J&f 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL 
 
 CENTRAL AMERICA, CHIAPAS, 
 
 YUCATAN. 
 
 BY JOHN L. STEPHENS, ESQ., 
 
 AUTHOR OF " INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL IN EGYPT, ARABIA PETR-EA, 
 AND THE HOLY LAND," ETC 
 
 fillustrateto bv Numerous 15 iiflrabfnjjs. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 TWELFTH EDITION. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 
 329 k 331 PEARL STREET, 
 
 FRANKLIN SQUARE. 
 
 185 3. 
 
Entercci, according to Acl of Congress, in the year 1841, by 
 
 Harper & Brothers, 
 
 <n the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of NewYo»l» 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The author is indebted to Mr. Van Buren, late Pres 
 ident of the United States, for the opportunity of pre- 
 senting to the public the following pages. He considers 
 it proper to say, that his diplomatic appointment was for 
 a specific purpose, not requiring a residence at the cap- 
 ital, and the object of his mission being fulfilled or fail- 
 ing, he was at liberty to travel. At the time of his 
 arrival in Central America, that country was distracted 
 by a sanguinary civil war, which resulted, during his 
 sojourn there, in the entire prostration of the Federal 
 Government. By the protection and facilities afforded 
 by his official character, he was enabled to accomplish 
 what otherwise would have been impossible. His work 
 embraces a journey of nearly three thousand miles in 
 the interior of Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan, 
 including visits to eight ruined cities, with full illustra- 
 tions from drawings taken on the spot by Mr. Cather- 
 wood. Its publication has been delayed on account of 
 the engravings ; but on one consideration the author does 
 not regret the delay. Late intelligence from Central 
 America enables him to express the belief that the state 
 of anarchy in which he has represented that beautiful 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 country no longer exists ; the dark clouds which hung 
 over it have passed away, civil war has ceased, and 
 Central America may be welcomed back among re- 
 publics. 
 
 New- York, May, ]»». 
 
PREFACE 
 
 TO THE TENTH EDITION. 
 
 Within three months from the time of the publica- 
 tion of his work, the author is called upon for a preface 
 to the tenth edition. He considers himself bound to 
 make some acknowledgment of the extraordinary favour 
 it has received from the public. Prepared, as it was, 
 in haste, with much embarrassment and perplexity on 
 account of the engravings, and with but little time or 
 opportunity for revising or correcting, it would not be 
 surprising if it were found to contain many errors in 
 facts and opinions. The author is happy, however, in 
 being able to say that but few of the former have been 
 brought home to him, and that on all material points his 
 opinions remain substantially the same. A number of 
 errors in the spelling of Spanish words have been cor- 
 rected in the present edition. 
 
 When these pages reach the hands of the reader, the 
 author will probably be again rambling among ruined 
 cities. It is his intention to make a thorough explora- 
 tion of the ruins of Yucatan, which he was prevented 
 doing before b,y the illness of Mr. Catherwood. Mr. 
 Catherwood will again accompany him. They will be 
 provided with the Daguerreotype, which instrument had 
 not reached this country at the time of their embarca- 
 tion for Central America ; and if they meet with no 
 misadventure, they will offer to the public the result of 
 their labours. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Departure. — The Voyage. — Arrival at Balize. — Mixing of Colours. — Government 
 House.— Colonel M'Donald.— Origin of Balize. — Negro Schools.— Scene in a 
 Court-room. — Law without Lawyers. — The Barracks. — Excursion in a Pit- 
 pan. — A Beginning of Honours. — Honours accumulating.— Departure from 
 Balrze.— Sweets of Office Page 9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Every one for himself. — Travellers' Tricks.— Puenta Gorda. — A Visit to the Ca- 
 rib Indians. — A Carib Crone. — A Baptism. — Rio Dolce. — Beautiful Scenery. — 
 Yzabal.— Reception of the Padre. — A Barber in Office. — A Band of " Invinci- 
 bles." — Parties in Central America. — A Compatriot. — A Grave in a Foreign 
 Land. — Preparations for the Passage of " the Mountain." — A Road not Macad- 
 amized. — Perils by the Way. — A well-spiced Lunch. — The Mountain passed 
 
 25 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 A Canonigo.— How to roast a Fowl. — Extempore Shoemaking.— Motagua River 
 —Beautiful Scene. — Crossing the River. — The Luxury of Water. — Primitive 
 Costumes. — How to make Tortillas. — Costly Timber. — Gualan.— Oppressive 
 Heat. — Shock of an Earthquake. — A stroll through the Town. — A troublesome 
 Muleteer. — A Lawsuit. — Important Negotiations. — A Modern Bona Dea. — How 
 to gain a Husband. — A Kingdom of Flora. — Zacapa. — Making free with a 
 Host 51 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Purchasing a Bridle. — A School and its Regulations. — Conversation with an In- 
 dian.— Spanish Translation of the " Spy." — Chiquimula.— A Church in Ruins. 
 — A Veteran of the French Empire. — St. Stephanos. — A Land of Mountains.— 
 An Affair with a Muleteer. — A deserted Village. — A rude Assault.— Arrest.— 
 Imprisonment. — Release .70 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 An Indian Funeral.— Copan River. — Woman's Kindness. — Hacienda of San An- 
 tonio.— Strange Customs.— A Mountain of Aloes.— The State of Honduras. 
 — Village of Copan. — An ungracious Host. — Wall of Copan. — History of Co- 
 pan. — First View of the Ruins. — Vain Speculations. — Applications for Medi- 
 cine.— Search for an Abode. — A Sick Woman. — Plagues of a Muleteer. — An 
 unpleasant Situation. — A Thunder Storm.— Thoughts of buying Copan . 86 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 How to begin. — Commencement of Explorations. — Interest created by these 
 Ruins. — Visit from the Alcalde. — Vexatious Suspicions. — A welcome Visiter. 
 — Letter from General Cascara. — Buying a City. — Visit from Don Gregorio's 
 Family. — Distribution of Medicines Page 117 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Survey of the Ruins.— Account of them by Huarros and by Colonel Galindo. 
 — Their Situation. — Their Extent— Flan of Survey. — Pyramidal Structures. — 
 Rows of Death's Heads. — Remarkable Portrait. — " Idols." — Character of the 
 Engravings. — Ranges of Terraces.— A Portrait. — Courtyards. — Curious Altar. 
 — Tablets of Hieroglyphics. — Gigantic Head.— Stone Quarries. — More Appli- 
 cants for Medicine. — "Idols" and Altars. — Buried Image. — Material of the 
 Statues.— Idols originally painted. — Circular Altar. — Antiquity of Copan . 130 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Separation. — An Adventure. — Copan River. — Don Clementino. — A Wedding. 
 A Supper. — A Wedding Ball. — Buying a Mule. — The Sierra. — View from the 
 Top. — Esquipulas. — The Cura. — Hospitable Reception. — Church of Esquipu - 
 las. — Responsibility of the Cura. — Mountain of Quezaltapeque.— A narrow Es - 
 cape. — San Jacinto. — Reception by the Padre.— A Village Fete. — An Ambus- 
 cade. — Motagua River. — Village of San Rosalie. — A Death Scene . .161 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Chimalapa. — The Cabildo. — A Scene of Revelry. — Gustatoya. — A Hunt for Rot 
 bers.— Approach to Guatimala. — Beautiful Scenery. — Volcanoes of Agua and 
 Fuego. — First View of the City. — Entry into the City. — First Impressions. — 
 The Diplomatic Residence. — Parties in Central America.— Murder of Vice 
 president Flores. — Political State of Guatimala. — An embarrassing Situation. 
 — The Constituent Assembly.— Military Police 18:3 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Hacienda of Narengo. — Lazoing. — Diplomatic Correspondence. — Formulas.— 
 F£te of La Concepcion. — Taking the Black Veil. — A Countrywoman. — Re- 
 nouncing the World. — Fireworks, &c. — Procession in honour of the Virgin. — 
 Another Exhibition of Fireworks. — A fiery Bull. — Insolent Soldiery . . 20'8 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 The Provesor. — News of the Day, how published in Guatimala. — Visit to the 
 Convent of La Concepcion. — The Farewell of the Nun.— Carrera. — Sketch 
 of his Life. — The Cholera.— Insurrections. — Carrera heads the Insurgents. — 
 His Appearance in Guatimala. — Capture of the City. — Carrera Triumphant. — 
 Arrival of Morazan. — Hostilities. — Pursuit of Carrera. — His Defeat. — He Ls 
 again uppermost.— Interview with Carrera. — His Character . . . 221 
 
CONTENTS. vii 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Party to Mixco.— A Scene of Pleasure.— Procession in Honour of the Patron 
 Saint of Mixco.— Fireworks.— A Bombardment.— Smoking Segars.— A Night- 
 brawl.— Suffering and Sorrow.— A Cockfight.— A Walk in the Suburbs.— Sun- 
 day Amusements.— Return to the City Page 251 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Excursion to La Antigua and the Pacific Ocean.— San Pablo. — Mountain Scene- 
 ry.— El Rio Pensativo.— La Antigua.— Account of its Destruction. — An Octo- 
 genarian. — The Cathedral. — San Juan Obispo.— Santa Maria.— Volcano de 
 Agua.— Ascent of the Mountain.— The Crater.— A lofty Meeting-place.— The 
 Descent.— Return to La Antigua.— Cultivation of Cochineal.— Classic Ground. 
 — Ciudad Vieja.— Its Foundation.— Visit from Indians.— Departure from Ciudad 
 Vieja.— First Sight of the Pacific— Alotenango— Volcan del Fuega.— Escuint- 
 la.-*Sunset Scene.— Masagua.— Port of Istapa.— Arrival at the Pacific . 264 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The Return. — Hunt for a Mule.— Overo. — Masagua.— Escuintla. — Falls of San 
 Pedro Martyr.— Michetoya River. — Village of San Pedro.— A Major-domo. — 
 San Cristoval.— Amatitan. — A roving American. — Entry into Guatimala. — Let- 
 ter from Mr. Catherwood. — Christmas Eve. — Arrival of Mr. Catherwood. — 
 Plaza de Toros— A Bullfight.— The Theatre.— Official Business.— The Aris- 
 tocracy of Guatimala.— State of the Country.— Newyear's Day. — Ferocity of 
 Party 290 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Hunt for a Government. — Diplomatic Difficulties.— Departure from Guatimala. 
 — Lake of Amatitan. — Attack of Fever and Ague. — Overo. — Istapa. — A French 
 Merchant Ship. — Port of Acajutla. — Illness. — Zonzonate. — The Government 
 found. — Visit to the Volcano of Izalco. — Course of the Eruptions. — Descent 
 from the Volcano 310 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Sickness and Mutiny.— Illness of Captain Jay.— Critical Situation.— Rough 
 Nursing. — A Countryman in Trouble.— Dolphins. — Succession of Volcanoes. 
 — Gulf of Nicoya. — Harbour of Caldera. — Another Countryman. — Another 
 Patient. — Hacienda of San Felippe. — Mountain of Aguacate. — "Zillenthal 
 Patent Self-acting Cold Amalgamation Machine."— Gold Mines. — View from 
 the Mountain Top 331 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 La Garita. — Alihuela. — A friendly People. — Heredia. — Rio Segondo. — Coffee- 
 plantations of San Jose.— The Sacrament for the Dying.— A happy Meeting.— 
 Travelling Embarrassments. — Quarters in a Convent. — Senor Carillo, Chief of 
 
V1U CONTENTS. 
 
 State. — Vicissitudes of Fortune. — Visit to Cartago. — Tres Rios.— An unex 
 pected Meeting. — Ascent of the Volcano of Cartago. — The Crater.— View of 
 the two Seas. — Descent. — Stroll through Cartage— A Burial. — Another at- 
 tack of Fever and Ague.— A Vagabond.— Cultivation of Coffee . Page 349 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Departure for Guatimala. — Esparza. — Town of Costa Rica. — The Barranca.— 
 History of a Countryman. — "Wild Scenery. — Hacienda of Aranjuez. — River 
 Lagartos.— Cerros of Collito. — Herds of Deer.— Santa Rosa. — Don Juan Jos6 
 Bonilla. — An Earthquake. — A Cattle Farm. — Bagases. — Guanacaste. — An 
 agreeable Welcome. — Belle of Guanacaste. — Pleasant Lodgings. — Cordilleras. 
 —Volcanoes of Rincon and Orosi. — Hacienda of San Teresa. — Sunset View. 
 —The Pacific again 374 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 The Flores — The San Juan.— Nature's Solitude.— Primitive Cookery.— Harbour 
 of San Juan.— Route of the Great Canal to connect the Atlantic and Pacific 
 Oceans. — Nicaragua. — Survey for the Canal. — Lake of Nicaragua.— Plan of 
 the Canal. — Lockage.— Estimate of Cost. — Former Efforts to construct th 
 Canal.— Its Advantages. — Central American Hospitality. — Tierra Caliente. — 
 Horrors of Civil War . . • 396 
 
ENGRAVINGS OF VOLUME I. 
 
 Map. Tage 
 
 Stone Statue, front View Frontispiece. 
 
 Wall of Copan 96 
 
 Plan of Copan - 133 
 
 Death's Head 135 
 
 Portrait 136 
 
 Stone Idol 138 
 
 Portrait 139 
 
 Stone Idol HO 
 
 Tablet of Hieroglyphics 141 
 
 No. 1, Sides of Altar 142 
 
 No. 2, Sides of Altar 142 
 
 Gigantic Head 143 
 
 No. 1, Stone Idol, front View 149 
 
 No. 2, Stone Idol, back View 150 
 
 Idol half buried 151 
 
 No. l,Idol 152 
 
 No. 2, Idol 152 
 
 No. 1, Idol 153 
 
 No. 2, Idol 153 
 
 Idol and Altar 154 
 
 Fallen Idol 155 
 
 No. 1, Idol, front View 156 
 
 No. 2, Idol, back View 156 
 
 No. 3, Idol, side View 156 
 
 Fallen Idol 157 
 
 Circular Altar 157 
 
 No. 1, Stone Idol, front View 158 
 
 No. 2, Stone Idol, back View 158 
 
 No. 3, Stone Idol, side View 158 
 
 Great Square of Antigua Guatimala 266 
 
 Profile of Nicaragua Canal ^.. V 
 
INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL 
 
 CENTRAL AMERICA, CHIAPAS, AND YUCATAN. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Departure.— The Voyage.— Arrival at Balize.— Mixing of Colours.— Government 
 House.— Colonel M'Donald — Origin of Balize.— Negro Schools.— Scene in a 
 Court-room.— Law without Lawyers.— The Barracks.— Excursion in a Pit- 
 pan.— A Beginning of Honours.— Honours accumulating.— Departure from 
 Balize. — Sweets of Office. 
 
 Being intrusted by the President with a Special 
 Confidential Mission to Central America, on Wednes- 
 day, the third of October, 1839, I embarked on board 
 the British brig Mary Ann, Hampton, master, for the 
 Bay of Honduras. The brig was lying in the North 
 River, with her anchor apeak and sails loose, and in 
 a few minutes, in company with a large whaling-ship 
 bound for the Pacific, we were under way. It was 
 before seven o'clock in the morning : the streets and 
 wharves were still ; the Battery was desolate ; and, at 
 the moment of leaving it on a voyage of uncertain du- 
 ration, seemed more beautiful than I had ever known 
 it before. 
 
 Opposite the Quarantine Ground, a few friends who 
 had accompanied me on board left me ; in an hour the 
 pilot followed ; at dusk the dark outline of the high- 
 lands of Neversink was barely visible, and the next 
 morning we were fairly at sea. 
 
 My only fellow-passenger was Mr. Catherwood, an 
 
 Vol. I.— B 
 
10 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 experienced traveller and personal friend, who had 
 passed more than ten years of his life in diligently 
 studying the antiquities of the Old "World ; and whom, 
 as one familiar with the remains of ancient architec- 
 tural greatness, I engaged, immediately on receiving 
 my appointment, to accompany me in exploring the 
 ruins of Central America. 
 
 Hurried on by a strong northeaster, on the ninth 
 we were within the region of the trade- winds, on 
 the tenth within the tropics, and on the eleventh, 
 with the thermometer at 80°, but a refreshing breeze, 
 we were moving gently between Cuba and St. Domin- 
 go, with both in full sight. For the rest, after eigh- 
 teen days of boisterous weather, drenched with tropi- 
 cal rains, on the twenty-ninth we were driven inside 
 the Lighthouse reef, and, avoiding altogether the reg- 
 ular pilot-ground, at midnight reached St. George's 
 Bay, about twenty miles from Balize. A large brig, 
 loaded with mahogany, was lying at anchor, with a 
 pilot on board, waiting for favourable weather to put 
 to sea. The pilot had with him his son, a lad about 
 sixteen, cradled on the water, whom Captain Hampton 
 knew, and determined to take on board. 
 
 It was full moonlight when the boy mounted the 
 deck and gave us the pilot's welcome. I could not 
 distinguish his features, but I could see that he was not 
 white ; and his voice was as soft as a woman's. He 
 took his place at the wheel, and, loading the brig with 
 canvass, told us of the severe gales on the coast, of 
 the fears entertained for our safety, of disasters and 
 shipwrecks, and of a pilot who, on a night which we 
 well remembered, had driven his vessel over a sunken 
 reef. 
 
 At seven o'clock the next morning we saw Balize, 
 
BALIZE. 11 
 
 appearing, if there be no sin in comparing it with cities 
 consecrated by time and venerable associations, like 
 Venice and Alexandrea, to rise out of the water. A 
 range of white houses extended a mile along the shore, 
 terminated at one end by the Government House, and 
 at the other by the barracks, and intersected by the 
 river Balize, the bridge across which formed a pictu- 
 resque object ; while the fort on a little island at the 
 mouth of the river, the spire of a Gothic church behind 
 the Government House, and groves of cocoanut-trees, 
 which at that distance reminded us of the palm-trees 
 of Egypt, gave it an appearance of actual beauty. Four 
 ships, three brigs, sundry schooners, bungoes, canoes, 
 and a steamboat, were riding at anchor in the harbour ; 
 alongside the vessels were rafts of mahogany ; far out, 
 a negro was paddling a log of the same costly timber ; 
 and the government dory which boarded us when we 
 came to anchor was made of the trunk of a mahogany- 
 tree. 
 
 We landed in front of the warehouse of Mr. Coffin, 
 the consignee of the vessel. There was no hotel in the 
 place, but Mr. Coffin undertook to conduct us to a lady 
 who, he thought, could accommodate us with lodgings. 
 
 The heavy rain from which we had suffered at sea 
 had reached Balize. The streets were flooded, and in 
 places there were large puddles, which it was difficult 
 to cross. At the extreme end of the principal street 
 
 we met the " lady" Miss , a mulatto woman, who 
 
 could only give us board. Mr. Coffin kindly offered 
 the use of an unoccupied house on the other side of the 
 river to sleep in, and we returned. 
 
 By this time I had twice passed the whole length of 
 the principal street, and the town seemed in the entire 
 possession of blacks. The bridge, the market-place. 
 
12 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 the streets and stores Avere thronged with them, and I 
 might have fancied myself in the capital of a negro re- 
 public. They were a fine-looking race, tall, straight, 
 and athletic, with skins black, smooth, and glossy as 
 velvet, and well dressed, the men in white cotton shirts 
 and trousers, with straw hats, and the women in white 
 frocks with short sleeves and broad red borders, and 
 adorned with large red earrings and necklaces ; and I 
 could not help remarking that the frock was their only 
 article of dress, and that it was the fashion of these 
 sable ladies to drop this considerably from off the right 
 shoulder, and to carry the skirt in the left hand, and 
 raise it to any height necessary for crossing puddles. 
 
 On my way back I stopped at the house of a mer- 
 chant, whom I found at what is called a second break- 
 fast. The gentleman sat on one side of the table and 
 his lady on the other. At the head was a British offi- 
 cer, and opposite him a mulatto ; on his left was an- 
 other officer, and opposite him also a mulatto. By 
 chance a place was made for me between the two col- 
 oured gentlemen. Some of my countrymen, perhaps, 
 would have hesitated about taking it, but I did not ; 
 both were well dressed, well educated, and polite. 
 They talked of their mahogany works, of England, 
 hunting, horses, ladies, and wine ; and before I had 
 been an hour in Balize I learned that the great work 
 of practical amalgamation, the subject of so much an-, 
 gry controversy at home, had been going on quietly 
 for generations ; that colour was considered mere mat- 
 ter of taste ; and that some of the most respectable in- 
 habitants had black wives and mongrel children, whom 
 they educated with as much care, and made money 
 for with as much zeal, as if their skins were perfectly 
 white. 
 
A SAMPLE OF THE PICTURESQUE. 13 
 
 I hardly knew whether to be shocked or amused at 
 this condition of society ; and, in the mean time, joined 
 Mr. Catherwood, to visit the house offered by Mr. Cof- 
 fin. It was situated on the opposite side of the river, 
 and the road to it was ankle deep in mud. At the 
 gate was a large puddle, which we cleared by a jump ; 
 the house was built on piles about two feet high, and 
 underneath was water nearly a foot deep. We as- 
 cended on a plank to the sill of the door, and entered 
 a large room occupying the whole of the first floor, and 
 perfectly empty. The upper story was tenanted by a 
 family of negroes ; in the yard was a house swarming 
 with negroes ; and all over, in the yard and in front, 
 were picturesque groups of little negroes of both sexes, 
 and naked as they were born. We directed the room 
 to be swept and our luggage brought there ; and, as 
 we left the house, we remembered Captain Hampton's 
 description before our arrival, and felt the point of his 
 concluding remark, that Balize was the last place 
 made. 
 
 We returned ; and, while longing for the comfort of 
 a good hotel, received through Mr. GofT, the consul oi 
 the United States, an invitation from his excellency, 
 Colonel M'Donald, to the Government House, and in- 
 formation that he would send the government dory to 
 the brig for our luggage. As this was the first ap- 
 pointment I had ever held from government, and I was 
 not sure of ever holding another, I determined to make 
 the most of it, and accepted at once his excellency's 
 invitation. 
 
 There was a steamboat for Yzabal, the port of Guati- 
 mala, lying at Balize ; and, on my way to the Gov- 
 ernment House, I called upon Senor Comyano, the 
 agent, who told me that she was to go up the next day ; 
 I 2 
 
14 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 but added, with great courtesy, that, if I wished it, he 
 would detain her a few days for my convenience. 
 Used to submitting to the despotic regulations of steam- 
 boat agents at home, this seemed a higher honour than 
 the invitation of his excellency ; but, not wishing to 
 push my fortune too far, I asked a delay of one day 
 only. 
 
 The Government House stands in a handsome situ- 
 ation at the extreme end of the town, with a lawn ex- 
 tending to the water, and ornamented with cocoanut- 
 trees. Colonel M' Donald, a veteran six feet high, and 
 one of the most military-looking men I ever saw, re- 
 ceived me at the gate. In an hour the dory arrived 
 with our luggage, and at five o'clock we sat down to 
 dinner. We had at table Mr. Newport, chaplain, and 
 for fifteen years parish clergyman at Balize ; Mr. Walk- 
 er, secretary of the government, and holding, besides, 
 such a list of offices as would make the greatest plu- 
 ralist among us feel insignificant ; and several other 
 gentlemen of Balize, office-holders, civil and military, 
 in whose agreeable society we sat till eleven o'clock. 
 
 The next day we had to make preparations for our 
 journey into the interior, besides which we had an 
 opportunity of seeing a little of Balize. The Hon- 
 duras Almanac, which assumes to be the chronicler of 
 this settlement, throws a romance around its early 
 history by ascribing its origin to a Scotch bucanier 
 named Wallace. The fame of the wealth of the New 
 World, and the return of the Spanish galleons lader. 
 with the riches of Mexico and Peru, brought upon 
 the coast of America hordes of adventurers — to call 
 them by no harsher name — from England and France, 
 of whom Wallace, one of the most noted and daring, 
 found refuge and security behind the keys and reefs 
 
ORIGIN OF BALIZE. 15 
 
 which protect the harbour of Balize. The place where 
 he built his log huts and fortalice is still pointed out ; 
 but their site is now occupied by warehouses. Strength- 
 ened by a close alliance with the Indians of the Mos- 
 cheto shore, and by the adhesion of numerous British 
 adventurers, who descended upon the coast of Honduras 
 for the purpose of cutting mahogany, he set the Span- 
 iards at defiance. Ever since, the territory of Balize 
 has been the subject of negotiation and contest, and to 
 this day the people of Central America claim it as their 
 own. It has grown by the exportation of mahogany ; 
 but, as the trees in the neighbourhood have been almost 
 all cut down, and Central America is so impoverished 
 by wars that it offers but a poor market for British 
 goods, the place is languishing, and will probably con- 
 tinue to dwindle away until the enterprise of her mer- 
 chants discovers other channels of trade. 
 
 At this day it contains a population of six thousand, 
 of which four thousand are blacks, who are employed by 
 the merchants in gangs as mahogany cutters. Their 
 condition was always better than that of plantation 
 slaves ; even before the act for the general abolition of 
 slavery throughout the British dominions, they were 
 actually free ; and, on the thirty-first of August, 1839, 
 a year before the time appointed by the act, by a gen- 
 eral meeting and agreement of proprietors, even the 
 nominal yoke of bondage was removed. 
 
 The event was celebrated, says the Honduras Alma- 
 nac, by religious ceremonies, processions, bands of 
 music, and banners with devices : " The sons of Ham 
 respect the memory of Wilberforce ;" " The Queen, 
 God bless her ;" " M'Donald forever ;" " Civil and 
 religious liberty all over the world." Nelson Schaw, 
 " a snowdrop of the first water," continues the Alma- 
 
16 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 nac, " advanced to his excellency, Colonel M' Donald, 
 and spoke as follows : ' On the part of my emancipa- 
 ted brothers and sisters, I venture to approach your ex- 
 cellency, to entreat you to thank our most gracious 
 Queen for all that she has done for us. We will pray 
 for her ; we will fight for her ; and, if it is necessary, 
 we will die for her. We thank your excellency for all 
 you have done for us. God bless your excellency ! 
 God bless her excellency, Mrs. M'Donald, and all the 
 royal family ! Come, my countymen, hurrah ! Dance, 
 ye black rascals ; the flag of England flies over your 
 heads, and every rustle of its folds knocks the fetters 
 off the limbs of the poor slave. Hubbabboo Cochalo- 
 rum Gee !' " 
 
 The negro schools stand in the rear of the Govern- 
 ment House, and the boys' department consisted oi 
 about two hundred, from three to fifteen years of age. 
 and of every degree of tinge, from nearly white down 
 to two little native Africans bearing on their cheeks the 
 scars of cuts made by their parents at home. These 
 last were taken from on board a slave-ship captured by 
 an English cruiser, brought into Balize, and, as provi- 
 ded for by the laws, on a drawing by lot, fell to the 
 share of a citizen, who, entering into certain covenants 
 for good treatment, is entitled to their services until 
 they are twenty-one years old. Unfortunately, the 
 master was not present, and I had no opportunity of 
 learning the result of his experience in teaching ; but 
 in this school, I was told, the brightest boys, and those 
 who had improved most, were those who had in them 
 the most Avhite blood. 
 
 The mistress of the female department had had great 
 experience in teaching; and she told us that, though 
 she had had many clever black girls under her charge, 
 
SCENE IN A COURTROOM. 17 
 
 her white scholars were always the most quick and 
 capable. 
 
 From the negro school we went to the Grand Court. 
 It had been open about half an hour when I entered. 
 On the back wall, in a massive mahogany tablet, were 
 the arms of England ; on a high platform beneath was 
 a iarge circular table, around which were heavy ma- 
 hogany chairs with high backs and cushions. The 
 court consists of seven judges, five of whom were in 
 their places. One of them, Mr. Walker, invited me to 
 one of the vacant seats. I objected, on the ground 
 that my costume was not becoming so dignified a po- 
 sition ; he insisted, and I took my seat, in a rounda- 
 bout jacket, upon a chair exceedingly comfortable for 
 the administration of justice. 
 
 As before remarked, five of the judges were in their 
 places ; one of them was a mulatto. The jury was 
 empannelled, and two of the jurors were mulattoes ; 
 one of them, as the judge who sat next me said, was a 
 Sambo, or of the descending line, being the son of a 
 mulatto woman and a black man. I was at a loss to 
 determine the caste of a third, and inquired of the 
 judge, who answered that he was his, the judge's, 
 brother, and that his mother was a mulatto woman. 
 The judge was aware of the feeling existing in the 
 United States with regard to colour, and said that in 
 Balize there was, in political life, no distinction what- 
 ever, except on the ground of qualifications and char- 
 acter ; and hardly any in social life, even in contract- 
 ing marriages. 
 
 I had noticed the judges and jurors, but I missed an 
 important part of an English court. Where were the 
 gentlemen of the bar ? Some of my readers will per- 
 haps concur with Captain Hampton, that Balize was 
 
 Vol. I.— C 
 
18 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 the last place made, when I tell them that there was 
 not a single lawyer in the place, and never had been ; 
 but, lest some of my enterprising professional brethren 
 should forthwith be tempted to pack their trunks for a 
 descent upon the exempt city, I consider it my duty to 
 add that I do not believe there is the least chance for 
 one. 
 
 As there is no bar to prepare men for the bench, the 
 judges, of course, are not lawyers. Of the five then 
 sitting, two were merchants, one a mahogany cutter, 
 and the mulatto, second to none of the others in char- 
 acter or qualifications, a doctor. This court is the 
 highest tribunal for the trial of civil causes, and has 
 jurisdiction of all amounts above £15. Balize is a 
 place of large commercial transactions ; contracts are 
 daily made and broken, or misunderstood, which re- 
 quire the intervention of some proper tribunal to inter- 
 pret and compel their fulfilment. And there was no 
 absence of litigation ; the calendar was large, and the 
 courtroom crowded. The first cause called was upon 
 an account, when the defendant did not appear, and a 
 verdict was taken by default. In the next, the plain- 
 tiff stated his case, and swore to it ; the defendant an- 
 swered, called witnesses, and the cause was submitted 
 to the jury. There was no case of particular interest. 
 In one the parties became excited, and the defendant 
 interrupted the plaintiff repeatedly, on which the latter, 
 putting his hand upon the shoulder of his antagonist, 
 said, in a coaxing way, " Now don't, George ; wait a 
 little, you shall have your turn. Don't interrupt me, 
 and I won't you." All was done in a familiar and 
 colloquial way ; the parties were more or less known 
 to each other, and judges and jurors were greatly in- 
 fluenced by knowledge of general character. I re- 
 
A RIDE TO THE BARRACKS. 19 
 
 marked that regularly the merits of the case were so 
 clearly brought out, that, when it was committed to 
 the jury, there was no question about the verdict ; and 
 so satisfactory has this system proved, that, though an 
 appeal lies to the Queen in Council, as Mr. Evans, the 
 foreman, told me, but one cause has been carried up 
 in twenty-two years. Still it stands as an anomaly in 
 the history of English jurisprudence ; for, I believe, in 
 every other place where the principles of the common 
 law govern, the learning of the bench and the ingenui- 
 ty of the bar are considered necessary to elicit the truth. 
 
 At daylight the next morning I was roused by Mr 
 Walker for a ride to the barracks. Immediately be 
 yond the suburbs we entered upon an uncultivated 
 country, low and flat, but very rich. We passed a 
 racecourse, now disused and grown over. This is the 
 only road opened, and there are no wheel-carriages in 
 Balize. Between it and the inhabited part of Central 
 America is a wilderness, unbroken even by an Indian 
 path. There is no communication with the interior 
 except by the Golfo Dolce or the Balize River ; and, 
 from the want of roads, a residence there is more con- 
 fining than living on an island. 
 
 In half an hour we reached the barracks, situated on 
 the opposite side of a small bay. The soldiers arc all 
 black, and are part of an old Jamaica regiment, most 
 of them having been enlisted at the English recruiting 
 stations in Africa. Tall and athletic, with red coats, 
 and, on a line, bristling with steel, their ebony faces 
 gave them a peculiarly warlike appearance. They 
 carry themselves proudly, call themselves the " Queen's 
 Gentlemen," and look down with contempt upon the 
 " niggers." 
 
 We returned to breakfast, and immediately after 
 
F 
 
 20 
 
 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 made an excursion in the government pit-pan. This 
 is the same fashion of boat in which the Indians navi- 
 gated the rivers of America before the Spaniards dis- 
 covered it. European ingenuity has not contrived a 
 better, though it has, perhaps, beautified the Indian 
 model. Ours was about forty feet long, and six wide 
 in the centre, running to a point at both ends, and 
 made of the trunk of a mahogany-tree. Ten feet from 
 the stern, and running forward, was a light wooden 
 top, supported by fanciful stancheons. with curtains 
 for protection against sun and rain ; it had large cush- 
 ioned seats, and was fitted up almost as neatly as the 
 gondolas of Venice. It was manned by eight negro 
 soldiers, who sat two on a seat, with paddles six feet 
 long, and two stood up behind with paddles as steers- 
 men. A few touches of the paddles gave brisk way to 
 the pit-pan, and we passed rapidly the whole length 
 of the town. It was an unusual thing for his excellen- 
 cy's pit-pan to be upon the water ; citizens stopped tc 
 gaze at us, and all the idle negroes hurried to the 
 bridge to cheer us. This excited our African boat- 
 men, who, with a wild chant that reminded us of the 
 songs of the Nubian boatmen on the Nile, swept undei 
 the bridge, and hurried us into the still expanse of a 
 majestic river. Before the cheering of the negroes 
 died away we were in as perfect a solitude as if re- 
 moved thousands of miles from human habitations. 
 The Balize River, coming from sources even yet bill 
 little known to civilized man, was then in its fulness. 
 On each side was a dense, unbroken forest ; the banks 
 were overflowed ; the trees seemed to grow out of the 
 water, their branches spreading across so as almost to 
 shut out the light of the sun, and reflected in the watei 
 as in a mirror. The sources of the river were occu- 
 
 
A BEGINNING OF HONOURS. 21 
 
 pied by the aboriginal owners, wild and free as Cortes 
 found them. We had an eager desire to penetrate by 
 it to the famous Lake of Peten, where the skeleton of 
 the conquering Spaniard's horse was erected into a god 
 by the astonished Indians ; but the toil of our boatmen 
 reminded us that they were paddling against a rapid 
 current. We turned the pit-pan, and with the full 
 power of the stream, a pull stronger, and a chant loud- 
 er than before, amid the increased cheering of the ne- 
 groes, swept under the bridge, and in a few minutes 
 were landed at the Government House. 
 
 In order that we might embark at the hour appoint- 
 ed, Colonel M' Donald had ordered dinner at two 
 o'clock, and, as on the two preceding days, had invi- 
 ted a small party to meet us. Perhaps I am wrong, 
 but I should do violence to my feelings did I fail to ex- 
 press here my sense of the colonel's kindness. My in- 
 vitation to the Government House was the fruit of my 
 official character ; but I cannot help flattering myself 
 that some portion of the kindness shown me was the 
 result of personal acquaintance. Colonel M' Donald is 
 a soldier of the " twenty years' war," the brother of 
 Sir John M'Donald, adjutant-general of England, and 
 cousin of Marshal Macdonald of France. All his 
 connexions and associations are military. At eighteen 
 he entered Spain as an ensign, one of an army of ten 
 thousand men, of whom, in less than six months, but 
 four thousand were left. After being actively engaged 
 in all the trying service of the Peninsular War, at 
 Waterloo he commanded a regiment, and on the field 
 of battle received the order of Companion of the Mil- 
 itary Order of the Bath from the King of England, 
 and that of Knight of the Order of St. Anne from the 
 Emperor of Russia. Rich in recollections of a long 
 
22 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 military life, personally acquainted with the public and 
 private characters of the most distinguished military 
 men of the age, his conversation was like reading a 
 page of history. He is one of a race that is fast pass- 
 ing away, and with whom an American seldom meets. 
 But to return. The large window of the dining- 
 room opened upon the harbour ; the steamboat lay in 
 front of the Government House, and the black smoke, 
 rising in columns from her pipe, gave notice that it was 
 time to embark. Before rising, Colonel M'Donald, 
 like a loyal subject, proposed the health of the Queen ; 
 after which he ordered the glasses to be filled to the 
 brim, and, standing up, he gave, " The health of Mr. 
 Van Buren, President of the United States," accom- 
 panying it with a warm and generous sentiment, and 
 the earnest hope of strong and perpetual friendship be- 
 tween England and America. I felt at the moment; 
 " Cursed be the hand that attempts to break it ;" and 
 albeit unused to taking the President and the people 
 upon my shoulders, I answered as well as I could. 
 Another toast followed to the health and successful 
 journey of Mr. Catherwood and myself, and we rose 
 from table. The government dory lay at the foot of 
 the lawn. Colonel M'Donald put his arm through 
 mine, and, walking away, told me that I was going 
 into a distracted country ; that Mr. Savage, the Amer- 
 ican consul in Guatimala, had, on a previous occasion, 
 protected the property and lives of British subjects ; 
 and, if danger threatened me, I must assemble the Eu- 
 ropeans, hang out my flag, and send word to him. ] 
 knew that these were not mere words of courtesy, and. 
 in the state of the country to which I was going, felt 
 the value of. such a friend at hand. "With the warmest 
 feelings of gratitude I bade him farewell, and stepped 
 
HONOURS ACCUMULATING. 23 
 
 into the dory. At the moment flags were run up at 
 the government staff, the fort, the courthouse, and the 
 government schooner, and a gun was fired from the 
 fort. As I crossed the bay, a salute of thirteen guns 
 was fired ; passing the fort, the soldiers presented arms, 
 the government schooner lowered and raised her en- 
 sign, and when I mounted the deck of the steam- 
 boat, the captain, with hat in hand, told me that he 
 had instructions to place her under my orders, and to 
 stop wherever I pleased. 
 
 The reader will perhaps ask how I bore all these 
 honours. I had visited many cities, but it was the first 
 lime that flags and cannon announced to the world that 
 I was going away. I was a novice, but I endeavoured 
 to behave as if I had been brought up to it ; and, to 
 tell the truth, my heart beat, and I felt proud ; for 
 these were honours paid to my country, and not to 
 me. 
 
 To crown the glory of the parting scene, my good 
 friend Captain Hampton had charged his two four- 
 pounders, and when the steamboat got under way he 
 fired one, but the other would not go off. The cap- 
 tain of the steamboat had on board one puny gun, with 
 which he would have returned all their civilities ; but, 
 as he told me, to his great mortification, he had no 
 powder. 
 
 The steamboat in which we embarked was the last 
 remnant of the stock in trade of a great Central Amer- 
 ican agricultural association, formed for building cities, 
 raising the price of land, accommodating emigrants, 
 and improvement generally. On the rich plains of the 
 province of Vera Paz they had established the site of 
 New Liverpool, which only wanted houses and a pop- 
 ulation to become a city. On the wheel of the boat 
 
24 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 was a brass circular plate, on which, in strange juxta- 
 position, were the words "Vera Paz," "London." 
 The captain was a small, weather-beaten, dried-up 
 old Spaniard, with courtesy enough for a Don of old. 
 The engineer was an Englishman, and the crew were 
 Spaniards, Mestitzoes, and mulattoes, not particularly 
 at home in the management of a steamboat. 
 
 Our only fellow-passenger was a Roman Catholic 
 priest, a young Irishman, who had been eight months 
 at Balize, and was now on his way to Guatimala by in- 
 vitation of the provesor, by the exile of the archbishop 
 the head of the church. The cabin was very com- 
 fortable, but the evening was so mild that we took our 
 tea on deck. At ten o'clock the captain came to me 
 for orders. I have had my aspirations, but never ex- 
 pected to be able to dictate to the captain of a steam- 
 boat. Nevertheless, again as coolly as if I had been 
 brought up to it, I designated the places I wished to 
 visit, and retired. Verily, thought I, if these are the 
 fruits of official appointments, it is not strange that men 
 are found willing to accept them. 
 
EVERY ONE FOR HIMSELF 25 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Kvery one for himself.— Travellers' Tricks.— Puenta Gorda. — A Visit to the Ca 
 rib Indians.— A Carib Crone.— A Baptism.— Rio Dolce.— Beautiful Scenery.— 
 Yzabal.— Reception of the Padre. — A Barber in Office. — A Band of " Invinci- 
 bles." — Parties in Central America.— A Compatriot.— A Grave in a Foreign 
 Land.— Preparations for the Passage of "the Mountain."— A Road not Macad- 
 amized.— Perils by the Way. — A well-spiced Lunch.— The Mountain passed. 
 
 We had engaged a servant, a French Spaniard, St. 
 Domingo born and Omoa bred, bearing the name of 
 Augustin ; young, and, as we at first thought, not very 
 sharp. Early in the morning he asked us what we 
 would have for breakfast, naming eggs, chickens, &c. 
 We gave him directions, and in due time sat down to 
 breakfast. During the meal something occurred to put 
 us on inquiry, and we learned that everything on the 
 table, excepting the tea and coffee, belonged to the 
 padre. Without asking any questions, or thinking of 
 the subject at all, we had taken for granted that the 
 steamboat made all necessary provisions for passen- 
 gers ; but, to our surprise, learned that the boat fur- 
 nished nothing, and that passengers were expected to 
 take care of themselves. The padre had been as ig- 
 norant and as improvident as we ; but some good Cath- 
 olic friends, whom he had married or whose children 
 he had baptized, had sent on board contributions of 
 various kinds, and, among other things — odd luggage 
 for a traveller — a coop full of chickens. We congrat- 
 ulated the padre upon his good fortune in having us 
 with him, and ourselves upon such a treasure as Au- 
 gustin. I may mention, by-the-way, that, in the midst 
 of Colonel M'Donald's hospitalities, Mr. Catherwood 
 and I exhibited rather too much of the old traveller. 
 When at dinner the last day, Mr. C. was called from 
 
 Vol. I — D 3 
 
26 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 tabic to superintend the removal of some luggage, and 
 shortly after I was called out ; and, fortunately for 
 Colonel M' Donald and the credit of my country, ] 
 found Mr. C. quietly rolling up, to send back to New- 
 York, a large blue cloak belonging to the colonel, sup 
 posing it to be mine. I returned to the table and 
 mentioned to our host his narrow escape, adding that 
 I had some doubt about a large canvass sack for bed- 
 ding which I had found in my room, and, presuming 
 it was one that had been promised me by Captain 
 Hampton, had put on board the steamboat ; but this 
 too, it appeared, belonged to Colonel M'Donald, and 
 for many years had carried his camp bed. The result 
 was, that the colonel insisted upon our taking it, and I 
 am afraid it was pretty well worn out before he receiv- 
 ed it again. The reader will infer from all this that 
 Mr. C. and I, with the help of Augustin, were fit to 
 travel in any country. 
 
 But to return. It was a beautiful day. Our course 
 lay nearly south, directly along the coast of Honduras. 
 In his last voyage Columbus discovered this part of the 
 Continent of America, but its verdant beauties could 
 not win him to the shore. Without landing, he con- 
 tinued on to the Isthmus of Darien, in search of that 
 passage to India which was the aim of all his hopes, 
 but which it was destined he should never see. 
 
 Steamboats have destroyed some of the most pleas- 
 ing illusions of my life. I was hurried up the Helles- 
 pont, past Sestos and Abydos, and the Plain of Troy, 
 under the clatter of a steam-engine ; and it struck at 
 the root of all the romance connected with the adven- 
 tures of Columbus to follow in his track, accompanied 
 by the clamour of the same panting monster. Never- 
 theless, it was very pleasant. We sat down under an 
 
VISIT TO THE CARIB INDIANS. 27 
 
 awning ; the sun was intensely hot, but we were shel- 
 tered, and had a refreshing breeze. The coast assu- 
 med an appearance of grandeur and beauty that real- 
 ized my ideas of tropical regions. There was a dense 
 forest to the water's edge. Beyond were lofty mount- 
 ains, covered to their tops with perpetual green, some 
 isolated, and others running off in ranges, higher and 
 higher, till they were lost in the clouds. 
 
 At eleven o'clock we came in sight of Puenta Gor- 
 da, a settlement of Carib Indians, about a hundred and 
 fifty miles down the coast, and the first place at which 
 I had directed the captain to stop. As we approached 
 we saw an opening on the water's edge, with a range 
 of low houses, reminding me of a clearing in our for- 
 ests at home. It was but a speck on the great line of 
 coast ; on both sides were primeval trees. Behind 
 towered an extraordinary mountain, apparently broken 
 into two, like the back of a two-humped camel. As 
 the steamboat turned in, where steamboat had never 
 been before, the whole village was in commotion : 
 women and children were running on the bank, and 
 four men descended to the water and came off in a 
 canoe to meet us. 
 
 Our fellow-passenger, the padre, during his residence 
 at Balize, had become acquainted with many of the 
 Caribs, and, upon one occasion, by invitation from its 
 shief, had visited a settlement for the purpose of mar- 
 rying and baptizing the inhabitants. He asked whelh- 
 er we had any objection to his taking advantage of the 
 opportunity to do the same here ; and, as we had none, 
 at the moment of disembarking he appeared on deck 
 with a large wash-hand basin in one hand, and a well- 
 filled pocket-handkerchief in the other, containing his 
 priestly vestments. 
 
28 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 We anchored a short distance from the beach, and 
 went ashore in the small boat. We landed at the foot 
 of a bank about twenty feet high, and, ascending to 
 the top, came at once, under a burning sun, into all 
 the richness of tropical vegetation. Besides cotton 
 and rice, the cahoon, banana, cocoanut, pineapple, or- 
 ange, lemon, and plantain, with many other fruits 
 which we did not know even by name, were growing 
 with such luxuriance that at first their very fragrance 
 was oppressive. Under the shade of these trees most 
 of the inhabitants were gathered, and the padre imme- 
 diately gave notice, in a wholesale way, that he had 
 come to marry and baptize them. After a short con- 
 sultation, a house was selected for the performance 
 of the ceremonies, and Mr. Catherwood and I, under 
 the guidance of a Carib, who had picked up a little 
 English in his canoe expeditions to Balize, walked 
 through the settlement. 
 
 It consisted of about five hundred inhabitants. Their 
 native place was on the seacoast, below Truxillo, with- 
 in the government of Central America ; and having 
 taken an active part against Morazan, when his party 
 became dominant they fled to this place, being within 
 the limits of the British authority. Though living 
 apart, as a tribe of Caribs, not mingling their blood 
 with that of their conquerors, they were completely 
 civilized ; retaining, however, the Indian passion for 
 beads and ornaments. The houses or huts were 
 built of poles about an inch thick, set upright in the 
 ground, tied together with bark strings, and thatched 
 with coroon leaves. Some had partitions and bed- 
 steads made of the same materials ; in every house 
 were a grass hammock and a figure of the Virgin or 
 of some tutelary saint ; and we were exceedingly 
 
A CAR IB CRONE. 29 
 
 struck with the great progress made in civilization by 
 these descendants of cannibals, the fiercest of all the 
 Indian tribes whom the Spaniards encountered. 
 
 The houses extended along the bank, at some dis- 
 tance apart ; and the heat was so oppressive that, be- 
 fore reaching the last, we were about to turn back ; but 
 our guide urged us to go on and see " one old woman," 
 his grandmother. We followed and saw her. She 
 was very old ; no one knew her age, but it was consid- 
 erably over a hundred ; and, what gave her more in- 
 terest in our eyes than the circumstance of her being 
 the grandmother of our guide, she came from the isl- 
 and of St. Vincent, the residence of the most indomi- 
 table portion of her race ; and she had never been bap- 
 tized. She received us with an idiotic laugh ; her fig- 
 ure was shrunken ; her face shrivelled, weazened, and 
 wicked ; and she looked as though, in her youth, she 
 had gloried in dancing at a feast of human flesh. 
 
 We returned, and found our friend, the padre, dress- 
 ed in the contents of his pocket-handkerchief, quite a 
 respectable-looking priest. By his side was our steam- 
 boat washbowl, filled with holy water, and in his hand 
 a prayer-book. Augustin stood up, holding the stump 
 of a tallow candle. 
 
 The Caribs, like most of the other Indians of Cen- 
 tral America, have received the doctrines of Christian- 
 ity as presented to them by the priests and monks of 
 Spain, and are, in all things, strict observers of the 
 forms prescribed. In this settlement, the visit of a 
 padre was a rare but welcome occurrence. At first 
 they seemed to have a suspicion that our friend was 
 not orthodox, because he did not speak Spanish ; but 
 when they saw him in his gown and surplice, with the 
 burning incense, all distrust vanished. 
 
30 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 There was little to be done in the way of marrying, 
 there being a scarcity of men for that purpose, as most 
 of them were away fishing or at work ; but a long file 
 of women presented themselves, each with a child in 
 her arms, for baptism. They were arranged around 
 the wall in a circle, and the padre began. Of the 
 first he asked a question which I believe is not to be 
 found in the book, and which, in some places, it would 
 be considered impertinent to put to a mother who of- 
 fered her child for initiation into the Church, viz. 
 whether she was married. She hesitated, smiled, 
 laughed, and answered no. The padre told her that 
 this was very wrong and unbecoming a good Christian 
 woman, and advised her to take advantage of the pres- 
 ent opportunity to marry the child's father. She an- 
 swered that she would like to do so, but that he was 
 away cutting mahogany ; and here, as his questions and 
 her answers had to pass through an interpreter, the 
 affair began to be complicated ; indeed, so many of 
 the women interposed, all speaking at once, that the 
 padre became aware he had touched upon delicate 
 ground, and so passed on to the next. 
 
 In fact, even with the regular business our friend had 
 enough to do. He understood but little Spanish ; his 
 book was in Latin ; and not being able to translate 
 as readily as true occasion required, he had employed 
 the interval of our absence in copying on a slip of pa- 
 per, from a Spanish Protestant prayer-book, the formal 
 part of the baptismal service. In the confusion this 
 was lost, and the padre was thrown back upon his Lat- 
 in , to be translated into Spanish as required. After 
 labouring a while, he turned to Augustin, and gave him 
 in English the questions to put to the women. Augus- 
 tin was a good Catholic, and listened to him with as 
 
A BAPTISM. 31 
 
 much respect as if he had been the pope, but did not 
 understand a word he said. I explained to Augustin 
 in French, who explained to one of the men in Span- 
 ish, who explained to the women. This, of course, led 
 to confusion ; but all were so devout and respectful, 
 that, in spite of these tribulations, the ceremony was 
 solemn. When he came to the Latin parts, our friend 
 rattled it off as fast as if fresh from the Propaganda at 
 Rome, and the Caribs were not much behindhand. 
 
 The padre had told us of the passion of the Caribs 
 for a multiplicity of names ; and one of the women, 
 after giving her child three or four, pointed to me, and 
 told him to add mine. I am not very strict, but I did 
 not care to assume wantonly the obligations of a god- 
 father ; and, stopping the ceremony, begged the padre 
 to get me released with the best grace he could. He 
 promised to do so ; but it was an excessively hot day ; 
 the room was crowded, the doors choked up, and by 
 this time the padre, with his Latin, and English, and 
 French, and Spanish, was in a profuse perspiration, 
 and somewhat confused. I thought myself clear, till, 
 a few moments afterward, a child was passed along 
 for me to take in my arms ; but I was relieved on one 
 point : I thought that it was the lady who had become 
 a mother without being a wife, that wished her child 
 to bear my name, but it was another ; still I most un- 
 gallantly avoided receiving the baby. On going away, 
 however, the woman intercepted me, and, thrusting 
 forward the child, called me compadre ; so that, with- 
 out knowing it, I became godfather to a Carib child ; 
 fortunately, its mother was an honest woman, and the 
 father stood by at the time. In all probability I shall 
 never have much to do with its training ; and I can only 
 
32 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 hope that in due season it will multiply the name and 
 make it respectable among the Caribs. 
 
