This is not the proper place to enter into a detailed history of the banana, its culture and its varieties; but there is much uncertainty in the Northern markets as to the distinction between bananas and plantains, which it may be well to remove. At present plantains are not brought to the Boston or New York markets. Botanically, it is difficult to distinguish between these two fruits, as connecting varieties run imperceptibly into the two extremes; no one, however, would ever mistake a typical plantain for a banana, either single or in bunch. Of all the varieties of the banana (and I have myself seen at least two hundred, including the seeding-banana of Chittagong), only two or three are raised for exportation in Guatemala, and these are by no means the best; but as the steamer people will give no more for a choice variety, there is no inducement to improve the stock. Both yellow and red varieties are grown, and the former sometimes have two hundred and fifty bananas on a bunch, weighing, unripe, ninety pounds. The plantain is yellow when ripe (I have never seen a red variety), and is much larger and more curved than a banana, while the bunches are looser and much smaller, seldom numbering more than thirty-five fruits. Some plantains attain a length of fifteen inches, and some are quite palatable uncooked; but the usual way to eat them is either baked or fried. Few of our Northerners appreciate the wonderful nutritive qualities of the plantain, which in this respect surpasses the banana; and it may be authoritatively stated that sixteen hundred and seven square feet of rich land will produce four thousand pounds of nutritive substance from plantains, which will support fifty persons, while the same land planted with wheat will support but two. When the plantain is dried, it will keep from twenty to thirty years; and if dried before ripening, an admirable meal (better than arrowroot) can be made from the ground white fruits, while the ripe fruit forms a conserve not unlike a fig in flavor, and of course free from the seeds so troublesome in that fruit. One hundred parts of the fresh fruit contain twenty-seven parts of nutritive matter, easily digested and superior to pure starch. The comparative cost and profit of the two fruits may be thus stated:—

The second year the increase would be in favor of the plantain, and the product has reached more than thirty-five thousand per acre. Of the fibre no account has been taken, although this bids fair to become an important by-product. The plantain contains more fibre than the banana,—the inner portion in both stems being much finer. At present the possible four pounds of fibre in each stem is wasted; and as the stems should be cut to the ground after the fruit is gathered, these large fibrous trunks are much in the way of cultivation. It will be remembered that the Manilla hemp is the product of a species of banana (Musa textilis).

Usually bananas or plantains are planted in a cafétal or in a cacao or orange orchard, to shade the young plants, and after three or four years are removed as the more permanent trees attain their growth. All the fruit exported must be cut and shipped while quite green and not fully grown; and this, conjoined to the tar and bilge smell of the steamers, certainly gives the fruit a flavor it does not have in its native land when allowed to attain its full growth and then slowly ripened under shelter from the sun. Bananas, like some pears, should not be allowed to ripen on the trees.

There are two articles of food and commerce which should certainly attract the attention of merchants, and so of the public, in our Northern States,—fresh plantains, as a most nutritious and delicious vegetable, more costly than the banana, though of easier transport; and the dried plantain, for which there is already an increasing market on the Pacific coast.

Pita and Sisal Hemp.—The mention of the plantain-fibre calls to mind two very valuable fibrous plants at present little cultivated in Guatemala, except for home consumption. The pita, or silk-grass (Bromelia pita) belongs to the pineapple family, and is very commonly used for hedges in the interior of the country. The long sharp leaves are rotted, and the fibre extracted by the rudest means, usually by pounding on stones in a running stream; but the product makes most durable and desirable hammocks and bags and cords. The other plant is most cultivated in Yucatan, whence the name Sisal hemp, from the shipping port. It is also called henequen (Agave ixtli), and much resembles the century-plant. Common over the mountain-ranges, certainly to a height of eight thousand feet, it is little used, except for hedges. From Yucatan it is exported to the annual value of $500,000. The ixtli grows in poor dry soil and is easily propagated by cuttings. An American machine removes the pulp and cleans the fibre at the rate of a leaf a minute, and the product is then baled and shipped without further trouble. The fibre, according to the “Textile Record,” costs the planter two thirds of a cent per pound, the freight to New York is three quarters of a cent, and with commissions and incidental expenses, the total charge per pound is a cent and a half, and it sells for from five to seven cents per pound. In the English market Sisal hemp is quoted at £30 per ton.

