135 



empty into iho Can'hhcaii Sea several miles cast of 'i'mjillo. Its 

 valley lies l)et\vcen ranges of tiiouiitains on the southeast and on 

 the north. The northern range extends in a generally east-west 

 direction near the coast and reaches its highest elevation near the 

 city of La Ceiha where Mts. l'>onita and Cangrejal are claimed to 

 be about 8.000 feet in height. The moisture-laden clouds from the 

 Caribbean lose their water on the windward slopes of this northern 

 coastal range and as a result the rainfall of that portion of the 

 Aguan valley region which lies behind these mountains and above 

 the town of Olanchito is much reduced. The precipitation varies 

 considerably at different points in the valley. At Olanchito it is 

 about 50 to 55 inches annually. Init farther up the river at Co}-oles 

 it is only 35 to 40 inches which is probably the minimum for the 

 valley. Of the total rainfall about 25 percent falls in May and 

 June, 50 percent in October, November and December, and the 

 other 25 percent during January, July, August and September 

 with very little in January and ordinarily none in February, March 

 and April. The rate of evaporation is very high so that, with the 

 exception of that falling during the months of May, June, October, 

 November and December, the rains do but little good. As a result 

 of the low rainfall a part of the valley above Olanchito about 

 25 miles in length and 2 to 7 miles in width is semi-arid and repre- 

 sents a very unique region in Honduras. 



The Aguan River has a good flow of water even in the dry 

 season and in the rainy period overflows its banks and inundates 

 a large amount of bottom land, or vega land as it is called locally. 

 This vega land, which varies considerably in width in different parts 

 of the valley, totals approximately 15,000 acres. It represents re- 

 centl}- deposited alluvial soil made up of the sediments of the 

 Aguan River and its tributaries and is quite fertile. The soil is 

 calcareous in nature, indicating that the walls of the mountains 

 adjacent to the headwaters are evidently chiefly limestone and 

 marl. 



Rising abruptly from the vega land to a height of about sixty 

 feet is a bench or plateau-like area the soil of which is also cal- 

 careous and apparently represents an old alluvial terrace formed 

 by the meandering of this same Aguan River. Near Coyoles the 

 bench is al)out 495 feet above sea level but slopes gently upward 

 toward the bordering mountains. It has an average width of 



