diff options
Diffstat (limited to '76906-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 76906-0.txt | 21977 |
1 files changed, 21977 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/76906-0.txt b/76906-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a0bcfff --- /dev/null +++ b/76906-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,21977 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76906 *** + + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + Transcriber’s Note: + +This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects. +Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as _italic_. Superscripted +characters are prefixed with ‘^’ and if more than one, included in curly +braces, e.g. N^{os}. + +Footnotes have been moved to follow the paragraphs in which they are +referenced. + +Illustrations are represented here by their captions, which have been +moved to fall at paragraph breaks. + +Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please +see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for details regarding +the handling of any textual issues encountered during its preparation. + +[Illustration: LAKE OF NICARAGUA AND VOLCANO OF MOMBACHO.—FROM THE +HACIENDA SANDOVAL, NEAR GRANADA.] + + + + + NICARAGUA; + ITS + PEOPLE, SCENERY, MONUMENTS, + RESOURCES, CONDITION, AND PROPOSED CANAL; + + WITH + + ONE HUNDRED ORIGINAL MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. + + + BY E. G. SQUIER, + + FORMERLY CHARGE D’AFFAIRES OF THE UNITED STATES + TO THE REPUBLICS OF CENTRAL AMERICA. + +[Illustration: ESTADO SOBERANO DE NICARAGUA] + + “HIC LOCUS EST GEMINI JANUA VASTA MARIS.”—OVID + + A REVISED EDITION + + + NEW YORK: + HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, + FRANKLIN SQUARE. + 1860. + + + + + Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by + HARPER & BROTHERS, + In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the Southern District of + New York. + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + ---------- + + + NARRATIVE. + + CHAPTER I.—The Brig Francis—Departure from New York—San Domingo—The + Coast of Central America—Monkey Point—Shrewd Speculations—A Naked + Pilot—Almost a Shipwreck—San Juan de Nicaragua—Music of the Chain + Cable—A Pompous Official—Delivering a Letter of Introduction—Terra + Firma again—“Naguas” and “Guipils”—The Town and its Laguna—Snakes + and Alligators—Practical Equality—Celt _vs._ Negro—A Wan + Policeman—The British Consul General for Mosquitia—“Our House” in + San Juan—An Emeute—Pigs and Policy—A Viscomte on the Stump—A + Serenade—Mosquito Indians—A Picture of Primitive Simplicity, 17 + + + CHAPTER II.—The Port of San Juan de Nicaragua; its Position; + Climate; Population; Edifices of its Inhabitants; its Insects; The + Nigua; The Scorpion, etc.; its Exports and Imports; Political + Condition; Importance, Present and Prospective; Seizure by the + English, etc.—Mouth of the River San Juan—The Colorado Mouth—The + Tauro—Navigation of the River—Bongos and Piraguas—Los + Marineros—Discovery and early History of the Port of San Juan, 41 + + + CHAPTER III.—The Magnates of San Juan—Captain Samuel Shepherd—Royal + Grants—Vexatious Delays—Imposing Departure—Entrance of the River + San Juan—“Peeling” of the Marineros—Character of the Stream—The + Juanillo—An Immemorial Stopping-place—Bongos and their Equipments + and Stores—Meals—Esprit du Corps among the Boatmen—The + “Oracion”—Queer Caprices—Medio—Our Accommodation—A Specimen Night + on the River—Morning Scenes and Impressions—Bongo Life—The + Colorado Mouth—Change of Scenery—The Iguana—A Solitary + Establishment—Tropical Ease—The Rio Serapiqui—Fight between the + Nicaraguans and the English—“A famous victory”—The Rio San + Francisco—Remolino Grande—Picturesque River Views—The Hills and + Pass of San Carlos—Thunder Storms—The Machuca Rapids—Melchora + Indians—Rapids of Mico and Los Valos—Rapids of the Castillo—Island + of Bartola—Capture by Lord Nelson—The “Castillo Viejo,” or Old + Castle of San Juan—“A Dios California!”—Ascend to the Ruins—Strong + Works—Capture of the Fort by the English in 1780—Failure of the + Expedition against Nicaragua; a Scrap of History—Passage of the + Rapids—Different Aspect of the River—A Black Eagle—Ninety Miles in + Six Days—The Port of San Carlos—Great Lake of Nicaragua—Land at + San Carlos—The Commandante—Hearty Welcome—Novel Scenes—Ancient + Defences—View from the Fort—The Rio Frio—The Gnatosos Indians—A + Paradise for Alligators—Some Happy Institutions of theirs, 55 + + + CHAPTER IV.—San Carlos—Dinner at the Commandante’s—Introduction to + “Tortillas y Frijoles”—A Siesta—News of the attempted + Revolution—Anticipating Events, and what happened to the + Commandante after we left—Departure under a Military Salvo—View of + San Carlos from the Lake—Lake Navigation—Card Playing—Gorgeous + Sunset—A Midnight Storm—San Migueleto, and the “Bath of the + Naides”—Primitive Simplicity—A Day on the Lake—“El Pedernal”—A + Bath with Alligators—An “Empacho”—A Trial at Medicine, and great + Success—Second Night on the Lake—The Volcanoes of Momobacho, + Ometepec, and Madeira—Volcanic Scenery—The Coast of Chontales—The + Crew on Politics—“Timbucos” and “Calandracas,” or a Glance at + Party Divisions—Arrival at “Los Corals”—Some Account of + them—Alarming News—A Council of War—Faith in the United States + Flag—The Island of Cuba—More News, and a Return of the + “Empacho”—Distant View of Granada—Making a Toilet—Bees—Arrival at + the Ruined Fort of Granada—How they Land there—Sensation amongst + the Spectators—Entrance to the City—The Abandoned Convent of San + Francisco—The Houses of the Inhabitants—First Impressions—Soldiers + and Barricades—Thronged Streets—Señor Don Frederico + Derbyshire—“Our Host”—A Welcome—Official Courtesies—Our + Quarters—First Night in Granada, 91 + + + CHAPTER V.—Reception-Day—General Respect and Admiration for the + United States—An Evening Ride—The Plaza—Churches—Hospital—The + “Jalteva”—Deserted Municipality—Melancholy Results of Faction—The + Arsenal—Natural Defences of the City—“Campo Santo”—An Ex-Director + and his “Hacienda”—Shore of the Lake in the Evening—Old Castle—The + “Oracion”—An Evening Visit to the Señoritas—Opera amidst Orange + Groves—“Alertas” and “Quien Vivas?”—The Granadinas at Home—An + Episode on Women and Dress—Mr. Estevens—“Los Malditos Inglesas”—A + Female Antiquarian Coadjutor—“Cigaritas”—Indian + Girls—Countrymen—An American “Medico”—Native Hospitality to + Strangers—The Ways infested by “Facciosos”—An American turned + Back—Expected Assault on the City, and Patriotic Resolves “To Die + under the American Flag”—A Note on Horses and Saddles—Visit to the + Cacao Estates of the Malaccas—The Cacao Tree—Day-Dreams—An + Adventure, almost—Grievous Disappointment—Somoza, the Robber + Chief—Our Armory—Feverishness of the Public Mind—Life under the + Tropics—A Frightened American, who had “seen Somoza,” and his + Account of the Interview—Somoza’s Love for the Americans—Good News + from Leon—Approach of the General-in-Chief, and an Armed American + Escort—Condition of Public Affairs—Proclamation of the Supreme + Director—Decrees of the Government—Official Announcements, and + Public Addresses—How they Exhibited the Popular Feeling—Nicaraguan + Rhetoric—Decisive Measures to put down the Insurgents—General Call + to Arms—Martial Law—Publication of a “Banda”—Great Preparations to + Receive the General-in-Chief and his “Veteranos”—No further Fear + of the “Facciosos”—A Break-neck Ride to the “Laguna de Salinas”—A + Volcanic Lake—Descent to the Water—How came Alligators + there?—Native “Aguardiente” “not bad to take”—Return to the City—A + Religious Procession—The Host—Increasing Tolerance of the + People—Preparations for “La Mañana.” 121 + + + CHAPTER VI.—Discovery of Nicaragua in 1522; Gil Gonzales de Avila, + and his march into the Country; Lands at Nicoya; Reaches Nicaragua + and has an Interview with its Cazique; Is closely questioned; + Marches to Dirianga, where he is at first received, but afterwards + attacked and forced to retreat; Peculiarities of the Aborigines; + Their wealth; Arrival of Francisco Hernandez de Cordova; He + subdues the country, and founds the cities of Granada and Leon; + Return of Gonzales; Quarrels between the Conquerors; Pedro Arias + de Avila, the first Governor of Nicaragua; His death; Is succeeded + by Roderigo de Contreras; His son, Hernandez de Contreras, rebels + against Spain; Meditates the entire independence of all Spanish + America on the Pacific; Succeeds in carrying Nicaragua; Sails for + Panama; Captures it; Marches on Nombre de Dios, but dies on the + way; Failure of his daring and gigantic Project; Subsequent + Incorporation of Nicaragua in the Vice-Royalty of Guatemala—The + City of Granada in 1665, by Thomas Gage, an English Monk; + Nicaragua called “Mahomet’s Paradise;” The Importance of Granada + at that Period; Subsequent Attack by the Pirates, in 1668; Is + Burnt; Their Account of it; The Site of Granada; Eligibility of + its Position; Population; Commerce; Foreign Merchants; Prospective + Importance—Lake Nicaragua; Its Discovery and Exploration; + Interesting Account of it by the Chronicler Oviedo, written in + 1541; Its Outlet Discovered by Captain Diego Machuca; The wild + beasts on its Shores; The Laguna of Songozona; Sharks in the Lake, + their Rapacity; Supposed Tides in the Lake; Explanation of the + Phenomenon, 157 + + + CHAPTER VII.—Narrative Continued—Arrival of the General-in-Chief—The + Army—Fireworks by Daylight—Prisoners—Interview with Gen. + Muñoz—Arrival of the Californian Escort—“Piedras Antiguas”—The + Stone of the Big Mouth—“El Chiflador”—Other + Antiquities—Preparations for Departure—Carts and + “Carreteros”—Vexatious Delays—Departure—How I got a Good Horse for + a Bad Mule on the Road—Distant View of the Lakes—The Freedom of + the Forest—Arrival at Masaya—Grand Entree—Deserted Plaza—A + Military Execution—A “Posada”—“Hijos de Washington”—Disappointed + Municipality—We escape an Ovation—Road to Nindiri—Apostrophe to + Nindiri!—Overtake the Carts—“Alguna Fresca”—Approach the Volcano + of Masaya—The “Mal Pais”—Lava Fields—View of the Volcano—Its + Eruptions—“El Inferno de Masaya,” the Hell of Masaya—Oviedo’s + Account of his Visit to it in 1529—Activity at that Period—The + Ascent—The Crater—Superstitions of the Indians—The Old Woman of + the Mountain—The Descent of the Fray Blas Castillo into the + Crater, 173 + + + CHAPTER VIII.—Magnificent Views of Scenery—“Relox del Sol”—John + Jones and Antiquities—An “Alarm;” Revolvers and a Rescue—Distant + Bells—Don Pedro Blanco—Managua—Another Grand Entree—Our + Quarters—Supper Service—Enacting the Lion—Virtues of + Aguardiente—An “Obsequio,” or Torch-light Procession in Honor of + the United States—A National Anthem—Night with the Fleas—Fourth of + July and a Patriotic Breakfast—Saint Jonathan—Leave + Managua—Matearas—Privileges of a “Compadre”—Lake of Managua—A + magnificent View—The Volcano of Momotombo—A Solitary + Ride—Geological Puzzle—Nagarote—The Posada—Mules abandoned—A Sick + Californian—Dinner at a Padre’s—The Santa Annita—Virtues of a + Piece of Stamped Paper—A Storm in the Forest—Pueblo Nuevo—Five + Daughters in Satin Shoes—Unbroken Slumbers—Advance on + Leon—Axusco—A Fairy-Glen—The great Plain of Leon—A “touch” of + Poetry—Meet the American Consul—A Predicament—Cavalcade of + Reception—New Illustration of Republican Simplicity—El Convento—A + Metamorphosis—The Bishop of Nicaragua—Forest, Miss Clifton, Mr. + Clay—Criticism on Oratory—Nine Volcanoes in a row—Distant View of + the Great Cathedral—The City—Imposing Demonstrations—The Grand + Plaza—A Pantomimic Speech and Reply—The Ladies, “God bless + them!”—House of the American Consul—End of the + Ceremonies—Self-congratulations thereon—A Serenade—Martial Aspect + of the City—Trouble anticipated—Precautions of the Government, 201 + + + CHAPTER IX.—The City of Leon—Originally built on the Shores of the + Lake Managua—Cause of its Removal—Its present Site—Dwellings of + its Inhabitants—Style of Building—Devastation of the Civil + Wars—Public Buildings—The Great Cathedral—Its Style of + Architecture; Interior; Magnificent View from the Roof—The “Cuarto + de los Obispos,” or Gallery of the Bishops—The University—The + Bishop’s Palace—“Casa del Gobierno”—“Cuartel General”—The Churches + of La Merced; Calvario; Recoleccion—Hospital of San Juan de + Dios—Stone Bridge—Indian Municipality of Subtiaba—Population of + Leon—Predominance of Indian Population—Destruction of Stocks—Mixed + Races—Society of Leon—The Females; their Dress—Social Gatherings: + the “Tertulia”—How to “break the Ice” and open a Ball—Native + Dances—Personal cleanliness of the People—General + Temperance—“Aguardiente” and “Italia”—Food—The + Tortilla—Frijoles—Plantains—The Markets—Primitive + Currency—Meals—Coffee, Chocolate, and “Tiste”—Dulces—Trade of + Leon, 237 + + + CHAPTER X.—The Vicinity of Leon—The Bishop’s Baths—Fuenta de + Axusco—“Cerro de Los Americanos”—A Military Ball and Civic + Dinner—General Guerrero—Official Visit from the Indian + Municipality of Subtiaba—Simon Roque—A Secret—Address and + Reply—Visit Returned—The Cabildo—An Empty Treasury—“Subtiaba, Leal + y Fiel”—Royal Cedulas—Forming a Vocabulary—“Una Decima”—The + Indians of Nicaragua; Stature; Complexion; Disposition; Bravery; + Industry; Skill in the Arts—Manufacture of Cotton—Primitive Mode + of Spinning—Tyrian Purple—Petates and + Hammocks—Pottery—“Aguacales,” and + “Jicoras”—Costume—Ornaments—Aboriginal Institutions—The Conquest + of Nicaragua—Enormities practised toward the Indians—Present + Condition of the Indians—The Sequel of Somoza’s + Insurrection—Battles of the Obraje and San Jorge—Capture and + Execution of Somoza—Moderate Policy of the Government—Return of + General Muñoz—Medals—Festival of Peace—Novel Procession—A Black + Saint, 261 + + + CHAPTER XI.—Antiquities—Ancient Statue in the Grand Plaza—Monuments + on the Island of Momotombita in Lake Managua—Determine to visit + them—The Padre Paul—Pueblo Nuevo and our Old Hostess—A Night + Ride—“Hacienda de las Vacas”—A Night amongst the “Vaqueros”—The + Lake—Our Bongo—Visit the Hot Springs of Momotombo—Attempt to reach + one of the “Infernales” of the Volcano—Terrible Heat—Give up the + Attempt—Oviedo’s Account of the Volcano—“Punta de los + Pajaros”—Momotombita—Dread of Rattlesnakes—The Monuments—Resolve + to remove the largest—A Nest of Scorpions—Tribulation of our + Crew—Hard Work—How to ship an Idol—Virtues of + Aguardiente—“Purchasing an Elephant”—More “Piedras Antiguas”—The + Island once Inhabited—Supposed Causeway to the Main-land—A + Perilous Night Voyage—Difficult Landing—Alacran, or Scorpion + Dance—A Foot-march in the Forest—The “Hacienda de los Vacas” + again—Scant Supper—Return to Leon—The Idol sent, via Cape Horn, to + Washington—A Satisfied Padre—Idols from Subtiaba—Monstrous + Heads—Visit to an Ancient Temple—Fragments—More Idols—Indian + Superstitions—“El Toro”—Lightning on Two Legs—A Chase after + Horses—Sweet Revenge—“Capilla de la Piedra”—Place of the Idol—The + Fray Francisco de Bobadilla—How he Converted the Indians—Probable + History of my Idols—The Ancient Church “La Mercedes de + Subtiaba”—Its Ruins—“Agarrapatas”—Tropical Insects—Snakes and + Scorpions _versus_ Fleas and Wood-ticks—A Choice of Evils, 285 + + + CHAPTER XII.—Amusements in Leon—Cock Fighting—“Patio de Los + Gallos”—Decline of the Cock-pit—Gaming—Bull Baiting—Novel + Riding—“Una Sagrada Funcion,” or Mystery—A Poem, and a Drama—“Una + Compania de Funambulos,” or Rope Dancers—Great Anticipations—A + Novel Theatre—The Performance—“La Jovena Catalina” and the + “Eccentric Clown, Simon”—“Tobillos Gruesos,” or “Big + Ankles”—“Fiestas,“ and Saints’ Days—The “Fiesta” of St. + Andrew—Dance of the Devils—Unearthly Music—All-Saints’ Day—A + Carnival in Subtiaba—An Abrupt Conclusion, 313 + + + CHAPTER XIII.—A Sortie from Leon—Quesalguaque—El Estero de Doña + Paula—The “Monte de San Juan”—Summary way of disposing of + “Ladrones”—“El Tigre,” Jaguar, or Ounce, Its Habits; How + Hunted—The “Lion,” or Puma—The “Coyote”—Posultega—A Specimen + Padre—Sobrinas—Chichigalpa—Poised Thunder-storm—The + Oracion—Hacienda of San Antonio—Chinandega—A Challenge—El + Viejo—Familiar Fixtures—An Enterprizing Citizen and his Tragic + Fate—A Decaying Town—Horses _vs._ Mules—Visit to the Haciendas—An + Indigo Estate, and a Mayor Domo—Fine View—The Sugar Estate of San + Geronimo—Bachelor Quarters and Hacienda Life—A Fruit Garden—The + Bread-Fruit—Sugar-mills, and the Manufacture of Aguardiente—A + Sinful Siesta—Visit From the Municipality—“Una Cancion”—Chinandega + by Daylight—Realejo—Port and Harbor—The Progress of Enterprize—The + Projected New Town of Corinth—Return to Leon, 329 + + + CHAPTER XIV.—The Priesthood in Nicaragua—Decline in the Influence of + the Church—-Banishment of the Archbishop—Suppression of the + Convents—Prohibition of Papal Bulls—Legitimization of the Children + of Priests—The Three Abandoned Convents of Leon—Padre Cartine, the + last of the Franciscans—Reception, or Clock-room—The Padre’s Pets; + His Oratory; Private Apartments; Workshop—A Skull and its + History—The Eglesia del Recoleccion—The Padre as a Landlord; As a + Painter; As an Uncle; And as Negociator in Marriage—An Auspicious + Omen—Death of the Vicar of the Diocess of Nicaragua—His + Obsequies—A Funeral Oration—Priestly Eloquence—An Epitaph—General + Funeral Ceremonies—Death as an Angel of Mercy—Burial + Practices—Capellanias; Their Effects, and the Policy of the + Government in Respect to them—Popular Bigotry and Superstition—An + Ancient Indulgence—The Potency of an Ejaculation—Remission of + Sins—Penetencias—Rationale of the Practice—Novel Penances—Turning + Sins to Good Account—Good from Evil—System of the Padre + Cartine—The Diocess of Nicaragua, and its Bishop—General + Education—Public Schools—The Universities of Leon and Granada—A + Sad Picture, 355 + + + CHAPTER XV.—Visits to the capital City, Managua—Legislative + Assembly; How to procure a Quorum—Executive Message—Ratification + of Treaty with the United States—Antiquities—Lake of + Nihapa—Huertas—Dividing Ridge—Traces of Volcanic Action—Hacienda + de Ganado—An Extensive Prospect—Extinct Crater—Ancient Paintings + on the Cliffs—Symbolical Feathered Serpent—A Natural + Temple—Superstitions of the Indians—Salt Lake—Laguna de Las + Lavadoras—A Courier—Three Months Later from Home—The Shore of Lake + Managua—Aboriginal Fisheries—Ancient Carving—Population of + Managua—Resources of surrounding Country—Coffee—Inhabitants—Visit + Tipitapa—Sunrise on the Lake—Hot Springs—Outlet of Lake—Mud and + Alligators—Dry Channel—Village of Tipitapa—Surly Host—Salto de + Tipitapa—Hot Springs again—Stone Bridge—Face of the + Country—Nicaragua or Brazil Wood—Estate of Pasquel—Practical + Communism—Matapalo or Kill-tree—Landing and Estero of Pasquel or + Panaloya—Return—Depth of Lake Managua—Communication between the + two Lakes—Popular Errors, 383 + + + CHAPTER XVI.—Second Antiquarian Expedition—The Shores of Lake + Managua once more—Matearas—Don Henrique’s Comadre—I am engaged as + Godfather—An Amazon—Santa Maria de Buena Vista—A “Character” in + Petticoats—“La Negrita y La Blanquita”—Purchase of Buena Vista—A + Yankee Idea in a Nicaraguan Head—Hints for Speculators—Muchacho + vs. Burro—Equestrian Intoxication—Another + Apostrophe!—Pescadors—“Hay no mas,” and “Esta aqui,” as Measures + of Distance—Managua—The “Malpais,” Nindiri and Masaya—Something + Cool—A Pompous Alcalde—How to Arrest Conspirators—Flowers of the + Palm—Descent to the Lake—Memorials of Catastrophes—Las + Aguadoras—New Mode of Sounding Depths—Ill-bred Monkeys—Traditional + Practices—Oviedo’s Account of the Lake in 1529—Sardines—The Plaza + on Market Night—A Yankee Clock—Something Cooler—A State Bedroom + for a Minister—Ancient Church—Filling out a Vocabulary—“Quebrada + de las Inscripciones”—Sculptured Rocks—Their Character—Ancient + Excavations in the Rock—“El Baño”—Painted Rocks of Santa + Catarina—Night Ride to Granada—The Laguna de Salinas by + Moonlight—Granada in Peace—A Query Touching Human Happiness—New + Quarters and Old Friends—An American Sailor—His Adventures—“Win or + Die”—A Happy Sequel, 413 + + + CHAPTER XVII.—Visit to Pensacola—Discovery of Monuments—Search for + others—Success—Departure for “El Zapatero”—La Carlota—Los + Corales—Isla de La Santa Rosa—A Night Voyage—Arrival at + Zapatero—Search for Monuments—False Alarm—Discovery of + Statues—Indians from Ometepec—A Strong Force—Further + Investigations—Mad Dance—Extinct Crater and Volcanic Lake—Stone of + Sacrifice—El Canon—Description of Monuments, and their probable + Origin—Life on the Island, 447 + + + CHAPTER XVIII.—Return to Granada—A Ball in Honor of “El + Ministro”—The Funambulos—Departure for Rivas or Nicaragua—Hills of + Scoriæ—The Insane Girl and the Brown Samaritan—A Way-side + Idol—Mountain Lakes and Strange Birds—A Sudden Storm—Take Refuge + among the “Vaqueros”—Inhospitable Reception—Night Ride; Darkness + and Storm—Friendly Indians—Indian Pueblo of Nandyme—The Hacienda + of Jesus Maria—An Astonished Mayor Domo—How to get a + Supper—Jicorales—Ochomogo—Rio Gil Gonzales—The “Obraje”—Rivas and + its Dependencies—Señor Hurtado—His Cacao Plantation—The + City—Effect of Earthquakes and of Shot—Attack of Somoza—Another + American—His attempt to cultivate Cotton on the Island of + Ometepec—Murder of his Wife—Failure of his Enterprize—A Word about + Cotton Policy—The Antiquities of Ometepec—Aboriginal Burial + Places—Funeral Vases—Relics of Metal—Golden Idols—A Copper + Mask—Antique Pottery—A Frog in Verd Antique—Sickness of my + Companions—The Pueblo of San Jorge—Shore of the Lake—Feats of + Horsemanship—Lance Practice—Visit Potosi—Another Remarkable Relic + of Aboriginal Superstition—The Valley of Brito—An Indigo + Estate—Cultivation of Indigo—Village of Brito—A Decaying Family + and a Decayed Estate—An Ancient Vase—Observations on the Proposed + Canal—Return alone to Granada—Despatches—A forced March to Leon, 491 + + + CHAPTER XIX.—Volcanoes of Central America; their Number—Volcano of + Jorullo—Isalco—The Volcanic Chain of the Marabios—Infernales—“La + Baila de Los Demonios”—Volcanic Outburst on the Plain of + Leon—Visit to the New Volcano, and Narrow Escape—Baptizing a + Volcano—Eruption of Coseguina—Celebration of its + Anniversary—Synchronous Earthquakes—Late Earthquakes in Central + America—Volcano of Telica—El Volcan Viejo—Subterranean Lava + Beds—Activity of the Volcanoes of the Marabios in the 16th + Century—The Phenomena of Earthquakes—Earthquake of Oct. 27, + 1849—Volcanic Features of the Country—Extinct Craters—Volcanic + Lakes—The Volcano of Nindiri or Masaya—Descent into it by the Fray + Blas de Castillo—Extraordinary Description, 525 + + + CHAPTER XX.—Christmas—Nacimientos—The Cathedral on Christmas + Eve—Midnight Ceremonies—An Alarm—Attempt at Revolution—Fight in + the Plaza—Triumph of Order—The Dead—Melancholy Scenes—A Scheme of + Federation, 551 + + + CHAPTER XXI.—The “Paseo al Mar”—Preparations for the Annual Visit to + the Sea—The Migration—Impromptu Dwellings—Indian Potters—The + Salines—The Encampment—First Impressions—Contrabanda—Old + Friends—The Camp by Moonlight—Practical Jokes—A Brief Alarm—Dance + on the Shore—Un Juego—Lodgings, Cheap and Romantic—An Ocean + Lullaby—Morning—Sea Bathing—Routine of the + Paseo—Divertisements—Return to Leon, 561 + + + CHAPTER XXII.—Proposed Visit to San Salvador and Honduras—Departure from + Leon—Chinandega—Ladrones—The Goitre—Gigantic Forest Trees—Port of + Tempisque—The Estero Real and its Scenery—A novel Custom house and + its Commandante—Night on the Estero—Bay of Fonseca—Volcano of + Conseguina—The Island of Tigre—Port of Amapala—View from the + Island—Entrance to the Bay—Sacate Grande—Exciting News from + Honduras—English Fortifications—Extent, Resources, and Importance + of the Bay—Departure for the Seat of War, 575 + + + CHAPTER XXIII.—Departure for San Lorenzo—Morning Scenes—Novel + Cavalcade—A High Plain—Life amongst Revolutions—Nacaome—Military + Reception—General Cabañas—An Alarm—Negotiations—British + Interference—A Truce—Prospects of Adjustment—An Evening Review—The + Soldiery—A Night Ride—Return to San Lorenzo, 595 + + + CHAPTER XXIV.—La Union—Oysters—American Books—Chiquirin—French + Frigate “La Serieuse”—Admiral Hornby of the Asia, 84—French and + English war Vessels—Ascent of the Volcano of Conchagua—A Mountain + Village—Peculiarities of the Indians—Las Tortilleras—Volcano of + San Miguel—Fir Forests—An Ancient Volcano Vent—The Crater of + Conchagua—Peak of Scoriæ—View from the Volcano—Enveloped in + Clouds—Perilous Descent—Yololtoca—Pueblo of Conchagua again—An + Obsequio—Indian Welcome—Semana Santa—Devils—Surrender of + Guardiola—San Salvador—Its Condition and Relations, 613 + + + CHAPTER XXV.—Departure for the United States—An American Hotel in + Granada—Los Cocos—Voyage through the Lake—Descent of the River—San + Juan—Chagres—Home—Outline of Nicaraguan Constitution—Conclusion of + Narrative, 633 + + + APPENDIX. + + + CHAPTER I.—General Account of Nicaragua; its Boundaries, Topography, + Lakes, Rivers, Ports, Climate, Population, Productions, Mines, + etc., etc., 639 + + + CHAPTER II.—The Proposed Inter-Oceanic Canal; Early Explorations; + Survey of Colonel Childs in 1851; Various Lines proposed from Lake + Nicaragua to the Pacific, etc., etc., 657 + + + CHAPTER III.—Outline of Negotiations in respect to the Proposed + Canal, etc., etc. 672 + + + + + ILLUSTRATIONS. + + ---------- + + + MAP. + + GENERAL MAP OF NICARAGUA. + + + LITHOGRAPHS. + + PAGE + + 1—IDOLS AT ZAPATERO, Nos. 2 and 3, _Facing_ 474 + + 2—IDOLS AT ZAPATERO, Nos. 4 and 5, ” 478 + + 3—IDOLS AT ZAPATERO, Nos. 6 and 7, ” 479 + + 4—IDOLS AT ZAPATERO, Nos. 15 and 16, ” 486 + + + WOOD ENGRAVINGS. + + + 1—ARMS OF NICARAGUA, _Title_. + + 2—VIEW OF LAKE NICARAGUA, FROM THE SANDOVAL HACIENDA, NEAR _Frontispiece_. + GRANADA, + + 3—SAN JUAN DE NICARAGUA, 1849, 25 + + 4—“OUR HOUSE,” SAN JUAN, 35 + + 5—HUT OF MOSQUITO INDIANS, 39 + + 6—SAN JUAN DE NICARAGUA, 1853, 54 + + 7—THE BONGO “LA GRANADINA,” 60 + + 8—VIEW ON SAN JUAN RIVER, 73 + + 9—EL CASTILLO VIEJO, OR OLD FORT, 77 + + 10—SENTINEL’S BOX AT EL CASTILLO, 82 + + 11—THE IGUANA, 90 + + 12—FORT OF SAN CARLOS, 95 + + 13—STORM ON LAKE NICARAGUA, 99 + + 14—PUEBLO OF SAN MIGUELITO, 99 + + 15—THE PLANTAIN TREE, 119 + + 16—ANCIENT VASE, 120 + + 17—NICARAGUAN MEAT MARKET, 120 + + 18—VIEWS ON ROAD TO THE MALACCAS, 156 + + 19—PIEDRA DE LA BOCA, 179 + + 20—NICARAGUAN CART, 182 + + 21—AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, 200 + + 22—VIEW OF LAKE MANAGUA, 209 + + 23—VIEW NEAR NAGAROTE, 209 + + 24—HOUSE IN PUEBLO NUEVO, 221 + + 25—PLAN OF HOUSE IN LEON, 241 + + 26—GREAT CATHEDRAL OF LEON, 244 + + 27—CHURCH OF MERCED AND VOLCANO OF EL VIEJO, 247 + + 28—VOLCANOES OF AXUSCO AND MOMOTOMBO, 247 + + 29—ANCIENT METLAL OR GRINDING STONE, 256 + + 30—ORNAMENTS ON SAME, 257 + + 31—MACHETE AND TOLEDO, 260 + + 32—PAROCHIAL CHURCH OF SUBTIABA, 266 + + 33—PRIMITIVE SPINNING APPARATUS, 269 + + 34—SPINNING, FROM A MEXICAN MS., 270 + + 35—PRIMITIVE WEAVING, 271 + + 36—MODERN POTTERY AND CARVING, 273 + + 37—INDIAN GIRL, IN FULL COSTUME, 274 + + 38—COURTYARD OF HOUSE IN LEON, 284 + + 39—IDOL FROM MOMOTOMBITA, No. 1, 286 + + 40—IDOL FROM MOMOTOMBITA, No. 2, 296 + + 41—FRONT VIEW OF SAME, 297 + + 42—COLOSSAL HEAD FROM MOMOTOMBITA, 298 + + 43—IDOL FROM SUBTIABA, No. 1, 302 + + 44—IDOL FROM SUBTIABA, No. 2, 303 + + 45—IDOL FROM SUBTIABA, No. 3, 304 + + 46—SIDE VIEW OF IDOL, No. 1, 311 + + 47—IDOL FROM SUBTIABA, No. 4, 312 + + 48—RUINS OF ANCIENT CHURCH, 312 + + 49—STREET VIEW IN LEON, 323 + + 50—NICARAGUAN PLOUGH, 327 + + 51—PROCESSION OF HOLY WEEK, 328 + + 52—GENERAL VIEW OF CHINENDAGA, 349 + + 53—CHURCH AND PLAZA OF CHINENDAGA, 351 + + 54—PORT OF REALEJO, 351 + + 55—LAKE NIHAPA, AN EXTINCT CRATER, 392 + + 56—PAINTED ROCKS OF MANAGUA, 393 + + 57—SANTIAGO, AN ANCIENT CARVING, 401 + + 58—IDOL AT MANAGUA, 402 + + 59—LAKE AND VOLCANO OF MASAYA, 425 + + 60—RUINED GATEWAY, MASAYA, 425 + + 61—SCULPTURED ROCKS OF MASAYA, 437 + + 62—VIEW IN THE “QUEBRADA DE LAS INSCRIPCIONES,” 439 + + 63—CHURCH OF SAN FRANCISCO, GRANADA, 443 + + 64—IDOL AT PENSACOLA, No. 1, 451 + + 65—IDOL AT PENSACOLA, No. 2, 455 + + 66—IDOL AT PENSACOLA, No. 3, 455 + + 67—THE BONGO “LA CARLOTA,” 459 + + 68—IDOL AT ZAPATERO, No. 1, 471 + + 69—STONE OF SACRIFICE, 476 + + 70—PLAN OF MONUMENTS, 477 + + 71—IDOL AT ZAPATERO, No. 9, 481 + + 72—IDOL AT ZAPATERO, No. 10, 483 + + 73—IDOLS AT ZAPATERO, Nos. 11 and 12, 485 + + 74—IDOL AT ZAPATERO, No. 13, 486 + + 75—SCULPTURED ROCK, 488 + + 76—BURIAL VASES FROM OMOTEPEC, 509 + + 77—VASES FROM OMOTEPEC, 510 + + 78—COPPER MASK, 511 + + 79—FROG IN GREEN STONE, 511 + + 80—GROUP OF ABORIGINAL RELICS, 515 + + 81—NEW VOLCANO ON PLAIN OF LEON, 515 + + 82—THE PAROQUET, 550 + + 83—VIEW ON LAKE MANAGUA, 560 + + 84—THE TOUCAN, 574 + + 85—THE CRIMSON CRANE, 582 + + 86—VIEW ON THE ESTERO REAL, 587 + + 87—VOLCANO OF COSEGUINA FROM THE SEA, 587 + + 88—VOLCANO OF COSEGUINA, 589 + + 89—MOUNTAIN SCENERY IN HONDURAS, 601 + + 90—LA UNION AND VOLCANO OF CONCHAGUA, 612 + + 91—CHURCH OF LA UNION, 612 + + 92—LAS TORTILLERAS, 621 + + 93—VOLCANO OF OMOTEPEC FROM VIRGIN BAY, 643 + + 94—PORT OF SAN JUAN DEL SUR, 646 + + 95—MOUTH OF RIO LAJAS, 660 + + + + + PREFACE + + TO REVISED EDITION. + + ---------- + + +Since the publication of the original edition of this work, in 1852, the +beautiful but hapless Republic of Nicaragua has been the theatre of a +series of startling events which have concentrated upon it not only the +attention of the American public, but of all civilized nations. It has +been made the arena of aimless, and not always reputable diplomatic +contests, and of an obstinate and bloody struggle between a handful of +Northern adventurers and an effete and decadent race. And unless the +future shall strangely betray the indications of the present, it is +destined to pass through a succession of still severer throes, in its +advance to that political status and commercial importance inseparable +from its geographical position and natural resources. For, in Nicaragua, +and there alone, has Nature combined those requisites for a water +communication between the seas, which has so long been the dream of +enthusiasts, and which is a desideratum of this age, as it will be a +necessity of the next. There too has she lavished, with a bountiful +hand, her richest tropical treasures; and the genial earth waits only +for the touch of industry to reward the husbandman a hundredfold with +those products, which, while they contribute to his wealth, add to the +comfort and give employment to the laborer of distant and less favored +lands. + +Public interest, and especially American interest in Nicaragua must +therefore constantly increase; and the desire to know the +characteristics of the country, its scenery and products, and the habits +and customs of its people, can never diminish. In the Narrative which +follows, these are faithfully presented; and though, in some cases, +there may be a needless amplitude of incidents, yet even this is +probably not without its use in relieving descriptions and details which +might otherwise prove dry and repulsive in form. In all essential +respects, Nicaragua is little changed since 1850, and since a later +visit of the author in 1854. It is true, Granada has been added to its +list of ruined cities, and Rivas and Masaya bear the scars of battles on +their walls. The people have perhaps a more thoughtful look, as becomes +men realizing that the fulness of time has finally brought them within +the circle of the world’s movement, and that they must assume and +discharge the responsibilities of their new position, or give place to +those who are equal to the requirements of this age and prompt to +recognize their duties to their fellow men. + +But in all other respects, as I have said, the country is unchanged. Its +high and regular volcanic cones, its wooded plains, broad lakes, bright +rivers, and emerald verdure are still the same. The _aguadora_ still +steps along firmly under her heavy water jar, or climbs, panting, up the +cliffs that surround the Lake of Masaya. The naked children, in average +color possibly a shade lighter than before, still bestride the hips of +nurse or mother. Small and pensive mules still trudge to market, ears +and feet alone visible beneath their green loads of _sacate_. The _mozo_ +and his _machete_, the red-belted cavalier, on scarlet _pillion_, +pricking his champing horse through the streets, the languid Señora +puffing the smoke of her cigaretta in lazy jets through her nostrils—the +sable priest, with _gallo_ under his arm, hurrying to the nearest cock +pit—the shrill _quien vive_ of the bare-footed sentinel—the rat-tat-too +of the afternoon drum—the eternal Saints’ days, and banging +_bombas_—all, all are the same! + +NEW YORK, September, 1859 + +[Illustration: + + MAP OF + NICARAGUA + Showing its + DEPARTMENTAL DIVISIONS + and proposed Routes of + INTEROCEANIC COMMUNICATION + By E. G. Squier. + 1860 +] + + + + + NARRATIVE. + + + ---------- + + + + + CHAPTER I. + +THE BRIG FRANCIS—DEPARTURE FROM NEW YORK—SAN DOMINGO—THE COAST OF + CENTRAL AMERICA—MONKEY POINT—SHREWD SPECULATIONS—A NAKED + PILOT—ALMOST A SHIPWRECK—SAN JUAN DE NICARAGUA—MUSIC OF THE CHAIN + CABLE—A POMPOUS OFFICIAL—DELIVERING A LETTER OF INTRODUCTION—TERRA + FIRMA AGAIN—“NAGUAS” AND “GUIPILS”—THE TOWN AND ITS LAGUNA—SNAKES + AND ALLIGATORS—PRACTICAL EQUALITY—CELT VS. NEGRO—A WAN POLICEMAN—THE + BRITISH CONSUL GENERAL FOR MOSQUITIA—“OUR HOUSE” IN SAN JUAN—AN + EMEUTE—PIGS AND POLICE—A VISCOMTE ON THE STUMP—A SERENADE—MOSQUITO + INDIANS—A PICTURE OF PRIMITIVE SIMPLICITY. + + +The following narrative will serve to give a general, and, on the whole, +it is believed, a correct notion of the State or Republic of Nicaragua, +and of the character and peculiarities of its inhabitants, as they would +be apt to impress themselves on the mind of a traveller without strong +prejudices, with good health and a cheerful temper, and disposed withal +to regard men and things from a sunny point of view. Matters of a +didactic kind, statistics, and information on special subjects, such as +the proposed Interoceanic Canal, are left to find a place, as they best +can, after impressions and incidents—the round of beef, in this +instance, following the sweets and pastry. + +The point in Nicaragua most accessible to the traveller from the United +States, is the now well-known port of San Juan de Nicaragua, which our +respected uncle of England, in furtherance of some occult designs of his +own, has vainly endeavored to christen anew with the ghastly name of +“Greytown.” The little brig “Francis” was up for this port in the early +part of May, in the year of grace 1849; and, for satisfactory reasons, +overruling all choice in the premises, berths were engaged in her for +myself and companions. She lay at the foot of Roosevelt street, in the +_terra incognita_ beyond the Bowery,—a pigmy amongst the larger vessels +which surrounded her. We reported ourselves on board, in compliance with +the special request of the owners, at 9 o’clock on the morning of the +11th, just as the human tide ebbed from the high-water mark of Fourth +street and Union Square, and subsided for the day amongst the rugged +banks and dangerous shallows of Wall and Pearl streets. + +The Francis had received her freight, and her decks were encumbered with +pigs and poultry, spars and tarpaulins, to say nothing of water casks +and tar barrels, forbidding in advance any peregrinations, by unsteady +landsmen, beyond the quarter deck. The quarter deck was so called by +courtesy only: it was elevated but a few inches above the waist, and, +deducting the room occupied by hen-coops, water-casks, and the man at +the helm, afforded but about ten square feet of space, in which the +unfortunate passengers might “recreate” themselves. This might have +sufficed for men of moderate desires, but then it was far from being +“contiguous territory.” + +In a word, we found ourselves in the midst of a confusion which none but +the experienced traveller can coolly contemplate. Our friends, or rather +the more daring of them, scrambled over the intervening decks, or hailed +us from the rigging of the neighboring vessels. We would have invited +them on board, but there was no room to receive them; besides the +descent was perilous. All partings are much alike, but ours were made +with a prodigious affectation of good spirits. We were to have sailed +precisely at ten; but when eleven was chimed, the number which had come +“expressly to see us off,” was sensibly diminished; and at twelve we +were left to our own contemplations. + +There was a prodigious pulling of ropes; the same boxes were tumbled +from one place to another and back again; trunks disappeared and came to +light, and it seemed as if everybody was engaged in a grand search for +nobody knew what. At one o’clock the pilot came on board. The delay had +become painful, and now we thought the time for sailing had arrived. But +the pilot was a fat man, and sat down imperturbably upon a water-cask. +“Well, Mr. Pilot, are we off?” He deigned no audible reply, but glanced +upwards significantly towards the streamer at the masthead. The wind +blew briskly in from the Narrows. So we seated ourselves upon the +water-casks also, and watched the men who were painting the next ship, +and almost nodded ourselves to sleep, to the monotonous “yo-ho” of the +sailors unloading an Indiaman near by. The roar of Broadway fell subdued +and distant upon our ears; and the ferry-boats and little steamers in +the river seemed to move about in silence, going to and fro apparently +without an object, like ants around an anthill. + +By-and-by a little, black bull-dog of a steamer thrust itself valiantly +through the crowd of vessels, made a rope fast to our bows, and dragged +us, with a jerk, triumphantly into the stream, past Governor’s Island, +down to the outer bay, and then left us to take care of ourselves. That +night the sun went down cold and filmy, and the Francis tumbled roughly +about amidst the dark waves of the Atlantic. * * * A calm under the high +capes of San Domingo,—an infinitude of thunder squalls, with the +pleasant consciousness of a hundred kegs of gunpowder stowed snugly +around the foot of the mainmast,—a “close shave” on the coral reefs +below Jamaica,—for twenty-six mortal days this was all which we had of +relief from the detestable monotony of shipboard. Blessed be steam! * * +* * + +It was a dark and rainy morning, when “Land on the lee-bow,” was sung +out by the man at the helm, and in less time than is occupied in writing +it, the occupants of the close little cabin made their way on deck, to +look for the first time upon the coast of Central America. The dim +outlines of the land were just discernible through the murky atmosphere, +and many and profound were the conjectures hazarded as to what precise +point was then in view. The result finally arrived at was, that we were +off “Monkey Point,” about thirty miles to the northward of our destined +port. This conclusion was soon confirmed by observing, close under the +shadow of the shore, an immense rock, rising with all the regularity of +the Pyramids to the height of three hundred feet; a landmark too +characteristic to be mistaken. + +We were sweeping along with a stiff breeze, and were comforted with the +assurance that we should be in port to breakfast, “_if_,” as the +cautious captain observed, “the wind held.” But the perverse wind did +not hold, and in half an hour thereafter we were rocking about with a +wash-tubby motion, the most disagreeable that can be imagined, and of +which we had had three days’ experience under the Capes of San Domingo. +The haze cleared a little, and with our glasses we could make out a +long, low line of shore, covered with the densest verdure, with here and +there the feathery palm, which forms so picturesque a feature in all +tropical scenery, lifting itself proudly above the rest of the forest, +and the whole relieved against a background of high hills, over which +the gray mist still hung like a veil. + +Some of the party could even make out the huts on the shore; but the old +man at the helm smiled incredulously, and said there were no huts there, +and that the unbroken and untenanted forest extended far back to the +great ridge of the Cordilleras. So it was when the adventurous Spaniards +coasted here three centuries ago, and so it had remained ever since. +These observations were interrupted by a heavy shower, acceptable for +the wind it brought, which filled the idle sails, and moved us towards +our haven. And though the rain fell in torrents, it did not deter us +from getting soaked, in vain endeavors to harpoon the porpoises that +came tumbling in numbers around our bows. + +But the shower passed, and with it our breeze, and again the brig rocked +lazily on the water, which was now filled with branches of trees, and +among the rubbish that drifted past, a broken spear and a cocoa-nut +attracted particular attention; the one showed the proximity of a people +whose primitive weapons had not yet given place to those more effective, +of civilized ingenuity, and the other was a certain index of the +tropics. The shower passed, but it had carried us within sight of our +port. Those who had previously seen cabins on the shore could not now +perceive any evidences of human habitation, and stoutly persisted that +we had lost our reckoning, and that we were far from our destined haven. +But a trim schooner which was just then seen moving rapidly along under +a pouring shower, in the same direction with ourselves, silenced the +pretended doubters, and became immediately a subject of great +speculation. It was finally agreed on all hands that it must be the B——, +a vessel which left New York three days before us, the captain of which +had boasted that he would “beat us in, by at least ten days.” So +everybody was anxious that the little brig should lead him into the +harbor, and many were the objurgations upon the wind, and desperate the +attempts of the sailors to avail themselves of every “cat’s-paw” that +passed. + +The excitement was great, and some of the impatient passengers inquired +for sweeps, and recommended putting out the yawl to tow the vessel in. +They even forgot, such was the excitement, to admire the emerald shores +which were now distinct, not more than half a mile distant, and prayed +that a black-looking thunder-storm, looming gloomily in the east, might +make a diversion in our favor. And then a speck was discerned in the +direction of the port; and by-and-by the movement of the oars could be +seen, and bodies swaying to and fro, and in due time a _pit-pan_, a +long, sharp-pointed canoe, pulled by a motley set of mortals, stripped +to the waist, and displaying a great variety of skins, from light yellow +to coal black, darted under our bows, and a burly fellow in a shirt +pulled off his straw hat to the captain, and inquired in bad English, +“Want-ee ah pilot?” The mate consigned him to the nether regions for a +lubber, and inquired what had become of his eyes, and if he couldn’t +tell the Francis anywhere; the Francis, which “had made thirty-seven +voyages to this port, and knew the way better than any black son of a +gun who ever put to sea in a bread-trough!” And then the black fellow in +a shirt and straw hat was again instructed to go below, or if he +preferred, to go and “pilot in the lubberly schooner to windward.” The +black fellow looked blacker than before, and said something in an +unintelligible jargon to the rest, and away they darted for the +schooner. + +Meantime the flank of the thunder storm swept towards us, piling up a +black line of water, crested with foam, while it approached with a noise +like that of distant thunder. It came upon us; the sails fluttered a +moment and filled, the yards creaked, the masts bent to the strain, and +the little brig dashed rapidly through the hissing water. In the +darkness we lost sight of the schooner, and the shore was no longer +visible, but we kept on our way; the Francis knew the road, and seemed +full of life, and eager to reach her old anchorage. + +“Don’t she scud!” said the mate, who rubbed his hands in very glee. “If +this only holds for ten minutes more, we’re in, like a spike!”—and, +strange to say, it did hold; and when it was past we found ourselves +close to “Point Arenas,” a long narrow spit, partly covered with water, +which shuts in the harbor, leaving only a narrow opening for the +admission of vessels. The schooner was behind us, but here was a +difficulty. The bar had changed since his last trip; the captain was +uncertain as to the entrance, and the surf broke heavily under our lee. +Excitement of another character prevailed as we moved slowly on, where a +great swell proclaimed the existence of shallows. The captain stood in +the bow, and we watched the captain. Suddenly he cried, “Hard a-port!” +with startling emphasis, and “Hard a-port!” was echoed by the helmsman, +as he swept round the tiller. But it was too late; the little vessel +struck heavily as the wave fell. + +“Thirty-seventh, and last!” muttered the mate between his teeth, as he +rushed to the fastenings, and the main-sail came down on the run. “Round +with the boom, my men!” and the boom swung round, just as the brig +struck again, with greater force than before, unshipping the rudder, and +throwing the helmsman across the deck. “Round again, my men! lively, or +the Francis is lost!” cheered the mate, who seemed invested with +superhuman strength and agility; and as the boom swung round the wave +fell, but the Francis did not strike. “Clear she is!” shouted the mate, +who leaped upon the companion-way, and waved his hat in triumph; and +turning towards the schooner, “Do _that_, ye divil, and call yerself a +sailor!” There was no doubt about it; the Francis was in before the +schooner; and notwithstanding the accident to her rudder, she passed +readily to her old anchoring ground, in the midst of a spacious harbor, +smooth as a mill-pond. There was music in the rattling cable as the +anchor was run out, and the Francis moved slowly round, with her +broadside towards the town. The well was tried, but she had made no +water, which was the occasion for a new ebullition of joy on the part of +the mate. + +All danger past, we had an opportunity to look about us. We were not +more than two cable-lengths from a low sandy shore, upon which was +ranged, in a line parallel to the water, a double row of houses, or +rather huts, some built of boards, but most of reeds, and all thatched +with palm-leaves. Some came down to the water, like sheds, and under one +end were drawn up pit-pans and canoes. Larger contrivances for +navigating the San Juan river, resembling canal-boats, were also moored +close in shore, and upon each might be seen a number of very long and +very black legs, every pair of which was surmounted by a very short +white shirt. In the centre of the line of houses, which was no other +than the town of San Juan de Nicaragua, was an open space, and in the +middle of this was a building larger than the others, but of like +construction, surrounded by a high fence of canes, and near one end rose +a stumpy flag-staff, and from its top hung a dingy piece of bunting, +closely resembling the British Union Jack; and this was the custom-house +of San Juan, the residence of all the British officials; and the flag +was that of the “King of the Mosquitos,” the “ally of Great Britain!” + +But of this mighty potentate, and how the British officials came there, +more anon. Just opposite us, on the shore, was an object resembling some +black monster which had lost its teeth and eyes, and seemed sorry that +it had left its kindred at the Novelty Works. It was the boiler of a +steamer, which some adventurous Yankees had proposed putting up here, +but which, from some defect, had proved useless. Behind the town rose +the dense tropical forest. There were no clearings, no lines of road +stretching back into the country; nothing but dense, dark solitudes, +where the tapir and the wild boar roamed unmolested; where the painted +macaw and the noisy parrot, flying from one giant cebia to another, +alone disturbed the silence; and where the many-hued and numerous +serpents of the tropics coiled among the branches of strange trees, +loaded with flowers and fragrant with precious gums. The whole scene was +unprecedentedly novel and picturesque. There was a strange blending of +objects pertaining to the extremes of civilization. The boiler of the +steamer was side by side with the graceful canoe, identical with that in +which the simple natives of Hispaniola brought fruits to Columbus; and +men in stiff European costumes were seen passing among others, whose +dark, naked bodies, protected only at the loins, indicated their descent +from the aborigines who had disputed the possession of the soil with the +mailed followers of Cordova, and made vain propitiations to the +symbolical sun to assist them against their enemies. Here they were, +unknowing and careless alike of Cordova or the sun, and ready to load +themselves like brutes, in order to earn a sixpence with which to get +drunk that night, in concert with the monotonous twanging of a +two-stringed guitar! + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +[Illustration: SAN JUAN DE NICARAGUA.—1849.] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Our anchor was hardly down before a canoe came alongside, containing as +variegated an assortment of passengers as can well be conceived. Among +them were the officers of the port, whose importance was made manifest +from the numerous and unnecessary orders they gave to the oarsmen, and +the prodigious bustle they made in getting up the side. They looked +inquiringly at the bright silken flag which one of the party held in his +hands, and which looked brighter than ever under the rays of the setting +sun. The eagles on the caps of the party were also objects which +attracted many inquiring glances; and directly the captain was withdrawn +into a corner, and asked the significance of all this. The answer seemed +to diminish the importance of the officials materially, and one +approached, holding his sombrero reverently in his hand, and said that +“Her Britannic Majesty’s Consul-General in Mosquitia, Mr. C——, was now +resident in the town, and that he should do himself the honor to +announce our arrival immediately, and hoped we had had a pleasant +voyage, and that we would avail ourselves of his humble services;” to +all of which gracious responses were given, together with a drop of +brandy, which last did not seem at all unacceptable. I had warm letters +of introduction to several of the leading inhabitants of San Juan, and +accordingly began to make inquiries as to their whereabouts of a +respectable looking negro, who was amongst the visiting party. To my +first question, as to whether Mr. S—— S—— was then in town, the colored +gentleman uncovered his head, bowed low, and said the humble individual +named was before me. I also uncovered myself, bowed equally low, and +assured him I was happy to make his acquaintance, delivering my letter +at the same time with all the grace possible under the circumstances. + +He glanced over its contents, took off his hat again, and bowed lower +than before. Not to be behindhand in politeness, I went through the same +performance, which was responded to by a genuflection absolutely beyond +my power to undertake, without risk of a dislocation; so I resigned the +contest, and gave in “dead beat,” much to the entertainment of the Irish +mate, who was not deficient in the natural antipathy of his race towards +the negro. Ben, my colored servant, next received a welcome not less +cordial than my own; and my new acquaintance “was glad to inform me, +that fortunately there was a new house under his charge, which was then +vacant, and that he was happy in putting it at my disposal.” The +happiness was worth exactly eight dollars, as I discovered by a bill +which was presented to me four days thereafter, as we were on the point +of leaving for the interior; and which, considering that the usual rent +of houses here is from four to five dollars per month, was probably +intended to include pay for the genuflections on shipboard. We were +impatient to land, and could not wait for the yawl to be hoisted over +the side; so we crowded ourselves into the canoe of the “Harbor Master,” +and went on shore. + +The population of the town was all there, many-hued and fantastically +attired. The dress of the urchins from twelve and fourteen downwards, +consisted generally of a straw hat and a cigar, the latter sometimes +unlighted and stuck behind the ear, but oftener lighted and stuck in the +mouth; a costume sufficiently airy and picturesque, and, as B—— +observed, “excessively cheap.” + +Most of the women had a simple white or flowered skirt (_nagua_) +fastened above the hips, with a “_guipil_” or sort of large vandyke, +with holes, through which the arms were passed, and which hung loosely +down over the breast. In some cases the _guipil_ was rather short, and +exposed a dark strip of skin from one to four inches wide, which the +wanton wind often made much broader. It was very clear that false hips +and other civilized contrivances had not reached here, and it was +equally clear that they were not needed to give fullness to the female +figures which we saw around us. All the women had their hair braided in +two long locks which hung down behind, and which gave them a +school-girly look quite out of keeping with the cool, deliberate manner +in which they puffed their cigars, occasionally forcing the smoke in +jets from their nostrils. Their feet were innocent of stockings, but the +more fashionable ladies wore silk or satin slippers, which (it is hoped +our scrutiny was not indelicately close) were quite as likely to be +soiled on the inside as the out. A number had gaudy-colored _rebosos_ +thrown over their heads, and altogether, the entire group, with an +advance-guard of wolfish, sullen-looking curs, was strikingly novel, and +not a little picturesque. We leaped ashore upon the yielding sand with a +delight known only to the voyager who has been penned up for a month in +a small, uncomfortable vessel, and without further ceremony passed +through the crowd of gazers, and started down the principal avenue, +which, as we learned, had been called “King street” since the English +usurpation. The doors of the various queer-looking little houses were +all open, and in all of them might be seen hammocks suspended between +the front and back entrances, so as to catch the passing current of air. +In some of these, reclining in attitudes suggestive of most intense +laziness, were swarthy figures of men, whose constitutional apathy not +even the unwonted occurrence of the arrival, at the same moment, of two +ships could disturb. The women, it is needless to say, were all on the +beach, except a few decrepit old dames, who gazed at us from the +door-ways. Passing through the town, we entered the forest, followed by +a train of boys and some ill-looking, grown-up vagabonds. The path led +to a beautiful lagoon, fenced in by a bank of verdure, upon the edges of +which were a number of women, naked to the waist, who had not yet heard +the news; they were washing, an operation quite different from that of +our own country, and which consisted in dipping the clothes in the +water, placing them on the bottom of an old canoe, and beating them +violently with clubs. Visions of buttonless shirts rose up incontinently +in long perspective, as we turned down a narrow path which led along the +shores of the lagoon, and invited us to the cool, deep shades of the +forest. A flock of noisy paroquets were fluttering above us, and strange +fruits and flowers appeared on all sides. We had not gone far before +there was an odor of musk, and directly a plunge in the water. We +stopped short, but one of the urchins waved his hand contemptuously, and +said “Lagartos!” And sure enough, glancing through the bushes, we saw +two or three monstrous alligators slowly propelling themselves through +the water. “Devils in an earthly paradise!” muttered B——, who dropped +into the rear. The urchins noticed our surprise, and by way of comfort, +a little naked rascal in advance observed, looking suspiciously around +at the same time, “_Muchas culebras aqui_,”—“Many snakes here!” This +interesting piece of intelligence opened conversation, and we were not +long in ascertaining that but a few days previously, two men had been +bitten by snakes, and had died in frightful torments. It was soon +concluded that we had gone far enough, and that we had better defer our +walk in the woods to another day. It is scarcely necessary to observe, +that it was never resumed. + +Returning, we met my colored friend, who informed me that there was a +quantity of hides stored in the house selected for my accommodation, but +that he would have them removed that evening, and the house ready for +our reception in the morning. Regarding ourselves as guests, whom it +became to assent to whatever suggestion our host might make, we answered +him that the arrangement was perfectly satisfactory, that we could sleep +that night comfortably on board the vessel—a terrible fib, by the way, +for we knew better—and that he might take his time in making such +provision for us as he thought proper. We then sauntered through the +town, looking into the door-ways, catching occasional glimpses of the +domestic economy of the inhabitants, and admiring not a little the +perfect equality and general good understanding which existed between +the pigs, babies, dogs, cats, and chickens. The pigs gravely took pieces +of _tortillas_ from the mouths of the babies, and the babies as gravely +took other pieces away from the pigs. B—— observed that this was as near +an approach to those millennial days when the lion and the lamb should +lie down together as we should probably live to see, and suggested that +a particular “note” should be made of it for the comfort of Father +Miller and the Second-Advent Saints in general. There was one house in +which we noticed a row of shelves containing sundry articles of +merchandise, among which long-necked bottles of various pleasant hues +were most conspicuous, and in front of which was a rude counter, behind +which again was a short lady of considerably lighter complexion than the +average, to whom our colored friend tipped his hat gallantly, informing +us at the same time that this was the “Maison de Commerce de Viscomte A. +de B—— B—— et Co.;” the “Et Co.” consisting of the Viscomte’s wife, two +sons, and five daughters, whose names all appeared in full in the +Viscomte’s circulars. Had we been told that here was the residence of +some cazique with an unpronounceable name, we might have thought the +thing in keeping, and passed on without ceremony; but a Viscomte was not +to be treated so lightly, and we turned and bowed profoundly to the +short lady behind the counter, who rose and courtesied with equal +profundity. + +We reached the beach just as the sun was setting, where we found our +mate with the yawl: “An’ it bates any city ye’ve seen, I’ll be bound! +It’s pier number one, is this blessed spot of dirt where ye are just +now; may be ye don’t know it! And yonder hen-coop is the custom-house, +be sure! and that dirty clout is the Nagur King’s flag, bad luck to it! +and it’s meself who expects to live to see the stripes and forty stars +to back ’em, (divil a one less!) wavin’ here! Hurrah for Old Zack!—an’ +it’s him that can do it!” + +It was clear that our mate, who had not looked at a bottle during the +whole voyage, thought a “d’hrap” necessary to neutralize the miasma of +San Juan. + +“Perhaps ye know what ye’r laughing at, my dark boy; an’ it’s meself +that’ll be afther givin’ ye a taste of the way we Yankees do the thing, +savin’ the presence of his honor here,” said the mate, dashing his hat +on the ground, and advancing a step toward my new acquaintance, who +recoiled in evident alarm. We interposed, and the mate cooled at once, +and shook hands cordially with the colored gentleman, although he +spoiled the amende by immediately going to the water’s brink and +carefully washing his palms. + +While this scene was transpiring, a ghostly-looking individual, wan with +numberless fevers, approached us. He was dressed in white, wore a jacket +and a glazed cap, and upon the latter, in gilded capitals, we read +“POLICE.” He took off his cap, bowed low, for he was used to it, and +said that Her Britannic Majesty’s Consul General presented his respects +to the gentlemen, regretted that, being confined to his house by bodily +infirmity, he could not wait on them in person, and hoped that under the +circumstances the gentlemen would do him the favor to call upon him. + +We responded by following the lead of the wan policeman (there was only +one other, the rest had run away,) who opened a wicket leading within +the cane enclosure of the custom-house, entered that building, and +ascending a rough, narrow, and ricketty flight of stairs, we were +ushered into what at home would be called a shocking bad garret, but +which were the apartments of Her Britannic Majesty’s Consul General. A +long table stood in the centre, and a couple of candles flared in the +breeze that came in at the unglazed openings at either end of the +apartment, giving a dim intermittent light, by means of which, however, +we succeeded in discovering Mr. C——, the Consul General. He was +reclining on a rude settee, and rose with difficulty to welcome us. He +apologized for his rough quarters, betraying by his pronunciation that +his youth at least had been passed among the haunted glens of Scotland. +He had formerly been a member of Parliament, and had been nearly a year +on this coast, in a service clearly little congenial to his feelings, +and far from being in accordance with his notions of honor and justice. +We found him intelligent and agreeable, and as free from prejudices as a +Briton could be, without ceasing to be a Briton and a Scot. + +The evening passed pleasantly, (“barring” the mosquitos,) and though we +were told of scorpions, which are often found when people turn down +their blankets, and of numerous lizards, which insinuate themselves over +night in one’s boots, we were too glad to get on shore to be much +alarmed by the recital. Upon leaving, we were pressed to come every day +to the consulate to dine; for we were assured, and with truth, that it +was impossible to procure a reasonably decent meal elsewhere in the +town. The Nicaraguans at the fort above, it was asserted, had bought up +all the vegetables and edibles intended for San Juan, having determined +to starve the hated English out, and there was not a foot of cultivated +ground within fifty miles; consequently the market was poorly supplied, +except with ship provisions, and of these we had had quite enough. This +was far from being comfortable, for we had expected to find at San Juan +a profusion of all the productions of the tropics, concerning which +travellers had written so enthusiastically; to be put, therefore, on +allowances of ship-biscuit and salt pork, was too much to permit any +consideration of delicacy, so we accepted Mr. C——’s generous offer, +returning on board to be phlebotomized by a horde of barbarous +mosquitos, and to get up next morning feverish and unrefreshed, and only +prevented from appealing to the medicine-chest by the happy +consciousness that we were near the land. + +[Illustration: “OUR HOUSE” AT SAN JUAN.] + +The cook’s nondescript mess to which we had been treated every morning +since we left New York, and which had been called by way of courtesy +“breakfast,” was soon disposed of, and we went on shore, where our +colored friend received us with a low bow, informing us at the same time +that our house was ready. He led the way to a building not far distant +from the “Maison de Commerce,” opening upon aristocratic King street. It +was constructed of rough boards, and was elevated on posts, so that +everybody who entered had to take a short run and flying leap, and was +fortunate if he did not miss his aim and bark his shins in the attempt. +It was satisfactory to know that the structure was comparatively new, +and that the colonies of scorpions, lizards, house-snakes, cockroaches, +and the other numerous, nameless, and nondescript vermin which flourish +here, had not had time to multiply to any considerable extent. And +though there was a large pile of tobacco in bales in one corner, with no +other object movable or immovable in the room, the novelty of the thing +was enough to compensate for all deficiencies, and we ordered our +baggage to be at once brought to the house. By way, doubtless, of +indicating the capacity of the structure, our colored friend told us +that this had been the headquarters of a party of Americans bound for +California for the space of six weeks, and that forty of the number had +contrived to quarter here; a new and practical illustration of the +indefinite compressibility of Yankee matter, which surpassed all our +previous conceptions. Our friend had provided for us in other ways, and +had engaged a place where we might obtain our breakfasts, and proposed +to introduce us to the family which was to furnish that important meal. +The house was close by, and we were collectively and individually +presented to Monsieur S——, who had been a grenadier under Napoleon, had +served in numerous campaigns, had been in many bloody battles, and had +probably escaped being shot because he was too thin to be hit. We were +also introduced to the spouse of Monsieur S——, who was the very reverse +of her lord, and who gave us a very good breakfast and superb chocolate, +for which we paid only a dollar each per day. It was a blessed thing for +our exchequer that we didn’t dine, sup, and lodge there! At the same +place breakfasted a couple of Spanish gentlemen, who had come out in the +schooner, with a valuable cargo of goods for the interior. Our hostess +certainly could not have had the heart to charge them a dollar for +breakfast, for they had heard of revolutions and a terrible civil war in +Nicaragua, and had been frightened out of their appetites. A “bad +speculation” at the best was before them, perhaps pecuniary ruin. We +pitied them, but our appetites did not suffer from sympathy. + +The day was passed in receiving visits of ceremony, arranging our new +quarters, rigging hammocks, (which we obtained, at but little more than +twice their actual value, at the “Maison de” Commerce of the Viscomte,) +and dragging to light and air our mildewed wardrobes. We thought of +consigning our soiled linen to the women at the lagoon; but the sturdy +blows of their clubs still sounded in our ears, and we trusted to the +future; but the future brought rough stones in place of the smooth +canoe! + +That night we passed comfortably in our new quarters, interrupted only +by various droppings from the roof, which the active fancies of sundry +members of the party converted into scorpions and other noxious insects. +All slept, notwithstanding, until broad daylight next morning, when +every one was roused by the firing of guns, and a great noise of voices, +apparently in high altercation, combined with the cackling of hens, the +barking of dogs, and the squealing of pigs; a noise unprecedented for +the variety of its constituent sounds. + +“A revolution, by Jove!” exclaimed M——, whose brain was full of the news +from the interior; “it has got here already!” + +The doors were nevertheless thrown open, and every unkempt head was +thrust out to discover the cause of the tumult. The scene that presented +itself passes description. There was a mingled mass of men, women, and +children, some driving pigs and poultry, others flourishing sticks; here +a woman with a pig under one arm and a pair of chickens in each hand; +there an urchin gravely endeavoring to carry a long-nosed porker, nearly +as large as himself, and twice as noisy; there a busy party, forming a +cordon around a mother pig with a large family, and the whole excited, +swaying, screaming mass retreating before the two policemen in white, +each bearing a sword, a pistol, and a formidable looking blunderbuss. + +“They are driving out the poor people,” said M——; “it is quite too bad!” + +But the manner in which two or three old ladies flourished their sticks +in the faces of our wan friend and his companion, betokened, I thought, +anything but bodily fear. Still, the whole affair was a mystery; and +when the crowd stopped short before our doors, and every dark visage, in +which anger and supplication were strangely mingled, was turned towards +us, each individual vociferating the while, at the top of his voice, we +were puzzled beyond measure. “Death to the English!” was about all we +could gather, until the wan policeman came up and explained, under a +torrent of vituperation, that he and his companion were merely carrying +into effect a wholesome regulation which Her Majesty’s Consul General +had promulgated, to the effect that the inhabitants of San Juan (which +he called Greytown) should no longer allow the pigs and poultry to roam +at large, but should keep them securely “cooped and penned,” under +penalty of having them shot by Her Majesty’s servants; and as the +aforesaid pigs and poultry had roamed at their will since the time “the +memory of man runneth not back thereto,” and as there were neither coops +nor pens, it was very clear that the wholesome regulation could be but +partially complied with. A stout mulatto, behind the policeman, carried +a pig and several fowls, which had evidently met a recent and violent +end; and we had strong misgivings as to the manner in which the various +small porkers and chickens which we had encountered at the consul’s +table had been procured. + +The pale policeman grew pathetic, and was almost moved to tears when he +said that, while in the performance of his duty, he was assailed as we +saw, and that all his explanations were unregarded, and he was disposed +to do as his companions had done—run away, and leave the town to the +dominion of the pigs and chickens. + +The crowd, which had been comparatively quiet during this recital, now +broke out in reply, and gathering countenance from the presence of the +Americans, fairly hustled the policemen into the middle of the street, +and might have treated them to a cold bath in the harbor, had they not +been recalled by the voice of the Viscomte, who mounted a block and +declaimed furiously, in mingled Spanish and French, against the +“perfidious English,” and talked of natural and municipal rights in a +strain quite edifying, and eminently French. But as the Viscomte had +been instrumental in bringing the English there, he did not get much of +our sympathy. He had lost a pet pig that morning, which gave pith to his +speech; and we determined to pay our particular respects to it that +evening at the consul’s. + +To the appeals made to us directly, we were, as became us, +diplomatically evasive; but the people were easily satisfied, and late +that night we were treated to a serenade, the pauses of which were +filled in with, “_Vivan los Americanos del Norte”_; and next day the +news was current that six American vessels of war were on their way to +San Juan to drive out the English, whose effective force consisted of +the wan policeman and his equally wan companion! And the consul himself +did us the honor to hope that we had said nothing to encourage the poor +people in their perversity, for he almost despaired of making them +respectable citizens! They couldn’t discern, he was sorry to say, their +own best interests. We might have suggested to him that circumstances +here were quite different from those which surrounded the little towns +of Scotland, and that which might be “good for the people” in one +instance, might be eminently out of place in another; but then it was +none of our business. + +During the day we paid a visit to the other side of the harbor, where +some Mosquito Indians, who came down the coast to strike turtle, had +taken up their temporary residence. They were the most squalid wretches +imaginable, and their huts consisted of a few poles set in a slanting +direction, upon which was loosely thrown a quantity of palm leaves. The +sides were open, and altogether the structure must have cost fifteen +minutes’ labor. Under this shelter crowded a variety of half-naked +figures, begrimed with dirt, their faces void of expression, and +altogether brutish. They stared at us vacantly, and then resumed their +meal, which consisted of a portion of the flesh of the alligator and the +manitus, chopped in large pieces and thrown into the fire until the +outer portions were completely charred. These were devoured without +salt, and with a wolfish greediness which was horrible to behold. At a +little distance, away from the stench and filth, the huts, with the +groups beneath and around them, were really picturesque objects. + +[Illustration: HUT OF MOSQUITO INDIANS.] + +One hut had been vacated for the moment; against it the fishing-rods and +spears of its occupants were resting, and in front a canoe was drawn up; +this attracted our particular notice, and I had a sketch made of it on +the spot. As we paddled along the shore, we saw many thatched huts in +cool, leafy arbors, surrounded by spots of bare, hard ground, fleckered +with the sunlight, which danced in mazes as the wind waved the branches +above. Around them were dark, naked figures, and before them were light +canoes, drawn close to the bank, filling out the foreground of pictures +such as we had imagined in reading the quaint recitals of the early +voyagers, and the effects of which were heightened by the parrots and +macaws, fluttering their bright wings on the roofs of the huts, and +deafening the spectator with their shrill voices. Occasionally a tame +monkey was seen swinging by his tail from the branches of the trees, and +making grimaces at us as we passed. + +The habits of the natives were unchanged in the space of three hundred +years; their dwellings were the same; the scenes we gazed upon were +counterparts of those which the Discoverers had witnessed. Eternal +summer reigned above them; their wants were few and simple, and profuse +nature supplied them in abundance with all the necessaries of existence. +They little thought that the party of strangers, gliding silently before +them, were there to prepare the way for the clanging steamer, and that +the great world without was meditating the Titanic enterprise of laying +open their primeval solitudes, grading down their hills, and opening, +from one great ocean to the other, a gigantic canal, upon which the +navies of the world might pass, laden with the treasures of two +hemispheres! + + + + + CHAPTER II. + +THE PORT OF SAN JUAN DE NICARAGUA; ITS POSITION; CLIMATE; POPULATION; + EDIFICES OF ITS INHABITANTS; ITS INSECTS; THE NIGUA; THE SCORPION, + ETC.; ITS EXPORTS AND IMPORTS; POLITICAL CONDITION; IMPORTANCE, + PRESENT AND PROSPECTIVE; SEIZURE BY THE ENGLISH, ETC.—MOUTH OF THE + RIVER SAN JUAN—THE COLORADO MOUTH—THE TAURO—NAVIGATION OF THE + RIVER—BONGOS AND PIRAGUAS—LOS MARINEROS—DISCOVERY AND EARLY HISTORY + OF THE PORT OF SAN JUAN. + + +The Port of San Juan derives its principal importance from the fact that +it is the only possible eastern terminus for the proposed grand +inter-oceanic canal, through the territories of Nicaragua, via the river +San Juan and Lake Nicaragua; and from the farther circumstance of being +the only available port of Nicaragua upon the Atlantic. The harbor is +not large, yet it is altogether better and more spacious than is +generally supposed. The entrance is easy, and vessels of the largest +class find little difficulty in passing the mouth, and obtaining within +a safe and commodious anchorage. It has been represented that, in +consequence of the peculiar make of the land, it is extremely difficult +to be found. This is true to a certain extent; but although the coast in +the immediate vicinity is low, yet a short distance back the land is +high and marked, and cannot be mistaken. With proper charts, correct +sketches of the coasts, and with a lighthouse on Point Arenas, every +difficulty would be obviated. This is evident even to the unprofessional +observer. The harbor is probably adequate to every purpose connected +with the proposed canal. + +The town of San Juan consists (June, 1850) of fifty or sixty palm +thatched houses, or rather huts, arranged with some degree of +regularity, upon the south-western shore of the harbor. It is supported +entirely by the trade carried on through it; and its inhabitants are +dependent upon the supplies brought down from the interior, or furnished +from trading vessels, for the means of subsistence. There are no +cultivated lands in the vicinity, and excepting the narrow space +occupied by the town, and a small number of acres on the island +opposite, where a few cattle find pasturage, the primitive forest is +unbroken by clearings of any description. The ground upon which the town +is built is sandy, and although elevated but a few feet above the water, +is, nevertheless, dry. The country all around it is low, and is a short +distance back from the shore really marshy, interspersed with numerous +lagoons. After penetrating a number of miles into the interior, however, +higher land is found, with a soil adapted for every purpose of +cultivation. + +Although the climate of San Juan is warm and damp, it is exempt from the +fevers and epidemics which prevail in most places similarly situated, +upon the shores of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. I could not +learn that any cases of the yellow fever, or _vomito_, have ever +occurred here; and when the cholera, in 1837, (five years after the +period of its ravages in the United States,) devastated the interior, +and almost depopulated the ports to the northward and southward, San +Juan entirely escaped its visitations. It may safely be said that there +are few ports, if any, under the tropics of equal salubrity. The nature +of the soil, the fact that the malaria of the coast is constantly swept +back by the north-east trades, and that good water may be obtained in +abundance, at a depth of a few feet below the surface, no doubt +contribute to this result. It is, however, a singular circumstance, +vouched for by the older residents of San Juan, that the island or +opposite shore of the harbor, not more than half a mile distant, and +which, from the greater depth of water immediately fronting it, and +other circumstances, seems to be the best site for a town, is fatal to +those who may attempt to occupy it. A settlement was commenced there a +number of years ago, but the inhabitants were decimated within the first +two months; after which the rest removed to the other shore. The same +cause, it is said, led to the abandonment of the military works which +the Spaniards had erected there before the revolt of the colonies. The +cause of this difference is not apparent, but no doubt as to the fact +seems to exist among the inhabitants. Foreigners at San Juan, however, +by observing ordinary and proper precautions, need not, I am convinced, +form exceptions to the general good health of the native inhabitants. + +The temperature of San Juan varies a little with the different seasons +of the year, but is generally pleasant, differing not much from that of +New York in the month of July. The range of the thermometer is not, +however, so great as it is with us during that month. During my stay in +June, 1849, and upon my return in the same month, in 1850, the range was +from 74° of Fahrenheit at sunrise, to 85° at the hottest hour of the +day. In the evening there is usually a pleasant and invigorating +sea-breeze. + +The population of the town does not exceed three hundred, having +considerably diminished since the English usurpation. Besides what may +be called the native inhabitants, and who exhibit the same +characteristics in language, habits, and customs with the lower classes +in the interior of the state, there are a few foreigners, and some +creoles of pure stock, who reside here as agents, or consignees of +mercantile houses, and as commission dealers. There are also the English +authorities, consisting chiefly of negroes from Jamaica. The +inhabitants, therefore, exhibit every variety of race and complexion. +Whites, Indians, negroes, mestizos, and sambos,—black, brown, yellow, +and fair,—all mingle together with the utmost freedom, and in total +disregard of those conventionalities which are founded on caste. In what +might be called the best families, if it were possible to institute +comparisons on the wrong side of zero, it is no uncommon thing to find +three and four shades of complexion, from which it may be inferred that +the social relations are very lax. This is unfortunately the fact; and +the examples which have been set upon this coast in times past, by +Jamaica traders, have not had the effect of improving morals. There is +neither church nor school-house in San Juan, nor indeed in the whole of +what the English facetiously call the “Mosquito Kingdom.” Before the +seizure, San Juan was a curacy, dependent upon the Diocess of Nicaragua, +but subsequently to that event it was vacated, in consequence of the +obstacles thrown in the way of its continuance by the English officials, +whose high sense of Christian duty would not permit them to tolerate +anything but the English Church, which is, I believe, the established +religion throughout the dominions of “His Mosquito Majesty!” +Occasionally a priest, in his black robes, is seen flitting about the +town; but unless it is desired to find out the residence of the +prettiest of the nut-brown señoritas, it is not always prudent to +inquire too closely into his movements. + +The dwellings of the inhabitants, as already intimated, are of the +rudest and most primitive description, and make no approach to what, in +the United States, would be regarded as respectable out-houses. They +are, in fact, mere thatched sheds, roughly boarded up and floored, or +made of a kind of wicker work of canes, sometimes plastered over with +mud. The furniture, which seldom consists of more than a hammock, a high +table, a few chairs, and a bed, is entirely in keeping with the +edifices. Yet, mean and uninviting as these structures are, they answer +a very good purpose in a climate where anything beyond a roof to keep +off the sun and the rain may almost be regarded as a superfluity. The +heavy thatch of palm leaves or long grass is an effectual protection +against these, and though it furnishes excellent quarters for scorpions, +small serpents, and other pleasant colonists, yet these soon cease to +excite apprehension, and, with the mice and cockroaches, sink into +common-places. The sting of the domestic scorpion, so far as I am able +to learn of its effects from others, never having myself experienced it, +is not much worse than that of a wasp or hornet, and seldom produces any +serious result. The _alacran del monte_, scorpion of the forest, or wild +scorpion, is more to be dreaded; its sting sometimes induces fever, +causing the tongue to swell so as to render utterance difficult, or +impossible. This latter never inflicts its sting unless pressed upon, or +accidentally disturbed by some part of the person. It is quite as common +in San Juan as in any part of the country; being brought there probably +with the Brazil wood, the knots and crevices of which afford it an +excellent lodgment. And, while upon insects, I may mention a kind of a +flea, called _nigua_ or _chigoe_ by the Spaniards, and “_jigger_” by the +West Indian English, which generally attacks the feet, working its way, +without being felt, beneath the skin, and there depositing its eggs. A +small sack speedily forms around these, which constantly increases in +size, first creating an itching sensation, and afterwards, unless +removed, becoming painful. When small, it may be extracted without +difficulty, but when larger, the operation is delicate and often +painful; for if the sack is broken, a bad ulcer, extremely liable to +inflammation, and sometimes affecting the entire foot and leg, is a +probable result. The best surgeon in these cases is an Indian boy, who +always performs the operation skillfully, and considers a _medio_ +(sixpence) a capital fee for his services. He has a sharp eye for “las +niguas,” and will frequently detect them before they are seen or felt by +the strangers in whose feet they are burrowing. It is well to submit +one’s pedal extremities to his criticism as often as once every three +days, while sojourning in San Juan, where this insect is more common +than anywhere else in Central America. When to this digression on +insects and reptiles, I have added that the harbor is infested by +sharks, and that alligators are far from rare both there and in the +lagunas near the town, the catalogue of things annoying and disagreeable +to be encountered here is nearly complete. But after all, the +inconvenience or danger from such sources is chiefly imaginary, and +exists more in anticipation than in reality. + +From what has been said it will be seen that San Juan has no resources +of its own, and derives its present importance solely from the trade +which is carried on through it with the interior. A considerable part of +the exports and imports of Nicaragua passes here. The exports are +indigo, Brazil wood, hides, and bullion, and the imports manufactured +goods of every description, suitable for general use. The indigo and +bullion go, in great part, to England, by the British West Indian line +of steamers, which touches here monthly, and which has already nearly +monopolized the carrying of those articles of high value but small bulk, +upon which it is desirable to realize quick returns. The Brazil wood and +hides, on the other hand, pass chiefly to the United States and Jamaica. +By far the greater proportion of the carrying trade is in the hands of +Americans, conducted through native houses, and through travelling +agents in the interior: and considerably more than two-thirds of the +tonnage entering the port is American. An Italian vessel comes once or +twice a-year, and a couple of French vessels occasionally, as also some +nondescript coasters, bearing the New Granadian or Venezuelan flags. A +portion of the trade of Costa Rica, via the rivers San Juan and +Serapiqui, is now carried on through this port. There are no means of +ascertaining its value, nor that of the general commerce of San Juan, +inasmuch as no regular tables have been kept at the Custom House. +Previous to the seizure of the port by the English, in 1848, the duties +collected here by the Nicaraguan government amounted to about $100,000 +per annum; and as the rate of imposts was about 20 per cent., the value +of the imports may be approximately calculated at nearly $500,000. Since +the English usurpation, the trade has seriously diminished, in +consequence of the depression and uncertainty which it has created in +the interior, and which have induced many of the native merchants to +contract their business. The additional duties levied by the usurping +authorities have also contributed to the same results. They have imposed +an import and export duty of 2½ per cent. ad valorem, and made other +onerous restrictions on commerce. Under these, they have nevertheless +lately farmed out the customs at $10,000 per annum, which, as this is +apart from the cost of collection, implies a trade of at least +$300,000.[1] The actual trade of the port may now be roughly estimated +at $400,000, not allowing for the increase which has already followed +the general commercial activity induced by the California movement, nor +for the direct influences of the partial opening of the Nicaragua route +of transit, and the consequent direction of public attention and +individual enterprise to that portion of the Central American Isthmus. +As the trade of Nicaragua, by way of this port must pass through the +river San Juan, the Nicaraguan Customs Establishment has been fixed at +the old Fort of San Carlos, at the head of the river, on the lake. The +average rate of duty exacted under the Nicaraguan tariff, is about 21 +per cent. ad valorem,[2] which, added to the British impositions at San +Juan, makes the total duty to be paid on articles passing into the +interior about 24 per cent. + +----- + +Footnote 1: + + Since the above was written, the collection of customs at San Juan, + from motives of policy, has been _suspended_, but not permanently + abandoned, by the British Government. + +Footnote 2: + + It should be mentioned, however, that although the Nicaraguan tariff + is nominally 21 per cent. ad valorem, yet as one half of the amount of + duties may be paid in Government _vales_, or notes, which range from + ten to sixty per cent. in value, according to their class and date, it + is practically not more than 15 per cent. + +----- + +When the political questions connected with British aggressions in +Nicaragua shall have been satisfactorily and permanently adjusted, and +the projected canal really commenced, this port will become one of the +first importance, if not the most important, on the continent. Its +prospective value can hardly be estimated; for apart from its position +in respect to the proposed work, it is the only Atlantic port of one of +the finest countries under the tropics, possessing inexhaustible +agricultural and mineral resources, which recent movements indicate with +certainty are destined to a speedy development. + +As already observed, this is the only possible Atlantic terminus for the +(probably) only possible ship-canal route across the continent. And this +is to be regarded as the great and controlling fact which led to its +seizure by the English, at the moment when it became certain that +California would fall into the hands of the United States, and the +question of an inter-oceanic communication became one of immediate and +practical importance. The seizure, it is well known, was made under the +shallow pretext of supporting the territorial pretensions of a tribe of +savages, or mixed negroes and Indians, called Moscos, or Mosquitos, and +in virtue of some equivocal relations which the pirates of Jamaica +anciently maintained with them. When, however, it is known that this was +the principal port of entry of Nicaragua under the Spanish dominion; +that for more than three hundred years it was the avenue through which +its trade was conducted; that the river flowing past it was defended by +massive and costly works, which, although in ruins, are yet imposing; +that no Mosquito Indian ever resided here; that all its inhabitants +were, and with the exception of a few foreign merchants and the English +officials, still are Nicaraguans; and that England herself recognized it +as pertaining to Nicaragua by blockading it as a part of her +territories; and when to all this is added the fact, that the Mosquito +Indians never, themselves, pretended to any territorial rights here or +elsewhere, until induced to do so by British agents, the enormity of the +seizure is rendered apparent. But as the facts connected with these and +similar encroachments will form the subject of a separate chapter, it is +unnecessary to refer further to them here. Since the seizure of the +port, and in ludicrous commentary on the assertion of the British +Government, that its sole design in taking that step was the +“_re-establishment_ of Mosquito rights and authority,” its municipal and +other regulations, not excepting its port charges and customs’ rates, +have been promulgated and fixed by an officer styling himself “Her +Britannic Majesty’s Consul,” or “Vice Consul;” who has for his executive +force a few Jamaica negroes, called, probably in irony, “police.” He is, +in fact, dictator of the place, and the inhabitants are subject without +appeal to his will, for there are no written laws or fixed regulations +of any kind. He assumes to dispose of lands, and gives titles under his +consular seal; nor does he, ever so remotely, appear to recognize the +so-called Mosquito King. Indeed, the only evidence that this farcical +character is held in remembrance at all is that a flag, said to be his, +is occasionally hoisted in an open space in the centre of the town. The +English flag, however, floats over what is called the Custom House, and +is the only one for which any degree of respect is exacted. The new +tariff, promulgated here in April, 1850, was signed “J. M. Daly, +Collector,” and did not purport to have been enacted by any superior +authority. Indeed, the present situation of the town, over-awed as it +constantly is by one or two British vessels, is anomalous in the +extreme. If, as it is pretended, this port belongs to the supposititious +Mosquito King, it is difficult to understand how a second party can +exercise sovereignty over it; or upon what principles of international +law the consuls of one nation can assume municipal and general +administrative authority in the ports of another. The simple fact is, +that Great Britain, having secured possession of this important port, +under a pretext which deceives nobody, no longer cares to stultify +herself by affecting to conform to that pretext. The thing is too absurd +to be continued. + +The River San Juan reaches the ocean by several mouths. The divergence +takes place about twenty miles from the sea, forming a low delta, +penetrated by numerous canals, or, as they are called on the Lower +Mississippi, _bayous_, and lagunas. The principal branch is the +Colorado, which carries off at least two-thirds of the water of the +river, and which empties into the ocean some ten or fifteen miles to the +southward of the port. There is an almost impassable bar at the +entrance, which would preclude the ascent of vessels, even if the depth +of water above permitted of their proceeding after it was passed. The +little steamer “Orus,” nevertheless, after repeated trials, succeeded in +passing it in August last. There is another small channel called the +_Taura_, which reaches the sea midway between the port and the mouth of +the Colorado. The branch flowing into the harbor, the one through which +the ascending and descending boats pass, carries off only about +one-third of the water of the river. It has also a bar at the mouth, +that is, at its point of debouchure into the harbor, upon which, at low +tide, there are but three or four feet of water. This passed, the bed of +the river is wide and studded with low islands; but excepting in the +channel, which is narrow and crooked, the water is very shallow. It has +been suggested that the Colorado branch might be dammed, and a greater +column of water thrown into the other, or San Juan branch. But this +suggestion can only be made by those who are wholly unacquainted with +the subject. Allowing it to be possible to build a dam, the stream would +find a new channel to the sea; or if it took the direction of the +harbor, fill it up, during the first rainy season, with mud, or at once +destroy the sandy barriers which now form and protect it. As will be +seen, when I come to speak of the practicability of a canal, the utmost +that can be done with the river is to dredge out the channel to the +Colorado, and remove some of the obstacles at the various rapids above, +after which it might be navigated by small steamers. It cannot be made +navigable for ships or vessels of any kind, except of the lightest +draught, by any practicable system of improvements. + +The boats used upon the river for carrying freight and passengers are +exaggerated canoes, called _bongos_. Some are hollowed from a single +tree, but the better varieties are built, with some degree of skill, +from the timber of the _cedro_, a very light and durable kind of wood, +which grows abundantly about the lakes. The largest of these carry from +eight to ten tons, and draw two or three feet of water when loaded. They +are long, and rather deep and narrow, and have, when fully manned, from +eight to twelve oarsmen, who drive the boat by means of long sweeps and +setting-poles. Sails are seldom if ever used, except upon the lake. The +masts are unshipped and left at the head of the river in descending, and +resumed again in returning. These boats have a small space near the +stern, called the “_chopa_,” covered with a board roof, a thatch of palm +leaves, or with hides, which is assigned to the passengers. The rest of +the boat is open, and the oarsmen, or, as they call themselves, +_marineros_, sailors, are without protection, and sleep upon their +benches at night, covered only with their blankets, and with the gunwale +of the boat for a common pillow. The captain, or _patron_, is the +steersman, and occupies a narrow deck at the stern, called the _pineta_, +upon which he also sleeps, coiling himself up in a knot, if the boat is +small and the pineta narrow. The freight, if liable to damage from +exposure, is covered with raw hides, which, between sun and rain, soon +diffuse an odor very unlike the perfumes which are said to load the +breezes of Arabia the Blest. The usual freight from San Juan to Granada, +a distance of one hundred and sixty or one hundred and seventy miles, is +from thirty to fifty cents per cwt.; if the articles are bulky, it is +more. The boatmen are paid from seven to eight dollars the trip, down +from Granada and back, which usually occupies from twenty to thirty +days, although with proper management it might be made in less time. +Time, however, in these regions is not regarded as of much importance, +and everything is done very leisurely. It is only in active communities +that its value is considered. + +Columbus coasted along the entire eastern shore of Central America, from +Cape Honduras to Nombre de Dios, or Chagres, in 1502, and was probably +the first discoverer of the Port of San Juan. In 1529, Captain Diego +Machuca, residing in the city of Granada, on Lake Nicaragua, undertook +the exploration of that lake, discovered its outlet, passed down the San +Juan to the port at its mouth, and sailed thence to Nombre de Dios. The +principal rapids in the stream still bears his name. We are informed by +the historian Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdez, who was in Nicaragua +in 1529, and was personally acquainted with Machuca, that the latter +projected a colony at the mouth of the river, but was interrupted in his +design by Robles, commandant at Nombre de Dios, who contemplated the +same enterprise. At how early a date the Spanish made establishments at +San Juan, is not known; but it is a historical fact, that early in the +seventeenth century a fort existed at San Carlos, which was captured by +the English in 1665, but recovered by De Mencos and De Caldas, officers +of Spain in the then Kingdom of Guatemala. (_Juarros’ History of the +Kingdom of Guatemala_, _Baily’s Trans._, p. 67.) In consequence of this +event, a royal decree was issued, commanding that the entrance of the +river should be fortified; which order was carried into effect by Don +Fernando de Escobeda, who examined the port and river, and built a fort +in obedience to his instructions. It is also a historical fact, that at +the period of the _rebuilding_ of the Fort of San Juan, on the river +above, about 1727, a garrison was maintained here. At that time not less +than twelve military stations existed on the river; the first was at San +Carlos, at the head of the stream; the second at the mouth of the Rio +Savalos; the third, a short distance from the mouth of the Rio Poco Sol; +the fourth, the Castle of San Juan; the fifth, the Island of Bartola; +sixth, a high bank below the Rapids de los Valos, called “_Diamante_;” +seventh, at the Rapids of Machuca; eighth, on an island at the mouth of +the River San Carlos; ninth, at the mouth of the Rio San Francisco; +tenth, at the mouth of the Serapiqui; eleventh, at the point called +“Conception,” opposite an island of the same name; and twelfth, at the +Port of San Juan itself, with an intermediate temporary station called +“Rosario.” + +The commerce of Nicaragua with Europe and the West Indies was always +carried on through this port; and we have records of as early a date as +1665, of vessels clearing for the ports of Spain from the city of +Granada. San Juan was made a port of entry by royal order of the King of +Spain, dated February 26, 1796. By a royal order of the 27th of March +following, regulations were made for promoting the settlement of the +country in the neighborhood of that port, among which was one +authorizing the introduction, in the ports of Spain, of dye and other +woods cut there, or of coffee grown there, free of duty. From this +period an augmented military force was kept up at San Juan, and in 1821 +additional defences were erected for their protection, as may be seen by +the order of the Captain-General of Guatemala, of the date of May 2, +1821. Upon the declaration of independence, the royal troops were +expelled by the patriots of Nicaragua, by whom the port was indisputably +occupied until the British seizure in January, 1848. + +[Illustration: SAN JUAN DE NICARAGUA.—1853.] + + + + + CHAPTER III. + +THE MAGNATES OF SAN JUAN—CAPTAIN SAMUEL SHEPHERD—ROYAL GRANTS—VEXATIOUS + DELAYS—IMPOSING DEPARTURE—ENTRANCE OF THE RIVER SAN JUAN—“PEELING” + OF THE MARINEROS—CHARACTER OF THE STREAM—THE JUANILLO—AN IMMEMORIAL + STOPPING-PLACE—BONGOS, AND THEIR EQUIPMENTS AND STORES—MEALS—ESPRIT + DE CORPS AMONG THE BOATMEN—THE “ORACION”—-QUEER CAPRICES—MEDIO—-OUR + ACCOMMODATIONS—A SPECIMEN NIGHT ON THE RIVER—MORNING SCENES AND + IMPRESSIONS—BONGO LIFE—THE COLORADO MOUTH—CHANGE OF SCENERY—THE + IGUANA—A SOLITARY ESTABLISHMENT—TROPICAL EASE—THE RIO + SERAPIQUI—FIGHT BETWEEN THE NICARAGUANS AND THE ENGLISH—“A FAMOUS + VICTORY”—THE RIO SAN FRANCISCO—REMOLINO GRANDE—PICTURESQUE RIVER + VIEWS—THE HILLS AND PASS OF SAN CARLOS—THUNDER STORMS—THE MACHUCA + RAPIDS—MELCHORA INDIANS—RAPIDS OF MICO AND LOS VALOS—RAPIDS OF THE + CASTILLO—ISLAND OF BARTOLA—CAPTURE BY LORD NELSON—THE “CASTILLO + VIEJO,” OR OLD CASTLE OF SAN JUAN—“A DIOS CALIFORNIA!”—ASCEND TO THE + RUINS—STRONG WORKS—CAPTURE OF THE FORT BY THE ENGLISH IN + 1780—FAILURE OF THE EXPEDITION AGAINST NICARAGUA; A SCRAP OF + HISTORY—PASSAGE OF THE RAPIDS—DIFFERENT ASPECT OF THE RIVER—A BLACK + EAGLE—NINETY MILES IN SIX DAYS—THE FORT OF SAN CARLOS—GREAT LAKE OF + NICARAGUA—LAND AT SAN CARLOS—THE COMMANDANTE—HEARTY WELCOME—NOVEL + SCENES—ANCIENT DEFENCES—VIEW FROM THE FORT—THE RIO FRIO—THE GUATOSOS + INDIANS—A PARADISE FOR ALLIGATORS, AND SOME HAPPY INSTITUTIONS OF + THEIRS. + + +Most small communities have in their midst one or two resident +notabilities, who are regarded something in the light of oracles, and to +whom general deference is acceded. San Juan is not an exception; and +Captain Samuel Shepherd is at once, _per se_, a personage so +characteristic and so associated and identified with the place, that no +description of San Juan would be complete in which he failed to be a +prominent feature. His residence is the most pretentious edifice in San +Juan; it is, in fact, the architectural wonder of the place, inasmuch as +it is not only a framed building, but has a shingled roof and glazed +windows. It was built by Captain Shepherd, in his more prosperous days, +when he was the principal trader on the coast from Boca del Toro to +Yucatan, and before age had crippled his energies, and reverses +dissipated his fortune. He is now old and nearly blind, but hale, +cheerful, intelligent, and communicative, and capable of giving more +information relative to the coast than any man living. He seldom leaves +his hammock, which is swung in the principal room of his house, and in +which he receives all his visitors. We called upon him, on the second +day after our arrival, and were received with every demonstration of +respect. The captain was never more eloquent, and although he had always +been classed as an Englishman, yet he said he was born in the United +States, and meant to claim its protection as a citizen. He had been +appointed “Governor of the Port,” or some such nominal and trumpery +office, by the British Consul, by way of conciliation, but he was not to +be taken in so easily; and as for the orders which had been promulgated +in his name, concerning the pigs and chickens, he protested it was +altogether the consul’s doings; he had shut up neither the one nor the +other, and regarded these animals quite as good citizens as the rest; +the consul might shoot any of them, (pigs or citizens,) if he dared. And +as for the pretended English protectorate, and the authority assumed +under it, the one was a fraud and the other an imposition; for whatever +title the Mosquito Indians ever possessed, had been formally transferred +and secured to him. And the captain here produced, from a very closely +locked and substantial case, a variety of parchment grants and +conveyances, bearing the “his ＋ mark” of “Robert Charles Frederick,” +father of the little Sambo boy now wearing the Mosquitian purple, in +which it was duly set forth and attested that “upon the 24th of January, +1839, in consideration of the true and laudable services rendered to us +by Samuel Shepherd, etc., we, Robert Charles Frederick, King of the +Mosquito nation, of our special grace, and of our certain knowledge and +free motion, have given and granted, and by these presents, sealed with +our seal, do give and grant unto the said Samuel Shepherd, etc., all +that tract of land lying between Blewfields River on the north, and San +Juan River on the south,” etc., etc., in the most approved form, and +with royal prolixity, all of which is duly witnessed, together with the +peaceable transfer and possession of the territory in question, approved +by General Slam, Admiral Rodney, Lord Nelson, and other equally +distinguished personages,[3] comprising the august council of the +breechless but imperial “Robert Charles Frederick.” Several other +similar and equally formal documents were produced, in which the various +Mosquito potentates had transferred to Mr. Shepherd and his associates +about two-thirds of their pretended kingdom. When, in 1841, the English +government sent its agents here to secure the country as a dependency on +the British Empire, their first act was to procure the revocation of +these grants, by the young Sambo, “George William Clarence,” which was +accordingly done; the act of revocation setting forth, in a most +unfilial way, that “his late majesty was not in his right mind when he +made them,” that is, _was drunk_! But Captain Shepherd protests that the +revocation was procured through the influence of Jamaica rum, that his +titles are in no degree impaired by it, and that the “his ＋ mark” of one +savage is as good as that of another. He regards the British occupation, +therefore, as a direct invasion of his rights and sovereignty, and +insists that if the port does not belong to Nicaragua, it certainly does +to him; a sequitur which we at once admitted, much to the captain’s +satisfaction, and to his admiration of American justice, discrimination, +and judgment. + +----- + +Footnote 3: + + Like most savages, the Mosquito Indians are exceedingly vain, not less + of names than apparel. It is a common thing to see a black fellow, + without hat, shirt, or breeches, strutting through the little Indian + towns on the coast, in a buttonless military jacket, purchased from a + Jew’s cast-off clothing shop in Kingston, and given to him by some + Jamaica trader in exchange for turtle shells. In nine cases out of ten + the wearer proclaims his name to be Lord Wellington, General Wolfe, or + Lord Nelson, or some other equally distinguished name, which he has + heard the traders mention. The lowest rank thus assumed is that of + General. + +----- + +Once off from his hobby, the old sailor was more interesting, if less +amusing, and talked of matters in general in a manner highly original. +His account of the relations which existed between the mixed brood of +Indians and Negroes on the coasts, and the Jamaica traders, was given +with a directness somewhat startling to persons not yet emancipated from +the conventional rigors of the United States, but which constituted the +best evidence of its truth. To say that these relations were exceedingly +free and easy, is hardly explicit enough, as will be admitted when it is +known that the visit of the traders was looked forward to as a kind of +festival, when all ages and sexes abandoned themselves to general +drunkenness and indiscriminate licentiousness. Every old trader had a +number of children at every landing-place or settlement on the coast; +and on the occasion of each visit, he impiously baptized all those which +he conceived might be his own. This indiscriminate intercourse, it can +readily be imagined, has resulted in a complete demoralization of the +natives, and has been attended by physical consequences quite as +deplorable as those which have followed the intercourse of Europeans +with some of the Pacific Islands. These relations were established by +the pirates, when they thronged the Spanish main, from Jamaica as a +centre, and they are now referred to, by the British government, as an +evidence of ancient alliance, and in support of an assumed protectorate! +It was not without a feeling of sympathy for the almost sightless old +captain, that we left him swinging in his hammock, where he is doubtless +yet to be found, clinging hopefully to his parchment titles. + +We remained six days at San Juan, at the end of which time, having +witnessed a promiscuous affair called a fandango, not at all +spiritualized by the West Indian variations on the none-too-delicate +original, and exhausted the limited stock of amusements which the place +affords, besides having become completely wearied with the low, +monotonous scenery, and not a little disgusted because of the absence of +those tropical luxuries of which we had formed so high anticipations, we +were anxious for a change. But few boats arrived from the interior, in +consequence of an attempted revolution, and these brought accounts of +the state of affairs, which we afterwards found were much exaggerated, +but which made us especially anxious to proceed on our journey. When, +therefore, our baggage and stores had been fished up from the hold of +the Frances, and piled in dire confusion in the middle of our +partitionless house, no time was lost in preparing for our departure. +Through the assistance of my colored friend, we had engaged one of the +largest bongos then in port for our exclusive accommodation, paying +dearly for the stipulation that no freight beyond our own should be +taken,—an unnecessary precaution, by the way, of which our colored +friend neglected to inform us, for the troubles in the interior +prevented the merchants from shipping goods in that direction, and had +it not been for our opportune arrival, the boat must have gone empty. +This bongo bore the name of “La Granadina,” and looked not wholly +uncomfortable as she lay at her moorings, just off the shore. She had a +crew of ten stalwart oarsmen, and was particularly commended on account +of her _patron_, Pedro, one of the patriarchs of the river, who, amongst +his other accomplishments, spoke a little English, of which, for a +wonder, he was not at all vain. As soon as the arrangement was +completed, our marineros made court to us most assiduously, fairly +hustling each other for the honor (worth a _medio_) of carrying the +members of our party backwards and forth from “La Grenadina.” One of the +number, a slight but well-proportioned Mestizo, was a subject for the +Washingtonians, and won the soubriquet of “Medio,” from his frequent +applications for sixpence. On these occasions he would gravely take off +his hat, and throwing himself in a theatrical attitude, bring his closed +left hand with Forrestian force on his naked breast, exclaiming, “_Soy +un hombre bueno!_” I am a good man! It was worth the money to witness +the relapse from dignity to servility when the coin touched his palm. +Medio little thought how strict a parallel he afforded to men in other +countries, and loftier spheres of action. Medio’s price was sixpence, +although he had served as sergeant in the army, and distinguished +himself among the “veteranos.” + +[Illustration: OUR BONGO—“LA GRANADINA.”] + +The day of our departure had been fixed for the 12th, at four in the +morning, and Pedro had promised faithfully to have all things in +readiness. With the anticipation of an early start, we bade all our +friends good-bye over night, and retired early, declining any provision +for breakfast on shore, lest we might cause delays in the morning. +Morning came, but not a sailor was to be seen near the “La Granadina,” +except the one who had kept watch over night; the rest, he said, would +be there “_muy pronto_” very soon; whereupon he dodged beneath the +_chopa_, and composed himself for another nap. We waited an hour on the +shore; meantime the sun came up, door after door was unbarred, and the +people came streaming down to the water to perform their morning +ablutions, evidently greatly puzzled to account for our presence there. +Their salutations seemed to conceal a vast deal of irony, and I fear +were not returned with the utmost amiability. At eight o’clock, after +firmly resolving to hold Pedro to a strict accountability for his +delinquency, we returned in high indignation to our old quarters, and +despatched orders for breakfast. To our infinite surprise, Monsieur S. +had already prepared it. He received us with a smile, and when the meal +was finished, coolly asked our preferences for dinner! This was rather +too severe an enforcement of our first lesson in native delays, and led +to an explanation, in the course of which Monsieur told us that he had +long since found out the absurdity of attempting to advise Americans in +such matters; and ended with the assurance that if we got off by the +middle of the afternoon we might regard ourselves as particularly +fortunate. We nevertheless returned to the shore, and found part of the +crew had assembled, and were collecting wood and arranging their kettles +preparatory to making breakfast. Never was anything performed more +deliberately; and the meal itself was disposed of with equal +deliberation. It was nearly eleven when the kettles were again placed in +the boat, and quite twelve when Pedro made his appearance. Fortunately +for his sable skin, our impatience had taken the chronic form of dogged +endurance, and we sat amongst boxes, trunks, and guns, silent and grim, +but cherishing the determination to make ourselves even with the +vagabonds before we got through with them. Monsieur S. proved to be +right; and it was late in the afternoon before the last straggler was +got in, and the signal was given for starting. We severally mounted on +the naked shoulders of the men, and were deposited on the _pineta_, a +novel mode of embarkation with which we afterwards became familiar. The +sailors took their places, and Pedro, with a great conch shell in one +hand, gravely stationed himself at the tiller. The sweeps were raised, +and every eye was fixed on the Patron, who glanced over the crew, as +much as to ask “all ready?” and then, raising the shell to his lips, +gave a long, unearthly blast. The sweeps fell simultaneously into the +water, the men uttered a _hoo-pah_, the crowd on the beach shouted, the +women waved their rebozos, while Ben unfurled the American flag at the +bow. La Granadina seemed to fly through the water, and our friend, the +Consul General, protruded his head from his hospitable garret, and waved +his adieus as we swept by. The crew of the little Francis also hurrahed +from her shrouds, and altogether, as Pedro, dropping his conch, proudly +observed, it was a demonstration worthy of the occasion. He evidently +thought it would tell well in the United States! + +We were too glad to get off, to care much for anything else; nor did we +experience many regrets when we took our last look at the long, low line +of huts, and found ourselves shut in by the green banks of the river. +Fairly in the stream, and out of sight of the town, the oars were drawn +aboard, and every marinero stripped himself of his scanty clothing, +which was carefully wrapped up, and deposited in a protected place, nor +put on again until we reached the head of the river. This somewhat +startling ceremony over, each man lighted a segar and resumed his oar; +but the strokes were now leisurely made, and the severe realities of the +voyage commenced. For some miles the banks of the river, as also the +numerous islands which studded it, were low, covered with canes, and +with a species of tall grass called _gamalote_. In places the stream was +compressed between the islands, with a rapid current; while elsewhere it +spread out in broad, glassy reaches, of great apparent depth, but +shallow everywhere except in the channel; which, as the bed of the river +is sand, is narrow and tortuous, and constantly shifting. A few miles +above the harbor, we came to where the Juanillo, “Little John,” rejoins +the river, from which it diverges some twenty-five miles above the +mouth. After winding through the low grounds back of San Juan, spreading +out into lagunas, and at one place into a considerable lake, it returns +to the main stream, purple with vegetable infusions. The Indians +sometimes penetrate this channel in canoes, for the purpose of shooting +the wild fowl which people its marshy, pestilent borders, and of killing +the manitus, which here finds a congenial solitude. + +During the rainy season the whole marshy region through which the +Juanillo flows is covered with water, as is also nearly the entire delta +of the river, which, in the ordinary stages, is nowhere elevated more +than a few feet above the river. It was now the commencement of the +rains in the interior; the stream was rising, and, as our freight was +comparatively light, we were enabled to proceed without much difficulty. +We nevertheless sometimes ran aground, on which occasions our men leaped +overboard, and putting their shoulders under the boat, lifted it off. +The bongos are sometimes obliged, both in ascending and descending, to +take out part of their freight, and depositing the remainder beyond the +shallower sections of the river, return again for it. This, however, +occurs only during the dry season, when the river has probably not more +than half the volume which it possesses during the period of the rains. + +In the exhilaration of our departure we had quite forgotten the +disappointment of the morning, and had abandoned ourselves to the +enjoyment of the novelty alike of our circumstances and the scenery. But +our day’s annoyances were not complete. After paddling for perhaps five +miles, we came to where the banks had more firmness, and were a trifle +higher than below, and where the canes and long grass gave way to a rank +growth of palms; their broad leaves forming a roof impenetrable to the +sun. Here, at a place where the undergrowth had been removed, and the +trees rose like gothic columns, with evergreen arches, covering cool, +dark vistas, our boat was quietly thrust in shore, and we were +astonished with preparations for another meal. We remonstrated, but it +was of no use; all the bongos had stopped here from time immemorial, and +Pedro told us, in broken English, that the _demonio_ could not get the +sailors by. And Pedro himself sat deliberately down on the _pineta_, and +turning up his toes, began a grand hunt for _niguas_. Some of the men +followed the example of the Patron, others lifted out the kettles, and +still others built a fire. + +Every bongo, on leaving the interior, takes on board a large number of +plantains, not yet fully ripe, and which are therefore called _verdes_. +These are detached from the stalk, “corded up” in the bow of the boat, +and constitute the principal reliance of the men. A few, that are nearly +or quite ripe, called _maduras_, are also taken on board for immediate +use. Besides these, there is a box of jerked beef, or what the Americans +ironically call _yard beef_,—i. e. beef cut in long strips and dried in +the sun. Some bottles of _manteca_ (lard), or a quantity of kidney fat +and a bag of rice are added, and then the substantial supplies for the +voyage are complete. The cookery is very simple. Stakes are driven in +the ground to support the kettle, in which is first put a portion of +fat, next a layer of _platanos verdes_ from which the skin has been +stripped, then a layer of beef cut in small pieces, a calabash of rice, +some salt, and so on until the kettle is filled. Water is poured over +all, and the whole is thoroughly boiled. While this is going on, the men +amuse themselves with roasting bits of meat on the ends of pointed +sticks. Nothing can be wilder or more picturesque than a dozen naked, +swarthy figures crouched around the fire, in the deep shadows of the +forest, protecting their faces from the heat with their hands, and +keeping up the while a most vociferous discussion, generally about the +merits of this or that bongo, or upon some other subject of equal +interest to themselves. When the mess in the kettle is cooked, each one +fills his calabash, and with his fingers or a cocoa-nut spoon disposes +of it at his leisure. As the “yard beef” has always a most suspicious +odor, I could bring myself to taste the contents of the kettle but once. +I must do the marineros the justice to say that it was not an unsavory +dish. It is always arranged to have half a kettle full of the compound +over, to which the men help themselves at their pleasure. + +Besides these common stores, every sailor has a private stock, +consisting, generally, of a bag of _tiste_, (parched corn, ground with +cacao and sugar,) which is mixed with water, making a nourishing and +most delicious beverage. He has also a few cakes of _chancaca_, or, as +he calls it, _dulce_, i. e., unrefined sugar, which he eats in its raw +state. A few stalks of sugar-cane are almost always to be found stowed +away amongst the freight, upon which the men entertain themselves after +the anchor is cast for the night. In fact, when they are not sleeping or +at the oars, they are eating or smoking, and are as loquacious as a +flock of parrots. A stranger would suppose they were constantly on the +verge of a general quarrel. Yet, like the _arrieros_ of Mexico, these +men are, with few exceptions, good-tempered, honest, and trustworthy, +and have an _esprit de corps_ amongst them which is carefully kept up. +They are governed by certain conventional rules, which none dare +violate; and their quarrels are generally referred to the decision of +the older and more influential individuals of their own number. + +It was nearly sunset when the meal was finished; the boat was pushed out +in the stream, and we were once more on our way. We had now come to that +part of the river where the long, broad reaches commence, and were +moving slowly and almost noiselessly along in the shadow of the trees, +on the tops of which the sunlight was shining, when suddenly, as if by a +simultaneous impulse, the sweeps were raised, and each sailor reverently +took off his hat,—the hour of the _oracion_ had come. The bowman +commenced the evening chaunt, the chorus of which was taken up by the +entire crew, with a precision, in respect to cadence and time, which +could only result from long practice. There was certainly something +impressive in the apparent devotion of these rude men, apart from the +effect of the melody itself, caught up as it was by the echoes, and +prolonged in the forest solitudes. Yet the impression was destroyed by +one of those freaks in which the natives of this country seem to +delight, and which constantly outrage the traveller’s sense of +propriety. No sooner was the chaunt concluded, than all hands gave a +shout, and bending to the sweeps, pulled like madmen for a few minutes, +and then as suddenly stopped again, and broke out in a paroxysm of +laughter. + +We afterwards frequently witnessed the same proceeding, but could never +discover the reason for it, probably because there was no reason in the +case. We came, in the end, to look upon it as a simple ebullition of +animal feeling. The fit of laughter over, the men pulled steadily for a +couple of hours, keeping time to a kind of round which was certainly not +without a degree of melody, but which was chiefly acceptable because it +required a full and rapid swing of the sweeps, and was therefore +favorable to speed. We always applauded it, and when impatient of our +slow progress, exercised our ingenuity to introduce it as frequently as +possible without creating suspicion of the object. Our friend “Medio,” +however, sharper than the rest, detected us; but he was adroit enough to +turn his wit to account, by exacting extra allowances of our _ardiente_ +as the reward of his silence. + +It was long after dark when we came to anchor in the midst of the +stream, at a point above the _gamalote_ islands, which are always +densely populated with mosquitos. For this reason the bongos never stop +over night near them, if it can be avoided. The sailors have also a +fancy, whether well-founded or otherwise I am unprepared to say, that +noise will attract these annoying visitors. The sweeps are therefore +pulled on board, and the anchor run out as silently as possible, and all +conversation thereafter is carried on in a suppressed voice. + +One night on the river is much like all others, and our first may be +taken as an “average” example of our nocturnal experiences. The trunks +of the party had been packed beneath the _chopa_, with principal +reference to a level surface. Upon these were spread ponchos, blankets, +and whatever might contribute to relieve the unyielding sub-stratum, +while the carpet bags, and gutta-percha pouches were reserved for +pillows. A stout cord was fastened close under the roof, over which were +hung a change of linen, and a few necessary articles of dress. Here too +were slung, in easy reach, and with special regard to convenience in +case of necessity, our guns, pistols, and bowie knives, with the +requisite ammunition. A few books and materials for drawing were +bestowed on a shelf beneath the _pineta_, where also Ben had established +the commissariat department,—one which, above all others, is not to be +neglected in ascending the San Juan. It was barely possible to sit erect +beneath the _chopa_; and excepting the narrow space between it and the +first bench, there was no room to stand, unless we encroached upon the +Patron’s _pineta_,—which, it may be mentioned, we were not scrupulous in +doing. Here, notwithstanding the heat of the sun, I passed most of the +day, to the thorough embrowning of every exposed part of the person. The +thatched _chopa_, a paradise for insects, was covered with raw hides, +and two immense ones were fixed at either end. When it rained, these +were let down, converting the interior into a kind of oven, intolerably +close and hot. After one or two trials, we preferred to take the risk of +getting wet to that of being suffocated by the heat, and would not allow +them to be lowered. In fact, after repeated wettings, their stench +became unendurable, and we had them removed entirely, much to the +astonishment of Pedro, who really seemed to relish the smell of +putrescent hides! In the first class bongos, which have board roofs, +with close joints, this annoyance is obviated. In these the traveller +also finds a refuge on the top of the _chopa_, from the discomforts of +the interior. + +We sat up late, watching the men, who gathered in a group near the bow +of the boat, each with a cigar in his mouth, a handkerchief bound round +his head, and a blanket thrown over his shoulders. There they sat for +hours, keeping up conversation in a low tone, and with every appearance +of great earnestness. Finally, however, they broke off one by one, and +stretched themselves each on his own hard bench. Ben, too, who had been +with Fremont across the continent, had travelled all over Mexico, and +was consequently a philosopher after his way, took to the only vacant +bench, while Pedro coiled himself in a heap on the _pineta_. The night +was threatening, no stars were visible, and we could only discern the +dark water sweeping past us, by the light of the “fire-fly lamps.” An +alligator occasionally plunged heavily in the stream, but excepting the +water rippling under the bow, all else was silent. + +It was past midnight when the drops of an approaching shower warned us +to seek the shelter of the _chopa_. We found our quarters sufficiently +narrow, and the trunks, spite of ponchos and blankets, portentously +hard. Yet, thanks to former experiences, I was soon asleep, and +slumbered soundly until morning. A few straggling mosquitos, however, +had disturbed my companions, who were up long before me, unrefreshed and +complaining. Although it was hardly sunrise, we had been moving for two +or three hours, and were past the Tauro mouth of the San Juan, and +approaching the point of divergence of the Colorado. And although the +banks were little if any higher than before, yet the feathery palms, of +which I have spoken, were interspersed with other varieties of trees, +some of which were of large size, and draped all over with vines, that +hung in rich festoons over the water. Birds of varied plumage glanced in +and out of the forest, and cranes and other water-fowl paced soberly +along the sand bars, or flew lazily up the stream as we approached. +Occasionally a pair of green macaws,—the macaw is never seen except in +couples,—fluttered slowly over our heads, almost deafening us with their +discordant notes. The air was cool and fresh, reminding me of a morning +in June at home, and I experienced a degree of exhilaration in +performing my morning ablutions which completely put to flight all my +previously conceived notions of tropical lassitude. Mists lurked here +and there in the bends of the river, and in shadowy nooks, but they +gradually dispersed, and at eight o’clock, when the boat was moored +under the shadow of a gigantic tree, the sun shone brilliantly upon a +scene as luxuriant as the imagination can portray. Ben boiled his coffee +at the sailors’ fire, and we made our first breakfast on the river with +a degree of satisfaction which, even at this distance of time, it is +pleasant to recall. + +At ten o’clock we were once more in motion, and shortly after came to +the Colorado. At the point of junction, fourteen miles above the port, +there is a broad reach, and the river at once assumes a more majestic +character. As I have already said, the Colorado carries off fully +two-thirds of the water of the river, so that no adequate idea of its +size and beauty can be formed until the traveller has reached the main +body of the stream. Here the banks become higher; the low islands +disappear; and the river is walled in by a dense forest. To avoid the +strength of the current, the boat was kept close along the shore, and +the long vines, loaded with gay and fragrant flowers, trailed over the +_chopa_ as it passed beneath them. Brilliantly-colored birds sparkled in +the cool, green coverts, and, for the first time, we saw the ugly +iguanas looking curiously down upon us from the projecting limbs of the +trees. They fully answered to Ben’s description of very ugly snakes, +which Nature, after forming the head and tail, had neglected, until it +was too late, to roll into shape, giving them afterwards four legs, by +way of compensation for her oversight. They abound in Central America, +and are to be met with in almost every locality, but are particularly +abundant on the San Juan, where they attain to great size. They are of a +variety of colors, and the different species (of which there appear to +be several,) are distinguished by other peculiarities. Hundreds of small +size and bright-green color might be seen clinging to every little +branch, or sunning themselves on every old trunk which projected into +the stream. When disturbed, they would dash for the shore with great +swiftness, literally walking the water. We shot many in our passage, but +recovered few, as they are very tenacious of life, and often cling to +the trees after they are killed. They are esteemed delicious food, and +are eagerly sought by the marineros. I could never bring myself to taste +them, although the flesh, after being cooked, looked sufficiently +delicate and inviting. I do not know how close an anatomical affinity +they sustain to the alligator, but their jaws and teeth are much the +same, in miniature, and like the alligator they take to the water if +closely pressed, when there is no hole or tree in which to find refuge. +Their general ugliness is unnecessarily heightened by a kind of crest or +integument which runs along the back, from the root of the neck to the +tail, and which is elevated when the animal is frightened or enraged. I +never overcame my aversion to these reptiles, although I afterwards +brought myself to tolerate a colony of them, which had taken up their +quarters in the adobe walls of my court-yard in Leon. + +During the day we passed an island near the place of divergence of the +Juanillo, upon which an adventurous Nicaraguan from the interior had +established a plantain-walk. His house was nothing more than a shed, and +under it was strung a couple of hammocks, in which the master and his +spouse swung slowly to and fro, complete impersonations of idleness and +ease. A couple of naked children were rolling in the sand of the shore, +upon which was drawn up a graceful canoe, the whole constituting a +picture of primitive simplicity, to be found nowhere except under the +tropics. Our men shouted, and were answered by a couple of +wolfish-looking dogs, while the children scampered for the hut in +apparent alarm, but neither father nor mother took the trouble to rise. +Why should they? + +That night we came to anchor a few miles below the mouth of the +Serapiqui, and next morning passed the spot where the Nicaraguan boatmen +had made their stand against the English, after the capture of San Juan. +The position was well chosen, at the head of a long reach, where the +river takes a sudden bend, and where the hills, for the first time, come +down to the water. Here they had cleared off the trees, and with their +trunks had constructed a hasty breastwork, fronting the river. This rude +fortification was manned by about one hundred and twenty men, some armed +with old fowling-pieces, but others having no weapons except their +machetes. They had also one or two rusty pieces of artillery, which none +of them knew how to use, and with these preparations they awaited the +ascent of the English. The latter, made up of three hundred picked men, +from the vessels-of-war “Alarm” and “Vixen,” in launches carrying guns +at their bows, reached this place on the 12th of February, 1848. There +could, of course, be but one result. The Nicaraguans were dislodged, +with the loss of some fifteen or twenty killed, and about the same +number wounded. With an equal force and equipments, the issue might have +been different. The English commander reported his loss at two killed +and fourteen wounded, but the Nicaraguans protest that it was four or +five times that number, and the men were anxious to convince us of the +fact by opening the grave where the English had buried their dead. We +did not, however, take interest enough in the matter to stop, and were +consequently obliged to keep our doubts, if we entertained any, to +ourselves. Certain it is, that the British commander did not include in +his statement the loss of Mr. Walker, “British Consul and General Agent +on the Mosquito shore,” who, with a boon companion, was reported +“accidentally drowned.” Walker was the most effective agent in getting +up the attack on San Juan, and in organizing the British pretensions, +being always at hand to manufacture “historical evidence,” and his death +almost consoled the Nicaraguans for their defeat. Captain Loch was, I +believe, promoted for his gallantry, in what the Admiralty termed “the +brilliant action of Serapiqui.” The whole affair was a wanton act of +aggression, and worthy only of pirates. No wonder the sailors hissed +“death to the English” through their closed teeth, as we swept past the +scene of their humiliation. + +The Serapiqui is a large stream, taking its rise at the base of the +great volcano of Cartago, in Costa Rica. It is navigable by bongos for +the distance of thirty miles, and is one of the avenues through which +the inhabited part of Costa Rica is reached from the coast. Flowing +wholly to the eastward of the mountains, where the rains fall during the +entire year, the volume of water in this river is very constant. It is +probably the largest tributary of the San Juan. There is a small spot of +ground partially cleared at its mouth, where some families had +established themselves previous to the English troubles. Upon the +seizure of San Juan, they abandoned their plantations and moved into the +interior; and so rapid is the progress of vegetation and the course of +decay, that their rude dwellings have entirely disappeared, and no trace +of former occupation is left, except a few plantain trees struggling +above the rank grass and undergrowth which have since sprung up. + +We passed the mouth of the Rio San Francisco during the afternoon, and +spent our third night above “Remolino Grande,” where rock first appears +in the bank of the river. This name is given to a whirlpool caused by +the abrupt turning of the stream, which is here somewhat confined by its +unyielding banks. Up to this time we had accomplished only about thirty +miles of our voyage, and the easiest portion, for the current above is +stronger, and we were now approaching the rapids, where progress against +the stream is slow and difficult. + +[Illustration: VIEW OF THE SAN JUAN; THE HILLS OF SAN CARLOS.] + +The next day we came to where the banks of the river were higher than we +had yet seen, and where the scenery became, if possible, more beautiful +than before. I never wearied in gazing upon the dense masses of foliage +that literally embowered the river, and which, in the slanting light, +produced those magical effects of shadow on water, which the painter +delights to represent. We this day caught occasional glimpses of the +high hills at the junction of the San Carlos with the San Juan, where +the latter breaks through the barrier which shuts in the great basin of +Nicaragua on the east. The afternoon was rainy, and heavy thunder-storms +swept over as we approached the highlands. The marineros, nevertheless, +seemed to relish the change, and pulled at the oars with renewed vigor. +Just before sunset, however, the rains stopped, and as the atmosphere +cleared, we found that we were at the mouth of the San Carlos, a broad +and long stream, which, like the Serapiqui, takes its rise at the base +of the volcano of Cartago, in Costa Rica. This stream, Pedro informed +us, brings down immense quantities of volcanic sand, ashes, and +decomposed scoriaceous materials, which it deposits at various points, +forming what appear to be smooth sand-bars. The material, however, is so +soft and yielding, that whoever ventures upon it, sinks at once to his +middle. Near the mouth of this stream is one of the largest and most +beautiful islands to be found in the river; and, as we approached, two +manitees, feeding amongst the grass on its shores, plunged their +unwieldy bulks heavily in the water. Above the island is the pass in the +hills to which I have alluded, and which reminded me of the entrance of +the highlands of the Hudson from the north. The mountains, upon the +left, come boldly down to the water, and their tops were wrapped in +clouds, lending to them the grandeur which in some degree always +pertains to the vague and unknown. Here the river is much compressed, +and the current deep and strong, requiring the utmost exertions of the +men to carry the boat against it. With darkness came the rain again, and +thunder-storm after thunder-storm rolled heavily along the heights of +San Carlos. At times the mountain summits were literally wrapped in +fire, and they seemed trembling to their very bases under the +reverberating peals of thunder. None but those who have witnessed a +tropical storm can fully appreciate Byron’s magnificent description, or +understand the terrible majesty of this elemental warfare. I slept but +little that night, and shall never forget the excitement, novel and +pleasurable, which I experienced under these new and singular +circumstances. Towards morning I fell asleep, and was only awakened by +Ben’s call to breakfast,—broiled ham, fried plantains, bread, and +chocolate. + +From the mouth of the San Carlos to the first rapids, those of Machuca, +the river seemed to increase in beauty. The banks were higher and +firmer, and hills appeared, at intervals, in the background. The country +here is evidently one well adapted for cultivation, and must ultimately +become populated. At present a few Melchora Indians roam through its +forests, deriving their support from the river and its tributaries. They +are generally very shy of the boats, and retire upon their approach. One +or two families, however, have overcome their fears, and from their +communication with the boatmen, have picked up sufficient Spanish to +enable them to carry on a broken conversation. Two of these Indians, an +old man and a boy, came to us in their canoe, and offered some dried +pieces of a large fish, which abounds in the rivers, called _Savalo_, in +exchange for bread, plantains, or any other articles which the sailors +might have to spare. Both were naked, and the old man was wrinkled and +drooping, his gray hair matted on his head and shoulders, while the boy +was lithe, bright, and sleek as a young panther. They looked curiously +at our party, and frequently exclaimed, _blancos, blancos_, whites, +whites! I gave them some fish-hooks, in return for which they insisted +on my receiving a portion of their dried fish. Pedro endeavored to make +them understand that we were from “El Norte,”—but they knew nothing of +El Norte, and only shook their heads. They stand in great dread of +firearms, as they have been wantonly shot at by passengers ascending or +descending the river. And when they glanced under the _chopa_, and +caught sight of our armament, they pushed off hastily into the stream; +the boy standing in the bow, and striking with his paddle alternately on +one side and the other, while the old man guided the boat. I did not +succeed in procuring any words of the vocabulary of these Indians, but +they are undoubtedly of Carib stock. + +The rapids of Machuca, which derive their name from Capt. Diego Machuca, +who explored this river in 1529, are the first and most formidable on +the river. The bed of the stream, for nearly a mile, is full of rocks +and stones, between which the water rushes with great force. The boats, +in ascending, are kept close in the right shore, and are poled up, +slowly and with great difficulty. In descending they are often kept near +the middle of the stream, down which they come, glancing between the +rocks with the rapidity of an arrow. In descending, in June, 1850, my +bongo, which obeyed the rudder very imperfectly, struck with immense +force, and got jammed between the rocks, with its broadside to the +current, where we remained for thirty hours, until literally dragged out +by the united crews of six boats, after half a day of incessant labor. +The boat was of great strength, or it must inevitably have gone to +pieces. Such accidents are not of frequent occurrence, as the marineros +are extremely expert in the management of their bongos. We were four +hours in passing the Machuca. From thence to the Rapides del Mico and +los Valos, the current is strong, but the channel is free. These rapids +are short, and less difficult to overcome than those of Machuca. It is +nevertheless a slow and laborious task to make their ascent; and until +they are improved by art, they must always be great obstacles to the +navigation of the river. At present the steamer “Orus,” sent out by the +“American Atlantic and Pacific Ship Canal Company,” lies a wreck on the +rocks of Machuca. + +[Illustration: “CASTILLO VIEJO,” OR OLD FORT OF SAN JUAN.—1849.] + +On the morning of the 17th of June we made the Rapides del Castillo, +commanded by the ancient fort of San Juan, now called the Castillo +Viejo, “Old Castle.” We had looked forward to our arrival here with +great interest, not less on account of the historical associations +connected with the place, than because, from hence to the lake, the +passage is quick and comparatively easy. The morning was wet and gloomy, +and altogether the most forbidding of any we had yet encountered, hardly +excepting that on which we had made the coast, in the execrable little +Francis. I nevertheless put on my water-proof poncho, and took my seat +by the side of Pedro, on the _pineta_. + +A league below the fort we passed the island of Bartola, on which, +beneath the dense verdure, we could discover traces of the ancient +advance works of the fortress. It was here the English buried their men +who were killed, or died of disease during the memorable but fruitless +expedition against Nicaragua, in 1780, under the command of Colonel +Polson, and Captain, afterwards Lord, Nelson. This island was carried by +Nelson, who here distinguished himself for the first time. + +Passing the island, we came to a broad and beautiful reach in the river, +at the head of which, upon a commanding eminence, rise the walls of the +Castillo. The hill resembles that of Chapultepec, near Mexico; is +equally bold, and has been scarped to the steepness and regularity of +the pyramids. The sides are now covered with bushes, and matted over +with vines, but the walls still frown gloomily above the mass of +verdure. At the foot, and nearly on the level of the water, is what is +called the “_Platforma_,” where were the ancient water-batteries. It is +now occupied by a few thatched houses,—the quarters of a small garrison +kept here by the Nicaraguan government, as an evidence of occupancy, and +to assist boats in passing the rapids of the Castle, which, although +narrow, are very powerful, and better deserving the name of falls than +rapids. Here the boats have to be “tracked up” by sheer force; and it is +usual for all passengers to land, and to lighten the boat in every way +possible. It is often necessary to take out a considerable part of the +freight, or to wait for the arrival of another boat, so as to join +forces in making the ascent. + +Arrived in the eddy below the “Platforma,” M. and myself bestrid the +shoulders of our men, and were deposited on shore. We started at once +for the castle, by a path which the garrison, under express orders from +the government, kept clear of bushes. I glanced into one of the huts as +I passed, but saw nothing beyond a very pretty yellow girl, swinging +slowly to and fro in a hammock, with one naked leg hanging indolently +over the side. She threw aside her long black curls, but, without +changing her position, exclaimed, “Adios, California!” A party of +outward-bound Californians had spent a number of days here, a few weeks +previously, and had evidently been on familiar terms with the señora. + +The ascent to the castle was very steep and slippery from the rain, +which had fallen uninterruptedly all the morning. A wide and deep fosse +ran around the brow of the hill, with perpendicular escarpments, which +we crossed on a narrow causeway, evidently of comparatively recent +construction. If the work seemed imposing from the river, how much more +impressive was it when we looked down from its walls into two tiers of +chambers sunk in the rock, and in which tall trees were growing, their +topmost branches scarcely reaching to the level on which we stood. We +descended by a bomb-proof stairway to the bottom, into what had been the +magazine, and into the rocky chambers where the ancient garrison had +been quartered, more than ever impressed with the daring and energy of +those iron men who had subverted the empires of Montezuma and the Incas; +and who, within fifty years after the Discovery, had traversed every +part of the continent, from California to La Plata. We went into the +chapel; there was the niche in which had stood the cross, and an effigy +of “Nuestra Madre de Mercedes,” “Our Mother of Mercy,” and beneath it +was the font for holding the holy water. By a passage, protected from +shot, we ascended to what is called the tower,—a solid mass of masonry, +rising some sixty feet above the lower works, with a parapet embrasured +for twelve guns, and now almost as solid and substantial as if built but +yesterday. In this climate, where the great corrodent, frost, never +reaches, the durability of good masonry is almost incredible. The floor +of the tower, with the exception of the centre, which had been broken, +probably under the impression that treasure might be concealed there, +was as smooth and firm as ever. Upon the western side of the work was +the main entrance, the massive buttresses which supported the +drawbridge, and a glacis, subsiding to a terrace, which had been the +parade ground, garden, and cemetery of the garrison. All around the work +on this side was an arched way, and immediately facing the draw, and +firmly imbedded in the masonry of the tower, a block of stone, bearing a +long inscription, but too much defaced to be perfectly made out. Its +purport, however, is, that the castle was _reconstructed_, under royal +orders, by the Governor Intendant of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, for the +defence of the river, in 1747. How long previously works had existed +there is now unknown,—probably from the middle of the sixteenth century. +Great but ineffective efforts had evidently been made to dislodge or +remove this stone, which bears too potential evidence against the +pretensions of one “J. Bull,” to be regarded with favor by any in his +interest. + +On the north-western bastion of the fort and looking both up and down +the river, stands a sentinel’s box of stone, and close beside it, firmly +fixed in the walls, the stump of the ancient flag-staff. Within the box +were yet to be seen the grooves which the muskets of the sentinels had +worn in the stone. We thrust our heads through the windows, but saw +nothing except Pedro and his men, some to their shoulders in the water, +pushing up “La Granadina,” and others tugging at the rope attached to +her bows. + +[Illustration: SENTINEL’S BOX AT THE CASTILLO VIEJO.] + +This fort was captured by the English on the 29th of April, 1780. The +plan of the expedition was formed by Gen. Sir John Dalling,[4] and had +for its object to get possession of Lake Nicaragua, and the cities of +Leon and Granada, and thus to cut off communication between the northern +and southern Spanish possessions in America. The land forces were +commanded by Colonel Polson, under whose orders Captain Nelson, then in +command of the ship “Hinchinbrook,” acted. The Spanish garrison +consisted of two hundred and twenty-eight men, under the command of Juan +de Ayssa. Notwithstanding the overwhelmingly superior force of the +English, the siege was a protracted one. The castle was finally brought +to terms by the English obtaining possession of a hill commanding it in +the rear. By the terms of capitulation, “in consideration of the gallant +defence of the fort,” the garrison was permitted to march out with +colors flying, drums beating, with lighted matches, muskets and +sidearms, and to be furnished with vessels and provisions to convey them +to any port of Spain in America which might be agreed upon.[5] This +triumph was dearly purchased, and was productive of no good results. The +entire expedition was a failure, and is passed over very lightly in the +English annals. Of the two hundred men comprising the crew of Nelson’s +vessel, but ten survived the expedition, and he himself narrowly escaped +death. In January, 1781, the English abandoned the castle, and withdrew +to Jamaica. Collingwood apologises for the failure of the expedition, on +the ground that “it was formed without a sufficient knowledge of the +country, and presented difficulties not to be surmounted by human skill +and perseverance. It was dangerous to proceed on the river, from the +rapidity of the current, and the numerous falls over rocks which +intercepted the navigation; the climate, too, was deadly, and no +constitution could resist its effects.”[6] + +----- + +Footnote 4: + + Clark and McArthur’s Life of Nelson, vol. p. 32. + +Footnote 5: + + Beatson’s “Naval and Military Memoirs of Great Britain,” vol. v. p. + 97, and vol. vi. p. 230. + +Footnote 6: + + Memoirs, 5th ed., vol. i., p. 10. + +----- + +Some conception of the difficulty of ascending the rapids of the +Castillo may be formed from the fact, that it required the utmost +exertion of our men, for nearly three hours, to get “La Granadina,” with +no freight, past them. The boat once up, the crew made breakfast; and +after glancing over the list of the Californian party, who had not +neglected to inscribe their names conspicuously on the walls of the +fort, we descended, thoroughly drenched with the rain. I had the +toothache, and M—— the rheumatism, for a week, “by way of improvement” +on our visit to the Castillo. The commandant of the garrison, having +found out who were his visitors, was there to receive us; and from him +we learned that we were expected in the interior, and that instructions +had gone out from the government to all its officers to treat us with +every possible respect, and to afford every facility to our progress. He +had accordingly come to put himself “at our disposition.” Being hungry, +the colloquy took place, on the part of the representative of El Norte, +in the intervals which could be spared from Ben’s broiled ham and +coffee. For an appetite, and a corresponding contempt for etiquette, I +recommend a three hours’ visit to the Castillo Viejo, before breakfast. + +A few miles above the Rapides del Castillo, are the Rapides del Toro, +which, however, are not strong, and are easily passed. Beyond these the +river becomes of very nearly uniform width, and flows with a deep, +regular current. This part of the stream is, in fact, a kind of estuary, +or extension of Lake Nicaragua. The banks are low, and the feathery palm +again appears lining the shores. The whole country on both shores, for a +long distance back, is swampy, and in parts covered with water in the +rainy season. Quite a number of sluggish streams, nevertheless, flow +through it, whose names indicate the character of their banks and the +surrounding country. There is the Rio Palo del Arco, “Arched with +Trees;” the Rio Poco Sol, “Little Sun;” Rio Roblito, Mosquito, etc. + +It was on the morning of the sixth day after our departure from San +Juan, that the boat was pushed in to the low bank for breakfast, at a +point but five miles below the Fort of San Carlos, situated at the head +of the river, on the lake. Myriads of water-fowl lined the shores, and +never so much as moved from the trees above us while we breakfasted. +Among them Ben discovered a majestic black eagle, which he shot. The +bird fell near us, but as we approached him, he threw himself on his +back, with open beak, fierce eye, and threatening talons, defiant to the +last. I would have given more than one hard dollar to have undone the +wanton act, and sent the proud bird unharmed once more, free to his +native mountains. + +Although the novelty of our ascent, (ninety miles in six days, think of +that, ye voyagers on the Hudson or our western rivers!) had in some +degree compensated for its tediousness, and we had “put in” the time +rather agreeably than otherwise, yet it was with unqualified +satisfaction that we learned that we had nearly passed the river. We +were impatient to look upon the great lake, of which the world had heard +so much but knew so little, and thought our progress, over the +intervening five miles, unaccountably slow. At eleven o’clock, however, +upon passing a large island, the river opened in a broad reach, and we +saw before us the waters of the lake. A commanding eminence, cleared of +trees, and surmounted by a few houses and a flag-staff, rose where the +lake terminated and the river commenced. The men seemed hardly less +pleased than ourselves; but after pulling with great energy for a few +minutes, suddenly stopped, and simultaneously plunged overboard. We had +become accustomed to all sorts of fantastic freaks, and contented +ourselves with looking on without asking questions. After paddling about +for a while, they clambered aboard, and then commenced a grand hunt for +the clothes which had been so summarily laid aside when we left San +Juan. These were dragged to light from all conceivable out-of-the-way +nooks, and directly the whole crew was dressed in clean attire, which +made us quite ashamed of our soiled garments. The economy, not to say +the convenience, of going naked, for the purpose of keeping one’s +clothes clean, was never more manifest. Pedro insisted on having the +flag unfurled from the _pineta_, and before we had got within a mile +from the fort, produced his conch-shell, and blew an awful blast upon +it. A few figures appeared on the hill near the flag-staff, and directly +the blue and white flag of Nicaragua, with an oval in the centre, +containing three volcanoes and the rising sun, was run to its top. The +roll of a drum, and the glancing of polished arms in the sun, showed us +that we were recognized, and made us more than ever ashamed of our +shabby exteriors. But what was to be done? Our trunks were wedged +immovably beneath us, and if once dragged out, to our future eminent +discomfort, where and how could we make our toilet? Besides we had no +time for operations, the men were pulling with all their force, and we +were rapidly nearing the fort. M——, with one foot wrapped in a napkin, +(a nigua had unluckily escaped detection at San Juan,) proposed that we +should throw our gutta percha ponchos over our garments, and decline +going on shore, as the only feasible means of keeping up appearances. +This was hardly agreed upon and done, before “La Granadina” dashed round +the point, and up to the landing of San Carlos. The commandante and his +subordinates, in full uniform, the officers of the Aduana or +Custom-House, and a large deputation of the people, were all on the +beach to receive us, which they did with a storm of vivas, and before we +had well recovered from our surprise, a canoe was placed alongside, and +the first Alcalde desired us to land. We were, of course, extremely +obliged, but preferred to remain on board, as we should proceed at once. +Pedro spoiled this by saying that he must ship his masts here, and that +his men must eat, and we knew this double performance was good for five +or six hours. So, trusting to the impenetrable ponchos, we got into the +canoe, and were guided to the shore. We did not feel particularly +imposing while receiving the congratulations of our new friends, and at +once accepted the proposal of the commandante to go to his house, which +was airily situated at the top of the hill, and within what had been +part of the ancient defences. Here about twenty-five men, composing the +garrison, were drawn up, who presented arms as we passed. + +The commandante’s house, like all the rest, was composed of a +substantial frame-work of timber; the sides were made of canes netted +together, the roof was thatched, and the floor the natural earth, +excepting that of one room, which was paved with brick tiles. A number +of pigeons were billing and cooing in a snug place under the eaves; an +exceedingly quiet hen sat brooding beneath a table in one corner of the +principal room, and through an opening in a cloth partition, we caught +sight of a pretty bed, with snow-white curtains, with a gaudy palm +mattress spread in front, on which a full-sized, voluptuously-shaped +young woman was playfully tossing a naked infant, some six months old, +which crowed in very glee, while a young, clumsy little dog leaped +around the child, and barked asthmatically from sheer sympathy. The cool +wind rustled amidst the palm thatch, while the sunlight stole in +checkered mazes between the woven canes. Altogether the scene, combining +so much of simplicity and novelty, impressed me more than any I had ever +witnessed. I forgot, for the moment, that I was keeping my host +standing, and that the servant was holding the hammock, which invariably +swings in every dwelling, open for my reception. I apologized, while the +little garrison, bringing their arms to shoulder with a clang, defiled +before the door, the officer saluting us in a most formal manner. Our +host was anxious to have us remove our ponchos, and seemed puzzled at +our pertinacity in keeping them on. By-and-by, however, they became +insupportably hot, and, as the best way of getting out of them and a +scrape together, I frankly told the whole story of our dilemma, and +dragged off the abominations. I fear “El Norte” did not cut a very +imposing figure, under the close scrutiny to which he was subjected. + +The commandante insisted on our dining, and we had no indisposition to +do him the favor,—particularly as we had ocular demonstration, in the +flitches of dried meat, the luscious-looking plantains, and other +edibles, which hung from the rafters, (not less than in the person of +our rotund host, whose uniform was strained to the utmost limit in the +buttoning,) that his larder was well supplied, and the wants of the +inner man properly cared for. Preparatory to taking a walk through the +little village, which the commandante told us was “muy pobre,” very +poor, we all took a drop of brandy, to his toast complimentary to us, +and “to the President of the United States,” “El Esclarecido General +Taylor.” + +I have said that the house of the commandante stood within the ancient +outworks of the strong fort of San Carlos. The rocky summit of the point +had been smoothed, and the slopes scarped, so as to render ascent +difficult, if not impracticable. A battery, which raked the river for a +mile, once existed here; but the few rusty guns which remain are more +formidable in appearance than in fact. The fort itself, which formerly +communicated with this battery by a covered way, stands some distance +back, on the highest point of land in the vicinity. It was very strong, +but is now in complete decay, and covered with large trees and bushes, +so as to be entirely hidden from view. Within it we observed many very +heavy pieces of ordnance, some of which were cast in Manilla, and trees +were growing up through heaps of rusty cannon-balls. The position +completely commands the entrance to the lake, and from the nature of the +surrounding country must have been nearly impregnable. + +The present town of San Carlos consists only of some twenty cane or +board houses, occupied chiefly by the officers of the customs, and the +soldiers with their families. Since the seizure of San Juan, the customs +on goods entering the State, via that port, have been collected here. +This circumstance, together with the fact that all the boats passing +through the river stop here to unship or resume their masts, and renew +their supplies, makes it a place of some importance. It is delightfully +situated, and from the corridor of the commandant’s house, one of the +finest views in the world is presented to the traveller. The broad lake +spreads like a mirror in front, its opposite shores marked by the +regular volcanic peaks of Orosi, Madeira, and Ometepec, capped with +clouds, which rise dim and blue in the distance. Nearer lie the +fairy-looking islands of La Boqueta, golden under the tropical sun, +while in the foreground the emerald shores stretch their wide arms on +either side, a fit setting for so gorgeous a picture. Immediately +opposite the town, flowing into the lake, within a few rods of where the +San Juan flows out, is the Rio Frio, Cold River, whence the water for +consumption in the village is brought. The sources of this river have +never been explored, but they are supposed to be somewhere in the +mountains of Costa Rica. + +A tribe of Indians, called the _Guatusos_, who hold no communication +with the whites, inhabit its banks, and resist all attempts at +exploration. The late commandante of the fort, Don Trinidad Salazar, +endeavored to ascend the stream a few months previously to our arrival; +but on the sixth day he was interrupted by a large body of Indians, and +after a sharp contest, in which he was severely wounded, was compelled +to retreat. He subsequently gave me a glowing account of the beauty of +the stream, and the fertility and luxuriance of its shores. It has a +depth of two fathoms of water, for a distance of forty miles above its +mouth, and from his account, it could probably be navigated by steamers +for twice that distance. The fact that a stream of this size, and the +wide extent of country around it, are wholly unknown, would seem to show +how much remains to be discovered in Central America, and how broad a +field it holds out for enterprise and adventure. + +Between the mouth of the Rio Frio and the source of the San Juan, is a +broad sand-bar, which seems to be a grand sunning-ground for alligators. +Hundreds congregate here during the dry season, when the bar is exposed, +and they appear to have an exceedingly good time of it. We could +distinctly see their ugly, black carcasses from the commandante’s +corridor; and our host showed us a basket of their teeth, which he had +picked up on the bar, and which were more pleasant to contemplate in +that condition, than when adorning the jaws of the living reptile. + +A French officer, in the Nicaraguan service, (who was foolish enough to +take part against the government in an attempted revolution shortly +after, and got shot for his pains,) gave us some facts relative to +alligators, of which we were previously ignorant. Those most +satisfactory were that they occasionally have terrible fights among +themselves, in which many get killed, and that the males destroy all the +eggs of the females they can find, besides, Saturn-like, eating up all +the young ones they can catch. We only regretted that they were not more +successful in their amiable attentions to their own progeny. + +[Illustration: THE IGUANA.] + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + +SAN CARLOS—DINNER AT THE COMMANDANTE’S—INTRODUCTION TO “TORTILLAS Y + FRIJOLES”—A SIESTA—NEWS OF THE ATTEMPTED REVOLUTION—ANTICIPATING + EVENTS, AND WHAT HAPPENED TO THE COMMANDANTE AFTER WE + LEFT—DEPARTURE UNDER A MILITARY SALVO—VIEW OF SAN CARLOS FROM THE + LAKE—LAKE NAVIGATION—CARD PLAYING—GORGEOUS SUNSET—A MIDNIGHT + STORM—SAN MIGUELITO, AND THE “BATH OF THE NAIDES”—PRIMITIVE + SIMPLICITY—A DAY ON THE LAKE—“EL PEDERNAL”—A BATH WITH + ALLIGATORS—AN “EMPACHO”—A TRIAL AT MEDICINE, AND GREAT + SUCCESS—SECOND NIGHT ON THE LAKE—THE VOLCANOES OF MOMOBACHO, + OMETEPEC, AND MADEIRA—VOLCANIC SCENERY—THE COAST OF CHONTALES—THE + CREW ON POLITICS—“TIMBUCOS” AND “CALANDRACAS,” OR A GLANCE AT + PARTY DIVISIONS—ARRIVAL AT “LOS CORALES”—SOME ACCOUNT OF + THEM—ALARMING NEWS—A COUNCIL OF WAR—FAITH IN THE UNITED STATES + FLAG—THE ISLAND OF CUBI—MORE NEWS, AND A RETURN OF THE + “EMPACHO”—DISTANT VIEW OF GRANADA—MAKING A TOILETTE—BEES—ARRIVAL + AT THE RUINED FORT OF GRANADA—HOW THEY LAND THERE—SENSATION + AMONGST THE SPECTATORS—ENTRANCE TO THE CITY—THE ABANDONED CONVENT + OF SAN FRANCISCO—THE HOUSES OF THE INHABITANTS—FIRST + IMPRESSIONS—SOLDIERS AND BARRICADES—THRONGED STREETS—SEÑOR DON + FREDERICO DERBYSHIRE—“OUR HOST”—A WELCOME—OFFICIAL COURTESIES—OUR + QUARTERS—FIRST NIGHT IN GRANADA. + + +Two hours sufficed to exhaust the lions of San Carlos, including the +arsenal, which was a cane hut, with a quantity of powder in kegs, piled +in the middle and covered with hides; two pieces of artillery, and a +hundred stand of arms, over all of which a single sentinel kept watch, +and the public warehouse or _bodega_, which was nothing more than a +great shed, with convenient hammocks for its idle guardians,—we saw all +these before two o’clock, at which hour dinner was served in the +commandante’s house. The table-cloth was unimpeachably white, and the +service altogether neat and ample. It was clearly the intention of our +host to do his best; even the pigeons seemed impressed with the idea +that something extraordinary was going on, and the hen in the corner was +nervous with excitement in view of the display. All the juvenile +population of the place, if possible still more airily dressed than the +urchins at San Juan, crowded round the doors, (they had followed us, at +a distance, during our peregrinations), and regarded the whole affair +with evident admiration. A number of their seniors, comprising the more +respectable part of the inhabitants, arrayed for the occasion, in +snow-white shirts and pantaloons, each with white buckskin shoes, and a +red sash, now made their appearance, and were collectively and +individually introduced, to the renewal of our mortification on the +score of dress. + +We sat down at the table, which was placed so as to give me the seat of +honor in the hammock, while the commandante and his lieutenant, took, +respectively, the head and foot. They declined to eat, devoting +themselves wholly to supplying their guests. This, we afterwards +learned, was Nicaraguan etiquette, when special distinction was intended +to be conveyed. We were now, for the first time, introduced to the +eternal _tortilla_ and the omnipresent _frijoles_, to say nothing of the +endless variety of _dulces_ (sweetmeats), for which all Spanish America +is famous. We commenced with beef, culminated over chicken, and finished +with oranges, bananas, coffee, and cigars; with a pleasant stomachic +conviction that good dinners were not incompatible with cane-huts, +brooding hens in the corners, and amative pigeons under the eaves! We +were anxious to see the señorita, of whom we had had a glimpse on our +arrival, and whose low, laughing voice we occasionally heard through the +cloth partition; but this was a delicate point, which we were cautious +in touching upon, since M—— had found out that the commandante was a +bachelor. Ah, commandante! I may have been mistaken, but I feel very +sure it was a large black eye which I caught merry glances of through a +small rent in that cloth partition! + +A siesta was strongly commended to us after dinner, and hammocks were +strung for the whole party. It was indispensable, our host told us, in +this climate, and he wondered how it could be omitted in El Norte. Life, +in his opinion, without a siesta after dinner, must soon become a +wearisome affair,—and he quoted some verses from a native poet which +were conclusive on the subject; so we yielded, and lay down; the people +left, the doors were closed, and all was silent—even the pigeons were +still. Two hours passed in a dreamy, pleasurable way, with just enough +of consciousness to enjoy the mingled sensation of novelty and ease, +when Ben came to apprise us that the boat was ready, and the crew on +board. Our host pressed us to stay until the next morning, but the wind +and weather were fair; and, although the temptation was strong, we +adhered to our first intentions, and were deaf to argument. Before +leaving, I inquired about the revolution of which we had heard so much +at San Juan, but got no very satisfactory information. There had been an +“escaramúza,” a scrimmage, at Granada, and a lawless, reckless fellow, +under proscription for murder, named Somoza, had collected together a +party of adherents, and sacked the city of Rivas or Nicaragua. The +commandante was certain that peace and order were by this time restored; +but if they were not, our arrival would certainly produce quiet. The +commandante hardly thought that the same robber chief, of whom he spoke +so lightly, would pay him a visit within a fortnight, and carry him off +a prisoner! But so it proved to be; and although our commandante +effected his escape, at imminent peril, through a wilderness, unarmed +and alone, yet he was suspected of cowardice, imprisoned, and +court-martialed. He came out safely, however, a shade less rotund +perhaps, “a wiser if not a better man;” and before I left the country I +had the satisfaction of seeing him reinstated at the fort, fat, happy, +and hospitable as ever. The dark-eyed señorita was there too. + +At five o’clock we embarked, for the first time, on Lake Nicaragua. The +people all came to bid us good-bye; and one old man insisted upon a +parting embrace. Like the prophet of old, he said he was now ready to +die, for he knew that his country was safe beneath the guardianship of +the Republic of the North. We pushed off under a torrent of _vivas_, and +a _feu de joie_ was fired by the little garrison, which Ben efficiently +returned with his double-barrelled gun, while Pedro blew another +nerve-cracking blast on his conch—that awful conch! The view of San +Carlos, from the lake, was picturesque in the extreme, and the +accompanying sketch of it will be sufficiently curious twenty years +hence, when it shall have become, as it inevitably will, a large and +important town. Already a steamer plies regularly between San Carlos and +Granada; and the alligators, disturbed in their slumbers on the +sand-bar, by its plashing wheels and noisy engine, are meditating a +grand migration into the country of the Guatosos. + +The faintest of all zephyrs was dying away on the lake when we started, +yet we had not gone half a mile before the oars were drawn aboard, and a +huge triangular sail spread from the newly-rigged mast. The breeze was +hardly strong enough to fill it; and the boat dawdled, rather than +moved, through the water. We expostulated with Pedro; but it was +useless; the marineros never did row while there was the least apology +for a wind abroad, and the “demonio” himself couldn’t make them. So +Pedro lit his cigar, while the men produced a pack of cards, and +commenced a game, novel enough to us, in which it was the privilege of +the winner to pinch, beat, and otherwise maltreat the loser, who was +obliged to submit without resistance, until the spectators pronounced +“bastante,” enough. One fellow, who was a little rebellious, was +incontinently thrust overboard, to the great damage of a gaudy bandana +handkerchief which he wore about his head, and to the manifest +delectation of the crew, who jibed him unmercifully as a “ladron,” and +“picaro,” “a rascal” and “a loafer.” + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +[Illustration: SAN CARLOS—OUTLET OF LAKE NICARAGUA.