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It was the quality of the food--assisted largely
by exposure, irregular fasts, and _aguardiente_--which made Nicaragua
so fatal to the filibusters. The isthmus between the lake and the
Pacific, swept nine months of the year by cool eastern breezes, is not
unhealthy. But the ration of beef and tortillas (simple maize cakes
without salt) was too scanty and intermittent; and in the absence of
proper food, the men were driven to fill their stomachs with the
unwholesome fruits which everywhere surrounded their quarters, and but
few were able to stand it many months.
As to the spirit which seemed to animate these men, it was certainly
most discouraging. They had lost all thought--supposing them to have
ever had such thought--of regenerating Central America; and most of
them wished no better thing than to fill their bellies, or to escape
from Nicaragua. Many of them were sunk into a physical and mental
lethargy, thinking of nothing and caring for nothing, and were gone,
not a few, even into lunacy. Some cursed General Walker for enticing
them there under false pretences.


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