The species and varieties of the agaves or henequen and pulque plants are not clearly distinguished; but two types are tolerably distinct. Agave Americana, or maguey, is cultivated in Mexico for the juice which when fermented is called pulque. The plant after some years of growth in a stemless condition throws up a stem very rapidly to a height of forty feet, or even more. The Mexican cultivator, however, nips this stem before it has attained two feet; and scooping a large hollow in the cut stump, waits for the sap to collect. The yield from a vigorous plant—and the sap continues to run for three months—is from two to three hundred gallons! The agave, it must be remembered, grows in the driest soil. The fibre of the leaf is very strong, and is used to make paper of the toughest and most durable kind.

The Agave ixtli, or henequen, is larger than the last species. When the plants are three years old the leaves may be cut, and a good plant should yield from fifty to a hundred leaves annually, the cutting being repeated every four months. The continuous fibres in a leaf are sometimes five and a half feet long, and are used by the natives without spinning. The life of the ixtli subjected to this pruning and not allowed to flower, may extend to ten years, but usually is several years less.

Bromelia pita produces a much finer and stronger fibre, but is not so easy to handle. As these fibres come to market they are often confounded, even by the Indios, and the term “pita” is not infrequently applied to the product of agaves, and even of plantains.

The genus Fourcroya, closely allied to agave, also yields valuable fibres.

Rice.—The upland variety grows remarkably well in the bottom-lands of the Chocon River, producing two crops a year of very heavy rice. All through the logwood country it might profitably be cultivated; but up to the present time not enough has been raised fairly to determine how much the yield per acre may be. There are no suitable rice-mills, and the grain is hulled by the rude and wasteful method of pounding in mortars.

Oranges.—The delusion which has led so many to plant orange-trees on the frost-visited sand-banks of Florida has at least turned the attention of Americans to the desirability of orange-walks not too remote from our principal fruit-markets. The Florida oranges, while sweet and juicy, are wanting in flavor, especially the mandarin variety, which is far inferior to the fruit of that variety raised in China. Even the Louisiana oranges, which are generally superior to those from Florida, are not first-rate, and in both States I have seen the foliage utterly destroyed by frost,—an accident which must seriously interfere with the succeeding crop. As a substitute for these unsuitable regions, Guatemala offers great advantages. At Teleman, on the Polochic, the quality of the uncultivated fruit is nearly equal to the Syrian oranges; that is, finer than any I have seen in Jamaica or the West Indies generally,—and the same fruit can be raised on all the bottom-lands of the Atlantic coast. Lemons do not do so well, as this fruit requires a cooler climate and must be relegated to the higher interior valleys; but limes grow wild in remarkable perfection, being often used as hedge-plants. Raised from seed, the plants at three years are six feet high, and in five are bearing. On the western side limas, or sweet lemons, citrons, and toranjas, or shaddocks, grow very well. Oranges of many varieties can be grown in the greatest perfection in the rich valleys; and yet it is difficult to obtain oranges enough for home consumption even where the alcaldes are not so stupid as one reported during the cholera scare in 1884, who ordered all the orange-trees in his village to be cut down, as their fruit was sure to cause cholera! Along the coast of Honduras, near Trujillo, I have bought for one dollar a barrel the finest limes I ever saw.

Coconuts.—On the sandy shores, where no other fruit will grow, the coconut flourishes. As a rule the nuts are not so large as those of the Pacific Islands; but I have seen some of good size on the north shore of the Island of Roatan. The low, sandy cayos and the equally low shores of Manabique are admirably suited for coconut-walks. In one place on the Hondureñan coast a large factory was established at great cost, but for some reason not known to the writer it has been abandoned; and now, nowhere on the northern coast of Guatemala is any organized attempt to prepare either the oil or fibre (coir or cobre), and the nuts are shipped to the United States or to England. Prolific bearers, these palms require no care after they come into bearing in the fourth year; and as they bear heavily by the seventh year, a young walk soon becomes a source of profit. Usually a tree produces a flower-spathe every month; so there are generally on a tree nuts in all stages. On a single spadix I have counted five thousand nine hundred and fifty staminate or male blossoms, and fifty-two pistillate or female. Of the latter not more than thirty, and usually only twenty, develop into nuts; but a young tree in a good soil will probably bear three hundred and sixty nuts per annum, worth $9. In a walk, however, it is a good tree that is worth $3 per annum.

