YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 9002 06563 5931 • ¦ Ea-fgTfeg' M V .16. *#J2£ ' INDIANS OF TBCPAN, GUATEMALA. THE EARTH AND ITS INHABITANTS NORTH AMERICA. BY ELISEE REOLUS. EDITED BT A. H. KEANE, B. A., MEMBER OF COUNCIL, ANTHROP. INSTITUTE ; COR. MEMB. ITALIAN AND WASHINGTON ANTHROP. SOC. ; VOL. ii. MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. ILLUSTRATED BY NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS AND MAPS. NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 1, 3, and 5 BOND STREET. 1891. CONTENTS. CHAP. I I. GENERAL STJRVBT Geological- Changes, p. 2. Prehistoric Migrations, p. 3. Gradual Settlement, p. 4. Political Changes, p. 6. Aborigines and Negroes, p. 8. Spaniards and Mestizoes, p. 9. The Isthmian Eegion, p. 12. PAGE 1—13 II. Mexico 14—190 1. General Considerations, p. 14. Progress of Discovery, p. 15. 2. Mexico Proper, North of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, p. 20. Mountains and Volcanoes, p. 20. Eivers and Lakes, p. 36. Climate, p. 48. Mora, p. 53. Fauna, p. 56. Inhabitants, p. 59. Lower California, p. 93. Sonora -Sinaloa, p. 95. Chihuahua — Durango, p. 100. North-Eastern States : Coahuila— Nuevo Leon — Tamaulipas, p. 102. Inland States: Zaoatecas — Aguasoalientes — San Luis Potosi, p. 106. Guanajuato— Jalisco and Tepic— Colima — Michoacan, p. 109.. Queretaro— Hidalgo —Mexico— Federal District, p. 115. "Vera Cruz, p. 129. Morelos— Guerrero— - Oaxaca, p. 135. 3. East Mexico, p. 142. Chiapas — Tabasco— Campeachy— Yucatan, p. 142. Physical Features, p. 143. Eivers, p. 146. Climate — Flora — Fauna, p. 153. Inhabitants, p. 154. Topography, p. 161. i. Economic and Social Condition of Mexico, p. 170. •5. Government and Administration, 187. III. British Honduras (Belize) 191 — 200 The Cockscomb Mountains, p. 193. Myers, p. 194. The Seaboard, p. 195. Climate — Flora — Fauna, p. 197. Topography, p. 197. Administration, p. 200. IV. Central America : Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Eica . 1. General Survey, p. 201. 2., Guatemala, p. 206. Physical Features, p. 207. Eivers and Lakes, p. 213. Climate — Flora — Fauna, p. 217. Inhabitants, p. 218. Topography, p. 225. Material Condition of Guatemala, p. 238. 3. San Salvador, p. 244. Physical Features, p. 244. Eivers, p. 249. Climate — Flora — Fauna, p. 250. Inhabitants, p. 250. Topography, p. 251. Economic Condition of Salvador, p. 254. 4. Honduras, p. 255. Physical Features, p. 256. Eivers— Islands— Inlets, p. 258. Climate — Flora— Fauna, p. 260. Inhabitants, p. 261. Topography, p. 263. Economic Condition of Honduras, p. 266. 201—311 iv CONTENTS. CHAP. SAGE 5. Nicaragua, p. 270. Physical Features, p. 271. Eivers and Lakes, p. 275. Climate — Flora — Fauna, p. 280. Inhabitants, p. 281. Topography, p. 284. Economic Condition of Nicaragua, p. 289. The Nicaragua Canal, p. 290. Administration, p. 292. 6. Costa Mica, p. 293. Physical Features, p. 296. Eivers, p. 300. Climate — Flora — Fauna, p. 301. Inhabitants, p. 303. Topography, p. 306. Economic Condition of Costa Eica, p. 308. V. Panama 312—337 Physical Features, p. 312. Eivers — Bays — Islands, p. 314. Climate, p. 319. Flora — Fauna, p. 320. Inhabitants, p. 321. Topography, p. 323. The Panama Canal, p. 329. Administration, p. 337. VI. The American Mediterranean: Gulp op Mexico and Caribbean Sea . . . 338 — 353 Progress of Exploration — Soundings, p. 338. Catchment Basins, p. 341. Marine Currents, p. 343. Atmospheric Currents, p. 345. Temperature — Marine Flora and Fauna, p. 346. Land Flora and Fauna, p. 349. Inhabitants, p. 350. VII. Cuba 354—381 Physical Features, p. 355. Eivers, p. 359. Eeefs and Cays, p. 360. Climate — Flora — Fauna, p. 364. Inhabitants, p. 366. Topography, p. 370. Economic Con dition of Cuba, p. 379. VIII. Jamaica 382—395 Physical Features, p. 383. Eivers — Climate — Flora — Fauna, p. 384. Inhabitants, p. 385. Topography, p. 392. Administration, p. 394. IX. San Domingo : Haiti and the Dominican Eepublio 396 422 1. General Survey, p. 396. Physical Features, p. 397. Eivers — Lakes — Eeefs, p. 400. Climate — Flora — Fauna, p. 403. Inhabitants, p. 404. 2. Republic of Haiti, p. 410. 3. San Domingo, p. 418. X. Puerto Eico 423 429 Physical Features, p. 423. Inhabitants, p. 424. Topography, p. 425. Economic Condition, p. 428. XI. Virgin Islands and Santa Cruz 430 4.35 St. Thomas, p. 430. St. John, p. 433. Santa Cruz, p. 433. Tortola — Virgin Gorda — Anegada, p. 436. XII. The Bahamas 437 44s XIII. The Bermudas 449 454 XIV. The Lesser Antilles 455 433 Sombrero — The Dogs — Anguila — St. Martin, p. 463. St. Bartholomew, p. 464. Barbuda, p. 465. Antigua, p. 465. Saba and St. Eustatius, p. 467. St. Christopher and Nevis, p. 468. Montserrat, p. 470. Guadeloupe, p. 471. Dominica, p. 475. Martinique, p. 476. St. Lucia, p. 479. St. Vincent, p 480. Grenada and. the Grenadines, p. 483. Barbados, p. 485. Appendix .. ...a o »..„„,,„ , A87 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. MAPS PRINTED IN COLOURS. PAGE Mexico and Central America . . . .16 Mexico and its Valley 118 West Indies 344 Havana .... The Guadaloupe Archipelago PAGE 372 472 PLATES. Indians of Tecpan, Guatemala, . Frontispiece Isthmus of Panama — View taken from the Culebra .... To face page 12 Popocatepetl — View taken from the Tlamecas Eancho 27 Indian Village — View taken at the Huexoculco Pueblo, Province of Mexico . . 75 Panoramic View of Guanajuato . . .110 Street View in Morelia 115 City of Tula— General View . . . .117 General View of Mexico 120 The Chapultepeo Cypresses . . . .123 Puebla — View taken from the South . .126 Vera Cruz and Fort of St. John d'TJlua . . 133 Cenote of Valladolid, Yucatan . . .151 Ellin a of Uxmal — The Governor's Palace . 167 The Metlac Viaduct between Cordoba and Orizaba, on the Mexico -Vera Cruz Eail way 184 Belize— View taken from the Harbour . .198 View taken on Lake Atitlan . . . .214 Escuintla — General View .... 233 Indian Workwomen of the Hot Lands on the Pacific Slope 238 Hopango Volcano . . . To face page 246 Honduras Scenery ...... 260 Tegucigalpa — View taken from La Concepcion 266 Ceiba 280 Leon — View taken in the Main Thoroughfare . 284 Port Limon and Uvas Island .... 307 Panama Scenery — the Eio Chagres at Matachin 314 Indian Settlements, Islands of San Bias Bay . 316 The Panama Canal — View taken at San Pablo 330 General View of Havana taken from Casablanca 370 General View of Matanzas . . . 373 General View of Santiago, Cuba . . . 377 Turtle Island — View taken at the Mouth of the Three Eivers 405 General View of Port-au-Prince . . . 412 General View of San Juan Bautista, Puerto Eico 425 General View of Hopetown, Abaco Island . 444 West Indian Scenery — View taken in the Saintes Islands 473 View of Basse-Terre, Guadelupe . . 474 General View of Fort-de-France, Martinique . 477 Kingston, St. Vincent Island .... 482 "VT LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. no PAOE FIQ. 1. Central American Isthmuses and Inland 47. Seas .... 3 48. 2 Citlaltepetel — View taken from near 49. 5 50. 3 Political States of Central America . 6 51. 4 Mexico before the Annexation to the ) 52. United States .... 8 53. 5. Predominant Eaces in Central America 11 54. 6. Canals and Eoutes across the Isthmuses 12 55. 7. First Mexican Itineraries, 1517 to 1550 16 56. 8. Chief Positions scientifically determined ix i 57. 18 58. 9. Eegions studied by the Offioers of th( 59. French Expedition 19 60. 10. Eelief of Mexico .... 21 61. 11. Jorullo, according to Humboldt 26 62. 12. 30 63. 13. Volcanoes of Mexico 32 14. Igneous Eegions and Volcanoes of Mexico 33 15. Convergence of the two Sierra Madres 34 64. 16. Various Altitudes of the Mexican Moun 65. tains and Towns .... 35 66. 17. Tamaulipas Coast Lagoons 37 67. 18. Coalzacoalcos Bar .... 38 68. 19. The Begla Falls .... 39 69. 20. 42 21. Colorado Estuary .... 43 70. 22. Closed Basins of Mexico . 44 71. 23. Area of the Mexican Lakes at Various 72. 47 73. 24. Vertical Disposition of the Mexicar _ 50 74. 25. Isothermals of Mexico modified by Altitude 51 75. 26. Vegetable Zones in Mexico 55 76. 27. Extent of the Aztec Conquests . 63 77. 28. Artificial Pyramid op Cholula 69 29. Sacred Stone op Tizoc, in the Museum 78. op Mexico . ... 71 79. 30. First Conquests of Cortes . 74 80. 31. Port of Siguantaneo .... 76 81. 32. Scene of the War of Independence . 79 82. 33. Chief Native Populations in Mexico . 82 83. 34. Water-Carrier and Tortillas Woman 85 35. Chief Native Eaces in Mexico . 87 84. 36. Prevailing Diseases in Mexico . 92 85. 37. 94 86. 38. Guaymas ... ... 96 87. 39. 98 88. 40. Cathedral op Chihuahua 99 89. 41. 105 90. 42. 10-7 43. San Luis Potosi— Government Palace . 109 91. 44. 112 92. 45. 114 93. 46. Ancient Mexico ..... 118 PAGE Cathedral op Mexico . . . .119 Mexico and its Environments . . .122 Tlalpam and Lake Xochimilco . . . 124 Indian Market-Gardener's Canoe . . 125 Pueblain 1862 . . . ... .128 Orizaba 131 Successive Displacements of Vera Cruz . 132 From Vera Cruz to Anton Lizardo . .133 Harbour Works in Progress at Vera Cruz . 134 Acapulco ....... 136 Chief Enins of Central Mexico . . 138 Isthmus of Tehuantepec . . . .139 Salina Cruz, the new Port of Tehuantepec. 140 Minatitlan, Northern Port of Tehuantepec 141 Bank of Yucatan ..... 144 Alacran Eeef 145 The Usumacinta — View taken at the Paso Yalchilan, on the Guatemalan Frontier 147 Mouths of the Grijalva and Usumacinta . 149 Terminos Lagoon . . . . .151 The Eio of Yucatan 152 Maya Youths 4 157 Chief Euina of Yucatan . . . ,159 Euins in the Lacandon and Tzendal Coun tries 163 Merida and North- West Yucatan . . 165 Density of the Population in Mexico . ". 171 Pulquero 173 Maguey Plantations, San Francisquito District, near Mexico . . . 175 Chief Agricultural Produce in Mexico . 176 The World's Yield of Silver . . .178 The World's Yield of the Precious Metals 179 Yield of Gold and Silver in Various Coun tries since 1492 180 Chief Mineral Eegions of Mexico . .181 The Boca del Monte Ascent . . .184 Mexican Eailway Systems in 1890 . . 185 Political Divisions of Mexico . . . 188 British Honduras ..... 192 Parallelism of the Old and Eecent Water courses igg Belize and the Cockscomb Mountains . 198 Domains of British Honduras . . . 199 Old Straits in Central America . . . 202 Political Divisions of Central America . 203 Trend of the Guatemalan Eanges . . 207 Chain of the Fuego Volcano . . . 209 Antigua : Euins op Christchuiich, Aqua Volcano in the Background . .211 Pacaya Volcano . . . . .212 Golfo Dulce and the Lower Motagua . 216 Landscape in South Guatemala — Bamboo Jungle ...... 219 LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS. Vll FIG. 94 959697 100101102103104.105106107.108.109. 110 111.112. 113. 114.115.116. 117. 118.119. 120. 121. 122.123. 124.125.126. 127. 128. 129.130. 131.132. 133.134. 135.136. 137. 138. 139. 140. 141.142. 143. 144. 145.146. 147.148. PAGE . Native Populations of Guatemala . . 224 . The Altos Eegion 226 . Solola and Lake Atitlan . . . .229 . Successive Displacements of Guatemala . 231 . Thickly-Inhabited Eegion of Guatemala . 233 . LakePeten 236 . Density of the Population in Guatemala . 237 . Chief Products of Guatemala . . . 239 , Guatemalan Alcaldes, Altos Eegiox . 241 . Political Divisions of Guatemala . . 243 . Ausol at Ahuachapam .... 245 . Volcanoes of West Salvador . . . 246 , Lake Tiopango . ... 247 . Volcanoes of East Salvador . . . 248 , San Salvador and its Environs . .251 , La Lieertad, Port of San Salvador . 253 , Density of the Population of Salvador . 254 . Interoceanic Waterparting, Honduras . 256 . Bay Islands 259 , Puerto Cortes and Lake Alvarado . 264 Fonseca Bay 267 Comparative Debts of Various States . 268 Debt per Head of Population in Various Countries 269 Territory claimed at Various Times by Great Britain . ... 270 , Mombacho Volcano and Shores of Lake Nicaragua 273 Isthmus of Eivas 275 The Nicaragua Waterparting . . . 276 Marrabios Eange and Lake Managua . 278 Population of Honduras and Nicaragua . 282 Density of the Population of Honduras and Nicaragua 285 San Juan del Norte before the Construe- * tion of the Pier .... 2.88 Projected Interoceanic Canals across Nica ragua 290 Lower San Juan Canal . . . .291 Political Divisions of Nicaragua . . 292 Gulf of Columbus 294 One of the Three Craters op Pdas . 295 Summit of Mount Irazu . . . 297 Plateau and Volcanoes of Costa Eica . 298 GulfofNicoya 299 GulfofDulce 301 Guatuso Indian 304 Young Talamanoas Indians . . . 305 Puerto Limon . . ... 308 Mill for Husking Coffee . . . 309 Highways of Communication in Costa Eica 310 AoUninistrative Divisions of Costa Eica . 311 Course of the Eiver Chagres . . .314 Gulf of San Miguel 315 Gulf of San Bias 317 Caledonia Bay 318 Gulf of Panama 319 Isthmus of Chiriqui .... 322 Panama 324 Panama — View taken from Mount Ancon 325 Colon 326 nG' PAGE 149. The "Mystery of the Strait" at the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century . 328 150. Docks and Course of the Panama Canal . 329 151. Sill of the Lock Canal . . . 330 152. Projected Artificial Lakes on the Panama Divide 332 153. Projected Cuttings across the Isthmus of Panama and Darien .... 333 154. Projected Canal between Uraba and San Miguel Bays . . . . 334 155. Cupica Bay 335 156. The Easpadura Divide . . . 336 157. Gulf of Mexico 339 158. Caribbean Sea 340 159. The Puerto Eico Abyss . . . .341 160. Slopes draining to the American Medi terranean 342 161. Main Currents of the American Medi terranean 344 162. Deep-Sea Temperatures in the Atlantic and West India Waters . . . 346 163. Deposits on the Bed of the Atlantic and West India Waters .... 347 164. Anegadx and the Horseshoe Eeef . . 348 165. Snake - Catcher and Charcoal Girl, Martinique 351 166. Preponderance of the White and Black Eaces in the West Indies . . . 352 167. La Coube (Cuba) and the Mer de LentiUe 355 168. Western Division of Cuba . . .356 169. Eastern Division of Cuba . . ¦ . 357 170. Cape San Antonio and Corrientes Bay . 361 171. Jardinillos 362 172. Isle of Pines 363 173. Plantation of Pineapples . . . 365 174. Political Divisions of Cuba before the Spanish Conquest .... 368 175. ChobrekaTowek ("Buccaneers' Fort"), at the Mouth of the Almendailes . 371 176. Cuban Seaports West of Havana . . 373 177. Matanzas 374 178. Trinidad and its Harbours . . . 375 179. Central Isthmus of Cuba . . .376 180. Santiago de Cuba 378 181. Port of Guantanamo . . . .379 182. Eailways of Cuba 381 183. Hilly Eegion in West Jamaica . . 383 184. View taken at the Newcastle Sana torium, Jamaica 389 185. District of Morant, Jamaica . . . 391 186. Kingston and Port Eoyal . . .392 187. Chief Towns of Jamaica .... 394 188. Chain of the Cayman Islands . . . .395 189. Monte-Cristi Eange and Vega Plain . 398 190. View taken from the Mole St. Nico las Peninsula, Haiti .... 399 191. Ozama and Brujuelas Basins . . . 401 192. Isthmus of the Lakes, San Domingo . 402 193. Chief Slave-Trade Eoutes . . .406 194. Scene of the War of Independence . . 408 195. Disputed Territory between Haiti and San Domingo 409 196. St. Nicolas Peninsula . . . .411 Vlll LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PIG. 197. Gulf of Port-au-Prince . 198. South- West Peninsula of Haiti 199. Les Cayes Bay 200. Group op Haitians 201. Azua and Ocoa Bay 202. Santo Domingo 203. Samana Bay . 204. Puerto Eico . 205. San Juan Bautista, Puerto Eico 206. South-west Corner of Puerto Eico . 207. St. Thomas Island .... 208. St. Thomas Harbour 209. Virgin Island 210. Santa Cruz 211. View taken in Santa Cruz Island 212. Bernini Island and Banks 213. Tongue of the Ocean PAGE PIG. PAGE 412 214. 445 413 215. Watling Island ... 446 414 216. The Bermudas 451 417 217. View taken from Gibb's Hill, BtE- 419 453 420 218. St. Kitts 456 421 219. A Martinique Chicle Woman 461 424 220. St. Martin 464 426 221. St. John's Harbour, Antigua . 466 427 222. 467 431 223. St. Kitts —View taken prom Nevis 469 432 224. Montserrat . ... 471 433 225. Martinique ...... 477 434 226. Lines of Navigation and Submarine Cables 435 in the West Indies .... 478 438 227. Geseral View op Castries, St. Lucia 441 480 THE EARTH AND ITS INHABITANTS. MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. CHAPTER I. GENEEAL SUEVEY. HE insular and peninsular regions which are watered by the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea form with the Mexican triangle a perfectly distinct section of the New World. Under the latitude of the tropic of Cancer, which traverses the Mexican plateau and touches the extremity of the peninsula of Lower California, the continent has still a width of 550 miles, or about a tenth part of the distance between the two oceans towards the middle of North America. But south of that line the mainland tapers and expands successively, while developing coastlines parallel with the escarpments of the plateau. Between Mexico proper and Chiapas occurs a first contraction at the isthmus of Tehuan tepec ; this is followed towards the south-east by other shrinkings and expansions, terminating in the slender neck of land between the Gulfs of Panama and Darien, which merges in the South American continent. The eastern chain of the American Archipelago, comprising the Bahamas and Lesser Antilles, forms a cordon over 1,800 miles long, which sweeps round from the north-west to the south-east in a serpentine curve roughly parallel with that of Mexico and Central America. This vast outer rampart, of coralline formation in the Bahamas, of volcanic origin in the Antilles, encloses the so-called " Medi terranean" of the New World, which, like the Mediterranean of the eastern hemisphere, is divided into secondary basins, but which in other respects presents little resemblance to that great inland sea. 34. 2 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. The northernmost of these basins, that is, the Gulf of Mexico, which develops an immense oval contour line between the peninsulas of Florida and Yucatan, is limited southwards by the long island of Cuba, and communicates with the neigh bouring waters only through two passages with an average breadth of 120 miles. The southern basin, that is, the Caribbean Sea, is of less regular form, presenting between the Lesser Antilles and the Mosquito Coast a broad open expanse, which is again subdivided towards the north-west by two almost completely submerged ridges, indicated here and there by reefs and sandbanks. On one of these ridges stands the Grand Cayman Chain, while the other connects the Tiburon peninsula in Haiti through Jamaica with Cape Gracias a, Dios. Thus the West Indies are attached to Central America by three transverse hills which might be called those of Cuba, of Cayman and Jamaica ; all three begin at the chain of islands sweeping round from Grenada and the Grenadines to Puerto Rico, almost presenting the appearance of being three branches thrown off from a single stem. All these lines of islands and peninsulas, which are interconnected in various directions between the northern and southern continents, give evidence of cosmic forces acting over vast expanses of the terrestrial crust. Nevertheless their somewhat symmetrical arrangement in intersecting curves is no proof that the upheaved lands were at any time continuous, or that the now partly submerged ridges themselves are the remains of isthmuses formerly stretching from continent to continent. On the contrary numerous indications drawn from the distribution of the animal and vegetable species seem to justify naturalists in concluding that certain contiguous islands have never formed continuous land during the geological record. Cases in point are the Bahamas and the Antilles, which by their natural history are more intimately connected with the distant Central America than with Georgia and the Carolinas. In the same way Florida belongs rather to the West Indies than to the mainland of which it now forms part, while the Bermudas, lost amid the Atlantic waters, are connected with the Antilles by the Gulf Stream. The American Mediterranean lands^ although lying almost entirely within the tropics, are perfectly accessible to man for all purposes of permanent settlement. In this' respect they present an absolute contrast with the vast regions of Africa situated under the same latitude. In the Old World the desert, which begins with the Sahara, and which is continued across Egypt, Arabia, Persia, Turkestan, and Mongolia, comprises millions of square miles, whereas in Central America arid spaces are of limited extent, and in fact occupy that part of Mexico which lies north of the tropic of Cancer. Thanks to the humidity of the atmosphere and the moderating action of the marine waters, tropical America is almost every where clothed with a rich vegetation. In some places are developed almost impenetrable forests forming a continuous mass of dense verdure, and wherever clearings are effected, economic crops may be raised in superabundance. The white race has even succeeded in perpetuating itself in the Antilles, notably in Cuba and Puerto Rico, adapting itself to the climate sufficiently to cultivate the land and engage in industrial pursuits.- In Mexico and in Central America the mean elevation of the plateaux, offering GENEBAL SUEVEY. 3 a climate analogous to that of temperate Europe, has enabled Spanish and other immigrants to occupy the land. Flourishing European colonies have been founded, on these uplands, where they have acquired sufficient influence to impart their usages, language and culture to the great mass of the aboriginal populations. Within 100 miles of the coast Citlaltepetel, the " Star Mountain," which passing seafarers beheld glittering at sunset and sunrise like a flaming beacon above the arid and swampy plains of the seaboard, seemed to invite them to scale the inter vening heights and take possession of the breezy inland tablelands. They under stood the language of nature which attracted them to these uplands, where were afterwards founded Orizaba, Cordoba, and other flourishing cities of " New Spain." Fig. 1. — Central American Isthmuses and Inland Seas. Scale 1 : 40,000,000. 30° Depths. 0 to BOO Fathoms. BOO to 2,000 Fathoms. 2,000 Fathoms and upwards. 620 Miles. While physically distinct from the continental masses of north and south, Central America itself is divided into secondary regions presenting such differ ences that the inhabitants, grouped in separate tribes and nations, remained formerly almost completely isolated. Communications were rare and difficult, and no ethnical cohesion had been developed amongst these isolated elements. Before the conquest few migrations or interminglings took place, except in the Mexican regions, which lay broadly open in the north towards the, plains of Texas, the pla teaux and intermediate valleys of the Rocky Mountains and the Californian slope. In the Mexican legends or annals are commemorated the peaceful or conquering movements of the populations following in successive waves of migration from 4 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. north to south, from the banks of the Colorado and Rio Bravo to the valleys of the Sierra Madre, the Anahuac tablelands and southern isthmuses. But the same records speak of the formidable obstacles encountered by those peoples, obstacles by which they were often arrested for decades and even centuries, and at times compelled to retrace their steps to their original homes. To the difficulties created by the resisting tribes were added those of the rough routes over the crests of transverse ranges, and the changes of climate on their passage through the forests, or on the descent towards the hot regions of the seaboard and isthmuses. Some of those northern invaders were arrested in the various depressions of the Mexican plateaux ; others continued their march as far as Tehuantepec and Guatemala ; while others penetrated southwards to the plains of Salvador and the Nicaragua volcanoes. There can be no doubt that at various epochs other hordes from the north pushed even still farther south. But no documents dating from the American mediaeval period make any mention of such migrations on the mainland. In fact in the narrow neck of land some 600 miles long, which bends round to the north west corner of the state of Columbia, the natural obstacles become almost insur mountable. Here nothing could be attempted except slow maritime expeditions continued from age to age; but of such migrations all memory has perished. The movements of the native populatious must have been prevented or indefinitely arrested by the rugged highlands stretching from sea to sea, by the impenetrable tangle of tropical forests, the sudden freshets caused by tremendous downpours, or the flooded tracts skirting the banks of the Atrato. The numerous islands of all sizes stretching in chains between the basins of the American Mediterranean, or along the borders of the Atlantic, were destined by their very isolation to become the homes of communities either differing in origin or else slowly differentiated by long seclusion. During the course of centuries their common descent was necessarily forgotten even by kindred sea faring peoples, whose knowledge of navigation was rudimentary, although some of their craft hoisted sails and were large enough to carry as many as fifty Indians. The great diversity of languages formerly spoken in the Antilles and still current in Mexico and the isthmuses is sufficient evidence of long isolation and dispersion in the fragmentary world lying between the northern and southern continents. For this region a certain unity, at least in a political sense, seemed to be prepared by the discovery of the archipelagoes and adjacent mainland at the end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth century. When they landed on this new territory the Spaniards acquired definite possession of the islands and isthmuses, if not, as they supposed, for the dynasty of Charles V., at all events as an inheritance of the Old World. The Antilles and Mexico never faded from. the memory of Europeans, as had been the fate of the earlier Norse discoveries in Greenland, Helluland and Vin eland. In virtue of Pope Alexander YI.'s Bull awarding to the Castilians and Portu guese all present and prospective discoveries, all those white settlers had to become Spanish subjects. The vast continental amphitheatre sweeping round the double basin of the inland sea, as well as its numerous chains of islands, was consequently GENEEAL SUEVET. 5 at first comprised within the Spanish domain. But the political unity of these lands was purely official, and often little more than nominal; in many places the Conquis- tadores never even set foot, and down to the present time certain territories supposed to be within their jurisdiction have scarcely even been visited by the explorer. Nor were the Spaniards strong enough to retain political possession of all the regions discovered by their forefathers. The treasures which were brought to Eig. 2. — Citlaltepetel. — View taken from near Orizaba. Europe by the first conquerors and which were multiplied a hundredfold in the popular imagination, could not fail to excite the cupidity of adventurers from other nations. Thus it happened that, either with the consent of their respective sove reigns, who furnished them with letters of marque, or else as roving pirates recognis ing no authority, daring mariners swarmed on all the seas of the Spanish Main, capturing their vessels, wasting their plantations, or even seizing the islands them selves after massacring the first settlers. Some of the famous navigators of the 6 MEXICO, OENTEAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were mere corsairs, scouring the high seas and occupying islets, such as Tortuga at the north-west angle of Haiti. These islands became the undisputed possessions of the buccaneers, as they were called, from the Carib word boucan, smoked fish or flesh, doubtless in allusion to their ordinary fare. With the exception of Portugal, which already possessed the vast territory of Brazil besides the East Indies, all the European powers were anxious to secure a portion of the Castilian world either by conquest, purchase or treaty. Of her original American possessions, Spain now retains nothing but the two islands of Cuba, the pearl of the Antilles, and Puerto Rico. All the rest has been forcibly wrested from her, and even her hold on these has often been impe rilled by revolts or foreign wars. England, an heretical nation in whose eyes the Papal Bull had no value, Kg. 3. — Political States of Central America. Scale l : 62.000,000. Independent Bepnblics. E. Spanish. A. English. F. French. H. Dutch. D. Danish. , 1,240 Miles. became the mistress of the large island of Jamaica, of all the Bahamas, the Ber mudas and most of the Lesser Antilles, beside a small district of the mainland on the south-east coast of Yucatan. To the share of France, Holland, and Den mark have fallen some of the Lesser Antilles, and even Sweden till lately held the islet of St. Bartholomew. All were anxious to have their sugar and coffee plantations, and an independent insular depot for their colonial produce. When the American Republic was controlled in its foreign policy by the southern slave party, the Washington Government made repeated attempts to increase its territory by the acquisition of Cuba, most valuable as well as largest of all the Antilles. It also sought to establish a large naval station at the St. Domingan GENEEAL SUEVET. 7 port of Samana, one of the most important strategical harbours in tropical America. But the opposition of the northern states, and to some extent that of the European powers, prevented the realisation of their projects, which had for primary aim the political supremacy of the slave-holding landowners. The only West Indian land belonging de facto, if not to the States, at least to an American trading company is Navaza (Navassa), a rock covered with a deposit of guano, off the west coast of Haiti. As soon as the deposit is exhausted the useless islet will be abandoned as several others have already been by the same company. On the mainland the aspirations of the all-powerful republic have been more abundantly satisfied than in the Antilles, and more than half of the territory formerly belonging to New Spain, that is to say, Texas, California, New Mexico and Arizona, henceforth forms an integral portion of the northern confederacy. Negotiations have also been entered into for the purchase of the right of free transit, in other words, of real sovereignty in the isthmus of Tehuantepec. Moreover > some filibustering expeditions, not officially sanctioned, but encour aged in every way by irresponsible agents, were undertaken in the Central American republics, at the time when the rush was made from New York and the New England states to the Californian " Eldorado." In virtue of the same law by which riverain populations gravitate towards the mouths of the streams on which they dwell, the Americans claimed as belonging to them by " manifest destiny " the shortest route which at that period connected their settlements on both oceanic slopes. But if their essays in this direction proved abortive, they at all events suc ceeded in thwarting the English, who, like themselves, were anxious to command the shortest interoceanic highways, and for this purpose had occupied the Bay Islands, near the Honduras coast, the so-called " Kingdom " of Mosquitia, a natural de pendency of Nicaragua, and even the port of Greytown at the mouth of the Lake Nicaragua emissary. Then came the construction of the transcontinental railways in United States territory itself, and this, combined with the energetic resistance of the Hispano- American populations, postponed, at least for a time, the accomplishment of the national aspirations for political ascendency in the Central American States. Since the epoch that followed the discovery of the Californian goldfields the independence of the Central American republics has not again been threatened by the United State's. But the Washington Government has steadily pursued a policy calculated to prevent European influence from replacing their own, and at the time of Maximilian's accession to the throne of Mexico they co-operated by their diplomatic action with the efforts of the natives to recover their autonomy. At present all the mainland of Central America, British Honduras alone excepted, is constituted in independent political states. Even in the archipelagoes held by the European powers, one large island is divided between two sovereign nations, the San Domingans, a mixed Hispanb-Negro people of Spanish speech, and the Haitians, of African descent and French speech. Altogether the insular world presents a marked contrast with the neighbour ing mainland, not only in its political status, but also in the original elements of MEXICO, CENTEAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. its inhabitants. Within a few years of the Spanish conquest, the West Indian aborigines had almost completely disappeared. The natives of Haiti and Cuba, by whom the first European mariners had been well received, have perished to a man. The Carib populations of the smaller southern islands are also everywhere represented, except in St. Yincent and Dominica, only by half-breeds. According to Bartholomew de las Casas " the Christians caused by their tyrannies and infernal deeds the death of over twelve million souls-perhaps even over fifteen millions-men, women, and children." However approximately Fig. 4.— Mexico before the Annexations to the United States. Scale 1 : 27,000,000. WestoF Greenwich Former Territory. Present Territory. . 620 Miles. correct may he this frightful estimate made by the famous " defender of the Indians," it is absolutely certain that the massacres and grinding rule of the Spaniards resulted in the extermination of the aborigines throughout the Antilles, while those of Mexico and Central America have held their ground. Hence the necessity of introducing another race into the islands of that " Carib bean Sea," where the Caribs themselves have been replaced by the negroes. African slaves were imported by millions to fill the void made by the wholesale mas sacre of the natives. But no systematic records are now available to determine with any accuracy the actual number of "human cattle " thus transferred from the eastern GENEEAL SURVEY. 9 to the western shores of the Atlantic during the course of over three centuries. Some writers speak of ten or fifteen millions ; but in any case the slave trade has cost Africa a far greater number of lives than it is now possible to calculate. Nearly all the negroes imported during the early period of the traffic perished, like the Caribs, without leaving any posterity. Despite their ready adaptation to a climate which differed little from their own, most of them, being engaged chiefly in the destructive work of the mines, died out within a few years. Thus it happened that the negro race was very slowly established in the New World, being gradually constituted of a thousand different ethnical elements drawn from every part of the African seaboard, and diversely intermingled with the blood of their European masters. Thanks to these endless crossings, the native dialects of the slaves disappeared, and amongst the idioms current in the Antilles only a few words can now be traced to an African source. The slaves rapidly adopted the languages of their Spanish, French, or English owners. But if in this respect, as well as in the usages and outward forms of civilisation, they were brought under European influences, their physical constitution was better suited for the environment of the West Indies, where they have now become the numerically dominant race. Except in Cuba, where the Spaniards form the majority of the population, and "perhaps also in Puerto Rico, the blacks and people of colour everywhere form by far the most numerous element. This part of the New World, the first discovered by the Spaniards, has become an ethnological dependency of the African Continent, and by a sort of retributive justice, the negro race has even acquired political autonomy in the large island of Haiti. Such an event is not without a certain historic importance. The des pised race, supposed to be doomed to everlasting servitude, has forcibly entered into the number of sovereign peoples. It has not only victoriously resisted the efforts made to again bring it under a foreign yoke, but despite a chronic state of intestine strife and the rivalries of ambitious chiefs, it has for a century main tained its independent position amongst its powerful and hostile neighbours. To the preponderance of the negro race in the Antilles corresponds that of the Indians in Mexico and Central America. The Spaniards who at first played the part of truculent masters and treated the aborigines abominably, are now merged with them under the name of ladinos. So true is this that the mesti zos, or half-castes of the two races, constitute the chief element of the population throughout the northern Hispano- American republics. According to the official returns the white race is in a majority only in the State of Costa Rica. Thus history has resumed its normal course. For over three centuries the Spaniards had lived as parasites on the Mexican populations, and in accordance with a constant law of nature, this parasitic existence had incapacitated them for vigorous action. Throughout this long period, the peoples of the colonial empire misgoverned by Spain remained without a history. Its annals were mainly reduced to a bald record of the appointment, recall, or death of public functionaries. But below a seemingly unruffled surface, important changes were maturing in the social life of the nation. The heterogeneous racial elements were being 10 • MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. gradually fused in a common nationality, with like customs, ideas, and aspira tions, and with a growing capacity for acting in concert for the general welfare. Thus it was that when the metropolis, overrun with foreign armies, found itself unable to maintain its authority in the New World, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and the other Central American provinces, were suddenly seen to develop into armed nations, in which the descendants both of the Spanish conquerors and of the conquered aborigines were animated by a common sentiment. This sudden appearance of new nations, or rather the revival of the old Ameri can nations, clothed in a vesture of civilisation different from that which they had formerly worn, wa3 not confined to the central regions, but took place also in Columbia, Venezuela, Equador, Peru — in a word, throughout the whole of Spanish America. By a curious irony of fate, the Napoleonic epoch, which was supposed to signalise the close of the revolutionary period, and the re-establishment of autocratic government, led in the New World, on the contrary, to the outburst of a general movement of independence for the Hispano- American race. From that epoch dates the modern history of the southern continent. But the new order of things had been prepared by the successful revolt of the British North American colonies, which acquired their independence several decades before the uprise of the Spanish provinces. Not only were the English settlements emancipated at an earlier date, but they have also far outstripped the mixed Spanish communities in social development and general culture. Their work, however, was more easily accomplished, and in some respects is per haps of less significance in the history of mankind. The United States are, so to say, little more than an expansion of the Old World ; in their ethnical elements, whether white or black, they reproduce the social conditions of Europe and Africa in another environment, where the aboriginal element has been mainly eliminated. The tribes that have not been extirpated, or that have not been effaced by complete absorption in the surrounding populations, are not merged in the social system, but live apart, either still in the wild state, or in reserves under Government control. But the conditions are very different in Spanish America, where the bulk of the population consists of " Hispanified Indians," who, while receiving European civilisation, and mixing in various degrees with their white conquerors, have none the less remained the representatives of the old American race. The Ancrlo- Saxons have destroyed or repelled the indigenous populations ; the Iberians have assimilated them, at least on the mainland. In Mexico, and in the other Spanish republics, crossings and common usages have effected a reconciliation between various races which were formerly hostile, and even totally alien, to each other. Latin America, where heterogeneous elements still persist, cannot yet be compared with Anglo-Saxon America for its relative importance as a factor in the equilibrium of the world. But the various republics of which it is composed are none the less increasing in power from decade to decade, and are already suffici ently consolidated to resist foreign encroachments. Collectively, they occupy con siderably more than half of the New World, for they comprise, besides the GENERAL SURVEY. 11 Antilles, all the southern part of North America. But they are divided by the region of the isthmuses into two distinct geographical areas. In her almost isolated position, Mexico serves as an advanced bulwark for the whole of Spanish America against the Anglo-Saxon world. Wars and diplomacy have deprived her of all her northern territory, her outer ramparts, so to say ; but she still retains nearly in its entirety the domain where the Spanish-speaking populations are chiefly concentrated. Characteristic of the Mexican nation as a whole is the incessant struggle it is compelled to make against the growing influence of the United States. Doubtless, Kg. 5. — Predominant Eaces in Central America. Scale 1 : 60,000.000. Full -blood Indians. of Indians over whites. Predominance- m of Indians of whites over whites over blacks. and blacks. of whites over Indians. EM of blacks over whites. , 1,240 Miles. m of blacks over whites and Indians. the powerful northern confederacy has a large share in the changes which are continually going on in Mexico. Nevertheless, the Mexicans seek their allies in the rest of Spanish America, and especially in Europe, and even in France, which not so long ago sent an expedition to destroy their political autonomy. They call themselves and feel themselves "Latins," and the very term ladino has become syno nymous with "enlightened," or "civilised" throughout Central America. Should the emancipated nations of the earth ever group themselves according to their natural affinities and regardless of distances, the Mexicans and the other Latinised peoples of America will inevitably become associated with the kindred Latin peoples of Europe. As in England and the British Colonies a 12 MEXICO, CENTEAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. strong feeling has sprung up for a more intimate alliance of all English-speaking communities, in fact, for the constitution of a " Greater Britain " encircling the globe — in the same spirit an "Ibero- American " society has been founded for the formation of a league between all Spanish- speaking states. At the first congress held by this association in the city of Mexico in 1887, as many as nineteen states were represented by their delegates. Belt's prophecy, that in a few centuries English would be the mother-tongue of all Americans, from the Frozen Isles of the great north to the Land of Fire, does not seem likely to be fulfilled. Jules Leclercq has even ventured to assert that in a short time all Mexico will be English. But this is a delusion, as shown, for instance, by the extreme slowness / Fig. 6. — Canals and Routes across the Isthmuses. Scale 1 : 20,000,000. Railways. Projected Railways. Canal in progress. , 215 Miles. Projected Canal. with which the process of assimilation is proceeding in New Mexico, a territory where, at the time of the annexation to the United States, over forty years ago, there were only fifty thousand people of. Spanish speech. Sooner or later, the region of the isthmuses must occupy a commercial position of the first importance, for here will assuredly one day be traced the great line of inter-communication between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Accordingly, the Americans might well suspect the European powers of the intention of seizing one or other of these passages. It was, in. fact, the fear of such a contingency that inspired the " Monroe doctrine " of " America for the Americans," thereby for mally reserving the possession of the isthmuses for the states of the New World. ISTHMUS OF PANAMA- VIEW TAKEN FROM THE CULEBRA. GENERAL SURVEY. 13 The vital importance of these narrow tongues of land was perceived by Columbus himself, as he coasted along the shores of Yeragua, vainly seeking for the marine channel through which the two oceans were supposed to communicate. But this channel, or rather these channels, for there existed more than one, have been closed by nature since the tertiary epoch, and the work of re-opening them must now be undertaken by man. Pending the accomplishment of this enterprise, roads, and even railways have been laid down from shore to shore. The southern series of isthmuses is already traversed by two railways, those of Panama and Costa Rica, and several others have been begun. Unfortunately, the land itself is still indifferently adapted to serve as a high way of communication between West Europe and the East Asiatic and Austral asian regions. In many parts of Central America, journeys across the forests, swamps, and unexplored tracts are attended by imminent risk. Not a single explorer is known to have yet followed the direct overland route from Mexico to Columbia. Even in the narrow spaces between the two seas it is dangerous to deviate from the beaten tracks. So great were the difficulties of travel and trans port that till recently neither east Honduras, north Nicaragua, nor Costa Rica possessed any outlets on the Caribbean Sea. In a commercial sense, these states could scarcely be said to possess an Atlantic seaboard at all. All national life and activity was centred exclusively on the side facing the Pacific Ocean, and from this coast the communications have been very slowly developed across the isthmuses in the direction of the Atlantic waters. Regarded as a whole, the inter-oceanic region is still almost an uninhabited wilderness, where the average population scarcely exceeds ten persons to the square mile. CHAPTER II. MEXICO. I. — General Considerations. XCLUDING the Yucatan peninsula, the territory of the " United States of Mexico " is a triangular mass which forms the southern extremity of the North American continent properly so called. These Hispano- American United States are bounded on the east side by the long curve of the Gulf of Mexico, on the west by the shores of the Pacific, which describe a still more extensive arc of a circle. Both curves gradually converge southwards in the direction of the Isthmus of Tehuan tepec, where Central America proper begins, if not in a political, at least in a geo graphical and historical sense. Both on the north and south sides, the frontiers are purely conventional, corresponding in no way with the natural parting lines of the fluvial basins. Doubtless, the north-east frontier, for a distance of about 750 miles, is traced by the Rio Bravo del Norte, which separates Mexico from Texas. But this narrow stream is not a sufficiently salient geographical feature to constitute a true dividing line ; on both sides the plains and hills present the same general aspect, and are subject to the same climate. No material change is perceptible for a long way beyond the Texan border, where the population grows more dense, and arable lands begin to replace the unfertile savannas. West of the Rio Bravo the frontiers, as laid down by the treaty between Mexico and the United States, are a mere succession of geometrical lines. At first they coincide with 31° 47' north latitude for a distance of 100 miles ; then they suddenly drop southwards to 31° 20' N., along which parallel they run westwards to 111° W. of Greenwich. At this point; the line is drawn obliquely to the Rio Colorado, 20 miles below the Rio Gila confluence, and then ascends this river to the confluence at Yuma, whence it follows a straight line across the neck of the Californian peninsula to the Pacific coast, 12 miles south of San Diego. Despite the fantastic character of this geometrical frontier, it coincides at certain points with prominent physical traits in the general relief of. the land. Thus it connects the upper Bravo valley with the head of the Gulf of California not far from the profound depression between two distinct spurs of the Rocky Mountains traversed by the Rio Gila. At the other extremity of -the Mexican territory, the political frontier is less EAELY MEXICAN EXPEDITIONS. 15 justified by the physical conditions. According to the treaty concluded with Guatemala in 1822, the common frontier runs from the Pacific coast near the little river Suchiate, across the main range to the Tacana volcano, and the Buenavista and Ixbul heights, and thence eastwards along the parallel of 16° 40' to the left bank of the Rio Usumacinta, the course of which river it should then follow to within 15 miles to the south of the town of Tenosique. But in these roughly explored regions, the river valleys have not everywhere been accurately determined and certain points of detail still remain to be decided. Beyond the Usumacinta the line runs westwards to the Rio Hondo, which marks the boundary of British Honduras, and which falls into Chetumal Bay at the south-east corner of Yucatan. Comprising all the outlying territories, and the remote Revilla-Gigedo Archipelago, Mexico has a total area officially estimated at 790,000 square miles, with a population (1889) of over 11,000,000. In its main outlines, this vast region was already known about the middle of the sixteenth century. Within twenty-four years of the conquest explorers had visited all the coastlands, and had penetrated far inland from Yucatan to California and the " seven cities " of Cibola. In 1502, Columbus had already met Yucatan traders on the coast of Honduras ; but it was only in 1517 that the Cuban planter, Hernandez de Cordoba, during a slave-hunting expedition, discovered the first point on the Mexican seaboard, the present Cape Catoche, at the north-west corner of Yucatan. From that point he coasted Yucatan as far as Champoton, where a disastrous engagement with the natives compelled the Spaniards to re-embark. In 1518, the survey of the coast was continued by Juan de Grijalva, whose primary object was to punish the natives for the reverse of the previous year, but who pushed forward beyond Champoton some 600 miles to the spot where now stands the town of Tampico. A third expedition, under Cortes, followed in 1519 ; but instead of keeping timidly to the seaboard, this daring adventurer aimed at the conquest of an empire. How he effected his purpose, with what courage, sagacity, and prudence, but also with what perfidy and ferocious contempt of the vanquished, is now a familiar tale. In 1521, the capital and surrounding districts were finally reduced, and armed expeditions were sent in all directions to extend the bounds of " New Spain." Olid and Sandoval penetrated through the provinces of Michoacan and Colima westwards to the Pacific. Alvarado pushed southwards through the high lands as far as -Guatemala. Cortes himself occupied the Panuco country on the eastern slope of the mountains skirting the north side of the Mexican basin. Then, being recalled southwards by the revolt of his lieutenant, Olid, who had crossed by water to Honduras, he advanced south-eastwards to Tabasco, Chiapas, and the territory of the Lacandons and Mopans. Of all the expeditions undertaken by Cortes, none was more surprising than this march across rivers, swamps, and uninhabited forests. In crossing the Tabasco plains he had to construct as many as " fifty bridges within a space of twenty leagues." Supplies '>f ell short, and his followers had to subsist on roots, berries, and vermin. Even at present few travellers, with all the resources of 16 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. civilisation at their disposal, have the courage to follow the route opened by Cortes. After his time none of the Spanish conquerors took the trouble of occupying this wilderness. They were satisfied with the reduction of Yucatan, the -conquest of which, nevertheless, occupied fully fifteen years, from 1527 to 1542. Although the less wealthy and less densely peopled north-western regions had fewer attractions for the invaders than the southern provinces, expeditions were despatched in that direction also. Yessels, whose sails and equipment had been conveyed from Yera Cruz across the Mexican plateau, coasted the seaboard towards the Gulf of California, the entrance of which was reached by a squadron under Kg. 7.— First Mexican Itineraries, 1517 to 1550. Scale 1 : 30,000,000. 3CT Vil/cijn&q^ . West op breenwich , 620 Miles. Cortes in the year 1533. To the great captain this burning region owes its very name of calidafornax (hot furnace), afterwards corrupted to California. In 1539, Francisco de Ulloa penetrated into the inner waters of the " Yermil- lion Sea," so named either from the red sea-weed abounding in some of the inlets, or, according to Pinart, more probably from the deep red colour of the sands lining its shores. The following year Alarcon completed the exploration of the gulf, and even penetrated 85 " leagues " up the River Buena-Guia, afterwards re named the Rio Colorado. In 1542, Cabrillo, rounding the headland of Cape St. Lucas at the extremity of the Californian peninsula, sailed northwards along the Pacific coast to a pro montory supposed to be the present Cape Mendocino, beyond 40° N. lat. On the mainland, Nunez Cabeza de Yaca, escaping from the perils of a daring march across the Floridas, reached Mexico from the north in 1536. Between MEXICO AND CE 100° - j IgUla Jf . I Chilpa J c -, ^' _V* _ Cms & villages Heights Ou 3.000 -fat 3. 000 to 6.000 „ 6.000to 12.000 „ 12.000to 18000 ,, 1 18.000 upwards 1891 4-1,6 310 Miles a Over lOO.OOOmhahitaats. I o ,, 50.000 „ 10000 „ .Undfir 10.000 „ Depths Oto 500 fathoms. 500 to 1.000 „ 1.000 to 2000 „ 2.000.10 3. 000 „ 3. 000. to 4-000 „ * .000. upwards. I. CJippei-t^m ^ ^ XT EC <£> -& HO0 100 NEW YORK, 1 NTR Papaotla irf.'.K.i.t.- gratia wrjQ—Ll Alison ll SXaWfe^a-Cr.^ TrfiHartm "^^ YW Alwml.T'Jl/irt.inh), -~Tj4 Y" j4. BJEspirituSanLo % \ % VBl, .,-^-- IT ' •s,Xa"?...JK$a"i. ,"" Ci Sirnoimi-l' WinftV * .flora ^ V- . „* - »^ »# 6* ,v ° .< «^(rf»*tf PtHT-LoAnOff] APPLE: EXPLOBATION OF MEXICO. 17 1530 and 1532 the atrocious Nufio de Guzman had reduced the provinces of Jalisco and Sinaloa ; then, in 1539, the Franciscan friar, Marcos de Niza, advanced far into the region which is now known as New Mexico, and which lies within the United States frontier. Here he claimed to have seen the marvellous Cibola, which was soon afterwards shown by the expedition under Coronado to be nothing more than one of those villages belonging to the Zuni nation, where the whole population dwells in one huge fortified building erected around a central court. Coronado's expedition, which lasted over two years, from 1540 to 1542, and which was intended to co-operate with Alarcon's sea voyage, resulted in ' the occupation and settlement of Sonora, the north- westernmost state of the present republic. But although the Mexican territory, properly so called, had now been traversed in all directions, the itineraries farther removed from the capital had not yet been utilised for the construction of maps, nor could this be done with any ap proach to accuracy in the absence of astronomic determinations. In 1542, the viceroy Mendoza was still engaged in fixing the position of the city of Mexico at 25 degrees, 42 minutes farther west than its real meridian, the calculations being deduced from the observation of two lunar eclipses. Even so late as 1579, the map published by Ortelius gives only the central district round about the capital with a fair degree of accuracy. Despite all the explorations along the Californian seaboard, it was even still maintained that California itself had been circumnavigated, and its insular character thus fully established ; hence the Jesuit, Salvatierra, who began the settlement of this region in 1697, gave it the name of Isla Carolina (Caroline Island). In fact, the researches of the early explorers were not confirmed till the beginning of the eighteenth century by the missionary, Kiihn, the Kino of Spanish writers. It appears from the manuscript documents possessed by the Madrid Academia de Historia, and from the collections preserved in Mexico, that as early as the seven teenth century the national archives, unfortunately closed to the student, contained all the elements necessary for a complete and detailed description of New Spain. Nearly all the memoirs forwarded to the Council of the Indies were accompanied by plans. Nevertheless, even the best maps were disfigured by errors'' of half a degree of latitude, and from one to two degrees of longitude. Alexander von Humboldt's journey in 1803 and 1804 has been described as a " second discovery of Mexico." All the known parts of New Spain were certainly not visited by the great explorer ; but his vast knowledge and intelligence enabled him to co-ordinate the itineraries of his predecessors, comparing and controlling one with another, and deducing from them, at least for the region of the plateau, the true form of the Mexican relief. He also studied the physical phenomena of the land, its igneous eruptions and thermal springs, the vertical disposition of its climates and flora, the direction and force of the winds prevailing on this part of the planet, the extent of its rainfall, the variations of its magnetic currents. Besides all this, he compared the mineral, agricultural, and industrial resources of Mexico with those of other regions, and thus determined its relative value amongst the civilised regions of the globe. S 35 18 MEXICO, CENTBAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. After the long sleep imposed upon Mexico by the system of absolute monopoly, the labours of Humboldt' were a sort of revelation; he showed what the Spanish colony was capable of at the very time when its emancipation was already at hand. The exploration of the country was necessarily interrupted during the revolu tionary period. But when Mexico at last established its independence, travellers began again to visit this part of the American continent, henceforth declared free to all comers. After the wars Burkart followed in the footsteps of Humboldt, and spent nearly ten years in traversing most of the mineral regions of the republic. Burkart's work was continued by other explorers of every nationality, amongst Kg. 8. — Chief Positions scienttficai.lt determined in Mexico. Scale 1 : 30,000,000. Humboldt and bis predecessors. Other obserrators down to 1874. . 620 Miles. them the Americans, Stephens and Catherwood, who carefully studied the re markable monuments still standing in the southern part of the territory. But the Mexicans themselves also began to take an interest in scientific investigations ; and in 1839, a geographical and statistical bureau was founded in the capital. This association, which is one of the oldest of the kind in the world, has issued valuable memoirs on nearly every part of the confederacy. It has also prepared the mate rials for a general map of Mexico on a larger scale than that of Humboldt, which was partly produced in sections, and afterwards as a gronndwork for Garcia Cubas' atlas, the first edition of which appeared in 1856. Then came the trigonometric survey of the Anahuac Valley under the direction EXPLORATION OP MEXICO. 19 of Covarrubias, which formed the starting-point for accurate geographical work. Men of learning, such as Orozco y Berra and Pimentel, also made extensive researches on the distribution of the aboriginal tribes of Mexico, on the history of their migrations, the origin, affinities, and structure of their languages. The American officers who penetrated into North Mexico during the war of 1846; and again in connection with the delimitation of the frontiers, also took part in the topographical researches ; the maps prepared by them for Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo-Leon, and Tamaulipas still remain the best docu ments for the study of those provinces. The chief marine charts, especially those of lower California, are also the work of United States surveyors. But works are now in progress with a view to the preparation of a topo- Fig. 9.. — Eegions studied by the Officers of the Fbench Expedition. Scale 1 : 620 Miles. West op Greenwich 95* ¦ 620 Miles. graphical map on the scale of -tWo-FiT' which will be worthy of comparison with those of the most advanced states, and which takes as starting-points on one hand the Mexican Valley and environs of Puebla, on the other the northern regions studied by the American and Mexican Boundary Commissions. The cartographic service in the army of the republic comprises as many as 120 persons trained for the work. The period of preliminary explorations is now all but closed, except perhaps for some parts of the border-lands towards Guatemala, where so recently as 1882 a " dead city " was discovered by Mr. Maudslay and explored by M. Charnay, . 20 MEXICO, CENTEAL AMEEICA, "WEST INDIES. II. — Mexico Proper, North of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Taken as a whole Mexico properly so called may be regarded as a lofty table land, on which stand mountain ranges and masses, which, despite Humboldt's oft- repeated generalisation, have no kind of connection in their relief or general trend with the Andean system of South America. They should be grouped rather with that of California, though still with numerous interruptions. Mountains and Volcanoes. The mean altitude of the whole region is estimated at no less than 3,600 feet. A plane passing at this elevation above the ocean would detach from the sustaining pedestal an enormous triangular mass, whose apex would terminate in the south east above the Tehuantepec depression, and whose base would be prolonged by two parallel horns projecting in the direction of the United States. The great central Mexican plateau is thus seen to be limited on the sides facing the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by border ranges, or at least by a succession of heights or ridges forming a more or less continuous escarpment. Both of these border ranges have received the designation of Sierra Madre, " Main Chain ; " a term, however, which recurs in almost every part of Spanish America, where it is freely applied to the dominating crests of the country. Like all border ranges, the Mexican sierras present striking contrasts between their opposite sides, those facing inland falling somewhat gradually down to the plateau, while those turned towards the oceans are far more abrupt, intersected by scarps and cliffs, furrowed by deep crevasses, continually modified by landslips, and scored by tremendous barrancas (chasms or gorges). The whole region, which contracts gradually southwards between the two border ranges, forms, so to say, a large avenue terminating in a labyrinth. The successive waves of migratory populations coming from the north were attracted from stage to stage towards the southern angle, that is, towards the basin of Mexico and the plains of Puebla, which are bounded on the south by the Junta, that is, the " Junction," or converging-point of the two sierras. To the triangular depression left between these sierras the expression Mexican "plateau" is often applied ; it is also occasionally called the Anahuac plateau, or simply Anahuac, .terms borrowed from Clavigero and Humboldt. Nevertheless the mesa or " table " of Mexico presents no continuous level surface, as might be supposed from the current expressions. The depression viewed as a whole presents rather a succession of basins, for the most part of lacustrine origin, which follow at constantly diminishing altitudes in the direction from north to south- But the separating barriers present such slight obstacles to migrations and travel that during the last century a highway was easily constructed from the capital to Santa Fe in New Mexico ; carriages could be driven from one city to the other along this road, nearly l,400«miles long. In the southern districts round about Mexico the basins are of relatively small MOUNTAINS OP MEXICO. 21 extent, but exceed 6.600 feet in altitude ; even the Toluca basin, in the angle formed by the two diverging main ranges, stands at a mean height of 8,500 feet above the sea. Going northwards from Anahuac the continually diverging sierras give more space for elevated plains, and in the northern regions the vast expanses enclosed by the encircling ranges present almost perfectly level surfaces, broken only by low ridges. As they stretch northwards these expanses fall in the direc tion of the east, and the east sierra itself is much narrower, its mean elevation being 6,500 feet, or about 1,600 feet less than that of the western escarpment. A third range, parallel with, but completely separated from, the two sierras Kg. 10. — Belief of Mexico. Scale 1 : 30,000,000. ? Oto 3.300 Feet. 3,300 to 6,600 Feet. 0 to 500 Fathoms. Height's. 6,600 to 9,900 Feet. Depths. 500 to 1,500 Fathoms. 9,900 to 16,500 Feet. 16,500 Feet and upwards. 1.500 Fathoms and upwards. . 620 Miles. enclosing the Mexican tablelands, traverses the Californian peninsula at different elevations and with two interruptions. Isolated eminences, " lost mountains," as they are called, are dotted over the space comprised between the highlands of the American California and the range traversing the peninsula which belongs to Mexico, but which continues the axis of the Sierra Madre. The mountains of this peninsula, varying as they do in height and form, must therefore be regarded as forming an orographic system quite distinct from that of 22 MEXICO, OENTEAL AMEEICA, "WEST INDIES. Mexico proper. Not far from the neck of the peninsula the system culminates in Mount Calamahue, or Santa Catalina, terminating in a peak white as snow and rising 10,000 feet above the sea. The northern chain, which skirts the Pacific coast, ends north of the spacious Sebastian Viscaino Bay, beyond which it merges through gently inclined plateaux in a ridge rising above the eastern shores of Lower California. These mountains, which are of tertiary formation, are interrupted by deep ravines, beyond which rises the volcanic group of the Tres Virgenes (" Three Virgins "), situated almost exactly in the middle of the peninsula, which has a total length of about 1,300 miles. The peaks of this group appear scarcely to exceed 6,600 feet, though raised by some authorities to 7,250 feet. But considerable discrepancies occur in the elevations given by different writers for most of the Mexican mountains. No eruption has taken place since 1857 in the Tres Virgenes group, where nothing has been noticed except some vapours rising from the crevasses. All the other volcanoes in Lower California are extinct, mineral and thermal springs, with a few solfataras, being the only evidences of underground activity. "West of the igneous group a chain of hills traverses the peninsula at an altitude of 3,450 feet, and is continued seawards by some lofty islands at its north-west extremity. South of the Tres Virgenes a ridge of tertiary sandstones, falling abruptly eastwards and presenting a gentle incline towards the Pacific, extends as far as La Paz Bay. But despite its name, the Cerro de la Giganta, the culminating point falls below 4,600 feet, while the mean height of the ridge appears to be little more than 3,000 feet. The extremity of the peninsula south of La Paz forms a sort of granitic island terminating in two parallel crests, one of which has an extreme height of 6,220 feet. Mineral deposits, including gold, silver, copper, and iron, occur in nearly all these coast ranges ; gold prevails in the schists of the west coast, silver ores chiefly in the porphyries on the opposite side. Lower or South California, however, notwithstanding its narrow width, rendering it easily accessible to travellers, is a comparatively unknown region owing to its excessive dryness and scanty population. The mountain heights have for the most part only been measured or estimated at a distance by marine surveyors. Mariners also have chiefly studied the character of the coasts, one, washed by the Gulf of California, steep and rocky, the other falling in gentle inclines towards the Pacific Ocean, which in many places is fringed by low beaches and sandy islets. The ranges on the east side rise precipitously above the profound chasm through which the sea has penetrated far. inland between Mexico and the peninsula. The islands on the east side are disposed in a perfectly parallel axis with the peninsular ranges, and rise to considerable heights. Angel de la Guardia, amongst others, has an elevation of 4,320 feet, and collectively these islands of Lower California have a greater extent than all the other Mexican islands taken together, Intersected by the straight line forming the geometrical frontier of Arizona, the various chains, which are limited northwards by the depression of the Eio Gila, penetrate into the territory of Sonora and Chihuahua in parallel ridges with a south-eastern trend. These various ranges are collectively grouped under the VOLCANOES OP MEXICO. 23 general designation of Sierra Madre. In their central parts they consist chiefly of granites and syenites, but sedimentary formations are also largely represented, especially by a carboniferous limestone interspersed with thin deposits of anthracite. As in the Lower Californian Mountains, igneous eruptions have occurred at a great many points, and vast expanses on the plains and slopes of the hills are covered with molten lavas. One of the cones is not even yet quite extinct, the Pinacate volcano (5,450 feet), which lies beyond the Sierra Madre proper, some 60 miles east of the Colorado estuary. In the middle of a vast lava field stretching south of the mountain, rise a few secondary cones, one of which is pierced by a cave from which escape copious sulphurous exhalations. To the genius of the place the neighbouring Indians bring propitiatory offerings of shells, darts, and the like. The mean altitude of the Sonora Mountains scarcely exceeds 5,000 feet, but some of the spurs projecting westwards rise much higher near the coast, where they present an all the more imposing aspect that they are here visible from base to summit, with their terminal cliffs and escarpments springing from the level of the sea. Such are, near the Arizona frontier, the Sonoala highlands, one of whose peaks has an elevation of 9,500 feet. Such, also, the Alamos, or " Poplar " group (5,900 feet), in the south of Sonora, followed by other coast ranges in Sinaloa. In winter their lofty crests are streaked with snow, and all of them contain numerous silver lodes irregularly crossing each other in all directions. South-east of Sonora the Sierra Madre rises gradually, while still retaining the same geological formation and general aspect.. Here the Cumbre de Jesus Maria, in the Tarahumara uplands, excteds 8,240 feet, and the Frailecitos peak, near Batopilas, is said to fall little short of 9,900 feet. As they increase in height the crests draw continually nearer to the coast, and thus present more precipitous flanks towards the sea. From the coast lagoons and dunes the horizon is bounded by a long line of lofty crests penetrating into tbe zone of clouds and vapour. • The line of these crests and of the so-called bufas, or jagged heights, develops a continuous chain at a mean distance of about 60 miles from the sea. Several of its summits exceed 10,000 feet, while the Cumbre Pimal, in the Sierra del Nayarit, attains an altitude of 12,350 feet. But farther south the outer terrace of the Mexican tableland, and the mountains dominating it, lose all apparent regularity in their general outlines. The groups, connected together by passes at different elevations, have no longer a uniform direction, and here the loftiest ridges, all noted for their extremely rich argentiferous deposits, lie more to the east ; south wards the whole system is interrupted by the deep valley of the Bio Lerma. Immediately opposite this breach and about 60 miles seaward rises the insular chain of the Tres Marias and the San Juanito, which are disposed in the direction from north-west to south-east, parallel with the main continental range. In these islands the highest cone, 2,430 feet, has been the scene of volcanic eruptions. Nor were volcanoes formerly absent in the section of the Sierra Madre which lies to the north of the Bio Lerma. In several places are still seen lava fields, some destitute of vegetation, others forest-clad. Here also rise mounds of scoriae and ashes, and the Breila district especially, which stretches south of Durango, is a 24 MEXICO, CENTEAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. chaos of crevasses and lava streams, a malpais, or " bad land," very difficult to traverse. But all the underground furnaces have long been extinguished north of the Lerma valley. South of this parting-line begins the region of inland lava seas, indicated by the chain of burning mountains which here runs obliquely across Mexico from ocean to ocean. Some of the cones are quite isolated, or else rise above detached groups, while others lie on the very axis of the main ranges. Near its Pacific extremity, the Ceboruco or Ahuacatlan peak (7,140 feet) is the first eminence in this igneous belt. It forms part of a chaotic group almost entirely separated from the Sierra Madre by the valleys and passes commanded by the city of Guadalajara. In 1870 it entered on a state of violent eruption, and since then it has never ceased to emit gases and igneous vapours. Ceboruco is the centre of numerous craters, of which the two largest, one extinct, the other still smoking, are each 1,000 feet deep. They lie close together, being separated only by a narrow ridge formed of cones in juxtaposition. Farther south Colima, which also ejects vapours, presents in its collective phenomena a general analogy to Ceboruco. Despite its great elevation (12,800 feet) this superb cone is merely the southern spur of a still more elevated porphyry mass, which the natives call the Volcan de Nieve (" Snowy Volcano "), although its crest does not terminate in a crater. The depression seen on the summit, usually supposed to be an extinct crater, appears to be nothing more than an amphitheatre formed of two ravines whose torrents descend to the Pacific. On the slopes of the Volcan de Nieve the upper limit of the forest zone stands no higher than 1 3,000 feet. Here begin the snows which are permanent through out the year on all the bare parts of the crest. From the terminal point (14,300 feet), the mountain slopes southwards towards the Volcan del Fuego, which is separated by a rocky rampart from the neighbouring colossus. At Colima eruptions, rare during the last century, have in recent years become more frequent. In 1869, 1872, 1873, and 1885, masses of ashes have been ejected, and borne by the atmospheric currents as far as San Luis-Potosi, 280 miles to the north-east. Lavas have also been discharged during these dis turbances, but nearly all have flowed from lateral cones, the " Sons of Colima," and from eminences scattered over the surrounding valleys. The Calabozo lagoon, whose deep and still unfathomed chasm discharges its waters through the Rio San Antonio at the northern foot of the mountain, appears to be an old crater filled by sulphurous springs. Situated on the very edge of the Mexican uplands and ravined at its base by enormous barrancas leading down to the plain, Colima occupies the centre of a vast horizon embracing lofty summits, plains, and the distant ocean. Eastwards the view reaches as far as the glitterin°- peak of snowy Popocatepetl. Under the same latitude as the twin crests of Colima stands the wooded Tancitaro volcano (12,100 feet) ; hut it lies much nea-rer to the main range, of which it is merely a southern offshoot. Tancitaro, which commands a distant view of the Pacific, is connected with the Cerro Patamban (12,400 feet) by the long jagged ridge of the Cerro Periban. Farther east the almost isolated Jorullo (Joruyo) volcano rises to a height of VOLCANOES OP MEXICO. 25 4,330 feet in the midst of a malpaw, or pcdregal, a stony tract of lavas enclosed on the south by the Rio Mexcala. Since the description given by Humboldt, this is one of the Mexican volcanoes of which most frequent mention is made. Jorullo is commonly supposed to have made its appearance one night towards the end of the year 1759 in the middle of cultivated plains, beneath which long rumbling sounds had been heard for months before the upheaval. Tradition relates that the Cutza- randiro cones, 50 miles to the east, had been in a disturbed state some years before the appearance of Jorullo. Hence the theory that the underground forces opened for themselves another vent by creating the new volcano, and since that time the former craters would seem to have been completely closed. This legend, although supported by the immense authority of Humboldt's name, is confirmed by no trustworthy documents, and is, moreover, at variance with the facts since that time observed in every part of the world. One day nothing • was visible except a plain covered with sugar-cane and indigo plantations waving in the breeze; next morning six large cones over 1,650 — according to Burkart, 1,230 — feet high, presented themselves to the astonished gaze of the peasantry, who had taken refuge on the surrounding hills. The whole district was reported to have become, so to say, " embossed," and raised by the molten matter, while the semi-liquid rocks, pierced in the centre by a funnel, were upheaved above their former level to form the cone which is now visible. Such an hypothesis of a vertical thrust of the primitive soil is no less absurd than another local statement regarding the vengeance of certain Capuchin friars, who had not been entertained with sufficient honour by the proprietors of the ¦ hacienda, and who on their departure consigned the whole district to the de vouring flames. The formation of Jorullo, like that of all other volcanoes, must in fact he attributed to the ashes and lavas accumulating with each successive eruption. Since 1860 Jorullo has been quiescent, or, at least, subject only to slight dis turbances. From the crater, a yawning chasm over a mile in circuit and 650 feet deep, nothing is now emitted except light vapours, which are mostly invisible, condensing into fog or mist only before rainy weather. The slopes of the mountain have been partly overgrown with forests, in which trees of the tropical are inter mingled with plants of the temperate zone. Even the hornitos, or " little furnaces," innumerable cones a few yards high, dotted round the base, have also for the most part ceased to discharge jets of vapour. At the time of Humboldt, the temperature of these vapours was 205° F. ; since then it has gradually fallen to from 120° to 140° F., within which limits it oscillates at present. The waters have also cooled down in the Rio San Pedro and in another rivulet, which was evaporated or covered by a bed of lava during the eruption, but which reappeared in hot springs several miles from the volcano. All these volcanoes, Colima, Tancitaro, Jorullo, and the extinct Tasco, far to the east, but still north of the Rio Mexcala, are disposed in a line parallel with the axis of the Sierra Madre, which runs at a mean distance of about 36 miles north wards. But this great range is itself composed almost exclusively of old or recent 26 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. eruptive rocks, between whose foldings are enclosed lacustrine basins which are still flooded, and in which quaternary alluvia have been deposited. San Andres or Tajimaroa, a group of volcanoes lying east of Morelia, still presents on one of its summits a funnel filled with boiling water, and emitting copious sulphurous vapours. These vapours change to sulphates the argillaceous Pig. 11. — JoBTJLLO, ACCOBDIN& TO HTXJtBOIjDT. Scale 1 : 180,000. ~*»//»»M>m},7, Section. I0IV West oP Gr 101" Plan. . 3 Miles. clays of the surrounding district, and thus are periodically undermined the hnts of the workmen occupied in collecting the mud richly charged with sulphur. The Cerro de las Humaredas, another trachytic cone, owes its name to its abundant f umaroles. Near it springs a geyser from the very summit of a siliceous cone gradually deposited by the jets of boiling water. One of the craters, over 13,200 feet high, takes the name of Chillador, or " Whistler," from the hissing sound of the vapours escaping from its mouth. In 1872 a series of violent earth quakes was followed by the appearance of a new Chillador by the side of the other. otao oo a ao Eh > I j a .Jxtacihueif 'Alev&afo afe Tofuee Weyac/o ate Col/ma MsfinebB .C- efePeretm ~ '^emjopaffevy'ac ' '7&/7c/tero C?Prma/. los Uan/ios r ^. . CPc/e/ G/g&Ate 'C?SrreIi/oe ,Alannos de Catorce •Toiusa Chihuahua Zacatecas MEXICO Fresmllo. ' .Apam Guanajuato, 'Puebla "" "Durango* "" WloreliV* „ . San Luis 'Queretaro Ameca Aguascalientes .Tehuacan •Oaxaca ~5.CVisT.obar " Guadalajara Santa-Cruz Jala Orizaba *Balanos Jorullo 'Cordoba Colin Monterey Vera- Cruz . .S. Andres Tuxtla Merida. ne west op UreenwicVi •so- south of Oaxaca. Near Juquila, on the sea-coast, stands an isolated headland, the extinct Chacahua volcano, whose crater is now filled with sulphur. Another cone, one of the ten still active volcanoes in Mexico, lies farther east near Pochutla. Before 1870, when it suddenly ejected scoriae and vapours, it was supposed to be extinct, all memory of any previous explosions having died out. In the isthmus of Tehuantepec the Mexican ranges are continued on the Pacific side by a series of- uplands which are crossed by six passes at a low eleva tion. The lowest, which takes the name of Portillo de Tarifa from a neighbouring 36 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. village, is only 1,000 feet high. Most of the high grounds skirting the plains of the isthmus affect the form of " tables " ; seen from the surrounding mountains, they merge almost entirely with the lowlands. According to Spear, a geologist attached to one of the numerous expeditions that have studied the isthmus of Tehuantepec, the terraced formations consist partly of cretaceous rocks deposited at a time when the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans were here connected by a broad channel. After their upheaval the flanks of these chalk cliffs became overlaid on both sides by more recent tertiary and quaternary formations. The land still continues to encroach insensibly on the ocean ; the Pacific Coast, formed of late alluvial matter, is continually advancing seawards, while the lagoons along the shore are gradually drying up. In the isthmus of Tehuantepec low-lying tracts occupy a larger space relatively to the whole region than in any other part of Mexico. The two oceans were also at one time connected farther north by another marine passage, and the so-called " Valley " of Mexico in the very centre of the Anahuac tableland is a remnant of this old branch of the sea. Towards the close of Mesozoic times the marine waters winded over these lands which at present stand over 6,500 feet above sea-level, and the volcanoes now surmounting them had not yet discharged their lava streams. At this epoch the contour line of the Gulf of Mexico also lay far more to the west than in our days. The rich silver mines are nearly all situated in the two Sierra Madres north of the " Valley," and are disposed along certain definite lines. Thus their main axis appears to run due north-west and south-east between Batopilas and Guanajuato, and the famous argentiferous lodes of Zacatecas, Fresnillo, Sombrerete, and Durango all lie on or near this axis ; the lodes themselves are disposed in the same direction. Rivers and Lakes. The form of the Mexican plateau with its narrow escarpments, and its border ranges disposed parallel with the seaboards, combined with the dry climate of the northern and central regions, has prevented the development of any large fluvial systems with extensive ramifying arteries. Of all Mexican, rivers the most impor tant, if not for its volume at least for its length and for the part that it plays as the political frontier-line between the Anglo-Saxon and Hispano- American repub lics for over 720 miles of its course, is the Bio Bravo, or Rio Grande del Norte. The Mexican part of its basin comprises about 94,000 square miles, or one-third of the whole area of its drainage ; but it receives scarcely any copious or perennial streams. Most of their beds are dry except during the rainy season, and their waters, ren - dered saline by lodging in shallow basins, give a brackish taste to the Bravo itself. The largest affluent on the Mexican side is the Rio Conchos, whose headstreams are- fed for a distance of over 200 miles north and south by the eastern slopes of the great Sierra Madre between the States of Sonora and Chihuahua. From the Eastern Sierra Madre flows the Rio Salado, or " Salt River," whose very name indicates a prolonged period of drought. In the same range rises the Rio San THE MEXICAN RIVERS. 37 Kg- 17. — Tamaulipas Coast Lagoons. Scale 1 : 2,500,000. Juan, which is formed of the numerous sparkling streams that water the more fertile districts of Coahuila and Nuevo-Leon. One of these streams towards the southern extremity of the basin is the Puente de Dios, which plunges from a height of 200 feet into a profound chasm 70 or 80 feet below one of those natural causeways which are here called " God's Bridges." The alluvial matter brought down by the Rio Bravo has caused the land to encroach far beyond the normal coastline ; but it has failed to fill up the coast lagoons, so that here is developed a double shoreline ; the sandy strips, and the seaboard proper. Elongated back waters, which continue those fringing the coast of Texas round the north-western shores of the Gulf of Mexico, are disposed parallel with the sea in a continuous chain, broken only by the alluvial banks which have been deposited by coast streams along both sides of their chan nels. These inner waters, which have a total length of about 200 miles, commu nicate with the open sea only by narrow passages, which shift their position with the storms and rains. The water also varies in its saline contents according to the freshets of the coast streams and the irruptions of the sea. The lagoons are gradually silting up with the sediment deposited by the two little coast streams, the San Fernando or Tigre, and La Ma rina, the old Rio de las Palmas. South of La Marina and of a few other rivulets, the Tamesi and the Panuco, which formerly flowed in separate channels, are now united in a district studded with S Depths. Oto 10 Fathoms. 10 to 25 Fathoms. 25 to 50 Fathoms. 50 Fathoms and upwards. . 80 Miles. lagoons and swamps above the bar of Tampico ; hence the name of Tampico sometimes given to the two united rivers. The Panuco, the more copious of the two, rises north of the Mexican Valley, and even receives some contributions through the Huehuetoca cutting; under the names of Tula or Montezuma it describes a vast semicircular bend towards the west across the Hidalgo uplands, beyond which it collects the various streams flowing from Queretaro. One of 38 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. these disappears near Jalpan in profound caverns about 2 miles long, which like the arch at Nuevo-Leon also bears the name of Puente de Dios. In these subterranean galleries human bodies have been found covered with stalactites. Another of these tributaries forms the famous Falls of Regla, where the water rushes over a breach opened in a cluster of basalt columns. On both sides the Eg. 18. — Coatzacoaicos Bab. Scale 1 : 60,000. 94-° 25* '¦. West op "Greenwich 94° 25" Depths. Oto 16 Feet. lfito32 Feet. 32 Feet and upwards. 2,200 Yards. columns are festooned with wreaths of lianas, while the white waters are broken into cascades, between which rise the hexagonal groups of bluish rock. The united Panuco and Tarriesi have together almost completely drained the chains of lagoons formerly fringing this part of the coast; but south of the Tampico river a small inland sea, the Laguna de Tamiahua, still exists, being protected by a narrow cordon of sands from the surf. This rampart does not take the slightly concave form presented by most of the other sandy strips gradually THE MEXICAN RIVERS. 39 formed by the action of the waves at the entrance of the inlets along the coast. Fig. 19. — The Regla Falls. On the contrary it -projects some 25 miles in a convex curve at the Cabo Roxo, or 40 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. " Red Cape," a form evidently due to the presence of a group, of rocks or reefs which has served as a support for the two converging beaches. In many places the shore is covered with dunes, which have been gradually raised above the beach, and which drift inland under the influence of the pre vailing trade winds. Thus the " Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz," founded by Cortes; near Zempoala, is now to a great extent covered by dunes of shifting sands. The theory has been advanced that these dunes may perhaps have been raised since the coast reefs, which formerly stood some 6 or 7 feet above the surface, were removed by the builders engaged on the fortress of San Juan d'UIua and the town walls. Bat this Yiew is at variance with the fact that dunes even higher than those of Vera Cruz have been formed on many other parts of the coast, and especially near Alvarado ; one of the sandhills in the vicinity of Anton Lizardo is no less than 265 feet high. Beyond this point the Alvarado estuary, near the southern inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, receives a large number of converging streams, the largest of which are the Papaloapam, or "Butterfly River," and the San Juan. They are both very copious, thanks to the heavy rainfall produced by the trade winds on the northern slopes of the Oaxaca uplands. The Coatzacoalcos, or " Snake River," which flows from the opposite side of the Tuxtla volcano, and which had already been discovered by Grijalva before the expedition of Cortes, is also an extremely copious stream, regard being had to its length of about 220 miles. Its catchment basin is confined to the alluvial plain and the amphitheatre of low mountains which form the northern slope of the isth mus of Tehuantepec. Nevertheless, its lower course is no less than 800 or 900 yards wide ; large vessels after once crossing the bar are able to ascend as far as Minatitlan, some 25 miles from its mouth, while boats reach the village of Suchil, near the middle of the isthmus, and over 60 miles from the coast. But at the point where the fluvial and marine waters meet there is formed a dangerous sill, which, since the time of Cortes' expedition, has always maintained a uniform depth of from. 12 to 14 feet of water. Many vessels have been wrecked at the entrance of the river, and it is mainly owing to this danger that engineers have abandoned the idea of constructing a ship canal across the isthmus of Tehuantepec. On the opposite side the rivers flowing to the Pacific are obstructed by similar formations. The large lagoon of Tilema, which lies just south of the narrowest part of the isthmus, and towards which converge numerous watercourses, has only from 7 to 10 feet of water on its bar, according to the seasons, and it is often inac cessible, even to vessels of light draft. One of the caravals built by Cortes for the purpose of surveying the coast was wrecked at this point. The mouth of the Rio Tehuantepec, which reaches the coast west of the great lagoon, is completely closed by sands for a great part of the year. Shipping has then to ride at anchor either in the open roadstead well named La Ventosa, or "Windy," or near the dangerous granite reefs of the Morro de Tehuantepec, or else far from the alluvial lands of the isthmus in the Salina de Cruz inlet terminus of the railway, and now sheltered by a breakwater. THE MEXICAN RIVERS. 41 Being skirted by loftier ranges running nearer to the sea, the Pacific side of Mexico presents far less extensive low-lying coastlands and secondary beaches than the Atlantic side. Nevertheless, even here there are a few coast lagoons, especi ally in the district west of Acapulco. Beyond it the sea receives the waters of the Rio Mexcala oi* de las Balsas, one of the chief Mexican rivers, whose farthest sources lie on the southern and some even on the eastern slopes of the volcanic range. The Apoyac, its principal headstream, which flows by Puebla, rises on the flanks of Ixtaccihuatl and is fed higher up by the snows melted by the thermal springs, lower down by several saline rivulets. The Rio de las Balsas, that is, " of the rafts," as indicated by its name, is, to a limited extent, navigable along its lower reaches ; above the bar it is accessible to small craft, which, higher up, are arrested by rapids, whirlpools, and a high cas cade. For a space of 220 miles there occur no less than 226 obstacles of this sort, eddies, rapids, or dangerous reefs. The volume discharged through the two mouths of the Mexcala is estimated at 2,500 cubic feet per second. The Rio Tux- pam, or de Colima, and the Amecas, two less copious streams which reach the Pacific farther north, have a mean discharge of 1 ,100 and 750 cubic feet respectively. The Rio Lerma, or Santiago, the Tololotlan of the Indians, is al^o a considerable stream. By the'riverain populations it is, in fact, known as the " Rio Grande," while the inhabitants of Michoacan call it also Cuitzeo, from the large lake situated in their province. It rises in the State of Mexico in the very centre of the Ana huac plateau, and its farthest sources, issuing from underground galleries, descend from the Nevado de Toluca down to the twin lake of Lerma, the remains of an in land sea which formerly filled the upper Toluca valley north of the Nevado volcano. At its issue from the lake, or rather marshy lagoon, the Lerma stands at the great altitude of 8,600 feet, and during its winding north-westerly course across the plateau, the incline is very slight. In this upland region it is swollen by several affluents, some of which, like the main stream itself, flow from lakes dotted over the tableland. After completing half of its course at La Barca, the Lerma is still over 5,600 feet above sea-level. Here, some 280 miles from its source, it enters the large lake Chapala, near its eastern extremity ; but about 12 miles below the entrance it again emerges through a fissure on the north side of the lake, and still continues to flow throughout its lower course in the same north-westerly direction. Chapala, thus obliquely traversed by the current of the Lerma, is the largest lacustrine basin in Mexican territory ; but this flooded depression, about 600 square miles in extent, is very shallow, its mean depth being only 40 feet, and the deepest cavities not more than 110 feet. Everywhere, but especially on the north and east sides, its blue limpid waters are encircled by an amphitheatre of hills, whose slopes are covered with a rich growth of forest trees and lianas. The shores of this romantic basin present some of the loveliest scenery in Mexico ; but till recently few travellers ventured to visit these almost uninhabited regions. At present a railway runs along the north-east side of the lake, and it has even been proposed to found a school of navigation on one of the inlets of the inland sea. Other lakelets dotted over the slopes of the mountains about the western extremity 42 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. of Chapala seem to imply that its basin was formerly far more extensive that at present ; at that time it appears to have discharged its overflow westwards through the valley of the river now flowing towards the Bay of Banderas, and some engineers have proposed to cut a canal through this old fluvial bed. At the point where the outlet was situated lava streams descended from the neighbouring heights in prehistoric times. The issue was thus obstructed, and the waters were forced to expand into a lake or else considerably to raise their level, and after wards seek a new issue through the lowest breach in the encircling hills. Fig. 20. — Laxe Chapala. Scale 1 : 1,500,000. . 30 Miles. These hills are in fact traversed by the Lerma through a series of gorges exca vated by erosion in the eruptive rocks. To judge from the extreme irregularity of its course, this fluvial valley would appear to be of comparatively recent geological date. Its whole bed is disposed like a gigantic flight of irregular steps, where the stream develops a continued succession of high cascades and rapids, all the way to the vicinity of the coast. These gorges begin with one of the finest cataracts in Mexico, named Juanacatlan from a neighbouring village. Rushing over a precipice 65 feet high, the current acquires a tremendous impetus estimated at 30,000 horse-power, and it is feared that the neighbourhood of Guadalajara may tempt speculators to convert the falls into a series of reservoirs and mill races. Despite its abundant discharge, estimated at 4,000 cubic feet per second, the Lerma is not navigable, and its bed may in many places be easily forded. But its numerous ravines are scarcely anywhere accessible to wheeled traffic or even pedes trians ; hence roads and tracks have had to be laid down across the escarpments of the surrounding mountains. At Santiago, where the Rio Grande at last emerges on the low-lying coastlands it is still 145 feet above sea-level ; it enters the Pacific through a ramifying THE MEXICAN RIVERS. 43 channel just north of San Bias Bay, opposite the Tres Marias islets, which continue north-westwards the normal trend of the coast, as indicated by the direction of the shore-line south of Cape Corrientes. The alluvial matter washed down by the Lerma has filled up a part of the space separating the mainland from this insular group ; both northwards and southwards the land is encroaching seaward, and the Fig. 21.— COIOBADO ESTUABY. Scale 1 : 850,000. Il5'i0 West oF Greenw.ch II4M0 Depths. Oto 5 Fathoms. 5 Fathoms and upwards. Banks exposed at low tides. _ 18 Miles. true coast at the foot of the hills is now washed by shallow lagoons which are pro tected by sandy strips from the open sea. North of the Rio Lerma no other copious rivers reach the Pacific within the Mexican frontier ; even those which, like the Rio del Fuerte, the Rio Taqui, and the Sonora, have large catchment basins, roll down very little water. This is due 44 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. to the slight rainfall and long droughts, during which the springs run dry and large rivers become impoverished, though their sources lie far inland on the interior of the plateau, and like the Rio Yaqui even on the eastern slope of the Sierra Madre. Many noisy torrents rushing through foaming cascades over the heights of the Sierra Madre fail to reach the sea, and run out in the sands of the lowland plains. Others, especially in Lower California, are mere wadies which are seldom flooded, and their stony beds are the only roads in the country. To obtain a little water oozing up between the shingle deep holes have to be sunk, which are locally known by the name of bataques. The old estuaries have become salt pans, and the Rio Colorado, whose lower course alone is comprised within Mexican territory, resembles the rivers of Sonora in the slight amount of its discharge compared with Eg. 22. — Closed Basins of Mexico. Scale 1 : 30,000,000. Lakes of the closed basins. 620 Miles. the vast extent of its drainage area ; however, this great watercourse is navigable for some hundred miles beyond the limits of the common frontier. All that part of Mexico which is comprised between the two converging border ranges is also too arid for all its watercourses to unite in perennial streams and reach the ocean through the Rio Bravo or any other large river. Most of them, being too feeble to surmount the heights enclosing or intersecting the plains, lose their waters in some shallow lagoon which rises or falls with the seasons. All the saline basins met in Chihuahua and Coahuila are depressions of this sort formed by torrents descending from the mountains. Such is the large Guzman lagoon near the Arizona frontier, where is discharged the exhausted current of the Rio Casas Grandes at a lower altitude than the level CLOSED LACUSTRINE BASINS. 45 of the neighbouring Rio Bravo del Norte. Other marshy tracts, like the lagoons of Santa Maria and dos Patos, have a similar origin, and the bed of the Bolson de Mapimi is also occupied by a closed reservoir, the Tlahualila lagoon. Farther south the Rio de Nazas, which is a somewhat copious stream in the upper valleys of the Sierra Candela, i3 arrested in the Laguna del Muerto, while the Rio d'Aguanaval does not always reach the Laguna de Parras. In various parts of these desert spaces occur numerous ojos or " eyes," that is, springs, some thermal, some cold, but nearly all richly charged with chemical substances. Several have gradually raised circular margins of siliceous or calcareous deposits round their orifice, and in some places these accumulations are high enough to form veritable hillocks. Froebel saw a streamlet flowing from a knoll about thirty feet high, which had been built up in this way by the water itself. In the State of San Luis, where the plateau is already divided by the mountain ranges into numerous small basins, there are no extensive lagoons like those of the northern provinces ; but this district contains over one hundred small lakes or rather ponds, nearly all of which have become saline. The plains are largely covered with various kinds of efflorescences, some composed of saltpetre, others consisting for the most part of carbonate of soda. They still retain their old Aztec name of tequesquite in Mexico, where the smelters use them in treating the various silver and argentiferous lead ores. Closed lacustrine basins are also found in the valleys of the border range south of the plateau. Such is the Patzcuaro or "Greater Lake," in the State of Mexico, an island-studded depression encircled on all sides by mountains, and containing a slightly brackish, but still potable water. Such is also the Cuitzeo, a deep reser voir which is filled by the river Morelia, whose extremely salt water sterilises all the surrounding lands during the inundations. But of all these flooded depressions the most remarkable are those from which the Mexican plateau takes its name of Anahuac, that is, Anal-huatl, " Amid the Waters," a term afterwards extended to all the upland plains of this region. These lakes, or rather shallow ponds, are disposed in a chain running north and south for a distance of about 46 miles ; but their superficial area varies from year to year and from season to season, so that they present different contour lines on maps constructed at different periods. The southern lakes Xocbimilco and Chalco really form only a single sheet of water divided into two basins by a narrow dyke. Thanks to the copious streams descending from the neighbouring hills this depression has maintained its old outlines with little change. A canal, running northwards to the city of Mexico, discharges the overflow into Lake Texcoco, which occupies the bed of a periodically flooded basin from five to seven feet below the level of the capital. The northern Lakes San Cristobal, Xaltocan, and Zumpango stand like Xochimilco and Chalco above that level. Hence during the inundations, when the rivulets converge from the plain of Pachuca, descending from basin to basin towards the south, the city would be threatened with total destruction were the embankments to burst which have been constructed below each reservoir. 46 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. From the descriptions handed down by the Spanish conquerors, and the comparative observations made at different epochs, it is evident that the extent and volume of these Mexican lakes have continued to diminish during the last three hundred and fifty years. The capital was formerly represented as a " lacustrine city " surrounded by flooded plains, whereas at present it stands on dry land, the lakes no longer occupying even a third of the " valley." They have also become shallower, and the bed of the Texcoco basin is steadily silting up with the sands of the plains moving forward under the action of the winds. Its level would even be raised and its contents discharged on the city but for the excessive evaporation, by which the volume of water is gradually diminishing. In 1804, at the time of Humboldt's visit, its depth varied from 10 to 16 feet, but in 1885 it had fallen to 5 feet 6 inches in the deepest parts, with an average of scarcely more than 2 feet. In 1881 it was even much shallower, little over 12 inches in many places, and in exceptionally dry years Texcoco, San Cristobal, Xaltocan, and Zumpango have been exhausted. In fact this brackish depression would have long ago been emptied but for the flow from Chalco and Xochimilco. It is generally supposed that the local climate has really become drier since the time of the conquest. The disappearance of the forests from the slopes and plains would appear to have increased the evaporation by giving greater play to the winds, without a corresponding increase, perhaps even a decrease, in the rainfall. At present the contents of the lacustrine basins in the valley of Mexico are insignificant compared with their volume in a former geological epoch. The bed of the old lake, that is, the so-called "valley," consists of quaternary debris, sands, clays, pumice, scoriae, organic remains, superimposed in successive layers so thick that they have not yet been pierced by the shafts of an artesian well sunk to a depth of 1,270 feet. In some places the calcareous strata of lacustrine origin have yielded spring water at a comparatively slight distance from the surface ; but elsewhere nothing has been met except the quaternary deposits.* The chemical composition of the Texcoco waters is itself an indication of their gradual concentration in a continually narrowing basin. Xochimilco and Chalco are both fresh-water reservoirs, their contents being constantly renewed ; on the opposite side of the valley the other small depressions are also flooded with fresh water. But the central lake is always brackish even after the heavy rains, when it covers a considerable surface. At a remote geological epoch, when the whole valley of Mexico was filled with fresh water, the overflow was discharged through a breach in the mountains northwards to the Tula or Montezuma, a headstream of the Panuco river. But * Superficial area and relative altitude of the lakes in the Valley of Mexico (1865) : Extent. Height. sq. miles. inches. Texcoco . . 100 77 below the capital.- Chalco . 46 48 above ,, Xochimilco . 25 50 ,, „ San Cristobal . 8 ¦ 63 „ „ Xaltocan . 40 • 68 ,, „ Zumpango . 10 • 165 „ „ ;? CLOSED LACUSTRINE BASINS. 47 during the historic period, when a city stood on an island in the central lagoon at a lower level than several of the separate basins which had formed part of the original lake, it became necessary to protect the habitations and temples from the inundations by which the lower part of the depression might have been Fig. 23. — Area of the Mexican Lakes at Vaeious Periods. Scale 1 : 550,000. 1520. 1600. 1700. 1865. Highest Floods. Northern Lakes in 1880. . 12 Miles. flooded. The Aztecs had accordingly constructed strong defensive works, traces of which may still be seen near the cities of Ixtapalapa and Guadalupe. But these embankments at last yielded to the pressure, and under the Spanish rule the capital was for a time exposed to all lacustrine floodings. Towards the beginning of the seventeenth century the situation became so dangerous that it 48 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. was resolved to run an underground tunnel through the sill which confined the flood waters on the north side. The viceroy summoned a vast army of Indian labourers in order to complete the work within a single winter or dry season from the end of November, 1607, to the middle of May, 1608. The Huehuetoca or Nechistongo gallery, as it was called, had a total length of 9,000 yards, and a mean height of 12 feet ; but it was not arched and the soil gave way. The outlet was completely closed in 1629, when a terrific storm burst over the city, flooding the streets to a depth of 10 feet. All traffic was carried on by boats, and five years passed before Mexico again stood on dry land. The works had to be resumed, but were carried on without any general plan and even on mutually destructive lines, in one place by underground galleries, in another by open cuttings. The latter system at last prevailed, and in 1789 the great undertaking was com pleted. At several points the channel, excavated between high rocky walls, presents the appearance of some of the boldest cuttings executed by railway engineers in modern times. For a length of about 860 yards the height of the escarpments exceeds 165 feet, and the opening of the passage is more than double as wide. The river Cuautitlan, which discharged into Lake Zumpango a volume of about 400 cubic feet per second, was diverted to this desagiie, or emissary, and the northern lakes also sent their overflow through the same channel. But the friable parts of the cutting were frequently eroded, filling its bed with mud and refuse. Hence the works had to be incessantly renewed, and during the revolutionary wars they were abandoned altogether. Then came the great floods of 1866, which threatened to swamp the capital with the swollen con tents of the northern lakes rushing through breaches in the embankments, and during which the channel rolled down a volume of from 1,050 to 1,100 cubic feet per second. To prevent such a disaster a new emissary was projected, which was intended to carry off the overflow, not only of the northern lakes, but also that of Texcoco. But little more than a beginning was made with the gallery six miles long, by which the waters were to be drained off through the Tequisquiac Mountain. For twelve years all operations were suspended and not resumed till 1 881 ; at present there is some prospect of the works being completed in 1893. But scientific men in Mexico are far from being of accord on the subject of drainage. According to L. de Belina the important question is not how to drain the "valley," but on the contrary, how to increase its humidity. Arid, dusty, and treeless, the surrounding plains must be transformed to a desert unless the running waters issuing from the uplands are husbanded for irrigation purposes, and unless the slopes of the hills be replanted to improve the climate and regulate the annual discharge. Climate — Flora — Fauna. Taken as a whole the Mexican climate is one of those that present the greatest contrasts in a narrow space. Here the normal climate, as represented by the parallels of latitude, is profoundly modified by the elevation of the land, the aspect CLIMATE OP MEXICO. 49 of the mountain slopes, the force and direction of the winds, the distribution and quantity of the rainfall. Nevertheless, in certain regions a uniform climate prevails over vast spaces. Thus the northern states contain extensive plains remote from both oceans, where the extremes of temperature characteristic of the American Far West are continued far to the south on all those plateaux where the prevailing vegetation are the cactus and thorny plants, which constitute a special zone combining the characters of both zones. On the other hand the narrow region of the Tehuantepec isthmus belongs entirely to the humid tropical zone, even on the mountains which form the divide between the two oceans. The climatic contrasts caused by the different altitudes are produced in a large way only in the central part of Mexico, on the Anahuac plateau and the two border ranges. The route from Vera Cruz on the Atlantic, across the plateau between the Puebla and Oaxaca uplands, and down to the Pacific at Acapulco, is the highway where these sharply contrasted climates may be studied to the best advantage. The low- lying' maritime zone comprises both the swampy and unfertile sandy coastlands, and the well-watered plains and first slopes which are thickly clad with leafy trees intertwined with festoons of lianas and surmounted by the tufted crests of tall palms. This is the tierra caliente, the "hot land," where the normal temperature exceeds 74° F. Some places on the Mexican seaboard are in fact amongst the hottest on the globe. Such is, for instance, the port of La Paz, which earned for California the name of the " Hot Furnace " given to it by Cortes. ¦ Above the coast zones, one facing the Atlantic, the other the Pacific, follow the tierras templadas, or " temperate lands," comprised mainly between the altitudes of 3,000 and 6,000 feet, but rising to a higher elevation in the southern than in the northern states of the republic. These are the regions which corres pond to south-west Europe, at least in their mean temperature, vegetable products and suitability for settlement by the white race. The tierras templadas are succeeded by the tierras frias, or " cold lands," which comprise the plateau proper with the encircling highlands. The less elevated part of this region, growing maguey and cereals, is the most densely peopled region in Mexico, whereas on the higher grounds, some of which rise above the snow line, the climate is too rude to support a forest vegetation, or a dense human population. Sometimes these higher grounds are grouped together as a fourth zone distinguished by the name of tierras helcidas, or " frozen lands." In many parts special conditions have placed the different vegetable zones in close proximity without any graduated transitions. From the summit of certain headlands, occupied exclusively by plants of a European type, the traveller sees at his feet palm groves and banana thickets. From the crests of the great volcanoes all three zones may even be seen superimposed one above the other. Thanks to the increased facilities for rapid travelling, it is now possible in a single day to traverse the three distinct zones, which elsewhere are separated one from the other by intervals of many hundreds and even thousands of miles. 