NICARAGUA. 



405 



both, however, to say, that, the ice once broken, they 

 did all they could for my comfort ; and, in fact, treated 

 me with distinguished attention. A traveller never 

 forgets the kindness shown him in a strange land, and 

 I never felt so sensible of it as in Central America ; in 

 other countries, with money, a man can command com- 

 forts ; there, whatever his means may be, he is entirely 

 dependant upon individual hospitality. 



The whole of the next morning I devoted to making 

 inquiries on the subject of the canal route. More is 

 known of it in the United States than at Nicaragua. I 

 did not find one man who had been to the port of San 

 Juan, or even who knew Mr. Bailey's terminating point 

 on the Lake of Nicaragua. I was obliged to send for 

 my old guide, and after a noonday dinner started for 

 the lake. The town consisted of a large collection of 

 straggling houses, without a single object of interest. 

 Though the richest state in the confederacy in natural 

 gifts, the population is the most miserable. 



Passing through the suburbs, very soon we entered 

 the woods and rode under a beautiful shade. We met 

 no one. Before reaching the lake we heard the waves 

 breaking upon the shore like the waves of the sea, and 

 when we emerged from the woods the view before us 

 was grand. On one side no land was visible ; a strong 

 north wind was sweeping over the lake, and its surface 

 was violently agitated ; the waves rolled and broke 

 upon the shore with solemn majesty, and opposite, in 

 the centre of the lake, were the islands of Isola and 

 Madeira, with giant volcanoes rising, as if to scale the 

 heavens. The great Volcano of Omotepeque reminded 

 me of Mount Etna, rising, like the pride of Sicily, from 

 the water's edge, a smooth unbroken cone, to the height 

 of nearly six thousand feet. 