The trade in green nuts is of course limited; but they usually sell at the rate of two cents apiece. No more delicious drink is found in the tropical fruits than the rich milk of the nut when so green that the shell is easily cut with a knife. When fully ripe, the nuts may be piled in a damp place and left to germinate. The milk disappears, and its place is occupied by a porous mass completely filling the cavity and of the consistency of sponge-cake, quite edible withal. As the shoot pushes through the eye and breaks through the thick husk, the innocent-looking sponge seems to absorb the meat of the coconut; when this is finished, the plant has, as it were, hatched itself from the old shell, and is ready to continue life on its own basis. The coconut presents a good illustration of the development of pinnate or feather leaves from palmate (or leaves shaped like a fan),—all the early leaves of this palm being of the latter class, while the noble leaves of the mature palm are long pinnate.

If the trees are planted about sixty to the acre in ordinary situations, such a plantation should not cost, including the land, more than forty dollars until the trees bear; and in eight years the planter may expect a crop of at least eight thousand nuts annually,—which should net him about two hundred dollars. It is a great mistake to plant the nut on the surface of the ground, as it is liable to be overturned by the winds, or too thick, as it then grows tall and spindly, and bears poorly.

The exports of coconuts from Belize during six years previous to 1882, as given by Mr. Morris,[57] are shown thus:—

A remarkable increase, that shows that the profits induce more extensive planting. As to the duration of a fruitful coconut, I have not sufficient data. I have seen old trees on Utila that had been growing less than twenty-five years, and I have seen trees still bearing on the shores of Hawaii which are distinctly marked with the cannon-balls Captain Cook’s ships fired at the village of Kaawaloa after the great navigator’s tragic death, more than a century ago; and these trees must have been well grown at that remote day. I may add that on the Hawaiian Group few coconuts bear before they are seven years old,—some not until they are fourteen.

Pineapples.—No systematic cultivation of this most delicious fruit has been undertaken in Guatemala, although the wild pines are of good quality. The piña de azucar, or sugar-pine, is large (over six pounds), and very tender and juicy; but the horse-pine has more flavor. On the Chocon plantation the pine-fields planted in the lighter soil do very well, but require cleaning five times each year. The sprouts from the base of the fruit are planted, and after two years the stock has spread so as to produce several pines annually. Three thousand plants to the acre should yield, at six cents per pine, a hundred and twenty dollars the first crop, and a hundred and eighty dollars afterwards. Whether these fine fruits can profitably drive the inferior pineapples of the West Indies from our markets, is yet doubtful. A wild pine, in which the fruit is not crowded into a compact head, but is more acid and of less flavor, is common in the mountains; but I have never seen this species offered for sale.

Nutmegs.—While I do not know of a dozen trees of the nutmeg, outside of the Chocon plantation, the soil and climate are admirably suited to this tree. The nutmeg requires at least eighty inches of rainfall per annum, begins to bear when eight or ten years old, and improves for a century. The first few years the yield is from one to five thousand nuts, of from sixty-eight to one hundred and twenty to the pound. In the Botanic Gardens, Trinidad, the net yield per tree has been more than twenty pounds (say eighteen hundred nuts), with an average price of fifty-four cents per pound. This would amount to three hundred and fifty dollars per acre. The value of the mace is additional. In the Chocon region the trees have not yet matured; but there seems no doubt that the conditions of growth and fruitfulness are better than on the Island of Trinidad, and with these trees planted thirty feet apart, or forty-five to an acre, allowing one third to be male or barren trees, we should have at least 1,600 × 30 = 48,000 nutmegs to the acre. Averaging the nuts at ninety to the pound, the crop would weigh five hundred and thirty-three pounds, and at fifty cents per pound would amount to two hundred and sixty-six dollars. Considering the less expense for care this permanent crop would require, the profit would be sufficient even at forty cents per pound. The red, fresh mace does not bring so high a price as when old and golden-colored.

