244 THE NATURALIST IN NICARAGUA. [Ch. XIII. 



miserable hut dwelt three families, consisting of nine in- 

 dividuals ; men, women, and children. 



The land around appeared to be poor. A patch of the 

 forest in front of the house, sloping down the side of a 

 steep valley, had been cleared, and planted with maize 

 and wheat. We were told that there were a few other 

 houses down this valley. The people in the hut seemed 

 miserably poor. I said to Velasquez that they must 

 have been born on the settlement, as I could not imagine 

 anyone coming from outside the mountains to live at such 

 a spot, and on enquiry we found that every one was a 

 native born within a mile of the hut. It was perhaps 

 bleaker than usual that evening, as a continuous rain was 

 falling, and a high wind whistling through the pine-tops. 

 Pigs, dogs, and fowls were constantly in one's way, and 

 the only cheering sign was the bright blaze and fragrant 

 smell of the burning pine splinters. I asked one of the 

 men if he preferred this place to Jinotega, where the 

 fertile slopes and grassy plains had so pleased our eyes. 

 He answered he did, the air was fresher and there was 

 less fever. 



They made for us some tortillas, and we had tea with 

 us. The only ingenious thing about the place was a sort 

 of stove, dome-shaped, made of clay, with two holes 

 through the top like a cooking-stove, on which they put 

 their earthenware cooking vessels. I turned into my 

 hammock early, with all my clothes and my boots on, 

 and my coat buttoned tightly round me, as the bleak 

 wind found many a crevice to whistle through, and the 

 open network of the hammock, agreeable enough in the 

 warm lowlands, was too slight a protection against the 

 cold of the mountains. A few poles placed across the 



