Guatemala, the land of the quetzal : a sketch

Preface

A BELIEF in the increasing importance of Central America, both geographically and politically, has led the writer of the following pages to collect for his own use and print for the use of others, notes made during three journeys in Guatemala and Honduras. He does not pretend to offer a monograph on Guatemala, nor to add to the general knowledge of Central America ; but remembering the lack of guidance from which he siiiffered in travelling through the country, would in some measure save others from the same inconvenience. He seeks also, with perhaps more ambition, to awaken among Americans greater interest in the much-neglected regions betw^ the Republic of Mexico and the Isthmus of Darie^

A land which was the cradle of civilization continent, and whose recently explored mc-^ most justly claiming the study and adnvoVr geologists in Europe as well as in strangely neglected by the Americ'^s'^riptby the American merchant. Si^ fascinated the public nearly ^ of the United States lo' Guatemala or its cor sands of square between the lo^ Nicaragua.

vi PREFACE.

No country on the northern half of the American continent has a finer climate or more beautiful and varied scenery, or is a more attractive field for the genuine traveller. Valleys rivalling the paradises of the islands of the Pacific ; uplands not unlike the plateau of the Indian Neilgherries ; forests as dense and luxuriant as those of Brazil ; lakes as picturesque as those of Switzerland ; green slopes that might have been taken from the Emerald Isle ; glens like the Trossachs ; desert wastes that recall the Sahara ; volcanoes like ^tna ; and a population as various as in that land whence comes the Indian name, — all these features make but the incomplete outline of the Guatemaltecan picture. Then there is that charming freedom from conventionality which permits a costume for comfort rather than for fashion, accoutrements for convenience rather than for show. No dange/rous beast or savage man attempts the traveller's life, iio lurking danger or insidious pestilence is in his path. The hair-breadth escapes, more interesting to the reader than pleasant to the explorer, are rare here, and ^ rough places and the irritations from which no laud "th is wholly free, seem softened and vanishing to "nective eye.

^lers know how soon the individualit}'' of a

when once the tide of foreign travel is

towns or its by-ways ; and when the

-^sses the Isthmus of Tehuantepec,

■^d extends through Guatemala,

"^ ail way traverses the plains

n Canal unites the At-

^ be broken, the mule-

npplanted, and a

-"ost as dull as

PREFACE.

Vll

In the sober work to which this Preface introduces the reader, first impressions have been confirmed or corrected by subsequent experience, and flights of the imagination curbed by the truth-telling camera ; from the published maps the most correct portion has been selected, and the statistics are from the Government reports. Many hundred photographic plates made by the writer during a period of three years have contributed to the illustrations of this book, so that accuracy has been secured. Where the plates are not direct reproductions from the negatives, the ink drawings have been made from photographic prints with care. There are no fancy sketches.

W. T. B.

Boston, June 16, 1887.

From an Ancient Manuscript.

Contents

PAGE

I . The Kingdom of Guatemala 1

II. The Atlantic Coast and its Connections ... 25

Chapter I. The Kingdom Of Guatemala

THAT part of the North American continent usually known as Central America was included by the Spanish conquerors in the kingdom of Guatemala ; and while my purpose is to describe the republic of Guatemala, — a portion only of the ancient kingdom, — I may be pardoned if I call the attention of my readers briefly to the geography and history of all that country which once bore the name and is still closely allied with the interests of Guatemala.

Central America should extend from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to that of Darien ; from the Caribbean Sea on the northeast, to the Pacific Ocean on the southwest. Mexico, however, has taken Chiapas and Yucatan, on the west and north. Great Britain has seized the east coast of Guatemala (British Honduras), and the Isthmus of Panama is included in the territory of South America. The present independent republics of Guatemala, San Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, constitute what is known as Central America, — a territory extending between 8° 10' and 19" 20' north latitude, and between 82" 25' and 92° 30' west longitude. In length it measures between eight and nine hundred miles, while its breadth varies from thirty to three hundred miles. No competent survey has ever been made of this country, and even the coast-line is not always correctly laid down on the best charts. Maps have been made at haphazard in most cases, and very few positions have been scientifically determined. Government surveys along the lines of proposed canals or railways have not extended beyond a narrow line, usually in low regions remote from important centres. Dr. Frantzius ^ has published a very excellent map of Costa Rica ; but most of the so-called maps published by or under the authority of individual republics are of no scientific value, the course of the principal rivers and the direction of the main mountain -chains being unknown. To illustrate the uncertain geography of Central America, let me give the extent and population as published by three authorities, — (I.) Lippincott's Gazetteer, (II.) Whittaker's Almanac, and (III.) the " Geografia de Centro- America " of Dr. Gonzalez.