 We returned to the steamboat, and in a few minutes 
 were again under way, steering for the Rio Dolce. An 
 amphitheatre of lofty mountains stretches for many 
 miles along the coast, and back till they are lost to the 
 sight. In one small place this lofty range opens for 
 the passage of a gentle river. On the right bank of 
 the coast was one of the places I intended to visit. It 
 was called by the familiar name of Livingston, in hon- 
 our of the distinguished citizen of Louisiana whose 
 criminal code was at that time introduced into Guati- 
 mala ; and it was supposed, so advantageous was its 
 position, that it would become the port of entry of 
 Central America ; but these expectations were not re- 
 alized. 
 
 It was four o'clock in the afternoon, and, in steering 
 toward it, the captain told me that, if we cast anchor, 
 it would be necessary to lie there till morning. I was 
 loth to lose the only opportunity I shall probably ever 
 have of stopping a steamboat ; but I had an eager, al- 
 most a burning curiosity to see the Golfo Dolce, and 
 we all agreed that it would be wanton to lose such an 
 opportunity of seeing it to advantage. I therefore di- 
 rected the captain to move close to the bank and pass on. 
 
 The bank was elevated about thirty feet above the 
 water, and rich and luxuriant as at Puenta Gorda. 
 The site of the intended city was occupied by another 
 tribe of Caribs, who, like the first, driven from their 
 home by war, had followed up the coast, and, with 
 that eye for the picturesque and beautiful in natural 
 scenery which distinguishes the Indians everywhere, 
 had fixed themselves upon this spot. Their leaf- 
 thatched huts were ranged along the bank, shaded by 
 
BEAUTIFUL SCENERY. 33 
 
 groves of plantain and cocoanut trees ; canoes with 
 sails set were lying on the water, and men and women 
 were sitting under the trees gazing at us. It was a 
 soft and sunny scene, speaking peace and freedom 
 from the tumults of a busy world. 
 
 But, beautiful as it was, we soon forgot it ; for a 
 narrow opening in a rampart of mountains wooed us 
 on, and in a few moments we entered the Rio Dolce. 
 On each side, rising perpendicularly from three to four 
 hundred feet, was a wall of living green. Trees grew 
 from the water's edge, with dense, unbroken foliage, 
 to the top ; not a spot of barrenness was to be seen ; 
 and on both sides, from the tops of the highest trees, 
 Ions tendrils descended to the water, as if to drink and 
 carry life to the trunks that bore them. It was, as its 
 name imports, a Rio Dolce, a fairy scene of Titan 
 land, combining exquisite beauty with colossal gran- 
 deur. As we advanced the passage turned, and in a 
 few minutes we lost sight of the sea, and were enclosed 
 on all sides by a forest wall ; but the river, although 
 showing us no passage, still invited us onward. Could 
 this be the portal to a land of volcanoes and earth- 
 quakes, torn and distracted by civil war ? For some 
 time Ave looked in vain for a single barren spot ; at 
 length we saw a naked wall of perpendicular rock, but 
 out of the crevices, and apparently out of the rock it- 
 self, grew shrubs and trees. Sometimes we were so 
 enclosed that it seemed as if the boat must drive in 
 among the trees. Occasionally, in an angle of the 
 turns, the wall sunk, and the sun struck in with scorch- 
 ing force, but in a moment we were again in the deep- 
 est shade. From the fanciful accounts we had heard ; 
 we expected to see monkeys gambolling among the 
 trees, and parrots flying over our heads ; but all was as 
 Vol I— E 
 
34 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 quiet as if man had never been there before. The pel- 
 ican, the stillest of birds, was the only living thing we 
 saw, and the only sound was the unnatural bluster 
 of our steam-engine. The wild defile that leads to 
 the excavated city of Petra is not more noiseless or 
 more extraordinary, but strangely contrasting in its ster- 
 il desolation, while here all is luxuriant, romantic, and 
 beautiful. 
 
 For nine miles the passage continued thus one scene 
 of unvarying beauty, when suddenly the narrow river 
 expanded into a large lake, encompassed by mountains 
 and studded with islands, which the setting sun illumi- 
 nated with gorgeous splendour. "We remained on 
 deck till a late hour, and awoke the next morning in 
 the harbour of Yzabal. A single schooner of about 
 forty tons showed the low state of her commerce. 
 We landed before seven o'clock in the morning, and 
 even then it was hot. There were no idlers on the 
 bank, and the custom-house officer was the only person 
 to receive us. 
 
 The town stands on a gentle elevation on the banks 
 of the Golfo Dolce, with mountains piled upon mount- 
 ains behind. We walked up the street to the square, 
 on one side of which was the house of Messrs. Ampu- 
 dia and Pulleiro, the largest and, except one they were 
 then engaged in building, the only frame house in the 
 place. The rest were all huts, built of poles and reeds, 
 and thatched with leaves of the cahoon-tree. Oppo» 
 site their door was a large shed, under which were 
 bales of merchandise, and mules, muleteers, and In- 
 dians, for transporting goods across the Mico Mountain. 
 The arrival of the padre created a great sensation. 
 It was announced by a joyful ringing of the church 
 bells, and in an hour after he was dressed in his sur- 
 
A BARBER IN OFFICE. 35 
 
 plice and saying mass. The church stood at the head 
 of the square, and, like the houses, was built of poles 
 and thatched with leaves. In front, at a distance of 
 ten or fifteen feet, was a large wooden cross. The 
 floor was of bare earth, but swept clean and strewed 
 with pine-leaves ; the sides were trimmed with branch- 
 es and festoons of flowers, and the altar was ornament- 
 ed with figures of the Virgin and saints, and wreaths 
 of flowers. It was a long time since the people had 
 had the privilege of hearing mass, and the whole pop- 
 ulation, Spaniards, Mestitzoes, and Indians, answered 
 the unexpected but welcome call of the matin bell. 
 The floor was covered with kneeling women having 
 white shawls over their heads, and behind, leaning 
 against the rude pillars, were the men; and their ear- 
 nestness and humility, the earthen floor and the thatch- 
 ed roof, were more imposing than the pomp of worship 
 in the rich cathedrals of Europe or under the dome of 
 St. Peter's. 
 
 After breakfast we inquired for a barber, and were 
 referred to the collector of the port, who, we were 
 told, was the best hair-cutter in the place. His house 
 was no bigger than his neighbours', but inside hung a 
 military saddle, with holsters and pistols, and a huge 
 sword, the accoutrements of the collector when he sal- 
 lied out at the head of his deputy to strike terror into 
 the heart of a smuggler. Unfortunately, the honest 
 Democrat was not at home ; but the deputy offered his 
 own services. Mr. C. and I submitted ; but the padre, 
 who wanted his crown shaved, according to the rules of 
 his order, determined to wait the return of the collector. 
 
 I next called upon the commandant with my pass- 
 port. His house was on the opposite side of the square. 
 A soldier about fourteen years old, with a bell- crown- 
 
36 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 ed straw hat falling over his eyes like an extinguisher 
 upon a enndle, was standing at the door as sentinel. 
 The troops, consisting of about thirty men and boys, 
 were drawn up in front, and a sergeant was smoking a 
 cigar and drilling them. The uniform purported to 
 be a white straw hat, cotton trousers and shirt outside, 
 musket, and cartridge-box. In one particular uniform- 
 ity was strictly observed, viz., all were barefooted. 
 The first process of calling off rank and file was omit- 
 ted ; and, as it happened, a long-legged fellow, six feet 
 high, stood next to a boy twelve or thirteen years old. 
 The custom-house officer was with the sergeant, advi- 
 sing him ; and, after a manoeuvre and a consultation, 
 the sergeant walked up to the line, and with the palm 
 of his hand struck a soldier on that part of the body 
 which, in my younger days, was considered by the 
 schoolmaster the channel of knowledge into a boy's 
 brain. 
 
 The commandant of this hopeful band was Don Juan 
 Penol, a gentleman by birth and education, who, with 
 others of his family, had been banished by General 
 Morazan, and sought refuge in the United States. His 
 predecessor, who was an officer of Morazan, had been 
 just driven out by the Carrera party, and he was but 
 twenty days in his place. 
 
 Three great parties at that time distracted Centra- 
 America : that of Morazan, the former president of the 
 Republic, in San Salvador, of Ferrera in Honduras, 
 and of Carrera in Guatimala. Ferrera was a mulatto, 
 and Carrera an Indian ; and, though not fighting for 
 any common purpose, they sympathized in opposition 
 to Morazan. When Mr. Montgomery visited Guati- 
 mala, it was just thrown into a ferment by the rising 
 of Carrera, who was then regarded as the head of a 
 
A COMPATRIOT. 37 
 
 troop of banditti, a robber and assassin ; his follow 
 ers were called Caehurecos (meaning false coin), and 
 Mr. Montgomery told me that against him an official 
 passport would be no protection whatever. Now he 
 was the head of the party that ruled Guatimala. Se- 
 fior Pinol gave us a melancholy picture of the state ol 
 he country. A battle had just been fought near San 
 Salvador, between General Morazan and Ferrera, in 
 which the former was wounded, but Ferrera was rout- 
 ed, and his troops were cut to pieces, and he feared 
 Morazan was about to march upon Guatimala. He 
 could only give us a passport to Guatimala, which he 
 said would not be respected by General Morazan. 
 
 We felt interested in the position of Seiior Pinol ; 
 young, but with a face bearing the marks of care and 
 anxiety, a consciousness of the miserable condition of 
 the present, and fearful forebodings for the future. 
 To our great regret, the intelligence we received indu- 
 ced our friend the padre to abandon, for the present, 
 his intention of going to Guatimala. He had heard 
 all the terrible stories of Morazan's persecution and 
 proscription of the priests, and thought it dangerous to 
 fall into his hands ; and I have reason to believe it 
 was the apprehension of this which ultimately drove 
 him from the country. 
 
 Toward evening I strolled through the town. The 
 population consists of about fifteen hundred Indians, 
 negroes, mulattoes, Mestitzoes, and mixed blood of 
 every degree, with a few Spaniards. Very soon I was 
 accosted by a man who called himself my countryman, 
 a mulatto from Baltimore, and his name was Philip. 
 He had been eight years in the country, and said that 
 he had once thought of returning home as a servant by 
 way of New-Orleans, but he had left home in such a 
 I 4 
 
38 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 hurry that he forgot to bring with him his " Christian 
 papers ;" from which I inferred that he was what would 
 be called in Maryland a runaway slave. He was a 
 man of considerable standing, being fireman on board 
 the steamboat at $23 a month ; besides which, he did 
 odd jobs at carpentering, and was, in fact, the princi- 
 pal architect in Yzabal, having then on his hands a 
 contract for $3500 for building the new house of Messrs. 
 Ampudia and Pulleiro. In other things, I am sorry to 
 say, Philip was not quite so respectable ; and I can only 
 hope that it was not his American education that led 
 him into some irregularities in which he seemed to 
 think there was no harm. He asked me to go to his 
 house and see his wife, but on the way I learned from 
 him that he was not married ; and he said, what I hope 
 is a slander upon the good people of Yzabal, that he 
 only did as all the rest did. He owned the house in 
 which he lived, and for which, with the ground, he had 
 paid twelve dollars ; and being a householder and an 
 American, I tried to induce him to take advantage of 
 the opportunity of the padre's visit, and set a good ex- 
 ample by getting married ; but he was obstinate, 
 and said that he did not like to be trammelled, and that 
 he might go elsewhere and see another girl whom he 
 liked better. 
 
 While standing at his door, Mr. Catherwood passed 
 on his way to visit Mr. Rush, the engineer of the steam- 
 boat, who had been ill on board. We found him in 
 one of the huts of the town, in a hammock, with all 
 his clothes on. He was a man of Herculean frame, 
 six feet three or four inches high, and stout in propor- 
 tion ; but he lay helpless as a child. A single candle 
 stuck upon the dirt floor gave a miserable light, and a 
 group of men of different races and colour, from the 
 
A GRAVE IN A FOREIGN LAND. 39 
 
 white-faced Saxon to the Indian and African, stood 
 round him : rude nurses for one used to the comforts 
 of an English home. I recollected that Yzabal was 
 noted as a sickly place ; Mr. Montgomery, who pub- 
 lished an interesting account of his visit to Guatimala 
 in 1838, had told me that it was running the gauntlet 
 for life even to pass through it, and I trembled for the 
 poor Englishman. I remembered, too, what it is 
 strange that I had before forgotten, that here Mr. Shan- 
 non, our charge to Central America, died. Philip was 
 with me, and knew where Mr. Shannon was buried, 
 but in the dark he could not point out the spot. I in- 
 tended to set out early in the morning ; and afraid that, 
 in the hurry of departure, I might neglect altogether 
 the sacred duty of visiting, in this distant place, the 
 grave of an American, I returned to the house and 
 requested Senor Ampudia to accompany me. We 
 crossed the square, passed through the suburbs, and in 
 a few minutes were outside of the town. It was so 
 dark that I could scarcely see my way. Crossing a 
 deep gulley on a plank, we reached a rising ground, 
 open on the right, stretching away to the Golfo Dolce, 
 and in front bounded by a gloomy forest. On the 
 top was a rude fence of rough upright poles, enclo- 
 sing the grave of some relative of Senor Ampudia ; 
 and by the side of this was the grave of Mr. Shannon. 
 There was no stone or fence, or hardly any elevation, 
 to distinguish it from the soil around. It was a gloomy 
 burial-place for a countryman, and I felt an involun- 
 tary depression of spirit. A fatality had hung over 
 our diplomatic appointment to Central America : Mr. 
 Williams, Mr. Shannon, Mr. Dewitt, Mr. Leggett ; all 
 who had ever held it, were dead. I recollected an ex- 
 pression in a letter from a near relative of Mr. Dewitt : 
 
40 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 " May you be more fortunate than either of your pred- 
 ecessors has been." It was melancholy, that one who 
 had died abroad in the service of his country was thus 
 left on a wild mountain, without any stone to mark 
 his grave. I returned to the house, directed a fence 
 to be built around the grave of Mr. Shannon, and my 
 friend the padre promised to plant at its head a cocoa- 
 nut-tree. 
 
 At daylight the muleteers commenced loading for 
 the passage of " the Mountain." At seven o'clock the 
 whole caravan, consisting of nearly a hundred mules 
 and twenty or thirty muleteers, was fairly under way. 
 Our immediate party consisted of five mules ; two for 
 Mr. Catherwood and myself, one for Augustin, and 
 two for luggage ; besides which, wc had four Indian 
 carriers. If we had been consulted, perhaps at that 
 time we should have scrupled to use men as beasts of 
 burden ; but Senor Ampudia had made all the arrange- 
 ments for us. The Indians were naked, except a small 
 piece of cotton cloth around the loins, and crossing in 
 front between the legs. The loads were arranged 
 so as to have on one side a flat surface. The Indians 
 sat on the ground with their backs against the surface ; 
 passed a strap across the forehead, which supported 
 the load ; and, adjusting it on their shoulders, with the 
 aid of a staff or the hand of a by-stander rose upon 
 their feet. It seemed cruel ; but, before much sympa- 
 thy could be expended upon them, they were out of 
 sight. 
 
 At eight o'clock Mr. C. and I mounted, each armed 
 with a brace of pistols and a large hunting-knife, which 
 we carried in a belt around the body ; besides which, 
 afraid to trust it in other hands, I had a mountain ba- 
 rometer slung over my shoulder. Augustin carried 
 
A ROAP NOT MACADAMIZED. 41 
 
 pistols and sword ; our principal muleteer, who was 
 mounted, carried a machete and a pair of murderous 
 spurs, with rowels two inches long, on his naked heels ; 
 and two other muleteers accompanied us on foot, each 
 carrying a gun. 
 
 A group of friendly by-stand ers gave us their adieus 
 and good wishes ; and, passing a few straggling houses 
 which constituted the suburbs, we entered upon a 
 marshy plain sprinkled with shrubs and small trees, 
 and in a few minutes were in an unbroken forest. At 
 every step the mules sank to their fetlocks in mud, and 
 very soon we came to great puddles and mudholes, 
 which reminded me of the breaking up of winter and 
 the solitary horsepath in one of our primeval forests 
 at home. As Ave advanced, the shade of the trees be- 
 came thicker, the holes larger and deeper, and roots, 
 rising two or three feet above the ground, crossed the 
 path in every direction. I gave* the barometer to the 
 muleteer, and had as much as I could do to keep my- 
 self in the saddle. All conversation was at an end, 
 and we kept as close as we could to the track of the 
 muleteer ; when he descended into a mudhole, and 
 crawled out, the entire legs of his mule blue with mud, 
 we followed, and came out as blue as he. 
 
 The caravan of mules, which had started before us, 
 was but a short distance ahead, and in a little while 
 we heard ringing through the woods the loud shout of 
 the muleteers and the sharp crack of the whip. We 
 overtook them at the bank of a stream which broke 
 rapidly over a stony bed. The whole caravan was 
 moving up the bed of the stream ; the water was dark- 
 ened by the shade of the overhanging trees ; the mule- 
 teers, without shirts, and with their large trousers rolled 
 up to the thighs and down from the waistband, were 
 Vol. I.— F 
 
42 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 scattered among the mules : one was chasing a stray 
 beast ; a second darting at one whose load was slip- 
 ping off; a third lifting up one that had fallen ; an- 
 other, with his foot braced against a mule's side, 
 straining at the girth ; all shouting, cursing, and lash- 
 ing : the whole a mass of inextricable confusion, and 
 presenting a scene almost terrific. 
 
 We held up to let them pass ; and, crossing the 
 stream, rode a short distance on a level road, but over 
 fetlock deep in mud ; and, cutting off a bend, fell into 
 the stream ourselves in the middle of the caravan. 
 The branches of the trees met over our heads, and the 
 bed of the stream was so broken and stony that the 
 mules constantly stumbled and fell. Leaving this, and 
 continuing on a road the same as before, in an hour 
 we reached the foot of the mountain. The ascent 
 began precipitously, and by an extraordinary passage. 
 It was a narrow guilty, worn by the tracks of mules 
 and the washing of mountain torrents so deep that the 
 sides were higher than our heads, and so narrow that 
 we could barely pass through without touching. Our 
 whole caravan moved singly through these muddy de- 
 files, the muleteers scattered among them and on the 
 bank above, extricating the mules as they stuck fast, 
 raising them as they fell, arranging their cargoes, curs- 
 ing, shouting, and lashing them on. If one stopped, 
 all behind were blocked up, unable to turn. Any sud- 
 den start pressed us against the sides of the gulley, and 
 there was no small danger of getting a leg crushed. 
 Emerging from this defile, we came again among deep 
 mudholes and projecting roots of trees, with the addi- 
 tional difficulty of a steep ascent. The trees, too, were 
 larger, and their roots higher and extending farther ; 
 and, above all, the mahogany-tree threw out its giant 
 
PERILS BY THE WAY. 43 
 
 roots, high at the trunk and tapering, not round, like 
 the roots of other trees, but straight, with sharp edges, 
 traversing rocks and the roots of other trees. It was 
 the last of the rainy season ; the heavy rains from 
 which we had suffered at sea had deluged the mount- 
 am, and it was in the worst state, to be passable ; for 
 sometimes it is not passable at all. For the last few 
 days there had been no rain ; but we had hardly con- 
 gratulated ourselves upon our good fortune in having a 
 clear day, when the forest became darker and the rain 
 poured. The woods were of impenetrable thickness ; 
 and there was no view except that of the detestable 
 path before us. For five long hours we were dragged 
 through mudholes, squeezed in gulleys, knocked against 
 trees, and tumbled over roots ; every step required care 
 and great physical exertion ; and, withal, I felt that 
 our inglorious epitaph might be, " tossed over the head 
 of a mule, brained by the trunk of a mahogany-tree, 
 and buried in the mud of the M'ico Mountain." We 
 attempted to walk, but the rocks and roots were so 
 slippery, the mudholes so deep, and the ascents and 
 descents so steep, that it was impossible to continue. 
 
 The mules were only half loaded, and even then 
 several broke down ; the lash could not move them ; 
 and scarcely one passed over without a fall. Of our 
 immediate party, mine fell first. Finding that I could 
 not save her with the rein, by an exertion that strained 
 every nerve I lifted myself from off her back, and 
 flung clear of roots and trees, but not of mud ; and I 
 had an escape from a worse danger : my dagger fell 
 from its sheath and stood upright, with the handle in 
 the mud, a foot of naked blade. Mr. Catherwood was 
 thrown with such violence, that for a few moments, 
 feeling the helplessness of our condition, I was horror- 
 
44 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 struck, Long before this he had broken silence to ut- 
 ter an exclamation which seemed to come from the 
 bottom of his heart, that, if he had known of this 
 " mountain," I might have come to Central America 
 alone ; if I had had any tendency to be a little uplifted 
 by the honours I received at Balize, I was brought 
 down by this high way to my capital. Shortly after 
 Augustin's mule fell backward ; he kicked his feet out 
 of the stirrups, and attempted to slide off behind ; but 
 the mule rolled, and caught him with his left leg under, 
 and, but for his kicking, I should have thought that 
 every bone in his body was broken. The mule kick- 
 ed worse than he ; but they rose together, and with- 
 out any damage except that the mud, which before lay 
 upon them in spots, was now formed into a regular 
 plaster. 
 
 We were toiling on toward the top of the mountain, 
 when, at a sudden turn, we met a solitary traveller. 
 He was a tall, dark-complexioned man, with a broad- 
 brimmed Panama hat, rolled up at the sides ; a striped 
 woollen Guatimala jacket, with fringe at the bottom; 
 plaid pantaloons, leather spatterdashes, spurs, and 
 sword ; he was mounted on a noble mule with a 
 high-peaked saddle, and the butts of a pair of horse- 
 man's pistols peeped out of the holsters. His face 
 was covered with sweat and mud ; his breast and 
 legs were spattered, and his right side was a complete 
 incrustation ; altogether, his appearance was fearful. 
 It seemed strange to meet any one on such a road; 
 and, to our surprise, he accosted us in English. He 
 had set out with muleteers and Indians, but had lost 
 them in some of the windings of the woods, and was 
 seeking his way alone. He had crossed the mount- 
 ain twice before, but had never known it so bad; he 
 
A CAPITALIST. 45 
 
 had been thrown twice ; once his mule rolled over 
 him, and nearly crushed him ; and now she was so 
 frightened that he could hardly urge her along. He 
 dismounted, and the trembling beast and his own ex- 
 hausted state confirmed all that he had said. He ask- 
 ed us for brandy, wine, or water, anything to revive 
 him ; but, unfortunately, our stores were ahead, and 
 for him to go back one step was out of the question. 
 Imagine our surprise, when, with his feet buried in the 
 mud, he told us that he had been two years in Guati- 
 mala " negotiating" for a bank charter. Fresh as I 
 was from the land of banks, I almost thought he intend- 
 ed a fling at me ; but he did not look like one in a hu- 
 mour for jesting ; and, for the benefit of those who will 
 regard it as an evidence of incipient improvement, I 
 am able to state that he had the charter secured when 
 he rolled over in the mud, and was then on his way to 
 England to sell the stock. He told us, too, what seem- 
 ed in better keeping with the scene, that Carrera had 
 marched toward St. Salvador, and a battle was daily 
 expected between him and Morazan. 
 
 But neither of us had time to lose ; and parting, 
 though with some reluctance, almost as abruptly as we 
 had met, we continued our ascent. At one o'clock, to 
 our inexpressible satisfaction, we reached the top of the 
 mountain. Here we found a clearing of about two 
 hundred feet in diameter, made for the benefit of be- 
 nighted muleteers ; in different places were heaps of 
 ashes and burned stumps of wood, the remains of theii 
 fires. It was the only place on the mountain which 
 the sun could reach, and here the ground was dry; but 
 the view was bounded by the clearing. 
 
 "We dismounted, and would have lunched, but had 
 no water to drink ; and, after a few minutes' rest, re- 
 
46 
 
 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 sumed our journey. The descent was as bad as the 
 ascent ; and, instead of stopping to let the mules 
 breathe, as they had done in ascending, the muleteers 
 seemed anxious to determine in how short a time they 
 could tumble them down the mountain. In one of the 
 muddiest defiles we were shut up by the falling of a 
 mule before, and the crowding upon us of all behind ; 
 and, at the first convenient place, we stopped until the 
 whole caravan had passed. The carefulness of the 
 mules was extraordinary. For an hour I watched the 
 movements of the one before me. At times he put one 
 of his fore feet on a root or stone, and tried it as a man 
 would ; sometimes he drew his fore legs out of a bed 
 of mud from the shoulders, and sometimes it was one 
 continued alternation of sinking and pulling out. 
 
 This is the great high road to the city of Guatimala, 
 which has always been a place of distinction in Span- 
 ish America. Almost all the travel and merchandise 
 from Europe passes over it ; and our guide said that 
 the reason it was so bad was because it was traversed 
 by so many mules. In some countries this would be a 
 reason for making it better ; but it was pleasant to find 
 that the people to whom I was accredited were relieved 
 from one of the sources of contention at home, and did 
 not trouble themselves with the complicated questions 
 attendant upon internal improvements.* 
 
 In two hours we reached a wild river or mountain 
 torrent, foaming and breaking over its rocky bed, and 
 shaded by large trees. It was called El Arroyo del 
 Muerto, or Stream of the Dead. The muleteers were 
 already distributed on the rocks or under the shade of 
 
 * Since that time the Constituent Assembly of Guatimala has imposed a tan 
 of one dollar upon every bale of merchandise that passes over the mountain, for 
 the improvement of the road. 
 
A DIS/vSTER IN THE COMMISSARIAT. 47 
 
 the trees, eating their frugal meal of corn-cakes ; the 
 mules were in the river, or scattered along the bank ; 
 and we selected a large tree, which spread its branches 
 over us like a roof, and so near the stream that we 
 could dip our drinking-cups into the water. 
 
 All the anxiety which I had been able to spare du- 
 ring the day from myself I had bestowed upon the ba- 
 rometer on the back of the guide. He carried, besides, 
 a small white pitcher, with a red rim, on the belt of his 
 machete, of which he was very proud and very care- 
 ful ; and several times, after a stumble and a narrow 
 escape, he turned round and held up the pitcher with 
 a smile, which gave me hopes of the barometer ; and, 
 in fact, he had carried it through without its being 
 broken ; but, unfortunately, the quicksilver was not well 
 secured, and the whole had escaped. It was impossi- 
 ble to repair it in Guatimala, and the loss of this ba- 
 rometer was a source of regret during our whole jour- 
 ney ; for we ascended many mountains, the heights of 
 which have never been ascertained. 
 
 But we had another misadventure, which, at the 
 moment, touched us more nearly. "We sat on the 
 ground, Turkish fashion, with a vacant space between 
 us. Augustin placed before us a well-filled napkin ; 
 and, as we dipped water from the clear stream by our 
 side, a spirit of other days came over us, and we spoke 
 in contempt of railroads, cities, and hotels ; but oh, 
 publicans, you were avenged. We unrolled the nap- 
 kin, and the scene that presented itself was too shock- 
 ing, even for the strongest nerves. "We had provided 
 bread for three days, eggs boiled hard, and two roasted 
 fowls for as long as they might last. Augustin had 
 forgotten salt, but he had placed in the napkin a large 
 paper of gunpowder as an adventure of his own. The 
 
48 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 paper was broken, and the bread, fowls, and eggs were 
 thoroughly seasoned with this new condiment. All the 
 beauty of the scene, all our equanimity, everything 
 except our tremendous appetites, left us in a moment. 
 Country taverns rose up before us ; and Ave, who had 
 been so amiable, abused Augustin, and wished him the 
 whole murderous seasoning in his own body. We 
 could not pick out enough to satisfy hunger. It was 
 perhaps the most innocent way of tasting gunpowder, 
 but even so it was a bitter pill. "We picked and made 
 excavations for immediate use, but the rest of our 
 stores was lost. 
 
 This over, we mounted, and, fording the stream, 
 continued our descent. Passing off by a spur of the 
 mountain, we came out upon an open ridge, command- 
 ing a view of an extensive savannah. Very soon we 
 reached a fine table of land, where a large party of 
 muleteers on their way to Yzabal were encamped for 
 the night. Bales of indigo, which formed their car- 
 goes, were piled up like a wall ; their mules were pas- 
 turing quietly near them, and fires were burning to 
 cook their suppers. It was a great satisfaction to be 
 once more in an open country, and to see the mount- 
 ain, with its dense forest, lighted up by the setting sun, 
 grand and gloomy, and ourselves fairly out of it. "With 
 ten hours of the hardest riding I ever went through, we 
 had made only twelve miles. 
 
 Descending from this table, we entered a plain thick- 
 ly wooded, and in a few minutes reached a grove of 
 wild palm-trees of singular beauty. From the top of 
 a tall naked stem grew branches twenty or thirty feet 
 long, spreading from the trunk, and falling outward 
 with a graceful bend, like enormous plumes of feath- 
 ers ; the trees stood so close that the bending branches 
 
A PLEASANT ENCOUNTER. 49 
 
 met, and formed arches, in some places as regular as 
 if constructed by art ; and as we rode among them, there 
 was a solemn stillness, an air of desolation, that re- 
 minded us of the columns of an Egyptian temple. 
 
 Toward dark wc reached the rancho of Mico. It 
 was a small house, built of poles and plastered with 
 mud. Near it, and connected by a shed thatched with 
 branches, was a larger house, built of the same mate- 
 rial, expressly for the use of travellers. This was al- 
 ready occupied by two parties from Guatimala, one of 
 which consisted of the Canonigo Castillo, his clerical 
 companion or secretary, and two young Pavons. The 
 other was a French merchant on his way to Paris. 
 Mr. C. and I were picturesque-looking objects, not 
 spattered, but plastered with mud from head to foot ; 
 but we were soon known, and received from the whole 
 company a cordial welcome to Central America. 
 
 Their appearance was such as gave me a highly 
 favourable opinion of the description of persons I 
 should meet at Guatimala. The canonigo was one of 
 the first men in the country in position and character, 
 and was then on his way to Havana on a delicate po- 
 litical mission, being sent by the Constituent Assem- 
 bly to invite back the archbishop, who had been ban- 
 ished by General Morazan ten years before. He un- 
 dertook to do the honours, and set before us choco- 
 late and what he called the " national dish," frigoles, 
 or black beans fried, which, fortunately for our subse- 
 quent travels, we " cottoned" to at once. We were 
 very tired, but agreeable company was better than 
 sleep. The canonigo had been educated at Rome, 
 and passed the early part of his life in Europe ; the 
 Frenchman was from Paris ; the young Pavons were 
 educated in New-York ; and we sat till a late hour, 
 
 Vol I G 5 
 
50 INCIDENTS OP TRAVEL. 
 
 our clothes stiff with mud, talking of France, Italy, 
 and home, At length we hung up our hammocks. 
 We had been so much occupied that we had paid no 
 attention to our luggage ; and, when we wanted to pro- 
 cure a change of raiment, could not find our men, and 
 were obliged to turn in as we were ; but, with the sat- 
 isfactory feeling that we had passed " the mountain, " 
 we soon fell asleep. 
 
A C A N O N I G O. 51 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 A Uanonigo.— How to roast a Fowl. — Extempore Shoemaking.— Motagua Kivei 
 — Beautiful Scene. — Crossing the River. — The Luxury of Water. — Primitive 
 Costumes.— How to make Tortillas.— Costly Timber. — Gualan.— Oppressive 
 Heat. — Shock of an Earthquake.— A stroll through the Town.— A troublesome 
 Muleteer.— A Lawsuit.— Important Negotiations. — A Modern Bona Df a. — How 
 to gain a Husband. — A Kingdom of Flora. — Zacapa. — Making free wi h a Host 
 
 Before daylight I was out of doors. Twenty or 
 thirty men, muleteers and servants, were asleep on the 
 ground, each lying on his back, with his black chamarro 
 wound round him, covering his head and feet. As the 
 day broke they arose. Very soon the Frenchman got 
 up, took chocolate, and, after an hour's preparation, 
 started. The canonigo set off next. He had crossed 
 the mountain twenty years before, on his first arrival 
 in the country, and still retained a full recollection of 
 its horrors. He set off on the back of an Indian, in a 
 silla, or chair with a high back and top to protect him 
 from the sun. Three other Indians followed as relay 
 carriers, and a noble mule for his relief if he should be- 
 come tired of the chair. The Indian was bent almost 
 double, but the canonigo was in high spirits, smoking 
 his cigar, and waving his hand till he was out of sight 
 The Pavons started last, and we were left alone. 
 
 Still none of our men came. At about eight o'clock 
 two made their appearance ; they had slept at a rancho 
 near by, and the others had gone on with the luggage. 
 We were excessively provoked ; but, enduring as we 
 might the discomfort of our clothes stiff with mud, sad- 
 dled and set off. 
 
 We saw no more of our caravan of mules, and our 
 muleteer of the barometer had disappeared without 
 
52 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 notice, and left us in the hands of two understrap- 
 pers. 
 
 Our road lay over a mountainous country, but gen- 
 erally clear of wood ; and in about two hours we reach- 
 ed a collection of ranchos, called El Pozo. One of 
 our men rode up to a hut and dismounted, as if he 
 were at home. The woman of the house chided him 
 for not having come the night before, which he gruffly 
 ascribed to us ; and it was evident that we stood a 
 chance of losing him too. But we had a subject of 
 more immediate interest in the want of a breakfast. 
 Our tea and coffee, all that we had left after the de- 
 struction of our stores by gunpowder, were gone for- 
 ward, and for some time we could get nothing. And 
 here, in the beginning of our journey, we found a scar- 
 city of provant greater than we had ever met with be- 
 fore in any inhabited country. The people lived ex- 
 clusively upon tortillas — flat cakes made of crushed 
 Indian corn, and baked on a clay griddle — and black 
 beans. Augustin bought some of these last, but they 
 required several hours' soaking before they could be 
 eaten. At length he succeeded in buying a fowl, 
 through which he ran a stick, and smoked it over a 
 fire, without dressing of any kind, and which, with tor- 
 tillas, made a good meal for a penitentiary system of 
 diet. As we had expected, our principal muleteer was 
 unable to tear himself away ; but, like a dutiful hus- 
 band, he sent, by the only one that was now left, a 
 loving message to his wife at Gualan. 
 
 At the moment of starting, our remaining attendant 
 said he could not go until he had made a pair of shoes, 
 and we were obliged to wait ; but it did not take long. 
 Standing on an untanned cowhide, he marked the size 
 of his feet with a piece of coal, cut them out with his 
 
EXTEMPORE SHOEMAKINO. 53 
 
 machete, made proper holes, and, passing a leather 
 string under the instep, around the heel, and between 
 the great doigt du pied and the one next to it, was 
 shod. 
 
 Again our road lay on the ridge of a high mountain, 
 with a valley on each side. At a distance were beau- 
 tiful hillsides, green, and ornamented with pine-trees 
 and cattle grazing upon them, that reminded us of park 
 scenery in England. Often points presented them- 
 selves, which at home would have been selected as 
 sites for dwellings, and embellished by art and taste. 
 And it was a land of perpetual summer ; the blasts 
 of winter never reach it ; but, with all its softness and 
 beauty, it was dreary and desolate. 
 
 At two o'clock it began to rain ; in an hour it clear 
 ed off, and from the high mountain ridge we saw the 
 Motagua River, one of the noblest in Central America, 
 rolling majestically through the valley on our left. 
 Descending by a wild, precipitous path, at four o'clock 
 we reached the bank directly opposite Encuentros. It 
 was one of the most beautiful scenes I ever beheld : 
 all around were giant mountains, and the river, broad 
 and deep, rolled through them with the force of a 
 mighty torrent. 
 
 On the opposite bank were a few houses, and two 
 or three canoes lay in the water, but not a person was 
 in sight. By loud shouting we brought a man to the 
 bank, who entered one of the canoes and set her adrift ; 
 he was immediately carried far down the stream ; but, 
 taking advantage of an eddy, he brought her across to 
 the place where we stood. Our luggage, the saddles, 
 bridles, and other trappings of the mules, were put on 
 board, and we embarked. Augustin sat in the stern, 
 holding the halter of one of the mules, and leading her 
 
54 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 like a decoy duck ; but the rest had no disposition to 
 follow. The muleteer drove them in up to their necks, 
 but they ran back to the shore. Several times, by pelt- 
 ing them with sticks and stones, he drove them in as 
 before. At length he stripped himself; and, wading 
 to the depth of his breast, with a stick ten or twelve 
 feet long, succeeded in getting them all afloat, and on a 
 line within the reach of his stick. Any one that turn- 
 ed toward the shore received a blow on his nose, and 
 at length they all set their faces for the opposite bank ; 
 their little heads were all that we could see, aimed di- 
 rectly across, but carried down by the current. One 
 was carried below the rest ; and, when she saw her 
 companions landing, she raised a frightened cry, and 
 almost drowned herself in struggling to reach them. 
 
 During all this time we sat in the canoe, with the 
 hot sun beating upon our heads. For the last two 
 hours we had suffered excessively from heat ; our 
 clothes were saturated with perspiration and stiff with 
 mud, and we looked forward almost with rapture to a 
 bath in the Motagua and a change of linen. We land- 
 ed, and walked up to the house in which we were to 
 pass the night. It was plastered and whitewashed, 
 and adorned with streaks of red in the shape of fes- 
 toons ; and in front was a fence made of long reeds, 
 six inches in diameter, split into two ; altogether the 
 appearance was favourable. To our great vexation, 
 our luggage had gone on to a rancho three leagues be- 
 yond. Our muleteers refused to go any farther. We 
 were unpleasantly situated, but we did not care to leave 
 so soon the Motagua river. Our host told us that his 
 house and all that he had were at our disposal ; but he 
 could give us nothing to eat ; and, telling Augustin to 
 ransack the village, we returned to the river. Every- 
 
THE LUXURY OF WATER. 55 
 
 where the current was too rapid for a quiet bath. Call- 
 ing our canoe man, we returned to the opposite side, 
 and in a few minutes were enjoying an ablution, the 
 luxury of which can only be appreciated by those who. 
 like us, had crossed the Mico Mountain without throw- 
 ing away their clothes. 
 
 There was an enjoyment in this bath greater even 
 than that of cooling our heated bodies. It was the 
 moment of a golden sunset. We stood up to our necks 
 in water clear as crystal, and calm as that of some 
 diminutive lake, at the margin of a channel along 
 which the stream was rushing with arrowy speed. On 
 each side were mountains several thousand feet high, 
 with their tops illuminated by the setting sun ; on a 
 point above us was a palm-leafed hut, and before it a 
 naked Indian sat looking at us ; while flocks of parrots, 
 with brilliant plumage, almost in thousands, were flying 
 over our heads, catching up our words, and filling the 
 air with their noisy mockings. It was one of those 
 beautiful scenes that so rarely occur in human life, al- 
 most realizing dreams. Old as we were, we might 
 have become poetic, but that Augustin came down to 
 the opposite bank, and, with a cry that rose above the 
 chattering of parrots and the loud murmur of the river, 
 called us to supper. 
 
 We had one moment of agony when we returned to 
 our clothes. They lay extended upon the bank, em- 
 blems of men who had seen better days. The setting 
 sun, which shed over all a soft and mellow lustre, laid 
 bare the seams of mud and dirt, and made them hide- 
 ous. We had but one alternative, and that was to go 
 without them. But, as this seemed to be trenching 
 upon the proprieties of life, we picked them up and 
 put them on reluctant. I am not sure, however, but 
 
56 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 that we made an unnecessary sacrifice of personal com- 
 fort. The proprieties of life are matters of convention- 
 al usage. Our host was a don ; and when we present- 
 ed our letter he received us with great dignity in a sin- 
 gle garment, loose, white, and very laconic, not quite 
 reaching his knees. The dress of his wife was no less 
 easy ; somewhat in the style of the oldfashioned short- 
 gown and petticoat, only the shortgown and whatever 
 else is usually worn under it were wanting, and their 
 place supplied by a string of beads, with a large cross 
 at the end. A dozen men and half-grown boys, naked 
 except the small covering formed by rolling the trousers 
 up and down in the manner I have mentioned, were 
 lounging about the house ; and women and girls in 
 such extremes of undress, that a string of beads seem- 
 ed quite a covering for modesty. 
 
 Mr. C. and I were in a rather awkward predicament 
 for the night. The general reception-room contained 
 three beds, made of strips of cowhide interlaced. The 
 don occupied one ; he had not much undressing to do, 
 but what little he had, he did by pulling off his shirt. 
 Another bed was at the foot of my hammock. I was 
 dozing, when I opened my eyes, and saw a girl abou* 
 seventeen sitting sideway upon it, smoking a cigar. 
 She had a piece of striped cotton cloth tied around her 
 waist, and falling below her knees ; the rest of her 
 dress was the same which Nature bestows alike upon 
 the belle of fashionable life and the poorest girl ; in 
 other words, it was the same as that of the don's wife, 
 with the exception of the string of beads. At first I 
 thought it was something I had conjured up in a dream ; 
 and as I waked up perhaps I raised my head, for she 
 gave a few quick puffs of her cigar, drew a cotton 
 sheet over her head and shoulders, and lay down to 
 
PRIMITIVE COSTUMES. 57 
 
 sleep. 1 endeavoured to do the same. I called to 
 mind the proverb, that " travelling makes strange bed- 
 fellows." I had slept pellmell with Greeks, Turks, 
 and Arabs. I was beginning a journey in a new coun- 
 try ; it was my duty to conform to the customs of the 
 people ; to be prepared for the worst, and submit with 
 resignation to whatever might befall me. 
 
 As guests, it was pleasant to feel that the family made 
 no strangers of us. The wife of the don retired with the 
 same ceremonies. Several times during the night we 
 were waked by the clicking of flint and steel, and saw 
 one of our neighbours lighting a cigar. At daylight 
 the wife of the don was enjoying her morning slumber. 
 While I was dressing she bade me good-morning, re- 
 moved the cotton covering from her shoulders, and 
 arose dressed for the day. 
 
 We started early, and for some distance our road 
 lay along the banks of the Motagua, almost as beauti- 
 ful by morning as by evening light. In an hour we 
 commenced ascending the spur of a mountain ; and, 
 reaching the top, followed the ridge. It was high and 
 narrow, commanding on both sides an almost bound- 
 less view, and seemed selected for picturesque effect. 
 The scenery was grand, but the land wild and unculti- 
 vated, without fences, enclosures, or habitations. A 
 few cattle were wandering wild over the great expanse, 
 but without imparting that domestic aspect which in 
 other countries attends the presence of cattle. We met 
 a few Indians, with their machetes, going to their morn- 
 ing's work, and a man riding a mule, with a woman 
 before him, his arm encircling her waist. 
 
 I was riding ahead of my companions, and on the 
 summit of the ridge, a little aside from the road, saw 
 a little white girl, perfectly naked, playing before a 
 
 Vm.. T._ H 
 
59 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 rancho. As most of the people we met were Indians 
 or Ladinos, I was attracted by her appearance, and 
 rode up to the rancho. The proprietor, in the easy 
 costume of our host of Er?uentros, was swinging in a 
 hammock under the portico, and smoking a cigar. At 
 a little distance was a shed thatched with stalks and 
 leaves of Indian corn, and called the cucinera, or kitch- 
 en. As usual, while the don was lolling in his ham- 
 mock, the women were at work. 
 
 I rode on to the cucinera, and dismounted. The 
 party consisted of the mother and a pretty daughter- 
 in-law of about nineteen, and two daughters of about 
 fifteen and seventeen. The reader is perhaps curious 
 about costumes ; but having given him an insight into 
 those of this country, he will not require any far- 
 ther descriptions. In honour of my visit, the mother 
 snatched up the little girl who had attracted me to the 
 rancho, carried her inside, and slipped over her head 
 a garment which, I believe, is generally Worn by little 
 girls ; but in a few minutes my young friend disen- 
 cumbered herself of her finery, and was toddling about 
 with it under her arm. 
 
 The whole family was engaged in making tortillas. 
 This is the bread of Central and of all Spanish Ameri- 
 ca, and the only species to be found except in the prin- 
 cipal towns. At one end of the cucinera was an eleva- 
 tion, on which stood a comal or griddle, resting on 
 three stones, with a fire blazing under it. The daugh- 
 ter-in-law had before her an earthen vessel containing 
 Indian corn soaked in lime-water to remove the husk ; 
 and, placing a handful on an oblong stone curving in- 
 ward, mashed it with a stone roller into a thick paste. 
 The girls took it as it was mashed, and patting it with 
 their hands into flat cakes, laid them on the griddle to 
 
COSTLY TIMBER. 59 
 
 bake. This is repeated for every meal, and a great 
 part of the business of the women consists in making 
 tortillas. 
 
 When Mr. Catherwood arrived the tortillas were 
 smoking, and we stopped to breakfast. They gave us 
 the only luxury they had, coffee made of parched corn, 
 which, in compliment to their kindness, we drank. 
 Like me, Mr. C. was struck with the personal beauty 
 of this family group. With the advantages of dress 
 and education, they might be ornaments in cultivated 
 society ; but it is decreed otherwise, and these young 
 girls will go through life making tortillas. 
 
 For an hour longer we continued on the ridge of the 
 mountain, then entered a more woody country, and in 
 half an hour came to a large gate, which stood directly 
 across the road like a tollbar. It was the first token 
 we had seen of individual or territorial boundary, and 
 in other countries would have formed a fitting entrance 
 to a princely estate ; for the massive frame, with all its 
 posts and supporters, was of solid mahogany. The 
 heat was now intense. We entered a thick wood and 
 forded a wild stream, across which pigs were swim- 
 ming. Soon after we came to a cochineal plantation, 
 and passed through a long lane thickly bordered and 
 overshaded with shrubs and trees, close to suffocation. 
 We emerged into an open plain, on which the sun beat 
 with almost intolerable power ; and, crossing the plain, 
 at about three o'clock entered Gualan. There was not 
 a breath of air ; the houses and the earth seemed to 
 throw out heat. I was confused, my head swam, and 
 I felt in danger of a stroke of the sun. At that mo- 
 ment there was a slight shock of earthquake. I was 
 unconscious of it, but was almost overpowered by the 
 
60 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 excessive heat and closeness of atmosphere which ac- 
 companied it. 
 
 We rode up to the house of Donna Bartola, to whom 
 we had a letter of recommendation, and I cannot de- 
 scribe the satisfaction with which I threw myself into 
 a hammock. Shade and quiet restored me. For the 
 first time since we left Yzabal we changed our clothes ; 
 for the first time, too, we dined. 
 
 Toward evening we strolled through the town. It 
 stands on a table of breccia rock, at the junction of two 
 noble rivers, and is encircled by a belt of mountains. 
 One principal street, the houses of one story, with piaz- 
 zas in front, terminates in a plaza or public square, at 
 the head of which stands a large church with a Gothic 
 door ; and before it, at a distance of ten or twelve 
 yards, was a cross about twenty feet high. The popu- 
 lation is about ten thousand, chiefly Mestitzoes. Leav- 
 ing the plaza, we walked down to the Motagua. On 
 the bank a boat was in process of construction, about 
 fifty feet long and ten wide, entirely of mahogany. 
 Near it a party of men and women were fording the 
 stream, carrying their clothes above their heads ; and 
 around a point three women were bathing. There are 
 no ancient associations connected with this place ; but 
 the wildness of the scene, the clouds, the tints of the 
 sky, and the setting sun reflected upon the mountains, 
 were beautiful. At dark we returned to the house. 
 Except for the companionship of some thousands of 
 ants, which blackened the candles and covered every- 
 thing perishable, we had a room to ourselves. 
 
 Early in the morning we were served with chocolate 
 and a small roll of sweet bread. While at breakfast 
 our muleteer came, reiterating a demand for settle- 
 ment, and claiming three dollars more than was due. 
 
A LAWSUIT. 61 
 
 We refused to pay him, and he went away furious. 
 In half an hour an alguazil came to me with a sum- 
 mons to the alcalde. Mr. Catherwood, who was, at the 
 moment, cleaning his pistols, cheered me by threaten- 
 ing, if they put me in prison, to bombard the tovp. 
 The cabildo, or house of the municipality, was at one 
 side of the plaza. We entered a large room, one end 
 of which was partitioned off by a wooden railing. In- 
 side sat the alcalde and his clerk, and outside was the 
 muleteer, with a group of half-naked fellows as his 
 backers. He had reduced his claim to one dollar, 
 doubtless supposing that I would pay that rather than 
 have any trouble. It was not very respectable to be 
 sued for a dollar ; but I looked in his face on entering, 
 and resolved not to pay a cent. I did not 3 however, 
 claim my privilege under the law of nations, but de- 
 fended the action on the merits, and the alcalde deci- 
 ded in my favour ; after which I showed him my pass- 
 port, and he asked me inside the bar and offered me a 
 cigar. 
 
 This over, I had more important business. The first 
 was to hire mules, which could not be procured till the 
 day but one after. Next I negotiated for washing 
 clothes, which was a complicated business, for it was 
 necessary to specify which articles were to be washed, 
 which ironed, and which starched, and to pay separ- 
 ately for washing, ironing, soap, and starch ; and, last- 
 ly, I negotiated with a tailor for a pair of pantaloons., 
 purchasing separately stuff, lining, buttons, and thread, 
 the tailor finding needles and thimble himself. 
 
 Toward evening we again walked to the river, re- 
 turned, and taught Donna Bartola how to make tea. 
 By this time the whole town was in commotion pre- 
 paratory to the great ceremonv of praying to the Santa 
 I 6 
 
62 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 Lucia. Early in the morning, the firing of muskets, 
 petards, and rockets had announced the arrival of this 
 unexpected but welcome visiter, one of the holiest saints 
 of the calendar, and, next to San Antonio, the most 
 celebrated for the power of working miracles. Mora- 
 zan's rise into power was signalized by a persecution of 
 the clergy : his friends say that it was the purification 
 of a corrupt body ; his enemies, that it was a war against 
 morality and religion. The country was at that time 
 overrun with priests, friars, and monks of different or- 
 ders. Everywhere the largest buildings, the best culti- 
 vated lands, and a great portion of the wealth of the 
 country were in their hands. Many, no doubt, were 
 good men ; but some used their sacred robes as a cloak 
 for rascality and vice, and most were drones, reaping 
 where they did not sow, and living luxuriously by the 
 sweat of other men's brows. At all events, and what- 
 ever was the cause, the early part of Morazan's admin- 
 istration was signalized by hostility to them as a class ; 
 and, from the Archbishop of Guatimala down to the 
 poorest friar, they were in danger ; some fled, others 
 were banished, and many were torn by rude soldiers 
 from their convents and churches, hurried to the sea- 
 ports, and shipped for Cuba and old Spain, under sen- 
 tence of death if they returned. The country was left 
 comparatively destitute ; many of the churches fell to 
 ruins ; others stood, but their doors were seldom open- 
 ed ; and the practice and memory of their religious rites 
 were fading away. Carrera and his Indians, with the 
 mystic rites of Catholicism ingrafted upon the supersti- 
 tions of their fathers, had acquired a strong hold upon 
 the feelings of the people by endeavouring to bring back 
 the exiled clergy and to restore the influence of the 
 church. The tour of the Santa Lucia was regarded as 
 
A MODERN BONA DEA 63 
 
 an indication of a change of feeling and government ; 
 as a prelude to the restoration of the influence of the 
 church and the revival of ceremonies dear to the heart 
 of the Indian. As such, it was hailed by all the villages 
 through which she had passed ; and that night she would 
 receive the prayers of the Christians of Gualan. 
 
 The Santa Lucia enjoyed a peculiar popularity from 
 her miraculous power over the affections of the young ; 
 for any young man who prayed to her for a wife, or any 
 young woman who prayed for a husband, was sure to 
 receive the object of such prayer ; and if the person 
 praying indicated to the saint the individual wished for, 
 the prayer would be granted, provided such individual 
 was not already married. It was not surprising that a 
 saint with such extraordinary powers, touching so di- 
 rectly the tenderest sensibilities, created a sensation in 
 a place where the feelings, or, rather, the passions, are 
 particularly turned to love. 
 
