236 



MEXICO, CENTRAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. 



of San Gil, stood the great city of Nito, which was captured by Cortes' lieutenant, 

 Olid, and which he wished to make the capital of an independent state. The 

 eastern headland, at the issue of the Rio Dulce on the margin of the lake, is 

 crowned bv the citadel of Sait Felipe, one of the most unhealthy places on the 

 seaboard. It has accordingly been chosen by the Government as a state prison. 



Coban, capital of Alta Vera Paz, stands 4,3S0 feet above the sea in the 

 healthiest and one of the most fertile districts of Guatemala. It is a flourishing 

 place, with an increasing population of over 18,000, mostly industrious Quekchi 

 Indians, who raise considerable crops of m lize and beans. Coffee, cinchona, 

 and the wax plant {murica cenfera) are also successfully cultivated. The 

 neighbouring rocks are pierced by numerous caves, and the whole region may be 

 eaid to rest on limestone vaults, the most remarkable of which is that of San 



Fig. 99. — Lake Peten. 

 Scale 1 : 720,000. 



^r^ 



nr 





/"5l oF breenwich 



83°40' 



12 Miles 



Agodin Lanqnin, where a little affluent of the Polochic has its source. A good 

 carriage-road running south-east and east through the villages of Tactic, TaiaaJtu, 

 Tueuni, and Telenian, leads to the riverain port of Faiizos, where the local produce 

 is forwarded by a small steamer down the Polochic to the Golfo Dulce. No trace 

 now remains of the Nueva Sevilla, founded in 1544 near the mouth of the Polochic ; 

 but in 1825 the English established in the district the colony of Ahhotsi'ille [Boca 

 Nueva), which Avas not more successful than its Spanish predecessor. 



Liherlad, capital of the department of Peten, better known by its Indian name 

 of Sacluc, lies on an affluent of the Pasion, a main branch of the Usumacinta. 

 The few inhabitants of the surrounding savannas are occupied chiefly in stock- 

 breeding. Excellent pasturage is afforded by the whole of this lake-studded 

 region stretching northwards in the direction of Yucatan. An island in the 