37 50 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. But although in some exceptional districts the zones are brought into sharp juxtaposition, they merge almost everywhere by successive transitions one into another. It is only in a very general way that any given region can be said to belong to such or such a zone, and the parting line oscillates greatly, especially about the base of the mountains. A zone of mutual overlapping has been developed under the thousand modifying conditions of soil-, temperature, winds, the struggle for existence between the various species of plants. Certain glens and slopes even occur, which, in their vegetation, form tropical enclaves in the very midst of the temperate zone. Regarded as a whole, Mexico, which is intersected by the tropic of Cancer Fig. 24. — Vebtical Disposition op the Mexican Cumates. Scale 1 : 12,000,000. )02°4Q West oF Greenwich 97°4Q Warm. Temperate. Gold. ,^__—_ ____ _^_ 310 Miles. almost exactly in the centre, is a hot country. Assuming its mean elevation to he 3,600 feet, the average temperature of these latitudes would be about 60° F., or nearly the same as that of Nice or Perpignan in the south of France, but far below that of African regions, such as the Sahara and Nubia, lying under the same parallels. The Anahuac plateau may be described as a temperate region upheaved above the tropical zone. It corresponds to the temperate and cold regions of Abyssinia, which also dominate " hot lands," such as Massawah and the Danakil territory. But however favoured the Abyssinian plateau may be in its climate, it is vastly inferior to Mexico in the advantages of position and means of access. In its latitude, Mexico lies well within the zone of the trade winds, which hlow regularly from north-east to south-west, or from east to west, on the shores CLIMATE OF MEXICO. 51 of the Gulf and the slopes of the mountains. But their normal direction is frequently modified by the great inequalities of the relief and the trend of the mountain ranges. The so-called norles, or northern gales, which prevail especially from October to March in the Gulf waters, and which are justly dreaded by skippers bound for Tampico or Vera Cruz, are nothing more than the trade winds deflected from their course, and attracted southwards by the heated and rarefied atmosphere of the low-lying plains of Yucatan. United with the cold current which sweeps down the Mississippi, the trades blow with tremendous fury along the seaboard, the storms often lasting for several days, and even a whole week, to the great danger of the shipping on these exposed and harbourless coasts. The Fig. 25. — Isothekm:ai.s of Mexico modified by altitude. Scale 1 : 80,000,000. Acapul 114 West dp Greenwich ' <.~ 0 to 60° F. 50° to 69° 'to 68° 68° to 77° 77° and upwards. ^^_^__ 620 Miles. full force of the norte is scarcely felt on the plateaux, and its strength is completely exhausted before it reaches the Pacific slope. The shores of this ocean have also their special atmospheric currents, which are determined by the disposition of the coastline, and the form and elevation of the neighbouring mountains. At irregular intervals during the summer the arid and superheated plateaux attract the aerial masses from the equatorial waters, and the Mexican uplands are at least once, a year visited by sudden squalls sweeping along the Columbian and Central American seaboard. At times they assume the character of a veritable cyclone, blowing in a few hours from every point of the compass. In 1839, one of these gales wrecked twelve vessels in the port of Mazatlan ; and Manzanillo, the Port of Colima, was destroyed by another in 1881. 52 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. The southerly or south-easterly storms, which have received from the missionaries the curious name of Cordonazo de San Francisco, or " Scourge of St. Francis," rarely penetrate far into the interior, although a town of Michoacan, near the verge of the central Mexican uplands, has with good reason been named Ario, that is, the " Stormy " in the Tarascan language. On the west side, the prevailing currents are the so-called papagayos, or north easterly trades, and the south-western monsoons, that is, the trades of the southern hemisphere attracted to the north of the equator, and deflected from their original course. Owing to the contrasts in the relief of the land, the differences of temperature, and the irregularity of the winds, the rainfall is distributed very unequally through out Mexico, though it is chiefly regulated according to the seasons. Towards the middle of May, when the sun stands near the zenith of the northern hemisphere, the rains begin to fall. The clouds, following the track of the sun along the ecliptic, discharge frequent torrential downpours, at least on the slopes facing seawards. Usually, the approaching storm is indicated by a great black cloud rising from the sea " like a huge torso with half -mutilated limbs." It is locally called the giganton, or " Giant," who will soon swallow up all the heavens. In the afternoon the clouds are rent asunder, and lit up by flashes of lightning accompanied with thunder, in which the ancient Aztecs recognised the voice of the god Tepeyolotl, or " Heart of the Mountain," rumbling in long echoes over the hills. The sudden downpours are followed, by rain lasting usually till nightfall. Then it clears up, and by dawn the winds have already dried the ground. On the Mexican plateau the tropical rains, brought by the north-easterly winds, fall regularly only during the four months from June to September, and the showers generally last less than an hour. The rains are also interrupted, especially in July and August, by numerous fine days, and even by weeks of dry weather, " St. Anne's Spring," as it is then called. They cease altogether in Octo ber, when winter begins, which however presents some of the features of a Euro pean summer ; hence its name of estio, " summer," or tiempo de secas, " dry season." It is the lack of moisture in the ground, rather than the low temperature, that strips the trees of their foliage, and thus imparts a wintry aspect to the land scape. But the lofty ranges also assume their snowy mantle at an altitude of 13,000, and even 12,500 feet. In exceptional years, the Ahualco Pass (11,520 feet) has been covered with snow all the way from Popocatepetl to Ixtaccihuatl, and a few flakes have even at times fallen so low as Morelia (6,400 feet). Numerous irregularities, however, are everywhere caused by the differences in the relief and aspect of the land. Thus two contiguous districts will some times have a totally different distribution of moisture. In certain regions, notably the temperate zone of Jalapa and Orizaba, from 1,500 to 8,000 feet high, the vapours brought by the northern winds are condensed in fogs which lie on the surface and precipitate a fine but persistent mist. This is the so called ehipichipi, which is awaited with impatience by the natives, for whom it is the essential CLIMATE.— FLORA. 53 condition of prosperity, the salad del pueblo. During its prevalence the sun remains clouded generally for a period of about eight days. At all times the rainfall is more copious in the southern provinces, where the land is contracted between the Atlantic and Pacific inlets, and where the sun twice crosses the zenith of the earth. Here the annual fall ranges from 80 to 120 inches, gradually diminishing thence northwards to the regions beyond the tropic of Cancer. Thus in Sonora the rains scarctly begin before the month of July, and are frequently interrupted during the normal season. Those northern regions especially which lie between the two main ranges have a very dry climate, the moisture-bearing clouds being here intercepted by the slopes of the Sierra Madres. On these excessively arid plateaux a display of extremely vivid sparks is often produced by the friction of two hard bodies. A continuous crepitation or cracklino- sound is sometimes even heard escaping from all the rugosities of the rocky soil. As a whole the Mexican climate, if not one of the healthiest, is certainly one of the most delightful in the world. The zone of " temperate lands " on both oceanic slopes enjoys an " everlasting spring, " being exposed neither to severe winters nor to intolerable summer heats ; in every glen flows a rippling stream ; every human abode is embowered in a leafy vegetation, and here the native plants are intermingled with those of Europe and Africa. Each traveller in his turn describes the valley in which he has tarried longest as " the loveliest in the world," that nowhere else the snowy crests or smoking volcanic cones rise in more im posing grandeur above the surrounding sea of verdure all carpeted with the brightest flowers. In these enchanting regions there is still room for millions and millions of human beings.* The Mexican flora is, so to say, a living illustration of its climate, for the plants thrive or droop according to the varied conditions of temperature, aspect, and moisture. From the character of the vegetation the botanist knows at once whether the heat or cold is excessive, the oscillations of the thermometer mode rate or extreme, the rainfall abundant or slight. In these respects Mexico presents the greatest contrasts, deserts and steppes alternating with scrub, and mighty forests bound together in an inextricable tangle of creepers and undergrowths. In the northern regions the rocky Chihuahua and neighbouring provinces, where rain seldom falls, have an extremely sparse vegetation, consisting of greyish thorny plants with large hard leaves, a vegetation which adds little to the * Meteorological conditions of some Mexican stations taken in the direction from north to south : — Stations latitude Height. Mean EainfaU. Btaaons- latitude. Feet Temperature. Inches. Mexico (12 years) Colima (15 years) Puebla (2 years) . Oaxaca (1879) . 25° 40' 1,636 70= F. 137 23° 11' 150 76° b9 22° 47' 8,100 58° 19 Monterey (1888) Mazatlan (six years) Zacatecas (1888) . . San Luis Potosi (2 years) . 22° 05' 6,230 62° 16 Leon (1888) . . . Guanajuato (1888) . Guadalajara (6 years) 21° 7' 5,920 65° 35 21° 1' 6,645 63° 33 20° 41' 5,180 72° 34 19° 26' 7,400 60° 30 19° 12' 1,655 78° 42 19° 7,110 60° 39 17° 3' 5,108 67° 38 54 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. general aspect of the landscape. Nevertheless in spring their arid plains are suddenly decked with many-coloured flowers, the mezquite shrub is covered with a pale yellow blossom, clusters of white bells shoot up from amid the glossy foliage of the yucca, the shingly tracts are enlivened by the bright red petals cf the mamillaria. Thanks to its soft velvety turf, Europe may have more cheerful, but assuredly not more brilliant, grassy meads. But this " flowery season " is soon over, and nature presently resumes its dull and sullen aspect, relieved here and there only by a few thickets of delicate green thorny shrubs. The prevailing species are the mezquites (algarrobia glandulosa), for the most part very different from those found in the United States, but, like them, still exuding a substance resembling gum-arabic. In New Mexico they are mere bushes whose stems branch off directly from the root ; in south Texas they develop into shrubs ; but within Mexican territory, and especially in Sonora, they assume the proportions of veritable trees, here and there grouped in large groves. Elsewhere, notably on the slopes of the "Western Sierra Madre, in the states of Chihuahua, Sonora and Sinaloa, the oak is the prevailing species ; hence the term encinal, or " oak lands," applied in these regions to any extensive wooded tracts. • The term chaparral, which, strictly speaking, should be applied only to the deci duous oak, is in the same way given by the northern Mexicans to all spaces under scrub or brushwood ; in ordinary language every grove or thicket is a chaparral, even where the mezquites and large cactus are the dominant types. Except along the river banks fringed by poplars and willows, the only woody plants in certain northern regions of Mexico are the cactus. Of these the most remarkable are the pitahayas, which assume the form of thorny fluted columns. The branches stand out at right angles from the stem, and then grow parallel with it, thus forming prodigious candelabra, some of which are 35 or 40 and even 60 feet high. Other species are reckoned by the hundred which have adapted themselves to the arid climate by developing an abundance of sap in their thick leaves, and protecting themselves against animals by thorny armour. Amongst these fantastic plants there are some which at a distance might be taken for blocks of greenish stone. In certain places the ground is completely carpeted as by a kind of green sward with dwarf agaves, which are still known by their old Aztec name, ixtle or ixtli. The larger species of this useful plant, whose fibre is used for weaving coarse textile fabrics, and whose sap serves for the preparation of brandy and other national drinks, flourish especially in the inland states of San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas, Durango, Aguascalientes, and even on the colder plateaux. In many districts the general character of the scenery is determined by these agave planta tions, with their enormous thorny leaves, associated with hedges of other species, such as the organos, so named from their resemblance to the pipes of an organ. The three superimposed zones, ranging from the foot of the mountains to the upland valleys of the plateaux, are characterised by special types, which impart to the several floras their distinctive features. Thus on the coastlands of the hot zone are seen extensive savannahs of dense herbage, magnificent palm groves and all the trees of the Antilles noted for their fruits or flowers, their wood, bark or FLORA OF MEXICO. 55 essences. Higher up follow those glorious woodlands where the European and tropical floras are everywhere intermingled ; here flourish the coffee shrub, the banana, the orange, and especially maize and beans, which supply the staple diet of the inhabitants. Then comes the cold region, yielding wheat ; a cereal, however, which is here of far less economic value than maize. On the plateaux the prevailing trees are the oak and pine, the former between the altitudes of 5,000 and 8,500 feet, the latter rising from 8,000 to above 13,000 feet. On most of the higher crests the conifers reach or even exceed the altitude of 13,500 feet. They are the last arborescent trees that grow on the flanks of the mountains, the space between them and the lower limit of perpetual snow being Fig. 26. — Vegetable Zones in Mexico. Scale 1:30,000,000.. CZ3 Alpine Flora. Pinus ponderosa Prairie Flora. Sequoia. and edulis. Cereus giganteus. Algarrobia glandulosa. Pinus Quercue cras*ifolia HEeraatoxylon Deserts. Aus. ralis. and reticulata. campechiunum. 620 Miles. exclusively occupied by short herbage and grasses. But owing to the overlapping of the vegetable zones of different temperatures, the pines of the uplands have almost everywhere encroached upon the temperate regions, and have even descended below the line of 3,500 feet, The dominant types of trees are represented by a great number of species, about seventy-five varieties of the oak having been found on the slopes of Orizaba alone- The ahuehuetes or " cypresses " of Chapultepec, Atlisco, Oaxaca, which belong to the same species as those of Louisiana (taxodium distichum), grow to a colossal size; they are classed by Humboldt with the giants of the vegetable kingdom. 56 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. Many of the numerous species of the Mexican flora have found a home in the eastern hemisphere. From Mexico comes the chocolate plant, which has pre served its Aztec name ; a species of arachis, the cacahuate, which also retains its native designation in a modified form (tlacacahuatl) ; the pine-apple, the tomato (tomatl of the Indians) ; the agave, and the various species of cactus, jalap, sarsa- parilla and other medicinal plants, balsams, gums, and resins. Both the potato and tobacco are also indigenous to Mexico. The European gardens, orchards, and conservatories are being continually en riched by exotics from Mexico ; the naturalist Poyet alone has introduced into France as many as sixty species of fruit trees and ornamental plants from the single province of Jalapa. On the other hand all foreign species may be acclima tised in the vast " botanical garden " formed by the successive terraces which rise from the seaboard at Vera Cruz or Mazatlan to the uplands of Guadalajara and Zacatecas. The banana, whose name is of Sanskrit origin,- and which has no original designation in any American language, was probably introduced into the New "World through the Canaries and Haiti. Wheat was brought by a negro slave belonging to Cortes, and Bernard Diaz tells us how he himself planted seven or eight orange pips which grew to be fine plants, the " first " in Mexico. The conquerors also planted the first vine in this fertile soil, where every industry depending on the products of the vegetable kingdom might be practised. At a comparatively recent epoch, that is, during tertiary and quaternary times, the Mexican fauna comprised several species of large quadrupeds comparable in size to those of the Old World. Bernard Diaz had already noticed certain " giants' bones," which he attributed to the predecessors of the Aztecs, and to similar finds are due such names as cerro, loma or llano del gigante, now occurring in various parts of the republic. These remains, which have from time immemorial been used in the native pharmacopoeia, and which appear to be really efficacious in several maladies, are for the most part those of mastodons, rhinoceroses, elephants, deer, and horses. Under the Tequisquiac hill, north of Mexico, a new species of gigantic armadillo has been discovered, which has been, named the glyptodon clavipes. The present Mexican fauna belongs, like its flora, to the North American zone, so far as regards the plateau regions, and to the Antilles in respect of the coastland round the Gulf, while that of the Pacific seaboard is intermediate between the Californian and South American. In the general aspect of its terrestrial animals, Mexico is connected more with the United States, whereas in its marine forms the reverse movement has taken place. Thus the prevailing species in the Gulf of Mexico as far as Tamaulipas and Texas, and the Pacific coast northwards to Sonora and Lower California, have migrated from South America. The species in the two oceanic basins differ almost completely, and despite the proximity of the Pacific and Atlantic shores, their shells are quite distinct. In the hot lowlands, where the atmosphere is most charged with vapours, are concentrated the largest number of genera and species ; but this may be due to the fact that here the populations are less dense, and the work of extermination conse quently less advanced than in the temperate regions. Three species of monkeys FAUNA OF MEXICO. 57 dwell in the tropical forests, where the vampire hangs from the boughs of the trees, and the humming-bird, the "solar beam " of the old Mexicans, flits from flower to flower. Every town has its organised bands of " scavenger " vultures, (cat/iartes atratus, zopilote or black vulture), while the king zopilote or white vul ture (sarcoramphus papa) holds sway in the rural districts ; when the royal bird swoops down on the carrion, the other species stand respectfully round, awaiting their turn to share in the banquet. In the thickets have their lair the powerful carnivora, puma, jaguar or tiger- cat, as well as the tapir, largest of the Mexican ungulata. All the emydida?- terrapins or mud tortoises, are found in the shallow marine waters along the coasts, while the lagoons, and especially the fluvial estuaries, are infested by the alligator ; the seashore and forests of the coastlands are also the haunts of the gecko, basi lisk and iguana. A large number of the snake family, poisonous or harmless, is confined to the hot zone, which also swarms with batrachians ; here are found most of the numerous characteristic species of toads and salamanders. The waters of the estuaries and coast streams teem with fishes, all the numerous varieties of which differ on the two oceanic slopes, but still present a certain analogy in their general distribution. The marshy plains and dark forests of the hot lands are also infested by clouds of mosquitoes. To escape from his tormentors the ox plunges into the nearest quagmire, leaving muzzle alone exposed ; on this presently alights the pretty little " commander " bird, which lives on mosquitoes, and thus the unwieldy beast and dainty winged creature combine against the common enemy. The temperate lands have also their special fauna, and certain species of snakes and tortoises are found only in this zone ; such is the boa-imperator which ranges to an altitude of over 4,000 feet, and whose deified image formerly adorned the temples of the Aztecs. Specially characteristic of the northern provinces which form a prolongation of the American Far West, are the lizards met nowhere else in Mexico. Within a recent period bisons were still seen on the uplands of Chi huahua, but this animal has disappeared altogether from the North Mexican provinces. On one occasion Froebel witnessed the passage of a herd of antelopes, num bering at least a thousand head, in the neighbourhood of Lake Encinillas in the north-west of Chihuahua. The grey bear of Oregon, and the wild sheep, preyed upon by three species of the coyote, by the puma and the jaguar, also penetrate into North Mexico and Lower California, as do also the Virginian opossum and the prairie marmot. The peccary dwells in the forests, and lays waste the neigh bouring plantations. This animal is much dreaded fur the furious way a whole herd will sometimes precipitate itself on the wayfarer. But of all the Mexican fauna, two only have been domesticated : the Jiuahololl (meleagris mexicana), which is a species of duck, and the turkey, introduced into Europe by the Spaniards from the " West Indies," hence by the French called " coq d'Inde."- The techicM, an edible dumb dog, was soon exterminated when taxed by the Spanish authorities. The other farmyard animals have all been intro duced into Mexico by the conquerors. 58 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. Scorpions are one of the plagues on the plateaux, where the fields are also ravaged by various species of acrita. The nights in the tropical zone are lit up at night by the firefly (cocuyos), flittiug and flashing in the air like coruscations. The ant is represented by numerous species, one of the commonest of which are the arrieros, or "muleteers" (cecodoma mexicana), who excavate their crater-like habi tations in the hardest rock. One of the most interesting of the lower organisms observed by naturalists on the Anahuac plateau is the curious axolotl, which has been the subject of pro found studies in connection with the theory of evolution. It abounds especially in the saline and sodic waters of Lake Texcoco, and has rarely been met in other parts of the New World. It is a species of amphibious lizard, furnished with bronchial tufts or gills, but liable to such Protean changes that its classification presented great difficulties to the first observers of this eccentric creature. They gave it all sorts of scientific names, even that of lusus aqnarum, " sport of the waters," and it was then constituted a separate genus under the title of siredon. Nevertheless, many zoologists already pronounced it to be the larval form of a large species of amblystome, and this view was at last proved to be correct by Dumeril, who gradually transformed the axolotl to an amblystome. Most of the axolotls remain for several generations in the larval or tadpole state, and a few only develop into the perfect animal. The Indians consider its flesh a great luxury, and they also greedily devour the eggs deposited by two species of the axayacatl fly (especially the corixa femorata) amongst the sedge of the Mexican lakes. These eggs are pounded and mixed with other ingredients to form cakes, and nests of other larvas, clustered together like sponges, are also eaten. According to Virlet d'Aoust the eggs of the axayacatl deposited on the bed of lakes, hardens to a kind of oolitic limestone exactly similar to that of the oolites of the Jura, which Were probably formed in the same way. The marine Waters on both sides of Mexico abound in animal life. Amongst the cetaceans that visit its shores are some manatees. Hundreds of new species of molluscs have been discovered on the Pacific side, amongst others the aptisia depilans, which would appear to be the same as that from which the Tyrians extracted their purple dye. The Indians of Tehuantepec use it for dyeing their fibres, without requiring a mordant to fix the colour. In the Gulf of California, and especially near Paz and the neighbouring archi pelagoes, extensive beds of pearl oysters are fished. Some other islands in the same gulf are frequented by myriads of various species of, aquatic birds, and have already yielded many hundred cargoes of guano. It is noteworthy that the Pacific islands lying at some distance from the coast have all a fauna different from that of the mainland. Thus the little Tres-Marias group, about 60 miles off the coast of Jalisco, has a special species of humming bird. The Bevilla-Gigedo archipelago also forms a separate zoological zone, and the island of Guadalupe, 155 miles distant from Lower California, has eleven species of land birds, every one of which differs from the corresponding species on the adjacent continent. INHABITANTS OF MEXICO. 59 Inhabitants of Mexico. The hypotheses that have been advanced regarding the origin of the various populations found by the Spaniards in Mexico at the time of the conquest are almost as numerous as the works written on the ethnology of this region. Naturally, the early writers, being obliged to harmonise their fancies with the Biblical texts, had to trace the Mexicans back to one of Noah's sons, arriving either by sea with the waters of the Deluge or by land after the subsidence of the flood. Even during the present century certain authors have endeavoured to show that these natives are descended from the Jews " dispersed over the earth " after the Babylonian captivity. According to them, the kinship is attested by the physical appearance, the national character, the religious manners, customs, myths, traditions, even the very language of the Mexican nation. Other writers sought in classical antiquity, amongst the Egyptians, Phcenicians, or Carthaginians, for some indications of a former immigration into the New World, and Plato's Atlantis could not he overlooked in the conjectural history of the old Mexican races. " The Atonatiuh, that is to say, the Atlantides," says Alfredo Chavero, "are the mother people of the civilised nations of Europe and America; the Spaniards and the Toltecs alike descend from them." Brasseur de Bourbourg even fancied he had made out from the Nahuatl manuscript known as the Codex Chimal- popoca that an " eruption of volcanoes stretching over the whole extent of the American continent, which was at that time double its present size, blew up the globe, and between two risings of the morning star engulfed the richest regions of the earth." Fortunately, the Atlantides of the present Mexico escaped the disaster, and survived to record it on those monuments of American literature and architecture which no savant had hitherto been able to interpret. But putting aside these vagaries, the most accepted hypothesis, expounded under various forms by Guignes, Humboldt, Prescott, Quatrefages, and Hamy, regards the Mexicans as immigrants from Asia, arriving either by Bering Strait or the Aleutian Islands, or else directly across the ocean, or from group to group of the Polynesian Islands. The relative proximity of the two continents of Asia and North America, and the undoubted fact that Japanese junks had actually been cast ashore on the Californian seaboard during the historic period, could not fail to suggest such views, and commend them to the serious consideration of many superficial enquirers. There is, however, no authentic proof that the mysterious region where grows the fusang, and which was supposed to have been discovered by a Chinese expedition at the beginning of the seventh century, is really Mexico or Central America ; nor does the description of the country given by the old Chinese writer agree very well with that of the Anahuac plateau, still less with the habits and customs of the natives as described by the Spanish conquerors. The religion of the Aztecs differs also too profoundly from Buddhism or any other east Asiatic system to recognise in it the teachings of any Chinese mission aries. On the other hand the fancied coincidences of symbolical signs and figures are faT too vague to establish anything more than the faintest presumption in 60 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. favour of former relations between peoples separated from each other by the broad waters of the Pacific. The communications that may have taken place at various epochs, and even the resemblances noticed between the Mexicans and Chinese, can in no way justify the assumption of the common origin of the two races, or even of their cultures. As far as history and tradition go back, the Mexican lands have always been inhabited ; whether aborigines or not, these populations would have been spoken of by the Greeks as " autochthones," or indigenous. As in other places, such as the neighbourhood of Puy, in the south of France, geologists have also discovered the fossil remains of a quaternary man on the Anahuac plateau, near the city of Mexico. These interesting remains, dating from an epoch long anterior to Aztec civilisatiDn, were brought to light in 1884 at the foot of the Penon de los Banos in the saline plains formerly flooded by the waters of Lake Texcoco to the east of the capital. The bones were found in the vegetable humus under a layer of lava in association with some kitchen refuse. The osteological characters of this fossil Mexican man are the same as those of the pure indigenous race of Anahuac, in which the canine teeth scarcely differ from the incisors. The man of Penon was contemporaneous with the elephant, deer and horse which inhabited the same region at a time when the level of the waters in the Texcoco lagoon was 10 feet higher than at present, and when vol canic eruptions anterior to history had not yet taken place. Elsewhere, flints or cherts, evidently worked by the hand of man, have been found amongst deposits also containing the teeth and other remains of the Ameri can elephant (elephas Colombi). These primitive races must consequently have flourished many thousand years before the present time. At a time when Borne was hastening to its fall, and the barbaric peoples of North Europe were overrunning the empire, the Anahuac tableland in Central America was already the seat of an advanced civilisation. Doubtless, it is far from easy to classify peoples as barbarous or civilised according to their various degrees of culture ; but the latter term, which has so often a purely conventional meaning, may justly be applied to the Aztecs, or Mexicans, as well as to the Mayas of Yucatan, the Chibchas (ITuiscas), Quichuas, and Aymaras of South America. It might even be extended to the Pueblo Indians, and perhaps to other native communities, in North America. Amongst the less advanced nations, whom they, nevertheless, resembled in their political and social evolution, the Mexicans were distinguished by their national cohesion, by their highly developed economic system, their arts and sciences, as well as the knowledge of numerous technical processes enabling them to facilitate labour. Like the early civilisations of the Old World, such as those of Egypt, Chaldaea, India, and China, that of Mexico took its rise at some distance from the ocean on the uplands encircled by lofty border ranges or steep escarpments. It had neither a Nile nor a Euphrates, by which the riverain populations could be merged in a compact nation ; but it had its lakes, far more extensive than at present, whose shifting levels, periodical floods and subsidences INHABITANTS OF MEXICO. 61 imposed on the inhabitants the necessity of co operation, of mutual aid and soli darity, in which lie the germs of all progress. Nevertheless, compared with the early historic civilisations of the eastern hemisphere, that of Mexico had the disadvantage of remaining, if not completely isolated, at least almost entirely encircled by barbaric communities. It lacked the proximity of other centres of progressive life, with which to exchange those recip rocal influences whence might spring another and a higher culture. Despite the vertical disposition of the climates, rendering the hot lands highly dangerous for the inhabitants of the plateaux, the Aztecs had doubtless established distant rela tions with the Mayas and the various groups of Nahuas dispersed over Central America ; but elsewhere they were cut off from contact with all cultured peoples, until their seclusion was suddenly and violently invaded by the Spanish conquerors. Henceforth, civilisations and races became forcibly intermingled. So rapid was the work of destruction which followed the first arrival of the Spaniards that antiquarians might well have feared the complete disappearance of all documents relating to the ancient history of Mexico. Such records were often deliberately destroyed, as by Archbishop Zumarraga at Tlatelulco, Nuuez de la Vega at Chiapa, and others who, aping the zeal' of Paul at Ephesus, burnt, as suspected of necromancy, all the Mexican works they could discover. Later they were satisfied with concealing the precious manuscripts, which they kept locked up in their libraries, neither able nor willing to make any use of them. Fortunately the ancient lore had been kept alive in a few noble families allied by marriage with the Spanish conquerors. The aid of these men could thus be secured in the later attempts made to restore the annals of Anahuac. Many natives contributed in this way to rescue from oblivion the early records of the Aztecs and the allied peoples. In the year 1548 Tadeo de Nica, an Indian of Tlaxcala, at the request of the viceroy, composed a history of the conquest, which was attested by the signatures of thirty Tlaxcaltec nobles. Gabriel d'Ayala, of Texcoco, wrote in the Aztec language a history of Mexico from the year 1243 to 1562. Contributions to the history of her native land, now unfortunately lost, were even made by a Mexican lady, Maria Bartola, Princess of Ixtapalapa. Several pure or half-blood natives, such as Tezozomoc, Chimalpahin and Camargo, have also left important historic manuscripts ; lastly the family of the Ixtlilxochitls, descended from the old kings of Mexico and Teotihuacan, had several representatives amongst the national historians, and one of them, Fernando de Alva Cortes, had even the courage to exalt his ancestry and denounce the " frightful cruelties " of the conquerors of Mexico. But even amongst the Spanish missionaries men were found who recognised something more in Mexican history than the artifices of the devil, and who went to the trouble to procure explanations of the pictorial records, and collect the ancient traditions of the people. Such were Bartolome de las Casas, Sahagun and Torquemada: The historians of the present century have also been able to throw further light on the pre-Columbian history of the Mexicans, thanks to the 62 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. discovery of new manuscripts, the partial interpretation of the hieroglyphics, and a more careful study of the early writers. Aided by these resources the student may now roughly trace the sequence of events for at least a thousand years before the conquest, and dimly contemplate the first glimmerings of national life amongst the Mexican populations. At this epoch the land was already occupied by most of the half-civilised Indian nations, such as the Otomi, Chichimecs, Huaxtecs, Totonacs, Mixtecs and Zapotecs, by whom it is still inhabited, and according to the national tradition, it was in their midst that the Nahuas, that is, the " Clear-spoken People," made their appearance in the twofold capacity of conquerors and civilisers. These intruders, coming from the " Seven Caves " of the north, divided into seven tribes, each with seven sub- divisions, and advancing southwards in seven successive expeditions, had to vanquish a race of giants before securing possession of the "Terrestrial Paradise." Then the demi-god, Quetzalcoatl, a mythical legislator, coming up from the sea, appeared amongst them, and after instructing them in the arts, sciences and social institutions, suddenly disappeared with a promise some day to return. This was the long-awaited Messiah, and when Cortes emerged, as it ~were from the bosom of the deep, and presented himself at the head of his followers, the prophecy was supposed to be at last fulfilled, and the people looked forward to the dawn of a new millennium. The sixth century of the new era is usually regarded as about the time when a group of Nahuas arrived in Anahuac, after a long series of wanderings from Huehue-Tlapallan, a city or region which the commentators have hitherto failed to identify. Some place it in the north, others to the south, of Mexico. Never theless, most of the indications point to the northern regions as the cradle of the Nahua race ; the very form of the Mexican tableland, broadening out northwards, and contracting southwards to a labyrinth of separate districts, shows the direction in which the migrations must have taken place. The whole group of these con quering Nahua tribes is represented in the legends as issuing from the " White Dove of Cloudland," a personification of the northern regions. Towards the close of the seventh century, the Nahuas, commonly designated under the name of Toltecs, are already found grouped round a city constituting the centre of their power. Modern archaeologists have rediscovered this city in the ruins of Tollan, now known by the name of Tula, which lies fifty miles, by railway, north-west of Mexico. These early Nahua invaders were themselves replaced by others of the same race, vanquishers of the Quinames, or " Giants." The Olmecs and Xicalancs, as they were called, are represented as coming from the east, where they had doubt less already constructed several of those monuments which were later attributed to succeeding tribes of different speech. In any case there can be no doubt that the so-called Toltec epoch was one of the richest in works which still attest the culture of these early Nahua peoples. The vei-y word toltecatl, whatever its original meaning, had become synonymous with a craftsman of skill and taste, an "artist," as we should say. The same term was also applied to those traders INHABITANTS OF MEXICO. 63 who made long journeys to distant lands, and who were the " torchbearers " of Nahua civilisation in Central America. Altogether it would seem probable that " Toltec " was not the name of any particular people, and that the " artists " were simply Nahuas like their Aztec successors. The term Colhua, or " ancestors," which is also applied to them, is also an indication of their common ethnical unity. The Tula domination lasted till the second half of the eleventh century, when the strength of the powerful Nahua tribes was for the first time broken by intestine strife, foreign wars, and the invasion of the Chichimecs, or Barbarians, Fig. 27. — Extent of the Aztec Conquests. Scale 1 : 13,000,000. 15'. 105 West op breenwich 95° Aztec Conquests. , 186 Miles. accompanied by famine and pestilence. The chronicles speak of millions perishing amid all these disorders, and, for whatever reason, after this date no further mention is made of the " Toltecs," or else they are represented as fugitives dispersed amongst the surrounding populations, or else going southwards to found new states in Yucatan, Chiapas, or Guatemala. Numerous migrations are also related of the Chichimecs, who displaced the centre of Nahua power southwards to the Anahuac plateau properly so called, first to the shores of Lake Xaltocan, then to the plains around Lake Texcoco not far from the present confederate capital. Lastly, the royal residence was estab- 64 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. lished at Texcoco or Acolhuacan, the " Ancestral City " ; but in 1325 the rival city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan rose on an island amid the waters of the lake. The Aztec founders of this place were themselves of the same Nahua race as their Toltec and Chichimec predecessors. They had reached the Anahuac plateau towards the close of the twelfth century, having a hundred and twenty-five years previously quitted their insular home of Aztlan, which has not yet been identified with certainty by geographers. During those years of wanderings they had dwelt in the mythical land of Chicomoztoc, that is, the " Seven Caves," and traversed many strange regions in search of the " Land of Promise." The legend also speaks of them as the " inventors of fire," that is, as an ingenious people, rivalling the Toltecs in their knowledge of the arts and sciences. Thanks to its insular position, easily defended against all sudden attack, the lacustrine city grew rapidly, and round it were formed the famous chinampas, or floating gardens, which supplied the people with provisions during times of siege. Even after it was divided into two hostile towns, the old and democratic Tenochtit- lan and the modern trading town of Tlatelulco, it continued to develop rapidly, thanks to the inflow of immigrants from all parts, seeking refuge in these strongholds. When the Chichimec ascendency was finally destroyed, in 1431, by intestine wars and the revolt of the oppressed populations, Mexico succeeded to the power hitherto exercised by Texcoco. It stood at the head of the confederacy formed by the three cities of Mexico, Texcoco, and Tlacopan. Under the hegemony of the Aztec capital their conquests soon spread beyond the limits of Anahuac proper. The annals of this period, which agree on all the essential points, despite the partial accounts of writers of different nationalities, describe the Mexicans as reducing the surrounding populations for the twofold purpose of increasing their store of gold, precious stones, and ornamental feather- work, and procuring victims for the altars of their gods. Westwards they failed to subdue the tribes of Michoacan, and towards the north-west they scarcely advanced beyond the limits of the Anahuac valley. But in the direction of the south and south-east they had conquered the whole region as far as the coast, from the mouth of the Panuco to the Alvarado bar. But on the plateau they left the independent nation of the Tlaxcalans, who, with hundreds of revolted tribes, greatly facilitated the overthrow of the Mexican empire by the Spanish invaders. Prodigies and scourges of all kinds, say the chronicles, foreboded the approaching ruin of the Aztec power, which had already been seriously threatened by the insur rection of its own subjects, when Cortes and his Tlaxcalan allies presented them selves before the doomed capital. Nevertheless the name of this opulent city has been extended not only to all the surrounding territory, but also to an aggregate of provinces or states far more extensive than the empire of Montezuma. The term "Mexican," formerly restricted to a fraction of the Aztecs, themselves merely one of the numerous branches of the Nahua race, is now claimed by a great nation of about twelve million souls. The Spanish conquerors could not fail to recognise in Mexico an empire like that of their native land, where the will of a potent ruler was implicitly obeyed MEXICAN CULTURE. 65 throughout his wide dominions, where he nominated the provincial governors, imposed tribute and levied troops. They fancied that here also all authority emanated from the imperial power which was regularly maintained in the same dynasty by a sort of right divine. They were unable to understand that the Aztecs, after having lived in family communities without any private ownership of the soil, had established a military democracy formed of kindred groups who selected their own " speakers," that is, chiefs. Surprised, on the other hand, to find in the New World a great city, larger and wealthier than their own capitals, the conquerors naturally exaggerated the resources of Mexico and the culture of its inhabitants. Nevertheless certain docu ments relating to the native language, the sciences and the art of transmitting thought, the care also bestowed on agriculture and irrigation, lastly, the objects preserved in our museums, and the monuments still standing in the neighbourhood of the cities or buried under dense forest growths, make it evident that Mexican civilisation had raised itself far above the level of barbaric populations. The Aztec language, which was probably identified with that of the Toltecs and Chichimecs, and certain dialects of which were and still are spoken far to the south in Guatemala, Salvador, and Nicaragua, was by far the most prevalent idiom in Mexican territory. It was current throughout the greater part of the Anahuac plateau, on the Gulf of Mexico as far as the Coatzacoalcos delta, and on the Pacific coastlands from the Gulf of California to that of Tehuantepec. It is still in use, side by side with Spanish, in all these regions, although the modern dia lects scarcely retain a. third of the stock of words in the literary standard. As the exclusive medium of civilised intercourse Aztec had become the language of diplomacy and trade ; as each province was conquered, the speech of the ruling people assumed an official character, and the inhabitants were compelled to learn it. Aztec belongs to the polysynthetic order of speech, and of this class it is a typical specimen ; the words of the sentence are fused together by modification to an extraordinary extent, and in accordance with many subtle laws of euphony. The language is wonderfully plastic, and those writers who have studied it thoroughly vie with each other in vaunting its varied qualities of grace, subtlety and wealth of descriptive terms ; in his work on natural history Hernandez enumerates two hundred species of native birds and twelve hundred of plants, all of which have distinct names in Aztec. It also abounds in abstract terms to such an extent that translators have had no difficulty in finding Mexican expressions for such metaphysical or religious words as occur in the New Testament, the Imitation of Christ, and other works of a like character. Its finest literary monu ments are of an ethical order, moral exhortations breathing a lofty sentiment unsurpassed even in Hindu classical literature. A remarkable indication of the high degree of civilisation attained by the Mexicans is afforded by their knowledge of astronomic phenomena. They were able to describe the movements of the sun, moon, and some planets, and the exact duration of the solar year ; the return of each " new plant," as they expressed it, was more accurately known to them than it is even now in official Bussia, where 66 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. the present calendar is twelve days behind time. Like that of their Zapotec and Michoacan neighbours, their year was divided into eighteen months of twenty days, to which were added five supplementary days, often regarded as of bad omen. But in order more completely to harmonize the conventional with the astronomic year, after every cycle of fifty-two years a period either of twelve or thirteen days was intercalated according to the necessities of the .calculations. The numeral system was vigesimal, that is, four times five, the days being also grouped in fives, the fifth answering to our seventh, and possessing a certain importance as set apart for feasts and markets. But the years were differently divided, each tlalpilli, "knot" or "bundle," consisting of thirteen, and four of these, that is, a series of fifty-two years, constituting the xiuhmolpilli, or cycle. In the eyes of the Mexicans this formed the chief period of time, and with it were accordingly associated certain mystic ideas on the government of their daily life and of society. To them the normal duration of human existence seemed to coincide with the xiuhmolpilli, and from the few men to whom the gods granted the privilege of living through two of these periods, the double cycle took the name of huehuetilitztli, or "old age." According to a law — which, however, was not always enforced — the Toltec chiefs should rule for exactly a cycle, and when a chief died before completing the period, a council of elders assumed the government in his name. On the other hand those who exceeded the term had to abdicate, and their successors began their reign from the hour indicated in the calendar. As amongst the peoples of the Old World, the solar had been preceded by a lunar year ; hence it was that the revolutions of the moon continued to regulate the religious calendar of feasts and observances, which are always more faithful to established usage. In the same way, in the various European religions the great feast of Easter, which had originally been the feast of the spring-tide, that is, of renewed nature, is still determined by the revolutions of 'the moon. Although the Mexicans had not invented a writing system in the strict sense of the term, they were still able to perpetuate their records, to draw maps by "painting in a natural way all the rivers and harbours," to establish their genealogies, to publish their laws and edicts, to describe the industrial arts, the occupations of the household, lastly, to transmit even abstract thought, by means of hieroglyphical figures. Usually these figures, of square form with rounded angles, werepainted in vivid colours on a kind of paper made from the fibres of the maguey and anacahuite, the "paper tree" (cordia boissieri), or else on skins or strips of cotton covered with varnish and bound together like a fan, forming an amatl, or book with wood boards for covers. The public buildings, and here and there the face of the rocks, especially in the Western Sierra Madre, were also embel lished with hieroglyphics inscribed on the stone. A careful study of these documents shows that in the employment of such characters the Mexicans had advanced beyond the purely figurative and symbolic sense, in many combinations already using them as phonetic signs, so as to form a kind of rebus ; in this way were written, for instance, the names of cities. From the earHest historic times the Toltecs possessed extensive libraries of these painted MEXICAN CULTURE. 67 manuscripts, which, however, the Aztecs are said to have destroyed through jealousy of their predecessors' fame. In their turn the Aztecs were themselves the victims of the iconoclastic zeal of their conquerors, who burnt nearly all the older documents. Most of the extant manuscripts date only from the end of the sixteenth century, a period when the Church, already reconciled with what remained of Nahua civilisation, permitted the faithful again to practise the traditional hieroglyphic system. But the manuscripts of this epoch consist mostly of religious confessions, catechisms, land surveys, and judicial endorsements. The industrial arts were highly developed, although the Nahuas had not reached the age of iron, the only metals known to them being gold, silver, copper, tin, and lead. Very thin plates of copper were used as currency, as were also cacao berries and a multitude of other objects, differing in every province. Cutting implements were made of an alloy of copper and tin nearly as hard as steel. Nevertheless, nearly all their weapons were still made of hard stone, and especially from chippings of iztli, or obsidian. Knives of this substance were also employed by the priests for immolating human victims. The agricultural implement which most resembled the European plough consisted of a wooden apparatus to which were attached hard-wood sticks tipped with copper. The Spaniards were amazed at the skill of the native lapidaries and jewellers, who excelled especially in carving small animals and insects. According to contemporary chronicles, the European goldsmiths could not pretend to rival the artificers of the New World in perfection of workmanship. One process has certainly been lost, that of making little hollow figures of thin gold without any soldering. These objects, of which even the museums contain but few examples, seem quite inexplicable to the European craftsmen. Mexico had also its potters, millers, and paper-makers. The various plants of the cactus "family, the palms and cotton trees, yielded their fibres for weaving textile fabrics, some of which were extremely delicate. In the art of dyeing the natives were also past masters, employing cochineal, besides a large number of herbs, barks, and fruits, the knowledge of which has been lost since the Spanish conquest; in this respect Mexican art has deteriorated during the last three centuries. One of its triumphs was the application of feathers to the adornment of textiles, garments, tapestries, and coverlets. This feather work, which has been preserved in a degraded state by numerous families of artists, was regarded as one of the liberal arts. The " council of music," a sort of academy founded to encourage art, comprised the workers in feathers amongst its members. Architecture also flourished amongst the Nahuas, whose low, solid houses, for the most part only one-storeyed, rested either on a platform or on piles. The towns were regularly planned with narrow, streets running at right angles and large spaces round the temples ; they were abundantly supplied with water by means of aqueducts and reservoirs, and had also their quays and embankments, while the rivers were crossed by suspension bridges made of lianas, and the rivulets by stone causeways. Some of the cities were fortified, and the great wall, six miles long, which closed the highway, leading through a defile, to the republic of Tlaxcala, 68 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. was pierced by an ingeniously constructed gateway terminating in a parapet, behind which its defenders could keep under cover. But the chief architectural works of the Nahuas were the temples and pyramids, such as those of Teotihuacan and Cholula ; these with the strongholds are the only structures which in certain places have survived to our times, though careful exploration has revealed a few traces of the private dwellings formerly occupied by the Mexicans. The religious monuments were constructed on a plan analogous to that of the Babylonian temples, being like them step pyramids formed by a series of rectangular parallelopipeds, superimposed and receding upwards ; but as a rule the American were proportionately much broader at the base than the Asiatic structures. Some were of prodigious size, a proof that human labour was little valued on the Anahuac plateaux. At the time of the Spanish conquest the native civilisation was already on the wane, a fact recognised by the people themselves when speaking of the Toltec age as the flourishing epoch of the arts, sciences, and industries. Hemmed in on all sides, without any regular communications seawards, and relieved from the necessity of foreign trade by the great variety of products yielded by its three superimposed climatic zones, the Aztec world had been reduced to live on its own resources ; there was no inflow of commodities, no interchange of thought to renew the vital forces ; the social system gradually became foul and stagnant, like the floodwaters that lodge in the depressions of a level plain. Trade was doubtless held in high honour, so much so that caravans could traverse the land without danger even in time of war ; but the traffic was always confined to the beaten tracks affording communication between the plateau and the lower zones on both slopes. Thus shut out from free intercourse with distant countries, Mexican civilisation was unable to find the elements of renewed life within itself, with the result that the people gradually lost all spirit of enterprise, enslaved by traditional and increasingly oppressive formularies. A rigid etiquette regulated all relations between the classes, and society became, so to say, petrified, while public worship grew more and more atrocious. Yet at its origin the Mexican religion had been exempt from all sanguinary rites. The first of the gods, bearing the name of Teotl, in a pre-eminent sense was Atonatiuh, the " Sun of the Waters," whose rays, heating the seas, caused all things to rise out of chaos. Tlaloc, issue of the sun, yearly reviver of the spring tide, is the trade- wind bearer of the fertilising rains, the bird that comes from the sea, the snake that glitters in the lightning flash, and glides into the fissures of the earth, emblem of the running waters. At the time when the Aztecs founded Tenochtitlan, the memory was still preserved of a mild religion, at which suppliants offered to " Father Sun," to " Mother Moon," to " Brother Earth, " and to the wind-god nothing but seeds and fruits, to obtain a blessing on the future crops. Hopes were even cherished that, in a coming age of gold, these placid rites might yet be restored ; at least they were associated with the advent of another Tlaloc, Quetzacoatl, the "Plumed Serpent," who comes from the east with the east wind and thither returns. MEXICAN CULTURE. 69 Many of the vanquished nations, such as that of the Totonacs, groaned under the burden of having to supply human victims to the Mexican gods, while their own divinity, " Mother of Men," demanded only seeds and flowers. Even in the Aztec temple of Texcoco, raised by Nezahualcoyotl to the " unknown god," public worship was confined to the burning of incense at the altar of the deity. But elsewhere wars, and the practice of . adding captives to the other offerings, had Fig. 28. — Artificial Pyramid or Cholula. mm ?%m£W* ¦-<-•"=---- J r» .^3$>S@§&9^' ' ' ¦'-.., - v>r-"i_ ¦ "^"'Sr'-^iS iyy ''"< yy:f^>E:^":y'}\y:?U:,. ':."¦!.— ¦-:/:-*:-;:t!-5'fc'^>.'i*5\v*-=^M:£^;/y::KV''"'' gradually imposed a religion of blood on the whole Nahua nation. Not the symbol of life, represented by the first-fruits of the earth, but Hfe itself has now to be incessantly offered on the altars of the gods. Even when corn was presented it had first to be reduced to a paste, kneaded with the blood of children and maidens ; a dough was also prepared from the ashes of the fathers mingled with the flesh of their offspring. To appease the wrath of the wicked gods, to avert the evil machinations of the 70 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. unseen world, the Mexicans had recourse to sacrifices, in this differing in no way from Aryans, Semites, Negroes, and all other races. But their sanguinary rites probably surpassed in horror those even of Dahomey itself. Even the most timid practised self-torture like the fakirs of the East and the Aissawas of Algeria ; they scarified their flesh with the cruel maguey thorn ; they prolonged their fastings for days together ; they abstained from sleep till the mind wandered. The Benedictine friar, Camillo de Monserrate, explained the dento-liquid sounds tl, etl, which seem so strange to most European ears, by the Mexican habit of piercing the tongue with large cactus thorns during their fits of reHgious frenzy ; thus he supposed might have been produced a sort of stammering which became hereditary in the course of ages. But it was mainly by proxy that they sought to conjure the caprice of the gods ; the stain of sin was vicariously cleansed by immolating alien victims. In the Old World, which abounds in animals of all kinds, their blood was usually regarded as sufficiently efficacious. But on the Mexican plateaux there was little except men to torture and mangle in honour of the jealous deities. Human hearts were torn from the still-warm breast by the gory hands of priests, and held up towards the invisible spirits. To Tlaloc were immolated sucklings or children killed with fright, and their flesh was then consumed by the nobles at a religious banquet. The necropolis of Tenenepanco, discovered by Charnay, at an altitude of over 13,000 feet, on the northern slopes of Popocatepetl, contained nothing but the remains of hundreds of children, probably the victims offered to Tlaloc, god of the lofty heights, whence descend the winds and the clouds. At the great ceremonies, blood was shed in torrents to flood the trenches dug round the teocalli, that is, the temples, literally " God's house." Towards the close of the fifteenth century, at the consecration of the great temple of Mexico to Huitziloputzli, the war-god, which had been begun by his predecessor Tizoc, King Ahuizotl immolated nearly eighty thousand captives. But despite the statement of the chronicles, this tremendous butchery must have been made, not on one occasion, but at numerous successive ceremonies, as has been shown by Charnay. Each sovereign, on ascending the throne, had to begin his reign by a vast man-hunting expedition, in order to provide food for all the sacred shambles ; each of the eighteen months of the year had to be blessed by a massacre. Accord ingly " holy wars " had been formerly established by treaty between the various states in order to secure sufficient victims for the altars. Every temple washed its foundations in the blood of captives mingled with offerings of the precious metals, of pearls and the seeds of all useful plants. These temples, stained with black gore, full of human flesh, fresh, charred or decomposed, presented a ghastly spectacle ; some were entered through a door in the form of a throat, in which thousands of skulls lined the jaws of the monster. Close, by rose pyramids, "each containing over a hundred thousand skulls." One of the yearly feasts was that of the " flaying," when the priests traversed the various quarters of the city clad in the dripping skins of the victims. But the very multitude of the offerings rendered the gods insatiable, and their wretched MEXICAN CULTURE. 71 devotees sought for still nobler subjects to propitiate them. In the Christian religion, a Son of God, God Himself, expiated the sins of the elect on the cross ; but those who crucified Him were at least unconscious of His divinity. The Mexicans, on the contrary, created gods to immolate them to still more powerful deities. During the great national ceremonies, a scion of the royal house would not have satisfied them ; they required a son of God, and the young men whom they offered up were raised by them to the divine rank. Before slaying these gods incarnate, the priests followed in the triumphal procession, falling down in worship before them. Then, after the sacrifice, those who tasted of the sacred flesh, and who "ate god," as indicated by the very name of the feast, assimilated the divine substance, and thought they thus became participators in the nature of the gods. Such was the hideous form that " god-eating" had assumed in Mexico. Such reHgious practices were naturally completed by a ferocious legislation, Fig 29. — Sacred Ston'E of Tizoc, in the Museum op Mexico. c. v. csrxiij5^~ - ~ yet the people seem to have been of an extremely kind disposition, mild and affectionate. " My dear son, my jewel, my fair feather ! " thus spoke the .mother to her child. According to Ixtlixochitl, a theft exceeding in value seven maize cobs was punished with death. For whole communities, a violent seemed far more probable than a natural ending ; this alone would sufficiently explain the sense of sadness that had fallen on this unhappy nation, from which the divine favour seemed to be withdrawn in inverse ratio to the number of their victims. The emperor Nezahualcoyotl, sovereign of Texcoco, the crowned poet, who staked his throne on a throw of dice, to show how little he cared for power, this emperor expressed the universal sentiment when he depicted " the approaching day when the gloomy fate, the great destroyer will be revealed." Even the Spanish conquest, with the massacres and other scourges which accompanied it, and the servitude by which it was followed, was a relief for the nations of Anahuac ; 72 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA. WEST INDIES. it rescued them from a hopeless fatalism ; it introduced them, though doubtless through a thorny path, into the new world of common human interests. This era of transformation began in a terrible way for the populations of Anahuac. The Spanish conquerors acted in Mexico as they had acted in the Antilles ; they massacred the natives that resisted, and reduced the survivors to a state of merciless slavery. " A long experience," said Peter Martyr Anghiera, " has shown the necessity of depriving these men of freedom and giving them guides and protectors." Thanks to these "protectors," whole provinces were nearly depopulated in a single generation. The siege of Mexico, " where men were numerous as the stars of heaven and the sands of the seashore," is said to have cost the lives of 150,000 persons ; and according to Pimentel, the native population of Nueva Galicia, which has become the present state of Jalisco, was rapidly reduced from 450,000 to 12,600. In the swift work of conquest and enslavement, the Spaniards were aided by the very apathy of the wretched inhabitants themselves. The conquered multi tudes, whom their former masters had crushed beneath an intolerable burden of oppressive laws and statute labour, seemed indifferent to a change of tyrants. They even found it easier to bend the neck to the yoke of the demi-gods armed with thunder, than to rulers of their own race. The change, or at least apparent change of religion which went on, so to say, simultaneously with the conquest, was also effected without difficulty. When the Franciscan Friars, soon followed by the Dominicans and Augustinians, offered to the Mexican populations the baptism that cleanseth from sin, a rite which in any case scarcely differed from the analogous purifications of the Aztec religion, the surprising success of their propaganda is not to be exclusively attributed to their prestige as conquerors, or to the support which they received from the secular arm. Allowance should doubtless also be made for the happiness of being at last released from the terrorism that the native religions had imposed on the people. Toribio de Benavente relates that nine million Indians were baptised during the fifteen first years that followed the conquest. The priests found themselves surrounded by hundreds of kneeling suppliants, and such was the eagerness of the candidates " suffering from the thirst of baptism," that the officiating clergy lacked the time to perform the prescribed ceremonies, and satisfied themselves with moistening the brow of the neophytes with a little saliva. The names of saints supplied by the calendar no longer sufficing, the Indians were grouped in batches each of which received collectively the same name. Apart from the sanguinary rites the two religions differed so little in their outward forms that the natives felt little difficulty in conforming to both. When called upon to overthrow their idols, and replace them, in the same temples and on the same sites, with the statue of the Madonna and her Child, the caciques had merely to set up the image of Tecleciguata, the " Great Lady," and the change was effected. But no crucifix was erected, says the Dominican monk, Bemesal, "because the Spaniards, claiming immortality for themselves, were reluctant to teach the neophytes that their God could die." RESULTS OF THE CONQUEST. 73 Multitudes accepted baptism without any intention of abandoning their old rites, and continued long to celebrate the pagan mysteries in the depths of the forests. Thus a chapel was built and a cross set up immediately above the spot where had been hidden the proscribed image of an idol. When bowing before the cross it was to the god that they addressed their invocations. But by force of habit the two cults became gradually merged in one ; at present when any of the old idols happen to be disinterred, it is in perfect good faith that the natives call them santos antiguos, " old saints." The same pious souls that crowd the Christian churches and devoutly kiss the relics of the martyrs, secretly assemble in the woods to crown the images of the former deities with garlands. But the conversions, in virtue of which they could claim to be the spiritual brethren of the " Christians," that is, of the Spaniards, did not raise the natives to a position of equaHty with their conquerors. In the converts the latter at first saw only inferior beings, useful especially when dead, as their fat then served to staunch the wounds of men and horses. They addressed the natives whip in hand, and even in the lifetime of Bernal Diaz a new saying had become current amongst the whites : " Donde nace el Indio nace el bejuco ! " or, as we might say, " Where the Indian is born there grows the cane." Even in recent times the poet Galvr n could exclaim : " I am an Indian, that is, a worm cowering in the grass, avoided by all hands, crushed by all feet." Accordingly the children of the Aztecs may well have more than once sighed for the old order of things. " Why were we happier in the days of barbarism and debasement than since our conversion to your faith ? " the elders of a native community asked Bishop Zumarraga. The period immediately following the conquest was the most terrible for the natives. At first some districts were transformed almost to solitudes by those maladies which nearly always break out when distinct races are brought suddenly into contact. The first epidemic of smallpox, said to have been introduced by a negro in the expedition of Narvaez, and which struck down Cuitlahuatzin, Montezuma's successor, was more destructive than the Spanish arms. But far more terrible was the matlazahuatl, probably scarlet fever, which raged in 1576, and which, according to Torquemada, carried off nearly two millions in the dioceses of Mexico, Michoacan, Puebla and Oaxaca. In a period of two hundred and seventy-five years as many as seventeen great epidemics visited Mexico, from all of which the Spaniards remained exempt. According to the missionaries the race itself seemed to have become physically decayed, as if doomed to extinction. Those who escaped the plague were more than decimated by the oppressive burdens imposed on them. Although protected from slavery properly so called by the " laws of the Indies," they still remained serfs attached to the soil, and thus fell in tens of thousands with the large estates into the hands of the reHgious orders by which they had been converted, or else into those of the great capitalists the responsibiHty of the proprietors being in all cases merely a legal fiction. Nor were the laws themselves enforced, for the province of Panuco was nearly depopu lated by its own governor, Nufio de Guzman, who openly sold men and women to the traders from the Antilles, after first branding them with the hot iron. 74 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. Under the Aztec regime the lack of pack animals had introduced the custom of making captives and outcasts tlamemes, or carriers, for the transport of goods and supplies. This service they continued to perform under the Spanish administration, though the law fixing the load at " two arrobas," or about sixty pounds, was too often violated. The landed proprietors, more ignorant than the natives of the climatic conditions, often employed bands of porters in zones where the tempera- tare was fatal ; those descending from the plateaux perished in thousands on the hot coastlands, while others, transferred to the bleak uplands, yielded to the cold. But while the race of aborigines was rapidly diminishing and even disappear ing in certain districts, another race, that of the Mestizoes, was being developed and acquiring ever-increasing importance. The conquerors, having brought no women with them, soon formed alliances with the natives, Cortes setting the Fig. 30. — First Conquests oe Cortes. Scale 1 : 4,000,000. West of\ Greenwich ) Miles. example by his connection with Malitzin or Dona Marina, who proved so useful in times of extreme peril. All his captains and soldiers were presented with native wives ; all Indian chiefs, whether pleading for favour or concluding an alliance, sealed the treaty by cementing unions between the new arrivals and the women of his household or kindred ; every tribe suing for peace brought women as presents for the conquerors. Even after the conquest the adventurers and traders attracted to the New World by the fame of the treasures of Mexico were seldom accompanied by Spanish helpmates ; hence most of the unions continued to be made with native women, despite the decrees which declared null and void all grants of land made to whites who left their wives behind them. Thus the Mestizoes continued rapidly to increase, and soon outnumbered the Spaniards. In ordinary language this term " Mestizo " indicates rather the class than the origin, and is applied exclusively to the proletariates who do not keep aloof from RESULTS OF THE CONQUEST. 75 the Indian communities. But taking it in its true sense, the Mestizo element may be said at present to constitute over four-fifths of the population. Even the " wild " Indians are slightly mixed, while the so-called " pure " whites will occasionally boast of their descent from the ancient rulers of the land. No less than three families jealously preserve in Mexico and Spain the records tracing their lineage back to Montezuma. On the other hand the African element never acquired any importance in Mexico, although negroes were introduced from the first years of the conquest. But after an insurrection, suppressed by drastic measures, the Spanish landowners were forbidden to purchase Africans in order to replace the natives. In any case the black race could scarcely have become acclimatised in the cold regions of the plateau. At present the negroes are almost exclusively confined to the towns of the seaboard, and these have come for the most part from Cuba and Jamaica. In the whole of Mexico they do not appear to exceed 20,000 persons. During the three centuries of colonial administration between the fall of Tenochtitlan and the proclamation of Mexican independence, the one great event in the national history may be said to have been this slow formation of the Mestizo race from Nahua and Iberian elements. Doubtless the full-blood Spaniards, constituting the first social caste, continued to keep haughtily aloof, claiming the exclusive right to the title of genie de razon, or "rational beings." But they were divided amongst themselves; to the Spaniards born in the Peninsula were reserved the lucrative offices, as well as all honours and authority. But the Creoles, however pure their blood, however great their merits, were kept in the background ; they were even refused admittance to a large number of the monastic establishments. By the very fact of their birth in the New World they seemed to have almost ceased to be Spaniards and were insulted at every turn. But this treatment was bitterly resented, and until recently the term usually applied to the Spaniards by birth was Gachupines, derived from two Nahuatl words meaning "Men of the Spurs." " Mueran los Gachupines" ("Death to the Gachupines ! ") was the war-cry of the insurgents. The Indians properly so called, whether wild or mansos, that is, "civilised," were also regarded as inferiors, beings intermediate between man and animals. On some rare occasions acts of courage or devotion might perhaps earn for a native recognition as a brother, and then he was raised to the rank of hombre bianco or "a white," as if great qualities were incompatible with the nature of the red man. But the true feeling was embodied in the current Mexican saying that an Indian would never rule the land so long as there remained a muleteer from La Mancha or a Castilian cobbler. However, the lack of " reason " attributed to the natives at least exempted them after about the middle of the eighteenth century from the privilege of being burnt by the Inquisition. They were regarded as possessing too little human responsibility for their heresies to rouse the anger of the Inquisitors. But the terrible tribunal had long been at work, and three years after its introduction in 1571 had begun operations by an auto-da-fe of five persons. 76 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. It should be noticed that the transitions between Spaniards and Mestizoes, between Mestizoes and Mansos, are far less abrupt about the capital than in the northern regions, where the populations are scattered over a much wider area, Fig. 31. — Port of Siqtjantaneo. Scale 1 : 42,000- IQI'54-' West oF Greenwich 101*32- Oto5 Fathoms. Depths. 5 to 10 Fathoms. 10 to 25 Fathoms. 25 Fathoms and upwards. . 2,200 Yards. and where the divisions between the races are more sharply drawn. In those regions miscegenation has taken place to a smaller extent ; till recently the struggle between the hostile elements was still continued, and was occasionally attended by massacres on both sides. THE SPANISH ADMINISTRATION. 77 The exclusive mercantile system to which the country was subjected during the Spanish rule had the effect, so to say, of sequestrating New Spain, and of concealing from the eyes of the world the changes that had been accomplished since the days of the conquest. It was in fact a system of absolute monopoly. From the standpoint of the Spanish Government, the Aztec populations existed only for the purpose of enriching the treasury and the commercial "farmers- general." But these vast monopolies, and the incessant manipulation of the customs, combined with the oppression and empoverishment of the natives, naturally resulted in exhausting the sources of all trade. All violation of the fiscal laws was severely punished, and often involved the death of the offender. All trading relations with strangers were interdicted under pain of death ; even shipwrecked mariners were thrown into prison, and occasionally even executed, to prevent them from entering into commercial relations with the natives ; the very highways leading seawards were systematic ally abandoned, and the Mexican seaboard became a wilderness. Thus the English navigator, George Anson, warned by the Indians of the neighbourhood, was able to put into the port of Siguantaneo (Zehuatanejo), between the two hostile garrisons of Zacatula and Acapulco, and wait quietly for the sailing of the valuable galleon freighted with ingots for Manilla. The system, was at last pushed so far that the fleet destined for Spain was only allowed to sail every third year, and to make for any other port but Seville or Cadiz was declared to be a crime against the State. The search for quicksilver mines was prohibited in order to maintain the monopoly of the Almaden mines in the south of Spain. Till the year 1803, the Mexicans were forbidden to cultivate the vine ; it has even been asserted that Hidalgo first raised the standard of revolt in the Dolores district, because this revolutionary parish priest had been compelled to destroy his vineyards. The olive was also interdicted, as well as many other plants whose products might replace those introduced from Spain ; even these Were imported only in small quantities to keep up the tariff of high prices. At one time the people were forbidden to brew any more pulque, the national drink extracted from the maguey plant, the sale of which interfered with that of the Catalanian brandies. In the same way certain trades were officially' abolished as being prejudicial to the national industries of the Peninsula, or rather to the interest of a few private speculators. Even so late as 1819 a royal decree pro hibited foreign vessels from entering the port of Vera Cruz " under any pretext." Such an administration could end only in the total ruin of the colony, or in a revolution. The moment the mother country became engaged in a war of inde pendence against the French, and was thus obliged to leave her ultramarine posses sions almost entirely to themselves, a change of the political equilibrium became inevitable. The imprisonment of the Spanish Viceroy, Itturigaray, in 1806, by the other members of the State Council, may be said to have been the first act in the Mexican Bevolution. Doubtless the Creoles were far from being unanimous in their opposition to the old order of things, and many even allowed themselves to be seduced by titles, 78 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. privileges, or money. But they entertained the most divergent views on the general situation. The more daring ventured to foster the idea of independence, which to others seemed a dream, while the majority aspired to nothing higher than a share in the administration of their native land, and the abolition of the absolute commercial monopoly enjoyed by the Cadiz traders. On the other hand the great bulk of the native population felt Httle interest in the form of government. What they wanted was the possession of the land, a little light to relieve their gloomy lives, a modest share of liberty. Under the Spanish regime they had never attempted to revolt, although for two hundred years after the conquest the armed forces consisted only of the Viceroy's bodyguard ; even under the Bourbon dynasty the " greens " — as the regular troops were called, from the green facings of their uniforms — never exceeded 6,000 infantry and cavalry. Nevertheless the Indians themselves had also a vague instinct of political inde pendence, as is evident from the persistent legend about King Montezuma. The name itself they obviously learnt from the Spaniards ; but they eagerly rallied round it as a watchword, and adopted his colours, blue and white, for their standard of battle. To him were attributed all the ruined monuments of the country, and it was said that, like a second Quetzalcoatl, he slept in some cavern awaiting the great day of national awakening. We know with what fury the natives fought during the early days of the revolution. 'Impelled by the frenzy of certain triumph, armed with nothing but clubs or knives, they fell upon solid regiments of well -equipped troops ; they even threw themselves on the guns in order to stop the touch-holes with their rags or straw hats. Such was the confusion of ideas and of factions caused by the prevailing ignorance, and the long debasement of the populations, that the revolution began by a rising of some fanatical Indians of Dolores, " in the name of the holy reH- gion and of the good King Ferdinand VII." On the other hand the insurgents suffered their first defeat by troops composed of Creoles and led by a Creole. In 1813, two years after the first conflict, independence was for the first time proclaimed by a congress of refugees wandering from mountain to mountain. But this voice of freedom sounded like blasphemy to those accustomed to servitude, and the moderate party hastened to return to obedience. No Indians in the more remote provinces had risen, and the seat of war had hitherto been confined to the central districts, which were more densely peopled than elsewhere. The insur gents no longer formed regular armies, and had been reduced to mere guerilla bands ; nearly all their prominent leaders had been shot, or were lurking in the woods and marshes ; all seemed lost when, in 1817, Mina, a Spaniard twenty-eight years of age, who had already fought bravely for freedom in Spain, crossed the seas and devoted himself to the same cause in Mexico against his own fellow-countrymen. But after gaining a few victories he also perished, and the struggle for inde pendence, so fiercely begun in 1811 by the priest Hidalgo and his extemporised armies, was reduced to a handful of outlaws and brigands. Nevertheless the old regime suddenly fell with a crash, so to say, under its own weight at the very time when the Viceroy Apodaca was proclaiming the final restoration of order in THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION. 79 1820, and when the victorious Spanish forces were sweeping the last " herds " of rebels before them. To effect the transformation all that was needed was the treason of the ambitious Colonel Iturbide, in whom destiny " selected the least worthy to be the successful champion of independence." Fig. 32.— Scene of the "War of Independence. Scale 1 : 11,000,000. West of ureenwich 86 Miles. Now the whole nation enthusiastically adopted the " plan of Iguala," that is to say, the project of a new constitution proposed in the town of Iguala, de manding full and complete autonomy for the Mexican people under a monarchical form of government. The new order of things was accepted throughout the whole extent of the land, and the capital itself was surrendered by O'Donoju, 80 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. last of the viceroys. This was in 1821, and two years later the republic was at last proclaimed. The very term Guadalupes given to the insurgents in opposition to that of Gachupines, by which the Spaniards were known, is a proof of the influence exer cised by the clergy over the bulk of the Mexican population. The multitudes of native rebels were regarded merely as devout pilgrims enrolled under the banner of the Madonna of Guadalupe, whose worship had been confounded with that of Toci or Tonantzin, the " Notre-Dame " of the Aztecs. But the priests, like the other whites, were themselves divided into factions according to their origin, alliances, wealth or poverty. Hidalgo, who first raised the standard of revolt, was a Creole priest with a mixture of Indian blood. Morelos, another priest, was the chief hero of the war on the side of the national party. Even a nun, Maria Quitana, was seen to leave the convent and take part in the struggle. But bishops and the officers of the Inquisition had in the name of the Pope hurled excommunications against the rebels, and it was in honour of the Church that on Good Friday in 1814, Iturbide, at that time in the service of Spain, caused several of these excommunicated patriots to be shot. Hence the clergy were unable to contribute towards fostering such a common national sentiment as might have ensured internal peace. On the other hand the poHtical revolution was of no service in improving the condition of the native peasantry, for it made no change in the system of land tenure. The soil still con tinued, as heretofore, to be monopolised by the great proprietors, whose power was exercised over hundreds or thousands of the agricultural population. Doubt less an agrarian revolution seemed imminent at the very outset of the insurrection, when the domains of the Spaniards were sequestrated in the name of the nation, and were freely occupied by the Indians. But the whites forming part of the rebel forces hastened to put a stop to these confiscations, which might have had fatal consequences, and the elements of the social struggle were thus maintained on the same Hues as before. These profound inequalities, which largely coincide with racial distinctions, sufiiciently explain the state of chronic revolution which was the normal condition of Mexico for the half-century following the proclamation of independence. The nation sought without finding some new principle of economic equilibrium. By a curious parallelism each civil war corresponded to a fresh outbreak both in Spain itself and in her other revolted colonies, as if the dismembered branches of the old empire were still connected by a common social life. In Mexico the accomplishment of national unity is all the more difficult that a considerable section of the Indians are associated with the civilised populations only in terms of official documents. None of the natives still grouped in tribes living apart in remote provinces, speaking the old languages, and practising the old customs, can be regarded as yet forming part of the Mexican nation. But they become assimilated in increasing numbers from year to year, thanks to the develop ment of education, industrial centres and highways traversing their territory. Even the Indians of the Californian peninsula who are most removed from the THE MEXICAN INDIANS. 81 centre of Mexican civilisation have acquired a knowledge of Spanish, and those settled in the vicinity of the missions and the mining stations differ in no respects from the Indios mansos in other parts of the territory. But they are a mere handful, scarcely mustering 3,000 altogether, and the Pericu tribe, recently mentioned as still living at the southern extremity of the peninsula, has completely disappeared. The other two who still survive, Cochimi in the north, and Guaicuri (Guayacura) in the middle, of the peninsula, are related to the Arizonian Yumas, and, like them, formerly occupied the northern plains which are now inhabited by the Cocopas, and from which they were gradually driven we% oH& o •s g oPh JALISCO. HI and rich in silver-mines and thermal springs ; Irapuato ; Salamanca with its cotton mills; Celaya, a watering-place and a manufacturing centre, producing cloth, carpets, soaps and leather. San Miguel Allende, or simply All aide, another indus trial town, dating from the first years of the conquest, lies on a plain to the east of Guanajuato, while Salmtierra and Valle Santiago occupy depressions in the lake-studded plateau which stretches southwards in the direction of Michoacan. The Bio Lerma, which at Salamanca enters the formerly lacustrine basin of the Bajio, sweeps southwards round the San Gregorio heights, and then traverses a second very broad valley before losing itself in Lake Chapala. La Piedad and La Barca, both surrounded by numerous hamlets, have sprung up on the banks of the river, and in the interior towards the south stands the town of Ixtlan, with its hundreds of mud volcanoes dotted over the plain. Westwards along the banks of the great lake there are no large towns. Chapala- itself, which lies on the north side, is an obscure place, remote from all the highways of communication. East of this town is seen the island of Mexcal, which is identified with the mythical Aztlan, whence the Nahuas trace their origin. In 1812 the Indians of the surrounding shores took refuge in this island under one of their priests, and here defended themselves for five years against all the attacks of the Spaniards. Guadalajara, capital of Jalisco, lies some twelve miles from the left bank of the Lerma, at an altitude of 5,120 feet, on a plateau watered only by a few inlets. Founded in 1542, it has always been one of the chief cities of Mexico, thanks to its geographical position at the converging-point of the highways ascending from the Pacific seaports towards the plateau. Its population has increased from 20,000 at the beginning of the century to over 100,000 ; it has thus greatly outstripped the Spanish city from which it has been named. As a mining centre Guadalajara cannot be compared with Zacatecas or Guanajuato ; nevertheless its mineral wealth is considerable, for the local mint annually coins silver pieces to the value of from £240,000 to £280,000, But Guadalajara takes the second place amongst Mexican cities as an agricultural and manufacturing centre, being noted especially for its rebozos and other textiles, its paper, starch, cigars, metal and glass wares, and sweetmeats of all sorts. The springs which supplied the city having proved insufficient for the rapidly increasing population, it has been proposed to supply it with water by a canal derived from the Rio Lerma above the Juanacatlan Falls ; this aqueduct might also be so constructed as to furnish motive power for the workshops of the city. The pleasure resorts of the wealthy classes of Guadalajara are for the most part scattered over the San Pedro hills, some miles from the city. Towards the east the Rio Lerma, here 540 feet wide, is crossed by the bridge of Totolotlan, a work dating from the Spanish period. Farther on the route is carried over a northern affluent of the Lerma by the famous bridge of Calderon, where the insur gents met their first reverse in a battle which was long supposed to be decisive. In the neighbourhood, between the towns of Znpotlanejo and Tepatitlan, is still seen the 112 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. ruined pyramid of a temple known as the " Cerrito de Montezuma." On an affluent of the Lerma, north-east of Guadalajara, stands the town of Lagos, in an angle of the state midway between Aguascalientes and Guanajuato. Thanks to its geographical position Lagos promises to become the common emporium of several of the upland states ; its markets are already much frequented, though to a far less extent than the annual fairs of the neighbouring San Juan de los Lagos, which lies at a much lower elevation in a depression of the valley. Bolanos, a smaller place than Lago3 but formerly more important as a mining centre, also lies on a northern affluent of the Lerma, the Rio Jerez, but in a region of difficult access at the outlet of a formidable gorge dominated by jagged rocky walls. South Eg. 44. — San Blas. Scale 1 : 700,000. I05°40 West. f3.F breen-wich Oto 5 Fathoms. Depths. 6 to 12 Fathoms. 12 Fathoms. and upwards. 12 Miles. of Bolanos and beyond the Lerma, the town of Tequila stands at the foot of a high precipitous cliff ; this place is famous for its maguey brandy, commonly known as tequila. The town of Tepic, capital of a separate territory, lies like Guadalajara some distance to the south of the Bio Lerma, the lower course of which it may be said to command. Its prosperity is due to the salubrity of its position, 3,000 feet above sea-level, in the midst of gardens and orchards, and on the edge of a volcanic plateau within sight of the Pacific Ocean. It thus serves as a health resort for the ports of this malarious seaboard, on which are deposited the alluvia of the Rio Lerma. When the conqueror, Nuiio de Guzman, took possession of this JALISCO. 113 region, he selected another site some twelve miles farther south, but also on the edge of the plateau, and at the same distance from the coast. Here was founded the town of Compostela, which was long the strategic centre of the whole of west Mexico, but which is now a decayed village. The old Indian city of Jalisco, which has given its name to the state whose capital is Guadalajara, lies four or five miles to the south of Tepic on the slopes 'of the igneous Cerro San Juan. At the is->ue of the mountain gorges, where the Rio Lerma, called also Rio Grande de Santiago, debouches on the low-lying coastlands, stands Santiago, now a mere village of no maritime importance ; large vessels can no longer force the dangerous bar to ascend the course of the river to any inland port. Hence San Bias, the present port of the Lerma basin, lies to the south of the alluvial plain, not far from the escarpments of the Sierra de Tepic. Formerly one of the lateral branches of the Lerma discharged into the San Bias harbour, but it was obstructed during the war of independence, and since' then it has remained closed. The port is well sheltered from the winds ; but the approach is narrow, and has a depth of less than thirteen feet at low water. But such as it is, San Bias' is the most frequented seaport on the west coast of Mexico between Mazatlan and Acapulco. The old town stood above the harbour on a bluff of black basalt, accessible only from the land side. Since its destruction during the civil wars, it has remained a mere ruin almost entirely overgrown with vegetation. . The present San Bias, which Hes on the coast, consists of a group of houses and cottages shaded by cocoanut groves and inhabited chiefly by people of colour. The Bio Ameca, which discharges into Banderas Bay south of San Bias, has given its name to the chief town in its basin. Ameca and the neighbouring Cocula, lving in an extremely fertile district studded with lakes and dried-up lacustrine depressions, will one day present a shorter route from the coast to Lake Chapala than the roundabout road running north by Tepic and Guadalajara. But Ban deras Bay is everywhere exposed to the surf, and the town of Mascota, occupy ing a sheltered position in a glen at the foot of the Bufa de San Sebastian cliffs, has no haven on this inhospitable seaboard. The nearest anchorage is that of the little port of Chamela, over 60 miles farther south. South of Lake Chapala, the two industrial and picturesque towns of Sayula (4,420 feet) and Zapotlan (4,320 feet), the latter called also Cittdad de Guzman, form convenient stations on the route leading from Guadalajara to Colima. This provincial capital, formerly Santiago de los Caballeros, was founded by Cortes in the first years of the conquest, at an altitude of 1,485 feet, on the advanced spurs of the hills which form the pedestal supporting the two volcanoes of " Fire " and " Snow." A river, whose numerous feeders descend from the deep gorges scoring the flanks of the mountains, passes to the west of Colima, irrigating its gardens, coffee, sugar, and cotton plantations. So favourable are the conditions of soil and climate that the plains of Colima might become one of the most productive regions in the world under a less primitive system of husbandry. The future railway, by which these fertile plains are to be connected with the general Mexican system, has already made a beginning with a coastline which 41 114 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. runs from Manzanillo, the port of Colima, along a strip of sand on the south side of the Cuyutlan lagoon. This shallow basin is entirely dry during the hot season, and it is now proposed to place it in constant communication with the sea by cutting a canal through the narrow intervening neck of land. The port of Manzanillo, which is developed in the rocky coast immediately to the west of this sandy isthmus, is spacious, deep, and well sheltered from all winds except those blowing from the west and south-west. These prevail especially during the rainy season, from May to October, that is to say, the healthy period of the year ; but during the dry season the cHmate of Manzanillo is much dreaded. Some sixty miles south-east of this plain lies the little port of Mamata, which, while quite as Kg. 45. — Manzanillo. Pcale 1 : 1,110,000. , I04"PO West of Greenwich I03°40' Oto 25 Fathoms. 25 to 50 Fathoms. DpTiths. 50 to 100 Fa'homs. 100 to 500 Fathoms. 500 Fathoms and upwards. unhealthy, is even more exposed than Manzanillo. The coast salines between these two ports occupy during the season from 5,000 to 6,000 native hands. The State of Michoacan is one of those regions that have long resisted assimila tion with the rest of Mexico. The Tarascan nation had never been subdued by the Aztecs, and their chief bore the title of "Booted" in a pre-eminent sense, because, of all native princes, he alone had the right of wearing his boots in the presence of Montezuma. Proud of their ancient liberties, the Tarascans had at first welcomed the Spaniards as mere allies, and three hundred years later, during the war of independence, no other Indian warriors displayed greater, valour and steadfastness against the disciplined troops of Europe. It was in the town of Apacingan, in one of the low-lying fluvial valleys converging on the Bio Mexcala, that was held the MICHOACAN. 115 first deliberative assembly of the revolted populations. The national council was later transferred to Zitacuaro, on the uplands between Morelia and Toluca. The capital of the state also bears a name which recalls the great deeds of the struggle against Spain. Under the old regime it took the designation of Valladolia from the famous CastiHan city ; but it is now better known as Moretia, from Morelos, one of the heroes and martyrs of the insurrection. Situated at an altitude of 6,200 feet; on the plateau in the basin of Lake Cuitzeo, Morelia lies between two streams in a fertile valley commanded on the west by the superb Mount Quinceo,.8,950 feet high. The city, which stood aloof from the great highways of communication, is, nevertheless, one of the best built and cleanest in Mexico ; it is adorned with beautiful public grounds, and a fine cathedral with two towers in simple and correct taste. The branch line connecting Morelia with the Mexican railway system is one of the most picturesque on the plateau ; it skirts the shores of Lake Cuitzeo, which is everywhere encircled by hills, grassy slopes, and woodlands. West of this magnificent lacustrine basin, the region between the mountains and the Bio Lerma is dotted over with other lakes, one of which mirrors in its clear waters the houses of Puruandiro. South-west of Morelia the railway is continued in the direction of Patzcuaro, which was the capital of the country from the time of the conquest to the year 1541, when the Spaniards founded Valladolid. Patzcuaro had itself succeeded in 1520 to Tzintzontzan or Huitzizila, the " Humming-bird Town," resi dence of the native ruler, which was said to have a population of 40,000. Bishop Vasco de Quiroga removed the Christians from the old to the new town, which stood on a neighbouring terrace, whence a view was commanded of Lake Patzcuaro about three miles off. Tzintzontzan is now a mere village, whereas Patzcuaro has become a populous city. The mounds scattered about the district are said to conceal the ruins of temples and palaces. Lake Patzcuaro still stands at an alti tude of 7,260 feet ; but from this point the traveller soon reaches the edge of the plateau, whence the route descends rapidly to the coast through the towns of Tacamburo, Ario, JJruapan, and some other places situated in the lateral valleys of the Rio Mexcala. Near Ario, at an elevation of over 6,700 feet, and within sight of the summit of the Tancitaro volcano, stands the village of Caninzio, till recently inhabited by a group of French settlers, who acclimatised in the district numerous species of fruit trees, flowering, and other ornamental plants. The wine made in the colony of Francia, or " Little France," was famous throughout Mexico. But the invasion of the country by the French troops in 1864 excited the natives against the foreign settlers, who were obliged to disperse. The so-called ayacates, or sepulchral mounds, ' erected by the ancient Tarascans are scattered in hundreds round about Ario. Queretaro, Hidalgo, Mexico, Federal District. The various states occupying the Anahuac plateau properly so called, and draining through fissures in the mountains to both oceans, but mainly to the Gulf of Mexico, constitute collectively the most productive, the richest and most 116 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. densely-peopled region in the republic. Here the population is in the proportion of about 64 to the square mile, so that the centre of gravity of the Mexican nation has not been shifted since the epoch of Toltec civilisation, that is to say, for a period of at least a thousand years. This centre, however, could scarcely be removed to any other region, such as Durango and Zacatecas, possessing greater mineral resources, or Michoacan and Oaxaca, enjoying the advantage of a more exuberant vegetation ; for the Anahuac tableland has the still greater advantage of being the natural converging-point of all the routes coming from the north between the Mississippi and the Bocky Mountains, while at the same time com manding like a citadel both slopes of the country. The State of Queretaro, where rise the first headstreams of the Panuco, is of relatively smaU extent. Its northern section, also, where are situated the towns of Jalpan, Toliman, and Cadereyta, is but sparsely peopled, most of the inhabitants being concentrated in the southern division, where begin on the one hand the great plain watered by the Bajio tributary of the Bio Lerma, and on the other the headwaters of the Bio San Juan, a main branch of the Panuco. In this valley Hes the town of San Juan del Rio, a delightful " city of gardens." Queretaro, which gives its name to the state, is situated at an altitude of 7,000 feet, close to the waterparting between the two slopes. Its foundation is attributed by historians to the Otomi people ; but although it is said to date from the middle of the fifteenth century, all its buildings are of Spanish origin. Of these the most remarkable is an aqueduct of seventy-four arches, rising about 80 feet above the ravine. A reservoir, recently constructed above the city, contains a volume of over 35,000,000 cubic feet of water. Queretaro is one of the industrial towns of Mexico, being noted especially for its soaps, cigars, and cotton yarns ; the spinning-miUs occupy thousands of native artisans. About half a mile west of the city is situated the Cerro de las Campanas, on the slope of which is the Httle monument of three stones, indicating the spot where the ill-fated emperor Maximilian and his two generals, Miramon and Mejia, were shot in 1867. The state bearing the name of Hidalgo, in memory of the priest who first summoned the Mexicans to rise against Spain, is of recent formation. Here the towns, such as Zimapan, Jacala, Mextitlan, and Huejutla, the ancient city of the Huaxtec nation, all stand at considerable distances one from the other. Thus the population is centred chiefly in the extensive fertile plains of the south, which are enclosed by a highly productive hilly mineral region. Here lies, not far from Actopan and the fantastic " Organ " Mountains, the capital, Pachuca, an ancient city, now connected by a branch line with the Mexican railway system ; in the neighbourhood are the gold and silver mines, which were already worked by the natives in pre-Columbian times. The mining district of Regla, between Pachuca and Atotonilco, has become famous under the name of Real del Monte, recently changed to Mineral del Monte. Vast quantities of silver were extracted from these deposits before the mines were ruined by inundations and the burning of the surrounding forests. Since the war of independence, tlie works have been reopened by Cornish master miners, who now employ thousands of native hands. HIDALGO. 117 These enterprising English speculators have introduced some very powerful machinery, which enables them to supply the Mexican mint with the largest part of the metal it now coins. Pachuca lies about midway between the two ancient and powerful cities of the Toltec people, Tulancigo and Tula. The former, that is, " Little Tula," which is said to be the oldest, stands at the foot of a volcano east of the present capital, near the eastern verge of the plateau. Before the conquest the natives worked into all kinds of cutting instruments the obsidian collected on the neighbouring Cerro de las Navajas, or " Mountain of Knives." These quarries and workshops seem to have sufficed for the wants of the whole of the Anahuac plateau from prehistoric times down to the arrival of the Spaniards. Tula, the ancient Tollan, is now a mere village, situated in the charming district traversed by the railway running from Mexico to Queretaro. Here, also, are found the remains of animals, arrowheads, and other implements in great abundance ; but a more interesting discovery is that of the ancient buildings brought to light by M. Charnay, on the summits of mounds or hillocks commanding an extensive view of the surrounding plains. The ruins are supposed to represent all that now remains of several ancient temples, and of a palace. It is noteworthy that the architects of Tula employed the most diverse materials, wood, stones, pebbles, cement, mortar, and even the true baked brick, but not the adobes, or sun dried bricks, which were so extensively used by the Aztecs. The State of Mexico has been shorn of its former proportions, and in a sense dismembered, by the detachment of Hidalgo in ihe north, and Morelos in the south. Moreover, the " Federal District " which encircles the capital forms a distinct enclave within the state, being administered, like the district of Columbia, in the United States, directly by Congress. But although thus reduced to less than half its original size, it still constitutes an extensive territory, which might even admit of further subdivision by separating the districts lying south of the snowy range on the slope which drains through the Bio Mexcala to the Pacific. Nearly all the mountainous parts are uninhabited, except in the mining regions, such as the environs of Ixtlahuaea. Nevertheless, the population is relatively very dense, especially towards the eastern extremity of the state, which, so to say, forms the suburbs of the federal capital. Toluca, the state capital, is not an important place, its development having been retarded by its great elevation of 8,600 feet, rigorous climate, and lack of communications. Lerma, some eight miles farther east, on a lake traversed by the head stream of the Bio Lerma, occupies a position analogous to that of Toluca. Round the corn-growing " valley " rises an amphitheatre of hills, dominated southwards by the Nevado de Toluca volcano, whose long slopes are flecked or draped in snow towards the summit. The pass running east of this mountain is guarded by the town of Tenango, near which is a romantic waterfall. On the opposite slope the chief places are Tenancingo, or " Little Tenango," Tejupilco, and Temascaltepec. Mexico, capital of the republic, still bears its Aztec name, which has been variously interpreted by etymologists, but which is usually derived from one of the appellations of the war- god Mexitli. Nevertheless, the city was more com- 118 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. monly known, even during the first years of the Spanish conquest, by the name of Tenochtitlan, or " Nopal Stone ; " in fact, its arms, now adopted by the republic, represent a stone rising above a lake, and bearing a nopal tree, on which an eagle has alighted. The European city has sprung up precisely on the site of Montezuma's capital. During the siege of Mexico, Cortes systematically destroyed every block of buildings, in order to deprive the advancing enemy of all cover. But when he rebuilt the city in 1522, he foUowed exactly the original plan, street for street, quarter for quarter, every Spanish barrio thus succeeding every Mexican calpulli. The centre of the ancient city in this way became the great plaza, or square, and the cathedral rose on the site of the chief temple dedicated to the god Kg. 46. — Ancient Mexico. Pcile 1 : 400,000. 99'i0' West op oreenwicVi P8-.15' ¦ -; Miles. of war. The city of Tlatelolco, which had originally formed a sort of trading quarter distinct from the military city of Tenochtitlan, was also absorbed in the New Mexico. It stood on the ground at present occupied by the northern quarter. But although standing on the site of the ancient Aztec capital, the aspect of the modern Mexico has been so completely changed that its former inhabitants could no longer recognise it. Tenochtitlan was essentially a lacustrine city, entirely surrounded by water, and connected with the mainland by causeways and embank ments. But the waters have now subsided sufficiently to leave the new capital high and dry, and even surrounded by a grassy zone. The causeways formerly traversing the lake have become highways, and the canals in the interior have been filled up and transformed to avenues. Seen from a distance, the federal capital presents an imposing appearance. This white city, overtopped by domes MEXICO AND ITS VALLEY. Scale, LW0.000 "& Miles. "TiRK, D. AFPLETON & C? . CITY OF MEXICO. 