tance of some thirty miles and thrusting itself upon the San Juan valley near the town of Castillo. West of this range, and extending from the Gulf of Fonseca on the north to the island of Ometepe on the south, is another, the Cordillera de los Marabios, consisting of a series of volcanic peaks in various stages of activity or decay. Through these vents has been ejected, in comparatively recent geologic times, the material which forms the Jinotepe plateau and the fertile plain of Leon, and which, by separating the former Bay of Nicaragua from the Pacific Ocean, has produced the present lake. Many of the peaks are extinct and crumbling; others, as Momotombo, smoke and give occasional signs of activity. While numerous eruptions have taken place within historic times, none of consequence have been in dangerous proximity to the canal line, and there are reasons, which will be explained later, for supposing that future outbreaks will occur in the more remote portions of the range.

Nicaragua is a military despotism masquerading as a Republic. The president, although nominally elected by the people, is almost invariably a successful military leader who forces himself into office and maintains his supremacy with a strong hand. Such a government, while arbitrary and tyrannical, is probably best adapted to the needs of the country. In their

present stage of development the people are unfit for true self-government, and internecine war and consequent national disintegration would result from any indecision or overscrupulousness on the part of the executive. The present incumbent, General Zelaya, is an able, broad-minded man whose strong personality and indomitable energy have enabled him to administer a restless and unappreciative country for eight troubled years. He represents the

Liberal party, and, since one of its most notable achievements has been the curbing of the power of the clergy in temporal affairs, it is needless to say that the sympathies of the priesthood are in general with his Conservative opponents, the chief of whom live in exile, whence they direct abortive insurrections against the existing government. Notwithstanding a certain laxity of morals among her local officers the Church has great influence with the people and is an ally not be despised.

Zelaya first became President in July, 1893, as the result of a revolution against an unpopular Conservative government. He was elected for a third term of four years in 1901, - his enemies say after disfranchising a large number of his political opponents by the simple expedient of conscription. Under his rule the country has prospered, according to Central American standards, and it is probable that the occasional

insurrections which occur are due more to the desire of Conservative leaders to return to power than to any wide-spread dissatisfaction among the people. The government is despotic, but perhaps none other would be less so. The Constitution is modelled somewhat after that of the United States, but with certain important differences. Perhaps the most farreaching of these is the power of appointment vested in the President. He designates all departmental and municipal officials and is thus enabled to employ agents who may be depended upon to carry out his will. His power of disfranchising voters of opposing factions by impressing them for military service has already been noted. A Cabinet of five ministers is selected by the President, and there is a Congress of one house, the members of which are elected by universal suffrage for terms of two years. The judicial power is vested in a supreme Court of Justice, two chambers of second instance, and judges of inferior tribunals. The army is the entire male population of the country, a portion of which is always under arms; a bare-footed, undisciplined mob, armed for the most part with old Remington rifles, it is nevertheless a rather effective fighting force of great endurance and mobility. A limited number of modern field-guns are efficiently served by trained men. There is no real navy,

although the "Momotombo," an old tramp steamer mounting several field-pieces, lay at Corinto when I was there, and "El '93," plying upon Lake Nicaragua, is owned by the government and frequently has troops aboard.

The population of Nicaragua is estimated at 420,000, most of which is concentrated north and west of the lakes. The Indian element predominates, but there are many whites and negroes of pure blood, besides a large mixed population. The whites are of course chiefly of Spanish extraction; the Indians of Matagalpa and the west coast are of Aztec descent, retaining the mild and amiable characteristics of their forefathers, while those of the east coast are of a different race, darker and smaller, and are usually called Caribs or Mosquitoes, although these names should properly be applied only to members of two among many related coast tribes. The principal towns, in order of their size, are Leon, Masaya, Granada, Chinandega, Managua, and Rivas; no reliable census has ever been taken, but their population is estimated as follows: Leon, 50,000; Masaya, 18,000; Granada, 15,000; Chinandega, 12,000; Managua, 10,000; and Rivas, 8,000. They are all upon Nicaragua's main artery of commerce, which extends from Greytown to Corinto and consists of the Rio San Juan, Lake Nicaragua, a railway from Granada

on Lake Nicaragua to Managua on Lake Managua, Lake Managua, and a railway from Momotombo on Lake Managua to Corinto. Rivas has the additional commercial advantage of being within eighteen miles of the port of San Juan del Sur, but this is neutralized by its lack of sympathy with the existing government and its proximity to the Costa Rican frontier, which make it the objective point of occasional revolutionary incursions from the neighbor state, to the utter destruction of trade. The country is of course essentially agricultural, and manufacturing and mining are infant industries. Nevertheless, large quantities of brown sugar and aguardiente are produced for home consumption, while cotton, silk, shoes, hammocks, saddle-bags, pottery, hats, saddles, and other articles of native make bid fair to hold their own against imported goods.

An impression seems to prevail throughout the United States that Nicaragua is an unhealthful country. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The climate is doubtless enervating, because of the continuous heat and the quantity of moisture in the air during half the year or more, but it is not more unhealthful than that of large portions of our own country. Remittent and intermittent fevers, which are the most prevalent diseases, are mild in character, of brief duration, and succumb