Costa Rica is the most southern province of Guatimala, and is bounded on the north by Nicaragua, east by the Caribbean sea, west by the Pacific, and south by the province of Veragua. It is 150 miles long, and in its widest part about 140 broad. Its name, Costa Rica, “the Rich Coast,” is derived from its valuable gold and silver mines, and a pearl fishery, which formerly existed on its shores. It is a very mountainous country, overspread with thick forests and waste lands; its population is not extensive, and consequently, there is little or no agriculture practised. The native tribes are its principal inhabitants; the Spaniards only occupying some small towns and mining stations; but the natives are not subjugated, and live independent of their Spanish neighbours. Its chief mine is Tisingal, reported to be nearly as rich as Potosi. The commerce of this province consists in cacao, cattle, honey, hides and wax; and in its pearl fishery, with a species of shell-fish, which produces a purple dye. The pearl-muscle and the shell-fish alluded to, are found principally in a small bay, called the Gulf de la Salinas, or Nicoya. This is its principal port on the Pacific shore, while on the Atlantic, the port of Carthago is situated at a great distance from the town of the same name.
Carthago the capital is situated in 9° 5ʹ north latitude, and 83° west longitude, 360 miles west of Panama, the see of a bishop, and the residence of a governor; it is not a place of much importance or any considerable population, having been lately much deserted, though it was formerly one of the first towns in this part of the world.
Nicoya is the next town of any importance; it is situated near the shore of the gulf of the same name, on the western or Pacific coast, in 85° 53ʹ west longitude, and 10° 42ʹ north latitude. The pearl and dye fishery is situated in the bay of Salinas, thirty miles east of Nicoya. The trade of the inhabitants of Nicoya consists in salt, honey, Indian corn, wheat, fowls, and the purple juice of the above mentioned fish, which they export to Panama; and which was first discovered to produce so valuable a substance by the Indian women, who stained their cotton garments with its fluid.
PROVINCE OF VERAGUA.
Veragua, though actually situated in North America, is an integral part of the government or kingdom of Tierra Firma, in South America. The principle of this work being to offer descriptions of the whole of Spanish North America, as it is geographically situated, before entering upon the description of the territorial possessions of the same power in the southern part of that vast continent, we shall accordingly proceed with Veragua, as though it formed a part of Guatimala.
It is bounded on the north, by the Caribbean sea; east by the province of Darien in South America, which is separated from Veragua by the ridge of Canatagua; on the west, by Costa Rica, and on the south, by the Great Pacific ocean. It was first discovered by Columbus, in the year 1503, and this province was granted to him by the Spanish king, as a reward for his services, with the title of duke. He gave the river the appellation of Verdes aguas, which in Spanish is the same as Green Waters, on account of the colour of its waves; this has gradually been corrupted into Veragua, and from this river, the province takes its name. The Spaniards were very long before they could make any permanent settlement in this province, on account of the hostility of the inhabitants. Gaspar dʼEspinosa, and Diego de Alvarez, endeavoured to conquer and explore Veragua, but being repulsed in all their attempts by the natives under their sovereign Urraca, they were obliged to form a settlement in the neighbourhood, and fonded the city of Santiago; but here they were assailed by these valiant Indians, and were obliged to strengthen their position in every possible manner to resist their frequent attacks. Veragua is a mountainous, rugged country, covered with vast forests, beautifully interspersed by luxuriant and fertile valleys; the heat of this province is very great, though meliorated by the rains which are constantly falling; thunder storms, accompanied with frightful lightning, occur very frequently, and during these storms, the torrents rush with impetuous and overwhelming force into the vales from the surrounding mountains. The Indians, the principal tribe of whom are called Doraces, live in the forests and mountains, and are only partially converted by the missionaries, who have founded some villages, where they reside with their flocks; this has only been accomplished since the year 1760. The woods abound with monkeys and wild animals; there is one kind of monkey of a delicate form and yellow colour with a white head, and it is said, they never live when removed from their native climate.
The gold and silver mines of Veragua are not much wrought, owing to the rugged nature of the country in which they are situated; the natives being the only means they have to transport the produce over the mountains, which when a mine is worked they do on their backs. The labour and expence attendant on this mode of carrying the ores to be smelted, render the working of the mines, though they are very rich, almost, impracticable.
The capital is Veragua, or St. Jago de Veragua, a handsome town, situated in a moist and warm climate, and surrounded by a small district which produces Indian corn, a root called yucca, of which they make bread, and plantains; cattle and hogs are here also very numerous. The Indians in the vicinity dye their cottons, manufactured by themselves, with the juice of shell-fish found at the bay of Salinas in Costa Rica, and on the coast of Veragua, affording a rich and delicate purple; with this juice, and with gold, which they find in the hills, they carry on a trade with Panama and Guatimala. This city is the residence of a governor, and has fourteen villages under the jurisdiction of its magistrates; there is also a fine hospital founded by the friars; and its inhabitants are partly Spaniards, partly mulattoes.
The next city is Nuestra Senora de Los Remedios, or Puebla Nueva, inhabited by Spaniards and their descendants. Santiago el Angel, or Alangi, is the third city of Veragua, and was founded by Benito Hurtado, governor of Panama. There are also several large villages, inhabited principally by the native Indians.
Veragua is famed as having been the country where the first European colony was attempted to be planted by Columbus, on the continent of America. This happened on the 24th of February, 1503; but after building a fort and constructing some houses, they found themselves unable to resist the attacks of the Indians; and from this, and other circumstances, Columbus resolved to embark the colony; which he accordingly did.