119 and pinnacles, spreading widely over the vast plain, and bounded in the hazy distance by an amphitheatre of majestic mountains, harmonises completely with 120 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. the natural environment. The traveller, viewing it from some commanding site, might well be tempted to exaggerate the part played in history by a city occupying such an imposing position. " We stood rapt in amazement," exclaimed Bernal Diaz. " We declared that the city resembled those enchanted abodes described in the book of Amadis, and some of our men asked whether the vision was not a dream." Mexico is laid out with great regularity, the streets, mostly too narrow, being disposed at right angles, like those of Chicago and Philadelphia ; but this monoto nous arrangement is somewhat broken by the squares and gardens occurring at intervals. The houses, with their terraced roofs and inner courts like those of eastern cities, are solidly built with a yellowish sandstone, or a red lava called tezontle, and are usually of only one storey, the better to resist the slight but some what frequent earthquakes. In the centre of the city is situated the great square (plaza), where are celebrated all public solemnities, and where converge the currents of business and pleasure, alternating with the hours of the day. On one side of the square stands the cathedral, which replaces the church erected by Cortes on the spot where stood the feocalli, or temple of the war- god, ever reeking with the blood of human victims. The very pillars of the new edifice rested on the great idols, in order that they might be for ever crushed by the indestructible column of the holy Christian religion. The present church, which took nearly a century to build, is a sumptuous monument of imposing appearance, and to it is attached the Sagrario, another church with a facade as luxuriously carved and sculptured as a Hindoo palacs. A second side of the pluzn is occupied by the National Palace, which is said to hfive been erected on the site of Montezuma's palace. It is a vast building, with a frontage considerably over 220 yards long, and containing the senate, the Government offices, the ministries, besides the post office, museum, and library. The other two sides of the square are skirted chiefly by houses with portales, or arcades, where there is a constant movement of loungers, pedestrians, and itine rant dealers. In the middle of the square is the fine promenade of the Zocalo, or " Socle," shaded with the eucalyptus, and adorned with flower beds, fountains, and statues. In the Mexican museum are preserved valuable natural history collections, amongst which are those fossils which the conquerors supposed to be the " bones of giants," but which are now known to be the remains of large animals belonging to the quaternary fauna. Still more interesting is the archaeological collection, comprising such antiquities as escaped the iconoclastic fury of the first conquerors and the research of foreign collectors. Here is the precious " Mexican Calendar," on which is sculptured the division of time according to the ingenious Aztec system. It is a huge block weighing 21 tons, which must have been brought from a great distance, for no rocks of the same geological formation occur in the neighbouring mountains. The " Stone of Tizoc " (p.' 71), which represents the pro cession of people vanquished by that hero, and which was long supposed to be the " stone of sacrifice " belonging to the great temple, is another treasure preserved in this museum, where may also be seen the hideous statue of HuitzilopochtH, GENERAL VIEW OP MEXICO. CITY OF MEXICO. 121 " god of war," hieroglyphic paintings, Montezuma's shield, and the effigies of several deities. Every year adds to the contents of the National Museum, and systematic explorations made in the ground, and especially in the lacustrine depressions, cannot fail to reveal numerous other treasures. Mexico already possesses some large scholastic establishments, notably a school of medicine now installed in the old palace of the Inquisition, and a preparatory school occupying the old convent of the Jesuits. Aztec literature is studied in a college founded for the Indians ; several learned and literary societies publish useful memoirs ; the chief library has over 150,000 volumes ; the picture-gallery is one of the richest in the New World. The population of Mexico has increased fivefold since the beginning of the century ; nevertheless it has already been outstripped by many cities of more recent origin. A hundred years ago it was the largest place in the New World ; now it is exceeded not only by New York and several other cities in the United States, but also by some of its rivals in Latin America. Nevertheless, Mexico, situated on the " bridge of the world " between the two oceans, is assuredly one of the vital points of the planet one of those points whose historic importance cannot fail to advance with the general progress of the world. It has doubtless lost the trade between the, Philippines and Spain which it had formerly enjoyed through colonial monopolies ; but on the other hand the internal traffic has greatly developed. Bernal Diaz already remarked that " no European city possessed a market comparable to that of the Anahuac capital ; at least none possess such a fruit market, where are seen in abundance the products of every zone — cherries and pears side by side with pineapples and bananas." One of the most curious sights in Mexico is that presented every morning on the Viga Canal by the flotillas of boats ladened with flowers, fruits and vegetables. The wholesale import trade is almost entirely in the hands of English, American, German, French and other foreign traders. These industrious strangers have nearly all acquired a position of comfort, while the native population of mendicants, leper os, pelados or pordioseros, still swarms in the suburbs. Despite the pure air descending from its snowy mountains, Mexico is not a health}'' place. The mortality, which in certain years has exceeded the births four times, averages from 32 to 33 per thousand, which is much higher than that of London, Paris, and most other cities of West Europe. This high death- rate is due mainly to the impurity of the soil and waters. Mexico stands only a few inches above the level of Lake Texcoco, with a subsoil of impermeable argil laceous deposits : hence the least excavation on the surface of the ground becomes at once flooded with a brackish water saturated with organic substances. The gradual upheaval of the bed of Lake Texcoco threatens destruction to the city, which has already been more than once laid under water. After every downpour, the streets are filled with slush, and when the rains last long enough the whole place becomes transformed to a swamp or even to a veritable quagmire. The roadways are also badly kept, while the drains, flooded with an almost stagnant water, con tribute much to the putrefaction of the suii. "The city is threatened with asphyxia," 122 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. is an expression occurring in a report on the sanitary state of the place But if foul water abounds in Mexico, the pure water brought from a distance by aqueducts is far from sufficient for the wants of the people ; in 1882 it was scarcely 880,000 cubic feet per day, or less than twenty gallons per head of the population. The drainage of the subsoil itself presents grave difficulties ; by carrying off the overflow, which gives consistency to the marshy ground, the buildings are apt to lose their centre of gravity and to topple over at the least vibration of the surface. The gradual drying up and shrinking of the land has already caused rents and fissures in most of the large structures, while others have sunk several feet in the Kg. 48. — Mexico and its Envieonments. Scale 1 : 120,000 99*10 vVegT op Greenwich 09°5 3, 300 Yards. ground. It is now regretted that, in order to secure his triumph, Cortes decided to rebuild the city exactly on the site of the old capital, and ay the foundations of his churches on the temples of the gods, instead of selecting a new position on the more elevated land which stretches westwards to the neighbouring mountains. The wealthy quarters, however, are already stretching out in this direction. Certain villages, such as Casablanca and Tacubaya, where the national observatory has been established, are gradually expanding and becoming connected with the capital by avenues lined with buildings. Mexico is thus steadily moving westwards towards the less tainted rising grounds. The city is adorned with some fine promenades, such as the Paseo and the Alameda, where a fountain indicates the site of the ancient Quemadero, that is, the "burning-place," of the Inquisition. Victims of ENVIRONS OF MEXICO. 123 this horrible institution were especially the " heretical " sailors captured by the Spanish cruisers. Mexico is rapidly growing along both sides of the road leading to Tacuba, which replaces the old highway by which the Spaniards made their disastrous retreat during the Noehe Triste or "Sorrowful Night." Near the village of Popotla is still seen the old cypress under which Cortes sat vainly awaiting the arrival of over 400 of his men, whose bodies lay heaped up in the gory mud at the breaches of the causeway. Bound about this historic tree stretch vast marshy gardens, and farther on are seen the houses of Tacuba. Under the. name of Tlacopam this place was formerly one of the three cities of the Nahua confede ration. Farther north, on the road leading to the desagiie of Huehuetoca, stands Caautitlan, the "Eagle-town," which gave rise to the Mexican saying, "Beyond Mexico naught but Cuautitlan," meaning that except Mexico there was nothing in the world worth seeing. A superb avenue shaded with eucalyptus- trees leads from the capital to the porphyritic eminence of Chapultepec, or " Mountain of the Cicada." This avenue is lined with statues, one of which commemorates the last Aztec king, Guatimozin, "heroic in the defence of his country -and sublime in his martyrdom," burnt alive by the infamous conquistadores. On the rock of Chapultepec formerly stood Montezuma's suburban residence, which has now been replaced by a palace of vast size. This huge pile was erected in the last century by the Viceroy Galvez, with the intention, said his Mexican subjects, of making it a stronghold from which to proclaim his independence as Emperor of Mexico. The palace, a part of which has become the military school, commands from its terraces the finest panoramic view of the capital with its lakes and encircling mountains. The surrounding promenades are also the most umbrageous on the Anahuac plateau. Here are found the gigantic " cypresses " (cupressus disticha), or ahuehuetes, that is, " Old Men of the Waters," which already existed before the arrival of Cortes. Some of these giants of the vegetable kingdom, with their wide-spreading branches and foliage shaped like a "Spanish beard," have a girth of 50 and a height of 160 feet. At Churubusco, a little to the south of this place, the Americans gained the decisive victory which made them masters of the capital in 1847. The following year was signed the treaty of peace of Guadalupe Hidalgo, by which half of the national territory was ceded to the United States. The aqueduct, which is fed by the various springs from the mountains south west of Mexico, supplies both the Chapultepec gardens and the aristocratic suburb. of Tacubaya, whose villas are dotted over the district south of Chapultepec. From this place excursions are made round about to San Angel, to the picturesque group of hamlets nestling in the valleys of Mount Ajusco, and to the pedregal, or lava streams, which have flowed from this volcano, but which are now over grown with cactus and brushwood. Tlalpam, famous as a place of pilgrimage, lies in a deep ravine between two masses of scoriae ; it was through this ravine that the Americans penetrated into the valley of Mexico. North-east of the capital the Tepeyacac heights, source of a spring of ferru- 1L' 124 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. ginous waters, are crowned by the church of Guadalupe, formerly one of the richest in the world, but now spoiled of its treasures by the National Government. The Virgin of Guadalupe is the special patron of the Indians, while Our Lady de los Bemedios was formerly regarded as the tutelar saint of the Spaniards. Under the old rigime an incessant struggle was carried on between the devotees of the two sanctuaries ; but the war of independence secured the definite triumph of Guadalupe, so that religion and patriotism are now merged in a single cult. On the west side of Lake Texcoco, east of the capital, a volcanic eminence rises above the saline waste, which is made a receptacle for the refuse of the Fig. 49. — Tlalpam and Lake Xoohimiloo. Scale 1 : 190.000. 99"i4' West oF Greenwick 99"5' 3 Miles. neighbouring towns. The Penon de los Bafios, as this eminence is called, is the source of a copious ferruginous spring, and here geologists have found some fossil human remains. The Viga Canal, whose waters reach the capital at its south-east extremity, is derived from Lake Xochimilco, or the " Flower-garden," one of the southern basins of the Mexican valley. This canal traverses a low-lying district cultivated by Indian market- gardeners, and their plots are commonly designated by the same term, chinampas, which was also applied to the floating islands of the Aztecs, formerly moored in hundreds on the surface of Lake Texcoco. But Lake Chalco, or the "Emerald," forming an eastern continuation of Xochimilco and encircling a cone with a perfectly regular crater, bears in this respect a much more close ENVIRONS OF MEXICO. 125 resemblance to the Texcoco of Montezuma ; in the middle of the marshy depres sion may still be seen numerous other chinampas, resting on matted beds of aquatic plants and covered with soil brought from a distance. Bat these plots, which are intersected by acalotes, or trenches, are not supported by movable rafts ; on the contrary, they gradually form compact masses attached to the shore and steadily encroaching on the lacustrine basin. Ixtapalapa, or " White Town," formerly a great Mexican city with "fifteen thousand houses," according to Cortes, stands near the head of the Viga Canal at Lake Xochimilco, under the Estrella or " Star " peak, famous in the religious history of Mexico. Here the priests Kg. 50.— Indian Mabket-G-aedeneb's Canoe. assembled at the end of every cycle of 52 years in order to keep up the succession of time by solemnly opening a new cycle. Facing the capital at a distance of sixteen miles in a straight line on the opposite side of the lake is seen the now obscure town of Texcoco, which preceded Mexico and which was long its rival. Texcoco was the ancient residence of the Toltec chiefs and the " Athens " of Anahuac, for here the Nahuatl language was spoken in its greatest purity and elegance. Texcoco has the advantage over Mexico of being built on healthy ground above the level of the highest inundations. The Puerto de las Brigantinas, that is, the spot where Cortes built a flotilla to reduce Mexico, lies now consider ably over a mile from the margin of the lake. North of Texcoco stands the still more ancient city of Olumba, formerly Otompan, which would appear to have 126 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. been the capital of the Otomi nation before the arrival of the Toltecs on the Anahuac plateau; it was on the plains of Otumha that Cortes by a decisive victory repaired the disaster of the " Sorrowful Night." Otumba and its eastern neighbours, Irolo and Apam, surrounded by the most productive maguey planta tions in the republic, are important strategical points guarding the entrance to the plains north of the snowy Ixtaccihuatl range. The migrations of conquering or vanquished peoples must for the most part have passed through this gateway, the possession of which was in former times frequently contested. But it was avoided by Cortes, who boldly ventured to cross the great range directly by the Ahualco pass between Ixtaccihuatl and Popocatepetl. Practicable tracks may also be found by rounding the southern flanks of this mountain through the village of Amecameca, which encircles the old eruptive cone of Sacro Monte, now overgrown with oak-trees. Near the gorge of Apam, or between Texcoco and Otumba, there still stand two temples which are supposed to have been erected by the Totonacs ; . these are the two pyramids of Teotihuacan (Teutlihuacan) , or "Abode of the Gods," which are known as the "House of the Sun" and "House of the Moon." Beduced to the condition of mere mounds overgrown with agave and thorny scrub, they are now difficult to recognise as human structures. Never theless the explorations made on the spot leave no doubt as to their artificial character. The first or southern pyramid is the broadest and highest, forming a square of 700 feet and 180 feet high ; the second, that of the Moon, is both much smaller and 36 feet lower, and both face the cardinal points, though not with mathematical accuracy. Farther south other mounds are scattered over the plain, in some places numerous enough to form avenues, suck as the " Way of the Dead," so named either because these knolls are really old burial-places, or because it indicates the route formerly followed by the processions of human victims on their way to the sacred slaughter-houses. East of Apam the plateau rolls away to the southern foot of a border range inhabited by a population of Totonac miners, who are chiefly grouped round the towns of Zacatlan and Tetela del Oro. On this plateau stands the town of Tlaxco, and farther south in a narrow glen is seen Tlaxcala, formerly capital of the brave republic which espoused the cause of Cortes against Montezuma. At present it is the chief town of a small state, which about coin cides with the limits of the old republic, and which is dominated eastwards by the Malinche volcano. But Tlaxcala is no longer the great city which could at one time marshal 100,000 warriors against the invader. Another decayed Mexican city is Htiexotzingo, which was founded by the Olmecs, and which is constantly mentioned in the reports of the conquerors. In this district the most important place at present is Puebla de los Angeles, " Angel Town," which was built by the Spaniards on an uninhabited plain in the year 1530 as a residence for those whites who had been left unprovided for in the distribution of offices after the conquest. This flourishing city, capital of a thickly peopled state on the plateau and the first slopes facing the Pacific and Atlantic, is sometimes called the " second capital of the republic." Under the ephemeral PUEBLA— VIEW TAKEN PBOM THE SOUTH. PUEBLA, CHOLULA. 127 reign of Maximilian there was even a question of removing the administration to Puebla, which enjoys a far more healthy climate and lies in a more fertile region than Mexico. It stands at an altitude of 7,160 feet, that is, something less than the federal capital, on an inclined plain, whose rapid streams flow westwards to the Mexcala, which winds away to the Pacific. All these rivulets are fed by the melting snows, and serve to irrigate the surrounding plains, which yield abundant crops of all sorts. Dominated by the two square towers of its sumptuous cathedral and by the belfries of over fifty churches, Puebla was formerly inhabited by a fanatical population extremely hostile to strangers ; more than once travellers had to seek the protection of the troops to avoid being stoned as " Englishmen," " Jews " or " heretics." The place is noted especially for its rebozos, or scarfs, its cotton yarns, and for the preparation of little figures in wax or alabaster, sculptured vases, Onyx stands, and similar objects connected principally with church decora tion. Lying about midway between Mexico and the edge of the plateau, Puebla formerly stood on the main route of nearly all the transit traffic between the inte rior and Vera Cruz. But it has lost this commanding position since the opening of the main railway from Vera Cruz to the capital, though still connected with the general system by branches running eastward, west of the Malinche volcano. Puebla owes its prosperity to its great agricultural resources. It also promises to become a much- frequented health resort, especially for strangers suffering from affec tions of the chest ; in the neighbourhood are copious sulphurous thermal springs, which probably owe their special properties to the volcanic deposits of Popocatepetl. The two steep hills of Guadalupe and Loreto, rising north-east and north of Puebla, recnll the two most important military events in the modern records of the nation. During the war undertaken against Mexico for the restoration of the monarch}', General de Lorencez, after forcing the passes and reaching the edge of the plateau at the head of 6,000 men, had sent off a despatch announcing that he was already "master of Mexico." But right in front of Puebla he found the route blocked by a force of 12,000 troops, under Zaragoza, which held possession of the city and of the two fortified convents on the hills. The attack made on May 5th, 1862, ended in failure, and the French invading army had to retreat to the lower slopes of the plateau. Next year an army 20,000 strong again advanced on Puebla, and began a regular siege of the place. The investment lasted 62 days, during which the Mexican garrison defended every post and station, yielding only after exhausting ammunition and supplies, and then partly dispersing to join the troops that held the plains. Although a large place, Puebla is still inferior in size (o the famous city of Cholula, which formerly stood in the neighbourhood. This holy city of the Olmecs and later of the Aztecs, at one time centre of the textile and pottery industries of Anahuac, and founder of the colonies as far south as Nicaragua, is now an obscure village and railway-station eight miles from Puehla on the opposite side of the deep gorge traversed by the Bio Atoyac. Churultccal, as Cortes calls it, is described by him as containing 20,000 houses in the central part, and an equal number in the outskirts. "From the summit of one of the temples," he adds, "I L28 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. Fig. 51.— Puebla in 1862. Scale 1 : 120,000. have counted over 400 towers, all belonging to other sanctuaries." But a few days after contemplating this panoramic view, the conqueror began the work of destruction by fire and sword. Of the 400 temples nothing now remains except a few shapeless mounds covered with vegetation. But one of these lying to the south-east of the city is a veritable hiH of bricks and layers of earth, as ehown by the explorations and the cuttings made for the road and the railway passing at its foot. According to the local tradition this hill was con structed by order of a giant in honour of the god Tlaloc, who had saved him from a deluge, and all the bricks used in the building were passed from hand to hand by a string of workmen reaching all the way from the slopes of Popocatepetl to Cholula. Its present height, though greatly diminished as shown by the irregular sky-line, is 175 feet above the plain, while its enormous base covers an extent of 42 acres, nearly four times more than that of the pyramid of Cheops. No other isolated human monument approaches these, vast propor tions. The platform on the summit, where the chapel of Our Lady de los Bemedios now replaces Quetzalcoatl's temple, has an area of about 5,000 square yards, forming a stupendous esplanade whence the eye glances from the vil lage and gardens of Cho lula to the glittering domes of Puebla, from the forest-clad slopes of Malinche to the snows of Popocatepetl. Before the construction of the Vera Cruz railway Puehla had as its outpost towards the Atlantic the town of Amozoc, at the converging point of the roads to Jalapa and Orizaba. Tepeaca, a Httle farther on near the outer ram parts of the plateau, also possessed great strategical importance, and Cortes himself had chosen this place as a stronghold and Spanish colony under the name of Segura de la Frontera, "Safeguard of the Frontier." Next to Vera Cruz, Tepeaca was the earliest Spanish foundation in Mexico. This angular corner of the plateau has suffered a loss of trade since the main line of the Mexican railways passes farther north by Huamantla and San Andres de Chalchicomula, the station dominated by the cone of Orizaba. Near Chalchicomula, on the very edge of the plateau, the station of Esperanza lies about midway on the main line between Mexico and Vera Cruz. Although occupying a part of the plateau draining to the Pacific, neither Puobla nor Cholula is connected by railway with that ocean. But the 98°i4' West oF Greenwich, 98° io- . 8,300 Yalds. VERA CRUZ. 129 locomotive has already descended to the temperate zone on this slope, reaching Matamoros tie Izucar through Atlixco, where is seen a cypress 74 feet in circum ference. Towards the south-east angle of the state another line runs from the plateau down to Tehuacan, or Teotihuacan, " City of the Gods," whose sumptuous temples were compared by the Spaniards to the palaces of Grenada. Vera Ceuz. This state occupies all the hot zone skirting the Gulf of Mexico, besides a part of the temperate lands, from the Bio Panuco to the Bio Tonala beyond Coatzacoalcos.. It thus extends north-west and south-east a total distance of about 410 miles. Despite- the marvellous fertility of its upland districts, which lie half-way up' the slope, and are well exposed to the fogs and rains of the Atlantic, Vera Cruz is not one of the populous states of the confederacy ; within its limits are comprised some forest lands, as well as sandy, desert, or marshy tracts. The capital has often been displaced, and the city which gives its name to the state was itself for some years the seat of the government. Orizaba also, for a time, held the same position,, which at present is enjoyed by Jalapa. This place stands on the slope of the extinct Macuiltepec volcano, which is furrowed by deep gorges. Formerly it occupied the rim of a plateau, also scored by eroded gullies. But according to the local tradition, the inhabitants of this first Jalapa were so decimated by the epidemic of 1537 that they left the place in a body, and settled a little distance off on a sunny slope on the opposite side of a neighbouring gorge. The new city, with its regular streets winding amid the gardens, is one of the healthiest places in Mexico. From its superb avenues is unfolded a magnificent prospect, embracing on the one hand the forest-clad heights of the Cordillera from the Orizaba peak to the Cofre de Perote, on the other stretching over the orchards and meadows of the meandering Bio San Juan valley, and again in the far east to the strip of dunes fringing the blue Atlantic waters. Although a small place, Jalapa is one of the most important historic cities in Mexico. It occupies a station which is indispens able to all invading armies, to all travellers and traders journeying between the coast and the plateau. Formerly, when the commercial monopoly belonged to Cadiz, and when the trade with Europe was limited to a fleet forwarded every four years, Jalapa was the great market-place for the distribution of the imports and the purchase of Mexican produce ; hence its title of Jalapa de la Feria, or, as we should say, " Market- Jalapa." It has now lost this commercial role, but it is still a health resort, at once a hospital and a convalescent home for the people of the lowlands. The yellow fever has never reached Jalapa, which as a sanatorium is not only extremely salubrious, but also possesses in the neighbourhood numerous efficacious mineral waters, hot and cold, saline and sulphurous. The numerous products of the district surrounding Jalapa, Ciudad de las Flores, " City of Flowers," fruits, cereals,* and vegetables, serve mainly for the -local consumption; it exports little beyond its medicinal plants, especially the root of ipornea purga, which bears the name of this place. The plant is collected by the Indians of the surrounding 42 130 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. communes, especially Chiron-Quiaco, a village which lies 20 miles farther north, and the products of which are the most highly esteemed. Jalapa is connected with the Mexican railway system by a branch which skirts the north side of the Cofre de Perote, and then traverses the little town of that name. Here is a magnificent and apparently impregnable citadel, which was built at a great expense by the Spanish viceroys for the purpose of guarding the highway between Vera Cruz and Mexico. Merely to keep it in repair cost over a million dollars yearly. But it may now be easily turned, and the citadel of Perote, deprived of its strategic importance, has been transformed to a state prison. Coatepcc, which lies in the midst of orchards and plantations some nine miles south of Jalapa, is also a favourite resort of the coast people. But the little centres of population following lower down in the direction of Vera Cruz already lie within the dangerous zone which is yearly visited by yellow fever. Several of these places have an historic name, having been the battleground of armies con testing the possession of the routes leading up to the plateau. Amongst them is the Cerro Gordo, the passage of which was forced by the American troops in 1847. Lower down is the Pitente Nacional, formerly Puente del Rey, a monumental bridge which crosses the deep barranca of the Bio Antigua. South of Jalapa and Coatepec several other towns occupy positions on the escarpments of the plateau analogous to that of Jalapa itself. The roads which here creep up the slopes at heights varying from 2,800 to 4,000 feet, are scarcely rivalled in the whole world for their magnificent views and endless variety of scenery. On emerging from the leafy avenues formed by the overhanging branches of conifers and other forest growths, the traveller suddenly beholds snowy Orizaba and surrounding ranges, with their spurs, terraces, wooded lava-fields, and the lower plains extending in the hazy distance down to the curved margin of the blue Atlantic. The flanks of the mountains are furrowed from base to summit by gloomy gorges several hundred yards deep ; but the walls and taluses of these gorges, where the tracks descend as into bottomless wells, are concealed by dense thickets, in which are intermingled plants of the torrid and temperate zones. Along the banks of the creek flowing on the bed of the barranca, the explorer treads his way as in a vast conservatory beneath the pendent foliage of palms and tree ferns. Orizaba, which lies in the very heart of the mountains at the foot of Borrego, has also a more continuous rainfall than Jalapa, and the exhalations rising from the ground are more dangerous. It stands on the site of the ancient Ahuilitzapan, or " Glad Waters," over 4,000 feet above sea-level, on a terrace whose thriving plantations are irrigated by copious streams of pure water. Nearly all the maritime trade of the state, and about half of all the exchanges of the republic, are concentrated in the port of Vera Cruz. The village of Pueblo Viejo (Old Town), over against Tampico, in Tamaulipas, is little more than a detached suburb of that place. Farther south, Tuxpan, accessible only to small craft, has a yearly trade of scarcely £200,000. For some time the works have been in progress which are intended to connect it with Tampico by a navigable canal traversing the Tamahua and other coast lagoons. On the whole seaboard, VERA CRUZ. 131 stretching 135 miles south of Vera Cruz, no sheltered haven anywhere occurs, the shore being here everywhere fringed with sands and surf. The old port of Nautla, which formerly gave its name to the whole coast, is now choked with mud. The modern city of Vera Cruz is not the same place as that to which its founder, Fernan Cortes, gave the name of Villa Rica de Vera Cruz. Nevertheless, the first camping-ground must have stood on the beach not far from where the Fig. 52. — Obizaba. Scale 1 : 60,000. 97°6- West oF breenwich 97V 2,200 Yards. present quays have been built. It was then removed farther north to the viUage of Quialutitzlan, which, however, was badly chosen, being unhealthy and destitute of any shelter. Hence, four years later a third city was founded farther south near the populous Zempoala, capital of the Totonac territory. The river watering the plantations of the surrounding district took the name of Antigua in 1599, when this settlement was also abandoned, owing to the bar which prevented all access to the estuary. The fourth city is that which now exists, and which was founded on the coast over against the fortified island of San Juan d'Ulua. It was certainly 132 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. difficult to find a favourable site on such an inhospitable coast, studded with shoals, and surrounded by arid or sandy flats and marshy wastes. Medanos, or dunes, raise their yellowish slopes immediately beyoud the outskirts of the city, changing their form and positions with every storm ; under the influence of the north winds, some ' of these sandhills rise to a height of 160 or 170 feet. Seen from a distance Vera Cruz, surrounded by all these medanos, presents a Fig. 53. — Successive Displacements op Veba Cbtjz. Scale 1 : 600,000. Depths. Oto 5 Fathoms. 5 Fathoms and upwards. 12 Miles far from attractive appearance ; hence most travellers not detained by business, and aware of its evil reputation as a hotbed of fever, pass rapidly on to the more agree able cities of the interior, especially in the hot season when "yellow jack " prevails on this seaboard. The epidemic is said to have carried off 2,000 persons in 1862 in the Ciudad de los Muertos, " City of the Dead," as it is called in Mexico. Neverthe- VERA CRUZ. 133 less, after the scourge has passed the place is not so unhealthy as might be supposed, and the whites who 'have escaped a first attack may consider themselves acclima tised. They run even less risks than those settled oh the plateau. By sinking wells in the sandy soil, water is reached at a depth of three or four feet, but mostlv con taminated by filtration from the neighbouring marshes ; hence good water has had to be brought by aqueducts from the Biver Jamapa. Till recently there was not sufficient to water the streets or flush the sewers, and all the scavengering was left to the zopilotes, or carrion vultures, which were protected by police regulations. Fig. 54. — From Vera Cruz to Anton Lizakdo. Scile I : 240,000. . 6 Miles. On the Gulf of Mexico, Vera Cruz is the historical city in a pre-eminent sense. Here the Spaniards first landed at the time of the discovery and conquest ; here also they still held out for four years after losing their possessions. In 1838 the Prince de Joinville seized the fortress of San Juan d'Ulua (Ullda)j which stands on a low island over half a mile from the city, and which was again occupied by the Americans in 1847 and by the French in 1862. In those times the possession of this stronghold cut the Mexicans off from all political and commercial relations with the rest of the world. At present a mere prison crumbling to ruins, it is 134 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. said to have originally cost Spain and Mexico £8,000,000. Such a sum might have been appHed to a better purpose by constructing the piers and breakwaters required to convert into a sheltered harbour the dangerous roadstead where ship ping has hitherto had to ride at anchor. Such works, however, have at last been taken in hand. Still farther south lies the roadstead of Anton Lizardo, formerly San Antonio Nizardo, which is sheltered by a large cluster of islets and reefs. But with all its disadvantages, the port of Vera Cruz still remains the chief trading-place on Fig. 55. — Habboub Works in Progress at Vera Cbtjz. Scale 1 : 40.000. West of Gn 96°s- 96"e- Oto 2^ Fathoms. 2Jto5 Fathoms. 5 to 10 Fathoms. 10 Fathoms and upwards. 2,200 Yards. the Mexican seaboard, monopolising nearly two- thirds of the exchanges of the republic. But any further delay in constructing a safe and deep harbour could not fail to divert the traffic of Vera Cruz to more favoured places. A large number of travellers proceeding to Mexico already prefer the more expensive railway route to the sea voyage across the Gulf of Mexico. The largest share of its trade is with England, after which follow the United States, Germany, and France in the order indicated. Coffee and hides are the chief articles of export, England and France also taking the fibre of a species of zacaton (epkampes) used in making fancy brushes MORELOS. 135 The village of Medellin, nine or ten miles south of Vera Cruz, recalls the visit of Cortes, who in 1522 named this place after his native town in Estremadura. The railway is continued beyond this place south-westwards across the dunes and forests to the port of Alvarado, on the north side of a large estuary where converge the Papaloapan and other streams. The port, which is encircled by high sand hills, is accessible to vessels drawing eight or ten feet. Here, is chiefly shipped dried fish cured in large quantities by the fishermen who comprise nearly the whole population. These fishermen are said to be descended from Spaniards who took part in the battle of Lepanto, the anniversary of which victory is still solemnly kept. The local skippers also visit the port of Tlacoltapam, the " City of Mos quitoes," which is situated at the confluence of the two navigable Bivers Papa loapan and San Juan. Morelos, Guerrero, and Oaxaca. The section of the republic lying south of the great volcanic chain, comprises only the three States of Morelos, Guerrero and Oaxaca, together with parts of Mexico and Puebla. Although all the inhabitants of this region, whites, Mestizoes and even Indians, took an active part in the war of independence, their country has remained far more secluded from the general industrial and commercial move ment than the other provinces. South of Morelos and Yautepec no railway has yet been constructed down to the Pacific, and all the feeders of the general system stop within a short distance of the plateau. But whenever they become connected with the rest of Mexico these southern provinces, abounding as they do in natural resources, will scarcely continue to lag behind the other states ; for their inhabi tants are amongst the most energetic and industrious, and at the same time the most upright in the whole commonwealth. They have also the advantage of possessing on their seaboard the best harbour in Mexico. Cuernavaca, capital of Morelos, is not a Spanish foundation, as might be supposed from the name, which is a corruption of the Aztec Cuauhnahuac. Communicating directly with Mexico, through a pass running east of the Cerro de Ajusco, this ancient city lies on the Pacific slope about 2,000 feet below the federal capital and consequently in the temperate zone. Its lovely oasis of verdure is enclosed on three sides by profound ravines, and its .climate is one of the mildest and most equable in the republic ; all the plants of West Europe here flourish side by side with those of the. torrid zone. Fernan Cortes made a good choice when he asked for the fief of this valley, where his castle is now replaced by the municipal palace. South-west of this place stands the best-preserved Aztec fortress in the republic, the so-called Xochicalco, or " Castle of Flowers." It occupies an isolated hill 386 feet high, which is encircled by trenches cut in such a way as to form five successive terraces with steps of dressed stone. The whole struc ture presents the appearance of a truncated pyramid, with its four sides exactly facing the cardinal points. Its basaltic porphyry blocks, all brought from a distance, are embellished with hieroglyphics and figures in relief, amongst others those of fantastic animals with human or saurian heads, seated cross-legged, Asiatic fashion. 136 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. The city of Morelos, which, although not the capital, takes the same name as the state, is the ancient Cuautla Amilpas, the "Saragossa" of New Spain, which for several months held out against the united forces of the Spaniards. It enjoys the same delightful climate as Cuernavaca and the neighbouring Yautepec ; here the sugar-cane thrives, and the fruits raised in the district are now forwarded to Mexico by a railway which crosses a saddleback, strewn with Httle volcanoes, at an elevation of 9,730 feet. Morelos, like the other towns of the state, is watered by copious streams flowing to the Bio Mexcala. On a northern affluent of the Mg. 56. — Acapulco Scsle 1 : 120,000. 99° 57 Depths. Oto 5 Fathoms. 5 to 10 Fa horns. 25 to 50 Fathoms. . 3,300 Yards. same river, but in the State of Guerrero, stands the town of Tnxco, whence the Aztecs obtained lead ani tin, and where the Spaniards made their first essays at mining work in New Spain. On another tributary lies the famous Iguala, where in 1821 was issued the "plan" which the belligerents accepted, and which put . an end to the Spanish rule in Mexico. Between Taxco and Cuernavaca Hes the famous Cacahuainilpa cave, whose marvellous galleries, sources of springs and rivers, have already been explored for a distance of six miles. The semicircular roadstead opening east of the Mexcala delta is too much exposed for shipping ; a more favourable anchorage is afforded by the neighbour- GUERRERO, OAXACA. 137 ino- bay of Siguantaneo, some 60 miles north-east of Zacatula. According to the plans of Gorsuch and Jimenez, this should form the Pacific terminus of the Mexcala valley railway, a southern section of the interoceanic line, 450 to 500 miles long, which it is proposed to construct from Tuxpan right across the republic. Chilpancingo, capital of the State of Guerrero, is a small place standing at an altitude of 4,560 feet on the elevated parting-line between the Mexcala valley and the Pacific Ocean. Acapulco, its admirable seaport on the Pacific, has but little traffic. Sailing vessels have ceased to visit it, but it remains a regular port of call for steamers. The harbour, which presents the form of a vast crater breached towards the Pacific, is accessible to the largest vessels, which here find complete shelter. But the fringe of palms and bananas does little to mitigate the intense heat in this pent-up cirque, where the solar rays are reflected from side to side of the surrounding granite cliffs. An opening has been made at great expense through the west side, to give access to the cool sea breezes. Antequera, an old Spanish foundation dating from the year 1522, has resumed the name of the Zapotec fortress of Huaxiacac (Oaxaca), which lies three or four miles farther west. This place, laid out with perfect regularity, is almost un rivalled in Mexico for the beauty of its gardens and the fertility of the surround ing plains. A river bearing the Aztec name of Atoyac, or " Bunning Water," traverses the district, where, at a mean elevation of about 5,000 feet, the plants of both zones are intermingled in endless variety. One of the chief industries of Oaxaca is the spinning and weaving of the fibre extracted from the species of bromelwort known by the name of pita. The whole " valley " of Oaxaca, with a present population of about 150,000 souls, was formerly the private domain of Cortes, whence his title of " Marques del Valle." A few remains of Zapotec structures are seen in the neighbourhood of Oaxaca, especially towards the west, where the city of Huaxiacjc formerly stood on Mount Alban. The ruins of Mitla, the best preserved and according to some travellers the finest in Mexico, lie some 30 miles to the east. Standing midway up the slope of moderately elevated hills, which, like those of Greece, stand out sharply against the horizon, the group of Mitla palaces, with the great pyramid whose temple is now replaced by a Catholic shrine, presents somewhat the aspect of a dilapidated . Acropolis. These edifices may also be compared with the Hellenic monuments of the better epoch in the beauty of their proportions and workman ship. The walls are disposed in great parallelograms arranged in long horizontal bands, all embellished with regular designs, cross lines, lozenges, fretwork in straight or inclined lines, but with scarcely any curves. The waters flowing from Oaxaca, Mitla, and the intervening hills all converge six miles south-east of the capital near the village of Santa Maria del Tule, or of the "Beeds." Trees of colossal size are not rare in this region, and the houses of the village are grouped round the largest of these giants, which was formerly regarded as sacred. It is a sabino, or "cypress" (taxodium mucronatum), which is said to be the largest tree in the whole world ; at least it exceeds in thickness all those of which measurements have been taken. The so-called " Hundred- 138 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. Horse Chestnut" is now divided into three distinct stems, through which a road has been driven ; the dragon-tree of Orotava, which had a girth of 46 feet, has disappeared ; the gigantic sequoias of California were felled in 1855 ; the Mon- travail oak near Saintes is 86 feet round, and the largest baobabs and other African giants are described by Cadamosto, Adanson, and others as from 96 to 112 feet in circumference. But in 1882 the Tule cypress had a girth of no less than 118 feet three or four feet from the ground, and 150 feet including all the prominences and cavities of the trunk. The route from Oaxaca to the sea, leaving on the right the valley of the Kg. 57. — Chief Ruins of Central Mexico. Prale I : 9,000,000. West oF Green 124 Miles. Atoyac, which winds away westwards to the frontiers of Guerrero, runs at an altitude of 7,460 feet over the crest of the Cimaltepec coast range. Near the summit stands the industrial village of Miahuatlan, whose inhabitants are skilful straw- plaiters, which they work into a thousand fancy articles exported far and. wide.' The cochineal industry was formerly the chief resource of the district, but the southern slopes are now covered with coffee plantations which yield excellent results. Hence the cultivation of the shrub has been rapidly developed even to a distance of 40 or 50 miles inland. The high prices obtained by the growers have enabled them to introduce costly machinery for drying and sorting the berry. Thanks to this growing industry Puerto Angel, the badly sheltered outlet OAXACA. 139 of Oaxaca, has acquired some commercial importance since its foundation in 1868. On this coast the best harbour is that of Huatulco (Guatulco, Coatolco), where a channel 650 yards wide gives access to a well-sheltered basin from 25 to 50 feet deep. The little fishing station of Crespon, which collects pearl oysters and the purple-yielding murex, stands on the beach within the harbour. At a neighbour- Fig. 58.— Isthmus of Tehtjantepeo. Scale 1 : 2,600,000. ¦ 95°20 West' or Greenwich -93°20 , 60 Miles. ing headland the sea plunges into a cavernous recess, reappearing farther off in a bufadero, or jet, about 150 feet above the surface. About one-third of the state is drained by the Bivers Papaloapan and Coatza- coalcos, which belong to the Atlantic basin. On this northern slope the chief place is Ixtlan, which lies in a fertile district of the upper Papaloapan valley over against the superb Mount San Felipe. Ixtlan now also bears the name of 140 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. Villa Juarez, from the most distinguished of its citizens, the Juarez who main tained Mexican independence against MaximiHan. In the eastern part of Oaxaca the chief town is Tehuantepec, or "Tiger Mountain," . an old city of the Huabi people, which was founded at an epoch previous to the Zapotec occupation of the land. It is the only place in the district deserving the name of " town," and it is so completely divided into separate quarters by mounds and ridges that it has rather the aspect of a group of villages. In the vicinity are some magnificent palm and orange groves, and gardens yielding choice fruits. While proud of its past, Tehuantepec is still more confident of its future, as controlHng one of the future commercial highways of the world. The railway Eg. 59. — Salina Cruz, the new Port of Tehuantepec. Scale 1 : 60,000. Dep hs. i Oto 5 Fathoms. 5 Fathoms and upwards. — 2,200 Yards. across the isthmus is making rapid progress, and has already surmounted the highest passes of the hills between the two oceans, so that the coffee grown on the Pacific slope is now often forwarded by the overland route, saving several thousand miles between Central America and Europe. About nine miles to the south-west Hes the old port of Tehuantepec, on a badly sheltered bay, which would have to be protected by expensive hydraulic works to make it suitable for its future traffic ; meanwhile choice had to be made of Salina Cruz Bay, where the shipping finds some shelter behind a pier at the terminus of the interoceanic route. East of Tehuantepec, on the strips of sand between the lagoons and the sea, are Gcattered some 3,000 Huabi fishers, the last of a race whose ancestors contended TEHUANTEPEC. 141 with the Mijes and Zapotecs for the supremacy in this region. In the north-east, towards the centre of the isthmus, the two towns of Chimalapa, distinguished by the names of their tutelar saints, are inhabited by the interesting Zoque Indians, who speak a language of unknown origin. Fig. 60. — Minatitlan, Northern Port of Tehuantepec. Scale 1 : 200,000. 94°3S 94"25 Depths. Oto 5 Fathoms. 5 Fathoms and upwards. . 3 Milrs. Minatitlan, on the Coatzacoalcos, at the head of the navigation for ships drawing ten or twelve feet, is the northern or Atlantic port of the isthmus. At present an obscure trading place, it seems destined soon to become a flourishing seaport. It is already connected with the mouth of the Coatzacoalcos by a railway, which is continued southwards in the direction of Tehuantepec. Minatitlan, standing at 142 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST. INDIES. the northern approach to the isthmus, has also been chosen as the junction of the line which is intended to run from Vera Cruz towards Yucatan and Guatemala. The neighbouring town of Jaltipan is dominated by a mound which, according to the local tradition, was raised by Cortes to the memory of Malintzin, or Dona Marina, the Indian woman to whose sagacity and foresight he was probably indebted for the conquest of Mexico. A French and Swiss colony founded in 1828 at Los Almagres survived a few years despite the climate and homesickness. The few remaining settlers were at last dispersed amongst the Mexican towns. A Chinese merchant of San Francisco, owner of extensive estates in the isthmus, has recently introduced a large number of his fellow-countrymen into the same district, where they are employed on the rice and tea plantations. III. — East Mexico. Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeachy, Yucatan. The Chiapas highlands, distinctly separated by the depression of the Tehuan tepec isthmus from the Mexican tablelands, belong evidently to the same natural region as the highlands and plateaux of Guatemala. Both are disposed in a con tinuous chain, with their steep escarpments turned towards the Pacific, while the opposite slopes fall gently northwards towards the alluvial lands of Tabasco and the plains of Yucatan. This peninsula, whose roots are, so to say, sunk in the morasses and branching deltas of Tabasco, projects its huge quadrilateral mass beyond the continental coastline in the direction of Cuba, and is continued by a submerged plateau, which forms geographically a part of that island. Thus the whole of East Mexico from Chiapas to Yucatan constitutes a natural region quite distinct from the rest of the republic, from which it also differs in the origin and history of its inhabitants, both in pre- and post-Columbian times. But in pro portion to its size it is greatly inferior in importance to West Mexico. It is but sparsely peopled, and its great natural resources have scarcely begun to be utilised. The four eastern states have an estimated population of not more than six or eight to the square mile. The natural parting-line of the two regions indicated by the Tehuantepec peninsula was also formerly a political frontier. Under the Spanish rule Chiapas was temporarily attached to the administrative division of Oaxaca in 1776, but for nearly the whole of the three hundred years that elapsed from Alvarado's con quering expedition of 1523 to the proclamation of independence in 1823, Chiapas and the Pacific province of Soconusco were simple dependencies of the viceroyalty of Guatemala. When Guatemala entered the Mexican union, the two dependent provinces also became an integral part of Iturbide's empire. But when Guatemala again asserted its political autonomy, it was unable to recover more than a small part of Soconusco, and the disputed frontier was not determined even in diplo matic documents till the year 1882. Yucatan, also, which had constituted a special division in the viceroyalty of New Spain, became a Mexican province after the proclamation of independence. CHIAPAS. 143 But in 1840 an insurrection was caused by the numerous abuses of the central government. The Mexican garrisons were expellad and the officials deposed ; so unanimous was the public sentiment of the Yucatan people that the change was effected without bloodshed. Two years afterwards a Mexican force of 11,000 men besieged the town of Campeachy, but the besiegers themselves, reduced by battle and fever to a fourth of their original strength, had to capitulate, and the Mexican Government recognised the complete autonomy of Yucatan, which on its part gave a nominal adhesion to the federal union. But after the national victory, discord broke out between the two rival cities of Campeachy and Merida, both of which aspired to the title of capital. Then the Indians themselves, trained to warfare during these incessant struggles in which they had been compelled to take part, seized the opportunity to proclaim their own independence against their white masters. Thus it happened that in order to maintain their exiiteuce and privileges, the white populations had first to settle their own differences, and then come to terms with the Mexican republic. The social war lasted many years, and ended in the triumph of the Indians, who succeeded in maintaining their independence in the southern part of the peninsula. From this district the Mexicans are now excluded, and even European travellers are not allowed to penetrate into the country except under the protection of a native chief. In this direction Yucatan is thus separated from Guatemala by a broad zone of unreduced populations, just as it is separated from Mexico proper by still uninhabited wastes. Physical Features. The mountain range which begins east of the Tehuantepec isthmus and is continued through Guatemala and Central America is more entitled, by ito regularity and relative altitude, to the name of Sierra Madre, which is of such frequent occurrence in Hispano-American lands. The first summits rise abruptly above the forests of the isthmus, where the Atravesado ridge is already 5,000 feet high, and is followed eastwards by several other summits exceeding 6,500 feet. The formation is mainly porphyritic, with volcanic cones appearing at intervals, amongst others the famous Soconusco (7,900 feet), the ancient Xoconochco, which gives its name to the surrounding plains and to the whole southern slope of the State of Chiapas. According to the natives, Soconusco still emits vapours, but no mention is made of eruptions which would appear to have occurred in within comparatively recent times. On the other hand the Indians greatly fear the Tacana volcano, which has been chosen as the common frontier between Mexico and Guatemala. Tacana is a regular cone which, according to Dollfus and De Mont-Serrat, must certainly exceed 11,500 feet. It is nearly always wrapped in smoke, and frequently in a state of eruption. Towards the Pacific the Sierra Madre falls very abruptly, the crest of the range here running at a mean distance of 25 to 30 miles from the shore. On the other hand the Atlantic slope is comparatively gentle, though the declivity is not regular like that of an inclined plane. It is broken by deep valleys and 114 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. rugged chains, which the running waters have carved into isolated masses or irregular ridges, but which are mainly disposed parallel with the Sierra Madre. The central part of Chiapas may be regarded as a hilly plateau, above which rise sharp peaks such as Hueitepec, east of San Cristobal, which is said to be 7,450 feet high. Northwards the plateau has been cut by the streams into rounded hills, which gradually merge in the alluvial plains. Towards the west the plateau terminates above the plains of the isthmus in the superb Mount Gineta. Kg. 61. — Bane of Yucatan Scale 1 : 6,500,000. Depths. 0 to 100 Fathoms. 100 Fathoms and upwards. . 124 Miles. This gently undulating country, covered with woods and diversified with running waters, is one of the finest regions in Mexico. In Yucatan proper there are no mountain ranges ; only in the southern parts of the peninsula towards the Guatemalan and British Honduras frontiers the surface is broken by a few low spurs and offshoots from the orographic systems of those regions. The quadrangular mass limited southwards by a con ventional line drawn across the solitudes from the Terminos to the Chetumal lagoon, is nothing but a huge limestone plateau rising above the surrounding waters, and broken here and there by a few narrow ridges. The mean altitude scarcely exceeds 100 feet, while the highest rising grounds would appear to PHYSICAL FEATURES OF ZUCATAN 145 attain an elevation of not more than 500 feet above the average height of Yucatan. These rising grounds constitute a sort of backbone disposed in the direction from south-east to north-west towards the blunt angle of the peninsula, and connected with a ridge that skirts the west coast of Campeachy. Wooded hills Pig. 62. — Alacran Reef. Scale 1 : 230,000. Pep'hs. Oto 10 Fathoms. 10 Fathoms and upwards. Upheaved Reefs. 3-5 Miles. also run from south-west to north-east in the direction of Cape Catoche. This cal careous mass, forming an almost geometrical square, is continued by a submarine bank far beyond the coastline, except on the east side, which is washed by deep waters where the plummet plunges into depths of several hundred yards within a few cable-lengths of the shore. The large island of Cozumel, with the banks 43 146 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. forming its northern continuation, is separated from the mainland by a profound channel where the waters of a coast current set steadily from south to north at a velocity of two or three miles an hour. South of Cozumel the dangerous Chin- chorro bank, as well as Arrowsmith on the north side, is also a coralline limestone mass rising from the bed of a deep basin ; but the creeks, bays and other inlets on the coast, especially those of Espiritu Santo and Asuncion, are almost completely choked with sands and reefs. The submarine pedestal of Yucatan begins at the north-east angle of the peninsula, and extends over 125 miles northwards, thus embracing the island of Mujeres and the cluster of islets in the vicinity of Cape Catoche. The escarp ment of the submarine bank, as indicated by the sounding line plunging suddenly into depths of 100, 250, 1,000 and even 1,500 fathoms, thus describes a great curve round Yucatan, roughly parallel with the coast. The still-submerged portion is far more extensive than the upheaved peninsula itself, and may be estimated at about 60,000 square miles. Should it ever rise above the surface of the sea, it will present the aspect of an almost horizontal limestone mass, in its general appearance exactly resembling the present peninsula. The numerous cayos (cays or reefs) scattered over this submarine plateau, Alacran, Arenas, Los Triangulos, Areas, are aU coralline rocks similar to those fringing the coast of the mainland, and all have their most active colonies of polypi on the outer face turned towards the surf rolling in from the high seas. It was at the Alacran, or. " Scorpion," Beef that the Valdivia was wrecked in 1511, the crew escaping in a longboat to the Yucatan coast near Cape Catoche. Geronimo de Aguilar, one of the two survivors, afterwards became Cortes' interpreter during the conquest of Mexico. The Arenas cays, near the south-west corner of the bank, consist of a few islets frequented by myriads of aquatic birds and covered with guano. In 1854 the Mexicans first began to work these deposits ; they were followed by the Americans, who claimed to be the first occupants, and on that ground pretended that the cay belonged to the United States. This claim to a bank obviously lying in Yucatan waters gave rise to long diplomatic discussions. Bivees. The fluvial systems of East Mexico present in Chiapas and Yucatan a contrast analogous to that of the relief of these regions. In Chiapas the running waters flow in superabundance on the surface of the ground ; in Yucatan, water has to be sought at great depths in the chasms of the rooks. East of the Bio Tonala, which forms the boundary between the States of Vera Cruz and Tabasco, the whole of the Atlantic slope as far as Yucatan belongs to the two united basins of the Grijalva and Usumacinta, which rise in the same district on the Guatemalan uplands and enter the Gulf of Mexico through the same channel. The Grijalva, which flows under several different names at different parts of its circular course, has its chief sources in the province of Huehuetenango, and the1 town of this name is itself watered by one of its headstreams. After entering Mexican territory THE USUMACINfA. 147 it is joined in quick succession by most of its upper affluents, and here it takes the name of Bio Grande or Bio de Chiapa, from the town standing on its banks. In this part of its course it falls in a steep incline through a series of rapids and cascades, and near Chiapa suddenly/ plunges into a rocky chasm whence it escapes at a much lower level farther down. Where it becomes navigable it describes a great bend towards the west under the name of the Bio Mezcalapa, and on reaching the low-lying plains only a few yards above sea-level, it assumes its Fig. 63. — The Usumacinta. — View taken at the Paso Yalchilan, on the Guatemalan Frontier. "¦•asset official title of Grijalva from the navigator by whom it was discovered in the year 1519. But the natives have preserved the old name of Tabasco, which Bernal Diaz learnt from the Indians during the same expedition. On reaching the alluvikl plains the main stream begins to ramify in various directions, throwing off some branches seawards, others to the Usumacinta, which is much the larger of the two rivers. The Usumacinta, less known than the Grijalva because traversing a very 148 . MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. sparsely peopled region, also receives its first contributions fiom the "altos," or uplands, of Guatemala. According to Bras eur de Bourbourg, the Bio Blanco, the main headstream, soon after the Bio Negro confluence trends at first eastwards in the direction of Honduras Bay. But after changing its name ten times accord ing to the tribes settled on its banks, the Bio Chixoy or Lacandon, as it is here usually called, turns north and north-west to its confluence beyond the uplands with the Bio de la Pasion, a yellowish stream from the border range3 south of British Honduras. It mostly flows sluggishly between its wooded banks, but during the rainy season it floods its banks and at times rises 50 feet above low- water level. Below the confluence the united stream takes the name of Usumacinta, under which it is indicated in the diplomatic conventions, according to which it has been chosen for a space of nearly 70 miles as the common frontier of Mexico and Guatemala. Navigable by canoes throughout a great part of its upper course, the Usumacinta pierces the last range of hills by a series of gorges and rapids which obstruct all navigation by large craft. This section, where the stream is contracted between vertical walls, takes the name of Boca del Cerro, or "Mouth of the Mountain." The people employed in felling mahogany and cedar in this district mark the blocks and throw them into the current, by which they are carried from rapid to rapid down to Tenosique. Here the stream resumes its placid course, and is soon joined by the Bio San Pedro from Lake Peten in Guatemala. The waters of this affluent are so thoroughly saturated with carbonate of lime that the snags arrested by the reefs are rapidly petrified and thus form bars athwart the stream. Beyond the confluence the Usumacinta follows a winding course through the flat plains, till the first branches of the delta begin to ramify from the main stream some 60 miles above the Gulf. Some of these branches trend north-eastwards towards the Terminos lagoon, some flow straight to the sea, while others intermingle their waters with branches from the Grijalva and from the secondary affluents of the twin river. Including the channels discharging into the Terminos lagoon, the face of the delta has a development of about 125 miles, while all the ramifica tions occupy a space that may be estimated at 6,000 square miles. Scarcely any other fluvial basin of like size has created such an extensive accumulation of sedi mentary matter in the waters of a marine inlet. The Barra de Tabasco, or principal channel, lies about the middle of the delta region, and has a depth of from seven to ten feet according to the seasons. This channel is deepest during the prevalence of the north winds, especially in the dry season. During the floods, when the sea is covered with a yellowish water for a distance of 35 miles from the coast, the bar is considerably raised by the sediment brought down with the flood waters, so that at such times vessels drawing no more than six or seven feet will not always venture to force the obstruction. The San Pedro, another branch of the delta lying farther east, although shallower, is more constant. The deepest, but also one of the most shifting, passages is that of Chil- tepec in the east, where the sounding-line occasionally reveals a depth of thirteen feet. Here is discharged the Bio Seco, or " Dry Biver," which is supposed to have RIVERS OF TABASCO. 149 been the chief brunch when these coasts were surveyed by Grijalva. In the inte rior of Tabasco the Grijalva and Usumacini a present in their numerous ramifying branches a collective navigable water-system several hundred miles long even in the dry season. In 1840, 1843, and 1845, Texan, Yucatan, and American flotillas of war easily penetrated into the Grijalva as far as the landing-stage of San Juan Bautista, the capital, over 80 miles above the bar. The Usumacinta also is navi gable during the floods for nearly 200 mile= from its mouth, while Hght river- craft ascend still farther above the rapids. In a region of loose, soft soil changes are necessarily frequent, every inundation Fig. 64. -Mouths of the G-rijalva and Usumacinta. Scile 1 : 2.000 000. 93'40 92o40 West of Greenwich Depths. Oto 10 Fathoms. 10 Fathoms and upwards. — 30 Miles. modifying the aspect of the land. When the streams rise and overflow their banks a great part of the State of Tabasco is laid under water. A space of about 2,000 square miles within the fixed coastline disappears regularly during the winter floods. A first rise caused by the summer rains takes place towards the end of June, but it is usually of short duration, and is followed after an interval of three months by the second rise, which usually begins in October and lasts till March, or for about half the year. During this period all land travelling becomes impos sible, and the inhabitants move about by water. But almost every channel and ISO MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. backwater offers them a passage through the forests. Thousands of such channels, flowing now one way, now another, according to the currents of the affluent rivers, cover the whole country with an endless network of navigable waterways masked from view by the floating masses of nympheas and other aquatic plants. The Terminos lagoon, which receives a portion of the Usumacinta waters through the branch known as the Bio Palizada, and which is also fed by several other streams, such as the Chumpan, Candelaria, and Mamantel, is an eastern continua tion of the low- lying plains of Tabasco. An upheaval of a few yards would suffice to expose its sandb mks and change its navigable channels to stagnant waters. The shore line, which will serve as a rampart for the future lands now being gradually created by the fluvial deposits, already exists in the chain of the two long islands, Aguada and Carmen, which close the entrance of the lagoon, leaving only three passages for vessels of light draught. The Puerto Escondido, or "Hidden Port," as the eastern channel is called, is only a few inches deep on the sill, and this depth is seldom increased to three or four feet even by the tides, except when accompanied by strong sea winds. The insular spits are merely sandy beaches rising scarcely six or seven feet above sea-level, so that a few miles from land nothing is seen except the continuous line of trees behind which stretch the still waters of the inland lugoon. On different mips the contour lines of this lagoon are differently figured ; they differ, in fact, according to the seasons, the winds and the quantity of sediment washed down by the affluents. On the north side the sheet of water is continued parallel with the shore for a distance of some 60 miles. This extension of the lagoon is merely a Brackish channel gradually narrowing towards its northern extremity, where it is nothing more than a feeble seaward passage occupying the bed of an old inlet on the coast. The lagoon received the name of Terminos in 1518 from the pilot Antonio de Alaminos, who supposed that the " island " of Yucatan " terminated " at this point. Farther north as far as the neighbourhood of Campeachy a few small coast streams reach the sea. But beyond that place all the rainwater rapidly dis appears in the porous limestone soil ; not a single rivulet it visible, although there exist in the interior a few lacustrine basins, formed probably in the depressions where more close-grained rocks approach the surface. Such is, towards the middle of the peninsulu, the brackish Lake Chichankanab, which stretches north and south a distance of about fifteen miles. Other smaller sheets of water are scattered over the north-eastern district and, according to native report, lagoons are also numerous towards the neck of the peninsula west of British Honduras. But neither rivers, springs, nor any surface waters are seen in the more densely- peopled central, north western, and northern districts, where nothing occurs except some morasses tem porarily flooded during the rainy season. The moisture, however, is coUected in the bowels of the earth above the impermeable rocks, and, thanks to the natural galleries occurring here and there, the inhabitants are able to reach these under ground reservoirs, from which they draw their supplies. In these deep cavities the water does not appear to flow as in subterranean rivers, but rather spreads out in vast basins which communicate with one another through THE CENOTES OF YUCATAN. 151 endless channels, while the whole liquid mass filters slowly in the direction of the sea. Some of the labyrinthine underground streams are inhabited by crocodiles as well as by the teh (momotus), a species of bird with silken plumage and tail made of two long feathers. The caverns, or cenotes, a word borrowed by the Spaniards from the Maya language, increase in depth as the land recedes from the coast and rises to a higher level above the sei. At Merida they lie from 25 to 30 feet below the sur face, and each house has its well sunk far enough to tap the reservoir. Farther Fig. 65. — Tbeminos Lagoon. Scale 1 : 1,400,000. West op Greenwich Depths. 0 to 10 Fathoms. 10 Fathoms and upwards. . 30 Miles. north-west of Merida and Valladolid, that is, in the direction of the sea, the basins lie nearer to the surface, so that the distance from the coast may be estimated by the depth to which the wells have to be sunk to reach the reservoirs. . On the coast itself the water bubbles up at the shore line, where it mingles with the tides amid the mangrove bushes. This natural distribution of the water, so different from what occurs in other regions, is the essential feature in the physical geography of Yucatan. The fluid is nowhere to be seen, yet its effects are everywhere manifest in the well-irrigated grounds and the sanitary condition of the houses. Morning and evening long processions of women pass up and down the steps leading to the 152 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. cenotes. Through the increasing gloom they follow the inclines excavated obliquely in the rocky wall until they reach the vaults from which hang stalactites entwined by long pendent algae. Here they fill their large pitchers with the dark fluid, which has to be brought laboriously to the surface. The work entailed on the women is perhaps heaviest at the cenote of Bolonchen, or the " Nine Springs," a ruined village lying north-east of Campeachy on the road to Merida. Here the deep cavity is reached through fissures in the rock and spiral stairs forming a gallery altogether nearly 550 yards long and descending to an absolute depth of about 410 feet below the surface of the ground. The form of the coast-line along the northern seaboard of the peninsula may Fig. 66.— The Rio of Yucatan. Scale 1 : 4,000.000. Depths. Oto 50 Fathoms. 60 Fathoms and upwards. ¦ 60 Miles. be partly explained by the pressure of the inland waters spreading out beneath the surface of the limestone plateau. A strip of land fringes the shore at the north-east corner of Yucatan, but it has not the free development of the littoral cordons skirting the Texas and Tamaulipas coasts on the opposite side of the Gulf. It is disposed in a narrow band near the true shore-line, the outer and inner beaches presenting the same curves with a surprising parallelism. It becomes somewhat less regular towards the eastern extremity, where it is inter- rnpted at several points, and even forms the large island of Holbox facing the Boca del Conil ("Babbit's Mouth"), a considerable inlet, where extremely copious springs bubble up amid the marine waters about a quarter of a mile from the coast. The normal cordon, beginning west of this inlet, runs for a distance of THE RIO OF YUCATAN. 153 170 miles, broken only by two narrow passages facing two streamlets — exceptional phenomena on this part of the seaboard. The narrow channel separating the mainland from its shifting outer beach is known by various names, such as laguna, pantano, tierra fangosa, but is more commonly called the rio, or river, or even the Bio Lagartos, " Crocodile Biver." At first sight this term "river" would seem to be scarcely justified by a long channel, which during the dry season is interrupted at several points. It is crossed not only by fords, but even by tracks and now by roads and railway embankments, and here and there by a tangle of bushy growths, leaving of the rio nothing but narrow stretches of meres or lagoons. Numerous springs reappear in the open sea, but the channel itself receives most of the overflow from the underground reservoirs, and the sediment brought down from these sources suffices to maintain the rampart of sands and broken coral reefs by which the marine waters are kept at some distance from the shore. At the north-west corner of Yucatan the fringing sandy cordon curves round southwards with almost geometrical regularity, terminating near a point of the coast known by the name of Desconocida. This double shore-line coincides with that of the marine current, which skirts the beach from east to west, and which here meets a counter- current setting from the coasts of Tabasco and Campeachy under the action of the northern winds. At the point where they clash the two marine currents develop a strong whirlpool, by which the shore is eroded. A study of the Yucatan seaboard gives the impression that the peninsula has been gradually formed and continues to increase by these outer strips of sund, shells, and coral reefs successively added to the mainland. Climate, Flora, Fauna. As in their relief and hydrographic systems, Chiapas and Yucatan differ also in their climates, though to a less extent, for both , regions are comprised within the torrid zone with a temperature approaching the equatorial mean. The Chiapas slope facing the Pacific lies entirely within the play of the alternating monsoons. - The north and north-east winds prevail in winter from November to April, while the vendaval, or south wind, that is, the monsoon proper, dominates in summer from May to October, when the sun is at the zenith. Nevertheless the normal atmospheric currents are subject to disturbances, by which they are frequently replaced by winds blowing from different points of the compass. Both their direction and force are, in fact, endlessly modified by the inequalities of relief, the varying trend and outlines of the rising grounds. As a rule, dry weather and clear skies prevail in winter, while the summer monsoon is accom panied by rains, thunderstorms, and tornadoes. Yucatan is mainly exposed to the action of the north-east trade wind, but the almost exclusively limestone formation destitute of surface waters becomes during the hot season a focus of attraction for all the surrounding sea breezes. Stimulated by the intense solar heat dur.ng the day, these winds follow the course ma*. 154 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. of the sun round the horizon. The regular trades are also frequently interrupted by the fierce gales coming from the north, that is, from the Texan and Mississippi plains. The driest months are March, April and May, when showers are extremely rare. But, as in Chiapas, this dry season is immediately followed by torrential downpours and thunderstorms, lasting till November, when the almost rainless regular winds again set in. The year might thus be divided into three periods, a dry, a wet, and a windy season. For Europeans the Yucatan climate is one of the most dangerous in the Gulf. Yellow fever often sweeps away numerous victims ; but still more dreaded is consumption, which is both endemic and hereditary, aHke fatal to those con stitutionally predisposed and to persons enjoying good health and strength. Mexican soldiers, removed as a punishment to the peninsula, consider themselves foredoomed to death. In Tabasco, a watery region where the people live as much afloat as on dry land, the prevailing epidemic is marsh fever. In this moist land consumption, the scourge of the dry Yucatan plateau, is almost unknown. Both the flora and the fauna of Chiapas and Yucatan belong to the same zone as those of south Mexico, with the addition of various forms characteristic of Central America. This southern region, intermediate between Mexico proper and the isthmuses, nowhere presents any desert wastes, and the vegetation is extremely luxuriant in many places, even on the slopes of the Soconusco Mountains and the neighbouring coastlands, where the rainfall is far from copious. Tree ferns, the cacao and other plants requiring much moisture and a constantly humid atmosphere, grow vigorously, while on the lowlands rice thrives without irrigation. The scanty rainfall is here supplemented by the moisture percolating below the surface from the rising grounds. Even the arid limestone plains of Yucatan are clothed with a stunted vegetation ; very different, however, from the magnificent forest growths festooned with lianas, which cover the fertile districts of Chiapas and Tabasco. Little is seen except thorny scrub and cactus or agave thickets, without any of the large species which, on the Anahuac uplands, grow to a height of over 30 feet. Here the rain-water dis appears too rapidly in the porous limestone to nourish a rich vegetation. Amongst the plants peculiar to Chiapas and Yucatan, and not found in Mexico proper, there are many trees and dyewoods, such as mahogany and campeachy, or logwood (hivmatoxylon campechianum) . The former is. even more common in various parts of Central America than in Tabasco, while the latter is exclusively confined to the region from which it takes its ordinary name. In favourable localities this hard-grained plant sometimes attains a height of from 40 to 45 feet. Amongst the more remarkable members of the Chiapas fauna is the "snuff box " tortoise, which has its lower shell furnished at both ends with two appen dices enabHng it to shut itself completely up and defy all enemies. Inhabitants. Like that of Anahuac, the population of East Mexico is very mixed, although the indigenous element is here relatively greater. The Nahuas proper are repre- THE MAYAS. 155 sented in Soconusco along the historic route by which the Aztecs in comparatively recent times migrated from Anahuac to Nicaragua. The warlike Chiapanec nation still survives in the north-west part of the state which from them takes the name of Chiapas. The more numerous but less cultured Tzendals, Tzotzils, and Quelens ("Bats") occupy the forest regions comprised between the Tehuantepec depression and the Guatemalan frontier. Lastly, the numerous nomad or settled groups belong to the same family as those of west Guatemala — Lacandons and Chontals in the north, Chols and Chaiiabals in the centre, Mames in the south. They all appear to be connected by language, primitive usages, and traditions with the cultured Mayas of Yucatan, the most advanced representatives of this ethnical division The Mayas held out more valiantly against the Spaniards than the Aztecs ; they would also appear to have reached a higher degree of civilisation than the Nahuas in pre-Columbian times. Although never actually visited by Columbus, he had, nevertheless, heard of their fame. The work of extermination, as described by Las Casas and Diego de Landa, resulted in the almost total dis appearance of the Maya race ; which, however, has gradually revived and even preserved the national speech. Those acquainted with Spanish are said to abstain from speaking it, and Maya is still generally current in all the rural districts except in the neighbourhood of Campeachy. In the inland provinces the descendants of the Spaniards have to a large extent forgotten their mother tongue, and in Yucatan the conquerors may be said to have themselves been conquered. Even in Merida everybody is obliged to learn Maya in order to hold inter course with the macegnales (mazehuatl), as the natives are called. The Spaniards and Mestizoes are represented chiefly in the towns and southern parts of Chiapas which are traversed by the more-frequented highways between Mexico and Guatemala. The half-caste Maya-Spanish race is one of the finest in America, and the women especially are remarkable for their personal charms. It is noteworthy that the Indian type of features is perpetuated from generation to generation. However white the complexion miy become, the Yucatec Mestizo always preserves certain Maya traits by which he may be at once recognised. The range of the Maya language, which embraces the Huaxtec territory in the State of Vera Cruz, extends far beyond the frontiers of Yucatan, for it comprises nearly the whole of Tabasco, a part of Chiapas, and about half of the Guatemalan republic. According to their own traditions the Mayas reached the peninsula from opposite directions, from east and west, from the sea and the mainland. A god had guided them across the ocean, and it is certain that they were acquainted with navigation. They had even decked vessels, which probably hoisted sails, and voluntary or involuntary voyages frequently took place between Yucatan and the island of Cuba. Once established in the peninsula the Mayas long remained its peaceful rulers. In a region lying apart from the regular highway of migrations along the Pacific coast they had nothing to fear from invading hosts. At the time of its greatest expansion the Aztec empire was conterminous with Mayaland only at its south east extremity, and the Nahuas had scarcely any knowledge of Yucatan, where the more cultured part of the nation was settled. 156 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. The Mayas, properly so called, are of mean stature with robust bony frames, round head, delicate hands and feet, and great staying power. The branch of the Maya group dwelling in the Tabasco forests, and known as Chontals, or " Savages," a name implying that they had remained aliens to the civilisation of their Yucatec kindred, are a remarkably frugal people. A few roots or bananas with a little maize suffice to maintain them for days together under the hardest work as porters or boatmen. Their costume is extremely simple, being limited to drawers and a shirt worn as a blouse. In Yucatan the dress of the men is the same as that of the Spaniards ; but the Maya women, more faithful to the national usages, have preserved the pre-Columbian fashions. The Mayas are a gentle, inoffensive people, and a market-day in a Yucatan town presents an almost unique spectacle in the quiet demeanour, courtesy, and mutual goodwill of buyers and sellers. Like all other cultured Indians, the Mayas call themselves Catholics, though mingling with their private worship certain rites which they have assuredly not learnt from the Spaniards. Thus, after burials, they mark with chalk the path leading from the grave to the house, so that when the time comes to enter the body of some new-born babe, the deceased may not mistake the way to his former dwelling. From this it is evident that, despite the teaching of the Church, the doctrine of metempsychosis still survives amongst them. They have also preserved the old lore regarding the healing art and the stars. Many astrologers still observe the conjunctions of the constellations, predicting from them the public and private events of life, the results of the harvests, and similar forecastings. Every village has its "cunning man," who reads the future in a quartz crystal globe. Before the disastrous war of 1847, nearly every village had also its Chilan- Balam Book, that is, the " Interpreter of Oracles," and of this work at least sixteen copies are still known to exist. Amongst the natives are certain priests, either very complacent or else very ignorant of the orthodox rites, for they celebrate with the people the misa milpera, or " field Mass," at which a cock is sacrificed, the four cardinal points being first sprinkled with some fermented liquor, with invocations both to the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity and to the Pah ah tun, that is, the four patrons of the rain and the crops. These tutelar deities have, however, taken Christian names, the Bed, or God of the East, having become St. Dominic ; the White, or God of the North, St. Gabriel ; the Black, or God of the West, St. James ; and the " Yellow Goddess " of the South, Mary Magdalene. The Maya language, at once guttural and sonorous, and pleasant, especially in the mouth of the women, appears to be the purest member of the linguistic family whose various other branches — Tzendal, Lacandon, Quiche (Kachiquel) — are spoken between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific seaboard. These various dialects, however, differ from each other merely in the admixture of foreign words and a certain variation in the pronunciation and in the final syllables. Pure Maya is at present spoken only in the north-east part of the country round about ValladoHd and Tizimin. A striking proof of the persistence of the Maya genius is afforded by the THE MAYAS. 157 geographical nomenclature of Yucatan, nearly all the native names having been preserved despite Spanish influences. The term Yucatan, which has prevailed Fig. 67. — Maya Youths. over the Spanish Isla. de Santa Maria de los Remedios, is itself of Maya origin, though its exact meaning is somewhat, doubtful. It probably arose from a mis understanding on the part of the Spanish navigators when enquiring after the 158 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. name of the peninsula. According to Bishop Landa, apostle of the Mayas, the usual description was Ulumit Cuz el Etel Cet, that is, " Turkey and Deer Land." Mayapan, the name of the ancient capital, was also frequently applied to the whole peninsula, and Maya, the name of the people, would appear to have previously been given to the country. This word, Ma-ay-ha, is said appropriately enough to mean " Waterless Land." As amongst the Aztecs, the fanatical conquistadores endeavoured to efface everything recalling the national religion. Manuscripts of priceless value were thrown to the flames, the idols and sculptures ruthlessly destroyed. Nevertheless, a few traditions have survived of pre-Columbian times, and by their aid the learned have endeavoured to reconstitute the political history of the Maya nation for the two or three hundred years preceding the conquest. The first legendary personages in Yucatan history, at once gods, heroes, and founders of empires, are Votan and Zamna, who were partly confused together in the popular imagination, and to whom were attributed all the national institutions, as well as all inventions made since the beginning of the world. After them came Cukulcan, another mythical ruler, identified by archaeologists with the Mexican Quetzalcoatl and with the Guatemalan Gucumatz, the " Feathered Serpent," whose history coincides, in fact, with that of this Aztec and Quiche demi-god. Hence there can scarcely be any doubt that the epoch personified by the Maya hero represents an interval during which the influence of the Northern Nahuas was dominant in the peninsula. Then followed other conquerors, apparently from the south, though their very name, Tutul Xiu, would seem to imply that they also were Nahuas. According to the national legend, they reigned as many as eleven centuries over Mayaland, and it was probably under their rule that were erected the remarkable monuments of Yucatan. Despite incessant wars and local revolutions involving the destruc tion of many cities, this dynasty still held sway in a part of the territory at the time of the Spanish- invasion. The first Spanish navigators had already been struck by the numerous monu ments of Maya architecture, which were afterwards mentioned by all writers speaking of this region. But during the present century no attempt was made till after 1830 to systematically examine and describe these astonishing ruins. Uxmal was first visited and described by Zavala in 1835, and its remains were soon after studied and illustrated by Frederick von Waldeck. But public interest was first awakened by the traveller, Stephens, and the painter, Catherwood, who together twice explored the land, and whose writings* may be regarded as the starting-point for the archaeological study of Yucatan. Since that time the ruined cities have been frequently visited, amongst others, by M. Charnay, whose work acquired exceptional value from the magnificent photographs, by which the accuracy of previous drawings could be judged. Over sixty groups of extensive ruins are already known ; but it is impossible to say how many more may still exist in the unexplored territory of the independent * Stephens, Incidents of Travel in Yucatan ; Catherwood, Views of Ancient Monuments in Central America. THE MONUMENTS OF YUCATAN. 159 Mayas. Certain archaeologist^, proud of being amongst the first to draw attention to the splendid structures of Chiapas and Yucatan, did not fail to extol their magnificence, and even to compare them with the temples of Fgypt and Greece. Such praise was certainly not justified, for the Maya buildings lack elegance of proportion, sobriety of ornamentation, nobiHty and perfection in their sculp tures. Nevertheless, their vast size, massive character, and lavish wealth of carvings attest a civiHsation far superior to that of many civilised peoples in the Old World. Most of the Yucatan structures stand either on natural eminences or on artificial terraces. They are usually found in the vicinity of cenotes, or even built over these underground reservoirs, which were at all times places held in Fig. 68.— Chief Ruins of Yucatan. Scale 1 : 4,200,000. 90"30 . 60 tnles. veneration by the surrounding populations. The monuments usually face the cardinal points, but not with astronomic accuracy, and the parts are rarely disposed in correct order, having apparently been erected without any general plan. Some archaeologists have assigned a vast antiquity to these remains, attributing them to peoples who had already disappeared at the time of the conquest. But this opinion is no longer held, and is in fact refuted by tradition and internal evidence. According to the testimony both of the Spanish conquerors and of the national chronicles, the Mayas continued to use the temples for religious purposes down to the second half of the sixteenth century. Nearly all the Yucatan buildings affect the pyramidal form, temples and palaces alike rising from a broad base through a series of receding steps to the crowning structure on the summit. Such structures were absent from some of the pyramids, which in that case were 160 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. truncated, the free space on the upper terrace forming an altar open to the heavens, where the sacrificing priests celebrated their rites in the presence of the assembled multitudes. None of these massive piles were carried to any great elevations — so as, for instance, to overtop the largj forest trees. The highest pyramids fell short of 100 feet; but in some instances the base covered a vast spice, that of Zayi, near Uxmal, presenting a periphery of over 1,500 feet. According to Viollet le Due, one of the most remarkable architectural triumphs of the Maya builders was the employment of mortar to cement the layers of stone in a solid rock, modelling and carving the cement itself with figures and ornamental designs. Mortar, cement, plaster, stucco, all was made of sand and lime mixed in different proportions, but always hard as stone. Made with nearly pure hydraulic lime, it is so thoroughly adhesive both in the mass and when applied as a surface coating, that it can scarcely be chipped off by the hammer. Tn the Yucatan buildings and round about very little pottery and instruments have been found, although such objects are usually met in abundance in historic and prehistoric stations. Idols also have rarely been brought to light, doubtless because they were mostly hidden away by the natives after the arrival of the Spaniards, who destroyed all images they could lay their hands upon. But the walls are sometimes found completely covered with sculptures and figures in bas- relief. The type of such figures is the same as that of the present natives, especially the eastern Lacandons, except that it is highly exaggerated, especially in the temples of Palenque. Beceding forehead and arched nose were regarded as marks of nobility, and such features were naturally given to human or divine images held up to the veneration of the people. There is in any case reason to believe that in those times, as well as at present, the heads of the children were artificially deformed by the Maya women. Symbolic animals, especially the serpent, embellish the walls, on which are also seen ornaments in the form of elephants' trunks. From this it has been hastily concluded that the Maya sculptors were acquainted with that animal, and consequently that they had received their first lessons from masters of Asiatic origin. Some of the bas-reliefs represent social scenes ; but nowhere have been discovered warlike subjects, such as those covering the walls of the Assyrian palaces and Egyptian temples. Hence the Maya would appear to have been in the enjoyment of profound peace when the monuments of their great artistic epoch were erected. The almost total absence of fortifications round their cities and buildings also attests the tranquil condition of the land, and the peaceful character of its inhabitants. At present all these grey carvings intermingled on the crumbling walls, such as those of Uxmal some 350 feet long, seem to be merged in a chaos of indistinct forms. But they were formerly relieved by fresh colours— yellow, red, white, and black — sharply contrast ing one with the other, and presenting a mystic or historic subject understood by all. The "calculiform" hieroglyphics, so named from their contours, usually rounded like those of calculi or pebbles, are all arranged in long lines like the written characters of a book, and undoubtedly served as the explanatory text of the associated carvings. These writings still remain undeciphered, but may TOPOGRAPHY OF CHIAPAS. 161 possibly one day reveal the history of the people by whom the buildings were erected. At least they may explain the purposes of edifices which are at present designated under fantastic Spanish names. A clue may also thus be obtained to determine their date, at present a subject of interminable discussion amongst archaeologists. The same characters were also reproduced on textiles and on bark, and such manuscripts could be either rolled up or bound together in thin volumes. But hieroglyphic documents in the Maya language are extremely rare. Four only are preserved in European collections ; nor has their interpretation been yet facilitated by the discovery of any bilingual inscription, such as the Bosetta stone and the Bisutun cuneiform tables, which served to unravel the mystery of the Egyptian hieroglyphics and the Persian and Mesopotamian cuneiform writings. Yet the Spanish priests were acquainted with a Maya alphabet, and the manuscript possessed by one of these missionaries has even been recovered * The only infor mation still extant on the nature of the Yucatan writing system is contained in this work, which belonged to the fanatical bishop, Diego de Landa, who threw to the flames hundreds of manuscripts found in the temples. Landa's book explains only some sixty of several thousand signs, and as each sign may be replaced by others having the same meaning though differently formed, it is obvious that no translation is at present possible Topography. Being separated from the interior of Chiapas by a coast range running close to the shore, and crossed neither by great trade routes nor by railways, the groups of habitations situated on the Pacific seaboard naturally possess but slight commer cial importance ; nor are there any good harbours on this coast to attract shipping. Nevertheless such is the fertility of the soil and the excellence of its produce that Soconusco has already acquired a high reputation in the foreign markets. Here the most frequented seaports are Tonala and San Benito, or Soconusco, both accessible to vessels of light draught through dangerous pissages which communi cate with long coast lagoons. Although the nearest port to the capital of Chiapas, Tonala has a yearly trade of less than £40,000 ; in the neighbourhood are two hills scarcely surpassed in the whole world for their wealth of iron ores. San Benito, which exports the cacao of Soconusco, has nearly double the trade of Tonala, and it cannot fail to acquire a rapid development when the railway is opened to Tapachula, on the slopes of the Soconusco Mountains near the Guatemala frontier. Union Juarez, founded a few years ago close to the border at an altitude of 4,300 feet, is the centre of the Chiapas coffee plantations ; Chiapa de los Indios, the ancient capital of the Chiapanec nation, which has given its name to the whole province, lies on the Atlantic slope in the valley of the Grijalva. Above the present town and its numerous ruins stands a bluff crowned with the remains of the Chiapa Nan- duime fortress, behind whose ramparts the Chiapanec warriors defied the attacks of the Aztec forces. BEere also they long held out against the Spaniards and, * Daniel G. Briuton, The Books of Chilan-Salam. 44 162 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. when reduced to the last extremity, the survivors, to the numbsr of 2,000, threw themselves with their wives and children over the precipice. A few miles west of Chiapa, in a lateral valley of the Grijalva, lies the little town of Tuxtla, which was for a few years made the capital of the state to punish the rebellious inhabitants of San Cristobal Las Casas, the present capital. This place stands on the site of the old Indian city of Ghouel or Hue-Zacatlan. It has received its present designation of Las Casas in honour of the valiant defender of the Indians, Bartholomew de Las Casas, bishop of Chiapas. Beyond the Anahuac plateau San Cristobal is the highest city in Mexico, though the estimates of its altitude vary from 6,240 to 7,000 feet. San Juan Bautista, formerly Villa Hermosa, capital of Tabasco, is a small place occupying an opening in the extensive forest which covers the whole of the delta region. It is connected by a short railway with the Grijalva, and thus com mands the magnificent system of navigable waterways ramifying over a district many hundred square miles in extent, reaching from the delta to the neck of the Yucatan peninsula. Though at present destitute even of carriage roads, the capital is destined in the near future to become a converging- point for the railways running north, east and south towards Mexico, Yucatan and Guatemala. Its outlet on the Atlantic is the port of Frontera (Guadalupe), on the right bank of the Grijalva. The Usumacinta, which joins the Grijalva above Frontera, has no towns in the part of its vast basin comprised within the Mexican States of Chiapas, Tabasco and Campeachy. Palenque, or the . " Palisade," the best-known place in this region, is a mere village lying at an altitude of about 350 feet on one of the last slopes of the plateau limited by the alluvial plains of the Usumacinta. Palenque, founded during the second half of the sixteenth century under the patronage of Santo Domingo, soon acquired great importance as a centre of the transit trade and converging-point of the numerous tracks around the low-lying plains with their ramifying system of countless canals. Despite its isolated position in the midst of forests, it also became during the last century the chief station for caravans journeying between Guatemala and Campeachy. But the shifting of the trade routes has again consigned it to solitude. About ten miles south-west of Palenque lie the imposing ruins of a forest- grown city whose very name has perished, though supposed to have been either Nachan or Colhuacan, the " Serpent City." The inhabitants of Palenque were unaware of its existence till the middle of the last century, when the ruins were accidentally discovered in 1746. Their systematic exploration began in 1773, and since that time they have been frequentty visited, described, and reproduced in drawings and photographs. But great ravages, have been made by the damp climate, the rank vegetation, the fires kindled in the midst of the ruins to clear the ground for tillage, the eagerness of explorers to enrich public museums or their private collections, by ignorant travellers carrying off souvenirs of their visit, and even by the wanton love of destruction. The largest structure, known as the palacio, appears to have really been a " palace " of some kind, or the residence of a religious communitj, but certainly not a temple, for it is divided into PALENQUE— TULHA. 163 a large number of chambers, passages, and apartments of all kinds. Like all the other monuments, it stands on a raised platform, which takes the usual shape of a truncated pyramid. One of the facades shows a row of pillars supporting a projecting architrave of a highly original design. The walls of this edifice are covered with sculptures, while in another was found the famous " Greek cross," symbol of the " tree of life," or of " fecundity," which has given rise to so much discussion amongst archaeologists. South-west of Palenque, about midway on the road to San Cristobal, capital of Chiapas, in an upland valley watered by a western affluent of the Usumacinta, are grouped the houses of Ococingo, whose name has also been assigned to an ancient city lying five miles farther east. By the Indians Fig. 69.— Rums in the Lacandon and Tzendal Cotjnteies. Scale 1 : 2,800.000. . 60 Miles. this place is called Tonila, that is, " Stone Houses," and the ruins are said, on pure conjecture, to be those of Tulha, ancient capital of the southern Toltecs. Amongst them was discovered a plaster , carving, whose perfectly Egyptian expression greatly surprised Stephens, Catherwood, and Brasseur de Bourbourg. It takes the form of a medallion with large wings spread out above the porch of a palace. In the whole district between Ococingo. and Palenque the hills and mountains are crowned with sepulchral mounds, and according to the inhabitants of the country, other magnificent structures are hidden away amongst the hills of Tumbala, and farther south in the direction of San Cristobal and Comitan. One of these unknown cities in the Lacandon territory was lately discovered on the left bank of the Usumacinta, in a district which must have been frequently 164 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. visited by the Guatemalan and Campeachy traders. But all reference to these ruins of Menche were of the vaguest character till the year 1868, when they were first distinctly mentioned by Suarez. Since then they have been visited by Bockstroh in 1881, by Maudslay and Charnay in 1882, and the last-mentioned traveller gave them the name of Lorillard City, in honour of the American citizen who defrayed the expenses of his expedition. The ruined city stands on a head land encircled by the river below its confluence with the Ococingo, and above the series of rapids extending all the way to Tenosique. Some heaps of stones near the shore look like the hutment of a broken bridge, but they are meraly the remains of a sustaining wall at the base of the amphitheatre of houses and temples. To their very summit the escarpments are cut into flights of steps, or else faced with masonry, with large trees now growing through the cracks and fissures ; al! the building materials exactly resemble those of Palenque. The largest temple, the facade of which is partly overgrown with interlaced branches and foliage, is disposed in three receding storeys, where traces are still preserved of the original stucco coating and paintings ; the topmost storey is arranged in little regular square niches, each of which was decorated with sculptures. Qne of the lintels represents two figures supporting " Latin crosses," and in the court is seen an idol sitting cross-legged, the hands resting on the inees, and the face .crowned with an enormous headdress, which takes the form of a diadem of precious stones surmounted by huge feathers. This serene and dignified image, absolutely unique in the New World, recalls the buddhas of the extreme East. The bowls of coarse clay found close by contained a resinous substance, probably the incense which the Lacandons even recently still burnt in honour of the deity. The little town of Tenosique below the rapids, and at the entrance of the plains the village of Balancan, are the chief groups of habitations on the lower Usu macinta. Carmen, the only town in this part of the delta, Hes on a strait through which the Terminos lagoon communicates with the sea. The picturesque city of Campeachy (Campeche), with its irregular streets and houses shaded by cocoanut groves, is surrounded by ramparts and commanded by forts crowning the encircling hiUs. Campeachy is still one of the most beautiful cities in Mexico, but it has lost the relative importance it enjoyed during the days of commercial monopolies. During the Spanish rule it was one of the three privileged places on the east coast north of the isthmus of Darien — Vera Cruz and San Juan de Nicaragua being the other two — which were open to the trade with Spain, and, thanks to this advantage, it had developed extensive relations with the interior. At that time Campeachy was not only the emporium for the whole . of Yucatan, but also served as the outlet for the produce of Tabasco, Chiapas, and even Guatemala. Now, however, these regions have their own direct trade routes, and even Yucatan itself finds Carmen a more convenient outlet for Campeachy wood and other exports. If Campeachy possessed a real harbour, it would have at least attracted to itself a great part of the exchanges of the peninsula, but the roadstead with its shelving bed is exposed to the full fury of the dreaded nortes ; the pier projecting seawards does not reach sufficient depths to be accessible at TOPOGRAPHY OF YUCATAN. 165 all times, so that vessels drawing thirteen or fourteen feet have to anchor at a distance of five miles from the port. Its trade is consequently limited to cocoa- nuts, some timber, sugar, hides, and salt. The scarcity of towns, villages, or even hamlets in the neighbourhood of the sea, as shown by the blank spaces on the map of Yucatan, is apt to cause surprise The sparse population on the coastlands is partly explained by the want of shelter on the seaboard, and the presence of insalubrious coast lagoons or marshes, but it is also due to the filibustering expeditions to which the people were exposed Fig. 70.— Meheda and Noeth-West Yucatan. Scale 1 : 1,000,000. 90"20' West oF Greenwich 89*40 ¦ liepths Oto 5 Fat horns. 5 Fathoms and upwards. . 24 Miles. during the last two centuries. The English corsairs, landing suddenly in some creek, often penetrated far into the interior, kilHng the men, carrying off the children, sacking and burning towns and villages. Although these raids have long ceased, no special industries have been developed, while the natural resources of the coastlands have not been sufficient to attract immigrants from the interior. Hence in this region the population is still mostly concentrated about Merida, where it was also most dense at the time of the conquest. Merida, capital of the State of Yucatan, and formerly of the whole peninsula, stands on the site of the ancient Ho, or Ti-hoo, that is, " City" in a pre-eminent sense. Most of its 166 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. monuments were pyramidal structures with their upper terrace crowned by temples or palaces. All have been destroyed, and the materials used in the modern buildings, which are consequently here and there embellished with ancient carvings embedded in the walls. In the outskirts alone are found the remains of pyramids, one of which, till recently occupied by a community of Franciscan friars, covers, wich its cloisters and gardens, a surface of about five acres ; its picturesque ruins present somewhat the aspect of a citadel. According to ancient Maya usage, some of the streets traversing the city are still indicated at either end by the sculptured image of the symbolic animals, such as the flamingo or hawk, to which the thoroughfare was dedicated. The white terraced houses with their Moorish courts resemble those of Andalusia, but those of the suburbs, surrounded by groves and gardens, are still constructed in the Maya style. They are little houses of stone, or else of plaited bamboo, raised a couple of feet above the street level, with a porch in front which is enclosed by walls on both sides and provided with a continuous bench all round. In the central part of the city is still seen the emblazoned palace built for himself by Montejo, founder of the new town, in 1542. Thanks to its trade in henequen, or agave fibre, of which from 40,000 to 60,000 tons are annually exported, Merida has become the converging-point of several lines which, when completed, will cover the whole peninsula with a net work of railways. For the present, however, the capital is connected only by a road with its ancient port, the little town pf Sisal, at the north-west corner of Yucatan. From this seaport the henequen takes its English name of Sisal hemp, by which it is known in the trade. The price of this valuable fibre has increased sixfold since the middle of the present century. The roadstead of Sisal, being exposed to the dangerous north winds, was abandoned in 1871, when a new " marina " was founded on the coast due north of Merida, with which it is con nected by a railway 22 miles long. The line is carried over the coast lagoon by a strong embankment. The new town, which replaces the old Indian village of Tuxulu, has already justified its name of Progreso, although the only advantage it enjoys over Sisal is its relative proximity to the capital. To shipping it is equally inaccessible, large vessels having to anchor in an open roadstead from three to six miles from the port. So dangerous is this roadstead that steamers and sailing vessels are always ready to weigh anchor and escape to the high sea ; towards noon every day communication with the shore becomes almost impossible, owing to the violence of the surf under the action of the fierce northern gales. Over 50 miles east of Merida, following the windings of the route, and on the verge of the more thickly-peopled districts, stands the ancient city of Izamal, so named from Itzmatul (Itzenmatul), " God of the Dew." But this old capital was already in ruins at the time of the conquest, and was regarded only as a holy city to which pilgrims flocked from all parts of the four highways radiating in the direction of the cardinal points. Twelve pyramidal or conic mounds, each crowned with a temple or palace, rose at that time above the city, but are now merely shapeless piles of refuse visible above the dense foliage of MAYAPAN— UXMAL. 