 Donna Bartola invited us to accompany her, and, 
 setting out, we called upon a friend of hers ; during the 
 whole visit, a servant girl sat with her lap full of to- 
 bacco, making straw cigars for immediate use. It was 
 the first time we had smoked with ladies, and, at first, 
 it was rather awkward to ask one for a light ; but we 
 were so thoroughly broken in that night that we never 
 had any delicacy afterward. The conversation turned 
 upon the saint and her miraculous powers ; and when 
 we avowed ourselves somewhat skeptical, the servant 
 girl, with that familiarity, though not want of respect, 
 which exists throughout Central America, said that it 
 was wicked to doubt ; that she had prayed to the saint 
 herself, and two months afterward she was married, and 
 to the very man she prayed for, though at the time he 
 had no idea of her, and, in fact, wanted another girl. 
 
64 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 With this encouragement, locking the house, a?id ac- 
 companied by children and servants, we set out to pay 
 our homage to the saint. The sound of a violin and the 
 firing of rockets indicated the direction of her temporary 
 domicil. She had taken up her residence in the hut of 
 a poor Indian in the suburbs ; and, for some time before 
 reaching it, we encountered crowds of both sexes, and 
 all ages and colours, and in every degree of dress and 
 undress, smoking and talking, and sitting or lying on 
 the ground in every variety of attitude. Room was 
 made for our party, and Ave entered the hut. 
 
 It was about twenty feet square, thatched on the top 
 and sides with leaves of Indian corn, and filled with a 
 dense mass of kneeling men and women. On one side 
 was an altar, about four feet high, covered with a clean 
 white cotton cloth. On the top of the altar was a frame, 
 with three elevations, like a flower-stand, and on the 
 top of that a case, containing a large wax doll, dressed 
 in blue silk, and ornamented with gold leaf, spangles, 
 and artificial flowers. This was the Santa Lucia. Over 
 her head was a canopy of red cotton cloth, on which 
 was emblazoned a cross in gold. On the right was a 
 sedan chair, trimmed with red cotton and gold leaf, 
 being the travelling equipage of the saint ; and near it 
 were Indians in half-sacerdotal dress, on whose shoul- 
 ders she travelled ; festoons of oranges hung from the 
 roof, and the rough posts were inwrapped with leaves 
 of the sugar-cane. At the foot of the altar was a mat, 
 on which girls and boys were playing ; and a little fel 
 low about six years old, habited in the picturesque cos- 
 tume of a straw hat, and that only, was coolly surveying 
 the crowd. 
 
 The ceremony of praying had already begun, and the 
 music of a drum, a violin, and a flageolet, under the di- 
 
HOWTO GAIN A HUSBAND. 65 
 
 rection of the Indian master of ceremonies, drowned 
 the noise of voices. Donna Bartola, who was a widow, 
 and the other ladies of our party, fell on their knees ; and, 
 recommending myself to their prayers, I looked on with- 
 out doing anything for myself, but I studied attentive- 
 ly the faces of those around me. There were some of 
 both sexes who could not strictly be called young ; but 
 they did not, on that account, pray less earnestly. In 
 some places people would repel the imputation of being 
 desirous to procure husband or wife ; not so in Gualan : 
 they prayed publicly for what they considered a bless- 
 ing. Some of the men were so much in earnest that 
 perspiration stood in large drops upon their faces ; and 
 none thought that praying for a husband need tinge the 
 cheek of a modest maiden. I watched the countenance 
 of a young Indian girl, beaming with enthusiasm and 
 hope ; and, while her eyes rested upon the image of the 
 saint and her lips moved in prayer, I could not but im- 
 agine that her heart was full of some truant, and per- 
 haps unworthy lover. 
 
 Outside the hut was an entirely different scene. Near 
 by were rows of kneeling men and women, but beyond 
 were wild groups of half-naked men and boys, setting 
 off rockets and fireworks. As I moved through, a 
 flash rose from under my feet, and a petard exploded 
 so near that the powder singed me ; and, turning round, 
 I saw hurrying away my rascally muleteer. Beyond 
 were parties of young men and women dancing by the 
 light of blazing pine sticks. In a hut at some little dis 
 tance were two haggard old women, with large caldrons 
 over blazing fires, stirring up and serving out the con- 
 tents with long wooden ladles, and looking like witches 
 dealing out poison instead of love-potions. 
 
 At ten o'clock the prayers to the saint died away, and 
 
 Vol. I.— I 
 
6b INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 the crowd separated into groups and couples, and many 
 fell into what in English would be called flirtations. A 
 mat was spread for our party against the side of the hut, 
 and we all lighted cigars and sat down upon it. Cups 
 made of small gourds, and filled from the caldrons with 
 a preparation of boiled Indian corn sweetened with va- 
 rious dolces, Avere passed from mouth to mouth, each 
 one sipping and passing it on to the next ; and this con- 
 tinued, without any interruption, for more than an hour. 
 We remained on the ground till after midnight, and then 
 were among the first to leave. On the whole, we con- 
 cluded that praying to the Santa Lucia must lead to 
 matrimony ; and I could not but remark that, in the 
 way of getting husbands and wives, most seemed dis- 
 posed to do something for themselves, and not leave 
 all to the grace of the saint 
 
 The next day it was excessively hot, and we remain 
 ed within doors. In the evening we visited the padre, 
 who had just returned from a neighbouring village. He 
 was a short, fat man, and had on a white nightcap, a 
 blue striped jacket, and white pantaloons, and we found 
 him swinging in a hammock and smoking a cigar. He 
 had a large household of women and children ; but ae 
 to the relation in which they stood to him, people differ- 
 ed. He gave us more information in regard to the 
 country than Ave had yet been able to obtain, and par- 
 ticularly in regard to Copan, a ruined city Avhich we 
 wished to visit. He was familiar Avith the history of the 
 Indians, and understood thoroughly the character of the 
 present race ; and, in answer to our question if they 
 were all Christians, said that they Avere devout and re- 
 ligious, and had a great respect for the priests and 
 saints. With this he hitched up his bursting pantaloons, 
 and lighted another cigar. We might have smiled at 
 
A KINGDOM OF FLORA. 67 
 
 the idea of his confounding his comfortable figure with 
 the saints ; but he had so much good sense and good 
 feeling that we were not disposed to be captious. 
 
 The next morning our muleteer came, but, through 
 some misunderstanding, he had not mules enough to 
 carry all our luggage. Rather than wait, we started 
 without him, and left part of the baggage for him to 
 bring on to Zacapa the next day. 
 
 Leaving Gualan, we had on our right the Motagua 
 River, which had now become to us a friend, and be- 
 yond it the great range of the mountains of Vera Paz, 
 six or eight thousand feet high. In an hour we com- 
 menced ascending. Soon we were in a wilderness of 
 flowers ; shrubs and bushes were clothed in purple and 
 red ; and on the sid<es of the mountain, and in the ra- 
 vines leading down to the river, in the wildest posi- 
 tions, were large tre;es so covered with red that they 
 seemed a single flower. In three hours we descended 
 from our mountain lieight, and came once more to the 
 river side, where it was rolling swiftly, and in some 
 places breaking into rapids. We followed for about 
 an hour, and rose again several thousand feet. At two 
 o'clock we reached the village of San Pablo, situated 
 on a lofty table of land, looking down upon the river, 
 and having its view bounded by the mountains of Vera 
 Paz. The church stood at the entrance of the village. 
 We turned our mules loose to graze, and took our meal 
 in the porch. It was a beautiful position, and two wa- 
 terfalls, shining like streaks of silver on the distant 
 mountain side, reminded us of cascades in Switzerland. 
 
 We procured a guide from the alcalde to conduct us 
 to Zacapa ; and, resuming our journey, for two hours 
 more had the same great range upon our right. The 
 sun was obscured, but occasionally it broke through 
 
68 INCIDENTS OF TR AT EL. 
 
 and lighted up the sides of the mountains, while the 
 tops were covered with clouds. At four o'clock we 
 had a distant view of the great plain of Zacapa, bound- 
 ed on the opposite side by a triangular belt of mount- 
 ains, at the foot of which stood the town. We de- 
 scended and crossed the plain, which was green and 
 well cultivated ; and, fording a stream, ascended a rug- 
 ged bank and entered the town. 
 
 It was by far the finest we had seen. The streets 
 were regular, and the houses plastered and whitewash- 
 ed, with large balconied windows and piazzas. The 
 church was two hundred and fifty feet long, with walls 
 ten feet thick, and a fagade rich with Moorish devices. 
 It was built in the form of a Latin cross. In one end 
 of the cross was a tailor's shop, and the other was roof- 
 less. At one corner was a belfry, consisting of four 
 rough trunks of trees supporting a peaked roof covered 
 with tiles. Two bells were suspended from a rude 
 beam ; and, as we passed, a half-naked Indian was 
 standing on a platform underneath, ringing for vespers. 
 
 We rode up to the house of Don Mariano Durante, 
 one of the largest and best in the place, being about a 
 hundred feet front, and having a corridor extending the 
 whole length, paved with square stones. The door was 
 opened by a respectable-looking St. Domingo negro, 
 who told us, in French, that Senor Durante was not at 
 home, but that the house was at our service ; and, going 
 round to a porte cochere alongside, admitted us into a 
 large courtyard ornamented with trees and flowers, at 
 one side of which was a cabelleria or stable. We left 
 our mules in the hands of the servants, and entered a 
 sala or reception-room covering nearly the whole front, 
 with large windows reaching down to the floor and iron 
 balconies, and furnished with tables, a European bu- 
 
MAKINC- FREE WITH A HOST. 69 
 
 reau, and chairs. In the centre of the room and in the 
 windows hung cages, handsomely made and gilded, 
 containing beautif A singing-birds of the country, and 
 two fine canary birds from Havana. This was the resi- 
 dence of two bacielor brothers, who, feeling for the 
 wants of travellers in a country entirely destitute of ho- 
 tels, kept a door always open for their accommodation. 
 We had candles lighted, and made ourselves at home. 
 I was sitting at a table writing, when we heard the 
 tramp of mules outside, and a gentleman entered, took 
 off his sword and spurs, and laid his pistols upon the 
 table. Supposing him to be a traveller like ourselves, 
 we asked him to take a seat ; and, when supper was 
 served, invited him to join us. It was not till bedtime 
 that we found we were doing the honours to one of the 
 masters of the house. He must have thought us cool, 
 but I flatter myself he had no reason to complain of any 
 want of attention 
 

 70 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Purchasing a Bridle. — A School and its Regulations. — Conversation with an In- 
 dian.— Spanish Translation of the " Spy." — Chiquimula.— A Church in Ruins. 
 — A Veteran of the French Empire. — St. Stephanos. — A Land of Mountains. — 
 An Affair with a Muleteer. — A deserted Village. — A rude Assault. — Arrest. — 
 Imprisonment . — Release. 
 
 The next day we were obliged to wait for our mule 
 teer. Our guide of the night before had stolen one of 
 our bridles ; and here we found the beginning of an 
 annoyance which attended us throughout Central Amer- 
 ica, in the difficulty of buying anything ready made. 
 There was a blacksmith who had a bit partly made, but 
 had not charcoal enough to finish it. Fortunately, du- 
 ring the day an Indian arrived with a backload, and the 
 bridle was completed. The headstall we bought of a 
 saddler, and the reins, which were of platted leather like 
 the lash of a whip, we were lucky enough to obtain 
 ready made. The arrival of the charcoal enabled the 
 blacksmith to fit us out with one pair of spurs. 
 
 At Zacapa, for the first time, we saw a schoolhouse. 
 It was a respectable-looking building, with columns in 
 front, and against the wall hung a large card, headed, 
 
 " 1st Decurion (a student who has the care often other students). 2d Decurion. 
 
 MONITOR, &C 
 
 " Interior regulation for the good government of the school of first letters of this 
 town, which ought to be observed strictly by all the boys composing it," &c, 
 
 with a long list of complicated articles, declaring the 
 rewards and punishments. The school, for the govern- 
 ment of which these regulations were intended, consist- 
 ed of five boys, two besides the decurions and monitor. 
 It was nearly noon, and the master, who was the clerk 
 of the alcalde, had not yet made his appearance. The 
 
CONVERSATION WITH AN INDIAN. 71 
 
 onl/ books I saw were a Catholic prayer-book and a 
 trar elation of Montesquieu's Spirit of the Laws. The 
 boys were fine little fellows, half white ; and with one 
 of them I had a trial of sums in addition, and then of 
 exercises in handwriting, in which he showed himself 
 very proficient, writing in Spanish, in a hand which 1 
 could not mistake, " Give me sixpence." 
 
 We were rather at a loss what to do with ourselves, 
 but in the afternoon our host called in an Indian for the 
 purpose of enabling us to make a vocabulary of Indian 
 words. The first question I asked him was the name 
 of God, to which he answered, Santissima Trinidad. 
 Through our host I explained to him that I did not wish 
 the Spanish, but the Indian name, and he answered as 
 before, Santissima Trinidad, or Dios. I shaped my 
 question in a variety of ways, but could get no other 
 answer. He was of a tribe called Chinaute, and the 
 inference was, either that they had never known any 
 Great Spirit who governed and directed the universe, 
 or that they had undergone such an entire change in 
 matters of religion that they had lost their own appella- 
 tion for the Deity. 
 
 In the evening the town was thrown into excitement 
 by the entry of a detachment of Carrera's soldiers, on 
 their way to Yzabal to receive and escort a purchase of 
 muskets. The house of our friend was a gathering- 
 place of residents, and, as usual, the conversation turn- 
 ed upon the revolutionary state of the country. Some 
 of them, as soon as they knew my official character, were 
 anxious for me to go directly to San Salvador, the head- 
 quarters of the Morazan or Federal party, and assured 
 me fhat the road to Guatimala was occupied by the 
 troops of Carrera, and dangerous to travel over. I 
 knew too much of the effect of party spirit to put im- 
 
72 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 plicit faith in what partisans told me, and endeavoured 
 to change the subject. Our host asked me whether 
 we had any wars in my country, and said he knew that 
 we had had one revolution, for he had read La Histo- 
 ria de la Revolution de los Estados Unidos del Norte, 
 in four volumes, in which General Washington appear- 
 ed under the name of Harper, and Jack Lawton and Dr. 
 Sitgreaves were two of the principal characters ; from 
 which I learned, what will perhaps be new to some of my 
 readers, that in the Spanish translation the tale of the 
 " Spy" is called a History of the American Revolution. 
 
 Our muleteer did not make his appearance till late 
 the next day. In the mean time, I had had an oppor- 
 tunity of acquiring much information about the roads 
 and the state of the country ; and, being satisfied that, 
 so far as regarded the purpose of my mission, it was 
 not necessary to proceed immediately to Guatimala, 
 and, in fact, that it was better to wait a little while and 
 see the result of the convulsions that then distracted the 
 country, we determined to visit Copan. It was com- 
 pletely out of the line of travel, and, though distant only 
 a few days' journey, in a region of country but little 
 known, even at Zacapa ; but our muleteer said that he 
 knew the road, and made a contract to conduct us thith- 
 er in three days, arranging the different stages before- 
 hand, and from thence direct to Guatimala. 
 
 At seven o'clock the next morning we started. Al- 
 though both my companion and myself were old trav- 
 ellers, our luggage was in bad packages for travelling 
 with mules over a mountainous country — hard to put on 
 and easy to fall off; and, in keeping with this, we had 
 but one pair of spurs between us. In an hour we ford- 
 ed the Motagua, still a broad stream, deep, and with a 
 rapid current ; and coming out with our feet and legs 
 
CHIQUIMULA. 73 
 
 wet diminished somewhat the regret with which we 
 bade farewell for a while to the beautiful river. For an 
 hour longer we continued on the plain of Zacapa, culti- 
 vated for corn and cochineal, and divided by fences of 
 brush and cactus. Beyond this the country became 
 broken, arid, and barren, and very soon we commenced 
 ascending a steep mountain. In two hours we reached 
 the top, three or four thousand feet high, and, looking 
 back, had a fine view of the plain and town of Zacapa. 
 Crossing the ridge, we reached a bold precipitous spur, 
 and very soon saw before us another extensive plain, 
 and, afar off, the town of Chiquimula, with its giant 
 church. On each side were immense ravines, and the 
 opposite heights were covered with pale and rose-col- 
 oured mimosa. We descended by a long and zigzag 
 path, and reached the plain, on which were growing 
 corn, cochineal, and plantain. Once more fording a 
 stream, we ascended a bank, and at two o'clock enter- 
 ed Chiquimula, the head of the department of that name. 
 In the centre of the plaza was a fine fountain, shaded 
 by palm-trees, at which women were filling their water- 
 jars, and on the^ sides were the church and cabildo. 
 On one corner was a house, to which we were attracted 
 by the appearance of a woman at the door. I may call 
 her a lady, for she wore a frock not open behind, and 
 shoes and stockings, and had a face of uncommon in- 
 terest, dark, and with finely-pencilled eyebrows. To 
 heighten the effect of her appearance, she gave us a 
 gracious welcome to her house, and in a few minutes 
 the shed was lumbered with our multifarious luggage. 
 
 After a slight lunch we took our guns, and, walking 
 down to the edge of the table of land, saw, what had 
 attracted our attention at a great distance, a gigantic 
 church in ruins. It was seventy-five feet front and two 
 
 Vol. I.— K 7 
 
74 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 hundred and fifty feet deep, and the walls were ten feet 
 thick. The facade was adorned with ornaments and 
 figures of the saints, larger than life. The roof had 
 fallen, and inside were huge masses of stone and mor- 
 tar, and a thick growth of trees. It was built by the 
 Spaniards on the site of the old Indian village ; but , 
 having been twice shattered by earthquakes, the inhab- 
 itants had deserted it, and built the town where it now 
 stands. The ruined village was now occupied as a 
 campo santo, or burial-place ; inside the church were 
 the graves of the principal inhabitants, and in the niches 
 of the wall were the bones of priests and monks, with 
 their names written under them. Outside were the 
 graves of the common people, untended and uncared 
 for, with the barrow of laced sticks which had carried 
 the body to the grave laid upon the top, and slightly 
 covered with earth. The bodies had decayed, the dirt 
 fallen in, and the graves were yawning. Around this 
 scene of desolation and death nature was rioting in 
 beauty ; the ground was covered with flowers, and par- 
 rots on every bush and tree, and flying in flocks over 
 our heads, wanton in gayety of colours, with senseless 
 chattering disturbed the stillness of the grave. 
 
 We returned to the town, and found about twelve 
 hundred soldiers drawn up in the plaza for evening 
 parade. Their aspect was ferocious and banditti-like, 
 and it was refreshing to see convicts peeping through 
 the gratings of the prison, and walking in chains on 
 the plaza, as it gave an idea that sometimes crimes 
 were punished. With all their ferocity of appearance, 
 the officers, mounted on prancing mules or very small 
 horses, almost hidden in saddle-cloth and armour, wore 
 an air bordering upon the mock heroic. While we 
 were looking at them, General Cascara, the command- 
 
A VETERAN OF THE FRENCH EMPIRE. 75 
 
 ant of the department, attended by a servant, rode up 
 to the line. He was an Italian, upward of sixty, 
 who had served under Napoleon in Italy, and on the 
 downfall of the emperor had fled to Central America. 
 Banished by Morazan, and eight years in exile, he had 
 just returned to the country, and six months before had 
 been appointed to this command. He was ghastly pale, 
 and evidently in feeble health ; and I could not but 
 think that, if recollections of the pomp of war under the 
 emperor ever crossed his mind, he must needs blush at 
 his barefooted detachment. 
 
 He returned to his house, whither we followed and 
 presented our passport. Like the commandant at Yza- 
 bal, he seemed ill at ease, and spoke much of the dis- 
 tracted state of the country. He was dissatisfied, too. 
 with the route I proposed taking ; and though I told 
 him it was merely to visit the ruins of Copan, he was 
 evidently apprehensive that I intended going to San 
 Salvador to present my credentials to the Federal gov- 
 ernment. He vised the passport, however, as I requi- 
 red ; though, after we left, he called Augustin back, and 
 questioned him very closely as to our purposes. I was 
 indignant, but smothered my feelings in consideration 
 of the distracted state of the country, and the game of 
 life and death that was then playing throughout the 
 land. 
 
 We returned to the house and the interesting lady 
 who had welcomed us to it. As yet we did not know 
 whether she was senora or senorita ; but, unhappily, we 
 found that a man whom we supposed her father was her 
 husband. When we inquired of her about a fine boy 
 ten years old, whom we supposed to be her brother, she 
 answered, " es mio," he is mine ; and, as if it was fated 
 that the charm of her appearance should be broken 
 
76 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 when, according to the rules of courtesy, I offered for 
 her choice a cigar and a puro, she took the latter. But 
 it was so long since I had seen a woman who was at all 
 attractive, and her face was so interesting, her manners 
 were so good, her voice so sweet, the Spanish words 
 rolled so beautifully from her lips, and her frock was 
 tied so close behind, that, in spite of ten-year-old boy 
 and puro, I clung to my first impressions. 
 
 The next morning we rose early. Our interesting 
 hostess and her fatherly husband were up betimes to as- 
 sist us. It would have been an offence to the laws of 
 hospitality to offer them money ; but Mr. C. gave the 
 boy a penknife, and I put on the finger of the seiiora a 
 gold ring, with the motto, " Souvenir d'amitie." It 
 was in French, and her husband could not understand 
 it, nor, unfortunately, could she. 
 
 At seven o'clock we started. Passing the ruined 
 church and the old village, we rode over a rich valley, 
 so well cultivated with Indian corn that it gave a key 
 to the boy's question, Whether we had come to Chiqui- 
 mula to buy maize ? At a league's distance we came to 
 the village of San Estevan, where, amid a miserable col- 
 lection of thatched huts, stood a gigantic church, like 
 that at Chiquimula, roofless, and falling to ruins. We 
 were now in a region which had been scourged by civil 
 war. A year before the village had been laid waste by 
 the troops of Morazan. 
 
 Passing the village, we came upon the bank of a 
 stream, in some places diverted into water-courses for 
 irrigating the land ; and on the other side of the stream 
 was a range of high mountains. Continuing along it, 
 we met an Indian, who advised our muleteer that the 
 camino real for Copan was on the opposite side of the 
 river, and across the range of mountains. We returned 
 
A LAND OF MOUNTAINS. 77 
 
 and forded the river ; a great part of the bed was dry, 
 and we rode along it for some distance, but could find 
 no path that led up the mountain. At length we struck 
 one, but it proved to be a cattle-path, and we wandered 
 for more than an hour before we found the camino real ; 
 and this royal road was barely a track by which a sin- 
 gle mule could climb. It was evident that our mule- 
 teer did not know the road, and the region we were en 
 tering was so wild that we had some doubts about fol- 
 lowing him. At eleven we reached the top of the 
 mountain, and, looking back, saw at a great distance, 
 and far below us, the town of Chiquimula ; on the right, 
 up the valley, the village of St. Helena; and, rising 
 above a few thatched huts, another gigantic and roof- 
 less church. On each side were mountains still higher 
 than ours, some grand and gloomy, with their summits 
 buried in the clouds ; others in the form of cones and 
 pyramids, so wild and fantastic that they seemed sport- 
 ing with the heavens, and I almost wished for wings to fly 
 and light upon their tops. Here, on heights apparently 
 inaccessible, we saw the wild hut of an Indian, with his 
 milpa or patch of Indian corn. Clouds gathered around 
 the mountains, and for an hour we rode in the rain ; 
 when the sun broke through we saw the mountain tops 
 still towering above us, and on our right, far below 
 us, a deep valley. We descended, and found it nar- 
 rower and more beautiful than any we had yet seen, 
 bounded by ranges of mountains several thousand feet 
 high, and having on its left a range of extraordinary 
 beauty, with a red soil of sandstone, without any brush 
 or underwood, and covered with gigantic pines. In 
 front, rising above the miserable huts of the village, 
 and seeming to bestride the valley, was the gigantic 
 church of St. John the Hermit, reminding me of the 
 
78 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 Church of St. John in the wilderness of Judea, but the 
 situation was even more beautiful. At two o'clock we 
 crossed the stream and entered the village. Opposite 
 the church the muleteer told us that the day's work was 
 over, but, with all our toils, we had made only fifteen 
 miles, and were unwilling to stop so soon. The ex- 
 ceeding beauty of the place might have tempted us, 
 but the only good plastered hut was occupied by a band 
 of ruffianly soldiers, and we rode on. The muleteer 
 followed with curses, and vented his spite in lashing the 
 mules. Again we crossed the stream, and, continuing 
 up the valley along the dry bed, which bore marks of 
 the flood that washed it in the rainy season, in an hour 
 we crossed it half a dozen times. Heavy clouds rested 
 on the mountains, and again we had rain. At four 
 o'clock we saw on a high table on the left the village of 
 Jocotan, with another gigantic church. According to 
 the route agreed upon with the muleteer, this should 
 have been the end of our first day's journey. We had 
 been advised that the cura could give us much informa- 
 tion about the ruins of Copan, and told him to cross 
 over and stop there ; but he refused, and, hurrying on 
 the mules, added that we had refused to stop when he 
 wished, and now he would not stop for us. I could not 
 spur my mule beyond her own gait, and, unable to over- 
 take him, jumped off and ran after him on foot. Acci- 
 dentally I put my hand on my pistols, to steady them 
 in my belt, and he fell back and drew his machete. 
 We came to a parley. He said that if we went there 
 we could not reach Copan the next day ; whereupon, 
 willing to make a retreat, and wishing to leave him no 
 excuse for failing, we continued. 
 
 At six o'clock we rose upon a beautiful table of land, 
 on which stood another gigantic church. It was the 
 
A DESERTED VILLAGE. 79 
 
 seventh we had seen that day, and, coming upon them 
 in a region of desolation, and by mountain paths which 
 human hands had never attempted to improve, their co- 
 lossal grandeur and costliness were startling, and gave 
 evidence of a retrograding and expiring people. This 
 stood in a more desolate place than any we had yet 
 seen. The grass was green, the sod unbroken even by 
 a mule path, not a human being was in sight, and even 
 the gratings of the prison had no one looking through 
 them. It was, in fact, a picture of a deserted village. 
 We rode up to the cabildo, the door of which was fast- 
 ened and the shed barricaded, probably to prevent the 
 entrance of straggling cattle. We tore away the fast- 
 enings, broke open the door, and, unloading the mules, 
 sent Augustin on a foraging expedition. In half an 
 hour he returned with one egg, being all that he was 
 able to procure ; but he had waked up the village, and 
 the alcalde, an Indian with a silver-headed cane, and 
 several alguazils with long thin rods or wands of office, 
 came down to examine us. We showed them our pass- 
 port, and told them where we were going, at which, 
 with their characteristic indifference of manner, they 
 expressed no surprise. They could not read the pass- 
 port, but they examined the seal and returned it. We 
 asked them for eggs, fowls, milk, &c, to all of which 
 they answered, what afterward became but too familiar, 
 " no hay," " there is none," and in a few minutes they 
 retired and left us to ourselves. 
 
 The cabildo was about forty feet long and twenty 
 broad, with plastered walls ; its furniture consisted of 
 a large table and two benches with high backs, and the 
 alcalde sent us a jar of water. We abused the mule- 
 teer for stopping at a place where we could get nothing 
 to eat, and made our dinner and supper upon bread and 
 
80 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 chocolate, taking care not to give him any. There were 
 pins in the walls for swinging hammocks, and in the 
 evening we prepared for sleep. Mr. C. was in his ham- 
 mock, and I was half undressed, when the door was 
 suddenly burst open, and twenty-five or thirty men 
 rushed in, the alcalde, alguazils, soldiers, Indians, and 
 Mestitzoes, ragged and ferocious-looking fellows, and 
 armed with staves of office, swords, clubs, muskets, and 
 machetes, and carrying blazing pine sticks. At the 
 head of them was a young officer of about twenty-eight 
 or thirty, with a glazed hat and sword, and a knowing 
 and wicked expression, whom we afterward understood 
 to be a captain of one of Carrera's companies. The 
 alcalde was evidently intoxicated, and said that he 
 wished to see my passport again. I delivered it to him, 
 and he handed it over to the young officer, who exam- 
 ined it, and said that it was not valid. In the mean 
 time, Mr. Catherwood and I dressed ourselves. I was 
 not very familiar with the Spanish language, and, 
 through Augustin, explained my official character, and 
 directed him particularly to the endorsements of Com- 
 mandant Piiiol and General Cascara. He paid no re- 
 gard to my explanations ; the alcalde said that he had 
 seen a passport once before, and that it was printed, 
 and on a small piece of paper not bigger than his hand ; 
 whereas mine was the one given by government on a 
 quarto sheet. Besides this, they said that the seal of 
 General Cascara was only that of the department of 
 Chiquimula, and it ought to be that of the state of Gua- 
 timala. I did all in my power to show the insufficiency 
 of these objections ; but, after a warm altercation, the 
 young man said that we should not proceed on our jour- 
 ney, but must remain at Comotan until information 
 could be sent to Chiquimula, and orders received from 
 
ARREST. 81 
 
 that place. We had no disposition to remain in such 
 hands ; threatened them with the consequences of throw- 
 ing any obstructions in our way ; and I at length said 
 that, rather than be detained there and lose time, I 
 would abandon my journey to Copan altogether, and 
 return by the road on which I came ; but both the officer 
 and the alcalde said peremptorily that we should not 
 leave Comotan. 
 
 The young man then told me to give up my passport. 
 1 answered that the passport was given me by my own 
 government ; that it was the evidence of my official 
 character, necessary for my personal security, and I 
 would not give it up. Mr. Catherwood made a learned 
 exposition of the law of nations, the right of an ambas- 
 sador, and the danger of bringing down upon them the 
 vengeance of the government del Norte, which I sus- 
 tained with some warmth, but it was of no use. At 
 length I told him again that I would not give up the 
 passport, but offered to go with it myself, under a guard 
 of soldiers, to Chiquimula, or wherever else they chose 
 to send it ; he answered insultingly that we should not 
 go to Chiquimula or anywhere else ; neither forward 
 nor backward ; that we must stay where we were, and 
 must give up the passport. Finding arguments and re- 
 monstrances of no use, I placed the paper inside my 
 vest, buttoned my coat tight across my breast, and told 
 him he must get it by force ; and the officer, with a 
 gleam of satisfaction crossing his villanous face, re- 
 sponded that he would. I added that, whatever might 
 be the immediate result, it would ultimately be fatal to 
 them ; to which he answered, with a sneer, that they 
 would run the risk. During the whole time, the band 
 of cowardly ruffians stood with their hands on theii 
 swords and machetes, and two assassin-looking scoun* 
 Vol. L— L 
 
82 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 drels sat on a bench with muskets against their shoul- 
 ders 5 and the muzzles pointed within three feet of my 
 breast. If we had been longer in the country we 
 should have been more alarmed ; but as yet we did not 
 know the sanguinary character of the people, and the 
 whole proceeding was so outrageous and insulting that it 
 roused our indignation more than our fears. Augustin, 
 who, from having had a cut across the head with a 
 machete, which did not kill him, was always bellicose, 
 begged me in French to give the order to fire, and 
 said that one round would scatter them all. We had 
 eleven charges, all sure ; we were excited, and, if the 
 young man himself had laid his hands upon me, I think 
 I should have knocked him down at least ; but, most 
 fortunately, before he had time to give his order to fall 
 upon us, a man, who entered after the rest, of a better 
 class, wearing a glazed hat and round-about jacket, 
 stepped forward and asked to see the passport. I was 
 determined not to trust it out of my hands, and held it 
 up before a blazing pine stick while he read it, and, at 
 Mr. Catherwood's request, aloud. 
 
 I have since doubted whether even the officer had 
 read it, or, if so, whether he had communicated its con- 
 tents, for it produced an effect upon the alcalde and his 
 alguazils ; and, after some moments of anxious suspense 
 to us, they forbore to execute their threat, but said that 
 we must remain in custody. I demanded a courier, to 
 carry a letter immediately to General Cascara, which 
 they refused ; but, on my offering to pay the expense 
 of the courier, the alcalde promised to send it. Know- 
 ing General Cascara to be an Italian, and afraid to 
 trust my Spanish, I wrote a note, which Mr. C. trans- 
 lated into Italian, informing him of our arrest and im- 
 prisonment ; that we had exhibited to the alcalde and 
 
IMPRISONMENT. 83 
 
 soldiers who arrested us my special passport from my 
 own government, with the endorsements of Command- 
 ant Piiiol and himself, certifying my official character, 
 which were not deemed sufficient ; demanding to be set 
 at liberty immediately, and allowed to proceed on our 
 journey without farther molestation ; and adding that 
 we should, of course, represent to the government at 
 Guatimala, and also to my own, the manner in which 
 we had been treated. Not to mince matters, Mr. Cath- 
 erwood signed the note as Secretary ; and, having no 
 official seal with me, we sealed it, unobserved by any- 
 body, with a new American half dollar, and gave it to 
 the alcalde. The eagle spread his wings, and the stars 
 glittered in the torchlight. All gathered round to ex- 
 amine it, and retired, locking us up in the cabildo, sta- 
 tioning twelve men at the door with swords, muskets, 
 and machetes ; and, at parting, the officer told the al- 
 calde that, if we escaped during the night, his head 
 should answer for it. 
 
 The excitement over, Mr. C. and I were exhausted. 
 We had made a beautiful beginning of our travels ; but 
 a month from home, and in the hands of men who would 
 have been turned out of any decent state prison lest 
 they should contaminate the boarders. A peep at our 
 beautiful keepers did not reassure us. They were sit- 
 ting under the shed, directly before the door, around a 
 fire, their arms in reach, and smoking cigars. Their 
 whole stock of wearing apparel was not worth a pair of 
 old boots ; and with their rags, their arms, their dark 
 faces reddened by the firelight, their appearance was 
 ferocious ; and, doubtless, if we had attempted to escape, 
 they would have been glad of the excuse for murder. 
 We opened a basket of wine with which Col. M'Don- 
 ald had provided us, and drank his health. We were 
 
84 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 relieved from immediate apprehensions, but our pros- 
 pects were not pleasant ; and, fastening the door as well 
 as we could inside, we again betook ourselves to our 
 hammocks. 
 
 During the night the door was again burst open, and 
 the whole ruffianly band entered, as before, with swords, 
 muskets, machetes, and blazing pine sticks. In an in- 
 stant we were on our feet, and my hurried impression 
 was, that they had come to take the passport ; but, to 
 our surprise, the alcalde handed me back the letter with 
 the big seal, said there was no use in sending it, and 
 that we were at liberty to proceed on our journey when 
 we chose. 
 
 We were too well pleased to ask any questions, and 
 to this day do not know why we were arrested. My 
 belief is, that if we had quailed at aU, and had not kept 
 up a high, threaten, jig tone to the last, we should not have 
 been set free ; and I have no doubt that the big seal did 
 much in our behalf. Our indignation, however, was not 
 the less strong that we considered ourselves safe in 
 pouring it out. We insisted that the matter should not 
 end here, and that the letter should go to General Cas- 
 cara. The alcalde objected ; but we told him that, if not 
 sent, it would be the worse for him ; and, after some de- 
 lay, he thrust it into the hands of an Indian, and beat 
 him out of doors with his staff; and in a few minutes 
 the guard was withdrawn, and they all left us. 
 
 It was now nearly daylight, and we did not know 
 what to do ; to continue was to expose ourselves to a 
 repetition of the same treatment, and perhaps, as we 
 advanced farther into the interior, with a worse result. 
 Undetermined, for the third time we turned into our 
 hammocks. At broad daylight we were again roused 
 by the alcalde and his alguazils, but this time they came 
 
rflE RELEASE. 85 
 
 to pay us a visit of ceremony. The soldiers, who had 
 accidentally passed through the village, and had made 
 all the disturbance, had left. After some deliberation 
 we determined to continue ; and, charging the alcalde 
 again about the letter to General Cascara, turned our 
 backs upon him and his alguazils. In a few minutes 
 they all withdrew. We took a cup of chocolate, loaded 
 our mules, and, when we left, the place was as desolate 
 as when we entered. Not a person had been there to 
 welcome us, and there was not one to bid us farewell. 
 I 8 
 
86 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 An Indian Funeral.— Copan River. — Woman's Kindness. — Hacienda of San An 
 tonio. — Strange Customs. — A Mountain of Aloes. — The State of Honduras 
 — Village of Copan. — An ungracious Host. — Wall of Copan. — History of Co 
 pan. — First View of the Ruins. — Vain Speculations. — Applications for Medi- 
 cine. — Search for an Abode. — A Sick Woman. — Plagues of a Muleteer. — Ar> 
 unpleasant Situation. — A Thunder Storm. — Thoughts of buying Copan. 
 
 Turning away from the church, we passed the brow 
 of a hill, behind which was a collection of huts almost 
 concealed from sight, and occupied by our friends of the 
 night before. Very soon we commenced ascending a 
 mountain. At a short distance we met a corpse borne 
 on a rude bier of sticks, upon the shoulders of Indians, 
 naked except a piece of cotton cloth over the loins, and 
 shaking awfully under the movements of its carriers. 
 Soon after we met another, borne in the same way, but 
 wrapped in matting, and accompanied by three or four 
 men and a young woman. Both were on their way to 
 the graveyard of the village church. Ascending, we 
 reached the top of a mountain, and saw behind us a 
 beautiful valley extending toward Jocotan, but all 
 waste, and suggesting a feeling of regret that so beauti- 
 ful a country should be in such miserable hands. 
 
 At half past twelve we descended to the banks of the 
 Copan River. It was broad and rapid, and in the mid- 
 dle was a large sandbar. "We had difficulty in fording 
 it ; and some of the baggage, particularly the beds and 
 bedding, got wet. From the opposite side we again 
 commenced ascending another ridge, and from the top 
 saw the river winding through the valley. As we cross- 
 ed, by a sudden turn it flowed along the base, and we 
 looked directly down upon it. Descending this mount- 
 
WOMAN'S KINDNESS. 87 
 
 am, we came to a beautiful stream, where a gray-haired 
 Indian woman and a pretty little girl, pictures of youth 
 and old age, were washing clothes. We dismounted, 
 and sat down on the bank to wait for the muleteer. 1 
 forgot to mention that he had with him a boy about thir- 
 teen or fourteen years old, a fine little fellow, upon whom 
 he imposed the worst part of the burden, that of chasing 
 the mules, and who really seemed, like Baron Munchau- 
 sen's dog, in danger of running his legs off. 
 
 Our breach with the muleteer had not been healed, 
 and at first we ascribed to him some agency in our trou- 
 bles at Comotan. At all events, if it had not been foi 
 him, we should not have stopped there. All day he had 
 been particularly furious with the mules, and they had 
 been particularly perverse, and now they had gone 
 astray ; and it was an hour before we heard his spiteful 
 voice, loading them with curses. We mounted again 
 and at four o'clock saw at a distance a hacienda, or. 
 the opposite side of a valley. It stood alone, and prom- 
 ised a quiet resting-place for the night. We turned off 
 from the camino real into a wild path, stony, and over- 
 grown with bushes, and so steep that we were obliged 
 to dismount, let the mules go ahead, and hold on our- 
 selves by the bushes to descend. At the foot of the hill 
 we mounted and crossed a stream, where a little boy, 
 playing in the water, saluted me by crossing his arms 
 upon his breast, and then passed on to Mr. Catherwood. 
 This was a favourable omen ; and, as we climbed up a 
 steep hill, I felt that here, in this lonely spot, away from 
 the gathering-places of men, we must meet kindness. 
 On the top of the hill a woman, with a naked child in 
 her arms and a smile on her face, stood watching our 
 toilsome ascent ; and when we asked her if we could 
 make posada there, she answered, in the kindest phrase 
 
88 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 of the country, with a face that spoke even a warmer 
 welcome than her words, " como non ?" " whv not ?" 
 and when she saw that our servant had pineapples in 
 his alforjas, she asked why he brought them, and if he 
 did not know that she had plenty. 
 
 The situation of the hacienda of San Antonio was 
 wildly beautiful. It had a clearing for a cowyaid, 
 a plantation of corn, tobacco, and plantains, and the 
 opening gave a view of the high mountains by which it 
 was surrounded. The house was built of poles plas- 
 tered with mud, and against the wall in front of the 
 door was a figure of the Saviour on the cross, on a 
 white cotton cloth hung round with votive offerings. 
 The naked child which the mother carried in her arms 
 was called Maria de los Angeles. While supper was 
 in preparation the master of the house arrived, a swar- 
 thy, grim-looking fellow, with a broad-brimmed som- 
 brero and huge whiskers, and mounted on a powerful 
 young horse, which he was just breaking to the mount- 
 ain-roads ; when he knew that we were strangers ask- 
 ing hospitality, his harsh features relaxed, and he re- 
 peated the welcome the woman had given us. 
 
 Unfortunately, the boy of the muleteer was taken 
 very ill ; his master paid no attention to him, and, while 
 the poor little fellow was groaning under a violent fe- 
 ver, ate on with perfect indifference. We made him a 
 comfortable bed on the piazza, and Mr. Catherwood 
 gave him a dose of medicine. Our evening passed 
 very differently from the last. Our host and hostess 
 were a kind-hearted and simple couple. It was the 
 first time they had ever met with men from another 
 country, and they asked many questions, and examined 
 our little travelling apparatus, particularly our plated 
 cups, knives, forks, and spoons ; we showed them our 
 
STRANGE CUSTOMS. 89 
 
 watches, compass, sextant, chronometer, thermometer, 
 telescope, &c, and the woman, with great discernment, 
 said that we must be very ric h, and had "muchos ideas," 
 " many ideas." They ask^d us about our wives, and we 
 learned that our simple-mirded host had two, one of 
 whom lived at Hocotan, and that he passed a week al- 
 ternately with each. We toll him that in England he 
 would be transported, and in he North imprisoned for 
 life for such indulgences, to \\ hich he responded that 
 they were barbarous countries . and the woman, al- 
 though she thought a man ought to be content with 
 one, said that it was no pecado or crime to have two ; 
 but I heard them say, sotto Vt'ce, that we were "mas 
 Christianos," or better Christians than they. He assisted 
 us in swinging our hammocks, and about nine o'clock 
 we drove out the dogs and pigs, Jighted cigars, and went 
 to bed. Including servants, women, and children, we 
 numbered eleven in the room. All around were little 
 balls of fire, shining and disapj.eaiing with the puffs of 
 the cigars. One by one these went out, and we fell 
 asleep. 
 
 In the morning we all rose together. The boy was 
 much better, but we did not think lam in a condition to 
 travel. His brutal master, however, insisted upon his 
 going. For all that our kind friends had done for us, 
 they would have charged us nothing ; but, besides com- 
 pensating them in money, we distributed among them 
 various trifles, and, when bidding them farewell, I saw 
 with regret a ring which I had given her sparkling on 
 his finger. After we had mounted, the little boy whom 
 we had met at the stream came staggering under a 
 load of six freshly-cut pineapples ; and even when we 
 had started, the woman ran after me with a piece of 
 fresh sugarcane. 
 
 Vol. I.— M 
 
90 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 All parted at the hacienda of San Antonio with kind 
 feelings except our surly muleteer, who was indignant, 
 as he said, lhat we made presents to everybody except to 
 him. The poor boy was most grateful, and, unfortu- 
 nately for him, we had given him a knife, which made 
 the muleteer jealous. 
 
 Almost immediately from the hacienda we entered 
 a thick wood, dense as that of the Mico Mountain, and 
 almost as muddy. The ascent was toilsome, but the 
 top was open, and so covered with that beautiful plant 
 that we called it the Mountain of Aloes. Some were 
 just peeping out of the ground, others were twenty or 
 thirty feet high, and some gigantic stalks were dead ; 
 flowers which would have kindled rapture in the breast 
 of beauty had bloomed and died on this desolate mount- 
 ain, unseen except by a passing Indian. 
 
 In descending we lost the path, and wandered for 
 some time before we recovered it. Almost immediate- 
 ly we commenced ascending another mountain, and 
 from its top looked completely over a third, and, at a 
 great distance, saw a large hacienda. Our road lay di- 
 rectly along the edge of a precipice, from which we 
 looked down upon the tops of gigantic pines at a great 
 distance beneath us. Very soon the path became so 
 broken, and ran so near the edge of a precipice, that I 
 called to Mr. Catherwood to dismount. The precipice 
 was on the left side, and I had advanced so far that, 
 on the back of a perverse mule, I did not venture to 
 make any irregular movement, and rode for some mo- 
 ments in great anxiety. Somewhere on this road,, but 
 unmarked by any visible sign, we crossed the bounda- 
 ry-line of the state of Guatimala and entered Hon- 
 duras. 
 
 At two o'clock we reached the village of Copan, 
 
COP AN. 91 
 
 which consisted of half a dozen miserable huts thatch- 
 ed with corn. Our appearance created a great sensa- 
 tion. All the men and women gathered around us to 
 gaze. We inquired immediately for the ruins, but none 
 of the villagers could direct us to them, and all advised 
 us to go to the hacienda of Don Gregorio. We had no 
 wish to stop at a village, and told the muleteer to go on, 
 but he refused, and said that his engagement was to 
 conduct us to Copan. After a long wrangle we pre- 
 vailed, and, riding through a piece of woods, forded 
 once more the Copan River, and came out upon a clear- 
 ing, on one side of which was a hacienda, with a tile 
 roof, and having cosina and other outbuildings, evi- 
 dently the residence of a rich proprietor. We were 
 greeted by a pack of barking dogs, and all the door- 
 ways were filled with women and children, who seem- 
 ed in no small degree surprised at our appearance. 
 There was not a man in sight ; but the women receiv- 
 ed us kindly, and told us that Don Gregorio would 
 return soon, and would conduct us to the ruins. Im- 
 mediately the fire was rekindled in the cosina, the 
 sound of the patting of hands gave notice of the ma- 
 king of tortillas, and in half an hour dinner was ready. 
 It was served up on a massive silver plate, with water 
 in a silver tankard, but without knife, fork, or spoon ; 
 soup or caldo was served in cups to be drunk. Never- 
 theless, we congratulated ourselves upon having fallen 
 into such good quarters. 
 
 In a short time a young man arrived on horseback, 
 gayly dressed, with an embroidered shirt, and accompa- 
 nied by several men driving a herd of cattle. An ox 
 was selected, a rope thrown around its horns, and the 
 animal was drawn up to the side of the house, and, 
 by another rope around its legs, thrown down. Its feet 
 
92 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 were tied together, its head drawn back by a rope tied 
 from its horns to its tail, and with one thrust of the ma- 
 chete the artery of life was severed. The pack of hun- 
 gry dogs stood ready, and, with a horrible clicking, 
 
 apped up the blood with their tongues. All the wom- 
 en were looking on, and a young girl took a puppy 
 dog and rubbed its nose in the crimson stream, to give 
 it early a taste for blood. The ox was skinned, the 
 meat separated from the bones, and, to the entire 
 destruction of steaks, sirloins, and roasting-pieces, in an 
 hour the whole animal was hanging in long strings on a 
 line before the door. 
 
 During this operation Don Gregorio arrived. He 
 was about fifty, had large black w T hiskers, and a beard 
 of several days' growth ; and, from the behaviour of all 
 around, it was easy to see that he was a domestic ty- 
 rant. The glance which he threw at us before dis- 
 mounting seemed to say, " Who are you ?" but, without 
 a word, he entered the house. We waited until he had 
 finished his dinner, when, supposing that to be the fa- 
 vourable moment, I entered the house. In my inter- 
 course with the world I have more than once found my 
 overtures to an acquaintance received coldly, but I nev- 
 er experienced anything quite so cool as the don's re- 
 ception of me. I told him that we had come into that 
 neighbourhood to visit the ruins of Copan, and his man- 
 ner said, What's that to me ? but he answered that they 
 were on the other side of the river. I asked him wheth- 
 er we could procure a guide, and again he said that the 
 only man who knew anything about them lived on the 
 other side of the river. As yet we did not make suffi- 
 cient allowance for the distracted state of the country, 
 nor the circumstance that a man might incur danger to 
 himself by giving shelter to suspected persons ; but, re- 
 
AN UNGRACIOUS HOST. 93 
 
 lying on the reputation of the country for hospitality, 
 and the proof of it which we had already met with, I 
 was rather slow in coming to the disagreeable conclu- 
 sion that we were not welcome. This conclusion, how- 
 ever, was irresistible. The don was not pleased with 
 our looks. I ordered the muleteer to saddle the mules ; 
 but the rascal enjoyed our confusion, and positively re- 
 fused to saddle his beasts again that day. We applied 
 to Don Gregorio himself, offering to pay him ; and, as 
 Augustin said, in the hope of getting rid of us, he lent 
 us two, on which to ride back to the village. Unfortu- 
 nately, the guide we sought was away ; a brisk cock- 
 fight was then pending, and we received no encourage- 
 ment, either from the appearance of the people or from 
 invitation, to bring baick our luggage to that place. And 
 we learned, what was very provoking, that Don Grego- 
 rio was the great main of Copan ; the richest man, and 
 the petty tyrant ; andl that it would be most unfortunate 
 to have a rupture with him, or even to let it be known 
 at the village that we were not well received at his 
 house. Reluctantly, but in the hope of making a more 
 favourable impression, we returned to the hacienda. 
 Mr. C. dismounted on the steps, and took a seat on the 
 piazza. I happened to dismount outside ; and, before 
 moving, took a survey of the party. The don sat on a 
 chair, with our detestable muleteer by his side, and a 
 half-concealed smile of derision on his face, talking of 
 " idols," and looking at me. By this time eight or ten 
 men, sons, servants, and labourers, had come in from 
 their day's work, but not one offered to take my mule, 
 or made any of those demonstrations of civility which 
 are always shown to a welcome guest. The women 
 turned away their heads, as if they had been reproved 
 for receiving us ; and all the men, taking their cue from 
 
94 INCIDENTS OP TRAVEL. 
 
 he don, looked so insulting, that I told Mr. Catherwood 
 we would tumble our luggage into the road, and curse 
 him for an inhospitable churl ; but Mr. Catherwood 
 warned me against it, urging that, if we had an open 
 quarrel with him, after all our trouble we would be pre- 
 vented seeing the ruins. The don probably suspected 
 something of what passed ; and, fearing that he might 
 push things too far, and bring a stain upon his name, 
 pointed to a chair, and asked me to take a seat. With 
 a great effort, I resolved to smother my indignation un- 
 til I could pour it out with safety. Augustin was very 
 indignant at the treatment we received ; on the road he 
 had sometimes swelled his own importance by telling 
 of the flags hoisted and cannon fired when we left Ba- 
 lize ; and here he hoist ed more flags and fired more 
 guns than usual, beginning with forty guns, and after- 
 ward going on to a cannonade ; but it would not do. 
 The don did not like us, and probably was willing to 
 hoist flags, and fire cannons too, as at Balize, when we 
 should go away. 
 
 Toward evening the skin of an ox was spread upon 
 the piazza, corn in ears thrown upon it, and all the men, 
 with the don at their head, sat down to shell it. The 
 cobs were carried to the kitchen to burn, the corn taken 
 up in baskets, and three pet hogs, which had been grunt- 
 ing outside in expectation of the feast, were let in to 
 pick up the scattered grains. During the evening no 
 notice was taken of us, except that the wife of the don 
 sent a message by Augustin that supper was preparing ; 
 and our wounded pride was relieved, and our discontent 
 somewhat removed, by an additional message that they 
 had an oven and flour, and would bake us some bread 
 if we wished to buy it. 
 
 After supper all prepared for sleep. The don's house 
 
WALL OF C P A N. 95 
 
 had two sides, an inside and an out. The don and his 
 family occupied the former, and we the latter ; but we 
 had not even this to ourselves. All along the wall 
 were frames made of sticks about an inch thick, tied 
 together with bark strings, over which the workmen 
 spread an untanned oxhide for a bed. There were 
 three hammocks besides ours, and I had so little room 
 for mine that my body described an inverted parabola, 
 with my heels as high as my head. It was vexatious 
 and ridiculous ; or, in the words of the English tourist 
 in Fra Diavolo, it was " shocking ! positively shocking !" 
 
