XII

CENTRAL  AMERICA
Owing  to  their  many  points  of  similarity  in
productions  and  climate  and  their  geographical ­
  position,  the  five  republics  of  Central
America,  the  English  colony  of  British  Honduras, ­
  as  well  as  the  Republic  of  Panama,  may
be  considered  together.
Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica  were  discovered
by  Columbus  on  his  last  voyage  to  the  New
World  in  1502,  and  a  small  settlement  was
made  by  him  in  Costa  Rica,  which  the  Indians ­
  afterwards  destroyed,  being  incensed  by
the  treatment  received  at  the  hands  of  the  invaders. ­
  In  1540  a  further  attempt  to  establish ­
  a  trading-post  was  successful  and  finally
in  1565  a  Spanish  governor  was  appointed,
these  colonies  having  proved  to  be  valuable
acquisitions  to  the  crown.
In  the  meantime,  Cortez,  having  completely
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