I

Si[uare Miles. Population.

174,697 2,392,974

1 Peterniann's Mittheilungen, 1869.

II. Square Miles Population

171,921 2,854,000

III. 161,200 2,675,816

Without surveys and without a proper census of the Indian tribes no scientific description of the country can be given. Humboldt's theory of an Andean cordillera has been disputed, and his mountain-chain has proved to be a confusing (but not confused) series of mountainridges. Yet it well may prove that the great naturalist was right ; and so far as we now know from maps and personal observation, the vast earth-wrinkle which extends along the western border of our continent is a mountain-range of definite direction (about E. 20° S. to W. 20^ N.) in Central America, and there occupying nearly the whole width of the continent. If we can picture to ourselves the formation in those remote ages, that it is the geologist's task to rehabilitate in thought, of a vast ridge, not sharp like the typical mountain range, but of broad dimensions like the swell of some vast ocean, we shall have the material then forming the earth's crust bent upwards, and in unelastic places broken, and this partly or entirely beneath the ocean. The rising land as the ages passed would be acted upon not only by the ocean waves and currents, but by the torrential rains, which were of a force and frequency that even our water-spouts of the present age cannot equal. Cracks were widened, gorges were formed ; and as the earth approached the present geological age, the gentler rains only supplied the rivers and lakes which now occupied the furrows ploughed deeply by primeval torrents. The rough work was done, the statue blocked out ; and henceforth meteoric influences were merely to finish, add expression and polish to the work.

A traveller crossing this territory from ocean to ocean would sometimes follow the river valleys, then climb ridges, again traverse a plain, cross a valley, ride along another mountain-ridge, compassing a volcano, and finally descend abruptly to the Pacific. His direction had not changed, but the nature of his path had been wonderfully transformed.

Geologists know well that on one of these lines of disturbance, such as has been described, molten and disintegrated material is apt to come to the surface as lava and ashes ; they expect also to find metallic vems, especially of the precious metals, and hot springs with various minerals in solution, and they infer earthquakes. All these phenomena are present in Central America in full force. Immense cones have arisen along the Pacific slope since the general features of the land were made, and not only have spread vast deposits around their base, but have blocked up valleys, forming lakes as Atitlan, built promontories as Coseguina, islands as

Ometepec in the Lake of Nicaragua, and have turned rivers, changed prevailing winds, and otherwise altered the physical conditions of the country.

Gold sands from the disintegrated veins sparkle in every mountain-brook, and the deposits of silver are no doubt as rich as those of Mexico, Nevada, and Potosi. Aguas calientes, or hot springs, are found all over the country, and earthquakes, often severe, are common on the Pacific slopes.

All along the Atlantic side the rock material is limestone or dolomite, while as one goes westward he meets andesyte and other forms of trachytic lava, such as pumice and obsidian. Even among the limestone mountains of the northeast are occasional volcanic deposits, exactly as might be expected when so extensive an upheaval has taken place.

Whatever has been the exact process by which this essentially mountainous country has been formed, we have at present at its northern boundary the high plain of Anahuac, extending from Mexico (where it is interrupted by the Isthmus of Tehuantepec) through Guatemala ; of somewhat lower level in Honduras and Salvador ; sinking to almost sea-level in Nicaragua (154 feet) ; and rising again in the Altos of Veragua to about 3,250 feet. This main range has its axis much nearer the Pacific shore and almost parallel to it, being in San Salvador distant seventy-five miles, and in Guatemala (Totonicapan) only fifty. Towards the Pacific the slope is steep, interrupted by many volcanoes ; while on the Atlantic side the gently terraced incline is broken intO' subsidiary ridges extending to the very shores. In the oceanic valleys and along the coast are the only lowlands of Central America ; and these contain the wash of volcanoes, limestone mountains, and ages of vegetable growth and decay, forming the richest of soils for agricultural purposes.

