the insects of Chontales none are more worthy of notice +than the many curious species of Orthoptera that look like green +and faded leaves of trees. I have already described one species +that resembles a green leaf, and so much so that it even deceived +the acute senses of the foraging ants; other species, belonging to +a closely-related genus (Pterochroza), imitate leaves in every +stage of decay, some being faded-green, blotched with yellow; +others, as in the species figured, resemble a brown withered leaf, +the resemblance being increased by a transparent hole through both +wings that looks like a piece taken out of the leaf. In many +butterflies that resemble leaves on the under side of their wings, +the wings being raised and closed together when at rest so as to +hide the bright colours of the upper surface, there are similar +transparent spots that imitate holes; and others again are jagged +at the edge, as if pieces had been taken out of them. Many +chrysalides also have mirror-like spots that resemble holes; and +one that I found hanging from the under side of a leaf had a real +hole through it, formed by a horn that projected from the thorax +and doubled back to the body, leaving a space between. Another +insect, of which I only found two specimens, had a wonderful +resemblance to a piece of moss, amongst which it concealed itself +in the daytime, and was not to be distinguished except when +accidentally shaken out. It is the larval stage of a species of +Phasma. + +The extraordinary perfection of these mimetic resemblances is most +wonderful. I have heard this urged as a reason for believing that +they could not have been produced by natural selection, because a +much less degree of resemblance would have protected the mimetic +species. To this it may be answered, that natural selection not +only tends to pick out and preserve the forms that have protective +resemblances, but to increase the perceptions of the predatory +species of insects and birds, so that there is a continual +progression towards a perfectly mimetic form. This progressive +improvement in means of defence and of attack may be illustrated in +this way. Suppose a number of not very swift hares and a number of +slow-running dogs were placed on an island where there was plenty +of food for the hares but none for the dogs, except the hares they +could catch; the slowest of the hares would be first killed, and +the swifter preserved. Then the slowest-running dogs would suffer, +and having less food than the fleeter ones, would have least chance +of living, and the swiftest dogs would be preserved; thus the +fleetness of both dogs and hares would be gradually but surely +perfected by natural selection, until the greatest speed was +reached that it was possible for them to attain. I have in this +supposed example confined myself to the question of speed alone, +but in reality other means of pursuit and of escape would come into +play and be improved. The dogs might increase in cunning, or +combine together to work in couples or in packs by the same +selective process; and the hares on their part might acquire means +of concealment or stratagem to elude their enemies; but, on both +sides, the improvement would be progressive until the highest form +of excellence was reached. Viewed in this light, the wonderful +perfection of mimetic forms is a natural consequence of the +selection of the individuals that, on the one side, were more and +more mimetic, and on the other (that of their enemies) more and +more able to penetrate through the assumed disguises. It has +doubtless happened in some cases that species, having many foes, +have entirely thrown off some of