254 - CENTRAL AMERICA. 



volcano of Cartago. Here the Cordilleras resume their general 

 character of a vast mountain barrier, but once more sink down 

 into low ridges as the chain passes tln'ough the Isthmus of 

 Panama. 



As in South America, the Cordilleras run close along the 

 Pacific coast. In consequence, the rivers which floAV from 

 their heights have a long course on the Atlantic side, and 

 have carried down a large quantity of alluvial soil. Here, 

 too, rain . falls in greater or lesser quantities throughout the 

 year. The vegetation is consequently rank, and the climate 

 damp, and proportionately unhealthy. As the trade-winds 

 blow from the north-east, the moisture with which they are 

 saturated is condensed against the mountain-sides, and flows 

 backwards toAvards the Atlantic. The Pacific slope is, there- 

 fore, comparatively dry and salubrious — as indeed are also the 

 elevated table-lands of the interior. 



The whole region is subject to earthquakes, and numberless 

 volcanoes rise in all directions. In the low rido-e which 

 separates the Lake of Nicaragua from the Pacific are several 

 volcanic hills, most of them active^ while further to the 

 north-west, in the district of Conch agua — scarcely more than 

 one hundred and eighty miles in length — there are upwards 

 of twenty volcanoes. The two most lofty are found in the 

 Guatemala range — that of Fuego being upwards of 12,000 

 feet in height, and that of Agua, 18,000 feet. 



Many parts of the mterior of the country have been 

 but very partially explored, and are, indeed, almost unknown. 

 Of the purely native tribes, most of them "have become 

 mingled with Spaniards or negroes. Parts of the coast are 

 inhabited by mixed races of Caribs, who have migrated from 

 St. Vincent, one of the Leeward islands. These Caribs are 



