Chapter XIV. HISTORY. _The Republic of Costa Rica

Map of Central America end of book (128)

Proposed line of Nicaragua Canal end of book (128)

Reverse side of Map end of book (129)

Introduction.

This monograph treats of the topography, geology, mineral wealth

and soils of Costa Rica; it describes its climate and presents the

details of its flora and fauna with reference to their economic

value; it displays the distribution of population according to

race, wealth, communities and social conditions; it examines the

agricultural development of the Republic, including its live stock

and forests; and, finally, it recounts the most important features of

its commerce, industry, finance, and of its economic and political

conditions.

It is made up of observations and studies pursued in 1897 and

1898, during seven and a half months of economic and scientific

explorations in Central America, and of facts garnered with great

care from authoritative manuscripts, books and official documents

and publications. Respect has been shown to the work of men of

originality in research and thought, and care has been taken

to adhere closely to the original text when either quoting or

translating. I am especially indebted to Professor H. Pittier, whose

great qualifications for a scientific exploration of Costa Rica

cannot be overestimated; to Mr. Anastasio Alfaro, the Director of

the National Museum; to Mr. Manuel Aragon, the Director General of

the National Statistical Department; to Dr. Juan Ullua, the Minister

of Fomento; to Joaquin B. Calvo, Minister Resident in Washington;

and Mr. Rafael Iglesias, the able President of the Republic of Costa

Rica.

The State of Costa Rica.

TOPOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY AND MINERAL WEALTH.

Costa Rica, the southernmost Republic of Central America, is

advantageously situated within the North tropical zone, adjoining

Colombia, the most northern state of South America. It is between

the two great oceans, having also the prospect of one inter-oceanic

ship-canal at one extremity and another ship-canal near the other.

Costa Rica is between 8° and 11° 16′ N. latitude and 81° 35′ and

85° 40′ W. longitude from Greenwich. Its area is between 54,070 and

59,570 sq. kilometers, the difference arising from the boundary line

unsettled with Colombia. We follow here Colonel George Earl Church’s

paper in the London Geographical Journal of July, 1897, which gives

in a condensed form all important results of extensive explorations

by Professor H. Pittier as well as well-written abstracts of

important publications of the “Instituto fisico geografico Nacional”

and of the “Museo Nacional” of Costa Rica.

The mountains of Costa Rica are not a continuous Cordillera, although

in general they extend from the frontier of Colombia to within a few

miles of Brito. The entire country may properly be divided into two

distinctive groups by a natural line running between the mouths of

the Reventazon and Rio Grande de Pirris; groups which can be called

“volcanic mountains” or “mountains of the northwest,” and “Talamanca

mountains” or “mountains of the southeast.” It is clear that the

Caribbean Sea once joined the Pacific Ocean through this valley of

the river Reventazon in which the Costa Rica Railway now climbs to

reach Cartago. In weighing existing data there seems to be no room

for doubt that the highlands of Costa Rica once formed part of a

vast archipelago extending from Panama to Tehuantepec. The lowest

inter-oceanic depressions between the Arctic Ocean and the Straits

of Magellan are the divide between the two oceans at Panama which is

286 feet above the sea-level, and the narrow strip of land separating

Lake Nicaragua from the Pacific, which has only about 150 feet

elevation.

The “volcanic mountains” or “the mountains of the northwest” can

again be divided into two sections. The first comprises the part

situated between the Rio Reventazon and a depression which connects

San Ramon with the water-shed of San Carlos, including the groups

of the volcanoes Turialba (11,000 feet), Irazú (11,200 feet), Barba

(9335 feet) and Poas (8675 feet). The second section comprises the

part which extends from the Barranca River to the Lake of Nicaragua

with the groups of Tilaran, Miravalles, La Vieja and Orosi.

The first section may be called “Cordillera Central” or “Cordillera

del Irazú” and the second “Cordillera del Miravalles.” The three

masses which form the volcanic Cordillera of Irazú are separated by

two depressions: first by that of La Palma, 1500 meters above the

sea, between Irazú and Barba, and second by that of Desengaño, 1800

meters above the sea, between Barba and Poas.

The basis of the two western masses seems to be formed of basaltic

rocks, while the trachytes dominate in the eastern mass. Irazú and

Turialba, which is part of the same mass, seem to have ejected lavas

in a compact state. The height of volcanoes diminishes towards the

west.

The three orographic groups which dominate the northern central

plateau do not show the regular conical form which usually

characterizes a volcano. The general line of the southern

slopes ascends in an imperceptible manner towards the summit,

notwithstanding that they are composed of a succession of terrace

plains. On the Irazú, for instance, eight such terraces are

observable from Cartago to the summit. The northern declivity is more

precipitous, being over 60° on the Irazú.

The peak of the Irazú is a point from which go various spurs and

secondary mountains in opposite directions, one to the west and

one to the east, the latter terminating in a crater where the

Parismina River takes its origin. The western mountains trend first

in a westerly direction to the Cerro Pelon, where they divide, one

part descending south to the pass of Ochomogo, 1540 meters above

sea-level; the other, after taking a northwesterly direction,

terminating in the plain of La Palma, which is a part of the

water-shed of the two oceans. On the south various mountains follow

the rivers Pirris and Turialba. The Irazú has various craters, formed

successively, each one contributing to the gradual rising of the mass.

The Irazú, which had eruptions in 1723, 1726, 1821 and 1847, has now

an altitude of 3414 m. (11,200 feet), and from its summit both oceans

are visible, and also the great valleys of San Juan and of Lake

Nicaragua, as well as the mountains of Pico Blanco, Chirripo, Buena

Vista and Las Vueltas. Turialba had a famous eruption of sand and

ashes which began on the 17th of August, 1864, and lasted to March,

1865. Its heaviest ejected matter fell to the west, and Seebach

classifies it as andesite. Another eruption, occurring on February 6,

1866, was accompanied by heavy earthquakes and sent its ashes as far

as Puntarenas.

The Cordillera del Miravalles commences with the volcano Orosi,

situated near the southwest extremity of Lake Nicaragua. In its

southeast trend it recedes more and more from the lake and the San

Juan River. It is an irregular, broad and volcano-dotted chain,

about sixty geographical miles long, breaking down gradually on

the northwest from Orosi to the Sapoa River, one of the southern

boundaries of Nicaragua. In this short distance are found the Cerro

de la Vieja (6508 feet), the Montemuerto (8000 feet), the beautiful

volcano Tenorio (6700 feet), the volcanoes Miravalles (4665 feet),

the Rincon (4498 feet), and the Orosi (5195 feet).

These mountains, as far as they have been examined, are found to

be of eruptive origin, basalts and trachytes predominating, but

extensive sedimentary rock formations are also found upon their

slopes, as well as vast deposits of boulders, clay, earth and

volcanic material.

The peninsula of Nicoya, forming a part of Guanacaste, is partly

an elevated plain and partly consists of hills and mountain ridges

seldom attaining a greater elevation than 1500 feet. It is also

composed of eruptive rocks and sedimentary formations, the latter

being especially visible in the valley of Tempisque.

Between the northern volcanic section and the more regular Talamanca

range is the notable “Ochomogo” Pass, about twenty miles broad, and a

little more than 5000 feet above the sea-level at the water parting.

To the eastward through this gap, and in a broad, deeply eroded

valley, runs the tumultuous Reventazon River, and to the westward the

Rio Grande de Pirris. On the south of this depression the Chirripo

Grande mountain mass sends off east and west two immense flanking

ranges. A part of the western range, lying between San Marcos and

Santa Maria, for a length of about six miles, is known as the Dota

ridge, to which former explorers gave great importance.

This lofty, transverse and precipitous mountain system almost

forbids communication between the northern and southern halves of

the Republic, and, as Colonel Church says, must at all times have

had a marked influence on the movement of races in this part of

Central America. Both the northern and Talamanca sections present

mountains in masses instead of sierrated like many Andean chains of

North America. Those of the Talamanca section are Rovalo (7050 feet),

Pico Blanco (9650 feet). Chirripo Grande (11,850 feet) and Buena

Vista (10,820 feet). There are no signs of recent volcanic activity

in the Talamanca range. The Talamanca mountains have narrow crests

and are very precipitous on the Atlantic side, with evidences of

extensive denudations and erosions caused by the ceaseless rain-laden

trade-winds.

Professor William M. Gabb, in his geological sketch of Talamanca,

observes that the geological structure of the entire region is very

simple. The greatest expanse is occupied by recent sedimentary rocks

raised and nearly entirely metamorphosed by the action of volcanic

masses.

At several points along the Atlantic coast, there are found masses

of rocks of still later date. Professor Gabb maintains that the

nucleus of the great Cordillera of the interior is formed by granites

and syenites, which, like the sediment that covers them, are broken

through here and there by dikes of volcanic origin identical with

the eruptive material found on a greater scale in the northern part

of Costa Rica. The syenites are intrusive and have their culminating

point and greatest development in the Pico Blanco or Kamuk, a

mountain of great altitude, unusual ruggedness and scarred with deep

and precipitous cañons. All these dikes are of more modern formation

and are porphyritic. Professor Gabb also notes a thick deposit of

conglomerates and sandstones, schists and limestones, the schists

being the most abundant; although the conglomerates, found all over

the region, indicate the previous existence of an older sedimentary

formation.

The pebbles which form the conglomerates are composed of metamorphic

clay, having a character distinct from all the other rocks found

in the country. The cement is also clay or sand. The absence of

crystalline rocks in the conglomerates is irrefutable proof that,

when these were deposited, the syenites and granites had not yet

appeared from the interior of the earth. The limestone and sandstone

represent a less developed geographical horizon of the sedimentary

group, the latter appearing occasionally in layers, interstratified

with conglomerates or more recent schists. In no place in Talamanca

have fossils been found in these sandstones, although the same rocks

are very fossiliferous near Zapote on the River Reventazon.

In regard to fossils, Professor Gabb saw at Las Lomas Station, about

seven hundred feet above the sea, in the Bonilla Cliffs cutting,

shark’s teeth, compact masses of sea shells, fish, etc., and at an

elevation of 2500 feet large deposits of compact shell limestone.

The schists have a fine, leaf-like texture, and are easily decomposed

and reduced to a black mud, if they have not been metamorphosed. In

this rock fossils have been found which belong to a Miocene age.

Along the Talamanca coast calcareous deposits are found in horizontal

layers, and are probably elevated coral reefs, a rock which Professor

Gabb calls “antillite,” and which is developed in the entire

Caribbean region. It belongs to the post-Pliocene formation, the last

of the Tertiary series.

In the interior valleys a thick deposit of pebbles and clays of

recent origin is observed. The limit between the syenites of the

high mountains and the metamorphosed Miocene formation is found in

proximity to the Depuk River. In the slopes of the hills the schists

are usually decomposed and covered with red clay, a sub-soil above

which is found a small cap of fertile vegetable mold. In the valley

of Tsuku the schists are profoundly altered and transformed in a

magnesic or semi-talcous rock. The schists are more silicified in

coming near to the limits of the syenites.

Higher up, the granitic rocks extend in the direction of the Pico

Blanco without interruption. The Pico Blanco itself is of granite.

Three hundred feet below the summit porphyry is observed, while the

summit itself shows a greenish-brown trachyte with black spots.

In regard to the Pacific side of this Talamanca section, Professor

H. Pittier says, “The southern coast Cordillera, as a whole, is

formed of a nucleus of basaltic or syenitic rocks, above which

are found successively limestone in very deep banks and sometimes

fossiliferous: then argillaceous and marly schists; again, sandstone

and conglomerates, the latter forming generally the crests of the

hills and giving way very easily to atmospheric action, which

produces its decomposition and is the cause of sterile lands

characterized by savannas and the absence of forests on the upper

parts of the mountains, as well as in certain lower and denuded

parts. The conglomerates are made up of heterogeneous elements whose

resistance to erosion is variable. Some disintegrate as soon as they

are exposed to erosion, while others remain unaltered for a long

time. For this reason the savannas are in many places covered with

stones of varied sizes.”

The lower valley of the Pirris presents a cap of impervious red clay,

and, as the waters do not readily drain off they become stagnant and

make an unhealthy district.

Dr. Frantzius, referring to the same region, speaks of diorites and

syenites, also of calcareous deposits of the Miocene age covered with

sandstone formations containing useful lignites. In his opinion the

mountain of Dota is formed almost entirely of dioritic rocks with

some syenitic nucleus. The same scientist says further that the high

plains of Caños Gordas are formed of conglomerates of ashes ejected

by the volcano of Chiriqui and brought there by the trade-winds which

prevail in Central America.

The Pacific slope, which comes boldly to the water’s edge, is

margined almost throughout by headlands and lofty hills, and has

fewer evidences of extensive denudations and erosions than the

Atlantic coast.

There is also a notable difference between the outlines of the two

coasts. The eastern is regular and slightly concave to the southwest,

while the western is indented with large and small bays and gulfs.

The most northern of these bays is the Salinas, belonging partly

to Nicaragua and partly to Costa Rica. It is a spacious deep-water

harbor, overlooked by the volcanic peak of Orosi. It is separated

from the adjoining bay, the Santa Elena, by Sacate Point.

Continuing south, we come, south of Cacique Point, to Port Culebra,

which is a mile wide, with a depth of eighteen fathoms. At the outlet

of this harbor lies Cocos Bay, capacious enough for a thousand ships

to anchor in the roadstead. The coast line south of Cocos Bay,

bordered by numerous and lofty hills and cut into gorges by small

impetuous water courses, presents no harbor as far as Cape Blanco,

which is at the western entrance of the extensive Gulf of Nicoya. The

gulf extends fifty miles to the northwest and is a magnificent sheet

of water, surrounded by green scenery, rivaling, if not surpassing,

that of the Bay of Naples, the Bosphorus, or the harbor of Rio de

Janeiro. Some twenty islands, large and small, nearly all bold,

rocky and covered with vegetation, contribute to its beauty, while

many small rivers, draining the slopes of the Miravalles and Tilaran

sierras and the mountains of the peninsula of Nicoya, flow into it

and diversify the scenery. The principal river, the Tempisque, enters

at the head of the gulf, and with numerous small branches irrigates

much of the province of Guanacaste.

