346 THE NATUKALIST IX NICARAGUA. [Ch. XIX. 



character in Nicaragua for probity and ability. We had 

 a difficulty in obtaining horses, and did not get away 

 until noon. The road was a good one, having been 

 made by the late President, Senor Fernando Guzman, 

 who seems to have done what little lay in his power to 

 develope the resources of the country. The soil was 

 entirely composed of volcanic tufas, and was covered 

 with fine grass ; but there were no springs or brooks, 

 all the moisture sinking into the porous ground. Lizards 

 were numerous, and on damp spots on the road there 

 were many fine butterflies, most of them of different 

 species from those of Choiitales. 



At four o'clock we entered Masaya, and passed down 

 a long road bordered with Indian huts and gardens. 

 The town is said to contain about 15,000 inhabitants, 

 nine-tenths of whom are Indians. The town covers a 

 great space of ground, as the Indian houses are each 

 surrounded by a garden or orchard ; they stand back 

 from the road, and are almost hidden amongst the trees. 

 There was no water when I visited Masaya, excepting 

 what was brought up from the lake,- which lies more 

 than 300 feet below the town, surrounded, excepting on 

 the western side, by precipitous cliffs, down which three 

 or four rocky paths have been cut. Up these, all day 

 long, and most of the night, women and girls are carry- 

 ing water in Indian earthenware gourd-shaped jars, 

 which they balance on cushions on their heads, or sling 

 in nets behind their backs. No men or boys above ten 

 years of age carry water, and the women seemed to have 



all the labour to do. I believe it would have been im- 



i 



possible to find ten men at work in Masaya at any one 

 time. 