 In the morning Don Gregorio was in the same hu- 
 mour. We took no notice of him, but made our toilet 
 under the shed with as much respect as possible to the 
 presence of the female members of the family, who were 
 constantly passing and repassing. We had made up 
 our minds to hold on and see the ruins ; and, fortunate- 
 ly, early in the morning, one of the crusty don's sons, a 
 civil young man, brought over from the village Jose, the 
 guide of whom we stood in need. 
 
 By reason of many vexatious delays, growing out of 
 difficulties between Jose and the muleteer, we did not 
 get away until nine o'clock. Very soon we left the 
 path or road, and entered a large field, partially culti- 
 vated with corn, belonging to Don Gregorio. Riding 
 some distance through this, we reached a hut, thatched 
 with corn-leaves, on the edge of the woods, at which 
 some workmen were preparing their breakfast. Here 
 we dismounted, and, tying our mules to trees near by, 
 entered the woods, Jose clearing a path before us with 
 a machete ; soon we came to the bank of a river, and saw 
 directly opposite a stone wall, perhaps a hundred feet 
 high, with furze growing out of the top, running north 
 and south along the river, in some places fallen, but in 
 
96 
 
 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 others entire. It had more the character of a structure 
 than any we had ever seen, ascribed to the aborigines 
 of America, and formed part of the wall of Copan, an 
 ancient city, on whose history books throw but little 
 light. 
 
 I am entering abruptly upon new ground. Volumes 
 without number have been written to account for the 
 first peopling of America. By some the inhabitants of 
 this continent have been regarded as a separate race 
 not descended from the same common father with the 
 rest of mankind ; others have ascribed their origin 
 to some remnant of the antediluvian inhabitants of the 
 earth, who survived the deluge which swept away the 
 greatest part of the human species in the days of Noah, 
 and hence have considered them the most ancient race 
 of people on the earth. Under the broad range allow- 
 ed by a descent from the sons of Noah, the Jews, the 
 Canaanites, the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians, the 
 Greeks, the Scythians in ancient times ; the Chinese, 
 the Swedes, the Norwegians, the Welsh, and the Span- 
 iards in modern, have had ascribed to them the honour 
 
Robertson's account faulty. 97 
 
 of peopling America. The two continents have been 
 joined together and rent asunder by the shock of an 
 earthquake ; the fabled island of Atlantis has been lift- 
 ed out of the ocean ; and, not to be behindhand, an 
 enterprising American has turned the tables on the Old 
 World, and planted the ark itself within the State of 
 New- York. 
 
 The monuments and architectural remains of the 
 aborigines have heretofore formed but little part of the 
 groundwork for these speculations. Dr. Robertson, in 
 his History of America, lays it down as " a certain prin- 
 ciple, that America was not peopled by any nation of 
 the ancient continent which had made considerable 
 progress in civilization." "The inhabitants of the 
 New World," he says, "were in a state of society so 
 extremely rude as to be unacquainted with those arts 
 which arc the first essays of human ingenuity in its ad- 
 vance toward improvement." Discrediting the glow- 
 ing accounts of Cortez and his companions, of soldiers, 
 priests, and civilians, all concurring in representations 
 of the splendour exhibited in the buildings of Mexico, 
 he says that the " houses of the people were mere huts, 
 built with turf, or mud, or the branches of trees, like 
 those of the rudest Indians." The temple of Cholula 
 was nothing more than " a mound of earth, without any 
 steps or any facing of stone, covered with grass and 
 shrubs ;" and, on the authority of persons long resident 
 in New Spain, and who professed to have visited every 
 part of it, he says that " there is not, in all the extent of 
 that vast empire, a single monument or vestige of any 
 building more ancient than the conquest." At that 
 time, distrust was perhaps the safer side for the histo- 
 rian ; but since Dr. Robertson wrote a new flood of light 
 
 Vox.. I.— N 9 
 
98 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 has poured upon the Avorld, and the field of American 
 antiquities has been opened. 
 
 The ignorance, carelessness, and indifference of the 
 inhabitants of Spanish America on this subject are mat- 
 ter of wonder. In our own country, the opening of for- 
 ests and the discovery of tumuli or mounds and fortifi- 
 cations, extending in ranges from the lakes through the 
 valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi, mummies in a cave 
 in Kentucky, the inscription on the rock at Dighton, 
 supposed to be in Phoenician characters, and the ruina 
 of walls and a great city in Arkansas and Wisconsin 
 Territory, had suggested wild and wandering ideas in 
 regard to the first peopling of this country, and the 
 strong belief that powerful and populous nations had 
 occupied it and had passed away, whose histories are 
 entirely unknown. The same evidences continue in 
 Texas, and in Mexico they assume a still more definite 
 form. 
 
 The first new light thrown upon this subject as re- 
 gards Mexico was by the great Humboldt, who visited 
 that country at a time when, by the jealous policy of 
 the government, it was almost as much closed against 
 strangers as China is now. No man could have better 
 deserved such fortune. At that time the monuments 
 of the country were not a leading object of research ; 
 but Humboldt collected from various sources informa- 
 tion and drawings, particularly of Mitla, or the Vale of 
 the Dead; Xoxichalco, a mountain hewed down and 
 terraced, and called the Hill of Flowers ; and the great 
 pyramid or Temple of Cholula he visited himself, of 
 all which his own eloquent account is within reach of 
 the reader. Unfortunately, of the great cities beyond 
 the Vale of Mexico, buried in forests, ruined, desolate, 
 and without a name, Humboldt never heard, or, at least, 
 
HISTORY OF COPAN. 99 
 
 he never visited them. It is but lately that accounts of 
 their existence reached Europe and our own country. 
 These accounts, however vague and unsatisfactory, had 
 roused our curiosity ; though I ought perhaps to say 
 that both Mr. C. and I were somewhat skeptical, and 
 when we arrived at Copan, it was with the hope, rather 
 than the expectation, of finding wonders. 
 
 Since the discovery of these ruined cities the prevail- 
 ing theory has been, that they belonged to a race long 
 anterior to that which inhabited the country at the time 
 of the Spanish conquest. With regard to Copan, men- 
 tion is made by the early Spanish historians of a place 
 of that name, situated in the same region of country in 
 which these ruins are found, which then existed as an 
 inhabited city, and offered a formidable resistance to the 
 Spanish arms, though there are circumstances which 
 seem to indicate that the city referred to was inferior in 
 strength and solidity of construction, and of more mod- 
 ern origin. 
 
 It stood in the old province of Chiquimula de Sierras, 
 which was conquered by the officers of Pedro de Alvara- 
 do, but not one of the Spanish historians has given any 
 particulars of this conquest. In 1530 the Indians of the 
 province revolted, and attempted to throw off the yoke 
 of Spain. Hernandez de Chaves was sent to subdue 
 them, and, after many sanguinary battles, he encamped 
 before Esquipulas, a place of arms belonging to a pow- 
 erful cacique, which, on the fourth day, to use the words 
 of th.3 cacique himself, " more out of respect to the pub- 
 lic tranquillity than from fear of the Spanish arms, de- 
 termined to surrender," and, with the capital, the whole 
 province submitted again to the Spanish dominion. 
 
 The cacique of Copan, whose name was Copan Calel, 
 had been active in exciting the revolt and assisting the 
 
100 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 insurgents. Hernandez de Chaves determined to pun- 
 ish him, and marched against Copan, then one of the 
 largest, most opulent, and most populous places of the 
 kingdom. The camp of the cacique, with his auxil- 
 iaries, consisted of thirty thousand men, well disci- 
 plined, and veterans in war, armed with wooden swords 
 having stone edges, arrows, and slings. On one side, 
 says the historian, it was defended by the ranges of 
 mountains of Chiquimuia and Gracios a Dios, and on 
 the opposite side by a deep fosse, and an intrenchment 
 formed of strong beams of timber, having the interstices 
 filled with earth, with embrasures, and loopholes foi 
 the discharge of arrows. Chaves, accompanied by 
 some horsemen, well armed, rode to the fosse, and 
 made sign that he wished to hold conference. The 
 cacique answered with an arrow. A shower of arrows, 
 stones, and darts followed, which compelled the Span- 
 iards to retreat. The next day Chaves made an attack 
 upon the intrenchment. The infantry wore loose coats 
 stuffed with cotton ; swords and shields ; the horsemen 
 wore breastplates and helmets, and their horses were 
 covered. The Copanes had each a shield covered with 
 the skin of the danta on his arm, and his head guarded 
 by bunches of feathers. The attack lasted the whole 
 day. The Indians, with their arrows, javelins, and 
 pikes, the heads of which were hardened by fire, main- 
 tained their ground. The Spaniards were obliged to 
 retreat. Chaves, who had fought in the thickest of the 
 battle, was alarmed at the difficulties of the enterprise 
 and the danger to the credit of the Spanish arms, but 
 received information that in one place the depth of the 
 ditch which defended Copan was but trifling, and the 
 next day he proceeded to the spot to make an attack 
 there. The Copanes had watched his movements, and 
 
THIS ACCOUNT UNSATISFACTORY. 101 
 
 manned the mtrenchment with their bravest soldiers. 
 The infantry were unable to make a lodgment. The 
 cavalry came to their assistance. The Indians brought 
 up their whole force, and the Spaniards stood like 
 rocks, impassable to pikes, arrows, and stones. Sev- 
 eral times they attempted to scale the intrenchments, 
 and were driven back into the fosse. Many were killed 
 on both sides, but the battle continued without advan- 
 tage to either until a brave horseman leaped the ditch, 
 and, his horse being carried violently with his breast 
 against the barrier, the earth and palisadoes gave way, 
 and the frightened horse plunged among the Indians. 
 Other horsemen followed, and spread such terror among 
 the Copanes, that their lines were broken and they fled. 
 Copan Calel rallied at a place where he had posted a 
 body of reserve ; but, unable to resist long, retreated, 
 and left Copan to its fate. 
 
 This is the account which the Spanish historians have 
 given of Copan ; and, as applied to the city, the wall of 
 which we saw from the opposite side of the river, it ap- 
 peared to us most meager and unsatisfactory ; for the 
 massive stone structures before us had little the air of 
 belonging to a city, the intrenchment of which could be 
 broken down by the charge of a single horseman. At 
 this place the river was not fordable ; we returned to 
 our mules, mounted, and rode to another part of the 
 bank, a short distance above. The stream was wide, 
 and in some places deep, rapid, and with a broken and 
 stony bottom. Fording it, we rode along the bank by 
 a footpath encumbered with undergrowth, which Jose 
 opened by cutting away the branches, until we came to 
 the foot of the wall, where we again dismounted and 
 tied our mules. 
 
 The wall was of cut stone, well laid, and in a good 
 
102 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 state of preservation. We ascended by large stone 
 steps, in some places perfect, and in others thrown down 
 by trees which had grown up between the crevices, and 
 reached a terrace, the form of which it was impossible 
 to make out, from the density of the forest in which it 
 was enveloped. Our guide cleared a way with his ma- 
 3hete, and we passed, as it lay half buried in the earth, 
 a large fragment of stone elaborately sculptured, and 
 came to the angle of a structure with steps on the sides, 
 in form and appearance, so far as the trees would ena- 
 ble us to make it out, like the sides of a pyramid. Di- 
 verging from the base, and working our way through 
 the thick woods, we came upon a square stone col- 
 umn, about fourteen feet high and three feet on each 
 side, sculptured in very bold relief, and on all four of 
 the sides, from the base to the top. The front was the 
 figure of a man curiously and richly dressed, and the 
 face, evidently a portrait, solemn, stern, and well fitted 
 to excite terror. The back was of a different design, 
 unlike anything we had ever seen before, and the sides 
 were covered with hieroglyphics. This our guide called 
 an " Idol ;" and before it, at a distance of three feet, was 
 a large block of stone, also sculptured with figures and 
 emblematical devices, which he called an altar. The 
 sight of this unexpected monument put at rest at once 
 and forever, in our minds, all uncertainty in regard to 
 the character of American antiquities, and gave us the 
 assurance that the objects we were in search of were in- 
 teresting, not only as the remains of an unknown peo- 
 ple, but as works of art, proving, like newly-discovered 
 historical records, that the people who once occupied 
 the Continent of America were not savages. With an 
 interest perhaps stronger than we had ever felt in wan- 
 dering among the ruins of Egypt, we followed our 
 
THE RUINS. 103 
 
 guide, who, sometimes missing his way, with a constant 
 and vigorous use of his machete, conducted us through 
 the thick forest, among half-buried fragments, to four- 
 teen monuments of the same character and appearance, 
 some with more elegant designs, and some in workman- 
 ship equal to the finest monuments of the Egyptians ; 
 one displaced from its pedestal by enormous roots ; an- 
 other locked in the close embrace of branches of trees, 
 and almost lifted out of the earth ; another hurled to 
 the ground, and bound down by huge vines and creep- 
 ers ; and one standing, with its altar before it, in a 
 grove of trees which grew around it, seemingly to 
 shade and shroud it as a sacred thing ; in the solemn 
 stillness of the woods, it seemed a divinity mourning 
 over a fallen people. The only sounds that disturbed 
 the quiet of this buried city were the noise of monkeys 
 moving among the tops of the trees, and the cracking 
 of dry branches broken by their weight. They moved 
 over our heads in long and swift processions, forty or 
 fifty at a time, some with little ones wound in their 
 long arms, walking out to the end of boughs, and 
 holding on with their hind feet or a curl of the tail, 
 sprang to a branch of the next tree, and, with a noise 
 like a current of wind, passed on into the depths of the 
 forest. It was the first time we had seen these mock- 
 eries of humanity, and, with the strange monuments 
 around us, they seemed like wandering spirits of the 
 departed race guarding the ruins of their former habi- 
 tations. 
 
 We returned to the base of the pyramidal structure, 
 and ascended by regular stone steps, in some places 
 forced apart by bushes and saplings, and in others 
 thrown down by the growth of large trees, while some 
 remained entire. In parts they were ornamented with 
 
104 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 sculptured figures and rows of death's heads. Climbing 
 Dver the ruined top, we reached a terrace overgrown 
 with trees, and, crossing it, descended by stone steps 
 into an area so covered with trees that at first we could 
 not make out its form, but which, on clearing the way 
 with the machete, we ascertained to be a square, and 
 with steps on all the sides almost as perfect as those of 
 the Roman amphitheatre. The steps were ornamented 
 with sculpture, and on the south side, about half way 
 up, forced out of its place by roots, was a colossal 
 head, evidently a portrait. We ascended these steps, 
 and reached a broad terrace a hundred feet high, over- 
 looking the river, and supported by the wall which we 
 had seen from the opposite bank. The whole terrace 
 was covered with trees, and even at this height from 
 the ground were two gigantic Ceibas, or wild cotton- 
 trees of India, above twenty feet in circumference, ex- 
 tending their half-naked roots fifty or a hundred feet 
 around, binding down the ruins, and shading them with 
 their wide-spreading branches. We sat down on the 
 very edge of the wall, and strove in vain to penetrate 
 the mystery by which we were surrounded. Who 
 were the people that built this city ? In the ruin- 
 ed cities of Egypt, even in the long-lost Petra, the 
 stranger knows the story of the people whose vesti- 
 ges are around him. America, say historians, was 
 peopled by savages ; but savages never reared these 
 structures, savages never carved these stones. We 
 asked the Indians who made them, and their dull an- 
 swer was " Quien sabe ?" " who knows ?" 
 
 There were no associations connected with the 
 place ; none of those stirring recollections which hal- 
 low Rome, Athens, and 
 
 " The world's great mistress on the Egyptian plain j* 
 
VAIN SPECULATIONS. 105 
 
 but architecture, sculpture, and painting, all the arts 
 which embellish life, had flourished in this overgrown 
 forest ; orators, warriors, and statesmen, beauty, ambi- 
 tion, and glory, had lived and passed away, and none 
 knew that such things had been, or could tell of their 
 past existence. Books, the records of knowledge, are 
 silent on this theme. The city was desolate. No rem- 
 nant of this race hangs round the ruins, with traditions 
 handed down from father to son, and from generation 
 1 .o generation. It lay before us like a shattered bark in 
 the midst of the ocean, her masts gone, her name ef- 
 faced, her crew perished, and none to tell whence she 
 came, to whom she belonged, how long on her voyage, 
 or what caused her destruction ; her lost people to be 
 traced only by some fancied resemblance in the con- 
 struction of the vessel, and, perhaps, never to be known 
 at all. The place where we sat, was it a citadel from 
 which an unknown people had sounded the trumpet of 
 war ? or a temple for the worship of the God of peace ? 
 or did the inhabitants worship the idols made with 
 their own hands, and offer sacrifices on the stones be- 
 fore them ? All was mystery, dark, impenetrable mys- 
 tery, and every circumstance increased it. In Egypt 
 the colossal skeletons of gigantic temples stand in the 
 unwatered sands in all the nakedness of desolation ; 
 here an immense forest shrouded the ruins, hiding 
 them from sight, heightening the impression and moral 
 effect, and giving an intensity and almost wildness to 
 the interest. 
 
 Late in the afternoon we worked our way back to the 
 mules, bathed in the clear river at the foot of the wall, 
 and returned to the hacienda. Our grateful muleteer- 
 boy had told of his dreadful illness, and the extraordi- 
 nary cure effected by Mr. Catherwood ; and we found 
 
 Vol. I.— O 
 
106 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 at 1he hacienda a ghastly-looking man, worn down by 
 fever and ague, who begged us for "remedios." An 
 old lady on a visit to the family, who had intended to 
 go home that day, was waiting to be cured of a malady 
 from which she had suffered twenty years. Our medi- 
 cine-chest was brought out, and this converted the wife 
 of the don into a patient also. Mr. C.'s reputation rose 
 with the medicines he distributed ; and in the course of 
 the evening he had under his hands four or five women 
 and as many men. We wanted very much to practice 
 on the don, but he was cautious. The percussion caps 
 of our pistols attracted the attention of the men ; and 
 we showed them the compass and other things, which 
 made our friend at San Antonio suppose we were " very 
 rich," and " had many ideas." By degrees we became 
 on social terms with all the house except the master, 
 who found a congenial spirit in the muleteer. He had 
 taken his ground, and was too dignified and obstinate 
 to unbend. Our new friends made more room for our 
 hammocks, and we had a better swing for the night. 
 
 In the morning we continued to astonish the people 
 by our strange ways, particularly by brushing our teeth, 
 an operation which, probably, they saw then for the first 
 time. While engaged in this, the door of the house 
 opened, and Don Gregorio appeared, turning his head 
 away to avo\d giving us a buenos dios. We resolved 
 not to sleep another night under his shed, but to take 
 our hammocks to the ruins, and, if there was no build- 
 ing to shelter us, to hang them up under a tree. My 
 contract with the muleteer was to stop three days at 
 Copan ; but there was no bargain for the use of the mules 
 during that time, and he hoped that the vexations we 
 met with would make us go on immediately. When he 
 found us bent on remaining, he swore he would not 
 

 A NEW DIFFICULTY. 107 
 
 carry the hammocks, and would not remain one day 
 over, but at length consented to hire the mules for that 
 day. 
 
 Before we started a new party, who had been con- 
 versing some time with Don Gregorio, stepped forward, 
 and said that he was the owner of " the idols ;" that no 
 one could go on the land without his permission ; and 
 handed me his title papers. This was a new difficulty. 
 I was not disposed to dispute his title, but read his pa- 
 pers as attentively as if I meditated an action in eject- 
 ment ; and he seemed relieved when I told him his title 
 was good, and that, if not disturbed, I Avould make him 
 a compliment at parting. Fortunately, he had a favour 
 to ask. Our fame as physicians had reached the vil- 
 lage, and he wished remedios for a sick wife. It was 
 important to make him our friend ; and, after some con- 
 versation, it was arranged that Mr. C, with several 
 workmen whom we had hired, should go on to the ru- 
 ins, as we intended, to make a lodgment there, while I 
 would go to the village and visit his wife. 
 
 Our new acquaintance, Don Jose Maria Asebedo, was 
 about fifty, tall, and well dressed ; that is, his cotton 
 shirt and pantaloons were clean ; inoffensive, though ig- 
 norant ; and one of the most respectable inhabitants of 
 Copan. He lived in one of the best huts of the village, 
 made of poles thatched with corn-leaves, with a wooden 
 frame on one side for a bed, and furnished with a few 
 pieces of pottery for cooking. A heavy rain had fallen 
 during the night, and the ground inside the hut was 
 wet. His wife seemed as old as he, and, fortunately, 
 was suffering from a rheumatism of several years' stand- 
 ing. I say fortunately, but I speak only in reference to 
 ourselves as medical men, and the honour of the pro- 
 fession accidentally confided to our hands. I told her 
 
108 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 that if it had been a recent affection, it would be more 
 within the reach of art ; but, as it was a case of old 
 standing, it required time, skill, watching of symptoms, 
 and the effect of medicine from day to day ; and, for 
 the present, I advised her to take her feet out of a pud- 
 dle of water in which she was standing, and promised 
 to consult Mr.- Catherwood, who was even a better 
 medico than I, and to send her a liniment with which 
 to bathe her neck. 
 
 This over, Don Jose Maria accompanied me to the 
 ruins, where I found Mr. Catherwood with the Indian 
 workmen. Again we wandered over the whole ground 
 in search of some ruined building in which we could 
 take up our abode, but there was none. To hang up 
 our hammocks under the trees was madness ; the 
 branches were still wet, the ground muddy, and again 
 there was a prospect of early rain ; but we were deter- 
 mined not to go back to Don Gregorio's. Don Mari- 
 ano said that there was a hut near by, and conducted 
 me to it. As we approached, we heard the screams of a 
 woman inside, and, entering, saw her rolling and toss- 
 ing on a bull's-hide bed, wild with fever and pain ; and, 
 starting to her knees at the sight of me, with her hands 
 pressed against her temples, and tears bursting from 
 her eyes, she begged me, for the love of God, to give 
 her some remedios. Her skin was hot, her pulse very 
 high ; she had a violent intermitting fever. While in- 
 quiring into her symptoms, her husband entered the hut, 
 a white man, about forty, dressed in a pair of dirty cot- 
 ton drawers, with a nether garment hanging outside, a 
 handkerchief tied around his head, and barefooted ; and 
 his name was Don Miguel. I told him that we wished to 
 pass a few days among the ruins, and asked permission 
 to stop at his hut. The woman, most happy at having 
 
8 
 
Ml 
 

DESCRIPTION OF A HUT. 109 
 
 a skilful physician near her, answered for him, and I re- 
 turned to relieve Mr. Catherwood, and add another to 
 his list of patients. The whole party escorted us to the 
 hut, bringing along only the mule that carried the ham- 
 mocks ; and by the addition of Mr. C. to the medical 
 corps, and a mysterious display of drawing materials 
 and measuring rods, the poor woman's fever seemed 
 frightened away. 
 
 The hut stood on the edge of a clearing, on the 
 ground once covered by the city, with a stone frag- 
 ment, hollowed out and used as a drinking-vessel 
 for cattle, almost at the very door. The clearing was 
 planted with corn and tobacco, and bounded on each 
 side by the forest. The hut was about sixteen feet 
 square, with a peaked roof, thatched with husks of In- 
 dian corn, made by setting in the ground two upright 
 poles with crotches, in which another pole was laid to 
 support the peak of the roof, and similar supports on 
 each side, but only about four feet high. The gable 
 end was the front, and one half of it was thatched 
 with corn-leaves, while the other remained open. The 
 back part was thatched, and piled up against it was 
 Indian corn three ears deep. On one side the pile 
 was unbroken, but on the other it was used down to 
 within three or four feet of the ground. In the corner 
 in front was the bed of Don Miguel and his wife, pro- 
 tected by a bull's hide fastened at the head and side. 
 The furniture consisted of a stone roller for mashing 
 corn, and a comal or earthen griddle for baking tortil- 
 las ; and on a rude shelf over the bed were two boxes, 
 which contained the wardrobe and all the property of 
 Don Miguel and his wife, except Bartolo, their son and 
 heir, an overgrown lad of twenty, whose naked body 
 seemed to have burst up out of a pair of boy's trou- 
 I 10 
 
110 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 sers, disdaining a shirt, his stomach swollen by a dis- 
 tressing liver complaint, and that and his livid face 
 clouded with dirt. There was only room enough for 
 one hammock, and, in fact, the cross-sticks were not 
 strong enough to support two men. The pile of corn 
 which had been used down was just high and broad 
 enough for a bed ; by consent, I took this for my sleep- 
 ing-place, and Mr. Catherwood hung up his hammock ; 
 we were so glad at being relieved from the churlish 
 hospitality of Don Gregorio, and so near the ruins, that 
 all seemed snug and comfortable. 
 
 After a noonday meal I mounted the luggage-mule, 
 with only a halter to hold her, and, accompanied by 
 Augustin on foot, set out for Don Gregorio's, for the 
 purpose of bringing over the luggage. The heavy rains 
 had swollen the river, and Augustin was obliged to strip 
 himself in order to ford it. Don Gregorio was not at 
 home ; and the muleteer, as usual, glad of a difficulty, 
 said that it was impossible to cross the river with a car- 
 go that day. Regularly, instead of helping us in our 
 little difficulties, he did all that he could to increase 
 them. He knew that, if we discharged him, we could 
 get no mules in Copan except by sending off two days' 
 journey ; that we had no one on whom we could rely 
 to send ; and that the delay would be at least a week. 
 Uncertain at what moment it might be advisable to 
 leave, and not wishing to be left destitute, I was com- 
 pelled to hire him to remain, at a price which was con- 
 sidered so exorbitant that it gave me a reputation for 
 having "mucha plata," which, though it might be useful 
 at home, I did not covet at Copan ; and, afraid to trust 
 me, the rascal stipulated for daily payments. At that 
 time I was not acquainted with the cash system of busi- 
 ness prevailing in the country. The barbarians are not 
 
AN ADVE N TURE. 11 
 
 satisfied with your custom unless you pay them besides ; 
 and the whole, or a large portion, must be in advance. 
 I was accidentally in arrears to the muleteer ; and, while 
 I was congratulating myself on this only security for his 
 good behaviour, he was torturing himself with the ap- 
 prehension that I did not mean to pay at all. 
 
 In the mean time it began to rain ; and, settling my 
 accounts with the senora, thanking her for her kind- 
 ness, leaving an order to have some bread baked for 
 the next day, and taking with me an umbrella and a 
 blue bag, contents unknown, belonging to Mr. Cather- 
 wood, which he had particularly requested me to bring, 
 I set out on my return. Augustin followed with a tin 
 teapot, and some other articles for immediate use. 
 Entering the woods, the umbrella struck against the 
 branches of the trees, and frightened the mule ; and, 
 while I was endeavouring to close it, she fairly ran 
 away with me. Having only a halter, I could not hold 
 her ; and, knocking me against the branches, she ran 
 through the woods, splashed into the river, missing the 
 fording-place, and never stopped till she was breast- 
 deep. The river was swollen and angry, and the rain 
 pouring down. Rapids were foaming a short distance 
 below. In the effort to restrain her, I lost Mr. Cather- 
 vvood's blue bag, caught at it with the handle of the 
 umbrella, and would have saved it if the beast had 
 stood still; but as it floated under her nose she snort- 
 ed and started back. I broke the umbrella in driving 
 her across ; and, just as I touched the shore, saw the 
 bag floating toward the rapids, and Augustin, with his 
 clothes in one hand and the teapot in the other, both 
 above his head, steering down the river after it. Sup- 
 posing it to contain some indispensable drawing mate- 
 rials, I dashed among the thickets on the bank in the 
 
112 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 hope of intercepting it, but became entangled among 
 branches and vines. I dismounted and tied my mule, 
 and was two or three minutes working my way to the 
 river, where I saw Augustin's clothes and the teapot, 
 but nothing of him, and, with the rapids roaring below, 
 had horrible apprehensions. It was impossible to con- 
 tinue along the bank ; so, with a violent effort, I jump- 
 ed across a rapid channel to a ragged island of sand 
 covered with scrub bushes, and, running down to the 
 end of it, saw the whole face of the river and the rap- 
 ids, but nothing of Augustin. I shouted with all my 
 strength, and, to my inexpressible relief, heard an an- 
 swer, but, in the noise of the rapids, very faint ; pres- 
 ently lie appeared in the water, working himself around 
 a point, and hauling upon the bushes. Relieved about 
 him, I noAv found myself in a quandary. The jump 
 back was to higher ground, the stream a torrent, and, 
 the excitement over, I was afraid to attempt it. It would 
 have been exceedingly inconvenient for me if Augustin 
 had been drowned. Making his way through the 
 bushes and down to the bank opposite with his drip- 
 ping body, he stretched a pole across the stream, by 
 springing upon which I touched the edge of the bank, 
 slipped, but hauled myself up by the bushes with the 
 aid of a lift from Augustin. All this time it was rain- 
 ing very hard ; and now I had forgotten where I tied 
 my mule. We were several minutes looking for her ; 
 and wishing everything but good luck to the old bag, 
 I mounted. Augustin. principally because he could 
 carry them more conveniently on his back, put on his 
 clothes. 
 
 Reaching the village, I took shelter in the hut of Don 
 Jose Maria, while Augustin, being in that happy state 
 that cannot be made worse, continued through the rain. 
 
A THUNDER STORM. 113 
 
 There was no one in the hut but a little girl, and the 
 moment the rain abated I followed. I had another 
 stream to cross, which was also much swollen, and the 
 road was flooded. The road lay through a thick for- 
 est ; very soon the clouds became blacker than ever ; 
 on the left was a range of naked mountains, the old 
 stone quarries of Copan, along which the thunder roll- 
 ed fearfully, and the lightning wrote angry inscriptions 
 on its sides. An English tourist in the United States 
 admits the superiority of our thunder and lightning. I 
 am pertinacious on all points of national honour, but 
 concede this in favour of the tropics. The rain fell 
 as if floodgates were opened from above ; and while 
 my mule was slipping and sliding through the mud I 
 lost my road. I returned some distance, and was again 
 retracing my steps, when I met a woman, barefooted, 
 and holding her dress above her knees, who proved to 
 be my rheumatic patient, the wife of Don Jose Maria. 
 While inquiring the road, I told her that she was set- 
 ting at naught the skill of the physician, and added, 
 what I believed to be very true, that she need not ex- 
 pect to get well under our treatment. I rode on some 
 distance, and again lost my way. It was necessary to 
 enter the woods on the right. I had come out by a 
 footpath which I had not noticed particularly. There 
 were cattle-paths in every direction, and within the line 
 of a mile I kept going in and out, without hitting the 
 right one. Several times I saw the print of Augus- 
 tin's feet, but soon lost them in puddles of water, and 
 they only confused me more ; at length I came to a 
 complete stand-still. It was nearly dark ; I did nol 
 know which way to turn ; and as Mr. Henry Pelham 
 did when in danger of drowning in one of the gutters 
 of Paris, I stood still and hallooed. T< ny great joy. 
 Vol. I.— P 
 
114 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 I was answered by a roar from Augustin, who had 
 been lost longer than I, and was in even greater trib- 
 ulation. He had the teapot in his hand, the stump 
 of an unlighted cigar in his mouth, was plastered 
 with mud from his head to his heels, and altogether 
 a most distressful object. "We compared notes, and, 
 selecting a path, shouting as we went, our united voi- 
 ces were answered by barking dogs and Mr. Cather- 
 wood, who, alarmed at our absence, and apprehend- 
 ing what had happened, was coming out with Don Mi- 
 guel to look for us. I had no change of clothes, and 
 therefore stripped and rolled myself up in a blanket in 
 the style of a North American Indian. All the even- 
 ing peals of thunder crashed over our heads, lightning 
 illuminated the dark forest and flashed through the 
 open hut, the rain fell in torrents, and Don Miguel 
 said that there was a prospect of being cut off for sev- 
 eral days from all communication with the opposite 
 side of the river and from our luggage. Nevertheless, 
 we passed the evening with great satisfaction, smoking 
 cigars of Copan tobacco, the most famed in Central 
 America, of Don Miguel's own growing and his wife's 
 own making. 
 
 Don Miguel, like myself that evening, had but little 
 wearing apparel ; but he was an intelligent and educa- 
 ted man, could read and write, bleed, and draw teeth 
 or a law paper ; literary in his tastes, for he asked Au- 
 gustin if we had any books : he said their being in 
 English made no difference — books were good things ; 
 and it was delightful to hear him express his con- 
 tempt for the understanding of Don Gregorio. He 
 was a sub-tenant on the estate, at a rent of four dollars 
 a year, and was generally behindhand in his payments : 
 be said he had not much to offer us ; but we felt, what 
 
AN OPERATION IN PROSPECT. 115 
 
 was better than a canopied bed, that we were welcome 
 guests. In fact, all were pleased. His wife expected 
 us to drive away her fever and ague ; Bartolo made 
 sure that we would reduce the protuberance of his 
 stomach ; and Don Miguel liked our society. In these 
 happy circumstances, the raging of the elements with 
 out did not disturb us. 
 
 All day I had been brooding over the title-deeds of 
 Don Jose Maria, and, drawing my blanket around me, 
 suggested to Mr. Catherwood " an operation." (Hide 
 your heads, ye speculators in up-town lots!) To buy 
 Copan ! remove the monuments of a by-gone people 
 from the desolate region in which they were buried, 
 set them up in the " great commercial emporium," 
 and found an institution to be the nucleus of a great 
 national museum of American antiquities ! But quere, 
 Could the " idols" be removed ? They were on the 
 banks of a river that emptied into the same ocean by 
 which the docks of New- York are washed, but there 
 were rapids below ; and, in answer to my inquiry, Don 
 Miguel said these were impassable. Nevertheless, I 
 should have been unworthy of having passed through 
 the times " that tried men's souls" if I had not had an 
 alternative ; and this was to exhibit by sample : to cut 
 one up and remove it in pieces, and make casts of the 
 others. The casts of the Parthenon are regarded as 
 precious memorials in the British Museum, and casts of 
 Copan would be the same in New-York. Other ruins 
 might be discovered even more interesting and more 
 accessible. Very soon their existence would become 
 known and their value appreciated, and the friends of 
 science and the arts in Europe would get possession of 
 them. They belonged of right to us, and, though we 
 did not know how soon we might be kicked out our- 
 
116 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 selves, I resolved that ours they should be ; with visions 
 of glory and indistinct fancies of receiving the thanks 
 of the corporation flitting before my eyes, I drew my 
 blanket around me. and fell asleep. 
 
HOW TO B£ GIN. 117 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 How to begin. — Commencement of Explorations. — Interest created by these 
 Ruins. — Visit from the Alcalde. — Vexatious Suspicions. — A welcome Visiter. 
 — Letter from General Cascara. — Buying a City. — Visit from Don Gregorio's 
 Family. — Distribution of Medicines. 
 
 At daylight the clouds still hung over the forest ; 
 as the sun rose they cleared away ; our workmen 
 made their appearance, and at nine o'clock we left the 
 hut. The branches of the trees were dripping wet, 
 and the ground very muddy. Trudging once more 
 over the district which contained the principal monu- 
 ments, we were startled by the immensity of the work 
 before us, and very soon we concluded that to explore 
 the whole extent would be impossible. Our guides 
 knew only of this district ; but having seen columns 
 beyond the village, a league distant, we had reason to 
 believe that others were strewed in different directions, 
 completely buried in the woods, and entirely unknown. 
 The woods were so dense that it was almost hopeless 
 to think of penetrating them. The only way to make 
 a thorough exploration would be to cut down the whole 
 forest and burn the trees. This was incompatible with 
 our immediate purposes, might be considered taking 
 liberties, and could only be done in the dry season. 
 After deliberation, we resolved first to obtain drawings 
 of the sculptured columns. Even in this there was 
 great difficulty. The designs were very complicated, 
 and so different from anything Mr. Catherwood had 
 ever seen before as to be perfectly unintelligible. The 
 cutting was in very high relief, and required a strong 
 
118 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 body of light to bring up the figures ; and the foliage 
 was so thick, and the shade so deep, that drawing was 
 impossible. 
 
 After much consultation, we selected one of the 
 "idols," and determined to cut down the trees around 
 it, and thus lay it open to the rays of the sun. Here 
 again was difficulty. There was no axe ; and the only 
 instrument which the Indians possessed was the ma- 
 chete, or chopping-knife, which varies in form in differ- 
 ent sections of the country ; wielded with one hand, it 
 was useful in clearing away shrubs and branches, but 
 almost harmless upon large trees ; and the Indians, as 
 in the days when the Spaniards discovered them, ap- 
 plied to work without ardour, carried it on with little 
 activity, and, like children, were easily diverted from 
 it. One hacked into a tree, and, when tired, which 
 happened very soon, sat down to rest, and another re- 
 lieved him. "While one worked there were always 
 several looking on. I remembered the ring of the 
 woodman's axe in the forests at home, and wished for 
 a few long-sided Green Mountain boys. But we had 
 been buffeted into patience, and watched the Indians 
 while they hacked with their machetes, and even won- 
 dered that they succeeded so well. At length the trees 
 were felled and dragged aside, a space cleared around 
 the base, Mr. C.'s frame set up, and he set to work. I 
 took two Mestitzoes, Bruno and Francisco, and, offer- 
 ing them a reward for every new discovery, with a 
 compass in my hand set out on a tour of exploration. 
 Neither had seen "the idols" until the morning of our 
 first visit, when they followed in our train to laugh at los 
 Ingleses ; but very soon they exhibited such an interest 
 that I hired them. Bruno attracted my attention by his 
 admiration, as I supposed, of my person; but I found it 
 
INTERESTING EXPLORATIONS 119 
 
 was of my coat, which was a long shooting-frock, with 
 many pockets ; and he said that he could make one 
 just like it except the skirts. He was a tailor by pro- 
 fession, and in the intervals of a great job upon a 
 roundabout jacket, worked with his machete. But he 
 had an inborn taste for the arts. As we passed through 
 the woods, nothing escaped his eye, and he was profes- 
 sionally curious touching the costumes of the sculptured 
 figures. I was struck with the first development of 
 their antiquarian taste. Francisco found the feet and 
 legs of a statue, and Bruno a part of the body to match, 
 and the effect was electric upon both. They searched 
 and raked up the ground with their machetes till they 
 found the shoulders, and set it up entire except the 
 head ; and they were both eager for the possession of 
 instruments with which to dig and find this remaining 
 fragment. 
 
 It is impossible to describe the interest with which I 
 explored these ruins. The ground was entirely new ; 
 there were no guide-books or guides ; the whole was 
 a virgin soil. We could not see ten yards before us, 
 and never knew what we should stumble upon next. 
 At one time we stopped to cut away branches and vines 
 which concealed the face of a monument, and then to 
 dig around and bring to light a fragment, a sculptured 
 corner of which protruded from the earth. I leaned 
 over with breathless anxiety while the Indians worked, 
 and an eye, an ear, a foot, or a hand was disentombed ; 
 and when the machete rang against the chiselled stone, 
 I pushed the Indians away, and cleared out the loose 
 earth with my hands. The beauty of the sculpture, the 
 solemn stillness of the woods, disturbed only by the 
 scrambling of monkeys and the chattering of parrots, 
 the desolation of the city, and the mystery that hung 
 
120 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 over it, all created an interest higher, if possible, than I 
 had ever felt among the ruins of the Old World. After 
 several hours' absence I returned to Mr. Catherwood, 
 and reported upward of fifty objects to be copied, 
 
 I found him not so well pleased as I expected with 
 my report. He was standing with his feet in the mud, 
 and was drawing with his gloves on, to protect his 
 hands from the moschetoes. As we feared, the designs 
 were so intricate and complicated, the subjects so en- 
 tirely new and unintelligible, that he had great diffi- 
 culty in drawing. He had made several attempts, both 
 with the camera lucida and without, but failed to sat- 
 isfy himself or even me, who was less severe in criti- 
 cism. The " idol" seemed to defy his art ; two mon- 
 keys on a tree on one side appeared to be laughing at 
 him, and I felt discouraged and despondent. In fact, 
 I made up my mind, with a pang of regret, that we 
 must abandon the idea of carrying away any materials 
 for antiquarian speculation, and must be content with 
 having seen them ourselves. Of that satisfaction no- 
 thing could deprive us. We returned to the hut with 
 our interest undiminished, but sadly out of heart as to 
 the result of our labours. 
 
 Our luggage had not been able to cross the river, but 
 the blue bag which had caused me so many troubles 
 was recovered. I had offered a dollar reward, and 
 Bartolo, the heir-apparent of the lesseeship of our hut, 
 had passed the day in the river, and found it entangled 
 in a bush upon the bank. His naked body seemed glad 
 of its accidental washing, and the bag, which we sup- 
 posed to contain some of Mr. C.'s drawing materials, 
 being shaken, gave out a pair of old boots, which, how- 
 ever, were at that time worth their weight in gold, be- 
 ing water-proof, and cheered Mr. Catherwood's droop- 
 
VISIT FROM THE ALCALDE. 121 
 
 ing spirits, who was ill with a prospective attack of fe- 
 ver and ague or rheumatism, from standing all day in 
 the mud. Our men went home, and Frederico had or- 
 ders, before coming to work in the morning, to go to 
 Don Gregorio's and buy bread, milk, candles, lard, and 
 a few yards of beef. The door of the hut looked to- 
 ward the west, and the sun set over the dark forest in 
 frorit with a gorgeousness I have never seen surpassed. 
 Again, during the night, we had rain, with thunder and 
 lightning, but not so violent as the night before, and in 
 the morning it was again clear. 
 
 That day Mr. Catherwood was much more success- 
 ful in his drawings ; indeed, at the beginning the light 
 fell exactly as he wished, and he mastered the difficulty. 
 His preparations, too, were much more comfortable, as 
 he had his water-proofs, and stood on a piece of oiled 
 canvass, used for covering luggage on the road. I 
 passed the morning in selecting another monument, 
 clearing away the trees, and preparing it for him to 
 copy. At one o'clock Augustin came to call us to din- 
 ner. Don Miguel had a patch of beans, from which 
 Augustin gathered as many as he pleased, and, with the 
 fruits of a standing order for all the eggs in the village, 
 being three or four a day, strings of beef, and bread and 
 milk from the hacienda, we did very well. In the af- 
 ternoon we were again called off by Augustin, with a 
 message that the alcalde had come to pay us a visit. 
 As it was growing late, we broke up for the day, and 
 went back to the hut. We shook hands with the al- 
 calde, and gave him and his attendants cigars, and were 
 disposed to be sociable ; but the dignitary was so tipsy 
 he could hardly speak. His attendants sat crouching 
 on the ground, swinging themselves on their knot; 
 joints, and, though the positions were different, re- 
 
 Vol. I.— Q 11 
 
122 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 minding us of the Arabs. In a few minutes the alcalde 
 started up suddenly > made a staggering bow. and left 
 us, and they all followed, Don Miguel with them. 
 While we were at supper he returned, and it was easy 
 to see that he, and his wife, and Bartolo were in trou- 
 ble, and, as we feared, the matter concerned us. 
 
 While we were busy with our own affairs, we had but 
 little idea what a sensation we were creating in the vil- 
 lage. Not satisfied with getting us out of his house, 
 Don Gregorio wanted to get us out of the neighbour- 
 hood. Unluckily, besides his instinctive dislike, we had 
 offended him in drawing offsome of his workmen by the 
 high prices which, as strangers, we were obliged to pay, 
 and he began to look upon us as rivals, and said every- 
 where that we were suspicious characters ; that we 
 should be the cause of disturbing the peace of Copan, 
 and introducing soldiers and war into the neighbour- 
 hood. In confirmation of this, two Indians passed 
 through the village, who reported that we had escaped 
 from imprisonment, had been chased to the borders of 
 Honduras by a detachment of twenty-five soldiers under 
 Landaveri, the officer who arrested us, and that, if we 
 had been taken, we would have been shot. The alcalde, 
 who had been drunk ever since our arrival, resolved to 
 visit us, to solve the doubts of the village, and take 
 those measures which the presence of such dangerous 
 persons and the safety of the country might require. 
 But this doughty purpose was frustrated by a ludicrous 
 circumstance. We made it a rule to carry our arms 
 with us to the ruins, and when we returned to the hut 
 to receive his visit, as usual, each of us had a brace 
 of pistols in his belt and a gun in hand ; and our ap- 
 pearance was so formidable that the alcalde was fright- 
 ened at his own audacity in having thought of catechi- 
 
VEXATIOUS SUSPICIONS. 123 
 
 sing us, and fairly sneaked off. As soon as he reached 
 the woods, his attendants reproached him for not ex- 
 ecuting his purpose, and he said, doggedly, that he was 
 not going to have anything to say to men armed as we 
 were. Roused at the idea of our terrible appearance, 
 we told Don Miguel to advise the alcalde and the peo- 
 ple of the village that they had better keep out of our 
 way and let us alone. Don Miguel gave a ghastly 
 smile ; but all was not finished. He said that he had 
 no doubt himself of our being good men, but we were 
 suspected ; the country was in a state of excitement ; 
 and he was warned that he ought not to harbour us, and 
 would get into difficulty by doing so. The poor wom- 
 an could not conceal her distress. Her head was full 
 of assassinations and murders, and though alarmed for 
 their safety, she was not unmindful of ours ; she said 
 that, if any soldiers came into the village, we would be 
 murdered, and begged us to go away. 
 
 We were exceedingly vexed and disturbed by these 
 communications, but we had too much at stake to con- 
 sent to be driven away by apprehensions. "We assured 
 Don Miguel that no harm could happen to him ; that it 
 was all false and a mistake, and that we were above 
 suspicion. At the same time, in order to convince him, 
 I opened my trunk, and showed him a large bundle of 
 papers, sealed credentials to the government and pri- 
 vate letters of introduction in Spanish to prominent men 
 in Guatimala, describing me as " Encargado de los 
 Negocios de los Estados Unidos del Norte," and one 
 very special from Don Antonio Aycinena, now in this 
 city, formerly colonel in the Central army, and banish- 
 ed by Morazan, to his brother the Marquis Aycinena, 
 the leader of the Central party, which was dominant 
 in that district in the civil war then raging, recom- 
 
124 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 mending me very highly, and stating my purpose of 
 travelling through the country. This last letter was 
 more important than anything else ; and if it had been 
 directed to one of the opposite party in politics, it would 
 have been against us, as confirming the suspicion of 
 our being " ennemigos." Never was greatness so 
 much under a shade. Though vexatious, it was almost 
 amusing to be obliged to clear up our character to such 
 a miserable party as Don Miguel, his wife, and Barto- 
 lo ; but it was indispensable to relieve them from 
 doubts and anxieties, enabling us to remain quietly in 
 their wretched hut ; and the relief they experienced, and 
 the joy of the woman in learning that we were tolerably 
 respectable people, not enemies, and not in danger of 
 being put up and shot at, were most grateful to us. 
 
 Nevertheless, Don Miguel advised us to go to Guati- 
 mala or to General Cascara, procure an order to visit 
 the ruins, and then return. We had made a false step 
 in one particular ; we should have gone direct to Guati- 
 mala, and returned with a passport and letters from the 
 government ; but, as we had no time to spare, and did 
 not know what there was at Copan, probably if we had 
 not taken it on the way we should have missed it alto- 
 gether. And we did not know that the country was so 
 completely secluded ; the people are less accustomed to 
 the sight of strangers than the Arabs about Mount Sinai, 
 and they are much more suspicious. Colonel Galindo 
 was the only stranger who had been there before us, 
 and he could hardly be called a stranger, for he was a 
 colonel in the Central American service, and visited the 
 ruins under a commission from the government. Our 
 visit has perhaps had some influence upon the feelings 
 of the people ; it has, at all events, taught Don Gre- 
 gorio that strangers are not easily got rid of; but I 
 
A WELCOME VISITER. 125 
 
 advise any one who wishes to visit these ruins in peace, 
 to go to Guatimala first, and apply to the government 
 for all the protection it can give. As to us, it was too 
 late to think of this, and all we had to do was to main- 
 tain our ground as quietly as we could. We had no 
 apprehension of soldiers coming from any other place 
 merely to molest us. Don Miguel told us, what we 
 had before observed, that there was not a musket in the 
 village ; the quality and excellence of our arms were 
 well known ; the muleteer had reported that we were 
 outrageous fellows, and had threatened to shoot him ; 
 and the alcalde was an excessive coward. We formed 
 an alliance, offensive and defensive, with Don Miguel, 
 his wife, and Bartolo, and went to sleep. Don Miguel 
 and his wife, by-the-way, were curious people ; they 
 slept with their heads at different ends of the bed, so 
 that, in the unavoidable accompaniment of smoking, 
 they could clear each other. 
 
 In the morning we were relieved from our difficulty, 
 and put in a position to hurl defiance at the traducers 
 of our character. While the workmen were gathering 
 outside the hut, an Indian courier came trotting. through 
 the cornfield up to the door, who inquired for Seiior 
 Ministro; and pulling off his petate, took out of the 
 crown a letter, which he said he was ordered by Gen- 
 eral Cascara to deliver into the right hands. It was di- 
 rected to " Senor Catherwood, a Comotan 6 donde se 
 halle," conveying the expression of General Cascara's 
 regret for the arrest at Comotan, ascribing it to the ig- 
 norance or mistake of the alcalde and soldiers, and 
 enclosing, besides, a separate passport for Mr. Cather- 
 wood. I have great satisfaction in acknowledging the 
 receipt of this letter ; and the promptness with which 
 General Cascara despatched it to "Comotan, or wher- 
 
126 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 ever he may be found," was no less than I expected 
 from his character and station. I requested Don Mi- 
 guel to read it aloud, told the Indian to deliver our com- 
 pliments to General Cascara, and sent him to the vil- 
 lage to breakfast, with a donation which I knew would 
 make him publish the story with right emphasis and 
 discretion. Don Miguel smiled, his wife laughed, and 
 a few spots of white flashed along Bartolo's dirty skin. 
 Stocks rose, and I resolved to ride to the village, 
 strengthen the cords of friendship with Don Jose Maria, 
 visit our patients, defy Don Gregorio, and get up a 
 party in Copan. 
 
 Mr. Catherwood went to the ruins to continue his 
 drawings, and I to the village, taking Augustin with me 
 to fire the Balize guns, and buy up eatables for a little 
 more than they were worth. My first visit was to Don 
 Jose Maria. After clearing up our character, I broached 
 the subject of a purchase of the ruins ; told him that, on 
 account of my public business, I could not remain as 
 long as I desired, but wished to return with spades, 
 pickaxes, ladders, crowbars, and men, build a hut to 
 live in, and make a thorough exploration ; that I could 
 not incur the expense at the risk of being refused per- 
 mission to do so ; and, in short, in plain English, asked 
 him, What will you take for the ruins ? I think he was 
 not more surprised than if I had asked to buy his poor 
 old wife, our rheumatic patient, to practice medicine 
 upon. He seemed to doubt which of us was out of his 
 senses. The property was so utterly worthless that 
 my wanting to buy it seemed very suspicious. On ex- 
 amining the paper, I found that he did not own the fee, 
 but held under a lease from Don Bernardo de Aguila, 
 of which three years were unexpired. The tract con- 
 sisted of about six thousand acres, for which he paid 
 
BUYING A CITY. 127 
 
 eighty dollars a year ; he was at a loss what to do, but 
 told me that he would reflect upon it, consult his wife, 
 and give me an answer at the hut the next day. I then 
 visited the alcalde, but he was too tipsy to be suscepti- 
 ble of any impression ; prescribed for several patients ; 
 and instead of going to Don Gregorio's, sent him a 
 polite request by Don Jose Maria to mind his own busi- 
 ness and let us alone ; returned, and passed the rest of 
 the day among the ruins. It rained during the night, 
 but again cleared off in the morning, and we were on 
 the ground early. My business was to go around with 
 workmen to clear away trees and bushes, dig, and ex- 
 cavate, and prepare monuments for Mr. Catherwood to 
 copy. While so engaged, I was called off by a visit 
 from Don Jose Maria, who was still undecided what to 
 do ; and not wishing to appear too anxious, told him to 
 take more time, and come again the next morning. 
 
