TOPOGRAPHY OF NICARAGUA. 



285 



forests abounding in Brazil wood {cœsalpinia crispa). The black marshy lands 

 on the east side of the lake take the name oijlcarales from the jicaro, or calabash- 

 tree, which is here the prevailing species, and whose fruit supplies the natives 

 with nearly all their domestic utensils. 



Granada, like Leon, is one of the oldest places in Nicaragua, having been 

 founded in 1523 by Francisco de Cordoba, near the Indian city of Salteha [Jaltcba), 

 now one of its suburbs. The fame of its wealth and of the great fertility of the 

 district more than once attracted the attention of the corsairs, who, in 1665. and 

 ao-ain in 1670, ascended the San Juan and crossed Lake Nicaragua to sack and 



Fio-. 123.— Density of the Population of Honduras and Nicaragua. 

 Scale 1 : 7,500,0no 



Inhabitants per square mile. 



n u 



Under 2. 2 to 10. 



30 to 40. 

 124 Miles. 



40 to 60. GO and upwards. 



burn the city. Some fifteen years afterwards another band of English an.d French 

 buccaneers attacked it from the Pacific side ; but before its capture most of the 

 inhabitants had time to escape with their valuables to the archipelagoes of I^ake 

 Nicaragua. It again suffered during the expedition of the filibuster, William 

 Walker, who set fire to it before abandoning it in 1856. 



Granada lies on the scarp of the plateau on the north-west side of Lake 

 Nicaragua. Its buildings lay no claim to architectural beauty, and it owes its chief 

 importance to its schools, its trade and industries. Several landing-places follow 

 along the neighbouring shore ; but Charco Muerto \s the only town possessing a 