—1849.] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +The sun went down that night directly behind the purple peak of Orosi. +The body of the volcano appeared to be a nucleus, whence fan-like rays +radiated up to the very zenith, while the yellow light streamed past the +mountain upon thelake, in a dazzling flood, in which the islands of +Solentenami and La Boqueta seemed to float as in liquid gold. As the sun +sank lower, the hues of the heavens changed to crimson, bringing out the +palm-trees on the islands in high relief against the sky; then to +purple, and finally to the cool gray of evening, through which the stars +shone down with a strange and almost unnatural lustre. The transition +was rapid, for here the lingering twilight of northern latitudes is +unknown. Our boatmen were not insensible to the almost unearthly beauty +of the scene; and when it all was passed, they began the evening chaunt, + + “Ave Maria purisima,” etc. + +the echoes of which were repeated from the shores, until they died away +in murmurs in the distance. + +The night was wonderfully still. We could distinctly hear the tinkling +of guitars at the fort, at least three miles distant, interrupted by +bursts of gay laughter, until a late hour. Before I slunk under the +_chopa_, however, clouds began to gather in the north-east, lighted up +momentarily by flashes of lightning, while fitful gusts of wind, veering +in every quarter, betokened the approach of a thunder-storm. I +nevertheless went to sleep while listening to the distant mutterings of +thunder and the dismal howlings of the “mono colorado,” or howling +monkey. A little past midnight, however, we were all roused in a summary +manner by a dash of water full in our faces, followed the next instant +by the lurching of the boat, which tumbled passengers, arms, books, and +whatever was movable, all in a heap together. I disengaged myself in a +moment, and scrambled out upon the pineta, where Pedro, clinging to the +tiller, was calling frantically to the men, who in a confused, shouting +mass were clustered around the swaying mast, vainly endeavoring to take +in the sail. We were before the wind, which was blowing a hurricane, and +going with immense velocity, the hissing waters rising under our stern, +almost to the level of the pineta. Broad sheets of blinding lightning +fell around us, followed by deafening peals of thunder, drowning for a +moment the roar of the tempest. I had hardly time to comprehend the +peril of our situation, with the sail entangled in the ropes, and +swaying from side to side, when a flash of lightning revealed to me +Ben’s stalwart form amongst the frightened marineros. I saw his short +Roman sword glance for an instant above their heads,—he had cut the +ropes. The sail fell, but was at once dragged aboard, while the relieved +boat scudded steadily before the storm, which soon exhausted itself, +leaving us drenched and uncomfortable, tossing roughly amongst the +waves. The men took to the oars without an order, and in evident relief +pulled back towards the course from which we had been driven. All that +night, thunderstorms, like invading columns, swept over the lake around +us, but we fell in the course of none of them. They all seemed to linger +against the high volcanoes on the opposite shores of the lake, as if +they would level in their wrath the daring rocks which opposed their +progress. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +[Illustration: THE NIGHT STORM.] + +[Illustration: SAN MIGUELITO.] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +The men slept no more that night, but pulled steadily and silently at +the oars. Towards morning I crept again under the _chopa_, and slumbered +until roused by the bellowing of cattle, and by the sun shining +brilliantly in my face. It was after nine o’clock; we had passed the +islands of La Boqueta, which lay within view, fresh and inviting, +exposing under an archway of trees one or two picturesque huts, with +canoes drawn up in front of them. We were within a snug little bay, in +front of a broad sandy beach, on which the men were kindling fires +preparatory to breakfast, while a herd of sleek-looking cattle wandered +along the shore, here stooping to drink, and there engaging in mimic +fights. Beneath the trees wound back a broad, well-beaten pathway, and +beyond we could see the golden tops of palm-trees, the thatched roofs of +houses, and hear the crowing of cocks, and the merry sound of infant +voices. We were in the “Bahita de San Miguel,” the little bay of San +Miguel, distant about twenty miles from San Carlos, on the northern +shore of the lake. The storm of the preceding night seemed almost like a +dream; could it be possible that a few hours had wrought such a change? +But the tattered sails, and the saturated blankets beneath the _chopa_, +bore testimony to the reality of the storm. In fact, Pedro was yet full +of wrath at what he called the stupidity of his men—they were “tontos” +all, fools and brutes. I had been as indignant as himself, but was too +glad to get out of the scrape safely, to nurse my wrath; so I poured out +for Pedro a gill of brandy in his calabash, which he drank to our good +health, and smacking his lips, straightway recovered his temper. + +Directly, a little troop of girls, with purple skirts and white guipils, +their long black hair dangling loosely to their waists, and balancing +red water-jars on their heads, came laughing down the pathway for water. +They appeared to be old friends of our crew, who hailed them gayly with +“à Dios, mi alma!” “buena mañana, mi corazon!” “adieu my soul!” “good +morning, my heart!” to which they replied with “como estan, mis +negritos?” “how are you, my darkeys?” and other railleries, very much, +to our thinking, of the Bowery order. They passed along the shore a +little distance, to a clump of bushes, and the next instant we saw them +plashing like mermaids in the water; while some of our crew, who were +throwing a net “for a fry,” as Pedro said, tried to frighten them by +shouting “lagartos, lagartos!” “alligators, alligators!” and affecting +to make great efforts to escape to the shore. But the girls were not to +be “sold” so easily, and only laughed the louder, and splashed water in +the faces of the jesters as they ran by. Upon discovering us, instead, +as the reader might suppose, of making for the shore in confusion, they +paddled boldly up to the boat, their long hair trailing like a veil on +the surface of the water. They looked laughingly up in our faces for a +moment, exclaiming, “California,” then ducked under, and were away. It +seemed to us, while they stood drying their wet locks on the beach, that +no sculptor could desire fairer models for his studio; nor the painter a +more effective group for “the Bath of the Naides.” We were there in an +auspicious period; those days of primitive simplicity are passing away, +if, indeed, they are not already past. + +After drying ourselves in the sun, we took our guns and went on shore. +We followed the inviting path to which I have referred, for a short +distance, when we reached a brisk little brook which came murmuring +among the stones with a familiar New England accent, here rippling over +the bright sand, and there widening into broad, transparent pools. In +one of them a whole bevy of little naked children were tumbling about, +who took to their heels, like young ducks, upon our approach. Here we +met Ben, coming down from the rancherias with two foaming calabashes of +fresh milk, one of which was drained on the spot, the other reserved for +our coffee. I shot a few strange water-birds and a parrot amongst the +bushes, and strayed back to the shore just in time for broiled fish, +crisp and hot from the fire. + +Every step into this strange country had been full of novelty; and +although our interest never flagged for an instant, yet we thought San +Miguelito more interesting than any place we had encountered, and at +first entertained some vague notions of stopping there for the day. But +when the freshness of the morning had passed, which it did before we had +finished breakfast, when the cattle had all gone off in the woods, and +no more amphibious girls came down for water, we were not only ready but +anxious to depart, which we did a little before noon. I shall never +forget our breakfast at San Miguelito. + +The day was still and sultry: Nature seemed wearied of the elemental war +of the preceding night, and anxious for repose; the branches on the palm +trees on the shore appeared to droop languidly; while the men, under +plea of previous extra labor, paddled along at what Ben piously +denominated “a poor, dying rate.” The north-east trades sweep entirely +across the continent in Nicaragua, and this wind, for boats bound from +San Carlos to Granada, is therefore exceedingly favorable. They keep +close under the northern shore, following its bendings, until they get +nearly opposite Granada, and then stretch boldly across the lake. This +is done because, with their imperfect sailing gear, venturing into the +mid-lake would almost infallibly end in being blown over to the leeward +shore, whence they could only be relieved by long and toilsome rowing +against a cross sea—for on that shore the waves roll with almost the +strength and majesty of those of the ocean. The later-built boats have +something of a keel, and are schooner-rigged. These make the passage +from the fort more directly. But our sails were, I suppose, a +perpetuation of those used by the Indians before the Discovery, and +quite indescribable. Pedro said they were “no good,” except before the +wind, and there they would make the boat fly, to use his own words, +“like devil.” The vision of the night recurred to me, and I yielded a +full assent to the remark. + +We spent nearly the whole day in vain trials to catch the ghosts of +breezes, which came drowsily over the water, in our sails. I presume +they were raised a score of times during the afternoon, but they only +fluttered for a moment, and then dropped around the masts. This went on +until the men felt hungry, and then we put in again at “El Pedernal,” +the landing-place for the cattle estate of Don Frederico Derbyshire, a +merchant residing in Granada, the owner of “La Granadina,” and to whom +we bore letters of introduction from his correspondents in the United +States. The place is not inappropriately named “The Flint.” It is the +very reverse of San Miguel; there is no smooth sandy beach, but instead, +the whole shore is piled with rugged black basaltic or trachytic rocks, +blistered with heat, among which grow some stunted trees. A narrow path +winds amongst the rocks to a little cove, in which our boat was run. A +man was despatched to the estate, which is situated a mile or two +inland, to know of the mayor-domo if any of the products of the farm +were to be sent to the city. Meanwhile the men went deliberately through +the usual tedious process of dinner-making, and we got over the side for +a bath. Notwithstanding the rocky shore, the bottom is a soft black mud, +in which we sank to the knees. This was neither expected nor pleasant, +and when I discovered an alligator slowly rise to the surface not two +rods distant, I clambered aboard with more expedition than grace, and +gave the monster the contents of my gun, in return for the courtesy of +his appearance. + +It was nearly sunset, dinner had been finished, and the kettles had been +towed on board again, when we heard voices, and suddenly turning round +the point of rocks there came three horsemen, each carrying, in net-work +sacks, four large square cheeses, of the weight of two arrobas (fifty +pounds) each. The horses were ridden up to the side of the boat, and the +cheeses carefully placed in the centre. This finished, a breeze having +meantime sprung up, we hoisted sail, and glided away from “El Pedernal,” +not at all dissatisfied to leave its rocks and alligators to their own +pleasant company. + +One of my companions, who had been growing silent and pale for several +hours, now gave signs of an approaching crisis of some sort. Pedro +pronounced him laboring under an “empacho,” and recommended brandy—that +was his universal specific for everything, from a sprained ankle to the +toothache. But the patient protested against the medicine, as an +abomination which made him only the worse to think of. I thought it a +capital opportunity to bring out the medicine-chest, which had been +packed with an extensive regard to all sorts of contingencies at +“Rushton and Clark’s,” and Ben began a grand rummage for it, to the +utter distraction of everything in the boat. Meantime, as became a +learned practitioner, I propounded the question usually asked by anxious +mammas of complaining children, “what have you eaten?” It turned out +that, besides half a calabash of fresh milk, fried fish, three eggs, a +slice of ham, and bread and coffee _ad libitum_, the patient had “put +in” the afternoon with raw plantains, and “_dulce_”—sugar! I +comprehended that “empacho” meant something like surfeit, and to +disguise the dose, mixed a little tartar emetic with magnesia, which +wrought a wonderful cure—much to my elevation in the eyes of the crew, +who set me down at once as a great _medico_. I had immediate +applications on behalf of ailing wives, scalded babies, and feverish +boys, for all of which I prescribed, after deliberate consultation of +the “Pocket Physician.” While this was going on night fell, and I lost +the sunset,—a circumstance for which, as he is thereby spared the +description, the reader is no doubt properly thankful. + +As the evening progressed, the breeze continued to freshen, and about +midnight, Pedro, calculating that we were sufficiently to the windward, +laid the course of the boat direct for Granada. I went to bed early, and +owing to the disturbance of the previous night, slept soundly. When I +woke, we were in mid lake, and might have been in mid sea, for all the +difference discoverable in the appearance of the waves and water. The +wind was strong, cool, and damp, and the men had their handkerchiefs +bound round their heads, and their blankets wrapped over their +shoulders. My ailing companion looked sentimental, and professed not to +have wholly recovered from the “empacho,” but as I felt qualmish myself, +I pronounced it sea-sickness, which, as every traveller knows, never +entitles the sufferer to sympathy. + +We were at least thirty miles from land, yet the shores appeared +wonderfully distinct and near. We now, for the first time, felt the +majesty of the giant volcanoes of Ometepec and Madeira, which had +hitherto seemed so dim and distant. There they rose clear and bold +against the sky, regular as works of art, the moving clouds casting +their sides in shadow, and clasping their summits as they passed, then +sweeping away to the distant islands of the great Pacific. Between us +and the shore was the high, uninhabited island of Zapatero, its outline +changing every moment with our position, while directly in front, +distinguished by the towering edges of its vast and ragged crater, rose +the extinct volcano of Momobacho, at the foot of which stands the +ancient city of Granada. High above the forests of the shore, are some +conical hills, of light green, bordering on yellow, which seemed to be +cleared, and which puzzled us exceedingly. We became familiar with them +afterwards, and I presume they are common in all volcanic regions. They +are the cones of scoriæ, sand, and ashes, which are heaped up during +eruptions. On these, trees rarely take root, but in their place a +species of long, coarse grass weaves a net-work of verdure over their +smooth sides. This grass is of a lively green during the rainy season, +but becomes yellow in the dry, when the hills are burned over, after +which they change to deep sable. Thus forever varying, they constitute +remarkable and characteristic features in a Nicaraguan landscape. Upon +the northern shore of the lake we saw only the broken volcanic mountains +of Chontales, patched with trees, here black with lava, and there red +and white with scoriæ and sand. It should be observed that it is only +that part of Chontales bordering the upper portion of the lake, which +presents this burned and broken aspect. Elsewhere the shores are +comparatively low and undulating, with extensive savannas, which furnish +abundant pasturage. The whole district is well adapted for grazing +purposes. + +While we were occupied with the novel and beautiful scenery of the lake, +our men, collected around the foot of the mast, were engaged in a low +but earnest discussion, which we soon discovered related to politics, +and especially to the attempted revolution of which we had heard so +much. They made frequent use of the terms “Timbucos” and “Calandracas,” +which were about as significant to us as “Coons” and “Locofocos” +probably were to strangers on our own shores, during certain +presidential elections. We had abstained from asking questions about +politics, not from want of interest, but from motives of policy; but +took occasion to hear all that might be said upon the subject. We had +thus contrived to get some imperfect notions of the partisan divisions +of the country; the bases of which, though very trivial to the impartial +traveller, were probably quite as important in fact as those which we +had seen sustained with so much vehemence and virulence at home. It was +easy to discover that our crew were unanimously “Timbucos,” or of the +government party, while the “Calandracas” were the disaffected portion +of the people. They, however, appeared to have but a sectional +importance, and were far from numerous, except in the southern +departments of the Republic. The robber-chief, Somoza, had turned this +partisan feeling to some account by professing to be its champion, and +having collected a few hundred reckless and ignorant men around him, +made a sudden and successful attack on Rivas, or Nicaragua, which was +defended by a small garrison of only forty soldiers. In the attack he +burned a number of houses, and committed some cruel murders, besides +pillaging and robbing on every hand. According to the accounts which had +reached us, however, the entire city had been burned, and the +inhabitants slaughtered indiscriminately and without mercy. These +stories, as well as those relating to the number of his forces, proved, +in the end, to be gross exaggerations,—as the reader will discover in +due course. + +It appeared, from what was said, that there had been a vague rumor at +San Carlos, to the effect that Somoza, at the head of three thousand +men, had set out some days previously for an attack on the city of +Granada; and the probabilities of its truth, and the course to be +pursued in the event he should have reached there, were now, as we +approached the city, subjects of increasing interest with our men. The +circumstance that we had, on the day preceding, seen a number of boats, +making what appeared to be a forced trip in the direction of San Carlos, +but too far distant to be hailed, was dwelt upon as exceedingly +significant. In short, it was evident enough that the feeling of excited +suspense amongst the men was every moment increasing. Pedro was silent, +and answered our questions evasively, but listened earnestly to all that +was said. He seemed to be oppressed by a sense of responsibility of some +kind; but whether on account of himself, his boat, or his distinguished +passengers, we could not make out. + +By the veering of the wind, or the “falling off” of our keel-less boat, +instead of making the northern islands of the group called the +“Corales,” rising, hundreds in number, at the foot of the volcano of +Momobacho, we found ourselves, at about two o’clock in the afternoon, at +the almost extreme southern part of the archipelago. The approach to +these islands was exceedingly beautiful; but when we were amongst them, +out of the rough waves into the smooth water, they were really +enchanting. They are of volcanic origin, elevated in the form of cones, +to the height of from twenty to one hundred feet. The sides are steep, +and composed of immense volcanic rocks, black and blistered by fire; but +their summits are covered with verdure, and long vines hang trailing +over the stones, blushing with strange flowers, almost to the edge of +the water. Some of them, upon which there is a sufficient accumulation +of soil, are inhabited by Indians; and their thatched huts, shaded by +tall palms, with a dense background of plantains, are the most +picturesque objects that can be imagined. + +Within these islands the sail was dropped, and the oars resumed. +Everybody was now anxious to hear the news, but the huts on the islands +seemed to be deserted; at least no one appeared, although the men +shouted to the inmates at top of their voices. Very soon a canoe, +containing a boy and a woman, shot across our course, from between two +little islands, just in advance. For a moment they showed evidences of +alarm, and a disposition to retreat; but recognising Pedro, they came +alongside, under a shower of confused and eager questions, which +completely confounded us, and prevented anything like an understanding +of what was said. We conjectured that the news was of an exciting kind, +from the earnest faces and violent gestures of the crew. By-and-by the +canoe pushed off, but it was full a quarter of an hour before the men +took up the oars, during which time there was a warm discussion as to +whether the boat should proceed at once to Granada, or remain concealed +amongst the islands until the issue of affairs at the city could be +ascertained. The opinion, however, seemed to be pretty decided, that we +should go ahead, at whatever hazard. This decision was based, as we +afterwards discovered, on the faith reposed in “la bandera del Norte +America,” the flag of the United States; which they all believed neither +man nor devil dared disregard. It appeared that the woman and boy of the +canoe had told an alarming story of the approach of Somoza, the flight +of the inhabitants, and the probable capture of the city. But Pedro, +more cautious than the rest, was of the opinion that their tale had but +little better foundation than their fears; and expressed great faith in +the ability of the little garrison of “veteranos,” stationed in the +city, to prevent its being carried by Somoza. His faith was somewhat +shaken, however, on learning, a few minutes thereafter, from an Indian, +lurking on one of the islands, that there had been a great firing in the +city the previous night and this morning; and that all the boats had +left the landing and made for the opposite shore of the lake. + +There is pleasure in all kinds of excitement, which is rather enhanced +than diminished by the presence of danger. And so far from being alarmed +by these accounts, I was only the more anxious to get to Granada. I had +been told that Somoza, notwithstanding his crimes, cruelty, and contempt +for the laws, had much of the cavalier in his composition; gay, gallant, +generous, and withal the finest looking and most dashing fellow in all +Nicaragua. No man rode such fine horses, or could rival him in wielding +the lance. Indeed, the commandante at San Carlos had intimated that he +owed it to the place which he held in the good graces of the señoritas +of the country, that he had so long baffled justice and defied pursuit. +Altogether I had pictured him something like the gentlemanly cut-throat +of the Apennines and Sierra Moreno, or the amiable bandits of the +Peninsula, and almost considered myself fortunate in the prospect of an +adventure, at my very first step in the country. + +Two hours of steady rowing amongst the fairy “Corales” brought us to the +little island of Cubi, when a broad bay, with a white beach, and an old +castle on the shore, opened before us; while beyond a belt of woods, on +higher ground, rose the towers of Granada. We could distinguish little +of the town except the red, tiled roofs of the houses; and though from +this distance it was far from imposing, yet we had so long looked +forward to our arrival here, that had dome been piled on dome, and +palace risen above palace, in long perspective, we could not have +experienced greater satisfaction than we now did in gazing, for the +first time, upon this ancient city. At the island, we found several +huts, and a number of boats drawn into little nooks between the rocks, +while beneath the trees were clusters of women and children, and here +and there groups of men, absorbed in playing some noisy game of cards. +With a vivid recollection of the indifferent figure we had cut at the +fort, we had arranged with Pedro to stop here, in order to replace our +stained and tattered garments; an operation which we soon discovered +must be performed in face of the assembled population of Cubi, unless we +preferred to encounter the fleas which we fancied must infest the dirty, +dog-stocked huts on the shore. We chose the former alternative; but had +hardly commenced the disruption of trunks and boxes, and the overhauling +of carpet bags, before we heard a cannon in the direction of the city, +followed very soon by what appeared to be a rolling discharge of +musketry; and looking in that direction, we could see a volume of smoke +rising from the centre of the town. Our invalid had a violent recurrence +of his “empacho,” refused tartar emetic, anticipated a fever, and was +altogether too ill to leave the island. So he was led up to one of the +huts, and deposited in a hammock. Meantime the fusilade ended with one +or two more discharges of cannon, while a white cloud rose slowly over +the city. Our first impression was that Somoza had arrived, and that a +fight was already in progress. The people of the island were also +somewhat startled, and for a time watched the town with evident anxiety; +but in the end quietly resumed their amusements. Pedro also seemed to be +relieved; and after listening for a while, finally exclaimed that all +was right: the day, he said, was a _fiesta_, and what we had supposed a +discharge of firearms, was only the explosion of “_bombas_” or +rockets,—“in point of fact,” fireworks. I cannot say that I was +particularly gratified with the information, after having prepared +myself for a siege at least, if not an assault. + +Myriads of bees, attracted by the sweets in the boat, swarmed around us +while making our toilet. Their first onset fairly drove us out on the +rocks, but Pedro quieted us with the assurance that they were stingless, +when we returned and completed our arrangements. It was late in the +afternoon, the wind blowing fair, when we again put up sail, and steered +for the landing of Granada. As we approached, we discovered hundreds of +people on the shore and in the water, some in groups, and others in gay +trappings dashing about on horseback,—a picture of activity and life. On +the gray walls of the old castle we also discerned soldiers, their +muskets glancing in the sun; and, anchored a little distance from the +shore, was an odd-looking craft, in two pieces, resembling some awkward +canal-boat, which we afterwards discovered had been built to receive the +engine and boiler which we had seen in San Juan. In this rude, unwieldy +affair, with infinite trouble, and after three weeks of toil, a party of +some seventy-five outward-bound Californians had ascended the river and +passed the lake to this place,—the pioneers on this line of transit. + +In an hour after leaving Cubi, we cast anchor under the walls of the old +castle. Our flag attracted immediate attention, and the people crowded +upon the walls of the fort to look at us. Some called to Pedro, with a +multitude of gesticulations; but the noise of the surf was so great that +we could not make out what was said. The question which presented itself +most strongly to us was, how are we going to land? for a surf like that +of the ocean broke on the shore. We had a practical answer, however, +very shortly. The cable was let out, so as to bring us as far in shore +as was safe, and then three or four sailors leaped overboard, their +heads and shoulders just appearing above the water, and invited us to +get on! Get on what—where—how? Pedro explained that we were to put our +feet on the shoulders, and seat ourselves on the head of one, and hold +on with our hands to the hair of another, just in advance. After a +number of awkward attempts, which excited great merriment, and at the +expense of wetted feet, we finally got into position, and were duly +deposited on shore, amidst a swarm of boys and women. Some of the former +pressed forward, exclaiming “California,” or “goode by,” and then +disappeared laughing amongst their companions. It was very evident that +our countrymen had created a great sensation in their progress. Probably +no equal number of strangers had passed through the country for a +century. + +Pedro slipped off his clothes, and holding them above his head, also +came on shore, in ecstatic spirits to find the town standing and all +safe. He dressed with great expedition, and with much dignity put +himself in advance, to escort us to the town. Not at all sorry to get +out of the crowd of gazers, we followed along a broad, well-beaten road, +with elevated foot-paths on each side, in the direction of the city. The +ascent seemed to be by terraces; the faces of which were paved with +stone, and guarded by masonry, to protect them from the wasting action +of the rains. Palms, plantains, orange and other tropical trees lined +the road on either hand, shut in by a hedge composed of a species of +cactus, bearing brilliant red flowers. We met troops of laughing girls, +of every shade of complexion, from pure white to ebon black, fancifully +attired, with water-jars on their heads, on their way to the lake. They +were as straight as arrows, and seemed to have an infinite fund of +animal spirits. Most of them passed us with a side glance, half of +curiosity and half of mischief, while others more bold, turning full +round, exclaimed gayly, “Adios, caballeros!” to which, we responded, +“Adios, mi alma!” much to their apparent entertainment. + +It was full a third of a mile to a steep terrace, ascending which we +found ourselves amongst the neat cane huts composing the suburbs of the +city, and in which reside the poorer portion of the population. Most of +these, like those at San Carlos and San Juan, were built of canes and +thatched with palm leaves or grass, while others were plastered with +mud, and whitewashed. A clump of fruit-trees overshadowed each, and +within the doors we could discover women spinning cotton with a little +foot-wheel, or engaged in grinding corn for tortillas. On almost every +house were one or two parrots screaming at each other, or at some +awkward looking macaw, which waddled clumsily along the crown of the +roof. Around all, dogs, chickens, and children mingled in perfect +equality. + +Beyond these huts commenced the city proper. The buildings were of +adobes, on cut stone foundations, and roofed with tiles. The windows +were all balconied, and protected on the outside by ornamental iron +gratings, and within by painted shutters. They were, with scarcely an +exception, of one high story. The principal entrances were by arched and +often elaborately ornamented gateways, within which swung massive doors, +themselves containing smaller ones, all opening into the courtyards. +Besides these, there were, in some instances, other entrances, opening +directly into the grand sala of the house. The eaves of all the houses +project several feet beyond the walls, serving the double purpose of +protecting the latter from the rains, and sheltering the foot passenger +from the sun and the elements. The side or foot-walks were all raised +one or two feet above the street, and flagged, but barely wide enough to +admit persons meeting each other to pass. Towards the centre of the town +some of the streets are paved, like those of our own cities, with this +difference, that instead of a convex, they present a concave surface, so +that the gutter is in the centre of the street. + +As we progressed, we met a number of well-dressed people, of both sexes, +who, seeing that we were strangers, bowed respectfully to us as we +passed. Evidences of comfort, not to say elegance, now began to appear, +and through an occasional open door we caught glimpses of sofas and easy +chairs, and beds which a Sybarite might envy. Occasionally there were +niches in the walls of the houses, in which were placed crosses, covered +with faded flowers; in some instances the crosses were simply fastened +to the walls, or planted at the corners of the streets. Advancing +further, we found ourselves in the shadow of a large and massive stone +building, with terraces, domes, and towers, half Moresque, and +altogether an architectural incongruity. It appeared to be very ancient, +and I stopped Pedro, who strode ahead with the gait of a conquering +hero, to inquire what building it might be. He said it was the ancient +and now abandoned convent of San Francisco, and showed us the gratings +through which its former inmates had intercourse with the world, and +pointed out the wooden cross in front, made of cedar from Lebanon. I do +not know how long Pedro would have run on, had I not cut his story +short, by saying I would hear the rest to-morrow. Just then a party of +soldiers defiled across the street in front of us. They were +bare-footed, and wore white pantaloons and jackets, with funny little, +black caps, banded with metal, and having little, round, red cockades +stuck saucily in front. A dashing young officer rode at their head, who +lifted his hat gracefully to us. It was a scouting party just coming in. +We followed them with our eyes down the street, and saw that sentinels +were stationed at the corners, but two squares distant, and that the +streets near the plaza were barricaded with adobes and timbers, with a +single embrasure in the centre, through which a cannon looked grimly +towards us. We now observed that soldiers were stationed on the walls of +the convent, and in the towers of the parochial church, which had just +come in view. It was evident that the government and military were on +the alert, and prepared for any emergency. We found the streets more +animated, and the houses better built, as we approached the centre of +the town; women were moving hither and thither with trays, vegetables, +bottles, and a hundred other commodities on their heads, and babies on +their hips, and men with slouched hats, and breeches turned up to their +knees, bare-footed, or wearing sandals, and carrying a large machete in +their hands, were driving meek-looking horses, bearing loads, through +the streets before them, or else with a long, iron-pointed pole, +pricking on little compact oxen, fastened by the horns to long, heavy, +awkward carts, with solid wheels cut from the mahogany tree. Amongst +these flitted now and then a priest, with his black robe, preposterous +bell-crowned, fur hat, and gaudy umbrella. There were quiet señoritas, +also, moving slowly along, with a grace and dignity of motion seldom or +never seen in our cities; and gay fellows on fiery little horses, who +dashed at a break-neck pace through the streets. It was a novel scene, +and we had hardly taken in its more striking features, when Pedro +stopped before a large arched gateway, or _portada_, as it is called +here, and told us this was the “Casa del Señor Don Frederico.” He +unlatched the small door within the larger, and entering, we found +ourselves in a broad corridor, completely surrounding a court, in which +were growing a number of orange, marañon, and other fruit trees, +fragrant bushes, and clumps of flowers. On one side was the store, +filled with bales and boxes, and in front of it were huge scales for +weighing commodities; while the sala, dining, and private rooms occupied +the remaining two sides of the court. In one corner of the corridor were +two or three movable desks, where Don Frederico’s children were engaged +in their afternoon lessons with their tutor, a pale, intellectual +looking young man; and just beyond, reclining in a hammock, was the +portly form of Don Frederico himself. Pedro approached him, hat in hand, +and with profound reverence, announced us. Our host immediately rose, +and in due course I delivered my letters, which were honored in a spirit +of the most enlarged and liberal hospitality. A part of a spacious and +commodious house immediately opposite, which was occupied by the +children of Don Frederico and their governess, was at once ordered to be +prepared for our accommodation, while a couple of carts were despatched +to the shore for our luggage. Our reception was so warm and cordial, +that I felt at once perfectly at home, and was delighted with the +neatness and comfort of everything around us. Don Frederico was born in +Jamaica, but had resided for thirty years in the country, where he had +married, become a citizen, and accumulated a large fortune. Entertaining +the respect and confidence of all parties, he had passed safely through +all the troubles to which the country had been subjected. He seemed very +little alarmed at the threatened attack on the city, and felt confident +that the insurgents would ultimately be put down. Still, unless +reinforcements speedily arrived from the government, he anticipated that +trouble might ensue, and perhaps an assault be attempted, because Somoza +was as daring as he was unscrupulous. But even then it was only +necessary to barricade the doors, and every house became a fortress. He +had gone through several revolutions, securely locked in, eating and +sleeping as usual. When the affair was over, he opened the portada +again, and things went on as before. + +As we had eaten scarcely anything during the day, our host gave us a cup +of chocolate, pending the preparation of dinner. While thus engaged, we +were surprised by the appearance of an officer bearing a note from the +commandante of the Plaza, congratulating us upon our safe arrival, and +very considerately proposing that some time should be named, when we +were recovered from our fatigues, to enable him to pay his respects in +person. He also placed a guard at our disposition, which I of course +declined. Hardly had this messenger been despatched, before another, +from the Prefect of the Department, made his appearance. The next day at +noon was named for receptions, and meantime we instructed the _portero_ +or gatekeeper to report us to all visitors as engaged. + +The evening passed delightfully with our host. It was a great relief to +stretch one’s legs once more beneath a table spread like our own at +home; a pleasure not slightly enhanced by the presence of entirely new +and curious dishes, upon the merits of which we successively passed +summary, and generally favorable, judgments. A gentle shower meanwhile +pattered upon the tiled roofs, cooling and purifying the air; and we +experienced, for the first time, the pleasures attending life in a +well-appointed residence beneath the tropics. After the bell struck +eight, we heard every five minutes the word “_Alerte!_” caught up in +succession by the guards, in evidence that they were all awake, and +keeping a bright lookout. Occasionally the “_Quien vive?_” or challenge +of the sentinel stationed at the corner of the street below us, was +given with an emphasis which fell startlingly upon our unaccustomed +ears. Our host was used to it. We were really in the midst of war and +“its alarums,” and felt all the better for it. We retired early to our +new quarters, which consisted of a large sala, in which were a piano, +mahogany tables and chairs, with sleeping apartments attached. Here we +found that Ben, with an eye to all our wants, had arranged everything +necessary to our comfort. Forty nights in close, narrow berths, in +hammocks, and on the tops of boxes and trunks, had qualified us to enjoy +the delightfully cool and scrupulously neat _camas_ which that evening +invited us to slumber. I bestowed myself in one without ceremony, and in +less time than I am writing it, went to sleep, to dream of Somoza, +storms on the lake, and a thousand incongruous matters. Nor did I wake +until Ben, utterly renovated, and looking wonderfully genteel, came to +announce that breakfast was ready. It was some seconds before I could +comprehend clearly where I was; but once awake, I found myself +thoroughly refreshed, and ready for any turn of events,—breakfast or +revolutions. + +[Illustration: THE PLANTAIN TREE.] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +[Illustration: ANCIENT VASE.—FRONT AND SIDE VIEWS.] + +[Illustration: NICARAGUA MEAT MARKET.] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + CHAPTER V. + +RECEPTION-DAY—GENERAL RESPECT AND ADMIRATION FOR THE UNITED + STATES—AN EVENING RIDE—THE PLAZA—CHURCHES—HOSPITAL—THE + “JALTEVA”—DESERTED MUNICIPALITY—MELANCHOLY RESULTS OF + FACTION—THE ARSENAL—NATURAL DEFENCES OF THE CITY—“CAMPO + SANTO”—AN EX-DIRECTOR AND HIS “HACIENDA”—SHORE OF THE LAKE IN + THE EVENING—OLD CASTLE—THE “ORACION”—AN EVENING VISIT TO THE + SEÑORITAS—OPERA AMIDST ORANGE GROVES—“ALERTAS” AND “QUIEN + VIVAS?”—THE GRANADINAS AT HOME—AN EPISODE ON WOMEN AND DRESS—MR. + ESTEVENS—“LOS MALDITOS INGLESES”—A FEMALE ANTIQUARIAN + COADJUTOR—“CIGARITAS”—INDIAN GIRLS—COUNTRYMEN—AN AMERICAN + “MEDICO”—NATIVE HOSPITALITY TO STRANGERS—THE WAYS INFESTED BY + “FACCIOSOS”—AN AMERICAN TURNED BACK—EXPECTED ASSAULT ON THE + CITY, AND PATRIOTIC RESOLVES “TO DIE UNDER THE AMERICAN FLAG”—A + NOTE ON HORSES AND SADDLES—VISIT TO THE CACAO ESTATES OF THE + MALACCAS—THE CACAO TREE—DAY-DREAMS—AN ADVENTURE ALMOST—GRIEVOUS + DISAPPOINTMENT—SOMOZA, THE ROBBER CHIEF—OUR ARMORY—FEVERISHNESS + OF THE PUBLIC MIND—LIFE UNDER THE TROPICS—A FRIGHTENED AMERICAN, + WHO HAD “SEEN SOMOZA,” AND HIS ACCOUNT OF THE INTERVIEW—SOMOZA’S + LOVE FOR THE AMERICANS—GOOD NEWS FROM LEON—APPROACH OF THE + GENERAL IN CHIEF, AND AN ARMED AMERICAN ESCORT—CONDITION OF + PUBLIC AFFAIRS—PROCLAMATION OF THE SUPREME DIRECTOR—DECREES OF + THE GOVERNMENT—OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS, AND PUBLIC ADDRESSES—HOW + THEY EXHIBITED THE POPULAR FEELING—NICARAGUAN RHETORIC—DECISIVE + MEASURES TO PUT DOWN THE INSURGENTS—GENERAL CALL TO ARMS—MARTIAL + LAW—PUBLICATION OF A “BANDA”—GREAT PREPARATIONS TO RECEIVE THE + GENERAL IN CHIEF AND HIS “VETERANOS”—NO FURTHER FEAR OF THE + “FACCIOSOS”—A BREAK-NECK RIDE TO THE “LAGUNA DE SALINAS”—A + VOLCANIC LAKE—DESCENT TO THE WATER—HOW CAME ALLIGATORS + THERE?—NATIVE “AGUARDIENTE” “NOT BAD TO TAKE”—RETURN TO THE + CITY—A RELIGIOUS PROCESSION—THE HOST—INCREASING TOLERANCE OF THE + PEOPLE—PREPARATIONS FOR “LA MANANA.” + + +At noon, agreeably to appointment, we were waited upon by the +dignitaries of the city, and the commander of the garrison, together +with a large number of the leading inhabitants. They all exhibited the +same cordiality with the ruder portion of the population, and a degree +of refinement and courtesy which would have done credit to more +pretending capitals. We were a little startled by the somewhat +exaggerated tone of compliment, both in respect to ourselves and our +country, which ran through their conversation, and which seems +characteristic of the Spanish people wherever found, in the Old World or +the New. All concurred in representing the present unsettled state of +public affairs as in a great measure due to foreign intervention and +intrigue; and referred to the seizure of San Juan, and the English +encroachments on their territories, in a tone of indignation and +reproach, commensurate with the indignity and outrage to which they had +been subjected. They seemed to entertain the highest hopes from the +opening of more intimate relations with the United States; but, +unacquainted with the nature, constitutional powers, and the policy of +our government, these hopes were, as a matter of course, somewhat vague; +yet it was not unnatural that, distracted within, and subjected to +unscrupulous aggression from without, the United States should be looked +to as a conciliator of intestine factions, as a friend, and a protector. +I was deeply impressed with the feeling which they manifested, and was +convinced that if once treated with consideration, and taught to respect +themselves as a nation, there was no reason why the States of the +Isthmus should not take a respectable rank amongst the republics of the +continent. The interview was highly interesting, and gave me more +elevated views of the temper of the people of the country than I had +gathered from what had been published concerning them; an impression +which a further and more intimate acquaintance only tended to confirm. + +Towards evening, in company with Col. Trinidad Salazar, the commandant +of the Plaza, we took a ride through the city and its environs. We found +that with the exception of the Church of La Mercedes, and the Convent of +San Francisco, already mentioned, there were few buildings at all +remarkable or imposing. The Parochial Church, on the plaza, is very +ancient, and distinguished as containing the bones of several of the +first bishops of Nicaragua, which was established as a diocess as early +as 1532. The interior was far from imposing. It had some paintings, too +ancient to be distinguished, with some indifferent prints of saints, and +scenes in the life of Christ and the apostles. Upon one side of the +plaza is the façade of the unfinished church of San Juan de Dios, which +was designed to be the most beautiful in the city, but for some reason +was never finished. The façade is very elaborate, and profusely loaded +with ornament. It has been standing in its present condition for more +than a hundred years. A hospital has been erected in the area it was +intended to occupy, which is supported by a small market tax and +voluntary contributions. Buildings of one or two stories, with spacious +corridors in front, extend round two sides of the square, in which are +some of the principal retail “_tiendas_” of the city. The wares of the +shopkeepers were as conspicuously displayed as in some of the minor +streets at home; while in front were the market-women, with fruits, +cacao, maize, and all the various edibles of the season. These were +generally placed in baskets, or spread on a white sheet on the ground, +in a style probably very little different from that practised by the +aborigines at the time of the Conquest. All the streets leading from the +plaza were barricaded, and we found advance posts of troops in every +part of the city. + +From the grand plaza we rode through the narrow streets, between long +rows of substantial houses, in the direction of the municipality of +Jalteva.[7] Dashing up a broad causeway, with heavy flanking walls, +surmounted by urns, we came at once into the second grand plaza. Here we +found the buildings more scattered, and of a poorer character; huts of +canes alternating with adobe houses and open lots of ground. The plaza +was deserted, and as we rode along we observed that the whole quarter +seemed depopulated. We found, upon inquiry, that this municipality was +the stronghold of the “Calandracas,” and hereditarily jealous of the +city proper. This hostility led to the collision of which we had heard, +in which the disaffected party had suffered a defeat; whereupon, either +from fear, or with a design of organizing for sharper work, they had +chiefly fled “_al monte_” to the fields. Those who remained, with +scarcely an exception, had moved, for greater security, within the city. +The silence and desolation which reigned in this deserted quarter was a +mournful commentary on partisan feuds. A few dogs and unclaimed cattle +wandered despondingly amongst the houses, as if in search of their +masters; but beyond these there were no signs of life. + +----- + +Footnote 7: + + This municipality is mostly made up of Indians. The present name, + “_Jalteva_” is probably a corruption of the Indian “Salteba,” the name + of the aboriginal town which occupied the site of Granada before that + city was built. + +----- + +Passing the Jalteva, we came into the broad open road leading to Leon, +and soon reached a square compact building, which was the arsenal. It +was surrounded by a high wall, and at the corners were erected towers, +looped for musketry, each containing a guard of soldiers. A cannon +looked morosely through the open gateway, around which was a company of +lancers, just returned from some expedition. Their lances, to each of +which was hung a little red streamer, flashed in the sun as they fell +into line on the approach of the commandante; while the guards, on the +tap of the drum, leaped to their feet, and presented arms. Just beyond +the arsenal is what the commandante called the natural defence of the +city. It is a deep, narrow ravine, with absolutely precipitous walls, +worn by the rains through the volcanic or calcareous breccia upon which +the city is built. It extends on three sides of the town, and can be +passed only in one or two places, where lateral inclined planes have +been artificially cut from the top to the bottom on one side, and from +the bottom to the top on the other. It is a feature of some importance +in calculating the means of defending the city, and probably had +something to do in determining its site. + +From the arsenal we turned off to the left, following a broad, +well-beaten path, which wound beneath a complete archway of trees, +vines, and flowers, in the direction of the “_Campo Santo_” or burial +place of the city. This is an area of several acres of ground in extent, +surrounded by a high wall of adobes, neatly whitewashed, and entered +beneath a lofty gateway, surmounted by a cross, and bearing a Latin +inscription, which I have forgotten. There was little to see; and, as +the gates were shut, we could not enter; so, turning in the direction of +the lake, we galloped to the hacienda of Don Jose Leon Sandoval, passing +on the way, in a picturesque glen, shadowed over with trees, the +“corral” or cattle yard of the estate. A brisk ride through the bushes +brought us to the house, built upon a high terrace, overlooking the lake +and city, and embowered in palm, marañon, orange, and jocote trees. The +proprietor was out somewhere on the estate, and we started to find him, +which we soon succeeded in doing. He was mounted on a splendid mule, and +just returning from inspecting the day’s work of the “_mozos_” or what +in New England would be called “hired help.” Don Jose proved to be a +plainly dressed, substantial person, bearing a close likeness to General +Taylor. Upon my mentioning the fact, he bowed low, in acknowledgment, +and said that he knew the General was a farmer-soldier and a +citizen-President; and he only hoped that the resemblance might extend +from person, which was of little, to character, which was of greater, +consequence. Don Jose had once been Director of the State, but had +resigned the office, preferring, he said, to be a good farmer rather +than a poor director. We followed him over various parts of the estate +to his indigo vats and drying houses, and to his plantain and cacao +walks and corn-fields, all of which we found to be in capital order, and +bearing the evidences of intelligence, enterprise, industry, and care. + +After a pleasant interview of half an hour, we bade Don Jose “_buena +tarde_” and descended to the shores of the lake, just as the sun was +setting, throwing the whole beach in the shade, while the fairy +“Corales” were swimming in the evening light. The shore was ten-fold +more animated than when we landed the previous day; men on horseback, +women on foot, sailors, fishermen, idlers, children, and a swarm of +water-carriers, mingling together, gave life to the scene; while boats +and graceful canoes, drawn up on the beach, bongos rocking at their +anchors outside, the grim old fort frowning above, and the green border +of trees, with bars of sunlight streaming between them, all contributed +to heighten and give effect to the picture. We rode up the glacis of the +old castle, through its broken archway, into its elevated area, and +looked out beyond the broad and beautiful lake, upon the distant shores +of Chontales, with its earthquake-riven hills, and ragged, volcanic +craters. Their rough features were brought out sharply and distinctly in +the slanting light which gilded the northern slope of the gigantic +volcano of Momobacho, while its eastern declivity slept in purple +shadow. We were absorbed in contemplating one by one these varied +beauties, when the bells of the city struck the hour of the “oracion.” +In an instant every voice was hushed, the horseman reined in his steed, +the ropes dropped from the hands of the sailor, the sentinel on the fort +stopped short in his round, even the water-jars were left half-filled, +while every hat was removed, and every lip moved in prayer. The very +waves seemed to break more gently on the shore, in harmony with the +vibrations of the distant bells; while the subdued hum of reverential +voices filled the pauses between. There was something almost magical in +this sudden hush of the multitude, and its apparently entire absorption +in devotion, which could not fail deeply to impress the stranger +witnessing it for the first time. + +No sooner, however, had the bells ceased to toll, and struck up the +concluding joyful chime, than the crowd on the shore resumed its life +and gayety, while we put spurs to our horses, and dashed through their +midst, on our return to the city. The commandante and his companions +would only leave me at my door, where we were saluted by our host with +“Saved your distance, gentlemen; dinner is ready!” + +An evening visit to the Señorita Teresa finished our first entire day in +Granada. This young lady had been educated in the United States, spoke +English very well, and was withal a proficient in music,—accomplishments +which we never before learned to estimate at their true value. It was +worth something to hear well executed passages from familiar operas, +amidst tangible and not painted orange trees and palms, and in an +atmosphere really loaded with tropical perfumes, instead of the odors of +oil-pots and gas-lights. Eight o’clock was the signal for general +withdrawal from the streets, for then commenced the rigors of the +military police, and the city became at once still and quiet. The +occasional barking of a dog, the tinkling of a distant guitar, the +soughing of the evening wind amongst the trees of the courtyard, the +measured tread and graduated “alertas!” of the sentinels, were the only +interruptions to the almost sepulchral silence. While returning to our +quarters, we were startled by the “Quien vive?” of the sentinel, uttered +in a tone absolutely ferocious, and as these fellows rarely parleyed +long, we answered with all expedition, “La Patria,” which was followed +on the instant by “Que gente?” “Americanos del Norte.” This was enough; +these, we found, were magic words, which opened every heart and every +door in all Nicaragua. They never failed us. We felt proud to know that +no such charm attached to “Ingleses,” “Alemanes,” or “Franceses.” + +The day following, in accordance with the “costumbres del pais,” the +customs of the country, we returned the visits of the preceding day, and +began to see more of the domestic and social life of the citizens of +Granada. We found the residences all comfortable, and many elegant, +governed by mistresses simple, but graceful and confiding in their +manners. They were frank in their conversation, and inquired with the +utmost _naïveté_ whether I was married or intended to be, and if the +ladies of El Norte would probably visit Granada, when the “Vapores +grandes,” the great steamers, came to run to San Juan, and the +“Vaporcitas,” steameretts, to ply on the lake and river. They had heard +of a Mr. Estevens, (their nearest approach to Stephens,) who had written +a book about their “pobre pais,” their poor country, and were anxious to +know what he had said of them, and whether our people really regarded +them as “esclavos y brutos sin verguenza,” slaves and brutes without +shame, as the abominable English (los malditos Ingleses) had represented +them. They were also very anxious to know whether the party of +Californians which had passed through were “gente comun,” common people, +or “caballeros,” gentlemen; upon which point, however, we were +diplomatically evasive, for there was more in the inquiry than we chose +to notice. One lady had heard that I was a great antiquarian, and +anticipatory to my visit, had got together a most incongruous collection +of curiosities, from “vasos antiguos,” fragments of pottery, and stone +hatchets, down to an extraordinary pair of horn spectacles, and a +preposterously distorted hog’s hoof,—all of which she insisted on +sending to my quarters, which she did, with some rare birds, and a plate +of _dulces_! At every house we found a table spread with wines and +sweetmeats, and bearing a little silver brazier filled with burning +coals, for the greater convenience of lighting cigars. I excited much +surprise by declining to smoke, on the ground that I had never done so; +but the ladies insisted on my taking a “cigarito,” which they said +wouldn’t injure a new-born babe, and paid me the compliment of lighting +it with their own fair lips, after which it would have been rank treason +to etiquette, and would have ruined my reputation for gallantry, had I +refused. I at first endeavored to shirk the responsibility of smoking by +thrusting it into my pocket, but found that as soon as one disappeared +another was presented, so I was obliged “to face the music” in the end. +In every sala we found a large hammock suspended from the walls, which +was invariably tendered to the visitor, even when there were easy chairs +and sofas in the room. This is the seat of honor. + +The women of pure Spanish stock are very fair, and have the _embonpoint_ +which characterizes the sex under the tropics. Their dress, except in a +few instances where the stiff costume of our own country had been +adopted, was exceedingly loose and flowing, leaving the neck and arms +exposed. The entire dress was often pure white, but generally the skirt, +or _nagua_, was of some flowered stuff, in which case the _guipil_ +(_anglice_, vandyke) was white, heavily trimmed with lace. Satin +slippers, a red or purple sash wound loosely round the waist, and a +rosary sustaining a little golden cross, with a narrow golden band or a +string of pearls extending around the forehead and binding the hair, +which often fell in luxuriant waves upon their shoulders, completed a +costume as novel as it was graceful and picturesque. To all this, add +the superior attractions of an oval face, regular features, large and +lustrous black eyes, small mouth, pearly white teeth, and tiny hands and +feet, and withal a low but clear voice, and the reader has a picture of +a Central American lady of pure stock. Very many of the women have, +however, an infusion of other families and races, from the Saracen to +the Indian and the Negro, in every degree of intermixture. And as tastes +differ, so may opinions as to whether the tinge of brown, through which +the blood glows with a peach-like bloom, in the complexion of the girl +who may trace her lineage to the caziques upon one side, and the haughty +grandees of Andalusia and Seville on the other, superadded, as it +usually is, to a greater lightness of figure and animation of +face,—whether this is not a more real beauty than that of the fair and +more languid señora, whose white and almost transparent skin bespeaks a +purer ancestry. Nor is the Indian girl, with her full, lithe figure, +long, glossy hair, quick and mischievous eyes, who walks erect as a +grenadier beneath her heavy water-jar, and salutes you in a musical, +impudent voice as you pass—nor is the Indian girl to be overlooked in +the novel contrasts which the “bello sexo” affords in this glorious land +of the sun. + +We called upon several French and Italian families resident in Granada, +but found that a long period of naturalization had completely +assimilated them to the natives of the country, with whom they had +largely intermarried. But what surprised us most was, that in the best +houses it was no uncommon thing to find a shop occupying the “esquina,” +or corner, or a room on one side of the court, in which few of the +ladies thought it derogatory to their dignity or a violation of +propriety, to preside on any necessary occasion. In fact, these shops +were generally superintended by the wife of the proprietor, seated with +her sewing in her lap, in an easy chair, behind the low counter. And +even in entertaining her visitors in the grand sala, it was common for +the lady to keep an eye to what was passing in the “tienda,” through a +convenient, open door. In the larger establishments, however, there +exists all the paraphernalia of clerks and attendants which we find at +home. + +When we returned from our visits, we found a party of three Americans +waiting for us. One was Dr. S., who had resided for many years in the +country, where he held the first place as a “medico,” and was a +universal favorite amongst all classes of the people. By him we were +introduced to the others, both of whom had come out with the company of +Californians to which I have alluded. Mr. P., who was to have acted as +engineer of the preposterous craft which was anchored off the Castillo, +was reduced by illness, and being unable to accompany the party, had +abandoned it, and was thus far on his return to the United States; but +sick and destitute, was now anxiously awaiting my arrival, to procure +the means of reaching home. He, however, was comfortably situated, +having been generously and hospitably received by Señor Lacayo, a +prominent native merchant, who had, in the current phrase of the +country, placed “his house at the disposition” of the stranger. The +third person was a young physician from New Haven, from whom we learned +that the Californians were still detained at Leon and Chinandega, +waiting for a vessel to take them off, in great impatience and +discontent. Wearied of the delays, this gentleman had returned on a +flying visit to Granada, where he had been staying for a fortnight. +Meantime, the disturbances in the country had come to a crisis, and the +day of our arrival he had attempted to return to Leon, but was turned +back by armed parties on the road, who gave him the unsolicited pleasure +of looking down their presented musket-barrels, by way of enforcing +their wishes. The doctor, who had met Somoza in times past, and +entertained a good deal of faith in his personal influence and prowess, +informed us that the rebel chief had once been imprisoned in Granada, +and owed it a special spite. He had sworn to burn the city, and the +doctor was of opinion that he would keep his word. He thought we might, +any night, have an attack; but felt confident that foreigners, keeping +out of the way, would sustain no injury. At any rate, if the worst came +to the worst, we could all collect together, under the American flag, +and between revolvers, rifles, and what not new invention, make a +respectable fight against the poorly armed assailants. And by way of +encouragement, the doctor gave us an animated account of a party of +foreigners, but five or six in number, who some years before had +sustained a siege of three days, in this very city, and kept their +assailants at bay, until they were dispersed by the troops of the +government. + +I had arranged that afternoon to ride to the cacao estates called the +“Malaccas,” distant about five miles from Granada; and although the city +was full of stories about the “facciosos” who infested the country, I +persisted in my determination to go. My companions thought they could +entertain themselves very well in the city; so I armed Ben, and with an +English creole merchant resident here, who kindly furnished horses, +started for the Malaccas. We had already discovered that the horses of +Nicaragua were of the Arabian stock; and although like the Arab horses +small, they were compact, fleet, good tempered, spirited, and of +excellent bottom. As all travelling here is performed on horseback or on +mules, great care is used in breaking and training saddle beasts, while +their price depends less upon their beauty than upon their training. +They are all taught a rapid but exceedingly easy gait, between trotting +and pacing, called the _paso-trote_. A well-trained horse strikes at +once into this gait, and keeps it steadily from morning to night. I have +ridden them from twenty to forty miles at a heat, without once breaking +the pace, and with less fatigue than would be occasioned in riding the +best saddle-horses in the United States for a distance of five miles. At +this gait the horse gets over the level roads of Nicaragua, at from six +to eight miles the hour. The same animal is frequently taught several +gaits, and may be forced into one or the other by a peculiar pressure on +the bit, which is very different from those used in the United States, +and gives the most perfect control of the animal to the rider. Besides +the _paso-trote_, which may be called the ordinary gait, the horses are +taught an easy amble, the _paso-llano_, which is very rapid, and yet so +gentle that, as observed by a recent Peruvian traveller, the rider may +carry a cup of water in his hand without spilling a drop, while going at +the rate of six miles an hour. There are also other gaits taught to +different horses, which have each their advocates; among them the +_paso-portante_, in which the horse raises the fore and hind foot of +each side simultaneously, causing a rapid see-saw motion, not agreeable +to riders generally. + +The saddles are modifications of the Mexican saddle, with high peaks, +over which are thrown gaudily colored sheepskins, here called “pillons,” +or “pellons.” The equipment is not complete without a pair of holsters +and pistols; and a Nicaraguan “caballero” is never so much in his +element as when mounted on a spirited, champing horse, with a fanciful +“pillon,” jingling bit, and portentous spurs, his sombrero, covered with +oiled silk, set jauntily on the side of his head, with a señora or two +in a neighboring balcony to whom he may lift his hat as he passes by. +The ordinary saddle, or “albarda,” is a very cheap affair, and will +hardly admit of a description which shall be comprehensible to the +uninitiated reader. It is sometimes used from preference, but my +experience would never lead me to recommend it to any but an inveterate +enemy. + +The road to the Malaccas passed through an unbroken forest, into which +we struck almost as soon as we left the city. It was level, completely +arched over with trees, whose dense foliage shuts off the sun; while +cactuses, and shrubs whose fragrant flowers almost compensated for the +thorns which pricked one’s legs, and scratched one’s hands in +endeavoring to pluck them, fenced in the path with a wall of verdure. +Here and there we caught glimpses of the lake through a vista of trees, +while at intervals, narrow, well-beaten paths branched off to the +“hattos” and haciendas which were scattered over the country, away from +the principal thoroughfares. We met men and boys driving or riding mules +loaded with corn, _sacate_ (grass), fruits, wood, and all the various +articles of common use in the city, and occasionally a woman going in +with a basket of chickens, sausages, coffee, or cacao, to be offered the +next morning in the market. The entire stock, in some instances, was +hardly worth a _medio_ (sixpence), but this, it should be remembered, is +no insignificant sum, in a country where a _rial_ (twelve and a half +cents) is the daily wages of a working man. All these people bowed with +the grace of courtiers as we rode by; for all, from the highest to the +lowest, from the little Indian boy who clasps his hands before him and +says “buena dia, señor,” to the lady who inclines her fan to her lips in +token of recognition, have an apparently instinctive sense of +politeness. + +After riding some miles, we came to open fields, and passed by several +fine estates surrounded by ditches and cactus fences in full bloom. The +fourth was that which we came specially to visit. A man opened the gate, +and we rode in and dismounted under the corridor of the house, which was +a large, square structure, built of adobes, and tiled. The proprietor +was not at home, and the family, in the unsettled state of the country, +had retired to the city. We were nevertheless received with the greatest +civility by the mayor-domo, who insisted that we were hot and thirsty, +and wanted “_algo fresco_” and incontinently despatched a boy to get +some fresh cocoa-nuts, the milk of which, when the nut is not too much +matured, is transparent as water, and makes a cool and delightful +beverage,—especially when a drop of brandy is mixed in “to take off the +edge,” and prevent fevers! The mayor-domo complained loudly of the +condition of public affairs; now was the time for collecting the cacao, +but no men were to be had; a few of those who had been employed on the +estate were implicated in the insurrection, others had been pressed into +the army, and still others had fled to the seclusion of the fields, to +avoid the same fate. He had only half a dozen boys and some women to +assist him, and they were “sin valor, ninquno,” of no account. He showed +us a large square space where the ground was beaten hard and swept +clean, in which the nuts, after being removed from the husks, were +spread on skins to dry. They required to be turned often to prevent +moulding, and after becoming thoroughly dry, had to be carefully +assorted, one by one, and packed in skins. + +After resting awhile, we mounted again, and riding through a long +gravelled walk, completely fenced in and arched over by magnificent +mango trees, now literally golden with fruit, and through a vista of +orange trees beyond, flanked by marañons, we entered the cacao +plantation. It is difficult to describe these plantations; they more +resemble beautiful parks of large trees, with broad walks running in +every direction, all kept scrupulously neat and clean, than anything +else in the United States with which they can be compared. The tree +producing the fruit is known to botanists by the generic name of +_Theobroma_, from the Greek, and signifying food for a god. It seldom +rises higher than twenty feet; its leaves are large, oblong, and +pointed, somewhat resembling those of the cherry tree, but infinitely +larger; flowers small, and of a pale red color: they are surrounded by +oval-pointed pods, grooved like a musk-melon, although much smaller; the +nuts are very numerous, some pods containing as many as fifty; it +produces two crops a-year, but is never without some pods on it. The +trees are planted about fourteen feet apart, in a good soil. It is +peculiarly necessary to defend this tree from the scorching rays of the +sun, and at the same time sufficient warmth should be afforded for +vegetation; this is done by shading it with the plantain tree and the +Erythrina. As the cacao advances in size, the plantain is cut down, the +Erythrina, or _coral tree_, or as it is sometimes called “_cacao +madre_,” mother of the cacao, having attained sufficient height to +protect it from the sun. It begins to bear at seven years old, and comes +to perfection in about fifteen years. The coral tree grows to about the +height of sixty feet, and entirely drops its leaves (in Nicaragua) about +the end of March and beginning of April, and then becomes covered with +flowers of a bright crimson, and shaped like a cimetar. At this season +an extensive plain, covered with cacao plantations, is a magnificent +object, when viewed from a height. The tops of the far-stretching +forests of Erythrina then present the appearance of being clothed with +flames. The cacao, it may be added, is indigenous to America, and became +early an article of general consumption by the Spanish Americans, as it +had been of the Indians from time immemorial. Subsequently to the +Discovery it was introduced into the Canary and Phillipine islands by +the Spaniards. It was called _tlalcacahuatl_ by the ancient Mexicans; +amongst whom, as also among the natives of Central America, New Granada, +and Peru, it was used as money, or a medium of exchange. It is still +used as such in the markets of the cities of Granada and Leon. One +hundred and fifty of the nuts were formerly valued at a dollar, which +is, I believe, their present valuation. The cacao of Nicaragua is +regarded as second to none, unless to that of Soconusco, which, during +the Spanish dominion, was a monopoly of the crown. It is almost entirely +consumed in the country, where it commands double the price of the +Guayaquil, that which usually reaches the United States.[8] The taste +for chocolate grows with its use, and hardly any person resides under +the tropics for any length of time, to whom it does not become more an +article of necessity than luxury. “He who has drunk one cup,” says +Cortez, in one of his letters, “can travel a whole day without any other +food, especially in very hot climates; for chocolate is, by its nature, +cold and refreshing.” And the quaint old traveller in Central America, +Gage, devotes a whole chapter to its praise, the manner of its use, and +its effects on the human system. He asserts that _chocolate_ “is an +Indian name, compounded from _atl_, which in the Mexican language +signifies _water_, and _choco-choco-choco_, the sound which water makes +when stirred in a cup.” He claims for it a most healthful influence, and +bears his testimony as follows: “For myself, I must say, I used it for +twelve years constantly, drinking one cup in the morning, another yet +before dinner, between nine and ten of the clock; another within an hour +or two after dinner, and another between four and five in the afternoon; +and when I purposed to sit up late to study, I would take another cup +about seven or eight at night, which would keep me waking till about +midnight. And if by chance I did neglect any of these accustomed hours, +I presently found my stomach fainty. And with this custom I lived for +twelve years in these parts, healthy, without any obstructions, or +oppilations; not knowing what either Fever or Ague was.” He, however, +warns against the use of the cacao before preparation, for the reason +that the simple nut, when eaten, as it often is by the Creole and Indian +women, “doth notably obstruct and cause stoppings, and makes them look +of a pale and earthy color, as do those that eat earthenware and pieces +of lime wall.”[9] + +----- + +Footnote 8: + + Great confusion exists in the popular mind in respect to _Cocoa_, + _Cacao_, and _Coca_, which are very generally confounded with each + other, although differing as widely as almost any three products which + it is possible to mention. _Cocoa_ is the name given to a species of + palm, producing the _cocoa-nut_, which is too well known to need + description. _Cacao_, the fruit of the cacao-tree, (_Theobroma + cacao_,) described in the text. This fruit is described in the + scientific books “as a large coriaceous capsule, having nearly the + form of a cucumber, from the seeds of which the buttery and slightly + bitter substance called cacao, or chocolate, is prepared.” _Coca_ is + the name given to a shrub, (_Erythroxylon coca_,) which grows on the + eastern declivities of the Andes of Peru and Bolivia; and is, to the + natives of those countries, what opium and betel are to those of + Southern Asia. Its leaves, which are chewed by the Indians, have such + an effect in allaying hunger and thirst, that those who use them can + subsist several days without any other nourishment. The shrub grows + about six feet in height, with bright green leaves and white blossoms. + When the leaves are ripe, that is to say, when they crack on being + bent, they are gathered and dried. They are chewed or eaten with a + little unslacked] lime, to give them a relish. When constantly used, + they produce some of the deleterious effects of opium. + +Footnote 9: + + After giving expression to his enthusiasm on the subject of Cacao, + Gage becomes philosophical, and discourses thus lucidly upon what, in + these transcendental days, would be called “the dual nature, + harmoniously blended,” of this wonderful product: + + “Cacao, although a Simple, contains the Quality of the four Elements; + yet it is held to be cold and dry, _à prædominio_. It is also in the + substance that rules these two Qualities, restringent and obstructive, + of the Nature of the Element of the Earth. And as it is thus a mixed + and not a Simple Element, it hath parts correspondent to the rest of + the Elements; and particularly it partakes of those which correspond + with the Element of Air,—that is, heat and moisture, which are + governed by unctuous parts; there being drawn out of the cacao much + Butter, which I have often seen drawn out of it by the Criolian women + to oint their faces. * * And this is very conformable to reason, if we + consider that every Element, be it never so simple, begets and + produceth in the liver four Humors, not only differing in temper but + substance; and begets more or less of that Humor, according as the + Element hath more or fewer parts corresponding to the substance of + that humor which is most ingendered.”—_A New Survey of the West + Indies_, p. 239. + +----- + +As I have already said, the cacao tree is so delicate, and so sensitive +to exposure, that great care is required to preserve it during the early +periods of its growth. It commences to bear in seven or eight years, and +continues productive for from thirty to fifty years. Capital and time +are therefore required to start an estate; but once established, it is +easily enlarged by annual additions. One man, it is calculated, is able +to take care of a thousand trees, and harvest their crop. As a +consequence, cacao estates are more valuable than those of sugar, +indigo, cotton, or cochineal. A good plantation, with fair attention, +will yield an average annual product of twenty ounces of cacao to every +tree, which for one thousand trees equals twelve hundred pounds. At the +usual market rate of twenty-five dollars the quintal, this would give +three hundred dollars per annum to each thousand trees and each laborer. +Owing to a variety of causes,—some of the most important are obvious +enough from what I have already said,—this yield is seldom obtained in +Nicaragua; but may be when order is fully restored, and labor and its +wages properly organized. No means exist for obtaining even an +approximate estimate of this branch of production in Nicaragua, and I +shall not therefore attempt to present any statistics on the subject, +but proceed with my narrative. + +I was delighted with the plantation, and after riding for an hour, until +we got bewildered amongst the cross-walks and avenues, we began to +thread our course back again. This was no easy matter, and we marched +and counter-marched for a long time before we struck the right path. +This will not appear so surprising when I say that the plantation +contained ninety-five thousand trees, which are valued at one dollar +each. + +Once in the main road, we paced slowly along on our return to the city, +with that feeling of satisfaction which is always experienced after +visiting an object that more than realizes the anticipation. I began to +indulge the pleasing fancy that I might yet come to have a cacao +plantation, which would be just the thing for a student or a man who +loved his ease. It would require no expensive machinery, no long +practice in manipulation of any kind; a boy could go through all the +simple processes, and the whole might be left for a year or two without +suffering the deterioration of sugar, rice, or cotton plantations. The +summers in El Norte, and the winters here amidst the cacao and orange, +with only a few days of steaming between,—of course the thing was +feasible. + +While indulging such reveries as these, my horse, which was the fastest +walker, had carried me some distance ahead of my companion, when turning +a sharp corner, I came abruptly upon a party of armed men, reclining in +easy attitudes under a large cebia tree. I at once drew rein, and they +as suddenly leaped to their feet and formed in line. My companion at +that moment coming up, hurried past me, in evident anxiety as to the +character of the party, and I followed close at his heels. One who +seemed to be in command, stepped forward as we approached, exclaiming, +“Quien vive?” “Amigos,” friends, replied my companion, cautiously +avoiding the pass-word of the government, until he knew whether the +party was a strolling band of “facciosos,” or regular troops of the +State. Meantime we continued to approach, as if in perfect confidence, +until ordered to stop by the person in authority, who advanced a few +steps and scrutinized us for some moments, and then, with the air of a +man satisfied, motioned us to go on. As I passed, he lifted his hat in +recognition, exclaiming, “Adios, Señor Ministro!” + +It was a disguised scout from the garrison, on the lookout for a party +of insurgents which was reported to be committing some excesses in this +direction. I had been quite excited with the prospect of an adventure, +and even indulged a vague hope that the one in command might prove to be +Somoza himself; the upshot was, therefore, something of a +disappointment. An interview with the robber chief, whose name carried +terror through the whole country, and a handsome villain withal,—what a +paragraph it would have made in these “Incidents of Travel!” I was +clearly not in luck, but comforted myself with the possibility of a +night assault upon the city, in anticipation of which Ben daily examined +our armory, re-capped each formidable Colt, and had even prepared the +proper timbers for barricading our house at a moment’s notice. I tried +to work myself into a state of excitement, anxiety, and suspense, but it +was of no use; we ate and drank inordinately, slept soundly, and +altogether voted insurrections to be humbugs and bores. + +There was great anxiety for the arrival of the commander-in-chief of the +forces of the State, General Muñoz, with reinforcements, and we were +amused for a week with rumors that he had just started from Leon with a +thousand men,—was within two days’ march,—and then that he had not +started at all, that there was trouble in other departments,—in short, +the city was in a fever, and full of reports; to which, after a few +days, we ceased to listen, or listened only to laugh at them. We almost +concurred with the Señorita Teresa in the wish that Somoza or General +Muñoz would come,—she didn’t care much which; for in either case this +chronic state of alarm would be terminated. Upon the whole, she would +rather prefer that the General should arrive, for he was the most +polished man in the country, and withal would bring his military band, +and then there would be no end to the evening music in the plaza, and +the “_tertúlias_” and balls afterwards! + +Between baths in the lake at early dawn, delicious snoozes in hammocks +at noon, rides on the beach in the evening, dinners, visits, and a +general overhauling of books, papers, and baggage, time passed rapidly +and pleasantly enough for a week. During that period, I had put our sick +countryman in funds, and he had started from Los Cocos, at the head of +the lake, in a bongo owned at San Juan, for that port, there to wait a +vessel for the United States. He came one afternoon to bid us good-bye, +and as I looked in his pale face, momentarily flushed with the +excitement of starting for home and friends, and heard his low, weak +voice, I could not help thinking that the poor fellow would never reach +his native land, and little supposed then that I should ever see him or +hear from him again. But what was our surprise when, some five or six +days thereafter, he came trotting into the court on a sorry mule, and in +most woful plight. His eyes were very large, and his whole appearance +that of a man who bears important news. He did not wait to be +questioned, but started off at once with “I’ve seen him, I’ve seen +Somoza!” His voice had all come back again. We got the whole of the +story directly, told with a _naïveté_ and earnestness which in +themselves, apart from the incidents, were convulsing. He had embarked +in a small bongo, with a colored gentleman, his wife, and two children, +as passengers,—catalogued in the recital as “an old nigger, a fat wench, +and two naked picaninnies.” The narrow _chopa_ he had the satisfaction +of sharing with these pleasant companions; but after one night’s trial, +he had arranged that he might occupy it alone in the afternoons, on +condition that his fellow-passengers should have exclusive possession of +it the rest of the time. The second night, therefore, he watched the +stars and kicked his heels in the bow, and had only just commenced his +afternoon’s lease on the succeeding day, and began dreaming of home, +when he was aroused by a great commotion and loud words. He found the +sails all taken in, a boat full of armed men, with a swivel at the bow, +alongside, and a number of others similarly manned close by. His colored +companion was dumb, and of a dull ashy color, while the spouse, with a +child in each arm, was prone and sobbing in the bottom of the boat. The +crew were in a like plight, their teeth fairly chattering with alarm. +Standing beside the mast was a tall, graceful man, with a feather in his +hat, a red Spanish cloak hanging over one shoulder, a brace of naked +pistols stuck in his belt, and a drawn sword in his hand, with its point +resting on the rower’s seat beside him,—who was questioning the +trembling patron, with bent brow and eagle eyes, in a tone which our +friend said would have drawn the truth from a stone. He comprehended at +once that this was Somoza, and at first had a notion of taking a shot at +him, but thought better of it on the whole, and concluded to watch the +turn of events, and so lay down again. The questioning was kept up for a +very long time, as it appeared to him, while pretending to be asleep, +but nevertheless keeping a sharp lookout. When he had finished, Somoza +gave some order to his men, and stepped towards the _chopa_. Our poor +friend thought it all up with him, but the insurgent chief only stooped +down and took his arm, exclaiming, with a smile, in broken English, “How +do, me amigo Americano?” Greatly relieved, our friend got up, whereupon +Somoza dropped his sword, and throwing his arms around him, gave him an +embrace, _la Española_, which made his back ache even now to think of. +This was repeated several times, until the pain, overcoming all alarm, +he cried in very agony, “No mas, señor, no mas!” No more, sir, no more! +But this infliction only terminated to give place to another; for, +taking both of our friend’s hands in his own, with the gripe of a vice, +he shook them until his arms were on the point of leaving his shoulders; +delivering, meantime, an energetic oration, perfectly unintelligible to +his auditor, who could only ejaculate, in broken syllables, “Si, señor! +si, si, señor!!” “yes, sir! yes, yes sir!!” This finished, Somoza took a +splendid ring from his finger, and insisted on placing it on the hand of +our friend, who, however, looking upon it in the double light of stolen +property and a bribe, sturdily refused to accept it. He gathered that +Somoza was going to attack San Carlos, and thus get possession of the +arms and ammunition stored there, and of which he stood in much need. +Somoza parted from him with much kindness, and after giving some orders +in a threatening tone to the patron, retired to his own boat; whereupon +the patron and his crew picked up their oars and pulled like mad, on the +back track towards Granada. The last glimpse that was had of Somoza, he +was standing in the stern of his boat, conspicuous amongst his +half-naked men, from his red cloak and dancing plume, worn after the +fashion of the mailed conquistadors. + +Somoza, we afterwards learned, affected great attachment to the +Americans, and at an early stage of his operations, had sent a courier +to our Consul, bearing a letter full of assurances of good feeling, and +expressing his determination after “regulating the Government,” of +proceeding to San Juan to expel the English “ladrones.” He was +nevertheless accused of being in the English interest, and acting +directly or indirectly under British instigation. + +I have, in a preceding chapter, anticipated the result of Somoza’s visit +to San Carlos, in its capture and that of our fat friend the +commandante. The capture was made without firing a gun, nor was it +attended with excesses of any kind. + +With the information thus obtained of the whereabouts and destination of +Somoza, the long-expected attack on the city receded in the distant +perspective, and I resolved to proceed at once to Leon, especially as I +began to entertain suspicions that the obstacles in the way had been +magnified with a view of keeping us in Granada as pledges for its +safety. That afternoon, however, a courier, which I had despatched to +Leon, returned, bringing positive intelligence that General Muñoz was on +the road, and at that moment at the large Indian town of Masaya, half a +day’s march distant, where he had arrested a number of persons +implicated in the insurrection, and, in virtue of extraordinary powers, +conceded by Government, was engaged in trying them by the summary +process of martial law. He brought advices from Mr. Consul Livingston, +that a party of twenty-five volunteers from among the Californians +stopping in Leon had been furnished with horses by the Government, and +would set out in a day or two for Granada, to escort the Legation to the +capital. He also brought a number of the Governmental decrees and +proclamations, showing that the state authorities were taking the most +efficient means in their power to put down the insurgents and restore +the peace of the State. Perhaps the mode of precedure cannot be better +shown than by the following proclamations, decrees, and announcements, +from the official bulletins, which will also serve to give an insight +into the nature of the troubles which afflicted the State, and +illustrate the style of composition, and the character of the appeals +made use of by those in public station. The latter were of necessity +adapted to touch the popular mind, and must therefore, give us some idea +of its bent, the principles which it regarded as most important to be +sustained, and the dangers most essential to be arrested. I have already +intimated that the existing troubles had their primary origin in the +virulence of the parties which divided the State; but that the proximate +cause of the insurrection was the malefactor, Somoza, who had gathered a +considerable number of reckless characters around him, and set all law +at defiance. At first, and until overt acts were committed, such was the +strength of party feeling, it is not impossible that the opposition to +the Government was disposed to regard the movements of Somoza with +indulgence, if not positive favor. But when it became apparent that his +blows were aimed at all order, and that his real objects were revenge +and plunder, party distinctions were forgotten; the opposition no longer +looked upon his acts in the simple light of being embarrassing to the +Government, but as directed against themselves and the body politic, +and, forgetting all their previous predilections, heartily seconded the +measures which were adopted to restore the public peace. + +In one of the public papers of the time it was said: + + “In every republic, parties have always existed, and always will + exist. It is right and necessary that they should, in order to act as + checks one on the other, and thus protect the public welfare. Honestly + differing in their views of certain measures of national policy, and + in the decision of which every citizen must feel the deepest interest, + we have long had, in Nicaragua, two parties, bearing the somewhat + extraordinary names of ‘_Timbucos_’ and ‘_Calandracas_.’ So far from + regarding this circumstance as a thing to be deplored, the + well-wishers of the State have witnessed it with satisfaction, as + showing that the people at large comprehended the nature of republican + institutions, and the necessity of deciding for themselves, upon + whatever, of a public nature, might affect them or their interests. We + have seen one of these parties, after a long struggle, in which + arguments were substituted for bayonets, and ballots for bullets, + succeeding the other, and reforming the fundamental law of the State, + while the other, as in duty bound, yielded peaceably to the will of + the majority. The laborer pursued his avocations undisturbed while + this peaceable revolution was going on; the merchant continued his + legitimate business; no blood was spilled, no women widowed, or + children rendered fatherless. + + “The monstrous faction which now threatens the State belongs to no + party; it is a Vandalic horde, aiming, by vile means, at unwarrantable + ends, and directing its efforts against the Government, not because of + the policy of that Government, but because it is charged with the + execution and vindication of the laws which this faction would annul + and destroy! It is made up of enemies of order, of liberty, and of + humanity. Let not former differences of opinion blind men to the real + enormity of the insurrection; let no party favor this attempt to + overturn not only the existing, but all governments, and plant anarchy + in the soil of peace. When the country is threatened, we are neither + ‘Timbucos’ nor ‘Calandracas,’ but Nicaraguans. We cannot believe that + this faction, which has no principles, no policy, no moral incentives + to action, and whose constant object is the destruction of society, + can find sympathy or support, except amongst assassins and robbers.” + +The first step taken by the Government, upon ascertaining the formidable +character of the insurrection, is indicated below. + + OFFICIAL BULLETIN. + + LEON, JUNE 19, 1849. + + “No man shall be molested or persecuted on account of his opinions, of + whatever nature they may be, provided that he does not by any overt + act infringe the laws.”—_Art. 30 of the Constitution._ + + “Every one has seen with horror the devastation which has followed in + the steps of the barbarous Bernabe Somoza since his arrival in the + town of St. George, in the Department Meridional. He burned and + desolated its haciendas, and gave the city of Rivas to the flames, at + the same time that, with the horde that follows him, he attacked the + garrison of the line, and the various patriots assembled there, who, + after having sustained a siege of eleven days, in the most heroic + manner, were compelled to retreat;—therefore, the Supreme Government, + in discharge of the duties imposed upon it by humanity, religion, and + the country, has issued the following extraordinary decrees: + + “GOD, UNION, LIBERTY.” + + DEPARTMENT OF WAR; + HOUSE OF THE GOVERNMENT, LEON, JUNE 19, 1849. + + “_To the General-in-Chief, Commanding the Regular Forces of the + State_: + + “SIR: The Supreme Executive Power has ordered me to communicate to you + the following decrees for execution: + + BUITRAGO.” + + No. 1. + + “It having become necessary to the well-being of the State to put an + end to the anarchical movements which threaten with destruction the + persons and properties of the Departments Oriental and Meridional, and + which now disturb the general peace, therefore, in view of this + peremptory exigency, and in order to save the liberty of the people, + and to put the State in a position to defend its independence and + integrity, now placed in extreme danger by the refusal of the British + Government to listen to our claims of redress against the usurpation + of the most precious part of our territories, in conformity with Art. + 48, Sec. 9, of the Constitution, it has been and is + + DECREED: + +“ART. 1. All citizens of Nicaragua, from the ages of sixteen to fifty + years, are required by the fundamental law to take up arms in support + of the public order and territorial integrity of the State, excepting + only the clergy, and those who, by some physical defect, are + absolutely incapacitated for military service. + +“ART. 2. They are therefore required to present themselves for + enrolment, with their equipments, and all horses and mules which they + may possess, before the chief of the forces of the line in this city, + or before the legionary commanders in the departments. + +“ART. 3. The horses and mules as aforesaid of those who do not present + themselves, are liable to be seized by detachments of troops sent out + for that purpose, and the owners will incur the penalty, in case they + are lost, of being excluded from recovering their value, as provided + by Art. 173, Sec. 1, of the Constitution, besides being themselves + subject to the penalties prescribed by Art. 104 of the penal code. + +“ART. 4. The forces which may be enrolled shall hold themselves in + readiness to move whenever and wherever required. + + “Given in Leon this 19th of June, 1849. + + “NORBERTO RAMIREZ.” + + No. 2. + + “To save the State from anarchy, and to enable it to defend its + territorial integrity, in compliance with duty, and in use of + constitutional power, it is + + DECREED: + + ART. 1. That the General in Chief, Don Jose Trinidad Muñoz, is fully + authorized to put an end to the existing insurrection, and to restore + complete order, as also to place the State in an attitude to defend + its territorial integrity; his orders are therefore to be punctually + executed by the legionary commanders, and exactly complied with by the + commissaries, not only for ordinary but extraordinary expenses. + + Given in Leon, this 19th of June, 1849. + + NORBERTO RAMIREZ. + +Decrees were also issued for the collection of an extraordinary tax, and +requiring persons entering the various towns to procure passports. The +proclamation of the Supreme Director, Ramirez, was a well written appeal +to the patriotism of the people, concluding as follows: + + “No good object can be attained by disturbing the public peace, and + the misguided men who have joined in these lawless movements forget + that their interests are identical with those of all other citizens; + forget that their conduct must destroy every social and civil + privilege, and plunge society into its savage, chaotic state, when + might shall subvert right; and when life, liberty, nor possessions are + secure. Hatred begets hatred, and vengeance, vengeance; and they who + strike against the wholesome restraints of law, will themselves be + stricken down in its fall. + + “People of Nicaragua, by your choice I have been placed in a position + where my authority is individually greater than yours; but your blood + has as much value as mine; my interests are yours, and those of the + nation. Let me then, both as a magistrate and a citizen, conjure you, + in the name of humanity, by our hopes of future prosperity, and on + behalf of our country, to rally to the support of the constitution and + the laws, and thus confound our enemies, and realize the blessings + which shall flow from peace and the maintenance of public order.” + +The address of the General in Chief of the State to his soldiers, +furnishes a very favorable example of the style of such documents in +Central America; and its introduction will, in this respect at least, +prove interesting. + + “SOLDIERS! + + “The honored standard of order, which you have hitherto so gloriously + sustained, is again attacked. Forty intrepid men of your number + covered themselves with glory, in maintaining the city of Rivas + against overwhelming numbers; yielding only with their lives the trust + confided to their care. Since their lamented fall, over which a + bereaved country is still weeping, there has been no check on the + wanton atrocities of the robbers and Vandals who overcame them. The + devastation which moves with the insurgents will extend all over the + State, if not opposed by the honor, valor, and patriotism you have so + conspicuously exhibited in other days. What will become of our + beautiful country, companions in arms, if this turbulence, which finds + its food in blood and ashes, does not encounter, in its savage + progress, the invincible obstacle of your courage? + + “You are called upon to guard the supreme powers of the State, as you + have sworn to do at the foot of your flag. Your loyalty and heroism + have been and are still the shield of the country, not less than the + terror of those who compass its destruction and your enslavement. The + soul of the hero of Rivas, the valiant Martinez, will glory in your + triumph over the enemies of the country for which he died! + + “FELLOW CITIZENS, FRIENDS OF SOCIETY! + + “Social order is attacked; the lava of sanguinary destruction + threatens to overflow our dearest interests. The assassin of the + honored Venerio, and of the innocent Solorio, the destroyer of the + pacific Rivas, and the hated cause of innumerable other misfortunes, + has seduced a portion of the unreflecting people of the department + Meridional from their allegiance, and is leading them into the direst + iniquities, while, like another Nero, he revels above the ruins of the + capitol of that unfortunate department. But if your valor and + patriotism unite to support the cause of order, they will interpose an + efficient obstacle to the dangers which threaten us, and turn back in + confusion the enemies of the State. + + “The supreme government, the centre of order, has invested me with the + largest authority to act for its support; and with your effective aid, + I go with my soldiers to fulfill the duties with which I am charged. + The country asks, if it need be, the lives of her sons; our wives, + mothers, and children look to you in this emergency for the security + of their liberty and lives! + + JOSE TRINIDAD MUNOZ. + + “HEAD-QUARTERS, JUNE 21, 1849.” + +The subjoined is also a specimen of the announcements and appeals made +by the editors of the official Bulletin, with the view to rouse the +patriotism of the people, and concentrate their indignation against the +insurgents. + + “We denounced before the people, in a previous number, the + incendiarism, pillage, and bloodshed, with which that most ferocious + barbarian, (_antropofago_,) Bernabe Somoza, had desolated the + department Meridional; but those crimes were as nothing in comparison + with the most unheard-of outrages and unparalleled barbarisms which he + has more recently committed in that important section of the State. He + has spared neither age nor sex, not even the unresisting wounded, nor + the corpses of the dead; and with impious hand has seized upon the + sacred vessels in the temple of the God of Justice, who, penetrating + at a single glance the hearts of men, and always as just as inexorable + in the end, will as assuredly save the virtuous, as he will, with his + terrible lightnings, strike down the wicked and the criminal. In + evidence of the new and almost incredible horrors which have filled up + the cup of sorrow, for all those who possess souls and human + sympathies, we publish the following account, communicated by Don + Trinidad Salazar, commandant in the department Oriental, to the + General-in-chief: + + “‘I have positive news from Rivas, that Somoza is still in that city, + perpetrating every excess. He has shot all the wounded; robbed even + the sacred vessels in the churches, and is on the eve of entirely + burning the city. He has disinterred the body of Lieut. Col. Martinez, + and dragged it naked through the streets. In short, these are but few + examples of the thousand horrible acts committed by this barbarous + man. Within an hour has died in this city, from the effects of his + wounds, our friend, the brave Capt. Santos Ramirez, notwithstanding + every means were exhausted to save him; and it only remains for me to + pay his remains their last sad honors.’ + + “How terrible to the imagination, how disgraceful to humanity, are + deeds like these, committed on the spot consecrated by the blood of + the hero and Christian, the honored Don Manuel Antonio de la Cerda, + first chief of Nicaragua, whose sacred corpse was also thus outraged + in those days of barbarism which have been looked back to with horror, + but which bear no parallel to those now passing in that unfortunate + department. + + “But those noble soldiers, the brave Martinez and Ramirez, shall + receive the rites of sepulchre in our hearts. There we will engrave + deep their memories. Their conduct shall be forever an example to our + soldiers, to the friends of humanity, and the admirers of true honor. + Our breasts shall be the temples where they shall receive the tribute + of our gratitude, and immortal glory. God’s justice and the sword of + the violated laws have gone forth to avenge their blood!” + +Having received these documents and the information accompanying them, I +relinquished the idea of an immediate departure, and determined to wait +for the arrival of the Californian escort. The news of the General’s +approach created great joy; and the bells were rung and guns fired in +token of satisfaction. He was expected to arrive the next day; and that +evening a “banda” was published, requiring the houses on the principal +streets and on the plaza to be decorated, and everything put in order to +receive him. The publication of the “banda” was a novelty to us. It was +done in this wise: a party of soldiers, preceded by a drum and fife, and +a municipal officer, marched through all the principal streets, stopping +at each corner, when the music ceased, and the officer took off his hat +and read the proclamation aloud, while the people thrust out their heads +and listened. “We laughed at first at this new mode of publishing the +laws, but in the end came to regard it as not a bad idea. + +That evening, there being no longer fear of the “facciosos,” we had no +difficulty in making up a large riding party for the Laguna de Salinas, +distant about four miles from the city, which was represented to us as +being lower than lake Nicaragua, salt, and shut in by perpendicular +rocks. We followed the “camino real,” in the direction of Leon, for a +short distance, and then turned off on a narrow mule path, amongst the +trees and bushes. It was very evident that the “caballeros” who +accompanied us were determined to show us a specimen of their +horsemanship, and rode at breakneck pace, keeping a bright lookout for +the trunks and branches of the trees, now bending to their horses’ necks +to escape the latter, and now throwing their feet dextrously out of the +stirrups, to avoid hitting the former. Thanks to early habits of life, +this was no very severe trial to me, and I kept even pace with the rest, +to their evident surprise, and the strengthening of their conviction +that the Yankees were “up” to everything. We passed, here and there, a +cane hut, surrounded by plantain trees, corn-fields, and patches of +yucas, over ridges of volcanic scoriæ, covered only with grass, down +into ravines with a scramble, and out again with a leap, and in half an +hour came to the brink of the lake. I dismounted, and pushed through the +trees and bushes to the edge of the precipice, and saw, far down, +hundreds of feet below me, the glistening waters of the lake, surrounded +on all sides by the same bare, blistered, black walls, with a rim of +verdure skirting the water’s edge. Mounting again, we rode a little +further, to the sole place of descent, in part natural, but chiefly +artificial. A narrow path, half-cut, half-worn, in the rock, wound down +before us, something after the manner of the winding stairways in +monumental columns, only not so wide. The horses picked their way +cautiously, avoiding the loose stones, while the rider had enough to do +to prevent his legs from being jammed against the wall of rock on either +hand. A man had previously been sent ahead, to see that the way was +clear, for there is no turning around in this narrow passage, which no +doubt owes its origin to the aborigines, and is hardly wide enough to +admit the passage of a horse. This cut passed, we came to a place where +the fallen debris and rocks made a kind of shelf or terrace. Here we +left our horses, the declivity below being very steep, and the rocks +slippery withal, and proceeded on foot,—leaping from one stone to the +other, and catching at bushes and saplings to check our descent. We soon +came to the shore of the lake, where, beyond a line or belt of bushes, +was a narrow beach of fine sand. The water was very clear and limpid, +but had a sulphury or yellowish green color where it was deeper, a +little distance from the shore. It was slightly salt to the taste, from +the minerals held in solution. We observed some small fishes, and were +told that there were alligators, but how they got here was a mystery; as +I have already said, the lake is surrounded by absolutely precipitous +walls of rock, several hundred feet in height, with no practicable +descent for man or beast, except at this point. It was evident enough +that the lake was of volcanic origin; but in what way formed, was not so +clear. The black and frowning rocks seemed to imply that it was an +ancient crater; but this conclusion was somewhat shaken by the fact +that, from the plain, upon the western side of the lake, rose a conical +hill, or small mountain, which had been a volcano, and exhibited a +crater. Had the earth sunk suddenly here, during some terrible +convulsion of nature? “Quien sabe?” We afterwards found numerous other +lakes, equally extraordinary, and some of considerably larger size. This +one, called in the aboriginal language, Lendiri, was, I should think, +about three miles in circumference.[10] The trees grew to the very edge +of the precipice, and vines and creepers hung in waving festoons down +its rugged sides; altogether forming an impressive picture. Our +appreciation of it was not a little enhanced by the feeling, half of +curiosity and half of awe, which every one must experience upon +witnessing, for the first time, the terrible effects of volcanic forces, +and which no familiarity ever materially weakens. + +----- + +Footnote 10: + + Oviedo (1529) says of this lake, “In the province of Diria is another + lake, the water of which is salt, like that of the sea; and the flavor + of the fish, which it produces in abundance, is far superior to that + of the other fresh water lakes of which I have spoken. It is about a + league and a half, or two leagues, from Granada, or Salteba.” + +----- + +We were hot, weary, and thirsty, when we had clambered again to where +our horses were fastened, and emptied a flask of “agua ardiente” and +water, with which one of the party had considerately supplied himself, +in much less time than it takes me to make the confession, and with a +satisfaction which I shall not attempt to describe. We returned +leisurely, for the shades of evening were falling, and the narrow path +was much obscured by the trees. It was late when we reached the city, +which had now recovered from the chilling influences of impending +danger, and was gay and cheerful. The streets were thronged with noisy +children, and the señoras and señoritas were all seated in the doorways +or in the balconied windows, in quiet enjoyment of the cool evening +breeze, which swung the lamps, suspended in front of each house, slowly +to and fro. There seemed to be a sense of the luxury of mere existence +among the inhabitants, which the traveller looks for in vain except +under the tropics, and which there appears to be in perfect harmony with +nature. + +We had scarcely entered the main street, when my companions suddenly +stopped short, and taking off their hats, turned back again. Without +comprehending fully the reason, I did the same. The next moment, +however, I heard the tinkling of a bell, and looking around the corner, +saw a procession of persons with uncovered heads, each bearing a light, +preceded by a boy ringing a bell, who was followed by some men playing +on violins, and a guard of soldiers surrounding four persons who +supported, with silver rods, a crimson silken canopy, over a priest +dressed in his robes, and carrying the host. The children fled to the +sides of the street and fell on their knees, as did also all the +inhabitants, upon the approach of the procession, which was proceeding +to the house of some one dangerously ill, or dying. We stood in the +cross street, with uncovered heads, as it passed by. It was only a few +years before that a party of foreigners had been torn from their horses +and otherwise maltreated, because they did not dismount and kneel on an +occasion like this. The people, however, had now become comparatively +enlightened and liberal, and exacted nothing beyond a decent respect for +their religious notions and ceremonies. It looked rather strangely to +see a file of soldiers, with glancing bayonets, surrounding a priest +bent on such a mission; but either to insure proper respect, or to show +it, the guard is never omitted, if men and muskets are, by any +possibility, to be found. Sometimes the priest rides in a lumbering +carriage, or is carried in a litter or chair, on men’s shoulders. + +That night, until eight o’clock there was a firing of “bombas” in the +plaza, and general demonstrations of satisfaction everywhere, to say +nothing of great preparations for the morrow, the day announced for the +arrival of General Muñoz and his veteranos. Preceding that event, and +the recital of what followed, it will not be uninteresting to turn for a +moment to the early history of Granada, which was a city grown, long +before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, and before Hudson entered the +bay of New York. + +[Illustration: VIEWS ON THE ROAD TO THE MALACCAS.] + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + +DISCOVERY OF NICARAGUA IN 1522; GIL GONZALES DE AVILA, AND HIS MARCH + INTO THE COUNTRY; LANDS AT NICOYA; REACHES NICARAGUA AND HAS AN + INTERVIEW WITH ITS CAZIQUE; IS CLOSELY QUESTIONED; MARCHES TO + DIRIANGA, WHERE HE IS AT FIRST RECEIVED, BUT AFTERWARDS ATTACKED AND + FORCED TO RETREAT; PECULIARITIES OF THE ABORIGINES; THEIR WEALTH; + ARRIVAL OF FRANCISCO HERNANDEZ DE CORDOVA; HE SUBDUES THE COUNTRY, + AND FOUNDS THE CITIES OF GRANADA AND LEON; RETURN OF GONZALES; + QUARRELS BETWEEN THE CONQUERORS; PEDRO ARIAS DE AVILA THE FIRST + GOVERNOR OF NICARAGUA; HIS DEATH; IS SUCCEEDED BY RODERIGO DE + CONTRERAS; HIS SON, HERNANDEZ DE CONTRERAS, REBELS AGAINST SPAIN; + MEDITATES THE ENTIRE INDEPENDENCE OF ALL SPANISH AMERICA ON THE + PACIFIC; SUCCEEDS IN CARRYING NICARAGUA; SAILS FOR PANAMA; CAPTURES + IT; MARCHES ON NOMBRE DE DIOS, BUT DIES ON THE WAY; FAILURE OF HIS + DARING AND GIGANTIC PROJECT; SUBSEQUENT INCORPORATION OF NICARAGUA + IN THE VICE-ROYALTY OF GUATEMALA.—THE CITY OF GRANADA IN 1665, BY + THOMAS GAGE, AN ENGLISH MONK; NICARAGUA CALLED “MAHOMET’S PARADISE;” + THE IMPORTANCE OF GRANADA AT THAT PERIOD; SUBSEQUENT ATTACK BY THE + PIRATES IN 1668; IS BURNT; THEIR ACCOUNT OF IT; THE SITE OF GRANADA; + ELIGIBILITY OF ITS POSITION; POPULATION; COMMERCE; FOREIGN + MERCHANTS; PROSPECTIVE IMPORTANCE.—LAKE NICARAGUA; ITS DISCOVERY AND + EXPLORATION; INTERESTING ACCOUNT OF IT BY THE CHRONICLER OVIEDO, + WRITTEN IN 1541; ITS OUTLET DISCOVERED BY CAPTAIN DIEGO MACHUCA; THE + WILD BEASTS ON ITS SHORES; THE LAGUNA OF SONGOZANA; SHARKS IN THE + LAKE, THEIR RAPACITY; SUPPOSED TIDES IN THE LAKE; EXPLANATION OF THE + PHENOMENON. + + +The first Spaniard who penetrated into Nicaragua, was Gil Gonzales de +Avila, in the year 1522. He sailed from Panama, and landed somewhere +upon the shore of the Gulf of Nicoya, probably in the southern +department of Nicaragua, now bearing the name of Nicoya, or Guanacaste. +With four horses and a hundred followers, he advanced to the northward +over land, meeting in his progress with several petty chiefs, and +finally came to the territories of a powerful cazique called _Nicoya_, +who, says Peter Martyr, “courteously entertained him, and gave him +fourteen thousand pieces of eight in gold thirteen carats fine, and six +idols of the same metal, each a span long,” in return for which, adds +Herrara, Gonzales “gave him some Spanish toys, and baptized him and all +his subjects, being six thousand in number.” + +Here Gonzales heard of a powerful chief named Nicaragua, and proceeding +fifty leagues to the northward, arrived in his territories, which were +between the lake of Nicaragua and the sea, comprising the district of +which the city of Nicaragua or Rivas is now the capital, and which +occupies the site of the aboriginal town. To this chief, Peter Martyr +tells us, De Avila sent the same message which “our men were wont to +deliver to the rest of the Indian kings, before they would press them, +that is to say, that they should become Christians, and admit their +subjection to the King of Spain, if they did not which, then war and +violence would be used against them.” But Nicaragua, it appears, had +heard of the “sharpness of the Spanish swords,” and received Gonzales +courteously and with great state, presenting him with “twenty-five +thousand pieces of eight in gold, many garments, and plumes of +feathers.” Gonzales prevailed upon him to be baptized, as he accordingly +was, with nine thousand of his subjects. Their sole objection to the +rite was the prohibition of making war, and “of dancing when they were +drunk,” alleging that “they did nobody harm thereby, and that they could +not quit their colors, weapons, and plumes of feathers, and let the +women go to war, whilst they applied themselves to spin, weave, and dig, +which belonged to the females and slaves.” Nicaragua asked many shrewd +questions of the Spaniards, one of which was, “why so few men coveted so +much gold?” “Gonzales being a discreet man,” observes Herrara, “gave +such answers as satisfied him,” although they have not been +preserved.[11] + +----- + +Footnote 11: + + Old Peter Martyr gives quite a minute account of the interview between + Gonzales and Nicaragua, calculated to give a very high opinion of the + shrewdness of the latter. He inquired about a flood, and how the + Spaniards got their information on religious matters from heaven, who + brought it, and whether he came down on a rainbow or otherwise; about + “the sun, and moon, and stars, and of their motion, quality, distance, + and effects!” All these things were noted down on the spot, by + Cerezeda, the king’s treasurer, who also affirms that Nicaragua was + curious about the cause of day and night, and the blowing of the + winds, “which Gonzales answered to the best of his ability, commending + the rest to God.” Gonzales had a long argument with him to prove that + his idols were representatives of devils, and warned him in a style + not yet wholly obsolete, to avoid them, “lest he should be violently + carried away by them from eternal delights to perpetual torments and + miserable woes, and be made the companion of the damned.” To all of + these things the Indians did not offer particular objection, but when + they came to talk about temporal affairs, “they made a wry mouth.” + +----- + +After much persuasion Nicaragua consented that “the idols which he +worshipped should be cast down, and a cross set up in the temple, which +was hung with fine cotton cloths; and thus the country was converted!” + +From the territories of this chief, Gonzales, being everywhere kindly +received, penetrated the country in various directions, and saw many +towns, which, says Herrara, “though not large, were good and +populous;[12] and multitudes flocked along the ways to see the Spanish +beards, and habits, and their horses, which were so strange to them.” +While thus engaged, he encountered a warlike cazique, called +_Diriangan_, a name that is perpetuated in that of the existing towns of +_Diriambi_, _Diriomo_, and _Nindiri_, situated about fifty miles to the +north-westward of Nicaragua. This chief was attended by five hundred +men, with seventeen women, who wore many gold plates. They were drawn up +in order, but without arms, “with ten colors, and trumpets after their +fashion.” When Gonzales came near, the colors were spread, and the +cazique touched his hand, as did also each of his followers; every man +presenting him, at the same time, with one or two turkeys, and each +woman with “twenty golden plates, fourteen carats fine, each weighing +eighteen pieces of eight, and upwards.” + +----- + +Footnote 12: + + Peter Martyr says that he found “six villages, every one of which had + two thousand houses a-piece.”—“_De Novo Orbe_,” _Decade_ vi. p. 237. + +----- + +Gonzales endeavored to persuade Diriangan to become a Christian; but the +chief demanded three days to consult upon the subject “with his women +and priests.” The Spaniards soon suspected that this was a _ruse_, and +that it was his design to gather forces to attack and destroy them. In +this they were not mistaken, for on the 17th of April, 1522, a body of +several thousand Indians, “armed after their manner with cotton armor, +head pieces, targets, wooden swords, bows, arrows, and darts, fell upon +the Spaniards,” and had it not been for the timely notice of a +confederate Indian, would inevitably have destroyed them. The strangers +returned to the market place, and received the onset of the Indians +there. Several of the Spaniards were knocked down; for it seems that +here, as in Mexico, it was rather the desire of the natives to capture +than kill their enemies, in order to offer the prisoners as sacrifices +to their gods. The Spanish horse, in this, as in a thousand other +instances, saved them from defeat, driving back the Indians in great +terror.[13] Gonzales, considering the smallness of his force, resolved, +upon this event, to retire from the country. In passing the town of +their former entertainer, Nicaragua, they were however attacked, but +nevertheless succeeded in making good their retreat. “The Spaniards,” +adds Herrara, “gave a mighty account of the country upon their return to +Panama; for which reason Pedro de Arias, resolved to found a colony +there.” He accordingly soon after despatched Francisco Hernández de +Cordova, who, in 1522, founded the city of Granada upon the Lake of +Nicaragua, and subsequently, in the same year, the city of Leon, upon +the Lake of Leon, or Managua. Cordova erected a fort at Granada for its +protection, but it is hardly to be supposed that the ruined works on the +shore of the lake are the remains of this structure. + +----- + +Footnote 13: + + Peter Martyr tells us that the Indians were not less afraid of men + with beards than of the horses, and that therefore, to produce the + greatest possible effect, Gonzales made artificial beards “from the + powlinges of their heads, for twenty-five beardless youths which he + had with him, to the end that the number of bearded men might appear + the more, and be the more terrible to the barbarians.”—“_De Novo + Orbe_,” _Decade_ vi. p. 240. + +----- + +Gonzales, who had gone to Spain soon after his discovery, to procure the +means of conquering and settling the country, finding himself +anticipated by Cordova, raised a force and entering Honduras by the +valley of Olancho, from the Bay of Honduras, marched upon the towns +established by the latter. The consequences were many battles, and much +disturbance and turmoil, exceeding anything which had previously +resulted from the jealousies and rivalries of the conquerors, in +America. Very little regard was paid to the mother country or its +directions; in fact, after the death of Pedro Arias de Avila, who was +the first governor of the country, Rodrigo de Contreras, his son-in-law, +who succeeded him, openly disregarded the order of the crown, which +prohibited its officers from holding the Indians as property. For this +charges were preferred against him, and he went to Spain to vindicate +himself in the “Audiencia Real.” In his absence, his son, Hernández de +Contreras, resenting his father’s treatment, openly revolted. Their +first victim was Antonio de Valdivieso, the bishop of Nicaragua, whose +portrait is still preserved in the great cathedral at Leon. The +insurgents were successful in gaining complete possession of the +country; but not satisfied with this, they seized some vessels in the +port of Realejo, and embarked for Panama, with a view of extending their +conquests in that direction, and ultimately of seizing upon Peru. +Hernández, in short, conceived the idea of becoming king of the +continent, and ruler of the South Sea. He attacked and captured Panama; +but on his way to reduce Nombre de Dios, encountered misfortunes which +ended in his death. Thus terminated this bold and magnificent design; +the magnitude of which appalled the King of Spain, and which, at one +moment, seemed on the eve of a successful consummation. The anniversary +of Hernández’s death, on the 23d of April, 1549, was celebrated with +great solemnity in the Cathedral of Panama, until the period of the +independence from Spain. + +It is not necessary, nor would it be particularly interesting, to trace +the early history of Nicaragua further. In due time, it was organized as +a province in the Kingdom or Captain Generalcy of Guatemala, and +governed by a Governor Intendant, appointed by the crown, but subject to +the Captain General of Guatemala, and so remained until its emancipation +in 1823. At that time Granada was among the first cities to declare in +favor of republicanism, and has always, in the partisan struggles which +have followed, been on the liberal side, as opposed to the servile, +oligarchical, or monarchical faction, whose machinations have kept the +country in a state of constant alarm, and which is still the enemy of +its peace. + +Thomas Gage, an English monk, who went through Nicaragua in 1665, has +left us a brief but interesting account of the country, which he calls +“Mahomet’s Paradise, from its exceeding goodness.” At that time there +were in the city of Granada two cloisters of Mercenarian and Franciscan +friars, and “one parish church, which was a cathedral, for the Bishop of +Leon did almost constantly reside there.” The houses, he says, were +fairer than those of Leon, and the merchants enjoyed great wealth. They +carried on trade directly with Guatemala, Honduras, and San Salvador, as +also with Panama, Carthagena, and Peru. At the time of sending away +their vessels, (“frigats,” as Gage calls them,) the city was one of the +richest in all North America. The king’s treasure from Guatemala and +Mexico was often sent this way, when the Hollanders and other enemies +infested the Gulf of Mexico. Gage tells us that while he was there, “in +one day there entered six _Requas_, (which were each at least three +hundred mules,) from San Salvador and Honduras alone, laden with indigo, +cochineal, and hides; and two days after from Guatemala came in three +more, one laden with silver, (which was the king’s tribute,) another +with sugar, and the other with indigo.”[14] Respecting the “frigats” of +which Gage speaks, we shall have more to say elsewhere. They generally +sailed for Carthagena, but sometimes directly for Spain. They were +occasionally intercepted by English and Dutch vessels cruising around +the mouth of “El Desaguadero,” or the San Juan, and the fear of this, +observes the quaint old traveller, “did make the merchants tremble and +sweat with a cold sweat.” + +----- + +Footnote 14: + + “A New Survey of the West Indies,” p. 421. + +----- + +Granada, in common with all the Spanish cities on the Pacific declivity +of the continent, suffered much, at a later period, from the pirates. In +1686 it was attacked by a party from the combined French and English +bucaneers then in the South Sea, and sacked. They landed on the seventh +of April in that year, on the coast of the Pacific, in number three +hundred and forty-five men. They travelled only at night, with a view of +surprising the town. De Lussan, who was of the party, records the +adventure. He says that on the ninth of the month, two days after their +departure from the coast, the fatigue which they had undergone, and the +sharp hunger which pressed them, obliged them to halt at a great sugar +plantation, about four leagues from Granada, and on the way thither. It +belonged to a Knight of St. James, who, however, escaped being taken +prisoner, for the excellent reason assigned by the chronicler, viz.: +“our leggs at that time being much more disposed to rest than run after +him.” Upon coming near to the town, they discovered that their approach +was known, and saw what De Lussan calls “two ships upon Lake Nicaragua,” +laden with the effects of the retreating inhabitants. They now proceeded +with more caution, and upon capturing a prisoner found out that a +portion of the inhabitants remained, and had entrenched themselves in +the Place of Arms, or Plaza, which was guarded with fourteen pieces of +cannon, and “six petereroes.” This information, continues the worthy De +Lussan, “would doubtless have terrified any but freebooters, but did not +retard our design one minute, nor hinder us. About two in the afternoon +of the same day, we came up to the town, where at one entrance into the +suburbs we met a strong party lying in ambush for us, whom, after an +hour’s engagement, we fell with that fury on, that we made our way over +all their bellies, with the loss of but one man on our side, and from +thence entered the town, where we made a halt to wait for the answer of +several of our company, whom we had detached to go round and take +observation of a fort which we saw in a direct line with the street by +which we entered.” The reconnoitering over, and the plan of attack laid +out with all military precision, the freebooters “exhorted each other to +fall on bravely, and advanced at a good round pace to the attack.” When +they had got within cannon shot of the works, they were fired on, but at +every discharge the pirates “saluted them down to the ground, by which +means the shot went harmlessly over.” This excellent practical joke the +Spaniards met by false priming, “to the end that the pirates might raise +their bodies after the sham was over,” and then receive the real +discharge. The pirates then broke into the houses and made their +approaches through the walls, from one to the other; and finally came +sufficiently near to use their fire-arms and hand grenades, and being +superior in numbers, and withal well used to hard fighting, they soon +succeeded in making themselves masters of the work. Upon the side of the +pirates four men were killed and eight wounded, which, De Lussan +complacently observes, “was in truth very cheap.” They then went to the +great church and piously sang the _Te Deum_, fixed their sentinels, and +the Court of Guard, (which was probably some kind of commission to take +charge of the plunder,) in the strong-built houses, and afterwards went +out to gather in the booty. But their victory was a barren one, for they +only found “a few goods and some provisions.” + +Much disappointed, they sent out parties to collect the treasures which +they conceived might be hidden on the estates outside of the city, but +with no better success, for they came back, as De Lussan classically +observes, “_re infecta_.” They then caught a woman, whom they sent to +the Spaniards with a demand for a ransom for the town, and a threat of +burning the same in case their requisition was not complied with. The +inhabitants were not so easily frightened, and did not trouble +themselves to give an answer, whereupon the pirates “set fire to the +houses out of mere spite and revenge.” + +While here, the pirates, wearied of their laborious and perilous life, +indulged hopes of returning, through Lake Nicaragua, to Europe. But, in +their own words, “the term of dangers and miseries which their destiny +had in store for them was not yet come, and they could not take +advantage of the favorable opportunity which now offered to get out of +these parts of the world, which, though very charming and agreeable to +those who were settled there, yet did not appear so to a handful of men, +without shipping, the most part of the time without victuals, and +wandering amidst a multitude of enemies, against whom they were obliged +to be continually on their guard.” So they fell back, with infinite +trouble and danger, to the coast, being obliged to contest every foot of +the ground. They embarked again and sailed for Realejo, which they +captured, and subsequently took Pueblo Viejo and Chinendaga, and even +made a descent on Leon. These same men, after further exploits on the +coast, made a forced march across the continent, from the Gulf of +Fonseca to Cape Gracios a Dios, through the northern department of +Nicaragua (Segovia) and Honduras. + +De Lussan describes the city of Granada, at the time of his visit, as a +large and spacious town, with “stately churches and houses, well enough +built, besides several religious establishments, both for men and +women.” Around the city “were a great many fine sugar plantations, which +were more like unto so many villages than single plantations.” + +The site of Granada is admirably chosen. It occupies a gentle slope, +descending towards the lake, which here forms a beautiful and partially +protected bay, called the bay of Granada. Upon one side rises the great +volcano of Momobacho, while behind are the undulating hills and ridges +of land which intervene between the lake and the Pacific. The position +is, in fact, the only eligible one on the western shore of the lake, +near its head, where any considerable town could be built, due regard +being had to space, salubrity, and convenience for trade. And while +Leon, from the circumstances that it was almost immediately established +as the seat of government, and was built in a more fertile and populous +district, has preserved a larger population and a greater number of +imposing public edifices, Granada has always held a higher place in +respect of trade. Through it, from the earliest period, has been +conducted the principal part of the commerce of the country, besides a +portion of that of the adjacent provinces and States. It has not +suffered so much from violence as the political capital; and although +subject to the same influences which have depressed the country at +large, it has felt them less. Wealth has, in consequence, concentrated +here to a considerable extent, and its commercial relations have led to +the introduction of many foreign customs, without, however, materially +changing its essential Central American type. More foreigners have, from +time to time, established themselves here, than in all the rest of the +State. Some of them, after accumulating large fortunes, have returned to +their native lands, while others, from habit or inclination, have +remained, and almost entirely assimilated themselves to the native +population. + +The population of Granada is now estimated at from twelve to fifteen +thousand inhabitants. This estimate may, however, be considerably wide +of the truth. When Juarros wrote, the population was calculated to be +863 Europeans, Spaniards and Creoles; 910 Mestizos; 4,765 Ladinos; and +1,695 Indians. Total, 8,233. + +No means exist whereby its trade can be accurately estimated. With the +exception of some direct trade with the city of Rivas or Nicaragua, +situated on the lake forty-five miles below Granada, the entire commerce +with San Juan is conducted through this city. Here are owned nearly all +the boats used in the navigation of the lake and river, and here also +reside the principal part of the “marineros,” or men employed in +managing them. There are several wholesale mercantile houses, trading +directly with New York, London, Liverpool, some of the French, Spanish, +and Italian ports, and Jamaica. The principal supplies of the merchants +have, for a number of years, been obtained from the island last named, +where their credit is said to be better than that of the traders from +any of the other Spanish States. The transactions are often, if not +generally, cash, or what is equivalent, remittances in bullion, indigo, +or other staples of high value and little bulk. Advances are often made, +however, on prospective crops, which seldom fail. Iron, copper, and +China wares, silks, calicoes, cottons, etc., are the principal imports; +while, as I have already said, the exports consist of indigo, bullion, +hides, Brazil wood, and coffee. As it is almost impossible to limit the +production of tropical staples in Nicaragua, such as indigo, coffee, +cacao, cotton, rice, sugar, and tobacco, not to mention hides, +dye-woods, and medicines, the wealth and importance of Granada must go +on increasing, as the country becomes developed by the introduction of +enterprise and capital, both of which are rapidly taking that direction. +This remark will hold true, even though the prospective canal, or the +projected route of transit between the oceans, should not pass through +or near it; for it is really the only eligible position for a large town +on the south or western shore of the lake, and is, and must ever remain, +nearer than all others to the great centres of population and +production. Several American hotels and mercantile houses are already +established there, and it is becoming better known than any other city +in all Central America. A small steamer now plies between it and San +Carlos, at the outlet of the lake. A short wharf or two alone are wanted +to facilitate landing, and secure vessels from the waves of the lake, +which sometimes roll in here with almost the force and majesty of those +of the ocean. + +The lake of Nicaragua, called by the aborigines _Cocibolca_, which gives +to Granada its importance, and which is the most remarkable natural +feature of the country, has already been described, in general terms, in +the second chapter of this book. It, of course, attracted the first +attention of the Spanish adventurers, who made many wonderful reports of +it, which, reaching Spain, excited much speculation as to the +probability of a water communication between the two oceans. Indeed it +was confidently announced by some that straits opened from it to the +South and to the North Seas; but it was not until 1529 that it was fully +explored. In that year, we are informed by the historian Oviedo y +Valdez, (who was in the country at the time of which he writes, but +whose chronicle remained in manuscript until 1840, and has not yet, in +any part, been published in English,) in that year, Pedro de Avila sent +a man named Martin Estete, at the head of a party of soldiers and +Indians, to make an exploration both of Lake Nicaragua and Managua. They +went into a province called Voto, which must have been to the north-ward +of Lake Managua, but got involved with the natives, were attacked and +driven back. They however saw, from the top of a mountain, a body of +water, which they supposed to be a third lake. It was probably the great +Gulf of Fonseca, which is nearly surrounded by land, and would, at a +distance, be taken for an inland lake. Nothing of value resulted from +this expedition. Subsequently, however, a private expedition was +undertaken by Captain Diego Machuca, a friend of the historian Oviedo, +which was more successful, and terminated in the discovery of the outlet +of the lakes, down which the adventurers passed to the ocean. I shall +let the old writer tell his own story. He says: + + “Last year, (1540,) I met in the city of Santo Domingo the pilot Pedro + Cora, who was one of those who had accompanied Estete in his trip to + Voto, and had seen both the country and the dubious lake. He told me + that he had come from New Castile, under the government of Francisco + Pizarro, and that he had met at the port of Nombre de Dios some old + friends whom he had known in the province of Nicaragua, and who had + built a felouque and brigantine on the shores of the great lake of + Nicaragua, called _Cocibolca_ in the language of the country. With + them was a man named Diego Machuca, with whom I have been well + acquainted, and who had been commandant of the country of the Cazique + Tenderi, and of the country around the lake of Masaya. After having + spent some thousands of dollars in building and arming these vessels + at their own expense, they embarked with the intention of exploring + these lakes thoroughly, or of perishing in the attempt. Captain Diego + Machuca advanced by land, at the head of two hundred men, taking the + same course with the boats, which were accompanied by some canoes. + They, in course of time, arrived at the spot where the waters of these + lakes appeared to flow into the North Sea. As they knew not where they + were, they followed the sea coast in an eastern direction, and finally + arrived at the port of Nombre de Dios, where this pilot met them. He + conversed, ate, and drank often with those who had thus passed out of + these lakes into the sea. He also told me that Doctor Robles held + these men as prisoners, because he himself wished to found a colony at + the outlet of these lakes, and thus profit by the labor of another, as + is the custom with these men of letters, for the use that they make of + their wisdom is rather to rob than to render justice; and this was + true of this man more than of others, for he was not only a + _licenciado_, or _bachelor_, but a _doctor_, the highest grade of + science, and has therefore shown himself the greatest tyrant! For this + reason, his employment has been taken away from him. Besides, if he + had undertaken to found a colony at this outlet, he would have met + there Captain Machuca, who would not have consented to have thus lost + his time, money, and trouble; the old soldier would have proved + himself too sharp for the wise lawyer. I asked the pilot, at what + point on the coast these lakes emptied into the ocean, but he replied + that he was not at liberty to tell. I believe that he wished to + conceal it from me himself, and that it was on this business he was + going to Spain, on behalf of those who made the discovery. I believe + this place to be about one hundred leagues west of Nombre de Dios,[15] + and if I obtain any new information on this matter, I will put it in + the concluding chapters of this book. + +----- + +Footnote 15: + + This estimate was very accurate; the actual distance is but about + two hundred and fifty miles in a right line. + +----- + + “I do not regard what are called the two lakes of Nicaragua as + separate lakes, because they connect the one with the other. They are + separated from the South Sea by a very narrow strip of land; and I + should say that the distance from their upper extremity to the outlet + in the North Sea, is two hundred and fifty leagues.[16] The measures + given by Pedro Arias and others are not true, since they did not know + their extent. They have made a separate lake on the side where is Leon + de Nagrando, on the lands of a cazique named Tipitapa, which + communicates with a narrow channel with that of Granada (Nicaragua.) + In summer there is but little water in this channel, so little that a + man may traverse it; the water coming up no higher than his breast. + This lake is filled with excellent fish. But what proves that they are + both one lake is the fact that they equally abound in sea-fish and + turtles. Another proof is that in 1529, there was found in the + province of Nicaragua, upon the bank of this lake, a fish never seen + except in the sea, and called the sword-fish, (_pexe biguela_,) on + account of a bone armed on both sides with sharp points, placed in the + extremity of its jaw. I have seen some of these fish of so great size, + that two oxen attached to a cart could hardly draw them. A description + of these may be found in Cap. iii. lib. 13, Part first of this work. + The one found on the shores of this lake was small, being only about + twelve feet in length, and must have entered at the outlet of the + lake. Its sword only of a hand’s breadth, and of the width of two + fingers. + +----- + +Footnote 16: + + Oviedo overshoots the mark here; read miles for leagues, and the + distance is very near the truth. + +----- + + “The water of the lakes is very good and healthful, and a large number + of small rivers and brooks empty into them. In some places the great + lake is fifteen or twenty fathoms deep: in other places it is scarcely + a foot in depth; so that it is not navigable in all parts, but only in + the middle, and with barks constructed expressly for the purpose. + + “It has a large number of islands, of some extent, covered with flocks + and precious woods. The largest is eight leagues in circumference, and + is inhabited by Indians. It is very fertile, filled with deer and + rabbits, and named _Ometepec_, which signifies _two mountains_. It + formerly contained a population much more numerous than now, divided + into eight or ten villages. The mountain on this island towards the + east is lowest; the other is so high that its summit is seldom seen. + When I passed by this island the atmosphere was very clear, and I + could easily see the summit. I passed the night at a farm belonging to + a gentleman named Diego Mora, situated on the main land near the + island. The keeper told me that during the two years he had been in + that place he had seen the summit but once, because it was always + covered with clouds. + + “On the south side of the great lake is a smaller one, called + _Songozana_, which is separated from it by a flat shore, but one + hundred and fifty paces wide. It is formed by rains, which fill it up + in the rainy season; and as it is higher than the great lake, its + waters bear away the sand, and empty into it. This laguna then becomes + filled with alligators and all kinds of fish. But during the summer it + nearly dries up. The Indians then kill with clubs great numbers of + alligators and fish. It is about a league and a half in length, and + three-fourths of a league in breadth. I visited it in the latter part + of July, 1529, and there was but little water in it. The farmer whom I + have mentioned had many hogs, which fed on the fish which they caught + here, and were so large that they looked frightful, the more so, + because they had the smell and taste of fish. For this reason they are + now kept away from the laguna, and only allowed to approach to drink. + + “In this vicinity there are numerous black tigers, which made great + havoc in this farmer’s flocks. He had some excellent dogs, which had + killed many of these tigers; he showed me one in particular, that had + killed two or three. The skin of one of these animals, which he showed + me, was black, like velvet. This kind is more ferocious than the + spotted variety. He said he would not take a thousand dollars for his + dogs, for his pork was worth a thousand, and without the dogs the + tigers would have destroyed them all.” + +A laguna, something like that of _Songozana_, described by Oviedo, +occurs about six miles above the city of Granada, near the place called +“Los Cocos,” but I am not aware that it is ever dry. The statement that +sword-fish have reached the lake seems somewhat apochryphal, although it +should be observed that Oviedo is usually very accurate in matters of +this kind. It is, however, a fact that sharks abound in the lake. They +are called “tiburones” from their rapacity. Instances are known of their +having attacked and killed bathers within a stone’s throw of the beach +at Granada; and I have myself repeatedly seen them from the walls of the +old castle, dashing about, with their fins projecting above the water. +Great varieties of fish are found in Lakes Nicaragua and Managua, which +are extensively caught and used by the people residing on their shores. +The lake of Nicaragua was supposed, at one time, to have tides like the +ocean, and the fact that it has an ebb and flow led to the early belief +that it was only an estuary, or bay of the sea. The phenomenon is, +however, of easy explanation. As I have said, the prevailing wind in +Nicaragua is the north-east trade, which here sweeps entirely across the +continent. This is strongest in the noon and evening, when it drives the +water upon the western shores of the lakes; it subsides towards morning, +when the equilibrium is restored, and an ebb follows. The regularity +with which the winds blow, give a corresponding regularity to the ebb +and flow of the lake. Sometimes, when the wind blows continuously, and +with greater force than usual, from the direction I have named, the low +lands on the opposite shore of the lakes are flooded to a great extent. +Such occurrences, however, are rare. + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + +NARRATIVE CONTINUED—ARRIVAL OF THE GENERAL IN CHIEF—THE ARMY—FIREWORKS + BY DAYLIGHT—PRISONERS—INTERVIEW WITH GEN. MUNOZ—ARRIVAL OF THE + CALIFORNIAN ESCORT—“PIEDRAS ANTIGUAS”—THE STONE OF THE BIG MOUTH—“EL + CHIFLADOR”—OTHER ANTIQUITIES—PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE—CARTS AND + “CARRETEROS”—VEXATIOUS DELAYS—DEPARTURE—HOW I GOT A GOOD HORSE FOR A + BAD MULE, ON THE ROAD—DISTANT VIEW OF THE LAKES—THE FREEDOM OF THE + FOREST—ARRIVAL AT MASAYA—GRAND ENTREE—DESERTED PLAZA—A MILITARY + EXECUTION—A “POSADA”—“HIJOS DE WASHINGTON”—DISAPPOINTED + MUNICIPALITY—WE ESCAPE AN OVATION—ROAD TO NINDIRI—APOSTROPHE TO + NINDIRI!