CHAPTER IV. 

 NICOYA. 



On the trail between San Juan del Sur and the Costa Rica line the hills 

 bordering the coast are of the same trap formation as at San Juan,* with a 

 heavy dip to the southwest into the Pacific. The country is rough and broken, 

 the path being difficult even for mules in the dry season. Eleven spurs or hills 

 from five hundred to a thousand feet high are crossed by the toilsome route. At 

 Hostianal on this road, in the bed of the river, appeared numbers of pebbles of 

 argillite, the material of the green stone beads of Ometepec and of many of the 

 gorgets from Costa Rica. On the sea beach beyond they were again quite num- 

 erous. The source of supply must be in these coast mountains, from which the 

 heavy freshets of the wet season wash them down. I was told by Dr. Flint that 

 this mineral occurred on the transit road to Virgin Bay, but I was not able to 

 find it there. 



From the frontier to the village of Sardinal, about sixty miles, the country 

 is fearfully broken toward the sea ; while from the top of the hills a table-land 

 gently falls away to the foot of the volcanoes, so that the drainage even in sight 

 of the Pacific, is away from it to the valley of the Sapoa and the Tempisque. 

 The basalt and trap here lie just beneath a thin layer of soil, which supports a 

 scattered growth of scrub trees and bushes and a scant coating of grass. With 

 the advent of the rains this grass carpets the plain with emerald green. The 

 llanos throughout the year afford pasture ground for horses, cattle, and thousands 

 of deer. Here are seen the partridge, and the quail and meadow lark of the 

 United States. The streams are few in the dry season, but beautifully clear and 

 cool, with well shaded banks, making a delightful contrast with the parched 

 llanos. 



On an exploring trip through this region, Dr. Earl Flint, of Nicaragua, and 

 I made a joint collection for the Smithsonian Institution. The first specimens 

 were obtained at El Jovo, the magnificent hacienda of a distinguished Nicaraguan 

 family, the Hurtados. We made this place a sort of headquarters while in Costa 

 Rica, and were entertained by Don David Hurtado with a cordiality which made 

 us loth to leave his hospitable house. 



Seiior Hurtado presented several specimens. Among them were a small 



* Report by Dr. B. H. "Whitfield, in Report of Surveys for the Nicaragua Canal, page 20. Washington. 1874. 

 10 (73) 



