1 8 A YEAR OF COSTA RICAN NATURAL HISTORY 



valley of the Rio Birris is crossed on a high bridge. The 

 railroad now diverges widely from the river. Cartago, the 

 capital of the country until 1823 and until May, 1910, the 

 second largest town, lies in the midst of cattle pastures, 

 while to the north rises the huge and gently sloping mass of 

 Irazu. El Alto, at the continental divide, was not a settle- 

 ment; the highest point on the line was marked by a stone 

 cross set up by the side of the wagon road which is parallel 

 and close to the tracks. South of this road is a stretch of 

 swamp and open water, the Laguna de Ochomogo. 



The railroad now descends the Pacific slope and the dif- 

 ference in the amount of moisture received during the year 

 is almost immediately indicated in the greatly diminished 

 number of epiphytic plants on the trunks and branches of 

 trees, as contrasted with the conditions visible on the Atlantic 

 side. Many more coffee plantations (cafetales) are now 

 visible from the car windows than earlier in the journey and 

 between Tres Rios and the capital they border the tracks 

 on both sides. This train ran no further than San Jose, but 

 from the same station other trains ran westward to Alajuela. 

 The train for the Pacific coast left from another station in 

 the lower, southern, part of San Jose, although the Atlantic 

 and Pacific stations were connected by rail. 



The Pacific Railroad (Ferrocarril al Pacifico) is State- 

 owned and was constructed between September, 1897, and 

 November, 1910. It now connects San Jose with Puntarenas, 

 but from 1902 to the end of 1910 it was in operation from 

 the capital only as far west as Santo Domingo, now known as 

 Orotina. During the whole of our stay in Costa Rica, 

 trains from San Jose ran only as far as this place. To reach 

 Puntarenas it was then necessary to take horse or mule 14 

 miles to Esparta, whence another short railroad carried one 

 to the port. The principal stations on the Pacific road are 

 as follows: 



