CHAPTER XII.
EARTHQUAKES AND VOLCANOES.
Much has been written of the effect upon the character and feelings of a people caused by constant dwelling among the more marked phenomena of Nature. It is a mistake to suppose that the eye sees all that is impressed on the retina, that the ear catches more than an insignificant share of the innumerable sounds falling ceaselessly on the tympanum, or that the mind interprets many of the marvels that each instant presents to it. Only the educated eye, the practised ear, the cultivated mind, can appreciate what the Creator has placed before it in this beautiful world whose wonders no human understanding, however taught, is capable of wholly comprehending. The worldly wisdom of the saying that “familiarity breeds contempt” is applicable to the greater portion of humanity; and dwellers among the Alps cease to see, if indeed they ever saw, what strikes the dweller on the plain with awe as he gazes for the first time at the Jungfrau. To a thinking, studying man, familiarity is the mother of awe.
In a region where the molecular forces, those mighty slaves of a Divine Will, are working out of doors, so to speak; where from the summit of a volcanic peak one can count scores of others ranged on his right hand and on his left; where he can see, if he has opened the door for such vision, the cooling globe wrinkling with age, the force of contraction liquefying in fervent heat the solid materials of the earth’s crust and pouring out into daylight the molten rock, or puffing out the dust of stones ground to powder in the gigantic mill,—his heart, his brain, his very being, will be enlarged by the reflections that come to him in such moments. Not so the Indio who lazily cultivates his milpa on the lower slopes of this same volcano. His feet never seek the summit, where no maiz can grow. He knows that the ground is very fertile where his hut is placed; he has nothing that an earthquake can destroy, and the showers of ashes, while injuring his present crop, are a pledge of increased fertility in the future; then from the streams of lava he can run, should they come in his way. When a more terrible outbreak of the great mass above him disturbs his stolidity, he attributes it to some supernatural agency, and calls upon his especial saints for the protection due their votary. Have not the Central Americans baptized their volcanoes, and have not these huge Christians since that rite been quiescent and proper members of the Church?
The people who live in the midst of this region of volcanic disturbances have not been elevated by communion with this manifestation of the agencies of Nature. Their religion is not autochthonic; their choicest traditions come from the non-volcanic lands to the eastward, and are not tinged with the lurid glow of the earth-fires. Even their hell is no fiery furnace, and the apostles of an Eastern religion introduced to their imagination that supposed element of future punishment. Where a suggestion of fire-worship appears, it is always called forth by the sun,—that source of life and warmth and growth.
And yet, here is a country where volcanoes cluster,—their number reaching several hundred,—where hot-springs are more common than the cold-springs in most countries, and where earthquakes are very frequent and destructive. The volcanoes of the Hawaiian Archipelago are larger, those of Java more destructive, and the equatorial group of South America is loftier; but here between Popocatepetl and Istaccuahuatl, the giants of the plain of Anahuac, and the Costa Rican Turrialba extends an unbroken line of mighty cones and gaping craters. Somewhere on that line, smoke is ever rising; and at night the mariner along the Pacific coast sees the beacon-fires lighted by no mortal hand.
We must not expect to find in native records any careful account, or even notice, of eruptions or earthquakes; if referred to at all, it will be much as in the quotation I have already given from the “Popul Vuh,” where Cabracan is said to be in the habit of shaking the mountains. In the three centuries and a half since Spain sent her educated sons to this land, with the exception of some three hundred earthquakes and half a hundred eruptions, we have no better record. While it is true that geology has existed as a science only within the present century, yet one would suppose that a catastrophe causing the death of hundreds of people and the destruction of much property would be entered with some minuteness in the annals of the time; but were it not for the masses and church processions to calm the trembling earth or appease the angry mountains, the worthy padres would perhaps have failed to notice these disturbances of Nature in their parochial records. Even the stories we have of the early experiences of the Spaniards in matters of vulcanology are so mingled with devils and unholy work that they are nearly incredible; and the stone volumes lying about the mountains, written by the hand of Nature, rather than the human chronicles, must be our guide.
VOLCANOES.
Stephens has described some of the Central American volcanoes from personal visits, but not with the pen of a geologist, and in the last years of the French Empire able geologists[61] redescribed some of the same peaks; but there are still more than a score of lofty cones that no geologist has ever ascended, and there are many rising from an almost unbroken forest, whose volcanic nature has not yet been fully determined. Even in the present age of physical research Central America has been sadly neglected; and we may express a hope that some young man is even now training his thews and sinews, and hardening his constitution by virtuous abstinence and careful exercise, as well as training his mind to interpret and his eye to see the rich harvest that here awaits the proper explorer. No feeble student need attempt the task. Death surely waits for him in the jungle, on the precipices, in the treacherous craters, even in the posada to which he brings his exhausted frame, should he be so foolhardy as to ascend a volcano in this tropical climate.
This is not the place to enter into a scientific description of even the little that is known of the volcanic phenomena of Central America; but perhaps my readers will pardon me if I make some few quotations from what Mr. Darwin once wrote me he considered the poetry of geology. I may at the same time show faintly what a tempting field there is for the truly scientific explorer.[62] What I have said already will be my excuse for inaccuracies, and I can only claim to have consulted the best authorities when my personal observation fails, and they must bear the blame of any misstatements. I give first a list of the principal volcanoes, then of their best-known eruptions, and finally an enumeration of the earthquakes. Hot and mineral springs are very frequent all over the country; but as their chemical constituents and medicinal properties have not been determined, and their physical peculiarities are not noteworthy, we may pass them by in this brief survey with the remark that the Indios do not seem to have made much use of their medicinal virtues, and turn at once to a catalogue of the volcanoes. From what I have myself seen of the extinct craters in the republic of Guatemala, I am convinced that I have collected in this list barely a tithe of the distinct volcanic vents. The Soconuscan volcano Istak has never been described, and some have doubted its existence; of the others whose names are in the list very few have been examined by geologists. Beginning at the extreme northwestern end of the chain in Central America, we find it extends south fifty-five degrees east; and while the volcanoes are generally in line, there are several subsidiary lines at right angles to the general trend.
Name. Present State. Last Eruption. Height.
IN GUATEMALA.
Tacanà Quiescent 1855 Tajumulco[63] Extinct 18,317(?) Santa Maria (Exancul) ” 11,415 Cerro Quemado Quiescent 1785 10,205 Zuñil Extinct Santa Clara ” 8,554 San Pedro ” 8,125 Atitlan Active 1852 9,870 Acatenango Quiescent 13,563 Fuego Active 1880 12,075 Agua Extinct 12,337 Pacaya (Pecul) Quiescent 1775 8,390 Cerro Redondo Extinct 3,550 Tecuamburro ” Moyuta ” Chingo ” 6,500 Amayo ” Mita ” 5,000 Suchitan, or Santa Catarina ” 1469(?) Monte Rico ” Ipala ” 5,460
IN SAN SALVADOR.
Apaneca Extinct 5,826 Santa Ana Active 6,000 Izalco ” constant 6,000 San Salvador[64] ” 6,182 Cojutepeque, or Ilopango ” 3,400 San Vincente Quiescent 1643 7,600 Tecapa Extinct Usulutan ” Chinameca Quiescent 5,000 San Miguel Active 1844 6,244 Conchagua Quiescent 3,915
IN HONDURAS.
Zacate Grande Extinct 2,000 Tigre ” 2,632 Congrehoy Peak Quiescent 8,040 Bonito ” Bay Islands Extinct 1,000
IN NICARAGUA.
Coseguina Quiescent 1835 3,600 Chonco ” El Viejo (Belcher, 1838) ” 5,562 Santa Clara ” 4,700 Telica Active 1850 3,800 Orota Quiescent Las Pilas ” 4,000 Axusco, or Asososco Extinct 4,690 Momotombo Active 1852 7,000 Momotombito Extinct Guanapepe ” Nindiri Quiescent Masaya Active 1858 3,000 Mombacho Extinct 5,250 Zapeton, or Zapatera ” Ometepec Active 1883 5,050 Madeira Quiescent 5,000
IN COSTA RICA.
Orosi Quiescent 8,650 Rincon de la Vieja ” Miravalles Extinct 5,500 Tenorio ” Los Votos, or Poas ” 10,500 Barba ” Irazu, or Cartago Active 1726 11,450 Turrialba Extinct 12,533 Chiripo ”
Besides the volcanoes contained in the preceding list there are in Columbia three volcanic peaks:—
Name. Present State. Height.
Pico Blanco Extinct 11,740 Rovalo (?) 7,021 Chiriqui (?) 11,265
The volcanoes on the Atlantic coast have been little noticed. Congrehoy Peak has the sharpest cone I have ever seen, almost equalling the impossible cones in Humboldt’s drawings of the Cordilleras; and I regret that the only photograph I was able to make of the mountain-top rising above the low-lying clouds was defective. Trusting too securely to my camera, I did not measure the angle, although the sketch I made just before is quite as the mountain looks. The sharpness is perhaps the result of an eruption said to have taken place a few years ago, when the crater fell in and ashes were carried as far as Belize,—a hundred and fifty miles. Belonging to the same system as Congrehoy and Bonito are the Bay Islands. Of these, Utila shows streams of vesicular basaltic lava, and fragments of a more compact, older basalt; but I have found neither on this island nor on Roatan any signs of a crater. The formation is, however, distinctly volcanic, and apparently of a period anterior to the eruptions which built the Island of Oahu in the Hawaiian Group,—I judge by the amount of decomposition and degradation, the lavas in both cases being similar in composition and physical character.
I have mentioned the deposits of volcanic sand found on the north shore of the Lago de Izabal, in a region surrounded by what are thought to be calcareous mountains; and I may add that several peaks in the Cockscomb Range of British Honduras appear from a distance of perhaps forty miles to be volcanic cones.
Passing over the traditional outbreaks of the Central American volcanoes before the Conquest, the earliest recorded eruption was that of Masaya in 1522; and the Spanish chroniclers tell a very amusing story of the attempt of the Dominican friar Blase and his companions to draw up the molten gold (lava) in an iron bucket from El Infierno de Masaya, or Hell of Masaya. The bucket, as well as the chain which held it, melted on approaching the lava; and the pious Churchmen, instead of being enriched by the precious metal, were poorer by the cost of the expedition. According to the same authority, the Indios at certain seasons cast living maids into the crater to appease the fire, that it might not break forth and injure their crops. This would indicate a continued state of activity, without an outbreak from the crater, much as in the Halemaumau of the volcano Kilauea. It is curious that in Yucatan the Mayas sacrificed maidens to water by casting them into the sacred well or Cenote of Chichen Itza;[65] and a similar sacrifice has been made at Ilopango in modern times. In 1772 the next real eruption took place, and in 1858 another slight one. The cone is directly over the Lake of Masaya,—the only source of water in that dry land; and its ejections are encroaching upon the area of the lake. But I will put the eruptions in a tabular form for convenience:—
LIST OF THE RECORDED ERUPTIONS IN CENTRAL AMERICA.
Year. Volcano.
1522 Masaya 1526 Fuego 1565 Pacaya 1581 Fuego 1582 ” 1585 and 1586 ” 1614 ” 1623 ” 1643 San Vincente 1651 Pacaya 1664 ” 1668 ” 1670 (?) in Nicaragua 1671 Pacaya 1677 ” 1686 Fuego 1699 ” 1705 ” 1706 ” 1707 ” 1710 ” two eruptions 1717 ” 1723 Irazu 1726 ” 1732 Fuego 1737 ” 1764 Momotombo 1770 Izalco (formation of) 1772 Masaya 1775 (?) in Nicaragua 1775 Pacaya 1785 Cerro Quemado 1798 Izalco 1799 Fuego 1803 Izalco 1821 (?) in Nicaragua 1829 Fuego 1835 Coseguina 1844 San Miguel 1847 (?) in Nicaragua 1850 Telica 1852 Momotombo 1855 Tacanà 1855 Fuego 1856 ” 1857 ” 1858 Masaya 1869 Izalco 1870 ” 1880 Ilopango (Lago de) 1880 Fuego 1883 Omotepec
EARTHQUAKES.
I do not propose to weary my readers with a list of the three hundred earthquakes that have been thought severe enough to be recorded; but a picture of Central America would be unrecognizable without some color of the natural disturbances that are inseparably connected in the popular mind with this part of the continent.
In 1541 the capital of the kingdom of Guatemala, now Ciudad Vieja, was a young and flourishing city. Founded in July, 1524, between the mountains Agua and Fuego, in the place called Almolonga (“water-fountain”), with the proud title of “City of Saint James of the Knights of Guatemala,” it had grown to a respectable size, in spite of numerous misfortunes, to which Juarros devotes an entire chapter of his “Compendio.” An earthquake in 1526, so severe, says Bernal Diaz del Castillo, that men could not stand, seems to have frightened the population less than did an enormous lion (puma?) which descended the forest-clad slopes of Agua in 1532 and made great havoc, until a reward of twenty-five gold dollars and a hundred fanegas of wheat induced a peasant to kill the monster. Politics had, as is usually the case, made more disturbance than the forces of Nature. The Conquistador Alvarado was recently dead, his widow, Doña Beatriz de la Cueva, had claimed the government, and the obsequies of the dead and the ceremonials of the new ruler were agitating the city when the sudden and terrible destruction of both ruler and her capital came. Accounts of the catastrophe vary, as is usual with all history,—which some one has wisely called “probabilities and possibilities extracted from lies;” but from nine extant descriptions and an examination of the physical marks which three centuries have not wholly effaced, I believe the following to be a fair story of the event:—
September is always a rainy month in Guatemala, and on Thursday, the 8th, a storm began which was violent even for that place and season. Rain fell in torrents, and continued to fall all that day and Friday and Saturday. Two hours after dark on the last day a severe earthquake shock was felt, and from Hunapu, since called the Volcan de Agua, came an avalanche of water, carrying with it immense rocks and entire forests. The terror of the earthquake and the roar of the unseen torrent wrought the excitement of the inhabitants to the utmost. Soon the deluge reached the city; the streets were filled to overflowing, and the houses were beaten by the waves and battered by the great trees brought by the torrent. Among the houses most exposed was that of Doña Beatriz, the widow of the Adelantado. She was preparing for bed; but startled by the earthquake and the terrible noise, endeavored to obtain safety in a small chapel near by, and while clinging to the crucifix was killed by the fall of the chapel wall. Her house was uninjured. All through the city the loss of life was very great; six hundred Spaniards perished, and the loss of Indios and Negroes was far greater. In the morning the remains of the city hardly appeared above the trees, rocks, and mud of the avalanche. It was then that the disheartened survivors decided to remove a league eastward, to the present Antigua.