—OVERTAKE THE CARTS—“ALGO FRESCO”—APPROACH THE VOLCANO OF + MASAYA—THE “MAL PAIS”—LAVA FIELDS—VIEW OF THE VOLCANO—ITS + ERUPTIONS—“EL INFIERNO DE MASAYA,” THE HELL OF MASAYA—OVIEDO’S + ACCOUNT OF HIS VISIT TO IT IN 1529—ACTIVITY AT THAT PERIOD—THE + ASCENT—THE CRATER—SUPERSTITIONS OF THE INDIANS—THE OLD WOMAN OF THE + MOUNTAIN—THE DESCENT OF THE FRAY BLAS CASTILLO INTO THE CRATER. + + +Sunday, the day after the events recited in a previous chapter, was +ushered in by a general ringing of the church bells, and a miscellaneous +firing of bombas, on the part of the boys. High mass was said in “La +Parroquia,” for the safe arrival of the General and his army. I now +discovered the efficacy of the “banda.” Red and yellow cloth was +suspended in front of all the balconies; gay curtains shaded every +window; festoons of flowers hung above every door, and little flags and +boughs of trees were strung in all convenient places. The decorations in +the plaza were particularly profuse and fanciful. Altogether the streets +looked much like those of some of our own cities, tricked out on the +occasion of a political festival, or some similar occasion, when +impunity is conceded to absurdity of every kind. Men, women, and +children were all dressed in their best attire, and seemed to be in high +spirits. There was a general reaction from the despondency which had so +long afflicted the popular mind; and, as I strolled through the Jalteva, +I observed that already many of the fugitive inhabitants had returned, +and that the municipality began to have some semblance of life again. At +about eleven o’clock messengers arrived, announcing that the General was +at a “hatto,” a league from the city, waiting for the coming up of the +main body of his troops. Directly I heard the roll of drums in the +plaza, and shortly after saw a large cavalcade, embracing the municipal +and departmental officers, and a body of several hundred of the leading +inhabitants, defile past to meet and welcome the General. When they had +departed, there was a lull in the city; the quiet of expectation had +succeeded the bustle of preparation; and, there being nothing more to +see, I went back to my quarters, and lying down in my hammock, suspended +beneath the corridor of the house, where the fresh breeze circulated +freely, rustling the orange leaves, took up Layard’s Nineveh, which had +been published a day or two before I left the States. I read of winged +bulls, priestly processions, and Arab bands, and in a state of +half-consciousness was trying hard to make out something about the +Yezidis, who would, nevertheless mix themselves up with the marineros of +the lake, and the Naides of San Migueleto, when the discharge of a +cannon, and the simultaneous clang of every bell in the city, startled +me to my feet, and announced the approach of the long-expected, and +long-wished-for General. + +I took my place in the outer corridor, to see whatever there might be to +see. The streets were lined with people, mostly women, their heads +protected by gaudy rebosos; while every door, window, and balcony was +occupied by the better portion of the population, dressed to the limit +of their finery. The discharge of cannon continued at regular intervals, +becoming more and more distinct as the guns approached, while the bells +kept up an incessant and almost deafening clangor. The General, I +thought, was slow in his movements, and a long time in coming; for it +was full an hour before the head of the procession appeared, turning +sharp around a corner near my quarters. A mass of horsemen, filling the +entire street, passed along in utter confusion; but these, I soon saw, +were the citizens who had gone out to act as an escort. Following these +was a small detachment of lancers, who moved in entire order, and made a +good appearance. After them came a party of officers, brilliantly +dressed, preceded by the flag of the republic, around which the people +pressed in a dense body, shouting “Viva el esclarecido General!” “Viva +el Gobierno Supremo!” “Viva la Republica!” “Muerte à los enemigos del +orden!” Death to the enemies of order! I had no difficulty in +distinguishing amongst the fine body of men composing his staff, the +erect and commanding figure of Gen. Muñoz himself. He was splendidly +mounted, and wore a neat undress uniform of blue, turned up with red, +and a Panama hat, covered with black oiled silk. He bowed in an easy and +graceful manner, in acknowledgment of the “vivas” directed to him, and +of the salutations of the señoras and señoritas in the balconies. I +observed his face closely when he approached; it was animated but +firm,—expressive of his true character, which is that of a humane, +chivalrous, high-minded, and brave man. I then thought, and still think +him the finest looking officer I ever saw. + +Behind the General and his staff, was another detachment of lancers, +followed by a band of music; then came the soldiers in divisions. First +were the “veteranos,” or soldiers of the line, in a uniform of white +pantaloons and jacket, a little black cap with a red ball perched in +front, a species of network knapsack, a blanket thrown, toga-like, over +one shoulder, and a musket resting on the other. This is their whole +equipment; they require no tents, baggage, or provision wagons. If it +rains, they throw their blankets over their shoulders and the locks of +their muskets, turn their pantaloons up to their thighs; and march on. +At night they roll themselves in their blankets, and lie down anywhere. +A plantain and a bit of cheese, or tortilla, or a cup of _tiste_, +constitute their simple rations, and on such fare they will march forty +and fifty miles a day, through a country where an equal European or +American force would not average ten. This body of “veteranos,” marched +with great precision and in good order, and was followed by the new +recruits, who were rather a hard looking set, dressed in every variety +of costume, and not particular about keeping in line or marking step. +Some wore only pantaloons and hat, the latter not always of the most +classical model; some had long legs to their breeches, some short, and +some none at all; but they all seemed to be in good spirits, and ready +for almost any thing which might turn up. They bowed frequently, +beckoned, and sometimes spoke to acquaintances amongst the +spectators,—improprieties of which the “veteranos” were never guilty. In +fact, the latter, who were almost entirely Indians, seemed as impassible +as men of bronze. Amongst the officers in the General’s staff I observed +a full-blooded negro; but his features were as regular as those of any +European. He afterwards distinguished himself by his bravery and +fidelity, and was promoted in consequence. + +Upon the entrance of the procession into the plaza, although it was +broad daylight, a series of fireworks and rockets were let off, which +produced a great noise and smoke, but none of those brilliant results +for which they are got up amongst us, and of which the people here seem +to have no idea. The primary object appeared to be to make a great +noise, and in this they were perfectly successful. + +That afternoon, a division of troops, which had been sent out the +previous day, to break up a party of insurgents, who had concentrated at +the Indian pueblo of Diriomo, came in, having effected their object, and +bringing a number of prisoners. Among them was one of Somoza’s +lieutenants, who was pinioned, and marched in at the point of the +bayonet. A litter followed, bearing a wounded soldier, half of whose +face had been shot away in the encounter, presenting a shocking +spectacle. + +Before night, it became evident that a decided hand had now the control +of affairs; men were despatched to bring down the boats sent for safety +to “Los Cocos;” scouts detached to gather information; a new regiment of +enrolled men ordered to report themselves under arms next morning; and a +proclamation issued, guarantying the safety of all those arrayed against +the government who should come in and surrender their arms. The patrols +were doubled, and that night we were treated to an extra number of +“alertas,” from watchful sentinels. In the evening a council was held, +to which all the leading citizens, whatever their previous differences, +were invited, and where the General himself set the example of patriotic +forbearance and fraternization, by proffering his hand to men from whom +he had been estranged for years. The result was auspicious, and the +council resolved upon the most prompt and decided action. + +Next morning, before sunrise, as I rode to take my daily bath in the +lake, I saw the General in the Plaza, wrapped in his military cloak, +drilling his troops in person. At eleven o’clock he paid me a formal +visit, accompanied by his staff. My previous favorable impressions were +more than confirmed by the interview. He spoke of the troubles in the +country with the regret of a patriot, but the determination of a +general, and sketched their origin, and the popular demoralization, +boldly and impartially. Upon general topics he was familiar, and +conversed with force and freedom. He had once been in New Orleans, where +he had seen Mr. CLAY, who appeared to have left a characteristic +impression on his mind. I found him perfectly well acquainted with the +origin and progress of the Mexican war, and with the relative parts +sustained in it by the American officers. Upon the subject of British +aggressions, he spoke with great bitterness, and in a manner which +showed how deep and ineffaceable were the feelings of hatred which they +had engendered. These aggressions, he said, made at a time when the +country had begun to recover from its distractions, and when its more +patriotic and intelligent citizens, before expatriating themselves in +despair, were making a last effort in its behalf, and for the +restoration of quiet and good government, were crimes against humanity +not less than against the State. Just as the government had succeeded in +reforming the army and restoring public confidence, when all its +resources were wanted to carry out its new and enlightened policy, it +found itself involved in a foreign controversy, shorn, on the shallowest +pretexts, of half its territories, its revenues cut off, and all its +energies crippled by a nation professing to be the most enlightened and +philanthropic in the world! He had often felt dispirited, but had +struggled on in the vague hope that the condition of the country might +attract the sympathy and secure the good offices of other nations in its +behalf,—as he now believed it had done those of the United States. The +present disturbances, he added, had been directly charged upon the +English, but however that might be, that people was directly responsible +for its consequences; for the insurgents would never have dared to +commit overt acts, whatever their disposition, had they not thought that +the controversy with England had weakened the hands of the government, +and rendered it almost powerless; and that in attacking it, they would +receive some kind of countenance and support from British agents, if not +from the British Government. + +I am thus particular in giving the exact tenor of this conversation, as +it was afterwards grossly misrepresented, and made the subject of not +over-polite, but very characteristic official correspondence, on the +part of the British agents. + +In the afternoon of this day, the first division of our California +escort, in a uniform of red shirts, and armed like brigands, made their +appearance. They reported that the remainder had stopped for the night +at the town of Masaya, in order to visit the extraordinary lake at that +place, and would come on in the morning. The march of the General had +cleared the roads, and as our arrival at the capital was anxiously +expected, I determined to leave Granada at the earliest possible moment, +and made my arrangements accordingly. + +[Illustration: “PIEDRA DE LA BOCA.”] + +In the evening I visited a singular relic of antiquity, called the +“piedra de la boca,” the _stone of the mouth_. It is planted on the +corner of one of the streets leading to the Jalteva, and consists of a +large and singularly carved stone, which had been brought here by a +curious “marinero,” from an island in the lake. The accompanying +engraving will convey a better idea of it than any description, and will +explain why it bears its present name. It now projects about three feet +above the ground, and is two feet broad by one and a half in thickness. +I had made diligent inquiry for “_piedras antiguas_,” ancient stones, +but got very little information concerning any,—no information, in fact, +except from an old priest and some boatmen, who represented that many +were to be found on the island of Ometepec, and on the large uninhabited +island of Zapatero. I had, however, no time to visit them now, but made +a note of them for a future occasion. At the “esquina,” or corner of the +old Convent of San Francisco, was another “piedra antigua,” called “_El +Chiflador_,” the whistler. It had been much broken, and the head and +upper part of the body were entirely destroyed. The fragments which +remained showed that it had been well and elaborately carved. Tradition +says that, when it was perfect, its mouth was open, into which the +blowing of the wind made a mournful, whistling noise, exciting +suspicions that it was the incarnation of one of the ancient “demonios” +of the Indians. The pious padres demolished it in consequence; but +probably less on that account than because they often found offerings +before it, which the superstitious Indians had deposited during the +night time. Another figure stood, and probably still remains at the +south-eastern corner of the great Plaza, carved in black basalt. It +represents a human figure, with jaws widely distended, and protruding +tongue. Upon the head is crouched the representation of some kind of +wild animal, of the cat kind. It is comparatively small, but well +carved, and bold and striking in its outlines. This, and “el chiflador” +were brought from the island of Zapatero. + +During the day, the remainder of the American division arrived at +Granada. Including my own party, we mustered twenty-five strong, each +man withal a walking arsenal. Two days were devoted to rest and +visiting, and the morning of the third of July fixed for our departure. +The evening previous, our baggage was packed in carts, and sent ahead, +under the escort of a detachment of lancers. + +[Illustration: HIDE-COVERED CART IN NICARAGUA.] + +In the inhabited parts of Nicaragua, where the country is entirely +level, or but slightly undulating, carts are almost universally used for +the transportation of goods and the natural products of the country. +They are exceedingly rude contrivances, but seemed to meet every +requisition. The body consists of a stout frame-work of wood, and the +wheels, as I have already said, are solid sections, cut from some large +tree of hard wood, usually the mahogany. These are not sawed, but +chopped into shape, and with an eye rather to use than to symmetry or +beauty. The oxen, which are compact, active, and hardy animals, are not +fastened in a yoke, as with us, but to a bar passing across their +foreheads, and firmly lashed to their horns. Two pairs are the usual +complement of a cart, but sometimes three pairs are used. When the +“carreteros” have far to go with heavy loads, an extra yoke or two is +either led or driven along, to be used in case of accident, and to +relieve the others when tired. Two men are attached to each _carreta_; +one armed with his _machete_, or a gun, goes ahead, to clear away +obstacles, and to indicate the path, for the oxen are trained to follow +him; while another either walks behind or rides in the cart, and has a +long pole pointed with an iron spike, with which he “touches up” the +animals if they are inclined to loiter or be lazy. This kind of +admonition is accompanied by shouts to them collectively or +individually, for each one has a name, and with epithets more forcible +than elegant. So the approach of a cart is often known while it is half +a mile or more distant; not solely by the shouts and maledictions of the +“carreteros,” but by the awful squeaking and shrieking of the wheels, +which never fail to set the strongest nerves in a quiver. The roads in +Nicaragua are lined with fragments of broken carts, here a wheel split +in pieces, and there an axle broken in two. The axles are the first to +fail, and therefore every cart carries two or three extra axles, in +reserve for emergencies. If, however, the carretero should be +unprovided, he selects the first hard wood tree of the proper size which +he can find, makes a new axle, and in half an hour is on his way again. +The loads which are carried in these rude vehicles are almost +incredible. Twenty-five hundred pounds is the standard freight, and is +carried from twenty-five to forty miles a day, depending somewhat upon +the season. The morning, from three and four o’clock until eight or ten, +and again in the evening from four until nine, are the usual hours for +moving, for then the air is comparatively fresh and cool. Each cart +carries a certain amount of “sacate” and corn for its animals, and their +masters bivouac by the roadside wherever night overtakes them. The oxen +are fastened to trees, the men light a fire and cook their coffee, and +afterwards wrap up their heads in handkerchiefs, and if it is the dry +season, swing their hammocks between two trees and go to sleep. It +usually happens that two or more carts go in company, for mutual aid in +case of accident, and then their encampments, upon which the traveller +often comes suddenly at night, are highly picturesque. On such +occasions, some swing carelessly in hammocks, others recline on the +ground, and others busy themselves around the fire, while all smoke with +unbroken energy. Half the night is sometimes spent in card playing, by +fire light; and bursts of laughter and snatches of song startle the +sleepy traveller jogging through the forests, and are answered by the +growls of the wild beasts or the howls of the “mono colorado.” They are +stalwart, jolly fellows, these “carreteros,” and like the “arrieros,” or +muleteers of Mexico, invincibly honest. Merchants never hesitate in +entrusting the most valuable goods to their care, and I believe no +instance is known of their proving faithless to the trust reposed in +them. On the contrary, the poor fellows, when attacked by robbers, as +they sometimes are, will fight to the death in defence of their carts. +Like the “marineros” on the lake, they constitute an almost distinct +class of citizens, and in the city of Leon live in a certain “barrio,” +or ward, that of San Juan. Some of them have a large number of oxen and +carts, which they sub-let to the poorer members of the fraternity of +“carreteros,” among whom exists an _esprit de corps_ which will permit +no underbidding or other irregular practices. + +The morning of our departure came, and agreeably to instructions, Ben +roused us at early dawn. We were individually ready to move at sunrise; +for, although we only proposed to go to the city of Managua, a distance +of fifty miles, the first day, we wished to take the journey leisurely, +as became travellers in a new and strange country. Don Frederico, as our +old friend, Monsieur Sigaud, at San Juan, had done before, smiled +incredulously when we talked of an early departure; but, as the horses +and mules were positively engaged to be at our door at sun-rise, and as +the man who let them was a person of mark, and an old Spaniard to boot, +we felt a good deal of faith in our plans. The sun rose, and after +walking up and down the corridor, in heavy boots, with clanking spurs, +for half an hour, with a growing conviction that we were somewhat +verdant, we were called to breakfast. Don Frederico looked provokingly +good-natured, and when Ben, who had been despatched to stir up the +laggard “_emprestador_,” returned, with the news that the men had only +just gone to hunt up the animals in the fields, he laughed outright, and +so did we, notwithstanding our vexation. We shortly found that our +escort was no better off; their horses had not yet come in. So we all +went to the plaza, and sat until past nine o’clock, witnessing the +drilling of the new recruits. All things must have an end, and so did +our suspense. The horses finally came; and, after a world of tryings on +and takings off, pulling here and padding there, the beasts were +saddled, and we marched to the plaza, where, according to previous +understanding, we were met by the General and his staff, and a crowd of +citizens on horseback, who had gathered to escort us “with all the +honors” out of the city. My young medical friend from New Haven had won +the privilege of carrying the flag at the head of the cavalcade, and +after him, under the marshalling of a stalwart Buckeye, who had served +amongst the dragoons in the Mexican war, the “Californian division” was +arranged in column with military precision. The troops were all drawn +up, and presented arms as we defiled by, under a discharge from the +cannon in front of the “Cuartel General.” The people lined the streets, +and shouted as earnestly for “los Estados Unidos del Norte,” and its +representative, as they did for the “esclarecido General,” upon his +arrival a few days before. + +I could not help thinking of the figure which our singular cavalcade +must have cut in the eyes of an uninterested spectator, nor resist +smiling at my own part in the affair. It, however, was a bona fide +ceremonial, and so received and valued. As we approached the arsenal, we +found its garrison on the _qui vive_; a little wreath of smoke shot up, +and boom went the cannon there. Altogether this was more imposing than +our departure from San Carlos, and not a whit less entertaining. + +I was mounted on a large white mule, which the _emprestador_ had +specially recommended to me as “muy manso y comodo” very gentle and +easy; but which I soon found was an old broken-winded beast, and a +villanously hard traveller. The General observed that I had been taken +in, and glancing round, fixed his eyes on the dashing horse of a young +fellow, deputed by the government to accompany us on our march as +commissary and provider. Directly he stopped short, and ordered him to +dismount and change animals with me. The order was promptly obeyed,—for +there was no parleying with the General; and although I thought the +proceeding rather summary, I was too glad to get rid of the mule to +offer the slightest objection to the arrangement. Besides, the deposed +horseman should have provided us with better animals—of course he +should! + +Our escort accompanied us about two miles, to a point where the short +cut, or mule path, to Masaya diverged from the _camino real_; and here, +after a profusion of bows, an interminable shaking of hands, and “buenas +viajes,” and “Dios guardes,” in every tone and emphasis, we separated +from the crowd, and went on our way alone. The path was narrow, and led +through bush and brier, under gigantic trees, draped all over with +vines, down into dark ravines, where the sun’s rays never reached, over +ridges covered with grass, with here and there clusters of luxuriant +trees, gemmed all over with fragrant flowers, where we could catch views +of the glittering lake, with its distant shores, and several islands. +Thus we went, in Indian file, the red shirts and gleaming arms of the +men giving life and relief to the scene, and making the noisy parrots, +which fluttered beside the path, still more noisy; while brightly +colored birds glanced in and out of the thick green coverts, or a +startled deer bounded hurriedly before us! Altogether, the novelty, +excitement, and beauty filled me with that wild delight which only the +Arab feels, or the free Indian on his prairie ocean, and one hour’s +enjoyment of which were “worth ten years of quiet life!” My chest +expands, and every nerve becomes tense, even now, while I write, at the +recollection of that glorious morning, and that march to Masaya. +Occasionally we came upon a cane house, nestled in some quiet glen, or +upon some beautiful slope, surrounded by palms and plantains, and fields +of tobacco and maize, in the doors of which stood women and knots of +frightened children, who gazed wonderingly upon our strange party. They +all seemed reassured when we cried out “adios amigas!” and responded +with “Dios guarde à Ustedes, caballeros!” “God preserve you, Sirs!” At +about six miles from Granada, we reached the highest point of ground +between that city and Masaya; one of those ridges of land which seem to +radiate like the legs of a lobster from the great volcano of Momobacho, +and which are, for the most part, destitute of trees. From this point we +obtained our finest view of Lake Nicaragua, the river, or estuary of +Tipitapa connecting it with Lake Managua, and of that lake itself, +hemmed in, upon the east, by the high irregular mountains of Matagalpa +and New Segovia. Between us and the lakes was a magnificent slope, +leagues on leagues in extent, a sea of dense tree-tops, unrelieved, so +far as the eye could discover, by a single acre of cleared or cultivated +ground. Yet there were many haciendas and estates, the positions of +which were indicated by wreaths of smoke rising in thin curls here and +there above the trees. We dismounted, and sat for half an hour beneath a +spreading tree, to enjoy the prospect, and pay our respects to the +canteens of water, (diluted with brandy,) with which each man was +supplied. + +The path by which we journeyed had been used, from time immemorial, for +mules and horses, and in many places, particularly on the declivities of +the swells of land, where water had contributed its aid, it was worn +deep in the soft rock and compacted earth, and so narrow as utterly to +preclude all turning around after it had once been entered. Upon +approaching such places, if their whole extent cannot be discovered, it +is usual to halloo loudly, in order to ascertain if any one is +approaching; for if horsemen meet in these places, one or the other must +back out,—a process sufficiently difficult. + +At about one o’clock the more frequent occurrence of cultivated grounds, +of little “hattos” and cane cabins, showed that we were approaching the +large Indian pueblo of Masaya. The path became broader, and showed +constant use; and numerous little paths diverged in every direction. +Where they joined the main road, crosses were in some cases erected, on +which hung wreaths of faded flowers, perishing tokens of pious zeal. We +now met and overtook numbers of Indians, singly and in groups, carrying +netted sacks, filled with ears of maize, with vegetables, or meats: some +had braided mats, hats of woven palm leaves, hammocks, and other +articles for sale or use. They all silently gave us the road on our +approach. They seldom spoke unless first addressed; but then always +replied politely, sometimes adding, interrogatively, “California?” They +were small, but well-formed, with features much more regular than our +Indians, and of singularly mild, and expressive features, and docile +manners. + +The entrance to Masaya was by a long and broad street, lined on both +sides by a forest of fruit-trees, beneath which were clustered the +thatched cane houses of the inhabitants. We had previously waited until +the rear of our party had come up, and now spurred through the streets +in a solid column. As we went on, the houses became more numerous, and +occasionally one of adobes, with a tiled roof, appeared amongst the +frailer structures which I have described. After going nearly half a +mile, we turned short to the right, and riding for a number of blocks in +streets precisely resembling those of Granada, passing an abandoned +convent or two, we galloped into the principal plaza. In the centre of +this stood the great church, a long, heavy building, with a very fair +façade and tower, and much exceeding in size any of the churches of +Granada. On the sides of the plaza were several rows of fine shops, with +their doors and shutters covered with tin; for more foreign goods are +retailed in Masaya than in any other town in the State. Its people are +regarded as the most industrious, and are celebrated throughout all +Central America for the extent and variety of their manufactures. +Cordage, hammocks, saddles, cotton cloth “petates” or mats, hats, shoes, +in short, all the articles of common use in the country, are produced +here, besides large quantities of _dulces_ (sweetmeats and jellies,) +which were, at one time, extensively exported to Peru and South America. +But the shops, in consequence of the existing troubles, were shut, and +the plaza was almost entirely deserted. Near the dead wall of the church +a rude chair was standing; it was the fatal “_banqueto_,” upon which, a +few days before, one of the leading “facciosos” of the city, after +having been tried and condemned by a court-martial, had been shot. Near +by the sod was turned up, marking the spot where the body of the +executed man was buried. He had been tried at one o’clock, condemned at +two, shot at three, and buried at four. Short shrift, indeed; but such +is the summary process of martial law in Nicaragua, when, as in this +instance, the guilt of the criminal admits neither of doubt nor +extenuation. Some of our party had witnessed the execution, which they +described as very impressive. It was done in sight of the entire army, +from which a corporal’s guard was detached for the service. The prisoner +was first taken within the church, where he confessed and received the +sacrament. He was conducted to his seat by two priests, a little cross +put in his hands, and a blessing invoked on his soul. Guns, in half of +which only were balls, were placed in the hands of the guard, who fired +at the distance of ten paces. The man fell dead at the first discharge. +The example was deemed necessary, and it no doubt was so in this +instance. It should, however, be observed, that no officer has +established a higher character for humanity than General Muñoz, who has +never stained his reputation by any of those butcheries and wanton +cruelties which have been the rule, rather than the exception, in the +civil wars of Spanish America. + +We rode to a _posada_ kept by an exceedingly fat and cheerful lady, who +was so happy that her “pobre casa” should be honored by the “hijos de +Washington,” the sons of Washington! In a few minutes, several of the +alcaldes of the town came in, out of breath, and in great tribulation +because they had not been apprised of our approach. They proposed even +now to ring all the bells, and were urgent that we should stop the rest +of the day, so as to give them an opportunity of making a demonstration +commensurate to the importance of the occasion. But we pleaded haste, +and promised to return soon, and thus escaped being lionized in Masaya. +We had proposed to stop here several hours, and visit the remarkable +volcanic lake, from which the town is supplied with water, but the delay +of the morning compelled us to cut short our stay, if we would reach +Managua, twelve leagues distant, that night. So we only allowed the +horses to breathe awhile, and then mounted again and resumed our march. +We went quite two miles from the plaza before we got fairly out of the +city, which has some fifteen or eighteen thousand inhabitants, and +covers full a square league. + +Beyond Masaya is a broad and beautiful avenue, lined on either hand by +luxuriant fields: in this respect far surpassing the country around +Granada. This avenue leads to the pueblo of Nindiri, and people mounted +or on foot passing to and fro, gave it an appearance of animation beyond +what we had hitherto seen out of the towns. About midway between Masaya +and Nindiri, the road passes over a bubble-shaped hill, raised by +volcanic forces from below, the uplifted strata curving with all the +regularity of the rainbow. Although it would have been easy to have +passed around it, yet as the Indians before the conquest had probably +gone directly over, the same path has been continued, for no better +reason, ever since. It however had been much improved, and a deep notch +had been cut or worn in the soft sand rock, to the depth of forty or +fifty feet, resembling very much the deep cuts on the lines of some of +our railroads. Upon one side, in a little nitch, stood a small cross, +covered with wilted flowers. Beyond this defile, the road resumed its +broad and level course, and we rode rapidly over its gravelled bed into +the town of Nindiri. + +Nindiri! How shall I describe thee, beautiful Nindiri, nestling beneath +thy fragrant, evergreen roof of tropical trees, entwining their branches +above thy smooth avenues, and weaving green domes over the simple +dwellings of thy peaceful inhabitants! Thy musical name, given thee long +ages ago, perhaps when Rome was young, has lost nothing of its melody; +_Neenda_, water, and _Diria_, mountain, it still tells us, in an ancient +and almost forgotten tongue, that thou slumberest now, as of yore, +between the lake and the mountain! Amongst all the fairy scenes of quiet +beauty which the eye of the traveller hath lingered upon, or the fancy +has limned with her rosy-hued pencil, none can compare with thee, +beautiful Nindiri, chosen alike of the mountain Fairies and forest +Dryads, of the Sylphs of the lake, and the Naiads of the fountain! +Nindiri! + +This little Indian village far surpassed, in point of picturesque +beauty, anything we had yet seen. Oranges, plantains, marañons, jocotes, +nisperos, mamays, and tall palms, with their variously-colored fruits +blushing brown or golden among the leaves, and here and there a low +calabash tree, with its green globes strung on every limb, all +clustering together, literally embowered the cane huts of the +simple-minded and industrious inhabitants. Indian women, naked to the +waist, sat beneath the trees spinning snow-white cotton or the fibre of +the _pita_, (_agave_,) while their noisy, naked little ones tumbled +joyously about on the smoothly-beaten ground, where the sunlight fell in +flickering, shifting mazes, as the wind bent the branches of the trees +with its unseen fingers. Quiet primitive Nindiri! seat of the ancient +caziques and their barbaric courts,—even now, amidst the din of the +crowded city, and the crush and conflict of struggling thousands, amidst +grasping avarice and importunate penury, bold-fronted hypocrisy and +heartless fashion, where virtue is modest and vice is brazen, where fire +and water, and the very lightnings of heaven, are the slaves of human +will, how turns the memory to thee, as to some sweet vision of the +night, some dreamy Arcadia, fancy-born, and half unreal! + +We rode through the arched and hedge-lined streets into a broad open +plaza, in the centre of which stood a quaint old church. A few sleek +cows were lying in its shade, chewing their cuds in a meditative way, +and hardly opening their sleepy eyes as we trotted by. Beneath some +large trees upon one side of the plaza, we descried our carts and their +escort, taking what at home would be called “a nooning.” The lances of +the men were stacked together, and their horses fastened with _lariats_ +to the carts, forming, with their gay trappings, a striking group, +abundantly set off by the reclining figures of their riders, who had +disposed themselves in attitudes expressive of the fullest abandonment +to individual ease. We were not long in joining the party. The officer +in command, in anticipation of our arrival, had prepared two or three +jars of “algo fresco,” something fresh, delightfully compounded of +water, the juice of the cocoa-nut, and of the acidulous marañon,—a +delicious and refreshing beverage, to which we paid our respects in +protracted draughts, not forgetting “_mil gracias_,” and sundry _medios_ +to a plump, laughing Indian girl who dispensed it, in snowy calabashes, +to the thirsty strangers. + +The only part of the road which was supposed to be frequented by the +_ladrones_ was now passed, and although the commander of the escort was +very willing to proceed with the carts, I did not think it necessary, +and so it was agreed that he should return. This arranged, we all +mounted again, and the last we saw of our military friend was the +gleaming lances of his men, and the fluttering of their little red +streamers, as they galloped back through the streets of Nindiri. + +Beyond the town we struck into the forest, and began to ascend one of +the slopes or spurs of the volcano of Masaya. Occasional openings among +the trees enabled us to catch glimpses of lake, plain, and mountain, +more extended even, and more beautiful than those which we had witnessed +in the morning, from the heights beyond Masaya. The road passed over +fields of disintegrating pumice and lava-beds ages old, and now covered +with accumulated soil and a thick forest. At the distance of about a +league, however, we came to what is called the “_mal pais_” literally, +the _bad country_. It was an immense field of lava, which at the last +eruption of Masaya had flowed down from the volcano, for a distance of +fifteen or twenty miles, in the direction of the lakes. The road crossed +it on the summit of a ridge running transversely to the lava current, +where the field was narrow, but spreading out on both sides to a great +distance. It looked like a vast plain of cast iron, newly cooled, black +and forbidding. In places it was rolled up in frowning masses, elsewhere +piled one flake on the other, like the ice in the spring time, upon the +shores and low islands, or in the narrow channels of our rivers. An +ocean of ink, suddenly congealed during a storm, if the imagination of +the reader can picture it, would better illustrate its appearance than +anything else which occurs to me at this moment. Here and there great, +ragged masses, fifty or a hundred feet square, had been turned +completely over by the current as it flowed beneath, exhibiting upon the +exposed surface a regularly striated appearance, like the curling fibre +of the oak or maple. I dismounted and scrambled out amongst the +_crinkling_ fragments, but did not go far, as the sharp edges and points +cut through my boots like knives. At one place I observed where the +half-cooled lava had wrapped itself, layer on layer, around a large +tree, which, subsequently burning out or decaying, had left a perfect +cast of its trunk and principal branches, so accurate that the very +roughness of the bark could still be traced. But what struck me with +most surprise was the circumstance that the flood of lava had flowed +over the narrow ridge where I was standing, and that a depression +existed between me and the volcano whence the molten matter had come. It +was clear enough that the popular adage and axiom about the +indisposition of water to flow up hill, does not always apply to lava. +The explanation of the phenomenon may perhaps be found in the fact that +the surface of the lava cooling, is thrown off in fragments, building +walls on either side, between which the lava current continues to flow, +until rising high, and the vertical pressure becoming great, it breaks +through the barrier, and discharges itself laterally. Or, the +intermediate valley being filled by the melted substance with a rapidity +which would not admit of its finding its level at once, it is easy to +understand that it might discharge itself over the ridge; and the supply +subsequently ceasing, the accumulated matter in the valley, spread out +laterally and subside, in the manner here exhibited. + +Not a tree intervened between me and the volcano, only the broad, black +and rugged waste of lava. I could therefore distinctly see the mountain, +and trace the ragged outlines of its ancient and principal crater. This +latest discharge of lava, however, does not seem to have been made from +this mouth, but from a lower elevation, upon the slope of the volcano. +This elevation had a reddish, scoriaceous appearance, and its crater, +one side of which had been broken down by the lava, was comparatively +small. In fact there were a number of orifices, or craters, at other +points, which had been the vents in previous eruptions. It was evident +enough that there had been hot work here in past times, although +everything looked quiet enough now. + +The early chroniclers have a great deal to say about this volcano, which +was called “_El Infierno de Masaya_,” the Hell of Masaya. Its last +eruption, when the lava field which I have described was formed, +occurred within the historical period, in 1670. No detailed account of +it has ever been published, although there is little doubt that it was +duly recorded by some of the ecclesiastics of the country, whose +relations still exist amongst the archives of the Church in Spain or +Italy. + +Since this final eruption, the volcano has been in a dormant state. It +was visited in 1840 by Mr. Stephens, who discovered no signs of +activity. Yet, at the time of the Discovery, it was regarded as one of +the greatest wonders of the New World. The chronicler Oviedo visited it +in 1529, and has left us a very complete account of its appearance and +condition at that period. He says: + + “There is another mountain in this province, called Masaya, of which I + can speak as an eye-witness, having visited it in person, after having + heard many fables related by those who pretended to have ascended to + the crater. I once went up Vesuvius, and beheld a crater of + twenty-five or thirty fathoms in diameter, from which smoke rose + perpetually, which smoke people say changes to a very bright flame at + night. I remained there a whole night, with the Queen of Naples, whose + chief of the wardrobe (guarda ropa) I was, whither I accompanied her + in 1501. From thence we went to Palermo, in Sicily, near which is + Mount Etna.” Oviedo here makes a long enumeration of the volcanoes + known at the time he wrote, and continues: “But it seems to me that + none of these volcanoes are to be compared with that of Masaya, which, + as I have said, I have seen and examined myself. Of this the reader + shall be the judge, after he has read the description of that + mountain, whose name signifies ‘the burning mountain,’ in the language + of the Chorotegans, in whose territory it is situated. In the language + of Nicaragua it is called ‘_Popogatepec_,’ which means ‘boiling + stream.’[17] + +----- + +Footnote 17: + + This is a mistake of the chronicler. _Popo_ or _poco_ is the Mexican + for smoke, and _tepec_ mountain, i. e. “Smoking Mountain.” _Ca_ or + _ga_ is a word used to impersonate, embody, or individualize. It + will shortly be seen that a Mexican colony existed in Nicaragua. + +----- + + “I will now relate what I saw. I left the village of Managua, July 25, + 1529, and spent the night at the house of Diego Machuca [who, we have + seen, was the first explorer of Lake Nicaragua], being half a league + from the foot of the mountain, on the shores of Lake Nindiri. I + descended the same day to examine the lake; and the next, which was + St. James’ day, I started before the rising of the sun to ascend the + mountain, and behold the flame, and the other extraordinary things + worthy of mention. This mountain is very steep, and is surrounded by + Indians of the Chorotegan nation. Tigers, lions [pumas], and many + other ferocious animals abound here. Beyond this mountain stretches an + uncultivated plain, which the Spaniards have named _el mal pais_. It + is covered with rocks, resembling scoriæ. In this an isolated mountain + rises up to the height of a league from foot to summit. The mountain + may be three or four leagues in circumference at its base, and is + entirely different from those in its neighborhood. I know that many + Spaniards have sent descriptions of this mountain to the emperor; and + that others, on their return to Spain, have given out what they have + seen, whose relations I do not doubt. On the contrary, I rejoice that + I am to speak of a matter so well known, and that there is no lack of + witnesses who can attest the truth of my recital. Many of those who + pretend to have visited this mountain have only seen it from a + distance; and but few have ascended it. Some assert that the light of + the flame is sufficiently strong to read by, at the distance of three + leagues, which I cannot confirm. + + “I left the house of Machuca in the middle of the night, as I have + before mentioned, and I had nearly reached the summit at sunrise. It + was not, however, light enough for me to read my prayers (breviary), + which I had brought with me, when I was within a quarter of a league + of the summit. Yet the night was very dark, in consequence of which + the flame appeared more brilliant. I have heard persons worthy of + credit say that when the night is very dark and rainy, the light from + the crater is so vivid that one can see to read at the distance of + half a league; this I will neither affirm nor deny, for at Granada or + Salteba, when there is no moon, the whole country is illuminated by + the flame of the volcano; and it is a fact that it can be seen at the + distance of sixteen or twenty leagues; for I have seen it at that + distance myself. However, we cannot call that which proceeds from the + crater precisely a flame, but rather a smoke as bright as a flame; it + cannot be seen at that distance by day, but only at night, as I have + said. + + “But to return to my journey; I was accompanied by a cazique whose + baptismal name was Don Francisco; in the Chorotegan language he was + called Natatime; also by a negro and two faithful Indians. Although + the negro was a safe man, I acknowledge that I was wrong to put myself + in such company; but I made up my mind to do so from the desire I had + to succeed in this enterprise. I had found Machuca sick; those who + were to accompany me had broken their word, and returned to Granada; + yet I was not willing to suspend my journey, so great was my desire to + learn what truth there might be in the relations of those who + pretended to have been there. When it was no longer possible to go on + horseback, I dismounted, and put sandals of wood on my feet, for shoes + would not answer for such a road. I left one of the Indians to take + charge of my horse, and went forward with the cazique, who served us + for a guide, and who, with the negro and the other Indian, I made to + go before me. When the cazique arrived near the crater, he sat down, + fifteen or twenty paces off, and pointed out to me with his finger the + frightful spectacle. The summit of the mountain forms a _plateau_, + covered with red, yellow, and black rocks, spotted with divers colors. + Except on the eastern side, where I stood, the whole plateau is + occupied by a crater, whose orifice is so large, that in my opinion a + musket ball could not traverse it. There proceeds from it a continual + smoke, but not so thick as to prevent one from examining it both + internally and externally; for, as the east wind blows continually + here, it bears the smoke away to the opposite side from the spectator. + This crater is, to the best of my judgment, and of those whom I have + heard speak of it, about one hundred and thirty fathoms in depth; the + width continually diminishing as it descends. This mountain is not as + high on its southern and eastern sides as on the others, and looks + like human workmanship, so regular are its outlines; excepting, + however, the side where I was, which, as I have before mentioned, is + covered with rocks. There were also some caverns, but one could see + little or nothing but their entrances; and the sides of the crater + could scarcely be seen; for no one durst advance sufficiently near. + + “At the bottom of the crater could be seen a place perfectly round, + and large enough to contain a hundred cavaliers, who could play at + fencing and have more than a thousand spectators; it would hold even + more than that, were it not for another crater in the middle of it, + inclining a little to the south, which can be very distinctly seen. It + appeared to me to be from forty to sixty fathoms in depth and fourteen + or fifteen paces in circumference. It might be much more; for I viewed + the opening from a very high point, and the depth from a still higher + point. On the north side, the crater is three times as far from the + interior wall of the volcano as on the south side. + + “Happening to be at Valladolid in 1548, at the court of the prince N. + S. Don Rodrigo de Contreras, who was once governor of this province, + he told me that the depth of the volcano had been measured in his + presence, and found to be one hundred and thirty fathoms; and from the + bottom to the burning fluid, forty fathoms more; but a circumstance, + mentioned to me by the commander, Fr. Francis de Bobadilla, still more + astonished me, viz.: that when he ascended to the crater of Masaya, + with some other persons, the holes were in the middle of the place, + and the burning matter had risen to within four fathoms of the top; + and yet six months had not elapsed since my journey. I am of the + opinion, however, that he told the truth; for besides his being a man + worthy of belief, I have heard Machuca say that he had seen the + burning matter rise even with the top. + + “I said that I beheld at the bottom of the second crater a fire, which + was as liquid as water, and of the color of brass. This fire appeared + to me more violent than any I had ever seen before, and entirely + covered the bottom of the crater. From time to time this matter rose + into the air with great force, hurling large masses to a height of + many feet, as it appeared to me. Sometimes these masses were arrested + on the sides of the crater, and remained there, before becoming + extinguished, time enough to repeat the _credo_ six times, and then + looked like the scoriæ of a forge. I cannot believe that a Christian + could behold this spectacle unmindful of hell, and unrepentant of his + sins; particularly whilst comparing this vein of sulphur with the + eternal grandeur of everlasting fire which awaits those who are + ungrateful to God! + + “Towards the middle of the first crater, a large number of parroquets + might be seen, circling around, of that species having the long tails, + and called _jijaves_. I could only see their backs, for I was much + higher than they. They make their nests among the rocks, below the + spectator. I threw some stones into the abyss, and made the negro do + likewise, but could never distinguish where they fell; which proves + clearly how high was the place where I stood. Some persons have + asserted that when the paroquets are fluttering among these places, + and one looks fixedly, he seems not to see fire but sulphur. I am not + far removed from this opinion, but leave the decision to those knowing + more of the matter than myself. + + “On the top of the volcano, on the eastern part, an elevation rises + up, in which is an opening like to the crater, but deeper. A smoke + ascends through it, which cannot be seen during the daytime, but which + projects into the darkness a great light, uniting itself to that + proceeding from the larger opening. This opening does not terminate in + a broad bottom, but is a funnel-shaped orifice, apparently filled with + coals. The cazique told me that, in the times of his ancestors, the + main crater was here, but that subsequently it changed its location to + the spot it now occupies. These two craters are separated from each + other only by some rocks. The ground is covered with barren trees, + yielding no fruit, except one alone, which produces yellow berries, + about the size of a musket ball, named _nanzi_; they are good to eat, + and the Indians say that they are good for bowel complaints. No birds + are seen on this mountain, except crows, and the parroquets I have + spoken of. + + “A remarkable circumstance, told me by Machuca and Fr. Francis de + Bobadilla is, that the melted matter sometimes mounts to the top of + the crater, whilst I could see it only at a great depth. Having made + due inquiry in regard to this, I have learnt that when much rain + falls, the fire does, in fact, ascend as far as the top; for the + cavity becomes filled with water, which flows in from all parts of the + mountain, and remains full until it has been overcome and destroyed by + the heat of the opposing element. This view of the matter is confirmed + by what Olaus Magnus says of the volcanoes of Iceland, which do not + consume the combustibles around them, but the water which they + contain. It must be so at Masaya; for when the flame is seen at the + distance of a league and a half, it does not look like flame, but + burning smoke which covers the whole mountain. If it were fire, it + would leave neither tree, leaf, nor verdure; on the contrary, the + whole mountain is covered with trees and herbage, almost to the + borders of the crater. + + “I spent two hours here, gazing and drawing, till ten o’clock; it was + the day of St. Anne; I then resumed my route to Granada, or Salteba, + which is three leagues from Masaya. Not only in this city, but even at + the distance of two leagues beyond it, the volcano gave as much light + as the moon some days before she fulls. + + “I have heard the cazique of Tenderi [Nindiri] say that he has often + gone, in company with other caziques, to the edge of the crater; and + that an old woman, entirely naked, has come forth from it, with whom + they held a _monexico_, or secret council. They consulted her in order + to know if they should make war, or decline or grant a truce with + their enemies. They did nothing without first consulting her; for she + told them whether they were to conquer or to be conquered: she told + them also, if it were about to rain; if the harvest of maize would be + abundant; and, in fine, all future events. And every thing always came + to pass just as she had predicted it would. On such occasions, a man + or two, some women, and children of both sexes, were sacrificed to + her; the victims offering themselves voluntarily. He added that since + the Christians came into the country, the old woman had appeared only + at long intervals; that she had told them the Christians were wicked; + and that she did not wish to have any communication with the Indians + until they had driven the Christians from their country. I asked him + how they got below. He answered that formerly there was a road; but + that the cavity had been enlarged by the caving in of the land around + it, and thus the path had been destroyed. I asked him what they did + after their council with the old woman, and what was her appearance. + He replied that she was old and wrinkled; that her breasts hung down + over her belly; that her hair was thin and erect; that her teeth were + long and sharp as a dog’s; her skin of a darker color than Indians + ordinarily have; eyes fiery and sunken; in short, he described her as + like the devil, which she must have been. If this cazique told the + truth, it cannot be a matter of doubt that the Indians were in + connection with him. When the council was over, the old woman entered + within the crater, and never came out except to a new council. The + Indians often converse about this superstition, and many others; and + in their books they represent the devil with as much leanness and with + as many _queues_ as we are in the habit of painting him at the feet of + the archangel Michael, or the apostle St. Barthelemy. I am of the + opinion, therefore, that they have seen him, and that he has shown + himself to them; since they place his image in their temples, where + they perform their diabolical idolatries. On the side of the crater of + Masaya there is a large heap of cups, plates, and basins, of excellent + crockery, made in the country. Some had been broken, others were + entire. The Indians had brought them there filled with all kinds of + meat, and left them, saying they were for the old woman to eat, in + order to please or appease her when an earthquake or violent tempest + takes place; for they attribute to her all the good or evil that + happens to them. As to the substance, in which, according to the + cazique, this _old one_ made her retreat, it appeared to me to + resemble glass, or the metal of bells in a state of fusion. The + interior walls of the crater are of hard stone in some places, but + brittle almost everywhere. The smoke goes from the crater on the + eastern side, but it is driven towards the west by the breeze. A small + quantity of smoke comes out on the northern side of the crater. + + “The mountain of Masaya is six or seven leagues from the South Sea, + and about twelve and a half degrees from the Equator. I have now + completed all I promised to say in this fifth chapter.” + +Oviedo also gives us a long and entertaining account, at second hand, of +the descent of the Fray Blas del Castillo into the crater of Masaya, and +what befel him there. This will be found translated in another place. + +[Illustration: MACHETE-CALABOZO. MACANA.] + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + +MAGNIFICENT VIEWS OF SCENERY—“RELOX DEL SOL”—JOHN JONES AND + ANTIQUITIES—AN “ALARM;” REVOLVERS, AND A RESCUE—DISTANT BELLS—DON + PEDRO BLANCO—MANAGUA—ANOTHER GRAND ENTREE—OUR QUARTERS—SUPPER + SERVICE—ENACTING THE LION—VIRTUES OF AGUARDIENTE—AN “OBSEQUIO” OR + TORCH-LIGHT PROCESSION IN HONOR OF THE UNITED STATES—A NATIONAL + ANTHEM—NIGHT WITH THE FLEAS—FOURTH OF JULY AND A PATRIOTIC + BREAKFAST—SAINT JONATHAN—LEAVE MANAGUA—MATEARES—PRIVILEGES OF A + “COMPADRE”—LAKE OF MANAGUA—A MAGNIFICENT VIEW—THE VOLCANO OF + MOMOTOMBO—A SOLITARY RIDE—GEOLOGICAL PUZZLE—NAGAROTE—THE + POSADA—MULES ABANDONED—A SICK CALIFORNIAN—DINNER AT A PADRE’S—THE + SANTA ANITA—VIRTUES OF A PIECE OF STAMPED PAPER—A STORM IN THE + FOREST—PUEBLO NUEVO—FIVE DAUGHTERS IN SATIN SHOES—UNBROKEN + SLUMBERS—ADVANCE ON LEON—AXUSCO—A FAIRY GLEN—THE GREAT PLAIN OF + LEON—A “TOUCH” OF POETRY—MEET THE AMERICAN CONSUL—A + PREDICAMENT—CAVALCADE OF RECEPTION—NEW ILLUSTRATION OF REPUBLICAN + SIMPLICITY—EL CONVENTO—A METAMORPHOSIS—THE BISHOP OF + NICARAGUA—FORREST, MISS CLIFTON, MR. CLAY—CRITICISM ON ORATORY—NINE + VOLCANOES IN A ROW—DISTANT VIEW OF THE GREAT CATHEDRAL—THE + CITY—IMPOSING DEMONSTRATIONS—THE GRAND PLAZA—A PANTOMIMIC SPEECH AND + REPLY—THE LADIES, “GOD BLESS THEM!”—HOUSE OF THE AMERICAN CONSUL—END + OF THE CEREMONIES—SELF-CONGRATULATIONS THEREON—A SERENADE—MARTIAL + ASPECT OF THE CITY—TROUBLE ANTICIPATED—PRECAUTIONS OF THE + GOVERNMENT. + + +Beyond the “mal pais” the road passed over a beautiful undulating +country, with occasional open, grassy spaces, dotted here and there with +little clumps of bushes and trees, from whence the eye caught glimpses +of the distant lakes and mountains. For many miles, scoria and +disentegrating lava showed the extent of volcanic action in ancient +times; in fact, for the whole distance to Managua, volcanic traces and +products were to be seen on every hand. Half way between Masaya and +Managua we came suddenly upon a large, erect stone, which, at first +glance, I supposed was one of the “piedras antiguas” of the country; a +veritable monolith, like those discovered by Mr. Stephens at Copan. It +however proved to be “un relox del sol,” an ancient sun dial, erected by +the early Spaniards for the double purpose of marking the distance and +the hours. There had been an inscription upon it, but it was obliterated +now, and a rude cross had been deeply graven in its place. I dismounted +to examine it more closely, and found “John Jones” scratched upon one of +its sides. Ubiquitous “John Jones!” He had been convicted of bigamy, and +sent to the State prison but two days before I left New York! W. +inquired if “Jones” was an Aztec name, and I felt cheap enough about +“monuments,” and was mounting again in great disgust, when we were all +startled by the sudden discharge of a pistol, in a dark ravine which we +had just passed, followed by a confused shout, and another discharge, +and then a volley in quick succession. An attack, in the present +unsettled state of the country, was by no means an impossibility; and +the firing continuing, we turned our horses’ heads and galloped back, +weapons in hand, to the rescue. A moment brought us within view of half +a dozen of our party, their horses plunging in dire confusion, while +their riders fired their revolvers with the greatest rapidity into the +forest. Glancing amongst the trees, we discovered the enemy, a troop +perhaps thirty or forty strong, crashing amongst the bushes, in full +retreat. It was a squadron of large, yellow monkeys upon which the party +had fired, in frolicksome mood, with a design rather to alarm their +comrades than injure the monkeys, who escaped with no farther damage +than a prodigious fright, sufficient to last them for the remainder of +their natural lives. The cacchinatory exercises following upon such a +feat over, we all moved on together. The road was deeply shaded, but +broad and smooth; and, as the sun went down, conversation gradually +ceased, and the horses, invigorated by the cool atmosphere, all fell +into a rapid pace, the clatter of their hoofs alone disturbing the +silence of the evening. + +Hark, a bell! the sound vibrating even into the depths of the leafy +forest! It is the _oracion_, and we are near Managua. But it was nearly +an hour before we emerged into the open fields surrounding the city, and +then it was so dark that we could discern nothing except the lights of +the houses, and the occasional gleaming of the lake beyond. + +Here we were met by Don Pedro Blanco, to whom I was specially +recommended by Don Frederico. He had come to put his “pobre casa” at my +disposition. Don Pedro was for doing things in a grand way, and +accordingly desired us to wait for all the stragglers to come up, so as +to make an imposing entrée, which we did, at a round pace, to the great +alarm of the infantile, and the utter indignation of the canine portion +of the population. It was too dark to see much of the town, and I only +remember interminable streets lined with huts and low houses, a big +church with a spectral white archway in front, and a great plaza flanked +by two or three two-story buildings, with another large church in its +centre. All this was out of our way, for Pedro was determined to impress +us with the magnitude of the town, and I began to think that it had no +end, when suddenly Pedro turned short, ducked his head, and dashed +beneath the “Porteria” into the _patio_ or court yard of his own house, +whilst our escort filed off, at a tearing rate, for the public posada. +Fortunate escort! + +Don Pedro’s house was not the most aristocratic in the place, nor yet +the cleanest, although his wife was amongst the fattest and fairest. It +had but two rooms, and one of these was a _tienda_, or store, where our +hostess dispensed candles and candy, dry goods and dulces, toys and +tobacco, vegetables and medicines, in quantities to suit purchasers. +Here a couple of new hammocks were forthwith swung, into which we rolled +without ceremony, and with all the satisfaction of tired men. Pedro’s +grand _entrée_ had almost finished us; but he had considerately ordered +supper before leaving home, and I almost forgave him the awful trot he +had given us, when I saw the cloth spread and the savory dishes make +their appearance one by one. M., who had never before ridden two +consecutive miles on horseback, and who, thoroughly “used up,” had lain +like a log in his hammock, began now to show some signs of life, and +even sat up and looked voraciously at the table. I asked for a basin of +water before sitting down, which Don Pedro produced at once, but +protested against our washing ourselves then, as it was “muy malo,” and +would bring on the _calentura_, or fever. This superstition, I +afterwards found, was not only general amongst the natives, but also +amongst foreigners resident in the country. I however never regarded it, +and yet escaped the calentura. + +Pedro’s supper was well enough served, only there were neither knives +nor forks. Ben supplied these from his _alforjas_, and we got on very +well, or rather might have done so; but before we had fairly taken the +edge off our appetites we heard a great uproar in the direction of the +plaza, succeeded by the firing of guns and the whizzing discharge of +bombas. I glanced round at our host, who so far from exhibiting any +alarm seemed to be mightily exultant. I had made up my mind to be +surprised at nothing, and so asked no questions. Meantime the tumult +increased, and the squeaking of violins was to be heard in the pauses of +the shouting and firing. By-and-by we distinguished “_Vivan los Estados +Unidos!_” “_Vivan los Americanos del Norte!_” and the appalling +consciousness was forced upon us that we were to be lionized forthwith, +and supper but half finished! I appealed to Pedro to shut the door and +say we were ill, and would see the people in the morning; but he either +did not understand, or affected not to do so, and before I could +explain, the crowd was at the entrance, and pouring into our apartment. +The alcaldes came first, and a dozen fiddlers followed. Then came the +people in solid column, while the outsiders kept up a perfect storm of +vivas,—their upturned, swarthy faces looking singularly wild and +forbidding under the light of their torches. Not a tithe was able to +enter, yet every one seemed determined to find a place inside, and +crowded one upon the other to such a degree that we should have been +suffocated outright, had not the alcaldes formed a cordon around us, and +kept off the crowd with their canes. The principal or first alcalde, +made a speech, full of welcome, and well spiced with patriotism, in +which he called us, and all the people of the United States, +collectively and individually, friends and brothers, and a great many +other endearing names, which I have forgotten; and then everybody wanted +to shake hands, and thrust them forward over the heads and under the +arms of the front rank, a hundred at a time. But as our visitors +generally did not seem to have any clear conception as to which of the +party was the illustrious object of their homage, I instructed my +companions to shake all the hands within their reach, and pass the +owners on. In this wise, and by causing Pedro to invite the entire crowd +to drink my health, at my expense, at the next _pulperia_, I finally +succeeded in clearing the house,—but our chocolate was cold, and some of +our worthy visitors had availed themselves of the “noise and confusion” +to pocket all the baked meats. And as we sat disconsolately waiting for +more to be cooked, we voted the system of lionizing a bore, and M. +quoted Shakspeare: + + “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown,” + +with variations suited to our present condition. + +The idea of getting the crowd off to the pulperia we all thought was a +particularly happy one; but the sequel proved otherwise. In half an hour +our admiring friends, greatly augmented in numbers, all returned; and if +they were fervent and enthusiastic before, what were they now? I +appeared on the steps of the house and bowed low, and retired. But bows +wouldn’t answer. Nothing short of a grand procession would furnish an +adequate vent to the overflowing feelings of the citizens. Pedro begged +for my flag, while messengers were despatched to the Californians at the +posada, to solicit their participation in the grand “obsequio.” Pending +the completion of the arrangements, the crowd continued to increase, +completely choking up the street for an entire block. The confusion was +dire; the violinists played as if working for their lives, while bombas +were let off as fast as they could be collected. Finally, the +Californians, refreshed by an ample supper, made their appearance, and +at once fell into the spirit of the affair. The flag was unfurled at the +head of the column, surrounded by an armed guard of honor; next came the +officers and the _musicos_, and then, as the programmes at home say, +“the citizens generally.” The procession marched through all the +principal streets, hurrahing at every corner for “El Norte,” the “bello +sexo,” “Gen. Taylor,” the “Supreme Government,” in fact for nearly +everything, but particularly for the “glorious flag of the North.” The +national anthem was sung in the plaza, the multitude joining in the +chorus with almost frantic fervor, and then the Californians were called +upon to sing the national air of the United States, but being unable to +give it to their own satisfaction, they sang “Dearest May” instead, with +great applause, and as Pedro afterwards told us, “con mucho espiritu,” +with great spirit! + +It was full midnight when the “obsequio” was brought to a close, and our +dispositions made for the night. And such a night! I had now my first +introduction to the kind of bed in common use in the country, and which +I verily believe was instituted as a punishment for the sins of the +people. It consists of an ox-hide drawn, while green, tightly over a +stout framework of wood, and afterwards elaborately polished, so as to +look like the head of a drum. When dry, a slab of marble is a soft and +downy thing in comparison with it. It was on such a bed as this, with a +smooth and gaudily colored “petate,” or mat, and a single sheet spread +over the hide, that I was invited to repose. I examined this new +instrument of torture narrowly, and finally turned in, with heavy +misgivings, particularly as I found that Pedro’s mansion was fall of +fleas, which had already set my nerves on a gallop. I was weary enough, +but it was impossible to sleep—the fleas came in hungry squadrons, and +the hide bed grew momentarily more rigid and obdurate. I felt my own +pulse; it was up to the fever rate, and I began to wish Don Pedro and +Don Frederico to regions unmentionable for getting me into such a +scrape. A bed on the ground, with my saddle for a pillow and the sky for +a roof, would have been luxury itself, compared with this. I got up, +unbarred the door, and went out on the corridor. The cool evening air +was most welcome, and I vowed audibly not to go inside again. So I +roused Ben, who strung me a hammock between the columns of the corridor, +in which I succeeded in getting an hour or two of slumber. + +When morning came, I told Don Pedro that it was the anniversary of +American Independence, and that it was meet and becoming to breakfast +with the rest of the Americans at the posada. And leaving Ben to bring +round the animals and baggage, I got away as fast as possible from Don +Pedro’s hospitable but awfully flea-infested dwelling. I found the +posada a very nice place indeed, and had the satisfaction of learning +that each one of the Californians had had a comfortable _cot_ or camp +bed, with only a reasonable amount of fleas. + +We all breakfasted together, and drank patriotic toasts, and sang Yankee +Doodle, and were altogether appropriately patriotic, to the great +delectation of the quidnuncs of Managua, who gathered in crowds around +the open doors and windows. They were properly instructed as to the +nature of “the day we celebrated,” that it was the great feast of St. +Jonathan; whereupon they hurrahed for the saint, and even proposed to +ring the church bells in his honor. But fearful of another “obsequio,” +we discouraged this idea, and made all haste to get off as quietly as +possible. + +At eight o’clock we were in the saddle. It was a gorgeous morning, and +the lake of Managua flashed brightly in our eyes as we rode through the +grand plaza. The opposite shore was dim and distant, but high and rough +in outline, while nearer, a volcanic ridge, or succession of volcanic +peaks, projected boldly into the lake, forming a sort of bay, at the +head of which Managua was situated. A broad, well-beaten, and level +avenue led out from the city, lined on both sides by forests, into which +paths diverged in every direction. The road was filled with men and +women going to their day’s labor in the fields; and from their cheerful, +frank air and manner, it was easy to see that we were beyond “war’s +alarms.” At the distance of two leagues we came to the foot of the ridge +which I have already mentioned, rising abruptly before us. Here, under a +gigantic cebia, girths were tightened, and preparations made for the +ascent, which is by a broad path, partly cut in the hill and built up +with masonry. This road was constructed by Gen. Muñoz, to avoid the +circuit of the camino real, or cart road, and is creditable to its +originator. The ascent was laborious, but the toil was repaid by the +views which we caught of the lake and its shores, from places where the +precipices allowed no foothold for trees, and whence the eye roamed +freely over league upon league of forest and undulating hills, +terminating in the blue belt of Chontales and New Segovia. It was a +singular position to be thus perched on the face of a cliff, with high, +black, and frowning volcanic rocks on one hand, and a precipice, sheer +and yawning, upon the other. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +[Illustration: VIEW OF LAKE, FROM BEACH AT MANAGUA.] + +[Illustration: THE ROAD TO NAGOROTE.] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +After winding about for half an hour, we reached the summit, from which, +upon the other side, the land fell off in a gentle slope. This is the +only hill or mountain to be encountered in the whole length of +Nicaragua, between the lakes and the Pacific; and this may be avoided by +taking the circuit of the cart road. From the summit, two hours and a +half of hard riding, over a beautiful country, brought as to the little +village of Mateares, distinguished as being utterly destitute of a +single object of interest. It is a sort of half-way house in the journey +from Granada to Leon, and has a miserable posada or two, where coffee +and tortillas may be obtained cheaply, and fleas gratis. We divided our +party between the two rival establishments, and ordered water and sacate +for the animals, preliminary to undertaking the hot and unprotected ride +of three leagues upon the sandy shore of the lake, which came within the +next stage of our journey. Don Enrique Pallais, a Frenchman, +domesticated in the country, a man of large experience and a kind heart, +who was of our party, had his “comadre” in the posada where we stopped, +who embraced him affectionately as we entered. She was exceedingly +pretty, with a mild, sweet face, and as she was apparently the mistress +of the mansion, I felt a little scandalized to find Don Enrique on such +familiar terms with her; but he explained this extraordinary relation of +“comadre” and “compadre,” to my entire satisfaction. He had been sponsor +at the baptism of her child, a little yellow chap just tottering about +the house, and had thereby assumed the relation of compadre—a kind of +second husband, without, however, any marital rights beyond the +privilege of an embrace at meeting, after the manner I had witnessed. I +afterwards observed that the fervor of the embrace bore a pretty exact +ratio to the good looks of the señora. The fact is, I am a “compadre” +myself now, and the relation brings to mind a girlish little creature, +singing softly to her baby, at this very hour I dare say, somewhere +amongst the hills of San Salvador! + +At Mateares the traveller turns suddenly to the right, and descending a +steep bank comes at once upon the shore of the lake. For two or three +miles a belt of trees intervenes between the water and the cliff, +beneath which passes the broad, gravelly road. I had gone ahead of my +companions, who were deeply engaged in the concoction of lemonades at +the posada, and had this part of the ride alone. I took off my hat, and +throwing the rein upon my horse’s neck, gave myself up to the silence +and the scene. The air was literally loaded with fragrant odors from a +hundred varieties of flowers, which blushed amongst the green thickets +on every hand, while the waters of the lake flashed here and there +between the trees like silver bars; and brilliant birds, noisy parrots, +and dignified macaws in fiery plumage, looked down upon me in a familiar +way, as if I were an old acquaintance. Several portly iguanas, who were +enjoying themselves amongst the loose gravel of the road, seemed to be +doubtful whether they should turn out, or force me to do so; and when +they did leave the path, it was in a very leisurely manner, and with an +expression equivalent to “what a _gringo_, to be riding at noonday, and +disturbing respectable iguanas!” + +After riding about a league, the belt of forest terminated in a a few +gigantic cebias, and beyond was a broad beach, the bare cliff rising +abruptly on one side, and the lake spreading out on the other, without +as much as a shrub to break the fervor of the tropical sun. Here a party +of muleteers, returning from Leon, were taking their noonday siesta, +while the mules straggled about at will, nibbling the green bushes. Here +too, for the first time, came fully in sight the great volcano of +Momotombo, with the conical island of Momotombita in front, and the +broken cones of the volcano of Las Pilas upon its flank. The foreground +of rocks and trees, the strolling mules and reclining figures, completed +a picture unsurpassed, in point of novelty and beauty by any which I had +seen before, or have witnessed since. Its predominant features are very +imperfectly conveyed in the accompanying drawing, subsequently taken +from the same point of view. + +The muleteers sat up as I rode by, answering my “adios Señores” with +“buen viaje, Caballero,” and then fell back in the sand again, and drew +their sombreros over their faces. The sand of the beach was fetlock +deep, and covered all over with white and rose-colored pebbles of +pumice-stone. I spurred my horse up to the water, and dismounting led +him along its edge, amusing myself by tossing the light pebbles out upon +the tiny waves, and watching them come tipping back again, buoyant as +corks. Hundreds of wild fowl, cranes, herons, and water-hens lined the +shores, or stood soliloquizing on the rocks and sand-spits which +projected into the water. They had the courtesy to give me the road as I +walked along, but hardly anything more; and only ejaculated “cluck!” +when I shouted at them, which I suppose meant “don’t be kicking up a row +here, at noonday.” In fact I began to think that all nature, animate and +inanimate, had entered into a grand compact to take a quiet snooze at +this precise hour every day. The lake itself seemed dreaming, and the +smoke from Momotombo rose in such a sleepy way, that I almost felt +drowsy in watching it, and should certainly have lain down in the sand +and taken a nap, had there been a tree or bush to protect me from the +hot sun. My only alternative was therefore to jog on, which I did until +I came to a place where the cliff projected forward almost to the +water’s edge. Here I paused, and looked back for my companions, but they +were not to be seen. + +Beyond this point the lake formed a little bay, and rocks worn into +fantastic shapes by the water supplanted the sandy beach. These rocks +seemed to be composed of a kind of volcanic breccia, for fragments of +pumice-stone, bits of primitive rock, and an occasional large piece of +trachyte were visible in the white and slightly porous masses. Yet, at a +little distance, stratified sand rock appeared, overlying the breccia, +and anon a vein of basaltic or trachytic rock, or a frowning heap of +rough, black, and blistered masses of these materials, superimposed on +the sand rock or conglomerate, would completely confound my uneducated +notions of geological propriety. I presume all this apparent confusion +is of easy explanation amongst those versed in the natural sciences; and +if (as is more than likely) these can make nothing out of my +description, they had better go there and examine for themselves. +Geologically, as well as geographically and topographically, there is no +more interesting region than that of Nicaragua, nor one which can better +repay the investigations of the student of nature. + +I continued beneath the broiling sun for nearly a league farther, +passing through patches of chapparal, or thorny bushes, resembling the +willow in the shape and color of their leaves, which found a precarious +hold amongst the rocks and in the barren sands. Beyond these the track +divided, one branch running up a ravine into the woods, and the other +keeping along the lake. I was at a dead loss as to which to take, and +did not much relish the idea of sitting there solus until the party came +up. While in this perplexity I heard the crowing of cocks in the +direction of the ravine, and riding in, soon found myself in a broad +path which led to a cluster of huts, situated so as to command a full +view of the lake, without being seen from the shore. I despatched one of +the niños, under promise of the magnificent reward of one medio, to +watch for my companions, and tossing the bridle to a mozo, walked into +the best hut and took possession of the best hammock, which a motherly +old lady undertook to swing backward and forth for me, while I should +endeavor to compensate myself for my broken slumbers of the preceding +night. Sleep came without coaxing, and I had a grand siesta there +amongst those kind Indians. I was roused by our _comisario_, who was +hurrying on to order dinner for us at Nagarote, and I determined to push +on with him. He had seduced one of the party to take his old mule, and +had now got the best horse in the company, my own excepted. It was a +sharp proceeding, as will be seen in the sequel. + +The ride to Nagarote was a fine one; in places the road came down to the +lake, and then wound back again amongst the hills, affording a most +agreeable diversity to the traveller. At one place we reached a small +valley, at the bottom of which flowed a limpid, rippling little +stream—the only one we had encountered since we left Granada. The ground +was beaten hard, and the underbrush removed over a wide space, for this +was a famous resting place with the carreteros and arrieros. Two or +three little groups of travellers were now waiting there, mixing their +cups of _tiste_ from the stream, while their animals were left to roam +at discretion. They invited us to join them, but with the prospect of a +good dinner only one league ahead, we declined, and galloped on, and on, +until I began to think that our going to Nagarote was a grand flam, or +that the town itself had walked off. That famous league we ever +afterwards distinguished as the “five mile league.” We nevertheless +finally came to Nagarote, a little scurvy looking town, redeemed by but +one really good looking house, which I was glad to learn was the posada. +The landlady was “fat and forty,” and welcomed us right cordially; she +liked the Americans, she said; they had “mucho dinero,” much money, and +paid double what other folks did, without grumbling. I ordered the best +dinner she could afford for the entire party, and then took to the +hammock again, to catch another installment of sleep. It was full an +hour before the remainder of the party came dropping in, one by one, for +the order of march had been completely broken up, after leaving +Matearas. Dinner was almost ready, but yet three or four were missing. +Finally these arrived, two of them on foot, and holding one of their +companions in his saddle. He was the verdant young gentleman who had +exchanged his horse for the mule of the comisario, which had completely +broken down some two or three leagues back, and had been abandoned in +the woods. He had attempted to walk the rest of the way, but the +exercise brought on chills and fever. He was put to bed, bathed with +brandy, and wrapped in blankets, and having perspired freely, came on +next morning, all the better apparently for the attack. + +I dined with Don Enrique, at the cane-built house of a poor priest, with +whom he was acquainted. The padre was absent, but his housekeeper, a +tall, pale woman, with large, expressive black eyes, welcomed us very +cordially. She had about her some fifteen or twenty little children, +collected from the poorest families, to whom she taught reading and +writing. Her humble dwelling was destitute of a single article of luxury +or embellishment, unless a finely painted face of the Virgin, suspended +over a little altar in an inner room, can be called such. I asked her if +she was paid for her pains? She shook her head, and her eyes kindled and +her brow expanded, as she slowly raised her face to heaven: her reward +was there. How little do the sectaries and bigots of our own country +know of the devotion, and fervent, unselfish piety of many of those whom +they so unsparingly denounce as the impure ministers of a debased +religion! When I last passed through Nagarote, I called to see the +gentle teacher, but the hut was deserted, and rank weeds were growing +around it. I inquired for her at the posada; the old lady did not answer +me, but her eyes filled with moisture. The Santa Anita was dead; she had +gone to the reward for which she had striven; the reward of the meek and +the lowly in spirit! Shall I confess it? The heretic stranger dropped a +tear to the memory of the Santa Anita. + +We experienced great tribulation in Nagarote in getting animals to +replace two or three of the scurvy mules which had been imposed upon us +in Granada, and which were here unanimously condemned. We told the man +whom the emprestador had sent with them, that he must supply their +places; but he couldn’t. All the horses and mules in the place had been +sent to the fields, to prevent their being seized for the use of the +army. “No hay, Señor!” there are none, was the invariable response to +our inquiries. But we were bound to get on; so I instructed our +_comisario_ to produce the government order, which he carried in his +pocket, and take it to the first alcalde, with my compliments, and the +intimation that horses must be forthcoming, or his name should be +faithfully reported to the “Gobierno Supremo.” The effect was magical; +horses, and good ones, appeared incontinently; whereupon I conceived a +high respect for the dingy bit of paper which had wrought the miracle, +and copied it for the benefit of future travellers. Here it is:— + +_Sebastian Salinas, Ministro de Relaciones del Supmo. Gobno. del Estado + de Nicaragua._ + + De orden del mismo, hago saber á todas las autoridades de los pueblos + del transito de esta Ciudad á la de Granada, q. el Sr. Oficial Don + Jose Dolores Bermudez, á la cabeza de nueve o diez Norte-Americanos, + va á conducir á esta dicha Ciudad al Exmo. Sr. Jorge Squier Mntro. + Pleinpotenciario del Gobno. Supmo. de los Estados Unidos del Norte + cerca del de Nicaragua residente en Granada. Ordeno y mando á las + espresadas autoridades del transito q. no les pongan embarazo á dichos + Sres, y ademas en su regreso con el Sr. Squier le guarden á este los + respetos y consideraciones q. exije su alto caracter. + + Dado en Leon, Sellado con el Sello del Estado, en la Casa de Gobno. a + los 28 dia del mes de Junio, de 1849. + + Les prestaran los recursos que necesiten } + previa indennizacion. } [L.S.] S. SALINAS. + +It was late in the afternoon, and dark thunder clouds were gathering in +the east, clustering around the bald, burned peak of Momotombo, when we +started from Nagarote for Pueblo Nuevo, where we were to pass the night. +The winds were fitful, but cool and refreshing, and I unstrapped my +poncho and threw it over the saddle bow, preparatory to encountering the +storm that was closing around us. It came, fierce and black, before we +had accomplished a single league of the five which intervened between +the two villages. In an instant we were enveloped in the thick darkness, +and the rain poured down in torrents. We could distinguish each other +only when the lightnings blazed lividly around us. We left the horses to +their own guidance, only taking care not to be dragged from our seats by +the projecting limbs and overhanging branches, which constitute the +chief source of danger in travelling in these countries in the +night-time. The road became one pool of water, and the unshod horses +slipped constantly, in a way not at all calculated to quiet one’s +nerves. By-and-by the storm passed, rushing forth upon the expanse of +the Pacific, and the full moon glanced through the rifts of the passing +clouds, in a strange, fitful way, momentarily revealing tall spectral +trunks and skeleton branches, and then leaving us in utter darkness. It +was a weird looking forest through which we passed, and the entire party +seemed to catch its gloomy influences, and rode on, for more than hour, +slowly and in silence. Suddenly, however, the spell was broken by one of +the number striking up “Hail Columbia;” the others joined spontaneously +in the chorus; and when it was done, a great shout was given, and every +horse was spurred into a gallop, spite of mud and water, nor was a rein +drawn until, emerging from the forest, we found ourselves saluted by a +myriad dogs in the streets of Pueblo Nuevo. Here we were met by two or +three Americans who had started with the escort, but had been left here +in charge of one of their number who had been injured by a fall. +Anticipating our arrival, they had secured places for us in the village, +quartering one detachment here and another there, in true military +style. The house assigned to me and my personal companions was the most +imposing and aristocratic mansion in the place, inasmuch as it was twice +as large as any other, plastered with mud, and whitewashed withal. It +was occupied by a well-dressed Señora and her five daughters, all +attired in their finest array, with satin slippers, and their dark hair +newly braided, and tipped out with a bunch of variegated ribbons. Upon +one side of the principal apartment was an immense hollowed log, which +was the granary; and upon the other a wax figure of Christ on the cross, +surrounded by weeping Marys and bearded Romans, superabundantly +tinselled; the whole enclosed in a large glass case, hung round with +chaplets of fresh flowers. The five daughters were evidently putting +their best feet foremost, but seemed to be greatly perplexed as to which +was “El Ministro.” Bespattered with mud, wayworn and weary, none of the +party looked particularly imposing, and I thought I could discover +symptoms of disappointment amongst the señoritas. They nevertheless were +attentive, and gave us cigaritas all round, and brought coals in a +silver cup for us to light them by; and what was better, they gave us a +capital supper, with knives for three, and forks and spoons for four of +the eight who sat down at the table, which was rather more than the +usual allowance. Before we had finished, however, the alcalde came, but +we declined talking until supper was over; and meantime the municipal +dignitaries perched themselves on the big log, and looked at us in +silence. We were getting very indifferent to official attentions; and so +dismissed our visitors with all practicable expedition, but with a great +profusion of compliments, which they seemed to relish mightily. + +I got a bed with a canvass bottom, and slept dreamlessly the entire +night, and until eight o’clock the next morning. The atmosphere was all +the clearer for the storm of the preceding evening, and the village +looked particularly bright and cheerful under the morning sun. Differing +from the other towns which we had passed, each house was here surrounded +by a hedge, or rather fence, of the columnar cactus, which in some +places was low and even, but in others shot up to the height of fifteen +or twenty feet, resembling palisades, above which just appeared the +thatched roofs of the dwellings. “A great country, this,” said W——, +“where they plant their fences!” + +We were now within eight leagues of Leon, and, with the whole day before +us, were not so expeditious in our movements as we might have been under +other circumstances. We breakfasted leisurely, and departed with +becoming deliberation. Beyond Pueblo Nuevo, the road, as usual, was +through a forest, with here and there open spaces called “_jicarales_,” +from the _jicara_, or calabash trees, that were scattered over them, and +which in size, and the appearance of the leaves and fruit, resembled the +apple trees at home. + +The broad and well beaten road, hard and smooth from the rain of the +preceding night, was lined with palms and trees covered with blossoms, +which loaded the air with their rich perfumes, and from which the white +and rose-tinted petals fell like snow, beneath the touch of the cool +morning breeze. Here a group of monkeys looked down on us with queer +grimaces—there a flock of parroquets, nestling _perdu_ amongst the +leaves, dashed wildly away upon our approach, while pigeons, and +red-legged partridges graciously condescended to step out of the way and +allow us to pass, without, however, exhibiting the slightest degree of +alarm. Hundreds of lizards, bright green and gold, darted like rays of +light before us; and large ants, each bearing a fragment of a green leaf +above its back, marched across the path in solid columns, like fairy +armies with their tiny banners. Their nests, built in the forks of the +trees, resembled large bee-hives, and their paths, from which all +obstacles were removed, for the width of several inches, could be traced +by the eye in every direction amongst the bushes. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +[Illustration: NATIVE HOUSE IN PUEBLO NUEVO.] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +We rode briskly along, and in less than two hours came to a ravine, shut +in by high banks, and descended by a series of steep steps which would +have been deemed utterly impracticable at home, but which seemed to be +quite a matter of course to the horses here. This place was called +Axusco; and the ravine once entered, it was picturesque beyond +description. The soil seemed moister than on the higher ground, and the +verdure was correspondingly rich and dense. Masses of vines, leaves, and +flowers were piled one on the other in the utmost luxuriance, and the +shadows fell with a breadth and depth seen nowhere except under the +tropics, and rarely equalled even there. It was a suspicious place +nevertheless; and one or two dilapidated crosses, hardly visible amongst +the undergrowth, showed that it had been the scene of tragic events, of +robbery and murder. I afterwards often passed it in the night, but never +without my hand on my sword-hilt. + +We rested awhile at Axusco, then spurring up the opposite bank, resumed +our march. The same forest shut us in, but paths, diverging here and +there to distant estates and haciendas, gave evidence that we were +approaching the city of Leon. Finally we arrived where the trees became +more scattered, and through occasional openings we caught confused +glimpses of broad fields, green hills, and towering volcanoes. These +glimpses revealed a section of country surpassing in its capabilities +any we had yet seen. I hurried on impatiently, and in a few moments, +emerging from the forest, the great plain of Leon opened grandly before +me! + +I had left my companions behind, and stood alone on the borders of this +ocean of verdure. Stretching away, chequered with hedge-rows and studded +with tree clumps and tall palms, the eye traversed leagues on leagues of +green fields, belted with forests, and bounded on the right by high +mountains, their regular cones rising like spires to heaven, while low +hills of emerald circled round on the left, like the seats of an +amphitheatre. In front the view was uninterrupted, and the wearied eye +sought in vain to discover its limit. A purple haze rested in the +distance, and beneath it the waves of the great Pacific rolled in, +unbrokenly, from China and the Indies! + +It was the beginning of the rainy season, and vegetation had shot up in +renewed youth and vigor; no dust had yet dimmed the almost transparent +green of the leaves, nor had the heat withered the delicate blades of +grass and spires of maize which carpeted the level fields, nor the young +tendrils which twined delicately around the branches of the trees, or +hung, blushing with buds and flowers, from the parent stem. Above all +shone down the glorious sun, and the whole broad expanse seemed +pulsating with life beneath its genial rays. + +Never before had I gazed upon a scene so grand and magnificent as this. +Well and truly has the ancient chronicler described it as “a country +plain and beautiful, full of pleasantness, so that he who fared therein +deemed that he journeyed in the ways of Paradise.” The impression +produced upon my companions, who had in the meantime joined me, was not +less striking than on myself. We had heard much of the great plain of +Leon, but the reality far surpassed the anticipations which we had +formed of its extent and beauty. As we rode on, however, we were +surprised to find that, although a great quantity of land was cleared, +not more than half of it was really under cultivation; a remark which we +had subsequently frequent occasion to make, for agriculture, since the +independence, owing to the unfortunate condition of the country, has +very much declined. + +We had anticipated some kind of demonstration upon our arrival in Leon, +and remembering our plight at San Carlos, had fixed upon “El Convento,” +about four miles from the city, as the place where we should make the +necessary changes in our garb, preparatory to encountering the +dignitaries and citizens of the capital. The convent was yet a league in +advance, and meantime we wore the soiled and mud-bespattered garments +with which we had passed through the storm of the preceding night. We +had not gone far, however, into the open plain, before we discovered a +party of horsemen galloping rapidly towards us. As they approached, we +perceived that some wore military uniforms, while the others were +dressed as simple citizens. They came near, and one of the party, who +was evidently an American, looked hard at us, and for a moment seemed in +doubt. We bowed, and would have passed on, but turning short, our +supposed countryman inquired, in English, if we had passed a party of +Americans, and the American minister, on the road. The question was an +awkward one; I laughed outright, and matters were taking a very +ridiculous turn, when one of our escort opportunely coming up, +introduced us to Dr. Livingston, American Consul in Leon, by whom we +were duly presented to the accompanying officers. The scene was +sufficiently ludicrous all round, and I thought the seriousness of our +new friends was strongly tried. I might have enjoyed the affair very +much, had I not been at once informed that a large company of gentlemen +from the city, a hundred or two in number, with the principal officers +of State, and the Bishop of the church, in person, at their head, were +coming out to meet us. But when it was added that they had already +passed the convent, and were not half a mile distant, I was horrified. I +entreated the doctor to ride back, and say that we would join them +beyond the convent, but before the movement could be made, the whole +cavalcade came in sight, and descrying our group, approached us at a +gallop. There was no retreat, and we moved on in despair. First came the +Bishop in his purple robes, splendidly mounted, flanked by a group of +priests, and followed by a train of officers, in uniforms absolutely +dazzling in the noon-day sun! .... + +Suffice it to say, we met, and there were congratulations, and welcomes, +and many fine things said,—and if we did not leave a sufficiently +distinct idea of republican simplicity on the minds of our new friends, +it will be useless for any one to undertake it hereafter. They were, +however, all well-bred caballeros, and with true Spanish _politesse_, +kept their gravity, which, W. remarked, displayed “extraordinary +self-control!” I nevertheless observed that some of the younger officers +had occasion to wipe their faces with their handkerchiefs very often, +and were long about it. But then it was a hot day, and they had ridden +fast. + +I was, however, determined not to enter the city in my present plight, +and when we reached the convent, excused myself, and left the cavalcade +to proceed, promising to rejoin it in a few minutes. The “convento” was +only an Indian hut, of which I incontinently, and not in the best of +humors, took possession, politely turning the family, old ones, babies, +pigs, and chickens, all out of doors. Ben produced the diplomatic suit, +which I had not seen since it left the tailor’s, and displayed +extraordinary address in adjusting it. Ten minutes sufficed to complete +the transformation, but I discarded the _chapeau_, and stuck to the +broad-brimmed Panama which I had purchased in Granada, much to Ben’s +dissatisfaction, who was bent on retrieving the credit of the legation. + +We overtook the cavalcade a few hundred yards from where we had left +them. They had halted beneath some large trees, and our escort, which +had meantime come up, we also found on the spot, marshalled in the same +order as when we left Granada. A dashing young officer rode up to me, as +I approached, and begged to be permitted “to carry the glorious flag of +El Norte,” which request was, of course, graciously acceded to. Matters +now began to take a more promising turn, and as per _programme_ of +arrangements, I found myself, with Dr. Livingston and the bishop, placed +at the head of the procession, which formed in column, three deep. The +Bishop, Don George de Viteri y Ungo, impressed me, from the first, as a +man far above the ordinary mark, well informed, courteous, and affable, +with manners which would have graced the proudest courts of Europe. I +soon found that he had been in the United States, had travelled +extensively in the Old World, and altogether knew more of men and things +than could have been surmised of an ecclesiastic, however high in +station, in this secluded part of the world. I was nevertheless taken a +little aback, I must confess, when he inquired of me about Forrest and +Miss Clifton, and whether they were yet on the stage. He had seen them +both at the Park Theatre, and had been delighted, he said, with their +acting, although he had not understood a word which they said. I told +him that the Park had been burned, and that it probably would never be +rebuilt, and concurred with him in regarding it as a “great pity.” Mr. +Clay, too, he had heard speak, and had _felt_ all he said, without +understanding his language. “Ah!” exclaimed the Bishop, “after all, +there is more in the feeling of the speaker himself, and in his manner, +than in his words;—to arouse the sympathy of the hearer is the true +secret of oratory!” Not bad criticism, I thought, for Nicaragua. + +As we advanced over the plain, the cultivated fields became more +numerous, and the evidences of industry more abundant. It was with +something, I thought, of the spirit of prophecy, that the Bishop swept +his hand around the horizon and said, “We want only an infusion of your +people, to make this broad land an Eden of beauty, and the garden of the +world.” He pointed out to me the nine volcanoes which skirted the plain; +the gigantic Viejo; the regular Telica; the riven Orota, and lofty +Momotombo, which now rose clear and distinct before our eyes; these, +said he, are the works of the Great Architect, and _that_, the puny +achievement of man! I looked in the direction which he pointed, and +there rose the towers of the great Cathedral, white and massive above a +wilderness of tiled roofs, foliage, and fruit trees. Notwithstanding his +philosophical depreciation, I thought there was an expression of pride +in the face of the Bishop, as his eyes rested upon this architectural +wonder of Nicaragua; nor was his complacency unwarranted, for the +Cathedral of Leon is a structure not unworthy a place beside the most +imposing sacred edifices of either continent. + +We now rapidly approached the city, and entered the suburbs, which +corresponded entirely with those of Granada and Masaya. Here was drawn +up the carriage of the Bishop, in readiness for use, in case I should +prefer it. I however, chose to continue on horseback, and the polite +Bishop commended my choice. Passing the Indian barrio, or suburb of +Guadelupe, the people falling on their knees as the Bishop approached, +we descended abruptly into a deep ravine, at the bottom of which flowed +a clear and beautiful stream, and ascended upon the other side by a +broad, graded way, paved with stones, into the city proper. I had merely +time to observe that the streets were in gala dress, when the thunder of +cannon, and the sudden pealing of the bells of the churches, above which +those of the cathedral rose full and distinct, proclaimed our arrival. +“Vivan los Estados Unidos del Norte!” exclaimed the officer who bore my +flag, as he dashed at full speed to the head of the column. The whole +party caught the spirit, and echoed the “viva,” and the Bishop himself +waved his hand and cried “Adelantamos!” On! I remember but little more, +except a confused sound of trampling horses, shouting people, the +ringing of bells, the thunder of cannon, and a cloud of dust, until we +rode into the great plaza. Here the entire garrison was drawn up, who +presented arms and cheered for the United States as we entered. The band +struck up a martial air, and the ladies of the metropolis waved their +handkerchiefs to us from the balconies of the House of the Government. +We halted for a moment, and the alcalde mayor made a speech, which was +delightfully short, but of which, amidst the clangor of the bells and +the shouts of the multitude, I heard not a word. I responded in three +sentences, which I presume were equally unintelligible; and then we +moved our amidst a dense throng, to the house of the American Consul, +above which the stripes and stars floated proudly to the breeze. It was +with unmingled feelings of satisfaction that, shaking hands with the +Bishop, and bowing to the rest of the cavalcade, I spurred through the +archway into the court of the Dr.’s residence, and away from the noise +and the dust of the crowded streets. But the public curiosity was not +yet satisfied, and the people thronged into the courtyard to stare at +the apparition from El Norte. Nor was it until the gateway was closed +and barred that we succeeded in escaping from the multitude, and even +then the iron gratings of the windows were festooned with inquisitive +boys, who seemed to hang one to another like swarming bees. Some +considerate alcaldes, however, by a judicious application of their +canes, finally cleared these away, and then we got an hour for privacy +and dinner. + +High mass had been said the day before in the church of La Mercedes for +our safe arrival, and now a Te Deum was chaunted in the cathedral in +acknowledgement of the protection which Heaven had vouchsafed to us. In +the evening fireworks were let off in the plaza, and we were serenaded +by the band attached to the garrison, which, to our surprise, we found +almost as effective as any that we had ever heard. + +We found that the city was not free from the alarm which had existed at +Granada; and although no outbreak had occurred in this part of the +state, the government, acting on the principle that “precaution is the +parent of safety,” had taken the most complete measures to guard against +surprise, and to check promptly the first indications of disorder. The +roof and towers of the cathedral, an impregnable fortress in itself, +were occupied by troops; so too was the church of La Mercedes; and the +evacuated convent attached to it had been converted into a cuartel of +cavalry. It was immediately opposite the house of Dr. Livingston, and I +observed that the horses of the lancers were kept constantly saddled, in +readiness for action at a moment’s warning. Advanced posts of troops +were also established in every principal street, and after the eight +o’clock bell had struck, there was no cessation of the fierce “_Quien +vivas?_” and wakeful “_Alertes!_” of the sentinels. + +The day subsequent to our arrival was devoted to receiving visits from +the functionaries and leading citizens of Leon. Amongst them all, none +impressed me more favorably than the Presbitero Dr. Disiderio de la +Quadra, then Vicar of the bishopric, a man of great dignity of manners, +and of a character above the remotest taint of suspicion. He was +accompanied by a number of the dignitaries of the church, and spoke of +his country, its wants, and prospects, with a force and freedom which I +had little expected to hear. Indeed, I soon discovered that the better +portion of the population fully comprehended the evils under which they +suffered, and only required that exterior influences should be exercised +in their favor, instead of against them, as it had been hitherto, in +order to effect their removal. The revolutionary spirit had exhausted +itself, and the universal desire was now for peace and quiet, stability +in public affairs, and moderation in their administration. All hoped +much from the sympathy and co-operation of the United States, and took +new energy from the circumstance that they had attracted the attention +and awakened the interest of its government. No better evidence of the +truth of these observations could be desired, than the feeling exhibited +on the occasion of my official presentation, which took place a few days +after my arrival, publicly, in the hall of the Government House, which +was appropriately fitted up for the occasion. The proceedings were +characterized by the greatest decorum, and a degree of enthusiasm which +it would hardly be proper for me to attempt to describe. Indeed, in +introducing my own address on the occasion, with the reply of Señor +Ramirez, the Supreme Director of the State, I am conscious that I am +incurring the risk of being misunderstood and misrepresented; but as I +have set out with the purpose of vindicating the public sentiment of +Nicaragua, not less than of making known the character and condition of +its people, I conceive that I cannot do better than to introduce +occasional documents of this kind, especially when they contribute to +the completeness of my narrative, and to the understanding of the +present posture of affairs in that country. + + + ADDRESS. + + “SEÑOR DIRECTOR OF THE REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA: + + “I have to-day the honor of laying before you my credentials as the + Representative of the United States of North America, near the + Government of this Republic. The personal satisfaction which I feel + upon this occasion is greatly enhanced by the many evidences which I + have already had afforded to me, of the friendly sentiments which are + entertained by the Government and people of Nicaragua towards those of + the United States. I can assure you, upon behalf of my Government, + that these sentiments are fully reciprocated, and that it is its + earnest desire to cultivate, in every way, the most cordial relations + with this Republic. Of this the official letters from the city of + Washington, which I have now the honor to deliver to yourself and his + Excellency the Minister of Foreign Relations, will give abundant + evidence. + + “It shall be my aim, Sir, in my official and personal intercourse with + the Government and people of this State, not only to confirm the + present harmony and good correspondence which exist between the two + Republics, but to create new ties of friendship, and to promote a + closer and more intimate relationship between them. They, Sir, possess + common interests; they both stand before the world the avowed + supporters of liberal principles, and the vindicators of Republican + Institutions; the true policy of both is the preservation of order, + and the encouragement of education and industry at home, and the + maintenance of peace abroad. It is proper, therefore, that they should + present an example of that fraternity which it is the desire of my + Government, as I know it is of your Excellency, should exist between + the two Republics. + + “To this end, and to secure the permanent welfare of both, it is + essential that they should pursue a system of policy exclusively + American. In the language of an eminent statesman of my own country, + (whose memory is reverently cherished, and whose words are treasured + with care by every American citizen,) ‘in order that the fabric of + international connections between the Republics of this continent may + rise, in the lapse of years, with a grandeur and harmony of + proportions corresponding with the magnitude of the means placed by + Providence in their power, its foundations must be laid in principles + of politics and morals new and distasteful to the thrones and + dominions of the elder world, but coextensive with the surface of the + globe, and lasting as the changes of time.’ + + “A cardinal principle in this policy is a total exclusion of foreign + influence from the domestic and international affairs of the American + Republics; and while we would cultivate friendly intercourse, and + promote trade and commerce with all the world, and invite to our + shores and to the enjoyment of our institutions the people of all + nations, we should proclaim, in language distinct and firm, that the + American continent belongs to Americans, and is sacred to Republican + Freedom. We should also let it be understood, that if foreign powers + encroach upon the territories or invade the rights of any one of the + American States, they inflict an injury upon all, which it is alike + the duty and determination of all to see redressed. + + “Señor Director! Providence has peculiarly favored the country of + which you are the worthy Chief Executive. I have passed through your + territories from the Atlantic ocean, through your rivers and + magnificent lakes, along the bases of your lofty mountains, and over + your broad and beautiful plains, until the wide expanse of the Pacific + opens before me, and I can almost hear the sound of its waves as they + break upon your western shores. At every step I have been deeply + impressed with the capabilities of the country, and the vastness of + its internal resources. I have seen, also, with pleasure, the many + evidences of industry and civilization which exist within your + borders, and I have been led to indulge the belief that the time is + not far distant, when the commerce of two hemispheres shall find + within your territories an easy passage from sea to sea. It is one of + the objects of my mission to assist in an enterprise so important to + the whole world—an enterprise, the successful prosecution of which + must enable this country to attain a degree of prosperity second to + that of no other on the globe. With your cordial co-operation, (of + which I am well assured,) and of that of the citizens of this + Republic, I hope soon to have it in my power to announce to my + Government, that the initiatives to this grand and glorious enterprise + have already been taken. + + “And here, Sir, you will permit me to express the profound regret + which I feel, that I find this Republic afflicted by civil commotions. + Both the principles and policy of the United States make us desire + that this and the other Republics of Central America should be + prosperous and powerful. We feel a deep interest in their welfare, but + this we know can only be promoted by enlightened and stable + Governments. The enjoyment of liberty, and the maintenance of + individual rights, cannot be secured without permanent order, and this + can only spring from a sacred observance of law. I trust, Sir, that + the patriotic citizens of Nicaragua, whatever their differences of + opinion, will all unite in an earnest endeavor to restore peace to the + State. Nothing, Sir, could give me personally greater satisfaction, + and I am certain nothing could be more acceptable to the Government + and people of the United States, and to the friends of Republican + Institutions throughout the world. + + “I will not, Sir, detain you further. I can only reiterate the + friendly sentiments of my Government and countrymen, and assure your + Excellency, and the distinguished officers of the State and army + around you, as also the illustrious Bishop and reverend prelates and + clergy, of my personal high consideration and regard. Allow me also, + through you, to return my thanks for the many kind attentions which I + have received from the magistrates and citizens of the Republic, and + to express the high pleasure which I have experienced in learning from + my countrymen, who have lately been detained by unforeseen + circumstances in the country, the uniform kindness and courtesy with + which they have been treated. I am proud to learn that the name of + AMERICAN has been a passport to every Nicaraguan heart. That the new + relations which are this day opened between this Republic and my own, + may result in lasting benefit to both, is, Sir, my sincere prayer, and + to this end I shall direct my most earnest endeavors.” + +To this address the Supreme Director, Señor Don NORBERTO RAMIREZ, +replied as follows: + + + REPLY. + + “SIR,—The satisfaction which I experience in having the honor of + receiving, for the first time, a representative of the Republic of + North America, is only equalled by the aspirations and high hopes + which that event inspires. The gratitude with which your words have + animated me, the extraordinary intervention of your Government under + the circumstances with which Nicaragua is surrounded, impose on me the + pleasing duty of returning thanks to Divine Providence for its + benefits. + + “Nicaragua has long felt the necessity of sheltering itself under the + bright banner of the North American Confederacy; but the time which + the Arbiter of nations had designated for such high happiness and + consequent prosperity had not arrived. Before we despatched a Legation + to the American Minister at Guatemala, and even before the treaty + relative to a canal was entered into with Dr. Brown, (a citizen of + your Republic,) we had made some advances to the American Government + with a view to this happy consummation; but our hopes were scarcely + sustained by their result. But I now see all the elements of a happy + future brought before us; there is good faith in the Government with + which I am connected; the friendliest feelings towards North America + pervades every NICARAGUAN heart; and we have the assurances of the + sympathy and support of the American Government. We have consequently + all things which can be desired to make available the advantages with + which Heaven has surrounded us. Our State, considering its + geographical position, ought to be the most prosperous in Spanish + America; but our inexperience at the time of our separation from + Spain—our limited resources, and the civil commotions that have + intervened, have retarded the happy day which is now dawning upon us. + I am certain that the Government which you represent, can appreciate + the difficulties which have surrounded this Republic. Your Excellency + being able properly to estimate these circumstances, must already have + formed a just idea of the condition of this part of Central America, + and of the position of its Government. Believing therefore that the + best intentions exist upon your part towards us, as I know there is + the happiest disposition on ours, I entertain no doubts that we shall + succeed in establishing the most intimate relations between the two + Republics, and in opening the way to the consummation of that most + glorious enterprise which it has been reserved for the successors of + the immortal Washington to undertake and perfect. I shall have the + greatest pleasure in being able to contribute my humble share towards + this result, and to the consequent happiness of Nicaragua. I thank + you, Sir, and through you, your Government, for its proffered + coöperation in so glorious an enterprise. + + “Let us begin, Sir, this great work under these bright auspices, and + we shall be sure of obtaining the best results. The people of the two + American Continents are contemplating us; it is possible that for what + we shall do, future generations shall cherish our memory: at least we + shall have the conscious satisfaction of having neglected no means, + omitted no sacrifice, in securing the grand objects so ardently + desired by two sister Republics, determined mutually to sustain their + interests, their honor, their integrity, and the principles of + continental freedom.” + +An incident occurred, at the close of this reply, which perhaps would +have startled more rigid sticklers for form and etiquette than were +assembled on that occasion; but which I mention, for the same reasons +that have induced me to give place to the above quotations. The Director +had just concluded his reply, and the entire assemblage was yet still +and attentive, when a young officer, distinguished not less for his +ardent patriotism than for his bravery in the field, and his usefulness +as a citizen, Col. FRANCISCO DIAZ ZAPATA, advancing suddenly beyond the +line of officers, commenced an impassioned apostrophe to the flag of the +United States, which, entwined with that of Nicaragua, was suspended +above the chair of the Executive. The effect was electrical, and the +whole of the assemblage seemed to catch the spirit of the speaker, whose +appearance, action, and language were those of the intensest emotion. +They pressed eagerly forward, as if anxious to treasure every word which +fell from his lips; and when he had concluded, forgetting all other +considerations, their enthusiasm broke forth in loud and protracted +“vivas,” which were caught up and echoed by the people in the plaza, and +the soldiers of the garrison. I subjoin a literal copy of the address: + + SALUTACION A LA BANDERA DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS. + + POR SEÑOR FRANCISCO DIAZ ZAPATA. + + “¡Presajio de poder y de grandeza! + ¡Enseña illustre de virtud y gloria! + Yo te contemplo en tu sublime alteza; + Y al contemplarte siento + Que de mi Patria ensalzaras la historia. + Esas franjas hermosas, + Y el emblema feliz de tus Estrellas, + Que ajitadas del viento + Ondean y relucen majestuosas + Como astros rutilantes, y mas bellas: + El hasta fuerte y noble, + Y ese cuadro, del sólido figura; + Que la herida cerviz ya, no mas doble + Nicaragua en su triste desventura; + Revélanme que harás con tu presencia, + Rodeada de esplendor y de potencia. + “Bajo tu sombra, libertad respira + El activo Varon americano, + Que la memoria deificar aspira + De Washington glorioso: + Bajo tu sombra, se alza soberano + El poder de las leyes; + Y el saber y la ventura crecen + Con vigor prodijioso, + Que pesa sobre el cetro de los Reyes. + Y los Heroes de America enaltecen + Su memoria sagrada, + Sus sepulcros, su sangre de guerreros, + Y el triunfo de tu espada, + Bajo el dulce brillar de tus luceros. + Todo bajo tu imperio tiene vida, + Portentosa Bandera esclarecida. + Yo te saludo de entusiasmo lleno; + Y henchido de placer y de esperanza, + Mi corazon palpita dentro el seno + Con tan fuerte latido, + Que el pecho ardiente á respirar no alcanza. + La suave y fresca brisa, + Del alto Sol los claros resplandores, + El aire enrarecido, + De los Cielos la placida sonrisa, + Y el balsamico aliento de las flores, + Saludante conmigo. + Celebrando del modo mas plausible + Tu advenimiento amigo + A mi Patria doliente y compasible, + Llenala de tu honor y tu grandeza, + Y abate á su adversario la cabeza.” + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + +THE CITY OF LEON—ORIGINALLY BUILT ON THE SHORES OF LAKE MANAGUA—CAUSE OF + ITS REMOVAL—ITS PRESENT SITE—DWELLINGS OF ITS INHABITANTS—STYLE OF + BUILDING—DEVASTATION OF THE CIVIL WARS—PUBLIC BUILDINGS—THE GREAT + CATHEDRAL—ITS STYLE OF ARCHITECTURE; INTERIOR; MAGNIFICENT VIEW FROM + THE ROOF—THE “CUARTO DE LOS OBISPOS,” OR GALLERY OF THE BISHOPS—THE + UNIVERSITY—THE BISHOP’S PALACE—“CASA DEL GOBIERNO”—“CUARTEL + GENERAL”—THE CHURCHES OF LA MERCED, CALVARIO, RECOLECCION—HOSPITAL + OF SAN JUAN DE DIOS—STONE BRIDGE—INDIAN MUNICIPALITY + OF SUBTIABA—POPULATION OF LEON—PREDOMINANCE OF INDIAN + POPULATION—DISTINCTION OF STOCKS—MIXED RACES—SOCIETY OF LEON—THE + FEMALES; THEIR DRESS—SOCIAL GATHERINGS; THE “TERTULIA”—HOW TO + “BREAK THE ICE” AND OPEN A BALL—NATIVE DANCES—PERSONAL + CLEANLINESS OF THE PEOPLE—GENERAL TEMPERANCE—“AGUARDIENTE”—AND + “ITALIA”—FOOD—THE TORTILLA—FRIJOLES—PLANTAINS—THE MARKETS—PRIMITIVE + CURRENCY—MEALS—COFFEE, CHOCOLATE, AND “TISTE”—DULCES—TRADE OF LEON. + + +The city of Leon is situated in latitude 12° 25′ north, and longitude +86° 57′ west. As I have elsewhere mentioned, it was founded in 1523, by +Hernandez de Cordova, the conqueror of the country and the founder of +Granada. Its original site was at the head of the western bay of Lake +Managua, near the base of the great volcano of Momotombo, at a place now +called Moabita, or, as it is spelled in the early chronicles, Ymbita, +where its ruins still exist, overgrown by trees undistinguishable from +those of the surrounding forests. This site was abandoned in the year +1610, for that now occupied by the city, which was then the seat of a +large Indian town called Subtiaba. There is a tradition that a curse was +pronounced upon the old town by the Pope, when he heard of the murder +there, in 1549, by Hernando de Contreras, of Antonio de Valdivieso, +third bishop of Nicaragua, who opposed the cruelty and oppression +towards the Indians practised by Contreras, and who, for this reason, +fell under his anger. In consequence of this curse, it is said, the city +was visited by a succession of calamities, which became insupportable; +and the inhabitants, driven to despair, finally, on the 2d of January, +1610, after a solemn fast, with the flag of Spain and the officers of +the municipality at their head, marched to the site now occupied by the +city, and there proceeded to lay out a new town. The cruel and +sacrilegious deed of Contreras is, even yet, mentioned with horror; and +many of the people believe that the stains of the blood of the bishop, +who fled to the church, and died of his wounds at the foot of the altar, +are yet visible upon its ruined walls, a lasting evidence of God’s +displeasure. + +In common with Granada, Leon suffered from the attacks of the pirates, +during their predominance in the South Sea. In 1685, a party of English +freebooters, amongst them the celebrated Dampier, landed in the Estero +Doña Paula, and advancing rapidly upon the city, surprised and captured +it, notwithstanding the brave resistance of the little garrison of fifty +men. They sacked the entire city, and burnt the cathedral, the convent +of La Merced, the hospital, and many of the principal houses. + +Leon is situated in the midst of the great plain of the same name, which +I have described, about midway between the lake and ocean. The choice of +position seems to have been determined by the same considerations which +influenced the Indians in selecting it for one of their own towns, viz.: +the proximity of water. Upon both sides of the city are deep ravines, in +which are a multitude of springs of pure water, forming perennial +streams of considerable size, which unite at the distance of half a mile +from the city. From these the supply of water for the town is chiefly +obtained. In later times many wells have been sunk, but they require to +be of great depth—from one hundred and twenty to two hundred feet—and +the water is not esteemed to be as good as that from the ravines. + +Like all other cities under the tropics, Leon covers a large area of +ground. It is regularly laid out, with squares or plazas, at intervals, +in each ecclesiastical or municipal district. The houses, like those of +Granada, are built of adobes, and are rarely of more than one story. +Each one encloses a spacious _patio_ or courtyard, filled with fruit or +shade trees. Sometimes the building has an inner or back court for the +domestic animals, while that immediately connected with the dwelling is +ornamented with shrubbery and flowers, and surrounded on all sides by a +broad corridor. This style of building, which is well adapted to the +climate, and rendered necessary in a country where earthquakes are so +frequent, admits of very little architectural display. The builder has +no opportunity of exhibiting his taste or skill, except in the +“_puerta_” or “_zaguan_”—portal, or principal entrance,—and in the +elaboration of the balconied windows. These portals are often high and +imposing, and profusely and tastefully ornamented. Some are copies of +the Moresque arches so common in Spain, and are loaded with ornaments +peculiar to that style of architecture. Others are of the severer +Grecian styles, and others of orders utterly indescribable, and +eminently original. Above these arches the old aristocracy often placed +their arms; those of a military turn carved groups of armor, and those +piously inclined a prayer or a passage from the Bible. + +Formerly, very few of the buildings had more than two or three openings +on the street, but of late years windows are becoming more numerous. +These windows are broad and high, projecting two or three feet, and are +guarded by iron balconies. Within the balconies are seats, which in the +evening are occupied by the señoras, who here receive their visitors, +and return the salutations of their passing friends. The gallant +saunters from one to the other, and pays his devoirs without entering; +an easy custom, which, in the early evening, gives the streets an air of +great gayety and cheerfulness. He often carries his guitar with him, and +sings a song when conversation flags. Sometimes the mounted cavalier +reins in his steed before the balcony, to pay his compliments to the +fair occupants,—stealthily pricking the animal with his spurs, to show +off his skill in managing him, and to impress the señoras with +admiration for his spirit. They are quite up to these little tricks in +Nicaragua, as well as in other countries. + +The interiors of the dwellings of the better classes convey an idea of +great comfort, in a country where room and ventilation become necessary +conditions of existence. The principal apartments, with rare exceptions, +open upon the corridor, and are also connected by inner doors. In the +main body of the building is the grand _sala_, or what we would call a +parlor, used only for receptions, or as a sitting-room for the ladies. +On either side are the private rooms of the families, while the wings +are appropriated for sleeping apartments, to the servants, and for +stores. Very few are ceiled, but are open to the roof, allowing a free +circulation of air between the tiles. The floors are paved with large +square tiles or bricks, occasionally with marble, and are usually kept +well watered. And as the windows are never glazed, every passing breeze +enters freely, and the ventilation is made perfect. Meals are taken in +the corridor, on the side most shaded from the sun; and here hammocks +are swung for those who choose to occupy them. The walls, both of the +corridors and inner rooms, are sometimes painted, in imitation of marble +or of hangings; but owing to the lack of skill on the part of the +artists, the effect is not usually good. The accompanying ground-plan +will convey an idea of the arrangement of the various parts of a Central +American dwelling, from which the details may be discovered without +further explanation. I need only repeat that, however at variance with +established rules of architecture in other countries, they are probably +better adapted to the climate and country than edifices of a more +pretending character. + +[Illustration: PLAN OF A DWELLING-HOUSE IN LEON.] + +In Leon, as in Granada, the dwellings on the outskirts of the city are +simple cane structures, covered with thatch, but sometimes plastered +with mud and roofed with tiles. And here, as in all the other towns, +they are embowered in trees, and surrounded with cactus fences. The +accompanying engraving of a hut in the barrio of Saragossa, may be taken +as a type of all the others. + +The streets in the central part of the city are paved. The object +principally had in view is the prevention of dust, which, towards the +close of the dry season, is almost unendurable in the unpaved parts of +the town. + +Perhaps no city in America has suffered more from war than Leon. During +the contest between the aristocrats and liberals which followed the +declaration of independence, a large part, embracing the richest and +best built portions, was destroyed by fire. Over one thousand buildings +were burned in a single night. The great cathedral is surrounded by +entire squares of ruins of what were once palaces. The lofty and +elaborate archways, by which they were entered, still indicate their +original magnificence. Entire streets, now almost deserted, are lined +with the remains of large and beautiful edifices, destroyed in the civil +wars. Within their abandoned courts stand rude cane huts,—as if in +mockery of their former state. Leon was formerly one of the best built +cities in all Spanish America. “It is,” says the old traveller, Gage, +writing in 1665, “very curiously built; for the chief delight of the +inhabitants consists in their houses, in the pleasure of the country +adjoining, and in the abundance of all things for the life of man. They +are content,” he adds, “with fine gardens, with the variety of singing +birds and parrots, with plenty of fish and flesh, with gay houses, and +so lead a delicious, lazy, and idle life, not aspiring much to trade and +traffic, although they have the lake and ocean near them. The gentlemen +of Leon are almost as gay and fantastical as those of Chiapas; and it is +especially from the pleasure of this city that the province of Nicaragua +is called Mahomet’s Paradise.”[18] + +----- + +Footnote 18: + + The pirate, Dampier, in giving an account of the capture and burning + of Leon by himself and his associates, says: + + “Our countryman, Mr. Gage, who travelled in these parts, recommends + Leon as the pleasantest place in all America, and calls it the + Paradise of the Indies. Indeed, if we consider the advantages of its + situation, we may find it surpassing most places for health and + pleasure in America; for the country about it is of a sandy soil, + which soon drinks up all the rain which falls. It is encompassed with + savannas, so that they have the benefit of the breezes which come from + any quarter; all of which makes it a very healthy place.”—_Dampier’s + Voyage round the World_, vol. i. p. 218. + +----- + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +[Illustration: CATHEDRAL OF ST. PETER, LEON.] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +The public buildings of Leon are among the finest in all Central +America. Indeed, the great cathedral of St. Peter may perhaps be +regarded as second to no similar structure in any of the Spanish +American States. It was finished in 1743, having occupied thirty-seven +years in building. The cost is said to have been five millions of +dollars, but this seems to be an exaggeration. It covers an entire +square, and its front extends the whole width of the grand plaza. It is +constructed of cut stone, and is one firm mass of masonry. The roof is +composed of massive arches, and has all the solidity of a rock. Nothing +can better illustrate its strength, than the fact that it has withstood +the storms and earthquakes of more than a century; and, with the +exception of one of the towers, which during my residence in the country +was struck by lightning, and cracked from top to bottom, it is now +nearly as perfect as it came from the hands of its builders. Yet it has +often been converted into a fortress, and has sustained more than one +cannonade and bombardment from besieging forces. In 1823, it is said, no +less than thirty pieces of artillery were planted on its roof. On its +most exposed side, towards the east, there is hardly a square inch of +its walls which is not indented with shot. + +Its ornaments are of stucco, and are simple and chaste. Viewed from an +eminence, the entire structure is very imposing, but seen from the +plaza, it appears low in proportion to its width. The interior is not +unworthy of its exterior; but is comparatively bare of ornament. At the +head of the principal aisle, beneath a lofty, spacious dome, is the +great altar, composed of silver, elaborately chased. The side chapels +are not remarkable for their richness or beauty. For, in the civil +commotions of the country the churches have not escaped the rapacity of +the soldiery. The cathedral was once possessed of extraordinary wealth, +and the costliness and variety of its ornaments were a proverb in Spain +itself; but now it has little to boast beyond its massive proportions +and architectural design. + +I visited it shortly after my arrival, under the guidance of one of the +canónigos, who was conscientious in pointing out to me everything worthy +of notice. What most interested me, however, was a small room, in which +were contained all the portraits of the bishops, commencing with Zuniga. +They were forty-four in number, and displayed every variety of feature +and complexion. The dark skins and black hair of some of the bishops +showed that native or Indian blood had been no bar to ecclesiastical +preferment, and contrasted strongly with the fair complexions of others +of European birth. Most had an expression of great austerity; types of +rigorous zealots, who looked as if every sentiment and feeling of +humanity had been rudely rooted from their hearts; while others wore +more cheerful faces, and a few, I am sure, had been right jolly old +fellows in their day, not averse to the grape, nor wholly indifferent to +the smiles of beauty. + +Both the façade and rear of the cathedral were once ornamented with the +royal arms of Spain, but these were removed in the first fervor of +republican zeal, and their places yet remain blanks,—emblematic of a +country which has got rid of one government, without having as yet fully +succeeded in establishing another in its place. + +One of the finest views in the world is commanded from the roof of the +cathedral; and standing here, I saw for the first time the waters of the +Pacific, a rim of silver on the edge of the western horizon. In the east +bristled the nine volcanoes of the Marabios, which I have already +mentioned, their outlines sharply defined against the sky, and in their +regularity of outline emulating the symmetry of the pyramids. From this +position alone is a good view to be obtained of the city, which, seen +from one side, or from a distance, presents only a monotonous succession +of tiled roofs, half-buried amongst the trees, and only relieved by the +white walls of the churches. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +[Illustration: CHURCH OF MERCED AND VOLCANO OF EL VIEJO, FROM +CATHEDRAL.] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +[Illustration: VOLCANOS OF AXUSCO AND MOMOTOMBO, FROM CATHEDRAL.] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +To the left of the cathedral, and separated only by the street, is the +“Palacio del Obispo,” the Episcopal Palace. It was described as follows, +in 1751, by the then Bishop of Nicaragua, Señor Don Pedro Augustin Morel +de Sta. Cruz, and has changed but little since. + + “The Episcopal Palace is situated at the corner of the principal + plaza, contiguous to the Sagrario; it is built of adobes and tiles, + with two balconies, and is distinguished by a certain air of + respectability. It is entered by a portico of good proportions, and + has not less than fourteen apartments, furnished and ornamented with + pictures, canopies, curtains, tables, silk beds, and many well-carved + chairs. The principal sala and the oratorio are the largest; the + others are proportioned to their purposes. They all open upon a broad + piazza, running entirely around the court, within which is a garden, + with many trees and flowers, and a fountain very beautiful and + refreshing to the sight. Back of the building is another square for + the servants, stables, etc. In short, nothing is wanted to make it a + suitable habitation for the prelate, except a revenue sufficient to + enable him to keep up a style commensurate to the edifice.” + +Adjoining the palace of the Bishop, is the Tridentine College of St. +Ramon, established in 1675. This institution was once very flourishing, +and had numerous students, with professorships of law and medicine. It +has, however, shared in the general decadence of the country, and has +now but little more than a nominal existence. Efforts have lately been +made to revive it upon a new foundation; and with an improvement in the +country at large, there is no doubt it may regain something of its +former position. + +The government house, which occupies the northern side of the grand +plaza, is distinguished for nothing except that it is somewhat more +lofty than its neighbors, and has a raised corridor extending along its +entire front. Opposite to this is the Cuartel General, or head-quarters +of the regular forces of the government, with a guard of soldiers +constantly on duty; for, in case of disturbance, this is the first place +to be attacked, inasmuch as it is the general depository of the arms of +the State. + +The churches of La Merced, the Recoleccion, and Calvario, are remarkable +for their size and their fine façades. The front of the latter is +ornamented with panels containing Scriptural groups, admirably executed +in bas-relief, and with niches containing statues of the saints. It has +suffered much from shot, having been twice occupied by besieging forces, +while the superior position of the cathedral was in possession of the +other party. The Merced has also suffered from the same cause, but in a +less degree. It contains some fine paintings, and its principal altar is +an elaborate and very beautiful piece of composition. A convent was once +attached to this church, as also to the church of the Recoleccion, and +to that of San Juan de Dios. But these have been abolished; and the +convent buildings of the Merced, at the time of my arrival, were used as +cavalry barracks, while those of San Juan de Dios had been converted +into a hospital. Besides the churches which I have named, there are ten +or twelve others, but less in size, and of more moderate pretensions. +And as each of these has a chime of bells, and nearly every day is +dedicated to some saint, in whose honor it is essential to ring them +all, a continual clangor is kept up, which, until the stranger becomes +habituated to it, or is deafened outright, is excessively annoying. + +When to this list I have added the stone bridge across the ravine to the +south of the city, connecting with the barrio de Guadelupe, I have +finished the architectural notabilities of Leon. This bridge was never +fully completed, but was boldly projected, and the arches spanning the +stream are models of symmetry and good workmanship. + +The Indian pueblo of Subtiaba is really part of the city of Leon, +although constituting a distinct municipality. It has also its grand +plaza, and separate public buildings. Its great church is second in size +to no other in Nicaragua, except the cathedral of Leon. The façade is +quaint, with numerous niches filled with figures of grim old saints. It +is substantially built, and has a very high antiquity. “The Parroquial +of Subtiaba,” said the old Bishop, Augustin Morel, writing of this +church in the year 1751, “is the largest and most beautiful in the +Bishopric. The principal and side chapels, and baptistery, are arched, +and high and ample. The body of the church consists of three naves; the +columns are of cedar, with gilt capitals. It has eight altars, four +chapels, a neat sacristy, and is admirably decorated. Its towers are +well proportioned, and its façade imposing and tasteful, and altogether +the edifice is fit for a cathedral.” + +Subtiaba has suffered no less than Leon from intestine wars, and is but +a shadow of what it once was, when it could muster two thousand fighting +men in its plaza at a moment’s warning. + +It is difficult to form a correct estimate of the population of Leon. +The city is spread over so wide a space, and so involved amongst trees +that, even after a three months’ residence, I found myself constantly +discovering new and secluded portions, of the existence of which I was +before ignorant. And although at first I thought twenty thousand an over +estimate, I ultimately came to regard the number set down in the census +attempted in 1847, viz: thirty thousand, as probably nearer the truth. +In this calculation I include the Indian municipality of Subtiaba, which +is generally, but erroneously supposed to be a town separate from Leon. + +Here, as everywhere else in Nicaragua, the Indian and mixed population +greatly predominates, and the pure whites constitute scarcely one-tenth +of the whole number. The general complexion is however considerably +lighter than at Granada, but not so clear as at Managua and some of the +smaller towns. An infusion of Indian blood is easily to be detected in a +large proportion of those who claim to be of pure Spanish descent. It +displays itself less in the color of the skin than in a certain +quickness of the eye, which is a much more expressive feature in those +crossed with the Indians than in either of the original stocks. In +respect of _physique_, leaving color out of the question, there are +probably no handsomer men in the world than some of the Sambos, or +offspring of Indian and negro parents. They are of course darker than +the Indian, but taller and better developed. It should however be +observed that the negroes of Nicaragua differ very widely in appearance +from those of the United States. They must have been derived from an +entirely different portion of the African continent. They have, in +general, aquiline noses, small mouths, and thin lips,—in fact, with the +exception of the crisp hair and dark skin, they have few of the features +which, with us, are regarded as peculiar and universal in the negro +race. + +The fusion between all portions of the population of Nicaragua has been +so complete, that notwithstanding the diversity of races, distinctions +of caste are hardly recognized. The whites, in their social intercourse, +maintain a certain degree of exclusion, but in all other relations the +completest equality prevails. This would not probably be the case if the +white population was proportionably greater, and possessed the physical +power to keep up the distinctions which naturally separate the superior +and inferior families of men. With a full consciousness of their +numerical inferiority, their policy is plainly that of concession; and +however repugnant it may have been originally to their pride, it has now +come to be regarded as a matter of course, and is submitted to with a +good grace. + +A few days in Leon sufficed to show me that, in the tone of its society, +and the manners of its people, it had more of the metropolitan character +than Granada. And although the proportion of its inhabitants who laid +claim to what is called “position,” was even here comparatively small, +and not at all rigid in its adherence to the conventionalities of the +larger cities of Mexico, South America, and our own country; yet, in the +essential respects of hospitality, kindness, and courtesy, I found it +entitled to a position second to no other community. The women are far +from being highly educated, but are simple and unaffected in their +manners, and possessed of great quickness of apprehension, and a +readiness in good-natured repartee, which compensates, to a certain +extent, for their deficiency in general information. + +The condition of the country for many years has been such as to afford +few opportunities for the cultivation of those accomplishments which are +indispensable accessories of refined society; and we are therefore, not +justified in subjecting the people of Leon, or of any other city of +Central America, to the test of our standards. I can conceive of nothing +more painful, or more calculated to awaken the interest of the visitor +from abroad, than the spectacle of a people, with really high +aspirations and capabilities, borne down by the force of opposing +circumstances, conscious of its own condition, but almost despairing of +improving it. + +In dress the women of Leon have the same fashions with those of Granada, +but the European styles are less common, owing to the circumstance that +there are fewer foreign residents to infect the popular taste. They have +an equal fondness for the cigarito; and in the street are not less proud +of displaying a little foot and a satin slipper. As everywhere else in +the world they are very attentive in their devotions, but beyond their +daily visit to the churches, rarely go out of doors, except it is in the +early evening, when visits are paid informally. If chance brings +together a sufficient number, a “_tertulia_” or dance, is often +improvised. Set parties or balls are of rare occurrence, and are +generally given only on public occasions, and then with great state and +ceremony. + +We were witnesses of a tertulia at our own house, the second evening +after our arrival. A dozen señoras casually found themselves together, a +dance was proposed by the gallants loitering at the balconies, and the +proposition meeting with favor, they at once dispersed to bring in +recruits and the “musicos.” In an hour the grand sala was filled. The +females as they came in were all ranged on one side of the room, and the +males on the other. This looked rather stiff, and I began to fear that a +_tertulia_ was no great matter after all. Directly, however, a single +couple took the floor; the music struck up, and as they moved down the +room, the measure brought the lady first on one side, and then on the +other. As she passed she alternately tapped a señor and señora on the +shoulder with her fan, thus arbitrarily determining the partners, who +were obliged at once to join in the dance. In this manner the whole +party was brought to its feet, _nolens volens_,—and such I found was a +frequent mode of opening the tertulia. After the first set is over, the +ice once broken, and the excitement up, the gallants are permitted to +exercise a choice. I thought the practice a good one, obviating a great +deal of awkward diplomacy at the outset, and putting every one very +speedily at their ease. As the evening progressed the party augmented, +and before ten o’clock we had got together the _élite_ of Leon. All +joined heartily in the spirit of the affair, and when the bell of the +cathedral tolled eleven, I think I never saw a more animated assemblage. +The polka and the waltz, as also the bolero, and other well known +Spanish dances, were all danced gracefully and with spirit; and besides +these, after much persuasion, we had an Indian dance, a singular affair, +slow and complicated, and which left upon my mind a distinct impression +that it was religious in its origin. After the dancing, we had music, +but beyond the national air, which was given with force and spirit, I +cannot say much for the singing. + +During the whole evening, the windows were festooned with urchins, and +the doors blockaded by spectators, who when they were particularly +pleased, applauded tumultuously, as if the whole affair had been got up +for their special entertainment. The police would have driven them off, +but I won an enduring popularity by interceding in their behalf, and +they were consequently permitted to remain. Upon the occasions of the +more formal balls subsequently given, soldiers were stationed at every +entrance, and the crowd kept at a distance. + +Amongst the lower classes, fandangoes and other characteristic dances +are frequent, and are sufficiently uproarious and promiscuous. For +obvious reasons, I never witnessed any of these in the city, although I +stumbled upon them occasionally in the villages, during my excursions in +the country. + +The people of Nicaragua are generally scrupulously clean in their +persons, except when travelling or ill, and then the touch of water is +prohibited. But beyond the grand sala, and the apartments appropriated +to visitors, their houses are frequently very far from being patterns of +neatness. I have seen sleeping apartments, occupied by families of the +first respectability, which certainly had not been swept for weeks, not +to say months. Yet the beds in these rooms were clean and neat—the more +so perhaps from the contrast. These remarks are less applicable to +Granada than Leon, for in the former city the example of the foreign +residents has worked a partial reformation amongst the native +housekeepers. + +The Spanish people, in all parts of the world, are temperate in their +habits. Those of Nicaragua in this respect do no discredit to their +progenitors. Strong liquors are little used except amongst the lower +orders of the population; and even here excess is less common than with +us. The sale of brandy and the “aguardiente,” or native rum, is a +government monopoly, and is confined to the “estancos,” or licensed +establishments, where it pays a high duty to the State. I do not +remember to have seen a single respectable citizen drunk during the +whole of my residence in the country. Yet a bottle of “cogniac” is +usually offered to the stranger, whenever he pays a visit. A +considerable quantity of sweet or Spanish wines, are used in the +principal towns, but the lighter French wines have the largest +consumption. There is a delicious kind of _liqueur_ made from the +Muscatel grape, called “Italia,” or “Pisco,” which is brought from Peru. +It is, however, produced in small quantities, upon, I believe, a single +estate, and is consequently introduced in Nicaragua to a very limited +extent. Should it ever become generally known to the people of the +United States, it would, no doubt, create for itself a large demand. But +whether it can be produced in sufficient quantities to supply a +considerable market, is a point upon which I am ignorant. + +[Illustration: ANCIENT METLATL, OR GRINDING STONE.] + +In their food, the Nicaraguans are also exceedingly simple. Tortillas +and frijoles are the standard dishes. The first are composed of maize, +and if well made are really palatable. Fresh and unblemished maize on +the ear is always selected. It is shelled, soaked in alkali to remove +the hull, and then carefully and repeatedly washed in cold water. It is +afterwards placed on a _metlatl_, or grinding stone, and reduced to the +extremest fineness. A very little cheese is ground with it, to give it +consistency. A roll is then taken in the hands, beaten into a flat cake, +and placed on an earthen pan, already heated upon the fire. When +sufficiently done upon one side, it is adroitly turned on the other, and +is finally served hot and crisp at the table. I “cottoned” to the +tortilla from the start, and always preferred it to the native bread, +which although light and fair to the eye, is invariably spoiled by +sweetening. The tortilla is an aboriginal invention; and the foregoing +engraving represents an ancient _metlatl_ or grinding stone which was +dug up during my residence in Leon. The form is unchanged to this day, +although few are as elaborately ornamented as that here introduced, +which is a favorable specimen of aboriginal carving. + +It will be observed that this stone is curiously ornamented with +_grecques_, which are shown more distinctly in the subjoined enlarged +sketches of the upper and lower extremities of the _metlatl_ (_a._ _b._) + +[Illustration: ORNAMENTS OF THE METLATL.] + +_Frijoles_, in plain English, are baked beans; but the beans are quite +of a different flavor from those in use in more northern latitudes. They +are small, white, black, or brown in color, and indigenous in the +country. They are not usually relished at first, but a taste for them is +gradually acquired, and a meal without _frijoles_ finally comes to lack +an essential ingredient. The man who cannot “go” the _frijoles_ had +better keep away from Central America. For the weary traveller, in +soliciting the bill of fare at the Indian hut where, four times out of +five, he is obliged to stop for the night, has generally this brief +catalogue, “_hay tortillas, frijoles, frijolitos, frijolitos fritos, y +huevos_,”—“tortillas, beans, little beans, little baked beans, and +eggs!” + +Excellent beef and pork are to be obtained, at cheap rates, in all the +principal towns, and poultry is abundant. A pair of chickens costs from +a _quartillo_ to a _medio_,—i. e. from three to six cents. Next to the +tortillas and frijoles, however, the chief articles of consumption are +rice, plantains, and a kind of cheese, which is supplied in great +quantities from the “haciendas de las vacas,” or cattle estates. The +plantains are cooked in many ways,—boiled, fried, and roasted,—and are +singly capable of sustaining life. And when I add that, in many parts of +the state, they may be had for the asking, and that everywhere six cents +worth will sustain a small family for a week, it will be understood that +the incentives to labor cannot be very strong, and that the poorest +wretch need not go hungry. + +The markets of Leon display the greatest profusion of fruits and +vegetables, of which it would be almost impossible to give a complete +list. Water and musk melons, papayas, pine apples, oranges, mamays, +nisperos, pomegranates, marañons, jocotes, yucas, plantains, bananas, +beans, maize, and occasionally small potatoes but little larger than +bullets, brought in bales from the highlands of Costa Rica and Honduras, +and sold by the pound. And as the smallest coin in the country is a +_quartillo_, or three cents, which would purchase more of almost any of +these articles than most families would require at one time, change is +made in the aboriginal coin of the country, namely _cacao nuts_, of +which four are about equivalent in value to one cent of our currency. + +But two meals a-day are eaten by the inhabitants at large. A cup of +coffee or chocolate is served at the bedside, or immediately upon rising +in the morning. Breakfast follows at nine or ten o’clock in the +forenoon, and dinner at three or four in the afternoon. Tea is only +drunk by foreigners, and by them to a very limited extent. It is not to +be found therefore in any of the shops. A cup of chocolate, or more +frequently a cup of _tiste_ (parched corn ground with chocolate and +sugar and mixed with water), passed unceremoniously in the evening, +supplies its place, and is not an unacceptable substitute. It should be +mentioned, however, that large quantities of “dulces,” literally +“sweets” or sweetmeats are eaten between meals, especially by the women. +The Spanish taste for “dulces” long ago passed into a proverb, but it +rather surpasses itself in Nicaragua. The venders of “dulces,” generally +bright Indian girls, gaily dressed, and bearing a tray, covered with the +purest white napkins, and temptingly spread, upon their heads, pass +daily from house to house; and it is sometimes difficult, and always +ungallant to refuse purchasing something, however trifling, from their +stock. The “mil gracias Señor!” in the silverest of voices, is always +worth the money, and so one gets the “dulces” gratis. They sometimes, +however, trespassed a little upon my good nature, and carried off more +of my loose change than was proper, considering that, having a +reasonable regard for my stomach, I never ate any of their dyspeptic +compounds. + +Leon has little trade beyond the supply of its local wants. The +principal import and export business for this portion of the state is +done in the large and flourishing town of Chinandega, situated within +two leagues of the port of Realejo. Its shops are nevertheless well +supplied, and it has some wealthy merchants. Its principal inhabitants, +however, are “propietarios,” owners of large estates which are carried +on through agents. Attempts have recently been made to augment the +commercial importance of Leon by opening a shorter and direct +communication with Realejo; but its interior position will always prove +a bar to its progress in this respect. Chinandega has already a start, +which it will doubtless keep, unless a town, more favorably situated +nearer the port, should spring up under the requirements of commerce. + +Since the above was written, a new town called “Corinth,” has been laid +out on the south shore of the harbor of Realejo, in the direction of +Leon, which will greatly benefit the latter city. + +[Illustration: MACHETE AND TOLEDO.] + + + + + CHAPTER X. + +THE VICINITY OF LEON—THE BISHOP’S BATHS—FUENTE DE AXUSCO—“CERRO DE LOS + AMERICANOS”—A MILITARY BALL AND CIVIC DINNER—GEN. GUERRERO—OFFICIAL + VISIT FROM THE INDIAN MUNICIPALITY OF SUBTIABA—SIMON ROQUE—A + SECRET—ADDRESS AND REPLY—VISIT RETURNED—THE CABILDO—AN EMPTY + TREASURY—“SUBTIABA, LEAL Y FIEL”—ROYAL CEDULAS—FORMING A + VOCABULARY—“UNA DECIMA”—THE INDIANS OF NICARAGUA; STATURE; + COMPLEXION; DISPOSITION; BRAVERY; INDUSTRY; SKILL IN THE + ARTS—MANUFACTURE OF COPPER—PRIMITIVE MODE OF SPINNING—TYRIAN + PURPLE—PETATES AND HAMMOCKS—POTTERY—“AGUACALES,” AND + “JICARAS,”—COSTUME—ORNAMENTS—ABORIGINAL INSTITUTIONS—THE CONQUEST OF + NICARAGUA—ENORMITIES PRACTISED TOWARDS THE INDIANS—PRESENT CONDITION + OF THE INDIANS—THE SEQUEL OF SOMOZA’S INSURRECTION—BATTLES OF THE + OBRAJE AND SAN JORGE—CAPTURE AND EXECUTION OF SOMOZA—MODERATE POLICY + OF THE GOVERNMENT—RETURN OF GEN. MUNOZ—MEDALS—FESTIVAL OF + PEACE—NOVEL PROCESSION—A BLACK SAINT. + + +The country adjacent to Leon is very fine, and the “paseos” or rides in +the vicinity, although lacking an important element of beauty, the +proximity of water, are not without variety and interest. My first +expedition on horseback was to a place called the Bishop’s Baths. We +rode through the barrio de San Juan, where the _carreteros_ most do +congregate to the edge of the northern ravine. Here we found a path +literally shut in with cactuses and trees covered with vines, which led +to the ruins of an ancient gateway, beyond which had once been the +suburban seat of the Bishops of Nicaragua. It was a beautiful spot; the +ground had been artificially smoothed, and beneath the large trees which +shadowed over it, were the remains of stone seats, and of pedestals +which had once sustained crosses and the statues of the saints. In front +of where the house had stood, before its destruction during the troubles +of the revolutionary period, there was an abrupt slope to the stream at +the bottom of the ravine. This slope had formerly been terraced, and +descended by a winding way. The baths were of stone, and although now in +ruins, still gave evidences of the taste and luxury which had led to +their construction. A couple of women, naked with the exception of a +single cloth around their loins, were washing in the principal bath, but +they vacated it temporarily at our request, and we took possession. The +seclusion of the place, the limpid purity of the water, and the deep +shade in which everything was shrouded, enchanted me with the spot, and +I could not help thinking that it must have been selected by one of the +rosiest and jolliest of the old bishops whose portraits had tipped me a +friendly wink from the walls of the heavy room where they were +imprisoned in the cathedral. But I afterwards found that this was but +one only of a thousand equally beautiful spots in the neighborhood of +the city. That, however, to which my memory reverts most frequently, is +the “fuente de Axusco,” distant about two miles to the southward of the +town. It is a broad pool, at the bottom of a ravine, shut in by steep +banks on every side, and reached by a single narrow path. The water is +tepid, and bursts, pure as crystal, in a large volume from beneath the +rocks. It is literally arched over with trees, and curtained in with +vines. This place was my favorite resort during the whole of my +residence in the country. I rose at early dawn, despatched a cup of +coffee, and mounting my horse, generally reached the place just as the +sun began to tinge the summit of the distant volcanoes. The path lay +through fields covered with trees and bushes, spangled all over with +flowers, and glittering with dew-drops. The cool, bracing morning air, +the quick action of the horse, and the grateful plunge into the quiet +pool,—I think I never enjoyed so much the mere pleasure of existence, as +during my visits to the “fuente de Axusco.” There stood a cross in a +nook near the pool, and I often observed chaplets of fresh flowers +suspended upon it. It puzzled me exceedingly, and one day, finding a +little boy seated beside it, I asked him why it was there? It +commemorated an awful murder, he said, and that was all he knew, except +that the victim was a woman. Beyond the “fuenta,” is the range of low +hills which I have mentioned as bordering the plain of Leon on the side +of the ocean. I had the trees cut down on the most commanding peak, and +rode there so frequently that the rancheros in the vicinity christened +it “el cerro de los Americanos,” the hill of the Americans. From this +point the eye traversed the whole vast plain, and took in every object +of interest. Upon one hand the forests alone shut the lake of Managua +from view, while upon the other the broad Pacific lay bright and +beautiful on the edge of the horizon. With a glass the vessels in the +harbor of Realejo, and the outlines of the volcano of Coseguina, distant +more than a hundred miles, could easily be distinguished. A view from +the “cerro de los Americanos” is an incident in a man’s lifetime not +likely to be forgotten. Its impression upon my own mind is too distinct +ever to be effaced. + +Our second week in Leon was signalized by a military ball and a +government dinner, both on a scale far surpassing anything of the kind +which had been witnessed in the city for many years. The ball was under +the special patronage of Gen. Don Jose Guerrero, who had just finished a +term as Director of the State, but who had accepted the command of the +garrison in the absence of the General-in-chief. It was during his +administration that the seizure of San Juan by the English had taken +place, and it was his eloquent appeal, in a circular addressed to all +civilized nations, which had arrested the attention and awakened the +sympathy of General Taylor and his cabinet. My arrival in the country, +it can readily be understood, was to him a source of the profoundest +satisfaction; and during my official residence in Leon, I had no warmer +friend than General Guerrero. May he live to witness the fruition of the +policy which he marked out for his country, and the realization of those +high and patriotic hopes which he has so long and so devotedly +cherished! + +Amongst the most pleasing incidents connected with my arrival was a +formal visit from the municipal authorities of the Indian pueblo of +Subtiaba, who, in their way, are amongst the sturdiest republicans in +all Nicaragua. At their head was Simon Roque, with whom I afterwards +established an intimate friendship. He presented me an address, written +both in the Indian language and in Spanish, and accompanied it with a +speech, which was far above the average, both in language and sentiment, +and altogether a favorable specimen of Indian eloquence. Simon and his +companions were dressed in spotless white, and each wore a red sash +about his waist, and carried a gold-headed cane, an insignia of office, +in his hands. They were curious to know about the Indian population of +the United States, and I blush to say it, I was ashamed to tell them the +truth. They had heard that I was a great friend of the Indians, and on +the lookout for “piedras antiguas.” They had something to tell me on +that subject, but it could only be done when we were alone. So the sala +was cleared, and Simon, after some circumlocution, informed me that they +knew of certain ancient stones which their ancestors had buried a very +long time ago, and which, if I wished, they would present to me, on the +peremptory condition, however, that their locality should be kept a +profound secret. I was too glad to have an opportunity to assent to any +conditions, and it was finally agreed that, as it would be impossible +for me to attend to the business now, some of the stones should be +excavated at once, and sent to my residence. They were as good as their +word; and a couple of mornings thereafter we were surprised at finding +two statues at the threshold of the portal; and a few nights later a +cart appeared with two more,—of all which a description will be given in +another place. This little piece of confidence over, I treated the +company to as much claret as they chose to drink, and we parted with the +understanding that I should return the visit at an early day. The +address and reply were as follows: + + ADDRESS. + + “SIR:—The municipality of the Pueblo of Subtiaba, of which we are + members, entertain the highest enthusiasm in view of the relations + which your arrival induces us to believe will speedily be established + between Nicaragua and the United States, the greatest and most + glorious republic beneath the sun. We rejoice in the depths of our + hearts that a man like yourself has been chosen to convey to us the + assurances of future prosperity, in the name of the sons of + Washington; and we trust in the Almighty, that the flag of the United + States may soon become the shield of Nicaragua on land and sea. Convey + our sincerest thanks for their sympathy to the great people which you + represent, and give to your generous government the assurances of that + deep gratitude which we feel but cannot express. We beg of you, Sir, + to accept this humble evidence of the cordial sentiments which we + entertain both for you, your countrymen, and your Government, and + which are equally shared by the people which we represent. + + JOSE DE LA CRUZ + GARCIAS, + + (Signed) SIMON ROQUE, + + FRANCISCO LUIS ANTAN. + + REPLY. + + “MY FRIENDS OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF SUBTIABA: + + “I experience great pleasure in receiving from your hands this brief + but earnest address; and I return you my thanks, both personally and + in behalf of my Government, for the friendly sentiments which it + contains. I sincerely hope that the high anticipations which you have + formed from a more intimate relation between your country and the + United States, may be fully realized.” + +[Illustration: LA PARROQUIAL DE SUBTIABA.] + +The reader may be assured that I did not forget my promise to the +municipality of Subtiaba. A day was shortly afterwards fixed for my +visit, and I was received with great ceremony at the cabildo, or council +chamber, where I found collected all the old men who could assist me in +forming a vocabulary of the ancient language, which I had casually +expressed a desire to procure. It was with difficulty that we could +effect an entrance, for a half-holiday had been given to the boys of all +the schools in honor of the occasion, and they literally swarmed around +the building. We were finally ushered into an inner room, where the +archives of the municipality were preserved. Upon one side was a large +chest of heavy wood, with massive locks, which had anciently been the +strong box or treasury. A shadow fell over Simon’s face as he pointed it +out to me, and said that he could remember the time when it was filled +with “duros,” hard dollars, and when, at a single stroke of the alarm +bell, two thousand armed men could be gathered in the plaza of Subtiaba. +But those days were passed, and the municipality now scarcely retained a +shadow of its former greatness. Under the crown it had earned the title +“leal y fiel,” loyal and true; and in reward of its fidelity it had +received a grant of all the lands intervening between it and the ocean, +to hold in perpetuity for the benefit of its citizens. And Simon showed +me the royal letters, signed “Yo, el Rey” (I, the King), which the +emperors of Spain had thought it not derogatory to their dignity to +address to his predecessors in office; and notwithstanding his ardent +republicanism, I thought Simon looked at them with something of regret. +I inquired for manuscripts which might throw some light upon the early +history of the country, but found only musty records, of no interest or +value. + +My attempts to fill out the blank vocabulary with which I was provided +created a great deal of merriment. I enjoyed it quite as much as any of +them, for nothing could be more amusing than the discussions between the +old men in respect to certain doubtful words and phrases. They sometimes +quite forgot my presence, and rated each other soundly as ignoramuses; +whereat Simon was greatly scandalized, and threatened to put them all in +the stocks as “hombres sin verguenza,” men destitute of shame. “Ah!” +said he, “these old sinners give me more trouble than the young ones”—a +remark which created great mirth amongst the outsiders, and especially +amongst the young vagabonds who clung like monkeys to the window bars. +The group of swarthy, earnest faces gathered round the little table, +upon which was heaped a confused mass of ancient, time-stained papers, +would have furnished a study for a painter. It was quite dark when I had +concluded my inquiries, but I was not permitted to leave without +listening to a little poem, “Una Decima,” written by one of the +schoolmasters, who read it to me by the light of a huge wax candle, +borrowed, I am sure, from the church for the occasion. My modesty +forbids my attempting a translation, and so I compromise matters by +submitting the original: + + DECIMA. + + Nicaragua, ve hasta cuando + Cesara vuestro desvelo, + Ya levantara el vuelo + Hermoso, alegre, y triunfante; + Al mismo tiempo mirando + De este personage el porte, + Y mas sera cuando corte + Todos los agradecimientos: + Diremos todos contentos + Viva el Gobierno del Norte! + D. S. + +As I mounted my horse, Don Simon led off with three cheers for “El +Ministro del Norte,” and followed it with three more for “El Amigo de +los Indios” (the friend of the Indians), all of which was afterwards +paraded by a dingy little Anglo-servile paper published in Costa Rica, +as evidence that I was tampering with the Indians, and exciting them to +undertake the utter destruction of the white population! + +The Indians of Nicaragua, who, as I have said, predominate in the +country, are singularly docile and industrious, and constitute what +would, in some countries, be called an excellent “rural population.” +They are a smaller race of men than the Indians of the United States, +but have fine muscular developments, and a singularly mild and soft +expression of countenance. In color also they are lighter, and their +features less strongly marked. Some of the women are exceedingly pretty, +and when young, have figures beautifully and classically moulded. They +are entirely unobtrusive in their manners, seldom speaking unless first +addressed, and are always kind and hospitable to strangers. They are not +warlike but brave, and when reduced to the necessity, fight with the +most desperate obstinacy. Leon has more than once owed its safety to the +Indian battalion of Subtiaba, which, in the civil wars of 1838-39, +marched triumphantly from one end of Central America to the other. + +[Illustration: PRIMITIVE SPINNING APPARATUS.] + +The agriculture of the State is almost entirely carried on by them; but +they are not deficient in mechanical skill, and with the rudest tools +often produce the most delicate and elaborate articles of workmanship. +The women manufacture a large quantity of cotton for their own +consumption and for sale. And in riding through Subtiaba in the +afternoon, no spectacle is more common than to see a woman naked to the +waist, sitting in the doorway of almost every hut, or beneath the shadow +of an adjacent tree, busily engaged in spinning cotton. A little +foot-wheel, such as was formerly in use for spinning flax in our own +country, is here commonly used for this purpose. But the aboriginal +contrivance is not yet wholly displaced. It is exceedingly simple, +consisting of a thin spindle of wood fifteen or sixteen inches in +length, which is passed through a fly, or wheel of hard, heavy wood, six +inches in diameter, resembling the wheel of a pulley, except that it is +convex instead of concave on the edge. The spindle thus resembles a +gigantic top. When used it is placed in a calabash, or hollowed piece of +wood, to prevent it from toppling over, when not in motion. A thread is +attached to it, just above the fly, and it is then twirled rapidly +between the thumb and fore-finger. The momentum of the fly keeps it in +motion for half a minute, and meantime the thread is drawn out by the +hands of the operator, from the pile of prepared cotton which she holds +in her lap. It is then wound on the spindle, and the process repeated, +until the spindle is full of thread. + +In the foregoing cut _a_ represents the cotton; _b_, _b_, the spindle; +_d_, the fly; _c_, the thread already spun and wound; and _e_, _e_, the +outlines of the calabash. A precisely similar mode of spinning was +practised by the ancient Mexicans, who, however, inserted the lower end +of the spindle in a hole made in a block of wood, as shown in the +accompanying engraving. The mode of weaving amongst the Indians of +Nicaragua was anciently the same as that of the Mexicans, which is +sufficiently well illustrated in the following engraving, copied from +the Codex Mendoza, a Mexican manuscript or painting. + +[Illustration: SPINNING, FROM A MEXICAN MANUSCRIPT.] + +Some of the cotton fabrics manufactured by the Indians are very durable, +and woven in tasteful figures of various colors. The color most valued +is the Tyrian purple, obtained from the murex shell-fish, which is found +upon the Pacific coast of Nicaragua. This color is produced of any +desirable depth and tone, and is permanent; unaffected alike by exposure +to the sun and to the action of alkalies. The process of dying the +thread illustrates the patient assiduity of the Indians. It is taken to +the seaside, when a sufficient number of shells are collected, which +being dried from the sea water, the work is commenced. Each shell is +taken up singly, and a slight pressure upon the valve which closes its +mouth forces out a few drops of the coloring fluid, which is then almost +destitute of color. In this each thread is dipped singly, and after +absorbing enough of the precious liquid, is carefully drawn out between +the thumb and finger, and laid aside to dry. Whole days and nights are +spent in this tedious process, until the work is completed. At first the +thread is of a dull blue color, but upon exposure to the atmosphere +acquires the desired tint. The fish is not destroyed by the operation, +but is returned to the sea, when it lays in a new stock of coloring +matter for a future occasion.