them through the disguises they +have been brought to assume, but others they still cannot elude. + +Since Mr. Bates first brought forward the theory of mimetic +resemblances its importance has been more and more demonstrated, as +it has been found how very largely animal life has been influenced +in form and colour by the natural selection of the varieties that +were preserved from their enemies, or enabled to approach their +prey, through the resemblance they bore to something else. So +general are these deceptive resemblances throughout nature, that it +is often difficult to determine whether sexual preferences or the +preservation of mimetic forms has been most potent in moulding the +form and coloration of species, and in some the two forces are seen +to be opposed in their operation. Thus in some butterflies that +mimic the Heliconidae, the females only are mimetic, the males +retaining the normal form and coloration of the group to which they +belong. In such cases it appears as if the females have not been +checked in gradually assuming the disguise they wear, and it is +important that they should be protected, as they are more exposed +to destruction while seeking for places to deposit their eggs; but +that both sexes should not have inherited the change in form and +colour when it would have been beneficial to both can only be +explained, I think, on the supposition that the females had a +choice of mates and preferred those that retained the primordial +appearance of the group. This view is supported by the fact that +many of the males of the mimetic Leptalides have the upper half of +the lower wing of a pure white, whilst all the rest of the wings is +barred and spotted with black, red, and yellow, like the species +they mimic. The females have not this white patch, and the males +usually conceal it by covering it with the upper wing, so that I +cannot imagine its being of any other use to them excepting as an +attraction in courtship, to exhibit to the females, and thus +gratify a deep-seated preference for the normal colour of the order +to which the Leptalides belong. + +I finally left the mines September 6th, 1872, on my way to England. +I was accompanied through the forest by several of the mining +officials. Though glad to return to Europe, it was not without some +feeling of regret that I rode for the last time through the forest +where I had so often wandered during the years I had been at Santo +Domingo. The woods had become as familiar to me as home scenes. No +more should I see the white-headed ruby humming-bird come darting +down the brook, chasing away the green-throat from its +bathing-place; no more watch the flocks of many-coloured birds +hunting the insects in the forests, or admire the wonderful +instincts of the tropical ants. I listened with pleasure to the +last hoarse cries of the mot-mots, and tried to impress on my +memory the curious forms of vegetation--the palms, the gigantic +arums, the tangled lianas, and perching epiphytes. + +After reaching Pital I rode rapidly over the savannahs, where the +swallows were skimming over the top of the long grass to frighten +up the insects which rested there. After another flounder across +the San Jose plains, I reached San Ubaldo without incident, +excepting a tumble with my mule in the mud. Much of the land +between Pital and the lake is well fitted for the cultivation of +maize, sugar, and plantains, and near the river at Acoyapo the soil +is very fertile. Little of it is occupied, and it is open to any +one to squat down on it and fence it in. All that is required is +that the form shall be gone through of obtaining permission from +the alcalde of the