294 THE NATURALIST IN NICARAGUA. [Ch. XVI. 



many of the towns are probably remnants of a language 

 earlier than that of the inhabitants at the time of the 

 conquest, and their study might throw some light on the 

 distribution of the ancient peoples. Unfortunately the 

 names of places are very incorrectly given in the best 

 maps of Central America, through every traveller having 

 spelt them according to the orthography of his own lan- 

 guage. Throughout this book I have spelt proper names 

 in accordance with the pronunciation of the Spanish 

 letters. 



Many of the names of towns in Nicaragua and Hon- 

 duras end in " galpa," as Mayogalpa, Juigalpa, Tota- 

 galpa, and Matagalpa. Places apparently of less con- 

 sequence in Segovia often end in the termination " lee ' 

 strongly accented, as Jamaily, Esterly, Daraily, &c., and 

 in " guina" pronounced "weena," as in Palacaguina and 

 Yalaguina. In Chontales many end in " apa," or " apo," 

 as Cuapo, Comoapa, Comelapa, Acoyapo, and others. 



The Spaniards whenever they gave a name to a town 

 either named it after some city in Spain or after their 

 Saints. There are dozens of Santo Rosas, San Juans, 

 and San Tomases. Even some of the towns, which have 

 well-known Indian names, are called officially after some 

 Spanish saint, but the common people stick to the old 

 names, and they are not to be thrust aside. 



We had a long talk with our courteous host of the 

 estanca at Jinotega. He had a small library of books, 

 nearly all being missals and prayer-books. He had a 

 little knowledge of geography and was wishful to learn 

 about Europe, and at the same time most desirous that 

 we should not think that he, one of the chief men of the 

 town, did not know all about it. That England was a 



