TOWNS, PRODUCTIVE INDUSTRY, ETC. 
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considerable height, from whose summits the caps of Masahua, 
Petapa, and the dividing ridge between the eastern boundaries 
of the Isthmus and Chiapas, are often visible. 
With the exception of Espiritu Santo, Santa Maria Petapa is 
the oldest Spanish settlement on the Isthmus, and is prettily 
located on a plain, bounded on the north and west by an am- 
phitheatre of lofty mountains. This town, which once contained 
a population of 5000, and embraced within its limits both El 
Bakrio and Santo Domingo, is now reduced to a little more than 
1300, who raise maize, frijoles, indigo, calabashes, limes, &c. 
The church, still in a very perfect state, is said to be upwards 
of 300 years old. This is a rectangular building, about 200 feet 
by 50, with a low dome, and constructed after the style of the 
sixteenth century. It contains a tolerable organ and some very 
good paintings, among which that of the " Annunciation" and 
the " Prayer in the Garden" are best. The walls are indifferently 
painted in stucco, and the images present some rude specimens 
of carving. Within the last half century, Petapa has dwindled 
to an insignificant village ; and a few agricultural products, and 
some manufactured articles, as shoes and buckskins, constitute 
the only resources of the people. 
Santo Domingo, a mile and a half westerly from Petapa, once 
constituted a part of the old city ; at present it contains 900 
inhabitants, who annually produce a considerable quantity of 
vanilla, indigo, and sarsaparilla. The chief attractive features 
of this vicinity are the mountain caves, which merit some atten- 
tion, from their connection with the past history of the indige- 
nous people. The entrance to the principal cave, called that of 
Santo Domingo, is elevated about 700 feet above the base of a 
limestone mountain, a mile north from the village, and is acces- 
sible only by a steep path. The mouth to this cave has an arch 
spanning 80 feet by 20 in height, and the plane of its floor cuts 
the horizon at an angle of thirty degrees, until reaching a depth 
of 100 feet below the entrance. At the foot of this slope is a 
magnificent apartment some 300 feet in diameter and 50 in 
height, with its sides ornamented with stalactites and stalagmites 
of every conceivable form and variety. The floor is quite level ; 
and at one extremity is a sparkling pool of clear, cold water. 
