some during many a solitary sleigh drive over frozen lakes in North America; some in the great forests of Central and South America; some on the wide ocean and some, again, in the bowels of the earth when seeking for her hidden riches. The tlioughts are those of a lifetime compressed into a little book; and, like the genie of the Arabian tale, imprisoned in an urn, they may, when it is opened, grow and magnify, or, on the contrary, be kicked back into the sea of

oblivion. This much is necessary; not to disarm criticism, but to excuse myself to those authors whose labours on some of the subjects I have treated of I may not have mentioned. I have, during my sojourns in England, worked hard to read up the literature of the various questions discussed, but I know there must be many oversights and omissions in referring to what others have done; especially with regard to continental writers, for I know no language but my mother-tongue, and their works, excepting where I have had access to translations, have been sealed books to me.

I am indebted to Mr. H. W. Bates for much assistance, and especially for undertaking the superintendence of these sheets in their passage through the press; to Mr. W. C. Hewitson, of Oatlands Park, I am under many obligations, for taking charge of my entomological collections, for naming many of my butterflies, and for access to his magniticent collection of Diurnal Lepidoptera. Mrs. Osbert Salvin and Dr.

P. L. Sclater have named for me my collection of birds; and for much entomological information I am indebted to Professor Westwood, Mr. F. Smith, and Dr. D. Sharp; whilst, in botany, Professor D. Oliver, of Kew, has kindly named for me some of the plants. Through the assistance of these eminent authorities, I trust that the scientific names scattered throughout the book may be depended upon as correct.

NiJNi Novgorod, Ociohcr gth, 1873.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Arrival at Greytown—The river San Juan—Silting up of the harbour—Crossing the bar—Lives lost on it—Sharks— Christopher Columbus—Appearance of the town—Trade—Healthiness of the town and its probable cause—Comparison between Greytown, Pernambuco, and Maceio—Wild fruits—Plants Parrots, toucans, and tanagers — Butterflies and beetles— : boy drowned at Blewfields by Mimetic forms—Alligators one—Their method of catching wild pigs....

CHAPTER II.

Commence journey up San Juan river—Palms and wild canes Plantations— The Colorado river—Proposed improvement of the river—Progress of the Delta—Mosquitoes—Disagreeable night—Fine morning—Vegetation of the banks—Sei'ipiqui : their method of hunting river—Mot-mots—Foraging ants — Ant-thrushes— They attack the nests of other ants — Birds' nests, how preserved from them—Reasoning powers in ants—Parallel between the mammalia and the hymen- .........11 optera—Utopia

CHAPTER III.

Journey up river continued — Wild pigs and jaguar — Bungos — Reach Machuca— Castillo—Capture of Castillo by Nelson India-rubber trade—Rubber-men—Method of making India-rubber—Congo monkeys—Macaws—The Savallo river—Endurance of the boatmen—San Carlos—Interoceanic canal

Advantages of the Nicaraguan route—The Rio Frio—Stories about the wild Indians—Indian captive children—Expedi- .. 30 tions up the Rio Frio—American river steamboats

CHAPTER IV.

The lake of Nicaragua—Ometepec—Becahned on the lake—White across the plains—Vegeta- egrets—Reach San Ubaldo—Ride tion of the plains—Armadillo— Savannahs—Jicara trees Jicara bowls—Origin of gourd-shaped pottery—Coyotes Mule-breeding—Reach Acoyapo—Festa— Cross high range its banks— Esquipula—The Rio Mico—Supposed statues on in of maize—Its use from the earliest times Pital—Cultivation America—Separation of the maize-eating from the mandioca- eating indigenes of America — Tortillas — Sugar-making — Enter the forest of the Atlantic slope— Vegetation of the .. -43 forest—Muddy roads—Arrive at Santo Domingo

CHAPTER V.

Geographical position of Santo Domingo—Physical geography The inhabitants—Mixed races^Negroes and Indians compared—Women— Establishment of the Chontales Gold-Mining Company—My house and garden—Fruits—Plantains and bananas; probably not indigenous to America: propagated from shoots: do not generally mature their seeds—Fig-trees Granadillas and papavvs—Vegetables—Dependence of flowers on insects for their fertilisation—Insect plagues—Leaf-cutting ants: their method of defoliating trees: their nests—Some trees are not touched by the ants—Foreign trees are very subject to their attack—Method of destroying the ants—Migration of the ants from a nest attacked—Corrosive sublimate causes a sort of madness amongst them—Indian plan of preventing them ascending young trees—Leaf-cutting ants are ...61 fungus-growers and eaters—Sagacity of the ants

CHAPTER VI.

Configuration of the ground at Santo Domingo—Excavation of valleys—Geology of the district—Decomposition of the rocks —Gold-mining—Auriferous quartz veins—Mode of occurrence

of the gold—Lodes richer next the surface than at lower depths—Excavation and reduction of the ore—Extraction of : their connec- the gold—" Mantos "—Origin of mineral veins tion with intrusions of plutouic rocks 85.....

CHAPTER VII.

Climate of the north-eastern side of Nicaragua—Excursions around Santo Domingo—The Artigua—Corruption of ancient names —Butterflies, spiders, and wasps—Humming-birds, beetles, and ants—Plants and trees—Timber—Monkey attacked by eagle—White-faced monkey—Anecdotes of a tame one— Curassows and other game birds—Trogons, woodpeckers, mot-mots, and toucans 103........

CHAPTER VIII.

Description of San Antonio valley—Great variety of animal life -^Pitcher-flowered Marcgravias—Flowers fertilised by humming birds—By insects—Provision in some flowers to prevent insects, not adapted for carrying the pollen, from obtaining access to the nectaries—Stories about wasps—Humming-birds bathing—Singular myriapods—Ascent of Peiia Blanca—Tapirs and jaguars—Summit of Peiia Blanca 126.....