[19] + +----- + +Footnote 19: + + “The cotton-yarn thus dyed is known in the country by the name of + ‘_hilo morado_,’ and is highly prized by the Indian women of all the + States, who are extremely partial to it for adorning the dresses used + on festive occasions. Formerly, high prices were paid for it; being + frequently sold in Guatemala and other principal towns, for from ten + to fourteen dollars the pound. In recent times purple thread has been + imported from Europe, and sold at a much cheaper rate; but the color + is neither as good nor as durable, and notwithstanding its economy, + does not supplant the native product. The Indians are not easily + deceived by offering them the one for the other, as they can readily + distinguish the foreign from the genuine by some peculiarity of smell + in the latter, which, although the dearest, is always + preferred.”—_Baily_, p. 125. + +----- + +[Illustration: PRIMITIVE WEAVING; FROM A MEXICAN MANUSCRIPT.] + +The manufacture of “petates,” or variegated mats, from the bark of the +palm, and hammocks from the “pita,” a species of agave, is exclusively +in Indian hands. They are also skillful in the manufacture of pottery, +which has remained unchanged from the period before the Conquest. The +“cantaros,” water-jars, and other vessels in common use, amongst all +classes, are made by them. They are formed by hand, without the aid of +the potter’s wheel, and are variously and often elaborately colored and +ornamented, baked, and when intended for purposes requiring it, are +partially glazed. The water-jars, however, are porous, so as to admit of +enough water passing through to keep the outer surface covered with +moisture, the evaporation of which rapidly and effectually cools the +contents of the vessel. Oviedo commends highly the skill which the +ancient inhabitants displayed in the manufacture of their pottery, and +which is very well sustained both by the fragments which are found, and +by the wares which the Indians still manufacture. “They make basins, +plates, jars, and pitchers, of very fine pottery, black and smooth as +velvet, and brilliant as jet. I have brought some specimens, which are +so fine that they might be offered to a prince.” Thus saith the +chronicler. + +Mr. W. H. Edwards, in his narrative of “A Voyage up the Amazon,” p. 114, +describes the preparation and painting of pottery by the Indians on that +river. The brushes or pencils were the small species of palms, and the +coloring matter the simplest kinds. The blue was indigo; black, the +juice of the mandioca; green, the juice of some other plant; and the red +and yellow, clays. The colors were applied in squares and circles, or if +anything imitative was intended, in the rudest outlines. The _glazing_ +was produced by a resinous gum found in the forests, which was gently +rubbed over the vessels, previously warmed over a bed of coals. This +description applies equally to the modes practised in Nicaragua. + +They also make drinking vessels from the calabash; the largest varieties +are called “_guacals_,” or “_aguacals_,” and the smaller ones, made from +the long or pear-shaped calabash, “_jicaras_.” These last are often +tastefully carved upon their exteriors, and are generally used instead +of tumblers. It is indispensable that “_tiste_” should be served in +“jicaras,” and amongst the people at large they are also used for coffee +and chocolate. But as their bottoms are round, little carved stands are +made to receive them. The Indians near the city of Nicaragua make +similar cups from a variety of cocoa-nut peculiar to that vicinity, +which are celebrated throughout their country for their beauty of shape +and ornament. They are black, and highly polished, and when mounted with +silver, are greatly prized by foreigners. They occasionally find their +way to the principal cities of this country and Europe, and into the +curiosity shops, where they are often classed as of Chinese or Japanese +origin. Sometimes they bear inscriptions, such as “Soy de Manuela +Gomez,” I belong to Manuela Gomez, or “Orar á Dios!” Pray to God! The +carving is made with instruments of the rudest description, manufactured +by the artist himself from the blade of a razor, or from a +three-cornered file, rubbed down to a cutting point on the stones which +lie around his hut. He uses this improvised graver with a firm and +practised hand. + +The dress of the Indians is exceedingly simple. On ordinary occasions, +the women wear only a white or flowered skirt, fastened around the +waist, leaving the upper part of the person entirely exposed, or but +partially covered by a handkerchief fastened around the neck. In Masaya +and some other places, a square piece of cloth, of native manufacture, +and of precisely the same style and pattern with that used for the same +purpose before the Discovery, supplies the place of the skirt. It is +fastened in some incomprehensible way, without the aid of strings or +pins, and falls from the hips a little below the knees. The guipil and +nagua are however adopted in nearly all the large towns, and are +everywhere worn on festival days and Sundays. The men wear a kind of +cotton drawers, fastened above the hips, but frequently reaching no +lower than the knees. Sandals supplys the place of shoes, but for the +most part both sexes go with their feet bare. The taste for ornament is +universal; and a rosary, to which is attached a little golden, silver, +or ebony cross, is suspended from the necks of male and female, old and +young. They are also fond of flowers, and the girls are seldom without +some of them entwined amongst the luxuriant locks of their long, black +hair, or braided in a chaplet and encircling their foreheads. + +[Illustration: AN INDIAN GIRL OF SUBTIABA IN HOLIDAY COSTUME.] + +The municipality of Subtiaba, in common with the barrios of some of the +towns, holds lands, as I have said, in virtue of royal grants, in its +corporate capacity. These lands are inalienable, and are leased to the +inhabitants at low and almost nominal rates. Every citizen is entitled +to a sufficient quantity to enable him to support himself and his +family; for which he pays from four rials (half a dollar,) to two +dollars a year. This practice seems to have been of aboriginal +institution; for under the ancient Indian organization, the _right to +live_ was recognized as a fundamental principle in the civil and social +system. No man was supposed to be entitled to more land than was +necessary to his support; nor was he permitted to hold more than that, +to the exclusion or injury of others. + +In fact, many of the institutions of the Indians in this country were +recognized, and have been perpetuated by the Spaniards. Some of the +ceremonies of the aboriginal ritual have also been incorporated amongst +the rites of the Catholic Church. In many respects it is hard to say +whether the conquerors have assimilated most to the Indians, or the +Indians to the Spaniards. For, however rude and subverting the first +shock of Spanish conquest in America, the subsequent policy of Spain, +framed and directed by the famous Council of the Indies, was that of +conciliation. In common with the church, it conceded much to the habits +and feelings of the aborigines, and to a certain extent conformed to +them. + +The conquest of Nicaragua was effected with no less violence than that +of Mexico and Peru; and if we may credit the account of Las Casas, the +pious bishop of Chiapa, who visited the country in person, it was both +attended and followed by extraordinary cruelties. He charges the +enormity chiefly upon Pedro Arias de Avila, Governor of Darien, who sent +Cordova to subdue the country, and who himself afterwards became its +governor. + +“The Indians of this province,” he says, “were naturally of a mild and +peaceable temper; yet notwithstanding this, the Governor, or rather +Tyrant, with the ministers of his cruelty, treated them in the same +manner as they did those of the other kingdoms. They committed murders +and robberies, more than it is possible for pen to relate. Upon the +slightest pretexts, the soldiers massacred the inhabitants without +regard to age, sex, or condition. They exacted from them certain +measures of corn, and certain numbers of slaves, and if these were not +rendered, hesitated not to kill the delinquents. And the country being +plain, the people were unable to escape to the mountains as they did +elsewhere, and were consequently at the mercy of the Spanish horse. They +carried off many thousands as slaves, slaying those who fainted or +wearied on the march. + +“The Governor once arbitrarily changed the distribution of the Indians, +conveying most of them to his favorites, to the exclusion of those with +whom he was displeased. The result of this was a great scarcity of food; +and the Spaniards seizing upon the provisions of the Indians, caused a +great distress, and induced a disorder which destroyed upwards of thirty +thousand of the people. + +“All the cities, and fields around them, were like pleasant gardens, +which the Spaniards cultivated according to the share which each one had +assigned him by lot; and to save their own revenues, supported +themselves from the stores of the Indians, thus consuming, in a short +time, what these poor people had got together with great care and toil. +Nobles, women, and children were all compelled to work day and and +night; many died under the burthens which were imposed upon them. For +they obliged them to carry on their shoulders to the ports, which were +in some cases distant thirty leagues, the plank and timbers used in +building vessels.” + +Las Casas, however, regards the practice of exacting slaves from the +caziques, for transportation and sale elsewhere, as one of the chief +causes of the depopulation of the country. Five or six ship-loads were +annually taken to Peru and Panama, and sold there. He calculates that +half a million of Indians were thus drawn out of Nicaragua alone; but +this number appears incredible. The statement that from fifty to sixty +thousand perished in the wars of the Conquest is perhaps, nearer the +truth; for, as he observes, “this was one of the best peopled countries +in all America.” + +When the Council of the Indies began to repress the cruelties of the +conquerors, the governors of Nicaragua proved themselves refractory; +indeed, Rodrigo de Contreras openly disobeyed his instructions in this +respect, which was the proximate cause of the insurrection headed by his +son, to which I have elsewhere alluded. + +The following incident, related by Oviedo, will illustrate the severe +and repulsive measures which were practised towards the Indians at this +early period. “In 1528, the treasurer, Alonzo de Peralta, and a man +named Zurita, and the brothers Ballas, left the city of Leon, each to +visit the villages and Indians belonging to him. They never returned, +having been destroyed by their own vassals. Hereupon Pedro Arias de +Avila sent out soldiers to bring in some of the malefactors. They +arrested seventeen or eighteen _caziques_ whom Pedro Arias caused to be +strangled by dogs. The execution took place in the following manner, on +Tuesday, the 16th of June of the same year, in the public square of +Leon. Each cazique was armed with a stick, and told to defend himself +against the dogs, and to kill them if he could. Five or six young dogs +were first set upon them, which their masters wished to train, as they +were yet without experience. They ran baying around the Indian, who +easily kept them off with his stick; but the moment he thought himself +conqueror, a couple of mastiffs, or well-trained hounds, were sent +against him, who threw him in a moment. The other dogs then fell upon +him, biting and choking him, tearing out his entrails, and devouring +him, as it were. In this manner the eighteen were soon disposed of. They +were from the valley of Olocoton, and its vicinity. When the dogs were +satiated, the dead bodies remained in the same place, it being forbidden +to carry them off, under penalty of being served in like manner; +otherwise the Indians would have taken them away. They were thus left in +order to frighten the natives; but on the second day the stench of the +dead bodies became insupportable. And on the fourth, it was so horrible +that, being compelled to pass there in going to the house of the +governor, I begged him to give permission to have them carried away; +which he did the more readily, since his house was situated near the +square.” + +But whatever their former condition, the Indians of Nicaragua no longer +labor under any disabilities. They enjoy equal privileges with the +whites, and may aspire to any position, however high, both in the Church +and State. The system of _peonage_ (slavery under a less repugnant name) +is here unknown. Yet the Indian retains his traditionary deference for +the white man, and tacitly admits his superiority. In some of the States +of Central America, a jealousy of caste has been artfully excited by +unscrupulous partisans, for unworthy purposes, which has led to most +deplorable results; but in Nicaragua, if this feeling exists at all, it +is only in a latent form. At any rate, it has never displayed itself in +any of those frightful demonstrations which have almost desolated +Guatemala and portions of Peru, and which threaten the entire extinction +of the white race in Yucatan. This quiet, however, may be that of the +slumbering volcano; and its continuance may depend very much upon the +judicious encouragement of white emigration from the United States and +from Europe. + +The original inhabitants of Nicaragua, and of Central America generally, +seem to have been of the true Toltecan stock. So too were the nations of +Anahuac, the Aztecs or Mexicans, but modified and deteriorated by +association and intermixture with the barbarous Chichemecas. From this +source they derived the fiercer and more savage traits in their +characters; and even now, notwithstanding that they have to a great +extent adopted new customs, and been subjected to the influences of +Spanish association for more than three hundred years, the +distinguishing traits of the two families are easily to be recognized. +The mild, brave but not warlike, industrious, intelligent, and +law-abiding Indians about Leon, of the purer Toltecan blood, furnish in +their smaller and more rounded forms, their regular features, clear +eyes, and cheerful expression, a decided contrast to the restless, +treacherous, and cruel Indians round the ancient city of Nicaragua. The +latter are taller, more bony, with sharper and often irregular features, +and with an always reserved if not sullen expression. The contrast is +hardly greater than between the French and the Dutch. Yet none of these +Indians could ever be confounded with the roving tribes of our latitude. +They have certain generic or radical identities, but in most physical +and mental features, are widely different. Those of Central America are +capable of high improvement, and have a facility of assimilation or +adaptation. They constitute, when favorably situated, the best class of +citizens, and would anywhere make what in Europe is called a good rural +or working population. I have found some really comprehensive minds +amongst them,—men of quick and acute apprehension, and great decision +and energy of character. + +In brief, the better I become acquainted with the various aboriginal +families of the continent, the higher position I am disposed to award +them, and the less I am disposed to assent to the relative rank assigned +them by the systematic writers. + +I have already mentioned the interview between our American friend in +Granada, and the rebel chief, Somoza. Soon after our arrival in Leon, +positive information was received that he had been successful in his +descent upon San Carlos, and had got possession of the arms and +ammunition which had been deposited there. He, however, did not attempt +to retain possession of the place, but returned immediately with his +spoils to the city of Nicaragua. Meantime, nevertheless, as I have +already intimated, the support which he had received from the party +opposed to the government, had been entirely withdrawn, in consequence +of the excesses which he had committed, and he came back to find his +adherents dispirited and rapidly diminishing. The decision and energy of +the government further contributed to weaken his power; and when the +General-in-chief arrived in his neighborhood, he was left with less than +half his original forces. His spirit, however, never failed him, and he +boldly advanced to meet the troops of the government. The first battle +was at a place called the “Obraje.” Here he was worsted, and compelled +to fall back upon his original position, at the town of San George, +about a league distant from the city of Rivas, or Nicaragua. General +Muñoz, having effected a junction with the volunteers from Granada, who +had proceeded by water, attacked him here the next day, (July 14th,) +completely routed his forces, and took him and his principal followers +prisoners. It is hardly necessary to add that they were tried by +court-martial, and shot. + +The information of these events was received in Leon with extravagant +demonstrations of joy, and for a whole day we were stunned by the firing +of guns and the ringing of bells. In the evening the following Bulletin +was issued: + + “Bernabé Somoza, the author of misfortunes and the cause of evils + which can never be repaired, was captured in San Jorge on the evening + of the 14th inst., after the defeat of his forces by the army of the + Government. Subsequently to the action he was taken to the city of + Rivas, tried according to martial law, sentenced to death, and shot + (fué pasado por las armas), on the morning of the 17th, in the + presence of the entire army. The General in Chief then harangued the + troops in the following impressive terms: + + “‘SOLDIERS! We have, in a very few days, completed a glorious + campaign. This happy result is due to your valor, constancy, + subordination, and endurance. The monster, Somoza, the terror of the + innocent inhabitants of this department, has suffered the just + punishment of his crimes. The robber, the incendiary, the desecrator + of temples, the violator of female innocence, the murderer, has passed + from beneath the sword of human justice to the awful presence of an + offended God! Soldiers, you have saved the honor and preserved the + integrity of the State, vindicated humanity, and avenged the violated + laws. For this I thank you; you have merited and will receive the + gratitude of your country. Should the occasion arise, (which God + forbid!) I shall be proud to lead you again to victory. Long live the + Government! God save the Republic!’ + + “Thus has triumphed the cause of order, of progress, and of reason! + Thanks to the illustrious General Muñoz and his brave soldiers, the + bulwark and safeguard of the State! Their deeds speak for themselves; + they need no encomiums. They teach us an impressive lesson of + patriotism and virtue.” + +These events put an end to the internal disturbances of the State. The +followers of Somoza at once disbanded, and returned to their homes. A +few arrests were made; but with a moderation which reflected honor upon +the government, and commended it to the people at large, a general +amnesty was conceded to all who had participated in the insurrection, +upon the condition of the surrender of their arms, and the restitution +of the property and valuables which they had taken, and which +commissioners were appointed to receive, and to restore to their +rightful owners. + +Upon the 16th of August following, having completely reëstablished +order, and taken proper precautions against further disturbances, Gen. +Muñoz returned with his forces to Leon. He was met by a deputation from +the city at the “Convento,” where speeches were made, and +congratulations exchanged, and whence the troops marched in triumph to +the city. They were received with great enthusiasm, and proceeded in a +body to the Cathedral, where the “Te Deum” was sung in acknowledgment of +their safe return. The extraordinary battalion was at once disbanded, +and the regulars only retained in the service. It was some months, +however, before the vigilance of the government was at all diminished, +and not until every revolutionary symptom seemed to have died out. +Subsequently a medal was voted to the General, “for the excellent +services which, under God,” he had rendered the State. It was ordered to +be of gold, and to contain upon one side a laurel wreath, with the +words, “TO THE DEFENDER OF LIBERTY AND ORDER IN NICARAGUA;” and upon the +reverse a naked sword, with the inscription, “FOR HIS TRIUMPH OF JULY +14, 1849.” Medals were also voted to the subordinate officers who had +particularly distinguished themselves on the same occasion; and the +“soldiers and patriots” who had fought in the ranks, were decorated upon +the left shoulder with a shield, bordered with gold, containing a palm +tree in the centre, with two swords crossed below, and the words “RIVAS, +JULY 14, 1849.” The State also voted a pension “to the wounded, and to +the _fathers_, widows, and children of those who had fallen in the +service.” And at the same time decreed “that in profound recognition of +his visible protection, the corporations and authorities of the State, +civil and military, would unite in a public and solemn manifestation of +thanks to God, in the holy Cathedral, on the 2d of September.” + +And while upon this subject, I may anticipate events a little, and +describe the ceremonial, for which great preparations were made, and +which was conducted with great solemnity. Upon the morning of the day +high mass was said in the Cathedral, in presence of all the officers of +State, and the army. The soldiers occupied the grand aisle, and the +citizens filled the outer ones. After this was concluded, a procession +was formed, preceded by a large silver cross, beneath which drooped the +flag of the State. Then came the military band, next the host, borne by +the Bishop in person, beneath a heavy crimson canopy of velvet. He was +surrounded by the higher dignitaries of the church, and followed by the +officers of the State and army, bare-headed, and all moving in a hollow +square of soldiers, also with heads uncovered and guns reversed. Then +came the chanters of the Cathedral, the soldiers, and the citizens. But +the most singular features of the procession were the statues of the +saints, which, borne on men’s shoulders, were distributed at intervals +throughout the line. Many of these were of the size of life, and in +their golden, tinselled, and fantastic robes, produced a very singular +effect. Amongst them was San Benito, a little black fellow, canonized, +doubtless, by a far-seeing and politic church to conciliate the colored +population. He is, by the way, the most popular saint in Nicaragua, and +has a grand annual festival at Masaya, to which devotees flock from all +parts of Central America. Men, women, and children alike joined in the +“Procession of Peace,” which moved slowly through the principal streets, +stopping in front of each of the churches to chant a prayer of thanks. +It finally returned to the Cathedral, where the “Te Deum” was sung, and +the assemblage dismissed under a benediction from the Bishop. No sooner +was this more sober part of the ceremony over, than the everlasting +ringing of bells and the firing of guns commenced again, and was kept up +until dark, when there was an exhibition of fireworks in the plaza. + +Thus ended the insurrection of Somoza, and thenceforward Leon wore a +more cheerful aspect. The conduct of the government, from its +commencement to its close, was marked with great justice and moderation, +and afforded, in these respects, a striking and most favorable contrast +to that which has for many years distinguished military operations in +Central America. + +[Illustration: INNER COURT OF “OUR HOUSE” IN LEON.] + + + + + CHAPTER XI. + +ANTIQUITIES—ANCIENT STATUE IN THE GRAND PLAZA—MONUMENTS ON THE ISLAND OF + MOMOTOMBITA IN LAKE MANAGUA—DETERMINE TO VISIT THEM—THE PADRE + PAUL—PUEBLO NUEVO AND OUR OLD HOSTESS—A NIGHT RIDE—“HACIENDA DE LAS + VACAS”—A NIGHT AMONGST THE “VAQUEROS”—THE LAKE—OUR BONGO—VISIT THE + HOT SPRINGS OF MOMOTOMBO—ATTEMPT TO REACH ONE OF THE “INFERNALES” OF + THE VOLCANO—TERRIBLE HEAT—GIVE UP THE ATTEMPT—OVIEDO’S ACCOUNT OF + THE VOLCANO—“PUNTA DE LOS PAJAROS”—MOMOTOMBITA—DREAD OF + RATTLESNAKES—THE MONUMENTS—RESOLVE TO REMOVE THE LARGEST—A NEST OF + SCORPIONS—TRIBULATION OF OUR CREW—HARD WORK—HOW TO SHIP AN + IDOL—VIRTUES OF AGUARDIENTE—“PURCHASING AN ELEPHANT”—MORE “PIEDRAS + ANTIGUAS”—THE ISLAND ONCE INHABITED—SUPPOSED CAUSEWAY TO THE MAIN + LAND—A PERILOUS NIGHT VOYAGE—DIFFICULT LANDING—ALACRAN OR SCORPION + DANCE—A FOOT MARCH IN THE FOREST—THE “HACIENDA DE LAS VACAS” + AGAIN—SCANT SUPPER—RETURN TO LEON—THE IDOL SENT, VIA CAPE HORN, TO + WASHINGTON—A SATISFIED PADRE—IDOLS FROM SUBTIABA—MONSTROUS + HEADS—VISIT TO AN ANCIENT TEMPLE—FRAGMENTS—MORE IDOLS—INDIAN + SUPERSTITIONS—“EL TORO”—LIGHTING ON TWO LEGS—A CHASE AFTER + HORSES—SWEET REVENGE—“CAPILLA DE LA PIEDRA”—PLACE OF THE IDOL—THE + FRAY FRANCISCO DE BOBADILLA—HOW HE CONVERTED THE INDIANS—PROBABLE + HISTORY OF MY IDOLS—THE ANCIENT CHURCH “LA MERCEDES DE SUBTIABA”—ITS + RUINS—GARRAPATAS—TROPICAL INSECTS—SNAKES AND SCORPIONS _versus_ + FLEAS AND WOOD-TICKS—A CHOICE OF EVILS. + + +Amongst the objects of interest which early attracted my attention in +Leon, was an ancient figure or statue of stone, planted at one of the +corners of the principal plaza. It was of basalt, boldly sculptured, and +represented a man with his hands clasped on his breast, and apparently +seated upon some kind of pedestal. The lower part of the figure, +however, had been broken, and the fragment which remained was little +more than one-third of the original length. A fillet was represented +bound around the brow, and the head was surmounted by a head-dress +somewhat resembling those which are to be observed in some of the +ancient Egyptian sculptures. The face was perfect, with the exception of +a part of the mouth, which had been broken, and the eyes were apparently +closed. The whole expression was grave and serene, and yet so +characteristic, that I could not resist the impression that it was +copied after a living model. The accompanying engraving will convey a +very correct idea of the original, which I procured and presented to the +Smithsonian Institution at Washington, where it is now deposited. + +[Illustration: IDOL FROM MOMOTOMBITA, NO. 1.] + +The back of the figure is square, grooved on the edge, and notched +entirely across, so as to resemble overlapping plates. It will be +observed that the shoulders appear to be unnaturally elevated; but upon +closer examination it will be seen that the original design seems to +have been to represent the figure in the act of supporting some heavy +body; suggesting the probability that this, in conjunction with others +of similar design, once supported an altar, or another and still larger +statue. The flat top favors this supposition. + +I found, upon inquiry, that this figure, together with many others, had +been obtained from the island of Momotombita, in Lake Managua, where +there were still a number of interesting monuments. I at once proposed +an expedition to the island, and availing myself of the time pending the +commencement of my negotiations with the government, set out on the 26th +of July, in company with Dr. Livingston, and Padre Paul, editor of “El +Correo del Istmo,” the government paper, who was curious in matters of +this kind. The Padre was a native of Spain, where he had received a +liberal education, but by some mistake had become a priest. I say +mistake, not because the Padre was not a good priest, but because nature +had intended him for a licenciado, or a politician, if not for a +traveller. The government, some days previous to our departure, had sent +orders to Managua for boats to be in readiness at a point on the lake, +nearest the island, called “Piedras Gordas,” and there to await our +arrival. It was late in the afternoon when we left the city for Pueblo +Nuevo, where we proposed to pass the night. The road was the same over +which we had travelled in our journey to Leon; but the season was now +further advanced, and the great plain was shrouded with a vegetation +three-fold more luxuriant than before. The maize, which a few weeks +previously hardly covered the ground, was now breast high; the cactus +fences too were relieved by yellow flowers, and the inner leaves +surrounding the stalk, bending outward, displayed their delicate pink +linings to the sun. + +The Padre was mounted on a splendid mule, gaily caparisoned, and with +his cassock tucked up, heavy riding boots, and massive silver spurs, +followed by his servant, with an “alforjas,” full of edibles, made a +dashing figure at the head of our little cavalcade. He rode like a +trooper, and seemed to enjoy the freedom of the forest quite as much as +any sinner. A stranger might have taken him for a soldier in disguise, +or an eager lover speeding to a distant mistress. It was a tearing ride, +that twenty-four miles to Pueblo Nuevo, and in less than three hours we +dismounted at the door of the house where I had slept on my previous +journey. The old lady and her five daughters had had no warning of our +coming, and were evidently mortified to be found _sans_ satin slippers, +and with hair dishevelled. But before supper was ready they all made +their appearance in full costume, as before, and we ventured upon a +compliment or two by way of compensating for the _contretemps_ of our +sudden arrival. + +We found that it was yet upwards of three leagues to the “Piedras +Gordas” where our boat was waiting, and as we were anxious to be there +by sunrise, we resolved to proceed to a cattle estate, near the place, +that night. The Padre did not relish the idea of leaving comfortable +quarters for the doubtful accommodations of the “hacienda de las vacas” +and was eloquent in describing the difficulties and dangers of riding +through unfrequented forest paths in the night time; but the Padre was +in a minority, and had to submit. We accordingly procured a guide, and +started. For a couple of miles we kept the main road, and got along +smoothly; we then turned off at right angles into the forest. The night +was exceedingly dark, and the path narrow, and even in the daytime +obscure. But our guide seemed entirely at home, and we followed as well +as we were able. Occasionally he shouted “cuidado!” “take care,” which +was the signal to fall flat on our horses, in order to escape the limbs +and branches of the trees. But notwithstanding all our caution, we got +some most ungentle thumps and scratches, and were several times nearly +dragged from our saddles. Once we became entangled for a quarter of an +hour, in the top of a fallen tree, and had literally to cut our way +through it with our swords and machetes. The Padre considerately kept in +the rear, and got the benefit of all our experiences. Our progress was +necessarily very slow, and I began to fear that we had lost our way, and +almost to repent that we had not taken the Padre’s advice, when we heard +the lowing of cattle and the barking of dogs in the distance. Thus +encouraged, we pressed on, and soon came into a broader path. We pursued +this for some distance, the barking of the dogs becoming every moment +more distinct, until finally emerging from the woods, we galloped +towards a little eminence, where a number of fires proclaimed the +existence of the cattle rancho. It was surrounded by a kind of stockade, +or fence of upright posts, and, as we approached, we were saluted with a +ferocious “_Quien vive?_” who are you? Night descents by robbers, on the +haciendas, during civil disturbances in the country, are by no means +uncommon occurrences; and as the estates have usually a considerable +number of men attached to them, they sometimes result in severe fights. +Our approach had therefore alarmed the establishment, and had not our +guide been known, we might have been turned back with a volley, instead +of having the gate opened to us with an invitation to enter. In the +centre of the square was a mud house, surrounded by a thatched shed, +beneath which a dozen hammocks were suspended. Three or four fires were +smouldering just outside of this shed, and around them were reclining +some calves which had been bitten by bats, or injured by wild animals. A +dozen surly dogs stalked amongst the swarthy “vaqueros,” or herdsmen, +whose half naked figures were just visible by the faint red light of the +fires. A couple of women, alarmed by the sound of voices, hurried, +scantily dressed, from the house, but were at once reassured by the +Padre. Altogether, with the champing horses, and the gleaming of arms, +shut in as it was by the darkness as with a pall, the scene was +singularly wild and picturesque. + +The animals attended to, the next thing was to dispose ourselves for the +night. The women offered us the house, in which were two naked hide +beds. My bones were agonized at the sight of them, and I chose a hammock +beneath the shed, and wrapping myself in my blanket, tumbled in. The men +gave up their places without grumbling, and stretched themselves on the +bare earth. Soon all was still, except the melancholy howl of the “mono +colorado,” and the low, distant murmur of the lake. I slept soundly +until roused by Ben’s morning gun at the earliest dawn. He had already +prepared a cup of chocolate, which, with a cracker and a _jicara_ of +fresh milk, constituted our breakfast. The horses were saddled, and +giving the princely sum of a rial each to the men whom we had so +summarily dislodged, we started for the lake. The road was through a +beautiful forest of large trees, which the cattle kept comparatively +free from underbrush, and which had occasional open places, where the +ground was covered with long fresh grass. Half an hour brought us to the +shore. The sun had not yet risen, but a brilliant coronet of rays shot +up above the sharply defined and fantastic outlines of the distant +mountains of Segovia, and was reflected in the tremulous waters of the +lake. Immediately in front, towered the volcano of Momotombo; its lower +half purple in the shade, and its upper of the richest amber. A thin +column of smoke rose almost perpendicularly from its summit, which first +caught the crimson rays of the sun, and then changed to gold. Upon the +right, a perfect cone, was the island for which we were bound, and in +the foreground our boat, half drawn up on the shore, and near by, at the +root of a great tree, clustering around their breakfast fire, was its +crew. They had been encamped here for two days, awaiting our arrival; +and would have waited a month for that matter—for what was time to them, +so long as the lake furnished fish, and plantains were plenty? + +Our horses were fastened to a long rope, one behind the other, and sent +back in charge of our guide to the hacienda, with express instructions +to have them on the shore again at nightfall, in case we should return. +Our boat, like some of the bongos on Lake Nicaragua, was hollowed from +the single trunk of a cebia tree. It was upwards of forty feet long, and +full six feet broad, permitting a tall man to lie across its bottom. +There was no wind, and the men were obliged to take to their oars. And +as it was not greatly out of our way, we determined before going to the +island to pass to the foot of the great volcano, and visit the hot +springs at its base. The intervening bay is upwards of ten miles broad, +but we crossed it before nine o’clock. While on the lake, we had an +excellent opportunity to view the volcano. It is about six thousand +feet, or one mile and a fourth, in perpendicular height, and very +steep,—so steep, indeed, that even if there were no danger in the +ascent, it would probably be impossible to reach its summit. Its lower +half is covered with trees, which in the ravines that seam its sides run +up still higher, gradually narrowing like the points of a ruff. The +upper half seems made up of scoria, which, near the summit, gives place +to ashes of a white color. The crater appears small and regular in +outline; and there are some openings on the sides, towards its base, +which emit steam and smoke, and around which sulphur is deposited on the +rocks. These are called “infernales,” and we observed one on the side +towards us, at a comparatively small elevation, which greatly excited +our curiosity, and which we resolved to visit. + +At the point where we landed, the ground was composed of a kind of +ochery earth, of a dark red color, varied with yellow, which the boatmen +told us was used for paint. A fourth of a mile to the right, and +immediately at the edge of the lake, were the “fuentes calientes,” or +hot springs. They are hundreds in number; in fact, for a considerable +extent, the ground was covered with white incrustations, resembling a +field of snow; and as we walked over it, the sound of the water beneath +was like that of a violently boiling cauldron. There were numerous +openings, from which rose columns of steam, and where the water boiled +up to the height of from six inches to two feet. Around some of these +places the deposites had gradually built up little cones, with openings +in the centre, where the clear water bubbled as in a kettle. I sent +specimens of the deposites to the United States for analysis, but they +unfortunately miscarried, and I am consequently unable to give the +constituents of which they are made up. They will no doubt be duly +announced when the “Grand Volcano Hotel, and North American Natural Hot +Spring Bath Establishment,” shall be opened for invalids, on the shores +of Lake Managua. + +Between the shore and the true base of the volcano is a gentle slope, +ridged with beds of lava, which run down into the lake, but which have +become disintegrated on the surface, and are now covered with coarse +grass, bushes, and clumps of trees. Here cattle from distant haciendas +are allowed to roam from one year’s end to the other, until they become +almost as wild as the deer themselves. The vaqueros occasionally visit +them, to mark the young ones, or to select the best ones for sale, but +beyond this they receive no care or attention. We started over this +slope, in the direction of the smoking orifice which we had observed +from the lake. But we were under the lee of the mountains, where not a +breath of wind reached us, and exposed to the full glow of the sun; and +before we had gone a mile, we almost repented of our undertaking. The +doctor, the padre, and myself alone persisted in proceeding. The surface +became rougher as we advanced, and scrubby trees and thorny bushes +impeded our progress, and shut out from view the place which we were +struggling to reach. We next came to ridges of treacherous, scoriaceous +sand, which yielded beneath our feet, and which we only ascended by +clinging to the clumps of grass which grew here and there, and by +driving our swords to their hilts in the ground, as supports. But our +progress was slow and painful, and we were compelled to pause every +second minute to recover our strength. Finally, the sun was no longer +hot, it was withering, and the dry scoriæ became blistering to the +touch. I looked up towards the top of the volcano, and shall never +forget its utterly bald and desolate appearance. The atmosphere on its +sides seemed to undulate with heat, and the reflected rays burned my +eyeballs. I turned to my companions, and found that they suffered +equally with myself. The padre had wisely bound his handkerchief over +his head and eyes. It was folly, he said, to attempt to go further, and +we concurred with him, and retraced our steps. The descent was of course +comparatively easy, but when I reached the boat, I was completely +exhausted, and adequately convinced of the folly of attempting to climb +volcanoes under a tropical sun, at midday. + +Oviedo speaks of this volcano as one very high, “its summit pierced by a +multitude of separate orifices, whence smoke is always rising, which can +be seen at the distance of twenty leagues. No flame,” he continues, “is +visible by day or night. An abundance of sulphur may be found here, +according to the report of those who have used it in the manufacture of +powder, and also of those who have used it for other purposes. On the +sides and parts adjacent to this volcano, for a distance of five or six +leagues, there is an abundance of springs of boiling water like the +Sufretarari, (Solfatara,) that may be seen at Pouzzole, two or three +leagues from Naples. I should think that all these mountains formed but +one mine of sulphur. There are also orifices through which proceeds a +stream of air, so warm as to be unendurable. If we approach it, we seem +to hear the uproar of a vast number of forges in full blast, sometimes +ceasing, and in a few moments recommencing again; but the time the noise +can be heard is at least four times as long as the pauses. Near the +village of Totoa is a thermal spring, so warm that the Indians use it +for cooking their meat, fish, and bread. These articles of food are +cooked in less time than it would take to repeat the _Credo_ twice; and +as for eggs, they would be _done_ sooner than an _Ave_.” + +We found our men quietly smoking their cigars under the shade of a tree, +perfectly careless as to whether they stayed there all day or proceeded. +Such an imperturbable set I verily believe were never before got +together. We told them to push off for the island, which they did in the +most leisurely manner. The wind had begun to blow, and as it was against +us, they towed the boat along under the lee of the shore, walking by its +side in the water, which, at the distance of a quarter of a mile out, +was hardly breast-deep. We saw many deer, and a number of lazy +alligators on the shore, but beyond the reach of our rifles. We finally +came to the “Punta del Pajaro,” a high ledge of naked basaltic rocks +projecting out into the lake, and covered with myriads of water-fowls. +Here our men took to their oars, and paddled direct for the island. The +afternoon wind was now blowing strongly, and the lake was rough. It +required two hours’ hard rowing to bring us to the island, where we +pulled ashore in a little cove, protected from the swell of the lake. + +[Illustration: IDOL FROM MOMOTOMBITA, NO. 2.] + +[Illustration: FRONT VIEW OF HEAD OF NO. 2.] + +This island is volcanic, and rises in a regular cone from the water’s +edge, to the height of two thousand eight hundred feet. It is about +eight miles in circumference, and is covered with a dense forest. The +shore where we landed was stony, but a short distance back the stones +gave place to sand and a rich loam. Victorino, our patron, knew the +locality of the monuments, and putting on his sandals, took his machete, +and led the way, peering suspiciously to the right and the left. We +inquired the cause of his caution, and received the comforting assurance +“hay muchos cascabeles,” “there are many rattlesnakes!” The Dr. whipped +out his sword, stepped high, and constantly startled us by mistaking +vines, coiling on the ground, for “cascabeles.” After proceeding for +about half an hour, we came to a spot where the underbrush and bushes +gave place to high grass. Here was a kind of natural amphitheatre, +within which the ground was smooth, sloping gently towards the lake, and +shadowed over with high trees. This, Victorino informed us, was the site +of the monuments, but they had all fallen, and the tall grass hid them +from our view. We were compelled to beat it down with our machetes, and +thus discover the figures one by one. As I have said, many had been +carried away, and most of those which remained were broken, or so +defaced as to be of little value for my purposes. Victorino said that he +could remember when there were as many as fifty statues here, and when +some of them stood erect. According to his account and that of others, +they had been arranged in the form of a square, their faces looking +inwards; and the position of those which remained, and of the fragments, +confirmed the story. Amongst the few still entire, was one of large +size, and which a party, sent by the English Consul, had a few years +before endeavored to carry away for the British Museum, but after +getting it part of the way to the lake, had abandoned it in despair. It +was ruder than some of the others, but perfect, and I at once resolved +to remove it, with a view of sending it to the United States. I +accordingly sent Victorino to bring his boat and men to the nearest +point possible, and with Dr. Livingston, the Padre, and Ben, began to +cut down small trees of the proper size for skids or pries, and to open +a path to the lake. When Victorino came with his lazy crew, we set them +to work also, but they did not accomplish much, and we soon found that +we had to bear the burthen of the labor ourselves. With great difficulty +we cleared a road, and laying down large skids rolled the figure upon +them. Beneath it a colony of “alacrans del monte,” or black scorpions, +had established themselves; and in an instant they swarmed around our +legs. The half naked Indians retreated precipitately, but, protected by +our high, thick boots we stood our ground, and stamped the little +stinging monsters to death with our heels. It was not, however, until we +had succeeded in moving the statue some distance from the spot, that we +could persuade the Indians to rejoin us. After two hours of hard work, +we rolled it to the shore; but now the question was to get it in the +boat. Victorino protested, in the first place, against trying to carry +it at all, as it would surely crush the boat and drown us; and, in the +second place, against putting it in the bottom, which, he said, it would +inevitably break through. In fact we were a good deal staggered +ourselves; we had not thought of this, but nevertheless determined not +to lose our labor. If it was put at the bottom, even though it might not +break through, it was clear that we never could muster force enough to +get it out. So we decided that it should be carried by placing it +lengthwise on the rowers’ seats, which, in order to support the weight, +were to be strengthened by crossbars. The men stood aghast at our +proposition, and at first utterly refused to assist us. They took the +padre aside and told him that “these Americans were certainly crazy.” We +however promised them each a half dollar extra, administered a dose of +brandy and water, and finally got them to take hold again. An inclined +plane of timbers was built up against the boat, which was half filled +with stones, to sink her as low as possible, and to fix her firmly in +the sand. The statue was then gradually rolled on board. More than once +I thought our fabric would break down; had it done so there would have +been more crushed legs than whole ones in the company. After it was +secured, part of the stones were thrown out, and we soon had the +satisfaction of seeing the bongo afloat, and perfectly balanced. A +profile view of this figure is given in the foregoing engraving. It is +regularly cut in black basalt, or trachyte, of intense hardness. The +features of the face are singularly bold and severe in outline; the brow +is broad, the nose aquiline, the cheeks high, the mouth open, and +containing what we may infer (for reasons which will be given elsewhere) +was intended to represent a human heart. The arms and legs are rudely +indicated, but the distinctive sexual features are broadly marked. And +here it may be observed that, while most of these statues represent +males, some of them represent females; and there are but few in which +the sex is not distinguishable. The reason for these distinctions may be +found in the fact that the doctrine of the Reciprocal Principles of +Nature, or Nature Active and Passive Male and Female, was recognized in +nearly all the primitive religious systems of the New as well as of the +Old World, and in none more clearly than in those of Central America. +Besides this figure, we carried off the colossal head represented in the +above drawing; but found nothing more which would repay the trouble of +removal. There may have been other figures of interest hidden in the +long grass and bushes; and Victorino informed us that upon the opposite +side of the island there was still another place, where there were +formerly many “piedras antiguas;” but that also was overgrown with +grass. It was now late, and unless we spent the night on the island, it +was clear we could make no further examinations. And as I proposed to +return in the dry season, when the grass might be removed by burning, we +concluded to relinquish our explorations for the present. + +[Illustration: COLOSSAL HEAD FROM MOMOTOMBITA.] + +The island of Momotombita was anciently inhabited, and called Cocobolo. +I observed fragments of pottery, and of vessels of stone, strewed all +over the shore; and in the little cove where we landed there were +evidences that the rocks had been rolled away to facilitate the approach +of boats to the land. At a point on the shore of the main land, nearly +opposite the island, is a line of large stones, extending for the +distance of one or two hundred yards into the water, and projecting +above it. The Indians have a vague tradition that this was a causeway +built by “los antiguos habitantes,” extending from the shore to the +island; and Capt. Belcher, of the British navy, who travelled here in +1838, seems to think the story not improbable. The supposed causeway is +nothing more than a narrow vein of rock injected at some remote period +through a fissure in the superior strata or crust of the earth; and +being harder than the materials surrounding it, has retained its +elevation, while they have been worn away by the action of the water. + +It was quite sunset when we pushed off from the island; and when we got +out from under its lee, we found the wind blowing a gale, and the sea +high. Ours was a ticklish load; and, as the bongo had no keel, the +necessity of keeping her directly before the wind was obvious; for had +she rolled a foot on either side, the stone would have overset us in a +twinkling. Victorino was anxious but cool, and his men were too much +alarmed not to obey orders, and we put up the sail and got under way +without accident. Fortunately the winds here blow with great steadiness, +or our voyage might have been rendered more perilous than it was, and +that would have been quite unnecessary. The night fell, dark and cloudy; +the Padre and M—— soon became seasick, and the crew, consoling +themselves that we had a priest on board, gathered around the foot of +the mast, and silently told their beads. Ben stationed himself, knife in +hand, at the halyards, and I clung to a stick of light wood which I +found in the boat, and calculated the chances of getting ashore by its +aid, in case our stone god should upset us. Altogether we had a serious +time, and the three hours which we occupied in passing to the land +seemed quite as long as six under ordinary circumstances. It was so dark +that we could not distinguish the shore, but fortunately the fire, left +by the men in the morning, fanned by the wind, had caught in the trunk +of the tree at the foot of which it was built, and answered the purpose +of a lighthouse in guiding us to our destination. Here we succeeded in +landing under the lee of some large rocks, against which the surf broke +with the force and noise of the ocean. I now quite comprehended why +Capt. Belcher, old salt as he was, declined venturing upon this lake, +even after having brought a boat for the purpose all the way from +Realejo. I felt no ordinary degree of satisfaction when I found myself +on terra firma once more. In removing the loose articles of our +equipment from the boat, Ben was twice stung in the hand by a scorpion, +and danced about the shore in an agony of pain. I however wrapped his +hand in a cloth soaked in brandy, and gave him copious internal doses of +the same,—the best, and usually the most accessible, remedy. + +Our horses were not to be found; either our guide had not brought them +down, or else had returned with them to the rancheria. We held a council +as to whether it was best to camp on the shore or push through the +forest to our quarters of the preceding night. The uncomfortable wind +and a few heavy drops of rain decided us; and, with Victorino, bearing +some brands of fire at our head, we set out. It was as dark as Erebus in +the woods, and quite impossible to discern the person next in advance. +We however followed the fire, and after a weary march came to the +hacienda. We were tired and hungry, but there was nothing to eat except +_tiste_ and curds. We made the most of these, but went to our hammocks +unsatisfied, consoling ourselves, however, with the prospect of an +illimitable breakfast at the house of our hostess of the five slippered +daughters, in Pueblo Nuevo. + +Before leaving next morning, I distributed the promised favors amongst +our crew, and engaged the entire force of the estate to assist our +guide, who was to return with a cart for the statue. A few days after, +it reached Leon, having broken down three carts on the road. I +subsequently sent it to Realejo, whence it was shipped, via Cape Horn, +for the United States. It is now deposited in the Museum of the +Smithsonian Institution, at Washington. And thus terminated my first +antiquarian episode in Nicaragua. The Padre expressed himself satisfied; +one such ride, he said, was enough for a lifetime. + +I have elsewhere said that the Indians of Subtiaba brought me two idols, +shortly after my arrival in Leon. A reduced back view of the first of +these is presented in the subjoined engraving. It had been broken, and a +portion, perhaps comprising one-third of the entire figure, had been +lost. The part which remains is something less than six feet in height +by eighteen inches in diameter, or upwards of four feet in +circumference. The face has been battered with heavy sledges, and its +features obliterated. The ornaments upon the back and elsewhere are, +however, very well preserved, and are quite elaborate; more resembling +those of Copan than any others discovered in the country. The face seems +to project through the widely distended jaws of some animal, the head of +which serves as a head dress. The ancient Mexican soldiers had a common +practice of wearing the heads of animals, or helmets in imitation of +them, on their heads in battle, to render themselves horrible, and +frighten their enemies. Upon its breast the figure sustains a kind of +plate, or some piece of armor, and upon its right arm wears a shield. +The carving seems to have been very good; but the zeal of the early +Christians, and the corroding tooth of time, have greatly injured the +entire statue, which is now in the Museum of the Smithsonian +Institution. + +[Illustration: IDOL FROM SUBTIABA, NO. 1.] + +IDOL FROM SUBTIABA, NO. 2.—This figure closely resembles that just +described, and, like that, has suffered greatly from the same cause. The +features of the face are entirely obliterated; the design of the head +dress is, however, more apparent, and is palpably what I have already +indicated, the jaws of some monstrous animal, between which the face of +the figure projects. It is less elaborately sculptured than No. 1, but +of the same material, and corresponding in size. One hand rests upon the +breast, the other hangs loosely at the side. This idol also is deposited +in the museum of the Smithsonian Institution. + +[Illustration: IDOL FROM SUBTIABA, NO. 2.] + + +[Illustration: IDOL FROM SUBTIABA, NO. 3.] + +IDOLS FROM SUBTIABA, NO. 3.—Subsequent to the presentation of the two +figures above described, I had a fragment brought to me, of which a +front view is given in the annexed engraving. It is of sand-stone, two +feet six inches high, by ten or twelve inches in diameter, much frayed +and worn by exposure, and greatly injured by violence. It bears +evidences of having been elaborately ornamented, and seems to have been +designed to represent a female. Its most singular feature, however, is a +mask of the human face, which is held upon the abdomen by both hands. +Perhaps, however, the Indians were right in suggesting that it +represents an opening in the abdomen, held apart by the hands, and +exposing some mythological figure therein concealed. There are some +reasons in support of this suggestion, which it would hardly be proper +to submit in a work of this popular character. The figure has also been +broken, and less than half of it now remains. + +The idols above described, as I have already said, were brought to my +house by the Indians; and I know nothing concerning them, except that +they were exhumed near the base of the Cerro Santiago, to the south-west +of Leon, where they had been buried for several generations. I +subsequently learned of the existence of others in the same direction, +and went, in company with a guide, kindly obtained for me by General +Guerrero, to examine them. Our route lay through Subtiaba, in the +direction of the ocean. We passed over a beautiful undulating country, +full of abandoned plantations, and watered by several fine streams, +skirting the hills to the south-west of Leon. At the distance of about +three or four leagues from the city, we came to a series of “jicarales,” +in the midst of which was a cattle estate. Cows and deer were herding +together, the latter appearing quite as tame as the first. Beyond the +hacienda was a high, bare hill, steep as the pyramids, called Mount St. +Michael, the base of which is studded round with large loose stones, +causing our horses to stumble fearfully, and over which we passed with +great difficulty. We then came to the finest “jicaral” I had yet seen. +It resembled a well-kept New England orchard; the trees had fewer +parasites to rob them of their vitality, and the ground was covered with +a smooth carpet of grass. Intermixed with these were numbers of the wild +“jocote” or plum-trees, heavily laden with yellow and red fruit, which +was not unpleasant to the taste, but which poisoned my lips, and made +them sore for a week. The same fruit, when cultivated, is fine, and is +used in a great variety of ways. The forest in which the idols were +concealed commenced abruptly upon one side of the “jicaral,” and was an +almost impenetrable mass of vines, underbrush, and broad-leaved tropical +plants. A thousand monuments might have been buried here for years +without being discovered, except by the merest accident; and as we had +to cut our path with our swords, I began to have serious misgivings as +to the success of our expedition. Our guide, however, peering from side +to side, seemed confident as to his whereabouts, as well as to that of +the “piedras,” and in half an hour we came to the spot where they had +existed. I say had existed, for although the ground was strewn with +fragments, but a single figure, “IDOL FROM SUBTIABA, NO. 4,” remained +entire. It stood as shown in the accompanying plate, partially buried in +the earth. Its height above the ground was six feet four inches; the +material, sand-stone. As in the other instances, the face had been +mutilated, but the remainder of the figure was nearly perfect. The hair +seemed to be thrown back from the forehead in rolls; or perhaps what I +have supposed to be the hair is a modified example of that kind of +ornamental featherwork so common in the ancient monuments of Mexico, +Yucatan, and Central America. A broad collar passes around the neck, and +a circular plate, or shield, with an attempt at a representation of a +human face in the centre, is suspended from it, in front of the figure. +A kind of belt passes around the body, above the hips, from which +depends a flap, like that frequently worn by the Indians of the +frontiers, even to this day. At the lower extremity of this is a round, +cup-shaped hole, capable of containing about a quart, the purposes of +which are not apparent. + +In cutting paths around this figure, I came upon an oblong elevation of +stones, which seemed to have been the base of some edifice, or one of +the ancient teocallis or altars of the aborigines. It was about two +hundred feet long, sixty broad, and ten high. Around the edges the +stones still retained some degree of regularity, but the whole was +nevertheless a ruin, and large trees were growing on its summit. The +numerous fragments of sculpture scattered around this spot showed +conclusively that it had been visited by systematic violence, not only +anciently, at the period of the Conquest, but subsequently, and within a +very few years. My guide told me that he could remember the time when +the Indians came here secretly by night, and performed strange dances +around these idols, and poured out libations before them. The ground +around the single erect figure above described was comparatively free +from undergrowth, showing that even now it is secretly visited, by the +descendants of the people who first erected it, for the performance of +traditionary, sacred ceremonies. The priests are vigilant in detecting +and putting down these remnants of idolatry; and only a few months +before my arrival had broken up a remarkable figure of an animal called +“El Toro,” the bull, which existed about a league distant from this very +spot, and to which the Indians, for a long time, openly resorted, to +make offerings of _tiste_, and to perform dances preparatory to putting +their crops in the ground. The destruction of the idol was effected +secretly, and afterwards proclaimed to have been done by the lightnings +of indignant heaven; but one of my Indian friends told me privately that +the Indians understood the trick, and knew that this lightning went on +two legs, and wore a cassock! I would have gone to the spot, and +endeavored to have restored the fragments for a sketch, but my guide +told me that the natives had carried them off and buried them. + +While engaged with the stones, we had carelessly, and as usual, let our +horses go loose. For the first time, they now took it into their heads +to abuse this indulgence, and trotted off. The more we endeavored to +coax them back the more vicious they were, and finally dashed off at +full speed into the “jicaral,” where they kicked up their heels in great +glee. The prospect of a walk back to Leon, with the loss of saddles, +pistols, swords, and other et ceteras, if not of the brutes themselves, +was little calculated to excite our admiration of these antics. The +chase continued half an hour, when we succeeded in securing the horse of +our guide; but unfortunately he was the poorest of the whole, and not +able to come near the others in a race. Luckily our guide had a lasso, +and after another half hour of manœuvring, in which we all got heated +and angry, my own horse was secured. He was duly “lathered” for his +pains, and was handed over to the guide to pursue the others; being the +fleetest, the business was soon done. We took precious good care that +they should not get the upper hand of us again that day, and rode them +home with a malignant pressure on the terrible Mexican bit, and with no +stinted application of the equally terrible Spanish-American spur. + +Upon our return, the guide conducted us out of our way into a kind of +amphitheatre amongst the hills, to what he called the “Capilla de la +Piedra,” the Stone Chapel. It was a large rock of conical shape, placed +high on the slope facing the entrance to this natural circus, and upon +that side had a niche, or hollow, capable of containing four or five +persons, and which seemed to have been cut in the rock. I failed to +satisfy myself whether it was natural or artificial; but finally +concluded, from its position and regularity, that it was a natural +opening in the rock, enlarged and modified by art. There were traces of +fire, and fragments of broken pottery around it, and immediately in +front a large flat stone, which might have been used for an altar. As I +looked at it, surrounded by rough, frowning rocks, and shrouded with +vines, I fancied it an appropriate niche for an idol, and imagined this +natural amphitheatre filled with a superstitious multitude, in blind +adoration before it, while the blood of human sacrifices flowed perhaps +on the very spot where I now stood. + +I have said that I knew not whence the Indians obtained the idols which +they brought to me, beyond that they were exhumed at the base of the +Cerro de Santiago, near Subtiaba. Now the Fray FRANCISCO DE BOBADILLA, +of the Order of Mercy, was especially active in the conversion of the +Indians of Nicaragua, which process, according to the chronicler Oviedo +y Valdez, consisted in baptizing them, giving them a Christian name, and +exacting forty grains of cacao! Bobadilla converted forty thousand in +three months in the dominions of the cazique of Nagrando, whose +principal town was where the city of Leon now stands. He also prevailed +upon the cazique to allow him to throw down the idols which stood in +“the spacious and sumptuous temple which the Indians, under the special +direction of the devil, had erected there,” and to set up the cross in +their stead. After he had battered the faces of these idols with a mace, +Bobadilla threw them down from their high places, intending to burn them +with fire, in order to show the Indians the impotence of their _teots_; +but, “during the night some did take them away and buried them, so that +they could not be found.” And it is not unlikely that those are the very +idols exhumed for me by the Indians of Subtiaba, two of which, after +doubling the Horn, now frown down upon the “hijos de Washington,” from +the west corridor of the Smithsonian Institution! + +Upon the site of this temple was afterwards built the Christian church +“La Mercedes de Subtiaba,” which for more than two hundred years has +been in ruins. Its adobe walls have subsided into brambly mounds, and +all is formless save the piers on which its wooden pillars stood, and +its low, Moorish archway, flanked by two slender columns, which rise +white and spectral above a tangled mass of verdure. The town, of which +it was once the centre, has shrunk in the lapse of time, and is now a +mile distant; and the aboriginal city of which Bobadilla speaks, which +covered three square leagues, and had more than one hundred thousand +inhabitants, has dwindled to less than one fourth of that number. We +visited this church on our return. Ben cut away the bushes with his +_machete_, and we rode over the outline mounds, and stood where the +simple Indians had knelt, centuries ago, in silent awe before the +symbols of a new and imposing religion. A few rude wooden crosses marked +the deep pits within which were heaped the victims of the cholera, when +in 1837, five years after it had devastated our country, it more than +decimated the population of Leon. Two or three Indians, returning from +their daily toil in the fields, hearing our voices, pushed their way +through the bushes, and reverently took off their hats, when they +entered the sacred area. We asked them if they knew aught of the ancient +church, or who built it? “_Quien sabe?_” was the sole reply, and they +moved the forefinger of the right hand slowly back and forth, in token +of ignorance. It was very ancient, they said—“muy, muy antigua!” Upon +the smooth stucco beneath the arch, rudely scratched in the lime, I +read, “JUAN PERALTA, _Estranjero_, 173.” + +This church was built before Hudson floated on the waters of the +magnificent river bearing his name; before the Pilgrims knelt on the +wintry shores of New England, and before Smith spread the terrors of his +arm among the Indians of Virginia. And unless some sacrilegious hand +shall level the ancient archway, it will yet stand for centuries to mark +the site of aboriginal superstition, and attest the zeal of the Fray +Bobadilla, who baptized forty thousand Indians, receiving therefor, if +they all “paid up,” one million six hundred thousand grains of cacao. +Pious Bobadilla! + +There are several other ruined and abandoned Christian churches now +buried in the forests in the suburbs of Subtiaba, the dwelling-places of +the bats and birds, over whose crumbling walls, and around whose falling +columns, creep the wild vines, blooming with flowers, and shedding their +fragrance above the silent and deserted altars of the Most High. Ruins +upon ruins—Christian church and heathen shrine, they have all sunk down +together. + +We returned to Leon to find ourselves covered with “agarrapatas” or wood +ticks, with which the forest fairly swarms during the dry season, and +which are brushed off upon travellers by the thousand. They penetrate +straight to the skin, and bury their heads in the flesh, causing an +irritation which drives many people to distraction. When once fastened +it is impossible to detach them by force, without leaving the head in +the flesh, where it gets along on its own account, apparently a great +deal better than when encumbered by the body. The only mode of removing +them is with a ball of soft wax, which is rubbed over the body, and to +which they adhere. Some are small, hardly visible to the naked eye, +others are of the size of flax, and even of melon seeds; but “the +smaller the worser.” Next to the fleas they rank as the predominant +annoyance of the country. Musquitoes (sancudos), in Leon, the principal +towns, and the open parts of the country generally, there are none; but +compared with fleas and “agarrapatas,” the snakes, scorpions, +“chinches,” “sancudos,” and all the other abominations of tropical +climates are mere bagatelle, and scarcely worth the mentioning. + +[Illustration: SIDE VIEW OF IDOL FROM SUBTIABA, NO. 1.] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +[Illustration: IDOL FROM SUBTIABA.—No. 4.] + +[Illustration: RUINS OF THE ANCIENT CHURCH OF LA MERCED DE SUBTIABA.] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + CHAPTER XII. + +AMUSEMENTS IN LEON—COCK FIGHTING—“PATIO DE LOS GALLOS”—DECLINE OF THE + COCK PIT—GAMING—BULL BAITING—NOVEL RIDING—“UNA SAGRADA FUNCION,” OR + MYSTERY—A POEM, AND A DRAMA—“UNA COMPANIA DE FUNAMBULOS,” OR ROPE + DANCERS—GREAT ANTICIPATIONS—A NOVEL THEATRE—THE PERFORMANCE—“LA + JOVENA CATALINA,” AND THE “ECCENTRIC CLOWN, SIMON,”—“TOBILLOS + GRUESOS,” OR “BIG ANKLES.”—“FIESTAS,” AND SAINTS’ DAYS—THE “FIESTA” + OF ST. ANDREW—DANCE OF THE DEVILS—UNEARTHLY MUSIC—ALL-SAINTS’ DAY—A + CARNIVAL IN SUBTIABA—AN ABRUPT CONCLUSION. + + +The novelty of a first visit once worn off, there is little to interest +the stranger in Leon. There are no “stated” amusements, except at the +cock-pit, which is open every Sunday afternoon. This is always crowded, +but not often visited by the better portion of the population. It is a +smooth spot of ground in the court-yard of the proprietor’s house, +fenced in by canes to the height of about four feet, surrounded by high +benches, and covered with a thatched roof. In the corridors of the house +are little stalls, in which the cocks are kept, and here the wife and +daughters of the proprietor sell chocolate and dulces to the visitors. +No liquors are allowed upon the premises; and the Government, with a +wise prevision, has always an alcalde and a file of soldiers present to +preserve order. Visitors are admitted at a medio a head, and each one is +at liberty to bring his “bird” with him. If a match cannot be made +otherwise, the proprietor is obliged to accept the challenge of any of +his visitors. A certain sum is paid to him on each cock entered, +one-fourth of which goes into the city treasury. I visited the place but +once, and suppose that the manner of fighting the cocks can afford but +little, of what, I believe, is called “sport.” After a match was made +up, the cocks had long, sword-shaped gaffs, double-edged, sharp as +needles, and in some cases three or four inches long, bound on their +legs, with which they almost invariably crippled themselves in their +preliminary manœuvers. The contests were consequently very brief; one or +two passes generally finished them. The bets were never high, but the +excitement none the less in consequence. In former times, the proprietor +told me, he numbered all the “caballeros” of the city amongst his +visitors, and then golden ounces were wagered instead of dirty +rials,—and he drew a handful of the latter from his pocket with a +contemptuous sneer, and then violently thrust them back again. He longed +for a change; any change would be acceptable to him which should bring +back the caballeros and the golden ounces! + +But because the more respectable people of Leon do not frequent the +cock-pit, it is not to be inferred that they are wholly averse to the +species of amusement practised there. On the contrary, in the back +corridors of the houses,—and in none more frequently than in those of +the padres,—a dozen fine cocks may almost always be found, or at all +events heard, if not seen. Quiet little parties are got up of +afternoons, cocks fought, and not unfrequently, on such occasions, if +report speaks true, golden ounces find themselves suddenly transferred +from one “bolsa” to another. + +Gaming is a passion amongst the people of all Spanish America. But in +Nicaragua it is conducted with less publicity and perhaps to a less +extent than in most of the Spanish States. Nevertheless, I heard of +instances during my residence in the country, in which thousands of +dollars had changed hands in a single evening. The game is, I believe, +universally, the well-known “_monte_.” There are several billiard-rooms +in Leon, which seemed to be always full; but they were not very elegant +nor even clean. And in the Calle Real there was a licensed gaming-house, +“Casa de Juego,” the only one, I believe, in the city. It was crowded +every night by the lower classes of the population. The gambling, as +might be inferred from the character of its frequenters, was of a petty +kind,—of the “dirty rial” order of our friend of the “patio de los +gallos.” + +Central America commenced its Republican career with very sweeping +reforms, taking the United States for its model. Amongst the earliest +acts of its government was the prohibition of bull-fighting. The old +taste for that amusement has not, however, died out, but has assumed a +somewhat different form. It was a festival week in the barrio of the +Calvario,—_what_ festival I do not remember, for there was no end to the +fiestas and saint’s days,—and we were told that it was to end with “uno +juego de los toros,” or bull baiting, (as near as I could understand +it,) in the plaza of the church of that district. In fact the cura +waited upon us in person, and invited us to attend. We went in the +afternoon, and found a high, strong fence built around the square, with +a supplementary enclosure outside, leading into the larger one by a +narrow passage closed with heavy bars. The roof and towers of the church +were covered with people, mostly women, and amongst them was a band of +music. All around the square, and clinging to the fence was a swarm of +naked muchachos, and outside of these a great number of horsemen, who, +seated on their steeds, could distinctly witness the whole performance. +Amongst these we took up our position, the crowd giving us the most +commanding place, while an officious alcalde whipped the boys off the +fence in front, so as to allow an uninterrupted view. The music kept up +a great noise, but the crowd had waited a long time, and were impatient, +and assuming the universal prerogatives of crowds, cried out to the +musicos “to stop their noise,” and to the managers “to bring in the +bulls.” Directly the bars of the smaller enclosure were raised, and a +horseman dashed in with a lasso attached to his saddle, dragging after +him a large black bull, by the horns. He drove at full gallop around the +square, and then adroitly pulled the bull, which was now furious, to a +stout post in the centre, where by a few dexterous evolutions he +fastened him securely, with his head motionless against the post. Three +or four men now approached, and cautiously, and with much difficulty, +fastened an “albardo” or common saddle of the country on the back of the +bull, securing it firmly by bands around the body of the animal. +Fireworks were then fastened to its horns and tail, and an invitation +extended to whoever might choose _á manejar el toro_. Two or three +stalwart fellows, ambitious of distinction, volunteered, one of whom was +chosen. He mounted very adroitly, and securing himself in his seat, the +fireworks were lighted, and the rope cut. The bull bounded away amidst +the explosion of bombas, the beating of drums, and the shouts of the +multitude, foaming with rage, making awkward but prodigious leaps, and +driving at every object which came in view. There were three or four +horsemen in the ring with staves having a little red flag at one end, +and a sharp spike at the other. These they alternately dashed before the +eyes of the bull, or drove into his flanks. When the fireworks commenced +to explode, the toro no longer made at any particular object, but dashed +blindly from side to side, throwing the rider from his seat into the +dust, where, for a moment, I thought he would be trampled to death, but +he scrambled up and made a rapid retreat, evidently more frightened than +hurt, over the barricade, amidst the jeers of the crowd, who would have +been better satisfied if he had come off with a broken limb or two, or +had been killed outright. The exertion was too much for the bull +himself, and after chasing the horsemen around for awhile, he marched +off, with his tongue hanging from his mouth, and covered with foam, into +a corner of the enclosure. There was no more sport to be got out of him, +and the crowd vociferated “take him away! take him away!” So one of the +horsemen threw a lasso over his horns and dragged him out. + +Another bull was then introduced, and the same process repeated. But +this time the rider kept his seat to the end, and for his skill or good +luck, got a plentiful supply of vivas from the boys, and of waving of +scarfs from the women. It is impossible to describe the excitement of +the multitude during the active parts of the exhibition; some stamped +and leaped about, and all shouted at the top of their lungs. When the +bull lacked spirit, they cried “away with the old cow! take away the +heifer!” and stoned him from the enclosure. I soon got enough of the +exhibition, and would have gone off, but the cura prevailed on me to +stay for the final act, which he said would be “muy glorioso,” very +glorious. Four bulls were then let loose together, but this time the +officer in command of the file of soldiers which was present, permitted +no riders. The precaution was a wise one, for only a few months before +two men had been killed by way of a “grand finale.” The bulls, maddened +by the noise and fireworks flashing in their eyes and whizzing in their +ears, attacked each other with the greatest fury, and one was dragged +out dead from the encounter. His flesh was claimed for the poor of the +barrio, and according to usage he was surrendered to them. This kind of +amusement I found was a favorite one throughout the State. + +I subsequently witnessed an exhibition of a different kind, in the same +place. It was announced as “_Una Sagrada Funcion_,” sometimes called +“_Sainete_,” a solemnity or mystery. It fell on a clear moonlight night, +and was one of the most singular spectacles which can be imagined. A +kind of stage was erected upon one side of the plaza, raised some six +feet from the ground, with a place behind, concealed by variously +colored cloths, for the participants. In front was a framework of wood, +supporting a great number of flaring tallow candles. When we reached the +plaza it was crowded with spectators. Many had brought their chairs with +them, and were seated in a semi-circle, in front of the stage, but most +were standing in groups and engaged in earnest conversation. All the +gallants were out, and nearly all carried long naked Toledos under their +arms,—a common practice on the occasion of night gatherings. The law, +however, forbids pistols, as well as swords or knives under a certain +length. It was a famous opportunity for all kinds of intrigue, and I +soon began to suspect that there would be more love-making than anything +else during the “funcion.” But what I saw and heard bearing upon this +point, is neither here nor there. Enough for me to say, I got a +comfortable seat in the midst of a bevy of the fairest señoritas, and +enjoyed the “funcion” as much as the best of them. + +In front of the stage was a kind of orchestra, made up of an infinitude +of fiddles and cracked clarionets, which discoursed most melancholy +music, for half an hour after we came upon the ground. At the end of +that time, it was announced that Señor Z., a young man who wrote poetry +and wore his hair long, after the manner of bardlings the world over, +would recite an appropriate poem. The Señor came forward, bowed low, and +after telling us what he proposed to say in plain prose, commenced his +poem. It related to Christ, dealt largely in superlatives, and +complimented our Saviour much after the manner a love-sick youth might +be supposed to address his mistress. The only redeeming point was the +manner, and the clear, distinct enunciation with which it was given. It +was listened to with attention, and vehemently applauded at its close. +While the speaker was in the midst of his heroics, and the entire +assemblage silent, I heard a heavy regular tramp, and turning, saw a +detachment of troops, marching slowly through the crowd, their arms +glancing in the moonlight. They defiled into the shade, close to the +wall of the church, and at the word of command, their muskets came down +with a startling clang upon the pavement. There they stood, like bronze +statues during the whole evening. This incident will illustrate the +condition of the country better than an essay. + +After the poem, the music struck up again, and we were treated to a +lugubrious song by two men and three women, but I could not make out +what it was about. Vocal music is certainly at a low ebb in Nicaragua; +_nasal_ music, however, is flourishing. Fortunately the people make no +pretensions to musical accomplishments, and thus criticism is disarmed. + +A kind of drama, in two acts, borrowed from the Bible, followed the +vocal entertainments, in which a shallow, rattling character or clown +was introduced, with other comic accessories. This was by far the best +part; the clown was a rare fellow, and acquitted himself well; but the +serious part was very serious. The characters talked in a kind of +monotonous recitative, like automatons, and without a particle of +action. An hour’s endurance of this was enough for a Christian, and +throwing some silver in the box of a man who went round for the purpose +of making a collection for the benefit of the church, I left, in company +with the señoritas, who inquired if similar “funcions” were common in +the United States? I told them yes, but that our padres consigned all +those who frequented them to the demonio, whereupon the señoritas opened +their big, black eyes, and ejaculated “Mira!” do tell! + +But all these “funcions” paled before an exhibition by “Una Compañia +Española de Funámbulos,” under the direction of Sr. D. Pedro Serrate, +which came to Leon shortly after our arrival. It made a great sensation +amongst the people, whose curiosity was raised to the highest degree by +flaming handbills, reciting the wonderful feats to be performed by “la +hermosissima Jovena Catalina,” “by the most beautiful young Kitty,” and +the equally astonishing extravagances of the “eccentric clown Simon,” +all of which “the enlightened and _dignified_ public of Leon” (thus ran +the invitation) were solicited to felicitate themselves by +witnessing,—admittance two rials, niños (little ones) one rial, and +niñitos (_very_ little ones) a medio only. The following Sunday, at +three o’clock, was the time fixed for the performance. We were all +specially invited to attend by Señor Serrate in person, and of course +accepted the invitation. Meantime the excitement became universal; it +was as good as a revolution, and not half as dangerous. As the time +approached, men marched through the streets, beating the rappel at the +corners, which was the signal for gathering. The next thing to be seen +was a swarm of servants, carrying chairs for their masters and +mistresses; and then came the masters and mistresses themselves, in gala +dress. I had not yet seen such an exhibition of satin slippers! We fell +into the movement, and duly brought up at the house where the +“Funámbulos” or rope-dancers, had established themselves. It belonged to +one of the most respectable citizens of Leon, who had patriotically +permitted it to be used for this interesting occasion. Soldiers were +stationed at the door to keep out the rabble, which blockaded the +street, and devised all sorts of ingenious methods to get a glimpse of +the mysteries within. Here the wife of Señor Serrate received the rials +with a courtesy and “mil gracias” for each. The building had a large +square court, shaded by high trees, and surrounded by a broad corridor, +raised a foot or two above the ground. Upon one side of the courtyard +was erected a temporary, carpeted stage, which extended out into the +area. Behind this was a gaudily painted curtain, concealing the +penetralia within which the performers were to retire after their +respective efforts. Altogether it was not a bad substitute for a +theatre. The corridor corresponded to the dress circle, the courtyard to +the pit, and the roof to the gallery. But I am at a loss where to class +the occupants of the trees! The place was already crowded when we +arrived; the Chief of the State, the General, in fact all the principal +inhabitants, comprising the beauty and fashion of Leon, and full +two-thirds of all the padres, were present. All seemed at their ease, +and, including the ladies, smoked cigaritos. A seat was cleared for me +by the side of the General, and the rest of our party took up their +positions near by. The orchestra played with terrible energy, and some +hens, perched amongst a lot of boys, in the trees, frightened at this +unusual scene, cackled with equal vigor. The ground within the court was +covered with muchachos, and nurses with children, who were wrought up to +an alarming state of impatience, and only kept within the bounds of +propriety by the canes of the vigilant alcaldes. + +After an interval, a messenger approached the Director, and inquired if +it was his pleasure the performance should begin; to which an +affirmative response was given. The manager of the “Funámbulos” then +came forward and announced the “hermosissima Jovena Catalina,” who would +exhibit her dexterity on the tight rope. The next moment the Jovena +advanced, and was, as the newspapers say, “rapturously received.” She +was dressed quite after the fashion of similar performers at home, in +skirts equally brief, and seemed to me quite as dexterous. But she had +monstrous ankles, and a foot none of the smallest, and was unmercifully +criticised, particularly by the female spectators. “Mira!” exclaimed a +belle by my side, who lifted her tiny hands in astonishment, “_Valgame +Dios! es una pateza Inglesa!_” “See! Good Heavens! it is an English +paw!” I glanced cautiously down at the little slippered feet at my +side—they were really very small. My fair friend saw the movement, but +nothing abashed, thrust them out the further, and rogueishly inquired, +“How do you like them?” I professed to be looking for a fallen cigarito, +but the dodge wouldn’t answer. The Jovena, in a country where hardly any +one who has his peculiarity escapes a nick-name, went afterwards by the +unpoetical designation of “Tobillos gruesos”—“Big ankles!” + +The Jovena had a sister, who was beautiful, and while she remained in +the city, the reigning toast of the young officers and of the gallants +generally. She however did not possess the skill of “Tobillos gruesos,” +but danced passably, and was very well in pantomime. The “eccentric +clown, Simon,” seemed to be the most popular feature of the exhibition; +and although he was not always over-delicate, seldom failed to “bring +down the house” by his hits. I was not long in discovering that the +entire people had a keen appreciation of drollery, and what would +perhaps be called “serious joking;” and have often witnessed impromptu +scenes amongst the _mozos_ by the roadside, or in the little villages, +which were irresistibly comic, and saving time and place, might have +been the originals from which Cervantes drew his immortal pictures. + +After the performances on the rope, we had tumbling, in which two smart +little boys, sons of the “director” of the Funambules, the clown, and a +_woman_ took part. But the Leonesas were shocked that one of the “bello +sexo” should descend to that, and expressed their disapprobation in such +a manner, that she never made her appearance again in the character of a +“volteadora.” Then came a pantomime, in which a fussy, gouty Englishman, +travelling in Spain, and ignorant of the language, was the principal +character. His mishaps created great merriment, and the raggedest boy in +the _patio_ seemed glad to have an opportunity of laughing at John Bull; +who, as I have before said, is nowhere in the world more cordially hated +than in Nicaragua. + +It was quite sundown when Señor Serrate came forward and thanked his +auditors for the honor of their attendance; and then the Jovena Catalina +invited them all, in the choicest Castilian, to come again on the Sunday +following. The “Funambulos,” I may add, had a brilliant and profitable +season of a month; and when they left, received a testimonial from the +citizens, who “thought it worthy of remark, that in this exhibition the +public had not, as on other occasions, been driven to the hard necessity +of listening to indecent dialogues, to the prejudice of morals and good +taste, or of abstaining from visiting the exhibition.” The “Correo del +Istmo” also complimented them as having “performed with skill and +excellence,” and with these recommendations they departed on a tour of +the State. + +[Illustration: STREET VIEW IN LEON—CALLE DE SAN JUAN.] + +I have said, at the commencement of this chapter, that there were no +stated amusements in Leon; perhaps, however, the various fiestas and +saints’ days should come under that denomination. At any rate they were +celebrated in anything but a serious manner; they were general holidays, +in which everybody dressed in his best, and the more bombas fired and +bells rung, the more “alegre” the occasion, and the greater the honor to +the saints. As a consequence, being situated in the vicinity of the +principal churches, we were treated to a “Fourth of July” as often as +twice a week. Sometimes lines of bombas were arranged, not only around +the churches, but on their roofs, and over their towers, with large ones +at intervals, which, when they exploded, made a noise like a cannon. +These were set off almost invariably in the daytime, and produced a +deafening sound, like the rolling discharge of musketry under a +cannonade, for nearly half an hour, creating a dense smoke, and filling +the air with sulphurous odors. The bells were rung the while, and +everybody seemed delighted, and none more so than the muchachos, who, +like the _gamins de Paris_, swarmed everywhere, and were the foremost in +all public demonstrations. + +The fiesta of St. Andrew was celebrated with some novel features, and +particularly commended itself to the muchachos. It was signalized by “un +baile de los demonios,” a dance of the devils. The devils were dressed +in the most fantastic manner, wore masks, and sported barbed tails. One +shrouded in black displayed a grinning death’s head beneath his +half-parted veil, and kept time to the music with a pair of veritable +thigh bones. The dance, I should think, had been borrowed from the +Indians; the music certainly was. It was almost unearthly, such as +Cortez describes on the night of his retreat from Mexico, “which carried +terror to the very souls of the Christians.” It is impossible to +describe the strange instruments. One consisted of a large calabash, +over which was stretched the skin of some animal; this, when pressed in, +recoiled with a dull, sullen noise, like the suppressed bellow of a wild +beast, and the wail of some of the long reeds was like that of a man in +the agonies of a violent death. The devils went whisking through the +principal streets, followed by a gaping crowd, and entered all the +principal houses, where, after a dance in the courtyard, they expected +either to receive a rial or two, or to be treated to a dram of agua +ardiente. They favored me with an extra display of their demoniacal +abilities,—but were high-spirited devils, and declined to receive money +from a stranger. + +Another class of dancers, dressed in a profusion of tinsel, but not +aspiring to the distinction of devils, parade the streets on certain +saints’ days, visiting all the houses where the heads of the family bear +the name of the saint, where they expect a gratuity or a treat, in +return for an exhibition of their skill. As I soon lost all track of the +saints, I do not remember which were supposed to be propitious to this +kind of diversion. + +All-Saints’ day was distinguished by a grand procession of all the +saints, not excepting the little ebony San Benito, who, after airing +themselves through the principal streets, visited the various churches +in succession, including the Cathedral of Subtiaba, where there were +some very curious and complicated ceremonies. The afternoon of this day +was celebrated as a kind of carnival amongst the Indians of that +municipality. It is their prerogative, on that occasion, to pelt all +visitors with oranges, and to form rings of dancers around them, from +which exit can only be procured by the payment of a certain sum to the +church. Almost every one in the city went down, including the officers +of State, whose position gave them no immunity,—on the contrary, they +got more than their just share of the pelting. But as the visitors are +usually mounted, a rapid retreat is always made, when the storm of the +golden missiles grows too severe. I made it a point of duty to see +everything, and accordingly rode to Subtiaba just before sunset, where +the first object I saw was a venerable Doctor of Medicine, bareheaded, +spurring at full speed, and dodging from side to side under a shower of +oranges discharged upon him from an ambuscade. For it is considered a +capital joke with the muchachos, to lie in wait under a ruin, or amongst +the bushes, and let off a volley upon the unsuspecting horseman. When I +entered the plaza it was occupied by groups of people, moving from side +to side, shouting and laughing, in a furor of excitement and frolic, +while the air was full of missiles. A few were discharged at me, but as +soon as I was recognized, I was exempted from the usual ordeal. Suddenly +I saw a movement in the direction of the cabildo, and the next moment +was saluted with “Vivan los Estados Unidos!” “Vivan los amigos de +Nicaragua!” These were given with the greatest enthusiasm.[20] + +----- + +Footnote 20: + + “On the day set apart for the festival of All Saints, the shops are + closed and business suspended. About ten o’clock the procession + commences from the Cathedral. A troop of military, marching to a slow + tune, lead the way, and are followed by six of the finest Indian girls + that can be procured, bearing large wax candles, and dressed in the + ancient costumes of their tribes, accompanied by the great drum, + carried on the back of an Indian, and beaten by two others. These are + succeeded by men bearing on their shoulders wooden platforms, on which + are placed images of saints. Other representations of beatified + cardinals and bishops follow, escorted by angels with spreading wings. + Then succeeds an immense statue of St. Peter, bearing the keys, and + supported by angels on each side. Other images pass forward in + succession, and immediately precede the Host, which is carried under a + splendid canopy, and accompanied by the archbishop and the dignified + clergy. The various orders of friars, the priests, and the collegiate + students, in their robes, follow; and fresh images of saints and + angels, with a new troop of military, bring up the rear.... The + setting out and return to the Cathedral are notified by frequent + discharges of sky-rockets.”—_Dunn’s Guatemala_, p. 114. + +----- + +Posts were planted around the plaza, to which a double line of bombas +was attached. These were to be let off (for a wonder) after dark, and my +friend Simon Roque was urgent that I should stay to witness the +explosion, and even offered to anticipate the hour fixed for lighting +them; but I had had enough of bombas for a lifetime, and rode home in +the twilight. The streets were full of life, and the band stationed upon +the steps of the grand Cathedral played the national anthem, while the +soldiers grouped around the various “cuartels” joined in the chorus. For +once, thanks to the darkness, I escaped the eternal presentation of arms +and beat of drum, with which I was always received in the plaza, and +which induced me to avoid entering it, except in cases of necessity. I +sat on my horse for a quarter of an hour, listening to the music and the +merriment, and speculated whether, after all, spite of unstable +governments, and destitute of all those accessories which, according to +our utilitarian ideas, are necessary to the popular welfare,—whether the +people of Leon were not on the whole happier and more contented than +those of any city of equal size in our own country? Here were no crowded +workshops, where youth and age toil on, on, during the long day and by +the pale gas light, amidst foul vapors, or in a corrupted atmosphere, +that trade may thrive, and arrogant commerce strut in the Exchange! No +thundering machines to disturb the calm of evening, to drown the murmurs +of the night winds and the gentle melody of the falling dews, with their +hoarse, unearthly clangor! + +[Illustration: NICARAGUAN PLOUGH.] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +[Illustration: PROCESSION OF HOLY WEEK.] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + CHAPTER XIII. + +A SORTIE FROM LEON—QUESALGUAQUE—EL ESTERO DE DONA PAULA—THE “MONTE DE + SAN JUAN”—SUMMARY WAY OF DISPOSING OF “LADRONES”—“EL TIGRE,” JAGUAR, + OR OUNCE; ITS HABITS; HOW HUNTED—THE “LEON,” OR PUMA—THE + “COYOTE”—POSULTEGA—A SPECIMEN PADRE—SOBRINAS—CHICHIGALPA—POISED + THUNDER-STORM—THE ORACION—HACIENDA OF SAN ANTONIO—CHINANDEGA—A + CHALLENGE—EL VIEJO—FAMILIAR FIXTURES—AN ENTERPRISING CITIZEN AND HIS + TRAGIC FATE—A DECAYING TOWN—MULES _vs._ HORSES—VISIT TO THE + HACIENDAS—AN INDIGO ESTATE, AND A MAYOR-DOMO—FINE VIEW—THE SUGAR + ESTATE OF SAN GERONIMO—BACHELOR QUARTERS AND HACIENDA LIFE—A FRUIT + GARDEN—THE BREAD FRUIT—SUGAR-MILLS, AND THE MANUFACTURE OF + AGUARDIENTE—A SINFUL SIESTA—VISIT FROM THE MUNICIPALITY—“UNA + CANCION”—CHINANDEGA BY DAYLIGHT—REALEJO—PORT AND HARBOR—THE PROGRESS + OF ENTERPRISE—THE PROJECTED NEW TOWN OF CORINTH—RETURN TO LEON. + + +Early after our arrival in Leon, amongst many others of like character, +we had received an invitation from the wealthy and influential family of +Venerio, to spend a week at their establishment in Viejo Chinandega; +which, as it was coupled with a promise to give us an initiation into +the mysteries of hacienda life, we had at once accepted. Up to this +time, however (Sept. 3, 1849), I had been unable to leave the capital. +But now my official negotiations were happily terminated, and pending +the action of the Legislative Chambers, which were called to meet on the +22d of the same month, I had an opportunity of seeing something more of +the magnificent plain, in the centre of which we were residing. + +I have already said that, for obvious reasons, most of the travelling in +Central America is done in the morning or evening. It was four o’clock +in the afternoon, therefore, when we started for El Viejo, twelve +leagues, or thirty-six miles distant. This, with us, would be considered +quite a day’s journey in itself, but here it is what is called an +evening “paseo,” or ride. Our course led through Subtiaba, crossing the +stream which flows past that pueblo at a place where art had cut down +the steep banks, and nature woven an evergreen roof above—one of those +dark, cool nooks in which the water birds love to gather, and where the +Indian girls come to bathe—beyond which spread out the luxuriant maize +fields, traversed by hedge rows like the lines on a chess board. The +road, bordered with trees, to protect the traveller from the sun, wound +amongst these fields for five or six miles, when it entered the forest +again, and soon came to a deep ravine, with abrupt banks, seventy or +eighty feet high, at the bottom of which flows a large clear stream, +called, at this point, Quesalguaque. It rises near the volcano of +Telica, and for some distance from its source it bears the name of Rio +Telica. It flows into the harbor of Realejo, and for a number of leagues +from its mouth, is a tide-water stream, and called “El Estero de Doña +Paula.” + +This is the largest stream on the plain of Leon, and is probably that to +which some map-makers have given the name of Rio Tosta. The cart-road +descends the ravine circuitously, and ascends in like manner; traversing +nearly a mile in passing from one bank to the other. The mule-road, +however, is direct, but the descent and ascent are both abrupt and +difficult. I hardly thought either possible, and was really amazed to +find my horse attempt them without so much as the touch of the spur, and +quite as a matter of course. Emerging from the ravine, we came to some +cleared fields, (one of which was planted with pine-apples, now nearly +ripe, and looking wonderfully tempting in the sun), in the midst of +which was a small collection of huts, called the Pueblecita de +Quesalguaque. We stopped for a moment to fill our pockets with delicious +_nisperos_ from a tree overhanging the road, its treasures free to all +who chose “to come and eat,” and then diverging from the camino real, +struck into the narrow mule-path which leads through the Monte de San +Juan. This portion of the road has a bad reputation throughout the whole +country; and during the late troubles had been the scene of several +tragic occurrences. The robbers or ladrones who infested it, however, +had been hunted by volunteers from Leon and Chinendaga, and shot down +like wild beasts; a summary, but most effectual way of preventing +further depredations. At one point we passed a number of newly-erected +crosses, marking the place where murder had been done. But all was still +and peaceful now, and we saw nothing to startle us except a _Tigre_, +which leaped across the path a few paces in advance, disappearing +instantaneously in the forest. + +What is here called the Tigre or Tiger, is the true _Jaguar_, or +_Ounce_; and the animal which is called the _Lion_ is the maneless +Mexican Lion, or Puma. Ounces are abundant throughout the entire +country, and often commit serious depredations upon the cattle of the +haciendas. They are of a tawny color, the body beautifully variegated +with irregular oblong black spots, breast and belly whitish. They grow +to the length of four or five feet, are powerfully built, with massive +jaws, and possess a strength and activity superior to any of the feline +race of equal size. They unhesitatingly attack all animals, of whatever +proportions, which are not fully capable of defending themselves; and in +riding through the woods I have several times seen fall grown heifers, +which they had not only killed, but dragged to considerable +distances,—in one instance not less than a hundred yards. + +The Tigre, however, sometimes meets his match in a sturdy bull or +spirited cow, and is compelled to retreat. The vaqueros of the +haciendas, who are fluent on the subject of tigers, and often able to +show ghastly scars in confirmation of their stories of adventures, +relate instances in which the tiger has been killed outright in his +encounters with the _toros_. A bull of venerable aspect, but exceedingly +mild demeanor, was pointed out to me in Honduras, which was the hero of +many battles, successful in all, and in three instances killing his +adversary. I quite respected this protector of his herd, and thought he +should at least receive the title of the “Great Defender.” The herdsmen +concur in saying that the tiger is generally too cunning to attack the +cattle, except singly, when separated from each other, as they all make +common cause against him when he ventures amongst the herd. The ounce +seldom attacks man, unless pressed by hunger, or by the hunters. This is +a fortunate circumstance; for otherwise travelling in Central America, +where, in the secluded parts of the country, hardly a day passes without +seeing one or two of them, would be attended with the greatest danger. +In some localities, however, the ounce is represented to be more +ferocious than in others, and so bold as to slip into the villages in +broad daylight, in search of his prey. There are many men distinguished +for success in hunting this animal, who arrogate to themselves the title +of _tigreros_. They use no arms, except a long and stout spear or lance, +and their machetes. Their first object, with the aid of dogs, is to +drive the tiger into a tree, or bring him to bay. When this is done, the +tigrero wraps his poncho around his left arm, and approaches the fierce +and excited animal, with his lance so fixed as to be able to receive him +on its point when he shall make his spring. This requires great coolness +and firmness, for everything depends upon the hunter planting his spear +full in the animal’s breast. If this be not done, a terrible fight +ensues, from which the strongest and bravest man is fortunate if he +escapes with life. The genuine tigrero scorns to use firearms,—“no tiene +valor, nada,” they are of no use, none! Some of these men number their +victories by scores, and are considered invincible. + +The _tigre negro_, or black ounce, is erroneously regarded by the +natives as a distinct species; and, perhaps from his more forbidding +appearance, is supposed to be stronger and fiercer. They are undoubtedly +a little larger in size than the other variety. In Nicaragua they are +rarely seen, but are quite abundant, it is said, in the mountainous +districts of Honduras. + +The Lion, or Puma, notwithstanding his name, has fewer of the +traditional magnanimous traits of the lion proper than the tigre. He is +altogether a sneaking fellow, and attacks cattle only when he finds them +wounded, entangled in thickets, or embarrassed in swamps, where he has +everything to his own advantage. He flies from man, but will prowl +stealthily after him in the evening, like the wolf. He is consequently +approached with difficulty, and rarely killed. His color is a pale, +brownish red, inclining to black on the back, but light under the belly. +In shape he is slenderer than the ounce, his legs and tail longer, and +his claws and head slighter. “A full grown tiger,” said an old hunter to +me, “is a match for half a dozen of the cowards.” The weary traveller, +sleeping in the forest, has more to dread from the puma than any other +wild animal. Besides the ounce and the puma, there are several varieties +of tiger, or mountain cats, which commit depredations on the fowls and +smaller domestic animals of the ranchos, but from whom man has nothing +to fear. + +The “coyote,” wild dog, or as he is sometimes called, wolf, is common in +some parts of Central America. I never saw any of them, but they are +said to differ as widely from the true wolf as from the common dog. Some +have conjectured that they are descended from the bloodhounds which were +used by the early Spaniards in hunting down the natives. But all +attempts to reclaim them, although carried on during two or three +generations, have failed. Like wolves, they generally hunt in packs, +making no noise beyond a low howl, and follow their prey with a +perseverance which is almost always successful in the end. It is said +that, although individually arrant cowards, they will collectively +attack the tiger himself, drive him into a tree, and besiege him for +many days, until exhausted, in attempting to escape, he falls a victim +to the number of his assailants. The natives have a singular notion, +however, that the coyotes never beleaguer the tigre unless he has +committed some outrage on the fraternity, robbed them of their prey, or +made a meal of some straggler. + +To return from this digression. Two leagues beyond Quesalguaque, the +intervening country level and magnificently wooded, and the road broad +and smooth, is the Pueblo of Posultega, an unpretending town of some +five or six hundred inhabitants, and distinguished for nothing except an +ancient church, more remarkable for its dilapidation than its +architecture. The cura, who had called on me in Leon a few days before, +was swinging in his hammock, between a couple of orange trees in front +of his house; he leaped up as we approached, stopped me in the open +street, and gave me an embrace “as was an embrace,” and from my elevated +position on my horse, quite too near the belt to be comfortable. He +insisted on our stopping for the rest of the afternoon and for the night +at his poor house, (every house in Central America is called “_mi pobre +casa_” by its owner), which I declined doing with a prodigious +affectation of regret, that became real a moment after, when I +discovered the padre’s _sobrina_ or niece, a fair, full-breasted girl, +peeping slyly out between the bars of the window. Of course it is not +reputable for padres to have females in their establishments, except +near relatives,—aunts for housekeepers, and nieces for—companions! The +aunts, I observed, were always old, but the nieces almost invariably +young and pretty, as nieces are bound to be. + +The country, from Posultega to Chichigalpa, a considerable town, two +leagues further on, preserves its flat surface, the monotony but +slightly relieved by the occasional narrow and shallow channels which +carry off the superabundant water of the rainy season. Chichigalpa, +formerly a very large Indian town, still numbers from three to five +thousand inhabitants; it is regularly laid out, and has a neat and +attractive appearance. It was just sunset when we entered its streets. A +heavy thunder-storm was piling up its black volumes behind the volcanoes +in the east, and the calm and silence which precede the tempest rested +upon the plain; the winds were still, and the leaves hung motionless on +the trees. The adult inhabitants seemed to sympathize with the scene, +and sat silently in the open doorways; but the children were as playful +and noisy as ever, their voices rendered doubly distinct, and almost +unnatural in the pervading quiet. Suddenly the bell of the oracion +struck; the careless voices of the children were instantaneously hushed, +and we mechanically stopped our horses, and uncovered our heads. A low +murmur of prayer floated forth on the undulating waves of sound which +seemed to subside in circles around us;—again the bell struck, again, +and then, when the pulses had almost ceased to beat, that the straining +ear might catch the expiring vibrations, rolled in the muffled sound of +the distant thunder. It came down from the mountains with the majesty of +an ocean poured along their trembling sides! + +The oracion, which never fails to impress the most careless traveller +with a feeling of reverential awe, was but one element in this grand +combination of the solemn and the sublime. + +We rode through Chichigalpa without stopping, and pressed rapidly +forward, with the design of reaching the estate of San Antonio, +belonging to the family of my companion, before the storm should +overtake us. Darkness, however, closed speedily around our path, and in +ten minutes we were unable to discover our position, except as it was +revealed to us by the lightning, which occasionally poured in lurid, +blinding sheets, from the summits of the volcanoes, where the storm +seemed to pause as if to concentrate its gloomy squadrons, before moving +down upon the silent plain, and forth upon the dark Pacific. Fortunately +the road was wide, and permitted us to ride rapidly, without any great +danger from the projecting branches. We reached San Antonio, eight miles +from Chichigalpa, in an hour. + +The resident on the estate was an uncle of my companion, an amiable and +gentlemanly person, who apologized for not coming to the door to receive +us. His apology was a valid one. He had led the hunt after the ladrones +who had infested the road to Leon, and had received a ball in his hip, +in the final encounter with them. We were at once offered a cup of +chocolate, which we accepted, in deference not less to our own tastes +than to a sensible practice of the country, which is always to take +whatever is tendered to you. Thus a caballero is offered a cigar; he at +once accepts it with a bow, or “mil gracias,” a thousand thanks, and if +he does not care to smoke, puts it in his pocket. This will occur during +the same sitting as often as the cigars are passed. With chocolate the +case is a little different; it is not easily put in one’s pocket, and is +therefore otherwise disposed of. The house at San Antonio, I observed as +soon as I entered it, was superior to any of the hacienda residences +which had yet fallen under my notice. It was not only well constructed, +but conveniently arranged, and painted in the interior. It had been +built by a Mr. Bridge, an Englishman, who had established here one of +the finest sugar plantations in the country. In common with most of the +English residents, he had married a woman of the country, and what with +trade, his hacienda, and an English vessel-of-war, always conveniently +at hand to enforce any claim which he and his English brethren might +find it profitable to set up against the government, had contrived to +amass a considerable fortune. Upon his death, however, the estate had +been sold to its present proprietors, and although it had fallen +somewhat out of repair, it still showed what might be accomplished in +this favored land, with a very moderate share of enterprise and +industry. + +The wind had sprung up, and carried the impending storm off to the +southward; so, after waiting half an hour at San Antonio, we again +mounted and pursued our course. By the dim, reviving light, I could make +out that we were now in an open and highly cultivated country, sprinkled +over with houses. Half an hour more brought us to the suburbs of +Chinandega, probably the most flourishing town in the State, and the +only one, I believe, which has increased in population since the +independence. The commerce of Realejo is conducted through it; here +nearly all the merchants reside; and the inhabitants, some fifteen or +sixteen thousand in number, are conceded to be the most industrious and +thriving of any in the Republic. + +It was too dark to distinguish anything beyond long, broad avenues, +bordered with gardens, each one having a hut in the centre. The streets +really seemed endless, and we passed square on square, for full a mile +and a half, before we reached the paved streets surrounding the plazas, +where the adobe and tile-roofed houses are built, and where the wealth +and trade is concentrated. The people were still sitting at their doors +and windows, in luxurious enjoyment of the cool breeze which the passing +storm had evoked somewhere beyond the mountains. We would have ridden +directly through the plaza, but were stopped by the sudden ring of a +musket on the pavement, and a fierce order to halt and give the +countersign. We did so, and then supposed we might go on. But the +sentinel demanded that we should advance singly, and called to the +officer of the guard. Finding that we should probably be detained for an +indefinite period, I whispered to my companion to fall back, and avoid +the plaza by making a circuit around it. He did so, muttering something +about the stupid military, which might have cost him dear had it been +overheard. A long detour brought us to the other side of the town, which +is bounded by a considerable stream, flowing through a deep hollow. The +path to the water was broad, and artificially graded, so, +notwithstanding the darkness, we passed without difficulty. We were now +in the plain road to El Viejo, and a brisk ride through the intermediate +fields and the silent suburbs, brought us to a large house, fronting on +the plaza. We stopped before a high and imposing portal, the massive +gates of which parted in answer to the well known voice of my companion. +In another instant we were beneath the trees in the courtyard, in the +full blaze of hospitable lights, streaming through the open doors of the +grand sala, where our friends were awaiting our arrival. + +Upon entering the house, I was surprised to find myself surrounded by +nearly all the well-known furniture of a parlor in New York. Here were +sofas and rocking-chairs, and mirrors and clocks, of familiar fashion, +holding something more than their own against hammocks and hide-bottomed +_sillas_. A portrait of Washington and a fac-simile of the Declaration +of Independence were suspended against the walls, and a bust of +Shakspeare filled a vacant place on a little shelf in a distant corner. +A clear blue eye, a rosy cheek, and the pleasant sound of our native +tongue were alone needed to complete an illusion, in which the full +form, the classic profile, pale complexion, large and liquid eyes, the +stately grace, and low but cordial welcome of the mistress of the +mansion, did not permit me to indulge. + +I have said that the family whose hospitable courtesies I was now +enjoying, was one of the wealthiest, and socially one of the most +influential in the country. Yet its history for the past fifteen or +twenty years is unfortunately too truthful an illustration of what the +condition of the country has been during that disastrous period. Don +Gregorio Venerio, the late head of the family, was one of the few men +which Central America has afforded, possessing enterprise, a liberal and +enlightened spirit, and that sound philosophy which consists in a +practical disposition to make the best of existing circumstances. +Overcoming most of the narrow prejudices which had grown up under the +rigorous colonial system of Spain, and which fettered the mass of the +people for a long time after the independence, he introduced +improvements in agriculture, new machinery in the manufacture of sugar, +and the preparation of cotton and indigo for foreign markets, and with a +true patriotism and public spirit sought to direct the general attention +to useful occupations and the development of the natural resources of +the country, as the best means of insuring civil order and stability in +government. His labors were, for a time, eminently successful, and he +gave an impulse to industry and trade in the section of the state in +which he resided, which has since doubled its wealth and influence. But +envious and evil disposed persons were not wanting to misrepresent his +motives, and to awaken distrust of the objects which he aimed to +accomplish. The hostility of the ignorant masses was excited against him +and his family; his machinery, it was said, would depreciate wages, and +his products destroy the market for the productions of smaller +proprietors. The ultimate result may be anticipated. The robber +chieftain, Somoza, whose violent end I have already recounted, at the +head of a band of assassins and robbers, entered his house at night, +dragged him from his bed, and butchered him in cold blood, in the +presence of his entire family, in the very room where I was now seated. +Yet, up to the time of my arrival, the murderer had escaped apprehension +and defied justice. + +El Viejo Chinandega, Old Chinandega, or as it is briefly called El +Viejo, is one of the most ancient towns in Nicaragua. It is beautifully +situated upon a stream which flows through its centre, and contains +between five and six thousand inhabitants. Formerly it was the principal +town, next to Leon, in this department, and was the seat of the trade +carried on through the port of Realejo. But the new town is located more +favorably for commerce, and as that has increased in importance, El +Viejo has declined, During the supremacy of the bucaneers in the South +Sea, El Viejo was several times attacked, and once or twice burned. It +has a large church, of high antiquity, situated upon an artificial +terrace in the midst of a plaza. A fantastic wall runs along the edge of +the terrace, and above each flight of steps, by which it is ascended, +are lofty arches of fine proportions, which lend a very singular effect +to the whole structure. Architecturally, El Viejo affords no other +object of interest. + +After breakfast, on the morning following our arrival, we started on a +visit to the haciendas, or plantations, belonging to the family. I had a +strong prejudice against mules, but my host quietly insisted that I +should ride his _macho_, a sleek-looking, clean-limbed animal, upon +which my saddle had already been placed. I complied without, at the +moment, fully comprehending the reason of the request. But no sooner had +we struck into the main road, than I found that, in respect of speed and +of ease to the rider, no horse was comparable to the splendid animal +upon which I was mounted. Without an apparent effort, and quite as a +matter of course, he distanced all the horses of the party, and at what +appeared to be his ordinary pace, kept them at a sharp gallop. “That +macho,” said my host, “cost me three hundred dollars; and I have ridden +him sixty miles in six consecutive hours!” When I add that ordinary +mules here cost only about twenty dollars, and that this one was valued +at three hundred and fifty, the difference between them is brought to +some standard of calculation. The pace is artificial; and when what is +called “a good education” is joined to good proportions, soundness of +limb, and high spirit, (for they differ widely in this respect,) mules +are esteemed infinitely higher than horses. Their endurance is +incredible, and they have the ability to take care of themselves where a +horse would starve. + +At the distance of a league from the town, we turned into a beautiful +shaded lane, or avenue, running through the broad estates which we had +come to visit. The fields, with the exception of one or two which were +planted with maize, were overgrown with weeds. I inquired the cause, and +was told that these were indigo grounds, the cultivation of which had +been suspended from the impossibility of securing permanent laborers; +for the processes in manufacturing the indigo are so delicate, that any +deficiency in attention ruins the entire crop. When affairs became fully +settled, it was intended to resume the cultivation of this valuable +product; but until then, the ground, dams, vats, and machinery were +valueless property. In the centre of this portion of the estate, on an +eminence near an artificial pond covered with water plants, and +constructed for supplying the indigo works, was the house of the +superintendent,—a large two-story edifice, with a double corridor on +every side, and surrounded by a little forest of magnificent trees, +relieved by towering palms and the green columns of the cactus. The +mayor-domo, a venerable old man with his head bound in a variegated +handkerchief, white shirt and breeches, and red shoes, himself one of +the fixtures of the estate, received each of us with a hearty embrace, +and then led us up a flight of broad stone steps, to the upper corridor. +Here were the old man’s daughters, three pretty, blushing girls, who +were introduced individually as Paula, Manuelita, and Concepcion. “Their +mother is a saint,” said he, as he gazed on them with an expression of +pride; “but happier times are coming for our poor country, and they will +live to see them, I am sure!” and he tottered off, to procure “algo +fresco.” + +From the corridor we enjoyed a magnificent view of field and forest, +stretching away in billows of verdure to the base of the volcano of El +Viejo, lifting its purple summit to mid-heaven, beyond and over all. I +ventured to imagine the intervening plain in the hands of an +enterprising and vigorous people, dotted over with villages, and loaded +down with the richest products of all-bountiful Nature, and queried if +this generation might not witness the change. Let the babbler about +impossibilities, in this first decade of the last half of the nineteenth +century, turn his eyes to the shores of the Bay of San Francisco, be +silent, and mark the reality! + +From the indigo estate, bearing the name of some favorite saint, which I +have forgotten, we rode a mile or two further, to the sugar plantation +of San Geronimo. The ground which it occupies is perfectly level, and by +means of ditches, designed particularly for purposes of irrigation, is +laid out in squares, or manzanas. The cane on some of these squares had +been newly planted, and on others lately cut, while upon others it was +now in perfection, and ready for use. The mills are here kept running +steadily the year round, and by the time the cutters have gone through +all the fields, those which were first cleared are ready for the knife a +second time. Under favorable circumstances, three crops can be taken +yearly; and the ground does not require to be replanted oftener than +once in ten or fourteen years. + +A two-story house, newer and better built than that which I have already +described, stood upon one side of the cane-fields, on the banks of a +stream, and in the vicinity of the mills. It was approached by a broad +avenue, kept scrupulously clean, and its white walls and red roof stood +out against a dense background of trees, now in the perfection of their +foliage, and loaded with fruit. The lower story was occupied by the +mayor-domo and his family, and the upper by a bachelor brother of our +host, whom we found in his shirt sleeves, swinging in a hammock +suspended in the corridor on the shaded side of the building, and +engaged in reading a translation of Sue’s Mysteries of Paris! He rose +hastily, uttered some indistinct apologies, and led us into the body of +the building, where in an instant we were surrounded by a playful troop +of blooded dogs, which our friend, who was a good deal of a Nimrod, had +expressly imported from England and the United States. In one corner of +the room stood an elegant rifle, with a brace of pistols, a sword, and a +variety of bits and spurs grouped, around it. In another corner was a +guitar and a saddle, and on the table, in that delightful confusion seen +only in bachelor establishments, a flute, some music, and books, and an +infinity of cigars. An engraved portrait of Lola Montez was the only +decoration on the walls, unless the skin of a monstrous tigre, stretched +at one end of the apartment, might be called a decoration. + +From the corridor, the eye traversed broad fields of cane, framed in by +a dense forest, the view opening only towards the east, where the +perspective of fields terminated, in the distance, with the tiled roof +of the house belonging to the indigo estate, but half seen amidst the +surrounding trees. A creaking cart came up the broad avenue towards us, +loaded with stalks of the _caña_, which were piled in heaps in front of +the mills situated in the valley of the stream, and partially concealed +by the vapors rising lazily from the boiling kettles in which the juice +was evaporated. The mozos engaged in the various processes moved about +with a slow and careless air, in perfect harmony with the general quiet +of the scenery, and in unison with the monotonous clatter of the mill, +which seemed to be half asleep, and just about to stop altogether. I sat +down in a vacant hammock, and for the first time fully comprehended the +charms of hacienda life,—that aimless, dreamy existence, undisturbed by +ambition or envy, and separated from the struggle of conflicting +interests. Our bachelor friend vegetated here month after month, without +a wish ungratified, making the most of the present, and careless of the +future. Occasionally, he said, his slumbering energies would be roused +for a moment, but lacking legitimate objects to occupy them, soon +subsided again, and the stream of life flowed on as before. A turn with +his dogs in the morning, a stroll of supervision through the mills, +chocolate, a book, the hammock, and the siesta,—these, with now and then +a ride to the village, or on extraordinary occasions a rapid descent of +a single day on Leon, made up the sum of life. + +Connected with this estate was a “huerta de las fruitas,” a fruit +garden, upon which the late Don Gregorio had expended a great deal of +money and care. It covered several acres of ground,—a wilderness of +oranges and lemons, white and yellow pine apples, melons, mamays, +marañons, jocotes, limes, citrons, guavas, tamarinds,—in short all the +innumerable varieties of tropical fruits and flowers, traversed by broad +walks, here a vista terminating in a bower, and there ending with a +glimpse of the deep pools of the neighboring stream; the whole +surrounded by an evergreen hedge of cactuses, in full bloom, and loading +the air with fragrance. Here was the odorous sweet lemon, and in the +centre of the garden a group of bread-fruit trees, remarkable for their +broad, deep green leaves, amongst which might be discerned the nuts, +looking for all the world like the heads of young darkies. These trees +had been introduced by Don Gregorio from the Sandwich Islands, and +flourished quite as luxuriantly as in their native soil. But the fruit +did not “take” with the Nicaraguenses, who preferred the tortilla and +the plantain; the tree is therefore propagated solely from motives of +curiosity. + +From the garden we went to the mills. The machinery in use had all been +imported from England and the United States, via Cape Horn. There was +first the crushing or grinding mill, from which a copper conductor +carried the juice through a strainer into a vat, communicating by means +of tubes with the coppers or cauldrons. From these, when the reduction +and clarification were sufficiently far advanced, the liquid was drawn +off into other coppers, whence the scum was constantly removed, and +thrown into a large trough, to be used in the distillation of +_aguardiente_. When reduced to a certain strength or thickness, the +sugar was transferred to the coolers and strainers, where the graining +took place, and the molasses was separated. A large portion of the sugar +is not subjected to this process, but while in its crude state, is laded +into moulds of a certain size, forming what is called _chancaca_, sold +for ordinary consumption amongst the poorer classes, at a _quartillo_ +(three cents) the cake, equivalent to about one cent and a half the +pound. The finer qualities of sugar produced on this estate are nearly +as white and hard as the refined sugars of commerce. Connected with +these works is a complete apparatus for distilling _aguardiente_, +capable of an indefinite production of that article of consumption. But +this is a government _estanco_, or monopoly, and it cannot be +manufactured on private account. The fact that the late Don Gregorio had +obtained the contract for supplying the government, was one of the +causes of hostility to him amongst the smaller proprietors, whose rude +but costly modes of distillation were entirely supplanted by the +introduction of his improved machinery. This hostility had not yet died +out, and the family meditated throwing up the contract, and +discontinuing the manufacture altogether, as the easiest mode of +relieving themselves from the popular odium which it excited. We can +hardly understand how such prejudices should exist, but it is +nevertheless a fact that, at the first, every improvement in the useful +arts, all social progress, and every advance in government, philosophy, +and religion, have the world over been met and opposed in precisely the +same spirit, and from precisely the same motives. + +Upon our return to the house, we found a table spread with the rarest +collection of tropical fruits and luxuries which I had yet seen, and +which might have excited the envy of a king. We had “frescas” compounded +from the marañon, the orange, and the juice of the cocoanut, slightly +dashed with aguardiente, the coolest and most refreshing imaginable; and +melons—such melons! And when we came to lie down in our respective +hammocks, beneath the shaded corridor, for the afternoon siesta, it was +unanimously voted that, with our present limited information on the +subject of Paradise, we should be quite willing to accept perpetual +youth and hacienda life “_down_,” rather than incur the risk of +attaining the former! “Opinions may differ about the propriety of +confessing it,” said W., “but really,” and he took a long and lazy pull +at his cigar, “I think this is quite good enough for a miserable sinner +like myself!” + +The smoke wreathed slowly up from each hammock, the mill clattered +drowsily, and we slept until the cool evening wind, gathering strength +as the sun declined, began to rustle amongst the orange trees which grew +beside the corridor, and the creaking carts, which had stood idle during +the heat of the day, again began to move in the direction of the cane +fields. A hacienda dinner, and a cheery ride townward, in the twilight, +completed the day; and we went to bed that night, with a most +satisfactory conception of hacienda life. + +I had flattered myself that my visit to El Viejo was unknown beyond the +family with which we were stopping; I had, in fact, stipulated with our +host, that our incognito should be rigidly preserved. He was, therefore, +a good deal embarrassed, and I was not a little annoyed, when he +announced the next morning at breakfast, that the municipality of the +town had been there, before I was up, to say that they should do +themselves the honor to pay their respects to “El Ministro” in form, at +the early hour of ten o’clock. There was now no alternative but to +submit to the arrangement, and make the best of what we would gladly +have prevented. Punctual to the moment, when the clock struck the +appointed hour, a band of musicos, preceded by half a dozen fellows +firing bombas, emerged from the cabildo, on the opposite side of the +square, in the direction of our house. They were followed by the +municipal and spiritual fathers of the town, the former with their red +sashes and gold-headed canes, and the latter in their black robes and +broad-brimmed hats, after whom came a mingled mass of men, women, and +children. The musicos played with an energy befitting the occasion, and +the men with the bombas managed to keep up an incessant discharge. The +musicos, the municipality, and the priests, with a very select few of +the prominent citizens, alone entered the sala. The populace had to +content themselves with gazing in turns through the open windows and +doors. Amongst the ecclesiastics was the Dean REMIJO SALAZAR, one of the +most imposing men in appearance, and most accomplished in manner and in +education, of any in the country, and withal an orator and a +philanthropist, and the venerable Padre JOSE MARIA GUERRERO, +distinguished throughout the State for his exemplary piety, and noted as +a musician and a composer of music. I experienced a real satisfaction in +taking these men by the hand, and my subsequent acquaintance with them +only served to deepen my respect and esteem. After the exchange of +salutations, and a very neat welcome from the first alcalde, we were +told that the musicos were prepared with a “Cancion,” composed expressly +for this occasion, which they begged permission to sing. The permission, +accompanied with a glass of ardiente by way of clearing their respective +whistles, was graciously accorded. It was but seven stanzas in length, +but each stanza was seven times repeated, with a constantly increasing +nasal intonation, until the sweat rolled down the faces of singers and +players,—for each musico both sang and played. The infliction was +severe, and would have been unendurable, had it not been for the amusing +contortions of features, and strong muscular exercises of the +performers, which far surpassed the most extravagant pantomime ever +brought on the stage. A copy of the “Cancion” was handed to me at the +conclusion of the performance, of which the title and a couple of +stanzas will suffice to satisfy any curiosity which the reader may +entertain in respect to it. I could not learn who was the author; for, +with the modesty of true genius, he carefully concealed his name. + + “CANCION. + + “CON QUE LA MUNICIPALIDAD DE LA VILLA DEL VIEJO, EN UNION DE LOS + SEÑORES PRESBITERIOS DON REMIJIO SALAZAR, DEAN DE LA SANTA YGLECIA + CATHEDRAL, Y DR. DON JOSE MARIA GUERRERO, Y LICENCIADO D. EVARISTO + ROCHA, FELICITARON AL SEÑOR MINISTRO PLENOPOTENCARIO DE LOS ESTADOS + UNIDOS DEL NORTE, EN SU LEGADA A ESTA VILLA, EL 5 A SETIEMBRE, DE + 1849. + + “Digno hijo de Washington, + Seais bien venido, + Illustre bien hechor + De nuestro Istmo, + No hay recompensa + Que eguale al beneficio, + De Vuestra Empresa! + + “Fue la America libre, + Hoy in su Centro, + Con Vos. se regocije + Hasta el estremo, + Es un deber + Pues que por Vos. adquiere + Un nuevo ser. + + “Dichoso aquel momento + Bello, y deseado, + En que Vuestra Excelencia + Fue proclamado, + Para operar + La obra grande que el mundo + Debe admirar.” + +[Illustration: VIEW OF CHINANDEGA FROM THE WEST.] + +We remained but two days at El Viejo, and on the morning of the third +started on our return to Leon. Chinandega, by daylight, more than +confirmed the favorable opinion which I had formed of it from +descriptions and starlight glimpses. It covers a very large space of +ground, and is regularly laid out in “cuadras” or squares, which are +again subdivided into what can best be described as gardens, each one +embowering a dwelling of some kind, generally built of canes and +thatched, but often of adobes and neatly roofed with tiles. The central, +or what may be called the business part of the town in the vicinity of +the grand plaza, is compact, and as well built as any part of Leon or +Granada. Yet it is scarcely twenty years since there was but a single +tile-roofed house in the town. Altogether, Chinandega has an air of +thrift and enterprise which I have seen nowhere else in Central America; +and as the trade now springing up on the Pacific coast increases, its +importance will continue to augment. The country around it is flat, yet +the soil is dry, and although the heat during the day is considerable, +yet here, as in El Viejo, the evenings and nights are cool and pleasant. +This is perhaps due to its position in respect both to the sea and the +great volcano of El Viejo, which stands guard at this extremity of the +plain of Leon. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +[Illustration: PORT OF REALEJO.] + +[Illustration: CHURCH AND PLAZA, CHINANDEGA.] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Realejo is about two leagues distant from Chinandega. It is a small +town, situated upon a tide-water stream, full five miles from the harbor +proper, and can only be reached by the ordinary bongos or lighters, at +high water. The position is low, and is reputed unhealthy. The customs’ +establishment is located there, but the merchants who conduct their +trade through the port have their stores in Chinandega and Leon. It is +said that the town was originally built nearer the harbor, and that the +present site was afterwards adopted in consequence of the frequent +attacks of the pirates, who, as I have already observed, infested this +coast. The population of Realejo is about twelve hundred, who find +employment in loading and unloading vessels, and supplying them with +fruits and provisions. Recently the place has derived a great impulse +from the Californian trade; docks and warehouses have been built, depôts +for coal established, and several of the American steamers now touch +there regularly for supplies; the station, in this respect, being +favorably situated intermediately between Panama and Acapulco. It seems +likely, however, that the old town will be abandoned and a new one built +up, immediately on the harbor, opposite the anchorage, where there is a +fine position, adapted to all the wants of commerce. A road has, in +fact, lately been opened to the mouth of the Estero Doña Paula, by a +company of native merchants, and the site of the new town has already +been laid out under direction of the government. It is to bear the +classical name of “Corinth,” and will not be distant more than eighteen +or twenty miles from Leon, to which place it is supposed it will sustain +the same relation that Realejo has hitherto done to Chinandega. The +official paper, the “Correo del Istmo,” of the 30th of January last, +advertises four hundred and twenty of the lots in “Corinth,” varying +from 1000 to 1500 square yards, and the minimum prices at which they are +to be sold, i. e. from $25 to $37. There seems to be little doubt that +this enterprise will prove successful, and that the Port of Realejo will +become second in importance to no other on the entire Pacific coast from +Panama northward.[21] + +----- + +Footnote 21: + + Sir Edward Belcher, R. N., who surveyed this harbor in 1838, says: + “The island of Cardon, at the mouth of the harbor of Realejo, is + situated in 12° 28´ N., and 87° 12´ W. It has two entrances, both of + which are safe, under proper precautions, in all weathers. Good and + safe anchorage extends for several miles. The rise and fall of the + tide is eleven feet, full and change 3h. 6m. Docks or slips, + therefore, may easily be constructed, and timber is readily to be + procured of any dimensions; wood, water, and immediate necessaries are + plentiful and cheap.—“_Voyage round the World_,” vol. ii. p. 307. + + “I may confidently say,” observes Dunlap, “that Realejo is as good a + port as any in the known world. I have seen Portsmouth, Rio Janeiro, + Port Jackson, Talhujano, Callao and Guayaquil, and to all of these I + consider it decidedly superior. It is a salt water creek, into which + several small streams of water empty themselves. The entrance is + protected by an island about two miles long, which leaves at each end + a channel where ships can enter the harbor, but extending opposite the + main land, forming the port in such a manner as to protect it entirely + from any wind that can possibly blow, and also breaking the swell + which enters the outer bay of Conchagua from the ocean. The north + entrance is about a quarter of a mile wide, and that at the south of + the island rather wider—both being entirely free from rocks or hidden + dangers, and having in no part less than five fathoms depth of water. + At one of these openings vessels can at all times enter with a leading + wind, from whatever quarter it may blow. The inside consists of a + noble basin of water, nowhere less than four fathoms deep, with a + bottom of mud, where two hundred ships of the line might lie at all + times in most perfect security. Merchant vessels generally lie about a + mile from the entrance, in the branch of the creek which runs up to + Realejo, where there are about five fathoms of water over a mud + bottom. Opposite this port there is a fine level beach, possessing + deep water close to the edge, which would form an admirable site for a + town, and where, at very little expense, a wharf might be constructed, + capable of accommodating almost any number of vessels.”—_Central + America_, p. 26. + +----- + +The opening of the port of San Juan del Sur, or San Juan de Concordia, +for purposes of transit across the Continent via Lake Nicaragua and the +Rio San Juan, it has been supposed will seriously affect the importance +of Realejo. The port of San Juan del Sur, however, can never meet the +requirements of a considerable commerce. As a point of embarkation and +disembarkation for steamers, it is unobjectionable; but it is small, and +it is almost impossible for sail vessels to approach this part of the +Nicaraguan coast. The north-east trade winds, which blow the entire +year, here sweep across the whole continent, and for a considerable +distance, and almost constantly, off the shore; where, meeting with +other currents, they form those peculiar, revolving, contradictory winds +known as Papagayos, which give their name to the Gulf within which this +port is situated. Realejo, from this circumstance, and that of position +in respect to the back country, must therefore remain the chief port of +Nicaragua. It is undoubtedly the best for harbor purposes. + + + + + CHAPTER XIV. + +THE PRIESTHOOD IN NICARAGUA—DECLINE IN THE INFLUENCE OF THE + CHURCH—BANISHMENT OF THE ARCHBISHOP—SUPPRESSION OF THE + CONVENTS—PROHIBITION OF PAPAL BULLS—LEGITIMIZATION OF THE CHILDREN + OF PRIESTS—THE THREE ABANDONED CONVENTS OF LEON—PADRE CARTINE, THE + LAST OF THE FRANCISCANS—RECEPTION, OR CLOCK ROOM—THE PADRE’S PETS; + HIS ORATORY; PRIVATE APARTMENTS; WORKSHOP—A SKULL AND ITS + HISTORY—THE EGLESIA DEL RECOLECCION—THE PADRE AS A LANDLORD; AS A + PAINTER; AS AN UNCLE; AND AS NEGOTIATOR IN MARRIAGE—AN AUSPICIOUS + OMEN—DEATH OF THE VICAR OF THE DIOCESS OF NICARAGUA—HIS OBSEQUIES—A + FUNERAL ORATION—PRIESTLY ELOQUENCE—AN EPITAPH—GENERAL FUNERAL + CEREMONIES—DEATH AS AN ANGEL OF MERCY—BURIAL PRACTICES—CAPELLANIAS; + THEIR EFFECTS, AND THE POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT IN RESPECT TO + THEM—POPULAR BIGOTRY AND SUPERSTITION—AN ANCIENT INDULGENCE—THE + POTENCY OF AN EJACULATION—REMISSION OF SINS—PENETENCIAS—RATIONALE OF + THE PRACTICE—NOVEL PENANCES—TURNING SINS TO GOOD ACCOUNT—GOOD FROM + EVIL—SYSTEM OF THE PADRE CARTINE—THE DIOCESS OF NICARAGUA, AND ITS + BISHOP—GENERAL EDUCATION—PUBLIC SCHOOLS—THE UNIVERSITIES OF LEON AND + GRANADA—A SAD PICTURE. + + +Although there is probably less religious bigotry in Nicaragua and San +Salvador than in most of the Spanish American States, yet the priests +still exercise considerable influence amongst the popular masses. To +their credit, however, be it said, that many of them, although not +highly educated, are not only men of liberal sentiments, but amongst the +most active promoters of measures of general improvement. Previous to +the Independence, the Church in Central America was well endowed, and +quite as exacting as in any other part of the continent, or in Spain +itself. For some time subsequent to that event, it retained much of its +strength, and was active in the political affairs of the country. +Unfortunately, its influence was seldom felt in behalf of liberal +institutions, general or local. + +It is not to be doubted that the men who were the promoters of the +Independence, and most active in the establishment of the Republic, were +very little under priestly influence; for one of the first acts of the +National Constituent Assembly was to prohibit the sale of Papal +indulgences, and to limit the exactions of the Church. This policy +arrayed the priestly influence against the new order of things, and it +was henceforth exercised in favor of the aristocratical, monarchical, or +Servile faction, against the Liberals and the Republic,—thus becoming +one of the causes of many of the disasters to which the country has +since been subjected. Yet the zeal of the Priests did not fail to react +upon themselves. They entered into the arena of politics, and were +treated as partisans in the civil contests. They espoused the cause of +an obnoxious faction, and came to share its odium as well as its +misfortunes. The Liberals, emancipated from the machinery of the Church, +soon began to look with incredulity on its doctrines, and with contempt +on its forms; and although the people of Central America are still +nominally Catholics, yet amongst those capable of reflection, or +possessed of education, there are more who are destitute of any fixed +creed, rationalists, or what are sometimes called free thinkers, than +Catholics, or adherents of any form of religion. Many of the priests +share in the general skepticism. + +The first decided encounter between the Church and the Republic, was in +1825, when the people of San Salvador, the stronghold of Liberalism, +dissatisfied with the political tendencies of the Bishop of Guatemala, +under whose ecclesiastical jurisdiction they were, elected a Bishop of +their own, in defiance of the Archbishop and the Pope. This example was +soon after followed by Nicaragua. The ignorant priesthood, the friars of +Quesaltenango, siding with the Archbishop and the Serviles, infuriated +by this and other bold innovations, contrived to excite the Indians in +Los Altos, who in their fury cruelly slaughtered the vice-president of +the Republic; and for a time the Liberals were overwhelmed by the +coalition. They, however, afterwards rallied under Gen. Morazan. During +his enlightened and vigorous sway, in 1829, it was discovered that the +Archbishop was intriguing against the government; and it was then the +Church received a blow from which it can never recover. Morazan was not +a man to be trifled with; he boldly seized the Archbishop, and sent him +out of the country under a guard of soldiers, forbidding his return +under penalty of death. The monks and friars belonging to the various +convents and monasteries of Guatemala, who were deeply concerned with +the Archbishop, were expelled in an equally summary manner. But the +measures thus commenced did not stop here. The Legislature of Guatemala +decreed the suppression of all the male convents, prohibited females +from becoming nuns for the future, and appropriated the revenues of the +suppressed monasteries. This act was ratified by the General Congress, +which, catching the same spirit, within two months after the banishment +of the Archbishop declared all religious orders at an end throughout the +Republic. This decisive measure met with the almost unanimous sanction +of the people, and was at once carried into effect in the several +States. The Congress also decreed not only complete Religious Liberty, +but that the appointment to church dignities pertained to the nation, +and should be made by the President of the Republic; prohibited the +promulgation of all papal bulls, unless they had received the previous +sanction of the Federal Government, as also the sale or use of papal +dispensations, of whatever character. The State of Honduras shortly +afterwards passed a law, which, I believe, was also adopted by all the +other States, legalizing the marriage of the priests, and legitimatizing +their children, so as to permit of their succeeding to their fathers’ +property.