township, which is never refused. Nicaragua +offers a tempting field for the emigrant, but there are some other +considerations which should not be lost sight of. When a man finds +he can live easily without much work, that all his neighbours are +contented with the scantiest clothing, the coarsest food, and the +poorest dwellings, he is very apt to fall into the same slothful +habits. Even if he himself has innate energy enough to ward off the +insidious foe, he will see his children growing up exposed to all +the temptations to lead an easy life that a tropical climate +offers, and without any example of industry or enterprise around +them to arouse or cultivate a spirit of emulation. The consequence +is that nearly all the foreign settlers in Nicaragua from amongst +the European and North American labouring classes have fallen into +the same lazy habits as the Nicaraguans, and whenever I have been +inclined to blame the natives for their indolence, some +recollection of a fellow-countryman who has succumbed to the same +influences has arrested my harsher judgment. I cannot recommend +Nicaragua, with all its natural wealth, its perpetual summer, its +magnificent lakes, and its teeming soil, as a place of emigration +for isolated families, and even for larger schemes of colonisation +I do not think it so suitable as our own colonies and the United +States. A large body of emigrants would carry with them the +healthful influence of the good and industrious, and the spirit of +emulation and progress might be preserved if the community could be +kept together, but I fear this could not be. After a while the +tastes of one individual would lead in one, those of another in an +opposite direction. Where all were free to choose, the idle would +go away from the influences that urged them to industry, the +sensual from the restraints of morality. Many will, however, smile +at the objection I have to emigration to Nicaragua, when they +perceive that it is founded only on the ease with which people can +live in plenty there. There is one form of colonisation that will +be successful, and that is the gradual moving down southward of the +people of the United States. When the destiny of Mexico is +fulfilled, with one stride the Anglo-American will bound to the +Isthmus of Panama, and Central America will be filled with cattle +estates, and with coffee, sugar, indigo, cotton, and cacao +plantations. Railways will then keep up a healthful and continuous +intercourse with the enterprising North, and the sluggard and the +sensual will not be able to stand before the competition of the +vigorous and virtuous. Nor will the Anglo-American long be stayed +by the Isthmus in his progress southward. Unless some such +catastrophe happens as a few years ago threatened to cover North +America with standing armies as in Europe, which God forbid, not +many centuries will roll over before the English language will be +spoken from the frozen soil of the far north to Tierra del Fuego in +the south. + +The fine steamer that the enterprise of Mr. Hollenbeck had placed +on the lake, and which he had named the "Elizabeth" after his +amiable wife, had been wrecked a short time before I left the +country, and Mr. Hollenbeck's own health had greatly suffered by +the labours he undertook in endeavouring to get the vessel off the +sunken rock on which it had struck. Notwithstanding this and other +misfortunes, enough to try a man's mettle to its foundation, his +native pluck carried him through all his difficulties, and he was +away to the States to get new vessels and blow another blast at +fortune's iron gates. Whilst I write these last few pages I learn +that a new steamer