Leaving the continent of North America, which may be said to terminate
at the southern end of Mexico, we enter that extremely irregular portion
of land which, now widening, now narrowing again, stretches in a
south-easterly direction till it unites with the southern half of the
American continent at the Isthmus of Panama. We find in Central America
three marked centres of elevation. The first we reach is the great
plain, nearly 6000 feet above the level of the sea, on which the city of
Guatemala is situated. Numerous volcanic peaks rise from its midst;
from it also flow several large rivers, some falling into the Gulf of
Mexico, others eastward into the Gulf of Honduras, while smaller streams
send their waters westward into the Pacific Ocean. The banks of these
rivers are mostly covered with the richest tropical vegetation--the
scenery of the river Polochie in Guatemala being especially beautiful.
Another high plain occupies the centre of Honduras, and extends into the
northern part of Nicaragua. From it also rise numberless streams, some
emptying themselves into the Caribbean Sea, and others into the Lakes of
Nicaragua and Managua. Further south rises the volcano of Cartago.
Here the Cordilleras resume their general character of a vast mountain
barrier, but once more sink down into low ridges as the chain passes
through the Isthmus of Panama.
As in South America, the Cordilleras run close along the Pacific coast.
In consequence, the rivers which flow from their heights have a long
course on the Atlantic side, and have carried down a large quantity of
alluvial soil. Here, too, rain falls in greater or lesser quantities
throughout the year. The vegetation is consequently rank, and the
climate damp, and proportionately unhealthy. As the trade-winds blow
from the north-east, the moisture with which they are saturated is
condensed against the mountainsides, and flows backwards towards the
Atlantic. The Pacific slope is, therefore, comparatively dry and
salubrious--as indeed are also the elevated table-lands of the interior.
The whole region is subject to earthquakes, and numberless volcanoes
rise in all directions. In the low ridge which separates the Lake of
Nicaragua from the Pacific are several volcanic hills, most of them
active; while further to the north-west, in the district of Conchagua--
scarcely more than one hundred and eighty miles in length--there are
upwards of twenty volcanoes. The two most lofty are found in the
Guatemala range--that of Fuego being upwards of 12,000 feet in height,
and that of Agua, 18,000 feet.
Many parts of the interior of the country have been but very partially
explored, and are, indeed, almost unknown. Of the purely native tribes,
most of them have become mingled with Spaniards or negroes. Parts of
the coast are inhabited by mixed races of Caribs, who have migrated from
Saint Vincent, one of the Leeward islands. These Caribs are known as
the Black and Yellow Caribs--the former being the descendants of the
survivors of the cargo of an African slaver, wrecked in the
neighbourhood of that island. The descendants of the Spaniards are the
dominant race, and they have divided the country into various republics,
though the greater portion is still in almost as savage a condition as
when first discovered.