Xxx The Naturalist in Nicaragua 
PAGE 
earliest times in America—Separation of the maize-eating 
from the mandioca-eating indigenes of America—Tortillas— 
Sugar-making—Enter the forest of the Atlantic slope— 
Vegetation of the forest—Muddy roads—Arrive at Santo 
Domingo , . : : - : : ‘ - 
Us 
“I 
CHAPTER V 
Geographical position of Santo Domingo—Physical geography— 
The inhabitants—Mixed races—Negroes and Indians com- 
pared—Women—Establishment of the Chontales Gold- 
Mining Company—My house and garden—Fruits—Plantains 
and bananas; probably not indigenous to America: pro- 
pagated from shoots: do not generally mature their seeds— 
Fig-trees—Granadillas and papaws—Vegetables—Depend- 
ence of flowers on insects for their fertilisation—Insect 
plagues—Leaf-cutting ants: their method of defoliating trees: 
their nests—Some trees are not touched by the ants—Foreign 
trees are very subject to their attack—Method of destroying 
the ants—Migration of the ant from a nest attacked—Cor- 
rosive sublimate causes a sort of madness amongst them— 
Indian plan of preventing them ascending young trees—Leaf- 
cutting ants are fungus-growers and eaters—Sagacity of the 
ants : : : : - . < . . ° 50 
CHAPTER VI 
Configuration of the ground at Santo Domingo—Excavation of 
valleys—Geology of the district—Decomposition of the rocks 
—Gold-mining—Auriferous quartz veins—Mode of occur- 
rence of the gold—Lodes richer next the surface than at 
lower depths—Excavation and reduction of the ore—Extrac- 
tion of the gold—‘* Mantos ’’—Origin of mineral veins: their 
connection with intrusions of Plutonic rocks . ; : 68 
CHAPTER VII 
Climate of thenorth-eastern side of Nicaragua—Excursions around 
Santo Domingo—The Artigua—cCorruption of ancient names 
—Butterflies, spiders, and wasps—Humming-birds, beetles, 
and ants—Plants and trees—Timber—Monkey attacked by 
eagle—White-faced monkey—Anecdotes of a tame one— 
Curassows and other game birds—Trogons, woodpeckers, 
mot-mots, and toucans . : : ; : : .. OE 
CHAPTER VIIT 
Description of San Antonio valley—Great variety of animal life 
—Pitcher-flowered Marcgravias—Flowers fertilised by hum- 
ming birds—By insects—Provision in some flowers to prevent 
insects, not adapted for carrying the pollen, from obtaining, 
access to the nectaries—Stories about wasps—Humming- 
birds bathing—Singular myriapods—Ascent of Pefia Blanca 
—Tapirs and jaguars—Summit of Pefia Blanca. : . 98 
