236 MEXICO, CENTRAL AMEEICA, WEST INDIES. 



good haven. It lies far to the south, and is sheltered by Zapatera Island from 

 the trade winds. 



The department of Granada is by far the most densely j)eopled in the state, 

 and here several important towns and communes are scattered over the fertile 

 plains. The most flourishing place is Masaya, which has a population of some 

 15,000 mestizoes. It stands north-west of Granada on the plateau commanded on 

 the west by the volcano of like name, not far from the lovely Nindiri, a true 

 ** garden of the Hesperides." The surrounding farmers and peasantry are a 

 prosperous and industrious people, engaged in various crafts, such as weaving, 

 pottery, leather dressing, saddlery, and producing a thousand objects of local 

 consumption^ 



Jinofepe, south-west of Masaya, stands at an elevation of 2,520 feet amid 

 productive coffee plantations, while Nandaiiné, in a rich valley sloping towards 

 the bay of Charco Muerto, is surrounded by thriving cacao farms ; in the neigh- 

 bourhood is the famous Yal Menier domain, the produce of which commands too 

 high a price to serve for the preparation of ordinary chocolate. About five miles 

 west of !N^andaimé are the ruins of Nandaimé Viejo, supposed to have been des- 

 troyed by an earthquake. 



Rivas, standing at the narrowest part of the isthmus between Lake Nicaragua 

 and the Pacific, might claim to be regarded as the " metropolis " of the republic. 

 Here resided the Niquiran chief, Nicarao, who, according to most of the chroni- 

 clers, gave his name to the state ; here began the work of conversion and of con- 

 quest, and here Bobadilla baptized over 29,000 persons in the space of nine days. 

 Yet no Spanish settlement has been made in this favoured district, and the Indian 

 village of Nicarao-calli was not raised to the rank of a town till the year 1720, 

 greatly to the disgust of its rival, Granada. It long bore the name of " Nicaragua," 

 but since the beginning of the present century that of Rivas has prevailed. The 

 town is continued for miles through a liighly-productive district by the scattered 

 villages of Ohrage, Potosi, Buenayre, while eastwards it descends to its port of San 

 Jorge on Lake Nicaragua. 



On the Pacific coast the hamlets of Brito and San Juan del Sur {Concordia) are 

 names associated with the engineering projects for piercing the isthmus by a 

 navigable canal, and sooner or later the opening of this interoceanic highway will 

 confer on Brito the celebrity now enjoyed by Suez and Panama ; yet its harbour, 

 scarcely 70 acres in extent, is so exposed that it will have to be sheltered by costly 

 breakwaters. On the other hand the magnificent haven of Salinas Bay, common 

 to Nicaragua and Costa Pica, has no settlements on its shores, and is entirely 

 neglected except for the exploitation of the Bolauos salt-pans. The haven is an 

 almost circular basin, over 20 square miles in extent, sheltered from the surf and 

 ranging in depth from 40 to 80 feet. A cutting across an intervening sandy 

 isthmus might connect it with the equally safe bay of Santa Elena. 



Compared with the western seaboard, the Atlantic coastlands might almost be 

 called uninhabited, all the civilised populations being concentrated on the uplands 

 near the waterpartir.g between the lacustrine and Atlantic basins. Throughout 



