JOURNEY TO GUATEMALA. 



131 



joins the base of the range, is crowned by a succession of 

 volcanoes. Of these, the most remarkable are Amatitan, 

 Isalco, Cosiguina, and another called the water volcano, 

 from the circumstance of its emitting torrents of water 

 instead of fire. The latter is said to be the loftiest of the 

 volcanoes, its summit being 13,000 feet above the level of 

 the sea. There are a vast number of others of less note. 

 They are supposed to be the great causes of the earth- 

 quakes in Central America ; yet the country in their vi- 

 cinity is more thickly inhabited than elsewhere. Omote- 

 peque is the only inhabited island in the lake of Nicara- 

 gua, and is at the same time the only one in the lake in 

 which a volcano is found. 



One of the great advantages of this country, is that of 

 enjoying a climate peculiar to itself; a mild, temperate, 

 and delicious climate, which has none of the varieties of 

 the seasons ; for although the tropical heats are experi- 

 enced in the low lands along the coast, in the rest of the 

 country a perpetual spring prevails, and the earth is 

 clothed with a rich and never-failing verdure. The cause 

 of this temperature is the great elevation of this part of the 

 American continent, which is some five thousand feet 

 above the level of the sea, while the summits of some of 

 the mountains rise to twelve or fourteen thousand feet 

 above that level. In the interior, the variation of the 

 thermometer of Fahrenheit is not more than 15° in the 

 course of the year, the mercury seldom rising above 75° 

 or falling below 60. . The difference between the tempe- 

 rature of the coasts and that of the altos, or highlands, is 

 much greater, and comprises, under the same degree of 

 latitude, the extremes of heat and cold. The climate is 

 also very healthy, except in the immediate vicinity of the 

 coasts and on the banks of the great rivers, where fevers 

 and other diseases are prevalent. 



The seasons are divided into the dry and the rainy : 

 the first, which is called summer, lasts from January to 



