. These generally succeed one another
as the altitude increases, although the heat is greater at the same
elevation on the Pacific than on the Atlantic coast. It is, however,
less oppressive, as cool breezes prevail and damp is comparatively rare.
The tropical zone comprises the coast and the foothills, and ranges, in
its mean annual temperature, from 72 deg. F. to 82 deg.. In the San Jose
plateau (3000-5000 ft.), which is the most densely populated portion of
the temperate zone, the average is 68 deg., with an average variation
for all seasons of only 5 deg.. Above 7500 ft. frosts are frequent, but
snow rarely falls. The wet season, lasting during the prevalence of the
south-west monsoon, from April to December, is clearly defined on the
Pacific slope. It is curiously interrupted by a fortnight of dry
weather, known as the _Veranillo de San Juan_, in June. Towards the
Atlantic the trade-winds may bring rain in any month. Winter lasts from
December to February. The normal rainfall is about 80 in., but as
cloud-bursts are common, it may rise to 150 in. or even more. Rheumatism
on the Atlantic seaboard, and malaria on both coasts, are the commonest
forms of disease; but, as a whole, Costa Rica is one of the healthiest
of tropical lands.

_Population._--In 1904, according to the official returns, the total
population numbered 331,340; having increased by more than one-fourth in
a decade. Spanish, with various modifications of dialect, and the
introduction of many Indian words, is the principal language; and the
majority of the inhabitants claim descent from the Spanish
colonists--chiefly Galicians--who came hither during the 16th and
subsequent centuries. The percentage of Spanish blood is greater than in
the other Central American republics; but there is also a large
population of half-castes (_ladinos_ or _mestizos_) due to intermarriage
with native Indians. The resident foreigners, who are mostly Spaniards,
Italians, Germans and British subjects, numbered less than 8000 in 1904;
immigration is, however, encouraged by the easy terms on which land can
be purchased from the state. The native Indians, though exterminated in
many districts, and civilized in others, remain in a condition of
complete savagery along parts of the Nicaraguan border, where they are
known as Prazos or Guatusos, in the Talamanca country and elsewhere.
Their numbers may be estimated at 4000. They are a quiet and inoffensive
folk, who dwell in stockad