All of the streams have bars at their mouths, composed generally of

mud and broken shells, and but few of them are navigable even for

a short distance inland, and then by very small craft. The whole

eastern part of the peninsula of Nicoya is broken into hills and

low mountains, wild and rarely cultivated, although there are many

beautiful and fertile valleys. The west side of the gulf is full of

reefs, rocks, violent currents, eddies that run from one to three

and a half miles an hour, and is subject to violent squalls coming

from the northwestern sierras. The eastern shore is less beset by

obstructions, and small craft go along it with ease, and at high tide

penetrate a few of its many rivers. It rises rapidly a short distance

inland, but is at times bordered by mangrove swamps.

Near the mouth of the river Aranjuez, on a sand spit three miles

long, stands Puntarenas, the only port of entry of Costa Rica on the

Pacific coast, and which had, from 1814 until recently, nearly the

entire foreign trade of the country. Ocean vessels anchor from one to

two miles off in the roadstead. There is an iron pier for loading and

discharging.

From Puntarenas southward to the unnavigable Barranca River there is

a broad beach lying at the foot of the high escarpment of Caldera.

The Rio Grande de Tarcoles, which enters the gulf south of the

Barranca, has a dangerous bar, but once inside it may be navigated

a few miles. Its upper waters irrigate the table-land of San José,

Alajuela and Heredia. In the neighborhood of these towns is garnered

nearly the entire coffee crop of Costa Rica. The coast line south

is rocky and precipitous until near Punta Mala, or Judas, at the

southeastern mouth of the gulf, and is low and surrounded by reefs

and rocks.

From Point Judas, low and covered with mangrove swamps, the coast

trends southeast in a long angular curve for about one hundred marine

miles to Point Llorena. It is dominated by lofty hills, cut through

at intervals by short impetuous streams and a few estuaries. The only

safe and excellent anchorage in this one hundred miles is Uvita Bay,

behind a rocky reef. From the precipitous headline, called Punta

Llorena, to Burica Point, the southern limit of Costa Rica, the coast

is abrupt, soon rising into ridges and peaks from 300 to 700 meters

high (985 to 2300 feet). These give birth to a few short turbulent

streams. About half way between these two points the great Golfo

Dulce, having a main width of six miles, penetrates inland northwest

about twenty-eight miles. It has an average depth of one hundred

fathoms.

Cape Matapalo, which marks its western entrance, is deep and

forest-covered, but Banco Point, opposite to it, is low. At the head

of the gulf is found the little Bay of Rincon. From here to the

Esquinas River, at the northeast angle of the gulf, the shore is

hilly, and thence to the harbor of Golfito, which is surrounded by

high hills, the country rises rapidly inland, but between Golfito

and the entrance to the gulf it is lower and less broken, and thence

to Platanal Point and Burica Point, the coast is bold, the country

descending gradually from the northeast.

From Point Llorena to Point Burica the coast is wild and almost

uninhabited. The coasts of Golfo Dulce have but a few hundred

half-breeds as their sole occupants.

There are but two rivers in the long coast line from the Gulf of

Nicoya to the Golfo Dulce, the Rio Grande de Pirris, and the Rio

Grande de Terraba, the head waters of the former flowing through

deep canyons with steep sides, which are almost bare of vegetation

until the region of Guaitil is reached, where dense forests are

encountered. The valley of the Rio Grande de Terraba is one of

the most beautiful, extensive and fertile of Costa Rica, but is

occupied by only a few families. Formerly it was the home of a large

indigenous population.

In the angle made by the River Buena Vista and Chirripo there is a

vast ancient cemetery, the graves of which contain many ornaments of

gold, principally eagles. An ancient road runs by near this place.

Turning to the hydrographic basin of the San Juan River and Lake

Nicaragua, the northeastern slope of the Miravalles range is found to

send off several small streams to the lake.

Between Cuajiniquil, two and one-fourth miles east of Rio Sapoa, and

Tortuga, six miles further east, are the little streams, Lapita, El

Cangrejo, Puente de Piedra, La Vivora, Guabo, Genizaro and Tortuga,

the latter the greatest in volume, being about one hundred and sixty

feet wide at its mouth and navigable. In the further distance of

seventeen miles going east, we cross the rivers Zavalos, Cañitas,

Quesera, Mena, Mico, Sapotillo, Quijada, Quijadita, Santa Barbara,

Sardinia, Barreal, Cañas, Perrito and, finally, Las Haciendas

which is navigable by small boats. From here to San Carlos, at the

outlet of Lake Nicaragua, the distance is sixty-four kilometers,

and the principal rivers which cross this tract are El Pizote,

Papalusco, Guacolito, Zapote, Caño Negro and Rio Frio. The Rio Frio

is of considerable magnitude, and with its many branches drains a

large area of the territory lying on the slopes of the volcanoes

of Miravalles and Tenorio. It pours much sedimentary matter into

Lake Nicaragua, and has thrown an extensive mudbank across the lake

entrance to the River San Juan.

For three or four miles above the mouth of the River Frio the lands

are low and swampy. Several of its branches can be reached and

navigated by canoe, and even a small river steamer can ascend a few

miles from the lake.

The San Carlos River joins the San Juan sixty-five miles from Lake

Nicaragua. The depth of its mouth, which is obstructed by a sand-bar,

varies from eight to twenty feet, according to the season.

The San Carlos has numerous affluents which at times have a volume of

water altogether disproportionate to their lengths. The distance up

to the first rapid of the San Carlos River, which is at El Muelle de

San Rafael where there are from four to six feet of water is roughly

fixed at sixty-two miles by the course of the river. Small steamers

could reach this point, although with difficulty on account of many

snags. The floods sometimes rise to their full height in twenty-four

hours and carry with them a great number of trees and much sand, from

which floating islands are formed.

Should the plans of Engineer Menocal for the Nicaragua Canal be

realized, the waters of the upper San Juan and the lower San Carlos

would be impounded and form an arm of Lake Nicaragua, which would

flood a large area in Costa Rica. The interval between the San Carlos

and the River Frio is an extensive forest, covering an undulating

plain with occasional low hills and watered by numerous little

streams. This territory is fertile and beautiful.

The next great river, the Sarapiqui, reaches the San Juan about

twenty miles east of San Carlos. It is 600 feet wide at its mouth,

and has numerous affluents from the sides of the volcanoes Poas,

Barba and Irazú, the principal ones being the Toro Amarilla and

Sardinal from the west, and the River Sucio from the east. The river

is navigable for large canoes up to its confluence with the Puerto

Viejo. Its banks as high up as to the River Sucio are low. The lands

are extremely fertile. El Muelle Nuevo is the head of navigation,

forty-five miles from the River San Juan and sixty-six miles by the

road across the mountains from San José.

From the Sarapiqui River to the River Colorado, a branch or bayou of

the San Juan, the banks of the latter in Costa Rica are but slightly

elevated. The lands are low and swampy, but occasionally a hill is

found from fifteen to eighteen feet high.

Below the Machuca Rapids the San Juan River is broad and deep as far

as the junction with its Colorado outlet, about seventeen miles from

the sea. Here it turns about nine-tenths of its volume of water into

the Colorado. It is navigable for river steamers at all seasons, but

has a dangerous bar at its mouth where the sea breaks heavily, and on

which there are only from eight to nine feet of water.

From the Colorado Junction to Greytown, some twenty miles distant,

the San Juan averages about three hundred feet in width for sixteen

miles and 100 feet for the remaining four, with a depth at high water

of from six to eight feet.

The Colorado has several islands in its course, but has excellent

anchorage at its mouth. This river forms several lagoons which

communicate with each other by caños or bayous perfectly navigable,

the principal being the Agua Dulce, a short distance from the sea,

eleven miles in length, 800 feet in width and from ten to forty feet

in depth.

Passing from the difficult Caño de la Palma in the midst of swamps,

the Caño de Tortuguero is reached, the entrance to which from the

sea is called Cuatro Esquinas. It is approximately thirty-eight

miles long, about one thousand feet in width, with a depth of from

fifty to sixty feet. The rivers Palacio and Penetencia, navigable

for boats, empty into this caño. The River Tortuguero, which gives

name to the plains watered by its affluents, is formed from several

of these caños, as the Caño Desenredo, Caño Agua Fria and Caño de la

Lomas. The Caño de Tortuguero communicates with the Parismina by the

caños California and Francisco Moria Soto, which are also navigable.

The margins of the Parismina are swampy. It has as its affluents the

Guasimo, Camaron, Novillos and the Destierro.

The lower district drained by the Tortuguero is raised but little

above the ocean, and in flood time the river communicates by several

caños with the Matina and with the delta of the Colorado, as well as

with the lagoon of Caiman, lying south of the Colorado. Its numerous

upper streams rise in the spurs of Irazú and Turialba.

The Sierpe and Parismina rivers flow into the sea south of

Tortuguero. The former is short, but the Parismina with its several

branches is a child of Irazú. Its lower course is sometimes

considered to be a part of the River Reventazon, which however has

its confluence with the former a few miles from the sea.

The Reventazon River has carved its way to a profound depth around

the south and southeastern bases of Irazú and Turialba, and, flanking

the latter volcano, it turns northward to join the Parismina. It

receives many tributaries from the northern slope of the Talamanca

range, and interweaves its head waters with those of the Rio Grande

de Tarcolles and the Rio Grande de Pirris, which flow into the

Pacific Ocean.

The Pacuare River, once known as Suerre, enters the sea about half

way between the mouth of the Reventazon and that of the Matina.

Its waters, in 1630, instead of flowing to the sea, joined the

Reventazon, closing the port of Suerre, but in 1651 Governor Salinas

closed the northern channel, deflecting its waters and restoring the

port.

The Matina River is a short stream with a large volume of water,

which enters the sea just north of Port Limon near the roadstead of

Moin, where, up to 1880, ocean craft anchored. The River Matina is

navigable by small steamers over the bar and by large ones above

the bar to the point where it receives its principal affluents,

the Chirripo, Barbilla and Zent. It yearly overflows its lower

valley, depositing an inch or two of exceedingly fertile mud highly

appreciated by the banana planters.

The entire mainland of the coast, from the River Colorado to the

Matina, is separated from the Caribbean Sea by a continuous narrow

sand bank, between which and the mainland is a lagoon, said to be

navigable the whole distance by boats. The intermediate rivers pour

into this narrow lagoon, driving their currents across it, and,

cutting through the sand bank, enter the sea. Sometimes a violent

gale closes one of the openings, which are all shallow, but the

river again forces an exit to the ocean through the obstruction.

This whole coast for sixty-five miles, is forbidding and dangerous,

and has but little depth of water within a mile of the shore, upon

which a monotonous, heavy surf breaks during the entire year. It is

only frequented from April until August by fishermen, who find their

way to the River San Juan through the intricate system of rivers and

caños described.

Port Limon, in latitude 10° north and longitude 83° 3′ 13″ west from

Greenwich, is the only port of entry of Costa Rica on the Caribbean

Sea. The first house was built there in 1871. The harbor faces

the south, and is formed by a little peninsula on which Limon is

situated. It is behind a narrow coral reef. The site, which now has

perhaps 3500 to 4000 population, is being raised with earth about

four feet, and its port will become one of the smoothest of the

Caribbean Sea. A small island, called Uvita, lies east at a distance

of 3660 feet from the town. Port Limon has a wooden pier 930 feet

long, accommodating two sea-going ships, but an iron pier is about to

replace it, which will berth four large ones of deep draught.

The Talamanca coast lying south of Limon is low, flat and swampy,

except where it is broken by hills. The little River Banana is

the first one met with going south, and its valleys produce large

quantities of timber and bananas. Next comes the Estrella, also a

short stream; then follows the Teliri, called in its lower course the

Sicsola. It is the largest stream in Costa Rica south of Port Limon.

It runs along the southern base of the great eastern mountains of the

Talamanca range, through a spacious, undulating, wooded valley of 100

to 150 square miles area, partly low grounds in some places dry and

in others swampy. It has several branches, like the Uren coming from

the slopes of the Pico Blanco, the Supurio and others. At the entry

of the high valleys of the Teliri and Coen rivers, the pyramid-like

mountains of Nefomin and Nenfiobete appear, at the foot of which the

interior plain of Talamanca, fifteen kilometers in length and eight

kilometers in width, extends from southwest to northeast, and so

uniformly that the water courses run indifferently and frequently

change their beds.

Southward of Sicsola is the Tilorio or Changuinola, which makes a

turbulent way to the sea from the Talamanca mountains. Along its

lower margin mud flats spread to a great width, and, from its mouth

towards the northwest, cover a region which surrounds also the lagoon

of Sansan, and extends up the rivers Zhorquin and Sicsola. Behind the

muddy zone the lands rise rapidly into hills, which in a few miles

reach an altitude of several thousand feet, at times intermingling

with the Cordillera. Along the entire sea margin of Talamanca runs a

narrow sand-belt of firm land, at times not a hundred feet wide, like

that described between the Matina and San Juan rivers.

Within this sand-belt are long, narrow, deep lagoons filled with

half-stagnant water from the mud flats. These lagoons usually open

into the rivers which descend from the mountains.

Between the Sicsola and the Tilorio lies the already mentioned,

crooked and deep lagoon called the Laguna de Sansan.

