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^7 P^'
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TRAVELS
IN
CENTRAL AMERICA.
London :
Spottiswoodb and Shaw,
Net?-street- Square.
•^r
TRAVELS
CENTRAL AMERICA,
THREE YEARS' RESIDENCE IN THE COUNTRY.
a gbtt^ at tfyt Vlittaxjl at f^e Ue^uUfc,
AN ACCOUNT OP ITS CLIMATE, PEODOCTrONS,
COUUEBCB, ETC.
ROBERT GLASGOW DUNLOP, E
LONDON:
LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS,
IBKOSTER-BOW.
1847.
PREFACE.
The object of this work is to furnish the English
reader with some trustworthy information respecting
Central America, a portion of the world almost un-
known in England. It consists chiefly of extracts
from the Author's private journal, and contains a
brief sketch of the history of the Republic of Central
America, from its origin to the present time ; together
with an account of the most remarkable phenomena
and productions, and the present state of its society,
agriculture^ and commerce. During its completion
the Author had not at hand any of the works which
treat of Central America; but this is the less to
be regretted, as the only publications he has seen
relating to it were merely notices of hurried travels
through the country, which, .while abounding with
palpable inaccuracies, contidned no statistical or use-
ful information of any description.
Guatemala,
December, 1846.
The last sheet of this work had scarcely passed
through the press, when intelligence was received of
VI PREFACE.
the Author's death. It is, perhaps, unnecessary to
give a sketch of his short but eventful career ; but a
few words may be permitted to the Editor, and may
be not without interest to the reader.
Robert Glasgow Dunlop was born at Seafield, near
Ayr, in August, 1815. He was the seventh and
youngest son of John Dunlop, then third surviving
son of John Dunlop of Dunlop, and consequently a
grandson of Mrs. Dunlop, the first kind patroness of
the poet Burns. After enjoying the usual education
afforded by a Scotch parochial school, he joined the
London University, and made great progress in the
study of Latin and Mathematics. His fondness, too,
for History, Poetry, and Classical Literature was
extreme, and so great was his power of application,
that he found leisure to attain considerable proficiency
in Chemistry, Botany, Zoology, and other branches
of science. His academical studies over, he entered
a mercantile office. He soon transferred the same
zeal and acumen to his new pursuit, and, after a
short initiation into business in London and else-
where, he eventually repaired to Guatemala.
* * « * #
From early boyhood he studied and was intimately
acquainted with the Bible, and, though fondly at-
tached to the Presbyterian faith, in which he was
educated, he could sympathise with all who read
and obeyed the word of God. Though reserved,
and too nervously sensitive to allow his feelings to
be scanned by the rude or careless, his heart expanded
PBEFACE.
Vll
in love to every object of creation ; and the love
of truth, which characterised him even in infancy,
continued to be cherished by him in manhood, and
must stamp a value on the pages now given to the
world. Repeated attacks of fever, common to the
country in which he had made his home, severely
tried his always delicate constitution, and after a
month's illness he expired on the first of January,
1847. He is the sixth of seven brothers who rest
in a foreign soil.
London,
18tli June, 1847.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Voyage from Guayaquil and Arrival in Central America. —
Description of the Port of the Union. — Voyage to Nacas-
colo. — Description of old and new Chinendega. — Leon and
Realejo. — Sugar and Indigo Estate of Don Bernardo Ven-
ereo. — Return to Nacascolo. — Ascent of the Volcano of
Cosiguina and Description of its Eruption in 1835. — San
Miguel. — Account of Indigo growing. — Port of Realejo,
with Notices of the Canal of Nicaragua - Page 1
CHAP. II.
Voyage to Punta Arenas. — Coast of Nicoya, Punta Arenas. —
Journey to, and Description of San Jose, Alhajulea, and
Heridia. — Cultivation of Coffee. — Visit to Cartago and
Ascent of the Volcano. — Return to Punta Arenas. — Arri-
val at Realejo and Chinendega. — War with Honduras. —
H. B. S. Ship Daphne. — Blockade of the Union. — Ascent
of the Volcano of Conchagua. — Journey to Guatemala with
a Description of the Towns of San Salvador and Sonsonate,
and the Volcano of Isalco - - - 39
CHAP. in.
Description of Guatemala. — General Carrera. — Journey to
Old Guatemala and Description of the City and its Vicinity.
— Departure from Guatemala. — Dangerous Mistake. —
.. Journey to the Union. — War between San Salvador and
Nicaragua. — Departure from the Union. — Arrival at
Realejo. — Warlike Operations. — Acajantla. — taken for
Spies. — Arrival at and Departure from Sonsonate. — A
Night in the Woods. — Arrival at Guatemala. — Insurrec-
tion of 2nd Feb. 1845 - - - - 75
• • •
Vlll CONTENTS,
1
CHAP. IV. /
Departure from Guatemala. — Encounter with Robbers. — ,
Arrival at San Miguel, and Betum to Guatemala. — De- j
scription of Amatitlan. — ^Extraordinary Proximity of Volcanic
Fires. — A Lake and River heated by them. — Cultivation
of Cochineal Estates, and Process of raising the Insect in
Amatitlan and Old Guatemala. — Towns near Amatitlan. —
Ascent of the Volcano of Tormentos. — Journey to San
Miguel, and Return to Amatitlan. — r A Guatemala Noble. ^-
Feast of Amatitlan ... Page 112
CHAP. V.
History of Central America from the Declaration of Indepen-
dence to the Dissolution of the Federal Government, 15th
September, ia21, to 1st February, 1839 - 156
CHAP. VI.
History of Central America from the Dissolution of the federal
Government, 1st February, 1839, to December 1846 206
CHAP. VII.
Climate, Productions, Animals, Geology, Mineralogy, Mines,
Volcanoes, and Earthquakes of Central America - 256
CHAP. VIII.
Articles of Food. — Houses and Furniture. — Value of Land
and Houses. — Belgian Colony of Saint Thomas. — Com-
merce. — Revenue. — Customs. — Currency. — Debt. — Ports.
— Rivers and Lakes .... 294
CHAP. IX.
Population. — State of Education. — Religion and Administra-
tion of Justice of Central America ^ . 338
TRAVELS
IH
CENTRAL AMERICA.
CHAPTER I.
VOTAGE FROM GUAYAQUIL AND ABBIYAL IN CENTBAIi AMERICA.
DESCBIPTION OP THE POBT OP THE UNION. VOYAGE TO
NAGASCOLO. DESCBIPTION OP OLD AND NEW CHINENDEGA.
LEON AND BEALEJO. -^ SUGAB AND INDIGO ESTATE OF
DON BEBNABDO YENEBEO. BETUBN TO NACASCOLO.
ASCENT OF THE VOLCANO OP COSIGUINA AND DESCBIPTION
OF ITS EBUPTION IN 1835. — SAN MIGUEL. ACCOUNT OP
INDIGO GBOWING. POBT OP BEALEJO, WITH NOTICES OF
THE CANAL OP NICABAGUA.
On the nigfat of the 14th of March, 1844, we em-
barked, at Guayaquil, on board the brigantine Au-
gustina, bound for Central America. At daylight on
the following morning the pilot came on board ; we
got up the anchor, and, having a fine run down the
riVer, passed the pilot station at 4 p. m., where the
pilot left us. We here saw the wrecks of two vessels,
one the Colocolo, belonging to Mr. G. of Valparaiso,
the other a French vessel; both were lost at the
entrance to the river, in smooth water. The first
(as I was told by two seamen whom we t6ok on
board belonging to her) was purposely run on the
2 DISCOMFOBTS OF THE VOYAGE.
rocks in a fine day^ and the master refused to ac-
cept the assistance of two pita balsas^ choosing to
leave on board a large quantity of specie said to
have been taken in at Masatlan in Mexico. The
French vessel was also said to have a large quantity
of specie on boards which was all lost in a similar
manner ; but the master^ who was previously con-
sidered a needy man, some time afterwards appeared
in Lima as a man of fortune. It is shrewdly con-
jectured that, in such cases, the specie is rarely taken
on board, but left at Masatlan with some accom-
plice, the boxes being filled \^ith stones for appear-
ance.
Our passage from Guayaquil was most tedious, the
winds being light and mostly contrary, the heat ex-
cessive, and the deck of the schooner so lumbered
with spars and bamboos, taken on board at Guayaquil,
that thei»e? was not room to move. My fellow-pas-
sengers were two Spaniards, very quiet and harmless
people, submitting to all the insults of the master
without a murmur. The crew was a most motley
assemblage, being composed of six or seven nations,
including two Englishmen and one North American.
On the 24th we csame in sight of the island of Coco,
but could see nothing but a fog, as it rained heavily,
which it had done for mord thane ten days : the heat,
too, was excessively oppressive, and the miserable
little box of a cabin so insupportable, that I prefelrred
keeping wet on deck. To crown our discomforts,
the fresh provisions were gone, and we had to live
on biscuit and half-rotten North American beef and
pork for the rest of the passage.
On the. 1st of April we were, by dead reckoning
EXTINCT VOLCANOES. S
(there being no chronometer on board), close to the
entrance of Conchagua Bay, but we did not sight
land tiM the following day at sunset, when a yol-
canic peak was faintly seen in the distance, which
the master decided to be that of San Miguel, though
it must have been that of Viejo Chinendega, as we
steered towards it all night, and at daylight found
ourselves in the middle of Conchagua Bay, nearly
q^site Bealeja About 10 a. m. a smart breeze
l^pihing up dead ahead, and tacking about all day, we
had at night only gained a few miles. The scenery
around the Bay of Conchagua, and the entrance to
the port of the Union, is wild and magnificent in the
e:iLtreme, no fewer than nine volcanic mountidns^
being at the same time visible. None are at present
smoking, but four, namely, Cos^uina, famed for
its eruption of January 1835,. supposed to be the
most terrific ever recorded in any part of the world ;
SiAH Miguel, every few years in violent action, and
San Salvador and Ninderi^ may be considered as
aetive volcanic vents, though the two last have now
been quiet for some centuries. The rest, namely,
Antigua, Chinendega, San Vicente, Tigre Island,
San Lorenzo, and Conchagua, are what may be
termed extinct volcanoes, there being no tradition of
their having broken out, though there exist abundant
proofs of there having been an eruption within the
recent geological period. At 10 p. m. we anchored
at the entrance of the bay g£ the Union, called also
the inner bay of Conchagua, to wait the turn of the
tide, and getting i^ain under Weigh at 2 a. m.,
stnehored opposite the village of the Union before
daylight on the 4th of April.
B 2
4 LAND AT THE BAY OF THE UNION.
About 6 A. M. we were visited from the shore by
a mestizo in a canoe^ who represented the harbour
master (capitan del puerta). Of course we said
nothing about the yellow fever being at Guayaquil,
BO that we were allowed to land without impedi-
ment.
The bay of the Union is a fine sheet of water,
possessing anchorage from three to twelve fathoms,
free from shoals, and well protected from all winds,
being a near approach to a circle, and about ten
miles in diameter; it is surrounded on three sides
by high land, and the entrance is protected by a
number of islands, with many deep and safe chan-
nels, only one of which is at present used by ships
entering and leaving, although many of the others
are no doubt equally good, and would be quite as
available if surveyed.
On landing, I presented my passport to the port
captain. Sen. Nicholas Espinosa, an ugly little dirty
mestizo, but a man of most polished manners and
address, well known, as I afterwards found, for his
want of principle, and distinguished for crime even
in a country full of thieves and assassins.
I landed my luggage in the afternoon, and Sen.
Espinosa passed it without examination with a very
polite bow. After a great deal of diflSculty and
search, we found an empty room to sleep in, and,
after another search, a bedstead and table. In no
part of Central America is the traveller ever accom-
modated with any thing beyond an empty rooni ;
hence a hammock is an indispensable article in a
journey, otherwise he must make shift with an un-
I
Pbocbed to NACABCOI.0. 6
tanned hide to lay upon the floor, for eating, sleeping,
&c., and even this is not always to be had.
The heat here was truly oppressive, even after
that of Guayaquil, wliicli is nearly under the equator,
and far exceeded an}'thing I ever felt even in the
tropical parts of Aula and Africa. I afterwards
found that it is the hottest place in Central America.
The country round the Union, with the exception
of a few patches of maize, is entirely in a Btate of
nature, and covered with a dense forest ; it is, how-
ever, by no means incapable of cultivation ; on the
contrary, the nature of the soil seems excellent, being
composed of a rich black loam, though mixed with a
number of volcanic stones and cinders, aa in nearly
all parts of Central America. There are, however,
no streams in the neighbourhood with water in the
dry season, nor indeed any natural springs above
high-water mark, though they are abundant in the
bay between the limits of high and low water. Several
wells have, however, been dug in the village, where
excellent water is found at a depth of twelve to fif-
teen yards.
On the 15th of April I proceeded to Nacascolo, in
^e «tate of Nicaragua, in a large canoe (called a
bongo), full of native passengers ; and after passing
two days and nights in the greatest discomfort imc^n-
able without obtaining a moment's sleep, being cramped
up in the bottom of the canoe, which was quite full
of people who emelt worse than any cwgo of pigs,
we reached what is termed from custom the port
Nacascolo, being a little mud creek in a small stre
thickly bordered with mangroves, where there i
just room to thrust in the canoe. I immediately
9 OLD AKD NEW GHINENDEGA.
quired for the village (Nuello), but found there was
no such place — the only resemblance to a habitation
being a little dirty shed not fit for pigs in most part»
of the world, where a naked Indian was at work,
who could give me nothing to eat, not even the usual
country food of tortilias, ** haTing," as he said, " no
woman.'' I however managed to procure a horse, and
set off towards Chinendega, accompanied by a man
who was one of the passengers, and had been re*
commended to me ^s a guide in the Union, on another
horse bare backed. The road lay through a deep
native forest, and consisted, as all the roods in Central
America, of merely a narrow track, 8u£Scient wood
having been cut away to enable a single horse to pass.
Passing some small huts buried in the forest, we reached
Old Chinendega, a distance of only four leagues, in
three hours time, having gone at a slow pace on ac-
count of the wretched condition of the horses.
Old Chineudega is a neat little town for Central Ame-
rica, containing, perhaps, 3000 to 4000 inhabitants :
the only man of wealth or consideratioa being Don
Bernardo Venereo, who is possessed of two fine sugar
estates besides one of indigo. Pas^g Old Chinendega,
we reached the new town of Chinendega in an hour
more, where we proceeded to the house of Don Chro-
santo Medina, a large building resembling an English
bani, but the best house in the place. Mr. Medina was
not at h(»ne, having been obliged to fiy from the state
for killing an assassin, whose brother, however, being
an influential person with the government, would most
certainly have got Medina assassinated had he not
quickly made his escape. I had a most gruff recep-
tion from Mr. Medina's steward, which led me to be-
NEW GHINENDEOA DESCRIBED. 7
I W^ tbat though his master had given me a letter to
bim with iuatruetions to entertain me^ the poor fellow.
hM not the means to do so> being probably le£b witht-
out cashf After a long delay, however, my guide
nxanaged to get me something to eat from a sort
of cookshop, kept by an unfortunate Frenchman.
Haying got a bedstead, though withaut any bed as
usual, I lay down a little without undressing ; it was
the third night I had had no sleep.
Chineudega is a rather pretty town, with from 8000
to 10^000 inhabitants, finely situated in a rich undu-
lating plain, which, if properiy cultivated, might pro-
duce sugar and cotton to supply all Central America.
The hoi^ses, as in n^ost p9*rta of Spanish America, con-
sist oidy (rf HI graund floor S they aj?e built in a very
struggling manner, and occupy a larger space than
wotfli) be done i^ Europe bj a^ ^ity containing 50,000
i^aibitaiit?- A iiumber of fruit trees, principally
<9t^^ n^t ekV,d orange, with spi^e other species peculiar
to tb(B cwntry, give a very pleofliog aspect to the
tQWn* the elimate, though of ooufse tropical, is very
4i^^:ent from that of the Union ; for a genUe breeze
is cjmod; constantly blowing, and the beat 19 rarely
0{>f)re6sive. This town is one of the few in Central
An^erica which have increased since the independence;
1$ }B only three leagues from the port of Bealejo,
aiU ^e trade oi which passes through it, and per-
haps few better situations could be selected in any
pqrt jof tfee world for the formation of a large city.
Having procured two horses, we started at 8 A. M.
HQxt morning, the 18th pf April, for the city of
Jjeon, wherje we arrived after four hours' ride,stoj^iiig
9t the house of Mr. Thomas Manning, ^ gen^tleraiin
B 4
8 LEOIf.
who has resided nearly twenty years in Central
America, and made a considerable fortune. He is a
native of England, and, like several of his countrymen
in South America, turned Roman Catholic to marry
a mulatto lady, who is almost white, and very good
looking. His house is the best in Leon, and fur-
nished somewhat in the European style, which is
very rare in most parts of this country.
Leon is the second city in the republic, and once
contained 50,000 inhabitants, though now it cer-
tainly has not half that number. Since the inde-
pendence,, it has been the scene of several bloody
revolutions, and in 1824, made a desperate defence of
1 14 days against the federal troops, who were finally
repulsed with loss. At least a third part of the city
is now in ruins, and the whole has a most wretched
and desolate appearance. The inhabitants, who, it is
said, were once among the most peaceful and industrious
of the republic, are now noted as the worst of all
Central America, and are engaged in perpetual broils.
Assassination is now so common in the state of Nica*
ragua, that it is little thought of, and is almost never
punished by the authorities ; but the relations of the
murdered man, if he has any, generally revenge his
death by another assassination, and imless the victim
be a person of importance, the assassin merely keeps
out of the way for a day or two and reappears without
fear. I have seen a native enter a house in Kealeja
with his hands bloody, and when questioned as to the
cause, reply with great coolness, that he had met such
and such a person on the road, and as he had long
determined to kill him, had just plunged his knife
into his body and left him in the wood. On my first-
tEON. 9
arrival I felt naturally somewhat shocked at such a
recital ; but I afterwards heard assassination so com-
monly and coolly talked of, that such stories seemed
nothing strange nor out of th« usual course.
The houses of Leon, as in most parts of South Ame-
rica, excepting Lima, Quito, and perhaps one or two
more of thtj principal cities, consist of a ground
story only, in the form of a square, and are all built
of "tapeal" mud, beat hard with a mallet, with
merely a few stones at the comers to strengthen them.
The cathedral is a large Gothic building, but in rather
bad taste, and contains many splendid ornaments,
despite its have been several times plundered of
all the riches which could be discovered. The re«
maining churches exceed twenty in number, but none
of them are remarkable in a Koman Catholic country.
Most of them, like the houses, are principally of mud
and but few have officiating priests, as even the forms
of the Bioman Catholic church are not generally kept
up in the state, the people having long ago ceased to
respect them, and being at present actually destitute
\ of any moral code whatever, or any religion beyond
i few unmeaning forms kept up by women and old
men as a sort of charm, or talisman, which they do
not pretend to understand. Leon was again taken
and plundered by Malespein de Ferrera, at the head
of the San Salvador and Honduras troops, on the
24th of January, 1845, when a great part of the
buildings which had before escaped were reduced to
ruins, and it would require many years of a regular
government for it to recover its former splendour.
After remaining two days in Leon, and being
introduced to the grand marshal, who received me
B 5
10 SPECIMEN OF THE MILITAET,
dressed in a regatta shirt and trowsers> and more
than half seas over^ I proceeded to the port of
Bealejo> or rather the town of that name ; the road
being, like all roads in Central America, a narrow
mule track, through a country nearly perfectly level
and covered with a dense forest of lofty trees and
a thick scrub below them, excepting some small
patches which have been cleared for maize, sugar*
cane, and cotton* Having lost our road, we did not
reach a sugar estate belonging to Don Bernardo
Yenereo till noon, though we had started at day-
light, and the distance did not exceed six leagues.
Shortly after leaving the estate^ I was stopped by
three soldiers, ruffianly looking rascals nearly naked,
and with no part of what is in Europe considered as
a soldier's equipments except a musket ; they wished
me to go with them to their commander, which I
positively refused, thinking that it must be a mere
pretence for robbing me. After some parley, one of
them presented his musket at me, telling me to follow
directly; I returned the compliment by presenting
a pistol, telling him that the musket would be very
likely to miss, but that I would answer for the pistol ;.
this seemed to damp their courage a little, and on
my guide saying, ^^ let him pass, he is an English-
man," they whispered to one another a little, and
either convinced that I was a stranger with whom
they could have no enmity, or afraid of attempting
violence, seeing that I was well armed, they per-
mitted us at length to proceed, and we reached
Bealejo about two hours afterwards, stopping at a
dirty little public house, kept by a native woman.
The towA of Realejo is about two leagues dis-
HEALEJO. 1 1
tant from the part of the creek where vessels lay^
but even at present there is a sufficient depth of
water for small vessels to come within a mile
of the town, and a very little labour would make
it accessible to large ships ^ but an enlightened
government would probably prefer moving the
town opposite the reach where vessels lay, where
ther^ is a site extremely suitable for the purpose^
and where a quay might easily be erected capable
of accommodating any number of ships. The pre^
sent town is merely a collection of mud huts, and
though it once possessed two churches, the one is
now a complete ruin, and the other, though entire,
is without a curate or any officiating priest. In tfa<s
time of the Spanish government, several vessels,
some of 300 to 400 tons, were built at Bealejo,
which affords facilities fully equal to Guayaquil, or
any other port on the coast; while the wood is
much superior and more durable, consisting as it
does of cedar and mahogany, besides a wood re-
sembling Malabar teak, and a vast number of hard
woods, said to be almost imperishable. The trade of
this port is, however, yearly declining from the
wretched state of the government of Nicaragua,
which is composed of the worst thieves and assas-
sins of the state.
A few years ago a number of foreigners embarked
in the Brazil wood speculation ; but the majority
were swindled by the government and native traders,
the former refusing to let the wood be cut on various
pretences, and the latter not delivering it in ac«
cordance with their contracts, even after they had
B 6
12 TRADE OF RE ALE JO.
been paid in advance. Captain Moore, the principal
adventurer, and most of the rest, were ruined.
The present exports from Realejo may be 400 or
500 bales of cotton, principally sent to Costa Rica
for the manufactures of that state ; about 1000 tons
of Brazil wood, principally sent to Great Britain and
the United States of America; a small quantity
of chancakee (the crude juice of the sugar-cane
boiled till it crystalises), sent to Chili ; about 1000
bales of indigo, the quality being the best of any
produced in the republic ; and a few hundred bales
of Granada cocoa, sent to the states of San Salvador
and Honduras. On the following morning, the 23d
of April, we returned to Chinendega, and next day
proceeded to see the sugar and indigo estates near
Old Chinendega belonging to Don Bernardo Ve-
nereo, which are splendidly situated, and might
produce an unlimited amount of sugar and indigo.
In most countries they would be very Valuable ; they
possess a fine stream of water, and may be irri-
gated at all seasons. The sugar mill is a small
machine driven by water, but Don Bernardo Ve-
nereo has sent to England for fresh machinery ; he
at present only manufactures coarse spirit (aguar-
diente) for the consumption of the state, and a small
quantity of chancakee, part of which is exported to
Chili; the sugarcane grows most luxuriantly, and
is more than sufficient to keep the present mill con-
stantly employed, though not a tenth of the land is
at present planted. The description of cane here
used is a native of the country, and very different
from the Asiatic cane, which is now exclusively cul-
tivated in the West Indies, Brazils, and the United
VOLCAKO OF COSIOUINA. 13
States of North America. It is said to be about
equally productive with the foreign species, the canes
being slenderer and softer, but containing more and
stronger juice in proportion to their size ; two crops
are taken annually.
Having this afternoon engaged a bongo to convey
us back to the Union, next morning we returned
to the splendid port of Nacascolo, and embarked at
1 p. M., having arranged to land on the passage to
view and ascend the celebrated volcano of Cosi-
guina. We got down to the entrance of the creek
with the tide, where the boatmen wished to wait all
night, but I forced them to lift up the stone which
served for an anchor when the tide turned at 1 a. m.
At 8 A. M. we reached the pomt of land opposite
Cosiguina, where we landed. One of the boatmen
undertook to be my guide in the ascent, or rather to
the foot of the mountain (as he had never ascended
it), and to carry a small quantity of provisions for
the journey. After scrambling among bushes mixed
with cinders, scoriae, and other volcanic substances,
for three hours, we reached the foot of the mountain,
and commenced the ascent amidst huge blocks of
vitrified stones, mixed with large black-looking
rocks. The mountain is far from being remarkably
steep, nor is the ascent nearly so difficult as that of
most volcanic cones. Vegetation has recommenced
in some places amidst the cinders ; but the ap-
pearance is sufficiently desolate, and there are many
marks of the late fearful convulsion. It was nearly
2 P. M. before we reached the top, owing to the
burning sun, which made the black volcanic rocks so
hot that they almost burnt the skin when touched.
14 DESCRIPTIOK OF COSIGUIKA.
The crater is a large rugged orifice^ probably a
league in circumference^ the sides being sur-
rounded by sharp-edged> precipitous rocks^ making
a descent into it quite impossible^ unless the ex-
plorer were lowered by a rope ; every thing about
it is in wild disorder^ and the granite rocks, of which
the mountain seems to be formed, are partly melted
and partly cracked by the intense heat ; but there
is no trace of any lava strewn, and as far as I could
see into the abyss of the crater, nothing was visible
but a succession of sharp-pointed black rocks. No
smoke is now evolved in any part, and before an-
other eruption takes place the winter rains may
probably stop the vent with sand and ashes, and fill
the crater with wateff, thus giving it the aj^earance
of an extinct volcano, which it was supposed to be
previously to the late eruption. The height of the
mountain cannot exceed from 2000 to 3000 feet,
and viewed from a distance it has nothing pecu-
liar in its ^pect, not even the appearance of a vol-
cano.
Having staid about two hours on the top, and col-
lected a few specimens of the rocks composing the
sides of the crater, we set out on our return, meeting
on our journey several patches of sulphur in an al-
most pure state. In some cases it assumes a beauti-
ful bronze colour, showing, it would appear, the
presence of iron, and at others it is mixed with some
mineral which gives it a green colour. We reached
the shore a little after sunset, and after wandering
some time, at the risk of &lling over one of the many
precipices with which the sea is bordered, we at last
discovered the canoe, and not wishing to remain on
THE LAST ERUPTION. 15
board among the stinking natives any longer than
necessary^ I lay down by the side of an overhanging
rock, telling the men to rouse me as soon as the
tide turned^ which they did at 2 a. m., and having
got under weigh, we reached a small wooded island
at the entrance of the port of La Union, where
we remained tiU 2 P. m., when we again proceeded
and reached the town of the Union a little after
dark.
Previously to 1835, the mountain called Cosiguina
was taken for an extinct volcano, although there
were traditions of its having been in a state of erup-
tion upwards of 300 years before, and abundant
vestiges of its previous ravage^.
At half-past six in the morning of the 20th of
January, 1835, the inhabitants of Chinendega, Leon,
Bealejo, La Union, San Miguel, and the neighbour-
ing country were alarmed by a loud explosion, and
immediately afterwards all the horizon was illumined
by a dense yellow light, and a strong odour of
sulphur was smelt, while a heavy shower of fine
wUte powder feU, penetrating into every recess, and
rendering respiration painful and difficult : this con-
tinued till one o'clock in the morning of the 23d, the
sun and stars being meanwhile invisible, and a pale
sickly light, like some of the London fogs, pervading
the country ; at the same time a terrific explosion
was heard throughout all Central America, and as
far as the borders of Mexico, the republic of New
Granada, and the island of Jamaica. The scene that
followed was terrific in the extreme — the birds
rushed out of the woods, and fell down dead in the
fields and villages — the wild beasts wandered into
16 THE LAST ERUPTION OF
the towns and along the public roads, bellowing with
terror, their natural ferocity and timidity being
equally subdued. The astonished people supposed
that the day of judgment was come, and rushed to
the churches, throwing themselves upon the floors
before the images of their saints; others confessed
their sins and implored mercy ; all was terror and
dismay ; and, to complete the horror of the scene, a
terrific darkness, deeper than the most obscure night,
continued for forty-three hours; so that no person
could see a yard before him, and even artificial lights
could not be distinguished at more than a few feet
distance. During this time there were continued
noises, louder than the most terrific peals of thunder,
accompanied by lightnings, which played in all direc-
tions, rendering the darkness more terrible, and such
immense quantities of ashes fell as in some parts to
cover the earth three feet deep. These effects were
more or less felt to a distance of fifty leagues round
the volcano, as far as the capital of the state of San
Salvador — about .fifteen leagues distant in a direct
line from the volcano ; and Don Juakin Salgero, at
that time collector of customs (Administrador de
la Aduana), told me that words could not describe
the terrific nature of the scene ; and considering it,
as he did, to be an eruption of the extinct volcano of
Conchagua, distant about a league, or some neigh-
bouring mountain, he set off for San Miguel in the
midst of the darkness, some men carrying torches of
lighted pine to discover the road, which, however,
was very difficult, as the darkness was so pitchy that
a torch could not be seen at three yards' distance.
He was accompanied in his flight by a number of
MOUi^T COSiGUINA. 17
the terrified inhabitants^ some on foot and some on
mules and horses. The cattle and even the wild
animals followed the lights along the road ; while the
birds came and lit upon the persons and horses of
the travellers, and would not be driven away ; even
the lizards and other reptiles seemed to look to them
for protection, instead of flying from them as usual.
They reached San Miguel in about fifteen hours, the
usual time for the journey being half that period (it
being only a distance of fifteen leagues) ; but on
their arrival the darkness continued nearly as in-
tense, though the other phenomena had slightly
abated in violence. Two considerable streams of
water flowing past the side of the mountain were
covered with ashes and stones, and have since en-
tirely disappeared ; and immediately after the erup-
tion two islands were discovered in twelve fathoms
water, a little off the coast opposite the volcano,
which still exist.
Not a vestige of habitations, or of animal or
vegetable life remained for some leagues round the
mountain, and the sites where some excellent cattle
farms existed are still pointed out, though now
covered with a thick mass of cinders and charred
rocks. The effects of this eruption were distinctly
felt in the islands of Jamaica and Hayti, and other
parts of the West Indies, and the ashes ejected
reached as far as Oajaca in Mexico, a distance of 430
leagues.
On reaching the town of the Union, I imme-
diately landed, and, after the usual diflSculties, at last
found a place to sleep, being pretty well tired with
my first essay at travelling in Central America.
18 STAET FOB SAN MIGUEL.
On the 4th of Mskj, at 8 p. M., we started for San
Miguel^ in company with Don Chrosanto Medina
and San Don Nicholas Espinosa^ the captain of the
port, Mariano Salazari Medina's brother-in-hiw, and
two odier natives. At 10 p. m. we stopped at a hut
in a small village called the Baranka, four leagues
from the Union, where I lay down outside the hut
till three in the morning (without sleeping^ of
course), when we again proceeded on our journey at
8 A.M., passing the village of San Antonio, which
consists of about twenty huts, bordering on a small
river of the same name^ and arriving at San Miguel
at ten in the forenoon. The plan of travelling at
night to avoid the heat may appear very plausible
in a tropical climate ; but the danger of the beasts
falling on the unmade tracks or of being tumbled off
by coming in contact with the branch of a tree in
the dark, appears to me to more than countervail the
advantages. In a long journey it would be quite
impracticable, without carrying tents and three or
four mules laden with provisions, &c. ; for otherwise
no sleep could be obtained, as there is no such
thing as a separate apartment to be had in all
Central America for travellers. The plan is not
followed by the natives, who give another good
reason against it, namely, the impossibility of being
certain of the right path in the dark, where the road
is no more than an Indian track, and in many cases
nearly obliterated.
The only cultivation on the road is at San
Antonio, where a little maize is grown. There
is, however, another road by San Alejo, which
I have also travelled : it is about a league longer.
\
TRADE OF SAN MIGUEL. 19
but passes through a much more interesting country,
cultivated in several parts^ besides San Alejo^ whioh
is a beautifully situated village, containing about
2000 inhabitants, principally Indians.
The town, or, as it is called, the " city," of San
Miguel, a name very freely applied in Central
America^ is said to contain upwards of 10,000 in-
habitants, but, judging from its extent and the density
of the population, I feel assured it cannot contain so
many. The streets are wide, at right angles, and
pretty well paved; the houses have all, as usual,
merely a ground floor, and, with a few exceptions, of
mud ; there are eight churches, all rather mean edi-
fices, and unworthy of notice. San Miguel is only
celebrated for its fairs, three of which are hel<} there
in the course of the year ; the principal, which is the
most important in Central America, takes place on
the 21st of November. At these fairs more business
is done than in all the rest of the state during the
remainder of the year. Several vessels generally
arrive a^ the Union from South America at these
periods, and nearly all the indigo (the only produce
of any importance) is disposed of : formerly it reached
10,000 bales, but at present it will not, at most, ex-
ceed 3000 bales of 150 lbs. each.
The indigo, well-known in Europe by the name of
Guatemala indigo, was never cultivated in that pro*
vince (in the same manner as not a grain of the
Honduras cochineal is grown there), being entirely
grown in the state of San Salvador, in the vicinity
of San Miguel, San Vicenti, and the city of San
Salvador, with the exception of a small quantity of
very superior quality grown in the state of Niqaxagaa
so THE INDIGO PLANt.
and a few bales in Costa KIca, which is all consumed
in the state. Under the government of Spain the
produce of the state of San Salvador alone had reached
10,000 bales, and that of Nicaragua 2000, the pro-
duce of San Salvador in 1820, two years before
its independence, being 8323 bales. But since 1822
the annual produce has gradually declined, and at
the present period (1846), it does not exceed 1000
to 1200 bales, nearly all the indigo estates being
abandoned, partly, no doubt, from the great fall in
the price of the article, but more on account of the
impossibility of getting labourers to work steadily,
the continued civil wars having imbued the whole
population with idle habits and a disinclination to
labour, while the insecurity of property and the rob-
beries of government have discouraged all parties
from attempting any cultivation which requires out-
lay of capital, and reduced it nearly to maize and
other articles required for food.
The plant cultivated in Central America for the
manufacture of indigo is the indigofera, a triennial
plant, supposed to be a native of America ; but there
is also an indigenous perennial plant, abounding in
many parts of Central America, which produces indigo
of a very superior quality, but gives less than half
the weight which is produced by the cultivated spe-
cies. The ground for sowing the indigo seed is pre-
pared in April — a piece of good forest land near one
of the towns being selected, a part is cut to make a
rude fence, and the remainder burnt, which is easily
accomplished as every thing is very dry at that season
— and the ground is afterwards scratched with two
Bticks fastened crosswise, to resemble somewhat the
MODE OF MANUFACTURE. 21
shape of a plough, and the seed scattered over it by
hand. The rainy season always commences early in
May, and the indigo is ready for cutting about the
middle of July, taking about two and a half months
to come to perfection. The growing crop somewhat
resembles lucerne, and is in the best state for making
indigo when it becomes covered with a sort of green-
ish farina.
The crop of the first year is small, and sometimes
not worth manufacturing ; that of the second year is
the best ; and the third is also very good if it has
been carefully weeded ; but many indigo fields have
lasted more than ten years without being resown, as
the seed which falls naturally springs up again, and
where the land is good yields nearly as large a crop as
a new sown field. "When the plant is ready for
manufacturing, a number of men are collected, each
of whom is either provided with or brings his own
mule or horse, if he has one. Two men always go
together, cut the plant, then about the height of
full grown red clover, and take it to the vats, which
are large tanks made of brick and lime, holding at
least 1000 gallons, and some as much as 10,000.
Into these the plant is thrown till they are nearly
full, when weights are put above it to prevent its
floating, and the vats filled with water till it covers
the mass of the indigo plant. After remaining from
twelve to twenty-four hours, according to the state of
the plant, weather, and other circumstances (the time
required being determined by the colour which the
water assumes), the herb is taken out, and the water
beaten with paddles in the very small vats, and by a
wheel suspended above, and turned by men or horses
22 MODE OP MANUFACTUEING
in the larger ones, till it changes from a green colour,
which it has acquired ere the removal of the herb, to
a fine blue, when it is allowed to stand for some hours
till the colouring matter has settled to the bottom
of the tank, — a process which is generally hastened by
throwing in an infusion of certain herbs to facilitate
its settlement, or, as the natives term it, to curdle
(cuajar) the coloured water. As soon as all the colour
has settled, the water is drawn off, and the blue, which
is of the consistency of thin mud, is taken out of the
rat and spread upon cotton, or coarse woollen cloth,
and dried in the sun. The colour, in a great mea-
sure, depends upon removing the herb exactly at the
proper time, and upon properly beating the water,
neither too long nor too short. Unless these pro-
cesses are properly performed, the indigo will never
be of first-rate quality ; but some estates will never
produce the best indigo, whatever care inay be be-
stowed on the manufacture. A mansana of 100
yards square, which is nearly two British statute
acres, produces generally aboiit 100 to 120 j>otfnds of
indigo, the carriage and cutting of the herb costing
about twenty dollars, and the cleaning of the field
and all x>ther expenses connected with it, including
the manufacture of the indigo, about as much
more.
The indigo of Central America is not put into
moulds when drying as that of Bengal, but is allowed
to remain in the rough shape in which it dries, and
without further preparation is r^ady for baling and
exportation. The bales are generally made up in
150 lbs. each, and the quality h classed by numbers
from 1. to 9. ; Nos. 1. to 3. being of the quality called
INDIGO IN CENTRAL AMERICA. 23
cobres in Europe, Nos, 4. to 6. of that called cortes,
and Nos. 7. to 9. of that called flores; Nos. 1. to 6.
do not, at present, pay the expenses of manufacture,
and are never intentionally made. No doubt, with a
little more skill in the manufacture, the whole might,
as in Bengal, be made of the quality called flores ;
but such improvements cannot be expected till a new
race ef people inhabit Central America. At present,
about one half of the indigo produced is under Na. 7.,
and as the cultivation is said not to pay at the present
prices — and^ indeed, hardly can be suj)posed to com-
pete with Bengal, a country where labour is so much
cheaper, and capital abundant — it is probable that
the cultivation will shortly be entirely abandoned,
unless the price should again rise in Europe. Such
nn event would leave the state of San Salvador with-
out any available export whatever, as the value of
the other productions is not worth naming, and the
natives seem to have no intention of turning their
industry to other aarticles whi(^ might be profitably
cultivated.
San Miguel is situated at the foot of the volcano
of that name, which rears its lofty head, literaUy as
it would appear, to the skies ; though not nearly the
highest mountain in Central America^ yet as it rises
abtuptly from a plain very little above the level of
the sea, it has a more magnificent appearance, and
looks higher from below, than any other mountain I
have ever seen in any part of the world, not except-
ing Chimborazo, and the Mountains of the Moon.
All the country for more than ten leagues round is
covered with vestiges of its eruptions, and it has
several times threatened to destroy San Miguel,
24 KUMEBOUS SPRINGS.
Tvhich is evidently built upon the site of an ancient
eruption^ the whole of the land being covered vdth
immense masses of lava, scoriae, and charred rocks ;
even now the mountain is threatening an eruption,
the last having taken place only two years ago.
San Miguel is distant about a league from a fine
river called the Rio Grande (great river). Why it
was not built on the banks I cannot conceive. To
be sure there is no lack of water, for in its immediate
vicinity there is a number of most copious springs,
which burst from under the masses of volcanic rocks
and cinders, through which it would appear that the
water filters for some distance, till its underground
course is stopped by meeting with more solid strata,
when it rushes out in a large stream clear as crystal,
forming a number of inimitablis natural baths which
are used by the natives. The country round San
Miguel is but scantily cultivated, and there is nearly
an entire absence of gardens or fruit trees, though
the few that have been planted thrive admirably, and
show that the indolence of man, not nature, is to
blame for their deficiency.
War had just been declared against the state
of Guatemala, and the government were occupied in
catching men for soldiers like wild cattle here and in
all parts of the state, and raising money by forced
contributions, so that the fair, which was about to
take place, must prove an entire failure* Those
who had anything to be robbed of were taking
themselves off as quickly as possible, and the common
people were hiding in the woods to avoid being taken
for soldiers. My acquaintance, Don Chrosanto Me-
dina, and a friend of his, a Spaniard, Don Francisca
GOVERNMENT EXACTIONS. 25
Geral, wished to make all their property over to me,
to prevent its being seized for government contribu-
tions. I told them that they were welcome to do so,
but that if it was seized I should not be able to
claim it from the government through her Britannic
majesty's consul, as he would probably require me to
swear that the property was mine before making the
claim. This difficulty seemed to surprise them a good
deal, as a false oath is thought nothing of in Spanish
America, and they tried the Jesuits' argument, '* that
the oath would not be made for a bad purpose," in
order to get over my scruples ; but finding that they
could not convince me, they were obliged to take other
schemes for protecting their property. They man«
aged so badly that, as I afterwards learned, the go-
vernment got 10,000 dollars from them.
I have always refused to lend my name to natives
to enable them to avoid the exactions of their govern-
ment, as the discovery of such a practice would form
a good excuse for robbing British subjects, who have
hitherto, with but few exceptions, been saved the
payment of forced loans. This, I believe, is not a
little owing to the firm measures and determined
stand made against all such exactions by the present
consul-general, Mr. Chatfield, as even the French
are often forced to pay while the British are excepted.
On the 7th, the day before the fair, I was introduced
to Mr. Walter Bridge, a gentleman who has been
more than twenty years resident in Nicaragua. He
is a British subject, and though now possessed of a
handsome fortune, has once or twice been plundered
of everything by the government, and has passed
through many interesting adventures. He is most
c
26 PORT OF BE ALE JO.
kind and hospitable to all his countrymen^ and I have
had occasion, in many instances, to be grateful to him
for his advice and assistance. On the 1 0th of May
we returned to the Union, and Mr. Bridge, having
been kind enough to offer me a passage on board his
ship, the Albert Henry, to Costa Rica, we embarked
on the 14th, calling at Realejo, where Mr. Bridge
had some business to transact, besides seeing his lady
in Chinendega. We reached the port in twenty
hours from leaving the Union, the Albert Henry,
a North American vessel under the United States'
iSag, being a fast sailer, like so many vessels of that
country.
I may confidently say that Realejo is at least as
good a port as any in the known world. I have seen
Portsmouth, Rio Janiero, Port Jackson, Talcujana,
Callao, and Guayaquil, and to all of these I consider
it decidedly superior. It is a salt-water creek, into
which several small streams of water empty them-
selves. The entrance is protected by an island about
two miles long, which leaves at each end a channel
where ships can enter the harbour, but extending
opposite the main land, forming the port in such a
manner as to protect it entirely from any wind that
can possibly blow, and also entirely breaking the
swell which enters the outer bay of Conchagua-from
the ocean. The north entrance is about a quarter of
a mile wide, and that at the south of the island rather
nan'ower, both being entirely free from rocks or
hidden dangers, and having in no part less than five
fathoms' depth of water. At one of these openings,
vessels can at all times enter with a leading wind from
whatever quarter it may blow. The inside consists
INTERMEDIATE COUNTRY. 27
of a noble basin of water, nowhere less than four
fathoms deep> with a bottom of mud^ where 200
ships of the line might lie at all times in the most
perfect security. Merchant-vessels generally lie
about a mile from the entrance, in the branch of
the creek which runs up to Realejo, where there are
about five fathoms water over a mud bottom. Op-
posite this port there is a fine level beach, possessing
deep water close to the edge, which would form
an admirable site fi)r a town; and where, at very
little expense, a wharf might be constructed capable
of accommodating almost any number of vessels.
Were proper batteries erected on the rocky island at
the entrance, no enemy could possibly enter, for, if
required, a chain could also be extended across each
of the two mouths. One of the branches of this
creek extends inland to within three leagues of the
lake of Leon or Managua. The intermediate country
is a gentle slope, where, undoubtedly, should enter
one of the ends of the canal to connect the Pacific
and Atlantic Oceans ; and it is much to be regretted
that Mr. Bailey was not instructed to make his sur-
veys on this line instead of that adopted. From the
report of this able engineer, it will be seen that the
only difficulties in the line he surveyed are in cross-
ing the chain of hills between the lake of Nicaragua
and Saint John of the south, which would be en-
tirely avoided by bringing the canal through the
lake of Leon (connected as it is with that of
Nicaragua by a river that might be rendered navi-
gable at a moderate cost), into the above-named
branch of Eealejo harbour, thus securing the great
c 2
28 PEOPOSAL TO UNITE
advantacre of an excellent harbour at each end of the
canal, besides many others which can certainly not
be met with at Panama, Tehuantepec, or any other
place.
As I have referred to this subject, I shall here
make a few extracts from a pamphlet published in
Guatemala, which I trust will prove generally in-
teresting. " The opening of a canal to connect the
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, has commanded more
or less attention ever since the discovery of America,
and even the Spanish government has had its atten-
tion forcibly drawn to it; The reasons given for not
attempting such a work, are of a most singular nature.
The government of the sixteenth century were, it ap-
pears, deterred by the fear that if such a work were
undertaken, the necessary labour would finish the
remnant of Indians left by the oppression of the con-
querors, or that if the voyage round Cape Horn were
altered for so short and easy a passage, the coasts
would become infested by pirates, who would prey
upon the commerce passing through the canal. The
learned prelate, P. Acorta, writing in 1588, gives
a reason against it, which appears still more strange in
the present day ; speaking of the project he says : * I
am of opinion that no human power would be suf-
ficient to cut through the strong and impenetrable
bounds which God has put between the two oceans,
of mountains and iron rocks which can stand the fury
of the raging seas. And if it were possible it would
appear to me very just to- fear the vengeance of
Heaven for attempting to improve the works which
the Creator, in his Almighty will and providence,
ordered from the creation of the world.' Others have
\
THE ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC OCEANS. 29
pretended to fear that were a canal cut through the
isthmus, the rush of waters from the Pacific would
swamp the West India Islands, and even Europe
itself, and many learned treatises have been written
to prove it; but even were it possible to cut through
a level canal without ascending locks, which is suf-
ficiently absurd to expect, there would be no reason
to fear any such catastrophe, as according to the
measurements made by Mr. Lloyd, at the Isthmus of
Panama in 1829, the Pacific at high water only rises
13*55 feet above the average level of the Atlantic,
and at low water falls 6^ feet below it, so that the
difference in the level of the two seas is very trifling.
The British have made several attempts to possess
themselves of Saint John of Nicaragua and Bealejo,
with a view, no doubt, to secure the country through
which the proposed canal should pass, but with singu-
larly bad fortune; the first attempt was made in
1740, by the superintendent of the Moschito coast,
but the attempt was disavowed by the British govern-
ment, which, however, in 1780, sent a squadron com-
posed of two frigates, two brigs of war, and a line of
battle ship, carrying a number of fiat boats, and 2000
men, under the command of Colonel J. Poison.
" On the 28th of March, the flotilla reached the port
of Saint John of Nicaragua, but none of the vessels
would venture to cross the bar, except the corvette
Henchinbrack, commanded by the afterwards cele-
brated Nelson, who ascended the river for many
leagues, as far as the island of Mico ; the troops were,
however, embarked in the flat boats, and ascended
the river without opposition as far as the port of
San Carlos, which they took after about a month's
c 3
30 CAUSES OF THE
siege, making prisoners the garrison of 160 men^
but in the mean time the government had coUected
large forces &om San Miguel and other parta
Great difficulties also presented themselves to the
British. The wet season set in with its accompany-
ing sickness, and the Zombors of the coast, who had
been hired to track up the boats, went away, so that
the soldiers were forced to walk in the water and
mud to pull the boats forward, from which labour
they suffered exceedingly, great numbers falling sick
and dying daily ; meanwhile, reinforcements having
been received under Captains Campbell, Dalrymple,
and Leith, which increased the force to 8000 men, the
expedition was persevered in ; but the armed boat,
called the Lord Germain, was the only one which
reached the lake of Nicaragua, where it arrived in
the end of May. The increase of sickness among
the troops to so alarming an extent, that not a
fourth part were fit for service, prevented the expedi-
tion from moving forward ; they remained, however,
till the commencement of November, expecting fresh
reinforcements, till they received notice that they had
disembarked at Jamaica, typhus fever having been
discovered on board the squadron, when it was judged
necessary to abandon this mismanaged attempt. But
not one half of the men ever left the country, the re-
mainder having died of tropical fevers. Had the
ministry, who planned this expedition, been at all
informed regarding the nature of the country they
proposed to conquer, they would, of course, have
sent the expedition so as to arrive at the com-
mencement of the dry and healthy season, and had
this been done, the result might have been very
FAILURE OF THE PLAN. 31
different. It would appear that one of the dcheo^es
of Goodaj^ ' the Prince of the Peace,' was the
opening of the Nicaragua Canal, but his fall put an
end to this and many other excellent schemes, which
might have, in some degree, compensated for hi»
treacherous conduct to the Spanish royal family.
" After the independence of Central America, the
first attempt towards opening this canal was made
by Sen Manuel Antonie de la Cerda, afterwards
Governor of the state of Nicaragua, who, in July
1823, urged the matter upon the federal congress,
laying before them an imaginsury plan of the river of
Saint John, the lake of Nicaragua, and the territory
between it and the Pacific ; but the succeeding dis-
turbances prevented any thing being done till the
year 1825, when difierent proposals were made by
foreign speculators on the subject ; and the National
Federal Congress, on the 16th of June of that year,
passed the following decree : —
" Art. 1. Authorises the opening of a canal fitted
for the passage of the largest vessels in the state of
Nicaragua.
" Art. 2. The works to be of the most solid con-
struction.
" Art. 3. The government shall oflFer to the under-
takers an indemnification equivalent to the cost and
labour of the work.
" Art. 4. The government shall take all means of
facilitating the object : permitting the cutting of
wood; assisting the surveyors ; forwarding the plans;
and, generally, in every manner not injurious to
public or private interests.
c 4
32 NEW ATTEMPTS. ^
** Art. 5. No duty shall be charged on instniments
and machinery imported for the works of the canal.
** Art. 6. The expense of the work shall be acknow-
ledged as a national debt^ and the tolls of the canal
shall all be applied to that purpose, after deducting
the necessary costs of maintenance and repairs, and
the maintenance of a garrison for its defence.
" Art. 7. Any dispute regarding its liquidation or
proofs of outlay, shall be determined according to the
laws of the republic.
'^ Art. 8. The Congress shall be entitled to establish,
and at all times alter, the rates of toll as it may think
proper.
<^ Art. 9. The navigation shall be open to all nations,
friends or neutrals, without privilege or exclusion.
** Art 10. The government shall maintain on the
lake the necessary vessels for its defence.
"Art. 11. If invincible impediments discovered in
the course of the work prevent its execution, the
republic shall not be liable to make any remuner-
ation whatever.
" Art. 12. In case only a boat canal can be opened,
the indemnification shall be proportioned to the
smaller benefit which will then result to the re-
public.
** This decree, passed by the Congress, was published
jointly with another of the government, fixing the
term of six months for receiving the proposals of such
parties or companies as should ofier to undertake the
enterprise. The period being too short to admit of
measures being taken for forwarding such an enter-
prise in Europe, the Congress only received a re-
petition of a part of the proposals before made. The
FURTHER ARRANGEMENTS. 33
•
principal of these were made by Mr. Bailey and Mr.
Charles Beniski ; the first as agent for the house of
Messrs. Barclay, Herring, Richardson and Company^
of London^ and the second for Messrs. Aron and
Palmer of New York. The government certainly
ought to have preferred the first of these offers, both
on account of Mr. Bailey's known character and ex-
perience, and the respectability of the house with
which he was connected ; but Mr. Bailey only offered
to make a conditional agreement, subject to the ap-
probation of the principals in London, whereas
Beniski did not hesitate at once to sign an uncon-
ditional contract, in which, as a further inducement,
he offered to advance 200,000 dollars to government
for objects connected with the canal. This and other
magnificent offers, which were easily made by a per-
son who could lose nothing by their non-fulfilment,
decided the government in favour of Beniski's offer,
without (as the representatives of a more enlightened
nation would have done) inquiring what security
they had from the agent of a New York broker, for
the fulfilment of so great an enterprise. Beniski,
therefore, bound himself to open through Nicaragua,
a canal navigable for vessels of all sizes, and to de-
posit in the city of Granada the sum of 200,000
dollars for the preliminary expenses within the period
of six months ; to erect fortresses for the safety of the
canal, and to have all the works in progress within
twelve months at latest. In compensation, he was
to receive two thirds of the profits of the tolls upon
the canal, until all the capital laid out in the under-
taking was repaid, with interest at the rate of 10 per
cent., besides afterwards receiving half the proceeds
c 5
34 KEW NEGOTIATIONS.
of the canal for seyen years, and certain privileges
for the introduction of steam vessels. The govern-
ment was to put at his disposal all the documents
relating to the subject existing in the archives ; per-
mit the cutting of wood and furnish labourers for the
work, who, however, were to be paid by the con-
tractor, though remaining under the inspection of the
government.
" In case of non-completion, the government was
not bound to allow anything for the works executed.
But Beniski soon found that he could not secure,
either capital or other means to carry out his engage-
ment ; having, first, without success, tried to get up
a company in the United States, and afterwards in
London, where a magnificent prospectus was put
forth, declaring that the scheme was under the pa-
tronage of the President of the United States, and
giving a list of the leading members of the national
senate and the government of New York as directors,
but without successfully gulling the public.
** It seems, however, very probable, that none of the
other speculators, though of a much more respectable
class, would have been able to secure the immense
capital required for so grand an undertaking.
" After this disappointment, the project was allowed
to sleep till October 1828, when the King of the
Netherlands proposed to undertake the work, if it
should be considered practicable, after the necessary
surveys had been executed. The idea seems to have
originated with General Verveer, minister from the
Netherlands to the grand diet of Panama, who was
doubtlessly urged to it by the representatives of
Central America, aware as they were of the great
NEW FAILURES. 35
advantage the line of Nicaragua possessed over that
of Panama. In March 1829^ die Dutch general
arrived in Guatemala, as plenipotentiary from his
government to the United States of Central America,
and also with instructions regarding the undertaking
of the canal ; but, as Central America was then in
the midst of one of her incessant revolutions, nothing
was done till the following year, when the matter
was taken up by the federal congress, and on the
2l8t of October, they passed a series of new reso-
lutions upon the subject The offers made by the
King of the Netherlands were of an extremely liberal
nature ; the work was to be executed by a company of
Dutch capitalists under the protection of the king ;
as soon as the outlay with 10 per cent, interest was
repaid to the company, the canal was to revert to the
republic of Central America. The government hav-
ing determined to send envoys to the Netherlands
with full powers to conclude all the arrangements,
little doubt appeared that the work would finally be
proceeded with; but the revolution of Belgium, and its
separation from Holland, put an end to these hopes.
In 1832, endeavours were made to revive the nego-
tiation with Holland, and the legislature of the state
of Nicaragua passed a number, of resolutions agreeing
to the proposals of the Dutch envoy ; but nothing
beyond talking was done by the Central American
government. No envoy was sent to Holland, nor
did any plenipotentiary again reach Central America,
so that the subject has been quite dropped by both
parties. In 1837, the subject was again taken up by
the srovernment of General Morazan, which resolved
to have the proposed line of the canal exactly sur-
c 6
I
36 PREFERENCE OP NICARAGUA.
veyed, intending to raise a loan in Europe for the
execution of the work. Mr. John Bailey was em-
ployed for the former purpose ; but when, after three
years' labour, he had completed the whole of the
survey of the line indicated, except the levels between
the lake of Nicaragua and the Atlantic, his work was
brought to a sudden close by the dissolution of the
federal government, and the whole of his labours have
as yet been entirely unpaid by the wretched shadows
of governments which have succeeded in the different
states. A short summary of the results of the survey
will be found in the comparison made by Mr. Bailey
between the advantages of the canals of Nicaragua
and Panama ; but it is much to be regretted, that
the survey was not carried on the line passing through
the lakes of Leon or Managua to the port of Kealejo,
which is universally considered preferable by parties
well acquainted with the country."
The Journal des Debats has the following shrewd
remarks regarding the execution of a canal be-
tween the two oceans. *^ It is not sufficient (says
that journal, of the 13th of August, 1845) to plan
a canal, it is, moreover, necessary to make it —
it is necessary to procure workmen and provisions
for their maintenance. If masons and sappers be
brought from a distance, they must not be placed in
an unhealthy climate, where they will probably be
decimated by epidemic diseases. In this view the
line by Chagres and Panama is vastly deficient. The
population is very small, and the few inhabitants are
of an exceedingly lazy disposition, so that it would
be indispensable to transport thither a whole army
of workmen, whose best composition would be a
SURVEYS OF THE CANAL. 37
mixture of negroes for spade works, and land and
marine engineers for the finer works. Besides, part
of the territory, through which the canal ought to
extend, is marshy and in a most deadly climate,
where the burning rays of the sun fall nearly ver-
tically during the whole year, which would prove
most fatal to European workmen. On the contrary,
the borders of the lakes of Nicaragua and Leon are
healthy, only the vicinity of the coasts being subject
to epidemic fevers. All travellers agree in saying
that it is a delightful country, of extraordinary fer-
tility, and, that as much as four crops of maize are
produced in the year in some places. Here we also
meet with populous towns and villages, more thickly
strewn than in some parts of Europe ; this is an in-
estimable advantage."
I can fully confirm the truth of all these re-
marks except the last, in which there is a little
exaggeration; and being well acquainted with both
climates, would certainly say that no comparison can
be drawn between Panama, one of the most deadly
climates in the known world, and Nicaragua, one of
the most healthy for a tropical climate.
The surveys of the canal were not completed,
when the state government of Nicaragua proposed
a preliminary scheme of making a road from the
lake of Leon to Realejo, and clearing the rivers of
Saint John, and that forming the junction of the two
lakes. This scheme would be more within the means
possessed by the country, though even this would be
far too much to expect from the present government
without foreign assistance: but from the great im-
provements now making in railroads, it may perhaps
38 PRACTICABILITY OF THE UNDERTAKING.
be deemed expedient to make one for the three
leagaes required to join the lake of Leon and the
harbour of Bealejo only, clearing and improving the
natural navigation of the rest of the line. In 1838,
a convention was made between the states of Ni-
caragua and Honduras, under which Sen Pedro
Bouhand was authorised to conclude an agreement
in France for the formation of a company to make
the canal, and other objects, but he returned without
effecting any thing ; the same result has attended
the measures taken by Dr. Don Gorg^ Viteri, am-
bassador from Rome, and Bishop of Saint Salvador,
and of a second envoy sent to the court of France
by the governments of Nicaragua and Honduras,
the French government wisely declining to treat
with the representative of two such despicable and
petty governments.
From what has been said, it is to be presumed
that no doubt can be entertained of the practicability
of this grand and most useful undertaking, and it is
to be hoped that many years will not elapse before
it will be put in progress by the intervention of
Great Britain, or some of the great naval powers
most interested in its completion.
ENT OF TBE VOLCANO
I eAJ.VJ>I>OR AND 80KS0KATE,
On the 17th of May, at 6 p. m., we left Eealejo for
Funta AreDaa, which we reached od the 2lBt, at
11 A.M., having had a light fur wind during the
whole passage.
We sailed close along the coast of Nicoya, which
once formed part of the state of Nican^a, but two
years ago joined the more quiet and secure govem-
ment of Costa Rica. It is a most picturesque and
beautiful country, and like many other parts of Cen-
tral America, capable of producing nearly every
tropical plant to advantage, being intersected with
numerous rich valleys watered by copious streams.
At present the population is very scanty, and the
only branch of industry is the rearing of cattle for
the CoBta Rica market. A pearl fishery has long
existed on this coast, and pearls are said to be mom
abundant along it than even at Fanama. Considei
able quantities have been offered me for sale at Funt
Arenas, but they were all of very inferior quality, an
40 PORT OF PUKTA ARENAS :
worth very little. I had reason, however, to suspect
that the best pearls had previously been picked out,
and that the refuse were offered to me in the hope
that I did not understand the articles, and might be
induced to purchase from the low price.
The port of Punta Arenas, as its name (literally,
sandy point) implies, consists of an inner and outer
harbour ; the first is formed by a long sand spit and
the main land, and is only accessible for vessels not
drawing above seven feet water. The outer harbour
is pretty well sheltered by two islands from the
winds and swell rolling into the Gulf of Nicoya from
the Pacific. The anchorage is but indifferent, and
as vessels, not able to enter the inner harbour, must
lie a league from the landing-place, all the cargo
must be landed in boats, and, there being no wharf
or pier, the landing can only be effected for about
half of the tide, which causes a great delay in loading
and unloading vessels.
The village is built upon the sand spit, which is
about two leagues long, and not exceeding a quarter
of a mile broad, and in no part more than ten feet
above high-water mark ; it is all formed of loose
sand, into which the foot sinks several inches at
every step, and forms a most disagreeable residence,
every thing when the wind blows, being covered with
fine sand, which penetrates into the innermost re-
cesses of the housjBS. It produces nothing but the
wild indigo plant, which is manufactured to a small
extent by the natives, and a poisonous shrub, called
the manzanilla ; but singular to relate, fresh water is
found in all parts of the point, of most excellent
quality, by digging two or three yards below the
;
ITS COMMERCE. 41
■
Blurface. This would appear to be sea water filtered
by passing through the fine sand^ and is a singular
instance of the purification of salt water in so short
a distance, as the wells produce equally good water
when dug close to the high water mark of the sea.
Punta Arenas is a new settlement, made by the
government of Costa Kica. From its position, it
is open to the breeze on every side, and, though a
most unpleasant residence, is far from unhealthy.
The former port on the S. W. side is Calderas, a
remarkably fine harbour, very safe and convenient,
but possessing so fatal a climate that nearly all the
government officers died off in two years' time : this,
no doubt, arose from its situation, buried as it is in
a dense primeval forest.
It is now, again, proposed to move the port
to Tercoles, a creek higher up the bay, which is
said to possess the advantages of being nearer the
capital of the state, with a much better harbour,
a fertile territory, and greater salubrity. I, how-
ever, doubt much if the government will consent
to the sacrifice of losing what they have laid out
upon Punta Arenas in building a custom-house, &c.
Punta Arenas being the only port of any consider-
ation (for the trade of Matina, the port of the N.E.
coast, is not worth mentioning) in the thriving State
of Costa Bica, possesses a rapidly increasing com-
merce. This year (1845) the exports of coffee were
about 50,000 quintals, and in three years more they
are expected to reach 100,000, and the imports will
of course be in proportion. This is the end of the
coffee season, as the crop is gathered in February ;
but there are still loading in the port two British
vessels of 300 tons each, one Hamburger of 400 tons,
42 JOURNEY TO SAN JOSE.
one North American of 180, and one Chilian, and
one Equador schooner.
On the 24th of May, at daylight, we set off for
San Jose, having with great diflSculty procured
mules and a guide. I was accompanied by a young
man, a native of the state, who had arrived from
Guatemala, with woollen manufactures, to the value
of some thousand dollars. Here he is called a
comerciante (merchant), but would in England be
called a pedlar. All Spanish Americans are, how-
ever, fond of high-sounding titles, and as they cost
nothing, they are pretty liberally applied : he is a
dark-coloured Mestizo, which is rare in this state.