In Guatemala the mean height of the cordillera is about seven thousand, and probably the mean height of this republic is not less than five thousand, feet. The Sierra Madre, or Cuchumatanes, in the Department of Huehuetenango, is the highest land (always excepting the volcanoes, which will be described later) ; and of the less important ridges are the Sierra de Chama (of limestone, and full of caverns), which extends towards the northeast and ends in the Cockscomb Range of British Honduras ; Sierra de Santa Cruz, also of limestone, extends nearly eastward, north of the Lago de Izabal and the Rio PolochiC;, and south of the Rio Sarstun ; Sierra de las Minas, nearly parallel to the last, and separating the valley of the Rio Motagua from that of the Polochic. Of this range is the Montana del Mico and the peak of San Gil, near Livingston : the material is no longer limestone, but metamorphic rock, containing mines of some importance. Last we have the Sierra del Merendon, which forms the boundary between Guatemala and Spanish Honduras ; and with various names it finally ends in the Montana de Omoa on the coast, — an important landmark several thousand feet high.

The mountains of Salvador are all volcanic and shoreward of the main chain ; but in Honduras the lines again repeat the general arrangement of Guatemala, while the names are many, indicating a more broken system. Between the ranges are broad and fertile valleys, the Llano de Comayagua being forty miles in length, with a breadth

CENTRAL AMERICA.

of from five to fifteen miles. In Nicaragua the ridges slope towards the southwest, breaking abruptly to the Mosquito coast, and an important part of its territory is occupied by the lakes of Managua and Nicaragua. From the broad valley the land again rises towards Costa Rica, where it attains the height of forty-three hundred feet, and, owing to the narrowness of the continent, the lateral branches are insignificant. From the table-land of Veragua the cordillera dwindles to the basaltic ridge of Panama.

Rivers are, next to mountains, the most important factors in the physical aspect of the land ; and in Central America they are abundant, though, from the broken nature of the country, not of great size. From the position of the backbone of the land, most of the watershed is towards the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea ; even the great lakes of Nicaragua, which are really on the Pacific side, empty through the Rio San Juan into the Atlantic, the river taking advantage of a break in the cordillera. The lower or navigable portion of the Central American rivers is the only part known ; the sources of even the largest streams are still unexplored. So tortuous are the courses that names are multiplied, and rivers that flow from inhabited valleys through wild forests again appear in the lowlands as unknown strangers ; and the river that one traveller describes as important and navigable, because he sees it in the season of rain, the next visitor may cross kneedeep, and know only as a brook.

On the Pacific side may be mentioned the Rio Lempa, which rises near Esquipulas, receives the waters of the considerable Lago de Guija (on the boundary of Guatemala and Salvador), and even after the dry season is of large volume, thirty miles from its mouth attaining a breadth of more than six hundred feet and a depth of ten feet, which is nearly twenty-seven when the floods of the rainy season occur. If it were not for the bar, which has hardly a fathom of water, the navigation would develop rich lands on either bank. The Rio Paz, the Rio de los Esclavos, and the Rio Michatoya are not navigable, although formerly the latter stream at its mouth (Istapa) was large enough within the bar to admit the construction of vessels of moderate size ; it was here that the Spaniards fitted out several fleets.

Far different are some of the rivers that find their way into the Atlantic. Chief among them all is the noble Usumacinta, which flows into the Gulf of Mexico through the Lago de Terminos, and is navigable many miles through a singularly fertile and interesting country, as beautiful as fancy pictures the cradle of the human race, — a land seldom visited by white men, and the home of the unconquered and unbaptized (La Candones) Indios. The swift Chixoy, the Rio de la Pasion, and the almost unknown San Pedro unite to form this " Child of many Waters."