[22] + +----- + +Footnote 22: + + In their zeal to educate the people, and to weaken their religious + prejudices, theatres were established, in which the arts and objects + of priestcraft were exposed to ridicule, contempt, and reprobation. A + play called “La Inquisicion por dentro,” or “A Peep into the + Inquisition,” had a great run, and brought that institution into + effectual and lasting odium. + + “In Guatemala,” says Mr. Crowe, “Papal bulls of indulgence, which used + to be as much valued as paper currency in other countries, are now + used by the shopkeepers as waste paper for wrapping their goods. In + San Salvador, the Bishop, a few years since, offered first twenty and + afterwards forty days of plenary indulgence, to be deducted from the + period of purgatorial sufferings after death, to all who should aid in + removing an unsightly mound of earth which disgraced one of the + squares of the city, and injured the effect of the Cathedral; but the + mound remained, although the Bishop again doubled the promised + remission.” + +----- + +Subsequently to the dissolution of the confederacy, and under the +direction of the Serviles, the convents of Guatemala were +re-established, but the other States have persisted in the prohibitory +action of 1829, or rather no attempt has been made to revive the +monasteries suppressed under it. There were formerly, as I have already +said, three convents in Leon; that of San Juan de Dios has been +converted into a hospital; that of La Merced is only used by the +government in case of need as a cuartel, or barracks. The largest, the +Franciscan, although in a state of hopeless decay, is still watched over +faithfully by the Padre Cartine. He has thus far preserved its precincts +sacred from profane intrusion, and lingers silently amongst its +dilapidated corridors, and weed-infested courts, like the antiquary +amongst the tombs, the last of the powerful fraternity of San Francisco +in Leon. + +The Padre Cartine is a learned man, in the continental acceptation of +the term of two centuries ago. That is to say, he reads Latin and the +Fathers, and is familiar with the Natural History of Pliny,—the latest +book on the subject with which he is acquainted, and which is his sole +authority. The Padre is withal a mathematician, has a Latin edition of +Euclid, and reads it once a year by way of amusement, and to refresh his +memory. He is an architect, and has made a plan for the restoration of +the convent, on a scale of splendor which would beggar a prince to carry +out, and feels as anxious about its accuracy as if the masons were to +commence to-morrow, and any defect in the plan would ruin the +architectural effect of the structure for ever. + +I am not likely to forget my first visit to Padre Cartine. I found him +seated in a broad arm-chair, in the principal room of his house. He had +been a man of fine proportions, but was now a little corpulent, a defect +only to be observed when he was standing. His head was of fine outline, +large, and massive, and his face had an expression of intelligence, +dignity, and equanimity, at once pleasing and impressive. He wore a +dress of coarse, gray serge, bound at the waist by a rough pita cord, +for he still kept up many of the austere practices of his order. The +furniture of the house was plain and simple, and I believe all of the +Padre’s own manufacture. Upon a low bench extending around two sides of +the room, was a most incongruous assortment of clocks, of every date, +pattern, and country, from a tall cupboard contrivance of the last +century, dingy with age, in the corner, through every intermediate +variety, to a little German or French concern, which ticked spitefully +from the opposite wall. There were cases without clocks, and clocks +without cases; besides a wilderness of weights, cords, pulleys, wheels, +and springs; for the Padre was so passionately fond of clocks, that he +not only kept an extensive variety of his own to tinker, but borrowed +all of his neighbors’, and encouraged the distant villagers to bring him +theirs for gratuitous cleansing and repair. No Jew’s second-hand +furniture-shop in Chatham street could afford more than a very faint +counterpart of this curious collection. The Padre observed that they +attracted my attention, and commenced a philosophical lecture on +horology, which I hastily brought to a close by suggesting a walk +through the old convent and the church which had been attached to it. In +the first courtyard were half a dozen deer, tame as kittens, which came +bounding up at the sound of the Padre’s voice; they licked his extended +hand, and held down their heads to have them rubbed, but failing to +cajole the Padre out of a plantain or tortilla, butted him playfully, +and struck at him with well-feigned malice. Upon one side of this court +the Padre had fitted up a private chapel. It contained a marble altar, a +wax figure of Christ, and a great variety of valuable ornaments saved +from the wreck of the monastery, and with which no earthly consideration +could prevail upon the Padre to part. An expression, half of sorrow, +half of pride, passed over the Padre’s face as he held the door open +that we might see the precious contents of his oratory. From this he +took us to a large room, his own private apartment, in which was the +rough hide bed whereon he slept, and which contrasted strangely with a +rich set of travelling wine and liqueur bottles, which he complacently +displayed to us, (not badly filled, by the way), in a secure closet. In +another room the Padre had his workshop. In one corner was a foot-lathe +of his own construction, in which he turned beads from the arm-bones of +defunct Señoras, to be strung on consecrated rosaries, and sold for the +benefit of piety and the church—whose interests have always wonderfully +accorded. Here were kettles containing purified sulphur from the +volcanoes, nitre, and charcoal, to be compounded for the glorification +of the saints, the service of the Lord, and the utter desperation of +heretics, in the form of bombas. Here, too, was a machine, also of the +Padre’s invention and construction, for grinding and polishing the +glasses of spectacles, for the Padre, amongst his multifarious +accomplishments, was an optician, the only one, probably, in all Central +America. He had, in fact, constructed a telescope for the University of +Leon, and astounded the citizens by showing them the rings of Saturn! +“You are a most accomplished man, Padre,” said I, glancing at his +mechanical achievements. “_Juguetes_,” playthings, mere playthings, +responded the Padre, with a complacent smile, which was intended to be +depreciatory. In the third courtyard, next the church, grew a +magnificent mango tree. At its foot a mozo had been digging, to +extirpate some burrowing animal, and had thrown up a variety of human +bones, and amongst them a skull. Its delicate proportions attracted my +attention, and I stepped aside and picked it up. + +“Ah, Padre, this is a woman’s skull, a girl’s skull, I am sure! Padre, +how came it here?” + +The Padre took it quickly from my hand, looked at it, and then gazed in +an abstracted, reflecting manner upon the spot which it had occupied. +After a few moments’ silence, he spoke, deliberately removing the earth +from the eye sockets with his fore-finger; + +“Ah, Señor! she was very beautiful, this girl. She was the youngest +daughter of Señora M——! Heaven rest her soul! She died of the cholera in +the year ’37. Five thousand of our people died in four short months, +Señor! The Señorita Inez! She was only sixteen years old, Señor; but yet +a woman, and beautiful, very beautiful!” + +And the Padre held the delicate skull before him, as if it was clothed +with flesh again, and he gazed upon the smiling face once more. + +“Very beautiful,” he soliloquized. “She was amongst the first; there are +five hundred buried in this very court, Señor,” said the Padre rapidly, +turning towards me, and crossing himself. “Five thousand in four months! +in four short months!” + +The expression of the old man’s face, as the memory of those four months +came back upon him, showed how terrible and ineffaceable were the scenes +which they had witnessed. “She was very beautiful!” and the Padre placed +the skull gently in the earth again, laid the delicate bones carefully +around it, and with his naked hand scraped the loose earth above them. + +The interior of the Eglesia del Recoleccion, which has a most elaborate +façade, covered with shields on which are exhibited all the prominent +devices of the church, was dark and gloomy. The altar was a fine one, +and the Padre kept a lamp burning constantly before an image of the +Virgin, which looked spectral enough beneath its feeble rays. A number +of pictures were suspended upon the walls, among which were a variety of +saints frying complacently upon gridirons, smiling from stakes of +impalement, or sailing smoothly away amongst a swarm of baby angels and +bodiless cherubs, to a most substantial looking heaven, elevated only a +few yards above the earth. We ascended into the tower by a series of +rickety stairs, with gaps here and there ranging from one to four steps, +up which the prudent Padre did not essay to go. From this tower we +obtained a fine view, second only to that to be had from the top of the +Cathedral. As we descended, a huge owl, which we had startled from his +roost in some dark corner of the tower, nearly knocked us over in his +flight. We returned through the Golgotha, to the grand reception or +clock room, where the Padre showed us his plan for restoring the +convent, in red and black ink, which required only a single thing to its +realization, and that was precisely what the Padre did not know how to +obtain, viz., money! We nevertheless made him happy before leaving, by +promising to write to the United States, on his behalf, to obtain a +grand clock for his church, which should exhibit three dials, and strike +the hours. “Con tres frentes!” repeated the Padre, calling after us as +we passed down the street, “with three dials!” + +The Padre ultimately became my landlord. I hired a house of him, which +he had himself designed and built, opposite the old convento. It had a +grand sala and two rooms on the street, with quarters for the servants, +and a kitchen, arranged after the usual plan,—altogether one of the most +desirable buildings in Leon. It had before rented for six dollars per +month, but as I was a particular friend of the Padre, I got it for nine. +The Padre was really ashamed to ask that sum, but then he had written a +religious pamphlet, which he wanted to publish, and I told him that I +should be too happy to contribute to that laudable object, and that the +house was worth twice the money,—which was pretty good, considering that +the best house in Leon rented for but fourteen dollars per month. The +Padre had achieved a great triumph in painting the interior of this +house. It was done in fresco, in a style as novel as complicated, and +with as many colors as could conveniently be compounded. But the Padre’s +_chef d’œuvre_ was the _menagerie_, as we called it, upon the wall of +the servants’ corridor. His models had been the figures of animals and +objects represented in the Child’s First Primer, or illustrated +alphabet, a copy of which he must have obtained from the United States +or England, for there was the entire series commencing “A was an Ape +that ran after his tail,” down to “Z was a Zebra who came from the +Cape,” all depicted of large size, and in flaming colors. This fact will +perhaps sufficiently illustrate the state of decorative art in +Nicaragua. + +The Padre had a niece (_de facto_, oh skeptic!) who, with her mother, +occupied a detached part of his own house, and over whom, as she was +exceedingly pretty, he kept most rigorous watch. He gave out, for the +benefit of gallants, that he would shoot the first who should be seen +around the premises, and really kept a loaded musket for the purpose. +The Padre was a man of his word, and the threat was effectual in its +object; the gallants kept away. The last time I heard from Leon, a young +American, from Boston, was diplomatizing with the Padre for the hand of +his sobrina; it went hard to resign her to a heretic, but the Padre’s +heart is soft, and even rocks yield to time. Boston and Leon; +Massachusetts and Nicaragua; the omen is auspicious and significant! + +I have elsewhere mentioned the name of the Vicario of the Bishopric, Don +Desiderio de la Quadra, who was the first of the clergy to pay his +respects to me, upon my arrival in Leon. He was then ill, and died on +the 4th of October following. His funeral was conducted with great +ceremony and solemnity. On the morning of the 5th, circulars, of which +the following is a copy, were directed to all the principal inhabitants, +and left by a messenger bearing a silver cross shrouded in crape, from +the Cathedral. + + “AL SEÑOR;—— + + “A las seis de la tarde de ayer ha muerto nuestro muy amado tio el Sr. + Vicario Capitular y Apostòlico, Presbitero Beneficiado Dr. Don José + Desiderio Quadra: su cadáver será sepultado en la Santa Catedral + Yglesia de esta Ciudad, saliendo el entierro á las cuatro de la tarde + de la casa de su morada. Si U. se dignase honrarle con su asistencia, + le serán muy reconocidos sus mas atentos servidores Q. B. S. M. + + MATEO MAYORGA. + + “TRINIDAD QUADRA. + _Leon, Octubre 5 de 1849._” + +At the appointed hour we proceeded to the house which the Vicar had +occupied. It was a large building, furnished in the simplest manner, for +the Vicar was a practical as well as professed follower of Christ, and +was faithful to his vows of poverty. All of his income, except the small +sum necessary to supply his frugal wants, was devoted to charity. The +courtyard and the corridor were already filled with people; and the +clergy occupied the grand sala in which the corpse was lying. The +ceremonies of the funeral had already commenced, we could hear the +chants and prayers, and see the wax lights, but the place was +overcrowded, and we did not attempt to enter. After a while a passage +was opened through the assemblage for the bearers of the dead, preceded +and surrounded by priests, full robed and with uncovered heads. The +people in the courtyard knelt, as the remains were carried by. In the +street was a sort of car, covered with drapery, upon which the corpse, +dressed in the vicarial robes, was placed. Here another prayer was +chanted; and when it was concluded, the car, surrounded by the entire +body of the clergy, and preceded by the empty ecclesiastical carriage, +moved towards the Cathedral. All the officers of State, and a large +number of the principal citizens, bearing wax candles, followed; and +then came the mass of the people, without order, but silently and +decently. The cortege stopped at each corner, where a prayer was +repeated in low recitative by the priests, who walked slowly around the +car, and sprinkled the ground with holy water. The troops were drawn, up +with arms reversed, in the plaza, which the procession entered amidst +the tolling of the muffled bells of the Cathedral. The body was carried +up the main aisle, and placed upon an elevated platform, immediately in +front of the great altar, while the choir filled the vast building with +the solemn tones of the chant for the dead. The light fell from the dome +full upon the rigid face of the corpse, calm and cold as marble, +surrounded by earnest groups, standing silently in the shadows of the +lofty arches. An extempore funeral oration was pronounced by the SEÑOR +PRESBITERO DEAN D. REMIJIO SALAZAR, of the town of El Viejo. It was +founded on the passage in the eleventh chapter of Leviticus, “Sed +santos, porque yo soy santo.” “Be ye holy, for I am holy,” and was given +with good oratorical effect and much feeling, and was altogether +impressive and appropriate. Its tenor was to show that the deceased, +from his observance of the requisitions of God and the church, was +entitled to be regarded as a saint. The analysis of what constitutes +“the Israelite indeed,” was made with great clearness and eloquence, and +in more pretending countries than those of Nicaragua, would have stamped +its author as a man of no ordinary abilities. + +“The true saint,” said the speaker, “walks apart from the glittering +road trodden by the proud and selfish world. His is the path in the +valley of humility. He pants not for the glory of the soldier, or the +fame of the statesman, the splendor of wealth, or the dignity of social +position. Has he talents? He consecrates them to our holy religion. Has +he wealth? It is a free offering at the feet of Charity. Has he a lofty +lineage, and illustrious name? He humbly surrenders them at the shrine +of the Church. All this did the venerated dead! He was a man who feared +God, and adhered steadfastly to his service; irreproachable in conduct, +a faithful son, a true friend, an obedient citizen, a man disinterested +in his views and actions, moderate in his desires, uncomplaining in +adversity, humble, in prosperity; purified in the fire, weighed in the +balance, by the loftiest standard of the Holy Law, he is proved a saint! +And now, amidst the glorious array of saints and martyrs, beyond the +clouded atmosphere of earth, in the eternal sunshine of Divinity, dwells +that pure and immortal spirit whose rejected tenement, cold and +motionless, we have assembled to consign to the silent house appointed +for all living. Our tears fall on the earth, but our smiles are +reflected in Heaven!” + +Amongst the many epitaphs and fragmentary poetical tributes elicited by +the death of this Vicar, the subjoined may be taken as a very fair +example. With what has been presented elsewhere, it will no doubt +satisfy the reader that the tropical muse seldom rises to lofty flights. + + EPITAFIO + + _A la muerte del muy illustre y venerable Prelado, el Señor Presbitero + Dr. Don Desiderio de la Quadra, Vicario Capitular de esta Diócesis._ + + Despues de tantos años de virtud, + El feudo pagas cual mortal viviente, + Para acercaros al trono Omnipotente + De aquel Dios de eterna beatitud: + Allí, allí la inmensa multitud + De santos que te adoran reverentes, + Abriendo campo à tu espirítu inocente, + Ponen en tus manos sonoro laúd. + Goza esa vida inmortal que te deseo + Al mismo tiempo que tu muerte llóro; + Y mientras entre los justos yo te veo, + Disfruta cantando en alto coro + Safírica corona por troféo + De Opalo una palma, una Silla de oro. + Leon, Octubre 5 de 1849. + +The funeral of the Vicar was far more solemn than any other which I +witnessed in the country. In most instances the funeral ceremony has few +of those gloomy accessories which our customs prescribe as no more than +decorous. Youth, innocence, and beauty, like ornaments on the brow of +age, or on the withered limbs of deformity, serve only to heighten the +terrors of our grim conception of death, the gloomy and remorseless +tyrant who gloats, fiend-like, over the victims of his skeleton arm. +Theirs is a happier conception. Death mercifully relieves the infant +from the sorrows and the dangers of life; and withers the rose on the +cheeks of youth, that it may retain its bloom and fragrance in the more +genial atmosphere of Heaven. The tear of grief falls only for those +whose long contact with the world has effaced the stamp of divinity, +whose matured passions have cankered the heart, and whose misdirected +ambitions have diverted the aspirations of the soul and the energies of +the mind from heaven to earth, from the grandeurs of Eternity to the +frivolities of Time. + +The youngest daughter of the Licenciado D. died and was buried in the +latter part of October. She was young, scarce sixteen, and the idolized +child of her parents. Her funeral might have been her bridal, in its +total freedom from outward manifestations of grief. The procession +formed before my window. First were musicians playing a cheerful strain, +and next the priests chaunting a song of triumph. After them, on the +shoulders of young men, was borne a litter, covered with white satin and +loaded with orange branches, amidst which, dressed in white as for a +festival, her head wreathed with pure white flowers, and holding in her +hands a silver cross, was the marble form of the dead girl. The bereaved +parents, the sisters and relations of the deceased followed; their eyes +were tearless, and though the traces of sorrow were visible on their +faces, yet over all there was an expression of hope, and of faith in the +teachings of Him who has declared “Blessed are the pure in heart, for +they shall see God.” + +The funerals of infants are much the same. The body is invariably +dressed in white, and covered with flowers. Men firing rockets, and +musicians playing lively airs, precede the corpse, and the parents and +relatives follow. The rationale of this apparent want of feeling is to +be found in the Romish doctrine of baptismal regeneration, according to +which the departed spirit being in heaven, there is more cause for +happiness than grief. + +When an adult is dangerously ill, or dying, a priest is called, who goes +for the Viaticum. An altar is hastily erected in the sick chamber; a +crucifix is placed upon it, surrounded with lighted candles and flowers, +a place being left for the _Costodia_, a vessel generally of gold and +richly jewelled, containing the consecrated wafer. This is brought by a +priest in a litter or carriage, surrounded by soldiers and boys bearing +lighted candles, and preceded by music,—sometimes consisting only of a +single violin. The people kneel as the procession passes through the +streets. Arrived at the sick chamber, the sacrament and the last rites +of the church are administered to the dying one, whose friends, +gathering close around the bed, whisper “Jesus te ampara,” “Jesus te +auxilie,” “Maria te favoresca,”—Jesus protect thee, Jesus help thee, +Maria favor thee,—and then, when they suppose the final struggle +transpiring, they ejaculate, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!” + +“Among the more refined inhabitants,” says Mr. Crowe, in his interesting +book on Guatemala, (and the same practice is followed throughout the +country,) “after the coffin, covered with black velvet, has been removed +from between the gigantic candles which cast a pale glare upon it in the +sombre apartment, it is followed by a long train of friends on foot, +bearing lighted candles, to the church, and then to the cemetery. When +the corpse has been finally deposited, the friends return slowly and in +groups to the house of mourning, where the chief mourner has remained, +and is now waiting to receive them in a large room or hall, hung with +black cloth, at one end of which he sits, supported on his left or right +by two near kinsmen or special friends. The visitors sit silently before +him for a few minutes, on seats which are placed for them on either side +of the room, and having thus manifested their participation in the grief +of the family, they rise, one after another, gently press the hand of +the chief mourner, and, if they are intimate friends, perhaps add a word +or two of condolence. They then retire, and are succeeded by others in +the same manner.”[23] + +----- + +Footnote 23: + + Gospel in Central America, p. 373. + +----- + +There is, however, much that is repugnant in the burials, particularly +as practised in Leon. Near most of the towns is what is called the Campo +Santo, an enclosed consecrated cemetery, in which the dead are buried +upon the payment of a small sum, which is devoted to keeping the grounds +in order. But in Leon the practice of burying in the churches has always +prevailed, and is perpetuated through the influence of the priests, who +derive a considerable fee from each burial. The consequence is, that the +ground within and around the churches has become (if the term is +admissible) saturated with the dead. The burials are made according to +the amount paid to the church, for from ten to twenty-five years, at the +end of which time the bones, with the earth around them, are removed and +sold to the manufacturers of nitre! The government has opposed the +entire practice for many years, and during the period of the cholera +prohibited it. But the instability of affairs in the country has been +such, that the authorities have hesitated to provoke the hostility of +the entire priesthood by putting a peremptory end to the practice. +Coffins are rarely used. The corpse is placed at the bottom of the +grave, the earth rudely thrown in, and beaten hard with heavy rammers, +with a degree of indifference, not to say brutality, which is really +shocking, and which I never permitted myself to witness a second time. + +Amongst the sources of revenue to which the priesthood has adhered with +greatest tenacity, and the gradual abolition of which is one of the +leading measures of the Government policy of Nicaragua, is what is +called the _capellania_, or lien on property, conveyed to the priests by +proprietors at their death, to secure certain masses or other priestly +interpositions on behalf of their souls, or conveyed to churches for the +same laudable objects. Thus Don Fulano finding his end approaching, +gives to his priest a lien of twenty dollars a year on his estate, in +consideration of which a certain number of masses shall be said for him +annually. Next year the Doña Fulano dies, and, not to be outdone in +piety, she secures to her favorite church another annual sum to be +invested in “villainous saltpetre” for the glorification of her +protecting Santa, and the benefit of her own “alma.” It will readily be +seen that the continuance of this process through a series of years +must, in the end, seriously embarrass the real estate of the country, +and prove an effectual check to the improvement of that species of +property. Thus the most desirable portions of Leon, once covered with +squares of palaces, are now waste and unoccupied, in consequence of the +accumulation of the capellanias, which exceed in amount the market value +of the ground. + +During my stay in Leon, and in spite of the opposition of those +interested in maintaining them, the Legislative Chambers decreed the +abolition of ten per cent. of the capellanias, excepting those dedicated +to educational purposes. Previously, I believe, fifteen per cent. had +been appropriated by the Government, and offered for commutation at a +nominal sum. The entire extinction of the capellanias, and the release +of the property which they have so long burthened and rendered +valueless, will be the ultimate and happy result of these advances. + +I have said that the masses of the people still cherish something of +their original religious bigotry. It is, nevertheless, fast giving way +to more liberal sentiments, and no objection is made to foreigners on +the score of religion, so long as they preserve a decent respect for the +ceremonies of the church, and do not outrage the prejudices which +education and custom have created, and which are no more numerous nor +stronger than with us, although they have a somewhat different +direction. That there is much of ignorance and superstition amongst the +people, is unfortunately true; nor is the fact at all surprising, in +consideration of their antecedents, and the circumstances under which +they have been placed.[24] + +----- + +Footnote 24: + + An English Protestant Missionary, Mr. F. Crowe, who was established in + Guatemala for some years, until driven out by the servile Government, + has recently published a work entitled the “Gospel in Central + America,” in which he observes: + + “Of the fact that infidelity has spread extensively in Central + America, and particularly so amongst the very classes upon which + Romanism had formerly the strongest hold, there can be no doubt. It is + proved by the almost total abandonment of the outward observances of + Popery by the better educated amongst the Ladinos, and, in spite of + their political tendencies, by the whites and pure Creoles also. With + the exception of the more weak amongst the women and children, + scarcely any of these classes are now to be seen attending mass or + confession, and other requirements are generally neglected by them. + Numbers of infidel books are to be found in the libraries, and in the + hands of all classes and sexes. So strongly are the minds of these + classes imbued with deistical and atheistical notions, that it becomes + apparent, and is unblushingly avowed in general conversation. Nay, + some of the more candid among the priests openly espouse these + notions.”—p. 257. + + Some of the priests, this author adds, ridicule the pretended + authority of the Pope, and rejoice at the emancipation of the people + from the Church of Rome. Mr. Crowe rejoices also, at the success of + infidelity over Romanism, as likely to result in good. “The change + from Popery, or any other analogous system,” he writes, “to the entire + rejection of revealed religion, is one which believers in Divine + Revelation may hail with satisfaction, if they be prepared to take + advantage of it; for it breaks up prejudices of education, leads to + thought and inquiry, and sometimes to a sincere and earnest search + after truth!” + +----- + +It is somewhat difficult to ascertain how far the faith of the better +classes in papal infallibility, and other matters to which an apparent +entire deference is accorded, really extends. We can hardly conceive +that the following antiquated indulgence should be posted upon every +door in the houses of the most intelligent families, except in politic +conformity to prejudices, not shared by those families themselves, but +which they do not care to oppose. Yet it met my eye almost everywhere, +in the houses alike of the rich and the poor, of the Indian and the +Caballero:— + + ALABADO SEA EL + SANTISIMO + SACRAMENTO + DEL ALTAR! + + Nuestro Santìsimo Padre Paulo V. de felìz memoria, en su Bula de 17. + de Abril despachada en Roma del año del Señor de 1612, concediò + indulgencia plenaria, y remision de la tercera parte de los pecados, á + cualquiera persona que en su casa tuviere escrito donde su pueda lér ☞ + LA ANTERIOR JACULATORIA; ☜ y la misma indulgencia plenaria, todas las + veces que lo leyéren, y el que no supiere lér, veneráre el escrito. + + _Copiado del original de indulgencias._ + + PRAISE BE TO THE + MOST HOLY SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR! + + “Our most holy Father Paul V. of happy memory, in his Bull from Rome, + April 17, in the year of our Lord 1612, conceded plenary indulgence + and remission of the third part of his sins to whoever should write in + his house where it might be read ☞THE PRECEDING EJACULATION☜; and the + same plenary indulgence every time he should read it, or if he should + not be able to read, every time he should venerate the writing,” i. + e., look upon it with veneration. + +“Bendito y alabado sea el Santo Sacramento del Altar,” Blessed and +praised be the holy Sacrament of the Altar, is the common ejaculation of +the servant who in the evening, first brings lighted candles into the +occupied rooms of the various houses. It is uttered mechanically, in a +drawling, nasal tone, and was formerly always responded to by the +members of the family; but like many other customs, the latter part of +the practice has now become obsolete. The recipient of a favor +acknowledges it by “Dios se lo pague,” God repay you; if an engagement +is made, it is with the qualification, “si Dios quiere,” if God wills; +and when a bond is entered into, it is always with the reservation, +“Primero Dios,” i. e., if my first duty to God will permit. The “higher +law” is always recognized, in form if not in spirit. “Dios sobre todos,” +God over all, is the commonest of proverbs. + +The public Penitencias, or Penances, afford striking illustrations of +the strength of the popular superstitions, and of the priestly +influence. I witnessed one of these, shortly after my arrival in Leon. +It consisted of a long procession of men and boys, one or two hundred in +number, barefooted and stripped to the waist, their heads and faces +covered with veils so as to prevent recognition, who marched through the +public streets, from one church to another, flagellating themselves with +raw hide thongs. They were preceded by a life-size figure of Christ on +the cross, a score of musicians, and a crowd of priests and women, (all +of the latter barefooted and some bearing heavy crosses on their +shoulders,) who chanted prayers, while the penitents beat time with the +thongs over their own shoulders. Each one carried a little cross before +him in his hand, with his head bent forward as if in earnest +contemplation of the sacred symbol. It was a singular spectacle; for +there were black bodies, and brown, and white bodies, and yellow, and +the sharp strokes of the thongs in the pauses of the slow and mournful +music, fairly made the flesh of the spectator creep. There was, however, +no special occasion for sympathy, for each penitent had it in his power +to graduate the force of his own blows to his own notions of the +enormity of his moral offences. Some laid it on gently,—moderate +sinners!—merely as a matter of form; but there were others who punished +themselves lustily, and drew blood from their quivering flesh at every +blow, which ran down to their very heels, and purpled the ground where +they trod. + +It seems almost incredible that these heathenish practices, only one +remove from human sacrifices, should yet be perpetuated amongst nations +claiming to be civilized. Still, when we reflect that fasts and other +mortifications of the body are prescribed by the rituals of our own +churches, and proclaimed from the executive chair of our own nation, we +ought not to be surprised at any manifestation of human folly, or wonder +that the popular conception of God is not yet purified from the horrible +and detestable features with which it was invested in the darkest ages +of the world, and in the most debased stages of the human mind. The +belief that the all-good and omnipotent Ruler of the Universe can be +pleased with the self-inflicted punishment of his creatures, whether it +be through fasting or flagellation, differs in no respect from that +which actuates the frantic Hindoo, who prostrates himself before the +crushing wheels of Jaggenath, or that inflamed the poor Mexican, who +offered his willing breast to the knife of the Aztec priest, that his +palpitating heart might bathe the lips of the idol which was the visible +representation of his sanguinary God! + +There were other Penitencias, not public, but which were perhaps more +severe. A hundred or more of the penitents are sometimes locked within a +church, where they remain for nine days, sleeping but four hours out of +the twenty-four, and eating but once in that period. The rest of the +time is divided between the various ceremonies prescribed by the rigid +rules of the penitencia, upon their knees, or prone on the rough floor +of the dark church in which they are confined. While I resided near the +Eglesia de la Merced, one of these penitencias took place, and I was +several times awakened in the dead of night by the wailings of the +penitents, mingling harshly with the low and cheerful melodies of that +Nature which harmonizes with its great Author, and upon whose laws +kingcraft and priestcraft, the world over, and in every age, have waged +a constant and most unnatural and unholy war. The horrible doctrine of +original sin, and the efficacy of austerities, penances, and +immolations, parts of one system, find the best evidence of their truth +in the fact of their existence amongst men! I saw the enthusiasts when +they came out of the church, pale, haggard, and filthy; some, in fact, +so exhausted that they could not walk without assistance, and who +tottered from the scenes of their debasement to beds of sickness and +death. + +Very novel penances are sometimes prescribed by the priests by way of +atonement for individual iniquities. The Padre Cartine was particularly +ingenious and happy in imposing them. Lazy fellows and _bon vivants_, to +whom he thought exercise and fasting would prove beneficial, he sent +bare-footed and alone to El Viejo, or some place at a distance, under +the restriction to speak to no human being on the way, nor to eat, nor +yet to sleep, until their return. A heavy stone, rough and angular, had +sometimes to be carried on the naked shoulders of the penitent, or a +cross of heavy wood, according to the more or less heinous nature of the +poor devil’s offences. Carpenters, masons, and all other valuable +sinners, whose labor could be turned to good account, the Padre set to +work in repairing or improving his church and the buildings attached to +it, and never failed to put the good workmen “well in for it.” +Occasionally he got hold of a stupid fellow who failed to perform a +profitable day’s labor. In such cases the Padre had a whip, made of the +skin of the _dante_, or tapir, which he scrupled not to apply to the +delinquent’s back, for the benefit of his soul, and the acceleration of +the particular job in hand. And it is reported that these applications +are sometimes accompanied with terms more forcible than complimentary; +but I don’t vouch for the truth of that. + +For one or two months during my stay in Leon, the Padre had under his +surveillance a priest, suspended for licentious conduct, with whom he +was extremely rigorous. I was an accidental witness of his severity on +one occasion, when the Host was passing. The suspended Padre, in common +with all the people, came to the door, but instead of bending like the +rest on the hard threshold, he knelt comfortably in a soft-bottomed +chair. The indignant monk saw the dodge, and rising hastily, with a +vigorous blow of his foot knocked the chair from underneath the +delinquent, who came down with a force which must have jarred every bone +in his sinful body. The course of fasting and prayer through which that +priest was “put” by the Padre Cartine, if report speaks true,—midnight +vigils, and noonday masses,—would have reformed Silenus, and made a +saint of Bacchus. + +Nicaragua and Costa Rica together constitute a Diocess of a very ancient +date. It was organized as early as 1526. For the period intervening +between 1832 and 1849, the Bishop’s chair was vacant; but in the latter +year Don GEORGE VITERI Y UNGO, once Secretary of State of Guatemala, and +subsequently Bishop of San Salvador, received the appointment, and is +now in discharge of its functions. I have already described him as a man +of great intelligence, and polished manners. He has travelled much, and +never fails to leave a favorable impression on the minds of foreigners. +Yet in the country he is accounted an _intrigante_, and does not seem to +enjoy the full confidence of the leading inhabitants, who nevertheless +treat him with all respect and courtesy. While Bishop of San Salvador, +he is said to have taken an undue interest in political affairs, and +this was the cause of his deposition from that diocess; for the people +of San Salvador are quite as liberal in religion as politics, and will +tolerate no interference in public affairs by the clergy, as such. They +nevertheless concede to them the utmost latitude as individuals, and +while making no distinctions in their favor, make none against them. + +In respect to Education, both amongst the clergy and the people of +Nicaragua, little need be said, except that the standard is exceedingly +low. I spare myself the painful necessity of writing upon the subject, +by translating the following impartial passages from a private letter on +this point, addressed to me by one of the best informed and patriotic +citizens of Leon. A knowledge of their own deficiencies and wants, by +any people, is indispensable to secure a remedy; and the fact that some +of the best men in Nicaragua are looking the evils of ignorance full in +the face, is one of the best signs in the horoscope of the country. + +“Education in Nicaragua,” says my correspondent, “is generally much +neglected; particularly in the departments of Chontales and Segovia, +where there are some towns without a single teacher of any grade. Here +the elements of education are only taught, if taught at all, by the +fathers of families to their children, in the evening before going to +bed; but this instruction seldom reaches beyond learning them to repeat +their catechism. In these places, as also in some others where there are +teachers, it is a common thing for parents to send their children to the +house of some poor neighbor, where they are taught the catechism, and to +make certain pot-hooks, called writing. These apologies for teachers +have no recompense beyond an occasional small present. The mode adopted +by them is to repeat the lesson once or twice _viva voce_, with the +children; and their principal occupation consists in permitting the +latter to do what they please, and in assisting them in doing it! + +“In the towns where there are teachers, there are seldom more than one +or two public schools; in the larger places there are, perhaps, a few +more, but unfortunately all of pretty nearly the same character with +those above described. In these schools are taught only the fundamental +doctrines of Christianity, reading and writing; nor is this done in +accordance with any good system, but generally by a process which is +little better than a burlesque. The lesson is repeated after the master, +simultaneously by the whole school, and it is difficult to say which +shouts loudest, the master or the scholars; but it is always easy to +tell the proximity of a schoolhouse, from the noise. The localities of +these schools are generally bad and filthy, as is also the clothing of +the scholars, which often consists of nothing more than a shirt. In some +of the towns, as Masaya, Managua, and Chinandega, the public schools are +filled to overflowing, and as each one has no more than a single +teacher, he can only bestow a very superficial attention upon the +individual scholars. In these towns there are also some higher schools, +in which Latin is taught, after the old method, painful alike to teacher +and student, and generally with no result except the knowledge that +Señor Fulano has studied this language for so many years! There are +also, in these towns, phantom classes in what is called Philosophy, the +extent of whose acquirements consists in studying badly, and +understanding worse, some paragraphs in Lugdunensis. + +“Besides their public schools, both Granada and Leon have each a +University. That of Leon is oldest, having been founded in the year +1675. + +“In these Universities are taught the following branches: Latin and +Spanish Grammar, Philosophy, Civil and Canonical Law, and Theology. +Lately a class in English has been organized in that of Leon; and a +class in both English and French in that of Granada. Of Mathematics and +other cognate branches nothing is taught, nor scarcely anything known. +The authority in Spanish is Alemany; in Latin, Nebrisa; in Philosophy, +Lugdunensis; in Civil Law, Salas; in Canonical Law, Devoti; in Theology, +Larraga. The time devoted to these studies is, to Spanish, Grammar, and +Latin, two years and a half; to Philosophy, two years; Civil and +Canonical Law, and Theology, three years. But many have not the patience +to go through the prescribed time, and leaping over these various +branches of study, succeed in securing their titles. There are priests, +in orders, who have never so much as read the Padre Larraga! + +“In order to obtain the degrees and secure the tassel, it is not +necessary to know much; it is enough to have a general idea or two, to +stand well with the professors, be able to pay the fees punctually, to +spread a good table of refreshments, and to have a blazing display of +fireworks. I have known instances in which the candidate did not answer +well more than a single question, and yet obtained unanimously the +degree which he sought. There are more Bachelors than men; Doctors swarm +everywhere; and there are families of wealth and influence in which the +tassel goes (practically) by descent! + +“The professors of Languages and Civil Law in 1850, in Leon, were very +good; but the professor in the latter department, occupied with other +matters, has permitted his place to be very poorly filled by certain +Bachelors. In fact, all the professors do but little; principally +because their salaries are insignificant in amount, seldom exceeding +$200 per annum. Their lectures are got through with very rapidly, rarely +occupying more than an hour each, and are scarcely ever illustrated, or +enforced by examples in point. + +“Concerning the University of Granada, I am not well informed, but it is +doubtless on about the same footing with that of Leon; or, if any +comparison may be instituted, something worse. + +“To the defects in the system of Education in Nicaragua is to be +ascribed, in great part, the troubles with which the State has been +afflicted. There is nothing practical in the lessons which are taught in +the schools; the studies are all abstract, and the fixedness of +character and liberality of views which follow from a knowledge of the +present condition and relations of the world, an understanding of modern +sciences, Geography, Chemistry, Mineralogy, Mathematics, Engineering, +etc., etc., are never attained. The men of education, so called, are +therefore mere creatures of circumstances and impulses, in common with +the most ignorant portion of the population, and fully as vacillating in +their ideas. Their education is just sufficient to give them power to do +mischief, instead performing the legitimate office of truly +comprehensive acquirements, that of a balance-wheel. What may be called +the moral effect of an education, that which contributes to form the +character of the man and mould it upon a just model, is wanting in the +system, or rather no-system, not only of Nicaragua, but of all the other +Spanish American States. + +“In Nicaragua, therefore, in the absence of teachers, methods, books, +instruments, and of nearly all the elements of teaching, there is +nothing which can properly be called education.[25] Not because there +are no latent capacities or dispositions for learning amongst the +people; nor do I mean to say that there is a total absence of really +cultivated and well-educated men. On the contrary, there are a number +who have had opportunities of acquiring education through the assistance +of private teachers, or who have perfected themselves abroad; but these +are lost in the mass of ignorance and shallow acquirements which +surround them. + +----- + +Footnote 25: + + “The books employed,” says Mr. Crowe, “besides the gloomy character of + their contents, are in bulk sufficient to discourage the most + enterprising child. They are four or five in number, consisting of + heavy volumes, which make an antique collection, heavy and dry enough + to discourage adults. First ‘La Cartilla,’ containing the alphabet, + the forms of prayer, and the commandments of the Church, with no + attempt at gradation. The second, ‘El Canon,’ the third, ‘El + Catecismo,’ and fourth, ‘El Ramillete.’ All these, which are much + larger than the first, contain theological definitions, digests of + doctrines, creeds, holy legends, and devotional formulas, addressed to + the Virgin and the Saints. Through every one of these the unhappy + scholar is doomed to wade from beginning to end; and so deep is his + aversion to the task, and so great is the triumph when a child has + overcome one of these obstacles to his progress, that the event is + actually celebrated in his family by feasting.”—p. 287. + +----- + +. “In Leon, I may add, there are ten or a dozen schools, in some of +which there is an average daily attendance of two hundred scholars. The +highest pay of teachers is ten dollars per month.” + +But notwithstanding the general deficiency in education, and the means +of acquiring it, there exists a most laudable bn p3820.png ambition to +secure its benefits. The States of Nicaragua, San Salvador, and Costa +Rica, offer the largest encouragement to the establishment of schools of +every grade. Under the old Confederation, during the dominance of the +Liberals, the most effective means were adopted to educate the people. +The officers of the army and the subordinates of the Government, when +not occupied with the immediate duties of their stations, opened free +schools in the barracks of the soldiery, in the offices of customs, and +the rooms of the general and local courts. The house of the National +Government, at the close of office hours, became an academy. But the +system of education, as all the other plans of improvement originating +with the Liberals, were suspended during the disturbances created by the +Serviles, and overthrown whenever and wherever the latter attained +ascendancy. In the new career now opening before Central America, the +subject of education claims and no doubt will receive the first +attention of the respective States. But nothing beneficial can be done +without a complete abandonment of the old systems of teaching—old +authorities and books, and the substitution of others adapted to the +age, and the state of general knowledge amongst civilized nations. If +creeds and catechisms are still required, let them be assigned their +proper time and place; they constitute no part of an education, and are +chilling and oppressing in their influences on the youthful mind. The +sooner this fact is not only understood, but acted upon, in Central +America, the better for its people. + + + + + CHAPTER XV. + +VISIT TO THE CAPITAL CITY, MANAGUA—LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY; HOW TO PROCURE + A QUORUM—EXECUTIVE MESSAGE—RATIFICATION OF TREATY WITH THE UNITED + STATES—ANTIQUITIES—LAKE OF NIHAPA—HUERTAS—DIVIDING RIDGE—TRACES OF + VOLCANIC ACTION—HACIENDA DE GANADO—AN EXTENSIVE PROSPECT—EXTINCT + CRATER—ANCIENT PAINTINGS ON THE CLIFFS—SYMBOLICAL FEATHERED + SERPENT—A NATURAL TEMPLE—SUPERSTITIONS OF THE INDIANS—SALT + LAKE—LAGUNA DE LAS LAVADORAS—A COURIER—THREE MONTHS LATER FROM + HOME—THE SHORE OF LAKE MANAGUA—ABORIGINAL FISHERIES—ANCIENT + CARVING—POPULATION OF MANAGUA—RESOURCES OF SURROUNDING + COUNTRY—COFFEE—INHABITANTS—VISIT TIPITAPA—SUNRISE ON THE LAKE—HOT + SPRINGS—OUTLET OF LAKE—MUD AND ALLIGATORS—DRY CHANNEL—VILLAGE OF + TIPITAPA—SURLY HOST—SALTO DE TIPITAPA—HOT SPRINGS AGAIN—STONE + BRIDGE—FACE OF THE COUNTRY—NICARAGUA OR BRAZIL WOOD—ESTATE OF + PASQUIEL—PRACTICAL COMMUNISM—MATAPALO OR KILL-TREE—LANDING AND + ESTERO OF PASQUIEL OR PANALOYA—RETURN—DEPTH OF LAKE + MANAGUA—COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE TWO LAKES—POPULAR ERRORS. + + +Although Leon is _de facto_ the seat of the Nicaraguan Government, yet +the framers of the existing constitution of the State, in view of the +rivalry and jealousy which exist between the cities of Granada and Leon, +and in order to relieve the Legislative Assembly from the overawing +political influence of the latter, designated the city of Managua as the +place of its meeting. The choice was in many respects a good one; +Managua is not only central as regards position, but its inhabitants are +distinguished for their attachment to “law and order,” and their +deference to constituted government. + +The task of getting together the members of the Assembly, which is +comprised of a House of Deputies and a Senate, is not an easy one. The +attractions of the city of Managua are not great: the pay is only a +dollar and a half per diem, and such is the precarious condition of the +Treasury, that this small sum is not always secure. Nor are there any +profitable contracts to be obtained for friends, with contingent +reversions to incorruptible members; no mileage to speak of; in fact, +few if any of those inducements to patriotic zeal which make our +citizens so ambitious of seats in the National Congress. As a +consequence, it is usually necessary, in order to secure a +constitutional quorum for the transaction of business, to announce +beforehand that a sufficient sum for the payment of members is actually +in the Treasury, and will be reserved for that express purpose. But even +this is not always sufficient, and the Government has several times come +to a stand still for want of a quorum. An instance of this kind occurred +during the administration of Gen. Guerrero, who found himself for a week +in Managua, with his cabinet officers around him, but utterly unable to +act. The Assembly lacked two of a quorum, and precisely that number of +members, elected from the city of Leon, were absent. They were the +Licenciado Z., and the Doctor of Medicine J., men of mark in the +country, but for a variety of reasons not then desirous of committing +themselves on the measures of public policy which were to be brought +before the Chambers. The Director wrote to them, stating the condition +of the Assembly, and soliciting their immediate attendance. The lawyer +excused himself on the ground of illness, and the doctor, because he had +no horse, nor money for his expenses. But they mistook their man; in a +few minutes after their replies were received, the General had +despatched two officers of the National Guard to Leon, and before +daylight the next morning the Licenciado was politely waited upon by one +of them, attended by a file of soldiers, and informed that there was an +ox-cart at the door, with a good bed of straw, wherein the soldiers +would carefully lift him, and where he would find the army doctor, to +administer to his necessities during his journey to Managua. The +Licenciado expostulated, but the officer looked at his watch and coolly +observed that the cart must start in precisely three minutes, and dead +or alive the Licenciado must go. The doctor was waited upon in like +manner, with the information that the Director had sent his own horse +for his accommodation, and four rials (half a dollar) for his expenses, +and that he had five minutes wherein to prepare himself for the +excursion! It is needless to add that the lawyer was suddenly cured, and +that both he and the delinquent doctor duly filled out the quorum at +Managua. They each tell the story now as an exceedingly good joke, but +the General avers that at the time of their appearance in their seats, +their manners and temper were far from angelic. + +The Legislative Assembly had been called to meet on the 15th of +September, to act on the treaty just negotiated with the United States, +and on the canal contract which had been conceded to certain American +citizens, under the conditional guaranty of their government. The hopes +of the people were much elevated, from the nature of the subjects to be +brought before the Assembly, and it was thought that the constitutional +quorum would be got together at the time appointed, without resort to +any extraordinary measures for the purpose of securing it. It was not, +however, until the 19th that we received official information of the +organization of the Chambers, and we lost no time in proceeding to +Managua, where Pedro Blanco had long before received orders to prepare a +house for our reception, and to adopt efficient measures for the +extirpation of “las pulgas.” We left Leon on the afternoon of one day, +and reached Managua during the forenoon of the next. Don Pedro had newly +white-washed a house, occupying the “esquina,” or corner opposite his +own, and installed a couple of servants, in anticipation of our arrival. +So we were at once comfortably provided for. + +The address, or message, of the Director had been delivered in joint +meeting of the two Houses on the morning of our arrival, and everything +was going on smoothly and harmoniously in the Assembly. It was, +according to custom, delivered in person, to the two Houses in +convention, and responded to by the President of the Senate. The +subjoined passages from both the address and reply, for reasons already +given, will prove of interest. The Director, Señor RAMIREZ said: + + “I experience the liveliest emotions of joy in witnessing once more + the union of the representatives of the Nicaraguan people, after the + terrible tempest which has passed over the country, and which at one + time threatened not only to subvert its liberties, but to destroy its + very existence as a civilized nation. Brighter days have succeeded to + that period of confusion and fear, and we are now again enjoying the + unspeakable blessings of peace. In view of this happy result, your + satisfaction, Citizen Representatives, must equal my own; and I am + sure that the desires for the future happiness and prosperity of + Nicaragua which swell my own bosom, and to which words are too weak to + give utterance, exist also in yours. + + “We have undoubtedly arrived at a crisis in our national career. After + unparalleled sufferings, heroically endured, our country has risen + from the abasement to which many years of civil war and the ferocious + passions of men had reduced it. But these evils have only passed away + to give place to others scarcely less deplorable, resulting from + foreign pretensions and aggressions. From these it is our obvious + duty, not less than our only safety, to solicit the interposition of + some powerful and friendly arm. Should this be generously extended in + our favor, we may smile at the intrigues and harmless malice of the + enemies of society and social order, which exist in our midst. We may + then look forward with well-grounded anticipations of a glorious + future. We may then devote our energies to the development of our + almost limitless resources, to the promotion of commerce and industry, + the revival of education, the improvement of our roads and our + navigable lakes and rivers;—in fact, to all those grand and useful + objects to which no government, unless at peace with the world, and + free from foreign interference and annoyance, can successfully devote + its energies. + + “For this relief we need not despair. We may yet be called upon to + make sacrifices to secure it; but it must come with the successful + prosecution of that grand enterprise of connecting the two great + oceans, which is now occupying the paramount attention of the + commercial world:—an enterprise which is not only fraught with immense + results to trade, but which must work a total change in the political + and moral relations of all the countries of the globe; the greatest + work, not of this cycle alone, but of all ages. + + “As a direct and essential step toward the consummation of this grand + enterprise, with its train of consequences so important to our + independence and prosperity, I have the honor to submit a Treaty of + Alliance, Friendship, Commerce, and Protection, negotiated with the + Honorable Plenipotentiary of the great and enlightened Republic of the + United States of North America, and a contract for opening a Ship + Canal, concluded between the agent of an American Company and this + Government,—upon both of which you will be called to act, in + conformity with the constitution.” + +The President of the Senate, DON TORIBO TERAN, responded to this address +at length. The tenor of his remarks will appear from the following +passages: + + “Sir, this Assembly is actuated by the earnest desire of coöperating + with the Executive in whatever shall promote the interests or the + glory of the State; and offers its prayers to Heaven for light and + guidance in the discharge of its intricate duties. It desires me to + felicitate you upon the wisdom and firmness with which you discharged + the responsible duties of your position during the late troubles, and + which saved the State from the terrors which at one time impended on + the political horizon. It congratulates you also upon the dignity and + skill with which you have conducted the foreign relations of the + country, which have raised it in the estimation of other and more + powerful nations, and secured for it their sympathy and confidence. + + “The efforts and sacrifices of the State in support of civil and + social order have been great, but most happily successful; the hydra + of anarchy is crushed, and, so far as the internal relations of our + country are concerned, we look forward to a peaceful future, and a + rapid and constant progress. To foreign pretensions and the + territorial aggressions with which we have been persecuted, and which + are now the only sources of disquiet to the State, let us hope for the + early interposition of that nation to which we have always been + accustomed to look as a model for ourselves—a nation powerful, + enlightened, and naturally called to defend our territory, in + conformity with the great and glorious principle which it was the + first to proclaim, and which finds a response in every American heart, + viz.: that ‘The American Continent belongs to Americans, and is sacred + to Republican Institutions.’” + +It will not be out of place to add here, that both treaty and contract +were unanimously ratified, at the earliest moment, after passing through +the forms prescribed by the constitution,—a proof of the confidence and +friendship of the people and Government of Nicaragua, which we, as +Americans, should never forget. The news of the event was everywhere +received with extraordinary demonstrations of satisfaction and joy; and +it is most earnestly to be desired that the hopes which it created may +not, from the mistaken policy of Government, or the bad faith of +companies, owing their very existence to Nicaraguan generosity, give +place to despair, and respect be changed into contempt, and friendship +into hate. + +I had heard much in Leon of ancient monuments in the vicinity of +Managua, and particularly of an ancient Indian temple cut in the solid +rock, on the shore of a small lake, amongst the hills at the back of the +city. I now learned that the lake was called Nihapa, and that upon the +rocks which surrounded it were many figures, executed in red paint, +concerning the origin of which nothing was known, but which were +reported to be very ancient, “hechando antes la Conquista,” made before +the Conquest. The next morning, having meanwhile procured a guide, we +started for this lake. The path, for a league, led through a beautiful +level country, magnificently wooded, and relieved by open cultivated +spaces, which were the hattos and huertas of the inhabitants of Managua. +Nearly every one of these had a small cane hut, picturesquely situated +amidst a group of palms or fruit trees, in its centre, reached by broad +paths beneath archways of plantains. Here the owners reside when weary +of the town. We overtook hundreds of Indian laborers, with a tortilla +and a bit of cheese in a little net-work bag thrown over one shoulder, +pantaloons tucked up to the thighs, and carrying in the right hand, or +resting in the hollow of the left arm, the eternal _machete_, the +constant companion of every mozo, which he uses as an axe to clear the +forest, a spade to dig the earth, a knife wherewith to divide his meat, +and a weapon in case of attack. Passing the level country adjacent to +the city, we came to the base of the hills which intervene between the +lake and the sea. Here, at every step, traces of volcanic action met our +view, and the path became rough and crooked, winding amongst disrupted +rocks, and over broad beds of lava. The latter extended down the side of +the ridge, showing that anciently there had existed a crater somewhere +above us, now concealed by the heavy forest. The eruptions, however, +must have taken place many centuries ago, for the lava was disintegrated +at the surface, and afforded a luxuriant foothold for vines, bushes, and +trees. For this reason, although we knew that we had attained an +elevated position, we found it impossible to see beyond the evergreen +arches which bent above us, and, which the rays of the sun failed to +penetrate. The ascent was steep, and our progress slow,—so slow that a +troop of indignant monkeys, swinging from branch to branch, grimacing, +and threatening vehemently, was able to keep pace with us. We fired our +pistols at them, and worked up their feelings to a pitch of excitement +and rage, humiliatingly like the ebullitions of humanity. These amusing +denizens of the forest, I frequently observed, seem annoyed by the +presence of white men, and will fret and chatter at their approach, +while the brown natives of the country may pass and repass, if not +without attracting their notice, at least without provoking their anger. + +At the distance of about two leagues and a half from Managua, we reached +what appeared to be a broad, broken table-land, the summit of the +dividing range intervening between the Lake and Ocean. We had not +proceeded far, before we discovered a high conical peak, made up of +scoriæ and ashes, and bare of trees, which had evidently been formed by +the matter thrown out from some neighboring volcanic vent. Here our +guide turned aside at right angles to our path, and clearing the way +with his machete, in a few minutes led us to the edge of the ancient +crater. It was an immense orifice, fully half a mile across, with +precipitous walls of black and riven rocks. At the bottom, motionless +and yellow, like a plate of burnished brass, was the lake of Nihapa. The +wall of the crater, upon the side where we stood, was higher than at any +other point, and the brain almost reeled in looking over its ragged +edge, down upon the Acheronian gulf below. Upon the other side, the +guide assured us there was a path to the water, and there too were the +rock temple, and “los piedras pintadas.” So we fell back into our path +again, and skirting along the base of the cone of scoriæ to which I have +referred, after a brisk ride of twenty minutes, came suddenly, and to +our surprise, upon a collection of huts pertaining to a cattle estate. +Here burst upon our sight an almost boundless view of mountain, lake, +and forest. Behind us towered the cone of scoriæ, covered with a soft +green mantle of grass. Upon one side yawned the extinct crater with its +waveless lake; upon the other were ridges of lava, and ragged piles of +trachytic rock, like masses of iron; while in front, in the foreground, +stood the picturesque cane huts of the vaqueros, clustered round with +tall palms and the broad translucent leaves of the plantain. But beyond +all,—beyond the mountain slopes and billowy hills, shrouded with +never-fading forests, among which, like fleecy clouds of white and +crimson reflected in a sea of green, rose the tops of flowering +trees,—beyond these, flashing back the light of the morning sun from its +bosom, spread out the Lake of Managua, with its fairy islets and +distant, dreamy shores! + +We left our horses at the huts, and followed a broad, well-beaten path +which led to the point where the walls of the extinct crater were +lowest. Here we found a narrow path between the rocks, barely wide +enough to admit a horse to pass. It had in part been formed by man, +probably before the Conquest, when, according to the early chroniclers, +even these hills were thronged by a happy and industrious people. The +descent for a few hundred feet was very steep, between high walls of +rock. It then turned short, and ran along the face of the cliff, where +fallen masses of stone afforded a foothold, and clinging trees curtained +with vines concealed yawning depths and perilous steeps, which would +otherwise have dizzied the head of the adventurous traveller. Near the +bottom the path widened, and at the water’s brink we reached a kind of +platform, edged with rocks, where the cattle from the haciendas came +down to drink, and whence the vaqueros of the huts obtained water for +their own use. Here a few trees found root, affording a welcome shelter +from the rays of the sun; for the breezes which fan the hillsides never +reach the surface of this almost buried lake. + +The walls of the ancient crater are everywhere precipitous, and at the +lowest point probably not less than five hundred feet in height. Except +at the precise spot where we stood, the lake washed the cliffs, which +went down, sheer down, to unknown depths. We looked up, and the clouds +as they swept over seemed to touch the trees which crowned the lofty +edges of the precipice, over which the vines hung in green festoons. + +[Illustration: LAKE NIHAPA—AN EXTINCT CRATER.] + +Upon the vertical face of the cliff were painted, in bright red, a great +variety of figures. These were the “piedras pintadas” of which we had +heard. Unfortunately, however, long exposure had obliterated nearly all +of the paintings; but most conspicuous amongst those still retaining +their outlines perfect, or nearly so, was one which, to me, had peculiar +interest and significance. Upon the most prominent part of the cliff, +some thirty or forty feet above our heads, was painted the figure of a +coiled, plumed, or feathered serpent, called by the Indians “el Sol,” +the sun. Amongst the semi-civilized nations of America, from Mexico +south-ward, as also among many nations of the old world, the serpent was +a prominent religious symbol, beneath which was concealed the +profoundest significance. Under many of its aspects it coincided with +the sun, or was the symbol of the Supreme Divinity of the heathens, of +which the sun was one of the most obvious emblems. In the instance of +the painting before us, the plumed, sacred serpent of the aborigines was +artfully depicted so as to combine both symbols in one. The figure was +about three feet in diameter, and is accurately represented in the +accompanying Engraving. Above it, and amongst some confused lines of +partially obliterated paintings, not represented in the sketch, was the +figure of a human hand,—the red hand which haunted Mr. Stephens during +all of his explorations amongst the monuments of Yucatan, where it was +the symbol of the divinity KAB-UL, the Author of Life, and God of the +Working Hand.[26] + +----- + +Footnote 26: + + Those who feel interested in the subject of symbolism as it existed + amongst the American semi-civilized nations, or as connected with + their religions systems, will find it illustrated to a certain extent, + in my work entitled “THE SERPENT SYMBOL AND THE WORSHIP OF THE + RECIPROCAL PRINCIPLES OF NATURE IN AMERICA,” in which particular + prominence has been given to the worship of the serpent, so + extensively diffused, and yet so enigmatical. These are subjects which + it is not my design to discuss in a popular work like the present. + +----- + +[Illustration: PAINTED ROCKS OF MANAGUA.] + +Upon some rocks a little to the right of the cliff upon which is this +representation of the serpent, there were formerly large paintings of +the sun and moon, together, as our guide said, “con muchos +geroglificos,” with many hieroglyphics. But the section upon which they +were painted, was thrown down during the great earthquake of 1838. Parts +of the figures can yet be traced upon some of the fallen fragments. +Besides these figures, there were traces of hundreds of others, which, +however, could not be satisfactorily made out. Some, we could discover, +had been of regular outline, and from their relative proportions, I came +to the conclusion that a certain degree of dependence had existed +between them. One in particular attracted my attention, not less from +its regularity than from the likeness which it sustains to certain +figures in the painted historical and ritual MSS. of Mexico. It is +designated by FIG. 2, in the same Plate with the figure of the serpent +already described. + +Upon various detached rocks, lying next to the water, beneath trailing +vines, or but half revealed above fallen debris and vegetable +accumulations, we discovered numerous other outline figures, some +exceedingly rude, representing men and animals, together with many +impressions of the human hand. Some of these are represented in the +Plate. + +By carefully poising myself on the very edge of the narrow shelf or +shore, I could discover, beyond an advanced column of rock, the entrance +to the so-called excavated temple of the ancient Indians. I saw at once +that it was nothing more than a natural niche in the cliff; but yet to +settle the matter conclusively, I stripped, and, not without some +repugnance, swam out in the sulphurous looking lake, and around the +intervening rocks, to the front of the opening. It was, as I had +supposed, a natural arch, about thirty feet high, and ten or fifteen +feet deep; and seen from the opposite cliff, no doubt appeared to the +superstitious Indians like the portal of a temple. The paintings of +which they had spoken, were only discolorations produced by the fires +which had once flamed up from the abyss where now slumbered the opposing +element. Our guide told us that there were many other paintings on the +cliffs, which could only be reached by means of a raft or boat. The next +day M. returned with a canoe from Managua; it was got down with great +difficulty, and in it we coasted the entire lake, but without +discovering anything new or interesting. + +We were told that there were alligators in this lake, but we saw none, +and still remain decidedly skeptical upon that point, notwithstanding +the positive assertions of the vaqueros. That it abounded in fish, +however, we could not fail to discover, for they swarmed along the edge +of the water, and at the foot of the cliffs. This lake, was no doubt +anciently held in high veneration by the Indians; for it is still +regarded with a degree of superstitious fear by their descendants. Our +guide told us of evil demons who dwelt within its depths, and vengefully +dragged down the swimmers who ventured out upon its gloomy waters. It +was easy to imagine that here the aboriginal devotees had made +sacrifices to their mountain gods, the divinities who presided over the +internal fires of the earth, or who ruled the waters. This half buried +lake, with no perceptible opening, situated amidst melted rocks, on the +summit of a mountain, with all of its accessories of dread and mystery, +was well calculated to rouse the superstitious fears and secure the awe +of a people distinguished above all others for a gloomy fancy, which +invested nearly all of its creations with features of terror and +severity,—creations whose first attribute was vengeance, and whose most +acceptable sacrifices were palpitating hearts, torn from the breasts of +human victims. + +It was past noon before we had finished our investigations at the lake, +and we returned to the huts of the vaqueros weary, hot, and hungry. The +women—blessed hearts the world over!—swung hammocks for us in the shade, +and we lay down in luxurious enjoyment of the magnificent view, while +they ground the parched corn for the always welcome cup of _tiste_. And +although when we came to leave, they charged us fully ten times as much +for it as they would have required of their own countrymen, yet they had +displayed so much alacrity in attending to our wants, that we sealed the +payment with as hearty a “mil gracias,” as if it had been a free +offering. + +Our guide took us back by a new path, in order to show us what he called +the Salt Lake. It was not an extinct crater, like that of Nihapa, but +one of those singular, funnel-shaped depressions, so frequent in +volcanic countries, and which seem to have been caused by the sinking of +the earth. It was a gloomy looking place, with a greenish yellow pool at +the bottom, the water of which, our guide said, was salt and bitter. The +sides were steep, and covered with tangled vines and bushes, and we did +not attempt to descend. + +There are other lakes, with musical Indian names, in the vicinity of +Managua, which closely resemble that of Nihapa, and owe their origin to +similar causes. One of these occurs within a mile of the town, and is a +favorite resort for the “lavanderas,” or wash-women. It is reached by +numerous paths, some broad and bordered with cactus hedges, and others +winding through green coverts, where the stranger often comes suddenly +upon the startled Indian girl, whose unshod feet have worn the hard +earth smooth, and whose hands have trained the vines into festooned +arches above his head. There is but one descent to this lake; which in +the course of ages has been made broad and comparatively easy. The shore +is lined with large trees of magnificent foliage, beneath the shadows of +which the “lavanderas” carry on their never ending operations. The water +is cool and limpid; and the lake itself more resembles some immense +fountain, where bright streams might have their birth, rather than a +fathomless volcanic pool, so well has nature concealed beneath a robe of +trees, and vines, and flowers, the evidences of ancient convulsions, +rocks riven by earthquakes, or melted by fires from the incandescent +depths of the earth. + +It was late in the afternoon when we returned from Nihapa; but whatever +might have been the pleasure or satisfaction of our visit, it went for +nothing as compared with that which we experienced in finding a courier +from Granada, bringing us letters and papers from the United States, +three months later than any we had yet received. Dinner was forgotten in +the eager haste to learn what the great world had been about, all the +time we had been vegetating amongst orange and palm trees in this +secluded corner of the world. The trivial items of news which the +dweller in Gotham, sipping his coffee over the morning papers, would +pass by with an idle glance, were to us momentous matters, and every +paragraph of every column was religiously read, with a gusto which no +one but the traveller similarly situated can appreciate. The newspaper +is a luxury which the poorest day laborer in the United States may +possess; and the American would sooner deny himself his tea and coffee, +than the satisfaction of glancing over its columns, however dull, in the +morning, or after the labors of the day are closed, in the evening. We +missed many things, in Central America, which we had come to regard as +essential to our comfort and happiness, but the newspaper most. Its +place was very poorly supplied by the Padre Paul’s little “Correo del +Istmo,” filled with government decrees, and published twice a month. It +was in vain that we looked there for our daily home pabulum of “Late and +Important by Telegraph”—“Terrible Catastrophe!” “Horrible Explosion, and +Probable Loss of Life!” served, up in delectable fat type, and profusely +seasoned with exclamation points. For three months we had not had our +souls harrowed by the awful details of murder, nor our hearts sickened +by recitals of treachery, infamy, and crime; knew nothing of what had +followed the Astor riot, whether the struggling Hungarians were free or +fallen. In fact the great drama of life, with its shifting scenery, and +startling denouements, so far as we were concerned, had been +suspended,—the world had gone on, on, and it seemed as if we alone had +been left behind,—though living, yet practically dead and forgotten. No +romance, with its plots and highly colored incidents, in which fancy and +invention had exhausted itself, could compare in point of interest with +the columns of these newspapers, redolent with the damp mustiness of a +sea voyage, and the tobacco of the courier’s _maléta_, which we now +perused in silence, by the aid of the tropical evening light, slowly +swinging in our hammocks, beneath the corridor of Pedro Blanco’s house, +on the shores of the Lake of Managua! + +Towards evening all the women of Managua go down to the lake shore, +under the plausible pretext of filling their water jars. And when it +became too dark to read, we fell into the movement, and followed by a +train of youngsters, mostly naked, also went down to the shore, which +was enlivened by hundreds of merry groups—mozos bathing their horses out +in the surf, and girls filling their water jars in the clear water +beyond the breakers. At one point bushes were planted in the lake, like +fish wears, between which women were stationed with little scoop-nets, +wherewith they laded out myriads of little silvery fishes, from the size +of a large needle to that of a shrimp, which they threw into +kettle-shaped holes, scooped in the sand, where in the evening light, +leaping up in their dying throes, they looked like a simmering mass of +molten silver. These little fishes are called _sardinas_ by the natives, +and are cooked in omelets, constituting a very excellent dish, and one +which I never failed to order whenever I visited Managua. The first +travellers in Nicaragua mention this novel fishery as then practised by +the aborigines, and it has remained unchanged to the present hour. + +[Illustration: ANCIENT CARVING IN WOOD; MANAGUA.] + +In returning through a bye street to our own house, we observed, within +the open door of a rude cane hut, what we first took to be a large +painting, but which upon examination proved to be a carving in wood. It +was cut in high relief, and represented, nearly of the size of life, a +mounted cavalier, dressed and armed after the style of the fifteenth +century, having in one hand a cross and in the other a sword. We were +struck with the spirit and execution of the carving, which filled one +entire side of the hut, and were told that it was a representation of +Hernando Cortez, the conqueror of Mexico. The people in whose possession +it then was knew nothing of its history, beyond that it had been in the +hands of their family for more than seventy years. I subsequently +inquired of the “sabios” or sages of Managua about the figure, but they +could give me no information, except that it was very ancient, and, +according to tradition, represented Cortez. Don Pedro Blanco and some +others suggested that it might have been intended for Santiago, the +patron saint of Managua, but gave no good reason for their conjecture. +That it is very ancient appears from a variety of circumstances, and +from none more clearly than the now half-obliterated paintings which +fill the panel around the figure. These, in style of execution, +correspond entirely with the paintings made by the Indians immediately +subsequent to the Conquest, and after their first acquaintance with the +whites. They represent disembarkations, and battles between mounted, +bearded white men and naked Indians armed after their primitive fashion. +Dogs too, are represented participating in these encounters,—mute +witnesses to those atrocities which everywhere attended the Spanish arms +in America, and to which all the brilliancy of the achievements of +Cortez, Alvarado, Cordova, or Pizarro, can never blind the impartial +historian. Notwithstanding the popular tradition, I am disposed to +regard the figure as a representation not of Cortez, but of Cordova, the +conqueror of Nicaragua, or its first Governor, Pedro Arias de Avila; +perhaps of that daring Contreras who meditated the vast design of +separating all America from the crown of Spain. + +[Illustration: IDOL AT MANAGUA.] + +A number of idols, obtained from Momotombita and other places, have been +brought to Managua, from time to time, by the Indians, and planted at +the corners of the streets. Nearly all of them, however, are small, and +have been so much defaced as to possess little interest. But one +particularly arrested my attention. It is set at one of the corners of a +house, fronting on the little plaza of San Juan, and is very well +represented in the accompanying engraving. It projects about four feet +above the ground, and probably extends two or three feet below. In +common with all others obtained from Momotombita, it is black basalt. + +The town of Managua now contains about ten or twelve thousand +inhabitants, who live in the simplest manner possible, manufacturing +barely enough to supply their limited wants, and carrying on but little +trade. The region around is very fertile, and capable of sustaining a +large population. The hill-slopes, between the lake and the sea, are +well adapted for the cultivation of coffee; and the quality of that +which is produced from the few estates existing there, is regarded as +superior to the coffee of Costa Rica, which ranks next only to the best +Mocha. This valuable staple might be produced here to any extent, and at +comparatively little cost; but the condition of the country, and the +general lack of enterprise amongst the people, have prevented attention +to this, as well as every other branch of industry or source of wealth. +There is no part of Nicaragua which, from its position, beauty, +salubrity, and capacity for production, surpasses the district around +Managua;[27] and here, it seems to me, is the most favorable point for +the commencement of any system of colonization from the United States or +from Europe. + +----- + +Footnote 27: + + Capt. Belcher, who was here in 1838, says of Managua, that “it + suffered severely in the late cholera visitation; losing six hundred + out of the population of twelve thousand. Of this number it is rather + remarkable that females between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five, + and principally newly married, were the predominant victims. Generally + this place is considered as peculiarly healthy, the average deaths + seldom exceeding one per cent.”—_Voyage round the World_, vol. i. p. + 172. + +----- + +This portion of the country was densely populated in ancient times. +After the expedition of Cordova, it was announced in Spain, that Managua +was a city “nine miles long;” and this report of its extent and vast +population, amongst other things, induced Oviedo to visit the country. +He seems to have been disappointed in respect to its size, bn p4040.png +and denounces the reports which had been made in Spain, as gross +exaggerations. He nevertheless adds: + + “It was inhabited by Chorotegans, and, to tell the truth, it was a + beautiful and populous village, but so far from forming a city, was + composed of isolated houses, at considerable distance from each other. + Before it had been destroyed by war, it covered a great space, and + resembled the villages to be seen in the valley of Alva, in Biscay, in + Gallicia, among the mountains and valleys of Ibarra, where all the + houses are in view of each other and occupy considerable room. This + village of Managua extends in a line along the lake; but so far from + having three leagues of extent, it scarcely has one. However, at the + time of its prosperity, it was the finest place of the province, and + contained 40,000 inhabitants, of which 10,000 were archers, or + slingers. But when I visited it, six years after the Conquest, it was + the most completely abandoned and desolate place of the government. It + now contains 10,000 souls, of which 600 are archers. On the opposite + side of the lake, is the domain of the Cazique, Tipitapa, which has an + extent of six leagues, and 6,000 inhabitants, of which 800 are + archers. + + “In conclusion, from what I have heard from those who have visited + this country from the times of Gil Gonzalez Davila to those of Captain + Francisco Hernandez, the country was so populous that the inhabitants + may be said to have fairly swarmed. But this is not the place to speak + of the devastation of the country and the massacre of so many + Indians.” + +From Managua we proposed to visit the Rio Tipitapa, or Panaloya, the +stream which connects the lake of Managua with that of Nicaragua, and +which, from the constant references made to it, in all speculations +concerning the opening of a canal, has been invested with peculiar +interest. We accordingly engaged Victorino, our patron in the expedition +to Momotombita, to take us by water to the outlet of the lake, a +distance of twenty or twenty-five miles. In order to have the entire +day, or the greater part of it, to devote to our investigations at +Tipitapa, we directed Victorino to be in readiness to start as early as +two o’clock the next morning, thinking, from our past experience in +native tardiness, that he would probably arrive at about four or five. +But what was our horror, when he aroused us in the early stages of our +first doze (for we had gone to bed late), with the information that all +was ready! It was just half-past one; and although I suspected that this +early call was one of Victorino’s practical jokes, yet we had been too +precise in our directions to have any good cause of complaint against +him. So we dressed ourselves silently, and followed the patron to the +shore of the lake. Here we found everything in readiness, and got off, +for the first time, at the appointed hour. + +As I passed through the corridor, I had caught up a blanket, with a +vague idea of getting a nap in the boat, and after we pushed off, +wrapped myself in it with a chuckle, and lay down to sleep. But the +blanket was saturated with fleas; sleep departed, and I was exercised in +a most lively manner, for the rest of the night. The men rowed in +silence, and the water of the lake looked black and forbidding under the +sable sky. It was with a feeling of relief, therefore, that I discerned +the tintings of morning, in the east. First, a faint light revealed the +outlines of the rugged mountains of Chontales and Segovia, followed by a +yellow, then a rosy tinge, so faint that it might have been a mere fancy +of the spectator; then it deepened, and the clouds, with their glowing +edges, and purple folds, disclosed their rich, deep masses above the rim +of the horizon, while the lake flung back tremulously from its quivering +bosom the reflected radiance of the sky. Brighter and brighter, its rays +shooting upwards to the empyrean, and glowing on the summits of the +volcanoes, higher and higher, came up the monarch sun, until rising +above the horizon, he shone forth on the queenly earth, its emerald +robes sparkling with dew-drops, and gemmed with flowers. + +Our men had improved the time, and at sunrise we found ourselves within +six or eight miles of the outlet, moving along half a mile distant from +a low and densely wooded shore. I thrust a pole over the side, and found +that there was less than a fathom of water, with a soft muddy bottom. At +various places I observed a slight bubbling on the surface of the lake, +and a strong smell of sulphurous or mephitic gases; and in others rose +little columns of vapor, indicating the presence of hot springs at the +bottom. + +We finally reached what appeared to be a narrow estuary of the lake, +extending between two low bars, covered with reeds, and literally alive +with cranes and other water fowls. The boat was directed into it, but it +was so shallow that the mud rose to the surface with every stroke of the +oars. I found, upon sounding, only two or three feet of water, with +about an equal depth of soft gray mud—the dwelling-place of numerous +alligators. We proceeded up this estuary for three or four hundred +yards, the water every moment becoming shallower, until finally we stuck +fast in the fetid mire. The crew leaped overboard and sunk at once to +their armpits in the slime. They nevertheless pushed us some distance +nearer the shore, and then, when the boat could be moved no further, we +mounted on their shoulders and were carried to the land. We found the +shore low, but gravelly, and covered with grass and bushes. A clear +little stream of tepid water flowed at our feet, and at intervals all +around us rose columns of vapor from thermal springs. We advanced a +little further to what appeared to be a bank, covered with trees, and +then discovered for the first time that the estero extended down a broad +and rocky but shallow channel, which had anciently been the bed of the +stream connecting the two lakes. No water flowed through it now, +although there were pools here and there in the depressions of the rock, +supplied with water from springs, or from the rains. Clumps of bushes +were growing in the dry channel, and amongst them cattle and mules were +grazing. I can readily believe that anciently, during the wet seasons, a +small quantity of water found its way through this channel, and over the +falls, a mile below; but nothing is more evident than that no +considerable body of water ever flowed here. + +But if we were disappointed in the so-called outlet of the lake, our +disappointment was more than compensated by the magnificent view which +was afforded, from this point, of the great volcano of Momotombo, with +its background of volcanic peaks, constituting the chain of the +Maribios, and terminating with the tall Viejo, dim and blue in the +distance. It seemed to rise from the bosom of the mirror-like lake, a +giant guide to direct future navies across the continent from sea to +sea. I could not help picturing the black hulls of great steamers +trailing their smoky plumes at its base, and the white, cloud-like sails +of majestic Indiamen, relieved against the purple of its arid sides. + +After following along the bank of the vanished river for a short +distance, we came to a path, by which the Brazil wood collected on the +shores of the lake is carted to Pasquiel, the first and nearest landing +point on lake Nicaragua. A rapid walk of a mile brought us to the +village of Tipitapa, a miserable little place, of some two or three +hundred inhabitants, with a tumble-down church or two, and a drove of +cattle in quiet possession of the plaza. We found our way, with little +trouble, to the house of the principal officer,—I have forgotten his +rank,—a disagreeable fellow, who made himself unnecessarily offensive by +one or two cross-grained attempts at being civil. He hadn’t the decency +to offer us breakfast; but that gave us little concern, for Ben had come +supplied for contingencies, and had, moreover, a happy knack of pressing +into his service any utensils and other articles of use which might come +to hand. He despatched Victorino to the cura’s for some milk, and helped +himself to plantains from the garden. And after half an hour, which we +had spent in drumming up horses, he announced a breakfast, if not fit +for a prince, at any rate far from unacceptable to men who had started +on an exploring expedition at two o’clock in the morning. Through the +aid of the cura, who was a fine looking man, with rather a singular +expression, nevertheless, for a padre, we got horses for our ride to +Pasquiel; and the cura, accompanied by a young darkey who was qualifying +himself for the church, volunteered to accompany us. We had brought no +saddles, and were obliged to put up with “albardos” and wooden stirrups. +Albardos were not in existence in Job’s day; had they been, he would +have wished his enemy to ride on an albardo, rather than write a book. A +savage critique in the Jerusalem Quarterly could not have “used up” +Job’s enemies more effectually than an “albardo” and a hard trotter. + +After riding for half a mile through deserted fields, now overgrown with +tall, rank weeds, we came once more to the channel or river-bed, at a +place called the _Salto_ or falls. Here the rock, which appears to +underlie the whole region, is entirely exposed, worn into basins and +fantastic pot-holes by the water. It seems to be a calcareous or +volcanic breccia, and though not hard, is solid. Through this the hot +springs find their way to the surface. The Salto is a steep ledge of +this rock, from twelve to fifteen feet in height, extending entirely +across the ancient channel, which is here not less than two hundred +yards broad. Although it was now the middle of the rainy season, not a +drop of water flowed over it. A little distance below the Salto is a +stone bridge, the second one which I had seen in the country, and the +only one in actual use. At the foot of its western buttress, upon the +lower side, I observed a column of vapor, and descending, found that it +proceeded from a copious hot spring, from which flows a considerable +stream of scalding water. It has formed a thick deposit upon the rocks +and stones around it, the apparent constituents of which were carbonate +of lime, sulphur, and sulphate of copper; the taste of the water is not +unpleasant, and, as observed by Capt. Belcher, is esteemed a sovereign +remedy, “if taken by the advice of the padre!” + +From the bridge we rode along the eastern bank of the ancient channel, +which below the falls becomes deeper and narrower, filled with detached +and water-worn rocks, with here and there large pools of still water. We +found the country level, with a soil of exceeding fertility, and dotted +over with cattle estates. It is not densely wooded, but has many open +glades, covered with grass, and affording rich pasturage. Here Nicaragua +wood, or Brazil wood, is found in greatest abundance, and contributes +materially to the value of the land. It is a tree which seems to require +a rich, moist soil, and the absence of overshadowing trees of other +varieties. Quantities of the wood, already cut and prepared for +exportation, were scattered here and there over the savannahs. A ride of +three miles brought us to the cattle estate of Pasquiel, one of the +largest and most valuable in the country, belonging to our friend Don +Frederico Derbyshire, of Granada. We were well received by his +superintendent, who had seen us in Granada, upon our first arrival. The +buildings on the estate consisted of two immense roofs, supported on +posts, entirely open at the sides, and placed in the centre of a kind of +stockade of posts. In a corner of one of these sheds, a number of poles +set on end and withed together, fenced off a little space for the beds +of the mayor-domo and his spouse. Ailing calves, independent pigs, and +multitudinous chickens shared the remainder of the accommodations, on +terms of perfect equality and harmony with the children of the +superintendent. Some large troughs, supported on posts, to receive the +milk in manufacturing cheese, and a couple of rude presses for use in +the same manufacture, also mounted on stilts, completed the furniture of +the establishment. There was enough of novelty in all this, but nothing +particularly attractive; and as I suspected there might be a “smart +chance” of fleas in the sand under the roofs, I declined dismounting, +but rode beneath the shade of a gigantic tree, called the _mata-palo_, +or kill tree. It has great vigor, and preserves a dense green foliage +during the dry season, when most other trees become seared. It starts as +a kind of vine, and clasps itself around the first tree which it can +reach; and as it grows with astonishing rapidity, in a few years it +entirely destroys the tree which raised it from the ground, and occupies +its place. It does not run up to any considerable height, but extends +its branches laterally to a great distance, and like the banyan tree, +sends down new trunks to the ground, which in their turn promote its +vigor and its growth. These trunks come down with their roots ready +formed, and look like a number of exceedingly bad brooms suspended from +the principal limbs. + +From the houses of the estate to the landing of Pasquiel there is a +broad open road. The distance is little upwards of a mile. This landing +is at the head of an estuary running up from the north-western extremity +of Lake Nicaragua, in the direction of Lake Managua, and which is about +fourteen miles in length. It is part of what is called the Rio Tipitapa, +but is, in fact, the Estero de Pasquiel, or de Panaloya. The actual +distance between the two lakes is therefore but little over four miles. +The landing of Pasquiel is simply an open space on the bank of the +Estero; there was neither house nor shed, nor sign of humanity, except +several large piles of Brazil wood, and the ashes left by the sailors’ +fires. The Estero, at this point, is about one hundred yards broad, and +six feet deep. This is, in fact, about its average depth; although in +some places lower down, I was informed by the boatmen, it is as much as +twelve and fourteen feet in depth. + +There was very little to see; and so, after sitting on the shore for an +hour, we started on our return, following a path which led along the +bank of the Estero, with a view of determining how much higher it +extended. We found that it came to an end a short distance above the +landing, as did also our path. But we had started to go through, and +persisted in our purpose. Between cutting, and stooping, dismounting and +making a multitude of evolutions, we finally succeeded in clearing the +forest, well scratched and smarting from rough contact with thorny +bushes and prickly vines—for nearly every petty bush and contemptible +vine in Central America is armed with thorns, great or small. + +Stopping for a few moments at a cattle hacienda, where we left the cura +making love to the daughter of the mayor domo, we returned to Tipitapa. +Our gloomy host of the morning had mustered up a little good humor. The +secret of his civility, however, came out before we left; he wanted a +guitar, a guitar with four strings, a guitar withal worth seven dollars; +and expected us to send him one of that description from the United +States, which we, of course, promised to do. whereupon, in the fullness +of his heart, he ordered his servant to assist Ben in preparing dinner. + +At three o’clock, we had reëmbarked, and with a fair wind, were soon +speeding our way to Managua, where we landed in the edge of the evening, +well wearied with our day’s excursion. + +In returning, I had sounded the lake, and found the entire bay in front +of Managua exceedingly shallow. For nearly a mile out it was only about +a fathom in depth; and for full two miles further it preserved a uniform +depth of about two fathoms. That part nearest the old outlet of Tipitapa +was also shallow, and for a mile and upwards from the shore, nowhere +exceeded a fathom and a half in depth. The middle portions of the lake, +however, are represented to be very deep. The full statement of these +facts and of a variety of others, bearing upon the question of a canal +route, are reserved for another and more appropriate place, when I come +to speak specifically of the canal project. It is only necessary to add +here, that the grossest ignorance prevails as to the dependence between +the two lakes of Nicaragua and Managua, and the nature of the +communication one with the other. The publications of the British +Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge speak of Lake Nicaragua as +_flowing_ into Lake Managua; and nearly all geographical works refer to +the river Tipitapa, or Panaloya, as a considerable stream, navigable +were it not for the Salto or falls, which is almost uniformly +represented to be nearer Lake Nicaragua than to Lake Managua. There is +also an error prevalent amongst the natives of the country, which has +been inconsiderately adopted by some recent observers, that the lake of +Managua has formed a subterranean outlet, or has subsided, from some +unexplained cause, within the past fifteen or twenty years. There is, +however, little or no reason for supposing that any material or +perceptible change has taken place in the level of the lake, or any +diminution in its volume, since the period of the Conquest. The early +explorers represented the two lakes as entirely disconnected; and +Oviedo, although combatting this idea, nevertheless describes the +communication to be very nearly what it now is. He says that in summer +little water flows through the channel, and speaks of the “canal,” by +which is undoubtedly meant the Estero of Panaloya, as only breast deep. +That the level of the lake changes somewhat with the different seasons, +I can myself bear witness. The evaporation on the twelve hundred square +miles of surface which this lake presents, beneath a tropical sun, is +nevertheless quite sufficient to account for the absence of water at +Tipitapa, without entertaining the hypothesis of a subterranean outlet. + +A few days after, I was suddenly called to return to Leon, where I was +detained by official business until the close of November. The events +which transpired in the interval do not fall within the scope of my +Narrative, and I shall consequently pass them by without remark. + + + + + CHAPTER XVI. + +SECOND ANTIQUARIAN EXPEDITION—THE SHORES OF LAKE MANAGUA ONCE + MORE—MATEARAS—DON HENRIQUE’S COMADRE—AM ENGAGED AS GOD FATHER—AN + AMAZON—SANTA MARIA DE BUENA VISTA—A “CHARACTER” IN PETTICOATS—“LA + NEGRITA, Y LA BLANQUITA”—PURCHASE OF BUENA VISTA—A YANKEE IDEA IN A + NICARAGUAN HEAD—HINTS FOR SPECULATORS—MUCHACHO _vs._ + BURRO—EQUESTRIAN INTOXICATION—ANOTHER APOSTROPHE!—PESCADORS—“HAY NO + MAS,” AND “ESTA AQUI,” AS MEASURES OF DISTANCE—MANAGUA—THE “MAL + PAIS,” NINDIRI, AND MASAYA—SOMETHING COOL—A POMPOUS ALCALDE—HOW TO + ARREST CONSPIRATORS—FLOWERS OF THE PALM—DESCENT TO THE + LAKE—MEMORIALS OF CATASTROPHES—LAS AGUADORAS—NEW MODE OF SOUNDING + DEPTHS—ILL-BRED MONKEYS—TRADITIONAL PRACTICES—OVIEDO’s ACCOUNT OF + THE LAKE IN 1529—SARDINES—THE PLAZA ON MARKET NIGHT—A + YANKEE CLOCK—SOMETHING COOLER—A STATE BEDROOM FOR A + MINISTER—ANCIENT CHURCH—FILLING OUT A VOCABULARY—“QUEBRADA DE + INSCRIPCIONES”—SCULPTURED ROCKS; THEIR CHARACTER—ANCIENT EXCAVATIONS + IN THE ROCK—“EL BANO”—PAINTED ROCKS OF SANTA CATRINA—NIGHT RIDE TO + GRANADA—THE LAGUNA DE SALINAS BY MOONLIGHT—GRANADA IN PEACE—A QUERY + TOUCHING HUMAN HAPPINESS—NEW QUARTERS, AND OLD FRIENDS—AN AMERICAN + SAILOR—HIS ADVENTURES—“WIN OR DIE”—A HAPPY SEQUEL. + + +The dry season had now fairly commenced; for two weeks no rain had +fallen on the plains of Leon, except an occasional “aguacéro” which +sprinkled out its brief existence under the lee of the volcanoes. The +circumstances were now favorable for carrying out my long cherished +purpose of again visiting Granada, and from thence prosecuting my +investigations of the antiquities reported to exist in its vicinity, and +in the islands of Lake Nicaragua. Locking up the main wing of my house, +and handing over my keys to Padre Cartine for safe keeping, with no +other companions than M. and my servant, I set out on the expedition. + +It was just daybreak when we rode through the suburb of Guadaloupe, but +already the Indians were yoking their oxen and preparing for their day’s +work. Here we overtook Don Felipe Jauregui, Commissioner of Honduras, +who had started for Costa Rica, and who felicitated himself greatly on +having our company during part of his journey. But Don Felipe had a +servant with the mules and a led horse for emergencies, and valued time +at its current rate in Central America, where it never rules at a +premium. He had a long journey before him, and meant to take it easily. +So, before we had gone a league, after trying in vain to seduce his +horse into a pace, I took advantage of a little bend in the road to give +him the slip, nor did I see anything more of him until the next day, in +the evening, when he overtook us at the town of Masaya. + +I never wearied of the ride to Pueblo Nuevo, and thence along the shores +of Managua to Matearas; nor would the reader weary of its repeated +description, could my pen truly portray its charms. The afternoon was +still, and the beach, upon which the tiny waves toyed with a low, +musical murmur, was cool in the broad shadows of the cliffs which +bordered it upon the west, and crowned with verdure, shut off the rays +of the evening sun. My old friends, the long-legged cranes, were there, +distant and grave as usual, and clearly in bad humor at these repeated +intrusions. And when we dismounted and took a bath in the lake, they +audibly expressed their dissatisfaction, and marched off a few rods, +where they held an indignation meeting, in company with a rabble of +water-hens and disreputable “zopolotes.” I had great contempt for them +ever after that. + +We reached Matearas at sunset, and “put up” at the house of Don +Henrique’s pet. She inquired about our friend, and felt “very desolate,” +she said, because he had not sent her some pills he had promised—for be +it known, every foreigner in Central America is more or less a “medico.” +The little naked fellow for whom Don Henrique had stood sponsor, was +tumbling about the floor, engaged in a pretty even contest with two pigs +and three chickens, about a piece of tortilla. The pigs appeared most +afflicted, and squealed in a distressful way because of their ill +success. Our little hostess did not take the trouble to interfere, but +gave “aid and comfort” to her boy, by keeping off a matronly porker, +evidently deeply interested, which stood looking in at the door-way. I +could not help laughing at the group, but my merriment puzzled the poor +woman exceedingly. She looked at me inquiringly, blushed, and drew +forward a large reboso, which was thrown loosely over her shoulders, so +as to conceal her figure. I saw her mistake at once, and hastened to +correct it in the most direct manner, for in these countries it is the +only way of preserving a good understanding. A tear glistened in her +eye, while a smile lit up her face, as she replied in a touching tone, +“A thousand thanks, Señor; we are very poor people, and cannot afford to +be laughed at.” She told me with the greatest frankness how soon another +god-father would be wanted, and as she had had a Frenchman for the +first, she should “so like” to have an American for the second. I +assured her that I should be happy to serve, if I could make it +convenient to be there at the proper time. A few minutes afterwards, I +overheard her telling the gossiping female neighbors who had “dropped +in,” that the thing was all settled. “El Ministro del Norte” was to be +sponsor for the prospective immortal, “seguro! seguro!” sure! sure! How +proudly the little woman moved about the rest of the evening! She +superintended all the details of supper, and _when I went to bed on the +table_, would have substituted her pillow, the only one in the house, +for my saddle, had I permitted her. That table! There is but one thing +harder under the sun, and that is Don Pedro Blanco’s bed of hide! + +After this intimation, I need not add that I was not exactly “lapped in +Elysium” during the night. It was not so much the fault of the table, as +of some arrieros, stopping at the hut over the way, who had got together +the belles of the village, and with the aid of aguardiente, a guitar, +and two tallow candles, were making a night of it. I sat up several +times to look at them through the little square window over the table. +Various groups of dancers were whirling around a man playing the guitar, +a gay mestizo with a red sash around his waist and his hat set jauntily +on one side, who performed with all the vigor of “the bones,” in the +_Opéras Ethiopiennes_, and from the shouts of laughter which followed +some of the hits, evidently improvising the song with which he +accompanied the music. Some of these hits, I infer, were personal, for +suddenly a strapping yellow girl, in a dashing flounce, flung herself +out of her partner’s arms, and seizing the performer’s hat, flung it +under her feet. The next instant she had him by the hair;—there was a +tustle, a mingled sound of laughter, supplication, and abuse, in the +midst of which the table was upset, and the lights extinguished. I +flattered myself this was the final “grand tableau.” Delusive hope! Half +an hour of violent discussion ensued, in which the voice of the Amazon +was highest, and then the _entente cordiale_ seemed restored. Looking +out of the window, I saw the man of the guitar in his former place, and +everything going on as before. I presume, however, that the _improvisor_ +was now more respectful in his allusions. + +We left before sunrise the next morning, deferring breakfast until our +arrival at Managua, twenty miles distant. I rode ahead, and allowed my +horse to take his own course. Upon reaching the volcanic ridge which I +have mentioned as projecting into the lake, where the mule road diverges +from the round-about _camina real_, he entered the wrong path, and we +went on for half an hour before discovering the error. I then determined +to push ahead, whatsoever the consequences. We soon came to a clearing, +and a little beyond, to a number of huts, standing upon the very brow of +the mountain, and looking out upon the lake, and beyond its shores, to +the hills of Chontales. I involuntarily spurred my horse forward. It was +the broadest, most luxuriant view upon which my eye had ever rested. +That from Laurel Hill, descending the Alleghanies, is alone comparable +to it, but lacks the grand and essential elements of lakes, volcanoes, +and tropical verdure. The morning breeze swept fresh and exhilarating +past us, and our very horses lifted their heads, and with expanded +nostrils and ears thrown forward, seemed to drink in the cool air, and +to enjoy the surprise and the scene not less than ourselves. + +We were several times saluted with “buenas mañanas caballeros!” by a +short, merry-faced old lady, the mistress of the huts, before we had the +gallantry to turn from the scene to the señora. Two or three naked boys, +with bows and arrows and cerbatanas or blowing-tubes, stood beside her, +and a couple of grown girls peeped slyly at us from behind the broken +door of the principal hut. The old lady was a sympathetic body, and her +face was really brilliant with animation, as she exclaimed “buena vista, +caballeros!” prolonging the “vees-ta,” as she swept her hand in the +direction of the distant horizon. This “hatto,” she said, was called +“Santa Maria de Buena Vista,” and she was the mistress. These, she +added, are my niños, boys, and these “malditas,” pointing to the girls +who dodged out of sight, are my “_hijas grandes_,” my big girls. +“Venga!” come here, she ejaculated; but the girls wouldn’t come, +whereupon the old lady went into the house and dragged them out. One was +fair, with light hair and blue eyes, while the other, like her mother, +was a brunette, her dark eyes, half shadowed by her long curling hair, +fairly dancing with suppressed mischief. I had long before ceased to be +surprised at wide differences of color and features in the same family; +but the contrast here was so striking that I could not help exclaiming +interrogatively “_ambas?_” _both?_ “Si!” she answered, with emphasis; +“esta negrita,” this darkey, is my husband’s, “y esta blanquita es una +Francescita!” and this white one is French! The inference from this +_naivé_ confession was so obvious a reflection on the old lady’s honor, +that I thought it but decent not to understand it, and modestly +suggested, “Ah si, su compadre fue Frances,” ah yes, her god-father was +French! “No, su padre—padre!” no, her father, father, interrupted the +matron, with energy; “I was young once,” she added, after a pause, and +with a toss of the head, which made me repent my ill-timed suggestion. +Ah! the perfidious Frenchman who had abused the hospitalities of “Santa +Maria de Buena Vista!” The wretch had evidently a taste for the +picturesque. + +The old lady inquired how I liked the place; I was, of course, +delighted. “Very well,” said she, “buy it;” and she went on to enumerate +its advantages, making the most of the view. I suggested that there was +no water; but that she said was of slight importance, it was only a mile +to the lake—she had got water there for fourteen years, and there was +plenty of it, as we could see. Besides, I could have either one of her +girls to bring it for me; _both_ if I liked; and all for a hundred +dollars! But the concluding argument confounded me; she communicated it +in a whisper. The Norte Americanos were building a canal, and in a few +months, Buena Vista would be worth four times the money! I took off my +hat incontinently, and only regretted that the old lady had no +lithographic press, wherewith to convert Buena Vista into town lots! I +promised to consider the proposition—particularly so far as it related +to the “negrita,” and the “blanquita,” both of whom, I wished to have it +distinctly understood, were to be included, because it was more than one +ought to do, to bring _all_ the water from the lake. The old lady +admitted the force of the argument, and gravely assented. The final +arrangement was deferred until my return. One of the boys pointed out +the path, down the face of the mountain to the lake; we had only to +follow the shore, he said, to reach Managua. I asked how far it +was,—“hay no mas!” “there is no more, it is only a step,” he replied, +and we left him in high spirits, thinking we had really discovered a +short cut, instead of having gone two leagues out of our way. The path +to the edge of the lake was steep, but well-worn, and we descended +without much difficulty. The beach was broad and smooth, and on a little +knoll, covered with grass, and arched with trees, was the place where +the women of Buena Vista did their washing. The huts, as we looked up, +seemed perched on the edge of a precipice, and with the palms that +surrounded them, stood out in sharp relief against the sky. Cattle from +the pasturage grounds were loitering in the edge of the water; there was +a donkey, grave but stubborn, which a half-grown boy was trying to drive +somewhere, but which not only wouldn’t go, but kicked viciously when the +muchacho approached. The boy seemed almost ready to cry with vexation, +and begged I would shoot the obstinate brute, which he denounced, not +only as “sin verguenza,” but as a great many other things, which would +hardly bear translating. We left him stoning the “burro,” at point blank +distance, just out of the range of his heels; and if neither one has +given in, they may be there still. + +The shore was hard and smooth, and our horses moved along, the waves +dashing to their fetlocks, with an elastic and nervous action, in which +the merest clod must have sympathized. Occasionally arching their necks, +and lifting up their heads, their whinny was like the blast of a +trumpet! Ah, my noble gray—with thy clear eye, expanded nostrils, taper +ears, and the veins swelling full on thy arching neck!—son of Arabian +sires! hast thou forgotten that morning’s ride on the shores of Managua? +Wine may quicken the blood with an unnatural, evanescent flow; the magic +hakshish stupify the frame, and for the moment make the tense nerves +vibrate to the melodies of the spirit world,—but give me a free rein, +and the willing back of my Arab gray, and the full, expanding, elevating +intoxication of a tropical morning! + +On, on, we seemed to float along the edge of the lake. By-and-by the +hills came down like barriers to the water. Here we scrambled for awhile +amongst rough rocks, cutting vines and branches right and left with our +swords, and emerged on the shore of a little bay. Two men, up to their +arm-pits in the water, were throwing a cast-net near the rocks, while a +third trailed after him what appeared to be a long branch of the palm +tree, but which was a cord, whereon the fishes were strung. He towed it +ashore, at our request, and showed us some hundreds of beautiful fish, +most of them of a species resembling our rock-bass, and about the size +of a small shad. I asked the price—ten for a _medio_, or sixpence! We +declined purchasing, whereupon he offered ten for a _quartillo_, equal +to three cents. I then told him we did not wish to buy, but that there +was a _real_ to drink the health of los Americanos. + +We had now come more than a league, and I began to think as it had been +“_hay no mas_” to Managua at Buena Vista, we must be near the place. We +were now told “_esta aqui_,” “it is here, you are in it;” which we +afterwards found to mean that it was only six miles further. After much +experience, I came to understand that “_hay no mas_,” “there is no +more,” or it is no further, is a figurative way of saying from nine to +twelve miles; and “_esta aqui_,” “it is here,” from six to nine. “Una +legua,” a league, I may add, for the benefit of uninitiated travellers, +may be calculated at pleasure, at from a mile and a half, to five +miles,—“you pays your money, and you takes your choice!” + +Another league along the lake shore, occasionally turning a rocky +headland, and we came to a large plantain walk, from which a broad path +diverging to the right, assured us that we were approaching the city. +The path was as smooth and as clear as a race course, and our horses, +who had been in high spirits all the morning, struck at once into a fast +gallop. I bent down on my steed’s neck, to avoid the branches of the +trees, and gave him a loose rein. It was a very undignified race, no +doubt, on the part of the riders, but both gray and bay enjoyed it, and +so did we, by sheer force of sympathy. We met numbers of people going to +their _huertas_, who leaped out of the path as we went scurrying along. +Some cried “_hoo-pah!_” and others ejaculated something, in which I +could only distinguish “_borracho_”—“_drunk!_” But _that_ was a mistake. + +We dashed into the plaza of Managua, with steaming steeds, and rode to +the posada. It was not nine o’clock, yet we had ridden twenty-six miles. +We ordered breakfast, and it was quite ready before Ben came trotting up +on his mule. He was in bad humor, and I couldn’t blame him, for it was +shabby to leave him alone in the chapparal. + +At eleven, when we started for Masaya, the sky was clouded but it did +not rain, and we rode at a rapid pace over the intervening thirty-six +miles. Again we paused on the “mal pais” of the volcano, and looked down +upon its broad, desolate fields—doubly black and desolate under a +lowering sky. Again we lingered in the noiseless streets of sweet, +embowered Nindiri, born of the lake and mountain,—and at four o’clock +entered the suburbs of Masaya. + +I had a letter to a gentleman, who, for reasons which will duly appear, +shall be nameless, and inquired for his residence. In reaching it, we +had to go through the plaza; it afforded a striking contrast to the +appearance it had worn when we passed it before. The closed shops were +now open, and flaunting with gayly-colored goods—groups of people with +laden mules were scattered in every direction, and women with dulces +stepped across it with the precision of grenadiers! A procession +consisting of a boy ringing a little bell, and followed by some +musicians and a priest, was just emerging from the great church, on its +way to administer the last rites of religion to the dying. The hum of +voices was stilled on the instant; every head was uncovered and every +knee bent, as the little procession moved by on its mission of +consolation and mercy; another moment, and the current of life and +action flowed on as if nothing had occurred. + +The house where we were to stop was a very good one, and we rode at once +into the court-yard. A lady, fat and fair, and not without pretensions +to beauty, was seated in the corridor. She invited us to dismount, which +we did, and I handed her my letter of introduction. She looked at the +direction, and said it was for her husband, who had gone out; she would +give it to him on his return. I suggested that she had better read it; +but, singular woman, “she never read her husband’s letters!” She +nevertheless showed a distant relationship to the sex, by depositing it +in her bosom—the bosom of her dress. Perhaps she had the ability, in +common with certain maiden ladies of New-England, of taking in the +contents by a mystical process of magnetic absorption. It wasn’t +pleasant to sit waiting in the corridor; we had not come to make a call, +but to stop for the night, and all the next day, and after waiting a +reasonable time for an invitation, I told Ben to unsaddle the horses, +and place our baggage in the corridor. The mistress looked a little +puzzled, but said nothing. In fact the whole affair was getting to be +awkward; so I suggested to M., that pending the return of our proposed +host, we should visit the lake. + +The first man we met in the street proved to be one of the identical +alcaldes who were in such a fever to ring the bells, when we had passed +through, six months before. He at once volunteered to accompany us to +the lake, and took the lead with a magisterial air, as if heralding +royalty, bringing his golden-headed cane down at every step with an +emphasis which struck terror into all the muchachos within a square of +him. Occasionally he would stop to point out to us, or to explain, some +object of interest. _That_ house, he said, the door and windows of which +were riddled with bullets, had been the rendezvous of the “facciosos” +during the late disturbances. The prefect having got wind of their +meetings, silently surrounded it with soldiers, and the first intimation +the conspirators had of danger, came with a hundred bullets through +their doors and windows, and was followed by a charge of the bayonet—a +mode of proceeding I thought sufficiently decided for any latitude! That +house, falling into ruins, and surrounded by rank weeds, that was the +house of a man who had murdered a padre; the bishop had cursed the spot, +and it was fenced in with posts, so that stray porkers might not fall +under ban by entering its crumbling portal! Those extraordinary clumps +of flowers, looking like mammoth golden epaulettes, were flowers of the +coyol palm—and those brown shells, each half shaped like a canoe, and +almost as large, those were the cases in which the flower had matured. +And thus our guide went on, marching us the while down a broad avenue, +thronged with water carriers, in the direction of the lake. I observed +that the jars here were not carried on the head, but in a kind of +net-work sack, suspended on the back by a broad and gayly woven strap +passing around the foreheads of the bearers, who came up panting and +covered with perspiration. + +Half or three-quarters of a mile from the plaza, we came to the edge of +the immense sunken area, at the bottom of which is the lake. Like the +“Laguna de Salinas,” near Granada, and which I have already described, +it is surrounded by precipitous cliffs, except upon the side of the +volcano, opposite the city, where the lava has flowed over, and made a +gradual but rough and impassable slope to the water. The first stage of +the descent is by a broad flight of steps, sunk in the solid rock, +terminating in an area, fenced by a kind of balustrade, or parapet, of +the same material. I looked over this, and below was a sheer precipice, +from which I recoiled with a shudder. Here stands a little cross firmly +fixed in the rock. The path now turns to the right, winding along the +face of the declivity, here cut in the cliff, there built up with +masonry, and beyond secured by timbers, fastened to the trees, many of +which are of gigantic size, covered with vines, and twining their +gnarled roots in every direction among the rocks. These rocks themselves +are burned and blistered with heat, with vitrified surfaces of red or +black, resembling, the hardest enamel. Were it not for the verdure, +which hides the awful steeps and yawning depths, the path would prove a +fearful road for people of weak heads and treacherous nerves, whose +confidence in themselves would not be improved by the crosses which, +fastened among the stones, or against the trees, point out the places of +fatal catastrophes. Our guide advised us to take off our boots before +commencing the descent, and the women whom we met slowly toiling up, in +many places holding on by their hands, panted “_quita sus botas!_”—“take +off your boots!” But we were more used to boots than they, and kept them +on—not without subjecting ourselves to a suspicion of fool-hardiness. +Down, catching glimpses of the lake, apparently directly beneath us, and +as distant as when we started,—down, down,—it was full fifteen or twenty +minutes before we reached the bottom. Here were numerous places among +the fallen rocks and the volcanic debris of the cliff, where the +_aguadoras_ filled their jars. Many of these were bathing in the water, +carrying their jars out several rods from shore, filling them there and +then towing them in. They did not appear at all disconcerted by our +presence, so we sat down on the rocks and talked with the brown Naiads. +I asked one of them if the lake was deep? She replied that it was +“insondable,” bottomless; and to give me practical evidence of its great +depth, paddled ashore, and taking a large stone in each hand, went out +not more than thirty feet, and suffered herself to sink. She was gone so +long that I began to grow nervous, lest some accident had befallen her +in those unknown depths, but directly she popped up to the surface, +almost in the very place where she had disappeared. She gasped a moment +for breath, and then, turning to me, exclaimed, “you see!” + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +[Illustration: LAKE AND VOLCANO OF MASAYA.—1859.] + +[Illustration: RUINED GATEWAY, MASAYA.] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +The water is warm, but limpid, and, it is said, pure. When cooled, it is +sweet and palatable. Considering that the lake is clearly of volcanic +origin, with no outlet, and in close proximity to the volcano of the +same name, this is a little remarkable. Most lakes of this character are +more or less impregnated with saline materials. + +The view of the lake, and the volcano rising on the opposite shore, from +the place where we were seated, was singularly novel and beautiful. +Above us towered a gigantic cebia, festooned with vines, amongst which a +company of monkeys were scrambling, chattering, and grimacing. +Occasionally one would slip down the long, rope-like tendrils of the +vines, scold vigorously for a moment, and then, as if suddenly alarmed, +scramble up again amongst the branches. The girls said they were +specially indignant at us because we were “blancos,” and we had +afterwards the most conclusive, if not the most savory, evidence of +their dislike, which it would be indelicate to explain. Suffice it to +say, we registered a vow to return the next day with our guns, and teach +the ill-bred mimics better manners. + +The cliffs which wall in the lake resemble the Palisades on the Hudson +river, but are much higher, and destitute of the corresponding masses of +debris at the base. The early Spanish chroniclers speak of them as a +“thousand fathoms” high; later travellers have changed the fathoms to +yards, but even that is probably an exaggeration. We had no means of +determining the question, and wouldn’t have gone down again, after once +regaining the upper earth, to have solved it a thousand times. The +descent was mere _bagatelle_, but the ascent one of those things which +answer for a lifetime, and leave no desire for repetition. We reached +the upper cross after a most wearisome scramble, only fit for monkeys to +undertake, and sat down on the last flight of stone steps, wholly +exhausted, covered with perspiration, and our temples throbbing from the +exertion, as if they would burst. The _aguadoras_, accustomed to it from +infancy, seemed to suffer almost as much as ourselves, and as they +passed the cross, made its sign in the usual manner, in acknowledgment +of their safe return. + +All the water for domestic purposes is thus painfully brought up from +the lake. During the “_invierno_” the rain is collected in tanks, or +ponds, in the courts of the principal houses, for the use of the horses +and cattle; but when this supply becomes exhausted, as it does towards +the close of the dry season, the water for their use has also to be +obtained here. An attempt had been made to cut a path for mules down the +face of the cliff, but it had failed. About two leagues from Masaya, +however, the people had met with better success, and there is now a +place where animals, with some difficulty, can reach the lake. There are +a number of towns, besides Masaya, which obtain their water from the +same source. These towns existed, and the same practice prevailed, +before the Conquest, when the country was tenfold more populous than +now. Water-carrying seems to have always been one of the principal +institutions of this section of country, and as there are no streams, +and never will be, it is likely to remain about the only enduring one, +or until some enterprising Yankee shall introduce a grand forcing pump, +worked, perhaps, by volcanic power—for, having made the lightning a +“common carrier,” I do not see why volcanoes shouldn’t be made to earn +their living! + +Oviedo has described this lake as it was in 1529, and it will be seen +that it has little changed since then. His estimate of the height of the +cliffs surrounding it, about one thousand feet, is probably not far from +the truth. + + “Another very remarkable lake is found in this province, although it + cannot be compared, in extent, with _Cocibolca_ (Nicaragua). The water + is much better. It is called the lake of _Lendiri_ (Nindiri or + Masaya), and the principal cazique, who lives on its banks, bears the + same name. This lake is about three leagues from Granada, but they are + so long that we may safely call them four. I arrived there on St. + James’ day, July 25, 1529, and stopped with Diego Machuca, the same + gentleman of whom I have spoken heretofore. I was well received and + hospitably entertained, and I went with him to visit this lake, which + is a very extraordinary one. To reach it, we had to take a road, the + descent of which is so rapid that it should be called rather a + stairway than a road. Adjoining it we saw a round, high mountain, on + the summit of which is a great cavity, from which issues a flame as + brilliant but stronger and more continuous than that of Etna, or Mount + Gibel, in Sicily. It is called the Volcano of Masaya. Towards the + south an arid and open slope extends to the shores of the lake; but on + the other sides, the lake is shut in by walls, which are very steep + and difficult of descent. I beheld a path, as I was led along, the + steepest and most dangerous that can be imagined; for it is necessary + to descend from rock to rock, which appear to be of massive iron, and + in some places absolutely perpendicular, where ladders of six or seven + steps have to be placed, which is not the least dangerous part of the + journey. The entire descent is covered with trees, and is more than + one hundred and thirty fathoms before reaching the lake, which is very + beautiful, and may be a league and a half both in length and breadth. + Machuca, and his cazique, who is the most powerful one in the country, + told me that there were, around the lake, more than twenty descents + worse than this by which we had passed, and that the inhabitants of + the villages around, numbering more that one hundred thousand Indians, + came here for water. I must confess that, in making the descent, I + repented more than once of my enterprise, but persisted, chiefly from + shame of avowing my fears, and partly from the encouragement of my + companions, and from beholding Indians loaded with an aroba and a half + of water, (nearly 40 lbs.,) who ascended as tranquilly as though + travelling on a plain. On reaching the bottom, I plunged my hand into + the water, and found it so warm that nothing but intense thirst could + have induced me to drink it. But when it is carried away, it soon + cools, and becomes the best water in the world to drink. It seems to + me that this lake must be on a level with the fire that burns in the + crater of Masaya, the name of which, in the Chorotegan language, + signifies the burning mountain. But one species of fish, as small as a + needle, is found here; they are cooked in omelets. The Indians esteem + the water very good and healthful, and when they go down, are sure to + bathe in it. I asked the cazique why they did not bring fish from + other places and put in it? He replied that they had done so several + times, but the water rejected them, and they died, diffusing a fetid + odor, and corrupting the water. Among the descents, there was one + formed of a single ladder of ropes from top to bottom. As there is no + water for several leagues around, and the country is fertile, they put + up with the inconvenience, and obtain their supply from this lake.” + +The little fishes found here are the same with those called _sardines_ +at Managua, and which I have described in another place. + +It was dusk when we returned to the plaza, which was now filled with +people, presenting the most animated appearance that it is possible to +conceive. It was market evening, and every one who had aught to buy or +to sell, was on the ground, exhibiting his wares, or in search of what +he wanted. I have said that Masaya is distinguished for its +manufactures, and we now had the opportunity of learning their variety +and extent. Upon one side of the plaza stood mules loaded with grass or +sacate, wood carefully split and bound up in bundles like faggots, +maize, and the more bulky articles of consumption. Near by were carts +overflowing with oranges, melons, aguacates, jocotes, onions, yucas, +papayas, and the thousand blushing, luscious fruits and vegetables of +the country, going at prices which we regarded as absolutely ruinous, +while las vendedoras chanted: + + “Tengo narangas, papayas, jocotes, + Melones de agua, de oro, zapotes, + Quieren á comprar?” + + “I have oranges, papayas, jocotes, + Melons of water, of gold,[28] and zapotes, + Will you buy?” + +----- + +Footnote 28: + + Musk melons, or melones almizcleños. + +----- + +Here were women seated on little stools beside snow-white sheets, or in +the centre of a _cordon_ of baskets, heaped with cacao or coffee, +starch, sugar, and the more valuable articles of common use; here a +group with piles of hats of various patterns, hammocks, cotton yarn, +thread of pita, native blankets, petates, and the other various articles +which Yankees call “dry goods;” here another group, with water jars, +plates, and candlesticks of native pottery; there a _sillero_ or saddler +exposed the products of his art, the _zapatero_ cried his shoes, the +_herrero_ his machetes, bits for horses, and other articles of iron; +girls proclaimed their dulces, boys shouted parrots and monkeys, and in +the midst of all a tall fellow stalked about bearing a wooden-clock from +Connecticut, in his arms, gaudily painted, with the picture of the sun +on the dial, which seemed to tip us a familiar wink as I inquired the +price. Unfortunate inquiry! “Quarenta pesos; barato, barato, muy +barato!” “Forty dollars; cheap, cheap, very cheap!” And the wretch +followed us everywhere with that abominable clock. “Sir,” said I at +last, “I make clocks, and will bring one here and sell it for five +dollars, if you do not stop your noise!” Whereupon he marched off, still +crying, “Un relox esplendidisimo, quiera á comprar!” Wherever we passed, +we were stunned with the mercaders, who fairly hustled us, in their +anxiety to thrust their various wares full in our faces. The hackmen at +a steamboat landing could not be worse. Directly the alcalde, who had +gone off to collect his official associates, rejoined us; and then, +amidst the bustle of the market, we had ten minutes of laborious bowing +and speechifying, much to the edification of the people, no doubt, who +piled themselves up around us, full twenty deep. I had been enjoying +myself mightily, but all was done for now, and leaving the busy scene of +which I would gladly have seen more, I moved off to our quarters. + +Our proposed host had returned, and received us almost civilly. He was a +dark, saturnine looking man, and evidently not given to hospitality. We +nevertheless got a very good supper, none the less acceptable because of +our visit to the lake on the top of a horseback ride of sixty miles that +day. We had not finished before Señor Jauregui trotted up to the door. +He had heard where we were, and had come directly to our quarters. I +thought he was better received than we had been, but the difference was +not more than between cool and cold. I made a kind of apology for my +desertion of the Señor, which was very politely received; but I hope it +was more satisfactory to him than it was to me. + +During the evening I hired some mozos to go to the Indian Pueblos of +Jinotepec and Nindiri, to bring me next morning the oldest Indians who +could be found, retaining any knowledge of the language originally +spoken here, with the view of procuring a brief vocabulary. The rest of +the evening was spent in inquiring about antiquities, and in listening +to the family history of the Señora of the mansion, who, besides keeping +a _tienda_ in one corner of the house, had the honor of being sister of +a late minister of the country in Europe, once Secretary of the +Treasury, but who just now did not stand in the highest favor with +Government or people. How much the fact of this relationship had to do +with my reception, it is hardly worth the while to conjecture. The +family history was not the most entertaining to weary travellers, and +having a keen remembrance of the table at Matearas, and catching +glimpses of inviting curtained beds in the inner rooms, I made no +efforts to disguise my _ennui_. Finally, I plainly suggested that it was +bed time. Our host took a miserable candle, but instead of leading to +the inviting curtained beds aforesaid, marched us out into the corridor, +to a kind of outbuilding at one extremity, with a rickety door, a single +little window, unpaved floor, and mildewed walls. Here were two dirty +hide beds, upon the headboards of which some chickens were roosting. +There was not an article of furniture in the room; not a rag of clothing +on the beds. He stuck the candle against the wall, and was about +departing, when I called him by name. He turned round, and I looked him +full in the face for a moment, and then told him “go!” He really had the +decency to blush! Ben made up a kind of bed with the saddles and +blankets, and spite of all discomforts I slept soundly and well. I was +up early to enjoy the delicious air of the morning, and strolled out +into the silent streets, and for half a mile up one of the avenues, to a +small picturesque church in a little square, surrounded by a high cactus +hedge, and filled with magnificent, ancient palms. The church was a +quaint structure, and on a slab sunk in the wall of the façade was an +inscription, of which I could only make out the words, “en el año 1684.” +It had been long abandoned, and a flock of silent zopilòtes were perched +on the roof, with wings half expanded to catch the breeze of the +morning. The area around it was now used as a cemetery, and kept +scrupulously neat and free from weeds. + +Upon my return to the house, I found the Commissioner and the breakfast +waiting. We had the table all to ourselves in the corridor, and in the +intervals of his masticatory exercises, Don Felipe favored me with his +private opinion of our host, which coincided wonderfully with my own. He +also produced a letter, in a very confidential way, which he begged I +would forward to Leon, as it contained a full exposure of the treatment +to which we had been subjected; but which, it afterwards turned out, +related to certain political movements of doubtful propriety. And as he +mounted his horse to depart, he whispered in my ear, with the air of a +man vindicating the national reputation for hospitality, that he had +paid the bill for the party. I, of course, could only bow my +acknowledgments, and with a “buena viaje,” the Commissioner rode off. +The next time I saw him, three or four months later, a file of soldiers +was marching him through the streets of Leon, a proscribed man, under +arrest for treason! + +Up to the departure of the Commissioner, I had been in doubt as to my +position in the house, whether I was a paying guest or otherwise, and +had in consequence put up with many things little agreeable to my +feelings. I now felt relieved, and made a number of very imperative if +not necessary orders, by way of compensating myself for lost time, and +getting the worth of my money. Ben caught the spirit, and instead of +attending to our animals himself, went through double the fatigue in +making the servants of the house do the drudgery, treating them at the +same time to a variety of forcible epithets, besides indulging in some +reflections on their maternal ancestry. + +Before eight o’clock the Indians whom I had sent for made their +appearance, and squatted down in the corridor. Amongst them was a +female, a little withered creature, with only a blanket around her +middle, who seemed to know more than all the rest, and who was as prompt +as an ambitious school-boy in replying to my questions. This annoyed her +husband greatly, who, not content with berating her for what he called +her impertinence, would have administered practical reproof, had he not +been kept in check by our presence. “Ah, señor,” he said, “this woman +has been so all her life! Heaven help me!” and he lifted his eyes and +crossed himself. With great difficulty I filled out my blank vocabulary, +and dismissed my swarthy visitors, giving an extra real or two to the +woman, who gratefully volunteered to visit Leon, if I required further +information. + +I had heard of a ravine not far from Masaya, in which there were +inscribed rocks, “piedras labradas,” and my official guide of the +preceding evening undertook to lead us to the place. We went down the +same broad avenue towards the lake, but before reaching it, turned to +the left, and passing through luxuriant fields of yucas and tobacco, +along the edge of the precipice, came at last to a hollow, where stood +the hydraulic wonder of Masaya, called, _par excellence_, “La Maquina,” +the machine. It was a very simple and very rude apparatus for elevating +water from the lake. The water jars were placed in sacks attached to an +endless rope, connected with a pulley below, and revolving on a wheel or +drum, turned by horse power above. The cliff here was lower than at any +other point, and for half the distance to the water absolutely +precipitous. Below, the fallen rocks and the earth washed from the +ravine had formed an inclined plane, up which the jars were brought on +men’s shoulders. The proprietor of the Maquina, who seemed exceedingly +proud of his achievement, told me that the machine raised the jars as +fast as eight active men could bring them to the foot of the precipice. +The water was emptied into a large trough hollowed from a single tree, +and here the proprietors of the town watered their animals, at a certain +rate per week. The whole affair was an experiment, and he was not yet +certain that it would succeed, because of the opposition of the +aguadoras, who regarded it as a flagrant innovation on their immemorial +privileges. He concluded by inquiring if we had similar contrivances in +“El Norte” and seemed very complacent when I assured him that there was +nothing of the kind in the whole extent of our country. The Maquina +stood at the mouth of the ravine of which we were in search. We entered, +and proceeded up its narrow bed, shut in by walls of rock, and +completely arched over with trees, for about a quarter of a mile. Here +the face of the rock upon the left side was comparatively smooth, and +literally covered with figures rudely cut in outline. A few were still +distinct, but most were so much obliterated that they could not be made +out with any degree of satisfaction. Many were covered with the fallen +debris, and the earth which the rains had brought down; and still others +were carved so high up on the precipitous rocks, that their character +could not be ascertained. They covered the face of the cliffs for more +than a hundred yards, and consisted chiefly of rude representations of +animals and men, with some ornamented and perhaps arbitrary figures, the +significance of which is now unknown. Figs. 1, 2 of the “_Sculptured +Rocks of Masaya_,” exhibit the principal outlines upon the first section +to which we came, and Figs. 3, 4 those upon the second. Upon the latter +there seems to have been an attempt at delineating the sun in two +places, and perhaps also to record some event, for it is a plausible +supposition that the straight marks on the upper section of Figure 3 +were intended for numerals. The principal right hand figure of this +section seems to have been designed to represent a shield, arrows, or +spears, and the _xiuatlatli_, or aboriginal instrument for throwing +spears, which are frequently grouped in similar manner in the Mexican +paintings. The principal figure in the inferior section is evidently +intended to represent a monkey. In respect to the other figures, the +reader is at liberty to form his own conjectures. Rocks inscribed in +very much the same manner, are scattered all over the continent, from +the shores of New-England to Patagonia. Most, if not all of them, are +the work of savage tribes, and seem generally designed to commemorate +events of greater or less importance. They are however far too rude to +be of much archæological value; and have little interest except as +illustrating the first steps in a system of pictorial representation +which it is supposed subsequently became refined into a hieroglyphical, +and finally into an alphabetical system. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +[Illustration: FIG. 1.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 2.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 3.] + +[Illustration: + + FIG. 4. + + SCULPTURED ROCKS AT MASAYA. +] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +There is some reason for believing that this ravine was regarded as a +sacred place; a hypothesis which derives a certain degree of support +from the seclusion and gloom of the spot, where the rays of the sun +seldom reach, or reach but for a moment when the wind parts the verdure +which shadows over it like a tent. On the right of Fig. 4 will be +observed a flight of rude steps cut in the rock, indicated by the letter +_a_. These lead to a shelf in the cliff, about three paces broad, at the +back of which the rock again abruptly rises to the height of more than a +hundred feet. Upon this shelf, and immediately above the figure which I +have supposed to represent an ape, is what is called “el Baño,” the +Bath. It is a rectangular excavation in the rock, nearly eight feet +long, four broad, and eighteen inches deep, cut with great smoothness, +the sides sloping regularly to the bottom. A groove about an inch and a +half deep, leading to the edge of the cliff, is cut entirely around this +basin, with the probable design of preventing the water from running +into it. The name given to this excavation throws no light upon its true +character, for it would be wholly inadequate for bathing purposes, even +if there were a supply of water near, which there is not. There seems to +be but one explanation of its origin, which has so much as the merit of +plausibility, viz., that it was, in some way, connected with the +superstitions of the aborigines, and devoted to sacred objects. + +[Illustration: VIEW IN THE “QUEBRADA DE LAS INSCRIPCIONES.”] + +To the left, and a little above the figure which I have supposed to +represent the sun, (_c_,) there is a pentagonal hole or shaft, +penetrating horizontally into the rock. It is about sixteen or eighteen +inches in diameter, and of an indefinite depth. I thrust a pole into it +for upwards of twenty feet. The sides are perfectly regular and smooth. +Our guide pointed out to me one similar, some distance off, in another +part of the ravine. It was, however, not more than five or six inches in +diameter, and occurred so high up on the cliff that I could not +ascertain its depth. The rock is basaltic or trachytic, and very hard. I +am not aware that such openings are found in this kind of rock; but +nevertheless suppose that those under notice are natural. Our guide +insisted that they were artificial, and said the Indians have a +tradition that they lead to subterranean chambers. I cannot describe +them better than by saying that they appeared to be the matrices from +which gigantic crystals had been withdrawn. + +[Illustration] + +Besides the figures represented in the plates, there were many isolated +ones, at various places on the rocks, among which those engraved above +were several times repeated. Our guide also told us that there were +other rocks, having figures both painted and sculptured upon them, at +several points around the lake, but we could not ascertain the precise +locality of any except those before us. Near a place called Santa +Catrina, I was informed, there is a large rock covered with figures in +red paint, like those at Nihapa, representing men and women dancing, and +playing upon instruments of music. I had, however, no opportunity of +ascertaining how far the account coincided with the facts, but have no +doubt that it was somewhat exaggerated. The man at the Maquina also told +me about what he called “stone vases,” which were to be found below the +cliffs, at the edge of the lake, a league distant from where we now +were. Upon questioning him as to their character, I ascertained that +they were kettle-shaped excavations in rocks lying on the shore. He said +they were now used to receive leather for tanning, and were probably +originally devoted to a similar purpose. + +It was late when we returned to Masaya, but as the moon was in its first +quarter, I resolved to ride to Granada that evening. So we despatched a +cup of chocolate (for which I paid the lady, with the distinguished +connections, a dollar and a half) and mounted our horses just as the sun +was sinking behind the volcano of Masaya. I hired a mozo in the plaza to +ride ahead and put us in the right path,—a precaution, the necessity of +which will appear when I say that foot and mule paths diverge in a +thousand directions from every principal town, all so nearly alike that +it is impossible for the stranger to tell one from another. We met +hundreds of Indians, of both sexes, young and old, coming in from the +fields, each bearing a small load of wood, corn, plantains, or other +articles of consumption. They were all in excellent humor, and saluted +us gayly. By-and-by the night fell, and except an occasional straggler, +we had the path to ourselves. Now we wound along in deep dells and +ravines, where it was so dark that we could not see each other, and anon +emerged into the narrow open savannahs, of which I have elsewhere +spoken, smiling under the soft light of the crescent moon. The paths +were so numerous, that, after puzzling myself into a state of +profoundest confusion, in attempting to keep the broadest and most +frequented, I left the selection entirely to my horse. Where we should +bring up was a matter of uncertainty; our only landmark was the volcano +of Momobacho, and while that was kept to the right, I knew we could not +be greatly out of our way. Our horses were fresh, the evening was cool, +and forest and savannah, light and shade, seemed to float past us like +the silent scenery of a dream. That ride was a poetical episode of +existence, as perfect in its kind as the morning passage along the +shores of Lake Managua, with which it contrasted so strongly. Here all +was dim and calm and silent, deep shadows and mellow light; there the +great sun ruled in his strength, the leaping waters, the music of wind +and wave, the songs of birds, man and beast, all was life and action, +and the human soul which swelled to the exuberant harmonies of the one, +subsided to the holy cadences of the other. Happy is he who truly +sympathizes with Nature, and whose heart beats responsively to her +melodies. One hour of such communion with our great and genial Mother! +How all the struggles of life, the petty aims and ambitions of men, +dwindle before the comprehensive majesty of her teachings! + +[Illustration: CHURCH OF SAN FRANCISCO, GRANADA.] + +As we rode on, I tried in vain to recognize the features of the country, +and the suspicion that we had missed our way passed into a certainty, +when, emerging suddenly from a long reach of gloomy forest, we found +ourselves upon the precipitous banks of the “Laguna de Salinas.” The +declining moon shone slantingly upon that deep Avernian lake, with its +cliffs casting the shadow of their frown over more than half its +surface. I paused for a moment to look upon the gloomy picture, and then +turned off into the circuitous camino real, which we had now reached, +for Granada. A brisk ride of little more than half an hour brought us to +the arsenal, which stands like a sentinel on the outmost limits of the +city. It no longer bristled with armed men, as it had done when we +passed it six months before; and the Jalteva which was then deserted and +silent, was now all life and animation. Light shone out from the open +doors, and the merry laughter of children mingled with the tinkling of +guitars, and the not over melodious, nasal sentimentalities of lovesick +swains. The entire city wore a very different aspect from that which it +had borne at the time of our arrival. The gloom, not to say terror, +which then oppressed all classes, had passed away; and as I rode through +the streets and witnessed the apparent absence of want, of care for the +present, or concern for the future, I could not resist the impression +that probably no equal number of people in the world enjoyed more real +happiness than these. With the mass of men, those whose higher powers of +enjoyment have never been developed, and whose happiness depends chiefly +upon the absence of physical wants, or upon the ease with which they may +be gratified, the life of the people of Granada must come very near to +their ideal of human existence. And he will be a bold speculator, who +having seen man under the various aspects, political or otherwise, in +which the world presents him, shall deny the truth of the popular idea; +and a bold innovator who, in vain aspirations for what he conceives +necessary for the popular welfare, shall disturb this illusion, if +illusion it be, which the mass of mankind so fondly cherish. + +I had engaged quarters in advance, and rode to them at once. A large +sala was ready for our reception, and in less than ten minutes a cup of +foaming chocolate was smoking upon the sideboard. Our first visitor was +our old friend, Dr. S., who brought with him another American, a bluff +sailor from Albany, who, by a singular series of vicissitudes, had found +his way to Granada. He had shipped from New York for Rio, thence to +Callao, where the crew was paid off, and the vessel sold. The world was +all agog for California, and Jack, with his brother tars, also caught +the fever. But how to get there was a question. Every vessel was +overcrowded, and passages were at a rate far beyond the ability of any +of them to pay. In this dilemma eight of their number clubbed together +and purchased an open whale-boat, which they victualled and watered to +the best of their ability, and, with a daring eminently American, +started on a voyage of upwards of four thousand miles. They put in once +or twice to procure supplies, and had accomplished one-half of the +distance, when they were overtaken by a storm, dismasted, and capsized, +and with the loss of two of their number, after drifting for four days, +with neither food nor drink, at the mercy of the winds and currents, +were finally driven upon an unknown coast. Here a few wild fruits, some +birds, and shell-fish, supplied the immediate wants of nature. Repairing +their disabled boat, so far as they were able, without clothing, arms, +or utensils of any sort, they coasted painfully along the shore for two +days. On the third day they found a few Indians diving for pearls, who, +alarmed at their appearance, fled into the forest. One was overtaken, +and through the medium of some Spanish, little understood upon one side +and still less upon the other, they ascertained that they were in the +Bay of Culebra, in the department of Guanacaste, the southern district +of Nicaragua. The region along the coast was uninhabited, but after much +difficulty they succeeded in reaching the little village of Santa Cruz, +in the interior. Here a division of property, consisting of two old +silver watches, and twelve dollars in cash, took place, and the party +separated, each with four dollars wherewith to clothe himself, and +commence the world again. Jack, who was something of a carpenter, tried +to mend his fortunes by mending the houses of the people, but soon found +that houses good or bad were of little consequence, and so hired himself +to a vaquero who was about starting with a drove of mules for the city +of Nicaragua. The fare was bad, and the labor incredible, and after +three weeks of suffering in the hot sun by day, and in pestilent damps +at night, his feet lacerated by sharp stones, his body torn by thorns +and inflamed from the bites of insects, with a raging fever which made +him delirious for hours together, and caused his hair to drop in +handfuls from his head,—in this plight, poor Jack reached Nicaragua. And +here, to crown his miseries, his rascally employer not only refused to +pay him, but, while he was lying delirious in an outhouse, robbed him of +his little store of money. When the fit had passed, he staggered out +into the streets and towards the fields, muttering incoherently. The +children were frightened by his haggard looks and bloodshot eyes, and +fled as he reeled along. Fortunately, he was seen by one of the +citizens, who not only brought him to his own house, but sent at once +for Dr. S., then accidentally in the city, who attended the poor fellow +with characteristic humanity and unwearied assiduity, day and night, +until he had recovered, and then took him to his own house in Granada. +He was still weak, but fast regaining his strength, and I listened to +his story, told with the bluff heartiness of the sailor, with an +interest which the art of the novelist could not heighten. I had the +satisfaction, a couple of months later, of securing his passage on board +a French vessel bound to that land of promise to which he still looked +forward with unwavering hope; and since my return to the United States, +I have received a letter from him, modestly announcing that he has +amassed six thousand dollars,—the sum which “he was bound to win or +die,” and as one-third owner and mate of a little brig, was on the eve +of starting for the Sandwich Islands on a trading venture! + +Such, in this new land, is the course of Fortune. Jack, my good friend, +may God speed thee, and may thy success be commensurate with thy honest +deservings! I need not wish thee more than that! + + + + + CHAPTER XVII. + +VISIT TO PENSACOLA—DISCOVERY OF MONUMENTS—SEARCH FOR + OTHERS—SUCCESS—DEPARTURE FOR “EL ZAPATERO”—LA CARLOTA—LOS + CORALES—ISLA DE LA SANTA ROSA—A NIGHT VOYAGE—ARRIVAL AT + ZAPATERO—SEARCH FOR MONUMENTS—FALSE ALARM—DISCOVERY OF + STATUES—INDIANS FROM OMETEPEC—A STRONG FORCE—FURTHER + INVESTIGATIONS—MAD DANCE—EXTINCT CRATER AND VOLCANIC LAKE—STONE OF + SACRIFICE—EL CANON—DESCRIPTION OF MONUMENTS, AND THEIR PROBABLE + ORIGIN—LIFE ON THE ISLAND. + + +Dec. 2, 1849.—This afternoon we prevailed upon Pedro—who, with his six +stout sailors, had been drunk for a week, but were now sober and anxious +to lay in a new supply of reals for another debauch—to take us over to +the little island of Pensacola, almost within cannon-shot of the old +castle of Granada. A young fellow, whilom a sailor, but now in the Dr.’s +service, on half-pay, as honorary man of all-work, averred that upon +this island were “_piedras antiguas_” of great size, but nearly buried +in the earth. It seemed strange that in all our inquiries concerning +antiquities, of the padres and licenciados, indeed of the “best +informed” citizens of Granada, we had not heard of the existence of +these monuments. The Dr. was not a little skeptical, but experience had +taught me that more information, upon these matters, was to be gathered +from the bare-footed _mozos_ than from the black-robed priests, and I +was obstinate in my determination to visit Pensacola. + +It was late when we started, but in less than an hour we leaped ashore +upon the island. It is one of the “out-liers” of the labyrinth of small +islands which internal fires long ago thrust up from the depths of the +lake, around the base of the volcano of Momobacho; and its shores are +lined with immense rocks, black and blistered by the heat which +accompanied the ancient disruptions of which they are the evidences. In +some places they are piled up in rough and frowning heaps, half shrouded +by the luxuriant vines which nature trails over them, as if to disguise +her own deformities. In the island of Pensacola these rocks constitute a +semi-circular ridge, nearly enclosing a level space of rich soil,—a kind +of amphitheatre, looking towards the west, the prospect extending beyond +the beach of Granada to the ragged hills and volcanic peaks around the +lake of Managua. Upon a little elevation, within this natural temple, +stood an abandoned cane hut, almost hidden by a forest of luxuriant +plantains, which covered the entire area with a dense shadow, here and +there pierced by a ray of sunlight, falling like molten gold through +narrow openings in the leafy roof. + +No sooner had we landed, than our men dispersed themselves in search of +the monuments, and we followed. We were not long kept in suspense; a +shout of “_aqui, aqui!_” “here, here,” from the Dr.’s man, announced +that they were found. We hurried to his side. He was right; we could +distinctly make out two great blocks of stone, nearly hidden in the +soil. The parts exposed, though frayed by storms, and having clearly +suffered from violence, nevertheless bore evidences of having been +elaborately sculptured. A demand was made for the machetes of the men; +and we were not long in removing enough of the earth to discover that +the supposed blocks were large and well-proportioned statues, of +superior workmanship and of larger size than any which we had yet +encountered. The discovery was an exciting one, and the Indian sailors +were scarcely less interested than ourselves. They crouched around the +figures, and speculated earnestly concerning their origin. They finally +seemed to agree that the larger of the two was no other than +“Montezuma.” It is a singular fact that the name and fame of the last of +the Aztec emperors is cherished by all the Indian remnants from the +banks of the Gila to the shores of Lake Nicaragua. Like the Pecos of New +Mexico, some of the Indians of Nicaragua still indulge the belief that +Montezuma will some day return, and reëstablish his ancient empire. + +I was convinced that there were other monuments here, but the sun was +going down, and having resolved to return the next day, I gave up the +search,—not, however, without engaging Pedro to be ready, with men and +tools, to return at sunrise the next morning. + +Pedro, for a miracle, was true to his word (probably because he had no +money wherewith to get drunk); and the dew was fresh on the leaves, the +parrots chattered vociferously, and the waves toyed cheerfully with the +black basaltic rocks, as we leaped ashore a second time on Pensacola. +The boat was moored, coffee speedily made and despatched, and then +Pedro’s crew stripped themselves naked, and made other formidable +preparations for disinterring the idols. But the preparations were more +formidable than the execution. They commenced very well, but long before +the figures were exposed to view, they were all smitten with a desire to +hunt up others,—a plausible pretext for skulking away and stretching +themselves on the ground beneath the plantains. I was at one time left +wholly alone; even Pedro had disappeared; but the rascals came tumbling +together again when I proclaimed that the “_aguardiente_” was +circulating. By dint of alternate persuasions and threats, we finally +succeeded in getting the smaller of the two figures completely +uncovered. It had evidently been purposely buried, for one of the arms +had been broken in its fall into the pit which had been previously dug +to receive it, and the face had been bruised and mutilated. In this way +the early Catholic zealots had endeavored to destroy the superstitious +attachment of the aborigines to their monuments. It was, however, +satisfactory to reflect that the figures were probably, on the whole, +better preserved by their long interment than if they had been suffered +to remain above ground. The next difficulty was to raise the prostrate +figure; but after much preparation, propping, lifting, and vociferation, +we succeeded in standing it up against the side of the hole which we had +dug, in such a position that my artist could proceed with his sketch. It +represented a human male figure, of massive proportions, seated upon a +square pedestal, its head slightly bent forward, and its hands resting +on its thighs, as represented in the accompanying PLATE, NO. 1. Above +the face rose a heavy and monstrous representation of the head of an +animal, below which could be traced the folds of a serpent, the fierce +head of which was sculptured, open-mouthed and with life-like accuracy, +by the side of the face of the figure. The whole combination was +elaborate and striking. + +The stone from which the figure here described was cut, is a hard +sandstone, of a reddish color; but the sculpture is bold, and the limbs, +unlike those of the monoliths of Copan, are detached so far as could be +done with safety, and are cut with a freedom which I have observed in no +other statuary works of the American aborigines. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +[Illustration: IDOL AT PENSACOLA.—No. 1.] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +To enable M. to make a drawing of the monument just disclosed, and to +relieve him from the annoyance of our men, I deferred proceeding with +the exhumation of the remaining one until he had finished, and therefore +summoned all hands to search the island for others,—stimulating their +activity by the splendid offer of a reward of four reals (equivalent to +two days’ wages) to any one who should make a discovery. I also joined +in the search, but after wandering all over the little island, I came to +the conclusion that, if there were others, of which I had little doubt, +they had been successfully buried, and were past finding out, or else +had been broken up and removed. So I seated myself philosophically upon +a rock, and watched an army of black ants, which were defiling past, as +if making a tour of the island. They formed a solid column from five to +six inches wide, and marched straight on, turning neither to the right +hand nor to the left, pertinaciously surmounting every obstacle which +interposed. I watched them for more than half an hour, but their number +seemed undiminished; thousands upon thousands hurried past, until +finally, attracted by curiosity, I rose and followed the line, in order +to discover the destination of the procession,—if it were an invasion, a +migration, or a simple pleasure excursion. At a short distance, and +under the cover of some bushes, the column mounted what appeared to be +simply a large, round stone, passed over it, and continued its march. + +The stone attracted my attention, and on observing it more closely, I +perceived traces of sculpture. I summoned my men, and after a two hours’ +trial of patience and temper, I succeeded in raising from its bed of +centuries another idol of massive proportions, but differing entirely +from the others, and possessing an extraordinary and forbidding aspect. +(See Fig. No. 2.) The lower half had been broken off, and could not be +found; what remained was simply the bust and head. The latter was +disproportionately great; the eyes were large, round, and staring; the +ears broad and long; and from the widely-distended mouth, the lower jaw +of which was forced down by the hands of the figure, projected a tongue +which reached to the breast, giving to the whole an unnatural and +horrible expression. As it stood in the pit, with its monstrous head +rising above the ground, with its fixed stony gaze, it seemed like some +gray monster just emerging from the depths of the earth, at the bidding +of the wizard-priest of an unholy religion. My men stood back, and more +than one crossed himself as he muttered to his neighbor, “_es el +diablo!_” “it is the devil!” I readily comprehended the awe with which +it might be regarded by the devotees of the ancient religion, when the +bloody priest daubed the lapping tongue with the yet palpitating hearts +of his human victims! + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +[Illustration: IDOL AT PENSACOLA.—No. 2.] + +[Illustration: IDOL AT PENSACOLA.—No. 3.] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +It was long past noon before we commenced the task of raising the +largest and by far the most interesting idol to an erect position. This +was no easy undertaking. The stone, although not more than nine feet +high, measured ten feet in circumference, and was of great weight. We +were but eleven men all told; Pedro said it was useless to try, we might +turn it over, but nothing more. Still I was determined it should be +raised, not only for the purpose of observing its effect in that +position, but because I was convinced that the under side must exhibit +more clearly the finer details of the sculpture than the upper, which +had been partially exposed above the ground. I gave each man a +prodigious dram of _aguardiente_, which inspired corresponding courage, +and after procuring an additional number of stout levers and props, we +proceeded to raise the recumbent mass. Our progress was slow and +difficult, the sweat rolled in streams down the glossy skins of our +sailors, who—thanks to the ardiente—worked with more vigor than I +thought them capable of exerting. The aguardiente was worth more than +gold to me that day. The men shouted and cheered, and cried, “_arriba +con la niña!_” “up with the baby!” But before we got it half raised, a +thunder-storm, the approach of which had escaped our notice in the +excitement, came upon us, as only a tropical thunder-storm knows how to +come. I beat a retreat, dripping with perspiration, into the deserted +hut: while the men sat coolly down and took the pelting,—they were used +to it! The storm passed in due time, but the ground was saturated, and +the feet sank deeply in the soft, sticky mass around the “niña.” Still, +in order to save another visit in force the next day, I determined not +to relinquish the task we had begun. But the difficulties were now +augmented, and it was only after the most extraordinary exertions, at +imminent danger of crushed limbs, that we succeeded in our object. With +bleeding hands, and completely bedaubed with mud, I had at last the +satisfaction to lead off in a “_Viva por la niña antigua!_”—“Hurrah for +the old baby!” I am not quite sure but I took a drop of the aguardiente +myself, while the shower was passing. Pedro and his crew responded by a +“_Vivan los Americanos del Norte!_” which, being interpreted, meant that +they “wouldn’t object to another drink.” This was given of course, +whereupon Pedro insinuated that “_Los Americanos son diablos!