810 'J'li, Ani'iiriin (i i ol iKjixi . Novrmlj.-r. IWtr 
out of llu' plui-i'. |{i>tli i-ifioiis. ill llicir iioitlu'ii^tcrly c-xUMision, 
ol)li<iuely Insect two ••lodes." respectively eiirlit and twenty-one 
feet wide, of westwardly strike, dipiiinu; at an aniile of about 
'i\')° (nu'jinetic) north, and containin^r iroM. sulphides, and arse- 
nate's in a uauiiue of fraiinicnts of (piart/.. talco-slates, chlorite 
slates, iron-clay slates, etc.: the walls are diorite and diahase. 
AVxnit one hundred miles to the northeast waid is a deposit of 
colored niarliles. intersecte(l by the Kio Se<i'ovia. and aliout the 
same distance eastwaril and fifteen miles north of the Indian vil- 
laire of Wvlo-was (on the Uio Tunula). is the southeastern end of 
the rich i^old placers of Princapulka. terminated by a small 
cerro of ('arhonifenuis limestone"'. 
On the Pacific ocean side of the dividiui: raiiuc of Cordilleras 
in Xicarauua. the niountaiiis terminate in a lar<re mesa, numed 
Totumbla. whose summit area eml>races alxmt nine s(|uare miles: 
and across this, from north to south, is a shallow valley about 
two miles wide on which are exposed at several places large masses 
of rock having smooth i-ouuded surfaces, and measuring fifty to 
two hundred feet long. Some of these masses are polislu'd. 
Near the edge of this valley are numerous Hat. striated boulders 
and loose striated rocks of local origin. The most numerous 
striae are parallel with the -general direction of the valley. The 
locality of this mesa is aliout hit. 12° 42' N. and long. S5° 55' 
AV. Its altitude above the Pacific ocean is :).2»>u feet. It is com- 
posed of gneiss and other rocks of the Kozoic series — all meta- 
morphosed. On the margin of the summit-|ilaiie of this mesa 
are many peaks fifty to two hundred feet higher than that plane 
and connected nearlv coutinuouslv Itv high ridges. On the inner 
*Tlie Ltenerally superficial e.xainiuation of tlii.s ^le.sa 'fiircos. the val- 
leys at its sides aud on its top, and the deep canons, was not easily made. 
This locality is fully one hundred miles from any liuman residence ami 
in a dense, iiatldess, iiioimtainous forest. In the valleys the vines and 
hushes were often so thick as to require cuttinii', step liy step. Conse- 
(piently we could take hut very few tools, ropes, instniinents, etc , witli 
us, ami all our provisions were carried on tlie backs of Indians. The 
scenery (wlien twice only we found mountain peaks witii forests so 
tliin that we could net a long- wide vistai is almost incomparably beauti- 
ful. In some places on the sides of the cerros and in the lower valleys, 
groves of tall, large mahogany, sapote, nispero, Spanish cedars, walnuts, 
and liquidamhar trees, standing as living columns encircled with vines, 
are covered Avith their own bright foliage, and with vines, mosses, and 
epiphyllous flowers; while at other places orchids and ferns and flower- 
ing jdants or flushes, in great variety are numerous and some of them 
verv lartre. 