ploughs the lake, and that his transit service +is again in complete working order. Success attend him. + +The result of the wreck of the "Elizabeth", so far as I was +concerned, was that I had to take a passage down the lake to San +Carlos in a bungo packet, so full as to necessitate closer +acquaintanceship with many amiable Nicaraguans than was agreeable +to my insular prejudices. When in the middle of the night an old +woman tried to roll me off the soft plank I had found for myself +into a litter of crying babies, I indulged in some bitter +reflections on the race, that, I am happy to say, were as +transitory as the inconvenience to which I was put. At San Carlos +we changed to the river steamer under my old friend Captain +Birdsall. As I have already described the scenery of the San Juan +in the account of my journey up, I shall not repeat the story, but +simply state that we reached Greytown on the 11th September, and on +the 16th embarked on the West Indian Mail Packet. I arrived in +England within a month, to find my native town (Newcastle) +wealthier and dirtier than ever, with thousands of furnaces +belching out smoke and poisonous gases; to find the people of +England fretting about the probable exhaustion of her coal-fields +in a few hundred years, actually dreading the time when she will no +longer be the smithy of the world, but the centre of the science, +philosophy, literature, and art of the Anglo-Saxon race--that race +whose sons all over the globe will then look up to her with loving +reverence as the mother of nations, the coloniser of the world, the +pioneer of freedom, progress, and morality. + +INDEX. + +Acacias. + +Acarus. + +Acclimature. + +Achras sapota. + +Acoyapo. + +Acrocinus longimanus. + +Adiantum. + +Aguardiente. + +Aguasco, R. + +Ahuacatl. + +Airey, Sir George. + +Alligators. + +Alloy. + +Alluvial deposits, gold. + +Amalgam. + +Amalgamation process. + +America, western side of tropical, food of people. + +American race, derivation of. + +Amerrique range, the. + +Ampullari. + +Amusements, Nicaraguan. + +Ancylus. + +Andagoya, Pascual de. + his account of Nicaragua. + on chicha-drinking. + +Aneimea hirsuta. + oblongifolia. + +Angelot, M. + on fused rock. + +Angraecum sesquipedale. + +Anolis. + +Antigonon leptopus. + +Antiquities. Indian. + +Antonio, San, lode. + +Antonio, San, Valley. + +Ants. + +Ants, army. + assisting each other. + attending leaf hoppers. + attending scale insects. + ant bridge. + communicate by scent. + cows. + foraging. + hunting. + inhabiting bullshorn thorn. + leaf cutters. + reason in. + sagacity of. + stinging. + thrushes. + +Apanas. + +Aphidae. + +Armadillos. + +Arrastres. + +Articulata. + +Artificial selection. + +Artigua, R. + +Arum. + +Asses. + +Ateles. + +Atlantis. + +Auriferous quartz. + veins of, in Queensland. + +Australia. + hot winds in. + wasps in. + whirlwinds in. + +Avila, Gil Gonzales de. + +Avocado. + trees. + +Axes. + ancient Mexican. + stone. + +Aztecs. + +Baldwin, Mr. J.D. + +Bamboo thickets. + +Bananas. + +Baptism, a pre-christian rite. + +Bates, Mr. H.W. + on instinct in wasps. + on life under the equator. + on the Longicorn Coleoptera of Chontales. + on mimetic forms. + on mimetic resemblances. + on social birds. + on wings of Morphos. + +Bats. + +Beak of birds. + +Bees. + +Beetles. + habits of. + the harlequin. + killing bug. + on Pena Blanca. + tiger. + +Begonias. + +Benito, San. lode. + +Bermudez, Don Dolores. + +Birds. + accompanying an army of ants. + fertilising flowers. + nests. + rejecting Heliconii. + +Bittern. + +Bland, Mr., on the distribution of land shells in the West Indies. + +Blewfields, R. + +Boulder clay. + +Boundary question between