CENTRAL AMERICA, CHIAPAS, AND YUCATAN.
Visit to the Volcano of Masaya.-Village of Masaya.-Lake of Masaya.-Nindiri.-Ascent of the Volcano.-Account of it.-The Crater.-Descent into it.Volcano of Nindiri.-Ignorance of the People concerning Objects of Interest.— Return to Masaya.—Another Countryman.-Managua.-Lake of Managua.Fishing.-Beautiful Scenery.-Mateares.-Questa del Relox.-Nagarotis.Crosses.-A Gamekeeper.-Pueblo Nuevo.
MARCH 1. Anxious as I was to hurry on, I resolved nevertheless to give one day to the Volcano of Masaya. For this purpose I sent a courier ahead to procure me a guide up the volcano, and did not get off till eleven. o'clock. At a short distance from the city we met a little negro on horseback, dressed in the black suit that nature made him, with two large plantain leaves sewed together for a hat, and plantain leaves for a saddle. At the distance of two leagues we came in sight of the volcano, and at four o'clock, after a hot ride, entered the town, one of the oldest and largest in Nicaragua, and though completely inland, containing, with its suburbs, a population of twenty thousand. We rode to the house of Don Sabino Satroon, who lay, with his mouth open, snoring in a hammock; but his wife, a pretty young half-blood, received me cordially, and with a proper regard for the infirmities of an old husband and for me, did not wake him up. All at once