The earthquake did not destroy the city, still less was there an eruption of water from the volcano; but the crater of the long-extinct cone had been filled with the rains, and the tremor shattered the loose dam of the crater-lip and let the great body of water down the steep side of the mountain. There was water in the crater long before, and the crater to-day shows marks of the broken wall and emptied lake. The destruction of the city was considered a judgment of Heaven upon Doña Beatriz for certain impious remarks made in her bereavement, and it was with difficulty that her family were able to bury her remains in consecrated ground.
On May 23, 1575, San Salvador (Cuscatlan) was destroyed by an earthquake which also greatly damaged Antigua. Afterwards the latter city had an experience that would have discouraged the people of any Northern town, for in 1576 and 1577 it was badly shaken, and on Dec. 23, 1586, destroyed. Then it was rebuilt enough to be again shattered on Feb. 18, 1651, and again on Feb. 12, 1689, and Sept. 29, 1717. The day after this last shock Antigua was destroyed completely; but for all that, on March 4, 1751, the chronicler writes “many ruins,” and then the centre of disturbance goes southward for a while. In April, 1765, several towns were destroyed in San Salvador, and the next month many in the Department of Chiquimula in Guatemala; while during the following October the “earthquake of San Rafael” shook many Guatemaltecan towns to pieces.
On July 29, 1773, Antigua was again destroyed,—if such a thing was possible; and although her inhabitants yielded to the momentary discouragement and permitted the Government to be removed to the Valley of the Hermitage, they have never allowed the ruins to become desolate, and to-day the traveller gazes in astonishment at the shattered walls of nearly eighty churches still the ornament of the town. The Antigua that once sheltered eighty thousand inhabitants, beautiful in its situation and distinguished by its architectural display, is still attractive in its ruins; its forty thousand inhabitants go in and out under the shadow of the volcano and await the next destruction, which may come to-morrow or years hence: the lesson that is past is all forgotten. I confess myself that the ruined churches, so fresh after the sun and rains of a century have penetrated their shattered walls, inspired no apprehension of danger; they were objects of great interest rather than warning; and it was no strange thing that those born in that charming place should cling to it still.
In 1774 nearly all the towns on the Balsam Coast of San Salvador were ruined. I hope my readers understand the delicate gradation in the terms used in speaking of the misfortunes of earthquake countries. A place is “shaken,” then “shattered,” then “ruined,” and finally “destroyed” by the _visit_ of a _temblor_; and it is a very nice matter to decide exactly where one term is appropriate and another not.
In February, 1798, San Salvador was badly shaken and after a rather long rest, broken by “no great shakes,” two very destructive earthquakes were felt in March and October, 1839. On Sept. 2, 1841, Cartago, in Costa Rica, was destroyed; in June, 1847, the Balsam Coast was greatly ruined; on May 16, 1852, the disturbances occurred northward, in the vicinity of Quezaltenango; on April 16, 1854, San Salvador was destroyed,—not, however, for the last time. On Nov. 6, 1857, Cojutepeque was badly shaken, and the same misfortune came upon La Union Aug. 25, 1859. The following December houses were shattered in Escuintla and Amatitlan; Dec. 19, 1862, Antigua, Amatitlan, Escuintla, Tecpan Guatemala, and the neighboring towns were severely shaken; June 12, 1870, Chiquimulilla was destroyed, and much damage done in Cuajinicuilapa; a month later a severe earthquake was felt in the Departments of Santa Rosa and Jutiapa; March 4, 1873, San Salvador and the neighboring towns were destroyed,—a process they must have become quite accustomed to by this time,—and eighteen months later it was the turn of Patzicia to be destroyed, while Chimaltenango, Antigua and the vicinity were only ruined. The year 1878 was marked by the destruction of several towns in Usulutan, San Salvador, and on Dec. 27 and 30, 1879, most of the small towns in the neighborhood of the Lago de Ilopango were overturned.
Hardly a month passes without some slight tremor in western Guatemala. In recent years so much more attention has been paid to seismology, or the observation and record of the time, duration, and direction of earthquake shocks, that the longer lists seem to indicate the increase of slight tremors; but this is not probable, and certainly the volcanic eruptions have diminished in force and frequency. Fuego, the most important, lays claim to twenty-one of the fifty recorded eruptions of the Central American volcanoes; but during the present century it has cast out merely sand, and no lava streams.
I have never had the experience of a very severe earthquake, although I have had the pictures swing on the walls and the plastering crack and fall; therefore I must borrow the description of an earthquake, that the list just given may seem more real. The following account is considered very truthful:—
“The night of the 16th of April, 1854, will ever be one of sad and bitter memory for the people of Salvador. On that unfortunate night our happy and beautiful capital was made a heap of ruins. Movements of the earth were felt on Holy Thursday, preceded by sounds like the rolling of heavy artillery over pavements and like distant thunder. The people were a little alarmed in consequence of this phenomenon, but it did not prevent them from meeting in the churches to celebrate the solemnities of the day. On Saturday all was quiet, and confidence was restored. The people of the neighborhood assembled as usual to celebrate the Passover. The night of Saturday was tranquil, as was also the whole of Sunday. The heat, it is true, was considerable, but the atmosphere was calm and serene. For the first three hours of the evening nothing unusual occurred; but at half-past nine a severe shock of an earthquake, occurring without the preliminary noises, alarmed the whole city. Many families left their houses and made encampments in the public squares, while others prepared to pass the night in their respective courtyards.
“Finally, at ten minutes to eleven, without premonition of any kind, the earth began to heave and tremble with such fearful force that in ten seconds the entire city was prostrated. The crashing of houses and churches stunned the ears of the terrified inhabitants, while a cloud of dust from the falling ruins enveloped them in a pall of impenetrable darkness. Not a drop of water could be got to relieve the half-choking and suffocating, for the wells and fountains were filled up or made dry. The clock-tower of the cathedral carried a great part of that edifice with it in its fall. The towers of the church of San Francisco crushed the episcopal oratory and part of the palace. The church of Santo Domingo was buried beneath its towers, and the college of the Assumption was entirely ruined. The new and beautiful edifice of the university was demolished, the church of the Merced separated in the centre, and its walls fell outward to the ground. Of the private houses a few were left standing, but all were rendered uninhabitable. It is worthy of remark that the walls left standing are old ones; all those of modern construction have fallen. The public edifices of the Government and city shared the common destruction.
“The devastation was effected, as we have said, in the first ten seconds; for although the succeeding shocks were tremendous, and accompanied by fearful rumblings beneath our feet, they had comparatively trifling results for the reason that the first had left but little for their ravages. Solemn and terrible was the picture presented on the dark funereal night of a whole people clustering in the plazas and on their knees crying with loud voices to Heaven for mercy, or in agonizing accents calling for their children and friends whom they believed to be buried beneath the ruins. A heaven opaque and ominous; a movement of the earth rapid and unequal, causing a terror indescribable; an intense sulphurous odor filling the atmosphere, and indicating an approaching eruption of the volcano; streets filled with ruins, or overhung by threatening walls; a suffocating cloud of dust almost rendering respiration impossible,—such was the spectacle presented by the unhappy city on that memorable and awful night.
“A hundred boys were shut up in the college, many invalids crowded the hospitals, and the barracks were full of soldiers. The sense of the catastrophe which must have befallen them gave poignancy to the first moment of reflection after the earthquake was over. It was believed that at least a fourth part of the inhabitants had been buried beneath the ruins. The members of the Government, however, hastened to ascertain, so far as practicable, the extent of the catastrophe, and to quiet the public mind. It was found that the loss of life was much less than was supposed; and it now appears probable that the number of killed will not exceed one hundred, and of wounded, fifty. Fortunately the earthquake has not been followed by rains, which gives an opportunity to disinter the public archives, as also many of the valuables contained in the dwellings of the citizens. The movements of the earth still continue, with strong shocks; and the people, fearing a general swallowing up of the site of the city, or that it may be buried under some sudden eruption of the volcano, are hastening away.” In 1859 the city was again in order, as the seat of government, after an ineffectual attempt to remove it to the plain of Santa Tecla, ten miles distant.
The birth of the volcano of Izalco occurred in 1770. It is, indeed, only a lateral opening of the volcano of Santa Ana, which, like Ætna, is a mother of mountains. San Marcellino, Naranjo, Tamasique, Aguila, San Juan, Launita, and Apaneca all seem to be her offspring. Near the base of the main volcano was, previous to 1770, a large cattle rancho. At the close of 1769 the people on this estate were alarmed by subterranean noises and earthquake shocks, which continued to increase in loudness and severity until February 23, when the earth opened about half a mile from the houses on the hacienda, emitting fire, smoke, and lava. The house-people fled from so terrible a neighbor; but the _vaqueros_, or cowboys, who came daily to see the new monster, declared it grew worse and worse, throwing out more smoke and flame daily, and that while the flow of lava sometimes stopped for a while, vast quantities of sand and stones were thrown out instead. For more than a century this action has gone on, and the ejecta have formed a cone more than six thousand feet high, or higher than Vesuvius. At intervals of from ten to twenty minutes, loud explosions occur, with dense smoke and a puff of cinders and stones. By night the view from Sonsonate is very attractive, as the cloud of smoke is illuminated by the molten mass within, and the red-hot stones shoot through this darker mass and seem to ignite vapors, which flash like lightning. As these stones roll down the steep sides of the cone, they leave a faint track some distance (optical, probably), and sometimes the caldron boils over, sending rills of molten lava down the cone. Well may the sailors call this “El faro de Salvador,”—the lighthouse of Salvador. Like Stromboli, it is always active; and while most volcanoes are noted for the irregularity of their eruptions, Izalco is exceedingly regular, though sometimes acting with unusual violence (1798, 1869, 1870). The volcano of Tanna, in the western Pacific, exhibits this same pulsating character.
San Miguel is the largest active volcano in San Salvador, rising from the plain to a height of perhaps sixty-five hundred feet. Like most of the Central American volcanoes, its mass is a very regular cone, and its form, size, and beautiful colors render it one of the grandest objects of its class. From the deep green of the forest which surrounds its base, the color fades to the light green of the upland grass, then to the deep red of the scoriæ, and the top is grayish-white. Above all, the ever-changing cloud of smoke floats lazily away. Of all the accounts of ascents of Central American volcanoes, I have selected the account published many years ago by Don Carlos Gutierrez of his ascent of San Miguel, because it seems to convey a fair idea of the simplest form of mountain-climbing and of the appearance of an active cone. He says:—
“We started from the city of San Miguel on the afternoon of the 7th of December, 1848, directing our course towards the western border of the plain where rises the dark bulk of the volcano. At eleven o’clock at night we reached the foot of the mountain, distant four leagues from the town. Although the moon shone with extraordinary brilliancy and the night was one of serenest beauty, yet we considered it safer to take shelter in an Indian hut for the remainder of the night than trust ourselves among the fissures of the mountain in the treacherous moonlight. At four in the morning, with the earliest dawn of day, we commenced our ascent on horseback. We however soon found our course so much impeded by masses of lava, over which it was difficult to force the animals, that we were compelled to dismount and pursue our journey on foot. About half way up the mountain the dikes of lava became less frequent, and the ground more firm and open, and, although quite precipitous, yet not difficult of ascent. This open belt, however, does not extend to the summit, and long before we reached it we were again driven upon the beds of sharp, rough, and unsteady lava.
“Our course now lay through a deep channel formed between two vast currents of lava, composed of enormous crags, which in 1844 had flowed out from fissures in the side of the volcano. We had not proceeded far between these walls of rock when we found the scoriæ beneath our feet so yielding and unsteady that we could scarcely retain our foothold. Frequently we slid back three or four yards, thus losing in a moment the advance which it had cost us great labor to accomplish. Nevertheless, after many efforts and through much exertion, and after having suffered several severe falls, we succeeded in reaching the throat of the mountain. Here the lava was solid and the scoriæ firm; and though the slope was very steep and dangerous, yet we found it easier to proceed here than over the soft and yielding ashes below.
“About mid-day we reached the summit proper of the mountain and stood on the edge of the great crater, which is surrounded by a wall of immense rocks, irregular in height, and having a circuit of a mile and a half. The area within these strange bulwarks is level; but on descending, we found with alarm that it was traversed in every direction by profound fissures, varying from one foot to five yards in width, from which escaped dense clouds of sulphurous smoke. About in the centre of this area was the yawning, active crater, or mouth of the crater, or mouth of the volcano. Our guide peremptorily refused to advance farther, insisting that we were liable at any moment to sink into some one of the numerous fissures which yawned beneath the superficial crust. He added further that in the neighborhood of the crater the gases were so pungent and the sulphurous odor so overwhelming that we could not escape suffocation.
“The alarm with which our guide endeavored to inspire us did not, however, get the better of our curiosity, and we determined to reach the crater. Providing ourselves with long staves with which to test the nature of the ground, we advanced carefully and slowly. At every step the clouds of smoke became more dense, and the odor of the gases escaping from the multitudinous fissures more overpowering. Our efforts, however, were amply repaid by the sight which met our eyes when we finally reached the brink of the crater. Nothing could be grander or more magnificent.
“A few months before, I had seen the volcano of Izalco, with its crown of living fire and its flashing tongues of flame, throwing out floods of incandescent lava; but sublime as was the spectacle, it paled and grew tame in comparison with that before us. The crater, as before observed, is in the centre of the level area which I have described. It is of irregular width, in some places only ten or twelve yards broad; in others, fifty or sixty, dividing the greater crater from side to side. The depth of this orifice, or cleft, is so great that the eye cannot fathom it. One sees only a vast gulf of molten lava, over which plays a pale and sulphurous flame, reflected again and again from burned and blistered rocks, fantastic in shape and capricious in position, which form the walls of the orifice. Thick whorls of smoke drifted up from all sides, so that at times I was unable to distinguish my companion, distant only a few yards. An indescribable magnetic influence or fascination seemed to rivet our eyes on the molten floods surging below us, and which, from their roar and vibrations, seemed to threaten momentarily to rise and overwhelm us, as if the volcano were on the verge of eruption.
