Department of La Libertad—Physical characteristics—Balsam Coast—Santa Tecla—Department of Sonsonate—Life and hotels—Department of Ahuachapán—City of Ahuachapán—Public buildings and baths—Projected railway extension—Department of Santa Ana—Chief city—Generally prosperous conditions.

Department of la Libertad.

Cities.—Santa Tecla, Opico (2).

Towns.—-La Libertad, Teotepeque, Quezaltepeque (3).

This Department, ranks second in importance to San Salvador, although its population is less than that of either the Departments, of Santa Ana, of Cuscatlán, or of San Miguel. It is joined by excellently-made cart-roads to both the Capital and to San Vicente. As far back as 1896, Mr. J. Imbrie Miller, an American engineer, formerly a member of the Intercontinental Railway Commission, was engaged in surveying a light line of railway from La Libertad to Santa Tecla. Some years later another American, Lieutenant Kennon, proceeded there to take observations for connecting the triangulation with the astronomical monument established there by the United States Hydrographic Office.

The boundaries of this Department are as follows: On the north, the Department of Chalatenango; on the east, San Salvador and La Paz; on the south, the Pacific Ocean; on the west, the Departments of[288] Sonsonate and Santa Ana. The physical features of this part of the Republic are remarkable. The central portion of the Department is very mountainous, being crossed from east to west by the coastal range of mountains and the system of the volcano of Quezaltepeque. The surface of the ground is considerably broken up by a great number of well-defined spurs, which extend from the mountain range to the very borders of the ocean itself. To the west of the volcano is situated an immense basin known as Sapotitau. The northern portion is traversed by lofty ridges between which are found a number of beautifully fertile plains.

Fortunately for the good people of La Libertad, the giant volcano Quezaltepeque has long ceased to trouble them, and, indeed, it is said to be extinct; it is, however, never safe to speak too confidently upon this matter, since Nature has a rude manner of disillusioning us at times. This particular volcano, it may be said, has been quiescent so long that for many years it has been regarded as quite harmless. It stands nearly 7,400 feet high above sea-level, the upper part forming a cone occupied by a crater which is between seven and eight miles in circumference, and 1,100 feet deep; at the bottom lies a small lake.

It is in this Department that is located the famous Balsam Coast, and as I speak very fully elsewhere (see Chapter XVII.) of the valuable tree which grows there, with its usefulness to the country as a means of substantial revenue, it is unnecessary to do more than mention that the valleys where the trees are found are extremely fertile; and besides yielding the particular spice in question, they produce rich harvests of coffee, sugar, indigo, corn, rice, and timber. Here are to be[289] found additionally several successful sugar refineries and distilleries, as well as some sawmills and many prosperous coffee estates with their rather antiquated machinery installations. In fact, the commerce of La Libertad is of prime importance, and is increasing in volume and value year by year.

The capital of the Department is Santa Tecla (New San Salvador), a town which is most agreeably situated at the foot of the volcano of San Salvador, where it nestles snugly, absolutely indifferent to the violent reputation of its gigantic guardian. The height above sea-level of this charming little place is 2,643 feet, and it is only ten miles distant from the Capital City. It really owes its existence to the misfortunes which overtook the former some half a century ago, and to-day it is one of the most favourite places of residence in the Republic. Wide and handsome streets and many fine residences are the principal features of Santa Tecla, which likewise boasts of a large and well-laid-out parque, several handsome drives, and its own pleasant little suburbs. Notable among its buildings are the Hospital, the Town Hall, the Government Offices, the Hospicio Guirola, built at his own expense by the late Don Angel Guirola, one of Salvador\'s most esteemed and wealthiest citizens, and two fine churches. The population amounts to between 11,000 and 11,500, and easy connection is made with San Salvador by regular trains, which have now taken the place of an old horse-railroad. The street lighting in the town of Santa Tecla is carried out by private enterprise, and it is very well done. In the month of March, 1907, an agreement was entered into between the Government and La Compa?ia de Alumbrado Eléctrico, of San Salvador, for the installation in the[290] city of Nueva San Salvador for the street lighting by thirty-seven arc lamps of 1,200 candle-power and ninety-three incandescent lamps of 16 candle-power. This agreement is for ten years, and so far it has afforded general satisfaction.
The Department of Sonsonate.

Cities.—Sonsonate, Izalco (2).

Towns.—Nahuizalco, El Progreso, Armenia (3).

