The Nicaraguan Press and El Nicaraguense

In his hugely successful and widely read travel narrative Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan from 1841, John Lloyd Stephens describes how his arrival in Granada, Nicaragua, was greeted with enthusiasm, and how he was congratulated on his recent “escape from prison” in San Salvador. In fact, this was a rather minor affair; on his way to the ruins of Copan, in what is today Honduras, Stephens and his accompanying artist Frederick Catherwood were prevented from leaving their lodgings in the village of Copan for one night when a young Honduran officer questioned the validity of their passports. Stephens then wrote a message to the passport issuer, their benefactor General Cascara, and shortly afterward the whole issue was resolved.