167 the surrounding gardens. Here M. Charnay discovered certain wall-paintings, which afford a clue to the decorative system of the Mayas. As usually happens with most holy cities, Izamal has become a much-frequented market-place, priests and sacrifices being succeeded by traders and their wares. Between Izamal and Merida are seen the finest remains of the old causeways, which have1'' been compared by the archaeologists to the Via Appia. These roads were partly destroyed by the Yucatecs themselves, to arrest the advance of the Spanish conquerors, and since then they have been utilised as quarries to supply rq&terials for buildings, enclosures and other highways. Baised above the levelfof the plain, which was occasionally flooded, these causeways were slightly arciied and provided with footpaths, and covered to a depth of about sixteen incpes with a layer of cement, which has become as hard as the solid rock. According to Landa this cement was made of lime hardened with water in which the bark of some species of tree had been steeped ; but the present inhabitants have no know ledge of the process. Buins are numerous in the whole district. One of the most remarkable is the pyramid of Ake about midway between Merida and Izamal. This pyramid is one of the oldest Yucatec structures, judging at least from the surrounding pillars, which are formed of huge rough-hewn blocks put together without any mortar, and presenting a somewhat cyclopean aspect. Some twenty miles south of Merida is the site of Mayapan, " Banner of the Mayas," which, as indicated by its name, was long a capital of the Maya nation. Some traces are still preserved of its temples, notably a cone-shaped pavilion over grown With agave* and other plants, and enclosed by a ruined rampart three miles in circuit. After the destruction of Mayapan in the fifteenth century, the residence of the Maya sovereigns was removed farther south to Mani, which in its turn was destroyed by the Spaniards, and where appear to have also perished the Yucatec manuscripts said to have been burnt by order of Bishop Landa. The most numerous Maya monuments occur south-east and south of Merida, along the little ridge of low limestone hills running south-east and north-west towards the angle of the peninsula. Uxmal, or " Olden Time," near the north east extremity of this ridge and above some underground reservoirs, is the most famous site in this group, and the richest in remarkable structures. One of these, the so-called " Governor's Palaee," is one of the best preserved of all the Maya palaces, and may be considered the type of many similar Yucatec monuments. It forms a long narrow quadrilateral with a double row of apartments, which are separated by corridors with Walls inclining towards each other and covered by a horizontal root The upper storey is richly embellished with crescents, rhombs and other ornamental devices attesting a highly inventive faculty. One of the outer decoia- tions has been taken by certain archaeologists for an elephant's trunk. The "nunnery," a still larger edifice, is even more sumptuously decorated ; nowhere else in Yucatan can be seen a greater variety of motives executed wilh more success. Innumerable heaps of stone3, mounds and pyramids reduced to the form of wooded knolls, are crowded round the vicinity of Uxmal, Ticul, Tehax, and along both slopes of the ridge which stretches south-eastwards to Nohpat, 168 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. Sacbe, Kabah, Sanacte, Labna and Zayi. The ruins of the latter place are amongst the finest in Yucatan ; it is looked on as a haunted city of the dead by the natives, who rarely venture to approach it, declaring that at times a mysterious music is heard vibrating among the stones. The district stretching south of the limestone hills is strewn with ruins as far as the town of Iturbide, recently founded in the borderland batween civilised Yucatan and the territory held by the independent wild tribes. In the eastern part of Yucatan the Spanish name of Valladolid has been given to the chief town, the ancient Zaci, or " White Clay." Zaci, which is not yet connected with Merida by rail, lies in the centre of a tolerably fertile district, which is so salubrious that consumptive persons resort to it from Campeachy and Merida. But, like so many other places in Yucatan, it is more interesting for the surrounding mines than for its modern structures, especially since the Maya revolt, when it was nearly depopulated and its cotton mills destroyed. Chichen-Itza, former residence of the Itza dynasty, lies twenty miles west of Valladolid; it is now a mere village strewn with ruins which, during the wars of the conquest, were successively occupied by the Indians and Spaniards as strong holds. The pyramid of Chichen-Itza, which is still in a good state of preservation, is approached by a monumental flight of steps lined with trees and terminating at the base in two colossal snakes with yawning jaws. In a building which he called the " gymnasium," Stephens discovered some paintings which he pronounced to be the most precious gems of native art to be found anywhere on the American continent. Unfortunately, the colours have been almost completely effaced by the weather and visitors. One of the subjects represented a lirge vessel with raised prow and poop, tiller and rudder. At Chichen-Itza, Dr. Le Plongeon also discovered under a heap of rubbish 26 feet thick the finest statue of Nahua art now preserved in the Museum of Mexico. It is the effigy of Chac-Mool, the " Tiger King," reclining on his back and looking towards the right ; the features are quite regular and the head is adorned with fillets in the Egyptiin fashion. The simple majesty of this statue stands in striking contrast to the figures, overcharged with barbaric ornaments, which are met in so many other temples of Mexico, Tabasco, and Chiapas. The reservoir from which Chichen-Itza takes its name, meaning " Mouth of the Springs," is a b.oad gloomy well about 500 feet in circuit, with circular ledges carried round the walls by means of projecting layers of masonry. In its deep green water, 65 feet below the rocky surface, are reflected the overhanging trees and festoons of pendent creepers. So recently as 1560, human victims were still cast alive into this well as sacrifices to the gods. Farther south follow El Meco and Cankun over against Mujeres Island ; Paalmul and Pamal on the shores of the strait separating Cozumel Island from the mainland ; lastly, Tuhun crowning a cliff still farther south. The last- mentioned appears to have been a powerful capital which was defended on the land side by a solid enclosure still in good repair. The towers flanking this rampart are also well preserved, and appear to be the same as those mentioned by COZUMEL.— THE INDEPENDENT MAYAS. 169 the early navigators. The architecture of the Tulum buildings presents some peculiar features, which seem to point at a mingling of cultures in this remote region of Mayaland. Some of the temples cause surprise by the Lilliputian dimensions ; pierced by a narrow opening scarcely wide enough for a single man to creep in, they would seem to have been made for a race of dwarfs. The part of the seaboard where Tulum is situated belongs at present to the free Indians, and in the same district stands a " holy rood," where they gather on solemn occasions to hear the " voice of God," which issues from the cross, appointing the chiefs, declaring peace or war, condemning or pardoning the guilty. A Catholic priest who had ventured to penetrate into the country was brought before this cross, which sentenced him to death. Mujeres, like all the other islands fringing the coast, has remained in pos session of the Yucatecs. Its very name of " Women's Island " recalls the special part played by it in the religion of the Mayas at a time when crowds flocked to its temple to worship the female deities of Yucatan. At present it is inhabited by a few hundred black and half-caste fishers, who trade directly with Havana. Cozumel, a much larger island lying farther south, some twelve miles off the coast, was also a much-frequented place of pilgrimage. It is the ancient Ahcuzamil, or " Swallow Island," whose temple contained the image of a god with swallow feet. Cozumsl, which is densely wooded, has not yet been explored, although the Spaniards had occupied it even before the conquest of Yucatan, and had built a church whose ruins are still to be seen. When these ruins were rediscovered, with the altar and cross in the midst of the bush, it was supposed that they represented a Christian civilisation dating from pre-Columbian times. There still remain some traces of the paved highway, crossed by other routes, which traversed the island from north to south. The southern part of the coast between Tulum and Chetumal Bay is sparsely peopled by a few full-blood Indians, who have preserved their language, customs, and independence. The territory of these free Mayas is bounded on the north by the so-called " Southern Line," that is, the chain of fortified posts which extends nearly aloilg 20° north latitude through Peto, Ixmul, and Tihosuco. Formerly they frequently crossed this " pale," and wasted the land as far as Valladolid and Tekax, and were even reported to have hacked to pieces two thousand persons in the latter place with the manchette* At present the civilised Yucatecs are separated by a kind of march or borderland from their independent kindred, who no longer dare to cross over. These independent Mayas are usually called " barbarians," although scarcely less civilised than the others. They till the land in the same way, and keep their roads in good repair; they make their own manchettes, shaped like short scimitars, with iron imported from Belize, and procure their rifles from the same British settlement. Some of them being well-made stalwart men, they make good soldiers, * Manchette is the French- Creole form of the Spanish machete, a kind of hooked knife used in tropical America for clearing the bush. 170 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. going through their drill with great precision, and keeping their arms in perfect condition. Nobody can read or write, and the rites of the Catholic religion have been forgotten, although they build cabins to which they give the name of churches, and which serve as inns for wayfarers; crosses are also set up. at intervals along the highways. The cacique is at once king and high priest, and rules more by might than right, or until some other chief becomes strong enough to seize the supreme authority in his turn. Santa Cruz, which lies on the plains west of Asencion Bay, is their present capital, and this place was valiantly defended against the forces sent from Merida in 1871. Bacalar, or rather Bakhalal, the " Beed Palisade," on the swampy margin of a lagoon draining to Chetumal Bay, was a Spanish settlement founded in 1544 under the name of Saiamanca. Destroyed by the bucaneers in 1633, it was rebuilt and fortified in 1730, and even recently still carried on a brisk trade with British Honduras ; but the Indian insurgents took it by surprise and massacred the whole population. The remains of some of the people are still seen piled up in the old church where they were slain. IV. — Economic and Social Condition of Mexico. The growth of the Mexican population has not been so rapid as that of most other American states. The normal rate of increase has been greatly retarded by the sanguinary war of independence, which lasted two years ; hy military con spiracies and local revolutions, fomented by personal ambitions, but really due to class and racial hatreds ; by the misery of the peasantry deprived of their lands ; by the depredations of the wild tribes, Apiches and •Comanches on the northern, Mayas on the southern frontiers ; lastly, by two foreign wars, one with the United States, the other with France. Nevertheless, the population of the Union has more than doubled since the beginning of the present century. In 1808, Humboldt, carefully sifting all the statistical reports furnished to the admi nistration of New Spain^ estimated the whole population at 5,837,000, or 5,767,000 for the part of the territory constituting the present Mexican republic. In 1888, eighty years after Humboldt's estimate, the official census returned a population of 11,396,000, which, according to the rate of annual increase, may be certainly raised to 11,650,000 for 1891, this increase having been about 2 per cent. during the last decade. As regards the distribution of the population, Mexico differs from most other regions, the uplands being far more densely peopled than the lowlands. Immigration, which has acquired such great economic importance in the United States, in Canada and Argentina, has but a secondary influence on the growth of the Mexican population and the development of its resources. It is easy to under stand why so few emigrants from the Old World direct their steps towards Mexico. In. this region the only unoccupied lands are the arid northern plains, till recently exposed to the raids of' marauding wild tribes, and the forest regions of the south, largely under water and much dreaded by the white men for their climate. Neither in Chihuahua nor in Tabasco can the European working classes hope to ECONOMIC CONDITION OF MEXICO. 171 succeed except under specially favourable circumstances. Even in the provinces where the soil is already appropriated, European settlers, expecting a relatively high rate of wages, could never attempt to compete with the pure or half-caste Indians who are satisfied with the lowest pay, and who, often crushed under the burden of their debts, have to work almost gratuitously as veritable serfs. The Mexican territory, already divided into great ¦ landed estates, has scarcely any room for small holders, the very class which elsewhere supplies the bulk of the colonists. Hence, with rare exceptions, such as that of the French settlement in Jicaltepec, the various attempts, made either by the government or by private persons, to colonise the country by Italians or other foreign labourers have failed, Fig. 71. — Density or the Population in Mexico. Scale 1 : 30,000,000. Inhabitants to the Square Mile. ? ffl e 0 to 10. 10 to 20. 20 to 40. O Fedenl district, 780 to the square mile. 40 to 60 and upwards. o Towns of over 50,000 inhabitants. . 620 Miles. and the settlers have, after a time, all been dispersed, leaving the ground to the natives. In 1888 the twenty " colonies " in the republic had a collective popula tion of only 6,319, and of these 1,411 were Mexicans. Becently an American company has been formed to introduce negro settlers into the southern provinces, while in another direction certain Chinese speculators propose to found colonies of their feUow- countrymen. But if agricultural interests fail to attract many immi grants, foreigners are drawn to Mexico in yearly increasing numbers by the inducements of trade and the industries. The construction of railways, telegraphs, and factories of all kinds has brought thousands of mechanics, engineers, and other 172 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. artisans from North America. Italian craftsmen and petty dealers arrive in con stantly increasing numbers, while the community of speech facilitates the settle ment of Spaniards in the country discovered by their ancestors. At the end of 1887 the number of Iberians entered on the consular registers exceeded 9,500 ; next to them the French and Italian settlers are the most numerous. As in other countries where the population is steadily increasing, agriculture and the industries have been developed at a still more rapid rate. Maize, which is the chief crop throughout the temperate zone, and even on the plateaux, is still the " corn," in a pre-eminent sense, for the Hispano-Mexicans, as it formerly was for the Aztecs ; with it is made the tortilla, or hot cake, in the preparation of which over a million of women are constantly employed. The annual crop is estimated at from £22,000,000 to £24,000,000, whereas wheat, grown by the side of maize in the cold zone, is valued at scarcely more than £4,000,000. Barley represents even a still smaller value, while rice is raised only on the lowlands, together with manioc on the Pacific and Atlantic slopes. The frijoles, or haricot beans, form part of the diet of most Mexicans, and are cultivated with peas, broad beans, and lentils to the extent of over £2,000,000 annually. Potatoes are scarcely appreciated in their original home, and next to maize and haricots the most important article of food is the banana, a fruit of Asiatic origin. In the warmer parts of the temperate zone a clump of bananas with four or five stems yields from 620 to 720 fruits, twelve of which suffice to sustain a man for one day. Thus a space of about twenty square yards growing this plant produces enough food to support one person for a twelvemonth ; whereas, to obtain the same result with wheat, a space of at least 160 square yards would be needed. Besides the b mana, Mexico produces an immense variety of other fruits, being suitable for the cultivation of almost every plant grown both in the tropical and temperate zones. The orange is here found associated with the cocoanut, the grape with the chirimoya, so that no fruit-markets can surpass those of the capital and the other cities of the plateau for the endless variety of their produce. Wine is not the national drink, although the vine might yield excellent results in various parts of the country, and especially in Chihuahua and the other northern states from Zacatecas to the American frontier. Its cultivation, already valued at over 1,000,000 gallons in 1878, is even yearly increasing, but only to meet the demands of the -wealthy classes. The plant which yields the really national beve rage is the maguey (agave americana), of which over thirty varieties are known to agriculturists. It is grown on the upper slopes of the temperate zone and in the cold regions, especially on the light sandy soils' of the plateaux between 6,000 and 8,000 feet above the sea. Between Tlaxcala, Pachuca, and the capital, the maguey fields cover many thousand square miles of land. The pulquero obtains the maguey wine by removing the bloom at the moment of its greatest energy. Then the sap, which would have served to nourish the huge cluster of flowers, fills the deep cavity caused by the excision, and this cavity is emptied from two to nine times a day, according to the species and years, during the whole period of efflo- ECONOMIC CONDITION OF MEXICO. 173 rescence. Certain plants have thus yielded during the season as much as 2,000 or even 4,000 pounds of aguamiel, or sap, which may be drunk at once slightly diluted with water. But it is usually allowed to ferment, and thus changed to pulque, which tnay also be consumed on the spot, or forwarded while quite fresh to all the surrounding markets. The trunk Hne between Orizaba and Mexico, as well as the other railways on the plateau, have their daily pulque trains, each often conveying hundreds of tons of the liquor in all directions. The term is taken from the Araucanian language of Chili, and it has not yet been Kg. 72. — PULQUEBO. made clear why it has been substituted by the Spaniards for the proper Aztec name, octli. In the Nahua traditions its discovery was attributed to a prince, who, as a reward, received the king's daughter in marriage. At first strangers find pulque somewhat disagreeable, owing to its smell of " high " meat or old cheese ; but, as a rule, they soon learn to relish this drink, the stomachic qualities of which are much praised by medical men. In its composition it resembles mare's milk, and of all fermented beverages peculiar to the Old World it approaches nearest to the koumiss of the Kirghiz nomads. Taken in large quantities it intoxicates Hke 174 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. wine, and the drunkenness caused by it is said to be provocative of wrangHngs and bickerings. Besides pulque, the agave, treated in different ways, yields various other drinks, sweet or acid, weak or strong, such as the mexcal or tequila, the " Mexican brandy " of English writers. Maguey, the jjlanta de las maravillas of the Mexicans, yields other products besides pulque and mexcal. From it the ancient Aztecs obtained paper, as their descendants do soap, a species of gum, and especially various kinds of fibre used according to their quality for making brushes, cordage, yarns, and textiles. The smaller varieties of maguey known by the names of ixtli and lechuguilla (agave hete- racantha) contribute largely to the wealth of San Luis Potosi and Valles, while the Zapotecs of Oaxaca export a variety of articles made from pita fibre (bromelia silvestris). Henequen (agave sisalensis or Sisal hemp) has done still more for the prosperity of Yucatan, and, thanks to this cactus, the most arid regions of the peninsula have become the most productive. The fibre of this plant serves to make cables, cordage, canvas ; which, though not so stout as that of hemp, is none the less in great demand throughout the industrial centres of North America. Two of the Mexican articles of export, cochineal and indigo, have ceased to possess any economic importance, the former having been ruined by the com petition of the cochineal produced in the Canary Islands, the latter by the indigo grown in Bengal, and now also partly replaced by mineral dyes. Oaxaca, formerly the chief centre of the cochineal industry, and still exporting about 8,000 cwt. in 1870, produced only a fiftieth part of that quantity in 1877, and the outlay hud everywhere exceeded the returns. The nopal (cactus coccinifera), on which the insect fed, has accordingly been almost universally replaced by other economic plants, especially the coffee shrub. But there is another variety of cochineal which yields large profits, and the cultivation of which has already made some progress. This is the aje or axin (llaveia axin), that is, the " fat cochineal," very common in all the low-lying and temperate parts of south Mexico. The adult female of this insect, boiled in a metal vessel, yields about 27 per cent, of its weight in axine, a fatty substance about the consistency of butter, and the most siccative oily product known to commerce. The Yucatecs formerly used it for painting their dwellings, and the North Americans have also begun to employ it. Every tree peopled by a colony of ajes easily yields 20 to 25 pounds of insects, or about 6 pounds of grease. Mexico also takes a certain limited share in the production of the great agri cultural industries of the world. Cotton is grown chiefly in the northern provinces bordering on the United States, as weU as in Guerrero and Vera Cruz. The sugar-cane, introduced by Fernan Cortes, is cultivated in the southern states of Morelos, Puebla, Campeachy, axd Yucatan, but almost exclusively for the local consumption; cacao, which thrives well on the lower slopes of the Soconusco escarpments, and even in the interior of Chiapas, grows in a too thinly-peopled region to yield large annual crops. Coffee is of far more economic importance, especially as an item in the foreign trade of the country." In 1887 Oaxaca already possessed 3,000,000 shrubs ; the plantations in the temperate zone of Vera ECONOMIC CONDITION OF MEXICO. 175 Cruz, under the isothermal lines of 62° to 68° F., are also very extensive, though less appreciated than the coffee grown in the Uruapan district, Michoacan. The tobacco raised on the banks of the Papaloapan, about the slopes of the Tuxtla volcano, and on the spurs of the Tabascan hills, is scarcely inferior in aroma to that of Cuba itself. Since the insurrection of 1868 on that island, several of the banished planters have introduced this industry into Mexico. Vanilla also succeeds perfectly in the hot moist lands about the foot of the eastern Sierra Kg- 73 — Maguey Plantations, San Franoisqitito District, neat* Mexico **e**S Madre, and especially in the environs of Papantla, and at one time Mexico was the largest exporter of this fragrant pod. Now, however, it is far outstripped by the little French colony of Beunion. Stock-breeding is one of the chief industries of Mexico. In some of the haciendas in the relatively arid northern provinces, as well as in the moist savannahs in certain parts of Vera Cruz and Tabasco, the whole population consists 176 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. of vaqueros, or " cowboys," each having in charge hundreds of horned cattle, or else from eight to ten atajos, or over 200 horses. These herdsmen, employed on farms of 10,000, 20,000, or even 30,000 cattle, are, for the most part, Indians or half- castes differing greatly from other Mexicans. They are a half-savage race of " centaurs," who capture the untamed horse or overturn the strongest bull with a throw of the lasso, and whose loves, combats, and heroic adventures are a favourite subject with romance writers. But generations flow on and industries change. Formerly the ox and the horse roamed the prairie Hke the aurochs or bison, and the cowboys were rather hunters than keepers. After capturing and branding the Pig. 74. — Chief AaEicrrLTTjiiAL Produce in Mexico. Scale 1 : 30,000,000. 30° West oF breenwich 8ugar-Uane. O.flee. ra M iguey, Cactus. Cochineal. Tobacco. Caoao. Maize Cereals. 1 V V | I>V,| i oiion. 1 5 3 z 1 1 e e .1 Viae. Caoutchouc. Bananas. m Forests. Lands little cultivated. animal with its owner's initials, they again released it till it had to be recaptured for the shambles, or to be transferred to the dealer. Even the breed of ponies known as mustangs or ladinos had reverted to the wild state, Hving in the bush far from running waters, and in summer, when all the meres were dry, slaking their thirst by chewing the thornless cactus. But at present many farmers have intro duced a more orderly system of stock-breeding, developing new breeds by crossings with European, American, and even Asiatic animals. Thus the Indian zebu and the carabao, or buffalo of the Philippine Islands, have been introduced with good results in the Mexican cattle-farms. The Andalusian horses brought ECONOMIC CONDITION OF MEXICO. 177 over by the conquerors, and endowed with the qualities of mettle, strength, and endurance, have also been crossed with other breeds, and a more varied choice is thus daily offered to the gallant Mexican cavaHers, who are so proud of their horsemanship, their gay trappings and richly-embroidered, gold-fringed costumes. Smaller animals, such as sheep and goats, find less favour with the stock breeders, though numerous herds of swine are reared in the forests and on the plains, especially in the States of Mexico and Jalisco. When the Spaniards arrived in the country with their traditional theories of property, they were unable to understand the communal system prevalent among the natives. Montezuma himself they looked upon as a sort of ruler like their own sovereign, and they concluded that the great personages of the empire were feudatory vassals in the possession of vast domains. Hence they supposed that they had only to substitute themselves for those Mexican lords, and Fernan Cortes set the example by seizing vast territories such as the Cuernavaca district and the "Oaxaca valley," with the populations inhabiting them. Nearly the whole country was thus distributed amongst the conquerors, and the natives, hitherto unaware that the land could be appropriated, became themselves so much property, like the soil itself. Still a small plot was usually left for their use within a radius of a few hundred yards round about the parish church. Although the Spaniards were driven out by the war of independence, the system of large domains introduced, by them remained intact. The haciendas are not so much farms as territorial divisions as extensive as a rural parish or even a shire. As a unit of square measure the hacienda has a superficial area of 35 square miles, but some of the northern haciendas are a hundredfold this size, covering a surface equal to one of the large departments of France. The whole land between Saltillo and Zacatecas, a distance of over 180 miles, belongs to three owners. These owners are naturally unable to cultivate more than a relatively small part of such estates, in the heart of which they erect a fortified dwelling, and around this stronghold, serving as a sort of citadel duringthe civil wars, are grouped the houses of their clients and retainers. All h'ghways converge on the seignorial mansion ; in the neighbourhood are held the markets, and all travellers must call on its master either to demand hospitality or procure, . fresh mounts and supplies. The vast enclosures in the vicinity are carefully guarded refuges, where the herds are driven to escape the raids of marauding Indians or predatory ani mals. But while a solitude reigns round these isolated centres of life and industry, the great hacendados left the country open to incursions, and it was owing to this baneful system that till recently the Apaches and Comanches were able to extend their daring plundering expeditions far into the interior of the republic. As was remarked nearly a century ago by Humboldt — " Mexico is a land of inequality ; nowhere else does there prevail a more frightful inequality in the distribution of wealth." About the. middle of the century the official surveys' returned over 13,000 ranchos, or small holdings, with one "cabin" as a centre of habitation. But even were they the indisputable property of the free peasantry, all these ranchos constituted a scarcely perceptible portion of the national wealth. Since that 45 178 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. OOOOQOQOO , OJ -3 IflCOO Ol V ID 01 ^ ai eo time vast tracts have been surveyed and either sold or rented. But one-third of these national lands has been gratuitously given to speculating land companies, while a large part of the rest has been assigned to other financial societies or to private persons in lots of 6,250 acres ; a single company thus owns no less than 15,000,000 acres, while very little has been assigned to the peasantry. The bulk of the Mexican population is dependent on the great mining or land companies. Of the two classes the miners are by far the more independent, owing to the neighbourhood of the towns that have sprung up round about the works. The peasants, poorly paid and kept by the very forue of circumstances in the power of the territorial lords, differ in name only from real serfs. Destitute of the necessary resources, they are Kg 75.— The World's Yield of Silver. unable to borrow except from the proprietor or his steward, and these loans, consisting of pro duce or merchandise sold at ex orbitant rates, can be paid back only by manual labour, contracted for years in advance. From year to year they see the prospect of freedom fading away, and their crushing liabilities are transmitted from father to son. Doubtless all Mexicaus are free " by Act of Parliament ; " no landowner has any longer the right to reduce a debtor to servitude, or sell him to another owner, in discharge of all or part of any real or fictitious claim. The son is no longer even Hable for his father's debts, nor can the future of minors be pledged for advances beforehand. But in many districts remote from the capital, and especially in the south-eastern provinces, the law is a dead letter, and the natives are even said to have been secretly sold to Cuban planters. Practically servitude still exists, as during the early days of the conquest, for it is the natural consequence of the landed system. To be enslaved, to die a slave, in a land so fair, is the burden of every song round the villages of Tabasco. The traveller, passing through the country, cannot fail to be impressed by the plaintive tone of these songs, which float continually on the air in the neighbourhood of all human habitations. At the beginning of the century the chief wealth of Mexico, apart from maize, maguey and the other alimentary produce of primary necessity, consisted in the precious metals ; the export trade was in fact confined almost exclusively to the products of the mines. These products represented an enormous value, without Mexico. Other Countries. ECONOMIC CONDITION OF MEXICO. 179 even taking into account the vast sums which were smuggled out of the country, and of which no returns could be made. There are numerous auriferous deposits in Mexico, but her chief treasures are the silver mines, which since the discovery of America have yielded fabulous sums to the trade of the world. According to the researches of Humboldt, the total value of the gold and silver furnished by the metalliferous veins of New Spain amounted to £425,000,000 from the conquest to the year 1803. This figure is regarded as somewhat too high by Soetbeer, Del Mar, Neumann, and other economists, who, however, estimate the value down to the year 1890 at no less than £800,000,000, or over one-fifth of the total production of the world during the four centuries since the first voyage of Columbus. In 1850, before mining oper ations had begun in California, Kg. 76.— The World's Yield of the Precious Metals. Arizona and New Mexico, regions formerly belonging to New Spain, the proportion yielded by Mexico since the conquest had been much higher, or about one-third. This country has contributed more than any other to the spread of a metal currency as representative of value ; yet till recently cacao beans, squares of soap, and simi lar objects of daily use were em ployed in Mexico itself for petty dealings. The yield of the Mexi can mines, so far from falling off during the present century, has considerably increased, despite wars and revolutions, and flooded mines. The improvement in the highways of communication, combined with the introduction of better mining processes, has more than compensated for the advantages enjoyed by Mexico at a time when the precious metals possessed a greater relative value than at present. An oscillation in international trade favourable to the develop ment of the mining industries would have the result of increasing to an enormous extent the production of silver in Mexico, where there are thousands of well- known deposits still untouched owing to their relative poverty, or to the lack of communications. Even the slag heaped up about the workshops still contains from 25 to 30 per cent, of metal, or altogether £240,000,000. In the year 1889 alone, as many as 2,077 declarations were registered respecting new mines. At present the yearly production exceeds two tons of gold, valued at £300,000, and 600 tons of silver, valued at £5,500,000, and in 1889 the total yield exceeded £8,000,000. Mexico. Other Countries. 180 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. So extensive is the area of the Mexican mineral region that it may be estimated at four-fifths of the whole territory. The chief metalliferous zone is that of the western Sierra Madre from the Arizona frontier to the isthmus of Tehuantepec ; but the other Sierra Madre is also very rich, especially in the States of San Luis Potosi and Hidalgo. Besides gold and silver the Mexican highlands contain deposits of platinum, copper, lead, iron, manganese, and quicksilver, the last of Eio-. 77.— Yield of Gold and Silver in Various Countries since 1492. NEW WORLD. United States : £400,000,000. Best of America: £500,000,000. . OLD WORLD. mmm £680,000,000. :jji| at M 4J- + "X$TT~ za W\W Tff TTrt +F lllllllllll Australia: £300 000,000. Each square represents £400,000. great value in the reduction of the ores. Coal has been found in Sonora, on the banks of the Bio Grande, in the Sierra de Tamaulipas and in the southern uplands. Sulphur is obtained in the craters both of the active and quiescent volcanoes ; near Tuxpan are found petroleum springs ; by scratching the surface the sulphates and carbonates of soda, saltpetre, sea salt are turned up ; lastly, there occur quarries of marble, onyx, jasper, basalt, obsidian, while certain rocks abound in precious stones. ECONOMIC CONDITION OF MEXICO. 181 The early explorers often speak of the beautiful chalchihuites, jadeites or emeralds, with which the Mexican nobles adorned themselves and decorated their idols. Amongst the resources of Mexico must also be included yellow amber, common in Oaxaca and the neighbouring states, but of an unknown vegetable origin. It is perfectly transparent, of a lovely golden hue, and, seen in the light, shines with a fluorescent glow. In certain parts of the interior it is found in such quantities that the natives use it even for kindling their fires. The specimens of this substance sent to Europe come from the coast, where it occurs here and there in the sands. In Mexico there are reckoned altogether about a hundred impor tant mineral districts, and in 1888 there were as many as 575 mines at work, to a Fig. 78. — Chief Mineral Regions of Mexico. Scale 1 : 30,000,000. West oF Greenwich * 3 &¦ * m A • Silver. Gold. Platinum. Cinu bar Lead. Iron. Copper. ' 620 Miles. Coal. Salt. great extent owned by English capitalists. The total yield of all metals, earths, stones, and combustibles is valued at. nearly £10,000,000 yearly. To mining, which was already represented in all its branches, such as smelting and minting, under the Spanish rule, have now been added some of the large manufacturing industries. Cotton, one of the chief crops in the republic, is entirely employed in the Mexican spinning and weaving mills, and manufacturers, moreover, import large quantities of the American staple. Over 50,000 families are supported by the cotton industry, and about a hundred factories produce a quantity estimated at 30,000,000 pounds a year. The States of Puebla, Mexico, Queretaro, Guanajuato, Jalisco and Coahuila are the chief producers of cotton textiles, which take the form of manias, sarapes, rebozos, and other articles forming part of the 182 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. national costume. The artisans of the plateau are also skilled in aU the crafts connected with saddlery, leather- dressing, embroidery and other trimmings so highly appreciated by the Mexican cavaliers. The complete outfit of a regular dandy is worth some hundred pounds, including the trappings of his mount. All the large European industries, even those requiring a deep knowledge of scientific processes, have now been introduced, and are contributing to transform the economic conditions of the country. Moreover, a large number of the small local industries still hold their ground. Thus the Indians of Michoacan continue to produce those articles of featherwork which the conquerors admired in Monte zuma's palaces, and the Mixtec women still weave, with the cocoons of a native species of bombyx, certain silken stuffs, coarse to the touch but very stout, and highly prized by the natives. In most of the provinces the ceramic art has undergone but slight change since pre-Columbian times. The Indians, as a rule, are excellent craftsmen, as patient, methodical, and regular in their operations as the machines which they employ. Nor do they lack the necessary initiative where it is needed by the character of the work. They display remarkable talent in designing and modeUing, they copy without difficulty all objects presented to them, and knead wax with rare skill. In them survives the genius of their forefathers, who sculptured the facades of the temples, carved hieroglyphic inscriptions, designed and painted topographic charts. This general increase of culture, shown by a more scientific and a more active utilisation of the local resources, has at the same time reacted favourably on the development of foreign commercial relations. At the beginning of the century under the Spanish regime, the annual movement «of the exchanges carried on exclusively through Vera Cruz was about £8,000,000. At present it has in creased more than threefold, while the precious metals, which till recently formed seven-eighths of the exports, have now fallen to two-thirds or even one-half. Amongst the more important exports are dyewoods, timber, skins and hides, besides such colonial produce as coffee, vanilla, tobacco, caoutchouc, sugar and indigo. Mexico also forwards large quantities of fruits to the United States, but no manufactured goods are exported. These industries have not yet acquired sufficient development, nor are they sufiiciently specialised to find an opening in foreign markets. Of imported goods the chief are, in their order of importance, textiles, machinery, hardware, paper, chemicals, glass and china ware, besides flour and other alimentary substances. Thanks to the proximity of the United States and the connecting lines of railway, the first place in the foreign trade of the country is taken by the northern republic : hence, in the Mexican ports nearly all shipping documents are drawn up in the English language. Great Britain comes next in importance to the United States, France occupying the third place. These three countries, which collectively possess nine- tenths of all the exchanges, are followed by Germany, whose relations are increasing, especially along the Pacific coast ; whilst Spain, which formerly monopolised the whole trade of the colony, now takes only the fifth place. ECONOMIC CONDITION OF MEXICO. 183 Like the United States, Mexico has endeavoured to foster her industries by a system of tariffs affecting most objects imported from abroad. As a rule the duties levied at the seaports or on the land frontiers amount to 38 per cent, of the declared value. Hence the contraband trade, especially in American cotton fabrics, continues to flourish all along the line, but principally in the " free zone," where 850 custom-house officers, distributed over a distance of 1,680 miles, are supposed to keep effective guard over all the exchanges. Some articles, regarded as useful for the industrial or scientific development of the land, enter free of duty. In 1889 only eighty ports were open to foreign trade, exclusive of the " land ports " on the northern and southern frontiers. In 1889 the Mexican seaports were regularly visited by twelve lines of steamers, six in direct relation with Europe, the West Indies, and the Eastern States of the northern republic, two with California, and four engaged on the coast service. The sea-borne traffic by steam represents nearly one-half of all the exchanges, although sailing-vessels, mostly flying the national flag, are four times more numerous than steamers in the movement of the seaports. The coasting- trade is reserved exclusively to Mexican shipping. Mexico has lagged a quarter of a century behind the civilised countries of West Europe in railway building. The first line, connecting Vera Cruz with a suburb, was not opened till 1850. Another line, constructed in 1857 between the capital and the shrine of Guadalupe, was rather an object of curiosity for pleasure- seekers or devotees than a means of communication subservient to commercial interests. But after the collapse of the attempt made to restore the monarchy and the definite recognition of Mexican independence, a beginning was made with the various projects that had been long worked out for the development of a regular railway system between the large centres of population. Thanks to the aid of British, and to a less extent of United States capital, the work was undertaken and pushed on so rapidly, soldiers being even employed as navvies, that in the course of a few years Mexico already compared favourably with several European countries in the relative extent of her railway system. A great obstacle to the progress of the new means of communication was the line between Vera Cruz and the capital, which was the first taken in hand, and which happened to be the most difficult of all. But before any expansion could be given to the system it was considered essential to open the great trade route, placing the capital of the republic in direct relation with the ports of the United States, Great Britain, France, the West Indies, and South America. To accomplish this result enormous works had to be executed, works unexampled even in Europe. Mountains had to be scaled to double the height of the highest Alpine tunnels, the three hot, temperate, and cold zones had to be successively traversed in a vertical direction, in order to reach the region of snows without extending the route beyond all reason along the interminable slopes of the lateral valleys. This c61ossal work has been successfully executed, and the Vera Cruz line to the capital now offers an amazing series of stupendous bridges, viaducts, tunnels, sharp curves, steep gradients, and other engineering triumphs. The Metlac viaduct between Cordoba and Orizaba is a model of constructive 184 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA. WEST INDIES. skill, in which lightness and strength are happily combined. But the section between Martrata and Boca del Monte, giving direct access to the edge of the Anahuac plateau, is so precipitous that it never fails to excite the apprehension of travellers, both ascending and descending this tremendous incline, which has a total rise of no less than 4,000 feet in a distance of sixteen miles in a bee line. At the highest pass near the Malihche volcano the line stands- at an altitude of 8,420 feet above sea-level, and to avoid a still more elevated pass over the snowy range, it is deflected northwards, thus obliquely traversing the Mexican valley in its entire Kg. 79. — The Boca del Monte Ascent. Scale 1 . 90,000. -r 8 300 Yards. length. With good reason the Mexicans speak of this great engineering work as a monument of human genius. To connect the network with that of the United States was a far easier under taking. The Anahuac plateau has a general incline from south to. north without any- abrupt declivities, so that throughout most of the section between the capital aud the Bio Grande del Norte heavy engineering operations could be dispensed with. In 1884. two years after, the Americans themselves had reached this river at Laredo, the Mexicans opened their line to Nuevo Laredo on the opposite bank. The same year they completed another line running parallel with the western Sierra Madre all the way to Paso del Norte. Bailway communication was thus henceforth continuous between Mexico and San Francisco, St. Louis and New York: by the latter route passengers were able, in 1889, to travel from IS]« o M S> O o N.—IMoB «SV£ - ¦ tysg if:',:iM il • n Hr** ''A.''-; £&t^?::K Mm m JS'isSfcy <§''•.. ••'4 • •, '¦'>;' -v> •fv~i^,^w 90"40' West of Greenwich 12 Miles. of storms, floods, earthquakes, and epidemics. Its inhabitants, remarked Gage, dwell between " two mountains which hold their ruin in suspense : the Agua volcano threatens them with the deluge, and Fuego opens to them one of hell's gates." The people had many a time made every preparation for flight, and then, the danger over, had done nothing but repair their dwellings, when nearly all the buildings were overthrown by the terrific earthquakes of 1773. At last it was decided to select a third site for the capital, and choice was made of the hamlet of Ermita on the elevated Las Vacas plateau, about 25 miles farther to the north-east. The work of reconstruction began immediately after the disaster that had overtaken Antigua, but the official transfer was not made till the year 1779. The first house of Guatemala, the hacienda de la Virgen, still exists, and is pointed out to strangers as a historic monument. Nevertheless, 232 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. Antigua was never completely abandoned, and it now ranks for size as the fifth city of the republic. The population even continues to increase, its thermal waters attract numerous invalids, the inhabitants of Guatemala have their country resi dences here, and many of the demolished structures have been rebuilt. This third Guatemala, at present the largest city of Central America, lies on a gentle slope in a depression of the plateau about 5,000 feet above the sea on the divide between the two oceans. Guatemala is dominated by a little porphyry eminence, the Cerro del Carmen, where stands the old hermitage, whence the place takes the name of Ermita still in use amongst the Cakchiquels. From this knoll a view is commanded of the whole city, which covers a considerable space. The surrounding landscape is unattractive owing to the absence of trees on the scrubby watershed of Las Vacas, or the " Cows," which throughout the Spanish occupation has been used as a c ittle ranche. But the vast panorama stretching beyond this district, and limited southwards by the two lofty volcanic cones, presents a superb prospect : no other c ipital occupies a more marked central and commanding position over the region sloping in all directions at its feet. Guatemala, which is laid out with the perfect regularity of a model city, presents in the interior a somewhat monotonous aspect. According to the original municipal regulations, inspired by the memory of the disasters that had overtaken Antigua, the builders were for bidden to erect any houses exceeding 20 feet in height, and although this law is no longer observed, the churches having here as elsewhere their domes and belfries, most of the structures are very low, gaining horizontally what they lose verticilly. Hence the population is somewhat scattered, except in the suburbs, where every narrow cabin is occupied by an Indian family. Towards the middle of the century, when it was scarcely half its present size, travellers were wont to compare Guate mala to a city of tombstones. Formerly all the large buildings were convents or churches. Now the Jesuits' establishment has been transformed to a national institution with an observatory. The city also possesses a polytechnic and other schools, learned societies, libraries and a museum. But the industries only suffice to supply the local wants, and provisions are mostly brought from the surrounding villages and plantations on the Pacific slope. Water is also brought from a con siderable distance by the two aqueducts of Mixco and Pinula. On the plateau itself, covered with volcanic scoriae in some places to the depth of 600 or 700 feet, the rain water is rapidly absorbed, reappearing lower down in remote valleys. But to this very circumstance, preventing the accumulation of stagnant waters, Guatemala probably owes its complete immunity from the ravages of typhus. Still the place is not very healthy, and all malidies affecting the respiratory organs are aggravated by the clouds of dust raised by every breeze from the loose igneous soil. Hence most of the well-to-do citizens remove during the dry season to some umbrageous rural retreat the most fashionable places at present are the towns and villages situated farther south in the neighbourhood of Antigua. The railway descending from Guatemala towards the Pacific branches off from the valley of Antigua southwards in the direction of Lake Amatitlan, which it skirts on the west side. The town of Amatitlan, situated on the lake at the outlet ESCTjmTLA— GENERAL VIEW. TOPOGRAPHY OF GUATEMALA. 233 of the Bio Michatoya, was formerly a large hacienda belonging to the Dominican friars, whose estate has become a vast plantation. During the flourishing days of the cochineal industry Amatitlan was a large place, with a population of 13,000 in 1865. But the ruin of the old dyeing processes was fatal to the prosperiiy of the district. Escuintla, the- ancient Itzcuintlan of the Nahuas, is the chief station between Amatitlan and the sea. Thi3 place, which before the Spanish conquest was a capital of the Pipil nation, lies quite within the hot zone at an altitude of not more than 1,450 feet above sea level. The well- watered volcanic district dominated by the Agua volcano is covered with an exuberant tropical vegetation, and before Fig.- 98. — Thickly-Inhabited Region op Guatemala. Scale 1 : 3,500,000. 92° West oP Greenwich 60 Miles. the opening of the railway the wealthy citizens of Guatemala usually resorted duringthe winter months from December to February to Escuintla, which enjoys a milder climate than that of the plateaux. But its reputation as a rural retreat ha9 been impaired by the occasional outbursts of malignant fevers. In the same cHmatic and vegetable zone, and some 25 miles farther west, lies the large town of Santa Lucia Cozunialhuapa, which has become famous for the discovery of statues and curious bas-reliefs representing the "King of the Vultures" (narcoramphus papa), in which the local Nahua artists display a talent at least equal to that of the Aztec and Maya sculptors. San Jose, terminal station of the railway on the Pacific, boasts of an iron pier projecting 1,000 feet seawards and provided with 234 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. rails and cranes for the convenience of barges in connection with the shipping which has to ride at anchor over half a mile from the port. The department of Santa Bosa, conterminous on the east with Amatitlan and Escuintla, has no large towns ; its only trading station is Cuajiniquikpa, which lies on the highway from San Salvador on the west side of the deep valley of the Bio de los Eaclavos, so called from the " Slaves," that is, the Sinca people occupying its banks. The broad stream is here crossed by an eleven-arched bridge, built in the seventt enth century by the Spaniards, and regarded as the finest monument of Central America. At the south-east extremity of the republic stretches the pastoral and agricultural department of Jutiapa, with chief town of like name. This region is yearly increasing in importance for its exports o Hive stock, indigo, and other produce to the neighbouring state. A few other centres of population have assumed a somewhat urban aspect in the eastern districts of Guatemala comprised within the Motagua basin. Such is Jalapa, which stands at an altitude of 5,600 feet in an upland valley of great fertility. The town of Esquipulas, also on an affluent of the Motagua, but near a pass leading down to the sources of the Lempa in San Salvador, is for the greater part of the year almost deserted, except by a scattered community of about 2,000 Indians. But on January 15th, feast of Nuestro Senor de Esquipulas, a vast crowd throngs the streets and squares lined with temporary huts. The sick and afflicted bend the knee before a black effigy of Christ, with votive offerings of silver, carved wooden objects, feather and straw work. With the religious feast is combined a fair, which down to the middle of the century, before the construction of the Panama railway, was frequented by pilgrim traders from Guatemala, Salvador, and even Mexico. As many as 80,000 persons, we are told by Juarros, were at times assembled on the plain of Esquipulas. Near the town stands one of the most magnificent churches in Central America. In a neighbouring southern valley are worked the Alotepeque silver mines, the most productive in the state. On the stream flowing from Esquipulas northwards to the Bio Motagua lie the towns of Chiquimala and Zacapa, both capitals of departments of like name, and destined to acquire considerable importance in the future development of the country. They stand on the route to be followed by one of the projected railways between Guatemala and Puerto Barrios on the Atlantic. About midway between the two the Copan Biver joins that of Esquipulas after watering the plains of Comotan and Jocotan, formerly centres of the cochineal and indigo industries, now surrounded by rich tobacco plantations. About six miles below Zacapa the united streams fall into the Bio Motagua, which a Httle farther down becomes navigable for steamers, the heads of navigation being Gualan during the floods and Barbasco in the dry season. In the forests of the Sierra del Mico north-east of the latter place, the site of an Indian city, whose very name has perished, is indicated by numerous pyramids and some fine ruins, especially carved monoliths, covered with hieroglyphics, human figures, turtles, armadillos and other animals. This group of monuments takes at present the name of Quirigua, from a village five miles off. In 1839, when Stephens and Catherwood began their archaeological TOPOGRAPHY OF GUATEMALA. 235 exploration of Central America, the very existence of these ruins was unknown, and travellers passed within a few miles of the place without hearing of them. At that time nothing was known of any abandoned Indian city in this district except Copan, which lay j ust beyond the Guatemalan frontier towards the source of the Comotan. According to Stoll, the Quirigua remains strike the spectator especially for their remarkable state of preservation, although not built of particu larly hard materials and exposed to a destructive climate at once very damp and very hot ; moreover, the inundations of the Motagua occasionally reach the site of the ruins, and furrow the surface with ravines. Hence he infers that the monuments cannot date from any remote period, and perhaps were even in a perfect condition when the Spaniards made their appearance in the country. The slave-hunters, who wasted the land in quest of labourers for the Cuban and St. Domingo plantations, may have been the destroyers of these Indian cities, although Maud-day thinks they must have already been in ruins at the time of Cortes' expedition. Being everywhere in search of provisions for his starving foUowers, the conqueror would certainly have applied to Quirigua for succour had such a large city been in existence at that time. The ruins of Chapulco, which are said to lie on the south side of the Motagua valley over against Quirigua, have not yet been explored. Paved causeways and sepulchral mounds occur here and there in the surrounding forests. The present route from Guatemala to the Atlantic diverges from the Motagua valley at Barbasco, and after crossing the Mico range a little to the east of Quirigua, leads down to Izabal, an unhealthy place on the south side of the Golfo Dulce. Under the Spanish rule this port, which has the immense advantage of lying some 60 miles inland, but which is inaccessible to vessels of deep draught, was unable to develop any trade, owing to the corsairs at that time infesting the surrounding waters. But after the declaration of independence, Izabal almost entirely monopolised the foreign trade of Guatemala, such as it was. Then the discovery of the Californian goldfields, and the establishment of regular lines of steamers between Panama and San Francisco, had the result of diverting the whole life of Guatemala from the Atlantic to the Pacific seaboard. Thus Izabal found itself abandoned, and its silent streets are now overgrown with the sensitive mimosa. But the improvement of the communications, and peopling, or rather repeopling of the land facing the Atlantic, cannot fail to revive and even increase the trade of Izabal. At the mouth of the Bio Dulce, on the Gulf of Amatique, stands the seaport of Livingston, so named in honour of a jurist who drew up the legal code of Guate mala. The first colonists settled here in 1806, and the place is at present inhabited by Caribs, agriculturists, fishers, and seafarers, who carry on a coasting trade with Belize and Honduras. Livingston has recently been declared a free port, and is already much frequented by American skippers, who here ship bananas and other fruits in exchange for spirits. This port is the third in Guatemala, ranking next in importance to San Jose and Champerico. On the east bank of the neighbouring Bio Dulce, and near the present village 236 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. of San Gil, stood the great city of Nito, which was captured by Cortes' lieutenant, Olid, and which he wished to make the capital of an independent state. The eastern headland, at the issue of the Bio Dulce on the margin of the lake, is crowned by the citadel of San Felipe, one of the most unhealthy places on the seaboard. It has accordingly been chosen by the Government as a state prison. Coban, capital of Alta Vera Paz, stands 4,380 feet above the sea in the healthiest and one of the most fertile districts of Guatemala. It is a flourishing place, with an increasing population of over 18,000, mostly industrious Quekchi Indians, who raise considerable crops of miize and beans. Coffee, cinchona, and the wax plant (myrica cerifera) are also successfully cultivated. The neighbouring rocks are pierced by numerous caves, and the whole region may be said to rest on limestone vaults, the most remarkable of which is that of San Fig. 99. — Laze Peten. Scale l : 720,000. • l^il^gil '^^KmM. 90*10' West op breenwich 89°40' , 12 Miles. Agostin Lannuin, where a little affluent of the Polochic has its source. A good carriage-road running south-east and east through the villages of Tactic, Tama/iUj Tucuru, and Teleman, leads to the riverain port of Panzos, where the local produce is forwarded by a small steamer down the Polochic to the Golfo Dulce. No trace now remains of the Nueva Sevilla, founded in 1544 near the mouth of the Polochic ; but in 1825 the English established in the district the colony of Abbotsville (Boca Nueva), which was not more successful than its Spanish predecessor. Libertad, capital of the department of Peten, better known b}r its Indian name of Sacluc, lies on an affluent of the Pasion, a main branch of the Usumacinta. The few inhabitants of the surrounding savannas are occupied chiefly in stock- breeding. Excellent pasturage is afforded by the whole of this lake-studded region stretching northwards in the direction of Yucatan. An island in the TOPOGRAPHY OF GUATEMALA. 237 neighbouring Lake Peten is occupied by the ancient city of Tayasal, now re-named Flores in honour of a victim of the civil war of 1826. A steep road leads from the place to the crest of a hill, whence a fine prospect is commanded of the islands, headlands, wooded heights, and blue waters of the lake. On the opposite shore are seen the two large Indian settlement3 of San Andres and San Jose dis posed along the slopes of the encircling hills. The whole territory of Peten is Fig. 100. — Density oe the Population in Guatemala. Scale 1 : 4,500,000. 17° j ,1 j i1 L_ * [\7a ^. | •£- -r ^\ "+" T i V $ ¦B ¦ii. 1 ^ 1 v1 V" V i h A —+-:i+—o (k ,jy. _ i _ " i i |l|i "fw^-ffWff - - V E:^ _ tj| i|§::|::i:p:i r~ % ,-j-j [ j j { f 555 KJSBSftfr' - oj |||| !|;| TjiLjm X! "^"ImTTT ^ - ^ :^6:^'^.^gMm:m BMI: lift:) jffffi iM-r //j-fl/4 +tt 14° l-4-°| ~f 1°. TT III i 1 i^JltrrrTril c ' West op Greenw ch 89° Inliq'bitiiil"s to the Square Mile ga hi si m b 2 to 20. 20 to 40. 40 to 60. 60 to 100. 100 and upwards. • Towns of ove- 25,000 inhibitants. , 60 Miles. surprisingly fertile, maize yielding two hundredfold without manure, while the cacao, coffee, tobacco, and vanilla of the surrounding plantations are of the best quality. The fishes inhabiting the lake are said to be all of distinct species. According to the legend they were formerly of larger size than at present, being fed in pre-Columbian times on the bodies of the dead. Of the ruined cities that are scattered over the clearings north of the lake, in the direction of Yucatan, Tikal alone has been explored. It lies 20 miles to the north-east of Peten, and is noted 238 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. for its lofty verdure -clad pyramid, the most majestic Maya structure seen by Maudslay during his explorations of Central America. Here BernouilH found about a dozen hieroglyphical tablets of sapota wood, which are now preserved in the Museum of Basle. Economic Condition of Guatemala. The population of Guatemala is steadily increasing almost exclusively by the natural excess of births over the mortality. Foreign immigration is so slight that not more than 2,000 strangers are settled in the republic. Of these the most numerous are the " Tiroleses," a term applied generally to all North Italians, whose industrious habits have earned for them the contempt of the Indians, hitherto accustomed to regard their white masters as a superior race above the necessity of , manual labour. Since 1778 the population has grown from 260,000 to 1,450,000, and the increase has been uniform in all the departments, except in some of the northern districts on the Atlantic coast. At the same time illegitimacy is exces sive, especially amongst the Ladinos, or " civilised " Indians, nearly one-half of whom are returned as born out of wedlock. With the exception of wheat grown with potatoes on the Altos (uplands), the agricultural produce amply suffices for the local demand. Like those of Mexico, the Indians of the temperate zone live almost exclusively on maize, beans, and bananas ; even tasajo, or jerked meat, is a rare delicacy, and pork is eaten only on feast-days. "Water is their usual drink, except on pay-day, when they get drunk on a fiery brandy here bearing the Peruvian name of " chicha," or on other fermented liquors such as tiste and pulique, which, like the posola of Tabasco, is food and drink combined. When Guatemala proclaimed her independence, next to nothing was raised for the foreign markets ; but cochineal, for which the country is as well suited as Oaxaca itself, soon became a lucrative industry, especially in the Amatitlan and neigh bouring districts. The export rose from 16,000 pounds in 1827 to nearly 2,250,000 in the middle of the century. But the cochineal industry was ruined by the dis covery of dyes extracted from coal, and nopal-fields are now rarely seen. They have been replaced by coffee, which-is now the staple of the export trade. In the districts where it is cultivated — Boca Costa, between Betalhuleu and Escuintla, Antigua, Petapa, Amatitlan — the shrub thrives in the shade of leafy trees from 2,000 to 3,000 feet above the sea, and on open plantations up to 4,000 and even 5,000 feet. The Guatemalan coffee is highly esteemed, and the plant has hitherto escaped the ravages of parasites. The crop of 1890, yielded by over 50,000,000 shrubs, was estimated at 30,000 tons, worth £3,000,000. The temperate, zone is also suited for sugar-growing, although, for want of capital, Guatemala is unable to compete with the wealthy planters of Cuba, Louis iana, and Brazil. Nevertheless, from 5,000 to 6,000 tons are raised in the Costa Cuca and Costa Grande districts, for the local wants and for the production of rum. But distillers are so heavily taxed that little profit in made, except by smugglers. The cultivation of cacao (theobroma) has been almost abandoned, although the INDIAN WORKWOMEN OF THE HOT LANDS ON THE PACIFIC SLOPE. ECONOMIC CONDITION OF GUATEMALA. 239 local varieties are of exquisite flavour. During the Spanish rule the cacao of West Guatemala and Soconusco was reserved for the Court of Madrid ; now it is no longer exported, though it commands a higher price in the country than tie best varieties exported to Europe. Indigo, formerly raised in the Betalhuhu district, is also now neglected, but, being a vigorous plant, it continues to grow wi'd and in manv places has invaded the sugar and other plantations. Cotton is scarcely Fig. 101.— Chief Peoduots oe Guatemala. Scale 1 : 4,500,000. India-rubber P West of Greenwich 60 Miles. cultivated, except by the Indians of the hot zone. The competition of foreign importers has also nearly ruined the native weavers. Unsuccessful attempts have been made to introduce caoutchouc (castilloa elastica) into the temperate zone, but it is still collected in the forests, although the wild plant yields an inferior gum. The cocoanut palm has been planted round most of the coast towns and farmsteads, but more for ornament than use. On the other hand, cinchona is extensively cultivated, especially in the Coban district and on the Pacific slope ; as many as 1 ,550,000 trees had already been planted in the year 1884. 240 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. Vast tracts, formerly under primeval forest, have been cleared, and mostly converted into savannas for stock-breeding. Even in the districts under cultiva tion, the planters have their potreros, or sacatales, little plots reserved for pasturage. Nevertheless, the stock is insufficient for the local demand, and cuttle have to be imported at high rates from Mexico and Honduras. Sheep are confined chiefly to the Altos, where the wool is used in the manufacture of coarse fabrics. As in Mexico, most of the Indians employed on the plantations are held in a state of real bondage by the habilitaciones, or advances in money, which they are unable to refund, and for which the produce of their future labour becomes pledged. Hence, as in the days of slavery, the planters keep overseers to prevent the men from escaping. Statute labour, and even the lash, flourish in spite of the law, and the magistrates themselves supply the landowners with "hands" for a small consideration. Nevertheless, in many districts the Indians are still free, and own the land they till. In virtue of a recent law, all mayors, or the jefes politic (political agents), of the Alta Vera Paz communes, where the civilised Indians are most numerous, are required to allot to each native as his share of the public domain a plot of about 4,400 square yards with free title, but on condition of neither selling, letting, nor mortgaging the concession for the first ten years. Vast spaces are still unoccupied, and these baldios, as they are called, all belong to the State, which sells or leases them at pleasure. In order to safeguard what remains of the vacant lands it has been decided to make no grants of more thin 3,400 acres to a single person, who must be a native or naturalised citizen. Although, compared to Mexico, Guatemala possesses little mineral wealth, the Izabal district, on the Atlantic seaboard, was said to abound in auriferous deposits, hence the expression " Gold Coast " often applied to it in official documents of the seventeenth century. These treasures were worked exclusively by English miners, who, according to the tradition, extracted enough gold to purchase " a kingdom of Spain." In recent times they have been succeeded by Americans, who have at least discovered gold washings, though the yield is valued at no more than £6,000 a year. Quicksilver mines exist on the Huehuetenango plateaux ; but the Indians, who from time to time offer the pure metal for sale, have hitherto refused to reveal the locaHty. A mountain in the Cumbre de Chixoy is also said to contain over 35,000,000 cubic feet of lead ore, three-fourths of which is pure metal. The foreign trade of Guatemala, although steadily increasing, is still less than £2,000,000, including all the exchanges. About nine-tenths of the total exports are represented by coffee, the other articles in order of importance being sugar, skins and hides, caoutchouc, silver, and bananas. Great Britain has the largest share of the foreign traffic, the United States, France, and Germany ranking next in importance. The railway system is little developed, the only important lines being those from San Jose to Guatemala, and from Champerico to Betalhuleu. It is now proposed to continue these lines to the Atlantic, and Puerto Barrios, on St. Thomas Bay, has been chosen as the eastern terminus of the transoceanic railway. A few miles have already been constructed at the Atlantic end, but the ascent to ECONOMIC CONDITION OF GUATEMALA. 241 the plateaux, the bridging of the Motagua, and other difficulties, have arrested the progress of the line, the total length of which is estimated at 186 miles. Even good carriage-roads are still rare, and the only bridge crossing the Motagui Fig. 102. — Guatemalan Alcaldes, Altos Region. has been swept away by the floods. Meanwhile, all merchandise destined for the Atlantic has to be transported by pack miiles. In the thinly -peopled regions of the. interior the postal service is still carried on, as in the time of Montezuma, by 49 242 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. relays of couriers, by means of whom letters and verbal messages are transmitted with great rapidity. But the development of the telegraph, and even of the telephone, must soon supersede this antiquated system. Education is still in a backward state, and in 1890 there were only 1,200 schools, with an attendance of 53,000, in the whole republic. The three colleges for secondary instruction are frequented by about 1,200 students, and in all the higher schools English is obligatory. The Guatemalan constitution has undergone many changes. At one time part of a larger state, at another an independent republic, alternately ruled by the "Serviles" and the "Liberals," exposed to the tyranny of a Carrera or the cruelty of a Barrios, the nation has had to modify its political charter with every fresh revolution. The last constitution was that of 1879, completed in 1889, though fresh changes will have still to be made if Guatemala is eventually to become a member of the contemplated Central American Confederacy. The legislative power is vested in a chamber of deputies, in the proportion of one to 20,000 inhabitants, elected by all citizens capable of reading and writing. The deputies, half of whom retire by rotation every two years, number at present 69, and are returned by electoral districts, which are represented by one, two, or three members, according to their population. The executive is entrusted to a president elected for six months, assisted by a state council, and six ministers having charge of foreign affairs, the interior, public works, war, finance, and public instruction. Lastly, the judicial functions are exercised by a high court of final appeal, and lower courts, all judges being appointed by election. Imprison ment for debt is abolished, and the domicile, as well as private correspondence, is held to be inviolate, except in time of war or invasion, when all rights are suspended. In the departments and communes, the ayuntamientos are constituted by popular suffrage, although the Government reserves the right of dissolving these assemblies, and replacing them by a judge. It also appoints to each department a jefe politico, who is always a military officer, although charged with civil func tions. His power over the Indians is almost unlimited, and in each commune a comisionado politico or gobemador, often chosen amongst the descendants of the ancient caciques, transmits his orders to the alcaldes, of whom there are two or three, according to the population of the district. The " first alcalde " has special charge of the Ladinos, the " second "of the Indians, and both wear the traditional hat and band as the badge of their authority, besides the cruciform or silver- mounted rod. The Church, long supreme in Guatemala, has no longer any recognized privi leges. According to the constitution, no cult enjoys any pre-eminence, and the free exercise of all religions is authorised, although in 1890 there was only one Protestant church in the capital. The Jesuits had already been expelled in 1767, and in 1871 their establishments were finally suppressed and their property con fiscated. The same fate had befallen the other religious communities in 1829, although they subsequently recovered part of their effects. But the property of ECONOMIC CONDITION OF GUATEMALA. 243 all religious orders was " nationalised " in 1872, and in 1874 all nunneries were suppressed except one. Some of the convents were used as schools or depots ; but most of the ecclesiastical domains benefited the "politicians " alone, many of whom suddenly found themselves in possession of vast fortunes. Officially all citizens between the ages of 18 and 50 are bound to military service ; but the law exempts the only sons of widows, professors, officials, and all capable of purchasing exemption by an annual payment of 50 dollars. Pure Fig. 103. — Political Divisions oe Guatemala. Scale 1 : 4,500.000. West oF Greenwich 120 Miles. Indians are not enrolled, but in time of war they are pressed into the transport service. The yearly budget varies from £800,000 to over £1,000,000, mostly raised from the customs levied on nearly all foreign imports, or derived from the excise on the manufacture and sale of spirits. Most of the revenue is absorbed by the army, though a yearly sum of £80,000 to £100,000 is devoted to public instruction: In 1890 the national debt was about £4,200,000, over half of which was due to EngHsh capitalists. 244 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. The republic is divided into 23 administrative departments, all of which are less than 3,000 square miles in extent, except the three great divisions of Huehue tenango (6,000), Alta Vera Paz (7,000), and Peten (10,000). The chief towns, mostly bearing the same names as the departments, have all populations of less than 20,000, except Totonicapam (20,000), Quezaltenango (24,000), and the state capital, Guatemala (66,000). III. — San Salvador. San Salvador, or simply Salvador, smallest of the Central American states, is the richest and relatively the most densely peopled. Its area is estimated at about 7,250 square miles, or less than that of British Honduras, though its popula tion is at least twenty times greater than that colony. It forms a narrow zone of quadrilateral shape on the Pacific slope, 1S6 miles long and with a mean breadth of not more than 50 miles. The landward frontiers are mostly conventional Hnes, or else indicated by streams both banks of which are inhabited by peoples of the same origin. Towards Guatemala the line follows the course of the little river Paza to the Chingo volcano, beyond which it intersects Lake Guija and trends round east wards to Honduras, where it traverses mountains and valleys with equal disregard of the physical, and ethnical relations. Northwards the frontier is not indicated by the crest of the sierra, but by the river Sumpul, a tributary of the Lempa, then by the Lempa itself below the confluence, and lastly by another stream belonging to the same basin. On the east it follows the course of the Goascoran, which leaves to Salvador only a small part of the margin of Fonseca Bay. The main range and the volcanic chain, which had already ramified in Guate mala, continue to diverge to a considerable distance eastwards, so that the former belongs entirely to Honduras, the latter to Salvador. Here the prevailing rocks are undoubtedly of eruptive origin, although many volcanic cones are no longer easily recognised, their craters having been obliterated, and their slopes covered with the same grey, white or yellowish clay which also overlay the Mexican and Guatemalan mountains. The plains encircling the volcanoes consist to a great depth of ashes and pumice, the upper crust of which, when decomposed, yields a soil of extraordinary fertility. East of Guatemala the chief range is that of the steep Matapan Mountains (5,000 feet), which rise to the north-east of Lake Guija, and which from a distance seem quite inaccessible. But no igneous cones are here visible, and most of the active craters lie nearer to the Pacific coast, between Ahuachapam and the viUage of San Juan de Dios, where is developed a line of the so-called ausoles disposed transversely to the volcanic axis. At many points along this line gases are emitted in abundance, but all the most remarkable ausoles, presenting every transition from the mud volcano and gas jet to the hot spring, are concentrated close to Ahuachapam, on the main route between the cities of Guatemala and San Salvador. Orer the plain are scattered large mud lakes, kept in a state of ebullition by the underground vapours, and the clays deposited by the ausoles present every shade of colour — blue, green, yellow or red, evidently due to the disintegration of ferru- SAN SALVADOR 245 ginous, rocks, interspersed with alum.' and' sulphur.' To judge from the accounts of early writers, all the ausoles would appear to have diminished in temperature and activity during the present century. Farther: east is developed ah igneous system, the Madre del Volcan, with peaks from 5,500 to 6,500 feet high;, all of which — *Apaneca, Launita (Lagunita), San Juan, Aguila, Naranjo and others — are said by the inhabitants of Sonsonate to be true volcanoes. But according to Dollfus and Mont-Serrat. they are rather masses of trachy tic porphyry, covered with yellow clays and ashes ejected. by distant volcanoes. One, however, the Santa Ana (6,650 feet), appears to be a real crater,' which has been recently even in eruption. A far more celebrated, though less elevated, volcano is that of Izalco, which Fig. 104.' — Ausol at Ahuachapam. belongs to the same system, and which, like the Jorullo of Mexico, has made its appearance since the arrival of the Spaniards in the New World. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, its site, or at least the district near Sonsonate, was occupied by ausoles like those of Ahuachapam, which, however, appear to have after wards become extinct. But on February 23, 1770, the ground suddenly opened and ejected copious lava streams. Then the cone began to rise above the surface, and has ever since continued to expand ; but since the first eruption it has ejected nothing but ashes. Formerly the explosions were almost incessant, and the volumes of fiery vapour rolling up from the crater at night earned for Izalco the title of the Faro del Salvador (" Salvador Lighthouse "). Dollfus and Mont- Serrat, who ascended it during a short period of repose in 1866, estimated its height 240 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. at a little over 6,000 feet, and found the summit pierced by three craters, one of which emitted vapours with hissing and rumbling noises. Izalco is a perfect cone, " as regular as if turned out by a lathe." San Salvador, a volcano rising to a height of 6,200 feet, about six miles north of the capital, appears to have been quiescent since pre-Columbian times. From a distance it presents none of the distinctive features of an igneous cone, being an elongated mass with irregular base, and wooded nearly to the summit. But it terminates in the so-called boqueron, an immense crater nearly round, about three miles in circuit and flooded by a green transparent lake 650 feet deep. On the flanks is an ausol constantly discharging vapours, and near the north base are some Fig. 105. — Volcanoes op "West Salvador. Scale 1 : 1,200,000. . 89VO- West oF Greenwich 89" . 18 Miles. parasitic cones, one of which, the Quezaltepec volcano, was the scene of a small eruption at the beginning of the century. But although the volcanoes in the neighbourhood of .the capital have not been the scene of any important eruptions during the historic period, earthquakes have been, frequent and almost as disastrous a3 in any region of the globe. They are all the more dangerous that the ground on which San Salvador is built consists of a whitish tufaceous rock, light and unstable, " floating," so to say, in the depressions of the solid crust without coalescing with it. The city has been overthrown and rebuilt on the same site no less than seven times during the last three centuries. The sudden catastrophe of 1854 swallowed up many victims, while that of 1873 was even still more destructive to the buildings. This disturbance appears to have radiated from Lake Ilopango (Apulo), a deep i ILOPANGO VOLCANO. SAN SALVADOR. 247 basin six miles east of the capital, about 1 ,600 feet above the sea, encircled by steep rocky shores. The lake, which has an area of 24 square miles, has frequently changed its level, and towards the middle of the eighteenth century it was much lower than at present. But after a series of landslips its eastern emissary, which flows in a deep barranca to the Jiboa, a direct affluent of the Pacific, was dammed up, thus causing a considerable rise in the level. In 1873, the lake was violently agitated and raised about three feet above its normal level, and in 1879, a fresh disturbance was followed by another rise of four feet. Then the waters overflowed their banks, and rapidly excavated a channel, Fig. 106. — Lake Ilopango. Scale 1 : 170,000. West of Greenwich 89° 88-67 (I to 50 Fathoms. Deaths. 50 to 100 Fathoms. 100 Fathoms and upwards. , 3 Miles. whereby a subsidence of eight feet was effected in three hours. In 54 days there was a total fall of 35 feet, the volume discharged being estimated at over 20,320 million cubic feet. The noxious vapours which at first accompanied these convul sions were followed by discharges of lava, and islets composed of eruptive matter rose gradually above the surface of the seething waters. But when all was over nothing remained except an island of hard lava 160 feet high, in the immediate vicinity of which the sounding- line revealed a 'depth of over 100 fathoms. During the eruption the geologist Goodyear recorded no less than 440 violent shocks. 248 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. North-east of Lake Ilopango rise the spurs of the Cojutepec volcano (3,400 feet), whose crater, though still visible, has been quiescent throughout the historic period. Farther on follows Chichon tepee, the " Twin -peaked," now known by the name of San Vicente, highest volcano in Salvador (7,920 feet). Like Agua, in Guatemala, its terminal cone formerly contained a tarn, which after a long rainy season, burst its margin and rushed down to the plains through barrancas scored in the flank of the mountain. The summit of San Vicente presents the finest panoramic view in Salvador, embracing Lake Ilopango, the richly culti- Fig. 107. — Volcanoes of East Salvador. Scale 1 : 600,000. ,f,s'jF'5? 3,-4 *-*• 12 Miles vated slopes descending towards the Pacific, and the deep valley of the Bio Lempa. Beyond the gap caused by this fluvial valley the chain of igneous cones is continued by the Tecapa volcano, also containing a lake of considerable extent, whose waters, according to the natives, " are cold on one side and hot on the other." Farther on follow the mountains of Usulutan and the four-crested Chinameca (5,000 feet). None of these have been the scene of recent disturbances, while Chinameca's vast crater, nearly a mile in circumference, is completely closed. San Miguel, one of the loftiest summits in Salvador (7,100 feet), which, thanks RIVERS OE SALVADOR. 249 to its isolation, its rugged slopes, and sharply-truncated upper crest, presents an aspect of unrivalled grandeur, offers a superb prospect of the surrounding plains and river valleys away to the Pacific and ramifying inlets of Fonseca Bay. San Miguel has been in eruption several times during the historic period, and in 1844 as many as fourteen fissures on its flanks discharged diverging streams of lava, one of which flowed ten miles northwards to the outskirts of the city of San Miguel. The terminal crater is one of the largest in Central America, being nearly two miles in circuit and 500 feet deep. Farther east the volcanic chain terminates in the twin crested Conchagua, whose gently-inclined wooded slopes project into Fonseca Bay. Conchagua, whose chief summit, the Cerro del Ocote, rises to a height of 4,100 feet, was supposed to be extinct till the year 1868, when a fissure was opened on its flanks, whence issued dense volumes of yapours, accompanied by violent earthquakes and avalanches of rocks. The lava streams which have been discharged parallel with the Pacific coast have certainly contributed to modify the hydrographic system of Salvador by damming up the streams and compelling them, either to excavate fresh channels or to fill vast lacustrine depressions. A distinct, waterparting has been formed by the volcanic range, whence on one' side flow rapid torrents seawards, while, on the other, the running, waters converge in the great valley of the Bio Lempa, running parallel with the igneous axis and the main Honduras range. The Lempa, one of the chief rivers of Central America, rises in Guatemala, one of its headstreams descending from the famous shrine of Esquipulas. After crossing the frontier it receives the overflow of the great Lake Guija, which is itself fed by the Ostua and numerous torrents from the surrounding mountains. Below the confluence the Lempa continues to flow parallel with the Pacific coast, receiving on both banks numerous tributaries from the northern and southern ranges. Beyond its junction with its largest affluent, the Sumpul from the Honduras mountains, it is joined from the east by the Tonola. Beyond this point the mainstream forces a passage through the escarpments of the plateau down to the plains, where its yellow waters, scarcely 10 feet deep in the dry season, flow with a sluggish current a few yards above the level of the Pacific. During the floods its lower course has a depth of from 20 to 26 feet, but at its mouth it is obstructed by a bar never more than six or seven feet deep. Thus the Lempa, with a course of about .185 miles, a catchment basin 6,000 square miles in extent, and a mean discharge of from 16,000 to 24,000 cubic feet per second, is inaccessible to marine navigation, though river steamers can ascend its lower reaches to the great southern bend at the Tonola confluence. The San Miguel, which flows in a nearly parallel channel farther east, enters the sea at the Estero de Jiquilisco, an inlet which might easily be connected with the Lempa. The Salvador coast, like that of Guatemala, has been subject to numerous changes of level in past times. Banks of recent shells lying some distance inland show that the beach has been upheaved, or else that the neighbouring waters have subsided. 250 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. Climate, Flora, Fauna. Being intersected by 13° 30' north* latitude, with a general southern incline, the Salvador coastlands are exposed to great heats which, despite the refreshing sea- breezes, range normally from about 78° to 83° Fahr. But the coastlands are the least inhabited part of the country, most of the population being concentrated in the elevated volcanic zone between 2,000 and 3,000 feet above sea-level, where the mean temperature faUs to 74° and even 70° Fahr. Farther north, in the low-lying valley of the Lempa, which is inaccessible to the sea-breezes, the climate again becomes hot and insalubrious ; hence this district also is but sparsely peopled. The rains, which are more copious on the seaward slopes of the mountains, begin to fall about the middle of May, and last, with a short interruption towards the end of June, till the month of September. They are always brought by the vendavales, or southern winds, and are at times accompanied by storms, and even by chubascos, or cyclones. During the dry season, when the north winds prevail, the coastlands are also exposed to storms, the so-called terrales, which are much dreaded by the fishing populations, especially in the months of February and March. In its flora and fauna Salvador differs little from Guatemala. A characteristic species is the balsam (myrospermum salvatorense), which has given its name to the section of the coast between Acajutla and Liber tad, and which was formerly called " Peruvian Balsam," because forwarded to Spain by the Callao route. Salvador is especially rich in medicinal plants, gums, and resins. Of late years the planta tions have been somewhat frequently visited by clouds of locusts. Inhabitants. The Pipils, that is, the Aztecs of Guatemala, were also in possession of west Salvador at the time of the Spanish Conquest, as is attested by the local nomen clature. The centre of their power was at Suchitoto, north of the present capital, and Bernal Diaz tells us that their social, reHgious and political institutions were identical with those of the Mexican Aztecs. Their territory was limited north and east by the Bio Lempa, which river long arrested the advance of the Spaniards. The very name of the river is a corruption of Lempira, chief of the Chontal Indians, who offered the stoutest resistance to the invaders. After the conquest, the Pipils, like their Mexican kindred, were reduced to a state of abject servitude ; yet they became gradually assimilated to their masters by crossings, and at the time of the declaration of independence in 1821, the Salvador half-breeds greatly outnumbered the whites. At present, about four- fifths of the population are of mixed Hispano-Indian descent. But there still survive some nearly if not quite full- blood Indian communities, such as the Pipils of Izalco, who still speak a Mexican dialect. But the native customs and language are best preserved by the people of the Balsam coast, south of the volcanic range. These Indians, who dweU in low huts covered with foliage, cultivate a little maize, and do some trade in bananas with TOPOGRAPHY OE SALVADOR. 251 the seaports. The money derived from this traffic is spent in decorating their churches and feasting their patron saints, all being now at least nominal Catholics. Physically, they differ little from their Guatemalan neighbours, except in their darker complexion, and the much smaller stature of their women. Topography. Ahuachapam, the first town near the Guatemalan, is perhaps the city of Paza (Pazaco), whence was named the Bio Paza, forming the present political frontier between Guatemala and Salvador. Ahuachapam, with the neighbouring towns of Atiquisaya, Chalchuapa, and Santa Ana, lies in a marvellously fertile district, on which sugar and coffee are largely grown, but which has often been a battle-field Fig. 108. — San Salvador and its Envieons. Scale 1 : 230,000. 13' SslSSBiililii #fS63s:' -~. ! , usStffll'fnlS# #". ^r^HBNP111* (3" 45 ¦Mmi ly^ "45' ^^M^^^^m ''^&^S "',„'-' V?/ i±t ^ : : IK. * .... ... * "'- • 5 SftiyADOff Mtp(( i J1} ^^ 71"? «B BP^iBiillilPK */ I T 5Km 18^' '¦'"' ""-'^si^l^M .-*rft- '•>*' ':~ '¦"''¦ y. f*':* ||F/ ]1 . 1 ^l^^ife7' ' ' ¦¦¦':; -tilir^NI^ ^^^W ¦'¦ - ¦ r " -"- ^ i^ Jljliiplli ^^^C^-'W'' ^W^^!^^ * 13" 4 T W^0^iy ^T" M9i&hie£^i!^mfMM (Nu.s»aS:'SiiSjcior)-i ; '¦ '.'¦ : '" ,'.,^-' ' ' ', \ " Sp Ll" !'^»^rl»Pi i^^^S^^MSlK!' ..: ... ^'"''.V^.'- •' #f /Vest oF Greenwich S9-I0' 89"5' =. 6 Miles. in the wars between Guatemala and Salvador. It was at Chalchuapa that the dictator, Bufino Barrios, was overthrown in the sanguinary engagement of 1885, which put an end to the hegemony of Guatemala over the other Central American states. Sonsonate, or the " Four Hundred Springs," also lies in a rich and well-watered plain, which is often illumined at night by the fires of Izalco. Formerly the most important place in west Salvador, Sonsonate has now been eclipsed by Santa Ana, which lies to the north of the volcano of like name on the main route between Salvador and Guatemala. Since the earthquakes by which the capital has been twice destroyed, Santa Ana has become the largest city in the republic ; it is an important agricultural centre, and the neighbouring district of Metapan, on 252 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. the north side of Lake Guija, abounds in productive iron, copper, silver, and zinc mines. Acajutla, the outlet of this western division of Salvador, Hes on "the west side of a spacious bay, open to the western and southern winds. Despite its exposed position, Acajutla has become the largest seaport in the state, shipping coffee and other produce in exchange for foreign manufactured wares. It is the seaward terminus of the first railway built in Salvador, which runs north to Sonsonate and Armenia, the ancient Guaymoco, and which is ultimately to effect a junction' with the projected trunk line from Mexico to Panama. A branch in course of con struction runs through the Guarumal towards the flourishing coffee plantations of Santa Ana, whence the main highway , leads to San Salvador, capital of the republic. This place was originally founded in 1525 in the Suchitoto valley, much farther north than its present position in the fertile plain, 2,300 feet above the sea, at the east foot of the San Salvador volcano. The district, covered with coffee and other plantations, is watered by the Aselguate, a southern affluent of the Bio Lempa, while immediately to the south other streams flow in parallel channels down to the Pacific. The city thus stands on the waterparting, and has the further advantage of occupying a strong central position, defended by wide and deep barrancas of extremely difficult access. But the district is exposed to frequent and violent earthquakes, by which San Salvador has been twice destroyed during the present century. On these occasions, many of the inhabitants sought refuge elsewhere, and especially at Santa Tecla, nine miles to the north-west. Santa Tecla thus became the temporary capital, and even received the name of Nuevo San Salvador, but being equally exposed to underground disturbances, as well as to volcanic eruptions, it scarcely offered much more security than the first place, which has been rebuilt of wood, on a principle of elastic frames calculated to resist sudden shocks. San Salvador has now resumed its position as seat of the administration, but has not yet recovered the population of 30,000 which it possessed about the middle of the century. It communicates by a well-kept road with its seaport of La Libertad, an exposed roadstead, where the shipping rides at anchor in the surf over half a mile from the shore. East of the capital the main route passes north of Lake Ilopango to Coju- tepeque, an Indian town, followed successively by Jiboa and San Vicente, the latter founded in 1638 on a western affluent of the lower Lempa on the site of the .ancient Aztec city of Tehuacan. The ruins of this place, known by the name of Opico, stand on a lateral terrace of the San Vicente volcano. The route leads thence through Sacatecoluca to the port of Concordia, at the mouth of the Bio Jiboa. In the marshy and insalubrious valley of the Lempa there are no centres of population, the nearest towns being Suchitoto, Ilobasco, and Sensuntepeque, which stand on breezy headlands, where the temperature is lower than in the low-lying fluvial basin. Chalatenango, the only town in the northern district between the Lempa and the Sumpul, lies also at some distance from the mainstream. TOPOGRAPHY OE SALVADOR. 25b East of the Lempa the largest place is Chinameca, which is inhabited by Indians and half-castes. San Miguel, lying farther east on the river of that name, derives some importance from its fairs, which are frequented by traders cp s¦< wCO c n h5 from all parts of Central America and Mexico. Its seaport of La Union stands on one of the numerous sheltered inlets of Fonseca Bay where excellent anchorage is afforded at about a mile from the shore. 254 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. Economic Condition of Salvador. Despite its foreign wars and civil strife, Salvador is a prosperous country, as shown by the rapid increase of population unaided by any foreign immigration. Since 1778, when it was originally returned at 117,436, the population has certainly more than quadrupled, the census of 1886 yielding over 651,000, and the estimate for 1890 being at least 675,000, or about 70 inhabitants per square mile. At the same proportion the United States would have a population of from 340,000,000 to 350,000,000, instead of 63,000,000 according to the. census of 1890. Becently Salvador has given a striking proof of its vitality by the ease with which it has accomplished a great economic revolution. Till lately its revenue ¦ Fig. 110 — Density of the Population of Salvador. Scale 1 : 2,7fi0.i000. 1 1 1 ' ! i ' fTir zr i i 1 ' ' 1 ' 1 — Ttt-- ¦ —, . J?k A.G=J - - -U--L-_,_J 1 . — J — *==*Hf=i] -. f. &—A. -^ — |LT. i e?=r ^jt- 3p *¦ — "j. -i 1 1 . ¦. - '^My^l | J rfrrW; r'-' " 1' V.. 1 14° t ti:|:::::g^!^|:::|:::Sg||:::: :ii:^pEEi:|iEilgrP ^::±zit:-:;-:;;:+::::::.f:^:L =^r j- ¦ 4-1 -U [ JM- - 3jQc 1 HS8 g tt {¦iiM^ i- - - - ¦ - -r-1 — f-Hiir — hii — ~ Trti1 — ^ ¦¦ =^ : ' -j- ¦¦¦ j T 1"f [ 1 !.-;¦= J j J-, ~*~~ Tr- Ii N — y 90" West oF Cr . ,i | Ii L--^p^a -3Q' eenwich 88° D 0 to 40. a Inhabitants to the Square Mile. ffl ffl 40 to 60. 60 to 80. 80 to 120. Each squire represents a popula'ion of 500. • Towns of over 20,000 inhabitants. 120 and upwa ds. 60 Miles. depended mainly on indigo, its only article of export. But since the discovery of the various coal-tar dyes superseding the use of indigo, the Salvador planters have had to abandon its cultivation and replace it chiefly by coffee and su^ar. The yield of the silver mines has also contributed to pay for the textiles, hardware corn, and other articles imported from abroad. The total value of the exchanges is about £4 per head of the population, amounting in 1890 to over £2,250 000. Inland traffic is facilitated by carriage-roads with a total length of 2,700 miles in 1890, but in the same year there were only 36 miles of railways. The telegraph and postal services are also in a backward state, though education, now gratuitous and obligatory, is making considerable progress. In 1889 the schools were attended by over 40,000 scholars, or one-eighteenth of the whole population, HONDURAS. 255 exclusive of 1,300 frequenting the high schools and 180 following the courses of the national university in the capital. Salvador has been an independent state only since 1859, and even since then its constitution, which should be representative, has been frequently modified or superseded by a military government tempered by insurrections. In theory the legislative power is vested in a national assembly of 42 members, elected for one year by popular suffrage, while the executive is exercised by a president, who is also elected by the people, but for four years, and who chooses his own ministry, consisting of four secretaries of state. The standing army comprises about 2,000 of all arms, with a militia nominally 40,000 strong. The administration of justice is entrusted to a supreme court situated in the capital, with courts of appeal at Santa Ana, Cojutepeque, and San Miguel, tribunals of first instance for each of the three judiciary districts, and justices of the peace for the towns and communes. As in most American states, the revenue is mainly derived from the customs, about one-third being contributed by monopolies on tobacco and spirits. Not more than a fourth of the national income is absorbed by the army, a proportion less than that expended on education and public works. In 1890 the debt amounted to £1,300,000. Under the Spanish regime Salvador formed part of the viceroyalty of Guate mala, comprising the four provinces of Sonsonate, San Salvador, San Vicente, and San Miguel. At present the republic is divided into fourteen adminis trative departments, grouped under three divisions, for which see Appendix. IV. — Honduras. The very name of Honduras recalls the times of the discovery, when the Spanish pilots, advancing cautiously along the coasts, reported shallow soundings {honduras) in the waters at the head of Honduras Bay. Columbus, who in 1502 first explored these waters between Capes Caxinas (Honduras) and Gracias-a-Dios, ran great risks amid the surrounding reefs and shoals. But its present name was given to the seaboard not by Columbus, but by Bartholomew de las Casas, who in his Discovery of the West Indies by the Spaniards, speaks of the land of " Hondure," .as if this name were of Indian origin. Twenty-two years later, at the time of Fernan Cortes' famous expedition across Yucatan, the country was known to the Spaniards by the name of Hibueras or Higueras, and it has also been called " New Estremadura." After forming part of the Guatemalan viceroyalty, Honduras was separated from the mother country with the rest of Central America, and at present forms one of the five sister republics. But despite its natural advantages of climate, central position and excellent harbours on both oceans, its progress has been relatively slow. Under the Spanish rule the seaports and cultivated plains on the Atlantic side attracted the attention of the corsairs by whom these coast lands were ravaged for a great distance inland. The country has, doubtless, 256 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. been gradually resettled, but the highest estimates assign it a population of not more than six persons to the square mile. Physical Features. Like Guatemala, Honduras is of triangular shape, but its position is reversed, so that its base rests on the Atlantic, and its apex reaches the Pacific at Fonseca Bay. The Hmits of the state are, how- Kg. 111. — Intekoceanic Watebpaeting, Hokdukas. Scale 1 : 480,000. wm®^.. "<*.7fe; ever, almost everywhere indi cated, not by conventional lines as elsewhere, but by such natural features as mountains and river valleys. In the north-west it is separated from Guatemala by a winding frontier, which, while, assigning to Honduras the Guate malan valley of Copan, coincides in a general way with the crests of the Merendon, Espiritu Santo and Grita ranges, beyond which it follows the course of the Bio Tinto to a secondary inlet of Honduras Bay. Towards Salvador the frontier' is formed mainly by the Bivers Sumpul, Lempa, Tonola and Goas- coran, and towards Nicaragua by the Bio Negro on the Pacific side, and by the Ocotal and Segovia on the Atlantic slope, the common waterparting being indicated by the Dipilto range. The interior is still imperfectly known, but the country may, in a general way, be said to be di vided into two unequal slopes by a sierra madre disposed parallel with, and at a mean distance of about 60 miles from, the Pacific coast. This range is much more precipitous on the Pacific than on the Atlantic side, so that the south side should be regarded rather as the escarpment of a plateau carved into distinct masses by streams flowing north to the Caribbean Sea. Towards the west or Guatemalan frontier the Sierra de Pacaya (6,600 feet) branches off from the Merendon range and farther on merges in the Sierra de Selaque, round which the running waters diverge in all directinas. Here the 87°^o- We^toF Greenwiek 87°50- 12 Miles. PHYSICAL FEATURES OE HONDURAS. 257 Honduras orographic system appears to culminate in several peaks exceeding 10,000 feet in height. Farther on the uplands fall and again rise in the direction of the east, where they develop the Opalaca and San Juan ranges. At the extremity of this chain is opened the great depression forming the natural highway of communi cation between the two fluvial basins of Humuya on the north, and Goascoran on the south. Here the waterparting is indicated only by the relatively low passes of Guajoca (2,300 feet) and Bancho Chiquito (2,400), which are already traversed by a road, and which will probably soon be crossed by a railway of easy ascent and free from tunnels. Bocks of tertiary formation overlying the older strata recall the epoch when this depression was still flooded by a channel flowing between the two oceans when Central America formed a chain of islands, not, as at present, a continuous isthmus. Beyond the depression the main range, here called the Sierra Lepaterique, soon ramifies into a northern and a southern chain, the former running north-east to Cape Gracias-a-Dios, the latter southwards to the main range of Nicaragua. The igneous system, which in Salvador and Nicaragua runs between the main range and the Pacific coast, disappears altogether on the Honduras mainland, but is represented in the islets of Fonseca Bay. A slight upheaval of the marine bed would suffice to connect Sacate Grande and the other volcanoes in this bay with the opposite coast. Sacate Grande, largest of the group, rises to a height of 2,000 feet, while the neighbouring Tiger Island is 600 feet higher. On the Atlantic side the Merendon main range is continued north-westwards by the long crest of the Espiritu Santo and Grita chains, which run at a mean altitude of over 6,700 feet between the valleys of the Guatemalan Bio Motagua and the Honduras Bio Chamelicon. The system rises probably to 10,000 feet in the Omoa group, which forms its seaward terminus near the port of Omoa. A northern spur of the Opalaca hills terminates in the huge and nearly isolated bluff of Mount Puca, while the San Juan crags, dominating the interoceanic depression, are continued in the same northerly direction by the Montecillos and the Sierra de Canchia, which confront the Comayagua Mountains on the opposite side ' of the depression. Eastwards the Lepaterique hills are connected with the central mass of the Sierra de Chile, whence various ridges ramify between deep valleys in different directions. Lastly, the parting-line between Honduras and Nicaragua is formed by the Cordillera de Dipilto, which is continued seawards to the converging point of the rectilinear Honduras and Mosquitia shore-lines. In the interior of the state the Sierra Misoco runs due north-east nearly parallel with the Sulaco and Pija ridges, and Mount Paya, rising to a height of 3,730 feet, near Cape Cameron, probably belongs to a branch of the same system. On the northern edge of the Honduras plateau the Congrehoy ridge, which cul minates in a peak 8,200 feet high, seems to form a distinct chain disposed parallel with the neighbouring Bay Islands. Some of the mountains of the interior have been spoken of as volcanoes, but 50 258 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. they have never been seen in eruption, nor have they yet been ascended by any scientific explorer. Such pretended volcanoes are Teapasemi (3,000 feet), in the Dipilto range, about midway between the two oceans, the Guaymaca and Boqueron heights in the Misoco chain. Bivers, Islands, Inlets. Honduras, being well exposed to the Atlantic rains, is traversed by numerous watercourses, nor are there any closed basins, as in Mexico and Guatemala. In the west the first copious stream is the Chamelicon (Chamlico), which flows from the Merendon Hills parallel with the Motagua of Guatemala, terminating, after a rapid course of over 160 miles, in a delta connected by one branch with the Puerto-Caballos lagoon. The Chamelicon might almost be regarded as an affluent of the Ulua, its lower course running for 30 miles parallel with that stream through the same low- lying plain, where their waters are intermingled during the floods. But apart from the Chamelicon, the Ulua is the largest river in Honduras, its catchment basin comprising about a third of the whole state, and occupying all the space between the Merendon and Chile ranges. From the west it is joined by the Santiago (Venta), swollen by the Bio Santa Barbara, and various emissaries from the great Lake Yojoa. From the south comes the Humuya, which may be regarded as the main branch ; from the east, the Sulaco. Lake Yojoa (Taulebe) has the form of an upland valley disposed crescent-shape from south to north, and without any visible affluent at low water. But during the floods it rises to a great height, sending its overflow through the Jaitique at its south-eastern extremity to the Santa Barbara. But there are other outlets bv which its waters also escape, disappearing in the pozos or cavities of the sur rounding fossiliferous limestone rocks and reappearing lower down as tributaries of the Santa Barbara. According to Stanton and Edwards, there are no less than nine of these underground emissaries all flowing during the rainy season to the headstreams of the Ulua. During the floods the Ulua is accessible to small steamers as far as the Sulaco confluence ; but the bar at its mouth has scarcely more than three feet of water, so that shipping is obliged to anchor at some distance from the estuary. The next large river going east from the Ulua is the Aguan or Bomano, which enters the sea tlirough two channels between Capes Honduras (Caxinas) and Cameron. The Bomano, which is said to have a course of over 120 miles, traverses a forest region of great sylvan beauty abounding in auriferous sands. But it is a less copious stream than the Patuca, whose various sources flow from the Misoco and Chile ranges and unite in a single channel above the formidable gorge of the ;;f|jJ?ortal del Infierno, or " Hell-gate." From this point the Patuca is navigable for the rest of its course to its mouth, which presents the same difficulties as those of all the other estuaries along this coast. The abundant alluvia of the Bio Patuca have advanced in a sharp point beyond the normal sliore-iine, enclosing right and left shallow marine lagoons, which THE BAY ISLANDS. 259 communicate through several channels with the open sea. On the west is the Brus (Brewer) lagoon ; on the east the much larger Caratasca (Cartago) basin, with a depth of 16 feet in the centre. The grassy shores of these inlets are dotted over with clumps of fir and other trees, giving the landscape the aspect cf an English park. Although everywhere navigable, the Honduras waters rest on a submarine bed scarcely more than 50 fathoms deep, with banks, reefs, and islets rising above the surface. This plateau extends seawards for a mean distance of about 18 or 20 miles, when the sounding-line plunges suddenly into depths of Fig. 112. —Bat Islands. Scale 1 : 1,500,000. Depths. 