and to connect the Atlantic and Pacific by rail; also to carry a line through the coffee districts of Matagalpa, etc., to the navigation point on the Rio Grande.

In addition to these mines there are several others in the district which have lately been discovered, known as the Espronceda, San José, San Rafael, La República, Las Mercedes, etc., most of which are controlled by the English company. I was unable to visit these mines, but the local opinion of them is high, and it is probable that the extensive developments now proceeding will make this one of the most important mining centres of Central America.

Although the mining in this portion of the belt is in the coast lands, the occupation is by no means unhealthy. Malarial fever of a mild type exists, but Europeans can live and work well here, as is proved by the large number of white men now engaged with the company. A curious fact in this connection is worth mention. I was assured that malaria increases in all these coast lands when the timber and undergrowth are removed, as the rays of the sun then reach the rich but rotten dark clay soil abounding in this district from which the malarial germs emanate.

It is probable that the gold-mining belt of Nicaragua is a valuable and extensive one, stretching from the boundaries of Honduras to those of Costa Rica. Through the whole of the geological formation of porphyry and basalt, quartz veins containing gold and nearly always silver are found in all directions.

An important feature in connection with the question of mining and the future development of the country is

that the native Indians are clever and honest workmen. I heard, on authority which I cannot question, that these men can be employed in every branch of mining operations. They have a natural genius for mining, and are born metallurgists. These remarks apply especially to

the States of Honduras and Salvador. The natives of Central America generally are a fine race, their honesty and endurance being remarkable.

ΤΗ

CHAPTER XI.

RESOURCES OF NICARAGUA.

FORESTS AND FIBROUS PLANTS.

HE forests of Nicaragua, covering so large an area, are an element of wealth, and, with greater accessibility to the markets of the world, resulting from the opening of the canal, will develop a great industry. A small beginning in this direction has been made in the neighbourhood of Bluefields.

The mahogany (caoba), the monarch tree of Central American forests, is abundant in Nicaragua, growing to an enormous size, frequently measuring 40 to 50 feet in height below the first branches, and 9 to 12 feet in diameter at the base. At a short distance the tree is a magnificent object, its giant arms stretching over a wide space, surmounted by a great dome of verdure, at certain seasons of the year coloured with hues like the autumnal foliage of northern climates. This change of colour is the guide of the mahogany hunter, whose difficult duty it is to find the trees in the dense forest and point them out to the choppers. He climbs the highest tree he can find, locates the spot where they are growing, cuts a way

through the undergrowth, and carves on the trunk his employer's mark. This wood has long been appreciated for its beauty by cabinet-makers and for decorative work, but its value for shipbuilding and other similar purposes has not been estimated as highly as it deserves. It is

said to be in all respects better than oak; is slow to take fire, is free from dry rot and from acids (the noncorrosion of metals is a very valuable property), and does not suffer from any change of temperature. The tree can be cut at any time during the year, but is generally felled in the dry season (between October and May), when the branches are lopped off and the logs squared. They are then drawn by oxen to the nearest water-course,