------------------------------------------------------------------------ Transcriber’s Note: This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects. Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as _italic_. Superscripted characters are prefixed with ‘^’ and if more than one, included in curly braces, e.g. N^{os}. Footnotes have been moved to follow the paragraphs in which they are referenced. Illustrations are represented here by their captions, which have been moved to fall at paragraph breaks. Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for details regarding the handling of any textual issues encountered during its preparation. [Illustration: LAKE OF NICARAGUA AND VOLCANO OF MOMBACHO.—FROM THE HACIENDA SANDOVAL, NEAR GRANADA.] NICARAGUA; ITS PEOPLE, SCENERY, MONUMENTS, RESOURCES, CONDITION, AND PROPOSED CANAL; WITH ONE HUNDRED ORIGINAL MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. BY E. G. SQUIER, FORMERLY CHARGE D’AFFAIRES OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE REPUBLICS OF CENTRAL AMERICA. [Illustration: ESTADO SOBERANO DE NICARAGUA] “HIC LOCUS EST GEMINI JANUA VASTA MARIS.”—OVID A REVISED EDITION NEW YORK: HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE. 1860. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by HARPER & BROTHERS, In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. CONTENTS. ---------- NARRATIVE. CHAPTER I.—The Brig Francis—Departure from New York—San Domingo—The Coast of Central America—Monkey Point—Shrewd Speculations—A Naked Pilot—Almost a Shipwreck—San Juan de Nicaragua—Music of the Chain Cable—A Pompous Official—Delivering a Letter of Introduction—Terra Firma again—“Naguas” and “Guipils”—The Town and its Laguna—Snakes and Alligators—Practical Equality—Celt _vs._ Negro—A Wan Policeman—The British Consul General for Mosquitia—“Our House” in San Juan—An Emeute—Pigs and Policy—A Viscomte on the Stump—A Serenade—Mosquito Indians—A Picture of Primitive Simplicity, 17