Nicaragua and Costa Rica. + +Bourbourg, Brasseur de, Abbe, on the Teo Amoxtli. + +Brazil, migratory butterflies of. + +Breadfruits. + +Bromelia. + +Bruce, on whirlwinds in Africa. + +Buccaneers. + +Bugs. injecting poisonous fluid. + +Bullock, Mr. W., on the use of rattles in Mexico. + +Bull's-horn thorn. + wasps attending glands of. + +Bungos. + +Buprestidae. + +Burial customs of the ancient Indians. + +Butterflies. + instinct of. + migrations of. + in Rio Plata. + in Patagonia. + Mr. Darwin on. + Mr. R. Spruce on. + +Cabbage. + +Cacao. + +Cactuses. tree. + +Californian pitcher-plant. + +Callidryas. + +Calliste larvata. + laviniae. + +Calopteron basilis. + vicinum. + +Canal, interoceanic. + +Candelera, El. + +Candolle, Alphonse de, on fresh-water productions. + +Canis caraibicus (Lesson). + ingae (Tschudi). + +Capsicums. + +Captive Indians. + +Carabidae. + +Carbolic acid. + +Carca Indians. + R. + +Caribbean Sea, carving on rocks on the banks. + +Caribs. + food of the. + +Carlos, San. + R. + +Carrots. + +Castillo. + capture of by Nelson. + +Castilloa elastica. + +Caterpillars. + +Catlin, G. + on traditions of the deluge among the American Indians. + "Lifted and Subsided Rocks in America" by. + +Cattle. + raising. + +Cebus albifrons. + white-faced. + anecdotes. + +Cecropia. + +Cedar. + +Cedrela odorata. + +Celeus castaneus. + +Cement. + white. + +Centipedes. + +Central America. + States of, absence of patriotism in. + civil war. + tyrannical oligarchies. + +Centrurus pucherani. + +Chicchera. + +Chicha. + +Chichalakes. + +Children, great numbers of. + +Childs, Colonel, O.W., survey for canal. + +Chilote. + +Chioties. + +Chirosciphia lineata. + +Chlorophanes guatemalensis. + +Chocoyo, R. + +Choluans. + +Chontales, birds of. + insects. + derived from chontali. + Mining Co. + +Chontales and Costa Rica, connection of forest forms. + +Chontals. + +Cicadae. + +Cinerary urns. + +Citron trees. + +Citrus aurantium. + lemonum. + medicus. + +Clarke, Mr. Hyde. + +Claro, Santa. + +Clausilia. + +Clavigero. + on the Xoloitzcuintli. + +Climate. + of Nicaragua. + San Domingo. + +Club-moss. + +Coccidae. + +Cockatoo of Australia. + +Cockchafer. + +Cock-fighting. + +Cockroaches. + instinct. + +Cocos. + Cocos butyracea. + +Coffee. + +Coleoptera. + +Colorado, R. + +Colour, differences in, correlated with immunity from disease. + +Columbus, Christopher. + +Colymbetes. + +Comelapa. + +Comiens. + +Comoapa. + +Concordia. + +Condego. + festival of. + +Congo monkeys. + +Consuelo lode. + +Coremia hirtipes. + +Corrosive sublimate. + +Cortess. + +Cosmisoma Titania (Bates). + +Couvade, the custom of the. + +Coyotes. + +Cranes. + +Crantor, on the Island Atlantis. + +Crax globicera. + +Creepers. + +Crematogaster. + +Cross. + the sign of. + +Cuapo, rock of. + +Cuba. + +Curassow. + +Cyanocitta melanocyanea. + +Cybister. + +Cyclones. + origin of. + West Indian. + +Cyrtodeira Chontalensis. + +Daintree's, Mr. R., "Notes on the Geology of Queensland". + +Daraily. + +Darlingtonia californica. + +Darwin, "Descent of Man". + +Darwin on animals and plants. + on the effects of slight differences of colour. + on fertilisation of scarlet runner. + on fossil maize in Peru. + on fresh-water mollusks. + on the bumble bee. + on the migration of butterflies. + +Darwin on natives of Terra del Fuego. + +Deer. + hunting. + +Degeneration of the inhabitants of Central America. + +Deliathis nivea (Bates). + +Depilto. +R. +valley of. + +Desmiphora fasciculata. + +Diabase. + +Diaz de Castello on the use of cement by the Indians. + +Dicoteles tajacu. + +Digitalis purpurea. + +Diodorus Siculus. + +Diorytic intrusive rocks. + +Diphyrama singularis (Bates). + +Diriangan. + +Doleryte. + +Domingo, Santo. + commissioner's