4 THE NATURALIST IN NICARAGUA. [Ch. I, 



Grey town, though only a small place, is one of the 

 neatest tropical towns that I have visited. The houses, 

 especially in the business portion of the town, are well- 

 built of wood, and painted white with brown roofs. 

 Pretty flower gardens surround or front many of them. 

 Others are nearly hidden amongst palms and bread-fruit,. 

 orange, mango, and other tropical fruit trees. A lovely 

 creeper (Antigonon leptopus), with festoons of pink and 

 rose-coloured flowers, adorns some of the gardens. It is 

 called la vcycssima, " the beautiful," by the natives, and 

 I found it afterwards growing wild in the provinces of 

 Matagalpa and Segovia, where it was one of the great 

 favourites of the flower-loving Indians. The land at 

 Greytown and around it is perfectly level. The square, 

 the open spaces, and many of the streets are covered with 

 short grass that makes a beautiful sward to walk on. 



The trade in the town is almost entirely in the hands 

 of foreign residents, amongst whom Mr. Hollenbeck, a 

 citizen of the United States, is one of the most enter- 

 prising. A considerable import trade is done with the 

 States and England, and coffee, indigo, hides, cacao, 

 sugar, logwood, and India-rubber are the principal ex- 

 ports. I called on Dr. Green, the British Consul, and 

 found him a most courteous and amiable gentleman, ever 

 ready to afford protection or advice to his countrymen., 

 and on very friendly terms with the native authorities. 

 He has lived for many years in Nicaragua, and his many 

 charitable kindnesses, and especially the medical assist- 

 ance that he renders in all cases of emergency, free of 

 charge, have made him very popular at Greytown. His- 

 beautiful house and grounds, with a fine avenue of coco- 

 nut trees in full bearing, form one of the most attractive 



