Page:Guatimala or the United Provinces of Central America in 1827-8.pdf/190

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From the first hour of the struggle, the prevalence of liberal opinions was evident, and from that period to the present it has invariably taken the lead. Undivided in sentiment, it decreed its constitution on the twelfth of June, 1824.

Honduras lies east and west, on the shores of the Atlantic, and is bounded by the bay of Honduras on the north, by Nicaragua on the south-east and east, by San Salvador on the south, and by the department of Chiquimula on the west. Its soil is mostly rugged and mountainous, and rich in metals. The low lands are humid and unhealthy, owing to the almost innumerable rivers by which they are watered, and the constant rains to which the province is subject. It is consequently thinly populated. Its capital Comayagua is situated on a beautiful plain in about 13° 50' north latitude, and 88° 46' west longitude, and is distant from Guatimala about 144 leagues. This state decreed its constitution on the eleventh of December, 1825.

Nicaragua is bounded on the north by the province of Honduras; on the east, by the Atlantic; on the south, by Costarica and the Pacific Ocean; and on the west, by Tegucigalpa, a department of Honduras. From west to east, it extends eighty-five leagues, and from north to south about seventy-five. Its capital, Leon, situated in 12° 20' north latitude, and 86° 16'

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