Department of La Paz—Characteristics—Zacatecoluca—Population—Former proportions—Districts—Towns—Principal estates—Santiago Nonualco—San Juan Nonualco—Climate—Water-supply—Santa Maria Astuma—Mercedes la Ceiba—San Pedro Mazahuat—Some minor estates—Small property holdings.

Department of La Paz.

City.—Zacatecoluca.

Towns.—Santiago Nonualco, San Pedro Mazahuat, San Pedro Nonualco, Olocuilta (4).

The Department of La Paz belongs to the group of central and coast (or maritime) Departments. It has a decidedly quadrangular form, and is bounded on the east by the Department of San Vicente; on the north by the same with that of Cuscatlán and of San Salvador; on the west by the Department of San Salvador and by that of La Libertad; and on the south by the Pacific.

It lies between the parallels 13° 40" and 13° 18" N. latitude, and between the meridians 91° 4" and 91° 31" W. longitude, relatively to the meridian of Paris. The most northerly point is a small peninsula of the Lake of Ilopango, on the coast of the Tepezontes, and the most southerly is on the Pacific coast, at the watering-place called Los Blancos y los Negros. The most easterly point is at the River of San Jerónimo, to the north of the highroad[301] which runs from Zacatecoluca to Usulután, and the most westerly is at the mouth of the River Lindero. The area of this Department is 2,354 square kilometres, or, say, about 69?1000 of the area of Salvador.

The surface is fairly level towards the coast, and hilly towards the interior, but it is always accessible for transit. The low-lying land is found to be excellent for the cultivation of the sugar-cane, tobacco, cotton, indigo, and forage; while the high land is eminently suited for the cultivation of coffee, wheat, rice, etc. The forests of the Department enjoy a high reputation for the excellence of the timber which they produce.

The population of the Department of La Paz has increased with astonishing rapidity. In 1858 it possessed scarcely 24,000 inhabitants, while to-day it is almost three times as large, which is equal to an increase of 3 per cent, annually. The density of the population is thirty-one inhabitants per square kilometre, and the number of individuals of native race is nearly equal to that of the Spanish-speaking inhabitants.

Previous to the Independence, the greater part of the present Department of La Paz belonged to the Department of San Vicente. Towards 1835 the Governor of this State ceded the district of Zacatecoluca to the Central Government, so that it might form part of the special territory of that authority, a cession which not unnaturally displeased the inhabitants of the district. On the disunion, the Federation was established, and joined-up with that of Olocuilta the new Department of La Paz. In the year 1843, in direct consequence of the revolt of the Indians of Santiago Nonualco, and under pretext of a defect in[302] the government, the new Department was suppressed and reincorporated in that of San Vicente. In 1845 it again separated; but in the following year, 1846, it was joined once more to that of San Vicente, remaining thus until, by the Legislative Decree of February 21, 1852, it was definitely separated.

At present the Department of La Paz is divided into three districts, which comprehend one city, four large towns, and about fifteen smaller ones, as shown by the following table:

    District of Zacatecoluca: Santiago Nonualco, San Pedro Nonualco, San Juan Nonualco, Santa María Ostuma, San Rafael, La Ceiba, Jerusalén.

    District of San Pedro Mazahuat: San Pedro Mazahuat, El Rosario, San Miguel Tepezontes, San Juan Tepezontes, Paraíso de Osorio, San Emigdio.

    District of Olocuilta: Talpa, Cuyultitán, San Luis, Tapalhuaca, San Francisco Chinameca.

In the lowlands or near the coast there are a number of old estates of unquestionable merit, and which in former times were famous for the indigo which they produced. To-day the principal agricultural industry of Zacatecoluca is coffee-growing, and the inhabitants possess upon the Volcán some magnificent plantations, the principal being the following, with the number of hundredweights of produce that they yield annually:

    Those of Se?or J. Rengifo Nú?ez, 3,500 cwts.; Se?or José Molina, 2,000; Se?ora Do?a Amalia Molina, 2,000; Se?ora Do?a Teresa O. de Alfaro, 1,000; Dr. Don Fernando Gómez, 1,500; Don Mariano A. Molina, 1,000; Don Fernando Gómez, 1,500; Dr. Pe?a Fernández, 1,500; Don Pedro Rodríguez, 800; Do?a Josefa Buiza, 600; Don Atanasio Pineda, 500; the Se?orita Dolores Rodríguez, 500; Do?a Teresa de Rodríguez, 500; Don Atanasio Pineda, 500; Don Atanasio Pineda (h), 500; the Lopez family, 500; Dr. Don Pío Romero Bosque, 500; Do?a Josefa Molina, 600; Do?a Mercedes Rubio, 400; Don Francisco Orantes, 300; Don Lisandro Torres, 300; the issue of Don Samuel Jiménez, 300; Do?a Mercedes Rodríguez, 300; Don Octavio Miranda,............