In front of the town run the rapids of Castillo, which are
difficult to ascend, and as there is no road round them excepting
through the town of Castillo, advantage has been taken of the
situation to fix the custom-house there, where are collected the
duties on all articles going up to the interior. The first view of
Castillo when coming up the river is a fine one. The fort-crowned
hill and the little town clinging to its foot form the centre of
the picture. The clear, sparkling, dancing rapids on one side
contrast with the still, dark forest on the other, whilst the whole
is relieved by the bright green grassy hills in the background.
This view is the only pleasant recollection I have carried away of
the place. The single street is narrow, dirty, and rugged, and when
the shades of evening begin to creep up, swarms of mosquitoes issue
forth to buzz and bite.

I here made the acquaintance of colonel McCrae, who was largely
concerned in the india-rubber trade. He afterwards distinguished
himself during the revolutionary outbreak of 1869. He collected the
rubber men and came to the assistance of the government, helping
greatly to put down the insurrection. Originally a British subject,
but now a naturalised Nicaraguan, he has filled with great credit
for some time the post of deputy-governor of Greytown, and I always
heard him spoken of with great esteem both by Nicaraguans and
foreigners. He showed to me pieces of cordage, pottery, and stone
implements brought down by the rubber men from the wild Indians of
the Rio Frio. Castillo is one of the centres of the rubber trade.
Parties of men are here fitted out with canoes and provisions, and
proceed up the rivers, far into the uninhabited forests of the
Atlantic slope. They remain for several months away, and are
expected to bring the rubber they obtain to the merchants who have