0 to 100 Fathoms 100 Fathoms and upwards. __ 30 Miles. 500 fathoms. Beyond Cape Cameron the shallows extend to Mosquito Bank, which projects for nearly 130 miles in the direction of Jamaica. The plateau, which has an average depth of about 20 fathoms, reproduces east of Honduras the same limestone formation as the submerged terrace encircling the Yucatan seaboard. Above the submarine bed rises a long line of coralline islets, which are collectively called the- Bay Islands, but of which one alone, Utila, deserves the name of island. Utila stands at the western extremity of the group, at the very edge of the plateau, where the soundings suddenly reveal depths of over 200 fathoms 260 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. on the north side. Boatan, Elena, Barbareta (Borburata), Bonaca and the other members of the group all lie in deep water, and are disposed in the direction from west-south-west to east-north-east. Boatan, which is by far the largest, is 30 miles long, and is continued eastwards by Elena and Barbareta. Although scarcely a mile wide, Boatan has a few hills, culminating westwards in an eminence 800 feet high. Bonaca (Guanaja), the Isla de Pinos of Columbus, which Hes at the eastern extremity of the group, is still more elevated, its pine-clad granite peak rising to a height of 1,200 feet. On the southern slope of Honduras, the two most copious streams are the Goascoran, the lower course of which forms the boundary-line towards Salvador, and the Choluteca, whose basin is entirely comprised within Honduras territory. The Choluteca flows from the Lepaterique hills to the marine inlet, to which, in 1522, Gil Gonzalez de Avila gave the name of Fonseca, in honour of Cortes' relentless enemy, Bishop Fonseca. This vast basin has a superficial area of over 800 square miles, with a breadth of 22 miles between the two outer headlands of Coseguina and Amapala. The narrowest of the four navigable passages by which it communicates with the sea is about two miles wide between the Conchagua and Conchaguita volcanoes, with a mean depth of about 40 feet. "Within these passages the gulf develops several secondary inlets, such as those of L'Estero Beal and La Union, the former penetrating south-eastwards into Nicaragua, the latter north-westwards into Salvador. Above the surface rise several reefs and islands, conspicuous amongst which is the symmetrical cone of Tiger Island. Notwith standing its great extent, the Gulf of Fonseca is too shallow to be regarded as a marine basin ; it is probably little more than a flooded depression, nowhere more than ten fathoms deep, and navigable only by vessels of moderate draught. Climate, Flora, Fauna. Owing to its mean elevation of at least 3,000 feet above the sea, Honduras enjoys a comparatively temperate climate, though the low-lying coastlands are oppressively hot and insalubrious. The Atlantic seaboard especially suffers from the excess of moisture brought by the vapour- charged trade winds. Here the mean temperature ranges from 75° to 82° Fahr., whereas it is scarcely more than 68° at the capital, Tegucigalpa, which stands at an altitude of .3,320 feet. Accord ing to Squier, the annual rainfall on the Atlantic slope is about 120 inches. The Central American flora and fauna differ in details only at their two extremities, the isthmuses of Tehuantepec and Darien. But here and there sharp transitions occur between the species, and in certain regions the secondary differences between the various organic forms are more numerous than elsewhere. Such is the case in central Honduras, where the Humuya and Goascoran valleys with the intermediate depression constitute a natural biological parting-line. Here the flora and fauna on either side often present remarkable* contrasts. One of the characteristic Honduras trees is the pine, which occurs in all the upland districts, and even on both slopes down to the vicinity of the Pacific coast. But here it HONDURAS SCENERY. INHABITANTS OE HONDURAS. 261 does not reach lower than an altitude of about 1,250 feet, whereas on the Atlantic slopes, especially on the plains of Sula, it descends as low as 250 feet, while along the watercourses of TruxiHo it is dotted over the savannas like the clumps of trees characteristic of English scenery. Inhabitants. About three-fourths of the population of Honduras appear to be Ladinos, or more or less civilised Hispano- American half-castes. The pure Indian element scarcely numbers 70,000 altogether, and even these " wild tribes " now live at peace with their Spanish-speaking rulers, and recognise their authority. To the Spanish conquerors their forefathers had offered a brave and steadfast resistance, and those of the interior at least escaped extermination, whereas most of those dwelling on the coastlands, or along the navigable rivers, were carried away by the corsairs, to perish on the plantations of the West Indies. In the western parts of the republic the natives are of the same speech as those of Guatemala. Such are the Chorti of Copan, kinsmen of the Pokoman Mayas. The most remarkable historic ruins of Honduras have been discovered in their territory, and the builders of these monuments are supposed to have been the ancestors of the Indians still inhabiting the district. Hence the Chorti were probably fully as civilised as the Aztecs and Mayas, and even if the other natives of Honduras have left no such monuments, they were all at least settled agricul turists and skilled artisans. Various Aztec geographical terms occurring in south Honduras show that Aztec was regarded as the language of culture in a pre eminent sense. At present the Honduras Indians are collectively designated by the name of Lehcas. Villages exclusively inhabited by them are scattered over the plateau, and are met even in the neighbourhood of the two capitals, Comayagua and Teguci galpa. To the same stock belong the Xicacs (Hicacos), the Payas and the Toacas of the northern slopes and Atlantic coastlands. All resemble each other in their low stature, thickset frames, and extraordinary staying power as carriers of heavy loads. The Toacas, who occupy the upper affluents of the Patuca, and who shoot the dangerous rapids of that river in their light but .firm pipantes of cedar- wood, also produce excellent, cotton or wild silk fabrics interwoven with the down of birds. They speak a dialect different from that of the other Lencas, as do also the Xicacs, who number about 5,000 and keep quite aloof from the Ladinos. The Payas or Poyas of the Bio Negro near Cape Cameron have preserved their patriarchal customs ; like the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico and Arizona, they still dwell in large oval houses about 80 feet long by 30 feet broad, in which each family has its own apartments. The Payas, like all the other natives, call themselves Catholics, but this formal profession of faith is merely an act of submission to the dominant white race. After the extermination of the coast Indians negroes became numerous along the seaboard. About the beginning of the seventeenth century a large slaver was 262 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. said to have been stranded near Cape Gracias-a-Dios, and the Africans, escaping from the wreck, founded a petty republican state in the district. Later they were joined by other fugitives from the West Indies ; then some English planters introduced slaves and founded settlements in the hope of conquering the country. Gradually transformed by interminglings, the whole of this black population consisted at the end of the last century mainly of Sambos, that is, negro and Indian half-breeds. They were numerous, especially about the lower Patuca and the neighbouring Brus and Caratasca lagoons ; but a great invasion drove most of them southwards to the Mosquito Coast in Nicaragua. The invaders were themselves exiles, some 5,000 Carib Indians removed in 1796 by the English from St. Vincent to Boatan, one of the Bay Islands. Many remained as fishers and gardeners on this and other members of the group, but the majority accepted the offer made them by the Spanish Government of some lands near Truxillo on the Honduras coast. These Carib exiles from St. Vincent have gradually become the dominant race, not only in the Bay Islands, but along the whole of the Honduras and Guatemalan seaboard, as well as throughout the southern part of British Honduras. They are at present estimated at about 20,000, and are a thriving industrious people, many already owning sugar and tobacco plantations besides local factories. Nearly all are more or less familiar with three languages, English, Spanish, and their West Indian mother-tongue, which, however, appears to be dying out. But while these communities are being gradually assimilated to the surrounding Europeanised populations, there are many other Honduras Caribs who, while calling themselves " Cristianos," still retain many of the usages of their pagan ancestors. They practise polygamy on the condition of assigning to each wife her separate establishment, cottage, and garden, and treating all exactly alike. On the Atlantic coast of Honduras, the English and Indian half-castes are the most numerous element, and a more or less corrupt form of English is the dominant language in many districts. This is partly due to the neighbourhood of Belize, partly also to the repeated attempts made by the English Government to acquire formal possession of the whole seaboard. In the last century the Jamaica freebooters had become masters of the Bio Negro (Tinto or Poya), where their plantations were protected by a fort, which, however, they had to evacuate in virtue of the treaty of Versailles. But they attempted to return, as they had returned to BeHze, and after seizing the Bay Islands, spoke of Boatan as a " new Gibraltar," the " key to Spanish America," and so forth. In 1819 Sir Gregor Macgregor, who had become cacique of the Payas, settled on the Bio Negro and founded a paper kingdom embracing a great part of Honduras and Nicaragua. Again in 1839 an English company, heirs to the Scottish cacique, endeavoured to appropriate the Atlantic slope of Honduras by founding the new province of " Victoria," with its capital, Fort William, over against the Bay Islands. But all these attempts at gaining a footing in Honduras were brought to a close by the intervention of the United States in 1850, when the disputed territories were restored to Honduras. TOPOGRAPHY OE HONDURAS. 263 Topography. Copan, which has given its name to the westernmost department of the republic, has become famous for the surrounding ruins, which were first described iu 1576 by Palacio in a report to Philip II. They were then forgotten till the present century, when they were again visited and described by Galindo, Stephens, and Catherwood. The chief building rises to a height of 60, and in some parts even 100 feet on the banks of the Biver Copan, three-quarters of a mile to the east of the village. Since its erection the river has evidently shifted its bed farther south, where it has eroded the base of the edifice. Trees also spring from the fissures in the masonry, while the summits are entirely clothed in vegetation. An opening, to which the pile is indebted for its Spanish name of Las Ventanas, the " Windows," reveals the dense thicket now filling the inner courts of the temple. The irregular enclosing walls on the sides away from the river are flanked by pyramids, and interrupted by broad flights of steps, mostly forced upwards by the roots of trees. The numerous idols, which have also been displaced or else half buried in foliage, consist of sandstone monoliths, carved with a profusion of details unsurpassed by those of the Hindu temples. The central figure, of colossal size, but carefully modelled, is surrounded by reliefs of all kinds, ornaments, symbols, and hieroglyphics, differing little from those covering the Maya monuments. The huge blocks described as altars are for the most part less elaborately embellished than the vertical steles of the idols ; but most of them reproduce the t}rpe of high heads, prominent jaws, and receding foreheads figured on the temples of Tabasco and Yucatan. Still more remarkable is a semicircular altar, exactly like the tai-ki of the Chinese, symbolising the " great vault," the " pole of the world," the union of force and matter, the principle without beginning or end. The whole group of ruins stretches for some miles along the river, and an eminence 2,000 feet high on the opposite side is also crowned with crumbling walls, while huge blocks, intended for fresh structures, have been left unfinished in the surrounding quarries. The village of Cachapa, seven miles above Copan, also occupies the site of a ruined city. Santa Rosa, capital of the department of Copan, lies in the fertile district of Sensenti, which is watered by the Santiago branch of the Dlua, and which yields the best tobacco in Honduras. The Majocote affluent of the same river traverses Gracias, which is also the capital of a department abounding in mineral wealth. Gracias was founded by Alvarado's lieutenant, Chavez, in 1536. Santa' Barbara, on a lateral tributary of the Santiago, is the chief town of the favoured department which comprises the rich plain of Sula, the alluvial lands of the lower Ulua and Chamelicon, and the best ports on the Atlantic coast. But the Sula district, densely peopled before the conquest, is now almost deserted, though the town of San Pedro de Sula, on the west side of the plain, is the most important agricultural centre in the state. The chief seaports in the department of Santa Barbara, and on the whole sea- 264 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. board on the Atlantic side, are Puei ') Cortes and Omoa, both of which lie to the west of the Ulua and Chamelicon estuaries. Puerto Cortes owes its name to the Mexican conqueror, who founded it at the time of his Honduras expedition ; but it is now more commonly known as Puerto Caballos. The harbour is enclosed by a tongue of land projecting westwards, and sheltering it from the winds and surf This spacious and deep basin might easily be greatly enlarged of the high seas Kg. 113.— Puerto Coktes and Lake Alvabado. ! 1 : 60,000. Depths. SandB exposed at low water. Oto 5 Fathoms. 5 ta limns and upwards. 1,100 Yards. by the Alvarado lagoon, with which it already eommunicates through a channel about six feet deep. But despite it s manifold advantages, Puerto Caballos, being exposed to the attacks of the buccaneers, was long abandoned for the more easily protected port of Omoa, which is approached by a narrow passage six miles farther west. Now, however Puerto Caballos has resumed its former importance as the terminus of a railway run ning soutL wards to San Pedro de Sula for Comayagua, and eventually for the Pacific coast. Naco, famous at the time of the conquest, has disappeared, but it probably 3tood at the mouth of the Chamelicon. TOPOGRAPHY OE HONDURAS. 265 Puerto Sal and Triunfo, lying east of the Ulua, are merely exposed roadsteads, followed by the much more frequented port of Progreso, which is formed by an indentation on the south side of Boatan Island, perfectly sheltered from all winds, but a hotbed of deadly fevers. . Truxillo, founded in 1524, and chosen as the capital of the new department of Colon, is also well protected from the trade winds by a promontory disposed, like that of Puerto Caballos, from east to west, and enclosing a basin accessible to the largest vessels. But the town is a mere collection of huts, inhabited by a few hundred Caribs, who are engaged in the export trade of mahogany, sarsaparilla, cattle, hides, and other produce brought down by convoys of mules from the mag nificent province of Olancho. This highly-favoured upland region, watered by the headstreams of the Patuca and Bomano rivers, enjoys a perfectly salubrious climate ; its soil is extremely fertile, forest glades and woodlands alternating with rich arable tracts and savannas under succulent herbage, while copious streams flow through every valley, washing down auriferous sands from the wooded and picturesque slopes of the encircling heights. On an affluent of the Patuca stands the little town of Jutigalpa, and in the neighbourhood the Indian village of Catacamas, the products of whose industry might be -forwarded northwards by the Bomano Valley to Truxillo, south-westwards by the mountain passes leading down to the Choluteca Valley, and north-westwards by the Patuca river, accessible to the Carib canoes to the port of Delon, within a few leagues of Jutigalpa. Yet, with all its exceptional advantages, this glorious region is still almost deserted. For the whole of the extensive department of Olancho, the last census returned a population of Httle over 30,000, while that of Colon, comprising all the noith-west corner of Honduras, is occupied by less than 3,000 natives ; altogether scarcely 35,000 in a region where millions might easily be supported without any overcrowding, as in some of the West India Islands under the same latitude. Comayagua, chief town of the department of like name, and former capital of the republic, stands at an altitude of 2,000 feet on an extensive plain about mid way between the two oceans. Founded in 1540 by Alonzo Caceres, Nueva Valla dolid, as it was formerly called, was a prosperous city of nearly 20,000 inhabitants before the year 1827, when it was besieged, taken, and sacked by the Guatemalan " Serviles." It never recovered from that blow, and at present its chief attractions are the numerous ruins, of ancient cities by which it is everywhere surrounded. Of these the most remarkable is Tenampua (Pueblo Viejo), standing on a lofty eminence nearly 20 miles south-east of Comayagua, and comprising within its enclosures a number of apparentty religious edifices, pyramids, terraces, sculptures, and much painted pottery. West of the department of La Paz, whose present capital, La Paz, stands on the site of the ancient city of Las Piedras, the chief place towards the Salvador frontier is Esperanza, not far from the famous Erandique opal mines. Near Virtud, in the same hilly district of Intibucat, is seen the remarkable cave of the " Agua de Sangre," a red fluid which coagulates as it falls and then putrefies, emitting an 286 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. odour of blood. The liquid, which owes its colour and peculiar properties to the living organisms contained in it, affords a certain nourishment to birds and other animals. The most densely-peopled part of Honduras is the basin of the Choluteca river, which descends to the Pacific at the Gulf of Fonseca. The upper portion of the basin, which forms a natural transition between Salvador and Nicaragua west and east, comprises the department of Tegucigalpa, which gives its name to the present capital of the republic. This place almost suddenly acquired great importance in the year 1762 as the centre of a region abounding in gold and silver mines. Between 1778 and 1819 the Tegucigalpa district yielded nearly £40,000,000 to the trade of the world, and mining operations, interrupted by wars, revolutions, and oscillations in the value of the precious metals, have in recent times again been actively resumed. Tegucigalpa, chosen in 1880 as the seat of congress, and even designated as a future capital of the Central American Confederation, is by far the largest place in the republic, and is increasing from year to year. It rises in amphitheatrical form at the foot of a steep mountain on the right bank of the Choluteca, which is here crossed by a ten-arched bridge. Concepcion, on the opposite side of the river, forms an integral part of the city. Two other departments, also abounding in mineral resources, are comprised within the Choluteca basin. One of these, whose capital, Yuscaran, dates from the middle of the eighteenth century, has received the well-merited designation of Paraiso, or "Paradise," while the other takes the name of the river and of the Indian nation dwelling on its banks ; Choluteca, its capital, on the left side of the estuary, was the Xeres de la Frontera of the early settlers. ' Nacaome, on the river of like name, which also flows into the Gulf of Fonseca, but much farther west, is, noted for its mineral waters. Its port of San Lorenzo stands at the northern extremity of the inlet of like name, where shipping finds good anchorage in depths of 22 to 24 feet close to the shore. One of the projected interoceanic railways has its terminus at this port ; another is carried over the Bio Nacaome near its mouth, and, after crossing the marshy backwaters between Guegensi and Sacate Grande and the mainland, terminates on the west side of the latter island over against a vast roadstead some 20 square miles in extent, and from 30 to 50 feet deep, close to the future terminus. Pending the construction of this important line, Amapala, the seaport of Honduras on the Pacific, stands on the north-west side of Tiger Island, at one time a stronghold of the buccaneers. Sacate Grande and Tiger Islands both belonged formerly to Salvador, which allowed Honduras to occupy them in 1833 in return for her co-operation in the local wars. Economic Condition of Honduras. Although fully one-half of Honduras is still almost a vast solitude, its popu lation has increased at least threefold since the beginning of the century. The first census, taken in 1791, gave a population of 95,500, while the last (June, o 3 ECONOMIC CONDITION OE HONDURAS. 267 1887) returned a total of 332,000, of whom nearly three-fourths were Ladinos. The stream of immigration has not yet been directed to the state, and in the whole country there are scarcely 500 foreigners, apart from the so-called "English" immigrants from Belize and Jamaica. Honduras has developed no industries, and even its agricultural produce scarcely suffices for more than the local demand. The banana, caoutchouc and coffee plantations have, however, in recent years acquired some importance, while the tobacco of Copan and Santa Bosa has long been appreciated. Next to gold and silver, the chief staple of the export trade was timber, especially the Fig. 114. — Fonseca Bat. Scale 1 : 1,000,000. Oto 5 Fathoms. Depths. 5 to 12 Fathoms. 12 Fnthoms and upwards. . 18 Miles. mahogany, which reaches its greatest perfection in the forests of Honduras. But the finest trees have been recklessly felled without any attempt at replanting, and as mahogany takes three hundred years to arrive at maturity, the sources of supply threaten to be soon exhausted. The Honduras exchanges are estimated at a yearly value of about £1,200,000, the exports consisting of minerals, cattle, and products of the soil, the imports almost exclusively of manufactured goods. Five-sixths of the foreign trade is carried on with the United States. Owing to the reckless speculations connected with railway projects the name of Honduras has become one of the most notorious in the financial world. Of 268 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. £5,200,000 borrowed in recent years ostensibly to construct interoceanic and other lines, not more than £700,000 were actually expended on railway works. Hence Honduras is naturally unable to meet her engagements, however reluctant she may be to repudiate them. No doubt the revenue continues to increase, but it is drawn chiefly from the customs and monopolies on gunpowder, spirits, and tobacco, which do not admit of rapid expansion. The public debt with arrears of interest amounted in 1890 to £7,645,000, representing over forty years of normal "Fig. 115.— Comparative Debts of Various Stages. Liberia . Hawaii . S. African Rep. Nicaragua SwitzerlandSalvadorCosta-Rica Haiti . S. Domingo .. Bolivia .. EcuadorGuatemala . Paraguay China Norway Denmark . Servia Colombia . Honduras Sweden . Uruguay , ChiliVenezuelaGreece Mexico .... Roumania Peru Argentine Japan Germany , HollandBelgium Turkey Portugal Brazil United States Spain Italy Russia Austria-Hungary t United Kingdom WMW////////md/////A France £1.268,720.000. revenue and about £40 per head of the population. As no interest has been paid since 1872, the state is virtually bankrupt. The interoceanic railway, which served as the pretext for this formidable debt, is far from being finished. The only completed section, about 56 miles, or one- fourth of the whole length, runs from- Puerto Caballos across the Sula plain, where no heavy engineering works had to be executed. To finish the whole line a new company had to be formed, fresh surveys taken, and attempts made to raise more money. But the £8,000,000 required to complete this and other lines from Puerto Caballos to Truxillo, and thence to Jutigalpa, have not yet been sub scribed. Meanwhile carriage-roads are projected for the transport of heavy goods ECONOMIC CONDITION OF HONDUEA& 269 over the mountain passes between the Atlantic and Pacific slopes. The two main highways are the interoceanic route through Comayagua, and that running from Sensenti through Intibucat, La Paz, and Tegucigalpa to Jutigalpa. The postal and telegraph services are still in their infancy compared with those of Mexico, as might be expected in a country where the great mass of the population is still absolutely unlettered. In 1887 not more than 19,000 adults Fig. 116.— Debt per Head of Population in Various Counteies. China Liberia.. Switzerland . Norway Germany..Japan Nicaragua . Salvador . Mexico . Bolivia .. Sweden Haiti., Guatemala..Ecuador . Colombia..Turkey.. United States . S. African Rep. RussiaS. Domingo.. Hawaii.. Roumania . Denmark..Servia Chili . BrazilCosta- Rica .. Italy . Venezuela . Greece Austria-Hungary . Argentine . Paraguay Spain . Belgium . HollandUnited Kingdom Peru : Uruguay.,Portugal .. FrancsHonduras WM could read and write, and only 74,000 children were receiving any kind of education. In the same year the periodical press was limited to four journals. The government of Honduras differs only in a few minor details from those of the other Central American republics. The constitution has been frequently modified between the years 1824 and 1883, during which period as many as forty- eight rulers have succeeded under various titles to the supreme power. In normal times the president is elected for four years by universal suffrage, and is assisted by a council of seven ministers for foreign affairs, the interior, public works, war, finance, public instruction, and justice. The legislative functions are discharged by a congress of 37 members returned by the various departments in proportion to the population. 270 MEXICO, CENTEAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. The army consists legally of all able-bodied unmarried men between the ages of twenty and twenty-five, regulars and reserves comprising altogether about 25,000 of all arms. Usually, however, there are scarcely more than 500 engaged in garrison duty. For administrative purposes the republic is divided into thirteen departments, for which see Appendix. V. — Nica RAGTJA. Nicaragua is the largest, but relatively the least densely -peopled, of all the Central American states. Yet within its limits is found the true centre of the Fig. 117.— Teebitoey claimed at Vaeiotjs Times bt G-eeat Beitaot. Scale 1 : 17.000,090. . 310 Miles. isthmian region, and one of the cardinal points in the history of the New World. This privileged region is the narrow strip of territory comprised between the Pacific and the shores of Lakes Managua and Nicaragua. Here reigned the famous cacique, Nicarao, whose name has been perpetuated in a Spanish form as that of the Hispano-American republic. Like Honduras, Nicaragua suffered much from the incursions of the corsairs on its Atlantic side, and here, also, Great Britain long sought to secure a perma nent fooling. The section of the seaboard known as Mosquitia, or the Mosquito Coast, was even claimed by the English Government, and but for the intervention of the United States, the whole space comprised between the Nicaragua Biver and Honduras Bay would have become British territory. In virtue of the Monroe doctrine, " America for the Americans," this territory was restored to the republic NICAEAGUA. 271 of Nicaragua, though its independence was again threatened in 1855 by the American National party itself. In that year the American adventurer, Walker, one of those men " who have all the qualities required for the throne or the gibbet," came to the aid of one of the native factions with over 12,000 filibusters, who were to be rewarded with extensive grants of land for their future victories. After a first repulse at the town of Rivas, Walker seized Granada, the chief city of the republic, and secured the election of his nominee to the presidential chair. Slavery was then revived, and an attempt made to attract capitalists with the view of converting Nicaragua into one vast plantation, on the model of the " Cotton States," such as Mississippi and South Carolina. But all the peoples of Central America had already taken the alarm, and a league was formed against the filibusters. From the south came the Costa Bicans, from the north the Guatemalans, and the Nicaraguans themselves having also revolted, the adventurer was driven from port to port, and at last compelled to take refuge in Bivas, where, after a four-months' siege, he had to capitulate in 1857. Though his life was spared, he twice attempted to return to Central America, but having fallen into the hands of the Hondurans, he was executed as a filibuster at Truxillo, in the year 1860. This failure was of more than local importance ; it was the first success of the abolitionist party in America itself. " I have defended the cause of the slave holders abroad," said Walker when dying ; " they will soon have to defend it themselves in their own sugar and cotton fields." Since that critical epoch, Nicaragua has pursued a more tranquil course of development than the sister states. There has been a general increase of popula tion and wealth without involving the usual consequences of civil discord and revolutions. Even the troublesome questions of boundaries have led to nothing more serious than diplomatic discussions with Honduras and Costa Bica, discus sions which were finally settled by the mediation of the United States Government, appealed to as arbitrator. Apart from a few slight deviations, the two bold lines traced on the map, on one side by the course of the Bio Segovia, on the other by the southern shore of Lake Nicaragua and the bed of the Bio San Juan, are regarded as the frontiers of Nicaragua towards Honduras on the north and Costa Bica on the south. Physical Features. The Nicaraguan main range forms a south-eastern continuation of the Chile Mountains in Honduras, running parallel with the Pacific coast, with peaks ranging from over 3,000 to 4,000 feet in height. The chain falls gradually southwards, rising to a mean altitude of scarcely more than 650 or 700 feet along the east side of Lake Nicaragua. This irregular system may be roughly regarded as the escarpment of an ancient plateau falling abruptly westwards, and inclining eastwards to the Atlantic through a long declivity disposed by the running waters in numerous divergent valleys. Those of north Nicaragua run north-east 272 MEXICO, CENTEAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. parallel with the Bio Segovia, and those of the centre due east, while those of the south, as, for instance, the valley traversed by the Bio San Juan, have a south easterly trend. In several places these fragmentary sections of the plateau present the aspect of distinct sierras. Such are, in "the north, the Sierra de Yeluca, and in the south that of Yolaina, which terminates seawards in the Punta Mico, the Monkey Point of English writers. Amongst the various foot-hills of the main range, there is one ridge which had passed unnoticed by all geographers till indicated for the first time by the naturalist Belt, in 1874, when it attracted universal attention owing to the curious resemblance of its name to that of the New World itself. This is the little Sierra d'Amerrique, near Libertad, otherwise remarkable for its sheer rocky walls, its obelisks and huge isolated crags. The name of the continent has now been connected by M. Marcou with these hitherto unknown rugged heights, the theory being that Amerigo Vespucci and other early naviga tors heard the natives speak of the hills in question as abounding in treasures, and then applied the term to the whole region ; thereupon it occurred to Amerigo to turn to his personal glory the accidental resemblance of this name to his own. The Sierra d'Amerrique, called also Amerisque and Amerrisque from a local tribe said tothave been formerly powerful, lies in the territory of the ancient Lencas, as is shown by the ending rique generally occurring in the Honduras regions inhabited by these Indians. West of the Nicaraguan main range, the region facing the Pacific was originally an extensive low-lying plain, where the underground forces have raised two lines of eminences, or even mountains, some isolated, others forming veritable chains. The first of these ranges is so inconspicuous that, when seen from the plain, it seems merged in the chain disposed immediately to the east of it. Its indistinct cha racter is due to the fact that the volcanoes have been upheaved on the very flanks of the plateau. Thus Guisisil (4,550 feet) rises in close proximity to the Mata- galpa Mountains, and by damming up the waters formerly descending to the Pacific, has deflected them through the Bio Grande eastwards to the Atlantic. South-west of Guisisil, loftiest of these volcanoes, other cones have emerged along the depression which is flooded by the two Lakes Managua and Nicaragua ; here the Cerro de la Palma, Cuisaltepe, Juigalpa, Platotepe, Pan de Azucar, Jaen, Picara and the Ventanillas are all disposed in a line running close to the east side of the great reservoir. But far more important in the geological history of the country are the peaks of the main range, which forms a continuation of the Salvador volcanic system. The truncated cone of Coseguina, at the southern entrance of the Gulf of Fonseca opposite Conchagua, is the first link in this igneous chain ; it still rises 3,860 feet above the sea, but according to Belcher, the regular cone must have been at least double that height. Before the Krakatau explosion, Coseguina was usually referred to with Timboro, of Sumbawa Island, as a typical example of the tremendous catas trophes caused by the sudden escape of gases pent up in the bowels of the earth. On January 20, 1835, the summit of Coseguina was blown to atoms, day was PHYSICAL FEATUEES OF NICAEAGTJA. 273 changed to night for a space of several hundred square miles, the sea was covered with a dense layer of ashes and scoria? arresting the progress of ships for a distance of over 25 miles from the volcano, all verdure disappeared under a bed of dust at least 16 feet thick, and the very shoreline encroached on the ocean and on the Gulf of Fonseca. Westwards the trade winds wafted the dust 1,380 miles across the sea, eastwards the counter-current precipitated it on Honduras, Yucatan, and Jamaica, Fig. 118.— Mombacho Volcano and Shobes of Lake Nicaragua. fr'" - while the aerial eddies carried the ashes southwards to New Grenada. The crash of the ruptured mountain was heard on the Bogota uplands, a distance of over 1,000 miles as the crow flies. Altogether the ashes fell on a space of about 1,600,000 square miles, while the erupted matter was estimated at 1,750 billions of cubic feet. The explosion lasted forty- three hours, but the people of the sur rounding plains had time to escape, with their domestic animals, followed by wild beasts, birds and reptiles, beyond the reach of the stifling gases. Some 30 miles south-east of Coseguina rises the twin-crested mass of the 51 274 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. extinct Chonco and Viejo (6,300 feet) cones, beyond which follows the Marrabios range of peaks, mostly little over 3,000 feet, but culminating about the centre of the system in Telica, 4,200 feet high. Somewhat east of the Marrabios the series of volcanoes is continued by the majestic Momotombo (6,150 feet), whose base forms a promontory in Lake Managua, and which has been in eruption so recently as 1852. Formerly the missionaries baptised the burning mountains, but some monks who had undertaken to plant the cross on Momotombo never returned. Chiltepec (2,800 feet), which rises out of the very waters of Managua, is followed by some less elevated cones on the mainland, where they are in close proximity to lagoons evidently at one time forming part of the lake. About midway between the two basins stands the famous Masaya (2,800 feet), which was formerly known to the Spaniards by the name of Infierno, " Hell," and which in pre-Columbian times was said to have borne the name of Popocatepetl, like the Mexican giant. Masaya, that is, the " Burning Mountain," was first ascended by Oviedo, who saw its crater filled with boiling lavas. At that time slight eruptions occurred at almost regular intervals of fifteen minutes, and the yellow fluid bubbling up on the bed of the crater was supposed to be molten gold. Two Spanish monks, accom panied by three fellow-countrymen and many Indians, having failed to secure any of the precious liquid, it occurred to Juan Alvarez, dean of the chapter of Leon, to tap the perennial stream by means of a tunnel driven through the flank of the mountain. But before the work could be seriously taken in hand, Masaya boiled over of its own accord in 1772, and since then it has been quiescent, except in 1852 when it ejected' a few jets of vapour. But in 1856, Nindiri, a parasitic crater on its flank, discharged large quantities of vapour. Mombacho (4,600 feet), which stands on the same pedestal as Masaya, but on the north-west shore of Lake Nicaragua, has long been extinct. But its former energy is attested by the surrounding lava streams and by the Corales, a cluster of eruptive islets encircling its submerged base. South-west of Mombacho the volcanic chain is continued in the lake itself, first by Zapatera (2,000 feet), and then by the large twin-crested island of Ometepe that is, the Mexican- Aztec Ome-tepetl, "Two Mountains," 5,360 and 4,200 feet respectively. The summit of Ometepe is crowned by a flooded crater, and on the flank of the mountain is a still larger crater overgrown with dense vegetation. From the top of the mountain a wide prospect is commanded of the whole lake, the narrow isthmus separating it from the Pacific, and the amphitheatre of hills sweeping round the eastern hoiizon. West of the two lakes the isthmus constituting Nicaragua proper has also its little coast-range, of moderate elevation and interrupted by numerous gaps. Venturon, the culminating crest, is only 800 feet high, while the lowest pass scarcely stands more than 25 or 26 feet above the level of the lake, which at the narrowest point is rather less than 13 miles from the Pacific. In many places, the isthmian region is entirely covered by the so-called talpetate or tepetate, that is, eruptive matter deposited under the influence of the prevailing south-west trade EIVEES OF NICABAGUA. 275 winds. The consequence is that this region is destitute of springs or streams, all the rain water disappearing in the porous masses of scorias and ashes. Bivers and Lakes. Although the Nicaraguan backbone is developed east of the lacustrine depres sion, the narrow strip of land limiting Lake Nicaragua on the west side is the true waterparting of the whole region. The streams descending from the western Fig. 119. — Isthmus of Eivas. Scale 1 : 1,200,000. 86*40 West oF ureenwich Oto 6 Fathoms. 5 Fathoms and upwards. IS Miles. slopes of the Chontal Mountains do not flow to the Pacific, but after a winding course find their way to the Caribbean Sea. The pretended law that makes watersheds coincide with mountain ranges is nowhere more clearly contradicted. The parting-line, however, which is formed by the isthmus sends down nothing but rivulets on its west slope. The only Nicaraguan rivers that reach the Pacific have their sources on the opposite flank of the Marrabios hills, and flow to the Gulf of Fonseca. Such are the Estero Beal, rising in the neighbourhood of 276 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. Lake Managua, and, farther north, the Bio Negro, which has become the frontier towards Honduras. Both of these watercourses have frequently shifted their beds, owing partly to the erupted matter damming up their channels, and forming islands and peninsulas, partly also, perhaps, to seismic disturbances. Since the eruption of Coseguina in 1835 the Bio Negro has changed its course no less than four times, and at Fig. 120.- The Nicabagua Waterpabtito. Scale J : 5,000.000. West oF Greenwich 84" 60 Miles. present it intermingles its waters with those of the Estero Beal in a common delta. The most copious river in north Nicaragua flows, under a great diversity of names, from the Matagalpa mountains through the broadest part of the state down to the Atlantic near Cape Gracias-a-Dios. About its sources, within 50 miles of the Pacific, it is known as the Somoro, and lower down successively as the Cabrugal (Cabullal), the Coco (Cocos), Oro (Yoro, Yare), Portillo Liso, Tapacac, Encuentro, Pantasma, Segovia, from a town on its banks, and Gracias, or Cape Biver, from the low peninsula it has formed where it reaches the coast. It also takes the name EIVEES OF NICAEAGUA. 277 of Herbias, while the English call it Wanks or Yankes, this confusing nomenclature being due partly to the different languages current along its banks, partly to the lack of historic unity of the fluvial basin. While the Spanish colonists were settling in the upper valleys of the Bio Segovia, foreign corsairs of every nation were infesting its lower course. Pent in between mountain ranges, the Wanks drains a relatively narrow basin, but, being exposed to the moist east winds, it is a copious stream accessible to small craft for a distance of about 170 miles below the rapids. At its mouth it projects its delta far seawards between banks of a reddish alluvium washed down from the upper valleys. The Wanks drains an area of nearly 12,000 square miles, has a course of 400 miles, and a mean discharge of 17,000 cubic feet per second. Between this river and the San Juan, the largest watercourse is the Bio Grande, whose main branch, the Matagalpa, probably at one time flowed west to Lake Managua. But having been dammed up by the heaps of scoriae ejected from Guisisil, its course was deflected southwards and eastwards to the Atlantic. In one part of its valley it takes the name of Bulbul, while the Sambos of Mosquitia call it Awaltara. At its mouth it communicates through lateral channels with other watercourses, and according to Levy's chart there is a con tinuous series of backwaters, false rivers, and passages extending for about 250 miles from Cape Gracias-a-Dios to the Blewfields lagoon, separated from the sea bv a strip of sandy beaches and mangrove thickets. Most of these waters are narrow and obstructed by islands ; but the Pearl Cay and Blewfields lagoons are veritable inland seas, in parts overgrown by mangroves, but still leaving vast spaces open to navigation. The Blewfields basin, said to be so named from a Dutch corsair, Blieveldt, receives a river of like name, called also the Bio Escondido about its middle course. From the geological standpoint the present coast between Cape Gracias- a-Dios and Monkey Point indicates a state of transition between the old shoreline, that is, the west side of the lagoons, and the great Mosquito Bank, which advances seawards for a variable distance of from 30 to 100 miles and which comprises numerous submerged and upheaved cays. One of these reefs is the Mosquito Cay, which has given its name to the whole bank, a name afterwards extended to the east coast itself and its inhabitants. Some of the islands on or near the outer margin of the banks are large and elevated enough to support a few settlements. Such are Vieja Providencia and San Andres, which belong politically to the Bepublic of Colombia, the little Corn Islands and Pearl Cays, dependent on Nicaragua. South of Monkey Point the Bio Indio reaches the coast just above the delta of the San Juan, which is the most copious of all the Nicaraguan rivers, but which only partly belongs to the republic. Most of its basin is, in fact, comprised within the neighbouring state of Costa Bica, though its farthest headstream rises in the great lacustrine depression west of the Nicaraguan main range. Although the San Juan at present drains this depression to the Atlantic, there was a time 278 EXICO, CENTEAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. when Lakes Nicaragua and Managua formed a continuous basin which sent its overflow to the Pacific at the Gulf of Fonseca. From that epoch dates the intro duction of the marine species, which have gradually adapted themselves to the fresh waters of Lake Nicaragua. Gil Gonzalez de Avila was assured by the natives that Lake Xolotlan (Man agua) had an emissary flowing directly to the " Gulf of Chorotega " (Fonseca), but that the outflow was arrested by a lava stream from Momotombo. The emissary is now represented by the Estero Beal, while Managua sought another issue southwards to Lake Nicaragua, and thus became a tributary of the Atlantic. A slight upheaval would still suffice to convert Managua into a closed basin. Kg. 121. — Marbabios Range and Lake Managua. Scale 1 : 1,400,000. 30 Miles. During the rains it feeds an emissary which at the Tipitapa salto has a picturesque fall of 17 or 18 feet ; but in the dry season there is no continuous current, the water slowly percolating through the sands and fissures of the rocks. A dry space of over four miles separates the outflow from the estero of Panaloya, which, although presenting the appearance of a river, is merely a tranquil backwater communicating with Lake Nicaragua. Even during the rains Tipitapa is completely obstructed by reefs, and in 1836 Belcher had to transport a boat from one lake to the other. Hence it is all the more surprising that projectors of interoceanic canals should represent Tipitapa as the natural prolongation of a great transisthmian canal. Managua itself, although over 400 square miles in extent, is obstructed by shoals, which render it EIVEES AND LAKES OF NICAEAGTJA. 279 unnavigable by vessels drawing more than five or six feet of water. It stands at a mean altitude of 140 feet above the sea. Nicaragua, the Cocibolco of the natives, stands some 30 feet lower, or about 110 feet above sea-level. It has a mean area of 3,600 square miles ; but there are no abysses as in the Alpine lakes, the deepest cavity being scarcely 280 feet deep. Some parts, especially near the San Juan outlet, are very shallow, and the general level varies with the seasons little more than seven or eight feet. But there can be no doubt that it formerly stood at a much higher level, for the islets south of Zapatera are covered with scoriae containing freshwater shells, like those still found on the neighbouring shores. During the rains vast spaces round the lake are transformed to absolutely impassable cienagas (quagmires), the waters from the surrounding heights pene trating to a great depth into the pasty soil and converting the plains into a sea of mud. In the dry season the moisture evaporates, and the baked ground becomes fissured without anywhere clothing itself with vegetation. Nicaragua is fed by numerous affluents, some of which have acquired a certain celebrity in connection with various schemes of interoceanic canalisation ; such are the Bios Sapoa and de las Lajas in the isthmus of Bivas. But the most copious tributary is the Bio Frio descending from the Costa Bica uplands, and washing down vast quantities of volcanic sediment, which is gradually filling up the southern part of the basin, and raising its bed above the surface, as the neighbour ing Solentiname archipelago has already been raised. Then the Bio Frio will become a tributary, not of the lake, but of the San Juan, and this river, thus charged with sedimentary matter, will form a chief obstacle to the proposed interoceanic canal, The San Juan, which escapes from the lake just below the mouth of the Frio, flows in a very sluggish stream till it approaches the Castillo, a little fort on the right bank 40 miles below the outlet. Here the river has forced a passage through the schistose ridge connecting the Chontal mountains with the Costa Bican Cerros de San Carlos. The rapids thus formed are followed some 12 miles lower down by another series of erosions, the raudal de Machuca, so named from the first Euro pean explorer of the San Juan. Farther on the mainstream is joined by the San Carlos, which sends down from the Costa Bican uplands a volume almost equal to that of the San Juan itself. A little above the delta follows the still more copious Sarapiqui affluent, which also descends from the Costa Bican mountains, but which is so charged with alluvial matter that the idea of utilising the lower course of the San Juan for the proposed canal has been abandoned. In the delta itself the shifting branches of the mainstream are joined by the Bio Colorado, a third affluent from Costa Bica. About the middle of the century nearly all the united waters of the San Juan basin entered the sea at Graytown (San Juan del Norte), where the powerful current had excavated a spacious harbour accessible to vessels of average draught. But most of this current was deflected by the opening of the Jimenez, a branch of the San Juan, which now joins the Colorado and which usually bears the same name. Other 280 MEXICO, CENTEAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. channels at times carried off all the rest, leaving the harbour half choked with sands and almost cut off from communication with the river. Hence it has been proposed to remove the port to the mouth of the Colorado ; but the bar, with from 10 to 16 feet of water, varies frequently in depth, while the road stead, is exposed to the dangerous north winds.* Climate, Flora, Fauna. Nicaragua is divided by the nature of its soil and climate into three distinct zones, an eastern, central, and western, each presenting special features in its vegetation, inhabitants, social condition, and history. The old schistose quartz and dolerite rocks of the plateaux and mountains on the Atlantic slope are watered by copious rains and vapours brought by the north east trade winds. Hence these regions are covered with forests interrupted only by river beds, swamps, and marshy savannas. Here are found all the varieties of timber, cabinet and dye woods of the Honduras and South Mexican floras — cedars, mahogany, gayac, besides the characteristic cortes (tecoma sideroxylon) , which is hard as ebony and remarkable for the dazzling golden blossom- with which it is entirely clothed towards the end of March, after the fall of the green foliage. Owing to the superabundance of moisture this region is necessarily unhealthy and sparsely inhabited, the few Indian or half-paste natives 'being chiefly confined to narrow glades in the dense woodlands. The range of the Atlantic rains and rank forest-growths is sharply limited by the crest of the main Nicaraguan chain, so that it may rain for weeks or months together at Libertad on the east slope, while Juigalpa, on the Pacific side, enjoys cloudless skies. The eastern rains last from May to January, with occasional intervals of fine weather, especially in October and November. Immediately beyond the forest region begins the central zone of savannas, A'aried here and there by a giant ceiba, which affords a grateful shade to numerous flocks and herds. Here the work of man in clearing the woodlands has been aided by the occodoma, a species of ant, which spares the herbage and confines its attacks to the sprouts and saplings growing on the verge of the forest. According to Belt, these ants are veritable agriculturists. They cut the tender leaves in squares, not for food, as was formerly supposed, but for manure to enrich the underground plantations of fungi on which they chiefly live. The eciton hamata, another species of ant in the same region, is placed by the same naturalist in the first, rank for its intelligence. When a brook is bridged by a single branch too narrow to allow a horde, to cross except in Indian file, a number of the insects cluster oh both sides of the natural causeway in such a way as to double or treble its width. Amongst the remarkable phenomena presented by the fauna of this upland * Hydrology of the San Juan : — From the source of the Rio San Rafael to Lake Managua, 94 miles ; Lake Managua, 28 miles ; Rio Tipitapa, 18 miles ; Lake Nicaragua, 88 miles ; Desaguadero (San Juan), 125 miles ; total. 353 miles. Extent of the basin, including the Colorado, 16,000 square miles ; discharge at the Lake Nicaragua outlet, 12,000 cubic feet ; at the fork of the delta, 25,000 cubic feet ; during the floods, 52,000 cubic feet per second. CEIBA. INHABITANTS OF NICAKAGTJA. 281 zone Belt also mentions the timetes chiron, a species of butterfly, which moves in countless multitudes over hill and dale, always in the direction of the south-east towards the Mosquito Coast. They come, probably, from the remote Honduras or Guatemalan forests, but never return. The third zone comprises the lacustrine plains and Pacific seaboard, that is, Nicaragua in the narrower sense — the " Paradise of Mohammed," in the language of the Spanish conquerors — the privileged region on which the other two zones naturally depend. It is at once the most fertile and healthiest region of the republic, though exposed to the fierce westerly gales here known as papagayos, from the Gulf of Papagayo, at the south-western extremity of Nicaragua. Here the native populations were formerly crowded together in vast cities " four leagues long," and the wjhole isthmus between the lakes and the sea was transformed to a vast plantation. Hence the local flora chiefly consists of cultivated plants, and others associated wijh them. Inhabitants. In Nicaragua the aborigines were exterminated, if not more ruthlessly, at all events, to a greater extent than elsewhere in Central America. There being no escape between the ocean and the lakes, the more numerous were the native com munities, the more wholesale were the massacres. Even in east Nicaragua, near the Caribbean Sea, many districts, formerly covered with Indian villages, were completely depopulated by the buccaneers. Thus between Monkey Point and the Blewfields estuary, old cemeteries, heaps of potsherds, carved stones, and even human effigies are found in a region which is now a wilderness. The Spanish dwellings met along the course of the Mico are built with materials taken from older Indian structures, At present all the native populations of west Nicaragua are half-caste Ladinos. The Mangues, Nagrandans, Dirians, and Orotinans of the north-west are collectively grouped as Chorotegas, or Choroteganos, which is merely another form of Cholu teca, the collective name of the neighbouring Honduras Indians, to whom they are related. Some ethnologists affiliate the Chorotegas to the Chiapanecs of east Mexico, while others regard them as Mayas expelled from Cholula in pre-Aztec times. They bore the name of Olmecs, like the predecessors of the Nahuas on the Anahuac tableland, and probably belonged to the same stock. The final syllables of local names in various parts of Nicaragua certainly indi cate the presence of different peoples at different epochs. The ending, galpa, is Aztec, while rique denotes towns and heights on both sides of the Honduras fron tier. In the valley of the Bio Segovia the names of places end in li or guina, and in Chontales apo or apa is most common. Fully a century before the arrival of the Spaniards, the Nahuas had advanced as conquerors through Guatemala, Salvador, and Honduras into Nicaragua. Here they were known by the name of Niquiran or Nicarao, which some etymologists identify with the term Nicaragua itself. Like their Mexican kinsmen they had their city of Tola or Tula, and like them also practised the art of writing, carved 282 MEXICO, CENTEAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. statues, and erected temples scarcely inferior to those of Mexico and Yucatan. The local topographic nomenclature shows that the Aztec rule extended over nearly the whole of Nicaragua, although their language has ceased to be current even in the isthmus of Bivas, where they at one time existed in multitudes. Spanish, enriched by numerous Mexican expressions, has become the common speech of all. In their stage-pieces, representing myths, historic events, or religious dramas, the language employed is a jargon called by Brinton the " Nahuatl-Spanish dialect of Kg. 122. — Population of Honduras and Nicaragua. Scale 1 : 7,000,000. West op ureenwich . 124 Miles. Nicaragua." Most of these plays are accompanied by bailes, or dances, and nearly all the old musical instruments are still in use. As in Mexico, the conquistadores endeavoured to destroy all memorials of the old culture. In 1524 the missionary Bobadilla raised a huge pyre at Manao-ua, on which a bonfire was made of the religious and historical paintings, calendars, maps, and all other Nahua and Chorotegan documents that he could lay his hands on. The temples were razed to the ground, the idols overthrown, the cemeteries desecrated ; nevertheless, down to the present century there still survived nume rous sculptured stones, especially in the islands of Lake Nicaragua, which the Spaniards had ceased to visit after exterminating their inhabitants. In the island of Momotombito alone Squier saw over fifty colossal basalt monoliths INHABITANTS OF NICAEAGUA. 283 representing human figures and recalling the monstrous statues of Easter Island, Polynesia. Numerous antiquities, such as carved stones and rock inscriptions, were also found in the islands of Ceiba, Pensacola, and Zapatera. From the cemeteries of Ometepe, where the Nahua population has preserved its primitive purity, Brans- ford removed to the Washington Museum some eight hundred precious objects especially huge sepulchral urns containing seated bodies still decked wilh their ornaments. Another curious find made by Flint was the traces of thousands of human feet left on the yellow ashes ejected by Masaya and afterwards covered by subsequent eruptions. The uplands between the lacustrine and Atlantic basins are inhabited by abori gines designated, like those of south-east Mexico, by the general name of Chontals, that is, " barbarians." Before the conquest they were already h.eld in contempt by the civilised Nahuas of the plains ; nevertheless the ruins of cities and numerous vestiges of buildings and causeways show that these so-called barbarians had made considerable progress in the arts of civilisation. Gradually driven eastwards by the Ladinos, the Chontals have largely merged with the Zumas (Sooms, or Simus), the Popolacas or Waiknas, that is, " Men," or else have altogether disappeared. In many districts nothing is how seen except their graves, usually disposed in a vast circle round the habitations. The Chontals appear to be related to the Lencas of Honduras ; their language is distinct both from Aztec and Maya, and they still number about 30,000, mostly designated by the names of the rivers inhabited by them. Some, however, bear distinct names, such as the Pantasmas of the upper Segovia, the Cucras following lower down, the Carcas, Wulwas (TTluas), Lamans, Melchoras, Siquias, and the Bamas of the Bio Mico, rudest of all the aborigines. One of the tribes on the Bio Grande has assumed the title of Montezuma, which for the populations of Mexico and Central America has become synonymous with the old national independence. This tribe, however, seems more akin to the Carib than to the Lenca stock. The word Carib itself, under the form of Carabisi, was current in this region long before the arrival of the Caribs from St. Vincent. When speaking of the local idioms, Herrera mentions in the first place that of the Carabisi ; they have been identified with the present Zumas and Waiknas. On the other hand the so-called " Caribs " of the seaboard, more generally called Moscos or Mosquitos, are really Sambos, that is, half-caste Indians and negroes, with a strain of European blood, due to the buccaneers who infested these shores. Many of the natives in the provinces of Segovia and Matagalpa have fair hair and blue eyes, which Belt attributes to the intermingling that took place in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries between the local Creoles and the French and English corsairs. In 1687 the 280 rovers commanded by Bavenau de Lussan, having abandoned their vessels in the Gulf of Fonseca, crossed the continent, here 310 miles wide, and reached the Atlantic by the valley of the Segovia. Others ascended the same river, which had become " the great highway from ocean to ocean." 284 MEXICO, CENTEAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. Nearly all the whites who settled in the favoured isthmian regions belonged to the vigorous Galician race, and the Gallego type may still be recognised, though their Spanish patois contains but few words borrowed from the Galician dialect. Non-Spanish immigrants, French, Italians, English, or North Americans, are very few, and their arrival dates only from the middle of the present century. Yet European artisans and labourers might easily adapt themselves to the climate, especially in the Matagalpa province. Topography. Chinandega, the chief place in the north-west on the Honduras route, comprises two distinct townships, El Viejo, on the slope of the mountain of like name, and the new town a few miles to the south-east, to which the name of Chinandega is now exclusively applied. It was at one time a flourishing place, but it has lost its trade since the encroachments of the land on its ports of Tt-mpisque in the north and Realejo in the west. The present harbour of Corinto is sheltered by the island of Cardon, and affords excellent anchorage in 22 feet of water at ebb and 40 at flow. Corinto, which exports large quantities of dyewoods, is by far the busiest seaport on the Pacific side. Leon, the chief city of the republic, lies between Lake Managua and the two estuaries of Corinto and the Estero Beal. At the time of the conquest its pre decessor, the Indian city of Subtiaba, contained a population of about 100,000. But the first Spanish town of the district was founded in 1523, not on the plain dominated eastwards by the Marrabios chain, but at Imbita, on the south-west side of Lake Nicaragua. Owing to various disasters, the settlement was afterwards removed to the vicinity of Subtiaba, capital of the Nagrandan nation. The new city, seat of the administration, soon became a flourishing place, and the English buccaneers who sacked it in 1680 carried off a vast amount of booty. At the close of the eighteenth century, Leon and Subtiaba were said to have a collective population of 50,000 ; but during the present century this number has been greatly reduced, especially by wars and civil strife. In recent ye irs Leon has somewhat recovered its losses, and it is now connected by rail with Corinto and the other isthmian towns. The neighbouring thermal waters are little fre quented, the whole region round about the city being still almost a wilderness. During the rainy season Leon is exposed to frequent inundations, and the rudely paved streets at times resemble mountain torrents, the water surging up to the very eaves of the houses. Managua, the present capital of the state, was till the middle of the century a mere hamlet standing on the site of an Indian city some 60 feet above the levelof Lake Managua. In the neighbourhood are the little closed basins or tarns of Tiscapa, Nejapa, Asososca, and Apoyo, old craters which, after bursting, were flooded with a brackish water, differing in its saline properties according to the nature of the surrounding soil and lavas. The neighbouring plains, formerly under cotton, are now covered with coffee plantations. Beyond Tipitapa and the intermittent stream bearing its name, stretch the LEON— VIEW TAKEN IN THE MAIN THOROUGHFARE. TOPOGRAPHY OF NICARAGUA. 285 forests abounding in Brazil wood (cmsalpinia crispa). The black marshy lands on the east side of the lake take the name of jicarales from the jicaro, or calabash - tree, which is here the prevailing species, and whose fruit supplies the natives with nearly all their domestic utensils. Granada, like Leon, is one of the oldest places in Nicaragua, having been founded in 1523 by Francisco de Cordoba, near the Indian city of Salteba (Jalteba), now one of its suburbs. The fame of its wealth and of the great fertility of the district more than once attracted the attention of the corsairs, who, in 1665. and again in 1670, ascended the San Juan and crossed Lake Nicaragua to sack and Kg. 123.— Density of the Population of Hondueas and Nicaragua. Scale 1 : 7,600,000 Inhabitants per square mile. ? a Under 2. 2 to 10. 10 to 20. 30 to 40. 124 Miles. 40 to 60. GO and upwards. burn the city. Some fifteen years afterwards another band of English and French buccaneers attacked it from the Pacific side ; but before its capture most of the inhabitants had time to escape with their valuables to the archipelagoes of Lake Nicaragua. It again suffered during the expedition of the filibuster, William Walker, who set fire to it before abandoning it in 1856. Granada lies on the scarp of the plateau on the north-west side of Lake Nicaragua. Its buildings lay no claim to architectural beauty, and it owes its chief importance to its schools, its trade and industries. Several landing-places follow along the neighbouring shore ; but Charco Muerto is the only town possessing a 286 MEXICO, OENTEAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. good haven. It lies far to the south, and is sheltered by Zapatera Island from the trade winds. The department of Granada is by far the most densely peopled in the state, and here several important towns and communes are scattered over the fertile plains. The most flourishing place is Masaya, which has a population of some 15,000 mestizoes. It stands north-west of Granada on the plateau commanded on the west by the volcano of like name, not far from the lovely Nindiri, a true " garden of the Hesperides." The surrounding farmers and peasantry are a prosperous and industrious people, engaged in various crafts, such as weaving, pottery, leather dressing, saddlery, and producing a thousand objects of local consumption: Jinotepe, south-west of Masaya, stands at an elevation of 2,520 feet amid productive coffee plantations, while Nandaime, in a rich valley sloping towards the bay of Charco Muerto, is surrounded by thriving cacao farms ; in the neigh bourhood is the famous Val Menier domain, the produce of which commands too high a price to serve for the preparation of ordinary chocolate. About five miles west of Nandaime are the ruins of Nandaime Viejo, supposed to have been des troyed by an earthquake. Rivas, standing at the narrowest part of the isthmus between Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific, might claim to be regarded as the "metropolis" of the republic. Here resided the Niquiran chief, Nicarao, who, according to most of the chroni clers, gave his name to the state ; here began the work of conversion and of con quest, and here Bobadilla baptized over 29,000 persons in the space of nine days. Yet no Spanish settlement has been made in this favoured district, and the Indian village of Nicarao-calli was not raised to the rank of a town till the year 1720, greatly to the disgust of its rival, Granada. It long bore the name of " Nicaragua," but since the beginning of the present century that of Bivas has prevailed. The town is continued for miles through a highly-productive district by the scattered villages of Obrage, Potosi, Buenayre, while eastwards it descends to its port of San Jorge on Lake Nicaragua. On the Pacific coast the hamlets of Brito and San Juan del Sur (Concordia) are names associated with the engineering projects for piercing the isthmus by a navigable canal, and sooner or later the opening of this interoceanic highway will confer on Brito the celebrity now enjoyed by Suez and Panama ; yet its harbour, scarcely 70 acres in extent, is so exposed that it will have to be sheltered by costly breakwaters. On the other hand the magnificent haven of Salinas Bay, common to Nicaragua and Costa Bica, has no settlements on its shores, and is entirely neglected except for the exploitation of the Bolanos salt-pans. The haven is an almost circular basin, over 20 square miles in extent, sheltered from the surf and ranging in depth from 40 to 80 feet. A cutting across an intervening sandy isthmus might connect it with the equally safe bay of Santa Elena. Compared with the western seaboard, the Atlantic coastlands might almost be called uninhabited, all the civilised populations being concentrated on the uplands near the waterparting between the lacustrine and Atlantic basins. Throughout TOPOGRAPHY OF NICAEAGUA. 287 its whole extent the great valley of the Bio Segovia has only one town, Ocotal, capital of the department of Segovia. The first Segovia, founded in 1524, soon became a flourishing place as a centre of the gold washings in all the surrounding valleys, but it was destroyed in 1854 by Morgan, most famous of all the West Indian buc caneers. Bebuilt in a more protected position, it was again attacked by the Mos quitos corsairs, and had to be shifted a third and a fourth time to sites farther and farther removed from the coast. The present " Segovia," better known by the name of Ocotal, stands at an altitude of over 2,000 feet on the left bank of the Wanks (Coco), in a mineral dis trict abounding in gold, silver, copper, iron and tin. Further down, nothing is met except a few Indian camping-grounds, one of which, Koom, near the estuary at Cape Gracias-a-Dios, was formerly the residence of a Sambo " king." The upper valley is somewhat more settled than that of the Wanks. Mata galpa, capital of the department of like name, has the advantage of easy access to Lake Nicaragua, although its waters drain to the Atlantic. It is a thriving place, surrounded by rapidly -spreading coffee plantations. Jinotega, on the opposite side of an intervening ridge, is also a prosperous town, whose cultivated lands are steadily encroaching on the neighbouring pine forests. The uplands of this region are also rich in the precious metals, and near the Indian village of Sebaco are seen numerous galleries, whence the natives drew large quantities of gold. The auriferous sands of Principolca have also attracted many immigrants from the Zamba territory. Acoyapa, or San Sebastian, capital of the department of Chontales, stands on the site of a "ormerly populous city, but is itself a mere village near the east shore of Lake Nicaragua, where it possesses the port of San Ubaldo. In the same dis trict, but farther north at the foot of the Sierra Amerrique, stands the town of Juigalpa — in Aztec, the "Great City" — which appears to have been a large centre of population, to judge, at least, from the numerous ruins, the disinterred idols, and still undeciphered inscriptions covering the surrounding rocks. Libertad, on the opposite or Atlantic side of the sierra, is the capital of a pro ductive mining district, but the excessive moisture renders its climate highly insalubrious. Farther east the basin of the Blewfields is almost uninhabited as far as the great lagoon of like name. Here stands the village of Blewfields, a former nest of pirates, and residence of the Mosquitos chief, who takes the redun dant Anglo- Spanish title of "Bey-King." This potentate, formerly protected by Great Britain, but now a pensioner of Nicaragua, administers all the villages of the Mosquitos Coast for a space of about 150 miles between the Hueso and Bama Bivers north and south. Blewfields is also the centre of the Protestant missions and English schools along the seaboard. It is surrounded by extensive banana and other plantations, ¦ and since 1883 it has developed a considerable trade in cocoanuts, pineapples, oranges, and other fruits with New Orleans. The shores of the Pearl Lagoon as well as the neighbouring Corn Islands have also become busy agricultural centres. Oysters abound along the coast lagoons, 288 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. although the vast kitchen-middens of the surrounding forests contain none of these bivalves. Potsherds and little human figures have been found in the refuse. San Carlos, on the left bank of the San Juan where it escapes from the lake, is a mere group of cabins, commanded by a ruined fort. But according to Belly, this is the site of the future Constantinople of the American Bosphorus. Castillo, a little farther down, is the most important station between the lake and San Juan del Norte, often called Greytown since the time of its occupation by the English. This town, famous in the history of the wars between the Spaniards and bucca- Fig. 124.— San Juan del Norte before the Construction of the Piee. Scale 1 : 85,000. O10I6 Feet. Depths. 16 to 32 Feet. 32 Feet, and upwards. 3,300 Yards. neers, and long the scene of English and American rivalries, is the only seaport of Nicaragua on the Atlantic side. Its little white wooden houses, with their smiling garden plots, trailing plants, and shady palm-groves, are surrounded by swampy tracts, backwaters and channels, alternately flooded and filled with mud, which should make Greytown a hotb®. of fever. Yet according to the testimony, not merely of engineering speculators, but of disinterested travellers, it is really one of the least insalubrious places along the whole seaboard. This is mainly due to the porous nature of the volcanic matter washed down by the river, so that the surface waters ECONOMIC CONDITION OF NICAEAGUA. 289 rapidly disappear, carrying with them all the impurities of the soil, while the exhalations are continually dissipated by the prevailing north-east trade winds. The absence of a port at Greytown has obliged the promoters of the Nicara guan interoceanic canal to construct an artificial harbour on the north-west side of the delta. A jetty projecting 1,440 yards- seawards has enabled the stream to sweep away the sands and gradually scour the channel to a depth of seven or eight feet. A few structures on the beach mark the site of the future " City of America," solemnly founded on January 1, 1890. North of this place, the best roadstead is at Monkey Point between the Blewfields and Bama rivers, and it was here that Bedford Pirn proposed to establish the Atlantic terminus of his transcontinental railway, crossing the waterparting at a height of 760 feet. The promoters of the canal are now connecting the Bama valley with the harbour of San Juan. They will thus have the advantage of two seaports with an intervening territory suitable for European colonisation. Economic Condition of Nicaragua. Although sparsely peopled relatively to the vast spaces capable of settlement, Nicaragua, like the sister states, is steadily increasing in population, which advanced from nearly 132,000 in 1778 to 160,000 in 1813. Since then, despite civil strife and invasions, progress has been even more rapid, the returns for 1846 showing 257,000, while the total population was estimated in 1890 at 375,000, or nearly six to the square mile. The birth-rate is at present On an average double that of the mortality. The chief products of Nicaragua are agricultural, and these might be indefinitely increased by bringing the vacant lands under tillage. Coffee, which forms the staple of the export trade, comes almost exclusively from the province of Granada. Next in importance is caoutchouc, collected, not from cultivated plants, but from forest growths felled by the Caribs of the Atlantic coastlands. Bananas are yearly becoming more abundant, thanks to the increasing demand in the United States. The Nicaraguan planters also export cacao and sugar, but have almost ceased to cultivate indigo, driven from the markets by the new chemical dyes. A great resource of the republic are horned cattle, exported both to Costa Bica and Honduras. Many million head might be raised on the grassy plateaux of Chontales, where the herds number at present scarcely more than 1,200,000. Nicaragua also possesses considerable mineral wealth, though mining operations are still mostly carried on in a primitive way. The best- worked mines are those of Chontales, which have long been owned by English proprietors. The gold washings of the streams flowing to the Atlantic are almost entirely in the hands of the Indians and Sambos of the coastlands. Mining, such as it is, is almost the only local industry, and all manufactured wares, except some coarse textiles and furni ture, are imported from Europe or the States. The chief products of the native craftsmen are the earthenware of Somotillo, the hammocks of Subtiaba and Masaya, and the calabashes of Bivas embellished with designs in relief. Foreign trade is scarcely developed, amounting to scarcely more than £2 per 52 290 MEXICO, CENTEAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. head of the population. The total exchanges amounted in 1890 to little over £800,000, most of the traffic being with the United States and Great Britain.. The Nicaragua Canal. But trade and the industries will be powerfully stimulated by the completion of the interoceanic canal which has been so long projected. There can be no doubt that the isthmus of Nicaragua is by far the most suitable region for a canal with locks, the line to be followed being already indicated by the depression of Lake Nicaragua and its emissary. It has even been proposed to cut a navigable way free of locks, a scheme by Fig. 125. — Projected Interoceanic Canals across Nicaragua. Scale 1 5,200,000. Itepths. Oto 6 Fathoms. 6 Fathoms and upwards. Projected Canal. Canalised River. Railways opened and projected. _ 124 Miles. which the great basin would be more than half emptied and many hundred thousand acres of arable land reclaimed in the very heart of the country. But a cutting over 220 miles long, under such a climate and without slave labour, would appear to be beyond the power of modern industrial resources. Projects of a more practical nature were spoken of so early as the time of the conquest, and even under the Spanish rule the buccaneer, Edwards David, con ceived the idea of a cutting between the lake and the Pacific. In 1780, the engineer, Martin de la Bastide, proposed such a canal, and the next year the Madrid Government undertook a first survey of the ground with a view to its construction. THE NICAEAGUA CANAL. 291 Immediately after the declaration of independence, the new republic decreed the accomplishment of this work, but failed to supply the means for its execution. After the discussion of various plans and counter-plans, a first scheme for a canal terminating at San Juan del Sur (Concordia), on the Pacific, was propounded by John Bailey in 1843. Since that time various other schemes have followed, but without obtaining the necessary capital. The failure, however, of the Panama undertaking has revived the hopes of speculators, who propose to carry the interoceanic route through the Lake of Nicaragua. The works were, in fact, actually commenced at the end of the year 1 889, though not, as the financial world expected, at the expense of the United States Government. The estimated cost is fixed at £15,000,000, and a period of six years assigned for the completion of the work, which will have a total Fig. 126. — Lower San Juan Canal. Scale 1 : 600 Oon. West oF Greenwich Depths Oto 5 Fathoms. 5 Fathoms and upwards. . 12 Miles. length of 170 miles, of which 140 of open navigation through the lake, and not more than 30 through ship canals. We are assured that vessels of the heaviest draught will take only 30 hours to pass from ocean to ocean, and that the cutting will admit 32 such vessels per day, or 11,680, of about 12,000,000 tons, a year. The San Juan discharges a volume sufficient for hundreds of canals, but its course is too shifting, its current too irregular and too charged with alluvia to allow of its being canalised and adapted for the navigation of large vessels. Hence it will be necessary to keep the canal quite distinct from the river through out its lower course, where it receives the great tributaries from Costa Bica. This cutting, joining the river in its tranquil upper course, will be supplied with three locks, each 550 feet long, by means of which the vessels will be brought to the level of the lake, which stands over 110 feet above the Atlantic at low water. It 292 MEXICO, CENTEAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. will have a depth of 29 or 30 feet, and a minimum breadth of 80 feet on its bed, with sidings at the narrowest parts. Above the upper lock, which will have to be separated by an embankment from the mouth of the San Carlos, the ships will pass into the lake and traverse it obliquely to a second canal, whence they will descend to the Pacific through an artificial lake and the Bio Grande. But Lake Nicaragua itself will have to be deepened in its south-eastern section, where its bed has been raised by the alluvial Fig. 127. — Political Divisions of Nicaragua. Scale 1 : 5,000,000. Chinandega . Leon. Granada. Chontales. Matagalpa. Segovia. — - 94 Miles. Rivas. Mosquitia. matter washed down by the Bio Frio from the Costa Bica highlands. The Pacific Canal will be partly transformed by huge dykes to lakes at different levels terminating at the port of Brito. Such is the magnificent project first conceived by Thome de Gamond in 1858, then adopted with modifications by other engineers, especially Menocal, and now in process of realisation. But will the estimated sum suffice for the construction COSTA EICA. 293 of such prodigious works, gigantic locks, large harbours in stormy seas, channels maintained at a constant depth, despite the invasions of sedimentary matter brought down by impetuous mountain streams ? On the other hand, the annual increase of the world's trade, and the necessity of opening a navigable highway by which thousands of vessels will be spared a voyage of over 9,000 miles round Cape Horn, render the execution of this gigantic work more and more probable. But its successful completion is full of dangers for the republic itself. When the canal has become the great highway between New York and San Francisco, and the all-powerful company finds itself mistress of the route with a vast army of employes at its disposal, how can the feeble and sparsely-peopled state hope to maintain its independence against the "manifest destinies" of the North American Anglo-Saxon nation ? Administration. In her political institutions, Nicaragua differs little from the other Central American states. By universal suffrage, are erected two chambers, a senate of 18 members for six years, and a lower house of 21 representatives for four years. The president is also nominated for the same period, and is assisted by a council of four ministers, or secretaries, for foreign affairs, finance, public works, and the interior. The standing army comprises a few hundred men, with 1,200 custom house officers, and a reserve of over 15,000 liable to serve in case of civil or foreign war. The revenue, like that of the neighbouring states, is largely derived from tobacco, spirits, and gunpowder monopolies, supplemented by the cuctoms and some minor imposts. Most of the expenditure is absorbed by public works, instruction, postal and telegraph services. Nicaragua, unlike Honduras, has hitherto escaped the financial speculators, and the public debt amounted in 1890 to about £600,000, with a mortgage on the 93 miles of railway, altogether little more than one year's income. In the Appendix are given the eight administrative divisions. with their areas and populations. VI. — Costa Bica. Next to Salvador, Costa Bica is the smallest of the Central American states in extent, while its population is absolutely the smallest. It may be described as little more than a narrow strip of territory forming a terrace or plateau between the two oceans at a mean elevation of 3,500 feet, and intersected by a volcanic range double that height. But it is occupied by a somewhat homogeneous people, who present a certain originality amongst Hispano- American communities, and whose progress has been less interrupted than that of the sister states by foreign wars and civil strife. In some respects, Costa Bica is the model republic of Central America, as well as one of the most prosperous, not so much on account of its mineral wealth, as might be supposed from its name, as of its agricultural resources. This term 294 MEXICO, CENTEAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. " Bich Coast," given formerly to the whole of the south-western shores of the Caribbean Sea, that is, to the Gulf of Columbus taken in its widest sense, was later restricted mainly to the district of Veragua in Colombia, where gold had been discovered. But the present Costa Bica, at first known as Nueva Cartago, was found so little productive by its first white settlers, that, according to some writers, the name of " Bich Coast " was retained by a sort of antiphrasis. Like the other Central American republics, Costa Bica has scarcely ceased to Fig. 128. — Gulp of Columbus. Scale 1 : 5,000,000. Depths. Oto 50 Fathoms. 50 to 1,000 Fathoms. 1,000 to 1,500 Fathoms. 1.500 Fathoms and upwards. . 124 Miles. be troubled with frontier questions, wrhich, especially with Nicaragua, have at times led to sanguinary conflicts. The Nicoya and Guanacaste districts, at present the most important region of the state on the Pacific side, formed at one time a part of the province of Nicaragua, the natural Kmit between the two countries being the Gulf of Nicoya. But during the first years of independence, political discussions waxed so furious in Nicaragua, that those more peacefully-disposed COSTA EICA. 295 districts petitioned the Central American Government to be annexed to Costa Bica until order could be restored. But the arrangement has been maintained, and is now officially confirmed by treaty between the conterminous states. But in the San Juan basin on the Atlantic side, the conflict became more serious ; here the river is a natural highway of trade between the two republics, so that any frontier excluding Costa Bica from this outlet for her produce would have deeply affected her interests. The treaty of 1858, ratified in 1888 by the arbitration of the United States president, definitely settled this question, assign ing to Costa Bica the right bank from the delta to within three miles of the Fig. 129. — One op the Theee Craters of Poas. fortifications of Castillo ; then the line is deflected eight miles south and east of this place, beyond which it follows all the windings of the river and of Lake Nicaragua at a distance of two miles to the mouth of the Bio de la Flor, which enters the Pacific a little north of Salinas Bay. On the side of Colombia the southern frontier is clearly indicated by the long promontory of Punta Burica projecting into the Pacific, while on the north or Atlantic coast, Costa Bica claims Chiriqui Bay and its islands, including the Escudo de Veragua off the coast. On the other hand, Colombia claims not only the whole of Chiriqui Bay, but even that of the Almirante as far as the Boca del Drago. The question has been submitted to the arbitration of Spain ; but in such matters diplomatic records are of less consequence than the wish of the people. 296 MEXICO, CENTEAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. Physical Features. Taken as a whole Costa Bica may be regarded as an elevated tableland domi nating the flooded Nicaraguan depression. Immediately to the south of this vast basin, the hills rise from tier to tier to the crest of the igneous cordillera which is disposed north-west and south-east. Within some 20 miles to the south of the narrow zone between Salinas Bay and Lake Nicaragua, the Orosi volcano, which still emits a few jets of vapour from its verdure-clad crater, rises to a height of 8,700 feet. Beyond it follows the almost isolated four-crested Bincon de la Vieja, and still in the same south-easterly direction the Miravalles peak (4,720 feet), crowned with an extinct forest-clad crater. Miravalles and its neighbour, Tenorio, are continued south-eastwards by the Cerros de los Guatusos, which for about 60 miles are destitute of a single igneous cone. But towards the centre of the isthmus the Poas volcano rises to a height of 8,700 feet, and terminates in three craters, one flooded with a lake which drains through the Bio Angel to the Sarapiqui, and another filled with hot water from which vapours are still occasionally emitted to a great height. In 1834 it was the scene of a violent eruption ; but Barba, its eastern neighbour, has long been quiescent, its terminal crater (9,000 feet) being also flooded, like so many others in this region. Farther on stands Irazu, giant of the Costa Bican volcanoes, which rises to the north of Cartago, and from whose summit a wide prospect is commanded of both oceans, and of the whole of Costa Bica from the Orosi peak to Mount Bovalo. Yet it slopes so gently that the traveller may reach its culminating point, a little over 11/200 feet, mounted on a mule. The lower flanks are covered with maize, tobacco, and other plantations, diversified with pasturage and terminating with oak forests. The hamlet of Birris, highest inhabited spot in the republic, stands at an altitude of 9,400 feet. Turialba (11,000 feet), last cone going eastwards, has greatly contributed by its explosions to modify the general relief of the land. Since the eruption of 1866 it has never ceased to eject copious vapours, accompanied now and then with some ashes. Its name is said to be a corrupt form of the Latin turris alba, " White Tower," though Thiel and Pittier have shown that the word is of Indian origin. The Costa Bican igneous chain does not run parallel with the Pacific, but trends in a slightly oblique direction to the general axis of this part of the penin sula, even developing a gentle curve with its convex side facing southwards and its more lofty section disposed transversely towards the Atlantic. It appears from Pittier's observations that the older cones began their eruptions early in secondary times, when the range stood in the midst of the sea, running in the same way as the insular volcanoes of the Hawaii archipelago. The former existence of such an archipelago is shown by the sedimentary matter now filling the intervals between the igneous crests. According to the same authority some of the Costa Bican cones have ejected PHYSICAL FEATURES OF COSTA EICA. 297 no lavas during the historic period, although both Turialba and Irazu have dis charged vast quantities of ashes, which, under the influence of the trade winds, have been deposited on their south-west slopes. The plateaux stretching south of the volcanic system, and eroded' on both B «? sides by running waters, formerly contained lakes in their cavities. The Alajuela, San Jose and Cartago depressions had also their lacustrine basins, which were gradually emptied by the erosion of the encircling walls. Earthquakes are very frequent, but are seldom violent, and the vibrations 298 MEXICO, CENTEAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. are rarely felt at any great distance from the base of the volcanoes. But at the end of the year 1888 several severe shocks, coinciding with the discharges of mud and water from Poas and Irazu, damaged the buildings of the neighbouring towns and overthrew some villages. A comparative study of the local seismic phenomena and of the rainfall during seventeen consecutive years has led Pittier to the conclusion that the return of igneous activity and of underground dis turbances is a direct consequence of the tropical rains penetrating to the caver nous recesses under the volcanoes. South of the igneous system the Costa Bican uplands are interrupted by the valleys of the Bio Grande de Tarcoles flowing to the Pacific, and of the Bev en- Fig. 131. — Plateau and Volcanoes of Costa Rica. Scale 1 : 1,200,000. . 18 Miles. iazon descending to the Caribbean Sea. The sources of these streams are inter mingled about the Ochomogo Pass (1,100 feet), which, at a former geological epoch, was flooded by one of the marine channels connecting the two oceans. South of this depression stretches an almost unknown region of wooded uplands some 8,000 square miles in extent, but apparently without any igneous cones. According to the natives, Mount Herradura (Turubales), at the southern entrance to the Gulf of Nicoya, has occasionally emitted some light vapours ; rumbling sounds are even said to be heard at regular intervals in the interior of the moun tain, but these statements are doubted by Pittier, who denies that Herradura is a volcano at all. It is connected by a lateral ridge with the Dota mountains, a section of the main range traversing the isthmus midway between the two PHYSICAL FEATUEES OF COSTA RIGA, 299 oceans. Above the ridge rise at intervals a number of lofty summits, such as the Cerro Chiripo, in the Cabecar district, Mount Ujum (9,700 feet), Nemur, Kamuk, or Pico Blanco (9,600), and lastly, Bovalo (7,000), close to the Colombian frontier. A striking resemblance in their general outline is presented by the two penin sular masses of Nicoya and the Golfo Dulce on the Pacific seaboard. Both consist Fig. 132 —Gulf of Nicoya. Scale 1 : 750,000. - ' /Jr.-, ¦ :. '¦".-.¦'-¦ . ' ¦M?:- ¦' 'vT^f 85° io' WestoF breenwich 84°-to- Depths. Oto 5 Fathoms. 5 to 25 Fathoms. 25 to 50 Fathoms. SCO Fathoms aud upwards. 12 Miles. of a mountain range disposed parallel with the mainland, with which they are connected by narrow strips of lowlands. The Punta Burica, at the Colombian frontier, belongs to the same line of promontories, which is continued south of the province of Panama by the island of Coiba, the large peninsula of Azuero and the Pearl Islands. These chains and detached insular or peninsular masses describe collectively a regular curve of about 550 miles, which is perfectly concentric with the curve 300 MEXICO, CENTEAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. presented by the mainland itself between Lake Nicaragua and the Gulf of Panama. The highest crest of this outer Costa Bican coast-range appears to culminate towards its southern extremity in a peak not more than 2,000 feet high. Bivers. The strips of coastlands on both sides of the central uplands are too narrow for the development of any large fluvial basins. Even the most copious streams, the San Carlos and Sarapiqui, become merged in the San Juan before reaching the Caribbean Sea. The Colorado, which, on the contrary, now receives nearly the whole discharge of the San Juan, flows entirely in Costa Bican territory, where its waters are intermingled by lateral channels with those of the Sarapiqui. From the north-east slopes of the uplands, exposed to the moist trade winds, flows the Parismina, or Beventazon, which has a much larger volume than might be supposed from the length of its course. On the same side follow several other rios, such as the Sicsola, and the Tilorio, or Changuinola, which Peralta identifies with the old Bio de la Estrella, famous in the local legends for its auriferous sands. The same name of Estrella has also been given to another less copious stream, which flows farther north near Cahuita Point, and where the alluvia are still washed for gold. On the drier Pacific slopes the watercourses are less copious in proportion to their length. Nevertheless three of them bear the name of Bio Grande : the Bio Grande de Terraba, which reaches the coast at the head of the Golfo Dulce ; the Bio Grande de Pirris, which flows south of the mountains terminating in the western headland of Herradura, and the Bio Grande de Tarcoles, which rises at the Ochomogo Pass, and which, after its junction with the Tiribi, the more copious of the two, enters the sea opposite the southern extremity of the Nicoya peninsula. Farther north the Tempisque flows to the head of the Gulf of Nicoya after travers ing the low-lying isthmus which was formerly a marine channel between the Nicoya peninsula and the mainland. All these streams tend by their alluvia to raise the bed of the gulf ; but a more potent cause is the south-east marine current which sweeps into the basin all the organic refuse collected on the neighbouring coast. The Gulf of Nicoya, so named from a chief whom the Spaniards converted with 6,000 of his subjects, rivals the Bay of Naples, the Bosphorus, or the Strait of Simonosaki in the rhythmical contour of its shores and encircling hills. Its waters are studded with islands of all sizes, whose deep green forest vegetation contrasts with the azure hue of the distant mountains. San Lucas, one of these islands, resembling Capri in outline, is famous throughout Central America for the legendary reports of the vast treasures here deposited by shipwrecked corsairs. But nothing has ever been brought to light, despite the numerous expeditions equipped to discover these treasures. The Golfo Dulce, that is, "Freshwater Gulf," is much deeper than Nicoya, and entirely destitute of islands. CLIMATE OF COSTA EICA. 301 Climate, Flora, Fauna. Like Mexico and Guatemala, Costa Bica offers a vertical succession of the three " hot," " temperate," and " cold " zones. But here the local climates and the distribution of the vegetable species are endlessly modified by the varying condi tions of altitude, aspect, and general environment. In general the climate is essentially oceanic, and well regulated by the winds prevailing on both seaboards. At San Jose, the mean annual temperature exceeds 68° Fahr., rising gradually to 78° towards the low -lying coastlands, and falling considerably towards the Fig. 133. — Gulf of Dulce. Scale 1 : 950.000. 83*4-0' . West oF Greenwich 83° 10' Depths. Oto 25 Fathoms. 25 Fathoms and upwards. 12 Miles. crests of the mountains. At an altitude of 9,000 feet Pittier observed films of ice on the margin of the streams, and on the summit of Irazu he found the surface covered with hoar-frost. At the same elevation the temperature is lower on the Atlantic than on the Pacific slope, but it is more oppressive, the atmosphere being more charged with moisture from the prevailing trade winds. On the west side the seasons follow very regularly, the rains falling almost exclusively from May to November, whereas 802 MEXICO, CENTEAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. on the east side wet weather may be said to last throughout the year. The annual rainfall rises to at least 130 inches in the Beventazon and Colorado basins. Nevertheless the Costa Bican climate is one of the most salubrious in Central America, both for natives and foreign settlers. Consumption is very rare, though the uplands have at times been ravaged by cholera, smallpox, and other epidemics. Fevers also prevail in the low-lying coast districts, while on the plateau strangers are subject to rheumatism from the excessive moisture. In general the flora resembles that of the other Central American regions, though botanists have been struck by the contrasts often presented between the Nicaraguan depressions and the Costa Bica uplands. Thus of the 100 ferns collected by Levy in Nicaragua, only three or four are found in the 36 Costa Bican varieties in Polakowsky's collection. The cactuses, also, which in many parts of the Mexican plateau cover vast spaces, are scarcely represented at all on the San Jose uplands. In the forests occur numerous Colombian forms, especially several false cinchonas, which might easily be replaced by the valuable medicinal species. Tree-ferns grow to an altitude of nearly 7,000 feet, and the banana to about 6,000. Notwithstanding the reckless destruction of timber in many districts, more than half of the Atlantic slopes are still covered with primeval forests, containing an amazing variety of forms. In a space of 100 square yards, more types are here met than in 100 square miles in north Canada. The streams flow beneath avenues of overhanging foliage bound together from bank to bank by wreaths of flowers and festoons of trailing plants. A characteristic form in the clumps of trees dotted over many of the savannas is a species of mimosa, from which the province of Guanacaste takes its name. The widespreading branches of this tree are a favourite resort of the monkey tribe. According to Pittier the Costa Bican flora comprises altogether at least 2,200 species. The fauna, also, is exceptionally rich compared with that of other tropical regions. In general Brazilian and other southern types prevail over those of the northern continent. But Costa Bica also possesses several indigenous species, such as a howling monkey distinct from that of Guiana, a tapir (elasmognathus), somewhat different from the Colombian species, besides several kinds of bats and vampires dangerous to cattle, whose blood they suck. One migrating species appears sud denly on the plains of Pirris, south of Mount Herradura, and falls on the domestic animals, poultry, cats, dogs, as well as horses and oxen. Although often regarded as fables, the reports of vampires sucking the blood of human beings, lulling their victims with their long wings, are by no means questioned by travellers and naturalists who have visited Central America. Whole villages have had to be abandoned to escape their attacks, and the engineer, Brooks, one of the survevors of the Panama Canal, died from the bites of a vampire. But the Costa Bican fauna reveals its marvellous wealth especially in the feathered tribe. In 1885, the catalogue of the Washington National Museum already enumerated 692 species, distributed in 394 genera, and two years later, six new species were discovered, altogether twice the number possessed by the whole FAUNA OF COSTA EICA. 303 of Europe. The parrot and gallinaceous families | are both represented by an extraordinary number of different forms, as well as by the multitude of individuals comprised in many of the groups. In the reptile order, as many as 132 species have already been recorded, and great discoveries still remain to be made on the marshy seaboard and in the dense primeval woodlands. The surrounding marine waters also abound in animal life, and the manatee, which has disappeared from most of the West Indian coast lands, still frequents the Costa Bican streams. Like Tehuantepec Bay, the Gulf of Nicoya has its purple- yielding murex, and like the Gulf of California, its pearl and mother- of-pearl oysters. Inhabitants. In Costa Bica the aborigines have been almost entirely supplanted by a civi lised population of Spanish culture. The first European settlement, which, however, was not permanent, was founded in 1524 by Hernandez de Cordova on the Gulf of Nicoya. Badajoz, founded in 1540, on the opposite coast at the mouth of the Sicsola, in the Talamanca territory, also disappeared, and in 1544 took place the first conflict between the Indians of the plateau and the Spaniards in the neigh bourhood of the present Cartago. In 1563 began the systematic conquest of the country by Vasquez de Coronado, who secured a firm footing on the plateau, where nearly all the population of Spanish speech is at present concentrated. Vasquez penetrated to within a short distance of the Golfo Dulce, reducing the warlike Coto Indians, and afterwards exploring the Talamanca territory on the eastern slope, the district about Almi rante Bay, the Guaymi country and the auriferous region of the Bio de la Estrella. At that time the aborigines must have numbered at least 60,000, the Talamancas alone being estimated at 25,000, and the Indians of Coto at from 12,000 to 15,000. In 1675, over 100 years after the conquest, there were still scarcely more than 500 Spanish settlers in the country, nearly all grouped round the two towns of Cartago and Esparza on the plateau. The Indians employed on their plantations were gradually reduced to a few hundreds, and the colony itself made so little progress that even so late as 1718, there was not a single place of business on the plateau, and all the traffic was in the hands of packmen. During the seventeenth century the seaboard was frequently attacked by the corsairs, but the country was too poor to attract them to the plateau. Despite its strategic importance Costa Bica, towards the end of the colonial regime, when it formed a province of the Guatemalan viceroyalty, had only a population of 47,000, mainly Mestizoes. The people are usually spoken of as full-blood Spaniards, mostly from Galicia ; but they are really Ladinos, assimilated to the white race in speech, usages, and national sentiment. The negro element is very slight, there having been only 200 blacks in the province at the time of the official abolition of slavery in 1824. The bravos, or " wild " Indians, variously estimated at from 3,500 to 6,000, 304 MEXICO, CENTEAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES were quite recently still living entirely aloof from the civilised populations. In the forests of the northern slopes draining to Lake Nicaragua and the San Juan, and especially in the Bio Frio basin, dwell the Guatusos, who at present visit the market of San Jose-, and bring offerings to the Catholic priests, " brothers of the sun." They were formerly said to have fair hair and blue eyes, which Gabb attributed to contact with the English buccaneers. Others pretended that the Fig. 134. — Guatuso Indian. fugitives from the town of Esparza. sacked by the corsairs, had merged in a single nation with the Indians. But all the Guatusos seen at San Carlos of Nicaragua, or at the markets of the Costa Bican plateau, have black hair, a dark complexion, and prominent cheek bones, like the Nicaraguan Chontals, to whom they are probably related. They are excellent husbandmen, cultivating their banana, cacao and other plantations with great care. Nor are the Guatusos ferocious savages, as formerly asserted ; on the contrary, most of them have been exterminated by the Nicaraguan and Costa Bican Ladinos engaged in collecting rubber in the northern forests. According INHABITANTS OF COSTA EICA. 305 to Thiel hundreds are still kept in a state cf servitude in Nicaragua, where the price of a Guatuso was recently fifty dollars. The natives of the southern districts are generally grouped under the collective name of Talamancas, although each tribe has its special designation. Such are Fig. 135. -Young Talamancas Indians 0k ¦wm 4'^' the Chirripos, the Cabecars, Viceitas, Bribri and Tiribies, who still decorate them selves with plumes, strings of teeth or pearl necklaces, and dwell in palenques with thatched roof reaching to the ground. On the Pacific coast live other tribes, the Borucas or Bruncas, the Terrebas and others, who have given their names to the neighbouring villages. The Chirripos and Cabecars near the Cartago district have already been baptised. The other 53 306 MEXICO, CENTEAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. Talamancas of the seaboard between Puerto Limon and Almirante Bay appear to have also been formerly converted, for many of their ceremonies are of Spanish origin. But they still worship the sun and stars, the rocks and winds, the running waters and the sea, The Blancos, a people of Cabecar or Bribri origin, expose the bodies of their dead on palm-stands one or two yards above the ground, and buTy them after three years, when they are perfectly dry. Some food and precious objects are at the same time placed in the grave. In these graves have been found some remarkable little gold figures, which attest the ancient civilisation of the natives, and their lamentable degradation under their white rulers. Many of these artistic objects have unfortunately been melted down and coined at the Costa Bican mint. The jadeites and other green stones known by the Mexican name of chalchihuites come chiefly from Guanacaste and the Nicoya peninsula. Objects of pre-Columbian culture, formerly supposed to be rare in the northern provinces, are now found in thousands, especially about the environs of Cartago, where stood the ancient city of Purapura. Topography. Since the middle of the present century the population of the formerly almost uninhabited Guanacaste region has increased fourfold. Its vast savannas, where millions of cattle might be raised ; its forests, abounding in valuable timber and cabinet woods ; its gulf and harbours ; lastly, its convenient position between the Nicaraguan peninsula and the Costa Bican plateau — give promise of a great future for this hitherto neglected province. Its capital, Liberia, formerly Guanacaste, lies at the south foot of the Orosi volcanoes towards the middle of the fertile depression at the neck of the Nicoya peninsula. In the interior of the peninsula are situated the populous towns of Santa Cruz and Nicoya, the latter the larger of the two and formerly residence of the friendly chief who welcomed the Spanish conquerors, and was baptised with all his people. On the shores of the gulf are obtained both pearl and edible oysters, said to be the best on the whole west coast of America. Puntarenas (Punta Arenas, or "SandyToint ") stands on a tongue of sand at the mouth of the little Biver Barranca, which has deposited vast quantities of eruptive matter in the Gulf of Nicoya. The inlet is too shallow for large vessels, which have to ride at anchor in the roadstead. Yet Puntarenas has since 1814 been the outlet for all the foreign trade of Costa Bica on the Pacific side. Before that year the Pacific seaport of the province stood some six miles farther south, near the thermal springs of La Caldera, between the Barranca and Jesus-Maria estuaries. Before the opening of the railway, which has its terminus at Puntarenas, it was proposed to establish the port south of the Bio Grande, in the picturesque bay of Tarcoles, at the foot of Mount Herradura. But the project was never realised owing to the dangers of the bar and unhealthy climate of Tarcoles. In the neighbourhood are some extremely thick beds of anthracite. From Puntarenas the railway ascends the scarp of the plateau to Esparza TOPOOEAPHY OF COSTA EICA. 307 (725 feet), so named in 1578 by its Navarrese founder from his native village near Pampeluna, but now officially changed to Esparta. Another station higher up (2,400 feet) has similarly taken the name of Atenas (Athens), and three miles farther on stands La Garita, on the edge of the plateau, whence a view is com manded of the plains watered by the Bio Grande. Here have been opened the most productive gold and silver mines of the republic, which are said to have yielded an annual output of £40,000 since the year 1821. The gold is coined at the San Jose mint. Alajuela-, the " Jewel " (3,000 feet), dates from the end of the last century, but has already outstripped some of its older rivals, thanks to the fertility of its volcanic soil. It is the capital of a province which ranks next to that of San Jose for population. Here are also the thriving towns of Grecia and San Ramon. Heredia, east of Alajuela, lies at the foot of the Barba volcano, near the Desengano Pass (6,000 feet), leading by a difficult route down to, the San Juan valley. It is the Cubujuqui of the Indians, one of the oldest places in the state. San Jose, the present capital, was a mere hamlet known by the name of La Villita at the middle of the last century. But it enjoyed the advantage of a more central position than Cartago, being admirably situated in the middle of the plateau, 3,750 feet above sea-level. On the cessation of Spanish rule it was chosen as the seat of government, and here have been founded the chief learned and literary institutions of the country — university, normal school, museum, meteorological observatory. Electricity was introduced in 1887, and San Jose is now connected by rail with the Atlantic seaboard. Cartago, formerly the capital, was founded in 1564 by Vasquez de Coronado, and is the oldest of still- existing settlements in the country. It was several times attacked by the buccaneers, partly ruined by the eruption of Irazu in 1723, and levelled to the ground by the earthquake of 1841. One of the stations on the railway connecting Cartago with the port of . Limon on the Atlantic takes the name of Angostura from the "narrows" of the Eio Beventazon. This place is known in Europe in connection with the disastrous failure of a German agricul tural colony founded in the district. Limon, last of the chain of settlements which follow across the Costa Bican isthmus, is of recent foundation. Despite the advantages of its harbour, the . best on the Atlantic side of the republic, no seaport could be established here until access was given to the plateau by practicable routes. Thanks. to the railway, Limon has suddenly developed a foreign trade equal to that of Puntarenas. It not only exports the coffee raised on the plateau, "but also forwards to the United States vast quantities of bananas from the new plantations in the neighbouring district. The construction of the railway has necessitated, the addition of several other important works; such as viaducts and embankments across the swamps and channels on the coast. Such works were needed, especially near Moin, where a contraband trade was formerly carried on in English goods. South of Limon, the only civilised Costa Bican settlement on the Atlantic slope is San Bernardo, in the territory of the Talamancas, near the Puerto Viejo. But, 308 MEXICO, CENTEAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. Fig. 136. — Pueeto Limon. Scale 1 : 50,000. Depths. like the station of Chirripo, it failed to prosper owing to its isolation. The so-called "city" of Santiago de Talamanca, founded on the banks of the Sicsola, was burnt in 1610 by the revolted Indians. The constant reports of rich gold-fields in the valley of the Estrella (Chan- guinola) rest on a mistake made by Alcedo in his famous Diccionario Geografico- Historico de las Indias Occidentales. Alcedo had given to these mines of the Estrella the name of Tisingal (Tinsigal, Tisiugal), which happens to be an abbre viated form of Tegucigalpa, as shown by the corsair Bavenau de Lussan's excursion to the Bio Segovia in Nica ragua. This " gold coast," where no tra dition survives of a pretended town of Estrella, attracted scarcely any settlers. It was, in fact, rather avoided, owing to its reefs and inhospitable shores. Economic Condition of Costa Bica. Although not so rapid as that of other Spanish-American communities, the material progress of Costa Bica has at least been steady and regular. The population advanced from 80,000 in 1844 to 120,500 in 1864, and to over 182,000 in 1883, and was estimated at 220,000 in 1890. The number of immigrants is still very small, and of the 4,672 returned in 1883, nearly 2,000 were from the conterminous states of Nicaragua and Colombia. In the trade of the world Costa Bica derives its importance almost exclusively from its coffee, which, in prosperous years, has been exported to the extent of 15,000 tons, chiefly to Great Britain. Costa Bica also exports sugar, rubber, cacao, hides, and timber ; but in recent years all these wares are exceeded "in value by the bananas forwarded to the United States, which in 1889 amounted to 40,000 tons, worth over £80,000. The so-called quiquisque, that is, the taro of Polynesia (edible colocasia), is also cultivated, in some districts even by Indians. The planters on the uplands, directing their attention almost exclusively to coffee-growing, do not produce sufficient supplies for the local demand, and are consequently obliged to import farinaceous products from Chile. Even the live stock is insufficient for the wants of the people, despite the vast extent of their grazing-grounds. Of sheep and goats there were scarcely more than 2,000, and of horses and horned cattle, 353,000 in 1888, when all the live-stock was valued at not more than £80,000. EH Sands exposed at ebb. Oto 16 Feet. 16 to 32 Feet. 82 Feet and upwards. . 