Ch. XIX.] VOLCANIC ORIGIN OF LAKES. 357 



Amontli," as translated bv Brasseur de Bourboursr, we 



tt 



read of " the volcanic convulsions that lasted four days and 

 four nights," of "the thunder and lightning that came 

 out of the sea," of " the mountains that were rising and 

 sinking when the great deluge happened," and that when 

 Plato on the other side of the Atlantic speaks of the 

 earthquakes that accompanied the engulphnient of At- 

 lantis, we hear the dim echoes that have been sounding 



' O 



down through all time from that remote past, of the 

 fearful volcanoes and earthquakes that terrified mankind 

 at the time of the great cataclysm. 



In these remarks on the origin of some of the lakes of 

 Nicaragua I except the largest ones, namely, the lake of 

 Managua and the great lake of Nicaragua, which pro- 

 bably occupy areas of depression produced by the large 

 amount of material abstracted from below and thrown 

 out by ancient volcanoes. 



