45 
Chap. III.—B. S.] A THIEF IN EVERY HOUSE. 
and traversed it repeatedly during some of the revolu¬ 
tionary struggles. He was willing, and had great 
powers of endurance, preferring walking to riding, 
and, I believe, thoroughly honest. He knew that I 
had on various times large sums of money with me,— 
sums that would have kept him in a state of inde¬ 
pendence for life,—and he had more than one oppor¬ 
tunity to run away with them, fully knowing that I 
could not follow him to the wilds he might escape 
to; hut he never made the slightest attempt to betray 
my trust; and yet he was a native of Leon, and 
Nicaraguans generally say of that place,— 
“ En Leon, 
Cada casa nn ladron.” 
There is a thief in every house; instead of a skeleton, 
as with us. 
In the woods of the neighbourhood of Leon we 
frequently perceived a most offensive, carrion-like 
smell, which at first was thought to come from some 
dead animal matter, but was speedily traced to the 
flowers of a middle-sized tree, in habit not unlike the 
Caoutchouc (Castilloa elastica, Cerv.). This tree our 
men called u Palanca,” its wood being used, amongst 
other things, for levers or palancas. The leaves were 
oblong, and velvety, and from the growing branches 
developed flowers not unlike in shape and size those 
of tulips. The most remarkable thing was that these 
flowers on first opening were quite green, and free from 
smell, but they gradually changed into a dark purple, 
almost black, and then emitted a most powerful smell, 
quite as, or rather more disagreeable, than that of some 