At Limon, Cahuita and Puerto Viejo, the hills, which are connected by

spurs with the more elevated country of the interior, extend to the

ocean coast. Between them, in plains extending from one to five miles

inland, are forest-covered swamps, overflowed with not less than ten

feet of water in the rainy season and only traversable in the dry.

Costa Rica claims sovereignty on the Atlantic side southeast as far

as the Island of Escudo de Veragua, including the ancient Ducado de

Veragua, whose frontier follows the coast of Chiriqui Viejo to the

crest of the Cordillera, and crosses it to the head waters of the

River Calobebora, then down this stream to the Escudo de Veragua.

Since their independence Colombia and Costa Rica have been in dispute

in regard to their boundary line. Colombia has never ceased to claim

jurisdiction over the entire Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, and

even over that of Nicaragua as far north as Cape Gracias á Dios. In

November, 1896, both governments signed a convention submitting their

dispute to the arbitration of the President of the French Republic,

or, in the event of his failure to act, to the President of Mexico or

of the Swiss Confederation.

The principal lakes of Costa Rica are the Laguna Manatí, northwest

from the Sarapiqui River; the Lagunas de Poas and de Barba, each on

a volcano bearing its name; Lagunas de Sansan and Samay, towards the

east and near the Sicsola River, in Talamanca; Laguna Tenoria, in

Guanacaste; Laguna San Carlos, in the plains of San Carlos; Laguna de

Arenal, between Las Cañas and San Carlos, and Laguna de Sierpe, in

the south, northward from the Golfo Dulce.

Far away from Costa Rica, in the Pacific Ocean, lies the Cocos

Island, about two hundred and sixty-six miles to the southwest of the

Golfo Dulce, in N. latitude 5° 32′ 57″ and longitude 86° 58′ 25″ W.

of Greenwich. Its highest point reaches 2250 feet, whence the descent

is gradual to a bold, steep coast, which has many irregularities and

rocks and a surf-beaten shore. Chatham Bay is its best harbor, having

room for a dozen ships. The interior is broken into numerous fertile

valleys, but there is probably not a square kilometer of level ground

in the entire island. Other islands are Chira, Venado, San Lucas,

Caño, etc.

_Mineral Wealth._—In regard to the mineral wealth of Costa Rica,

petroleum has been discovered near Uruchiko on the Talamanca coast,

and coal in certain sandstone formations on both the Atlantic and

Pacific sides of the Talamanca section.

In the province of Alajuela, a little to the north of the cart-road

which runs from San José to Puentarenas, is Monte Aguacate, part

of an old mountain range which extends far to the northwest, and

not very distant from the Gulf of Nicoya. In general, it is of

metamorphic formation, principally of diorite and porphyry.

Here, in a good climate, at 2000 feet elevation, are found auriferous

veins of great richness. They are of quartz mixed with decomposed

feldspathic rocks, and have yielded very lucrative bonanzas. The

first mine was Guapinol, one bonanza of which produced $1,000,000.

Several other mines were worked, from one of which (Los Castros)

$2,000,000 were taken in a few years. It is estimated, from the best

data obtainable, that about £1,000,000 have been taken from Monte

Aguacate. Several of these veins are from six to seven feet wide, but

that called the Quebrada Honda is sixteen feet wide. Most of the ore

is of a high grade and of refractory character. It is probable that

the whole southwestern slope of the Guatusos and Miravalles ranges of

mountains is auriferous. The rocks in the northwestern extension of

this district consist principally of feldspar, porphyry, basalt and

dolorite.

The gold veins nearly all ran northeast and southwest, and are

encased in feldspar, sometimes in porphyry, and occasionally in

basalt. They consist, in great part, of crystalline quartz, and are

from two to forty feet wide. Professor Pittier also found gold in

the slopes of the Buena Vista mountain. Gold is further found in the

Talamanca mountains, especially in the placer grounds of the Duedi

River, and on the inferior hills between the Lari and Coen rivers.

Along the latter, and near Akbeta, also on the shore of Puerto Viejo,

iron exists.

Copper and silver, Professor Pittier says, have been discovered in

Diquis, between Paso Real and Lagarto, and native copper in Puriscal.

Other mines are included in the following table:

The Principal Mines Registered in 1892.

--------------------+----------+----------------------+-----------------

Name of Mine. | Canton. | Location. | Product.

--------------------+----------+----------------------+-----------------

La Trinidad |Esparza |Rio Ciruelitas |Gold and

| | | silver ores.

La Union |Puntarenas|Shores of Rio Seco | ” ”

Sacrafamilia |Alajuela |Monte de Aguacate | ” ”

La Minita | ” | ” ” | ” ”

Mina de los Castros | ” |Corralillo | ” ”

San Rafael | ” | ” | ” ”

Mina de los Oreamuno| ” | ” | ” ”

Quebrada Honda | ” |Quebrada Honda | ” ”

Machuca | ” |Corralillo | ” ”

Trinidad de Aguacate| ” | ” | ” ”

Peña Grande |San Ramon |Cerro de San Ramon | ” ”

Mina de Acosta | ” |Shores of Rio Jesus | ” ”

Palmares | ” |Cordillera de Aguacate|Gold, silver and

| | | lead ores.

Las Concavas |Cartago |Rio de Agua Caliente |Copper ore.

Mancuerna |Sardinal |Sardinal | ”

Mata Palo | ” | ” | ”

Puerta de Palacio | ” | ” | ”

Hoja Chiques | ” | ” | ”

Chapernal | ” | ” | ”

--------------------+----------+----------------------+-----------------

It should be stated that, with the exception of gold and some silver,

little is mined. The deposits of coal, petroleum, copper and silver

have thus far yielded, under present methods of management, outputs

of no commercial value.

However, anthracite is found at Santa Maria Dota, Department of

Puriscal. A specimen of it, analyzed by Dr. L. J. Mátos, chief of

the laboratories of the Philadelphia Commercial Museum, gave these

results:

It is a good quality of anthracite coal and compares very favorably

with the best grades that are mined in Pennsylvania. Color, black;

slight tendency to show iridescence; fracture, conchoidal, brittle;

analysis, specific gravity, 1,343; weight per cubic foot, 83.93

pounds.

Proximate composition:

Moisture 2.60 per cent.

Volatile matter 3.56 ”

Fixed carbon 88.20 ”

Ash 5.64 ”

------

Total 100 ”

Sulphur .4319 ”

Coke 93.84 ”

Coke per ton of coal 2002.01 pounds.

Fuel value 9.14 ”

Fuel ratio 1:24.77

There are to be mentioned also some mineral waters, as, for instance,

those near the mouth of the Isqui River, on the Talamanca coast;

those in Agua Caliente, about five miles from the City of Cartago and

belonging to the Bella Vista Company; those of Orosi and Salitral, of

Poas, Miravalles, Ausoles, Bagaces, San Carlos, Liberia, San Roque,

etc.

II.

CLIMATE OF COSTA RICA.

The climate of Costa Rica depends on its situation in the tropics,

on the position of the sun at different times of the year, and on

the topography, but, owing to the narrowness of the country and its

situation between the two great oceans, it is well-tempered by the

alisios (northeast trades) and other winds.

I begin this chapter with the following table which gives the

Meteorological Conditions in San José During the Year 1896.

---------+------------------------+------------+---------+----------

| Temperature in C.° |Evaporation.|Humidity.|Atm’sph’ic

| | | | Pressure.

+------------------------+------------+---------+----------

---------+-------+-------+--------+------------+---------+----------

January | 28.5 | 10.8 | 18.60 | 26.97 | 78 | 665.86

February | 31.8 | 10.5 | 19.24 | 33.97 | 74 | 665.39

March | 32.4 | 12.2 | 19.84 | 42.77 | 70 | 665.38

April | 28.4 | 14.8 | 20.13 | 19.65 | 84 | 664.87

May | 29.2 | 15.8 | 20.10 | 19.84 | 83 | 665.32

June | 28.8 | 14.9 | 20.32 | 18.67 | 84 | 665.09

July | 29.2 | 15.8 | 20.10 | 19.84 | 83 | 665.32

August | 29.2 | 14.7 | 20.17 | 22.81 | 82 | 664.38

September| 26.6 | 14.4 | 19.97 | 17.87 | 85 | 664.83

October | 28.4 | 14.8 | 20.13 | 19.65 | 84 | 664.87

November | 29.0 | 14.2 | 19.78 | 19.93 | 84 | 664.70

December | 27.7 | 11.9 | 19.30 | 25.29 | 80 | 665.36

---------+-------+-------+--------+------------+---------+----------

Average | 28.71 | 13.73 | 19.81 | 23.94 | 81 | 665.21

---------+-------+-------+--------+------------+---------+----------

First Half of 1897.

---------+------------------------+------------+---------+----------

| Temperature in C.° |Evaporation.|Humidity.|Atm’sph’ic

| | | | Pressure.

+------------------------+------------+---------+----------

---------+-------+-------+--------+------------+---------+----------

January | 29.5 | 13.1 | 19.25 | 30.77 | 78 | 665.53

February | 31.9 | 8.2 | 19.78 | 44.89 | 70 | 666.52

March | 31.7 | 10.9 | 20.51 | 36.68 | 72 | 665.70

April | 32.7 | 12.2 | 21.02 | 36.80 | 74 | 665.59

May | 30.3 | 14.0 | 20.52 | 24.29 | 82 | 665.52

June | 29.3 | 15.5 | 20.40 | 16.40 | 85 | 665.32

---------+-------+-------+--------+------------+---------+----------

The average atmospheric pressure of San José, the capital of the

country, is 665.21 mm. The maximum occurs regularly during the months

from October to March inclusive, at nine o’clock a. m., and during

the rest of the year at eleven o’clock p. m. The minimum occurs

always in the afternoon at four o’clock during the first eight months

of the year, and at three o’clock during the last four months.

The prevailing wind is from the northeast, or, better,

north-northeast and east. During August, September and October an

increase of the northwest winds causes the heavy rains of that

season. West-northwest and northwest winds blow also from May to

August.

The daily variation of winds is generally as follows:

At seven a. m. the most frequent winds blow from S. E., to N. E.;

at ten o’clock a. m. from E. to N. N. E; at one o’clock and at four

o’clock p. m. from E. N. E. to N.; from seven o’clock p. m. the

movement is retrograde. The velocity is least from seven to ten

o’clock a. m., and most from one to four o’clock p. m.

In 1889, during the time of observations at San José, there were

noted 13 hours of north winds, 186 N. N. E., 571 N. E., 227 E. N. E.,

93 E., 58 E. S. E., 25 S. E., 6 S. S. E., S. none, S. S. W. none, 1

S. W., 3 W. S. W., 4 W., 83 W. N. W.

The number of calms is small. The wind is nearly always moderate,

but during the dry season the dust whirled up in the cities is very

disagreeable. The climate of the uplands is an eternal spring.

The coldest month is January; December and February are relatively

cold. The hottest months are May and June. The heat is, at all

times, moderate and agreeable. The course of the temperature has

all the characters of an insular climate, without having so much

humidity. The oscillation of the average temperature is greatest in

March and during the dry season, as at that time the sky is clear

and the soil exposed to uninterrupted insolation during the day,

while the earth’s radiation of heat during the night is rapid. Also

the daily oscillation is considerable during the dry season, and

continues during the first month of the rainy season, according to

the condition of the sky.

In 1890 the sun shone in San José 1911 hours, that is an average of

five hours and fourteen minutes per day. February is the month of

most sunshine and least nebulosity. The hour of most sunshine during

the year is that between eight and nine a. m., and that of the least

is in the afternoon.

The oscillation of the temperature of the soil is, at a depth of

one meter, 2, 13° C., per year. At a depth of three meters, the

temperature of the soil is lowest in February and March, when it is

20, 48° C., and highest in August, when it is 20, 75° C.

The daily variation is almost nothing during the first three months

of the year, and the sky is relatively clear, while, from May to

October, not one day is clear. During the hottest hours of the day

the sky begins regularly to be darkened by clouds, due to ascending

atmospheric currents.

In San José the sky is ordinarily clear between midnight and noon,

even during the most rainy months, and cloudy the rest of the

twenty-four hours. Although the rainfalls are abundant here from May

to October, with rare exceptions they do not last more than a few

hours each day. The mornings are generally splendid and the air very

pure, and nearly every day the sunset can be clearly observed.

From May to November there are about two hours of copious rain daily

between one and four o’clock in the afternoon, averaging, with great

regularity, from ten to twelve inches a month, and from seventy to

eighty inches during the year. Towards the end of June there is a

short dry period called “Veranillo de San Juan.”

Through the Desengaño and Palma Passes the northern rains penetrate

a short distance every day, and the northern descent of the Palma

towards Carillo is probably the most rainy district of the Republic.

At Tres Rios, having an elevation of 4140 feet, six miles east of San

José, at the western foot of the Ochomogo Pass, the rain record for

126 days out of ten months showed a fall of 100 inches, while at San

José, during the same period of ten months there were 147 rainy days,

with a fall of eighty-four inches. In the month of May Professor

Pittier, to whom we owe these excellent data, measured nine inches in

rainfall in one and one-half hours.

Rainfall in 1896 at Stations of Costa Rica of Different Altitudes, by

Days and Precipitation in Mm.