 The next morning he came, and his condition was 
 truly pitiable. He was anxious to convert unproduc- 
 tive property into money, but afraid, and said that I 
 was a stranger, and it might bring him into difficulty 
 with the government. I again went into proof of char- 
 acter, and engaged to save him harmless with the gov- 
 ernment or release him. Don Miguel read my letters 
 of recommendation, and re-read the letter of Genera! 
 Cascara. He was convinced, but these papers did noi 
 give him a right to sell me his land ; the shade of sus- 
 picion still lingered ; for a finale, I opened my trunk, 
 and put on a diplomatic coat, with a profusion of large 
 eagle buttons. I had on a Panama -hat, soaked with 
 rain and spotted with mud, a check shirt, white panta- 
 loons, yellow up to the knees with mud, and was about 
 as outre as the negro king who received a company of 
 British officers on the coast of Africa in a cocked hat 
 
128 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 and military coat, without any inexpressibles ; but Don 
 Jose Maria could not withstand the buttons on my coat; 
 the cloth was the finest he had ever seen ; and Don 
 Miguel, and his wife, and Bartalo realized fully that 
 they had in their hut an illustrious incognito. The only 
 question was who should find paper on which to draw 
 the contract. I did not stand upon trifles, and gave 
 Don Miguel some paper, who took our mutual instruc- 
 tions, and appointed the next day for the execution of 
 the deed. 
 
 The reader is perhaps curious to know how old 
 cities sell in Central America. Like other articles of 
 trade, they are regulated by the quantity in market, 
 and the demand ; but, not being staple articles, like 
 cotton and indigo, they were held at fancy prices, and 
 at that time were dull of sale. I paid fifty dollars for 
 Copan. There was never any difficulty about price. 
 I offered that sum, for which Don Jose Maria thought 
 me only a fool ; if I had offered more, he would prob- 
 ably have considered me something worse. 
 
 We had regular communications with the hacienda 
 by means of Francisco, who brought thence every morn- 
 ing a large guacal of milk, carrying it a distance of 
 three miles, and fording the river twice. The ladies 
 of the hacienda had sent us word that they intended 
 paying us a visit, and this morning Don Gregorio's 
 wife appeared, leading a procession of all the women 
 of the house, servants, and children, with two of her 
 sons. We received them among the ruins, seated them 
 as well as we could, and, as the first act of civility, gave 
 them cigars all around. It can hardly be believed, but 
 not one of them, not even Don Gregorio's sons, had 
 ever seen the " idols" before, and now they were much 
 more curious to see Mr. C.'s drawings. In fact, I be- 
 
DISTRIBUTION OF MEDICINES. 129 
 
 lieve it was the fame }f these drawings that procured 
 us the honour of their visit. In his heart Mr. C. was 
 not much happier to see them than the old don was to 
 see us, as his work -was stopped, and every day was 
 precious. As I considered myself in a manner the pro- 
 prietor of the city, I wss bound to do the honours ; and, 
 having cleared paths, ted them around, showing off all 
 the lions as the cicercne does in the Vatican or the 
 Pitti Palace ; but I could not keep them away, and, to 
 the distress of Mr. C, brought them all back upon him. 
 
 Obliged to give up work, we invited them down to 
 the hut to see our accommodations. Some of them 
 were our patients, and reminded us that we had not 
 sent the medicines we promised. The fact is, we avoid- 
 ed giving medicines when we could,, among other rea- 
 sons, from an apprehension that if any one happened 
 to die on our hands we should be held responsible : 
 but our reputation was established ; honours were buck- 
 led on our backs, and we were obliged to wear them. 
 These ladies, in spite of Don Gregorio's crustiness, 
 had always treated us kindly, and we would fain have 
 shown our sense of it in some other mode than by giv- 
 ing them physic ; but, to gratify them in their own way, 
 we distributed among them powders and pills, with 
 written directions for use ; and when they went away 
 escorted them some distance, and had the satisfaction 
 of hearing that they avenged us on Don Gregorio by 
 praises of our gallantry and attentions. 
 
 Vol. I.— R 
 
130 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Survey of the Ruins.— Account of them by Huarros and by Colonel Galindo. 
 — Their Situation. — Their Extent. — Plan of Survey. — Pyramidal Structures. — 
 Rows of Death's Heads. — Remarkable Portrait.—" Idols." — Character of the 
 Engravings. — Ranges of Terraces. — A Portrait. — Courtyards. — Curious Altar. 
 — Tablets of Hieroglyphics. — Gigantic Head. — Stone Quarries.— More Appli 
 cants for Medicine. — "Idols" and Altars. — Buried Image. — Material of the 
 Statues.— Idols originally painted. — Circular Altar. — Antiquity of Copan. 
 
 That night there was no rain, and the next day, as 
 the ground was somewhat dry, we commenced a regu- 
 lar survey of the ruins. It was my first essay in engi- 
 neering. Our surveying apparatus was not very exten- 
 sive. We had a good surveying compass, and the rest 
 consisted of a reel of tape which Mr. C. had used in 
 a survey of the ruins of Thebes and Jerusalem. My 
 part of the business was very scientific. I had to direct 
 the Indians in cutting straight lines through the woods, 
 make Bruno and Frederico stick their hats on poles to 
 mark the stations, and measure up to them. The sec- 
 ond day we were thoroughly in the spirit of it. 
 
 That day Don Jose Maria refused to execute the con- 
 tract. Don Gregorio was the cause. He had ceased to 
 interfere with us, but at the idea of our actually taking 
 root in the neighbourhood he could not contain himself, 
 and persuaded Don Jose Maria that he would get into 
 difficulty by having anything to do with us ; he even 
 told him that General Cascara's passport was worth- 
 less, and that General Cascara himself had gone over 
 to Morazan. He carried his point for the moment, but 
 in the end we beat him, and the contract was executed. 
 
 After three days of very hard but very interesting la- 
 bour, we finished the survey, the particulars of which I 
 intend to inflict upon the reader ; but before doing so 
 
ACCOUNT OF THE RUINS. 131 
 
 I will mention the little that was previously known of 
 these ruins. 
 
 Huarros, the historian of Guatimala, says, " Fran- 
 cisco de Fuentes, who wrote the Chronicles of the King- 
 dom of Guatimala, assures us that in his time, that is, 
 in the year 1700, the great circus of Copan still re- 
 mained entire. This was a circular space surrounded 
 by stone pyramids about six yards high, and very well 
 constructed. At the bases of these pyramids were fig- 
 ures, both male and female, of very excellent sculpture, 
 which then retained the colours they had been enam- 
 elled with, and, what was not less remarkable, the 
 whole of them were habited in the Castilian costume. 
 In the middle of this; area, elevated above a flight of 
 steps, was the place ojf sacrifice. The same author af- 
 firms that at a short dlistance from the circus there was 
 a portal constructed oif stone, on the columns of which 
 were the figures of mien, likewise represented in Span- 
 ish habits, with hose, emd ruff around the neck, sword, 
 cap, and short cloak. On entering the gateway there 
 are two fine stone pyramids, moderately large and 
 lofty, from which is suspended a hammock that con- 
 tains two human figures, one of each sex, clothed in the 
 Indian style. Astonishment is forcibly excited on view- 
 ing this structure, because, large as it is, there is no ap- 
 pearance of the component parts being joined together ; 
 and though entirely of one stone, and of an enormous 
 weight, it may be put in motion by the slightest im- 
 pulse of the hand." 
 
 From this time, that is, from the year 1700, there is 
 no account of these ruins until the visit of Colonel Ga- 
 lindo in 1836, before referred to, who examined them 
 under a commission from the Central American gov- 
 ernment, and whose communications on the subject 
 
132 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 were published in the proceedings of the Royal Geo- 
 graphical Society of Paris, and in the Literary Gazette 
 of London. He is the only man in that country who 
 has given any attention at all to the subject of antiqui- 
 ties, or who has ever presented Copan to the consider- 
 ation of Europe and our own country. Not being 
 an artist, his account is necessarily unsatisfactory and 
 imperfect, but it is not exaggerated. Indeed, it falls 
 short of the marvellous account given by Fuentes one 
 hundred and thirty-five years before, and makes no 
 mention of the moveable stone hammock, with the sit- 
 ting figures, which were our great inducement to visit 
 the ruins. No plans or drawings have ever been pub- 
 lished, nor anything that can give even an idea of that 
 valley of romance and wonder, where, as has been re- 
 marked, the genii who attended on King Solomon seem 
 to have been the artists. 
 
 It lies in the district of country now known as the 
 State of Honduras, one of the most fertile valleys in 
 Central America, and to this day famed for the supe- 
 riority of its tobacco. Mr. Catherwood made several 
 attempts to determine the longitude, but the artificial 
 horizon which we took with us expressly for such pur- 
 poses had become bent, and, like the barometer, was 
 useless. The ruins are on the left bank of the Copan 
 River, which empties into the Motagua, and so passes 
 into the Bay of Honduras near Omoa, distant perhaps 
 three hundred miles from the sea. The Copan River 
 is not navigable, even for canoes, except for a short 
 time in the rainy season. Falls interrupt its course be- 
 fore it empties into the Motagua. Cortez, in his terri- 
 ble journey from Mexico to Honduras, of the hardships 
 of which, even now, when the country is comparatively 
 open, and free from masses of enemies, it is difficult to 
 

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 Wife 
 
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EXTENT OF THE RUINS. 133 
 
 form a conception, must have passed within two days' 
 march of this city. 
 
 The extent along the river, as ascertained by monu- 
 ments still found, is more than two miles. There is 
 one monument on the opposite side of the river, at the 
 distance of a mile, on the top of a mountain two thou- 
 sand feet high. Whether the city ever crossed the 
 river, and extended to that monument, it is impossible 
 to say. I believe not. At the rear is an unexplored 
 forest, in which there may be ruins. There are no re- 
 mains of palaces or private buildings, and the principal 
 part is that which stands on the bank of the river, and 
 may, perhaps, with propriety be called the Temple. 
 
 This temple is an oblong enclosure. The front or 
 river wall extends on a right line north and south six 
 hundred and twenty-four feet, and it is from sixty to 
 ninety feet in height. It is made of cut stones, from 
 three to six feet in length, and a foot and a half in 
 breadth. In many places the stones have been thrown 
 down by bushes growing out of the crevices, and in 
 one place there is a small opening, from which the ruins 
 are sometimes called by the Indians Las Ventanas, or 
 the windows. The other three sides consist of ranges 
 of steps and pyramidal structures, rising from thirty to 
 one hundred and forty feet in height on the slope. The 
 whole line of survey is two thousand, eight hundred and 
 sixty-six feet, which, though gigantic and extraordinary 
 for a ruined structure of the aborigines, that the read- 
 er's imagination may not mislead him, I consider it ne- 
 cessary to say, is not so large as the base of the great 
 Pyramid of Ghizeh. 
 
 The engraving opposite gives the plan according to 
 our survey, a reference to which will assist the reader 
 to understand the description. 
 I 12 
 
134 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 To begin on the right : Near the southwest corner o! 
 the river wall and the south wall is a recess, which was 
 probably once occupied by a colossal monument front- 
 ing the water, no part of which is now visible ; proba- 
 bly it has fallen and been broken, and the fragments 
 have been buried or washed away by the floods of the 
 rainy season, Beyond are the remains of two small 
 pyramidal structures, to the largest of which is attached 
 a wall running along the west bank of the river ; this 
 appears to have been one of the principal walls of the 
 city ; and between the two pyramids there seems to 
 have been a gateway or principal entrance from the 
 water. 
 
 The south wall runs at right angles to the river, be- 
 ginning with a range of steps about thirty feet high, and 
 each step about eighteen inches square. At the south- 
 east corner is a massive pyramidal structure one hun- 
 dred and twenty feet high on the slope. On the right 
 are other remains of terraces and pyramidal buildings ; 
 and here also was probably a gateway, by a passage 
 about twenty feet wide, into a quadrangular area two 
 hundred and fifty feet square, two sides of which are 
 massive pyramids one hundred and twenty feet high on 
 the slope. 
 
 At the foot of these structures, and in different parts 
 of the quadrangular area, are numerous remains of 
 sculpture. At the point marked E is a colossal monu- 
 ment richly sculptured, fallen, and ruined. Behind it 
 fragments of sculpture, thrown from their places by 
 trees, are strewed and lying loose on the side of the 
 pyramid, from the base to the top ; and among them our 
 attention was forcibly arrested by rows of death's heads 
 of gigantic proportions, still standing in their places 
 about half way up the side of the pyramid ; the effect 
 
ROWS OF DEATH S HEADS. 
 
 135 
 
 was extraordinary. The engraving which follows rep- 
 resents one of them. 
 
 At the time of our visit, we had no doubt that these 
 were death's heads ; but it has been suggested to me 
 that the drawing is more like the scull of a monkey 
 than that of a man. And, in connexion with this re- 
 mark, I add what attracted our attention, though not 
 so forcibly at the time. Among the fragments on this 
 side were the remains of a colossal ape or baboon, 
 strongly resembling in outline and appearance the four 
 monstrous animals which once stood in front attached 
 to the base of the obelisk of Luxor, now in Paris,* and 
 which, under the name of Cynocephali, were worship- 
 ped at Thebes. This fragment was about six feet high. 
 The head was wanting ; the trunk lay on the side of the 
 pyramid, and we rolled it down several steps, when it 
 fell among a mass of stones, from which we could not 
 disengage it. We had no such idea at the time, but 
 it is not absurd to suppose the sculptured sculls to be 
 intended for the heads of monkeys, and that these ani- 
 
 * As it stands in Paris, these figures are wanting to make it complete as it 
 stood at Thebes, the obelisk alone having been removed. 
 
136 
 
 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 mals were worshipped as deities by the people who 
 built Copan. 
 
 Among the fragments lying on the ground, near this 
 place, is a remarkable portrait, of which the following 
 engraving is a representation. It is probably the por 
 
 trait of some king, chieftain, or sage. The mouth is 
 injured, and part of the ornament over the wreath that 
 crowns the head. The expression is noble and severe, 
 and the whole character shows a close imitation of na- 
 ture. 
 
 At the point marked D stands one of the columns or 
 " idols" which give the peculiar character to the ruins 
 of Copan, the front of which forms the frontispiece to 
 this volume, and to which I particularly request the at- 
 tention of the reader. It stands with its face to the 
 
CHARACTER OF THE ENGRAVINGS. 137 
 
 east, about six feet from the base of the pyramidal wall. 
 It is thirteen feet in height, four feet in front, and three 
 deep, sculptured on all four of its sides from the base 
 to the top, and one of the richest and most elaborate 
 specimens in the whole extent of the ruins. Originally 
 it was painted, the marks of red colour being still dis- 
 tinctly visible. Before it, at a distance of about eight 
 feet, is a large block of sculptured stone, which the In- 
 dians call an altar. The subject of the front is a full- 
 length figure, the face wanting beard, and of a feminine 
 cast, though the dress seems that of a man. On the 
 two sides are rows of hieroglyphics, which probably 
 recite the history of this mysterious personage. 
 
 As the monuments speak for themselves, I shall ab- 
 stain from any verbal description ; and I have so many 
 to present to the reader, all differing very greatly in 
 detail, that it will be impossible, within reasonable lim- 
 its, to present our own speculations as to their charac- 
 ter. I will only remark that, from the beginning, our 
 great object and effort was to procure true copies of the 
 originals, adding nothing for effect as pictures. Mr. 
 Catherwood made the outline of all the drawings with 
 the camera lucida, and divided his paper into sections, 
 so as to preserve the utmost accuracy of proportion. 
 The engravings were made with the same regard to 
 truth, from drawings reduced by Mr. Catherwood him- 
 self, the originals being also in the hands of the engra- 
 ver ; and I consider it proper to mention that a portion 
 of them, of which the frontispiece was one, were sent 
 to London, and executed by engravers on wood whose 
 names stand among the very first in England ; yet, 
 though done with exquisite skill, and most effective as 
 pictures, they failed in giving the true character and 
 expression of the originals ; and, at some considerable 
 
 Vol. I.— S 
 
138 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 loss both of time and money, were all thrown aside, 
 and re-engraved on steel. Proofs of every plate were 
 given to Mr. Catherwood, who made such corrections 
 as were necessary ; and, in my opinion, they are as 
 true copies as can be presented ; and, except the stones 
 themselves, the reader cannot have better materials for 
 speculation and study. 
 
 Following the wall, at the place marked C is anoth- 
 er monument or idol of the same size, and in many re- 
 spects similar. The engraving opposite represents the 
 back. The character of this image, as it stands at the 
 foot of the pyramidal wall, with masses of fallen stone 
 resting against its base, is grand, and it would be diffi- 
 cult to exceed the richness of the ornament and sharp- 
 ness of the sculpture. This, too, was painted, and the 
 red is still distinctly visible. 
 
 The whole quadrangle is overgrown with trees, and 
 interspersed with fragments of fine sculpture, partic- 
 ularly on the east side, and at the northeast corner is a 
 narrow passage, which was probably a third gateway. 
 
 On the right is a confused range of terraces running 
 off into the forest, ornamented with death's heads, some 
 of which are still in position, and others lying about as 
 they have fallen or been thrown down. Turning north- 
 ward, the range on the left hand continues a high, 
 massive pyramidal structure, with trees growing out of 
 it to the very top. At a short distance is a detached 
 pyramid, tolerably perfect, marked on the plan Z, about 
 fifty feet square and thirty feet high. The range con- 
 tinues for a distance of about four hundred feet, de- 
 creasing somewhat in height, and along this there are 
 but few remains of sculpture. 
 
 The range of structures turns at right angles to the 
 left, and runs to the river, joining the other extremity 
 

 
 
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A PORTRAIT. 
 
 139 
 
 of the wall, at which we began our survey. The bank 
 was elevated about thirty feet above the river, and had 
 been protected by a wall of stone, most of which had 
 fallen down. Among the fragments lying on the ground 
 m this side is the portrait here given. 
 
 The plan was complicated, and, the whole ground 
 being overgrown with trees, difficult to make out. 
 There was no entire pyramid, but, at most, two or 
 three pyramidal sides, and these joined on to terraces 
 or other structures of the same kind. Beyond the 
 wall of enclosure were walls, terraces, and pyramidal 
 elevations running off into the forest, which some- 
 times confused us. Probably the whole was not erect- 
 ed at the same time, but additions were made and 
 statues erected by different kings, or, perhaps, in com- 
 memoration of important events in the history of the 
 city. Along the whole line were ranges of steps with 
 pyramidal elevations, probably crowned on the top with 
 buildings or altars now ruined. All these steps and the 
 pyramidal sides were painted, and the reader may ima- 
 gine the effect when the whole country was clear of 
 forest, and priest and people were ascending from the 
 
140 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 outside to the terraces, and thence to the holy places 
 within to pay their adoration in the temple. 
 
 Within this enclosure are two rectangular court- 
 yards, having ranges of steps ascending to terraces. 
 The area of each is about forty feet above the river. 
 Of the larger and most distant from the river the steps 
 have all fallen, and constitute mere mounds. On one 
 side, at the foot of the pyramidal wall, is the monument 
 or " idol" marked B, of which the engraving repre- 
 sents the front. It is about the same height with the 
 others, but differs in shape, being larger at the top 
 than below. Its appearance and character are tasteful 
 and pleasing, but the sculpture is in much lower relief ; 
 the expression of the hands is good, though somewhat 
 formal. The figure of a man shows the relative height. 
 The back and sides are covered with hieroglyphics. 
 
 Near this, at the point marked A, is a remarkable 
 altar, which perhaps presents as curious a subject of 
 speculation as any monument in Copan. The altars, 
 like the idols, are all of a single block of stone. In 
 general they are not so richly ornamented, and are 
 more faded and worn, or covered with moss ; some 
 were completely buried, and of others it was difficult to 
 make out more than the form. All differed in fashion, 
 and doubtless had some distinct and peculiar reference 
 to the idols before which they stood. This stands on 
 four globes cut out of the same stone ; the sculpture is 
 in bas-relief, and it is the only specimen of that kind 
 of sculpture found at Copan, all the rest being in bold 
 alto-relievo. It is six feet square and four feet high, 
 and the top is divided into thirty-six tablets of hiero- 
 glyphics, which beyond doubt record some event in the 
 history of the mysterious people who once inhabited the 
 

 
 
 (§1 iL 
 
 i 
 
 
 
A CURIOUS ALTAR. 
 
 141 
 
 city. The lines are still distinctly visible, and a faithful 
 copy appears in the following cut. 
 
 The next two engravings exhibit the four sides of this 
 altar. Each side represents four individuals. On the 
 west side are the two principal personages, chiefs or 
 warriors, with their faces opposite each other, and ap- 
 parently engaged in argument or negotiation. The 
 other fourteen are divided into two equal parties, and 
 seem to be following their leaders. Each of the two 
 principal figures is seated cross-legged, in the Oriental 
 fashion, on a hieroglyphic which probably designates 
 his name and office, or character, and on three of which 
 
142 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 the serpent forms part. Between the two principal per- 
 sonages is a remarkable cartouche, containing two hie- 
 roglyphics well preserved, which reminded us strong- 
 ly of the Egyptian method of giving the names of the 
 kings or heroes in whose honour monuments were erect- 
 ed. The headdresses are remarkable for their curious 
 and complicated form ; the figures have all breastplates, 
 and one of the two principal characters holds in his 
 hand an instrument, which may, perhaps, be considered 
 a sceptre ; each of the others holds an object which can 
 be only a subject for speculation and conjecture. It 
 may be a weapon of war, and, if so, it is the only thing 
 of the kind found represented at Copan. In other 
 countries, battle-scenes, warriors, and weapons of war 
 are among the most prominent subjects of sculpture ; 
 and from the entire absence of them here there is rea- 
 son to believe that the people were not warlike, but 
 peaceable, and easily subdued. 
 
 The other courtyard is near the river. By cutting 
 down the trees, we discovered the entrance to be on 
 the north side, by a passage thirty feet wide and about 
 three hundred feet long. On the right is a high range 
 of steps rising to the terrace of the river wall. At the 
 foot of this are six circular stones, from eighteen inches 
 to three feet in diameter, perhaps once the pedestals of 
 columns or monuments now fallen and buried. On the 
 left side of the passage is a high pyramidal structure, 
 with steps six feet high and nine feet broad, like the 
 side of one of the pyramids at Saceara, and one hun- 
 dred and twenty-two feet high on the slope. The top 
 is fallen, and has two immense Ceiba trees growing out 
 of it, the roots of which have thrown down the stones, 
 and now bind the top of the pyramid. At the end of 
 the passage is the area or courtyard, probably the great 
 



■ 
 

 
GIGANTIC HEAD. 143 
 
 circus of Fuentes, but which, instead of being circular, 
 is rectangular, one hundred and forty feet long and nine- 
 ty broad, with steps on all the sides. This was proba- 
 bly the most holy place in the temple. Beyond doub* 
 it had been the theatre of great events and of imposing 
 religious ceremonies ; but what those ceremonies were, 
 or who were the actors in them, or what had brought 
 them to such a fearful close, were mysteries which it was 
 impossible to fathom. There was no idol or altar, nor 
 were there any vestiges of them. On the left, standing 
 alone, two thirds of the way up the steps, is the gigan- 
 tic head opposite. It is moved a little from its place, 
 and a portion of the ornament on one side has been 
 thrown down some distance by the expansion of the 
 trunk of a large tree, as shown by the drawing. The 
 head is about six feet high, and the style good. Like 
 many of the others, with the great expansion of the 
 eyes it seems intended to inspire awe. On either side 
 of it, distant about thirty or forty feet, and rather lower 
 down, are other fragments of sculpture of colossal di- 
 mensions and good design, and at the foot are two co- 
 lossal heads turned over and partly buried, well worthy 
 the attention of future travellers and artists. The 
 whole area is overgrown with trees and encumbered 
 with decayed vegetable matter, with fragments of curi- 
 ous sculpture protruding above the surface, which, prob- 
 ably with many others completely buried, would be 
 brought to light by digging. 
 
 On the opposite side, parallel with the river, is a 
 range of fifteen steps to a terrace twelve feet wide, and 
 then fifteen steps more to another terrace twenty feet 
 wide, extending to the river wall. On each side of the 
 centre of the steps is a mound of ruins, apparently of 
 a circular tower. About half way up the steps on this 
 
144 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 side is a pit five feet square and seventeen feet deep, 
 cased with stone. At the bottom is an opening two 
 feet four inches high, with a wall one foot nine inches 
 thick, which leads into a chamber ten feet long, five 
 feet eight inches wide, and four feet high. At each end 
 is a niche one foot nine inches high, one foot eight inch- 
 es deep, and two feet five inches long. Colonel Galin- 
 do first broke into this sepulchral vault, and found the 
 niches and the ground full of red earthenware dishes 
 and pots, more than fifty of which, he says, were full 
 of human bones, packed in lime. Also several sharp- 
 edged and pointed knives of chaya, a small death's 
 head carved in a fine green stone, its eyes nearly closed, 
 the lower features distorted, and the back symmetrical- 
 ly perforated by holes, the whole of exquisite work- 
 manship. Immediately above the pit which leads to 
 this vault is a passage leading through the terrace to 
 the river wall, from which, as before mentioned, the 
 ruins are sometimes called Las Ventanas, or the win- 
 dows. It is one foot eleven inches at the bottom, and 
 
 one foot at the top, in I this form, and barely 
 
 large enough for a man to crawl through on his face. 
 
 There were no remains of buildings. In regard to 
 the stone hammock mentioned by Fuentes, and which, 
 in fact, was our great inducement to visit these ruins, 
 we made special inquiry and search for it, but saw no- 
 thing of it. Colonel Galindo does not mention it. 
 Still it may have existed, and may be there still, broken 
 and buried. The padre of Gualan told us that he had 
 seen it, and in our inquiries among the Indians we met 
 with one who told us that he had heard his father say 
 that his father, two generations back, had spoken of such 
 a monument. 
 
MINOR MISERIES. 145 
 
 1 have omitted the particulars of our survey ; the dif- 
 ficulty and labour of opening lines through the trees ; 
 climbing up the sides of the ruined pyramids ; meas- 
 uring steps, and the aggravation of all these from our 
 want of materials and help, and our imperfect knowl- 
 edge of the language. The people of Copan could not 
 comprehend what we were about, and thought we were 
 practising some black art to discover hidden treasure. 
 Bruno and Francisco, our principal coadjutors, were 
 completely mystified, and even the monkeys seemed 
 embarrassed and confused ; these counterfeit present- 
 ments of ourselves aided not a little in keeping alive the 
 strange interest that hung over the place. They had 
 no " monkey tricks," but were grave and solemn as if 
 officiating as the guardians of consecrated ground. In 
 the morning they were quiet, but in the afternoon they 
 came out for a promenade on the tops of the trees ; and 
 sometimes, as they looked steadfastly at us, they seemed 
 on the point of asking us why we disturbed the repose 
 of the ruins. I have omitted, too, what aggravated our 
 hardships and disturbed our sentiment, apprehensions 
 from scorpions, and bites of moschetoes and garrapatas 
 or ticks, the latter of which, in spite of precautions (pan- 
 taloons tied tight over our boots and coats buttoned 
 close in the throat), got under our clothes, and buried 
 themselves in the flesh ; at night, moreover, the hut of 
 Don Miguel was alive with fleas, to protect ourselves 
 against which, on the third night of our arrival we 
 sewed up the sides and one end of our sheets, and 
 thrust ourselves into them as we would into a sack. 
 And while in the way of mentioning our troubles I may 
 add, that during this time the flour of the hacienda gave 
 out, we were cut off" from bread, and brought down to 
 tortillas. 
 
 Vol. I.— T 13 
 
146 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 The day after our survey was finished, as a relief we 
 set out for a walk to the old stone quarries of Copan. 
 Very soon we abandoned the path along the river, and 
 turned off to the left. The ground was broken, the 
 forest thick, and all the way we had an Indian before 
 us with his machete, cutting down branches and sap- 
 lings. The range lies about two miles north from the 
 river, and runs east and west. At the foot of it we 
 crossed a wild stream. The side of the mount- 
 ain was overgrown with bushes and trees. The top 
 was bare, and commanded a magnificent view of a 
 dense forest, broken only by the winding of the Copan 
 River, and the clearings for the haciendas of Don Gre- 
 gorio and Don Miguel. The city was buried in forest 
 and entirely hidden from sight. Imagination peopled 
 the quarry with workmen, and laid bare the city to their 
 view. Here, as the sculptor worked, he turned to the 
 theatre of his glory, as the Greek did to the Acropolis 
 of Athens, and dreamed of immortal fame. Little did 
 he imagine that the time would come when his works 
 would perish, his race be extinct, his city a desolation 
 and abode for reptiles, for strangers to gaze at and won- 
 der by what race it had once been inhabited. 
 
 The stone is of a soft grit. The range extended a 
 long distance, seemingly unconscious that stone enough 
 had been taken from its sides to build a city. How the 
 huge masses were transported over the irregular and 
 broken surface we had crossed, and particularly how 
 one of them was set up on the top of a mountain two 
 thousand feet high, it was impossible to conjecture. In 
 many places were blocks which had been quarried out 
 and rejected for some defect ; and at one spot, midway 
 in a ravine leading toward the river, was a gigantic 
 block, much larger than any we saw in the city, which 
 
MORE APPLICANTS FOR MEDICINE. 147 
 
 was probably on its way thither, to be carved and set 
 up as an ornament, when the labours of the workmen 
 were arrested. Like the unfinished blocks in the quar- 
 ries at Assouan and on the Pentelican Mountain, it re- 
 mains as a memorial of baffled human plans. 
 
 We remained all day on the top of the range. The 
 close forest in which we had been labouring made us 
 feel more sensibly the beauty of the extended view. On 
 the top of the range was a quarried block. "With the 
 chay stone found among the ruins, and supposed to be 
 the instrument of sculpture, we wrote our names upon 
 it. They stand alone, and few will ever see them. 
 Late in the afternoon we returned, and struck the river 
 about a mile above the ruins, near a stone wall with a 
 circular building and a pit, apparently for a reservoir. 
 
 As we approached our hut we saw two horses with 
 side-saddles tied outside, and heard the cry of a child 
 within. A party had arrived, consisting of an old 
 woman and her daughter, son, and his wife and child, 
 and their visit was to the medicos. We had had so 
 many applications for remedios, our list of patients had 
 increased so rapidly, and we had been so much annoy- 
 ed every evening with weighing and measuring medi- 
 cines, that, influenced also by the apprehensions before 
 referred to, we had given out our intention to discon- 
 tinue practice ; but our fame had extended so far that 
 these people had actually come from beyond San An- 
 tonio, more than thirty miles distant, to be cured, and 
 it was hard to send them away without doing something 
 for them. As Mr. C. was the medico in whom the 
 public had most confidence, I scarcely paid any atten- 
 tion to them, unless to observe that 'they were much 
 more respectable in dress and appearance than any pa- 
 tients we had had except the members of Don Grego- 
 
148 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 no's family ; but during the evening I was attracted 
 by the tone in which the mother spoke of the daughter, 
 and for the first time noticed in the latter an extreme 
 delicacy of figure and a pretty foot, with a neat shoe 
 and clean stocking. She had a shawl drawn over her 
 head, and on speaking to her she removed the shawl, 
 and turned up a pair of the most soft and dovelike eyes 
 that mine ever met. She was the first of our patients 
 in whom I took any interest, and I could not deny my- 
 self the physician's privilege of taking her hand in 
 mine. While she thought we were consulting in re- 
 gard to her malady, we were speaking of her interesting 
 face ; but the interest which we took in her was melan- 
 choly and painful, for we felt that she was a delicate 
 flower, born to bloom but for a season, and, even at the 
 moment of unfolding its beauties, doomed to die. 
 
 The reader is aware that our hut had no partition 
 walls. Don Miguel and his wife gave up their bed to 
 two of the women ; she herself slept on a mat on the 
 ground with the other. Mr. C. slept in his hammock, 
 I on my bed of Indian corn, and Don Miguel and the 
 young men under a shed out of doors. 
 
 I passed two or three days more in making the clear- 
 ings and preparations, and then Mr. Catherwood had 
 occupation for at least a month. When we turned off 
 to visit these ruins, we did not expect to find employ- 
 ment for more than two or three days, and I did not 
 consider myself at liberty to remain longer. I appre- 
 hended a desperate chase after a government ; and fear- 
 ing that among these ruins I might wreck my own po- 
 litical fortunes, and bring reproach upon my political 
 friends, I thought it safer to set out in pursuit. A 
 council was called at the base of an idol, at which Mr. 
 C. and I were both present. It was resumed in Don 
 

 
 . 
 
 
"idols." 149 
 
 Miguel's hut. The subject was discussed in all its 
 bearings. All the excitement in the village had died 
 away ; we were alone and undisturbed ; Mr. C. had un- 
 der his dominion Bruno and Francisco, Don Miguel, 
 his wife, and Bartolo. We were very reluctant to sep- 
 arate, but it was agreed, nem. con., for me to go on to 
 Guatimala, and for Mr. Catherwood to remain and fin- 
 ish his drawings. Mr. Catherwood did remain, and, 
 after many privations and difficulties, was compelled to 
 leave on account of illness. He returned a second 
 time and completed them, and I give the result of the 
 whole. 
 
 At a short distance from the Temple, within ter- 
 raced walls, probably once connected with the main 
 building, are the " idols" which give the distinctive 
 character to the ruins of Copan ; and if the reader will 
 look on the map, and follow the line marked " path- 
 way to Don Miguel's house," toward the end on the 
 right he will see the place where they stand. Near as 
 they are, the forest was so dense that one could not be 
 seen from the other. In order to ascertain their juxta- 
 position, we cut vistas through the trees, and took the 
 bearings and distances ; and I introduce them in the or- 
 der in which they stand. The first is on the left of the 
 pathway, at the point marked K. This statue is fallen 
 and the face destroyed. It is twelve feet high, three 
 feet three inches on one side, and four feet on the other. 
 The altar is sunk in the earth, and we give no drawing 
 0>f either. 
 
 At a distance of two hundred feet stands the one 
 marked S. It is eleven feet eight inches high, three 
 feet four inches on each side, and stands with its front 
 to the east on a pedestal six feet square, the whole rest- 
 ing on a circular stone foundation sixteen feet in diam- 
 
150 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 eter. Before it, at a distance of eight feet ten inches, 
 is an altar, partly buried, three feet three inches above 
 the ground, seven feet square, and standing diagonally 
 to the " idol." It is in high relief, boldly sculptured 
 and in a good state of preservation. 
 
 The engravings which folloAv represent the front and 
 back view. The front, from the absence of a beard 
 and from the dress, we supposed to be the figure of a 
 woman, and the countenance presents traits of individ- 
 uality, leading to the supposition that it is a portrait. 
 
 The back is a different subject. The head is in the 
 centre, with complicated ornaments over it, the face 
 broken, the border gracefully disposed, and at the foot 
 are tablets of hieroglyphics. The altar is introduced 
 on one side, and consists of four large heads strangely 
 grouped together, so as not to be easily made out. It 
 could not be introduced in its proper place without 
 hiding the lower part of the " idol." In drawing the 
 front, Mr. Catherwood always stood between the altar 
 and the " idol." 
 
" 
 
 

 
 5SH 
 
 J M 
 
 ■ ■ 
 

 . 
 
 ■ 
 
 
A BURIED IMAGE. 151 
 
 A little behind this is the monument marked T. It 
 is one of the most beautiful in Copan, and in work- 
 manship is equal to the finest Egyptian sculpture. 
 Indeed, it would be impossible, with the best instru- 
 ments of modern times, to cut stones more perfectly. 
 It stands at the foot of a wall of steps, with only the 
 head and part of the breast rising above the earth. 
 The rest is buried, and probably as perfect as the por- 
 tion which is now visible. When we first discovered 
 it, it was buried up to the eyes. Arrested by the beau- 
 ty of the sculpture, and by its solemn and mournful 
 position, we commenced excavating. As the ground 
 was level up to that mark, the excavation was made 
 by loosening the earth with the machete, and scoop- 
 ing it out with the hands. As we proceeded, the earth 
 formed a wall around and increased the labour. The 
 Indians struck so carelessly with their machetes, that, 
 afraid to let them work near the stone, we cleared it 
 with our own hands. It was impossible, however, 
 to continue ; the earth was matted together by roots 
 which entwined and bound the monument. It requi- 
 red a complete throAving out of the earth for ten or 
 twelve feet around ; and without any proper instru- 
 ments, and afraid of injuring the sculpture, we prefer- 
 red to let it remain, to be excavated by ourselves at 
 some future time or by some future traveller. Who- 
 ever he may be, I almost envy him the satisfaction of 
 doing it. The outline of the trees growing around it 
 is given in the engraving. 
 
152 INCIDENTS OP TRAVEL. 
 
 Toward the south, at a distance of fifty feet, is a 
 mass of fallen sculpture, with an altar, marked R on 
 the map ; and at ninety feet distance is the statue 
 marked Q,, standing with its front to the east, twelve 
 feet high and three feet square, on an oblong pedestal 
 seven feet in front and six feet two inches on the sides. 
 Before it, at a distance of eight feet three inches, is an 
 altar five feet eight inches long, three feet eight inches 
 broad, and four feet high. 
 
 The face of this " idol" is decidedly that of a man. 
 The beard is of a curious fashion, and joined to the 
 mustache and hair. The ears are large, though not 
 resembling nature ; the expression is grand, the mouth 
 partly open, and the eyeballs seem starting from the 
 sockets ; the intention of the sculptor seems to have 
 been to excite terror. The feet are ornamented with 
 sandals, probably of the skins of some wild animals, in 
 the fashion of that day. 
 
 The back of this monument contrasts remarkably 
 with the horrible portrait in front. It has nothing gro- 
 tesque or pertaining to the rude conceits of Indians, but 
 is noticeable for its extreme grace and beauty. In our 
 daily walks we often stopped to gaze at it, and the more 
 we gazed the more it grew upon us. Others seemed 
 intended to inspire terror, and, with their altars before 
 them, sometimes suggested the idea of a blind, bigoted, 
 and superstitious people, and sacrifices of human vic- 
 tims. This always left a pleasing impression ; and there 
 was a higher interest, for we considered that in its me- 
 dallion tablets the people who reared it had published 
 a record of themselves, through which we might one 
 day hold conference with a perished race, and unveil 
 the mystery that hung over the city. 
 
M 
 
 
 


I aa T^l 
 
 
 
 
 sj : HI Pip 
 

 
 
 
 
 
MATERIAL OF THE STATUES. 153 
 
 At a distance of one hundred and forty-two feet in a 
 southeasterly direction is the idol marked P. It stands 
 at the foot of a wall rising in steps to the height of thirty 
 or forty feet ; originally much higher, but the rest fallen 
 and in ruins. Its face is to the north ; its height eleven 
 feet nine inches, the breadth of its sides three feet, and 
 the pedestal is seven feet square. Before it, at a dis- 
 tance of twelve feet, is a colossal altar. It is of good 
 workmanship, and has been painted red, though scarce- 
 ly any vestige of the paint remains, and the surface is 
 time-worn. The two engravings given opposite repre- 
 sent the front and back view. The former appears to 
 represent the portrait of a king or hero, perhaps erected 
 into a deity. It is judged to be a portrait, from certain 
 marks of individuality in the features, also observable in 
 most of the others, and its sex is ascertained by the 
 beard, as in the Egyptian monuments, though this has 
 a mustache, which is not found in Egyptian portraits. 
 
 The back of this idol, again, presents an entirely dif- 
 ferent subject, consisting of tablets, each containing 
 two figures oddly grouped together, ill-formed, in some 
 cases with hideous heads, while in others the natural 
 countenance is preserved. The ornaments, diadems, 
 and dresses are interesting, but what these personages 
 are doing or suffering it is impossible to make out. 
 This statue had suffered so much from the action of 
 time and weather, that it was not always easy to make 
 out the characters, the light being in all cases very bad, 
 and coming through irregular openings among the 
 branches of trees. 
 
 The stone of which all these altars and statues are 
 made is a soft grit-stone from the quarries before re- 
 ferred to. At the quarries we observed many blocks 
 with hard flint-stones distributed through them, which 
 Vol. I.— U 
 
154 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 had been rejected by the workmen after they were 
 quarried out. The back of this monument had con- 
 tained two. Between the second and third tablets the 
 flint has been picked out, and the sculpture is blurred ; 
 the other, in the last row but one from the bottom, re- 
 mains untouched. An inference from this is, that the 
 sculptor had no instruments with which he could cut 
 so hard a stone, and, consequently, that iron was un- 
 known. We had, of course, directed our searches and 
 inquiries particularly to this point, but did not find any 
 pieces of iron or other metal, nor could we hear of any 
 having ever been found there. Don Miguel had a col- 
 lection of chay or flint stones, cut in the shape of ar- 
 row-heads, which he thought, and Don Miguel was no 
 fool, were the instruments employed. They were suf- 
 ficiently hard to scratch into the stone. Perhaps by 
 men accustomed to the use of them, the whole of these 
 deep relief ornaments might have been scratched, but 
 the chay stones themselves looked as if they had been 
 cut by metal. 
 
 The engraving opposite represents the altar as it 
 stands before the last monument. It is seven feet 
 square and four feet high, richly sculptured on all its 
 sides. The front represents a death's head. The top 
 is sculptured, and contains grooves, perhaps for the 
 passage of the blood of victims, animal or human, offer- 
 ed" in sacrifice. The trees in the engraving give an 
 idea of the forest in which these monuments are buried. 
 

 
 
 
 

 I 
 
 
IDOLS ORIGINALLY PAINTED. 155 
 
 At the distance of one hundred and twenty feet north 
 is the monument marked O, which, unhappily, is fallen 
 and broken. In sculpture it is the same with the beau- 
 tiful half-buried monument before given, and, I repeat 
 it, in workmanship equal to the best remains of Egyp- 
 tian art. The fallen part was completely bound to the 
 earth by vines and creepers, and before it could be 
 drawn it was necessary to unlace them, and tear the 
 fibres out of the crevices. The paint is very perfect, 
 and has preserved the stone, which makes it more to 
 be regretted that it is broken. The altar is buried, 
 with the top barely visible, which, by excavating, we 
 made out to represent the back of a tortoise. 
 
156 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 The next engravings exhibit the front, back, and one 
 of the sides of monument N, distant twenty feet from 
 the last. It is twelve feet high, four feet on one side, 
 three feet four inches on the other, and stands on a ped- 
 estal seven feet square, with its front to the west. 
 There is no altar visible ; probably it is broken and 
 buried. The front view seems a portrait, probably of 
 some deified king or hero. The two ornaments at the 
 top appear like the trunk of an elephant, an animal un- 
 known in that country. The crocodile's head is seven 
 feet from it, but appears to have no connexion with it. 
 This is four feet out of the ground, and is given in the 
 plate as one of the many fragments found among the 
 ruins. 
 
 The back presents an entirely different subject from 
 the front. At the top is a figure sitting cross-legged, 
 almost buried under an enormous headdress, and three 
 of the compartments contain tablets of hieroglyphics. 
 
 Not to multiply engravings, I have omitted side 
 views, as they are, in general, less interesting. This is 
 particularly beautiful. The tablets of hieroglyphics are 
 very distinct. 
 

 
 
 
■ 1 
 
 " 
 
 lip 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 IPS 
 
 &M?^ j 
 
 § & - , „ , t ■ 
 .; SB 
 
 saw ^^ 
 
 ft! -^ ■-'£>■ ) 
 
 > 
 
 
 
A CIRCULAR ALTAR. 
 
 157 
 
 At the distance of twenty-eight feet in the same di- 
 rection is the statue marked M, which is fallen, and 
 lies on its back, with a tree across it nearly lengthwise, 
 leaving visible only the outline, feet, and sandals, both 
 of which are well sculptured. The following engraving 
 is a representation of it. 
 
 Opposite is a circular altar with two grooves on the 
 top, three feet high, and five feet six inches in diame- 
 ter, an engraving of which is here given. 
 
158 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 The next three engravings are the front, back, and 
 side view of the monument marked L, distant seventy- 
 two feet north from the last, with its front toward the 
 west, twelve feet high, three feet in front, two feet eight 
 inches on the side, and the pedestal is six feet square. 
 Before it, at a distance of eleven feet, is an altar very 
 much defaced, and buried in the earth. 
 
 The front view is a portrait. The back is entirely 
 mide up of hieroglyphics, and each tablet has two 
 hieroglyphics joined together, an arrangement which 
 afterward we observed occasionally at Palenque. The 
 side presents a single row of hieroglyphics, joined in 
 the same manner. The tablets probably contain the 
 history of the king or hero delineated, and the particu- 
 lar circumstances or actions which constituted his great- 
 ness. 
 
 I have now given engravings of all the most interest- 
 ing monuments of Copan, and I repeat, they are accu- 
 rate and faithful representations. I have purposely ab- 
 stained from all comment. If the reader can derive 
 from them but a small portion of the interest that we 
 did, he will be repaid for whatever he may find unprof- 
 itable in these pages. 
 
 Of the moral effect of the monuments themselves, 
 standing as they do in the depths of a tropical forest, si- 
 lent and solemn, strange in design, excellent in sculp- 
 ture, rich in ornament, different from the works of any 
 other people, their uses and purposes, their whole histo- 
 ry so entirely unknown, with hieroglyphics explaining 
 all, but perfectly unintelligible, I shall not pretend to 
 convey any idea. Often the imagination was pained in 
 gazing at them. The tone which pervades the ruins is 
 that of deep solemnity. An imaginative mind might 
 

 
 
 
! ;, '\ - \ .. ^'7 ~ ^ ^ ,:•: g.., v . 
 

ANTIQUITY OF COPAN. 159 
 
 be infected with superstitious feelings. From constant- 
 ly calling them by that name in our intercourse with the 
 [ndians, we regarded these solemn memorials as " idols" 
 — deified kings and heroes — objects of adoration and 
 ceremonial worship. We did not find on either of the 
 monuments or sculptured fragments any delineations of 
 human, or, in fact, any other kind of sacrifice, but had 
 no doubt that the large sculptured stone invariably 
 found before each "idol" was employed as a sacrificial 
 altar. The form of sculpture most frequently met with 
 was a death's head, sometimes the principal ornament, 
 and sometimes only accessory ; whole rows of them on 
 the outer wall, adding gloom to the mystery of the 
 place, keeping before the eyes of the living death and 
 the grave, presenting the idea of a holy city — the Mec- 
 ca or Jerusalem of an unknown people. 
 
 In regard to the age of this desolate city I shall not 
 at present offer any conjecture. Some idea might per- 
 haps be formed from the accumulations of earth and the 
 gigantic trees growing on the top of the ruined struc- 
 tures, but it would be uncertain and unsatisfactory. 
 Nor shall I at this moment offer any conjecture in re- 
 gard to the people who built it, or to the time when or 
 the means by which it was depopulated, and became 
 a desolation and ruin ; whether it fell by the sword, or 
 famine, or pestilence. The trees which shroud it may 
 have sprung from the blood of its slaughtered inhabi- 
 tants ; they may have perished howling with hunger ; 
 or pestilence, like the cholera, may have piled its streets 
 with dead, and driven forever the feeble remnants from 
 their homes ; of which dire calamities to other cities we 
 have authentic accounts, in eras both prior and subse- 
 quent to the discovery of the country by the Span- 
 iards. One thing I believe, that its history is graven 
 
160 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 on its monuments. No Champollion has yet brought 
 to them the energies of his inquiring mind. Who shall 
 read them ? 
 
 " Chaos of ruins ! who shall trace the void, 
 O'er the dim fragments cast a lunar light, 
 And say ' here was or is,' where all is doubly night ?" 
 
 In conclusion, I will barely remark, that if this is the 
 place referred to by the Spanish historian as conquered 
 by Hernandez de Chaves, which I almost doubt, at that 
 time its broken monuments, terraces, pyramidal struc- 
 tures, portals, walls, and sculptured figures were entire, 
 and all were painted ; the Spanish soldiers must have 
 gazed at them with astonishment and wonder ; and it 
 seems strange that a European army could have en- 
 tered it without spreading its fame through official re- 
 ports of generals and exaggerated stories of soldiers. 
 At least, no European army could enter such a city iioav 
 without this result following ; but the silence of the 
 Spaniards may be accounted for by the fact that these 
 conquerors of America were illiterate and ignorant ad- 
 venturers, eager in pursuit of gold, and blind to every- 
 thing else ; or, if reports were made, the Spanish gov- 
 ernment, with a jealous policy observed down to the 
 last moment of her dominion, suppressed everything 
 that might attract the attention of rival nations to hei 
 American possessions. 
 
REPARATION. 161 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Separation. — An Adventure. — Copan River. — Don Clementine — A Wedding. - 
 A Supper.— A Wedding Ball.— Buying a Mule.— The Sierra.— View from tho 
 Top. — Esquipulas. — The Cura. — Hospitable Reception. — Church of Esquipu- 
 las. — Responsibility of the Cura. — Mountain of Quezaltapeque.— A narrow Es- 
 cape.— San Jacinto. — Reception by the Padre. — A Village Flte. — An Ambus- 
 cade.— Motagua River.— Villageof Santa Rosali.— A Death Scene. 
 
 Having decided that, under the circumstances, it was 
 best to separate, we lost no time in acting upon the con- 
 clusion. I had difficulty in coming to a right under- 
 standing with my muleteer, but at length a treaty was 
 established. The mules were loaded, and at two 
 o'clock I mounted. Mr. C. accompanied me to the 
 edge of the woods, where I bade him farewell, and 
 left him to difficulties worse than we had apprehended. 
 I passed through the village, crossed the river, and. 
 leaving the muleteer on the bank, rode to the hacienda 
 of Don Gregorio ; but I was deprived of the satisfac- 
 tion which I had promised myself at parting, of pour- 
 ing upon him my indignation and contempt, by the con- 
 sideration that Mr. Catherwood was still within the 
 reach of his influence ; and even now my hand is stay- 
 ed by the reflection that when Mr. C, in great distress, 
 robbed by his servant, and broken down by fever, took 
 refuge in his house, the don received him as kindly as 
 his bearish nature would permit. My only comfort 
 was in making the lordly churl foot up an account of 
 sixpences and shillings for eggs, milk, meat, &c, to the 
 amount of two dollars, which I put into his hands. I 
 afterward learned that I had elevated myself very much 
 in his estimation, and in that of the neighbourhood 
 
 Vol. L— X 
 
162 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 generally, by my handsome conduct in not going off' 
 without paying.* 
 
 My good understanding with the muleteer was of 
 short duration. At parting, Mr. C. and I had divided 
 our stock of plates, knives and forks, spoons, &c, and 
 Augustin had put my share in the basket which had 
 carried the whole, and these, being loose, made such a 
 clattering that it frightened the mule. The beast ran 
 away, setting us all off together with a crashing noise, 
 till she threw herself among the bushes. We had a 
 scene of terrible confusion, and I escaped as fast as I 
 could from the hoarse and croaking curses of the mule- 
 teer. 
 
 For some distance the road lay along the river. The 
 Copan has no storied associations, but the Guadalquiv- 
 er cannot be more beautiful. On each side were mount- 
 ains, and at every turn a new view. We crossed a 
 high range, and at four o'clock again came down upon 
 the river, which was here the boundary-line of the State 
 of Honduras. It was broad and rapid, deep, and bro- 
 ken by banks of sand and gravel. Fording it, I again 
 entered the State of Guatimala. There was no vil- 
 lage, not even a house in sight, and no difficulty about 
 passport. Late in the afternoon, ascending a little em- 
 inence, I saw a large field with stone fences, and bars, 
 and cattle-yard, that looked like a Westchester farm. 
 We entered a gate, and rode up through a fine park to 
 a long, low, substantial-looking hacienda. It was the 
 house of Don Clementino, whom I knew to be the kins- 
 man of Don Gregorio, and the one of all others I would 
 
 * On Mr. Catherwood's second visit, finding the rancho of Don Miguel desert- 
 ed, he rode to Don Gregorio's. The don had in the mean time been to Esqui- 
 pulas, and learned our character from the cura ; and it is due to him to say, that ha 
 received Mr. C. kindly, and made many inquiries after me. The rest of the fam- 
 ily were as cordial as before. 
 