_”—“The +Americans are devils;” which remark, however, Pedro meant as a +compliment. The figure, when erect, was truly grand. It represented a +man with massive limbs, and broad, prominent chest, in a stooping or +rather crouching posture, his hands resting on his thighs, just above +the knees. (See Fig. No. 3.) Above his head rose the monstrous head and +jaws of some animal; its fore paws were placed one upon each shoulder, +and the hind ones upon the hands of the statue, as if binding them to +the thighs. It might be intended, it probably was intended, to represent +an alligator or some mythological or fabulous animal. Its back was +covered with carved plates, like rough mail. The whole rose from a +broad, square pedestal. The carving, as in the other figure, was bold +and free. I never have seen a statue which conveyed so forcibly the idea +of power and strength; it was a study for a Samson under the gates of +Gaza, or an Atlas supporting the world. The face was mutilated and +disfigured, but it still seemed to wear an expression of sternness, if +not severity, which added greatly to the effect of the whole. The finer +details of workmanship around the head had suffered much; and from the +more decided marks of violence which the entire statue exhibits, it +seems probable that it was an especial object of regard to the +aborigines, and of corresponding hate to the early Christian zealots. + +The sun came out brightly after the rain, and although wet and weary, +and not insensible to the comforts of dry clothes and the seductions of +a hammock, I could hardly tear myself away from these remarkable +monuments—overturned perhaps by the hands of Gil Gonzalez himself, at +the time when, in the language of the chronicler, “the great cazique +Nicaragua consented to be baptized, together with nine thousand of his +subjects, and thus the country became converted.” “The great idols in +his sumptuous temples,” continues the historian, “were thrown down, and +the cross set up in their stead.” The same authority assures us that +“Nicaragua was a chief of great good wit, and though the Spanish captain +was a discreet man, it puzzled him much to explain to Nicaragua why it +was that so few men as the Spaniards coveted so much gold.” + +M. returned the next day and completed his drawings, while I busied +myself in preparing for a voyage to the great uninhabited island of +Zapatero. + +[Illustration: THE BONGO “LA CARLOTA.”] + +The T.’s had volunteered one of their _bongos_, one of the largest and +most comfortable on the lake; and as most of this kind of unique craft +are only gigantic canoes, hollowed from a single trunk of the cebia, and +quite as well fitted, and just as much disposed, to sail upon their +sides or bottom up as any other way, it was a gratification to know that +“La Carlota” had been built with something of a keel, by a foreign +shipwright, and that the prospect of being upset in the first blow was +thereby diminished from three chances in four, to one in two. The +voyager who has sailed on the restless lake of Nicaragua in gusty +weather, with bungling sailors, can well comprehend the satisfaction +with which we contemplated “La Carlota,” as she rocked gracefully at her +moorings, off the old castle on the shore. She was perhaps sixty feet +long, and her _chopa_ was capable of accommodating four or five persons +with lodgings,—something in the pickled mackerel order, it is true, but +not uncomfortably, in the moderated views of comfort which the traveller +in Central America soon comes to entertain. In front of the _chopa_ were +ten benches, for as many oarsmen, and places for setting up the masts, +in case the winds should permit of their use. “La Carlota,” withal, was +painted on the outside, and had a figure head; indeed, take her all in +all, she looked a frigate among the numerous strange pit-pans, piraguas, +and other anomalous and nameless water-craft around her. Thus far all +was well. The next thing was to get a crew together; but this devolved +upon the junior Mr. T. After two days of exertion, for there was a great +conjunction of _fiestas_ at the time, they were enlisted and duly +paid,—everybody expects pay in advance in Central America! A fixed +number of reals were counted out for the commissary department, and the +patron, Juan, solemnly promised to be ready to set sail the next morning +at sunrise for the island of _Zapatero_, the “Shoemaker,” where Manuel, +who was to go along as a guide, assured us there were many _frailes_, +friars, some kneeling, others sitting, and still others standing erect, +or reclining as if in death, besides many other wonderful and curious +things, among which was a deep salt lake. + +The Dr. and myself completed our arrangements over night. After +breakfast the next morning, which had been fixed for our departure, I +proposed to go down to the lake, supposing that as Juan had promised to +be ready by sunrise, we might possibly succeed in getting off by nine or +ten o’clock at the furthest. The Dr., however, protested that it was +useless to go down so early,—“he was not going to broil in the sun, on +the open beach, all the forenoon, not he;” and he comforted us with the +assurance that he had lived in the country ten years, and that if we got +off before the middle of the afternoon, we might perform any surgical +operation we pleased upon either one of his legs! My time was limited, +and these vexatious delays almost worried me into a fever. At eleven +o’clock, however, I prevailed upon the Dr., much against his will, and +amidst his earnest protestations that he “knew the people, and that it +was no kind of use,” to go down to the shore. There swung our bongo, +precisely as we had left it the day before, and not a soul on board! The +shore was covered with groups of half-naked women, seated just at the +edge of the water, engaged in an operation here called _washing_, which +consisted in dipping the articles in the water, and placing them on a +rough stone, and beating them violently with a club, to the utter +demolition of everything in the shape of buttons! Groups of children +were paddling in little pools, or playing in the sand; sailors just +arrived were landing their cargoes, carrying the bales on their +shoulders through the breakers, and depositing them in creaking carts; +here and there a horseman pranced along under the shadow of the trees on +the shore; and amongst all, imperturbable buzzards in black, and +long-legged cranes in white, walked about with prescriptive freedom! +Altogether it was a singular mixture of civilized and savage life, and +one not likely to be forgotten by the observant traveller. + +I was, however, in no mood to enjoy the scene,—and the Dr.’s “I told you +so!” as he quietly seated himself on a log in the shade, was cruelly +provoking. After diligent search, we found two of our crew, with only a +cloth wrapped around their loins, lying flat on the sands, their faces +covered with their sombreros, and the hot sun beating down upon their +naked bodies,—perfect pictures of the intensest laziness. “Where is the +patron?” They simply lifted their hats, and responded, “Quien sabe?” +“Who knows?” The eternal “Quien sabe,” and uttered without so much as an +attempt to rise! This was unendurable; I gave them each an emphatic kick +in the ribs with my rough travelling boots, which brought them to their +feet in an instant, with a deprecatory exclamation of “_Señor!_” One was +despatched to hunt up the others among the pulperias of the town, with +emphatic threats of great bodily harm, if the delinquents were not +produced within a given time. The second one, a strapping Mestizo, who +still rubbed his side with a lugubrious expression of face, was ordered +to deposit himself within short range of my formidable-looking “Colt,” +with an injunction not to move unless ordered. Directly, another +recreant was discovered, doing the agreeable to a plump coffee-colored +washing-girl,—nothing chary of her charms, as may be inferred from the +fact that excepting a cloth, none of the largest, thrown over her lap, +she was _au naturel_. He too was ordered to take up his position beside +the other prisoner, which he did with a bad grace, but greatly to the +pretended satisfaction of the coffee-colored girl, who said that he was +“_malo_,” bad, and deserved all sorts of ill. “A woman is naturally a +coquette, whether in a white skin or black,” philosophized the Dr.; +“that yellow thing don’t mean what she says. I’ll wager they have just +agreed to get married, or what is the same thing in these countries.” + +It was high noon long before we got our vagrant crew under our +batteries; and conscious of their delinquencies, and not a little in awe +of our pistol butts, they really exerted themselves in getting the boat +ready. Half a dozen naked fellows plunged into the surf, their black +bodies alternately appearing and disappearing in the waves, and towed +the “Carlota” close in shore, under the lee of the old castle. The +sails, our provisions, blankets, etc., were placed on board, and then we +mounted on the shoulders of the strongest, and were duly deposited on +the quarter-deck. The bells of the city chimed two o’clock, as we swept +outside of the fort into the rough water. It was all the men could do to +overcome the swell, and the sweeps bent under their vigorous strokes. +Once in deep water, the waves were less violent, but they had the long, +majestic roll of the ocean. Here every oarsman pulled off his breeches, +his only garment, deposited his sombrero in the bottom of the boat, and +lighted a cigar; they were now in full uniform, and pulled sturdily at +the oars. Juan, the patron, drew off his breeches also, but, by way of +maintaining the dignity of the quarter-deck, or out of respect to his +passengers, he kept on his shirt, a flaming red check, and none of the +longest, which, as he bestrode the tiller, fluttered famously in the +wind. + +One hour’s hard pulling, and we were among the islands. Here the water +was still and glassy, while the waves dashed and chafed with a sullen +roar against the iron shores of the outer rank, as if anxious to invade +the quiet of the inner recesses,—those narrow, verdure-arched channels, +broad, crystal-floored vistas, and cool, shady nooks in which graceful +canoes were here and there moored. + +Perhaps a more singular group of islets cannot be found in the wide +world. As I have before said, they are all of volcanic origin, generally +conical in shape, and seldom exceeding three or four acres in area. All +are covered with a cloak of verdure, but nature is not always successful +in hiding the black rocks which start out in places, as if in disdain of +all concealment, and look frowningly down on the clear water, giving an +air of wildness to the otherwise soft and quiet scenery of the islands. +Trailing over these rocks, and dropping in festoons from the overhanging +trees, their long pliant tendrils floating in the waves, are innumerable +vines, with bright and fragrant flowers of red and yellow, mingled with +the inverted cone of the “gloria de Nicaragua,” with its overpowering +odor, with strange and nameless fruits, forming an evergreen roof, so +close that even a tropical sun cannot penetrate. Many of these islands +have patches of cultivated ground, and on such, generally crowning their +summits, relieved by a dense green background of plantains, and +surrounded by kingly palms, and the papaya with its golden fruit, are +the picturesque cane huts of the inhabitants. Groups of naked, swarthy +children in front,—a winding path leading beneath the great trees down +to the water’s edge,—an arbor-like, miniature harbor, with a canoe +lashed to the shore,—a woman naked to the waist, with a purple skirt of +true Tyrian dye, for the famous murex is found on the Pacific shores of +Nicaragua, her long, black, glossy hair falling over neck and breast, +and reaching almost to her knees,—a flock of noisy parrots in a +congressional squabble among the trees,—a swarm of parroquets scarcely +less noisy,—a pair of vociferating macaws like floating fragments of a +rainbow in the air,—inquisitive monkeys hanging among the vines,—active +iguanas scrambling up the banks,—long-necked and long-legged cranes in +deep soliloquy at the edge of the water, their white bodies standing out +in strong relief against a background of rock and verdure,—a canoe +glancing rapidly and noiselessly across a vista of water,—all this, with +a golden sky above, the purple sides of the volcano of Momobacho +overshadowing us, and the distant shores of Chontales molten in the +slanting sunlight,—these were some of the elements of the scenery of the +islands,—elements constantly shifting, and forming new and pleasing +combinations. Seated upon the roof of the chopa, I forgot in +contemplating the changing scenery the annoyances of the morning, and +felt almost disposed to ask the pardon of the marineros whom I had +treated so unceremoniously. + +Our men, for we were now in the cool shadow of the mountain, pulled +bravely at the oars, chanting a song which seems to be eminently popular +amongst all classes of the people. I could not catch the whole of it, +but it commenced + + “Memorias dolorosas + De mi traidor amante, + Huye de mi un instante + Haced lo por piedad.” + +At the end of each stanza they gave a sharp pull at the sweeps, and +shouted “_hoo-pah!_”—a freak which seemed to entertain them highly, +although we “couldn’t exactly see the point of it.” It was nearly sunset +when we arrived at Manuel’s islands; for though Manuel went with us as a +guide, at the rate of three reals per day, he had, nevertheless, a house +in town, not to mention a couple of islands, upon one of which was his +country-seat, and upon the other his plantain walk and fruitery. His +country-seat consisted of a cane hut; but he proudly pointed out to us a +heap of new tiles and a pile of poles, and said he meant one day to have +a _palacio_ on Santa Rosa, for so he called his island. I did not envy +him his prospective palace, but Santa Rosa was a gem. Its outer shore, +fronting the turbulent water, was lined with immense rocks, within which +was a barrier of large trees, draped over with vines, and completely +sheltering Manuel’s hut from the winds and storms of the lake. Upon the +inner side was a little, crescent-shaped harbor, in which our bongo +rocked lazily to and fro. A couple of tall cocoa trees, a cluster of +sugar-canes, and a few broad-leaved plants at the water’s edge, gave a +tropical aspect to the islet, which looked to me, in the subdued +half-light of the evening, as a very paradise for a recluse. + +Juan proposed to stay here for the night, as the wind was now too +violent to permit us to venture outside of the islands; besides, our +improvident men had yet to lay in their supply of plantains—the staff of +life to the inhabitants of Central America. A little boat was +accordingly despatched to a neighboring island, for these indispensable +articles, while the remainder of the crew made supper for themselves. A +single kettle, their machetes and fingers were their only service, but +it was an effective one, and they made themselves as merry as if there +was nothing in the wide world left to wish for. For ourselves, a cup of +coffee and a cut of cold chicken sufficed. + +The moon was nearly at her full, and the transition from day to night +was so gradual as hardly to be perceived. Rosy clouds hung long in the +west, changing slowly to deep purple and grey; but when the dominion of +the moon came on, they lighted up again with a silver radiance. A mass, +like a half transparent robe, rolled itself around the summit of the +volcano; the verdure of the island looked dense and heavy upon one side, +while the other was light, and relieved by glancing trunks and branches. +Deep shadows fell on water, with shining strips of silver between, and +except the chafing of the lake upon the outer shores, and the prolonged +moan of the howling monkey, there was not a sound to disturb the +silence. It is true our men talked long, but it was in a low tone, as if +they feared to disturb the general quiet. They finally stretched +themselves on their benches, and my companions wrapped themselves in +their blankets and composed themselves for the night. I did so also, but +I could not sleep; it was not the holy calm of the scene—the +remembrance, of dear friends, or those dearer than friends—it was no +sentimental revery, no pressure of official cares, that kept me awake +that night,—but it was “las pulgas,” _the fleas_ from Manuel’s Santa +Rosa! They seemed to swarm in my clothing. I waited in vain for them to +get their fill and be quiet, but they were insatiable, and almost +maddened me. I got out upon the pineta, and there, under the virgin +moon, carefully removed every article of my apparel, and lashed and beat +it angrily over the sides, in the hope of shaking off the vipers. The +irritation which they had caused was unendurable, and, overcoming all +dread of alligators and fever, I got over the side, and cooled myself in +the water. I did not go beneath the chopa again, but wrapped my blankets +around me, and coiled myself on the pineta. + +I had just fallen into a doze, when I was awakened by the clattering of +oars, and found Juan, with his flaming, fluttering shirt, standing over +me at the rudder. It was about two o’clock, and as the wind had abated a +little, our patron seized upon the opportunity to run down to Zapatero. +He had no notion, in which I agreed with him, of attempting the trip +with a light boat, in the midst of the fierce northers which prevail at +this season of the year. I had been a little nervous about the business +from the start, for I had spent one night upon this lake which I am not +likely to forget,—and had exacted a promise from the men to load in +stones, at the islands, by way of ballast. They made a show of +compliance, and next morning I succeeded in finding some twenty-five or +thirty small stones deposited near the first mast, weighing in all, +perhaps, two hundred pounds! + +A short spell at the oars, and we were outside of the island. A broad +bay stretched dimly inwards towards the city of Nicaragua; and directly +before us, at the distance of twenty miles, rose the high, irregular +island of Zapatero; beyond which a stationary mass of silvery clouds +showed the position of the majestic volcanic cones of the great island +of Ometepec. The wind was still strong and the waves high, and the boat +tumbled about with an unsteady motion. Amidst a great deal of confusion +the sails were raised—sails large enough for an Indiaman, for the +marineros of Lake Nicaragua consider that everything depends on the size +of the canvas. The “Carlota” was schooner-rigged, and no sooner was she +brought to the wind, than her sails filled, and she literally bounded +forward like a race-horse. She heeled over until her guards touched the +water, precipitating the Dr., who insisted on remaining within the +chopa, from one side to the other, amidst guns, books, blankets, +pistols, bottles, and all the et ceteras of a semi-pleasure excursion. +But, as I have said, he was a philosopher, swore a little, rubbed his +shins, and braced himself crosswise. I remained outside, and hung +tightly to the upper guards. The lull, if it can so be called, under +which we had started, was only temporary. Before we had accomplished a +tenth of the distance to the island, the wind came on to blow with all +its original violence. The waters fairly boiled around us, and hissed +and foamed beneath our stern. I cried to Juan, who was struggling at the +rudder, to take in sail, for the canvas almost touched the water, and +seemed really bursting with the strain, but he responded “too late,” and +braced himself with his shoulder against the tiller, holding with both +hands to the guards. I expected every moment that we would go over,—but +on, onward, we seemed actually to fly. The outlines of Zapatero grew +every moment more distinct, and little islands before undistinguished +came into view. As we neared them, the wind lulled again, and we +breathed freer when we dashed under the lee of the little island of +Chancha, and threw out our anchor close to the shore. “Holy Mary,” said +Juan, as he wiped the sweat from his forehead, “the devils are out in +the lake to-night!” We had made upwards of twenty miles in less than two +hours. + +I crept within the chopa, where the Dr. was rubbing his bruises with +brandy, and slept until aroused by the loud barking of dogs. The sun was +up; we were close to a little patch of cleared land, upon one side of +which, half-hidden among the trees, was a single hut. The owner, his +wife, his children, and his dogs, were down on the shores, and all +seemed equally curious to know the object of our sudden visit. Juan +frightened them with an account of a terrible revolution, how he was +flying from the dangers of the main, and advised the islander to keep a +sharp look-out for his safety. The Dr., however, delivered the poor man +from his rising fears, and ordered Juan to put on his shirt and pull +across the channel to Zapatero. An inviting, calm harbor was before us, +but we were separated from it by a channel five hundred yards broad, +through which the compressed wind forced the waters of the lake with the +utmost violence. It seemed as if a great and angry river was rushing +with irresistible fury past us. A high, rocky, projecting point of +Zapatero in part intercepted the current below us, against which the +water dashed with a force like that of the ocean, throwing the spray +many feet up its rocky sides. The men hesitated in starting, but finally +braced themselves in their seats, and pushed into the stream. The first +shock swept us resistlessly before it, but the men pulled with all their +force, under a volley of shouts from Juan, who threw up his arms and +stamped on his little quarter-deck like a madman. It was his way of +giving encouragement. The struggle was long and severe, and we were once +so near the rocks that the recoiling spray fell on our heads; but we +finally succeeded in reaching the little, sheltered bay of which I have +spoken, and, amidst the screams of the thousand waterfowls which we +disturbed, glided into a snug little harbor, beneath a spreading tree, +the bow of our boat resting on the sandy shore. “Here at last,” cried +M., and bounded ashore. I seized a pistol and sword, and followed, and +leaving the Dr. and the men to prepare coffee and breakfast, started in +company with Manuel to see the “_frailes_.” Manuel was armed with a +double-barrelled gun, for this island has no inhabitants, and is +proverbial for the number of its wild animals, which find a fit home in +its lonely fastnesses. I carried a first-class Colt in one hand, and a +short, heavy, two-edged Roman sword in the other, as well for defence as +for cutting away the limbs, vines, and bushes which impede every step in +a tropical forest. Manuel said it was but a few squares to the +“_frailes_” but we walked on and on, through patches of forest and over +narrow savannahs, covered with coarse, high, and tangled grass, until I +got tired. Manuel looked puzzled; he did not seem to recognize the +land-marks. When he had been there before, it was in the midst of the +dry season, and the withered grass and underbrush, stripped of leaves, +afforded no obstruction to the view. Still he kept on, but my +enthusiasm, between an empty stomach and a long walk, was fast giving +place to violent wrath towards Manuel, when suddenly that worthy dropped +his gun, and uttering a scream, leaped high in the air, and turning, +dashed past me with the speed of an antelope. I cocked my pistol, and +stood on my guard, expecting that nothing less than a tiger would +confront me. But I was spared the excitement of an adventure, and +nothing making its appearance, I turned to look for Manuel. He was +rolling in the grass like one possessed, and rubbing his feet and bare +legs with a most rueful expression of face. He had trodden on a bees’ +nest, and as he had taken off his breeches, to avoid soiling them, +before starting, I “improved” the occasion to lecture him on the +impropriety of such practices on the part of a Christian, a householder, +and the father of a family. I was astonished, I said, that he, a +gentleman past the middle age of life, the owner of two islands, should +make such a heathen of himself as to go without his breeches. And as I +have heard the special interposition of Providence urged on no more +important occasions than this, at home, I felt authorized in assuring +him that it was clearly a signal mark of Divine displeasure. Manuel +appeared to be much edified, and as I was better protected than himself, +he prevailed upon me to recover his gun, whereupon, taking another path, +we pushed ahead. + +After toiling for a long time, we came suddenly upon the edge of an +ancient crater of great depth, at the bottom of which was a lake of +yellowish green, or _sulphurous_ color, the water of which Manuel +assured me was salt. This is probably the fact, but I question much if +any human being ever ventured down its rocky and precipitous sides. +Manuel now seemed to recognize his position, and turning sharp to the +left, we soon came to a broad, level area, covered with immense trees, +and with a thick undergrowth of grass and bushes. There were here some +large, irregular mounds composed of stones, which I soon discovered were +artificial. Around these Manuel said the _frailes_ were scattered, and +he commenced cutting right and left with his machete. I followed his +example, and had not proceeded more than five steps, when I came upon an +elaborately sculptured statue, still standing erect. It was about the +size of the smaller one discovered at Pensacola, but was less injured, +and the face had a mild and benignant aspect. It seemed to smile on me +as I tore aside the bushes which covered it, and appeared almost ready +to speak. (_See Monuments of Zapatero, No. 1._) In clearing further, but +a few feet distant, I found another fallen figure. From Manuel’s shouts +I knew that he had discovered others, and I felt assured that many more +would reward a systematic investigation—and such I meant to make. + +[Illustration: IDOLS AT ZAPATERO.—No. 1.] + +I was now anxious to return to the boat, so as to bring my entire force +on the ground; and calling to Manuel, I started. Either Manuel took me a +shorter path than we came, or else I was somewhat excited and didn’t +mind distances; at any rate, we were there before I expected. The +sailors listened curiously to our story, and Juan, like Pedro before +him, whispered that “_los Americanos son diablos_.” He had lived, man +and boy, for more than forty years within sight of the island, and had +many times been blockaded by bad weather in the very harbor where we now +were, and yet he had never seen, nor ever so much as heard that there +were “_frailes_” there! + +During our absence, a weather-bound canoe, with Indians from Ometepec, +discovering our boat, had put in beside us. They were loaded with fruit +for Granada, and “walked into” our good graces by liberal donations of +_papayas_, _marañons_, _oranges_, _pomegranates_, _zapotes_, etc. They +were small but well-built men, with more angular features than the +Indians of Leon, and betraying a different stock. It will be seen, as we +proceed, that they are of Mexican origin. All had their heads closely +shaved, with the exception of a narrow fringe of hair around the +forehead, extending from one ear to the other—a practice which has +become very general among the people. I admired their well-formed limbs, +and thought how serviceable half-a-dozen such stout fellows would be +amongst the monuments, and incontinently invited them to accompany us, +which invitation they accepted, much to my satisfaction. + +Leaving a couple of men to watch the boats, I marshalled my forces, and +set out for the “_frailes_.” We mustered twenty-four strong, a force +which I assured myself was sufficient to set up once more the fallen +divinities, and possibly to remove some of them. As we went along, we +cleared a good path, which, before we left, began to have the appearance +of a highway. + +While M. commenced drawing the monument which still stood erect, I +proceeded with the men to clear away the bushes and set up the others. I +knew well that the only way to accomplish anything was to keep up the +first excitement, which I did by liberal dispensations of +aguardiente—the necessities of the case admitted of no alternative. The +first monument which claimed our attention was a well-cut figure, seated +crouching on the top of a high, ornamented pedestal. The hands were +crossed below the knees, the head bent forward, and the eyes widely +opened, as if gazing upon some object upon the ground before it. A mass +of stone rose from between the shoulders, having the appearance of a +conical cap when viewed from the front. (_See Plate 2, No. 2._) It was +cut with great boldness and freedom, from a block of basalt, and had +suffered very little from the lapse of time. + +A hole was dug to receive the lower end, ropes were fastened around it, +our whole force was disposed to the best advantage, and at a given +signal, I had the satisfaction of seeing the figure rise slowly and +safely to its original position. No sooner was it secured in place, than +our sailors gave a great shout, and forming a double ring around it, +commenced an outrageous dance, in the pauses of which they made the old +woods ring again with their favorite “_hoo-pah!_” I did not like to have +my brandy effervesce in this manner, for I knew the excitement, once +cooled, could not be revived; so I broke into the circle, and dragging +out Juan by main force, led him to the next monument, which Manuel +called “El Canon,” the Cannon. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +[Illustration: + + IDOLS AT ZAPATERO, N^{os}. 2, 3. + _LITH. OF ENDICOTT & CO. N.Y._ _FACE P. + 474._ +] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +It was a massive, cylindrical block of stone, about as long and twice as +thick as the twin brother of the famous “peace-maker,” now in the +Brooklyn navy-yard. It was encircled by raised bands, elaborately +ornamented; and upon the top was the lower half of a small and neatly +cut figure. In the front of the pedestal were two niches, deeply sunk, +and regular in form, connected by a groove. They were evidently +symbolical. Notwithstanding the excitement of the men, they looked +dubiously upon this heavy mass of sculpture; but I opened another bottle +of aguardiente, and taking one of the levers myself, told them to lay +hold. A hole was dug, as in the former case, but we could only raise the +stone by degrees, by means of thick levers. After much labor, by +alternate lifting and blocking, we got it at an angle of forty-five +degrees, and there it appeared determined to stay. We passed ropes +around the adjacent trees, and placed _falls_ above it, and when all was +ready, and every man at his post, I gave the signal for a _coup de +main_. The ropes creaked and tightened, every muscle swelled, but the +figure did not move. It was a critical moment; the men wavered; I leaped +to the ropes, and shouted at the top of my voice, “_Arriba! arriba! viva +Centro America!_” The men seemed to catch new spirit; there was another +and simultaneous effort,—the mass yielded; “_poco mas, muchachos!_” “a +little more, boys!” and up it went, slowly, but up, up, until, tottering +dangerously, it settled into its place and was secured. The men were +silent for a moment, as if astonished at their own success, and then +broke out in another paroxysm of ardiente and excitement. But this time +each man danced on his own account, and strove to outdo his neighbor in +wild gesticulation. I interfered, but they surrounded me, instead of the +figure, and danced more madly than before, amidst “vivas” for North +America. But the dance ended with my patience,—luckily not before. By a +judicious use of aguardiente, I managed to keep up their spirits, and by +four o’clock in the afternoon, we had all the monuments we could find, +ten in number, securely raised and ready for the draughtsman. Besides +these, we afterwards succeeded in discovering a number of +others,—amounting in all to fifteen perfect, or nearly perfect ones, +besides some fragments. + +The men, exhausted with fatigue, disposed themselves in groups around +the statues, or stretched their bodies at length amongst the bushes. +Wearied myself, but with the complacency of a father contemplating his +children, and without yet venturing to speculate upon our singular +discoveries, I seated myself upon a broad, flat stone, artificially +hollowed in the centre, and gave rein to fancy. The bushes were cleared +away, and I could easily make out the positions of the ruined +_teocalli_, and take in the whole plan of the great aboriginal temple. +Over all now towered immense trees, shrouded in long robes of grey moss, +which hung in masses from every limb, and swayed solemnly in the wind. I +almost fancied them in mourning for the departed glories of the place. +In fact, a kind of superstitious feeling, little in consonance with the +severity of philosophical investigation, began to creep over me. Upon +one side were steep cliffs, against which the waters of the lake chafed +with a subdued roar, and upon the other was the deep, extinct crater, +with its black sides and sulphurous lake; it was in truth a weird place, +not unfittingly chosen by the aboriginal priesthood as the theatre of +their strange and gloomy rites. While engaged in these fanciful +reveries, I stretched myself, almost unconsciously, upon the stone where +I was sitting. My limbs fell into place as if the stone had been made to +receive them,—my head was thrown back, and my breast raised; a second, +and the thought flashed across my mind with startling force—“_the stone +of sacrifice!_” I know not whether it was the scene, or the current of +my thoughts, perhaps both, but I leaped up with a feeling half of alarm. +I observed the stone more closely; it was a rude block altered by art, +and had beyond question been used as a stone of sacrifice. I afterwards +found two others, clearly designed for the same purpose, but they had +been broken. + +[Illustration: THE STONE OF SACRIFICE.] + +The relative positions of the mounds or ruined Teocalli, as also of the +monuments, are shown in the subjoined Plan. These mounds are made up of +loose, unhewn stones, heaped together in apparent confusion. But +although they now show no evidence of the fact, yet it is undoubted that +they were originally regular in their forms; for we have the direct +assurances of the early chroniclers, that the adoratorios or altars of +the aboriginal inhabitants were conical and pyramidal in shape, like +those of Mexico, and like them, ascended by steps. It was upon the +summits of these that sacrifices were performed. Their present +dilapidation is probably due no less to the hostile zeal of the +conquerors who “broke down the altars” of the Indians, than to the +destroying assaults of time and the elements. I attempted to penetrate +into one of them, (_A, in the Plan_,) and removed a great quantity of +stones, to the depth of several feet, at imminent risk of being stung by +scorpions, but discovered nothing to repay me for my toil. The whole +seemed to be a mass of rough stones, largely intermixed with broken +pottery, some of the fragments of which were not only of fine material, +but showed that the vessels of which they were once parts had been +elaborately painted in brilliant colors, still retaining their original +freshness and beauty. These mounds do not seem to have been arranged +with any regularity in respect to each other; neither do the monuments +themselves display any apparent design in their relative positions. It +may be questioned, however, whether the latter have not been removed +from the places where they originally stood. + +[Illustration: PLAN OF MONUMENTS AT ZAPATERO.] + +NO. 1.—This was the first stone which I discovered, and is very +faithfully exhibited in the engraving facing page 52. It is remarkable +as being one of the two which were found standing. I think it more than +probable that it has been placed in that position by the Indians or +others who have lately visited the spot. It projects six feet above the +ground, in which it is probably planted about two feet. It is a flat +slab, thirty-two inches broad by eighteen in thickness. The back is +notched, something like that of the figure which I have already +described as having been obtained from Momotombita, and planted in the +plaza of Leon. + +NOS. 2 AND 3.—The first of these I have already described on page 54. +Its position is indicated by the corresponding number of the plan, to +the right of mound H. Near it was found a smaller and very rude figure, +(_No. 3 of Plan_), which is shown lying at the foot of No. 2 in the +plate. It represents a man much distorted in figure, with the head bent +down upon one side, and resting on the left shoulder, the arms crossed, +and the legs flexed together. The design seems to have been suggested by +the natural shape of the stone, which is very little modified by art. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +[Illustration: + + IDOLS AT ZAPATERO, N^{os}.4, 5. + _LITH. OF ENDICOTT & CO. N.Y._ _FACE P. + 478._ +] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +[Illustration: + + IDOLS AT ZAPATERO, N^{os}. 6, 7. + _LITH. OF ENDICOTT & CO. N.Y._ _FACE P. + 479._ +] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +NOS. 4 AND 5.—Although not the tallest, No. 4 was the heaviest figure of +the group; and, as I have already said (p. 474), was raised to an erect +position with great difficulty. It is nine feet in height, and eight in +circumference at the largest part, cylindrical in form, and encircled by +raised, ornamented bands. The singular niches in front I have already +alluded to, but have no conception of their design. When found, the +preposterous figure on the top was imperfect, but the various fragments +were afterwards discovered, and I was able perfectly to restore it, with +the exception of a portion of the face. It is represented seated upon a +low block, which has a kind of back, like that of a chair. The top of +the cylinder also shelves in from the circumference. Neither of these +features can be exhibited in the engraving. It will be observed that the +head forms a cross, a feature which occurs in some of the other +monuments at the same place, and which recalls to mind the repeated +declaration of the early Catholic priests, that the sign of the cross +was of frequent occurrence amongst the sacred symbols of Yucatan and +Central America. It is impossible to resist the conviction, that this +unique little figure, with its monstrously disproportioned head, was +symbolical in its design, and probably ranked high amongst the objects +of the ancient worship. More labor seems to have been expended upon its +cylindrical pedestal than upon any of the others. The whole is +sculptured from a single, solid block of basalt, of great hardness. The +niches in front are cut with all the clearness and precision of modern +art. + +Near the figure just described was found another (_No. 5 of Plan_), +which is shown in the same Plate. It is however of an entirely different +character; and, as I have elsewhere said, represents a Silenus looking +personage, with a large abdomen, reclining in a seat, which has also a +high back, as will be seen by reference to the engraving. The features +of the face are large, and expressive of great complacency. The head +seems to have been crowned in like manner with No. 1, but the conical +projection has been broken off and lost. The hands rest upon the thighs; +but at the elbows, the arms are detached from the body. The point of +view from which the sketch was taken does not permit this feature to be +shown. Below the figure, and between the legs and the seat upon which it +principally rests, the stone is artificially perforated. The whole is +cut with great boldness, and has a striking effect. Our men called it +“el Gordo,” “the Fat,” and it might pass for one of Hogarth’s beer +drinkers petrified. + +NOS. 6 AND 7.]—This first figure (No. 6) is amongst the most striking of +the whole group. It is twelve feet high, sculptured from a single block, +and also represents a figure seated, as before described, upon a high +pedestal. In common with No. 4, the stone, behind the head, is cut in +the form of a cross. The limbs are heavy, and the face equally +characteristic with that of No. 5, but grave and severe. + +Near the mound, or ruined teocalli, B, and amongst the _debris_ at its +base, I found the statue represented in the same Plate with No. 6. It +had been broken, and the lower part, including its pedestal, if it ever +had one, and part of the legs, could not be found. The face had +evidently suffered from intentional violence, and the monstrous head and +jaws which surmounted the head of the figure had also been much injured. +The carving, in this instance, was comparatively rough, and the figure +produced upon me the impression that it was of higher antiquity than the +others. + +A little to the right of this, on the slope of the mound B, about +one-third of the way to its summit, stood another figure, somewhat +smaller than the last, and half buried amongst the stones of the mound. +It was so firmly fixed, as to induce me to believe that it occupied its +original position. Like the one last mentioned, it had suffered much +from violence, and, the stone being defective, from exposure. I could +only make out that it represented some animal springing upon the head +and back of a human figure, very nearly in the same manner as +represented in No. 10. I did not think it worth sketching. Its place is +shown by the figure 8, in the plan. + +[Illustration: MONUMENTS AT ZAPATERO.—NO. 9.] + +NO. 9.—While cutting a path around the mound indicated by the letter C, +which was covered in part by an immense fallen tree, and overgrown with +a tangled mass of small trees, vines, and bushes, I came upon a flat +slab of stone, resembling a tomb-stone. It had been broken, probably +about in the middle, and the upper half, which is represented in the +accompanying engraving, alone remained. This fragment is about five feet +in length, by three in greatest breadth. The sculpture, differing from +anything else found in the island, is in bas-relief, and represents the +upper half of a human figure with an extraordinary head, which appears +to be surmounted by a kind of skull-cap or casque. The face bears slight +resemblance to humanity; the eyes are represented by two holes deeply +sunk in the stone, and the tongue seems to project from the mouth, and +to rest upon a kind of flap which hangs upon the breast. It appeared to +me that the design was to represent a mask; and the whole probably had a +profound symbolical significance. Manuel pronounced this to be one of +the “frailes,” and said that there was formerly another, in the attitude +of prayer, in the vicinity of this. After much search, we discovered it, +beneath the fallen tree of which I have spoken, but it was impossible to +reach it. The tree was far too large to be cut away with the rude native +axes; I tried to burn it, but without success, and was obliged to leave +the figure to be described by some future traveller. + +NO. 10.—This figure, which is now in the Museum of the Smithsonian +Institution at Washington, formerly stood at the base of the mound A. It +represents a man, squatted upon his haunches, after the common manner of +the Indians to this day, with one hand at his side, and the other placed +upon his breast. The head is held erect, and the forehead is encircled +by a kind of ornamented fillet. The features are unlike those of any +other of the figures found here; indeed, each one had its individual +characteristics, which could not be mistaken. Upon the back of this +statue, its fore paws resting upon the shoulders, and its hind ones upon +the hips, is the representation of some wild animal, grasping in its +mouth the back part of the head of the figure. It seems intended to +represent a tiger. + +NO. 11.—In the vicinity of the mound D, were several small and +comparatively rude figures. No. 11, shown in the accompanying engraving, +is sculptured upon the convex side of a slab of stone, about five feet +in length by eighteen inches broad. The figure in this instance also is +represented seated. The outlines of the limbs are alone indicated. The +head, however, is cut in rather high relief. The expression of the face +is serious; the forehead is bound by a band or fillet; and is surmounted +by a rudely represented head-dress. The hands rest upon the abdomen, and +support what appears to be a human head, or the mask of a human face. I +brought this figure away, and it is also deposited in the Museum of the +Smithsonian Institution. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +[Illustration: IDOLS AT ZAPATERO.—No. 10.] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +NO. 12.—This is also a very rude figure. It consists of a rough block of +stone, slightly modified by art, and seems designed to represent a human +body with the head or mask of an animal. The mouth is widely opened, +exhibiting long tusks or teeth. The stone projects some distance above +this head, and has upon each side a round, cup-shaped hole, smoothly cut +in the stone. The representation of a human head surmounts the whole. + +[Illustration: IDOLS AT ZAPATERO.—NOS. 11 AND 12.] + +NO. 13.—This is a curious little figure, not more than three feet and a +half high. The original shape of the stone is retained, and the art +expended upon it is but trifling. The engraving on the next page will +sufficiently explain its various features. The position of No. 14 is +indicated in the plan, but it is so much defaced that no engraving of it +is considered necessary. + +[Illustration: MONUMENT AT ZAPATERO.—NO. 13.] + +NO. 15.—Amongst the heaps of stone surrounding the mound situated at the +extreme left of the group, were found a couple of statues, very +elaborately carved. They were extricated with great difficulty, but +amply repaid the labor. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +[Illustration: + + IDOLS AT ZAPATERO, N^{os}. 15, 16. + _LITH. OF ENDICOTT & CO. N. Y._ _FACE P. + 486._ +] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +The one first uncovered is a colossal representation of what is here +called a “tiger,” seated upon its haunches. It is very boldly +sculptured. The head is thrown forward, the mouth open, and the entire +attitude and expression that of great ferocity. Indeed, as it stood +erect, beneath the gloomy shadows of the great trees which surrounded +it, I easily comprehended the awe with which it probably was regarded by +the people, in whose religious system it entered as the significant +emblem of a power mightier than that of man. The base or pedestal, it +will be observed, is ornamented in the usual manner. A considerable +portion of it, two feet or more, is buried in the ground. The entire +height is eight feet. + +NO. 16—This statue was discovered not far from No. 15, and is one of the +most remarkable of the entire series. It is upwards of twelve feet in +height, and represents a very well-proportioned figure, seated upon a +kind of square throne, raised five feet from the ground. Above the head +is a monstrous symbolical head, similar to those which surmount the +statues in the island of Pensacola. The resemblance to some of the +symbolical heads in the ancient Mexican rituals cannot be overlooked; +and I am inclined to the opinion that I shall be able to identify all +these figures, as I believe I already have some of them, with the +divinities of the Aztec Pantheon. The surmounting head is two feet eight +inches broad, and is smoothly and sharply worked. + +The arms of this figure, as in the case of No. 5, are detached from the +body for some distance above and below the elbows. The face has suffered +from violence, and the statue itself is broken in the middle. + +NOS. 17 AND 18 of the plan are oblong stones, modified by art, and were +unquestionably the altars whereon human sacrifices were made. There is a +hollow place sculptured nearly in the centre of each stone, which it is +not unreasonable to suppose was designed to receive the blood of the +victims. + +NO. 19.—This is a basaltic rock deeply imbedded in the earth. The part +which projects above the surface is somewhat rounded, and is covered +with ornamental figures, sculptured in the stone. Those which could be +distinctly traced are given in the accompanying engraving. They are cut +with great regularity to the depth of from one-fifth to one-third of an +inch, by about half an inch in breadth. They do not appear to form any +intelligible figure. + +The shape of this rock favors the suggestion that it was also used as a +stone of sacrifice. + +[Illustration: MONUMENTS AT ZAPATERO.—NO. 19.] + +Besides these, I discovered many fragments of other figures, of which, +however, I could not make out the design. Some of these fragments were +found at the very edge of the extinct crater of which I have spoken, and +which, as will be seen by reference to the supplementary plan, is only +about one hundred yards distant from this group of ruins. It is not +improbable that, in their zeal to destroy every trace of aboriginal +idolatry, the early Spaniards threw many of these monuments into the +lake. None except those which, from their massiveness, are not easily +broken or defaced, were found to be entire. All the others had been +entirely broken or very much injured. Not a few have been removed at +various times. Those which I have described as still existing in Granada +were obtained here; and it is said that some of the most elaborate have +been taken by the Indians within a comparatively late period, and either +buried or set up in secluded places in the forest. Manuel said that when +he was there, about ten years ago, he noticed a number which were not +now to be found, and which he was confident had been removed, or were so +covered up with grass and bushes as not to be discovered. I myself am +satisfied that other figures exist here, and at other points on the +island, which might be found later in the dry season, when the grass and +underbrush are withered, and may be destroyed by burning. When I speak +of grass and underbrush, it is not to be supposed that I mean anything +like what in the United States would be meant by these terms. Around the +large mound A, there were few trees, but the whole space was covered +with bushes and grass; the stems of the latter were as thick as the +little finger, and if extended would measure from ten to fifteen feet in +length. When matted together they are like tangled ropes, and are almost +impenetrable. The explorer has literally to cut his way inch by inch, if +he would advance at all. + +The dry season had just commenced at the time of my visit, and the grass +was only sufficiently withered to be twice as tough as when perfectly +green, without being dry enough to burn. I offered rewards for the +discovery of “piedras,” but the men preferred to lounge in the shade to +clearing away the undergrowth; and although the Dr. and myself worked +constantly, we discovered no new ones after the second day of our stay +on the island. Manuel was certain that there were one or two small, but +very elaborate ones, to the right of the great mound A. I commenced +clearing there on the third day, but had not proceeded far, when I was +startled by the stroke of a rattlesnake, and the next instant discovered +the convolutions of his body amongst the tangled grass. I only saw that +he was a monster, as thick as my arm; and as he had the advantage in a +fight amongst the grass, I beat a retreat, and resigned the grassy +citadel to his snakeship. I was not particularly ambitious to resume my +explorations in that direction, and the Indians, who entertain a +profound dread of “cascabelas,” utterly refused to go near the spot. + +There is a part of the island called “Punta Colorada,” where the Indians +told me there were some remains, and where, upon excavation, many +ancient vases were to be discovered. Some of these, from their accounts, +contained the bones and ashes of the dead. This point was on the exposed +part of the island; and with the wind from the north, and a rough, rocky +coast, it was impossible to reach it by water. As to going over land, +the thing was quite out of the question. High volcanic cliffs, walls of +lava, and deep fissures and extinct craters intervened. + +In respect to the monuments discovered here, it will be observed that, +although the style of workmanship is the same throughout, each figure +has a marked individuality, such as might pertain to divinities of +distinct attributes and different positions in the ancient Pantheon. The +material, in every case, is a black basalt, of great hardness, which, +with the best of modern tools, can only be cut with difficulty. Like +those described by Mr. Stephens, at Copan, these statues do not seem to +have been originally placed upon the _Teocallis_, but erected around +their bases. They are less in size than those of Copan, and are +destitute of the heavy, and apparently incongruous mass of ornaments +with which those are loaded. They are plain, simple, and severe; and +although not elaborately finished, are cut with considerable freedom and +skill. There is no attempt at drapery in any of the figures; they are +what the dilettanti call _nudities_, and afford strong corroborative +proof of the existence of that primitive worship to which I have +elsewhere alluded, as of common acceptance amongst the semi-civilized +nations of America. + +There are reasons for believing that these monuments were erected by the +people who occupied the country, at the time of the Conquest by the +Spaniards, in 1522. I am not disposed to assign to them a much higher +antiquity. Entertaining this opinion, I reserve what further I have to +say concerning them, as also concerning the others which fell under my +notice in this country, for the chapters on the Aboriginal Inhabitants +of Nicaragua. + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII. + +RETURN TO GRANADA—A BALL IN HONOR OF “EL MINISTRO”—THE + FUNAMBULOS—DEPARTURE FOR RIVAS OR NICARAGUA—HILLS OF SCORIÆ—THE + INSANE GIRL AND THE BROWN SAMARITAN—A WAY-SIDE IDOL—MOUNTAIN LAKES + AND STRANGE BIRDS—A SUDDEN STORM—TAKE REFUGE AMONG THE + “VAQUEROS”—INHOSPITABLE RECEPTION—NIGHT RIDE; DARKNESS AND + STORM—FRIENDLY INDIANS—INDIAN PUEBLO OF NANDYME—THE HACIENDA + OF JESUS MARIA—AN ASTONISHED MAYORDOMO—HOW TO GET A + SUPPER—JICORALES—OCHOMOGO—RIO GIL GONZALES—THE “OBRAJE”—RIVAS AND + ITS DEPENDENCIES—SEÑOR HURTADO—HIS CACAO PLANTATION—THE CITY—EFFECT + OF EARTHQUAKES AND OF SHOT—ATTACK OF SOMOZA—ANOTHER AMERICAN—HIS + ATTEMPT TO CULTIVATE COTTON ON THE ISLAND OF OMETEPEC—MURDER OF HIS + WIFE—FAILURE OF HIS ENTERPRISE—A WORD ABOUT COTTON POLICY—THE + ANTIQUITIES OF OMETEPEC—ABORIGINAL BURIAL PLACES—FUNERAL + VASES—RELICS OF METAL—GOLDEN IDOLS—A COPPER MASK—ANTIQUE POTTERY—A + FROG IN VERD ANTIQUE—SICKNESS OF MY COMPANIONS—THE PUEBLO OF SAN + JORGE—SHORE OF THE LAKE—FEATS OF HORSEMANSHIP—LANCE PRACTICE—VISIT + POTOSI—ANOTHER REMARKABLE RELIC OF ABORIGINAL SUPERSTITION—THE + VALLEY OF BRITA—AN INDIGO ESTATE—CULTIVATION OF INDIGO—VILLAGE OF + BRITA—A DECAYING FAMILY, AND A DECAYED ESTATE—AN ANCIENT + VASE—OBSERVATIONS ON THE PROPOSED CANAL—RETURN ALONE TO + GRANADA—DESPATCHES—A FORCED MARCH TO LEON. + + +We spent three days on the island, going early to the monuments, and +coming late. The weather was delightful; and each night, when we +returned to the boat, it was with an increased attachment to the place. +We had now a broad, well-marked path from the shore to the ruins, and +the idols were becoming familiar acquaintances. The men had given them +names; one they called, “_Jorobado_,” “the Humpback;” another, “_Ojos +Grandes_,” “Big Eyes.” + +At night, the picturesque groups of swarthy, half-naked men preparing +their suppers around fires, beneath the trees, in the twilight gloom, or +gathered together in busy conversation in the midst of the boat, after +we had anchored off for the night,—the changing effects of the sun and +moonlight upon the water, and the striking scenery around us,—the +silence and primeval wilderness,—all contributed, apart from the strange +monuments buried in the forest, to excite thoughts and leave impressions +not likely to be effaced. Our stay passed like a dream, and when we +departed, it was with a feeling akin to that which we experience in +leaving old acquaintances and friends. + +We left on the morning of the fourth day. It was Saturday, and I had +promised most faithfully to be in Granada to attend a grand ball which +was to be given in my honor on Sunday evening. The wind, which had been +blowing a constant gale on the lake, during our stay at the island, had +partially subsided, and we succeeded, in consequence, in reaching Los +Corales about the middle of the afternoon. Here we stopped at a large +island, strikingly picturesque where all were picturesque, covered with +lemon, orange, and mamey trees, broad plantain walks, and fields of +maize and melons, where one of the sailors averred there were other +“piedras antiguas.” The owner of the island was away, and the boys and +women who were left knew nothing of the idols, except that they had been +buried,—where, they could not tell. I asked the mistress if I might +carry off some of the fine fruit which loaded down the trees. “_Como +no?_” why not? was the answer—a common reply in Central America, which +signifies the fullest assent. The marineros did not take the trouble of +asking, but helped themselves _ad libitum_, as a matter of course. I +inquired of Juan, why he did not ask permission to take the fruit, if he +desired it; he looked at me in surprise, and made no answer. He would as +soon have thought of asking for permission to breathe the air, or use +the water around the island. + +We had another gorgeous sunset amongst the Corales,—those fairy islets, +the memory of which seems to me like that of a beautiful dream, a vision +of the “Isles of the Blest,”—and at nine o’clock ran under the lee of +the old castle, and landed again on the beach of Granada. Here we found +another American, Dr. Clark of Costa Rica, who, wearied of that little +state, had come to Nicaragua in order that he might see more of his +countrymen, and relieve the monotony of Central American life. We +deposited the spoils which we had brought from the island in the house +of Monsieur T., a polite and intelligent but very eccentric Frenchman, +who lived in a little house on the shore of the lake, and then hastened +to our old quarters in the city. The town was in a great uproar; it was +the anniversary festival of some pet saint; all the bells were +clattering, and the plaza was spluttering with bombas, of which every +boy in town had a supply, to be let off on his individual account. They +had also “serpientes,” serpents, which, when fired, started off +erratically, darting from side to side, amongst people’s legs, and in at +the doors and windows, carrying confusion everywhere, particularly +amongst the women, who retreated screaming in every direction, to the +great entertainment of the spectators, and amidst the shouts of the boys +and loafers in the streets. + +The ball “came off” in the house of Madame B., a French lady, whose +grand sala was one of the largest in the city, and therefore selected +for the “obsequio.” I went at nine o’clock, and was received with a +flourish of trumpets, by a file of soldiers stationed at the arched +portal. The sala was very tastefully ornamented and lighted. It was +already full; and not to be behind the Leoneses in their demonstrations +of respect for the United States, the assemblage all rose upon my +entrance; and the Prefect, who introduced me, would have had a “viva” or +two (_à la Hone_ at the Park Theatre, on a certain memorable occasion), +had I not besought him “por el amor de Dios” to refrain. The masculine +portion of the assemblage was dressed in what was meant to be full +European costume, but the styles of coats and cravats ran through every +mode of the last ten years. The females made a better appearance, but +none of them displayed more style in respect of dress, than “Tobillos +Gruesos,” and the other female attachés of Señor Serrate’s Company of +Funambulos, who were all present, including the old lady who swallowed +the sword, the girl who had turned somersets, and the “eccentric clown +Simon.” The elite of Granada had doubtless heard how the fashionables of +our cities are accustomed to receive squalling women, pirouetting +Cyprians, and hirsute monsters of the masculine gender, remarkable for +soiled linen, and redolent of gin, which swarm from Europe like locusts +upon our shores, and were also anxious to evince their appreciation of +art, in their attentions to “artistes.” I flatter myself that the +“Jovena Catalina” and “El Ministro” were the bright particular stars of +the evening; I did the gravity, and she the dancing.[29] + +----- + +Footnote 29: + + Since the above was written, I have received the little “Gaceta de + Costa Rica,” announcing the complete breaking up of Señor Serrate’s + Company of Funambulos, in consequence of the death of “Tobillos + Gruesos,” and of the girl who turned somersets. The first died of + tetanus, or lockjaw, from a slight wound received by the unlucky + turning of a knife used in some of her feats of dexterity; and the + _Volteadora_, a martyr to her profession, broke her neck in an attempt + to eclipse the “Eccentric Clown Simon.” I now feel some compunctions + of conscience for my allusions to the Jovena’s ankles—they were really + not so _very_ large—and I mean to make amends, by thinking of her + hereafter, not as “Tobillos Gruesos,” but as “La hermosissima Jovena + Catalina.” + +----- + +At eleven o’clock supper was announced in the “comedor,” or dining room, +which was spread more after the fashion of home than anything I had seen +since leaving the United States. The champagne, however, seemed most +popular, and the applause with which favorite dances were received, +after our return to the ball room, it is barely possible had some +connection with this circumstance. The enthusiasm was at its height, +when “Tobillos Gruesos” and her sister danced “El Bolero,” and I availed +myself of the opportunity to leave, which I did unobserved. It was three +o’clock when the ball broke up, at which time I was tortured out of my +slumbers by the fearful wailing of half a dozen violins, played by +unsteady hands, and by courtesy called a serenade. + +On the afternoon of the day following the ball, in company with Dr. +Clark, I set out for the Department Meridional, the capital of which is +the city of Rivas or Nicaragua. It will be remembered that this was the +seat of Somoza’s insurrection. I was desirous of visiting it, not less +because it was reported to be one of the richest and most fertile +portions of the State, than because here the attention of the world had +been for centuries directed, as the most feasible point where the lake +could be connected with the Pacific, and the grand project of water +communication between the two great oceans realized. Here also was the +seat of a Mexican colony, in ancient times, where the great cazique, +Niquira, had his court; and upon the island of Ometepec, near by, the +lineal descendants of these Indians, and many monuments of their labor +and skill, still existed. + +We proposed to go but eight leagues that afternoon, to the estate of a +propietario, to whose kindness we were commended. When we started the +sky was clear and serene, and there was every prospect of a fine +evening. We accordingly jogged along at our ease. Our path lay to the +right of the Volcano of Momobacho, over fields of volcanic breccia, and +amongst the high, conical hills of scoriæ, bare of trees, but covered +with grass, which form so striking features in the scenery back of +Granada. Around these we found large patches of cleared land, now +overgrown with rank weeds, which were anciently indigo and maize +estates, but had been abandoned in consequence of the internal +commotions of the country. Beyond these, at about three leagues from +Granada, we came to a steep hill, where the narrow road, shut in by high +banks, was nothing more than a thick bed of mire, mixed with large, +loose stones, amongst which our horses floundered fearfully. Midway to +the summit, where the hill forms a kind of shelf, is a copious spring, +with a musical Indian name, that has escaped my memory. Here were a +number of the people of the Indian pueblo of Diriomo, returning with the +proceeds of their marketing from Granada. They were listening with great +attention to a white woman, evidently insane, whose slight form, +delicate hands, and pale face, half covered with her long, beautiful +hair, contrasted strongly with their swarthy lineaments and massive +limbs. She addressed us vehemently but unintelligibly, as we approached. +I turned inquiringly to one of the Indians; he touched his finger to his +forehead and said, “_Pobrecita, es tonta!_”—“poor thing, she’s crazy.“ I +asked the man if they would leave her there?” Oh no,” he replied, “we +must take care of her, pobrecita!” And as we slowly toiled up the hill, +I looked back, and saw this rude Indian tenderly leading the poor girl +by the hand, as one would lead a child, lifting her carefully over the +bad places, and carrying her little bundle on the top of his own heavy +load. + +Upon one side of the road, just at the summit of the hill, we came upon +a figure, something like those which we had discovered at the island of +Zapatero. It seemed to have been more delicately carved than any of +those, but was now too much injured to enable us to make out its design. +It was standing erect, and the bushes around it were all cut away. I +afterwards learned that it had been brought to its present position and +set up by the Indians of Diriomo, as a boundary mark between their lands +and those belonging to another pueblo. + +The ground now became undulating; we came frequently where plantain and +corn fields, and occasionally snug cane huts, could be discovered at the +ends of little vistas, and in shadowy dells. Broad paths also diverged +here and there from the main road, to the numerous Indian towns which +are situated between the volcano and Masaya. The volcano upon this side +is not covered with trees, as towards Granada, and amongst the +struggling verdure are broad, black strips of lava, and red ridges of +scoriæ and breccia. Upon this side also the walls of the crater have +been broken down, and expose a fearfully rugged orifice like an inverted +cone, extending more than half way to the base of the mountain. Within +this it is said there is now a small lake, and another in a smaller +vent, upon one side of the great crater, at the top of the mountain. +Around the latter, it is added, there are certain varieties of strange +birds, which are not to be found elsewhere in the State,—stories which +the naturalist would be more anxious to verify than the antiquarian. + +It is a singular fact that, under the lee of this volcano hardly a day +in the year passes, except towards the middle of the dry season, without +rain. This is due to the condensation of the vapors in the cooler +atmosphere at the summit of the volcano, and which the prevailing winds +drive over to the south-west. As a consequence, vegetation is very rank +here, and the forests are dense and tangled. We got the full benefit of +one of these volcanic showers. It came upon us with hardly a moment’s +warning. At one instant we were riding in the clear sunlight, and the +next were enveloped in clouds, and drenched with rain, which soon made +the roads so slippery that we could not proceed faster than a walk. We +rode on for half an hour, when the rain relaxed, and the clouds lifted a +little, but only to reveal the cheerless prospect of a wet and stormy +night. The change of temperature in this short interval was also +considerable, and I felt chilled and uncomfortable. We held a council, +and determined to take up our quarters at the first house or hut we +might reach. We soon discovered the buildings of a cattle estate to the +left of the “camino real,” and rode up to them. There were two mud +houses, and an immense shed, roofed with tiles. Here we found a dozen +vaqueros, and we made the usual inquiry, if we could “make their house a +posada,” and, for the second time in the country, were met with +incivility. The women of one of the houses had the calentura, and there +was no room in the other. There was the shed, they added; we might go +there. I rode up to it and glanced under. The sides were all open, and +there were a hundred or two cows and calves beneath, which had trampled +the entire floor into a sickening mass of black mire. We felt indignant, +and after intimating to the black vagabonds who stood scowling at us, +that they were “hombres sin verguenza,” men without shame, which in +Nicaragua is the most opprobious thing that can be said, we rode off in +great wrath. Ben, who distrusted the rascals, had employed the time in +recapping his pistols by way of showing them that he should be prepared +to meet their attentions, should they take into their heads to favor us +with any in the woods. I believe he privately told the spokesman, who +seemed surliest of all, that he should delight to have a crack at him. + +It now came on to rain again harder than before, and night settled +around us, black and cheerless. The ground was so slippery that the +horses, even when walking, could hardly keep their feet. None except the +Dr. had ever been over the road, and in the darkness he was not certain +that we were pursuing the right path. We rode on, nevertheless, gloomily +enough, for an hour or two, when we discovered a light at a little +distance from the road, in what appeared to be a cleared field. We +hastened to it, and found a little collection of Indian huts, in which +the inmates hospitably, invited us to enter. Their quarters were, +however, far from inviting, and as we were now wet through, and it was +only two leagues further to the hacienda where we had proposed to stop, +we concluded it was as well to suffer for a “horse as for a colt,” and, +engaging one of the men to guide us, we pushed on. He took us by the +best beaten road, through the large Indian town of Nandyme, of which we +could see nothing except long rows of lights shining from the open +doorways. We would have stopped with the cura, but he had gone to Leon, +and so we kept to our original purpose. Beyond Nandyme the ground was +clayey, and our horses seemed every moment on the verge of falling. It +was a painful ride, and M., who had a fever coming on, was comically +nervous, and finally dismounted and swore he wouldn’t ride a foot +further. We however got him on his horse once more, and proceeded. We +were an hour and a half in going a single league. Finally we saw the +light of Jesus Maria’s house; our poor horses at once took courage, and +carried us to his door at a round pace. A dozen mozos were lounging in +the corridor, whom we told to take care of our horses, and then inquired +for the proprietor. But he did not reside here now; he had gone off with +his family, and the establishment was in the hands of his mayordomo. We +requested the men to call this person, but they declined, because he was +at his prayers, and not to be disturbed. This was a small consideration +with us; we pushed open the door and entered the sala. At one end of the +room, suspended above an elevated shelf, was a picture of the Virgin, +and on the shelf itself two miserable tallow candles, just enabling the +picture to be seen. In front, in the middle of the room, was a long +bench, and kneeling at this, with their faces directed to the picture, +were the mayordomo and his family. They did not look round when we +entered, but continued their devotions, which consisted in the alternate +recitation of a prayer in rhyme, uttered in a rapid, monotonous voice. +At the end of each prayer all joined in a kind of refrain, or chorus, +and dropped a bead on their rosaries. We took off our hats, and stood +still, waiting for the end. Happily the prayers were short; they had +already been some time at them, and we had not long to wait. We had +anticipated a cordial welcome, and this had kept up our spirits through +our uncomfortable ride. But the mayordomo did not seem to be at all +delighted; on the contrary, he was positively cool, and his sposa, after +eying us askance for a moment, tossed herself out of the room, and +slammed the door after her. This conduct determined our course, and +resolving to carry things with a high hand, we took unceremonious +possession. I ordered Ben to bring in our saddles and place them in the +sala, and to spread out the wet saddle-cloths on the best chairs he +could find, while we tumbled into the hammocks, and bade the mayordomo +authoritatively to bring us some chocolate. His eyes were big with +astonishment, and he mechanically gave the corresponding order. The +chocolate was brought and put on the table. We took our seats, but the +Dr. was belligerent, and bringing his fist down on the “mesa,” turned to +the mayordomo and ejaculated fiercely, “_pan!_ su perro!”—“_bread!_ you +dog!” Bread came in a twinkling. “Bien! _carne!_”—“Good! _meat!_” and +the meat came. I laughed outright; even M., who had been as grave and +silent as an owl, could not resist a smile, and Ben was ecstatic. + +After supper was over, we began to look out for beds. The Dr. and M. +concluded to take the two hammocks, Ben the table, and then the Dr., +turning to the mayordomo, told him he wanted the best bed in the house +for me. The surly host opened a door leading into a little, dirty room, +resembling a dog kennel, in which was a naked, hide bed, and said I +might have that. The Dr., I believe, meditated an assault on the fellow, +but I interfered, and took possession of the den. I was wet and tired, +and cared little for the elegance of my accommodations. I slept soundly, +with the exception of being once roused by the crowing of a game cock, +perched on the head-board of my bed. I took him by the legs, cut the +cord by which he was tied, and threw him out of the window. He squalled +terribly, and I was strongly tempted to give his neck a twist, but +thought better of it. + +We were up early in the morning, anxious to get away from this +inhospitable place. We made the mayordomo produce his bill in writing, +with all the items, disputed half of them, quarrelled with him about a +sixpence, and finally went off, assuring him, as we had the vaqueros +before, that he was “a man without shame.” + +Beyond this place the country was generally flat, and covered with +calabash trees, overgrown with parasitic plants, which almost concealed +the limbs and verdure of the trees themselves. The places thus covered, +as I have already said, are called “_jicorales_;” and as the trees are +usually scattered pretty widely apart, they afford very good pasturage +for cattle. Between the various “jicorales” there were swells of land +covered with the ordinary forest trees. At the distance of two leagues +from our inhospitable quarters of the night, we came to a singular +square structure open at the sides, and covered with a tile roof. This +we found had been erected by the “arrieros,” or muleteers, as a +convenient lodging place, in their journeys between Nicaragua and +Granada. The neighboring “jicoral,” for most of the year, afforded grass +for their animals; and as for themselves, a cup of tiste sufficed. They +had only to swing their hammocks between the posts of the shed, light +their cigars, and they were “put up,” at a very cheap rate. At ten +o’clock we reached the cattle estate of “Ochomogo,” situated upon a +broad stream of the same name, and the largest which we had seen in +Nicaragua. The place was a wild one, and surrounded by a dense forest of +large trees. It had once been an indigo estate, and the vats in which +the indigo had been separated still remained, on the slope between the +house and the stream. We were very kindly received, and breakfast was +prepared for us with the greatest promptitude. The mistress of the house +was an old lady of great good nature, who, learning we were from El +Norte, asked us many curious questions about our country, and was +particularly anxious to know about a “Capitan Esmith” (Smith), an +American sea-captain whom she had once seen in San Juan, many year ago, +and before its seizure by the English. We told her we did not know the +“Capitan,” which surprised her greatly, because Captain Smith was a man +very enlightened “_muy ilustrado_” and a big fellow besides. Poor old +lady, she little imagined the extent of “El Norte,” and had no +conception of the number of “Capitans Esmith” to be found there. She had +two well-dressed and really handsome daughters, who brought us chocolate +in the daintiest manner, which quite won our hearts by reason of its +contrast to that of the mayordomo near Nandyme. The Dr. having +prescribed for a sick daughter-in-law, the mistress at Ochomogo declined +any payment for our breakfast,—not wholly on account of the prescription +probably, for I have no doubt she meant it when she said, “God forbid +that I should take money of the Americans! are they not _paisanos_, +countrymen?” + +We forded the Rio Ochomogo, but had not proceeded far on our way before +it commenced raining again, speedily making the roads so slippery that +we could not advance faster than a walk. This was vexatious, but not to +be avoided; so we protected ourselves as we best could under our +blankets and ponchos, and received the peltings without complaint. Three +hours’ ride in a forest where the trees were larger than any I had yet +seen, brought us to an open space, resembling a back-woods clearing in +our own country. Upon a knoll in the midst stood the house belonging to +the cattle estate of the family of Chomorro of Granada, some of the +younger members of which were there on a visit. They pressed us to stop +until the next day, but the house was small and already crowded, and we +were loth to incommode the inmates. Besides, M.’s fever was increasing, +and I was anxious to get him to some comfortable place, where he could +receive proper attentions, while he was yet able to travel. We had a +long and dreary ride, until the middle of the afternoon, relieved only +by the incident of Ben killing a boa constrictor with his sword, when we +reached another large and fine stream called Gil Gonzalez, after the +discoverer of the country. It is, I believe, the only natural feature of +Nicaragua which commemorates the name of any of its conquerors. Beyond +the Rio Gil Gonzalez, we came to open, cultivated fields, “_huertas_” or +gardens, separated by hedge rows, along which were planted papaya trees, +now loaded with golden fruit. As we advanced, the evidences of industry +and thrift became more and more abundant, and passing for a league +through broad and luxuriant fields, we at last came to the Indian pueblo +of Obraje, the place where Somoza had received his first check by the +troops of the government. It was a large, straggling town, a town of +gardens, and, judging from the accounts of the chroniclers, built very +much after the plan of the aboriginal towns, before the Conquest. The +adobe buildings around the plaza were scarred by shot; but everything +looked so peaceful now that I could hardly believe war and bloodshed had +ever disturbed its quiet. + +The Obraje is one of half a dozen towns, situated within a radius of two +leagues around the central city of Rivas or Nicaragua, and which are, to +all intents and purposes, parts of it. Within this area, therefore, +there is a larger population than in any equal extent of the State. At a +distance from the centres of political operations, Rivas and its +dependencies have escaped the more obvious evils of the civil commotions +to which the country has been subject. Its prosperity has nevertheless +been retarded, and its wealth diminished, as the State has declined. +Yet, in point of cultivation and general thrift, it still retains its +superiority. Of this we had abundant evidences in our ride of a league, +from the Obraje to Rivas. The lands were better cleared and worked, and +the houses larger and more comfortable than any we had yet seen. To the +right was a range of hills, not rocky, volcanic elevations, but smooth, +rolling hills, capable of culture to their summits; and between them and +the lake intervened a wide plain, two or three leagues broad, with +little swells of ground, upon which the houses of the people were +usually built. This plain is wonderfully fertile, and suffering less +from drought in the dry season, is probably capable of being made more +productive than that of Leon; but its greater moisture and comparative +lowness render its climate less salubrious. As we rode along, in +admiration of the lavish profusion of nature, we, for the first time +since we left the San Juan river, saw the _toucan_ and one or two other +varieties of new and brilliant birds. They were very tame, and evidently +felt at home amongst the cacao groves. + +The rain had ceased, and the contrast which this part of our ride bore +to that of the morning, exhilarated me to the highest degree, and +perhaps caused it to make a deeper impression than it would have done +under other circumstances. It was late in the afternoon, when, crossing +a little New Englandish stream, the Dr. pointed to a large, fine house, +sweetly seated in the edge of a cacao plantation, as that of Señor +Hurtado, one of the Senators of the State, and at whose urgent +invitation I was now in this part of the Republic. The building was +elevated, and a broad corridor ran along its entire front, upon which +Señor Hurtado and his family were seated, in luxurious enjoyment of the +evening breeze. We were recognized, notwithstanding we were disguised by +ponchos and stuccoed with mud, long before we reached the house, and the +master came down the road to welcome us. Need I add that we were +received with unbounded hospitality, and had every want anticipated, and +every wish attended to, during our stay? + +Señor Hurtado is one of the largest proprietors in the Department, and, +with his wife and family, might easily be taken for Americans. They were +now living in what may be called the suburbs of the town; their city +residence having been destroyed, together with a large amount of +property, by Somoza, during his temporary ascendancy. Their present +dwelling had also been visited, and the marks of machetas and bullets +were visible on the doors and shutters. It had, however, escaped +pillage, in consequence of the popularity of its owner amongst all +classes of the people of the Department. Connected with the +establishment is a large and exceedingly well-kept cacao plantation. +Through the middle runs the small stream I have mentioned, crossed by +unique little bridges, and here and there forming miniature lakes. The +mazy walks were wide and clean, and so effectually roofed in by the +broad tops of the cacao-madre, that one might almost imagine himself +within the spacious aisles of some grand natural temple. + +The morning following, we were waited upon by Don Fruto Chamorro, +Prefect of the Department, and the officers of the garrison. Señor +Hurtado gave me a fine horse, to relieve my wearied one, and I +accompanied them to the town. I was much disappointed in its appearance. +It looked dilapidated, having suffered much from earthquakes, to which +it is proverbially subject. The walls of almost every building were +split or thrown from the perpendicular from this cause, and the façades +of two or three little churches, which we passed, were rent from top to +bottom, and seemed just ready ready to tumble down. As we approached the +grand plaza or centre of the town, we began to see the results of the +recent troubles. The doors and windows of the buildings were full of +bullet-holes, and the walls had been literally scarified by shot. There +must have been a prodigious amount of random firing, first and last. A +number of buildings in the vicinity of the plaza had been burnt, or +partially torn down, and amongst them were the ruins of the residence of +our host, which had been distinguished for its size and superior +elegance. Don Fruto, (who, by the way, had in person captured the robber +chieftain,) explained to me how the latter succeeded in gaining control +of the place, and gave me a little insight into the mode of fighting +practised in Central America. To get possession of the principal plaza, +and to hold it, is esteemed the primary object of every assault. The +garrison always barricades itself there, leaving the rest of the town +unprotected; and in this vicinity the fighting almost invariably takes +place. Accordingly, at the outbreak of the insurrection, the little +garrison, joined by the principal citizens, fortified themselves in the +plaza, and waited for Somoza to come on. Of course he took his time, and +when quite ready, with his usual daring, attempted to carry the plaza by +a _coup de main_. He could not, however, bring his men to charge the +barricades in face of the veterans, whose shot swept the streets like +hail. He nevertheless persisted in the attempt, but with uniform bad +success. Finally he was compelled to make his advances in the usual +manner. He commenced cutting through the houses, upon two sides at the +same time, advancing from one to the other as fast as the walls could be +broken through. The garrison, detecting the movement, advanced in the +same way to meet him, instead of waiting to be overwhelmed by numbers in +the plaza. The “sappers and miners,” if they can be so called, +encountered each other in the interiors of the abandoned houses, and in +their courtyards; and at the outset, in the bloody hand-to-hand contests +which ensued, the superior discipline of the little garrison prevailed. +Somoza, at this critical moment, set fire to the buildings with his own +hands, and leaving a portion of his men in the houses, made a +simultaneous assault upon all the barricades. The garrison, having so +many points to defend, enveloped in flame and smoke, and already much +reduced, was overwhelmed by numbers. In the excitement of the moment, +horrible excesses were committed, and neither age nor sex was spared. To +these excesses, which shocked and alarmed the whole State, the speedy +downfall of Somoza and his faction is, in great part, to be ascribed. + +Upon one side of the plaza, which was now fitted up for “_un Juego de +los Toros_,” or a bull-baiting, were the foundation walls and part of +the superstructure of a large stone church. It had been planned on a +grand scale, and was commenced and carried to its present elevation many +years ago; but a severe earthquake occurring, which cracked and +otherwise injured the unfinished walls, its construction was suspended, +and has never been resumed. The interior is, I believe, now used as a +burial place; and a little, low, but compact building at its side is the +parochial church. But even this has suffered from the earthquakes. In +1844 a series of shocks occurred, extending through three days. The +people abandoned their dwellings, and lived in the open air. The shocks +were so severe, that it was almost impossible to stand erect, or even to +stand at all, without clinging to trees or other fixed objects for +support. On the isthmus, below Nicaragua, and in the direction of the +volcano of Orosi, which on this occasion was unusually active, the earth +opened in various places, and many of the more fearful results of these +convulsions were witnessed by the affrighted inhabitants. + +From the plaza, the view of the volcanoes of Ometepec and Madeira, +standing in the lake, is exceedingly fine. The regularity of the cone of +the former seems more striking than when it is viewed from the opposite +direction. I have no question that it approaches nearer the perfect cone +in shape, than any other mountain on the continent, not to say in the +world. + +Upon returning to Señor Hurtado’s, we found Mr. Woeniger, a gentlemen of +German descent, but a citizen of the United States, who had resided for +twelve or fourteen years in the country. He was intelligent and +communicative, and gave me a great deal of information about this +section of the State, but particularly concerning the island of +Ometepec, on which he had resided for a number of years. He had early +cleared an estate there, and commenced the cultivation of cotton, +relying upon Indian labor. Things went on very well for some time, and +he had imported machinery for cleansing the cotton and manufacturing it, +when the Indians, perhaps excited by envious or evil-minded persons, +grew idle and unmanageable. And one day, during his absence, a drunken +party of them entered his house, violated and murdered his wife, +(daughter of a professor in one of the colleges of Pennsylvania,) and +then set fire to the building. Some of the miscreants were taken, +identified, and shot. Mr. W., notwithstanding this terrible blow, +persevered in his enterprise, but with bad success, and was himself +finally attacked by a number of his own laborers. He killed one or two, +and escaped, abandoning his property on the island, and purchasing a +cacao estate on the main-land, at a little place, in the vicinity of +Rivas, called Potosí, where he now resided. He represented a large part +of the island as being fertile, and well adapted to the cultivation of +cotton, but not more so than almost any other portion of the republic. +With a proper organization, and the ability of compelling the natives to +comply with their contracts, he believed Nicaragua could compete with +any portion of the world in the production of this staple, and supply a +better article at less price in the markets of England, than the United +States itself. This opinion I found was entertained by many other +intelligent foreigners, resident in the country, and fully acquainted +with the subject. It is this fact, amongst other things, and in +connection with the unsuccessful efforts of England to grow cotton in +her colonies, in Jamaica, the Antilles, in Guiana, and India, that gives +especial significance to English pretensions on the Mosquito shore, +_which is probably the finest cotton growing country of the world_. It +is a fact also, which should not be lost sight of by the Southern States +of our Confederacy, when we shall be called upon to take a national +stand, on the questions which have been raised by the unscrupulous +policy of Great Britain in Central and South America. + +[Illustration: BURIAL VASES FROM OMETEPEC.] + +Mr. Woeniger gave me some information concerning the monuments of +aboriginal art found on the island. In the parts best known there had +formerly been many idols resembling those found at Zapatero, but they +had either been broken up or buried. A group was said to exist at a +secluded place, near the foot of the volcano of Madeira, but he had +never seen them. The ancient cemeteries are the most remarkable remains +of the aborigines. They generally occur upon some dry, elevated place, +and are distinguished by an enclosure of flat, rough stones, set in the +ground, and projecting a few inches above the surface. Within the areas +thus indicated are found, upon examination, many vases containing the +bones and ashes of the dead, and a great variety of ornaments of stone +and metal. Little gold idols, well worked, articles of copper, and terra +cotta figures, are also sometimes found. The vases containing the human +bones and ashes are always of one shape, as represented in the foregoing +cuts. It will be seen at once, that the model is that of the human +skull. In some of those in which the unburned bones were placed, after +the removal of the flesh, (a common practice among the American +Indians,) the skull closed the orifice or mouth. Other articles of +pottery, some in the form of animals and of fruits and shells, are also +found buried both in the cemeteries and elsewhere. These are sometimes +elaborately painted, with brilliant and enduring colors. Various _terra +cottas_, in the form of men and animals, have also been found, of which +the one represented in the accompanying engraving may be taken as a +type. Amongst the articles of metal obtained on the island, and +presented to me by Mr. Woeniger, is a copper head or mask of a tiger, +which is not unartistic, and displays no insignificant degree of spirit. + +[Illustration: TERRA COTTA FROM OMETEPEC—¼ SIZE.] + +The golden idols, are no doubt identical with those which the chronicler +describes as “about a span long,” and of which the great Cazique Niquira +gave Gil Gonzales, upon his solicitation, not less than “one thousand.” +One had been found just previous to our arrival, which weighed +twenty-four ounces, and which had been purchased by a merchant for an +equal number of doubloons, and sent as a remittance to Jamaica. I left a +standing order with Señor Hurtado to secure the next one which should be +found for me, at any cost. But up to this time, I cannot learn that any +additional ones have been discovered. Amongst the other curious relics +which I obtained there, was a little figure of a frog, carved in a grey +stone, resembling _verd antique_. It is presented of full size in the +subjoined engraving. The holes near the fore feet were doubtless +designed to receive the string, by which it was probably suspended as an +amulet from the neck of its ancient owner. This was found in the +Department of Guanacaste, near the Gulf of Nicoya. + +[Illustration: COPPER MASK FROM OMETEPEC.] + +[Illustration: FROG IN VERD ANTIQUE.] + +I had intended to visit Ometepec; and as, upon our arrival, there seemed +to be a prospect that M., after a little repose, would be able to go +with us, Señor Hurtado had ordered one of his boats, with a full +complement of men, to be in readiness, on the second morning, to take us +over. The Prefect had also sent orders to the subordinate officers on +the island to render us every service in their power. But in the +meantime M. had become much worse, and during the night was almost +delirious with fever, requiring the constant attendance of the doctor. I +was consequently obliged to relinquish my visit; but, nevertheless, rode +down to the lake with the Prefect and a party of the citizens. The +distance is upwards of a league to San Jorge, which stands a little back +from the lake, upon a dry, sandy swell of ground. It is finely situated, +and the country intervening between the two towns is of surpassing +beauty and fertility, and covered with cacao plantations, and “huertas,” +of the most luxuriant productiveness. It was at San Jorge that the final +conflict with Somoza took place, and the buildings around the plaza bore +the usual marks of shot; and it was here that the French officer who had +been so polite to us at San Carlos, but who had foolishly joined Somoza +for the sake of “beauty and booty,” was killed. One of the officers +pointed out a little depression in the surface of the ground; it was his +grave; they had buried him where he fell. + +A few minutes’ ride from San Jorge, along one of the numerous paths worn +by the aguadoras, brought us to the lake. The shore is high and bluff, +and there is only a narrow strip of sandy beach between it and the +waters. Here were numerous bongos and canoes drawn up on the sand, +parties of marineros cooking their breakfasts, men watering their horses +in the surf, half naked women, surrounded by troops of children, busily +engaged in washing, water-carriers filling and balancing their jars—all +the movement and picturesque life which had so deeply impressed me upon +my first landing on the beach of Granada. The wind blew strongly, and +the waves swept in with a force which surprised me. The rollers outside +were like those of the ocean, and a canoe just then coming in was +swamped the moment it reached them, and was only prevented from being +overset and stove on the shore, by the crew, who had previously thrown +themselves overboard, and steadied it by clinging to its sides. It would +have been impossible for us to have got outside, even if we had been in +readiness to go to the island. I found that our patron and crew were to +have been the same who had taken us to Pensacola, and had vexed us so +prodigiously by their laziness. They saluted me with the greatest +familiarity, and seemed to be much disappointed when Señor Hurtado told +them they would not be wanted. They had evidently counted on a large +supply of aguardiente, and on being gloriously drunk for at least a +week. I gave them a few reals wherewith to drink my health, for which +they invoked the blessing of all the saints on my head. + +The return ride was a rapid one, and the young officers who accompanied +us amused themselves greatly by racing their horses. Their mode of doing +this is very different from ours, and a trifle more dangerous. The +rivals place themselves side by side, and join hands, starting off at a +given signal. The one whose greater speed enables him to drag the other +from his horse, wins; and if the race is in earnest, the least the +beaten party can expect to get off with is a tumble in the sand, with a +chance of a broken head. There are many fine horsemen in Central +America; indeed, a good horse, and the ability to ride him well, are the +two things which the “fast fellows” of that country most do covet, and +in the possession and display of which they take most pride. For my sole +gratification, I presume, one of the officers volunteered some +exhibitions of his skill. He requested me to drop my whip a little in +advance; I did so, and as he dashed past, at the full speed of his +horse, he bent down gracefully and picked it up,—a feat which those who +do not think difficult had better attempt. He also borrowed a lance from +an Indian whom we met, and showed me the manner in which it is handled +by those who fully understood its use. I was amazed at his dexterity, +and not less so at the skill with which one of his companions, using +only his sword, warded off the blows aimed at him with the blunt end. It +occurred to me that any “gringo” like myself might be a dozen times run +through by a lancer of this order, before fairly aware of the +circumstance; and I made a mental resolve, in case of encountering +“ladrones” with lances, to appeal to my “Colt,” before admitting any too +familiar approaches. + +The morning of the third day found M. no better, and requiring, as +before, the constant care of the doctor. Señor Hurtado had, however, +planned an excursion across the country to the Pacific. We were to take +coffee at Potosi with Mr. Woeniger, breakfast at an estate of Señor +Hurtado’s, in the little valley of Brito, ride to the sea, and be back +to dinner. We were off at daylight, and rode a league through an +unbroken garden, to Potosi, a straggling town like the Obraje, and, like +that, a curious compound of city and country, plazas and plantations. +Our friend was expecting us, and after despatching our coffee, none the +less acceptable because of our brisk ride, he showed us through his +cacao estate. It was small but well kept, and constantly increasing in +value; for in addition to replacing the decaying trees, he every year +put in an additional four or five hundred, each one of which, when +matured, according to the rate of calculation here, is valued at a +dollar. It requires from five to seven years to make a plantation; or +rather, that time is requisite before the trees commence “paying.” + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +[Illustration: ABORIGINAL RELICS.] + +[Illustration: NEW VOLCANO ON THE PLAIN OF LEON.—See page 530.] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Amongst the various aboriginal relics which Mr. Woeniger had collected, +on the island of Ometepec, was one of considerable interest, which is +represented in No. 2 of the accompanying Cut. It is of stone, about +fourteen inches in length, and eight high, and seems intended to be a +representation of some animal, _couchant_. It was carefully preserved by +the Indians at the summit of a high, secluded point of rocks, where they +secretly resorted to pour out libations before it, and to perform rites, +the nature of which none would ever reveal. For more than fifty years +the padres sought to discover this idol, but without success. Recently, +however, its place had been ascertained; it was seized and would have +been thrown into the lake, had not Mr. Woeniger promised, if placed in +his hands, to remove it from the island for ever. It is now in the +Museum of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington. + +At a little distance beyond Potosi, the ridge of land which intervenes +between the lake and the Pacific, commences to rise. It can hardly be +called a ridge; it is a broad plateau, and what upon either side appear +to be hills, are nothing more than the _edges_ of the table-land. The +top of this plateau is undulating and diversified, and resembles some of +the finer parts of New York and New England. We had a number of +magnificent views of the lake and the intervening plain, as we rose +above the general level; the volcanoes of Ometepec and Madeira, now as +always, constituting the most striking features in the landscape. Our +road was gravelly and dry, and its windings pleasantly relieved by open +fields and shadowy woodlands. I was a little surprised to find the +valley of Brito, upon the summit of the plateau of which I have spoken, +along which it runs longitudinally, and finally, by a succession of +“saltos,” falls into the Pacific, at the little harbor of Nacascolo or +Brito, not far to the northward of that of San Juan del Sur, the point +spoken of as the western terminus of the proposed line of transit. It is +a sweet little valley, and at one of its sweetest parts is the indigo +estate of Señor Hurtado. The building was spacious, built of adobes, +with a tiled roof, and surrounded by a high fence of posts, placed in +the ground upright, like stockades. Within this the ground was beaten +smooth, and, spread upon sheets, were large quantities of indigo, +receiving a final drying in the sun, preparatory to being packed for +market. Our host, with hospitable prevision, had, the day before, sent +word of our coming, and we found a capital breakfast, and a couple of +well-cooled bottles of claret, awaiting our attentions. This disposed +of, we went to visit the indigo “maquina.” The first point of interest +was the dam across the stream from which the water is obtained for +driving the machinery and supplying the works. It was well constructed, +and a very creditable piece of workmanship for any country. The next +thing in importance was the “maquina” itself. It consisted of two +immense vats of masonry, situated one above the other. In the lower one +a large wheel was so placed as to be turned by water. Near these was a +drying house, and other requisite apparatus, the purposes of which will +be explained in the following account of the process of manufacturing +indigo. + +I have elsewhere said that the indigo of Central America, amongst which +that of Nicaragua is regarded as of a very superior quality, is obtained +from an indigenous triennial plant, (_Indigofera disperma_, _Linn._), +which attains its highest perfection in the richest soils. It will grow, +however, upon almost any soil, and is very little affected by drought, +or by superabundant rains. In planting it, the ground is perfectly +cleared, usually burnt over, and divided with an implement resembling a +hoe into little trenches, two or three inches in depth, and twelve or +fourteen apart, at the bottom of which the seeds are strewn by hand, and +lightly covered with earth. A bushel of seed answers for four or five +acres of land. In Nicaragua it is usually planted towards the close of +the dry season in April or May, and attains its perfection, for the +purpose of manufacture, in from two and a half to three months. During +this time it requires to be carefully weeded, to prevent any mixture of +herbs, which would injure the quality of the indigo. When green, the +plant closely resembles what in the United States is familiarly known as +“sweet clover,” or the young and tender sprouts of the locust tree. When +it becomes covered with a kind of greenish farina, it is in a fit state +to be cut. This is done with knives, at a little distance above the +root, so as to leave some of the branches, called in the West Indies +“ratoons,” for a second growth, which is also in readiness to be cut, in +from six to eight weeks after. The crop of the first year is usually +small, that of the second is esteemed the best, although that of the +third is hardly inferior. It is said that some fields have been gathered +for ten consecutive years without being resown, the fallen seed +obviating the necessity of new plantings. + +After the plant is cut, it is bound in little bundles, carried to the +vat, and placed in layers in the upper or larger one, called the +“steeper,” (_mojadora_). This vat holds from one thousand to ten +thousand gallons, according to the requirements of the estate. Boards +loaded with weights are then placed upon the plants, and enough water +let on to cover the whole, which is now left to steep or ferment. The +rapidity of this process depends much upon the state of the weather and +the condition of the plant. Sometimes it is accomplished in six or eight +hours, but generally from fifteen to twenty. The proper length of time +is determined by the color of the saturated water; but the great secret +is to check the fermentation at the proper point, for upon this, in a +great degree, depends the quality of the product. Without disturbing the +plant, the water is now drawn off, by cocks, into the lower vat or +“beater,” (_golpeadoro_,) where it is strongly and incessantly beaten, +in the smaller estates with paddles by hand, in the larger by wheels +turned by horse or water-power. This is continued until it changes from +the green color, which it at first displays, to a blue, and until the +coloring matter, or _floculæ_, shows a disposition to curdle or subside. +This is sometimes hastened by the infusion of certain herbs. It is then +allowed to settle, and the water is carefully drawn off. The pulp +granulates, at which time it resembles a fine, soft clay; after which it +is put into bags to drain, and then spread on cloths, in the sun, to +dry. When properly dried, it is carefully selected according to its +quality, and packed in hide cases, 150 lbs. each, called _ceroons_. The +quality has not less than nine gradations, the best being of the highest +figure. From 6 to 9 are called _flores_, and are the best; from 3 to 6, +_cortes_; from 1 to 3, inclusive, _cobres_. The two poorer qualities do +not pay expenses. A _mansana_ of one hundred yards square, produces, on +an average, about one ceroon at each cutting. After the plant has passed +through the vat, it is required by law that it shall be dried and burnt; +because, in decomposing, it generates, by the million, an annoying +insect called the “indigo fly.” + +Thus the indigo plant requires constant attention during its growth, and +must be cut at a particular period, or it is valueless. The subsequent +processes are delicate, and require the utmost care. It will readily be +understood, therefore, that the production of this staple would suffer +most from revolutions and disturbances of the country, when it is +impossible to obtain labor, or where the laborers are liable at any +moment to be impressed for the army. As a consequence, it has greatly +declined; many fine estates have been entirely abandoned, and the export +of the article reduced to less than a fifth of what it once was. Its +production is now chiefly confined to San Salvador, where industry is +better organized than in any of the other States. + +From Señor Hurtado’s hacienda, we rode along the shaded banks of the +stream, to the little Indian town of Brita. It has nothing to +distinguish it except its picturesque situation, and its unique little +church, painted after the Indian fashion, with all the colors of the +rainbow,—here a row of urns, there a line of flowers, curiously +festooned, and the whole altogether more resembling the flaming front of +a wooden clock from Yankeeland, than anything else under heaven. Near +this place was a decayed cacao estate, belonging to a family of some +notability in the country, but now only represented in the female line. +The avenue leading to the mansion had once been grand; it was still +lined with magnificent trees. The house was now dilapidated, and honey +bees had dug out immense establishments in the adobe walls, around which +they swarmed in a cloud. A dozen stout, half-naked fellows were lounging +on the corridor, surrounded by an equal number of mangy dogs, which +showed their teeth and snarled around our legs. The wife of the +mayor-domo, himself a swarthy mestizo, was a fair, delicate girl, who +looked wonderfully out of place amongst her rough companions. I obtained +from her—for she was as kind and gentle as the masculines were morose +and ugly—the stone vase, No. 1, of the Cut facing page 514. It had been +brought to light but a short time before, in digging the posts for a +cattle shed. It is about eighteen inches in height, and of proportionate +diameter, cut from a single block of granite rock. There were handles, +in the shape of a human head, upon each side, and the intermediate +space, on a raised band around the middle, was tastefully ornamented, as +shown in the engraving. + +Reserving for another place the observations which I this day made, in +respect to the proposed route for a ship-canal to connect the lake and +ocean at this point, I have only to add that the day was delightfully +spent, and that our return to Rivas, in the cool of the evening, was one +of the pleasantest rides that I enjoyed in the country. I found that +during my absence, the Prefect had sent me a very singular relic of +antiquity, which had been exhumed some time previously, near the city, +which is represented by Fig. 3, in the same Plate with the vase just +described. It is of the same material with the vase, and is ornamented +in similar style, but more elaborately. It will be observed that one of +the projecting arms or ornaments on the side represented in the sketch, +is broken off; it probably was analogous to that shown in the front. I +cannot imagine what was the purpose of this singular piece of sculpture, +unless designed as a pedestal for an idol, or a seat for the dignitaries +of aboriginal times, for both of which purposes it is very well adapted. +It is about twenty inches in height; and, in company with the vase, is +deposited in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington. + +M., I found, was getting better of his fever; the dangerous stage was +passed, but he would be unable to endure any violent exercise for a +week. I could not, therefore, depend upon him to accomplish the primary +objects I had in view in visiting this section of the State, and as I +expected important despatches from Government at Granada, I resolved, +notwithstanding the solicitations of my host, to leave M. in care of the +doctor, and return. The next morning was fixed for my departure. At +sunrise, Señor Hurtado had everything prepared, including a man to act +as guide, and persisted in accompanying me to the Obraje, where, after +extending an earnest invitation to visit him again, he left me and +returned. + +We had been nearly the whole of one day in riding the ten leagues from +the Ochomogo to Rivas, but I now went over the same ground before +breakfasting. The hostess at Ochomogo was still puzzling her head how it +could be possible that I did not know “Capitan Esmith, un hombre muy +ilustrado, _y gordo_!” “Captain Smith, a very enlightened man, _and +fat_!” + +Passing Ochomogo, my guide took me by a new, and as he said, shorter +path, from that by which we came; so I missed the satisfaction of +calling the inhospitable mayordomo a shameless fellow, and lost the +opportunity of seeing Nandyme by daylight. Although the distance is +called sixty miles, the sun was yet high in the west when I arrived +within sight of Granada. A light shower was just sweeping over it, +spanned by a beautiful rainbow, like the portal of Paradise. As I came +nearer, I heard the eternal banging of bombas, and rode into the city +amidst serpientes, waving flags, and the other eye and ear-wearying +nonsense of a fiesta. I would have gone through the principal street, +but the people all at once fell on their knees, and I was saluted by a +hundred voices, “Quita su sombrero!”—“Take off your hat!” I looked down +the street, and saw a procession approaching at the other end, preceded +by a score of squeaking violins and a squad of soldiers, and followed by +a regiment of saints’ effigies, borne on men’s shoulders. My guide +dismounted and dropped on his marrow bones in the mud, while Ben and +myself turned down a side street, leaving the guide to follow when he +got ready. I was heartily tired of fiestas and saints, and began to +think if the people prayed less and worked more, they would be doing +both God and man better service. + +My despatches had arrived that afternoon, with three months’ later +dates, for we had heard nothing from home during that period, except +through British agents, who took a malicious satisfaction in showing +us how much more efficient, active, and intelligent is the British +Government, in the conduct of its foreign relations, than our own. It +was seldom that despatches ever reached the American officers in this +country, and then only long after date. I got bushels of letters, +papers, and documents, all directed to my predecessor, at eight, +twelve, and even eighteen months after they were despatched from +Washington. The English agents were never thirty days behindhand. The +first intimation of the declaration of war with Mexico, received by +our naval commander in the Pacific, was through the British Admiral, +and after that officer had taken such measures as he thought proper +under the circumstances.[30] It was only the superior swiftness of +American ships which enabled us to anticipate the seizure of +California by Great Britain, under pretext of securing its Mexican +debts. On such a small matter as _that_, turned the great question of +American predominance in the Pacific, and American maritime and +commercial ascendancy throughout the world. In appointing even so +insignificant an officer as a despatch agent, our government should +not forget this fact, nor neglect to ask itself the question, “What if +England had got California?” + +----- + +Footnote 30: + + “During the diplomatic employments with which I have been so long + honored by the favor of my country, I have been constantly mortified + by the dependence in which our foreign agents are left upon a + foreign and rival government, for the transmission of their + correspondence.”—HON. HENRY WHEATON, _to the Department of State, + Dec. 1845_. + +----- + +The matters contained in my letters required my immediate presence in +Leon. Accordingly I left the next morning, and accomplished the entire +distance, one hundred and twenty miles, in a day and a half,—or, +counting from Nicaragua, one hundred and eighty miles in two days and a +half, being at the rate of seventy-two miles a day. This was done with +the same horse, one which had cost me but thirty dollars, and which came +into Leon at the same pace with which he had left Nicaragua, and +apparently as unwearied as then. And yet I suffered nothing from +fatigue, and, notwithstanding all that I had heard said about the +debilitating effects of the climate, felt as vigorous as I had ever +done, under the most favorable circumstances, at home. + +I found two soldiers pacing the corridor of my house, which greatly +puzzled me. My old friend Padre Cartine, I afterwards found, had dreamed +a dream, to the purport that robbers were seeking to enter it, and had +given the General no peace until he had stationed a guard there to keep +“watch and ward” day and night. Poor old Padre! It is precious little +the “ladrones” would have got, had the dream proved true. + +And thus terminated my second antiquarian expedition. I have only given +an outline of the incidents which befel me, and shall reserve all +speculation upon my discoveries for another place. + + + + + CHAPTER XIX. + +VOLCANOES OF CENTRAL AMERICA; THEIR NUMBER—VOLCANO OF JORULLO—ISALCO—THE + VOLCANIC CHAIN OF THE MARABIOS—INFERNALES—“LA BAILA DE LOS + DEMONIOS”—VOLCANIC OUTBURST ON THE PLAIN OF LEON—VISIT TO THE NEW + VOLCANO, AND NARROW ESCAPE—BAPTIZING A VOLCANO—ERUPTION OF + COSEGUINA—CELEBRATION OF ITS ANNIVERSARY—SYNCHRONOUS + EARTHQUAKES—LATE EARTHQUAKES IN CENTRAL AMERICA—VOLCANO OF TELICA—EL + VOLCAN VIEJO—SUBTERRANEAN LAVA BEDS—ACTIVITY OF THE VOLCANOES OF THE + MARABIOS IN THE 16th CENTURY—THE PHENOMENA OF EARTHQUAKES—EARTHQUAKE + OF OCT. 27, 1849—VOLCANIC FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY—EXTINCT + CRATERS—VOLCANIC LAKES—THE VOLCANO OF NINDIRI OR MASAYA—DESCENT INTO + IT BY THE FRAY BLAS DE CASTILLO—EXTRAORDINARY DESCRIPTION. + + +No equal extent of the American continent, perhaps of the globe, +possesses so many volcanoes, active and extinct, or exhibits so many +traces of volcanic action, as Central America; that is to say, the +region embraced between the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and that of Panama, +or Darien. In the words of Mr. Stephens, the entire Pacific coast of +this remarkable country “bristles with volcanic cones,” which form a +conspicuous feature in every landscape, rising above the plains and +undulating hills, and often from the edges of the great lakes, with the +regularity and symmetry of the pyramids. It is a matter of surprise and +regret that, affording as it does, so excellent a field for studying the +grand and interesting phenomena connected with volcanoes and +earthquakes, this country has not more particularly attracted the +attention of scientific men, and especially of those who ascribe to +igneous and volcanic agency so important a part in the physical changes +which our planet has undergone. Humboldt did not pass through Central +America, although fully impressed with the importance of its geological +and topographical investigation; a deficiency which he deplores in many +places in his published researches. Nor am I aware that any but very +partial and imperfect accounts have been given to the world of the +volcanoes of this country, and those have been by persons claiming no +consideration as scientific men. Recognizing fully my own deficiency in +this respect, I should not think of venturing on the subject, except in +the hope of directing anew the attention of competent persons to it, and +thus contributing to supply the desideratum. + +The volcanoes of Central America are all situated on the Pacific coast; +the eastern slope of the continent consisting of broken mountain ranges, +which exhibit few traces of volcanic action. In fact, they occur almost +in a right line, running due N. W. and S. E., commencing with the high +volcano of Cartago in Costa Rica (11,480 feet high), from the summit of +which both oceans are visible, to Citlaltepetl, in the Department of +Vera Cruz, in Mexico. There are several hundred volcanic peaks and +extinct craters on this line, the most remarkable of which are Cartago, +or Irasu, Turrialva, Barba, and Vatos, (9,840 feet high,) in Costa Rica; +Abogado, Cerro Pelas, Miriballes, Tenerio, Rincon de la Vieja, Orosi, +Madeira, Ometepec, Zapatero, Guanapepe, Guanacaure, Solentinami, +Momobacho, Masaya or Nindiri, Managua, Momotombo, (6,500 feet high,) Las +Pilas, Acosusco, Orota, Telica, Santa Clara, El Viejo, (6,000 feet +high,) Coseguina, and Joltépec, in Nicaragua; El Tigre, and Nacaome, in +Honduras; Amapala or Conchagua, San Salvador, San Miguel, San Vicenté, +Isalco, Paneon, and Santa Ana, in San Salvador; Pacaya, Volcan de Agua, +Volcan de Fuego, Incontro, Acatenango, Atitlan, Tesanuelco, Sapotitlan, +Amilpas, Quesaltenango, and Soconusco, in Guatemala. There are many +others which are nameless, or of which the names are unknown. Some ten +or twelve of those above named are said to be “_vivo_,” alive,—that is +to say, they throw out smoke, and exhibit other evidences of vitality. +But three or four, however, can be said to be active at present, of +which, Isalco, in San Salvador, is the most remarkable, having been +formed within the last eighty years, and within the recollection of +persons now living. + +This volcano, and that of Jorullo, in Mexico, described by Humboldt, +are, I believe, all that have originated on the continent since the +Discovery. It arose from the plain in 1770, and covers what was then a +fine cattle hacienda or estate. The occupants on this estate were +alarmed by subterraneous noises, and shocks of earthquakes, about the +end of 1769, which continued to increase in loudness and strength until +the 23d of the February following, when the earth opened about +half-a-mile from the dwellings on the estate, sending out lava, +accompanied by fire and smoke. The inhabitants fled; but the _vaqueros_, +or herdsmen, who visited the estate daily, reported a constant increase +in the smoke and flame, and that the ejection of lava was at times +suspended, and vast quantities of ashes, cinders, and stones sent out +instead, forming an increasing cone around the vent, or crater. This +process was repeated for a long period, but for many years the volcano +has thrown out no lava. It has, however, remained in a state of constant +eruption, the explosions occurring every sixteen minutes and a quarter, +with a noise like the discharge of a park of artillery, accompanied by a +dense smoke and a cloud of ashes and stones, which fall upon every side, +and add to the height of the cone. It is now about 1,500 or 2,000 feet +in height, and I am informed by an intelligent West Indian gentleman, +Dr. Drivon, who has known it for the past twenty-five years, that within +that period it has increased about one-third. At some times the +explosions are more violent than at others, and the ejected matter +greater in amount; but it is said the discharges are always regular. +With the wind in a favorable direction, an annoying and sometimes +injurious quantity of fine ashes or powder is carried to the city of +Sonsonate, twelve miles distant. The volcano of Jorullo rose, I believe, +in a single night; but, as we have seen, Isalco is the result of long +continued deposits, and it seems to me that most of the volcanoes of +Central America, including some of the largest, have been formed in like +manner. In fact, I have been a personal witness of the origin of a new +volcano, which, if it has not met a premature extinguishment, bids fair +to add another high cone to those which now stud the great plain of +Leon. + +This plain is traversed by a succession of volcanic cones, commencing +with the gigantic Momotombo, standing boldly out into the Lake of +Managua, and ending with the memorable Coseguina, projecting its base +not less boldly into the ocean, constituting the line of the Marabios. +Fourteen distinct volcanoes occur within one hundred miles, on this +line, all of which are visible at the same time. They do not form a +continuous range, but stand singly, the plain between them generally +preserving its original level. They have not been “thrust up,” as the +volcano of Jorullo seemed to have been, elevating the strata around +them; although it is not certain but the original volcanic force, being +general in its action, raised up the whole plain to its present level. +All these are surrounded by beds of lava, _mal pais_, extending, in some +cases, for leagues in every direction. The lava current in places seems +to have spread out in sheets, flowing elsewhere, however, in high and +serpentine ridges, resembling Cyclopean walls, often capriciously +enclosing spaces of arable ground, in which vegetation is luxuriant: +these are called by the natives _corrales_, yards. Hot springs, and +openings in the ground emitting hot air, smoke, and steam, called +_infernillos_, are common around the bases of these volcanoes. For large +spaces the whole ground seems resting upon a boiling cauldron, and is +encrusted with mineral deposits. There are also many places where the +ground is depressed and bare, resembling a honey-combed, ferruginous +clay-pit, from which sulphurous vapors are constantly rising, destroying +vegetation in the vicinity, but especially to the leeward, where they +are carried by the wind. By daylight nothing is to be seen at these +places, except a kind of tremulous motion of the heated atmosphere near +the surface of the ground. But at night, the whole is lighted by a +flickering, bluish, and etherial flame, like that of burning spirits, +which spreads at one moment over the whole surface, at the next shoots +up into high spires, and then diffuses itself again, in a strange, +unearthly manner. This is called by the “gente del campo,” the people of +the fields, “la baile de los Demonios,” the Dance of the Devils. + +Around some of these volcanoes, that is to say those having visible +craters, are many smaller cones, of great regularity, composed of ashes, +volcanic sand, and triturated stones, resembling septaria. They seldom +support anything but a few dwarf trees, and are covered with coarse +grass. This grass, when green, gives them a beautiful emerald +appearance. In the dry season this color is exchanged for yellow, which, +after the annual burning, gives place to black. They constitute with +their changes very singular and striking features in the Central +American landscape. + +On the 11th and 12th days of April, 1850, rumbling sounds, resembling +thunder, were heard in the city of Leon. They seemed to proceed from the +direction of the volcanoes, and were supposed to come from the great +volcano of Momotombo, which often emits noises, and shows other symptoms +of activity, besides sending out smoke. This volcano, however, on this +occasion exhibited no unusual indications. The sounds increased in +loudness and frequency on the night of the 12th, and occasional tremors +of the earth were felt as far as Leon; which, near the mountains, were +quite violent, terrifying the inhabitants. Early on the morning of +Sunday, the 13th, an orifice opened near the base of the +long-extinguished volcano of Las Pilas, about twenty miles distant from +Leon. The throes of the earth at the time of the outburst were very +severe in the vicinity, resembling, from the accounts of the natives, a +series of concussions. The precise point where the opening was made +might be said to be in the plain; it was, however, somewhat elevated by +the lava which had ages before flowed down from the volcano, and it was +through this bed of lava that the eruption took place. No people reside +within some miles of the spot; consequently I am not well informed +concerning the earlier phenomena exhibited by the new volcano. It seems, +however, that the outburst was attended with much flame, and that, at +first, quantities of melted matter were ejected irregularly in every +direction. Indeed, this was clearly the case, as was shown upon my visit +to the spot some days thereafter. For a wide distance around were +scattered large flakes resembling freshly cast iron. This irregular +discharge continued only for a few hours, and was followed by a current +of lava, which flowed down the slope of the land toward the west, in the +form of a high ridge, rising above the tops of the trees, and bearing +down everything which opposed its progress. While this flow continued, +which it did for the remainder of the day, the earth was quiet, +excepting only a very slight tremor, which was not felt beyond a few +miles. Upon the 14th, however, the lava stopped flowing, and an entirely +new mode of action followed. A series of eruptions commenced, each +lasting about three minutes, succeeded by a pause of equal duration. +Each eruption was accompanied by concussions of the earth, (too slight, +however, to be felt at Leon,) attended also by an outburst of flame, a +hundred feet or more in height. Showers of red-hot stones were also +ejected with each eruption to the height of several hundred feet. Most +of these fell back into the mouth or crater, the rest falling outward, +and gradually building up a cone around it. By the attrition of this +process, the stones became more or less rounded, thus explaining a +peculiarity in the volcanic stones already alluded to. These explosions +continued uninterruptedly for seven days, and could be accurately +observed from Leon in the night. Upon the morning of the 22d, +accompanied by Dr. J. W. Livingston, U. S. Consul, I set out to visit +the spot. No one had ventured near it, but we had no difficulty in +persuading some _vaqueros_, from the haciendas of Orota, to act as +guides. We rode with difficulty over beds of lava, until within about a +mile and a-half of the place, proceeding thence on foot. In order to +obtain a full view of the new volcano, we ascended a high, naked ridge +of scoriæ, entirely overlooking it. From this point it presented the +appearance of an immense kettle, upturned, with a hole knocked in the +bottom, forming the crater. From this, upon one side ran off the lava +stream, yet fervent with heat, and sending off its tremulous radiations. +The eruptions had ceased that morning, but a volume of smoke was still +emitted, which the strong north-east wind swept down in a trailing +current along the tree-tops. + +The cone was patched over with yellow, the color of the crystallized +sulphur deposited by the hot vapors passing up amongst the loose stones. +The trees all around were stripped of their limbs, leaves, and bark, and +resembled so many giant skeletons. Tempted by the quietude of the +volcano, and anxious to inspect it more closely, in spite of the +warnings of our guides, we descended from our position, and going to the +windward, scrambled over the intervening lava beds, through patches of +thorny cacti and agaves, toward the cone. On all sides we found the +flakes of melted matter which had been thrown out on the first day of +the eruption, and which had moulded themselves over whatever they fell +upon. We had no difficulty in reaching the base of the cone, the wind +driving off the smoke and vapors to the leeward. It was perhaps a +hundred and fifty or two hundred feet high, by two hundred yards in +diameter at the base, and of great regularity of outline. It was made up +entirely of stones, more or less rounded, and of every size, from one +pound up to five hundred. No sound was heard when we reached it, except +a low, rumbling noise, accompanied by a very slight tremulous motion. +Anxious to examine it more closely, and to test the truth of the popular +assertion that any marked disturbance near the volcanic vents is sure to +bring on an eruption, we prepared to ascend. Fearing we might find the +stones too much heated near the summit, to save my hands, I prepared +myself with two staffs, as supports. The Doctor disdained such +appliances, and started without them. The ascent was very laborious, the +stones rolling away beneath our feet, and rattling down the sides. We +however almost succeeded in reaching the summit, when the Doctor, who +was a little in advance, suddenly recoiled with an exclamation of pain, +having all at once reached a layer of stones so hot as to blister his +hands at the first touch. We paused for a moment, and I was looking to +my footing, when I was startled by an exclamation of terror from my +companion, who gave simultaneously an almost superhuman leap down the +side. At the same instant a strange roar almost deafened me; there +seemed to be a whirl of the atmosphere, and a sinking of the mass upon +which I was standing. Quick as thought I glanced upward; the heavens +were black with stones, and a thousand lightnings flashed among them. +All this was in an instant, and in the same instant I too was dashing +down the side, reaching the bottom at the same moment with my companion, +and just in time to escape the stones, which fell in rattling torrents +where we had stood a moment before. I need not say that in spite of +spiny cacti and rugged beds of lava, we were not long in putting a +respectable and safe distance between us and the flaming object of our +curiosity. The eruption lasted for nearly an hour, interspersed with +lulls, like long breathings. The noise was that of innumerable +blast-furnaces in full operation, and the air was filled with projected +and falling stones. The subsidence was almost as sudden as the outburst, +and we waited several hours in vain for another eruption. Our guides +assured us that a second attempt to ascend, or any marked disturbance on +the slope, or in the vicinity, would be followed by an eruption, but we +did not care to try the experiment. + +From that period until I left Central America, I am not aware that there +occurred more than one eruption, namely, on the occasion of the falling +of the first considerable shower of rain, on, I think, the 27th of the +month succeeding that in which the outbreak occurred. Nor have I learned +that up to this time this promising young volcano has exhibited any +additional active phenomena. I fear that its earlier efforts were too +energetic, and that it has gone into a premature decline. + +The discharges from this vent, consisting wholly of stones, may have +been and probably were peculiar; for the volcanoes themselves, and the +cones surrounding them, generally seem to have been made up of such +stones, interspersed through large quantities of ashes and scoriaceous +sand, alternating with beds of lava. + +A few days before our visit, a deputation from the vaqueros and others +living in the vicinity of Las Pilas had visited Leon, for the purpose of +soliciting the Bishop to go to this place and baptize the prospective +volcano, in order to keep it in moderation, and make it observe the +proprieties of life. I believe a partial assent was obtained, and the +city was full of rumors touching this novel ceremony, which I was +exceedingly curious to witness. But its early relapse into quietude +dispelled the fears of the people, and the proposed rite was never +performed, much to my disappointment, as I intended to stand as +god-father, _compadre_, to the _Volcano de los Norte Americanos_! This +is an old practice, and the ceremony, it is said, was performed, early +after the Conquest, on all the volcanoes in Nicaragua, with the +exception of Momotombo, which is yet amongst the unsanctified. The old +friars who started for its summit, to set up the cross there, were never +heard of again. + +Although believing that most of the volcanic cones have been formed in +the manner above indicated, by gradual accumulations, yet the volcanoes +which have shown the greatest energy are low and irregular, and devoid +of anything remarkable in their appearance. Such is the Volcano of +Coseguina, in Nicaragua, the eruption of which in 1835 was one of the +most terrible on record. + +On the morning of the 20th of January of that year, several loud +explosions were heard for a radius of a hundred leagues around this +volcano, followed by the rising of an inky black cloud above it, through +which darted tongues of flame resembling lightning. This cloud gradually +spread outward, obscuring the sun, and shedding over everything a +yellow, sickly light, and at the same time depositing a fine sand, which +rendered respiration difficult and painful. This continued for two days, +the obscuration becoming more and more dense, the sand falling more +thickly, and the explosions becoming louder and more frequent. On the +third day the explosions attained their maximum, and the darkness became +intense. Sand continued to fall, and people deserted their houses and +sheltered themselves under tents of hide in the courts, fearing the +roofs might be crushed beneath the weight. This sand fell several inches +deep at Leon, more than one hundred miles distant. It fell in Jamaica, +Vera Cruz, and Santa Fe de Bogota, over an area of one thousand five +hundred miles in diameter. The noise of the explosions was heard nearly +as far, and the Superintendent of Belize, eight hundred miles distant, +mustered his troops, under the impression that there was a naval action +off the harbor. All Nature seemed overawed; the birds deserted the air, +and the wild beasts their fastnesses, crouching, terror-stricken and +harmless, in the dwellings of men. The people for a hundred leagues +groped, dumb with horror, amidst the thick darkness, bearing crosses on +their shoulders and stones on their heads, in penitential abasement and +dismay. Many believed the day of doom had come, and crowded with +noiseless footsteps over a bed of ashes to the tottering churches, +where, in the pauses of the explosions, the voices of the priests were +heard in solemn invocation to Heaven. The strongest lights were +invisible at the distance of a few feet; and, to heighten the terrors of +the scene, occasional lightnings traversed the darkness, shedding a +lurid glare over the earth. This continued for forty-three hours, when +the shocks of earthquakes and the eruptions ceased, and a brisk wind +springing up, the obscuration gradually passed away. + +The air was literally filled with an almost impalpable powder, which +entered the eyes, ears, and nostrils, and produced a sensation of +suffocation, a gasping for breath. At first the doors and windows were +closed, but without effect; the exclusion of air, joined to the intense +heat, became intolerable. The only relief was found in throwing wetted +cloths over their heads. The horses and mules suffered not less than the +people; many died, and others were saved only by adopting the same +precautions. + +For some leagues around the volcano, the sand and ashes had fallen to +the depth of several feet. Of course the operations of the volcano could +only be known by the results. A crater had been opened, several miles in +circumference, from which had flowed vast quantities of lava into the +sea on one hand, and the Gulf of Fonseca on the other. The verdant sides +of the mountain were now rough, burned, seamed, and covered with +disrupted rocks and fields of lava. The quantity of matter ejected was +incredible in amount. I am informed by the captain of a vessel which +passed along the coast a few days thereafter, that the sea for fifty +leagues was covered with floating masses of pumice, and that he sailed +for a whole day through it, without being able to distinguish but here +and there an open space of water. + +The appearance of this mountain is now desolate beyond description. Not +a trace of life appears upon its parched sides. Here and there are +openings emitting steam, small jets of smoke and sulphurous vapors, and +in some places the ground is swampy from thermal springs. It is said +that the discharge of ashes, sand, and lava was followed by a flow of +water, and the story seems corroborated by the particular smoothness of +some parts of the slope. The height of this mountain is not, I think, +more than three thousand five hundred feet. + +The anniversary of this eruption is celebrated in the most solemn manner +in Nicaragua. I witnessed the ceremony in the church of La Merced, +where, in common with all the foreign residents, I was invited by a +circular letter as follows: + + LEON ENERO 20 DE 1850. + + Por imposicion de las sagradas manos de S. E. Yllma. el dignisímo Sr. + Obispo Dr. D. Jorje de Viteri y Ungo, he recibido hoy el orden sacro + del Presbiterado; y por su disposicion, subiré al augusto Altar del + Eterno á celebrar por la primera vez el tremendo sacrificio, el dia 23 + del corriente, _aniversario décimo quinto de la erupcion del volcan de + Coseguina_, en la Yglesia de Ntra. Señora de las Mercedes, por cuya + poderosa intercesion, salvamos en aquella vez de los peligros que nos + amenazaron. Allí predicará el mismo Excmo. Sr., mi amado Prelado. + + Tengo el honor de participarlo todo á U., suplicandole su interesante + concurrencia, y firmandome con placer, su muy respetuoso seguro + servidor y capellan Q. B. S. M. + + RAFAEL PABLO JEREZ. + + TRANSLATION. + + LEON, JANUARY 20, 1850. + + By the imposition of the sacred hands of His Excellency the most + illustrious and most dignified Bishop, Dr. Don Jorge de Viteri y Ungo, + I have this day been invested with the orders of priesthood; and by + his direction, will ascend the august Altar of the Eternal, to + celebrate for the first time the tremendous sacrifice, on the + fifteenth anniversary of the eruption of the volcano of Coseguina, the + 23rd inst., in the church of our Lady of Mercies, by whose powerful + intercession we were then saved from the dangers which threatened us. + There also will preach the same excellent Señor, my beloved prelate. + + I have the honor to inform you of this, and to solicit your + concurrence. With pleasure I subscribe myself your very respectful, + faithful servant and chaplain, + + Who kisses your hands, + RAFAEL PABLO JEREZ. + +The ceremony was very impressive,[31] and the memory of the terrible +event thus commemorated was evidently strong in the minds of those who +had witnessed it, and who might be distinguished by their greater +gravity and devotion. + +----- + +Footnote 31: + + Byam, an English traveller, makes the following statement, which is + copied without any endorsement of its truth:— + + “On the morning of the 23d the fall of ashes became more dense, and + the natural grave of man seemed to be rising from the earth instead of + being dug in it. The women, with their heads covered with wet linen, + to obviate the smothering effect of the falling dust, again hurried to + the churches with cries and lamentations, and tried to sing canticles + to their favorite saints. As a last resort, every saint in the + churches of Leon, without exception, lest he should be offended, was + taken from his niche and placed in the open air,—I suppose to enable + him to judge from experience of the state of affairs—but still the + ashes fell! + + “Towards night, however, a mighty wind sprung up from the north, and + the inhabitants at last gained a view of the sun’s setting rays, + gilding their national volcanoes. Of course the cessation of the + shower of ashes was attributed to the intercession of these saints, + who doubtless wished to get under cover again, which opinion was + strongly approved of by the priests, as they would certainly not be + the losers by the many offerings; but during a general procession for + thanks, which took place the next day, it was discovered that the + paint which had been rather clumsily bestowed upon the Virgin’s face + had blistered from the heat of the numerous candles burned around it, + and half Leon proclaimed that she had caught the smallpox during her + residence in the city, and in consequence of her anger the infliction + they had just suffered was imposed upon them. Innumerable were the + candles burnt before the ‘Queen of Heaven,’ and many and valuable the + offerings to her priests, for the sake of propitiation,”—_Wanderings_, + p. 37. + +----- + +It has been observed that any great eruption, like that above recorded, +is often attended by similar phenomena in other and remote localities. +Thus, a few weeks after the eruption of Coseguina, the whole of New +Granada was convulsed; the subterranean thunder was heard simultaneously +in Nicaragua, Popayan, Bogota, Santa Martha, Caraccas, Hayti, Curacoa, +and Jamaica. These synchronous evidences of activity in subterranean +forces is very well illustrated in the recent earthquakes in Venezuela, +Peru, Chili, the Antilles, Central America, Mexico, and California. The +centres of greatest violence seem to have been in Costa Rica, Venezuela, +and Chili. In Costa Rica the places nearest the volcanoes of Orosi and +Cartago suffered most; among these were the cities of San José and +Heredia, and the town of Barba. Many churches and private dwellings were +thrown down or injured. The shocks occurred on the 18th of March last +(1851) at about 8 o’clock in the morning; on the Isthmus of Panama on +the 15th of May; in Chile on the 2d of April. The amount of property +destroyed in Valparaiso was estimated at a million and a half of +dollars. In the island of Guadaloupe the earthquakes commenced on the +16th of May, and continued until the 18th; and in San Francisco they +were felt on the 15th of the same month.[32] + +----- + +Footnote 32: + + A number of severe earthquakes have happened within the last few + years. One occurred in Guatemala in 1830[I.]arly if not quite as + severe as that of 1773. In February, 1831, and September, 1839, severe + shocks were felt in San Salvador, and in 1841 in Costa Rica. The last + nearly destroyed the city of Cartago, which had previously suffered a + similar catastrophe. May, 1844, was distinguished throughout Nicaragua + by a series of earthquakes occurring at regular intervals, over a + period of several days. The city of Nicaragua suffered much, and the + waters of the lake were observed to rise and fall with the throes of + the earth. + +----- + +The volcano nearest Leon is that of Telica, which is the smallest of the +group, being not more than three thousand feet high, but exceedingly +regular in outline. It has recently been ascended by my friend Prof. +JULIUS FRŒBEL, whose interesting account I subjoin: + + “From Leon, I made an excursion to the volcanic cone of Telica, which + is more easy of ascent than any other peak in the neighborhood. In + fact, the road to the summit is more fatiguing than dangerous. I rode + one evening to the village of Telica, which is two leagues distant + from Leon. I mounted my horse the next morning at 4 o’clock, in + company with a good guide, and well provided with water and + provisions. At first by moonlight and afterwards in the morning + twilight, we rode, slowly ascending, through a thick forest. The path + gradually became more steep and rough. As the forests disappeared, + savannas followed, which, where they had been recently swept by fire, + were clothed with a fresh and tender green. Manifold trees and shrubs, + some without leaves, but gay with blossoms, formed park-like groups in + the broad mountain meadows. One of these small, elevated valleys was + ravishingly beautiful. It was surrounded by the highest summits, whose + sides are covered with grass, out of which shoot the single stems of + the wine-palm, (_coyol_,) while a little grove of this and other + trees, mixed with shrubbery, stood in the lake of grass, six feet + deep, which filled the bottom. The coyol-palm furnishes, by tapping, a + sweet, cooling, and healthy juice, which is sometimes drunk when fresh + and sometimes when undergoing fermentation, under the name of + _chicha-coyol_. The nuts which depend from the crown in immense + clusters, are about the size of small apples. They are a favorite food + of cattle, and are sometimes eaten by the natives; they furnish an + oil, which is much finer than the cocoa oil, and is adapted to a + variety of uses. + + “At last, high above, the grass grows scattered among sharp blocks of + lava, which make the road toilsome and dangerous. At the limit of + shrubbery we left our horses and all our heavy equipments behind, and + continued our journey on foot. In an hour we had reached the summit, + and stood on the edge of a crater from two to three hundred feet deep. + We lowered ourselves with a rope down a perpendicular wall of rock, + from sixty to seventy feet deep, and then clambered toward the centre. + The hot steam which here and there came from the damp and heated + earth, and a great weakness which I felt in consequence of a violent + fit of vomiting that seized me on the way, prevented me from + penetrating into the lowest depths. There is little of interest to be + seen there, however; for the crater is filled with fragments which + have tumbled down from the side walls, so that, with the exception of + some crystals of sulphur and sublimated salts, no substance is to be + found which I had not already picked up on the side of the mountain. + It is a mass of black, porous lava, faded to a reddish brown on the + outside from the effects of the weather, and sprinkled with small + crystals of glassy feldspar. On the outside, near the summit, it is + frequently raised into oven-shaped curves, with a laminar division of + the strata, but generally occurs in angular masses or flat cakes. The + whole mountain, like all the cones of this region, has been built up + by the masses hurled from its depths. In the crater I found a few + small specimens of crystalline lime, and others of a remarkably hard + variety of augite. Inside and deep down, there was a small bush, + apparently a _vaccinium_, (whortleberry,) with panicles of beautiful + white, hirsute, bell-shaped flowers, and some bunches of tasteless + blackberries. On the upper edge of the crater I found an _orchidæ_, + whose crimson spike of blossoms resembled some varieties of our German + orchis. A small fir-tree stood rooted among the rocks near the summit; + the other vegetation was grass and a few insignificant weeds. + + “The view from the summit is magnificent. Near at hand is the whole + group of volcanoes, from Momotombo to Viejo. Behind the former of + these flashes the Lake of Managua, a great part of which is visible. + Over and beyond it, the landscape is lost in the haze of distance. On + the other hand, the eye wanders wide over the uncertain horizon of the + Pacific, against which are traced, in sharp outline, the winding bays + and headlands of the coast. You can trace its irregular line from the + neighborhood of Realejo far to the south-east, and overlook the + isthmus between the Ocean and Lake Managua. To the north you have the + long mountain chain which stretches from the San Juan River, along the + north-eastern shores of Lakes Nicaragua and Managua, through the + districts of Chontales, Matagalpa and New Segovia, to the States of + Honduras and San Salvador. At the foot of this chain, which is + completely separated from the volcanic group of Momotombo, Telica, and + Viejo, rise a number of conical hills, some of them in the plain which + extends from the north-western extremity of Lake Managua behind the + volcanoes, toward the Gulf of Fonseca. The whole view is a splendid + picture of plain and mountain, covered with brilliant vegetation as + far as the eye can reach, the rich, cultivated plantations being + scarcely discernible in the vast space. Here and there the shimmer of + a sheet of water enlivens the universal green. + + “I reached the village in time to return to Leon the same evening. A + few days previously I had visited two sulphur springs at the foot of + this mountain—called respectively San Jacinto and Tisate. At the + former place, a hot, insipid, reddish-brown water, whose steam had an + acrid, sulphurous flavor, boils up from the soil in numberless small + holes. Through the agency of various metallic salts and oxides, the + hot, soft clay exhibits all shades of white, yellow, brown, red, + green, blue and black, while the soil is crusted with sublimated + sulphur and freed salts of different kinds. At the latter place, a + sort of ashy gray, boiling slime, or rather clay-broth, is hurled into + the air from a small crater. Near it a hill has been formed of the + same variegated earths and salts as are seen at San Jacinto. These are + two genuine chemical laboratories, where a number of processes are + going on. In the clayey slime, penetrated with hot steam, sulphuric + acids and gases, I found thousands of shining sulphur pyrites, which, + according to all appearances, were constantly forming.” + +The volcano of El Viejo was ascended in 1838, by Capt. Belcher, of the +British Navy, who made its absolute height 5562 feet; but according to +my own admeasurements it is just 6000 feet. As the cone of El Viejo +rises sheer from the plain, it probably appears much higher than the +more elevated peak. of Cartago, which rises from an elevated mountain +range. Capt. Belcher thus describes his ascent: + + “At four P. M., having procured guides, we proceeded to the foot of + the mountain, where we designed sleeping. Our journey lay partly + through the woods, where the guides halted for a draught of the + fermented juice of the palm, which they had prepared in their previous + visits, and others were now tapped, in readiness for our return. After + scrambling through much loose lava-rock, which I was surprised to see + the animals attempt, as it was entirely hidden by long grass, we + reached our sleeping station at seven o’clock, when, having picked out + the softest stone bed, and tethered our animals, we made the most of + our time in the way of sleeping. + + “At dawn on the 10th (of February), we remounted our animals, and + passed still more difficult ground, until half-past six, when we + reached the lower line of the “Pine range,” that tree observing a + distinct line throughout all these mountain ranges. It became, + therefore, a matter of interest to ascertain this elevation, which by + barometric data is 3000 feet above the sea level. Temperature at this + time (before sunrise) 66° of Fahrenheit. + + “Having tethered our beasts, we now commenced our ascent _à pied_. The + first efforts, owing to the long grass, were fatiguing, and the mate + was _hors du combat_ before we reached half way. As we ascended, the + grass disappeared, the breeze freshened, and spirits rose, and at nine + we had turned the lip of the crater. Here I was surprised by a peak + presenting itself on the opposite side of the crater, and apparently + inaccessible. I nevertheless descended to the edge of the inner cone, + from whence I thought I discovered a narrow pass; but it was only by + dint of perseverance and determination that we could persuade the + guides to re-shoulder the instruments and go ahead. Difficulties + vanished as we proceeded, and we found a path beaten by the wild + bullocks, which led to the very peak. Here I obtained the requisite + observations for determining the position and height. The range of the + temperature here during our stay (from half past ten until half past + one) was from 77° to 80° Fahrenheit. + + “I was unfortunate in the day; it blew freshly (although calm at the + base), was hazy, and excepting high peaks and headlands, I lost the + most interesting minutiæ. The volcano now consists of three craters. + The outer one is about fifteen hundred feet in diameter, having the + peak, or highest lip, on the western edge. Within, it is precipitous, + for the depth of about one hundred and fifty feet. From the inner + base, at that depth, rises the second inner volcano, to the height of + about eighty feet, having within it still another cone. Around the + western base of the first or inner, the cliffs rise precipitously, + with luxuriant pines growing from the vertical face. Here vapors arise + from many points, and doubtless to this cause they are indebted for + their peculiarly healthy and vigorous condition. No minerals worthy of + carriage were discovered. We had been informed that sulphur was + abundant, but those who descended to look for it found none. Here + there was a hot spring, the temperature of which exceeded the range of + my thermometers, doubtless coming up to the boiling point. The view + was very beautiful; the map of the country was at my feet; even the + main features of the Lake of Managua were visible. _Mem._ People who + ascend high mountains, with weak heads and weaker stomachs, should + reserve spirits for cases of necessity only—as medicine!”[33] + +----- + +Footnote 33: + + “Voyage Round the World,” vol. i. p. 162. + +----- + +Besides the hot springs mentioned by Capt. Belcher, at the summit of El +Viejo, there are also orifices emitting rills of smoke, which, under +favorable states of the atmosphere, may be seen from Leon. When the +pirate Dampier was on this coast, this volcano exhibited unmistakable +signs of life; for this old voyager states expressly that it was an +“exceedingly high mountain, smoking all day, and sending out flames at +night.”[34] + +----- + +Footnote 34: + + “Voyage Round the World,” vol. i. p. 119. + +----- + +The great plain of Leon, at its highest part, is elevated about two +hundred feet above the sea; yet in the vicinity of the range of +volcanoes which traverses it, in digging wells, beds of lava, fifteen +feet thick, have been found, at the depth of seventy-five Spanish varas, +or about two hundred and ten feet, and this at a point not the highest +of the plain, but according to my calculations only one hundred and +thirty feet above the ocean. Unless there is some great error in these +data, and I can discover of none, they would seem to prove that there +has been a subsidence of the plain since the almost infinitely remote +period when the stream of lava flowed upwards from the depths of the +earth. I may mention that in the vicinity of the volcanoes, water is +scarce, and can only be obtained by digging to great depths. The +particular well to which I refer is at the cattle estate _de las +Palmas_, eighteen miles north-east of Leon, and is upward of three +hundred feet in depth, the water pure, with no saline materials in +solution. + +Much might be said on the phenomena of earthquakes as they occur in this +country. The shocks seem to be of two classes; the perpendicular, which +are felt only in the vicinity of volcanoes, and the horizontal, which +reach over wide tracts of country. The latter are very unequal; in some +places being violent, and in others, nearer their assumed source, +comparatively slight. The undulating movement seems to be only a +modification of the horizontal or vibratory. Sometimes these motions are +all combined, or rather succeed each other with great rapidity. Such was +the case with the earthquake of the 27th of October, 1850, which I +experienced, and of which I can speak authoritatively. It occurred at +about one o’clock in the morning. I was aroused from sleep by a strong +undulatory motion, which was sufficiently violent to move my bed several +inches backward and forth on the rough paved floor, and to throw down +books and other articles which had been placed on my table. The tiles of +the roof were also rattled together violently, and the beams and rafters +creaked like the timbers of a deeply-laden vessel in a heavy sea. The +people all rushed from their houses in the greatest alarm, and commenced +praying in loud tones. The domestic animals seemed to share the general +consternation; the horses struggled as if to loose themselves, and the +dogs commenced a simultaneous barking. This undulatory motion lasted +nearly a minute, steadily increasing in violence, until suddenly it +changed into a rapid vibratory or horizontal motion, which rendered it +difficult to stand upright. This lasted about thirty seconds, and was +followed as suddenly by a vertical movement, or a series of shocks, such +as one would experience in being rapidly let down a flight of steps, +then declined in violence, but nevertheless seemed to stop abruptly. The +whole lasted about two minutes, and can be compared to nothing except +the rapid movement of a large and loaded railroad car over a bad track, +in which there are undulations, horizontal irregularities, and breaks. + +No considerable damage was done. Some old walls were thrown down, but in +various places in the country I afterwards observed that rocks had been +detached and portions of cliffs broken off by the shocks. The thick +adobe walls of my house were cracked in several places from top to +bottom. Many other buildings suffered in like manner. The motion which +seemed most dangerous to me was that which I have described as +_horizontal_, in which the earth seemed to slide away from beneath my +feet. + +The night was clear moonlight, and it was very still; not a breath of +air seemed stirring. The orange trees in my courtyard, during the +continuance of the undulations, swayed regularly to and fro; but when +the other movements followed, they had an unsteady or tremulous motion. +The water in my well, which was very deep, seemed also much agitated. +The direction of the undulations was from north to south, and they were +felt throughout the entire State of Nicaragua, and in Honduras and San +Salvador, and even perhaps beyond these limits. + +I learned from old residents, that, as compared with the others which +have occurred within the last quarter of a century, this earthquake +ranked as about seven, the maximum being ten. + +All observers here concur in saying that, while earthquakes are common +at all times of the year, they are much more numerous and violent at the +entrance and close of the two seasons, the wet and the dry; that is, +about the last of October and the first of November, and the last of +April and the first of May. They are observed as particularly numerous +and strong after the heavy rains, at the close of the wet season in +October. It is also observed that a general quiet seems to prevail, for +a period, both before and after their occurrence.[35] + +----- + +Footnote 35: + + Oviedo observes respecting the earthquakes of the country, that “they + are frequent at the time of storms,—though to tell the truth, rain + rarely falls. These shocks,” he adds, “are not light, but are real + earthquakes, very severe and very long. During my stay in this city, I + have seen some violent ones, so much so as to compel us to abandon the + houses, through fear of being crushed to death beneath them, and to + take refuge in the streets and squares. I have counted upwards of + sixty shocks within twenty-four hours, and that for several days. + During the shocks the lightning struck and inflamed houses. All this I + saw at Leon, but certainly these earthquakes cannot be compared with + those of the city of Pozzuoli, which I saw completely overthrown by an + earthquake, of the same kind with those at Leon. If this last + mentioned city had been built of stone, like those of Spain, it would + soon have been destroyed, with great loss of lives.” + +----- + +It is difficult to discover the connection between these different +phenomena, but there seems to be a concurrence as to the facts here +stated. It is certainly true, that the only shocks which I have felt +were in the periods indicated, and it is also certain that nearly all +occur in the night. Perhaps, amidst the occupations and distractions of +the day, the lesser ones pass unobserved. + +There are many striking features in the topography of Central America, +which seem entirely due to volcanic agency. Those which have more +particularly attracted my attention, are what are popularly denominated +extinct craters, now partially filled with water, forming lakes without +outlets or apparent sources of supply, save the rains. Some of these +occur on the mountain and hill ranges, and are surrounded by evidences +of having been volcanic vents. But this is not always the case. The Lake +of Masaya, which I have already described, may be taken as an example. +It is not less than eight or ten miles in circumference, and is not far +from one thousand feet, perhaps more, below the general level of the +country. The sides are sheer precipices of trachytic rocks, splintered +and blistered, and exhibiting every indication of having been exposed to +the intensest heat. Yet, if these were true craters, where are the lava, +ashes, and other materials which they have ejected? There are certainly +none in their vicinity, which have emanated from them, no traces of lava +streams surrounding them, nor are their edges elevated above the general +level. Upon one side of the particular one which I have mentioned, rises +the extinct volcano of Masaya or Nindiri, with its proper crater, whence +have flowed vast quantities of lava, part of which, falling over the +precipitous walls of the lake, have quite filled it upon that side. Some +of the lakes are more or less impregnated with saline materials, but +others are perfectly fresh, and abound in fish. The burned and blistered +walls indicate, it appears to me, that they have not been caused by the +subsidence, or the falling in of the earth. + +Oviedo makes special mention of the range of volcanoes to which I have +so often alluded, which he calls by the aboriginal name, “Marabios.” At +the time of his visit, some of them were active, or rather sent out +large quantities of smoke. These were probably Santa Clara and Telica, +which appear to have been most recently in a state of eruption. He says, +“About the centre of this chain three peaks can be distinguished, rising +one behind the other. They are very steep on the north side, and descend +gradually to the plain on the southern. This country is very fertile; +and as the east winds reign here continually, the western portion is +always covered with smoke, proceeding from these three mountains, the +most elevated of the chain, and five or six leagues in circumference. +The volcano the nearest to the city of Leon (Telica) is four or five +leagues off. It sometimes happens, when the north wind blows strong, +that the smoke, instead of escaping on the western side, as usual, takes +a southern course; then it scorches and withers the maize fields and +other productions of the soil, and causes great mischief in the +villages, which are numerous. The ground suffers to such a degree from +the heat, that it remains arid for four or five years after.” + +I have elsewhere introduced Oviedo’s account of his visit to the volcano +of Masaya. In another part of his MS., the chronicler gives a summary of +the relation of the Fray Blas de Castillo, who, in 1834, descended into +the crater of this volcano. It seems that in his narrative the Fray +referred to the Historian in such a manner as to excite his anger, and +in consequence he indulges in several pungent little episodes in the +resumé, of which the following is a very fair example: “It is a hard +matter,” observes Oviedo, “to contradict all the falsehoods diffused +through the world; and even if successful in so doing, it is a matter of +greater difficulty to undeceive those who have heard them. Now if the +Fray Blas de Castillo had thought that his account would one day fall +into my hands, he would not have said that I, Gonzales Hernandez de +Oviedo y Valdez, Chronicler General of the Indies, had asked permission +of his Majesty to place the volcano of Masaya on my coat of arms, +because I had happened to visit it. I have never made such a request; I +have no desire to carry such arms; nor do I think any Christian would +approve of it; the Fray has lied!”