Discovery of Salvador—Scenery—Volcanoes—Topographical features—Mountain ranges—Natural fertility—Lake Ilopango—Earthquake results—Remarkable phenomena—Disappearance of islands—Public roads improvement and construction under Figueroa government.
It was in the year 1502 that Christopher Columbus, that remarkable and noble-minded Genoese, undeterred by the shameful treatment meted out to him by his adopted countrymen in Spain, sailed away to the East Indies in search of a new passage; and it was in consequence of the mutiny among his ruffianly followers that, putting into Hispaniola, Salvador was discovered. For something over 300 years Spain ruled, and ruled brutally; the history of her government here—as elsewhere through Latin America—being one long series of oppressions, cruelties and injustices practised upon the unfortunate natives and the Spanish residents alike. The ill-treatment extended to Columbus is but a case in point.
Lying on the Pacific Ocean, between the parallels of 13° and 14° 10\' N. latitude, and the meridians of 87° and 90° W. longitude, Salvador has a coast-line of about 160 miles, extending from the Bay of Fonseca to the River Paz, which is one of the boundaries between[2] this Republic and the neighbouring State of Guatemala. While Salvador is the smallest of the five different countries forming the Central American group, boasting of but 9,600 square miles, it not alone possesses some of the richest and most beautiful territory, but has the densest population as well as the most considerable industry and the most important commerce.
Very remarkable are the topographical features of Salvador, and very profound is the impression created upon the traveller\'s mind as he approaches it for the first time through the beautiful Bay of Fonseca, with its wealth of tropical scenery, the romantic islands and the background of noble mountains, afforested to the tops of their numerous peaks, and filling the mind with awe at the memory of their numerous destructive eruptions through the centuries.
The coast here presents, for the greater part, a belt of low-lying, richly wooded alluvial land, varying in width from ten to twenty miles. Behind this, and displaying an abrupt face seawards, rises a noble range of coast mountains—or rather a broad plateau—having an average elevation of 2,000 feet, and relieved by numerous volcanic peaks. It is not the height of these mountains that lends so much dignity and beauty, for, as mountains go, they would be considered as anything but remarkable. It is their extraordinary formation, their almost terrible proximity, and their long and terrifying history, which challenge the attention of the individual who gazes upon them for the first time.
Between the range and the great primitive chain of the Cordilleras beyond, lies a broad valley varying in width from twenty to thirty miles, and being over 100[3] miles in length. Very gently the coastal plateau subsides towards this magnificent valley, which is drained and abundantly watered by the River Lempa, and is unsurpassed for natural beauty and fertility by any equal extent of country in the tropics.
The northern border of this terrestrial paradise—so far as the eye can judge it—rests upon the flank of the mountains of Honduras, which tower skywards about it to the height of 6,000 to 8,000 feet, broken and rugged to the very summits. To the south of the Lempa, however, the country rises from the immediate and proper valley of the river, first in the form of a terrace with a very abrupt face, and afterward by a gradual slope to the summit of the plateau.
Then comes another curious physical feature—a deep, green, and wooded basin of altogether unique scenic beauty and fertility, formed by the system of numerous small rivers which rise in the western part of the country around the feet of the volcano Santa Ana, falling finally into the sea near Sonsonate. This formation is in the shape of a triangle, the base resting on the sea, and the apex defined by the volcano. A second and even a larger basin is that of the River San Miguel, lying transversely to the valley of the River Lempa, in the eastern division of the State, and separated only by a number of smaller detached mountains from the Bay of Fonseca.
