Mariano Rivera Paz, President of the State, but he has since dissolved the shadow of a representative assembly which existed; and having on the 19th of March, 1840, defeated General Marazan (the legal President of the Republic) by means of an immense superiority of force, and driven him out of Guatemala, after he had occupied it for a day, he has since remained sole and supreme dictator of the State. It must be allowed, however, that though at the commencement of his power he perpetrated some horrid acts of cruelty which any one must shudder to recount, and frequently put to death his real or supposed enemies with the most dreadful tortures, without a shadow of proof or form of trial, he has since conducted himself with remarkable moderation, and has done much to improve the administration of the laws, destroy robbers, and consolidate the government. By extortions and confiscations, he has amassed some hundred thousand dollars in cash, lands, and houses; and it is consequently his interest to maintain a settled government and give protection to property; but in his private life he is more indecently immoral than could be conceived or understood by most English readers."-p. 86-88.

"The forces of the latter State were commanded by GARDIOLA, a man in all respects different from his antagonist, except in personal valour, in which he seemed even to excel him. He is a darkcoloured mestizo, stout-built, and rather corpulent, his face expressing his fiendish temper, but well-liked by the soldiers, whom he indulges in every way. To his habits of intoxication, may be added every species of vice which can be named among the vicious inhabitants of Central America; and frequently in his drunken fits, he orders people to be shot who have in nothing offended him, while at all times the most trifling expression incautiously uttered, is sufficient to cause the babbler to be shot without mercy. In private life he is as brutal as can well be imagined. In all the towns through which he passes, he makes a habit of calling in the bestlooking women he can see, and after subjecting them to infamous treatment, he drives them forth with the most insulting epithets. Like Marius, the Roman leader, his brutal manners serve to terrify the enemy; hence, while the arrival of Cabanas, and most of the other leaders, is looked upon without fear by the people of the contending States, the bare name of Gardiola is sufficient to make all the inhabitants fly to the woods, leaving everything behind them; and his mere appearance was at last often sufficient to terrify and put to flight a much superior force to what he brought with him." p. 237-8.

During the brief period of the independent existence of the nominal Republic of Central America, no fewer than 396 persons, most of them of the same fine moral character as these two blackguards, have exercised the supreme power of the republic and the different states, under the

VOL. XXIII.-NO. XLV.

6

names of chiefs, governors, presidents, directors, or ministers under these officers; which fact alone, without the preceding outline of revolutions and massacres would show the unequalled want of stability in the government of a country, which, possessing one of the richest territories in the world, and a situation without exception the most favourable for commerce of any part of the globe, has reached the lowest state of poverty, whilst its trade is nearly wholly destroyed, and the people entirely corrupted and brought to the most wretched and disorganized condition of any country in the whole catalogue of nations pretending to the smallest degree of civilization. Little hope can now be entertained of any permanent improvement in Central America, until some man of decided ability and honesty shall unite the states, and form a central government capable of making itself feared or respected by all parties; or until it shall fall under the dominion of some foreign power, capable of forming a firm and popular government of a nature suited to the country, overawing the factious, and affording ample protection to the industrious and welldisposed. It is to be hoped that one or other of these two events may soon occur to rescue this delightful country from its present anarchy, and gradually place it in that elevated rank which it would undoubtedly hold under an enlightened government.

So far for the history and present condition of this unfortunate people. We now turn to their internal resources, and those elements of wealth or power which they possess, and which only require to be properly moulded to produce both.

Central America lies between 80 and 17° north latitude, and with the exception of the north-east coast, which during the summer months is inconveniently hot, and unhealthily moist, is perhaps more salubrious than any other country within the same degrees of latitude. The climate does not differ much from that of England, the alternations of heat and cold being nearly alike. The vegetable productions are perhaps more varied than those of any other part of the world. If the country were in the possession of an industrious and enterprising people, it could not fail to be one of the richest on the globe; but at present its only exports of any importance are cochineal, indigo, coffee, and Brazil wood. The three first could be produced in any quantity in many parts of the Republic,