1,100 Yards. ECONOMIC CONDITION OF COSTA EICA. 309 But Costa Bica enjoys the advantage over Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Mexico that about one-half of the agricultural population are everywhere landowners, except in the province of Guanacaste. The territory which, even under the Spanish rule, was almost exclusively cultivated by free labour, is, for the most part, divided into small holdings, which give to the peasantry a direct interest in its improvement. In 1886 there were enumerated altogether 57,639 such holdings (fincas), with a total value of £7,760,000, but mortgaged to the extent of £1,600,000. Not more than one- twentieth part of the whole land has yet been brought under cultivation. Since the middle of the century trade increased fourfold, from about £400,000 to from £1,400,000 to £1,600,000, or in the proportion of from £6 to £8 per Fig. 137. — Mill foe Husking Coffee. Mi , 1 ... .. mgmmm sH fe^CT^feoff1 *C3l^3|» KdhVlAVi head of the population. Great Britain, the United States, France, and Germany, in the order here given, are the chief customers of Costa Bica. The great high way of the traffic is the railway by which the capital has been completely connected with the seaport of Limon on the Atlantic side since the year 1890. The railway company, besides government advances, has received a grant of many hundred thousand acres of land on the condition of selling or renting it within a period of twenty years. A portion of this vast domain has already been ceded to settlers, either for tillage or stock-breeding. Other railways are also projected, to connect Costa Bica with Nicaragua and its future canal, and plans and estimates have been prepared for regulating the discharge of the Bivers Frio, San Carlos, Sarapiqui, and Sucio, with a view to 310 MEXICO, CENTEAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. making them accessible to steamers. An embankment, forming part of the Nicaragua Canal scheme, would have the effect of raising the level of the Bio San Carlos about 50 feet, thus rendering it navigable by vessels of heavy draught to the foot of the mountain. On the other hand, the interoceanic route between the ports of Chiriqui and the Golfo Dulce, for which a concession was granted so far back as 1849, has not even been begun, although the company received a guarantee of 244 square leagues " with streams, rivers, mountains, and mines." Fig. 138. — Highways of Communication in Costa Riga. Scale 1 : 4,500,000. 85" West op breenwich Railways. Projected Railways. Eoads, , 50 Miles. Navigable Rivers. Apart from a few minor details, the political institutions of the republic are modelled on those of the other Hispano- American states. The legislative power is exercised by a congress, whose members are elected for four years, one-half retiring every two years. A president, also nominated for four years, and not re- eligible, is charged with the executive functions. He chooses his own secretaries of state, and appoints the provincial governors, the military commanders, and the political chiefs of the cantons. The municipalities are elected by popular suffrage, which is not universal, but restricted to all who are able to live " respectably." The laws are administered by justices of the peace, cantonal alcaldes, provincial tribunes and a court of appeal. Criminal cases are tried before juries, and capital punishment is abolished as well as all degrading penalties. Freedom of worship, ECONOMIC CONDITION OF COSTA EICA. 311 decreed in 1870, already existed de facto, and tithes had already been abolished soon after the declaration of independence. Convents and religious orders are interdicted throughout the republic. Public instruction had formerly been much neglected, and even in 1883 not more than 12 per cent, of the population could read and wrke. But primary instruction for both sexes is now obligatory and gratuitous, and in 1886 as many as 20,000 scholars were already attending the 260 public schools. Under the Spanish rule, and down to 1830, Costa Bica had not a single printing-press ; there are now over ten, and the number of letters forwarded through the post increased from 600 in 1811 to nearly 3,000,000 in 1890. Costa Bica was free of liabilities till 1871-2, when loans of £3,100,000 Fig. 139. — Administeative Divisions of Costa Rica. Scale 1 : 5,000,000. Guanacaste. WA Alajuela. Heredia. San Jose1. Comarca of Limon. Cartago. Comaroa of Puntarenas. — — — ^—— 124 Miles. were raised on the security of the customs and railway debentures. In 1888 the public debt was converted into a total amount of £2,000,000 at 5 per cent., and taken over by the Costa Bica Bailway Company. The yearly budget is generallv balanced with an income and expenditure of from £600,000 to £800,000. Most of the revenue is derived from the customs and spirits and tobacco monopolies. The army comprises a standing corps of 1,000 men. Costa Bica is divided into five administrative provinces and two comarcas, with areas and populations, tabulated in the Appendix. iutfeiM j^^Mjai**"1 ^¦AljUJIIIIIllHiMjjJI PPJ^J^I stei HHIrlll ^ipjlip^ii^gffl !fs!>*-.l-:ji. KUOllMIINH Pgit^i»rv-j ^^j^5r\ jft> UJagi B^*5S*^*^CrTf^» '&PJ~ iifc^~^T^fc £3 ft li^lll ro^^ » tvA iW; IK) MS V/^u^v' jjjf EggWJjj^l flfcSKL - TPt Wi5 l^fe? r% f'YC iffSiffip mt^^^ir^ IbI^p? ==w§l»l ^ P^^^MwH a^'#* 3 >-d Pr-CD £L CDP Jq P O i — ' CD 3 CD P CD CDM-P a i-i 3 CQCQa l-H H Uq CDP,O P Szi UQ i= o r+- rv CTT- cd E. CD p GO* 3 P Pw oP 3P V! o CD CDO aCDpp o 3 p. O CD>1 o p a m p p- CD j ' : P p B P i — ' aCD Pco n 3CD o O 3 M- (Tt- 3, c+- CDP *n p" o pCD CD >-i P rt P O CD O -1 P P- P o B rt p & aq O r-t-rt" P ?^ l-1 P* p. CQ CD tj CJq 4 CD £ P h-h r &. p p Pj CD CD CD Pi o oCDPP m CD 1-j P oB o o p-CD3CDi-iI-.. O P © P § H w P ^ 5s p ^ p p p. "^ 03 CO rt CDP-J coo oq Pi • Ir "-« CD P P oq p P s* 3' i — ¦ ^ rt- CT" » g CD B P HO hjo QW J» hdW XOt>t>Kf> COto en 326 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. Unfortunately, the roadstead offers bad anchorage during the prevalence of the north winds, when large vessels prefer the more sheltered waters under Taboga Island 11 miles farther south. According to the general plan, the interoceanic canal was to be continued between embankments or sea-walls as far as the little group of islets where begins the five-fathom line. This anchorage is already connected by a deep channel with the mainland. Fig. 148.— Colon. Scale 1 : 46,0"0. 79"55' West.oF Greenwich ~79"53' Depths. Reefs exposed at low water. 0fol6 Feet. 16 to 32 Feet. . 1,100 Yards. 32 Feet and upwards. During the Spanish regime the only line of communication between the two oceans was a simple mule-track crossing the isthmus northwards to Puerto Belo on the Atlantic side. This old seaport, whose fortifications are now overgrown with a forest vegetation, has sunk to the position of an obscure hamlet occupied by a few hundred negroes who do a little trade with Colon, Colombia and Jamaica. The harbour is commodious, deep and well sheltered, but the district is extremely unhealthy owing to the want of circulation caused by the surrounding heights. TOPOGRAPHY OF PANAMA. 327 Here Drake died suddenly in 1595, when about to sack the town after ravaging the mainland. Puerto Belo was succeeded by Chagres, on the right side of the Chagres estuary, as the Atlantic terminus of the isthmian route from Panama. The river from this point was navigable for boats to Matachin, within 14 miles of the Pacific as the crow flies. But Chagres, like Puerto Belo, is a hotbed of ague, the marsh fevers raging on this coast being commonly known as " Chagres fevers." Hence the population rapidly disappeared as soon as another station was chosen at the little coralline island of Manzanillo, north-east of Limon Bay, between Chagres and Puerto Belo. Here was founded the new port, which was named Colon, in honour of Colum bus, who discovered the bay in 1502. It also took the name of Asphnoall from one of the chief promoters of the isthmian railway, and both names are still in current use. Colon is a town of wood and iron, with colonnades and verandahs brought ready-made from the States, docks and depots relieved by a few clumps of cocoa- nut palms round about the railway -station, and adorned by a statue of Columbus facing seawards, executed by Carrier-Belleuse. Colon, having been recently burnt, has been rebuilt on a larger plan and on better-drained ground. Some of the building materials have been supplied from the porphyry quarries at the neighbouring village of Bohio Soldado. It is almost exclusively a place of transit for goods and passengers, nearly all brought by regular lines of Atlantic steamers communicating by the isthmian railway with corresponding lines in the Pacific. Some bananas are also exported to the States from the plantations on the Bio Chagres. Although sheltered by a recently-con structed embankment, the shipping is still insufficiently sheltered at the mouth of the canal, and sailing-vessels have occasionally to take refuge in the harbour of Puerto Belo. So early as 1835 the American, Biddle, was already exploring the isthmus of Panama with a view to the construction of an interoceanic railway. But the work was not begun till the year 1850, when the fame of the Californian Eldorado was attracting thousands of goldseekers from all parts. The line, which was opened in 1855, was carried across swamps and forests, rivers and mountain passes, under a dangerous climate, at the cost of many lives, while the outlay, nearly £40,000 per mile, was five times more than the average expenditure in the States. But this line, nearly 100 miles long, was from the first of great commercial importance in forwarding goods and passengers between the two oceans. Its historic importance is also incalculable. Thanks to this route the west coast of America was suddenly brought some thousands of miles nearer to Europe. Thus its far-reaching consequences extended to the trade of the world and the whole system of international communications. Nevertheless a railway, however useful, especially before the opening of the United States and Canadian transcontinental lines, could be regarded only as a sort of " stop-gap " pending the reopening of the marine communication between the two oceans, the existence of which, though closed since tertiary times, was still 328 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. suspected long after the exploration of the Caribbean Sea. Columbus himself, even after coasting the seaboard from north to south, died in the belief that such a passage would still be found through the region visited by him. So deep-rooted was the conviction that the strait must exist that it was figured on all maps down to the year 1540. The illusion spread even to the extreme east, Fig. 149. — The "Mystery of the Steait" at the Beginning of the Sixteenth Centttby. tiZica incognzium Scto Cy-uc'7 and was embodied in a Chinese map of 1820, which represents the two American continents as separated by no less than three interoceanic channels. The " mystery of the strait," which Charles V. recommended Cortes to solve in 1534, shows that he also believed in this navigable highway. But as it could not be found, men's thoughts turned to the idea of opening it by sheer force, and schemes of canalisation were proposed before the region itself had THE PANAMA CANAL. 329 been even roughly explored. Philip IL, however, forbade the presentation of any new plans, since " the will of God had clearly manifested itself by the creation of a continuous isthmus." But when Latin America was finally emancipated from Spanish leading-strings, the undertaking began again to attract attention. So early as 1825 Bolivar took steps to have the isthmus of Panama surveyed with a Fig. 150. — Docks and Course of the Panama Canal. Scale 1 : 540,000. . 12 Miles. view to the construction of an interoceanic canal. Scientific exploration had thus already begun. Amongst the projects based upon local research, the most important in the history of Panama were those of Garella in 1843, and of Lull in 1875. But both of these engineers admitted the possibility only of a canal with locks to ascend the slopes on one side and descend on the other. But in 1879, a more detailed study of the ground enabled MM. "Wyse and A. Beclus to present a plan with estimates for a cutting at sea-level, and these propositions were accepted by a congress of engineers, men of science, and capitalists assembled in Paris. The prodigious success of the Suez Canal and the yearly growth of navigation between Europe and 330 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. the west coast of America, tended to overrule objections and dispose the public in favour of the magnificent undertaking. The movement between the two oceans was estimated at from 3 to 5 per cent, of the world's trade, or altogether nearly 5,000,000 tons. According to the original plan the cutting was to be 44 miles long, following Fig. 151. — Sill of the Look Canal. Scale 1 : 130,000. •%-?: mm #111 ar— — rrgjniAj. f§jBIBl Mi \ ¥ WSsmwb's.% KM ''•slP&f**;--;'<%$$$$)¦¦¦ TO It 79°40' 79°57- West oF Greenwich . 6 Miles. the valleys of the Chagres on the Atlantic and of the Bio Grande on the Pacific side. The crest of the range was to be crossed at Mount Culebra, either by a tunnel 130 feet high or by a tremendous open cutting. Beservoirs were to be constructed by means of dams to control the flood waters of the Chagres and its affluents, the displacement of matter being estimated at first at 1,645 millions of cubic feet, and afterwards at 2,520 millions, to allow for a tunnel nearly four miles long. But the THE PANAMA CANAL-VIEW TAKEN AT SAN PABLO. THE PANAMA CANAL. 331 outlay, including interest till the opening of the canal in 1888, was fixed under either alternative at £26,000,000. This scheme, entrusted to the person whose name was so happily associated with the Suez work, has ended in financial disaster. So far from being completed, the works along the greater part of the line are still at the initial stage of projects and counter-projects. The part actually finished is variously estimated at from one- third to one-fifth of the whole ; officially it is put at one-third, the Colombian Government having surrendered to the company the 375,000 acres of land agreed to on completion of so much. Small steamers can ply on the canal for a distance of 10 miles, and rowing-boats nearly four miles farther. About 1,050 million cubic feet of matter have been removed, while what remains represents at least a total of 5,250 millions, for the original plan has had to be modified to lengthen the curves and give the banks a more gentle slope than had been provided for in the first estimates. The outlay already incurred amounts to £60,000,000, of which, however, not more than £18,000,000 have been expended on the actual works. But experts now estimate at £120,000,000 the sum still needed, including £18,000,000 for the purchase of the works already finished, quays, piers, sections of the canal, various cuttings, embankments and buildings. The main cutting itself represents an expenditure of probably £52,000,000. Ten years have passed from the date of the concession to that of the catastrophe, and it is calculated that the completion of the work would take at least another twenty years of continuous labour. The date fixed by the Colombian Government for the opening of the canal was January 31, 1893, while the company promised to have everything finished by the year 1887. Such an enterprise would, no doubt, be a mere trifle for a comity of nations working in harmony for the common good. But under the actual conditions, where the civilised nations of the earth incur a yearly expenditure for military purposes of twice the sum needed for this enterprise, international rivalries naturally prevent the interested Powers from making a collective outlay which might benefit one more than another. Hence the latest and relatively less ambitious projects contemplate a navigable way in successive stages, each stage being regulated by a system of locks. But a tremendous difficulty still remains, that of the excessive flood waters, which wash down vast quantities of alluvial matter equally dangerous to any canal, whether at sea-level or with locks. According to a plan proposed *by the first engineers and since diversely modified, it will be necessary to store the overflow by vast dams capable of retaining as much as ten or eleven billion cubic feet. These embank ments will transform to a chain of lakes the whole middle course of the Chagres as far as a point above Cruces. To protect the canal from the floods, it has even been proposed to deflect the course of the river itself, and send it through some tunnel not yet planned to the Gulf of Panama. Thus, even for a simple canal with locks, enormous Works have still to be executed. And when all is done, the economic value of the undertaking 332 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. will be seriously affected by the competition of the future Nicaraguan canal carried at a height of not more than 110 feet above sea-level. But despite of everything, the work will sooner or later be resumed, unless the cutting of the navigable way is rendered useless by some fresh discovery. One would fain hope that so many lives, so much energy and devotion may not have been sacrificed in vain. The prodigious quantity of machinery accumulated at this vital point of the globe must be utilised ; the astounding cuttings which the traveller contemplates with amazement will one day give free passage to the mingled waters of two oceans ; the ever-growing power of human industry and the yearly progress of international trade surging round the portals of this isthmian barrier, will all Fig. 152.— Projected Artificial Lakes on the Panama Divide. Scale 1 : 240.000. . 3 Miles. combine to open a navigable highway between the neighbouring marine basins. But its completion must necessarily be delayed for years. East of Puerto Belo, on the Atlantic side, the Indians largely predominate in all the settlements. Nombre de Dios, founded by Nicuesa in 1510, has left no vestige of its existence, and its very site can no longer be determined. The spacious and deep basin of San Bias Bay, where 10,000 vessels might easily ride at anchor, is occupied only by a few scattered hamlets of the Cuna Indians. But schemes have also been proposed for piercing the isthmus at this its narrowest part. The country was surveyed first by MacDougal in 1864, and since then by Selfridge, Wyse, and A. Beclus, and from their reports it appears that here the cutting would be only 32 miles long, of which 6 would follow the deep bed of the Bio Bayano. But the cordillera at this point is over 1,000 feet high at the lowest passes, so that the canal would have to be cut through a tunnel variously estimated at from 6 to 9 miles in length. CALEDONIA BAY. 833 Caledonia Bay, about 120 miles south-east of San Bias Buy, and not far from Putricanti, largest village of the Cuna Indians, revives the memory of earlier attempts at colonisation. An inlet in the bay bears the name of Puerto Escoces, " Scotch Port," so named, like the bay itself, from a group of Scottish immigrants who settled in this district under the financier, Patterson, in 1698. Eor Patterson this was the " key of the world," and Puerto Escoces might well have become one of the world's portals had the British Government come to his aid against the Fig. 153. — Projected Cuttings across the Isthmuses of Panama and Darien. Scale 1 : 3,800.0f0. Depths. Oto 100 Fathoms. 100 Fathoms and upwards. Spaniards and Indians, and constructed a road across the isthmus at this point. But the climate and homesickness soon decimated the Scotch settlers, and the survivors were dispersed in 1700 by a Spanish squadron ; in 1827 the ruins of Patterson's fort were still visible. The neighbouring port, Carreto, had in 1513 witnessed the departure of more illustrious pioneers, Nufiez de Balboa and his followers, who in that year started to discover the South Sea, which they happily reached in twenty-three days. At 334 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. that time the Spanish station on this coast was Santa Maria, founded as a future " metropolis" on the Gulf of Darien (Uraba), just north of the Atrato delta. But in 1526 the settlement was removed to Panama, and Santa Maria, gradually invaded by the forest, received the epithet of Antigua. Darien was in those early days known by the name of " Castille d'Or," and auriferous deposits had already been worked at Cana towards the sources of the Tuyra in the Choco territory. Till the end of the seventeenth century a certain quantity of gold continued to be extracted from this " Eldorado ; " but the buccaneers had found the way to the mines, and to get rid of these troublesome visitors the government could think of nothing better than closing the works. Its policy was based on the principle of ruining its subjects to divert foreign rivals. Fig. 154- — Projected Canal between Uraba and San Miguel Bays. Scale 1 : 1,900,000. 78"20' West oF Greenwich 76-50' . 30 Miles. The Atlantic slope of Darien, with its abrupt declivities facing the sea, scarcely affords much facility for canalisation. Nevertheless, numerous surveys have been made by prospectors, and some of the early travellers reported the existence of very low depressions where real mountains raised their wooded slopes high above sea-level. In 1854 the American, Lieutenant Strain, landing at Caledonia Bay, with a party of twenty-eight men, made his way across the isthmus down to the Pacific in sixty-three days ; but several of his followers had perished of hunger and hardships. MM. Wyse, A. Beclus and Soso also studied a projected scheme of canalisation for this region, having a total length of 78 miles, including a tunnel over 10 miles long. The Atlantic terminus would have been at the port of Acanti, the first place north of the muddy mouths of the Atrato where vessels can anchor in clear water. At the other side of the tunnel the cutting was to descend through the valley of the Tuptsa down to the Tuyra estuary, which penetrates far inland, DARIEN HARBOUR. 335 and communicates with the ocean by the Darien Harbour, one of the largest and safest in the world. This commodious inlet is continued seawards by the spacious Gulf of San Miguel. Along the banks of the streams and estuary are a number of villages — Yavisa, Pinogana, Chepigana — with an aggregate population of about 2,000. In the neighbouring forests grows the phytelaphas palm, which yields the vegetable ivory of commerce. Another interoceanic cutting, proposed by MM. de Gogorza aud Lacharme, who fancied they had here found a pass not more than 180 feet high, would also have utilised Darien Harbour; but it took a much more southerly course along the Fig. 155. — Cupica Bay. Scale 1 : 180,000. 77°30 West oF Greenwich 77'zs' Sands exposed at low water. Oto 5 Fathoms- Depths. 6 to 26 Fathoms. 25 to 50 Fathoms. 50 Fathoms and upwards. . 3 Miles. upper Tuyra and lower Atrato valleys. Wyse, however, has shown that this depression has no existence, and that the Tihule Pass, lowest of the range, is nearly 540 feet high. The canal, 140 miles long, would have required 22 locks, a tunnel 2,200 yards in length and much dredging about the Atrato estuary. All the other schemes of canalisation in this region suffer from the same inconvenience of having to enter the Atlantic by the Atrato, which is certainly deep enough for the largest vessels, but which is separated from the sea by muddy bars. One of the plans, studied by Trautwine in 1852, and again by Porter, Kennish, Michler, Craven, and other engineers, follows the course of the Truando, 336 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. a western affluent of the Atrato, crossing the cordillera by two tunnels and terminating at the little inlet of Paracuchichi. According to an analogous project suggested by Selfridge, Lull, and Collins, the canal would ascend the Atrato, the iSapipi, and its Doguado affluent, also crossing the cordillera by locks and a tunnel at an elevation of 650 feet ; thence Fig. 156.— The Raspadura Divide. Scale 1 : 750,000. West o? Greenwich 77 76°40' . 12 Miles. it would reach the Pacific at Chiri-chiri Bay, an inlet of Cupica Bay, where extensive silting has already taken place. Another line studied by the same American engineers reduces the number of locks. Lastly, the so-called Baspadura Canal, lying farther south, and called also the " Priest's Canal," first mentioned by Humboldt as an interoceanic highway opened in 1788, is not a canal at all. A. Beclus even asserts that it has no existence. Anyhow, it is nothing more than a simple depression about three miles long, standing on the parting line between ADMINISTRATION OP PANAMA. 337 the little Baspadura affluent of the Atrato and the Bio Perico, which flows through the San Juan to the Pacific. During the rainy season the cutting is at times completely flooded, so that boats are able to utilise it in crossing from slope to slope. But such a casual transit cannot be spoken of as offering a navigable highway from ocean to ocean ; no serious study has yet been made for a cutting across the parting-line at this point. From the mouths of the Atrato on the Atlantic £o those of the San Juan on the Pacific the total distance is 220 miles. Administration. The province of Panama, which till the year 1885 ranked as one of the con federate states of Colombia, is now nothing more than one of the nine departments of the centralised republic. Its governor, formerly elected by universal suffrage, is at present directly nominated by the president of Colombia. In its political, administrative, and judiciary institutions Panama differs in no respect from the other Colombian departments. It comprises the six subdivisions of David or Chiriqui, Code or Penonome, Colon, Panama, Los Santos, and Veragua. The three districts of Balboa, Darien, and the Canal are specially administered. Panama, the capital, had an estimated population of 15,000 in 1890. CHAPTEB VI. THE AMERICAN MEDITERRANEAN (GULF OF MEXICO AND CARIBBEAN SEA). LTHOUGH far more open to the ocean than the Mediterranean between Europe and Africa, the inland sea separating the two American continents is none the less a well-defined marine basin, presenting a group of phenomena which constitute it a separate natural region on the surface of the globe. The parting-line between the inner waters of the New World and the Atlantic Ocean is even more sharply indicated than might appear at first sight to be the case. Thus the chain of islands which describes a vast semicircle round the east side of the Caribbean Sea, as well as those almost closing the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico, rest on a common submarine bed, whose scarps sink abruptly towards the Atlantic to depths of over 2,000 fathoms. The Bahamas and Lesser Antilles represent plateaux rising here and there above the surface between two profound chasms. The only passages which attain a depth of 500 fathoms between the inner and outer waters are the Windward Channel, between Cuba and Haiti, and a few openings in the chain of the Lesser Antilles. Taken as a whole, the inland sea is divided into two natural basins, whose limits are indicated by the Yucatan peninsula and the island of Cuba. To the north-west lies the Gulf of Mexico, to the south-east the Caribbean Sea, each of which is again divided into two distinct sections. The Gulf, so remarkable for the regularity of its contour lines and the uniform level of its bed, presents on its east side an outer basin of triangular shape comprised between Cuba, the Florida peninsula, and the Bahama Llands. Similarly, the Caribbean Sea, enclosed south-eastwards by the deep oval amphitheatre stretching from Jamaica through the Antilles round to the Venezuelan mainland, develops north-westwards towards the Gulf an extremely irregular secondary basin between Cuba, Honduras, and Yucatan, a basin of vary ing depths, intersected by submarine banks, and presenting several profound cavities. The main axis of both seas is disposed in the direction from north-west to south-east between the parallel lines of Central America and the Lesser Antilles. Progress of Explorations — Soundings. These American waters are amongst the best known on the surface of the globe. Their systematic exploration began in 1872 on the west side of Florida under the THE WEST INDIAN WATERS. 339 direction of the American officers attached to the Coast Survey. Howell, Pour- tales, Alexander Agassiz, Bartlett, Sigsbee, Baird, and others, have studied this maritime region from every point of view, and their labours are still continued in constantly-increasing detail. Not only have careful soundings been, everywhere taken, but the most sensitive instruments have been used to determine the varying temperature at different depths, the course of the upper and lower currents, their saline properties, thermometric deviations, and so forth. Special attention has been paid to the marine fauna down to the darkest recesses of the abyss, and thus have Fig. 157.— Gtulf of Mexico. Scale 1 : 18,500,000. 0 to 250 Fathoms. 250 to 500 Fathoms. Depths. 500 to 1,000 Fathoms. 1,000 to 1,750 Fathoms. 300 Miles. 1,750 Fathoms and upwards. been made many startling discoveries, which open marvellous vistas into the past evolution of life on the globe. The outer basin between Cuba, the Bahamas, and Florida, through which the Gulf Stream escapes northwards, is comparatively shallow, being almost entirely occupied by banks, with intervening channels 200 to 300 fathoms deep. South- eastwards, however, the deeper Old Bahama Channel skirts the north side of Cuba to a great distance, in several places presenting cavities of over 1,000 fathoms. At the entrance of the New Bahama Channel, due north of Havana, the soundings have revealed an abyss of 850 fathoms. But the circular inner basin of the Gulf is much deeper, the whole of the 340 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. central part having an average depth of 1,500 fathoms for a space that may be estimated at nearly one half of the entire area. Towards the centre a vast plain runs north-east and south-west for nearly 1| miles, at a depth of nearly 2,000 fathoms. The Yucatan channel between the Gulf and the Caribbean Sea sinks to 1,000 fathoms off the west point of Cuba, but elsewhere it is much shallower. At its southern entrance, another secondary triangular basin, the " Yucatan Pit," between Cuba, Yucatan, and Honduras, has a nearly uniform depth of 2,250 fathoms, falling in one place to 2,300. But it is limited southwards by the shallow bank whose crest is indicated by the chain of the Cayman and Misteriosa islets stretching from Cape Cruz in Cuba westwards towards British Honduras. South Fig. 158.— Caribbean Sea. Scale 1 : 3,000,000. Depths. 0 to 100 Fathoms. 100 to 1,250 Fathoms. 1,250 to 2,500 Fathoms. 2,500 Fathoms and upwards. 60 Miles. of the Cayman ridge is developed the " Bartlett Pit," a much larger basin extend ing from the Bay Islands near the Honduras coast for about 950 miles to the Windward Channel between Cuba and Haiti. Here occurs the greatest depth yet recorded in the American Mediterranean, a chasm of 3,430 fathoms, 21 miles south of Great Cayman, terminal crest of a vast submarine mountain. No other example is found in the whole world of such an enormous difference of level within such a narrow spaco. The submerged range of the Caymans is skirted on its south side by a depression with a mean depth of 3,000 fathoms. South of this depression the Caribbean Sea between Jamaica and Cape Gracias- a-Dios on the mainland is again half-closed by a submarine ridge rising to the surface at the Pedro, Bosalind, and Mosquitos banks. About 124 miles south-west THE WEST INDIAN WATERS. 341 of Jamaica the section thus closed has an extreme depth 'of over 600 fathoms. Beyond the Serranilla, Bajo Nuevo, Combey, and a few other cays, the vast expanse of the Caribbean waters gradually deepens eastwards to abysses of 1,000, 1,500, 2,000, and 2,500 fathoms; north of the Dutch Islands on the Venezuelan coast it falls even to 2,600 fathoms, but again shoals in the direction of the Bird or Aves islets. The islands which form the outer rampart of the Caribbean Sea rise like the ruined piers of a bridge, between which flow the currents and counter-currents of the Atlantic waters. Most of the Antilles are connected by submerged sills, none Fig. 159. — The Puerto Rico Abyss. Scale 1 : 600,000. reenwrcr 0 to 2.000 Fathoms. 2,000 to 2,500 Fathoms. Depths. 3,000 to 3 500 Fathoms. 3,500 10 4,000 Fathoms. 4,000 Fatloms and upwards. , 12 Miles. of which exceed 500 fathoms except the passage between the Virgin Islands and Sombrero, and the two channels north and south of Martinique. But the sub marine bank on which the islands rest falls rapidly towards the Atlantic, where the 2,000-fathom line is scarcely anywhere more than 20 miles from the insular groups. The deepest cavity yet revealed in the whole of the Atlantic occurs at a point due north of Puerto Bico, where the soundings have recorded a depth of 4,560 fathoms. Catchment Basins. Of the two great inland basins, the Gulf is about one-sixth smaller and very much shallower than the Caribbean Sea. Were its level to be suddenly lowered 342 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. about 100 fathoms, a space of some 200,000 square miles, or more than one-third of the whole area, would form continuous land with the surrounding shores. But if account be taken of their respective areas of drainage, the relations will be reversed, greatly to the advantage of the Gulf. Thus while this inland sea has an extent of only 615,000 square miles, compared with the 750,000 of the Caribbean Sea, the catchment basin of the former is about six times more extensive Fig. 160. — Slopes DRAiNnra to the American Mediterranean. Scale 1 : 50,000,000. Depths. Fluvial basin of the American Mediterranean. 0 to 2,000 Fathoms. 2,000 to 4,000 Fathoms. 4.000 Fathoms and upwards. , 1,250 Miles. than that of the latter — 2,250,000 and 360,000 square miles respectively. Owing to the peculiar conformation of the North American continent, with its two outer escarpments and great central depression, most of its surface waters are discharged along the line of the meridian, north to the Arctic OcSan and Hudson Bay, south to the Gulf of Mexico, which receives the Mississippi, most copious of all North American rivers. Thanks to this single affluent, the area of the Gulf catchment MARINE CURRENTS. 343 basin is at once more than doubled. This basin also comprises all the streams of the southern states from West Florida to Texas, besides the Bio Grande del Norte and the rivers of East Mexico and of South Yucatan as far as the Terminos lagoon. On the other hand the Caribbean Sea receives no contributions except from the eastern slopes of the comparatively narrow isthmian region, and from the north west corner of the South American continent, whence come the Atrato, the Magdalena and the Zulia. Marine Currents. In the American Mediterranean the tidal currents are profoundly modified by the insular barriers developed round a great part of its periphery. As in the Mediterranean of the eastern hemisphere, the difference between high and low water is very slight, the highest tides in the Gulf near Apalachicola, in Florida, averaging rather less than 4 feet, and at the harbour of Boatan Island, in the Caribbean Sea, a little over 5 feet. But the phenomenon presents great irregu larities according to the shifting character of the marine and atmospheric currents. In some places the two semi-diurnal tidal waves are merged in one, and such discrepancies often occur in bays or inlets lying close together. Thus on the west coast of Florida the flow lasts six hours, and twelve in Apalachicola Bay On the opposite side of the peninsula, while it resumes its normal period on the Texan seaboard. Both the Gulf and the Caribbean Sea are sufficiently open to admit the regular flow of the great oceanic streams ; but numerous counter- currents and eddies are caused by the irregular coast-lines. The vast volume of the equatorial stream, which sets steadily westwards at a mean velocity of from 2J to 3 miles an hour, and which impinges on the coasts of Brazil, Guiana and the West Indies, is not entirely deflected northwards, for a considerable portion is still able to continue its westerly course between the islands. The current penetrating into the Gulf of Paria, between Trinidad and Venezuela, is strong enough to neutralise the ebb and give the flow a velocity of nearly 6 miles an hour. Thus are pro duced formidable bores, while the conflicting currents churn up the sands and mud of the bay, giving the water a ruddy tinge for vast spaces. The name of Boca del Drago, " Dragon's Mouth," given by Columbus to the strait between the north-west extremity cf Trinidad and the Paria peninsula, is confirmed by all mariners navigating that dangerous passage. North of Trinidad the equatorial stream flows through the strait of Tobago at a less rapid rate, averaging 1| mile an hour, but sometimes attaining double or treble that speed. Farther north access is given to the great ocean stream through other passages, and especially through the channel, over 500 fathoms deep, between St. Lucia and Martinique. These various branches of the equatorial current, converging in the Caribbean Sea, lose in velocity what they gain in expansion. Their united waters broaden out to such an extent northwards that a portion returns to the Atlantic through Mona Passage between Puerto Bico and St. Domingo. The normal westerly movement through the Caribbean Sea is estimated at from 10 to 20 cubic miles 344 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. per day. But the whole basin is not filled by this vast body, which in some places gives rise to lateral counter- currents and backwaters, as between Colon and Carta gena, where the reflux has a velocity of 1 mile an hour. After passing at an accelerated speed through the Banks Strait, between Jamaica and the Mosquitos reefs, the main stream is joined by an affluent setting from the Atlantic through the Windward Channel. Hence an enormous liquid mass passes at a velocity of from 2 to 3 miles through the Strait of Yucatan into the Gulf of Mexico, where it takes the name of the " Gulf Stream." At first it ramifies into two branches, one of which, following the north coast of Cuba, sets towards Florida Strait, while the other broadens out in the spacious basin of the Gulf and develops an intricate system of counter- currents. Towards Fig. 161. — Main Cubeents of the American Mediteeeanean. Scale 1 : 45,000,000. 30 Chief submarine banks. . 620 Miles. the centre of this nearly circular sea the waters seem to be in a state of equili brium, while at the periphery they move parallel with, but at some distance from, the surrounding coasts. South of the Mississippi delta the turbid fluid of the great river is impelled in a straight" line eastwards by the blue waters of the Gulf Stream. Thus a junction is effected of the two branches about the southern entrance of Florida Strait, through which the whole mass disembogues like a mighty river in the broad Atlantic. At the narrowest part, between Jupiter Inlet on the Florida side and Memory Bock in the Bahamas, the stream is con tracted to a width of 56 miles, with an extreme depth of 450 fathoms. In this contracted channel the velocity varies from 2 to 6 miles, the average being about 3, and the discharge, according to Bartlett, 175 billions of cubic feet per second, or 15,260 trillions per day. ^ilflWfll WEST INDIAN HURRICANES. 345 Such proportions are difficult to grasp, for they represent a moving mass equal to about 300,000 rivers such as the Mississippi. Yet they are still far inferior to the prodigious volume of relatively tepid water spread over the surface of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. In fact, the Gulf Stream issuing from Florida Strait supplies only a small portion of those tepid waters whose influence is felt as far east as Novaya Zemlia. The main supply comes from that portion of the equatorial current which is deflected northwards by the barrier of the West India Islands, and which is joined by the Gulf Stream south of the Bermudas. Atmospheric Currents — Hurricanes. Where they enter the Caribbean Sea the atmospheric have not quite the same mean direction as the marine currents. These set mainly from south-east to north-west, whereas the trade winds blow nearly always from the east or north east. The deviations occur especially in the neighbourhood of the coasts. The north-east trade, which on the Venezuelan mainland maintains its normal course, veers round to the east along the Central American seaboard, and reaches the shores of Jamaica and Cuba from the south-east. But the greatest disturbance in the regular aerial system is caused by the sudden squalls from the north, which sweep from the Polar regions down the Mississippi valley to the Gulf. The American Mediterranean is also exposed to hurricanes, whose very Carib name (hurakan, huiranvucan) shows that the European navigators regarded these atmospheric disturbances as peculiar to the West Indian waters. Their main direction about coincides with the insular chain of the Lesser Antilles and Bahamas ; but after reaching the extreme convexity of their curvature in the south-eastern region of the United States, they are deflected north-eastwards, arriving in a somewhat exhausted state on the European seaboard. In the West Indian waters their normal direction is merged in that of the magnetic needle without declination, passing from the Guianas through St. Vincent and Puerto Bico towards South Carolina, and crossing the Caribbean Sea in a period varying from two to four days. The parts of the American Mediterranean most remote from this main axis are also the least exposed to the fury of the hurricanes. But the oft-repeated statement that Trinidad, the southern Dutch islands, the mainland and isthmian inlets from Honduras to Vera Cruz lie beyond the cyclonic zoae is not correct, as shown by the wreckage strewn over the roadsteads of Panama and Colon, and the destruction of Blew fields, though these disasters are certainly rare. The hurricanes are also said to occur only at the end of summer or beginning of autumn, when the heated surface of South America attracts the cooler and denser air of the northern continent. But although most frequent in August, and generally between July and October, such disturbances have also been recorded at other times. Few years pass without some disaster taking place at one point or another of the normal storm zone. Houses have been uprooted like trees, fortresses have been demolished, ships carried far inland, plantations strewn 346 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. with huge blocks, islands broken into reefs, reefs piled up into islands. The "great hurricane" of October 10, 1786, levelled cities, wrecked fleets, and — " Amid the common -woe, Reconciled the French and English foe " — who were preparing to cut each others' throats. Temperature, Marine Flora and Fauna. Swirling round the West Indian basin, as in a seething cauldron, the inner waters are necessarily warmer, and, owing to the greater evaporation, Fig. 162. — Deep- Sea Temfeeatukes in the Atlantic and West India Watees. Scale 1 : 27.R0O 000. . 620 Miles. relatively more saline than those of the open sea. But the contrast in tempera ture is observed chiefly at the lower depths, as is also the case in the European Mediterranean. At depths of 700 or 800 fathoms the Atlantic has a temperature of about 40° Fahr., which is the same as that of Bartlett's trough in the Caribbean Sea at over 3,000 fathoms. But at such a depth in the Atlantic the temperature descends to 37°, 35°, and even 33° Fahr. The West Indian waters are remarkable for the extreme abundance of the species of sargasso known by the name of "tropical grapes." It drifts for WEST INDIAN MARINE FAUNA. 347 interminable distances with the ebb and flow, and in certain places, such as the trough north of Puerto Bico, it covers spaces vast enough to merit the name of "marine prairies." This plant is not entirely of pelagic origin, for it grows also on the rocks of the Antilles and Bahamas and on the reefs of Florida. But botanists who have explored the Sargasso Sea have been unable to determine the process of reproduction, which seems to be effected by the continuous growth of fresh shoots or sprouts, which become detached from the parent stem by the action of the waves. Till recently it was supposed that the marine fauna was confined to the surface or shallow waters, and that the stillness of death reigned in the gloomy Fig. 163. — Deposits on the Bed of the Atlantic and West India "Watees. Scale 1 : 45,000,000. Globigerine Red clay. mud. Corals, Silicious Earthy deposits, Fteropod Coralline mud. sands. tellurian mud. mud. _____^^_ 620 Miles. recesses of the deep. But the dredgings of the Blake and of other exploring vessels in depths of over 2,000 fathoms have already increased the number of crustacean forms from 20 to 150 species grouped under 40 new genera. The deep waters of Florida, studied by Pourtales, are also found to be extremely rich in forms resembling the fossils of former geological epochs, and comprising numerous phosphorescent species. In certain places the marine bed is covered with living organisms, and in the channels of the Lesser Antilles, near Guadeloupe, and the Saintes, about St. Vincent and Barbadoes, dense forests of pentacrini undulate on the bottom like aquatic plants on stagnant waters. The geological character of these marine beds and of the surrounding shores is far more varied than in the Atlantic Ocean. The muddy deposits in the central 348 MEXICO,. CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. parts of the Gulf and of the Caribbean Sea are derived chiefly from the remains of pteropods, while mineral formations prevail round the seaboard. Silicious sands also cover the beach in some places, and coralline muds or calcareous formations surround the reefs and continue far seawards several peninsulas, amongst others those of Yucatan and Florida. The coral builders are at work over a vast range, which may be estimated at one-fourth of the marine surface ; to their incessant toil must be attributed the Fig. 164. — Anegada and the Hoeseshoe Reef. Scale 1 : 380,000. 64--25- West or Greenwich 64" io1 Oto 16 Feet. Depths. 16 to 80 Feet. 80 to 320 Feet. 820 Feet and upwards. , 6 Miles. formation of those calcareous plateaux by which the straits are contracted on both sides, as well as of those rocky ledges which are washed by high tides, and which are revealed only by sandy dunes, such as the Salt Cay, or by their fringe of mangroves, such as the Anegada, and its prolongation — the dreaded Horseshoe reef — connecting it with the Virgin Islands. More than half of the Cuban sea board, the various groups of the Bahamas, the eastern members of the Lesser Antilles, and the Bermudas are all of coralline origin. WEST INDIAN LAND PLANTS AND ANIMALS. 349 Land Flora and Fauna. The land floras and faunas of the Great and Lesser Antilles are of extreme interest to naturalists, owing to the endless contrasts and resemblances that they present from island to island, and to the means thus offered of determining the original continuity or geological independence of the several groups. The great diversity of forms in the different islands has been regarded as a proof of long isolation. Each island has forms peculiar to itself, and if the various types from the mainland speak of communications through isthmuses at remote epochs, it is evident that such migrations must date from pre-tertiary times, and that the postulated West Indian isthmus, if it ever directly connected the northern and southern continents, has ceased for many ages to offer a free passage to plants and animals. The special faunas are most pronounced in the land shells, the Antilles occupy ing in this respect a unique position. For these organisms each island may be said to constitute an independent centre of evolution. Nevertheless, the Great Antilles as far as the Virgin group must at some remote epoch have been attached to Mexico, the Lesser Antilles on the one hand to Venezuela, on the other to the Guianas. The birds, which, for the most part, easily cross intervening straits, have spread from island to island over vast spaces. Certain species have even been wafted by hutyricanes across broad marine channels ; the pelican appears to have been first introduced into Guadeloupe in this way in the year 1685. The West Indies possess fifteen distinct species of the humming-bird, grouped in eight genera, of which five are unknown on the neighbouring mainland. On the whole the avifauna seems more related to that of the southern than of the northern continent, while the reptile order has greater affinities with those of Central America and Mexico. But some remarkable instances of specialisation have been observed ; such are an iguana peculiar to Haiti and the islet of Navaza, and a trigonocephalus confined to St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Martinique. The Cuban ant-eaters belong to a group found elsewhere only in Madagascar. In general the insular faunas and floras belong to the same zone as South Florida as far as the marshy everglades, but have little affinity with those of the United States proper. Analogies occur most frequently with Mexico, Honduras and the other Central American regions. The deep-sea fauna, also, is more akin to that of the Pacific than of the Atlantic Ocean, proving that before the chalk period the Central American isthmuses formed a chain of islands with broad intervening marine channels. The term Antilles, applied to the West Indian insular world, dates from a period anterior to the discovery itself. Antilia was one of the islands of the Gloomy Ocean, figuring on the maps at one time as an archipelago, at another as continuous land and wandering up and down the seas between the Canaries and East India. With the progress of discovery Antilia continually retreated more towards the setting sun, until it was at last identified with the " West Indies " discovered by Columbus. 350 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. Inhabitants. Like the animal species, the inhabitants of the Antilles at the arrival of Columbus in 1492 represented immigrants from the three continental regions of North, Central, and South America. Although these populations have all disappeared, with the exception of a few half-caste Caribs removed to the Hon duras mainland, the accounts of the early Spanish chroniclers, the traditions and usages of the natives, the little that has been preserved of their languages, have enabled ethnologists to reconstruct the history of their migrations to some, at least, of the insular groups. The present inhabitants are mainly of mixed origin, Europe, Africa, and even Asia having contributed even more than America to the re-peopling of the archipelagoes. The Chinese and Hindus are found in almost every island, while the Africans, numerically the dominant element, have come from every part of the Dark Continent, introduced as slaves before the abolition of the traffic in human flesh. The whites also come from almost every country in Europe. The Casti- lians and Andalusians, descendants of the first conquerors and settlers, are still numerous by the side of Catalonians, Basques, Galicians, and other later arrival? from the Iberian peninsula. English, Scotch, and Irish settlers from the United Kingdom here meet their kinsmen from the United States. French, Dutchmen, Danes, are also numerously represented, and to all these European elements must be added the so-called "engaged," that is, whites formerly purchased for a temporary period of servitude, besides the descendants of the buccaneers and filibusters. For the three centuries following the discovery the political and social rela tions in the West Indies were in a state of chaos. A ruthless spirit of rivalry prevailed amongst traders, planters, and other adventurers ; life and liberty were at a discount ; on the same island neighbouring promontories were occupied by hostile communities, who went about armed to the teeth, watching each other, and ever on the look out for an opportunity of falling upon and murdering their chronic enemies. Trading vessels lay concealed during the day in some secluded creek behind a curtain of mangrove bush, cautiously venturing on the open seas at night. Every distant sail was an object of suspicion, for every man's hand was raised against his neighbours, and even when the Great Powers were at peace, hostilities were continued by the filibusters on their own account, and where they swooped down, nothing was left except smoking ruins and wasted lands. Yet the high prices commanded by sugar, coffee, tobacco, and other colonial produce offering the chance of making rapid fortunes, continually attracted fresh speculators, ready to risk their lives in a deadly climate, and surrounded by con stant perils from war, arson, and lawless raiding. To clear the ground and cultivate their fields they had no longer the aid of the aborigines, exterminated during the first years of the conquest ; but they kept under the lash gangs of blacks imported from Africa by the slavers. INHABITANTS OF WEST INDIA. 851 But out of all this uhaos of wars and slavery, of standing feuds and rivalries there gradually arose colonies of peaceful populations, whose heterogeneous primi tive elements have been merged in a small number of types with well-marked Fig. 165.— Snaee-Catoheb and Chaecoal Gibl, Maetinique transitions. The majority are half-breeds, people of colour sprung from the alliance of European men with negresses from Africa. Between these two distinct elements a complete fusion has taken place, to such an extent that, of the five 352 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. million inhabitants of the Antilles, at least three millions belong to the mulatto element. Yet this mongrel race has sprung up in spite of the severe enactments promulgated against such miscegenation. In the French Antilles, whites convicted of being the fathers of coloured children were mulcted iu heavy fines, and their offspring confiscated for the benefit of the hospitals without the option of ransom. A repetition of the offence involved ear-cropping, and even hamstringing, in case of repeated attempts at escape. Notwithstanding the measures taken to prevent combinations and conspiracies on the part of the slaves, those of San Domingo, who were called in 1790 to exercise their political rights, felt themselves also strong enough to vindicate their right to the title of men. After two years of struggle they compelled the home Fig. 166. — Peepondeeance of the White and Black Races in the West Indies, Scale 1 : 30,000,000. Preponderance of the whites. Preponderance of the blacks. — — 620 Miles. government to issue the edict cf emancipation which Bonaparte, eight years afterwards, in vain attempted to revoke. This was the beginning of the new era for the Antilles, where slavery was eventually abolished in the British colonies in 1832, in the French islands in 1848. The work of social transformation was completed in 1886, when the last slave was liberated in Cuba. Despite the differences of origin, the " Creoles " of the Antilles, that is, all natives of the islands, whether white or coloured, present certain outward resem - blances, due to their common environment. They are usually well-made, shapely, vigorous and active, brave, lively, and quick-witted, but also at times vain glorious, untrustworthy, and indolent. A remarkable fact, attested by many observers, is that the blacks and people of colour have moulded themselves in the several islands on their former masters, reproducing their good qualities and short- INHABITANTS OF WEST INDIES. 353 comings. Between the Dutch, English, French, and Spanish negroes the same contrasts have been observed as between the peoples whose speech they have adopted, and with whom they have become more and more associated in their traditions and habits of thought. As regards their speech, the negro English patois is less harmonious than the French Creole, but it is equally lively and terse. Apart from a few simple expressions, the uninitiated Englishman would never succeed in understanding his mother-tongue as spoken by the Jamaica or Barbadoes islanders. Of all the local jargons, the most corrupt is the papamiento of the Venezuelan seaboard, in which the chief elements are Dutch and Spanish, and which has preserved a few Carib and Goajir terms. The West Indies are about three or four times more densely peopled than Mexico or Central America. They have also developed a much larger foreign trade, esti mated at present at a total yearly value of about £27,000,000. The various groups are connected by numerous lines of steamers, while the larger islands have been brought into telegraphic communication with the rest of the world by submarine cables to America and Europe. In their political distribution the islands do not follow their natural divisions. The two independent republics of Haiti and St. Domingo occupy the large central island far removed from the republics of the mainland, and intervening between the Spanish possessions of Cuba on the west and Puerto Bico on the east. To the share of England have fallen Jamaica and the Caymans on the side of Cuba, the Bahamas and Bermuda in the open Atlantic, and numerous members of the Lesser Antilles. A few islands of the same chain belong to France and Denmark, while those of Holland are partly in this chain, partly in the group contiguous to the Venezuelan coast. The various political groups will be found tabulated in the Appendix. 56 CHAPTEB VII. CUBA. DBA, largest of the Antilles, occupies a central geographical position between the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. It was the first extensive stretch of land discovered by Columbus in the New World, although with strange obstinacy he persisted in regarding it as a peninsula of the Old World, like the mysterious Zimpango of the far East. His account is too vague to determine the spot where he first landed, more especially as the island of Gujnahani, whence he reached Cuba, remains itself still unidentified. According to Las Casas and Heirera it was at Baracoa, near the eastern extremity of the island, that he first beheld " the fairest lands that the sun shines on and that the eye has ever seen." Navarrete thinks that Nipe was the first Cuban port entered by the caravels of Columbus, while Washington Irving removes the spot farther west to the port of Nuevitas. But in any case, in 1492, that is, during his first voyage, the navigator coasted a great part of the north-east side, and in 1494, during his second voyage, he traced the southern shores, with all their bays and inlets, as far as the present Cortes Bay, not far from the western extremity of the island. It was here, within 60 mile3 of the terminal headland, that he assembled his crews to appeal to their testimony that Cuba was no island, but really a part of the mainland. Nevertheless he must have had his doubts, for he had even recourse to threats, and any expression of opinion contrary to his own might, in fact, at that time have cost the sceptic the loss of ears or tongue. Thus Cuba continued, by decree of the admiral, to be an Asiatic peninsula down to the year 1508, when Ocampo, coasting the north side, reached Cape San Antonio, and passed round the island through the Yucatan channel. Three years later, the Spaniards took possession of Cuba, where they founded their first settle ment, Baracoa. The contour-line of the seaboard has been gradually traced by careful maritime surveys, while the development of the interior, the construction of roads and rail ways, have supplied materials for a tolerably correct map of the island. But no beginning has yet been made with the geodetic measurements needed for the con struction of a topographic chart on a level with those of West Europe. The various names given to the island during the first years of the discovery — Juana, Fernandina, Santiago, Ave Mur^a, Alfa y Omega — have all been for- PHYSICAL FEATURES OF CUBA. 355 gotten, and Cubanacan, the native name of a part of the central region near the present district of the " Five Towns," has survived under the mutilated Spanish form of Cuba, the Coube of the French buccaneers. Most of the old names of districts and provinces have also been preserved, and still recall the long- vanished primitive populations. Physical Features. Amongst American islands Cuba presents a unique firm, which by Spanish geographers has often been compared to a " bird's tongue." From Maisi Point to Fig. 167. — La Coube (Cuba) and the Mee de Lentille. Cape San Antonio it describes a curve of 900 miles with a mean breadth of not more than 60 miles. But the characteristic feature of its geography is the contrast pre sented by the coastlands. The eastern section, running from Maisi Point westwards to Cape Cruz and dominated by the Sierra Maestra, or main insular range, may be regarded as the fundamental or primitive part of the land ; the western, comprising all the rest, both north and south, presents a more changing and uncertain character in its chains of reef, its shallows, islands, and islets. The primitive seaboard is distinguished by its rectilinear axis, which is con- 356 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. tinued seawards by the Caymans, the series of the Misteriosa banks, and a sub marine ridge between the Bartlett and Yucatan troughs south and north. Even the Coxcomb Mountains, the backbone of British Honduras, form part of this western continuation of the Cuban relief. The other sections of the seaboard nowhere present this rectilinear formation, but on the contrary develop irregular curves, and in many places they are so fringed with coral reefs and marshy tracts that it seems almost impossible to trace the true coast line with any certainty Fig. 168. — Wl'steen Division of Cuba. Scale 1 : 6,000,000. 25 Depths. Oto 600 Fathoms. 600 to 1,U00 Fathoms. 1,000 to 2,000 Fathoms. 2,000 Fathoms and upwards. 124 Miles. Hence Pichardo's estimate of 2,200 miles as the total length of the periphery can only be accepted in a general way, apart from the thousand creeks and inlets, and the outer lines of fringing reefs. On Esteban Pichardo's large map in twenty- two sheets, the contour, with all indentations, actually exceeds 6,800 miles. According to Coello the superficial area is 45,000, and, including the double Isle of Pines and the other islets on both sides, 47,000 square miles. In other words, Cuba is nearly equal in size to all the rest of the West India islands ; it is larger than Portugal, and nearly one-fourth the size of the mother country. PHYSICAL FEATURES OF CUBA. 857 Cuba, however, is exceeded in altitude and general relief by San Domingo. The only well-defined mountain range is the Sierra Maestra, which rises abruptly above the water's edge on the south-east coast over against Jamaica. The range begins at the sharp headland of Cape Cruz, and rises rapidly through a series of terraces to a height of 3,300 feet in the Ojo del Toro crest. Farther on the chain culminates in a summit usually called the Pico de Tarquino, perhaps a corruption of Pico Turquino, or " Blue Peak," which is variously estimated at from 6,900 to Fig. 169. — Eastebn Division of Cuba. Scale 1 : 6,000,000. ;25 2CT m 0 to 600 Fathoms. Depths. 500 fo 1,000 Fathoms. 1,000 to 2,000 Fathoms. 2,000 Fathoms and upwards. , 124 Miles. 8,400 feet. Here the mountains, falling precipitously seawards, merge inland in a broad plateau, whose furrowed slopes incline towards the Bio Cauto valley. But farther on the chief range, here called the Sierra del Cobre ("Copper Mountains"), is gradually contracted, and after developing an amphitheatre of low hills round the city of Santiago, dies out on the marshy banks of the Bio Guantanamo. One of the peaks in the Sierra del Cobre takes the name of La Gran Piedra (5,200 feet) from a huo-e block of conglomerate poised on the summit. The main formation of the Sierra Maestra consists of diorites and porphyries underlying tertiary rocks, 358 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. interspersed near Santiago with trachytes and basalts, but with no trace of recent lavas, scorise, pumice, or volcanic craters. Yet in this region of the island earth quakes are most frequent and violent. A transverse depression separates the Sierra Maestra and the plateau on which . it stands from the rest of the island. The mountains strewn in disorder over the eastern extremity of Cuba constitute a system quite distinct from the main range, and far more irregularly disposed. They begin at the very headland of Cape Maisi, and are carved by the rivers into numerous secondary groups, which in many places terminate in sharp crests, the so-called cuchillas, or "knives." Near the terminal headland rises the superb truncated cone of the Yunque de Baracoa, some 3,300 feet high. Farther on the mountains are continued in irregular masses running parallel with the northern seaboard. Here and there granites crop out above the calcareous deposits by which they were formerly covered, but they nowhere develop dominating crests. The whole upland system falls gradu ally from east to west, and in the middle of the island all eminences have already disappeared. This part of Cuba, here narrowed to a width of not more than 46 miles, is partly occupied by marshy coastlands, between which stretches a low-lying plain. Before the construction of the railway connecting both coasts, a trocha, or track, traversing the forests was regarded as forming the parting-line between the two halves of the island. During the insurrection which nearly resulted in the separation of Cuba from Spain, the Government troops had erected a line of forts along this track in order to close the routes to the western towns and planta tions against the rebels holding the eastern uplands. Beyond this central depression the ground again rises to a moderate elevation, most of the heights having an altitude of scarcely more than 800 or 1,000 feet. But their abrupt slopes and deep rocky ravines impart a wild, rugged aspect to these heights, which are separated by intervening rolling ground. According to Bodriguez-Ferrer the culminating-point of this central region is the Potrerillo (2,900 feet), north-west of Trinidad in the district of Cinco Villas, on the south side. Were the island to subside 300 or 400 feet it would be decomposed into groups disposed like the chain of the Bahamas, one of the largest of which would be that dominated by the heights lying west of the central depression of the Cinco Villas. In the western region between Matanzas and Havana the uplands nearer the north coast culminate in the Pande Matanzas (1,300 feet), while west of Havana the Cordillera de los Organos rises in the Pan de Guajaibon to a height of about 2,000 feet. This extreme western range projects its last headland to the north of Guadiana Bay, beyond which a low peninsula of sandy dumes, swamps and brushwood terminates in Cape San Antonio on the east side of Yucatan channel. The whole of this western part of Cuba usually takes the name of Vuelta de Abajo, or the Leeward region. Hence the extreme eastern section of the island, directly exposed to the trade wind, should take the corresponding designation of Vuelta de Arriba, or Windward region. But this term is applied not to the eastern but to the central districts, which, relatively to the inhabitants of Havana, already lie to windward. RIVERS OF CUBA. 359 Except on the uplands Cuba mainly consists of calcareous rocks, which appear to have been deposited in the same way as the present fringing reefs have been formed, presenting the same irregularities, the same fractures and deep cavities. So numerous are the underground galleries that the whole island may be said to form a vast vault, beneath which the waters are collected either in streams or stagnant reservoirs. Explorers have penetrated for leagues into the labyrinthine passages of many caves without reaching the end, and every year fresh discoveries are made. In many places rivulets are seen to plunge into chasms, reappearing farther on as more copious streams swollen by subterranean affluents. In the Vuelta de Abajo a river near Pinar del Bio passes under a superb arch way like that of the bridge at Arc. Elsewhere the running waters flow in narrow gulches, where the overhanging walls here and there meet overhead. The best- known caverns are those of Monte Libano ("Mount Lebanon") in the eastern peninsula north of Guantanamo. Near Cape Maisi, at the eastern extremity of the island, there is also a famous grotto, in which animal remains have been discovered. Bivers. Although mostly short and with narrow catchment basins, the Cuban streams are generally copious. The Cauto, which is the largest, flows through the longi tudinal valley along the north slope of the Sierra Maestra, where it collects numerous affluents on both sides. From the Sierra del Cobre to Manzanillo Bay it has a total length of about 130 miles, nearly half of which is navigable for small craft ; vessels of 50 tons ascend as far as the village of Cauto, the " Embar- cadero," as it is called. In its lower course the mainstream ramifies into two branches, and during the floods into several secondary channels intersecting the low-lying, themselves the creation of the river. The alluvia have even encroached on the sea in a long marshy peninsula, which divides the bay into two secondary inlets. In the sixteenth century the bar is said to have been much smaller than at present, and -at that time a brisk trade was carried on in the lower reaches of the river. But in 1616 a great flood shifted the bar and completely closed the mouth of the Cauto. As many as thirty- three vessels were suddenly cut off from access to the sea and had to be abjndoned by their crews. Many families, ruined by the cessation of traffic, ultimately removed to Havana. About the middle of the present century the guns of a man- of-war stranded by the disaster were fished up from the muddy bed of the Cauto. The other Cuban rivers, of which the largest are the Sagua la Grande and Sagua la Chica on the north side, are all far inferior in volume to the Cauto. Several, however, are famous for their cascades, their underground course, reappearance on the surface, and their estuaries. Some fail to reach the sea, running out in marshy tracts where the fresh and salt waters are intermingled, These swampy districts attain their greatest development along the south coast, where the extensive Cienaga de Zapata ("Marsh of Zapata"), south of the Matanzas uplands, skirts the shore for a distance of 60 miles between the Broa and Cochinos 360 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. ensenadas (inlets). This vast morass stands nearly at sea-level; but although almost a dead flat, it presents a great diversity of aspects. In some places the stag nant waters are dammed up by sandy strips along the coast ; in others the surface is concealed by dense mangrove thickets ; elsewhere channels without perceptible current, the remains of former rivers, wind sluggishly amid the sedge ; here and there open sheets of water sparkle in the sun, while others disappear beneath the round leaves of water-lilies (nenuphar). In certain districts the ground is firm enough to support a clump of trees ; but most of the surface consists of quagmires or boggy expanses inaccessible to man or beast. The term savana la mar, applied to many places on the shores of the Antilles, recalls the primitive aspect of the savannas now partly flooded by the marine waters. Beefs and Cays. Beyond the coastline the islets and fringing reefs constitute, like the inland morasses, a transitional zone between land and sea. About half of the Cuban seaboard is thus marked by a false shore which greatly obstructs the coast naviga tion, but which, on the other hand, presents many sheltered expanses once the outer line of breakers is crossed or turned. All these fringing reefs are of recent calcareous origin, being the creation of the same coral-builders that may be seen through the transparent waters still at work on the marine bed, decking rocks and sands with their graceful and many-coloured tufts of foliage. The upheaved cliffs, with their cavernous recesses washed by the swirling tide, represent in the incessant changes of the terrestrial surface the geological epoch which follows the formation of the inland calcareous rocks with grottoes watered by " babbling brooks." But they are of slower growth than the reefs of Florida and the Bahamas turned towards the ocean swell, where the polyps thrive better than on less exposed shores. On the north side of Cuba the growth of the fring ing reefs has been slow enough for the coast streams to maintain their estuaries in the form of lagoons while the calcareous deposits were forming on both sides. Hence the unusual number of excellent havens developed along the Cuban seaboard. Some of the cays are large enough to form veritable islands, inhabitable in the few places where fresh water lodges in the depressions or wells up through the porous rocks. Thus the Cayo del Sabinal, as well as those of Guajaba, Bomano and Cocos, sep irated by narrow channels, develop an outer coastline over 120 miles in length ; the Cayo Bomano, largest of these upheaved reefs, has an estimated area of 180 square miles, and its surface is broken by three hillocks. Natural salt-pans have been formed along the margin of this and the neighbour ing cays; they consist of depressions from 12 to 16 inches deep, separated from the sea by coral banks, over which the waves are washed in stormy weather. Then during the hot season these shallow basins are evaporated, leaving a perfectly crystallised bed of white salt used for curing purposes. The pans of the Cayo Bomano alone might supply far more salt than is needed for the ordinary consumption of the whole Cuban population. REEFS AND CAYS OF CUBA. 361 The chain of cays from the Sabinal to the Cocos reefs is so regular and pierced by such narrow channels that it might be regarded as a long peninsula running parallel with the mainland. But farther west it is continued by a series of reefs which are breached by wide openings, and which lie close to the shore, like a beach in process of formation, and already partly attached to the coast by the regular spit of Punta Icacos between Cardenas and Matanzas. Fig. 170.— Cape San Antonio and Coeeientes Bat. Scale 1 : 1,300,000. Depths. Oto 5 Fathoms 5 to 50 Fathoms. 50 to 500 Fathoms. 600 to 1,000 Fathoms. , 30 Miles. 1,000 Fathoms and upwards. Including the western chain of reefs and cays the outer shoreline lias a total length of "over 300 miles. West of Havana other fringing reefs extend for about 140 miles from Bahia Honda to Cape San Antonio. They rest on a coral bed in shallow water, revealing to passing seafarers a shifting panorama of algaa, madrepores, and banks of shells. On the south side of Cuba the reefs and islets are even more numerous than 362 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. on the north coast, but they are far less regular, nor are they disposed parallel with the shore. Here the coralline structures are spre.id out to a great distance from the land, wherever the relatively smooth water is not exposed to the scouring action of marine currents. Thus reefs are somewhat rare on the part of the coast washed by the deep Windward Channel between Cape Maisi and Cape Cruz. They are also absent along the middle section of the south coast owing to the neighbourhood of the deep Yucatan passi ge and to the swirling waters of a lateral current. For the same Fig. 171. — Jaedinillos. Scale 1 : 1,000,000. V C-Megte?f5= W-'':. :'¦¦¦-': : • *. ¦:«£¦ '¦!¦'! ^W'^^iytW^^^ ?&/':&asagei.:': -.}':';'.-: West op breenwicK Depths. Sands exposed at low water. Oto 2* Fathoms. 21 to 600 Fathoms. , 25 Miles. reason no coral reefs occur towards the western extremity of the island swept by the waters of Corrientes Bay, so named from the currents which impinge on this coast and are thence deflected to Yucatan Channel. Manzanillo Bay, en the contrary, is more than half covered with reefs, which are continued westwards by the so-called Cayos de las Doce Leguas, the "Twelve League cays." Farther on the Isle of Pines is connected with a labyrinth of reefs and islets, of which the best known are those of the Jardines Bank and the Jardinillos, forming a seaward prolongation of the marsh of Zapata. In the REEFS AND CAYS OF CUBA. 363 Jardines, so named from the verdure-clad islets strewn like " gardens " amid the blue waters, springs of fresh water bubble up from the deep, flowing .probably in subterranean galleries from the mainland. The Isla de Pinos (Pinos Island, or Isle of Pines), which lies off the south west coast of Cuba, is alone more extensive than all the other 1,300 isles and islets strewn round the Cuban seaboard. It consists in reality of two islands Fig. 172. — Isle of Pines. Scale 1 : 900,000. Oto 3 Feet. Depths. 3 to 16 Feet. 16 Feet and upwards 18 Miles. separated by a tortuous passage, half channel half swamp, which winds at a nearly uniform width for about 3 miles from west to east. This cienaga, or " marsh," as the Spaniards call it, is a riviere saUe (" salt river ") analogous to that of Guadeloupe. Towards its eastern extremity a few rocky ledges flush with the water have been utilised to make a camino de piedras (" stone causeway ") between the two sections of the island. 364 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. A great contrast is presented by these sections : that on the north is diversified with " sierras," groups of hills, and isolated eminences, one of the summits in the Sierra de la Canada rising to a height of 1,540 feet ; but the southern section is everywhere low, although the swampy savannas and impassable quagmires are here and there interrupted by sharp rocks, intersected by fissures and pierced by seborucos, or pits. This part of the island seems to have been upheaved in relatively recent times, for even within the historic period various islets on the coast have been merged in continuous land by the mangrove thickets spreading over the intervening straits and shallows. Similar phenomena have been observed at other points of the Cuban seaboard where certain banks of dead coral, built by the same polyps that still inhabited the surrounding waters, stand at present at a height of over 30 feet above sea level. The hills in the neighbourhood of Havana, some of which are over 1,000 feet high, are certainly of coralline origin. Climate. The climate of Cuba, which lies entirely within the tropical zone, corresponds to that of the neighbouring seas. Here the atmospheric phenomena present great uniformity in their main features, and in this region, at the very source of the Gulf Stream and of the aerial currents sweeping across the Atlantic to West Europe, many of the disturbing elements of the north temperate zone may be conveniently studied. But even in Cuba itself, which stretches across eleven degrees of the meridian from the Atlantic towards Yucatan, considerable climatic contrasts have been observed. Everywhere northern winds prevail, especially in winter, and every where the rains are most copious in summer, when the sun passes the zenith. But as a rule the rains brought by the trade winds are more frequent and heavier towards the eastern than the western extremity, on the northern' than on the southern seaboard. Hail is rare, though thunderstorms are common enough. The rainfall is also said to have generally diminished since the destruction of the forests, which has taken place especially on the central and eastern lowlands. Moreover the rains, which at Havana nominally exceed 40 inches, appear to have been retarded, falling regularly in June and July, instead of in April and May as formerly. Even where there is no actual precipitation the air is always charged with moisture, usually to an extent of over 85 per cent., and this moisture, favour ing the development of minute destructive organisms, renders the preservation of archives almost impossible in such a climate. The whole of the island lies within the zone of hurricanes, and here the most continuous and exact study has been made of these terrible disturbances. The hurricane of 1846, which levelled nearly 2,000 houses in Havana, which damaged more than 5,000, sank 235 vessels in the harbour and wrecked 48 others, has often been referred to as a typical cyclone, though, fortunately, its track was limited to a space of not more than about 20 miles. FLOBA AND FAUNA OF CUBA. 365 Flora, Fauna. Cuba, the " Pearl of the Antilles," is indebted for this title especially to' the wealth and variety of its flora, in which are represented nearly all the forms occurring elsewhere in the West Indies and along the Central American seaboard from the peninsula of Florida to the Orenoco delta. All the large trees of the Mexican coast, so remarkable for their majestic growth, for the beauty of their foliage, the splendour and fragrance of their flowers, reappear on the Cuban seaboard. Over 30 species of palms are here met in association with trees such as the pine, which would seem so characteristic of the temperate zone, and Fig. 173. — Plantation, of Pineapples. which gives its name to the " Pinos " Island, where it is found intermingled with palms and mahogany. The catalogue of 1876 enumerates altogether 3,350 indige nous flowering plants, besides those introduced by Europeans. But many of the native forms have already disappeared, and the forests are now largely replaced by plants of low growth, such as the dwarf fan-palm (cham&rops), scrub, plantations of pineapples, and other prickly plants. Before the discovery the only mammals in Cuba were bats and a few species of rodents, such as the guaquinaji, which was probably a racoon (procyon lotor). The manatee, still seen in the Jardinillos cays, was very common on the coast, as shown by the names of numerous gulfs, bays and beaches. The guaquinaji 366 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. and two or three other indigenous forms have disappeared, while the domestic pig and dog, introduced from Europe with the roebuck, have reverted to the wild state. In Cuba the canine species rapidly develops new varieties, from the little " Havana " lap-dog to the huge bloodhound, till recently employed in captur ing runaway slaves. Most of the Cuban birds belong to the North American fauna, and only one species of humming-bird is peculiar to the island. The reptiles also have immi grated from the neighbouring mainland, though it is remarkable that none of the local snakes are poisonous. The natives are not a little proud of the fact, and even assert that venomous species when introduced gradually lose their poison. The bite of the scorpion also is said to cause only a slight irritation. Land tortoises abound, and, as elsewhere in the Antilles, the molluscs, of which there are several hundred species, are for the most part distinct from those of the continent. One of the curiosities of the Cuban fauna is a " vegetating bee," a species of polistes, which grows a fungus of the clavaria genus. The pheno menon is analogous to that presented by the New Zealand caterpillar, sphmria Roberts!. The fossil animals, such as the megalonyx, elephants and hippopotami, found in the miocene rocks of the United States, have also been discovered in the Cuban formations of the same epoch. Hence the inference that at that time the island was connected with the neighbouring mainland, and that the Gulf Stream must have set in a different direction from its present course. Inhabitants. Cuba has certainly been inhabited from a very remote epoch. Diorite and serpentine hatchets of the polished stone age have been found, especially in the neighbourhood of Bayamo in the eastern province. Archaeologists have also explored several of the caneyes, or heaps of human remains, occurring in various districts. In 1849 Bodriguez-Ferrer picked up on a cay south of Puerto Principe a human jawbone in a fossil state ; later he found in a burial-place near Cape Maisi some native skulls with artificially-depressed foreheads. This was a feature common to the human types represented on the Palenque monuments, and both may possibly have belonged to the same race. With the exception of the savage Guanataveis (Guanahatabibes) occupying, the western peninsula near Cape San Antonio, the native populations found in the island by Columbus certainly spoke the same language as the Yucayos of the Bahamas and the people of Haiti and Jamaica. But the local names occurring in Espanola (San Domingo) were partly of Arowak origin ; hence it was con cluded that the inhabitants of the Great Antilles were mostly Arowak immigrants from South America, where they still occupy the Essequibo and Surinam valleys as well as the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta uplands. On the other hand, when Grijalva first coasted Yucatan he was accompanied by Cuban interpreters who conversed freely with the natives, so that, if not of the INHABITANTS OF CUBA. 367 same race, they must have had frequent relations with them. The Mayas them selves, who claim to have sprung from the sea, regarded the islanders as kinsmen, and Orozco y Berra has suggested that the Mayas may have passed from Florida through the Bahamas and Cuba to Yucatan. But in any case the Mayas greatly resembled the Cibuneyes of Cuba as described by the historians of the conquest. Both were stoutly built, with broad face and chest, brown complexion and artificially-depressed forehead ; both were also of equally peaceful disposition and ardent lovers of freedom. Nevertheless, the Cibuneyes were vastly inferior to the Mayas in general culture. Nowhere in Cuba have monuments been found comparable to those of Palenque, Uxmal or Chichen-Itza. A few cairns, graves, and rude carvings on the rocks are all the remains that can be attributed to the primitive inhabitants. Amongst these carvings noteworthy are the crude representations of manatees in every respect resembling those found in the mounds of Ohio, and strongly suggesting a common origin. The dwellings, which varied with the different tribes and the rank of the owners, were usually the so-called barahacs, vast structures of branches, foliage and reeds large enough to shelter hundreds of persons. They had also broad- beamed craft, in which they ventured far seawards. They tilled the land and were skilful fishers, and were even said to have acquired the art of capturing turtles by means of the pegador fish (echeneis naucrates). In three years, 1512-15, the interior of the island had been explored, and in many districts the aborigines had already disappeared. They offered no resis tance, but simply perished. The cacique Hatuei alone, who had reached the eastern part of the island from Haiti, attempted to fight. It was he that, even under torture, refused to be baptised in order to avoid entering the same heaven as the "good" Spaniards. In 1524 the Cuban Indians had already been reduced by two-thirds ; some yielded to their sufferings, others hastened their end by swallowing earth and gravel, or eating the bitter manioc before being deprived of its poisonous sap. According to an official report scarcely 4,000 natives had survived till 1532, so that in twenty-one years nearly the whole race had completely disappeared ; yet the names of the various tribes and the territories occupied by them have all been care fully preserved. In 1554, 60 families of aborigines still wandering over the western part of the island were confined in a sort of lazaretto at Guanabacoa, near Havana, but a few fragments of tribes still survived in the uplands of the eastern districts. Even so late as the year 1847 Bodriguez- Ferrer visited a family of full-blood Indians which occupied a valley of the Sierra Maestra near Tiguabo, and which comprised over a hundred members with children, grandchildren, and great-grand children. Several other families in the same district are supposed to be of Indian origin, though the racial characteristics have been modified by alliances with blacks and whites. Miscegenation has been even more general than is usually supposed. Nearly all the women were taken by the Spaniards, and their offspring were regarded as belonging to the dominant race. 368 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. The negroes imported to replace the exterminated natives increased very slowly, so that the losses on the plantations had to be incessantly repaired by fresh consignments. Even in the middle of the present century, despite the con ventions signed with Great Britain, despite the laws interdicting the purchase of blacks under the severest penalties, from 30 to 50 shiploads of bozales, or " raw negroes," continued to be yearly smuggled into the island. The total number thus introduced since the official abolition of the traffic in 1820 is estimated at about 500,000. This was actually more than the number openly imported during the 300 previous years (1521 — 1821), which was estimated by Humboldt at 41 3,500 and by Zaragoza at no more than 372,000. The black population did not begin to increase spontaneously till about the close of the last century. Its growth, however, was then so rapid that in 1817 Fig. 174. — Political Divisions of Cuba befoee tee Spanish Conquest. Scale 1 : 12,000,000 1. Guanahacabibes. 6. Macorijes. 11. Magon. 16. Boyuca. 21. Bayarao. 26. Sagua. 2. Guaniguanico. 7. Cubanacan. 12. Omofai. 17. Cueiba. 22. Maiye. 27. Macaca. 3. Marien. 8. Hanamana. 13. Camaguei. 18. Maniabon. 23. Maguanes. 28. Bafaquitiri 4. H abana. 9. Jagua. 14. Guaimaros. 19. Bani. 24. Guai-Maya. 29. Maisi. 5. Sabana 10. Guamukaya. 15. Cayaguayo. 20. Guacanayabo. 25. Bara jagua. 30. Baracoa. the coloured already outnumbered the white population. But the definite sup pression of the slave trade, followed by the war of secession and the abolition of slavery in the United States, led ultimately to a similar measure in Cuba. During the insurrection in the eastern districts the revolted planters themselves emancipated and armed their slaves against the Spanish troops, and the gradual extinction of slavery was officially decreed in 1880. Absolute emancipation was proclaimed seven years later, when not more than 25,000 slaves remained to be enfranchised. But the change was more apparent than real ; the blacks continued in a state of virtual servitude, in which wages were merely substituted for board and lodg ing. In any case slavery in Cuba had always been of a milder form than in the colonies of other nations. The slaves had been guaranteed the " four rights " ECONOMIC CONDITION OF CUBA. 369 of free marriage, of seeking a new master at their option, of purchasing their freedom by labour, and of acquiring property. With emancipation came the necessity of procuring labour from other sources. While the English and French planters had recourse mainly to Indian coolies, those of Cuba applied to Macao and Canton for Chinese hands, " engaged " for a term of compulsory labour. But the Asiatics at present in the island are far inferior to the class introduced about the middle of the century. Very few women ever accompanied them, and nearly all were condemned to perish without posterity. The census of 1877 returned 43,800 Chinese in Cuba ; 120,000 had been intro duced altogether, and over 16,000, or nearly 12 per cent., had died on the passage. Thousands of Mayas have also been procured from Yucatan. Cuba and Puerto Bico may be referred to as tropical lands where the white race has been permanently acclimatised. Cuba alone contains ten times more whites of Spanish stock than all the British West Indies contain whites of English stock. Nearly half of the labourers on the sugar plantations and in the sugar refineries are of Spanish descent — Andalusians, Castilians, Basques, Galicians, Catalonians and Islenos, that is, Canary Islanders — and all these settlers con stitute the class of peasantry called blancos de la tierra or goajiros. The Basques and Catalonians, settled chiefly in the towns, are the most active, energetic and indus trious ; to them is largely due the material progress of the island. Becent Political Events. Despite the Monroe doctrine, "America for the Americans," Cuba still belongs to the descendants of the Spanish conquerors, although all the Spanish possessions on the mainland have become independent. Yet the island was often threatened by the English and French buccaneers. Twice Havana was occupied by British troops, and since the beginning of the present century a rebellious spirit has been manifested by the natives themselves against the mother-country. As in Mexico, the Spaniards by birth held the Creoles in contempt, and allowed them no share in the administration. The Creoles on their part avenged themselves by squibs and lampoons, calling the Spaniards " Godos," or Goths, meaning barbarians still enslaved by the superstitions of former times. Class hatred spread even to the women, and while the Godas wore their hair long, the Cuban dames cut theirs short, whence the name of pelonas, or "croppies," giveu them, by the Spaniards. Despite the prevailing discontent no insurrection broke out at that time, and the two classes even became suddenly reconciled in 1812 on hearing that the negroes of the eastern district, near Holguin and Bayamo, had revolted. The planters of Puerto Principe organised battues against the rebels, who were hounded down and massacred in the forests, their leader, Aponte, being hanged, with eight of his associates. Later, after losing all her possessions on the mainland, Spain granted the Cubans the right of representation in the Cortes, and afterwards deprived them 57 870 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. of the privilege. The island was virtually under martial law, and the captain general was permanently invested with the powers of a commander of a besieged citadel. But this dictator himself was a mere tool in the hands of a secret power, the " Casino espanol," that is, a combination of the great slave-owners. Thanks to its wealth, this association easily controlled the legislature, bribed venal governors and crushed those opposed to its policy, which aimed at the maintenance of the slave trade and of slavery. Hence the object of the first insurrection about the middle of the century was not to abolish slavery, but on the contrary to annex Cuba, the " Lone Star," to the other American " stars," and add half a million of slaves and the powerful body of the Cuban planters to the political empire of the Southern States. The Washington Government, at that time in the hands of the slave party, winked at or even encouraged the expeditions fitted out in its ports. Nevertheless, they all failed, and Lopez and his filibusters were unable to hold out for two days at Cardenas, where they had landed in 1851. A second attempt was equally unsuccessful, and Lopez was put to the sword, with fifty of his followers. Still the country remained in a chronic state of revolution, and after Spain's indignant refusal to sell the island to the . States for £40,000,000, the great insurrection of 1868 broke out at Yara, in the same eastern district where so many risings had already taken place. The movement, which this time aimed at the abolition of slavery, spread from the Sierra Maestra over nearly half the island, and the mambi, as the rebels were called, kept the field for ten years. Its sup pression cost Spain altogether nearly 100,000 men, and an expenditure of about the very sum offered by President Buchanan for the purchase of Cuba. A main object of the revolt was also effected, and in 1880, two years after the capitulation of the last republican leaders, the Government found itself compelled to pass a law decreeing the gradual extinction of slavery, while safeguarding the interests of the great landowners. Cuba is henceforth an integral part of the monarchy and at present Spain seems less threatened with the loss of her " pearl " than she was fifty years ago. Topography. The present capital, Habana or Havana, that is, according to Bernal Diaz, the " Savanna," was not the first Spanish settlement, nor does it even occupy the site where it was originally founded. Coming from Espanola the conquerors naturally began by securing a footing in the eastern district, where they made choice of Baracoa, near Cape Maisi. Then moving westwards they reached the far more convenient port of Santiago de Cuba, which was afterwards replaced as the capital by the inland town of Bayamo. The first Havana, lying in the western district on Broa Bay, east of the present town of Batabano, was the fourth capital, but it was of difficult access and stood on marshy soil. Hence in 1519, seven years after the foundation of Baracoa, the centre of administration was removed to the north coast, where the first buildings were erected at the mouth of the Chorrera, or " Bavine," called also Almendares, where TOPOGRAPHY OF CUBA. 371 now stands the Torre de la Chorrera, known as the " Buccaneers' Fort." Then the rising city was removed farther east to the peninsula separating the sea from the Carenas basin, the new capital, at first called San Cristobal, gradually taking the name of the district — Havana. This site offers many advantages, a vast and perfectly-sheltered harbour easily g £ rM o H O I defended, and surrounded by highly productive plains, but especially a vitally important geographical position about the centre of the American Mediterranean and at the very source of the Gulf Stream, that is to say, the natural starting-point of the highway between the Antilles and West Europe. Hence its title of Llave del Nuevo Mundo, " Key of the New World," indicated by a key in the city arms. Havana, by far the first city in the Antilles, occupies a peninsula running 372 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. west and east and terminating in the Morro headland, which commands the entrance to the harbour, scarcely 370 yards wide at its narrowest part. On the opposite side of the channel rise the strongly -fortified Cabanas hills, whose guns produce a cross fire with those of Fort Principe commanding the city on the west side, and with other military works round the harbour. Beyond the peninsula new quarters have sprung up westwards, while the ever-growing suburbs are gradually covering all the encircling heights. The population already exceeds a quarter of a million, or about one -sixth of that of the whole island. But although the general effect of the picture is pleasing for its brightness and animation, there is nothing very imposing either in the aspect of the place or in the character or grouping of its public buildings. The houses, mostly low, are painted in vivid green, sky blue, pink or yellow colours ; the open spaces are relieved with clumps of palms, while the various quarters are separated by broad leafy avenues. Conspicuous amongst the public monuments are the university, Government palaces and several churches, including the cathedral, which, like Santo Domingo, claims to possess the remains of Columbus. Thus the great navigator has two resting-places, as he has had several native towns. Till recently Havana was badly supplied with water, hence was generally unhealthy and frequently ravaged by epidemics,' although visited in winter by thousands of invalids from the States. The public fountains were fed by a stream derived from the Bio Almendares, which, after tumbling over a series of pictu resque cascades on the west side, winds round Fort Principe through a pleasant valley to the sea. Now the city is supplied by an aqueduct which taps the Bio Vento, an upper affluent of the Almendares, and which yields over 5,000,000 cubic feet daily to the reservoirs 120 feet above the highest quarters. The harbour, although partly made a receptacle for the sewage, is still one of the finest in the world, with several square miles of good anchorage, and accommodation for a thousand vessels. The foreign trade, averaging £8,000,000 yearly, is chiefly carried on by American steamers, which here ship coffee, sugar and tobacco, the three staple exports of the island. This agricultural produce is brought down from the rural districts by three main lines of railway, which also serve to distribute the foreign wares over the western and central parts of the island. Havana is connected by submarine cables with the United States by Key West and with Mexico and Central America by Vera Cruz. A few ports presenting a remarkable analogy in their formation follow along the coast west of Havana. Such are Mariel, Cabanas and Bihia Honda, all, however, inferior in size to Guanajay and Pinar del Rio, the largest inland towns in the Yuelta de Abajo, or western extremity of the island. Guanajay is sur rounded by coffee plantations, while the Pinar del Bio district yields the finest tobacco in the whole world. The mineral waters of San Diego, in the Organos Hills north-east of Pinar, are much frequented in summer. South and south-east of Havana are several flourishing places, the largest of which is Guanabacoa, crowning a hill which commands a fine panoramic view of the capital, its roadstead and environs. Guines, the chief agricultural centre south H A V Scale, 1: Ii, 000. "fifeoifiml*. Oto 16^ ieto ¦RK.- ANA. 32f*Ttpwarde. ;. APPLl TOPOGRAPHY OF CUBA. 373 of the capital, lies about midway between that place and the little port of Batabano on the south coast over against the Isle of Pines. This island itself remained uninhabited till the last years of the eighteenth century ; here a military station was founded in 1828 to guard the approaches to Havana from the south side. Matanzas, the second city and seaport of Cuba, occupies a position analogous to that of the capital, on a deep inlet of the north coast. Its present name, meaning the " Butcheries," replaces its official title of San Carlos Alcazar, and recalls a massacre of the aborigines during the early days of the conquest. But the town itself dates only from the year 1693, when it was founded at the Yucayo headland at the extremity of the bay between the Bios Yumuri and. San Juan. . But the city has spread far beyond that headland, and the, left bank of the, Yumuri is occu- Fig. 176. — Cuban Seapobts West of Havana. Scale 1 : 640.000. . 12 Miles. pied by the pleasant suburb of Vetrsalles (Versailles), while the industrial quarters of Pueblo Nuevo extend eastwards beyond the San Juan. The region stretching south and east of Matanzas towards Cardenas is the mqst fertile in Cuba, and here are situated all the most important sugar mills and refineries. Hence Matanzas, the natural outlet for the produce of this district, has developed a large export trade, especially with the United States. Unfortu nately the harbour has become so obstructed by siltings and sediment from the rivers that vessels of heavy draught have to ride at anchor in the roadstead. The caverns at the foot of the neighbouring limestone cliffs have been converted into delightful bathing-places, protected by gratings from the sharks. Cardenas, founded in 1828 on the coast east of Matanzas, has also become a thriving seaport, doing a large export trade in sugar and molasses. It lies on a spacious bay sheltered from the north-west winds by the long promontory of Punta Icacos. Like Matanzais, Cardenas is connected with the Cuban railway 874 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES, system, and by regular steamers with all the coast towns. In the interior the chief centre of the sugar industry is Colon, formerly called Nueva Bermeja. Beyond these districts life and industry are shifted from the northern to the southern seaboard, although the region had remained almost deserted for 300 years. Cienfuegos, so named in honour of a Cuban governor, is a modern place situated on a magnificent harbour, which had already been visited by Columbus and thoroughly surveyed by Oeampo in 1508. Herrera speaks of this haven as " unrivalled in the world," yet the town dates only from 1819, when it was founded by the Louisiana planter, Louis Clouet, with some forty families from Beam, Gascony, the Basque country and refugees from San Domingo. The harbour, 26 square miles in extent, though not the largest, is considered Fig. 177.— Matanzas. Scale 1 : 160,000. West oF G reenwicr 8 !"40 ' 8I*34- Depths. Oto 5 Fathoms, 6 to 50 Fathoms. 50 to 100/ Fathoms. 100 Fathoms and upwards. . 3 Miles. the best in Cuba. The trade has increased rapidly, and it is now the chief outlet for the produce of the district of Cinco Villas ("Five Towns "), which have become " six " since the foundation of Cienfuegos. It is now the second sea port in the island, having far outstripped Trinidad, which has no less than three harbours and an excellent roadstead farther east on the same coast. The Mani- caragua plain between the two towns grows an exquisite tobacco scarcely inferior to the finest brands in the Vuelta de Abajo. Trinidad, one of the oldest of the original " Five Cities," dates from the first years of the conquest, when were also founded Santo Spiritu (Sancti Spiritu) in the interior, and San Juan de los Remedios, called also Cayos because the first TOPOGRAPHY OF CUBA. 375 settlements had been made on a cay on the north coast. But the incursions of the French and English buccaneers drove the inhabitants to take refuge farther inland, where they founded Santa Clara ( Villa Clara) in 1690. Lastly, a fifth city, Sagua la Grande, on the river of like name some 12 miles from the sea, gradually replaced a group of huts at the head of the fluvial navigation. In this district of the Cinco Villas are found the auriferous sands worked by the first settlers ; they are now nearly exhausted. Fig. 178. — Teinidad and its Harbours. Scale 1 : 250,000. 79°sa- WestoF Gtfeen 73°+B- Depths. Eeefs exposed at low water. 18 Feet and upwards. . 6 Miles. The provinces of Santa Clara and Puerto Principe are separated by the Moron depression, where the two sections of the island are, so to say, soldered together. Camaguey, capital of Puerto Principe, and the chief place in the central region of Cuba, claims to be the most Creole (" criolisima ") of Cuban towns. The Cama- gueyanos, as the natives are fond of calling themselves, are certainly the finest, the most valiant, and independent people in the island. Puerto Principe, the official name of Camaguey, is the largest city of the interior, for, despite its name, it lies, not on the sea, but on an extensive plain about midway between the 376 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. north and south coasts. Its outlet is the vast basin of Niievitas on the north side, which was visited by Columbus in 1492, and to which he gave the name of Puerto Principe, afterwards transferred to the inland city. Fig. 179. — Gentbal Isthmus of Cuba. Scale 1 : 1,500,000. 79' West o? Greenwich 78"20' Sands exposed at low water. Depths 0 to b Fathoms. 5 Fathoms and upwards. 18 Miles. The harbour of Nuevitas is perfectly sheltered by the promontories of the mainland and by the Sabinal Cay ; it is no less than 60 square miles in extent, but studded with reefs and of difficult access, its narrow winding seaward channel being exposed to the full fury of the trade winds. TOPOGRAPHY OF CUBA. 377 In the basin of the Cauto the chief place is Bayamo, which was founded on a southern affluent of the main stream during the first years of the conquest. It was at Yara, a little south-west of this place, that the great republican rising took place in 1868. Next year, when the Spanish troops made their appearance, the inhabitants themselves set fire to their houses. Holguin, Las Tunas (" the Nopals "), Guaimaro, and all the other towns of this region, were taken and re taken during the war, and it was at Guaimaro that the federal republic and the emancipation of the slaves were proclaimed in 1869. Most of the plantations were ruined, and the whole country was wasted and depopulated, so that the western and eastern sections of the island became separated by an intervening manigua, or wilderness. But many of the towns have already been rebuilt, and much of the land has again been cleared. The port of Manzanillo, south of the Cauto delta, is the natural outlet of the whole region ; since the restoration of peace it continues to do an increasing trade in tobacco, sugar, wax, honey, and other agricultural produce. Santiago de Cuba, or simply Cuba, is the capital of the eastern department, as well as its largest city and most flourishing seaport. It stands on one of those admirable havens on the Cuban seaboard which communicate with the sea through narrow passages in the fringing reefs. At its narrowest part the Santiago passage is only 180 yards wide, but it gives access to a magnificent basin, disposed in secondary creeks and inlets large enough to accommodate all the shipping of the island. The city, which is defended by strong fortifications, lies in a circular cove at the north-east extremity of the basin, where its houses rise in tiers on the slopes of the encircling hills. Its many-coloured structures, its promenades, gardens, and superb prospects over the neighbouring uplands,. make Santiago one of the most marvellous cities in the Antilles. But the oppressive heat and insalubrity of the stagnant atmosphere, pent up between the surrounding moun tains, have diverted much of its traffic, and Santiago now ranks only as the third seaport of Cuba. Moreover, the steep cliffs of the Sierra Maestra, separating the city from the rest of the island, greatly impede communication with the interior. Hence, Santiago has not yet been connected with the general railway system, and has only a few local lines, amongst others, one running from the little port of Julian, on the opposite side of the harbour, to the town of Cobre, a noted place of pilgrimage and centre of the copper-mines in the Sierra Maestra. In this monotonous region is also situated the ancient Indian village of Caney, or the " Grave," round which the wealthy merchants have built their country seats. The neighbouring iron-mines of Juragiia are actively worked by their owners, a community of miners from Pennsylvania. The most productive, which employ 1,200 hands, lie 16 miles east of Santiago, with which they are connected by rail. Santiago is a telegraphic centre, whence radiate the submarine cables for the western department and Mexico, for Jamaica, South America, Haiti, Puerto Bico, and the Lesser Antilles. 