TOPOGRAPHY AND RAILROADS 19 



Distance from San Jose Altitude 

 Stations miles kilometers feet meters 



San Jose 3800 11 58 



Sabaiia 



Las Pavas 3516 lojz 



San Antonio de Belen 3^19 95 1 



Ojo de Agua 2850 869 



Nuestro Amo 



Ciruelas 2794 852 



Turrucares 19.8 32 2230 680 



Cebadilla 



Atenas 



La Balsa 151 2 461 



Escobal 1348 411 



Concepcion 1040 317 



Orotina (Santo Domingo) 46 74 853 260 



Coyolar 



Puntarenas 68 109 10 3 



On leaving San Jose the road passes through rolling coun- 

 try lying between the volcanoes of Barba and Poas on the 

 north and the cerros de Candelaria on the south. Some 

 distance to the north of the railroad are the roofs of the 

 towns of Heredia and Alajuela. The chief crops in cultiva- 

 tion at the time of our visit were coffee, corn (maize) and 

 rice. One of the most characteristic trees seen from this 

 railroad, below 3000 feet, is the "Guanacaste" {Enterolo- 

 bium cyclocarpinn). They often stand alone and are very 

 handsome trees with trunks three to four feet in diameter 

 and an immense spread of branches. The head is as large 

 as our spreading oaks but the spray is more graceful and 

 lacks the stiff ruggedness of the oak. The guanacaste is a 

 Mimosa with a much divided leaf as fine and delicate as a 

 maidenhair fern. 



Beyond Pavas the line crosses the deep valleys of the 

 Rios Torres, Virilla and Bermudez. San Antonio de Belen 

 has an historical interest for the naturalist for in 1847 it was 



