6 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 9/ 



in the vicinity of Naco (map, fig. 2) are located on clear, rapid streams. 

 These streams are bordered by narrow strips of tropical forest, but 

 back from these are steep hills or elevated rocky plains covered with 

 pines and oaks. There is no reason to believe that the environment here 

 was different in aboriginal times. It is a region admirably adapted to 

 maize. Abundant food supplies possessed by the numerous Indian 

 pueblos, as well as the occurrence of gold in the surrounding moun- 

 tains, early attracted the Spaniards to these mountain valleys. The 

 climate appears to be much more healthful than that of the lower 

 river valleys. 



The northern end of Lake Yojoa, where other excavations were 

 carried on, offers a similar environment. This marks our most south- 

 erly working point as well as the limit of the Ulua drainage in this 

 direction, since Lake Yojoa in part drains through an underground 

 channel into the Rio Blanco. To the south, it is said to drain into the 

 Santa Barbara River by means of the Jaitique River and by sub- 

 terranean channels, principally the Rio Sacapa and the Rio Salala.^ 

 We did not investigate the southern end of the lake. 



Lake Yojoa is located in a small mountain valley or bolson at an 

 altitude of some 2,050 feet. The auto road from the north coast to 

 Tegucigalpa utilizes the lake as a water connection by means of auto- 

 mobile ferries. To reach Jaral, the little town on the north shore, one 

 leaves the low banana country at Potrerillos and climbs through rocky 

 hills covered with oak, pine, and scrub, following the Rio Blanco River, 

 which is crossed only once at the little town of that name. Just before 

 the road reaches the lake, the grade increases sharply and then drops 

 down onto the small triangular plain bordering the lake (map, fig. 20). 

 This bush-covered plain is bounded on the east by low pine-covered 

 hills, and on the north by high (5,000-6,000 feet) volcanic mountains. 

 We suspect that this plain originally supported a heavy rain forest, 

 but both the aboriginal and modern inhabitants have long practised 

 milpa-type farming here, and today there exist few remnants of the 

 original forest. With the exception of open, rolling, pine-covered hills 

 on the northeast shore near Agua Azul, the remainder of the lake 

 is bordered by steep slopes covered with rain forest. At the southern 

 extremity of the lake, there is a considerable belt of low, swampy land, 

 most of which is overflowed when the lake is full. Beyond the water- 



^ Published reports and maps of Lake Yojoa are utterly inadequate. Squier, 

 1858, pp. 96-104, and i860, pp. 58-63, is still the authority. The lake has been 

 studied from time to time by Honduran and American engineers, but we know 

 of no up-to-date maps or reports. Amory Edwards, and Squier, i860, describe 

 10 outlets. 



