Pictures of travel in far-off lands. Central America1871 |
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abundant Balboa balsam bank Bay of Honduras beautiful Belize Bluefields branches British buccaneers bushes called canoe Cartago cattle Central America chief coast cochineal coffee colour Comayagua Copan Costa Rica cultivated Darien distance earth English feet forest Froebel Fruto Chamorro Granada ground Guatemala hacienda Honduras hundred iguana Indians indigo inhabitants insects Isthmus Isthmus of Panama kind king labour lagoons lake land Leon less machete mahogany Manicoura ment Mexico miles monkeys morning Mosquito Shore mountain mules muleteers natives Nicaragua oceans Pacific palm Panama passed plain plant plantains Poyer present Punta-arenas river road ruins San José San Juan San Salvador savannas says season seemed side Sonsonate soon Spaniards Spanish Stephens stone stream sugar-cane table-land tion town travelling trees Trollope tropical trucks trunk Truxillo turtle valley variety village visited volcano wall whole wild woods
Popular passages
Page 146 - Where the car climb'd the Capitol; far and wide Temple and tower went down, nor left a site; Chaos of ruins ! who shall trace the void, O'er the dim fragments cast a lunar light, And say, "here was, or is,
Page 59 - tis the mind that makes the body rich ; And as the sun breaks through the darkest clouds, So honour peereth in the meanest habit. What, is the jay more precious than the lark, Because his feathers are more beautiful ? Or is the adder better than the eel, Because his painted skin contents the eye ? O, no, good Kate ; neither art thou the worse For this poor furniture, and mean array.
Page 132 - The sight of this unexpected monument put at rest at once and for ever, in our minds, all uncertainty in regard to the character of American antiquities, and gave us the assurance that the objects we were in search of were interesting, not only as the remains of an unknown people, but as works of art, proving, like newly discovered historical records, that the people who once occupied the continent of America were not savages.
Page 133 - Egyptians ; one, displaced from its pedestal by enormous roots ; another locked in the close embrace of branches of trees, and almost lifted out of the earth; another, hurled to the ground, and bound down by huge vines and creepers ; and one standing, with its altar before it, in a grove of trees which grew around, seemingly to shade and shroud it, as a sacred thing in the solemn stillness of the woods, it seemed a divinity mourning over a fallen people.
Page 132 - ... on all four of the sides from the base to the top. The front was the figure of a man, curiously and richly dressed, and the face, evidently a portrait, solemn, stern, and well fitted to excite terror. The...
Page 133 - ... wandering spirits of the departed race guarding the ruins of their former habitations. We returned to the base of the pyramidal structure, and ascended by regular stone steps, in some places forced apart by bushes and saplings, and in others thrown down by the growth of large trees, while some remained entire. In parts they were ornamented with sculptured figures and rows of death's heads. Climbing over the ruined top, we reached a terrace overgrown with trees, and, crossing it, descended by...
Page 141 - The extent along the river, as ascertained by monuments still found, is more than two miles. There is one monument on the opposite side of the river, at the distance of a mile, on the top of a mountain two thousand feet high. Whether the city ever crossed the river, and extended to that monument, it is impossible to say. I believe not.
Page 217 - There was a kind of querulous response, and directly a thumping and muttering, as of some person who regarded himself as unreasonably disturbed. Meanwhile, we had each finished our first cup of coffee, and were proceeding with a second, when the door in the corner opened, and a black boy, or what an American would be apt to call " a young darkey," apparently nineteen or twenty years old, shuffled up to the table.
Page 141 - This temple is an oblong enclosure. The front or river wall extends on a right line north and south six hundred and twenty-four feet, and it is from sixty to ninety feet in height. It is made of cut stones, from three to six feet in length, and a foot and a half in breadth. In many places the stones have been thrown down by bushes growing out of the crevices, and in one place there is a small opening...
Page 251 - ... having any connection with it. The independent Hamburg merchants returned the following spirited answer : ' We look upon it as a very strange thing that the king of Britain should offer to hinder us, who are a free people, from trading with whom we please ; but we are amazed to find him wishing to hinder us from entering into engagements with his own subjects in Scotland, to whom he has lately given such large privileges by so solemn an act of parliament.