The Belize River, rising in the Montana de Dolores near Peten and crossing the British colony, is the principal highway for the commerce of Peten, the pitpans bringing down huge mahogany bowls, paddles, baskets, and other Indian goods. The Sarstun forms the southern boundary of the British possessions, and is navigable for small canoes as far as the rapids of Gracias a Dios. None but timber-cutters disturb its solitudes. The Polochic is at present the most useful river of Guatemala. It rises near Tactic, and is a foaming torrent for much of its course in Alta Verapaz. At Pansos the waters are navigable for light-draft steamers, except in very dry seasons ; and not far below, its volume is materially increased by the Cahabon. It flows through the Lake of Izabal, and, as the Rio Dulce, empties into the Gulf of Amatique over a bar of sand. The Motagua is nearly parallel to the Polochic, and rises near Santa Cruz del Quiche. From Gualan it is navigable in canoes. Smaller streams are the Ulua, Aguan, and Segovia in Spanish Honduras, which are navigable for pitpans. Finally we have the San Juan, known as one of the elements of the " Nicaragua Canal " route, but not at present navigable for boats of any size.

All the rivers of Central America that can be used for commerce require a special river service ; for wherever the depth of water is sufficient, the always-present bar cuts oif access to vessels drawing more than six feet. Should the development of the country warrant it, the bar of the E-io Dulce could be deepened sufficiently to admit vessels drawing ten or fifteen feet.

Small lakes are common enough in the northern part of Central America. The Laguna del Peten is about five hundred feet above the sea, nine leagues long and five broad. The Lago de Atitlan, in the Department of Solola, is sixteen and a half miles long from San Lucas Tollman to San Juan, and eight miles wide from San Buenaventura to Canajpu, and soundings show a depth of a thousand feet. With the Laguna de Amatitlan, this will be described in the Itinerary. Of Honduras, the chief lakes are the Laguna de Caratasca, or Cartago, close on the Atlantic coast, thirty-six miles long by twelve wide; the Lago de Yojoa, between the Departments of Comayagua and Santa Barbara, twenty-five miles long and from five to eight wide ; the Lago de Cartina, eighteen miles by eight, and the Laguna de la Criba, fifteen by seven miles. Of all the lakes of Central America, none is so interesting commercially as the Lake of Nicaragua. It is large (ninety miles by forty), and the largest south of Lake Michigan. Of a depth sufficient for all vessels (forty-five fathoms in places), and connected with the Atlantic by the Rio San Juan, with the Lago de Managua (thirty-five miles by sixteen), by the Tipitapa, it has the serious disadvantage of being a volcanic basin, whose bottom may at any time be elevated above the surface, — as in the case of the volcano of Ometepec. Whether the channel between these two lakes is permanent, is a matter of some doubt, as travellers have lately found no water flowing from Managua. The Lago de Guija, between Guatemala and Salvador, is seventeen miles long from east to west, and its mean width is six. Fishes and alligators abound, and its waters — which are not of the best quality — discharge through the Lempa to the Pacific. Another lake in Salvador has attracted attention in late years by a curious A'olcanic disturbance in its midst ; Ilopango will be described with the volcanoes.

With this bare list of some of the prominent features of the country, we may join a brief account of those other natural and political characteristics of what was once Spain's stronghold on this continent that have most immediate relation to the present inhabitants. Leaving Guatemala for a separate chapter, the other four republics may be described as follows : —

Salvador. — The smallest in extent, but by far the most populous, having no less than sixty-three inhabitants to the square mile. The central part is an upland of a mean elevation of two thousand feet above the sea, bounded on the Pacific side by a chain of volcanic peaks ; beyond these a strip of lowland from ten to twenty miles wide. Eastward and westward are two great depressions, San Miguel and Sonsonate, "the place of a hundred springs" (centsonatl). The Gulf of Fonseca, fifty miles long and nearly thirty wide, is said to be the most beautiful harbor on the Pacific coast. On the southwest side is the principal port of La Union, a town of little more than two thousand inhabitants, and unhealthful, as are all the Pacific ports. The mean temperature is 80° Fahr. ; and were it not for the capital commercial facilities of the town, its inhabitants would be few. Libertad has an open roadstead, and a population only half that of La Union. Acajutla lies between the headlands of Remedios and Santiago, and has but five hundred inhabitants ; as the port of Sonsonate (distant five leagues), however, it is much frequented, and is provided with an iron pier, as is Libertad. In 1882 the first railway in the republic was opened, from Acajutla to Sonsonate, a distance of fifteen miles ; and work has since been slowly progressing in the direction of Santa Ana.

