Very few foreigners seem to find their way to this place, which is to be regretted; for not alone would they be made to feel very welcome, the people being particularly friendly and hospitably inclined, but the climate has a most exhilarating effect, and for the greater portion of the year it is nothing less than delightful. Very little poverty seems to exist here, and, from what I heard and saw, it seems that practically every member of a family in Sensuntepeque is employed regularly and remuneratively in some kind of manner.
Department of San Vicente.
It would be no exaggeration to describe this Department as scenically the most beautiful in the Republic of Salvador. It affords almost every style of scenery—high mountains, towering volcanoes, delightful valleys, and a perfectly astounding collection of hot springs, or infiernillos. The Department is bounded on the north by the Department of Cabañas, on the east by the Departments of San Miguel and Usulután, on the south by the Pacific Ocean, and on the west by the Departments of La Paz and Cuscatlán. One of the highest mountains—needless to say it is a volcano—is situated here, and bears the name of the Saint who founded the Society of the Lazarists and the Sisterhood of Charity. This most imposing mountain has a double cone, which towers very gracefully above the numerous attendant hills. It was last known to erupt in 1643, but it looks capable of a repetition of the performance in all its grandeur at any time. In height it stands 7,131 feet, and its approximate position is given at 13° 35' 24" N. latitude, and 88° 50' 31" W. longitude.
Public Park at Cojutepeque, Department of Cuscatlán.
Barracks at Cojutepeque, Department of Cuscatlán.
I first caught a glimpse of the majestic mountain while staying at Cojutepeque, but it was then a long way distant. There are two other volcanoes, Chichontepec and Siguatepeque—the former the highest mountain in the Republic—but they are pronounced to be extinct. The summit of this monster is 8,661 feet above the level of the sea, and it is notable for the number of active geysers which exist on the northern slope, and which continually send out volumes of steam accompanied by terrifying but apparently harmless terrestrial rumblings, which can be distinctly heard as far away as three or four miles. But the mountain is quite unoffending, I understand, the said geysers proving the safety-valves for its occasional internal disturbances.