APPENDIX II
Reading edition
The Republic of Honduras is composed of sixteen departments, or provinces, and one territorial district. The territory of Mosquitia is situated in the extreme northeastern section of the country and is the second largest political division in the republic, comprising about one-fifth of the entire landed surface and with a population of four thousand, mostly a mixed race of negroes and Indians. This is an average of about one person for every two square miles. The country is covered with a dense forest of tropical verdure, through which the waters of several rivers course. Along the rivers the lands have been partially explored but much of the interior is still unknown. The Bay Islands department comprises a group of five low islands lying at a distance of from twenty-five to fifty miles from the northern shore. The names of the islands are Utila, Roatan, Elena, Barbareta and Bonaca, and they contain a total population of about five thousand whites, negroes and Indians. The English language is 283quite commonly used on those islands for they were long under the sovereignty of England.
The names of the different departments, together with the capital city, its population and elevation, according to the best and most recent statistics available, are as follows:—
DEPARTMENT CAPITAL POPULATION ELEVATION (feet)
Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa 12,000 3,200
Copan Santa Rosa 10,000 3,400
Choluteca Choluteca 8,636 250
Gracias Gracias 5,324 2,520
Olancho Juticalpa 11,103 1,500
El Paraiso Danli 8,878 2,300
Santa Barbara Santa Barbara 3,593 750
Valle Nacaome 8,913 110
Comayagua Comayagua 7,206 1,650
La Paz La Paz 4,490 2,000
Intibuca La Esperanza 4,026 4,950
Cortes San Pedro Sula 7,182 255
Yoro Yoro 6,127 2,000
Colon Truxillo l4,040 sea level
Atlantida La Ceiba 3,379 sea level
Bay Islands Coxin Hole l500 sea level
The uneven character of the configuration of the earth’s surface and the effect of the trade winds gives the Central American republics a great variety of climate. The so-called “seasons,” the wet and dry, do not always express the real conditions, for local conditions influence the temperature and amount of rainfall. 284There is a wide difference, for instance, between the Atlantic and Pacific slopes. On the Atlantic coast there is literally no dry season. The central plateaus have a climate of their own subject neither to excessive droughts or heavy rains. When you consider that the highest temperature inland rarely exceeds 90° F. and does not go below 50° F. it will be seen that the land is quite inhabitable, for there are no great extremes. The “wet” season from May to November is called invierno, or winter, and the “dry” season from November to May is termed verano, or summer.
In order to set forth clearly the temperature I herewith give a table of the thermometer readings at Tegucigalpa for an entire year as given in a handbook compiled by Mr. A. K. Moe, formerly United States Consul at that city, and issued by the International Bureau of the American Republics, to which same book I am indebted for some other valuable information herein contained:—
AVERAGE AVERAGE EXTREME
MONTHS MINIMUM MAXIMUM LOWEST HIGHEST DIFFERENCE
January °F. 60 °F. 76 °F. 54 °F. 79 °F. 25
February 60 81 52 84 32
March 61 83 55 88 33
April 63 84 56 89 33
May 67 84 63 90 27
285April 63 84 56 89 33
May 67 84 63 90 27
June 67 82 65 86 21
July 67 81 64 84 20
August 66 81 62 84 22
September 65 82 61 84 23
October 65 79 61 83 22
November 65 78 61 82 21
December 59 75 50 81 31
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