212 



Dor. No. '5. 



year shipped to California. It may be cultivated to any desirable extent f 

 and of a very superior quality. That of San Salvador is said to be equal 

 to the best Havana for cigars. 



Maize flourishes hixuriantlyj and three crops may be raised on the- 

 same ground annually. It is essentially the staff of I fe ^' in all Central 

 America^ being the material of which the eternal tortilla is composed. The 

 green stalks, sacate, " con^^titnie about the only fodder for horses and 

 catde in the country, and is supplied daily in all the principal towns. The 

 abundance of this grain may be inferred imm the fact that ^fanega of Leon 

 (equivalent to about five bushels English) of shelled corn commands in 

 the capital but seventy-five cents. 



Wheat and all other cereal grain s^ as well as the fruits of temperate 

 climates, flourish in the elevated districts of Segovia, in the northern part 

 of the republic, bordering upon Honduras; where^ it is said, except in the 

 absence of snow, little difference is to be observed, in respect to climate;, 

 from the central parts of the United States. 



Rice is abundant in Nicaragua, is extensively used, and, like maizcy 

 may be easily cultivated to any extent desirable. It is sold at from $1 56 

 to $2 per cwt. 



In short, nearly all the edibles and fruits of the tropics are produced 

 naturally or may be cultivated in great perfection. Plantains, bananas,, 

 beans, chile, tomatoes, bread fruit, ai?rowroot, okro, citrons, oranges, limes^ 

 lemons, pine apples, (the delicious white Guayaquil, as w^ell as the yellow 

 variety,) mamays, anonas, guavas, cocoa-nuts, and a hundred other vari- 

 eties of plants and fruits. x\mong the vegetable productions of commerce 

 may be mentioned sarsaparilla, anots, aloes, ipecacuanha, ginger, vanilla^ 

 Peruvian bark, (quiniiie,) cowhage, copal, gum arable, capevi, caoutchouc^ 

 dragon's blood, and vanglo or oil plant. . Among valuable trees: mahog- 

 any, logwood, Brazil wood, ljgnumvita3, fustic, yellow sarders, pine, (ori 

 the heights,) dragon's blood tree, silk-cotton tree, oak, copal tree, cedar^ 

 buttonwood, iron wood, rosewood, Nicaragua- wood, calebask, etc., etc. 

 ^H)f these," says Dunlap, '-^ Brazil wood, cedar, and mahogany are found 

 in the forests in what may be termed inexhaustible quanfities.'^ The 

 cedar is a large tree, like the red cedar of the north in nothing except color 

 and durability, and in solidity and other respects closely resembling the 

 black walnut. Five or six cargoes of Brazil wood are exported from 

 Realejo yearly, and something more from San Juan. A quantity of cedar 

 plank is also exported to South America. 



The raising of catde and the production of cheese is a most important 

 item in the actual resources of Nicaragua. The cheese is for common 

 consumption, and great quantiues are used. Large droves of cattle are ^ 

 annually sent to the other States, where they command very fair prices. 

 About thirty-five or forty thousand hides are also exported annually, {^ee 

 Appendix.) ' 



MINERAL RESOURCES. 



The mineral resources of Nicaragua are also immense j gold, silver;, 

 copper, lead, and iron may be found in considerable quantities in various 

 parts, but more particularly in Segovia, which district is probably not 

 exceeded in its mineral wealth by any equal portion of the continent. 

 The working of the mines has of course vastly fallen ofi: from the time of 



