washed for the occasion, in her nice camisa, not reaching to her waist, and with a skirt independent of any contact above, smokes her cigarita, and laughs with the bargainer, while her sparkling eye entices the unwary foreigner to purchase at an exorbitant rate.

The dark-eyed daughters of Seville, and the nut-brown lasses of Nicaragua, have the same origin; their language, mayhap, is partially changed, yet their spirits, their souls, are identical, and he who stays his steps beside the little saleswoman, will purchase. Smiles have a common origin, and sweet ones wreathe the pouting lips of Nicaragua's daughters, sufficient to bewilder any poor devil who, for the first time, dallies by their side.

The city of Rivas occupies the site of the aboriginal town. The first Spaniard who visited it was Gil Gonzales de Avila, who sailed from Panama in 1522. This noble landed upon the shores of the Gulf of Nicoya, with four horses and one hundred men. After experiencing many hardships, he entered the domain of the chief, Nicoya, who gave the Spaniards valuable presents, and in turn received from them glass toys and other pretty articles. Gonzales, learning that many miles northward, another chief had his territory, pushed forward, and reached the old town of Nicaragua, now Rivas, the subject of our present chapter. After some difficulties, battles ensued between them. The Spanish horse, an object of terror to

HISTORY OF RIVAS-ITS PRODUCTIONS.

35

these Indians, as well as to the early Mexicans and Peruvians, saved the utter destruction of the Spanish party; and they returned to Panama, with mighty accounts of the country, its resources, and its people.

Pedro de Arias thereupon determined to found a colony there, and dispatched Francisco Hernandez de Cordova for that purpose. Leon and Granada were built; but Pedro de Arias dying, his son-in-law, Rodrigo de Contreras, succeeded him. The orders of the crown, denying him, or any of the officers, holding the Indians as property, were disregarded. Provoked by petty and private jealousies, assassinations. occurred. Rodrigo sought Spain to vindicate himself; and in his absence, Hernandez openly revolted, took possession of the country, and then embarked for Panama, which he captured; met with various mishaps, and finally sickened and died. In time it became a province in the Captain-generalcy of Guatemala, and so remained until 1823, when a spirit of republicanism drove monarchy from the country. Such is the history of Rivas.

The country immediately around, is just such as might be rendered all that man could desire. Three good crops may be raised annually. Corn will average fifty to seventy bushels to the acre. Indigo grows luxuriantly; fine woods; and the best-flavored and strongest coffee I ever drank-to my taste, superior to the Mocha. At one time Rivas occupied the

prominent position for commerce; its port, San Jorge, being forty-five miles nearer the Rio San Juan than Granada, and the immediate lands about San Jorge being well cultivated and high; but the connection now fully established through from the Pacific, has deprived it of all importance, and Granada must become at some time the favorite locality in the State. Prior to the connection above-mentioned, passengers touching at Realejo, on the Pacific, traveled on mules across the country, and arriving at Granada, would there take bungoes, at whatever rates could be agreed on, for Greytown. This of itself has aided Granada greatly. Impressed with its delightful situation, its bathing, its fine fruits, and the high order of intellect of its inhabitants, many remained there for months. Some intermarried, and thus business connections were formed, which eventuated in Granada becoming the favorite among all classes of foreigners.

To me, however, Rivas is a grand old place. There is something in the ruined cathedral on its plaza, the marks of devastation everywhere to be found, the remnants of antiquo statues seen in old rubbish, and in the songs of the people, which remind one of some old legend, read in the palmy days of youth. I passed hours sitting on a broken wall, en. deavoring to image fully to myself the primal condition of this edifice, of this statue, or of that cathedral. Amid so

SAMOZA-WASHINGTON-HENRY CLAY.

37

much fallen grandeur, such general wreck, what lessons have been taught, and what have been learned!

War is common among all the Central States. The leaders think little of an engine which conveys death to the mass; politics are their footballs, and the people the levers, the tools whereby their ends are to be attained. One morn, after a long walk about the suburbs, on reaching a corner, I observed a gibbet before me. I asked a muchacho standing by, what it meant. He told me the famous Samoza, a rebel chief, had been hung there. I took out my knife, and cutting off a piece, put it in my pocket, much to the boy's surprise.

The hotel I lodged in had every comfort-good beds, mattrasses, a good table, and every edible well-cooked, and, to to my surprise, every thing, even to the towels in my room, were white and clean: these luxuries cost two dollars and a half per day. Above the hotel stood the Church of San Francisco. I had been in it frequently; but one day, seated on the steps, and casting my eyes upward, to my great surprise, I marked the bust of General Washington, in a niche over the door. Amazed, I inquired of a man passing, what that bust was called. He replied: "Saint Francis." "Oh, no!" I retorted, "'tis an American, the great General Washington." The poor hombre raised his hat, crossed his hands on his breast, muttered something I supposed to be a prayer, and

then replied: "Ah, señor, he is loved very much by Nicaragua—and Henry Clay, too." Two tributes from a poor Nicaraguan to the memories of great men of my country. I took his arm, walked home with him, and spent several delightful hours in his humble house.

The price of land in and about this city is very moderate, at a short distance from town being only from five to seven dollars per acre. There are many delightful private residences, and the rent of a house, in good order, can be had for from eight to twelve dollars per month; so that on a trifling annuity, a foreigner could live as happily as heart need desire. The business habits of the people are simple; and judging by the ease with which every matter of business is characterized, it would lead to the supposition that they were unaccustomed to trade, yet such is far from the truth. They bargain well; are, in fact, inveterate Jews, whether the amount bargaining for be a dollar's worth or a dime's. The store is one corner of a front room, opening on the street, cooped off, and resembling an old-fashioned corner cupboard. Here are stowed laces, ruffles, calicoes, prints, and other commodities; pins are generally scarce articles. As a general thing, there is much to amuse one among the shopkeepers. A pound of cheese is wanted. The pound cannot be got in a lump-it being the custom to cut it into small square pieces about the size of a sugar-cracker, and in this