At 2 p. M. it commenced to rain hard, and we were
obliged to stop for the night at a small hut about
ten leagues on our journey. This hut is pleasantly
situated, being close to the foot of the Table Land,
where nearly all the population of the state is
situated : it lias a neat garden, with a pretty brook
running alongside, and the people are much more
obliging than I have seen them in other parts of the
Republic, in consequence of their being accustomed
to be paid for whatever is asked for, which is very
frequently not the case in the other states, where
the parting salutation (Dios lo pague) ** God will pay
you," is often too appropriate for the poor natives.
Strangers, however, seldom pay in this coin, and are,
consequently, generally more readily and better at-
tended to.
Early in the morning we ascended a steep moun-
tain (Cuesta de Jocote), the seat of a number of
gold mines, part of which are worked by a pri-
vate English company, which, though it is said to
GOLD MINES. 43
possess several very rich mines^ has never paid any
dividend. I visited two of the mines; but, like
all gold workings, there is nothing to be seen ; for
the gold is contained in a dark reddish earth, which
is stamped by machinery, and then stirred in run*
ning water to remove its lighter particles, the gold
and heavier parts falling to the bottom. The re-
sidue, in which no gold can be detected by the eye,
is then dried, and the metal taken up by quicksilver,
the process I believe being the same in all gold
mines. Great numbers of loads of auriferous earth
have been discovered in this mountain, and as it is
nearly all unexamined as yet, and covered with a
dense forest, it is reasonable to suppose that many
more would reward an active search: the gold is
pure, that is to say, not mixed with any other metal.
Ascending the mountain of Jocote, we encountered
a large troop of long-armed monkeys, the largest
being about four feet in height. They did not ap-
pear to be the least timid, but kept close above us in
the lofty trees, springing from one to another by in-
conceivably long leaps, and as usual, making comical
gestures when we looked at them. At 10 a. m. we
reached the fortress, which commands the pass of
Jocote, about five leagues from San Jos^, where we
breakfasted : this is the only possible route by which
the city can be entered from this side of the con-
tinent, all the rest of the country being rendered
impassable by huge ravines and perpendicular rocks,
over which a deer could not force its way, and a few
men and guns would make it quite impossible for
any body of troops to force an entry. In 1842,
General Morazan only entered from the treachery of
44 CITY OF SAN J0S£
the forces sent to guard it; otherwise he could
not have thought of attempting it. An enemy not
possessed of shipping could hardly attempt to enter
by the other coast. Even after landing at Matina^
an army could scarcely manage to march through the
intervening swamps and forests; and as the Table
Land, where the population is concentrated, pro-
duces abundant food for the inhabitants, this little
state could never be subdued against the inclination
of its inhabitants. The government of Costa Kica
deserves great praise for being the only one in
Spanish America which has made passable roads
since their independence. The road from San Jos6
to Punta Arenas, though far from rivalling such
works in Europe, is quite passable for the carts of the
country, each of which conveys half a ton of coffee
from the capital to the port, a distance of twenty-
five leagues over a couotry naturally of the most
impassable nature, in four or five days. There is an
export duty of a real a quintal, applied to making
and keeping the roads in repair, and private sub-
scriptions to a considerable extent have also been
made among the planters.
Three handsome bridges have been erected over
deep ravines, and two more are in course of con-
struction over the two most rapid rivers on the road.
At 2 P.M. we entered among the coffee plantations,
and at three o'clock reached the city of San Jos6
during a smart shower of rain.
The city of San Jos^, now capital of the state of
Costa Bica, is situated in an extensive plain. The
towns of Heridia and Alhajuela are respectively two
and four leagues distant, and are easily seen from
DESCEIPTION OF SAN JOSE. 45
San Jos^. These three towns and the old capital |
of Cartaga^ which is only six leagues distant, contain
all the population of the state, with a trifling excep-
tion. San Jos4 is estimated to contain 20,000 in-
habitants, which I think may be a little under the
mark. It has only one church, and no building
worthy of notice. The streets are, as usual in
America, straight and at right angles, dividing the
city into squares of 100 Spanish yards (varas). The
houses have never more than a ground story ; a few
are of stone, but by far the greater part of mud. In
the interior arrangements and comfort, however, the
houses are only second to those of Guatemala, though
far from comparable with those of more advanced
countries. All the surrounding country, except a
common of a mile square belonging to the city, is
richly cultivated, being mostly partitioned out into
coffee plantations, of which it is the centre, the
neighbourhood producing two-thirds of the crop.
The situation is very fine, being a plain averaging
five leagues in width, and ten in length, but partly
interspersed with low hills, which are rocky and
cannot be cultivated. A pleasant stream, on which
are placed mills and machines for cleaning coffee^
passes the city.
The inhabitants of this state are nearly all white,
not having mixed with the Indians as in other parts
of Spanish America, and the few who are coloured
have no doubt come from the neighbouring states.
Their character is very different from all other parts
of Central America; they are industrious, though
riot fond of hard work ; every family has a small
coffee or sugar-cane plantation ; the lower orders ap-
46 HABITS OF THE PEOPLE.
pear very simple in their habits; all many very
young, and the promiscuous intercourse between the
sexes which exists in the other states is unknown.
Life and property are also very secure, and it is
four years since a murder took place ; a state of
things very different from the other governments,
where they occur almost daily, and are so common
as generally to excite no attention.
Still there are many customs which would sound
very strange to English ears. For instance, it is
quite common for unmarried ladies and gentlemen
in the most respectable families to sleep in the same
room, and in beds almost touching each other.
The free manner of speaking with either sex is not
less surprising to a stranger, and what would be
thought the most indecent expression in the lowest
company of England, would be a pretty compli-
ment to the most delicate young lady in Costa
Kica. An elderly lady of the first respectability,
one day told me, that she disliked the ladies of Gua-
temala, they were such hypocrites ; and on my in-
quiring in what manner, she said, ^^ A married lady in
Costa Kica who makes a slip, will confess it to her
husband, beg pardon, and promise better behaviour
in future; whereas the ladies of Guatemala take
every means to conceal it, and even deny it in the
face of positive proof; and some husbands have been
such fools as to get the aggressor assassinated, while
in Costa Kica, it is only laughed at by both parties."
On the 20th of June, we visited Alhajuela, and
Heridia, and remained at the former place two days,
at the house of the chief of the state, San Jos^ Maria
Alfaro, who has been long afflicted with gastritis.
VISIT TO ALHAJUELA AND HERIDIA, 47
After a great deal of persuasion, I was induced to
prescribe for him, and with good result, though the
case was rather beyond my hopes. I make no doubt
that he would have died under the hands of the
native doctors. There is only one really educated
professional man in the country. Sen Montealegre,
who studied at the University of Edinburgh ; but there
are several foreign quacks, one of whom, an English-
man, says he has lost his diploma, a very common
misfortune among foreign medical practitioners in
Central America. Montealegre is a very well edu-
cated and gentlemanly man, but very indolent, and
too well oiT to care about practising in a country
where he would be so badly paid. A little sugar
and coffee is grown at Alhajuela, which may contain
7000 to 8000 inhabitants. Heridia is about the same
size, and coffee is grown in the neighbourhood, which
produces about the fourth of the entire crop.
On the 23d, we visited the coffee and sugar estate
of Don Juan Jose Lara, three leagues beyond Alha-
juela, in a small valley. It seems to possess very fine
and productive lands, and were the owner possessed
of more capital, it might be made a most splendid
estate: at present, no sugar is manufactured, the
whole of the cane juice being made into crude spirits,
which are drunk in the country. Next morning we
returned to Alhajuela to breakfast, the ride being
through a most picturesque country, to which the
morning shadows and the white fleecy clouds, inter-
spersed on all sides like snow, and the blue mountain
tops peeping above them, gave the appearance of some
fairy scene. We returned to San Jos^ after break-
fast with the chief and his retinue, sadly tired with
48 CULTIVATION OF COFFEE. \
our slow movements, as the chief stopped to talk and
shake hands with nearly every peasant he met ou
the road«
The cultivation of coffee forms the present riches
of Costa Bica, and has raised it to a state of pros-
perity unknown in any other part of Central Ame-
rica. It was begun about twelve years ago ; a few
plants having been brought from New Granada, and
the first trial being successfiil, it has rapidly extended.
All the coffee is grown in the plain of San Jos^, where,
as already observed, the three principal towns are
situated — about two-thirds being produced in the en- '
virons of the capital, a fourth in those of Heridia, and
the remainder at Alhajuela and its vicinity. The land
which has been found, by experience, to be best suited
to coffee, is a black loam, and the next best a dark red
earth — soils of a brown and dull yellow colour being
quite unsuitable. The plain of San Jose is mostly
of the first class, being, like all the soils of Central
America, formed with a large admixture of volcanic
materials. Contrary to the experience of Java and
Arabia Felix, coffee is here found to thrive much
better, and produce a more healthy and equal berry,
on plain land, than upon hills or undulating slopes,
which doubtless arises from the former retaining its
moisture better, and generally containing a larger
deposit of loam.
I am inclined in a great measure to attribute the
practice of sowing coffee in sloping land in Java, to the
fact that the plains are generally occupied by the more
profitable cultivation of sugar-cane. In Arabia, the
plains are generally of a sandy nature (being lands
which have, apparently, at no very distant geological
I
THE COFFEE PLANT. 49
period formed the bed of the sea), which may account
for the plantations existing only upon the low hills
and slopes.
A coifee plantation in Costa Rica produces a crop
the third year after it is planted, and is in perfection
the fifth year. The coffee tree^ are planted in rows,
with a space of about three yards between each and
one between each plant, resembling in appearance
hedges of the laurel bay. The weeds are cut down
and the earth slightly turned with a hoe, three or
four times in the year ; and the plant is not allowed
to increase above the height of six feet for the facility
of gathering the fruit. The coffee tree here begins
to flower in the months of March and April, and
the berry ripens in the plain of San Jos6 in the
months of November and December, strongly re-
sembling a wild cherry in form and appearance,
being covered with a similar sweet pulp.
As soon as the crimson colour assumed by the ripe
fruit indicates the time for cropping, numbers of men,
women, and children are sent to gather the berry,
which is piled in large heaps to soften the pulp for
forty-eight hours, and then placed in tanks through
which a stream of water passes, where it is continually
stirred to free it from the outer pulp ; after which it
is spread out upon a platform, with which every
coffee estate is furnished, to dry in the sun ; but
there still exists an inner husk, which, when perfectly
dry, is, in the smaller estates, removed by treading
the berry under the feet of oxen ; and, in the larger,
by water mills, which bruise the berry slightly to
break the husk, and afterwards separate it by fannerp.
The entire cost of producing a quintal (101^ lbs.
i>
50 CULTIVATION AND TRADE
British) of coffee^ including the keeping of the estate
in order, cleaning and pruning the plants, and gather-
ing and preparing the berries, is, at the present rate
of wages (two rials or about a shilling per day),
calculated at two and a half dollars (equal to ten
shillings) ; but the labourers are now hardly sufficient
for working all the estates which are planted, so that
the price may probably rise a little, though the pre-
sent rate of payment enables the natives to live much
better than has been their wont.
The price of coffee in San Jos^ during the months
of February, March, and April, after which none can
generally be met with, was, in 1846, about five dol-
lars cash per quintaL The price of conveyance i^
about one dollar per quintal ; the duty (which is col-
lected for the repairs of the road) one rial more, so
that the speculator makes, at least, ten rials, or about
20 per cent*, by purchasing and sending the coffee to
the port, on his outlay and charges ; but it is often
bartered for manufactured goods, and is also pur-
chased beforehand — half being paid in imports, and
half in cash to the grower. The voyage from Punta
Arenas to Europe is at least five months, while that
from Matina, the port on the N.E. coast, which is
about equidistant from San Jose, or perhaps a league
or two nearer, would not generally exceed six weeks,
and the freight would cost SOs. or 40«. instead of 6L
a ton.
. It is, however, said that the nature of the country
between San Jos6 and Matina is so difficult, that a
passable road for carts, such as is made to Punta
Arenas, would cost an immense sum; and the con-
tinued rains that fall nearly all the year on the N.E.
co^st, render the climate so unhealthy, that it would
\
OF COFFEE IN CENTRAL AMERICA. 5\
be difficult to induce the people to embark in such an
undertaking on any terms. But the fine port of San
Juan de Nicaragua is only about twenty leagues dis-
tant, while both Matina and Punta Arenas are twenty-
five ; and could arrangements be made with the state
of Nicaragua, or should the British government take
possession of it in accordance with their claim so
often repeated on account of the Moschito Indians,
it would immediately become the only port of Costa
Rica, as the country between it and San Jose is said
to be very practicable for a good road, and it is
decidedly the finest port on the N.E. coast, tolerably
healthy, and not above forty or fifty days' voyage
from Europe by sailing vessels, and perhaps twenty
by steamers. The largest coffee estates of Costa
Rica are possessed by the family of Montealegre and
Don Juan Moira. The principal of these I have
examined; they appear to be very carefully and
judiciously managed, possess good mills for clean-
ing and husking the coffee worked by water power ;
and annually produce upwards of 500 tons. The
entire produce of the year 1846 amounted to about
3000 tons, and it is expected that the crop of 1847
will exceed 4000 tons, near which quantity it will
probably continue, till the population gradually in-
creases, the labourers, as already mentioned, being
barely sufficient for the present cultivation. As the
value at the present average price in the English
market of 50^. a cwt. will give 200,000/., the pro-
duce of the district will appear pretty considerable
for a petty American state, possessing only 80,000
inhabitants, and just emerging from a half savage
condition-
J> 2
•?
52 ASCENT AND EXAMINATION OF
On the 10th of July we visited Cartago, the old
capital of Costa Kica^ which was ruined by the earth-
quake of the 2d of September, 1841. It is still
nearly a mass of ruins, and has three churches de-
molished and only one standing ; this building, which
is sacred to the Virgin Mary, was saved, it is pre-
tended, by her special interference. Her ladyship
has, however, shown " horrid bad " taste in preserving
it, for it is the smallest and ugliest church in the
city, and its destruction would rather have been a
benefit than otherwise, as it would have led to the
construction of a new church, which could hardly
have been so unseemly.
On the 12 th, we ascended the old volcano of Car-
tago, which, though it continues to smoke a little, has
not broken out within the memory of man, but has
left terrible mementos of its earlier ravages — all the
country for many miles round being a mass of stones,
lava, and scoriae. The previous night I had slept at
a small hut belonging to cattle herdsy about one-third
of the way up the mountain, where I found it bitterly
cold, though this is the hottest season of the year,
and the people told me that snow often falls here in
the month of January.
Starting before sunrise I reached the top of the
mountain at 9 A. M. ; during the ascent I was kept
pretty warm by walking quick, but I had not been
ten minutes on the top before my teeth were chatter-
ing with cold, and the Mestizo, who was my guide,
seemed to suffer still more. The day was fortunately
remarkably clear for the season of the year, and I
succeeded in getting a glimpse of the Atlantic ocean.
In the months of December and January I was told
THE VOLCANO OF CARTAGO. 53
that both it and the Pacific are clearly seen from the
top. The view is, however, in other respects, pro-
bably more singular and picturesque at the present
season : the whole landscape below is covered with
white fleecy clouds which slowly move along the
lower ground, followed by others like flocks of
monster-shaped animals ; while the fields and trees ap-
pear of a dark blue colour through frequent breaks,
which give to them the aspect of motion, and to the
clouds an aspect of rest (in the same manner as at sea
the waters seem to move and the ship to stand still).
But while this covering is placed over the low ground
like a ragged sheet, the volcano and all the high
mountains are perfectly clear, and the sky above is
of an intense blue colour without the least speck or
cloud. Leaving the guide, who said that no reward
would tempt him to enter the crater, I proceeded
alone to examine it ; and perceiving a small rill of
smoke issuing from the side of the grand crater, I
was so eager to examine it that I descended without
thinking of the difficulty of the re-ascent, and after
satisfying my curiosity, I found this to be impossible
from the slippery nature of the ground, composed as
it is of ashes and cinders. After two or three at-
tempts and several violent falls, I found that there
was no resource left but to descend to the bottom of
the crater, and seek my way out by another path.
After descending some distance as best I could, I
came to a perpendicular ledge of rocks at least twenty
feet high, but, on examination, I perceived that if I
could manage to get down the face of it and creep
round the end of a large projecting rock, I should
be able to reach a small break in the side by which
D 3
54 DANGER ENCOUNTERED.
I might get to the bottom ; so tying my riding-belt,
neckcloth^ and pocket handkerchief together, which
I afterwards found to measure between twelve and
thirteen feet, I fastened them, as best I could, to a
point of rock, and lowered myself to within about a
yard of the projecting ledge. While, however, I was
looking how I might properly alight on it, the belt
became detached from the rock, and I was precipitated
forward. By a great effort I managed on touching
the ledge to keep myself from falling down the pre-
cipice (which would certainly have been a singular
death), and descending the crater walked to a hole in
the centre, some hundred yards in diameter. I looked
into it, but <x,uld see no bottom to the yawning
abyss ; and I then rolled in some stones, which fell from
rock to rock till the noise was lost in the distance. I
longed much for a rope to lower myself a short way
down, but this was out of the question. The sides
of the crater were formed of a dark blue granite, in
many parts completely melted, and in others only
cracked with heat ; but there was no sulphur, nor any
appearance of lime, clay, magnesia, or any of the
metallic bases which are supposed to form volcanoes
by their combustion when brought in contact with
water. Having found a more easy path to ascend, I
returned to my guide, five hours'having been spent
in the crater and in the descent and ascent. He
appeared much surprised and rejoiced to see me —
having, as he confessed, given up all hope of my re-
turn. He was very curious to know what I saw at the
bottom ; and I told him that I had talked with the
Devil for two hours, who told me many curious
stories which I must not repeat. He fully believed
ATTACKED WITH BOILS. 56
me^ and I heard him on the way home telling the
atory to several people, who shook their head and ap-
peared fully to believe it also. One said, ^^ Yes, it may
well have happened if he is English." Descending the
mountain I was seized with a sudden faintness, arising,
I suppose, from the sudden change fix)m a cold to a
hot temperature^ combined with the effect of violent
exertion. Finding that I was ready to fall from my
horse, which I had remounted at tiie hut of the cattle-
herd^ I^ got down, and was for about an hour de-
prived of all power of motion, though not of sense
and speech ; but I recovered from this singular at-
tack, and proceeded onwards, reaching Cartago about
eunset.
On the 14th I returned to San Jos6, and on the
2Qth to Punta Arenas, where I had to wut a
month before I could encounter a vessel to take me
northwards. I was here attacked with a complaint
peculiar to this country, viz. boils in the flesh, which
commence with a large red swelling, and produce a
degree of pain hardly to be conceived by those who
have not felt it. Each boil lasts about eight days,
during which time the patient is in a continual fev^,
and unable to sleep or do any thing. Several people
had died here of dysent^y, and I was successful in
curing a number who were suffering severely from it,
and among the rest the Aministrador of the customs.
My principal receipt was an ounce of prepared chalk
well mixed with the whites of half a dozen eggs.
On the 21st of August, I embarked on board the
schooner Constellation, and reached Bealejo in seven
days, which was considered a fine passage at this
season of the year. The port had just been blockaded
V 4
56 NATIVE SOLDIERS.
bj the British corvette. Daphne, for claims made
against the government of the state on the part
of three British subjects — Messrs. Bridge, Manning,
and Glenton. The miserable government, not having
a farthing to pay them, agreed to give up the
tobacco monopoly for four years to settle the claims
of the two last, and to pay Mr. Bridge from the first
receipt of the custom house at Bealejo : thus, the
government was only left with the monopoly of spuits
and the customs' revenue collected at Saint John,
though the whole of the revenue is never sufficient to
meet the current expenses ; and they were at that
moment engaged in a war with the state of Hon^
duras. Next morning I proceeded to Chinendegai
where I stayed at Mr. Bridge's house.
The government of Nicaragua had for some time
been urged by that of Saint Salvador to assist them
against Guatemala, and had pretended to comply about
twenty days previously, sending forward 1000 men ;
but instead of assisting San Salvador, they were con-
ducted against Honduras, in which state, the Grand
Marshal Fonsecus, who is supreme in Nicaragua,
hoped to effect a revolution. But it turned out very
differently, for the invaders being attacked by a much
inferior force of Honduras troops, fled in the most
disgraceful manner, the soldiers throwing away their
arms, and the officers their new uniforms, which they
had made up in bundles to put on and exhibit in the
capital of Honduras. The town of Chinendega was
full of the runaways, the dirtiest mob of ragged
rascals I ever beheld ; none had an entire shirt, and
as for trousers, some had only one leg, the other
being torn away. As usual in Central Americaii
HOW TO TIRE OUT THE ENGLISH. 57
wars, all the men ran away to the forest, leaving
the women to take care of the houses, judging, it
would appear, that as they could not be taken for
soldiers they would only be improved by a little com-
munication with the troops. There was not one
labouring man in Chinendega.
We returned to Eealejo early on the morning of the
30th, and immediately re-embarked with the master of
the schooner, but as the wind was dead ahead, we did
not sail. On the following morning, we made an ex-
cursion to a lemon grove in one of the creeks of the
harbour. The lemon trees were no doubt planted in
the time of the Spanish government, but were now in
a completely wild state, mixed with the indigenous
forest trees. Near the grove was a large plot of land
covered with a long rank grass but free from trees,
although all the surrounding country was most densely
wooded. It is called by the natives tierra encantada
(the enchanted land), and it is difficult to find a reason
for its not being wooded, as all the lands cleared in
this state, when left a few years without cultivation,
return to their original condition of dense forest. The
wind becoming fair a little before sunset, we got up
the anchors and proceeded out of the harbour. At
the entrance we met H. B. M.'s corvette. Daphne,
the lieutenant of which came on board : the captain
had, it appears, raised the blockade of the port of
the Union after remaining only a week, and having
not even received any answer to the letters he sent to
the government of San Salvador, making a claim of
about 100,000 dollars for seizures made of British
property. It was a foolish business, and the natives
were very triumphant — remarking, that it is easy
D 5
58 FINE VIEW FBOM MOUNT CONCHAGUA.
to tire out the English bj a little fimmess. Un-
fortunately, it is the custom of the captains of
H. B. M.'s vessels always to find some excuse for not
visiting ports where they are not likely to get a good
freight c^ specie ; and though the claim gainst the
state of San Salvador has been adjusted for more
than six years up to this period, December, 1846,
no means have beeit. taken to enforce it, nor has any
vessel of war appeared since the visit of the Daphne,
in August, 1844.
We anchored at the entrance of the Union harbour
on the night of the 1st of September, and on the 2d,
at 4 A. M. in front of the village of the Union. After
breakfast we went on shore without waiting for the
visit, and so far from finding fault, the captain of the
port thanked us for delivering the despatches from
the Nicaragua government ; we also found that they
had no boat to come on board with, so that we saved
them the dignity of squatting down in a canoe. On
the 15 th of September, we ascended the extinct vol-
cano of Conchagua, which though not a high moun-
tain, has, from its position, the most magnificent view
I have ever seen from any hill in Central America,
or any other part of the world. The panorama ex-
tends for more than fifty leagues around, embracing
the bay of Conchagua and the islands around it, the
ports of the Union, San Lorenzo and Kealejo, and
the cities of San Miguel, Camayagua and Leon, and
a large part of the states of San Salvador, Honduras,
and Nicaragua. I counted eighteen volcanoes, and
there were so many hills, mountains, and streams, that
I could not attempt to number them. On the top is a
singular place covered with green grass, and a number
A GBEAT BETOLUTION. 59
of pine trees^ showing a climate averaging more than
ten degrees below the plain at the foot. How the
fir trees got there is a mystery, as there are none
nearer than about thirty leagues off on the mountains
of Honduras. The plain pleased me so much, that if
I have ever again to reside any time at the Union,
I shall get a hut made on the top of this moun-
tain, where a temperate climate may always be
enjoyed, resembling the table lands of Guatemala and
Costa Bica. This mountain is plainly of volcanic
origin, as the whole surrounding country is covered
with cinders, which have been ejected from it ; but
it must be of a great age, as no crater is now visible.
Probably its eruptions ceased before the commence-
ment of the volcano of San Miguel, which may
be about twelve leagues distant in a direct line, as
it appears that two active vents cannot exist so near
each other.
On the 8th of October I was surprised at seeing
a great stir in the village of the Union; the men
began to escape as quickly as possible, and the
women to run about like troubled spirits. I asked
several what was the matter, but they only shook
their heads and replied (quia sabe) " who knows ; " at
last one said, (hay una revoluoion fuerte) " there is a
great revolution : " some advised me to escape to the
woods with the rest, but having no cause to fear one
faction more than another, I positively declined to
do so. About 3 o'clock p. M. our speculations were
brought to a close by the arrival of Greneral Caba-
nas with about 200 troops. The government soldiers
having made their escape, leaving their arms behind,
he quietly took possession of the place, and having
D 6
60 GENERAL CABAKASr
come to the public house kept by Dona Lorenza
Zapata^ where I was residing, he immediately asked
me to what nation I belonged, and remarked that I
was happy in not having occasion to fear any party,
or the effects of any revolution.
On their arrival, Cabanas and his officers gave out
that there was a revolution in the capital of San
Salvador, and that the government of Malespein was
overturned, but this turned out not to be the case ;
in fact, they were flying from that government, which
they were informed intended to put them to death.
Having chartered the British brig Diana to take
them to Realejo, they left on the 11th, having
conducted themselves with the greatest moderation,
and taken nothing without pajdng for it. Cabanas
is a smart little man, of a mild address, and has
about the best character of any who have mixed in
the revolutions of Central America : though often
holding high commands, he has always remained poor,
and is one of the very few whose hands have never
been stained by plunder. He was accompanied by a
son of the late General Marazan, a very gentlemanly
and good-looking young man, and apparently well
educated for the country ; also by Colonel Banas,
the late governor of San Miguel, a good officer, but
far from possessing the mild and moderate disposition
of General Cabanas. Shortly after the Diana had
left the harbour, about 100 government troops ar-
rived, pretending to be in pursuit ; but as it appeared
that they halted about two leagues' distance, till they
heard that Cabanas was off, it was pretty plain they
were of opinion that discretion was the better part
of valour.
VOLCANO OF SAN MIGUEL. 61
I had for some time been waiting for the Con-
stellation to proceed on to Iztapa, the port of Gua-
temala^ but this hope being at an end, I determined
to proceed by land> and having after a great deal of
difficulty hired a mule and purchased a horse, on the
5th of October, I set off for San Miguel on my way
to Guatemala; but remembering, after I had gone
about eight leagues on the journey, that I had for-
gotten some letters, I returned to the Union, where
I arrived at 9 P. M., most thoroughly drenched by the
rain, which had poured in torrents for three hours.
At 4 next morning I again started on my journey,
breakfasted at San Antonia, and arrived at San Mi-
guel about noon. At the request of Messrs. Medina
and Gerel, I remained a day at San Miguel, to
enable the latter to write to the British Consul re-
garding the forced contributions required from him
by the Government, property to the amount of
10,000 dollars having been seized upon his refusal
to pay the contribution ; and as this was a part of
some goods purchased by him from some English mer-
chants in Valparaiso, he was anxious to make it ap-
pear as British property,- and as such, to prefer a
claim through H. B. M.'s Consul General. I how-
ever told him I thought the plan would not succeed,
as the Consul must require positive proof of the
ownership before making his claim. Having got
my passport visSd, I again started at 8 A. m. on
the 9th, in company with Don Juakin Saynes; at
noon we reached an indigo estate called El Puerto,
where we rested two hours, and again started,
travelling through a deep forest totally deserted,
without one single habitation. We were several
62 THE Biy£B LEMPA.
times nearly losing our road, and had to go three
leagues round to avoid the lava thrown out two
months before by the volcano of San Miguel, which
was still glowing and smoking in all parts. At the
edge it formed a wall of about twenty feet high,
composed of rugged scorise, but so hot that it could
not be approached. It appears to cover from two to
three leagues square, and is probably several hundred
feet deep in some parts. The lava is entirely hid by
large rugged masses of cinders, which in some places
form ridges like low hills, and in others sharp spires
of twenty or thirty feet high; it is also thickly
covered with burnt trees and detached stones, much
like those now lying on the surrounding ground,
which would appear to have floated on the liquid
lava, as an iron weight floats in a vessel full of
quicksilver. The part of the lava next the volcano
is at least five leagues distant from its foot, and more
than double that distance from the crater whence
it was ejected, so that the force with which it was
thrown must have been terrific. Luckily, the part
of the country where the lava was thrown was
quite uninhabited, so that the only injury it did was
in killing the cattle and wild animals which roam in
•that part of the native forest, and in blocking up
the mule track.
Night overtook us in this dreary forest, but about
7 P. M. we met some people, who informed us of
the vicinity of the town of Usulatang, which we
reached shortly afterwards. Don Juakin was far
too ceremonious to seek for lodgings in this country,
but at last he found them in the house of a widow
of decayed family. At daylight we started again.
TOBACCO DISTRICT. 63
traveUing all day through the same interminable
forest5 and meeting only two desolate huts till 3 F. M.^
when we reached the river Lempa^ the largest river
in the State, and^ next to Saint John, the largest in
Central America. It is capable of floating a line of
battle ship for many miles, but possesses a bad bar
at the mouth. We slept at a small rancho belonging
to a cattle estate of Don Jorje Ponce, who was there
with several ladies of his family.
At daylight we started again, travelling still
through a nearly uninhabited country, though in
some few places cleared and cultivated^ and much
more varied than the two last days' journey. At 2 p. M.
we reached the town of San Vicente, where Don
Jiiakin left me, remaining at the house of Don Jorje
Ponce. There was a young man, a native of Belize,
in Mr.' Ponce's employment, of the name of Evans,
who, to my no small amusement, asked me in
Spanish, From what part of Spain do you come ? I
replied to him in the same language, that I was a
native of Great Britain, and inquired what part of
Central America he was born in, which appeared
to put him sadly out, and made Don Juakin laugh
heartily at his expense. After about half an hour's
delay, I continued my journey alone, dining at the
town of Atapetitan, the district where all the tobacco
used in the State is grown, the lands being very fine
and well suited for the article. It is a strict go-
vernment monopoly, all the growers being required
to deliver it, at one rial a pound, to the govern-
ment, which resells it at two rials. Till sold, it is
lodged here in a warehouse built for the purpose;
but the government have for the last two years
/
t
\
64 COJUTEPEQUE.
neglected to pay the growers, and no one will this
year deliver their tobacco to the receiving officers, so
that the monopoly will become a dead letter. At the
present moment (December, 1846) the government
are about establishing the monopoly on a more just
as well as effective footing. The tobacco is said to
be of very fine quality, and equal to that of Ha-
vannah for naaking cigars ; but, as I do not smoke, I
cannot pretend to give an opinion in the matter.
Proceeding on our journey we were benighted, and
obliged to stop at a small Indian village on the top
of a hill called Jiboa, a league and a half beyond
Atapetitan, where I was very well received by the
Alcalde, who conducted me to an uninhabited hut,
and procured grass for my two beasts. At daylight I
again started, in spite of a drizzling rain, which soon
became heavy, making the road so slippery that my
horse fell at every step, so that I was obliged to stop
at Cojutepeque, which we reached at 8 a. m. Here
I was forced to remain all day, as the rain continued
to fall in torrents, but I was most hospitably enter-
tained in the house of an Indian, the women running
about to get me every thing for which I expressed a
wish.
Cojutepeque is a large town, with 15,000 in-
habitants, mostly Indians, who are among the most
quiet and industrious in the State. It possesses
three churches in no way remarkable. All the
houses are made of mud, and placed according to
the general custom in Central America. We started
again at daylight, and breakfasted at a small village
called San Martin, five leagues from Cojutepeque,
and six from the city of San Salvador, where we
(
li
SAN SALVADOR. 65
arrived at 4 P. m. By good luck there was an inn or
public house here, called Fonda de Montoya, kept by
a woman of that name. This is a rare convenience even
in the principal cities of Central America, and the
innkeeper, a dark mulatto woman, told me that she
could not make a living by the inn alone, so that she
was obliged also to keep a shop to sell spirits, wines,
and sweet cordials. Here, for the first time since
leaving San Miguel, I was furnished with a separate
sleeping room and a bedstead. A bed would be
too great a luxury to expect in any part of Central
America.
The city of San Salvador, capital of the state of
the same name, and also of the federal Republic of
Central America previous to its dissolution, is, like
most of the towns in America, regularly laid out,
but has a mean appearance, none of the houses
having more than a ground floor. It is much inferior
in appearance and extent either to Guatemala or
Leon. None of the buildings, not even the churches,
are worthy of notice. The little trade which it
transacts is all concentrated in some fifty shops
round the principal square, which, as in all Spanish
American towns, is the place where every thing is
brought for sale. The situation, however, is most
splendid, the city being built in a rich valley sur-
rounded with an amphitheatre of low hills, and
watered by a fine river; and though from No-
vember to May more than a very slight shower
never falls in Central America (and even that but
rarely), the dews are so heavy in the neighbour-
hood of San Salvador that the grass, so far from
being burnt up in the dry season, as in most other
66 PROCEED TO SONSOKATE.
parts^ is equally verdant all the year round. The
climate in all respects is most delightful, — never
chilly ; and though sufficient for the production
of all tropical plants, never oppressively hot, the
temperature only varying a few degrees in the
year. In the evening I had a long talk with the
brother of President Malespein ; he seemed rather a
well-informed man for the country, and spoke in very
complimentary terms of the English. He is a dark*
coloured and certainly a very ill-looking Mestizo,
though rather better looking than his brother.
Finding a difficulty in hiring mules direct for
Guatemala, I proceeded on to Sonsonate, starting on
the morning of the 15th, and arriving late on the
same day. The distance is twenty leagues, two of
which are nothing but the bed of a wild mountain
torrent.
Stopping at a cattle estate called the asienda of
Guaramal, I was, for the first time in Central
America, refused entertainment by the surly steward
of the estate. I took care to tell him my opinion,
and proceeding onwards, breakfasted at a hut on
the road side. In case the meaning of Central
American hospitality may be mistaken, I may
explain that it merely means leave to lie down
in the corridor of the house like a dog, and to pur-
chase what may be had in the house to eat. At 4
F. M. I passed a village called the Port of Guamaka,
and a little after sunset, the town called, as usual.
City of Isolco, which is a collection of mud huts,
with 2000 or 3000 inhabitants. At 9 P. M. we
reached Sonsonate, and after seeking all about for
some place to sleep in, we were at last admitted
ITS SITUATION, PEODUCTIONS, ETC. 67
into the house of Don Eugenio Oyarsan, a Peruvian,
and administrator of the custom-house. Throughout
Central America it is quite easy, in some towns, to
obtain lod^ngs, the people seeming glad to gain a few
rials by letting them ; while in others, as San Miguel,
Sonsonate, and Guatemala, the poorest people, who
have not perhaps a dollar in the world, will not admit
any person into their house, whatever they may offer
to pay, without a special recommendation. The city
of Sonsonate (which word in the Indian dialect means
seven rivers) is a pretty little village buried amidst
groves of cocoa-nut and other fruit-trees. It shows
many symptoms of decay, and five out of twelve
churches ve nearly in ruins. It has a fine river, with
a bridge llitely erected by private subscription ; the
neighbouring country is, perhaps, the richest in all
Central America, and capable of producing all the
most valuable articles cultivated in tropical countries;
but the produce is yearly decreasing under the present
disorganised and insecure government, and the few
sugar and indigo estates which still exist are fast
falling into decay.
Here is produced the celebrated gum improperly
called ** balsam of Peru," from its having been sent
to Lima by the Spaniards previous to its exportation
to Europe; also vanilla, cocoa, coffee, rice, sugar,
indigo, saffron, tobacco, and Indian-rubber. The
city is one of the cleanest in Central America, but
has a very desolate appearance. It may still contain
from 6000 to 6000 inhabitants.
I was most kindly received by Don Victor Le-
nouvel, a Erench merchant, who possesses nearly all
the little foreign trade of Sonsonate, and who is
68 BUENING VOLCANO OF ISOLCO. i
universally noted in all parts of Central America for
his faospitalitj and liberality ; and by Dr. Drivon, a
native of the West India island of St. Lucia^ and
consequently a British subject, though bom of
French parents. He possesses the best sugar estate
in Central America, which he took me to see. It
was in most respects equal to the best estates in Java
and the East Indies ; it would be capable of annually
producing a thousand tons of sugar, but the Doctor
unfortunately had not capital to carry it on, and it has
been so much injured by the continued revolutions
and disturbances of the state, that it will not fetch
the amount for which it is mortgaged.
Having, by Dr. Drivon's kind assistance, procured
a couple of good mules, and found a person to take
care of the horse and mule I brought from the Union,
I again started on my journey at 7 A. M., on the 17th,
with a new servant, the one I brought with me having
started off the moment we arrived, without giving me
any notice (as is not unfrequently done by servants
in all parts of Spanish America) to the port of Aca-
joutla, of which he was a native.
Ascending a steep mountain, we passed the villages
of Nahuisalco, Salcuatitan, and Apaneca, respectively
three, four, and six leagues distant. At the last-
named village, which lies at the top of the mountain
ridge and very cold, we breakfasted, having on the
road had a fine view of the volcano of Isolco, which
is always in a state of eruption.
This volcano rose from a plain seventy-seven years
ago, and has ever since continued increasing in size.
It is always burning, but does no harm to the neigh-
bouring country. Previous to the year 1769 there
REOULAEITY OF ITS EXPLOSIONS. 69
existed a fine cattle estate upon the present site of
the volcano; about the end of 1768 the people re-
sident upon it were alarmed by frequent earth*
quakes and noises under ground, which became more
.violent till the 23d of February, when the earth sud-
denly opened about half a mile from the house, on
the asienda (estate), and vomited flames and smoke.
The inhabitants fled in terror, abandoning all they
possessed; but the cattle-herds, who of necessity
visited the vicinity, reported that the flames and smoke
increased daily, and they shortly devoured the build-
ings of the estate, the site of which is now occupied
by a part of the crater.
This volcano, and JoroUo in Mexico, are the only
ones which have originated since the discovery of
America. Unlike all the other volcanoes, it may be said
to be in a continued state of eruption, not only eject-
ing flames and smoke like the mountains of Pacaya
and Old Guatemala, but large quantities of stones,
cinders, and ashes. Its explosions are regular, oc-
curring exactly every sixteen minutes three seconds.
When close to the mountain, as in the ascent to
Salcuatitan, I heard loud reports like the discharge
of a park of artillery, and immediately after a dense
cloud of smoke rose from the mountain in gradual
ascent, and passed off* with the wind, and stones were
seen to fall and roll down the sides. Viewing it at
night (as I have frequently done) from Sonsonate,
the explosion is followed by a red glare from the
volcano like that from a smith's furnace, and the
stones may be seen to rise a great height red hot ;
the greater number falling back into the crater, but
a part of them rolling down the sides of the mountain.
70 TOWN OP AHUAOHAPAN.
Between the explosions, the mountain appears per-
fectly quiet and emits no smoke or flames ; the period
between the explosions is said to be exactly regular,
but at some periods they are much more violent than
at others ; at present they are but slightly heard in
Sonsonate, which is three leagues distant from the
volcano, and are sometimes said to be inaudible, while
at others they are regularly heard like the discharge
of a large gun a short distance off. The volcano has
now attained the height of at least 700 or 800 feet
from the base to the top, and its height is con-
stantly increasing; but even should its eruptions
continue as at present without intermission, which
seems improbable from the analogy of other volcanoes,
many ages will be required before it can reach the
height of the volcano of San Miguel, or those of
Old Guatemala. It has never ejected any lava, but
when the wind blows from it towards Sonsonate, it
is said to disperse a very fine powder, which is in-
haled in the lungs, to the serious injury of many
people. In removing the tiles from the roofs of
• houses, a deposit of the powder has been discovered
underneath some inches in thickness. As this moun-
tain is so interesting a phenomenon, I may mention
that my information regarding its origin was derived
from Don Manuel Zapata, a native of Sonsonate, and
a man of the best character and fully entitled to
credit: he was ten years old when the mountain
commenced its formation.
At 2 p. M. we passed the town of Ahuachapan,
which is finely situated at the top of a most beautiful
undulating plain nearly four leagues square. It is
clear of trees, and covered (it is said) all the year round
L
r
MARKED FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY. 71
•
with green grass5 which at present is very rich and
luxuriant : this, however, was to be expected, as it
was just the end of the rainy season. The town may
contain 2000 or 3000 inhabitants, and has a few
decent houses close to the principal square, the re-
mainder being merely mud huts ; the situation is very
good, and the climate warm but temperate ; the
plain, which is one of the richest in Central America,
could easily support a population of 50,000 inha-
bitants without the necessity of importing food for
their consumption.
At sunset we passed the deep ravine through which
flows the Rio Paz (river of peace), which divides the
State of San Salvador from that of Guatemala, and
at 8 P. M. we reached the asienda of Cocos (cocoa-
nuts), where we slept. This is merely the residence of
the manager of a cattle estate ; it has no water within
a league, and is destitute of any cultivation. We
started again a little before sunrise, and breakfasted
at the town (villa) of Zalpatagua, a distance of four
leagues from the Cocoa nuts. The change of scene
on entering the state of Guatemala is very remark-
able: indeed, it is a singular circumstance that nature,
not man, appears to have separated the different states
of Central America, each of which is entirely of a
different geological and physical character from the
rest ; and the change from the green undulating hills
of San Salvador, to the wild precipitous moimtains
and rocks of Guatemala, is most striking. Zal-
patagua would in most parts of the world be called
a miserable little village, and the people seem to par-
take of the rugged and sullen nature of their country.
Seeking for a hut to prepare our breakfast, we were
i
mm
72 PASS A VILI^AGE OF MULE-DEI VERS.
not received with the kind and mild answer," como no"
(certainly), on asking if we might rest a little at on^
of the huts, but, ^^no hay onde" (there is no room),
uttered in a surly and forbidding tone, and we had
to repeat the request at several huts before we could
obtain permission. Continuing our journey, and pass*
ing over five leagues of a most desolate country
covered with cinders, stones, and broken masses of
rock, at noon we reached the Cuesta de Leon (hill
of the lion), a most steep and rugged ascent through
the midst of a vast native forest, celebrated as the
haunt of robbers, and again descending a precipitous
rugged hill, at 2 p. m. we rested at a village situated
in a deep ravine surrounded by huge perpendicular
rocks, called the Oratoria or CoUeja de Sylva. All
the inhabitants are mule drivers, andean when required
turn out 500 mules among them ; they carry nearly
all the merchandise which passes between the States
of Guatemala, and San Salvador and when most of
the goods for Guatemala were landed at Acajantla,
the port of Sonsonate, they were continually em-
ployed, Now their business is not so good, though
they have a good deal to do in conveying sugar from
Santa Ana and Ahuachapan, for the supply of Gua-
temala, and bring back the manufactures of that
state. At 4 p. m. we proceeded again on our journey
through a dense forest quite unbroken by the hand
of man, but varied by a number of streams of water
breaking through its solitude, and at sunset passing
over (I believe) the only bridge erected by the
Spaniards in this country, we reached the village
(Puello) of the Esclavos, and stopped at a hut that
served for the Cabildo, a public building existing in
TOWN OF CUAJINEQUILAPA. 73
all Spanish towns for the accommodation of travel-
lers^ the administration of justice^ meeting of the
municipality, &c.
This is a miserable dirty little village, though
beautifully situated in a rich valley, watered by a fine
river. Before sunrise we started again, and at 7 a.m.
reached the town (villa) of Cuajinequilapa, which next
to Ahnachapau is the lai^est town on the road from
Sonsonate to Guatemala, and may perhaps contain
from 2000 to 3000 inhabitants. The only decent
house in the town belongs to a man appointed by
government to examine the masses of merchandize
passing this road, and remit a statement of it to the
custom-house at Guatemala, in order to prevent its
clandestine introduction ; all the rest of the resi-
dences are merely mud huts. Passing the Corral
de Arana, a league further on our journey, we
reached a small population (rancheria) called the
Corral de Piedra where we breakfasted. Here is a
handsome residence belonging to the proprietor of
the land, on which the population is situated;
shortly afterwards we passed over a magnificent
plain, containing a beautiful lake, and forming part
of an immense estate belonging to Don Jorge Ponce,
one of the largest landed proprietors in Central
America. This is called the plain of Mai Pays, from
the supposed bad disposition of the people who inhabit
the surrounding country ; it is clean and covered with
verdant herbage, but at one end there is a thick wood
called " Borsque de Ladrones" (the robbers' forest).
At 1 P. M. we reached the village of Serro Rodondo,
or Los Arcos, (the Arches); which latter name is
derived from a long series of arches built to keep
74 ACCOMMODATIONS AT GUATEMALA.
the level in conyejiDg water to a neighbouringe state.
Stopping a short time at a collection of hute called
Los YerdeB (the green pastures), a little beyond
Los ArcoB, and again resuming onr journey and
passing tvo collections of huts named Tnjanes, and
the Haeieuda of Craeola, we reached the town (villa)
of Guadaloupe at 5 P. m. ; from the hill, which we
descended previous to entering the town, there is a
fine view of the city of Guatemala, the numerous
churches of which, Ecen amidst groves of trees, have
a very magnificent appearance,
Passing through the town of Guadaloupe, we pro-
ceeded amidst a heavy shower of ran over an open
undulating plain totally uncultivated, but covered
with fine grass, on which large herds of cattle were
browing ; and entered Guatemala by the gate called
Guarda Provincial, a little before snnset. After seek-
ing about for lodgings an entire hour without suc-
cess, I was forced, on the night setting in, to take up
my quarters at one of the miserable public houses
called mesones, and serving as the residences of mule
drivers and native petty dealers. My dormitory
was a small dirty room without a window ; and its
furniture comprised an old deal table, a broken chair,
and a raw ox skin, stretched on a frame to serve as
a place for sleeping, here called a bed, though
possessing none of the requisites usually considered
as belonging to that luxurious piece of furniture in
d as stone.
75
CHAP. m.
BSSCBIPTION OF GUATEMALA. — GENERAL CABSEKA. — JOURNEY
TO OLD GUATEMALA AND DESCRIPTION OF THE CITT AND
ITS VICINITT. — DEPARTURE FROM GUATEMALA. — DANGEROUS
MISTAKE. JOURNEY TO THE UNION. WAR BETWEEN SAN
SALVADOB AND NICARAGUA. DEPARTURE FROM THE UNION.
ARRIYAL AT REALEJO. WARLIKE OPERATIONS. ACA-
JANTLA. TAKEN FOR SPIES. ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
FROM 80NSONATE. — A NIGHT IN THE WOODS. ARRIVAL AT
GUATEMALA. INSURRECTION OF 2nD FEB. 1845.
In spite of being pretty tired, as might be expected
after a journey of 130 odd leagues over Central
American roads with a rough trotting mule, the na-
ture of my couch combined with the attacks of
innumerable fleas, and all sorts of biting insects,
proved as effectual an antidote of sleep as ever did
the magic rod of Mercury.
At daylight I got up in a complete fever, and
found the old man who passed for my servant,
(though really he had served me in nothing but to
show me the road,) sleeping like a hog on the pave-
ment outside my door, wrapped up in my poncho,
which is a long figured blanket, with a hole in the
middle to put the head through, and an indispens-
able article with all the natives of Central America.
With some difficulty I roused him up, and after a
great deal of explanation, got, in about two hours
time, a cup of what was called coffee, though it had
no resemblance to that pleasant drink as prepared in
E 2
76 CITY OF GUATEMALA.
other parts of the world, a plate of a description
of black kidney beans, called frijoles, and scraps of
meat fried in rancid hogs' lard; the two latter I sent
away, and after wasting another hour in explana-
tions succeeded at last in obtaining two boiled eggs
and a roll of bread. The woman who brought
them was in agony at not having been allowed to
daub them over with hogs' lard, and could not help
exclaiming, ^* que jeute san los Ingleses ! " (what ex-
traordinary people these English are I) I may men-
tion that the word ^^ Ingles^ (Englishman) is ap-
plied to all strangers except Spaniards, in Central
America.
This being Sunday, the day was ushered in with
a strange jingling of bells, letting off crackers, and
a great noise and bustle in the streets.
Having washed and dressed as well as I could, I
proceeded to see Mr. George Skinner, of the firm of
Klee, Skinner and Co., for whom I had a letter of
introduction. I was very well received, and he most
kindly set out with me to look for lodgings for the
few days I was to remain in Guatemala ; but as none
could be got till the middle of the week, he very
obligingly offered to make me a bed in the sitting
room of his house, which I could not but accept,
as it was too much to think of passing another night
in the meson. Mr. Skinner afterwards introduced
me to the French consul, (to whom I had brought
a letter on business,) and a number of the prinicipal
families.
The present city of Guatemala, sometimes called
New Guatemala, can boast of no antiquity ; having
been only commenced in the year 1776, (three years
. SURROUNDING COUNTRY. 77
after the earthquake of 1773, which partially de-
stroyed Old Guatemala, the former capital) in the
valley of Hermita, where previously there only existed
a small Indian village. Its situation is very fine, be-
ing at the end of a plain about twenty miles long
and six broad, and surrounded on the greater por-
tion of three sides by a deep ravine, which by a lit-
tle skill might be rendered nearly impassable to an
enemy.
Its situation, however, commands but few advan-
tages beyond a fine appearance, and natural strength.
The country in the neighbourhood, though not ste-
rile, is remarkably deficient in water, which must
be brought from five leagues distance, at a great ex-
pense, by a long artificial watercourse, the level
being maintained by an immense number of arches,
varying in height where the ground is depressed;
but, as there is not a sufficient supply of water for
irrigation, the country round is burnt up during the
dry season, and is nearly all uncultivated, vegetables
and fruits being carried by the Indians from the
neighbourhood of Old Guatemala, which is ten
leagues distant, and "even fodder for the horses from
Mizco, a distance of three leagues. It is also most
disadvantageously situated for commerce, being
seventy leagues distant from the nearest port on the
Atlantic Ocean, called Isabel, which also can only be
entered by small vessels ; and twenty-three leagues
from Iztapa, the nearest port of the Pacific, which is,
besides, nothing more than an open roadstead, having
a tremendous surf continually breaking upon the
beach ; and as no boats are kept for hire, vessels pro-
ceeding there without proper surf-boats for landing
E 3
78 DESCBIPTION OF THE CITY,
their cai^oes, are almost certain to lose some boat
loads.
A short time ago a Spanish vessel there lost her
longboat full of goods, and four men who were on
board ; and even with a proper surf-boat and every
possible care, part of the cargo is generally damaged
on landing.
The number of fine churches, and the trees and
gardens interspersed among the houses, give Gua-
temala a very handsome appearance when viewed
from a short distance ; but on entering the city the
illusion is dispelled, for, although the streets are
wide, straight, and very clean, the houses have a
mean and dismal appearance, none having more than
a ground story, and the windows being small, with
iron gratings.
This city, like nearly all in Spanish America, is
regularly divided into blocks of 100 Spanish yards
square, called cuadros ; nearly all the streets having
exactly that distance between them, and all being
exactly parallel or cutting each other at right angles.
Each house in the block generally forms another
square, having rooms on two or three sides, and on
the remaining, stables, offices, and a fountain of
water. Some of the houses occupy a segment con-
taining a quarter of the whole block. They are
uniformly built of stone, the comers, doors, windows,
&c., being hewn, and the remainder of the walls
plastered and whitewashed, and the roof covered
with tiles similar to those used in some very old
English houses ; the inside of the square has a wide
corridor under the same roof with the rooms, which
are uniformly floored with square flags made of burnt
AND ITS VICINITY. 79
red clay, which In a short time become broken and very
uneven, the hollows forming a harbour for myriads
of fleas, which almost devour a stranger, or at least
give him no rest day or night, till he has become
habituated to the nuisance. None of the rooms are
even carpeted, and in most houses the furniture is
very scanty and ordinary, a few of the rich traders
and the French consul, being the only persons who
have their rooms furnished similarly to those in re-
spectable European houses. The plaza (market-
place) is a square, equal in size to four of the blocks
which compose the city, having on one of the four
sides, the cathedral, clerical university, and arch-
bishop's palace; on the opposite, the government
house and some of the law courts; another of the
two sides being occupied by the guardhouse, bar-
racks, and some shops, and the remaining side by a
corridor full of shops, where more business is done
than in any other part of the city.
In the centre is a fountain, with the figure of a
whale ejecting a stream of water from its mouth.
The market-place would have a handsome appearance
were it not spoiled by a number of wooden sheds in
the centre, which are occupied by different petty
dealers, who pay a rent to the corporation.
The government and guardhouses are large build-
ings, consisting of only a ground story, and present
nothing remarkable ; but the cathedral is one of the
most chaste, and for its size, one of the finest build-
ings in the world. It was built under the superin-
tendence of an Italian architect, but unfortunately the
outside has never been finished, two side turrets being
yet deficient, which gives it an incomplete appear-
E 4
80 GHUBCHJBS OF GUATEMALA.
ance. The front is of the Ionian order^ built of
hewn sandstone, not unlike that of Portland, the
pillars being fluted and the cornices richly orna-
mented. The entrance consists of three magnificent
aisles, which traverse the entire length of the build-
ing, 120 yards, with Gothic arches of white sand-
stone, beautifully carved. Unlike most Roman
Catholic churches, it is unincumbered with gaudy
ornaments, the figures and pictures of saints being
all put against the walls of the two outer aisles, the
whole body of the church, which is paved with
marble slabs, being clear up to the further end,
where the altar, sacristy, &c., are placed. It is
not nearly the largest of the sixty-two churches of
Guatemala; that of San Francisca being almost
double the size, but not built in so chaste a style,
and also much injured by the earthquake of 1830,
which has likewise shaken several of the other
churches, though but slightly. Many of the churches
are remarkably fine buildings, and would be ad-
mired in any part of the world, though a particular
description would not be generally interesting. They
are all decorated with numerous shrines, and figures
of male and female saints gaudily dressed and adorned
with tinsel. Formerly, there were seven large con-
vents, which were all abolished during the rule of
Morazan, and their revenues appropriated by govern-
ment. The greater part of them now form bar-
racks for soldiers : one of the smaller ones of the
order of St. Domingo has lately been re-established;
but the government refused to assign it any re-
venues so that it is supported by voluntary con-
tributions and the labour of the nuns.
L_
AMUSEMENTS OF THE PEOPLE. 81
Guatemala^ like all cities founded bj the Spaniards^
is most liberally supplied with public fountains, of
which there are about fifty in different parts of the
city. Many of them are covered with handsome
stone buildings, and not only supply the poorer
classes with water, but are partitioned off into stone
troughs for washing clothes. All the respectable
houses have also fountains in their yards; and though
the water has, with immense labour, been brought
a distance of twelve miles, it is most abundant, of
excellent quality, and never fails even in the driest
seasons.
The inhabitants of Guatemala appear to have
little of the desire for public amusements seen in
most cities : the only places for public exhibitions are
a small half-open theatre, and a building for the ex-
hibition of bull-fights ; but they are only occasionally
opened on Sundays and the holidays of the Roman
Catholic church. Concerts, balls, and other public
amusements are unknown ; almost the only recrea-
tion of the natives, being the religious processions,
at which the figures of the saints are paraded and
great quantities of fire-works let off; of these, there
are two or three nearly every month. Visiting is
rare among the inhabitants, but when a visit is
made, a great deal of ceremony is practised. Refresh-
ments are never offered to the visitor, nor are in-
vitations to dinner given, except upon public occa-
sions and marriages.
There is not one hotel, nor even a decent public
house in Guatemala, the more respectable natives al-
ways going to the house of some acquaintance. A
stranger, arriving without introductions, can only
E 5
82 COMMERCE OF THE STATE.
go to a sort of very low public houses, denominated
" mesones," which are intended for the accommoda-
tion of mule drivers, cattle herds, and petty retail
dealers, somewhat resembling in arrangement the
carayanseras of the East. A stranger will in every
respect be better entertained in most Indian villages,
than in Guatemala.
Nearly all the commerce of the state is centered in
this city, and the number of shops exceeds, it is said,
300 ; but the principal trade is transacted by twenty
or thirty persons, who are called importing merchants,
and who have correspondents in England, Spain, or
France, who ship to them assortments of goods which
they retail out. No wholesale dealers exist; the
largest of their merchants will sell a piece of calico,
or a yard of woollen goods; and nearly all the shops
are general stores containing every article, however
trifling, of general consumption.
Guatemala contains a college, which is said to have
attained some celebrity in the time of the Spaniards ;
at present, it is not equal to a second rate school in
Europe, and none of the professors could pass as a
Scotch parish schoolmaster. It has also an ecclesias-
tical college for the education of priests, and another
school (also called a college) for younger boys, about
equal to a European infant school, and one or two
private teachers, one of them a Frenchman of the
name of Domingaez, being a man of some learning.
The best school was that of Mr. Crow, expelled at
the instigation of the bishop in April 1846.
Carrera has just finished the erection of a new
fort, planned by a person called an English engineer,
but really, as I am informed, a native of Jamaica.
APPEARANCE OF ITS SOLDIERS. 83
It is built on a small mound at the south end of the
city, but completely commanded by another height
about 1000 yards distant; and, though it mounts
about twenty guns, ten to thirty pounders, it could
easily be destroyed by one or two properly placed
on the neighbouring height, over which the road
passes, and which is quite undefended ; but the ob-
ject of this fort would appear to be to overawe
Guatemala, not to defend it from an enemy.
The soldiers are a most ill-looking, dirty set of
ruffians, whose appearance in the streets of London
would ensure them a place in the watch-house.
Carrera has adopted the British colour (scarlet) for
clothing his troops, but the red jackets are few in
number, and only put on upon feast days, and other
extraordinary occasions ; and, even then, the strange
figures of the men, all clothed in jackets of one size,
none of which of course fit the wearer, make them
look like a band of robbers who had dressed them-
selves in stolen clothes. The officers dress them-
selves, according to fancy, in strange nondescript
uniforms, the most respectable resembling English
footmen out of place. Carrera has got an English
general's coat, which he puts on upon great occa-
sions ; but the tailor could not be expected to suit
his strange mis-shapen figure, so that he resembles a
scarecrow with a coat pinned on. The dress of an
Indian chief would look natural upon him, but an
European uniform is most ridiculous.
Guatemala possesses the only decent cemetery I
have seen in any part of Spanish America ; and what
is most remarkable, it has a separate place for the
burial of persons not of the Roman Catholic religion.
E 6
84 MODES OF BURIAL.
The principal burial ground is a square of about 300
yards, enclosed by thick stone walls fifteen feet high ;
in the wall are some thousand niches, in which those
who are interred in coffins are placed, the charge
being four dollars each; as soon as the niche is
filled, the entrance is plastered up and the name and
date written outside. These niches are calculated to
be filled in six years' time, when the first filled will
be opened, and gradually all the rest, the bones being
thrown into square holes built on purpose, at the four
corners of the cemetery, to make room for new oc-
cupants ; those, however, who can pay twenty dol-
lars, are entitled to a piece of ground for a separate
grave, which is not to be touched, and they may if
they choose, fence it in. Those who are too poor,
even to pay the four dollars, are interred in the
ground in the centre, generally without coffins ; but
their bones will be dug up as soon as the ground is
required again. Interring in churches is now pro-
hibited, but the friends of the deceased may, after
the body has been a year in the niche, open it and
convey his bones to a church. This, however, I am
told, is never done ; as, though very foolish expenses
are incurred at funerals, the dead are never thought
of after.
Adjoining the cemetery is the hospital, the only
one in Central America, and which is kept up in a
manner not inferior to the best in London, having
four large rooms well ventilated, neat and clean,
for the poor, and separate apartments for those who
can afford to pay, — a plan which might well be
copied in more advanced countries. Both this and
the cemetery, are the work of the Spanish govern-
ENTRANCES TO THE CITT. 85
ment ; but the part for the burial of those not of
the Koman Catholic religion was set apart by Presi-
dent Galnez, and affords a proof of his enlightened
policy.
Guatemala is entered by six gates. It is almost
inaccessible on three sides from a ravine, over which
there are two bridges thrown for two of the entrances,
the approach in the other parts being impeded by a
dry ditch, which however is too small to cause any
serious obstacle. At each of the gates, a custom-
house oflOicer and some soldiers are placed, one of
whom is sent to the custom-house with all goods
that enter.
There are no regular police ; but, in 1839, it was
found necessary on account of the frequent robberies
and assassinations which occurred after dark, to es-
tablish a body of watchmen (vigilantes), who are
armed with a cutlass, and have been found very ef-
ficient in lessening the commission of those crimes.
Guatemala despatches three mails weekly, — to Isabel
with the mail for Belize, Europe, &c. ; to San Sal-
vador, Honduras, &c., and to the Altos and Mexico.
The arrival of these mails is respectively announced
by the hoisting of a white, blue, and red flag.
Provisions, and indeed any article of ordinary con-
sumption, are very moderate in Guatemala: meat
costs about a medio (Sd. sterling) per pound; poultry
one to two reals (6d. to 1^.) each, and turkeys four
reals each. Vegetables and fruit, though all brought
to a distance of ten leagues from old Guatemala, are
very moderate in price. Maize, or Indian corn, is
worth about six reals to a dollar ; the fancya, which
weighs about 300 pounds, consisting of 400 heads of
86 GENERAL CARBEBA, •
com; and, as thia forms the genera! food of the
lower classes, it will be seen that they can live for
very little. Flour, made from wheat, la worth from
three to four dollars the 100 pounds ; and all com.
mon articles of British manufacture can he bought
at about the same price as they are retted for in
country towns in England, while some trifling ar-
ticles on which the English retail shopkeepers charge
a large profit, can be bought considerably lower in
Guatemala.
Two newspapers, the Govenunent Gazette and the
Aurora, are published weekly ; they are printed upon
email paper, and their circulation can do little more
than pay expenses. There are from four to five
printing offices, and three almanacks are published,
very neatly got up, and containing much more useful
information than those generally published in Europe.
There is no bookseller's shop, though a few volumes of
novels toe exposed for sale by many of the dealers.
