'The extinct volcanoes Viejo and Monotomba, Realejo [Nicaragua], April 5th 1850'

PZ4645

'The extinct volcanoes Viejo and Monotomba, Realejo [Nicaragua], April 5th 1850' Long Caption: Mounted in album with PAI4605-PAI4644, PAI4646-PAI4670.; No.38. No. 38 in Fanshawe's Pacific album, 1849-1852. Captioned by the artist on the album page below the image, as title. A linking passage by Fanshawe's daughter in his 1904 biography explains the origin of this view of the Pacific coast of Nicaragua, near Realejo, taken from the 'Daphne': 'On the arrival of the English mail E.[dward] left Panama for Realejo, where he expected to find the flagship ['Asia', of Rear-Admiral Phipps Hornby, C-in-C in the Pacific]. The Admiral, however, was gone further north, and E. followed along the coast of the Republic of San Salvador, getting fine views as he passed of the volcanos El Viejo and Monotomba' (p.258). Realejo is on the coast west and slightly north of Lake Managua: at this time it was a significant port but coastal change later saw it replaced by nearby Corinto. El Viejo, better known today as San Cristobal or Chichigalpa, is 1745 metres high. When Fanshawe met the 'Asia' in the Gulf of Fonseca, a little further north, Hornby learnt from the mail of the death at home of his eldest son, which made his accompanying flag-lieutenant second son, Geoffrey, his heir. 'Daphne' then returned with home mails to Panama and sailed from there again on 27 April for Valparaiso, which she reached on 29 May. Credit line: © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London Object: PAI4645 Artist: Admiral Sir Edward Gennys Fanshawe Date: 1850 Medium: watercolour Size: 126 mm x 178 mm Click here to buy a bespoke print of this image.