A WEDDING. 163 
 
 have avoided, but also the very one at which the mule- 
 teer had determined to contrive a halt. The family 
 consisted of a widow with a large family of children, 
 the principal of whom were Don Clementino, a young 
 man of twenty-one, and a sister of about sixteen or 
 seventeen, a beautiful fair-haired girl. Under the shed 
 was a party of young people in holyday dresses, and 
 five or six mules, with fanciful saddles, Avere tied to the 
 posts of the piazza. Don Clementino was jauntily 
 dressed in white jacket and trousers, braided and em- 
 broidered, a white cotton cap, and over it a steeple- 
 crowned glazed hat, with a silver cord twisted round as 
 a band, a silver ball with a sharp piece of steel as a 
 cockade, and red and yellow stripes under the brim. 
 He had the consequential air and feelings of a boy who 
 had suddenly become the head of an establishment, and 
 asked me, rather superciliously, if I had finished my vis- 
 it to the " idols ;" and then, without waiting for an an- 
 swer, if I could mend an accordion ; then, if I could 
 play on the guitar ; then to sell him a pair of pocket, 
 pistols which had been the admiration of Don Grego 
 rio's household ; and, finally, if I had anything to sell. 
 With this young gentleman I should have been more 
 welcome as a pedler than an ambassador from any 
 court in Europe, though it must be admitted that I 
 was not travelling in a very imposing way. Finding 
 I had nothing to make a bargain for, he picked up a 
 guitar, danced oft* to his own music, and sat down on 
 the earthen floor of the piazza to play cards. 
 
 Within, preparations were going on for a wedding at 
 the house of a neighbour, two leagues distant, and a 
 little before dark the young men and girls appeared 
 dressed for the journey. All were mounted, and, for 
 the first time, I admired exceedingly the fashion of the 
 
164 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 country in riding. My admiration was called forth by 
 the sister of Don Clementino and the happy young gal- 
 lant who escorted her. Both rode the same mule and 
 on the same saddle. She sat sidewise before him ; his 
 right arm encircled her waist ; at starting, the mule was 
 restiff, and he was obliged, from necessity, to support 
 her in her seat, to draw her close to himself; her ear 
 invited a whisper ; and when she turned her face to- 
 ward him her lips almost touched his. I would have 
 given all the honours of diplomacy for his place. 
 
 Don Clementino was too much of a coxcomb to set 
 off in this way ; he had a fine mule gayly caparisoned, 
 swung a large basket-hilted sword through a strap in 
 the saddle, buckled on a pair of enormous spurs, and. 
 mounting, wound his poncha around his waist, so that 
 the hilt of *he sword appeared about six inches above it ; 
 giving the animal a sharp thrust with his spurs, he drove 
 her up the steps, through the piazza, and down the other 
 side, and asked me if I wanted to buy her. I declined ; 
 and, to my great satisfaction, he started to overtake the 
 others, and left me alone with his mother, a respecta- 
 ble-looking, gray-haired old lady, who called together 
 all the servants and Indian children for vesper prayers 
 I am sorry to say it, but for the first time I was remind- 
 ed that it was Sunday. I stood in the door, and it was 
 interesting to see them all kneeling before the figure of 
 the Virgin. An old gray-nosed mule walked up the 
 piazza, and, stopping by my side, put his head in the 
 door, when, more forward than I, he walked in, gazed 
 a moment at the figure of the Virgin, and, without dis- 
 turbing anybody, walked out again. 
 
 Soon after I was called in to supper, which consisted 
 of fried beans, fried eggs, and tortillas. The beans and 
 .eggs were served on heavy silver dishes, and the tortil- 
 
A WEDDING BALL. 165 
 
 las were laid in a pile by my side. There was no plate, 
 knife, fork, or spoon. Fingers were made before forks ; 
 but bad habits make the latter, to a certain degree, ne- 
 cessary. Poultry, mutton, beef, and the like, do not 
 come amiss to fingers, but beans and fried eggs were 
 puzzling. How I managed I will not publish ; but, 
 from appearances afterward, the old lady could not have 
 supposed that I had been at all at a loss. I slept in an 
 outbuilding constructed of small poles and thatched, 
 and for the whole paid eighteen and three quarter cents. 
 I gave a pair of earrings to a woman whom I supposed 
 to be a servant, but who, I found, was only a visiter, 
 and who went away at the same time that I did. 
 
 At a distance of two leagues from the hacienda we 
 passed the house of the wedding-party. The dancing 
 was not yet over, and I had a strong fancy to see again 
 the fair-haired sister of Don Clementine Having nc 
 better excuse, I determined to call him out and " talk 
 mule." As I rode up, the doorway and the space 
 thence to the middle of the room were filled with girls, 
 all dressed in white, with the roses in their hair faded, 
 and the brightness of their eyes somewhat dimmed by 
 a night's dissipation. The sister of Don Clementino 
 was modest and retiring, and, as if she suspected my 
 object, shrank back from observation, while he made 
 all open a way for him and his guitar. I had no idea 
 of buying his mule, but made him an offer, which, to 
 my surprise and regret at the time, he accepted ; but 
 virtue is its own reward, and the mule proved a most 
 faithful animal. 
 
 Mounted on my new purchase, we commenced as- 
 cending the great Sierra, which divides the streams of the 
 Atlantic from those that empty into the Pacific Ocean. 
 The ascent was ragged and toilsome, but in two hours 
 
166 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 we reached the top. The scenery was wild and grand, 
 I have no doubt ; but the fact is, it rained very hard all 
 the time ; and while I was floundering among mud- 
 holes I would have given the chance of the sublime for 
 a good Macadamized road. Mr. Catherwood, who 
 crossed on a clear day, says that the view from the top, 
 both ways, was the most magnificent he saw in the 
 country. Descending, the clouds were lifted, and I 
 looked down upon an almost boundless plain, running 
 from the foot of the Sierra, and afar off saw, standing 
 alone in the wilderness, the great church of Esquipulas, 
 like the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, 
 and the Caaba in Mecca, the holiest of temples. My 
 muleteer was very anxious to stop at a collection of 
 huts on this side of the town, and told me first that the 
 place was occupied by Carrera's soldiers, and then that 
 he was ill. I had a long and magnificent descent to 
 the foot of the Sierra. The plain reminded me of the 
 great waste-places of Turkey and Asia Minor, but wis 
 more beautiful, being bounded by immense mountains. 
 For three hours the church was our guide. As we ap- 
 proached, it stood out more clearly defined against 
 mountains whose tops were buried in the clouds. 
 
 Late in the afternoon we entered the town and rode 
 up to the convent. I was a little nervous, and pre- 
 sented my passport as a letter of introduction ; but 
 could I have doubted the hospitality of a padre ? Don 
 Gregorio's reception made me feel more deeply the 
 welcome of the cura of Esquipulas. None can know 
 the value of hospitality but those who have felt the want 
 of it, and they can never forget the welcome of stran- 
 gers in a strange land. 
 
 The whole household of the cura turned out to assist, 
 and in a few minutes the mule* were munching corn in 
 
CUR A OF ESQUIPULAS. 167 
 
 the yard, while I was installed in the seat of honour in 
 the convent. It was by far the largest and best build- 
 ing in the place. The Avails were three or four feet 
 thick ; a large portico extended in front ; the entrance 
 was by a wide hall, used as a sleeping-place for ser- 
 vants, and communicating with a courtyard in the rear : 
 on the left was a large sala or reception-room, with 
 lofty windows and deep recesses ; on one side of the 
 wall was a long wooden settee, with a high back, and 
 arms at each end ; before it was a massive unpolished 
 mahogany table, and above hung a painting of our Sav- 
 iour ; against the wall were large antiquated chairs, the 
 backs and seats covered with leather, and studded with 
 nails having large brass heads. 
 
 The cura was a young man, under thirty, of delicate 
 frame, and his face beamed with intelligence and re- 
 finement of thought and feeling. He was dressed in a 
 long black bombazet gown, drawn tight around the 
 body, with a blue border around the neck, and a cross 
 was suspended to his rosary. His name was Jesus Ma- 
 ria Guttierrez. It was the first time I had ever heard 
 that name applied to a human being, and even in him 
 it seemed a profanation. 
 
 On a visit to him, and breaking the monotony of his 
 secluded life, was an old schoolfellow and friend, Col- 
 onel San Martin, of Honduras, who had been Avounded 
 in the last battle against Morazan, and was staying at 
 the convent to recover his health and strength. His 
 case showed the distracted state of the country. His 
 father Avas of the same politics with himself, and his 
 brother Avas fighting on the other side in the battle in 
 Avhich he was Avounded. 
 
 They gave me disagreeable information in regard to 
 my road to Guatimala. Carrera's troops had fallen 
 
168 INCIDENTS OF TRATliL 
 
 back from the frontiers of San Salvador, and occupied 
 the whole line of villages to the capital. They were 
 mostly Indians, ignorant, intemperate, and fanatic, who 
 could not comprehend my official character, could not 
 read my passport, and, in the excited state of the coun- 
 try, would suspect me as a stranger. They had al- 
 ready committed great atrocities ; there was not a cu- 
 rate on the whole road ; and to attempt traversing it 
 would be to expose myself to robbery and murder. I 
 was very loth to protract my journey, but it would have 
 been madness to proceed ; in fact, no muleteer would 
 undertake to go on with me, and I was obliged to turn 
 my eyes to Chiquimula and the road I had left. The 
 eura said I must be guided by him. I put myself in his 
 hands, and at a late hour lay down to rest with the 
 strange consciousness of being a welcome guest. 
 
 I was awaked by the sound of the matin bell, and ac- 
 companied the eura to mass. The church for every- 
 day use was directly opposite the convent, spacious and 
 gloomy, and the floor was paved with large square 
 bricks or tiles. Rows of Indian women were kneeling 
 around the altar, cleanly dressed, with white mantillas 
 over their heads, but without shoes or stockings. A 
 few men stood up behind or leaned against the walls. 
 
 We returned to breakfast, and afterward set out to 
 visit the only object of interest, the great church of 
 the pilgrimage, the Holy Place of Central America. 
 Every year, on the fifteenth of January, pilgrims visit 
 it, even from Peru and Mexico ; the latter being a jour- 
 ney not exceeded in hardship by the pilgrimage to Mec- 
 ca. As in the East, " it is not forbidden to trade du- 
 ring the pilgrimage ;" and when there are no wars to 
 make the roads unsafe, eighty thousand people have as- 
 
CHURCH OF ESQUIPULAS. 169 
 
 sembled among the mountains to barter and pay hom- 
 age to " our Lord of Esquipulas." 
 
 The town contains a population of about fifteen hun- 
 dred Indians. There was one street nearly a mile long, 
 with mud houses on each side ; but most of the houses 
 were shut, being occupied only during the time of the 
 fair. At the head of this street, on elevated ground, 
 stood the great church. About half way to it we cross- 
 ed a bridge over a small stream, one of the sources of 
 the great Lempa. It was the first stream I had seen 
 that emptied into the Pacific Ocean, and I saluted it with 
 reverence. Ascending by a flight of massive stone 
 steps in front of the church, we reached a noble plat- 
 form a hundred and fifty feet broad, and paved with 
 bricks a foot square . The view from this platform of 
 the great plain and the high mountains around was 
 magnificent ; and the church, rising in solitary gran- 
 deur in a region of wildness and desolation, seemed al- 
 most the work of enchantment. The facade was rich 
 with stucco ornaments and figures of saints larger than 
 life ; at each angle was a high tower, and over the dome 
 a spire, rearing aloft in the air the crown of that once 
 proud power which wrested the greatest part of Amer- 
 ica from its rightful owners, ruled it for three centuries 
 with a rod of iron, and now has not within it a foot of 
 land or a subject to boast of. 
 
 "We entered the church by a lofty portal, rich in 
 sculptured ornaments. Inside was a nave with two 
 aisles, separated by rows of pilasters nine feet square, 
 and a lofty dome, guarded by angels with expanded 
 wings. On the walls were pictures, some drawn by ar- 
 tists of Guatimala, and others that had been brought 
 from Spain ; and the recesses were filled with statues, 
 some of which were admirably well executed. The 
 Vol. I.— Y 15 
 
170 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 pulpit was covered with gold leaf, and the altar protected 
 by an iron railing with a silver balustrade, ornamented 
 with six silver pillars about two feet high, and two an- 
 gels standing as guardians on the steps. In front of the 
 altar, in a rich shrine, is an image of the Saviour on the 
 cross, " our Lord of Esquipulas," to whom the church 
 is consecrated, famed for its power of working mira- 
 cles. Every year thousands of devotees ascend the 
 steps of his temple on their knees, or laden with a 
 heavy cross, who are not permitted to touch the sacred 
 image, but go away contented in obtaining a piece of 
 riband stamped with the words " Dulce nombre de Je- 
 sus." 
 
 We returned to the convent, and while I was sit- 
 ting with Colonel San Martin the curate entered, and, 
 closing the door, asked me if my servant was faithful. 
 Augustin's face was an unfortunate letter of recom- 
 mendation. Colonel M'Donald, Don Francisco, and, 
 as I afterward heard, General Cascara, distrusted him. 
 I told the cura all I knew of him, and mentioned his 
 conduct at Comotan ; but he still cautioned me to be- 
 ware of him. Soon after, Augustin, who seemed to 
 suspect that he had not made a very favourable impres- 
 sion, asked me for a dollar to pay for a confession. My 
 intelligent friend was not free from the prejudices of 
 education ; and though he could not at once change his 
 opinion so warmly expressed, he said that Augustin had 
 been well brought up. 
 
 In the course of the day I had an opportunity of see- 
 ing what I afterward observed throughout all Central 
 America: the life of labour and responsibility passed 
 by the cura in an Indian village, who devotes himself 
 faithfully to the people under his charge. Besides offi- 
 ciating in all the services of the church, visiting the 
 
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CUR A. 171 
 
 sick, and burying the dead, my worthy host was looked 
 up to by every Indian in the village as a counsellor, 
 friend, and father. The door of the convent was al- 
 ways open, and Indians were constantly resorting to 
 him : a man who had quarrelled with his neighbour ; a 
 wife who had been badly treated by her husband ; a 
 father whose son had been carried off as a soldier ; a 
 young girl deserted by her lover : all who were in trou- 
 ble or affliction, came to him for advice and consolation, 
 and none went away without it. And, besides this, he 
 was principal director of all the public business of the 
 town ; the right hand of the alcalde ; and had been 
 consulted whether or not I ought to be considered a 
 dangerous person. But the performance of these mul- 
 tifarious duties, and the excitement and danger of the 
 times, were wearing away his frame. Four years be- 
 fore he gave up the capital, and took upon himself this 
 curacy, and during that time he had lived a life of la- 
 bour, anxiety, and peril ; cut off from all the delights 
 of social intercourse that make labour welcome, be- 
 loved by the Indians, but without any to sympathize 
 with him in his thoughts and feelings. Once the troops 
 of Morazan invaded the town, and for six months he 
 lay concealed in a cave of the mountains, supported by 
 Indians. Lately the difficulties of the country had in- 
 creased, and the cloud of civil war Avas darker than 
 ever. He mourned, but, as he said, he had not long to 
 mourn ; and the whole tone of his thoughts and con- 
 versation was so good and pure, that it seemed like a 
 green spot in a sandy desert. We sat in the embrasure 
 of a large window ; within, the room was already dark. 
 He took a pistol from the window-sill, and, looking at 
 it, said, with a faint smile, that the cross was his pro- 
 tection ; and then he put his thin hand in mine, and 
 
172 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 told me to feel his pulse. It was slow and feeble, and 
 seemed as if every beat would be the last ; but he said 
 it was always so ; and, rising suddenly, added that this 
 was the hour of his private devotions, and retired to 
 his room. I felt as if a good spirit had flitted away. 
 
 My anxiety to reach Guatimala would not permit me 
 long to enjoy the cura's hospitality. I intended to dis- 
 charge my muleteer ; but, unable to replace him imme- 
 diately, and unwilling to lose another day, I was obliged 
 to retain him. The usual course was to leave Esqui- 
 pulas in the afternoon, and ride four leagues ; but, hav- 
 ing seven mules and only four cargoes, I determined to 
 make these four leagues and the next day's journey also 
 in one. Early in the morning I started. When I bade 
 farewell, the priest and the soldier stood side by side, 
 pictures of Christian humility and man's pride, and both 
 recommended me to God at parting. 
 
 We crossed the plain ; the mountains of Esquipulas 
 seemed to have gained in grandeur ; in half an hour 
 commenced ascending the Mountain of Quezaltepeque, 
 thickly wooded, and, like that of Mico, muddy and full 
 of gullies and deep holes. Heavy clouds were hang- 
 ing over it, and as we ascended it rained hard ; but be- 
 fore reaching the top the clouds were lifted, the sun 
 shone, and the plain of Esquipulas, with the great 
 Sierra behind, covered with lofty pines, and c]ouds 
 chasing each other over its sides, all blended together, 
 made one of the grandest spectacles I ever beheld ; and 
 the great church still presented itself for the farewell 
 view of the pilgrim. But the gleam of sunshine did not 
 last long, and again the rain poured ; for a while I had 
 great satisfaction in seeing the muleteer drenched and 
 hearing him grumble ; but an unaccountable fit of good- 
 humour came over me, and I lent him my bear's skin 
 
A NARROW ESCAPE. 173 
 
 greatcoat. At intervals the sun shone, and we saw at 
 a great distance below us the village of Quezaltepeque. 
 The descent was very precipitous, and the mud-holes 
 and gullies were very deep ; and the clouds which 
 hung over the mountain were typical of my fortune. 
 Mr. Catherwood, who followed on this road about 
 three weeks afterward, heard from the Padre of Quez- 
 altepeque that a plan had been formed to murder and 
 rob me, on the supposition that I had a large amount of 
 money about my person, which laudable project was 
 defeated by my crossing in the morning instead of the 
 afternoon, as is usually done. 
 
 We passed through Quezaltepeque without dismount- 
 ing. It is usual, in dividing the stages to Guatimala, 
 to make an afternoon's journey to this place and sleep. 
 It was now but eleven o'clock, clear and bright as a 
 September day at home. Leaving the village, we cross- 
 ed a beautiful stream, at which some women were wash- 
 ing. Very soon we ascended again, and on the top of 
 the mountain came to an abrupt precipice, forming the 
 side of a deep ravine. We descended by a narrow 
 path on the very edge of the precipice, part of the way 
 on a narrow protruding ledge, and in other places by a 
 path built against the rock to the bottom of the ravine. 
 On the other side rose another precipitous wall. The 
 ravine was deep and narrow, and wild to sublimity. 
 The stream ran through it over a rocky bed, and for 
 some distance the road lay in this bed. We ascended 
 by a steep and difficult path to the top of the other side 
 of the ravine, and rode for some distance along its edge. 
 The opposite side was a perpendicular mass of lime- 
 stone rock, black with exposure, and in some places 
 were patches of grass on a brown ground, lighted up 
 occasionally by brief gleams of sunshine. We de- 
 
174 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 scended again to the very bottom of the ravine, and, 
 crossing the stream, ascended almost immediately a 
 narrow path built along the side of the precipice to the 
 top, being on the same side from which we started. It 
 is impossible to give any idea of the Avildness of this 
 double crossing of the ravine. It terminated abruptly, 
 and at the extreme end, on a point, was a small hacien- 
 da, on one side looking directly up this awful opening, 
 and on the other upon a soft valley. 
 
 At three o'clock we struck the richueloof San Jacin- 
 to. On the opposite side was a fine table of land, with 
 mountains rising beyond, and covered to the top with 
 noble pines. There was no cultivation, and the whole 
 country was in primeval wildness. At five o'clock we 
 crossed the stream and entered the village of San Ja- 
 cinto. It consisted of a collection of huts, some made 
 of poles and some plastered with mud. The church 
 was of the same simple construction. On each side 
 was an arbour thatched with leaves of Indian corn, and 
 at the corners were belfries, with three bells each. In 
 front were two gigantic Ceiba trees, the roots of which 
 ran along even with the ground more than a hundred 
 feet, and the branches spread to an equal extent. 
 
 The village was under the care of the cura of Q,ucz- 
 altepeque, who was then at San Jacinto. I rode up to 
 his house and presented the letter of the cura of Es- 
 quipulas. My muleteer, without unloading the mules, 
 threw himself down on the piazza, and, with my great- 
 coat on his unthankful body, began abusing me for kill- 
 ing him with long marches. I retorted ; and before the 
 padre had time to recover from his surprise at our vis- 
 it, he was confounded by our clamour. 
 
 But he was a man who could bear a great deal, being 
 above six feet, broad shouldered, and with a protuber- 
 
PADRE OF SAN JACINTO. 175 
 
 ance in front that required support to keep it from fall- 
 ing. His dress consisted of a shirt and pair of panta- 
 loons, with button-holes begging for employment ; but 
 he had a heart as big as his body, and as open as his 
 wearing apparel ; and when I told him I had ridden 
 from Esquipulas that day, he said I must remain a week 
 to recruit. As to going the next day, he would not 
 hear of it ; and, in fact, very soon I found that it was 
 impossible without other aid, for my abominable mule- 
 teer filled up the measure of his iniquities by falling ill 
 with a violent fever. 
 
 At my earnest solicitation, the padre endeavoured to 
 procure me mules for the next day, and during the even- 
 ing we had a levee of villagers. The man upon Avhom 
 he principally relied said that it was dangerous travel- 
 ling ; that two Ingleses had been arrested in Honduras, 
 and had escaped, but their muleteers and servants were 
 murdered. I could perhaps have thrown some light 
 upon this story, but did not think it worth while to 
 know anything about such suspicious characters. The 
 padre was distressed that he could not serve me, but at 
 length said that a man of my rank and character (I had 
 shown him my passport, and Augustin had fired the Ba- 
 lize guns) ought to have every facility, and he would 
 provide for me himself; and he ordered a man to go 
 early in the morning to his hacienda for mules ; after 
 which, fatigued with such unusual efforts, he threw his 
 gigantic body into a hammock, and swung himself to 
 sleep. 
 
 The household of the padre consisted of two young 
 men, one deaf and dumb, and the other a fool. The 
 former possessed extraordinary vivacity and muscular 
 powers, and entertained the padre by his gesticulations, 
 stories, and sleight-of-hand tricks, and particularly with 
 
176 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 a steel puzzle. There was something intensely inter- 
 esting in the kindness with which the padre played with 
 nim, and the earnestness with which he hung around his 
 gigantic master. At times the young man became so 
 excited that it seemed as if he would burst in the effort 
 to give utterance to his thoughts; but all ended in a 
 feeble sound, which grated upon my nerves, and seem- 
 ed to knit him more closely to the good-hearted padre. 
 The latter was continually changing the puzzle, but the 
 ingenuity of the lad could not be defeated. The poor 
 simpleton meanwhile looked on with admiration. The 
 padre offered him half a dollar if he could open it, and 
 both he and the deaf and dumb lad laughed at the awk- 
 ward attempts of the simpleton. The padre finished 
 with a warm panegyric upon the worth of both, which 
 the deaf and dumb boy seemed to understand and 
 thank him for, but which he that had ears seemed not 
 to hear. 
 
 The padre insisted on my taking his own catre, 
 which was unusually neat, and had a moscheto-netting. 
 It was my best bed since I left Colonel M' Donald's at 
 Balize. Before I was up he stood over me with a flask 
 of agua ardiente. Soon after came chocolate, with a 
 roll of sweet bread ; and finding that it Avas impossible 
 to get away that day, I became a willing victim to his 
 hospitality. At nine o'clock Ave had breakfast ; at 
 twelve, fruit ; at two, dinner ; at five, chocolate and 
 sweet bread ; and at eight, supper, with constant inter- 
 mediate invitations to agua ardiente, which the padre, 
 with his hand on that prominent part of his own body, 
 said was good for the stomach. In everything except 
 good feeling he was the complete antipodes of the cura 
 of Esquipulas. I had had some suspicion that my 
 muleteer was not as unwell as he pretended ; but his 
 
A VILLAGE FETE. 177 
 
 neglect of the padre's good fare convinced me that he 
 was really in a bad way. I gave him some medicine, 
 but I believe he suspected me, and was afraid to take it. 
 
 At twelve o'clock the mules sent for by the padre ar- 
 rived, with a strapping young ladino as muleteer ; but 
 they were not in a condition to set off that day. In the 
 afternoon I took a long walk on the bank of the river, 
 and, returning, stopped under one of the Ceiba trees, 
 where a travelling merchant was displaying his wares, 
 consisting of two trunks of striped cottons, beads, horn 
 combs, scissors, &c. His mule was tied by a long 
 rope, and a pair of pistols lay on one of the boxes. 
 
 Passing on, I met a party of women, dressed in white, 
 with red shawls over the tops of their heads. I have 
 seen enough of fancy colours in women to remove some 
 prejudices, but retain an oldfashioned predilection for 
 white faces ; and here I remarked that the whitest 
 women were the prettiest, though the padre did not 
 agree with me entirely. Under the shed of a deserted 
 house near by was an old Indian with ten or twelve In- 
 dian girls, teaching them the catechism. They were 
 dressed in red plaid cotton, drawn round the waist and 
 tied in a knot on the left side, and a white handker- 
 chief over the shoulders. Other parties were out in 
 different places, organizing for a village fete in honour 
 of some saint ; and toward evening, while sitting with 
 the padre, now dressed in his long black gown, a pro- 
 cession advanced, headed by the oldest man in the vil- 
 lage, with white hair and beard, and a lame man and 
 two or three associates playing on violins. Before 
 reaching the house they set off five or six rockets, and 
 then all went up and saluted the padre, kissing the 
 back of his hand ; the women went inside, carrying 
 bundles wrapped in clean white napkins ; and when I 
 Vol. I.— Z 
 
178 1NCIDENT8 OF TRAVEL. 
 
 went in to take my chocolate, I found the table piled 
 up with cakes and confectionary. Afterward all went 
 to the church for vesper prayers. I could but think, 
 what afterward impressed itself upon me more and 
 more in every step of my journey in that country, bless- 
 ed is the village that has a padre. 
 
 During the dav, the deaf and dumb boy had con- 
 trived several times to make me understand that he 
 wished to accompany mc, and in the evening the padre 
 concluded to make him happy by giving him a journey 
 to Guatimala. Early in the morning the convent was 
 in commotion. The good padre was unused to fitting 
 out an expedition for Guatimala. Many things were 
 wanting besides the mules, and the village was laid 
 under contribution. During the bustle, a single soldier 
 entered the village, and created an alarm that he was 
 the pioneer of others come to quarter upon them. The 
 padre told him who I was, and that the guard must not 
 molest me. At length all was ready ; a large concourse 
 of people, roused by the requisitions of the padre, were 
 at the door, and among them two men with violins. 
 The padre directed his own gigantic energies particu- 
 larly to the eatables ; he had put up chocolate, bread, 
 sausages, and fowl ; a box of cakes and confectionary ; 
 and, as the finale, the deaf and dumb lad came out of 
 the house, holding at arm's length above his head the 
 whole side of an ox, with merely the skin taken off and 
 the ribs cracked, which was spread as a wrapper ovei 
 one of the cargoes, and secured by a netting. A large 
 pot, with the bottom upward, was secured on the top 
 of another cargo. The padre took a kind leave of me. 
 and a most affectionate one of the deaf and dumb lad : 
 and at nine o'clock, with violins playing, and a turn- 
 out that would have astonished my city friends, I made 
 
AN AMBUSCADE. 179 
 
 another start for the capitol. A low groan from the 
 piazza reminded me of my muleteer. I dismounted, 
 and, at the moment of parting, exchanged a few words 
 of kindness. His brawny figure was prostrated by fe- 
 ver ; at times he had vexed me almost beyond endu- 
 rance ; but, with all my malice against him, I could not 
 have wished him in a worse condition. The boy sat 
 by his side, apparently softened by the illness of his 
 master, and indifferent as to my going. 
 
 For the first time in a long while we had a level 
 road. The land was rich and productive ; brown sugar 
 sold for three cents a pound, and white lump, even un- 
 der their slow process of making it, for eight cents, 
 and indigo could be raised for two shillings a pound. 
 I was riding quietly, when four soldiers sprang into the 
 road almost at my mule's head. They were perfectly 
 concealed until I approached, and their sudden appear- 
 ance was rather footpad-like. They could not read my 
 passport, and said that they must conduct me to Chi- 
 quimula. My road lay a little off from that town ; and, 
 fortunately, while under escort, the soldier whom I had 
 seen in San Jacinto overtook us, satisfied them, and re- 
 leased me. A short distance beyond I recognised the 
 path by which we turned off to go to Copan. Three 
 weeks had not elapsed, and it seemed an age. We 
 passed by the old church of Chiquimula, and, winding 
 up the same zigzag path by which we had descended, 
 crossed the mountain, and descended to the plain of 
 Zacapa and the Motagua River, which I hailed as an 
 old acquaintance. It was growing late, and we saw 
 no signs of habitation. A little before dark, on the top 
 of a small eminence on the right, we saw a little boy, 
 who conducted us to the village of Santa Rosali, beauti- 
 fully situated on a point formed by the bend of the river. 
 
180 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 The village consisted of a miserable collection of huts 7 
 before the door of the best was a crowd of people, who 
 did not ask us to stop, and we rode up to one of the 
 poorest. All we wanted was sacate* for the mules. 
 The stores of the padre were abundant for me, and the 
 ieaf and dumb lad cut a few ribs from the side of the 
 ox, and prepared supper for himself and the muleteer. 
 
 While supping we heard a voice of lamentation from 
 the house before which the crowd was assembled. Af- 
 ter dark T walked over, and found that they were mourn- 
 ing over the dead. Inside were several women ; one 
 was wringing her hands, and the first words I distin- 
 guished were, " Oh, our Lord of Esquipulas, why have 
 you taken him away ?" She was interrupted by the 
 tramp of horses' hoofs, and a man rode up, whose figure 
 in the dark I could not see, but who, without dismount- 
 ing, in a hoarse voice said that the priest asked six dol- 
 lars to bury the corpse. One of the crowd cried out, 
 " Shame ! shame !" and others said they would bury it 
 in el campo> the field. The horseman, in the same 
 hoarse voice, said that it was the same if buried in the 
 road, the mountain, or the river, the priest must have 
 his fee. There was a great outcry ; but the widow, in a 
 weeping tone, declared that the money must be paid, 
 nnd then renewed her exclamations : " My only help, 
 my consolation, my head, my heart ; you who was so 
 strong, who could lift a ceroon of indigo :" " you said 
 you would go and buy cattle ;" "I said, ' yes ; bring me 
 fine linen and jewelry.' " The words, and the piercing 
 tone of distress, reminded me of a similar scene I had 
 once beheld on the banks of the Nile. By invitation 
 of one of the friends I entered the house. The corpse 
 
 * Sacate means any kind of grass or leaves for mules. The best is sacate 
 do maize, or the stalks and leaves of Indian corn. 
 
A DEATH SCENE. 181 
 
 lay on the ground, in a white cotton dress extending 
 from the neck to the feet. It was that of a young man, 
 not more than twenty-two, with the mustache just bud- 
 ding on his upper lip, tall, and but a month before so 
 strong that he could " lift a ceroon of indigo." He 
 had left home to buy cattle, returned with a fever, 
 and in a week was dead. A bandage was tied under 
 his chin to hold up his jaw ; his thin wrists were se- 
 cured across his breast ; and his taper fingers held a 
 small crucifix made of corn-husks stitched together. 
 On each side of his head was a lighted candle, and ants, 
 which burden the ground, were swarming over his face. 
 The widow did not notice me, but the mother and two 
 young sisters asked me if I had no remedios ; if I could 
 not cure him ; if I could have cured him if I had seen 
 him before. 
 
 I left the bereaved family and withdrew. The 
 man who had asked me to enter met me at the door, 
 and gave me a seat among the friends. He inquired 
 about my country, where it was, and whether the cus- 
 toms were like theirs ; and very soon, but for the lam- 
 entations of the widow, many would have forgotten 
 that a few yards from them lay a dead friend. 
 
 I remained with them an hour, and then returned to 
 my hut. The piazza was full of hogs ; the interior was 
 a perfect piggery, full of fleas and children ; and the 
 woman, with a cigar in her mouth, and the harshest 
 voice I ever heard, still brought in child after child, and 
 piled them up on the floor. My men were already 
 asleep outside ; and borrowing an undressed ox-hide, I 
 spread it on the floor at the end of the house ; upon 
 this I laid my pellon, and upon that I laid myself. The 
 night before I had slept under a moscheto netting ! Oh, 
 padre of San Jacinto, that a man of my " rank and 
 T 16 
 
1 82 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 character" should come to this ! The woman was 
 sleepless ; a dozen times she came out to smoke a cigar 
 or to drive away the hogs ; and her harsh voice, and 
 the screams from the house of mourning, made me re- 
 joice when the cocks crew for morning. 
 
CHIMAtAPl. 183 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Chimalapa. — The Cabildo. — A Scene of Revelry.— Guastatoya.— A Hunt for kou- 
 bers.— Approach to Guatimala. — Beautiful Scenery. — Volcanoes of Agua and 
 Fuego. — First View of the City.— Entry into the City. — First Impressions. — 
 The Diplomatic Residence. — Parties in Central America. — Murder of Vice- 
 president Flores. — Political State of Guatimala. — An embarrassing Situation. 
 — The Constituent Assembly.— Military Police. 
 
 At peep of day I bathed in the Motagua. In the 
 mean time the deaf and dumb boy prepared chocolate, 
 and the corpse of the young man was borne to its final 
 resting-place. I went over to the desolate house, bade 
 farewell to the mourners, and resumed my journey. 
 Again we had on our right the Motagua River and the 
 mountains of Vera Paz. The road was level ; it was 
 excessively hot, and we suffered from thirst. At noon 
 we stopped two hours at the village of Fisioli. Late 
 in the afternoon we came upon a table of land covered 
 with trees bearing a flower, looking like apple-trees in 
 blossom, and cactus or tunos, with branches from three 
 to fifteen feet long. I was in advance ; and having 
 been in the saddle all day, and wishing to relieve my 
 mule, I dismounted and walked. A man overtook me 
 on horseback, who touched me by telling me that my 
 mule was tired. The mule, unused to being led, pulled 
 back, and my new acquaintance followed, whipping her ; 
 and remembering the fable, and that I could not please 
 everybody, I mounted, and we rode into Chimalapa to- 
 gether. 
 
 It was a long, straggling village, with a large church, 
 but there was no cura, and I rode to the cabildo. This, 
 besides being the town-house, is a sort of caravansary 
 or stopping-place for travellers, being a remnant of Ori- 
 
184 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 ental usages still existing in Spain, and introduced into 
 her former American possessions. It was a large build- 
 ing, situated on the plaza, plastered and whitewashed. 
 At one end the alcalde was holding a sort of court, and 
 at the other were the gratings of a prison. Between 
 them was a room about thirty feet by twenty, with na- 
 ked walls, and destitute of chair, bench, or table. The 
 luggage was brought in, the hammock hung up, and the 
 alcalde sent me my supper. Hearing the sound of a 
 drum and violin, I walked to the house whence it is- 
 sued, which was crowded with men and women smo- 
 king, lounging in hammocks, dancing, and drinking 
 agua ardicnte, in celebration of a marriage. The night 
 before I had been present at a death-scene. This was 
 an exhibition of disgusting revelry, and the prominent 
 vagabond was disposed to pick a quarrel with me ; see- 
 ing which, I quietly walked back to the cabildo, shut 
 the door, and betook myself to my hammock. 
 
 We started early. Leaving the town, for some dis- 
 tance on each side was a fence made of a rail upon 
 crotches four feet high, and fdled with long pieces of 
 tunos. The road was the same as we had found it on 
 the preceding day, level, and abounding with the cac- 
 tus. Again it was desperately hot, and in the after- 
 noon we saw at the foot of a high mountain a cluster 
 of cocoanut-trees, glittering in the sunbeams like plate9 
 of silver, and concealing the town of Guastatoya. At 
 four o'clock we entered the town, beautifully situated, 
 overlooking a valley in the rear of the square waving 
 with Indian corn, and rode up to the house of the broth- 
 er of Donna Bartola, our hostess of Gualan, to whom I 
 was recommended by her. 
 
 I had a good supper of eggs, frigoles, chocolate, tortil- 
 las, and was lying in a hammock with my boots off when 
 
A HUNT FOR ROBBERS. 185 
 
 the alcalde entered with a sword under his arm, follow- 
 ed by my host and several other persons, and told me 
 that a party of robbers was out after me ; that he had 
 men on their traces, and wished to borrow my arms 
 and servants. The latter I was willing enough to lend, 
 for I knew they would find their way back ; but the for- 
 mer, I thought, were more secure under my own eye. 
 Being on the main road, I considered it so safe that I 
 had that day taken off the caps of my pistols and gun ; 
 but, drawing on my boots, recapping and distributing 
 my surplus arms, we sallied forth. The muleteer would 
 not go, but the deaf and dumb lad, with a face of fire, 
 drew his machete and followed. 
 
 It was pitchy dark, and on first going out from the 
 light I could not see at all, but stumbled along after my 
 companions, who moved swiftly and without noise 
 through the plaza, and along the whole length of the 
 town. In the suburbs we approached a hut which 
 stood alone, with the side toward us, closed, but the 
 light of a fire issued from both ends ; and here it was 
 supposed the robbers were, unconscious of pursuit or 
 suspicion. After a brief consultation, it was agreed 
 that the party should separate, and one half enter at 
 each end ; and the alcalde's charge was to shoot the 
 villains rather than let them escape. Stealing toward 
 the hut, we rushed in at the same time from the oppo- 
 site sides, and captured an old woman, who sat on the 
 ground replenishing the fire. She was not surprised at 
 our visit, and, with a bitter laugh, said the birds had 
 flown. At that moment we heard the report of a mus- 
 ket, which was recognised as the signal of the men 
 who had been stationed to watch them. All rushed 
 out ; another report hurried us on faster, and very soon 
 we reached the foot of a mountain. As we ascended 
 
 Vol I.— A a 
 
186 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 the alcalde said that he saw a man crawling on his 
 hands and feet up the side of the mountain, and, 
 snatching my double-barrelled gun, fired at him as 
 ooolly as he would have done at a woodcock ; all scat- 
 tered in pursuit, and I was left with Augustin and the 
 deaf and dumb boy. 
 
 Moving on, but not very fast, and looking back occa- 
 sionally to the distant lights in the village, with an un- 
 known mountain before me and a dark night, I began 
 to think that it was about enough for me to defend my- 
 self when attacked ; although the affair was got up on 
 my account, it was straining a point for me to pass the 
 night in helping to rid the town of its robbers. Next I 
 reflected that, if the gentlemen we were in pursuit of 
 should take it into their heads to double, my cap and 
 white dress made me conspicuous, and it might be awk- 
 ward to meet them at this place ; and, in order to gain 
 time for consideration what it was best to do, I walked 
 back toward the town, and had not fully made up my 
 mind when I reached the plaza. 
 
 Here I stopped, and in a few minutes a man passed, 
 who said that he had met two of the robbers on the 
 main road, and that they had told him they would catch 
 me in the morning. They had got it into their heads 
 that I was an aiddccamp of Carrera, returning from 
 Balize with a large amount of money to pay the troops. 
 In about an hour the alcalde and his posse comitatus 
 returned. I had no idea of being robbed by mistake ; 
 and, knowing the facility with which the robbers might 
 go ahead and take a long shot at me, I asked the al- 
 calde to furnish me with two men to go in advance and 
 keep a lookout ; but I was heartily sick of the country 
 and the excitement of its petty alarms. 
 
 Daylight dispelled the gloom which night had cas« 
 
APPROACH TO GUATIMALA. 187 
 
 over my spirits. Leaving Guastatoya, for some distance 
 I rode through a cultivated country, and the fields were 
 divided by fences. Very soon I forgot all apprehen- 
 sions of robbers, and. tired of the slow pace of the car- 
 go-mules, rode on, leaving them far behind. At eleven 
 o'clock I entered a ravine so wild that I thought it could 
 not be the main road to Guatimala ; there were no 
 mule-tracks visible ; and, returning, I took another 
 road, the result of which was that I lost my way, and 
 rode the whole day alone. I could gain no certain 
 intelligence of Augustin and the muleteer, but contin- 
 ued on in the belief that they were before me. Push- 
 ing on rapidly, at dark I rode up to a hacienda on one 
 side of the road, at which I was very kindly received 
 by the proprietor, who was a mulatto, and, to my greal 
 surprise, I learned that I had advanced to within one 
 long day's journey of Guatimala. He made me anx- 
 ious, however, about the safety of my luggage ; but for 
 that night I could do nothing. I lay down opposite 
 a large household altar, over which was a figure of the 
 Virgin. At about, ten o'clock I was roused by the ar- 
 rival of Augustin and the muleteer. Besides their ap- 
 prehensions about me, they had had their own difficul- 
 ties ; two of the mules broke down, and they were 
 obliged to stop and let them rest, and feed them. 
 
 Early the next morning, leaving the luggage with 
 the muleteer (which, by-the-way, was at that time a 
 very imprudent proceeding), and taking merely a 
 change of apparel, I set out with Augustin. Almost 
 immediately we commenced ascending a rugged mount- 
 ain, very steep, and commanding at every step a wild 
 and magnificent view ; and from the top saw, at a great 
 distance below us, in the hollow of an amphitheatre of 
 mountains, the village of El Puente, the ground around 
 
188 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 which was white, and trodden hard by caravans of 
 mules. We descended to the village, and crossed the 
 bridge, which was laid on a stone arch, thrown across 
 a ravine with a cataract foaming through it ; at this 
 point we were completely encircled by mountains, wild 
 to sublimity, and reminding me of some of the finest 
 parts of Switzerland. On the other side of the bridge 
 we commenced ascending another mountain. The 
 road was winding, and, when very high up, the view of 
 the village and bridge at the immense distance below 
 was surpassingly fine. Descending a short distance, 
 we passed a village of huts, situated on the ridge of the 
 mountain, commanding on both sides a view of an ex- 
 tensive valley four or five thousand feet below us. 
 Continuing on this magnificent ridge, we descended 
 upon a table of rich land, and saw a gate opening into 
 grounds which reminded me of park scenery in Eng- 
 land, undulating, and ornamented with trees. In the 
 midst of this stood the hacienda of San Jose, a long, 
 low stone building, with a corridor in front ; it was one 
 of those situations which, when least expected, touch a 
 tender chord, call up cherished associations, make a 
 traveller feel as though he could linger around it for- 
 ever, and particularly welcome to us, as we had not 
 breakfasted. 
 
 It was a hacienda de ganados, or cattle-hacienda, 
 and had hundreds of cattle roaming over it ; but all 
 that it could give us to eat was eggs, tortillas, and 
 beans softened in hot water ; the last being about equal 
 to a basket of fresh chips. This over, we made a last 
 push for G uatimala. The road lay over a table of land, 
 green and rich as a European lawn, ornamented with 
 trees, and with features of scenery peculiarly English ; 
 muleteers who had left the city at midnight, and had al- 
 
FIR5T VIEW OF THE CITY. 189 
 
 ready finished ihcir day's work, were lying under the 
 shade of the tress, with their saddles and cargoes piled 
 up like walls, and their mules pasturing near. Along 
 the table was a .me of huts, and if adorned instead of 
 being deformed by the hand of man, this would be a 
 region of poetic beauty. Indians, men and women, 
 with loads on their backs, every party with a bundle of 
 rockets, were returning from the " Capitol," as they 
 proudly called it, to their villages among the mount- 
 ains. All told us that two days before Carrera had re- 
 entered the city with his soldiers. 
 
 When we were yet two leagues from the city Augus- 
 tus's horse gave out. I was anxious to have a view of the 
 city before dark, and rode on. Late in the afternoon, 
 as I was ascending a small eminence, two immense vol- 
 canoes stood up before me, seeming to scorn the earth, 
 and towering to the heavens. They were the great 
 volcanoes of Agua and Fuego, forty miles distant, and 
 nearly fifteen thousand feet high, wonderfully grand and 
 beautiful. In a few moments the great plain of Guati- 
 mala appeared in view, surrounded by mountains, and 
 in the centre of it the city, a mere speck on the vast ex- 
 panse, with churches, and convents, and numerous tur- 
 rets, cupolas, and steeples, and still as if the spirit of 
 peace rested upon it ; with no storied associations, but 
 by its own beauty creating an impression on the mind 
 of a traveller which can never be effaced. I dismount- 
 ed and tied my mule. As yet the sun lighted up the 
 roofs and domes of the city, giving a reflection so daz- 
 zling that I could only look at them by stealth. By de- 
 grees, its disk touched the top of the Volcano del Agua ; 
 slowly the whole orb sank behind it, illuminating the 
 background with an atmosphere fiery red. A rich gold- 
 en cloud rolled up its side and rested on the top, and 
 
190 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 while I gazed the golden hues disappeared, and the 
 glory of the scene was gone. 
 
 Augnstin came along with his poor horse hobbling 
 after him, and a pistol in his hand. He had been told 
 on the way that Carrera's soldiers were riotous, and 
 that there were many ladrones about the suburbs of the 
 city, and he was in the humour to fire upon any one 
 who asked a question. I made him put up his pistols, 
 and we both mounted. An immense ravine was still 
 between us and the city. It was very dark when we 
 reached the bottom of this ravine, and we were almost 
 trodden down by a caravan of loaded mules coming out. 
 Rising on the other side to the top, we entered the out- 
 er gate, still a mile and a half from Guatimala. Inside 
 were miserable huts, with large fires before them, sur- 
 rounded by groups of drunken Indians and vagabond 
 soldiers, firing their muskets at random in the air. Au- 
 gustin told me to spur ; but his poor horse could not 
 keep up, and we were obliged to move on at a walk. 
 As yet I did not know where to stop ; there was no ho- 
 tel in Guatimala. What's the use of a hotel in Guati- 
 mala ? Who ever goes to Guatimala ? was the answer 
 of a gentleman of that place to my inquiries on this sub- 
 ject. I had several letters of introduction, and one 
 was to Mr. Hall, the English vice-consul ; and, fortu- 
 nately, resolved to throw myself upon his hospitality. 
 
 We picked up a ragged Indian, who undertook to 
 conduct us to his house, and under his guidance enter- 
 ed the city at the foot of a long straight street. My 
 country-bred mule seemed astonished at the sight of so 
 many houses, and would not cross the gutters, which 
 were wide, and in the middle of the street. In spurring 
 her over one, she gave a leap that, after her hard jour- 
 ney, made me proud of her ; but she broke her bridle, 
 
ENTRY INTO THE CITY. 191 
 
 and I was obliged to dismount and lead her. Augus- 
 tin's poor beast was really past carrying him, and he 
 followed on foot, whipping mine, the guide lending a 
 hand before and behind. In this way we traversed the 
 streets of Guatimala. Perhaps no diplomatist ever 
 made a more unpretending entry into a capitol. Our 
 stupid Indian did not know where Mr. Hall lived ; 
 there were hardly any people in the streets to inquire 
 of, and I was an hour hauling my mule over the gutters' 
 and grumbling at the guide before I found the house. 
 I knocked some time without receiving any answer. 
 At length a young man opened the shutter of a balco- 
 nied window, and told me that Mr. Hall was not at 
 home. This would not serve my turn. I gave my 
 name, and he retired ; and in a few minutes the large 
 door was unlocked, and Mr. Hall himself received me. 
 He gave me as a reason for not opening sooner, that 
 the soldiers had mutinied that day for want of pay, and 
 threatened to sack the city. Carrera had exerted him- 
 self in trying to pacify them, and had borrowed fifty 
 dollars from his (Mr. Hall's) neighbour, a French mer- 
 chant ; but the inhabitants were greatly alarmed ; and 
 when I knocked at his door he was afraid that the sol- 
 diers were beginning to put their threat in execution. 
 Mr. H. had taken down his staff, because on their last 
 entry, Avhen he had his flag flying, the soldiers had fired 
 upon it, calling it a bandera de guerra. They were 
 mostly Indians from the villages, ignorant and insolent, 
 and a few days before he had his hat knocked off by a 
 sentinel because he did not raise it in passing, for which 
 his complaint was then before the government.* The 
 whole city was kept in a state of awe. No one ven- 
 
 * It is due to Carrera to say, that by his orders the soldier received two ba«>- 
 dred lashes. 
 
192 IJNC1DKNTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 tured out at night, and Mr. Hall wondered how I had 
 been able to wander through the streets without being 
 molested. All this was not very agreeable, but it could 
 not destroy my satisfaction in reaching Guatimala. 
 For the first time since I entered the country, I had a 
 good bed and a pair of clean sheets. It was two 
 months that day since I embarked from New-York, and 
 only one since I entered the country, but it seemed at 
 least a year. 
 
 The luxury of my rest that night still lingers in my 
 recollections, and the morning air was the most pure 
 and invigorating lever breathed. Situated in the " Ti- 
 erras tcmpladas," or temperate regions, on a table-land 
 five thousand feet above the sea, the climate of Guati- 
 mala is that of perpetual spring, and the general aspect 
 reminded me of the best class of Italian cities. It is 
 laid out in blocks of from three to four hundred feet 
 square, the streets parallel and crossing each other at 
 right angles. The houses, made to resist the action of 
 earthquakes, are of only one story, but very spacious, 
 with large doors and windows, protected by iron bal- 
 conies. In the centre of the city stands the Plaza, a 
 square of one hundred and fifty yards on each side, paved 
 with stone, with a colonnade on three sides ; on one of 
 these stands the old vice-regal palace and hall of the 
 Audiencia ; on another are the cabildo and other city 
 buildings ; on the third the custom-house and palace 
 of the ci-devant Marquisate of Aycinena ; and on the 
 fourth side is the Cathedral, a beautiful edifice, in the 
 best style of modern architecture, with the archiepisco- 
 pal palace on one side, and the College de Infantes on 
 the other. In the centre is a large stone fountain, of 
 imposing workmanship, supplied with pipes from the 
 mountains about two leagues distant ; and the area is 
 
THE DIPLOMATIC RESIDENCE. 193 
 
 used as a market-place. The churches and convents 
 correspond with the beauty of the Plaza, and their cost- 
 liness and grandeur would attract the attention of tour- 
 ists in Italy or old Spain. 
 
 The foundation of the city was laid in 1776, a year 
 memorable in our own annals, and when our ancestors 
 thought but little of the troubles of their neighbours. 
 At that time the old capital, twenty-five miles distant, 
 shattered and destroyed by earthquakes, was aban- 
 doned by its inhabitants, and the present was built in 
 the rich valley of Las Vaccas, in a style commensurate 
 with the dignity of a captain-generalship of Spain. I 
 have seldom been more favourably impressed with the 
 first appearance of any city, and the only thing that 
 pained me in a two hours' stroll through the streets was 
 the sight of Carrera's ragged and insolent-looking sol- 
 diers ; and my first idea was, that in any city in Eu- 
 rope or the United States, the citizens, instead of sub- 
 mitting to be lorded over by such barbarians, would 
 rise en masse and pitch them out of the gates. 
 
