[XV-49] Cabañas, El Presid ... á sus Conciud., 1-6. The office had been provisionally in charge of Senator Francisco Gomez. El Siglo, Feb. 21, March 19, 1852.
[XV-50] Cabañas was of diminutive stature, but of erect mien. He was aged about 50 at this time. His face was pale and mild; his gestures were in keeping with the intelligent play of his features; his manners gentle, almost womanly, but beneath this placid exterior was a stern, indomitable spirit. After many years of prominence as a leader, during an anarchical period, even his enemies never accused him of selfishness or rancor. Squier's Trav., ii. 177; Wells' Hond., 184. Cabañas was a brave soldier, but could not be called a successful general. Perez, a political opponent, speaking of him as the chief of the coquimbo party, says: 'Mal general, excelente soldado, nunca vencedor, siempre con prestigio, y uno de los mas fogosos promotores de la nacionalidad centro Americana.' Mem. Hist. Rev. Nic., 16. The assembly, May 21, 1851, had conferred on him the title of 'soldado ilustre de la patria.' His death occurred Jan. 8, 1871. El Siglo, June 12, 1851; Nic., Gaceta, Aug. 19, 1851; Jan. 29, 1871.
[XV-51] Astaburuaga attributes this war to Cabañas' attempts to promote an insurrection in Guat. against his old enemy Carrera. Cent. Am., 70-1.
[XV-52] The Guatemalans took the fort and city of Omoa, and carried away all the useful artillery, against the stipulations agreed upon at the surrender. Wells' Hond., 507-8; Guat., Gaceta, Sept. 16, 23, 1853.
[XV-53] This Lopez commanded at Omoa when the place was given up in 1853 to the Guat. Col Zavala, since which he had been suspected of treachery. Wells' Hond., 515; Costa R., Gaceta, Jan. 15, 1854; Id., Boletin Ofic., Dec. 30, 1854; Hond., Gaceta Ofic., May 10, 1854, to Feb. 10, 1855, passim; Guat., Gaceta, Nov. 3, Dec. 22, 1854.
[XV-54] He had received no aid from Salv., owing to Carrera having falsely reported his intention to sell territory to a foreign power.
[XV-55] The executive office went, Oct. 14, 1855, into the hands of Vice-president S. Bueso, who pleading ill health left it in charge of Senator Francisco Aguilar. Guat., Gaceta, Nov. 9, 1855, Feb. 16, 1856.
[XV-56] Perez, Mem. Hist. Campaña Nac., 13.
[XV-57] Guardiola was a dark-colored, stout-built, and rather corpulent zambo, a man of fiendish instincts, but popular with his soldiers, whom he indulged in every way. He possessed all the vices and was guilty of about all the crimes known to man. When in his cups he would order men to be shot by way of pastime. At the mention of his approach to a town, the inhabitants would flee to the woods. He was the tiger of Cent. Am. Dunlop's Cent. Am., 237; Wells' Hond., 517; Wappäus, Mex. und Cent. Am., 306-7. William V. Wells, Explorations and Adventures in Honduras, New York, 8vo, 588 pp., with maps and illustrations, went to Honduras with the object of obtaining from her government leave to work gold placers, and of opening commercial relations. He visited several places, both in Nicaragua and Honduras, which he describes quite accurately, together with the manners and customs of their inhabitants. His information on mines and mining is valuable. There are in the work three chapters devoted to history from 1821 to 1857, the groundwork of which is mostly from other authors, and one chapter is filled with data on commerce, revenue, debt, etc., and still another treats of coins and currency, weights and measures, and productions, with illustrations. The style is good, the work readable and instructive. Portions are evidently taken from Squier, and the illustrations are mostly identical with those of Squier's States of Central America. The same author gave to the press in New York, a 12mo, with 316 pp., map and portrait, under the title of Walker's Expedition to Nicaragua. This work, as the title implies, is almost entirely devoted to Walker's career in this country, which is justified as well as praised. Here and there he mentions some historical facts on British pretensions in Mosquito, a short résumé on Nicaragua, the Nicaragua transit route, and a short review on colonization, commerce, and mining, compiled from several sources. There is no system or arrangement, having been, as the author alleges, 'written, published, and put in circulation in twenty days,' a feat few authors would go out of their way to boast of. But taken all in all, the book is well worth perusing.
[XV-58] Decree of Jan. 5, 1861. La Union de Nic., Feb. 2, March 9, May 25, 1861.