110 The Naturalist in Nicaragua 
This rock, on the southern and most perpendicular side, 
weathers to a whitish colour, and is called Pena Blanca, 
meaning the white peak. It is visible from some points on 
the savannahs. During the summer months it is, on the 
northern side, covered with the flowers of a caulescent orchid 
(Ornithorhynchos) that has not been found anywhere else 
in the neighbourhood; and the natives, who are very fond 
of flowers, inheriting the taste from their Indian ancestors, 
at this time, often on Sundays ascend the peak and bring 
down large quantities of the blossoms. Its colour, when it 
first opens, is scarlet and yellow. With it grows a crimson 
Mackleania. Once when I made an ascent, in March, these 
flowers were in perfection, and in great abundance, and the 
northern face of the rock was completely covered with them. 
When I emerged from the gloomy forest, the sun was shining 
brightly on it, and the combination of scarlet, crimson, and 
yellow made a perfect blaze of colour, approaching more 
nearly to the appearance of flames of fire than anything I 
have elsewhere seen in the floral world. 
The last ascent I made to the summit of Pena Blanca was 
in the middle of June 1872, after we had had about two 
weeks of continuously wet weather. On the 17th, the rain 
clouds cleared away, the sun shone out, and only a few 
fleecy cumuli sailed across the blue sky, driven by the north- 
east trade wind. I had on previous visits to the peak 
noticed the elytra of many beetles lying on the bare top. 
They were the remnants of insects caught by frogs; great bulky 
fellows that excited one’s curiosity to know how ever they 
got there. Amongst the elytra were those of beetles that 
I had never taken, and as they were night-roaming species, 
I determined to go up some evening and wait until dark, 
with a lanthorn, to see if I could take any of them. We had 
one heavy shower of rain in the afternoon, so that the forest 
was very wet, and the hills slippery and difficult for the mule. 
The path ascends the valley of Santo Domingo, then crosses 
a range behind a mine called the ‘“ Consuelo,” enters the 
forest, descending at first a steep slope to a clear brook; 
after crossing this, the ascent of the hill of Pena Blanca 
begins, and is continuous for about a mile to the top of the 
rock. The ground was damp, and the forest gloomy, but 
here and there glimpses of sunshine glanced through the 
