TOPOGRAPHY OF GUATEMALA. 



233 



of the Rio Micliatoya, was formerl)^ a large hacienda belonging to the Dominican 

 friars, whose estate has become a vast plantation. During the flourishing days of 

 the cochineal industry Amatitlan was a large place, with a population of 13,000 in 

 1865. But the ruin of the old dyeing processes was fatal to the prosperity of the 

 district. 



Escuintla, the ancient Itzcuintlan of the Nahuas, is the chief station between 

 Amatitlan and the sea. This place, which before the Spanish conquest was a capital 

 of the Pipil nation, lies quite within the hot zone at an altitude of not more 

 than 1,450 feet above sea level. The well- watered volcanic district dominated 

 by the Agua volcano is covered with an exubirant tropical vegetation, and before 



Fig. 98. — Thickly -Inhabited Region of Guatemala. 

 Scale 1 : 3,500,000. 





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• Vl xcq, ^GUATrMALA , / J/^^/=^ 



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14° 



60 Miles. 



the opening of the railway the wealthy citizens of Guatemala usually resorted 

 during the winter months from December to February to Escuiutla, which enjoys 

 a milder climate than that of the plateaux. But its reputation as a rural retreat 

 has been impaired by the occasional outbursts of malignant fevers. In the same 

 climatic and vegetable zone, and some 25 miles farther west, lies the large town of 

 Santa Lucia Coziunalhuapa, which has become famous for the discovery of statues 

 and curious bas-reliefs representing the '"King of the Vultures" {^arcoramphuH 

 papa), in which the local Nahua artists display a talent at least equal to that of 

 the Aztec and Maya sculptors, San Jose, terminal station of the railway on the 

 Pacific, boasts of an iron pier projecting 1,000 fjet seawards and provided with 