house at. + mines at. + rain at. + watershed at. + Quebrada de. + +Dove, M., on origin of cyclones. + +Dragon flies. + +Drosera. + +Duncan, Professor, on the submergence of Isthmus of Darien + in Miocene times. + +Du Tertre. + +Dytiscidae. + +Eagle, monkey-eating. + +Easter Island. + +_Eciton hamata_. + predator. + +Ecitons. + +Egrets, white. + +Elaps. + +Elateridae. + +Elephantiasis. + +"Elizabeth", steamer. + +Elote. + +Elvan dykes. + +Endives. + +Epidemic among insects. + wasps in Great Britain. + +Epiphytes. + +Eriosoma. + +Erythrina. + +Esquipula. + +Essequibo, carved rocks of. + +Estely, the. + +Eumonota superciliaris. + +Evander nobilis (Bates). + +Fairbairn, Mr. + +Farina. + +Felspar. + +Ferns. + maiden-hair. + oak. + tree. + +Festa. + +Festivals. + +Fig trees. + +Fire-flies. + +Fissure veins. + +Floating plants. + +Florida. + +Florisuga Mellivora, Linn. + +Fly-catchers. + +Forbes, Mr. David, on auriferous quartz veins. + +Forest of the Atlantic slope. + +"Forest region, limit of the". + effect of cultivation on the. + +Forest-vegetation. + +Foxglove, fertilisation of. + +Franklin on whirlwind in Maryland. + +Fresh-water animals. + plants. + +Frogs. +on Pena Blanca. + +Gage, Thomas, on the Indians' respect for their priest. + +Garrapatos. + +Glacial beds. + period. + scratches. + +Gneiss. + +Gold. + bars. + distribution of, in quartz veins. + mining. + +Gosse, P., on grassquit of Jamaica. + +Gourd-shaped pottery. + +Gracias a Dios, C. + +Granada. + courts of law at. + +Granitic intrusive rocks. + +Grasshoppers. + +Green, Dr. + +Greenstone. + +Grenadillos. + +Greytown. + trade of. + salubrity of, due to its flatness. + +Grouse. + +Guatuse, the. + +Guatuses, Indians. + +Guava jelly. + +Guayava trees. + +Guinea grass. + +Gummiferae. + +Guzman, Senor Fernando. + +Gyrinidae. + +Harlequin beetle. + +Hartt, Professor, on glacial drift in South America. + +Hawks. + crab eating. + +Hayti. + +Heer, Professor, on the Miocene flora. + +Heliconiae. + +Heliconidae. + +Heliconii. + +Heliomaster pallidiceps (Gould). + +Heliothrix barroti. + +Hemiptera. + +Herrana purpurea. + +Hesperidae. + +Hewitson, Mr. W.C. + +Hides. + +Hollenbeck, Mr. + +Homoptera. + +Honey-glands. + +Horse fly. + +Huaco. + +Huexlotl. + +Humboldt. + on hairless dogs. + on origin of the Mexican and Eastern Asiatics. + on origin of whirlwinds. + +Humming-birds. + abundance of. + nests of. + rapidity of flight. + bathing. + fertilising flowers. + tongue of. + +Hydrophilus. + +Hymenoptera. + +Hypoclinea sp. + +"Ibis". + +Ice, influence of, in volcanic eruptions. + +Icteridae. + +Icterus pectoralis, Wagl. + +Iguana. + +Indian + antiquities. + carving. + children. + cooking vessels. + graves. + houses. + love of flowers. + miners. + names of towns. + +Indians, + brown. + red. + origin of. + wholesale baptism of, by Spanish. + +India-rubber. + +Indigo. + plantations. + +Insectivorous birds. + +Insect life at night. + traps. + +Insects. + instinct of. + mimetic. + +Interoceanic canal. + +Ixodes bovis. + +Jacanas. + +Jaguar. + +Jamaily. + +Jatropha Manihot. + +Javali lode. + mine. + R. + +Jicara. + +Jinotega. + valley of. + +Jose, San. + Plains. + +Juan, San, R. + Del Norte. + bar of. + delta of. + +Juigalpa. + R. + +Kidney beans. + +Kingfishers. + +Kingsley, Canon. + account of volcanic eruption of St. Vincent. + on the dry land connecting the Islands of the West Indies. + +Kotzebue's voyage round the world. + +Lacandones of Guatemala. + +Lagoon. + +Lamellicorns. + +Lampyridae. + +Landslips. + +Las Lajas. + +Laurentian rock. + +Lenca Indians. + +Leptalides. + +Lettuces. + +Leucopternis ghiesbreghti. + +Lianas. + water. + +Libertad. + mines. + rain at. + +Lime