378 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. Midway between Santiago and Cape Maisi, the south-east coast is indented by the still larger basin of Guantanamo, which, however, is almost useless for trading purposes. It has been gradually obstructed by the alluvial matter of several Fig. 180.— Santiago be Cuba. Scale 1 : 70,000. 75'53 West oF breenwich 75-50' Depths. Oto 5 Fathoms. 5 to 50 50 Fathoms Fathoms. and upwards. 2 Miles. streams, one of which is navigable for small craft as far as the towns of Sattadero and Santa Catalina. Baracoa, near the eastern extremity, was the first Spanish settlement in Cuba, and here are still seen the ruins of Diego Velasquez' house. It was the Puerto Santo visited by Columbus, but it never prospered, owing to its remoteness from ECONOMIC CONDITION OF CUBA. 379 the central districts, its damp unhealthy climate, and the exposed position of the channel giving access to its harbour. At present some trade is done in bananas, cocoanuts, and other tropical fruits with the United States. One of the most romantic roads in Cuba connects Baracoa with Santiago across the rugged crests of the Cuchillas range. Economic Condition of Cuba. Despite revolutions, wars, and epidemics, the population of Cuba has increased Fig. 181. — Poet of Guantanamo. Scale 1 : 320,000. 75" 15' West op. Gre Depths. Oto 5 Fathoms. 6 Fathoms and upwards. — — 6 Miles. at least sixfold since the beginning of the last century. Enforced immigration of whites, negroes, Chinese, and Mayas has ceased, and free immigration is now encouraged by grants of land. But independently of this movement, there is a considerable natural increase by the excess of births over deaths. In time of peace, the annual increase may be estimated at from 15,000 to 20,000, a rate 380 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. according to which the whole population might be doubled in fifty years. It rose from 600,000 in 1811 and 1,000,000 in 1841 to 1,521,000 in 1887 (last census), and may now (1891) be estimated at 1,600,000. Under the old regime of absolute monopolies Cuba remained stationary, and the first impulse to her subsequent prosperity was given by the British occupation of the island in 1805. In ten months the hitherto-deserted port of Havana was visited by over a thousand vessels, and trade and agriculture advanced by leaps and bounds. After the restoration the old system was revived, but in 1818 free trade was definitely established, and the island, instead of being a burden to the mother country, contributed as much as £6,000,000 a year to her exhausted treasury. Bather more than a fourth of the land is either under tillage or pastures, and the total value of the agricultural produce is estimated at about £200,000,000. The staple produce is sugar, of which Cuba yields about one-fourth of the world's crop, valued at £10,000,000 yearly, exclusive of rum and molasses. Some 2,600 square miles altogether are under sugar, and the plantations, mainly held by a few great landowners, are supplied with the very finest machinery from the European and American workshops. In the very first year of the discovery the envoys of Columbus reported the practice of tobacco-smoking among the natives of Cuba. Since then the practice has spread over the whole world, while the Cuban leaf has maintained its pre eminence. But in its annual production Cuba is surpassed not only by the United States and the Easteru Archipelago, but even by France and Manila. Coffee, at one time the first, now ranks as the third colonial product in import ance. The island also grows cotton, cereals, manioc, and fruits, but in relatively smaller quantities; hence rice, wheat, bacon and other provisions have to be imported. The domestic animals introduced during the first years of the settlement have here found a favourable environment ; but while multiplying they have become more or less modified. The horse, of Andalusian stock, has lost in size, but gained in staying power and vitality. Before the insurrection of 1868 this animal was so numerous, especially in the central and eastern districts, that nobody travelled on foot ; all the insurgents were mounted, and it was owing to this fact that they were able to hold out so long. Excellent mules are also bred and employed as pack animals in all the hilly districts. But the camel, introduced from the Canaries, failed, chiefly owing to the jigger (pulex penetrans), which attacked its feet. In certain parts of the island, especially in the Baracoa district, the ox is used both as a pack and saddle animal, as in South Africa. The goat and sheep have prospered less than the pig and horned cattle, the former losing all its vivacity, the latter exchanging its fleece for hair. The land being mainly held by a few large planters, Cuba has developed scarcely any local industries, so that most manufactured wares are imported. Hence foreign trade has flourished, and the total annual exchanges are now estimated at about £16,000,000 or £10 per head of the population. Besides this foreign traffic, which is carried on chiefly with the United States and Spain, thou sands of small craft of less than 50 tons burden are engaged in the coasting trade. ADMINISTRATION OF CUBA. 381 Bailway operations began as early as the year 1837, but were at first restricted to a few short lines connecting Havana with the surrounding plantations. Even still a regular system of lines is confined to the western districts, the eastern parts of the island possessing only the first links of future projects. The " Central Bailway," which is ultimately to traverse the whole of Cuba from Cape San Antonio to Cape Maisi, still exists only on paper. On the other hand the telegraph system already covers the whole island, and is connected by submarine cables with the rest of the world. Administratio n . The central authority is represented in Cuba by a governor- general, residing at Havana, and controlling the land and sea forces. Under his orders is a civil governor for each of the six provinces. According to the electoral law, voters who Fig. 182. — Railways oe Cuba. Scale 1 : 12,000,000. Dep'hs. 0 to 500 Fathoms. 500 to 1.000 Fal horns. 1,000 to 2,000 Fathoms. — — 186 Miles. 2,000 Fathoms and upwards. have been ten years free and pay an annual tax of £5, send to the metropolitan senate 16 members, 3 for Havana, 2 for each of the provinces of Matanzas, Pinar del Bio, Puerto Principe, Santa Clara, and Santiago, one for the university and special schools, and one jointly with Puerto Bico for the various " economic societies." The members of the Cortes are returned in the proportion of one for 40,000 inha bitants. Each province has also its local assembly, while the municipalities are administered by councillors varying in number with the population of the commune. Instruction is obligatory for all between six and nine years of age. The army, including one battalion of bl icks, consists of 19,000 men on a peace footing, paid by the local revenue. About half of the public income is derived from the customs, 25 per cent, being levied on all imported goods. One fifth of the expenditure is absorbed by the interest of the debt, which amounts (1891) to £38,000,000. Cuba is divided for administrative purposes into six provinces, tabulated in the Appendix. CHAPTEB VIII. Jamaica. jlLTHOUGH classed with the Great Antilles, Jamaica is far exceeded in size both by Cuba and San Domingo. But in respect of popu lation the difference is less, the relative density being higher in the smaller island. Jamaica alone represents nearly one-third of the collective area of all the British West Indies, and nearly one half of their population. It has a superficial area of 4,200 miles, l-10th of Cuba, with a population (1890) of 635,000, or considerably more than a third of that of Cuba. The name of Jamaica might, at first sight, appear to be of European origin, as if connected with that of Jaime, or " James." But there can be no doubt that it is a native word, its true form being Xaymaca, that is " Island of Fountains," or " of torrents," in the language of the exitinct aborigines. When Columbus dis covered it in 1494, during his second voyage, he called it Santiago, a term that was soon forgotten. The Spaniards settled in the island in the year 1 509, when they founded a few stations, round which the natives grouped their dwellings. These natives had been reduced without bloodshed under the mild administration of the first governor, Esquivel. But this beneficent ruler was succeeded by ruthless conquerors, whose historic role was almost exclusively limited to the work of extermination. A century and a half after the occupation, the whole population had been reduced to 3,000, free and slaves, of whom one-half were Spaniards. Most of these took refuge in Cuba in the year 1655, when a fleet despatched by Cromwell against San Domingo, having been repulsed from that island, indemnified itself by seizing Jamaica. The land thus conquered by the English was colonised the next year by settlers of all kinds drawn from the West Indies, and from the coasts of Scotland and Ireland. The population rapidly increased, thanks to the privileges granted to the colonists ; and amongst the immigrants came a large number of Jewish traders. During the next few decades Jamaica became a busy centre of bucca neering and of the slave trade. It was at Port Boyal that the famous corsair, Morgan, prepared his expeditions, and the same town was the great mart whence the slaves imported from Africa were distributed throughout the West Indies and on the mainland. JAMAICA. 383 Physical Features. Taken as a whole Jamaica is an elevated region with a mean altitude far greater than that of Cuba. It has scarcely any of those marshy coastlands fringed with mangroves, or of those outer shore-lines formed by fringing reefs, such as abound in Cuba. The shore is almost everywhere rockbound, and cliffs occupy considerable stretches in a total coast-line of about 500 miles. As in Cuba the highest uplands occur in the eastern part of the island, where they take the name of the Blue Mountains. To mariners coasting along these shores the range running about midway between the north and south coasts appears in the distance nearly always wrapped in a blue haze, not dense enough, however, Fig. 183.— Hilly Region in West Jamaica. Scale 1 : 520.000. West oF Greenwich 77'40 . 12 Miles. to veil the crests and valleys, with their varying tints produced by the cultivated tracts and zones of vegetation. The Cold Bidge, loftiest summit of the rugged chain, attains an altitude of 7,423 feet according to the careful measurements of Maxwell Hall.* West of Catherine Hill (4,460 feet) the main range is broken by a depression, and the irregular uplands, which farther on rise in ridges, masses or ravined plateaux, scarcely anywhere exceed 3,300 feet. Collectively they form an intri cate labyrinth due to the action of running water, which has excavated deep channels and levelled the valleys in broad basins or narrow glens. Some of the amphitheatres thus formed in the region beyond the hills are locally known as " cockpits." * Proc. of the R. Geo. Society, September, 18S7. 384 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. The southern extremity of the island terminates in the Portland Bidge pro montory, a crest of slight elevation now connected by a depression with the main land but at one time forming a distinct island. The western extremity of Jamaica also terminates in a bold promontory 3,500 feet high, which has been named the " Dolphin's Head," from a fancied resemblance to that cetacean. The whole mass of which it forms the extreme point is almost completely separated from the rest of the island by the depression through which flows the Great Biver. Although, like the other large West Indian islands, Jamaica has no active volcanoes, old eruptive matter occurs near Spanish Town on the south side, and earthquakes are by no means rare. Towards the end of August, 1883, prolonged rumblings, like the sound of distant thunder, were heard in the Cayman Islands. It has been suggested that these sounds, which caused great alarm amongst the natives, were an echo of the terrific eruption of Krakatau, propagated across the globe from the Sunda Archipelago to the Antilles. For a distance of about 60 miles east of the Great Biver the northern slopes of the hills are formed of calcareous rocks analogous to coralline reefs and pierced by countless caverns and cavities through which the running waters escape. In many places the surface of the rocks remains dry at all seasons, however copious be the rains. This part of Jamaica is like Yucatan, but the resemblance is still greater to Carniola, owing to the rugged character of the land. There are few regions of the globe more rich in underground reservoirs and streams which again well up to the surface all round the verge of the limestone district. Here and there the subterranean rivers and their branches may be traced by the springs and fountains in the caves occurring at intervals along their course. The slope of the hidden watershed is often different from that of the surface. Lakes also are formed either on the surface or in underground cavities above the rocky sills. Bivers. The Black Biver, which reaches the sea on the south-west coast, comprises in its basin a large number of underground feeders. It is also the only river in the island that is navigable for 30 miles by flat-bottomed craft. None of the others are navigable at all, not even the Dry (Minho), or the Cobre, which are the two largest. Both water the southern slope of the island, which is the most extensive, but which receives the least quantity of rain, not being exposed to the moist trade winds. During the floods the Cobre has occasionally a discharge of 80,000 cubic feet per second, but its normal volume is only about 360, and at low water not more than 100 cubic feet. Like the north-western streams, the Cobre has its underground system of drainage. Climate, Flora, Fauna. The climate O- Jamaica resembles that of Cuba, presenting the same contrasts between the northern and southern seaboard, between mountains and plains, between the leeward and windward quarters. Although somewhat sheltered from the moist rains by Cuba and San Domingo, it lies fully in the track both of FLORA AND FAUNA OF JAMAICA. 385 the tropical rains and of the hurricanes. On the north-east slopes of the Blue Mountains the rainfall has occasionally exceeded 100 inches, while the plains of Spanish Town have at times suffered from long droughts.* In its indigenous flora and fauna Jamaica resembles its two neighbours, Cuba and San Domingo. A certain number of vegetable species has been introduced from Africa by the slavers, amongst others the horse bean (canavalia ensiformis), which, being poisonous and used for incantations, was probably brought by the negro medicine-men. It is still regarded as a charm against thieves, and the blacks give it the name of overlook, in the sense of " watch " or " guard," and entrust to it the safe keeping of their cabins and gardens. Another plant, the " trumpet-tree," supplies the porous branches from which the negroes make their koromanti flutes, a kind of hautboy with soft and shrill tones. Amongst the local animals the writers of the sixteenth century mention the alco, or " dumb dog " of Cuba, which was probably not a dog, but the procyon lotor, or North American raccoon. They also speak of several species of small monkeys inhabiting the woodlands. But the animal in which the early settlers were most interested was the land crab (cancer ruricola), which is found also in the other Antilles, but which appears to be everywhere threatened with speedy extinction. It has the curious habit of living in the mountains, but migrating to the seashore to deposit its eggs. Towards the end of April or beginning of May these little crustaceans emerge in myriads from the fissures of the rocks, and march straight for the coast, preceded by battalions of males to explore or clear the way. The eggs are laid at the very edge of the surf and buried in the sand ; as soon as hatched the young crabs set out in countless multitudes for the mountains, which they reach in interminable processions, although preyed upon along the line of march by birds, reptiles, ants, and other enemies. But the greatest scourge of the plantations is the rat, which has increased in prodigious numbers, despite the constant efforts to- exterminate it by poison, traps, dogs, and even the Guiana toad imported from Martinique. A voracious ant (formica omnivora) was also introduced from Cuba to war against these rodents, against which was afterwards let loose the East Indian mungoos (herpestes griseus). This species of ichneumon in its turn peopled the island in myriads, preying not only on rats but also on birds and snakes. It even infests the farm yard, devouring the poultry and sucking their eggs. Thus from being an ally the mungoos has become a foe to the peasantry. Inhabitants. Jamaica presents almost as great a contrast as Haiti to the Spanish island of Cuba, in the African origin of the vast majority of its present inhabitants. In fact, scarcely any whites are seen except in the towns. When they took possession * Meteorologioal (renditions of Kingston (nineteen years' observations) :— Mean temperature, 74° Fahr.; highest, 92° Fahr. ; lowest, 66° Fahr. Mean rainfall, 44 inches ; north-east district, 88 inches ; the whole island, 66 inches. 53 386 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. of the island the English expelled the old Spanish landowners, but they kept the slaves that had not escaped from the plantations, and took active steps to increase their numbers. In Jamaica the Bristol and Liverpool traders henceforth possessed a depot where they could consign their human freight while awaiting purchasers from the rest of the Antilles. Bryan Edwards estimates at 2,130,000 the total number of blacks imported by the- English slavers into the New World, and at 610,000 those landed in Jamaica alone between the years 1680 and 1786. But the traffic had already begun in 1628, so that from the time of the English conquest down to the abolition of the slave trade in 1807, Jamaica must have received altogether nearly a million of blacks, about half of whom may perhaps have been destined for the plantations of the island itself. Yet when the abolition of slavery was proclaimed in 1833, only 309,000 remained to be emancipated. This was due to the fact that most of those imported died out without leaving any posterity, and the stock had to be con stantly renewed by fresh supplies from Africa. A great bar to the formation of family groups was the practice of polygamy, which still continued to prevail even under the slave system. Down to the beginning of the present century the black "commanders" had the right to take from two to four wives according to their rank in the slave world, so that the number of bachelors was all the greater amongst " the common herd." Other African customs were also long preserved. The magicians offered sacrifices to Tuniu, the evil spirit who sent storms, and thanked Naskiu, the good deity who took the blacks after death back to their African homes. When a serious charge was brought against anyone his lips were rubbed with a little earth from a fresh-dug pit, and this was supposed to act like the poisoned cup amongst the Congo tribes. The slaves were subjected to very harsh treatment by the Jamaica planters, and the laws passed against them were more severe than in the other West Indian islands. Many of the owners had their initials branded with redhot iron on the bodies of their human chattel. A negro convicted of having twice beaten a white was quartered, or burnt over a slow fire, beginning with his feet. Civil rights were withheld from freedmen till the third generation, or till they had seven-eighths of white blood. In criminal cases their evidence was not accepted against whites, and their rights of property or inheritance were strictly limited. But the neighbourhood of the wooded uplands, with their labyrinthine valleys and " cockpits," offered a refuge to the runaways, who found a sufficient support by clearing the forests, planting yams, and hunting the wild boar. From the time of their arrival in the island the English had failed to recover all the fugi tives from the Spanish plantations ; a few little republics had even been set up in the forests, and these gradually expanded, especially by the escape of the Kru or Koromanti, the most indomitable of all the blacks. Their language, mixed with English elements, even became the current speech amongst the Maroons,* as the * That is, " wild," " garage," a contraction of the Spanish cimarron. from eima =a mountain-top. INHABITANTS OF JAMAICA. 387 runaways were called. A few words, especially terms of endearment, still survive of this idiom. Thanks to their knowledge of the locality, and to the " drum language," by which news was rapidly spread from hill to hill, as amongst their Dwalla kindred of the Cameroons on the West Coast of Africa, frequent communications were kept up from one end of the island to the other ; munitions and other supplies were also obtained through their secret intercourse with the plantation negroes. Their bands, confined chiefly to the upper valley of the Dry Biver, towards the centre of the island, constantly harassed the planters, who had to barricade their dwell ings and keep continually on the watch. Exposed places had to be guarded by soldiers, and the governor occasionally applied to the mainland for help. Thus were formed those friendly relations between Great Britain and the Mosquitos Indians of Nicaragua which were afterwards used as a plea for assuming a protec torate over the inhabitants of the seaboard between Yucatan and the Bio San Juan. At one time the Jamaica planters were even fain to sue for peace, and in 1759 the little Maroon republics were formally constituted, with their towns, respective limits, and recognised rights. But in their excessive confidence they also under took to construct roads in order to open up the country. In the terms of the treaty of peace the Maroons were also required, in return for the concession of territory and political independence, to respect the laws published by the whites, and to surrender, " alive or dead," all runaway blacks seeking to escape from the servitude of the planters. This was a fatal mistake, for the " republicans" thereby forfeited all hope of aid from the plantation negroes, when the final struggle came. The stipu lation was faithfully carried out by the Maroons of the free villages, who sent back all fugitives to their masters, while the planters, gradually enlarging their domains, narrowed to a corresponding extent the cordon of guarded lines encircling the African republics. At last, in 1795, came the inevitable conflict. Two Maroons of Trelawney Town, convicted of having stolen a pig, were sentenced to be publicly whipped by the hangman. Great was the indignation of their comrades. " You might have beheaded the thieves," they exclaimed, " and we should not have raised a protest ; but you have inflicted a punishment on them reserved for slaves, which is contrary to the treaty." They complained at the same time that some of their land had been appropriated, and chiefs imposed on them whom they had not elected. Martial law was at once proclaimed throughout the island, and British troops, aided by a band of allied Maroons, invaded the reserved territory of Trelawney Town. But the expedition, having been repulsed, was changed to a blockade. Had the plantation negroes at that juncture revolted, the whites must have met the same fate as those of Haiti. But the slaves, accustomed to regard the Maroons as for midable enemies and accomplices of their masters, never stirred, while the whites, assisted by 200 bloodhounds they had obtained from Cuba, were still able easily to maintain the blockade of the revolted territory, and thus reduce the Maroons to helplessness. 388 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. After seven months of hopeless resistance they at last capitulated, to the num ber of 1,400 on the condition of being spared their lives and lands. But the governor hastened to violate the convention, and the unfortunate captives were removed to Nova Scotia, where thousands of their posterity still survive. From Nova Scotia large numbers were also later transported to Sierra Leone, whence many of their ancestors had originally been imported. After the suppression of a general insurrection of the slaves, the abolition of slavery was decreed in 1833, and this step was followed in 1838 by further economic changes, which assumed the character of a social revolution. Trading relations were abruptly diminished with Great Britain and the rest of the world, and at the same time the number of whites was considerably reduced. This sudden crisis is easily explained by the prevailing system of land tenure. The Jamaica planters, grown powerful by their accumulated wealth, had for the most part returned to England, leaving their estates to be managed by agents. But their lavish expenditure in the metropolis soon exceeded their income, and their lands were so deeply mortgaged that they could not be cleared even by the £5,855,000 of public money received in compensation for the enfranchisement of the slaves. Buined by their extravagances, they did not fail to attribute their misfortunes to the abolitionist policy, thus transferring to others the consequences of their own errors. Meantime the plantations remained in the hands of agents, who were no longer provided with the funds necessary to keep them in order. The houses crumbled to ruins, and the cultivated tracts were speedily invaded by a rank vegetation of weeds, brushwood and even forest growths. Most of the old white families who had remained after the emancipation now also emigrated in the wake of the ruined planters. In 1852 a memorial addressed to the Governor of Jamaica by eleven residents certified that they were in charge of 123 plantations, partly as owners, party as agents. The Whites of Jamaica. Since the abolition of slavery, the white population has diminished by one-fourth, while the number of blacks has been nearly doubled. This result has been mainly attributed to the climate, which is injurious to the white race and especially to those of North Europe, and favourable to the development of the African people. Certainly there is some truth in this assertion, and although numerous cases may be cited of Englishmen enjoying perfect health in Jamaica during a long life passed in hard work, the island is, on the whole, unsuitable for British settlers. Nevertheless the decrease of the white population is chiefly due to the emigra tion, especially of the women. The majority of young girls are sent for education to England, and many of these never return. The white element has altogether been reduced far more by the economic conditions than by the climate. The most unhealthy part is the southern peninsula in the basin of the Dry Biver, and yellow fever, which confines its ravages almost exclusively to the whites prevails INHABITANTS OF JAMAICA. 389 only on the low-lying coastlands. As in the Mexican state of Vera Cruz, the scourge rarely ascends to an elevation of over 1,300 or 1,400 feet, and never reaches altitudes of 2,500 feet. . The so-called " dry colic," a disorder at one time greatly dreaded, has almost I H i ! entirely disappeared. Consumption also carries off fewer victims than in Eng land itself ; it is even successfully treated in the health resorts of the uplands, especially in the cinchona forests of Hope Gardens, and on the hills in the New castle district, where the garrison troops are encamped at an altitude of 3,820 390 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. feet. The climate of Mandeville, in the centre of the island, also enjoys a good reputation. The decrease of the white and expansion of the black race have coincided with a radical change in the cultivation of the land. The great sugar plantations, which numbered 859 in 1805, were reduced to 300 in 1865, and in the same period the annual export of sugar had fallen from 137,000 to 23,750 hogsheads, while the coffee crop was reduced in like proportion from 10,000 to 1,350 tons. Economic Condition of Jamaica. But if the great planters have disappeared, their former slaves have in their turn become landowners, occupying small holdings on the redistributed plantations where their fathers had worked under the lash. Few of these blacks will now consent to toil for the whites, even when offered high wages. Most of them have abandoned the workshops, and content themselves with tilling a bit of ground near their cabins. During the eight years that followed the emancipation they had acquired the absolute ownership of over 100,000 acres, and had founded two hun dred villages. As if to efface the painful memories of the plantation days, they have changed their very names, selecting others from the almanack, from history and mythology. The revolution is complete under the new order of things, and on the vast domains that still remain the planters now employ coolies imported from India, with a few hundred Chinese and Mayas from Yucatan. But since 1886 the importation of Asiatics has ceased. The land was formerly cultivated chiefly to enable a few families to live in affluence ; at present the soil is tilled mainly to supply the local wants, and in this respect the people have succeeded perfectly. The chief crops are maize, yams, bananas, and other fruits, especially oranges. A small export trade is supported by the cultivation of tobacco, ginger, and coffee. Bee-farming is also carried on in some places, and cinchona was introduced in 1868 in the Blue Mountains, where the rising forests are tended by the blacks ; the tea shrub thrives in the same district. The negroes have even begun to grow sugar on their own account, and some of the old plantations are now parcelled out in as many as thirty little holdings each with its own wooden mill. Other more enterprising growers have combined to purchase more costly machinery, and thus increase the yield or improve its quality. In general the people enjoy a fair degree of comfort, and the native population increases on an average at the rate of 8,000 a year ; in 1888 it rose to 10,000. Hence the case of Jamaica has been badly chosen by those political economists who regard the falling off of foreign trade as a proof of internal decay. The island has, on the contrary, become a centre of culture, especially for the Central American coastlands from Yucatan to the isthmus of Darien, where the development of trade and the industries is mainly due to the immigrants from Jamaica. In this respect the island has had far greater influence in pro moting the general progress of the American populations than any other member of the Antilles. ECONOMIC CONDITION OF JAMAICA. 391 But although emancipated from forced labour, the negroes of Jamaica have acquired neither political independence nor social equality, as shown by the san guinary conflict that occurred in 1865 between the two races near Morant Bay in the eastern district. On that occasion eighteen whites were killed and thirty-one Fig. 185.— District op Mobant, Jamaica. Scale 1 : 390,000. 76*23 76 'is Oto 5 Fathoms. Depths. 6 to 100 Fathoms. , 9 Miles. wounded ; but the massacre was avenged with extreme severity, and a subsequent official inquiry reported that 438 people of colour had been killed, over 600 sen tenced to the lash or the bastinado, and a thousand houses delivered to the flames. According to the commission, the revolt itself, so ruthlessly suppressed, might cer tainly have been avoided had the peasantry of the district received the lands to 392 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. which they were entitled, and been treated with common justice by the local tribu nals. Although reduced to an insignificant minority, the white planters still claim absolute political control over the black populations whom they formerly held in bondage. Topography. Kingston, capital of Jamaica, lies on the south coast where it is indented by a large inlet separated from the sea by a long spit of sand. Its low houses, dusty streets, and dead walls are relieved by extensive gardens which occupy a con siderable space at the extremity of a plain commanded on the north by Long Fig. 186. — Kingston and Port Royal. Scale 1 : 222,000. West or breenwich 76'50' 76"45' fSH Reefs exposed at low water. Depths. 0to5 Fathoms. 5 Fathoms and upwards. Lighthouse. . 3 Miles. Mountain and the Liganee (Liguanea) Hills, whence the city derives its supply of water. Kingston became the chief harbour of the island in the year 1693, after an earthquake had destroyed the city of Port Royal, which stood at the extremity of the "Balisades," that is, the sandy spit which develops an irregular crescent south of the bay. The disaster was one of the most terrible recorded in the history of under ground disturbances. The shock raised the waves mountains high, and hurled the shipping against the city, which was flooded to the roofs of the houses. Most of those that escaped were saved by clinging to the wreckage, whence they were taken on board a frigate that had been landed by a wave on the ruined houses. Much damage was also done in the interior, where the Cobre river was dammed up by great landslips, and all the lower course long remained dry. The earthquake TOPOGRAPHY OF JAMAICA. 393 was followed by malignant fevers, by which the island was ravaged, and whole districts depopulated. In 1772 Bort Boyal was again destroyed, this time by a cyclone, and it also suffered much from fierce conflagrations. At present it is merely the outer port of Kingston, the military and naval quarter, while trade and the industries are centred in the capital. The channel giving access to Kingston Harbour, at the western extremity of the Balisades, is defended by recently-constructed fortifica tions ; it has a depth of 26 feet, and a width at its narrowest part of not more than 55 yards. In the harbour, anchorage is afforded to large vessels in depths of over 30 feet. Several lines of steamers connect Kingston with the rest of the Antilles, and all the trade of Jamaica with Great Britain, Canada, the United States, and other countries is carried on through this seaport. From Kingston also radiate some submarine cables, and it is connected with Spanish Town by a railway, which, beyond that point, ramifies to the north and west of the island. Spanish Town, which retained the official title of capital down to the year 1869, is the ancient Santiago de la Vega, founded by Diego Colomb in 1525. Its port, lying to the south-west on an island-studded baty, which is sheltered on the south side by Bortland Bidge, is known by the name of Old Harbour, but is at present little frequented. The waters of the Cobre river are distributed over the surrounding plain by irrigation canals with a total length of over 30 miles. The plains encircling Kingston and Spanish Town are dreary and monotonous in the disafforested parts ; but the neighbouring hills and mountain slopes on the north are covered with magnificent plantations, parks, arid public pleasure-grounds ; here are also the botanic gardens and forests of acclimatisation whence, in the last century, more than a hundred useful plants, amongst others the bread-fruit tree, were distributed over the island and throughout the Antilles. The heights of Newcastle, which command a view of Kingston plain and harbour, with the long verdant crescent of the Balisades, are also covered with recent plantations. Beyond Old Harbour the south coast presents no havens or any accommodation for shipping except a few dangerous roadsteads, such as those of Black River Village and Savana-la-Mar. Nor are there any inlets on the west side except the little creeks of Negril ; but on the north-west coast are the safe harbours of Lucea and Mosquito Bay, followed by Montego, which, though less sheltered, is more frequented by vessels engaged in the coasting trade. In the last century Montego was the seaport of the little republic of Trelawney Town, called also Maroon Town. Falmouth, lying farther east at the mouth of the Martha Brea river, also does a brisk trade, although vessels drawing over 12 or 13 feet are unable to cross the bar. Sevilla, about the middle of the north coast, over half a mile from the present little seaport of Santa Ana, formerly Santa Gloria, was the first settlement made by the Spaniards in Jamaica. Its site is still marked by the ruins of a church. Beyond it follow Port Maria and Annotta, on the north-east coast, and, farther east, Port Antonio, the chief mart for bananas in the island. The negroes of this 394 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. district have for some time been engaged in a lucrative export trade in fruits with the United States. Morant Town, on the south-east side, near the extreme eastern headland of Morant Boint, also carries on a considerable trade in oranges and other fruits. The oranges of Jamaica are the most highly appreciated in the American market. The term Morant, applied to the village, cape, bay, and har bour, is of Spanish origin ; it has reference to the long " delay " to which vessels coming from the southern part of the island are frequently subject while endea vouring to double the extreme headland in the teeth of the regular east winds. Administration. For more than 150 years Jamaica enjoyed almost absolute political autonomy; that is to say, the planters, masters of their slaves, were also masters of the Fig. 187. — Chief Towns op Jamaica. Scale 1 : 2,700,000. 0 to 100 Fathoms. Depths. 100 to 500 Fathoms. 500 Fathoms and upwards. 60 Miles. other inhabitants of the island, " little whites " and emancipated people of colour. The administration was, in fact, entirely in their hands. But after the abolition of slavery, the blacks, legally free, but de facto still enslaved, subjected to a thousand vexations on the part of their former owners, and deprived of all help from the planters, vainly attempted to take a modest share in the social and political life of the community. The pretended colonial autonomy of Jamaica was, in reality, nothing more than the absolute control of the white aristocracy over the coloured population, and the British Government was at last compelled, under pressure of public opinion, to put an end to the scandal. But instead of granting a few rights to the people of colour, it proceeded to ADMINISTRATION OF JAMAICA. 395 deprive blacks and whites alike of all participation in the administration of their own affairs. The governor, members of council, and other functionaries were nominated by the Sovereign, and Jamaica became a Crown Colony. Since 1884 this political system has been slightly modified. Five members only of the legislative council are chosen by the central authority, nine being elected by the people. In each of the fourteen parishes also the white and coloured electors, who numbered about 27,000 in 1887, elect the councillors charged with the administration of the local affairs. Fig. 188. — Chain op the Cayman Islands. Scale 1 : 2,200,000. 20" Depths. C to 1,000 Fathoms. 1,000 to 2,000 Fathoms. 2,000 to 3,000 Fathoms. 3,000 Fathoms aud upwards. , 60 Miles. The church is separated from the state, and the blacks, in opposition to their old Anglican masters, mostly Episcopalians, have all become Baptists, Methodists or Bresbyterians. Instruction has become general, and in 1890 about one-ninth of the whole population were attending the primary schools. The army com prises a force of over 1,200 men, besides about 1,000 constabulary. The banks and islets of the Jamaican waters, such as the Morant Cays on the south-east and the Fedro Cays on the south, are natural dependencies of the island, visited chiefly by collectors of turtles' eggs and birds. Bolitical and administrative dependencies of Jamaica are also the two islets of Cayman Brae and Little Cayman, together with Grand Cayman, which form a seaward continua tion of Cape Cruz and consequently belong geographically to Cuba. They have a fishing population of about 4,000, and are remarkably salubrious. CHABTEB IX. SAN DOMINGO (HAITI AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC). I. — General Survey. | AN DOMINGO,* if this term be applied to the whole island, is the second of the Antilles in size and population, but the first in altitude, diversity of outline, picturesque prospects and the natural fertility of its valleys. It is also the only island in the American Mediterranean which does not depend politically on some European power. Whether united in a single state, or, as has more frequently been the case, constituting two distinct republics, both sections of Domingo have hitherto succeeded in preserving their autonomy. Had this autonomy been vindicated by a white Creole population it would have ranked in modern history as an event of secondary importance, analogous to that of the colonies on the mainland, which, according as they felt strong enough, have successively asserted their independence of the mother countries. But in this instance the rebels who compelled their former masters to recognise an accomplished fact were blacks, slaves, and the descendants of slaves, people formerly regarded by the whites as scarcely belonging to their common humanity. The independence of Haiti, accomplished in the West Indian world in the midst of the islands where slavery was still upheld with all its accompanying horrors, appeared to the planters in the light of an unnatural event. The general feeling inspired by it amongst the slave-owners, whether French, English, Spaniards, Dutch, Danes, or Americans, was one of horror. The very name of Haiti was proscribed on the plantations, as belonging to an accursed land. Yet there can be no doubt that this example of a black community enjoying political freedom and self-government, living as freemen after a suc cessful revolution, tended indirectly to hasten the day of emancipation in the surrounding insular groups. The fear of a disaster similar to that which over whelmed the San Domingo planters could not fail to bear fruits elsewhere. It may be admitted that neither of the two republics, frequently exposed to foreign wars, torn by civil strife, or a prey to personal ambition, has yet succeeded in * Properly Santo Domingo ; in correct Spanish usage the full form Santo is reserved exclusively for St. Dominic, founder of the Order of Preachers. PHYSICAL FEATURES OF SAN DOMINGO. 397 acquiring a prominent position amongst civilised nations ; but in the midst of so many perils and difficulties, it is something to have survived at all. The very term Haiti (Hayti), often extended to the whole island, is an indication of the changes that have taken place since the plantation days. This appellation, which is said to mean " Highlands," in the language of the aborigines, had fallen into abeyance, like Quisqueya, " Great Land " or " Mother of Lands," which, according to Charlevoix, had also served to designate this member of the Great Antilles. Columbus, who discovered the island in 1492, called it Espanola, or "Little Spain ; " but this name was gradually replaced by that of the capital, Santo Domingo, which is now applied in a special sense to the eastern section of the island. The revival of the old Arawak word, Haiti, by the blacks of the western section was due to the natural feeling of reaction against the memory of the hateful days of slavery.* Fhysical Features. Considered in its relations to the other Antilles, San Domingo evidently forms part of a well-defined geographical region. Continuing the axis of Buerto Bico the island gradually broadens westwards ; in this direction it ramifies into two branches, which are themselves again prolonged in the same direction, one by the island of Cuba, the other by Jamaica. The soundings taken in the intervening waters show that Buerto Bico is, so to say, the root, and San Domingo the stem, throwing off two western branches or peninsulas towards Cuba and Jamaica. Submarine beds and even reefs and islets rising above the surface serve to indicate the physical connection of all the islands across the channels by which they are now separated. Thus between Buerto Bico and San Domingo the Mona Strait is nowhere 500 fathoms deep. The Windward Channel between Haiti and Cuba is no doubt deeper ; nevertheless, the flooded sill presents the form of a rampart between two trenches. In the Jamaica passage an analogous structure is observed between Cape Tiburon and Morant Boint. As regards its general relief, San Domingo forms several distinct orographic regions. It may be described as composed of longitudinal islands connected by intermediate plains, so that a subsidence of the land would resolve the whole into four islands disposed from east to west, but slightly diverging, like the ribs of a half -open fan. The northern fragment is clearly separated by the great plain stretching from Samana Bay to Manzanillo Bay. A second and much larger orographic section is formed by the zone of hilly lands which runs diagonally across the island from Cape Engaho to St. Nicholas' Head ; the third upland mass is limited northwards by the Biver Artibonite, eastwards by the Neyba or Yaqui * The disuse of Espanola, Latinised Hispaniola, as the exclusive general term for the whole island is to be regretted. In the absence of such a general term both San Domingo and Haiti are now commonly used in this sense ; but as these words are also the official designations of the eastern and western states respectively, much confusion often arises from their twofold meaning. It is as if the term Britain, or Great Britain, were to become obsolete, and both England and Scotland were to be used in a general sense for the whole island, while retaining their special meanings as the proper names of the southern and northern divisions. — Editok. 398 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. Chico, and on the south by a chain of lakes ; lastly, the fourth segment is formed by the south-western peninsula and the mountains in which it is rooted. The northern chain itself consists of two distinct groups very unequal in size. The Samana peninsula at its eastern extremity, even within quite recent times, formed a separate island, and at the beginning of the present century a branch of the Yuna known as the Gran Estero ("Great Inlet") still communicated east of the peninsula with Escocesa Bay. The bed of the sound, although now completely silted up, might easily be restored and transformed to a navigable canal. Nevertheless, the northern range of San Domingo begins in the Samana penin sula in the abrupt Bilon de Azucar (" Sugarloaf "), about 2,000 feet high, and the Fig 189. — Monte-Ceisti Range and Vega Plain. Scale 1 : 1,250,000. 18 Miles. neighbouring Monte Diablo rises somewhat higher. Farther west the uplands develop a coast-range running west-north-west for about 136 miles entirely within San Domingan territory. This range, which takes the name of Monte Cristi from the bluff at its western extremity, gradually contracts westward, but increases in altitude from 1,200 or 1,300 feet to its culminating point, the Diego Campo, 4,000 feet. Farther on the range again falls, and its last crest, the Sella de Caballo, or " Horse-saddle " (3,900 feet), terminates in the table-shaped Monte Cristi, so named by Columbus, which rises sheer above the sea to a height of 790 feet. The whole »system has its steeper escarpments facing southwards, while its longer slopes terminate on the north or Atlantic side in limestone cliffs with fringing PHYSICAL FEATURES OF SAN DOMINGO. 399 coral reefs which follow all the windings of the headlands and islets along the seaboard. The main range, running from Cape Engano for 340 miles across the island westwards to the St. Nicholas Mole, is at first merely a long ravined ridge, nowhere 3 W I IS 70'50' West oF Gr 70-IO 18 Miles. but after its destruction by an earthquake it was rebuilt on its present site on the Bio Via. The district abounds in salt, bitumen, and mineral waters, while vast grazing-grounds occupy the upper Neyba and Artibonite valleys, especially about the towns of Bauica and San Juan de Maguana. It was at San Juan that Schomburgk discovered the most remarkable objects of pre-Columbian culture, including a circle of granite blocks supposed to represent- the serpent biting its tail, symbol of eternity. Santo Domingo, the capital, which has given its name to the republic and to the whole island, is one of the oldest European settlements in the New World. In 1596 it succeeded to the station of Natividad which Columbus had founded on Caracol Bay in the north-west part of Espanola. Built at first by Bartholomew 420 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. Columbus on the left bank of the Ozama, it was soon removed to the opposite side of the river. Thanks to the neighbouring gold-mines it has always been the political centre of the country, although its harbour, separated from the sea by the bar of the Ozama, is accessible only to light craft. The city, which is still enclosed by the old Spanish ramparts, is dominated by the domes and belfries of several churches, one of which, the cathedral, of imposing aspect, claims like Havana to possess the remains of Columbus. According to the Fig. 202. — Santo Domingo. Scale 1 : 28,000. m%!%^ '¦'''-'¦ '•' " ¦:'' ¦ &^'5^'t0 West dp. Greenwich 69'52'30- Depths. 0 to 10 Feet. 10 to 20 Feet. 20 to 30 Feet. SO Feet and upwards. Site of the old fortifications. ________ 1,100 Yards. popular tradition, the body of Diego Columbus was by a " pious fraud " substituted for that of Christopher at the time of the official translation in 1781. Numerous small towns, such as San Carlos, Rosario, Pajarito, and San Lorenzo, are dotted round about the capital, which is connected by rail with the mines and plantations of the interior. Farther west the chief places are Bani and San Cris tobal. Eastwards stretches a region of forests and savannas, where are situated the stations of Los Llanos, Hato Mayor, Santa Cruz del Seibo, and Salvaleon de Higuey. TOPOGRAPHY OF SAN DOMINGO. 421 On the opposite slope of the mountains the north-east corner of the island is occupied by the district of Samana, with its magnificent bay, spacious enough to shelter whole fleets. Icaco Boint, on the south side near the inlet of La Gina, pro jects to within a short distance of several islets by which it is continued across the entrance of the bay nearly to the north side. This outer barrier is pierced by two channels, the larger of which is less than a mile wide, while the other is so narrow that sailing vessels run great risk in attempting to enter without a pilot. Thus the bay might easily be defended by fortifications, erected on the reefs and head lands. In the neighbourhood are some rich coal-mines, hitherto very little worked. In 1869 the United States purchased for £30,000 the right of establishing a naval station in Samana Bay. An American company also obtained the commercial monopoly of the district. But fortunately for the independence of San Domingo Fig. 203.— Samana Bat. Scale 1 : 700,000. Depths. Oto 32 Feet. )2 to 160 Feet. , 12 Miles. 160 Feet and upwards. the company failed, and about the same time the United States surrendered the protectorate. The port of Las Flechas, near the extremity of the peninsula, has been almost abandoned in favour of Santa Barbara (Samana), where a trading community of Americans, Englishmen, Italians, and others has been established, although the inlet is inaccessible to vessels drawing more than 13 or 14 feet. West of Samana peninsula the basin of the Biver Yasica is largely cultivated by North American negroes settled here by the Florida planter, Kinsley, who had framed a scheme- of gradual emancipation for the slaves. But scarcely had they landed when they emancipated themselves, and these " Kinsley boys," as they are familiarly called, have prospered and multiplied in the district. The pearl-fisheries of San Lorenzo, near Savana-la- Mar on the south side of Samana Bay, have been abandoned. 422 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. The basin of the Yuna, which flows eastwards to the head of the bay, and which is now traversed by a railway, is the richest district of the whole island, and might alone support a larger population than that of both republics. This is the famous region of Vega, or the " Blain," whence its capital takes the name of Concepcion de la Vega. Other flourishing towns in this privileged district are Moca, Cotui, San Francisco de Macoris, and Santiago de los Caballeros, the last-mentioned near the waterparting on the slope watered by the Yaqui, which flows west to Manzanillo Bay. Thanks to its favourable position between the two basins and oh the trans verse route connecting the capital with Buerto Plata, Santiago has become the first city in the island both for population and the extent of its trading relations. It is the centre of the tobacco plantations which supply the market of Hamburg Puerto Plata, its seaport on the Atlantic, has replaced Isabella, founded by Columbus as the future capital of the New World. The port of Monte- Cristi, north of the Yaqui estuary at the extremity of the Monte- Cristi range, is little frequented, this borderland between the two states being almost an uninhabited wilderness. Economic Condition and Administration of San Domingo. In recent times San Domingo has made rapid material progress, thanks to the natural increase of population, the maintenance of peace and the considerable stream of immigration from Jamaica and Puerto Bico. The resources of the state are not so exclusively agricultural as in Haiti. Mining operations are already in progress, especially in the gold and silver dis tricts ; there are also extensive savannas large enough to raise sufficient live-stock for the whole of the Antilles. The chief cultivated plant is the sugar cane, intro duced from the Canaries in 1506. Coffee is also largely grown, and in recent years the cultivation of tobacco has much increased. Foreign trade, greatly inferior to that of Haiti, is carried on chiefly with the United States and the depots of St. Thomas in the Danish Antilles. The exchanges have considerably increased since the opening of the railways, especially the line 70 miles long between La Vega and Samana. The telegraph system is connected with the outer world by submarine cable, but owing to the prevailing ignorance of the people, it is little used except by the commercial class. The constitution of 1844, when San Domingo was separated from Haiti, has been frequently modified, and was even suspended for two years at the time of the Spanish invasion. Since 1887 the legislature is invested in a national congress elected for two years by universal suffrage, each province or district returning two members. The president, elected in the same way, is assisted by six ministers. Each province has its local legislature, in which the central authority is represented by a governor nominated by the president. Catholicism is still the State religion, though all others are tolerated. The army of a few thousand men is a heavy charge on the revenue, which scarcely exceeds £300,000, derived chiefly from the customs, controlled by a financial company. CHAPTEB X. PUERTO BICO. UERTO BICO, the Borinquen of the Arawak Indians, ranks in size only as the fourth of the Great Antilles, but takes the first place for density of population and general prosperity. Physically it forms an eastern continuation of the line of upheaval indicated by Jamaica and the southern seaboard of San Domingo. In outline it presents the appearance of an almost geometrically regular parallelogram, nearly three times longer than broad, with its four sides facing the four cardinal points, but with a slight eastern convergence of the northern and southern coasts. Both of these are indented like the edge of a saw, and towards the south-west the coastlands, rising little above sea-level, are strewn with swampy tracts. Even the islands and islets scattered along the east side seem to form a half- upraised prolongation of the geometrical insular mass. Such are Vieques, or " Crab " Island, disposed in a line with the main southern ridge, and La Culebra, standing like a cornerstone of a future structure, continuing the north side east wards. Mona Island, also, off the west coast in the passage separating Puerto Bico from San Domingo, stands on the same submarine bank as the large island of which it is a political dependency. Thus the parting-line between the Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea is continued west and east of Puerto Bico in such a way as to connect this island on the one side with San Domingo, on the other with the Virgin Islands. But northwards and southwards the submarine slopes fall regularly to depths of from 1,000 to 2,000 fathoms, and on the side of the ocean even to over 5 miles. Bhysical Features. In general elevation Puerto Bico is far inferior to the other Great Antilles. It is even rivalled in height by some of the peaks in the Lesser Antilles. Its uplands are disposed in masses and ridges which present no clear arrangement in their general disposition. The culminating-point is the Yunque (" Anvil ") de Luquillo, or simply Luquillo, so named from the town at its foot. It rises to a height of 3,680 feet, in the north-east corner of the island, whence the crests ramify between the river valleys. The chief range, consisting mainly of calcareous rocks, lies near the south coast, where it ramifies westwards into several branches, some of which terminate in headlands on the coast. 424 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. Bound the whole periphery of the island numerous fluvial valleys are disposed at right angles with the coast. Some of these streams are over 60 miles long, and several on the north slope take the name of " Bio Grande," being both considerably larger and more copious than those flowing southwards. Inhabitants. Having no inaccessible places of retreat in the mountains, the aborigines, not withstanding their numbers, rapidly disappeared after the conquest. According to the early chroniclers they numbered nearly a million, all subjects of a single cacique. They are supposed to have been of the same race as the Haitians, and arms or ornaments are often turned up by the plough attesting the originality of Fig. 204. — Pueeto Bico. Scale 1 : 2,250,000. West oF Greenwich 65'30 0 to 50 Fathoms. 50 to 500 Fathoms. Depths. 600 to 1,000 Fathoms. 1.000 Fathoms and upwards. , 60 Miles. their culture. They consist of heavy collars of syenite or other massive stones, and are found only in Buerto Bico and some of the neighbouring Lesser Antilles, though objects of a somewhat similar character have also been picked up in the territories of the Mexican Huaxtecs and Totonacs. Some of them, weighing as much as 65 pounds, are of perfectly regular form, but without any embellishment, while others terminate in a more or less decorated plaque. Their use is unknown, though some archaeologists have compared them to the cangue worn as a punish ment by culprits in China. As in the other Antilles the aborigines were replaced by the black race on the plantations. Caparra, the first settlement in the island, was founded in 1509 by GENERAL VIBW OF SAN JUAN BAUTISTA, PUERTO RICO. PUERTO RICO. 425 Ponce de Leon near the village now known as Pueblo Viejo (" Old Town "), south of the present capital. Colonisation was at first retarded by hurricanes, a Carib invasion, and other disasters, which led to a temporary abandonment of the island. In 170Q it had only three villages, but during the last hundred years progress has been remarkably steady and interrupted only by an outburst of cholera which carried off 30,000 persons in 1855. The population, which numbered nearly 45,000 in 1765, now (1891) exceeds 820,000, and has doubled itself on an average every thirty years, a rate almost as rapid as that of the French Canadians. This expan sion is partly due to the natural fertility of the soil and the uniform relief of the land, partly to the large immigration from Spanish America during the wars of independence between the years 1810 and 1825. Puerto Bico itself revolted in 1867, but an earthquake terrified the conspirators, and a fresh rising the following year was promptly quelled. Since that time no further attempt has been made to sever the ties with the mother-country. Puerto Bico is one of the few countries in tropical America where the whites outnumber the other races. But it was not always so, and in 1775 the position was reversed — 29,000 Spaniards, nearly all Andalusian peasantry, to over 50,000 pure and mixed blacks. Towards 1830 the two elements were about balanced, and at the census of 1887 the whites exceeded the blacks by about 150,000 — 475,000 and 324,000 respectively. At the same time some doubt may prevail as to the accuracy of these returns, for it is notorious that many with a strain of black blood in their veins claim to be of pure Spanish descent. In any case it is remarkable to find the European race on the whole increasing more rapidly than the African in a climate certainly more favourable to the latter. It also appears from the last census that amongst the whites the males exceed the females, the contrary being invariably the case everywhere in Europe. The phenomenon is partly explained by the movement of immigration, which here, as elsewhere in the New World, comprises more men than women. Topography. San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico, present capital of the island, stands, not on the mainland, but on a coralline reef forming an outer shore and enclosing a winding lagoon, which is here crossed by a bridge. The settlement dates from the year 1511, and in 1534 were begun the fortifications which add so much to the picturesque appearance of the city, but which also invited numerous attacks during the colonial wars. Although these attacks were for the most part success fully resisted, they had probably the effect of retarding the development of San Juan, which is surpassed in size by some other towns. The harbour, which is deep enough to admit large vessels, communicates with the open sea by a winding and difficult channel, which cannot be navigated without the aid of a pilot. West of the lagoons which form an extension of the basin the Biver Bayamon has deposited an alluvial peninsula which is gradually encroaching on the lateral inlets. This river gives its name to the town of 426 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. Bayamon, the most important place in its valley, capital of a department and centre of a rich and highly-cultivated agricultural district. Rio Piedras and Santurce, which are both situated in the same territorial division, are the chief rural retreats in the neighbourhood of San Juan. Here numerous suburban villas are scattered amid the shady groves which fringe the banks of the running waters. Arecibo, also a departmental capital, is one of the places that exceed San Juan in population. Yet it stands some distance from the sea on an unnavigable Fig. 205. — San Juan Batjttsta, Ptjeeto Rico. Scale I : 600,000. 66'iO West oF Greenwich 65"45' Depths. Oto 16 Feet. 16 to 32 Feet. 32 Feet and upwards. 12 Miles. stream, which reaches the coast opposite an exposed roadstead dangerous to shipping in rough weather. The Bio Grande d' Arecibo, as the river is called, flows mainly north through the extremely fertile hilly districts, where the chief centres of population are the towns of Adjuntas and Utuado. In the department of Arecibo occur numerous stalactite caves. Aguadilla, on the west coast, is a thriving seaport, possessing the advantage of a spacious bay sheltered from the trade winds. Here are shipped the sugar and coffee of Lares, Pepino, Moca, and other agricultural centres in the Colubrinas TOPOGRAPHY OF PUERTO RICO. 427 valley. As indicated by its diminutive ending, Aguadilla (" Little Aguada ") was formerly a smaller place than the older town of Aguada, which lies some distance inland, and which has now been surpassed in size and activity by the coast town. Farther south on the same side of the island, the Mayaguez inlet is much frequented by vessels engaged in the coasting trade and even by steamers, which here ship coffee, bananas, and oranges for the foreign market. The growers of Mayaguez and of the neighbouring towns of Anaso, Cabo Rojo, and San German boast that they raise the finest crops in Puerto Bico. Fig. 206. — South-west Cobneb of Ptjebto Bioo. Scale 1 : 460,000. fiflf S. r,r*y in .'- ;¦.; ?$ 67-10 West of Greenwich Depths. Oto 5 Fathoms. 5 Fathoms and upwards. 6 Miles. Dependent on the department of Mayaguez is the island of Mona, which gives its name to the broad channel flowing between Puerto Bico and San Domingo. Mona, that is, the " Monkey," Passage terminates on the west in a bold headland topped by a huge overhanging rock known to seafarers by the suggestive name of Caigo 6 no Caigo? ("Shall I fall or not?") The neighbouring islet has been christened Monito, the " Little Monkey." Guanico, the westernmost haven on the south coast, is also the best in the whole island. But it is seldom visited, being surrounded by a low marshy district difficult to traverse. Guanico serves as the outlet for the produce of the 428 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. nearest towns, San German, Sabana Grande, and Yauco. Eastwards follow the bays of Guayanilla and of Ponce (La Playa), the latter the largest city and the true capital of the island. Bonce lies three miles north of the bay on a rich plain surrounded by gardens and plantations. The neighbouring thermal waters are highly appreciated by invalids. The Playa, or " Beach," is occupied by extensive depots for the produce of the interior, which is forwarded through Ponce, the trading centre of the island. Next to this flourishing seaport the largest places in the department are Yauco and Juana Diaz, both situated at the south foot of the sierra. The eastern division of Puerto Bico is less densely peopled than the west ; it is also less conveniently situated for trade, lying on the windward side and offering little shelter to shipping. Here all the chief towns lie inland, or at least at some distance from the coast. Such are Cayey, Caguas, and San Lorenzo or Hato Grande, which are situated in the hilly region amid rich coffee plantations and extensive grazing-grounds. Guayama and Humacao, the two departmental capitals, have been founded in the maritime district a few miles from the sea. At the north-east corner of the island some shelter is afforded to small craft by chains of islets and reefs, and some inlets on the coast. One of these little havens at the island of Culebra is frequented by fishers and woodcutters. Vieques, or Crab Island, which points like a spearhead towards the north-east, is occupied only by the solitary village of Isabel Segunda on its north side. La Culebra and Vieques also take the name of Islas del Pasaje, because they lie in the " passage " between Puerto Bico and the Virgin group. Economic Condition of Puerto Bico. The prosperity of Puerto Bico is shown quite as much in its general material progress as in its increased population. Since the middle of the last century the social condition of the inhabitants has undergone a complete change. At that time there were no towns, and the peasantry assembled only on feast-days in the centre of their respective parishes. They dwelt in rude hovels without shutters to the windows or doors to the entrance, and their only utensils were calabashes ; an empty bottle was handed down as an heirloom to the favourite son. At present more than half of the inhabitants have gravitated towards the towns, especially those of the seaboard, and foreign trade has familiarised them with all modern inventions tending to domestic comfort. The movement of exchanges " is nil," said Iiiigo Abad, a local historian, writing in 1772. In fact it was restricted to a little barter in the only haven officially opened to trade, supplemented by some smuggling in the other inlets round the coast, the whole representing a value of perhaps £2,000. Since that period the yield of sugar, coffee, tobacco, and to a less extent honey and wax, has enriched the island, which now possesses the means of purchasing all the wares of the civilised world. Most of the exchanges are carried on with the United States, whence corn, flour, salt meat, fish and lumber are imported in ADMINISTRATION OF PUERTO RICO. 429 return for sugar, molasses, and coffee. Nearly all the seaborne traffic is conducted under foreign flags, the islanders showing little taste for seafaring life. In respect of its internal communications Puerto Bico is a model West Indian island. All the towns are connected by highways, which develop round the periphery of the quadrilateral a second quadrilateral all the sides of which are united at intervals by transverse routes. A railway has now been commenced, which is also to follow the shore-line with a circuit of 300 miles, and short branches to all the seaports and inland markets. All the main lines of the telegraph system are already completed ; but little use is made either of the wires or the post-office by a population only one-seventh of which was returned as capable of reading or writing at the last census (1887). Since then, however, public instruction has made considerable progress. Administration. For administrative purposes Puerto Bico is regarded, not as a colony, but as a Spanish province, assimilated to those of the metropolis. The governor-general, representing the monarchy, is at the same time captain-general of the armed forces. In each departmental capital resides a military commandant, and each borough has its alcalde nominated by the central power. The provincial deputies are elected by universal suffrage on the same conditions as in Spain. The garrison consists of about 3,000 men, and the yearly budget averages £800,000. Including the district of the capital there are seven administrative departments, which are tabulated in the Appendix. CHAPTEB XI. Virgin Islands and Santa Cruz. HE Virgin Islands were so named by Columbus because they covered the sea in a long procession like that of the "eleven thousand virgins " of the Christian legend. This chain of islands forms a prolongation of Puerto Eico, but bends round somewhat to the north east before joining the Lesser Antilles. They form, so to say, the keystone of the vast semicircle described by the whole of the Antilles. But both as regards the submarine bed on which they rest and their general trend, they belong far more to the group of the Great than to that of the Lesser Antilles. On the east side the separating channel is over 1,000 fathoms deep, while the distance to the nearest members of the smaller group exceeds 250 miles. Santa Cruz, which is associated politically with the Virgin archipelago, is geographically distinct, for it is separated from the northern chain by a " tongue of the ocean," and on the other hand its marine bank forms an advanced prom ontory of the Lesser Antilles. Thus the two insular systems overlap at their converging extremities. Culebra and Crab, depending politically on the neighbouring Puerto Bico, really form part of the Virgin group. St. Thomas and St. John, the next two going eastwards, together with the outlying Santa Cruz, are Danish possessions, while all the rest as far as Anegada form part of the British Colonial Empire. St. Thomas. Notwithstanding its small size, St. Thomas was formerly the most important of the Antilles as the general depot of European trade with the West Indies. It had originally been a rendezvous of the buccaneers, and then in the hands of a financial company became the chief centre of the contraband trade with the Spanish colonies, and one of the great markets for negroes imported from Africa. The Elector of Brandenburg was director of the company, and he having been succeeded by the King of Denmark, the island ultimately lapsed to that power. Being a neutral island St. Thomas naturally attracted much trade during the Napoleonic wars. Then it continued to thrive as a free port after the abolition of the slave trade and the separation of Spanish America from the mother country. In its warehouses, nearly all held by Jews, the West Indian planters found every- ST. THOMAS. 431 thing that they required, provisions, woven goods, machinery, as well as the most costly products of European industry. Free trade thus enabled St. Thomas to profit by its advantageous geographical position at the extreme convexity of the great bend described by the West Indian Islands, that is, at the very point whence commodities are most easily distributed throughout all the surrounding insular groups. Moreover, St. Thomas possesses an excellent harbour, although deficient both in size and depth. It forms a nearly circular basin on the south side of the island, of easy access and well sheltered from the trade winds by a promontory and an islet. Nevertheless, hurricanes have occasionally penetrated into this amphitheatre, as Fig. 207.— St. Thomas Island. Scale 1 : 300,000. 65-5' t West oF Gr 64' 50' Oto 5 Fathoms. Depths. 5 to 25 Fathoms. 25 Fathoms and upwards. 6 Miles. they have also into the port of Havana ; in 1819 nearly all the vessels in the harbour were stranded, and the shore strewn with dead bodies and wreckage. In 1837 and 1867 the place was again visited by destructive cyclones. Steam has changed the commercial system of the West Indies. The consumer is now directly supplied with all his wants by regular services of packets, which visit every island and which are independent of winds and currents. Hence a general entrepot is no longer needed, and St. Thomas has lost its former monopoly. Nevertheless, the port, which bears the official name of Charlotte Amalia, is still frequented, and long- established usage enables it to maintain an important com mercial position. Its 12,000 inhabitants speak every language — Spanish, Dutch, 432 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. Danish, French, and especially English ; but the old Creole dialect, which possesses a copious religious literature, has mostly disappeared. Some Protestant emigrants from the south of France reached the island from Holland, after the revocation of the edict of Nantes, and occupied the Brandenburg quarter beyond the town. Fig. 208.— St. Thomas Haebottb. Scale 1 : 27,000. ?V* WmWmC Wtii&!$Eff ABLOTTE AMAUA jjH@^^i»__. maEzzi&fa** 64'56'30" 64"56p West oF Greenwich Oto 16 Feet. Depths. 16 to 32 Feet. '32 Feet and upwards. 1,100 Yards. The main thoroughfare, a mile and a half long, skirts the shore, and above it rise tiers of houses on the slopes of the porphyritic hills encircling the harbour. From the culminating point of the island (1,560 feet) an extensive prospect is commanded of the surrounding island-studded waters. SANTA CRUZ. 483 During the .first years of its commercial decay, the Danish Government offered St. Thomas and St. John to the United States for £1,000,000, and the inhabitants, when consulted, gave their unanimous consent to the arrangement ; but the offer. was declined, the price demanded being regarded as too high. St. John. St. John, which follows east of St. Thomas, does not, like its neighbour, lie in the track of trading vessels, and its port of Coral Bay, on the east side, although said to be the best harbour of refuge in the Antilles during cyclones, is visited only by fishing-smacks and other small craft. The English call it Crawl Bay, a Fig. 209. — Vibchn Islands. Scale 1 ; 400,000. 68-5 West oP G reenwich 66'45 Dep+hs. Oto 12 Fathoms. 12 to 50 Fathoms 50 Fathoms and upwards. 9 Miles. corruption either of the Spanish Corral ("enclosure"), or of Coral, from the reefs encircling the harbour. The capital of the island is merely an obscure village on the north side. Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz, the third Danish island, so named by Columbus at the time of his second voyage, was inhabited by Caribs when the Spaniards arrived. But as it possessed no precious metals, the strangers soon quitted it without massacring the natives. But the Spaniards were succeeded by English buccaneers, and these by the French, who sold the island to the Knights of Malta in 1650. Thus the ancient Ayay of the Caribs passed from hand to hand, until at last it was sold by 61 434 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. France to the Danish Government for the sunl of 750,000 livres (£30,000). But meantime the unfortunate Caribs, reduced to slavery and treated with like cruelty by all, had completely disappeared. Santa Cruz, whose planters grew rich during the flourishing times of slavery, was one of the best-cultivated islands in the Antilles. It was entirely covered by plantations up to the very summits of the hills, and from a distance the reddish soil of the tilled land could be seen alternating with the verdant crops. Santa Cruz is both better watered and more pleasantly diversified with hill and dale than the Virgin group. The craggy heights have nowhere prevented its cultiva tion, and nearly the whole of the south side is a fertile plain, with a gentle incline on a substratum of calcareous formation. The heights which skirt the north west coast attain their culminating point in Mount Eagle, about 1,300 feet high. Fig. 210.— Santa Cbuz. Scale 1 : 500,000. 64"50' West dp UrejenwtcK 64"30 . Depths. Oto 5 Fathoms. 5 to 50 Fathoms. 50 Fathoms and upwards. 9 Miles. The capital, called the Basin, or, in official language, Christianstsed, lies at the head of an inlet on the north side, which has been to a great extent choked with mud. It is connected with all the surrounding villages and plantations by good roads lined with palm-trees. Most of the Santa Cruz negroes belong to the religious sect of the Moravian Brothers, who have for generations ministered to them, and who were themselves at one time slave-owners. Their apostolic zeal had strangely degenerated since the days of the first missionaries, Leonard Dober and Tobias Leupoldt, who had sold themselves into bondage in order to evangelise their fellow-slaves. The emancipation of the blacks was proclaimed in 1848 ; but the freedmen complain that the promised lands have not been assigned to them. More than once partial insurrections have broken out, but have always been sternly repressed. SANTA CRUZ. 435 In 1878 the town of Frederikstasd, on the west coast, was burnt by the insurgents. In recent years large numbers have emigrated, and in the single decade from 1871 to 1881 the island lost nearly one-fifth of its population. This emigration, 1 6 due to the decadence of St. Thomas, and the depreciation of agricultural produce, partly explains the large excess of females over the males in the Danish islands. The governor resides alternately at Santa Cruz and St. Thomas, six months in each place. 436 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. TORTOLA. Tortola, largest of the English possessions in the Virgin group, is disposed m form of a crescent north-east of St. John. It is an elevated land, traversed in its entire length by a ridge which culminates in a peak 1,800 feet high. A chain of islets and reefs, beginning in the island of Jose Van Dyck, north of Tortola, sweeps round to St. Thomas, while another barrier reef diverges from St. John towards Virgin Gorda, enclosing with Tortola a vast basin of smooth water. Sailing over this almost landlocked inland set, far removed from the heaving ocean, the traveller descries at intervals between the cliffs of the encircling islands the distant prospect of the open sea with its restless line of breakers. After being a stronghold of the buccaneers, Tortola was for a time occupied by a number of Quakers, who emancipated their slaves and made them grants of land. But they had no imitators, and after the abolition of slavery the plan tation ne°roes emigrated in swarms to St. Thomas and other islands. The impoverished whites also left, and the population rapidly fell from 11,000 to 4,000. Boad Town, the capital, lies on a creek in the " Boad of the Virgins," as the inland sea is generally called ; pineapples are the chief produce of the district. Virgin Gorda — Anegada. Eastwards stretches Virgin Gorda, called by the sailors Spanish Town, a word which the negroes have corrupted to Penniston. Its arid heights are almost uninhabited, though one of the isthmuses guarding the approach to the inland sea was till recently defended by a fort. The north-east point of Virgin Gorda is continued by a line of reefs developing a semicircular rampart along the margin of the submarine plateau, and terminat ing in the long island of Anegada, or the " Drowned." This flat low-lying land is so named because it is often half submerged during high tides in stormy weather. But the central part does not appear to have ever been under water. The dangerous reefs of Anegada have often been strewn with wreckage, and the crews of vessels cast, on these rocks have seldom escaped with their lives. According to a local legend, a Spanish galleon laden with gold and silver was lost on this island, and the treasure deposited by some of the survivors in a cave in the interior. But though often searched for by the buccaneers and inhabitants of the neighbouring islands, the stores of gold and silver have never been discovered. The Virgin Islands are a Crown Colony. CHAPTEB XII. THE BAHAMAS. HE island- studded submarine plateau which has preserved its Indian name of Bahama is also known by the designation of Lucayas ; this term, which might be supposed to be derived from the Spanish word, cayos, " reefs," is also of Indian origin. Abaco, one of two large southern islands, bears the name of Yucaya, or Lucaya, a word which has been extended to the whole archipelago. The Bahamas stretch north-west and south-east between the Florida and San Domingo waters a total distance of 780 miles. The English, political masters of the archipelago, comprise under this designation the northern and central groups alone, excluding the Caicos and Turks Islands, which stand on the southern part of the coral plateau. But this arbitrary division can in no way be justified, for the Bahamas, with the Caicos and Turk's ' groups, constitute a perfectly distinct geographical region, all the members of which have the same general aspect and the same geological origin. The actual land surface is somewhat larger than Jamaica; but it is quite impossible to determine the number of islands, which change with the storms, and almost with every tide. During spring tides some of the islets become decomposed into several fragments with intervening channels, while others disappear altogether below the surface ; at low water the process is reversed, and whole clusters again become united in continuous land. According to Bacot,* the Bahamas, excluding the Caicos and Turks groups, comprise 690 islands and islets, and 2,387 rocks or separate reefs, with a total area of 5,600 square miles. With the Caicos and Turks the actual number can scarcely be less than 3,200, of which only 31 were inhabi ted in 1890, with a total population of 54,000. Historic Survey. The Bahamas were the first islands of the New World discovered by Columbus, who landed at Guanahani, re-named by him San Salvador. But he did not determine the position of , this island with sufficient accuracy to identify it with absolute certainty. The Spaniards, eager to discover treasures, made no stay on these coralline rocks, and continued their route towards the " Indies " in search of gold and diamonds. * The Bahamas, a Sketch. 438 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. But the rumour had been spread that one of the Bahamas possessed a treasure far more precious than gold or silver, that marvellous " fountain of rejuvenes cence " which was fabled to restore vigour and health to old age. At all times the myth had haunted the popular imagination, and the poets and painters of this epoch, itself an epoch of " renaissance," had endowed the mysterious " spring of life " with a sort of reality. It had now only to be discovered, and the men Fig. 212. — Bejoni Island and Banks. Scale 1 : 950,000. 79"i0' West oF Greenwich 7 8" 30 Depths. Oto 10 Feet. 32 to 820 Feet. . 18 Miles. who had found a new world naturally seemed destined to eclipse their astonishing achievement by this last and greatest of triumphs. Pagan and Christian ideas were intermingled in their fancy, and as Columbus thought he had re-discovered the earthly paradise, Ponce de Leon hoped to quaff the source of immortality spoken of in all the mythologies. In 1512 he sailed from Puerto Bico with three THE BAHAMAS. 439 vessels to tread the maze of the Bahamas in search of the miraculous fountain. His weary search was in vain, and when his successor, Perez de Ortubia, at last reached the long-sought islet, one of the Bernini reefs on the east side of Florida Passage, the thin thread of water springing from the rock was found to possess no efficacy. These pioneers, who fancied themselves predestined to recover the Garden of Eden, must have formed strange notions regarding the abode of bliss, for they began their work by enslaving and destroying the natives. They formed no settlements on these flat Bahaman rocks, but they endeavoured to " exploit " the inhabitants by transporting them to the plantations and mines of the other Antilles. In 1509 King Ferdinand authorised the sale of the Lucayans, and forthwith the unhappy victims of Spanish greed were hunted like game, and even tracked with bloodhounds ; in this way a few years sufficed to depopulate the whole archipelago. Attempts were especially made to utilise the marvellous diving powers which the islanders shared with the inhabitants of Micronesia. The molluscs visible on the marine bed through the depths of the clear waters supplied the Lucayans with much of their daily food. For every meal they had but to dive amid the corals and algse of the marine bed, and bring up a fresh supply. Accordingly, a high price was set on these skilful divers by the Spanish owners of the Cumana pearl- fisheries on the South American coast. As much as 150 ducats was paid for a single adult ; but in a few years not one remained, and at present but few traces can be found of their former existence.* On reaching the Caicos group the first English settlers are said to have picked up a few Indian skulls in a cave ; they also found various objects of the old industries, especially earthenware, as well as a stone hatchet on which had been carved a dolphin's head. In Crooked Island other stone weapons have been met in large numbers, all wrought from a silicious stone not occurring in the Lucayas themselves. Hence they must have been obtained by trading with the other Antilles or the neighbouring mainland, which necessarily supposes a certain degree of civilisation on the part of the islanders. After the disappearance of the natives the archipelago was deserted for over a century, though still regarded as belonging to Spain. But when the coast of Carolina was occupied by English settlers, the Bahamas were regarded as a natural dependency of the new colony, and the labyrinth of reefs and islets seemed admirably placed for surprising passing Spanish vessels laden with merchandise and the precious metals. Adventurers of all sorts lurked in ambush about the straits, and the trade of the " wreckers and rakers " had as the centre of its operations the port of New Brovidence, which was "providentially" situated at the converging line of two oceanic routes. From time to time the Spaniards of Cuba sent expeditions to destroy this nest of pirates ; but after their departure the " trade " was always revived by fresh comers. At last the islands were permanently occupied by British troops in 1718, * HaoKinnen, A Tour through the "British West Indies. 440 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. but no serious attempt was made to cultivate the land till after the American War of Independence, when some loyalist planters removed with their slaves to the archipelago. Physical Features. While the Bahamas remained in the power of the corsairs the true form of the various groups necessarily remained unknown. But since the establishment of legitimate trade their outlines have been revealed and reproduced in admirable marine charts. The contour lines of all the clusters and of the submarine banks on which they rest are now known in full detail. Taken as a whole the Bahaman plateau may be compared to the island of Cuba, which it greatly exceeds in extent. Like Cuba, it is an insular mass of great length, but relatively narrow, fringed by countless reefs and indented by deep inlets. The geological formation is also the same, except that Cuba is already old and increases but slowly, whereas the sister island is being built up under our very eyes by the incessant work of the coral- builders. The land already above water is all composed of whitish calcareous rocks fused in a homogeneous mass differing in age alone from the ragged coralline reefs mingled with sands and broken shells which line the beach. The rock grows continuously on its outer or seaward face, where the structures of the animalculse rise gradually higher and higher, and become consolidated by their very rupture, thanks to the calcareous cement by which the broken fragments are again soldered together. Thus the British frigate Severn, wrecked on a reef of the Turks group in 1793, is now completely encrusted with a rocky coating of still living coral. In the neighbourhood of the same islands, as well as at some other points round the periphery of the plateau, certain reefs, known by the name of coral- heads, affect the form of huge mushrooms shooting up from the depths of the sea. The stems, from 30 to 50 feet high, with an average width of about 16 feet, support extensive heads or platforms 300 or 400 feet in circumference, which are exposed at low water. Ebb and flow being very slight in these waters, the polyps are able to build up their structures without much disturbance from the waves. At last the stony piles coalesce together, leaving below them submarine caves and galleries, where the water, rushing in, drives the confined air forward, and reappears farther on in broad sheets of foam. Whipple relates that a wounded whale escaped by plunging into one cavernous recess and emerging some distance off at the other end of the reef. Since the polyps have been at work the relative level of land and sea has undergone little change, for the mean elevation of the islands above the Atlantic tides scarcely exceeds 7 or 8 feet. In some the surface is slightly undulating, or disposed in receding terraces with rocky escarpments indicating the old shore line. The whole system culminates in a hill in Cat Island, which is scarcely 400 feet high. But despite their low elevation above the surface, the islands present pro digious altitudes, measured from the ocean bed. In this respect the Bahamas THE BAHAMAS. 441 are almost unique, for their rocky walls rise at angles of 50 or even 35 degrees from abysses 2,000 to 2,500 fathoms deep. The oceanic basin is everywhere abruptly limited by this coralline rampart, which forms an advanced coast-line of the mainland, deflecting the Atlantic currents towards the north-west ; to this Fig. 213.— Tongkoe of the Ocean. Scale 1 ; 2,800,000. Oto 16 Feet. Depths. 16 to 3,200 Feet. 3,200 Feet and upwards. 60 Miles. general movement of the ocean stream, sweeping along the sands, living organisms and other materials used by the corals in the construction of their buildings, the islands and chains of reefs doubtless owe their elongated form, disposed in the direction from south east to north-west. Where the current gains access through open breaches it develops graceful curves in the interior of the archipelagoes, 442 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. forming either straits or sounds, such as Brovidence Channel, and farther south those of Crooked Island, the Caicos and Turks groups, or else land-locked inlets such as Exuma Bay and the Tongue of the Ocean east of Andros. These long lines of solid rock, whose form and disposition depend on the action of fleeting waters, are one of the most remarkable phenomena of physical geography. In the direction from east to west, that is, from the Atlantic towards the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahaman plateau decreases in altitude ; the upraised lands grow less numerous, the shallows more extensive, until at last the whole submarine bank becomes separated from Haiti and Cuba by a profound trough with abysses of over 2,000 fathoms in the east. But towards the west it a°ain shoals a little to form the Old Bahama Channel, and farther on the Santarem Channel,, continued northwards by the New Bahama Channel, better known as Florida Strait. West of Santarem Channel, quite beyond the Great Bahama Bank, and midway between Cuba and the Florida reefs, is situated the triangular plateau of Cay Salt Bank (Salt Cay or Key),* which is everywhere encircled by marine waters over 300 and towards the west over 600 fathoms deep. This bank affects somewhat the form of a saucer, with depths of from 4 to 6 fathoms in the central parts, which are enclosed by an outer rim either of submarine shoals or of upheaved reefs, some bare, others covered with moving sandhills. The encircling reefs, formed of corals and shells fused in a conglomerate mass by a calcareous cement, receive the deposit of fine sands washed up by winds and waves, and develop little dunes 15 to 20 feet high wherever the reefs offer a sufficiently broad foundation. A curious effect is produced by these isolated sandhills rising in the very midst of the marine waters, those of recent formation resembling ships under sail, but the majority already bound fast, anchored so to say, by trailing plants and lianas (batatas iittoralis), which spread their firm network of green meshes over the shifting sands. The bank takes its name from Salt Cay, the largest of the group, so called from a salt-water lagoon in the centre. This lagoon takes a slight orange tinge from a little seaweed which grows in dense masses round the margin, and which resembles putrid flesh both in appearance and odour. Being formed like Yucatan of fissured coralline limestones with numerous caves or cavities, the upraised parts of the Great Bahama Bank are destitute of springs or running waters. Andros alone, on the west side of the Tongue of Ocean, has a few brooklets, or rather marshy rills. At high water this island becomes divided into three separate fragments. As in Yucatan, the rainwater is collected in under ground reservoirs, though in many places the neighbouring marine waters filter through and render the lacustrine basins quite brackish. In some of the islands the tides penetrate into the wells under the fresh water, causing a slight rise and fall with flow and ebb. Before these wells were sunk the early settlers still found sufficient potable water in a plant of the mistletoe family (viscum caryophylloides), * The Spanish cayo takes the form of cay in English and key in American geographical nomen clature ; hence Salt Cay and Key, Key -West, Marquesas Keys, &c. THE BAHAMAS. 443 which grows on the branches of several kinds of trees. During the rains it became saturated and when squeezed like a sponge yielded a considerable supply. Flora and Fauna. Despite the apparent aridity of these calcareous lands, the Bahamas have a remarkably rich flora, supported by a rainfall exceeding 40 inches in the northern islands, a saturated atmosphere and underground reservoirs. The negroes pre pare the ground for tillage by breaking up the crust of the rocks with crowbars, and reducing it to a fine powder, which forms the vegetable soil. The large islands, .and especially Andros, have extensive forests composed of the same species as those of Haiti and Cuba. Mahogany was very common at the time of the first settlement, and the United States pitch-pine ranges as far south as Nassau, about the parallel of the southern extremity of Florida. In its land fauna the Bahama group differs in no respect from Cuba, except that its birds of passage, migrating between North America and the Lesser Antilles, are more numerous. The sparrow, recently introduced, has multiplied so pro digiously that the legislature has offered rewards for the heads and eggs of this troublesome intruder. Turtles and fishes, several locally bearing the same names as different European species, abound in the creeks and marine caves, and to the countless shells (conchs) of the Bahaman waters the islanders are indebted for the nickname of " Conchs " by which they are known in the West Indies. ¦ Some of the deeper basins, better sheltered by encircling reefs, have received the name of " gardens of the sea " from the lovely growths of polyps which float on the heaving waters, expanding and closing their beautiful blossoms at the passage of the bright-coloured fishes. The crocodile, elsewhere confined to sweet or brackish waters, is an inhabitant of the Bahaman seas, although not found in the southern Antilles ; its flesh is much appreciated by the islanders. Inhabitants. The great bulk of the Bahaman populations are negroes, who, unlike those of the other West Indian archipelagoes, are said to have preserved the tradition of the African peoples whence they have sprung. Thus the coloured " Conchs " appear to be still divided into Yoruba, Egba, Ebo (Ibo) and Congo groups, each tribe annually electing its own " queen," and recognising her authority in the admi nistration of local affairs.* Although slavery is abolished, racial distinctions are maintained with the same tenacity as in other regions where Anglo-Saxon and negro communities dwell side by side. The blacks are even virtually excluded from the Brotestant churches, although most of the whites are Methodists, and consequently less exclusive than Anglican congregations. By a system analogous to the Mexican peonage the traders hold the coloured proletariate class in a kind of servitude, giving them small advances of provisions * Powtes, The Land of the Sink Pearl. 444 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. and clothes in return for their future labour. The creditor takes care that the debt, limited by the law of 1885 to ten shillings, is never extinguished, while the debtor is also required to sign the " seamen's articles " binding him to join a ship's crew whenever called upon by the magistrate. Of all the blacks the most wretched are those engaged in the sponge-fisheries, and none draw their wages iu cash except those seeking employment on the neighbouring American coastlands. Topography. Great Bahama, which lies nearest to the mainland, and which probably gave its name to the whole archipelago, long remained unoccupied and even still is one of the least densely peopled. The few planters are of Scotch descent. The contour lines of this island harmonise with those of its eastern neighbours, Little and Great Abaco, which were formerly called Yucaya or Lucaya, a name that has also been extended to the entire insular group. Great Abaco is one of the most thickly peopled members of the archipelago. Its inhabitants (3,610 in 1881) are whites, all descendants of the American loyalists, who, to preserve the purity of the race, have always intermarried within the same family circles ; hence, according to passing observers, a marked physical degeneration of the race. Hopetown, the chief village, occupies a long narrow peninsula between two seas, where its little houses are interspersed amongst the palm-groves. The little cluster of the Berry islets at the western entrance of Providence channel is occupied by a few pilots on the look-out for vessels plying in the dan- ' gerous passages between the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. The more intri cate channels are provided with lights, and on Florida Strait, near the famous Bernini islets, stand the magnificent lighthouses of Isaac Cay and Gun Cay. New Providence contains over 15,000 inhabitants, nearly one-fourth of the whole Bahaman population. This. old nest of pirates has been selected by the British Government as the official capital, and, thanks to its central position, it has become the chief commercial mart of the archipelago. The port of Nassau, called also New Brovidence, has a depth of over 16 feet ; it lies on the north side of the island, and would consequently be exposed to the full fury of the trade winds but for the shelter afforded by a chain of reefs known by the name of Hog Island. Nevertheless, during the hurricanes, which visit these waters about every four years, vessels in the roadsteads have occasionally been hurled over the reefs and stranded on the coast. During the War of Secession Nassau almost suddenly acquired great wealth, thanks to the blockade-runners, who made this place one of their chief headquarters. The dangerous traffic began in 1861, when a Confederate vessel, with a cargo of 140 bales of cotton, ran the blockade and reached Nassau, a distance of about two days by steam. The vessels, chosen from the swiftest of .the British commercial fleet, usually sailed from Nassau laden with all kinds of war materials, and when suc cessful brought back a cargo of cotton. During the five years of the war 397 ships, of which two-thirds were steamers, entered Nassau after running the blockade, TOPOGRAPHY OF THE BAHAMAS. 445 while 688 sailed from this place chiefly for the Confederate seaports of Charleston and Wilmington. The last venture reached Charleston safely, but was captured in the harbour, which had just been taken by the Federal troops. The risk was tremendous, and 42 steamers altogether were taken, while 22 ran on the rocks to escape capture. But the profits were correspondingly great, and towards the end of the war both captain and pilot received £1,000 a trip, besides a few bales of cotton " bought for its weight in gold." The trade of Nassau increased thirtyfold, but it drew all hands from the fields, which have been mostly invaded by the bush. After the storm and stress period Nassau has resumed its modest role as a little centre of distribution for fruits and molluscs. In winter it is frequented Fig. 214.— Nassau. ! 1 : 38.000. West oF Gr 77'12 77SV Oto 16 Feet. Depths. 16 to 32 Feet. 32 Feet and upwards. 1,100 Yards. by invalids from the States, although the climate is at times severe, while the natives themselves suffer considerably from diseases of the respiratory organs. In general the Bahaman climate is most efficacious for nervous affections. The American winter visitors reside especially at Dunmore, in the little Harbour Island, near the north-east angle of the long hook-shaped Eleuthera. Harbour Island, the " Montpellier of the Bahamas," is the only member of the archipelago which is densely peopled relatively to its extent, a circumstance due to its healthy,- bracing air. Its 2,000 inhabitants, concentrated in a space scarcely two square miles in extent, are proud of their descent from the buccaneers, and still observe the old rule respecting land tenure : the cultivator alone is recog nised as the owner, and only of so much as he actually tills. He is not permitted 446 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. Fig. 215. — Watling- Island Scale 1 : 660,000. to enclose his plot, and may be dispossessed by the first comer the moment he ceases to work it. Some of the planters of Eleuthera reside in Harbour Island for the con venience of its excellent anchorage ; here they ship large quantities of the exquisite pineapples grown on the more fertile soil of the larger island. Eleuthera takes its name from the eleuthera croton, a drug formerly much in vogue in the European pharmacopoeia. Conservative physicians long preferred the bark of this plant to that of the cinchona as a specific against fevers. Cat Island, so named from the domestic animal, which since its introduction has here run wild, resembles Eleuthera in form but presents a less graceful curve and a more elevated surface. By many writers it has been identi fied with the Guanahani (San Salva dor) discovered by Columbus in 1492 ; a country residence even bears the name of Columbia, as standing on the very spot where the navigator first landed in the New World. Since 1625, when this identification was first em bodied in Joannes de Laet's map of the New World, Cat Island long figured on all documents as the real Guanahani, and both Washington Irving and Humboldt lent the support of their great authority to the same view. But at the end of the last century the flagrant contradictions between the accounts of Columbus' voyage, as given by himself and reproduced by Las Casas, and as described by Wash- 500 to 1,000 1,000 to 2.000 2.000 Fims. inerton Irving, gave rise to doubts Fathoms. Fathoms. & upwards. ' ° ° ~ 12 Miles. and to fresh theories. The nearly uninhabited Watling Island, about 50 miles east of the southern extremity of Cat Island, was substituted by Muiioz for the latter, and this view, afterwards supported by Becher, Peschel and Major, has long been accepted as the more probable. Navarrete, another Spanish historian of the New World, suggested a third and totally different route, according to which Columbus first landed at Great Turk Island, far to the south of the Great Bahama Bank. Lastly, Varnhagen found the "true Guanahani "in Mariguana, about midway between Watling and Turk. Such were the various hypotheses prevalent down to the year 1880, when the American navigator, G. Y. Fox, perfectly familiar with the Bahama waters, made the discovery of a fifth Guanahani, which really seems to be the right Depths. 0 to 100 Fathoms. 103 to 500 Fathoms. TOPOGRAPHY OF THE BAHAMAS. 447 one.* Still it is impossible to speak with certainty, for the new theory is far from solving all the difficulties. Samana or Atwood Cay, the island indicated by Fox, must certainly have undergone considerable change during the last four centuries ; its east point must have disappeared by erosion or subsidence, while the inner lagoon spoken of by Columbus must have dried up, if this be the first land reached by him. But from Samana to Cuba the coincidence between Columbus' log and the itinerary assumed by Fox is all but complete. Cat Island, notwithstanding its fertility and size — 165 square miles — was found to be entirely abandoned in 1785, when over 100 loyalists from the United States occupied it with their slaves. At present it has a population of over 4,000. Watling and Bum Cay, its eastern and southern neighbours, as well as the narrow limestone reefs of Great Exuma and Long Island, are also inhabited by small communities. South-eastwards follow the three islands of Fortune, Crooked and Acklin, which really constitute a single island, divided by channels fordable at low water. Fortune has become the most flourishing of all the Bahamas, and the rival of Nassau as a port of call for steamers plying between New York, the West Indies and the Hispano- American coastland. Andros, the largest member of the archipelago, is usually spoken of as a single island, although in reality forming a group of several islets separated by shallow sounds and straits. The group, which is the most densely wooded of all the Bahamas, represents more than a third of all the dry land of the archipelago ; it is, moreover, conveniently situated near Nassau, the capital, and between the two channels which converge westwards to form the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico. But Andros is of difficult access, and much of the surface is covered by swamps and brushwood. Great Inagua, at the southern extremity of the Bahamas, occupies a position somewhat analogous to that of Andros opposite Windward Channel ; but it is almost uninhabited. According to MacKinnen it owed its name, originally perhaps Iguana, to these reptiles, which abound in all the Bahaman islands. On the side facing Cuba the most thickly-peopled land is the so-called Great Bagged Island, lying in the chain of reefs called by the Spaniards Cayos Jumentos. The circular Caicos bank east of Inagua is fringed by a few inhabited islets. The Turks islets, belonging to the same group and lying still farther east, have also received a few settlers. Here the prevailing vegetable form is a species of dwarf cactus (cactus coronatus), familiarly known by the name of the " Turk's head," having somewhat the appearance of a head with white hair wrapped in a turban. Hence the name given to this south-easternmost cluster of the Bahamas. Economic Condition of the Bahamas. The population increases but slowly, being affected by all the vicissitudes of trade, good and bad harvests, and hurricanes which ruin the crops and enrich the * An Attempt to Soke the Problem of the First Landing-place of Gulumbus. United States Coast and Geodetic.Survey, Beport for 1880. 