(Part 1 of 3)

--------------+--------+----------+----------+----------+----------+

|Altitude| Jan. | Feb. | Mch. | April. |

| in +-----+----+-----+----+-----+----+-----+----+

| meters |Days.| mm.|Days.| mm.|Days.| mm.|Days.| mm.|

--------------+--------+-----+----+-----+----+-----+----+-----+----+

Banana | 3 | 15 | 292| 16 | 184| 17 | 140| 24 |1030|

Port Limon | 3 | ? | 224| ? | 210| ? | ? | ? | ? |

Gute Hoffnung | 40 | -- | --| 18 | 443| 14 | 132| 24 |1065|

La Colombiana | 250 | -- | --| -- | -- | -- | --| -- | -- |

Juan Viñas | 1140 | -- | --| -- | -- | -- | --| -- | -- |

(Turialba) | 600 | 21 | 353| 12 | 49| 12 | 65| 22 | 629|

Tuis | 650 | 21 | 291| 12 | 159| 14 | 44| 22 | 403|

Cartago | 1476 | 15 | 106| 12 | 72| 6 | 20| 16 | 141|

la Union | 1300 | 7 | 49| 3 | 6| 1 | 1| 12 | 227|

La Palma | 1400 | -- | --| -- | --| -- | --| -- | -- |

Guadelupe | 1200 | 10 | 55| 0 | 0| -- | 1| 12 | 138|

San José | 1160 | 6 | 54| -- | --| 1 | 1| 12 | 132|

La Verbena | 1140 | -- | --| -- | --| -- | --| -- | -- |

Nuestro Amo | 850 | -- | --| -- | --| -- | --| -- | -- |

--------------+--------+-----+----+-----+----+-----+----+-----+----+

(Part 2 of 3)

--------------+--------+----------+----------+----------+----------+

| in +-----+----+-----+----+-----+----+-----+----+

| meters |Days.| mm.|Days.| mm.|Days.| mm.|Days.| mm.|

--------------+--------+-----+----+-----+----+-----+----+-----+----+

Banana | 3 | 19 | 132| 13 | 272| 24 | 405| 23 | 477|

Port Limon | 3 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |

Gute Hoffnung | 40 | 19 | 302| 11 | 182| 24 | 399| 25 | 414|

La Colombiana | 250 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 28 | 269| 23 | 378|

Juan Viñas | 1140 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 19 | 205| 11 | 183|

(Turialba) | 600 | 23 | 237| 17 | 267| 25 | 257| 20 | 327|

Tuis | 650 | 19 | 270| 19 | 223| 21 | 267| 23 | 204|

Cartago | 1476 | 14 | 123| 16 | 153| 17 | 132| 16 | 72|

la Union | 1300 | 16 | 190| 12 | 239| 11 | 110| 9 | 46|

La Palma | 1400 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 30 | 370| 30 | 272|

Guadelupe | 1200 | 19 | 173| 16 | 182| 21 | 232| 17 | 127|

San José | 1160 | 11 | 167| 19 | 165| 19 | 209| 17 | 124|

La Verbena | 1140 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 16 | 156| 10 | 86|

Nuestro Amo | 850 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 13 | 136| 8 | 143|

--------------+--------+-----+----+-----+----+-----+----+-----+----+

(Part 3 of 3)

--------------+----------+----------+----------+----------+-----------

| Sept. | Oct. | Nov. | Dec. | Year.

|-----+----+-----+----+-----+----+-----+----+-----+-----

|Days.| mm.|Days.| mm.|Days.| mm.|Days.| mm.|Days.| mm.

--------------+-----+----+-----+----+-----+----+-----+----+-----+-----

Banana | 14 | 109| 15 | 262| 17 | 335| 23 | 481| 220 | 4119

Port Limon | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ?

Gute Hoffnung | 14 | 95| 11 | 106| 16 | 318| 23 | 569| -- | --

La Colombiana | 12 | 129| 11 | 114| 16 | 280| 22 | 564| -- | --

Juan Viñas | 14 | 194| 11 | 121| 19 | 247| 16 | 515| -- | --

(Turialba) | 14 | 298| 25 | 142| 19 | 210| 15 | 475| 225 | 3310

Tuis | 21 | 254| 20 | 134| 19 | 217| 27 | 366| 238 | 2831

Cartago | 18 | 97| 9 | 125| 16 | 135| 17 | 164| 172 | 1339

la Union | 19 | 377| 17 | 239| 16 | 179| 8 | 66| 131 | 1728

La Palma | 21 | 229| 24 | 241| 25 | 360| 29 | 835| -- | --

Guadelupe | 21 | 190| 21 | 241| 19 | 304| 11 | 78| 157 | 1721

San José | 23 | 207| 20 | 200| 18 | 300| 8 | 77| 154 | 1642

La Verbena | 24 | 238| 16 | 117| 19 | 260| 5 | 41| -- | --

Nuestro Amo | 21 | 376| 9 | 212| ? | ? | ? | ? | -- | --

--------------+-----+----+-----+----+-----+----+-----+----+-----+-----

The daily curve of rainfall shows a minimum very accentuated in the

first half of the day. Rain begins to fall about eleven o’clock,

and continues to augment rapidly from hour to hour until it reaches

its maximum between four and five o’clock p. m.; from this time on

it diminishes gradually until morning. The daily maximum of rain is

reached about sunset, although in January the heaviest rainfalls are

observed between one and two o’clock p. m. The most probable hour of

rain is between four and five o’clock p. m. It seldom rains between

three and four o’clock, and very seldom during the morning hours.

Thunderstorms reach their maximum in May. The relative humidity of

the air is such that the climate can be considered a favored one.

Its annual curve shows three minima and three maxima. The minima are

observed between February and March, in July, and between November

and December; the maxima in June, September and December. These

lines, of course, are parallel with those indicating the distribution

of rain. The maximum is noted at sunrise, the minimum at two o’clock

p. m., with an average oscillation of twenty-four per cent.

From 1866 to 1880, the rain gauge record kept by Mason at San José

shows a yearly average precipitation of sixty-four and one-fourth

inches, or 1631 millimeters.

It is as follows:

The Rainfall in San José from 1866 to 1880 in Mm.

-------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----

| J | F | M | A.| M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D | T

| a | e | a | p | a | u | u | u | e | c | o | e | o

| n.| b.| r.| r | y.| n | l | g.| p | t.| v.| c.| t

| | | | i | | e.| y.| | t.| | | | a

| | | | l.| | | | | | | | | l.

-------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----

1866 | 33| 7| -- | 29| 139| 123| 320| 156| 274| 250| 171| 122| 1619

1867 | 98| 56| 7 | 98| 209| 206| 214| 190| 314| 213| 244| 14| 1397

1868 | --| --| 181| 13| 83| 150| 102| 130| 224| 393| 144| 17| 1436

1869 | 7| --| 7| 28| 202| 218| 150| 132| 393| 281| 78| 102| 1562

1870 | 1| 6| 31| 17| 333| 276| 240| 284| 240| 262| 184| 33| 1905

1871 | 28| 3| 8| 13| 290| 203| 364| 307| 245| 333| 114| 11| 1925

1872 | 3| 3| 15| 50| 244| 255| 192| 378| 397| 504| 142| 21| 2197

1873 | 64| --| 3| 71| 64 | 205| 145| 85| 387| 262| 121| 11| 1418

1874 | 46| 1| 20| 60| 336| 167| 162| 181| 319| 191| 42| 20| 1543

1875 | --| --| --| 28| 252| 180| 93| 294| 279| 339| 21| 32| 1492

1876 | 14| --| 11| 6| 247| 237| 153| 192| 206| 117| 70| 28| 1282

1877 | 14| --| --| --| 240| 167| 223| 159| 259| 95| 121| 79| 1357

1878 | --| --| 38| 50| 142| 187| 205| 149| 329| 238| 223| 20| 1580

1879 | 13| --| 45| 192| 220| 330| 460| 283| 351| 231| 61| 8| 2193

1880 | 8| --| --| 15| 254| 210| 104| 436| 165| 278| 92| --| 1562

-------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----

Average| 22| 5| 24| 44| 217| 208| 208| 222| 299| 266| 122| 35| 1631

-------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----

There is every year a number of slight earthquakes in San José,

generally undulating from west to west-northwest, and occurring

mostly between eleven p. m. and six a. m. The greatest number are

observed at the beginning of the rainy season.

The rainy season on the Caribbean slope of the country does not

correspond to that of the Pacific. In fact there are no continuously

dry months, and on the northern declivities of the volcanoes of

Turialba, Irazú, Barba and Poas, it rains more or less during the

entire year; also near Lake Nicaragua it rains nearly continuously,

and the mountains of the Guatuso country and the surroundings of

the volcano of Orosi are seldom without clouds. At times there are

cloud-bursts of tremendous power, broadening rivers for miles. Port

Limon is said to have an annual rainfall of eighty-nine inches, but

it is greatly exceeded by that of Colon, which averages 120 inches.

The mean rainfall at Greytown for 1890, 1891, 1892, was 267 inches

yearly. The late United States Commission estimated the average at

Lake Nicaragua at eighty inches, and in the basin of the San Juan

River at 150 inches.

The climate of Talamanca is for the same reason very unhealthy in the

proximity of the coast, and also in the lower course of the rivers

a similarly deadly climate prevails. In normal years there are two

dry and two wet seasons. The rains commence regularly in May or June

and last until the end of July. The months of August and September

are more or less dry. In October there are some heavy showers, and

extensive rains begin which characterize the months of November,

December and January. The driest months are February, March and

April. The high region is extremely humid, giving rise to fogs and

rains. The mosses which almost completely envelop the stems of the

trees are constantly dropping water, and the rivers in this section

are almost impassable.

The climate of the great valley of the Rio Grande de Terraba is

similar to that described for the terrace lands. Both regions have

distinctly marked characters. Rains begin in April, grow heavier

towards September, and cease about the end of November. During the

rest of the year dry weather prevails, although sometimes heavy

showers relieve this arid condition. In the lower zone pronounced

radiation causes a heavy dew and extensive fogs, and both are

characteristic of this section.

The excessive heat felt on the lowlands diminishes gradually with the

rising of the land towards the high mountains, but at times a height

of 1500 feet will be found cooler than one of 3000 feet. In the Santa

Clara district, for instance, it is cooler at 500 feet elevation than

it is in the Reventazon valley at 1500 feet. In general, the torrid

lands of the country, ranging from the sea to 150 feet above it, and,

if not clear and well-drained, even up to 400 and 500 feet, abound

in malarial fevers; but as high ground, having an elevation of from

1500 to 3000 feet is reached, the fevers are of light type and not

dangerous, while from 3000 to 5000 feet the diseases are those of

the temperate zone, and are due less to local conditions of soil and

climate than to personal neglect.

There were no epidemic diseases in 1897. In October 30, 1894, sixteen

medical districts were established by law, and so were a number of

hospitals and quarantine stations in the ports of the Republic.

III.

CHARACTER OF VEGETATION.

This chapter I begin with a phyto-geographical classification

given by Dr. Carl Hoffman and published in Bonplandia in 1858. He

distinguishes:

First.—Coast regions (sea shores and salt swamps).

Second.—Regions of tropical forests and savannas, stretching from

the coast regions to a height of 900 meters.

Third.—Regions of high plains, lying between 900 to 1500 meters of

elevation.

Fourth.—Region of upper tropical forests, situated between 1500 to

2150 meters of altitude.

Fifth.—Region of oaks, from 2150 to 2750 meters in height.

Sixth.—Region of chaparrales, from 2750 to 3050 meters up.

Seventh.—Region of subalpine or subandine flora, from 3050 meters

up to the tops of the high mountains.

Dr. Polakowsky enumerates cultivated lands, virgin forests, open

forests and savannas.

Another division is given by Dr. Moritz Wagner. He mentions a

littoral (as appears on next page) zone, a tropical forest zone and a

zone of savannas.

He also distinguishes on the volcano of Chiriqui the following

successive regions:

First.—Regions of evergreen forest trees and palms, bananas,

Araceæ, etc., to a height of 550 meters, with an average

temperature of 26° to 24° C.

Second.—Region of tree ferns and mountain orchids, from 550 to 1220

meters, with an average temperature of 23° to 18° C.

Third.—Region of Rosaceæ, Senecionodeæ, Gramineæ and Agave

americana, from 1220 to 1585 meters.

Fourth.—Region of Cupuliferæ and Betulaceæ, mostly oaks and alders,

from 1585 to 3050 meters.

Fifth.—Higher region above 3050 meters.

Dr. Wagner calls special attention to a noted uniformity of the flora

on the coasts of both oceans, and Professor Pittier affirms that

the vegetation between Colon and Greytown on one side, and between

Panama and San Juan del Sur on the other side, is remarkably uniform.

The littoral zone has a width of about four maritime miles. The

predominating flora is composed of _Rhizophora mangle_, _Hippomane

mancinella_, _Cocos nucifera_, _Chrysobalanus icaco_, _Crescentia

cujete_, _Acacia spadicigera_, _Cæsalpinia bonducella_ and other

_Leguminosæ_; _Acrostichum aureum_, _Ipomœa pescapræ_, _Avicennia

nitida_, _Uniola Pittierii_ and also _Euphorbiaceæ_, etc.

The zone of tropical forests shows, especially on the Atlantic

side behind the coast region, a strip of from twenty to twenty-two

miles in width, with lofty trees of _Rubiaceæ_, _Myrtaceæ_,

_Melastomaceæ_, _Sterculiaceæ_, _Euphorbiaceæ_, _Meliaceæ_,

_Urticaceæ_, _Moraceæ_, _Anacardiacæ_, _Sapindaceæ_, _Leguminosæ_ and

_Palmæ_. It is relatively free from ligneous undergrowth, having more

monocotyledonous plants, such as _Cycadeæ_, _Scitamineæ_, _Cannaceæ_,

_Marantaceæ_, _Cyperaceæ_, _Filices_ and _Bromeliaceæ_, underneath.

