Note 52 — Chapter II

It is said that the river Tipitapa was a considerable stream up to 1844, but that, in consequence of an earthquake in that year, it ceased to flow. Hence, it has been inferred that some subterranean channel was then opened, sufficiently large to pass the water which had previously flowed through the Tipitapa channel. This statement lacks confirmation. Oviedo tells us that in his time (1527) the amount of water in the river underwent great variations with the change of seasons. That the level of water in the lake is subject to great changes, I can personally bear witness. In 1849, the road from Matearas to Nagarote ran, for a long distance, along the shores of the lake, over a beach varying from one hundred to three hundred yards in width. In 1853, I found the water entirely covering this beach, as well as the old mule-path along the shore, to the depth of from five to ten feet. The low stage of water in the lake in 1849, and its absence in the channel of Tipitapa, were doubtless due to a succession of comparatively light rainy seasons, or of dry years. I have no doubt that in 1853, there was a considerable flow of water through the channel of Tipitapa. At any rate, I am not inclined to ascribe any marked change in the hydrographic system of the country, to the earthquake of 1844.