Page images
PDF
EPUB

and sensual instincts are developed, and year by year the Indian degenerates.

Mr. Bates, at the end of his admirable work on the natural history of the Amazons, speculates on the future of the human race, and thinks that under the equator alone will it attain the highest form of perfection. I have had similar thoughts when riding over hundreds of miles of fertile savannahs in Central America, where an everlasting summer and fertile land yield a harvest of fruits and grain all the year round-where it is not even necessary "to tickle the ground with a plough to make it laugh with a harvest." But thinking over the cause of the degeneracy of the Spaniards and Indians, I am led to believe that in climes where man has to battle with nature for his food, not take it from her hands as a gift; where he is a worker, and not a pauper; where hard winters kill off the weak and brace up the strong; there only is that selection at work that keeps the human race advancing, and prevents it retrograding, now that Mars has been dethroned and Vulcan set on high.

In destroying the ancient monarchies of Mexico and Central America, the Spaniards inflicted an irreparable injury on the Indian race; for whether or not a republic is the highest ideal form of government (and doubtless it would be if man were perfect), it is not adapted for savage or half-civilised communities, and I cordially agree with Darwin when, writing of the natives of Terra del Fuego, he says, "Perfect equality among the individuals composing the Fuegian tribes must for a long time retard their civilisation. As we see those animals whose instinct compels them to live in society, and obey

Ch. IX.]

NOCTURNAL ANIMALS.

173

a chief, are most capable of improvement, so is it with the races of mankind. Whether we look at it as a cause or a consequence, the more civilised always have the most artificial governments. For instance, the inhabitants of Otaheite, who, when first discovered, were governed by hereditary kings, had arrived at a far higher grade than another branch of the same people, the New Zealanders, who, although benefited by being compelled to turn their attention to agriculture, were republicans in the most absolute sense. ""*

Dusk was coming on before we left the small plain, with its broken statues, and the steep hill overlooking it, on which probably religious rites had been celebrated and human sacrifices offered up. This people have entirely passed away, and the sparse inhabitants of the once thickly-populated province have not even a tradition about them. In Europe and North America more is known about them, and more interest taken in gleaning what little vestiges of their history can be recovered from the dim past, than among their own degenerate descendants.

Half way to Juigalpa was an Indian hut and a small clearing made for growing maize. The fallen trunks of trees were a likely place for beetles, and as I had brought a lantern with me, I stayed to examine them whilst Velasquez rode on to get some food ready. At night many species of beetles, especially longicorns, are to be found running over the trunks, that lie closely hidden in the day-time. The night-world is very different from that of the day. Things that blink and hide from the light

* “Naturalist's Voyage," p. 229.

[ocr errors]

Great

are all awake and astir when the sun goes down.
spiders and scorpions prowl about, or take up advan-
tageous positions where they expect their prey to pass.
Cockroaches of all sizes, from that of one's finger to that
of one's finger-nail, stand with long quivering antennæ,
pictures of alert outlook, watching for their numerous
foes, or scurry away as fast as their long legs can
carry them; but if they come within reach of the great
spider they are pounced upon in an instant, and with
one convulsive kick give up the hopeless struggle.
Centipedes, wood-lice, and all kinds of creeping things
come out of cracks and crevices; even the pools are
alive with water-beetles that have been hiding in the
ooze all day, excepting when they came up with a dash
to the surface for a bubble of fresh air. Owls and night-
jars make strange unearthly cries. The timid deer
comes out of its close covert to feed on the grassy
clearings. Jaguars, ocelots, and opossums slink about in
the gloom. The skunk goes leisurely along, holding up
his white tail as a danger-flag for none to come within
range of his nauseous artillery. Bats and large moths
flitter around, whilst all the day-world is at rest and
asleep. The night speeds on; the stars that rose in the
east are sinking behind the western hills; a faint tinge
of dawn lights the eastern sky; loud and shrill rings out
the awakening shout of chanticleer; the grey dawn
comes on apace; a hundred birds salute the cheerful
morn, and the night-world hurries to its gloomy dens and
hiding-places, like the sprites and fairy elves of our
nursery days. It was very dark when I started to
return, excepting that flashes of lightning now and then
illumined the path; but I left my mule to herself, and

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

Ch. IX.]

RETURN TO JUIGALPA.

175

she carried me safely into Juigalpa, where I found dinner awaiting me. It took me until midnight to skin the birds I had shot during the day; and as I had been up since six in the morning, I was quite ready for, and took kindly to, my hard leathern couch.

:

CHAPTER X.

Juigalpa—A Nicaraguan family-Description of the road from Juigalpa to Santo Domingo-Comparative scarcity of insects in Nicaragua in 1872-Water-bearing plants-Insect traps-The south-western edge of the forest region-Influence of cultivation upon it-Sagacity of the mule.

THE site of Juigalpa is beautifully chosen, as is usual with the old Indian towns. It is on a level dry piece of land, about three hundred feet above the river. A rocky brook behind the town supplies the water for drinking and cooking purposes. The large square or plaza has the church at one end; on the other three sides are red-tiled adobe houses and stores, with floors of clay or red bricks. Streets branch off at right angles from the square, and are crossed by others. The best houses are those nearest the square; those on the outskirts are mere thatched hovels, with open sides of bamboo poles. The house I stayed at was at the corner of one of the square blocks, and from the angle the view extended in four directions along the level roads. Each way the prospect was bounded by hills in the distance. North-east were the white cliffs of the Amerrique range, mantled with dark woods; and as the intervening country could not be seen, and only a small portion of the range itself, framed in, as it were, by the sides of the street, it looked close at hand, and like a piece of arti

« EelmineJätka »