“Our contemplations of this fearful orifice were therefore brief, the smoke and odor overpowered us; and in a few moments we were forced to abandon our positions and seek a breath of pure air at a distance. We returned rapidly to the place where we had left our guide; and casting a farewell glance over the strange area before us, commenced our descent, reaching San Miguel at six o’clock in the evening, weary and exhausted.”
Of the eruptions of the Central American volcanoes none in the historical period have surpassed that of Coseguina in 1835. This mountain forms the eastern gate-ward of the Gulf of Fonseca, Conchagua rising on the other side of the rather narrow entrance. Not remarkably high (3,600 feet), it rises directly from the sea, and by its irregular outline, scarred slopes, and desolate appearance conveys the impression of a greater than its real mass. On the 20th of January, 1835, the disturbance began with very loud explosions, heard for a hundred leagues. Above the mountain rose an inky cloud which spread outwards precisely as Pliny describes the terrible cloud that rose above Vesuvius in 79, spreading like an Italian pine. From this column of heated vapor and sand darted lightning-flashes, produced either by the friction of the immense quantity of rough mineral particles, or by the sudden projection of hot gases and minerals into the much cooler atmosphere. As the cloud spread, the light of the sun was obscured, everything looked sickly in the yellow light, and the falling sand irritated both eyes and lungs. For two days the explosions grew more frequent and louder, while the eruption of sand increased; and on the third day the terrible noises were loudest in an almost absolute darkness. The rain of sand continued until a deposit of several feet had formed for many leagues around the crater. At Leon, in Nicaragua, more than a hundred miles away, the sand was several inches deep, and it fell in Vera Cruz, Jamaica, Santa Fé de Bogota, and over an area nearly two thousand miles in diameter. At Belize the noise of the explosions was so loud that the commandant mustered his troops and manned the forts, thinking there was a naval action off the anchorage. For eight hundred miles these noises were heard, and the vibrations near the volcano must have been indeed terrible. We can credit the accounts of the terror of the wild things of Nature as well as of human beings. For thirty leagues around, the astounded people believed that the Last Judgment had come, and in the darkness, thick with the falling ashes, groped hither and thither, bearing crosses and uttering prayers inaudible to themselves in the crash of elements. At the end of forty-three hours the earthquakes and explosions ceased, and with a strong wind the ashes were gradually blown away from the atmosphere. The returning light of day showed a gloomy outlook. Ashes covered the country on every side. On Coseguina a crater had opened a mile in diameter, and vast streams of lava had flowed into the gulf on one side, and into the ocean on the other. While the verdure was gone from the land, pumice covered the sea for a hundred and fifty miles.
Terrible as was this outbreak, the explosive violence was not so great as of the eruption from some unknown vent whose deposits are about Quiché in Guatemala, in the valley of the Chixoy, and elsewhere; and Pacaya has in some prehistoric time thrown out sand and pumice in greater quantity than did Coseguina, as we see by the deposits about the Lago de Amatitlan.
With the mention of the Lago de Amatitlan it occurs to me that the so-called volcanic lakes of Central America deserve a short notice. I would not claim that there are not here genuine pit-craters filled with water and called _lagos_ or _lagunas_. On the summit of many of the extinct volcanoes are craters filled with water, as Ipala and others, and as Agua was before the destruction of the crater-lip in 1541; while in San Salvador and Nicaragua are many lakes, usually of small extent, but sometimes so large as to mislead the casual observer as to their origin, though of undoubtedly volcanic nature. Of this last class is the Lago de Masaya, from whose deep pool the people of the neighboring village obtain all their water. Coatepeque is another volcanic lake, whose walls are so steep that they can be descended only at certain points by means of ladders and steps cut in the lava rock. Finally there are many pits, sometimes no more than a hundred feet in diameter, but of very great depth, and filled sometimes with fresh water, but more commonly with saline waters so strongly impregnated as to be undrinkable. The great lakes of Amatitlan and Atitlan are not certainly volcanic, although their shores are dotted with hot-springs and guarded by volcanoes,—they are not, that is, actual craters; but the former seems to be the result of a subsidence caused perhaps by the removal of material from lower layers by eruptions of Pacaya, and it is of no considerable depth, while good authority has considered the Lago de Atitlan the result of damming up a valley and streams by the masses of the volcanic group of the same name. A glance at the map of this lake (p. 154) as given by the French geologists whose opinion is quoted, will show that the volcanoes occupy a position not far from the geometrical centre of the Lago, or where they should be if the lake was an ancient crater. Compare with this, if you will, the plan of an undoubted volcanic lake, that of Ilopango in San Salvador. This body of water is not only the seat of volcanic eruptions, as is also the Great Lake of Nicaragua, but probably fills a depression that has been the result of the coalescence of several points of eruption. I have before me the interesting report to the Guatemaltecan Government by my friend Edwin Rockstroh of his observations made on the eruption of one of these craters in 1880. The lake is 9,200 metres wide from east to west, and 7,300 metres from north to south, with an area of 54.3 kilometres. Completely surrounded by precipitous mountains, interrupted only on the southeast by the narrow gorge through which the waters of the lake are discharged, it receives no important affluents from the surface; and as its emissary is of much greater volume at all seasons than these insignificant brooks, it is probably fed by subterranean springs,—indeed one of these, near the south shore, enters with such force as to cause a ripple on the surface of the lake. Soundings indicate a cup-like bottom with an extreme depth of less than seven hundred feet (209.26 metres). The level of the lake has often changed, and in 1880 the surface-level fell more than thirty-four feet, leaving exposed stumps of trees encrusted with calcareous deposits. It was before the last eruption well stocked with fish of the varieties called by the people who lived near by _mojarra_, _burrito_ (both species of the genus _Heros_), _pepesca_, and _chimbolo_. At times an eruption of sulphurous gases partly asphyxiated the fish, driving them to the shores, where they fell a prey to the fishermen. What the fishermen did on occasion of greater disturbances is told in the following extract from a Guatemaltecan journal;[66] the author, Don Camillo Galvan, formerly Visitador-General, writes as follows:—
“The people of the pueblos around the lake, Cojutepeque, Texacuangos, and Tepezontes, say that when the earthquakes came from the lake, which they knew by the disappearance of fish, it was a sign that the monster lord of those regions who dwelt in the depths of the lake was eating the fish, and probably would consume them all shortly, unless provided with a more delicate and juicy diet worthy of his power and voracity; for they say that the monster only eats fish as men eat fruit, to refresh and allay hunger. The natives, deeply afflicted by the fish famine, the failure of an article of commerce and their ordinary diet, collected at the command of their chiefs. Then the sorcerers (_los brujos_) commanded the people to throw flowers and fruits into the lake: if the tremblings continued, they were to cast in animals, preferring conies (_Lepus Douglassii_), taltusas (_Geomys heterodus_), then armadillos (_Dasypus_), and mapachines (_Procyon cancrivorus_). These animals must be caught alive and cast living into the water, under penalty of no less than hanging with the vine _zinak_. If some days passed, and the tremors continued, and the fish did not come out of their caves, they (the brujos) took a girl of from six to nine years old, decked her with flowers, and at midnight the wizards took her to the middle of the lake and cast her in, bound hand and foot and with a stone fast to her neck. The next day, if the child appeared upon the surface and the tremors continued, another victim was cast into the lake with the same ceremonies.
“Even in the years 1861 and 1862, when I visited these towns, they told me, though with much reserve, that the people of Cojutepeque and Chinameca kept this barbarous custom to prevent the failure of the fish.”
Near the end of November, 1879, a series of earthquakes shook the lake (more than six hundred were counted), and on Jan. 11, 1880, the waters had risen about four feet. On the next day, between half-past four and half-past seven in the afternoon, 13,790,000 cubic metres of water escaped from the outlet of the lake, making a stream of greater volume than the Seine at Paris or the Rhine at Basle. The little river Jiboa, which received this torrent, did great damage to the plantations on its banks.
As is usual, the earthquakes were accompanied by the discharge of sulphuretted hydrogen, now in such quantities as to be very unpleasant at the city of San Salvador. On the 9th of January there appeared floating on the surface numerous flakes of a black foam composed of ferric sulphide, which in contact with flame burned with a slight explosion. On the 20th, at eleven o’clock in the evening, a great disturbance was noticed in the midst of the lake, and the next morning a pile of rocks was seen, from whose midst arose a column of vapor. For more than a month this vapor column was visible, and the pile of rocks near the centre of the lake increased, while the water was heated and the sulphurous vapors extended over all the neighborhood. Beyond this no permanent volcano was formed above the level of the lake (1,600 feet above the sea).
It is dangerous to form conclusions as to the general course of volcanic action anywhere, for science is very much in the dark as to the causes of eruptions and earthquakes, as to the condition of the interior of our globe, whether fluid or solid, and also as to whether the lavas poured out during an eruption have been fluid since the earth was formed, or have been suddenly melted either as cause or effect of what we call an eruption. In the Central American volcanic region, as was stated at the beginning of this chapter, little has been done in the way of scientific exploration, and the facts recorded, beyond popular accounts of some especial disturbance, are so meagre that no large space would be required to present them to the reader. This is not, however, the place to enter into a scientific discussion, and I must content myself with a few bare statements.
In the first place, the volcanoes of the country discharge both ashes and lava, the latter being most frequently trachytic. Basaltic lavas occur, though less frequently than in Mexico and farther northward; and the columnar structure seen so well at Regla in Mexico is very rare in Guatemala. On the other hand, pumice and obsidian, which are classed with the acid or trachytic lavas, are abundant, the latter furnishing material for knives, while the former has many applications in the arts of the present day. I have seen both basalt and basaltic rapilli in eastern Guatemala near the boundary of San Salvador, and basaltic sand is common on the southern coast.
Another feature of the Central American volcanoes is their remarkable regularity of form. This is due to the fact that the emissions consist of ash and lava of slight fluidity. In the Hawaiian Islands, where the basaltic lava is more fluid than in any other volcanic region, the lava-streams often flow for months, and extend fifty or sixty miles from the crater, building by successive eruptions a cone of great diameter in proportion to their height; Mauna Loa having a diameter of ninety miles at the sea-level, with a height of less than fourteen thousand feet and a slope of about seven degrees. The eruptions of the American volcanoes are mainly of masses of rock which are piled regularly about the base, in this way increasing the height, and great quantities of sand which fills the interstices, and finally of lava in a thick, viscid state which clings to the slopes of the growing cone and cements together the sand and larger fragments. No lava-stream, at least of modern times, has been found at any considerable distance from its source.
From the specimens I collected in some of the ravines which traverse the older deposits, I saw that in former ages the outflow was not only different from that of modern times, but of great variety of form in contemporaneous streams, although the chemical composition did not vary essentially.
Earthquakes are mainly due to the injection of intensely heated lava into strata of cold rock in the process of forming dikes. When a volcano pours its lava out of its summit-crater, the eruption may be wholly free from earth tremors, as is often the case on the Hawaiian Islands; and this gives rise to the popular belief that active volcanoes are in some way a safety-valve for the subterranean forces. When, however, the shrinkage of the earth’s crust or the explosive force of pent-up vapors cracks the solid rock, thus giving passage to the molten mass which must be supposed to underlie this volcanic region, the sudden contact of two bodies of very different temperatures (perhaps two thousand degrees) must cause vibrations entirely sufficient to account for the worst earthquake recorded. That the supply of molten rock is ample beneath the crust of this region, we have proof in the constant activity of Izalco, which for more than a century has poured out lava with the other ejections.
This theory of earthquake action is so simple that it must commend itself to any one who has observed the powerful vibrations excited by placing a cold kettle upon a hot stove, or by admitting with force a stream of hot water into a bath-tub partly filled with cold water. It may be stated also that lava is a remarkably poor conductor of heat (I have been able to walk over a crust that bent beneath my weight, and again where I left footprints in the half-hardened lava), and solid lava might retain a temperature of less than two hundred within a few feet of a molten mass ranging among the thousands of degrees. The secular refrigeration of the subterranean molten masses due to the slight conductivity of solid lava is well illustrated in the temperature of hot-springs, that remains unchanged for centuries.
Eruptions are usually of an explosive nature in the Central American region (as described in the outbreak of Coseguina), and the ejected ash is scattered often to a great distance to form by its decomposition layers of soil especially fitted for the cultivation of coffee, sugar, and the vine. Sulphur is not so abundantly deposited as at Ætna, Hekla, or even the Mexican volcanoes.
APPENDIX.
What an attic-room is to the thrifty housewife, an appendix is to the maker of a book. Some things that do not seem to be in place in the parlor or chamber are yet useful, and altogether too good to be thrown away, so they are put into the garret to await the expected use. In a book there are matters that the writer thinks ought to interest some reader, things that will be missed if they are not under the same roof,—I mean between the covers of the volume in hand,—and yet the skill is wanting to incorporate these odd pieces (of furniture, if you wish) in the orderly chapters of the book. And so I give you here several long notes and some longer lists.
A LIST OF COMMON CABINET WOODS, DYE-WOODS, AND TIMBER.