Keading is rarely resorted to in Guatemala, the only
amusements of the men being gambling and making
love to the fair sex, and of the women, intriguing
and scandal
Safael Carrera, the commander in chief and presi-
dent of the state of Guatemala, is a dark-coloured
lely ill looking mestizo. He was originally
a woman of no very respectable character
Ian, and afterwards to a Spaniard, from
I supposed he learnt the little knowledge
ug he poBseesed when he first appeared on
il stage of Guatemala ; afterwards he was
IS a pig driver ; that is, in purchasing and
driving pigs from the villages to Guatemala
DICTATOR OF THE STATE. 87
and the more populous towns. The cholera morbus
having appeared in April 1837, the Indians were led
to believe that the waters had been poisoned by
emissaries sent by the parties then ruling the state ;
and being also excited against the system of trial by
jury, (then lately brought into operation by parties
inimical to liberal institutions,) they united, to the
number of some thousands in the town of Santa Kosa,
and under the command of Carrera, who had been
one of the most active in deceiving them, destroyed
a party of forty dragoons who had been sent out to
disperse them. Carrera's faction was frequently de-
feated, and a vast slaughter made of the Indians who
followed him at Villa Nueva, by the government
troops under the command of General Salagar, on
the 11th of September 1838 ; but they have always
reunited in greater force, and on the 13th of April
1839, Carrera took Guatemala at the head of 5000
Indians; since which time he has retained all the
real power in his hands. For some time he acted
nominally under Mariano Rivera Paz, president of
the state, but he has since dissolved the shadow of a
representative assembly which existed ; and, having
on the 19th of March 1840, defeated General Ma-
razan (the legal president of the republic) by means
of an immense superiority of force, and driven him
out of Guatemala, after he had occupied it for a
day, he has since remained sole and supreme dic-
tator of the state. It must be allowed, however,
that though at the commencement of his power,
he perpetrated some horrid acts of cruelty which
any one must shudder to recount, and frequently
put to death his real or supposed enemies with the
88 Cabrera's private character.
most dreadful tortures, without a shadow of proof or
form of trial, he has since conducted himself with
remarkable moderation, and has done much to im-
prove the administration of the laws, destroy robbers,
and consolidate the government. By extortions
and confiscations, he has amassed some himdred
thousand dollars in cash, lands, and houses ; and it
is consequently his interest to maintain a settled
government and give protection to property ; but
in his private life, he is more indecently immoral
than could be conceived or understood by most En-
glish readers.
I have only twice conversed with General Carrera ;
on the first occasion, when introduced by Mr. Skinner,
he was sick in bed, and, as usual among the natives,
had not sent for a doctor, but asked me to prescribe
for him. He asked me, among other questions, how
long I had been learning Spanish, and if I could read
and write it ; and when I replied, that I had learnt
to read and write it perfectly with about three
months^ study, he said, that he supposed he would be
able to learn English in the same time ; which how-
ever appeared to me rather problematical, as he has
only learned to read and write a very little since he
was made general, and knows nothing of the gram-
mar even of his own language, as was proved in
rather a ridiculous manner, after he had been about
two years in Guatemala. At a meeting of the mem-
bers of the government, Don Jorge Viteri, then the
minister, but now bishop of San Salvador, proposed
some measures not agreeable to Carrera, who said in
a positive tone that they should not be passed ; upon
which the minister replied, ^^ Vos tiene la fuerza
HIS WANT OF EDUCATION. 89
iisica, pero nosotros tenemus la fuerza moral " (you
have brute force on your side, but we have the
moral force on ours). But as Moral is a name of
several families in Guatemala, Carrera mistook the-
minister's meanings and, supposing that he meant
they had the force of the Morals to rely upon, he
hurried off to the barracks and collected together the
troops, exclaiming. Where are the Morals that are
going to oppose me? and putting a guard on the
room where the members of government were as-
sembled, he kept them prisoners for several hours.
Carrera has none of the affected pride or officious
politeness which attaches to most of the Spaniards
and their half-bred descendants ; his manners much
more resemble the quiet dignity and easy freedom of
an Indian chief, than those of any other mestizo I
have seen. Although the war cry of his party was
death to the strangers, he is now remarkably civil to
all he meets, and asks and listens very attentively to
their advice, frequently expressing his regret at his
own ignorance and the general want of education in
the country.
Though he was raised to power by the faction of
self-called nobles, the priests and their party, he is
pretty cool to both, and has of late chosen none of
his ministers from among them. Some time ago he
avowed his intention of laying down his authority
and making a voyage to Europe ; but he appears to
have altered his mind, though it certainly would have
been a prudent resolution, as he has wealth enough
to live in any part of the world, and must be certain,
that if he remain in Guatemala, he will share the fate
of all who have governed in Central America, and be
90 SITUATION OP OLD GUATEMALA.
either obliged to fly for his life with the loss of every
thing, or taken and shot. His power has already
endured longer than is usual in the country, but it
now shows symptoms of being on the wane, for, by
allying himself with the whites and mestizoes, he has
in a great measure lost his influence among the
Indians, who say that he has betrayed them. All
the other classes have never ceased to hate and fear
him, and watch an opportunity to overturn his power;
and, though he takes great care always to keep a
body of troops near his person, and has large supplies
of arms and ammunition at hand, he will certainly
find, that the very troops in whom he trusts will
betray him, and that the arms and ammunition will
one day be used for his destruction.
On the 25th of the month, we visited the old
capital of Guatemala, which was partially ruined by
an earthquake in the year 1773. I was hospitably
received by Doctor Weems, the United States' Con-
sul-General, to whom Mr. Skinner gave me a letter
of introduction. He showed me the principal part
of the town, and in the afternoon took me to visit a
cochineal estate at Dueiias a distance of three leagues,
belonging to Mr. Wild, an Englishman, where I
remained all night. The estate is but of small ex-
tent, being not more than thirty mansanas, or about
fifty-five British acres, and its quality is not very
good, though Mr. Wild has made a little money
during the six years he has been engaged in the
business.
Old Guatemala is situated in a deep valley, having
an opening towards the S. W. only, but closed by high
mountains on the other sides ; on each side an enor-
VOLCANIC WATEKS. 91
mous volcanic peak rears its giant head, that on the
S.E. being denominated the Volcano of Water, (agua),
and that on the N. W., the Volcano of Fire (fuego).
At the foot of the Volcano of Water, two leagues
S.W. of Old Guatemala, lies a small village with
a church, and what was formerly a very large con-
vent. Here, the original city of Guatemala was
founded in 1525 by Gonzales, but three years after
it was nearly destroyed by a torrent of water, which
rushed down from the volcano with such violence as
to level every thing it met in its passage, hurling
before it immense rocks, trees, and mounds of earth.
From this the volcano acquired its name, it being
supposed that it vomited water instead of fire, but
the fact appears to be that the old crater was full
of water, which by its pressure overthrew one of
the sides and rushed down as described. Very fa-
bulous accounts have been given regarding the catas-
trophe in Europe ; and a most able scientific work
lately published, states that the site of the old city is
now occupied by a lake, which is so far from the fact,
that no lake exists nearer than that of Amatitlan,
which is twenty miles distant. The site of the old
city is rather high, and remarkably dry and free
from all stagnant water. The Volcano of Water has
often been ascended by natives and strangers, and
on the measurement made by a German some
years ago, it rises to 14,450 feet above the level
of the sea. Its summit appears to be almost touch-
ing the region of perpetual snow, and the lake of
water which fills the external crater is frozen in the
months of December, January, and February, when
the Indians of the neighbouring villages ascend it
92 TOLCAXO OF FIRE.
to fietdi ioe, and hoar finost, which hUs so heftyHj
as to lesemble snow, for the sa(q[>ly ni the capital.
Old Guatemala, and Amaddan ; while at the same
period the ayeiage temperature a£ the foot of the
monntain is 75^ to 80^ Fahrenheit, and on the coast
in the same latitude npward9 of 90^. Thoe af^wars
to be every reason to beUeTe, that the Tolcano, which
is only about fiye leagues distant fiom the other,
called the Volcano of Fire, must have become dor-
mant before the other commenced its eruption, as
it appears impoeoble, finom analogy, that two volcanic
vents should exist so near each other, and as no
increase in the height of the Volcano of Fire has
been observed within the historical period.
The Volcano of Fire has never been ascended by
any person, and the steepness of its cone, which is
covered with ashes resembling fine sand, makes, it is
said, such an ascent impossible. It always emits a
wreath of smoke from the extreme top, where the
crater would appear to exist : but there is no tradi-
tion of any eruption having taken jJaoe, nor could
it do so without destroying Old Guatemala and a
number of other towns atuated at its base. Still
the continued emission of smoke shows that its fires
are still active, and that they may vet again break
out with terrific violence, as the immense maizes
of vitrified rock, volcanic sand, and lava, scattered
all over the neighbourhood for many kagnesi, show
has been done in past ages. The immense height
and inaccessible position of the crater, render
examination impracticable, and even a slight erup-
tion could hardly be perceived at the great dis-
tance below at which the nearest villages are situ-
EARTHQUAKES. 93
ated. Old Guatemala^ like most parts of Central
America, was always very subject to violent earth-
quakes, which is an exception to the supposed rule
of their not being violent in the immediate vicinity
of volcanic vents. That of 1773 was undoubtedly
very violent, though, like all similar catastrophes,
much exaggerated in some accounts given of it ;
the same ridiculous fictions of the earth opening
in immense fissures, and vomiting fire and smoke,
swallowing entire houses, with their inhabitants,
&c. &c., being related both of it, and of the earth-
quakes of Quito, Lima, and Conception. Though
the churches, government buildings, and many of the
private houses were a good deal shaken, and some
few of them thrown down by the violence of the
shock, the damage was not at all of an extent to
render necessary the abandonment of the city.
This was a job got up on speculation by the officers
of government in order to make money by selling
the land in la Hermita for the new capital. The
present ruined and desolate appearance is caused
more by the destruction that took place for the pur-
pose of obtaining materials for new erections, and by
seventy years' neglect, than by the efiects of the
earthquake.
Many of the churches and other buildings, however,
still remain entire, and many others are not more in«
jured than might be expected from so long an abandon-
ment. The Spanish government tried in vain for
many years, after the removal of the capital, to force
all the inhabitants to leave Old Guatemala; but-
the superior fertility of its land offered such in-
ducements to remain, that it was finally obliged to
94 PRESENT AFPEABANGE.
permit the poorer classes to continue in the old
capital.
The present appearance of the city, however, is
nearly what might have been expected after the
convulsion. Kuins of magnificent 1;>uildings exist in
every street, few attempts having been made to
repair the damaged edifices, or to pull them down
and build others ; and the huts of the poorest inha-
bitants are in some places strangely mixed up with
the magnificent buildings, which have partly yielded
materials for their construction. Two sides of the
market-place contain the ruins of the cathedral and
the palace ; the first was a splendid Gothic edifice of
hewn stone, and, though it was a good deal shaken
by the earthquake, and a large part of the walls were
removed for other buildings, enough still remains to
show that it must have been one of the most beau-
tiful and costly edifices in America. It measures
about 200 yards in length, and 70 in breadth, and is
built in the form of a double cross, the columns and
arches being most richly and elaborately carved.
The palace has been a magnificent building, consist-
ing of two stories, built of hewn stone, and forming
for the whole length, upwards of 200 yards, a mag-
nificent piazza, supported by Corinthian pillars.
The upper story is entirely in ruins ; but the
greater part of the lower is still used for shops and
other purposes. Many of the churches, of which
there were a hundred, and the monasteries, which
exceeded twenty, must have been most magnificent;
about twenty-five are still used by the priests, and
many more are turned into dwelling-houses ; while
several have huts erected, and cactus planted inside
PRODUCE OP OLD GUATEMALA. 95
their walls. The population of Old Guatemala
before the earthquake^ is stated to have exceeded
60^000, being more than that of New and Old
Guatemala jointly at present ; the population of the
former being estimated at SS^OOO, and the latter cer-
tainly not exceeding 20,000.
The city is well watered by two rivers, one of which
is a large stream, and the other small, but of beauti-
fully clear water : the latter is called the Rio Pensa-
tivo (river pensive), and was famed in Spanish poetry.
Many of the fountains which ornamented the city
still exist, and it is most abundantly supplied with
pure water. The cultivation of cochineal was intro-
duced twenty years ago from Oajaca, in Mexico, and
with some interruptions, has gone on gradually in-
creasing down to the present time ; the largest pro-
duction, that of 1841, being about 9000 bales; that
of the present year (1846) has been about 6000. A
return of the quantity imported is kept in the cus-
tom-house of Guatemala; but the produce of Old
Guatemala, Amatitlan, and Yilla Nueva, is not sepa-
rated.
Most of the cochineal lands belong to the muni-
cipality, and are let by them on nine-year leases,
which period is calculated as the ordinary duration
of a cochineal plantation, as at the end of that time
the cactus is exhausted and being very small and
* stunted In its growth is not worth seeding with the
insect; so that it must either be replanted or cut
down by the root, and left two or three years to
grow up again. The land about Old Guatemala,
would in many parts be well suited to the growth of
coffee, which has been successfully tried to a small
96 CLIMATE OF OLD GUATEMALA.
extent : it also produces nearly all the vegetables
and fruits which are consumed in the capital ; these
are mostly cultivated by the Indians who have
small gardens, and who carry the produce, which
they cannot sell in Old Guatemala, on their backs
to the capital. It is curious that, after carrying
a load, perhaps worth a dollar, to Guatemala, a
distance of thirty miles, they are quite contented
to sell it at the same price or a little lower, than
they will do when it is purchased at their own
doors; and for the carriage of the same weight to
Guatemala, they would require a dollar and a half.
The sugar cane thrives very well in the neighbour-
hood of Old Guatemala, but takes eighteen months
to come to perfection, instead of six, the time re-
quired near the coast. There are four or five sugar
estates, which however only manufacture the crude
juice of the cane, boiled till it crystallises (and called
chancaca), and common unrectified spirits or rather
high wines. The climate of Old Guatemala is cer-
tainly one of the most healthy and agreeable in any
part of the world. Frost is unknown, and the
thermometer never exceeds 80° of Fahrenheit. The
coldest months are December and January, and the
hottest March and April. The rainy season generally
sets in about the end of May and ceases in the be-
ginning of October, though occasional showers occur
two or three weeks before and after these periods.
Gales of wind (which are very frequent in the capital,
and extremely unpleasant in the dry season, when the
country is parched and the roads covered with quan-
tities of dust) never occur in Old Guatemala ; and,
were it not the single objection of the frequency of
BEPABTURB FROM GUATEMALA. 97
earthquakes, which, however, is rather a nominal
than a real inconvenience, the old capital of Guate-
mala would be a complete earthly paradise as far as
nature could make it.
The present governor of this city is Sotero Car-
rera, brother of the president, whom he surpasses in
every vice. In his drunken fits, which are very
frequent, he thinks nothing of ordering some of the
inhabitants to be assassinated, without any reason
whatever ; and even on one occasicm he threatened
and insulted Mr« Chatfield, the British Consal-Ge-*
neral, who resided for some years in Old Ouate-
mala; but, as he is the brother of the dictator, no
one dares to call him to account for his numberless
crimes.
Already this country, so new in tlie world's his-
tory, presents many traces of fallen grandeur, owing
to its continued civil wars, and the instability of
government preventing the building of new edifices,
or the repair of old ones.
On the 1st of November I left Guatemala, in
company with Don Francisco Geral and Don Juakin
Saynes. We mounted at 5 A* M., but did not start
till eight o'clock. Having had no breakfast I wished
to stop at ten o'clock to get something to eat;
but, as the others objected, I got in a pet and re*
fused afterwards to stop at all till the end of the
day's journey, believing that I could endure hunger
longer than a Spaniard or any of their descendants :
and in this I was not mistaken, as my two companions
were ready to faint before night. At sunset we
reached Cuajinequilapa, where, from the bad selec*
tion of Don Juakin Paynes, who as the most expe-
98 t>A^G£i^OtrS MISTAKE*
rienced tmveller acted afe guide, we were most miser-
ably lodged. We started agam before daylight, and,
after a most tedipns Aiy% jotrmey, arrived at the
cattle estate of the Cocos two hours after subset ;
where, I preferred sleeping in the forest to being
pestered wit^ Don Juakin's formalities and non-
sense, though I awoke next morning, in conse-
quence, with a bad cidd and a considerable touch
of fever.
The mules were not to be found in the morning,
so that we did n(^ «tart till 8 A,. M«, and after pas^ng
the Rio Pa2, we lost our road and wandered for six
hours through a lonely forest without meeting a
human being. At laat we met a iK)litary Indian
who directed us= how to gain the iroad. After a most
fatiguing day's journey we arrived *t the town (villa)
of Chinchilapa about 8| F. M. ; but wioen about to
enter the principal sqwar« (plaza), we w^e suddenly
stopped by two men utmei with muskets who com-
menced abusing us in the ovost violent language,
and* one of them, at leiigtii, pointed his musket at
the foremost of the party. I pushed forward and put
a pistol to his head, «ttid in a moment would have sent
him to the other world had he not suddenly dropped
his imusket, exclaiming, *^ there is the priest, you
robbers." This gentleman, who had arrived so oppor-
tunely, very politely requested to know who we were^
and, finding that we certainly weie not robbers, in-
formed us that the people who had attacked us were
no more so than ourselves, but worthy citizens
who had turned out to defend their town from a
noted band of robbers who had entered And plundered
sopie bouses the preceding day* I took care to tell
ARRIVAL AT aiNTA ANA. 9^
him, tiiat I suspected ikej were well aware that we
were not really robbers or they would not have been
80 valiant, and that I had very nearly sent one of
the faithful guardians to account to another tribunal ;
which the priest admitted I should have been quite
justified in doing. After a short parley, the guardians
became our guides to the house of a friend of Don
Jnakin Saynes, where we passed the night, all being
in terrco* of another visit from the robbers who had
plundered and beaten, and it was supposed, murdered^
a number of people on the Santa Ana road; they
told us we must not think of proceeding on our
journey, and succeeded in frightening Don Juakin
so completely, that he and Don Francisco Geral de^
termined on returning back and proceeding by Son-*
sonate. I told them to go where they liked, but that
I would proceed on my journey ; and Don Francisco,
who had been a military officer, annoyed by my jeers,
said he would go with me, so that Don Juakin was
shamed into following his example, though evidently
sorely against his wilL StartiDg at day-light, we
arrived safely at Santa Ana at 10 a. h. without
meeting anything like a robber, though Don Fran-
cisco and I kept our pistols cocked in our hands
nearly all the road» Santa Ana, which as usual jb
denominated a city though it only contains 4000
or 5000 inhabitants, has a sad and half ruined ap-
pearance ; and though none of its buildings are in
any way remarkable, numbers of tottering walls,
covered with trees and arches half fallen give it the
venerable appearance common to the towns of Central
America. Santa Ana has been the scene of fierce
conflicts between the troops of San Salvador and
r 2
100 CLIMATE OF SANTA ANA.
Guatemala. On the 17 A of December 182?^ a most
bloody battle was fought between them, when the
streets were filled with dead and coloured with
streams of blood : in this and other actions daring
the civil wars the town has suffered mach« Santa
Ana and its neighbourhood supply the greater part
of this state^ and also the city of Guatemala, with
*sugar, which, is of rery fine quality, forming the
hardest and whitest lump I have ever seen in sugar
which had not been refined. The article is manu-
factured in small farms, each containing patches with
a few acres of sugar-cane, which i» ground in small
wooden mills driven by oxen, called by the natives
trapiches; and the creaking of the wooden rollers
may be heard a mile off in travelling along the roadr
The cane is all of the description indigenous to
America, which, though here not so large nor so
quick in its growth as on the .coast, is said to produce
twice as much sugar and of a much better quality,
the l^s from the molasses being very trifling in com-
parison. The climate of Santa Ana is excellent,
being two or three degrees hotter than that of the
city of San Salvador.
Again proceeding on our journey, and passing
through the village of Cuatapeke, at Bunset we
reached a small collection of huts, called the
asienda of Cajoco, six leagues from Santa Ana.
We started again at dawn, and passing through
San Andres, at 10 A. M. reached Saltapeke, a
large village rather prettily situated, about twelve
leagues distant from Santa Ana, and eight from
San Salvador. After breakfast we again proceeded
on our journey, the road being covered with im*
SAN SALVADOR, 101
tnense masses of scoriae (called by the natives mal
pais), and huge blocks of vitrified rock ejected
from a low mountain in the neighbourhood, which
would appear to be an extinct volcano as no tra-
dition exists of its eruptions, which have however
at some former period covered the country to the
depth of several hundred feet. Passing the village
of Ajapa, two leagues further on our road, we reached
San Salvador at sunset^ being stopped at the gate
and asked a great many questions, for the government
was at the time in a very tottering condition, and
in hourly fear of a revolution ; however, on showing
our passports which were from Guatemala^ where
nothing was then feared, we were permitted to pro-
ceed. The keeper of the public-house being from ,
home we were forced to seek fresh quarters, which
I found very readily ; but seeing the rest of the party
wandering about the streets, I invited them to come
in till their servants could find accommodation. To
my surprise they began to hang up their hammocks^
and prepare to sleep in my room, which appeared to
be far too free and easy, whereupon I saddled my
beasts and left in search of other lodgings, which I
very soon found. I have always perceived, that when
alone I am much better received by the natives, than
when travelling in company with their countrymen.
Completely disgusted with travelling in company,
I was glad to find my companions intended to re*
main some days, and I prepared to proceed next
day alone; but being detained till three o'clock
p. M., I only reached San Martin an hour after
dark^ where I slept. I breakfasted at Cojutepeke,
and was again received with the greatest delight
F 3
102 CHINEMEKA.
by the Indian, at whose bouse I staid during the
wet day on my fonner journey. I reached Atape-
titan at 6 P. M., and San Vicente about an hour after
sunset, where I slept at the house of Don Joze Ponce.
Having^ hired another mule, (the one taken from the
Union being sore-backed, caused by the badness of
the country saddle hired with it,) I did not reach the
river Lempa till 2 p. M« ; whence we ascended a wild
desolate hill covered with stunted trees but entirely
without water. The new mule would not go beyond a
walk, do what I would, and, although the spurs were
stuck into its side till the blood ran down in a stream,
all was in vain ; the brute was proof against all my
efforts^ being, I suppose, a common caigo mnle and
never accustomed to any thing but a walk. This
day's journey was consequently most tedious ; but at
last, about 9 p. m., we reached a small hut, and find-
ing we were close to the cattle estate of Hamanas, we
proceeded thither; and the owner, who was pretty civil,
gave me an empty room to sleep in. This estate is of
great extent, but, from its retired situation, of but little
value. It consists of a table land, I should think at
least 1500 or 2000 feet above the level of the sea, and
the atmosphere is cool and pleasant; a small stream
of water, the only one to be met with for many
leagues, passes close by the house, which, like most
of those on cattle estates, is a large rude building
with a yard in front for collecting the cattle. There
is abundance of land in the neighbourhood capable
of cultivation, but nothing is grown beyond a little
maize for the use of the servants of the estate. Pro-^
ceeding again on our journey before daylight, we
reached Chinemeka at 10 A. M. The whole of the
POVJRETY OP ITS INHABXTANTS. 103
road id it auccession of steep ascenis and descents^
and the country is as wUd and desolate as can be con-
ceived^ though there is abundance of good land ca-
pable of cultivation were there inhabkants to occupy
it. Chinemeka ia prettily situated in a very rich
alluvial valley, part of which is cultivated, and only
an industrious population is wanted to make it a com-
plete garden.
The people here seem to be miserably poor, and
though the population mwy amount to from 3000
to 4000, principally Mestizoes, the woman at whose
house I stopped to breakfast, t<dd me that there was
no person in the town who had got a capital of a
hundred dollars* Here, as in most parts of Central
America, there appears to be no wish for improve-
ment ; the people just plant enough of maize to exist
on, and a few dollars serve to procure calico sufficient
to clothe them« A great proportion of the population
have the enlargement of the glands of the neck, called
goitre, some of them to a hideous extent ; and, though
it is a common complaint in all the mountainous
parts of Central America, and not generally thought
a deformity, I have never seen it so general among
all ages and sexes as in Chiaemeka, Leaving Chi-
nemeka, we passed over a ridge of hills, having a
long and isteep ascent and descent; at long intervals
there are some patches of cultivation, and in two
places patches of cane, near which I heard the creak-
ing of the wooden mills grinding it. At 3 p. m. we
reached the village of Guaymoka, close to which
there is a beautiful natural fountain of crystal
water gushing from th^ foot of a basaltic rock, and
discharging some hundred gallons every minute.
F 4
104 AREIVAI. AT THE UNION;
Here we rested a little^ and watered the beasts;
after which, proceeding on our journey, we reached
San Miguel at 5 p. m*
I found Don Angel Moglea, at whose house I
stopped, about to proceed to the Union early in the
morning, and although pretty well tired, and still ill
of the fever I caught by sleeping in the forest at the
Cocos, I prepared to follow him, only waiting till I
could purchase some food for the beasts to eat next
morning ; as in all Central American towns it is im*
possible to procure food for horses after 4 P. m.,
the grass and other herbage for them being always
brought into town in the early part of the day and
sold, no person buying more than they want for the
present use of their own horses and mules« Leaving
San Miguel at 7 A. m., we rested an hour's time
under the shade of some trees along side the river at
San Antonio, and reached the Union at 4 P. m. The
port was in a very busy state, five vessels having
arrived with merchandise for the November fair,
which, however, it was clear would again turn out a
disappointment, on account of the war with the state
of Nicaragua, merchants being afraid to go to San
Miguel, lest the government should levy contributions
from them, and the farmers and labouring classes not
daring to come and make their usual purchases, lest
they might be taken for soldiers. I was subsequently
informed that no dealers of the country, except
women, actually made their appearance, and that the
whole of the sales eflfected were a mere trifle, not ex-
ceeding fifty or sixty thousand dollars, so that the ves-
sels took most of their cargoes to Costa Bica, and
Iztapa, the port of Guatemala. All this time the vil*
WARLIKE APPEARANCES. l05
lage of the Union was in a continued state of bustle
from the arrival and departure of troops for Nicara-
gua ; couriers were also daily arriving with accounts
of the proceedings before Leon, which was closely
besieged by the forces of Honduras and San Sal-
vador, commanded by the presidents of these states.
The inhabitants were in some fear of a \dsit from
the enemy, who had a small vessel ready to convey
troops; and much more justly, of the robbery and
oppression of their own government. Valuable goods
were brought me daily to take care of, and merchandise
in the government warehouse was made out in my
name, though I did not much like the responsibility,
for which I knew I should hardly get thanked by
the miserable natives ; and I took care to tell them
not to suppose that I would say the goods were
really mine if taken possession of by the government,
or claimed for them through H. B. M. consul.
On the 23d of December I again embarked, in
company with Mr. Bridge, on board his vessel, the
Albert Henry, in which he was a second time so
kind as to give me a free passage. We reached Be*
alejo the following day, and found anchored in the
port two coasting vessels, one belonging to Mr.
Moglea, and the other to Mr. Ye Picarte, a French-
man resident in Costa Bica, both of which had been
taken forcible possession of by Malespein for his
operations against Nicaragua ; and also the Caroline,
a schooner chartered by the Nicaraguan government,
of which the people of the Union had so long been
in fear, but which had just been captured by General
Sachet, with a body of troops sent for that purpose
by one of the stolen vessels, the Argentina. The
F 5
106 ACAJAIfTALA.
town of Bealejo waa in poeaesBion of Malespein'a
troops, and all the male inhabitants had left to hide
themselves in the woods, though it ia a^d they had
no occasion to do so as the San Salvador troops had
behaved in a very orderly manner, and plundered no
one nor committed any excess. Most of the women
remained quietly in their houses, and were making a
little money bv selling provisions and whatever else
they had disposable, to the San Salvador soldiers.
Having passed as melancholy a Christmas as I ever
did, in this miserable little vill^e, we again went on
board on the afternoon of the following day, and got
out of the harbour the same night. Making a re-
markably fine passage, we reached Acajantala, the port
of Sonsonate, on the 28tb at 2 p. m. ; and, proceeding
on shore, the deputy of the harbour master refused to
let us return on board, assigning as his reason, the
unsettled state of the government and his fear that
we might be iirienda of the discontented, who had
come to take advantage of the defenceless state of the
port. Mr. Bridge tried to frighten him into com-
pliance without effect ; but finally, the seijeant of the
guard came forward, and assured the timid officer
that we were English, that it was all right, and some
of the boatmen who knew me sasured him that he
need not be afimd, so that we were at last permitted
to re-embark.
Acajantala was a plaee of some importance during
the Spanish government, as all the merchandize in-
tended for Guatemala was there disembarked, and
)uBe, built by the former rulers, still
uperior to any yet erected in Central
e port cannot be denominated good.
ABBIVAL AT 80NSONATE. 107
being little more than a roadstead, partially sheltered
by a neck of land, protecting it from the westerly
swell but leaving it completely open to the south-^
ward ; the beach is long and shelving ; a continued
surf breaks upon it, and a good deal of care
is required to prevent an ordinary boat being
swamped. Still the port is naturally superior to that
of Valparaiso, and many others on the American
coast which are a good deal frequented; and, were a
jetty carried to the outside of the surf, which could
readily be done at a very moderate expense, there
would be no difficulty in at all times landing
cargoes, without the possibility of their being da-
maged. After breakfast, on the morning of the
29th, we agsdn landed, but could not procure horses
for Sonsonate till next morning ; so that we took up
our quarters at Don Victor Lenouvel's house, where
there was at present no person biit an old woman
residing, it being made use of only when he has any
goods to receive in the port. Next morning we
proceeded to Sonsonate, which is only five leagues
distant, the road being almost perfectly level, and
sufficiently good to admit the passage to and fro of the
native carts, which, like those in all parts of Spanish
America, are merely small boxes with wooden
wheels made from a krge tree sawed transversely. -
I was detained in Sonsonate on business till the
6th of January, when I started for Guatemala, with
a cavalcade of mules, including one laden with
money. This being specially recommended to my
care, I tied it to my servant's horse, keeping close
behind so as to cover it with my pistols. We were
rather late in getting the mules ready, and did not
F 6
108 A NIGHT IN THE WOODS.
leave Sonsonate till 8 a. m. We reached Apenecd
at Doon ; and after resting there an hour, proceeded
on our journey towards the river Paz, whea we were
benighted, having missed a cattle estate where I had
intended to sleep. About 8 p. m., I was alarmed by
hearing my servant call out, and, immediately, his
own mule and the one laden with money, tied behind,
fell down, and a North American of the party going
forward to see what was the matter, fell headlong
also ; luckily, no one was hurt, and I immediately
dismounted, and saw that 'we had come to a steep
precipice which it would be quite impossible to
descend in the dark. After in vain trying to find a
better road, we had no resource left but to sleep in
the forest, which we entered, and, unloading the
mules made a lai^e fire. We were not destitute of
provisions, but had no water, which made the rest of
the party complain sadly, though I did not feel the
inconvenience, not being accustomed to drink much.
At dawn I examined our position, and found that
we had not, as I supposed, got out of the mule
track in the dark, hut hod come to the top of the
valley through which the river Paz flows, the de-
scent into which is difficult enough in the day-
time, but quite impracdcable in a dark night. We
" ! estate of the Cocoe to breakfast;
letained by the mule carrying the
again overtaken by darkness long
each the hut where I intended to
g a river we lost our road, but I
1, after some delay, to find it again
; ground carefully on foot, and at
d a small hut at the bottom of the
INSURRECTION' AT GUATEMALA. 109
hill of La Leona, though I did not feel very com^
fortable at having to remain here^ as all the inhabit-
ants of the neighbourhood have an extremely bad
character. However, I managed to prevent their
seeing what the boxes contained, and, for greater
security, put them below my head at night in the
open shed where I slept. Starting again on our
journey at daylight, we breakfasted at the Oratorio,
and arrived at the Corral de Piedra at 4 P. M., where
we remained for the night, reaching Guatemala the
next day. I had, luckily, not to go to the meson,
as Mr. Skinner kindly gave me a bed in his sitting*
room till I could get lodgings.
On the 2d of February, 1845, I witnessed what is
called a revolution in Guatemala, though, as the
rising produced no change in the government, it
should be more properly called an insurrection.
Carrera having gone to his estate in the Altos,
three long days' journey distant, a conspiracy was
got up by a part of the self-called nobles of Guate*
mala, and other parties whose names may probably
never transpire, to change the government. The
greater part of the soldiers, in number about 300,
were tampered with, and, at a signal early in the
morning, rushed to arms, deposed their officers, and
breaking open the gaol, let out all the prisoners.
Among these was Colonel Monte Kosas, who was
imprisoned on account of an attempted revolution
the preceding year, and who was now put at the
head of the msurgents.
Being awoke in the morning by a continued
firing, I imagined it was merely the celebration of
the carnival, of which this was the first day, till
110 CONDUCT OF THE INSURGENTS.
a young man, a friend of the owner of the house
where I was lodging, entered in the greatest terror,
exclaiming, "There is a revolution." The firing
soon ceased, the small part of the troops, who ad^
hered to Carrera's interest, being killed and driven
out of the city, and the insurgents having taken
possession of the barracks and all the arms and am-
munition, remained in undisputed possession for four
days. During this time accounts arrived that Car-
rera's brother and some of his officers were collecting
troops to attack the city ; but, as all the arms of the
state were in possession of the insurgents, they were
a good deal puzzled what to do, and Carrera's bro-
ther, after approaching the city, retreated in con-
fusion before a body of the insurgents, who sallied
out to attack him. This victory was celebrated in
Guatemala by ringing all the church bells, firing
guns, letting off crackers, &c ; but it soon appeared
that the triumph was premature, for none of the
respectable citizens joined Bosas, considering him, it
was said, to be as bad as, or worse than, Carrera.
It appeared most surprising that such a set of
desperadoes, as a large part of Monte Bosas's troops
were, should have conducted themselves so moderately
as they did. They neither plundered nor committed
any violence after the first outbreak was over, though,
\ as usual, all the horses were taken for the officers.
I saved those in the house where I was staying, for,
when the officer came with a troop to take them, I
appeared to answer his summons, and told him he
had better leave alone the property of British sub-
jects ; upon which he went away without touching
them. As no attempts were made to barricade the
k
\ i
RESULT OF THE INSUREECTION. Ill
streets, or take other means to defend the city, it
was clear that Monte Bosas despaired of success when
he saw that no respectable persons joined him ; and
on the 6th, he entered into a convention with the
civic authorities, by which he was to receive 5000
dollars to divide among his troops, who were to march
out of the city and deliver up their arms, not being
further molestisd. This convention was, however,
entirely disregarded by Carrera's party. His brother
pursued and attacked the insurgents, who were dis-
persed and offered little resistance, killing a great
many ; but Monte Rosas, and most of the officers,
managed to escape to Mexico.
Kafael Carrera, on the first account of the insur-
rection, had become quite desperate, and was thrown
into a high fever; during which he proposed to
resign his authority and leave the state, but hear-
ing of the suppression of the revolt, he returned to
Guatemala on the 10th, making a pompous entry,
with 2000 unarmed troops, or rather vagabonds
whom his leaders had collected in the villages in hopes
that they would be allowed to plunder Guatemala.
Finding that nearly all the self-called nobles and most
of the party who had raised him to power, had favoured
the revolt, he prudently contented himself with minor
victims. About ten were shot without any form of
trial, one or two of whom were afterwards found ac-
tually to have been unfavourable to the revolt ; and
the city was forced to collect 20,000 dollars as a gift
to the vagabonds who had entered with Carrera.
112
CHAP. IV.
DEPARTURE FROM GUATEMAUL — ENCOUNTER WITH ROBBERS.
— ARRIVAL AT SAN MIGUEI/, AND RETURN TO GUATEMALA.
DESCRIPTION or AMATITLAN. — EXTRAORDINART PRO?:iMITT
OP VOLCANIC FIRES. — A JJlJLIS AND RIVER HEATED BY
THEM, CULTIVATION OF COCHINEAL ESTATES, AND PROCESS
OF RAISING THE INSECT IN AMATITLAN AND OLD GUATE-
MALA. TOWNS NEAR AMATITLAN. — ASCENT OF THE VOL-
CANO OP TORMENTOS. — JOURNEY TO SAN MIGUEL, AND
RETURN TO AMATITLAN. — A GUATEMALA NOBLE. -^ FEAST
OF AMATITLAN.
Ok the 23d of April, 1845, we left Guatemala for
Sonsonate and San Miguel. My servant who had
been with me for nearly twelve months, had consented
to accompany me, but having found another place the
day before, he left me at a moment's notice and I
was obliged to engage a stranger, a native of San
Salvador, the only servant I could find at the moment.
At 5 A. M. we passed Cuajinequilapa, where I was
detained half an hour by a smart shower of rain. At
6 P. M. we reached the miserable little village, called
the Esclavo, sixteen leagues on our journey. The
cabildo, which is the building legally appropriated
to the accommodation of travellers, &c., being occu-
pied by a priest, I had much difficulty in finding
^ any place to pass the night, but at last was permitted
\ to remain at a small hut, as usual full of men, women,
\ pigs, dogs, fowls, &c. Shortly afterwards, three very
ill-looking men came up and obtained permission to
remain at the hut, and soon become very familiar
with my servant, who chattered to them like a parrot.
SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES. llS
though I several times ordered him to be silent^ but
to no purpose. After procuring something to eat,
we lay down to rest in a small shed full of maize.
About midnight one of the men came up to where I
was lying, and when he had approached within about
two yards, I raised one of my pistols, which lay beside
me, and pointing it at him, asked him what he wanted,
when he immediately withdrew without replying.
Being unable to sleep, I got up, and awaking my
servant ordered him to saddle the beasts, but he was
so very slow in doing it, that though the three men
did not awake for half an hour afterwards, they saddled
their horses and started before us.
I had not liked their appearance from the first, and
the occurrence of the preceding night and the manner
in which they had left, made me somewhat suspicious
that they intended no good; and as I had heard my
servant tell them where I was bound for, and all about
me, I felt pretty certain of again seeing them. Having
carefully examined my pistols, I sent my servant on
fifty yards before, telling him to call out if he saw
any of his friends of the preceding evening. I had
so little confidence in him from what I had seen,
that I preferred being without his company in any
encounter which might happen. I had proceeded
about a league and a half on my journey and was
going at a slow pace along the narrow mule-track,
with a dense forest on each side, when I discovered
by the light of a dusky morning, it being then about
sun rise, the figures of three men mounted on horse-'
back standing still in the path, though my servant
had given no alarm. I immediately took my two
pistols, one of whicjji was double barrelled, out of the
holsters, and putting them on full cock stuck them
114 3>AKGER0US ENCOUNTEK,
in my belt and proceeded forwards. When about
ten yards from the men, one of them called out, " por
onde vas," (where are you going to). I replied, *' que
le importa," (what does that matter to you), pro-
ceeding cautiously forward ; when about three yards
distant, another of the men said, ^^quiero ver su paso-
porte " (I wish to see your passport). Haiving taken
an aim at him with my pistol, in such a manner how '^
ever that he did not see it, I replied, " liiega voy en-
seuarle," (I will show you it directly). The same
man immediately added "apeate," (dismount and get
down on to your feet), and as he put his hand upon
a large knife in his belt, I instantly fired the two
barrels of my double barrelled pistol, one at him and
the other at one of his companions ; the first only
appeared to take effect, the speaker tumbling off his
horse upon the ground. I could not well have missed
as he was only about three yards distant. My horse
not being accustomed to fighting or not liking the
use of strange weapons, gave two or three violent
plunges, and took me forward about twenty yards
before I could rein him up ; as soon as I had done so,
I took the pistol which was still loaded, in my hand,
and returned to finish the combat, but though not five
minutes had elapsed, the men and their horses had
disappeared in the thick forest which surrounded us,
and knowing that it would be useless to seek them
further, I put my horse into a quick pace to come up
with my servant, who commenced to chatter and in*
quire at what I had fired, &c. ; but I soon silenced
}^m by putting a pistol to his head, saying, 'Hhe
first word that you speak again on the road, you
shall have the contents of this.J' At 8 A. M. we
reached the town of the Oratorio, and at sunset the
EETUEN TO BAJS MIGUEL. 116
xstttle estate of the Cocos which is thirty-five leagues
from Guatemala. I cannot take any merit for courage
in the preceding encounter ; the men were not evi-
dently real or professed robbers, but some idle rascals
who probably had planned the attack from the in-
formation of my servant, and yet were frightened the
moment an effectual resistance was made.
Leaving the Cocos at dawn on the 26th, I reached
Sonsonate the evening of the same day, though I was
led a circuit of three leagues by my servant, who
pretended to know the road. Having hired fresh
mules at Sonsonate, I again set off on my journey
on the 28th, reaching San Salvador before sunset the
next day, and Atapetilan on the following* One of
my mules got completely lamed, but as I was a
stranger, no one w^ould lend me another, although I
offered to deposit its value in the hands of the alcalde
(the civic judge). Next morning, getting along as
well as I could with a lame beast, we reached a cattle
estate about three leagues beyond San Vicente, where
the lady owner at once agreed to lend me a horse, her
only fear being that the government officers might lay
hands on the mule which I proposed leaving till my
return ; but I got over this difficulty by giving her a
document to the effect that it belonged to me, a British
subject, and requesting that no one should touch it
at his peril. We reached the cattle estate of Hamanas
at 6 p. M., but being refused lodging, were obliged to
sleep under an open shed, outside a small but in the
neighbourhood, which proved but poor shelter from
the rain that fell in torrents during the night. The
following day, the 1st of May, 1845, we reached
San Miguel at 5 p. M.
116 DISAPPOINTMENTS.
The fair at San Miguel was again a disappoint-
ment) owing to the war with Honduras; and^ al-
though the government endeavoured to assure the
people, as far as they could, they were so used to
have their property taken by forced loans from
government, and themselves seized for soldiers, that
they did not venture to appear openly. The only
dealers who opened shops were a few foreigners, who
were less timid and had better security for the non-in-
terference of government ; and the only purchasers
were women, who are not afraid to appear, as they can-
not be taken for soldiers. Being consequently unable
to transact any business, and having, moreover, got
a severe attack of San Miguel fever, I set off on the
12th, on my return to Guatemala, but so ill that I
could not mount on horseback without assistance;
a powerful dose of calomel, however, joined to removal
from the burning and suffocating temperature of San
Miguel, worked so speedy a cure that I reached San
Salvador nearly well.
I remained one day at San Salvador, and was in-
troduced to the new acting president, Guzman, a
native of Costa Kica, and like most of his country-
men, more remarkable for cunning than honour or
courage* His manners are gentlemanly ; he has no
mixture of coloured blood, and is rather good-looking,
though he appears to possess but little talent or
education.
I left San Salvador on the 16th, and reached
Sonsonate the evening of the same day. Leaving
Nahuisalco at dawn, we reached Cocos at sunset,
completely soaked again by a heavy thunder shower.
The next day also was cloudy, with showers, oc-
AMATITLAW. 117
casionally so violent that we could not get beyond
the Oratorio at night. The following day was
equally bad, and the road a complete quagmire, but
we managed to get to the Trijahes, a small Tillage
six leagues distant from Guatemala where there was
a neat little cabildo. The alcalde, an old venerable
looHng Indian, received me most politely, and pro-
ceeded to bring me a load of hay for the horses on
his own back. Having purchased two reals worth of
maize, I was astonished at receiving more than three
times as much as the beasts could eat ; but I founds
on inquiring, that maize has no fixed value there, as
all that is disposed of is sold in Guatemala, where a
fancga, or mule-load, about 350 lbs. weight, is now
worth only six reals (three shiUings British> By way
of cross-examining the old man, I afterwards asked
him what the hire of a mule or horse to Guatemala
was worth ; he told me, that the lowest price was
twelve reals (six shillings), from which, it wUl be
perceived, necessarily results the amusing conclusion
that maize at the Trijanes is worth six reals less than
nothing. Such contradictions as these are far from
rare in Central America.
After a most unpleasant journey, and being every
day wet to the skin since leaving Sonsonate, we
reached Guatemala on the 21st of May, and Mr.
Skinner was again so kind as to entertain me till I
could find lodgings.
On the 23d of August I proceeded to Amatitlan,
where I remained tiU the 24th of April, the greater
part of the time engaged in the management of a
cochineal estate. As I am the first British subject
who has ever been resident in Amatitlan^ and this
118 DESCRIPTION OF AMATITLAN
district of Central America, though one of the most
interesting, is entirely unknown to foreigners, I shall
here give a brief description of it as well as of the
cultivatioQ of cochineal, which, as far as I am
aware, has never yet been correctly described in the
English language.
Amatitlan is six leagues distant from the capital,
lying N, N. W. in the direct road to Iztapa, iJie port
of Guatemala, on the Pacific, from which it is twenty-
three leagues distant; the road, as in aU parts of
Central America, being merely a track cleared in
the woods by cutting down the trees and bushes,
but without any attempt being made at levelling or
draining, or even removing the stones and other
natural impediments. The descent from Guatemala
to the top of the valley of Amatitlan is gradual, but
continued ; but before entering the valley it is neces-
sary to descend a steep hill, as it is on all i^des sur-
rounded by rugged and precipitous mountains, with
the exception of a narrow outlet into which a river
escapes. Nearly half of the entire valley, and what
is most remarkable, the highest part, is occupied by
a lake three leagues and a half long, with an average
breadth of about half a league. The basin of the lake
cannot, in many parts, be sounded ; and I make little
doubt that the whole valley of Amatitlan, together
with the lake, has at some period been the site of an
immense volcano, which has been blown to pieces by
an extraordinary convuMon. All the strata Ibrming
the sides of the surrounding mountains seem cut off
perpendicularly, and have exactly the appearance of
the sides of the craters in many volcanoes I have ex-
amined in America* Immense quantities of pumice
u
AND ITS VICINITY. 119
stone may generally be found floating in some parts
of the lake, and lying cm its shores ; in one place it
forms a considerable piece of land, which shakes and
qxuvers upon any person stepping upon it, being, in
fact, a floating promontory formed by an immense
collection of this formation, which is much lighter
than water, as is readily proved by throwing into the
water any of the stones lying upon the banks, which
so far from sinking, float like a eork.
Two streams of water enter the lake, and a con-
siderable river, certainly much larger than both
united, runs out of it ; the temperature of the latter
being many degrees hotter than the former.
Aiidund the lake in all parts> and the borders of
the river, springs of boiling water gush out, many of
them emitting large volumes of steam ; and in the
lake I ihake no doubt there must be many more, for
though the river is equal to one of the second rate
English streams, its temperature, and that of the lake,
is many degrees above that of the atmosphere at all
times ; so that to the bather it has the efiect of a
tepid l^th, and early in the morning, when the air
is coolest, it feels quite hot. The temperature of
the lake was, I found, 93"^ Fahrenheit, while at the
same time the average temperature of the air for
twenty-four hours was 79*^, so that the temperature
of this imnftense body of water was raised 14* by
volc^iic heat.
On some of the mountains on the north side of
the lake, I discovered several crevices which emitted
large volumes of steam of so high a temperature that
in a moment it burnt my hand, though, angular to
relate, tbere were a number of mosses and some water
\
4
k
h
\
120 SITUATION OF THE TOWN.
plants growing in the openings^ which did not eeem
to suffer from la heat equal to boiling water.
The town, or as it is to be called by order of the
state government, the city, of Amatitlan is situated
about a quarter of a league lower down the valley
than the lake, below which the different parts may
lie from fifty to a hundred feet. ^
It is said to contain 20,000 inhabitants by the
residents, but from a rough guess I should not be
inclined to estimate them at much more than half
that number. The houses are built in a straggling
manner, none having more than the ground story,
and they are principally constructed of mud, beaten
hard with a wooden mallet after being put into a
wooden box of the dimensions of the walls, which
is moved from place to place till the desired height
and dimensions are attained. Each house has a
large yard and a plantation of cactus attached to it,
the leaves of which are cut and ranged in long
narrow sheds to preserve the insect in the winter
season.
The soil is all composed of volcanic matter, in
many parts mixed with entire cinders, large block,
of lava, pumice, and toad stones.
The wells in the town are all of brackish water,
having a mixture of alum and salt ; but those in most
parts of the suburbs and neighbourhood are all of
hot water, free from any considerable mixture of
minerals. In one which I got opened in the Kincon,
the site of most of the larger cochineal plantations,
the heat became intense after ten yards had been
excavated ; at twenty the ground thrown out was so
hot as almost to burn my hands. Two men who
VOLCANIC PHENOMENON, .121
bad engaged to open the well, abandoned it ; at last
I found a third, of a salamander nature, who, for a
high reward engaged to follow it till he found water,
which he did at thirty-two yards' depth, but actually
boiling.
The heat in this well was so intense, that I won-
der how any human being could endure it. On one
occasion, I descended about half-way, but found I
should have fainted had I gone any lower; the
ground where this well was opened was situated
rather high, but in the low grounds, near the lake
and river, boiling water is met with everywhere at
a depth of two or three yards, and in many places
rises spontaneously to the surface; early in the
morning before sunrise, if the hand be placed upon
the ground it feels quite hot, and the steam may
be seen ascending through the pores of the earth in
all parts.
The hot water is always perfectly clear and free
from all minerals, apparently rising from a great
depth, while th^ springs of cold water appear to be
formed in the upper strata, and are all impregnated
with alum and salt ; there is, however, only a small
space, forming a part of the town, where cold water
can be met with, the wells in all other parts being
hot in different degrees, and those in the lowest
situation always boiling. It would appear, that the
volcanic fires are still active at a certain depth along
the whole extent of the valley, as hot water is in
all places met with on reaching a yard or two below
the bed of the river and lake, and in most parts
much sooner, appearing as if the water were forced
up by the steam from below. The natural springs
a
122. INTEGRITY OF THE INHABITANTS.
are very irregular, sometimes disdiarging immense
volumes of water, and a few hours afterwards being
nearly dry, but they have no regular period, as the
intermittent springs in some parts of the world.
Many of the wells and natural springs emit large
volumes of gas, while in others the water boils as if
it were in a large pot. In all parts, except where
vegetation is checked by the presence of alum,
which is destructive to the growth of most plants,
the cactus, on which the cochineal insect feeds, the
sugar-cane, and most other vegetables thrive most
luxuriantly, the high temperature at which the soil
is always kept, and the gases emitted, having evi-
dently a most powerful effect in promoting vege-
tation.
Amatitlan can boast of tolerable antiquity for an
American town, having been one of the principal
seats of the Jesuits, where they had large sugar
estates and a number of s&ives; the descent from
whom is still to be traced in the colour and features of
most of the natives, who, instead of being mestizoes,
a mixture of the Spaniard and Indian, are nearly all
mulattoes and zamboes, a mixture of the negro
with the Spaniard and Indian. This mixture seems
to form a class much superior to the mestizo, they
are more active and industrious, and in a great
measure without the apathy which attaches to the
mestizoes and white Creoles in all parts of America.
All the principal owners of cochineal plantations
are of negro descent, and the best workmen always
belong to the same class. They are remarkable for
their enterprise, and also for their integrity, compared
with the other classes, although they are extremely
VARIETIES OF THE CACTUS. 123
i^gnorant^ few of the cochineal growers being able either
to read or write. Their principal vice is drunkenness.
On Sundays, and the feast days of the Koman Ca-
tholic Church, it is rare to meet a sober person in
the streets, and not one of these days passes without
several people being killed in drunken frays. The
habit of carrying knives is universal in all parts of
Central America ; and, of course, when the parties
are intoxicated, the least real or supposed provoca-
tion leads to their employment-.
After the expulsion of the Jesuits, which took
place at one time in all the Spanish dominions,
Amatitlan was for many years a place of no im-
portance, and as poor as most of the miserable vil-
lages in Central America; the only cultivation, ex-
cept for the food of the place, being water melons to
sell in G-uatemala. But the cochineal insect having
been introduced about twelve years ago, has suc-
ceeded beyond expectation, and Amatitlan has for
several years been by far the most successful place
for its cultivation.
The cochineal insect is generally supposed to be
indigenous to the country near Oajaca in Mexico,
though some persons in GhiatemaJa have attempted
to prove that it is a native of that state. It feeds upon
some few species of cactus. The varieties which have
been tried in Central America are five, the ^' penka
beaver" (hedge cactus), which grows to a large size,
the young insect readily attaching itself to the leaves,
but the greater part is found to fall off before it
is ready for gathering, and it was therefore only
tried at the first introduction of the culture, but
speedily abandoned ; the " penka amarilla" (yellow-
o 2
IM ITS BIFFERENCE OF GROWTH.
flowering cactus), this species has a very large round
shaped leaf, sometimes as much as eighteen inches in
diameter ; the cochineal thrives well upon it, but is
found to yield very small crops, and the plant be-
comes exhausted after the insect has been allowed to
feed upon it for three or four years ; the " penka
blanca" (white-flowering cactus), has a leaf gene-
rally about a foot long, four or five inches broad,
and two inches thick of a dark green colour; this
species is much superior to the former sorts, and
grows quicker than any other, but it is found to
become exhausted in five or six years, and the leaf
growing exactly upright, the slightest shower of
rain washes off the insect.
The fourth kind is called *^ mosote." It has a
bright crimson flower, the leaf being of the same
shape, but rather smaller than the white flowered,
and* of a lighter green than the panka blanca ; the
growth of this variety is ihe slowest of all, but it is
found to give food to a much larger proportion of
the insects, and to last many years longer than the
other varieties. It Is now universally preferred in
Amatitlan, and in the best land a plantation is found
to last twelve years, yielding two crops a year. The
" costanea " has a bright red flower, and a leaf of a
round shape, much smaller than any of the precede
ing varieties ; but it grows fa&t, and has more leaves
than the other sorts, and when only one crop is
taken in the year, is found to produce much more
cochineal than any of the other* descriptions of the
plant. It does not, however, last above seven years,
und will not stand more than one crop annually.
THE COCHINEAL INSECT. 125
This variety was brought from Oajaca, shout eight
years ago, and is now preferred in Old GKiatemala,
- The general size of the cochineal plantations in
Amatitlan valley varies from one to ten mansanas, a
space which contains 100 Spanish, or 88f English
yards square. Three or four estates of a much larger
size have lately been planted, and oiie belonging to
Sen Francisco Lopez contains 150 mansanas; but
these estates are not nearly so productive as those of
a smaller size, as the immense ntiinber of people
who must be employed to work them causes a con-
fusion and great loss of labour. The insect is pre-
served during the winter upon leaves cut off the
cactus, and ranged in long narrow buildings, called
almacenes, erected for the purpose. The roof of these
buildings is from a yard to a yard and a half wide, and
for the first six weeks' the front, which is open, is
covered with a screen made of cotton cloth, to pro-
tect the young insect from a sort of fly which lays
an egg among them, which in a few days turns into
a caterpillar and does a great deal of mischief, de-
vouring a large quantity of the young animals;
after that period they are left open to the sun
and air. It is so arranged that the insects begin to
breed in the beginning of October, aboiit which time
the rains cease in Amatitlan, though somewhat later
in the vicinity, and mot&t other parte of the state-
The insect is carefully removed from the leaves as
soon as it begins to deposit its young, and put into
small square pieces of muslin, calico, or the bark of a
description of palm-tree, the latter being cheaper,
and much preferable for the month of October, as
it does not fall together when damp like a cotton
o 3
126 MODES OF BREEDING.
fabric ; the four comers are pinned together with the
thorn of a bush (a species of mimosaX which is very
abundant in the neighbourhood ; after about a hun*
dred of the insects haye been put in^ one of these
packets, called hj the natives cartuch, is attached
to each leaf or two, or one to each side between two
leaves, whidi latter method is generally preferred.
If the weather is fine and' warm, the insect breeds so
quickly, that in a few hours each leaf contains a
sufficient quantity of the small insect, when the bag
must be removed and attached to another leaf; for if
it is left too long, the leaf becomes too thickly covered
with young insects, which, from being too numerous,
cannot obtain nourishment ; and never attaining the
proper size, produce, when dried, a small grained and
very inferior cochineal, called *^ grancella," which is
not worth more than half the price of the proper
quality. As the cactus is always planted in rows of
a certain length, it is usual to cover at one time the
leaves of one or more rows with the bags containing
the mother insect, and when they are sufficiently
covered with the young animal, called peojillia, to
remove and attach them to other rows of cactus.
This may be done once every day if the weather
is fine, but if it is windy or cold, they have often to
remain three or four days without moving, for the
wind blows away the young insects as they creep
out of the bag, and prevents them from attaching
themselves to the leaves. The insect does not breed
so fast if the weather is chilly, and a large portion is
often killed on the leaves; even a heavy dew will
destroy many at the first stage. In the October
seeding in Amatitlan^ when it is never required to
DELICACY OF THE INSKCT. 127
load the plant, the weather being fine and the mother
cochineal in a thriving state, the bags may often be
shifted, ten or twelve times before it has done breed-
ing ; but if the weather be at all unfavourable, or the
mother cochineal in a sickly state, or too soon or too
late gathered, it cannot be shifted nearly so often.
When the mother codiineal is done breeding, or
when the young insect begins to be sickly and of a
dark red colour, the bags are taken oif, and their
contents shaken out and dried in the sun ; and when
sifted they form, what is denominated in the country
cascarilla, and in England, black cochineal, which
always fetches a higher price than the silver cochineal,
the name given to it when the insect is dried before
commencing to breed.
During the first stage of its growth, as already
remarked, the young insect is very easily injured,
but when about ten days old, it is not nearly so easily
destroyed. Still, as heavy showers of rain sometimes
occur in October, it is nothing rare for the cochineal
grower to find nearly all his labour and outlay lost,
and a great part of his crop destroyed in a few
minutes ; but, when such misfortunes occur, all the
growers suffer nearly equally, consequently the price
is enhanced, and the loss is in some degree com-
pensated by the increased value of what remains.
In Amatitlan, such accidents only occur to the first
crop seeded in October, the greater part of the pro-
duce of which is always used for seeding the cochineal
estates in Old Guatemala in the month of January,
and when the crop is not large, fetches a much higher
price than it would be worth if dried for exportation.
o 4
V
128 CHANGES DDBIK6 GBOWTH.
Id about twenty daye after the young insect has
attached iteelf to the leaf, it changes ita skin, which
is called the first " muds " (chaoge or transformation);
and in about a month more it again undeTgoes the
same process, at each of which periods H slightly
shifts ita position on the leaf. At the time of the
second change, the male makes its appearance in the
bhape of a very small Sy, but how it is produced is,
strange to say, not quite determined ; all the natives,
and even the foreigners in Guatemala, who state that
they have made experiments for the purpose of ascer-
taining it, assert that it is produced by the female at
the second change, that is to say, about the middle
of its growth ; but-this would appear quite impossible
irom all data in natural history.
I had not leisure to make proper experiments, but
an intelligent North American gentleman, a doctor
by profession, who had done so, informed me that
previously to, and some time after, the second trans-
formation or casting of its skin, the male and female
insects are nearly equal in number, and cannot be
distinguished on the leaf; but that, about fifteen days
after the first transformation, all the male grubs
change into chrysalises, interring themselves in a
downy covering, and weaving a small thread, let go
their hold of the leaf, and hang by it for about fifteen
days more, when the female is in the second change.
About this time the chrysalis hatches, and the male
mnlroa Ua •inruHi.i^ance as stated ; and, almost imme-
pregnating the female, falls off the
When the smallest quantity of rain
s period, the males are washed off
TIME OF SEEDING. 129
before the females are impregnated, and the insect is
barren.
In from eighty to ninety days, according to the
nature of the weather, the cochineal insect attains its
full growth in Amatitlan, and commences to breed.
It is then left upon the leaf long enough to produce
a sufficient quantity of young insects for the second
crop, which attach themselves to the same leaves,
and in the same manner as the first; and the full
grown insect is removed by touching it with a sniall
piece of cane, and offered for sale in flat baskets, each
containing about twelve pounds weight of the insect.
The greater part of the crop is sent, as before stated,
to Old Guatemala for the purpose of seeding the
cochineal estates there. This process is nearly iden-
tical with that of the October seeding in Amatitlan,
already described, only that a larger quantity of
the insects are allowed to attach themselves to the
leaves, and some parties attach the mother cochineal
in small pieces of reed, instead of bark or cloth.
In Old Guatemala, all the cochineal estates are
seeded but once in the year, from the beginning of
the month of January to the middle of February,
but as the climate there is considerably colder than
in Amatitlan, the insect does not attain its full size,
so as to be fit for gathering in less than a hundred
days after it has attached itself to the plant ; and, bs
the rainy season often commences in the beginning
of May, a great part of the crop is frequently lost by
being washed off by the rains before it is fit for
gathering. In Amatitlan, the second crop is ready
for getting in, eighty days after the first has been
gathered, and is therefore always got in before the
o 5
130 LliClLITT TO ntJCBT,
raisa commence, -windi certaaaij givei it great ad-
vantages over Old Guatemala ; but tbe second crop is
always much ranaller grained and worth considorably
less than the firsL Labonr ia aleo mnch dearer in
Amatitlan tlian Old Guatemala, and an estate of equal
extent coeta at least twice as much to keep it in order ;
the wages in the former place being 2^ to 3 reals
'equal to \t. 3d. to 1*. 6d.) per day, and in the latter,
1^ reak(eqnaIto9(J.). Besides this, the cactus and co-
chineal insect have a number of enemies in Amatitlan,
which do not exist in Old Guatemala. The prindpal
injury to the former is matted from a spedes of
lai^e ant, called senpope, which eats all the young
shoots of the cactus, so as to prevent its increami^.
The nests of this insect are very large, wd sometimes
extend to a depth of twenty feet in the ground, along
which they run for some fifteen or twenty yards ; and
the insects are often so numerous, that if let alone
they will entirely destroy a cochineal estate. The
natives have no means of destroying them, except
digging them out of the ground ; and though I dis-
covered a means of poisoning them by pouring into
their holes water, into which a small quantity of cor-
rosive sublimate had been dissolved, I do not sup-
pose that the discovery will generally be made use of
by the inhabitants, who are too stupid and ignorant
to understand any thing not palpable to the eye.