Maiz.—Indian corn (Zea mays) grows well all over the republic, and forms the most important food of the Indian tribes. Yet the kinds cultivated are not of fine quality, although growing freely. The stalks are often a dozen feet high, and three ears are not uncommon. Three crops can be raised annually. The corn is always stored and transported in the husk. When the Spaniards first came among the Central Americans, they found the milpas of maiz carefully cultivated; and as to-day the little cornfields are found all over the country cultivated precisely as the ancients were doing centuries ago, so the product is to-day prepared and eaten in the same old-time manner. Mr. Belt,[58] in his work on Nicaragua,—unfortunately too little known,—describes the preparation of maiz better than I have seen done elsewhere. He says: “In Central America the bread made from the maiz is prepared at the present day exactly as it was in ancient Mexico. The grain is first of all boiled, along with wood-ashes or a little lime. The alkali loosens the outer skin of the grain, and this is rubbed off with the hands in running water; a little of it at a time is placed upon a slightly concave stone,—called a metatle, from the Aztec metatl,—on which it is rubbed with another stone, shaped like a rolling-pin. A little water is thrown on it as it is bruised, and it is thus formed into paste. A ball of the paste is taken and flattened out between the hands into a cake about ten inches diameter and three sixteenths inch thick, which is baked on a slightly concave earthenware [or iron] pan. The cakes so made are called tortillas, and are very nutritious. When travelling, I preferred them myself to bread made from wheaten flour. When well made and eaten warm, they are very palatable.”

Besides the importance of this grain for human food, it is necessary for the horses, who could not well endure the hard steep roads on sacate alone. Much might be exported to the neighboring republics.

Wheat.—Throughout the uplands much wheat is grown. The straw is generally small, but the grain heavy and good. In the grain centres, such as Sololà, the wheat is inspected and weighed by Government officials. The seed is sown in drills rather than broadcast. I found the bread made from this home wheat of a uniformly good quality, though sometimes dark colored,—indeed it is superior to the bread found in the country throughout the United States.

Potatoes, and other Food-Plants.—However the philosopher may try to confine his attention to those products of a country which may have a commercial value, be he cynic or epicurean he will be interested in those fruits and vegetables not necessary to the support of life, but none the less very important factors in human comfort. I have briefly noticed the principal fruits that may be exported from Guatemala, and have passed unnoticed the scores of valuable woods, because I can add nothing to the general knowledge of these. For the same reason I have omitted the hundred and one drugs or medicinal plants; but I should fail in my duty to this pleasant country if I did not tell of some of those fruits and vegetables that add to the pleasure of life.

The common potato I have already mentioned in a former chapter (p. 136). The sweet potato (Batatas edulis) will grow in all its varieties, from the huge purple-fleshed tuber to the delicate little yellow form; but it is very little cultivated. The yam (Dioscorea) is much more common, but dry and tasteless. The cocos or kalo (Colocasium esculentum) grows well in the wetter lands, but is more common in Belize than in Guatemala, and in neither place attains the prominence as a vegetable that it enjoys in the Pacific Islands or in China and the East Indies. The cassava (Manihot utilissima), so important a food in South America, is here mostly confined to Carib use, and I have never seen it inland or on the south coast; as a dietary its importance merits attention, and it should be exported. In a dry climate it keeps well, and I have specimens four years old still perfectly good. Frijoles, or beans, black, white, and red, are very abundant and good. The Mexicans are the greatest consumers of beans in the world, and their neighbors southward probably rank next.