Almond (_Amygdalus communis_). Fustic (_Maclura tinctoria_). Funera. Mahogany (_Swietenia mahogani_),—of various kinds, as red, circular, buttress. Mangrove (_Rhizophora Mangle_); the wood is dark red, and very durable. Mangrove (_R. Candel_); the wood is very heavy and takes a fine polish. Granadillo,—a very solid dark-red wood, much used for tables. Ronron. Guachapeli,—a dark, very hard and strong wood, used in boat-building. Madre cacao (_Erythrina_),—soft. Alligator wood (_Guarea Swartzii_). Trompillo. Tepemís,—yellow. Uña de gato (_Pithecolobium unguis-cati_). Blood-wood (_Laplacea hæmatoxylon_). Palo de Cortez. Palo de mulatto (_Spondias lutea_),—a most beautiful and durable wood, very heavy. Cola de pava. Sangre de perro. Cedar (_Cedrela odorata_). Coco-wood (_Inga vera_). Tatascame. Saradillo. Chaquiro. Sechillo. Sare. Volador. Brasiletto (_Cæsalpinia crista_). Tatamite. Goyava (_Psidium_); wood hard and compact, though not of great size. Arnotto (_Bixa orellana_) variety, with white wood. Zorra. Marillo. Medlar. Bambu (_Bambusa_). Huiliguiste,—light-colored wood. Conacaste. Balsam-tree (_Clusia rosea_). Calabash-tree, Guaje (_Crescentia cujete_). Tempisque. Pié de paloma. Nance,—dye-wood. Orange (_Citrus_),—white and close grained. Chichipate. Cuaquiniquil. Varillo. Sunzapote. Copinol. Sicamite. Chaperno. Cedar (_Bursera_). Tamiagua. Locust, Anime (_Hymenæa courbaril_); from this tree gum-copal is obtained. Locust (_Byrsonima cinerea_). Cambron. Gum-thorn (_Acacia Arabica_). Irayol,—yellow and ochre-colored. Cotorron. Quiebra-hacha (_Sloanea Jamaicensis_),—black wood. Copalchi,—quinine-tree; the bark is used, and the wood is also in demand. Mammee (_Lucuma mammosa_); the wood is very hard and heavy, but splits easily. Chipilte. Meloncillo,—dark. Quita calzon. Palo grande. Pigeon-wood (_Coccoloba diversifolia_). Rose-apple (_Jambosa vulgaris_). Sebesten (_Cordia sebestena_). Gorrion. Canelillo. Chicate. Rosewood (_Dalbergia_). Guilsinse. Guaquilite. Sandbox-tree (_Hura crepitans_). Screw-pine (_Pandanus_); the heart-wood is very hard and ornamental. Salm (_Jacaranda_); light-colored, much used for door-frames. Ironwood (_Laplacea hæmatoxylon_). Pine, ocote (_Pinus cubensis_). Pine, long-leaved (_P. macrophyllum_). Poknoboy (_Bactris balanoidea_). Sandpaper-tree (_Curatella Americana_),—the rough leaves used for sandpaper. Hog-gum (_Symphonia globulifera_). Walnut (_Picrodendron juglans_). Tamarind (_Tamarindus Indica_). Melon. Espina blanca (_Acacia Arabica_). Copal (_Hedwigia balsamifera_). Copalche, small (_Strychnos pseudoquina_). Pimiento (_Pimenta vulgaris_). Zebra-wood (_Eugenia fragrans_). Mignonette-tree (_Lawsonia inermis_). Totascamite,—yellow. Guazuma (_G. tomentosa_). Pepeto. Dulcete. Oak (_Ilex sideroxyloides_). Tamacillo. Zapotillo. Caumillo. Spanish plum (_Spondias purpurea_). Santa Maria (_Calophyllum calaba_). Filo. Macaligua. Loro. Madrefera. Sincho. Pomegranate (_Punica granatum_). Sapodilla (_Achras sapota_). Ziricote,—beautifully marked; heavy. Pine, mountain (_P. Ayacahuite_). Pine (_P. filifolia_). Maho (_Spondias?_). Sapoton (_Pachira macrocarpa_). Tamarind, wild (_Pithecolobium filicifolium_). White-wood (_Oreodaphne leucoxylon_). Willow, yellow (_Salix_). Ebony, mosaic (_Brya ebenus_). Balsam (_Myrospermum salvatoriensis_). Pimientillo. Qualm (_Cecropia peltata_).
LEAF-CUTTING ANTS.
The Œcodoma, Zompopos, or leaf-cutting ants, are such a pest to the fruit-growers of Central America that I have quoted from Mr. Belt the most satisfactory account of their habits that has ever been published. He says:—
“The first acquaintance a stranger generally makes with them is on encountering their paths on the outskirts of the forest crowded with the ants,—one lot carrying off the pieces of leaves, each piece about the size of a sixpence and held up vertically between the jaws of the ant, another lot hurrying along in an opposite direction empty handed, but eager to get loaded with their leafy burdens. If he follows this last division, it will lead him to some young trees or shrubs, up which the ants mount, and where each one, stationing itself on the edge of a leaf, commences to make a circular cut with its scissor-like jaws from the edge, its hinder feet being the centre on which it turns. When the piece is nearly cut off, it is still stationed upon it, and it looks as though it would fall to the ground with it; but on being finally detached, the ant is generally found to have hold of the leaf with one foot, and soon righting itself, and arranging its burden to its satisfaction, it sets off at once on its return. Following it again, it is seen to join a throng of others, each laden like itself, and without a moment’s delay it hurries along the well-worn path. As it proceeds, other paths, each thronged with busy workers, come in from the sides, until the main road often gets to be seven or eight inches broad, and more thronged than the streets of the city of London.
“After travelling for some hundreds of yards, often for more than half a mile, the formicarium is reached. It consists of low wide mounds of brown clayey-looking earth, above and immediately around which the bushes have been killed by their buds and leaves having been persistently bitten off as they attempted to grow after their first defoliation. Under high trees in the thick forest the ants do not make their nests, because, I believe, the ventilation of their underground galleries, about which they are very particular, would be interfered with, and perhaps to avoid the drip from the trees. It is on the outskirts of the forest, or around clearings or near wide roads that let in the sun, that these formicariums are generally found. Numerous round tunnels, varying from half an inch to seven or eight inches in diameter, lead down through the mounds of earth; and many more from some distance around also lead underneath them. At some of the holes on the mounds ants will be seen busily at work bringing up little pellets of earth from below and casting them down on the ever-increasing mounds, so that its surface is nearly fresh and new-looking....
“The ceaseless toiling hosts impress one with their power, and one asks, What forests can stand before such invaders? How is it that vegetation is not eaten off the face of the earth? Surely nowhere but in the tropics, where the recuperative powers of Nature are immense and ever active, could such devastation be withstood.... None of the indigenous trees appear so suitable for them as the introduced ones....
“In June, 1859, very soon after the formation of my garden, the leaf-cutting ants came down upon it, and at once commenced denuding the young bananas, orange, and mango trees of their leaves. I followed up the paths of the invading hosts to their nest, which was about one hundred yards distant, close to the edge of the forest. The nest was not a very large one, the low mound of earth covering it being about four yards in diameter. At first I tried to stop the holes up; but fresh ones were immediately opened out. I then dug down below the mound and laid bare the chambers beneath, filled with ant-food and young ants in every stage of growth. But I soon found that the underground ramifications extended so far and to so great a depth, whilst the ants were continually at work making fresh excavations, that it would be an immense task to eradicate them by such means; and notwithstanding all the digging I had done the first day, I found them as busily at work as ever at my garden, which they were rapidly defoliating. At this stage our medical officer, Dr. J. H. Simpson, came to my assistance, and suggested the pouring carbolic acid, mixed with water, down their burrows. The suggestion proved a most valuable one. We had a quantity of common brown carbolic acid, about a pint of which I mixed with four buckets of water, and, after stirring it well about, poured it down their burrows. I could hear it rumbling down to the lowest depths of the formicarium, four or five feet from the surface. The effect was all that I could have wished; the marauding parties were at once drawn off from my garden to meet the new danger at home. The whole formicarium was disorganized. Big fellows came stalking up from the cavernous regions below, only to descend again in the utmost perplexity.
“Next day I found them busily employed bringing up the ant-food from the old burrows and carrying it to a new one a few yards distant; and here I first noticed a wonderful instance of their reasoning powers. Between the old burrows and the new one was a steep slope. Instead of descending this with their burdens, they cast them down on the top of the slope, whence they rolled down to the bottom, where another relay of laborers picked them up and carried them to the new burrow. It was amusing to watch the ants hurrying out with bundles of food, dropping them over the slope and rushing back immediately for more. They also brought out great numbers of dead ants that the fumes of the carbolic acid had killed. A few days afterwards, when I visited the locality again, I found both the old burrows and the new one entirely deserted, and I thought they had died off; but subsequent events convinced me that the survivors had only moved away to a greater distance. It was fully twelve months before my garden was again invaded. I had then a number of rose-trees, and also cabbages growing, which the ants seemed to prefer to everything else. The rose-trees were soon defoliated, and great havoc was made amongst the cabbages. I followed them to their nest, and found it about two hundred yards from the one of the year before. I poured down the burrows, as before, several buckets of water with carbolic acid. The water is required to carry the acid down to the lowest chambers. The ants, as before, were at once withdrawn from my garden; and two days afterwards, on visiting the place, I found all the survivors at work on one track that led directly to the old nest of the year before, where they were busily employed making fresh excavations. Many were bringing along pieces of the ant-food from the old to the new nests; others carried the undeveloped white pupæ and larvæ. It was a wholesale and entire migration; and the next day the formicarium down which I had last poured the carbolic acid was entirely deserted.
“Don Francisco Velasquez informed me in 1870 that he had a powder which made the ants mad, so that they bit and destroyed each other. He gave me a little of it, and it proved to be corrosive sublimate. I made several trials of it, and found it most efficacious in turning a large column of the ants. A little of it sprinkled across one of their paths in dry weather has a most surprising effect. As soon as one of the ants touches the white powder it commences to run about wildly, and to attack any other ant it comes across. In a couple of hours round balls of the ants will be found all biting each other; and numerous individuals will be seen bitten completely in two, whilst others have lost some of their legs or antennæ. News of the commotion is carried to the formicarium, and huge fellows, measuring three quarters of an inch in length, that only come out of the nest during a migration or an attack on the nest or one of the working columns, are seen stalking down with a determined air, as if they would soon right matters. As soon, however, as they have touched the sublimate, all their stateliness leaves them; they rush about, their legs are seized hold of by some of the smaller ants already affected by the poison, and they themselves begin to bite, and in a short time become the centre of fresh balls of rabid ants.”[67]
I wish I could quote all Mr. Belt’s interesting article; for his conclusion as to the use the ants make of the bits of leaf they are so incessantly collecting, is an ingenious one, and probably true. It is certain that the little fellows are never seen taking a nibble of their burdens, which would probably be the case if this material was intended for food; and Mr. Belt thinks that the smaller ants, who seldom leave the nest and never carry leaves, have the task of cutting the leaves up into very small bits, which serve as manure for a minute fungus, which is the real ant-food. It seems that “some of the ants make mistakes, and carry in unsuitable leaves; thus grass is always rejected by them. But I have seen some ants, perhaps young ones, carrying leaves of grass; but after a while these pieces are always brought out again and thrown away. I can imagine a young ant getting a severe ear-wigging from one of the major-domos for its stupidity.”
QUICHÉ PRAYER.
Here is a translation I have made from the Spanish version given by Milla of a Quiché prayer; and as the petitioner is a supposed Christian, it will serve to illustrate the theological status of the Indio converts, and no less of their descendants of the present day. Compare it with the heathen prayer (p. 249):—
“O Jesus Christ my God, thou God the Son with the Father and the Holy Spirit art but one God! To-day on this day, at this hour, on this day of Tijax, I invoke the holy spirits who attend the dawn and the last glimmerings of day! With the holy spirits I pray to thee, O chief of the Genii who dwell in this mountain of Sija-Raxquin! Come, blessed spirits of Juan Vachiac, of D. Domingo Vachiac, of Juan Ixquiaptop; blessed spirits of Francisco Ecoquij, of Diego Soom, of Juan Tay, of Alonso Tzep; holy spirits, I repeat, of Diego Tziquin and Don Pedro Noj; you, O priests, to whom all things are open, and thou Chief of the Genii; ye Gods of the mountain, Gods of the plain, Don Puruperto Martin,—come, accept this incense, accept now this candle! Come also mother mine, holy Mary, and thou my Lord of Esquipulas, the Lord of Capetagua, ... Captain Santiago, Saint Christopher, ... thou Lord and King Pascual, be present here! And thou frost, thou God of the plain, thou God Quiacbasulup, thou Lord of Retal-euleu [here follows a long list of names of towns and mountains]! I make myself compadre and comadre, I who pray; I am the witness and the brother of this man who makes himself your son, of this man who prays. O blessed spirits, suffer no evil to come to him, nor let him be in any way unhappy! I the one who speak, I the priest, I who burn this incense, I who pray for him, I who take him under my protection, I beseech you that he may easily find his food. Do thou then, God, send him his money; do not allow him to get sick with fever, let him not become paralytic, let him not be choked with a cough, let him not be bitten by a serpent, let him not be swollen with wind nor asthmatic, let him not become mad nor be bitten by a dog, let him not perish by a thunderbolt, suffer him not to perish by rum, nor die by sword or stave, neither let an eagle snatch him away; assist him, O clouds! assist him, O lightnings! assist him, O thunderclap! Aid him, Saint Peter, aid him, Saint Paul, aid him, thou Eternal Father! I then who have spoken for him thus far, I pray that sickness may come upon his opponents; grant that when his enemy goes forth from his house he may encounter sickness; grant likewise that wherever he may please to go, there he may meet with difficulties. Do your duty against enemies wherever they may be; do it as I pray you, blessed spirits! God be with you! God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost! So be it! Amen, Jesus!”
THE NAMES OF GUATEMALTECAN TOWNS.
It is uncertain whether at the present day any of the aboriginal names of places survive, for the successive invaders from the North or from beyond the seas, if they did not utterly destroy towns, imposed new names on the conquered places. We speak of the ruins of Palenque or of Quirigua, but we do not know the former names of these places, and call them, for convenience, by the name of the nearest modern village. Much ingenuity has been expended in the derivation of Indian names still extant, even the name of the republic itself being one of the undetermined ones; for while Guatemala is undoubtedly taken from the name of the Cakchiquel capital, Tecpan Quahtemalan, it is not known whether this was named for Prince Jieutemal, or indeed whether the prince of that name ever existed. _Quiché_ is derived from _qui_, “many,” and _che_, “trees;” or from _queche_, _quechelau_, meaning “a forest,”—an inappropriate name now. No less questionable are the derivations of _Tucurúb_, “town of owls;” _Es(Itz)cuintla(n)_, “land of dogs;” _Izmachi_, “black hair;” and many others.