The principal enemies of the cochineal insect, are
three sorts of caterpilkrs, called by the natives
guisanofi (worms) ; the most common, resembles an
nni:«„^., ~.»^_r,:u..- „„j ]g produced from the e^
like a wasp, but without a
mes so numerous, that two
PROSPEBITT O^ THE CULTIVATORS. ISl
or three may be seen on each leaf of the cactus, and
if not speedily taken off, will, in a month, the period
of their existence, eat up nearly all the cochineal
insects. Another sort spin a web, with which they
entangle the insect and destroy it; and the third,
called *^ anguilla " (the eel), which is by far the most
destructive, moves over the leaf like an earth-worm,
eating all the insects, when small, with surprising
rapidity, and transferring itself to another leaf, pro-
ceeds as before. Luckily, this last mentioned species
only makes its appearance in some years, and is
never nearly so numerous as the first named. No
means have yet been found of destroying these cater-
pillars, except employing people to pick them off,
which is done at so much for every twenty grubs,
according to their abundance or scarcity, the price
being seldom under what is equivalent to a half-
penny for each twenty, or above one penny for that
number. Still, when the grubs are very numerous,
it is sometimes necessary to abandon the crop of
cochineal, which is not worth the expense of picking
off the caterpillars ; this, of course, is however a rare
occurrence, and never happens to the whole of an
estate of any size-
With all its objections, cochineal-growing has
certainly been more profitable in Amatitlan than
in Old Guatemala, or any other place yet dis-
covered. Nearly all the cultivators in Amatitlan
are well off, and many who were without means a
few years ago, are now rich for Central America,
having a fortune of from ten to thirty thousand dol-
lars, while nearly all who have attempted the ciilti-
G 6
X32 VALUE <M THE INSECT.
vation in Old Guatemala have been ruined, and very
few have realised any money. Still) the supposed
fatality of the climate of Amatitlan, has bo great an
effect as not only to mse enormouBly the price which
must be paid to the workpeople to induce them to do
the necessary labour, but keeps the value of cochineal
estates rather lower than in Old Guatemala. The
second crop of cochineal is fit for gathering in
Amatitlan, from the end of March to the 20th of
April ; and the crop in Old Guatemala, from the
middle of April till the lOtb or 20th of May, ac-
cording to the season. Nearly the whole of both
these crops are dried and cleaned for exportation to
Europe, of which they are the principal source of
supply. But a small number of insects are preserved,
and being put into small bags, similar to those be-
fore described, are attached to leaves, carefully ranged
upon shelves under the long narrow buildings, called
almaccncs, the leaves being seeded in a similar man-
ner to the growing plants. This must attain its full
size, and commence to breed again in about ninety
days, which brings it to the month of July, when
the insect so reared is gathered and again attached
in the same manner to fresh leaves of the cactus,
ranged under cover in the same manner ; this crop
is again ready for gathering in the month of October,
when the rains cease in Amatitlan, and is sold for
seeding the cochineal estates. The price being regu-
lotoil hv tlio Biinnlv <ia pnin^aTed With thc demand,
value of dry cochineal;
'S then worth at least
in the months of April
r exportation. A good
QUANTITY USED IN SEEDING. 133
cochineal estate requires, in the month of October,
from 100 to 140 pounds of the live mother insect to
seed each mansana of 100 Spanish, or 89| English
yards square ; and each pound of the insect so used
ought, if the weather be good and all circumstances
favourable, to produce eight pounds in the crop time.
The January seeding in Old Guatemala, being much
heavier, as only one crop is there taken, from 150 to
170 pounds are generally used to seed each mansana.
In Amatitlan, the first crop collected in January,
generally yields from 800 to 1200 pounds of the live
insect, from each mansana of cactus in a really good
estate, which is sold at from 2^ to 8 reals (Is, *Sd. to
,4s. sterling) a pound, according to the demand, the
abundance of the crop, &c. ; but the first crop is, one
year with another, calculated to pay all the expenses
of weeding and managing the estate, and the cost of
the seed, cochineal insect, and labour of seeding it,
&c. The second crop is always dried, and each
mansana wiU yield from 1800 to 2700 pounds of
the insect, and from 600 to 900 pounds of dry
cochineal, which is considered to be the net profit of
the cultivator.
In Old Guatemala, each mansana ought to give
3150 to 4050 pounds of the live insect, and 1050 to
1350 pounds of dry cochineal, three pounds of the
live insect yielding as nearly as possible one of dry
cochineal.
The cost of production in Old Guatemala, one year
with another, allowing for the current losses from
rain, &c., is rated at 4 reals (or 2s. sterling) per
pound. The cochineal insect when not intended for
breeding, is, as soon as gathered, spread out very
134 VALUE OF COCHINEAL ESTATES.
thin upon flat shallow trays^ made of cane, and
covered with cotton cloth, and put into stoves con-
structed on purpose, each capable of containing from
100 to 200 baskets, and either heated by burning
charcoal put in large clay vessels made on purpose,
or by a small, brick flue, into which wood can be put
and lighted from the outside (the former method is
the most costly and tedious, but gives the finest
coloured cochineal); when completely dry, it is
sifted, cleaned, and packed in bales, covered with an
untanned ox hide, containing 150 pounds, in which
state it is sent to Europe for sale. During the wet
season, a cochineal estate requires almost constant at^
tention in cleaning and keeping down the weeds, and
this must be done at least five times in the year in
Amatitlan, or the cactus will be injured ; though in
Old Guatemala not more than two or three cleanings
are given. The cactus must also be pruned at least
twice in the year, once at the commencement of the
rainy season in May, to make it sprout strongly, -and
again at the commencement of the dry season in
October, when it is necessary to remove the long
shoots, which would by their weight break down the
cactus, and to trim the plants so as to give them an
equal height and form.
In Amatitlan a good cochineal estate in full bear-
ing is worth from 600 to 800 dollars a mansana, and
somewhat more in Old Guatemala ; but in the latter
a great proportion of the lands fit for growing the
cactus belongs to the corporation, who, instead of
selling, let them out in leases of nine years, which
enables the lessee to take off six or seven crops of
cochineal, as the plant is fit for seeding in twa or
v
PRODUCE OF THE ESTATES. 135
diree years, according to the quality of the land.
During the last three years, the increase in the
number of cochineal estates has been very great,
especially in Old Guatemala; and it is calculated
that those now planted will be capable of producing
at least 12,000 bales of 150 pounds each of dry
cochineal, while hitherto the produce of the best
years has not much exceeded half that quantity.
The increase in Amatitlan is also considerable ; and
the whole valley is now covered with cochineal
estates, which may, jointly, be capable of producing
5000 to 6000 bales. A number of new cochineal
estates have also, within the last two years, been
planted at Villa Nueva, which is four leagues from
Guatemala and two from Amatitlan, and also at
Chiquimala, and in the province of Vera Paz at
Salamar ; so that, taken together, the produce of the
state of Guatemala should shortly be equal to about
20,000 bales of cochineal, which is considerably more
than the entire annual consumption of the article.
Hence, either the use of the dye must be greatly
extended or the price must fall so low as to force
part of the cultivators to abandon the business.
When 1 first proposed going to manage a cochineal
estate in Amatitlan, most of the natives and Spaniards
told me not to think of it, as it would be impossible
for a stranger to manage the natives ; but, aware of
the spirit of exaggeration common to the Spaniards
and their descendants, I paid little regard to such
stories, and I found that I uniformly got better on
with the work-people than the natives or Spaniards
themselves. Still it cannot be denied that many of
the people who came to labour in Amatitlan are the
136 CHARACTER OP THE LABOURERS.
refuse of all Central America. I was never person-
ally attacked or even insulted except once, when one
of the labourers with whom I had found fault drew
his knife in a threatening manner ; but I hit him a
blow on the head with one of the pistols I always
carried in my belt, not choosing to shoot him, as I
saw he was half intoxicated, and he afterwards begged
my pardon and thanked me for my forbearance.
The following occurrence shows a curious trait of
Central American character. As I required a large
number of the square pieces of bark called cartuches,
which are used in seeding the cactus as before de-
scribed, I had a number of people sent to the woods
near the coast to gather bark and cut them, and, in
accordance with the uniform custom of the country,
I made them all small advances to maintain them
during the work, to be repaid on the delivery of the
cartuches. One of these advances was made to three
men, who agreed to work jointly, two being strangers
and one a resident in the town. After a rather long
absence, the two strangers appeared with a small
quantity of cartuches, the value of which did little
more than repay their advance. They reported that
they had left their companion sick in a town called
Santa Rosa, and proposed returning for more car-
tuches. I gave them some medicine to take to their
sick companion ; but the wife of the supposed sick
man, hearing of the arrival of the others, came to
inquire about her husband, and, when I told her
what I had heard, appeared very suspicious of its
truth ; and the two men having gone out, she com-
menced examining the bundles of clothes which they
had left in the corridor of my house, and finding
THEIR LOVE OP PRBVAEICATION. 137
among them part of her husband's clothes bloody,
she went to the judge, who had the two men ap-
prehended and put in prison. On their examination,
they told quite a different story from what they had
related to me ; the man whom they had left behind,
they said, had attempted to murder one of the others,
and had been seized and put in prison by the alcalde
(Indian judge) of Santa Kosa : one of them showed
a severe wound partially healed, which he stated the
other had given him. I conceivied this to be but a
very clumsily invented fiction, and made no doubt
whatever that they had murdered their companion ;
but the judge determined on sending an aguacil
(constable) to Santa Rosa to inquire into the truth
of the matter, and requested the authorities of that
town to send the other man, if there, to Amatitlan. In
due course the aguacil returned with some others from
Santa Kosa, bringing the man prisoner, and, upon
his examination, he at once confessed that in a fit of
intoxication he had wounded one of the other men ;
so that their second story was pretty nearly correct,
and they were set at liberty. Being surprised at
such an unaccountable love of prevarication, I asked
them why they had not at once told me the truth.
The reply was almost similar to what I have received
on innumerable occasions — that if they told the
truth they feared it might have resulted in doing
them some harm, and they had consequently con-
cocted between them the story which they told me.
It appeared that the clothes which were found by the
man's wife, and the part of the cartuches belonging
to him had, on a principle of Indian law or equity,
been made over to the man he had wounded by the
138 MEANNESS OF THE NATIVES.
alcalde of Santa Rosa, and^ had the men told the
truth, there could have been no blame whatever
attached to them. The natives of Amatitlan are
exceedingly mean in aU their transactions, and will
often rather lose their crop of cocluneal, than pay the
smallest advance to the labourers over the wages to
which they have been accustomed. Many of them,
worth 20,000 or 30,000 dollars, do not spend a media
(3rf. sterling) a day ; and keep no servant, living in a
dirty little hut of which the poorest Indian might be
ashamed. On one occasion, noticing a boy of one of
the principal and richest families, whose leg was set
crooked, rendering him a most miserable object, I
inquired of his mother how it had happened, and
she very coolly told me that he had fallen with a
horse, which had tumbled upon him; that he was
brought home with his leg broken, and that they
had tied it up as well as they could, but did not send
for the doctor as he would have charged too much.
I replied, " Well, but what are a few dollars compared
with deforming the boy, and making him a wretched
cripple for life ? " To this she answered, with a good
deal of surprise, ** Well, I am sure you do not know
how hard we have worked for our money, or you
would not talk so."
The temperature of Amatitlan is several degrees
hotter than Guatemala, but is still far from oppres-
sive, except occasionally in the end of the dry season
in March and April; and the picturesque nature of
the scenery in the neighbourhood, would render it a
most pleasant residence were not the climate found
to be very fatal to Europeans, and even more so to
the natives of the neighbouring towns, great numbers
FATALITY OF THE CLIMATE. 13&
of whom die in the rainy season. Even the natives
are not exempt from intermittent fevers ; this, how-
ever, I attribute in a great measure to the dissipated
and irregular life led by the mestizoes, mulattoes,
and even the white Creoles, having myself never felt
any bad effects from the climate of Amatitlan, though
often exposed to the sun all day, and in the rainy
season wet several times daily. To the Spaniards who
have attempted to settle, the climate has certainly
also proved rather fatal ; but, as those who came out to
America are the very worst of the most debased pro-
vinces of Spain, the greater part being literally the
sweepings of Cadiz, they at once adopt all the vices
of the Creoles in addition to their own, which are
neither few nor trifling, and generally lead an even
more debased and irregular life, so that it is not to
be wondered at that they cannot stand a trying
climate. The principal towns near Am{(titlan are, to
the S. W., Paliny and Esquintla, on the road to the
port of Iztapa ; Metapa to the N. E., and Barias to
the eastward, besides the small village of Apacaga to
the south. In none of these places does the cultiva-
tion of cochineal succeed from various causes, except
in the last named, where the suitable lands are very
trifling in extent. Paliny is a pretty little village
three leagues distant from Amatitlan, with very pro-
ductive lands in the vidnity, which are planted to
some extent with sugar-cane. The cactus grows well,
but there is a large ant which devours the cochineal
insect, and these are so numerous as to prevent its
cultivation. It is imbedded in a beautiful vaUey
surrounded with low green hills mostly covered with
long grass, and, were it situated in a more advanced
140 ESQUINTLA.
country, it would be famed, even in Europe, for the
beauty of its scenery. Esquintla, situated in a
continuation of the same valley, which then opens
out to a considerable extent, is three leagues nearer
the port of Iztapa, and is a town of some size, con-
taining 5000 or 6000 inhabitants. The heat is too
great for rearing cochineal, but far from oppressive.
A beautiful clear river flows past the town, which is
imbedded in orange and lemon groves mixed with
cocoa-nut, aguacata, guava, and a vast variety of fruit
trees, both indigenous and foreign. It is from Es-
quintla that Guatemala is principally supplied with
fruit, which owing to the fineness of the climate, and
the great fertility of the soil grows naturally without
the least cultivation. The climate, though warm,
is equal all the year, and remarkably pleasant and
healthy. Sickness is almost unknown,^ and the na-
tives live to a great age, many of them exceeding 100
y^ars ; the adjacent rivisr abounds with fish, and the
woods abound in all sorts of game and wild animals.
Venison is so cheap that an entire deer may be always
bought from four reals to a dollar (or 28. to 45. ster-
ling). Esquintla is one of the favourite^resorts of the
inhabitants of Guatemala, who proceed thither in the
month of March to bathe and amuse themselves,
remaining about six weeks, till the beginning of
May, when they proceed to Amatitlan for the same
purposes.
Barias is a village containing 500 or 600 inhabit-
ants, principally workmen of the neighbouring cattle
estate. It is most beautifully situated on a verdant,
undulating plain, the surrounding mountains rising
in the most magnificent grandeur on all sides ; little
METAPA. 141
IS at present cultivated, though the soil is of the
richest description, and all sorts of tropical produc-
tions, and most of those of temperate regions thrive
well. This plain, which is four and a half leagues
distant from Amatitlan, is three or four leagues
square, and like innumerable other parts of the state,
only requires industrious inhabitants to make it a
complete garden.
Metapa is about one and a half leagues from Ama-
titlan, and five from Guatemala. It lies in a rich plain
of three or four leagues in length, and half a league
in breadth ; it was a seat of the Jesuits, but the
buildings they occupied now present considerable
ruins. The population may amount to 500 or 600,
the only production being canes (cana Castilla),
which are sent for sale to all parts of the vicinity,
being much used in building houses, sheds, and al-
macenes for preserving the cochineal insect in winter.
Here, and at Barias, the rains commence a month
sooner, and end a month later than in Amatitlan,
which, although favourable to the growth of all sorts
of vegetation, prevents the cochineal insect from
being successfully cultivated. In Barias and Metapa,
the average temperature, which does not vary more
than five or six degrees in all the year, is about
69 Fahrenheit, and the climate extremely salubrious,
and well fitted for the residence of Europeans.
The village of Apacaga is about a league and a
half from Amatitlan, above which it is situated at
least 1000 feet; the road to it is up a steep and
rugged hill, the top of which, however, extends into
a short plain about a mile square. The village does
not contain above fifty inhabitants, who are employed
142 VOLCANO OF TORMENTOS.
in supplying Amatitlan with building and fire woodJ
Having often visited this village^ I had a strong de-
sire to ascend an active volcano which rises dose to
it; and^ on the 15th of February, 1846, set out for
that purpose, haying procured a native to act in
i^me degree as guide, though the volcano had not
previously been ascended by any person as far as I
could ascertain.
. The volcanoes of Apacaga are three, called " Agua"
(water), *' Cenizco " (cinders), and " Tormentos "
(tempests or thunders). We had proposed ascending
the Volcano of Cenizco, but on approaching it, I de-
termined on that of Tormentos instead, although my
guide assured me it would be impossible.
The Volcano of Tormentos is much the highest of
the three, and its name is derived from its being
nearly always covered by dark heavy clouds of black
smoke, through which scattered gleams of fire are
seen at night ; but its top is rarely visible, being
always concealed by sulphury vapours and dense
smoke. Now and then, loud reports, like broken
peals of thunder, and frequent shocks of earthquake,
proceed from it.
About 8. A.M., we reached the small village of
Apacaga, which is about two leagues distant, in a
direct line from the foot of the volcano, to which we
proceeded, (leaving our horses at the village,) as direct
as the rugged and broken nature of the country
would permit, but we did not reach it till the sun
had considerably declined to the horizon. We
commenced the ascent amidst broken and charred
rocks, intermixed with cinders and broken pieces of
lava. After about two hours hard toil, we approached
ITS DANGEEOUS ASCENT. 143
the part of the mountain which is covered with
smoke^ and the discordant noises we heard as we
approached it^ became loud and terrific, while the
ground shook as with one continued earthquake. Of
a sudden, we were enveloped amidst the smoke, and
heard a loud explosion, which scattered ashes all
around us. My guide exclaimed, " O I santissima
Maria somus perdidos " (Oh I most holy Mary we
are lost), and called out to me, " for Grod's sake let us
return if it be possible ; " but I felt so strong a curio-
sity to go on that I would not be deterred, so I an-
swered, " go back if you like, nothing shall prevent
my going forward." Scrambling up like a cat among
the cinders, which were in some places so hot as to
bum my shoes, and guiding myself by the flashes of
lightning which played about the volcano, and the
direction from which the loudest noises proceeded, as
the smoke entirely obscured the vision, I slowly
ascended among the lava and cinders ; which however
occupied a good deal of time, and in my eagerness
to penetrate into the strange scene before me, I did
not reflect that the day must be passing. At last,
a lurid glare penetrating from amongst the smoke,
and the increased proximity and brilliancy of the
flashes of lightning, accompanied by a noise like
that of the burning of an immense furnace, showed
my near approach to the grand centre of the volcano.
I slowly proceeded towards it, but at last feeling
exhausted by my exertions, I sat down on a block of
lava and began to eat a piece of bread I carried in
my pocket, but I was roused by a tremendous explo-
sion, louder than any thunder I ever heard; an
immense lurid flame rose from the crater, the intense
144 EFFECTS OF AN ERUPTION.
light of which seemed to penetrate the smoke, and
illuminate all the neighbouring country. The ground
felt as if sinking below me. I felt myself thrown
with violence among the ashes, and lay for some time
stunned with the noise, and blinded with the light.
When, after a little, I recovered my observation, I
heard the smothered roar of the volcano near, but
faint, and saw the smoke slowly rising from the cra-
ter, the rocking of the ground had ceased, and the
eruption seemed to have passed over ; here and there
a twinkling star appeared through the vapour, and
the moon was for a moment seen, now and then
through the smoke ; the dread solemnity of the scene
might make an impression on the least sentimental.
I sat still some time, as it were bewildered, looking
at the red glare of the crater which appeared like the
chimney of a huge furnace. I then attempted to
approach its edge, but the heat and suffocating
vapours prevented my reaching it within about
twenty or thirty yards. Being aware that it would
be impossible to find my way among the precipices,
forming the sides of the mountain at night. I waited
till the grey light, penetrating through the smoke,
announced the approach of day, and having found a
more accessible path than that by which I had as-
cended, emerged from the smoke just as the sun was
rising, clear behind the eastern hills, and the sky of
an azure blue without the least speck or cloud. In
about two hours 'more I reached the rugged plain
below the mountain of thunders, and winding my
way to the village, found my guide waiting, though
it appeared, with little hope of again seeing me.
TOLCANO 01^ TORMENTOS, 145
I mounted my horse^ and we reached Amatitlap a
little after uoon.
This mountain^ though perpetually burning, has
not made any destructive eruption for seventy years,
when it vomited an immense mass of lava and cinders,
entirely destroying the village of Tres Bios, ('* three
rivers,") about two leagues distant, and the three rivers
from which it took its name have entirely disappeared.
The immense masses of lava, in many places more
than a hundred feet thick, show the magnitude of the
eruption, and the lava, which has run from the moun-
tain like a great river, looks as fresh as if it had
just cooled. The volcano of Cenizco still continues
to emit a little smoke occasionally, though there is
no tradition of any eruption ; it is of a conical form
and composed entirely of black cinders, without the
least trace of vegetation in any part of the cone, but
it is much lower than either of the other two peaks,
not exceeding, I should think, a thousand feet, while
the volcano of Tormentos must be four or five thou-
sand at least. The volcano of Aqua would appear,
like that of old Guatemala, which bears the same
name, not actually to vomit water, as the natives
suppose; but it is probable that the crater having been
long extinct, the vent has gradually got stopped up
and the basin filled with water from the winter rains,
and finally, the pressure of an immense weight of
water has broken the edge of the crater and poured a
destructive torrent over the neighbouring country, a
catastrophe which last occurred about a century ago,
when it did not, however, like the volcano of Old
Guatemala, wash away the capital, but only a few
Indian huts, and was little talked of, so that one
H
146 VILLA NUEVA.
may live his whole life in Guatemala^ only eleven
leagues distant, without knowing of the existence of
the volcano.
Besides the last catastrophe, there exist along its
sides ample vestiges of many more of a similar na-
ture, looking as if a mighty river had been poured
out of the crater. It is considerably lower than
the volcano of Tormentos, and its sides are so
broken and uneven, that it could easily be as-
cended.
The three volcanic peaks are so near each other
that their bases almost unite, which, I believe, is a
phenomenon to be seen in no other part of the world.
_ ♦
On the road to Amatitlan, at a distance of four
leagues from Guatemala, is the town of Villa Nueva,
where the cochineal insect has been cultivated,
though to a much smaller extent than at Old Guate-
mala or Amatitlan, and much less successfiilly than
at the latter place. The climate is a little better for
the cultivation than that of Old Guatemala, but the
soil is not so good for growing the cactus, and the
poverty of the inhalutants has prevented the planta-
tions from being extended, so that hitherto it has
never produced above three or four hundred bales of
cochineal ; but of late several new estates have been
planted, and a small piece of land in a hollow called
the Hoja del Aqua (" leaf of water"), containing about
a hundred British acres, is said to produce two crops
of cochineal as well as in Amatitlan. The people of
Villa Nueva have a large number of almacenes foir
preserving the insect during the winter season, and
annually supply Amatitlan with about five thousand
pounds of the mother insect for the October seeding.
LEAY^J AMATITLAN. 147
Th^ town is well situated in an undulating plain,
though the situation is much inferior to many others
in the neighbourhood ; it may contain from four to
five thousand inhabitants, who are an industrious and
quiet race of people for Central America. Here on
the 11th of September, 1838, General Salazar, with
nine hundred government troops, defeated Carrera
at the head of a force four times as large, making a
great slaughter of the Indians who accompanied him,
and the town was in consequence called Villa de
Victoria (*^ town of Victory"), but the new name
has been dropped since Carrera obtained supreme
power.
On the 24th of April, we left Amatitlan for
Sonsonate and San -MigueL Passing tha, town
of Patapa, which I have before described, about a
league further, we reached Santa Ignes, a village
prettily situated at the head of Amatitlan lake, in a
small valley. It contains extensive ruins of a large
(Establishment of the Jesuits ; and the situation, like
all those selected by that body, is well chosen. The
soil is a deep black loam, but not a fourth part of the
valley is now cultivated, and the lands once cleared
have returned to a state of nature. The population
does not exceed three or four hundred.
Two leagues further we passed the small village
of San Jos4, consisting of twenty or thirty Indian
huts upon a hill, and two leagues further a village
called the ^^ Rosario," containing perhaps two or three
hundred inhabitants. This was also one of the seats
of the Jesuits ; but part of the buildings are now ap-
propriated as the residence of a cattle estate. A fine
aqueduct is now to be seen in ruins. Immediately after-
H 2
148 JOURNEY TO
wards I passed through immense masses of scoriae which
extend for about a league and a half, entirely covering
the face of the country, and in many places appearing
quite fresh and generally destitute of all vegetation.
As there is no volcanic mountain in sight from
which these masses may be supposed to have been
ejected, it is difficult to form a guess whence such
vast quantities of volcanic matter can have proceeded,
unless it be supposed that the level of the country
has entirely changed since their deposition.
At sunset we reached the village of the *^ Bega,"
attached to the principal residence in the immense
cattle estate of Don Jorge Ponce. Failing to get
accommodated in the village I was obliged to trespass
on Don Jorge's kindness, but was most hospitably
received. The house is a huge building, without any
taste or beauty, and not incumbered with much furni^
ture. Don Jorge told me that the temperature is
not very different from that of Amatitlan, and that
the wet season is as late in commencing and as soon
over, so that it would doubtless prove suitable for
the cultivation of cochineal. At present nothing
is cultivated but a little maize, though there are
immense tracts of the finest land suitable for the
growth of any production ; the principal value of
the estate being its fine pasturage for fattening cattle
for the Guatemala market.
The state of San Salvador appears to be in a most
exhausted and ruined condition from the effects of
the long-continued civil war. All sorts of industry
are nearly at an end, and the people are so accustomed
to being robbed and plundered, that they appear to
have lost all desire of raising any thing more than
SAN MIGUEL. 149
what may be required for their imtnediate wants.
The fair of San Miguel has also sadly fallen oflF; the
importers from South America have for the last two
years done so badly, that only one vessel arrives with
a small quantity of merchandise, but even that is more
than the people have cash to pay for. All classes are
evidently so demoralised and reduced that many years
of a firm government would be necessary to restore
the state to a flourishing condition. I had in San
Miguel a long conversation with the new President,
Don Benito Aguilar, a quiet man of moderate prin-
ciples, a doctor of medicine, and well informed for
the country. He appeared very anxious to give pro-
tection to industry and encourage strangers to settle
in the country ; but I fear that his talents and de-
termination will not be found suflScient to rule this
turbulent state, and that his government will be a
^hort one«
On the 14th of May, before sunrise, I started from
San Miguel, congratulating myself in having this time
at least escaped without an attack of fever. The
day turned out extremely hot, but the mules being
fresh, we reached the estate of Humanas, which is
generally considered a day's journey, at 2 p. m., and
we proceeded on without stopping to the river Lempa.
I could not help being a good deal scorched by the
burning rays of the sun, but having never hitherto
in all my journeys sustained any harm from it, I con-
cluded that I was proof against any injury from this
cause* The atmosphere of Lempa is actually burning
hot during the night, but a native who was at the
same hut with me insisted on shutting all the doors
for fear of robbers, and as the ordinary houses In
H a
150 SAN SALVADOE.
Central America never have windows^ I was almost
suffocated. About two o'clock in the morning I was
alarmed by the doleful lamentation of my servant^
who was sleeping outside the hut where I was lodged.
On inquiring what was the matter he told me in a
most deplorable tone that he was dying, as an insect
had got into his ear and was eating his brain. I was
myself suffering, and having often before seen the
same accident, I adopted the simple remedy of putting
a few drops of water in his ear, which the insect not
liking moved out again mid left the man well in ten
minutes. Proceeding again befoie dayUght I managed
to get to San Salvador at 4 p. M.j but in greater agony
than I have ever before suffered in my life, my pulse
being 134. I had in fact caught a violent rheu*
matic fever. I remained a week in San Salvador^
making use of the most powerful remedies, but I only
succeeded in reducing the fever a little, without in
the least alleviating the rheumatic pains.
The third day after my arrival in San Salvador^
I was surprised by an aguacil (constable) coming to
my lodgings with a message that the alcalde (civic
magistrate) wished to see me immediately. I told
him that he must certainly have made a mistake, as
the alcalde could not want anything with me, and
did not even know my name : but he returned in a
few minutes to say that it was not a mistake, and
required my immediate attendance. Proceeding to
the cabilda, I was astonished to find a clidm made
against me by a servant who had run away from me
in the town of Nahuisalco, on account of some clothes
he left behind and lost on that occasion. I told the
alcalde that I did not suppose I was obliged to ac^
. AN UNJUST DEMAND. 151
count for the clothes of a person who had behaved
in such a manner, and that I had not thought myself
bound to take charge of them, but had abandoned
them as worth nothing to me : but I found that he
was determined to give judgment in favour of his
countryman; and, feeling indignant at such a robbery,
I told him that I would not pay, but should appeal to a
higher court. A gentleman who was present, and who
appeared to be a lawyer, told me that it was a very
unjust demand, but that if I did not settle it I should
have to leave a power of attorney, and incur much
more expense than the amount in question. The al-
calde then proposed that I should pay half the demand,
which was for 21 dollars. I offered him five dol-
lars, and he then proposed seven, which I preferred
paying to being further bothered. I was informed
that, as all the civic officers are chosen by the lowest
of the people from their own class, a respectable per-*
son, or, indeed, any white, has no chance whatevet^
of having justice done him in any dispute he may
have with a mestizo, or any one of the lower classes.
As there was little chance of my being cured in the
way I was forced to live in San Salvador, having,
as usual, no bed to lie upon, nor any possibility of
obtaining such accommodation as would be required
by the poorest person in Europe, I on the 25th
left for Sonsonate, which I reached the same night,
more dead than alive, having been forced to dismount
several times and lie down on the road-side to pre-
vent my fidling off the mule. On the 27th I again
proceeded on my journey. The road was in a most
horrible state, and, from the nature of the soil of the
ridge of hills which it is necessary to cross on the
152 ARSIVAL AT AMATITLAN.
first day's journey, waa as slippery as grease. After
great difficulty and several falls, I reached Apcmeca,
near the top of the chain of hills, in the midst of a
heavy shower of rain, at 11 a.m. The rain continued
fof four hours, when I proceeded agfun on my journey,
and reached Ahuachahan at snnset, covered all over
with mud, and severely hruised with falling, being
unable to walk, though riding in such roads is at-
tended with great risk of breaking one'e neck. Next
evening we reached the town of Zalpatagua, well
wet by a heavy thunder shower. Starting in the
morning with a drizzling rain, which soon grew
heavier, we managed, by walking the horses through
the mud; to reach the Oratorio at 1 P. H. ; and, the
rain becoming still heavier, we were forced to remain
all night, and, after two or three days most uncom-
fortable travelling, we at length reached Amatitlan,
where I commenced curing my rheumatic fever by
the only treatment I have ever found successful with
myself or others (small continued doses of calomel) ;
and in a week I was nearly quite recovered.
This was the end of what is called the " temporada" in
Amatitlan, when all the idle people come from Gua-
temala for the nominal purpose of bathing. Every
house is theu full of visitors, most of them having live
nts, and often as many as twenty in each
time is spent in gambling and intrigues
sexes, and among the visitors are many
mhlers, who come on purpose to victim-
neal growers, one of whom admitted to
bad twice played away all his crop of
gambling tables are to be seen placed
the houses, with the doors wide open,
GUATEMALA SHARPERS. 153
^nd the inhabitants who may be passing are invited
in on different pretexts. The games are of different
sorts^ no doubt of Spanish origin^ and the stakes at
the principal tables are generally for bales of cochi-
neal5 one of which is represented by each counter, so
that if the simple natives can be induced to play^
they are almost certain to be deprived of all theii?
crop by the Guatemala sharpers. It is, however, most
surprising to see how quietly a native will lose all
his property at the gambling table ; the utmost sign
of impatience he will ever show being the exclama-
tion, Jesus, Santissima Maria, (" Jesus, most holy
Mary,") in a gay tone of voice, though perhaps the
victim may be forced to sell his cochineal estate, and
his family in a moment reduced from comparative
comfort to the condition of common labourers. In-
deed, it has always astonished me to see the great
command of countenance possessed by all the Spa-
niards and their descendants. Though they are, per-
haps, the most avaricious people in the world, they
will hear of any loss or disaster, however severe or
unexpected, without the slightest apparent emotion,
or the least change of expression, generally passing
some joke upon the occasion with more than usual
good-humour.
Before concluding this journal, I must not omit td
mention the lake of Cojutepeke, the native name of
which is lUobasco, which I have already cursorily
noticed, but have since ascertained that it is subject to
a most singular phenomenon which renders it worthy
of a fuller description. This lake is, as already stated;
a few leagues distant from the large town of Cojute-
peke in the state of San Salvador, from which it may
H 5
154 LAKE OS" COJUTEPEKE.
be readily seen. It is about twelve miles long, of an
irregular 8hape5 on an average about five miles
broad, and surrounded on all sides (except a small
opening at which a stream of water runs out) by ma-
jestic and precipitous mountains. Some small rivulets
flow into the lake, and the surrounding scenery is
most romantic and beautiful. The lake is, in some
parts, of great depth, though no attempts have been
made to ascertain it with exactness. In smooth
weather the water has no peculiar appearance or dif-
ference from that of other lakes, nor can parties then
walking on the banks observe any fish, but after a
brisk wind it. assumes a dark green colour, and the
fish flock to the shores in such numbers that the na*
tives not only catch them in large quantities with
nets, but in buckets, and even with the hand*
This singular phenomenon is called by the natives la
cosecha de pedcados (" the fish harvest "); and the
Indians suppose that a demon who lives in the middle
of the lake then troubles the water, the fish es-'
caping from his presence to the borders of the lake*
The most likely explanation would appear to be, that
the middle of the lake contains a number of thermal
springs charged with carbonic acid gas and some
mineral which colours the water. This water, being
heavier than that which enters from the mountain
streams, remains at the bottom of the lake and the
pure water covers the upper surface, so that in
smooth weather the fish find no difficulty in main-
taining themselves in the uncontaminated water,
readily avoiding that at the bottom of the lake, in
which they cannot exist ; but when the lake is agi-
tated by strong winds the mineral water becomes
k
LAKE OF COJUTEPEKE. 155
mixed with that v/hich is superineumbent, and the
whole body of the lake then becomes destructive to the
fish, which are compelled to repair to its borders,
where it is shallow, and consequently composed en-
tirely of pure water without i^ny understrata of that
charged with the gas or other noxious principle.
This lake is certainly well worth the minute ex-
amination of men of science, and, though I have no
pretensions to that character, I regretted that on all
the occasions I passed through the town ot Cojute-
peke I was too much hurried to spare time for a ftiU
examination
H 3
156
CHAP. V.
HI8TOST OF CENTBAI4 AMERICA FROM THE DECLARATION OF
OTDEPENDENCE TO THE DISSOLUTION OF THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT, 15tH SEPTEMBER, 1821, TO IST FEBRUARY,
1839.
The states now known as the republic of Central
America formed (with the addition of the province
of Chiapas^ which has joined Mexico) the Spanish
captain-generalship of Guatemala, a name which still
attaches to the largest state of the Confederation. The
other states had the same names and nearly the same
divisions as at present, but were all subject to the
Captain-General, who resided in Guatemala and ap-
pointed Intendentes (governors) for the subordinate
provinces.
On the 15th September, 1821, the city of Guate-
mala proclaimed its absolute independence from the
mother country of Spain, and invited the other pro-
vinces of the captain-generalship to follow its ex-
ample. As the Spanish authorities had almost no
force at their disposal, they had no resource but
quietly to submit to the declaration : many of them
joined the new government which was then pro-
visionally established, and the remainder returned to
Spain, or repaired to the island of Cuba, without
attempting to offer a futile resistance to what appeared
to be a general movement of the country. Upon the
intelligence of the movement in Guatemala the pro-
4
HISTORY OF CENTRAL AMERICA, 157
vinces of San Salvador and Honduras immediately
followed their example, deposing the authorities of the
Spanish government, most of whom, however, joined
the new order of things. Being generally natives of
the country, they of course had no objection to ex-
change a delegated for an independent authority,
which they thought they would be enabled to main-*
tain with facility ; but the government authorities of
the province of Nicaragua (actuated, it would appear,
by the bishop, who shrewdly guessed that the revolu-
tion would be destructive of his authority,) refused
to follow the example of the capital of the captain-
generalship, stating that they deferred declaring their
independence till they saw what sort of government
might be established. On the 11th of October,
however, they altered ^his resolution, declaring for
the plan of Iguala, after the example of Mexico, the
object of which was to offer the government to a
Spanish prince, who should, however, be independent
of the mother country; in this they were shortly
afterwards joined by the city of Quesaltenango in
the department of the Altos of Guatemala.
The new government of Guatemala immediately
proceeded to abolish all the restrictions upon foreign
commerce, which had been enacted in the time of the
Spanish government; decreeing the liberty of the
press, and the abolition of all monopolies, with many
other liberal measures ; but they were not destined
to proceed long in their career, as the adventurer
Iturbide, having been proclaimed Emperor of Mexico,
used a mixture of persuasion and force to induce the
provinces of the old captain-generalship of Guatemala
to join that government. Some engagements took
158 HISTORY OF CENTBAL AMERICA.
place between the two parties^ and blood was for the
first time spilt in Guatemala on the 30thof November,
1821; but the Mexican party appeared to gain ground,
being joined hj the capitals of Nicaragua and Costa
Bica, and the city of Quesaltenanga, and only op-
posed by San Salvador and Granada. The Mexican
government was proclaimed in Guatemala on the
5th of January, 1822, and by a decree of the Emperor
dated the 4th of November of the same year, the old
captain-generalship was divided into three districts,
each bearing the title of captain-generalship ; namely,
Chiapas, Sacataquez^ and Costa Rica, the capital of
the first being Ciudad Real, of the second the city of
Guatemala, and of the third Leon in Nicaragua*
But as the people everywhere showed themselves
unfavourable to this new division, it was never carried
into effect, and the names and divisions of the old
provinces continued to be used. San Salvador, how-
ever, refused to agree to its incorporation with the
Mexican Empire, a^d, on the 3rd of June, General
Arzee attacked the capital of that state for the pur-
pose of reducing it, but was defeated, and his forces
completely routed and dispersed. The provisional
congress of this state, seeing their inability to resist
all the others backed by Mexico, passed an act,
bearing date the 2nd of December, 1822, declaring
themselves united to the government of the United
States of North America, but this decree remained
entirely null, and it is not known what reply, if any,
was made to it by the United States. San Salvador
was inunediately afterwards invested by Don Vicente
Fisiola with two thousand Imperial troops, and after
the loss of about a hundred men was taken. The inde-
HISTORY OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 159
pendent party then submitted^ and the whole country
might be considered as joined to the Mexican Empire^
though Granada in Nicaragua and San Jose in Costa
Kica still refused to acknowledge it : but the fall of
Iturbide having again thrown Mexico into a state of
anarchy, it ceased to give any support to its party,
which formed a very small minority in the captain-
generalship of Guatemala, and insurrections took
place against the Mexican authorities, who were. 8UC!i>
cessively expelled from all ,the States, or joined the
independent party ; and General Fisiola, at the time
the most popular officer in the country, having called
an assembly of national representatives, all ithe pro-
vinces resolved to unite and form an independent
government, except Chiapas, which refused to assent
to the resolution and adhered to Mexico ; the remain-
ing provinces, namely, Guatemala, including the
Altos, San Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and
Costa Bica, agreed to form a federal government
closely resembling that of the United States of North
America ; each state in a similar manner forming a
separate internal government, the custom duties,
being, however, collected by the federal government
and a supreme court of appeal in civil suits created ;
the federal government to take the name of the
Kepublic of Central America. '
The same assembly afterwards proceeded to decree
the abolition of all titles of nobility and the Spanish
title of Don: anew flag of blue, white, and blue,
placed horizontally, was adopted, and new armorial
bearings, being a representation of the sun rising
behind a ridge of mountains, and the words, " Deus,
Union, Libertad," (God, Union, Liberty), They also
160 HISTORY OF CENTRAL AMERICA.
abolished the sale of papal bulls and indulgences/ and
several other abuses of the Spanish Government.
Many liberal and very excellent laws were passed by
this assembly, of which unfortunately only the record
now remains. Among others, it was enacted that
the property of strangers resident in the Republic
should, under all circumstances, be respected, and that
neither they nor their property should be interfered
with, even in case of war with the country of which
they were natives. That they might practise any
profession or trade without hinderance, or purchase
and hold land and houses, or any other property,
having in every respect the same privileges as
natives of the country. The Republic appeared
quiet and contented, and every thing wore a prosper-,
ous and improving appearance at the end of the year
1823.
In the commencement of 1824, the peace of the
Republic was, however, disturbed by insurrections in
Nicaragua. On the 13th of January, the mob of
the city of Leon forced the provisional government
to remove Basilic Carrillo from the chief command,
and substitute Carmen Salazar in his place; and on the
4th of May, the mob and soldiers raised another in-
surrection, deposing the governor of the city of Leon,
Justo Milla, and naming Pablo Melendez in his place,
but the latter was a few days afterwards deposed in
another insurrection ; and on the 22nd of July, Cleto
Ordonez, an artilleryman, having managed to gain the
favour of the mob and common soldiers, (who in
Central America are always mixed with the populace,
and agree with them in their a<5ts and opinions,) got
himselfproclaimed commander-general of the province*
HISTORY Q'F CENTRAL AMERICA* 161
lut his authority was resisted by the towns of Ma-»
Hagua &nd Nicaragua^ which set up another govern-^
ment^ formed of a junta of their inhabitants. On the
6th of August} some districts of the city of Leon
^ain rose in insurrection, for the purpose of re-estab-
lishing the authority of Pablo Melendez, who had a
few days before been deposed by Ordonez. The in-
surgents were repulsed by the new authorities, but
not before they had plundered a great part of the
city, ill-treating the women and murdering the men
who fell in their way, so that Leon suffered all the
horrors that could have been inflicted by the invasion
of a savage enemy* Unfortunately, this appeared to
be only the commencement of a state of continual
anarchy, which has reduced this city (formerly one of
the finest in the new world) to little more than a
mass of ruins; inflicting greater injury than any
earthquake or volcano has ever done, even in the
country so remarkable for these catastrophes.
On the 9th of August the town of Viejo Chinen-
dega, in the same province, joined the party of
Managua ; and with their joint forces, amounting to
two thousand men, invested Leon, the capital of the
state ; and on the 14 th of the same month another
body of troops in the interest of the Managua party,
commanded by Coronel Chrisanto Sacano, attacked
the town of Granada, which had declared for the
party of Ordonez, or the Leonese faction, but, after
a number of petty skirmishes, retired without being
able to take the town ; and a few days afterwards a
body of Leonese and Granada troops attacked Ma-^
nagua with the same result. On the 13th' of Sep-
tember the forces of Yiejo Chinendega and Managua,
162 HISTOBT Of" CENTRAL AMERICA.
under the command of . Coronel Chrisanto Sacano
and Juan Joa6 Salas, a Colombian officer, attacked
Leon, and after a number of skirmishes took posses-
sion of the suburbs and the greater part of the city,
the besieged being hemmed in in the market-place and
some of the adjoining streets, which were barricaded
and desperately defended. The siege lasted 114
days, and during that period the greater part of
the city was plundered; upwards of 900 houses
were burnt or demolished, and both parties acted
with a degree of cruelty and barbarity almost un-
heard of among the most savage nations ; and al-
though members of the same family were often
engaged on different sides, no men^ was shown by
them to their fellow-countrymen and relations,
neither age nor sex being respected. The very
churches were flooded with the blood of victims who
had taken refuge within them, such being (as might
be expected) principally the old and infirm, women
and children, upon whom the ferocious soldiery
glutted their fury, for want of other victims : still
the besiegers were finally compelled to retire on the
4th of January, 1825, leaving the city of Leon in a
state of ruin, from which it has never since re-
covered.
In the commencement of the year 1825 General
Arzee entered the state with a body of San Salvador
troops, and both parties submitted to him with little
resistance, so that the state of Nicaragua was again
for a short time reduced to acknowledge the federal
authorities ; though the seeds of anarchy, which
were soon to spread to the other parts of the Be-
I
I
i
4
HISTORY OF CENTBAL AMERICA; 163
public, were not extirpated, but merely smothered
for a brief interval.
The other states forming the Republic of Central
America remained quiet during the years 1824 and
1825, and increased in wealth and prosperity, while
the national assembly continued to enact wise aaid
useful laws, though many of them, as it afterwards
appeared, were too liberal, for the backward state
of the country. On the 17 th of April, 1824, a
decree was passed declaring all the slaves absolutely
free, and further that slavery should never in : fu-
ture exist in any part of the territory of Central
America, the citizens being prohibited from carry-
ing on the slave trade under heavy penalties. The
decree produced but little alteration in the labour
of the country, as the daves were very few in
number, not exceeding five or sit. hundred at most,
and were nearly all employed as household ser-*
vants ; had they been more numerous so sweeping a
measure must have excited great resistance.
On the 15 th of May, the national convention i^eed
that a congress should be called, each of the states
having respectively the following number of repre-
sentatives: namely, Guatemala 18, Honduras 11,
Nicaragua 13, and Costa Rica 11. Those of Gua-
temala met in the city of Old Gruatemala, of Hon-
duras in Aguanqueteric, of Nicaragua in the town
of Managua, and of Costa Rica in San Jose; the
congress of the state of San Salvador, composed of
eleven members, had previously met in the capital of
that state.
The states were also to send deputies to a federal
congress, to meet in the city of Guatemala for regu-
164 HISTORY OF CENTRAL AMERICA.
lating the general government, in the following pro-*
portions ; namely Guatemala 17 representatives,
Sati Salvador 9, Honduras 6, Nicaragua 6, and
Costa Kica 2* On the 20th of August the new
government was acknowledged by Mexico, which
had previously given up all attempts to recover its
lost dominion in Central America^ During the
remainder of 1824 the representative assemblies were
occupied in defining the boundaries of the different
states, and dividing them into provinces ; regula-*
tions which can possess no interest to European
i-eaders, or indeed to any person out of the country*
- The first federal congress met on the 6th of
February, 1825, and afterwards had eleven sessions
previously to the year 1838, when the federal union
was virtually dissolved, all the different states having
proclaimed themselves independent, and refused to
assent to any national government. General Arzee
was elected the first president of Central America,
and installed in his oflice on the 29th of April* In
the same month a federal senate met in Guatemala,
elected in a similar manner to that body in the U. S.
of North America, the vice-president of the republic,
Mariano Beltraneno, being also appointed president
of the senate. In this year the state of San Sal-
vador, moved by jealousy at the authority claimed
over that state by the Bishop of Guatemala, ap-
pointed Dr, Matras Delegado bishop of San Sal-»
yador ; and although the pope disapproved formally
of the appointment, and at the suggestion of the
Archbishop of Guatemala threatened to excommuni*
cate the state government, he retained his office
about four years. But this occurrence caused a violent
HISTORY OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 16S
I
dispute between the states of Guatemala and San
Salvador, which was only to be decided by an appeal
\ to arms, and it has to this day left a rankling hatred
} between the two states, ready always to break out
into open violence. Shortly afterwards, Costa Bica,
which previously had been under the ecclesiastical
jurisdiction of the Bishop of Nicaragua, followed the
example of appointing a separate bishop ; but the
' people of that state being of a pacific disposition, it
had not a similar result, and the two states now
' remain without any bishop, or much probability of
[ one being again appointed.
, A supreme court of legal appeal was this year
j also established in Guatemala, Dr. Tomas Ant.
Oberon being the first president. Guatemala and
the other provinces also appointed State Courts in
place of the old Spanish tribunals, but the laws and
customs, and most of the oflSces belonging to the old
courts, were retained.
The commencement of the year 1826 was marked
by an attempt to revive the Spanish authority in the
state of Costa Bica — a Spaniard, called Jose Zamara,
having with that object excited an insurrection in
the town of Alkajuela, but he appeared to have acted
with the most foolish rashness, and meeting with no
support, was seized and shot by order of govern*
ment.
On the 6th of September of this year. General
Arzee, the President of the Bepublic, having secret
information of the intention of the authorities of
Guatemala to rebel against the federal government,
caused Sen Jose Barrundia, Governor of the State>
to be arrested in the government house, and the
166 DISTORT OF CENTBAI/ AMERICA.
oiyic militia [to be disarmed. Taken by surprise^
they offered no resistance whatever. The President
shortly afterwards, on his own authority, convoked
an extraordinary national congress to meet in the
town of Cojutepeke, in the State of San Salvador,
for the purpose of considering and remedying the
discontent of the different states, but the state
government of San Salvador, actuated by a factious
opposition to the federal government, directed the
representatives to meet in the town of Ahuacha-
pan, and the consequence of these contradictory
instructions was, that no meeting took place.
Immediately after this, the continued disturbances
commenced, which have since reduced most of the
states of the republic to the verge of ruin.
On the 13th of October, the mob of the city of
Quesaltenango, the capital of the province of the
Altos, rose and murdered the vice-governor Cerilio
Flores, then acting governor of the state of Guate-
mala, in the parish church. Several of the members
of government were also assassinated, and the re-
mainder of them and the representatives of congress
had to escape for their lives, leaving the state without
any form of government. On the 18 th of the same
month, Coronel Jos^ Pierzan defeated the insurgents
in Salcaya, and entered Quesaltenango without
resistance, but on the 28th of the month was in turn
attacked by Brigadier Francisco Cascaras with a
body of federal troops and totally defeated.
On the 31st of December, the objections enter-
tained by the president to the meeting of congress
in Guatemala, being removed by the destruction of
the members of the former government in Quesalte-
HISTORY OP CENTRAL AMERICA. 167
nango^ the representatives met in the capital of that
state. In this year, a law was passed in the state of
Guatemala, preventing either sex from entering oon-r
vents under the age of twenty-three, or taking the
pionastic vows under twenty-five, a measure soon
followed up by the suppression of these institutions.
Two members of the senate having retired on the
2nd of September, that body was dissolved, and
afterwards dispensed with.
On the 29th of July of this year, a treaty of
friendship and commerce was signed between the
Kepublic and the government of the U. S. of North
America: this treaty, which expired in 1837, ad-
mitted the produce and manufactures of the IT. S. of
North America at one-half the duties paid by all
other countries, or ten per cent, and also stipulated
that citizens of Central America should, on entering
the U. S« of N. America become citizens of that
country, and that citizens of the U. S. of N.
America should do the same on entering Central
America : the latter stipulation has, I believe, in no
case been claimed, and was manifestly anything but
an advantage to North American citizens sojourning
in a country without any stable form of government,
where the natives were exposed to all sorts of robbery
and imposition.
In the commencement of 1827, Nicaragua was
again the scene of disturbances. The vice-governor of
the State of Juan, Arguello, having excited an insur-
rection, forcibly dissolved the state legislature then sit-
ting in the town of Granada. This was the signal for
a renewal of insurrections in all parts of the state,
three or four parties springing up, each pretending
168 HISTORY OF CENTRAL AMERICA'.
to consult the general good, but in reality only aiming
at the supreme power, for the purpose of plundering
and oppressing all the rest of the inhabitants. A
detailed history of the petty revolts and skirmishes
which took place would present no interest, as it
resembled a general mania, the populace one day
taking part with one factious demagogue, and the
following day with another, without being able to
assign any reason for such excitement. On the
14th of September, Coronel Cleto Ordonez again
excited an insurrection of the troops in Leon, and
deposed the Vice-governor, but was very shortly
afterwards in turn deposed, and the state of Nica^
ragua continued split up into petty factions, none of
which were sufficiently strong to enforce the law, or.
establish a settled government.
On the 1st of March, Mariano Aycinena, an old
Spaniard of noble family, was popularly elected
governor of the State of Guatemala : from this time
the division of the Republic into two factions, called
liberals and serviles, may be dated, the former being
composed of the middle classes, and the latter of a
union between the old Spaniards and the lowest of
the mob.
The former advanced just and liberal measures,
but with far too great precipitation for a country
accustomed to the despotic government of Spain,
while the latter strove, by every means, to check the
movement, calling fanaticism and all the worst pas*
sions of the mob to their assistance. Aycinena be-
longed to this latter party. In the same month a
military tribunal was established in Guatemala for
judging political offences in a summary manner; this
ILLEGAL SENTENCES OF DEATH. 169
tribunal passed sentence of proscription against
Dr. Molina, and eight others of the principal mem-
bers of the liberal party in Guatemala ; and also
against Sachet a French oflSicer, and Colonel Pierzon
a native of Columbia, and the latter, being shortly
afterwards taken, was immediately shot.
This example of putting to death without legal
forms, was quickly followed by the other states of
Central America, the chiefs of the victorious factions
uniformly constituting themselves a tribunal to judge
and condemn their opponents ; but even this empty
form was at last dispensed with, and the leading
general, or assassin (which in Central America are
generally synonymous terms), issued his orders to put
whomsoever he thought proper to death, without
condescending to assign a reason.
On the 10th of March of the same year, a di vision
of the federal troops, under the command of Colonel
Justo Milla, took possession of Comayagua, the
capital of Honduras, and imprisoned the governor
of the state, Dionisio Herrera, who a short time
before had refused to acknowledge the federal autho*
rities and had endeavoured to separate Honduras from
the rest of the republic. Most of the government
officers and members of the state congress, having
entered into his views, were displaced by order of
the president of the republic, and new deputies and
government officers were elected. The new authori-
ties, however, only maintained their post during the
presence of the federal troops, upon whose with-
drawal they lost all control, and were driven out by
a fresh insurrection.
On the 18th of May, General Arzee, the president
I
170 BBIEF NOTICE OF
of the republic, at the head of about two thousand
troops attacked the city of San Salvador (the state
government of which had a short time ago deckred
itself separated &om his authority) ; but after five
hours' fighting, he was repulsed with the loss of
two hundred men, and in consequence obliged to
abandon the state of San Salvador. On the 28th of
September, however, the federal troops, commanded
by Colonel Millar, defeated the united forces of San
Salvador and Honduras at Sabana Grande ; but the
federal troops were again in their turn defeated by a
body of San Salvador and Nicaragua troops, com-
manded by Lieut. CoL Remigio Dias, the victory
being principally owing to the conduct of Francisco
Morazan, a native of Honduras, who then first
figured in the politics of Central America. Having
been secretary-general of that state in 1824, he
afterwards turned his attention to military matters,
and rose to be first president or chief of Honduras,
and afterwards of the republic. A brief notice of
this chief, who is the only person of talent or ability
to light up the dreary career of anarchy and mis-
rule which forms the history of Central America,
may perhaps be acceptable.
Francisco Morazan was born in the state of Hon-
duras, in or about the year 1799, his father being, it
would appear, a native of one of the French West
India Islands, and his mother, of the country. His
education was such as might have been expected in a
country so backward in all sorts of knowledge, con-
sisting merely of reading and writing ; but he early
evinced great quickness in acquiring knowledge, and
was distinguished for his violent and fiery temper so
FRANCISCO MOBAZAN. 171
different from the apathy of disposition common
among the natives of Spanish America.
His figure was good^ and his features handsome
and intelligent, his ruddy complexion and bright blue
eye proving that his blood was different from that of
his mongrel Spanish countrymen. His address was
frank and independent, and quite free from the
mixture of pride and ignorance, fawning and inso-
lence, so universal in the natives of Spanish America
who have attained a little brief authority. He had
acquired a knowledge of the French language after
leaving school, and from reading French books and
history, combined with his descent, he had imbibed a
great partiality for that nation, and it would appear
a prejudice against the British ; which was not a little
increased by disputes he afterwards had with H. B. M.
consul-general, Mr. Chatfield, who was generally
considered as unfavourable to the liberal party of
which General Morazan was the head. His private
character was good for a Central American, and
would be tolerable in most countries. Great Britain
and North America excepted.
It would appear that, aware of his great supe-
riority over the natives, he was at last led utterly
to despise them, considering that every thing must
at once yield to his talents and valour, and that his
very appearance would insure victory, however in-
ferior his forces might be ; in this he was confirmed,
by the facility with which he overthrew the party in
power at the commencement of his career.
Morazan would have been quite unfitted to be the
head of any country possessing men of real ability
and understanding ; his talents being better adapted
I a
172 HIS CAPABILITY AS GOVERNOR.
for undertaking and oan*ying out a dangerous en-
terprise, than maintaining his acquired authority^
or securing the wise and peaceful government of the
country.
On the 17th of December, a sanguinary engage-
ment took place in the city of Santa Ana, in the
state of San Salvador, between the troops of that
state, commanded by Coronel Merino, and those of
Guatemala by Brigadier Cascaras, which, after the
loss of about three hundred men on both sides, was
terminated by a convention, according to which both
generals were to retire with their forces. Cascaras
retired in accordance with the xjonvention ; but
Merino, notwithstanding it, kept possession of Santa
Ana.
. During the year 1828 the disputes between the
different states continued, leaving the republic in a
complete state of anarchy. On the 9th of February,
the officers commanding the troops under General
William Perks excited an insurrection against their
commander, who in consequence was forced to resign
his command, and was succeeded by Colonel Antonio
Jos^ Irzarri. In the same month the president of
the republic. General Arzee, having deposited his
command for a short time in the hands of the vice-
president, Beltranena, the latter refused to relinquish
his authority when required, and continued governor
of the state and nominal president of the republic
till he was expelled by General Morazan. General
Aice, although a man of a mild and pacific temper,
was never able to recover his authority, having no
^natural talent, and being of too gentle a temper foi?
; managing the violent elements that agitated his
A GENERAL MASSACRE, 173
country. Had a man of more determined character
in the first place attained the supreme power in
the republic, he might in the beginning have de--
fitroyed the seeds of insurrection, and procured a
different destiny for the people.
On the Ist of March of this year the forces of
Guatemala, commanded by Brigadier Arza, defeated
the forces of San Salvador under Coronel Merino ;
the battle was extremely obstinate, and no quarter
was given by either party, so that upwards of
600 fell, the greater number of whom were killed
after the battle, during a general massacre which took
place from the barbarous determination of taking
no prisoners, but putting to death all who fell into
their hands — a practice too often followed, which
has given a most savage character to the wars in
Central America, and has caused the exhibition
of cruelties almost unheard of in the nineteenth
century. After the engagement the victors laid
siege to the city of San Salvador ; but after great
loss on both sides the besiegers retired, their leader
being wounded by the bursting of a cannon; but
the troops of San Salvador being again defeated by
a force of Guatemala soldiers, commanded by Colonel
Dominguez, who afterwards entirely reduced the
department of San Miguel, the state of San Salvador
was compelled again to submit to the federal govern-
ment, and the union of a national congress in Santa
Ana ; the city of San Salvador to be in the mean
time occupied by the federal troops. But the mob of
San Salvador, on hearing of this convention, rose
against the government; and having removed the
pacific members, the civil war was resumed with
» 3
174 RENEWAL OF THE CIVIL WAR.
renewed hatred and fury ; and the federal troopa
occupying the city were, on the 20th of September,
taken prisoners, with their leaders.
On the 6th of July the forces of Honduras, for
the first time, commanded by General Morazan,
attacked, and after an obstinate engagement defeated
the Guatemala forces, under the command of Colonel
Dominguez, who had previously subdued the depart-
ment of San Miguel. The engagement took place
on the border of the river Lempa, and the retreat of
the federal troops having been cut off, they retired
to San Antonio; where, being again attacked by
General Morazan, they laid down their arms; so
that the authority of the federal government was
entirely destroyed in the state of San Salvador, and
might be considered as suspended in all the republic,
till General Morazan again re-established it in his
own person.
The state of Guatemala had sustained nearly all
the brunt of the war against San Salvador and Hon-
duras ; and finding that its troops were in all parts
defeated, it endeavoured, but in vain, to negotiate a
peace, removing all the authors of the war who had
any share in the government, and replacing them
with men understood to be friendly to peace.
In Quesaltenango a conspiracy was formed against
the existing government of Guatemala; the troops
were attacked in their barracks, and killed or taken
prisoners. Among the latter was the governor ; but the
mass of the people rose against the insurgents, and
killed or dispersed them all, restoring the governor
to his authority.
The end of this year was marked by the expiring
efforts of the servile party in Guatemala, passing
EFFORTS OF THE SERVILE PARTY. 175
laws against religious dissent, and for the burning of
all prohibited books, or those not authorised by the
Church of Rome, These laws, however, were abro-
gated the following year upon the destruction of the
government and party which enacted them ; but were
again put in force in 1841 by the servile party, and
are still in force in the state of Guatemala, though
not in the other states which formed the republic.
Still the existence of such laws cannot be of much
importance till the general diffusion of education
shall excite a desire of reading ; and as soon as this
takes place they will doubtless be repealed, or become
a dead letter.
The year 1829 was principally distinguished by
the rise and consolidation of Morazan's power.
On the 22nd of January an insurrection took
place in Old Guatemala ; the authorities of the state
were expelled, and although the insurgents werq
easily subdued, arid the authority of the government
re-established in a few days, it encouraged General
Morazan to invade the state at the head of 2000
Honduras and San Salvador troops. The first attack
on the city of Guatemala was made on the 5tU of
February, when Morazan was repulsed with a trifling
loss; he then proceeded to Old Guatemala, where
he was received with open arms, the authorities of
government making their escape without attempting
any resistance ; but having again advanced to Mizco,
a town distant three leagues from Guatemala, he
was a second time repulsed by the government forces,
with the loss of about 150 men ; the victors, how-
ever, pursuing their advantage too eagerly, were some
days afterwards attacked by the General, and defeated
I 4
176 VAIN ATTEMPT TO EFFECT A TREATY.
in their turn; and, on the 15th of March, he gained
another victory, killing about a hundred of the
government troops. The authorities of Guatemala
now in vain attempted to negotiate a treaty with
Morazan, offering to recal all the liberal party who
had been exiled, and even to share the government
with them ; after two months of continued skirmish-*
ing, generally to the disadvantage of the government
troops, the city of Guatemala was attacked on the
12th of April, and the greater part carried at the
point of the bayonet. The remains of the govern-*
ment forces agreed to evacuate the city upon a
capitulation, the principal points of which were that
the city should be saved from plunder or violence,
and that a new representative assembly should be
called to settle the government, the former autho-
rities remaining in power till new ones were elected }
but General Morazan immediately afterwards assert-
ing that the officers of government were intriguing
against him, entered the city with his troops, im-
prisoned or drove out all the existing authorities,
and ordered the re-establishment of the government
officers deposed in Quesaltenango in October 1826*
All the chiefs of the liberal party having assembled,
and the deputies of the Congress deposed at Que-
saltenango, Nicholas Espinosa, being president,
decreed extraordinary honours to General Morazan,
striking a gold medal to commemorate his success,
and ordering his portrait to be hung in the hall of
Congress. The federal congress and senate, dissolved
in 1826, again assembled; and having declared all
the laws enacted, and all proceedings adopted
during their absence as illegal, and the government,
EXPULSION OF THE HONKS. 177
from the 6th of April 1826 to the lath of April
1829, to have been an unconBtitutional usurpation,
the senior senator, Jos^ Francisco Barrundia, received
the name of president by a decree of the Congress,
though all the power was really in the hands of the
victorious soldier, who had in so short a time exalted
his party. On the 10th of July the archbishop of
Guatemala, Raman Casaus (who had been discovered
carrying on intrigues against the new government)
was, by Moiuzan's order, seized at midnight by a
party of soldiers, hurried to the port of Isabel, and
put on hoard a vessel ; the monks and friara of the
three principal convents were also expelled from the
state in a summary manner; and the Congress of
Guatemala in the same month decreed the suppres-
sion of all the male convents, and prohibited females
from becoming nuns for the future ; appropriating to
the government the revenues of the suppressed monas-
teries. This act was fully approved by the federal
congress on the 7th of September following, which
declared all religious orders at an end throughout tl
republic; it received also the universal sanction
the people, and was immediately carried into effe
in all the states.
On the 22nd of August the federal congress pass<
an act, banishing the late president, vice-presiden
and ministers of the republic, and also the ta
governor of Guatemala and his ministers, and t
the other officers lust employed in the federal ai
state government ; further ordering that they shou
return the amount they had received on account
their salaries, and that the third part of their properl
should be confiscated to pay the damages and cxpen.
178 CONFISCATION OF PROPERTY.
of the war. This appeared but a just retribution for
the severities exercised by the servile party during
their domination ; but as most people belonged to one
or other of these parties, the property of nearly all
the principal people has been successively confiscated
to enrich adventurers of the opposite party.