Mines of gold, silver, copper, lead, iron, and anthracite coal are found within the borders of Salvador, the principal being those of Loma-Larga, Corozal, Devisadero, Encuentros, and Tabanco,

The capital was founded April 1, 1528, by Jorge de Alvarado, brother of the conqueror of Guatemala ; but ten or twelve years afterwards it was removed to its present site in the valley De los Hamacas, where it has been many times ruined by the terrible earthquakes to which this region is especially subject.

The republic is divided into fourteen departments, twenty-nine districts, and two hundred and twenty-eight towns.

Departments. Principal Cities.

Santa Ana. Santa Ana (25,000).

Ahuachapan. Ahuachapan.

Sonsonate. Sonsonate (8,000).

La Libertad. Nueva San Salvador (Santa Tecla).

San Salvador. San Salvador (30,000).

Chalatenango. Chalatenango.

Cuscatlan. Cojutepeque.

La Paz. Santa Lucia (Zacatecoluca) .

San Vincente. San Vincente (10,000).

Cabanas. Sensuntepeque.

Usulutan. Usulutan.

San Miguel. San Miguel.

Gotera. Gotera.

La Union. San Carlos (La Union).

The legislative power is exercised by two chambers, — one of Deputies, the other of Senators ; each Department elects a senator and a substitute, each District a representative and his substitute. The executive power is in the hands of a citizen elected as President by the people directly ; should there be no election by an absolute majority of votes, the General Assembly elects from the three citizens who have obtained the greatest number of votes. Three senators are designated as heirs-apparent. The term of office is four years, without immediate re-election. The judiciary is similar in order and functions in all these republics, and will be described as in Guatemala. The organized militia numbers about thirteen thousand men ; and in case of invasion, war lawfully declared, and internal rebellion, all Salvadorenos between the ages of eighteen and fifty are liable to military duty.

In 1879 the number of primary schools was 624 (465 boys', and the rest girls'); and these were attended by 20,400 boys and 4,038 girls, at a probable cost of $150,000. There is a central university, with faculties of Law, Medicine, Theology, and Civil Engineering, and it has branches at Santa Ana and San Miguel.

There are six hundred and ninety-three miles of telegraph, with forty offices ; and the service is reasonably well performed by the Government officials. A railroad between Santa Tecla and the capital, and five hundred and nine leagues of cart-roads, afford communication ; and there are lines of stages subsidized by the Government.

In 1879 the imports were $2,549,160.19, and the exports $4,122,888.05; the income $2,914,236.29, and the expenditures $2,785,068. The funded debt was $1,945,201, the floating debt $392,777.11, and there is no foreign debt.

Salvador is essentially an agricultural state, and coffee, indigo, balsam, tobacco, rice, cacao, sugar, rubber, and other less important products are produced abundantly from her fertile fields.

Honduras. — The third republic of Central America covers an area of about forty thousand square miles. Its boundaries are seen on the map, and its surface is diversified with high mountain-ranges, broad and fertile valleys, vast forests, and plentiful streams. Its climate is extremely hot on the coast ; but in the mountain region, as at Intibuca, the temperature is low. Never

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.-^ The forests, which occupy much of the Atlantic coast-region and the lower mountain-slopes abound in mahogany, rosewood, cedar (Bursera), logwood (Hmmatoxylon campeclieanum), brazil-wood {Ccesalpinia Braziliensis), sarsaparilla (Smilax), and other marketable products ; the principal timber regions being on the rivers Ulua, Aguan, Negro, and Patuca, — 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. Copper 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 Hondurehan opals. Fruits of many kinds are now grown in the neighborhood of Puerto Cortez, such as bananas, plantains, coconuts,

1 This business is declining, owing to the inferior cattle produced in Florida and shipped at a cheaper rate.

pines, for which there is a constant demand from the steamers which come here from New Orleans. Of indigo little is now exported ; but the production of tobacco is increasing. Especially fine is the leaf grown near Copan, rivalling, when properly cured, the best product of the Cuban valleys ; but the common cigars, which are sold for eight dollars per thousand, are dear even at that price. In 1879 the importations were valued at about one million dollars, and the exports twice that amount. In later years these exports have largely increased. A railroad of narrow gauge extends from Puerto Cortez to San Pedro, — thirty-seven miles ; and while the republic is sadly deficient in cart-roads, it is only fair to say that the authorities are doing something to improve these very necessary means, in the expectation that the country is to develop as it deserves.