trees. + stone. + +Lizards. + tree. + +Locust. + +Lodes, deterioration in depth of. + direction of. + +Logwood. + +Longicorn beetles. + +Louisiana. + +Lymnaea. + +Lymnaeacea. + +Macaws. + +Maceio, subject to fevers. + +Machuca. + +Mackleania. + +McCrae, Colonel. + +Madeira peaks. + +Mahogany. + +Maize. + cultivation of. + eaters. + food of the people of North-East Brazil. + of Mexico. + of British Guiana. + of the Caribs. + stone grinders. + +Malacatoyo, R. + +Malayan dialects. + +Mallocera Spinicollis. + +Mammalia. + +Mandioca. + +Mangos. + +Manihot aipim. + +Mantos, origin of. + +Marcgravia nepenthoides. + +Masaya. + lake of. + volcano of. + strata at. + origin of strata at. + +Masaya Indians, women. + +Matagalpa. + +Maury, Professor T.B., on origin of cyclones. + +Mayas. + of Yucatan. + +Melastomae. + pouches in. + +Menmbracis. + +Mercury. + +Mestayer, Monsieur. + +Mestizos. + +Metlate. + +Mexico. + maize in. + food of people of. + +Miau-tsze. + +Mice. + +Mico, R. + +Microchera parvirostris. + +Microscopical cavities in rocks. + +Miguelito, San. + +Mines. + Javali. + Domingo, Santo. + Libertad. + El Coquimba. + +Mirage. + +Mocoim, the. + +Momotus Martii. + lessoni. + +Monedula surinamensis (Fabr.). + +Monkeys. + sagacity of. + speech of. + spider. + white-faced. + +Montezuma. + +Mordellidae. + +Morphos. + +Morren, Dr., of Liege. + +Mosas. + +Mosquitoes. + +Moss insect. + +Moths. + migratory. + +Mot-mots. + tails of. + +Mules. + bitten by spiders. + sagacity of. + thieves. + +Murderers, punishment of, in Nicaragua. + +Muscovy ducks. + +Muy-muy. + +Mycetes Palliatus. + +Mygale. + +Myriapods. + +Nahuatls. + +Names. + of natural features of a country important in an inquiry as to + the original inhabitants. + of places corrupted. + +Nancito. + +Nandasme. + +Nasua fasca. + +Nectarina. + +Nephila. + +Nequen. + +Neuwied, Prince Maximilian, on nest of Tody. + +Nicaragua. + bird fauna of. + civil war in. + conquest of by Spaniards. + division of into three zones. + emigration to. + insects of. + +Nicaragua, name of chief. + +Nicaraguans, hospitality of. + litigious. + and Mexicans closely related. + +Nicaraguan judges. + soldiers. + women. + +Nicoya, Gulf of. + +Nispera. + +Nispral. + +Ocalca. + +Ocelots. + +Ocotal. + +Oecodoma. + +Olama. + +Ometepec, Island of. + peaks. + +Onions. + +Oniscus. + +Opossums. + +Orange trees. + +Orchids. + on rock of Cuapo. + on Pena Blanca. + +Orinoco, carved rocks of. + +Ornithorhynchos. + +Oropendula. + +Orthoptera. + +Owls. + +Palacaguina. + +Palms. + cocoa-nut. + wine. + +Palosabre. + +Papaws. + +Papilios. + +Para grass. + +Parrots. + +Parsley. + +Passiflora quadrangularis. + +Passion flower. + +Paton, Mr. + +Pavon. + +Pavones. + +Pavos. + +Peas. + +Pediculi. + +Pedrarias. + +Pena Blanca. + ascent of. + rocks of. + precipice of. + +Penelope. + +Pentatoma punicea. + +Pernambuco, healthiness of. + +Peroxide of iron. + magnesia. + +Peru, maize found in raised beaches and tombs. + +Petasophora delphinae. + +Petrels. + +Phaethornis longirostris. + +Phalangidae. + +Phaseolus multiflorus. + +Phasma. + +Pheidole sp. + +Phenax. + tail of. + +Phoenicothraupis fusicauda. + +Physa. + +Pigeons, wild. + +Pigs, wild, or wari. + +Pine apples. + trees. + +Pinuela, the. + +Pinus tenuifolia. + +Pionia lycoides. + +Pisoti. + +Pita. + +Pital. + +Planorbis. + +Plantains. + +Plantain trees. + +Plant lice. + +Platyrhynchus. + +Pliocene period. + +Plough, Nicaraguan. + +Polistes carnifex. + +Polybia occidentalis. + +Polyrhaphis Fabricii, Thom. + +Port Just, veins of granite and quartz at. + +Pot-holes. + +Pottery. + ancient Indian. + gourd shaped. + +Priocnemis. + +Prionyrhynchus carinatus. + +Pseudomyrma bicolor (Guer.). + +Ptero-chroza. + +Puerta, La. + +Pulque. + +Pumpkins. + +Quartz. + conglomerate. + rock. + veins. + +Quequisque. + +Quesal. + +Quiches. + +Quiscalus. + +Rafael, San. + +Ramphastus tocard. + +Rats. + +Reeve, Mr. Lovell, on Mollusks. + +Rhamphocoelus passerinii. + sanguinolentus. + +Rio Frio. + expeditions. + Indians of. + +Rio. + Grande. + Mico. + Plata, migration of butterflies. + Wanks. + +Rivers, names of. + +Rosa Villosa. + +Rosechafer. + +Rose, glands on. + +Salto, El. + +Salvin, Mr. Osbert. + +Sanate, the. + +Sand-flies. + +San Sebastian. + +Santarem, wasps at. + +Sarracenia. + +Savallo, R. + +Savannahs. + +Scarlet runner. + +Schomburgk. + +Sclater, Dr., on the species of Crax. + +Scorpions. + +Season, + dry. + wet. + +Seemann, Mr. + +Segovia. + townships of. + +Selection, artificial and natural, difference between. + +Seripiqui, R. + +Sharks. + +Shells. + of the Caribbean prov. + of the Panamic. + +Silkworms. + +Silver. + mine. + +Simpson, Dr. J.H. + +Sisitote. + +Skunk. + +Solenopsis sp. + +Sontule. + +Sorby, Mr. H.C., on microscopic cavities in quartz. + +Spaniards, invasion of Nicaragua by. + cruelties practised by. + +Spermophila olivacea. + +Spider monkeys. + +Spiders. + +Spiniger luteicornis (Walk.). + +Squiers, Mr. + the Lenca Indians. + +Steamboats on San Juan. + Lake of Nicaragua. + +Still, native. + +Stone. + axes. + hatchet. + implements. + maize grinders. + +Stove, Indian. + +Strabo. + +Sugantia. + +Sugar. + cane. + plantations. + +Sugar-loaf hills. + +Sulphide of. + copper. + iron. + silver. + +Swallows. + +Sweet potatoes. + +Tabanus. + +Tablason. + +Taeniotes scalaris. + +Talcose schists. + +Tanagers. + +Tapir. + +Termites, or white ants. + +Thaloc, the god of rain. + +Thalurania venusta. + +Theclae. + +Theopompus, on a large island outside of Europe, Asia, and Africa. + +Thunderbolts. + +Tillandsia. + usneoides. + +Timetes. + cheron. + +Tinamus. + +Tiste. + +Toledo. + +Toltecs. + the cultivation of maize. + +Tomatoes. + +Tortillas. + +Totagalpa. + +Toucans. + beak of. + +Trachyte. + +Trappean dykes. + +Trap rocks. + +Trogon atricollis. + caligatus. + elegans. + females, dull coloured. + melanocephalus. + resplendens. + +Trogons. + +Tschudi, on indigenous dogs of tropical America. + +Tylor, Mr. Alfred. + on the reduction of the level of the sea. + +Tyler, E.B. + on the couvade. + his "Early History of Mankind". + on whirlwinds in Mexico. + +Ubaldo, San. + +Ulleros. + +Ulli. + +Unio. + +Urania leilus. + +Utopia. + +Vacqueros. + +Vanilla planifolia. + +Velasquez, Don Francisco. + +Vertebrata. + +Viduas. + +Viena paraca. + +Virgin Islands. + carved rocks of. + +Volcanoes. + Caracas. + Cosaguina. + Masaya. + San Miguel. + St. Vincent. + +Vultures. + +Wallace, Mr. A.R. + on Angraecum sesquipedale. + on brightly coloured caterpillars. + on the faunas of the Malay archipelago. + +War, not always a curse. + +Wasps. + attending leaf-hoppers. + hunting for spiders. + killing caterpillars. + nests of. + taking note of place to which they wish to return. + +Water-beetles, bearing plants. + +Waterfall near San Domingo. + of El Salto. + +Westwood, Professor, on nests of mygale. + +Whirlwind. + origin of. + +Whitecap. + +Wolves, or Coyotes. + +Wood-lice. + chased by ants. + +Woodpeckers. + tongue of. + +Xilomen, feast of. + +Xoloilzcuintli. + +Yalaguina. + +Yales. + +Yucatan, the cross in. + +Zeolite. + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Naturalist in Nicaragua, by Thomas Belt + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NATURALIST IN NICARAGUA *** + +This file should be named 6321.txt or 6321.zip + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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