plain jaspers, I discovered the fine red, the gray, green, white, and the lapis lazuli, and also the gray spotted with black, the white interspersed with blue and yellow, and the yellow, variegated with blue, gray, and red spots.

I also found quantities of colored crystals, supposed by the inhabitants to be precious stones, as they resembled in appearance rubies, jacinths, diamonds, &c. Among the quantities of quartz in the mountain districts, I purchased for a trifle several beautiful specimens of agate; and along the western shore of Lake Nicaragua, have seen the blood-stone. In the Department Septentrional of Matagalpa, amethysts have been found which were enclosed in a gray quartz. Had those who discovered the specimens shown to me, dug deeper, the stones would have proven more valuable. They varied in color, some of a pure violet, others tinged with the deepest tint of purple.

I have been shown, also, several turquoises, greenish-blue in hue, and others which were very hard, of a deep blue. According to Abbe Molina, "these stones ought, with propriety, to be classed among the concretions, as they are only the petrified teeth or bones of animals, colored by metallic vapors." ("History of Chili:" Vol. i., pp. 64, 65.) Being but imperfectly acquainted with mineralogy, and in fact, not having expected to meet with so much of an interesting character, I had not at hand a "vade mecum," by which I

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could at once gain a transient intimacy with the quality and value of these stones, and not being in a country where I could gain reliable or satisfactory replies to my queries, I have given here the ultimatum of my information, although I thought in some instances that colored spar was received by the natives as emeralds, topazes, and sapphires. I am aware, now, that my latter suggestion is fully endorsed by those intimate with the subject; but in the instances given, I may have been mistaken.

In Prescott's Peru, Vol. i., p. 321, by reference, is found, that the conquerors having reached a town in the province of Coaque, they rushed into the deserted dwellings, and found there "a large quantity of gold and silver, wrought into clumsy ornaments, together with many precious stones; for this was the region of the esmeraldas, or emeralds, where that valuable gem was most abundant. One of these jewels that fell into the hands of Pizarro, in this neighborhood, was as large as a pigeon's egg. Unluckily, his rude followers did not know the value of their prize, and they broke many of them in pieces by pounding them with hammers. They were led to this extraordinary proceeding, it is said, by one of the Dominican missionaries, Fray Reginaldo de Pedraza, who assured them that this was the way to prove the true emerald, which could not be broken! It was observed that the good father did not subject his own jewels to this wise experiment; but

as the stones, in consequence of it, fell in value, being regarded merely as colored glass, he carried back a considerable store of them to Panama."

It was subsequent to the capture of this province, that Pizarro continued his march along the coast, when a "strange epidemic broke out in the little army." The Spaniards, exhausted by fatigue and disease, "and grievously disappointed at the poverty of the land, which now offered no compensation for their toils, cursed the hour in which they had enlisted under his standard; and the men of Nicaragua, in particular, says the old chronicler, calling to mind their pleasant quarters in their luxurious land, sighed only to return to their Mohammedan Paradise."

The topazes shown to me were mostly imperfect, and full of flaws; but I saw not one with double pyramid. I was informed that sometimes these gems were found in quartz crystals, and that in some instances they were green. I doubted this, believing that if any substance of that color resembling the topaz, did occur, it was most probably euclase, which may be and has been mistaken for it.

In the mountains of Aguacate, near Cartago, in Costa Rica, there are several gold mines; and the neighborhood of Olancho is famous for its fine ore, which is said to have been collected in the sands of the river Guyape, in its course through the valley.

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Many writers have given statistical accounts of the revenue of said mines; but never having seen an official statement, I shall make no estimates of my own. A few weeks labor to a party possessing a knowledge of mining, and the proper machinery, would be ample for the amassing of a fortune. Coal has been found in Costa Rica, upon the shores of Lake Nicaragua, and upon the Mosquito coast.

With such evidences of wealth, there can be little doubt of the early explorations of these provinces by the hardy and experienced miners of the United States. Their arrival would be hailed with enthusiasm by a people who venerate our government, and love its citizens for their intelligence, sociability, and enterprise.

CHAPTER X.

BEYOND GRANADA-A VIEW-INDIAN MOTHER AND HER LOAD-THE CONQUERORS-MY OPINION-MASAYA-THE PLAZA-THE CHURCH-STORES AND HATS, PRICES HAMMOCKS-PROVISIONS-EXTENT

MANUFACTURES-FINE

OF THE TOWN-DOGS

AND

BUZZARDS-COUNTRY BEYOND

THE TOWN

NINDIRI-ITS CHURCH-COOL SHADE-ITS ORANGES-ANOTHER FINE VIEWMAL PAIS, A ROAD OF LAVA-RIO TIPITAPA AND THE LAKES-SOMETHING FROM OVIEDO-AN OASIS-A DRINK, AND A SWING IN A HAMMOCK-ENTRANCE INTO MANAGUA-WHOM WE MET CITY BY MOONLIGHT-NIHAPA-INDIAN TEMPLE-A SELL-DIFFERENCE OF OPINIONS ABOUT IT-OTHER LAKES

WASHER-WOMEN AGAIN-ANCIENT HISTORY-SENORITAS.

BEYOND the city the palm is seen waving on either hand. The roads are bad enough, but every one should lay in a supply of good humor when traveling, especially in this country. Through dark and dense ravines, draperied with bush and brier, we hold to the mule path, while myriads of macaws, parrots, and other birds, flit across the almost arched trees above us. The lake lies on our right, and from the eminence now gained, seems like a fine thread of silver tracing the dis