 In the course of the morning I took possession of the 
 house that had been occupied by Mr. De "Witt, our late 
 charge d'affaires. If I had been favourably impressed 
 with the external appearance of the houses, I was 
 charmed with the interior. The entrance was by a 
 large double door, through a passage paved with small 
 black and white stones, into a handsome patio or court- 
 yard paved in like manner. On the sides were broad 
 corr.dors paved with square red bricks, and along the 
 foot of the corridors were borders of flowers. In front, 
 on the street, and adjoining the entrance, was an ante- 
 room with one large balconied window, and next to it 
 a sala or parlour, with two windows. At the farther 
 end a door opened from the side into the comedor 01 
 
 Vol. I.— B b 17 
 
194 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 dining-room, which had a door and two windows open- 
 ing upon the corridor. At the end of the dining-room 
 was a door leading to a sleeping-room, with door and 
 one window, and then another room of the same size, 
 all with doors and windows opening upon the corridor. 
 The building and corridor were continued across the 
 foot of the lot ; in the centre were rooms for servants, 
 and in the corners were a kitchen and stable, com- 
 pletely hidden from sight, and each furnished with a 
 separate fountain. This is the plan of all the houses in 
 Guatimala ; others are much larger ; that of the Ayci- 
 nena family, for instance, covered a square of two hun- 
 dred feet ; but mine combined more beauty and com- 
 fort than any habitation I ever saw. 
 
 At two o'clock my luggage arrived, and I was most 
 comfortably installed in my new domicil. The sala or 
 reception-room was furnished with a large bookcase, 
 containing rows of books with yellow bindings, which 
 gave me twinging recollections of a law-office at home ; 
 the archives of the legation had quite an imposing as- 
 pect ; and over Mr. De Witt's writing-table hung an- 
 other memorial of home : a fac-simile of the Declaration 
 of Independence. 
 
 My first business was to make arrangements for send- 
 ing a trusty escort for Mr. Catherwood, and, this over, 
 it was incumbent upon me to look around for the gov- 
 ernment to which I was accredited. 
 
 From the time of the conquest Guatimala had re- 
 mained in a state of profound tranquillity as a colony 
 of Spain. The Indians submitted quietly to the author- 
 ity of the whites, and all bowed to the divine right of 
 the Romish Church. In the beginning of the present 
 century a few scattering rays of light penetrated to the 
 heart of the American Continent ■ and in 1823 the 
 
PARTIES IN CENTRAL AMERICA. 195 
 
 Kingdom of Guatimala, as it was then called, declared 
 its independence of Spain, and, after a short union with 
 Mexico, constituted itself a republic under the name 
 of the United States of Central America. By the arti- 
 cles of agreement the confederacy was composed of five 
 states, viz., Guatimala, San Salvador, Honduras, Nica- 
 ragua, and Costa Rica. Chiapas had the privilege of 
 entering if it should think proper, but it never did. 
 Quezaltenango, a district of Guatimala, was afterward 
 erected into a separate state, and added. 
 
 The monster party-spirit was rocked in the very cra- 
 dle of their independence, and a line of demarcation 
 was at once drawn between the Aristocratic and Demo- 
 cratic parties. The local names of these at first confu- 
 sed me, the former being called the Central or Servile, 
 and the latter the Federal or Liberal, or Democratic 
 party. Substantially they were the same with our own 
 Federal and Democratic parties. The reader will per- 
 haps find it difficult to understand that in any country, 
 in a political sense, Federal and Democratic can mean 
 the same thing, or that when I speak of a Federalist I 
 mean a Democrat ; and, to prevent confusion in refer- 
 ring to them hereafter, I shall call the Aristocratic the 
 Central, and the Democratic the Liberal party. The 
 former, like our own Federal party, was for consolida- 
 ting and centralizing the powers of the general gov- 
 ernment, and the latter contended for the sovereignty 
 of the states. The Central party consisted of a few 
 leading families, which, by reason of certain privileges 
 of monopoly for importations under the old Spanish 
 government, assumed the tone of nobles, sustained by 
 the priests and friars, and the religious feeling of the 
 country. The latter was composed of men of intel- 
 lect and energy, who threw off the yoke of the Romish 
 
196 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL 
 
 Church, and, in the first enthusiasm of emancipated 
 minds, tore away at once the black mantle of supersti- 
 tion, thrown, like a funeral pall, over the genius of the 
 people. The Centralists wished to preserve the usages 
 of the colonial system, and resisted every innovation and 
 every attack, direct or indirect, upon the privileges of 
 the Church, and their own prejudices or interests. The 
 Liberals, ardent, and cherishing brilliant schemes of 
 reform, aimed at an instantaneous change in popular 
 feelings and customs, and considered every moment 
 lost that did not establish some new theory or sweep 
 away some old abuse. The Centralists forgot that civ- 
 ilization is a jealous divinity, which does not admit of 
 partition, and cannot remain stationary. The Liberals 
 forgot that civilization requires a harmony of intelli- 
 gence, of customs, and of laws. The example of the 
 United States and of their free institutions was held up 
 by the Liberals ; and the Centralists contended that, 
 with their ignorant and heterogeneous population, scat- 
 tered over a vast territory, without facilities of commu- 
 nication, it was a hallucination to take our country as a 
 model. At the third session of Congress the parties 
 came to an open rupture, and the deputies of San Sal- 
 vador, always the most Liberal state in the confedera- 
 cy, withdrew. 
 
 Flores, the vice-chief of the State of Guatimala, a 
 Liberal, had made himself odious to the priests and fri- 
 ars by laying a contribution upon the convent at Quez- 
 altenango ; and while on a visit to that place the fri- 
 ars of the convent excited the populace against him, as 
 an enemy to religion. A mob gathered before his house, 
 with cries of " Death to the heretic !" Flores fled to 
 the church ; but as he was entering the door a mob of 
 women seized him, wrested a stick from his hands, beat 
 
MITRDER OF VICE-PRESIDENT F L O R E S. 197 
 
 him with it, tore off his cap, and dragged him by the 
 hair. He escaped from these furies and ran up into 
 the pulpit. The alarm-bell was sounded, and all the 
 rabble of the town poured into the plaza. A few sol- 
 diers endeavoured to cover the entrance to the church, 
 but were assailed with stones and clubs ; and the mob, 
 bearing down all opposition, forced its way into the 
 church, making the roof ring with cries of " Death to 
 the heretic !" Rushing toward the pulpit, some tried 
 to unhinge it, others to scale it ; others struck at the 
 unhappy vice-chief with knives tied to the ends of long 
 poles ; while a young fiend, with one foot on the mould- 
 ings of the pulpit and the other elevated in the air, 
 leaned over and seized him by the hair. The curate, 
 who was in the pulpit with him, frightened at the tem- 
 pest he had assisted to raise, held up the Holy of Ho- 
 lies, and begged the mob to spare him, promising that 
 he should leave the city immediately. The unhappy 
 Flores, on his knees, confirmed these promises ; but the 
 friars urged on the mob, who became so excited with 
 religious phrensy, that, after kneeling before the figure 
 of the Saviour, exclaiming, " We adore thee, oh Lord, 
 we venerate thee," they rose up with the ferocious cry, 
 " but for thy honour and glory this blasphemer, this 
 heretic, must die !" They dragged him from the pulpit 
 across the floor of the church, and in the cloisters threw 
 him into the hands of the fanatic and furious horde, 
 when the women, like unchained furies, with their fists, 
 *ticks, and stones, beat him to death. His murderers 
 stripped his body, leaving it, disfigured and an object 
 of horror, exposed to the insults of the populace, and 
 then dispersed throughout the city, demanding the 
 heads of Liberals, and crying " Viva la Religion, y mu- 
 eran los hereges del Congreso." About the same time 
 
198 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 religious fanaticism swept the state, and the Liberal 
 party was crushed in Guatimala. 
 
 But the state of San Salvador, from the beginning 
 the leader in Liberal principles, was prompt in its ef- 
 forts of vengeance, and on the sixteenth of March, 1827, 
 its army appeared within the outer gates of Guatima- 
 la, threatening the destruction of the capital ; but reli- 
 gious fanaticism was too strong ; the priests ran through 
 the streets exhorting the people to take up arms, the 
 friars headed mobs of women, who, with drawn knives, 
 swore destruction to all who attempted to overturn 
 their religion, and the San Salvadoreans were defeat- 
 ed and driven back. For two years the parties were 
 at open war. In 1829 the troops of San Salvador, un- 
 der General Morazan, who had now become the head 
 of the Liberal party, again marched upon Guatimala, 
 and, after three days' fighting, entered it in triumph. 
 All the leaders of the Central party, the Aycinenas, 
 the Pavons, and Penoles, were banished or fled, the 
 convents were broken up, the institution of friars abol- 
 ished, the friars themselves put on board vessels and 
 shipped out of the country, and the archbishop, antici- 
 pating banishment, or perhaps fearing a worse fate, 
 sought safety in flight. 
 
 In 1831 General Morazan was elected president of 
 the republic ; at the expiration of the term he was re- 
 elected : and for eight years the Liberal party had the 
 complete ascendancy. During the latter part of his 
 term, however, there was great discontent, particularly 
 on account of forced loans and exactions for the sup- 
 port of government, or, as the Centralists said, to grat- 
 ify the rapacity of unscrupulous and profligate office- 
 holders. The Church party was always on the alert. 
 The exiles in the United States and Mexico, and on the 
 
POLITICAL STATE OF GUAT1MALA. 199 
 
 frontier, with their eyes always fixed upon home, kept 
 up constant communications, and fostered the growing 
 discontents. Some of them, in a state of penury 
 abroad, ventured to return, and these not being molest- 
 ed, others soon followed. At this time came on the 
 rising of Carrera, which was at first more dreaded by 
 the Centralists than the Liberals, but suddenly, and to 
 their own utter astonishment, placed the former nomi- 
 nally at the head of government. 
 
 In May preceding my arrival the term of the presi- 
 dent, senators, and deputies had expired, and no elec- 
 tions had been held to supply their places. The vice- 
 president, who had been elected during an unexpired 
 term, was the only existing officer of the Federal Gov- 
 ernment. The states of Guatimala, Honduras, Nica- 
 ragua, and Costa Rica had declared themselves inde- 
 pendent of the Federal Government. The states of 
 San Salvador and Quezaltenango sustained the Federal 
 Government, and Morazan, as commander-in-chief of 
 the Federal forces, had defeated Ferrera, and estab- 
 lished troops in Honduras, which gave the Liberal party 
 the actual control of three states. 
 
 Virtually, then, the states stood " three and three." 
 Where was my government ? The last Congress, be- 
 fore its dissolution, had recommended that panacea for 
 political ills, a convention to amend the Constitution. 
 The governments of England and France were repre- 
 sented near that of Central America by consuls general. 
 Neither had any treaty ; England could not procure 
 one except upon a surrender of all claim to the Isl- 
 and of Roatan, in the Bay of Honduras, and to Ba- 
 lize. One had been drawn up with France, but, 
 though pressed with great earnestness by the consul 
 general of that country, the senate refused to ratify it. 
 

 200 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 Ours was the only government that had any treaty with 
 Central America, and, up to the time of Mr. De Witt's 
 departure from the country, we were represented by a 
 charge d'affaires. The British consul-general had pub- 
 lished a circular denying the existence of the general 
 government; the French consul was not on good 
 terms with either party ; and my arrival, and the course 
 I might take, were a subject of some interest to poli- 
 ticians. 
 
 There was but one side to politics in Guatimala. 
 Both parties have a beautiful way of producing unanim- 
 ity of opinion, by driving out of the country all who do 
 not agree with them. If there were any Liberals, I did 
 not meet them, or they did not dare to open their lips. 
 The Central party, only six months in power, and still 
 surprised at being there, was fluttering between arro- 
 gance and fear. The old families, whose principal 
 members had been banished or politically ostracized, 
 and the clergy, were elated at the expulsion of the 
 Liberal party, and their return to what they considered 
 their natural right to rule the state ; they talked of re- 
 calling the banished archbishop and friars, restoring the 
 privileges of the Church, repairing the convents, revi- 
 ving monastic institutions, and making Guatimala what 
 it had once been, the jewel of Spanish America. 
 
 One of my first visits of ceremony was to Seilor Ri- 
 vera Paz, the chief of the state. I was presented by 
 Mr. Henry Savage, who had formerly acted as United 
 States consul at Guatimala, and was the only Ameri- 
 can resident, to whom I am under many obligations for 
 his constant attentions. The State of Guatimala, hav- 
 ing declared its independence of the Federal govern- 
 ment, was at that time governed by a temporary body 
 called a Constituent Assembly. On the last entry of 
 
AN EMBARRASSING SITUATION. 201 
 
 Carrera into the city, in March preceding my arrival, 
 Salazar, the chief of the state, fled, and Carrera, on 
 horseback, knocked at the door of Senor Rivera Paz 
 before daylight, and, by his individual pleasure, installed 
 nim as chief. It was a fortunate choice for the people 
 of Guatimala. He was about thirty-eight, gentleman- 
 ly in his appearance and manners, and, in all the trying 
 positions in which he was afterward placed, exhibited 
 more than ordinary prudence and judgment. 
 
 I had been advised that it would be agreeable to the 
 government of Guatimala for me to present my creden- 
 tials to the chief of that state, and afterward to the 
 chiefs of the other states, and that the states separately 
 would treat of the matters for which I was accredited 
 to the general government. The object of this was to 
 preclude a recognition on my part of the power which 
 was, or claimed to be, the general government. The 
 suggestion was of course preposterous, but it showed 
 the dominion of party-spirit with men who knew bet- 
 ter. Senor Rivera Paz expressed his regret at my hap- 
 pening to visit the country at such an unfortunate pe- 
 riod, and assured me of the friendly disposition of that 
 state, and that it would do all in its power to serve me. 
 During my visit I was introduced to several of the lead- 
 ing members of the administration, and I left with a 
 favourable opinion of Rivera Paz, which was never sha- 
 ken in regard to him personally. 
 
 In the evening, in company with Mr. Hall, I attend- 
 ed the last meeting of the Constituent Assembly. It 
 was held in the old Hall of Congress ; the room was 
 large, hung with portraits of old Spaniards distinguish- 
 ed in the history of the country, and dimly lighted. 
 The deputies sat on a platform at one end, elevated 
 about six feet, and the president on an elevation in a 
 
 Vol. I.— C c 
 
202 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 large chair, two secretaries at a table beneath, and on 
 the wall were the arms of the republic, the groundwork 
 of which was three volcanoes, emblematic, I suppose, 
 of the combustible state of the country. The deputies 
 sat on each side, about thirty being present, nearly half 
 of whom were priests, with black gowns and caps ; and 
 by the dull light the scene carried me back to the dark 
 ages, and seemed a meeting of inquisitors. 
 
 The subject under discussion was a motion to revive 
 the old law of tithes, which had been abolished by the 
 Liberal party. The law was passed unanimously ; but 
 there was a discussion upon a motion to appropriate a 
 small part of the proceeds for the support of hospitals 
 for the poor. The priests took part in the discussion, 
 and with liberal sentiments ; a lay member, with big 
 black whiskers, opposed it, saying that the Church 
 stood like a light in darkness ; and the Marquis Ayci- 
 nena, a priest and the leading member of the party, 
 said that " what was raised for God should be given 
 to God alone." There was another discussion upon the 
 point whether the law should operate upon cattle then 
 in being or to be born thereafter ; and, finally, as to the 
 means of enforcing it. One gentleman contended that 
 coercive measures should not be used, and, with a fine 
 burst of eloquence, said that reliance might be placed 
 upon the religious feelings of the people, and that the 
 poorest Indian would come forward and contribute his 
 mite ; but the Assembly decided that the law should be 
 enforced by Las leyes antiguas de los Espagnoles, the 
 old laws of the Spaniards, the severities of which had 
 been one of the great causes of revolution in all Span- 
 ish countries. There was something horrible in this 
 retrograde legislation. I could hardly realize that, in 
 the nineteenth century, men of sense, and in a country 
 
A STATE BREAKFAST. 203 
 
 through the length and breadth of which free principles 
 were struggling for the ascendancy, would dare fasten 
 on the people a yoke which, even in the dark ages, was 
 too galling to be borne. The tone of debate was re- 
 spectable, but calm and unimpassioned, from the entire 
 absence of any opposition party. The Assembly pur- 
 ported to be a popular body, representing the voice of 
 the people. It was a time of great excitement, and the 
 last night of its session ; and Mr. Hall and I, four men 
 and three boys, were the only listeners. 
 
 As it was not safe to be in the streets after eight 
 o'clock, the Assembly was adjourned, and, after a short 
 session the next morning, assembled at a state break- 
 fast. The place of meeting was in the old library, a 
 venerable room, containing a valuable collection of rare 
 old Spanish books and manuscripts, among which had 
 lately been discovered the two missing volumes of Fu- 
 entes, and where I promised myself much satisfaction. 
 The only guests were Mr. Hall, the French consul gen- 
 eral, Colonel Monte Rosa, an aid of Carrera, and my- 
 self. Carrera was invited, but did not come. The ta- 
 ble was profusely ornamented with flowers and fruits. 
 There was very little wine drunk, no toasts, and no gay- 
 ety. There was not a gray-haired man at table ; all were 
 young, and so connected that it seemed a large family 
 party ; more than half had been in exile, and if Mora- 
 zan returned to power they would all be scattered 
 again. 
 
 I had been but three days in Guatimala, and already 
 the place was dull. The clouds which hung over the 
 political horizon weighed upon the spirits of the inhabi- 
 tants, and in the evening I was obliged to shut myself 
 up in my house alone. In the uncertainty which hung 
 over my movements, and to avoid the trouble of 
 
204 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 housekeeping for perhaps but a few weeks, I dined and 
 supped at the house of the seiiora, an interesting young 
 widow who owned mine (her husband had been shot in 
 a private revolution of his own getting up), and lived 
 nearly opposite. The first evening I remained there till 
 nine o'clock ; but as I was crossing on my return home a 
 fierce " Quien vive ?" " who goes ?" came booming up 
 the street. In the dark I could not see the sentinel, and 
 did not know the password. Fortunately, and what 
 was very unusual, he repeated the challenge two or 
 three times, but so fiercely that the tones of his voice 
 went through me like a musket-ball, and probably in a 
 moment more the ball itself would have followed, but 
 an old lady rushed out of the house I had left, and, 
 with a lantern in her hand, screamed " Patria Libre." 
 
 Though silent, I was not idle ; and when in a safe 
 place thanked her from across the street, hugging close 
 the inside of my doorway. Since Carrera's entry, he 
 had placed sentinels to preserve the peace of the city, 
 which w T as very quiet before he came, and his peace- 
 officers kept it in a constant state of alarm. These sen- 
 tinels were Indians, ignorant, undisciplined, and inso- 
 lent, and fond of firing their muskets. They were or- 
 dered to challenge "Quien Vive?" "Who goes?" 
 " Que gente ?" " What people ?" " Quel Regimento ?" 
 " What regiment ?" and then fire. One fellow had al- 
 ready obeyed his orders literally, and, hurrying through 
 the three questions, without waiting for answers, fired, 
 and shot a woman. The answers were, " Patria Li- 
 bre," "Country free;" " paisano," "Countryman;" 
 and "Paz," "Peace." 
 
 This was a subject of annoyance all the time I was 
 in Guatimala. The streets were not lighted ; and hear- 
 ing the challenge, sometimes at the distance of a square, 
 
MILITARY POLICE. 205 
 
 in a ferocious voice, without being able to see the sen- 
 tinel, I always imagined him with his musket at his 
 shoulder, peering through the darkness to take aim. I 
 felt less safe by reason of my foreign pronunciation ; 
 but I never met any one, native or stranger, who was 
 not nervous when within reach of the sentinel's chal- 
 lenge, or who would not go two squares out of the way 
 to avoid it. 
 
 I 18 
 
206 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Hacienda of Naranjo. — Lazoing. — Diplomatic Correspondence. — Formulas. — 
 FAte of La Concepcion. — Taking the Black Veil. — A Countrywoman. — Re- 
 nouncing the World. — Fireworks, &c. — Procession in honour of the Virgin.— 
 Another Exhibition of Fireworks. — A fiery Bull.— Insolent Soldiery. 
 
 The next day, in company with Mr. Savage, I rode 
 to Naranjo, a small hacienda of the Aycinena family, 
 about seven miles from the city. Beyond the walls all 
 was beautiful, and in the palmy days of Guatimala the 
 Aycinenas rolled to the Naranjo in an enormous car- 
 riage, full of carving and gilding, in the style of the 
 grandees of Spain, which now stands in the courtyard 
 of the family-house as a memorial of better days. We 
 entered by a large gate into a road upon their land, 
 undulating and ornamented with trees, and by a large 
 artificial lake, made by damming up several streams. 
 We rode around the borders of the lake, and entered a 
 large cattle-yard, in the centre of which, on the side of 
 a declivity, stood the house, a strong stone structure, 
 with a broad piazza in front, and commanding a beau- 
 tiful view of the volcanoes of the Antigua. 
 
 The hacienda was only valuable from its vicinity to 
 Guatimala, being what would be called at home a 
 country-seat ; and contained only seven thousand acres 
 of land, about seventy mules, and seven hundred head 
 of cattle. It was the season for marking and number- 
 ing the cattle, and two of the Senores Aycinena were 
 at the hacienda to superintend the operations. The 
 cattle had been caught and brought in ; but, as I had 
 never seen the process of lazoing, after dinner a hun- 
 
LAZOINO. 207 
 
 dred head, which had been kept up two days without 
 food, were let loose into a field two or three miles in 
 circumference. Eight men were mounted, with iron 
 spurs an inch long on their naked heels, and each with 
 a lazo in hand, which consisted of an entire cow's hide 
 cut into a single cord about twenty yards long ; one 
 end was fastened to the horse's tail, which was first 
 wrapped in leaves to prevent its being lacerated, and 
 the rest was wound into a coil, and held by the rider in 
 his right hand, resting on the pommel of the saddle. 
 The cattle had all dispersed ; we placed ourselves on an 
 elevation commanding a partial view of the field, and 
 the riders scattered in search of them. In a little while 
 thirty or forty rushed past, followed by the riders at 
 full speed, and very soon were out of sight. "We must 
 either lose the sport or follow ; and in one of the doub- 
 lings, taking particularly good care to avoid the throng 
 of furious cattle and headlong riders, I drew up to the 
 side of two men who were chasing a single ox, and fol- 
 lowed over hill, through bush, brush, and underwood ; 
 one rider threw his lazo beautifully over the horns of 
 the ox, and then turned his horse, while the ox bound 
 ed to the length of the lazo, and, without shaking horse 
 or rider, pitched headlong to the ground. 
 
 At this moment a herd swept by, with the whole com- 
 pany in full pursuit. A large yellow ox separated from 
 the rest, and all followed him. For a mile he kept 
 ahead, doubled, and dodged, but the horsemen crowded 
 him down toward the lake ; and, after an ineffectual at- 
 tempt to bolt, he rushed into the water. Two horsemen 
 followed and drove him out, and gave him a start, but 
 in a few moments the lazo whizzed over his head, and, 
 while horse and rider stood like marble, the ox again 
 came with a plunge to the ground. The riders scat 
 
208 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 tered, and one horse and rider rolled over in such a 
 way that I thought every bone in his body was broken : 
 but the sport was so exciting that I, who at the begin- 
 ning was particularly careful to keep out of harm's way, 
 felt very much disposed to have my own horse's tail tied 
 up and take a lazo in my hand. The effect of the sport 
 was heightened by the beauty of the scene, with the 
 great volcanoes of Agua and Fuego towering above us, 
 and toward evening throwing a deep shade over the 
 plain. It was nearly dark when we returned to the 
 house. "With that refinement of politeness, which I 
 believe is exclusively Spanish, the gentlemen escorted 
 us some distance on our road. At dark we reached 
 Guatimala, and, to our great satisfaction, learned at the 
 gate that the soldiers were confined to the barracks. 
 
 The news of my arrest and imprisonment, with great 
 exaggeration of circumstance, had reached Guatimala 
 before me, and I was advised that the state govern- 
 ment intended making me a communication on the sub- 
 ject. I waited several days, and, not receiving any, 
 made a formal complaint, setting forth the facts, and 
 concluding that I did not attempt to suggest what 
 ought to be done, but felt satisfied that the government 
 would do what was consistent with its own honour and 
 the rights of a friendly nation. In a few days I re- 
 ceived an answer from the secretary of state, convey- 
 ing the regrets of the president for the occurrence, and 
 stating that, before receiving my note, the government 
 had taken the measures which it deemed proper in the 
 premises. As this was very indefinite, and as I bore 
 considerable anger against the parties, and, moreover, 
 as I heard out of doors something about these " meas- 
 ures," and considered it necessary, for the protection 
 of Americans who were or might be in that country, 
 
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 209 
 
 not to suffer an outrage that had become notorious to 
 be treated lightly, I addressed a farther note to the sec- 
 retary, asking specifically whether the officer and al- 
 calde referred to had been punished, and if so, in what 
 way. To this I received for answer that, in the cir- 
 cumstances in which the country was placed by means 
 of an extraordinary popular revolution, and the dis- 
 trust prevailing in the frontier villages, the local au- 
 thorities were more suspicious than usual in the matter 
 of passports, and that the outrage, " el atropellamento," 
 which I had suffered, had its origin in the orders of a 
 military officer, " un oficial militar" who suspected 
 that I and my companion were " enemies," and that 
 General Cascara, as soon as he was informed of the cir- 
 cumstances, had removed him from his command ; the 
 reply went on to say that the government, much to its 
 regret, from the difficult circumstances in which the 
 country was placed, had not the power to give that se- 
 curity to travellers which it desired, but would issue 
 preventive orders to the local authorities to secure me 
 in my farther travels. 
 
 I had understood that General Cascara had removed 
 the officer, but the intelligence was hardly received in 
 Guatimala before Carrera ordered him to be restored ; 
 and I afterward saw in a San Salvador paper that he 
 had threatened to shoot General Cascara if his degra- 
 dation was not revoked. In farther communications 
 with the secretary and the chief of the state, they con- 
 fessed their inability to do anything ; and being sat- 
 isfied that they desired it even more than myself, I did 
 not consider it worth while to press the subject ; as in- 
 deed, in strictness, I had no right to call upon the state 
 government. The general government had not the least 
 particle of power in the state, and I mention the cir- 
 
 Vol. UDd 
 
210 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 cumslance to show the utter feebleness of the admin- 
 istration, and the wretched condition of the country 
 generally. It troubled me on one account, as it showed 
 the difficulty and danger of prosecuting the travels I 
 had contemplated. 
 
 From the moment of my arrival I was struck with 
 the devout character of the city of Guatimala. At 
 matins and vespers the churches were all open, and the 
 people, particularly the women, went regularly to 
 prayers. Every house had its figure of the Virgin, 
 the Saviour, or some tutelary saint, and on the door 
 were billets of paper with prayers. " La verdadera 
 sangre de Cristo, nuestro redentor que solo represen- 
 tada en Egipto libro a los Israelitas de un brazo fuerte 
 y poderoso, libre nos de la peste, gucrra, y muerte re- 
 pentina. Amen." " The true blood of Christ our Re- 
 deemer, which alone, exhibited in Egypt, freed the Is- 
 raelites from a strong and powerful arm, deliver us from 
 pestilence, war, and sudden death. Amen." 
 
 " O 'Maria, concebida sin pecado, rogad por noso- 
 tros, que recurrimos a vos." " O Virgin, conceived 
 without sin, pray for us, that we may have recourse to 
 thee." 
 
 " Ave Maria, gracia plena, y la santissima Trinidad 
 
 nos favorezca." " Hail Mary, full of grace, and may 
 
 the Holy Spirit favour us." 
 
 " El dolce nombre de Jesus, 
 Sea con nosotros. Amen." 
 
 On the first Sunday after my arrival was celebrateu 
 the fete of La Concepcion, a fete always honoured in 
 the observances of the Catholic Church, and this day 
 more important from the circumstance that a probation- 
 er in the convent of La Concepcion intended to take 
 the black veil. At break of day the church bells rang 
 
TAKING THE BLACK VEIL. 211 
 
 throughout the city, cannon were fired in the plaza, 
 and rockets and fireworks set off at the corners of the 
 streets. At nine o'clock crowds of people were hurry- 
 ing to the Church of La Concepcion. Before the door, 
 and extending across the streets, were arches decorated 
 with evergreens and flowers. The broad steps of the 
 church were strewed with pine leaves, and on the plat- 
 form were men firing rockets. The church was one of 
 the handsomest in Guatimala, rich with gold and silver 
 ornaments, pictures, and figures of saints, and adorned 
 with arches and flowers. The Padre Aycinena, the 
 vice-president of the state, and the leading member of 
 the Constituent Assembly, was the preacher of the day, 
 and his high reputation attracted a large concourse of 
 people. The pulpit was at one end of the church, and 
 the great mass of the people were anxious to hear the 
 sermon. This left the other end comparatively va- 
 cant, and I placed myself on a step of the nearest 
 altar, directly in front of the grating of the convent. 
 At the close of the sermon there was a discharge of 
 rockets and crackers from the steps of the church, the 
 smoke of which clouded the interior, and the smell of 
 powder was stronger than that of the burning incense. 
 The floor was strewed with pine leaves, and covered 
 with kneeling women, with black mantillas drawn close 
 over the top of the head, and held together under the 
 chin. I never saw a more beautiful spectacle than 
 these rows of kneeling women, with faces pure and 
 lofty in expression, lighted up by the enthusiasm of re- 
 ligion ; and among them, fairer than most and lovely as 
 any, was one from my own land ; not more than twen- 
 ty-two, married to a gentleman belonging to one of the 
 first families of Guatimala, once an exile in the United 
 States. In a new land and among a new people, she 
 
212 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 had embraced a new faith ; and, with the enthusiasm 
 of a youthful convert, no lady in Guatimala was more 
 devout, more regular at mass, or more strict in all the 
 discipline of the Catholic Church than the Sister Su- 
 sannah. 
 
 After the fireworks there was a long ceremony at the 
 altar, and then a general rush toward the other ex- 
 tremity of the church. The convent was directly ad- 
 joining, and in the partition wall, about six feet from 
 the floor, was a high iron grating, and about four feet 
 beyond it another, at which the nuns attended the ser- 
 vices of the church. Above the iron grating was a 
 wooden one, and from this in a few minutes issued a 
 low strain of wild Indian music, and presently a figure 
 in white, with a long white veil and a candle in her 
 right hand, and both arms extended, walked slowly to 
 within a few feet of the grating, and then as slowly re- 
 tired. Presently the same low note issued from the 
 grating below, and we saw advancing a procession of 
 white nuns, with long white veils, each holding in her 
 hand a long lighted candle. The music ceased, and a 
 chant arose, so low that it required intent listening to 
 catch the sound. Advancing two and two with this 
 low chant to within a few feet of the grating, the sis- 
 ters turned off different ways. At the end of the pro- 
 cession were two black nuns, leading between them the 
 probationer, dressed in white, with a white veil and a 
 wreath of roses round her head. The white nuns ar- 
 ranged themselves on each side, their chant ceased, and 
 the voice of the probationer was heard alone, but so 
 faint that it seemed the breathing of a spirit of air. 
 The white nuns strewed flowers before her, and she 
 advanced between the two black ones. Three times 
 she stopped and kneeled, continuing the same low 
 
RENOUNCING THE WORLD. 213 
 
 ehant, and the last time the white nuns gathered 
 around her, strewing flowers upon her head and in her 
 path. Slowly they led her to the back part of the chap- 
 el, and all kneeled before the altar. 
 
 At this time a strain of music was heard at the other 
 end of the church ; a way was cleared through the 
 crowd, and a procession advanced, consisting of the 
 principal priests, clothed in their richest robes, and 
 headed by the venerable provisor, an octogenarian 
 with white hair, and tottering on the verge of the grave, 
 as remarkable for the piety of his life as for his venera- 
 ble appearance. A layman bore on a rich frame a gold 
 crown and sceptre studded with jewels. The proces- 
 sion advanced to a small door on the right of the gra- 
 ting, and the two black nuns and the probationer ap- 
 peared in the doorway. Some words passed between 
 her and the provisor, which I understood to be an ex- 
 amination by him whether her proposed abandonment 
 of the world was voluntary or not. This over, the pro- 
 visor removed the wreath of roses and the white veil, 
 and put on her head the crown and in her hand the 
 sceptre. The music sounded loud notes of triumph, 
 and in a few moments she reappeared at the grating 
 with the crown and sceptre, and a dress sparkling with 
 jewels. The sisters embraced her, and again threw 
 roses upon her. It seemed horrible to heap upon her 
 the pomp and pleasures of the world, at the moment 
 when she was about to bid farewell to them forever. 
 Again she kneeled before the altar ; and when she rose 
 the jewels and precious stones, the rich ornaments with 
 which she was decorated, were taken from her, and she 
 returned to the bishop, who took away the crown and 
 sceptre, and put on her head the black veil. Again she 
 appeared before the grating ; the last, the fatal step was 
 
214 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 not yet taken ; the black veil was not drawn. Again 
 the nuns pressed round, and this time they almost de- 
 voured her with kisses. 
 
 I knew nothing of her story. I had not heard that 
 the ceremony was to take place till late in the evening 
 before, and I had made up my mind that she was old 
 and ugly ; but she was not, nor was she faded and worn 
 with sorrow, the picture of a broken heart ; nor yet a 
 young and beautiful enthusiast ; she was not more than 
 twenty-three, and had one of those good faces which, 
 without setting men wild by their beauty, bear the im- 
 press of a nature well qualified for the performance of 
 all duties belonging to daughter, and wife, and mother, 
 speaking the kindliness and warmth of a woman's heart. 
 It was pale, and she seemed conscious of the important 
 step and the solemn vows she was taking, and to have 
 no pangs ; and yet who can read what is passing in the 
 human breast ? 
 
 She returned to the provisor who drew over her 
 face a black veil; and music rose in bursts of rejoicing, 
 that one who was given to the world to take a share in 
 its burdens had withdrawn herself from it. Imme- 
 diately commenced the hum of restrained voices ; and 
 working my way through the crowd, I joined a party of 
 ladies, one of whom was my fair countrywoman. She 
 was from a small country town in Pennsylvania, and 
 the romance of her feelings toward convents and nuns 
 had not yet worn off. On Carrera's first invasion she 
 had taken refuge in the convent of La Concepcion, and 
 spoke with enthusiasm of the purity and piety of the 
 nuns, describing some as surpassing in all the attributes 
 of woman. She knew particularly the one who had 
 just taken the veil, and told me that in a few days she 
 would appear at the grating of the convent to embrace 
 
FIREWORKS, ETC 215 
 
 her friends and bid them farewell, and promised to take 
 me and procure me a share in the distribution. 
 
 During this time rockets were fired from the steps, 
 and in the street, immediately in front, was a frame of 
 fireworks thirty feet high, which the whole crowd wait- 
 ed on the steps and in the street to see set off. Every- 
 body spoke of the absurdity of such an exhibition by 
 daylight, but they said it was the custom. The piece 
 was complicated in its structure, and in the centre was 
 a large box. There was a whizzing of wheels, a great 
 smoke, and occasionally a red flash ; and as the ex- 
 tremities burned out, for the finale, with a smart crack- 
 ing, the box flew open, and Avhen the smoke cleared 
 away, discovered the figure of a little black nun, at 
 which all laughed and went away. 
 
 In the afternoon was the procession in honour of the 
 Virgin. Although Guatimala was dull, and, by the 
 convulsions of the times, debarred all kinds of gayety, 
 religious processions went on as usual, and it would 
 have been an evidence of an expiring state to neglect 
 them. All the streets through which the procession 
 was to pass were strewed with pine leaves, and cross- 
 ing them were arches decorated with evergreens and 
 flowers ; the long balconied windows were ornamented 
 with curtains of crimson silk, and flags with fancifu. 
 devices. At the corners of the streets were altars, un- 
 dsr arbours of evergreens as high as the tops of the 
 houses, adorned with pictures and silver ornaments 
 from the churches, and the whole covered Avith flowers. 
 Rich as the whole of Central America is in natura. 
 productions, the valley of Guatimala is distinguished 
 for the beauty and variety of its flowers ; and for one 
 day the fields were stripped of their clothing to beauti- 
 fy the city. I have seen great fetes in Europe, got up 
 
216 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 with lavish expenditure of money, but never anything 
 so simply beautiful. My stroll through the streets be- 
 fore the procession was the most interesting part of the 
 day. All the inhabitants, in their best dresses, w T ere 
 there : the men standing at the corners, and the women, 
 in black mantillas, seated in long rows on each side ; the 
 flags and curtains in the balconied windows, the green 
 of the streets, the profusion of flowers, the vistas through 
 the arches, and the simplicity of manners which per- 
 mitted ladies of the first class to mingle freely in the 
 crowd and sit along the street, formed a picture of 
 beauty that even now relieves the stamp of dulness 
 with which Guatimala is impressed upon my mind. 
 
 The procession for which all these beautiful prepara- 
 tions Avere made opened with a single Indian, old, 
 wrinkled, dirty, and ragged, bareheaded, and stagger- 
 ing under the load of an enormous bass-drum, which he 
 carried on his back, seeming as old as the conquest, 
 with every cord and the head on one side broken ; an- 
 other Indian followed in the same ragged costume, with 
 one ponderous drumstick, from time to time striking the 
 old drum. Then came an Indian with a large whistle, 
 corresponding in venerableness of aspect with the 
 drum, on which, from time to time, he gave a fierce 
 blast, and looked around with a comical air of satisfac- 
 tion for applause. Next followed a little boy about ten 
 years old, wearing a cocked hat, boots above his knees, 
 a drawn sword, and the mask of a hideous African. 
 He was marshalling twenty or thirty persons, not inapt- 
 ly called the Devils, all wearing grotesque and hideous 
 masks, and ragged, fantastic dresses ; some with reed 
 whistles, some knocking sticks together ; and the prin- 
 cipal actors were two pseudo-women, with broad-brim- 
 med European hats, frocks high in the necks, waists 
 
AN ODD PROCESSION. 217 
 
 across the breast, large boots, and each with an old gui- 
 tar, waltzing and dancing an occasional fandango. 
 How it happened that these devils, who, of course, ex- 
 cited laughter in the crowd, came to form part of a re- 
 ligious procession, I could not learn. The boys follow- 
 ed them, just as they do the military with us on a fourth 
 of July ; and, in fact, with the Guatimala boys, there is 
 no good procession without good Devils. 
 
 Next, and in striking contrast, came four beautiful 
 boys, six or eight years old, dressed in white frocks and 
 pantalettes, with white gauze veils over wreaths of roses, 
 perfect emblems of purity ; then four young priests, 
 bearing golden candlesticks, with wax candles lighted ; 
 and then four Indians, carrying on their shoulders the 
 figure of an angel larger than life, with expanded wings 
 made of gauze, puffed out like a cloud, and intended to 
 appear to float in air, but dressed more after the fashion 
 of this world, with the frock rather short, and the sus- 
 penders of the stockings of pink riband. Then, borne 
 as before, on the shoulders of Indians, larger than life, 
 the figure of Judith, with a drawn sword in one hand, 
 and in the other the gory head of Holofernes. Then 
 another angel, with a cloud of silk over her head, and 
 then the great object of veneration, La Virgen de la 
 Concepcion, on a low hand-barrow, richly decorated 
 with gold and silver and a profusion of flowers, and 
 protected by a rich silken canopy, upborne on the ends 
 of four gilded poles. Priests followed in their costly 
 dresses, one under a silken canopy, holding up the 
 Host, before the imaginary splendour of which all fell 
 on their knees. The whole concluded with a worse 
 set of devils than those which led the procession, being 
 about five hundred of Carrera's soldiers, dirty and rag- 
 ged, with fanaticism added to their usual expression of 
 
 Vol. I.— E e 19 
 
218 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 ferocity, and carrying their muskets without any order ; 
 the officers dressed in any costume they could com- 
 mand ; a few, with black hat and silver or gold band, 
 like footmen, carried their heads very high. Many 
 were lame from gunshot wounds badly cured; and a 
 gentleman who was with me pointed out several who 
 were known to have committed assassinations and 
 murders, for which, in a country that had any govern- 
 ment, they would have been hung. The city was at 
 their mercy, and Carrera was the only man living who 
 had any control over them. 
 
 At the head of the street the procession filed off in 
 the cross streets, and the figure of the Virgin was taken 
 from its place and set upon the altar. The priests kneel- 
 ed before it and prayed, and the whole crowd fell on 
 their knees. I was at the corner near the altar, which 
 commanded a view of four streets, and rising a little on 
 one knee, saw in all the streets a dense mass of kneel- 
 ing figures, rich men and beggars, lovely women and 
 stupid-looking Indians, fluttering banners and curtains 
 in balconied windows, and the figures of angels in their 
 light gauze drapery seeming to float in air ; while the 
 loud chant of the crowd, swollen by the deep chorus of 
 the soldiers' voices, produced a scene of mingled beauty 
 and deformity at once captivating and repulsive. This 
 over, all rose, the Virgin was replaced on her throne, 
 and the procession again moved. At the next altar I 
 turned aside and went to the square in front of the 
 Church of San Francisco, the place fixed for the grand 
 finale of the honours to the Virgin, the exhibition of 
 fireworks ! 
 
 At dark the procession entered the foot of a street 
 leading to the square. It approached with a loud 
 chant, and at a distance nothing was visible but a long 
 
A. FIERY BULL. 219 
 
 train of burning candles, making the street light as day. 
 The devils were still at its head, and its arrival in the 
 square was announced by a discharge of rockets. In 
 a few minutes the first piece of fireworks was set off 
 from the balustrade of the church ; the figures on the 
 roof were lighted by the glare, and, though not built 
 expressly for that purpose, the church answered ex- 
 ceedingly well for the exhibition. 
 
 The next piece was on the ground of the square, a 
 national one, and as much a favourite in the exhibition 
 of fireworks as the devils in a religious procession, call- 
 ed the Toros, or Bull, being a frame covered with paste- 
 board, in the form of a bull, covered on the outside with 
 fireworks ; into this figure a man thrust his head and 
 shoulders, and, with nothing but his legs visible, rushed 
 into the thickest of the crowd, scattering on all sides 
 streams of fire. I was standing with a party of ladies 
 and several members of the Constituent Assembly, the 
 latter of whom were speaking of an invasion of troops 
 from Quezaltenango, and the sally of Carrera to repel 
 them. As the toros came at us, we retreated till we 
 could go no farther ; the ladies screamed, and we 
 bravely turned our backs ; and holding down our 
 heads, sheltered them from the shower of fire. All 
 said it was dangerous, but it was the custom. There 
 was more cheerfulness and gayety than I had yet seen 
 in Guatimala, and I felt sorry when the exhibition was 
 over. 
 
 All day I had felt particularly the influence of the 
 beautiful climate ; the mere breathing of the air was a 
 luxury, and the evening was worthy of such a day. 
 The moonbeams were lighting up the facade of the 
 venerable church, and showing in sadness a rent made 
 by an earthquake from top to bottom. As we walked 
 
220 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 home, the streets were lighted with a brilliancy almost 
 unearthly ; and the ladies, proud of their moonlight, al- 
 most persuaded me that it was a land to love. 
 
 Continuing on our way, we passed a guardhouse, 
 where a group of soldiers were lying at full length, so as 
 to make everybody pass off the walk and go round 
 them. Perhaps three or four thousand people, a large 
 portion ladies, were turned off. All felt the insolence 
 of these fellows, and I have no doubt some felt a strong 
 disposition to kick them out of the way ; but, though 
 young men enough passed to drive the whole troop out 
 of the city, no complaint was made, and no notice 
 whatever taken of it. In one of the corridors of the 
 plaza another soldier lay on his back crosswise, with his 
 musket by his side, and muttering to everybody that 
 passed, " Tread on me if you dare, and you'll see !" 
 and we all took good care not to tread on him. I re- 
 turned to my house, to pass the evening in solitude ; 
 and it was melancholy to reflect that, with the elements 
 of so much happiness, Guatimala was made so miser- 
 able. 
 
THE PKOVESO R. 22* 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The Provesor. — News of the Day, how published in Guatemala. — Visit to the 
 Convent of La Concepcion.— The Farewell of the Nun. — Carrera. — Sketch 
 of his Life. — The Cholera.— Insurrections. — Carrera heads the Insurgents. — 
 His Appearance ia Guatimala. — Capture of the City. — Carrera Triumphant. — 
 Arrival of Morazan. — Hostilities. — Pursuit of Carrera. — His Defeat. — He is 
 again uppermost.— Interview with Carrera. — His Character. 
 
 The next three or four days I passed in receiving and 
 paying visits, and in making myself acquainted with 
 the condition of the country. Among the most inter- 
 esting visiters was the venerable provisor, since the 
 banishment of the archbishop the head of the church, 
 who, by a late bull of the pope, had been appointed 
 bishop ; but, owing to the troubled times, had not yet 
 been ordained. A friend in Baltimore had procured 
 for me a letter from the archbishop in that city, to 
 whom I here acknowledge my obligations, recommend- 
 ing me to all his brother ecclesiastics in Central Amer- 
 ica. The venerable provisor received this letter as 
 from a brother in the Church, and upon the strength of 
 it, afterward, when I set out for Palenque, gave me a 
 letter of recommendation to all the curas under his 
 charge. During the day my time passed agreeably 
 enough; but the evenings, in which I was obliged to 
 keep within doors, were long and lonely. My house 
 was so near the plaza that I could hear the sentinels' 
 challenge, and from time to time the report of a mus- 
 ket. These reports, in the stillness of night, were al- 
 ways startling. For some time I did not know the 
 cause ; but at length learned that cows and mules 
 
222 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 straggled about the city, which, heard moving at a 
 distance and not answering the challenge, were fired 
 upon without ceremony. 
 
 There was but one paper in Guatimala, and that a 
 weekly, and a mere chronicler of decrees and political 
 movements. City news passed by word of mouth. 
 Every morning everybody asked his neighbour what 
 was the news. One day it was that an old deaf woman, 
 who could not hear the sentinel's challenge, had been 
 shot ; another, that Asturias, a rich old citizen, had 
 been stabbed ; and another morning the report circu- 
 lated that thirty-three nuns in the convent of Santa 
 Teresa had been poisoned. This was a subject of ex- 
 citement for several days, when the nuns all recovered, 
 and it was ascertained that they had suffered from the 
 unsentimental circumstance of eating food that did not 
 agree with them. 
 
 On Friday, in company with my fair countrywoman, 
 I visited the convent of La Concepcion for the pur- 
 pose of embracing a nun, or rather the nun, who had 
 taken the black veil. The room adjoining the parlato- 
 ria of the convent was crowded, and she was standing 
 in the doorway with the crown on her head and a doll 
 in her hand. It was the last time her friends could see 
 her face ; but this puerile exhibition of the doll detract- 
 ed from the sentiment. It was an occasion that ad- 
 dressed itself particularly to ladies ; some wondered 
 that one so young should abandon a world to them 
 beaming with bright and beautiful prospects ; others, 
 with whom the dreams of life had passed, looked upon 
 her retirement as the part of wisdom. They embraced 
 her, and retired to make room for others. Before our 
 turn came there was an irruption of those objects of 
 my detestation, the eternal soldiers, who, leaving their 
 
THE FAREWELL OF THE NUN. 223 
 
 muskets at the door, forced their way through the 
 crowd, and presenting themselves, though respectfully, 
 for an embrace, retired. By her side was a black nun, 
 with a veil so thick that not a lineament of her face 
 could be seen, whom my countrywoman had known du- 
 ring her seclusion in the convent, and described as 
 young, of exceeding beauty and loveliness, and around 
 whom she threw a charm which almost awakened a 
 spirit of romance. I would have made some sacrifice 
 for one glimpse of her face. At length our turn came ; 
 my fair companion embraced her, and, after many fare- 
 well words, recommended me as her countryman. I 
 never had much practice in embracing nuns ; in fact, it 
 was the first time I ever attempted such a thing ; but 
 it came as natural as if I had been brought up to it. 
 My right arm encircled her neck, her right arm mine ; 
 I rested my head upon her shoulder, and she hers upon 
 mine ; but a friend's grandmother never received a 
 more respectful embrace. "Stolen joys are always 
 dearest ;" there were too many looking on. The gra- 
 ting closed, and the face of the nun will never be seen 
 again. 
 
 That afternoon Carrera returned to the city. I was 
 extremely desirous to know him, and made an arrange- 
 ment with Mr. Pavon to call upon him the next day. 
 At ten o'clock the next morning Mr. Pavon called for 
 me. I was advised that this formidable chief was taken 
 by external show, and put on the diplomatic coat, with 
 a great profusion of buttons, which had produced such 
 an effect at Copan, and which, by-the-way, owing to 
 the abominable state of the country, I never had an 
 opportunity of wearing afterward, and the cost of which 
 was a dead loss. 
 
 Carrera was living in a small house in a retired street. 
 
224 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 Sentinels were at the door, and eight or ten soldiers 
 basking in the sun outside, part of a body-guard, who 
 had been fitted out with red bombazet jackets and tar- 
 tan plaid caps, and made a much better appearance 
 than any of his soldiers I had before seen. Along the 
 corridor was a row of muskets, bright and in good or- 
 der. "We entered a small room adjoining the sala, and 
 saw Carrera sitting at a table counting money. 
 
 Ever since my arrival in the country this name of 
 terror had been ringing in my ears. Mr. Montgomery, 
 to whom I have before referred, and who arrived in 
 Central America about a year before me, says, " An in- 
 surrection, I was told, had taken place among the In- 
 dians, who, under the directions of a man called Car- 
 rera, were ravaging the country and committing all 
 kinds of excesses. Along the coast, and in some of 
 the departments, tranquillity had not been disturbed ; 
 but in the interior there was no safety for the traveller, 
 and every avenue to the capital was beset by parties of 
 brigands, who showed no mercy to their victims, espe- 
 cially if they were foreigners ;" and in referring to the 
 posture of affairs at his departure he adds, " It is proba- 
 ble, however, that while this is being written, the active 
 measures of General Morazan for putting down the in- 
 surrection have been successful, and that the career of 
 this rebel hero has been brought to a close." But the 
 career of the " rebel hero" was not brought to a close; 
 the " man called Carrera" was now absolute master of 
 Guatimala ; and, if I am not deceived, he is destined 
 to become more conspicuous than any other leader who 
 has yet risen in the convulsions of Spanish America. 
 
 He is a native of one of the wards of Guatimala. 
 His friends, in compliment, call him a mulatto ; I, for 
 the same reason, call him an Indian, considering that 
 
THE CHOLERA. 225 
 
 the better blood of the two. In 1829 he was a drum- 
 mer-boy in Colonel Aycinena's regiment. When the 
 Liberal or Democratic party prevailed, and General 
 Morazan entered the city, Carrera broke his drum and 
 retired to the village of Matasquintla. Here he enter- 
 ed into business as a pig-driver, and for several years 
 continued in this respectable occupation, probably as 
 free as one of his own pigs from any dreams of future 
 greatness. The excesses of political parties, severe ex- 
 actions for the support of government, encroachments 
 upon the property of the Church, and innovations, par- 
 ticularly the introduction of the Livingston Code, es- 
 tablishing trial by jury, and making marriage a civil 
 contract, created discontent throughout the country. 
 The last gave great offence to the clergy, who exercised 
 an unbounded influence over the minds of the Indians. 
 In 1837 the cholera, which, in its destructive march 
 over the habitable world, had hitherto spared this por- 
 tion of the American continent, made its terrible ap- 
 pearance, and, besides strewing it with dead, proved 
 the immediate cause of political convulsions. The 
 priests persuaded the Indians that the foreigners had 
 poisoned the waters. Galvez, who was at that time the 
 chief of the state, sent medicines into all the villages, 
 which, being ignorantly administered, sometimes pro- 
 duced fatal consequences ; and the priests, always oppo- 
 sed to the Liberal party, persuaded the Indians that the 
 government was endeavouring to poison and destroy 
 their race. The Indians became excited all over the 
 country ; and in Matasquintla they rose in mass, with 
 Carrera at their head, crying " Viva la Religion, y 
 muerte a los Etrangeros !" The first blow was struck 
 by murdering the judges appointed under the Living- 
 ston Code. Galvez sent a commission, with detach- 
 
 VOL. I— F F 
 
226 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 ments of cavalry and a white flag, to hear their com- 
 plaints ; but while conferring with the insurgents they 
 were surrounded, and almost all of them cut to pieces. 
 The number of the disaffected increased to more than a 
 thousand, and Galvez sent against them six hundred 
 troops, who routed them, plundered and burned their 
 villages, and, among other excesses, the last outrage 
 was perpetrated upon Carrera's wife. Roused to fury 
 by this personal wrong, he joined with several chiefs of 
 villages, vowing never to lay down his arms while an 
 officer of Morazan remained in the state. With a few 
 infuriated followers he went from village to village, 
 killing the judges and government officers, when pur- 
 sued escaping to the mountains, begging tortillas at the 
 haciendas for his men, and sparing and protecting all 
 who assisted him. At this time he could neither read 
 nor write ; but, urged on and assisted by some priests, 
 particularly one Padre Lobo, a notorious profligate, he 
 issued a proclamation, having his name stamped at thf. 
 foot of it, against strangers and the government, for at- 
 tempting to poison the Indians, demanding the destruc- 
 tion of all foreigners excepting the Spaniards, the abo- 
 lition of the Livingston Code, a recall of the archbishop 
 and friars, the expulsion of heretics, and a restora- 
 tion of the privileges of the Church and old usages 
 and customs. His fame spread as a highwayman and 
 murderer ; the roads about Guatimala were unsafe ; all 
 travelling was broken up ; the merchants were thrown 
 into consternation by intelligence that the whole of the 
 goods sent to the fair at Esquipulas had fallen into his 
 hands (which, however, proved untrue) ; and very soon 
 he became so strong that he attacked villages and even 
 towns. 
 
