HONDURAS. 15 



Leaving these lakes we returned to Cro punto and embarked in our 

 pipante for Brus on the 24th, reaching there that night. Here we 

 stayed two days awaiting a boat. Then Mr. Perry went back to Cara- 

 tasca lake, and I started for here, and was six days in making it, three 

 days of which we lay at the entrance of Brus lagoon. The sea being 

 very rough with a north wind, we could not get out with our dory. 



Mr. Perry is delighted with the grant, and I assure you he has a 

 .right to be. We saw vast bodies of good grazing land, usually well 

 watered, and the cattle, what few we saw, were fat. We were told 

 that nothing in the way of insects troubled either horses or cattle. We 

 saw no snakes, but we were told that in the bush land there are a great 

 many. I found it nothing like as hot as I had expected; although we 

 were walking a great deal we did not suffer from heat. A strong east 

 wind blows from about nine or ten in the morning all day, and the 

 nights are pleasant. We were troubled at a few places by mosquitoes, 

 but this was when we slept on the banks of the rivers. 



I will give you a detailed account by the next mail of all we saw, 

 and any opinion I may have. Suffice it to say that in my judgment you 

 have a big thing, and with the proper expenditure of a few hundred 

 thousand you will have a property worth a good sum I think you 

 could say m lllons. Hope you had pleasant trip home. We had splen- 

 did health all the way, and nothing to complain of except that our 

 " grub " was short a few times. Truly yours, 



J. P. TAYLOR. 



Under date of May 13, Mr. Taylor wrote again to his em- 

 ployer as follows: 



Having traveled from southwest to northeast through the grant, 

 and also across the south and the north ends, we were able to see a great 

 portion of the lands, streams and lakes belonging to the grant. In order 

 to give you an idea of the rivers, lakes, savannas and mountains, I 

 enclose a rough sketch, which will serve to point out the different local- 

 ties and give you a better idea of the country. Although you will at 

 once discover that I am a poor maker of maps, you will understand the 

 design and overlook my shortcomings. 



The Patuca, the largest of any of the rivers, winds its way through 

 the grant from the southwest to the northeast, thus flowing more than 

 150 miles (all of which is navigable) through the lands of the Honduras 

 Company. Of course it will require some work in the way of clean- 

 ing out snags. In one place there are some rocks, and one or two 

 shoals will need channeling a little, but none of the work will be costly, 

 and it will require but little time to have it in good condition for boats. 



The grant being divided by the Patuca river, we have on the east, or 

 or rather on the southeast, a vast scope of savanna or ocotal, broken 



