Oil. IV.] COCK-FIGHTING. 49 



who had been educated in the States, and spoke 

 English fluently. He very kindly took me over the 

 town, and I always found him ready to give me 

 information respecting the antiquities and natural pro- 

 ducts of the country. Acoyapo and the district around 

 it contains about two thousand inhabitants. The store- 

 keepers, lawyers, and hacienderos are of Spanish and 

 mixed descent. Amongst the lower classes there is much 

 Indian and some negro blood ; but there are many pure 

 Indians scattered through the district, living near the 

 rivers and brooks, and growing patches of maize and 

 beans. In the centre of the town is a large square or 

 plaza, with a stucco-fronted church occupying one side, 

 and the principal stores and houses ranging around the 

 other three sides. A couple of coco-palms grow in 

 front of the church, but do not thrive like those near the 

 sea-coast. It was Saturday, the 22nd of February, when 

 we arrived ; this was a great feast-day, or festa, at 

 Acoyapo, and the town was full of country people, who 

 were amusing themselves with horse-races, cock-fights, 

 and drinking aguardiente. Their mode of cock-fighting 

 is very cruel, as the cocks are armed with long sickle- 

 shaped lancets, tied on to their natural spurs, with 

 which they give each other fearful gashes and wounds. 

 All classes of Mcaraguans are fond of this amuse- 

 ment ; in nearly every house a cock will be found, tied 

 up in a corner by the leg, but treated otherwise like one 

 of the family. The priests are generally great abettors 

 of the practice, which forms the usual amusement of 

 the towns on Sunday afternoons. I have heard many 

 stories of the padres after service hurrying off to the 

 oock-pit with a cock under each arm. Bets arc made 