The breadfruit (Artocarpus incisa) grows remarkably well in Livingston and Belize, although I think the fruit is smaller than in the Pacific islands. Carefully baked when full grown, but not ripe, it is a fine vegetable, and the baked fruit sliced and fried is a delicacy. The odor of the uncooked fruit is very unpleasant. Squashes, cucumbers (including a small spiny wild one which is very good), melons, grow well, and pumpkins are planted among the corn, as in New England. Indeed, the variety of squashes is very great, and one may see a dozen or fifteen kinds in a single heap. They are fed to cattle as pumpkins are with us. Some are so hard that they keep a long time. The chiote (Sechium edule) is a rapid growing runner, often covering the houses, and bearing a fruit about the shape of a pear and three inches thick, covered with soft prickles. This was abundant all through the villages, and in the plazas it was sold parboiled, fried, or preserved in sugar. It tastes much like a vegetable marrow.

Tomatoes grow everywhere, and are of great importance in the kitchen, next to the universal chile (Capsicum annuum). Peppers of other kinds are used, especially a large green one which is stuffed with minced meat coated with egg and crumbs and served as Chile relleno. Pawpaws (Carica papaya) are common (a small wild species is abundant on the Pacific coast); and the fruit, as large as a cantaloupe, and filled with pungent seeds like those of the tropæolum, is eaten raw, or cooked in tarts. Its juice is of the greatest use in making tough meat tender. The akee (Blighia sapida) is much like a custard when cooked.

The avocado (Persea gratissima) is one of the fruits that have many names. In Peru it is called palta, and the Mexican ahuacatl was twisted by the Spaniards into aguacate and avocado, and the English corrupted this last into alligator-pear. Intermediate, like the carica, between vegetable and fruit, few strangers like the aguacate at first. There are many varieties; but the best is pear-shaped, weighing about a pound, with a shiny purple, leathery skin. Between the skin and the rather large kernel is a greenish pulp nearly an inch thick, which is the edible part of this delicious fruit. It is of a buttery consistency, and may serve as substitute for butter, and be eaten alone, or with salt and pepper. The sapote (Lucuma mammosa) somewhat resembles the aguacate in the size and position of the edible pulp; but the outside is rough and brown, and the salmon-colored interior is insipid and inferior.

Among the first rank of fruits may be placed the mango (Mangifera indica), although the West Indian is far inferior to the East Indian representative. As a mere shade-tree the mango is beautiful; but the rich juicy, golden-meated fruit, slightly tinged with a flavor of turpentine in the poorer sorts, is a never-to-be-forgotten delight. The unripe fruit is good baked or made into a sauce, when it much resembles apples in taste. The slippery, juicy meat, and the strong fibres which attach this to the large flat stone, make it anything but an easy task for the novice to eat this fruit; he should have plenty of water and napkins within reach. When the tree does not bear well, root-pruning may be resorted to, although the natives usually hack the stem. I have planted seeds of the sour mango sent from Hawaii, and they have grown rapidly and promise well. The mango may be grafted as easily, it is said, as the cherry or apple.

The icaco (Chrysobalanus icaco), or coco-plum, grows near the shore, and makes an excellent preserve; so does the manzanilla, a small crab-apple.

In the interior, a tree very commonly used for fences is the jocote (Spondias purpurea?). This bears a plum-like fruit all over the smaller branches, which is either yellow or red when ripe, and very juicy. The stone closely resembles a medium-sized peanut. The juice when fermented makes a very popular drink (Chicha). To propagate the tree it is only necessary to plant a branch or cutting, which may be several inches in diameter, and it takes root and bears the next season. I am not sure of the species of spondias, but it is much smaller than the S. dulcis of the Pacific Islands, and more like the hog-plum of Jamaica. Peaches grow in the highlands, but of the poorest quality, and the trees are in blossom and fruit at the same time. Figs grow very well; yet the Guatemaltecans import canned figs from New Orleans. The star-apple (Chrysophyllum cainito), so popular in the West Indies, the mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana), the most delicious fruit of the East Indies, the loquat (Eriobotrya japonica), the durian (Durio zibethinus), that foul-smelling but pleasant-tasting fruit, the bhêl (Ægle marmelos), the Marquesan plum (Spondias dulcis), and a host of others might grow here, but do not.

