TOPOGRAPHY OF COSTA PICA. 307 



(725 feet), so named in 1578 by its Navarrese founder from liis native A'illage 

 near Pampeluna, but now officially changed to Esparta. Another station higher 

 up (2,400 feet) has similarly taken the name of Atenas [Athens), and three miles 

 farther on stands La Garita, on the edge of the plateau, whence a view is com- 

 manded of the plains watered by the Rio Grande. Here have been opened the 

 most productive gold and silver mines of the republic, which are said to have 

 yielded an annual output of £40,000 since the year 1821. The gold is coined at 

 the San José mint. 



Alajuela, the " Jewel " (3,000 feet), dates from the end of the last century, but 

 has already outstripped some of its older rivals, thanks to the fertility of its 

 volcanic soil. It is the capital of a province which ranks next to that of San 

 José for population. Here are also the thriving towns of Grecia and San Ramon. 



Heredia, east of Alajuela, lies at the foot of the Barba volcano, near the 

 Desengaiio Pass (6,000 feet), leading by a difficult route down to the San Juan 

 valley. It is the Ciihujuqui of the Indians, one of the oldest places in the state. 



San José, the present capital, was a mere hamlet known by the name of La 

 Villita at the middle of the last century. But it enjoyed the advantage of a 

 more central position than Cartugo, being admirably situated in the middle 

 of the plateau, 3,750 feet above sea-level. On the cessation of Spanish rule it was 

 chosen as the seat of government, and here have been founded the chief learned 

 and literary institutions of the country — university, normal school, museum, 

 meteorological observatory. Electricity was introduced in 1887, and San José is 

 now connected by rail with the Atlantic seaboard. 



Cartago, formerly the capital, was founded in 1564 by Vasquez de Coronado, 

 and is the oldest of still- existing settlements in the country. It was several times 

 attacked by the buccaneers, partly ruined by the eruption of Irazu in 1723, and 

 levelled to the ground by the earthquake of 1841. One of the stations on the 

 railway connecting Cartago with the port of Limon on the Atlantic takes the 

 name of Angosfara from the " narrows " of the Rio Reventazon. This place is 

 known in Europe in connection with the disastrous failure of a German agricul- 

 tural colony founded in the district. 



Limon, last of the chain of settlements which follow across the Costa Rican 

 isthmus, is of recent foundation. Despite the advantages of its harbour, the best 

 on the Atlantic side of the republic, no seaport could be established here until 

 access was given to the plateau by practicable routes. Thanks to the railway, 

 Limon has suddenly developed a foreign trade equal to that of Puntarenas. It not 

 only exports the coffee raised on the plateau, but also forwards to the United States 

 vast quantities of bananas from the new plantations in the neighbouring district. 



The construction of the railway has necessitated the addition of several other 

 important works, such as viaducts and embankments across the swamps and 

 channels on the coast. Such works were needed, especially near Moin, where a 

 contraband trade was formerly carried on in English goods. 



South of Limon, the only civilised Costa Rican settlement on the Atlantic slope 

 is San Bernardo, in the territory of the Talamancas, near the Puerto Viejo. But, 