The latter orders figure, also with _Orchideæ_ and _Loranthaceæ_

among the epiphytes and parasites which cover the trees. Among

the most characteristic plants of this region we name the coyol

palm (_Acrocomia_), corozo (_Attalea cohune_), biscoyol (_Bactris

horrida_), palmiche (_Elæis melanococca_) and _Raphia nicaraguensis_

which forms almost forests along the River San Juan; further, _Tecoma

pentaphylla_, _Bombax ceiba_, _Eriodendron_, _Spondias_, _Croton

gossypifolius_, _Hymenæa courbaril_, rubber trees (_Castilloa

costaricencis_ and _C. elastica_), _Geoffræa superba_, _Simaba

cedron_, species of _Enterolobium_, _Cæsalpinia_, _Liquidambar_,

_Copaifera_, _Cedrela_, _Swietenia_, _Sapota_, _Pithecolobium_,

_Palicourea_, _Cinchona_, _Piper_, _Ficus_, _Cecropia_; still

further, smilax, vanilla, etc. Many of these characteristic plants

are largely social, such as the piper, ferns, palms and others.

Moritz Wagner states that all along the southern limits of Costa

Rica a likeness of climatic and geological conditions gives to the

vegetation a nearly uniform character, while further northward a

notable contrast is observed between the Atlantic and Pacific slopes

of the mountain groups and on the interior terrace lands. The

Atlantic slope, with more constant humidity of air, is characterized

by vast, dense, evergreen, virgin forests, while the Pacific lands,

with a relatively dry climate and rainless summer, present more open

forests and savannas, with many deciduous trees and shrubs. However,

deep river valleys and some slopes near the water-shed have dense,

evergreen forests, and their vegetation does not differ much from

that of the Atlantic slope. The flora of the high terrace lands has

been so altered by thorough cultivation as to have almost lost its

original character.

The Atlantic virgin forests, as well as those in the region of the

San Juan River and of Lake Nicaragua, which comprise two-thirds of

Costa Rican territory, show such a dense vegetation that its interior

can be penetrated almost only by way of the rivers, and its general

character and its enormous extension be studied only from high

mountains. Owing to the very mountainous character of the country,

over half of its area lies between 900 and 2100 meters above the sea,

and is almost wholly covered with virgin forest. This forest here

and there ascends still higher, reaching the upper limit of the oak

region about 2700 meters above the sea.

Dr. Polakowsky, in an interesting publication entitled “Flora of

Costa Rica,” calls the forest region of the San Juan River, in view

of its luxuriant character, “The Central American Hylæa,” and this

name Professor Pittier applies also to the entire Atlantic region,

attributing to it a distinctly South American character.

The zone of the open forests and savannas, which has park-like

features, is rarely found away from the Pacific side, where it forms

a belt from sixteen to eighteen miles in width, interspersed with

more densely forested river valleys, islands of higher and thicker

virgin forests, isolated trees or groups of trees, sometimes also

with _catingas_ and meadows flecked with shrubs and matorrales.

The savannas and open forests spread to a considerable extent over

Guanacaste, where they are a continuation of those of Rivas in

Nicaragua; also over the plains of Terraba, especially in the region

of Buenos Aires and Terraba; and over the coast-lands of Golfo Dulce.

There are some small similar tracts near Alajuela, Turialba, Santa

Clara and at some other points, as well as catingas and _paramos_ in

the high mountain ridges of the south. The paramos are found on poor

soil and have a vegetation more herbaceous than ligneous, which, when

moist, takes on the character of turf.

The trees of the savannas are generally of little height, excepting

the _Enterolobium cyclocarpum_ (the guanacaste), the pochote and

ceiba. The grass lands are almost wholly composed of _Gramineæ_

and _Cyperaceæ_, especially in the savannas of Guanacaste. The

most characteristic plants are _Digitaria marginata_ and _Paspalum

notatum_, besides species of _Setaria_, _Panicum_, _Eragrostis_,

_Andropogon_, _Isolepis_, _Cyperus_, _Rhynchospora_ and _Scleria_, as

well as of ferns (_Pteris aquilina_) and _Schizæa occidentalis_.

Other abundant plants in the open forests and savannas are

_Compositæ_ (_Zemenia_, _Pectis_, _Spilanthes_); _Rubiaceæ_

(_Spermacoce_); _Polygalaceæ_; _Iridaceæ_; _Moraceæ_ (_Maclura_,

_Ficus_); _Melastomaceæ_ (_Miconia_, _Clidemia_, _Conostegia_,

_Leandra_); _Cyperaceæ_; _Convolvulaceæ_; _Euphorbiaceæ_;

_Bombacaceæ_; _Sauvagesia_. Further, _Myrtaceæ_ (_Psidium_,

_Alibertia edulis_); _Curatella americana_ (chamico); _Roupala_

(danto hedliondo); _Byrsonima crassifolia_ (nance); _Miconia argentea

DC._ (santa maria); guacimo macho (_Luhea_), guacimo de ternero

(_Guazuma ulmifolia_); burio (_Bombax apeiba_); ñambar (_Cocobola_);

_Davilla lucida_; _Duranta Plumieri_; _Proteaceæ_; and _Acacia

scleroxyla Lonchocarpus atropurpureus,_ _Dalbergia_ and many other

_Leguminosæ_, especially _Mimosa pudica_, which gives large tracts in

many places a special character, and still more so as, being often

very abundant and the plants tangled together, a general movement all

around is caused when one is touched.

Among the epiphytes and parasites may be mentioned small ferns,

_Peperomia_, _Epidendrum_, _Loranthus_, _Aroideæ_, _Tillandsia_ and

other _Bromeliaceæ_, mosses, lichens, etc.

Professor Pittier attributes to this flora of the Pacific slope a

more northern origin.

During the dry season the vegetation of the savannas almost

disappears, the greater part of the trees and bushes shed their

leaves and herbs become dry and brittle. Only along the rivers is

some freshness observable. Toward the border of Nicaragua cacti

appear, mostly species of _Cereus_, _Opuntia_, _Phypsalis_ and

_Mammilaria_. Professor Pittier also mentions an oak forest of

_Quercus citrifolia_ between Liberia and the Rio de los Ahogados, at

a height of about one hundred meters above the sea. The peninsula

of Nicoya is noted for a large lumber industry among its different

cedars (_Cedro dulce_, _C. amargo_, _C. real_, etc.), mora and other

trees. Towards the upper limits of the Atlantic tropical forests,

below the oak region, _Chamædorea_, _Geonoma_, _Bactris_, _Euterpe

longepetiolata_ and other palms of the same groups, as well as

_Gulielma utilis_ (the pijivalle palm) and _Carludovica microphylla_

are seen in great abundance, mixed with tree ferns like _Alsophylla

pruinata_, _Hemitelia horrida_, _Hemitelia grandifolia_, etc. Higher

up appears the region of oaks, principally _Quercus retusa_, _Quercus

granulata_, _Quercus citrifolia_ and _Quercus costaricensis_, with

_Buddleia alpina_, _Rubus_, _Lupinus_, etc. Here is also the region

of the common potato. This oak region slopes gradually down from

east to west. The vegetation on the summits of the high mountains

of Costa Rica is of a marked subalpine character, having a great

number of northern genera, as _Vaccinium_, _Pernettya_, _Alchemilla_,

_Cardamine_, _Calceolaria_, _Spiræa_, etc.

Certain types of vegetation are often more due to the sterile nature

of the soil than to elevation.

Although a northern flora is frequent on the high terraces of San

José and Cartago, that character is not general because of the

introduction of cultivated tropical and other plants peculiar to

Costa Rica.

On the southern high mountains two species of _Podocarpus_ (_P.

taxifolia_ and _P. salicifolia_), one of _Alnus_ (_Alnus Mirbelii

Spach._) and one of _Weinmannia_ occur quite generally among the

oak forests. Other distinct floral groups are represented by the

vegetation along roads and fences, on potreros, in cultivated regions

and along river shores. The latter especially are rich in herbaceous

plants, grasses, bushes and woods of _Bignoniaceæ_, _Myrtaceæ_,

_Euphorbiaceæ_, _Mimoseæ_, etc.

The potreros are characterized by _Tagetes_, _Sida_, _Hyptis,

olanum_, _Salvia_, _Mimosa pudica_ and _M. sensitiva_, etc. Along

fences there grow nearly everywhere _Erythrina corallodendron_,

_Yucca aloifolia_, _Bromelia pinguin_, _Agave americana_, _Cereus_,

_Spondias_, _Bursera_, _Cestrum_, etc.

Prominent characteristic plants, besides the already mentioned

species and genera, are the _Piperaceæ_ and _Melastomaceæ_; further,

species of _Iriartea_, _Bactris_ and _Raphia_ of the palm order,

and _Alsophylla_, _Schizæa occidentalis_ and _Pteris aquilina_

of the ferns; still further _Castilloa costaricana_, _Gunnera

insignis_, _Ochroma lagopus_, _Gliciridia_, _Inga edulis_, _Chusquea

maurofernandeziana_, _Erythrina corallodendron_, _Drymis Winterii

Forst._, _Acacia Farnesiana_, etc.

The passage from one flora to another is one of insensible

gradations. Cultivated lands, as already stated, do not show any

longer the original vegetation.

The plants which are now mostly cultivated are: _Coffea arabica_

(coffee), _Saccharum officinarum_ (sugar cane), _Zea mays_ (corn),

_Musa paradisiaca_ and _Musa sapientium_ (bananas), _Phaseolus_

(beans), _Oryza sativa_ (rice), _Solanum tuberosum_ (potato),

_Nicotiana tabacum_ (tobacco), _Batatas dulcis_ (sweet potato),

_Lycopersicum esculentum_ and _Lycopersicum Humboldtii_ (tomatoes),

_Capsicum annuum_ (chile), _Ananas sativa_ (pine-apple), _Carica

papaya_ (papaya), _Persea gratissima_ (aguacate), _Anona cherimolia_

(cherimoya), _Manihot aipi_ and _Manihot utilissima_ (yucca or

mandioca), _Indigofera anil_ (indigo), _Gossypium barbadense_

(cotton), _Cichorium Intyous_ (chicory), _Asparagus officinalis_

(asparagus), _Psidium guava_ (guayaba), _Mammea americana_ (mamey),

_Theobroma cacao_ (cacao), etc.

Before giving the lists of the woods, tannings, dyeings, gums,

balsams, resins, rubber, waxes, textile and medicinal plants, oils

and oil seeds, etc., of Costa Rica, it is advantageous to research

to name those collectors and scientists who, having traveled

through Costa Rica or established themselves there, have especially

contributed to the knowledge of the natural resources of the country.

They are Professor H. Pittier, A. S. Oersted, Dr. C. Hoffmann, Dr. H.

Polakowsky, Dr. M. Wagner, Captain J. Donnel Smith, C. Warszewicz,

Neudland, A. Tonduz, P. Biolley, Dr. A. von Frantzius, Dr. Franc

Kuntze, Professor W. M. Gabb, José C. Zeledón, Anastasio Alfaro, Juan

J. Cooper, and Bishop Bernardo Augusto Thiel, D. D.

Native Names of the Woods of Costa Rica.

Acacia,

Aceituno,

Aceituno blanco,

Aguacate blanco,

Aguacatillo,

Aguilla,

Algarroba,

Almendro,

Alvahaquilla,

Amapola,

Amarillo,

Anona colorado,

Anonilla,

Anono,

Arco,

Arbol colorado,

Arbol de la leche,

Aromo,

Arrayan,

Asca,

Avellano,

Aya,

Aya blanco,

Aya colorado,

Azaharillo,

Azulillo.

Balsa,

Balsamito,

Balsamo,

Balsamo negro,

Barillo,

Bateo,

Berenjena,

Brasil moral,

Brasil negro,

Brazil,

Brazil de clavo,

Brazil nacar,

Burio,

Burillo.

Cachimbo,

Cacique,

Cacique amarillo,

Cacique pardo,

Caimito,

Camibar,

Campana,

Campanilla,

Cañafistola,

Canasto,

Canela or Canelon,

Canjura,

Cantarillo,

Caobana,

Copalillo,

Capulin,

Caragua,

Carao macho,

Carao silvestre,

Carboncillo,

Carbon fino,

Carne,

Caroto,

Cas,

Cascarillo,

Casco-cafe,

Castaño,

Castorcillo,

Cedro amargo,

Cedro blanco,

Cedro caoba leon,

Cedro cirrus,

Cedro claro,

Cedro cubano,

Cedro dulce,

Cedro dulce claro,

Cedro dulce-ondulado,

Cedro jaspeado,

Cedro macho,

Cedron,

Cedro naranjeña,

Cedro ondulado,

Cedro pochote,

Ceiba,

Cerillo,

Cerro,

Chancho,

Chaparro,

Cherre,

Chaperno,

Chaperno amarillo,

Chaperno blanco,

Chaperno veteado,

Chavecho,

Chicha,

Chilamate,

Chile,

Chilillo,

Chirraca,

Cirri,

Clavellina,

Cobola,

Cocobola,

Cocobola ñambar,

Cocora,

Colloso,

Comenegro de monte,

Conchudo,

Copal,

Copalchi,

Copalite verde,

Copulchin,

Copulchin blanco,

Coquito,

Corazon,

Corazon de leon,

Cordoncillo,

Carnezuelo,

Corteza,

Corteza amarilla,

Corteza blanca,

Corteza de venado,

Corteza negra,

Cristal,

Cristobal,

Cuajiniquil,

Cuascua,

Cucaracho,

Culebra,

Cura,

Curacha.

Damas,

Dantisco,

Danto,

Danto amarillo,

Danto barcino,

Danto blanco,

Danto hedliondo.

Encino roble,

Escoba,

Escobillo,

Escobo,

Esparei,

Espavel,

Espino blanco.

Flor blanca,

Flor de aroma,

Frijolillo,

Fruta de pava,

Fubus,

Furru,

Fustete.

