Indian Names 225 
pean blood runs in the veins of the inhabitants of Jino- 
tega, but in their whole manner of living they follow the 
Indian ways, and it is the same throughout Nicaragua, ex- 
cepting amongst the higher classes in the large towns. All 
their cooking vessels are Indian. Just as in the Indian huts, 
every pot or pan is of coarse pottery, and each dish is cooked 
on a separate little fire. The drinks in common use are 
Indian, and have Indian names; tiste, pinul, pinullo, and 
chicha, all made from maize, sugar, and chocolate. As 
before observed, whatever was new to the Spaniards when 
they invaded the country retained its Indian name. It is so 
with every stage of growth of the maize plant, chilote, elote, 
and maizorca. The stone for grinding the maize is exactly 
the same as those found in the old Indian graves, and it is 
still called the metlate. All the towns we passed through 
in Segovia retained their Indian names, though their present 
inhabitants know nothing of their meaning. The old names 
of many of the towns are probably remnants of a language 
earlier than that of the inhabitants at the time of the con- 
quest, and their study might throw some light on the dis- 
tribution of the ancient peoples. Unfortunately the names 
of places are very incorrectly given in the best maps of 
Central America, every traveller having spelt them phoneti- 
cally according to the orthography of his own language. 
Throughout this book I have spelt proper names in accord- 
ance with the pronunciation of the Spanish letters. 
Many of the names of towns in Nicaragua and Honduras 
end in “ galpa,” as Muyogalpa, Juigalpa, Totagalpa, and 
Matagalpa. Places apparently of less consequence in 
Segovia often end in the termination “ lee ” strongly accented, 
as Jamaily, Esterly, Daraily, etc., and in “ guina,” pro- 
nounced “ weena,” as in Palacaguina and Yalaguina. In 
Chontales many end in “ apa,” or “‘ apo,” as Cuapo, Comoapa, 
Comelapa, Acoyapo, and others. 
The Spaniards, whenever they gave a name to a town, 
either named it after some city in Spain or after their Saints. 
There are dozens of Santo Rosas, San Juans, and San 
Tomases. Even some of the towns, which have well-known 
Indian names, are called officially after some Spanish saint, 
but the common people stick to the old names, and they are 
not to be thrust aside. 
