VOLCANO OF MASAY A. 9 



In the mean time my guide arrived, who, to my great 

 satisfaction, was no less a personage than the alcalde 

 himself. The arrangements were soon made, and I was 

 to join him the next morning at his house in Nindiri. I 

 gave my mules and Nicolas a day's rest, and started on 

 Don Sabino's horse, with a boy to act as guide and to 

 carry a pair of alforgas with provisions. In half an hour 

 I reached Nindiri, having met more people than on my 

 whole road from San Jose to Nicaragua. The alcalde 

 was ready, and in company with an assistant, who carried 

 a pair of alforgas with provisions and a calabash of water, 

 all mounted, we set out. At the distance of half a league 

 we left the main road, and turned off on a small path in 

 the woods on the left. We emerged from this into an 

 open field covered with lava, extending to the base of the 

 volcano in front and on each side as far as I could see, 

 black, several feet deep, and in some places lying in 

 high ridges. A faint track was beaten by cattle over 

 this plain of lava. In front were two volcanoes, from 

 both of which streams of lava had run down the sides 

 into the plain. That directly in front my guide said was 

 the Volcano of Masaya. In that on the right, and far- 

 thest from us, the crater was broken, and the great 

 chasm inside was visible. This he said was called Ven- 

 tero, a name I never heard before, and that it was in- 

 accessible. Riding toward that in front, and crossing 

 the field of lava, we reached the foot of the volcano. 

 Here the grass was high, but the ground was rough and 

 uneven, being covered with decomposed lava* "We as- 

 cended on horseback until it became too steep for the 

 horses to carry us, and then dismounted, tied them to a 

 bush, and continued on foot. I was already uneasy as 

 to my guides' knowledge of localities, and soon found 

 that they were unwilling or unable to endure much fa- 



Vol. IL—B , 



