116 The Naturalist in Nicaragua 
birds. The hills stood up through the cloud of mist like 
islands. To the south-west, over the savannahs, the air 
was clear, and the peak of Ometépec was a fine object in the 
distance. A white cloud enveloping its top looked like 
a snow-cap, and this, as the night came on, descended lower 
and lower, mantling closely around it, and conforming to its 
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outline. That the savannahs should not give off the same 
vapour as the forest has been ascribed, and, I believe, with 
reason, to the fact that their evaporating surfaces are much 
smaller than those of the latter, with their numberless leaves 
heated by the previous sunshine. 
As night came on, a wetting mist drove over the top of the 
peak, and the wind increased in strength, making it very 
cold and bleak, for there was no shelter of any kind on the 
summit. Such a night was not a favourable one for insects, 
but I got a few beetles that were new to me on the very top 