The termination _pan_ means a “standard” or “chief place;” hence, _Mayapan_ of the Mayas, and _Totonicapan_ of the Totonaques. _Tepec_ is a “mountain,” or “high place;” hence, Alotepeque, Coatepeque, Olintepeque, Jilotepeque, and Quezaltepeque,—all of them in mountainous regions, the second being a volcano of considerable height. _Tlan_ means a “city” or “home;” hence, _Atitlan_, “the home of the old woman (Atit),” _Zapotitlan_, etc. The most common termination is _tenango_, a Mexican word with much the same meaning as _tlan_,—_Huehuetenango_ being equivalent to “the ancient abode;” _Chimaltenango_ to “the House of the Shield.”
A troublesome matter is the varying and uncertain orthography of most of the names now in use. Goattemala, Gautemala, Guatimala, are all used by writers. The termination _pan_ is often in official publications spelled _pam_. Quezaltenango is properly, though seldom, written Quetzaltenango; and Cumarcah or Gumarcah, Izabal or Yzabal, Jutiapa or Xutiapa, are common variations. The omission of the letter _n_ in such words as Montezuma and Montagua, and at the end of Escuintlan, is the rule in Guatemala; but foreign writers do not always regard it. The interchange of _b_ and _v_ is common,—as _bejuco_ or _vejuco_; _benta_ or _venta_. So far as sound goes, the name of the large macaw may be _Juacamalla_ or _Guacamaya_. _Tzololà_ was one form of _Sololà_; _Taltic_, of _Tactic_; and _Mictlan_, of _Mita_.
It is quite possible that Soconusco is derived from _xoconochtli_, a word meaning “wild figs,” and Honduras from _fonduras_, meaning “depths,” although the application may not be clear at the present day. More satisfactory are _Michatoyatl_, “a river abounding in fish;” _Paxa_, “water which separates,”—the Rio Pax, or Paz, having always been the boundary between Guatemala and San Salvador. _Tonalá_, the “City of the Sun,” and _Gumarca(a)h_, “ruined houses,” are generally admitted to be correct derivations.
The Spanish invaders exhibited slight inventive powers, and some half a dozen saints were made godfathers and godmothers to all the Indian towns that were important enough to be rechristened; and Santos Juan, José, Tomas, and Marcos, and Santas Maria, Lucia, Ana, and Catarina are the favorites, although Pedro, Esteban, Jago, Miguel, Antonio, Cristoval, Pablo, Izabal, and Clara are by no means neglected. The proper name of the capital city of Guatemala is Santiago (St. James); and if the ambitious projects dear to the late President Barrios should be accomplished, as seems not improbable, England will have to be satisfied with St. George, and leave “The Court of St. James” to the Central American kingdom.
To the Anglo-Saxon such names as True Cross, Holy Cross, Thanks to God, City of Angels, Nativity, and Holy Saviour seem wholly inappropriate as names of places; but to the devout Spaniard they were evidently favorite appellations. Nor are they very different from Praise-God Barebones, Faith, Prudence, and the like, which we know were not uncommon appellatives among the Puritans.
NO RUINS OF DWELLINGS.
In all the remains of ancient cities or holy places hitherto discovered in Central America, there are temples or oratories, and so-called palaces, but not a sign of human habitations; even the palaces are apparently too small for comfortable habitation, and the temples would not admit more than four or five persons at the same time. Herrera says there “were so many and such stately Stone Buildings that it was amazing; and the greatest Wonder is, that, having no Use of any Metal, they were able to raise such Structures, which seem to have been Temples, for their Houses were always of Timber and thatched.” Always of less durable material than stone, the houses have disappeared, and we must not infer that there were no dwellers about the places where we find to-day only monuments of the dead or religious edifices. At the present time there is many a village in Guatemala where the church is the only building of masonry, all the houses being of the most perishable materials, as palm stems and leaves, bark and mud. If the town of Livingston were destroyed to-day and not rebuilt, there would be nothing on the site after two years to show that men had ever lived there.
It would certainly be interesting to learn why many of the temples have doors, passages, and even rooms that a man of average stature cannot stand erect in.
MIXTURE OF RACES IN CENTRAL AMERICA.
To show how difficult the study of race peculiarities must be in a country where there is so much amalgamation, I give a list of the names of some of the crosses:—
Crosses. Male. Female.
Mestizo (Ladino) Spaniard. Indian woman. Castiso Spaniard. Mestiza. Españolo Castiso. Spanish woman. Mulato Negro. Spanish woman. Morisco Spaniard. Mulata. Albino Morisco. Spanish woman. Tornatras Albino. Spanish woman. Tente en el aire Tornatras. Spanish woman. Lobo (wolf) Negro. Indian woman. Caribujo Lobo. Indian woman. Barsino Coyote (Indigene). Mulata. Grifo Lobo. Negress. Albarazado Coyote. Indian woman. Chaniso Indio. Mestiza. Mechino Coyote. Loba.
GUATEMALTECAN COOKERY.
I do not speak of the tables of the upper classes, where variety is found in Guatemala as well as elsewhere; but of the common cookery that a stranger finds in travelling, it may truly be said that it has not a national character, nor does justice to the abundant material at hand. What there is of it is, however, good; a fresh tortilla is better than the cakes of the Northern backwoods, and the wheaten bread made by the _panadero_ of the village is exceedingly palatable. Frijoles, or beans, the most popular general dish, are always stewed over an open fire, and are much better than the baked beans of New England. Eggs are always present, either fried, poached, or baked in the shell (_huevos tibios_); when fried, always seasoned with tomato, chillis, and vinegar. _Salchichas_, or sausages, fried in lard, with plenty of garlic; _gigote_, or hashed meat; _higate_, a potage made of figs, pork, fowl, sugar, ginger, cinnamon and allspice, bread, soup, and innumerable ollas,—are present as solid dishes, the meats generally being of poor quality. Besides the vegetables of Northern gardens, there are _chiotes_, palm-cabbage, and, best of all, plantain. For _verduras_, or greens, there are many plants,—none, however, better than spinach or dandelions; and the _ensaladas_ are not remarkable. In the shore region one can have most delicious turtle-steak, white and tender as veal, iguanas fricasseed,—perhaps the best native dish,—javia-steaks, armadillo (which I am sorry to say I have not eaten), and fish of many kinds and flavors.
I have spoken of the bad coffees served as “esencia,” but have not said enough about the chocolate, which I never found carelessly prepared. Perhaps the best is prepared entirely at home; that is, the beans of cacao are carefully roasted, as coffee might be, and the shells removed by rubbing in the hands. The metatle then serves to crush the oily mass, as corn is prepared in tortilla-making; sugar is added, and enough cinnamon or vanilla to flavor the crushed cacao, which becomes pasty by grinding, and may be run into moulds, or simply dropped on some cool surface to harden. These chocolate-drops are dissolved in boiling milk as wanted, and the whole churned to a froth. Prepared in this way, chocolate is much better than the cake chocolate of the manufacturers. An ancient recipe was much more complicated than this, and although I have never tried it myself, I venture to give it to my readers. It is this: “One hundred cacaos,—treating them as has been described,—two pods of chilli, a handful of anis and orjevala, two of mesachasil or vanilla (this may be replaced by six roses of Alexandria, powdered), two drams of cinnamon, a dozen each of almonds and filberts, half a pound of white sugar, and arnotto to color it.” This mixture must of course be whipped to a froth.
Perhaps the people of Guatemala are as cleanly as others; but according to our observation the common practice was to allow the dogs to lick the dishes, which received no additional washing. It was the custom also at the table d’hôte in the hotels to finish a meal by filling the mouth with water and spurting it on the tiled floor. Once, when we stopped at a way-side house to get some coffee, the señora made a little fire out of doors, put the coffee in a very black pot to boil, and, after fanning the reluctant fire with her straw hat, threw herself on the ground near by to rest and smoke her _puro_. When the pot was near to boiling, she reached out her bare leg and tested the temperature of the contents with her toe, as a Northern cook might have used his finger. Frank was scandalized; but, after all, it was merely a matter of taste.
PHOTOGRAPHS USED IN ILLUSTRATION.
In stating that the scenes illustrated in this book are all from photographs, it may be added that the clearness of the atmosphere enables a distant view to be taken with great distinctness (unfortunately lost in the mechanical reproductions) even in minute details. The lens used for views not requiring extreme rapidity was the Dallmeyer single landscape,—a lens unsurpassed for its purpose; while for architectural subjects, or those in motion, a Ross rapid rectilinear was generally used. The plates were those prepared by Allen & Rowell, of Boston,—as usual, of the finest quality. For apparatus, the camera was a 5 × 8 size of the American Optical Company’s make, fitted with a changing box containing eighteen plates, and also with an attachment, arranged by the author, for making two or three smaller pictures on the 5 × 8 plate. I carried no tent, but changed my plates at night under a blanket, depending on touch rather than sight. For the stereoscopic pictures, I used a pair of Euryscope No. 0 lenses. The plates were developed months afterwards, with a very small percentage of failures. In later journeys in Guatemala I have used plates of the 8 × 10 size; but for all purposes of illustration the 4 × 5 size is to be preferred. For packing the plates I have used a strong barrel and cork-dust with complete success. It is a matter of deep regret that the method of mechanical reproduction utterly destroys all the beauty of the original photographs. In cases where phototypes are presented from ink-drawings, these have generally been drawn directly from a transparency which I have made from the original negative and projected in the lantern. The drawings are of large size, and reduced to one quarter, or even less, in the phototype. This method insures at least accuracy of outline.
MONEY IN GUATEMALA.
Persons interested in silver coinage might have a good field for collection here; and one of the Government collectors, who had a fancy for numismatics, showed me a curious lot he had received in payment of taxes. Maximilian coins from Mexico were the rarest; but every country of Central and South America was well represented. Among current coins the dollar of Peru and Chili (_sols_) are most common; and the smaller change is mainly in Guatemalan and Hondureñan currency. The dollar (_peso_, piece of eight) contains eight reals, and the real two medios, or four cuartillos. This last is the smallest coin used, although the cent (_centavo_) has been coined. A real is twelve and a half cents, a medio six and a quarter, and a cuartillo three and an eighth; but in the text I have spoken of these coins as valued in gold, or, approximately, ten, five, and three cents.
CERTAIN HEIGHTS DETERMINED BY THE FRENCH EXPEDITION.
Tactic 4,725 Coban 4,356 San Cristobal 4,643 San Miguel Uspantán 6,040 Cunen 5,942 Sacapulas 3,826 Santa Cruz del Quiché 6,621 Quezaltenango 7,697 Totonicapan 8,150 Sololà 7,041 Guatemala City 5,013 Antigua 5,072 Ciudad Vieja 5,151 Escuintla 1,450 Amatitlan 3,901 Palin 3,753 Cuajinicuilapa 2,848 Cerro Redondo 3,542 Los Esclavos 2,394 Agua Blanca 2,658 Suchitan 4,108 Santa Catarina (Rio) 2,251 Santa Catarina (Pueblo) 2,324 Esquipulas 2,986 Paso del Rodeo 2,744 Los Horcones 3,637 Piedra de Amolar 2,340 Copan 1,830 Vado Hondo 1,237 Chiquimula 1,244 Zacapa 449 Pacaya 8,366 Volcan de Agua (summit) 12,313 ” ” (S. Maria) 6,828 ” ” (crater bot.) 12,087 Volcan de Fuego 13,127 ” ” (La Meseta) 12,001 Acatenango 13,616 Volcan de Atitlan 11,723 Cerro Quemado 10,201 Santa Maria 11,483 Lago de Atitlan 5,112 Lago de Amatitlan 3,895 Lago de San Cristobal 4,643
I find it impossible to reconcile some of these measurements of the French Expedition with my own or those of other observers; but usually the difference is not greater than might be expected from observations with the aneroid barometer.
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
Land is usually bought and sold by _caballerias_ (33.33 acres), _hectareas_ (2.47 acres), _manzanas_ (a square of one hundred yards), or _varas_ (2.78 feet). The most common weights are the _quintal_ (a hundredweight) and the _arroba_ (25 pounds of 16 ounces each). Among the Indios other weights and measures are used, but I could find no trustworthy information about them. They also retain the old cacao currency to some extent, and I have been offered cacao-beans for small change, as the cuartillo is not common away from the large cities.
400 cacao beans = contle. 8,000 ” ” = jiquipil = 20 contles. 24,000 ” ” = carga = 3 jiquipiles.
A LIST OF PLANTS OBSERVED IN GUATEMALA.
I am indebted to my friend Professor Sereno Watson, of Harvard, for the identification of species, which to the number of sixty he has already determined from some five hundred that he collected in the Departments of Livingston and Izabal. I did not myself make any collection, but noted the genera that were familiar to me as I travelled through the country. So little has been published about the Guatemaltecan Flora that I have ventured to add these notes to Professor Watson’s list.
Clematis americana, Will. Near Izabal. dioica, L. Panajachel. caripensis, HBK. Sacapulas, Jutiapa. polycephala, Bert. V. de Agua. sericea, HBK. San José.
Davilla rugosa, Poir. Banks of Rio Dulce, Rio Chocon. lucida, Presl? Chocon.
Doliocarpus pubens, Mart. Livingston.
Curatella americana, L. Dry hills near Quirigua.
Tetracera n. sp. Rio Chocon.
Guatteria Jurgensenii, Hemsl. Shores of Lago de Izabal, Chocon. n. sp.
Anona squamosa, L. Livingston, muricata, L. Cunen, Uspantán.
Anona Cherimolia, Mill. Common. palustris, L. Sea-shore near Livingston.
Xylopia frutescens, Aubl., var. glabra. Shores of Lago de Izabal.
Cissampelus Pareira, L. Izabal, Rio Dulce. tropæolifolia, DC.? Izabal.
Nymphaea ampla, DC. Rio Polochic, mouth of Rio Chocon.
Argemone mexicana, L.
Draba vulcanica, Benth. V. de Agua.
Cleome polygama, L. San Felipe.
Moringa pterygosperma, Gaertu. Zacapa, Chiquimula.
Bixa Orellana, L.
Xylosma nitida, A. G.