Approaching the Salvadorean coast upon any of the steamers which run there, one is confronted with no fewer than eleven great volcanoes, which literally bristle along the east of the plateau which has been mentioned as intervening between the valley of the Lempa and the sea. As a boy and a keen philatelist, I always wondered why Salvador postage-stamps had[4] a group of three active and terrible-looking volcanoes upon their faces. When I visited that country for the first time I understood. The long row of sentinels, grim, yet extraordinarily beautiful, form a right line from north-west to south-east, accurately coinciding with the great line of volcanic action which is clearly defined from Mexico to Peru. Commencing on the side of Guatemala their order is as follows: Apaneca, Santa Ana, Izalco, San Salvador, San Vicente, Usulután, Tecapa, Zacatecoluca, Chinameca, San Miguel, and Conchagua. There are others of lesser note, besides a family of extinct volcanoes, whose craters are sometimes filled with water, as well as numerous volcanic vents or "blow-holes," which the natives not inaptly call infiernillos, i.e., "little hells!" Even the apparently harmless and beautiful island of Tigre, which occupies the centre of the Bay of Fonseca, and a veritable picture of scenic grandeur, is a slumbering volcano, and has a history at once interesting and terrifying. The memorable Cosieguina, El Viejo, Felica, and Momotombo, in Nicaragua, face El Tigre on the other side.
The most beautiful of the Republic\'s many volcanic lakes is that of Ilopango, on the borders of which is situated the village of the same name, with a scattered population of between 1,400 and 1,500 people. The lake is some 6·85 miles long from west to east, about 5·11 miles wide, with an area of 25·1 square miles and a developed shore-line of 28·8 miles. The late President of the Republic, General Fernando Figueroa, was kind enough to place a steam-launch at my disposal, which enabled me to see the lake under the most favourable auspices, and in company with his nephew, Se?or Angulo, I spent several interesting hours upon its[5] calm, deep green surface. This lake has been the scene of numerous remarkable volcanic phenomena, the most recent of which took place a few weeks after my visit, and resulted in the centre islands, which were one of its most charming features, completely disappearing beneath the surface of its waters.
In January, 1880, the lake had also been the scene of a severe earthquake, which shook the entire surrounding country. Upon this occasion the waters suddenly rose about 4 feet above their usual level, and, flowing into the bed of the Jibóa—a stream which forms the usual outlet from the lake—increased it to the proportions of a broad and raging river, which soon made for itself a channel from 30 to 35 feet in depth. A rapid subsidence in the level of the lake was thus produced, and by March 6 in the same year the surface was 34 feet below its maximum. It was then that the rugged and stony island, about 500 feet in diameter, and which I have mentioned above, suddenly rose over the waters, reaching to a height of 150 feet above the level of the lake and being surrounded by several smaller islands, the waters all around becoming intensely hot. Previous to this extraordinary phenomenon, the bottom of the lake, so I was informed, had been gradually rising, and so violent was the flood when it occurred, that the small village of Atuscatla, near the outlet, was entirely destroyed.
Some years afterwards—namely, in February, 1892—while some severe earthquakes were taking place in Guatemala, their reflex was felt in the same spot—Atuscatla, on Lake Ilopango—Lieutenant Hill, who was then making investigations in Salvador on behalf of the United States Government, declaring that a[6] shock was felt lasting fifteen seconds, and then continued with gradually decreasing force for a further one minute and five seconds.
When I was a visitor to Ilopango, there were two extremely comfortable hotels to be found on the banks, both having some very convenient bathing facilities to offer, and each having a beautiful garden attached. During the hot season, and upon Sundays and all holidays, these hotels are crowded with visitors from San Salvador, who ride out in parties, there being no other mode of reaching the lake. The road is a truly beautiful one, travellers crossing numerous streams and passing through shady, blossom-covered woods, containing many magnificent trees. By moonlight this route appears remarkably picturesque, and many people prefer to make the journey thus. Ilopango is some four hours\' ride from the capital, and the journey across the lake usually occupies another two or three hours in an electric or naphtha launch. The hotels and bathing establishments, however, are located upon the side of the lake nearest to San Salvador.
