TOPOGRAPHY. The Pacific coastal plain is somewhat broad in the west and quite narrow in the east near the coast of Salvador. At the foot of the mountains its slope is very noticeable, but nearing the sea it is almost level. It is also so low that in the rainy season lakes form which connect with the sea by channel. thus rendering their waters brackish (esteros). The Pacific ports, San Jose, Champerico, and Ocos, are mere ly open roadsteads. The Atlantic ports are Liv ingston and Puerto Barrios, the latter having a good natural harbor.
Three distinct topographic features mark the interior, crossing the country east and west. In the north is the broad, low, hilly plain of Peten, of Tertiary and Cretaceous formation, covered with forests and grasses, and still largely un explored. In the centre the plain rises to a high plateau surmounted by the sedimentary ranges of the Sierra Madre system, which in their highest point attains an elevation of about 11,000 feet. The plateau is continued to the south, and is bordered along its southern edge. by the volcanic mountains which skirt the Pa cific coastal plain and are roughly parallel with the Pacific shore-line. This southern part of the plateau is covered deep with the debris of erup tive rocks and ash, forming plains of very rich and productive soil among the mountains. Ac cordingly, the most important agricultural dis tricts are among the uplands of the south, and much nearer the Pacific than the Atlantic. Most of the volcanoes are extinct; but there have been recorded within the historic period severe eruptions of Tacand (upward of 13,000 feet high), Cerroquemado, Fuego (upward of 12,000 feet), and Pacaya. Other volcanic summits are Agua, Atitlan, Tajumulco (seemingly the loftiest elevation of the land), Acatenango, and San ta Maria. Earthquakes are very frequent in
the neighborhood of the volcanic belt, and some of them have destroyed many towns. The effects of a very destructive earthquake on April 18, 1902, which resulted in the partial destruction of the important city Quezaltenango, were re corded by seismographs all over the world; and the volcanic eruptions from the Santa Maria group that followed in late October buried a large area of coffee lands under several feet of the same volcanic ash that has contributed to make this southern portion of Guatemala one of the large coffee producers.
The volcanic belt forms the water part ing between the Atlantic and the Pacific river systems. On the Pacific side the rivers descend the steep slopes as torrents to the narrow coastal plain, and there is no opportunity for the development of rivers useful for naviga tion. The Atlantic rivers, on the other hand, have a long and gentle slope; but they are of little consequence as water highways, though the Motagua, the most southern and important of the Atlantic group. is navigable for 100 miles. Other streams are the Polochic and the Usu macinta (on the Mexican frontier). There are many lakes without visible outlet in the Cre taceous rocks of northern Guatemala, the largest of which is Lake Petkn, and among the eruptive rocks farther south are many beautiful moun tain lakes. The largest lake of the Atlantic slope is Yzabal (the Golfo Duke). It is shal low, considering its large area, but is navigated by steamers.