The government is very like that of Salvador, and the administrative departments are : —

Departments. Chief Cities.

Islas de la Balu'a. Coxen Hole (Roatan) .

Yoro. Yoro.

Olancho. Juticalpa.

Paraiso. Yuscaran.

Tegucigalpa. Tegucigalpa (12,000).

Choluteca. Choluteca.

La Paz. La Paz.

Comayagua. Comayagua (10,000).

Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara.

Gracias. Gracias.

Copan. Santa Rosa.

Colon. Trujillo.

Public lands are abundant, and are granted to actual settlers of any nationality at low rates, provided they will cultivate them. The towns are all small, although some of them were flourishing sixty years before the settlement of Jamestown in Virginia. Of the more important are Tegucigalpa, the capital, in the midst of a plain some three thousand feet above the sea, and surrounded by a mining region. It possesses a Universidad Central, founded in 1849 by Don Juan Lindo, then President. Comayagua was founded in 1540 by Alonzo de Caceres, also in the midst of a plain, where still are visible the monuments of antiquity, — the less perishable works of a people more energetic than their successors ; for with the exception of some few churches, little of the work of the present inhabitants would survive three centuries of occupation by a foreign invader. Amapala, on the Island of Tigre, in the Gulf of Fonseca, was formerly a favorite rendezvous of the buccaneers, Drake making it his base of operations in the South Sea. Now it is no less desirable as a port, having deep water close to shore. Puerto Cortez, or Puerto Caballos, — as Cortez called it, from the death of some of his horses here, — on the north coast, in latitude 15" 49' N., and longitude 87° 57' W., was selected by Cortez as the entrepot of New Spain, under the name of Navedad. For more than two hundred years it was the principal port on the coast ; but dread of the buccaneers caused the removal to Omoa. The bay is nine miles in circumference, with a depth of from four to twelve fathoms over its principal area ; and on the northern side, where the water is deepest, large ocean steamers may come to the wharves. Omoa, in latitude 15° 47' N. and longitude 88° 5' AV., has a smaller harbor, defended by the Castillo de San Fernando. Trujillo, an ancient port on the western shore of a noble bay, is now growing in importance with the development of Olancho, of which it is the natural seaport ; but it has no wharf or any sufficient landing-place for merchandise.

The Bay Islands are small, but of considerable importance. Roatan, the largest, is about thirty miles long by nine broad, and in its highest part nearly a thousand feet above the sea. Guanaja, or Bonaca, the first land of Central America discovered by Columbus on his fourth voyage, is fifteen miles from Roatan, and of an extent of five by nine miles. This group is fertile, and with a fine climate should prove very attractive to settlers from the North who appreciate the waste of life in an arctic climate of eight months each year, when all vegetation ceases to grow, and man himself can be kept alive only by artificial heat, where the farmer must toil wearily four months for the poor produce that is to sustain him all the " famine months," and the laborer live poorly all the twelvemonth, whatever be his work.

The history of Honduras has not been a happy one, even since its revolt from the Spanish yoke in 1821, and revolutions have been the rule ; but in 1865 a new Constitution was adopted, with some prospect of internal quiet. The four hundred thousand inhabitants include perhaps seven thousand whites, the Spanish population being mainly on the Pacific side, Caribs along the Atlantic coast, and several thousand of the mixed races, the great majority being Indios, known as Xicaques and Poyas. Perhaps the most adverse influence to the progress of this naturally rich republic, next to the revolutions, was the scandalous loan for building the " Honduras Inter-oceanic Railway " from Puerto Cortez to the Gulf of Fonseca, a hundred and forty-eight miles. This loan, amounting in 1876 to |27,000,000, was as complete a swindle as has ever disgraced American finances ; but the people of Honduras, although responsible for the debt, had little to do with its origin, and cannot rightly be blamed for not paying interest on what they never had any advantage from. The internal debt is about $2,000,000.