The outline of the beautiful Ilopango Lake, when last surveyed, was quite accurately determined by means of intersections from the various topographical stations. Its surface in January, 1893, was found to be 1,370 feet (417·6 metres) above the sea. Its actual depth the surveyors had no means of ascertaining; its basin, however, is far below the general level of the surrounding ridges, which are all volcanic. Those to the north and east are formed of layers of sand and ashes partially compacted, yellowish in colour, and throwing out spurs towards the lake, terminating in steep bluffs. West of the lake the ground rises to the San Jacinto Hills; but the soft material composing[7] it has been eroded into a maze of sharp ridges and deep gulches. The eastern hills are also broken into a succession of knife-like ridges.
Professor Goodyear, a famous American geologist, has said that the southern hills consist entirely of volcanic materials, but are of a much harder and firmer structure than those of the north and east, being composed largely of conglomerates containing boulders well cemented together. The lake is situated upon the volcanic axis of the country, and has long been the seat of numerous earthquakes and active volcanic phenomena, the most violent of recent times being those of 1879 and 1880. According to the same Professor Goodyear, there was a series of earthquake shocks, some of great violence, extending from December 22 to January 12, 1880, followed by a period of quiet until the night of January 20, when, after a series of loud reports and explosions, followed by violent hissings and dense clouds of steam, a mass of volcanic rock rose from the centre of the lake to a height of 58 feet (17·7 metres). Previous to this the bottom of the lake had been gradually rising until January 11, and the waters had been lifted to maximum height of 5·2 feet above their usual level. This sudden rise converted the outlet from a small stream—not over 20 feet wide and a foot deep, and with a current of two or three miles per hour—into a raging torrent discharging as much water as a great river. So violent was the flood that the small village of Atuscatla, situated near the outlet, was as stated, destroyed, and the channel was so widened and deepened that the waters of the lake fell 38·6 feet (11·75 metres) from the highest point reached, or 33·4 feet (10·17 metres) below their original level.[8] During the time of this flood the Rio Jibóa, which carries off the waters of the lake, was enormously swollen and became very muddy, and in the lower portion overflowed its banks, flooding broad tracts of the plain. By the middle of February, 1880, the lake adjusted itself to the new conditions, and since that time, until the visitation of last year (1910), there had been no great change in its level; the variations at present going on are due to the excess of precipitation during the rainy months over that which is prevalent in the dry season.
Anyone who had seen Salvador, say, ten years ago, and who revisited it to-day, would assuredly be impressed by the great improvement which has taken place in, and the extension of, both the main and sub-roads of the Republic. Whereas in former times the roads were only passable in the dry season, and were even then very trying to travellers on account of the dust encountered, while in the wet season they became mere morasses, to-day they are in the majority of cases so well built and so carefully maintained that even in the wet season of the year it is quite possible to use them.
This great improvement has been brought about mainly by the enterprise of the late President, General Fernando Figueroa, who evinced a keen and consistent interest in opening up new means of communication by making public roadways of enduring worth, his excellent work being actively continued by his present successor.
Views
View
Views on New National Road, between San Vicente and Ilopango.
The main routes of communication in Salvador run longitudinally through the country, from Rio Paz and the city of Ahuachapán on the west, to La Unión and the Rio Guascorán on the east. From this central[9] line, which connects all the important cities and towns of the interior, other roads run out like spurs to the towns and the cities to the northward, or to those of the coast to the southward. Thus, from Santa Ana there is a road north to Metapán, and one south to Sonsonate and Acajutla. Ahuachapán also has a road to Sonsonate via Ataco and Apaneca, two towns which are located high up in the mountains. At Sitio de Ni?o, on the Salvador Railway line, there is a road northward to Opico. Here, also, the main road to the city of San Salvador divides, one branch going north to the volcano of that name, and the other to the south of it via the famous Guarumál Ravine and Santa Tecla. From the city of San Salvador there are roads north to Chalatenango via Tonacatepeque, and south to the port of La Libertad via Santa Tecla.