Alsodeia guatemalensis, Watson. Rio Chocon.
Oncoba laurina, Oliver. Izabal, Rio Chocon.
Casearia Brighami, Watson. Chocon.
Polygala asperuloides, HBK. Izabal.
Jatropha Curcas, L.
Janipha Manihot, HBK.
Croton. (Several sp. on coast, not determined.)
Euphorbia Poinsettii. Uplands.
Hura crepitans, L. Sacapulas, Zacapa. Two euphorbiaceous trees in eastern highlands.
Drymaria cordata, Willd. Lago de Izabal.
Quercus (2 sp.). Cunen to Quiché.
Portulaca oleracea, L. Livingston, Chocon.
Phytolacca icosandra, L. Antigua, Santa Cruz del Quiché.
Amaranthus paniculatus, L. Cunen, Jutiapa.
Sida rhombifolia, L. Chocon.
Abutilon. (Trees at La Tinta. Several allied sp. banks of Rio Chocon.)
Hibiscus Abelmoschus, L. Izabal.
Gossypium barbadense, L. Livingston.
Hampea (?) stipitata, Watson. Large tree, Chocon.
Paritium tiliaceum, A. Juss. Shore near Santo Tomas.
Pavonia racemosa, Swartz. Rio Dulce.
Eriodendron ceiba. Sacapulas, Chocon, Quirigua.
Bernoullia flammea, Oliv. Istapa.
Cheirostemon platanoides, Hum. & Bon. V. de Fuego, Encuentros.
Helicteres guazumæfolia, HBK. Cerro del Mico.
Pachira macrocarpa. Rio Chocon, Motagua. insignis, Sav. Red petals at Omoa. sp. Chocon.
Theobroma cacao, L. Chocon, Quirigua, Pansos.
Guazuma tomentosa, HBK. Chocon.
Gouania tomentosa, Jacq.
Gomphia (Ouratea) guatemalensis, Engler. Chocon.
Vitis sicyoides, var. ovata, Baker. Lago de Izabal. lanceolata, Watson. Rio Dulce, Rio Chocon. vulpina, L. var. Izabalana, Watson. Izabal.
Clusia guatemalensis, Hemsl. V. de Fuego. Large tree, Chocon. Low, wide-spreading tree, Izabal. Matapalo tree.
Symphonia globulifera, L. “Hog-gum.” Large tree, Chocon.
Calophyllum Calaba, Jacq. Livingston.
Maregraavia rectiflora, Triana & Planch. var. Goudoutiana. Chocon.
Ruyschia Souroubea, W. Livingston.
Sauraujia oreophila, Hemsl. V. de Fuego. pauciserrata, Hemsl. V. de Fuego.
Sauvagesia erecta, L. Cerro del Mico. tenella, Lam. Barbasco.
Salix (2 sp.). Lago de Izabal, Rio Polochic, Amatitlan.
Erythroxylum sp. Livingston.
Linum guatemalense, Benth. V. de Agua.
Byrsonima crassifolia, HBK. Cult. Izabal.
Bunchosia Lanieri, Watson. Tree, Izabal. Lindeniana, Juss. Cuilapa.
Stigmaphyllon Lupulus, Watson. Chocon.
Hiræa reclinata, Jacq. Rio Dulce. sp.? Chocon?
Cardiospermum grandiflorum, Swartz, var. hirsutum, Radl. Izabal. Halicacabum, L. Rio Chocon.
Serjania mexicana, Willd. Rio Chocon.
Paullinia sorbilis, Mart. Chocon. velutina, DC. Chocon. guatemalensis, Turcz.
Melia Azederach, L. Escuintla, Izabal, naturalized.
Guarea bijuga, C. DC.? Chocon.
Swietenia Mahogani, L. Chocon, Quirigua.
Cedrela odorata, L. Chocon.
Citrus medica, var. Limonum. Naturalized.
Oxalis dendroides, HBK. Cerro del Mico, 1500 ft.
Tribulus cistoides, L. Shores.
Guaiacum officinale, L. guatemalense, Herb. Kew, Zacapa.
Quassia amara, L. Shores of Lago de Izabal.
Picræna excelsa, Lindl.? Chocon.
Alvaradoa amorphoides, Liebm. (?) Chocon.
Hippocratea ovata, Lam. Rio Dulce.
Wimmeria discolor, Schlecht. Rio Dulce.
Zizyphus guatemalensis, Hemsl.
Ficus (3 + sp.). Chocon.
Cecropia palmata, W. Rio Chocon.
Dorstenia contrayerva, L. Chixoy Valley.
Castilloa elastica, Cervant.
Maclura aurantiaca, Nutt.
Peperomia (2 sp.). On trees, Chocon.
Bursera gummifera, L.? Chocon.
Spondias lutea, L. Chocon. purpurea, L. “Jocote.” sp.? “Maho.” Chocon.
Rourea glabra, HBK. Lago de Izabal.
Connarus Pottsii, Watson. Shores at Izabal.
Mangifera indica, L. Naturalized.
Anacardium occidentale, L. Cayo Paloma, Pacific coast.
Quercus (2 sp.). Uplands above Cunen.
Indigofera anil, L.
Tephrosia toxicaria, Pers.
Sesbania exasperata, HBK.
Desmodium. 2 sp. at Chocon, another at El Mico.
Mucuna puriens, DC. Vado Hondo.
Erythrina velutina, W. Livingston.
Myroxylon Pereirac, Klotzs. Escuintla. toluiferum, HBK. S. Coast.
Poinciana pulcherrima, L. Antigua.
Hæmatoxylon campechianum, L. Usumacinta Valley.
Guilandina bonduc, L. Shores.
Cæsalpinia (2 sp.). Chocon and Pacific.
Dalbergia calycina, Benth. Chocon.
Cassia fistula, L. 2 sp. common at Livingston, another at Antigua.
Tamarindus indica, L.
Hymenæa courbaril, L. Rio Chocon, Rio Polochic.
Bauhinia (2 sp.). Chocon, Quirigua.
Entada scandens, Benth. Chocon.
Prosopis juliflora, DC. Dry uplands.
Mimosa pudica, L. casta, L. Livingston. guatemalensis, Benth.
Acacia Farnesiana, W. Jutiapa, Cuilapa. spadicigera, Schlecht. arabica, W. Jutiapa. (4 + others.)
Calliandra saman, Gr. Santo Tomas.
Pithecolobium sp. Vado Hondo.
Inga vera, W. Rio Chocon, Rio Polochic.
Schizolobium sp. “Wild tamarind.” Rio Dulce, Rio Chocon.
Chrysobalanus Icaco, L. Shores.
Hirtella americana, Aublet. Chocon.
Rubus sp. Alta Verapaz.
Jambosa vulgaris, DC. Rio Dulce.
Psidium guava, Radd. Pansos, San Felipe. sp. Quirigua, Rio Polochic.
Jussiæa repens, L. Rio Polochic.
Rhizophora Mangle, L. Rio Dulce, Santo Tomas.
Cacoucia coccinea, Aublet. Rio Chocon, common.
Terminalia Catappa, L. Naturalized, San Pedro Sula.
Persea gratissima, G. Naturalized.
Orcodaphne sp. Cunen.
Sechium edule, Sw. West coast, Cerro Redondo.
Cucumis Anguria, L. Punta Gorda.
Luffa acutangula, Roxb. West coast.
Lagenaria vulgaris, Sw.
Cyclanthera explodens, Naud. V. de Fuego.
Microsechium guatemalense, Hemsl. Trujillo, Palin.
Fevillea, sp.
Carica Papaya, L. sp. with small, unedible fruit. Valleys of Volcan de Fuego.
Passiflora Brighami, Watson. Livingston, Rio Chocon. edulis, Sims. guatemalensis Watson. Chocon. choconiana, Watson, lunata, Willd. coriacea, Juss. quadrangularis, L. Antigua. 3 sp. Rio Chocon, 1 El Mico, small plant with veined leaves, Chocon.
Turnera sp. San Pedro.
Aristolochia, sp. with immense blossoms. Roatan.
Cereus (2 sp.). Jutiapa, Zacapa, Chixoy.
Opuntia coccinellifera, Mill. Antigua, Amatitlan.
Begonia scandens, Sw. Chocon. 2 sp. Chocon, 1 at Uspantán.
Ximenia americana, L. Livingston.
Loranthaceae. 3 sp. observed. Chocon, Zacapa.
Sambucus sp. Encuentros, Sololà.
Rondeletia cordata, Benth. Guatemala City. gracilis, Hemsl. Coban.
Psychotria sp. Rio Chocon.
Bouvardia sp. Cunen. leiantha, Benth. Chimaltenango.
Exostemma sp. Livingston.
Ageratum conyzoides, L. Common.
Stevia sp. Quiché, Cunen.
Mikania guaca. Chocon.
Wedelia phyllocephala, Kemel. Chixoy Valley.
Verbesina gigantea, Jacq. Zacapa.
Dahlia sp. Quiché, Quezaltenango.
Tagetes micrantha, Cav. V. de Fuego. sp. 2. San Cristobal, Patzùn.
Lobelia fulgens, Willd. Uplands. calcarata, Bertol. V. Santa Maria. cordifolia, H&A. Coban.
Lobeliaceæ (3 sp.).
Chrysophyllum Cainito, L.
Sapota Achras, Mill.
Lucuma mammosa, G. multiflora, A. DC. (?) Chocon.
Jasminum officinale, L. Naturalized.
Allamanda cathartica, L. Rio Chocon, Rio Polochic.
Vinca rosea, L.
Plumeria rubra L. (?) Several members of this family on Rio Chocon.
Asclepias curassavica, L. Livingston, Uspantán, Antigua.
Limnanthemum Humboldtianum, Gr. Lagoons, Rio Chocon.
Datura (Brugmansia) suaveolens, Humb., Bonpl. Izabal.
Physalis peruviana, L.
Capsicum frutescens, L. annuum, L.
Crescentia Cujete, L. Jutiapa and dry uplands generally.
Jacaranda sp. Fine tree, Chocon.
Bignoniaceae. 3 sp. Chocon forests, 1 sp. Antigua.
Achimenes coccinea, Pers. Chixoy Valley.
Martynia sp. Chixoy Valley.
Jacobinia aurea, Hemsl. Chocon, Quirigua.
Ipomœa bona-nox, L. Batatas, Lam.
Quamoclit, L.
Calonyction sp. Eight other convolvulaceæ noticed.
Cuscuta sp. Zacapa.
Cordia Sebestina, Jacq. Escuintla.
Heliotropium curassavicum, L. San José.
Salvia coccinea, L. Santa Cruz del Quiché. 3 other sp.
Lantana sp. Esquipulas.
Avicennia nitida, Jacq. Golfete.
Pinus cubensis, Griseb. macrophylla, Parlat.
Ayacahuite, Erenb. filifolia, Lindl.
Abies sp.
Monstera (2 sp.). Livingston, Chocon.
Aroids of many sp. and several genera.
Wolfia punctata, Gr. Rio Chocon.
Typha sp.
Euterpe oleracea, Mart. edulis.
Oreodoxa oleracea.
Manicaria Plukenetii, Gr. and Wendl. Livingston.
Desmoncus sp.
Acrocomia vinifera, Oersted. Izabal, Chixoy Valley.
Acrocomia sclerocarpa.
Cocos nucifera, L.
Attalea cohune, Mart.
Bactris balanoidea, Wendl. Izabal. cohune, Watson. Chocon.
Twenty-five sp. palms were collected at Chocon, but have not been determined yet.
Commelyna cayennensis, Rich. San Felipe, 2 sp. Cunen.
Pontederia sp. pink flowers. Livingston.
Bambusa (2 sp.). Motagua, Chocon.
Zea Mays, L.
Agave americana, L. ixtli, Karw.
Fourcroya gigantea, Vent.
Pancratium caribæum, L. (?) Cayo Grande, Rio Polochic.
Crinum sp. Rio Dulce.
Smilax officinalis. Chocon.
Ananassa sativa, Lindl. Izabal, Chixoy Valley.
Bromelia Pinguin, L. Jutiapa. Karatas, Lemair. Jutiapa.
Pita.
Tillandsia (2 sp.).
Bromeliaceæ (several sp.). Rio Dulce.
Heliconia Bihai, L. Pansos, Quirigua. sp. Quirigua, Rio Dulce.
Renealmia sp.
Zinziber sp.
Maranta (2 sp.).
Vanilla planifolia, Andr. Chocon.
Epidendrum bicornutum, Hook.
Schomburgkia tubicina, Lindl.
Oncidium citrinum, Lindl. Los Amates. iridifolium. HBK.
Notylia guatemalensis, Watson.
Ornithocephalus Pottsiæ, Watson.
Bletia Pottsii, Watson.
Salvinia auriculata, Aubl.
The number of Orchidaceæ in Guatemala is very large.
A LIST OF WORKS RELATING TO CENTRAL AMERICA.
A full bibliography of works that contain information about the region through which we have been travelling together would fill a volume much larger than the present; but the following brief list of some of the more important titles may aid those who are interested in the past history or the future prospects of the tropical part of this continent. I have not thought it worth while to mention those unprinted works not at present accessible to the public, nor the ephemeral publications of simple tourists:—
ACOSTA, Fr. JOSÉ DE. Historia natural y moral de las Indias. Sevilla, 1590.
ADAM, LUCIEN. Études sur six Langues Américaines, Paris, 1878.
⸺ Du parler des Hommes et du parler des Femmes. Paris, 1879.
ALCEDO, ANTONIO DE. Diccionario geografico-histórico de las Indias occidentales ó América; es á saber; de los reynos del Peru, Nueva España, Tierra Firme, Chile y Nuevo Reyno de Granada. Madrid, 1786-89. 5 vols. An English Translation, with Additions, by G. A. Thompson, was published in London, 1812-15. 5 vols.
ANCONA, ELIGIO. Historia de Yucatan. Merida, 1878.
ANDAGOYA, PASCUAL DE, Narrative of. Translated by C. R. Markham. Hakluyt Soc. London, 1865.
ASTABURUAGA, FRANCISCO S. Repúblicas de Centre-América o Idea de su Historia i de su Estado actual. Santiago, Chili, 1837.
