descending in all kinds of terraces and underfalls. The
number of volcanic summits is very great: Bernouilli gives
a list of 14 or 15, and Toledo makes the number no less
than 31. The following are those that are decidedly
active:—Pacaya, in 14° 21′ 30″ N. lat. and 90° 44′ 34″ E.
long., on the southern shores of lake Amatitlan, with its
cone on the southern slope ; Volcan de Fuego, 12,821 feet
in height, in 14° 27′ 25″ N. lat. and 90° 53′ 30″ E. long.,
near Old Guatemala; Atitlan, 11,849 feet in height, in 14°
36 N. lat. and 91° 14 E. long. ; Quesaltenango, 9358
feet in height, in 14° 53′ 30″ N. lat. and 91° 53′ 30″ E.
long. ; and Tajumulco, in 15° 9′ 58″ N. lat. and 92° 6′ 7″
E. long. The last was observed in eruption by Bernouilli
on occasion of the great earthquake of 1863. Like Quesaltenango,
which is surrounded by an extensive malpais,
it furnishes great supplies of sulphur. More famous, how
ever, than any of these is the Volcan de Agua or Water
Volcano, so called because in 1541 it destroyed the city of
Old Guatemala by a deluge of water. It is situated in 14°
26′ 48″ N. lat. and 90° 53′ 30″ E. long. The statement
of Humboldt that it rises above the snow-line is a mistake,
for that would be a height of about 14,500 feet, whereas
the actual height of the mountain, according to Poggendorff’s
revision of Captain Hall s trigonometrical measurement, is
only 13,108 feet. When Dr Scherzer and Dr Wagner
ascended the mountain on August 4, 1854, they found no
traces of snow or ice, and though three weeks later a thin
coating of snow appeared on the outer slopes of the
crater, it was gone again in four days. The source of the
great flood of water was probably a crateral lake.[1]
Rivers. Guatemala is richly watered. On the western side of the sierras the versant is short, and the streams, while very numerous, are consequently small and rapid ; but on the eastern side a number of the rivers attain a very considerable development. The Motagua, whose principal head stream is called the Rio Grande, has a course of about 250 miles, and is navigable to within 90 miles of the capital, which is situated on one of its confluents the Rio de las Vacas. It forms a delta on the south of the Gulf of Honduras. Of similar importance is the Polochic, which is about 180 miles in length, and navigable about 20 miles above the river-port of Teleman. Before reaching the Golfo Amatico it passes through the Izabal Lake and the Golfete Dulce. A vast number of streams, among which are the Chisoy, the Gruadalupe, the Rio dela Pasion, unite to form the Usumacinta, whose noble current passes along the Mexican frontier, and flowing on through Chiapas and Tabasco, falls into the bay of Campeachy. The Chiapas follows a similar course. Lakes. There are several extensive lakes in Guatemala. The Lake of Peten or Laguna de Flores, in the centre of the department of Peten, is an irregular basin about 27 miles long, with an extreme breadth of 13. In an island in the western portion stands Flores the capital of the department, well known to American antiquaries for the number of ancient idols which have been recovered from its soil. On the shore of the lake is the stalactite cave of Jobitsinal, of great local celebrity; and in its depths, accord ing to the popular legend, may still be discerned the stone image of a horse that belonged to Cortes. The Lake of Izabal, already mentioned as the terminus of the Polochic river, is about 36 miles long, and would be of considerable value as a harbour if the bar at the mouth of the Rio Dulce did not prevent the upward passage of seafaring vessels. As a contrast the Lake of Atitlan is a land-locked basin encompassed with lofty mountains and possessing no visible outlet for its waters, which are replenished by numerous streams. It is about 18 miles long, with a maximum breadth of 9 or 10 miles, and it lies about 5300 feet above the sea-level. " On its banks, " says Mr Boddam Whetham, "stand eleven villages, whose situations are so varied that their climates and productions are those of the cold, the temperate, and the tropical regions, and whose inhabitants speak different dialects."[2] About 8 or 9 miles south of the capital lies the Lake of Amatitlan, with the town of the same name at its western extremity. It lies about 3980 feet above the sea, and has a length of 9 miles and a breadth of about 3. On the borders of San Salvador and Guatemala there is the lake of Guija, about 20 miles long and 12 broad, at a height of 2100 feet above the sea. It is connected by the river Ostuma with the Lake of Ayarza which lies about 1000 feet higher at the foot of the Andes. The large lakes, according to Dollfus, are not of crateral origin.
Geology and Mines.—The best and indeed the only elaborate account of the geology of the country is given by Dollfus and Montserrat,[3] who were members of the great French expedition for the exploration of the Mexican region. According to these savants, who, however, confess that their studies are only provisional, the basis rock is the granite which, along with trachytes and porphyries of very various character, intermingled with and overlaid by directly volcanic products, constitutes the great band of the Sierra Madre. From the main ridge towards the Atlantic there is a rich development of mica schists and calcareous formations of sedimentary origin and probably Jurassic age, while the versant of the Pacific is almost covered with modern alluvium washed down along the rapid slopes. Mastodont and elephant remains have been discovered in the tuffs. The country as a whole may be said to owe its shape to the porphyries. Though some of the strata are essentially metal liferous, Guatemala possesses few mines of importance. During the Spanish rule about 40 million pesos of silver were obtained at Alotepeque in Chiquimula ; and the works are still carried on, though with poorer results. Lead is found extensively in Huehuetenango and Verapaz ; beds of excellent coal exist in Izabal; marble is quarried at San Juan in Guatemala, and on the Rio Hondo in Zacapa; and lithographic stone is met with in the last-mentioned department.
Climate.—Except in the marshy lagoons along the Pacific, which are inhabited by groups of fishers and salt-gatherers, the climate of Guatemala is considered a healthy one. The peculiar relief of the country gives rise to a large amount of local differences in the matter of heat and cold ; but the whole may be rudely divided into a tropical or low-lying region, a temperate or middle region, and a cold or elevated region. The tropical region, or tierra caliente, extends from the level of the sea to an elevation of about 1300 feet; the temperate, or tierra templada, from 1300 to 4900 feet; and the cold, or tierra fria, from 4900 to 8200 feet. Fortunately for the future of Guatemala the templada is by far the most extensive. In the caliente the rainy season lasts four months. During that period the south-west wind prevails, and is often tempestuous like the Cordonazo de San Francisco, or " flagellation of St Francis," on the coast of Mexico ; during the dry season the north wind is the most usual. The rainy season lengthens as we ascend to the templada : the Boca Costa district indeed has a rainy season of seven months, from May to November, and the dry season is not completely dry. Higher still, in the tierra fria, the rain lasts five months, from May to October, and the dry season is quite worthy of the name. At Guatemala, the only place where meteorological observations have been made through a long series of years, the minimum thermo meter readings varied from 41 to 45 Fahr. in the five
years 1859 to 1863, and the maximum from 84 to 87.
