274 



The National Geographic Magazine 



the reverse. The native rarely raises 

 a greater crop of corn, beans, and rice 

 than will suffice for his needs until the 

 following crop can be garnered. It is 

 sometimes extremely difficult to obtain 

 bananas, oranges, potatoes, and even corn 

 in Tegucigalpa. 



Very few fields are properly plowed, 

 and the care bestowed on the growing 

 corn, wheat, red beans, or sugar cane 

 amounts almost to nothing. As it is, the 

 ground is often so extremely fertile that 

 the mere insertion of the kernel of corn 

 in the earth gives the desired result, with- 

 out further effort. Great areas of the 

 mountain sides near the summits are 

 cleared by burning down the brush and 

 trees. The seed is planted by dropping it 

 into the hole and covering it up with the 

 foot. The prevalence of clouds and mist 

 high up in the mountains, and the long 

 duration there of the sunlight warmth, 

 together with the richness of the soil, 

 contribute to simplify the labor of farm- 

 ing in Honduras. Corn is the chief ar- 

 ticle of food, the cereal being ground and 

 used in many ways for man and beast. 

 Two crops a year are secured, but with 

 this advantage and the large demand, 

 from the towns there never seems 

 enough maize by half. Maize is grown 

 in every part of Honduras. The same 

 may be said of sugar cane and the red 

 bean (frijole). Tobacco and coffee are 

 raised chiefly in the mountainous dis- 

 tricts of the western and central depart- 

 ments. 



Honduras is the richest of the five Cen- 

 tral American republics with regard to 

 mineral resources. The development of 

 her mines can only be effected, however, 

 by wise and economic methods and the 

 opening of new and cheap transportation 

 lines. 



Throughout Honduras there are vast 

 forests covering the mountains and filling 

 the plains. Nearly all the varieties of 

 pine flourish here, the yellow and long- 

 leaf pitch pine predominating. Verv lit- 

 tle of this timber is being cut or sawed 

 for building purposes, and in order to 



export it in commercial quantities roads 

 and other means of transportation must 

 first be inaugurated. 



Mahogany and cedar flourish near the 

 oceans, and form one of the principal ex- 

 ports. The wood of these trees is ob- 

 tained through government concession 

 rights, generally for a period of years 

 and at stipulated prices per tree. 



In the forests are to be found rubber 

 trees, which in numerous instances have 

 been so recklessly tapped and scarred as 

 to destroy their usefulness entirely. 



Sarsaparilla and vanilla grow in great 

 abundance in these tropical forests, and 

 the product is gathered only by natives, 

 who sell it to the exporting houses at the 

 various ports. 



The pita, called in Mexico ixtile, is a 

 variety of agave, very prolific, and yield- 

 ing fibers varying in quality from the 

 coarsest hemp to the finest flax. It is 

 used in the manufacture of thread, cord- 

 /age, hammocks, paper, etc., and, being 

 hardy and easily cultivated, may be made 

 an important article of export as well as 

 of domestic use. 



The republic of Salvador is the only 

 one of the five Central American repub- 

 lics not having a coast line on the Atlan- 

 tic. It is the smallest and most densely 

 populated of the Central American re- 

 publics, having an area of only 7,255 

 square miles. The frontage on the Pa- 

 cific is 139 miles in length. The physical 

 aspect of Salvador is very varied, but 

 chiefly mountainous. On its northern 

 frontier, and near the boundary line of 

 Honduras, stretches the great mountain 

 chain of the Sierra Madre, or Cordil- 

 leras, many of the peaks of which rise to 

 a height of from 7,000 to 8,000 feet above 

 the level of the sea. 



COSTA RICA 



The population of Costa Rica is nearly 

 all white, and mostly descendants of 

 Spaniards from Galicia. The Indians 

 are not numerous, and are completely dis- 



