Bamboo Thickets 141 
plains intersected by a few nearly dry river beds, to the foot 
of the south-western side of the Amerrique hills, then gradu- 
ally ascended the range that separates the Juigalpa district 
from that of Libertad. The ground was gravelly and dry, 
with stony hillocks covered with low trees and bushes. After 
ascending about a thousand feet, the ground became much 
moister, and we reached an Indian hut on the side of the 
range, where a few bananas and a little maize was grown. 
Indian women, naked to the waist, were, as usual, bruising 
maize, this being their employment from morning to night, 
whilst the men were sitting about idle. Some mangy-looking 
dogs set up a loud barking as we approached. To one of them 
clung a young spider-monkey. A number of parrots also gave 
evidence of the great fondness the Indians have for animal 
pets. There is scarcely a house where some bird or beast is 
not kept; and the Indian women are very clever in taming 
birds, probably by their constant kindness and gentleness 
to them, and by feeding them out of their mouths and fondling 
them. From near here we had a fine view, and saw that we 
had come up the side of a wide valley, bounded on the right 
by the Amerrique range, on the left by high rounded grassy 
hills, on one of which we could make out the cattle hacienda 
of La Puerta. Lines of trees and bamboo thickets marked 
the course of numerous brooks that joined lower down and 
formed the small rivers we had crossed. Looking down the 
valley it opened out into a wide plain, with here and there 
sharp-topped conical hills, such as abound in Central America, 
where they appear to have been taken as landmarks by the 
Indians, as many of the old roads lead past them. Beyond 
the plain in the grey distance were the waters of the lake and 
the peaks of Ometépec and Madera. 
We had now to ascend the side of a ravine, the road, or 
rather path, being through a bamboo thicket for about a 
mile, the bamboos touching our knees on either side and 
arching close overhead, so that we had to lie on the mules’ 
necks a great part of the way. Some portions of the road 
were dangerously steep and rocky; but as fully a league in 
distance is saved by taking this by-path, instead of the main 
road by way of La Puerta, I generally preferred travelling 
by it, especially as I often took rare and new beetles on the 
bushes. I usually, when travelling, carried a net fixed to a 
