Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/213



trees are  long,  leafless,  rope-like  vines,  straignt  as  a stretched  line,  or  twisted  and  coiled,  extending  from tree to  tree  in  graceful  festoons. The sky  seems  lit- erally a-thrill with  birds  of  bright  plumage  and  sweet song, of  endless  colors  and  species — conspicuous  among which is  the  bright,  crimson  muca,  with  its  long,  fan- feathers tipped  in  black.

At Castillo  rapid  there  is  a  town  called  Castillo,  of about  one  hundred  inhabitants,  and  standing  on  a  hill near by  an  old  ruined  fort,  which  in  its  palmy  days presented formidable  opposition  to  unfriendly  ascents of the  river. Though built  principally  of  brick  and cement, there  are  sections  of  it  in  stone. In shape  it is  quadrangular,  three  stories,  or  sections,  in  height, with a  broad  flat  top,  and  parapet  six  feet  high,  with embrasures on  either  side. Without, and  also  within the first  section,  are  deep  moats,  and  in  the  interior are dark  vaults  connected  by  narrow  passages. There were several  hotels  at  Castdlo,  and  passengers  some- times rested there  for  the  night.

Approaching the  lakes,  the  flora  dwindles  to  low bushy palms  and  short  coarse  grass. At San  Carlos, at the  outlet  of  Lake  Nicaragua,  there  is  a  dilapidated fort, similar  to  Fort  Castillo,  though  less  formidable. Between the  fortress  and  the  lake  is  a  town  of  about twenty-five small  thatched  houses.

Lake Nicaragua  presents  a  scene  of  rare  sublimity. The oblong  inland  sea,  a  hundred  miles  and  more  in length  by  sixty  miles  in  width,  its  waters  isle-dotted and crystalline,  basks  under  a  tropical  sky  of  livid purple tone,  and  from  its  swelling  shores,  hills  and mountains lift  themselves  into  mists  thickened  by smoking  volcanic  peaks. Rising from  the  very  midst of the  water  is  the  slumbering  volcano  Ometepe,  with its twin  brother  Madera,  whose  cone-shaped  crests are four  and  five  thousand  feet  above  the  surface  of the  lake,  and  whose  circumference  at  ihe  base  is nearly  forty  miles. On its  western  shore  is  Virgin bay, a  dirty  little  tov/n  with  a  dozen  dirty  little  tav-