Nicaragua : its people, scenery, monuments, resources, condition, and proposed…
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Nicaragua : its people, scenery, monuments, resources, condition, and proposed… by E. G. Squier is a historical travel account written in the mid-19th century. It surveys Nicaragua’s landscapes, people, antiquities, resources, and politics while arguing for the feasibility and importance of an interoceanic canal, mixing on-the-ground observation with history and diplomacy. The opening of the work follows the author’s cramped voyage on the brig Francis to San Juan de Nicaragua (Greytown), a
tense bar crossing that nearly wrecks the ship, and his first close look at a palm-thatched port under British consular control. He sketches vivid street scenes—mixed races, cigar‑smoking women in naguas and guipils, hammocks in doorways, lagoons alive with alligators and snakes, and a comical equality among pigs, babies, dogs, and chickens—alongside visits with a courteous local host and the ailing British consul. A farcical clash erupts when two wan “policemen” try to enforce a new rule to pen free‑roaming livestock, winning the Americans local favor and a serenade; a side trip across the harbor shows squalid Mosquito Indian camps and turtle fishers. The narrative then turns descriptive: the port’s location and healthfulness, flimsy but adequate housing, pests like scorpions and chigoes, the pattern of trade and duties, and a sharp critique of Britain’s seizure of the port under the Mosquito pretext, all set against the looming canal project. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Squier, E. G. (Ephraim George), 1821-1888 |
|---|---|
| Title | Nicaragua : its people, scenery, monuments, resources, condition, and proposed canal |
| Edition | Revised edition |
| Original Publication | New York: Harper & Brothers, 1860. |
| Credits | Peter Becker, KD Weeks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive). |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | F1521: Latin America local history: Nicaragua |
| Subject | Nicaragua -- Description and travel |
| Subject | Nicaragua Canal (Nicaragua) |
| Subject | Nicaragua |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 76906 |
| Release Date | Sep 21, 2025 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 693 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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