Gavilan colorado,

Gavilan,

Gavilancillo,

Gallinazo,

Genizaro,

Golondrino,

Guachazo negro,

Guachipilin,

Guachipilin claro,

Guachipilin oscuro,

Guachi raton,

Guacimo,

Guacimo amarillo,

Guacimo blanco,

Guacimo macho,

Guacimo monillo,

Guacimo ternero,

Guanacaste,

Guapinol,

Guapinol tierno,

Guatil or Jagua,

Guavo,

Guavo silvestre,

Guayabillo,

Guayabito,

Guayacan,

Guayacan amarillo,

Guayacan de costa,

Guayacan oscuro,

Guayavo,

Güitite.

Habilla,

Haya,

Higuera,

Hormigo,

Huesillo,

Hule.

Ira,

Ira amarillo,

Ira blanco,

Ira bofo,

Ira colorado,

Ira mangle,

Ira, rosa.

Jaboncillo,

Jamaico,

Jaul,

Jicaro,

Jiñocuave,

Jobo,

Jorobado,

Juaquiniquil.

Lagartillo,

Lagarto,

Lagarto amarillo,

Lagarto negro,

Landal,

Lentisco,

Lentisco oscuro,

Laurel barcino,

Laurel claro,

Laurel espino,

Laurel negro,

Laurel oscuro,

Laurel pardo,

Laurel veteado,

Llema de huevo,

Lliguatil,

Lloro,

Lloron,

Lloron puire,

Lope,

Lorito.

Madera de hierro,

Madera negra,

Maderon,

Madroño blanca,

Madroño corteza,

Madroño de comer,

Makenge,

Malacahuite,

Malacahuite blanca,

Mangle,

Mangle morigüite,

Manglero,

Mango,

Mano,

Manzana rosa,

Manzanillo,

Marañon,

Maria,

Mario,

Mastate,

Mastatillo,

Mayo,

Melon,

Molenillo,

Mora decipina,

Moral blanco,

Moral leonado,

Moral listado,

Moral negro,

Morante,

Mora punteado,

Morate,

Mora tinta,

Muñeco,

Muñeco macho,

Murta.

Ñambar negro,

Nance,

Nance tricore,

Nancite,

Nancite colorado,

Naranjillo,

Naranjito,

Nispero amarillo,

Nispero colorado,

Nispero espino,

Nispero negro.

Ocotillo,

Ojoche,

Olmo.

Pacaya,

Pacaya baton,

Palanco amarillo,

Palanco nudoso,

Palma,

Palma de mano,

Palma real,

Palmiche,

Palo azul,

Palo de sal,

Palo frio,

Palo jabon,

Papaturro blanco,

Papaturro negro,

Papayo almendro,

Papelillo,

Paraiso,

Pastora,

Pava,

Pava macho,

Pavilla veteado,

Peine de mico,

Pejivalle,

Piedrilla,

Pipa or Mora blanco,

Plomillo,

Pocara,

Pochote,

Poro cerrado,

Poroporo,

Pure.

Quajiniquil,

Quiebracha colorado,

Quiebra hacha,

Quina,

Quita calzon,

Quitirri,

Quizarra amarillo,

Quizarra baboso,

Quizarra bofo,

Quizarracillo,

Quizarra clara,

Quizarra barcii,

Quizarra ira,

Quizarra negro,

Quizarra quina,

Quizarra zopilote.

Ramal,

Raspaguacal,

Raton,

Raton blanco,

Ratoncillo,

Resino,

Roble,

Roble angular,

Roble de la laguna,

Roble de sabana,

Roble encino,

Ronron,

Ronron veteado.

Sabino,

Sandalo,

Sangre de toro,

Sangre de drago,

San Juan,

San Juan dulce,

San Juanillo,

Sierrillo,

Siete cueros,

Siete cueros machos,

Simaruba,

Sirri,

Siva,

Sota caballo.

Tamarindo,

Targua,

Ticuarri,

Tirra,

Torco,

Tres huevos,

Tuiquisirrie.

Uiscoyol or Viscoyol,

Uruca or Teregre.

Varablanca,

Viscoyol (palm).

Yabo,

Yabo blanco,

Yas,

Yocote iguana,

Yos.

Zapote mico,

Zapotillo,

Zapotillo danto,

Zenicero,

Zenicero-ocre,

Zorillo.

Native Names of the Medicinal Plants of Costa Rica.

Acedera,

Agra,

Ajo,

Alcornoque,

Albahaca,

Alcotan,

Algabia,

Algabia or Abelmoscus,

Almendro (Papayo colorado),

Almendrillo aromatico,

Alucema,

Amapola,

Anisillo,

Anona,

Anonillo,

Apasote,

Apasote de mexico,

Artemisa.

Balsamito,

Balsamo copal,

Balsamo negro,

Barbasco,

Barbas ilote (Cabello de maiz),

Borraja.

Cacao gigante,

Camibar,

Campanilla blanca,

Canchalagua,

Canchillo,

Candelillo,

Canela,

Caña gigantea,

Caña agria,

Caña fistula,

Capitana,

Capitaneja,

Carao,

Cardo santo amarillo,

Cardo santo blanco,

Chamomila,

Cola de alacran,

Contrayerba,

Copal,

Copalchi,

Copalchi guisarra,

Copey,

Cordoncillo,

Cornezuelo,

Croton,

Cucanillo,

Culantrillo.

Doradilla.

Eneldo,

Escoba blanca,

Escorzonera,

Esparto.

Fierrito,

Frutas de cornezuela.

Guacamayo,

Guachara,

Guacimo negro,

Guaco,

Guaco redondo (vine),

Guas molenillo,

Guanacaste,

Guapinol,

Guayacan amarillo,

Guarumo,

Guizaro.

Higuerilla,

Hanojo,

Hojasen,

Hombre grande.

Inga carao,

Ipecacuanha.

Jabillo,

Jabon vegetal,

Jinote terebinto,

Jobo amarillo,

Jiquaitil,

Juanilama.

Laurel real,

Lechuguilla or Carraja,

Lengua de ciervo,

Lengua de vaca,

Liquidambar,

Llanten,

Lombricero.

Majaguilla,

Malva,

Manzanilla,

Marango,

Marañon,

Matasano,

Mejorana,

Meloncillo,

Michoacan,

Mozote de caballo.

Naranja,

Naranja agria,

Nuez moscada.

Ojoche macho,

Ojoche rojo,

Oregomo,

Orosus,

Ortiga.

Palo leche,

Paraiso,

Petrona,

Peine de mico,

Pichichio solano,

Pie de venado,

Platanillo,

Pochoche macho,

Polipodio.

Quina,

Quina colorado,

Quassia hombre grande.

Raiz de toro,

Reina de la noche,

Romero,

Ruda,

Ruibarbo.

Sacaguacal,

Sacate limon,

Sagu,

Salvia,

Samo,

Sangre de drago colorado,

Sangre de toro,

Sarsaparilla,

Sanco,

Sensitiva,

Simaba cedron,

Simaruba,

Suelda con suelda.

Tamarindo,

Tapate,

Tarsana,

Tiguilote,

Tuete.

Uña de gato.

Valeriana,

Vainilla,

Velvet,

Venado,

Verbena,

Vetiver,

Viborana.

Yerba buena,

Yerba culebra,

Yerba mora,

Yerba té,

Yerba tora.

Zacate de limon,

Zacate de olor,

Zarza,

Zarzon,

Zenizero,

Zarzaparilla,

Zorrillo.

Native Names of Costa Rican Tanning and Dyeing Plants.

-----------------+------------+---------------------

Name. | Commercial | Use.

| Part. |

-----------------+------------+---------------------

Achiote | Seed | Dyeing.

Aguacate | Seed | Tanning.

Añil | Extract | Dyeing.

Brazil | Wood | ”

Catazin | Wood | ”

Encino blanco | Bark | Tanning.

Encino colorado | Bark | ”

Gavilan | Bark | ”

Guanacaste | Bark | ”

Guanacaste | Fruit | Dyeing and tanning.

Mangle | Bark | ” ” ”

Mora | Wood | Dyeing.

Nacascolo | Fruit | Dyeing and tanning.

Nancite | Bark | ” ” ”

Ojo de venado | Seed | Dyeing.

Ratoncillo | Bark | Tanning.

Sacatinta | Plant | Dyeing.

Sangre de drago | Sap | ”

Yuquilla | Root | ”

-----------------+------------+---------------------

Native Names of Costa Rican Gums, Resins, Rubber, Etc.

--------------------+-----------+-----------------+-------------

Name. | Character.| Name. | Character.

--------------------+-----------+-----------------+-------------

Acacia | Gum. | Gallinazo | Gum.

Arrayan | Wax. | Guapinol | Resin.

Aroma | Gum. | Hule | Rubber.

Balsamo negro | Balsam. | Incienso | Resin.

Barillo | Resin. | Jinote | Gum-resin.

Copal, fossil amber | ” | Jocote | Gum.

Copal | ” | Jobo | ”

Camibar | Balsam. | Jenizaro | Gum-resin.

Caraña | Resin. | Mangle | Gum.

Copaiba | Balsam. | Mastate | Milk.

Cedro | Gum. | Nispero | Chewing gum.

Cera vegetal | Wax. | Ojoche colorado | Milk.

Cerillo | ” | Ojoche macho | ”

Chilamate | Milk. | Pochote | Gum.

Chirraca | Balsam. | Quiebracha | ”

Espino blanco | Gum. | Sangre de drago | Sap.

Guanacaste | ” | Tuno macho | Chewing gum.

Guayacan | Resin. | Palo de vaca | Milk.

--------------------+-----------+-----------------+-------------

Native Names of Costa Rican Oilseeds.

Almendro,

Algodon,

Ajonjoli,

Biscoyol,

Coco,

Colza,

Coyol,

Coquito,

Corozo,

Cacahuete,

Higuerilla,

Lino.

Native Names of Costa Rican Textile Plants.

---------------+-------------------+----------------+--------------

Name. | Product. | Name. | Product.

---------------+-------------------+----------------+--------------

Algodon | Cotton. | Limon montes | Bast.

Balsa | Silk-cotton. | Luffa | Fruit.

Banana | Leaves. | Majagua | Bast.

Barrigona | Silk-cotton and | Maguey | Leaves.

| bast. | |

Burio | Bast. | Mastate | Bast.

Cabuya | Leaves. | Palma | Leaves.

Ceiba | Silk-cotton. | Peine de mico | Bast.

Corteza blanca | Bast. | Pie de venado | Bast.

Coco | Fruit fibre. | Piña | Leaves.

Cucanilla | Bast. | Piñuela | Leaves.

Guarumo | Bast. | Pochote | Bast and

| | | silk-cotton.

Itavo | Leaves. | Pita | Leaves.

Juco | Bast. | Ramio | Bast.

Junco | Leaves. | Soncollo | Bast.

---------------+-------------------+----------------+--------------

IV.

FAUNA.

In regard to the _fauna_, there are in Costa Rica about one hundred

and twenty-one species of mammalia, of which ten are domesticated and

four of _Mus_ introduced, leaving 107 as indigenous to Costa Rica.

There are only a few species peculiar to Costa Rica, and also but

a small number peculiar to Central America, among which are the

_Tapirus dowi alston_ and three species of monkeys. About one-fifth

of the total number also belong to South America and one-seventh

to North America. The rest are found as well in North as in South

America. With respect to the avifauna, there are 725 known species.

This great variety of the avifauna is due to especial climatic

conditions, to the very rich flora, to the geographical position

between two oceans and to the vicinity of so many islands of the

Caribbean Sea.

It is composed of 67 Neoarctic species, which are also found in the

north of Mexico; of 247 Neotropical or South American species, of

260 autochthonous or exclusively Central American species, and 128

newly described species which live as well in the northern as in the

southern continent. The rest, comprising 23 species, have a doubtful

origin. The best singing birds are the Gilguero, Yigüerro, Toledo,

Mozotillo, Cacique, Mongita, Comemaiz, Setillero and Agüillo.

There are over 130 species of _Reptilia_ and _Batrachia_ in Costa

Rica. Those known and described are 36 _Batrachia_, 28 _Lacertilia_,

60 _Ophidia_ and 6 _Testudinata_. Poisonous snakes are the Toboba,

Bocaracá, Oropel, Terciopelo and Cascabel.

Costa Rica is also very rich in _Fishes_. Those in the Pacific are

almost entirely different from those of the Atlantic Ocean. Also its

tributary waters have more varied species than those of the Atlantic

slope.

In correspondence with the varied topographical, climatological, and

botanical conditions of Costa Rica is also the _invertebrate fauna_.

And here the National Museum, under Mr. Anastasio Alfaro, and the

“Instituto fisico geografico Nacional.” under Professor H. Pittier,

are doing equally excellent work in bringing them to our knowledge,

as they have done like service in other branches of Natural History.

The most interesting species of the fauna in Costa Rica among the

mammalia are the monkeys (_Mycetes palliatus_, _Ateles geoffroyi_,

and _Cebus hypoleucus_), the tigre (_Felis onca_), marrigordo

(_Felis pardalis_), puma (_Felis concolor_), the coyote (_Canis

latrans_), tigrillo (_Urocyon cinereo_), pisote (_Nasua narica_),

martilla (_Cercoleptes caudivolvulus_), comadreja (_Mustela

brasiliensis_), chulomuco or tolumuco (_Galictis barbara_), Zorro

hediondo (_Conepatus mapurito_), nutria or perro de agua (_Lutra

felina_), manati or vaca marina (_Trichecus australis_), danta

(_Elasmognathus bairdii_ and _E. Dowi_), salimo (_Dicotyles tajacú_)

cari blanco (_Dicotyles labiatus_), venado (_Dorcelophus clavatus_),

cabro de monte (_Mazama temama_), ardillas (_Sciurus hypopyrrhus_,

_Sc. æstuans hoffmanni_, _Sc. Alfari_), puerco espino (_Synetheres

mexicanus_), guatusa (_Dasyprocta isthmica_, _D. punctata_),

tepeizcuintle (_Coelogenys paca_), conejo (_Lepus graysoni_,

_L. gabbi_), perico ligero (_Bradypus castaneiceps_), perezoso

(_Choloepus hoffmanni_), armado de zopilote (_Dasypus gymnurus_),

armadillo (_Tatusia novemcincta_), oso hormiguero (_Myrmecophaga

jubata_), oso colmeno or tejon (_Myrmecophaga tetradactyla_), serafin

de platanar (_Cyclothorus didactylus_), zorro pelon (_Didelphis

marsupialis aurita_), zorro isi (_Marmosa cinerea_) and zorrito de

platanar (_Marmosa murina_).

