Lake Managia, a beautiful body of water in Nicaragua, about 40 m. long by16 in. wide, 157 ft. above the Pacific ocean, from which it is separated by a ridge of land 15 m. broad in its narrowest part. It bas a depth of water varying from 2 to 40 fathoms; but numerous moving sand banks render its navigation dilli-cult for large vessels. The X. and E. banks are unhealthy marshy desert-; the W. shores are sandy, interspersed with bold rocks; and there are several ports, that of Managua being the best, and the point designated for the inland terminus of the projected railway from the lake to the port of Corinto via Leon. It has an outlet at its 8. extremity called Rio Tipitapa or Estero de Panaloya, connecting it with Lake Nicaragua. The difference of level between the two lakes, at average stages of water, is 28 ft. The Rio Tipitapa, during vere rainy seasons, has a considerable body of water; but it is frequently almost dry, the evaporation from the surface of the lake exceeding the supply of water from its tributaries, which are all intermittent streams, except Sinogapa and Rio Viejo. In the various projects for an interoceanic communication through Nicaragua, it has been proposed to connect the two lakes by means of a canal, deepening the Tipitapa and constructing a ries of locks to the superior lake, with another canal from the lake to the port of Realejo, or by means of the Estero Peal to the bay of Fonseca. Between the N. portion of the lake and the Pacific there is only the magnificent plain of Leon, having an elevation at its highest part of about 50 ft. above the level of water in the lake.

The volcano of Momo-tombo projects boldly into the lake nt its N. extremity, 'and within the lake itself rises the island cone of Moraotombita, which had a sacred repute among the aborigines, and still contains numbers of their idols and other monuments, concealed beneath the shadows of its dense forests. The city of Leon was hrst built on the shore of the N. W. extremity of the lake, at a place called Imbita, abandoned for the present site in 1610.