236 THE NATURALIST IN NICARAGUA. [Ch. XIII. 



would take it for granted that he had not been able to 



find the mules. I believe he had never been further 



than the billiard-saloon looking for them. These people 



get through the days with such ennui and difficulty, that 



they have no idea of people economising time. A story 



is told about them which, whether true or not, illustrates 



this. When the steamboats were first put on the Lake 



of Nicaragua, the natives complained that they were 



charged as much as they were in the bungoes, although 



they got sometimes a week's sailing in the latter, and 



only one day in the steamboat. We were in a dilemma 



about mules. I wished to push on, as I found the 



journey was a longer one than I expected when I set out ; 



and it was important that I should get back to the mines 



by the end of the month. At last, our host offered us 



mules to take us as far as Jinotega, charging us three 



times as much as was usual ; and we determined to go 



on there, and seek animals to continue our journey. We 



got our own mules put into a good portrero of Para 



grass just below the town, resisting our host's invitation 



to leave them with him, fearing he might use them 



instead of feeding them. He had to send out to his 



hacienda for the fresh ones ; and although he promised 



them at seven, it was ten o'clock the next day before they 



arrived ; but the delay in waiting for them quickened 



my appreciation of the laziness and want of punctuality 



of the people of Matagalpa. On leaving the town, we 



crossed the river, and ascended a range on the other 



side. Here, for the first time, I got amongst pine trees 



in the tropics ; and they gave a very different aspect to 



the country from what I had before seen. No brushwood 



grows under them, and they stand apart at regular inter- 



