Chap. VIII. CHANGE OF SCENERY..' 127 
Boswas flows to Bluefield ; but whether it is the Bluefield 
river itself, or only one of its tributaries, I was unable to 
learn. Looking over the nearer portion of the table-land^ 
my eyes were arrested by a flat wooded ridge slightly 
elevated above the average level, following the course of 
the river just mentioned. These woods, I was told, con- 
tinue along it down to the sea-shore ; from which statement, 
however, it would be erroneous to conclude that the whole 
country in this direction is covered with forests. The 
greater part of Mosquitia, on the contrary, consists of 
savanas, the woods following the course of the rivers and the 
direction of the elevations only. Where the soil is sandy, 
the woods are formed by scattered pine-trees with groups 
of palmettos. Of this kind of vegetation, however, there 
was no trace in the region I visited on that occasion. Trees 
and shrubs were mostly different from those in the lower 
country of Nicaragua. One of the trees scattered here 
and there over the savana was covered with large rose- 
coloured flowers. If I am not mistaken, it was the Bigno- 
nia leucoxylon, a tree which grows in the low country 
along the Belize river, in British Honduras, and is known 
there by the name of " mayflower." The air of the table- 
land was cool and refreshing, with a gentle breeze from the 
north-east. Here and there in the distance a house or 
hut was seen, while herds of cows and horses were grazing 
in the plain in all directions. 
The change of scenery, on reaching the summit of the 
ascent, had been so complete and so sudden that it 
seemed as if a hundred miles had intervened between 
looking forward and backward. In the latter direction, 
which was that to the south-south-west, the view followed 
the valley through which I had ascended. Mountains of 
considerable elevation are on both sides, the highest being 
