TOPOGEAPHY OF NICARAGUA. 287 



its whole extent tlie great valley of the Rio Segovia has only one town, Ocotal, capital 

 of the department of Segovia. The first Segovia, founded in 1524, soon became a 

 flourishing place as a centre of the gold washings in all the surrounding valleys, 

 but it was destroyed in 1854 by Morgan, most famous of all the West Indian buc- 

 caneers. Rebuilt in a more protected position, it was again attacked by the Mos- 

 quitos corsairs, and had to be shifted a third and a fourth time to sites farther and 

 farther removed from the coast. 



The present "Segovia," better known by the name of Ocotal, stands at an 

 altitude of over 2,000 feet on the left bank of the Wanks (Coco), in a mineral dis- 

 trict abounding in gold, silver, copper, iron and tin. Further down, nothing is 

 met except a few Indian camping-grounds, one of which, Kooni, near the estuary 

 at Cape Gracias-à-Dios, was formerly the residence of a Sambo " king." 



The upper valley is somewhat more settled than that of the Wanks. Mata- 

 galpa, capital of the department of like name, has the advantage of easy access to 

 Lake Nicaragua, although its waters drain to the Atlantic. It is a thriving place, 

 surrounded by rapidly-spreading coffee plantations. 



Jiiiotega, on the opposite side of an intervening ridge, is also a prosperous town, 

 whose cultivated lands are steadily encroaching on the neighbouring pine forests. 

 The uplands of this region are also rich in the precious metals, and near the Indian 

 village of Scbaco are seen numerous galleries, whence the natives drew large 

 quantities of gold. The auriferous sands of Friiicipolca have also attracted many 

 immigrants from the Zamba territory. 



Acoyapa, or San Sebastian, capital of the department of Chontales, stands on 

 the site of a ?ormerly populous city, but is itself a mere village near the east shore 

 of Lake Nicaragua, where it possesses the port of San Uhaldo. In the same dis- 

 trict, but farther north at the foot of the Sierra Amerrique, stands the town of 

 Juigalpa — in Aztec, the " Great City " — which appears to have been a large centre 

 of population, to judge, at least, from the numerous ruins, the disinterred idols, and 

 still undeciphered inscriptions covering the surrounding rocks. 



Libertad, on the opposite or Atlantic side of the sierra, is the capital of a pro- 

 ductive mining district, but the excessive moisture renders its climate highly 

 insalubrious. Farther east the basin -of the Blewfields is almost uninhabited as 

 far as the great lagoon of like name. Here stands the village of Bleii]fields, a 

 former nest of pirates, and residence of the Mosquitos chief, who rakes the redun- 

 dant Anglo-Spanish title of ''Hey-King." This potentate, formerly protected by 

 Great Britain, but now a pensioner of Nicaragua, administers all the villages of 

 the Mosquitos Cuast for a space of about 150 miles between the Ilueso and Rama 

 Rivers north and south. 



Blewflelds is also the centre of the Protestant missions and English schools 

 along the seaboard. It is surrounded by extensive banana and other plantations, 

 and since 1883 it has developed a considerable trade in cocoanuts, pineajDples, 

 oranges, and other fruits with New Orleans. 



The shores of the Pearl Lagoon as well as the neighbouring Corn Islands have 

 also become busy agricultural centres. Oysters abound along the coast lagoons. 