Guavas or goyavas grow wild, but are of very poor quality; I have not found the very fine strawberry guavas, but have planted seeds of the black guava, the best of its kind. Cherimoyers (Anona cherimolia) are very common in the uplands, extending even into the region of occasional frosts. A red-pulped variety is much prized. The sour-sop (Anona muricata) is cultivated all along the coast, and is seldom absent from a Carib village. Grapes grow finely on the Pacific slope, and would probably do equally well on the north. That most pleasing fruit of the passion-flower (Passiflora sp.), the granadilla, or water-lemon, may be found, in the season, for sale in every plaza in the highlands. The more common kind is of the size of a large hen’s egg, and the tough shell contains an aromatic jelly of which one can eat almost without limit; this fruit is sold at ten for a cuartil (3 cents). The larger species has a fine purple blossom as large as a saucer, while the fruit is more than a foot long. These vines are easily propagated by cuttings. The tamarind (Tamarindus officinalis) is found all over the country, and its pulpy pods make a wholesome and cooling drink. There are many other fruits which I have not tasted and cannot describe; but they are generally those that a stranger does not especially like, nor are they abundant. While our common garden vegetables can be easily raised, if kept from ants, especially from the ravages of the zompopos, there are few gardens that contain any of them.

With food for man, it is important to provide well for his faithful servants, horses, mules, and cattle. On the uplands the pasturage is good, and the sheep and neat cattle thrive. On the lowlands and in the river valleys grass must be planted, and the Guinea grass (Panicum jumentorum) and Bahama grass (Cynodon dactylon) are usually chosen. On the ridges Paspalum distichum grows naturally, and in the interior the grass is the same, I am told, as that of the famous plains of Yoro, Olancho, and Comayagua in Honduras, where one acre will pasture two animals, while in Texas four acres will barely feed one.

The fauna of Guatemala has been almost as much neglected as the flora; but although insect-life seems abundant, and many of the rivers swarm with fish, I believe that animal life is comparatively scarce. Game certainly is, red-deer, peccaries, javias, turkeys, and pigeons being almost the whole bag. Among the mammals the monkeys are here fairly represented, the little white-faced (Cebus albifrons) being the most attractive. This monkey has a face nearly devoid of hair, and as white as a European. The hands and feet are very well formed, the nails especially so, and the tail is quite long. It seems less difficult for him to stand erect than for most monkeys, and when domesticated (an easy process) he is an affectionate pet. The howling-monkeys (Mycetes stentor) will be remembered by every traveller as the noisiest of the nocturnal animals. Several other small monos are common in the forests (Simia apella, S. fatuellus, and S. capucina), where they feed on wild-figs and other fruits. The pezote (Nassua solitaria) is found in the forests of the eastern mountain-ranges.

The manatee, or lamantin (Manatus Americanus), once found in the Golfo Dulce, is now seldom, if ever, seen on the coast of Guatemala, although still found in British Honduras, where the hide is used for whips, canes, etc. I have seen the tracks of the danta (Tapirus Americanus) in the Chocon forests, but never the animal, as its habits are more nocturnal than mine. Conies (Lepus Douglassi), taltusas (Geomys heterodus), mapachines (Procyon cancrivorus), and armadillos (Dasypus sp.) are common articles of food among the Indios. Red-deer (Cervus dama) are found in the interior. Peccaries (Jabali, Dicotyles tajaçu) feed in droves in the bottom-lands, and are perhaps the most dangerous of the wild animals of Guatemala; their sharp tusks will cut terribly, and the little beast is too stupid to be frightened away when thoroughly angered. It is said that even the jaguar fears to attack a drove, but skulks behind, hoping to pick up a straggler. They can, however, be tamed, and I have seen them with domestic pigs about the streets of San Felipe, Pansos, and other places. The white-lipped peccary, jaguilla, or warree (Dicotyles torquatus), makes its presence known at a considerable distance by the peculiar odor emitted from a small pouch on its back. The hunter, when killing, takes care to cut this sack out at once, or it would quickly taint the entire body of this otherwise good pork. In the open forests I have often found peccary tracks, but never unaccompanied by the full, round print of the jaguar. When pursued, the peccary takes readily to the water, and swims rivers. The jaguar, or tigre, as he is always called in Central America, is not a very dangerous animal, as he fears man much more than man fears him. The tigre is especially fond of dogs, and will enter a house at night to carry off the prized morsel; sometimes when hungry he will persistently resist all efforts to drive him away from a house-yard, and one of my monteros was attacked by one when sleeping in the forest. In this case the tigre was in complete darkness, and was badly gashed by the man’s machete; but so far from being frightened, he actually pursued the montero more than a mile to the nearest house, where a gun was obtained and the wounded animal shot. I have seen skins between five and six feet long, exclusive of head and tail. The puma (Felis concolor) is more common in the mountain regions, and the “lion” that descended from the Volcan de Agua and ravaged the country about the young City of Guatemala (antigua) was of this species. The ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) and coyote (Canis ochropus) are also found in the interior.

