264 REACTION OF THE INTERIOR OF THE EARTH 



atid 6000 feet. This appears to be the mean height of 

 the volcanoes of Nicaragua and San Salvador; but towards 

 the north-western extremity of the whole line, not far 

 from the new city of Guatemala, two volcanoes again 

 rise to above 13,000 feet. The maxima therefore fall, 

 according to my attempt at hypsometric classification 

 of volcanoes, into the third group, like Etna and the 

 Peak of Teneriffe; whereas the greater number of 

 elevations, situated between the two extremities of the 

 line, are scarcely 2000 feet higher than Vesuvius. The 

 volcanoes of Mexico, New Granada, and Quito belong 

 to the fifth group, and mostly exceed 16,000 French 

 feet (17,052 English). 



Although in Central America the continent, from the 

 Isthmus of Panama, through Veragua, Costa Rica, and 

 Nicaragua, to the parallel of 11^- N., widens considera- 

 bly, yet, from the great area of the lake of Nicaragua, 

 and the low level of its surface (less than 130 feet above 

 either sea), ( 388 ) there is such a depression of the land 

 that an overflowing current of air from the Caribbean 

 Sea often passes across to the Pacific, causing those 

 north-east storms, dangerous to navigation, which some- 

 times rage uninterruptedly for four or five days. These 

 storms have the remarkable feature of being usually 

 accompanied by an almost cloudless sky. They are 

 termed " Papagayos," and have given this name to the 

 part of the west coast of Nicaragua which is between 

 Brito, or Cabo Desolado, and Punta S. Elena (from 11 

 22' to 10 50' N. lat.) : it is called G-olfo del Papagayo, 

 and, south of the Puerto de San Juan del Sur, encloses 

 the little bays of Salinas and S. Elena. In sailing from 

 Guayaquil to Acapulco, I had an opportunity of observ- 



