Chap. VII. LA CONCOKDIA. 107 
town of San Juan del Sur — or St. John on the South Sea — 
had sprung up, was, at the time of my visit, without a 
human habitation. It was however decided that the 
steamers from San Francisco should run in here. This, 
then, was the western terminus of the road which, under 
the name of the Nicaragua transit road, was at that time 
in progress of being opened through the woods, and has 
since become famous in the system of American com- 
munication as well as in the history of American specula- 
tions and politics, and in that of Central American 
revolutions and civil wars. At the time of my visit, the 
line of the road had only begun to be marked by a cut 
through the woods, and when I arrived on the shore of the 
bay, three or four men were engaged in erecting a hut of 
branches which might have been called the first house of 
the town of San Juan del Sur, and which, for the night 
I spent at this interesting place, afforded me the necessary 
shelter. Besides this shed, no traces of human activity 
were seen in the bay. The country all around was 
covered with a forest of lofty trees reaching down to high- 
water mark. Between a low growth of mangroves a little 
river empties itself into the bay. The beach, at its mouth, 
was covered with thousands of small shells of snails, which, 
as I came near, all ran away with amusing celerity, each 
of them being inhabited by a diminutive crab that had 
taken possession of it. 
In the roadstead before the bay was a vessel at anchor, 
from which, while I was riding along the beach, a boat 
was sent on shore. From this two gentlemen landed, one 
of whom addressed me in the English language, asking 
where the town of San Juan del Sur was situated. "We 
are in its main street here," I answered, "and there," I 
added, pointing to the shed, " you see the principal hotel." 
