258 THE NATURALIST IN NICARAGUA. [Ch. XIV. 



talcose schist near to Ocotal, but higher up the river it 

 changed to gneissoid and quartz rocks, the latter in hard 

 and massive beds. As we ascended the valley, the ranges 

 bounding it got higher and steeper, the soil more sandy 

 and barren, with scattered pine trees growing amongst 

 the rocks. Great, bare, rounded masses of hard quartzite 

 protruded through the scanty soil, and in the river were 

 eDormous boulders of granite-like gneiss. 



Depilto is only nine miles from Ocotal, but we took 

 three hours to reach it, as I made many stoppages to 

 examine the rocks and to catch fleet-limbed speckled 

 tiger-beetles on the sandy roads. The little town was 

 not half populated, the silver mines had been closed for 

 some time, most of the houses were empty and the people 

 still clinging about the place seemed to have nothing to 

 do, for the land is too barren for cultivation. We made 

 known our requirements for labourers, and were assured 

 that plenty would be glad to go to Santo Domingo. 

 They would not, however, bind themselves there, but pre- 

 ferred to go down untrammelled with any conditions 

 about pay or work, and I may anticipate here by saying 

 that the result of our visit was very satisfactory, numbers 

 of workmen having been obtained for the mines. 



After getting some breakfast at a house that seemed to 

 be the hotel of Depilto, we set out to visit a silver mine 

 named " El Coquimba." We had to ascend a high 

 range opposite the town, and found riding over the steep 

 bare exposures of quartz rock so difficult and dangerous 

 that about half way up we tied our mules to some young 

 pine trees and proceeded on foot. The mine was aban- 

 doned, and the shafts and levels were closed by falls 

 of rock. Some of the ore, sulphide of silver, was lying 



