ECONOMIC CONDITION OF NICAEAGUA. 289 



rapidly disappear, carrying with them all the impurities of the soil, while the 

 exhalations are continually dissipated by the prevailing north-east trade winds. 



The absence of a port at Greytown has obliged the promoters of the Xicara- 

 guan interoceanic canal to construct an artificial harbour on the north-west side 

 of the delta. A jetty projecting 1,440 yards seawards has enabled the stream to 

 sweep away the sands and gradually scour the channel to a depth of seven or eight 

 feet. A few structures on the beach mark the site of the future " Cit}^ of America," 

 solemnly founded on January 1, 1890. Xorth of this place, the best roadstead is 

 at Monkey Point between the Blewfields and Rama rivers, and it was here that 

 Bedford Pim proposed to establish the Atlantic terminus of his transcontinental 

 railway, crossing the waterparting at a height of 760 feet. The promoters of the 

 canal are now connecting the Rama valley with the harbour of San Juan. They 

 will thus ha ve the advantage of two seaports with an intervening territory suitable 

 for European colonisation. 



Economic Condition of Nicaragua. 



Although sparsely peopled relatively to the vast spaces capable of settlement, 

 Nicaragua, like the sister states, is steadily increasing in population, which 

 advanced from nearly 132,000 in 1778 to 160,000 in 1813. Since then, despite 

 civil strife and invasions, progress has been even more rapid, the returns for 1846 

 showing 257,000, while the total population was estimated in 1890 at 375,000, or 

 nearly six to the square mile. The birth-rate is at present on an average double 

 that of the mortalit^^ 



The chief products of Nicaragua are agricultural, and these might be indefinitely 

 increased by bringing the vacant lands under tillage. Coffee, which forms the 

 staple of the export trade, comes almost exclusively from the province of Granada. 

 Next in importance is caoutchouc, collected, not from cultivated plants, but from 

 forest growths felled by the Caribs of the Atlantic coastlands. Bananas are yearly 

 becoming more abundant, thanks to the increasing demand in the United States. 

 The Nicaraguan planters also export cacao and sugar, but have almost ceased to 

 cultivate indigo, driven from the markets b}' the new chemical dyes, 



A great resource of the republic are horned cattle, exported both to Costa Rica 

 and Honduras. Many million head might be raised on the grassy plateaux of 

 Chontales, where the herds number at present scarcely more than 1,200,000. 



Nicaragua also possesses considerable mineral wealth, though mining operations 

 are still mostly carried ofi in a primitive way. The best- worked mines are those of 

 Chontales, which have long been owned by English proprietors. The gold washings 

 of the streams flowing to the Atlantic are almost entirely in the hands of the 

 Indians and Sambos of the coastlands. Mining, such as it is, is almost the only 

 local industry, and all manufactured wares, except some coarse textiles and furni- 

 ture, are imported from Europe or the States. The chief products of the native 

 craftsmen are the earthenware of Somotillo, the hammocks of Subtiaba and Masaya, 

 and the calabashes of Rivas embellished with designs in relief. 



Foreign trade is scarcely developed, amounting to scarcely more than £2 per 

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