CHAPTER IX.

Journey to Juigalpa—Description of Libertad—The priest and the bell—Migratory butterflies and moths—Indian graves Ancient names—Dry river-beds—Monkeys and wasps—Reach Juigalpa—Ride in neighbourhood—Abundance of small birds —A poor cripple— The "Toledo"— Trogons—Waterfall— Sepulchral mounds—Broken statues—-The sign of the cross Contrast between the ancient and the present inhabitants Night life 150

CHAPTER X.

Juigalpa—A Nicaraguan family—Description of the road from Juigalpa to Santo Domingo—Comparative scarcity of insects

in Nicaragua in 1872—Water-bearing plants—Insect-traps The south-western edge of the forest region—Influence of ....176 cultivation upon it—Sagacity of the mule

CHAPTER XI.

Start on journey to Segovia—Rocky mountain road—A poor lodging—The rock of Cuapo—The use of large beaks in some birds—Comoapa—A native doctor—Vultures—Flight of birds that soar—Natives live from generation to generation on the same spot—Do not give distinctive names to the rivers Caribs barter guns and iron pots for dogs—The hairless dogs of tropical America—Difference between artificial and natural selection—The cause of sterility between allied species considered—The disadvantages of a covering of hair to a domesticated animal in a tropical country 191.....

CHAPTER XII.

Olama— The "Sanate" — Muy-muy— Idleness of the people — Mountain road—The "Bull Rock"—The bull's-horn thorn Ants kept as standing armies by some plants—Use of honey-secreting glands— Plant-lice, scale-insects, and leaf-hoppers furnish ants with honey, and in return are protected by the latter—Contest between wasps and ants—Waxy secretions of the homopterous hemiptera.......

CHAPTER XIII.

Matagalpa^Aguardiente—Fermented liquors of the Indians—The wine-palm—Idleness of the Nicaraguans—Pine and oak forests —Mountain gorge—Jinotega—Native plough—Descendants ...231 of the buccaneers—San Rafael—A mountain hut

CHAPTER XIV.

Great range composed of boulder clay—Daraily—Lost on the savannahs—Jamailj'—A deer-hunter's family—Totagalpa Walls covered with cement and whitewashed—Ocotal—The valley of Depilto—Silver mine—Geology of the valley—Glacial

CONTENTS.

drift—The glacial period in Central America—Evidence that the ice extended to the tropics—Scarcity of gold in the valley gravels— Difference of the Mollusca on the east and west coast of the Isthmus of Darien—The refuge of the tropical American animals and plants during the glacial period—The lowering of the sea level—The land shells of the West Indian islands The Malay archipelago—Easter Island—Atlantis—Traditions of the deluge 247.........

CHAPTER XV.

A Nicaraguan criminal—Geology between Ocotal and Totagalpa Preparations at Totagalpa for their annual festival—Chicha-drinking—Piety of the Indians—Ancient civilisation of tropical America—Palacaguina—Hospitality of the Mestizos—Curious custom at the festival at Condego—Cross range between ...275 Segovia and Matagalpa—Sontuli—Birds' nests

CHAPTER XVI.

Concordia—Jinotega—Indian habits retained by the people Indian names of towns—Security of travellers in Nicaragua —Native flour-mill^Uncomfortable lodgings—Tierrabona Dust whirlwind—Initial form of a cyclone—^The origin of cyclones 292..........

CHAPTER XVII.

Cattle-raising—Don Filiberto Trano's new house—Horse-flies and wasps—Teustepe—Spider imitating ants—Mimetic species Animals with special means of defence are conspicuously marked, or in other ways attract attention—Accident to horse ... 308 —The Mygale—Illness—Conclusion of journey

CHAPTER XVIII.

Division of Nicaragua into three zones—Journey from Juigalpa to lake of Nicaragua—Voyage on lake—Fresh-water shells and insects—Similarity of fresh-water productions all over the

CONTENTS.

world—Distribution of European land and fresh-water shells PAGE —Discussion of the reasons why fresh-water productions have varied less than those of the land and of the sea... 327

CHAPTER XIX.

Iguanas and lizards — Granada— Politics — Revolutions— Cacao cultivation—Masaya—The lake of Masaya—The volcano of Masaya—Origin of the lake basin.....

CHAPTER XX.

Indian population of the country lying between the great lakes of Nicaragua and the Pacific—Discovery and conquest of Nicaragua by the Spaniards— Cruelties of the Spaniards— The Indians of Western Central America all belonged to one stock— Decadence of Mexican civilisation before the arrival " Nahuatls " proposed to of the Spaniards—The designation include all the Mexican, Western Central American, and Peruvian races that had descended from the same ancient stock—The Nahuatls distinct from the Caribs on one side and the Red Indians on the other—Discussion of the question of the peopling of America 358......

CHAPTER XXL

Return to Santo Domingo—The birds of Chontales—The insects of Chontales—Mimetic forms—Departure from the mines Nicaragua as a field for emigration—Journey to Greytown Return to England 374........

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

xxxii

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

THE

J^ATURALIST NICARAGUA. W

CHAPTER I.

Arrival at Greytown — The river San Juan—Silting up of the harbour— Crossing the bar—Lives lost on it—Sharks—Christopher Columbus—Appearance of the town—Trade—Healthiness of the town and its probable cause—Comparison between Greytown, Pernambuco, and Maceio—Wild fruits—Plants—Parrots, toucans, and tanagers—Butterflies and beetles—Mimetic forms — Alligators — Boy drowned at Blewfields by an alligator