380 DE. GtJNTHER ON THE FISHES OF CENTEAL AMEEICA. 



to 40 feet. It is situated in lat. 15° 30' N., long. 89° 15' W., at the bottom of the Bay of 

 Honduras. One large river, the Polochic, enters this lake ; and it has a narrow but deep 

 outlet to the sea, called the Eio Dulce, which is navigated by small schooners plying 

 between Belize and the town of Yzabal. It was near this last-mentioned place that a 

 few species of fish were obtained. 



Bivers. 



BayAx\o. — lliis is a river which rises in the narrow part of Central America, and flows 

 into the Pacific a little to the southward of the Bay of Panama. 



Cahabon. — The town of Cahabon, where a few fishes were obtained, is situated on an 

 affluent of the river which bears this name. The main stream rises in the same marsh 

 as the Polochic, but takes another valley, in Vera Paz, and again joins the Polochic, 

 when they both flow into the Lake of Yzabal, and thence into the Atlantic. 



Chagres. — This is the principal river of the Isthmus of Panama. It flows into the 

 Atlantic. The fish were obtained near the railway bridge at Barbacoas, about halfway 

 across the isthmus. 



Chisoy. — Of the numerous names this river bears, I have chosen this for the principal 

 stream which forms the large river that flows out into the Laguna de los Terminos, in 

 the Bay of Campeachy. This branch is also known as the Rio Negro ; and after 

 receiving the water of the Rio de la Pasion, or Rio de Santa Isabel, as it is also called, 

 the two are usually called the Usumacinta. Fishes were collected from this river near the 

 Indian village of Cubulco ; and a number were also procured by poisoning with herbs a 

 small stream near Saouchil, an Indian village below the town of Cohan, in Vera Paz. 



GuACALATE. — Is One of the numerous rivets which drain the southern watershed of the 

 main ridge into the Pacific. It flows past Antigua, the old capital of Guatemala. Fishes 

 were obtained about 3500 feet aboA^e the sea, where the river is still quite a torrent. 



MoTAGUA. — This river, the second largest in Guatemala, rises in the main ridge, and 

 flows, with high mountains on either side, nearly due eastward into the Atlantic. Fishes 

 abound in this river ; and nearly every year a considerable length is poisoned, and a 

 large quantity obtamed. On one of these occasions a collection was made a little below 

 the bridge over which the highroad from Guatemala to Vera Paz passes. Another 

 collection came from lower down the stream, below the village of Tocoy. 



San Geronimo. — Is a tributary of the Chisoy before mentioned. A small collection 

 was made near the village of San Geronimo, in a plain at the foot of the mountains 

 whence it takes its rise. 



Santa Isabel. — A small stream flowing into this river, one of the principal branches of 

 the Usumacinta, was poisoned, and a number of small fishes obtained. 



San Salvador. — A few small fishes were caught by Capt. Dow in a warm stream near 

 the capital town of this republic. 



