THE

CHAPTER XI.

RESOURCES OF NICARAGUA.

FORESTS AND FIBROUS PLANTS.

HE forests of Nicaragua, covering so large an area, are an element of wealth, and, with g greater accessibility to the markets of the world, resulting from the opening of the canal, will develop a great industry. A small beginning in this direction has been made in the neighbourhood of Bluefields.

The mahogany (caoba), the monarch tree of Central American forests, is abundant in Nicaragua, growing to an enormous size, frequently measuring 40 to 50 feet in height below the first branches, and 9 to 12 feet in diameter at the base. At a short distance the tree is a magnificent object, its giant arms stretching over a wide space, surmounted by a great dome of verdure, at certain seasons of the year coloured with hues like the autumnal foliage of northern climates. This change of colour is the guide of the mahogany hunter, whose difficult duty it is to find the trees in the dense forest and point them out to the choppers. He climbs the highest tree he can find, locates the spot where they are growing, cuts a way

through the undergrowth, and carves on the trunk his employer's mark. This wood has long been appreciated for its beauty by cabinet-makers and for decorative work, but its value for shipbuilding and other similar purposes has not been estimated as highly as it deserves. It is

said to be in all respects better than oak; is slow to take fire, is free from dry rot and from acids (the noncorrosion of metals is a very valuable property), and does not suffer from any change of temperature. The tree can be cut at any time during the year, but is generally felled in the dry season (between October and May), when the branches are lopped off and the logs squared. They are then drawn by oxen to the nearest water-course,

where they are rafted and allowed to remain until the high water of June or July, when they are floated to the port of shipment. A firm, Messrs. Emery and Co. of Boston, had camps on a large scale along the rivers (on the East Coast), but stopped their very extensive operations this year. The reasons are uncertain; but they

were reported to be that the market was overstocked, and that a heavy tax on felling timber had been imposed by the Nicaraguan Government.

Second only to mahogany in beauty and value is the cedar (cedro), so well known from its extensive use for pencils and cigar boxes. In Nicaragua it is abundant, growing to an immense size, and producing wood of the

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finest quality. It can be worked as easily as pine, and when polished is as effective as mahogany, while its aromatic odour preserves it from the attack of insects. Like the common red cedar of the North, it is very durable, and is not liable to rot when exposed to damp.

It

The wild cotton tree (ceiba) grows rapidly and to great size, has trunks of 70 feet in length and 14 in diameter near the root, and is useful for building purposes; lighter than pine, though not so durable, it can be worked very easily. It is largely used by natives to make canoes, or "bongos," many of them of large size, hollowed out from a single log, and is also employed for making barrels. produces large pods, filled with a downy substance like floss silk; the shortness of the fibre renders it difficult to use for textile purposes. It is frequently used for stuffing cushions, pillows, etc. These trees were very numerous on the clearing for the canal line extending some ten miles from Greytown.

The guanacaste is notable for the immense size it attains and the enormous spread of its branches. It produces fine, durable lumber, and large quantities of gum exude from it, which might probably be made available as an article of commerce. The jenisero, a tree of the acacia family, also reaches great proportions and produces an excellent wood, unknown to commerce, occupying a middle place between mahogany and cedar, with some of the good qualities of both. Of the guayacan (lignumvita) there are two varieties, black and green, both abundant, and the granadillo, rourón, and ñámbaro (rosewood) are all beautiful and valuable cabinet woods,

which grow abundantly. The níspero, producing one of the best tropical fruits, also furnishes a valuable wood, rivalling mahogany in beauty for cabinet uses; it is hard and heavy, under water becomes as hard as iron, and will last well. The madroño produces a fine-grained wood, suitable for turning, and would be useful as a

substitute for boxwood, and for wood-engraving and other purposes.

The tree called madre de cacao (mother of cacao), used extensively to shade the cacao plants, does not grow to a large size, but produces a wood called by the natives madera negra (black wood), useful for foundations, sleepers and posts, as it is almost indestructible under ground. The guapinol produces a fruit from which an edible substance is made, and a gum said to be equal in