the lower classes there is much Indian and some negro blood; but
there are many pure Indians scattered through the district, living
near the rivers and brooks, and growing patches of maize and beans.
In the centre of the town is a large square or plaza, with a
stucco-fronted church occupying one side, and the principal stores
and houses ranging around the other three sides. A couple of
coco-palms grow in front of the church, but do not thrive like
those near the sea-coast. It was Saturday, the 22nd of February,
when we arrived; this was a great feast-day, or festa, at Acoyapo,
and the town was full of country people, who were amusing
themselves with horse-races, cock-fights, and drinking aguardiente.
Their mode of cock-fighting is very cruel, as the cocks are armed
with long sickle-shaped lancets, tied on to their natural spurs,
with which they give each other fearful gashes and wounds. All
classes of Nicaraguans are fond of this amusement; in nearly every
house a cock will be found, tied up in a corner by the leg, but
treated otherwise like one of the family. The priests are generally
great abettors of the practice, which forms the usual amusement of
the towns on Sunday afternoons. I have heard many stories of the
padres after service hurrying off to the cock-pit with a cock under
each arm. Bets are made on every fight, and much money is lost and
won over the sport.

Like most of the Nicaraguan towns, Acoyapo appears to have been an
Indian city before the Spanish conquest. The name is Indian, and in
the plaza Senor Bermudez pointed out to me some flat bared rock
surfaces, on which were engraved circles and various straight and
curved characters, covering the whole face of the rock. Some rude
portions of stone statues that have been found in the neighbourhood
are also preserved in the town. The Spaniards called the town San