BAILY, JOHN. Central America; describing each of the States of Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. London, 1850.
BALDWIN, JOHN D. Ancient America, in notes on American Archæology. New York, 1872.
BANCROFT, HUBERT H. Native Races of the Pacific States of North America. San Francisco, 1875 _et seq._
BARCIA, ANDRES GONZALES. Historiadores primitivos de las Indias occidentales, que juntó, traduxo en parte y sacó á luz, ilustrados con eruditas notas y copiosos índices el Señor Don Andres Gonzales Barcia, del Consejo y Camera de Su Majestad. Madrid, año 1749.
BARD, S. A. Waikna: Adventures on the Mosquito Shore. London, 1855. 12mo.
BASTIAN, A. Die Culturlander des Alten Amerika. Berlin, 1878. 2 vols.
⸺ Steinsculpturen aus Guatemala. Berlin, 1882.
BATEMAN, JAMES. Orchidaceæ of Mexico and Guatemala. London, 1843. fol.
BATES, H. W. Central and South America. London, 1878.
BELAEZ, GARCIA. Memorias para la historia del antiguo reino de Guatemala. Guatemala, 1851. 2 vols.
BELLY, FELIX. À travers l’Amérique Centrale; le Nicaragua et le Canal Interocéanique. Paris, 1867.
BELT, THOMAS. The Naturalist in Nicaragua: a Narrative of a residence at the Gold Mines of Chontales; Journeys in the Savannahs and Forests. London, 1874.
BELTRAN DE SANTA ROSA, Fr. PEDRO. Arte del Idioma Maya reducido a succintas reglas, y semilexicon Yucateco. Mexico, 1746; also Merida, 1859.
BENZONI, GIROLAMO. History of the new World. Travels 1541-1556. Venice, 1572. (First ed. 1565.) English Translation, Hakluyt Society, London, 1857.
BERENDT, Dr. C. H. Analytical Alphabet for the Mexican and Central American Languages. New York, 1869. American Ethnological Society.
⸺ Remarks on the Centres of Ancient Civilization in Central America, and their Geographical Distribution. New York, 1876. Bulletin of the American Geographical Society.
BIOLOGIA-CENTRALI-AMERICANA; or, Contributions to the Knowledge of the Fauna and Flora of Mexico and Central America. London, 1879.
BODHAM-WETHAM, J. W. Across Central America. London, 1877.
BONNYCASTLE, R. H. Spanish America; or, a Descriptive, Historical, and Geographical Account of the Dominions of Spain in the Western Hemisphere, Continental and Insular. London, 1818. 2 vols.
BOTURINI, BENADUCCI. Idea de una Nueva Historia General de la América Septentrional. Madrid, 1746.
BOYLE, FREDERICK. Wanderings in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. London, 1868.
BRADFORD, ALEXANDER W. American Antiquities and the Red Race. New York, 1841.
BRASSEUR DE BOURBOURG. Histoire des Nations civilisées du Mexique et de l’Amérique Centrale durant les siècles antérieurs a Christophe Colomb, écrite sur les documents originaux et entièrement inédits, puisés aux anciennes archives des Indigènes. Paris, 1859. 4 vols.
⸺ Popul Vuh. Le Livre sacré et les Mythes de l’Antiquité Américaine, avec les Livres héroïques et historiques des Quichés. Ouvrage original des Indigènes de Guatemala, texte Quiché et traduction française en regard. Paris, 1861.
⸺ Bibliotheque Mexico-Guatemalienne, précédé d’un coup d’œil sur les études Américaines. Paris, 1871.
⸺ Grammaire de la langue Quichée; espagnole-française mise en parallel avec ses deux dialectes Cachiquel et Tzutuhil, etc. Paris, 1862.
⸺ Recherches sur les ruines de Palenque et sur les origines de la civilisation du Mexique. Paris, 1866.
⸺ Voyage sur l’Isthme de Tehuantepec dans l’état de Chiapas et la république de Guatemala (1859-1860). Paris, 1861.
BRETON, RAYMOND. Dictionnaire caraibe-français. Auxerre, 1665.
BRINTON, Dr. DANIEL G. American Hero Myths.
⸺ The Names of the Gods in the Kiche Myths of Central America. Philadelphia, 1881. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. xix.
⸺ The Maya Chronicles. Philadelphia, 1882.
BÜLOW, A. VON. Dcr Freistaat Nicaragua in Mittel-Amerika, und seine Wichtigkeit für den Welthandel, etc. Berlin, 1849.
⸺ Der Freistaat Costa Rica in Mittel-Amerika, etc. Berlin, 1850.
BYAM, GEORGE. Wild Life in the Interior of Central America. London, 1849.
CABRERA, P. F. Description of an Ancient City discovered near Palenque in Guatemala. Translated from the Report of Antonio del Rio. Followed by a History of the Americans. 1822.
CARILLO, Canon CRESCENTIO. Manual de Historia y Geografía de la Peninsula de Yucatan. Merida.
CASAS, BARTOLOMEO DE LAS. Narratio regionum indicarum per Hispanos quosdam devastatarum. Francofort, 1598. De Bry.
⸺ An | Account | Of the First | Voyages and discoveries | Made by the Spaniards in America | Containing | The most Exact Relation hitherto pub | lished of their unparallel’d Cruelties | on the Indians, in the destruction of a | bove Forty Millions of People. | With the Propositions offer’d to the King of Spain, | to prevent the further Ruin of the West Indies. | By Don Bartholomew de las Casas, Bishop of Chiapa, | who was an Eye | -witness of their Cruelties. London, 1699.
CASAS, BARTOLOMEO DE LAS. Historia apologetica de las Indias 5 vols. folio in manuscript, at Madrid. (A copy is in the Force. Library at Washington.)
⸺ Historia de las Indias, ahora por primera vez dada á luz por el Marqués de la Fuensanta del Valle y D. J. S. Rayon. Madrid, 1875-76. 5 vols.
CATHERWOOD, FREDERICK. Views of Ancient Monuments in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan. London, 1844. Folio. See also Stephens.
CHARENCY, HENRI DE. Le Mithe de Votan. Paris, 1871.
CHARNAY, DÉSIRÉ. Cités et Ruines Américaines, Mitla, Palenqué, Izamal, Chichen-Itza, Uxmal, recueillies et photographiées. Texte par Viollet le Due. Paris, 1863. 49 folio plates.
⸺ Les Anciennes Villes du Nouveau Monde. Voyages d’Explorations au Mexique et dans l’Amérique centrale, 1857-1882. Paris, 1885.
CLAVIGERO, FRANCISCO YAVIER. Storia antica del Messico, Cesena, 1780. 4 vols.
⸺ History of Mexico from Spanish and Mexican Historians, MSS., Paintings, etc. Translated, with Dissertations, by Cullen. London, 1807. 2 vols.
⸺ Historia Antigua de Megico traducida por Don J. G. Mara. London, 1826. 2 vols. Maps and curious plates.
COCKBURN, JOHN. A Journey over Land from the Gulf of Honduras to the Great South Sea. Performed by J. C. and Five Other Englishmen. London, 1735.
COGOLLUDO, DIEGO LOPEZ. Los tres Siglos de la dominacion Española en Yucatan, ó sea Historia de esta provincia desde la conquista hasta la independencia. 2 vols. 8vo. hf. bd. Campeche, 1842; Merida, 1845.
CORTEZ, HERNAN, Cartas y relaciones de, al Emperador Carlos V. Colegidas é ilustradas por Don Pascual de Gayangos. Paris, 1866.
DAVIS, W. W. H. The Spanish Conquest of New Mexico. Doyleston, Pa., 1869.
DE LA BORDE. Relation de l’origine des Caraibes. Paris, 1674.
DIAZ DEL CASTILLO, BERNAL. Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva España. Madrid, 1632. Another edition, 1795-6, Madrid, in 4 vols. English editions: True History of the Conquest of Mexico. Translated by Keatinge. London, 1800. Memoirs containing an account of the Conquest of Mexico. Translated by J. G. Lockhart. London, 1844. 2 vols.
DONDE, JUAN, Y JOAQUIN. Apuntes sobre las plantas de Yucatan. Merida, 1874.
DUNLOP, R. G. Travels in Central America. London, 1847.
DUNN, HENRY. Guatimala, or the Republic of Central America in 1827-8; being Sketches and Memorandums made during a Twelve-month’s Residence. London, 1829. 8vo. pp. 328.
DUPAIX, Capt. Antiquités Mexicaines; contenant les diverses expéditions du capitaine Dupaix entreprises au Mexique, aux ruines de Palenque. Paris, 1834. See Kingsborough.
DURAN, Fr. DIEGO. Historia de las Indias de la Nueva España y Islas de Tierra Firme. Mexico, 1867.
FABREGAT. Esposizione del Codice Borgia.
FANCOURT, C. ST. J. History of Yucatan to the close of the Seventeenth Century. London, 1854.
FERNANDEZ, MANUEL. Bosquejo Físico, Político é Histórico de la República del Salvador. San Salvador, 1869. pp. 166.
FLORES, Fr. ILDEFONSO JOSÉ. Arte de la Lengua Metropolitana del Regno Cakchiquel ó Guatemalteco. Guatemala, 1753.
FOLEDO. Geografía de Centro-América. Guatemala, 1874.
FRANTZIUS, Dr. A. VON. Die Costa Rica Eisenbahn. In “Das Ausland,” 1868, No. 6.
⸺ Der südöstliche Theil der Republik Costa Rica. 1869. In “Petermann’s Mittheilungen.”
⸺ Klimatischen Verhältnisse Central Americas. Berlin, 1869. In “Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde.”
Dr. Frantzius has also translated from Palacio the “San Salvador and Honduras in 1576” (1873).
FUENTES Y GUZMAN. Historia de Guatemala ó recopilacion florida. 1609. New edition. Madrid, 1882.
GABB, WILLIAM M. Notes on the Geology of Costa Rica. In American Journal of Science and Art, November, 1874, and March, 1875.
GAGE, Fr. THOMAS. New Survey of the West Indies. 2d edit. London, 1655, folio; 3d edit. 1677, 12mo; 4th edit. 1699, 8vo.
GALLATIN, ALBERT. Notes on the Semi-Civilized Nations of Mexico. Trans. of the Amer. Ethnological Soc., vol. i. New York.
GARCIA, GREGORIO. Origen de los Indios del nuevo mundo. Valencia, 1607; also Madrid. 1729.
GARCIA Y GARCIA, APOLINAR. Historia de la Guerra de Castas en Yucatan. Merida, 1865. Not completed.
GOMARA, FRANCISCO LOPEZ DE. Historia general de las Indias. Anvers, 1554.
⸺ Pleasant Historie of the Conquest of the West Indies, now called New Spayne, atcheived by the worthy Prince Hernando Cortez, Marquis of the Valley of Huaxacac, most delectable to read. Translated by T. Nicholas anno 1578. Black letter.
GONZALES, DARÍO. Compendio de Geografía de Centro-América. Guatemala, 1881.
GRANADOS Y GALVEZ, JOSÉ JOAQUIN. Tardes Americanos. Mexico, 1778.
GRIMM, W. Die Staaten Central-Americas. Berlin, 1871.
GRISEBACH, A. H. R. Flora of the British West Indian Islands. London, 1864.
GUZMAN. Apuntamientos sobre la geografía física de la república del Salvador. 1883.
HABEL, Dr. The Sculptures of Santa Lucia Cozumalhuapa. Washington, 1879. Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge.
HAEFKEN, I. Reize naar Guatemala. Gravenhage, 1828.
HAKLUYT SOCIETY’S PUBLICATIONS. Discovery of America; Cortez’s Expedition to Honduras, etc. London, 1868.
HASSAUREK, F. Four Years among Spanish-Americans. London, 1868.
HELPS, ARTHUR. The Spanish Conquest in America, and its relation to the History of Slavery and to the Government of the Colonies. London, 1855-1861. 4 vols.
HENDERSON, G. An Account of the British Settlement of Honduras. Being a Brief View of its Commercial and Agricultural Resources, Soil, Climate, Natural History, etc. To which are added Sketches of the Manners and Customs of the Mosquito Indians. London, 1809. Second edition, 1811.
HERRAN, V. Notice sur les Cinque États du Centre-Amérique. Bordeaux, 1853.
HERRERA, ANTONIO DE. Historia general de los hechos de los Castellanos en las islas y tierra firme de el mar oceano, 1492-1531. Madrid, 1615. General History of the continent and islands of America called the West Indies. Translated by J. Stevens. London, 1740. 6 vols. (Only decades 1-3.)
HUMBOLDT, ALEXANDER VON. Vues des Cordilleres, et Monumens des Peuples Indigènes de l’Amérique. Paris, 1810. 69 Pl. fol.
⸺ Essai politique sur le Royaume de la Nouvelle Espagne. Paris, 1611. 2 vols. 4to, Atlas folio. Another edition, 5 vols. 8 vo.
HUMBOLDT, ALEXANDER VON. Kleinere Schriften. Umrisse von Vulkanen aus den Cordilleran von Quito und Mexico. Stuttgart, 1853. 8 vols. 4to. Atlas.
IXTLILXOCHTL. Histoire des Chichimeques ou des anciens rois de Tezcuco, par Fernando d’Alva Ixtlilxochtl. Traduit par H. Ternaux-Compans. Paris, 1840.
JUARROS, DOMINGO. Compendio de la Historia de la Ciudad de Guatemala. Guatemala, 1808. 2 vols. English translation by Bailly. London, 1823.
KINGSBOROUGH’S Antiquities of Mexico. 9 vols. folio. London, 1830-1848.
LAFERRIÈRE. De Paris à Guatemala. Paris, 1867.
LANDA, DIEGO DE. Relacion de las Cosas de Yucatan. Edited by Brasseur de Bourbourg. Paris, 1864.
LARENAUDIÈRE. Mexique et Guatemala. (L’Univers.) Paris, 1843.
LARRAZABAL. Apuntamientos sobre la Agricultura y Commercio del Reyno de Guatemala. Republished by the Sociedad Económica. Guatemala, 1860.
LECLERC, CHARLES. Grammaire caraibe, suivie du catéchisme caraibe. Paris, 1877.