Among the birds the following may be mentioned, following the

enumeration of José C. Zeledón: The sensontle (_Mimus gilous_), the

jilguero (_Melanops_), the yigüerro (_Turdus grayi_), the picudos

(_Cæreba cyanea_ and _C. lucida_), the rualdo (_Chlorophonia

callophrys_), the caciquita (_Euphonia elegantissima_), the

monjita fina (_Euphonia affinis_), and other species of _Euphonia_;

further pipra mentalis, la viuda (_Tanagra cana_), el cardenal

(_Pyranga leucoptera_ and _P. rubra_), cyanospiza, sps., alcalde

mayor (_Rhamphocœlus_) the oropéndula (_Ocyalus waglieri_ and _O.

montezumæ_), the choltote or trupial (_Icterus pectoralis_ and _I.

giraudi_), the rajon (_Cotinga amabilis_), colibris or gorriones

(_Trochilidæ_), the quetzal (_Pharomacrus costaricensis_), resplandor

(_Muscivora mexicana_), the curré (_Ramphastus carinatus_),

the quioro (_R. tocard_), the curré verde (_Aulacorhamphus

cæruleigularis_), carpintero (_Campephilus guatemalensis_ and

_Centurus hoffmanni_), the lapas rojas and lapas verdes (_Ara

militaris_ and _Chryosotis diademata_, _C. guatemalæ_ and _C.

auripalliata_), the periquitos (_Conurus petzii_ and _Brotogerys

tovi_).

Further mention is made of the aguila (_Trasætus harpyia_), camaleon

(_Falco sparverius_), carga-hueso (_Polyborus cheriway_), the rey de

zopilote (_Gyparchus papa_), the zopilote (_Catharista atrata_) and

the zonchiche (_Cathartes aura_). To these may be added the tortolita

(_Columbigallina passerina_), the pavon (_Crax globicera_), the

pava (_Penelope cristata_), pava negra (_Chamæpetes unicolor_), the

codorniz (_Ortyx leylaudi_) and chirraxua (_Denitortyx leucophrys_);

still further, the martin peña (_Ardea virescens_) and other garza

(_Tigrisoma cabanisi_, _Nycticorax americanus_, _Gallina aquatica_,

_Eurypyga major_), zarzetas (_Numenius_ and _Totanus_); also the

pijijes (_Totanus flavipes_ and _Charadrius vociferus_), the patillo

(_Colymbus dominicus_), the piche (_Dendrocigna autumnalis_),

pelicanos and alcatraz (_Pelecanus_), etc.

We have further to mention the great turtles from both oceans, the

(_Nacar de perlas_) or pearl shells from Golfos Dulce and Nicoya, the

oysters from Puntarenas, the purple snail (_Murex_), also sponges,

corals, etc.

THE ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS.

Colonel George Earl Church says in regard to the Indians: “There

are many indications that Costa Rica was once the debatable ground

between the powerful Mexican invader and the warlike Caribs of

northern South America.”

“The Caribs were a tall, muscular, copper colored race who, when the

New World was discovered, occupied the coast from the mouth of the

River Orinoco to that of the River Amazon, and stretched inland over

all the half-drowned districts and far up the valley of the Orinoco.

Their nomadic spirit led them to the conquest of many of the Windward

Islands, and, I am disposed to believe, urged them to invade all

the countries bordering the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico having

estuaries and rivers which could be penetrated by their war canoes.

These carried from twenty-five to one hundred men each and were of

sufficient size to make long voyages.”

Along all the Caribbean coast districts of Yucatan, Honduras,

Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Chiriqui, and throughout the province of

Panamá, the Carib has left traces of his presence.

It is evident that an offshoot of the highland Mexican race pressed

south and east from Chiapas, Mexico, into and through the long

strip of the Pacific coast occupied by the Chorotegas or Mangues,

followed the Pacific slope of the Cordilleras and the narrow space

between Lake Nicaragua and the Ocean, penetrated into northwestern

Costa Rica, settled and helped the Mangues to develop a considerable

civilization in the district of Guanacaste and Nicoya, and in part

subdued all the volcanic region lying north and west of the valley of

the River Reventazon.

It is notable that inhabitants of volcanic countries crowd around the

slopes of its volcanoes, due probably to the fertilizing quality of

the ejected ash.

The Mexicans have left abundant traces of their language in Costa

Rica, especially throughout its northern half. Many of their words

are now in common use and incorporated into the Spanish spoken

there. Notably such words occur in the names of plants, animals and

geographical localities.

In 1569 the Adelantado Peráfan de Rivera made an elaborate detailed

enumeration of the Indians and found their total number to be 25,000.

Mr. M. de Peralta says the Nahuas (Aztecs) and Mangues (Chorotegas),

Güetares, Viceitas, Térrabas, Changuenes, Guaymies, Quepos, Cotos and

Borucas were the principal people who occupied the territory of Costa

Rica at the time of the conquest. The Nahuas came from the north,

and if the Mangues did not go from Chiapas, it is necessary to infer

that from the Gulf of Nicoya and the shores of the lakes of Nicaragua

and Managua they extended to the south of Mexico, where, up to a few

years ago, their language was spoken at Acalá.

The Mangues, or Chorotegas, at the time of the Mexican invasion,

occupied the peninsula of Nicoya and all the lands surrounding the

gulf of that name. They were then, no doubt, the most powerful and

advanced people in Costa Rica, and carried some of their arts, such

as pottery, sculpture, weaving, and tilling the ground, to greater

perfection than any people occupying the region between their

territory and that of the Chibcas on the table-land of Colombia.

In their graves are found gold ornaments and specimens of the

ceramic art showing taste in design superior to any that the present

civilized Costa Rican Indian can manufacture. These graves also

contain beautiful specimens of obsidian, greenstone and even finely

wrought jade tools and jade ornaments, knives, axes, arrowheads,

amulets, rings and a multitude of stone idols, seats, etc. The

Mangues appear to have manufactured gold extensively into jewelry.

The Güetares made their homes on the slopes of the Turialba. Irazú

and Barba to the southeast of the Mexicans and Chorotegas, and, in a

less degree, they shared in the skill and advancement of the latter,

but their pottery was inferior in artistic method and quality of

material and workmanship, judging from collections in the National

Museum of Costa Rica.

Peralta says, “The Nahuas and Mangues of the regions of Nicoya have

completely disappeared, although the first still survive in Mexico,

and the latter are represented here and there by a descendant in

Masava (Nicaragua) and in Acalá (Chiapas).” The Nahuas (Aztecs)

left notable monuments of their material civilization and of their

scientific attainments, and a language that served as the instrument

of a cultivated and thoughtful race.

During the colonial period the Spaniards, in several efforts to

explore the River Frio, were driven back by the Guatuso Indians, who

still occupy the greater part of its valley and the slopes of the

volcanic mountains. It was not until 1856 that a small expedition

penetrated across the country to the Rio Frio from the mouth of the

River Arenal, a branch of the San Carlos. They reported fertile,

hilly slopes in its upper reaches, and beautiful plains for most of

the distance traversed to its mouth.

The rubber collectors of Nicaragua for many years have ascended the

Rio Frio and other rivers in canoes and plundered the settlements,

plantations and property of the Indians, forcing them to retire

further up the river. The Guatusos live in _palenques_ (stockades),

and their houses are similar to the maloccas among Amazon tribes.

Each palenque shelters several families, who cook their food at

separate fires built on the ground. They live principally on

plantains, yucca, maize, sugar cane, cacao, game and fish, the latter

being abundant in the Rio Frio. They also cultivate and smoke tobacco.

Their weapons are bows, arrows, stone axes, and wooden knives. They

drink _chicha_, made by fermenting roasted green plantains, and also

_chicha mascada de maiz_. As the bishop of Costa Rica, Dr. Bernardo

A. Thiel, a very noted ethnologist and archæologist, says:

“The Guatuso country is probably one of the most delightful portions

of Costa Rica. Every tropical product can be grown there in

abundance, for the lands are immeasurably rich and the climate one of

the best in the tropical belt.”

The last census of the Guatuso Indians is as follows:

----------------------------+-----+-------+----------+-------+--------

----------------------------+-----+-------+----------+-------+--------

Tojifo | 26 | 12 | 9 | 47 | 25

Margarita | 24 | 13 | 17 | 54 | 60

Pedro Joaquin | 15 | 11 | 13 | 39 | 101

Sabara | 8 | 5 | 7 | 20 | 18

Culolo | 9 | 8 | 4 | 21 | 23

Napoleon | 8 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 36

| | | | |

Juana | 8 | 5 | 4 | 17 | 26

| | | | |

Congo | 10 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 9

La Muerte | 8 | 3 | 1 | 12 | --

| | | | |

San Juan | 5 | 1 | 1 | 8 | --

Grecia | 11 | 4 | 2 | 17 | --

----------------------------+-----+-------+----------+-------+--------

Total | 132 | 70 | 64 | 266 | 298

----------------------------+-----+-------+----------+-------+--------

Of the Talamanca Indians, Professor H. Pittier distinguishes two

tribes, the Brilio and Cabécar. The first live in the valleys and

mountains of Urén and Arari and along the lower course of the Coen

River, while the Cabécars dwell in the upper parts of the Coen. Other

Indians, probably of the Tiribi tribe, live in the upper part of the

Teliri valley.

The Talamanca Indians have a higher grade of civilization than the

neighboring Boruca or Brunca and Térraba Indians.

The Bribris have good traditions and numerous legends of their past.

The census of the Talamanca Indians is as follows:

-----------+------+--------+-------+---------

| Male.| Female.| Total.| Married.

-----------+------+--------+-------+---------

Lari | 263 | 269 | 532 |

Coen | 172 | 176 | 348 | --

Teliri | 67 | 71 | 138 | 2

Urén | 424 | 393 | 817 | 44

-----------+------+--------+-------+---------

Total | 926 | 909 | 1835 | 50

-----------+------+--------+-------+---------

The Térrabas and Bruncas or Boruca Indians are located on the Pacific

slope of the Talamanca mountains, and especially in the great valley

of the Diquis or Rio Grande de Térraba, although there are also a few

Indian palenques in the neighborhood of the Chirripo. The Borucas

or Bruncas are dolichocephalic. The men are large, the women short

and plump. They are more intelligent and active than the Tishbi of

Térraba. Professor Pittier counted in the Boruca valley and at Palma,

Punta Mala and La Uvita 65 to 75 ranchos scattered around, with about

389 inhabitants, while he found 50 to 60 ranchos with about 250

inhabitants in the town of Térraba and 25 to 30 ranchos with about

300 inhabitants in the town of Buenos Aires. There are also some

Indians near the Golfo Dulce.

Taken in all, about 4000 uncivilized Indians are estimated to remain

in Costa Rica.

VI.

POPULATION.

The population of Costa Rica is nearly all white and mostly

descendants of Spaniards from Galicia. The Indians are not numerous

and are completely distinct from the civilized race. The Negroes and

mixed breeds live almost exclusively on the coast-lands.

The Costa Ricans are a well formed, robust and healthy people

with regular features. The women are gracious, have splendid eyes

and abundance of hair, and appear affable in manner. The men are

intelligent, industrious, economical, honest and peaceable, as well

as polite, truthful and generous. They respect order and property,

love to work, and are proud of their wealth and of the independence

of their nation.

Every Costa Rican owns property of some kind. The better class of

women follow in their dress the fashions of Europe; the lower classes

have gowns of muslin or calico, and wear petticoats, rebozos and very

often panama hats. Some adorn themselves with earrings and other

jewelry and some wear shoes.

The men dress in European style. The lower class, consisting of

hard-working farmers, owners of small coffee plantations and ox-carts

and oxen for internal traffic, wear coarse cloth coats, drill or

cotton trousers, and straw or felt hats. Most of these people go

barefooted.

The houses of the wealthy have all modern conveniences. Those of

the poorer classes are nearly comfortless. They are mostly low and

built of adobes, with a roof of tiles, and are arranged in regular

streets crossing each other at right angles. The public buildings are

spacious and ornamental.

Among the principal buildings in San José are the New National

Theatre, in which about 1,000,000 pesos were invested; the National

Palace; the Palace of Justice; the Executive Mansion; the Episcopal

Palace; the National Distillery; the Market; the University; the High

School for Young Ladies; the High School for Young Men; the Custom

House; the Mint, etc.

The city possesses charitable institutions, such as hospitals,

orphan asylums, insane asylums, etc., all under the management

of corporations and associations constantly laboring for their

improvement. The cemeteries are under the supervision of charitable

associations. There are several parks, a Museum, a Public Library

and scientific, legal, medical, literary and musical societies, an

International Club and a German Club, etc.

The streets are mostly macadamized or paved with stones and lighted

by electricity. Nearly every city is well-supplied with water

conducted through pipes.

The food of the poor comprises meat, beans, corn, rice, tortillas and

plantains.

Saturday is the especial market day of the cities, and from sunrise

till noon the market-places are crowded with sellers and buyers.

