was severely wounded, but succeeded in hiding
himself between the reeds till a boat from the fort came to his rescue,
every man of the expeditionary force was killed....
Our passage up the river had taken us nine days, making an average
progress of about twelve miles per day. Three days more were spent in
crossing the lake. With the native boatmen it seems to be a rule to
abstain from using oars even when they are becalmed. Before we left the
_aguas muertas_ a small tree had been cut. This was now erected as a
mast, a sail was spread, and slowly we began to move in the direction of
Granada. Our navigation was of a very primitive kind. At night, while
every soul on board slept soundly, our bongo was left to find its own
way, which, however, it refused to do; for when we awoke at dawn I saw
we were heading to the place we had come from. By and by, nevertheless,
we drew nearer to our point of destination. When we had left the two
peaks of Ometepe on one side, the summit of Mombacho, designating the
site of Granada, gradually rose from the water. We passed the island of
Zapotera, celebrated for its idols, which have been discovered and
described by my friend Mr. Squier. It is uninhabited, and may be said to
be a mountain covered with a forest, here and there interrupted by a
savanna. Like other islands in this lake, it contains numerous wild
animals, such as deer, peccaries, monkeys, and panthers....
On the evening of the 5th of December we doubled the outermost rock of
the _Corrales_ or _Isletas_, a cluster of more than a hundred diminutive
islands at the foot of the Mombacho, and a few hours after dark landed
on the _playa_, or beach, of Granada.
THE DESTRUCTION OF SAN SALVADOR.
CARL SCHERZER.
[Dr. Carl Scherzer, in his "Travels in the Free States of
Central America," gives a graphic picture of the destruction,
in 1854, of the city of San Salvador by an earthquake, as
witnessed by his friend Dr. Wagner, whose description of the
event is well worth repeating. This city, which stands on a
plateau about two thousand feet above the Pacific, was built by
the Spaniards in 1528, and, with the exception of Guatemala,
was the neatest and handsomest of Central American cities,
possessing several handsome churches, a new university, and
numerous attractive residences.]
On the 12th and 13th of April, 1854, there was heard in the upper part
of the city, towards the
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