94: 
HYDEOGEAPHIC EEPOETS. 
more than a league through a forest of pines, over a sharp, sin- 
uous ridge, formed of clay-slate and limestone rock, intersected 
by veins of quartz and felspar. Beyond this, the vegetation is 
more varied, and the intervening valleys rich with trees of every 
description, among which are the ash and the cypress. 
Between La Cofradia and El Ocotal, the road is extremely 
difficult, and winds over a succession of steep hills and through 
deep gorges, in which occur granite, mingled with crystals of 
quartz, and the slate so common on the Isthmus. Here also 
the aspect of the forests is different, and the vegetation (arising 
from the richness of the soil, traversed by frequent small 
streams) more profuse and, if possible, more varied than before. 
On this part of the route, the india-rubber tree is very abun- 
dant. Rising to the Cerro Jacal de Ocotal is a magnificent 
grove of pines or ocotes, which extend for some distance, and 
give name to the place. Here is found claystone, sandstone, 
sand, porphyry, and jasper ; and further beyond, in the neigh- 
borhood of El Chocolate, the same geological characteristics, with 
the addition of argillaceous stone, ferruginous clay and jasper, 
resting upon slate. 
Along the banks of the Milagro, within a mile of Santa Ma- 
ria Chimalapa, the land is lower, and covered with plantations 
of maize and tobacco, the stalks of the former standing, not un- 
frequently, fourteen feet high, and the ground yielding annually 
two crops. Of the richness of the soil in the river-bottoms, it- 
is difficult to find terms which might convey an adequate idea. 
Yet the inhabitants are deplorably ignorant, and cultivate only 
the cleared portions of the land, where the maize and tobacco 
(for the sake of economizing room) are planted in the same field ; 
but even under these circumstances, the exportations to other 
towns, as El Barrio, Petapa, &c, are very considerable; while 
the cotton raised here, though small in point of quantity, is not 
inferior to that of Louisiana or Mississippi. 
At Santa Maria Chimalapa the ixtle is by far the finest on 
the Isthmus, and the yield very great. Much attention is also 
paid to the raising of oranges, which form an important part of 
the trade of the town. These, with a small quantity of cacao, 
constitute the chief products. On both sides of the Rio del 
