28 PHYSICAL FEATURES ETC. 
mountainous, the main chain of the Cordillera forms the watershed, and at a mean 
elevation of 7000 feet runs nearly parallel to the Pacific coast at a distance of about 
fifty miles from it. The steep slope on the Pacific side is broken by many voleanoes, 
while towards the Atlantic the land sinks in a gentle incline with subsidiary ranges 
extending nearly to the water’s edge. Of the voleanoes several are active, the most 
noted is the Fuego (14,070 feet) with its twin sister the Agua, so called because 
in 1541 a lake, which occupied the centre of the crater, was discharged by a great 
eruption on to the former capital below and the city now called Ciudad Vieja was com- 
pletely destroyed by water. Both volcanoes are clothed with dense forests from about 
7500 feet to 10,000 feet, above which level there are scattered pines for 1000 feet 
or more, of which stunted examples are even to be found in the extinct crater of the 
Agua. Below 7000 feet the forest has been cleared for cultivation, and only parts 
are now clothed with a dense growth of scrub. ‘The chief rivers are the Usumacinta, 
which flows into the Gulf of Mexico, and the Motagua and Polochie, which fall into 
the Bay of Honduras. Those flowing into the Pacific Ocean are short and rapid, as 
the fall from the Cordillera is very steep. 
The so-called ‘coast country,’ however, extends a long way inland, as during the 
wet season the torrents which descend from the Cordillera are charged with volcanic 
sand and disintegrated scorie, and when discharged into the ocean they are cast 
back by the waves and the deposit forms a line of sand-bank. The constant heaping 
up of this bank often closes the mouths of the smaller streams during the dry season, 
and when the current is not sufficient to reduce the sand-bar the water expands inside 
the beach, forming lagoons and marshes along the whole coast. ‘These lagoons are 
a favourite resort for waders and sea-birds, of which Salvin later obtained a large 
number, as well as a considerable quantity of fish. 
As previously mentioned, Salvin made no less than four expeditions to Guatemala, 
but I will only describe the physical aspect of the country we travelled over together, 
alluding, however, to those parts which he visited alone and giving extracts from 
some of his scattered papers published in ‘The lbis’ and other magazines. We 
landed in September 1861 at Yzabal, on the Golfo Dulce, and after a short stay we 
proceeded towards the Capital. The neighbourhood of Lake Yzabal is covered with 
dense forest extending beyond the Mico Mountains, which we crossed into the 
Motagua Valley in order to reach Quirigua. Here we spent a few days, and then 
proceeded up the river valley to Zacapa by mule path, the country gradually becoming 
drier and the vegetation more arid; cacti and thorny shrubs became abundant, taking 
the place of more luxuriant plants. Indian settlements were found at intervals of 
every few miles, where the brushwood had been cleared for the cultivation of maize 
and coffee-trees, which were growing in small patches. Much the same character of 
dry country prevailed throughout the journey to Guatemala City, which is situated on 