[36] + +----- + +Footnote 36: + + Although Oviedo denies so indignantly that he received the volcano of + Masaya as a device on his coat of arms, yet, having resided thirty + years under the tropics, the Emperor Charles V. gave him the four + beautiful stars of the Southern Cross as amorial bearings. This method + of rewarding men was common in the active period following the + Discovery. Thus Columbus received, as the chronicler words it “para + sublimarlo,” to honor him, the first map of America,—a range of + islands in front of a Gulf: Sebastian de Elcano, the first + circumnavigator of the globe, a globe with the inscription, “Primus + circumdedisti me:” and Diego de Ordaz, who first ascended the volcano + of Orizaba, a drawing of that high and conical mountain. + +----- + +The descent of the Fray Blas was conducted with great secrecy, and under +the full belief that the molten matter seen at the bottom of the crater +was gold or silver. “This matter,” he says, “resembles a red sea, and +its commotions make as much noise as do the waves of the ocean when they +dash against the rocks. This sea looks like the metal of which bells are +made, or sulphur or gold, in a state of fusion, except that it is +covered with a black scum, two or three fathoms thick. Were it not for +this mass of scum, or scoriæ, the fire would throw out such an ardor and +lustre that it would be impossible to remain near it, or look upon it. +Sometimes it breaks apart in certain places, and then one can perceive +the matter, red and brilliant as the light of heaven. In the midst +constantly rise two large masses of melted metal, four or five fathoms +across, which are constantly free from the scum, and from which the +liquid metal leaps forth on every side. The sound of these melted +streams, dashing amongst the rocks, is like that of artillery battering +the walls of a city. The rocks around this sea of metal are black to the +height of seven or eight fathoms, which proves that the liquid matter +sometimes rises to that distance. Upon the north-eastern side of the +crater is the opening of a cavern, very deep, and as wide as the range +of an arquebus. A stream of burning fluid flows into this cavern, which +seems to be the outlet of the crater. It runs for a few moments, stops, +then commences again, and so on constantly. There comes forth from this +cavern a thick smoke, greater than rises from the whole lake, which +diffuses on all sides a very strong odor. There comes forth also, a heat +and brilliancy which cannot be described. During the night the summit of +the mountain is perfectly illuminated, as are also the clouds, which +seem to form a kind of _tiara_ above it, which may be seen eighteen or +twenty leagues on the land, and upwards of thirty at sea. The darker the +night the more brilliant the volcano. It is worthy of remark, that +neither above nor below can the least flame be seen, except when a stone +or arrow is thrown into the crater, which burns like a candle. + +“During rains and tempests, the volcano is most active; for when the +storm reaches its height, it makes so many movements that one might say +it was a living thing. The heat is so great that the rain is turned into +vapor before reaching the bottom of the crater, and entirely obscures +it. Both Indians and Spaniards affirm, that since the Conquest, during a +very rainy year, the burning metal rose to the top of the crater, and +that the heat was then so great that everything was burnt for a league +around. Such a quantity of burning vapor came from it, that the trees +and plants were dried up for more than two leagues. Indeed, one cannot +behold the volcano without fear, admiration, and repentance of his sins; +for it can be surpassed only by the eternal fire. Some confessors have +imposed no other penance than to visit this volcano.” + +Oviedo adds, that, although no animals were to be found on the volcano +or its slopes, paroquets abounded, both on the summit of the mountain +and within the crater, at the time the volcano was still active. The +Fray Blas made two descents into the crater, and by means of a chain +lowered an iron bucket into the molten mass of lava. He was much +disappointed in procuring only a mass of gray pumice, when he had +expected to find pure silver or gold. The second descent was performed +in the presence of the Governor, who afterwards forbade any similar +enterprises. The fires are now cold in the crater, and the “Hell of +Masaya” is extinguished. + +[Illustration: THE PAROQUET.] + + + + + CHAPTER XX. + +CHRISTMAS—NACIMIENTOS—THE CATHEDRAL ON CHRISTMAS EVE—MIDNIGHT + CEREMONIES—AN ALARM—ATTEMPT AT REVOLUTION—FIGHT IN THE PLAZA—TRIUMPH + OF ORDER—THE DEAD—MELANCHOLY SCENES—A SCHEME OF FEDERATION. + + +Christmas is celebrated with much ceremony in all Catholic countries; +and upon my return to Leon, I found the Señoras of the city busily +engaged in preparing for it. I was delighted to learn that we were to +have something a little different from the eternal _bombas_ and +interminable processions. In nearly every house, a room was set apart +for a representation of the _nacimiento_, or birth, in which the taste +of the mistresses was variously exhibited. When these are arranged, on +the evening before Christmas, they are thrown open to inspection, and +for a week the principal business of the women and children is to go +from house to house, to see the _nacimientos_, criticise, and institute +comparisons. I saw but two, at the houses respectively of Gen. Muñoz, +and my friend Col. Zapata. In each case the representation filled an +entire half of a large room. Two or three young palms were set on each +side of the apartment, so as to embower a kind of grotto, covered all +over with brilliant shells and stones, and draped with vines and +flowers. Within this grotto was a miniature figure of the Virgin and the +Infant Jesus, surrounded by the kneeling figures of the Magi, Saint +Joseph, “Nuestra Señor San Joaquin,” and “Nuestra Señora Santa Ana,” the +husband of Mary, and the accredited grandfather and grandmother of the +holy babe. + +The room was darkened, and the effect very beautiful; for the whole was +brilliantly illuminated by concealed candles, and the figures +multiplied, and the perspective rendered almost interminable by small, +but artfully arranged mirrors. A railing prevented any one from +approaching so near as to weaken the effect, or discover the +arrangement. At this time everybody, whatever his condition, is allowed +to enter, unquestioned, into every house which has its nacimiento; and +it was a singular spectacle to witness brawny Indians, naked children, +and gayly-dressed Señoras grouped together, and gazing in decorous +silence upon a spectacle so closely interwoven with their traditions, +and suggestive of the most cherished doctrines of their church. Señora +Zapata carried off the palm of honor; her nacimiento was not more +tastefully nor more expensively got up than the others; but she had put +a music-box, with a boy to wind it up, behind the scenes, which +regularly tinkled through its round of tunes, commencing with the +“Marsellaise,” and ending with “A Life on the Ocean Wave.” This was +unanimously voted to be about “the thing,” and the little Indians of +Subtiaba thronged the Colonel’s doors from early dawn to midnight, +unwearied listeners to the unseen musician, and no doubt believing that +the melodies were produced by the extraordinary Magi who knelt so +stiffly and grim around the Virgin Mother. The exhibition of the +nacimiento continues for nine days, and the period is therefore +sometimes called a _Novena_. + +But the crowning features of Christmas were the ceremonies on the eve of +that day, in the Cathedral. Here, back of the great altar, was a +representation of the adoration of the Magi on a grand scale. Large +trees bent above the stable occupied by the Holy Family, and the figures +introduced were nearly as large as life. Heavy curtains hung from the +ceiling upon either hand, behind which strong lights threw a flood of +radiance upon the scene, while the rest of the great temple was shrouded +in darkness, or but dimly revealed by the reflected light, and by the +lamps of the musicians in the choir, and of the chanting priests in the +nave beneath it. It was hardly dark before the people began to gather +from all parts of the city, including hundreds who had come from the +neighboring villages. When I reached the Cathedral, the entire central +aisle was filled with kneeling women, their heads shrouded in their +rebosos, or covered with mantillas, gazing in silence upon the holy +group, while the music of the choir and the monotonous chants of the +priests seemed to be almost lost amongst the columns and arches, in low, +wandering echoes. As the night advanced, the devotional feelings of the +silent multitude became roused, a hum of prayer filled the Cathedral, +and as midnight approached, many of the women seemed lost in wild, +religious fervor; the notes of the musicians, and the voices of the +priests, before subdued, now rose high and exultant; and when the clock +announced midnight, all the bells of the city struck up a joyful chime, +and the vast auditory rising to its feet, joined in the triumphant +refrain, “Jubilate! Christ is born!” A procession of priests advanced; +and the Virgin and Son were reverently placed upon a crimson cushion, +and beneath a silken canopy, supported by rods of silver, they were +carried out into the plaza, where the military, with arms presented, +heads uncovered, and bending on one knee, paid their adoration, while +the procession moved slowly around the square, repeating, “Hosannah! +hosannah! Christ is born!” How late the ceremonies continued I know not, +for I went home and to bed, not a little impressed by the scene which I +had witnessed. + +But little more than a week after this, I was witness of a widely +different scene in the same plaza. It was a quiet and exceeding +beautiful afternoon. An American friend from Honduras had dined with me, +and we were discussing a luscious papaya, preparatory to the afternoon +siesta in the hammocks under the corridor, when we heard a sudden firing +in the direction of the plaza. The sound of the discharges appeared to +me to be singularly distinct and emphatic, but supposing that some +fiesta was in progress, with the usual _bomba_ accompaniment, I made no +remark. The discharges continued, and became more general, and shortly +after Ben entered the room hurriedly, and touching his hat said, “Sir, I +think there’s a revolution!” + +“Oh, no, Ben, it is only some fiesta.” + +“But, sir, the spent balls have fallen in the court!” + +I had no time to reply, before the alarm, “Un asalto de las armas!” was +raised in the streets, and the next moment a crowd of women and +children, terror depicted in every face, rushed through the open +_zaguan_, and along the corridors. These were followed by a confused +mass, bare-headed, and in the greatest disorder, which came pouring over +the walls into my courtyard. They all crowded around me for protection. +Amongst them were a dozen young men, who should have taken their arms, +and rallied to the aid of the authorities, but who stood here pale and +craven. My predominant feeling towards these was anger and contempt; and +I directed Ben to raise the United States flag, and stationed my +American friend with a drawn sword at the door, with orders to admit all +women, children, and old men, but not to allow a single able-bodied man +to enter. While this was going on, the firing continued, and women, with +trunks, boxes, and bundles, containing their valuables, thronged into my +house for safety, filling the rooms and corridors, and huddling in +groups in the courtyard. Some prayed, and others ran wildly here and +there in quest of their children, or husbands, or brothers, wringing +their hands, and appealing to me to save them. + +The whole affair was a surprise, and comprehending how important to the +country was interior quiet at this moment, I instantly determined to +encounter all risks, and endeavor to put a stop to the outbreak before +it should proceed to general hostilities. Accompanied by Ben, I mounted +my horse and started for the plaza. The streets were filled with the +flying, terrified inhabitants, who, in reply to every question, only +ejaculated, “Un asalto de las armas!” and pointed hopelessly in the +direction of the plaza. At the first corner I met Dr. Clark returning +from visiting a patient in the suburbs, and tossing him a pistol, he +joined us. At that moment, the President of the State, accompanied by +his secretary, dashed past us towards the seat of the commotion. We +followed; but the firing now slackened, and just as we reached the +plaza, ceased altogether. The smoke rose a little as we entered, and I +was rejoiced to see the erect form of General Muñoz, at the head of a +column of veterans, advancing with fixed bayonets towards the principal +cuartel. The next moment he commanded a halt, and his men deployed into +line. He strode down the ranks, leading off in the shout, “Viva el +Gobierno Supreme! Mueran á los enemigos del orden!” in which the men +joined in a half frantic tone of exultation. + +The soldiers now caught sight of me, and spontaneously commenced +cheering for the United States; the Bishop, who had made his appearance +on the balcony of his house, joining in the shouts. The General +advanced, and shaking my hand, said rapidly, all was over and all was +well, and then, with the promptitude of a man equal to every emergency, +detached the various divisions of his men to the more important points +in the city. The soldiers defiled past, and at the head of a detachment, +his eyes flashing with excitement, and every movement indicating the +energy of his character, was the negro officer to whom I have elsewhere +referred. I observed that his sword was dripping with blood. + +The movement of the soldiers disclosed the front of the general cuartel, +and exposed a spectacle such as I hope never again to see. Beneath the +archway, still clutching their weapons, were the bodies of two men, who +seemed to have been killed in endeavoring to force an entrance; while a +little in front, his garments saturated with blood, was the body of a +well-dressed man, over whom a woman was kneeling. Her hands were clasped +upon his shoulders, and she was gazing with an expression of unutterable +anguish into his fixed, cold eyes. I rode nearer, and recognized in the +person of the dead man my friend Don José Maria Morales, Magistrate of +the Supreme Court of Justice, who, at the first alarm, had rushed to the +support of the Government, and had fallen a victim to his zeal. The +woman was his sister, who seeing him engaged, regardless of all danger, +had penetrated the array of combatants, to his side. But it was too +late; he could only ejaculate “mi hermana!” my sister, and died in her +arms. The spectacle was most affecting; and the tears glistened in the +eyes of the rude men who stood around the living and the dead. + +I turned from this sad spectacle, and then observed, drawn up in front +of the Cathedral, a body of some two hundred citizens, who, at the +instant the commotion was known, had repaired, arms in hand, to the +plaza. This was the first time they had done so for years, and it +afforded the best evidence of the spirit which hope had infused into the +hitherto despondent people of the country. It showed that they were now +determined to maintain public order, and instead of flying to the fields +upon the first symptoms of disturbance, to stand by their families and +property, and defend their rights and their homes. + +When I reached my house, I found that the crowd of refugees had already +nearly dispersed. They were used to these things; revolutions with them +were like thunder storms, here one moment, gone the next. My rooms +nevertheless were still encumbered with valuables, and during the rest +of the afternoon, in anticipation of every contingency, packages of +papers and of money continued to come in. I will venture to say, more +than a hundred thousand dollars in gold was brought to my room, within +the space of two hours, and chiefly by persons who were not suspected of +having an extra medio in the world. Experience had taught them the +necessity of keeping a sum of ready money at hand, in event of +revolution; and also of keeping it so completely concealed, as not to +excite a suspicion of their possessing it. I placed it all within a +large chest, where most of it remained for two or three months, until +all symptoms of disorder had passed away. + +The city was full of rumors concerning the _escaramuza_, and it was not +until late in the evening, when I was called upon by Señor Buitrago, +Secretary of War, that I learned the facts in the case. It proved that +the assault was made by a party of disaffected men belonging to the +Barrio of the Laberinto, in which is concentrated the worst part of the +population of the city, under the lead of two men of notorious +character, who had both been killed, and whose bodies I had seen beneath +the archway of the cuartel. Their plans had been matured with the +profoundest secrecy, and evidently by men moving in a different sphere +of life, and having the control of considerable ready money. The time +and mode of the attack had been well chosen. During the festivals of +Christmas and the New Year, a large number of cane booths had been +erected in the plaza; and the conspirators, half a dozen at a time, had +entered the square, and dispersed themselves amongst these booths, +concealing their arms beneath their clothes. In this manner several +hundreds had come in unsuspected. The point of attack was the Cuartel +General, in which the arms of the State are deposited, and at the +entrance of which only a half dozen men were on guard; the rest of the +little garrison, at this time of the day, being occupied with their +dinner. A few of the leading facciosos carelessly advanced in front of +the building, as if to pass it, and then made a sudden rush upon the +little guard, with the view of disarming them, and taking the rest by +surprise. The movement was made, and in an instant the conspirators in +the booths advanced from their concealment, shouting, “Down with the +Government!” The little guard at the gate was overpowered, and had it +not been for the negro officer Clemente Rodriguez, it is likely the +cuartel would have been captured. He was stationed at the opposite side +of the square, at the cabildo, with a picquet guard of thirty men. +Seeing the commotion, and supposing there was a revolt among the men of +the principal cuartel, he ordered his guard to fire upon the confused +mass which had collected in front of it. His example was followed by the +guard at the Government House and the Cathedral. Distracted by this +unexpected demonstration in their rear, the facciosos hesitated, +affording time for the garrison to recover their arms. This was the +critical moment, and Clemente, charging with fixed bayonets, decided the +struggle, killing the leader of the insurgents with his own hands. In a +few minutes the General, at the head of the company stationed at the +Church of the Mercedes, reached the plaza. But the facciosos were all +gone, no one knew where. They had mingled with the populace, the instant +they saw that failure was inevitable, and no doubt hurrahed as loudly +for the Government five minutes thereafter, as if they had always been +its warmest supporters. + +The vigilance of the authorities was again roused; and the city, for a +month, wore something of the aspect which it bore upon our arrival. A +number of arrests were made, but the details and instigators of the plot +were never discovered. There were some facts disclosed, however, which +would hardly be credited in the United States, where foreign intrigue +never attempts the direct subversion of the government, and which I +therefore pass over in silence. + +Two days after this event, the body of Señor Morales was buried, with +striking and unaffected demonstrations of sorrow. The corpse was +followed to the grave by all the officers of the garrison, and minute +guns were fired from the plaza during the burial. Scarcely a week +elapsed, before the broken-hearted sister, prostrated by the catastrophe +of her brother’s death, was laid beside him in the Church of La Merced. +The negro officer, Rodriguez, for his decision and bravery, was promoted +to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. + +During the month of November, the Commissioners of Honduras, San +Salvador, and Nicaragua had been in session, in the city of Leon, and +had agreed upon the basis of a union of these States, the terms of which +were promulgated about this period, for the first time. The arrangement +looked to an immediate or speedy consolidation, for the purpose of +conducting the foreign relations of the country, and to an early union +on the plan of a federation, leaving it optional with the States of +Guatemala and Costa Rica to accede to the compact. This policy was +opposed by the old aristocratic or monarchical faction, or rather the +remnants of it; and they, it is believed, were at the bottom of the +disturbances to which I have referred. In Honduras, in the month +following, they attempted a revolution, with the view of preventing the +contemplated union; and although they there met with better success at +the outset than in Nicaragua, they signally failed in the end, +notwithstanding that they had the countenance and support of the British +officials in the country; who, at this time, both in Costa Rica and in +Guatemala, by publications and otherwise, not only denounced the whole +plan of federation, and what they called the “American Policy,” but +threatened to break it down, whenever its organization should be +attempted. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +[Illustration: VIEW ON LAKE MANAGUA.] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + CHAPTER XXI. + +THE “PASEO AL MAR”—PREPARATIONS FOR THE ANNUAL VISIT TO THE SEA—THE + MIGRATION—IMPROMPTU DWELLINGS—INDIAN POTTERS—THE SALINES—THE + ENCAMPMENT—FIRST IMPRESSIONS—CONTRABANDA—OLD FRIENDS—THE CAMP BY + MOONLIGHT—PRACTICAL JOKES—A BRIEF ALARM—DANCE ON THE SHORE—UN + JUEGO—LODGINGS, CHEAP AND ROMANTIC—AN OCEAN LULLABY—MORNING—SEA + BATHING—ROUTINE OF THE PASEO—DIVERTISEMENTS—RETURN TO LEON. + + +Amongst the amusements of the people of Nicaragua, or rather of those +residing on the Plain of Leon, I ought perhaps to number “El Paseo al +Mar,” or annual visit to the Pacific. The fashionables of our cities +flock, during “the season,” to Saratoga or Newport, but those of Leon go +to the sea. And although the Paseo is a different thing from a season at +the Springs, yet it requires an equal amount of preparation, and is +talked about, both before and after, in very much the same strain and +quite as abundantly. It is the period for flirtations, and general and +special love-making,—in short, it is the festival of St. Cupid, whose +devotees, the world over, seem more earnest and constant than those of +any canonized saint in the calendar. + +I had heard various allusions to the Paseo al Mar, during the rainy +season, but they were not the most intelligible. When the dry season set +in, however, they became more frequent and distinct, and by the middle +of January the subject of the Paseo became the absorbing topic of +conversation. The half naked muchachos in the streets seemed inspirited +with the knowledge of its near approach; and even my venerable cook +began a series of diplomatic advances to ascertain whether it was my +intention “to do in Rome as the Romans do,” and join in the general +migration. The inquiry was made directly by a number of the Señoras, and +the wife of one of my official friends, whose position enabled her to +trench a little on conventional restrictions, plumply invited me to join +her party. And yet the Paseo was not to come off until the moon of +March, two months in the future. + +At that time the dry season begins really to be felt; the crops are +gathered, the rank vegetation is suspended, the dews are comparatively +light, the sky is serene and cloudless, storms are unknown, and the moon +rules at night with unwonted brightness and beauty. The dust in the +cities becomes annoying, and trade languishes. It is just the season for +mental relaxation and physical enjoyment. At that time too, the salt +marshes near the sea become dry, and the mosquitos defunct. In short, +the conditions for a pleasant Paseo are then perfected. + +The preliminary arrangements are made during the week preceding the +first quarter of the new moon. At that time a general movement of carts +and servants takes place in the direction of the sea, and the Government +despatches an officer and a guard to superintend the pitching of the +annual camp upon the beach, or rather upon the forest-covered sand-ridge +which fringes the shore. Each family, instead of securing rooms at the +“Ocean House” or a cottage on the “Drive,” builds a temporary cane hut, +lightly thatched with palm-leaves, and floored with petates or mats. The +whole is wickered together with vines, or woven together basket-wise, +and partitioned in the same way, or by means of colored curtains of +cotton cloth. This constitutes the penetralia, and is sacred to the +“bello sexo” and the babies. The more luxurious ladies bring down their +neatly-curtained beds, and make no mean show of elegance in the interior +arrangement of their impromptu dwellings. Outside, and something after +the fashion of their permanent residences, is a kind of broad and open +shed, which bears a very distant relation to the corridor. Here hammocks +are swung, here the families dine, the ladies receive visitors, and the +men sleep. It is the grand sala, the comedor, and the dormitório para +los hombres. + +The establishments here described pertain only to the wealthier +visitors, the representatives of the upper classes. There is every +intermediate variety, down to those of the mozo and his wife, who spread +their blankets at the foot of a tree, and weave a little bower of +branches above them,—an affair of ten or a dozen minutes. And there are +yet others who disdain even this exertion, and nestle in the loose, dry +sand,—a cheap practice which I should straightway recommend, were it not +for anticipating my story. + +“The ides of March,” it was unanimously voted by impatient Señoritas, +were a long time in coming, and great were the rejoicings on the +eventful evening when the crescent moon—auspicious omen!—revealed its +delicate horn when the sun went down in the west. A day or two after, +the Paseo commenced in earnest; horses, mules, and carts, were all put +in requisition, and when I took my evening ride, I observed that our +favorite balconies were nearly every one empty. There were a few which +yet retained their fair occupants, but the silvery, half-apologetical +“mañana,”—“to-morrow,” which answered our salutations, explained that +these too would soon flit after their companions. + +Business intervened to keep me in the city, which, deserted by full half +of its population, now looked dull and desolate, and it was not until +the fourth day, that I could arrange to take my share in the “Paseo.” It +was five leagues to the sea, and we waited until nearly sunset before +starting. Through Subtiaba,—also half deserted, for the Paseo is the +perpetuation of a semi-religious, Indian custom,-along the pleasant +stream which skirts it, winding now between high hedge-rows, among the +tall forest-trees, or spurring across the open “_jicorals_,” yellow from +the drought, here passing a creaking cart, enveloped in a cloud of dust, +filled with women and children, or with fruits and vegetables, and anon +overtaking a party of caballeros, each with a gaily-dressed girl mounted +on the saddle before him, with a reboso thrown loosely over her head and +a lighted _puro_ in her mouth, which, as we gallop past she removes for +an instant, to cheer “al mar! al mar!” to the sea! to the sea!—thus on, +on, until rising a swell of open land, we look over a league of flat +country, shrouded in forest, out upon the expanse of the Pacific! The +sun has gone down, the evening star trembles on the verge of the +horizon, and the young moon struggles with the twilight, high and clear +in the empyrean. A mile farther, and we reach a hollow, at the bottom of +which is a stream, and from it comes a confused sound of many voices, +wild laughter, and the echo of obstreperous songs. We involuntarily stop +our horses, and look down upon a crowd of men and animals, drinking at +the stream or struggling to approach it,—the whole swaying and +incongruous mass but half revealed by the ruddy light of large fires, +quivering on rock and tree, and on the shifting groups, in strong +contrast with the broad bars of moonlight which fall, calm and clear, +through the openings of the trees. This is the grand watering place for +the encampment, where all the horses are twice a day brought to drink, +and these are the mozos, upon whom the task of attending to them +devolves. The fires proceed from rude kilns in which the Indian potter +is baking his wares, and standing beside a heap of newly-made vessels is +his wife, who cries— + + “Cantáras, cantáras nuevas, + Queira á comprar?” + +We passed through the groups of men and animals with difficulty, and +after a short ride beneath the shadows of a dense forest, came upon what +are called the Salines,—broad open spaces, in the rainy season covered +with water, but now dry, and hard, and white with an incrustation of +salt. In the moonlight they resembled fields of snow, across which wound +the black and well-beaten road. Between the Salines and the sea there is +a broad, dry swell or elevation of sand, which seems to have been formed +by the waves of the ocean, and which is covered with trees. Amongst +these we could distinguish the lights of many fires; and as we +approached, we heard bursts of merry laughter, and in the pauses between +them, the tinkling of musical instruments. We spurred forward, and were +soon in the midst of a scene as novel as it was inspiriting. There were +broad avenues of huts, festooned with hammocks in front, in which the +Señoritas were reclining, in lively conversation with their red-sashed +beaus, who idly thrummed their guitars, while the elders of both sexes, +seated in the background, puffed their puros and cigaritos, pictures of +indolence and physical ease. Flanking the huts were covered carts, +within and beneath which children were playing in an ecstacy of glee. +Behind, the cattle were tethered to the trees; and here too were the +fires for culinary purposes, around which the _cocineras_, chattering +like parrots, were preparing the evening cup of chocolate. Now we passed +an open, brilliantly lighted hut, in which dulces, wines, and cigars +were displayed on shelves twined round with evergreens. In front a +dextrous tumbler exhibited his feats for the entertainment of the +claret-sipping customers of the establishment, from whom he extracted an +occasional _medio_ for his pains. Near by, an Indian girl, seated on a +mat, exposed a basket of fruits for sale, while another paraded a little +stock of gaudy ribbons, to tempt the fancy of some young coquette. In +the centre of the encampment, under the shadow of a species of banyan +tree, which spread out its foliage like the roof of a dwelling, and sent +down half a hundred distinct trunks to the earth,—here was the station +of the guard of police, a detachment of soldiers from the garrison of +Leon, whose duty it was, not only to preserve order, but to keep a sharp +lookout for contraband aguardiente, the sale of which, except in small +quantities, at the government _estanca_, is strictly prohibited. The +prohibition did not extend to the fermented _chicha_, or palm-juice, +which bacchanalian looking Indians, exhibiting in their own persons the +best evidences of its potency, carried round in open calabashes, at a +quartillo the _jicara_, equal to about a pint. + +The officer of the guard recognized our party, and before I was aware of +the movement, the soldiers had fallen into line and presented arms. This +was the signal for a general huddle of the idlers. I entered an instant +and half-indignant protest against all demonstrations of the kind, and +told the commandant that I had left the American Minister at my house in +Leon, and had come down to the sea as a simple _paisano_, or citizen of +the country. The explanation was in good time; it entertained the +quidnuncs, and saved me from much annoyance afterwards. Before we had +finished our parley, however, we were made prisoners by my old friend +Dr. Juarros, and taken in triumph to his establishment at the court end +of the camp. Here we found most of our fair friends of the balconies, +sipping chocolate, in a hurricane of spirits. The “gayeties” of the +Paseo were clearly at their height, and the infection was so strong that +we at once caught the prevailing feeling, and fell into the popular +current. We were speedily informed as to what was “up” for the evening +in the fashionable circles. A dance by moonlight on the beach, with +other divertisements when that wearied, had already been agreed upon. +These were to commence at nine o’clock; it was now only eight, and we +devoted the intervening hour to a ramble through the encampments, +followed by a train of idlers, who seemed greatly to relish our interest +in its novelties. We found that Chinandega, Chichigalpa, El Viejo, and +Pueblo Nuevo, as also Telica and the other small towns on the plain of +Leon, were all represented here. The Padres too were in force, and +seemed quite as jolly as the secular revellers; in fact, a thorough +understanding and tacit admission of equality had put all classes in the +best of humors, and they mingled freely, without jostling, conceding to +each other their peculiar entertainments, and banishing envy and rivalry +from the encampment. + +There seemed to be a good deal of practical fun going on, of which we +witnessed a number of examples before we had half finished our circuit. + +We returned to the court end of the encampment in time to accompany the +Señoras along a wide path cleared through the bushes which grow, +hedge-like, at the edge of the forest, out upon the broad and beautiful +beach. The sand was loose and fine and white near the forest, but +towards the water it was hard and smooth. Groups of revellers were +scattered along the shore, here a set of dancers, and yonder a crowd of +boys engaged in noisy sport, or clustering like bees around some vender +of fruits, or of “frescos.” There were no doorkeepers or ushers to our +moonlit ball-room, and the dancers commenced their movements to the +measured beat of the waves of the great ocean, which rolled in grandly +at our feet. The dense background of forest, the long line of level +shore, the clear moonlight, the gayly-dressed dancers and animated +groups, the music, the merriment, and the heaving sea,—I could hardly +convince myself of the reality of a scene so unlike anything which we +had yet witnessed. In the intervals of the dance, cigars and cigaritas +were lighted, and at eleven o’clock, when this amusement wearied, a +proposition for “un juego,” or play, was carried by acclamation. A large +circle was drawn in the sand, around which the participants were seated, +one of each sex alternately. Our host, who, although his head was white, +nevertheless retained the spirit and the vivacity of youth, responded to +the call for “a boy” to take the centre of the circle and set the +“juego” in motion, and was received with uproarious merriment. The play +seemed to be very much after the order of those with which children +amuse themselves in the United States, and was prefaced by a general +collection of handkerchiefs from the entire party, which were bound up +in a bundle, and deposited in the centre of the ring. The manager then +took one at random, and proceeded to question its owner as to the state +of his or her affections, and, from his knowledge of the parties, often +putting home questions, which were received with shouts of laughter. +Certain standard pains and penalties were attached to failures or +hesitations in answering, and when the interrogatives were finished, the +respondent was assigned a certain place in the circle, the owner of the +second handkerchief taking the next, and so on. Some point was attached +to these accidental conjunctions, which I was not shrewd enough to +discover, but which was a source of infinite amusement to the +spectators, and sometimes of evident annoyance to the “juegadoras.” I +was pressed into a place in the circle, where my verdancy created most +outrageous merriment, in which I joined from sheer force of sympathy; +for, like the subjects of jokes in general, I could not for the life of +me see “the point of it.” I was fortunate, however, in having for my +“compañera,” the Doña I., one of the most beautiful ladies of Leon, +blessed with the smallest and whitest possible feet in the world—for, as +the ladies had removed their slippers after the dance, was it not +impossible to keep their feet concealed? Her husband had fallen to the +lot of a great coquette, to whom the oracle in the centre of the ring +declared he legitimately belonged. + +By midnight the entertainments began to flag in spirit, and the various +groups on the shore to move off in the direction of the encampment. Our +party followed, for as it is a portion of the religion of the Paseo to +take a sea-bath before sunrise, the keeping of early hours becomes a +necessity. As we passed along the shore, I observed that a number of the +visitors had taken up their lodgings in the sand, and they seemed to be +so comfortable that I quite envied them their novel repose. Upon +reaching what our arch hostess called her “gloriéta,” or bower, we found +that a narrow sleeping place had been prepared for us within the wicker +cage, which, although neat and snug enough, seemed close and +uncomfortable, as compared, with the open sands. And we quite shocked +our friends by announcing, after a brief conference, that we proposed to +sleep on the shore—that we had, in fact, come down with the specific, +romantic design of passing a night within reach of the spray of the +great ocean. So throwing our blankets over our shoulders, we bade the +Señoras good night, and started for the beach again. The encampment was +now comparatively still; and the hammocks in front of the various +impromptu dwellings were all filled with men, each one occupied with his +puro, which brightened with every puff, like the lamp of the fire-fly; +for the poppy-crowned god of the ancients, in Central America, smokes a +cigar. A single full-sized puro does the business for most men, and none +but those afflicted with a troubled conscience or the colic, can keep +awake beyond the third. The domestics of the various establishments, and +the mozos who had no quarters of their own, were reclining wherever it +was most convenient, some on mats or blankets, and others on the bare +earth, but all, like their betters, puffing silently at their cigars. +There were a few lingering groups; here, in a secluded corner, a party +yet absorbed in a game of _monté_, and yonder, in the shadow, a pair of +lovers, _téte-à-téte_, conversing in whispers lest they should arouse +the paternal dragons. Over all, the soldiers of the patrol kept vigilant +watch, slowly pacing, their muskets glancing in the moonlight, from one +end of the camp to the other. + +The shore was entirely deserted, except by the scattered slumberers. We +selected a place at a distance from them all—for there was room +enough—and each one scooping a little hollow in the sand, rolled himself +in his blanket and deposited himself for the night. The moon was now low +in the west, and its light streamed in a glimmering column across the +sea, and upon the waves which, crested with silver, broke in a shower of +pearly spray within twenty yards of the spot where we were reclining. +The cool breeze came in freshly from the water, its low murmur mingling +with the briny hiss of the spent waves chafing on the sand, and the +hoarse, deep bass of the heavy surf beating impotently on the distant +cape. And thus we slept; the naked earth below, the arching heavens +above us, and with the great ocean, rolling its unbroken waves over half +the globe, to chant our lullaby! + +We were up with the earliest dawn, just as the morning began to tint the +clouds in the east, and while the retreating squadrons of night hung +heavily in the west. The tide was at its ebb, and already little parties +were strolling along the beach to catch stray crabs, or fill their +pockets with the delicate shells left by the falling sea. We, too, +rambled along the shore, to a high projecting ledge of rocks, against +which the ocean dashed angrily with an incessant roar. They were covered +with the cones of some species of shell fish, which half a dozen Indian +boys, armed with hammers, were detaching, to be cooked for their +breakfast. There were also hundreds of lively crabs, which scrambled +into the crevices, as we leaped from one huge fragment of rock to the +other. Beyond this point, and partially shut in by it, was a little bay, +of which we at once took possession, and were soon struggling with the +combing waves that rolled in majestically on a hard but even floor of +white sand, which preserved the water as pure as in the open sea. Nor +was there the treacherous under-tow, dreaded even by the expertest +swimmer, and which detracts so much from the pleasure of the ocean bath. +But we had not been long in possession of the charming little bay, which +we supposed was ours by right of discovery, when we observed small +parties of women emerging from the woods, and gathering on the shore. W. +had the vanity to believe that they were attracted by the novelty of +white skins; but then, if they had simply come to see, why should they +so deliberately unrobe themselves? Why, in fact, should they paddle out +into the little bay? We modestly retreated into deeper water as they +approached; where we were soon completely blockaded, and began to +suspect that perhaps we had got into the “wrong pew,” and that this nook +of water, from its greater safety, had been assigned as a bathing place +for the women!—a suspicion which was confirmed by the rapidly increasing +numbers which now thronged between us and the shore, and by observing +that the male bathers were concentrated at a point some distance to the +right. But our embarrassment was quite superfluous; everybody seemed to +act on the principle “Honi soit, qui mal y pense;” and when, after +remaining in the water for half an hour longer than we would have +chosen, we ran the blockade, the movement caused never so much as a +flutter amongst the Naiads! + +The rules of the Paseo prescribed an hour’s bathing in the morning +before breakfast, quite as rigidly as do those of Saratoga a bottle of +Congress water at the same hour; and when we returned to the camp with +our hostess and the set of which she was the patroness, it was with an +appetite which would make a dyspeptic die of envy. Coffee, a hot +tortilla, and a grilled _perdiz_ or partridge, constituted the matutinal +meal; after which, and while the sands were yet in the shadow of the +forest, a dashing ride on the beach was also prescribed by the +immemorial rules of the Paseo. The gailycaparisoned horses were brought +up by the not less gaily-caparisoned gallants, and the Señoras lifted to +their seats in front. Some of them preferred to ride alone; and when all +was ready, away they dashed, now coursing along the edge of the forest, +and anon skirting the water so closely that the spray, rising beneath +the strokes of the rapid hoofs, fell in glittering showers on horse and +rider. + +At ten o’clock, the force of the sun begins to be felt; a cup of tiste +or of chocolate is now in order, followed by a game at cards beneath the +arbor-like corridors; and then, when the sun has gained the meridian, a +siesta opportunely comes in, with “frescos” and cigars _ad libitum_, to +fill up the hours until dinner, a meal which, in common with breakfast +and supper, is chiefly made up of fish, freshly caught, and game, filled +out with an endless variety of fruits and dulces. Besides visiting, and +other devices to kill time, there is always in the afternoon some kind +of divertisement, generally impromptu, to occupy the attention until the +hour of the evening bath. The afternoon of our visit, the divertisement +consisted in a grand search by the police for contraband _aguardiente_, +supposed to be concealed in a marsh, just back of the encampment, which +resulted in their getting mired and completely bedaubed with mud, before +they discovered that they had been adroitly duped by a wag, who the +evening preceding had set the whole encampment in an uproar by raising a +false alarm of “_los facciosos!_” But this time his luck failed him; he +was caught by the indignant soldiers, and, amidst the roars of the +entire encampment, was treated to a most effective mud bath, from which +he emerged dripping with mire. He was next taken to the sea, and +unmercifully ducked, then brought back, tumbled in the marsh again, and, +finally left to extricate himself as he best could. He took his +punishment like a philosopher, and contrived to get his captors quite as +completely in the mud as he was in the mire. This fellow’s love for +practical jokes, and the extravagant merriment which this rude sport +occasioned, illustrate what I before said of the keen appreciation of +the ridiculous which pervades all classes in Central America, and which +is perhaps due not less to a primitive condition of society, than to +that innate comic element which is so inexplicably associated with the +gravity of the Spanish character. + +It is often the case that the higher officers of state come down to the +Paseo. The presence of Gen. Muñoz seemed to be specially desired, as +much, I thought, on account of the military band which accompanies him +on such occasions, as of his own social qualities. But the affairs of +the government were now in an interesting, not to say critical state, in +consequence of the threatened revolution in Honduras, and the ladies had +to content themselves with the hackneyed, and not over-exhilarating +music of the guitar and violin. But they were not the people to permit +what the transcendentalists call the “unattainable” to destroy an +appreciation and full enjoyment of the “present and actual.” On the +contrary, they seemed only to regret that the idle, careless life which +they now led must terminate with the decline of the moon; a regret, +however, wholesomely tempered by the prospect of its renewal during the +full moon of April, when it is customary to return again, for a few +days, to “wind up the season.” + +My official duties did not permit of more than one day’s absence from +the seat of Government, and on the second evening, under most solemn +promises of a speedy return and protracted stay, just as the general +movement to the beach for the evening dance was commencing, we bade our +host good-by, and struck into the road for Leon. A rapid ride of two +hours over the open Salines, through forest and jicoral, and our horses +clattered over the pavements of Leon to our own silent dwelling. +Circumstances prevented my return to the sea; but when the Señoras came +back, a week later, I had full accounts of all that had transpired in +the way of match-making or adventure. + +It not unfrequently happens that eight or ten thousand persons are +collected on the sea-shore, at the height of the Paseo; but of late +years the attendance has not been so full as formerly. “You should have +seen it thirty years ago,” said an ancient lady, with a long-drawn sigh, +“when Leon was a rich and populous city; it is nothing now!” + +[Illustration: THE TOUCAN.] + + + + + CHAPTER XXII. + +PROPOSED VISIT TO SAN SALVADOR AND HONDURAS—DEPARTURE FROM + LEON—CHINANDEGA—LADRONES—THE GOITRE—GIGANTIC FOREST TREES—PORT OF + TEMPISQUE—THE ESTERO REAL AND ITS SCENERY—A NOVEL CUSTOM HOUSE AND + ITS COMMANDANTE—NIGHT ON THE ESTERO—BAY OF FONSECA—VOLCANO OF + COSEGUINA—THE ISLAND OF TIGRE—PORT OF AMAPALA—VIEW FROM THE + ISLAND—ENTRANCE TO THE BAY—SACATE GRANDE—EXCITING NEWS FROM + HONDURAS—ENGLISH FORTIFICATIONS—EXTENT, RESOURCES, AND IMPORTANCE OF + THE BAY—DEPARTURE FOR THE SEAT OF WAR. + + +I had now been nearly a year in Nicaragua, and although repeatedly urged +to do so, had not yet found an opportunity of visiting the neighboring +States. At this time, however, the condition of public affairs was such +as to permit of a brief absence from the capital, and I lost no time in +preparing for a journey to Honduras and San Salvador,—States identified +with Nicaragua in their general policy, and struggling, in concert with +her, to revive the national spirit, and build up again the prostrate +fabric of the Republic. This effort, as I have already said, was opposed +by the old serviles in the city of Guatemala, and their coadjutors in +the other States, who had succeeded in exciting disturbances in +Honduras, which threatened the complete overthrow of its Government. +Gen. Guardiola, an able but impetuous officer, the head of the army of +that State, had been so far deceived and misled by them, as to put +himself in arms against the constituted authorities. He had, in fact, +obtained possession of the capital, and at the head of a large force was +now marching against Señor Lindo, the President, who had taken up his +position and fortified himself at the town of Nacaome, near the Bay of +Fonseca. Here he had solicited the intervention of Nicaragua and San +Salvador, which States were bound by treaty to sustain Honduras and each +other whenever they should be threatened with violence from within or +from abroad. San Salvador had accordingly sent a considerable force to +the support of Lindo, under the command of Gen. Cabañas, a distinguished +officer of the old Republic, and Nicaragua was making preparations to +afford further aid in case of necessity. + +Under these circumstances, and with the hope of being able to avert a +collision, which could only result in evil, I started on my journey. It +was at the beginning of the “Semana Santa,” or Holy Week, and by the +dim, gray light of the morning, as we rode through the silent city, we +could make out the arches and evergreen arbors with which the streets +were spanned and decorated, preparatory to this principal festival of +the calendar. Early morning on the plain of Leon, when the purple +volcanoes are relieved against the sun’s coronal of gold, and their +ragged summits seem crusted over with precious stones, while the broad +plain rests in deep shadow, or catches here and there a faint reflection +from the clouds,—early morning on the plain of Leon, always beautiful, +was never more gorgeous than now. Broad daylight overtook us at the +Quebrada of Quesalguaque; and although the dust was deep, for it was now +past the middle of the dry season, yet we rode into Chinandega, +twenty-five miles, in time for breakfast. + +Here I found my old friend Dr. Brown, who had been the first to welcome +me at San Juan, and who had just arrived from Panama in the “Gold +Hunter,” the first American steamer which had ever entered the ancient +harbor of Realejo. Here we also found a considerable party of Americans +from California, homeward bound, “with pockets full of rocks,” who, +taken with the luxuriant climate and country, and oriental habits of the +people, had rented a house, purchased horses, and organized an +establishment, half harem and half caravansary, where feasting and +jollity, Venus and Bacchus, and Mercury and Momus, and half of the rare +old rollicking gods, banished from refined circles, not only found +sanctuary, but held undisputed sway. They were popular amongst the +natives, who thought them “hombres muy vivos,” and altogether prime +fellows, for they never haggled about prices, but submitted to extortion +with a grace worthy of Caballeros with a mint at their command. + +The streets near the plaza were blockaded with carts and piles of +stones, for the troop of captured ladrones had been put to the useful +employment of paving the principal thoroughfares. They were all chained, +but in a manner not interfering with their ability to labor, although +effectually precluding escape. Yet they were guarded by soldiers, man +for man, who lounged lazily in the doorways of the houses on the shaded +side of the streets. I observed that most of the criminals were Sambos, +mixed Negro and Indian, who seem to combine the vices of both races, +with few if any of their good qualities. Yet physically they were both +larger and better proportioned than the parent stocks.[37] Their exists +between them and the Ladinos, or mixed whites and Indians, a deeply +seated hostility, greater than between any of the other castes of the +country. + +----- + +Footnote 37: + + Dr. Von Tschudi makes a similar observation concerning this caste in + Peru. He says: “they are the most miserable class of half-castes; with + them every vice seems to have attained its utmost development; and it + may confidently be said that not one in a thousand of them is a useful + member of society, or a good subject of the State. Four-fifths of the + criminals in the city jail of Lima are Sambos. Their figures are + athletic, and their color black, sometimes tinged with olive-brown. + Their noses are not as flat as those of the negroes, but their lips + are quite as prominent.”—_Travels in Peru_, p. 84. + +----- + +In Chinandega, as in fact every other town of the State, I observed +numerous instances of the _goitre_. It is chiefly, if not wholly, +confined to the women. This circumstance particularly attracted my +attention, as it is popularly supposed that this is a disease peculiar +to elevated or mountainous regions. The inhabited portions of Nicaragua, +excepting the sparsely populated districts of Segovia and Chontales, are +elevated not exceeding from one to five hundred feet above the sea. +Chinandega is only seventy feet, and Leon, Granada, and Rivas, not more +than a hundred and fifty feet, above tide water; yet in all these towns +the goitre is common. I also saw several cases of _elephantiasis_, but +they are rare. + +We spent our first night at our old quarters in El Viejo, and started +next morning before daylight for what is called “El Puerto de +Tempisque,” on the Estero Real, where we had engaged a bongo to take us +to the Island of Tigre, in the Bay of Fonseca. The distance to Tempisque +is about seven leagues; the first three leading through an open, level, +and very well cultivated country. That passed, we came to a gigantic +forest, including many cedro, cebia,[38] and mahogany trees, amongst +which the road wound with labyrinthine intricacy. This forest is +partially under the lee of the volcano of Viejo, where showers fall for +nearly the whole of the year, and hence the cause of its luxuriance. +Here we overtook our patron and his men, marching Indian file, each with +a little bag of netting, containing some cheese, plantains, and +tortillas for the voyage, thrown over one shoulder, a blanket over the +other, and carrying the inseparable machete resting in the hollow of the +left arm. + +----- + +Footnote 38: + + The cebia, or wild cotton tree, is one of the most imposing of the + forest’s monarchs. It grows rapidly, and to a great size. I have seen + a single trunk seventy feet long, forty-four feet in circumference at + one end, and thirty-seven at the other. The wood is lighter and less + durable than pine, but it is worked easily. This tree is generally + used for bongos or piraguas. It produces large pods, filled with a + downy substance like floss silk, which is used in a variety of ways, + for stuffing cushions, pillows, etc. It may, no doubt, be put to other + economical purposes. + +----- + +Within a mile or two of Tempisque, the ground began to rise, and we +found ourselves on a high, broad ridge of lava, which had ages ago +descended from the great volcano above mentioned. It was partially +covered with a dry and arid soil, supporting a few coyol palms, some +groups of the Agave Americana, and a great variety of cacti, which +contrive to flourish where no other plants can grow. The coyol palm is +the raggedest of the whole family of palms, yet it is one of the most +useful. Its flower is the largest and most magnificent to be found +beneath the tropics; it forms a cluster a yard in length and of equal +circumference, of the color of frosted gold, flanked and relieved by a +deep brown shell or husk, within which it is concealed until it is +matured, when it bursts from its prison and shames the day with its +glories. The fruit is small, not larger than a walnut, but it is +produced in clusters of many hundreds each. The kernels resemble refined +wax, and burn almost as readily; when pressed, they yield a fine, clear +oil, equal to the best sperm, and well adapted for domestic uses. The +shell of the nut is hard, black, and susceptible of the highest polish, +and is laboriously carved by the natives into rings and other articles +of ornament, which, when set in gold, are very unique and beautiful, and +highly valued by strangers. But the uses of this palm do not end here. +The heart of the tree is soft, and may be cooked and eaten. And if a +hollow or cavity is cut in the trunk, near its top, it soon fills with +juice, of a slightly pungent flavor, called _chiche_ by the Indians, +which is a delicious and healthful, and when allowed to ferment, an +intoxicating beverage. + +From the summit of the lava ridge, we obtained a view of the level +alluvions bordering the Bay of Fonseca. They are covered with an +unbroken forest, and the weary eye traverses a motionless ocean of +verdure, tree-tops on tree-tops, in apparently unending succession. + +We paused for a moment to contemplate the scene; but its vastness and +silence were painful, and I felt relieved, when, after descending +rapidly for ten minutes, we found ourselves amidst some evidences of +life, at the “Puerto de Tempisque.” These evidences consisted of a +single shed, open upon three sides, and inhabited by an exceedingly +ill-looking mestizo, an old crone, and an Indian girl, naked to the +waist, whose occupation extended to bringing water, and grinding maize +for tortillas. There was a fine spring at the base of the hill near by, +and around it were some groups of sailors, engaged in cooking their +breakfast. The ground back of the hut was elevated and dry, but +immediately in front commenced the mangrove swamps. Here too, scooped in +the mud, was a small shallow basin, and extending from it into the +depths of the swamp, a narrow canal, four or five feet deep, and six or +eight in breadth, communicating with the Estero Real. The tide was out, +and the slimy bottom of both basin and canal, in which some ugly bongos +were lying, was exposed and festering in the sun. Altogether it was a +forbidding place, suggestive of agues and musquitos. Ben prepared +breakfast, and meantime I amused myself with a tame _coati_ or tropical +raccoon, which I found beneath the shed, and which was as frolicksome +and malicious as a kitten. Its principal delight seemed to be to bite +the toes of the Indian girl, who evidently owed it no good will, and was +only prevented from doing it a damage, by the old crone, whose pet it +was. + +In the course of a couple of hours the tide began to rise; our bongo was +loaded, and by eleven o’clock, we were pushing slowly through the narrow +canal. After penetrating about three hundred yards, we entered an arm of +the Estero. It was wider than the canal, and permitted the use of oars. +All around us, so dense that not a ray of the sun could penetrate, was a +forest of mangroves. These trees cover the low alluvions of the coast, +which are overflowed by the tide, to the entire exclusion of all other +vegetation. Their trunks commence at the height of eight or ten feet +from the ground, and are supported by naked roots shooting downward and +outward, like the legs of a tripod, hundreds in number, and those of one +tree interlocking with those of another, so as to constitute an +impenetrable thicket. Bare, slimy earth, a gray wilderness of roots +surmounted by tall spire-like trunks, enveloped in a dense robe of +opaque, green leaves, with no signs of life except croaking water-fowls +and muddy crabs clinging to the roots of the trees, an atmosphere +saturated with damps, and loaded with an odor of seething mire—these are +the predominating features of a mangrove swamp! I never before +comprehended fully the aspects of nature, described to us by geologists, +at the period of the coal formations,—“when rivers swollen with floods, +and surcharged with detritus, heaved mournfully through the silence of +primeval forests; when endless fens existed, where the children of +nature stood in ranks so close and impenetrable, that no bird could +pierce the net-work of their branches, nor reptile move through the +stockade of their trunks; when neither bird nor quadruped had yet +started into being.” Half an hour carried us through these Stygian +solitudes; and I breathed freer, when our boat pushed into the broad and +magnificent Estero Real. This is an arm of the sea, projecting from the +lower extremity of the Bay of Fonseca, for a distance of sixty miles, +behind the volcanic range of the Marabios, in the direction of Lake +Managua. Where we entered, about thirty miles above its mouth, it was +three hundred yards wide, and forty-eight feet, or eight fathoms, deep. +The tide, which here rises about ten feet, had just turned, and we +floated down rapidly, with the current. The banks were now full; the +water washed the feet of the mangroves, and they appeared as if rising +from the sea. Being all of about equal height, and their foliage compact +and heavy, they shut in the Estero as with walls of emerald. The great +volcano of El Viejo, its dark brown summit traced boldly against the +sky, came into view, sole monarch of the scene, now on one side, now on +the other, as we followed the windings of the stream. Though the +elements of the scenery were not many, yet the atmospheric effects, the +long, dreamy vistas, and the dark, leafy arches, bending over some +narrow arm of the Estero, left an impression upon my memory, in many +respects as pleasing, and in all as ineffaceable, as the richer and more +varied scenery around the great lakes of the interior. + +[Illustration: The Crimson Crane] + +As we proceeded, and the tide fell, the steep, slimy banks, before +concealed by the water, began to come in view. Seen from the middle of +the Estero, they appeared of a rich umber color, contrasting strongly +with the light blue of the water and the dense green of the trees. Life +now began to animate the hitherto silent banks; for thouCsands of +water-fowls, before concealed in the leafy coverts, emerged to prey upon +laggard snails, and to snap up presumptuous crabs, induced by the +sunshine and the slime to linger on the shore, when they should have +been “full fathoms five” beneath the water. Amongst these birds I then +noticed some white and rose-colored herons, of exceeding beauty. Many of +the latter are to be seen on the shores of Lake Nicaragua, in the +vicinity of the Estero of Panaloya. + +At five o’clock, during the last hour of the ebb, we observed that the +left bank of the Estero was higher than the other, and that the stream +had now widened to upwards of half a mile, and had deepened to ten +fathoms. It is here called “Playa Grande,” and here the Government +maintains a kind of Custom House. When we came in sight of the +establishment, our sailors took to their oars, and pulled towards the +shore. If Tempisque was solitary, this was utterly desolate. The trees +had been cleared away, for a few hundred feet, and in the midst of the +open space stood two thatched sheds, elevated on posts, so that the +floors were eight or ten feet above the mud, which was now partially +dried, cracked, and covered with leprous spots of salt, left from the +water of the overflows. To reach these structures, a tree had been cut +so as to fall down the bank; this was notched on the upper surface, and +stakes had been driven at the sides, to prevent whoever should attempt +to pass from slipping off into the mire. As we approached, the +Nicaraguan flag was displayed, and the half-dozen soldiers comprising +the guard were drawn up on the platform of the first hut. They presented +arms, and went through other formalities, in obedience to the +Commandante’s emphatic orders, with a gravity which, considering the +place and the circumstances, was sufficiently comical. The Commandante +assisted me up the slimy log, and upon the platform of the Custom House, +and gave me a seat in a hammock. Beneath the roof were several +coffin-like shelves, shut in closely by curtains of cotton cloth, and +reached by pegs driven in the posts of the edifice. These were +dormitories or sleeping places, thus fortified against the musquitos. +From the roof depended quantities of _plantains_, _maduras_ and +_verdes_, intermixed with festoons of _tasajo_ or hung-beef. A large box +filled with sand, at one end of the platform, was the fire-place, and +around it were a couple of old women engaged in grinding corn for +tortillas. The Commandante smiled at my evident surprise, and asked if +we had anything quite equal to this, in the way of customs +establishments, in the United States? It was a delightful place, he +added, for meditation; and a good one withal for young officers lavish +of their pay, for here they couldn’t spend a quartillo of it. He had +held the place for three months; but the Government was merciful, and +never inflicted it upon one man for more than six, unless he had +specially excited its displeasure. “In fact,” continued the Commandante, +“my devotion to the women is the cause of my banishment; not that I was +more open or immoderate in my amours than others, but because my +superior was my rival!” And the Commandante made a facetious allusion to +King David, and the bad example he had set to persons in authority. +After this I might have left the Commandante with an impression that, +whatever his past delinquencies, he was now a correct and proper young +man. But just at that moment the curtains of one of the dormitories, +which I had observed was occupied, were pushed apart, and a pair of +satin slippers, and eke a pair of tiny feet were projected, followed in +due course by the whole figure of a yellow girl, of more than ordinary +pretensions to beauty, dressed in the height of Nicaraguan fashion. I +comprehended at once that she had fled to the dormitory, upon our +approach, to make her toilette; and when the Commandante introduced me +to her as his _sobrina_, niece, I only ejaculated, _picaro!_ rascal! + +There was little to interest us at this desolate place, and although the +Commandante urged us to stay to dinner, it was of more consequence to +avail ourselves of the ebb tide than to eat; so the six soldiers were +paraded again, and we pushed off, and fell down the stream. As we +rounded the first bend, we discovered several large boats, fastened to +the shore, and waiting for the turn of the tide, to ascend the +stream—for the current in the channel is so strong as to render it +impossible to row against it. Consequently all navigation is governed by +the rise and fall of the tide. The boats were filled with men, women, +and children, flying from the seat of war in Honduras. They gave us a +confused account of the advance of Gen. Guardiola to the coast, and said +that there had been a battle, in which the Government had been beaten, +with a variety of other startling rumors, which turned out to be +unfounded. + +At six o’clock it was slack water, and our men pulled for awhile at the +oars. But the moment the flow commenced, they pushed in at a place where +a little cleared spot, and some grass, showed that there was an +elevation of the shore, and made fast to the roots of the overhanging +mangroves. The banks were very abrupt, and covered with little soldier +crabs, which paraded beneath the trees, and scrambled along their roots +in thousands. Some of the men stripped, dragged themselves up the slimy +banks, and with some wood, which they had brought, made a fire. For our +own part, we essayed to fish; but did not get even the poor +encouragement of a nibble. Yet there were abundance of fishes, of a +peculiar kind, all around us. They were called “anteojos,” or +spy-glasses, by the sailors, from their goggle eyes, which, placed at +the top of their heads, project above the water, like so many bubbles. +They were from six inches to a foot long, with bodies of a muddy, yellow +color, and went in shoals. When frightened, they would dart off, fairly +leaping out of the water, making a noise like a discharge of buckshot +skipping past. They were impudent fishes, and gathered round the boat, +with their staring eyes, while we were fishing, with an expression +equivalent to “what gringos!” + +Our boat rose with the tide, and when it got within reach of the +overhanging branches, we clambered ashore. We found that here was an +open, sandy space, a hundred feet square, covered with traces of fires, +and with oyster and muscle shells,—evidences that it was a favorite +stopping-place with the marineros. The sun had so far declined as to +throw the whole Estero in the shade, while the light still glowed on the +opposite leafy shores. Altogether I was taken with the scene, and sipped +my claret amidst the swarthy sailors with a genuine Robinson Crusoeish +feeling. As night came on, we pushed out into the Estero, to avoid the +musquitos, and cast our anchor (a big stone) in eleven fathoms water. + +The moon was past her first quarter, and the night was one of the +loveliest. The silence was unbroken, except by the sound of the distant +surf, brought to us by the sea breeze, and by an occasional, sullen +plunge, as of an alligator. I have said that at this season, when the +grass on the hills, with the ephemeral vegetation generally, is dried +up, nearly the whole country is burnt over. The forests through which we +had ridden that morning had been traversed by fiery columns. And now, as +it grew dark, we could see them slowly advancing up the sides of the +great volcano. At midnight they had reached its summit, and spreading +laterally, presented the appearance of a flaming triangle, traced +against the sky. So must the volcano have appeared in that remote period +when the molten lava flowed down its steep sides, and devastated the +plain at its base. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +[Illustration: VOLCANO OF COSEGUINA FROM THE SEA.] + +[Illustration: VIEW ON THE ESTERO REAL.] + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +During the night, when the tide turned, the patron lifted anchor, and +floated down with the current. The proceeding did not disturb my +slumbers, and when I woke next morning, we were in the midst of the Bay +of Fonseca, with a fair wind and all sails set, steering for the island +of Tigre, which lifted its high, dim cone immediately in front. Upon our +right, distant, but distinct beneath the morning light, was the low, +ragged volcano of Coseguina, whose terrible eruption in 1838 I have +already described. Other volcanoes and volcanic peaks defined the +outlines of this glorious Bay; and the porpoises tumbling around us, and +gulls poising in the air, or slowly flapping their crescent wings just +above the deep green waves, all reminded us that we were near the great +ocean. We went through the water with great velocity, and at eleven +o’clock, when the breeze began to decline, we were within five or six +miles of the island, which now presented a most magnificent appearance. +It is about thirty miles in circumference, with sloping shores; but +immediately in the centre rises a regular, conical, volcanic mountain, +between four and five thousand feet high, clothed almost to the summit +with a robe of trees. The top, however, is bare, and apparently covered +with burnt earth, of a rich brown color. + +[Illustration: VOLCANO OF COSEGUINA.] + +At noon, the wind having entirely died away, the men took to their oars, +and we coasted for upwards of two hours along the base of the island, +before reaching the Port of Amapala, which is situated upon its northern +side. In places the shore was projecting and abrupt, piled high with +rocks of lava, black and forbidding, upon which the sea-birds perched in +hundreds; elsewhere it receded, forming quiet little bays, with broad +sandy beaches, and a dense background of trees. We finally came to what +seemed to be the entrance of a narrow valley, where the forest had been +partially removed. Here we saw the thatched roofs of embowered huts, +with cattle grazing around them; and shortly after, turning round an +abrupt lava promontory, where, upon a huge rock, the English had painted +the flag of their country, in evidence of having taken possession of the +island “in the name of Her Majesty, Victoria the First,”—we darted into +the little bay of Amapala. + +Two brigs, one Dutch, and the other American under the Chilian flag, +were lying in the harbor, which was still and smooth as a mirror, +bending with a crescent sweep into the land, with a high promontory on +either side, but with a broad, clear beach in front, upon which were +drawn up a great variety of bongos and canoes, including one or two trim +little schooners. In a row, following the curve of the shore, were the +huts of the inhabitants, built of canes, and thatched in the usual +manner. Back of these the ground rose gently, forming a broad ridge, and +over all towered the volcano of El Tigre. The most conspicuous features +of the village were two immense warehouses, belonging to Don Carlos +Dardano, an Italian merchant, whose enterprise had given importance to +the place. Through his influence the State of Honduras, to which the +island belongs, had constituted it a Free Port, and made a concession of +a certain quantity of land to every family which should establish itself +there. As a consequence, within two or three years, from a temporary +stopping-place for fishermen, Amapala had come to possess a considerable +and constantly increasing population and trade, and now bade fair to +rival La Union, the only port of San Salvador on the Bay of Fonseca. + +We landed immediately in front of the principal warehouse, which was now +closed, by a decree of the authorities against Don Carlos, who had been +weak enough to accept the office of “Superintendent of the Island of +Tigre,” during the temporary English occupation, and who had been +obliged to retire into San Salvador, when it was evacuated. We found one +of his agents, however, a German, who, with his family, lived in the +smaller building, eating and sleeping amongst great heaps of hides, and +piles of indigo and tobacco bales, bags of Chilian flour, and boxes of +merchandise. He appeared to be a civil, well educated man, but wore his +shirt outside of his pantaloons, and altogether conformed to the habits +of the people around him. + +The Commandante of the port had withdrawn the principal part of the +garrison, and joined the forces of the Government at Nacaome. His +lieutenant, nevertheless, “put himself at my disposition,” in the most +approved style; but I made no demand upon his courtesies, except for a +guide to lead us to the top of the hill overlooking the port. A scramble +of half an hour brought us to the spot. It was cleared, and commanded a +most extensive view of the Bay and its islands and distant shores. At +our feet, upon one hand, were the town and harbor, with a broad sweep of +tree-tops intervening; and on the other, a wide savanna, forming a +gigantic amphitheatre, in which were gardens of unbounded luxuriance. +But these only constituted the foreground of the magnificent panorama +which was spread out before us, and which combined all the elements of +the grand and beautiful. A small portion of the view, the entrance to +the Bay from the ocean, is presented in the frontispiece to the first +volume of this work. Upon one side is the volcano of Coseguina, rough +and angular, and upon the other that of Conchagua, distinguished for its +regular proportions and sweeping outlines. They are stupendous +landmarks, planted by nature to direct the mariner to the great and +secure haven at their base. Between them are the high islands of +Conchaguita and Mianguera, breaking the swell of the sea, and dividing +the entrance into three broad channels, through each of which the +largest vessels may pass with ease. All of these entrances, as shown by +the map, are commanded by the Tigre; and it is this circumstance, joined +to its capabilities for easy defence, which gives the island much of its +importance. + +The view to the north takes in the islands of Martin Perez, Posesion, +and Punta de Sacate, belonging to San Salvador; and Sacate Grande, +belonging to Honduras. These had all been seized by the English at the +time of their piratical descent on the Tigre. Sacate Grande is the +largest, and, in common with the rest, is of volcanic origin. It is +rough and fantastic in outline, and almost entirely destitute of forest +trees. The scoriaceous hills support only _sacate_, or grass, which, +during the dry season, becomes yellow, and gives the island the +appearance of being covered with ripe and golden grain. + +But beyond the islands, which Mr. Stephens has observed surpass those of +the Grecian Archipelago in beauty, is a belt of mountains on the +main-land, relieved by the volcanoes of San Miguel and Guanacaure, and +numerous other tall but nameless peaks. I spent an hour on the hill in +mapping the Bay and taking the bearings of the principal landmarks, and +at four o’clock returned to the port, hungry, but too much excited by +the scene to feel wearied. Here I found an officer of the Government of +Honduras, who had come down to procure additional supplies for the army. +He gave me the startling news that Gen. Guardiola, at the head of three +thousand men, was only one day’s march from Nacaome, and that a battle +might now be hourly expected. I had intended to spend the night on the +island; but this news, joined to the solicitations of the officer +himself, determined me to proceed at once to San Lorenzo, on the +main-land, and thence, next morning, to Nacaome. But our bongo was high +and dry on the beach, and we had to wait for the rising of the tide in +order to get her off. Meantime we dined, and strolled along the shore to +a little headland, which the English, during their stay, had attempted +to fortify. They had constructed a kind of stockade, surrounded by a +ditch, with embrasures for artillery, and loopholes for musketry. But in +order to save labor, and yet to frighten off assailants, a considerable +part of the enclosure was built of a kind of wicker-work of canes, +plastered on the outside with mud. It was pierced for guns also, and +looked as formidable as some of the pasteboard forts of the Chinese, +from whom the suggestion seems to have been derived. The enclosure was +now used as a pen for some sheep, which the agent of Don Carlos had +recently introduced on the island. I hope this fact will afford some +consolation to the builders; it must be gratifying to them to know that +their labors have not been wholly lost![39] + +----- + +Footnote 39: + + Had I not determined to exclude from my Narrative any extended + allusion to political affairs with which I was in any way connected, + this would be a proper place to present a true statement of the + circumstances of the seizure of this island and Bay by the officers of + Great Britain. These circumstances have been grossly misrepresented; + and a British Envoy has gone to the extent of asserting, not only that + the outrage was “provoked” by circumstances which transpired _after + the act was committed_, and with which the perpetrators were wholly + unacquainted, but also to admit, in his correspondence with a + confederate, that this assertion was made with a full knowledge of its + falsity, and for the purpose of shielding that confederate from odium, + by shifting it to innocent shoulders! Should self-justification seem + to require it, a succinct account of that seizure may be given in the + Appendix to this volume. + +----- + +The Bay of Fonseca probably constitutes the finest harbor on the +Pacific. In its capacities it is said to surpass its only rival, the Bay +of San Francisco, which it much resembles in form. Its entire length, +within the land, is about eighty miles, by from thirty to thirty-five in +breadth. The three States of Honduras, San Salvador, and Nicaragua, have +ports upon it. The principal port is that of La Union, situated on the +subordinate bay of the same name, and belonging to San Salvador. The +inner shores are low, but with a country back of them of unbounded +fertility, penetrated by several considerable streams, some of which may +be navigated. The mountains which separate it from the sea are high, and +effectually protect it from the winds and storms. It has, in nearly +every part, an abundance of water for the largest ships, which, in the +little bay of Amapala, may lie within a cable-length of the shore. The +entrance may be effected with any wind, and the exit can always be made +with the tide. Fresh water may be obtained in abundance on the islands +and along the shores; the climate is delicious and healthy; the +surrounding mountains furnish timber of superior quality, including +pine, for ship building and repairs; in short, nature has here lavished +every requisite to make the Bay of Fonseca the great naval centre of the +globe. But what gives peculiar importance to it, and lends significance +to the attempted seizure by Great Britain, is the fact that, if a ship +canal is ever opened across the Continent, it seems more than probable +that its western terminus must be, _via_ the Estero Real, in this Bay. +The evidence in support of this opinion will appear in another +connection. + +The islands in the Bay are of great beauty. Several of them had +anciently a large population of Indians. In Dampier’s time there were +two considerable Indian towns on the island of Tigre, and one on +Mianguera. But the natives were so much oppressed by the pirates who +made this Bay their principal station on the South Sea, that they fled +to the main-land, and have never returned. Drake had his headquarters on +the island of Tigre, during his operations in the Pacific, and, under +one pretext or another, it has been much frequented by British national +vessels for many years. Its importance, in a naval point of view, is +well understood by the Admiralty, under whose orders it was carefully +surveyed by Capt. Belcher, R. N., in 1839. No American war vessel, it is +probably unnecessary to add, has ever entered the waters of this Bay, +although it is clear, to the narrowest comprehension, that it completely +commands the whole coast from Panama to San Diego, and in the hands of +any maritime nation, must control the transit across either isthmus, and +with it the commerce of the world. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIII. + +DEPARTURE FOR SAN LORENZO—MORNING SCENES—NOVEL CAVALCADE—A HIGH + PLAIN—LIFE AMONGST REVOLUTIONS—NACAOME—MILITARY RECEPTION—GEN. + CABANAS—AN ALARM—NEGOTIATIONS—BRITISH INTERFERENCE—A TRUCE—PROSPECTS + OF ADJUSTMENT—AN EVENING REVIEW—THE SOLDIERY—A NIGHT RIDE—RETURN TO + SAN LORENZO. + + +A little before sunset, the tide had lifted our boat, and the wind being +brisk and fair, we embarked for San Lorenzo. Our course was along the +base of Sacate Grande. The vaqueros had set fire to the dry grass that +afternoon, and when the night fell, it revealed a broad sheet of flame, +extending entirely across the island, sending up vast billows of black +smoke, and moving onward with a deep and steady roar, like that of the +ocean. Spires of flame, like flashes of lightning, often darted upward +amongst these clouds of smoke, or swooping downward, set fire to the +grass in advance of the devouring column. The spectacle was grand, and I +watched it until midnight, and then crept beneath the chopa and went to +sleep. + +I was awakened by a sense of suffocation, and found that it had rained +during the night, and that the sailors had let down the flaps of the +chopa, thus confining us in a low and narrow space, not much larger than +an ordinary oven. I hastened to drag myself out upon the pineta. Day was +just breaking, and a hot, gray mist hung around us, half concealing yet +magnifying every object. I could only make out that the bongo was lying +high up on a broad, black beach, fifty yards from a sullen looking +river, whose opposite shore was overhung with drooping trees. The +sailors were all gone, and I was perfectly ignorant of our position. I +felt oppressed by a lassitude such as I had never before experienced, +and longed for water, if only to wash my hands and face. The river was +dark and sullen, yet it appeared as if it might refresh me. So I got +over the side of the boat, but sunk at once to the instep in a black, +sickening mire. I nevertheless advanced towards the water’s edge, and +had nearly reached it, when I discovered a number of large alligators, +trailing their ugly carcasses through the mud, not ten feet distant. In +the deceptive light they looked absolutely monstrous. I did not stop to +take a second view, but retreated to the bongo with a rapidity which +five minutes before I would have thought impossible. Here I roused Ben, +and then commenced hallooing for our patron. Directly we heard his voice +in the distance, and soon after he came stalking towards us, appearing +through the mist like one of the genii of Arabian story. + +It turned out that we were about three leagues up an estero formed by +the river Nacaome, and within six leagues of the town of the same name, +whither we were bound. A short distance in advance, and to the right of +us, the patron said there were some cattle ranchos, whither he had gone +with the officer who had accompanied us, to obtain horses for our +expedition. I inquired with what luck, and received the expected answer, +“no hay!” accompanied with the usual expressive wave of the forefinger. +It was certainly a comfortable prospect, stuck there in the mud, amidst +mists, and deadly damps, and alligators. My previous sense of exhaustion +rapidly gave place to a vague feeling of injury and general discontent +and disgust. Determined to know the worst, I ordered the patron to lead +me to the ranchos. They were miserable huts, hastily constructed of +bushes and palm-leaves, surrounded by a drove of melancholy cows, which +some fever-and-agueish looking women were engaged in milking. A brawny +mestizo, with a deep scar across his face, sat by a little fire, turning +some pieces of meat on the coals; and a pack of mangy dogs, showing +their long, white teeth, sneaked snarling around our legs. I bade the +brawny mestizo good morning; he looked up with a furtive, suspicious +glance, but made no reply. How far all these circumstances contributed +to restore good humor, the reader can readily imagine. My first impulse +was to shoot a dog or two, and their owner in the bargain, if he made +any disturbance in consequence, but thought better of it, and sat down +gloomily in a damp hammock which I found strung between the trees. + +Shortly after, my companions came up from the bongo, and the mist +lifting, and matters generally assuming a more cheerful aspect, we took +possession of the mestizo’s fire, and began to prepare breakfast. A few +conciliatory reals set the women to grinding tortillas for us, and +really made the mestizo himself complacent,—at any rate, he exhibited +some grim signs of gratitude by kicking his curs from around our legs. + +We had hardly finished our breakfast, when our friend, the officer, +returned, accompanied by some Indians, one of whom was an alcalde, each +leading a couple of horses. Such horses! They were “caballos del campo,” +rough beasts from the ranchos, long ago mortgaged to the buzzards. We +had fortunately brought our saddles with us, and were not long in +getting mounted, and on our road—if the bed of the river can be called a +road. It was a cavalcade worthy of Hogarth’s pencil, and each horseman +laughed inordinately, at the comical figure cut by his companions. At +the head of the party rode our Indian alcalde, with the air of a man +discharging an exalted and responsible duty. He had heard of “El Norte,” +but had no clear notions of its whereabouts; he couldn’t tell whether it +was northward or southward, but knew that it was “muy poderoso,” very +powerful, and had vessels of war, and a great many cannons. He led us up +the stream to a ford, crossing which, we struck into a broad path +connecting with the camino real to Nacaome. The vegetation in the river +valley was very luxuriant, affording food for many droves of cattle, +which, at the height of the dry season, are driven down from the +elevated, parched savannas of the interior to browse here. This practice +accounted for the number of temporary huts which we passed in our march, +and which were only built to last a month or two, while the cattle +remained in the valley. + +The alcalde took us out of our way to his own house, which was a rude +but permanent establishment, where he insisted on our stopping long +enough to drink a calabash of milk; I obliged him by dismounting and +entering for a moment. The women were engaged in their eternal +occupation of grinding tortillas, and, instead of rising to welcome us, +bashfully continued their work. They were apparently pure Indians, but +of a lighter shade than those of Nicaragua. They belong to a nation +denominated Cholutecan, which is evidently a Mexican name, and probably +the same with Cholultecan, i. e., people of Cholula, the place of the +great teocalli or pyramid. A short distance beyond the alcalde’s house, +we reached a broad plain, covered only with clumps of gum arabic bushes, +interspersed with calabash trees. These did not particularly obstruct +the view, and as the plain was high, we could overlook the country for a +great distance around. Behind us was a wide expanse of low alluvial +land, densely wooded, with the high islands of the Gulf distinctly +visible beyond; while in front rose a series of ragged, blue mountains, +the outliers of the great central plateau of Honduras. As we advanced, +the plain became more open, but strangely traversed, at intervals, by +narrow strips of lava, projecting only a few feet above the ground. +Finally the bushes disappeared altogether, and the plain assumed the +character of an undulating savanna. And now, looking like some old +fortress, we discovered, a long way in advance, the low, straggling +buildings of a hacienda, from which radiated lines of stone walls, the +first we had seen in Central America. It was a grateful sight, and +inspired our Rozinantes to such a degree, that, by a liberal application +of whip and spur, they were actually seduced into a gallop—which they +kept up in a paroxysmal way, until we reached the hacienda. In the +laughter created by this race, we had not observed the commotion which +our approach had excited. We were at first mistaken for a party of +mounted ladrones; but as soon as we were distinctly made out, all alarm +subsided, and the proprietor of the estate, a tall, courteous man, +advanced to welcome us. Dismounting, we left our blown horses with the +mozos, under the broad corridor, and entered the house. One half of the +grand sala was filled with tobacco in bales, from the plains of Santa +Rosa, in the interior, on its way to El Tigre, to be shipped, via Cape +Horn, for Holland! + +We had not been long seated, before a young lady of great intelligence +of face, grace, and benignity of manner, and dressed in American style, +entered the room. The proprietor introduced her as his daughter, who, in +consequence of her mother’s death, was now his housekeeper. She +conversed with us readily, and I soon discovered that she had been well +educated, and had travelled with her father both in the United States +and in Europe. + +The conversation turned upon the present political disturbances, and we +learned that General Guardiola, the night previously, had reached the +village of Pespire, only two leagues from Nacaome, and that probably he +would attack the place that very day. In fact, our host told me his +valuables were already packed, and his horses saddled for flight into +San Salvador, the moment the sound of guns should announce that all +negotiations and attempts at compromise had failed. But I asked, if you +leave, what will become of your property here? “It will be robbed,” was +the prompt reply, “but not for the first time; the estate has been three +times pillaged within the past six years!” + +I shuddered to think what might be the fate of the gentle girl before +us, if, when the worst came to the worst, her father’s plans of escape +should fail him. She said she only wished that matters would take some +decisive turn; the sternest reality were better than this painful +suspense. She did not care for herself, (and she pointed significantly +to the hilt of a poignard concealed in her belt,) she had little to +choose between life and death, except for the sake of her father and her +motherless sisters. + +It was yet two leagues to Nacaome, and knowing the reputation of General +Guardiola for impetuosity, I felt that the object of my visit could only +be accomplished, if at all, by reaching the scene of action before any +collision should take place. Our host was positive that the day would +not pass without a battle. We accordingly mounted, and advanced as +rapidly as our miserable horses enabled us. A little distance beyond the +hacienda, the road struck again into the narrow valley of the river; and +as we were now beyond the alluvions, and entering the mountains, it +assumed all the appearance of a mountain stream. In fact, the whole +scenery had changed, and was unlike that of any part of the country we +had yet seen. The stones around us were rich in copper, and interspersed +with quartz, and the granite outcrops here and there showed that we had +reached the region of primitive rocks. The mountains were no longer +isolated peaks, but took the form of continuous ranges, and made broad +sweeps in the distance. The river too, here murmuring amongst the +stones, there spreading out in broad, dark pools, reminded us of the +upper tributaries of the Hudson. + +[Illustration: MOUNTAIN SCENERY IN HONDURAS.] + +We passed several houses, occupied only by women; the men had either +joined the army, or had fled to the hills to escape the conscription. +About a league from the hacienda, we met a man, splendidly mounted, with +long hair, and a wild, bandit contour generally, who was riding express +to the Port of La Union, with despatches from the commander of the San +Salvadorean allies in Nacaome. He was known to some of our party as +“Diablo Negro,” Black Devil, and had a twin brother who rejoiced under +the hardly less objectionable designation of “Diablo Blanco,” White +Devil. These twin devils were noted in the country as men of unbounded +activity and daring, and their titles were intended to be complimentary. +Diablo Negro told us that an Indian runner, despatched by our official +friend, had reached Nacaome before he had left,—and that the army was +ready to receive us upon one side, and Guardiola on the other. And then +he laughed outright at his own observation, which he evidently thought +was witty. The rebels, he said, were advancing, and if we rode fast we +might witness an “escaramuza,” or scrimmage, such as it would do our +souls good to see; and with a wild laugh, Diablo Negro struck spurs into +his horse, and dashed off for La Union. + +The valley widened as we progressed, and soon a grand amphitheatre, +encircled by hills, opened before us. Upon an eminence in the centre +stood the town of Nacaome, the white walls of its houses and the +stuccoed tower of its principal church looking like silver beneath the +noonday sun. A single glance revealed to us the capabilities of the +position for defence, and explained why it had been chosen as a final +stand point by the Government. We could distinctly see that the roof of +the church was covered with soldiers, and martial music reached our +ears, subdued by distance, but yet having a wonderfully earnest and +ominous sound. Our official friend, who was in advance, stopped for a +moment and listened with an attentive but troubled air, and then +rejoining us, begged that we would move on slowly, and allow him to ride +ahead and ascertain what was the cause of the peculiar activity of the +garrison. I could see that he thought Guardiola was about making an +attack, and was anxious not to involve us in the confusion, not to say +danger, of a battle. We agreed to await his return in a little hollow, a +short distance in advance. He thanked us, and galloped towards the town. +Matters now appeared coming to a crisis, but we had gone too far to +think of receding; besides, our horses were used up, and would make a +sorry show with Guardiola’s lancers at their heels! Our Nicaragua +servants were pale and silent, and I vainly attempted to rally them into +good spirits. It was all very well for us to be merry, they said; we +were in no danger; but Guardiola would make no ceremony with them, and +the spokesman shuddered as he drew his hand across his throat, by way of +commentary on his own observations. They seemed somewhat re-assured when +Ben unfolded our flag, but yet kept religiously in the rear, ready to +run at the first appearance of danger. + +We waited in the hot sun for our official friend to return, until we +were tired, and then moved on again towards the town. No sooner had we +emerged from the hollow, however, than we encountered a large cavalcade +of officers, full uniformed and mounted on splendid horses. Amongst them +was a plainly dressed, unpretending man, to whom we were introduced as +Señor Lindo, President of Honduras. He was of middle age, but looked +care-worn and prematurely old. With him was Gen. Cabañas, and a large +proportion of that devoted band of officers associated with Gen. Morazan +in his last gallant, but unsuccessful, struggle to preserve the old +Federation. I had heard much of Gen. Cabañas, his generosity, bravery, +and humanity, and observed him with deep interest. He is a small, pale +man, forty-five or fifty years of age, with a singularly mild face, and +gentle, almost womanly, manners. Yet beneath that unassuming, retiring +exterior, there slumbers a spirit which no disaster can depress, nor +opposition subdue. For fifteen years he has been conspicuous in the +political affairs of the country; yet his deadliest foes cannot point to +a single one of his acts during that long, anarchical period, tainted +with selfishness, or influenced by hatred or revenge. I could not help +thinking that, in more favored lands, and other fields of action, his +noble qualities might have won for him a name distinguished amongst +those whom the world delights to honor. + +Gen. Cabañas was now in command of the San Salvadorean allies, and had +under him, as aid, the sole surviving son of his benefactor and friend, +Morazan. He was a handsome youth, of noble bearing, and a frank, open +expression of face,—a perfect type, it is said, of his father. He spoke +English fluently, and at once explained to us the posture of affairs. +Guardiola’s advance was already within sight, and a detachment had been +thrown forward to meet them, under command of Gen. Barrios. It was this +movement which had attracted our attention, and alarmed our conductor. + +A short ride brought us to the suburbs of the town. The huts were all +closed and deserted. Those within musket-shot of the plaza had their +walls for several feet above the ground knocked away, so as to prevent +their use by assailants for purposes of protection or concealment. The +plaza itself was barricaded, with embrasures for cannon, which were so +stationed as to sweep the streets leading to it. The sole entrance was +by a covered way, so narrow as to admit the passage of but a single +horseman at a time. The troops were all under arms, and the defences +were fully manned, but by as motley an array of soldiers as it is +possible to conceive. They received us, nevertheless, with prolonged +vivas, and altogether seemed to be in high spirits. There was a kind of +pleasurable excitement in the mere presence of danger, in which I must +own I could not resist sympathizing. + +We dismounted, and were ushered into the sala of a large house, fronting +the church, and which had evidently belonged to a family of some wealth. +But it was deserted, and destitute of furniture, excepting some tables +and chairs, and one or two other articles, too heavy to be removed with +ease. + +We had hardly got seated, and the usual formulas of an official +reception were not yet concluded, when a gun was fired on the opposite +side of the plaza, followed by the rapid beat of a drum, and the cry of +“to arms! to arms!” We started to our feet simultaneously, and the next +instant an officer entered and announced that a party of Guardiola’s +horse had eluded the scouts, and had already entered the town. Señor +Lindo hurriedly bade us be under no alarm, begged us to excuse him for +an instant, and in less time than I am writing it, we were left wholly +alone. A moment afterwards, we heard the clear, firm voice of Gen. +Cabañas, and going to the door, I saw him mounted on his horse in the +centre of the plaza, giving his orders coolly and deliberately, as if +engaged in a review. The men stood at the barricades three deep; the +matches of the gunners were lighted; and an attacking party was sallying +rapidly by the only gate, to cut off the assailants. Having been +accustomed to regard a Central American army of new levies as little +better than a mob, I was surprised to see the order, rapidity, and +alacrity with which every movement was conducted, and was rather +anxious, on the whole, to know how the motley fellows would fight, if +driven to extremity. But it was soon apparent that we were not to be +favored just then with anything beyond the excitement of preparation. +For while we were helping ourselves to the contents of a box of claret +and some bread and cheese, which the President, notwithstanding the +bustle, had found time to send us, wondering why the performance did not +commence, and speculating on the probable result, if Guardiola had +really eluded the advance, and surprised the town—a young officer +presented himself, bearing Gen. Cabañas’s compliments, and the +information that the alarm had been occasioned by a petty detachment of +lancers, who had entered the suburbs in mere bravado; that half of them +had been captured on the spot, and that the rest were in full retreat, +with a troop of the Government cavalry close at their heels. + +Not long after, the President and his Secretary returned, and I learned +that Commissioners had already been sent to Guardiola, with a view of +disabusing him of certain errors into which he had fallen, and procuring +his peaceable submission to the Government. The intervention of San +Salvador, and if necessary of Nicaragua also, the President thought, +would materially influence the conduct of the refractory General; but he +feared, after all, that evil influences and counsels might prevail. It +was clear that Guardiola had been imposed upon by the Serviles of +Guatemala, and without being conscious of it, was in fact made use of by +them, and their foreign coadjutors, to prevent Honduras from entering +into the proposed new confederation. Señor Lindo showed me a letter from +a man named Pavon, Secretary to the British Charge d’Affaires, Mr. +Chatfield, addressed to a confederate, then under arrest for treason, in +which the whole plot of the Servile faction was unfolded. This letter +had been entrusted to Admiral Hornby, commander of the British naval +force in the Pacific, now on board the Asia, eighty-four, in the Port of +La Union, and by him had been inadvertently sent to the Government. Mr. +Pavon congratulated his friend that matters were taking a decided turn +against what he was pleased to call “the false American principles [i. +e. of union], so industriously promulgated by the Representative of the +United States;” and after complacently intimating that the British +“Admiral goes to La Union, _well instructed_ by Mr. Chatfield,” he +proceeded to say, “I think that his arrival there will bring the +revolution to a favorable close!” But whether Mr. Pavon told the truth +when he added, “Mr. Chatfield is at this moment writing to the Admiral, +but charges me to salute you in his behalf, and to say that all which +this contains meets his approbation,” is a matter between himself and +his principal. The President was naturally very indignant to find that +the British Legatine was the centre of the intrigues and plots which +distracted the State; and spoke with feeling of the attempt, made at +this juncture, by the “well instructed” British Admiral, to coerce the +State into a compliance with demands of doubtful validity, and the +surrender of territorial rights, in violation alike of justice and the +constitution. He very naturally conceived that this rude and hostile +intervention was designed to favor the insurgents, and procure the +substitution of a more manageable government than now existed. + +The demands of the British Admiral were certainly very extraordinary. It +appeared that Honduras had, some months before, delegated a commissioner +for a specific purpose, to the State of Costa Rica. While there, this +commissioner fell in with the British Charge d’Affaires and his +industrious Secretary, who, between them, prevailed upon him to sign a +treaty, providing, amongst other things, for the qualified cession of +portions of the territory of Honduras to Great Britain. The commissioner +had no power to treat with the British Representative, and the latter +knew perfectly well that no arrangement with him could be in any way +binding upon Honduras. In fact, the commissioner never presumed to +communicate the so-called treaty to his Government; and the first +official knowledge the President had of it, was a copy enclosed to him +by the British Admiral, with a demand for its immediate ratification, +under threats of blockades and territorial seizures in case of refusal! + +The reply of the Government was courteous, but decided; it wholly +declined to ratify or in any way acknowledge the acts of the +commissioner, who had not only proceeded without authority, but had +assumed the exercise of powers prohibited by the constitution, for which +he had now been arrested, and would be tried on a charge of treason! +These things may appear incredible, yet they are not only true, but a +fair illustration of the whole course of British policy in Central +America. It is proper to add, that, at the outset, the Admiral was +probably unaware of the nature of the fraud which was attempted; for +after the explanations of the Government, he seems to have permitted the +whole matter to drop. + +While I was occupied in examining the papers connected with these +extraordinary proceedings, Don Victorino Castellano, an influential +citizen of San Salvador, who had been delegated as a commissioner to +Guardiola, for the purpose of procuring his submission, returned with +the gratifying intelligence that there was every prospect of success; +that Guardiola had called back his advance, and agreed upon a total +suspension of hostilities for three days, to give time for a definite +adjustment of differences. He, in fact, brought with him the outline of +the terms upon which the General was willing quietly to lay down his +arms, and disband his men, _viz._: a general amnesty, and the immediate +convocation of the State Legislature, to act upon certain alleged +grievances in the internal administration, and particularly upon the +pending plan of Federation. The last stipulation was made by the General +with the evident purpose of relieving himself from the odium of favoring +the predominant, but most artfully concealed purpose of his late Servile +allies. + +I was satisfied, from the moderate nature of these demands, that all +danger of a collision was now over, and that my services “to keep the +peace” would be no longer required. I therefore determined to retrace my +steps to the Bay, and proceed on my proposed trip to San Salvador. This +determination was received by our Nicaraguan attendants with a +satisfaction bordering on ecstacy, and they would have saddled the +horses, and started at once. But the day was intensely hot, and I +preferred to ride to San Lorenzo by moonlight. + +At four o’clock, Gen. Cabañas sent us a very fair dinner, and after it +was despatched, we ascended the tower of the church, to witness the +evening review. This church is a large, quaint structure, with a fine +altar, and some dim, old paintings on the walls, which looked as if they +might have hung there for centuries. From the tower we obtained a full +view of the surrounding country. As I have said, Nacaome is a place of +some three or four thousand inhabitants, clean, and very well built, and +situated upon an eminence in the midst of a broad amphitheatre, shut in +on every side by mountains. To this great natural circus there is but +one entrance and exit, by the narrow winding valley of the river, which +almost encloses the town in its embrace. It appears to constitute two +distinct streams, and from this circumstance it may derive its name, +which, in the Mexican language, signifies _two bodies_, i. e., double +stream. The town is situated on the camino real, leading to Tegucigalpa +and Comyagua, the principal cities of the interior, and derives some of +its importance from that circumstance. It is also very well supported by +the adjacent country, which is fertile, and under what, in Central +America, may be called tolerable cultivation. + +From the tower we could discover many hattos, surrounded by small +patches of plantains and yucas; pictures of primitive simplicity, and +suggestive of unbounded rural delights. But the huts were all deserted; +their owners were fugitives in the mountains; and, excepting a troop of +lancers, with their weapons flashing in the sun, it might have been a +painted scene, in its total absence of life and action. + +The review, which took place just outside of the town, afforded an +agreeable relief to the contemplation of this picture, so lovely and +luxuriant, yet so deserted and lonely. When the men were paraded, I was +surprised at their number, and wondered where they had been kept +concealed. There were between two and three thousand,—as motley a set as +can well be imagined; and, with the exception of about four hundred +“veteranos” from San Salvador, dressed in accordance with their +individual tastes. Some had shirts, and others jackets, but many had +neither; and although I believe all had breeches, yet the legs of those +breeches were of all lengths, generally reaching but a little below the +knee. There were wags amongst them also, who, probably for the sake of +completing the diversity, had one leg rolled up and the other let down. +There were the tall, sandalled Caribs from northern Honduras, grim and +silent, side by side with the smaller and more vivacious Indians of San +Salvador. There were Ladinos and Mestizos, whites and negroes, +constituting a living mosaic, as unique as it was unparalleled by +anything which I had ever before seen. To those accustomed to the well +equipped and uniformed soldiery of other countries, this display would +have been but little better than a broad caricature. It certainly +afforded none of the “pomp and circumstance” of war, and would have made +a very indifferent figure in Broadway or Hyde Park. But if brought to +encounter the realities of war, weary marches, exposure, hunger, and +privations of every kind, the disparity would not be so great. For these +men will march, under a tropical sun, forty, fifty, and even sixty miles +a-day, with no other food than a plantain and a bit of cheese; sleep, +unprotected, on the bare ground, and pass, unimpaired, through fatigues +which would destroy an European army in a single week. Military success +depends more upon these qualities than upon simple bravery in battle. +But in this respect the soldiers of Central America are far from +deficient. When well officered, they fight with obstinacy and +desperation. In their encounters with the Mexican troops sent against +them by Iturbide, they proved themselves the better soldiers, and were +almost universally successful, whatever the odds against them. The +cruelties, barbarous massacres, and wholesale slaughters which have +marked many of their struggles amongst themselves, have been rather due +to the character of their leaders than to any natural or innate bloody +disposition of the people themselves. Gen. Cabañas told me that he had +never any difficulty in restraining the passions of his men; and to the +credit of that officer be it said, that none of his victories have been +disgraced by those atrocities which have been, unfortunately, the rule, +rather than the exception, in Central America. + +It was evening; the moon was shining brightly on the façade of the +principal church of Nacaome, bringing in relief the gaunt, old statues +of the saints which filled its various niches; the band was playing the +national air on the terrace in front, and the men, relieved from duty, +were reclining in groups around the plaza, and all appeared peaceful and +cheerful, when our horses were led to our door. President Lindo was +urgent that I should stay; but convinced that I could be of no further +service, and that our presence would materially incommode him, I +persisted in my purpose of departure. A party of lancers was deputed to +accompany us; and bidding our friends farewell, and “un buen exito” to +their campaign, we defiled through the silent streets, on our return. I +observed, however, as we rode along, that notwithstanding the apparent +favorable disposition of Guardiola, Gen. Cabañas had relinquished none +of his precautions. Treachery had been the vice from which he had +suffered most, and beneath which the Republic had fallen. We accordingly +found picquets stationed all about the town, and were more than once +startled by “quien vive?” from parties concealed in the chaparral which +bordered our road. + +I halted, for a moment, at the hacienda where we had stopped in the +morning, and experienced a real delight in relieving the proprietor of a +part of the anxiety and suspense under which he was laboring. His +daughter pressed my hand thankfully when I left; her heart was too full +for utterance, but her face expressed more plainly than words the +strength of that filial feeling which finds its highest pleasure in the +solace of a parent’s cares. + +The heat, excitement, and exertion of the day had greatly fatigued us; +and as we trotted slowly over the plain, which I have already described, +I was overcome with an insurmountable drowsiness, and falling asleep, +actually rode, in that state for nearly its whole length. I was only +awakened by a sharp blow on my head, from an overhanging limb of a tree, +just as we entered the thickly wooded valley of the river. Half an hour +more brought us to our bongo, which, though far from affording luxurious +accommodations, was yet, just now, a most welcome retreat. I lost no +time in creeping under the chopa, and in five minutes was wrapped in +deep and dreamless slumber. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +[Illustration: LA UNION AND VOLCANO OF CONCHAGUA.] + +[Illustration: CHURCH OF LA UNION.] + + + + + CHAPTER XXIV. + +LA UNION—OYSTERS—AMERICAN BOOKS—CHIQUIRIN—FRENCH FRIGATE “LA + SÉRIEUSE”—ADMIRAL HORNBY OF THE ASIA 84—FRENCH AND ENGLISH WAR + VESSELS—ASCENT OF THE VOLCANO OF CONCHAGUA—A MOUNTAIN + VILLAGE—PECULIARITIES OF THE INDIANS—LAS TORTILLERAS—VOLCANO OF SAN + MIGUEL—FIR FORESTS—AN ANCIENT VOLCANIC VENT—THE CRATER OF + CONCHAGUA—PEAK OF SCORLÆ—VIEW FROM THE VOLCANO—ENVELOPED IN + CLOUDS—PERILOUS DESCENT—YOLOLTOCA—PUEBLO OF CONCHAGUA AGAIN—AN + OBSEQUIO—INDIAN WELCOME—SEMANA SANTA—DEVILS—SURRENDER OF + GUARDIOLA—SAN SALVADOR—ITS CONDITION AND RELATIONS. + + +When morning broke, we were entering the inner bay of La Union, above +which towers the great volcano of Amapala, or Conchagua. Between us and +the shore, at the road of Chiquirin, where a clear mountain stream comes +down from the volcano, and forms a little bay, were the British +ship-of-the-line “Asia,” of 84 guns, and the French frigate “La +Sérieuse.” The first was there on the usual semi-annual visit, for +enforcing trumpery claims, and the second to watch the “Asia” and the +course of events in this quarter. Its officers and crew, although it was +scarcely daylight, were engaged in making soundings, and other +observations on the depth, capacity, etc., of the Bay. + +The Bay was still, and two hours of steady pulling brought us in front +of La Union, which is a small place, deriving its entire importance from +being the port of the city of San Miguel, twelve leagues in the +interior, and the most important commercial point in all Central +America. Excepting three or four large bodegas or ware-houses, close to +the water, belonging to the Government, and devoted to the reception of +goods in bond, there was not a single object worthy of remark in the +place. It nevertheless had an air of thrift; and a long dock or pier, +then under construction, and designed to facilitate the landing and +shipping of cargoes, showed that there was here rather more enterprise +than we had yet discovered in the country. + +Col. Caceres, the Commandante, had made us out with his glass, and was +on the dock, together with my old friends, Dr. Drivon and Mons. Mercher, +to receive and welcome us. He was a fine appearing officer, accomplished +in manner, and in his tasteful undress uniform of dark green, might have +been taken for an American. He had the good sense to omit parading his +little garrison, and led us at once to his house, the best in the place, +where we were introduced to his wife, Doña Maria, a tall, intellectual, +well educated woman, whose cordial welcome made us quite at home. This +lady, during my stay, was unremitting in her kindnesses, and, with her +two sweet little daughters, has left an impression upon my mind as +pleasing as it is ineffaceable. + +The apartments which were assigned to me bore the best evidences that +our host and hostess were far above the common mark, in point of +education and accomplishments. A piano and a variety of music books +occupied a part of the sala, and in my private chamber was a library +well stocked with standard works; amongst them I observed Prescott’s +Mexico, Irving’s Columbus, Cooper’s Spy, a translation of Livingston’s +Code, and Spanish Lives of Washington and Dr. Franklin. The “Espy,” of +the lamented Cooper, I may mention, seems to be better known in Spanish +America than any other work in the English language. I found it +everywhere; and when I subsequently visited the Indian pueblo of +Conchagua, the first alcalde produced it from an obscure corner of the +cabildo, as a very great treasure. He regarded it as veritable history, +and thought “Señor Birch” a most extraordinary personage, and a model +guerillero. + +Dr. Drivon, who had recently returned from California, in high disgust, +was established at the Doña Antonia’s, but a square distant; and as he +had often praised the oysters found in the Bay of Fonseca, I hinted to +him, before we had fairly got ashore, that I was ready to pass judgment +on them. Fortunately, the Indians had brought in a fresh supply that +morning, and he sent round a sack-full, which were served for breakfast. +They were small, compact, and salt, and we ate them with the utmost +relish. All hands concurred in saying that they were quite equal to the +best “New-Haveners,” and the value of the Gulf of Fonseca became +straightway doubled in our eyes. And then they were so cheap! As many as +a man could carry for a _medio_, or six cents! We had them three times a +day while we stayed in La Union, and before we left, I instructed the +Doña Maria in the mysteries of pickling them, and she kindly sent me a +little jar, by the Government courier, every week during the whole of +the time I remained in the country. The oysters at all other places on +the coast are large, soft, and insipid. Why they should differ so widely +here, is a question for naturalists; I vouch only for the fact. + +During the afternoon we were waited upon by the Lieutenant of “La +Sérieuse,” with an invitation from the commander to visit his frigate, +which we agreed to do on the following day, and accordingly, next +morning we set out, accompanied by a guide and Mons. Mercher. This +gentleman had been an officer under the Empire, and had resided in this +country for thirty years, without becoming a whit less a Frenchman, and +was just as ready to hurrah for a President as an Emperor, so that +thereby he went against England and British aggrandisement, and for the +glorification of “la belle France!” I had the Commandante’s own horse, a +noble animal, full of spirit, but so gentle that a child could manage +him. M., as usual, set the town in a roar, by tumbling from his mule in +the principal street; a feat which, by constant practice, he had come to +perform without suffering any damage. It was twelve miles by water to +Chiquirin, where the vessels were anchored, but only six overland. Our +road was nothing more than a mule path, skirting the bluff shores, and +winding over the broken spurs of the volcano, amongst stones and rocks, +and fallen trees, which it at first seemed impossible to surmount. After +a wild scramble, we reached some ranchos in the woods, which were called +the Pueblecita de Chiquirin, where we could hear the thunder of the surf +below us. We now descended rapidly, and soon came upon a broad, sandy +beach, skirting a small harbor, within which the “Asia” and “La +Sérieuse” were anchored. A bright mountain stream, leaping amongst the +black rocks, here plunged into the harbor, and on its banks, beneath the +tall trees, the crew of the Asia had erected a temporary forge. One +party of sailors was filling water-casks, and another was engaged in +towing off some cows to the ships; altogether it was a busy and +exhilarating scene. We were descried from “La Sérieuse,” and in a few +minutes the Captain came in his gig to conduct us on board. We embarked +with some difficulty; for, although the little bay is well sheltered +from winds, it is so near one of the entrances of the Gulf, that the +lateral swell is hardly less than the direct. We spent some hours on +board the frigate, which was a model of neatness and order. The armament +comprised all the latest improvements, and the crew was composed +entirely of young and vigorous men. After a lunch, which was despatched +with patriotic and fraternal accompaniments on both sides, I concluded +an arrangement with the Captain touching an ascent, the following day, +to the bare summit of the volcano, which pierced the clouds above our +heads. + +I thought it but civil to pay the Admiral a visit, and so waving all +etiquette, and the captain favoring me with his boat, I started, under +the prescribed salute, for the Asia. The Admiral received us cordially; +and conducted us into his cabin, where we found his wife and her sister, +and two of the admiral’s own daughters—all refined and accomplished +ladies, with whom we spent a most agreeable hour. It was a real luxury +to hear our mother tongue again, from a woman’s lips—and I regretted +that a previous engagement at La Union prevented me from accepting the +Admiral’s kind invitation to spend the night on board. The ladies were +bitten with ornithology, and had a most brilliant collection of stuffed, +tropical birds, which they were anxious to augment. So it was agreed +that they should come up some day of the week to La Union, where I +engaged to provide prog and poultry for the party. + +The Asia was a great, cumbersome vessel, overstocked with men and cows +and chickens, and looked like a store ship. Its guns were of the ancient +fashion, of light calibre, and as compared with the heavy 64’s and 32’s +of “La Sérieuse,” quite childish and behind the age. As I glanced +through its decks, and contrasted its old, heavy, stupid-looking sailors +with the young, quick, and intelligent crew of the Frenchman, I could +not resist the impression that England’s grasp on the trident was +growing feebler every day, and that another war would wrest it from her +hands for ever. The commercial marine of the United States now exceeds +hers; her vessels are beaten in every sea in the peaceful rivalry of +trade; and France is preparing, if indeed she is not prepared, to more +than regain the glory lost at Trafalgar. + +Admiral Hornby was, however, the model of the frank and hearty sailor; +and although I thought it was very small business for one of Nelson’s +men, and a Knight of Bath, to be engaged in bullying the poor devil +Governments of Central America, threatening them with blockades and the +Lord knows what else, if they did not prevent their editors from +“reflecting generally and particularly on the British government,”[40] +still, I was glad to meet him, and would have gone far out of my way to +have done him a service. He was confounded by the politics of Central +America, and well he might be. What little information he possessed, it +was evident enough, had been derived from English agents in the country, +who had resided here for many years, and had become as essentially +partisans as any of the natives—sharing in local and personal hates and +jealousies, and altogether burlesquing the offices which they filled. He +had been instructed that it was his duty to be particularly severe upon +Honduras, San Salvador, and Nicaragua, the only liberal States of the +old Republic, and unfortunately the only ones which had good harbors and +valuable islands to be seized in “behalf of Her Britannic Majesty.” But +thus far he had had but poor success in the objects of his visit. +Nicaragua had replied to his notes by enclosing a copy of that article +of its constitution guarantying the liberty of the press; Honduras had +flatly refused to have an unconstitutional treaty crammed down its +throat; and San Salvador had with equal decision declined to recognize +an obnoxious citizen, who claimed to be British Vice Consul, under a +commission from Mr. Chatfield. And in the end, the Admiral had to take +his departure, without having achieved anything beyond deepening the +hatred towards the British government—a hatred, unfortunately too well +founded, and the necessary result of a long series of insults and +aggressions. + +----- + +Footnote 40: + + “A series of articles have appeared from time to time in the papers of + Nicaragua, which reflect generally and particularly upon the British + government, and its respectable representative, Mr. Chatfield, as also + holding up the English nation, collectively and individually, to + public indignation. Such language is improper and unjust, and I bring + it thus officially before your government, believing that it will make + use of its influence over the public press to restrain, in future, + _all offences_ of this nature. * * It is my intention to return to + this port in a few days, when I expect to find a satisfactory answer + to this communication.”—_Rear Admiral Hornby, to the Sect. of State of + Nicaragua, March 19, 1850._ + + “The press of Nicaragua has not held up the British nation + collectively or individually to public indignation, unless by the + simple announcement of such acts as have been committed in the port of + San Juan, in the island of Tigre, and elsewhere. Nothing can be cited + in proof of your charge; and the Supreme Director regrets, Sir, that + you should counsel him to commit an unlawful act, by attacking the + _liberty of the press_, which is guarantied in the most solemn manner + by the constitution of the State.”—_Reply of Señor Salinas, Sect. of + State, March 31, 1850._ + +----- + +Our return to La Union was unmarked by a single incident worthy of +record, except the unsolicited presence of a couple of pumas, for a +moment, in our path; and the evening was devoted to preparations for +ascending the volcano. At about nine o’clock the Captain of “La +Sérieuse” arrived, and next morning, long before daylight, accompanied +by a soldier of the garrison carrying an immense alforgas, prepared by +the Doña Maria, we set out. We were not long in passing through the +town, and the chaparral which surrounds it; and then, striking into a +dark and ragged ravine, we commenced the ascent. As day dawned, I +observed with surprise that the path was broad and smooth; and we now +began to meet numbers of Indians, men and women, laden with fruit, corn, +and other commodities, coming down from the volcano. I was greatly +puzzled to account for any population in these rocky fastnesses, when +the path turned suddenly up the almost precipitous banks of the ravine, +and we found ourselves, a league and a half from the port, in the Indian +Pueblo of Conchagua. Its site is most remarkable. Here is a broad, +irregular shelf on the volcano’s side, the top, if I may so speak, of a +vast field of lava, which, many ages ago, flowed downward to the sea. +This shelf is covered with rocks thrown together in rough and frowning +heaps, to make room for the dwellings of the inhabitants, which are half +hidden by these rude pyramids. We wound some minutes through the crooked +streets, and then reached the plaza, a large area, in the centre of +which stands a low, picturesque church, built some time in the +seventeenth century. We could scarcely comprehend that in a land of +broad, fertile, and well-watered plains, a spot like this, rugged, +sterile, and without a single fountain, should have been selected as the +residence of any human being, much less of an entire community of two or +three thousand souls. Nothing but purposes of protection and defence +could account for the circumstance; and although a village may have +existed here before the Conquest, yet I am disposed to credit the vague +tradition which I afterwards heard, that a great portion of these +Indians formerly lived where La Union now stands, and on the islands of +the Gulf, and subsequently fled to this secluded spot to avoid the +cruelty of the bucaneers, who, from 1650, for more than half a century, +infested these shores. Here they seem resolved to remain, although every +drop of water for their use, except that caught from the clouds during +the rainy season, has to be brought for more than a league. The +Government of San Salvador has offered every inducement to them—lands, +exemption from taxation, and other privileges—to settle at the port, but +they have steadily refused. + +Although it was not yet sunrise, the town was active; and the whole +female population was busy with its task of grinding and preparing +tortillas for breakfast. Through the open doorways we caught glimpses of +the inmates at their work, as cheerful and contented there, on the +barren mountain side, as when the whole broad land was their own, and +from these rugged heights they offered their adorations to the monarch +Sun, the glorious emblem of their God. + +Little patches of plantains, and some palm and fruit trees occupied the +narrow spaces between the heaps of rocks and the huts, and completed a +picture of primitive life, not less striking and beautiful, though less +luxuriant, than that of Nindiri. Our presence created quite a sensation; +and, fearful of an obsequio, I hurried our guide, and passed rapidly +through the village. Beyond, the road was more broken, and hundreds of +paths diverged from it in every direction. We soon came to clearings for +purposes of cultivation. Wherever there were a few square yards of soil, +the trees and bushes had been removed, and maize had been planted. There +were also some considerable openings, covered with stumps and fallen +trees, resembling those which the traveller constantly encounters on our +frontiers. They recalled to mind my border rambles, thousands of miles +to the northward; but I listened in vain for the solitudes to echo back +the clear, ringing blows of the settler’s axe.[41] + +----- + +Footnote 41: + + The picturesque little town of Conchagua has suffered several + disasters since the time of my visit. In 1857-8, more than half of its + population was carried off by the cholera; lately (August, 1859), it + has been fearfully shaken by earthquakes. Its primitive church has + been prostrated, and huge rocks which impended over the village have + been thrown down, filling the little cleared fields, and crushing the + fragile structures of the people in their fall. The earthquakes which + caused this damage, and which also destroyed some buildings in the + port of La Union, are reported to have been more violent than those + which attended the eruption of Coseguina, in 1835. Serious + apprehensions were entertained that this volcano was again on the eve + of an eruption. Advices to the 2d of September (1859), report a + continuation of the shocks, and ominous symptoms of renewed activity + on the part of the volcano, which were observed as far as the city of + San Salvador, one hundred and fifty miles distant. + + I may here mention, that Captain Sir Edward Belcher has fallen into a + singular mistake regarding the mountain of Conchagua. Notwithstanding + that it is one mass of scoriæ and igneous rocks, he seems indisposed + to accept it as a volcano! + +----- + +All around us were huge volcanic rocks, and we wound for two hours +through the labyrinthine ravines, dark with trees, constantly ascending, +but yet unable to see beyond the tangled verdure of the forest. Finally, +however, the trees became fewer, and at eight o’clock we had emerged +beyond the forests, and stood upon the grassy, scoriaceous slope of the +volcano. And although the summit seemed more distant than ever, yet our +position overlooked an almost interminable expanse of country. The Bay +of La Union was mapped at our feet, and we could trace its esteros, +gleaming like silver threads, amidst the level, green alluvions. To our +left was the broad valley of San Miguel, but it was concealed from view +by a mist, like an ocean of milk, above which, island-like, to +mid-heaven, towered the great volcano of San Miguel—with the exception +of Ometepec, the most regular in its outlines of any in Central America. +From its summit rose a plume of white smoke, opalescent in the sun.[42] + +----- + +Footnote 42: + + The port of La Union is forty-five miles distant, in a right line, + from the volcano of Coseguina, and on the occasion of its eruption, + was deserted by the entire population, who fled in dismay to San + Miguel. The darkness was so great that they were obliged to carry + torches, which, however, gave no light, except for two or three yards + around them. The terrified inhabitants, some on foot and others + mounted, were followed by their equally terrified cattle, and even + wild beasts, tame with fear, joined in the unearthly procession, while + birds lit upon the travellers in affright, and would not be driven + away. + +----- + +We halted for a quarter of an hour in silent admiration, and then +resumed our course. We were on one of the bare ribs of the volcano, with +deep ravines on either side, up which the forests, reduced to a narrow +line of trees, extended for some distance farther. These spurs or ribs +of the mountain are covered with long, coarse grass, which gives them an +appearance of great smoothness; but it only conceals sharp, angular +rocks, and a treacherous scoriaceous soil. Our path here, therefore, was +more toilsome than in the forest; and as we advanced, the mules suffered +greatly. I had given the Captain his choice of animals at the start, and +he had selected a large, sleek, gentle mule, leaving me a little, black +macho, a villanous hard trotter, vicious, but tough as iron. The Captain +had kept ahead while we had a path, and seemed to have it very +comfortable; but now, when the ascent commenced in earnest, the black +macho left him far behind. The Captain spurred, and whipped, and +“sacre’d” in vain; his mule finally came to a dead halt. We were now at +the head of the ravines, whence the cone of the volcano rose sheer and +regular as the pyramids. Upon one side of our path, and five or six +hundred feet below us, was a belt of tall and beautiful fir trees, +amongst which we discovered, with our glasses, a party of Indians +collecting branches, wherewith to decorate the streets and churches, +during the Semana Santa. As we ascended, we had startled many deer, and +numbers of them now stood, with heads elevated and ears thrown forward, +contemplating us from a distance. There were also hundreds of wild +turkeys, and while the Captain was resting his mule, I pursued a flock +of them, and killed two, with as many discharges of my pistol; no great +feat, by the way, for they were so tame that I came within fifty feet of +them. + +Again we started, and now the narrow path wound zigzag up the face of +the mountain, so that in riding along we could almost lay our hands on +the turn next above us. I let my macho take his course, and he picked +his way as unconcernedly as if traversing a plain. I only feared that +the indurated scoriæ might give way beneath his feet, and I shuddered, +as I glanced down the steeps, to think what would be the inevitable +result. And thus we toiled on, slowly and painfully, winding up slopes +which no human being could have ascended directly. Finally we reached a +spot where, some time or other, there had been a slide of the earth, +forming a narrow shelf; and here the Captain’s mule again came to a dead +halt. Whip nor spur could move him. Finally, however, I took hold of his +halter, and succeeded in leading him into the narrow path, when he went +on as before. At nine o’clock, we had reached the summit of the first +peak, and stood upon the edge of a great funnel-shaped hollow, lined +with grass, which had been an ancient vent. Its walls upon one side had +been broken down, and we could see, far below, the rough outlines of the +lava current which had flowed from it into the ocean. There were a +number of these vents at various points, but the crater was still above +us. In half an hour we reached its edge, and wound down its ragged side +to a broad plain at its bottom. It was an immense amphitheatre, walled +with precipitous cliffs. The eastern side was elevated, and covered with +a forest of beautiful pines; its western depressed, with a spring of +water at its lowest part, surrounded with a variety of trees and vines, +constituting a sort of jungle, much frequented, our guide told us, by +wild beasts. The rest of the area was covered with grass, now sere and +yellow from the long drought. It was a singular spot, with no horizon +but the rocky rim of the crater, and no view except above, where the sun +shone down blindingly from a cloudless sky. We stood still, and like the +pulsations of the earth’s great heart, we could hear the waters of the +Pacific beating at the base of the mountain. I thought of a Milton +prisoned here, face to face with heaven, listening to the deep +utterances of the ocean, and striking the strings of his awful lyre, to +the majestic measure of the sea! + +“Let us go,” said the Captain with a shudder; “this is terrible.” We +scrambled out of the crater on the side opposite from where we entered, +towards a yet higher peak of scoriæ, connected by a narrow ridge with +the body of the mountain. Upon that peak, whose feet were planted in the +sea, the warder at the entrance of the Bay, there was a kind of look-out +established by the Government, with a flag-staff, and a series of +telegraphic signals, to convey intelligence to the port. This was the +point which we were most anxious to reach, and from whence I anticipated +being able to map out the entire Gulf. It may seem hardly possible, but +the narrow ridge connecting the two peaks was barely wide enough for a +mule path; it was like walking on the ridge of a house. The Captain +refused to ride along it, and in order to keep him company, I also +dismounted, and we proceeded on foot. It was past ten o’clock when we +reached the summit of the peak; but although almost exhausted by our +perhaps unnecessary exertions, we lost all sense of fatigue in the +magnificence and extent of the prospect, which was bounded only by the +great dividing ridge of the Cordilleras, looking like a faint cloud in +the distance, upon one hand, and by the ocean horizon upon the other. +The Gulf with its islands was revealed for its whole extent at a single +glance, and it seemed as if we could almost look into the great Lake of +Nicaragua, whose mountain-framed basin stretched away in illimitable +perspective. + +At the foot of the flag-staff was a little hut, half excavated in the +earth, its roof heavily loaded with stones, to prevent it from being +swept away by the winds. Here we found a man, a broad-shouldered, merry +Indian, who was the watcher or sentinel, and who was greatly rejoiced to +receive us. He had been “observador” here for six years, and we were the +first _blancos_ who had ascended during that period. And he produced his +glass and made himself almost annoying in his zeal to point out to us +the features of interest surrounding the Gulf. + +Meantime our guide reached us, with the mules and the alforgas. Amongst +our equipments was the flag of the United States, which was at once run +up to the top of the signal post and answered from the port and the +French frigate. “I accept the omen,” said the Captain gravely, and as I +then thought and still believe prophetically; “that flag will soon be +planted here _en permanence_, the symbol of dominion over two seas, and +of a power the greatest the world has ever seen.” + +The peak on which we stood seemed to have been formed in great part of +scoriæ and other materials thrown out from the principal crater. It was +a sharp cone, and the rounded summit was not more than sixty feet +across. In fact, there was barely room for ourselves, the flag-staff, +the hut, and the mules. It was now midday, and the thermometer marked +only 68° of Fahrenheit, while at the same hour it stood at 86° at the +port, a difference of sixteen degrees. + +We had been nearly six hours in ascending, and after the novelty of the +scene was a little over, we got beneath the hut, and helped ourselves to +the plentiful contents of our guide’s alforgas, and then, without +intending it, both fell asleep. I was awakened by the Captain, who +looked pinched, and chilly, and rising, found myself uncomfortably cold. +We crept outside; but in little more than an hour, everything had +undergone a total change. Above and around us the sun was shining +clearly, except when a thin rift of drizzling cloud, rapidly sweeping +by, half-hid us from each other’s view. But below and around us, there +was only a heaving ocean of milky white clouds—now swelling upwards to +our very feet, and then sinking down so as to reveal long reaches of the +bare mountain side. A current of sea air, saturated with moisture, +sweeping past, had encountered the volcano, and become partially +condensed in its cooler atmosphere. I asked the observador if it was +common, and he said it happened almost daily; but that sometimes the +wind was not strong enough to sweep the mist away, and then he had sat +here for hours, _muy triste_, very melancholy, in the gloom. It was then +an excellent time to pray, he added, with a laugh. + +In an hour the mists had dissipated, and the view was again +unobstructed. And, having taken the bearings of the principal landmarks, +the Captain and myself, with the aid of the observador and our guide, +amused ourselves by loosening rocks, and starting them down the side of +the cone. They went leaping down, dashing the scoriæ on all sides, like +spray, in their bounds; and, when they reached the belt of forest, we +could see the trees bow down before them like grass before the mower’s +scythe. One of these rocks, which we started with difficulty, must have +weighed upwards of a ton; and we afterwards learned that it had been +dashed to pieces within only a quarter of a mile of the Bay of +Chiquirin. + +At three o’clock, the observador having volunteered to show us a better +route, we started on our return. He took us by a path running laterally +down the side of the ridge connecting the two peaks to which I have +referred, so steep that we repented having undertaken it, but so narrow, +at the same time, as to render turning about impossible. In places my +macho braced his feet and slid down a hundred feet at a time. It was +“neck or nothing.” The Captain was behind, but how he got along I did +not stop to inquire. It was one of those occasions when every man looks +out for himself. After fifteen or twenty minutes of this kind of +progress, my hair was less disposed to the perpendicular, and I began to +have great faith in my macho. I was only nervous about my saddle girths. + +In three-quarters of an hour, during which time we had descended more +than two thousand feet, we reached the head of one of the principal +ravines which furrow the mountain. Here was a narrow shelf, where was +built the hatto of Juan, the observador, and where his family resided. +Here, too, completely embowered amongst the trees, with a large +reservoir, fifty feet long, cut by the ancients in the rock, was a +copious spring, called Yololtoca; the ground all around it was paved +with flat stones, and the approaches were protected by masonry. I was +surprised to learn that it was from this spring that the inhabitants of +Conchagua obtained now, as they had from time immemorial, their +principal supply of water. It is fully two-thirds of the distance up the +volcano, and more than a league from the town. While we stood beside the +reservoir, to allow our mules to drink, a troop of girls came toiling up +a flight of steps near by. They were from the village, and, like the +aguadoras of Masaya, had little sacks strapped over their shoulders, +wherein to carry their water jars, when weary of supporting them on +their heads. + +After resting a few minutes, we continued our descent. The path was now +wider and better, but in some places, where the feet of the aguadoras +had worn narrow steps in the rock, which the mules were obliged +scrupulously to follow, exceedingly difficult. An occasional fallen tree +obstructed our course, over which we had great trouble in forcing our +mules. But after a deal of excitement, and whipping and hallooing, half +an hour before sunset, we once more reached the village of Conchagua. As +we approached, we had observed a man, stationed on a high rock, with an +immense rattle, like those anciently used by watchmen in our cities. The +moment he saw us, he sprung it, and leaping down, from rock to rock, +disappeared in the direction of the town. Nearing the plaza, we saw the +result; men and women, all gayly dressed, were hurrying in that +direction, and there was evidently great excitement. At first, as this +was holy week, I thought some of its ceremonies were in progress; but +when I saw a couple of alcaldes, with heads uncovered, and holding aloft +their wands of office, advance to meet us, the awful truth that we had +unwittingly fallen into the jaws of an obsequio, was forced upon me. The +Captain rode up, in evident surprise, and inquired what I supposed the +Indians wanted. I professed ignorance. Meantime the alcaldes had planted +themselves in front of my macho, and one of them, without so much as “by +your leave,” had taken the bridle in his hands, while the other +commenced reading an order of the municipality, felicitating the +representative of the Great and Powerful Republic of El Norte on his +arrival in the loyal Pueblo of Conchagua, and inviting him to a +_convite_, which, he added in parenthesis, was then ready in the +cabildo; and concluding with “Dios, Union, Libertad!” and “Viva la +Republica del Norte!” In the latter the people all joined. I thanked +them in corresponding hyperbolical phrase, and then introduced to them +my friend, the Captain, as an officer of another great Republic; +whereupon they uttered another round of vivas,—not for the Republic of +France, but “El Amigo del Ministro del Norte!” This over, we were +marched, with an alcalde on each side, to the cabildo. It was a large +building, with a mud floor, and a double row of benches extending around +it, close to the wall. At one end was an elevated platform, upon which +were three or four elaborately carved and antiquated chairs and a desk, +where the alcaldes held their courts, and administered justice; and at +the other end a pair of stocks, wherein refractory criminals were +confined, when occasion required. Against the wall, above the seats of +the alcaldes, hung the fragments of an ancient flag; but no one could +tell me its history; it was “muy, muy antiguo!” very, very old. + +In the centre of the apartment was a table for six; the Captain, the two +principal alcaldes, the bastonero or marshal, the cura, and myself. This +part of the obsequio was unobjectionable, and the distinguished guests +performed their parts with spirit, and to the great admiration of the +spectators. Commend me to an ascent of the volcano of Conchagua for an +appetite! Before we had half finished, it grew dark, and a dozen boys +holding torches were introduced and stationed on the alcalde’s platform. +There they stood like bronze statues, without moving, until we had +finished. It was the most extraordinary meal of my life; and I +experienced a singular sensation when I glanced around upon the swarthy, +earnest faces of the Indians, rank on rank, only half revealed by the +light of the torches, and reflected that here, in the volcanic +fastnesses of San Salvador, amongst a people in whose veins not a drop +of white blood flowed, the descendants of those who had fought against +Cortez and Alvarado, the name of an American was not only a shield of +security, but a passport to the rudest heart. It sounded strangely to +hear them talk of Washington as the political regenerator, not of his +own country alone, but of the continent and the world. + +We returned to La Union by moonlight. During the day my companions, +according to arrangement, had started on their return to Nicaragua, and +I was now left alone with Ben. I had determined to await here the result +of affairs at Nacaome, from whence we had not as yet received any +intelligence. That very night a reinforcement from San Miguel marched +silently through the streets of La Union, and in less than half an hour +were embarked on their way to San Lorenzo. It was a forced march, and +the practical reply to the despatches borne by “Diablo Negro.” + +The day following was the holiest day of the Holy Week, and was ushered +in with the firing of guns in the little plaza. The streets all wore +their liveliest garb, and business of every kind was suspended. At nine +o’clock the inhabitants all flocked to the church, whither I followed. +But it was crowded to suffocation, and I was neither Christian nor +curious enough to remain; accordingly I joined Dr. Drivon, at his rooms +at the Doña Antonia’s, from whence the whole out-door performances could +be witnessed. At eleven o’clock the crowd emerged into the plaza, where +a procession, preceded by some musicians, was formed. In advance went +twenty or thirty men and boys, half naked, and painted in a frightful +manner, each bearing a wooden spear; these were supposed to represent +Jews, Moors, and Devils, who are all classed in the same pleasant +category. They engaged in mimic fights, and dashed through the streets, +clearing every living thing before the procession, and by their +fantastic actions creating great merriment. Then followed twelve boys, +some white and others dark, to represent the apostles, and two sweet +little girls, dressed in gauze, personifying the Marys. Joseph of +Arimathea, a meztizo, staggered beneath a heavy cross, and on a bier, +borne by six young men, was a wax figure representing Christ. Priests +and chanters surrounded it, and a crowd of women and children, with palm +branches, followed. The procession halted at every corner, while rockets +were let off in the plaza. It was an incongruous, typical ceremony, +allusive apparently to the crucifixion and burial of Christ. I asked +Doña Antonia’s son, who had been one of the apostles, on his return to +the house, what it meant. “Oh, nothing,” he replied briskly, “only +Christ is dead, and we shall have no God for three days!” From this +reply I inferred that it had produced no very lasting impression upon +the minds of the apostles, whatever its effect upon the other +participants. + +Next morning I was roused at daylight by the firing of guns, but +supposing that it only part of the fiesta, I went to sleep again. When I +rose for breakfast, however, the Commandante placed in my hands an open +letter from Gen. Cabañas, announcing the surrender of Gen. Guardiola, on +substantially the basis before proposed, and the immediate dispersal of +his troops. In less than one year after, Guardiola was in the field, as +the aid of the President of San Salvador, against the very Serviles who +had decoyed him into overt acts against his own government! Thus ended +the disturbances in Honduras, which had, at one time, threatened to +break up the proposed Union of the States, and, for the time, British +and Servile policy were again crushed to earth. + +The Admiral had already prepared to sail, and “La Sérieuse,” was every +way ready to follow, at a moment’s warning. And although a deputation +had arrived from San Miguel, to conduct me to that city, yet the +principal object of my visit having been accomplished, I was anxious to +return to Leon, which I did a day or two subsequently, having in the +meantime made another trip to the island of Tigre, and completed the +observations necessary to the construction of the Map of the Gulf of +Fonseca, elsewhere presented. + +I regretted much my inability to spend more time in San Salvador, which +is, in many respects, the most interesting and important State of the +five which composed the old federation. In territorial extent, it is the +smallest, but it has a greater relative population than either of the +others, and its people are better educated and more industrious. It has, +from the first, been the stronghold of the Liberal party, and has +constantly adhered, with heroic devotion, to the idea of Nationality. +The restoration of the Republic of Central America is the grand object +of its policy, and to this all other questions are regarded as +subordinate. It has had frequent collisions with the agents of Great +Britain, (who, without exception, are active Servile partisans,) but has +always maintained itself with firmness and dignity. As a consequence, it +has been grossly maligned, and its people held up as impersonations of +perfidy and disorder. But there is no part of Central, nor of Spanish +America, where individual rights are better respected, or the duties of +republicanism better understood. Whatever the future history of Central +America, its most important part, in all that requires activity, +concentration, and force, will be performed by San Salvador. + + + + + CHAPTER XXV. + +DEPARTURE FOR THE UNITED STATES—AN AMERICAN HOTEL IN GRANADA—LOS + COCOS—VOYAGE THROUGH THE LAKE—DESCENT OF THE RIVER—SAN + JUAN—CHAGRES—HOME—OUTLINE OF NICARAGUAN CONSTITUTION—CONCLUSION OF + NARRATIVE. + + +In the month of June succeeding the events detailed above, having +received leave of absence from my Government, I started from Leon on my +return to the United States. It was the commencement of the rainy +season, and already the vegetable world was putting on new robes of +green. I found, as I rode from one town to another, that a year had +wrought a wonderful change in the aspect of the country. The +intervention of the United States, and the probable speedy opening of +Californian transit, had contributed to restore public confidence, and +had given a new impulse to industry. I observed that fully one-third +more ground had been put under cultivation than the year previously, and +that in other respects considerable improvements had been made. + +In Granada an American hotel had been established, and I found that my +old and excellent friend Dr. S. was no longer the sole representative of +the United States in that hospitable city. I need not add that I took up +my quarters at the “Fonda Americana.” But my stay was brief. The novelty +of a residence amongst orange and palm trees had quite worn off; life +had become tame and monotonous; and I longed for the action and bustle +of home. The _playa_ of Granada was not less cheerful than when I +landed; the tropical winds were as bland, and the sun as brilliant. The +Indians girls were not less arch, nor the languid Señoras less +beautiful; the Señorita Terisa sang operas quite as well as before; but +still there was a vacancy to be supplied. The essential element of +vitality was wanting; and however much I had been taken at the outset +with the primitive aspect of society, and the quiet, dreamy habits of +the people, I was now more than ever convinced that life, to be +relished, must be earnest, and that its highest and keenest enjoyments +are involved in what is often called its “warfare.” + +Three days after my arrival in Granada, I embarked at “Los Cocos,” in a +bongo loaded with Brazil wood, for San Juan. We dawdled, day after day, +along the northern shore of the lake, after the immemorial fashion +amongst the marineros, stopped again at “El Pedernal,” and the Bahita de +San Miguel, and on the morning of the sixth day reached San Carlos. My +rotund friend, the Commandante, arrayed in a new uniform, and reinstated +in his old quarters, welcomed me with all the warmth of his genial +temper; and again I was installed, amongst the pigeons and chickens, in +his house on the promontory. + +I was impatient to proceed, but we did not get away until the sun was +setting behind Solentenami, throwing a flood of radiance over the lake, +while the river flowed dark and silent beneath the shadows of the dense +forests on its banks. The descent of the San Juan is an easy matter +compared with the ascent. It is usually accomplished in two days; but on +the morning of our second day, our patron Antonio, in an attempt to +“shoot” the central channel of the Rapids of Machuca, ran us upon the +rocks, where we remained for thirty hours, until relieved by the united +crews of six bongos, which, in ascending and descending, had, in the +meantime, reached the rapids. Our situation during this time was +perilous in the extreme, and had not our boat been new and staunch, it +must inevitably have gone to pieces. After the first excitement was +over, I amused myself by shooting alligators, in their attempts to +ascend the rapids. A dozen of their ugly heads might be seen above the +water at the same moment. By keeping in the eddies, they contrive to get +up, but it is a long process for them, and requires an entire day. + +San Juan had undergone very little change since my previous visit. My +friend, the Consul General, had gone home, and the supreme authority was +vested in a little man named Green, one of those who, in conjunction +with McDonald, Walker & Co., had invented the Mosquito Kingdom! The two +wan policemen were also gone; one had absconded with a quantity of the +Consul’s papers, and the other, I believe, had died. Their place was now +filled by a dozen negroes from Jamaica, not particularly prepossessing +in their exteriors, or agreeable in their manners. Captain Shepherd +still swung in his hammock, clinging tenaciously to his parchment +grants; and Monsieur Sigaud, upright, honest-hearted Frenchman, was my +host. His titled countryman, the Viscomte, oblivious of slaughtered +pigs, had made his peace with the English authorities, and in +conjunction with a German Jew, of doubtful antecedents, had now the +control of the Custom House. + +There was a large party of Americans in San Juan. They had brought the +news of the ratification of the Clayton and Bulwer treaty, and the +people were ecstatic under the belief that they were thereby to be +relieved from British rule. But Dr. Green cooled their ardor by +producing a letter from the Foreign office, in which the treaty was +interpreted to be an implied if not an express recognition of the +British establishments on the coast, by the American Government. + +The British steamer Dee arrived in port the morning after my arrival. +She stayed but a single day, and on the 26th of June, 1850, I bade +farewell to the shores of Nicaragua.[43] Twenty-four hours brought us in +sight of Chagres, where, beneath the old Castle of San Felipe, the +“Georgia” and “Philadelphia,” with steam already up, were taking on +board their last passengers, for the United States. I had barely time to +get my baggage on board the former, before the anchor was lifted, and we +were under way, “homeward bound.” A brief and pleasant passage of eight +days to New York, offered a striking contrast to our month’s +imprisonment in the little “Frances,” outward bound. The captain was +right; that voyage to San Juan was really her “thirty-seventh and last,” +she was condemned on her return, and has probably gone “where all good +vessels go.” Peace to her venerable timbers! + +----- + +Footnote 43: + + I found in San Juan the crew of an American vessel, wrecked a short + time previously, in the vicinity of that port. They had barely escaped + with their lives. As there was no American Consul to provide for their + return home, I proposed some arrangement to the commander of the “Dee” + for conveying them to Chagres. But he cut the matter short by offering + them all a free passage. I have had but few opportunities, in this + narrative, of saying good things of our English cousins in Central + America; and I have therefore the more pleasure in mentioning this + incident, illustrating the honorable reputation for generosity enjoyed + by the British sailor. + +----- + +The preceding rapid narrative of incidents connected with my residence +in Nicaragua might be greatly extended; but so far as my principal +purpose of conveying some idea of the geography, scenery, resources, and +antiquities of the country, and of the character, habits, and actual +situation of its people, is concerned, it is probably unnecessary to add +anything to what I have already said. A few words in respect to the +Government and present constitution of the country may not be +unacceptable, and with these I shall close this portion of my work, and +pass to the consideration of other, but collateral, subjects. + +The dissolution of the Federal Republic of Central America, in 1838, +left the various States which had composed it in a singular and +anomalous position. Some of them still adhered to the idea of +nationality, but could not disguise the fact that the Federation no +longer existed. Under those circumstances, they severally assumed the +powers and responsibilities of independent sovereignties. Their +respective constitutions, framed to conform to the federal system, now +required to be altered to suit their new conditions. The Government of +Nicaragua convened a Constituent Assembly for that specific purpose, +which, on the 12th of November 1838, proclaimed a new constitution. It +was accepted in due form by the people, and has since constituted the +fundamental law of the State. + +This instrument is thoroughly republican in its provisions. It provides +that the Executive Power shall be vested in an officer styled the +“Supreme Director,” who is elected directly by popular vote, for the +term of two years, but is ineligible for two consecutive terms. He must +be a native of Central America, a resident for five years in the State, +and have attained the age of thirty years. The legislative power is +vested in an Assembly, composed of a Senate and House of +Representatives. The Senate consists of two members from each of the six +districts into which the State is divided; they must possess all the +qualifications of the Supreme Director, besides actual property to the +value of $1000. They hold their offices for four years, and are so +classified that the term of office of one-fourth of the number expires +annually. They are not eligible beyond two consecutive terms, nor can +any ecclesiastic be elected to their body. The Representatives are +apportioned on the basis of every twenty thousand inhabitants. They must +have attained twenty-five years of age, have resided one year in the +State, and may be either secular or ecclesiastic. They are eligible for +only two consecutive terms. No officer in the employ of the Government +can be elected to either branch of the Assembly; nor can any member +accept a public appointment. The acts of this Assembly require a vote of +two-thirds of each branch, and the approval of the Supreme Director, in +order to have the force of law. All males of the age of twenty years, +born in the country, are electors. Exceptions are made in favor of +married males and persons who have obtained a scientific degree or +acquired a liberal profession. These secure the privileges of electors +at the age of eighteen years. All persons convicted of criminal +offences, who traffic in slaves or are privy to such traffic, or who +accept employment, or titles, or pensions, from other Governments, +forfeit their citizenship. This right is also suspended in certain +cases, one of which is rather extraordinary. An individual who accepts +the position of personal servant to another, is incapable, for the time +being, of exercising his political privileges. + +The rights of the citizen are defined to be “Liberty, Equality, Security +of Life and Property, all of which are inseparable and inalienable, and +inherent in the nature of man.” Their preservation is declared to be the +primary object of all society and government. “Every man is free, and +can neither sell himself nor be sold by others.” And although the +Catholic religion is recognized by the State, and protected by the +Government, yet all other religions are tolerated, and their free and +public exercise guarantied. Entire liberty of speech and the freedom of +the press are also guarantied, but individuals are subject to +arraignment for their abuse. The right of petition, the principle of the +inviolability of domicil, the security of seal, etc., etc., are +recognized in their full extent, and are placed beyond the reach of the +legislative or administrative powers. + + + END OF NARRATIVE. + + + + + APPENDIX. + +[Illustration] + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + NICARAGUA: BOUNDARIES, TOPOGRAPHY, LAKES, RIVERS, PORTS, CLIMATE, + + POPULATION, PRODUCTIONS, MINES, ETC., ETC. + + +Nicaragua, while it remained under the Spanish crown, constituted one of +the provinces of the ancient Audiencia or Captain-Generalcy, sometimes +called the kingdom of Guatemala, in which were also included the +provinces of Costa Rica, Honduras, San Salvador, and Guatemala.