Since the settlement of the country in 1522 there are recorded some fifty eruptions and more than three hundred earthquakes, the last of which was in 1903. Nearly half of these eruptions were by Fuego, which has been quiescent for a number of years. This list does not include many little earthquakes of mild quality which frequently occur, thus showing that the cooling and wrinkling process of the earth is still proceeding. Innumerable hot springs are found in nearly every part of the country, while beds of scoriae, lava and great quantities of volcanic sand present in so many places testify to the numerous upheavals that have taken place in centuries now past. In former times the natives are said to have cast living maidens into the craters of the volcanoes to appease the spirits or gods who were supposed to be angry. Later, after Christianity was introduced, the priests held masses and the people formed processions to calm the angry mountains, until finally the happy thought struck the priests of baptizing the volcanoes and formally receiving them into the church in order to make them good. This was finally done, but the “goodness” did not last, for even Santa Maria, supposed to be one of the “saintliest,” went back to her old tricks, and her fall from grace was more disastrous than any of the other recorded instances of her uncertain disposition. In the hollows of the mountains lie a number of beautiful lakes. Lakes Atitlan and Amatitlan are beautiful bodies of water almost as blue as the famous Swiss lakes and reposing in nearly as beautiful locations. The former is at an elevation of more than a mile, has no visible outlet and its depth is unknown. To replace the effect of the glacier-topped Alps there are the graceful conical peaks of the volcanoes. Lake Peten is another large lake about twenty-seven miles in length, but it is less beautiful and less accessible than those first mentioned. The town of Flores, capital of that province, is situated on an island in the lake. Lake Izabal, so called, but really an arm of the ocean, is the largest lake, being about forty miles long and from twelve to twenty miles in width. A few of the streams are navigable a short distance from the ocean for light craft, but none of them are very much aid to commerce except, perhaps, the Polochic, which pours itself into Lake Izabal. [Illustration: From the Bulletin of the International Bureau of American Republics. LAKE AMATITLAN; WITH THE VOLCANOES OF AGUA AND FUEGO.]