Chap. VIII. THE AQUILUCHO. 121 
phyry. With the pyrites gold seems to be really associated 
here in a considerable proportion, as the Indians bring 
sometimes grains of gold in quills for sale to Juigalpa. 
The director of the mine, however, was unable to distin- 
guish between the gold and the pyrites, and, of course, 
cannot be supposed to have understood any method of 
extracting the precious metal. The rocks of this region 
are all trachytic and phonolitic porphyries, with frequent 
inclusions of opal and of various minerals of the Zeolite 
family. A little hill in the immediate vicinity of the town 
is composed of a beautiful light-green porphyry. 
Opals have lost much of their interest and value since 
they can be produced by art. But, nevertheless, it may 
be worth while to state that it is not in Honduras alone 
that they are found in Central America. In Nicaragua, 
they occur at Chontales and Matagalpa, and the Cerro del 
Diamante, near the little town of Teustepet, as well as the 
Cerro de Martinez, east of Acoyapa, have been indicated 
to me as the principal localities for these precious stones. 
From Juigalpa to Acoyapa the road continues between 
the same two parallel chains, as in the tract from Masapa 
to Juigalpa. On this part of our way I found a feather 
from the wing of a bird of extraordinary size, the quill 
being thicker than that of a swan. I was told that it was 
the feather of a large bird of prey called the Aquilucho, 
living in the highest mountains of this region, and so power- 
ful that it carries away young sheep and the largest 
monkeys to its nest. A reliable authority at Acoyapa, 
whom I questioned on the subject, corroborated these state- 
ments, adding that the Aquilucho is even in the habit 
of killing calves. The bird must be either a condor, or — 
what appears more likely — a large harpyia. 
As we approached nearer to Acoyapa, the transversal 