⸺ Bibliotheca Americana; Histoire, Géographie, Voyages, Archéologie et Linguistique des deux Amériques et des îles Philippines. Paris, 1878.
LECLERCQ. Dictionnaire Caraibe-français. See Breton-Raymond. Rennes, 1665.
LEMALE, CARLOS. Guia geográfica descriptiva de los Centros de Poblacion de la República de Guatemala. Guatemala, 1881.
LEVY, S. Notas geograficas y económicas sobre la República de Nicaragua. Paris, 1873.
LIZANA. Historia de Nuestra Señora de Izamal.
LONG, R. C. The Ancient Architecture of America. New York, 1849.
LORENZANO, FRANCISCO ANTONIO. Historia de Nueva-España escrita por su esclarecido conquistador, Hernan Cortez, aumentada con otros documientos y notas. Mexico, 1770.
MAHOGANY-TREE: Its Botanical Qualities, and how to select and cut in the Regions of its Growth. 1850.
MARGIL. El Perigrino Septentrional Atlante; delineado en la Vida del P. F. Antonio Margil, escribela Is. F. de Espinoza. Mexico, 1737.
MARTYR, PETRUS. Petri Martyris ab Anghiera de rebus Oceanicis, et de orbe novo decades III. Basileae, 1533.
MARURE, A. Apuntamientos para la historia de la revolucion de Centro América, publicados en San Cristoval de Chiapa, 1829.
MAUDSLAY, A. P. Explorations in Guatemala, and the Examination of the Newly-Discovered Indian Ruins of Quirigua, Tikal, and the Usumacinta. London, 1883. Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society.
MECHLIN and WARREN. Report of a Journey from Belize to the city of Guatemala. Belize, 1872.
MENDIETA, GERONIMO DE. Historia Ecclesiastica Indiana. Publicado por Joaquin G. Icazbalceta. Mexico, 1870.
MEYE, HEINRICH, und SCHMIDT, JULIUS. Die Steinbildwerke von Copan und Quirigua. Berlin, 1883. Folio. The Stone Sculptures of Copan and Quirigua. New York, 1883. (Very incorrect; drawings poor.)
MILLA Y VIDAURRE, JOSÉ. Historia de la América Central desde el descubrimiento del pais por los Españoles (1502) hasta su independencia de la España (1821), precidida de una “Noticia Histórica” relativa á las naciones que habitaban la América Central á la llegada de los Españoles. Guatemala, 1879. 2 vols. (A very valuable work, extending only to the year 1686, owing to the death of the author.)
MISSION Scientifique au Mexique et dans l’Amérique Centrale. (Incomplete.) v. d.
MOKE. Histoire des Peuples Américains. (Cited by Brasseur de Bourbourg.)
MOLINA, ALONSO DE. Vocabulario en lengua Castellana y Mexicana. Mexico, 1571. Folio.
MOLINA, FELIPE. Bosquejo de la República de Costa Rica. Madrid, 1850.
MONTGOMERY, G. W. Narrative of a Journey to Guatemala, etc., in 1838. New York, 1839.
MORELET, ARTHUR DE. Voyage dans l’Amérique Centrale, l’Île de Cuba et le Yucatan. Paris, 1870.
⸺ Travels in Central America, including Accounts of some Regions unexplored since the Conquest. From the French, by Mrs. M. F. Squier. London, 1871.
MORRIS, D. The Colony of British Honduras, its Resources and Prospects; with Particular Reference to its Indigenous Plants and Economic Productions. London, 1883.
⸺ Cacao; How to Grow, and how to Cure it. London, n. d.
MORRIS, D. Liberian Coffee; its History and Cultivation. Kingston, Jamaica, n. d.
MORTILLET, G. DE. Le Signe de la Croix avant le Christianisme. Paris, 1866.
MOTOLINIA, Fr. TORIBIO DE BENAVENTO. Historia de los Indios de Nueva España. Coll. Ed. J. C. Icazbalceta. Mexico, 1858.
⸺ Ritos antiguos y sacrificios. (Kingsborough. IX. Supp.) 1830-48.
NORMAN, B. M. Rambles in Yucatan; including a Visit to the Remarkable Ruins of Chi-Chen, Kabah, Zayi, and Uxmal. New York, 1843. (Contains a Maya Vocabulary and Grammar.)
NUÑEZ DE LA VEGA. Constituciones diocesanas del Obispado de Chiapas, etc. Guatemala, 1701.
ORDOÑEZ, RAMÓN DE. Historia del cielo y de la tierra, etc. MS. in the Museo Nacional de Mexico.
OROZCO Y BERRA. Geografía de las lenguas y Carta ethnográfica de Mexico. Mexico, 1866.
OVIEDA Y VALDEZ, GONZALO HERNANDEZ DE. Historia general y natural de las Indias Islas y Tierra Firme del Mar Oceano. Sevilla, 1535. Another edition, by Amador de los Rios. Madrid, 1855. 4 vols. folio.
PALACIO, Dr. DIEGO GARCIA DE. (Oydor de la Real Audiencia de Guatemala.) Carta dirigida al Rey de España, Año de 1576. E. G. Squier. New York, 1860.
PATERSON, WILLIAM. Central America. From a MS. in the British Museum, 1701. Edited by S. Bannister, London, 1857.
PELAEZ. Memorias para la historia del antiguo reino de Guatemala, redactados por el Ilmo. Señor Dr. Francisco de Paula Garcia Pelaez, arzobispo de esta santa Iglesia metropolitana. Guatemala, 1851. 3 vols. 8vo.
PERALTA, MANUEL M. DE. Costa Rica, Nicaragua y Panama en el siglo XVI (1552-1610), su historia y sus limites. Madrid, 1883.
PEREZ, PIO. Diccionario Maya.
PERREY, ALEXIS. Documents sur les Tremblements de terre en Mexique et l’Amérique centrale. (Annales de la Société d’émulation des Vosges, t. 6, 1847.)
PIM, BEDFORD, and SEEMANN, BERTOLD. Dottings on the Roadside in Panama, Nicaragua and Mosquito. London, 1869.
PIMENTEL, FRANCISCO. Cuadro descriptivo y comparativo de las lenguas indigenas de Mexico. Mexico, 1862. Second edition, 1875. 3 vols.
POLAKAWSKY, Dr. H. Central America. In “Das Ausland,” Nov. 1876.
RAU, CHARLES. The Palenque Tablet in the United States National Museum at Washington. (Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, 1879, p. 331.)
RAYON, D. IGNACIO. Proceso de Pedro de Alvarado y Nuño de Guzman, con notas del Licenciado D. J. Fernando Ramirez. Mexico, 1847.
REICHARDT, C. F. Centro-Amerika. Nach den gegenwärtigen Zuständen des Landes und Volkes, in Beziehung der beiden Oceane und im Interesse der deutschen Auswanderung, bearbeitet von C. F. R. Braunschweig, 1851.
⸺ Nicaragua, nach eigener Anschauung im Jahre 1852. Braunschweig, 1854.
REMESAL, Fr. ANTONIO. Historia general de las Indias Occidentales, y particular de la governacion de Chiapa y Guatemala. Madrid, 1620.
REYNOSO, Fr. DIEGO DE. Arte y Vocabulario de la lengua Mame o Zaklohpakap. Mexico, 1644.
RIO, ANTONIO DEL. Description of the Ruins of an Ancient City (Palenque). London, 1822. 4to. (See Cabrera.)
RITTER, CARL. Ueber neue Entdeckungen und Beobachtungen in Guatemala und Yucatan. Berlin. (“Zeitschrift für allgemeine Erdkunde.” Bd. I.)
RIVERO. Atlas Guatemalteco en ocho cartas. 1832.
ROBERTS, ORLANDO W. Narrative of Voyages and Excursions on the East Coast and in the Interior of Central America, describing a Journey up the River San Juan, and Passage across the Lake of Nicaragua to the City of Leon; pointing out the Advantages of a Direct Commercial Intercourse with the Natives. Edinburgh, 1827.
ROCKSTROH, EDWIN. Informe de la comision científica del Instituto Nacional de Guatemala, para el estudio de los fenómenos volcanicos en el Lago de Ilopango, de la República del Salvador. Guatemala, 1880.
ROMAN, HIERONIMO. Repúblicas del Mundo; Tercera Parte, De la República de las Indias Occidentales. Salamanca, 1595.
ROSNY, LEON DE. Ensayo sobro la interpretacion de la Escritura Hierática de la América Central. (Traslado) Madrid, 1881. Folio. 200 copies. The original Essai sur le Déchiffrement de l’Écriture Hiératique de l’Amérique centrale, Paris, 1876, was also limited to two hundred copies.
⸺ Codex Cortesianus. Paris, 1883. MS. hiératique des anciens Indiens de l’Amérique centrale, conservé au Musée archéologique de Madrid. Avec introduction et un vocabulaire de l’écriture hiératique yucatéque.
SAHAGUN, BERNARDINO DE. Historia de la Conquista de Mexico. Mexico, 1829.
⸺ Historia de Nueva España. Mexico, 1829-30. 3 vols. 8vo.
⸺ Historia universal de las cosas de Nueva España. 1830-48. (See Kingsborough.)
SAINT-PRIEST et BARADÈRE. Antiquités Mexicaines. Paris, 1804. 2 vols. Folio.
SALISBURY, STEPHEN. The Mayas. Worcester, Mass., 1877.
SAN BUENAVENTURA, Fr. GABRIEL DE. Arte de la Lengua Maya. Mexico, 1684. Reprinted in Mission Scientifique au Mexique et à l’Amérique Centrale. 1870.
SANCHEZ DE AGUILAR, Dr. PEDRO. Informe contra Idolum Cultores del Obispado de Yucatan. Madrid, 1639.
SCHERZER, Dr. KARL. Sprachen der Indianer Central-amerikas. Wien, 1855. (In Sitzeber. der kais. Acad. der Wiss. phil. hist. Klasse. Bd. XV, Heft 1.)
⸺ Die Indianer von Santa Catalina Istlavacan; ein Beitrag zur Culturgeschichte der Urbewohner Central Amerikas. Wien, 1856.
⸺ Travels in Central America, Nicaragua, Honduras, and San Salvador. 1857. 2 vols. 8vo.
SCHULTZ, Rev. THEODORE. The Arawack Language of Guiana in its Linguistic and Ethnological Relations. Philadelphia, 1871. (Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc.)
SOLIS, ANTONIO DE. Historia de la Conquista de Mejico,—“Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards.” Translated by T. Townsend. London, 1753. 2 vols. 8vo.
SOLÓRZANO Y PEREYRA, JUAN DE. Politica Indiana sacada en Lengua Castellan adelos dos tomos del derecho i govierno municipal de las Indias Occidentales, dividida en seis libros, en los quales se trata todo lo tocante al Descubrimiento, Descripcion, Adquisicion i Retencion de las mesmas Indias. Madrid, 1648. A translation of “Disquisitiones de Indiarum Jure” (1629-39). Another edition in folio, 2 vols. 1776.
SONNENSTERN. Descripcion del estado del Salvador. New York, 1859.
SQUIER, E. G. The Volcanoes of Central America, and the Geographical and Topographical Features of Nicaragua as connected with the proposed Interoceanic Canal. New York, 1850.
⸺ Nicaragua; its People, Scenery, Monuments, and the proposed Interoceanic Canal. New York, 1852. 2 vols. 8vo.
SQUIER, E. G. Notes on Central America, particularly the States of Honduras and Salvador. New York, 1855.
STEPHENS, JOHN LLOYD. Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan. New York, 1841. Revised by F. Catherwood, London, 1854.
⸺ Incidents of Travel in Yucatan. London, 1843. 2 vols.
STOLL, Dr. OTTO. Zur Ethnographie der Republik Guatemala. Zurich, 1884.
STOUT, PETER F. Nicaragua, Past, Present, and Future; a Description of its Habitants, Customs, etc. Philadelphia, 1859.
STRANGEWAYS, THOMAS. Sketch of the Mosquito Shore. Edinburgh, 1822.
SUCKAU, HENRI DE. Une Voie Nouvelle à travers l’Amérique Centrale. Étude Géographique, Ethnographique et Statistique sur le Honduras. Paris, 1866.
TERNAUX-COMPANS, H. Voyages, relations et mémoires originaux pour servir à l’histoire de la découverte de l’Amérique. Paris, 1840. 22 vols. 8vo.
THOMPSON, GEORGE ALEXANDER. Narrative of an Official Visit to Guatemala from Mexico. London, 1829.
TORQUEMADA, J. DE. Monarquia Indiana, con el origen y guerras de los indios occidentales, de sus poblaciones, descubrimiento, conquista, conversion, y otras cosas maravillosas de misma tierra. Madrid, 1723. 3 vols. folio. The second edition (1614) is one of the best.
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FOOTNOTES
[1] Petermann’s Mittheilungen, 1869.
[2] This business is declining, owing to the inferior cattle produced in Florida and shipped at a cheaper rate.
[3] Guatemala has been accepted (1886) by both Nicaragua and Costa Rica as referee in the boundary dispute.
[4] Another year we climbed the rock and found several interesting plants, but no human remains.
[5] These were vampire bats (_Phyllostoma sp._); and several times afterwards we saw cattle that had been so severely bitten that the blood was still dripping from their shoulders the next morning. These little fellows are about the size of an English sparrow; and yet they do as much harm as their much larger relatives of South America. They have ventured into our sleeping-room at Livingston; but would generally awaken us by brushing our faces with their wings,—perhaps because our feet (the part they usually attack) were covered.
[6] “These serpentes are lyke unto crocodiles, saving in bigness; they call them guanas. Unto that day none of owre men durste aduenture to taste of them, by reason of theyre horrible deformitie and lothsomnes. Yet the Adelantado being entysed by the pleasantnes of the king’s sister, Anacaona, determined to taste the serpentes. But when he felte the flesh thereof to be so delycate to his tongue, he fel to amayne without al feare. The which thyng his companions perceiuing, were not behynde hym in greedyness; insomuch that they had now none other talke than of the sweetnesse of these serpentes, which they affirm to be of more pleasant taste than eyther our phesantes or partriches.”—_Peter Martyr, decad. i.