8 THE NAUTILUS. 



the clays and soils, and in connection with the internal heat and 

 moisture and external atmospheric conditions, form the basis of all 

 organic life, including man, Mr. Smith's list and arrangement may 

 be desirable to those who take a broad view and are seeking a solu- 

 tion of the great problems of life. His list and arrangement follows : 

 A — Eruptive Rocks. 



1. Diorite. 3. Rhyolite. 



2. Porphyrite. 4. Andesite. 

 B — Tuff and Diatomaceous Earth. 



SHELL-COLLECTING ON THE MOSQUITO COAST OF NICARAGUA. 



That part of the Central American coast stretching from the Car- 

 ribean Sea inland for about 40 or 50 miles and from the Wawa 

 River and Sisin Creek on the north to the Rama River on the south 

 has, until very recently, been known as the Mosquito Coast. In 

 former times it was one of the regular haunts of those historic gentle- 

 men whose lives have given us some thrilling tales of the old Spanish 

 Main, and who had so much regard for the things of others that they 

 soon became their own. The well-primed flint-lock and the handy 

 machette were sometimes brought into play and made said transfers 

 of property more expeditious. 



Bluefields, the metropolis of the Mosquito Coast, with its cosmo- 

 politan, variegated population and babel of tongues, owes its'name to 

 Blauveldt, one of those old sea-dogs. From 1655 to 1850 this land 

 enjoyed autonomy under Great Britain, being ruled by native kings. 

 But in 1850 under the terms of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty and of 

 the treaty of Managua of 1860 the suzerainty was transferred to 

 Nicaragua. The Indians enjoyed practical independence under their 

 native king until 1895, when Nicaragua troops took actual possession 



