260 The Naturalist in Nicaragua 
already described, but I was told of one that was said to be 
extremely venomous. As, however, besides the repute of 
giving off from the pores of its skin poisonous secretion, it 
was described to be of an inconspicuous brown colour, and 
to hide under logs, I should require some confirmation of the 
story by an experienced naturalist before believing it, for all 
my experience has led me to the opinion that any animal 
endowed with special means of protection from its enemies 
is always either conspicuously coloured, or in other ways 
attracts attention, and does not seek concealment. 
About four o’clock we reached the city of Granada, and, 
passing along some wide streets and across a large square, 
found the hotel of Mons. Mestayer, where we engaged rooms 
for the night. The hotel, like most of the houses in the city, 
was built, in the Spanish style, around a large courtyard, in 
the centre of which was a flower-garden. Madame Mestayer 
was very fond of pets, and had macaws and parrots, a tame 
squirrel, a young white-faced monkey (Cebus albifrons), and 
several small long-haired Mexican dogs. I was interested in 
watching the monkey examining all the loose bark and 
curled-up leaves on a large fig-tree in search of insects. In 
this and other individuals of this species, a great variety of 
countenances could be distinguished, and I could easily 
have picked my own monkey out of all the others I have seen 
by the expression of its face. I was told that the one in the 
garden at Mons. Mestayer’s did not touch the figs on the 
tree, and I believe it; the Cebus is much more of an animal 
than a vegetable feeder, whilst the spider-monkeys (Afeles) 
live principally on fruits. 
Granada was entirely burnt down by Walker and his fili- 
busters in 1856, and the present city is built on the ruins of 
that founded by Hernandez de Cordova in 1522. The 
streets are well laid out at right angles to each other, and 
there are many large churches, some of them in ruins. In 
one of the latter a company of mountebanks performed 
every evening, and the circumstance did not seem to excite 
surprise or comment. 
The streets are built in terraces, quite level for about fifty 
yards, then with a steep-paved declivity leading to another 
level portion. One has to be careful in riding down from one 
