CHAPTER 4.. The Lake of Nicaragua.--Ometepec.--Becalmed on the Lake.--White

The lake of Nicaragua.--Ometepec.--Becalmed on the lake.--White egrets.--Reach San Ubaldo.--Ride across the plains.--Vegetation of the plains.--Armadillo.--Savannahs.--Jicara trees.--Jicara bowls. --Origin of gourd-shaped pottery.--Coyotes.--Mule-breeding.--Reach Acoyapo.--Festa.--Cross high range.--Esquipula.--The Rio Mico. --Supposed statues on its banks.--Pital.--Cultivation of maize. --Its use from the earliest times in America.--Separation of the maize-eating from the mandioca-eating indigenes of America. --Tortillas.--Sugar-making.--Enter the forest of the Atlantic slope.--Vegetation of the forest.--Muddy roads.--Arrive at Santo Domingo.