GUATEMALA. 
14 
so hot as a summer in New England cities, and not so 
cold as to check a most luxuriant vegetable growth, the 
traveller has an alternation of spring and summer as he 
changes his level, irrespective of the astronomical year. 
Four hundred miles of Atlantic coast-line, dotted with 
river-mouths, bays, and ports; sixty miles on the Pacific 
side, in the secure Gulf of Fonseca, — seem to provide 
ample commercial advantages; and to make these of use 
are the following resources: vast plains in Comayagua 
and Olancho, covered with excellent grass, pasture large 
herds of cattle, thousands of which are shipped each 
year to Cuba. 1 The forests, which occupy much of the 
Atlantic coast-region and the lower mountain-slopes 
abound in mahogany, rosewood, cedar (. Bursera ), logwood 
(.Hcematoxylon campecheanum ), brazil-wood (Ccesalpinia 
Braziliensis ), sarsaparilla ( Smilax ), and other marketable 
products ; the principal timber regions being on the rivers 
Ulua, Aguan, Negro, and Patina, — all on the Atlantic 
side. In mineral wealth Honduras easily outranks all her 
sister republics. Silver ores are exceedingly abundant, 
chiefly on the Pacific slopes; and among them are chlorides 
of remarkable richness. Gold washings occur in Olancho, 
and are now worked by several foreign companies. Cop¬ 
per deposits are often mingled with silver; iron exists as 
magnetite, — sometimes so pure that it may be worked 
without smelting ; antimony, tin, and zinc also have been 
reported. Beds of lignite are found in the Department of 
Gracias; and here too are the Hondurenan opals. Fruits 
of many kinds are now grown in the neighborhood of 
Puerto Cortez, such as bananas, plantains, coconuts, 
This business is declining, owing to the inferior cattle produced in 
Florida and shipped at a cheaper rate. 
