CLEARING. 7 



that swarm in the forests, and with whom I 

 was much more in contact than with the half- 

 civilised dwellers in the towns nearer the coast. 



After a fortnight's residence in Leon, which 

 is a large straggling town, and in which two 

 English gentlemen were living, I made a tour 

 in company with one of them through a great 

 part of the interior ; and, after much difficult 

 travelling, and plenty of " roughing it,"" de- 

 cided on a spot on which to build a couple of 

 large huts, that might serve as head-quarters, 

 the surrounding mountains shewing many 

 traces of very rich copper ore. We had a 

 piece of land cleared ; and, with the help of 

 some Indians, who lived in a village about 

 twenty miles off, these huts were built after 

 the manner of the country, hereafter to be 

 described, and of which I made a sketch 

 (presented in the Frontispiece). 



It was situated near the boundaries of 

 Nicaragua and Segovia ; and, from being so 

 much higher than the large wooded plains 

 about the coast, was cooler and comparatively 

 healthy, especially when care was taken not 

 to get wet while warm with exercise, which 

 almost invariably produces tertian ague, from 

 which I suffered severely for about three 

 months, reducing my weight from ten stone 