This Department gains importance from two circumstances: Firstly, it contains the principal port of the Republic—Acajutla—of which a full description will be found under Chapter XVI., "Ports and Harbours"; and, secondly, because its main city, bearing the same name, has already attained great commercial significance, and is rapidly rivalling the Capital itself in the volume of its trade. The boundaries of the Department are as follows: On the north, by the Department of Santa Ana; on the east, by La Libertad; on the south, by the Pacific Ocean; and on the west, by the Department of Ahuachapán. The northern portion of the ground surface is a mass of mountains, of many varied heights and shapes; on the coast, however, it is very level for a certain distance, from which point it rises gradually in a series of gentle slopes and rolling hills, until these lose themselves in the spurs of the surrounding mountain ranges. It is a truly enchanting country, as fair and as fertile as the eye could wish to dwell upon; and away from the seacoast, where it is marshy and damp, the climate is found to be delightful for the greater part of the year.

Here also some stretches of the famous Balsam Coast are to be met with, the trees being more numerous[291] and even higher, than those in the La Libertad Department.

Acajutla must always serve to bring prosperity to Sonsonate, which, as a department, was created in 1855. Its principal agricultural productions comprise coffee, cocoanuts, sugar, cacao, balsam, tobacco, cereals of almost all kinds, fruits of endless variety, and an immense number of different cabinet woods and fibres. There are a considerable number of factories erected in this same Department, employing many hundreds of hands, and turning out refined sugar, cigars, cotton, cloth, pottery, mats, baskets, distilled liqueurs, and salt. The principal city, Sonsonate, is situated some fifty miles from San Salvador, and stands picturesquely upon the banks of the River Sensunapán. Comparatively speaking, this is but a small stream; nevertheless, from a scenic point of view, it is decidedly worthy of mention. It is crossed by a handsome bridge, and its banks are often used as a pleasant promenade and bathing-place by the inhabitants of this agreeable town.

At Sonsonate, which, with Santa Ana, is one of the several towns in Salvador on the route of the itinerant theatrical companies, there is a small wooden-built room, which forms part of the Hotel Blanco y Negro, kept by a very courteous and obliging Spaniard, one Se?or Arturo de Soto, who, with the profits derived from the cantina adjoining, finds in this undertaking the investment of his capital to be fairly profitable. The stage of the unambitious little playhouse is exactly 18 feet wide by 9 feet deep, so that the precise limit of the mounting of dramatic representations presented thereon may be fairly accurately gauged.

The climate of Sonsonate is decidedly warm for the[292] greater part of the year, and not at all unpleasant in the dry season, except for the fearful wind-storms to which it is at times subjected. Upon these occasions the whole town is temporarily hidden in the clouds of gritty dust, which, moreover, penetrate every crack and crevice of the tightly-closed house shutters, cover the merchants\' goods exposed for sale in the shops with a thick layer of dirt, and render life generally, for the time being, something of a burden. So strong is the wind that it whirls around in a sort of wild ma?lstrom every stray piece of paper, stick, or any loose rubbish which it can gather, and then deposits them impartially in the patios and upon the roofs of the houses, at the same time making complete havoc of gardens and parks.

The market at Sonsonate, an important weekly function, is held on Sundays. The building, completely roofed over, as are all similar constructions in Latin-America, is crowded to excess with sellers, the numbers of buyers, however, being considerably fewer. Every kind of article is exposed for sale, from stuffed and roasted monkeys to the cheapest kind of Manchester cotton goods and cheaper German imitations. The stalls are separated into sections, and practically all of them are presided over by women. It cannot be said that the majority of the edibles look very tempting from a European point of view, being for the most part covered with grease or floating in a thick and sticky compound of fat of a bilious-yellow colour. To the local taste these articles of diet no doubt appeal strongly, since a brisk trade is a carried on in them. Cheap and tawdry fancy goods, highly-coloured and cheaply-framed religious pictures, toys, flimsy dress material, tinselly embroideries, parrots, pencils,[293] pastry, and other curiously diverse articles, are to be found displayed in immediate proximity to dried fish—emitting a powerful and pungent odour—live iguanas (a large species of edible lizard), squawking fowls, and repulsive-looking chunks of bleeding, freshly-killed beef. Altogether an active, if not exactly an attractive, market-place, and one which offers a continually shifting scene of life and colour, enduring from sunrise to sunset.

In regard to hotel accommodation, Sonsonate is decidedly better off than many towns outside the Capital. There are at least three houses from among which the traveller may make his choice.

The Grand Hotel is situated immediately facing the railway-station, and although far from attractive externally, it is quite comfortable and clean within. The rooms, if small, are fairly well-fur............