On the 1st of April of this year, the legislature of
Costa Bica declared that state independent, and
separated from the rest of the republic; and proceeded
to enact different laws and duties which continued in
force till January 1831, when the decree was annulled
and the federal authorities again peaceably acknow-
ledged. The great difference between this and
most of the revolutions which have taken place in
the other states of Central America, is that it was
effected without any loss of life or property and as
peaceably as any government could be changed in the
best regulated European state.
During the same year, the state government of Hon-
duras passed a decree that no regulation made by the
pope in regard to religion could be carried into effect
without the consent of the government; this law, which
has also at different times been adopted in all the states,
has been most violently resisted by the priests, and
has been abrogated and revived according to the faction
which obtained the lead in the government. The con-
gress of Costa Rica abrogated the usury laws in that
state, which had prohibited the exacting of above six
per cent, on money. This permission has again been
most foolishly recalled, and though the interest actually
paid on the very best security is from one to two per
cent per month, laws at present exist in all the states
prohibiting the charge of above six per cent per an-
num. These laws are, however, as in all countries.
RESISTANCE TO TAXES. 17 ST
easily evaded and only serve to encumber fair businesi^
transactions. The state of Honduras this year also
attempted to put on a property tax, but it met with
such universal resistance that it could not be collected ;
the same result was afterwards experienced in the
states of San Salvador and Guatemala, people
who would not attempt to resist a forced contribution
of some thousand dollars, refusing to pay a legally
imposed tax of four or five. This appears to be part
of the national character of all the Spanish descend-
ants, who will, without a murmur submit to be
robbed by an insurgent government, but will take
every means to avoid the payment of the most neces-
sary duties and taxes, however fairly and moderately
levied.
About the end of this year some insurrections took
place in Honduras, but these being quelled by the
interference of General Morazan, and the government
settled, the whole of the states were in a state of
entire tranquillity, during this, and nearly all the
succeeding year, 1830 and 1831, being the longest
period of entire quiet which has been enjoyed by
Central America. The state of Costa Sica remained
separated from the rest during 1830, being reunited
to the federal government in the beginning of 1831 ;
but under the peaceable administration of Juan Mora,
this state had wonderfully increased in wealth and
prosperity, its retired position enabling the government
to avoid meddling in the disputes which in the interim
had convulsed all the other states- Mora was elected
in 1824, re-elected in 1829, and continued governor
of the state to the end of 1832. In the month of
June 1830, the British authorities of Belize took
I 6
if^m/tmtmmmmmmmmmim^mnm ■■ ■
180 REFUSAL TO RATIFY A TREATY.
possession of the island of Roafan^ off the coast of
Honduras, and always considered as having formed
part of the Spanish captain-generalship of Guatemala,
and afterwards of the republic of Central America ;
but upon a complaint being made by the federal
government it was abandoned, the British government
disallowing the act of the Belize superintendent. Still,
it would appear that the island is claimed by the
British, who have prevented the republic from colon-
ising it though they have not themselves taken formal
possession.
In February 1831 the federal congress, upon the
suggestion of Captain Chitty of the French ship of
war Diana, passed a decree authorising the negotia-
tion of a treaty of commerce with the French govern-
ment, which treaty was signed in Paris in the month
of June 1832 ; but some of the articles not being
approved by the federal senate they declined to ratify
it, and nothing was finally agreed on, so that Central
America has never negotiated any treaty except with
the United States of North America, and as this
expired some years ago, it has at present no treaty
with any foreign power.
In June 1830, the assembly of Guatemala declared
the archbishop of that state a traitor, confiscating
his property and banishing him for ever from the
state ; this decree was reversed on the return of the
servile party to power in 1839, but the archbishop,
who in the interim had taken up his abode in -the
Island of Cuba, refused to return and remained till
his death, in 1845, when his bones were sent to
Guatemala for interment.
The federal congress also decreed that the appoint-
JPEOHIBITION OF PAPAL BULLS. 18 1
4
tnent of church dignities pertained to the nation and
should be made by the president of the republic ;
and also prohibited the sale of papal bulls of all
descriptions, without the previous consent of the
executive government. This last decree has been a
severe blow to the papal dominion in Central America,
as although the government of some of the states has
since done away with the prohibition, the people in
the meantime had learnt to do without them, so that
they failed in re-establishing the traffic.
In May 1830, the legislature of Honduras passed
a law, permitting the marriage of secular priests ;
this liberal enactment, which was, it is said, brought
forward by the express desire of the deputy bishop
of the state, was shortly afterwards abrogated ; but
about the same time a law was passed declaring that
the illegitimate children of all priests should succeed
to their father's property in the same manner as if
they were legitimate,— a law which is still in force.
By the laws of Spain, adopted by Central America,
the whole of a man's property must be equally divided
among his family, and he can leave nothing to any
other person provided he has legitimate children ; thus
it would appear, that concubinage is legally autho-
rised to the clergy, though marriage is prohibited.
The years 1830 and 1831, were noted by the
establishment of a school in Guatemala, on the Lan-
casterian principle; and universities, supported by
government, in San Salvador and Leon.
During the civil wars, bands of robbers had sprung
up in different parts of the country, which were
attacked and exterminated by General Morazan's
government. Agriculture and commerce began to
182 PARTIAL REVIVAL OP COMMERCE.
revive; the cultivation of indigo in the state of
San Salvador^ which had greatly fallen off^ again
reached 7000 bales annual produce^ while the culti*
vation of cochineal had been successfully introduced
in the state of Guatemala^ and that of coffee in Costa
Rica.
In the month of November 1831^ Ramon Guzman^
governor of the castle of Omoa, being recalled^ refused
to resign his command and endeavoured to excite
an insurrection against the federal government, but
finding no adherents he hoisted the Spanish fiag and
solicited assistance from Cuba ; and failing in his
application, he was at the end of five months de-
livered up to the federal general, Colonel Agustin
Guzman, by his troops, the Spanish fiag being
dragged through the streets of Omoa tied to a horse's
tail.
At the commencement of 1832, all the elements of
discord, which had slumbered for two years, seemed
to break out with fresh vigour. The legislative as-
sembly of San Salvador on the 7th of January,
declared the federal compact at an end and refused
to acknowledge the authorities of the republic. The
president of the republic, who, with his ministers,
was proceeding to San Salvador to investigate the
alleged grievances of that state, having reached Santa
Ana on his journey, was compelled to return to
Guatemala. But General Morazan, having collected
forces in Honduras and Nicaragua, defeated the San
Salvador forces near San Miguel on the 14th of
March, and marching onward without further re-
sistance laid seige to the city of San Salvador on the
26th of the same month ; and having after two days'
FORCED CONTRIBUTIONS. 183
resistance taken the city, put all the officers of the
existing government in prison, afterwards sending
them with a guard of troops to Guatemala for trial.
He then declared himself president of the state of
San Salvador as well as of the republic ; and having
chosen a new government from among his own
adherents, all the acts of the late government were
declared illegal, and its members were ordered to
refund all the money they had received on account
of their salaries from the public treasury, and to
forfeit all claims they might have against the
government.
On the 24th of October the new authorities of San
Salvador, having in order to maintain the govern-
ment decreed a property tax, the people resisted its
collection in every part, and the government were
not only forced to abandon the collection but to
leave the capital and proceed to the town of San
Vicente. Perceiving that the rage of the people
was not calmed, the governor, Mariano Prado, re-
signed. San Miguel was afterwards taken by
Colonel Benites, and several of the insurgents were
capitally punished ; but the government of Central
i America have always found it impossible to enforce
! direct taxation, which the ignorant people consider
! as unjustifiable robbery ; hence when the duties on
j imports fall short, their only resource is to exact a
• forced contribution from the merchants and others
who have got a little ready capital. Tliis destructive
^. alternative has gradually ruined the industry and
^ ■ enterprise of all parties ; and the first step towards
the commencement of a better system must be the
enforcement of reasonable taxes, collected if neces-
I
li
184 CONTINUANCE OF THE OLD CONGRESS.
sary under military protection, by which alone the
ruinous system can be avoided.
On the 3rd of December, 1832, the representative
assembly of Nicaragua declared that state separated
from the rest, until certain alterations which they
proposed were made in the federal constitution, and
proceeded to take possession of the customs' duties
and apply them to the purposes of the state govern-
ment. The state of San Salvador adopted the same
measures in the month of February following ; Hon-
duras in the month of May ; and Costa Rica in the
month of September, leaving the federal government
only the duties collected in Guatemala. The dis-
contented states having proposed the calling of a
new federal congress, the federal government accor-
dingly issued writs for that purpose, on the 20th of
April 1833; but as the smaller states insisted on
sending an equal number of representations as Gua-
temala (which possessed a population nearly equal to
all the rest jointly), and refused to elect representatives
on any other principle, no elections took place under
this summons ; and although Guatemala afterwards
even agreed to the principle of an equal repre-
sentation, and part of the states elected deputies for
the new Congress, subsequent events prevented it
from ever assembling, and the old Congress continued
the only representative body of the federation. A
faction, calling itself the Reform Association, in the
town of Managua in Nicaragua, declared itself sepa-
rated from the existing government of the state, and
refused to acknowledge the acting president, Dionisio
Herrera. Masaga and Matagalpa took part with the
insurgents, and Leon and Granada with the govern-
RELIGIOUS TOLERATION. 185
ment ; and after a number of skirmishes attended with
a considerable loss of life^ and an entire state of
anarchy in all parts of the country, the government
' party obtained the advantage, and captured Managua
I on the 29th of June, the insurgents being killed or
dispersed. This insurrection appears to have been
I excited by agents of Spain, as a number of prints
•■ were discovered in Managua, bearing on one side the
' likeness of Ferdinand VII., and on the other a priest
in the attitude of preaching, with the words " God
r save Ferdinand VII., king of Spain and the Indies."
On the 24th of July of this year, Ajiastasia Aquino,
an Indian native of the aboriginal town of Santiago
Nunuaico, having formed a conspiracy for the de-»
struction of the white and coloured population, and
the establishment of a native government in the state
of San Salvador, collected a large body of Indians
and proceeded to attack the neighbouring towns,
putting to death the whites and mestizoes ; but being
defeated by the government troops in an attack upon
San Vicente, he and all his followers were captured
and immediately put to death, and orders given to
hunt down the Indians in every part. Very few how-
ever were put to death, beyond those who had taken
an active part in the insurrection.
On the second of May, 1832, the federal congress
passed an act of entire religious freedom throughout
I the republic, permitting the inhabitants to profess
I any religion they might choose, and to preach it
! privately and publicly; this law was approved and
. passed by all the state legislators, but it would
appear to have been far too liberal, considering the
state of the country and the ignorance and bigotry
186 TRIAL BY JOBY, ITS EFFECTS.
of the lower ordere, who being entirely guided by the
Koiuan Catholic prieatSf were taught by them to
believe that every thing done to weaken the authority
of the Church of Kome was a sacrilegious outrage.
Trom the amall number of strangers in Central Ame-
rica this law was also quite unimportant, for, if all the
protestants in the republic were united they would
not amount to half a hundred. The law has since been
abrogated in all the states, except San Salvador,
the religious worship of persons dissenting from the
Church of Rome being limited to their own houses.
On the 15th of July, the legislature of the state of
Guatemala decreed the entire abolition of tithes, which
bad previously been reduced to one half; this law was
abrogated in 1839, and again enforced; a measure
which took place in all the states according to the
nature of the party in power. At present the impost
nominally exists in all the etatea, except San Sal-
vador ; but the resistance to all direct taxation nearly
prevents the collection of this, as it has done of all
other imposts, so that it produces next to nothing, and
the priests have to subsist almost entirely from the fees
of marriages, baptisms, burials, masses, &c., and vo-
luntary contributions exacted from the lower orders.
In the month of August, the state of San Salvador
established trial by jury in all cases, and their ex-
ample was followed by Nicaragua, and Guatemala
in 1835 ; but this law, like many others, proved too
liberal for so backward a state of society ; and instead
of producing any benefit, has caused continual oppo-
sition and disturbances, and has gradually been dis-
used, and finally legally abolished.
_ In August 1832, the federal congress adopted the
REMOVAL OP THE GOVERNMENT. 187
singular resolution of a general mourning for the
death of Jeremy Bentham, the act being, as it would
appear, copied from that of the French Chamber of
Deputies with reference to Benjamin Franklin.
On the 5th of Frebruary, 1834, the federal con-
gress removed its sitting to Sonsonate, in the state of
San Salvador, in accordance with a restriction which
had been passed by that body in the preceding June ;
and in the succeeding June again removed to the
city of San Salvador, which then became the capital
of the republic. This arrangement seemed in every
respect a proper one, as the situation of San Sal-
vador is nearly central, while that of Guatemala is
j far removed from the greater part of the states;
still the act would really appear to have been ill
j advised, as from Guatemala being the largest and
I richest city, its concurrence was of most importance,
! and the dissatisfaction at seeing the importance of
j their city reduced by the removal of the government
i has in a great measure caused the revolt of that state,
I and finally the dissolution of the federal government.
I In the month of February, 1835, the city of San
i Salvador, and the surrounding district for ten leagues,
was erected into a federal department, and con-
tinued to be the nominal capital of the republic, till
it was again resumed by the state government on
the dissolution of the federation.
This, like many of the national acts, was manifestly
copied from the United States of North America with-
out taking into account the very different circumstances
of the two countries. On the 13th of February,
i, 1835, the federal congress decreed anew constitution
for the republic upon the basis of that of 1824, but
188 PROSCRIPTION OF THE GOVERNMENT,
it was universally disapproved, and rejected by all
the states except Costa Kica, from not containing the
alterations and reforms which they had desired.
In May, 1834, the towns of Granada and Metapa,
In Nicaragua, rebelled against the government of that
state, at the instigation of Colonel Candio Flores
who aspired to the chief command. The insurgents
at first obtained some advantages, defeating some
government troops sent against them, and took
possession of the town of Managua ; but on the 13th
of August, being defeated and driven out by the
government troops, Granada was invested and taken
after three days siege ; and four of the leaders of the
insurrection were publicly executed, and the re-
mainder dispersed.
On the 23rd of June of the same year, the state
government of San Salvador having passed a number
of laws disapproved by the federal government, pre-
pared again to assert its independence by force: a
sanguinary engagement took place between the troops
of the state, commanded by Colonel Jose Dolore
Castillo, and the federal troops of the garrison, com-
manded by General Salazar, and after an engagement
of five hours' duration, and the loss of about three
hundred men, victory declared in favour of the federal
troops.
The success of the federal party was followed up
by the proscription of the San Salvador government,
which was afterwards administered by the vice-pre-
sident of the republic, and the state congress dis-
solved. It is certainly a remarkable trait in the
Central American character, that the two govern-
ments, appointed by General Morazan within two
INSURRECTION IN COSTA BICA. 189
years time, both opposed his measures and finally took
up arms against the supreme government of which
he was the head. To this they were apparently forced
by the strong dislike shown by the people of the
state to his government; yet, we shall shortly see
the same people supporting him against all the rest
of the republic.
The month of September, 1835, exhibited the rare
occurrence of an insurrection in the peaceable little
state of Costa Kica, which had all along so happily
continued exempt from the disturbances which dis-
tracted all the other states of Central America. This
insurrection was supposed to have been excited by
the priests who were enraged at the adoption, by the
legislature, of a law suppressing tithes in imitation
of similar acts passed by all the other states.
The municipality of Cartago, the old capital of the
state, having declared itself separated from the state
government invited the other towns to join it and
assemble a new congress, to be popularly elected by
universal suiSrage, whereas by the laws of Costa Kica,
electors must possess lands worth one hundred dollars.
The towns of Heridiaand Alhajuela took part with the
insurgents, and having assembled an armed force of
about two thousand men, marched to attack the go-
vernment in the city of San Jos^; but being defeated
in two engagements by the party which adhered to
government, the insurgent towns had to surrender at
discretion, the most active parties in the revolt having
made their escape.
The proceedings of the federal and state con-
gresses in 1834 and 1835, are of little importance;
the states of Guatemala and Costa Eica suppressei)
190 ESTABLISHMENT OP A SETTLEMENT:
all the holidays of the Koman Catholic Church,
except Sundays, and five other days in the year.
This measure, however, could never be carried into
effect owing to the bigotry of the lower classes,
who at the instigation of the priests denounced the
act of the legislature as an impious attempt to
profane the holy festivals of the Church. Hence
it had no result beyond making the government
hated by the lower orders, and precipitating the
fall of the liberal party ; and though the law is
etill in existence, the endless festivals of the
Komish calendar are, as before, universally cele-
brated by idleness and every sort of debauchery.
It is too evident that, until the people are better
instructed, the enactment of more liberal laws is not
only useless, but gives demagogues an opportunity of
exciting the brutal feelings of the mob for their own
selfish purposes.
The year 1836 forms one of the very few periods
of repose in all parts of the republic, but, unfortu-
nately, as no progress was made towards the final
establishment of a settled government, it can only
be compared to one of the intervals between the
eruptions of one of the active volcanoes, which form
so apt an emblem of the people in the country where
they are situated. The year was signalised by the
establishment of a British settlement by a company
got up in England ; the situation chosen for the
establishment was the Boca Nueva, in the depart-
ment of Vera Paz, state of Guatemala. The pro-
jected town was to be called Abbotsville. The first
emigrants arrived in July of this year, and alto-
gether about a thousand individuals went thither
' ITS ABANDONMENT, 191
for the purpose of settling. But the climate, as
might have been expected from its being the coast
of a tropical country covered with rank vegeta-
tion, proved very fatal to the new settlers; and
the affairs of the company, being conducted by men
quite ignorant of the country, were mismanaged.
Hence it declined rapidly, and in two years' time
was entirely abandoned to the ruin of the share-
holders in the company, and the emigrants who had
been induced to settle in so ill-selected a situation.
Some few of them still remain in other parts of Cen-
tral America, but the majority of the survivors
either returned to England or went to the West
Indies or United States. It seems a most singular
infatuation in Europeans to attempt colonising on
pestiferous shores under a burning sun, where no
native of a temperate region, not even those of the
interior of the same country, can enjoy tolerable
health. Had they, instead, secured lands on the de-
lightful banks of the Lake of Nicaragua, or on the
table lands of Guatemala or Costa Rica, with a com-
munication to the nearest port, the result might
have been very different ; but the failure of most
colonies lately founded, no doubt arose from their
being undertaken by people strangers to the country
and the climate where they were to be established ;
and it is to be hoped, that if such schemes are again
undertaken, persons acquainted with the country
will previously be consulted.
The commencement of the year 1836 was marked
by a recurrence of the often repeated distractions in
the state of Nicaragua. A part of the garrison of
Leon, commanded by Branlio Mondiolo, rose against
*
^ -
192 FURTHER DISTURBANCES.
the government and murdered the governor. Colonel
Jos^ Zepeda; but the vice-governor, Jos^ Nunez,
having collected a body of troops defeated the in--
surgents, and having taken their leader prisoner put
him immediately to death.
On the first day of the year, the Livingstone code
of laws, which had been adopted by the state legis-
lature in 1834, was put in execution, and the new
court for trial by jury was formally opened in
Guatemala on the 23rd of January, and successively
in the other ten districts of the state.
This system had the same unfortunate result as
all the laws prematurely copied from more enlightened
states, and formed one of the principal causes of the
disasters and revolution in Guatemala, and of the
ruin of the federal government; and so great was
the discontent of the people, and the clamour raised
against it, that in the succeeding year it was found
necessary to suspend the law ; nor has it since been
revived ; the only part of the code still in force
being the law " of habeas corpus," though this also has
become a dead letter in most cases. This code of
laws was, also, in the same year adopted by the
federal congress, but caused more or less discontent
in all the states and was soon discontinued and the
old Spanish law reverted to.
On the 6th of March, a serious disturbance took
place in the town of San Juan Ostuncala, the people,
who were nearly all aborigines, being provoked at
being compelled to work at the construction of
prisons, and excited against the new laws, rose en
fnasscy to attack the circuit judges, at that time
holding theii: first court of justice in the town. They
SUPERSTITION OF THE INDIANS. 193
and the officers accompanying them were compelled
to save themselves from the popular indignation \)y
a precipitate flight. The magistrate of the district,
escorted by a troop of dragoons, proceeded to re-
monstrate with the Indians ; but he had no sooner
begun to speak than they directed against him a
shower of stones. An engagement then took place
between the mob and the dragoons, when the former
was dispersed with considerable loss after killing
twenty-four of the dragoons. The Indians left behind
them an idol and a jar filled with stones collected from
the bed of a neighbouring river. It appears that they
had been made to believe that the jar, if broken at the
moment of the attack, would throw lightning upon
the enemy, and, by enchantment, a number of veno-
mous snakes were to rush out from a neighbouring
wood and bite the soldiers ; -— an event which was to
be brought about by the assistance of the old gods
of the country, which, though nominally discarded
by the Indians, are always recurred to in times of
necessity, as the Romish superstition is by those in
Europe pirofessing a purer creed. The idol was a
monstrous figure of a man seated cross-legged, with
the head reclining upon the back, and the arms, en-
compassing an enormous belly, hanging down from
the throat, being doubtless one of the old idols which
had been concealed from the careful search of the
inquisition. The figure is still preserved in Guatemala.
On the 19th of April, the first case of cholera
morbus made its appearance in Guatemala; and a
little sooner or later it found its way into all
parts of the republic successively, being particu-
larly faial in Amatitlan and some other towns^
K
194 EXCITEMENT OP THE PEOPLE.
where most of the houses were deserted, and all
industry at an end for two months ; but it gradu-
ally disappeared every where, towards the end of the
year.
The 9th of June of the same year was also
fatally remarkable for the commencement of an in-
surrection among the lower orders, which eventually
overturned the existing government and destroyed
the federation. The people having been excited
against the new law of trial by jury by the priests
and other ill-disposed persons, and persuaded that'
the cholera was caused by the poisoning of all the
rivers and springs by the government agents, in
several instances murdered the doctors who were
sent by the authorities to visit the towns where the
cholera was prevalent, and began to collect in bodies,
under different chiefs inimical to regular government
or hoping to exalt themselves in a general anarchy.
Of these meetings the largest and most formidable
was held on the 9th of June, in the town of Santa
Rosa, in the district of Mita. It attracted the
especial notice of government, which deemed it
necessary no longer to defer the measures for
suppressing the insurrection : and accordingly, the
magistrate of the district was despatched with an
escort of forty dragoons and a strong body of
infantry, with instructions to attempt in the first
instance to dissolve the assembly quietly, but if
unable to do so, to make use of force. That func-
tionary having incautiously advanced with the dra-
goons, without waiting for the rest of the force, no
sooner began to practise the legal formalities for dis-
persing the mob, than they broke out with cries
LED ON BY RAFAEL CARRERA. 195
of execration against juries and poisoners, and at-
tacking the troop of dragoons, killed a part and put
the rest to flight. The principal leader of the mob
on this occasion was Kafael Carrera, who afterwards
had so fatal an influence on the destiny of the re-
public At this time he was about one and twenty
years of age, a dark-coloured and extremely ill-look-
ing mestizo. It appears that, when a boy, he had
been servant to a woman in Amatitlan of the name
of Hertuides Dias, and afterwards had been occupied
in driving pigs for sale from the country to Guatemala
and other large towns ; and, having by his talent
acquired considerable influence among the aboriginal
natives in the district of Mita, he used it to excite
them against the government, circulating among
these ignorant beings the story that the cholera
morbus was caused by the poisoning of the waters.
He and his followers, however, disappeared on the
sight of a strong body of troops, but though often
defeated, he has always contrived to re-assemble his
followers in greater force. He is undoubtedly a man of
great natural talent, but of a violent temper, exces*<
sively ignorant, and, consequently, led principally by
designing ill-principled persons. Though supported,
and finally induced to enter Guatemala by the servile
party (at the head of whom are the self-called nobles
and old Spaniards), in the hope that he would serve
as their instrument, he has proved too cunning foi;
them, and instead of being (as they intended) removed
when he had suited their purpose, he has kicked away
the ladder by which he mounted to power; and
having possessed himself of absolute authority, has
K 2
196 APPOINTMENT OF NEW MINISTERS.
the good sense to employ liberal ministers in thd
government.
On the 15th of June, a strong body of government
troops attacked and dispersed the insurgents of Mita,
in the vicinity of the town of Matequesquintla,
making a great slaughter of the Indians ; and after-
wards entered and plundered the town, treating
the inhabitants with such cruelty that they were
driven to desperation, and every subsequent attempt
at reconciliation rendered impossible. The Indians
showed a desperate courage, and readily sacrificed
their lives, urged on as they were by the priests,
who promised heaven to all who were killed in the
war ; so that though often dispersed they continued
to re-assemble, and like bees attacked their supposed
oppressors, who were tired out by the impossibility
of following them and the interminable nature of the
insurrection.
The new legislative body of Guatemala met in
extraordinary session on the 16th of June, when
acrimonious disputes passed between the ministerial
and opposition parties. The president, in order to
attempt a pacification, appointed as new ministers,
Juan Jose Acynena, and Manuel 2iebadua, who were
supposed to be neutral, or if any thing, favourable
to the servile interest ; but as they were men of no
talent, they entirely failed in effecting a reconcilia-
tion, and were soon dismissed with the hatred and
contempt of both parties, the political horizon daily
wearing a more threatening aspect.
This year a treaty was also made with the inde-
pendent tribe of Indians^ called Menche, inhabiting
the N.E. part of the state of Guatemala, by which
TREATY WITH THE MENCHE INDIANS. 197
they agreed to place themgelves under the protection
of the republic of Central America. They were to
be allowed six years before being subjected to the
laws of the republic, and no alteration was to be
made in their religion or in the law permitting plu-^
rality of wives ; yet this treaty has continued entirely
a dead letter, and the states of Central America have
found too much employment in their own affairs to
permit their interfering with the Indians, who con-
tinue to live in their own way.
In the commencement of 1838, strong symptoms of
disaffection to the state government having shown
themselves in several of the departments of Gua-
temala, the government declared those of Sacate-
pequez and Guatemala in a state of rebellion, and
proclaimed martial law. The same disturbances con-
tinued throughout the year without intermission.
On the 18 th of January, the city of Old Gua-
temala, capital of the department of Sacatepequez,
separated itself from the state, and invested with
supreme power a provisional government, which
placed itself directly under the protection of the
federal government, and declared that of Guatemala
in a state of insurrection.
This example was followed by the department of
Chiquimula on the 25th of the month, and five days
afterwards by the departments of Salamar and Vera
Paz, thus leaving the whole state in complete anarchy.
On the 26th of January, one of the battalions of
the troops in Guatemala rose against the government,
demanding the re-establishment of the ministers dis-
missed on the 13th of November preceding, and of
K 3
198 APATHY OF THE GUATEMALA PEOPLE.
Don Mariano Galvez, the governor, whose resignation
had been forced by the opposition party. This
insurrection hastened the attack of the different in-
surgents upon the capital. On the 30th of the
same month, the troops of Old Guatemala and the
insurgents of Mita laid siege to Guatemala; and
after four days defence, the small garrison was forced
to retif e, and the city submitted to the authority of
Don Pedro Velasquez, who took upon himself the
government in place of Mariano Galvez, who had
administered it for two years with great moderation.
The people of Guatemala in this, as in most other
disputes, showed the most perfect apathy with regard
to the result, and neither attempted to defend the
government of their selection, nor dispute the will of
the victors.
On the 2nd of February, the departments of the
Altos, apparently disgusted with the weakness and
insecurity of the Guatemala government, separated
themselves for the purpose of forming a sixth in-
dependent state in the federation of Central America,
and established a provisional government, composed
of Messrs. Marcelo Malino, Jose M. Galvez, and
Jose A. Aguilar. On the 5th of June following,
the new state was recognised by the federal con-
gress, and the provinces of Quesaltenango, Tona-
necapan, and Solala were declared for ever separated
from Guatemala; but this new state had a very
ephemeral existence, being re-incorporated with Gua-
temala about a year afterwards. The opposition
party, being now triumphant in Guatemala, made
an entire change in the government, and behaved
most violently towards the other parties, thus opening
CABRERA A MATCH FOR MORAZAN. 199
the passage to another faction, which was soon to
overwhelm them all, and to treat the ignorant quacks
pretending to administer the government as they
deserved, but at the same time to sweep away the
last vestige of liberty.
On the 30th of March, General Morazan, the pre-
sident of the republic, opened the first campaign
against the insurgents of Mita, repulsing them in the
valley of Mataquesquintla ; but after three months
of continued marches, counter-marches, and skir-
mishes, the president, though victorious in every
engagement, found the enemy increase instead of
diminishing, and the cunning of Carrera seemed to
be more than a match for the bravery of General
Morazan, who was forced to return to Guatemala
without having made any real progress in the subju-
gation of the insurgents. A second campaign, un-
dertaken in the month of November, was brought to
a close by treaties made at the end of the year.
The people and government of Guatemala finally
alarmed at the progress made by the insurgents, and
the government seeing that it had lost its credit with
all parties, it was determined that all the authorities
of the state should resign their ofiices into the hands
of the president of the republic, and that during his
absence the chief authority should be vested in the
commander-in-chief of the army, associated with
two other officers, while the election of a new house
of representatives was taking place, which should
have competent authority to re-organise the govern-
ment. The vice-president, Valenzuela, being made
aware of this determination, resigned on the 23rd
K 4
200 . SUCCESS OF THE INSUKGENT8.
of July, and Mariano Bivera Paz, as president
of the council, entered upon the office of chief
magistrate. The people, who had assembled in a
tumultuous manner to act against the government,
were no sooner aware of this arrangement and the
promise to call a new representative assembly, than
they at once dispersed, and public tranquillity was
thus restored for a brief period.
The new government immediately reversed all the
former decrees of proscription, pardoning all anterior
acts, and decreeing a general oblivion of all that had
occurred from the 15th of September, 1821, to that
period.
In the month of August, General Morazan, having
been forced to proceed to San Salvador, for the pur-
pose of quelling a revolt got up by Francisco Males-
pein and other demagogues, the insurgents of Mita,
commanded by Kafael Carrera, attacked and de-
feated the federal troops, under the command of
Colonel Bonilla, in the plains of Xalapa; and so
complete was the overthrow, that he could only save
a small part of his force by retiring into the state of
San Salvador. After this success, the insurgents
increased in numbers and confidence, and advanced
towards the capital of Guatemala in such large force
that there appeared no possibility of resisting them.
Diverging, however, to the town of Fatapa, they there
again defeated the government troops, under Colonel
Fonseca (who had only intended to reconnoitre the
ground), but, by the forwardness of their leader, he
was brought to an engagement, and pursuing their
advantage, the insurgents made a rapid advance
upon Old Guatemala, which they occupied the fol-
DEFEAT OF THE INSURGENTS. 201
lowing day without resistance, exercising the greatest
cruelties upon the inhabitants^ and plundering a
great part of the city: but on the 11th of September
General Salazar, at the head of about nine hundred
troops, encountered the insurgents in the town of
Villa Nueva, returning from the plunder of Old
Guatemala, and the country being covered with a
dense fog, which is very common in this district
(being merely a cloud resting on the table land), the
government forces were enabled to form for the
attack before the insurgents were aware of their pre-
sence, and thus suddenly attacked, they were easily
defeated and slau&^htered in g^i^eat numbers by the
victors, who pursued them iL the houses in the
town, and bayoneted them without mercy, leaving
about five hundred of the Indians dead. The re-
mainder, with their leader Carrera, fled in the great-
est disorder ; and had they been promptly pursued,
it appears probable that the faction of Mita might
have been entirely extinguished; but General Sa-
lazar, owing to disputes with the other commanders,
was obliged to proceed to Ghiatemala, where he
resigned his commission in disgust; and, though
he was afterwards induced to resume the command,
the insurgents in the interior again gained head,
and the opportunity of crushing them was for ever
lost.
On the 25th of October the Mita insurgents, who
had again collected in force, made an incursion
into the state of San Salvador, as far as the town of
Santa Ana, which, together with Ahnachapan, and
other towns on the road, was put under contribution
K 5
202 DISSOLUTION OF THE FEDERATION,
by them. Having with great celerity repassed the
river Naz, which separates the states of San Salvador
and Guatemala, they attacked Colonel Carballo,
commanding a division of government troops at Che-
quimalilla, but were repulsed with the loss of about
150 ihen. During the succeeding month a number of
skirmishes took place, without any decided result ;
but on the 23rd of December, a treaty was made
between the insurgents and government, by which
the former agreed to deliver up their arms and
recognise the existing authorities of the state ; the
government pledging itself in return, to name their
leader, Carrera, commander of the district of Mita,
and not in any way to punish the late acts of the
insurgents. This convention was ratified by the
president of the republic immediately after, thus
evidently showing the weakness of government, who
were obliged to leave in Carrera's hands an official
authority to keep up his troops, and the actual power
of making himself more formidable than ever.
On the 30th of May of the same year, the federal
congress passed an act enabling the government of
each state to make such laws as it might deem
proper, without the consent of the federal govern-
ment, merely acknowledging its authority in external
relations and the collection of custom-house duties.
This liberty, which had in reality existed for some
years previously, was one of the last steps towards
the total dissolution of the federation, which took
place soon after.
On the 20th of July, the twelfth and last session of
the federal congress was closed, the president being
Don Basilio Porras ; shortly afterwards, the different
AND REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY. 203
states proclaimed their independence, and they have
since been unable to agree among themselves in the
formation of a national government. In the month
of October, the representative assembly of the state
of Guatemala also dissolved itself.
The state legislature of Nicaragua assembled in
the month of May (Pedro Solis being elected pre-
sident), for the purpose of revising the constitution
of that state ; and in the succeeding month, declared
the state of Nicaragua free and independent of the
federation and all other governments till a new
agreement should be made between the states form-^
ing the republic of Central America.
Costa Rica was also subjected to a change of
government but, as usual, without bloodshed. Branlio
Carrillo, the late chief of that state, having excited
an insurrection against the legal governor, Manuel
Aguilar, the latter was deposed and Carrillo vested
with the supreme command. This chief, who seemed
to be a man of considerable talent, though, as it
would appear, destitute of personal courage, having
compelled the representative assembly to proclaina
the state independent and separate from the rest of
Central America, established an absolute government,
his will being the only law in every thing, and the
lives and property of all the inhabitants entirely at
his disposal, so that for four years this little state
was submitted to a more absolute despotism than
even exists in Russia or Turkey ; still he encouraged
all sorts of industry, made good roads and bridges,
and, what is still more extraordinary in America,
paid the principal and interest of the part of the
foreign debt pertaining to the state of Costa Bica.
K 6
204 TREATIES OF ALLIANCE.
Being enabled by its retired situation to avoid all
interference with the other governments^ the state,
during his administration, increased in an unparalleled
degree in industry and wealth, and the people seemed
to have acquired a taste for improvement which was
afterwards continued. Thus the state which was once
the poorest, became the richest province (for its popu-
lation and extent) in Central America.
The second constituent assembly of the state of
Honduras having met on the 7th of October, elected
for president Jos^ Santiaga Buezo ; and the muni-
cipality of the town of Tegucigalpa, having declared
it separated from the rest of the states (until the
government decreed its independence and resumed
the custom-houses and duties of the state), removing
the governor of the department, and placing itself,
in the interim, under the protection of the Nicaragua
government, the assembly was forced to decree
the absolute independence of the state, which they
did by a decree bearing date the 5th of Novem-
ber, thus leaving the federal authority entirely
abrogated in three of the states forming the nominal
republic. The states of San Salvador, Guatemala,
and the new state of the Altos, jBtill adhered to the
federal government, which however could never re-
gain its lost authority and was clearly hastening to
its fall.
On the 18th of January, the states of Honduras
and Nicaragua, having formed mutual treaties of
alliance, proceeded to join their forces and invade
San Salvador, then the only stronghold of the federal
party.
On the Ist of February of the year 1839, General
PISSOLUTION OF THE EEPUBLIC. 205
Morazan concluded his second legal period as pre-
sident of the republic, to which he was never again
legally elected; and, though the semblance of a fede-
ral government was kept up some time longer in
the state of San Salvador, the republic of Central
America may properly be considered as dissolved
from this date.
206
CHAP. VI.
I
HISTOBY OF CENTBAIi AMERICA FBOM THE DISSOLUTION OF THE |
FEDEBAL GOYEBNMENT, IST FEBBUABT, 1839, TO BECEMBEB,
1846.
In the month of March, 1839, the troops of Nica-
ragua, consisting of about two thousand men, entered
the state of San Salvador, with the professed object
of freeing that state from the dominion of General
Morazan, who continued to call himself president of
the republic, and to keep up the form of a federal
government in the capital of San Salvador, the only
state which still adhered to the federal government.
On the 15 th of March, the federal troops were de-
feated by those of Nicaragua at the river Lempa, and
the victors marched forward and took possession of
San Vicente without further resistance ; but after-
wards, proceeding onwards towards the capital of
San Salvador, they were in their turn routed by the
San Salvador troops commanded by Colonel Benitez,
and driven back with some loss. The troops of
Nicaragua, as usual, were a disorderly rout of
half naked savages, and were received with terror by
the more civilised inhabitants of San Salvador.
Their career was everywhere marked by robbery,
bloodshed, and unheard of cruelties, which will long be
remembered in the state. Indeed, the crimes imputed
VALOUR OP MORAZAN. 207
to these wretches would hardly be believed in a
civilised country.
The defeated troops of Nicaragua, having retreated,
were joined by a force of Honduras troops, com-
manded by General Francisco Ferrera, and again
advanced without resistance to the river Lempa,
where, on the 6th of April, they were met by the
forces of San Salvador, commanded by General Mo-
razan ; and though the force of the latter was not
half as large as that commanded by General Ferrera,
they commenced the attack with. great fury; and
after an engagement of two hours' duration, the
united forces of Honduras and Nicaragua were
totally routed, with the loss of upwards of three hun-
dred men, and forced to fly in the greatest disorder.
This victory was principally owing to the personal
valour of General Morazan, who charged the enemy
with great fury and determination, and received a
severe wound in the right arm. General Morazan
being fully occupied in the state of San Salvador,
deputed General Cabanas to pursue the enemy into
Honduras ; and this leader, following up the success,
defeated the Honduras troops in several engage-
ments, and on the 28th of August, entered and took
possession of Comayagua, the capital of Honduras ;
but General Ferrera, having after his defeat collected
another force of 2000 men in Honduras and Nicaragua,
entered the state of San Salvador by another route
(giving the slip to Gen. Cabanas), and penetrating to
the village of Pedro Perulapan, with the intention of
joining the discontented party in the city of San
Salvador, was there met by General Morazan at the
head of 600 troops ; and notwithstanding their supe-
208 EEVOLUTION IN OUATEMALA.
riority in point of numbers (more than three to
one), the troops commanded by General Ferrera
were repulsed and routed with great slaughter;
and General Cabanas having again encountered
and routed the Honduras troops, took the city of
Tegucigalpa, the largest town in Honduras, and the
only one in possession of any commerce and riches.
This, however, appeared to be the last success of
that brave and noble-minded general, who was in
the month of January following attacked by a
very superior force of Honduras and Nicaragua
troops, under the command of Colonel Quijano, and
compelled to retreat from the state. The fall of
General Morazan and the federal party was now
evidently hastening, and had only been deferred a
little by the bravery and talent of that generaL
On the 16th of September, 1839, the mob of San
Salvador rose against Morazan's authority ; but on
his return to that city two days afterwards, the in-
surgents fled without striking a blow, — his mere
personal appearance, with a very small force, being
sufficient to frighten his enemies, who afterwards had
recourse to treachery and intrigue, though then
freely pardoned by Morazan, as it would appear, in
contempt for their cowardice.
This year was noted for an entire revolution in
Guatemala and the destruction of the liberal party,
who had ruled since April 1829, and the final sepa-
ration of that state from the federal government,
which, indeed, only then nominally existed.
On the 2l8t of March, Bafael Carrera, now digni-.
fied with the name of general, at the head of about
five thousand armed Indians, made a rapid incursion
CAPTURE OF THE CITY. 209
upon the city of Guatemala^ and the small garrison of
300 troops being unable to offer him any opposi-
tion^ and the citizens refusing to arm in their de-
fence^ the city was taken without resistance. Car-
rera exacted such terms as he thought proper from
the terrified inhabitants, — these were the deposition
of all the existing authorities, the restitution of
Mariano Kir^ra Paz (who had been removed, in
course of law, by the new government at the com-
mencement of the year) to the supreme command,
and the payment of 20,000 dollars to him and his
Indians ; — depaands which appeared extremely mode-
rate, as Guatemala lay entirely at his mercy.
The new government declared all the acts of the
former authorities illegal. Acting under Carrera's
orders, who continued from this time to be the only
real governor of the state, it proscribed and put to
death all the opposite party who had not made their
escape in time ; and by a decree, dated the 17th of
April, declared the federal compact dissolved, and
the state of Guatemala a sovereign and independent
government. This decree was ratified by an as-
sembly, called a representative council, summoned by
the new government, and consisting, of course, only of
their partisans. The new government afterwards
made treaties of alliance with most of the other
states, stipulating for mutual privileges in trade,
which were also agreed on between most of the
other states ; but in every other respect they were
treated as foreign nations, though the empty name
of the republic of Central America was still kept up.
The new Guatemala government, being composed of
the servile party, proceeded to abolish most of the
iV
210 PEUDENCE OF CABRERA.
liberal laws enacted by the preceding governments,
and re-established the legal tribunal of the oonsolado,
the commission of protection of the Indians, some of
the suppressed convents, and other institutions abo-
lished by the liberal party ; their apparent object
being, as far as possible to revert to the state of
the Spanish government, without, however, being
able to restore the peace and security which it pos-
sessed. The priests strongly pressed for the re-im-
position of tithes, the resumption of the church
property, and shortly after, the independence : but
though many were well-inclined to adopt these mea-
sures, Carrera prudently refused to create a power
which would soon have overwhelmed him ; and the
small remnant of liberty nominally preserved to the
state of Guatemala would appear more to be owing
to the prudent moderation of General Carrera, than
any efforts made by the people themselves.
The new governor took the title of president of
the sovereign and independent state of Guatemala,
— a title which was afterwards adopted in the states of
Honduras and San Salvador; the government of
Nicaragua adopting that of supreme director, and
Costa Kica alone continuing the use of the ancient
title, Gefe (chief or governor).
The legislature of the state of Nicaragua this year
ordered the new code of laws passed in 1837 to be
put in force in that state. This, and the code of laws
used in San Salvador, are said to be much simpler
and better arranged than the old Spanish code which
is still used in the other states.
At the end of this year all the states of the no-
minal republic, except Costa Rica, presented the sad
INSURRECTION AMONG THE INDIANS. 211
appearance of anarchy and ruin ; all branches of
industry being nearly at an end, the towns falling
to ruin, the cultivation of the fields nearly aban-
doned, and the inhabitants in a sad state of wretched-
ness and demoralisation.
In the commencement of 1840, the Indians of the
new state of the Altos, enraged at being obliged to
pay larger taxes to the new government than they
had paid to that of Spain or Guatemala, and being
excited by the priests, whose power the new govern-
ment had attempted to diminish, rose in insur-
rection in several places, being secretly encouraged
by agents from Guatemala, the new administration
of which hoped to re-annex the province ; for which
purpose General Carrera invaded it with a strong
force ; and another of the Guatemala leaders, Major-
General Monteroso, having, on the 20th of January,
attacked and defeated the division of Altos troops
commanded by Colonel Carzo (who was proceeding
by the coast of the Pacific, to effect a junction with
the troops invading Guatemala from San Salvador,
under the command of General Morazan), their leader
and many of the oflicers were murdered by the Indians
in their attempt to retreat, these ignorant wretches
exhibiting a degree of savage cruelty to the unfor-
tunate ofiicers of government who fell into their
hands, before unheard of among the aborigines of
Central America.
On the succeeding day the other division of the
invaders, under General Carrera, defeated and dis-
persed the government troops guarding the pass of
Solola, and entering Quesaltenango without further
opposition, took prisoners the acting governor, Guz-
212 CRUELTY OP THE INDIANS.
many and all the authorities of government who had
not made their escape. These unfortunate men were
treated in the most brutal manner by Carrera and his
Indians, many being put to death by slow torture.
The ephemeral state of the Altos ceased from this
time to exist, being re-incorporated with Guatemala.
General Morazan, having determined to make a
final attempt to recover his lost authority and re-
establish the federal government, invaded Guatemala
in the commencement of March, at the head of
twelve hundred San Salvador troops ; and after se-
veral skirmishes, in which he had the advantage,
took possession of Guatemala on the 18th of the
month ; but being there surrounded by 5000 troops,
commanded by General Carrera, and abandoned in
the most cowardly manner by the parties who
had invited him to the city, he was forced, after
a most desperate defence of twenty-two hours'
duration, to retire, cutting his way through the ene-
my with about half the troops which had entered.
The greater number of the remainder, being unable
to make their escape, were massacred by Carrera's
men withont mercy, no quarter being given. A
few of the officers took refuge in the British and
French consulates; but a great part of the former, who
were given up on the promise that they should have
a legal trial, were immediately afterwards butchered
in the streets. General Morazan managed his re-
treat in a manner which would have reflected credit
on a European general with European troops, and
repulsed all the forces sent to pursue him. But,
upon the news of his defeat in Guatemala, all the
factions in San Salvador united against him, and
BANISHMENT OF MORAZAN. 213
seeing that further resistance was hopeless^ he em-
barked on board the schooner Isalcho, from the port of
Libertad, on the 5th of April, together with the late
vice-president of the republic and thirty-five of his
principal partisans and friends, and arrived safelj in
the port of Valparaiso, in Chili.
The defeat and banishment of Morazan was im-
mediately followed by the invasion of the state of
San Salvador by a large body of Indians, led by
General Carrera (nominally in pursuit of General
Morazan), who marked their career with robbery and
desolation ; but having removed all the authorities
of the late government, and replaced them with
others supposed to be in his interest, he retired to
the state of Guatemala, leaving, however, a hatred
to himself and all his party which no time can
ever obliterate.
A new representative assembly, which met in the
city of San Salvador in the month of July, declared
all previous decrees of proscription void, and invited
all exiles to return to the state.
On the 20th of September, the commander of the
troops in San Salvador persuaded his men to declare
against the governor, Antonio Jos€ Canas, and that
chief thereupon resigned his command, and was suc-
ceeded by Norverto Ramires.
On the 30th of January, 1841, a decree was passed
by the legislative body, giving the name of republic
to the state of San Salvador ; but this title, being too
evidently absurd when applied to a petty province
containing 300,000 inhabitants, was never actually
made use of, the old name estado (state) being still
used on all occasions. The new laws and constitution
'^c . ■i.JiHpai^^^Hp
214 SCHEMES FOR MOBAZAN'S RETURN.
of the self-styled republic have also remained pretty
much a dead letter.
The people of San Salvador soon began to regret
the absence of Morazan, the only man of talent who
had ever governed in Central America. Many
intrigues were shortly set on foot to secure his return,
and the overthrow of the new government ; and the
House of Representatives being suspected of favouring
these schemes, was forciblv dissolved in the middle
of the session, contrary to all real or pretended law.
In Guatemala extraordinary honours were decreed
to General Carrera by the congress elected under
his auspices, and the people of that state seemed to
submit quietly to the absolute rule of this fortunate
individual, who in four years' time had risen from a
pig-driver to the supreme power. The servile party,
who had brought him into power, having abolished
the liberal enactments of their predecessors, and
done away with religious toleration, proposed to
restore the revenues of the Koman Catholic church,
depriving those possessed of the land and houses
formerly belonging to that establishment of their
property (after the example of the Spanish govern-
ment of Ferdinand VII.), without making any
recompense for the robbery, which was to be called
a " restoration of sacred property, sacrilegiously
obtained ; " but General Carrera, who began thus
early to show the priests and servile party that
he had no affection for them, though he had
made use of them to get into power, prohibited
the servile legislature from passing such an act, and
remarked, that those who wished the assistance of
priests might pay for it; however, all the eccle-
WANT OF BRITISH DIGNITT. 215
siastics exiled by the preceding governments were
recalled and put into possession of their churches.
The state of Costa Kica continued peaceable and
prosperous under the absolute government of Branlio
Carillo, who, in order to separate the state moiie
entirely from the rest, decreed the use of a new flag
and coining die, which continued to be used till his
government was overthrown in April 1842; since
which time Costa Kica has returned to the use of
the flag and arms of the republic, which also con-
tinue to be kept up in all the other states (though
their laws and government are entirely separate):
this, and the clause enabling vessels which have paid
port dues in the port of one state, to enter those
of all the others without extra charge, being the only
remnants yet left of the federal republic, which still
continues to exist in name, even while the states
composing it are making war upon each other, and
the inhabitants of the different states are actuated
by the most intense mutual hatred.
The British government, in 1841, again revived
the claim on behalf of the Moschito Indians to the
port of San Juan, in Nicaragua, and Mr. Alexander
Macdonald, superintendent of the British settlement
of Belize, proceeded thither in the frigate Tweed
merely, it would seem, for the purpose of keeping
alive the claim ; and on Colonel Qjiijano appearing,
and, as governor of the port, objecting to some of his
proceedings, he ordered him to be seized and carried
on board the Tweed, where they shaved his face, and
afterwards landed him alone on a desert part of the
coast. This farce, however, hardly seemed consist-
ent with the dignity of a British oflScer, governor of
216 PROPOSALS OF THE STATES/
a settlement. If the British justly claim the port of
San Juan^ they ought to send a sufficient force to
take and keep possession of ity instead of making
rambling incursions upon it, by which they give the
miserable shadows of governments existing in Central
America a just reason to complain that a bad ex-
ample is shown them by the most civilised nation in
the world/
Since the dissolution of the federal government in
1839^ different proposals had been made by individual
states for the formation of a new general govern-
ment ; and the states of San Salvador^ Honduras^
and Nicaragua^ having finally agreed to elect de-
putieSj and meet and discuss these proposals^ the
representatives of these states met in the town of
Chinendega, in Nicaragua, on the I7th of March
1842 ; giving to the assembly the name of the na-
tional congress, and electing Manuel Barbereno pre-
sident. The assembly then proceeded to enact laws
and regulations for a new national government,
which they determined should consist of a supreme
delegate, chosen by the majority of the states ; a
body of councillors similarly elected ; and a supreme
tribunal of legal appeal from all the state courts:
each state was to possess its own government, and
separate laws, and to administer its own revenue ;
so that the proposed federal government would
merely have had a nominal existence, which, though
it might have commanded some respect in a peace-
able and well regulated country, would have been
utterly inadequate for any purpose whatever, in a
country like Central America, in a lawless and half
barbarous state.
BETHBN OF GEN£BAL MORAZAN. 217
The assembly chose Antonio Jos^ Canas president
of the nominal federation; but, as Guatemala was
prevented from joining in any such arrangement by
General Carrera, who did not choose to share his
authority with any one, and Costa Rica also kept
aloof from the federation, the acts of the assembly
were never carried into effect, and shortly afterwards
were entirely forgotten.
Many similar attempts have since been made to
revive the national government, but without effect ;
the state of Guatemala, which, in territory, popula-
tion, and riches, is nearly equal to all the rest
jointly, being prevented from joining them.
Should such a government, however, be establish-
ed by any means, it will manifestly share the fate of
the last ; and it is unlikely that they should find
a more able or popular president than General
Morazan.
A central government, possessing the whole re-
venue, and a large military force, is evidently the only
one capable of ruling in Central America : and it is
to be hoped that some person capable of forming such
a government may shortly be found, as till then, the
inhabitants cannot expect security, justice, or the
least real liberty.
General Morazan, who, in the month of April,
1840, had left the republic for Chili, accompanied by
his principal followers, having been encouraged by
the accounts sent him by his partizans in the state
of San Salvador, returned to the port of the Union
in that state in the middle of February, but on
his arrival, being discouraged by the statements of
his friends, he proceeded to Calderas, then the
h
218 HIS JOYOUS KECEPTIOK,
onlj settled port of Costa Bica, on the Pacific
Ocean^ where he landed his officers, and a few
men who had joined him at the union. Having
managed by his partizans, and papers circulated
among the inhabitants, to gain a considerable number
of adherents, he proceeded towards San Jose ; and
having induced the troops defending the Pass of
Jocote (where a hundred determined men might defy
any force) to desert to his standard, he entered the
capital of the state without exposition, where he was
received with every apparent sign of rejoicing by
nearly all the inhabitants, and with real satisfaction
by a large portion, who were tired of the absolute
government of Carrillo.
The people assembled as to a grand festival, and
named him provisional governor of the state till he
could be legally elected. The most violent of the
liberal party proposed to shoot Carrillo, but Morazan
would not permit any injury to be inflicted on
him, and gave him a guard of troops to the port,
where he embarked for the state of San Salvador.
General Morazan having called a new represent-
ative assembly, was unanimously elected governor of
the state ; the acts of the former government were
declared void, and the state, which for some time had
formed an independent government, was formally
united to the republic of Central America.
The assembly voted handsome subsidies to Mo-
razan, who immediately commenced preparations for
making war against Nicaragua, intending to march
troops into that state, and after having reduced it, to
proceed against the rest, and re-establish his authority
in the republic For this purpose he demanded the
SECRET INTBIOUES. 219
kvy of 2000 soldiers, and a contribution of 50,000
dollars ; but seeing that the people, and even the le-
gislative body electied under his own auspices, strongly
objected to the war, and that all the men hid them-
selves in the woods to escape the levy, he put guards
upon their houses, and declared that the women and
children should be imprisoned till the men made their
appearance. At the same time while carrying out these
violent measures, he most imprudently despatched
General Sachet to the port Calderas, with nearly all
his troops, who were strangers and natives of the
other states, to be present at the trial of a young
and popular oflScer of the name of Malino ; who,
having forcibly carried away a young lady of good
family from her father's house, and being reprehended
and imprisoned for the act by his superior officer.
General Rivas, had excited an insurrection among
the troops, and put him to death.
For some time previously, intrigues had been
secretly carried on for the purpose of overthrowing
General Morazan and his party ; probably, as it
would appear, under the instigation of parties in
Guatemala, where the outbreak was spoken of at the
time it took place, though the overland mail takes
fifty days in going from San Jos^ to Guatemala;
and the most expeditious messenger, with a relay of
horses, could not make the journey in less than thirty
days. The real origin of this conspiracy is involved
in a good deal of mystery, being by most of the
natives attributed to the British consul-general, Mr.
Chatfield ; but this is quite improbable, as although
that gentleman was supposed to dislike the person
L 2
220 TTBANNT OP GBHEEAL MOEAZAK.
and goveTDment of General Motazan, he is a man
of far too mucl) prudence to commit Mmself so far
as to stir up an iuauirection agalDst any of the state
govemmenta ; and it wonld, moreover, appear quite
impossible that a atranger who had not even visited
Costa Rica, could, by merely using his name as
British consul, exert sufficient influence among the
people to excite so general a rising ; but, whoever
was the exciter of the catastrophe, it was plunly at
the time brought on by the tyrannical and foolish
conduct of General Morazan himself, which was
sufficient to have roused the most peaceably disposed
people to revolt ; and his leaving himself without
the accustomed guard of troops greatly facilitated
the insurrection.
On the 11th of September, the towns of San
Jos^, Heridia, and Alhajuela rose, simultaneously,
ag^nst the government authorities; the leader of
the first place being Colonel Finto, a naturalised
Portuguese, and of the last, Jos^ Maria Alfaro, the
principal landed proprietor in the town of Alha-
juela>
The government trOops in Alhajuela and Heridia,
being very few in number, were easily overcome, and
' ' of the insurgents, under the command of
irched t^inst San Jos^ to the number of
men. Genend Morazan had with him,
to some accounts, 300 men, and according
twice that number ; yet the long and reso-
ie they made (eighty-eight hours), plainly
»t the result would have been very differ-
is best troops and generals not been de-
} the port.
HIS VIOLENT DEATH. 221
Finding his troops overcome by fatigue, he, sword
in hand, cut his way through the insurgents, and
retired to the city of Cartago, which had not joined
in the insurrection, and was supposed to be favour*
able to his party ; thua he hoped to be joined by
the people of the old capital, always jealous of the
other towns, especially San Jos^, the new capital ;
but as none of the inhabitants moved to assist him,
he soon perceived that his hope was vain. Still he
might have made his escape by retiring to Matina ;
but whether he continued to indulge false hopes
of assistance, or had determined to fall with his
fortunes, he did not avail himself of this la«t resource,
•and being pursued to Cartago, was taken prisoner
and brought back tx) San Jos6 by the insurgents,
together with two of his sons, and some of the officei's
and troops who still adhered to him ; and on the 18th
of the same month was put to death, together with
Brigadier Villasenor, one of the best generals of his
party.
It appears that General Cabailas, together with
fifty of Morazan's most devoted adherents, had, as
soon as they heard of his capture, hurried from the
port, determined to free him or die in the attempt ;
but they were met by a Spaniard of the name of
Espinach (who had pretended to be much attached
to Morazan), who dissuaded them from the attempt,
assuring them upon his honour that he would suffer
no injury, but that mules were already engaged to
convey him to Calderas. Upon this assurance Ca-
bauas and his party returned to the port, and the first
proof they had of the deceit which had been passed
off upon them was the notice of their leader's death,
L 3
ACHMEKT OP HIS SECRETAKT.
10 is umTersally despised and execrated
i\ Americans of any honour, durst not
te of San Salvador, where Morazan's
[ cherished by a great majority of the
razan's eecretary, Miguel Sarevia, said
g man of great talents and rare acquire-
ossessing an amiable disposition, which
Diversaliy esteemed, killed himself by
n, apparently in despair at the ruin and
unster, and not from the fear of any ill
Horazan's two sons, and the officers
ten at Cart^o, were liberated after two
nsomuent, but expelled the state of
The troops which had been sent to-
Calderas embarked on board the two
bich they had arrived, which were still
of which they established a blockade,
lional predatory excursions on shore for
when they SMied to the port of the
1 Salvador ; where, through the influence
Malespein, afterwards president of the
m possessing all the real power of the
they were permitted to land, and pro-
te of a decree of proscription against
razan and all his followers, which had
by the state legislature on the intel-
having colled at the Union before pro-
}sta Hico.
Ird of the same month the civil, mili-
Ktlesiastical officers, having assembled
m in San Jos6, elected Jos^ Maria
sional governor {gefe-proviaional), and
a commander-in-chief, and declared all
A TEMPORARY CALM. 223
the acts of the late government illegal. A new
Congress, which shortly afterwards assembled, con-
firmed these decrees : thus, after a short revolution
of three days' duration, Costa Rica again returned
to its usual state of quiet, which has not since been
interrupted ; and, however cruel the conduct of the
people might seem in putting to death the illustrious
General Morazan, whom they had hailed five months
before with such transports of joy, it has certainly
been the means of preserving the peace and pros-
perity of the little state, which probably would have
been destroyed for a long period had Morazan suc-
ceeded in drawing it into a war with the other
states ; and instead of being, as at present, a bright
example of one industrious and orderly community
in Spanish America, it would probably have been
reduced to the same wretched condition as the rest of
Central America.
After the overtTirow and death of General Mora-
zan, a temporary calm, arising more from exhaustion
than from the establishment of any firm and settled
form of government, followed for the remainder of
1842 and the whole of the year 1843.
In Guatemala, Mariano Rivera Paz continued
nominal president of the state, the whole of the real
power and authority being in the hands of General
Carrera.
In San Salvador, Malespein, who had been the
most active party in the overthrow of Momzan's
government, gradually got all the power into his
hands, being first elected commander-in-chief, which
in Central America gives the whole power of govern-
L 4
224 FLUCTUATIONS OF POWER.
meat, and at the end of 1833 chosen president, prin^
cipally through the intrigues of Dr. Jos6 Vitero,
the bishop of San Salvador, who had conceived a
hatred to the legal president, Juan Jos6 Guzman,
and endeavoured to get the authority into his hands>
through Malespein, who he supposed would prove
a convenient instrument, though it turned out that
he was as much mistaken as the nobles of Guatemala
were in choosing Carrera.
Malespein having been first put in power by the
invading forces of Guatemala under General Carrera,
it was supposed that he would be an uncompromising
enemy of the liberal party. But when Morazan's
partizans arrived at the port of the union after the
death of that general, he not only admitted them
into the state, but shared among them several
of the principal oflSces of government, by which
he considerably strengthened his party in the
state ; and had his after conduct been prudent, he
might perhaps have induced the citizens to forget
his former crimes, and the manner in which he had
raised himself from a common highway robber to the
first place in the government. Honduras continued
to be governed by Francisco Ferrara, who had been
elected governor in 1841 ; a name which he afterwards
exchanged for that of president.
In Nicaragua, the authority of Pablo-Buitrago,
who had been elected supreme director in 1841, was
superseded by General Fonseca, who was styled
Grand Mar&hal, and having got the command of
the troops, left the government merely existing by
his sufferance. This man had, as is usual among the
governors of Central America, raised himself by the
i
A FRESH INCURSION. 225
most atrocious villany, and, though a drunkard, and
extremely ignorant and brutal in his manners, had
the lives and property of all at his nod.
Costa Rica, after its brief revolution, relapsed
into its previously quiet state, the people having for-
tunately imbibed a taste for industry and comfort,
which prevented them from again relapsing into
anarchy, like the other states.
The incongruous elements composing the govern-
ments of the four principal states, however, gave no
prospect of any lasting quiet ; and in the beginning
of 1844 General Aice, formerly president of the
republic, but then reduced to a sort of wandering
vagabond, being supplied with arms by General
Carrera, who was jealous of the favour shown by
Malespein to the officers of the late General Mo-
razan, made an incursion into the state of San Sal-
vador, and succeeded in taking some small towns ;
but none of the people joined him, and being sud-
denly attacked by a body of government forces, his
troops were routed, and he himself forced again to
take refuge in Guatemala.