Here can be found all kind of vegetables and fruits, potatoes, corn,

beans, coffee, tobacco, sugar, cheese, meat and other food, besides

earthenware, hammocks, hats, rebozos, charcoal, etc.

The population of Costa Rica in 1897 was calculated to be 288,769, as

follows:

90,940 inhabitants in the Province of San José.

67,972 ” ” ” Alajuela.

45,161 ” ” ” Cartago.

37,603 ” ” ” Heredia.

23,769 ” ” ” Guanacaste.

8,925 ” ” Comarca de Limon.

14,399 ” ” ” Puntarenas.

The last census, that of 1892, gave 243,205 as the entire population

of the Republic.

The following table shows the population of the different “cantones”

in 1892 and 1897:

Province of San José.

-------------+--------+--------

Canton. | 1892. | 1897.

-------------+--------+--------

San José | 39,112 | 46,410

Escazú | 6,522 | 7,735

Desamparados | 6,471 | 7,616

Puriscal | 6,845 | 8,092

Aserri | 6,030 | 7,140

Mora | 5,814 | 6,902

Tamazú | 2,583 | 3,070

Goicoechea | 3,341 | 3,975

-------------+--------+--------

Total | 76,718 | 90,940

-------------+--------+--------

Province of Alajuela.

-------------+--------+--------

Canton. | 1892. | 1897.

-------------+--------+--------

Alajuela | 19,300 | 22,967

San Ramon | 9,928 | 11,781

Grecia | 8,797 | 10,472

Atenas | 6,208 | 7,373

San Mateo | 3,353 | 3,986

Naranjo | 6,847 | 8,092

Palmares | 2,770 | 3,296

-------------+--------+--------

Total | 57,203 | 67,967

-------------+--------+--------

Province of Cartago.

-------------+--------+--------

Canton. | 1892. | 1897.

-------------+--------+--------

Cartago | 25,898 | 30,821

Paraiso | 7,819 | 9,282

La Union | 4,256 | 5,058

-------------+--------+--------

Total | 37,973 | 45,161

-------------+--------+--------

Province of Heredia.

--------------+--------+--------

Canton. | 1892. | 1897.

--------------+--------+--------

Heredia | 16,480 | 19,635

Barba | 2,964 | 3,522

Santo Domingo | 5,118 | 6,069

Santa Barbara | 2,845 | 3,379

San Rafael | 4,204 | 4,998

--------------+--------+--------

Total | 31,611 | 37,603

--------------+--------+--------

Province of Guanacaste.

-------------+--------+--------

Canton. | 1892. | 1897.

-------------+--------+--------

Liberia | 5,883 | 7,021

Cañas | 2,165 | 2,570

Bagaces | 1,476 | 1,749

Santa Cruz | 5,948 | 7,021

Nicoya | 4,577 | 5,438

-------------+--------+--------

Total | 20,049 | 23,799

-------------+--------+--------

Comarca de Limon.

-------------+--------+--------

Canton. | 1892. | 1897.

-------------+--------+--------

Limon | 7,484 | 8,925

-------------+--------+--------

Comarca de Puntarenas.

-------------+--------+--------

Canton. | 1892. | 1897.

-------------+--------+--------

Puntarenas | 8,869 | 10,472

Esparta | 3,298 | 3,927

-------------+--------+--------

Total | 12,167 | 14,399

-------------+--------+--------

The following table shows the constant natural increase of the

population, beginning with the year of 1868:

1868 131,510

1869 134,416

1870 137,387

71 140,423

72 143,525

73 146,696

74 149,937

75 153,250

76 156,636

77 160,097

1878 163,633

1879 167,248

1880 170,943

1881 174,720

1882 178,581

1883 182,528

1884 188,895

1885 195,483

1886 202,297

1887 209,357

1888 216,650

1889 224,250

1890 232,034

1891 240,126

1892 248,500

1893 257,155

1894 266,122

1895 275,400

1896 285,003

1897 288,799

The population of Costa Rica prior to 1868 was as follows:

1864 120,499

1844 79,982

1835 74,565

1826 61,846

1778 24,536

Costa Rica being a country of immense resources, with great

opportunities for success in industrial, agricultural and commercial

enterprises, it may be interesting to know its smaller subdivisions,

called _barrios_ or districts, as presented in the following table,

taken from the latest census, that of 1892:

Province of San José.

_Canton de San José._

--------------------------------+---------------+----------------+-------

Barrios, etc. | Males. | Females. |Total.

--------------------------------+---------------+----------------+-------

Ciudad {Distrito del Carmen | 1,941} | 2,243} |

or { ” La Merced | 2,713} 9,265 | 2,544} 10,061 | 19,326

Capital de { ” Catedral | 1,758} | 2,095} |

San José. { ” Hospital | 2,853} | 3,179} |

| | |

Barrio de San Pedro | 1,273 | 1,418 | 2,691

” de San Juan | 1,061 | 1,236 | 2,297

” de Curridabat | 957 | 973 | 1,930

” de Zapote | 485 | 509 | 994

” de San Isidro | 974 | 997 | 1,971

” de San Vicente | 797 | 867 | 1,664

” de Alajuelita | 1,428 | 1,416 | 2,844

” de San Francisco | 286 | 276 | 562

” de Uruca | 675 | 737 | 1,412

” de San Jeronimo | 187 | 169 | 356

” de Mata Redonda | 456 | 486 | 942

” de Hortillo | 194 | 180 | 374

” de San Sebastian | 361 | 434 | 795

” de Las Pavas | 470 | 484 | 954

--------------------------------+---------------+----------------+-------

Total | 18,869 | 20,243 | 39,112

--------------------------------+---------------+----------------+-------

_Canton de Escazú._

-------------------------+-------+---------+--------

Barrios, etc. | Males.| Females.| Total.

-------------------------+-------+---------+--------

Villa de Escasú (Centro) | 440 | 521 | 961

Barrio de San Antonio | 741 | 757 | 1,498

” de San Rafael | 835 | 870 | 1,705

” de Santa Ana | 761 | 699 | 1,460

” de Salitral | 475 | 423 | 898

-------------------------+-------+---------+--------

Total | 3,252 | 3,270 | 6,522

-------------------------+-------+---------+--------

_Canton de Desamparados._

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

Barrios, etc. | Males.| Females.| Total.

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

Villa de Desamparados (Centro) | 556 | 651 | 1,207

Barrio de San Juan de Dios | 486 | 512 | 998

” de San Miguel | 479 | 515 | 994

” de San Cristobal | 191 | 238 | 429

” de San Rafael | 384 | 391 | 775

” de Rosario | 226 | 205 | 431

” de Patarra | 225 | 209 | 434

” de Los Frailes | 186 | 215 | 401

” de San Antonio | 385 | 417 | 802

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

Total | 3,118 | 3,353 | 6,471

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

_Canton de Goicoechea._

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

Barrios, etc. | Males.| Females.| Total.

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

Villa de Guadalupe (Centro) | 667 | 702 | 1,369

Barrio de San Francisco | 161 | 182 | 343

” de Ipsis y Purral | 260 | 298 | 558

” de Blancos y San Gabriel | 277 | 303 | 580

” del Charco y Rancho Redondo | 146 | 117 | 263

” de Mata de Platano | 103 | 125 | 228

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

Total | 1,614 | 1,727 | 3,341

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

_Canton de Puriscal._

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

Barrios, etc. | Males.| Females.| Total.

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

Villa del Puriscal (Centro) | 597 | 604 | 1,201

Barrio de San Rafael | 398 | 373 | 771

” de San Pablo | 371 | 319 | 690

” de Barbacoas | 245 | 224 | 469

” de Desamparaditos | 234 | 257 | 491

” de San Antonio | 299 | 299 | 598

” de San Juan | 234 | 211 | 445

” de Grifo Alto | 216 | 212 | 428

” de Grifo Bajo | 176 | 183 | 359

” de Mercedes | 358 | 316 | 674

” de Candelarita | 366 | 353 | 719

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

Total | 3,494 | 3,351 | 6,845

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

_Canton de Aserri._

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

Barrios, etc. | Males.| Females.| Total.

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

Villa de Aserri (Centro) | 587 | 652 | 1,239

Barrio de Monte Redondo | 265 | 258 | 523

” de Pirris | 49 | 52 | 101

” de San Ignacio | 428 | 399 | 827

” de La Legua | 189 | 132 | 321

” de Sabanillas | 320 | 270 | 590

” de Cangrejal | 176 | 170 | 346

” de Tarbaca | 195 | 171 | 366

” de Cacao | 198 | 199 | 397

” de La Ceiba | 97 | 78 | 175

” de Ococa | 105 | 90 | 195

” de Poas | 124 | 125 | 249

” de Guaitil | 251 | 223 | 474

” de Palmichal | 114 | 113 | 227

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

Total | 3,098 | 2,932 | 6,030

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

_Canton de Mora._

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+--------

Barrios, etc. | Males.| Females.| Total.

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+--------

Villa de Pacaca (Centro) | 435 | 456 | 891

Barrio de Los Altos y Tienfres | 369 | 332 | 701

” de Jateo | 166 | 164 | 330

” de Brasil | 138 | 140 | 278

” de Guajabo y Jaris | 416 | 452 | 868

” de Rodeo | 53 | 53 | 106

” de Morado | 283 | 295 | 578

” de Tabarcia | 261 | 238 | 499

” de Picagres | 190 | 198 | 388

” de Piedra Blanca | 206 | 201 | 407

” de Piedras Negras | 388 | 380 | 768

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+--------

Total | 2,905 | 2,909 | 5,814

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+--------

_Canton de Tarrazú._

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+--------

Barrios, etc. | Males.| Females.| Total.

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+--------

Villa de San Marcos (Centro) | 437 | 378 | 815

Barrio de San Pablo | 241 | 230 | 471

” de San Andrés | 111 | 93 | 204

” del General | 149 | 135 | 284

” de Santa Maria | 432 | 377 | 809

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+--------

Total | 1,370 | 1,213 | 2,583

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+--------

Province of Alajuela.

_Canton de Alajuela._

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+--------

Barrios, etc. | Males.| Females.| Total.

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+--------

Ciudad de Alajuela (Centro) | 1,750 | 2,078 | 3,828

Barrio de San Pedro | 797 | 794 | 1,591

” de San Rafael | 632 | 733 | 1,365

” de San José | 741 | 798 | 1,539

” de Santiago Este | 528 | 538 | 1,066

” ” ” Oeste | 483 | 507 | 990

” de Concepcion | 755 | 784 | 1,539

” de Sabanilla | 734 | 722 | 1,456

” de San Antonio | 681 | 720 | 1,401

” de Turrúcares | 420 | 388 | 808

” de Desamparados | 436 | 455 | 891

” de Tuetal | 249 | 261 | 510

” de Garita | 249 | 254 | 503

” de San Isidro | 330 | 333 | 663

” de Itiquis | 279 | 290 | 569

” de Sarapiqui | 106 | 61 | 167

” de Carrillos | 196 | 218 | 414

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+--------

Total | 9,366 | 9,934 | 19,300

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+--------

_Canton de Palmares._

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+--------

Barrios, etc. | Males.| Females.| Total.

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+--------

Villa de Palmares (Centro) | 324 | 417 | 741

Barrio de Esquipulas | 280 | 266 | 546

” de Buenos Aires | 271 | 294 | 565

” de Zaragoza | 289 | 273 | 562

” de La Granja | 190 | 166 | 356

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+--------

Total | 1,354 | 1,416 | 2,770

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+--------

_Canton de San Ramon._

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

Barrios, etc. | Males.| Females.| Total.

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

Villa de San Ramon (Centro) | 912 | 1,077 | 1,989

Barrio de Santiago Norte | 261 | 249 | 510

” ” ” Sur | 621 | 615 | 1,236

” de Concepcion | 281 | 268 | 549

” de Piedades Norte | 502 | 486 | 988

” ” ” Sur | 544 | 536 | 1,080

” de San Juan | 729 | 733 | 1,462

” de San Isidro | 346 | 361 | 707

” de San Rafael | 595 | 622 | 1,217

” de Los Angeles | 112 | 78 | 190

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

Total | 4,903 | 5,025 | 9,928

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

_Canton de Grecia._

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

Barrios, etc. | Males.| Females.| Total.

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

Villa de Grecia (Centro) | 663 | 716 | 1,379

Barrio de San Isidro | 388 | 405 | 793

” de Sarchi Norte | 523 | 509 | 1,032

” de Sarchi Sur | 291 | 267 | 558

” de Sirri | 383 | 372 | 755

” de Puente Piedra | 293 | 334 | 627

” de San Jeronimo | 279 | 252 | 531

” de San Roque | 297 | 299 | 596

” de San Pedro de la Union | 190 | 191 | 381

” de San José | 393 | 366 | 759

” de Tacares | 265 | 239 | 504

” de Los Angeles | 215 | 198 | 413

” de San Juan | 196 | 186 | 382

” de Guatuso | 77 | 10 | 87

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

Total | 4,453 | 4,344 | 8,797

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

_Canton de Atenas._

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

Barrios, etc. | Males.| Females.| Total.

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

Villa de Atenas (Centro) | 388 | 423 | 811

Barrio de Jesus | 581 | 544 | 1,125

” de Mercedes | 432 | 446 | 878

” de Santiago | 254 | 268 | 522

” de Concepcion | 364 | 365 | 729

” de San Isidro | 255 | 232 | 487

” de Candelaria | 196 | 209 | 405

” de San José | 265 | 248 | 513

” de Los Angeles | 177 | 190 | 367

” de Santa Eulalia | 188 | 183 | 371

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

Total | 3,100 | 3,108 | 6,208

-----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------

_Canton de San Mateo._

Chapter XIV. HISTORY. 125