mountains, interrupted only on the southeast by the narrow gorge through which the waters of the lake are discharged, it receives no important affluents from the surface; and as its emissary is of much greater volume at all seasons than these insignificant brooks, it is probably fed by subterranean springs,—indeed one of these, near the south shore, enters with such force as to cause a ripple on the surface of the lake. Soundings indicate a cup-like bottom with an extreme depth of less than seven hundred feet (209.26 metres). The level of the lake has often changed, and in 1880 the surface-level fell more than thirty-four feet, leaving exposed stumps of trees encrusted with calcareous deposits. It was before the last eruption well stocked with fish of the varieties called by the people who lived near by _mojarra_, _burrito_ (both species of the genus _Heros_), _pepesca_, and _chimbolo_. At times an eruption of sulphurous gases partly asphyxiated the fish, driving them to the shores, where they fell a prey to the fishermen. What the fishermen did on occasion of greater disturbances is told in the following extract from a Guatemaltecan journal;[66] the author, Don Camillo Galvan, formerly Visitador-General, writes as follows:— “The people of the pueblos around the lake, Cojutepeque, Texacuangos, and Tepezontes, say that when the earthquakes came from the lake, which they knew by the disappearance of fish, it was a sign that the monster lord of those regions who dwelt in the depths of the lake was eating the fish, and probably would consume them all shortly, unless provided with a more delicate and juicy diet worthy of his power and voracity; for they say that the monster only eats fish as men eat fruit, to refresh and allay hunger. The natives, deeply afflicted by the fish famine, the failure of an article of commerce and their ordinary diet, collected at the command of their chiefs. Then the sorcerers (_los brujos_) commanded the people to throw flowers and fruits into the lake: if the tremblings continued, they were to cast in animals, preferring conies (_Lepus Douglassii_), taltusas (_Geomys heterodus_), then armadillos (_Dasypus_), and mapachines (_Procyon cancrivorus_). These animals must be caught alive and cast living into the water, under penalty of no less than hanging with the vine _zinak_. If some days passed, and the tremors continued, and the fish did not come out of their caves, they (the brujos) took a girl of from six to nine years old, decked her with flowers, and at midnight the wizards took her to the middle of the lake and cast her in, bound hand and foot and with a stone fast to her neck. The next day, if the child appeared upon the surface and the tremors continued, another victim was cast into the lake with the same ceremonies.