The San Salvador government remonstrated
against this invasion ; and, though the government of
Guatemala disclaimed all participation in it, and
even imprisoned General Aice and the officers who
had accompanied him, their apology was not ac-
cepted, and Malespein, having rapidly collected a
body of 2000 men, entered the state of Guatemala,
where the government was in no condition to resist
him, and, had he pushed rapidly on, he might readily
have taken the city of Guatemala ; but tlie troops
L 5
226 ILLEGAL ASSESSMENTS.
after entering that etate^ revolted against Malespein^
and declared for General Cabanas, one of the best of
Morazan's officers, and a man of moderate principles
and excellent character ; and, though he refused to
accept a command to the injury of his benefactor,
Malespein, full of rage and indignation at the pre-
ference the troops had shown for another, com-
manded a retreat, and disbanded the troops sup-
posed to be the most favourable to Cabanas. In the
mean time Carrera had got together a force of about
5000 Indians, with which, after the retreat of the
San Salvador troops, he made an incursion into that
state ; but, as he feared to absent himself for any
time from the city of Guatemala, lest he should find
himself shut out on his return, he achieved nothing,
and after taking a few small villages on the borders of
the state, he returned to Guatemala, no engagement
having taken place between the two armies. Hence
the war had no result whatever beyond mutually
impoverishing the states, in both of which the
governments extorted forced contributions from all
who could pay them at the bayonet's point. In San
Salvador lists were made of all the traders and
landed proprietors, with sums attached to their
names, and if they neglected to pay the amount
demanded within three days, their property was
seized and sold for what it would fetch. In many
cases where parties were really unable to pay the
amount demanded by the government, the assessing
officer called in a friend to value their property, and
having put a price upon it, (perhaps not a fifth of its
real value,) an order was immediately given to the
same person to take possession of the property, and
OPPRESSIVE ENLISTMENTS. 227
pay the amount of the valuation to government,
while no attention was shown to the prayers of the
victii||0, even to granting them a few days to raise
the sum demanded. Bands of men in the pay of
government traversed the country, seizing on all they
could find to make soldiers of, treating them more
like African slaves than free citizens who were
called on to fight for their country. The proceed-
ings in Guatemala were scarcely less oppressive;
but as that state possessed a much larger population
and more wealth, they were not quite so ruinous in
their efiects.
During the dispute, the government of San Sal-
vador had made urgent applications to the states of
Nicaragua and Honduras to assist them in overturn-
ing Carrera's government. The Grand Marechal, Fon-
seca, who ruled in the former, pretended to comply
with the request, and raised 1200 men nominally for
that purpose, but instead of assisting San Salvador,
the troops were sent to attack Honduras, the go-
vernment of which they hoped easily to overturn.
Having entered that state on the 12 th of August,
they were, three days afterwards, attacked by a force
of 500 Honduras troops, under Colonel Guardiola,
in the town of Choluteca, and notwithstanding their
superiority of force, entirely routed ; when, throwing
away their arms, they fled in the most disgraceful
manner, not halting till they reached Chinendega.
The victory was principally owing to the entire state
of disorganisation of the Nicaragua troops, and
partly to the determined valour of Guardiola, whose
name continued afterwards to be a terror to all par-
ties.
L 6
228 DECLARATION OP PEACE*
On the 25th of August, peace was declared be-
tween the states- of San Salvador and Guatemala,
leaving both parties in their former position, with
the exception of the robberies made by their own
governments.
Having made peace with Guatemala, Malespein
had leisure to vent his rage against General Cabafias
and his party ; but, having obtained secret information
of his intentions, they hastily made their escape to San
Miguel, where they were joined by Barias, the governor
of that city, who was also proscribed; and, having
seized the arms belonging to the government, pro-
ceeded, with aboi^t 200 men, to the port of the
Union, where they arrived on the 8th of September,
and chartered the English brig Diana to take them
to Bealejo, in the state of Nicaragua, where they
found but little difficulty in inducing the govern-
ment and the Grand Mar^chal, Fonseca, to take part
with them against Malespein, and the existing go-
vernment of San Salvador and Honduras.
The Nicaragua government, assisted by the San
Salvador exiles, proceeded to collect money by forced
contributions and enlist troops, at the same time
instituting a most strict cordon to prevent any com^
munication with the state of San Salvador ; but on the
Constellation, a small coasting vessel under the
Equador flag, belonging to a French citizen in Costa
Bicav, calling at Eealejo in her voyage along the
coast, the government took the master prisoner as
soon as he landed, intending to seize the vessel to
assist in the invasion. However, the father of one of the
passengers, by name Chrisanto Medina, a native of
Buenos Ayres, and an enemy to the faction ruling
CONCLUSION OF A TREATY. 229
in Nicaragua, found means to communicate with his
son; and the latter, fearing that he would be as-
sassinated if the vessel was taken, and be obliged to
land, persuaded the crew to lift the anchor, and
brought the vessel to the port of the IJDion on the
6th of October, where he gave information to the
government of the preparations making in Nicaragua
for the invasion of the state. Upon this information
a treaty was concluded between San Salvador and
Honduras, the government of the latter state being
not only enraged at the invasion of their territory
in the preceding month of August, but fully aware
that General Cabanas's object was as much directed
against their government as that of San Salvador :
his well-known object being to give a preponderance
to the liberal party in each of the three states, and
having united their forces, to proceed against Gua-
temala and re-establish a federal government. Un-
fortunately, this scheme was better planned than
executed; and this general, one of the very few
whose bravery is unquestionable, and whose hands
are unsullied with bribery, and untainted with mur-
der, has, with the exception of his first achievements
under the government of General Morazan, been
uniformly unfortunate, and brought ruin on himself
and his party. The aforesaid treaty having been
negotiated between Honduras and San Salvador, the
usual means of collecting money by forced contri-
butions, and seizing men for troops, were liberally
resorted to by both governments : the Honduras
government, moreover, resorting to their usual ex-
pedient of issuing copper money for five times its
real value. In the mean time, Fonseca and Cabanas
230 THE COQUIHBO PARTT.
having got read; a force, invaded the state of Hon-
duras with about 2000 men, but being, on the Ut
of November, met by Guardiola with a much
inferior force of Honduras troops, a desperate en-
gagement ensued. Yet sJl the valour and exertions
of Cabanas could not secure the victory, and after
an engagement of several hours' duration, the Nica-
ragua troops were repulsed with con^derable loss.
A few days afterwards Cabailas, with a body of San
Salvador emigrants, defeated and dispersed a much
latter force of Honduras troops; but finding it quite
impossible to enforce any diaciphne among the Ni-
caraguans, who absolutely refused to obey him or
any of their leaders, he was forced to retreat into
the state of Nicaragua; and the San Salvador troops
under Malespein, and those of Honduras under
Guardiola, having united, and forming a body of
about 3000 men, entered Nicaragua in the end of
November, and after defeating the Nicaragua troops
in several engagements, l^d siege to Leon, the capital
of the state.
Leon, being the last hold of the party of Morazan,
called the Coquimbo party, from the name of the
vessel in which they arrived, was defended with
desperation; and the Honduras and San Salvador
troops were not sufficiently numerous to invest it
, so that they could not cut off the supply
as : but the people of Granada, who had
1 opposed to Fonseca (the possessor of all
;hority in the ruling faction), revived the
1 had been nearly extinguished, and being
the towns of Managua and Nicaragua,
a provisional government, at the head
UNJUST SEIZUBE OF VESSELS. 231
of which Sen Sylva was placed ; and having collected
a force of about 3000 men^ marched to the assist-
ance of the united forces of San Salvador and Hon-
duras.
In the mean time5 a number of engagements took
place between the parties5 generally to the advantage
of the besiegers, and the San Salvador government
having taken possession of two coasting vessels, fitted
them out to act against the enemy, and captured
another vessel which the Nicaragua government had
taken in a similar manner. None of the vessels
belonged to, or were paid for by, the governments,
and only one of them was ever restored to the owner,
and in a very damaged state, the two others being
lost in the course of the civil wars, and the owners,
a Frenchman and a Colombian, being left without
redress by the respectable government which had
seized their property contrary to all semblance of law
or justice.
On the 18th of December the besieged, to the
number of about 800, sallied out of Leon to open a
communication with their adherents in Chinendega,
but were repulsed and entirely defeated by 500 men
who had been despatched by Malespein to lie in
ambush for them. The leaders found their way back
to Leon, but the troops were nearly all dispersed,
and never again united. In the end of the year
1844, the troops of San Salvador and Honduras were
joined by the auxiliaries sent by the new provisional
government established in Granada, and the city of
Leon was invested on all sides, but defended with
a desperation previously unheard of in the Central
American wars. Meanwhile the unfortunate city
232 ATROCITIES OF THE BESIEGED,
endured iaconceivable horrors ; all the inbabitantB,
against whom any auBpiclon of favouring the be-
siegers woB entertained, were assassinated hy order
of the Grand Mar&:halj and the besieged even ex-
ceeded the besiegers ia the unheard of atrocities thej
committed. Nearly all the houses in the district, of
which they still were masters, were plundered, and
dead bodies lay unburied in all the streets. It was
proved, from the desperate defence of this city, that
its inhabitants, though despicable soldiers in the open
field, greatly excelled in this sort of warfare. But the
besieged, being at length reduced to the last extre-
mity, and having, like desperate wild beasts, sacked
the part of the city which they still held, murdering
even their own friends with unheard of cruelty, and
violating the women in the most brutal manner, were
deserted by Cabanas, Barras, Morazan's two sons,
and the remnant of their party, who, to the number
of eighteen, managed to elude the besiegers and
make their escape on the 23d of January, 1845.
llowing day a general assault was made
in and Cruardiola, who placed loaded
ind their troops, to be fired upon them
turned back ; and the two generals, and
troops being intoxicated, rushed forward
fury. The barricades were desperately
■ the Leonese troops for some time, but
3 all finally forced, and the defenders
iven out ; after which the victors made
issacre, no age or sex being spared, and
spected. The women, who hadjtakc'
le churches, were first violated and then
jy the savage soldiery; and these sacred
FURY OF THE VICTORS. 233
edifices were literally filled with mangled bodies, and
covered with blood.
Every single house in the city was plundered, and
completely gutted, except that belonging to Mr.
Thomas Manning, a British subject, partner of the
English vice-consul, Mr. Forster, which was pro-
tected by a guard of troops placed there by Male-
spein. The Grand Mar^chal had managed to take
refuge in Mr. Manning's house, where he was hid for
two days, but in a subsequent attempt to escape, was
taken by Malespein's troops, and immediately put
to death. Several houses were rased to the ground
by the conquerors, and this being found too tedious
a process, attempts were made to burn them; but the
solid and detached nature of the buildings, and the
absence of wood in all parts except the roofs, which
were all covered with tjles, prevented this measure
from having the desired effect to the extent intended,
and they left standing a considerable part of the once
beautiful and rich city of Leon, in the midst of ruins
and desolation.
In the month of September Jos6 Maria Alfaro,
who, from bad health, had ceased to exercise the
government of Costa Rica for some time (leaving it
to be administered by Oriomono, the vice-chief),
finished his legal term as governor, and not wishing
to be re-elected, Oriomono, was legally chosen
in his place ; but as he declined to act, Seii Moira was
appointed to the office, and on his also refusing it.
Sen Rafael Gallegos was chosen at a third election
held in the beginning of 1845. And although dis-
turbances were apprehended from the people of
Alhajuela^ who wished again to force the govern^
234 APPOINTMENT OF GUZMAN.
ment upon their citizen^ Jose Maria Alfaro^ against
his will, they were at the time avoided by the
exertions of all parties, and Gallegos continued to
wield the government till the 11th of July in the
succeeding year, the state continuing to progress in
wealth and industry.
On the 20th of December, 1844, groups assembled
in the streets of San Salvador, crying out " Guzman
for ever, down with Malespein ; " but the vice-pre-
sident, Guzman, had not sufficient courage to let
himself then be declared president, and persuaded
the mob to disperse, and, though frequently urged
to assume the supreme power, he positively refused
it on several occasions. But Cabanas and Barras
having, as stated, escaped from Leon the day before
its capture, reached San Miguel in ten days' time,
safely passing through Honduras without being dis-
covered ; and being there joined by about 300 men,
they hurried on to San Salvador, increasing their force
upon the march so that they entered the city at the
head of nearly 1000 men. There they were enthu-
siastically received by the population, who rose in
a body to join them. Most of the adherents of
Malespein saved themselves by a precipitate flight ;
but his brother and two sisters, with his best general,
Belloso, were taken and put in prison. A few were
also put to death by the mob.
The vice-president, Guzman, being, by this re-
volution, freed of all apprehensions from Malespein,
readily consented to be appointed provisional pre-
sident, and the change of government was enthusi-
astically hailed by all the state. Intelligence of this
revolution having reached Leon, all the San Salvador
f
IMPERATIVE ORDER OF GOVERNMENT. 235
troops deserted Malespein, and the new Nicaragua
government, having brought a large force to take
possession of the city, thanked the Honduras and
San Salvador generals for their assistance, and in-
timated to them that their presence was no longer
necessary ; and General Guardiola, finding himself
too weak, after the desertion of the San Salvador
troops, to resist the command, though, doubtless, he
had hoped to exact something more from the state,
was forced to retire with his troops into Honduras.
He was accompanied by General Malespein, who
still entertained hopes of being restored to the com*
mand in San Salvador, and having amassed a con-
siderable sum of money by his robberies, he was en-
abled to bribe the Honduras government to take his
part. General Guardiola, having hurried forward with
the troops he bad brought from Leon, entered the
state of San Salvador on the 2d of March with a
force not exceeding 800 men, hoping to reach the
city of San Salvador before the new government
could prepare to oppose him. But in the mean time
Cabanas, having collected a superior force, hastened
to meet him, and a battle took place at Quelepa,
about eight leagues beyond San Miguel, on the San
Salvador road, where victory declared for Guardiola,
who, passing the river Lempa, hurried on to San
Vicente, where another engagement took place, in
which the victory was claimed by both parties. But
as Cabaiias was immediately afterwards reinforced
with 1000 men, making his entire force about 2000,
Guardiola was forced to make a precipitate reti'eat
after eluding the enemy in a very clever manner,
having, in both his marches, plundered all the towns
236 MUTUAL PREPARATIONS FOR WAR.
on his road, and treated the inhabitants with great
cruelty; a method which, though successful in striking
terror into the enemy, seemed a doubtful plan of re-
placing Malespein as president of the state. Having
failed in the attempt to crush the new government
before it could be established, negotiations were entered
into between the states of Honduras and San Sal-
vador ; but, as Malespein's interest was predominant
in the former state, it was soon evident that they
would lead to no result. The new San Salvador
government having sent a request to that of Hon-
duras for the return of the arms of that state taken
away by Malespein, and of the two vessels which
had been taken from their owners, as before stated,
were met by a counter demand that they should do
justice to Malespein, paying him the claim he made
against the state, and again receiving him as governor
till a new president should be legally elected. Both
parties, therefore, prepared for an appeal to arms, by
which alone it was evident the dispute could be settled.
The people readily enlisted under Cabanas, who was
declared commander-in-chief, and in a short time
had 3000 men ready to march into Honduras ;^ h^t
symptoms of distrua^ tsuon began to show themselves
between ^e different parties in government, which,
moreover, wanted the means of supplying Cabanas
with money, as, though all classes were ready for
war with Honduras, few were inclined to advance
any money to the government. Indeed, few had
the means of doing it, as all classes were ruined by
the heavy contributions which had been exacted from
them, first for the war against Guatemala, and
afterwards for that against Nicaragua, combined
f
guardiola's private character. 237
with the total stagnation of industry throughout the
country.
Honduras was even poorer than the contending
state^ but had the ruinous resource of issuing copper
money at five times its value, and also of selling
mahogany to the Belize merchants. The forces of
the latter state were commanded by Guardiola, a
man in all respects different from his antagonist,
except in personal valour, in which he seemed even
to excel him. He is a dark coloured mestizo, stout-
built, and rather corpulent, his face expressing his
fiendish temper; but well liked by the soldiers,
whom he indulges in every way. To his habits of
intoxication may be added every species of vice
which can be named among the vicious inhabitants
of Central America ; and frequently, in his drunken
fits, he orders people to be shot who have in nothing
offended him, while at all times the most trifling
expression, incautiously uttered, is sufficient to cause
the babbler to be shot without mercy. In private
life he is as brutal as can well be imagined.
In all the towns through which he passes, he makes
a habit of calling in the best-looking women he
can see, and, after subjecting them to infamous
treatment, he drives them forth with the most
insulting epithets ; yet he is certainly the best and
most successful general of any now existing, and,
probably, of any who have appeared in Central
America. Like Marius, the Boman leader, his
brutal manners serve to terrify the enemy ; hence,
while the arrival of Cabanas, and most of the other
leaders, is looked upon without fear by the people of
the contending states, the bare name of Guardiola
238 GOVERNMENT NEGLECT.
is sufficient to make all the inhabitants fly to the
woods, leaving every thing behind them ; and his
mere appearance was, at last, often sufficient to ter-
rify and put to ffight a much superior force to what
he brought with him.
Cabanas having entered Honduras in the beginning
of May, proceeded without opposition as far as Co-
mayagua, the capital, which he entered on the 8th
of June ; but the government of San Salvador having
neglected to supply him with the necessary funds
either to pay the troops or purchase provisions,
great discontent was caused among the soldiers,
who were daily left in numbers to return home.
In reply to strong remonstrances on the subject,
the provisional president wrote that he must pay
and feed his men by the plunder of the enemy ;
but Cabanas replied, that he had entered Honduras
not as an enemy, but a friend to the inhabitants,
merely to overturn an unconstitutional government,
and that he would on no account permit his troops
to rob, whatever might be the result. It was now
perfectly clear that the provisional president and his
party had determined to sacrifice Cabanas, of whose
popularity they were afraid. The San Salvador
troops were left in the most wretched and almost
starving condition; and Cabanas having spent the
little money he could collect among his friends,
for he himself was too honest ever to be possessed
of any, the troops merely subsisted on what was
sent them in charity by the inhabitants of Hon-
duras, who were astonished at the moderation of
their leader. But after they had remained three days
in Comayagua, a report was raised that Guardiola
GUARDIOLA PLUNDERS THE CITY. 239
was at hand with the Honduras forces^ and the dis-
pirited troops absolutely refused to encounter him.
The greater part throwing away their arms^ fled
back to the state of San Salvador; not fifty men
remained with Cabanas5 who was forced to a precipi-
tate flight. On reaching San Miguel he endeavoured
to collect a part of his scattered forces to oppose
Guardiola, but to no purpose ; so that on the 22nd
of July he entered that city, which Cabanas was
forced to abandon. Nearly all the inhabitants had
fled from San Miguel, which Guardiola gave up to
be plundered by his troops, only respecting the
house of Don Angel Moglea, who remained to take
care of a large amount of property, principally be-
longing to British merchants resident in the state of
Nicaragua. Guardiola called upon this gentleman,
and seemed well pleased at his having reposed sufli-
cient confidence in him to remain in the city ; he
intimated that he knew the property in his house
was British, which he was directed to respect ; but
it would appear that this was the only native he
considered as privileged, as the houses of two French
merchants, who had their national flags flying, were
plundered and completely gutted ; this, however,
probably arose from their having left the city, afraid
to wait his arrival.
Having sacked San Miguel, Guardiola proceeded
towards the city of San Salvador, it being arranged
that another force of 1000 Honduras troops would
enter the state by the north, and uniting at Cajuta-
peke, march upon the capital; but the Honduras
government, having exhausted its funds by so long-
continued a war, were unable to send a sufficient
240 CONFUSION OF THE GOVEBNMENT.
force for that purpose, so that Guardiola did not on
this occasion pass the river Lempa.
In the mean time, all was terror and confusion in
San Salvador: Cabanas having resigned the com-
mand in disgust, no one could be found to succeed
him, and the provisional president was known to be
a great coward. The bishop, however, preached up
a crusade against the Honduras troops, having pre-
viously excommunicated Ferrera, the president o£
that state, and General Malespein, the ex-president
of San Salvador, whom his intrigues had formerly
raised to the supreme power; but he afterwards
quarrelled with him as he would not be guided by
his advice, and retired to Guatemala, from which he
returned on receiving news of the revolution of the
2nd February 1845 in San Salvador. By the bull of
excommunication, all parties holding any communi-*
cation with the Honduras troops were also excom-
municated ; and, upon any of the invaders entering
a town, the priests were to seize the Eucharist
and fly with it, together with as many of the
inhabitants as would fellow; superstition, however,
was at too low an ebb in the state to make this
decree very effective, but the cruelty of Guardiola
did much more to effect the desired purpose. Ditches
were cut across the streets of San Salvador, and
barricades erected at the ends of all the streets, the
people appearing determined to defend it to the last
extremity.
Meanwhile the government was in the utmost
confusion, and the different factions disputed with
the most bitter acrimony. The Coquimboes, as
the officers who had served the late General Morazan
NEGOTIATIONS OF THE STATES. 241
were called, formed one party, the bishop and his
friends another, and the friends of the provisional
president, Guzman, a third. The first stood highest
in public opinion, but the two others, especially the
bishop's party, excelled in intrigue; and even the
vicinity of the enemy could not prevent their bicker-
ing and abusing each other in the most violent
manner. At the same time, all the state between
Honduras and the Biver Lempa was at the mercy of
Guardiola's troops, whose cruelty caused universal
terror and dismay ; so that nearly all the inhabitants
deserted the towns and villages, and hid themselves
in the woods, where many, principally the old and
infirm, died of himger.
Finally, finding it difficult to maintain his troops
in a country which they had desolated, and not ven-
turing to advance upon the city of San Salvador
without a larger force, Guardiola i^etumed to Hon-
duras.
The greater part of the months of August and
September was spent in negotiations between the
two states. The government of San Salvador ap-
peared sincere in its desire for peace ; but that of
Honduras seemed only to seek an excuse for prolong-
ing the time to increase their forces, judging from
the result of the last incursion that they could not
fail to take the capital of San Salvador, and destroy
the government at one blow with the increased force
they were preparing.
In the commencement of October two expeditions
were fitted out from Honduras ; one, under Guar-
diola, proceeded by land, and the other, by sea, to
the port of the Union, on board the two vessels
242 DEATH OF COLONEL CABAVALLO,
which Malespein had seized from their owners to act
against Nicaragua^ and afterwards^ upon the revolu-
lution in San Salvador, transferred to the port of
San Lorenzo, in Honduras. But Colonel Caravallo,
who commanded the San Salvador forces, having
tampered with Colonel Barras, who commanded a
part of the Honduras troops, suddenly fell upon
them in a valley caUed Obrajuela, full of indigo
plantations, and before they could put themselves
in order for fighting defeated them with considerable
loss, and took 120 prisoners, whom he massacred in
cold blood ; and, afterwards, marching upon the
Union, he took prisoners part of the forces em-
ployed in the other expedition, though the greater
portion were enabled to get on board the vessels in
time to escape.
Guardiola, however, saved himself, with the greater
part of his troops ; and having put Barras to death,
and received secret information that Colonel Cara-
vallo was in the Union with about 250 men, silently
marched thither by land with a somewhat superior
force, and unexpectedly entering the place, easily
overcame all resistance. Colonel Caravallo and all
bis troops were immediately put to death, and every
male in the place, except a few who were enabled to
escape to the neighbouring woods, were put to the
sword: afterwards, having plundered the govern-
ment warehouse of the bonded goods, principally
belonging to the San Miguel merchants, and ran-
sacked the town, he retired, leaving the place in
utter desolation, the streets and houses being full of
dead bodies, and no person even left to bury them.
He returned without opposition to Honduras.
TERMS OF PEACE. 243
After this^ negotiations were again resumed be-
tween the two states^ but^ as they did not proceed
very satisfactorily^ Guardiola again entered the state
of San Salvador in the month of November, and, on
the 20th of that month, approached within five
leagues of San Miguel, where a large concourse of
people had collected for the fair, which is at its
height on the 21st, and is the largest in all Central
America; but upon receiving notice of Guardiola's
vicinity all was consternation, and all the traders
abandoned the city with the utmost precipitation.
Bargains were left half concluded, and debtors
were unable to pay, or creditors to receive, while
all the merchandise which could be packed up was
sent away in the greatest hurry ; and as nearly
all the payments for purchases contracted in this state
are made payable either at this fair, or that of the 8th
of May, the great inconvenience and loss of such a
dispersion may be conceived. But the authorities
having barricaded the streets, and collected a force
of 900 men to oppose Guardiola, the latter thought
proper to retire without attacking^ the city. Both
parties being at last completely tired of the war,
and without funds to carry it on any longer, peace
was at last concluded between the states of San
Salvador and Honduras on the 20th of December,
upon the terms, that Malespein should restore one of
the vessels he had unjustly seized (the other being
lost) to the owner, and that his family should
have all their property restored to them, all the
prisoners taken by both parties, to be set free with-
out ransom, and that no punishment should be in-
M 2
244 INSUBRECTIONS IN GUATEMALA.
flicted in either state> on the partisans of the other,
for then: acts during the war.
In Guatemala the absolute government of Carrera
was continued, and the shadow of a representative
assembly having been dissolved in June, 1844, he
assumed the office of president of the state on the
1st of January, 1845 ; but, as the whole power of
government had been in his hands since March,
1839, and the former president, Mariaua Kivera
Paz, and his ministers, entirely subservient to his
orders, it made no real change in the government.
During 1844 the state of Guatemala was the scene
of two insurrections. The first was got up by Monte
Kosas, one of Carrera's generals, who collected a body
of troops, with which he hoped to supplant his master ;
but being suddenly attacked by Carrera at night in
the place where he was encamped, about a league from
the capital, his men, who amounted to about 200,
were easily defeated and dispersed, and his horse
falling as he was attempting to jump a ditch in
his escape, he was taken and committed to prison : in
this insurrection* only two or three of the insurgents
were killed. The second was a revolt of a corps,
called the permanent battalion, on the 20th of Sep*
tember, which was promptly suppressed, though not
before the insurgents had plundered some of the
shops in the principal square. This revolt seemed
to be without any more ostensible object than the
hope of profiting by plunder. Some of the principal
leaders were shot, and the remainder of the corps
disbanded.
A revolt of a much more serious iiature took
A MORE SERIOUS REVOLT. 245
place on the 2nd of February, 1845 ; and, had it
been conducted by men of ordinary courage and
popularity, would doubtless have ended in a change
of government. Carrera having gone to one of his
estates, about forty leagues from the city of Guate-
mala, a revolution was organised by a party mostly
composed of the self-called nobles and priests, who
had been disappointed that Carrera had not shown
them more favour after they had assisted to put him
in power. They gained over nearly all the troops,
about 200 in number ; and those in two of the bar-
racks rose simultaneously early in the morning of the
2nd, deposed their officers, opened the gaols and let
out all the prisoners, among whom was Monte
Bosas, whom they put at their head, and being joined
by the greater number of the troops from the other
barracks, they put to death or drove out all who
adhered to Carrera's interest ; and having, with the
accession of all the prisoners, got together a force of
about 800 men, and taken possession of all the
government arms and ammunition, there seemed no
chance of Carrera's being able to resist them, as he
was without men, money, or arms. On the follow*
ing day Sotero Carrera, brother of the president,
approached from Old Guatemala with 200 men he
had collected, almost without arms, but was attacked
in the town of Mizco, and put to flight by 400 of
the insurgents.
But few of the citizens showed any wish to join
Monte Bosas, who was generally considered worse
than Carrera; and the self-called uobles, who had
excited the revolt, in the most cowardly manner bar-
H 3
246 COWABDICE OF CARBERA.
*
ricaded their houses^ and waited to see the restdt
before declaring for either party.
Carrera showed that he was almost as cowardly
as his antagonists, for when he was informed of the
revolt, he was taken violently ill, and nearly died of
fright; but some of his generals showed more
courage, and managed to collect about 2000 Indians
from* the towns in his interest, though nearly un-
armed, the insurgents being in possession of all the
arms in Guatemala. Bad Monte Bosas adopted
determined measures, it would appear quite im-
possible that any force could have been collected
capable of contending with him; but finding that
he was not joined by the citizens, as he had been
led to expect, he immediately despaired of the
result; and having received 5000 dollars from the
municipality, he left the city, of which he had held
possession for four days, under the agreement that
he should give up his arms to Carrera^ receiving a
free pardon. The convention was not, however, ob-
served, on one side at least, and the day following
Sotero Carrera pursued the insurgents, who were
awaiting his brother's arrival to lay down their arms
at a village on the road to Old Guatemala, and
coming up with them attacked and killed a great
number in cold blood, as they made no resistance ;
Monte Kosas, and nearly all the leaders, however,
escaped to Mexico.
Carrera, having heard of the suppression of the
insurrection, returned to Guatemala, and put to
death ten individuals, supposed to have been con-
cerned in the revolt, without any form of trial, and
PRUDENCE OF THE GOVERNOR. 247
contrary to the convention entered into by the mu-
nicipality.
It certainly showed either an extraordinary degree
of forbearance or cowardice in a man of the infamous
character of Monte Rosas, possessing so large a band
of desperadoes, not to have plundered Guatemala, and
to have retired enriched with its spoils to some of
the states, where he might have been received with
open arms ; and it was quite impossible that Carrera
could have prevented his doing so, nor would the
inhabitants of Guatemala ever have had the courage
or unanimity to offer any resistance. -Ai*ter the
suppression of the revolt, the state of Guatemala
remained perfectly quiet for the rest of the year
1845 ; and Carrera, either frightened by the revolt
or pleased that Guatemala had not joined in it, or
becoming more civilised in his manners, seemed
inclined to relax the severity of his government a
little, and appointed a liberal minister, Don Guakin
Duran, a lawyer of talent, and generally well spoken
of by the people. This minister, after holding his
ofBce for a few months, was succeeded by General
Pais, a man of the worst character ; but, to the sur-
prise of all, he has governed better than any of his
immediate predecessors. Having been collector of
customs at Izabel, he made some wise laws for the
suppression of smuggling, by which he so much in-
creased the revenue of the state that it is not only
amply sufficient for the expenses of government,
but has enabled him to pay off part of the debts
due to private merchants, almost a new occurrence in
the government of the state.
The bishop of Guatemala having died in the island
H 4
248 CONSPIRACY AGAINST CAKREBA*
of Cuba, his body was brought to the city of Gua-
temala, to be interred according to his directions;
and the funeral took place in the month of May,
with all the pomp and ceremony which the govern-
ment could muster* At the same time a conspiracy
to assassinate Carrera was got up by a number of
young men ; but General Pais, the minister, having,
as it would appear, received secret intelligence of the
scheme, caused all the troops who were paraded (in
number about 500), for a salute, to load with ball.
The cannons were also shotted: and these preparations
caused the attempt to be deferred. But the authors
were not discovered till the month of July, when
one of the conspirators (as is generally understood)
having given secret information, a number of arrests
were made on the 5th, 6th, and 7th of the month,
and the whole plot was laid open. The scheme was
to shoot Carrera as he was coming out of the
cathedral, for which purpose ten or twelve young
men were armed with loaded pistols, but hearing
of the preparations made by the troops, their courage
failed. It seemed to be a very foolish affair, as the
parties had made no preparation for establishing
any other government, and the death of Carrera
under such circumstances would probably only have
led to a state of anarchy till the government was
seized by some person equally bad, who would have
had to enrich himself by a fresh series of robberies ;
whereas Carrera, having amassed a fortune beyond
his most sanguine wishes, has a strong interest in
maintaining peace and public security in order that
he may quietly enjoy it.
The state of Guatemala having (with the excep-
POVERTY OP THE STATES. 249
tion of the short contest with San Salvador) enjoyed
an almost uninterrupted tranquillity for six years,
has improved considerably in wealth and industry;
and, although liberty, and even law and justice, are
but an empty name under the absolute government
of the ignorant and profligate person, who governs
with a power more absolute than the Emperor of
Kussia, or the Sultan of Turkey, there is," perhaps,
more security for life and property than in most
parts of Spanish America ; and, could the govern-
ment ]>e induced to establish schools on liberal prin-
ciples, it might be hoped that the population, in-
creasing in knowledge and morality, as well as in
riches and industry, might in time be capable of
appreciating and establishing a firm and respectable
government.
The states of San Salvador and Honduras have,
from their long civil war, been reduced to the most
deplorable state of poverty and misery. Industry
is at an end, and the people, though in the most
indigent state, have become so reckless and demoral-
ised that they will not work or do any thing to earn
an honest livelihood. The cultivation of indigo, the
only article of exportation from the former, and the
working of the mines, the only branch of industry in
the latter state, are nearly extinct.
In the end of March the election of a president took
place in San Salvador; and the different parties,
prudently passing by their favourites, almost unani-
mously chose Eugenic Aguilar, Doctor of Medicine,
a man of moderate principles and good private cha-
racter, though of but little talent. On the 11th of
July an insurrection was got up by the Bishop of
H 5
250 INTRIGUE OP THE BISHOP.
San Salvador. This intriguing prelate^ who had
desired to govern the president, finding that he
employed men of all parties, and but little con-
sulted him in the government, hoped, as he had suc-
ceeded in overturning the two former governments,
to destroy that of Doctor Aguilar still more easily ;
but having taken his measures badly, the conspirators
got intoxicated, and commenced the attack upon the
government authorities before the signal was given,
and before the greater number of the insurgents
had arrived. After a short combat in the streets of
San Salvador, they were routed and dispersed by the
government troops, about thirty being killed in the
fray: and the proofs of the bishop being at the
head of the revolt being quite indisputable, he was
banished from the state by the government. Upon
the revolt breaking out, the president, with charac-
teristic timidity, had resigned his authority to
Fermingo Palacios, the senior senator, and was only
with much difficulty prevailed on to resume it on its
suppression.
Honduras ccHitinues quiet, and at the election of
president, held in July last year. Sen Grual (whose
real name is probably Wall, the same as that of the
famous Spanish minister who was of Irish descent,)
was chosen. This, however, would be of little im-
portance in the government had not Ferrera, the
commander-in-chief, who, since the overthrow of
Morazan, has been the only real governor of the
state, and his general, Guardiola, whose very name
was dreaded by all parties, resigned their offices.
The new president is stated to be one of the most
wealthy and respectable men in the country ; so that
MISERABLE CONDITION OP NICARAGUA. 251
Honduras may possibly at last enjoy a period of
repose and returning prosperity.
Nicaragua is even in a more miserable condition
than any of the other states. Sen Sandoval^ a man
of good character and moderate principles, was elected
director in the beginning of December, 1845, but
the government is almost quite powerless, either in
enforcing obedience to the laws, or punishing any
infringement of them.
On the 18 th of March thirty assassins, headed by
a person called Bemadas Sumoso, seized a schooner
belonging to the San Salvador government, in the
port of the Union, forcing the master, an English-
man, to convey them to Sealejo, where they landed,
and, proceeding to Old Chinendega, cruelly mur-
dered Don Bernardo Venereo, the most wealthy and
respectable native in the state, having first com-
pelled him to deliver all his money. They assassi-
nated afterwards, in the same manner, Don Domingo
Guzman and two Spanish merchants in Chinendega :
who were among the most quiet and inoffensive
men in the state. And so helpless was the govern-
ment that, although Venereo sent them notice of the
landing of the assassins, and asked a body of troops
for his protection, they could not induce the soldiers
to march for want of their pay, which, though it
amounted to only twenty-five dollars, they were
unable to raise.
Agriculture, and all sorts of industry, are at an
end in every part of this state except in Granada and
its neighbourhood, where the people are not yet so
corrupted as in other parts, and though possessing
natural advantages unequalled by almost any other
M 6
252 REVOLUTION IN SAN JOSE,
part of the world for agriculture, mining and trade,
natural productions of great value, and a soil of
unsurpassed fertility, the natives live in the greatest
misery imaginable, almost naked, and feeding upon
plantains and other fruits growing naturally in the
woods without cultivation; while the state is re-
duced to the lowest condition of poverty and degra-
dation, without commerce, industry, or the least
hope of amelioration, till it shall be colonised by a
new race of people. .
In Costa Bica, Sen Raphael Gallegas, who was
constitutionally elected chief of the state in the be-
ginning of 1845, continued to exercise his authority
till the 7th of June in the following year, when a
revolution was got up in San Jos6 by the military
officers, in which Gallegas was deposed, and Jos6
Maria Alfaro, much against his will, was forced to
accept of the supreme command. The revolution
was not attended with any bloodshed, and the motive
for the change was difficult to guess at, unless, as is
probable, the military chiefs thought that Jos^ Mari^
Alfaro would be a more convenient tool in their
hands than Sen Gallegas. In the manifesto issued
by the leaders of the revolution, no grievance is
stated except one which might be applied to most
representative governments, namely, that the legis-
lative assembly talked a great deal and did very
little. The resolutions of the leaders comprise the
abolition of the former state constitution ; the pro-
clamation of Jos6 Maria Alfaro absolute chief of
the state, for no specified time, (so that it may be
supposed that it is for life, or during good behaviour,)
the immediate election of a new vice-chief, who
QUALIFICATIONS FOR A VICE-CHIEF. 253
must be a native of the state, not under twenty-five
years of age, married, or a widower with children,
must possess property worth not less than 10,000
dollars, and must not have been criminally punished,
except by a pecuniary fine, nor executed for debts
contracted in the state; must have served in other
public offices without taint, and must be friendly to
the independence and separate government of the
state.
A new legislative chamber was to be immediately
convoked by the chief, and the manner of election to
be fixed by him ; in the interim, the present assembly
was to continue its sittings.
The chief shall be obliged, in the shortest possible
time, to seek a good port on the north coast, and
make a road to it from the capital, using for that
purpose the funds of the public treasury.
It is much to be feared that this revolution may
tend to disturb the quiet progress in industry and
wealth of this little state, as a revolution brought
about in so illegal a manner cannot be permanent,
and may probably lead to a series of disputes before
a return to constitutional government. This is much
to be regretted, as Costa Rica is one of the few pro--
vinces in Spanish America which has made an almost
uninterrupted progress in prosperity and wealth since
its independence from the mother country.
During the year 1846, various attempts were made
by different states to induce the rest to unite in
forming a federal government. The 15th of May
was appointed for the meeting, in Sonsonate, of two
representatives from each state, but at the appointed
day only the deputies from San Salvador and Costa
254 ABORTIVE ATTEMPT AT RE-UNION.
Rica had arrived, those of Honduras and Nicaragua
arriving a few days afterwards. The deputies from
Guatemala did not however appear till the middle of
July, during which time one of the representatives
from Costa Rica had died, and the other refused to act
alone, so that the rest dispersed without effecting
any thing towards a reunion of the states, or the
formation of a general government.
It is evident that Carrera, who exercises the go-
vernment of Guatemala, is little inclined to agree to
the formation of any central or federal power which
might afterwards be used to control his own autho-
rity ; and the new government, established in Costa
Rica by the revolution of the 7th of June, has passed
resolutions declaring that state separate and inde-
pendent from the rest; consequently no hopes can
be entertained for the present of a resuscitation of
the republic of Central America.
In the mean time, the states of San Salvador,
Hondiuras, and Nicaragua, may be said to possess
popular governments legally elected, and Guatemala
and Costa Rica absolute and self-elected govern-
ments ; and it is rather a bad sign of their capacity
for enjoying constitutional liberty that the three
states possessing a popular government are decidedly
in the most miserable and disorganised state ; but it
must also be remembered that the three popular
governments are almost newly elected, none having
yet existed for two years continuously, which is not
sufficient to enable us to judge of their effects upon
these states.
During the brief period of the independent exist-
ence of the nominal republic of Central America (a
INSTABILITY OP THE GOVERNMENT. 255
country inferior in extent to any of the other pro-
vinces of America once belonging to Spain, and only
containing about 2,000,000 of inhabitants), no fewer
than 396 persons have exercised the supreme power
of the republic and the different states, under the
names of chiefs, governors, presidents, directors, or
ministers under these officers ; which fact alone,
without the preceding outline of revolutions and
massacres, would show the unparalleled want of sta-
bility in the government of a country which, pos-
sessing one of the richest territories in the world,
and a situation without exception the most favourable
for commerce of any part of the globe, has reached
the lowest state of poverty, while its trade is nearly
wholly destroyed, and the people entirely corrupted
and brought to the most wretched and disorganised
condition of any country in the whole catalogue of
nations pretending to the smallest degree of civili-
sation.
Little hope can be entertained of any permanent
improvement in Central America till some man of
decided ability shall unite the states and form a cen-
tral government capable of making itself feared or
respected by all parties, or till it shall £a,ll under the
dominion of some foreign power capable of forming
a firm and powerful government of a nature suited
to the country, overawing the factious and affording
ample protection to the industrious and well-disposed.
It is to be hoped that one or other of these events
may soon occur to rescue this delightful country
from its present anarchy, and gradually place it in
the elevated rank which it would undoubtedly hold
under an enlightened government.
256
CHAP. VII.
CLIMATE, PRODUCTIONS, ANIMALS, 6E0L06T, MINEBAX06T, MINES,
YOIX^ANOES, AND EARTHQUAKES OF CENTRAL AMERICA.
The climate of Central America presents a most re-
markable feature to a European, both on account of
its great variety of temperature and its equality during
all seasons of the year. The former arises from the
great diflFerence in the altitude of the country, and the
latter, from the rainy season commencing in May
(which would otherwise be the hottest season), and
ending in October (which would otherwise be the
coldest), a circumstance by which the year is as it
were reversed, the summer months being, on an
average, a few degrees colder than those of the
winter.
Central America lies between 8° and 17** north
latitude, and were the land low, would possess a
climate somewhat hotter than the West Indian
Islands; but the great difference of altitude has
caused an endless variety of climate, from the average
heat of the months of April and May in England, to
that of the slave coast of Africa.
The whole of the coast on each side of the con-
tinent possesses, as might be expected, a nearly
uniform climate, the variation of latitude not being
sufficient to cause almost any difference, though the
heat is a little modified by the form and position of
the coast ; but the temperature and climate of the
VAEIATIONS OP TEMPERATURE. 257
two coasts differ considerably, owing to the prevail-
ing winds and figure of the land. On the S.W.
coast the rains commence regularly in the beginning
of May ; and, with the exception of a short intermis-
sion (in some seasons only) of about twenty days
in the end of July and beginning of August, con-
tinue tiU the month of October, and in some parts
and seasons till the middle of November. During
the rest of the year rain is almost unknown, a slight
shower not sufficient to lay the dust occurring very
rarely. On the N.E. coast the rains, on the con-
trary, continue nearly all the year, with a short and
uncertain intermission of three or four months ; the
driest period being from the month of June to Oc-
tober, and the wettest from October to May. The
consequence of this, as may be supposed, is, that
whilst the interior and S.W. coast possess an almost
equal temperature during the whole year, the N. E.
coast is extremely sultry during the summer months,
and is also found to be very unhealthy, on account
of the superabundant moisture ; while the rest of the
republic, with some local exceptions, is perhaps more
healthy than any other country within the same de-»
grees of latitude.
Beginning at the most northern point of the re-
public, we find the province of the Altos (high land)
for a short time an independent state, but now form-
ing part of Guatemala. The average temperature of
the table land of this province, where nearly all the
population is concentrated, may be equal to that of
Valencia in Spain, and in some of the higher situa-
tions the cold is intense, and greater on an average
than in any part of Britain. In the capital, Quesal-
258 TEMPERATURE OF THE TOWNS,
tenango, the heat is never so great as during the
summer months in England ; snow sometimes falls in
the months of December and January, but it never
lies on the ground, and the temperature never falls
to within several degrees of the freezing point.
Solola, the next largest town in the province, has
about the summer temperature of York, and the
winter of Madeira. The climate of New and Old
Ghiatemala is, in the dry season, about equal to
the summer in the south of England, and, in the wet
season, to the winter of Morocco, the thermometer
rarely rising above 80°, or sinking below 60° of
Fahrenheit.
The province of Vera Paz is about ten degrees
hotter than that of Guatemala, and the heat gra-
dually increases towards the coast.
The state of San Salvador lies, on an average,
considerably lower than that of Guatemala, but the
heat is never oppressive except near the coast. The
average temperature of the city of San Salvador
may be equal in the dry season to the south of
France, the wet season being about eight degrees
colder than the dry.
Many of the largest towns in this state, as Son-
senate and San Miguel, are situated very little above
the level of the sea, and have an oppressively hot
climate, varying from 80 to 90 degrees in the wet
and dry seasons.
Honduras, as its name (depths or valleys) implies,
has a very unequal surface; the capital, Comay-
agua, has a climate little cooler than that of the
coast, but its principal commercial town, Tegoci-
galpa, is nearly as cool as Guatemala. Many parts
AND STATES. 259
of the interior of this state have a most delightful
climate, of the average temperature of the south of
Europe ; while the N. E. coast, including the two
principal ports of Omoa and Trujillo, have a climate
similar to British Guiana, the heat during part of
the year being excessive, and the climate very un-
healthy.
The greater part of the state of Nicaragua consists
of plains and undulating slopes, there being no dis-
tricts of table lands, as in all the other states, and of
mountains, which occupy but a small proportion of
the surface, being for the most part rugged and pre-
cipitous volcanic peaks, with few habitations on
their steep sides; hence the temperature of most
of the towns in the state, including Leon, the capital,
is nearly the same as that of the S. W. coast. The
cities of Ghinnada and Nicaragua being on somewhat
higher land, possess a rather more temperate climate,
though not so cool as most parts of the other states ;
while Segovico, which is situated to the north, near
the state of Honduras, possesses a delightful climate,
its altitude being nearly the same as that of the
capital of San Salvador.
The part of Costa Bica, where the population is
concentrated, is a high table land. The old capital
of Cartago has nearly the same average temperature
as Guatemala ; but being on the N. E. side of the
Cordillera, the wet and dry seasons are reversed, the
rains commencing in November, and ending in April
or May. The new capital of San Jos6, and the
only two other towns of any importance, Heridia
and Alhajuela, have a climate a few degrees hotter,
but the rains continue fully a month longer than in
260 PRODUCTIONS.
the states of Guatemala^ San Salvador^ and Nica-
ragua, commencing in the end of April, and ending
in the beginning or the middle of November.
The northernmost states of Central America, in
the centre and S. E. coast, appear to have the
driest weather. More than half the N. E. coast is
claimed hj the British and Moschito Indians ; and
the parts which still belong to Central America
are but thinly inhabited, by a different race of
people from those of the centre and S. W. coast,
who greatly dread the N. E. coast on account of
its climate, which proves very fatal to natives of
the interior.
The vegetable productions of Central America are
perhaps more varied than those of any other part of
the world. If the country were in the possession of
an industrious and enterprising people, it could not
fail to be one of the richest on the globe ; but at
present its only exports of any importance are cochi-
neal, indigo, coffee, and Brazil wood. The three first
could be produced in any quantity in many parts of the
republic, and perhaps more advantageously than in
any other part of America ; but at present, the only
parts which exhibit any approach to industry, are
the small state of Costa Bica, and the cities of Old
Guatemala and Amatitlan. It would, indeed, appear
as if all the parts which were most productive in
the time of the Spaniards were now the most
wretched and abandoned, while the only two arti-
cles of cultivation, which seem likely to be con-
tinued, are of late introduction, and established in
districts which produced nothing in the time of the
Spaniards.
MANUFACTURES. 261
> \
Commencing at the most northerly point of the ^
republic, is the province of the Altos, now forming
part of the state of Guatemala. Wheat of a very
superior quality is produced in many parts of this pro-
vince ; but, as there are no roads, and as it must be
carried on the back of mules by the tracks opened in
the forest, it can only be sent to a short distance.
The value of wheat of the best quality does not
exceed one dollar a fancga of 300 lbs. in Quesalte-
nango, while the carriage of the same quantity to
Guatemala, which is not quite a hundred miles dis-
tant, costs at least six dollars. About 2000 fancgas
are sent in the year to New or Old Guatemala.
This province contains considerable flocks of sheep,
which may be purchased at about four reals (two
shillings) each ; the quality of the wool is very va-
rious, but none is equal to the better qualities of
Germany or Spain. It is generally sold in Quesal-
tenango at a media (three pence) a pound, all quali-
ties mixed together ; when in demand it occasionally
is worth a real (sixpence), but it is never exported,
as the freight to the nearest port would cost more
than its value in any part of the world ; so that it is
all manufactured by the natives into gerga, a coarse
twilled fabric, thick fringed and bordered cheques
and stripes for jackets, and large plaids, called
ponchos by the natives. In the manufacture of the
two latter articles, considerable taste is shown, and
some of the work would not disgrace one of our
Scotch manufactories. The prices of the lower qua-
lities are very moderate, and decidedly cheaper than
they could be made in England at the present prices
of wool there.
262 PRODUCE OP SAN SALVADOR.
The hotter districts of the province of the Altos
produce yaailla of very fine quality, and caoutchouc ;
the latter might be collected in large quantities, as
the tree is very abundant, but at present it is only
used for making footballs, and the Indians of course
only collect what they can sell ; it is worth about a
media (thi'ee-pence) a pound.
The state of Guatemala produced nothing when
under the Spanish government, as the indigo called
by its name was all grown in San Salvador and
Nicaragua; but cochineal, which has been parti-
cularly described in the account of Amatitlan, has,
within the last twenty years, proved an export of
considerable value and importance. Cocoa, of most
excellent quality, is reared on the S. W. coast,
but it is not sufficient for the supply of the state,
and bears too high a value — 4 reals (two shil-
lings) a pound — to make it available for export-
ation, even if the roads and other circumstances per-
mitted it.
Coffee is also produced in small quantities for the
supply of Guatemala; some large plantations have
lately been made, but it is doubtful if they wiU
prove profitable till roads are made, and ports esta-
blished for exportation.
The principal produce of the state of San Sal-
vador is indigo, which has been particularly noticed
in the account of that state. But the province of
Sonsonate also produces the celebrated balsam of
Peru, which is called by that name from its having
been taken by the Spaniards to Lima, and thence
exported to Spain, though the article is only pro-
duced in the neighbourhood of Sonsonate. It is ob-
THE SUGARS OF SANTA ANA. 263
tained by boring a hole into the heart of the tree^
into which a piece of palm leaf is inserted, a jar
being placed below to receive the liquid which flows
from it. It is sold in the city of Sonsonate by the
Indians, who prepare it in small bottles made up of
a sort of gourd, at about four reals (two shillings) a
pound. The balsamita, called white balsam, is made
by steeping the seed of the same plant in strong
spirits, and is said to be the best remedy in existence
for allaying the inflammation of wounds. Vanilla is
also collected in small quantities, but of very fine
quality ; it is the seed pod of a small climbing plant,
found in the same places as the balsam tree, but it is
not here cultivated as in Mexico, the Indians merely
gathering the seed pod when they find it wild in the
woods, but never attempting to propagate it.
In the neighbourhood of the city of San Salvador
and of Cojutapeke, very fine ginger, equal to the
best West Indian is produced, but it has not as yet
been exported.
A considerable quantity of sugar is grown in the
state, and enough might be produced to supply all
Central America. The sugar made in the neighbour-
hood of Santa Ana is the best, and forms the principal
supply for the consumption of Guatemala; although
manufactured in the rudest manner, it is often as
white as English refined sugar, the crystal being the
hardest I have seen in any part of the world, so that
it can be carried on the back of mules, packed only
in a few leaves, without the loaf being crushed or
broken. A sugar estate merely consists of a small
patch of cane, and a rude wooden mill worked by
oxen, the pans being imiformly made of clay. None
264 PREVENTATIVES TO CULTIVATION,
of the mills can make above twenty quintals in a
day, their utmost produce being twenty or twenty-
five tons a year. Doctor Drivon has got a sugar
estate at Sonsonate, with machinery imported from
England, brass pans, and all other conveniences;
but, from disagreements between him and the mort-
gagee and importer of the machinery, it has not
succeeded well, and is now offered for sale at less
than half its cost, without the least chance of meeting
a purchaser.
The doctor told me, that what is called *^chan-
caca" (the juice of the sugar-cane merely boiled till
it crystallises, but not cleared of molasses), might
be produced at 10 reals (5 shillings) a quintal (101^
lbs. English). The freight to Valparaiso from Aca-
jantla, the port of Sonsonate, never exceeds a dollar
a quintal, and the price there is from three or four
dollars, sold as it arrives on board ship. But I
believe that the diflSculty of inducing the natives to
work steadily, and the risk of all the workmen being
taken away on the breaking out of one of the very
frequent civil wars, to the utter ruin of the culti-
vator, are objections strong enough to prevent most
persons from attempting any sort of cultivation on a
large scale in any part of Central America, but most
especially in this, and the neighbouring states of
Hondui*as and Nicaragua.
Proceeding S.E., Honduras is the next state of
the nominal federation ; it is, naturally, by far the
most rugged and barren part of Central America,
and, though with an industrious population many
articles of value for exportation might be cultivated,
there is not the least hope of it at present, as, from
ABANDONMENT OF THE MINES. 265
the continued civil wars and exactions of the go-
vernment, the only branch of industry, viz. the gold
and silver mines, is almost abandoned. A small
quantity of sarsaparilla, and about 20,000 bides,
are annually exported frc^m Trujillo and Omoa;
and the Belize merchants annually purchase from
the state government from five to ten thousand
trees of mahogany, which they cut and export at
their own expense, paying the government a dollar
for each tree, however it may turn out. The woods
of this state on the S. W. side, produce niany ar-
ticles which might be advantageously exported to
Europe, if roads were made. A gum, resembling
that of Senegal, is very plentiful, and a number of
trees and herbs which produce dyes of different
colours, the most important being a shrub that
yields a seed about the size of an almond, with a
similar husk, and dyes a most beautiful and fast yel-
low colour; I cannot however say how it might
stand the voyage to Europe. Vegetable productions
have never been much attended to in Honduras;
and the mines, which were always the grand source
of wealth, are now nearly abandoned, and, unfortu-
nately, have not been replaced with any other branch
of industry ; hence the state is fallen into the
greatest poverty, and the foreign trade is reduced
to a mere trifle; nor can industry, I fear, be ex-
pected to revive till it is inhabited by a new race of
people.
The next state to the S. E. is Nicaragua, which
possesses lands of unequalled fertility, the whole
stsite (with the exception of the provinces border-
ing on Honduras and Costa Hica, and a few volcanic
N
266 COCOA PLAKTATIOirS.
ranges), consisting of plains and gentle slopes formed
of a rich black loam.
Cotton, of a quality superior to that of Brazil,
may be produced in any quantity. As much as
50,000 bales of 300 lbs. each, clean and pressed
cotton, have been exported ivt the year, but like
all other articles produced in this state, the cultiva-
tion is now at a very low ebb ; and, though a
machine, capable of cleaning 20,000 bales in the
year was some time ago put up near Bealejo, it is
now almost unused, as the little cotton which is
yet produced is nearly all sent to Costa Bica, with^
out cleaning, or manufactured 1^ the natiyes of the
state into a coarse sort of cloth, which is used in
making hammocks, sail cloth, &C;. Sugar and indigo^
the latter being equal to the finest Bengal, were at
one time extensively manufactured ; but the sugar
now exported is reduced to about 100 tons of Chan-
caca (the name given to the cane juice boilied till it
crystallises) ; and from 100 to 150 bales of indigo.
Near Granada there are a number of cocoa planta-
tions, which produce an article only second in quality
to the cocoa of Soconoscoy and the coast of Guate-
mala; these plantations supply a. great part of the
consumption of the states of Nicaragua, Honduras,
and San Salvador, the remainder being made up by
importations from Guayaquil. The usual price in
Granada is from fifteen to twenty dollars a quintal,
but none is now exported, except to the other states
of Central America, as the plantations produee less
every year, not being renewed, and are not now
equal to the demand of the republic ^ and, as Guaya-
quil cocoa, which ought to cost nearly as much in the
COFFEES IN COSTA RICA. 267
production, is sold at from five to six dollars a quintal^
the profit in Granada must be enormous ; stilly like all
other branches o£ cultivation, it is rapidly falling off,
and soon promises to be at an end. Brazil wood,
cedar, and mahogany, are found in the forests of this
state, in what may be termed inexhaustible quanti*-
ties. Of the first named, five ot six cargoes are
annually shipped from Realejo ; the tree has a very
crooked and stunted appearance, and can be com-
pared to no European species ; it is conveyed about
forty lef^ues to the port, and put along side the
launches at Kealejo, at from two to two and a half
dollars a quintal. Mr. Bridge has erected a saw-mill
for cutting boards, and annually sells a few thousand
yards of plank for shipment to Costa Kica and the
South American states ; but, as he remarked to me,
before establishing any work in these countries, people
should import purchasers, and money for them to
purchase with. A small quantity of mahogany is
exported from Saint John's, the port of the N. £•
side of the state (now claimed by the Moschito
Indians); also about 15,000 hides, the remainder,
about 10,000, being shipped from Brealejo.
The state of Costa Bica yielded nothing in the
time of the Spaniards, the only export being a small
quantity of gold, produced in the hill of Aguacate ;
•but since the introduction of coffee (the cultivation
of which I have already described), it has made such
xapid progress, that this year, 1836, 70,000 quintals
worth in the i)ort of Punta Arenas (seven and a half
dollars a quintal) have been exported, and the export
of next year is expected to reach 100,000 quintals ;
where it must probably remain stationaify till the
N 2
268 TOBACCO OF COSTA RICA.
population increases, as all the present inhabitants are
not more than sufficient to work the plantations now
existing. Chancaca sugar was manufactured near
Alajuela, about 200 tons being annually exported for
some years ; but there is now little more grown than
is sufficient for the consumption of the state. The
tobacco of Costa Kica is of very superior quality, and
supplies that state and Nicaragua ; it is -a govern-
ment monopoly, and is soM for home use by retail,
at 4 reals per pound, and for the supply of Nica-
xagua^ at from 2 to 3 reals. Should the cultivation
©f coffee be at any time wholly or partially dis-
continued, this might form an important article
of export, as it is considered by many people fully
equal to the best tobacco produced in the island of
.Cuba.
Near the coast there are large fields of the wild
indigo plant, which is manufSEictured by the natives
to a small extent, in the same manner as the culti-
vated plant in San Salvador ; a canoe cut out of a
large tree serves instead of a tank, and two men,
with common paddles, supply the place of the wheel
for beating the water, to give it the desired colour.
Near the coast there are also two or three indigo
estates, that produce a few bales of indigo, which
is all consumed in the state ; but the great success
of the coffee plantations has caused nearly all other
descriptions to be abandoned. Wheat enough is
still, however, grown near San Jos6 for the con-
sumption of the city ; that, however is but small,
tortillas being preferred here, as in all parts of
Central America.
Central America contains moat of. the animals
J
ANIMALS OF DIFFERENT STATES. 269
known in the tropical and temperate regions of this
continent* In its vast forests are found the puma,
an animal in shape resembling the Asiatic and
African lion,- but in size not exceeding a Newfound-
land dog, also a species of leopard, called a tiger by
the natives ; and on the N. E. coast there exists a
black animal of this species, which, though not
larger than an English terrier dog, sometimes attacks
the human species.
Monkeys are extremely numerous, and in great
variety. The most ordinary are about two feet
high, of a brown colour; another species, very
abundant in Costa Kica, and some other parts, have
long arms, and a body about three feet high ; in the
6ame state is found a very small monkey, whose height
does not exceed nine inches, having a white face,
its body prettily formed, very gentle, and easily
domesticated. In the woods of San Salvador, Nica-*
ragua, and Honduras, large black monkeys, from
four to five feet in height, are abundant ; they are
of a hideous form, and cannot be domesticated.
In the latter state, I am told that a species of
monkey has been seen with blue eyes, white face,
and about five feet in height, but I could not obtain
a specimen.
A small species of fallow deer is very numerous in
all parts of Central America, and forms a common
food for the inhabitants ; when caught young they
are easily domesticated, and become as tame as dogs.
Hares, sloths, weasels, and squirrels, abound in most
parts, and in the retired districts a species of opossum,
not differing much from those of the island of Van
Diemen's Land, is very numerous.
N 3
270 mRDSy SERPCSTS, KTC
TheTBBt Tuietjrfbbds would fbnii a kigefidd
for die omitiMdagiBft ; s Bpedes of cairioii Tuliiue
(called aope b j the natmB) ahomwlB every wfcere»
and upon tlie deatk of anj anianl tbej oaBect in
HiH i ie i Mie floAs to deroor H ; they are the ecaTei^cn
in all parts of SpaoiahAmexicawhidi I have jei seen.
PdicuiB, and a species of paeons, dhonnd in the
cnltivated fidds. Macaws panots, and puroqn^^
also abound in the woods; and dndo^ teal, and
qnaiby all £flkrent froaiithe Eoropean qieeiea^in the
lakes andmanhes.
A great Taiietyof serpents are to bo met with,
some bring of the most poiaonooB SQstB. The OMialy
a small snake, with a Ua<^ head, and a beaotifuDj
striped bodj, is the most yenomons qpedes of reptile
known. Its bite is said to be ineorable. The lattle-
8nake(called Ga8cand)isalsofieqnentljmet with, but
isnotsodeadljasooHunonaoooontsrqHeamtit. Some
^leries of serpoite attain a large aae, and I ha^e
seen them exceed twelre feet in length ; but the boa
constrictor is only found amoii^ the swamps of the
N. £. coast. One Tariety has a Innown back and
yeQow belly ; its moticms are slow^ and its lute is
not Tcnomoas ; it is killed by the natiTes on account
of its fat, which is eagerly sought after, beuBg a siqp-
poaed core for outward and inward bruises.
Lizards swarm in all parts, the most numerous on
the coast beii^ a large qiecies (called iguana) fire-
qoently weighing as mudi as 10 lbs. each, whidi
are deyoured by the natives ; in Punta Arenas, and
some other towns on the coast, they literally swarm,
and may be seen basking in the sun in hundreds.
They enter all the hooaes^ and steal any food they
POISONOUS INSECTS, Exa 271
can find ; they are not venomous, but, if caught, bite
eererely. There is another variety of lizard (called
avechuche) which is small sized, not exceeding two
or three inches in length, and of a brilliant colour,
being purple striped with gold, but exceedingly
venomous ; they do not easily enter the towns, and
are only «een in the fields and roads.
Poisonous insects are by far the greatest pests of
alL Scorpions, large potsonoue bugs, and centipedes,,
are very numerous on the coast and middle land, but
are uot found in the cool r^ions. There is also a
sort of spider (called cassanpulga, not resembling
the tarantala, having the body of a blue colour,
small legs, and working a large and strong web)
which is said to have the p«wer oi poisoning any
animal by means of its urine. From the mere touch
of it several people have died; and the only remedy,
it is said, is to immerse them in water till they are
nearly choked. Bees abound in the woods, making
their nests in the hollow branches of trees, which
the natives frequently cut down, and hang outside
their houses, where the bees continue to work quite
contentedly; there are a great variety of species,
many without stings: and there is another insect,
with long legs and small body, called doncella, which
makes honey and bright yellow wax.
Ants are in most parts exceedingly numerous,
and the city of San Salvador appears as if it were
built on a large ant nest ; they swarm in all the
houses, and every description of food, not carefully
protected, is in a short time covered with them. A
large description of brown ants (called sonpopes)
K 4
ilHPPVecza9i^«P9^^^"«m
272 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS.
are very numerous In the fields^ and exceedingly de-
structive to the cochineal plantations and the young
maize plant, as they come in swarms, and in a few
days eat up all the young shoots.
Many sorts of bats are numerous along the coast ;
and in Punta Arenas there is a sort of crab, a noc-
turnal animal, which enters all the houses, and not
only disturbs people's rest, but destroys clothes or
any article placed within its reach.
