84 NICARAGUA. 



Sur, a miserable bay opened on all sides, and in which ships 

 and steamers are obliged to anchor at a good distance from 

 land. 



We had been eighty days, including our stay of eight 

 days at Acapulco, on our way from San Francisco to San 

 Juan. A very long time for a distance of 3,800 miles, but 

 this was partly due to the bad weather, contrary winds, calms, 

 and also the bad condition of our ship. So it is easy to 

 conceive our joy on that day. We had quite enough of 

 the bad living and incommodities of this voyage. 



San Juan del Sur, in 1852, was a very small place, 

 consisting of Indian huts, hidden in the greenness of a 

 tropical vegetation, and several hotels hastily built, to supply 

 the wants&quot; of the numerous passengers passing constantly 

 through, from New York to San Francisco and vice-versa. In 

 the American hotel, the charges were twelve shillings a day, 

 and in the French, from eight to ten shillings. I went in 

 the last. 



I remained live weeks in San Juan, and the rainy season 

 being not quite over yet, I was able to collect a good many 

 insects, chiefly Coleoptera (beetles) and Lepidoptera 

 (butterflies). 



During that month, I saw several large arrivals of 

 passengers&quot; going to, or returning from San Francisco. 



As a rule, those coming from North America, or from 

 Europe were in better health and spirit than those returning 

 home. Many of the latter fell sick at San Juan, and could 

 not continue their voyage. Some died and were buried forth 

 with. I heard that hotel keepers and others had something 

 to do in the matter, being the natural heirs of the dead, 

 cannot say that this rumour was false or true, but what I 

 can certify is that the climate of this miserable place is 

 very unhealthy during the rainy season, which lasts from 

 May to December, and even more sometimes. All passengers 

 passing through the isthmus should select the months of 

 January to May. The inhabitants of the place consisted of 

 a mixture of black, white and Indians, with a few Americans 

 and other strangers. 



The Indians and blacks suffered as much from the fevers 

 as the others, and were poor representatives of their respective 

 races. The vegetation of the neighbourhood of San Juan was 

 quite remarkable and magnificent. It was my first sight of a 

 tropical country and its forests. Nothing can compare with the 

 magnificence of a tropical forest. It is so sublime and 