Of creeping things the warm regions of the earth are supposed to be prolific. I had been told of the terrible serpents,—the boas that hung from the trees and whipped up deer, the deadly tomagoff, and others, until I was ready to see their folds around every tree, or their coils under every bush. I was to be deprived of a swim in the rivers and lakes because of the alligators, and I must beware of scorpions and centipedes. Now, in fact, the alligators are few in number, small in size, and very deficient in courage. There are a hundred in Florida to every one in Guatemala, and I seldom got a shot at any; I was able to kill only one, and he was not over seven feet in length. A much larger one came ashore to lay her eggs near a house on the Chocon plantation, and was killed. The musky odor of the alligator is very strong during the breeding season, and the eggs (which are eaten by the Caribs) have a very strong flavor. They are small,—less than three inches long,—alike at each end, and rough; when dry, the shells contract, and finally split in spiral strips. Young alligators, not more than a foot long, are eaten, it is said, by the Indios.

The iguana I have already described. So abundant are these delicious reptiles that they are sometimes brought to Belize by the dory-load; and one may see several hundred Caribs each carrying home one or two iguanas, still alive, but with toes tied together, over the back. Of other lizards there are many kinds, from the harmless little fellows which make a squeaking in the thatch at night, to the long-tailed, crested lizards which rob the hens’ nests and even make way with the small chickens. Fresh-water turtles are abundant, and one, the hikatee, is excellent eating; so are its eggs, of the size of a pullet’s, of which some two or three dozen are found in a nest six or eight inches below the surface of the sand. The sexes are easily distinguished by the shape of the tail, the female having a shorter and thicker one. The sea-turtle (including the hawksbill, so valuable for the tortoise-shell) are very abundant, and are caught in seines by the use of floating decoys. Some of these turtle weigh one hundred and fifty pounds, and their steaks are white and tender as the best veal. I have never been on the shore at the egg-season, and so can say nothing of the taste; but I am told they are much inferior to the eggs of the iguana. It is a common thing to capture sea-turtles which have had a flapper bitten off by sharks, and usually the wound has healed well, the soft scales covering the stump completely.

Of the frogs, the most troublesome are those which get into the cisterns or behind the water-jars, and make a very loud and disagreeable noise.

On the Atlantic coast snakes are much less common than on the Pacific. Two long, slender snakes, quite harmless,—one green, the other reddish-brown,—are seen once in a while; but although the natives believe that all snakes are poisonous, only the tomagoff,—a short, thick snake of dark color,—the rattlesnake, and the coral snake are really venomous, and these are rarely seen. Stories are told of boas seen lying across a road with head and tail concealed in the trees on either side; but they lack confirmation, and perhaps may be classed with the absurd snake story told by Juarros.[59]

The supply of fish is good. The saw-fish grows to a great size, and its teeth are very long and sharp. The jew-fish is large, weighing several hundred pounds, and is good food. Snappers, mullet, bone-fish, king-fish, and a score of others of which we know only the local names, including one with solid red meat, are found in the rivers and bays. Of crustaceans, the crayfish takes the place of the lobster, and a small crab is common among the mangroves and in swampy forests; larger crabs come to the shores in breeding-time, but not in such numbers as at Belize.

