PHYSICAL FEATURES OF GUATEMALA. 



209 



maiden down the crater in order to propitiate the angry demon. It was again 

 active in 1828 and 1833, and since that time abundant vapours have been con- 

 stantly emitted by the crevasses near its summit. 



But the most famous volcanoes in this region are those which dominate the 

 central part of the plateau in the vicinity of the successive capitals of Guatemala. 

 Looking southwards from the pleasant city of Antigua, the eye sweeps over a 



Fig. 89.— Chain of the Fitego Volcano. 

 Scale 1 : 60,000. 



29Yv, 



^-'■'*:^;;-':;>r 



'.% "i - 



■''-/&' '■''it- ft 



--:-î 



^• 





yo°47- 



' West oF Greenwich 90 "^-S' 



. 2,200 Yards. 



14-= 

 429' 





magnificent prospect of cultivated plains, w^here the horizon is bounded on both 

 sides by the harmonious profile of the mountain ranges, towering 6,000 feet above 

 the surrounding plateau. On one side is the chain terminating in the Fuego, 

 or "Fire," on the other the Agua, or "Water," volcano. The eastern sierra, 

 where one crater is still active, is itself merel}^ an elevated ridge above which 

 rise nine or ten eruptive cones, all disposed in the direction from north to south. 

 The northern craters, which are all extinct and overgrown with vegetation, 

 47 