and more advantageously than in any other quarter of America. Wheat is indigenous to the province of the Altos, forming no inconsiderable portion of the immense district of Guatemala. Here also are reared considerable flocks of sheep, which may be bought at about four reals (two shillings) each. The wool at an average does not fetch more than threepence per pound, and it is never exported. The hotter districts of this province produce vanilla of very fine quality, and caoutchouc which flows from the trees in great abundance. It is worth threepence per pound. Guatemala itself produces the finest kind of indigo, with cocoa and coffee. San Salvador is noted also for its indigo. The province of Sonsonate produces the celebrated balsam of Peru, which is obtained by boring a hole into the heart of the tree, into which a piece of palm leaf is inserted, a jar being placed below to receive the liquid which flows from it. It is sold by the Indians in a kind of gourd, and is worth two shillings a pound. In the neighbourhood is also produced very fine ginger, equal to the best West Indian, but it has never been exported. A considerable quantity of sugar is grown in this state, and enough might be produced to supply all Central America. Proceeding S.E. we come to Honduras,-the gold and silver mines of which, owing to the terrible disturbances and insecurity of life and property, are no longer worked. It exports hides, sarsaparilla, and mahogany. The forests produce many articles which might be advantageously exported to Europe. A gum, resembling that of Senegal, is very plentiful; and a number of trees and herbs which produce dyes of different colours, the most important being a shrub that yields a seed about the size of an almond, with a similar husk, and dyes a most beautiful and fast yellow colour. The next state to the S.E. is Nicaragua, which possesses land of unequalled fertility. Cotton, of a quality superior to that of Brazil, may be produced in any quantity. As much as 50,000 bales of 300lbs. each, clean and pressed cotton, have been exported in the year. Sugar and indigo, the latter being equal to the finest Bengal, were at one time extensively manufactured here. Near Granada there are a number of cocoa plantations, which produce an article only second in quality to the cocoa of Soconosco. Brazil wood, cedar, and mahogany are found in the forests in inexhaustible quantities. The state of Costa Rica produces from 70,000 to

100,000 quintals of coffee every year, and if the demand were sufficient, the supply could be indefinitely increased. The tobacco is of a very superior quality, and considered by many to be equal to the best Cuba. Near the coast there are large fields of the wild indigo plant.

The domesticated animals of Central America are nearly the same as those of Europe. Herds of cattle and horses are abundant. Sheep, goats, and pigs abound, together with common fowl, turkeys, ducks, pigeons, and rabbits. There is no great variety of fish, but turtles and tortoises are in great plenty, and the oyster beds seem to be inexhaustible. The oysters are of very good quality, but of so extraordinary a size that they must be cut into a number of pieces to be eaten.

Brimstone, in a remarkably pure state, is found in many of the volcanoes; sal ammoniac has also been discovered, but Mr. Dunlop says he did not see any. Diamonds have occasionally been found in the Altos, and in part of Honduras; and rock crystals are very abundant in many parts. Limestone and seams of coal are occasionally met with, together with nitre, alum, slate, and granite.

The mineral productions are not less abundant than the vegetable, or less valuable. Commencing at the S.W., mines of gold and silver are very numerous among the mountains of the Altos. There are mines, also, containing lead in a nearly pure state, the ore yielding upwards of ninety per cent of metal. It is said that some specimens contain as much as twenty-five per cent of silver mixed with the lead, but Mr. Dunlop does not vouch for the truth of this assertion. At the village of Patapa are some rich mines of iron, which produce a purer and more malleable metal than any imported from Europe; the ore is almost close to the surface, and very abundant, and there are extensive forests in the immediate vicinity, which serve for making charcoal. In the same neighbourhood are several silver mines, the principal of which is said to have yielded 200,000 dollars annual profits in the time of the Spanish government. All the hills near the town of Tegucigalpa possess mines of gold and silver, the two metals being most generally mixed together; and, although none have been excavated to any depth, or worked with proper machinery, they formerly yielded more than 2,000,000 dollars annually, and were European capital and

science introduced, it is impossible to say what the produce might amount to.

"The natives of Tegucigalpa," says Mr. Dunlop, "are among the best class of persons in Central America; and, as from the most authentic statements I have been able to collect, its neighbourhood would appear to possess natural stores of the precious metals even exceeding those of the celebrated mines of Poton, in Bolivia; it would appear a very good speculation for a scientific and practical miner, supported with sufficient capital, to attempt their working; perhaps the best adventure now to be found in Spanish America. The ores generally contain from twelve to fifteen per cent of silver, and from one to one and a half per cent of gold; but the latter metal is also found pure in many places, and the value of some thousand dollars is annually collected by the Indians in the sands of the rivers, pieces of gold weighing as much as five or six pounds being occasionally discovered.

Several veins of copper ore have also been discovered, but they have not been worked with skill. In the mountains of Aguacate several very profitable gold mines have been worked; one of them was till about six years ago possessed by two Spaniards, who in a short time made a net profit of 200,000 dollars. They sold it to an English company, by which it is still worked, and it is said by the natives to be as rich as ever, but the company has never made any dividend of the profits, though it is said that some of the people employed in charge of the mine have somehow netted very handsome sums of money!!

The mode of living in Central America is peculiar. Though wheat, barley, and other European grains have long been known, the universal food of all classes consists of maize or Indian corn, boiled and ground to a pulp, which forms a cake called tortilio. Next to tortilios, the food most in use is a sort of French bean called frijoles, which they boil, mash up, and mix with hog's lard. In the villages, meat, as soon as killed, is cut into long strips, and dried in the sun, being daubed as usual when cooked with the eternal hog's lard, which seems as essential to these people as porter to the English, or ragout to Frenchmen. The upper classes, like the Spaniards, cat a quantity of fruit, vegetables, salad, and sweetmeats. Chocolate is the universal beverage. Wines and foreign spirits are but little used; the men and women of all ranks and degrees smoke from morning till night.

Central America, in imitation of all the American