Scorpions are large and dreaded; but their sting is not more painful than that of a hornet, and they are sluggish, and not abundant even in their chosen haunts. Centipedes are seen on the tree-stems, and many are drowned during the rains. This articulate is by no means quick in its motions, and falls a prey to the agile cockroach.

Spiders are abundant, both in species and individuals; and Mr. Frederick Sarg, of Guatemala, has drawn most beautifully, and carefully described, many new species. The hairy tarantula is the most dreaded; but others found on the rocks by the river-sides are perhaps larger.

The birds of Guatemala are of great beauty; and the quetzal (Macropharus mocino), the pavo (Meleagris ocellata), and the curassow, are perhaps unsurpassed in splendor of plumage. The wild turkey was supposed to be peculiar to Honduras, but has been found in Verapaz. Toucans with enormous bills and brilliant colors, parrots even more brightly colored, especially the guacamayo (Psittacus macao), and many species of humming-birds, frequent the river-banks; the palomas, or doves, and the social and noisy yellow-tails are on the trees, especially the qualm (Cecropia sp.); the white cranes and the great pelicans frequent the shoals; the johncrows (Cathartes aurea) congregate on the trees about the towns and serve as scavengers; and owls, hawks, and eagles are distinct elements of the Guatemaltecan avifauna.

Not less brilliant than the birds are the lepidoptera. The superb blue butterfly (Morpho sp.) flits among the trees with its wings spreading nine inches; with this are smaller relatives,—black, blue, carmine, and yellow; some with swallow-tails (Papilionidæ), others short and broad. Among the beetles are two of immense size,—the Hercules beetle (Dynastes Herculis) and the harlequin (Acrocinus longimanus); the former attains a size of five inches in length, and the latter infests the rubber-trees. Another beetle—one of the Elateridæ (Pyrophorus nyctophorus)—gives a most brilliant and constant light, quite as bright as the cacuyo of the West Indies. All through the highlands wasp-nests of large size and curious form are seen in the trees; ants also build mud-nests in the trees and on posts. Many chapters might be written of the habits of the Central American ants, which are perhaps the most abundant of indigenous insects,—the little “crazy ant,” which runs rapidly in all directions, seemingly without any object; the zompopos, or leaf-cutters (Œcodoma), whose trains are seen all through the forests, bearing above them the great sail-like fragments of leaf they have cut to stock their homes; the comajen (white ant), which destroys dead-wood and is intolerant of light; the fire-ant; and many others. The zompopos are very destructive in the vegetable garden, and indeed would quickly destroy a cacao, orange, or coffee plantation if allowed to establish their immense burrow in the midst. Some of the burrows are thirty feet in diameter, and can only be destroyed by persistent efforts,—fire, coal-tar, and carbolic acid being the best agents of destruction.[60] The sandflies are almost unendurable along the coast at certain seasons, and so are the mosquitoes (the genuine Culex mosquito, with striped body and black lancet) on the rivers. House-flies are not seen at Livingston; but all through the country the “botlass” is a pest. A bite by this fly leaves a persistent black spot, surrounded by an inflamed circle. Jiggers, beef-worms, and coloradias are troublesome about the towns and where there is uncleanness. The garrapatos (Ixodes bovis) are often found on horses and other animals, and when full are as large as a coffee-bean. Man does not escape this pest; but they are so large that they are easily picked off, especially if one has a monkey.

Among the mollusks the conch holds an important place both as an article of food and as an instrument of noise. Three kinds are distinguished,—the queen, king, and horse; the two last being the best for eating, while the first is much sought for cameo-cutting. A fine pink pearl is found in some of the shells. I consider a conch-soup quite equal to oyster-soup; but it is said (with some reason) to be a strong aphrodisiac. Madrepores, corals, sea-fans, and the varied inhabitants of reefs, are found in considerable variety, and are now the subject of collection and study by at least two competent observers. Jellyfish (Medusæ), Portuguese men-of-war (Physalia), and star-fish (Asterias) are abundant, and a naturalist would have a good harvest on the cayos and reefs of the Bay of Honduras.