448 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. wreckers. There is scarcely any immigration, so that the increase is almost entirely due to the relatively high excess of births over the mortality. The chief produce are fruits, such as pineapples and oranges, raised for exportation either in the natural state or in the form of preserves. The products of the fisheries — turtles, shells, pearls, ambergris, and especially sponges — also contribute to the commercial prosperity of the natives. The large shells intended for the cameo artists are sent chiefly to France. According to Powles 500 smacks, with average crews of eight men, are engaged in the turtle and sponge fisheries. Salt is also a considerable source of wealth, especially in the Caicos and Turk groups. The salt-pans recently conceded to various companies might suffice to supply the whole of the United States with marine salt but for the prevailing heavy tariffs. Thanks to the salt-works the trade of the Caicos and Turks Islands is relatively much greater than that of the other Bahaman groups. The attention of planters has lately been directed towards the cultivation of henequen, or " Sisal hemp," and analogous varieties known in the Antilles by the general name of karata. These plants thrive in the Bahamas fully as well as in Yucatan, and the 330,000 acres recently granted to capitalists are being rapidly planted. About two-thirds of the foreign trade of the Bahamas is carried on with the United States, especially New York and Key West. Administration. The government of the Bahamas is entrusted by the Crown to a governor, assisted by an executive and a legislative council, both composed of 9 members. The repre sentative assembly comprises 29 deputies, nearly all New Brovidence merchants elected by owners of property. The assembly is, in fact, a sort of club where the white aristocracy meets in the capital. The Caicos and Turks groups depend on the Jamaica Government, and are administered by a commissioner and a council of 5 members. The annual budget of the Bahamas exceeds £40,000, while that of the Jamaican dependencies averages £10,000. The latter have no debt, but the former are burdened with a public charge of £80,000. Education, though not obligatory, is general amongst the blacks and people of colour as well as amongst the whites. CHAPTER XIII. THE BEBMUDAS. JHE little Bermudas group, which rises in absolute isolation above the Atlantic abysses, still bears under a slightly modified form the name of the Spanish navigator, Bermudez, by whom it was discovered about the beginning of the sixteenth century. Some hundred years later it was re-discovered by Somers, an English explorer who had deviated from the usual track. Henceforth the archipelago frequently took the name of Somer's Islands, sometimes changed to Summer Islands, as if in reference to their mild climate, described as an " everlasting summer." But the name of the first discoverer ultimately prevailed. The group lies in the broad Atlantic about 600 miles east of Cape Hatteras, the nearest point on the North American mainland. The distance is much greater from the Bahamas, although the Bermudas belong rather to this archi pelago than to the continent so far as regards the aerial and marine currents, which set either north-east and south-west or south-west and north-east. In the same direction are disposed the submarine plateaux on which stand the Bermudas and their prolongation, the Challenger and Argus banks. The axis intersecting the diameter of the Bermudas would also traverse the two south western banks, while its extension would about bisect the chain of the Bahamas. Physical Features. Altogether the Bermudan islands and banks form a nearly regular oval stretch ing north-east and south-west a distance of about 23 miles ; but only a very small part of this space is occupied by dry land. The whole plateau enclosed by the six-fathom line comprises a superficial area of 264 square miles, whereas the Bermudas properly so-called have an extent of only 20 square miles at low water, that is, scarcely one- thirteenth of the rocks raised from the abysmal depths by the coral builders. The portion rising above sea-level is disposed along the eastern margin of the Bermudan plateau, and then bends round southwards in the form of a hook. It consists of one island, with sharp headlands projecting westwards like the horns of a beetle, and of some fifteen narrow islets disposed in a line with Great Bermuda. Including all the upheaved reefs, the cluster comprises at least 150 distinct rocks, and "more than the days, in the year," 62 450 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. reckoning all the points of coral exposed at low water. Extensive basins or sounds offer here and there perfectly sheltered anchorage, but for the most part communicate with the open sea only through dangerous winding passages. The oval curve of the island is itself inscribed within a larger oval, which on the south-west, west and north sides consists merely of submerged plateaux which form a circular rampart against which the waves break ; the whole system thus presents a dangerous circuit of coralline reefs, interrupted by a few " cuts," or navigable openings. The Narrows, as the chief entrance is called, have a depth of 26 feet, and give access from the north-east to the central basin, which has a mean depth of 50, and, in the deeper cavities, of over 80 feet. The whole periphery of the outer banks, a distance of about 40 miles from the Narrows to the southern convex side of the large island, presents at low water nothing but three rocks, 8 to 10 feet high, rising like monoliths on a horizontal ledge almost perfectly levelled by the action of the waves. Serpulse grow in countless masses on the outer edge of the reef, encircling it with a rampart which resists the fury of the Atlantic billows. The various coralline groups composing the great mass of the plateau affect the form of craters, hollow in the centre, and completely encircled by an elevated rim. Like those of the Bahamas and the Bacific ocean, they are so many little atolls grouped together in large systems, which merge in one vast complexity of islands and banks, the atoll of atolls. The existence of coralline reefs under such a high latitude, north of 32° N> or some 2,300 miles from the equator, is a unique phenomenon due entirely to the influence of the Gulf Stream, which brings the tepid waters of the Caribbean Sea, and with it the minute organisms that have gradually built up the structure of the Bermudas in depths of 1,500 and 2,000, and in one place even 2,500 fathoms. The climate, however, is too cold for some species of coral-builders, which, nevertheless, are very common in the Bahaman waters. The reefs themselves differ greatly in size, and are separated by shallow troughs, and even by navigable channels. According to most naturalists, the Bermudan archipelago is one of those whose phenomena agree best with the* hypothesis of Darwin, who explains the continuous growth of the reefs on banks several thousand feet high by the gradual subsidence of the submarine pedestal. Certainly no change of level has taken place since 1843, all the navigable channels having remained the same. But if early records can be credited, the islands were much larger when first discovered than at present. In 1870, when the great graving-dock was constructed in Ireland Island, on the west side of the group, at nearly 50 feet below ebb tide, the workmen came upon some peat and vegetable humus, which were exactly similar to that on the surface of the existing islands, and which contained trunks of " cedars," land shells, and the remains of birds. On the other hand, a relative upheaval may perhaps have taken place before the subsidence, for the limestone cliffs of the islands exceed 160 feet in height. Gibb's Hill, at the extreme southern bend of Great Bermuda, whence a panoramic view is commanded of a labyrinth of wooded headlands and verdant flats, stands THE BERMUDAS. 451 with its lighthouse 400 feet above the sea. Nevertheless, the Bermudan heights may possibly be due to the action of the winds, for these rocks, mostly granular and friable, though hard and compact in some places, are in process of formation under our very eyes, like the dunes of the landes in Gascony. Hence the geologist Nelson has given them the name of " .ZEolian rocks." The moving sands of the beach, stirred up by the winds and carried inland, become gradually consolidated Fig. 216.— The Beemttdas. Scale 1 : 650.000. 0 too Fathoms. Depths. 6 to BO Fathoms. 50 Fathoms and upwards. 12 Miles. by a vesture of vegetation, while the fine calcareous dust of the slopes is partly dissolved by the rains and transformed to a granular incrustation made fast by a natural cement. Fresh sands, brought by the winds, are in their turn hardened in the same way, and thus are formed regular stratified layers. There is not a single roadside cutting in the Bermudas but presents a perfect section of these thin scaly tufas, each recalling the geological work of wind and rain. The red earth covering the soil in horizontal layers is also of recent formation, 452 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. being derived from the disintegration of the surrounding rocks. It is composed of substances found in the calcareous sands, and left as a residuum after repeated rain washings. It thus belongs to the same class of fertile soils which are also met in Cuba and other islands of coralline origin. The reddish clays forming the marine bed in depths of over 2,000 fathoms, are similarly derived from the remains of foraminiferas, showered down in countless myriads from the surface of the sea, and dissolved by the salt waters during their descent. The porous nature of the ground facilitates the formation of this red earth, which is continually dissolved by the rains percolating freely through the rocks. Hence the surface waters nowhere develop streams, though they are here and there collected in cavities near the shore. " Tidal wells," as in the Bahamas, supply drinking-water ; but the rainfall itself is sufficiently copious to enable the inha bitants to depend on the cistern erected at the side of every dwelling. Climate. Thanks to the Gulf Stream and aerial current setting in the same direction, the climate of the Bermudas is warmer than might be expected from their latitude. The mean temperature is about 70° Fahr., or nearly four degrees higher than that of Madeira, which lies under the same parallel. Between the coldest and hottest months (February and June) the range is 27°, 60° and 87° Fahr. respectively Thus, despite the tropical character of the climate, the alternation of the seasons is well marked, being the result of the play of the shifting polar and equatorial winds. It is probably to this periodical change, better regulated and extending over a wider range than in Madeira, that the English residents in Bermuda are indebted for their general good health ; the average mortality amongst them is 23 per thousand, or about exactly the same as in England Tropical disorders are rare, although in 1856 the white population was decimated by an outburst of yellow fever introduced from the Yirginian coastlands. Like most oceanic islands, the Bermudas, despite their distance from the main land, do not constitute a distinct vegetable centre. The spontaneous flora, apart from that introduced by man, consists exclusively of species brought either by the Gulf Stream or by the south-west trade winds. Seen from the summits of the eminences, the islands appear to be almost completely clad with a dark mantle of "cedars" (juniperus barbadensis), from the Lesser Antilles ; they are always associated with a verbena (lantana odorata), also from the Antilles, which has driven out the native grasses. The rocks, being destitute of vegetable humus, are clothed with the stenotaphrum americanum, a herbaceous plant from the Bahamas. As in Cuba and Mexico, the shores are fringed with mangroves ; but the only member of the palm family which grows freely is the palmetto sabal of Florida. All the other palms are exotics, even the magnificent oreodoxa, which lines certain avenues about the capital, and which the Bermudans are proud to show to visitors. Both the date and cocoanut palms are grown, though the fruit seldom ripens. Altogether, the vegetation, springing from a porous limestone soil, where tha THE BERMUDAS. 453 surface waters disappear rapidly, lacks the tropical exuberance attributed to it by certain travellers. The more common European trees are nowhere seen in the woodlands, whose general aspect is monotonous, recalling that of the northern pine-forests. But in the rainy season the masses of pink blossom covering the acclimatised oleanders are suggestive of Sicilian scenery. No indigenous mammals occur in the Bermudas, the rats and mice being of European and the bats of North American or West Indian origin. From North America come nearly all the other animals, of 188 species of birds 3 alone belonging to the Old World. The solitary Bermudan reptile is also of American 454 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. origin. Even of lower forms the native species are very few ; not more than about a dozen of the 170 marine molluscs and less than half of the 30 land molluscs are peculiar to the archipelago, all the rest belonging to the West Indian fauna. Inhabitants, Topography. At the time of the discovery the Bermudas were uninhabited. The present population, of which three-fifths are full-blood or half-caste negroes, has been introduced from the other British colonies, mainly since the abolition of slavery. The increase is entirely due to the natural excess of the birth-rate over the mortality. All are concentrated in three little towns and a few hamlets. Hamilton, the capital, alone contains more than half of the islanders. It lies on the south side of a long peninsula towards the centre of the large island ; but the harbour, deep enough to admit the largest vessels, is too exposed to the west winds. The town is extremely clean, but offers nothing remarkable beyond its gardens, its avenues and dazzling white villas relieved by the creepers entwined round their verandahs. Even the roofs are regularly scrubbed and whitened twice a year to prevent any impurities from being washed by the rains into the cisterns. Beservoirs have been constructed at intervals to husband the overflow for periods of drought. St. George, at the northern extremity of the archipelago, is of more easy access and safer than Hamilton. Yessels drawing 16 feet have no difficulty in penetrating through a well-buoyed channel into the vast triangular basin, which is entirely enclosed by islands and islets, and defended by forts and redoubts. Formidable military works have also been erected at the other extremity of the archipelago, where it curves round from east to south. An arsenal, a citadel, barracks, fortified piers, pontoons, and a penal station with accommoda tion for 1,500 convicts, form an imposing group of somewhat uninviting establishments on Ireland Island, at this approach to the Bermudas. The Bermudas present too small a surface for extensive agricultural operations. But the fruit and vegetable gardens cover a space of about 3,000 acres, where potatoes, onions, and tomatoes are grown for the New York market. The maranta arundinacea also yields a tapioca of excellent quality, but not in sufficiently large quantities to remunerate the planters; hence this plant, as well as the orange and lemon, has ceased to be cultivated. The industries are even of less import ance than husbandry. Formerly large vessels were built in the Bermudas, where nothing is now produced except some small craft, furniture, and some smaller articles, such as the wood for lead-pencils, made of the so-called "cedar," or odori ferous juniper. The archipelago has a semblance of representative government modelled on that of the United Kingdom, with governor, a legislative council of 9 members named by the Crown, and a chamber of 36 deputies elected by popular suffrage. CHAPTEB XIV. THE LESSEB ANTILLES. NDEB the general name of the Lesser Antilles are usually comprised all the islands of the Caribbean Sea except Cuba, Jamaica, San Domingo (Haiti), and Puerto Bico. But those fringing the Vene zuelan coast, including Trinidad and the neighbouring Tobago, are too closely connected with the South American mainland, both in their position, relief, and geological constitution, to be separated from that conti nent in a general geographical treatise. In fact, the term Antilles should be restricted to the chain of islands which develops a graceful curve from north to south, beginning at Sombrero and terminating at Grenada and Barbados. It should also, strictly speaking, include the Bird Islets (Aves), situated in the Caribbean Sea within the space enclosed by the rampart of islands washed on the east by the Atlantic, but on a chain of parallel banks which an upheaval of the marine bed would transform to a second group of Lesser Antilles. The English administration, misunderstanding the reports of navigators, usually apply the expression " Leeward Islands " to the northern section of the Lesser Antilles as far south as Dominica, and inclusive of the Virgin group. The southern section from Martinique to Trinidad is in the same way grouped under the designation of the "Windward Islands." But these expressions are inaccurate and misleading, for all the islands standing on the outer margin of the Caribbean Sea are alike exposed to the action of the trade winds. Hence the terms, windward and leeward, have no geographical meaning or any value except from the stand point of the British colonial administration. Even in this sense it is confusing, for despite the official nomenclature, the French islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique are members of the so-called " Leeward " group. Altogether the Lesser Antilles, from Sombrero to Grenada with Barbados but without the Aves, have a collective area of over 2,550 square miles, with a population of about 800,000, which for the New World is exceptionally dense. Since 1856 the Aves group, important for its rich guano deposits, has formed part of the Venezuelan Bepublic. Politically the Lesser Antilles are very unequally distributed. The two largest, Guadeloupe and Martinique, with their dependencies, are French colonies, but they do not form a distinct group, being separated by the intervening British 456 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. island of Dominica. The British possessions, more numerous and collectively more extensive than the French, form two main groups in the northern and southern sections of the chain, besides the just-mentioned Dominica, whose central position between Guadeloupe and Martinique makes it the most vital Fig. 218.— St. Kitts. Scale 1 : 430,000. BS^O' West oF Greenwich Oto 10 Fathoms. Depths. 10 to 50 Fathoms. 50 Fathoms and upwards. . 6 Miles. strategic point of this insular world. A small group in the north-west over against the Virgin archipelago belongs to Holland, but all the rest are British. Physical Features. The system of the Lesser Antilles does not form a single line, but two per fectly distinct chains. Of these the more important is that which extends from Saba and St. Eustatius to Grenada, developing a curve of about 370 miles. THE LESSER ANTILLES. 457 St. Christopher (St. Kitts) and Nevis may be taken as a typical specimen of the general disposition of this inner or western chain. The outer, about equal in length, sweeps round from Sombrero to Barbados. Like the first it describes the arc of a circle, but is disposed exactly north west and south-east in such a way as to form a tangent to the convexity of the inner circuit. Guadeloupe is thus constituted a double island, belonging partly to one, partly to the other system. A third line, scarcely indicated above the surface, is revealed by Aves and the neighbouring shoals. The main chain of the Antilles consist of elliptical lands with their long axis disposed in the same direction as the chain itself. Each island has also its little backbone which again follows the same general curve. The ranges culminate in the three central islands of Guadeloupe, Dominica and Martinique ; but all members of the system are very elevated relatively to their limited areas ; some of the islets even constitute a single cone, rising many hundred feet sheer above the surface, and in their very form betraying their igneous origin. In general the mountains consist of porphyries and lavas, and evidently had their origin on a submarine fault, whence they rose gradually above the sea. Some are even still growing by the accretion of fresh eruptive matter. But the outer range, from Sombrero to Barbados, is not volcanic, or at least the igneous rocks thrust from the marine bed upwards have not yet reached the surface except at a few isolated points. The plateau on which the islands stand is almost everywhere covered with calcareous formations of oceanic origin. Nowhere is the contrast between the two chains more striking than in the twin islands of Guadeloupe, one elevated, bristling with craggy peaks, scored with lava streams, abounding in running waters, the other low, or gently undulated, fissured with crevasses and honeycombed with caves in which the waters disappear. But if the calcareous range rests on a rocky bed, the igneous system itself is not exclusively formed of eruptive matter, for these upheaved volcanic islands have also their margins of oceanic origin. Bound the base of the porphyry or trachyte escarpments have been accumulated to a height of over 800 feet great masses of a grey conglomerate, tinged with red and yellow, in which have been embedded huge blocks that have toppled over from the upper slopes. This conglomerate had its origin below the surface at a time when the sea-level was relatively higher than at present. The marine formations deposited at the foot of the volcanoes now stand above the sea in consequence either of a subsidence of the waters or of an upheaval of the land. Should the movement continue, the banks of reefs or cays at present encircling the submerged base of the islands will be seen to rise above the surface, especially on the side facing the Atlantic. The composition of the rocks is the same in the still flooded reefs as in the already upraised cliff s ; even in appearance they differ little, though the more recent coralline growths are somewhat softer, and of a less yellowish colour. In some places the conglomerates on the coast are interrupted by lava streams, and both of these formations being contemporaneous, fragments of each are found embedded in the different deposits. 458 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. Climate. The climate of the Lesser differs little from that of the Great Antilles. The con trasts, in fact, are far more striking between the opposite slopes of the islands them selves than between the two extremities of the American Mediterranean. Those members of the chain which are disposed in the direction of the meridian present the most marked differences between the sides facing the Atlantic billows and those washed by the still waters of the sheltered Caribbean Sea. In the French colonies one slope takes the name of " Capesterre " (Cabesterre), the other that of " Basseterre." The climatic differences have caused great contrasts in the density of the popu lation, in the local industries and the trading relations. Endless diversity is also caused by the mountainous character of the volcanic islands according to their altitude and aspect. Within a few hundred yards of the burning coastlands the inhabitants find a moderate temperature, the upland glens and breezy headlands offering more salubrious atmospheric conditions, so that every island is provided With its natural health resort. But in the various sections of the islands them selves the different temperatures present little variation throughout the year, the glass nowhere rising or falling more than about 36 degrees.* The rainfall varies far more than the temperature, according to the different aspects and disposition of the relief, in one place arresting, in another giving free passage to, all moisture-bearing clouds. Thus the showers are more copious on the Capesterre than on the Basseterre, and they also increase with the altitude. In this respect a regular gradation may be observed, even in an island like Barbados where the differences of relief are relatively slight.t Although not absolutely unknown hail is even of far rarer occurrence than in Cuba ; in Guadeloupe the phenomenon has only been once recorded, in the year 1805. Flora and Fauna. Forms from every division of the American mainland are intermingled in the local flora, which is extremely diversified relatively to the small extent of the islands, and which often presents considerable contrasts even in contiguous districts. Plants from the Old World would also seem to have reached the West Indies even before the arrival of the Europeans and their African slaves. Botanists, however, are far from being of accord with regard to the origin of cultivated plants possessing para mount importance in the trade of the world. Certain varieties of sugar-cane are known to have been imported ; but the species found by the first French settlers * Temperature of the Lesser Antilles : — Guadeloupe (Pointe-a-Pitre) . Martinique (Fort-de-France) . Barbados (Bridgetown) X Rainfall of Barbados : — From sea-level to 200 feet . From 200 to 400 feet . From 400 to 600 feet . Latitude. 16° 14' Mean. 78° F. Min. 67° F. Muz. 101° F. Rainfall, inches. 43 14° 36' 81° 63° 85° 84 13° 5' 77° 64° 88° 62 Inches. 45 From 600 to 800 feet Inches. 60 47 From 800 to 900 feet . 46 48 From 1,000 to 1,140 feet. 47 FAUNA OF THE LESSER ANTILLES. 459 in St. Christopher, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and St. Vincent has always been regarded by them as indigenous. Similar doubts have arisen respecting the origin of certain animal species, such as that of the monkey till recently surviving in the woods of Barbados. While Schomburgk regards it as an American species, Fielden identifies it with the West African cercopithecus callitrichus, presumably introduced from Guinea by the first settlers, and found also in St. Kitts, Nevis, and Grenada. Each island has its special fauna. -Of 128 species of birds collected by Ober seven only are common to all the Lesser Antilles, while as many as 52 occur only in one island. Barbados, of oceanic origin and never connected with the mainland, appears to have received both its plants and animals by the winds, the marine cur rents, the action of birds and men. Some of the forms found in the Lesser Antilles by the early colonists have already disappeared. Such was a large pigeon at that time very common, but«now occurring only in the fossil state and in South America. According to Darwin the modifying influence of the environment is shown especially in the European butterflies, which become wingless in the West Indies, where the wings would be a disadvantage, serving as sails for the winds to drive them seawards. Naturalists who study molluscs and other lower orders discover endless examples of strange contrasts between the local faunas. Certain forms found in remote lands are wanting in the intermediate insular chains, as if the links belonging to different periods of formation had been formerly connected by isthmuses to different conti nents. The existence of such limited biological areas is associated with the most difficult problems of geology and natural history. A case in point is the bothrops lanceolatus, a poisonous trigonocephalous snake confined exclusively to Martinique and two other members of the Lesser Antilles, where it is much dreaded by the natives. Besides man it has many enemies, such as the steel-blue coibo adder, the ant which attacks its eyes, and the mungoos which devours body, fangs and all. There are no less than eight varieties of this dangerous reptile, none more than 6 or 7 feet long, another nearly 10 feet long having disappeared since the last century. Inhabitants. At the discovery the inhabitants, all of Carib race, were distinguished by their physical appearance, language and usages from the mild and peaceful natives of San Domingo. They are described by the early writers as brave, fierce and indomitable, rushing fearlessly on danger and boasting of their wounds, but ferocious and pitiless towards their captives. They were even cannibals, possibly on religious grounds, or to enhance their courage by devouring the heart of the enemy. The first European visitors were horrified at the sight of human limbs strewn on the ground, or hung on the doorposts, or roasting on spits. Nevertheless, these fierce warriors were trustworthy friends, and faithful observers of the duties of hospitality, at times risking death itself rather than abandon their guests. They were also daring seafarers, venturing in their frail 460 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. craft hundreds of miles from the land, and familiar with all the straits and coasfs from South America to the Great Antilles. Their habit was to land in small bands, and surprise the village of some hostile tribe of the Guatuaios (Ineri or Igneri) of Arawak race, and carry off the plunder, with the young men reserved for the banquet or bondage, and the women for wives and drudges. The Caribs appear to have reached the Lesser Antilles only one or two genera tions before the discovery. They have been regarded as Aztecs, Mayas, Peruvian Quichuas or even Bedskins from North America. But their traditions, as well as their language and usages, point especially to Venezuela, Guiana and Brazil as their primeval homes. They are, in fact, akin to the Galibi of Guiana and to the Indians of the Xingu Biver recently visited by Ehrenreich.* The national name has been diversely explained. In the Tupi language of Brazil, Cari-a'iba is a collective name used in the sense of " bad people," " pirates," or " cannibals." But whatever its origin, it was ultimately adopted by the West Indian Caribs themselves in a noble sense, for they even applied it to the whites in recognition of their superior intelligence. Amerigo Vespucci states expressly that the natives of the Paria coast called the Spanish navigators " Carabes," in this sense, and the French and Portuguese were also called " Caraybbes, Caryba." In the Antilles the Carib women spoke a peculiar language differing con siderably from that of the men, which was originally that of the Galibi who overran the islands as far as Haiti. The female speech, on the contrary, was funda mentally that of the Arawaks whom the Galibi had vanquished, slaying the men and capturing the women. Eventually this Arawak tongue acquired the pre ponderance, partly because the education of the children was in the hands of the women, and partly also because it was a richer and more developed form of speech. As the Caribs had " eaten " the Arawaks, so they were in their turn devoured by the Spanish, French and English settlers. The history of every island, especially Martinique, Dominica and St. Vincent, is a record of massacres, and now only a few half-caste Caribs survive in the remote upland valleys of those islands. Dominica appears to have about 30 such families, and in 1881 there were 192 persons in St. Vincent calling themselves Caribs. And now the white destroyers of the Indians might seem themselves slowly succumbing, not to massacres, but to the climate and changed social relations. During the period of colonisation the increase of the European element was always due to voluntary or forced immigration. Most of the settlers were, in fact, not "free inhabitants," but "engaged" or, rather, temporary slaves. Epi demics frequently swept away whole communities, and even since the colonies have entered on a period of peaceful development the white mortality has often exceeded the birth-rate, especially during the prevalence of yellow fever, t Altogether decrease was the normal condition, so that the race seemed threatened with extinction by the slow but pitiless hand of nature. * Congress of Americanists, Paris, 1890. t Mean mortality of yellow-fever patients in Martinique from 1802 to 1869, according to Beranger F raud, 232 per thousand. INHABITANTS OF THE. LESSER ANTILLES. 461 Nevertheless, there are indications that under favourable conditions the North European may become perfectly acclimatised in the West Indies. As regards the Spaniards and Canary Islanders there can be no doubt, as is evident from Fig. 219. — A Mabtiniqite Ceeoie Woman. the rapid increase of the Puerto Bicans. But numerous instances can also be adduced of French, Dutch, English and Scotch families persisting from genera tion to generation, and even distinguished by sound constitutions, great muscular strength, rare physical beauty and brilliant intellectual qualities. A better know- 462 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. ledge of hygieuics, the increasing facilities of locomotion and frequent shiftings of the population, with the establishment of health resorts at various altitudes, tend to render the acclimatisation of all European residents more and more feasible. The actual decrease of the white element, all the more striking when taken in connection with the rapid increase of the blacks, is due rather to economic and moral than to material conditions. During the plantation days the position of the great landowners was that of masters, of superior beings belonging, so to say, to a distinct humanity. But after the emancipation, when many of the negroes acquired comfort and even wealth, when education tended to diminish racial differences, and when the African claimed his place in the council chamber, the heirs of the white aristocracy turned with repugnance from a land where the slaves of yesterday arrogated to themselves equal privileges and political rights. They preferred to withdraw without any intention of returning. On the other hand the " little whites," clerks, secretaries, government officials, agents, are now thrust aside, unable to compete with their negro and mulatto rivals. Officials swarm just as much, in the English as in the other islands, and in virtue of their very numbers the men of colour get elected to most of the subordinate posts. In certain districts the whites, refusing the administration of the sons of slaves, have completely disappeared. In this struggle for existence probably more than one-fourth of the European element has been eliminated since the middle of the century. Their successful rivals are no longer full-blood negroes, but mulattoes or "people of colour." Miscegenation has become universal despite the unfavourable initial conditions and the severe laws formerly interdicting such alliances. At present the insular populations present every conceivable transition from sallow white to glossy black, though the prevalent hue is a brown yellow, a fine bronze tint, ©r even that of pale gold. Certainly this mixed race has not declined, and the half-caste Creoles especially of Martinique and Dominica are amongst the finest in the Antilles.* Since the emancipation, slave labour has been largely replaced by coolies from India, who, being mostly British subjects, are protected by laws and stipula tions, which are much better observed than the regulations formerly controlling the power of the slave-owners. A special "protector" is charged to represent the interests of the coolies, to visit them at least every three years, and to see that the terms of the contract be strictly observed. But few Hindus are now engaged, and years pass without fresh importations of hired hands. The local population is already sufficiently dense, while the natural classification of the people according to their pursuits enables the planters to procure all the labour they require without introducing strangers. The coolies who have chosen to settle in the islands, about 40,000 altogether, have mostly taken to petty trading, and merge very slowly with the rest of the population. As under the slave system, the Lesser Antilles continue chiefly to grow those plants which yield the so-called " colonial produce ; " but this produce varies "•' L. Hearn, Two Tears in the French West Indies. SOMBRERO, ANGUILLA, ST. MARTIN. 463 in importance with social and political revolutions, the oscillations of trade and changes of tariff. Nevertheless, as in the last century, sugar is still the staple crop, and the capital invested in this industry is estimated at £50,000,000. Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Barbados even yield a greater average quantity than in the most flourishing days of the old regime. Coffee, for which Martinique was at one time famous, has ceased to be the staple in any of the islands, while cacao has taken the first rank in Grenada. Montserrat and Dominica prepare lemon- juice ; St. Vincent is largely occupied with the production of arrowroot, and in most ol the English islands growers are paying increased attention to bananas, oranges, cocoa and kola nuts, and other fruits. Collectively, the produce of the Lesser Antilles represents an annual value of about £8,000,000, and supports a sea-borne traffic estimated at 2,000,000 tons. II. — The Insular Groups. Sombrero, The Dogs, Anguilla. Sombrero, northernmost of the Lesser Antilles, looks at a distance like a greyish " hat " floating on the sea. It is a mere rock, regarded as of no value till some American, traders came to work the guano deposits resting on still more valuable beds of calcareous phosphates. After long diplomatic discussions the island was restored to Great Britain, the deposits having already been largely exhausted. The British flag also flies over the neighbouring clusters of the Dogs, so named from their resemblance to a pack of hounds in full chase over the waves, and Anguilla, which probably owes its name to its serpentine form, though Aguila is the designation given to it by Herrera. It is sometimes called Snake Island, and is continued north-east by the islet of Anguilletta. Being constantly swept by the trade winds, these low islands are very healthy, and the inhabitants, almost exclusively blacks, are chiefly engaged in breeding little ponies that graze the saline pastures along the beach. They also export salt, phosphate of lime, tobacco, maize, and cattle, chiefly to the marine depots of St. Thomas. St. Martin. Immediately south of Anguilla follows St. Martin, which rests on the same submarine bank, the intervening channel nowhere exceeding 100 feet. It is a lofty island, culminating on the north side in Paradise Peak, 1,920 feet high. Other peaks follow southwards, while westwards stretches the low-lying peninsula of Terres-Basses, connected with the mainland by two curved sandy beaches, which present their concave sides towards the sea ; between them is enclosed the deep basin of Simpson's Lagoon. Other smaller inlets indent the north-west, east, and southern shores, and penetrate far into the upland glens. St. Martin is the only member of the Lesser Antilles which owns two masters, the northern section, about two-thirds of the whole, belonging to France, the rest 464 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. to Holland. The spot is still shown where the partition was amicably arranged by treaty in 1648. Since then the arrangement has been faithfully observed, although the island has also been occupied by some British settlers, who now out number both the Dutch and French colonists. Sugar was formerly cultivated, but the inhabitants are now chiefly engaged in the production of provisions and working the salt-pans, which yield on an average about 10,000,000 bushels of salt. Marigot, capital of the French part, stands on the bay of like name, north of the now obstructed Simpson's Lagoon. It is a free port, and being well sheltered Fig. 220.— St. Martin. Scale 1 : 250,000. 63° io West oF Greenwich Depths. 0 to 5 Fathoms. 6 to 12 Fathoms 12 Fathoms and upwards. . 3 Miles. attracts some shipping. Philipsburg (Philisburg), the Dutch town, lies on a narrow bjach between the semicircular southern bay and a vast salt-pan worked by a Franco-Dutch company, St. Bartholomew. This islet, familiarly called St. Bart, occupies the southern extremity of the bank on which stand Anguilla and St. Martin. It develops a crescent scarcely 6 miles long from east to west, and not more than 8 square miles in extent, culminating in the centre in a limestone hill 1,000 feet high. The capital bears the Swedish name of Fort Gustave (Gustavia), for the island, after being French from 1648 to 1784, was acquired by Sweden, and again ceded to France in 1877 for the sum of £11,000. Gustaviu .stands on the west side, BARBUDA, ANTIGUA. 465 where its sheltered harbour gives access to vessels drawing from 8 to 1 0 feet. The inhabitants, mainly of French descent, speak English, and are exempt from most of the burdens imposed on the people of Guadeloupe, of which St. Bartholo mew is an administrative dependency. Barbuda. This- low island lies somewhat beyond the normal course of the Antilles chain, and in deeper water, the surrounding straits having over 500 fathoms everywhere except on the south side towards Antigua. Both islands stand on the same plateau, which has a depth of not more than 15 or 20 fathoms. Although of average relative size, Barbuda is of less economic value than mere islets such as Nevis or Deseada. Yet its salubrity and fertile soil might have attracted settlers, despite its isolation, and the absence of good harbours. There is room in Barbuda for 100,000 peasantry ; but it was never colonised, because for two centuries it has belonged entirely to one English family, so that nobody could acquire land. The owner so effectually made or kept it a solitude that it is often omitted from the very list of British possessions. To the old vassal of the Crown have now succeeded two capitalists, officially bound, as he had been, to send a fat sheep once a year to the Governor of Antigua. They have now substituted a deer, an animal which they introduced from Europe, and which inhabits the forests that cover the island. Barbuda is the only member of the Lesser Antilles in which the whites out number the blacks ; but the whole population is less than a thousand. Antigua. Antigua has relatively thirty times the population of its "Silent Sister," Barbuda. It was so named by Columbus in honour of Santa Maria la Antigua, a church in Valladolid. Like the other members of the outer chain, it is a low calcareous island, its highest crest not exceeding 900 feet. Nevertheless, the south-western hills with their steep cliffs form a sort of natural stronghold where the inhabitants might take refuge in case of invasion. Here are evidences of former igneous action, English Harbour being a group of craters invaded by the marine waters. But elsewhere Antigua forms a plateau of calcareous strata, with alternating layers of marine and freshwater deposits, and with the greatest variety of fossil corals, and of animal and vegetable organisms transformed to agates. Like the other limestone islands Antigua is destitute of running waters, and in 1779 and again in 1789 the cisterns remained empty for months together, while the cattle perished in thousands. At present the capital is furnished with a reservoir containing 600,000 gallons of water. Antigua is supposed to be indebted for its healthy climate to the perfectly natural system of drainage, leaving no stagnant waters anywhere. Antigua was first occupied in 1632 by English settlers ; these were succeeded 63 466 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. by the French, but the island was restored to Great Britain by the treaty of Breda in 1666, and since then it has formed part of the British possessions. It was the first of the English islands to abolish slavery in 1834, without awaiting the results of the preliminary apprenticeship ; but no lands were granted to the blacl s, most of whom abandoned the large plantations, declining to seek employ ment under their old masters. Owing to these economic changes, and partly also perhaps to the exhaustion Fig 221. — St. John's Habbottb, Antigua. Scale 1 : 40,000. bles-mill 6l'52'.S5*. West dp Greenwich 6r5o'e5" Depths. Oto 16 Eeet. 16 to 32 Feet. 32 Feet and upwards, - 1,100 Yards. of the soil, the production of sugar, the staple industry of Antigua, has consider ably fallen off ; it is now proposed to replace it, as in the Bahamas, by hene quen. The Antiguan pineapples are famous in the markets of Great Britain and the United States. Nearly all the foreign trade is carried on through the port of St. John, which stands on the north side at the head of a bay (St. John's Harbour) afford ing good anchorage in depths of 10 to 14 feet, but of difficult access. English Harbour, on the south coast, is a better and more sheltered haven ; but it was ANTIGUA, SABA. 467 formerly a naval station with barracks, forts and arsenals, which repelled trade, and the basin has since remained deserted. St. John, a town of 16,000 inhabitants, is the centre of administration for a presidency comprising Barbuda and Bedonda, and for all the English " Leeward Islands " from the Virgin archipelago to Dominica. Here reside the governor and the president, who are assisted by an executive council appointed by the Crown, and Fig. 222.— St. Ettstatius. Scale 1 : 86,000. 63* West oF Greenwich 62*56' Depths. Oto 5 Fathoms. 6 to 50 Fathoms. 50 Fathoms and upwards. . 2,200 Yards. a legislature, half of whose members are elected by a limited body of voters. In 1885 there were only 208 electors, who were outnumbered by the officials Saba and St. Eustatius. Both of these islets, northernmost of the inner volcanic range, belong to Holland, though English is the current language, as it is in all the West Indian 468 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. islands between Buerto Bico and Guadeloupe. Saba is an igneous cone 2,800 feet high, with a village nestling in an old breached crater 500 feet above the sea. A sandy cove on the south side gives access to small craft, and the rock is con tinued south-westwards by a submarine bank 1,200 square miles in extent, and from 5 to 20 fathoms deep. St. Eustatius is larger but less elevated than Saba, its culminating peak, formerly a separate island, being somewhat less than 2,000 feet high. The Bunchbowl, as the central crater is called, is now overgrown by a dense vege tation. Orangetown, the capital, lies on an open roadstead on the west side. St. Eustatius and Saba are administrative dependencies of the Dutch island of Curacao, on the Venezuelan coast. St. Christopher and Nevis. St. Christopher, familiarly known as St. Kitts, was discovered in 1493 by Christopher Columbus, who, even after visiting Deseada, Dominica, Guadeloupe and Antigua, was so taken with its beauty that he gave it his own Christian name. It is the only member of the Antilles that directly recalls the memory of the great navigator. The Caribs called it Liamniga, the " Fertile ; " but this fertility proved their ruin. Warner and his English associates, who landed in 1623, and the French adventurers under d'Esnambuc, who arrived two years later, combined against the natives, whom they first drove to the interior, and then completely exterminated. Nothing now recalls their presence except a " rock inscription " which has not been deciphered. Both for the English and French St. Kitts is the " mother colony," or " mere des Antilles ; " here were founded their first settlements, and from this point the southern islands were gradually peopled. At first the two nations divided the island between them in a somewhat eccentric fashion, the English occupying the central hilly district, the French the two extremities, the "Capesterre" and the "Basseterre," while the salt-pans, though < in French territory, were to be common to both ; as a set-off against this the French were allowed to draw their supply of sulphur from the volcano in the English district. The respective domains were limited by cactus hedges, more effective barriers than palisades or ramparts. After repelling a Spanish attack in 1629 the settlers lived peaceably together till their Governments began to contend for the dominion of all the Lesser Antilles. St. Kitts was taken and retaken, and finally ceded to Great Britain by the treaty of Versailles in 1783. In the French district the local names recall the language of its former inhabitants. St. Kitts differs in form from most of the other Antilles. The northern and much larger section assumes the usual elongated oval shape ; but it is continued southwards by a long tongue of sand in the direction of Nevis, and terminates in a round peninsula enclosing a saline lagoon. On the map the contour lines thus present the form of a guitar. But the northern section, where are concentrated ST. KITTS. 469 the towns and plantations, may be regarded as the real island, whose regular verdant slopes culminate in the arid grey peak of Mount Misery (4,330 feet), so named from the torrents which during the rains rush down the gorges and deluge the plantations. Since the emancipation it has also borne the name of Mount Liberty. The seafarers formerly fancied they detected in its outlines a vague g * Pm Hip r t i ¦1 resemblance to St. Christopher bearing the infant Jesus, as in the Christian legend. The crater, about 1,000 feet deep, has been quiescent since the close of the last century, and in the rainy season is transformed to a lake fringed with palms and other trees ; but hundreds of fissures on the flanks of the mountain still continue to emit sulphurous gases. Brimstone Hill, one of the parasitic cones, 780 feet 470 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. high, is crowned by a citadel formerly called the " Gibraltar of the West Indies," but now abandoned as useless. The capital of St. Kitts, which still bears the French name of Basseterre, but which the English settlers pronounce Barr- Starr, lies at the foot of Monkey Hill, on a bay of the western' or sheltered side. The town is surrounded by gardens and palm-groves, and here has recently been successfully introduced the famous lodoicea Seychellarum, or sea-cocoanut of the Seychelles, which was till lately threatened with extinction. Scarcely anything is raised in the island except sugar, said to be the best in the Antilles, and still produced in sufficient quantities to remunerate the planters despite the low prices. But they have often had to suffer from long droughts, and occasionally from floods, as in 1880, when an avalanche of water and slush from Mount Misery reached the capital, levelling hundreds of houses, and laying all the lower quarters under mud ; whole planta tions, houses and all, were swept down the flanks of the mountain. The estates still remain undivided, and in the hands of the white planters ; the blacks have received no land, and cannot even build a hut without the permission of the ground landlords. There are no Indian coolies in the island, but most of the retail trade is monopolised by Portuguese and natives of the Azores. The Spanish name of Nieves, given to the neighbouring islet by Columbus, in honour of " Our Lady of the Snow," has been changed by the English to Nevis, as if it had been named from Ben Nevis. It is a superb cone rising sheer above the sea to a height of 3,460 feet, and flanked right and left by two secondary crests. Nevis should be regarded as forming part of the same insular mass as St. Kitts, from which it is separated only by a reef-studded channel 26 feet deep and scarcely 2 miles wide at its narrowest part. The precipitous nature of the surface prevents the use of the plough, so that the whole island, even the land under sugar, has to be tilled with the spade. In the seventeenth century Nevis had a population of several thousand whites, who were compelled to emigrate when the land was bought up by a few great capitalists. The blacks also readily seek employment elsewhere, so that the women greatly outnumber the men. Charlestown, the capital, lies on the leeward side ; in the neighbourhood are some noted thermal springs. St. Kitts and Nevis form with Anguilla a "presidency," administered like the other divisions of the Leeward Islands. The yearly budget exceeds £40,000. Montserrat. The igneous chain is continued southwards by the inhabited islet of Redonda (600 feet), beyond which follows the rugged island of Montserrat, so named by Columbus in honour of the famous Catalonian sanctuary. The jagged sierra culminates in a peak 3,000 feet high, and from another cone, named La Soufriere, hot vapours still escape. Like the other islands Montserrat was long a bone of contention between the French and English. At present it is relatively one of the most densely peopled and flourishing of all the British Antilles. Its enterprising planters, MONTSERRAT. 471 besides the sugar and rum industries, have since 1852 covered large tracts with lemon-groves, yielding nearly all the citric acid and lemon- juice consumed in England. Plymouth, the capital, lies on the west side, but !he roadstead, being too exposed for large vessels, is frequented only by small craft engaged in the coast- Fig. 224.— MONTSBBRAT. Scale 1 : 180 000. Depths. Oto 10 Fathoms 10 to 100 100 Fathoms Fathoms. and upwards. ^__^___ 3 Miles. in o- trade. Its mild climate and picturesque environment have earned for this pkce the title of the "Western Montpellier." The Archipelago of Guadeloupe. Guadeloupe (Guadalupe), largest of the Lesser Antilles, has preserved under a slightly modified form the name given by Columbus to Curucueira, as it was 472 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. called by its Carib inhabitants. It consists really of two islands, Guadeloupe proper, called also Basse- Terre from its leeward position, and the eastern section which, though the smaller of the two, takes the name of Grande-Terre because it presents a greater extent of arable land. The Riviere Salee, as the intervening channel is called, varies in width from about 100 to 400 feet, and is navigable for vessels drawing 7 or 8 feet of water. It might be converted into a deep canal accessible to sea-going ships by removing the bar at the southern extremity, and improving the channel at the northern entrance. The passage, however, would have long ago been closed by the coral-builders but for the scouring action of the tides. Despite its name Basse-Terre (" Low Land ") is really high ground, with four lofty igneous cones : — Grosse-Montagne (2,370 feet), in the north-west, whence radiate various ridges nearly at the same elevation ; the Deux Mamelles (2,540), with La Soufriere (4,900) farther south, and towards the southern extremity the Caraibe (2,300), with Houelmont (1,800). These various masses merge in an irregular sinuous range, whose watershed has been incessantly modified by the erosive action of the tropical rains. Igneous energy is still active at one or two points, such as Bouillante at the foot of the Mamelles on the Caribbean Sea, where little craters in the sands emit hot vapours ; even in the sea gas bubbles rising from the marine bed are often seen bursting on the surface. The supreme crest of La Soufriere stands in the centre of a plain which was probably a crater and which still discharges sulphur etted hydrogen. A circle of crests encloses the Petite Plaine, a depression which also represents an old crater. Gas continues to escape from a deep fissure in the centre, which contains the sulphur deposits whence the mountain takes its name. Numerous thermal springs flow from the outer slopes. The whole surface of Grande-Terre is strewn with mamelons, or rounded knolls, averaging from 100 to 130 feet in height, and consisting, like the fringing reefs, of calcareous conglomerates full of shells and fossil corals like those still living in the surrounding waters. Grande-Terre culminates in a hill on the south side about 450 feet high. Bound about Grande-Terre and here and there on the coast of Basse-Terre the land is encroaching seawards, thanks to the incessant action of the coral- builders. Besides the living reefs, calcareous rocks continue to grow, deriving from conglomerate sands and minute particles of shells, in which objects of all kinds become embedded and petrified. These are the so-called " maconne-bon- dieu" rocks, from which the inhabitants draw the stone for their buildings without ever exhausting the supply. It was in a rock of this kind on the east coast of Grande-Terre that were dis covered the Carib skeletons which became famous in the history of contemporary geology under the name of anthropolites. The first of these skeletons, found in 1805, was captured by the English privateers, and deposited in the British Museum, and since transferred to the Natural History Museum, South Kensington. Another, now in the Paris Museum, wears a neck ornament similiar to that still THE GUADALOUPE J'*yde-lasGnat P^deylayPet&ey Tfyies . Axxs e-Bortrand •¦;/ .:'" '¦ "., ¦"¦ .:¦ • .'¦' Porl-Lmris .¦• ° fi Uet a Hahouazme •? ';.'.'*. A /¦•' MorneaTeatt^ Deshayes .**/;• GrosseyyVopitmriey • le ljamentia V LssATrymes- - ajp.i' i T>tex? • '.lixGmronney la P" Noire f :. . ,.'• les JHctrnyzELe* ,; *..:.V° POINTE-A-PITRE "'' '.»¦'¦ t " T*! "u0S*rt'5s,c\ .• ..,". ¦;> '..• ¦> " le Gorier ; PetijJBonrg Seon . sf de . Jyoui&aj-tte.' S* JW7*'Sans Toucher- Sou/friereS Camp Jacob - leBaiUif Sr Claude GUADELOUPL pesterre BASSE-TEERE Geyj?e IeyGuvib* lesTrois-Ririeue: Meni-Fort jP.gyI^nmtri/ Terve d'en baa Bet a Cabrit la Cache C^Het West of Greenwich. 61° so' LTJ 0 to 5 tuthxmts Dart StoSO E ARCHIPELAGO. he5 fathoms SOf^*i upwards. AFFLETON 8c C? GUADELOUPE. 473 worn by the Caribs in the seventeenth century. The same rock has yielded other objects, such as recent potsherds, the dried grains of coccoloba uvifera, and the skeleton of a dog. Hence the bodies embedded in the Guadeloupe conglomerate are not true fossils, nor of any great antiquity. They may have been living since the discovery of America, or even since the occupation of Guadeloupe. Guadeloupe is continued eastwards by the islet of Desirade (Deseada), that is, " Desired," so named by Columbus because on the voyage from Europe to Guade loupe it was the first land sighted by the weary mariners. It is of the same geological formation as Grande-Terre, but more rugged, and culminating in a peak 900 feet high. Marie-Galante, named from one of Columbus' vessels, is much larger but some what less elevated than Desirade. It looks as if built up of successive step terraces, like an old Babylonian tower, dominated on the east by a plateau 675 feet high. Bound the island a cay in process of formation forms a still submerged terrace, probably destined one day to be upheaved like all the others. The circular beach is about 50 miles round. The archipelago is completed by the Saintes, properly Los Santos, so named because discovered soon after the feast of All Hallows ("All Saints "). They are the fragmentary remains of two volcanoes which were disposed in the same direc tion as those of Guadeloupe and Dominica. Of the seven separate rocks some are fractured craters, others lava heaps resting on a submarine volcano, the highest point being Le Chameau (1,040 feet), in Terre-de-Haut on the east side of the group. The Saintes are at once the health resort and the bulwarks of Guadeloupe, their summits being crowned with forts. Discovered and named by the Spaniards, Guadeloupe was regarded as a Spanish possession, but remained unoccupied till 1635, when the French adventurers L'Olive and Duplessis landed at Allegre Point with some white labourers under contract for three years. After a sanguinary struggle with the Carib natives these pioneers gave way for others, and four chartered companies were successively ruined in their attempts to plant the island, although all the Caribs, numbering several thousand, had been removed to Dominica and St. "Vincent. Guadeloupe also suffered from the attacks of the English, and several times changed hands. The English were in possession in 1794 when Victor Hugues, arriving with 1,150 men, proclaimed the emancipation of the slaves on the con dition of their expelling the enemy. Thus freed both politically and socially, Guadeloupe became an impregnable stronghold, bristling with forts, building flotillas to capture the English shipping, to liberate the blacks on the surrounding islands, and even recover some of these from the English. But slavery was restored in 1802, and the refractory black troops massacred. Bather than relapse into the former state of servitude, hundreds committed suicide; Delgres and nearly 400 followers blew themselves up in a redoubt; altogether about 10,000 were killed or transported, besides thousands sent to the wars in Italy. Hence the blacks assumed a passive attitude when the English returned and captured the island in 1810, and again during the Hundred Days. 474 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. Even the emancipation of 1848 was far from complete, for the labour market was so controlled as to enforce periods of long, contract-service on the freedmen. But this system has fallen into abeyance since tens of thousands of Indian coolies have been introduced, and since blacks from the English islands seek temporary employment at harvest time. A large proportion of the people of colour have acquired holdings, which they cultivate on their own account, raising provisions, coffee and even sugar. Basse-Terre, the political capital; is not the largest town, though well situated near the south-west extremity of the island. In the neighbourhood is the health resort of Camp-Jacob, so named from its founder, who established it at Saint- Claude, 2,350 feet above sea-level. Pointe-d-Pitre, the largest town in Guadeloupe, lies in Grande-Terre near the head of the bay where the Biviere Salee reaches the coast. Here a sufficiently deep basin, enclosed by reefs and islets and communicating with the open sea by a winding channel, forms a well- sheltered harbour, which has become the commercial centre of the island. Founded during the English occupation of 1759-63, Bointe- a-Bitre developed rapidly despite many disasters, such as the terrible earthquake of 1843, by which the picturesque cliffs of Saragot, in Marie-Galante, were ruptured for a distance of nearly a mile. Le Moule, on the east side of Grande-Terre, ranks in size and importance next to Pointe-a-Pitre and the capital. Despite its exposed roadstead it does a consider able export trade in sugar. At the Porte d'Enfer cliffs, 9 miles south-east .of this place, were found the Carib skeletons that have given rise to so much scientific discussion. The badly-sheltered harbour of Grand-Bourg, capital of Marie-Galante, is frequented by a few small craft ; but the vast basin of the Saintes, being a naval station, does no trade. Sugar has long been the staple product of Guadeloupe. Coffee, which had nearly been abandoned, has again acquired some expansion, but only in hilly dis tricts and altitudes of from 600 to 2,000 feet, unsuitable for sugar. The bixa orellana was formerly extensively grown, but the industry has been ruined by the discovery of the aniline dyes. Cotton at no time possessed any economic impor tance, and even tobacco is grown in insufficient quantities for the local demand. The capital invested in agricultural industries is estimated altogether at about £6,000,000, while the shipping exceeds 500,000 tons. France is still the best cus tomer of the colony, which, however, does a considerable import trade also with the United States, England, and British India. The archipelago is divided for administrative purposes into the three arrondisse- ments of Basse-Terre, Pointe-a-Pitre, and Marie-Galante, the whole formine on department, with a general council of 36 members. The municipal councils are framed on the model of the French communal councils, and the department is represented in the French Chambers by one senator and two deputies. The revenue, derived chiefly from the customs and excise on spirits, exceeds £200,000, of which one-fifth is set apart for public works and another fifth for education. Ph&o?aH C53KMHp!iCQ DOMINICA. 475 Dominica. Dominica was so named by Columbus because he sighted it on a " Sunday " of the year 1493, when its sharp verdure-clad peaks rose above -the horizon. In the chain of the Lesser Antilles properly so called it is the largest of the English islands, and it fully equals if not surpasses Martinique in the picturesque beauty of its landscapes, its rugged forest- clothed mountains, and foaming torrents. Diablotin, its culminating point, rivals the Grande Soufriere of Guadeloupe in altitude, and according to Bulkeley, who gives it a height of 5,340 feet, it is the most elevated summit in the whole range of the Lesser Antilles. Diablotin stands at the northern extremity of the island, overtopping by about 2,500 feet an old crater in the interior, which till recently was still flooded by a " boiling " lake, that is, heated by thermal springs bubbling up from the bottom, and every five minutes upheaving the waters in a foaming column. Within a short distance of the margin the tarn was no less than 300 feet deep. But in 1880 great landslips took place, new craters were opened in the hills, the columns of water disappeared, and the lacustrine basin lost much of its beauty. The fissures emitting gases are continually shifting their position, and the rivulet flowing from the lake is swollen along its course by springs of sulphurous water descending from crevasses in the upland valley. In 1627 the English attempted to take possession of Dominica in the name of Great Britain, but at that time it was still occupied by some independent Caribs, who prevented the intending settlers from landing. Over a hundred years later it was agreed by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle of 1748 to regard the island as neutral territory between the French and English, and leave it in the free pos session of the natives. Nevertheless it was occupied by some French planters, and it gradually became a French island, despite the wars and the treaties twice award ing it to England. Even now, after a century of British rule, the English are almost considered as aliens by the resident population. Roseau, a dull, dilapidated town of 5,000 inhabitants, stands on the leeward or west side, but its harbour, a mere open roadstead, is inferior to that of Ports mouth, at the foot of Mount Diablotin, near the north-west extremity of the island. Great hopes are entertained regarding the future commercial expansion of Borts- mouth ; but meantime the trade of Dominica is limited to a few exports, such as suo-ar, cocoa, fruits, lemon- juice, and sulphur, of a total annual value scarcely exceeding £100,000. In retaining this island, which lies between the two French possessions of Guadeloupe and Martinique, the British Government has followed the advice of Bodney, who in 1782 had gained a decisive victory over the French in these waters. The English admiral held that its possession would give Great Britain a dominant strategical position in the West Indies. But the contrast which it presents to its French neighbours from the economic standpoint is not flattering to the nation's pride. The Government, as Froude truly remarks, has stricken the island with paralysis.* * The English in the West Indies. 476 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, WEST INDIES. Dominica is one of the poorest and most sparsely- peopled islands of all the Antilles. Despairing of its prosperity if left to itself, certain political economists have proposed to hand it over to a syndicate of capitalists, who under another system might revive the flourishing plantations of the old regime. Dominica is administered by a nominated executive council and a legislative council of seven nominated and seven elected members. Martinique. This is the only large French island which has preserved its old Carib name of Matinina or Madiana under the modified form of Martinique. It is the second of the Lesser Antilles in size, and is also the most irregular in its contour- lines, which deviate most from the normal elongated oval. Although entirely mountainous, Martinique is clothed with verdure even to the summit of its culminating point, the volcanic Mount Pelee, in the north-west extremity (4,450 feet). Though generally quiescent, Pelee was the scene of an eruption in 1851. It is followed along the main axis by other cones, with inter vening lavas and scoriae, terminating southwards in a peak 3,950 feet high. The three-crested Carbet, midway between the northern extremity and the capital, nearly rivals Pelee itself in altitude. South of Carbet and the neighbouring crests the island is nearly divided into two sections by inlets penetrating far into the interior, and forming the Fort-de- France Bay on the west, and the harbours of Le Bobert and Le Francois on the east side. The intervening isthmus is scarcely 6 miles wide. The southern is far less elevated, but more irregular than the northern section. It is traversed by two ridges, one continuing the main axis south-eastwards and culminating in Mount Vauclin (1,665 feet), the other ramifying westward south of Fort-de-France Bay, and indicated far seawards by the Caraibe, Constant, and other summits. South of the Caravelle, on the east side, the outer chain of fringing reefs extends for some miles from the coast, but is interrupted at intervals by channels giving access to vessels of light draught. The Carib natives remained in undisturbed possession of the island till 1665, when it was occupied by Esnambuc in the name of France, though not formally annexed till 1675. The Caribs, rapidly exterminated or transported, were replaced by blacks on the petun (tobacco) and sugar plantations. Coffee also found here a favourable home, and the planters acquired great wealth despite the wars with England. Seized by the English iu 1794, Martinique was not restored to France till 1816. Excited by the events occurring in Haiti, the blacks had more than once conspired against their masters, and broke into open revolt in 1831. To avoid pending ruin 3,000 were manumitted, and soon after political rights were accorded to the whole free population irrespective of colour. In 1853, five years after the emancipation, Indian coolies began to replace the blacks, who had them selves become small landowners. Since then contract labour has been abolished on the principle that " labour should be f i ee in a free land." SI O1g k . 46,800 . 1,460,000 31 Honduras o • 46,400 432,000 9 San Salvador . o « 7,610 664,000 90 Nicaragua . » , 49,500 375,000 7 Costa Rica i e 20,000 220,000 11 Panama . * o 33,000 300,000 . 3,451,000 9 Total 202,925 GUATEMALA. AREAS AND POPULATIONS (1889). Departments. Totonicapam . Guatemala HuehuetenangoAlta Vera Paz San Marcos . Quiche . SololaChiquimula . Chimaltenango Baja Vera Paz Jutiapa . Zacapa . SacatepequezSanta Rosa Suchitepequez AmatitlanJalapa . Escuintla BetalhuleuPeten Izabal . Livingston Total . Area in sq. miles. 580 . 960 . 5,600 . 7,000 . 1,000 . 2,000 . 1,800 . 700 . 1,400 . 860 . 2,100 . 1,600 . 1,400 . 300 . 1,100 . 1,000 . 500 . 1,200 . 2,400 . 700 . 8,400 . 2,600 1 1,600 / 46,800 Population. 158.419 141,70] 133,173 107,403 104,800 90,323 87,929 83,804' 64,73359,335 49,822 48,461 43,045 42,852 37,499 36,182 35,62635,020 30,973 24,431 8,480 5,105 1,429,116 Chief Towns. TotonicapamGuatemala Huehuetenango Coban QuezaltenangoSan Marcos Santa Cruz Solola Chiquimula Chimaltenango . Salama Jutiapa Zacapa La Antigua Santa Rosa Mazatenango AmatitlanJalapaEscuintla . '"Retalhuleu La Libertad i Izabal i Livingston Population. 20,00066,000 5,000 18,000 24,000 3,000 6,000 13,000 4,000 3,500 7,000 1,500 3,500 15,000 1,600 4,000 7,500 4,500 5,500 . 3,500 600650 900 Full-blood Indians, 60 per cent, ; Half-castes, 38 per cent. ; Whites, 2 per cent. Immigration (1889), 6,711 ; Emigration, 6,480. Revenue (1890), £1,012,000; Expenditure, £920,000; Debt, £2,227,000. Imports (1889), £1,416,000 ; Exports, £2,650,000. Shipping (1889), 375 vessels of 463,438 tons entered. 490 APPENDIX. Railways open (1890), 100 miles. Telegraphs, 2,000 miles ; messages (1888), 457,000. Post offices (1888), 157 ; letters, &c, forwarded, 4,622,000. Army : 3,500 regulars ; reserve, 67,300. Primary schools (1889), 1,327 ; attendance, 47,900. SAN SALVADOR AREAS AND POPULATIONS (1890). Departments. Area in sq. miles. Population. Chief Towns. Population Ahuachapam . 400 . . 37,880 . Ahuachapam 11,720 Santa Ana . 500 . . 75,764 . Santa Ana 30,428 Sonsonate . 480 . . 44,467 . Sonsonate . 8,600 La Libertad . 460 . . 49,956 . Santa Tecla 13,715 San Salvador . 440 . 73,245 . San Salvador 28,000 Chalaltenango 680 . . 54,790 . Chalaltenango . 5,980 Cuscatlan . 360 . . 61,069 . Suchitoto . 13,820 La Paz . . 480 . . 38,340 . Sacatecoluca 5,210 San Vicente . 480 . . 39,370 . San Vicente 8,750 Cabanas . . 200 . . 33,940 . Sensuntepeque . 9,450 Usulutan . 680 . . 39,300 . Usulutan . 6,856 San Miguel . 720 . . 59,207 . San Miguel 23,800 Morazan . . 480 . . 37,270 . Gotera 2,200 La Union . 480 . . 39,620 . La Union . 2,880 Total 6,840 684,218 Whites, 10,000 ; all the rest full-blood and half-caste Indians. Imports (1889), £577,000; Exports, £1,134,000. Shipping (1889), 343 vessels entered and cleared. Revenue (1889), £810,000 ; Expenditure, £800,000 ; Debt, £1,130,000. Post offices, 48 ; letters forwarded (1890), 8,880,000. Telegraphs, 1,500 miles of wire ; telephones, 240. Primary schools (1890), 740; attendance, 28,000. Army, 2,500; militia and reserves, 12,000. HONDURAS. AREAS AND POPULATIONS (1889). Area in Departments. sq. miles . Population. Ladinos. Chief Towns. Copan . . . 3,000 . . 36,744 . 32,946 . . Santa Rosa Gracias . . 3,100 . . 27,816 . 15,906 v . Gracias Santa Barbara 4,400 . . 32,634 . . 28,051 . . Santa Barbara Toro . . . . 6,000 . . 13,996 . . 11,391 . . Yoro Islas de la Bahia . 160 . . 11,474 . 8,615 . . Progreso Olancho . 10,800 . . 31,132 . 24,673 . . Jutigalpa Colon 10,000 . . 2,825 . 2,261 . . Truxillo Comayagua . 1,600 . . 16,739 . 15,839 . . Comayagua La Paz 800 . . 18,800 . 9,353 . . La Paz Intibucat . . 640 . . 17,942 . 10,554 . . La Esperanza Tegucigalpa . 3,600 . . 60,170 . 46,570 . . Tegucigalpa El Paraiso 2,000 . . 18,075 . 17,863 . . Luxaran Choluteca. 2,000 . . 43,588 . 39,023 . Choluteca Total 48,100 331,917 263,045 APPENDIX. 491 Exports (1888), £670.000, of which £245,000 agricultural produce. Shipping (1889), 142 vessels of 61,000 tons entered and cleared. Revenue (1889), £286,000 ; Expenditure, £320,000 ; Debt, £8,620,000. Railways open (1890), 37 miles. Post offices, 33; letters, &c, carried, 299,600. Telegraphs: 1,800 miles; offices, 63. Schools, 600 ; attendance, 13,000. Army: 500 regulars; militia and reserves, 3,000. NICAEAGUA. AREAS AND POPULATIONS, 1890 (est.). Territories. Area in. sq. miles. Population. Chief Towns. Population Chinandega . 2,100 40,000 Chinandega 8,000 Leon 3,200 65,000 Leon 31,000 Managua and | Granada ' 2,600 90,000 / Managua . ] Granada ' Masaya 18,00015,000 14,000 Rivas . 1,100 45,000 Rivas 12,000 Segovia . 16,600 35,000 Ocotal 5,000 Matagalpa . 8,400 40,000 Matagalpa 9,000 Chontales 7,800 40,000 Acoyapa . , 2,500 Reserra Mosquita 8,200 20,000 Blewfields . 1,000 60,000 375,000 Imports (1888), £430,000 ; Exports, £304,000. Imports from Great Britain, £80,000 ; Exports to Great Britain, £133,000. Shipping (1889), 385 vessels of 398,000 tons entered and cleared. Railways opened (1890), 105 miles. Telegraph lines : 1,700 miles; offices, 53. Post office returns (1889) : letters, &c, forwarded, 3,700,000. Revenue (1890), £800,000; Expenditure, £820,000; Debt, £505,000. Schools, 251 ; attendance, 11,900. Army: 2,000 regulars; reserve, 10,000; militia, 5,000. Nicaragua Interoceanic Canal (begun 1889), 169 miles ; estimated cost, £15,000,000. COSTA EICA. ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS. Provinces and Comarcas. San Jose Alajuela CartagoHeredia Guanacaste . Puntarenas . Limon . Cantons. Population (18S8). Chief Towns. Population 64,846 . San Jose . 14,500 51,087 . Alajuela 3,842 33,887 . Cartago 4,575 29,409 Heredia 4,332 16,323 . Liberia 1,782 8,409 . Puntarenas 2,116 1,770 . Limon 637 30 205,731 Area, 20,000 square miles. Immigrants (1889), 6,330; Emigrants, 5,706. Imports (1889), £1,260,000; Exports, £1,393,000. Coffee exported (1890) : 13,000 tons; value, £1,240,000. Exports to Great Britain, £730,000 ; Imports from Great Britain, £372,000. Revenue (1890), £1,015,000; Expenditure, £1,185,000; Debt, £3,542,000. 492 APPENDIX. Shipping (1890), 309 vessels of 367,000 tons (136 British of 149,000 tons). Railways (1891), 230 miles open or nearly completed. Telegraphs: 600 miles; offices, 31 ; messages, 112,500. Army: 600 regulars; 32,000 militia and reserves. Primary schools (1890) : 300 ; attendance, 15,000. PANAMA. Area, 31,570 square miles; population (1881), 285,000; 1890 (est.), 310,000. Chief towns: Panama, population, 15,000 ; Colon (Aspinwall), 5,000 ; David, 4,620. Interoceanic Railway (opened 1855) : 90 miles ; passengers (1888), 1,300,000 ; goods, 320,970 tons. THE PANAMA CANAL. Length, 46 miles ; begun, 1881 ; works suspended, March, 1889. Original estimate, £26,320,000 ; actual outlay, £60,000,000. Work done, about 12 miles ; estimate of time required to complete the cutting, 20 years from 1891 ; probable cost, £120,000,000, apart from the outlay already incurred. Total cost, including arrears of interest, deterioration of plant, &c, over £200,000,000. WEST INDIAN . ISLANDS.* Independent Spanish Islands British Islands . French Islands . Dutch Islands . French & Dutch Danish Islands . POLITICAL DISTRIBUTION. ( Haiti Republic I San Domingo Republic Cuba, Isle of Pines, Puerto Rico . . Assimilated colonies 'Bermudas, Bahamas, Jamaica, Turks, St. ( Representative institu- N Kitts, Nevis, Antigua, Dominica, St. Vin- j tions without respon- cent, Grenada and Grenadines, Barbados ' sible government. Virgin Islands, Montserrat, St. Lucia St. Bartholomew, Guadeloupe, Martinique St. Eustatius, Saba ..... St. Martin St. Thomas, St. John, Santa Cruz . j Without representa- ( tive institutions. Assimilated colonies | Without responsible I government. | Mixed system. ( Without responsible 1 I government. / Total Trade Foreign Trade 1890. £3,800,000 12,000.000 6,200,000 3,200,000 1,200,000 £26,400,000 CUBA. AREAS AND POPULATIONS. 'rovinces. Divisions. Area in sq. miles. Population / Pinar del Rio 5,950 182,204 West . 1 Habana 3,420 435,896 j Matanzas 3,380 283,121 \ Santa Clara . 9,210 321,397 Central Puerto Principe . . 12,900 69,245 East . Santiago . 14,000 229,821 Total 48,860 1,521,684 * Exclusive of Trinidad, Tobago, and the islands on the Venezuelan coast. APPENDIX. 493 Chief Towns. Population / Havana 198,720 i Guanabacoa. 29,790 l Regla . 11,280 West ' Matanzas 87,760 / Pinar del Rio 21,770 [Colon . 20,400 ^Cardenas 17,550 Growth of Population:— 1774 . 172,000 1841 . 1,007,000 Central East Chief Towns. Population. , Puerto Principe 46,640 \ Cienfuegos 65,070 j Sancti Spiritu 32,600 'Trinidad . 27,640 1 Santiago . 71,300 J Holguin . 34,760 ' Manzanillo 23,200 1862 . 1,359,000 1891 (est.) . 1,620,000 Negroes imported between 1521 and 1821, 413,500 (Humboldt). Free and Slave Population before the Emancipation : — Year. Whites. Free Negroes. Slaves. Total. Tear. 1774 96,440 30,849 44,333 171,622 I 1846 1817 239,830 114,058 199,145 553,035 | 1875 Whites. Free, Negroes. Slaves. Total. 895,767 149,226 323,759 1,368,752 915,000 220,000 235,000 1,360,000 TRADE OF HAVANA. Shipping (1889) : 1,058 vessels of 1,266,000 tons entered. 1,121 ,, 1,333,000 „ cleared.. Total 2,179 2,596,000 Exports, £5,856,000 ; Imports, £2,523,000. Yield of sugar (1888), 656,719 tons; yield of molasses (1888) 157,791 tons; yield of tobacco (1888), 300,000 bales. . Cigars exported from Havana (1890), 222,000,000. Revenue (1890), £5,160,000; Expenditure, £5,090,000 ; Debt, £37,200,000. Railways opened (1890), nearly 1,000 miles. Telegraphs, 2,810 miles of wire. Army, 19,000 regulars of all arms. • JAMAICA. AREAS AND POPULATIONS. Counties. Parishes. Area in sq. m iles. Population (1881) ' Kingston | St. Andrew 8 38,566 . 175 34,982 East, or Surrey . 1 St. Thomas in the East ^Portland . . 280 33,945 . 300 , 28,901 / St. Catherine . . 465 . 61,110 St. Mary . 236 39,696 Middlesex . . . St. Ann . . 480 46,584 Clarendon , . 482 49,845 ^Manchester . 300 . 48,458 St. Elizabeth . . 486 . 54,375 Westmoreland . 318 49,035 West, or Cornwall '• Hanover . . 130 29,567 St. James . 234 33,625 _ Trelawney , Total . 324 . 4,218 32,115 ¦ 580,804 Population 1 est.), 1890 . furks and Caicos Islands • . 635,000 5,000 < Dayman Islands • 4,000 Total Jamaica and Dependencies 644,000 494 APPENDIX. Kingston, with Port Royal Spanish Town . Port Maria CHIEF Population, 40,000 6,0007,000 TOWNS. Population. | Montego 5,000 Falmouth 3,000 Proportion. 1 to 16 1 to 41 Peopobtion of Whiies and People op Colour: — Whites. Coloured. Total. 1830 . . 20,000 . . 324,000 . . 344,000 . 1890 . . 15,000 . . 620,000 . . 635,000 . Indian coolies (1889), 13,000, of whom 460 under indentures. Emigration (1889), 3,184; Immigration, 11,670. Crops: — sugar-cane, 32,500 acres; coffee, 20,000 acres; ground provisions, 80,000 acres; Guinea grass, 124,000 acres ; common pasture, 310,000 acres ; common pasture and pimento, 46,000 acres. Shipping (1888) : 451 vessels of 411,379 tons entered 474 „ 412,375 „ cleared Total 925 825, 754, of which 93 per cent, were British. Railways open (1890), 64 miles ; passengers car ried, 265,000. Telegraphs: 608 miles; messages, 87,000. Letters passed through the Post Office, 1.452,000. Elementary schools, 826; attendance, 76,000. Garrison troops, 1,1 20 men; volunteer militia, 620. ISLAND OF SAN DOMINGO. States. Haiti San Domingo Total Area in Square Miles. 10,204 18,045 28,249 Population.1,000,000. 610,000. 1,610,000. HAITI. ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS. Pop. of Departments. Department. Ouest 350,000 Sud ....... 200,000 Pop. of Departments. Department. Nord ....... 250,000 Nord-Ouest. ..... 70,000 Artibonite 125,000 Imports (1889), £1,500,000; Exports. £2,650,000. Revenue, £1,300,000; Expenditure, £1,280,000; Debt, £2,700,000. Army, 7,000 men; Navy, 1 gun-vessel of 900 tons, 1 corvette, 2 sloops. Shipping : 726 vessels of 692,000 tons entered ; 724 of 680,000 tons cleared. National schools, 400 ; attendance, 24,000. Post offices, 31 ; letters forwarded, 480,000. SAN DOMINGO. ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS. Provinces and Popu- Chief Popu Provinces and Popu Chief Popu* Districts. lation. Towns. lation. Districts. lation. Towns. lation. Azua de Com- J fi Azua postela . . J 14,000 Barahona 20,000 f Barahona 1 Neiba . . . 5,000 12,000 Santo Domingo 134,000 S. Domingo 25,000 San Pedro 40,000 San Pedro . 7,000 Seibo. . . . 56,000 Seibo . . 12,OJ0 Samana . . 18,000 Santa Barbara 5,000 Vega . . . 132,000 ( Xega ' ' I Moca . . 11,000 Puerto Plata . 40,000 Puerto Plata 15,000 18,000 Monte-Cristi . 40,000 Monte- Cristi 1,500 Santiago . . 40,000 Santiago . 32,000 Imports (1888), £400,000 ; Exports, £5 00,000 ; total, £900,000. Sugar crop, 18,700 tons; molasses, 22,000 tons. Tobacco exported (1889), 8,500 tons. Shipping, 276 vessels of 200, 000 tons entered and cleared. Revenue (1889), £306,000; Expenditure, £280,000; Debt,' £2,000,000. Municipal schools, 300; attendance, 10,000. APPENDIX. 495 PUEETO EICO. ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS. Departments. Pop. (1887). Capital and Ba- ' yamon . . Arecibo . . . Aguadilla . . Mayaguez . . 131,116 Chief Towns. San Juan . Bayamon . Rio Piedras ("Arecibo . 124,835 I Utuado . 86,551 {^adma- t Lares . . 116 982 ( Mavaguez ¦ ' I San German Pop. 27,00015,000 11,000 30,00031,000 16,000 17,000 28,000 20,000 Departments. Pop. (1887). Chief Towns. Pop. .CaboRojo. 17,000 I Ponce . . 43,000 . 160,140 /Yauco . . 25,000 (Juana Diaz 21,000 Adjuntas . 16,000 qr si 113,000 110,000 64,000 429,000 690,000 Nevis 50 12,000 Anguilla 35 12,000 V Montserrat 32 10,000, 'St. Lucia 245 45.000N St. Vincent 122 48,000 Grenada ] , 124,000 130,000 195,000 477,000 622,000 and , 120 50,000 Grenadines ' J 5 Bermudas: Chief town, Hamilton ; population, 8,000. Land under cultivation, 4,000 acres. Schools, 47 • attendance, 1,400. Shipping (1889), 222,000 tons entered and cleared, of which 180,000 were British. White population, 6,200; coloured, 9,750. Bahamas: Chief town, Nassau; population, 5,000. Pineapples exported (1890), 285,000 dozen, value £28,000. Sponges exported (1889), £51,000. Schools, 72; attendance, 6,000. * Exclusive of Jamaica, Trinidad, and Tobago. 496 APPENDIX. Barbados : — Capital, Bridgetown ; population, 25,000. Land under cultivation, 100,000 acres, of which 30,000 under sugar. Yield of sugar (1889), 65,270 hogsheads. Yield of fisheries, £17,000 ; hands employed, 1,500. Primary schools, 201; attendance, 13,000. Railways, 24 miles. Leeward Islands: — Capital, St. Johns (Antigua) ; population, 10,000. Chief town, St. Kitts, Basse terre ; population, 7,000. Yield of sugar, Antigua (1889), 10,500 hogsheads, value £223,000. Windwabd Islands :— Capital of St. Vincent, Kingston ; population, 6,000 ; capital of Grenada, St. George's. Total imports and exports, £306,000. Land under cocoa (Grenada), 12,500 acres ; yield, 36,000 tons. Government and other schools, 110; attendance, 13,000. Shipping (1889), 3,114 vessels of 1,904,000 tons entered and cleared. DUTCH ANTILLES.* Islands. St. Eustatius St. Martin (part of) . Total Area in sq. miles. 8 5 . 17 . 30 Population (1890). 2,350 2,500 4,500 9,350 Capital. Orangetown. Phillipsburg. Average annual yield of salt, 10,500,000 bushels. FEENCH ANTILLES. Islands. Area in sq. miles. Pop. (1890). Islands. Area in sq. miles. Pop. (1890). St. Bartholomew . 5 . 2,650 Desirade 10 . 1,400 Saintes . 6 . 1,900 Marie-Galante 65 . . 13,850 St. Martin (part of) . 21 . 3,500 Martinique 400 . . 177,000 Guadeloupe . 600 . . 135,650 Total 1,107 335,950 Guadeloupe: — Chief towns: Basseterre (capital), population, 12,000; Pointe-a-Pitre, population, 17,250; Le Moule, population, 10,000. Revenue and expenditure (1890) balanced at £260,000; Debt, £40,000. Imports (1889), £975,000; Exports, £1,050,000. Sugar crop (1888), 49,000 tons; land under sugar-cane, 57,000 acres. Yield of Coffee, 580 tons; coffee plantations, 125,000 acres. Shippmg, 946 vessels of 637,000 tons entered and cleared. Primary schools, 50 ; attendance, 9,700. Martinique : — Chief towns: Fort-de-France (capital), population, 15,000; Saint- Pierre, population, 26,000 ; Lamantin, population 14,000 ; Le Francois, population, 11,000. Revenue (1890), £140,000 ; Expenditure, £84,000 ; Debt, £18,000. Imports (1889), £916,000 ; exports, 940,000. Land under sugar-cane (18S8), 53,000 acres ; bananas, 42,000 acres. Shipping (1890), 1,920 vessels of 630,000 tons entered and cleared. Primary schools, 29 ; attendance, 8,320. Exclusive of the Dutch islands on the Venezuelan coast. INDEX. Abaco Islands, 444 Abbotsville, 236 Acajulta, 252 Acanti, 334 Acapulco, 41, 77, 137 Acatenango, 210 Acaxees, 84 Acklin Island, 447 Acolhuacan, 64 Acoyapa, 287 Actopan, 32 Adamanay Islands, 403 Adjuntas, 426 Agiabampo, 97 ¦ Agua Volcano, 209 Aguacatlan, 222 Aguada Tuwn, 427 Agua de Sangre, 265 Aguadilla, 426 Aguan River. 258 Aguanaval River, 45 Aguascalientes State, 54, 107 Town, 107 Aguayo, 104 Aguila Peak, 245 Ahoga Yeguas, 313 Ahuacatlan Peak, 24 Ahuachapam, 244, 251 Ahualco Pass, 52 Ahuilitzapan, 130 Ajusco Mountain, 27, 1 Akal'mans, 88 Ake, 167 Alacran Cay, 146 Alajuela, 297, 307 Alamos Mountains, 23 Town, 97 Alanje, 323 Alberca Crater, 27 Algarrobo River, 323 Almendares River, 370 Almirante Bay, 295, 303, 312, 316 Alotepeque, 234 Altata, 97 Altavela Island, 404 Alta Vera Paz, 213, 236 Altos Region, 207 Altos CuchumatanesMountams, 2 1 2 Alvarado, 40, 135 Amapala, 260, 266 Amatique Bay and Town, 192, 193, 213 Amatitlan Department, 232 Lake, 214, 232 Town, 232 Amayo Volcano, 212 Ambergris Island, 195 Ameca River, 113 Town, 113 Amecameca, 126 Amecas River, 41 America, City of, 289 Central, 201 Name of, 272 Amerrique Mountains, 272 Anahuac Plateau, 4, 20, 28, 34, 45 Andros Island, 442 Anegada, 348, 436 Angel River, 296 de la Guardia Island, 22 Angostura, 307 Anguila Island, 463 Anguilletta Island, 463 Annotta, 393 Anse-d'Hainault, 413 Antigua Department, 231 Island, 465 Town, 231 Antilles — Great, 354, 460 Lesser, 455 Anton Lizardo, 40, 134 Apache Mountains, 31 Apaches Tribe, 84 Apacingan, 114 Apam Lake, 126 Town, 120 Apaneca Volcano, 245 Apoyac River, 41 Apoyo Lake, 284 Aquin, 414 Arawaks, 404, 460 Arecibo Department, 426 Town, 426 Ario, 115 Arispe, 95 Armenia, 252 Arrowsmith Bank, 146 Artibonite River, 397, 401 Asencion Bay, 195 Asososca Lake, 284 Aspinwall, 327 Asuncion River, 95, 146 Atenas, 307 Atiquisaya, 251 Atitlan Lake, 208, 214 Volcano, 208 Atlixco, 55, 129 Atotonileo, 116 Atoyac River, 137 Atrato River, 201, 314, 334 Atravesado Mountain, 143 Atwood Cay, 447 Aves Island, 455, 457 Ayarza Lake, 214 Ayutla, 225 Aztecs, 59, 219, 261 Aztlan, 111 Azua Province, 419 Town, 419 Azuero Peninsula, 299, 313 Baburuco, 402 Bacalar Lagoon, 170, 195 Town, 170, 200 Bagdad, 104 Bahama Bank, 442 Channel, 442 Islands, 437 Sea, 339 Bahia Honda, 361, 372 Bajo Nuevo Bank, 341 Balancan, 164 Balsas River, 41 Bauderas Bay, 42 Bani, 420 Baniea, 419 Baracoa, 354, 377 Baraderes Bay, 413 Barbados Island, 485 Barbareta Island, 260 Barbasco, 234 Barbuda Island, 465 Barca, La (Mexico), 41, 111 Barra de Tabasco, 148 Barranca River, 306 Bartlett Point, 340 Basseterre (St. Kitts), 45, 470 (Guadeloupe), 472, 474 Bastimentos Island, 323 Batabano, 370, 373 Batopilas, 100 Baudo Mountains, 3 1 4 Bay Islands, 7, 259, 262 Bayamo, 3b9, 377 Bayamon River, 425 Town, 426 Bayano River, 313, 316 Belize Bav, 195 River, 195 Territory, 191 Town, 191, 196 Bellamy Peak, 194 Bernini Islands, 444 Bequia Lslaud, 481 Bermudas, 449 Bernal Mountain, 104 Berry Islands, 444 Bird Island, 454 B.rris, 296 Black River, 384, 393 Blanco River, 148 Peak, 299 Blewfields Lagoon, 277 River, 277 Town, 287 Blue Mountains, 383 65 498 INDEX. Boca del Cerro, 148 Conil, 152 Drago, 295, 312, 316 Monte, 184 Tigre, 316 Toro, 316, 323 Boca Nueva, 236 Bohio Soldado, 327 Bolanos, 112, 286 Bolonchen, 152 . Bolson de Mapimi, 32, 102 Bonaca Island, '260 Boqueron M unt 'in, 258 Boquilla de Piedras, 29 Borucas or Bruncas, 305 Bramador Mountain, 110 Bravo River, 14, 36 Brena, La, 23 Brewer Lagoon, 259 Bribri, 305 Bridgetown, 486 Brimstone Hill, 469 British Honduras, 191 Brito, 286 Broa Bay, 359 Brujuelas River, 402 Brus Lagoon, 259 Buenayre, 286 Bugaba, 323 Burica Point, 299 Cabanas, 372 Cabecar, 299, 305 Cabo Rojo, 427 Roxo, 39 Cabritos Island, 402 Cacahuainilpa, 136 Cachapa, 263 Cadereyta, 116 Cadereyta-Jimenez, 103 Caguas, 428 Cahabon Mountains, 213 River, 215 Cahitas, 81 Cahos Mountains, 400 Cahuinal, 229 Cahuita Point, 300 Caicos Islands, 442, 448 Cakchiquel, 219, 222 Calabozo Lagoon, 24 Calamahue Mountain, 22 Caldera Volcano, 211 Calderon, 111 Caledonia Bay, 318 California, Lower, 21, 22, 93 Gulf, 16, 22, 95 Camaguey, 375 Camargo, 103 Cameron Cape, 257 Campana Mountain, 96 Campeachy State, 142, 164 Town, 164 Cana, 334 Cafiadas Mountains, 364 Canchia Mountains, 257 Candela Mountains, 45 Candelaria River, 150 Caney, 377 Caninzio, 115 Cankun, 168 Caparra, 424 Cape River, 276 Capesterre, 458 Cap-Franeais, 410 Cap-Haitien, 403 Capira Mountain, 313 Caratasna Lagoon, 259 Carbet, 476 Carca, 283 Cardenas, 361, 373 Cardon Island, 284 Caribbean Sea, 1, 8, 13, 338 Caribs, 8, 220, 262, 283, 459, 460 Carmen City, 164 Carolina Island, 17 Aguada, 195 Carreto, Port, 333 Cartago Province and Town, 307 Casa Blanca, 122 Casas Grandes River, 44 Station, 101 Castillo, 279, 288 de Austria. 323 Castries Port, 479 Cat Island, 440, 446 Catacamas, 265 Catherine Hill, 383 Catoche Cape, 5, 145 Catorce, 32, 108 Cauto River, 356, 359 Cavaillon, 414 Caxinas Cape, 258 Cayemites Islands, 4 1 3 Cayes Bay and Town, 414 Cayey, 428 Cayman Islands, 2 Cobaco Island, 3.8 Ceboruco Mountain, 24 Cebuneyes, 404 Ceiba Island, 283 Celaya, 111 Cerro de los Edificios, '. 07 Cerro Gordo, 130 Chacahua Mountain, 35 Chagres River, 314 Town, 327 Chalatenango Town, 252 Chalchihuites, 106 Chalchuapa, 251 Chalco Lake, 45, 124 River, 45 Chama Mountains, 193, 213 Chame Mountain, 313 Chamela, 113 Chamelicon River, 257, 258 Chametla Town, 98 Chamlico River, 258 Champerico, 227 Champoton, 15 Chafiabals, 155 Changuinola Ri»er, 300 Chapala Lake, 41 Town, 111 Chapultepec Mountain, 55 Town, 123 Charco Muerto, 285 Charlestown, 445, 470 Charlotte-Amalia, 431 Chepigana, 335 Chepo Mountains, 314 Chetumal Bay, 15, 170, 194 Lagoon, 144 Chiantla, 228 Chiapa de los Indios, 161 Chiapanecs, 155 Chiapas State, 142, 161 Chicliankanab Lake, 150 Chichen-Itza, 168 Chichimecs, 62, 63 Chicomoztoc, 64, 107 Chihuahua State, 22, 100 Town, 100 Chile Mountains, 257, 271 Chillador Peak, 26 Chilpancingo, 137 Chiltepec, 148 Chiltepec Volcano, 274 Chimalapa, 141 Chimaltenango. 230 Chin ameca Volcano, 248 Town, 253 Chinandega, 284 Chinantecs, 88 Chinchorro Bank, 146 Chingo Volcano, 212, 244 Chiquimula Mountains, 234 Department and Town, 234 Chiri-Chiri Bay, 336 Chiriqui Bay, 201, 302, 316 Mountains, 312 Chiron- Qniaco, 130 Chirripo Mountain, 299 Tribe, 305 Chixoy River, 148, 228 Chocos, 321 Chols, 155, 218 Cholula, 68, 127 Choluteca River, 260 Town and Department, 266 Chonco Volcano, 274 Chontals Tribe, 88, 155, 250 Choroteganos, 281, 282 Chorti, 26 1 Chumpan Rivjr. 150 Churubusco, 1-3 Cibao, 400 Cibola, 17 Cibuneyes, 367 Cienaga de Zapata, 359 Cienfuegos, 374 Cimaltepec Mountain, 35, 1 38 Cinco Villas, 357, 374 dtlaltepetl Mountain, 3, 29, 30 Ciudad del Maiz, 109 Guzman, 113 Victoria, 104 Vieja, 210, 230 Coahuila State and Town, 102 Coatepec, 130 Coatzacoa'cos River, 40, 139 Coban Mountains, 215 Town, 236 Cobre, 377 Mountains, 356 River, 384 Cochimi, 81 Cockscomb Mountains, 193 Coco River, 276 Cocopas, 81 Cocos Cay, 360 Cocula, 113 Codrington College, 486 Cofre de Perote, 29 Coiba Island, 299, 318 Coj atepec Volcano, 248 Cold Ridge, 383 Colhuas, 63 Colhuacan, 162 Colima River, 41 State and Town, 113 Volcano, 33 Colon (Cuba), 374 Bay, 317 Department, 265 Town, 327 Colorado River, 14, 44, 300 (Costa Rica), 279 Colubrinas, 426 INDEX. 499 Columa Volcano, 24, 212 Columbus Gulf, 294 Comayagua Department, 265 Mountains, 257 Town, 264, 265 Combey Bank, 341 Comondu, 94 Comotan, 234 Compostela, 113 Concepcion, Vega, 403, 422 Aguada, 195 (Tegucigalpa), 266 Conchagua Volcano, 249 Conchos River, 81, 36, 100 Conchs, 443 Concordia (Salvador), 252 (Nicaragua), 286 Congrehoy Cape, 257 Mountains, 257 Constant Peak, 476 Copan Department, 263 River, 234 Town, 235, 263 Coral Bay, 433 Corales Islands, 274 Coras, 8i Cordoba, 3 Corinto, 284 Corn Islands, 277, 287 Corosal, 200 Corrientes Bay, 362 Cape, 43 Cortes Bay, 354 Coseguina Volcano, 260, 272 Cosihuiriachi, 100 Costa Rica, 293 Coteaux, 413 Cotos, 303 Cotui, 422 Cozumel Island, 145, 169 Crab Island, 423, 428 Crawl Bay, 433 Creoles, 352 Crespon, 139 Crete- a- Pierrot, 412 Cristianos, Llano de los, 31 Croix-des- Bouquets, 412 Crooked Island, 447 Cruces, Las, 185 Town, 315 Cruz Cape, 340 Mountains, 32 Cuachichils, 86 Cuajiniquilapa, 220, 234 Cuautitlan, 123 River, 48 Cuba, 354 Cubilete Mountains, 110 Cucras, 283 Cucurpe River, 95 Cuencame, 102 Cuernavaca, 135 Cuevas, 321 Cuisaltepe Volcano, 272 Cuitzeo Lake, 27, 41, 45 River, 41 Culebra Island, 428 Passage, 313 Culiacan, 97 Volcano, 27 Cuma Volcano, 212 Cuna-Cuna, 322 Cupica. Bay, 336 Pass, 314 Cutzarandiro Volcano, 25 Cuyutlan Lagoon, 114 Dalmarie, 413 D.rienGulf, 1, 317 Harbour, 316, 335 Darienes, 321 David Bay, 201 Province, 312 Town, 323 Delon, 265 Derrumbaderos Mountains, 30 Desaguadero, 280 Desirade Island, 465, 473 Diablotin Peak, 475 Diamant, 478 Diego Campo, 398 Dipilto Mountains, 256, 257 Dirians, 281 Doce Leguas Cay, 362 Doctor Arroyo, 103 Dogs Islands, 463 Doguado River, 326 Dolores, 110 Dolphin's Head, 384 Dominica Island, 475 Dona Marina Mountain, 29 Dorasques, 321 D'rta Mountains, 298 Dry River, 384 Dulce River, 215 Dunmore, 445 Durango Department and To wn, 1 0 1 Elena Island, 260 Eleuthera Island, 445 Encinillas Lake, 57 English Harbour, 465, 466 Entre-los-Rios, 400 Erandique Mines, 265 Ermita, La, 231 Esclavos, 234 River, 234 Escocesa Bay, 398 Escondido River, 277 Kscudo de Veragua Island, 295 Escuintla Department, 233 Town, 210, 233 Espanola, 397 Esparta, 307 Esparza, 304, 306 Esperanza, 128, 265 Espiritu Santo Bay, 146, 195 Mountains, 256 Esquipulas Mountains, 215 River, 215, 249 Town, 234 Estero Real, 260, 275 Estrella Mines, 308 Peak, 125 River, 300 Exuma Bay, 442 Falmouth, 393 Flor River, 295 Flores, 237 Florida Strait, 342, 443 Fonseca Bay, 244, 253, 260 Fontabelle, 486 Fort-de- France, 477 Fortune Island, 447 Fortune Peak, 479 Frailecitos Peak, 23 Francia, 115 Frederikstsed, 435 Fresnillo, 36, 106 Frio River, 279 Frontera de Tabasco, 162 Fuego Volcano, 24, 209 Fuerte Fort, 97 River, 43 Gallo, 400 Gandi Mountain, 314 Garbut Falls, 194 Gibb's Hill, 450 Giganta Mountains, 22 Gigante Mountain, 32, 94 Gigantes, Llanos, 31 Gila River, 14, 22 Gineta Mountain, 144 G over Reef, 197 Goascoran River, 244, 260 Gobrante, 323 Golfete, 215 Golfo Duloe (Guatemala), 215 (Costa Rica), 300 Gonaives Port, 409, 411 River, 411 Gonave Island, 400 Gracias Department, 263 River, 276 Town, 263 Gracias-a-Dios Cape, 2 Rapids. 191 Granada Territory and Town, 285 Grand Bourg, 474 Grande, Rio, del Norte, 14, 36 Soufriere, 475 Terre, 472 Grand- Goave, 413 Gran Estero. 398 Piedra, 356 Great Antilles, 354, 460 Exuma, 447 Inagua, 447 Ragged Island, 447 River, 384 Grenada Island, 483 Grenadines, 483 Greytown, 7, 288 Grijalva River, 146, 147 Grita Mountains, 25 6 Gros-Morne, 411 Grosse-Montagne, 472 Guacalate River, 220 Guadalajara, 111 Guadalcazar, !09 Guadalupe City, 124 Island (Mexico), 58 Mountain, 127 y Calvo Mine, 100 Guadeloupe Island, 471 Guadiana Bay, 358 Guaicuri, 81 Guajoca Pass, 201, 257 Gualan River and Town, 234 Guanabacoa, 367, 372 Guanacaste, 294, 306 Guanahani Island, 354, 437, 446 Guanajay, 372 Guanajuato City, 110 State, 109 Volcano, 110 Guanica, 427 \ Guantanamo, 356 Guarisamay, 102 Guarumal, 252 Guatemala State, 206 Town, 230 Guatusos, 304 Mountains, 296 Guayama, 428 Guayanilla Bay, 428 Guaymaca Mountain, 258 500 INDEX. Guaymaro, 377 Guaymas Port, 97 Guaymi, 303, 321 Guerrero State, 135 Guija Lake, 244 Guines, 372 Guisisil Volcano, 272 Gulf Stream, 344 Oin Cay, 444 Gustavia, 464 Guzman Lagoon, 44 Haiti, 396 Republic, 410 Hamilton, 454 Harbour Island, 445 Hastings, 486 Hato Mayor, 420 Havana, 370 Herbias River, 277 HerediaDepartmentandTown, 307 Hermosillo, 95 Herradura Mountain, 298 Hicacos, 261 Hidalgo State, 116 Hidalgo del Parral, 100 Hiuche, 412 Hog Island, 444 Hoisting! own, 486 Holbox Island, 152 Holetown, 486 Holguin, 369, 377 Hondo River, 15, 191, 194 Honduras Bay, 206, 270 British, 191 Cape, 258 State, 254 Hope Gardens, 389 Horqueta Mountain, 312 Hirseshoe Reef, 348 Hotte, La, Mountains, 400 Huabi, 140 Huamantla, 128 Huatulco, 139 Huaxiacac, 137 Huaxtecs, 62, 87, 220 Hue Colhuacan, 97 Huehuetenango Department, 228 Town, 228 Huehue-Tlapellan, 62 Huehuetoca, 37, 48, 123 Hueitepec Mountain, 144 Huejutla, '88, 116 Huexotzingo, 126 Humaredas Mountains,. 26 Humaco, 428 Humuya River, 257 Icacos Point, 361, 373 Icotea de Limon, 403 Iguala River, 136 Town, 79, 136 Ilobasco, 252 Ilopango Lake, 246 Volcano, 247 Inde, 102 Indio River, 277 Intibucat, 269 Ipala Volcano, 212 Irapuato, 111 Irazu Volcano, 297 Ireland Island, 450, 454 Irolo, 126 Irritlas, 86 Isaac Cay. 444 Isabolla. 422 Isabel Segunda, 428 Iturbide, 168 Itza Tribe, 216, 220 Lake, 194, 216 Itzacapa River, 214 Ixbul Peak, 15 Iximche, 230 Ixmul, 169 Ixtaccihuatl Mountain, 28 Ixtapalapa, 47, 125 Ixtlahuaea, 117 Ixtlan (Michoacan), 139 (Oaxaca), 111 Izabal Department, 235 Lake, 215 Town, 235 Izalco Volcano, 245 Izamal, 166 Jacala, 116 Jacmel, 415 Jaen Volcano, 272 Jalapa (Vera Cruz), 129 (Guatemala), 234 Jalisco State, 109, 111 Town, 113 Jalpan, 38, 116 Jalteba, 285 Jaltipan, 142 Jamaica, 382 Jamapa River, 133 Jardines Islands, 362 Jardinillos Islands, 362 Jeremie, 413 Jerez River, 112 Jesus Maria Mountain, 23 Jiboa, 252 Jioma, 400 Jimenez River, 279 Jinotega, 287 Jinotepe, 286 Jocotan, 234 Jorullo Volcano, 24, 245 Juanacatlan, 42, 111 Juana-Diaz, 428 Juigalpa, 287 Mountain, 272 Julian, 377 Jupiter Inlet, 344 Juquila, 35 Juragua, 377 Jutiapa Department and Town, 234 Jutigalpa, 265 Kabah, 168 Kachiquels, 156 Kamuc Mountain, 299 Kingston, 392 Kingstown, 483 Koom, 287 La Barca, 41 Labna, 168 Lacandons, 155, 218 Ladinos, 9 Lagartos River, 153 Lagos, 112 Laguna, 153 Lajas River, 279 Lamans, 283 Lamentin, 478 Lares, 426 Leeward Islands, 455 Lempa River, 244, 249 Lencas, 261 Leon (Mexico), 110 (Nicaragua), 284 Lepaterique Mountains, 257 Lerdo, 97 Lerma River, 24, 41 Town, 117 Libano Mountain, 359 Liberia, 306 Libertad (Nicaragua), 287 (Salvador), 252 Liganee, 392 Lighthouse Reef, 197 Limon Town and District, 307 Linares, 103 Livingston, 235 Llanitos Peak, 32 Llanos, 31 Loma Barranca, Pansa, Tina, 400 Loreto Mountain, 127 Town, 94 Lorillard, 164 Lucayas, 444 Luguillo Mountain, 423 Luz, La, 110 Machuca River, 279 Macouba, 478 Macuiltepec Volcano, 29, 129 Madre del Volcan, 245 Magdalena, 228 Maisi Cape, 355 Malinche Volcano, 29 Maltrata, 184 Mamanchota Mountain, 32 Mamantel River, 150 Mame Tribe, 155, 218 Managua Lake, 272, 278 Territory, and Town, 284 Mandeville, 390 Mani, 167 Manzanillo, 377 Bay, 359, 397 Island, 327 Port, 51, 114 Mapimi, 102 Maria-Enriquez Mountains, 313 Marie-Galante Island, 473 Mariel, 372 Marigot, 464 Mariguana Island, 446 Marina, 104 Mariscal Lagoon, 195 Marnata, 114 Marques Mine, 94 Marrabios Mountains, 274 Martinique, 476 "Little," 481, 483 Masaya Town, 286 Volcano, 274 Mascota, 113 Massacre River, 410 Matachin, 315, 327 Matagalpa Mountains, 272 River, 277 Territory and Town, 287 Matamoros, 103 de Izucar, 129 Matanzas Province and Town, 373 Mataquezcuintla Mountain, 214 Matlaltzincas, 86 Mayaguez, 427 Mayapan, 167 Mayas, 155, 220 Mayos, 81 Mazahuas, 86 Mazatenango, 222, 230 INDEX. 501 Mazatlan, 51, 97 Meco, El, 168 Medellin, 135 Mediterranean, American, 1, 338 Melchoras, 283 Memory-rock, 344 Mems, 222 Menche, 164 Mendocino Cape, 16 Mercado Mountain, 101 Merendon Mountains, 256 Merida, 165 Meseta Volcano, 210 Mestizoes, 74, 91 Metapan Town and District, 251 Metlac, 183 Mexcal Island, 111 Mexcala River, 25, 41, 114 Mexico City, 117 Gulf of, 1, 338 Republic, 14 State, 41, 117 Mexicans, 59, 60, 64 Mextitlan, 116 Mexquitai, 102 Miahuatlan, 138 Michatoya River, 210, 214 Michoacan, 109, 114 Mico Mountains, 213, 215 Mijes, 141 Minatitlan, 40, 141 Mineral del Monte, 34, 1 Miragoane, 413 Miravelles Peak, 296 Misery Mountain, 469 Misoco Mountains, 257 Misteriosa Bank, 340 Mitla, 137 Mixco, 221 Mixes, 88 Mixtecs, 62, 89 Mixtlan, 34 Moca, 422, 426 Moctezuma, 96 Mojada Mountains, 102 Mole St. Nicolas, 399 Mombacho Volcano. 274 Momotombito Island, 274, 282 Momotombo Volcano, 274 Mona Island, 427 Passage, 343 Monclova, 102 Montecillos, 257 Monte Cristi, 398, 422 Monte Diablo, 398 Montego Bay, 393 Montemorelos, 103 Monterey, 103 Montezuma River, 37, 46 Mont-Roui, 412 Montserrat Island, 470 Monts Noirs, 400 Mopan River, 196, 216 Mopans, 15, 220 Morant Bay, Cay, Point, Town, 394 Morelia, 34, 115 River. 45 Morelos, 136 State, 135 Moscos, 283 Mosquito Bank, 259, 277 Bay, 393 Coast, 2, 281, 287 Motagua River, 214 Moule, Le, 474 Mount Eagle, 434 Moyuia Volcano, 212 Muerto Lagoon, 45 Mujeres Island, 146, 169 Mulege, 95 Mu.etas Islands, 316 Muoi, 321 Nacaome Town and River, 266 Naco, 264 Nagrandans, 281 Nahuas, 61, 281 Nandaime, 161. 286 Napipi River, 326 Naranjo Peak, 245 Narrows, 450 Nassau, 444 Nata, 323 Natividad, 419 Nautla, 131 Navajas Mountains, 117 Navaza Island, 1 Nayarit Mountains, 23 Tribe, 107 Nazas, 102 River, 45 Negril Creek, 393 Negro River, 148, 256, 276 Nejapa Lake, 284 N emu Mountain, 299 Nevado de Toluca, 27, 41 Nevis Island, 457, 468 Newcastle, 389, 393 New Providence, 444 Neyba Bay, 397 River, 400 Nicaragua, 270 Canal, 290 Lake, 272, 274, 279 Nicoya, 306 District, 294 Gulf, 294, 299. 300 Peninsula, 299 Nieve Volcano, 21 Nim Pokom, 228 Nindiri Town, 286 Volcano, 274 Nipe, 354 Nippes, 413 Niquirans, 281 Nito, 236 Nohpat, 167 Nombre de Dios, 102, 332 Nueva Galicia, 72 Nuevitas, 354, 376 Nuevo Laredo, 103 Leon, 102, 103 Sevilla, 236 Viscaya, 101 Oaxaca State, 135 Town 137 Obispo River, 315 Obrage, 286 Ochomogo Mountain, 201 Pass, 298 Ococingo, 163 Ocos River, 225 Ocote Mountain, 249 Ocotal River, 256, 287 Ojo Caiente, 107 del Liebre, 93 del Toro, 357 Olancho, 265 Old Harbour, 393 Olmecs, 62 Ometepe Islands, 274 Omoa Mountains, 194 Town, 257, 264 Opalaca Mountains, 257 Opatas, 81, 95 Oposura, 96 Organos Mountains, 32, 116 Cuba, 358 Orizaba, 130 Volcano, 29, 130 Oro River, 276 Orosi Volcano, 296 Orotinans, 281 Ostua River, 249 Otomi, 62, 86 Otumba, 125 Ozama River, 401 Ozumba Volcano, 27 Paalmul, 168 Pacaya Mountains, 256 Volcano, 210 Pachuca, 45, 116, 172 Pacora Hills, 313 Pajarito, 420 Pakalah, 229 Palenque, 162 Palisades, 392 Palizada, 162 River, 150 Palma Volcano, 272 Paimas Peninsula, 313 River, 37, 104 Pamal, 168 Pd-mes, 86 Panajachel, 229 Panaloya, 278 Panama Bay, 323 Canal, 328 Gulf, 1, 300, 316 Isthmus, 312 Province, 312 Town, 323 Pan de Azucar Volcano, 272 Gujaibon, 358 JVJatanzas, 358 Panuco District, 73 River, 37 Town, 105 Panzos, 236 Papagos, 81 Papaloapan, 40, 135 River, 139 Papasquiaro, 102 Paracuchichi, 336 Parismina River, 300 Parita Bay, 323 Parras Lagoon, 45 Pasion River, 148 Pas* del Norte, 100 Patamban Mountain, 24 Patos Island, 97 Lagoon, 45 Patuca River, 258 Patzcuaro, 115 Lake, 45 Paya Mountain, 257 Pays, 261 Puz, La, Bay, 22 Town, 48, 93, 265 Paza, 251 River, 206, 244 Pearl Cay, 277 Islands, 277, 299 Lagoon, 287 Pedregal, 25 Pedro Bank and Cay, 340 502 INDEX. Pelee Mountain, 476 Pcfion de los Banos, 60 Pensacola Island, 283 Pepino, 426 Periban Mountain, 24 Perico River, 337 Pericu Tribe,. 81 Perote, 130 Pestel, 413 Peten, 199 Lake, 194, 216 Petit-Goave, 405, 413 Peto, 169 Philipsburg, 464 Picara Vole i no, 272 Pichilingue, 93 Piedad de Cabadas, 111 Piedras, 265 Negras, 102, 185 Pija Mountain, 257 Pilon de Azucar, 398 Pimal Mountain, 23 Pimas, 81 Pimeria, 81 Pinacate Volcano, 23 Pinar del Rio, 359, 372 Province, 372 Pines, Island of, 362 Pinogana, 335 Pinos, 260 Pinula, 232 Pipils, 220, 250 Pitic, 95 Plaisance, 411 Platotepe Volcano, 272 Plymouth, 471 Poas Volcano, 298 Pochutla, 35 Pointe-a-Pitre, 474 Pokomans, 220 Pokonchi, 221 Polochic River, 213, 215 Ponoe, 428 Popocatepetl, 24, 27 Popolocas, 283 Port Antonio, 393 Port-au-Prince, 412 Bav, 400 Port-de"-Paix, 410 Porte-d'Enfer, 474 Portillo de Tarifa, 35 Portland Ridge, 384 Port-Margot, 410 Port Maria, 393 Port Royal, 392 Port-Salut, 413 Portsmouth, 475 Potosi, 286 Potrerillo, 358 Poyas, 261 Presidio del Norte, 101 Principe, Fort, 372 Principolca, 287 Progreso (Honduras), 265 (Yucatan), 166 Providence Channel, 442 Puna Mountain, 257 Puebla Town and State, 126 Pueblo Viejo, 130, 228, 265 Pueblos, 60 Puente de Dios River, 37, 38 Puente Nacional, 130 Puerto Angel, 138 Barrios, 234 Belo, 324, 326 Caballos, 258, 264 Puerto Cortes, 264 Escoces, 317, 333 Escondido, 150 Gorda, 200 Icacos, 361 Limon, 307 Mico, 272 Plata, 422 Principe, 376 Rico, 423 Sal, 2G5 Viejo, 307 Puntarenas, 306 Purapura, 306 Puruandiro, 115 Putricanti, 333 Quekchi, 221, 236 Quelens, 155 Quemada, 108 Queretaro, 116 River, 116 State, 115 Quevas, 321 Quezaltenango, 206, 226 Volcano, 208 Quiahuitzlan, 131 Quiches, 156, 222 Quirigua, 221, 234 Quisqueya, 397 Rabinal Town and River, 228 Rama River, 289 {Ramas, 283 Raneho Chiquito, 201 Raspadura River, 336 Real del Monte, 116 Realejo, 284 Redonda Island, 467, 470 Redondo Volcano, 212 Regla, 116 Reinosa, 103 Retalhuleu, 226, 230 Department, 226 Reventazon River, 300 Revilla Gigedo Islands, 15, 31, 58 Rio Grande (Lerma), 41 (Panama), 300 del Norte, 36 de Pirris, 300 de Tarcoles, 300 de Terraba, 300 Rio Pedras, 426 Rivas, 286 Isthmus, 279 Riviere Salee, 472 Roatan Island, 260, 262 Romano Cay, 360 Rosalind Bank, 340 Rosario, 420 Roseau, 475 Rovalo Mountain, 296, 299 Rucillo Peak, 400 Rum Cay, 447 Saba Island, 456, 467, 468 Sabaibos, 84 Sabana Grande, 428 Sabinal Cay, 360 Sacapulas, '228 Sacatecoluca, 252 Sacate Grande Island, 257 Sacbe, 168 Sacluc, 236 Sagua-la-Chica River, 359 Sagua-la-Grande River, 359 Town, 375 Sahcaja, 227 Sahuaripa, 96 St. Bartholomew Island, 464 St. Christopher Island, 457, 468 St. Esprit, 478 St. Eustatius Island," 468 St. George Island, 454 Fort, 484 St. John Island, 433 (Antigua), 466 St. Kitts, 457, 468 St. Louis, 184 St. Lucas Cape, 16 St. Lucia Island, 479 St. Marc Cape, 412 St. Martin island, 463 St. Pierre, 477 St. Raphael, 412 St. Thomas Island, 430 Bay, 240 St. Vincent Island, 480 Saintes Islands, 473 Salado River, 36 Salama, 228 River, 228 Salamanca, 111, 170 Salazar, 185 Sale-Trou, 415 Salina de Cruz, 40, 140 Salinas Bay, 286, 296 (San Luis), 109 Saltadero, 378 Salt Cay, 442, 348 Salteba, 285 Saltillo, 31, 102 Salvador State, 244 City, 252 Volcanoes, 246 Salvaleon, 420 Salvatierra, 111, 414 Samala River, 208 Samana Bay, 397, 421 Island, 447 Sambos, 262 Sanacte, 168 San Andres Volcano, 26 (Chalchicomula), 128 (Guatemala), 237 Island, 277, 323 Town, 262 San Angel. 123 San Antonio Cape, 354 Mine, 94 River, 24 San Bartolome, 95 San Benito, 161 San Bernardo, 307 San Bias Mpuntains, 314 Bay, 43, 313, 316 Islands, 316 Isthmus, 3 16 Town, 113 San Carlos (San Domingo), 420 (Costa Rica) River, 279, 300 (Nicaragua), 288 (Sinaloa) Bay, 97 San Cristobal, 163 Lake, 45 las Casas, 162 (San Domingo), 420 San Diego, 14, 372 San Domingo Island, 396 Republic, 418 San Esteban del Puerto, 105 INDEX. 503 San Eugenio, 95 San Felipe del Agua Mountain, 34 San Felipe Port, 236, 324 San Fernando River, 37 San German, 427 San Geronimo, 228 San Gil, 236 Mountain, CI 3 San Gregorio Mountain, 111 San Jorge, 2«6 San Jose, 230, 237 Department. 233 (Costa Rica). 307 San Juan Mount. (Honduras), 257 San Juan Mountain (Jalisco), 113 San Juan River (Mexico), 37 (Nicaragua), 277 San Juan Bautista (Villa Hermosa), 162 (Puerto Rico), 425 San Juan de Dios, 244 del Norte, 289 de los Lagos, 112 San Juan del Rio (Durango), 102 (Queretaro), 116 San Juan del Sur, 286 de Maguana, 419 d'Ulua Island, 40, 131 San Juanito Mountain, 23 San Lorenzo (Honduras), 266 (San Domingo), 420 San Lucas (California), 98 (Costa Rica), 300 . San Luis Potosi, 24, 108 State, 108 San Marcos, 225 Department, 222 San Miguel River, 249 Volcano, 248 Bay, 316 Gulf, 335 (Salvador), 253 Allende, 111 San Pablo Meoqui, 100 San Pedro Lagoon, 195 Village, 108 de Sula, 263 Martir, 214 River, 25, 148, 216 Sacatepeques, 225 Volcano, 208 San Ramon, 307 San Salvador Island, 446 City, 252 Department, 252 Volcano, 246 San Sebastian (Chontales), 287 Santa Ana Volcano, 245 Department and Town, 251 Santa Barbara, 258 River and Town, 104 Department, 263 Port, 263 Santa Buenaventura, 102 Santa. Cataliha Mountain, 22 River, 103 Town, 378 Santa Catarina Volcano, 212 Santa Clara Town and Prov., 375 Santa Cruz Cape, 340 Island, 430. 433 (Yucatan), 170 (Rosales), 100 Mountains, 213 (Costa Rica), 306 , (Seibo), 420 Santa Cruz (Quiche), 227 Santa I'.lena Bay, 286 Santa Eulalia, 100 Santa Lucia, 233 Santa Magdalena, 95 Santa Maria Lagoon, 45 Volcano, 208 la Antigua, 334 del Rio, 109 delTule, 137 Santander River, 104 Santarem Channel, 442 Santa Rosa (Guatemala), 234 (Honduras), 263 Santa Tecla, 252 Santiago (Cuba), 377 (Mexico), 113 (Venta) River, 41, 258 Mountain, 313 Santo Domingo, 419 Santo Spiritu (Sancti Spiritu), 374 Santurce, 426 San TJbaldo, 287 San Vicente, 252 Volcano, 248 Saona, 403 Sapoa River, 279 Sarapiqui River, 279, 300 Sarstun River, 191, 194 Savana-la-Mar (San Domingo), 421 (Jamaica), 393 Sayula, 113 Sebastian Vizcaino Bay, 22, 93 Seco River, 148 Segovia River, 256 Territory, 287 Seguas, 321 Segura de la Frontera, 128 Selaque Mountains, 256 Sella de Caballo Mountain, 398 Sensenti, 263 Sensuntepeque, 252 Seri, 82 Serranilla Bank, 341 Sibun River, 192, 194 Sierra Madre (Guatemala, . 212 (Mexico), 4, 20 (Yucatan), 143 Sierra Maestra, 355 Siguantaneo, 77, 137 Silao, 110 Silla Mountains, 103 Simpson's Lagoon, 463 Sinaloa, 97 State, 95 Sincas, 234 Siquias, 283 Sisal, 166 Soconusco Volcano, 143 Region, 142 Seaport, 161 Solentiname Islands, 279 Solola Mountain, 229 Province, 226 Town, 229 Sombrerete Mine, 36 Town, 106 Sombrero Island, 463 Somotillo, 289 Sonoala Mountains, 23 Sonora State, 23, 95 River, 95 Sonsonate, 251 Department, 251 Soufriere Mount. (Guadeloupe), 472 (St. Lucia), 479 Soufriere (St. Vincent), 481 (Montserrat), 470 Spanish Town (Jamaica), 393 Speightstown, 486 Stann Creek, 200 Subtiaba, 284 Suchiate River, 214 Suchil, 40 Suchitepec Volcano, 212 Suchitoto, 252 Sucio River, 309 Sula, 261 Sulaco Mountain, 257 Sumpul River, 244 Tabasco State, 142 Taboga Island, 326 Tacana Volcano, 15, 143, 208 Tactic, 236 Tacuba, 123 Tacubaya, 122, 123 Tajimaroa Volcano, 26 Tajomulco Volcano, 208 Talamanca, 303 ; Indians, 305 Tamahu, 236 Tamaulipas State, 1C3 Tamaulipecs, 86 Tamazula, 102 Tamesi River, 37, 104 Tamiahua lagoon, 38, 104 Tampico River, 37 ; Town, 15, 104 Tamquian, 105 Tancitaro Volcano, 24 Tarahumaras, 82 Tarascos, 86 Tarcoles, 298 Tarquino Peak, 356 Tasco Volcano, 25 Taxco, 136 Teapasemi Mountain, 258 Tecapa Volcano, 248 Tecojate, 230 Tegucigalpa, 260, 266 Tehuacan (Mexico), 28, 129 (Salvador), 252 Tehuantepec Isthmus, 14, 29, 36 City, 140 Gulf and River, 40 Tejupilco, 117 Tekax, 167, 169 Teleman, 215, 236 Telica Volcano, 274 Temascaltepec, 117 Tempisque, 284 Tenampua, 265 Tenancingo, 117 Tenango, 117 Tenochtitlan, 64, 118 Tenorio Mountain, 296 Tenosique, 15, 164 Teotihuacan, 68, 126, 129 Tepatitlan, 30, 111 Tepeaca, 128 Tepehuans, 83 Tepeyacac, 123 Tepic Mountains, 33 Town. 112; Territory, 109 Tequila, 112 Tequisquiac Mountain, 48 Terminos Lagoon, 144, 150 Terrabas, 305 Terre de Haut, 473 Tetela del Oro, 126 Teul, 108 Texcoco Lake, 45 Town, 64, 69, 125 504 INDEX. Tiburon Cape, 397 Island, 82, 97 Town, 413; Peninsula, 2 Ticul, 167 Tiger Island, 257 ; River, 37 Tiguabo, 367 Tihosuco, 169 Tihule Pass, 314 Tikal, 2.37 Tilema Lagoon. 40 Tilorio River, 300 Tinto River, 2t'6, 256 Tipitapa, 284 ; River, 278 Tiribi River, 300 Tiribies, 305 Tiscapa Lake, 284 Tisingal, 308 Tizimin, 156 Tlacoltapam, 135 Tlahualila Lagoon, 45 Tlalpam, 123 Tlaluepantla Mountain, 34 Tlamecas, 34 Tlatelolco, 61, 64, 118 Tlaxcala, 27, 61, 126 State, 126 Tlaxcaltecs, 61, 64 Toacas, 261 Todos Santos, 93, 95 Tola, 281 Toledo, 200 Tolica Mountain, 27 Toliman, 116 Tollan, 62 Toltecs, 62, 220 Toluca, 21, 41, 117 Mountain, 34 Tonala, 161 River, 146, 249 Tongue of Ocean, 442 Tonila (Ococingo), lo3 Torbeck, 414 Tortola Island, 436 Tortuga Island, 6, 405 Totolotlan, 111 Totonacs, 62, 88 Totonicapam, 214, 227 Trelawney, 393 Tres Marias Islands, 23, 43, 58 Tres Virgenes Mount .ins, 22 Trinidad, 357, 374 Island, 455 Triunfo, 265 Trois-Rivieres, 410 Trou-Bonbon, 413 Truxillo, 261, 265 Tucuru, 236 Tula River, 37, 46 Town, 104, 117, 281 (Tamaulipas), 104 Tulancingo, 117 Tule, 322 Tulum, 168 Tunas, Las, 377 Tupisa River, 334 Turganti Mountain, 314 Turialba Volcano, 296 Turks Islands, 442, 448 Turneffe Island, 196 Tuxpam River, 41 Tuxpan, 130, 180 Tuxtla, 162 ; Volcano, 30, 40 Tuyra River, 314, 316 Tzendals, 155, 218 Tzintzontzan, 115 Tzotzil, 155, 223 Tzutujils, 222 Ujum Mountain, 299 Ulua River, 258 Uluas, 283 Union, 253 River and Department, 253 Union- Juarez, 161 Uraba Gulf, 314, 317 Ures, 95 Uruapan, 115 Usulutan Volcano, 248 Usumacinta River, 146, 147 Utatlan, 227 Utila Island, 259 Utuado, 426 Uxmal, 158, 167 Vacas, Las, 231 Valenciana, 110 Valladolid (Morelia), 115 (Yucatan), 168 Valle -Santiago, 111 Valles, 174 Vauclin Mountain, 476 Venado Island, 98 Ventanillas Volcano, 272 Vento River, 258 Ventosa, La, 40 Venturon Mountain, 274 Vera Cruz, 40, 130; State, 129 Veragua, 13, 205, 312 Vera Paz, 218 Verrettes, 412 Veta Grande Mine, 32 Via River, 419 Viceita, 3,05 Victoria Peak, 193 Vieja Providencia Island, 277 Viejo Volcano, 274 Vieques Island, 423, 428 Viga Canal, 121, 124 Villa Hermosa, 162 Juarez, 140 ; Nueva, 107 Virgin Islands, 430, 436 Gorda, 436 Virtud, 265 Vuelta de Abajo and Arriba, 358 Wanks River, 277 Watling Island, 446 Windward Islands, 455 Channel, 338, 447 Xaltocan Lake, 45 Xaragua, 402 Xeres, 266 Xicacs, 261 Xicalancs, 62 Xinantecatl Volcano, 27 Xiximes, 84 Xochicalco, 135 Xochimilco, 45 River and Lake, 4 Xolotlan Lake, 278 Xubabal, 228 Yanks River, 277 Yaqui Tribe, 81, 94 River, 43, 96 Great, 400 Chico, 397, 401 Peaks, 400 Yasica River, 421 Yauco, 428 Yautepec, 135, 136 Yavisa, 335 Yeluca Mountains, 272 Yocoa Lake, 258 Yolaina Mountains, 272 Yoro River, 276 Yucatan, 142 Channel, 354 Yucaya Islands, 444 Yiicayos, 373 Yuma, 14 Yumas, 81 Yumuri River, 373 Yuna River, 398, 401 Yunque (Cuba), 358 (Puerto Rico), 423 Yuscaran, 266 Zacapa, 234 Zacatecas, 106 Zacatlan, 126 Zacatula, 77, 137 Zacotecs, 86 Zakuleu, 228 Zampaol-tepetl, 35 Zapata, 359 Zapatera Island, 283, 286 Volcano, 274 Zapotecs, 62, 88, 89 Zapotlanejo, 111 Zayi, 160, 168 Zempoala, 40, 131 Zimapan, 116 Zitacuaro, 115 Zoques, 88, 141 Zulia River, 343 Zumas, 283 Zumpango, 45 Lake, 45 Zufii, 17 Zunil Volcano, 208 END OF VOL. II.