CHAPTER XXI. 



Return to Santo Domingo The Birds of Chontales The Insects of 

 Chontales Mimetic forms Departure from the Mines Nica- 

 ragua as a field for Emigration Journey to Greytown Return 

 to England. 



HAVING finished our business at Masaya, we rode back 

 to Granada on the evening of the second day, and the 

 next morning took a passage in a fine steamboat that 

 Mr. Hollenbeck, of Greytown, had placed on the lake to 

 convey passengers and goods between Granada and San 

 Carlos, at the head of the river San Juan. We arrived 

 at San Ubaldo at two o'clock, and found our mules safe 

 but foot-sore, through travelling over the rocky hills from 

 Santo Claro. The San Jose plains were in a dreadfully 

 muddy state, and for five miles we went plunging through 

 the swamps. Most of the mules fell several times, and 

 we had great difficulty in getting them up again. We 

 passed two travellers with their mules up to their girths 

 in mud, and incapable of extricating themselves, but 

 could not help them, as we dared not allow ours to stand, 

 or they would stick fast also. We had met, at San 

 Ubaldo, the son of Dr. Seemann, on his way home to 

 England. His pack-mule had stuck fast in the plains 

 the night before, and he had passed the night sitting 

 on his boxes, half sunk in the mud, and attacked by 

 myriads of mosquitoes that had covered his hands, face, 

 and neck with blisters. 



