32 THE NATURALIST IN NICARAGUA. [Ch. III. 



tillo, which are difficult to ascend, and as there is no road 

 round them excepting through the town of Castillo, ad- 

 vantage has heen taken of the situation to fix the custom 

 house here, at which are collected the duties on all articles 

 going up to the interior. The first view of Castillo when 

 coming up the river is a fine one. The fort- crowned hill 

 and the little town clinging to its foot form the centre of 

 the picture. The clear, sparkling, dancing rapids on one 

 side contrast with the still, dark forest on the other, whilst 

 the whole is relieved hy the bright green grassy hills in 

 the background. The first view of Castillo is the only 

 pleasant recollection I have carried away of the place. 

 The single street is narrow, dirty, and rugged, and when 

 the shades of evening begin to creep up, swarms of mos- 

 quitoes issue forth to buzz and bite. 



I here made the acquaintance of Colonel McCrae, who 

 was largely concerned in the india-rubber trade. He 

 afterwards distinguished himself during the revolutionary 

 outbreak of 1869. He collected the rubber men and 

 came to the assistance of the government, helping 

 greatly to put down the insurrection. Originally a British 

 subject, but now a naturalized Nicaraguan, he has 

 filled with great credit for some time the post of deputy- 

 governor of Greytown, and I always heard him spoken 

 of with great esteem both by Mcaraguans and foreigners. 

 He showed to me pieces of cordage, pottery, and stone 

 implements brought down by the rubber men from the 

 wild Indians of the Rio Frio. Castillo is one of the centres 

 of the rubber trade. Parties of men are here fitted out 

 with canoes and provisions, and proceed up the rivers, 

 far into the uninhabitable forests of the Atlantic slope. 

 They remain for several months away, and are expected 