Cojutepeque is connected by road to the towns of Ilobasco and Sensuntepeque to the north-east. San Vicente has a road to the port of La Libertad, running south-west via Zacatecoluca. At San Vicente the main east and west road separates, one branch going to the north of the Tecapa-San Miguel group of volcanoes, via the cities of Jucuapa and Chinameca to San Miguel, and the other south via the city of Usulután. San Miguel has several roads leading in all directions. There is one north to the town of Gotera, another north-east to the Mining District via Jocoró and Santa Rosa, which continues to the principal crossings of the Rio Guascorán; and there is yet another, running nearly due east to La Unión, on the Gulf of Fonseca.
I was in the country while construction was proceeding in connection with the Ilopango-San Vicente road improvements, and I was much impressed with the thoroughness of the work being undertaken. The new[10] construction was some 40 kilometres long by 61?2 to 7 metres in width (say 20 to 25 feet). It was commenced in 1906, and it will be finished by the end of next year (1912). It is estimated to cost not less than 350,000 pesos. It is a purely Government undertaking, and ranks as one of the most important highways in the Republic. At first over 250 men were employed, but as the work progressed this number was reduced to 200. The highest part of the road is cut through the side of the mountain at 210 metres (say 700 feet) above the shore of Lake Ilopango. The steepest gradient is 7 per cent., and the minimum radius 20 feet. The most expensive part was that between Kilometre 14 and Kilometre 13, where extremely hard rocks have had to be cut through. At one point ten men were engaged for a period of nine months upon the most difficult part, and they were suspended from above by ropes, in order to reach and to cut down the massive timber trees obstructing progress.
The Chief Engineer engaged by the Government to undertake this contract is Se?or Don Juan Luis Buerón, a German by birth, having seen the light at K?nigsberg; but he is a United States citizen by adoption. Se?or Buerón is now seventy-eight years of age, and although he is getting rather beyond active hard work, his valuable experience and shrewd judgment are much appreciated by the Government in all such matters as road construction. He has built many public roads in North America, he told me, and was also responsible for laying the track of the Havana (Cuba) tramways. This interesting old engineer had also gained some experience in Mexico before the days of Maximilian (1857-1869). He now occupies a position of comfort, and enjoys the deep respect of the hundreds[11] of peons who call him master. Se?or Juan Buerón junior, the son, is an equally capable road engineer, and assists his father in his work for the Government of Salvador.
Another road deserving of mention is that which has been put under the charge of the official engineer, Don Guillermo Quirós, and one which unites the town of Santiago-de-María with the port of Linares, on the River Lempa, passing through Alegría. The section from Santiago-de-María to Alegría has been completed, and it was officially inaugurated while I was in the Republic; the journey from Berlín to the River Lempa can now be continued with much greater celerity. Very considerable are the advantages that this highway has brought to that part of the country, in which are situated the most valuable coffee plantations, whose owners now find far greater conveniences for bringing the berry to the port of El Triunfo, since the road leading to this place has also been repaired and widened to facilitate the transit by beasts of burden. The official engineer, Don Manuel Aragón, has been occupied with the planning and opening of a road from Citalá, in the department of Chalatenango, to Metapán, in the department of Santa Ana. The road leading from this capital to the port of La Libertad is likewise the object of attention. The official engineer, Don Andrés Soriano, with a gang of foremen and labourers, have been working for several months past repairing it.
This highroad continually needs very large sums of money for maintenance. The repairs which in former years have been carried out have proved anything but lasting, owing to the serious mistakes in construction of an engineer who put into practice certain untried experiments, which completely failed.
It is necessary now to remedy this mistake, and drains and aqueducts have had to be constructed on the road where none previously existed, to avoid, in the rainy season, destruction by the strong currents of water rushing over it. The official engineer, Don Alberto Pinto, was occupied during a good part of the year 1908 upon road works, having made many alterations, improvements and widenings in the roads of the Departments of San Miguel, La Unión, Usulután, Chalatenango, Santa Ana and Caba?as.
On the way from Mercedes to Jucuapa, and also upon the road to San Miguel, it is proposed to construct a bridge of stone and mortar, at the place called Barrancas de Jucuapa; the chief engineer, Se?or Pinto, has already made an estimate and sent in the corresponding plans. The cost will amount to a little more or a little less than $10,000.