. The domesticated animals are nearly the same aa
those of Europe, and the lama and alpaca of South
America are unknown. Herds of cattle are nume-»
rous, but not so abundant as in many other parts of
America ; neither is their value ever so low, as on the
estates they are worth from four to five dollars, and in
the principal towns, when fit for killing, from ten ta
fifteen each ; the dense forest which covers most parts
of the country not being nearly so favourable to their
increase as the prairies of North America, or the
pampas of Buenos Ayres; nor does the uneven and
rocky nature of the country afford them good pas-*
turage. Horses are abundant, but never run wild,
as in some parts of America ; in the towns they are
worth from ten to a hundred dollars ; but mules are
much more appreciated, being considered better for
travelling on the unmade roads or tracks, capable of
enduring more fatigue, and maintained with less
food. Sheep and goats are only reared in the pro*
vince of the Altos, in Guatemala, where there are
large flocks of the former ; they have been tried in
the highlands of Costa Rica, but were found not to
thrive, owing, it is supposed, to the dampness of the.
climate. Pigs abound in all the villages, where they
INFERIORITY OF THE FISH. 273
run about in a half starved state, and are always ready
to pounce upon the food which a traveller may give
to his mules. They also assist the vultures and dogs
in devouring carrion : when fattened they are killed
principally for their fat (with which the Central
Americans besmear every article of food) ; their flesh
is not much eaten. Common fowls are abundant in
all the villages, and live in the houses, mixed with
the pigs and inhabitants. Turkeys and ducks are
also generally met with, and from the equal tem-
perature of the climate lay eggs and breed all the
year. Pigeons and rabbits have also been intro-
duced.
The fish, both of the rivers and coast, are of little
variety, and none that I have seen are of good taste
or flavour ; a small sort, like the tench, is the best
description ; none are to be found at all resembling
the salmon, trout, heron, haddock, turbot, sole, or
cod fish. In the lake of Amatitlan a small fish,
called by the natives mojaro, is very abundant, but
there is no variety of species.
Turtle are abundant on both coasts ; the tortoise-
shell of those found on the N. E. beinff the best and
thickest, and fetching the highest price of any sent
to Europe. Oysters are very plentiful at the Union
and Punta Arenas, the former are principally found
on the rocks, and the latter in immense beds, mixed
with mud ; they are of a very good quality, but an
extraordinary size, so that they must be cut into a
number of pieces to be eaten. The quantity appears
to be quite inexhaustible.
All parts of Central America, with the exception
of the plains of Nicaragua, bear the most certain
V 5
274 INDICATIONS OP FORMER
proofs of having at some period suffered most tre-
mendous catastrophes by earthquakes and volcanic
eruptions. More than half the states of Guatemalot
and San Salvador are covered with scorias and vitri-
fied stones, the greater part of which appear as fresh
aa if they had just been ejected from the crater of
9ome volcano, though in many cases there is no
mountain bearing the appearance of ever having
been volcanic within twenty leagues ; and in other
cases the volcanoes from which they would appear
to have been ejected must have been extinct for
many ages, and now present no vestiges of craters,
their volcanic origin being principally deduced from
their shape, or the layers of the strata. In many
cases the vitrified stones, which have been ejected and
forced to a distance of five or six leagues, are of
enormous size, and must weigh many hundred tons ;
hence, fearful as are some of the recorded volcanic
eruptions, they are nothing to compare with those
which must formerly have taken place.
In all the mountainous parts of the states of San
Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, the broken
state of the different strata proves the occurrence
of a vast succession of earthquakes. Near Old Gua«
temala, the granite is in many places raised upwards
several hundred feet, and the strata in places is
broken ofi" short as if the uplifting force had been
applied to one part only, while other parts have been
very unequally raised or, perhaps, depressed. In.
some parts, the rock appears to have been decom*
posed in some places, while others have remained
solid ; and the decomposed parts being washed away
by water, have left immense ravines, exposing the
I
J
.VOLCANIC ERUPTION. 275
superincumbent strata to the depth of upwards of
1000 feet, the whole being eomposed of successive
layers of scorias, lava^ vitrified stones, volcanic sand
and gravel, which have evidently been successively
ejected from the neighbouring volcanoes, until they
have attained this enormous depth.
In every part of the states of Guatemala and San
Salvador which I have visited, the earth is mixed with
cinders and vitrified stones^ and the soil in all parts
appears to consist of decomposed volcanic matter,
with a small admis;ture of vegetable substances.
Between the city of San Salvador and Cajutepeke,
the surface of the country is divided into ridges
resembling the waves of the sea, the average depres*
sion and elevation appearing to be about 500 feet.
In many places the granite and gneiss strata are
forced up perpendicularly, and in others appear as if
they had been broken off and turned over. The ori-
ginal inequality, after the catastrophe or succession of
movements which caused it, must have been much
greater than it appears at present, as the rains have
washed down the softer parts of the rocks into the
valleys, which now contain portions of level and
sloping land evidently composed of materials washed
from the heights. '
Vast assemblages of boulders are to be seen in
many parts of the states of Guatemala} San Sal-
vador, Honduras, and Costa Bica; in some places
they are intermixed with volcanic rocks, so that it
is difficult to decide whether they have been ejected
from some volcano, or conveyed to their present po-
sition by an immense rush of water.
N 6
^9
276^ VOLCANIC PRODUCTIONS.
All the rocks I have seen are composed of granite,
gneiss, basalt, or some volcanic ejection, no part
appearing to be of secondary formation ; and the
sand appears all to he either of direct volcanic for-
mation, or formed by the trituration of the rocks in
question.
I have been informed, that marine shells have
been found on the tops of some of the mountains of
Costa Rica, but I could not procure any samples of
them, nor have I ever noticed any on the mountains
I have ascended there, or in Guatemala and San
Salvador, in all of which the frequent appearance of
cinders and vitrified rocks showed most clearly their
volcanic origin, or their vicinity to volcanic vents.
Brimstone, in a remarkably pure state, is found in
many of the volcanoes. In that of San Miguel it is
very abundant, and resembles in appearance that
refined in Europe, As this volcano is only fifteen
leagues distant from the most excellent port of the
Union, it might become an article of export, if good
roads should ever be made in Central America.
Sal ammoniac is said to be found in many of the vol-
canoes in large quantities, but I did not see it in
any of those I visited. Diamonds have occasion-
ally been found in the Altos, and in part of Hon-
duras, and rock crystals are very abundant in
many parts. Limestone is occasionally met with in
all the states, and seams of coal are discovered by
the convulsions which have taken place in all parts
of the state of Guatemala, and, as I have been in-
formed, also in the states of San Salvador and Hon-
duras.
Nitre is produced near Old Guatemala, in quanti-
VALUE OF ITS HIDDEN TREASUBES, 277
ties sufficient for the consumption of the state ; and
alum is abundant near Amatitlan, and many other
places. Building-stone is pretty generally dispersed
in all districts, but is not used to any extent except
in Guatemala, all the houses in the other towns
being made either of mud or of wood. The gra-
nite is exceedingly hard, being much finer grained
than that of Aberdeen, with which the streets of
London are paved, and (like all the rocks I have
seen in Central America) entirely destitute of mica,
being generally of a dark lead colour, and extremely
equal and solid. Slate is found in many parts of Gua-
temala, but it is not worked, the natives universally
covering the roofs of their houses with tiles; and
the difficulty of conveying slate on the backs of
mules would probably prevent its general use, even
if any one had enterprise enough to attempt the
working of the mines.
Though the vegetable productions of Central
America are so valuable, the hidden treasures are
scarcely of inferior worth, and in no part of the
world are mines of the precious metals so generally
found, nearly in every district. Commencing at the
S. W. part of the republic, mines of gold and silver
are very numerous among the mountains of the pro-
vince of the Altos, and some were successfully worked
before the Conquest, and during the Spanish do-
minion. There are also mines containing lead in a
nearly pure state, the ore yielding upwards of ninety
per cent, of metal ; it is said, that some specimens
contain as much as twenty-five per cent, of silver
mixed with the lead, but I do not vouch for the
truth of the assertion, as some specimens I analysed
278 NEW WORKING OF THE MINES.
jid uot oontaiii any silver ; and of a number which
were brought me^ none contained a quantitj worth
notice.
No mine is at present regularly worked in the
Altos^ though many old workings exist near Totoni-
capan and Gueguetenanga, the natives having fol-
lowed the lode as long as it paid the expense of
working, but never attempting to sink shafts, or
work the mine in a scientific manner. The Indians
still collect a little gold in the beds of the rivers, but
not in any quantity worth consideration.
Mr. Anderson, a half-pay officer in the British
service, and formerly governor of the ill-fated colony
of Abbotsville, has lately formed a company in
England, and brought out a number of miners, for
the purpose of working some silver lead mines in
this province, which are said to promise well. He
is also engaged in working a mine, newly discovered,
near the Boca Nueva, on the N« E. coast of the
state of Guatemala; some specimens of the ores
from which were previously shown me, and from
some simple tests I applied to them they appeared
to contain a considerable proportion of silver ; but
though I offered to analyse them, without charge, if
the proprietor would pay for the necessary materialfi^
he did not choose to do so, and I had not sufficient
curiosity to lay out money for his benefit.
At the village of Patapa, nine leagues from Santa
Ana, in the state of San Salvador, are some very
rich mines of iron, which produce a purer and more
malleable metal than any imported from Europe;
the ore is almost close to the surface, and very
abundant, and there are extensive forests in the
THE MINE OP LA CAROLINA. 279
immediate yicinity, which serve for making charcoal ;
but the quantity of iron manufactured does not even
supply the trifling consumption c^ the state, which
does not exceed at most eight or ten tons in the year,
and the workmen are so independent, that they will
not labour unless the money is advanced some twelve
months before they deliver the iron, which at present
i& worth ten dollars per 100 lbs.
In the same neighbourhood are several silver
mines, which were successfully worked in the time
of the Spanish government, but are now entirely
abandoned.
About five leagues north from San Miguel are a
number of mines, principally silver, many of which
were celebrated in the time of the Spanish govern-
ment. Among the mines of El Encuentro was one,
called La Carolina, worked by a Spaniard about
thirty years ago. Having laid out all his own pro-
perty, atid what he could borrow from his friends,
amounting to about 50,000 dollars, he borrowed
50,000 more from the government, but, after getting
the mine into working order, he in less than six
months paid all he owed, and dying a few months
afterwards, left 70,000 dollars, the produce of the
mine, in gold and silver : after his death, the owner*
ship of the mine was dbputed, and though it
would appear that he had just begun to find its
riches, it has been since entirely abandoned, and the
rains have now filled it with water. The minea of
the Tabanco were even more celebrated than those
of the Encuentro, and yielded upwards of a million of
dollars annually, though worked in a most rude
manner, without machinery ; some few are still
280 THE MINES OF HONDURAS.
worked, but to a very trifling extent, the want ot
capital in the country, and the insecurity of govern-
ment, preventing all extensive undertakings.
The principal of these mines, said to have yielded
200,000 dollars annual profit in the time of the
Spanish government, has lately been recommenced
by Don Bartola Geral, a native of Valencia, in
Spain, and brother to Don Francisco Geral, whose
mining speculations in Costa Rica were so successful ;
he has been working it and another contiguous mine,
for about eighteen months, and spent about 20,000
dollars, and has lately discovered a very promising
lode of silver ore. If he had money to put up
the requisite machinery, &c., it appears probable
that the mine might yet be found as productive as
ever ; but want of capital, and the difficulty of find-
ing constant labour, will, I fear, greatly hamper the
speculation. Proceeding twenty degrees to the N.E.
of San Miguel, we reach the town of Tegucigalpa,
the centre of the mining district of the state of Hon-
duras, which still produces some amount of the pre-
cious meta,ls, although not one tenth of what they
have formerly done. All the hills in the neighbour-
hood possess mines of gold and silver, the two metals
being most generally mixed together ; and although
none have been excavated to any depth or worked
with proper machinery, they have formerly yielded
more than 2,000,000 of dollars annually, and, were
European capital and science introduced, it is im«
possible to say what the produce might amount to.
About six leagues distant are the mines of Quayaca,
near which a considerable quantity of gold is col-
lected. I am positively assured, on the best autho-
CAPABILITIES OF TEGUCIGALPA. 281.
rity, that these mines have never been examined by
any scientific miner, and the only stranger who has
attempted working them is Captain Moore, a half-pay
officer in the British service, who himself told me
he knew nothing at all about mining, and had not
seen a mine till he arrived in Central America. He
was assisted by a native of the United States, a
working miner, but who knows nothing whatever
of the scientific part of the business. Captain Moore
is a man by no means fitted to get on in Central
America, being far too liberal in his dealings, and
allowing himself to be plundered by the natives on
all hands, and far too honourable and gentlemanly
to compete with the Spaniards (who form the bulk
of the population) in their low cunning.
The natives of Tegucigalpa are among the best
class of people in Central America; and as, from
the most authentic statements I have been able to
collect, its neighbourhood would appear to possess
natural stores of the precious metals, even exceeding
those of the celebrated naines of Potosi, in Bolivia ;
it would appear a very good speculation for a scien-
tific and practical miner, supported with sufficient
capital, to attempt their working ; perhaps the best
adventure now to be found in Spanish America.
The ores generally contain from twelve to fifteen per
cent, of silver, and from one to one and a half per cent.
I of gold ; but the latter metal is also found pure in
many places, and the value of some thousand dollars
is annually collected by the Indians in the sands of
the rivers, pieces of gold weighing as much as 5 or
\ 6 lbs. being occasionally discovered.
' Traces of gold and silver are found in nearly all
282 OPPRESSIVE EXACTIONS.
the mountainous parts of Honduras, which^ as before
stated, form nearly the whole of the state, and, were
they examined by competent persons, no doubt most
valuable discoveries would be made. From the vi*
dnity of all parts of this state to the ports of the
Atlantic, it possesses great advantages over the in*
terior of Mexico, Colombia, and Bolivia ; but the un-
settled state of the government, and the wretched con-
dition of the roads, certainly form a great objection :
yet the roads in most parts of Mexico and Peru are
equally bad, and these governments have made a habit
of exacting oppressive contributions from strangers,
which the states of the nominal republic of Central
America are prevented from attempting to levy by
their extreme weakness.
Some rich gold washings exist at Matagalpa, near
Segovia, on the northern extremity of the state of
Honduras, which are only worked by the Indians,
who annually collect and dispose of a few pounds of
very pure gold ; but the precious metals have not
been collected in any other part of Nicaragua, though
traces of them have been found in the mountainous
districts. Several veins of copper ore have been dis-
covered in this state, one of which was some years
ago worked by Messrs. Manning and Glentow, but,
from the unskilful manner in which the workings
were managed (for they had no miner to assist them,
and were totally ignorant of the business) the spe-
culation turned out a losing one, although some of
the ores shipped to England yielded thirty-five per
cent, of copper, and the lode was very wide and
promising. As fuel is very abundant in all parts
of Central America, it would appear that the ore
DIFFICULTY OF PROCURING LABOURERS. 285
should undoubtedly have been smelted on the spot
instead of being shipped.
In the district of Nicoya, lying between the pen
pulous parts of Nicaragua and Costa Bica, and now
belonging to the latter state, many traces of the
precious metals are said to exist ; but, as the country
is only inhabited by a few hundred cattle-herds, and
almost no foreigners have ever passed through it,
little can be known of what it really contains.
In the mountain of Aguacate, on the road from
the port of Punta Arenas to San Jos€, the capital
of Costa Rica, several very profitable gold mines
have been worked ; one of them was, till about six
years ago, possessed by Messrs. Geral and Espinach,
two Spaniards, who, in a short time, made a net
profit of upwards of 200,000 dollars. They after-
wards sold the mine to a private English company,
by which it is still worked, and is said by the na-
tives to be as rich as ever ; but I believe the com-
pany has never made any dividend of the profits,
though it is said that most of the people employed
in charge of the mine have somehow netted very
handsome sums of money. Two other mines are
worked near the same place by an Englishman of the
name of Philips (who I understand is a common
working miner, almost wholly uneducated), and se-
veral by natives ; but as the labourers prefer working
in the cofiee-plantations, there is, as Mr. Philips and
several of the natives have informed mo^ great diffi-
culty in procuring labourers, even at an advanced
price, as the natives of Costa Bica, though more
industrious than those of any other part of Central
America, or, indeed, of any part of the old Spanirii
284 THE VOLCANO OF ATITLAN.
colonies I have seen, are yet too fond of their ease
to engage in so laborious a work as mining, when
they can gain more than is required to live better than
they have been accustomed to do, by the light work
required in cultivating coffee ; so that it would be
almost necessary for any person attempting extensive
mining speculations in Costa Rica to bring labourers
with them.
In no country in the world of similar extent are
active and extinct volcanoes so extensive as in Central
America.
The principal active volcanoes are about ten in
number. Commencing at the N. W. end of the
republic we observe the volcano of Atitlan, situated
near the lake of Panajachel, in the state of Guate-
mala, remarkable for the frequency and violence of
its eruptions, the last of which took place in 1828
and 1833 ; on both of which occasions it vomited
immense quantities of stones and ashes, covering the
coast of Suchtepequez for many leagues, and utterly
destroying all traces of vegetation and animated na-
ture. Its explosions were terrific, accompanied with
violent earthquakes, which levelled every building
in the neighbourhood, and detached immense masses
of rock from the neighbouring mountains ; the whole
surrounding country, for upwards of thirty miles,
remaining for fifty hours buried in the most pro-
found darkness.
Next to this is the volcano of Old Guatemala,
called "fuego" (fire), from which smoke is almost
continually issuing, accompanied with occasional ex-
plosions and shocks of earthquakes ; but there is no
tradition of any violent eruption, though, as I have
VOLCANO OF ISOLCO. 285
remarked when speaking of Old Guateitiala^ it has
left sufficient monuments of tremendous ravages at
some former period, the country being in some parts
covered with ashes, sand, and other volcanic mate-
rials to a depth of more than a thousand feet ; and
immense masses of rock, weighing many tons, being
hurled to a distance of five or six leagues.
The immense height, and precipitous cone of this
volcano must render an eruption most fearful in its
consequences.
The volcanoes of Pacaya are not distant more than
seven or eight leagues in a direct line from those of
Old Guatemala, and they would appear to have ori-
ginated much more recently than the former, their
eruptions being (as I have stated in the account of
my visit to them) of a much more recent date.
Proceeding about forty leagues in a direct line
east, we meet the volcano of Isolco, the only volcanic
mountain in Central America which has been formed
since the historical period. As before stated, it is in
a continued state of activity, but has never caused
any devastation in the surrounding country, which
appears generally to be the case with those volcanoes
which are in a continued state of eruption, the most
violent explosions generally proceeding from those
mountains, the periods between whose eruptions are
longest*
The volcano of San Salvador has not broken out
for more than three centuries; and, as it is only
about twelve leagues distant in a direct line from
that of Isolca, it would appear that the volcanic vent
is changed. Its ravages within the historical period
have not been great, but in some former age it has
286 VOLCANO OF SAN SALYADOB.
€(jected immense masses of lava and scoriae (to a dis-
tance of more than six leagues) which cover many
square miles. In all directions immense rocks may
be seen thrown to great distances, but its most vio-
lent eruptions have evidently taken place very long
before the time reached by any tradition, as the vol-
canic rocks are in many places worn by the weather,
or covered with moss ; while all the lava and stones
thrown out by eruptions of which there is any ao
count, and many of a more remote period, have a
perfectly fresh appearance. The volcano of San
Salvador is remarkable for the great deptJi of its
crater, the bottom of which is now occupied by a
lake of water. Dr. Weems, a North American
gentleman, and the first person who ever descended
it, conceives that it must at least have a league^,
or 5000 Spanish yards (equal to 14,166| English
feet) perpendicular descent, even the half of which
would much exceed the depth of the crater of any
other volcano yet explored. The sides of the crater
are stated to slope like a cone, forming a perpendi-
cular wall on each side, the top being about three
leagues in circumference ; and it must have required
an inconceivably immense body of lava to fill so
laige a basin, which it must have done before running
over the top of the volcano.
Proceeding E. S.E., San Miguel is the next
active volcanic vent. This mountain rises to an
immense elevation from the plain, but has never
been ascended. It has been estimated by rough
measurements at about 15,000 feet high; but, as
the plain below it is nearly on a level with the sea,
it appears more majestic than any other mountain
VOLCANO OF MOMOTONGA. 287
I have ever seen, not excepting Chimborazo, the
highest of the Andes. All the surrounding country
for upwards of ten leagues is covered with cinders
and half-melted stones, some of immense size, which
have evidently been ejected from the volcano ; and
the site of the city of San Miguel is covered with
lava and ecoriee, which it has ejected before the
period of tradition, San Miguel being one of tlie
oldest cities in America. Its last eruption took
place in 1844, the effects of which I have already
described; but some of its former eruptions are
proved, by the immense masses of rock which have
been ejected, to have been of a much more violent
character.
Conseguina lies about twenty leagues in a direct
line fix)m San Miguel. I have already particularly
described this mountain and its eruption in January,
1835, supposed to have been the most violent of
which history gives an account in any part of the
world.
Near the lake of Managua, or Leon, is the volcano
of Momotonga, regarding which the Indians have a
tradition of a tremendous eruption about a century
before the Spanish conquest, when they assert that
the lava ran into the lake and destroyed all the fish ;
but I am told, by parties who have visited the place,
that this cannot be true, as the lava appears never
to have reached the water.
On the road from the town of Nicaragua to Costa
Rica is the village of Ninderie, near which is a low
volcanic mountain, stated to have been in a state of
eruption about 250 years ago, when some monks
having appi^aohed the edge of the crater, saw a clear
288 VOUCANOES NEAR AHNACHAPAN.
stream of yellow liquid running below, which they
fancied to be melted gold, and, having procured an
iron bucket and chain, they let it down in hopes of
procuring a sample, but the bucket and part of the
chain were melted by the heat, and the monks baffled
in their design. I leave those who have attempted
to approach the crater of any active volcano to judge
of the probability of the story.
The only other active volcano with which I am
acquainted in Central America is that of Cartago,
which I have before spoken of. This mountain has
left most evident traces of the violence of its former
eruptions ; but they are all before the historical pe-
riod, the only proof of its present activity being a
small rill of smoke which may be seen from the
foot of the mountain.
Near many of the active, and some of the extinct
volcanoes, are openings in the ground called by the
natives ausoles or infernales. They are generally of
a small size, and nearly circular form, and emit
smoke or steam. The principal with which I am
acqusdnted are those near Amatitlan, Ahnachapan,
San Salvador, and San Vicente ; but I understand
that they are to be found in many other parts of
Central America. Those near Ahnachapan are nu-
merous, and in a very active state. They would
appear to proceed from the same source as the vol-
cano of Isolco, which is about eight leagues distant
on the other side of a chain of hills ; about nine are
in continued activity, and emit steam and smoke,
accompanied with a rushing noise. Their sides are
covered with brimstone, and other volcanic produc-
tions. It would appear that these openings may
REMNANTS OF EXTINCT VOLCANOES. 289
cither be the incipient commencement of volcanoes,
or the remnant of those called extinct, though their
fires are not quite extinguished. Hot springs are
often found in their vicinity, and, indeed, very fre-
quently in all parts of the country.
Half of the mountain peaks in Central America
are probably extinct volcanoes, and there is no part
of the republic where five or six, evidently of volcanic
origin, may not be seen at the same time. The most
remarkable of those with which I am acquainted,
are those of " Agua" (water), mentioned in the ac-
count of Old Guatemala; San Vicente, remarkable
for its lofty double-peaked top ; Conchagua, already
described; Old Chinendega, near the town of
that name, in Nicaragua, remarkable for its sharp-
pointed peak and detached position; and Tigre, a
volcanic mountain rising out of the sea in the bay
of Conchagua, somewhat resembling the peak of
Teneriffe, but much inferior in height ; also the ex-
tinct volcanoes of Telega, Managua, Masaya, and
Nicaragua. It would appear reasonable to suppose
that all the extinct volcanoes have become dormant
before the origin of the active vents in their vicinity,
as San Salvador appears to have done since the origin
of Isolco, and, if the time required by some of the
existing active volcanoes to attain their present great
elevation (as that of San Miguel and Fuego at Old
Guatemala) be considered, it will be seen that the
extinct vents must have been closed for a vast length
of ages, although the lava ejected from some of them
appears as if it had just cooled ; and it is evident,
from the masses of rock ejected, that, terrific as were
the late eruptions of Amatitlan and Coseguin% they
O
290 FBEQUENCY OP EABTHQUAKES.
are nothing compared with some that must formerly
have taken place.
As might be anticipated^ in a country abounding
with volcanoes^ and which has been the scene of such
great convulsions, earthquakes are of very frequent
occurrence, and sometimes very violent. That of
1773, which caused the abandonment of Old Guate-
mala, is the most known, from accounts published in
Europe, though it was not nearly so violent in its ef-
fects as some which have since occurred in other parts
of the republic. The accounts of the earth opening and
swallowing entire houses^ vomiting fire, &c. (which
I have read in some statements of the catastrophe
published in England) are, as I have stated when
speaking of Old Guatemala, an absurd fiction;
and those who copied them from the Spanish nar-
ratives might as well have added the other interesting
particulars of devils being seen to ascend out of the
earth when it yawned, and to assist actively in pull-
ing down the sacred edifices ; and wooden and stone
figures of the saints running away and beckoning the
inhabitants to follow them, with many other occur-
rences equally novel and surprising. If such phe-
nomena really occurred in the earthquakes of Lisbon
and Calabria, they must have been much more severe
than any which have occurred in Central America
in modem times ; but, as I have read the same fables
regarding the earthquakes of Quito, Lima, Valpa-
raiso, and Conception, borrowed apparently from the
most authentic sources, and ascertained from per-
sonal examination, and parties present at the time,
I am inclined to think that they never have takea
place except in the terrified imi^nations of the in**
habitants.
VIOLENCE OP THE SHOCKS. 291
At a quarter before nine at night on the 23d of
April, 1830, a smart shock of an earthquake was felt
in the capital of Guatemala, and stated to be the
most severe since 1773. All the inhabitants deserted
their houses, and passed the night in the squares and
streets ; and the government officers, and many of
the inhabitants, fled to Jocotenango, a village two
leagues distant. The injuries inflicted by the earth-
quake were, however, found to be not nearly so great
as was at first supposed. Very few houses were
thrown down, the principal injury being the demo-
lition of the towers and cracking of the vaulted roof
of the church of St. Francisco, and some injury done
to the churches of Santa Teresa and the Kecollection.
In the month of February, 1831, and again in
September, 1839, smart shocks of an earthquake
were experienced in the city of San Salvador, both
of which ruined a great part of the city, and caused
the terrified inhabitants to fly from it. In the latter,
three distinct shocks were felt, immediately preceded
by a loud report like a distant discharge of a park of
artillery. The shock, which seemed to come in a hori-
zontal direction from the volcano, overturned a great
number of buildings. The government officers, and
most of the inhabitants, fled to the town of Cajute-
peke, which, although only ten leagues distant, was
not affected by the earthquake, where they remained
nearly a month before venturing to return.
Cartago, the old capital of Costa Bica, was, on the
2nd of September 1841, nearly levelled with the
ground by a succession of violent shocks of earth-
quake, and, of about 3000 houses previously existing,
not 100 remained entire. Of eight churches^ also^
o 2
292 THEIR PARTIAL EFFECTS.
seven were entirely ruined, while one of them, dedi-
cated to the Virgin Mary, (and, as the inhabitants sup-
pose, preserved by her special care,) was uninjured ;
unfortunately it is the smallest and ugliest of the
whole, but its preservation is proof of the partial
effects of earthquakes.
In May, 1844, a succession of violent shocks of
earthquakes was felt along the N.E. coast of Nica-
ragua, which neaiiy ruined the city of Granada, and
did a great deal of damage to the town of Nica-
ragua, the water in the lake of Nicaragua having
been observed to rise and fall several times, as if it
possessed a tide.
In the end of March, 1845, several violent shocks
of earthquakes were felt in the towns of Amatitlan,
Patapa, Paling, and other parts, near the volcanoes
of Pacaya, which had been in an unusually quiet
state for some time previously. These shocks were
continued during all the month of April, and hardly
left a house standing in the district, forcing the
people to live in the woods, or in the fields in shedd
made of cane, which could not be shaken down.
Many people left the vicinity, dreading that it would
end in some terrible convulsion ; but, finally, on the
3rd of May, the volcano of Tormento, at Piacaya,
threw out large volumes of flame and smoke, accom-
panied by loud explosions, and has continued burning
ever since. Since this period no severe earthquakes
have been experienced in the vicinity, though slight
shocks may be felt almost daily.
* In Sonsonate, on the 26th of May, 1846, I felt
the smartest shock of an earthquake I have expe-
rienced in Central America. It was preceded
THEIR DIFFERENT CLASSES, 293
by a noise resembling a number of coaches at
full gallop, or the passing of a railway train, and
violently shook the house where I was residing, but,
as far as I could ascertain, did not throw down any
building. The inhabitants said it was the hardest
shock they had felt ; Sonsonate, probably owing to
its immediate vicinity to the volcano of Isolco, which
is continually burning, not being liable to violent
earthquakes. It had, however, been remarked that
the volcano was remarkably quiet for some time
previously.
The vicinity of active volcanoes is always very
liable to shocks of earthquake, but they are often
so slight that a stranger does not perceive them ;
and as long as the volcano is in a state of activity
no severe shocks ever occur; but when a volcano,
generally in a state of activity, has been quiet for
some time, there is cause for apprehension in its
vicinity.
The shocks would appear to be of two classes;
viz. perpendicular, which are only felt in the im-
mediate vicinity of volcanoes, and horizontal, which
reach considerable distances from the place where
they originate, and are very unequal in their progress,
in some parts rocking the ground violently, and in
others in their direct line, nearer their source,
being but slightly felt ; this, doubtless, arises from
the nature of the superincumbent strata.
o 3
294
CHAP. VIII.
ARTICLES OF FOOD. HOUSES AND FVBNITUBE. — VALUE OF
LAND AND HOUSES. BELGIAN COLONY OF SAINT THOMAS.
COMMEBCE. BEYENUE. CUSTOMS. CUBBENCY. — DEBT.
FOBTS. — BIYEBS AND LAKES.
The mode of Kving in Central America is ex-
tremely different from that of any part of the old
world. Though wheat, barley, and other European
grains, have been long introduced, they are only
grown to some extent in the province of the Altos,
the state of Guatemala, and in small quantities on the
table land of the other states ; and wheaten bread is
only used by a few individuals in the principal towns,
and even there more as a luxury than an article of
food. The universal food of all classes consists of
maize or Indian com, boiled, and ground to a pulp
between two stones, in which state it is made into
cakes, and toasted over the fire upon an earthen
girdle, snch as the Indians have doubtless used for
ages. Every house is provided with stones for
grinding the maize, and every Indian and mestizo
woman understands the manufacture of these cakes,
which are called tortilios. Next to tortilios, the food
most in use is a sort of French bean (called frijoles),
generally of a black colour, but possessing scarcer
varieties, which are red, brown, and white. These
beans, when eaten by the natives, are boiled in
water, which is drained off, and the beans mashed
and mixed with hog's lard (manteca).
CENTRAL AMERICAN COOKERY. 295
In the villages^ meat, as soon as killed, is cut into
long stripes and dried in the sun, and when prepared
for eating is always fried in hog's lard, a most neces-
sary article in all- sorts of Central American cookery,
though most disgusting to a native of Great Britain.
In the cities, cookery is of course differently man-
aged, but even there nearly every thing is daubed
with hog^s lard, and the stranger finds great difficulty
in inducing the natives to give him his food without
besmearing it with this article. The upper classes
have copied the Spanish taste in eating a great quan-
tity of fruit, vegetables, salad, and sweetmeats. Solid
joints of meat, as in England, are unknown.
Chocolate is the universal beverage, and is pre-
ferred by natives to all others ; but, combined with
the immense quantities of hog's lard consumed by all
classes, it is certainly most unhealthy, as is proved
by the continued stomachic complaints from which
nearly all the natives suiFer. In Costa Rica, how-
ever, the use of chocolate is giving way to that of
coffee, and a few individuals who have visited the
ports have learnt to prefer tea, though as yet the
quantity used is very trifling.
Wines and foreign spirits are very little used, but
the working classes always spend a large part of
their earnings on an intoxicating liquor, made either
from the crude juice of the sugar cane or ripe plan-
tains, which is of a most unwholesome quality, and
causes a great deal of sickness.
Smoking tobacco is the universal passion of all
classes, ages, and sexes, and it is not thought by any
means rude to stop a lady in the street and ask her for
a light from her cigar, nor strange for a lady to make
o 4
296 MODES OF BUILDING.
the same request of any gentleman. The ladies of
the higher classes generally smoke small cigars, made
by rolling chopped tobacco in pieces of paper, large
cigars not being fashionable for females.
The houses in Central America always consist of
a ground story only, and in nearly all the cities and
towns, except the capital of Guatemala, they are
formed of what is called tapial, being common earth
put moist into boxes of the dimensions of the walls,
and beaten with mallets ; the boxes are without top
or bottom, and in order that the masses of beaten
earth may be properly joined together, one of the
ends is also taken out, the sides being fastened to-
gether with four round sticks, which are removed as
soon as the earth has been properly hardened, leaving
only small holes in the wall, which are filled up
with a little mud ; and the boxes are removed from
place to place till the wall is completed, a few stones
mixed with mud being placed at the angles. As
all the houses are protected by projecting roofs, and
generally by wide corridors, these walls cannot get
wet, and last for a long period, though they are
always unseemly, and form nests for all species of
insects.
Another sort of building, very common in the
country and smaller towns, is made by driving a
number of poles into the ground, at the distance of
a yard or two from each other in the part where it
is intended to form the walls of the house. To
these, long canes are tied with a species of climb-
ing plant (very suitable for that purpose, and
abundant in most of the woods), and the space be-
tween the canes is filled up with mud, or a mixture
GLASS SELDOM USED. 297
of mud and stones, and when dry the outside is
plastered over with mortar ; this description of
building is called bajerique.
The climate of Costa Kica is found to be too moist
for tapial buildings ; hence part of the houses are
there made of bajerique, but the great majority are
formed of cedar planks, which have the advantage of
being put up with less labour than any other sort of
building, though for security, and excluding heat
and cold, it is much inferior to that used in the other
states.
Window glass is only used in the better houses of
the principal cities, and in the smaller towns all
descriptions of windows are considered superfluous ;
hence in doing any thing requiring a portion of
light it is necessary to open the door, when dogs,
pigs, and fowls, are always ready to rush in. All
the more respectable houses are roofed with tiles, the
use of slates or shingles being unknown, and the poorer
houses being covered with straw and reed grass.
The reason given in all parts of Spanish America
for making the houses of a ground story only, is the
frequency of earthquakes, and most strangers seem
to have held this reason to be quite sufficient ; but its
invalidity is proved by the durability of the churches,
which have sometimes spires upwards of 100 feet
high. Many of these, which have been built for some
centuries, may stand till visited by one of those rare
convulsions which indiscriminately level the palace
and the peasant's hut. The true reason is to be
found in the indolence of the inhabitants, and their
slowness in adopting improvements, their present
houses being exactly of the shape, size, and materials,
o 5
298 ABTICLES OF FURNITURE.
in which they were built by the Indians at the time
of the conquest; and no improvements being ever
attempted in the buildings, customs, or manufactures
of the aboriginal inhabitants.
The only articles of furniture invariably found in
a house, are a large hammock, a table, a bedstead
without mattress, and two or three chairs ; the
latter being merely a frame of hard wood tied together,
with straps of raw hide stretched across, forming a
more elastic and durable seat than cane. The ham-
mocks are generally made of a sort of hemp, extracted
from the heart of the wild pine-apple leaf, much re-
sembling fine Manilla hemp, dyed of different colours
and twisted in fine cords, which are afterwards plaited
into the required shape. They are handsome in ap-
pearance, and extremely durable, while the price is
very moderate, being from twelve reals to two dollars
(from six to eight shillings) for hanmiocks eight to
twelve yards long.
Carpets are unknown, but the brick floors of a few
of the principal houses are covered with figured mat-
ting made by the Indians near Sonsonate, of a sort of
flat grass, which are very moderate in price, and not
a bad substitute for carpets. Very tolerable furni-
ture is now manufactured by the native carpenters
in Guatemala, and at prices which have quite put
an end to its importation from abroad. Cedar,
mahogany, rose-wood, and a variety of most beau-
tiful woods for cabinet work, are indigenous to
Central America ; but the first named is the only
description made use of, its cutting and manufacture
being attended with much less labour than any
other. The only luxury in furniture, for which the
PLEASANT BED-FELLOWS. 299
Central Americans and all the Creole Spaniards show
a passion, is prints and paintings, which cover the
walls of all respectable houses. In the cities, the
most common are French, with, occasionally, a few
English prints. Tolerable foreign paintings are of
course rarely seen, and only in a few of the first
houses ; but figures of the saints, painted in the
country, are stuck upon the walls of every house,
and are the general remedy employed for all kinds of
sickness, each complaint having its patron saint ; and
if these ^o no good, they are, probably, at least less
noxious than the quack medicines used by the poor
in England. Furnished lodgings are never to be
met with in any part of Spanish America, not even
in the capitals ; and when a stranger has succeeded
in engaging apartments he finds, on entering, nothing
but bare walls, and has, probably, the first night
(before furniture can be procured) to sleep on the
floor, in company with fleas, neguas, and many other
unpleasant bed-fellows, unless he be so far natural*
ised as to carry a hammock with him on all occa-
sions.
All the roads in Central America, with the single
exception of that from San Jos^ to Punta Arenas,
in Costa Kica, are merely tracks made passable for
mules, by cutting down the trees in the woods ; and
where a precipice is met with, making an excavation
like a ditch, to admit the passage of a single mule.
The old footpaths of the aboriginal Indians seem
universally to have been followed, no attempt being
ever made to seek the most level track, or to drain
or put metal on the roads ; hence they generally form
channels for the water in the rainy season, and, ex-
o 6
300 MANNER OF TRAVELLINO.
cept in rare instances, are not even filled up in the
dry season, when they resemble the dry beds of
mountain torrents ; and would, with English horses,
be quite impassable, even for single riders. But
the horses, and more especially the mules of the
country, are so accustomed to them that they will
ascend hilLs, wind along the edge of precipices, and
climb among loose, slippery stones, in a manner that
would baffle most persons on foot.
The mode of travelling is on the back of mules,
either hired or purchased. A stranger finds it dif-
ficult to procure them, as the natives are very sus-
picious, and afraid of being robbed of their beasts.
Hired mules are always sent with merely a rope
round their neck, every person being supposed
to furnish his own saddle and bridle, and the hire
is always paid beforehand.
No inns, nor any sort of houses for public accom-
modation, exist in Central America, but every town
or village possesses a public building, called the
cabildo, where justice is administered, and the meet-
ings of the town officers are held ; here, all travellers
having a government passport are entitled to sleep
at night, paying two reals (one shilling) for its hire,
the constable (aguacil) being obliged to furnish them
with fire and water, and purchase for them at the
current price whatever the place will afford. Where
there is no cabildo, and, indeed, in most parts, the
inhabitants rarely object to admit a stranger into
their houses, without expecting any payment be-
yond the value of what they may eat, but in this
case, as there are never more than one or two rooms
to accommodate the whole family and brute attend-
PRICE OP THE LAND. 301
ants, the traveller has only the liberty of hanging
his cot among multitudes of men, women, children,
pigs, and fowls, which make such a snoring, squall-
ing, yelping, grunting, and cackling all night, that
it would require a considerable apprenticeship to the
business before he can get any sleep.
As might be anticipated (in a country of which not
one hundredth part of the available soil is cultivated)
the value of the land is nearly nominal, and, in
ordinary cases, is actually of no marketable value
whatever, except in the vicinity of some large town.
Still, the lands in the state of Guatemala suitable
for the growth of the " cactus cochinelifer," and
where the climate is fit for the growth of cochi-
neal, and in Costa Rica, where it is found suit-
able for the growth of cofiee, fetch a pretty fair
price.
The choice lands near Old Guatemala for fonning
cochineal estates are worth about 800 dollars a man-
sana, or 98/. per English acre ; and those similarly
situated near Amatitlan, about 500 dollars a man-
sana, or 61/. 5s, per English acre, while the best
lands near the capital may be purchased at 20 dol-
lars a mansana, or 2/. 9*. per English acre. The best
land in the immediate vicinity of the capitals of the
states of San Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua,
are certainly not worth so much, though capable of
producing almost any of the numerous articles cul-
tivated in Central America.
At a distance from the towns, estates can seldom
be sold for the value of the improvements upon them,
unless they are of such extent as to maintain large
herds of cattle ; and one of this description, belong-
302 VALUE OF DIFFERENT ESTATES.
ing to Don Manuel Oliveres, on the road about half
way between Guatemala and Sonsonate^ with a large
house^ and other buildings, possessing 2000 cabal-
leros, or 210,800 acres of land, a considerable part of
which is capable of cultivation, was lately offered for
40,000 dollars, four years' credit, or 10,000 dollars
annually, and could doubtless be purchased much
cheaper for ready money, but is not at all likely to
meet a purchaser. The best indigo estates in San
Salvador may now be purchased for much less than
the cost of the buildings and vats ; and the sugar
estate belonging to Dr. Driven, at Sonsonate, the
buildings and machinery of which have cost upwards
of 50,000 dollars, though possessing all the advan-
tages which could be united together in any part of
the country, such as being only a league distant from
Sonsonate, on the road to the port of Acajantla, from
which it is only four leagues distant, with a good
road, possessing ample lands of good quality, an
inexhaustible supply of water for irrigation and the
working of machinery in all seasons, is not valued
at more than 10,000 dollars; and even that sum
could probably not be obtained without a long
credit.
In Honduras, or Nicaragua, no person would
dream of purchasing land for cultivation at any price,
though a great portion of the latter state is of the
richest black loam, of almost unequalled fertility,
and capable of producing crops of sugar-cane, rice^
cotton, or indigo, equal, if not superior, to any other
part of the known world. The best coffee lands
in the immediate vicinity of San Jos^, in Costa
Bica, are worth 100 dollars a mansana, or 12/. 6s*
NOMINAL VALUE OF THE HOUSES. 303
an English acre; while the value of those in the
neighbourhood of Heridia and Alhajuela varies from
20 to 50 dollars a mansana. In other parts of the
state the price is nearly nominal.
Houses in towns can almost never be sold for the
cost of their construction, allowing nothing for the
land on which they are built. In Guatemala, they
have a nominal value attached to them which could
never be realised; but there, and in all parts, they
are generally sold at a price much above their value,
judging from the rents paid, and the current interest
of money.
In most countries in Europe, land is the fa-
vourite investment, and yields the smallest return
for capital, in Central America it is nearly unsale-
able, whereas houses find ready purchasers ; for
example, —
A house occupied by H. B. M. vice-consul in Gua-
temala, at a rent of 500 dollars per annum, is valued
at 15,000 dollars.
A house let in San Salvador at 300 dollars per
annum, is valued at 6000.
A house in San Miguel, let at 600 dollars, was
sold by auction for 8000.
A house in Chinendega, let at 300 dollars, was
sold by private contract for 10,000.
A house in San Jose, Costa Rica, let at 150 dollars
per annum, was sold at 4000.
It must, however, be allowed, that except in the
commercial towns of the states of Guatemala and
Costa Bica, a sale could hardly, at present, be ef-
fected at any price.
In May, 1842, an agreement was entered into be-
ZOi ARTICLES OF TB£ BEL6IAK COHFAlfT.
tweea a Bel^an company and the exisliiig govern-
ment of the state of Guatemala, and after some little
delay a farther conventioa was ngned between tliem
in October, 1843. The principal articles were
the conditional sale to the Belgian company of
the lands lying between the left hank of the
river Matagua, and the right bank of the river
Cajabon and Polocliic, including all the coast and
neighbouring islands within these limits, and pro-
ceeding inland as &r as Gualan, and the interior
limits of the province of Saint ThomaB, the company
paying at the rate of twenty dollars the caballeros,
or, as nearly as may be, 105| British statute acres ;
16,000 dollars to be paid annually, till the amount
is completed. The company also binds itself to
present to the Guatemala government 2000 mus-
kets similar to those used in the Belgian army, and
four large guns, and to pay the fifth part of the
expenses of erecting a city at Siunt Thomas, to make
a cart road to the river Matagua, and to introduce
steamers for navigating the river. The company
also bound itself to introduce into the purchased
t least a hundred families of five members
lally, till the number of one thousand fami-
mpleted.
onists must be all Boman Catholics from
tural countries of continental !Europe,.or
y Isles ; and from the moment of their
i to be reckoned as Guatemala citizens, and
'ht to make any claim against the state,
eir own government or its agents.
)nists were, with certmn exceptions, to be
by thar own laws, and be exempt from
SUPPOSED OBJECT OF THE COMPANY. 305
all duties on articles of exportation^ and also on the
importation of all sorts of provisions^ arms for hunt-
ing game, agricultural instruments, books, and mate-
rials, for building houses. The company was to
have the preference in the construction of all the
roads and canals which the state government might
deem it advisable to make in the district, and in
collecting the established tolls; and the Custom
House, existing at Isabel, should be removed to Saint
Thomas.
By perusing the translations of the agreements, it
will be seen that all the articles are most favourable
to the state of Guatemala, and it would therefore
appear that the object of the Belgians must have
been to get possession of the district on any terms,
hoping afterwards to be able to retain it by negotia-
tion or force, and raise it to a colony which would
give an outlet to their manufactures and surplus
population.
Though the company was got up under the pa-
tronage of the King of the Belgians, the agreement
is said to have been signed without the previous
approbation of his government, which, most justly,
disapproved of many parts of it. The company com-
plied with the conditions for the first two years ; but
the port of Saint Thomas, like all parts of the N. E.
coast, having proved very fatal to new comers, and
many of the emigrants having died, and others re-
turned with bad accounts of the settlement, they
have found it difficult to induce more to emigrate ;
and, though the Belgian government have supported
the company with the grant of 1,000,000 of francs,
it is to be feared that the settlement will share the
306 DIFFERENT IMPORTS.
fate of the one attempted by the British in 1836
(called Abbotsville), and be finally abandoned. The
Belgian government is said this year to have offered
2,000,000 of dollars for the absolute purchase of the
district; which, however, the Guatemala government
refused to cede in sovereignty on any terms.
Had the company secured a tract of country in
the interior, where the climate is cool and healthy,
with a road to the nearest port, they might have
succeeded ; but it was very foolish to suppose that
natives of the north of Europe could, without
previous preparation, be enabled to live and labour
under the burning sun of tropical America.
The aggregate value of the exports of Central
America has certainly declined since the revolution,
as the increase in the single state of Costa Kica is not
nearly equivalent to the falling off in the rest, conse-
quently the gross value of the imports must be sup-
posed to be less; though from the value of most
articles being less than a fifth of what they were sold
for under the Spanish government, the actual amount
of goods introduced from abroad, and consumed by
the people, is much greater.
As no returns of the amount of imports are
published by the Custom House, an approximation to
their nature and value can only be made; but as
they must be all paid for by a corresponding ex-
portation of produce or money, their value may be
pretty nearly calculated by means of this know-
ledge.
Commencing with the state of Guatemala, the
imports, from England and the British colony of
Belize, consist of white, grey, and printed calicoes,
THEIB MODE OF TRANSIT. 307
broad cloth, and other woollen fabrics, ironmongery,
and cutlery, and a very small quantity of fancy
goods.
Formerly, nearly all the British trade passed
through Belize, but latterly the dealers finding it so
much more to their interest to have a direct commu-
nication with England, all the most respectable
have at present their London and Liverpool corre-
spondents ; only the smallest and poorest dealers,
who cannot afford to make a remittance to England,
continue to import on credit from Belize, as, by so
doing, they obtain a twelvemonths' credit on their
purchases, instead of being forced to send cash or
produce, as must generally be done by those who
import direct. Three or four British ships, char-
tered in England, annually visit Estapa, the port of
Guatemala, on the Pacific ; but by far the greater
part of the imports, and all the valuable goods of
easy carriage, are sent to Belize by the mahogany
ships, and transhipped from thence to Isabel, in the
state of Guatemala, by small vessels which can enter
that port.
Some vessels have lately come to the new port of
Saint Thomas, but, as there is not even a mule track
through the forest yet cleared, to that port, the
carriage of goods to Guatemala is next to impos-
sible. Were a road made, it would probably become
the only port of introduction into this state, as
vessels of all sizes can at all times enter it, and lie
in perfect safety, and it is only a few leagues more
distant from the capital than Isabel.
The trade of Guatemala with England and Belize,
certainly forms more than a moiety of its entire
308 AYEBAGB OF THE EXPORTS.
comnierce. The next in importance is the trade with
Spain, from which five or six vessels annually land
cargoes at Istapaza, the bulky nature and small
value of the importB (which consist of Spanish
brandy, wines of low quality, oil for salad, Biscay
iron and steel, paper, and some few manufactured
goods of Valencia) not admitting the payment of
freight from Belize, and carriage from Isabel.
Several small United States' vessels annually call
at Isabel, bringing coarse grey calicoes, and a few
trifling manufactures and toys.
Two or three French vesssls, also, annually arrive
at Belize with cargoes for Guatemala, consisting of
silk, shawls, muslins, ribands, fancy hosiery, gloves,
perfumery, and toys.
The only export from the state is cochineal, of
which 9037 bales of 150 lbs. each have been exported
this year (1846), the average value in Guatemala
being six and a half reals (equal to three shillings
and three pence sterling) per lb., thus making the
value of the exports of the year 211,804/. 13«. 9d.
sterling, which may be safely assumed as nearly the
e value of the imports from foreign countries,
gh it must somewhat vary according to the profit
ss made upon the cochineal, and must be slightly
iosed, as a small amount of specie b annually
to Belize ; but as this is all smu^led, to avoid
jxport duty of 4 per cent., the amount can only
uessed at, and does not, it is smd, exceed 50,000
3,000 dollars in the year,
portion of the British piece-goods are not con-
jd in the state, being smuggled into Mexico,
igh the adjoining province of the Altos, partly
ANNUAL RECEIPT OP SPECIE. 309
by natives, and partly by Mexicans, who bring gold
and silver to purchase them in Guatemela; and,
owing to the extravagant duties and frequent prohi-
bitions of the Mexican tariff, the business is suffi-
ciently profitable when only the moderate duties of
Central America are paid. It is difficult to ascer-
tain the amount of this trade, but, from the large
amount of Mexican money circulating in the state,
which can only be obtained by this traffic, it must be
considerable.
Guatemala imports a great part of the cocoa con-
sumed in the state from Soconesco, formerly a part
of Central America, but six years ago annexed to
South America.
About 100,000 dollars, principally in gold coin,
are annually received from Costa Rica for the pur-
chase of woollen clothing, made in the Altos, which
is generally worn in Costa Kica ; the money is al-
ways personally brought by the natives .of that state,
who return with the woollen manufactures which
they retail to their countrymen.
All the sugar consumed in Guatemala is imported
from the neighbourhood of Santa Ana and Ahnacha-
pan, in the state of San Salvador, and, since the
separation of the states, is principally paid for in
money.
For some years after the declaration of independ-
ence the trade of the state of San Salvador was equal,
if not superior, to any state of the republic, the in-
digo, then almost the only produce which was im-
ported, being nearly all produced in that state ; but,
since 1825 it has gradually diminished, and is now
very trifling indeed.
312 EFFECTS OP THE REVOLUTIONS.
and Omoa, and paid for in British and North Ame-
rican manufactures. One cargo was, three years
ago, imported from Chili at San Lorenzo, the port
of the S.W. side, by the only vessel that ever entered
that port ; but a small quantity of goods, principally
Cruayaquil cocoa and hats, are sent to it from the
Union, the passage from which is made in eight
hours by the native canoes, called bougoes, the
water being always perfectly smooth, as both ports
are in the same land-locked bay.
Nicaragua was formerly the richest state in pro-
ductions next to San Salvador, but is now the most
wretched and impoverished of all ; this has been
brought about by the never-ceasing revolutions,
which have entirely demoralised the population, and
made life and property even more insecure than in
any of the other states. For some years the great
export was Brazil wood, of which as much as 10,000
tons were shipped to Europe in one year, the effect
of which, however, was to reduce the price so low
as hardly to pay freight, and ruin all the speculators
in the article. At present about 500 or 600 tons
are annually shipped, vessels often taking in a small
quantity for tonnage at Realejo, and proceeding to
Punta Arenas to fill up with coffee.
The other articles of export are, a few bales of
indigo, and about 30,000 hides, of which about
12,000 are shipped from Realejo, the port of the
Pacific, and the remainder from St. John, on the
river of that name, the port of the Atlantic, but now
clidmed by the British government on behalf of the
Moschito Indians. Nearly all the trade of Realejo
Is carried on by three English merchants, who possess
TRADE OF COSTA RICA. 313
two fine vessels, navigated under the North American
flag (having found that they can be sailed much
cheaper than British vessels), and annually import
two cargoes of British and North American manu-
factures, worth about 100,000 dollars each, which they
sell principally in Chinendega and Leon, though
they send a portion to Punta Arenas and the Union,
Granada, of which St. John is the port, carries on
a trade with England^ France, and North America,
which, though once of some consideration,' is now
very insignificant, and annually decreasing. ' Cocoa
of very excellent quality, but inferior to that of So-
conosco, and the S.W. coast of Guatemala, is pro-
duced in the vicinity of Granada, whence it is
sent to Honduras and San Salvador, to the extent
of 200 to 300 bales, of 150 lbs. each in the year.
Tobacco is a government monopoly, and is imported
from Costa Bica, being purchased at from two to
three reals per lb., and afterwards retailed at from
four to five reals by the holders of the monopoly.
The monopoly is now in the hands of Messrs.
Manning and Glenton, who took it in lieu of
their claims against the Nicaragua government to
the extent of about 40,000 dollars, on account
of which the state was blockaded for nine months
by a British ship-of-war ; and they are understood
to be gaining more than 100 per cent, by their
bargain.
The trade of Costa Bica, as I have before stated,
has nearly all sprung up within the last twelve years,
the only production previously being that from the
gold mines of Aguacate, tobacco, and a small quan-
tity of Chancaca sugar. The exports now consist of
p
314 CONSUMPTION OF BRITISH GOODS.
upwards of 70,000 quintals of coffee, worth seven
and a half dollars in the port of Punta Arenas, which
is paid for partly in gold brought from Chili,
in British and French manufactures brought from
the same place, and in British, North American,
Spanish, and French produce and manufactures,
brought direct from those countries.
Two large British vessels annually arrive at Punta
Arenas, bringing cargoes for tw^o German merchants
settled in San Jos^, and return laden with cofiee.
Their import cargoes consist of aU sorts of British
manufactures, but principally white and printed cot-
ton goods.
Two or three Spanish vessels, generally, in the
year, visit this and the other ports of Central Ame-
rica, with the same description of goods as are im-
ported to Guatemala ; and some North American,
French, and Hambro' vessels have also of late visited
Punta Arenas, bringing the manufactures of their
respective countries, and taking cargoes of coffee in
return. The consumption of British goods, however,
greatly exceeds that of all the others jointly, and is
not a little assisted by the preference given in Eng-
land to Costa Rica coffee, and the lower duty at
which it is admitted, as the produce of free labour.
Goods, to the value of a few thousand dollars, are
also imported into this state by Matina, the port of
the N.E. side; but the extreme badness of the port,
and the almost impassable state of the roads, prevent
the trade from being carried to any extent.
Costa Bica supplies the state of Nicaragua with
tobacco for the government monopoly, and the article
is also monopolised by the government of the state.
PETTY CHARACTER OP THE COMMERCE. 315
Which alone is permitted to purchase it from the
growers, and sell it for ihe consumption of the state,
and the supply of Nicaragua.
Trade is perfectly free in all the "states of Central
America, and foreigners possess all the privileges
enjoyed by the natives, with the additional advantage
of not being obliged to contribute to the forced loans
exacted of all classes by the state governments ; a
practice which is now fortunately rarely adopted.
The governments have been forced to refund the
whole amount, with interest, to British subjects
and French citizens, and are now obliged to except
them when such exactions are made, though Spa-
niards, and other nations, have no such exemp-
tion.
The whole commerce of Central America is of an
exceedingly petty character, and all the importers,
without a single exception, have retail shops, without
which, I am informed, they could not make the trade
answer. Long credits are given to the petty dealers,
who buy second-hand of the importers ; and cash is
most generally advanced to the growers of cochineal
and indigo, and to the poorer classes of coffee-growers,
six months before the crop time, to enable them to
work their estates and get in their crops, they binding
themselves to deliver the whole, or a part of the pro-
duce, to the party advancing the money. The price
fixed is generally about twenty-five per cent, below
the current rate of the last season. This advance
is called a habilitation, and, in the payment, is legally
preferred to all debts whatever ; although, as may be
expected in a country where there are no means of
enforcing the laws, the punctual fulfilment of this,
p 2
316 INUTILITY OP LEGAL INTEBFERENCE.
and all other engagements, depends principally on
the character of the parties contracting them.
The Belize merchants complain greatly of the dis-
honesty of the traders, especially those of Guatemala
and San Miguel, with whom alone they have trans-
acted business to any amount ; but in this they ap-
pear only to have their own reckless conduct to
blame, having given credit to nearly every person
who asked it, without knowing almost any thing of
their means or character, and having no more security
than their word that they were the persons represented.
To me it is more surprising that, in a country where
there are, in fact, no available laws, and where all
parties have such facility for making away with their
property without the possibility of its being recovered,
or the act being punished, the great majority should
have paid honestly, the defaulters generally being
miserable wretches who have been ruined by the ex-
actions of government, Qr, occasionally, who have
gambled away all their property.
I feel certain that in a British colony the losses to
parties acting similarly would have been much greater,
in spite of the severe, and, in some cases, tyrannical
laws which have been enacted and enforced in most
of them.
No Central American traders keep any regular
books, and generally have only an obscure notion of
the amount of their assets and liabilities, nor do they
think of meeting them with any regularity, a few
days', or even weeks', delay in making a payment
being considered of no importance; and, where the par-
ties are unwilling to pay, it is utterly useless to resort
to legal measures, as in such cases all their property
INFLUENCE OF THE SPANISH MERCHANTS. 317
uniformly disappears^ without their being compelled
to give any account of it^ and^ as no books are
kept, it is, of course, impossible to move a step.
Some parties have resorted to the only efficient
method of recovering from a debtor unwilling to
pay, viz. threatening his life ; and this has, in many
instances, been successful in Guatemala after all other
means have failed. There are two British houses in
Guatemala, who do a pretty good share of the import
trade, but inferior to that transacted by several Spa-
niards ; also three French, as many Germans, and
four Italians, who do' a petty business, the prin-
cipal trade being in the hands of five Spanish houses,
who have correspondents in England, France, and
Spain. In San Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua,
nearly all the imports are made by foreigners, princi-
pally English and French, the natives being afraid
to appear to transact a large business on account of
the exactions made by the state governments from
all who they think have the means of paying. In
Costa Rica the principal trade is in the hands of two
German and two Spanish merchants, but, as the
government of that state is of a niore respectable
character, and has not raised any forced contributions
for many years, the natives are also enabled to en-
gage in trade without fear ; and, as they are noted
for their shrewdness and talent in making a bargain,
being, in the other states, called the Jews of Central
America, the foreigners are not enabled, as in the
other states, to make most usurious profits by some
bargains; but they have the advantage of being
much more secure of their profits, and the Costa
V 3
318 SOURCE OP REVENUE.
Bioaos are very punctual in their payments, and
bankruptcy is almost unheard of.
The ordinary revenue in all the states of Central
America is derived from duties on imports, a duty of
five per cent, on the transfer of real property, a mo-
nopoly of the sale of spirits, and also of tobacco, in
the states of Costa Kica and Nicaragua, which the
governments of San Salvador and Guatemala are
now also proposing to establish. The state of Hon-*
duras derives part of its revenue from the sale of
mahogany to the Belize merchants, and from a very
injurious custom' of issuing debased copper money.
. The federal tariff, established by the government of
the republic of Central America in 1824, and which is
still adhered to by all the states except Costa Eica,
fi:xed a duty of 20 per cent, on all imports, but
the valuation which was then made has not been
altered, though the prices of many articles have
fallen 50 per cent., so that it is in many cases equal
to a real duty of 40 per cent. ; for example, iron of
all sorts is valued at 6 dollars per 100 lbs., and
brandy of all sorts at 20 dollars a keg of 16 gallons ;
but on cotton and silk goods the value is more justly
taken, the invoice being generally exhibited, and if
any doubt arises the packages are opened and ex-
amined, which, however, is very rarely done.
According to the regulations, till lately in force in
Guatemala, one-third of the duties could be paid in
government paper; namely, the acknowledgments
given to the payers of forced loans, which could
generally be purchased at from 50 to 60 per cent, dis-
count. Honduras receives one-half in government
paper, which, however, is never at so heavy a dis-
LAW AGAINST SMUGGLING. 319
county and San Salvador and Nicaragua have^ up to
the time of the last revolution, received two-thirda
of the amount in government paper, which could
generally be purchased at 80 per cent, discount, and
the existing governments promise again to do so as
soon as the present pressing engagements are re-,
lieved. Costa Rica alone has no debt, and therefore
requires to make no laws for taking up her paper.
Besides the foregoing indulgences, a term of credit
of three months is always given for paying the duties
if they amount to 500 dollars, and from three to six
months for larger sums, from the day the goods are
removed from the government warehouse. A charge
of four reals per 100 lbs. weight is made for ware-
house rent, whether the goods are warehoused or
not, and whatever time they remain in bond.
Though the duties are certainly far from oppres-
sive, smuggling is of very common occurrence, and,
though when discovered it is by law punished by
the confiscation of the goods, if clearly proved to be
designed, and by double duties if it can be passed off
as a mistake ; it is, in fact, always conunuted for a
small fine, or more frequently hushed up by a bribe.
But the safest and most general method of smuggling,
or, as the natives term it, the most honourable, is to
agree with the collector of customs for a part, gene-
rally a half, of the duties, the greater part of which
he himself of course retains, giving permits for the
goods in the usual manner, and accounting to the
government as he thinks proper.
Since the separation of the states, each exacts full
duties on all merchandise, even if they have been
paid in one of the other states; %nd though the
p 4
320 STATEMENT OF THE REVENUE.
I
British and French consuls have protested strongly,
against it^ on the principle that no state had a right
singly to rescind the laws made by the universal
consent of the whole (it being enacted by the federal
tariff that merchandise, having paid duty in one state,
should pass freely through the rest), they have not as
yet induced the states to leave off the exaction, or
return the amount so paid since their separation, al-
though such restitution will, as I am informed by
H. B. M. consul, be certainly enforced in the case of
British subjects* The custom is most inconvenient,
and completely paralyses the internal trade; and as
some of the states have no convenient ports on the
Pacific, and others none at all on the Atlantic, it is of
course exceedingly injurious to the interests of them
all, and if continued will leave them in the same in-
convenient situation as the petty states of Germany,
before the Custom's Union was established.
From no statement of the revenue of any state
being ever published; it is very difficult to tell its
exact amount ; the following is the nearest approxi-
mation I can make, from the information given me
by the ministers and collectors of the different
states : —
Dollars.
