Road Through the Forest AQ 
directly up to where the balmy breeze blow and the sun’s 
rays quicken. Lianas hurry up to the light and sunshine, 
and innumerable epiphytes perch themselves high up on the 
branches. 
The road through the forest was very bad, the mud deep 
and tenacious, the hills steep and slippery, and the mules 
had to struggle and plunge along through from two to three 
feet of sticky clay. One part, named the Nispral, was 
especially steep and difficult to descend, the road being 
worn into great ruts. We crossed the ranges and brooks 
nearly at right angles, and were always ascending or descend- 
ing. About two we reached a clearing and hacienda, belong- 
ing to an enterprising German, named Melzer, near a brook 
called Las Lajas, who was cultivating plantains and vege- 
tables, and had also commenced brick and tile making, 
besides planting some thousands of coffee trees. His large 
clearings were a pleasant change from the forest through 
which we had been toiling, and we stayed a few minutes at 
his house. After riding over another league of forest-covered 
ranges, we reached Pavon, one of the mines of the Chontales 
Company, and passing the Javali mine soon arrived at Santo 
Domingo, the headquarters of the gold-mining company 
whose operations I had come out to superintend. 