[44] +These threw off their allegiance to Spain in 1821, and in 1823 united in +a confederation called the “Republic of Central America,” which, +however, in consequence of internal dissensions, was dissolved in 1839. +Since that time, the several States have asserted and exercised their +original sovereign powers as distinct republics. Several attempts have +been made, at brief intervals, to revive the confederation, in whole or +part, but without success, owing to the irreconcilable jealousies of the +different States. A kind of understanding, almost amounting to a union, +has nevertheless continued to exist between the three central States, +Nicaragua, San Salvador, and Honduras, which are distinguished as +Liberal and Republican, while Costa Rica and Guatemala, in the political +classifications of these countries, are denominated Servile or +Monarchical. + +----- + +Footnote 44: + + The large province, now State of Chiapas, included in the Republic of + Mexico, also belonged to the old kingdom of Guatemala. After the + independence, it was appropriated by Mexico, which, under the rule of + Iturbide, endeavored to annex to itself the whole of Central America. + +----- + +The boundaries of Nicaragua are those which pertained to it as a +province, except in so far as they have been modified by subsequent +treaties and concessions. As now defined, they are as follows: on the +east, the Caribbean Sea, from Cape Gracias à Dios at the mouth of the +Rio Wanks or Segovia, in lat. 15° N., and lon. 83° 12′ W., southward to +the port of San Juan, at the mouth of the river of the same name. + +On the south, the line of separation from Costa Rica, as fixed by a +convention dated April 15th, 1858, starts from Punta de Castilla, or +Punta Arenas, on the south shore of the harbor of San Juan, and thence +follows the right bank of the river San Juan to within three miles of +the old fort known as Castillo Viejo. At this point the line falls back +two miles from the river, preserving that distance from the stream to +the point whence it issues from Lake Nicaragua, following along the +southern shore of that lake, at an equal distance inland, until it +strikes the river Sapoa, flowing into the lake, and thence due west to +the Bay of Salinas, on the Pacific. + +On the west, the Pacific ocean, from the centre of the Bay of Salinas to +the mouth of the Rio Negro, in the Bay of Fonseca, embracing about +one-third of the coast-line of the Bay. + +On the north, separating it from Honduras, a line following the Rio +Negro from its mouth on the Bay of Fonseca, to its source in the +mountains of Nueva Segovia, following the crest of the dividing ridge of +the same to the head of the Rio de la Puerta; thence, due east, to the +Rio Coco, Wanks, or Segovia, and down that river to its mouth at Cape +Gracias à Dios. + +The State is therefore embraced entirely between 83° 20′ and 87° 30′, +(6° 20′ and 10° 30′ from Washington,) west longitude, and between 10° +45′ and 15° of north latitude; and has an area of about 50,000 square +miles, or about an equal extent of territory with the New England +States, exclusive of Vermont and New Hampshire. + +A claim to a considerable part of this territory, embracing the entire +Atlantic coast, and extending indefinitely inland, was set up, some +years ago, by Great Britain, on behalf of the suppositious “King of the +Mosquitos;” but there is now (1859) good reason for believing that the +fiction of a Mosquito sovereignty will soon be abandoned, and the +Mosquito Indians placed, by common consent, under the government of +Nicaragua, with the sole reservation of their proprietary rights, or +rights of occupation.[45] + +----- + +Footnote 45: + + For an exposition of the nature and extent of British pretensions, as + also the political condition of the Mosquito Shore, and an account of + the country and its people, see Chapter “Mosquito Shore,” in “_States + of Central America_,” _etc._, pp. 628-663, and “_Adventures on the + Mosquito Shore_,” Note A. + +----- + +Placed on a narrow isthmus between the two oceans, its ports opening to +Europe on one hand, and to Asia on the other, midway between the +northern and southern continents of America, Nicaragua seems to realize +the ancient idea of the geographical centre of the world. These +geographical advantages are however, much heightened, and rendered +especially interesting and important, from the interior and +topographical features of the country, which are supposed to afford +facilities for water communication between the seas, superior to those +of any other part of the continent. These features are principally +determined by two ranges of mountains which traverse the State in a +direction nearly due north-west and south-east. One of these, which may +be called the volcanic or Pacific coast range, starts in the high lands +of Quesaltenango in Guatemala, and extending through San Salvador and +Nicaragua, terminates in the great mountain group or nucleus of Costa +Rica. It follows the general direction of the coast, sometimes rising in +lofty volcanic cones, but generally sustaining the character of a high +ridge, subsiding in places into low hills and plains of slight +elevation. It preserves a nearly uniform distance from the sea of from +ten to twenty miles; and, consequently, there are no considerable +streams falling from it into the Pacific. It seems to have been the +principal line of volcanic action, and in Nicaragua is marked by the +volcanoes of Coseguina, El Viejo, Santa Clara, Telica, Axusco, Las +Pilas, Orota, Momotombo, Masaya, Mombacho, Ometepec, and Madeira, and by +numerous extinct craters, surrounded by vast beds of lava and deposits +of scoriæ. The second, or principal mountain range, the great back-bone +of the continent and the true Cordilleras, enters the State from +Honduras, in the department of Nueva Segovia, and extends due +south-east, until it strikes the San Juan river at a point about fifty +miles above its mouth. It sends out numerous spurs or dependent ranges +towards the Atlantic, between which flow down the many considerable +streams that intersect what is called the Mosquito Shore. + +Between these two ranges of mountains is formed a great interior basin, +not far from three hundred miles long by one hundred wide, in the centre +of which are the broad and beautiful lakes of Nicaragua and Managua—the +characteristic and most important physical features of the country. +These lakes receive the waters which flow down from the mountains on +either hand, and discharge them through a single outlet, the river San +Juan, flowing through a narrow break in the Cordilleras, into the +Atlantic. Some of the streams falling into these lakes from the north +are of considerable size, and furnish a supply of water, in excess of +evaporation, which could not be sensibly affected by drains for +artificial purposes. + +Lake Managua is a beautiful sheet of water, not far from fifty miles +long, by from thirty to thirty-five wide, and with a depth of water over +the greater part of its area, varying from two to ten and fifteen, and +even forty fathoms in depth. It approaches at one point to within +fifteen miles of the Pacific, from which it is separated, on the south, +by the volcanic coast-range already described, which here takes the form +of detached hills, rising on a ridge of moderate elevation. But between +its northern extremity and the sea, there are only the magnificent +plains of Leon and El Conejo, separating which is a line of volcanoes, +rising from the plain with all the regularity of the pyramids. The +scenery which borders the lake is unsurpassed in beauty and grandeur. +Upon its northern and eastern shores, lifting their blue, rugged peaks +one above the other, are the mountains of Matagalpa, merging into those +of Segovia, rich in metallic veins. Upon the south and west are broad +and fertile slopes and level plains, covered with luxuriant verdure, and +of almost unlimited productiveness. The volcano of Momotombo, like a +giant warder, stands out boldly into the lake, its bare and blackened +summit, which no man has ever reached, covered with a light wreath of +smoke, attesting the continued existence of those internal fires which +have seamed its steep sides with burning floods, and which still send +forth hot and sulphurous springs at its base. Within the lake itself +rises the regular cone of Momotombita, so regular that it seems a work +of art, covered with a dense forest, under the shadows and within the +deep recesses of which, frayed by the storms of ages, stand the rude and +frowning statues of the gods of aboriginal superstition, raised there +long before European feet trod the soil of America, and to which the +mind of the Christianized Indian still reverts with a mysterious +reverence. + +The town or city of Santiago de Managua, which gives its name to the +lake, and which is the place of meeting of the Legislative Chambers of +the State, is situated on the south-western shore of the lake. The city +of Leon was first built on the shore of the north-western extremity of +the lake, at a place now called Moabita, but it was subsequently +abandoned for the present site, in the midst of the great plain of +Marabios, or Leon. From this circumstance, the lake in question is +sometimes called Lake Leon. It was called by the aboriginal inhabitants +of the country, _Ayagualo_. + +Lake Managua has an outlet at its south-eastern extremity, called Rio +Tipitapa, connecting it with Lake Nicaragua, through the Estero de +Panaloya. This outlet, during rainy seasons of severity, passes a +considerable body of water; but it is often completely dry, the +evaporation from the surface of the lake exceeding the supply of water +from its tributaries. The difference in level between the two lakes, at +average stages of water, is twenty-eight feet six inches. + +Lake Nicaragua, the ancient _Cocibolca_, is nevertheless the great +feature of the country, and is unquestionably, in all respects, one of +the finest bodies of water in the world, and second to none in the +variety and beauty of its scenery. It is about one hundred and twenty +miles in greatest length, by sixty in greatest, and forty in average +breadth. On its southern shore, near the head of the lake, stands the +ancient city of Granada, lately the rival of Leon, and once the most +important commercial town in the republic. A few miles below Granada, +and projecting boldly into the lake, is the extinct volcano of Mombacho, +5,000 feet in height. Studding the lake, at its base, is a cluster of +innumerable small islands, called Los Corales, of volcanic origin, +rising in the form of cones to the height of from twenty to one hundred +feet, and covered with verdure. On the same shore with Granada, but +forty miles distant, is the town of Rivas or Nicaragua, the capital of a +large, fertile, and comparatively well-cultivated district. Flowing into +the lake, at its extreme southern extremity, nearly at the same point +where the Rio San Juan (the ancient _El Desasuadero_) commences its +course, is the considerable Rio Frio, which has its origin near the base +of the great volcano of Cartago, in Costa Rica. It flows through an +unexplored region, inhabited by an unconquered and savage tribe of +Indians, called _Guatusos_, of whose ferocity the most extraordinary +stories are related. + +[Illustration: VOLCANO OF OMETEPEC, FROM VIRGIN BAY.] + +The northern shore of the lake, called Chontales, for the most part is +undulating, abounding in broad savannahs, well adapted for grazing and +supporting large herds of cattle. There are a number of considerable +islands in the lake, the largest of which are El Zapatero, Solentenami, +and Ometepec. The former two are deserted, but the latter has a +considerable population of Indians, of the pure Mexican or Aztec stock. +This island is distinguished by two high, conical mountains or volcanic +peaks, called respectively Ometepec and Madeira, which are visible from +every part of the lake, and from a distance of many leagues on the +Pacific. The name of the island, in the Nahuatl or Mexican language, +signifies “two mountains,” from _ome_, two, and _tepec_, mountain. The +water of the lake, in most places, shoals very gradually, and it is only +at a few points that vessels of considerable size may approach the +shore. Still, its general depth, for all purposes of navigation, is +ample, except near its outlet, where, for some miles, it does not exceed +from five to ten feet. There are points, however, where the depth of +water is not less than forty fathoms. The prevailing winds on the lake, +as indeed of the whole State, are from the north-east; they are, in +fact, the Atlantic trades, which here sweep entirely across the +continent and encountering the conflicting currents of air on the +Pacific, form those baffling, revolving winds, detested by navigators, +under the name of _Papogayos_. When the winds are strong, the waves of +the lake become high, and roll in with all the majesty of the ocean. At +such times, the water is piled up, as it were, on the southern shore of +the lake, occasionally producing overflows of the low grounds. As the +trade winds are intermittent, blowing freshly in the evening, and +subsiding towards morning, the waters of the lake seem to rise and fall +accordingly; and this circumstance gave birth to the notion, entertained +and promulgated by the ancient chroniclers, that the lake had a regular +tide, like that of the sea. Some of them imagined, in consequence, that +it communicated with the ocean by a subterranean channel. As already +observed, the sole outlet of the great Nicaragua basin, and of the lakes +just described, is the river San Juan, debouching into the Caribbean +Sea, at the now well-known port of San Juan, or Greytown. This river is +a magnificent stream, but its capacities have been greatly exaggerated, +as will be seen in the paragraphs referring to the proposed ship-canal. +It flows from the south-eastern extremity of Lake Nicaragua, nearly due +east to the ocean. With its windings, it is one hundred and nineteen +miles long. The body of water which passes through it varies greatly at +different seasons of the year. It is, of course, greatest during what is +called the “rainy season,”—that is to say, from May to October. To this +variation, in some degree, may be ascribed the wide difference in the +statements of the depth and capacity of the river, made by different +observers. Several considerable streams enter the San Juan, the largest +of which are the San Carlos and Serapiqui, both rising in the high lands +of Costa Rica. The streams flowing in from the north are comparatively +small, indicating that the mountains are not far distant in that +direction, and that upon that side the valley is narrow. The Serapiqui +is ascended by canoes to a point about twenty miles above its mouth, +where commences the road, or rather mule-path, to San José, the capital +of Costa Rica. About one-third of the way from the lake to the ocean, on +the south bank of the river, are the ruins of the old fort or castle of +San Juan, captured by the English in 1780. The expedition against it was +commanded by Colonel Polson, with Captain, afterward Lord Nelson, as +second in command. Of two hundred men under Nelson, drawn from his +vessel, the Hinchenbrook, but ten returned to the coast. At one time, +besides this fort, another at the head of the river (San Carlos), and a +third at its mouth, the Spaniards kept up not less than twelve military +stations on its banks. The width of the river varies from one hundred to +four hundred yards, and its depth from two to twenty feet. It is +interrupted by five rapids, viz., Rapides del Toro, del Castillo, de los +Valos, del Mico, and Machuca. The Machuca rapids are the largest, and, +in many respects, the worst in the river. For the distance of nearly +half a mile, the stream is spread over a wide and crooked bed, full of +large rocks projecting above the surface, between which the water rushes +with the greatest violence. They are considered dangerous by the native +boatmen, who are only enabled to ascend them by keeping close to the +northern shore, where the current is weakest, and the bed of the river +least obstructed. Here the _bongos_, or native boats, are pushed up by +main force. The late Transit Company lost a number of their small +steamers on these rapids, which, without great artificial improvement, +must remain an insuperable obstacle to regular steam navigation on the +river. The rapids of El Castillo are short, and deserve rather the name +of falls. Here the water pours over an abrupt ledge of rocks, falling +eight feet in but little more than the same number of yards. _Bongos_ +are unloaded here, and the empty boats trucked past by men stationed +here for the purpose. The steamers of the Transit Company did not +attempt to pass these rapids; the passengers and merchandize being +transferred by means of a tram-road to vessels above. The remaining +rapids, although formidable obstacles to navigation, do not require a +special description. The banks of the San Juan for twenty miles from the +lake, and for about the same distance above its mouth, are low and +swampy, lined with palms, canes, and a variety of long coarse grass +called _gamalote_. Elsewhere the banks are generally firm, in some +places rocky, from six to twenty feet high, and above the reach of +overflows. They are everywhere covered with a thick forest of large +trees, draped all over with _lianes_ or woodbines, which, with the +thousand varieties of tropical plants, form dense walls of verdure on +both sides of the stream. The soil of the river-valley seems uniformly +fertile, and capable of producing abundantly all tropical staples. Like +the Atrato, the San Juan river has formed a delta at its mouth, through +which it flows for eighteen miles, reaching the sea through several +channels. The largest of these is the Colorado channel, which opens +directly into the ocean; the next in size is that which bears the name +of the river, and flows into the harbor of San Juan. Between the two is +a smaller one called Tauro. This delta is a maze of low grounds, swamps, +creeks, and lagoons, the haunt of the manatus and alligator, and the +home of innumerable varieties of water-fowl. The port of San Juan +(Greytown) derives its principal importance from the fact that it is the +only possible eastern terminus for the proposed inter-oceanic canal, by +way of the river San Juan and the Nicaraguan lakes. It is small but well +protected, easy of entrance and exit, and has a depth of water varying +from three to five fathoms.[46] Upon the Pacific, the best port of the +republic is that of Ralejo, anciently _Possession_, which is capacious +and secure, but difficult of entrance. The little bay of San Juan del +Sur, which was used as the Pacific port of the late Transit Company, is +small and insecure, and scarcely deserves the name of harbor. The same +may be said of the so-called ports of Brito and Tamaranda. A good port +is said to exist on Salinas Bay. + +----- + +Footnote 46: + + Late accounts represent that the sea has broken through the sand bank + or spit called “Punta Arenas,” which forms the outer protection of the + harbor, and that the entrance of the port is rapidly closing up. So + rapidly has this process gone on, that the United States war vessel + “Susquehanna,” lying in the harbor, was got out with difficulty, and + only after relieving herself of her guns. The British mail steamers, + it is also stated, now find it impossible to enter, and apprehensions + are entertained that the harbor is entirely ruined. + +----- + +[Illustration: PORT OF SAN JUAN DEL SUR—1854.] + +The climate of Nicaragua, except among the mountains of Chontales and +Segovia, is essentially tropical, but nevertheless considerably modified +by a variety of circumstances. The absence of high mountains toward the +Atlantic, and the broad expanse of its lakes, permit the trade-winds +here to sweep entirely across the continent, and to give to the country +a degree of ventilation agreeable to the senses and favorable to health. +The region toward the Atlantic is unquestionably warmer, more humid, and +less salubrious than that of the interior, and of the country bordering +on the Pacific. The Nicaragua basin proper, and within which the bulk of +its population is concentrated, has two distinctly marked seasons, the +wet and the dry, the first of which is called summer, the latter winter. +The wet season commences in May, and lasts until November, during which +time, but usually near its commencement and its close, rains of some +days’ duration are of occasional occurrence, and showers are common. The +latter do not often happen except late in the afternoon, or during the +night. They are seldom of long continuance, and often days and weeks +elapse, during what is called the rainy season, without a cloud +obscuring the sky. Throughout this season, the verdure and the crops, +which, during the dry season, become sere and withered, appear in full +luxuriance. The temperature is very equable, differing a little +according to locality, but preserving a very nearly uniform range of +from 78° to 88° of Fahrenheit, occasionally sinking to 70° in the night +and rising to 90° in the afternoon. During the dry season, from November +to May, the temperature is less, the nights positively cool, and the +winds occasionally chilling. The sky is cloudless, and trifling showers +fall at rare intervals. The fields become parched and dry, and the +cattle are driven to the borders of the streams for pasturage, while in +the towns the dust becomes almost insufferable. It penetrates +everywhere, sifting through the crevices of the tiled roofs in showers, +and sweeping in clouds through the unglazed windows. This season is +esteemed the healthiest of the year. Its effect is practically that of a +northern winter, checking and destroying that rank and ephemeral +vegetation which, constantly renewed where the rains are constant as at +Panama, forms dense, dank jungles, the birth-places and homes of malaria +and death. For the year commencing September, 1850, and ending +September, 1851, the thermometer, at the town of Rivas gave the +following results:—Mean highest, 86° 45 of Fahrenheit; mean lowest, 71° +15; mean average for the year, 77° 42; mean range, 15° 3. The amount of +rain which fell from May to November inclusive, was 90.3 inches; from +December to April inclusive, 7.41 inches; total for the year, 97.7 +inches. None fell in February, but 26.64 inches fell in July, and 17.86 +inches in October. + +Politically, Nicaragua is divided into five Departments, each of which +has one or more Judicial Districts, as follows: + + ┌───────────────────────────────────┬────────────┬─────────────┐ + │DEPARTMENTS. │CAPITALS. │ POPULATION.│ + ├───────────────────────────────────┼────────────┼─────────────┤ + │1. Meridional or Rivas │Rivas │ 20,000│ + │2. Oriental or Granada │Granada │ 95,000│ + │3. Occidental or Leon │Leon │ 90,000│ + │4. Septentrional or Segovia │Segovia │ 12,000│ + │5. Matagalpa │Matagalpa │ 40,000│ + ├───────────────────────────────────┴────────────┼─────────────┤ + │ Total│ 257,000.│ + └────────────────────────────────────────────────┴─────────────┘ + +The population here given is the result arrived at, in round numbers, of +a census attempted in 1846. It was only partially successful, as a large +part of the people supposed that it was preliminary to some military +conscription or tax levy. Making due allowances for deficiencies in the +census of that year, and for increase since, we may estimate the actual +population of the State, in round numbers, at 300,000, divided, +approximately, as follows: + + Whites 30,000 + Negroes 18,000 + Indians 96,000 + Mixed 156,000 + ——— + Total 300,000. [47] + +In the census above referred to, the following were given as the +approximate populations of the principal towns of the State: + + Leon, including Subtiaba 30,000 + Chinandega 11,000 + Chinandega Viejo 3,000 + Realejo 1,000 + Chichigalpa 2,800 + Posultega 900 + Telica 1,000 + Somotillo 2,000 + Villa Nueva 1,000 + Pueblo Nuevo 2,900 + Nagarote 1,800 + Souci 2,500 + Managua 12,000 + Masaya 15,000 + Granada 10,000 + Nicaragua 8,000 + Segovia 8,000 + Matagalpa 2,000 + Acoyapa 500 + +----- + +Footnote 47: + + General Miguel Gonzalez Sarabia, governor of Nicaragua in 1823, wrote + a brief account of the province, which was published in Guatemala in + 1824. He estimated the population of the province at that time, at + 174,200, and gave it as his judgment that 70,000 were Indians, 70,000 + Ladinos or mixed, and the remainder, or 34,200, whites. The latter he + considered to be diminishing in numbers, and such, he adds, “is their + general tendency.”—_Bosquejo Politico Estadistico de Nicaragua_, p. 8. + +----- + +It is a singular fact that the females greatly exceed the males in +number. In the Department Occidental, according to the census, the +proportions were as three to two. It is difficult to account for this +disparity, except by supposing it to have been the result of the civil +wars which, for some years previously, had afflicted that portion of the +State. It should nevertheless be observed, that throughout all parts of +Central America there is a considerable predominance of females over +males. + +Most of the people of Nicaragua live in towns or villages, many of them +going two, four and six miles daily to labor in their fields, starting +before day and returning at night. Their plantations, _haciends_, +_hattos_, _huertas_, _ranchos_, and _chacras_ are scattered pretty +equally over the country, and are often reached by paths so obscure as +almost wholly to escape the notice of travelers, who, passing through +what appears to be a continuous forest from one town to another, are +liable to fall into the error of supposing the country to be almost +wholly without inhabitants. The dwellings of the greater part of the +people are simple huts of canes, thatched with grass or palm leaves; +many of them open at the sides, and with no floors except the bare +earth. These fragile structures, so equable and mild is the climate, are +adequate to afford such protection as the natives are accustomed to +regard as necessary. The dwellings of the middle classes are more +pretending; the canes are plastered over and white-washed, and they have +tiled roofs and other improvements, while those of the large proprietors +are often spacious and comfortable, not to say elegant, approaching +nearer to our ideas of habitations for human beings. A considerable +proportion of the dwellings in the towns and cities are of the ruder +character above described; the residences of the wealthier inhabitants, +however, are built of adobes, sometimes of two stories, inclosing large +courts, and entered under archways often imposing and beautiful. The +court yards are generally filled with shade trees, usually the orange, +making the corridors on which all the rooms open exceedingly pleasant +lounging places for the occupants and their visitors. + +The natural resources of Nicaragua are immense, but they have been very +imperfectly developed. The portion of land brought under cultivation is +relatively small, but ample for the support of its population. There is +no difficulty in increasing the amount to an indefinite extent, for the +forests are easily removed, and genial nature yields rich harvests to +the husbandman. There are many cattle estates, particularly in +Chontales, Matagalpa, and Segovia, which cover wide tracts of country; +some of these have not less than 10,000 or 15,000 head of cattle each. +The cattle are generally fine, quite equal to those of the United +States. + +Among the staples of the State, and which are produced in great +perfection, are cacao, sugar, cotton, coffee, indigo, tobacco, rice, and +maize or Indian corn. + +_Sugar._ The sugar-cane grown in Nicaragua is indigenous, and very +different from the Asiatic cane cultivated in the West Indies and the +United States. It is said to be equally productive with the foreign +species; the canes are softer and more slender, and contain more and +stronger juice, in proportion to their size, than the Asiatic variety. +Two crops (under favorable circumstances three crops) are taken +annually, and the cane requires replanting but once in twelve or +fourteen years. The best kind of sugar produced from the sugar estates +is nearly as white as the refined sugar of commerce, the crystals being +large and hard. The greater part of the supply for ordinary consumption +is what is called _chancaca_, and is the juice of the cane merely boiled +till it crystallizes, without being cleared of the molasses. A +considerable quantity of this was formerly exported to Peru and +elsewhere in South America. It is stated that the _chancaca_ may be +produced, ready for sale, at $1 25 per quintal (101½ lbs. English). The +most profitable part of the sugar establishment is the manufacture of +“_aguardiente_,” a species of rum. It is impossible to say, in the +absence of data, what amount of sugar is manufactured in Nicaragua; it +is perhaps enough to know that it may be produced indefinitely. The +export has been estimated at 200,000 lbs. + +_Cotton._ Cotton of a superior quality to that of Brazil may be produced +in any quantity in Nicaragua. “As many as 50,000 bales, of 300 pounds +each,” says Dunlop, “of clean pressed cotton have been exported from +this State in a single year; the cultivation is, however, at present +(1846) at a very low ebb.” Considerable quantities are nevertheless +raised, which are manufactured by the natives, but chiefly by the +Indians, into hammocks, sail-cloth, and ordinary clothing. The domestic +cloth is coarse, but compact, neat, and durable. + +Mr. Baily observes of the cotton of Nicaragua, “that it has already a +high standard in the Manchester market, and offers a splendid +speculation to agriculturists, if a good port of export on the Atlantic +shall be established.” + +_Coffee._ Coffee of an excellent quality, and probably equal to any in +the world, may also be produced indefinitely in this republic; but for +the reason that hitherto it has been exceedingly difficult to get it to +a market, it is not very extensively cultivated. The few plantations +which exist are very flourishing, and the proprietors find them +profitable. The limited cultivation is perhaps due to the circumstance +that chocolate is the common beverage of the people; and coffee, never +having become an article of trade or export, has consequently been +neglected. There is no reason why as good coffee may not be produced +here as in Costa Rica; and the Costa Rican coffee, when offered in good +condition in England, commands as high a price as any other. As, +however, it is usually shipped by way of Cape Horn, it often suffers +from the protracted voyage. It has, nevertheless, been the almost +exclusive source of wealth in Costa Rica. The crop of 1857 amounted to +10,000,000 pounds, which, at $9 per cwt., (the average price delivered +on the coast) gives $900,000 as the return—a considerable sum for a +State of 100,000 inhabitants, and where the culture has been introduced +but twenty years. The cost of production, per quintal (101½ pounds,) at +the present rate of wages, (twenty-five cents per day) is about $2 50. +If the attention of the people of Nicaragua should be seriously directed +to the production of coffee, it would prove a source of great profit. + +_Cacao._ Cacao, only equalled by that of Soconosco, on the coast of +Guatemala, (which was once monopolized for the use of the royal +establishment of Spain,) is cultivated in considerable quantities. It +is, however, an article of general consumption among the inhabitants; +and consequently, commands so high a price that it will not bear +exportation, even though it could be obtained in requisite quantities. +About all that finds its way abroad goes in the form of presents from +one friend to another. There is no reason why cacao should not become an +article of large export, and a source of great wealth. The obvious cause +why its production is not greater is, the length of time and great +outlay required in getting a cacao plantation into paying operation. Few +have now the requisite capital; and these few are in too feverish a +state, in consequence of the distracted condition of public affairs, to +venture upon any investment. Under a stable condition of things, and by +the opening of a steady and adequate channel to market, the cultivation +of cacao will rise to be of the first importance. The trees give two +principal crops in the year. It is sold from $15 to $20 the quintal, +while the Guayaquil is worth but $5 or $6. + +_Indigo._ Indigo was formerly cultivated to a considerable extent, but +has of late years much fallen off; and there are a number of fine indigo +estates in various parts of the republic which have been quite given up, +with all their appurtenances, by their respective proprietors. The plant +cultivated for the manufacture of indigo is the _jiquilite_ (_indigofera +disperma_) an indigenous plant which produces indigo of a very excellent +quality. The indigo of Nicaragua is of very superior quality, and its +export once came up to 5,000 bales of 150 lbs. each. It is impossible to +say what the export is at present; probably not more than 1,000 or 2,000 +bales. Under the government of Spain, the State of San Salvador produced +from 8,000 to 10,000 bales annually. A piece of ground equal to two +acres generally produces about 100 to 120 pounds, at a cost of not far +from $30 to $40, including the cost of clearing the field and all other +expenses. + +_Tobacco._ A large amount of tobacco is used in Nicaragua, all of which +is produced in the country. A considerable quantity is shipped to +California. It may be cultivated to any desirable extent, and is of a +very good quality, but is not equal to that of San Salvador and +Honduras. + +_Maize_ flourishes luxuriantly, and three crops may be raised on the +same ground annually. It is essentially the “staff of life” in all +Central America, being the material of which the eternal _tortilla_ is +composed. The green stalks, _sacate_, constitute about the only fodder +for horses and cattle in the country, and is supplied daily in all the +principal towns. The abundance of this grain may be inferred from the +fact that a _fanega of Leon_ (equivalent to about five bushels English) +of shelled corn, in 1849, commanded in the capital but one dollar. + +_Wheat_, and all other cereal grains, as well as the fruits of temperate +climates, flourish in the elevated districts of Segovia, in the northern +part of the republic, bordering on Honduras, where, it is said, except +in the absence of snow, little difference is to be observed, in respect +to climate, from the southern parts of the United States. + +_Rice_ is abundant in Nicaragua, and is extensively used, and, like +maize, may be easily cultivated to any extent desirable. It is sold at +from $1 50 to $2 per cwt. + +In short, nearly all the edibles and fruits of the tropics are produced +naturally, or may be cultivated in great perfection. Plantains, bananas, +beans, chile, tomatoes, bread-fruit, arrow-root, ocra, citrons, oranges, +limes, lemons, pine-apples (the delicious white Guayaquil, as well as +the yellow variety), mamays, anonas or chirimoyas, guavas, cocoa-nuts, +and a hundred other varieties of plants and fruits. Among the vegetable +productions of commerce may be mentioned sarsaparilla, anoto, aloes, +ipecacuanha, ginger, vanilla, cowhage, copal, gum arabic, copaiva, +caoutchouc, dragon’s blood, and vanglo, or oil-plant. Among the valuable +trees: mahogany, log-wood, Brazil-wood, lignum-vitæ, fustic, yellow +sanders, pine (on the heights), dragon’s blood tree, silk-cotton tree, +oak, copal tree, cedar, button-wood, iron-wood, rose-wood, Nicaragua +wood, calabash, etc., etc. Of these, Brazil-wood, cedar, and mahogany +are found in the forests, in what may be termed inexhaustible +quantities. The cedar is a large tree, like the red cedar of the North +in nothing except color and durability; in solidity, and other respects, +it closely resembles the black walnut. Five or six cargoes of +Brazil-wood were exported from Realejo yearly, and a larger quantity +from San Juan. A quantity of cedar plank is also exported to South +America. + +The raising of cattle and the production of cheese is a most important +item in the actual resources of Nicaragua. The cheese is for common +consumption, and great quantities are used. Large droves of cattle are +annually sent to the other States, where they command fair prices. About +35,000 or 40,000 hides are exported annually. + +The northern districts of Nicaragua, Segovia, Matagalpa, and Chontales, +adjoin the great metalliferous mountain region of Honduras, with which +they correspond in climate, and with which they are geologically +connected. They are rich in gold, silver, copper, iron, and lead, the +ores of which are abundant and readily worked. Under the crown, the +mines of these districts yielded large returns, but they have now +greatly diminished; and, unless taken up by foreign enterprise, capital, +and intelligence, are likely to fall into insignificance. No data exist +for estimating the present value of their produce, but it probably does +not exceed $250,000 annually. + +The mines most celebrated are those in the vicinity of the towns of +Depilto and Maqueliso, in Segovia. There are here more than a hundred +_vetas_ or veins, bearing different names. Most of them yield their ores +in the form of sulphurets, bromides, and chlorides. One, “El Coquimbo,” +gives argentiferous sulphuret of antimony—a rare occurrence. The yield +varies greatly, ranging from 40 to 1300 ounces to the ton. This mineral +district is very well watered, abounds in pine and oak timber, produces +readily wheat, potatoes, and many other of the fruits and grains of +higher latitudes, and is moreover cool and salubrious. Nearly all of the +streams to the eastward of the town of Nueva Segovia, falling from the +mountains of Honduras into the Rio Coco, or Wanks, carry gold in their +sands, in greater or less quantities. The Indians, and a few adventurers +from other parts of the State, carry on washings in a small and rude +way, and consequently, without any great aggregate result. In the +neighborhood of Matagalpa, on the head waters of the Rio Escondido, +there are also gold washings, worked in like manner by the Indians. +Here, too, are mines of silver, and several rich veins of copper ore, +yielding, it is said, 35 per cent. of the metal, with a fair percentage +of silver in combination.[48] + +----- + +Footnote 48: + + An English traveller, named Byam, who seems to have visited Nicaragua + for mining purposes, states that the silver mines which he observed + “were fine, broad, but rather irregular veins, the ore combined with + sulphur and lead. The ore is hard, but clean.” The copper ores, he + informs us, “are almost all uncombined with sulphur, or any other + combination which requires calcining to be got rid of. They may all be + smelted in a common blast furnace, with the aid of equal quantities of + iron-stone, which lies in large quantities on the surface of all the + hilly country. They are what the Spanish miners call ‘metal de color,’ + red and blue oxides and green carbonates, with now and then the brown + or pigeon-breasted. They cut easily and smoothly with the knife, and + yield from twenty-five to sixty per cent. The copper veins are + generally vertical, and the larger ones run east and west.” This + writer has the following references to the gold washings of the + country: + + “Some adventurers, generally of the very lowest class, both in manners + and morals, proceed to the auriferous streams, that run through the + south part of the Honduras nearest to Segovia, for two or three months + during the driest part of the year, and when the rains have entirely + subsided. Their baggage is very light, and easily carried on a donkey + or half-starved mule, for they only provide each for himself and his + female helpmate a small load of Indian corn, barely enough for the + pair, some tobacco, a small stone for grinding the corn, an earthen + pan or two, a hatchet, and a small leathern bag to put the gold in + _when found_. They also take a few half gourds dried, to wash the + earth in, and a grass hammock to sleep in, and away they start, + driving their animals before them, each man carrying his machete or + short heavy broad-sword, and some, bows and arrows. The part of the + country is almost uninhabited, and on their arrival at the different + streams, they generally separate, and each pair chooses a spot often + miles apart, where they commence operations. The first thing is to + build a ‘Ramada,’ or hut of branches, as the name signifies; but they + always select a place where two good-sized trees are near enough + together, to enable them to swing their hammocks between them. With a + few poles and branches with the leaf on, a hut is made in two or three + hours; the man then makes a pile of dry wood near at hand, and leaves + the entire care of the household to the woman, who grinds the corn, + and every day makes a few cakes, looking like thin pancakes, which are + toasted on a flat earthen pan over the wood ashes. Their drink is a + little maize meal and cacao nut ground together, mixed with water and + stirred up in a gourd; and thus the pair vegetate for two or three + months, supported by the hopes of living well for the remainder of the + year. The man is always within sight of the hut, in case assistance be + wanted in such a wild spot; and he digs holes into the ground near the + stream, and after having piled up a heap of earth close to the water, + washes it in the half gourds, when, after repeated changes of water, + and the spot chosen having proved a good one, a little fine gold dust + is often visible in the gourd. It requires a great deal of nicety to + balance the gourd backwards and forwards, up and down, and round + about, so as to get rid of the earth; and it is still more difficult, + at the last washing, to manage to leave the gold altogether, at the + very end of the remaining deposit, which is generally of a black or + dark grey color. The grains of gold are often large enough to be + picked out after one or two washings, and often of a size to be + discerned whilst digging, and a man in good luck may find enough gold + in a week to keep him comfortably the whole year; but money easily got + generally soon goes; and on the return of the lucky pair to their + town, it is too often quickly spent in gambling and low debauchery.” + +----- + +In the district of Chontales, among the mountains separating the waters +flowing into Lake Nicaragua from those falling into the Rio Escondido, +the ores of gold are found in abundance. There are numerous evidences +that the mines were largely worked by the aborigines. The metal occurs +chiefly in quartz veins. Attempts were made in 1856-’57 to introduce +proper machinery for crushing the rock and extracting the metal, but the +political condition of the country has been such as to break up and +discourage all enterprises of this kind. Whenever order shall be +permanently established, Chontales will no doubt command increasing +attention. Its accessibility from the shores of Lake Nicaragua, and +through the navigable waters of the Rio Escondido, point it out as the +region most favorable for mining establishments in Nicaragua. That +portion bordering on the lake is chiefly undulating prairie ground, now +only occupied by scattered cattle estates, but capable of supporting a +large population, and furnishing unbounded supplies. It is stated that +deposits of coal resembling anthracite have been found in Chontales, but +the evidence upon that point is not conclusive.[49] + +----- + +Footnote 49: + + “The mines of Chontales lie about fifty miles from the sea-coast, one + hundred and fourteen north-east of the town of Granada, and thirty-six + from Lake Nicaragua, and extend over an area of about eighty miles. + The district is fifteen hundred feet above the Atlantic, and + surrounded by mountains one or two thousand feet higher. The metal is + found in quartz, red sandstone and slate. In 1854 there were about + three hundred men at work here, who had come from the mines of + Honduras in the hope of higher wages. Here was also a motley crowd of + American, Irish, French, and German vagabonds, who went digging one + day here, and next day there, consuming in the evening what they had + earned during the day. Altogether not above six hundred persons were + attracted to this lonely region; while the province of Chontales has + an Indian population of ten thousand, supporting themselves by hunting + and fishing. Up to 1854 no gold from Chontales had found its way into + commerce, nor had any proper analysis been made of the ores. Specimens + of the latter were nevertheless brought to Granada of extraordinary + richness. It was calculated that every 100 lbs. of the ore would yield + three and a half ounces of pure gold. Subsequent results, however, did + not bear out these anticipations. The great hindrance to the + profitable working of the mines of Chontales, is the want of + instructed miners, good roads, and sufficient capital.”—_Scherzer._ + +----- + +Some explorations of “Indian River,” flowing into the Caribbean Sea on +the Mosquito Shore, a short distance above the port of San Juan, +disclosed the fact that gold exists in that stream, as it does +unquestionably in all the rivers falling from the mountains of Honduras +into the Atlantic. It may be questioned, however, if the gold, except in +peculiar localities, can be obtained in sufficient quantities to repay +the cost and labor of obtaining it.[50] + +----- + +Footnote 50: + + “In Central America, _lignite_, including _amber_, occasionally occurs + from Costa Rica to San Salvador, and in all probability further south + as well as north. Pieces of amber, some with insects in them, derived + from the tertiary coal formations of the Bay of Tamarinda, I saw at + Leon, where I saw also some samples of coal from the neighborhood of + that city. They were of a greyish black color, rather hard, with the + texture of wood clearly visible. On being burnt, a considerable + quantity of ashes were left, in some cases of a white, in others of a + red color.”—_Frœbel’s Seven Years in Central America_, p. 68. + +----- + +The methods of mining in Nicaragua, as in every other part of Central +America, are exceedingly rude, and it is not surprising that the results +are so often unsatisfactory. The silver and gold ores are crushed in a +basin of masonry, in which rises a vertical shaft, driven generally by a +horizontal water-wheel. This shaft has two arms, to each of which is +suspended a large stone or boulder. These are the crushers. After the +ore is reduced to sufficient fineness, the metal is separated by +amalgam; a long and expensive process, which is now beginning to be +facilitated and cheapened by the introduction of the German or “barrel +process.” The machines for crushing the ores have, however, as yet, +undergone but slight improvement. Some of the mines in San Salvador, +Honduras, and Costa Rica have European machinery, and are worked to good +advantage. + +The trade and commerce of Nicaragua is at an extremely low ebb. The +advance which the country made in these respects, from the opening of +the California transit in 1850-51, has been followed by more than a +corresponding retrogression—the consequence of domestic dissensions, and +foreign invasion. The merchants of the country are impoverished and +bankrupt, the revenues of the government merely nominal, and the little +foreign commerce that remains, hardly worth the trouble of estimating, +is in the hands of two or three English and French traders, whose +governments are able and willing to protect them in their lives and +property. American enterprise and influence in the country may be +considered as extinct, and likely to remain so until a different class +of men shall identify themselves with the country. + + + + + CHAPTER II. + +THE PROPOSED INTER-OCEANIC CANAL: EARLY EXPLORATIONS; SURVEY OF COLONEL + CHILDS IN 1851; VARIOUS LINES FROM LAKE NICARAGUA TO THE PACIFIC; + ETC., ETC. + + +From what has been said in the preceding chapters, it sufficiently +appears that Nicaragua is a country of great beauty of scenery, +fertility of soil, and variety and richness of products. But she has +attracted the attention of the world less on these accounts than because +she is believed to possess within her borders the best and most feasible +route for a canal between the two great oceans. The project of opening +such a communication through her territories began to be entertained as +soon as it was found that there existed no natural water communication +between the seas. As early as 1551, the historian Gomara had indicated +the four lines which have since been regarded as offering the greatest +facilities for the purpose, viz.: at Darien, Panama, Nicaragua, and +Tehuantepec. There were difficulties, he said, “and even mountains in +the way, but,” he added, “there are likewise hands; let only the resolve +be formed to make the passage, and it can be made. If inclination be not +wanting, there will be no want of means; the Indies, to which the +passage is to be made, will supply them. To a king of Spain, with the +wealth of the Indies at his command, when the object is the spice trade, +that which is possible is also easy.” + +But, although occupying so large a share of the attention of all +maritime nations, and furnishing a subject for innumerable essays in +every language of Europe, yet it was not until after the discovery of +gold in California, and the organization of an Anglo-American State on +the shores of the Pacific, that the question of a canal assumed a +practical form, or that of its feasibility was accurately determined. + +In 1851, a complete survey was made of the river San Juan, Lake +Nicaragua, and the isthmus intervening between the lake and the Pacific, +by Colonel Childs, under the direction of the late “Atlantic and Pacific +Ship-Canal Company.” Until then, it had always been assumed that the +river San Juan, as well as Lake Nicaragua, could easily be made +navigable for ships, and that the only obstacle to be overcome was the +narrow strip of land between the lake and the ocean. Hence, all of the +so-called surveys were confined to that point. One of these was made +under orders of the Spanish government, in 1781, by Don Manuel Galisteo. +Another, and that best known, by Mr. John Baily, under the direction of +the government of Central America, in 1838. An intermediate examination +seems to have been made early in the present century, the results of +which are given in Thompson’s Guatemala. The following table shows the +distances, elevations, etc., on the various lines followed by these +explorers: + + ───────────────┬─────────────────┬────────────────┬──────────────── + │ Distance from │ Greatest │ Greatest + │ Lake to Ocean. │Elevation above │Elevation<span> + Authorities │ │ Ocean. │ above Lake. + │──────── ────────│────────────────│──────────────── + │ Miles. Feet. │ Feet. │ Feet. + ───────────────┼─────────────────┼────────────────┼──────────────── + Galisteo, 1781 │ 17 200 │ 272 │ 134. + Quoted by │ │ │ + Thompson │ 17 330 │ 296 │ 154. + Baily, 1838 │ 16 730 │ 615 │ 487. + Childs, 1851 │ 18 588 │ 159 │ 47½ + ───────────────┴─────────────────┴────────────────┴──────────────── + +As the survey of Colonel Childs is the only one which can be accepted as +conforming to modern engineering requirements, it will be enough to +present the detailed results at which he arrived. The line proposed by +him, and on which all his calculations and estimates were based, +commences at the little port of Brito on the Pacific, and passes across +the isthmus between the ocean and the lake, to the mouth of a small +stream called the Rio Lajas, flowing into the latter; thence across Lake +Nicaragua to its outlet, and down the valley of the Rio San Juan to the +port of the same name, on the Atlantic. The length of this line was +found to be 194⅓ miles, as follows:— + + MILES. + + WESTERN DIVISION:—Canal from the port of Brito on the Pacific, + through the valleys of the Rio Grande and Rio Lajas, flowing + into Lake Nicaragua 18.588 + + MIDDLE DIVISION:—Through Lake Nicaragua, from the mouth of Rio + Lajas to San Carlos, at the head of the San Juan river 56.500 + + EASTERN DIVISION—_First Section_:—Slack water navigation on + San Juan River, from San Carlos to a point on the river + nearly opposite the mouth of the Rio Serapiqui 90.800 + + _Second Section_:—Canal from point last named to port of San + Juan del Norte 28.505 + + ———— + + Total, as above 194.393 + +The dimensions of the canal were designed to be—depth, 17 feet; +excavations in earth, 50 feet wide at bottom, 86 feet wide at nine feet +above bottom, and 118 feet wide at surface of water; excavations in +rock, 50 feet wide at bottom, 77 feet wide at nine feet above bottom, +and 78-1/3 feet wide at surface of water. + +The construction of the canal on this plan contemplates supplying the +western division, from the lake to the sea, with water from the lake. It +would, therefore, be necessary to commence the work on the lake at a +point where the water is seventeen feet deep, at mean level. This point +is opposite the mouth of a little stream called Rio Lajas, and +twenty-five chains from the shore. From this point, for one and a half +miles, partly along the Rio Lajas, the excavation will be principally in +earth, but beyond this, for a distance of five and a half miles, which +carries the line beyond the summit, three-fourths of the excavations +would be in trap-rock; that is to say, the deepest excavation or open +cut would be 64½ feet (summit, 47½ feet + depth of canal, 17 feet = 64½ +feet), and involve the removal of 1,800,000 cubic yards of earth, and +3,378,000 cubic yards of rock. The excavation and construction on this +five and a half miles alone was estimated to cost upwards of $6,250,000. +After passing the summit, and reaching the valley of a little stream +called Rio Grande, the excavation, as a general rule, would be only the +depth of the canal. Col. Childs found that the lake, at ordinary high +water, is 102 feet 10 inches above the Pacific at high, and 111 feet 5 +inches at low tide, instead of 128 feet, as calculated by Mr. Baily. He +proposed to accomplish the descent to Brito by means of fourteen locks, +each of eight feet lift. The harbor of Brito, as it is called, at the +point where the Rio Grande enters the sea, is, in fact, only a small +angular indentation of the land, partially protected by a low ledge of +rocks, entirely inadequate for the terminus of a great work like the +proposed canal, and incapable of answering the commonest requirements of +a port. To remedy this deficiency, it was proposed to construct an +artificial harbor of thirty-four acres area, by means of moles and +jetties in the sea, and extensive excavations in the land. If, as +supposed, the excavations here would be in sand, it would be obviously +almost impossible to secure proper foundations for the immense sea-walls +and piers which the work would require. If in rock, as seems most +likely, the cost and labor would almost surpass computation. Assuming +the excavations to be in earth and sand, Col. Childs estimated the cost +of these improvements at upwards of $2,700,000. + +Returning now to the lake, and proceeding from seventeen feet depth of +water, opposite the mouth of the Rio Lajas,[51] in the direction of the +outlet of the lake at San Carlos, there is ample depth of water for +vessels of all sizes for a distance of about fifty-one miles, to a point +half a mile south of the Boacas Islands, where the water shoals rapidly +to fourteen feet; for the remaining five and a half miles to San Carlos, +the depth averages only nine feet at low, and fourteen feet at high +water. For this distance, therefore, an average under-water excavation +of eight feet in depth would be required, to carry out the plan of a +canal of seventeen feet deep. But if the lake were kept at high level, +the under-water excavation would have an average of only about three +feet. Colonel Childs proposed to protect this portion of the canal by +rows of piles driven on each side, and supposed that when the excavation +should be completed, there would be a sufficient current between them to +keep the channel clear. + +----- + +Footnote 51: + + No one should be deceived by the use of the term _Rio_ as applied in + Spanish America. It may mean anything from a mere rill upwards to the + largest river. Thus, the Rio Lajas is a running stream for only part + of the year. During the dry season it is simply a long, narrow lagoon, + of sluggish Lethean water, without current, and the bar at its mouth + is dry, cutting off all connection with the lake. The lake along this + part of the coast is very shallow, the bottom rock. The engraving + shows its appearance in the month of December. + +----- + +[Illustration: MOUTH OF THE RIO LAJAS. VOLCANO OF OMETEPEC.] + +We come now to the division between Lake Nicaragua and the Atlantic, +through or along the Rio San Juan. Colonel Childs carried a line of +levels from the lake at San Carlos to the port of San Juan, and found +the distance between those points to be a hundred nineteen and a third +miles, and the total fall from the level of high-water in the lake to +that of high-tide in the harbor, one hundred seven and a half feet. From +San Carlos to a point half a mile below the Serapiqui river, a distance +of 91 miles, Col. Childs proposed to make the river navigable by +excavating its bed, and by constructing dams, to be passed by means of +locks and short canals; the remaining twenty-eight miles to be +constructed through the alluvial delta of the San Juan, inland, and +independently of the river. Of the whole fall, sixty-two and a half feet +occur on that portion of the river which he proposed to improve by dams, +and on which there were to be eight locks, and the remaining forty-five +feet on the inland portion of the works, by means of six locks—fourteen +locks in all, each with an average lift of nearly eight feet. It was +proposed to place the first dam, descending the river, at the Castillo +rapids, thirty-seven miles from the lake, and to pass the rapids by +means of a short lateral canal. By means of this dam the river was to be +raised, at that point, twenty-one and a half feet, and the level of Lake +Nicaragua five feet above its lowest stage; or, in other words, kept at +high-water mark, to avoid the extensive submarine excavations which +would be necessary to enable vessels to enter the river. The fall, at +this dam, would be sixteen feet. The other dams were to be four of eight +feet fall, and one of thirteen and a half feet, and another of fourteen +and a half feet. Between all these it was found there would be required +more or less excavation in the bed of the stream, often in rock. Col. +Childs also proposed to improve the harbor of San Juan by means of +moles, etc., and also to construct an artificial harbor or basin, in +connection with it, of thirteen acres area. As regards the amount of +water passing through the San Juan, it was found that at its lowest +level, June 4, 1851, the discharge from the lake was 11,930 cubic feet +per second. The greatest rise in the lake is five feet. When it stood +3.43 feet above its lowest level, the flow of water in the river, at San +Carlos, was 18,059 cubic feet per second, being an increase of upwards +of fifty per cent. Supposing the same ratio of increase, the discharge +from the lake, at extreme high-water, would be upwards of 23,000 cubic +feet per second. The river receives large accessions from its +tributaries, which, at the point of divergence of the Colorado channel, +swell the flow of water to 54,380 cubic feet per second, of which, +42,056 cubic feet pass through the Colorado channel, and 12,324 cubic +feet into the harbor of San Juan. + +The cost of the work was estimated by Col. Childs as follows: + + Eastern Division (from Port of San Juan to lake) $13,023,275 + Central Division (through lake) 1,068,410 + Western Division from lake to Pacific 14,475,630 + —————————— + $28,567,315 + Add for contingencies 15 per cent. 4,285,095 + —————————— + Total estimated cost $32,852,410 + +The charter of the Company, under the auspices of which Col. Childs was +sent to Nicaragua, stipulated that the canal should be of dimensions +sufficient “to admit vessels of all sizes.” A canal therefore, such as +that proposed, but seventeen feet deep, and one hundred and eighteen +feet wide at the surface of the water, could not meet the requirements +of the charter, nor be adequate to the wants of commerce. To pass freely +large merchantmen and vessels of war, a canal would require to be at +least thirty feet deep, with locks and other works in proportion, which +would involve at least three times the amount of excavation, etc., of +the work proposed above, and a corresponding augmentation of cost. A +canal so small as to render necessary the transhipment of merchandise +and passengers is manifestly inferior to a railway, both as involving, +in the first instance, greater cost of construction, and, in the second +place, greater expense in working, with less speed. + +The surveys and estimates of Col. Childs were submitted to the British +government, and by it referred for report to Mr. James Walker, civil +engineer, and Captain Edward Aldrich, Royal Engineers. The report of +this commission, proceeding on the assumption that the plans, +measurements, etc., of Col. Childs were correct, was, on the whole, +favorable. It however suggested that the item of “contingencies” in the +estimate should be increased from fifteen to twenty-five per cent. Of +all the works of the proposed navigation it pronounces the Brito or +Pacific harbor as least satisfactory. “Presuming the statements and +conclusions of Col. Childs to be correct, the Brito harbor is, in shape +and size, unworthy of this great ship navigation, even supposing the +Pacific, to which it is quite open, to be a much quieter ocean than any +we have seen or have information of.” Subsequently, the plans and +reports were laid before a committee of English capitalists, with a view +to procure the means for the actual construction of the work. This +committee, after a patient investigation, declined to embark in the +work, or to recommend it to public support, on the ground;—1st. That the +dimensions of the proposed work were not such as, in their opinion, +would meet the requirements of commerce; 2d. That these dimensions were +not conformable to the provisions of the Company’s charter; 3d. That +supposing the work not to exceed the estimated cost of $32,800,000, the +returns, to meet the simple interest on the investment, at six per +cent,, would require to be at least $1,950,000 over and above its +current expenses; or, to meet this interest, and the percentage to be +paid to Nicaragua, not less than $2,365,000 over and above expenses; or +allowing $1,000,000 per annum for repairs, superintendence, cost of +transportation, etc., then the gross earnings would require to be +$3,400,000; 4th. Putting the toll at $3 per ton, the collection of this +revenue would involve the passage of upwards of 1,000,000 tons of +shipping per annum; 5th. That not more than one-third of the vessels +engaged in the oriental trade could pass through a canal of the proposed +dimensions, even if the route which it would open were shorter than that +by way of Cape of Good Hope, instead of being more than 1000 miles +longer to Calcutta, Singapore, and other leading ports of British India; +6th. That the heavy toll of $3 per ton on ships would generally prevent +such vessels as could do so from passing the canal, inasmuch as on a +vessel of 1000 tons the aggregate toll would be $3000, or more than the +average earnings of such vessels per voyage; 7th. That a work of the +dimensions proposed, under the present condition of commerce, would not +attract sufficient support to defray the cost of repairs and working, +and could not therefore be safely undertaken by capitalists. Upon the +publication of this report the canal company obtained the privilege of +opening a transit by steamers and carriages through Nicaragua, and the +project of a canal seems to have been definitely abandoned—unless we +regard the fantastic proceedings of certain adventurers from Europe, as +directed seriously toward the execution of the enterprise. + +The construction of a ship-canal between the oceans through Nicaragua is +unquestionably within the range of engineering feasibilities, but it can +be as safely affirmed that, with the present requirements of commerce, +and under the laws which govern the use of capital, it is not likely to +be seriously undertaken. The assumption upon which most of the +speculations regarding the utility of such a work are founded, viz., +that it would shorten the distance between the ports of Europe, and +those of Asia in general, is erroneous as will appear from the following +table: + + ┌──────────────────────────────┬────────────┬────────────┬────────┬────────┐ + │ │Via Cape of │Via proposed│ Net │ Net │ + │ │ Good Hope. │ Canal. │ Loss. │ Gain. │ + ├──────────────────────────────┼────────────┼────────────┼────────┼────────┤ + │ From ENGLAND │ MILES. │ MILES. │ MILES. │ MILES. │ + │To Canton │ 12,900 │ 13,800 │ 900 │ .. │ + │ ” Calcutta │ 11,440 │ 15,480 │ 4040 │ .. │ + │ ” Singapore │ 11,880 │ 15,120 │ 4240 │ .. │ + │ “ Sidney via Torres Straits │ 14,980 │ 12,550 │ │ 2430 │ + │ From NEW YORK │ │ │ │ │ + │To Canton │ 14,100 │ 11,820 │ │ 3280 │ + │ ” Calcutta │ 12,360 │ 13,680 │ 1320 │ .. │ + │ ” Singapore │ 12,700 │ 11,420 │ │ 1280 │ + │ ” Sidney │ 15,720 │ 9,480 │ │ 6240 │ + └──────────────────────────────┴────────────┴────────────┴────────┴────────┘ + +It will be observed that the sole advantage which the canal would afford +to Great Britain, as regards the East, would be a saving in distance +(equally attainable by a railway across the isthmus) of 2430 miles in +communicating with Australia. As regards the Sandwich Islands, and the +western coast of America, the gain in distance, both to England and the +United States, would be considerable, as shown in the subjoined table: + + ┌──────────────────────────────┬────────────┬────────────┬────────┐ + │ │ Via Cape │Via proposed│ Gain. │ + │ │ Horn. │ Canal. │ │ + ├──────────────────────────────┼────────────┼────────────┼────────┤ + │ From ENGLAND │ MILES. │ MILES. │ MILES. │ + │To Valparaiso │ 8,700 │ 7,500 │ 1,200 │ + │ ” Callao │ 10,020 │ 6,800 │ 3,220 │ + │ ” Sandwich Islands │ 13,500 │ 8,640 │ 4,860 │ + │ From NEW YORK │ │ │ │ + │To Valparaiso │ 8,580 │ 4,860 │ 3,720 │ + │ ” Callao │ 9,900 │ 3,540 │ 6,360 │ + │ ” Sandwich Islands │ 13,200 │ 6,300 │ 6,900 │ + └──────────────────────────────┴────────────┴────────────┴────────┘ + +It must not be supposed that the investigations of Col. Childs were +confined to the single line described in the foregoing paragraphs. He +examined that also by way of the Rio Sapoa to the bay of Salinas, but +found that to pass the summit, a cut of 119 feet in depth would be +requisite, an up-lockage from the lake of 350 feet, and a down-lockage +to the Pacific of 432 feet. Water to supply the upper locks, it was +ascertained, could only be got with difficulty, and at great cost; and, +furthermore, a rock-cut of three-fourths of a mile long would be +necessary, from low-tide mark in the bay of Salinas to deep water. In +short, the physical difficulties of this line, if not of a nature to +make the construction of a canal impossible, were nevertheless such as +to make it impracticable. + +It seems that Col. Childs was limited by his instructions to an +examination of the direct line between Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific, +provided that any of the routes proposed should prove feasible. As a +consequence, finding a route which, in his opinion, was practicable, he +made no surveys of the various lines which had been indicated by myself +and others, from the superior lake of Managua to the ports of Tamarinda, +Realejo, and the Bay of Fonseca. This is a source of regret, especially +in view of the deficiency on the surveyed line of a reasonably good +harbor on the Pacific—Brito, as already said, being utterly inadequate +for a work of the kind proposed, while Realejo and the Bay of Fonseca +are all that can be desired as ports. + +A line, however, extending to any of the ports here named, would require +not only to pass through the entire length of Lake Nicaragua, but also +to overcome the obstacles which intervene between that body of water and +Lake Managua. Much of the confusion and misapprehension, as to the +connection between these lakes, has been set right in Chapter XV. of the +preceding narrative. The distance between the two is about sixteen +miles, of which twelve miles is overcome by a broad, shallow arm of Lake +Nicaragua, called the _Estero de Panaloya_. It varies from six to +fifteen feet in depth, with low banks, and generally a muddy bottom. +Strictly speaking, this _Estero_ is part of Lake Nicaragua, and the +actual distance between the lakes does not, therefore, exceed four +miles. + +The estate of _Pasquiel_, at the head of this estuary, is the limit of +navigation. Above, for a mile and a half, to _Paso Chico_, the bed of +the river is full of large and isolated rocks, resting upon a bed of +volcanic breccia. Beyond _Paso Chico_, the bed, or rather the former bed +of the river, (for except in rainy seasons there is no water here beyond +what flows from springs,) is the same solid breccia, worn into basins +and fantastic “pot-holes” by the water. Within one mile of the lake of +Managua is the fall of Tipitapa, opposite the little village of that +name. It is a ledge of the rock above described, and is from twelve to +fifteen feet in height. The bed of the stream is here not less than 400 +feet in width. From the falls to the lake, the bed is wide but shallow, +covered with grass and bushes, resembling a neglected pasture. At the +time of my visit (1849), no water flowed through it, nor, so far as I +could learn, had any flowed there for years. I can, however, readily +believe that in an extremely wet season a small quantity may find its +way through this channel, and over the falls. It is, nevertheless, very +evident that no considerable body of water ever passed here.[52] There +is an arm of Lake Managua which projects down the channel for three or +four hundred yards, but the water is only two or three feet deep, with +an equal depth of soft, gray mud, the dwelling-place of numerous +alligators, with reedy shores, thronged with every variety of +water-birds. The water of Lake Managua, near the so-called outlet, is +not deep, and the channel, in order to admit of the passage of large +vessels, would probably require to be well dredged, if not protected by +parallel piers. At the distance of about three-fourths of a mile from +the shore, I found, by actual measurement, that the water did not exceed +two fathoms in depth. No great obstruction to building the proposed +canal exists in the section between the two lakes. The rock is so soft +and friable that a channel can easily be opened from Lake Managua to the +falls. Beyond this the banks are high for three miles, forming a natural +canal which only needs to be properly dammed, at its lower extremity, to +furnish a body of water adequate to every purpose of navigation. Locks +would then be required to reach the estuary of Panaloya. From this point +to the lake, I conceive, may prove the most difficult part of this +section, although apparently the easiest. Where the bottom is earth or +mud, the desirable depth of water may be secured by dredging; but where +it is rock, as it certainly is near its upper extremity, some difficult +excavation will be required. The banks downward to Lake Nicaragua are so +low as to prohibit assistance from dams, except by diking the shores. + +----- + +Footnote 52: + + It is said that the river Tipitapa was a considerable stream up to + 1844, but that, in consequence of an earthquake in that year, it + ceased to flow. Hence, it has been inferred that some subterranean + channel was then opened, sufficiently large to pass the water which + had previously flowed through the Tipitapa channel. This statement + lacks confirmation. Oviedo tells us that in his time (1527) the amount + of water in the river underwent great variations with the change of + seasons. That the level of water in the lake is subject to great + changes, I can personally bear witness. In 1849, the road from + Matearas to Nagarote ran, for a long distance, along the shores of the + lake, over a beach varying from one hundred to three hundred yards in + width. In 1853, I found the water entirely covering this beach, as + well as the old mule-path along the shore, to the depth of from five + to ten feet. The low stage of water in the lake in 1849, and its + absence in the channel of Tipitapa, were doubtless due to a succession + of comparatively light rainy seasons, or of dry years. I have no doubt + that in 1853, there was a considerable flow of water through the + channel of Tipitapa. At any rate, I am not inclined to ascribe any + marked change in the hydrographic system of the country, to the + earthquake of 1844. + +----- + +Lake Managua may thus be said virtually to have no outlet. The streams +which come in from the Pacific side are insignificant; and though, as +already stated, the Rio Grande and other streams of considerable size +flow into it from the direction of Segovia, yet they vary much with the +season of the year, and seldom furnish a greater quantity of water than +is requisite to supply the evaporation from so large a surface, in a +tropical climate. Nevertheless, a reservoir like that of Managua, with +1,200 square miles of surface, would be adequate to supply all the water +required for a ship canal at this point, without any sensible diminution +of its volume. + +The country between Lake Managua and the Pacific is much more favorable +for the construction of a canal than that between Lake Nicaragua and the +same ocean. The dividing ridge, to which I have alluded in a previous +chapter, as separating the waters of the latter lake from the sea, also +extends along the intervening isthmus, very nearly to the head of Lake +Managua. Here it is wholly interrupted, or rather subsides into broad +plains, rising but a few feet above the lake, and thence descending in a +gentle slope to the ocean. Three lines across these plains have been +suggested; 1st, by the left shore of the lake to the small port of +Tamarinda; 2d, by the same shore to the well-known port of Realejo; and +3d, by the upper shore of the lake to the Gulf of Fonseca, or Conchagua. +It is probable that all of these lines are feasible, but a minute survey +can only determine which is best. + +1.—The first line suggested, to the port of Tamarinda, is considerably +shorter than either of the others, not exceeding fifteen or eighteen +miles in length. But the water of the lake upon its north-western shore, +in the bay of Moabita, is shallow. I sounded it in July, 1849. It +deepened regularly from the shore to the distance of one mile, when it +attained five fathoms. After that it deepened rapidly to ten and fifteen +fathoms. The country between the lake and Tamarinda, so far as can be +ascertained, (it being covered with forests) is nearly level, and offers +no insuperable obstacle to a canal. There is no town or village near the +port, and it seems to have escaped general notice. Nor is it known that +it has ever been entered by vessels, except in one or two instances for +the purpose of loading Brazil wood. It is small, and tolerably well +protected; but is not a proper termination for a work like the proposed +canal. + +2.—The second line is that to the well known and excellent port of +Realejo, formed by the junction of the Telica or Doña Paula and Realejo +rivers, and protected on the side of the sea by the islands of Cardon +and Asserradores, and a bluff of the main-land. It is safe and +commodious, and the water is good, ranging from three and four to eight +and nine fathoms. The volcano of El Viejo, lifting its cone upwards of +6,000 feet above the sea, to the north-eastward of the port, forms an +unmistakable landmark for the mariner, long before any other part of the +coast is visible. This line, starting from the nearest practicable point +of Lake Managua, cannot fall short of forty-five miles in length. It is +said that the Estero of Doña Paula, which is only that part of the +Telica river up which the tide flows, might be made use of for a +considerable distance; but that can only be determined by actual survey. +I can discover no reason why this route could not be advantageously +pursued. It has the present advantage of passing through the most +populous and best cultivated part of the country, and terminating at a +point already well known. There is no stream upon this line which, as +has been supposed by Louis Napoleon and some other writers on this +subject, can be made available for supplying this section of the +proposed canal with water. The “Rio Tosta,” of which they speak, (by +which, from its described position, it is supposed the _Rio Telica_ is +meant, for no stream known as the Rio Tosta exists), is a stream of some +size, but never furnished a quantity of water sufficient to supply an +ordinary canal. The local geography of the plain of Leon is little known +to its inhabitants; and, as the roads are hemmed in by impenetrable +forests, it is impossible for the traveller to inform himself of the +minor topographical features of the country. The Rio Telica empties into +the Estero Doña Paula, and it may possibly be made to answer a useful +purpose. I have crossed it at many points where it has (as it has for +nearly its entire length) the character of a huge natural canal, from +sixty to eighty feet deep by perhaps one hundred and fifty or two +hundred yards wide at the top, with steep banks, for the most part of a +friable substratum of rock or compact earth. And as, at its source, it +is not more than fifteen miles distant from Lake Managua, it is not +improbable that, by proper cuttings, the waters of the lake might be +brought into it, and, after the requisite level is attained, the bed of +the stream might be used from that point to the sea, securing the +necessary depth of water by locks or dams. If this suggestion is well +founded, the principal part of the estimated excavation of this section +of the canal may be avoided. In any event, the cutting would not, with +the aids furnished by this mechanical age, be an object to deter the +engineer. + +Every traveller who has passed over the plain of Leon, concurs in +representing that the range of hills separating Lake Nicaragua from the +Pacific are here wholly interrupted; and I can add my unqualified +testimony in support of the fact. The city of Leon is situated in the +midst of this plain, midway between the lake and sea; and, from the flat +roof of its cathedral, the traveller may see the Pacific; and, were it +not for the intervening forests, probably the lake. “A. G.,” quoted by +Louis Napoleon, and whose observations are uniformly very accurate, +states that the ground, between lake and ocean, at a distance of 2,725 +yards from the former, attains its maximum height of 55 feet 6 inches, +and from thence slopes to the sea. Other observers vary in their +estimates of this maximum elevation, from 49 feet 6 inches to 51 feet. +Of course, the precise elevation can only be determined by actual +survey. The city of Leon is distant, in a direct line, about fifteen or +eighteen miles from the lake. Captain Belcher determined its height, +above the Pacific, to be 140 feet; which, deducted from the height of +the lake, 156 feet, shows that the plain, where it is built, is sixteen +feet below the level of the lake. + +It is probable that the deepest cutting on this line, allowing thirty +feet for the depth of the proposed canal, would not exceed eighty feet, +and this only for a short distance. We have examples of much more +serious undertakings of this character. In the canal from Arles to Bouc +the table-land Lèque has been cut through to the extent of 2,289 yards, +the extreme depth being from 130 to 162 feet. I need hardly add that the +Lake of Managua must supply the water requisite for the use of the +canal, from its shores to the sea, as there are no reservoirs or streams +of magnitude upon this line. + +3.—There is still another route, to which public attention has never +been generally directed, but which, if feasible, offers greater +advantages than either of the others just named, viz., from the northern +point of Lake Managua _via_ the Estero Real to the Gulf of Fonseca or +Conchagua. The upper part of Lake Managua is divided into two large bays +by a vast promontory or peninsula, at the extreme point of which stands +the giant volcano of Momotombo. Between this volcano and that of the +Viejo, to the north-east of Realejo, running nearly east and west, is a +chain of volcanoes, presenting, probably, in a short distance, a greater +number of extinct craters, and more evidences of volcanic action, than +any other equal extent of the continent. This chain is isolated. Upon +the south is the magnificent plain of Leon, bounded only by the sea; and +upon the north is also another great plain, the “_Llano del Conejo_,” +bounded by the auriferous hills of Segovia. This plain extends from the +northern bay of Lake Managua to the Gulf of Conchagua, which is equalled +only by that of San Francisco, and may be described as a grand harbor, +in which all the vessels of the world might ride in entire security. It +much resembles that of San Francisco in position and form; the entrance +from the sea is, however, broader. Its entire length within the land is +not far from sixty miles, and its breadth thirty miles. The three States +of San Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras, have ports upon it. All the +adjacent coasts are of unbounded fertility, and possess an unlimited +supply of timber. The bay embraces several islands of considerable size +and beauty, surrounded by water of such depth as to enable vessels of +the largest class to approach close in-shore. The most important of +these, from the circumstance of its size, and the fact that it commands +and is the key to the entire bay, is the island of Tigre, belonging to +Honduras. This island was the head-quarters and dépôt of Drake, and +other piratical adventurers, during their operations in the South Sea. +On it is situated the free port of Amapala. Its possession, and the +consequent control of the Gulf of Fonseca, by any great maritime power, +would enable that power to exercise a command over the commerce of the +western part of the continent, such as the possession of Gibraltar by +the English gives them over that of Europe. + +From the southern extremity of the Gulf of Fonseca extends a large +estuary, or arm, called the Estero Real. Its course is precisely in the +direction of the Lake of Managua; which it approaches to within fifteen +or twenty miles, and between it and the lake is the Plain of Conejo, +which is, in fact, a part of the plain of Leon. This Estero is as broad +as the East River at New York, and has, for most of its extent, an ample +depth of water. At thirty miles above the bay it has fifty feet. There +is a narrow bar at its mouth, on which, at low tide, there are but about +three fathoms. The tide rises, however, nearly ten feet; and with +artificial aid the bar could, doubtless, be passed at all times. This +Estero is one of the most beautiful natural channels that can be +imagined; preserving, for a long distance, a very nearly uniform width +of from three hundred to four hundred yards. Its banks are lined with +mangroves, with a dense background of other trees. + +Captain Belcher, who was here in 1838, went thirty miles up the Estero, +in a vessel drawing ten feet of water. He says: “To-day we started with +the Starling, and other boats, to explore the Estero Real, which, I had +been given to understand, was navigable for sixty miles; in which case, +from what I saw of its course in my visit to the Viejo, it must nearly +communicate with the Lake of Managua. After considerable labor, we +succeeded in carrying the Starling thirty miles from its mouth, and +might easily have gone farther, had the wind permitted, but the +prevailing strong winds rendered the toil of towing too heavy. We +ascended a small hill, about a mile below our extreme position, from +which angles were taken to all the commanding peaks. From that survey, +added to what I remarked from the summit of the Viejo, I am satisfied +that the stream could be followed many miles farther; and, I have not +the slightest doubt it is fed very near the Lake Managua. I saw the +mountains _beyond_ the lake on its eastern side, and _no land higher +than the intervening trees occurred_. This, therefore, would be the most +advantageous line for a canal, which, by entire lake navigation, might +be connected with the interior of the States of San Salvador, Honduras, +Nicaragua, and extend to the Atlantic. Thirty navigable miles for +vessels drawing ten feet we can vouch for, and the natives and residents +assert _sixty_ [_thirty_?] more!” + +From the course of the Estero, and the distance it is known to extend, +it probably would not require a canal of more than twenty miles in +length to connect its navigable waters with those of Lake Managua; in +which case there would be a saving over the Realejo line, besides having +the western terminus of the great work in the magnificent bay which I +have just described. It may, therefore, be safely asserted that a +passage from the Lake of Managua to the sea is entirely feasible, and it +only remains to determine which of the routes here indicated offers the +greatest advantages. + + ┌─────────────────────────┬─────────┬─────────┬─────────┬─────────┬─────────┬────────┬────────┬────────┐ + │Routes from the Port of │Length of│Distance │From Lake│ Between │Distance │Between │ Actual │ Total │ + │San Juan to the Pacific. │ the Rio │ on Lake │ Nica- │ Lakes │ on Lake │ Lake │Canal-ization.│Length. │ + │ │San Juan.│ Nica- │ragua to │ Nica- │Managua. │Managua │ │ │ + │ │ │ ragua. │Pacific. │ragua and│ │ and │ │ │ + │ │ │ │ │Managua. │ │Pacific.│ │ │ + ├─────────────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┼────────┤ + │To Brito │ 119 │ 57 │ 18 │ .. │ .. │ .. │ 137 │ 194 │ + │ ” Tamarinda │ 119 │ 120 │ .. │ 4 │ 50 │ 16 │ 139 │ 309 │ + │ ” Realejo │ 119 │ 120 │ .. │ 4 │ 50 │ 45 │ 168 │ 338 │ + │ ” Estero Real │ 119 │ 120 │ .. │ 4 │ 50 │ 20 │ 143 │ 313 │ + └─────────────────────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┴────────┴────────┴────────┘ + +The above table exhibits the estimated distances from sea to sea, on the +various lines already described, as also the probable extent of actual +canalization. It is assumed, throughout, that the river San Juan cannot +be made navigable for ships, and that a lateral canal must be made, for +its entire length. The length of the river, including its windings, is +nearly one hundred and twenty miles; but it is probable that the +distance, in a right line, between the lake and the Atlantic does not +exceed ninety miles. + +The length of the proposed line of communication from San Juan to +Realejo is estimated by Louis Napoleon at 278 miles, as follows: Length +of the San Juan, 104 miles; of Lake Nicaragua, 90 miles; River Tipitapa, +20 miles; Lake Leon, or Managua, 35 miles; and distance from the lake to +Realejo, 29 miles. This is positively erroneous in some particulars; as, +for instance, the distance from Lake Managua to Realejo, which, so far +from being only 29 miles, is actually from 40 to 45 miles. + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + OUTLINE OF NEGOTIATIONS IN RESPECT TO THE PROPOSED CANAL. + + +In the preceding chapter I have considered solely the question of the +practicability of the projected inter-oceanic canal. It will be +interesting next to notice, briefly, some of the measures which have +been taken towards the construction of the work. + +Although its feasibility was asserted early in the sixteenth century, +nothing was practically attempted until late in the eighteenth century, +when the attention of the Spanish government was called to the subject +once more by Godoy, “the Prince of Peace,” and a survey of the route +made, under his direction, by Galisteo. After the independence of +Central America, another attempt toward the accomplishment of the same +object was made by Señor Manual Antonio de la Cerda, afterwards Governor +of the State of Nicaragua, who, in 1823, urged the matter upon the +Federal Congress, but failed in securing its attention. + +During the year 1824, however, various propositions were made from +abroad, in respect to the enterprise. Amongst these was one from Messrs. +Barclay & Co., of London, bearing date Sept. 18, 1824. They proposed to +open a navigable communication between the two oceans, _via_ the River +San Juan and Lake Nicaragua, without cost to the government, provided +the latter would extend the requisite assistance in other modes. On the +2d of February, 1825, other propositions were made, by some merchants of +the United States, signed by Col. Charles Bourke and Matthew Llanos, in +which they observe that they had, in the month of December preceding, +(1824), sent an armed brig to San Juan, having on board engineers and +other persons charged to make a survey of the proposed route. They +prayed, in consideration of the advances already made, and the evidences +of good faith thus exhibited, that the government would grant them, 1st, +an exclusive proprietorship and control of the canal; 2d, an exclusive +right of navigating the lakes and dependent waters by steam; 3d, free +permission to use all natural products of the country, necessary for the +work; 4th, exemption of duty on goods introduced by the Company, until +the completion of the work. In return for this, they proposed that the +government should receive twenty per cent. on the tolls, and that at the +end of the term of —— years, the entire work should revert to the +government. Whether the armed brig, and the party of engineers referred +to, ever reached their destination, is unknown; nor is it known that the +government of Central America ever took any specific notice of their +propositions. + +The subject was nevertheless regarded as of primary interest throughout +all Central America, and the minister of that republic in the United +States, Don Antonio José Cañas, was specially instructed to bring the +matter prominently before the American government. This he did in an +official letter, bearing date Feb. 8, 1825, addressed to Henry Clay, +then Secretary of State. In this letter, Sr. Cañas solicited the +coöperation of the United States, on the ground “that its noble conduct +had been a model and a protection to all the Americas,” and entitled it +to a preference over any other nation, both in the “merits and +advantages of the proposed great undertaking.” He proposed also, by +means of a treaty, “effectually to secure its advantages to the two +nations.” The Chargé d’Affaires of the United States in Central America, +Col. John Williams, was accordingly specially instructed to assure the +government of that country of the deep interest taken by the United +States in an undertaking “so highly calculated to diffuse a favorable +influence on the affairs of mankind,” to investigate with the greatest +care the facilities offered by the route, and to remit the information +to the United States. But it appears no information of the character +required ever reached the American government. + +During this year, however, (1825,) various proposals were made to the +government of Central America, from abroad, upon the subject; and in +June of that year, the National Congress, with a view of determining the +principles upon which it desired the work undertaken, passed a decree to +the following purport: + + “ARTICLE 1. Authorizes the opening of a canal, fitted for the passage + of the largest vessels, in the State of Nicaragua. + + “ART. 2. The works to be of the most solid construction. + + “ART. 3. The Government shall offer to the undertakers an + indemnification equivalent to the cost and labor of the work. + + “ART. 4. The Government shall use all means of facilitating + the object; permitting the cutting of wood—assisting the + surveyors—forwarding the plans, and generally, in every manner not + injurious to public or private interests. + + “ART. 5. No duty shall be charged on instruments and machinery + imported for the works of the canal. + + “ART. 6. The expense of the work shall be acknowledged as a national + debt, and the tolls of the canal shall be applied to its + extinguishment, after deducting the necessary costs of maintenance and + repairs, and the support of a garrison for its defence. + + “ART. 7. Any dispute regarding its liquidation or proofs of outlay, + shall be determined according to the laws of the republic. + + “ART. 8. The Congress shall be entitled to establish, and at all times + alter, the rates of toll, as it may think proper. + + “ART. 9. The navigation shall be open to all nations, friends or + neutrals, without privilege or exclusion. + + “ART. 10. The government shall maintain on the lake the necessary + vessels for its defence. + + “ART. 11. If invincible impediments, discovered in the course of the + work, prevent its execution, the republic shall not be liable to make + any remuneration whatever. + + “ART. 12. In case only a boat canal can be opened, the indemnification + shall be proportioned to the smaller benefit which will then result to + the republic.” + +This decree was published jointly with another fixing six months for +receiving proposals; but the term designated was too short for any +measures to be taken on the part of companies or individuals, and the +Congress only received a repetition of a part of the proposals before +made. + +The principal of these were made by Mr. Baily and Mr. Charles +Beniski—the first as agent of the English house of Messrs. Barclay, +Herring, Richardson & Co., and the second of Mr. Aaron H. Palmer, of New +York. Mr. Baily’s offer was conditional, while Mr. Beniski’s was +positive, and was therefore accepted by the republic. The contractors, +under the name and style of the “Central American and United States +Atlantic and Pacific Canal Company,” were bound to open through +Nicaragua a canal navigable for vessels of all sizes, and to deposit in +the city of Granada the sum of $200,000 for the preliminary expenses +within six months; to erect fortresses for the protection of the canal, +and to have the works in progress within a period of twelve months. In +compensation they were to have two-thirds of the profits of the tolls +upon the canal until all the capital expended in the work was repaid, +with interest at the rate of ten per cent., beside afterwards receiving +one-half of the proceeds of the canal for seven years, with certain +privileges for introducing steam vessels. The government was to put at +their disposal all the documents relating to the subject existing in its +archives, to permit the cutting of wood, and to furnish laborers at +certain rates of wages. In case of non-completion, the works were to +revert unconditionally to the republic. This contract bore date June 14, +1826, and the contractors at once endeavored to secure the coöperation +of the government of the United States. A memorial was presented to +Congress, and referred to a committee, which reported in due time; but +here the matter stopped, although it appears to have received the +sanction of De Witt Clinton and other distinguished men. + +In fact, Mr. Palmer executed a deed of trust to Mr. Clinton, by which +that gentleman, Stephen Van Renssalaer, C. D. Colden, Philip Hone, and +Lynde Catlin, were constituted directors of the work. Mr. Clinton’s part +was undertaken in entire good faith, and, as he himself expressed it, +“for the promotion of a great and good object, which should be kept free +from the taint of speculation.” Mr. Palmer went to England in 1827, to +secure the coöperation of British capitalists in his enterprise; but, +owing to various untoward circumstances, his mission proved abortive, +and in the autumn of that year he appears to have abandoned the +undertaking. + +Although the administration of Mr. Adams did not at once fall in with +the proposition of the Central American minister, it was not from a want +of interest in the subject, but because it did not desire to commit the +country to any specific course of conduct, until the feasibility of the +enterprise and the leading facts connected with it should be better +known and established. In the mean time, the principles upon which it +conceived the work should be undertaken and executed, were well +exhibited in Mr. Clay’s letter of instructions to the ministers of the +United States, commissioned to the famous Congress of Panama. Mr. Clay +said: + + “A canal for navigation between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans will + form a proper subject of consideration at the Congress. That vast + object, if it should ever be accomplished, will be interesting, in a + greater or less degree, to all parts of the world; but especially to + this continent will accrue its greatest benefits; and to Colombia, + Mexico, Central America, Peru, and the United States, more than to any + other of the American nations. What is to redound to the advantage of + all America, should be effected by common means and united exertions, + and not left to the separate and unassisted efforts of any one power. + * * * If the work should ever be executed, so as to admit of the + passage of sea vessels from one ocean to the other, the benefits of it + ought not to be exclusively appropriated by any one nation, but should + be extended to all parts of the globe, upon the payment of just + compensation or reasonable tolls. * * You will receive and transmit to + this government any proposals that may be made, or plans that may be + suggested, for its joint execution, with assurances that they will be + attentively examined, with an earnest desire to reconcile the + interests and views of all the American nations.” + +It will be seen that Mr. Clay, who was at that time a true exponent of +the American system of policy, regarded the construction of this work as +an enterprise peculiarly American, to be executed by the parties most +deeply interested in it, to be under their control, but not therefore +exclusive. + +After the failure of Mr. Palmer’s project, the whole matter seems to +have been allowed to slumber until some time in October, 1828, when the +work was proposed to be undertaken by an Association of the Netherlands, +under the special patronage of the King of Holland. In March, 1829, +General Verveer arrived in Guatemala, as plenipotentiary of the king, +with instructions regarding the undertaking of the canal. In consequence +of civil distractions, the subject was not taken up until the succeeding +October, when commissioners were appointed to treat with Verveer, and on +the 24th of July, 1830, the plan agreed upon between them was laid +before the National Congress. It was ratified on the 21st of September +following. The principal features of the agreement were as follows: + + 1st. The proposed canal to be open on the same terms to all nations at + peace with Central America; but vessels engaged in the slave trade, + and all privateers, not to be allowed either to pass the canal or + hover in the vicinity of its mouths. + + 2d. Armed ships not allowed to pass without the express consent of the + government of the republic, and this permission never to be granted to + a flag at war with any other nation. + + 3d. The government to use all its endeavors to have the neutrality of + the canal recognized by all maritime powers, as also that of the ocean + for a certain extent around its mouths. + + 4th. The republic to make no charge for the land used by the canal, or + the raw materials used for its construction; nor to impose taxes on + persons employed in the work, who were to be under the protection of + the agents of the country to which they might belong. + + 5th. The work to be of sufficient dimensions to admit the largest + ships; and the execution to be left entirely to the parties + undertaking it, and to be made wholly at their expense. + + 6th. The interest on the capital expended to be ten per cent., and as + security for both capital and interest, a mortgage to be granted upon + the lands for a league on both sides of the canal. + + 7th. The canal to remain in the hands of the contractors until it had + paid cost of construction and repairs, with ten per cent. annual + interest thereon, and also until it had paid three millions of + dollars, to be advanced as a loan to the government, and then to + revert unconditionally to the republic. + + 8th. The rate of tolls to be regulated by the government and + contractors jointly, but always in such a manner as to give it a + decided advantage over Cape Horn. + + 9th. A free commercial city to be founded on the banks, or at one of + the entrances of the canal, which, while enjoying entire freedom of + trade, religious tolerance, a municipal government, trial by jury, and + exemption from military service, to constitute nevertheless a part of + the republic, and to be under the special protection thereof. + + 10th. In respect to navigation and commerce generally, the Netherlands + to be put upon a footing of equality with the United States. + +Arrangements were accordingly made to send envoys to the Netherlands, +with full powers to perfect the plan; and, for a time, the work seemed +in a fair way to a commencement; but the revolution in Belgium and its +separation from Holland, put an end to these hopes. The news of these +events was received with profound regret. Mr. Henry Savage, U. S. +Consul, in a letter to Mr. Van Buren, dated Guatemala, December 3, 1830, +said: “All concur, and every one now seems tacitly to look forward to +the United States for the completion of this grand project. They say +that the United States, identified in her institutions with this +government, ought to have the preference.” + +In 1832, endeavors were made to renew the negotiations with Holland, and +the State of Nicaragua passed resolutions agreeing to the propositions +of the Dutch envoy, but nothing was accomplished. + +Upon the 3d of March, 1835, public attention having again been directed +to the subject, a resolution passed the Senate of the United States, +“that the President be requested to consider the expediency of opening +negotiations with the governments of other nations, and particularly +with the governments of Central America and New Granada, for the purpose +of effectually protecting, by suitable treaty stipulations with them, +such individuals or companies as may undertake to open a communication +from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean, by means of a ship canal across +the isthmus which connects North and South America, and of securing for +ever, by means of such stipulations, the free and equal right of +navigating such canal to all nations, on the payment of such reasonable +tolls as may be established to compensate the capitalists who may engage +in such undertaking and complete the work.” + +Under this resolution, a special agent (Mr. Charles Biddle) was +appointed by General Jackson, to proceed without delay, by the most +direct route, to the port of San Juan de Nicaragua, ascend the river San +Juan to the Lake of Nicaragua, and thence proceed across the continent, +by the contemplated route of the proposed canal or railroad, to the +Pacific ocean; after which examination, he was directed to repair to +Guatemala, the capital of the republic, and, with the aid of Mr. De +Witt, the Chargé d’Affaires of the United States, procure all such +public documents connected with the subject as might be in existence, +and especially copies of all such laws as had been passed, and contracts +and conventions as had been made, to carry into effect the undertaking, +and also all plans, surveys, or estimates in relation to it. From +Guatemala he was directed to proceed to Panama, and make observations +and inquiries relative to the proposed connection of the two oceans at +that point. Unfortunately, from the difficulties of procuring +conveyances to San Juan, the agent went to Panama first. From adverse +circumstances, he never reached Nicaragua, and died soon after his +return to the United States. He nevertheless made a partial report +concerning the isthmus of Panama, to the effect that it was not +practicable for a canal. + +In 1837, the subject was again taken up in Central America, by General +Morazan, who resolved to have the proposed line of the canal properly +surveyed, intending to raise a loan in Europe for the execution of the +work. Mr. John Baily was employed for the former purpose, but his work +was brought to a sudden close by the dissolution of the government of +the republic. He nevertheless made a survey of the narrow isthmus +intervening between Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific, and also some +observations on the river San Juan. + +In 1838 a convention was made between the States of Nicaragua and +Honduras, under which Mr. Peter Rouchaud was authorized to conclude an +agreement in France, for the formation of a company to make a canal, and +for other objects; but he effected nothing. The same result attended the +efforts of Señor Don George Viteri, subsequently Bishop of San Salvador, +and afterwards of Nicaragua, who was sent ambassador to Rome. + +In the same year, Mr. George Holdship, representing a company composed +chiefly of citizens of the United States, residing in New Orleans and +New York, arrived in Central America, with a view of contracting for the +opening of the canal with the general government. Finding that Nicaragua +had “pronounced” against Morazan, and assumed an independent position, +he proceeded to that State, where he at once entered into a contract, +which provided for opening the canal, for the establishment of a bank to +assist the enterprise, and for colonization on an extensive scale. He +returned to the United States—and the matter ended. + +This year was also signalized by some further movements on the subject +in the United States. A petition was presented to Congress, signed by +several citizens of New York and Philadelphia, viz., Aaron Clark, Wm. A. +Duer, Herman Leroy, Matthew Carey, and Wm. Radcliff, setting forth that +the wants of trade required the opening of a ship communication between +the Atlantic and Pacific; that the accumulation of wealth among nations, +and the prevalence of peace seemed to indicate a favorable opportunity +for the undertaking; and recommending “that an extensive and powerful +combination should be formed, and the most judicious and liberal +measures adopted, for the purpose of carrying the plan into effect, and +securing its benefits permanently to the world at large.” This memorial +was referred to a committee, of which Chas. F. Mercer was chairman, who, +March 2, 1839, made a report upon it, concluding with the following +resolution, which was adopted: + + “_Resolved_, That the President of the United States be requested to + consider the expediency of opening or continuing negotiations with the + governments of other nations, and particularly with those the + territorial jurisdiction of which comprehends the Isthmus of Panama, + and to which the United States have accredited ministers or agents, + for the purpose of ascertaining or effecting a communication between + the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, by the construction of a ship canal; + and of securing forever, by suitable treaty stipulations, the free and + equal right of navigating such canal to all nations, on the payment of + reasonable tolls.” + +The subsequent action, both of the Executive and Congress, was directed +to the opening of a route across the Isthmus of Panama, and resulted in +the negotiation of a treaty between the United States and New Granada, +by which the neutrality of the Isthmus was guarantied by the former, in +consideration of a free transit conceded by the latter. Under this +treaty, the existing Panama Railroad Company was organized, and that +route of communication between the two oceans placed in American hands. + +The disturbances incident on the dissolution of the republic of Central +America precluded any serious attention to the project of a canal from +1838 until 1844, when Señor Don Francisco Castellon, having been +appointed minister from Nicaragua to France, and failing to interest +that government, entered into a contract with a Belgian company, under +the auspices of the Belgian king, for the construction of the work. The +grant was for sixty years, at the end of which time it was to revert to +the State without indemnity, the State receiving meantime an interest of +ten per cent. in the profits. + +Still later, in April, 1846, a contract was made by Mr. Marcoleta, +Nicaraguan Chargé d’Affairs to Belgium, with Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, +then a prisoner at Ham, which differed but little from the preceding +one, except that the canal was to be called “_Canal Napoleon de +Nicaragua_.” Beyond the publication of a pamphlet upon the subject, +under the initials of L. N. Bonaparte, this attempt also proved +abortive.[53] + +----- + +Footnote 53: + + The following paragraph from the pamphlet in question furnishes a + remarkable commentary on the “enlightened views and liberal policy” + attributed to the emperor by his partisans: + + “France, England, Holland, Russia, and the United States have a great + commercial interest in the establishment of communication between the + two oceans; but England has, more than the other powers, _a political + interest_ in the execution of the project. England will see with + pleasure Central America become a flourishing and powerful State, + which will establish _a balance of power_, by creating in Spanish + America a new centre of active enterprise powerful enough to give rise + to a great feeling of nationality, and to prevent, _by backing + Mexico_, any further encroachment from the north.” + +----- + +So the matter rested until 1849, when the acquisition of California by +the United States, and the discovery there of vast mineral wealth, again +directed public attention to the project in a more serious manner than +at any previous period. It now began to assume a practical form, and, as +a consequence, there was a renewal of propositions to the government of +Nicaragua. The first of these, in the form of bases subject to future +adjustment, came, under date of 16th of February, from Mr. Wm. +Wheelwright, the projector of the British line of steamers on the +western coast of South America, on behalf of an English company. It +embodied, substantially, the provisions of the contract of 1844 with the +Belgian company, but was never acted upon by the Nicaraguan government. + +The second was in the form of a detailed contract, and was entered into +between Mr. D. T. Brown, representing certain citizens of New York, and +General Muñoz, Commissioner of the Nicaraguan government, on the 14th of +March, 1849. Although it was very promptly ratified by the executive, it +was not ratified by the company within the time stipulated by its terms. + +In the meantime, however, namely, as early as January, 1848, when it +became evident that the Mexican war could only terminate in large +territorial acquisitions to the United States, the port of San Juan de +Nicaragua, the only possible eastern terminus of the proposed canal, was +seized by Great Britain, under the pretext of supporting the territorial +rights of a savage, facetiously styled “King of the Mosquitos.” This act +could not be viewed with indifference by the government of our own +country; for it not only violated the principle constantly recognized +and asserted by the United States, that the routes of transit between +the two oceans should be free to the whole world, uncontrolled by any +great maritime power, but it violated also a principle early and well +established among the American nations, namely, the exclusion of all +foreign, and especially monarchical, interference from the domestic and +international affairs of this continent. The real purpose of the seizure +of San Juan was too apparent to escape detection; and the government of +the United States, upon these principles, would have been bound to +interpose against the consummation of the felony. But it was specially +bound to interpose, after it had been earnestly and repeatedly solicited +to do so by the injured republic in question. These solicitations were +forcibly made, in letters addressed to the President of the United +States by the Supreme Director of Nicaragua, dated Dec. 15, 1847, as +also in letters from the Secretary of State of that Republic of the +dates respectively of Nov. 12, 1847, and March 17, 1848. “The obvious +design of Great Britain,” said the Director of Nicaragua, “in seizing +upon the port of San Juan, and setting up pretensions to sovereignty, in +behalf of savage tribes, within the territories of Nicaragua, is to +found colonies, and to make herself master of the prospective +interoceanic canal, for the construction of which this isthmus alone has +the requisites of feasibility and facility.” + +Although the matter was thus brought before the American government, it +does not seem to have elicited any action beyond certain vague +instructions from Mr. Buchanan, then Secretary of State, to Mr. Hise, +appointed Chargé d’Affairs to Central America. “The object of Great +Britain in this seizure,” said Mr. Buchanan, “is evident from the policy +which she has uniformly pursued throughout her history, of seizing upon +every valuable commercial point in the world, whenever circumstances +have placed it in her power. Her purpose probably is to obtain the +control of the route for a railroad and canal between the Atlantic and +Pacific oceans, by way of Lake Nicaragua.” But while insisting upon the +policy of “excluding all interference on the part of European +governments in the domestic affairs of the American republics,” Mr. +Buchanan gave no specific instructions as to the line of conduct to be +pursued by Mr. Hise in respect to the proposed canal or the British +usurpation. He confined himself to a denial of the British pretensions, +and concluded by observing that “the government of the United States has +not yet determined what course it will pursue in regard to the +encroachments of the British government.” + +About this time, viz., under date of April 4, 1849, Mr. Manning, British +Vice Consul in Nicaragua, wrote to Lord Palmerston as follows: + + “My opinion, if your lordship will allow me to express it, as regards + this country for the present, is, that it will be overrun by American + adventurers, and consequently bring on Her Majesty’s government + disagreeable communications with that of the United States, which + possibly might be avoided by an immediate negotiation with Mr. + Castillon for a _protectorate and transit favorable to British + interests_. * * The welfare of my country, and the desire of its + _obtaining the control of so desirable a spot in the commercial + world_, and free it from the competition of so adventurous a race as + the North Americans, induces me to address your lordship with such + freedom.” + +On his arrival in Central America, Mr. Hise became speedily convinced +that the whole scope of British policy in that country was directed to +acquiring permanent control of the Nicaraguan isthmus. Deeply impressed +with the importance to the United States of a free transit across it, +although not empowered to treat with Nicaragua, he nevertheless +conceived himself authorized, under the circumstances, in opening +negotiations with the government of that republic. He therefore +requested the appointment of a commissioner for that purpose to meet him +in Guatemala, where, upon the 21st of June, 1849, a special convention +relating to this subject was agreed upon. The provisions of this +convention, it is not to be denied, were, in some respects, +extraordinary, and not in entire harmony with the established exterior +policy of the United States. It provided, + + 1st. That the United States should enjoy the perpetual right of way + through the territories of Nicaragua by any means of conveyance then + existing or which might thereafter be devised. + + 2d. That the United States, or a company chartered by it, might + construct a railroad or canal from one ocean to the other, and occupy + such lands and use such natural materials and products of the country + as might be necessary for the purpose. + + 3d. That the United States should have the right to erect such forts + on the line, or at the extremities of the proposed work, as might be + deemed necessary or proper for its protection. + + 4th. That the vessels and citizens of all nations at peace with both + contracting powers might pass freely through the canal. + + 5th. That a section of land two leagues square at either termination + should be set apart to serve as the sites of two free cities, under + the protection of both governments, the inhabitants of which should + enjoy complete municipal and religious freedom, trial by jury, + exemption from all military duty, and from taxation, etc., etc. + + 6th. That in return for these and other concessions, which it is + unnecessary to enumerate, the United States should defend and protect + Nicaragua, her territorial rights, her sovereignty, preserve the peace + and neutrality of her coasts, etc., etc., which guarantees were to + extend to any community of States of which Nicaragua might voluntarily + become a member. + +But while Mr. Hise was thus occupied in Central America, the +administration of General Taylor had been inaugurated. The affairs of +that country attracted his immediate attention. The letters addressed by +the government of Nicaragua to Mr. Polk and Mr. Buchanan, and which had +remained unanswered, were replied to in the friendliest spirit; and +before the expiration of the first month of General Taylor’s term of +office, Mr. Hise was recalled, and the writer of these pages appointed +in his stead, as Chargé d’Affaires of the United States to Guatemala, +besides receiving special commissions to the other States of Central +America, with full powers to treat with them separately, on all matters +affecting their relations with this republic. It will be seen, +therefore, that Mr. Hise was not only not empowered to treat with +Nicaragua, but also that his negotiations were undertaken after the date +of his letter of recall, which, however, failed to reach him until after +the signing of the special convention, and after my arrival in the +country. Under these circumstances, and having meantime determined on a +specific line of policy, this convention was neither approved by the +American government, nor accepted by that of Nicaragua. + +The spirit in which the matter was taken up by the administration of +General Taylor, and the principles upon which its action was predicated, +are fully and clearly exhibited in the following passages from the +instructions addressed to me by Mr. Clayton, Secretary of State. After +disproving, in an unanswerable manner, the pretensions of Great Britain +on the Mosquito Shore, Mr. Clayton submits the following significant +question, and equally significant reply: + + “Will other nations interested in a free passage to and from the + Pacific, by the river San Juan and Lake Nicaragua, tamely allow that + interest to be thwarted by the pretensions of Great Britain? As + regards the United States, the question may confidently be answered in + the negative. + + “Having now,” continues the Secretary of State, “sufficiently apprised + you of the views of the Department in regard to the title to the + Mosquito Coast, I desire you to understand how important it is deemed + by the President so to conduct all our negotiations on the subject of + the Nicaraguan passage as not to involve this country in any + entangling alliances on the one hand, or any unnecessary controversy + on the other. We desire no monopoly of the right of way for our + commerce, and we cannot submit to it if claimed for that of any other + nation. We only ask an equal right of passage for all nations on the + same terms—a passage unincumbered by oppressive restrictions, either + from the local government within whose sovereign limits it may be + effected, or from the proprietors of the canal when accomplished. To + this end we are willing to enter into treaty stipulations with the + government of Nicaragua, that both governments shall protect and + defend the proprietors who may succeed in cutting the canal and + opening water communication between the two oceans for our commerce. + Nicaragua will be at liberty to enter into the same treaty + stipulations with any other nation that may claim to enjoy the same + benefits and will agree to be bound by the same conditions. We should + naturally be proud of such an achievement as an American work; but if + European aid be necessary to accomplish it, why should we repudiate + it, seeing that our object is as honest as it is openly avowed, to + claim no peculiar privileges, no exclusive right, no monopoly of + commercial intercourse, but to see that the work is dedicated to the + benefit of mankind, to be used by all on the same terms with us, and + consecrated to the enjoyment and diffusion of the unnumbered and + inestimable blessings which must flow from it to all the civilized + world?” + +On arriving in Nicaragua, I found there a gentleman representing certain +citizens of New York, the object of whose mission was to procure a +charter or grant for the construction of a canal through the territories +of that republic. Having previously entertained so many projects for the +accomplishment of this object, all of which had failed, the government +of Nicaragua was indisposed to listen to any further propositions until +it was assured, as I was authorized to assure it, that the American +government was willing to extend its guarantees to any charter, of a +proper character, which might now be granted. Under the confidence +inspired by this assurance, it proceeded with alacrity to arrange the +terms of a charter, more liberal than any ever before conceded, which +was signed on the 27th of August, 1849, and ratified on the 23d of the +month following. + +The terms of this grant are very well known; yet the following synopsis +of its provisions will not prove out of place in this connection. It +provides, + + 1st. That the American Atlantic and Pacific Ship-Canal Company may + construct a ship canal, at its own expense, from the port of San Juan, + or any more feasible point on the Atlantic, to the port of Realejo, or + any other point within the territories of the republic, on the + Pacific, and make use of all lands, waters, or natural materials of + the country, for the enterprise. + + 2d. The dimensions of the canal shall be sufficiently great to admit + vessels of all sizes. + + 3d. The grant is for the period of eighty-five years from the + completion of the work; the preliminary surveys to be commenced within + twelve months; the work to be completed in twelve years, unless + unforeseen events, such as earthquakes or wars, shall intervene to + prevent it; if not completed within that time, the charter to be + forfeit, and whatever work may have been done to revert to the State; + at the end of eighty-five years the work to revert to the State, free + from all indemnity for the capital invested; the company, + nevertheless, to receive fifteen per cent. annually of the net + profits, for ten years thereafter, if the entire cost shall not exceed + $20,000,000; but if it does exceed that sum, then it shall receive the + same percentage for twenty years thereafter. + + 4th. The company to pay to the State ten thousand dollars upon the + ratification of the contract, and ten thousand dollars annually, until + the completion of the work; also, to give to the State two hundred + thousand dollars of stock in the canal, upon the issue of stock; the + State to have the privilege of taking five hundred thousand dollars of + stock in the enterprise;-of receive, for the first twenty years, + twenty per cent. annually out of the net profits the canal, after + deducting the interest on the capital actually invested, at the rate + of seven per cent.; and also to receive twenty-five per cent. + thereafter, until the expiration of the grant. + + 5th. The company to have the exclusive right of navigating the + interior waters of the State by steam, and the privilege, within the + twelve years allowed for constructing the canal, of opening any land + or other route or means of transit or conveyance across the State; in + consideration of which, the company shall pay, irrespective of + interest, ten per cent. of the net profits of such transit to the + State, and transport, both on each route, and on the canal, when + finished, the officers of the government and its employees, when + required to do so, free of charge. + + 6th. The canal to be open to the vessels of all nations, subject only + to certain fixed and uniform rates of toll, to be established by the + company, with the sanction of the State, graduated to induce the + largest and most extended business by this route; these rates not to + be altered without six months’ previous notice, both in Nicaragua and + the United States. + + 7th. All disputes to be settled by referees or commissioners, to be + appointed in a specified manner. + + 8th. All machinery and other articles introduced into the State for + the use of the company, to enter free of duty; and all persons in its + employ to enjoy all the privileges of citizens, without being + subjected to taxation or military service. + + 9th. The State concedes to the company, for purposes of colonization, + eight sections of land on the line of the canal, in the valley of the + river San Juan, each six miles square, and at least three miles apart, + with the right of alienating the same, under certain reservations; all + settlers on these lands to be subject to the laws of the country, + being, however, exempt for ten years from all taxes, and also from all + public service, as soon as each colony shall contain fifty settlers. + + 10th. “Art. XXXVI. It is expressly stipulated that the citizens, + vessels, products, and manufactures of _all nations_ shall be + permitted to pass upon the proposed canal through the territories of + Nicaragua, subject to no other nor higher duties, charges, or taxes + than shall be imposed upon those of the United States; _provided + always_, that such nations shall first enter into the same treaty + stipulations and guarantees, respecting said canal, as may be entered + into between the State of Nicaragua and the United States.” + +Article xxxvi., which is quoted in full, was drawn up by myself, and its +insertion insisted on, in conformity with my instructions. Its simple +object was, to put upon the same footing with the United States every +nation which should undertake the same obligations with ourselves, in +respect to the proposed work. These obligations were distinctly set +forth in the treaty of commerce and friendship which was negotiated, +simultaneously, with the Nicaraguan government, and which, in Article +xxxv., provided as follows: + + “ARTICLE XXXV. + + “It is stipulated by and between the high contracting parties— + + “1st. That the citizens, vessels, and merchandise of the United States + shall enjoy in all the ports and harbors of Nicaragua, upon both + oceans, a total exemption from all port-charges, tonnage or anchorage + duties, or any other similar charges now existing, or which may + hereafter be established, in manner the same as if said ports had been + declared free ports. And it is further stipulated, that the right of + way or transit across the territories of Nicaragua, by any route or + upon any mode of communication at present existing, or which may + hereafter be constructed, shall at all times be open and free to the + government and citizens of the United States, for all lawful purposes + whatever; and no tolls, duties, or charges of any kind shall be + imposed upon the transit, in whole or part, by such modes of + communication, of vessels of war, or other property belonging to the + government of the United States, or on public mails sent under the + authority of the same, or upon persons in its employ, nor upon + citizens of the United States, nor upon vessels belonging to them. And + it is also stipulated that all lawful produce, manufactures, + merchandise, or other property belonging to citizens of the United + States, passing from one ocean to the other, in either direction, for + the purpose of exportation to foreign countries, shall not be subject + to any import or export duties whatever; or if citizens of the United + States, having introduced such produce, manufactures, or merchandise + into the State of Nicaragua, for sale or exchange, shall, within three + years thereafter, determine to export the same, they shall be entitled + to drawback equal to four fifths of the amount of duties paid upon + their importation. + + “2d. And inasmuch as a contract was entered into on the twenty-seventh + day of August, 1849, between the republic of Nicaragua and a company + of citizens of the United States, styled the ‘American Atlantic and + Pacific Ship Canal Company,’ and in order to secure the construction + and permanence of the great work thereby contemplated, both high + contracting parties do severally and jointly agree to protect and + defend the above-named company in the full and perfect enjoyment of + said work, from its inception to its completion, and after its + completion, from any acts of invasion, forfeiture, or violence, from + whatever quarter the same may proceed; and to give full effect to the + stipulations here made, and to secure for the benefit of mankind the + uninterrupted advantages of such communication from sea to sea, the + United States distinctly recognizes the rights of sovereignty and + property which the State of Nicaragua possesses in and over the line + of said canal, and for the same reason guarantees, positively and + efficaciously, the entire neutrality of the same, so long as it shall + remain under the control of citizens of the United States, and so long + as the United States shall enjoy the privileges secured to them in the + preceding section of this article. + + “3d. But if, by any contingency, the above-named ‘American Atlantic + and Pacific Ship Canal Company’ shall fail to comply with the terms of + their contract with the State of Nicaragua, all the rights and + privileges which said contract confers shall accrue to any company of + citizens of the United States which shall, within one year after the + official declaration of failure, undertake to comply with its + provisions, so far as the same may at that time be applicable, + provided the company thus assuming said contract shall first present + to the President and Secretary of State of the United States + satisfactory assurances of their intention and ability to comply with + the same; of which satisfactory assurances the signature of the + Secretary of State and the seal of his Department shall be complete + evidence. + + “4th. And it is also agreed, on the part of the republic of Nicaragua, + that none of the rights, privileges, and immunities guarantied, and by + the preceding articles, but especially by the first section of this + article, conceded to the United States and its citizens, shall accrue + to any other nation, or to its citizens, except such nation shall + first enter into the same treaty stipulations, for the defence and + protection of the proposed great interoceanic canal, which have been + entered into by the United States, in terms the same with those + embraced in section 2d of this article.” + +The provisions of this article were not only in conformity with my +instructions, but their design and inevitable tendency were to make it +to the interest of every nation in the world to maintain the neutrality +of the canal, and the independence and territorial integrity of +Nicaragua. They secured to the United States every desirable privilege +in her intercourse, commercial or otherwise, with Nicaragua; yet those +privileges were in no wise exclusive; they would accrue to every other +nation, upon the same conditions; conditions to which no nation except +England could possibly object, and she only in the event of insisting on +her pretensions over the Mosquito Shore. + +And this is precisely the reason why the treaty containing this article +was met by the unqualified hostility of the British government; it +placed England in a position of antagonism to the whole world, and made +it to the interest of every maritime country that she should relinquish +her hold on San Juan. To avoid the alternative which the consummation of +this treaty would impose, the utmost efforts of her diplomacy were put +forth to defeat its acceptance by the contracting parties. In Nicaragua +these efforts signally failed; the treaty was unanimously ratified by +the Legislative Chambers, simultaneously with the canal contract, on the +23d of September, 1849. It was at once dispatched to the United States, +approved by General Taylor and his cabinet, and submitted, in conformity +with the requirements of the Constitution, to the Senate for its +ratification. + +This step caused the greatest alarm in the British legation, and Sir +Edward Bulwer put forth every influence at his command to postpone, if +he could not defeat, the approval of the Senate, which would have +brought the whole question of British pretensions to an open issue and a +definite conclusion. His exertions to this end were active and +unremitting. In the Senate chamber and out of it, publicly and +privately, over the council board and over the festive board, everywhere +and at all times, this restless and unscrupulous agent wrought out his +policy of opposition. His plans were greatly assisted by the +distractions of Congress, which was at that moment engaged in the +exciting decennial task of “saving the Union,” to the utter neglect of +all other business. The blunt honesty and singleness of purpose of +General Taylor, it is true, were unassailable; but the weakness and +credulity of his Secretary of State proved more than a compensating +advantage to Sir Henry in his diplomatic campaign. He prevailed upon +this officer to enter into a convention, signed April 19, and proclaimed +July 5, 1850, which has since obtained notoriety as the “Clayton and +Bulwer treaty,” and has created infinitely greater trouble than it +professed to cure. It provided in general terms for the joint protection +of the proposed canal by Great Britain and the United States, as +follows: + + 1st. That neither party “will ever obtain or maintain for itself any + exclusive control over” the proposed canal, or erect fortifications + commanding the same or in its vicinity, “or occupy, colonize, or + assume or exercise dominion over Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito + Shore, or any part of Central America, nor make use of any protection + which either affords, or any alliance which either has or may have, + for the purpose of erecting, or fortifying, or colonizing the region + above named, or any part of it, or for the purpose of _assuming or + exercising dominion over the same_,” nor will either party make use of + its relations with those countries to procure exclusive privileges for + itself or its subjects in the proposed canal. + + 2d. Neither party will capture or detain the vessels of the other + while passing through the canal, or while within —— distance of either + of its extremities. + + 3d. To protect the parties undertaking the construction of the canal, + from “unjust detention, seizure, or violence.” + + 4th. To use their influence respectively to facilitate the work, and + their good offices to procure the establishment of a free port at + either end. + + 5th. To guarantee the neutrality of the canal, so long as the + proprietors shall not make unfair discriminations on vessels in + transit, or impose unreasonable tolls; to enter into treaties with the + Central American States to promote the work; to interpose their good + offices to settle all disputes concerning it, etc., etc. + + 6th. Both governments to lend their support to such company as shall + first present evidences of its intention and ability to undertake the + work, with the consent of the local governments; _one year_ to be + allowed from the date of the ratification of the convention, for the + company now in existence to “_present evidence of sufficient capital + subscribed to accomplish the undertaking_,” it being understood that + if, in that time, no such evidence shall be presented, then both + governments shall be at liberty to afford their protection to any + person or company which shall then be prepared to commence and proceed + with the work in question. + + 7th. The same general protection to extend to every practicable route + of communication across the continent, on the same principles.[54] + +----- + +Footnote 54: + + This treaty was ratified by the United States, less on the merits of + the guarantee which it extended to the projected canal, than because + it was understood to put an end to the obnoxious protectorate, + amounting to absolute dominion, of Great Britain on the Mosquito + Shore. Such was the understanding of the treaty by Mr. Clayton, the + negotiator on the part of the United States, who, in a despatch under + date of May 7, 1850, said, in reference to it: + + “DEPARTMENT OF STATE, } + “Washington, _May 7, 1850_. } + + “E. G. SQUIER, ETC., ETC.: + + “SIR:—* * * It is proper that I should now inform you that I have + negotiated a treaty with Sir Henry Bulwer, the object of which is to + secure the protection of the British government to the Nicaraguan + canal, and to liberate Central America from the dominion of any + foreign power. + + * * * * * * * * * * + + “I hope and believe that this treaty will prove equally honorable both + to Great Britain and the United States, the more especially as it + secures the weak sister republics of Central America from foreign + aggression. All other nations that shall navigate the canal will have + to become guarantors of the neutrality of Central America and the + Mosquito Coast. The agreement is, ‘not to erect or maintain any + fortifications commanding the canal, or in the vicinity thereof; nor + to occupy, fortify, colonize, or assume or exercise any dominion + whatever over any part of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito Coast, + or Central America; nor to make use of any protection or alliance, for + any of these purposes.’ + + “Great Britain having thus far made an agreement with us for the great + and philanthropic purpose of opening the ship communication through + the isthmus, it will now be most desirable immediately after the + ratification of the treaty, on both sides, that you should cultivate + the most friendly relations with the British agents in that country, + who will hereafter have to devote their energies and coöperation with + ours, to the accomplishment of the great work designed by the treaty. + Kindness and conciliation are most earnestly recommended by me to you. + I trust that means will speedily be adopted by Great Britain to + extinguish the Indian title, with the help of the Nicaraguans, or the + company, within what we consider to be the limits of Nicaragua. We + have never acknowledged, and never can acknowledge, the existence of + any claim of sovereignty in the Mosquito king, or any other Indian in + America. To do so, would be to deny the title of the United States to + our own territories. Having always regarded an Indian title as a mere + right of occupancy, we can never agree that such a title should be + treated otherwise than as a thing to be extinguished at the will of + the discoverer of the country. Upon the ratification of the treaty, + Great Britain will no longer have any interest to deny this principle, + which she has recognized in every other case in common with us. Her + protectorate will be reduced to a shadow—‘_Stat nominis umbra_’; for + she can neither occupy, fortify, nor colonize, or exercise dominion or + control in any part of the Mosquito Coast or Central America. To + attempt to do either of these things, after the exchange of + ratifications, would inevitably produce a rupture with the United + States. By the terms neither party can occupy to protect, nor protect + to occupy. + + * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * + + (Signed) [Sidenote: “JOHN M. CLAYTON.”] + +----- + +Within a week after the promulgation of this convention, Gen. Taylor +died. This event was followed by an entire change in the foreign policy +of the government, which during the whole of Mr. Fillmore’s +administration vibrated between the extremes of gross subserviency and +indecent bravado. The British envoy deemed the opportunity favorable for +his purpose, and redoubled his exertions to procure the rejection of the +treaty with Nicaragua, or its essential modification, so as to do away +with the alternative, so fatal to British designs, which its terms +imposed. Communication after communication reached the State Department +from this zealous officer, in which the circumstance that General +Taylor’s administration had condescended to enter into treaty relations +with Nicaragua was abundantly ridiculed, and the feeble government of +that State not only characterized as ignorant, weak, and poor, but +unsparingly denounced as faithless and corrupt. A special point of +objection to the treaty, and that on which the envoy placed the greatest +stress, was its incompatibility (as he alleged) with his convention with +Mr. Clayton. That gentleman, in fact, was accused of duplicity and bad +faith in permitting the Nicaragua treaty to rest in the hands of the +Senate, which might at any time take it up for ratification, and thus +topple down the cunning diplomatic fabric that he had raised.[55] These +appeals and representations were addressed to a willing ear, and on the +29th of September, 1850, Sir Henry exultingly wrote to Lord Palmerston +that “Mr. Webster furthermore said, that he should recommend the Senate +to do nothing further, for the present, in respect to Mr. Squier’s +treaty.” In what form that recommendation was made is not known; it is +perhaps well for the memory of the dead, it certainly is for the credit +of American statesmanship, that the details of this surrender of +American dignity, honor, and interests lie under “the seal of secrecy.” +It is enough to know that soon after the date of Sir Henry’s triumphant +announcement to Lord Palmerston, Congress adjourned without action on +the treaty. The next session passed with the same result, leaving on the +minds of the Nicaraguan people a profound impression of broken faith and +impaired national honor. + +----- + +Footnote 55: + + See Letters of Sir Henry Bulwer to Lord Palmerston and Mr. Webster, + pp. 70, 71 of “Correspondence with the United States respecting + Central America,” printed by order of Parliament, 1856. + +----- + +Returning now to the special subject of the proposed interoceanic canal, +we find the “American Atlantic and Pacific Canal Company” so far +complying with its charter as to send out a corps of engineers, under +Colonel Childs, to survey the line of the work, with the results set +forth in a preceding chapter. The expedition had not been long in the +field, however, before it became obvious that the undertaking would +prove of a much more formidable character than had been supposed, and +that the whole idea of constructing a canal conformably to the charter +must be abandoned. The survey was nevertheless continued, and an +apparent compliance with the letter of the charter kept up, while the +grantees dispatched one of their own number to Nicaragua with the view +of procuring a separation of the privilege of exclusive +steam-navigation, in the interior waters of the State, from the more +serious obligations of the canal contract, and to secure other +additional privileges necessary to establish a monopoly of transit. This +exclusive privilege having been principally conceded for the purpose of +facilitating the construction of the canal, and regarding the attempt to +procure the separation as covering a design to abandon the proposed +canal, by securing independently all that could, for many years at +least, prove of value, the government of Nicaragua at first refused its +assent to the application. Political disturbances subsequently +occurring, the constituted authorities of the State were overthrown, and +two distinct governments installed, one at Leon, another at Granada. +Availing himself of the necessities of the latter, in respect of arms +and money, the agent of the company succeeded in obtaining from it the +concessions desired, although under protest from the government +established in Leon. With this contested if not invalid concession he +returned to New York, and the California emigration being then at its +height, a company was readily formed under it, with the denomination of +the “Nicaragua Accessory Transit Company,” which, after an infamous +career of deception and fraud, the history whereof is written in the +proceedings of our courts of law, finally broke up, disastrously, from +internal dissensions. With the organization of this company, the +anterior canal company was practically dissolved, nor has it since been +heard of, except in connection with some abortive attempts to give +currency to certain documents called “canal rights,” issued by the +grantees of the canal, before the supplementary concession was made, and +before the original charter became forfeited for non user. By the +provisions of that charter the canal was to be completed within twelve +years, ten of which have elapsed without action, and consequently any +effort to represent the “American Atlantic and Pacific Ship Canal +Company” as having a legal or even constructive existence can only be +characterized as an impudent attempt at imposture. + +As already said, the results of Col. Childs’ survey in Nicaragua were +such as to discourage any idea of opening a canal through that country, +at a cost within the range of legitimate enterprise. Subsequent efforts +to find other and more practicable canal routes, at Darien and Atrato, +were unsuccessful, and the surveys of Maj. Barnard at Tehuantepec proved +that a canal at that point was simply impossible. The public mind, +furthermore, having now for the first time taken up the question of a +canal, from a practical point of view, soon settled down into the +conviction that however desirable a canal might be for certain purposes, +railways would far better subserve the more important and essential +requirements of travel and of trade. This conviction gathered strength +from the experience of the Panama railway, which, notwithstanding its +deficiencies in position and ports, and the deadliness of its climate, +was found adequate to the general requirements of commerce. These +considerations, still more than the distracted political condition of +Nicaragua, were effectual to divert the public mind from the subject of +the proposed canal, and it was allowed to rest in abeyance, and probably +would have gone entirely out of sight for the remainder of this century, +had not attention been called to it again by the fantastic proceedings +of a certain Monsieur Felix Belly, of Paris, “publicist, and knight of +the orders of San Maurice and Lazarus, and of the Medjidie.” Taking +advantage of the reaction against Americans which followed the expulsion +of Gen. Walker from Nicaragua, and by adroit implications of being the +confidential representative of the Emperor Louis Napoleon, (who, as we +have seen, had himself been principal to a contract respecting the +canal,) he received from the acting president, or rather dictator, of +Nicaragua, a new concession for opening the proposed canal. The +instrument bears date, “May 1, 1858, the anniversary of Walker’s +capitulation!” Its provisions are such as might be expected from the +character of the contracting parties, and do not merit recital. They +may, however, be inferred generally from the stipulation of Art. 26, +“that the French government shall have the right to keep two +ships-of-war stationed in the canal, or in Lake Nicaragua, for the +entire duration of the works.” The contract, furthermore, by an +eminently Gallic appreciation of congruity and propriety, is accompanied +by a grand political manifesto, setting forth that “hitherto all the +official agents of the United States in Nicaragua have been accomplices +and auxiliaries of fillibusters,” and that, for this and other reasons, +Nicaragua was then, and by virtue of that manifesto, “placed under the +guarantee of the three powers which have guaranteed the Ottoman +Empire—England, France, and Sardinia”—these powers being adjured “no +longer to leave the rich countries of Central America to the mercy of +barbarians!” Late advices from Nicaragua affirm that the contract with +the “Knight of San Maurice and Lazarus” was ratified, with various +modifications, on the 8th of April, 1859, by the Legislative Chambers of +the State.[56] It will thus be seen that the somewhat dreary history of +earnest but unsuccessful attempts to connect the seas by means of a +canal, is finally to be relieved by a comic episode; and we may indulge +the pleasing hope, that the all too sad reminiscences connected with the +undertaking, like the too serious impressions left by a tragedy, are to +be happily dissipated by the opportune introduction of a farce! To Punch +and Charivari remains the congenial task of recording and illustrating +the future career and the prospective triumphs of Monsieur Belly, +“Publicist, Knight, etc.,” in Nicaragua! + +----- + +Footnote 56: + + It is stated also that this ratification is coupled with certain + arrangements to open a transit route, by means of small boats on the + river San Juan and Lake Nicaragua, and by carriages from the lake to + the Pacific, as was done by the extinguished “Accessory Transit + Company.” So far as M. Belly has any practical object, it is probably + this—to obtain the exclusive right for such a transit, or the + concession of such privileges as will give a practical monopoly. This + may easily be done, notwithstanding that Nicaragua has declared the + transit “open and free.” + +----- + + END. + + + LA PLATA: + + THE ARGENTINE CONFEDERATION + + AND + + PARAGUAY. + + +Being a Narrative of the Exploration of the Tributaries of the River La + Plata and Adjacent Countries, during the Years 1853, ’54, ’55, and + ’56, under the Orders of the United States Government. By THOMAS J. + PAGE, U.S.N., Commander of the Expedition. One Volume Large Octavo, + with Map and numerous Illustrations. Muslin, $3 00. + + This Volume contains the Official Narrative of one of the most + important Expeditions ever sent out by our Government. The vast region + drained by the River La Plata and its tributaries was closed to + commerce and navigation by the rigid Colonial Laws of Spain, the civil + wars which followed the Independence, and the subsequent selfish + policy of Rosas, the tyrant of Buenos Ayres. After the defeat and + flight of Rosas, one of the first acts of Urquiza, the able and + enlightened Director of the Argentine Confederation, was the decree of + August 28, 1852, declaring the waters of the Confederation free to the + flags of all nations. + + Our Government was the first to avail itself of this decree. Early in + 1853 the steamer _Water Witch_ was placed under the command of + Lieutenant PAGE, with instructions to explore the Rivers of La Plata, + and report upon their navigability and adaptation to commerce. + Lieutenant PAGE executed his commission with rare fidelity and + intelligence, and has embodied the results in this volume. The + explorations described in the Narrative embrace an extent of 3600 + miles of river navigation, and 4400 miles of journey by land in + Paraguay and the Argentine Confederation. The River Paraguay alone was + found to be navigable, at low water, by a steamer drawing nine feet, + for more than 2000 miles from the ocean. The basin of La Plata is + almost equal in extent to the Mississippi, and not inferior in + salubrity of climate and fertility of soil, while the head waters of + its rivers penetrate the richest mineral provinces of Brazil and + Bolivia. The products of this region must find their outlet through + the River La Plata. The population numbers scarcely one person to a + square mile, but great inducements to emigration are now offered by + the Argentine Confederation. The commerce of the country, already + considerable, is capable of immediate and indefinite increase. + + Lieutenant PAGE’S Narrative contains ample information respecting the + soil, climate, and productions of the country, and the manners, + habits, and customs of the people. A full account is given of the + unfortunate rupture with Paraguay, showing conclusively that the + attack upon the _Water Witch_ was altogether unwarranted, and the + allegations by which President Lopez attempted to justify it entirely + destitute of truth. An interesting and valuable account of the Jesuit + Mission in La Plata is appended to the Narrative. + + The Illustrations comprise the accurate Map of the Country prepared by + the orders of our Government, Portraits of Urquiza, Lopez, Francia, + and Loyola, and numerous Engravings of Scenery, Character, and + Incident. + + + _Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, + Franklin Square, New York._ + + --------------------- + +☞ HARPER & BROTHERS will send the above Work by Mail, postage paid (for +any distance in the United States under 3000 miles), on receipt of $3 +00. + + + _A Great Work Completed._ + + “The most magnificent contribution of the present century to the cause + of geographical literature.” + + --------------------- + + DR. BARTH’S + + NORTH AND CENTRAL AFRICA. + +Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa. Being a Journal of + an Expedition undertaken under the Auspices of H.B.M’s Government, + in the Years 1849-1855. By HENRY BARTH, Ph.D., D.C.L., Fellow of the + Royal Geographical and Asiatic Societies, &c., &c. With a Map and + numerous elegant Illustrations. Complete in 3 vols. 8vo, Muslin, $7 + 50; Half Calf, $10 50. + + The researches of Dr. Barth are of the highest interest. Few men have + existed so qualified, both by intellectual ability and a vigorous + bodily constitution, for the perilous part of an African discoverer as + Dr. Barth.—_London Times._ + + It richly merits all the commendation bestowed upon it by “the leading + journal” of Europe.—_Corr. National Intelligencer._ + + Every chapter presents matter of more original interest than an + ordinary volume of travels. This is high praise, but it is due to the + intelligence and zeal of Dr. Barth, who pursued his adventures with + unflinching courage, and neglected no opportunities. His discoveries, + in fact, are parallel with those of Dr. Livingstone in the South. We + confess that such a relation has for us an intense interest; we are + sure that no serious reader will be disappointed in the narrative of + Dr. Barth, which, sprinkled with anecdotes, varied by glittering + descriptions of landscapes and manners, written with vigor and + simplicity, and disclosing amid the gloom of Africa the secrets of + centuries, is a rich repertory of knowledge, and deserves to take its + place among the classics of travel.—_London Leader._ + + For extent and variety of subjects, the volumes before us greatly + surpass every other work on African travel with which it has been our + fortune to meet. As an indefatigable traveler, Dr. Barth’s merits are + undoubted.—_London Athenæum._ + + Dr. Barth’s volumes contain the best account of the interior of + Negroland we have yet had north of nine degrees of latitude, and he + himself is the model of an explorer—patient, persevering, and + resolute.—_London Spectator._ + + A traveler of wide and varied experience, a close observer of people + and things, a conscientious historian, and withal a _savan_ occupying + a position of distinguished merit, Dr. Barth’s records will be a + standard work in the library of every scholar.—_N. Y. Herald._ + + Dr. Barth has written with marvelous clearness, and from a mind at + once full and critical. No one who wishes to know Africa can afford to + dispense with his work.—_Boston Traveller._ + + It is the most magnificent contribution of the present century to the + cause of geographical knowledge. To have accomplished his task as he + has done, in the face of innumerable obstacles and dangers, indicates + the possession of those qualities—that enthusiasm of discovery, that + shrewdness of observation, and that practical tact—which lend the + charm of heroic and romantic interest to his personal narrative. The + discoveries made are of the highest importance as bearing upon the + future destiny of the African continent.—_N. Y. Evangelist._ + + The most important contribution to geographical science that has been + made in our time. Thousands of readers in our country will be anxious + to get possession of this treasure of knowledge.—_N. Y. Observer._ + + One of the most important works of the kind which has appeared for an + age.—_Lutheran Observer._ + + It can not fail to find its way into the libraries of most + scholars.—_Lynchburg Virginian._ + + The personal details give the work great interest.—_Philadelphia + Press._ + + The heart of Africa is at last laid open to our view. It is no longer + a land of darkness and of the shadow of death. It is no longer a + desert waste, a pestilential marsh, or the hiding-place of wild beasts + and bloody men. The physical features, the natural products, the + races, the governments, the religions of the vast interior of Africa + are spread out before us with a minuteness of detail that leaves + hardly any thing to be added to our knowledge upon these several + points. Dr. Barth’s work is a magnificent contribution to geographical + and ethnological science.—_N. Y. Independent._ + + Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, Franklin Square, New York. + + --------------------- + + ☞ HARPER & BROTHERS will send the above Work by Mail, postage paid, to + any part of the United States, on receipt of the Money. + + + =Harper’s Catalogue.= + + --------------------- + +A NEW DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF HARPER & BROTHERS’ PUBLICATIONS, with an +Index and Classified Table of Contents, is now ready for Distribution, +and may be obtained gratuitously on application to the Publishers +personally, or by letter inclosing SIX CENTS in Postage Stamps. + +The attention of gentlemen, in town or country, designing to form +Libraries or enrich their Literary Collections, is respectfully invited +to this Catalogue, which will be found to comprise a large proportion of +the standard and most esteemed works in English Literature—COMPREHENDING +MORE THAN TWO THOUSAND VOLUMES—which are offered, in most instances, at +less than one half the cost of similar productions in England. + +To Librarians and others connected with Colleges, Schools, &c., who may +not have access to a reliable guide in forming the true estimate of +literary productions, it is believed this Catalogue will prove +especially valuable as a manual of reference. + +To prevent disappointment, it is suggested that, whenever books can not +be obtained through any bookseller or local agent, applications with +remittance should be addressed direct to the Publishers, which will be +promptly attended to. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + Transcriber’s Note + +Where variant spellings were encountered (e.g., parroquets/paroquets, +court yard/court-yard, mayor domo/mayor-domo), corrections were made +only when one variant was obviously predominant elsewhere. + +About 90% of the instances of the Spanish honorific ‘Señor’ use the ‘ñ’. +The remainder have been corrected (at 91.20, 121.7, 231.9, 235.24, +265.25, 348.10, 348.12, 364.12, 491.9.) + +There are a number of errors in the chapter and illustration lists, +likely caused by a late addition to the illustrations. These have been +corrected. Two woodcuts are referenced (#36 and #92) but do not appear +in the text. + + Printed Corrected + Woodcut 15 109 119 + ” 16 110 120 + ” 16 110 120 + ” 36 273 [Missing] + ” 37 275 274 + ” 69 474 476 + ” 80 515 517 + ” 81 515 517 + ” 92 621 [Missing] + Chapter V. 120 121 + ” VI. 156 157 + ” VII. 176 177 + ” VIII. 199 201 + ” IX. 236 237 + ” X. 260 261 + ” XI. 283 284 + ” XII. 302 313 + ” XIII. 328 329 + ” XIV. 354 355 + ” XV. 412 413 + ” XVII. 444 447 + ” XVIII. 490 491 + ” XIX. 523 524 + ” XX. 550 551 + ” XXI. 560 561 + ” XXII. 574 575 + ” XXIII. 594 595 + ” XXIV. 612 613 + ” XXV. 632 633 + +Other errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s also have been +corrected, and are noted here. The references are to the page and line +in the original. + + ix.43 Departure from Leon[ /]Chinandega—Ladrones Replaced. + + xviii INTEROCEANIC COM[M]UNICATION Inserted. + + 38.21 _“Vivan los Americanos del Norte[”]_ dded. + + 66.34 densely populated with mosquito[e]s Removed. + + 79.9 took my by the se[c/a]t side of Pedro Replaced. + + 101.30 [“]adieu my soul!” Added. + + 129.25 trimmed with lace[.] Added. + + 138.13 _à prædomin[i]o_. Inserted.. + + 143.22 [“]yes, sir! yes, yes sir!!” Added. + + 153.35 from Granada, or Salteba[.]” Added. + + 157.17 SUBSEQ[EU/UE]NT Transposed. + + 165.7 in the strong-built houses,[”] Removed. + + 172.17 to the early [be-]belief Removed. + + 172.30 Such occurrences, however[,] are rare. Inserted. + + 215.22 we ever afte[r]wards distinguished Inserted. + + 218.18 It was a w[ie/ei]rd looking forest Transposed. + + 320.15 “Fun[a/á]mbulos” Replaced. + + 321.14 “Fun[a/á]mbulos” Replaced. + + 319.32 “by the[ the] most beautiful young Kitty,” Removed. + + 320.3 including the[ the] ladies Removed. + + 320.6 and of course acc[e]pted the invitation. Inserted. + + 321.1 [“]beauty and fashion of Leon Removed (no + close). + + 326.20 [“]On the day set apart Added. + + 353.20 the outer bay of[ of] Conchagua Removed. + + 372.2 the most intelligent famil[i]es Inserted. + + 375.7 the all-good and om[i]nipotent Ruler Removed. + + 378.20 consists in permitt[t]ing the latter Removed. + + 381.12 there[ are] a number Probable. + + 383.19 Althou[g]h Leon is _de facto_ the seat Inserted. + + 418.21 “Very well,” said she, [“]buy it;” Added. + + 435.1 “piedra[d]s labradas,” Removed. + + 435.35 with figures rudely cut in outline[.] Added. + + 440.17 for upwards of twenty feet[.] Added. + + 461.11 They simply lifted their hats, and Inserted. + re[s]ponded, + + 465.9 the remain[d]er of the crew Inserted. + + 480.2 as before desc[r]ibed Inserted. + + 489.30 I was not particular[l]y ambitious Inserted. + + 493.3 for permission to breath[e] the air Added. + + 478.24 A[l]though not the tallest Inserted. + + 487.22 below the elbows[.] Added. + + 501.21 or muleteer[e]s Removed. + + 502.24 we could not advance faster tha[t/n] a walk. Replaced. + + 530.13 In order to ob[t]ain a full view Inserted. + + 542.34 under favorable states of the a[t]mosphere Inserted. + + 558.35 demonstrations of sorrow[.] Added. + + 605.23 entered the su[r]burbs in mere bravado Removed. + + 616.11 The ladies were bitten with o[r]nithology Inserted. + + 623.9 As we a[cs/sc]ended Transposed. + + 657.8 the attention of thewor[l]d Inserted. + + 612.3 “LA S[E/É]RIEUSE” Replaced. + + 634.15 stopped again at [“]El Pedernal,” Added. + + 686.14 were active and unremit[t]ing. Inserted. + +f + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76906 *** |