Guatemala, including the Altos . . - . 260,000
State of San Salvador 127,000
Honduras (exclusive of copper money issues) - 72,000
Nicaragua --. ^0,000
Costa Kica (exclusive of duty on coffee, applied to
the roads) 87,000
The finances of all the states except Costa Bica,
are almost always in the most disorganised condition,
the expenditure at all times exceeding the ordinary
INSECURITY OF LOANS TO GOTEUNMENT. 321
revenue ; and, as tHeir credit is sunk to the lowest
ebb, their only means of making up the deficiency
is by forced, loans, or money taken up on the most
usurious and ruinous terms. About eighteen months
ago the government of Guatemala borrowed 50,000
dollars of the two British houses, to be repaid out
of the customs' duties as fast as they were col-
lected, with the addition of 50 per cent ; biit after
repaying about half the amount, the mock legislature
made a law authorising the government to resume
the Custom-House duties, postponing the payment of
the loan for an indefinite period ; however, after sundry
threatening letters from the British consul, they
have, it appears, paid the balance of this debt ; and
taking into account the date of the former payment,
these merchants have made more than 50 per cent,
per annum by their advance. Still, ruinous as this
interest undoubtedly was, and ruinous as it must be
to any government or individual paying it, no Spa-
niard or native would advance money to government
even on these, or indeed on any terms, being almost
certain that they would never be repaid, as has hap-
pened to some merchants in Guatemala, who made'
a similar advance some years before, and have no
prospect of being repaid, though the British mer-
chants who negotiated the loan long afterwards have
received their money.
The government of San Salvador, on a late occa-
sion, paid 5 per cent, per month to a Frenchman of
the name of Casamayor, and no person will now lend
them money on any terms. Some years ago the
Honduras government adopted the ruinous scheme
of issuing a debased copper currency, the real value
p 5
322 CURRENT COIN.
of the metal being about a seventh of the amount for
which it passes current ; but having cost the govern-
ment one-fifth of its nominal value, being bought at
an extravagant price, this money is issued by govern-
ment in their payment, but is not received in settle-
ment of duties which must be paid in gold or silver.
This debased money has already fallen to a third of
its nominal value ; and as there is not the least hope
that such a government will ever redeem it, it must
soon be depreciated to its real value ; at present the
issue of it is, perhaps, a more polite method of rob*
bery than that practised in the other states, though
in the end it must prove even more destructive to
commerce and prosperity.
The government of Nicaragua is in the most
wretched state of all ; the tobacco monopoly, and
the Custom-House at Bealejo, being mortgaged for
the claims of British subjects against the government.
On a late occasion, Mr. Forster, the British vice-
consul, states that they could not raise twenty-five
dollars to pay the troops they wished to send against
a band of robbers and assassins. In consequence of
this they refused to march, so that the assassins
were left to plunder whom they pleased, without any
interruption whatever ; and, in fact, they robbed and
put to death five most respectable individuals in their
houses in open day.
The current money of Central America, with the
exception of Honduras, is nearly the same as the
Spaniards left it, and, as all the southern republics
in pretending to improve it have only robbed the
public by issuing a debased currency, it is fortunate
that they have left it alone. It consists principally of
DIFFERENCE IN VALUE. 323
pieces of silver rudely cut and stamped^ of the value
of from one half to four reals ; it is rather finer than
the current hard dollars^ but from long use the coin,
especially the smaller pieces, have lost a great part
of their weight ; and I find from examination that
one with another they may be said to have lost 20 per
cent., eight reals of the current money being one-
fifth lighter than a new hard dollar, which passes
for the same value. It is also most embarrassing for
a stranger to count any large amount, or even dis-
tinguish the different values. But even this state of
the currency is preferable to that of New Granada,
Equador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chili, where the go-
vernments have uniformly deducted about 50 per
cent, either in the weight or fineness of their last
coinages of small silver money, hard dollars being
worth a considerable premium in all these countries.
All the coins of Mexico pass current in Central
America, and, next to the cut silver, form the bulk
of the circulating medium ; but only the gold ounces
and hard dollars of the southern republics are re-
ceived.. The gold ounce (improperly called doubloon,
in English) weighs 317 grains, and should be ex-
actly 21 carats fine. Those of Mexico and Central
America, and the old republic of Colombia, are said
to be pretty exactly of that fineness, but many of
those lately coined by the southern republics have
been depreciated ; the ounce passes for sixteen dol-
lars in Guatemala and San Salvador, and for seven-
teen in Nicaragua and Costa Kica, but current
silver and hard dollars are generally worth 6 per
cent, premium in the latter states, which makes it
of actually the same value in them all.
r 6
324 BASE COIN.
It is much to be regretted that the government of
Costa Hico, BO much superior to that of the other
statea in most other respects, haB lately given the
bad example of coining a depredated small silver
money ; which is not received except in that state,
all the natives of Central America being excellent
judges of the purity of the precious metals.
Central America, in imitation of all the American
governments (Bolivia only excepted), has contracted
a debt in London; having, in 1826, empowered
Messrs. Barclay, Herring, & Co. to contract a loan of
7,000,000 of dollars. But fortunately for the British
public, Messrs. B. H. & Co. could not succeed in
negotiating more than 816,500 dollars, or 163,300/.
sterling, of which it appears, that the Central Ameri-
can government, owing to the failure of their agents,
did not receive quite one half, though of course respon-
sible for the whole amount. Messrs. Eeid, Irving,
& Co., after the stoppage of Messrs. Barclay, Herring,
& Co., were appointed stents for the republic, and
paid about two years' interest of the debt ; but the
government neither attempted to reimburse them
nor make any provision for the future payment
of the interest, either during the existence of the
federal government or after its dissolution. But in
1838 the state of Costa Bica, induced by the strong
ntations of H. B. M, consul-general, took
tself the liquidation of the proportion of the
il debt asmgned to it, namely, one twelfth of
ole amount, with interest ; and for that pur-
slivered 2,000 bales of tobacco to Mr. Forster,
itish vice'consul, in Nicaragua, but the pro-
)f the article which was sold in Nicaragua
NONPAYMENT OF LOANS. 325
being invested in indigo for remittance to England,
did not, from the state of the markets, realise the
anticipated amount, netting only 16,210/. 16^. 3rf.,
instead of 26,7657. IS*. 4e/., the amount with interest
due by Costa Rica as their share of the debt. The
English creditors, glad no doubt to recover any
part of what appeared entirely lost, decided on ac-
cepting the amount netted in full of their claims
against Costa Kica, so that the state is entirely free
from debt ; and I make no doubt that the British
creditors would be most happy to compound the rest
of their claims against Central America on similar
terms. I believe that none of the other states ex-
cept Honduras, have ever made a proposal for dis-
charging any part of the debt ; and it is most probable
that, small as is the amount for a nation consisting
of 2,000,000 of inhabitants, and possessing one of the
most fertile territories in the world, no effectual at-
tempt will be made to discharge their liabilities, unless
the British government should consider themselves en-
titled to use compulsory measures in exacting pay-
ment, which as yet they have not thought proper to
do in similar circumstances with any government.
Central America, as might be expected from its
position, contains a greater number of excellent ports
than any other continental country of the same size.
About two days' sail from the British settlement of
Belize is the port of Isabel, at present the principal
medium of the foreign trade with the state of Gua-
temala. Isabel is naturally most beautifully situated
for a port, being upon a lake about thirty miles long,
from which a river flows into the ocean. The town
is about twelve leagues from the sea. The depth
326 DESCRIPTION OF THE
' of water in the lake and river is not less than four
fathoms^ but the latter^ unfortunately, possesses a
mud bar at the mouth, which prevents the entrance
of vessels drawing more than six to eight feet of
water; but the bank is said to be of very limited
extent, and of materials which could very easily be
removed by the most ordinary dredging machine, so
as to admit large vessels. Were this done, Isabel
would be one of the finest ports in the world. At
present the trade is principally carried on by small
coasting vessels, which convey the imports from, and
the exports to Belize, through which nearly all the
trade passes, the only vessels which arrive direct
being some small craft from the United States of
North America. Very near the mouth of lake
Isabel is the most excellent port of St. Thomas,
- where the Belgians have established their settlement,
and which would, of course, become the only outlet
for the trade of the state were the agreements of the
Belgian commissioners carried into effect ; but of this
there appears (as I have before stated) to be little
chance at present.
St. Thomas is well sheltered from all wind, of easy
ingress and egress, and has every natural facility for
forming wharfs, quays, etc., and appears to be a most
excellent situation for the formation of a port. The
coast possessed by Guatemala on the N. E. is of small
extent, though more than sufficient for any useful
purpose at present, and possessing two excellent
ports. About thirty leagues east by north is the
port of Omoa in Honduras, and about sixty leagues
further in the same direction, that of Trujillo, in the
same state ; through these two ports the trade of the
PRINCIPAL PORTS. 827
state passes in about equal proportions. They pos-
sess albundant natural advantages, being both very
safe and accessible at all times. Few vessels, how-
ever, visit them direct from Europe, the principal
trade being with Belize, and the United States of
North America.
The Mosquito coast intervenes between Trujillo
and San Juan of Nicaragua. It is a large tract of
country covered with dense forests ; and the in-
habitants are a mixture of negroes and Indians,
nominally under the protection of Great Britain.
The port of San Juan del Norte is situated on the
river of that name, about twenty leagues from its
mouth. Ships of all sizes can ascend to it with fa-
cility, and the port is large, safe, and well situated
for the entrepot of the trade of the states of Nicara-
gua and Costa Rica ; but, owing to the sepai'ation
of the government, it possesses none of the trade of
the latter. It supplies the cities of Granada and
Nicaragua, and the smaller towns on that side of the
state.
The British have, for some years past, claimed
this port on behalf of the Mosquito Indians, but do
not appear inclined to enforce the claim. The only
other port on the N. E. coast worth noting is that of
Matina, in Costa Bica, which is merely a creek for
boats, vessels having to lie in an open roadstead.
It formerly had some little trade (principally contra-
band) with Jamaica, but this is now understood to
be nearly at an end. The road from it to San Jose
is almost impassable, and its situation is said to render
it most pestiferous, and very fatal to strangers and
natives of the cooler districts.
328 DESCRIPTION OF THE
Commencing at the most northernly part of the
S. W. coast, the first of the ports upon the Pacific
is Jocos, which is the only place in the province of
the Altos ever visited by vessels. It is an open
roadstead, where a landing is always effected with
some difficulty, on account of the continued heavy
surf breaking upon the shore. It has only been
visited by two or three small vessels, and, since the
annexation of the province to the state of Guatemala,
goods cannot be landed there but by special license
from the government.
Iztapa, the port of Guatemala, on the Pacific, is
little better than the foregoing: it is twenty-five
leagues from the capital of that state, and the country
is of such a nature that a passable road for carts
might be made at little expense ; though there is no
probability of its being attempted under the present
government. Five or six vessels visit Iztapa in the
course of the year, and bulky goods, which will not
bear the expense of carriage from Isabel, are sent
there. It is probable that, were it in the hands of
an enlightened government, a breakwater might be
made to improve the port ; but landing a cargo at
present is dangerous, and exceedingly tedious and
laborious.
About forty leagues to the eastward is the port of
Acajantla, in the state of San Salvador, which is
much superior to the foregoing, being sheltered from
all winds except S. W. Still there is always a heavy
swell upon the beach, and the entire absence of a
wharf, makes landing somewhat difficult. Five or six
vessels generally visit this port in the year. Twenty
leagues further along the coast is the roadstead of
PRINCIPAL PORTS. 329
Libertad, which is in all respects inferior to Aca-
jantla^ but has been occasionally made use of for
embarking and disembarking bulky goods, as it is
the nearest point along the coast to the city of San
Salvador, from which it is only twelve leagues distant.
Eight leagues further to the eastward is the bay
of Conchagua, near the head of which, on the west
side is the port of the Union, which I have already
described pretty fully, and which is by far the best
in the state of San Salvador.
On the opposite side of the bay, nearer the entrance,
is the port of San Lorenzo, the only one possessed
by the state of Honduras on the Pacific coast. The
port is safe and convenient, and of easy access ; but,
as nearly all the commerce of this state is carried on
by the Atlantic coast, it is little attended to, only
one vessel having entered it, for the temptation of
admitting her cargo duty free, offered as a premium
to the first vessel visiting the port. Some canoe-
loads of merchandise, principally Guayaquil cocoa, are
annually sent to it from the Union.
A few leagues eastward of the entrance of Con-
chagua bay, is the port of Realejo, in the state of
Nicaragua, which I have already described. It can
hardly be surpassed by any in the world. It com-
mands about half the trade of the state. About fifty
leagues further to the eastward is the port of San
Juan del Sur, to which place it was proposed to
bring the canal, connecting the two oceans, though
Kealejo would appear to be much preferable in most
respects. The gulf of Papagaya, where the port is
situated, is very difiicult to enter with a sailing ves-
sel for five months in the year, during which a strong
330 BIYEHSj
wind continually blows off the land. The port has^
I onderstand, only been entered by one sailing- vessel.
Along the coast of Nicoya there are, doubtless,
many creeks which would form good ports, but the
district contains so few inhabitants that no person
has thought it worth examining with that object.
The only other port at present made use of on this
coast is Punta Arenas, in Costa Kica, regarding
which I have before said sufficient in my account of
that state. At present it engrosses nearly all the
trade ; but it is to be hoped that a better situation
may shortly be discovered, as there are, probably,
many in the vicinity preferable to the present port.
The rivers of central America are very numerous,
but, as might be anticipated (from the nature of the
country), small, and none of them at present avail-
able for the navigation of vessels of any size, except
St. John, in Nicaragua, which flows into the Atlantic,,
and the Lempa, in San Salvador, which flows into
the Pacific Unfortunately, the latter has a very
bad bar at the mouth, over which vessels drawing
more than six feet of water cannot pass. As it is,
however, formed of mud brought down by the river,
it could be easily removed ; and, if this were done,
the river would afford not only an excellent port,
but an inland navigation of twenty leagues for
large vessels in the very heart of the state. Of
this, however, there is not the least hope at present.
Many other rivers could easily be rendered
navigable with a little expense ; as the river of Mon-
tagua, which the commissioners of the Belgian com-
pany have agreed to clear ; the river Dulce, near the
same part ; the river at Iztapa, and several others.
t
r
AND LAKES. 331
But these improvements could only be expected to
take place under a government of a very different
character from any which at present rules in Spanish
America.
The inland lakes are numerous, the principal being
those of Nicaragua or Granada, and those of Mana-
gua or Leon, in the state of Nicaragua ; Panajachel,
Solalo, and Amatitlan, in the state of Guatemala ;
Cajutepeke, in the state of San Salvador ; and some
others. The first named of these lakes, from which
the river St. John flows, and through which the
projected canal to connect the two oceans should
pass, is about 120 miles in length, and 50 in average
width, and contains a number of islands. It is in
some parts upwards of 100 fathoms deep: the soil
on its banks is rich, and capable of producing all sorts
of tropical produce, besides mahogany, cedar, and
Brazil wood, which grow naturally in great abund-
ance upon its banks. The lake of Leon is about
forty miles long, and twenty- five broad, and is con-
nected with the lake of Nicaragua by a river, which
flows from it into the latter. This river could be
rendered navigable for small vessels merely by slightly
cleaning its bed ; but, were it desired to bring the
grand canal through these two lakes to the harbour
of Realejo, it would most probably be necessary to
carry it alongside, instead of attempting to deepen
the connecting river. The banks of this lake are
fertile, like those of Nicaragua, but at present only
possess some small patches of cultivation. The
scenery surrounding the lakes of Panajachel, Solola,
and Cajutepeke is very beautiful and magnificent,
but as they can never serve for the purpose of an
332 ABUNDANCE OF THE FISH.
extended nayigation^ or indeed any farther than for
communication between the Tillages on their banks^
they do not merit particular notice in a cursorj yiew
of the geography of the country. All the rivers and
lakes abound with fish^ but the variety is small, and
they are all much inferior to the salmon and trout.'
The most common sort is called mojaro, a small
tasteless fish, generally caught with nets, but also
with worms and flies.
t
333
CHAP. IX.
POPULATION. — STATE OF EDUCATION. BEU6I0N AND AD-
MINISTRATION OF JUSTICE OF CENTRAL AMERICA.
The native population of Central America may be
said to consist of six distinct races^ which, however,
have been intermixed to so great an extent, that
their derivation cannot often be traced.
1st. May be classed the white descendants of
Spanish colonists.
2nd. The mestizo, descendants of Spaniards and
Indians.
3rd. The mulatto, descendants of Spaniards and
negroes.
4th. The zambo, descendants of Indians and
negroes.
5th. The native, or indigenous Indian.
6th. The African negro.
In all the states except Costa Kica, the second and
fifth classes are much the most numerous. The state
of Guatemala is said to contain about a million of
inhabitants, the Indians of whom probably amount to
800,000, the mestizoes to 150,000. The whites in
New and Old Guatemala may amount to four or five
thousand ; but in other parts of the state not above
twenty or thirty will be found in the largest towns,
and I do not suppose that their total number ex-
ceeds seven or eight thousand.
334 SKETCH OP THE POPULATION.
The natives of negro blood are principally found
on the N. E. coast, and in Amatitlan. They are
the descendants of the slavea kept by the JesuitSt
and are rarely to be met with in any part of the
state. The pure negroes do not amount to so many
as the whites, the remainder of the population being
mulattoes and zamboes.
In San Salvador, supposed to contain 350,000 in-
habitants, the number of whites does not appear to
exceed three or four thousand, as they are only found
in the principal towns of the state ; of the rest,
about two-thirds would appear to be mestizoes and
indigenous Indians, the number of the other classes
being very trifling. Honduras is said to contain
a population of 250,000, of these there may be from
four to five thousand whites, and twenty to thirty
thouBand negroes, zamboes, and mulattoes, on the
N, E. coast only, the remainder consisting of about
one-half mestizoes, and one-half indigenous Indians.
In Kicart^na, the population of which is estimated
at 300,000, there may be two or three thousand
whites, and five or six thousand of negro blood in
the ports ; of the remaining population, abont a third
are mfestizoes, and two-thirds indigenous Indians.
In Costa Hica, the population of which is rated nt
"' TOO, at least 70,000 are whites, the remainder
jisting of a few negroes near the port of Matina,
the N. E. coast, and mestizoes and their de-
idants who have come from the other states ;
ive not noticed a single pure Indian.
)f the foreigners, the natives of Spain are by far
moat numerous, being generally emigrants from
lalusia and Murcia, either of the lower classes, or
TOTAL WANT OF EDUCATION. 335
desperate adventurers who have been ruined in their
own country and come to Central America^ to push
their fortunes in any manner. Unfortunately, they
form the great bulk of the commercial class ex-
cepting the petty dealers, and have a character de-
cidedly worse in all respects, than the same class
among the natives. I do not think there are a
dozen English in all Central America ; there may be
thirty or forty French, and as many Germans, and
twenty or thirty of all other foreigners, excepting
the Belgians, who, since the formation of the colony
of St. Thomas, are much more numerous in the
state of Guatemala.
The ignorance, vice, and superstition prevailing in
Central America, are probably hardly to be equalled
in any other part of the world, unless it may be in the
interior of Africa or the East India islands. In the
towns, not one in ten can read or write, and in many
parts of the country, not one in a thousand. In
many villages containing some thousand inhabitants,
no person is to be found who can read, and, when a
traveller is compelled to show his passport to the
alcalde, who is the first civil and criminal judge, he
is generally requested to read it. Morality is at the
lowest ebb among all classes, especially the whites
and Creoles ; indeed, I could never find, that among
them any disgrace was attached to any sort of
crime except petty larceny. Murder, perjury, forgery,
and swindling of all sorts are considered as quite
venial.
The priests are, for the most part, blind leaders of
the blind ; and the better educated merely consider
themselves as actors, whose business it is to extort
^^^mmem
336 MORALITY AND DECENCY
money by acting the part which will please the
people. Forms and religious parade are carefully
kept up, but no one thinks of inculcating private
morality or even decency. The marriage ceremony
IS, also, as might be expected, considered merely as
a form to keep up public decency, and both man and
wife act in private as they please.
I never have found any native of Central America,
who would admit that there could be any vice in
lying; and when one has succeeded in cheating
another, however gross and infamous the fraud may
be, the natives will only remark, " Que hombre
vivo " (what a clever fellow). All classes are ad-
dicted to gambling, and far more money changes
hands in this manner than in commerce or any le-
gitimate business. Nearly all the Guatemala mer-
chants, who are the only ones possessed of any
capital, have commenced their career with some
rascality. One of the richest of them was some
years ago, when in bad circumstances, sent to look
after a quantity of very valuable goods which had
been abandoned by the carriers in some revolu-
tionary panic; but, instead of restoring the goods
to their owner, he altered the marks and so mixed
them together, that when they came to Guatemala
they could not be identified ; there he managed
to keep the greater part, by selling which he at
oncQ accumulated a good capital for commencing busi-
ness; and being a shrewd dealer, and above all, a
successful gambler, he has realised what is in Central
America a large fortune, and he is courted by all the
Belize merchants. Concubinage is common among
all possessed of any wealth; nor is this, as in other
BUSINESS CONDUCTED BY WOMEN. 337
countries, done secretly, if at all; but even wives
will publicly speak of their husbands' mistresses,
and express their approbation and disapprobation of
their taste.
Nearly all the purchases and sales are conducted
by women, who among the lower classes plant the
maize for the family, make the tortilias carry the
surplus produce to market, and bring back the
proceeds ; while the men are lying all day in their
hammocks, or dosing under the shade of a tree. I
only speak of the lower and middle classes, as the
women of the higher ranks are as depraved and in-
jdolent as the men.
The character of the indigenous Indians is very
various in different parts of the country. Some of
their villages, such as the Kavinal, and many others
of smaller extent, are inhabited by a very industrious
class of natives, who form the best workmen in the
state of Guatemala, their dress being neat and clean,
and their conduct humble and courteous ; while in
others, the people are lazy and insolent, and go en-
tirely naked, with the exception of a cloth round the
middle. They are all very shrewd in their dealings,
and their promises may much more safely be trusted
to than those of the white and mixed breeds. The
greater part are continually intoxicated whenever
they have the means of being so, and make a habit
of drinking on the Sunday all they have gained in
the week, without ever saving any thing to take
home to their villages. To this, however, the Indians
of the Bavinal, and some other places, are an excep-
lion ; they will walk fifty and sixty leagues to Ama-
titlan and Old Guatemala to seek work, and remain
Q
338 CHAKACTERI8TIC8 OP THE INDIANS.
a month or two^ spending almost nothing upon their
food, but when returning home thej will purchase
some article of dress, and take the rest of their gains
to spend in their native village ; they are noted for
their honesty and veracity, and are said to be very
moral in their private Eves*
The Indians of the Altos are, also, generally an
industrious class, and by them is spun nearly all the
clothing used by the lower and middle classes of
Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Bica, and all the tem-
perate parts of Central America.
I have always found the Indians of the state of
San Salvador most civil and obliging, and though
very ignorant and superstitious, they are without many
of the vices of the mixed breeds ; the same applies to
the Indians of Honduras and Nicaragua. But as the
Indians of the two latter states have had less inter*
course with strangers, they are in many parts in a
more savage state, and are almost entirely directed
by the priests, who make them conform to the un-
meaning ceremonies of the Church of Home, and
exact a large proportion of their little gains, without
attempting to teach them the true spirit of the
Christian religion, or in the least improving their
education or morality.
As I menticmed, when speaking of Amatitlan, the
mulattoes of that place are in some respects superior
to the inhabitants of other parts, and are decidedly
less superstitious, and more moral in their conduct.
Those in the ports of the north coast are somewhat
more industrious than the mestizoes : but, with this
solitary quality, I believe that the negroes, mulattoes,
and zamboes, are no better than the other classes..
INDOLENCE OF THE CENTBAL AMEBIC ANS. 339
As far as I can judge from my own observation,
and the opinion of those strangers most competent to
&peak, the Central American character is naturally
simple and timid ; and, unfortunately, their extreme
timidity and diffidence have prevented the most
respectable classes from mixing in the government,
or at all interfering in politics, so that the adminis-
tration of public affairs has fallen, not into the hands
of the wealthy and respectable classes, but first, of
needy adventurers more cunning and impudent than
the rest ; and afterwards, of robbers, assassins, and
others, who would not hesitate at any means to
attain their end. All the revolutions are made by a
, very few of this class, while the mass of the people
submit without a murmur to what they direct, and
even prefer being robbed by any desperate adven-
turer, to laying aside the national indolence and
timidity to resist them.
The present corrupted character has evidently re-
sulted from the brutalising influence of continued
civil wars, and the infamous examples shown by the
assassins, who from time to time seized the govern-
ment; the members of which have almost always
been the most immoral, false, and despicable of the
population, and, so far from encouraging morality,
or the social virtues, made it a rule to outrage them
on every occasion. Whatever crime is committed,
the perpetrator has only to declare himself a violent
partisan of some of the factions which divide the
country, to be not only protected from justice, but
rewarded, and the power of tyrannising over the
rest of the community put into his hands.
All the most industrious and respectable people,
Q 2
|^W^H^|PiHaB«lBV^^BHaP^«^E9""""^^"*^>V"""^*^"JI'*- BU .-^^F9P^E=^<^^V^
340 DISHONESTY OF THE GOVERNMENlT.
and, indeed, all who have either cash or character to
lose, are afraid to have any thing to do with the
government ; conseqirently, they are made the vic-
tims of all sorts of oppression, and have heavy con-
tributions exacted from them, when one robber or
assassin has collected a few rascals to attack another;
The rulers are, indeed, so far from being " a terror
to evil doers," and " a praise to those who do well,"
that they may most truly be termed a terror to those
who do well, and a protection to evil doers. Under
such a government, and with a people spiritless
enough to submit to it, there can be little hope of
any moral improvement; and except the state of
Costa Bica, which under a more enlightened govern-
ment has made such rapid strides in improvement,
I can see no prospect of any amelioration in the
character of the people, till an absolute government
shall be established by some foreign power ; or, per^
haps, till a long course of poverty and misrule shall
force even this most apathetic people to rise and ex-
terminate the infamous characters who have pretended
to govern them, and seek out the most worthy and
capable to supply their place. But the past history
of the country certainly leaves us rather to hope for,
than expect, such a result in the present age.
While the present generation are so deplorably
ignorant of the elements of education, the state of
the public schools and means of instruction offers no
better prospect for the future.
Two colleges (as they are callied) exist in Guate-
mala, which, though they are by far the first esta-
blishments of the kind in Central America, are far
below the most ordinary public school in England ; the
AN AMUSING DEFINITION, 841
only qualification required previous to entering them,
being to write and read the Spanish language. The
branches taught are, arithmetic, dignified with the
name of mathematics, the Latin, French, and Eng-
lish languages, philosophy of Aristotle, and practice
of medicine. No attempt is made to teach che-*
mistry, astronomy, mechanics, or geometry ; but,
above all, the ignorance of geography among the
best informed classes is most ridiculous. A young
^an, about five-and-twenty, of one of the richest
and proudest families of Guatemala, and of the self-*
called nobles, inquired of me whether I was a native:
of London, or England ; and, upon my stating that I
was a native of neither, though of Great Britain, he
again inquired, if Great Britain was not a province
of London, or England. Another asked me if I
was English of England, or English of France ; and
seeing that I smiled, he added, then you may be an
English North American.
I have often been asked whether Guatemala, or
England, contained the larger population; but the
most amusing definition was propounded by a large
landed proprietor in the state of Guatemala, who
has no small opinion of his learning ; namely, that
there were only two real nations in the Old World —
England and Spain, and that the rest were all ^^ gua-*
nacos ; " a name applied to the natives of the smaller
states by those of Guatemala, apparently brought
down from the time of the Spanish government,
when that province was the residence of the captain-
general, and meaning ignorance and rusticity.
. Though, according to law, education is entirely
free, no person except a Koman Catholic could ven-
« 3
342 QUALIFICATIOKS FOE A TEACHEE.
ture to set up a school, as he would be certain to
be forced to abandon it by the priests, as was exem-
plified in the case of Mr. Crow.
Some of the teachers in Guatemala, not employed
in the Universities, are said to be men of good educa-
tion, but not accustomed to the best method of
instruction ; and, as they can hardly make an exist-
ence by teaching, they generally trade, farm, or
employ themselves in some other way, teaching only
at their leisure hours ; but the acquirements of
teachers in the smaller towns are very slender indeed.
The steward of a small Chilian vessel, a stupid-look-
ing mestizo, offered himself to me as servant in the
port of the Union in November, 1844, when I told
him I did not require his services ; but meeting him
a few days afterwards, he told me that he had been
appointed schoolmaster of the town, with a salary of
sixteen dollars a month ; which occupation he evi-
dently thought much inferior to five dollars a month,
with board and lodging, as a servant.
Some few Central Americans who have visited
England have perfectly learned the English language ;
and they appear to have the same quickness in learn-
ing possessed by the West Indian Creoles, and a
great readiness in comprehending any subtle theory
or argument, which attaches to most people not
well brought up from childhood, and having only a
smattering of some branches of education.
The consequence is, that all the exertions of the
priests have only served to limit general knowledge ;
while all the young people above the labouring
classes have, in spite of them, imbibed infidel opi-
nions, and make no hesitation in calling the Chris-
RELIGIOUS TOLERATION. 343
tian reyelation a ridiculous fable, and the priests,
comedians and cheats. They speak of them in a
much more disrespectful manner than any Protestant
would think of doing, while, at the same time, they
comply with the unmeaning Bomish ceremonies, and
kneel and cross themselves before the figures of their
saints.
Though the entire liberty of religious worship,
both private and public, was guaranteed by the federal
constitution of Central America, acts have been
since passed by the states of Guatemala, Honduras,
and Costa Bica, in reference to this and some other
of the federal laws, declaring that parties differing
from the Church of Rome are only at liberty to
exercise their religion in private. Indeed, such re-
ligious liberty could never in reality exist, whatever
the laws might be on the subject, as the priests, who
have the entire control over the greater part of the
lower orders, would be certain to excite them to
assassinate any person who should attempt to expose
their idolatry, and introduce a purer system of
religion.
The religion of the lower classes resembles at present
what is described as having existed in some parts of
Europe in the thirteenth century, and consists of
certain unmeaning forms, sedulously kept up by the
priests, without the least attempt being made to in-
culcate morality, much less any part of the vital prin-
ciples of Christianity.
In America, there is none of the majestic solem-
nity attached to the Roman Catholic religion, which
is found in some of the countries of continental
Europe.
Q 4
344 IDOLATROUS WORSHII*.
Innumerable images of all the saints of the Romish
calendar are to be seen in all the churches, and to
toe or other of these figures the lower classes always
address their prayers; never, as they have oftett
admitted to me, supplicating the Supreme Being, or
the Mediator of the Christian covenant. Rich offer*
ings are often made to these saints, or, more pro-
perly, to the priests who take care of them (and in
their sermons extol their virtues in the most ridicu-
lous and indecent manner, in order to extract offer-
ings from the people), by persons who are sick, in
order to purchase a cure; and sometimes, though
not nearly so often, by those who have committed
some crime^ to purchase absolution. These saintd
are, on particular days, paraded about the streets in
procession ; and, as often as they pass, the lower
classes fall on their knees«
Many of the images have the supposed power o£
working miracles ; but the most celebrated of all, is
called Nuestro Senor de Esquipulas (our Lord of Es-
quipulas). It is a small image, and, as I have been
informed by those who have seen it, of an ill-looking
black man ; but it is understood to be a representa-
tion of the Supreme Being, impiously drawn in a'
human figure. This image, which it is pretended^
fell down from heaven, has the supposed power of
healing all diseases, and granting any request which
may be preferred to it; and, such is its celebrity,
that the credulous people bring the sick from all parts
of the republic, even a distance of 500 miles, on foot.
It is said, that more than 100,000 persons annually
visit it on the three festival days, appointed for that
purpose, in the year ; and the priest, though he has
IMAGINART MIRACLE. 345
no revenue except the offerings made to the saint,
possesses by far the richest living in Central America,
The following account of one of the pretended
miracles wrought by the image was given me by Don
Manuel Zapata, as trustworthy a gentleman as any
in Central America, and well known to all persons
who have resided in the state of San Salvador.
Having gone, with others, to the great annual fair,
held on one of the saint's festivals, on the 6th of
January 1324, and having got into the body of the
church amidst an immense crowd of people, after he
had waited some time, and seen some minor miracles
of rather an equivocal character performed, he saw a
man brought in who appeared to be a most wretched
object, his legs and arms being twisted upwards, and
his whole body distorted in a most horrible manner.
He was placed before the image, and exclaimed in
a hollow voice, — " I have come upwards of a hun-
dred leagues to see our Lord of Esquipulas, and will
never leave till he has cured me : " this he repeated
several times, when suddenly he gave a spring, and
appeared healed in a moment ; his body became
straight, his legs and ams resumed their fomier
position, and he stood before the image a stout hale
nian.
Upon the completion of this most wonderful
miracle, the musicians in attendance struck up a
dancing tune ; large sums of money were collected
for the saint, and the object of the miracle, and the
painters in attendance commenced painting copies of
it for sale. Don Manuel told me, that though he
had before had strong doubts about the authenticity
Q 5
346 THE MIKACLE SOLVEB.
of the miracles, and every thing else pertaining
to priestcraft, he could not contradict or deny what
appeared, without doubt, to be a miraculous cure.
The next morning he had to leave Esquipulas ; and
in the suburbs of the town he met a gentleman
mounted on a very fine mule, with handsome Mex-
ican saddle and trappings. Saluting each other, ac-
cording to the custom of the country, they entered
into conversation ; the stranger told him that he
had been present at the disgraceful farce of the pre-
ceding day, that he well knew the man on whom
the pretended miracle had been wrought; that he
was a noted robber who lived near the river Paz,
and that he had wished to apprehend him as a cri-
minal and impostor, but that the priests would not
permit it, as they said that all he had done was for
the glory of Grod, and, that to apprehend him would
injure the fame of our Lord of Esquipulas.
While all the forms and ceremonies enjoined by
the priests are most scrupulously and devoutly per-
formed by the Indians, and the greater part of the
humbler classes of all breeds, and the images of the
saints are most devoutly worshipped, and all the
ridiculous fables told regarding them fully believed,
the more educated classes are almost universally
sceptics; and, though the more prudent outwardly
conform to the Boman Catholic ceremonies in pub-
lic, they never go to church, except officially on
some public occasion, or partake of any of the
Catholic sacraments except baptism — marriage — and
the Eucharist, when they are about to die. The first
and last named are practised as a sort of charm, and
the second is reckoned necessary for the sake of
IMMORAL CHARACTER OP THE PRIESTS. 347
public decency, when the parties are of good family :
but when speaking with a stranger they have no he-
sitation in ridiculing the religion and ceremonies of
their church.
The character of the priests in Spanish Ame-
rica, with very few exceptions, is grossly immoral
and corrupt ; nearly all publicly live in concubinage,
and a great number drink and gamble. Such being
their own character, they can hardly be expected to
inculcate morality on others ; yet their supposed
sacred character makes them worshipped by the
lower orders, though they are ridiculed and despised
by the more educated.
After the independence, the Roman Catholic
Church in Central America bad no communication
with the pope for many years ; but five years ago,
on the triumph of the servile party, an ambassador
was sent to his holiness, and Don Jos6 Viteri re-
turned bishop of San Salvador. The pope shortly
afterwards appointed Dr. Francisco Garcia Palaez,
coadjutor, to supply the place of the archbishop of
Guatemala, who, on his expulsion by Morazan, re-
paired to the island of Cuba.
Doctor Francisco Garcia Palaez, formerly coad-
jutor, but now, by the death of the late archbishop
Casaus, archbishop of Guatemala, is a native of the
state, a man of narrow capacity, and badly educated ;
he is more discreet in his moral conduct than most
of the class, but he is so exceedingly bigoted, that
if he had it only in his power he would revive
the darkest period of the Spanish Inquisition.
Luckily this is now out of the question, and the
priests in Central America have been too lately
6
348 EXPULSION OF MB. CBOW«
hunted down to attempt any thing which may
render them unpopular. Still he has had it in his
power to persecute, and finally expel from the state^
an Englishman, of the name of Crow, who was sent
out by one of the Bible societies in England to the
British settlement of Belize, and afterwards proceeded
to Guatemala, where he set up a school, in which he
was so successful that nearly all the respectable
natives and foreigners sent their children to be
taught by him ; but though, as far as I have heard^
he was a man of unexceptionable character, and
strictly abstained from interfering with the religion
of the country, the archbishop and priests seemed
afraid that to educate the rising generation would
teach them to despise their superstition, and aided
by the municipal authorities, who wished to please the
lower classes, by whom they are selected, they con-*
tinually annoyed him in every possible manner, and
sent him orders to close his school ; which, relying
on his privilege as a British subject, he refused tQ
do. In the beginning of last April, however, he
received a positive order immediately to quit th^
state ; and after having in vain applied for assistance
to Mr. Chatfield, the British consul-general (of whose
motives in refusing it I am not aware, though of
course they must have been sufficient), he was seized
by a body of soldiers when coming out of the Belgian
consulate, where he had taken refuge, set upon a
mule, and conveyed to the port of Isabel, where he
was forced to embark on board a vessel bound to the
British settlement of Belize.
It is said that General Carrera was unfavourable
to the act, though he permitted it to please the
CHARACTER OF DON JOSE VITERI. 340
priests; but it is to be hoped the British govern-
ment will not permit so gross ah injury to one of
their subjects to be inflicted, contrary to law, by the
wretched and contemptible provincial government of
Guatemala without condign punishment.
Don Jose Viteri, the bishop of San Salvador, is a
man of more talent and education than the arch-
bishop of Guatemala; he was formerly minister to
the Guatemala government ; — an oflfice for which
he would appear much better fitted than for that of
an ecclesiastic. He is of one of the first families in
San Salvador, and having travelled in Europe, is a
man of most polished manners and pleading address ;
but his private character is notoriously vicious and
debased, and he is one of the greatest political
incendiaries and promoters of civil war in all the
republic.
Much less bigotry exists in the states of San Sal-
vador and Nicaragua, but in other respects they are,
perhaps, rather worse than some of the others. Thq
priests have never quite recovered the power they had
before the time of Morazan, and their influence seems
still to be on the decline, except in the states of Guate-
mala and Costa Kica, where it is at present supported
by the government for party purposes. Probably
this is, after all, the least of two evils ; for until the
people are educated, and taught a purer religion, the
overthrow of the Koman Catholic church would only
be depriving them of the little remaining moral
restraint which, though based on so degrading a su**
perstition, still forms some check to the lower classes*
I do not mean to compare the degraded and childish
superstition which at present exists in Central Ame-
350 THEIR RELIGION CONTRASTED.
rica, with the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland^ Ger-
many^ or even Italy, which probably differs much less
from the purest reformed church, than that of Central
America does from them ; but I have no hesitation
in saying that the religion of China, Birmah, Turkey,
or Persia, is infinitely superior to that which at pre-
sent exists in Spanish America ; and I have no doubt
that such a degrading superstition is one main cause
of the ignorance, immorality, and indolence, which
pervades so large a proportion of the population of
all the American countries formerly belonging to the
Spanish crown.
The admirable, though often disputed maxim of
Pope, —
" That which is best administered is best,**
certainly admits of no dispute when applied to laws,
and is most strongly exemplified in all the Spanish
American states, whose laws are generally founded
upon the modem Spanish code, one of the most ex-
cellent that can be framed by human intellect, con-
sisting of the best parts of old Spanish, English,
and French jurisprudence, but entirely free from the
cumbrous rubbish of ancient statutes still retained in
more enlightened countries.
With so excellent a base, and some slight altera-^
tions, suggested by experience and local circum-
stances, it might be supposed that the laws of Central
America would be as nearly perfect as human falli-
bility would admit ; and I feel convinced that no
person can read the enactments throughout, without
admiring their wisdom, simplicity, completeness, and
adaptation to all classes and circumstances. The
PECULIAKITIES OF THE LAAV. 351
peculiar difiference between laws founded upon the
British and Spanish codes is^ that^ while in the former
lawsuits are managed by lawyers, according to cer-
tain unintelligible forms, and evidence is loosely
taken, verbally, from the persons tendering it ; in the
latter, the lawyer never makes his a^ppearance, though
parties may take his advice when they think proper.
Everything is also done in writing, to which all verbal
testimony must be reduced and sworn to in the pre-
sence of the judge trying the case, before it can be re-
ceived in evidence. Another peculiarity, which would
not be approved of by English lawyers, is, that a
civil action is always commenced by examining the
defendant upon his oath ; and, if he then admits the
claim, fiirther proof is unnecessary. Unfortunately,
though perjury is by law punishable by the loss of the
right hand, it is actually never punished in any part
of Spanish America, and is not considered as any
crime, or even disgrace ; so that, when the defendant
admits any important legal points against himself,
it is more from want of shrewdness than from fear
of committing perjury.
The alcalde, who is the magistrate elected by the
people, takes cognisance of petty claims and offences ;
such as, labourers who have received advances on
account of work which they have not performed as
stipulated, and petty disputes between the working
people, which he generally disposes of in a summary
manner as he thinks just, but without any regard
whatever to law. In small towns he is the only
magistrate, and his decisions are, I believe, never
disputed, though by law an appeal may be made to
352 THE CONSOLADO.
the corregidor, whose office is similar to that of a
head police magistrate, and, like the latter, he is
appointed by government.
The primary civil tribunal in Guatemala, where
commercial disputes are generally decided, is the
Consolado, the judges of which are composed of the
principal shopkeepers (for want of wholesale mer-
chants). Two merchants selected by lot, and the
president, a lawyer, form a tribunal, by which the
disputes are tried. All witnesses are examined by
this tribunal, and their evidence reduced to writing
by a clerk in attendance. The plaintiff and defen-
dant may, when not summoned for examination, or
after their statement has been taken, appear, either
personally or by a friend, but, as already observed,
no lawyer is allowed to be present.
The statements of both parties being carefully
made out in writing, are tied together and sealed,
and, as soon as the defendant has replied to all the
assertions of the plaintiff, and all the witnesses, if
any, have been examined, and their evidence reduced
to writing and commented on by both parties, and
replied to by both as fully and as often as they think
proper, the two merchants give their decision (gene-
rally reserving any legal points for settlement by the
civil judge) ; and by this the parties must abide, un-
less they prefer appealing to the supreme court, in
which case the dispute is gone over anew, without
any reference to the previous decision ; and the
judge gives his decree in writing at great length,
stating fully the grounds, both legal and equitable,
on which it is founded. Either party can, however,
CORRUPT STATE OP JUSTICE. 353
object to the grounds of the award upoli legal or
Equitable reasons ; and, upon their paying a small
fine, and giving security for the costs, the case will
be gone over again: and finally, according to the
authority of Central America, either party may"
appeal to the House of Kepresentatives, who will
appoint a committee of lawyers to examine the
grounds of the award, and, if any of them are decided
to be bad, order a new trial.
Disputes which have nothing to do with commerce
are, in the first instance, decided by the petty judge
of the district where they occur (JueA de la primera
instancid)y an appeal lying to th6 superior tri-
bunals as in commercial disputes ; and as the tribunal
of the Consolado only exists in the state of Guate-
mala, the district judge must first be applied to in
all cases in the other states.
As might be anticipated in a country where all
classes are demoralised, the fountain of justice is also
corrupted, and it is never attempted to be denied,
that a few gold ounces are the most convincing
arguments that can be offered to a judge. As might
also be expected, many of the district judges are
not only deplorably ignorant of law, but destitute of
the most ordinary education. The judge of the
Consolado in Amatitlan (a mulatto cochineal grower),
who can just sign his name, issued a summons in-
tended for me on account of a petty demand, but as
the name contained in the document did not in the
least resemble mine, I paid no attention to two
orders to attend ; and some days afterwards, when^
luckily, I was not at home, a troop of soldiers were
354 A judge's honesty.
sent to fetch me. On 1117 return, I sent to ask the
judge what he meant by such a prooeedhig (as I had
preyiously notified to him that the summons to
attend was not in my name), and he at once admitted
that he knew I was not properly cited, but added,
that this made no difference, as I knew the order
was intended for me. The civil judge, however, hap-
pened to be a lawyer^ and advised the dispenser of
cochineal and mercantile law to be a little more
cautious in his proceedings with British subjects.
A late supreme judge of Guatemala, who had
some mercantile transactions with the principal
foreign mercantile house there, by way of security,
made over to them the estates of a person for whom
he pretended to be legal agent, producing letters and
powers of attorney authorising him to do so. Some
time afterwards the judge took himself off, and the
owner of the transferred estates appearing to claim
them, actually produced a letter from the judge
stating that all the documents were forged. This
judge had been considered one of the best and most
active ever known in Guatemala ; but, of course, a
man who could act in such a manner would never
hesitate to sell justice to the highest bidder.
I believe that lawsuits with government are in all
countries bad cases, and that a prudent man will
generally prefer submitting to injustice to going to
law ; but in Central America, it would not only be
utter madness to think of such a thing, but no person
will attempt to bring an action against any officer in
the employ of government, or even his friends or
near relations ; and it is customary for parties fancy-
NOVEL SPECIES OP TYRANNY. 355
ing themselves aggrieved by the decisions of the
judges, to represent their case to the head oflScer of
government, who, if he is convinced by the argu-
ments, or some more tangible process, sends a posi-
tive order to the court to reverse its decisions.
General Carrera, the present president of the state
of Guatemala, continually interferes in this manner,
and has, occasionally, when the judges gave a deci-
sion contrary to his wishes, sent for them to his
house, and after calling them pigs, dogs, jackasses,
and other polite terms, ordered them instantly to
reverse their decision. Were the judges men of
honour, integrity, or independence, it is needless to
say that they would not serve under such a govern-
ment ; but such men would not be acceptable to a
government which daily violates all semblance of law
and justice.
One of the principal stipulations of the Central
American constitution is, that no government can
demand a forced loan on any pretence, or impose
any duties or taxes not authorised by the represen-
tatives of the people ; but so little notice is taken of
this law, so necessary in a free country, that scarcely
a year passes in any of the states, except Costa Rica,
without the government demanding one or more
forced loans. A list of the traders and other people in
the state supposed to possess property having been
made out, they are assessed according to the fancy of
government, the amount demanded from each being
taken at the point of the bayonet.
During the government of Malespein in San Sal-
vador, many people were quite unable to pay the
w
1
356 POLITICAL OFFENCES,
amount at which they were assessed, when a most
novel piece of tyranny was had recourse to. Two
of their neighbours, friendly to government, and
supposed to possess property, were called in to value
the effects of the person unable to pay, and forced to
take the goods at their own valuation, handing over
the amount to government. It may be supposed
that these appraisers took good care not to put too
high a value on the property : hence,' parties un-
able at once to meet the illegal demands of govern-
ment, were certain of being entirely ruined, while
others got their property for a small fraction of its
value.
Criminal justice is, also, nominally administered ac-
cording to the Spanish code ; but only two crimes
(murder and theft) are ever actually punished, all
the others enumerated in modem codes, such as rape,
perjury, forgery, &c., being considered venial, and
currently talked of as no disgrace to the parties con-
victed of them.
According to the Spanish law, no crime can be
punished unless there be sufficient personal evidence
of its committal, and where the accused can command
a few dollars, this evidence is never sufficient, not
even in the case of murder, unless the individual killed
be a friend of some officer of government, or have
relations who will pay more than the accused. In-
toxication is taken as a sufficient excuse for the com-
mission of murder or any other crime; hence the
only crimes ever punished are murder committed by
the lower classes, when they cannot plead intoxica-
tion, and petty larceny, — the former by shooting,
tTKCOKSTITUTIONAL MODE OF REVENGE. 357
and the latter, by a certain term of labour on the
public works.
Political offences are the ones which meet a cer-?
tain and immediate punishment, the parties supposed
to be guilty being generally seized and shot, without
any pretence of trial, upon the information of some
accomplice or enemy, and often, of course, most
unjustly. For when an insurrection takes place,
whether successful or not, the lives of the losing
party are supposed to lie, justly, at the disposal of
the conquerors. If the government proves strongest
and maintains itself, it shoots as many of the people
as it thinks proper; if it is overthrown, the new
government shoots as many of the members of the
old and its adherents as suits their pleasure. This,
as was remarked to me by the wife of General
Sachet (one of the best informed and most respec-
table women I have seen in Central America), was
all right and proper. But any one who has an
enemy takes the occasion to call on the general of
the victorious party, and after complimenting him
upon his success, and professing devotedness to his
interest, proceeds to accuse the person against whom
he has a spite, of having spoken against him, or of
being an adherent of the opposite party, or of some
other political offence, perhaps, of really a very
trifling nature ; and, the result is, that the person so
accused is often seized, and put to death without
examination or even knowing what he is accused of,
though he is, perhaps, all the while actually friendly
to the dominant faction. There is, of course, no
means of punishing those assassinations, except by
358 UNCONSTITUTIONAL MODE OF HEVENGE,
Others of a similar nature when the friends of the
murdered party are in the ascendancy ; hence disputes
are embittered to the utmost^ and revenge is from
time to time treasured up^ and when wreaked at
lengthy only leaves a new score to be settled on the
next convenient opportunity.
THE END.
London :
Spottiswoodb and Shaw,
New-fttreet-Square.
i
A CATALOGUE OF
NEW WORKS AND NEW EDITIONS
WUUij-i iWrtiiilliml OMtou . - a
ARTS. MANUFACTURES. AND
ARCHITECTURE.
Ui^> InVcL lICM tit^iittrimt
OtthuOm •■ IW SMiwItlili If ricli
Oitjil'i K>qf!S3pwl l> o( AlcUMcnil
HndH'B Lecwnt «4 Pi1di1» ii l>ci
R.iJ'li>t.n™"(v.noiiir""V.Miuiw" a
SKim KulDi (Tbcl . bf ibt AnlHD (^l> (
i OF GENERAL UTIU
I, Bkv.ipWil'lVHiiK
Pvkn'i DduiILc thnlii
PrEiad'i Csnu of RihIU Ri^
Sudn-i TlM TiUu -
HoUiuori-.TM oCCulii. nckJiii, ni
BOTANy AND CARDEMNO.
^n
2
CLASSIFIED INDEX
Paget
London*! (Mr.) Amateur Gardener - - 18
Reptoa's Landscape Garde ulng, etc. - 36
Rirers's Rose Amateur's Guide . - 26
Roberts on the Vine . - - - - 26
Rogers's Vegetable CultiTator . . • 26
Schleideu's Scientific Botany ^ . . 26
Smith's Introduction to Botanj • - 27
Smith's English Flora . - - . 27
,, Compendium of English Flora - 27
Specimen Flora of British Botanj - - 11
CHRONOLOGY.
Blair's Chronological Tables . • • 6
Nicolas's Chronology ot History • -23
Riddle's Ecclesiastical Chronology . - 25
Tate's Horatins Restitutus - . - - 29
COMMERCE AND MERCANTILE
AFFAIRS.
Barlis's Arithmetic of Annuities - - 6
Gin>art On Banlting . - - . 12
M'CulIoch's Dictionary of Commerce - 20
Reader's Time Tables - - - - 26
Steel's Shipmaster's Assistant • • - 28
Srmond's Merchant Seamen's Laws - 29
Thomson's Tables of Interest • • - 30
Walford's Customs' Laws - . . 81
GEOGRAPHY AND ATLASES.
Butler's Ancient and Modern Geography 7
Atlas of Modem Geography • 8
f. Ancient Geography - 8
,, ., General Geography - 8
Cooley's World Surreyed - - - 8
De Strzelecki's Nenr South Wales • - 10
Forster 's Historical Geography of Arabia 1 1
Hall's Laxve General Atlas ... 13
M*Culioch^ Geographical Dictionary - 20
M<Leod's Sacred Geonaphy • • - 20
Murray's Encyclopteoia of Geographr . 22
Ordnance Maps, and Publications ot the
Geological Society - - - • 23
Parrot's Ascent of Mount Ararat . . 8
HISTORY AND CRITICISM.
Adair's (Sir R.) Mission to Vienna -
" Constantinople . . . •
Bell's History of Russia . . . .
Blair's Chron. and Historical Tables
^■.
Bloomfield's Translation of Tliucydides .
., Edition of ThucYdides •
Cooley's Maritime and Inland Discovery
Crowe'sHistor? of France ...
De Sismondi's Fall of the Roman Empire
„ Italian Republics
Dnubam's History of Spiun and Portugal
,, Europe in the Middle Ages
,, History of the German Empire
,, Denmarlc, Sweden, and Norway
,, History of Poland ...
Dnnlop's History of Fiction
Eccleston's English Antiquities
Fergus's United States of America
Grant (Mrs.) Memoir and Coresuoudence
Grattan's History of Netherlands
Grimblot's WLUinm III. and Louis XIV.
Guicciardini's Hist. Maxims ...
Halsted's Life of Richard III.
Haydon's Lectures on Painting and Design
Historical Charades ..... 14
Historical Pictures of the Middle Ages - 14
Horsiev's (Bp.) Biblical Criticism . . 14
Jeffrey's (Lord) Contributions
Keightley's Outlines of History •
Laing's Kings of Norway
Lempritee's Classical Dictionary
Macaulay's Essays • • .
Mackiunou's History of Civilisation
5
6
6
6
6
6
8
9
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
11
12
12
12
13
13
13
16
16
16
17
19
19
Pages
Mackintosh's History of England - - 19
,. Miscellaneous Works • 19
M<CuUoch's Dictionary, Historical, Geo«
graphical, and SUtiAtical - - 20
Maunder's Treasury of History • •21
Maury's Statesmen of America • - Si
Miiner's Church History . - - . 21
Moore's History of Ireland • - .22
MoKheim's Ecclesiastical History - - 23
Nicolas's Chronology of History • .23
Ranke's History of the Reformation - 25
Rome, History of 26
Russell's Bedford Correspondence . . 6
Scott's History of Scotland - • - 26
Sinnett's Byways of History ... 27
Stebbing's History of the Christian Church 28
„ History of the Reformation • 28
,. Church Histoiy - - - 21
Switierland, History of • - - •28
Sydney Smith's Works . . - . S8
Thirlwall's History of Greece - • .29
Tooke's History of Prices . . - 30
Turner's History of England • . - 30
Tytler's Elements of General History - 31
Zumpt's Latin Grammar .... 13
JUVENILE BOOKS.
Amy Herbert •-.-.•
Boy's (The) Own Book . - . -
Gertrude .......
Gower's Scientific Phenomrna
Hawes's Tales of the N. Americas Indiana
Howitt's Boy's Country Book -
MEDICINE.
Buirs Hints to Mothers -
„ Management of Children
Copland's EHctionary of Medicine
EUiotson's Human Physiolotty
Esdaile's Mesmerism in India -
Holland's Mecfical Notes -
Lane's Water Cure at Malyem
Pereira On Food and Diet
Recce's Medical Guide
Thomson on Food - • .
MISCELLANEOUS.
Adshead on Prisons . . . . .
Bray's Philosophy of Necessity
„ Social Systems - . . .
Cartoons. (The Prise) - . *- .
Clayers's Forest Life . . • .
Cocks's Bordeaux, its Wines, etc. -
Collegian's Guide . . . . .
Colton's Lacon ......
De Burtin On the Knowledge of Pictures
De Morgan On Probabilities ...
De Stnelecki's New South Wales -
Dresden Gallery . . . . .
Dunlop's History of Fiction . . .
Good's Book of Natore • . . -
5
7
11
13
13
15
Historical Charades ..... 14
Laneton Parsonage • - . -
Mackintosh's Life of Sir T. More •
Marcet's Conyersations—
On the History of England
On Chemistry ....
On Natural Philosophy
On Political Economy
On Vegetable Physiology -
On Land and Water . • -
On Language • - . . ■
Marryat's Masterman Ready -
„ Priyateer's-Man
,, Settlers in Canada •
M Mission ; or. Scenes in Africa
Pycroft's Course of English Reading
Twelye Years Ago - - - - .
16
19
20
20
20
20
SO
20
20
20
ao
20
20
24
31
7
7
9
11
11
14
16
23
26
29
5
7
7
8
8
8
8
8
9
9
10
10
10
12
NATURAL HHTORY IN GENERAL.
„ EluitnuofNiitimlHLiiorT-
KiSmtU-t ZiiolDfT irf iki EnilUb l>oi
NOVELS AND W
ONE VOLUME
AND DICTIONAiUES.
POETRY AND THE DRAMA.
L'.i^^ir.
POLITICAL ECONOMY AND
LICIOIA ANC
WORKS, E
CLASSIFIED INDEX#
• 8
Calleott** Scripture Herbal
Cooper'a Sermoni - - • « -
Dale*! Domestic Litni^ ...
Uibdin'sSandaj Library . . • .
Doddridge's Familf Kxpositor
Kngliahman'i Hebrew Coucordance
,« Oreelc Concordance •
Etherld^e'a STrinn Churches
Fltsrr*y*s (Ladf) Scripture Conrenatlons
Forster's Historical Geographj of Arabia
t» Life of Bishop Jebb •
From Oxford to Rome - . - .
Gaacoyne on the Apocalypse ...
Gertrude, edited hj the Rct. W. Sewell •
Hoolt's (Dr.) Lcrtnres on Pansion Week
Home's lntrodu«-tion to the Scriptures -
,t Compendium of ditto •• ••
Horslej'st^Bp.) Biblical Criticism - . 14
», Psalms ----- J4
Jebb's Correspondence with Knox -
,, Translation of the Psalms -
Kip s Christmas in Rome - - • .
Knox's (Alexander) Remains ...
Laing's Notes on the German Schism -
Laneton Parson Rge -----
Letters to mr Unlcnown Friends - •
Maitland's Church in the Catacombs
Marrarel Perciral .....
Micfielefs Priests, Women, and Families
„ ' and Qnlnet's Jesuits
Milner's Church History ....
Moore oh the Power of the Soul •
„ on the Use of the Body
Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History •
MyYouthful Companions ...
Partibles -
Parkes'tf Domestic Duties ...
Pearson's Prayers for Families
Peter Plymley^s Letters - - - -
Pitman's Sermons on the Psalms -
Qttinet's Christianity
9
9
10
10
II
II
11
II
II
II
II
II
12
14
14
14
15
15
16
16
16
16
17
20
Kiddle's Letters frhm a Godfather
21
21
21
22
23
22
22
28
28
23
24
24
25
26
26
26
28
27
27
27
27
28
28
29
9»
»*
t»
t>
»f
Sandford On Female Improrement -
f. On Woman . - .
„ 's Parochialia ...
Sermon on the Mount (The) - *
Shepherd's Horse Apostolic*
Smith's Female Disciple ...
„ (G.) Perilous Times •
„ Religion of Ancient Britain
„ Sarred Annals . -
Soutbey's Life of Wesley - .
Stebbing's Church History •
Steepleten - • . . .
Sydney Smith's Sermons
Tate's History of St. Paul
Tay]«r's(Re?.C.B.) Margaret; or.thePeari 29
Sermons . - 29
Dora M elder - .29
Lady Mary . -29
Taylor's (Jeremr) Works - - - 29
Tomline's Introduction to the Bible • 80
Trevor; or the New ht.Frnnris - . 80
IVollope's Analecta Theologica - - 80
Turner's Sacred History . . .80
Twelve Years Ago • - - . - 81
Wardlaw On Socinian ControTersy . 81
Well's Bible, Koran, and Talmud - - 32
Wilberforce's View of ChrisUanity - 32
Wilkinson'sCatechisms of Church History 32
Willoughbr's (Lady) Diary - . J 32
Woodward^s Essays, Sermons, etc. - 83
RURAL SPORTS.
Blaine's Dictionarr of Sports ... 6
Ephemera on Angling • . . • II
Hansard's Fishing in Wales . .13
Hawker's Instructions to Sportsmen - IS
»t
(*
Pages
I^udon*s(Mrs.) Lady's Country Companion IB
Stable Talk and Table Talk ... 38
THE SCIENCES IN GENERAL,
AND MATHEMATICS.
Bakewell's Introduction to Geology • fi
Balmain's Lessons on Chemistry . - 6
Brande'tf Dictionary of Science, etc. - 7
Brewster's Optics - - . - - 7
ConTcrsatlons on Mineralogy - - 8
De la Berhe on theGeology of Cornwall, etc. 9
Donovan's Chemistrr - . - . lo
Farey on the Steam Kngine - - - 11
Foshrokeon the Arts nf the Ancients • 11
Gower's ScientiAc Phenomena - - 13
Greener on the Gun - - • - IS
Herschel's Natural Philosophy • - 13
„ Astronomy - . - - 13
Holland's Manufactures in Metal - - 14
Humboldt's Cosmos . . • • 15
Hunt's Researches on Light • • • 16
Kater and Lardner's Mechanics • - 16
La Place's System of the World - - 16
Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopaedia - - 16
,t Hydrostatics and Pneumatics . 17
and Walker's Klectiicity - I7
Arithmetic • - - .16
Geometry - - - . 17
„ Treatise on Heat . . . 17
Lerebonrs On Photography - - - 17
Marcet's ConTersations on the Sciences 20
Memoirs of the Geological Surrey - - SI
Moseley's Practical Mechanics - . 2S
„ Engineering and Architecture 22
Nesbit's Mensuration - - . . 23
Owen's Lectures On Comparative Anatomy S3
Pearson's Practical Astronomy - - 23
Peschel's Physics - - . . .34
Phillips's PalKOXoicFossilsof Cornwall, etc. 24
f. Guide to Geology - - •24
,, Treatise on Geology - . - S4
Poisson's Mechanics - - . - 34
Portlock's Geology of Londonderry > S4
Powell's Natural Philosophy - - - 34
Qnarterlr Journal of the Geological Society 34
Ritchie (Robert) on Railways - .35
Topham's Agricultural Chemistry « » 80
Whitley's Agricultural Geology . .83
TRAVELS.
Allan's Mediterranean - . .
Cooley's World Surveyed
Costello's (Miss) North Wales
De Custine^s Russia - . -
De Strzelecki's New South Wales .
Erman's Travels through Siberia -
Harris's Highlands of iEthiopia - •
Klnr's (Colo Argentine Republic - -
Kip's Holvdays in Rome
Laing's Tour in Sweden
Mackay's English Lakes
Montauban's Wanderings - .
Parrot's Ascent of Mount Ararat -
Paton's (A.A.) Servia ...
„ Modern Syrians
Pedesman Reminlncences
Schopenhauer's Pictures of Trawl -
Seaward 's Narrative of his Shipwreck
Tlschendorrs Travels in Russia
Von Orlich's Travels in India
VETERINARY MEDICINE
Miles On the Horse's Foot >
Stable Talk and Table Talk -
Thomson on Fattening Cattle
\^nter On the Horse ...
6
8
9
9
10
8
18
16
16
16
19
28
8
SS
83
33
26
36
80
31
21
28
39
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