 The reader will bear in mind that this was in the 
 
DISSENSIONS IN CENTRAL AMERICA. 227 
 
 State of Guatimala. The Liberal party was dominant, 
 but at this critical moment a fatal division took place 
 among its members ; Barundia, a leading member, dis- 
 appointed of a high office for a profligate relative, de- 
 serted the administration, and appeared in the Assembly 
 at the head of the opposition. Party distraction and 
 the rising of Carrera stirred up all who were dissatisfied 
 with the government ; and the citizens of the Antigua, 
 about twenty-five miles distant, sent in a petition for a 
 decree of amnesty for political offences, allowing exiles 
 to return, and a redress of other grievances. A depu- 
 tation of the Assembly was sent to confer with them, 
 which returned unsuccessful, and the Antiguans threat- 
 ened to march against Guatimala. 
 
 On Sunday, the twentieth of February (1838), proc- 
 lamations of the Antiguanos were found strewed in the 
 streets, and there was a general alarm that the Antigua- 
 nos were on their march to attack the city. The troops 
 of the general government (less than five hundred in 
 number) and the militia were mustered ; cannon placed 
 at the corners of the square, and sentinels in the streets; 
 and General Prem published a bando, calling upon all 
 citizens to take up arms. Galvez, the chief of the state, 
 mounted his horse, and rode through the streets, en- 
 deavouring to rouse the citizens, and giving out that 
 Morazun was on his march, and had defeated three 
 hundred of Carrera's gang. On Monday all business 
 was suspended. Galvez, in great perplexity, reinstated 
 some officers who had been dismissed, and appointed 
 Mexia, a Spaniard, lieutenant-colonel ; which gave such 
 disgust that Prem and all the officers sent in their res- 
 ignations. Galvez begged and implored them to con- 
 tinue, reconciling himself to each individually; and at 
 length, on his revoking the. commission of Mexia, they 
 
228 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 consented. At two o'clock it was rumoured that Car- 
 rera had joined the Antiguanos. Prem published a de- 
 cree that all males from fourteen to sixty, except priests 
 and persons labouring under physical imbecility, should 
 take up arms. At nine o'clock at night there was an 
 alarm that a party of Carrera's gang was at the Ayce- 
 tuna. The square was garrisoned, and sentinels and 
 cannons placed at the corners of the streets. To add 
 to the excitement, during the night the provesor died, 
 and news was received that the Livingston Code had 
 been publicly burned at Chiquimula, and that the town 
 had declared against Galvez. On "Wednesday morn- 
 ing fosses were commenced at the corners of the pub- 
 lic square ; but on Thursday the Marquis of Aycinena, 
 the leader of the Central party, by a conference with 
 the divided Liberals, succeeded in inducing a majority 
 of deputies to sign a convention of amnesty, which gave 
 general satisfaction, and the next day the city was per- 
 fectly quiet. 
 
 At midday this calm proved the forerunner of a 
 dreadful storm. The troops of the Federal govern- 
 ment, the only reliable force, revolted, and with bayo- 
 nets fixed, colours flying, and cannon in front, left the 
 barracks and marched into the plaza. They refused to 
 ratify the convention by which, it was represented to 
 them, Galvez was to be deposed, and Valenzuela, the 
 vice-chief, and a tool of Barundia, appointed in his 
 stead. They refused to serve under any of the opposi- 
 tion, and said they could give protection, and had no 
 occasion to ask it. Deputies were cited to attend a 
 meeting of the Assembly, but they were afraid to con- 
 vene. The officers had a conference with the soldiers ; 
 and Merino, a sergeant, drew up a document requiring 
 the President Morazan to be sent for, and Galvez to 
 
CIVIL WAR. 229 
 
 remain chief until his arrival. This was assented to. 
 Deputies were sent requesting Morazan to come to Gua- 
 timala, and also to the Antigua, to explain the circum- 
 stances of violating the convention ; but they were un- 
 successful, and the same night the alarm-bell announced 
 the approach of eight hundred men to attack the city. 
 The militia were called to arms, but only about forty 
 appeared. At half past five Galvez formed the gov- 
 ernment troops, and, accompanied by Prem, marched 
 from the plaza to meet the rebels ; but before he reach- 
 ed the gate a conspiracy broke out among the troops, 
 and with the cry " Viva el General Merino, y muera el 
 Gefe del Estado, qui nos ha vendido — fuego, mucha- 
 chos !" " Live General Merino, and die the chief of 
 the state, who has sold us — fire, boys," the infantry fired 
 upon the etat major. A ball passed through Prem's 
 hat ; Galvez was thrown from his horse, but escaped, 
 and took refuge behind the altar of the Church of La 
 Concepcion. Yanez succeeded in dispersing the troops 
 with his cavalry, and returned to the square, leaving 
 fifteen dead in the street. Merino, with about a hun- 
 dred and twenty men, took possession of the small field- 
 piece of the battalion, and stationed himself in the square 
 of Guadaloupe. Parties of the dispersed troops re- 
 mained out all night, firing their muskets, and keeping 
 the city in a state of alarm ; but Yanez saved it from 
 plunder by patrolling with his cavalry. In the morning 
 Merino asked permission to march into the plaza. His 
 number had increased by the return of straggling par- 
 ties ; and on forming in the plaza he and three or four 
 of the ringleaders were ordered to leave the ranks, and 
 sent to prison in the convent of San Domingo, where, 
 on Monday afternoon, he was tied to a stake in his cell 
 and shot. His grave at the foot of the stake, and blood 
 I 20 
 
230 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 spattered on the wall, were among the curiosities shown 
 to me in Guatimala. 
 
 On Sunday morning the bells again sounded the 
 alarm ; the rebels were at the old gate, and commis- 
 sioners were sent out to treat with them. They de- 
 manded an evacuation of the plaza by the soldiers ; but 
 the soldiers answered, indignantly, that the rebels 
 might come and take the square. Prem softened this 
 into an answer that they could not surrender to rebels, 
 and at about half past twelve at night the attack com- 
 menced. The rebels scattered in the suburbs, wasting 
 powder and bullets, and in the morning Yaiiez, with 
 seventy cavalry, made a sally, and, routing three hun- 
 dred of them, returned into the plaza with lances reek- 
 ing with blood. Probably, if he had been seconded by 
 the citizens, he would have driven them all back to the 
 Antigua. 
 
 On Wednesday Carrera joined the rebels. He had 
 sent his emissaries to the villages, rousing the Indians, 
 and promising them the plunder of Guatimala ; and on 
 Thursday, with a tumultuous mass of half-naked sava- 
 ges, men, women, and children, estimated at ten or 
 twelve thousand, presented himself at the gate of the 
 city. The Antiguanos themselves were struck with con- 
 sternation, and the citizens of Guatimala were thrown 
 into a state bordering on distraction. Commissioners 
 were again sent out to treat with him, from whom he 
 demanded the deposition of Galvez, the chief of the 
 state, the evacuation of the plaza by the Federal troops, 
 and a free passage into the city. Probably, even at this 
 time, if the Federal troops had been supported by the 
 citizens they could have resisted the entry ; but the 
 consternation, and the fear of exasperating the rebel- 
 lious hordes, were so great, that nothing was thought ol 
 
APPEARANCE OF CARrtERA. 231 
 
 but submission. The Assembly met in terror and dis- 
 traction, and the result was an assent to all that was 
 demanded. 
 
 At five o'clock the small band of government troops 
 evacuated the plaza. The infantry, amounting to three 
 hundred, marched out by the Calle Real, or Royal- 
 street. The cavalry, seventy in number, exclusive of 
 officers, on their march through another street, met an 
 aiddecamp of Carrera, who ordered them to lay down 
 their arms. Yanez answered that he must, first see his 
 general ; but the dragoons, suspecting some treachery 
 on the part of Valenzuela, became panic-struck, and 
 fled. Yaiiez, with thirty-five men, galloped through 
 the city, and escaped by the road to Mixco ; the rest 
 rushed back into the plaza, threw down their lances in 
 disgust, dismounted and disappeared, when not a single 
 man was left under arms. 
 
 In the mean time Carrera's hordes were advancing. 
 The commandant of the Antiguans asked him if he had 
 his masses divided into squares or companies ; era an- 
 swered, "No entiendo nada de esta. Todo es uno.*' 
 " I don't understand anything of that. It is all the 
 same." Among his leaders were Monreal and other 
 known outlaws, criminals, robbers, and murderers. 
 He himself was on horseback, with a green bush in his 
 hat, and hung round with pieces of dirty cotton cloth, 
 covered with pictures of the saints. A gentleman who 
 saw them from the roof of his house, and Avho A-as fa- 
 miliar with all the scenes of terror which had taken 
 place in that unhappy city, told me that he never felt 
 such consternation and horror as when he saw the entry 
 of this immense mass of barbarians ; choking up the 
 streets, all with green bushes in their hats, seeming at 
 a distance like a moving forest ; armed with rusty mus- 
 
232 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 kets, old pistols, fowling-pieces, some with locks and 
 some without ; sticks formed into the shape of muskets, 
 with tin-plate locks; clubs, machetes, and knives tied 
 to the ends of long poles ; and swelling the multitude 
 were two or three thousand women, with sacks and al- 
 forjas for carrying away the plunder. Many, who had 
 never left their villages before, looked wild at the sight 
 of the houses and churches, and the magnificence of 
 the city. They entered the plaza, vociferating " Viva 
 la religion, y muerte a los etrangeros !" Carrera him- 
 self, amazed at the immense ball he had set in motion, 
 was so embarrassed that he could not guide his horse- 
 He afterward said that he was frightened at the diffi- 
 culty of controlling this huge and disorderly mass. 
 The traitor Barundia, the leader of the opposition, the 
 Catiline of this rebellion, rode by his side on his entry 
 into the plaza. 
 
 At sundown the whole multitude set up the Salve, or 
 Hymn to the Virgin. The swell of human voices filled 
 the air, and made the hearts of the inhabitants quake 
 with fear. Carrera entered the Cathedral ; the Indians, 
 in mute astonishment at its magnificence, thronged in 
 after him, and set up around the beautiful altar the un- 
 couth images of their village saints. Monreal broke 
 into the house of General Prem, and seized a uniform 
 3oat, richly embroidered with gold, into which Carrera 
 slipped his arms, still wearing his straw hat with its 
 green bush. A watch was brought him, but he did not 
 know the use of it. Probably, since the invasion of 
 Rome by Alaric and the Goths, no civilized city was 
 ever visited by such an inundation of barbarians. 
 
 And Carrera alone had power to control the wild ele- 
 ments around him. As soon as possible some of the 
 authorities sought him out, and in the most abject terms 
 
CAPTURE OF GUATJMALA. 233 
 
 begged him to state on what conditions he would evac- 
 uate the city. He demanded the deposition of Galvez, 
 ihe chief of the state, all the money, and all the arms 
 the government could command. The priests were the 
 only people who had any influence with him, and words 
 cannot convey any idea of the awful state of suspense 
 which the city suffered, dreading every moment to hear 
 the signal given for general pillage and massacre. The 
 inhabitants shut themselves up in their houses, which, 
 being built of stone, with iron balconies to the win- 
 dows, and doors several inches thick, resisted the as- 
 saults of straggling parties; but atrocities more than 
 enough were committed, as it seemed, preliminary to a 
 general sacking. The vice-president of the republic 
 was murdered ; the house of Flores, a deputy, sacked, 
 his mother knocked down by a villain with the butt of 
 a musket, and one of his daughters shot in the arm with 
 two balls. 
 
 The house of Messrs. Klee, Skinner, & Co., the 
 principal foreign merchants in Guatimala, which was 
 reported to contain ammunition and arms, was several 
 times attacked with great ferocity ; having strong bal- 
 conied windows, and the door being secured by bales 
 of merchandise piled up within, it resisted the assaults 
 of an undisciplined mob, armed only with clubs, mus- 
 kets, knives, and machetes. The priests ran through 
 the streets bearing the crucifix, in the name of the Vir- 
 gin and saints restraining the lawless Indians, stilling 
 the wildness of passion, and saving the terrified inhab- 
 itants. And I cannot help mentioning one whose name 
 was in everybody's mouth, Mr. Charles Savage, at that 
 time United States consul, who, in the midst of the 
 most furious assault upon Mr. Klee's house, rushed 
 down the street under a shower of bullets, knocking up 
 
 Vol. I.— G g 
 
234 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 bayonets and machetes, drove the mob back from the 
 door, and, branding them as robbers and murderers, 
 with his white hair streaming in the wind, poured out 
 such a torrent of indignation and contempt, that the In- 
 dians, amazed at his audacity, desisted. After this, 
 with an ulmost wanton exposure of life, he was seen 
 in the midst of every mob. To the astonishment of 
 everybody, he was not killed ; and the foreign residents 
 presented him a unanimous letter of thanks for his fear- 
 less and successful exertions in the protection of life 
 and property. 
 
 Pending the negotiation, Carrera, dressed in Prem's 
 uniform, endeavoured to restrain his tumultuous follow- 
 ers ; but several times he said that he could not himself 
 resist the temptation to sack Klee's house, and those of 
 the other Ingleses. There was a strange dash of fanat- 
 icism in the character of this lawless chieftain. The 
 battle-cry of his hordes was " Viva la religion !" The 
 palace of the archbishop had been suffered to be used 
 as a theatre by the Liberals ; Carrera demanded the 
 keys, and, putting them in his pocket, declared that, to 
 prevent any future pollution, it should not be opened 
 again until the banished archbishop returned to occu- 
 py it. 
 
 At length the terms upon which he consented to with- 
 draw were agreed upon, viz., eleven thousand dollars 
 in silver, ten thousand to be distributed among his fol- 
 lowers, and one thousand for his own share ; a thou- 
 sand muskets, and a commission as lieutenant-colonel 
 for himself. The amount of money was small as the 
 price of relief from such imminent danger, but it was 
 an immense sum in the eyes of Carrera and his follow- 
 ers, few of whom were worth more than the rags on 
 their backs and the stolen arms in their hands ; and it 
 
CARRERA TRIUMPHANT. 235 
 
 was not easily raised ; the treasury was bankrupt, and 
 the money was not very cheerfully contributed by the 
 citizens. The madness of consenting to put in the 
 hands of Carrera a thousand muskets was only equalled 
 by the absurdity of making him a lieutenant-colonel. 
 
 On the afternoon of the third day the money was 
 paid, the muskets delivered, and Carrera was invested 
 with the command of the province of Mita, a district 
 near Guatimala. The joy of the inhabitants at the 
 prospect of his immediate departure was without 
 bounds ; but at the last moment an awful rumour 
 spread, that the wild bands had evinced an uncontrol- 
 lable eagerness, before leaving, to sack the city. A 
 random discharge of muskets in the plaza confirmed 
 this rumour, and the effect was dreadful. An hour of 
 terrible suspense followed, but at five o'clock they filed 
 off in straggling crowds from the plaza. At the Plaza 
 de Toros they halted, and, firing their muskets in the 
 air, created another panic. A rumour was revived that 
 Carrera had demanded four thousand dollars more, and 
 that, unless he received it, he would return and take it 
 by force. Carrera himself did actually return, and de- 
 manded a fleldpiece, which was given him ; and at 
 length, leaving behind him a document requiring the 
 redress of certain grievances, to the unspeakable joy 
 of all the inhabitants he left the city. 
 
 The delight of the citizens at being relieved from 
 the pressure of immediate danger was indeed great, 
 but there was no return of confidence, and, unhappily, 
 no healing of political animosities. Valcnzuela was 
 appointed chief of the state ; the Assembly renewed its 
 distracted sessions ; Barundia, as the head of the now 
 ministerial party, proposed to abolish all the unconsti- 
 tutional decrees of Galvez ; money was wanted, and 
 
236 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 recourse had to the old system of forced loans. This 
 exasperated the moneyed men ; and in the midst of dis- 
 cord and confusion news was received that Quezalte- 
 nango, one of the departments of Guatimala, had se- 
 ceded, and declared itself a separate state. At this 
 time, too, the government received a letter from Car- 
 rera, stating that he had been informed, since his ar- 
 rival at Mataquescuintla, that people spoke ill of him in 
 the capital, and if they continued to do so he had four 
 thousand men, and would return and put things right. 
 From time to time he sent a message to the same effect 
 by some straggling Indian who happened to pass 
 through his village. Afterward it was reported that 
 his followers had renounced his authority and com- 
 menced operations on their own account, threatening 
 the city with another invasion, determined, according 
 to their proclamations, to exterminate the whites and es- 
 tablish a government of pardos libres, " free tigers," and 
 enjoy in their own right the lands wh'ch had devolved 
 upon them by their emancipation from the dominion of 
 the whites. To the honour of Guatimala, a single 
 spark of spirit broke forth, and men of all classes took 
 up arms ; but it was a single flash, and soon died away. 
 Again intelligence arrived that Carrera himself had sent 
 out his emissaries to summon his hordes for another 
 march upon the city. Several families received pri- 
 vate information and advice to seek safety in flight. 
 Hundreds of people did so, and the roads were crowd- 
 ed with processions of mules, horses, and Indians 
 loaded with luggage. On Sunday everybody was go- 
 ing, and early on Monday morning guards were placed 
 at the barriers. Hundreds of passports were applied 
 for and refused. Again a decree was published that 
 all should take up arms. The militia were again mus- 
 
ARRIVAL OF MORAZAN. 237 
 
 tered. At ten o'clock on Tuesday night it was said 
 that Carrera was at Palencia, at eleven that he had 
 gone to suppress an insurrection of his own bandits, 
 and on Wednesday night that he was at a place called 
 Canales. On Sunday, the fourth of March, a review 
 took place of about seven hundred men. The Anti- 
 gua sent three hundred and fifty muskets, and ammuni- 
 tion, which they did not consider it prudent to keep, as 
 there had been cries of " muera Guatimala, y viva Car- 
 rera !" and placards bearing the same ominous words 
 had been posted on the walls. At this time a letter 
 was received from Carrera by the government, advi- 
 sing them to disband their troops, and assuring them 
 that he was collecting forces only to destroy a party of 
 four hundred rebels, headed by one Galvez (the for- 
 mer chief of the state, whom he had deposed), and re- 
 questing two cannon and more ammunition. At an- 
 other time, probably supposing that the government 
 must be interested in his fortunes, he sent word that he 
 had narrowly escaped being assassinated. Monreal 
 had taken advantage of an opportunity, seduced his 
 men, tied him to a tree, and was in the very act of 
 having him shot, when his brother Laureano Carrera 
 rushed in, and ran Monreal through with his bayonet. 
 The government now conceived the project of inducing 
 his followers, by the influence of the priests, to surren- 
 der their arms on paying them five dollars apiece ; but 
 very soon he was heard of stronger than ever, occupy- 
 ing all the roads, sending in imperious proclamations to 
 the government, and at length the news came that he 
 was actually marching upon the city. 
 
 At this time, to the unspeakable joy of the inhabi- 
 tants, General Morazan, the president of the republic, 
 arrived from San Salvador, with fifteen hundred men 
 
238 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 But even yet party spirit was dominant. General Mo- 
 razan encamped a few leagues from the city, hesitating 
 to enter it or to employ the forces of the general gov- 
 ernment in putting down a revolution in the state ex- 
 cept with the consent of the state government. The 
 state government was jealous of the federal govern- 
 ment, tenacious of prerogatives it had not the cour- 
 age to defend, and demanded from the president apian 
 of his campaign ; passed a decree offering Carrera and 
 his followers fifteen days to lay down their arms, which 
 General Morazan would not permit to be published at 
 his headquarters ; two days afterward annulled it, and 
 authorized the president of the republic to act as cir 
 cumstances might require. 
 
 During this time one of Morazan's piquets had been 
 cut off and the officers murdered, which created a great 
 excitement among his soldiers ; but, anxious to avoid 
 shedding more blood, he sent into the city for the Ca- 
 nonigo Castillo and Barundia, deputing them as com- 
 missioners to persuade the bandits to surrender their 
 arms, even offering to pay fifteen dollars a head rather 
 than come to extremities. The commissioners found 
 Carrera at one of his old haunts among the mountains 
 of Mataqnescuintla surrounded by hordes of Indians liv- 
 ing upon tortillas. The traitor Barundia had been re- 
 ceived by Morazan's soldiers with groans ; his poor 
 jaded horse was tied up at Morazan's camp a day and 
 a half without a blade of grass ; and, as a farther reward 
 of his treason, Carrera refused to meet him under a roof, 
 because, as he said, he did not wish to plunge his new 
 lance, a present from a priest, into Barundia's breast. 
 
 The meeting took place in the open air, and on the 
 top of a mountain. Carrera refused to lay down his 
 arms unless all his former demands were complied 
 
HOSTILITIES. 239 
 
 with, and unless also the Indian capitation tax was 
 reduced to one third of its amount ; but he softened 
 his asperity against foreigners to the demand that 
 only those not married should be expelled the coun- 
 try, and that thereafter they should be permitted to 
 traffic only, and not to radicate in it. The atrocious 
 priest Padre Lobo, his constant friend and adviser, was 
 with him. The arguments of the Canonigo Castillo, 
 particularly in regard to the folly of charging the gov- 
 ernment with an attempt to poison the Indians, were 
 listened to with much attention by them, but Carrera 
 broke up the conference by asserting vehemently that 
 the government had offered him twenty dollars a head 
 for every Indian he poisoned. 
 
 All hope of compromise was now at an end, and 
 General Morazan marched directly to Mataquescuint- 
 la ; but before he reached it Carrera's bands had disap- 
 peared among the mountains. He heard of them in 
 another place, devastating the country, desolating vil- 
 lages and towns, and again, before his troops could 
 reach them, the muskets were concealed, and the In- 
 dians either in the mountains or quietly working in the 
 fields. Mr. Hall, the British vice-consul, received a 
 letter from eleven British subjects at Salama, a dis- 
 tance of three days' journey, stating that they had been 
 seized at night by a party of Carrera's troops, stripped 
 of everything, confined two nights and a day without 
 food, and sentenced to be shot, but finally ordered to 
 leave the country, which they were then doing, destitute 
 of everything, and begging their way to the port. A 
 few nights after, at ten o'clock, the cannon of alarm 
 was sounded in the city, and it was reported that 
 Carrera was again at the gates. All this time party 
 strife was as violent as ever ; the Centralists trembling 
 
240 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 with apprehension, but in their hearts rejoicing at the 
 distraction of the country under the administration of 
 the Liberals, and that one had risen up capable of in- 
 spiring them with terror ; and the divided Liberals ha- 
 ting each other with a more intense hate even than the 
 Centralists bore to them ; but the excitement became so 
 great that all the parties drew up separate petitions to 
 General Morazan, representing the deplorable state of 
 insecurity in the city, and begging him to enter and 
 provide for its safety. Separate sets of deputies hur- 
 ried to anticipate each other at General Morazan's 
 headquarters, and pay court to him by being the first to 
 ask his protection. General Morazan had become ac- 
 quainted with the distracted condition of the city, and 
 was in the act of mounting his horse when the deputies 
 arrived. On Sunday he entered with an escort of two 
 hundred soldiers, amid the ringing of bells, firing of 
 cannon, and other demonstrations of joy. The same 
 day the merchants, with the Marquis of Aycinena and 
 others of the Central party, presented a petition repre- 
 senting the dreadful state of public feeling, and request- 
 ing Morazan to depose the state authorities and assume 
 the reins of government, and to convoke a Constituent 
 Assembly, as the only means of saving Guatimala from 
 utter ruin. In the evening deputies from the different 
 branches of the Liberal party had long conferences 
 with the president. Morazan answered all that he 
 wished to act legally, would communicate with the As- 
 sembly the next day, and be governed by their deci- 
 sion. The proceedings in the Assembly are too afflict- 
 ing and disgraceful to dwell upon. So far as I can un- 
 derstand the party strife of that time, after wading 
 through papers and pamphlets emanating from both 
 sides, General Morazan conducted himself with probi- 
 
PURSUIT OF CARRERA. 241 
 
 ty and honour. The Centralists made a desperate ef- 
 fort to attach him to them, but he would n*)t accept the 
 offered embrace, nor the sycophantic service of men 
 who had always opposed him ; nor would he sustain 
 what he believed to be wrong in his own partisans. 
 
 In the mean time Carrera was gaining ground ; he 
 had routed several detachments of the Federal troops, 
 massacred men, and increased his stock of ammunition 
 and arms. At length all agreed that something must 
 be done ; and at a final meeting of the Assembly, with 
 a feeling of desperation, it was decreed without debate, 
 
 1. That the state government should retire to the 
 Antigua. 
 
 2. That the president, in person or by delegate, 
 should govern the district according to article 176 of 
 the Constitution. 
 
 Amid these scenes within the city, and rumours of 
 worse from without, on Sunday night a ball was given 
 to Morazan ; but the Centralists, displeased at his not 
 acceding to their overtures, did not attend. Galvez, 
 the chief deposed by Carrera, made his first appearance 
 since his deposition, and danced the whole time. 
 
 Though Morazan was irresolute in the cabinet, he 
 was all energy in the field ; and being now invested 
 with full power, sustained his high reputation as a skil- 
 ful soldier. The bulletin of the army for May and 
 June exhibits the track of Carrera, devastating villages 
 and towns, and the close pursuit of the government 
 troops, beating him wherever they found him, but never 
 able to secure his person. In the mean time, party 
 jealousies continued, and the state government was in 
 a state of anarchy. The Assembly could not meet, be- 
 cause, the state party not attending, it was incumbent on 
 the vice-chief to retire, and the oldest counsellor to take 
 
 Vol. I.— H h 21 
 
242 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 his place. But there was no such person ; the term of 
 the council had expired, and no new elections had been 
 held ; and while Morazan was dispersing the wild bands 
 of Carrera, and relieving the Guatimalians from the 
 danger which had brought them to their knees before 
 him, the old jealousies revived, and incendiary publica- 
 tions were issued, charging him with exhausting the 
 country in supporting idle soldiers, and keeping the city 
 in subjection by bayonets. 
 
 About the first of July General Morazan considered 
 Guatimala relieved from all external danger, and re- 
 turned to San Salvador, leaving troops in different 
 towns under the command of Carvallo, and appointing 
 Carlos Salazar commandant in the city. Carrera was 
 supposed to be completely put down ; and to bring 
 things to a close, Carvallo published the following 
 
 "NOTICE. 
 
 " The person or persons who may deliver the criminal Rafael Carrera, dead or 
 alive (if he does not present himself voluntarily under the last pardon), shall re- 
 ceive a reward of fifteen hundred dollars and two cabellerias of land, and pardon 
 for any crime he has committed. 
 
 " The general-in-chief, 
 
 " Guatimala, July 20, 1838. J. N. Carvallo." 
 
 But the " criminal" Carrera, the proscribed outlaw, 
 was not yet put down. One by one, he surprised the 
 detachments of Federal troops ; and while the city ex- 
 hibited the fierceness of party spirit, forced loans, com- 
 plaints of the expense of maintaining idle soldiers, plans 
 to abolish the state government and form a provisional 
 junta, its actual prostration, and the organizing of a 
 Constituent Assembly with M. Rivera Paz at the head, 
 Carrera, with still increasing numbers, attacked Amati- 
 tan, took the Antigua, and, barely waiting to sack a few 
 houses, stripped it of cannon, muskets, and aramuni- 
 
DEFEAT OF CARRERA. 243 
 
 tion, and again marched against Guatimala, proclaim- 
 ing his intention to raze every house to the ground, and 
 murder every white inhabitant. 
 
 The consternation in the city cannot be conceived. 
 General Morazan was again solicited to come. A line 
 in pencil was received from him by a man who carried 
 it sewed up in the sleeve of his coat, urging the city to 
 defend itself and hold out for a few days ; but the dan- 
 ger was too imminent ; Salazar, at the head of the 
 Federal troops (the idle soldiers complained of), march- 
 ed out at two o'clock in the morning, and, aided by a 
 thick fog, came upon Carrera suddenly at Villa Nueva, 
 killed four hundred and fifty of his men, and complete- 
 ly routed him, Carrera himself being badly wounded 
 in the thigh. The city was saved from destruction, 
 and the day after Morazan entered with a thousand 
 men. The shock of the immense danger they had es- 
 caped was not yet over ; on the morrow it might re- 
 turn ; party jealousies were scared away ; all looked to 
 General Morazan as the only man who could effectually 
 save them from Carrera, and, in turn, begged him to 
 accept the office of dictator. 
 
 About the same time Guzman, the general of Quez- 
 altenango, arrived, with seven hundred men, and Gen- 
 eral Morazan made formidable arrangements to enclose 
 and crush the Cachurecos. The result was the same 
 as before : Carrera was constantly beaten, but as con- 
 stantly escaped. His followers were scattered, his best 
 men taken and shot, and he himself was penned up and 
 almost starved on the top of a mountain, with a cordon 
 of soldiers around its base, and only escaped by the re- 
 missness of the guard. In three months, chased from 
 place to place, his old haunts broken up, and hemmed 
 in on every side, he entered into a treaty with Guzman, 
 
244 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 by which he agreed to deliver up one thousand mus- 
 kets, and disband his remaining followers. In execu- 
 ting the treaty, however, he delivered only four hundred 
 muskets, and those old and worthless ; and this breach 
 of the convention was winked at by Guzman, little 
 dreaming of the terrible fate reserved for himself at 
 Carrera's hands. 
 
 This over, Morazan deposed Rivera Paz, restored 
 Salazar, and returned to San Salvador, first laying 
 heavy contributions on the city to support the expense 
 of the war, and taking with him all the soldiers of the 
 Federal Government, belying one of the party cries 
 against him, that he was attempting to retain an influ- 
 ence in the city by bayonets. Guzman returned to 
 Quezaltenango, and the garrison consisted only of sev- 
 enty men. 
 
 The contributions and the withdrawal of the troops 
 from the city created great dissatisfaction with Morazan, 
 and at this time the political horizon became cloudy 
 throughout the republic. The Marquis of Aycinena, 
 who had been banished by Morazan, and had resided 
 several years in the United States, studying our institu- 
 tions, by a series of articles which were widely circu- 
 lated, purporting to illustrate our constitution and laws, 
 hurried on the crisis ; Honduras and Costa Rica de- 
 clared their independence of the general government : 
 all this came back upon Guatimala, and added fuel to 
 the already flaming fire of dissension. 
 
 On the 24th of March, 1839, Carrera issued a bulle- 
 tin from his old quartersin Mataquescuintla, in which, 
 referring to the declaration of independence by the 
 States, he says : "When those laws came to my hands, 
 I read them and returned to them very often ; as a 
 loving mother clasps in her arms an only son whom she 
 
CARRERA AGAIN UPPERMOST. 245 
 
 believed lost, and presses him against her heart, so did 
 I with the pamphlet that contained the declaration; for 
 in it I found the principles that I sustain and the reforms 
 I desire." This was rather figurative, as Carrera could 
 not at that time read ; but it must have been quite 
 new to him, and a satisfaction to find out what princi- 
 ples he sustained. Again he threatened to enter the 
 city. All was anarchy and distraction in the councils, 
 and on the twelfth of April his hordes appeared before 
 the gates. All were aghast, but there was no rising to 
 repel him. Morazan was beyond the reach of their 
 voice, and they who had been loudest in denouncing 
 him for attempting to control the city by bayonets now 
 denounced him for leaving them to the mercy of Car- 
 rera. All who could hid away their treasures and fled ; 
 the rest shut themselves up in their houses, barring 
 their doors and windows, and at two o'clock in the 
 morning, routing the guard, he entered with fifteen hun- 
 dred men. Salazar, the commandant, fled, and Car- 
 rera, riding up to the house of Rivera Paz, knocked at 
 the door, and reinstalled him chief of the state. His 
 soldiers took up their quarters in the barracks, and 
 Carrera established himself as the guardian of the city ; 
 and it is due to him to say that he acknowledged his 
 own* incompetency to govern, and placed men at the 
 disposition of the municipality to preserve the peace. 
 The Central party was thus restored to power. Car- 
 rera's fanaticism bound him to the Church party ; he 
 was flattered by his association and connexion with the 
 aristocracy, was made brigadier-general, and present- 
 ed with a handsome uniform ; and, besides empty hon- 
 ours, he had the city barracks and pay for his men, 
 which was better than Indian huts and foraging expe- 
 ditions; the last, too, being a resource for pastime. The 
 
246 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 league had continued since the April preceding my ar- 
 rival. The great bond of union was hatred of Mora- 
 zan arid the Liberals. The Centralists had their Con- 
 stituent Assembly, abolished the laws made by the Lib- 
 erals, revived old Spanish laws and old names for the 
 courts of justice and officers of government, and passed 
 any laws they pleased so that they did not interfere 
 with him. Their great difficulty was to keep him 
 quiet. Unable to remain inactive in the city, he march- 
 ed toward San Salvador, for the ostensible purpose of 
 attacking General Morazan. The Centralists were in 
 a state of great anxiety ; Carrcra's success or his de- 
 feat was alike dangerous to them. If defeated, Mora- 
 zan might march directly upon the city, and take sig- 
 nal vengeance upon them ; if successful, he might re- 
 turn with his barbarians so intoxicated by victory as to 
 be utterly uncontrollable. A little circumstance shows 
 the position of things. Carrera's mother, an old wom- 
 an well-known as a huckster on the plaza, died. 
 Formerly it was the custom with the higher classes to 
 bury in vaults constructed within the churches ; but from 
 the time of the cholera, all burials, without distinction, 
 were forbidden in the churches, and even within the 
 city, and a campo santo was established outside . the 
 town, in which all the principal families had vaults. 
 Carrera signified his pleasure that his mother should 
 be buried in the Cathedral ! The government char- 
 ged itself with the funeral, issued cards of invitation, 
 and all the principal inhabitants followed in the pro- 
 cession. No efforts were spared to conciliate and 
 keep him in good temper ; but he was subject to violent 
 bursts of passion, and, it was said, had cautioned the 
 members of the government at such moments not to 
 attempt to argue with him, but to let him have his own 
 
INTERVIEW WITH CARRERA. 24? 
 
 way. Such was Carrera, at the time of my visit more 
 absolute master of Guatimala than any king in Europe 
 of his dominions, and by the fanatic Indians called el 
 Hijo de Dios, the Son of God, and nuestro Senor, our 
 Lord. 
 
 When I entered the room he was sitting at a table 
 counting sixpenny and shilling pieces. Colonel Monte 
 Rosa, a dark Mestitzo, in a dashing uniform, was sitting 
 by his side, and several other persons were in the room. 
 He was about five feet six inches in height, with 
 straight black hair, an Indian complexion and expres- 
 sion, without beard, and did not seem to be more than 
 twenty-one years old. He wore a black bombazet 
 roundabout jacket and pantaloons. He rose as we en- 
 tered, pushed the money on one side of the table, and, 
 probably out of respect to my coat, received me with 
 courtesy, and gave me a chair at his side. My first 
 remark was an expression of surprise at his extreme 
 youth ; he answered that he was but twenty-three years 
 old ; certainly he was not more than twenty-five ; and 
 then, as a man conscious that he was something extra- 
 ordinary, and that I knew it, without waiting for any 
 leading questions, he continued, that he had begun (he 
 did not say what) with thirteen men armed with old 
 muskets, which they were obliged to fire with cigars ; 
 pointed to eight places in which he had been wounded, 
 and said that he had three balls then in his body. At 
 this time he could hardly be recognised as the same 
 man who, less than two years before, had entered Gua- 
 timala with a horde of wild Indians, proclaiming death 
 to strangers. Indeed, in no particular had he changed 
 more than in his opinion of foreigners, a happy illustra- 
 tion of the effect of personal intercourse in breaking 
 down prejudices against individuals or classes. He 
 
248 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 had become personally acquainted with several, one of 
 whom, an English doctor, had extracted a ball from 
 his side ; and his intercourse with all had been so sat- 
 isfactory, that his feelings had undergone an entire re- 
 vulsion ; and he said that they were the only people 
 who never deceived him. He had done, too, what I 
 consider extraordinary ; in the intervals of his hurried 
 life he had learned to write his name, and had thrown 
 aside his stamp. I never had the fortune to be pre- 
 sented to any legitimate king, nor to any usurper of 
 the prerogatives of royalty except Mohammed Ali. 
 Old as he was, I gave him some good advice ; and it 
 grieves me that the old lion is now shorn of his mane. 
 Considering Carrera a promising young man, I told 
 him that he had a long career before him, and might 
 do much good to his country ; and he laid his hand 
 upon his heart, and with a burst of feeling that I did 
 not expect, said he was determined to sacrifice his life 
 for his country. With all his faults and his crimes, 
 none ever accused him of duplicity, or of saying what 
 he did not mean ; and, perhaps, as many self-deceiving 
 men have done before him, he believes himself a pa- 
 triot. 
 
 I considered that he was destined to exercise an im- 
 portant, if not a controlling influence on the affairs of 
 Central America ; and trusting that hopes of honoura- 
 ble and extended fame might have some effect upon his 
 character, I told him that his name had already reached 
 my country, and that I had seen in the newspapers an 
 account of his last entry into Guatimala, with praises 
 of his moderation and exertions to prevent atrocities. 
 He expressed himself pleased that his name was known, 
 and such mention made of him among strangers ; and 
 said he was not a robber and murderer, as he was called 
 
CHARACTER OF CARRERA. 2iiJ 
 
 by his enemies. He seemed intelligent and capable 
 of improvement, and I told him that he ought to trav- 
 el into other countries, and particularly, from its con- 
 tiguity, into mine. He had a very indefinite notion as 
 to where my country was ; he knew it only as El 
 Norte, or the North ; inquired about the distance and 
 facility for getting there, and said that, when the wars 
 were over, he would endeavour to make El Norte 
 a visit. But he could not fix his thoughts upon any- 
 thing except the wars and Morazan ; in fact, he knew 
 of nothing else. He was boyish in his manners and 
 manner of speaking, but very grave ; he never smiled, 
 and, conscious of power, was unostentatious in the ex- 
 hibition of it, though he always spoke in the first per- 
 son of what he had done and what he intended to do. 
 One of the hangers-on, evidently to pay court to him, 
 looked for a paper bearing his signature to show me as 
 a specimen of his handwriting, but did not find one. 
 My interview with him was much more interesting 
 than I had expected ; so young, so humble in his ori- 
 gin, so destitute of early advantages, with honest im- 
 pulses, perhaps, but ignorant, fanatic, sanguinary, and 
 the slave of violent passions, wielding absolutely the 
 physical force of the country, and that force entertain- 
 ing a natural hatred to the whites. At parting he ac- 
 companied me to the door, and in the presence of his 
 villanous soldiers made me a free offer of his services. 
 I understood that I had the good fortune to make a fa- 
 vourable impression ; and afterward, but, unluckily, 
 during my absence, he called upon me in full dress 
 and in state, which for him was an unusual thing. 
 
 At that time, as Don Manuel Pavon told me, he pro- 
 fessed to consider himself a brigadier-general, subject 
 to the orders of the government. He had no regular 
 
 Vol. I— 1 1 
 
250 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 allowance for the maintenance of himself and troops ; 
 he did not like keeping accounts, and called for money 
 when he wanted it ; and, with this understanding, in 
 eight months he had not required more than Morazan 
 did in two. He really did not want money for himself, 
 and as a matter of policy he paid the Indians but little. 
 This operated powerfully with the aristocracy, upon 
 whom the whole burden of raising money devolved. 
 It may be a satisfaction to some of my friends to know 
 that this lawless chief is under a dominion to which 
 meeker men are loth to submit ; his wife accompa- 
 nies him on horseback in all his expeditions, influenced 
 by a feeling which is said to proceed sometimes from 
 excess of affection ; and I have heard that it is no un- 
 important part of the business of the chief of the state 
 to settle family jars. f 
 
 As we were returning to my house, we met a gen- 
 tleman who told Mr. Pavon that a party of soldiers 
 was searching for a member of the Assembly who was 
 lying under the displeasure of Carrera, but a personal 
 friend of theirs ; and as we passed on we saw a file 
 of soldiers drawn up before his door, while others were 
 inside searching the house. This was done by Car- 
 rera's orders, without any knowledge on the part of the 
 government. 
 
PARTY TO HIXCO. 251 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Party to Mixco. — A Scene of Pleasure. — Procession in Honour of the Patroo 
 Saint of Mixco. — Fireworks.— A Bombardment.— Smoking Cigars. — A Night- 
 brawl— Suffering and Sorrow.— A Cockfight.— A Walk in the Suburbs.— Sun- 
 day Amusements. — Return to the City. 
 
 In consequence of the convulsions and danger of the 
 times, the city was dull, and there was no gayety in 
 private circles ; but an effort had been made by some 
 enterprising ladies to break the monotony, and a party, 
 to which I was invited, was formed for that afternoon 
 to Mixco, an Indian village about three leagues distant, 
 at which the festival of its patron saint was to be cele- 
 brated the next day with Indian rites. 
 
 At four o'clock in the afternoon I left my door on 
 horseback, to call on Don Manuel Pavon. His house 
 was next to that of the proscribed deputy, and a line of 
 soldiers was drawn around the whole block, with the 
 purpose of preventing an escape, while every house 
 was searched. I always gave these gentlemen a wide 
 berth when I could, but it was necessary to ride along 
 the whole line ; and as I passed the house of the dep- 
 uty, with the door closed and sentinels before it, I could 
 but think of his distressed family, in agony lest his hi- 
 ding-place should be discovered. 
 
 Don Manuel was waiting for me, and we rode to the 
 house of one of the ladies of the party, a young widow 
 whom I had not seen before, and who, in her riding- 
 dress, made a fine appearance. Her horse was ready, 
 and when she had kissed the old people good-by we 
 carried her off. The women-servants, with familiarity 
 
252 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 and affection, followed to the door, and continued fare- 
 well greetings and cautions to take good care of her- 
 self, which the lady answered as long as we were 
 within hearing. We called at two or three other 
 houses, and then all assembled at the place of rendez- 
 vous. The courtyard was full of horses, with every va- 
 riety of fanciful mountings. Although we were going 
 only nine miles, and to a large Indian village, it was 
 necessary to carry beds, bedding, and provisions. A 
 train of servants large enough to carry stores for a small 
 military expedition was sent ahead, and we all started. 
 Outside the gate all the anxieties and perils which 
 slumbered in the city were forgotten. Our road lay 
 over an extensive plain, seeming, as the sun went down 
 behind the volcanoes of Agua and Fuego, a beautiful 
 bowling-green, in which our party, preceded by a long 
 file of Indians with loads on their backs, formed a 
 picture. I was surprised to find that the ladies were 
 not good horseAvomen. They never ride for pleasure, 
 and, on account of the want of accommodation on the 
 road, seldom travel. 
 
 It was after dark when we reached the borders of 
 a deep ravine separating the plain from Mixco. We 
 descended, and, rising on the other side, emerged from 
 the darkness of the ravine into an illuminated street, 
 and, at two or three horses' lengths, into a plaza bla- 
 zing with lights and crowded with people, nearly all 
 Indians in holyday costume. In the centre of the plaza 
 was a fine fountain, and at the head of it a gigantic 
 church. We rode up to the house that had been pro- 
 vided for the ladies, and, leaving them there, the gen- 
 tlemen scattered to find lodgings for themselves. The 
 door of every house was open, and the only question 
 asked was whether there was room. Some of the 
 
A SCENE OF PLEASURE. 253 
 
 young men did not give themselves this trouble, as 
 they were disposed to make a night of it ; and Mr. P. 
 and I, having secured a place, returned to the house oc- 
 cupied by the ladies. In one corner was a ticnda about 
 ten feet square, partitioned off and shelved, which served 
 as a place for their hats and shawls. The rest of the 
 room contained merely a long table and benches. In a 
 few moments the ladies were ready, and we all sallied 
 out for a walk. All the streets and passages were brill- 
 iantly illuminated, and across some were arches decora- 
 ted with evergreens and lighted, and at the corners were 
 altars under arbours of branches adorned with flowers. 
 The spirit of frolic seemed to take possession of our file- 
 leaders, who, as the humour prompted them, entered 
 any house, and after a lively chat left it, contriving to 
 come out just as the last of the party were going in. In 
 one house they found a poncha rolled up very carefully, 
 with the end of a guitar sticking out. The proprietor 
 of the house only knew that it belonged to a young man 
 from Guatimala, who had left it as an indication of his 
 intention to pass the night there. One of the young 
 men unrolled the poncha, and some loaves of bread 
 fell out, which he distributed, and with half a loaf in 
 his mouth struck up a waltz, which was followed by a 
 quadrille ; the good people of the house seemed pleas- 
 ed at this free use of their roof, and shaking hands all 
 around, with many expressions of good-will on both 
 sides, we left as unceremoniously as Ave had entered. 
 We made the tour of all the principal streets, and as 
 we returned to the plaza the procession was coming out 
 of the church. 
 
 The village procession in honour of its patron saint 
 is the great pride of the Indian, and the touchstone of 
 his religious character. Every Indian contributes his 
 I 22 
 
254 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 labour and money toward getting it up, and he is most 
 honoured who is allowed the most important part in it. 
 This was a rich village, at which all the muleteers of 
 Guatimala lived; and nowhere had I seen an Indian 
 procession so imposing. The church stood on an ele- 
 vation at the head of the plaza, its whole facade rich in 
 ornaments illuminated by the light of torches ; and the 
 large platform and the steps were thronged with women 
 ji white. A space was cleared in the middle before 
 the great door, and with a loud chant the procession 
 passed out of the doorway. First came the alcalde and 
 his alguazils, all Indians, with rods of office in one hand 
 and lighted wax candles, six or eight feet long, in the 
 other ; then a set of devils, not as playful as the devils 
 of Guatimala, but more hideous, and probably better 
 likenesses, according to the notions of the Indians ; then 
 came, borne aloft by Indians,, a large silver cross, richly 
 chased and ornamented, and followed by the curate, 
 with a silken canopy held over his head on the ends of 
 long poles borne by Indians. As the cross advanced 
 all fell on their knees, and a stranger would have been 
 thought guilty of an insult upon their holy religion who 
 omitted conforming to this ceremony. Then came fig- 
 ures of saints larger than life, borne on the shoulders 
 of Indians ; and then a figure of the Virgin, gorgeously 
 dressed, her gown glittering with spangles. Then fol- 
 lowed a long procession of Indian women dressed in 
 costume, with a thick red cord twisted in the hair, so as 
 to look like a turban, all carrying lighted candles. The 
 procession passed through the illuminated streets, under 
 the arches, and stopping from time to time before the 
 altars, made the tour of the village, and in about an 
 hour, with a loud chant, ascended the steps of the 
 church. Its re-entry was announced by a discharge of 
 
A BOMBARDMENT. 255 
 
 rockets, after which all gathered in the plaza for the ex- 
 hibition of fireworks. 
 
 It was some time before these were ready, for those 
 who had figured in the procession, particularly the dev- 
 ils, were to be the principal managers. Our party was 
 well known in Mixco ; and though the steps of the 
 church were crowded, one of the best places was im- 
 mediately vacated for us. From their nearness to Gua- 
 timala, the people of Mixco knew all the principal fam- 
 ilies of the former place, and were glad to see so dis- 
 tinguished a party at their fiesta ; and the familiar but 
 respectful way in which they were everywhere treat- 
 ed, manifested a simplicity of manners, and a kindliness 
 of feeling between the rich and the poor, which to me 
 was one of the most interesting parts of the whole fete. 
 
 The exhibition began with the Toros ; the man who 
 played the bull gave universal satisfaction; scattering 
 and putting to flight the crowd in the plaza, he rushed 
 up the steps of the church, and, amid laughing and 
 screaming, went out. Flying pigeons and other pieces 
 followed ; and the whole concluded with the grand 
 national piece of the Castle of San Felippe, which was 
 a representation of the repulse of an English fleet. 
 A tall structure represented the castle, and a little brig 
 perched on the end of a stick, like a weathercock, the 
 fleet. The brig fired a broadside, and then, by a sud- 
 den jerk, turned on a pivot and fired another ; and long 
 after, until she had riddled herself to pieces, the castle 
 continued pouring on all sides a magnanimous stream 
 of fire. 
 
 When all was over we returned to the posada. A 
 cloth was spread over the long table, and in a few 
 minutes, under the direction of the ladies, covered 
 with the pic-nic materials brought from Guatimala. 
 
256 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 The benches were drawn up to the table, and as many 
 as could find seats sat down. Before supper was over 
 there was an irruption of young men from Guatimala, 
 with glazed hats, ponchas, and swords, and presenting 
 a rather disorderly appearance ; but they were mostly 
 juveniles, brothers and cousins of the ladies. With 
 their hats on, they seated themselves at the vacated ta- 
 bles, and. as soon as they had finished eating, hurried 
 off the plates, piled the tables away in a corner, one on 
 the top of the other, and the candles on the top of all, 
 the violins struck up, and gentlemen and ladies, lighting 
 cigars and cigarillos, commenced dancing. I am sorry 
 to say that generally the ladies of Central America, not 
 excepting Guatimala, smoke, married ladies puros, or 
 all tobacco, and unmarried cigars, or tobacco wrapped in 
 paper or straw. Every gentleman carries in his pock- 
 et a silver case, with a long string of cotton, steel and 
 flint, taking up nearly as much space as a handker- 
 chief, and one of the offices of gallantry is to strike a 
 light ; by doing it well, he may help to kindle a flame 
 in a lady's heart ; at all events, to do it bunglingly 
 would be ill-bred. I will not express my sentiments 
 on smoking as a custom for the sex. I have recollec- 
 tions of beauteous lips profaned. Nevertheless, even 
 in this I have seen a lady show her prettiness and re- 
 finement, barely touching the straw to her lips, as it 
 were kissing it gently and taking it away. When a gen- 
 tleman asks a lady for a light, she always removes the 
 cigar from her lips. Happily, the dangerous proximity 
 which sometimes occurs between gentlemen in the street 
 is not in vogue. The dancing continued till two o'clock, 
 and the breaking up was like the separation of a gay 
 
A NIGHT- BRAWL. 257 
 
 family party. The young men dispersed to sleep or to 
 finish the night with merriment elsewhere, and Don 
 Manuel and I retired to the house he had secured for us. 
 
 We were in our hammocks, talking over the affairs 
 of the night, when we heard a noise in the street, a 
 loud tramping past the door, and a clash of swords. 
 Presently Mr. P.'s servant knocked for admission, and 
 told us that a man had been killed a few doors off by a 
 sword-cut across the head. Instead of going out to 
 gratify an idle curiosity, like prudent men we secured 
 the door. The tramping passed up the street, and 
 presently we heard reports of firearms. The whole 
 place seemed to be in an uproar. We had hardly lain 
 down again before there was another knock at the door. 
 Our host, a respectable old man, with his wife, slept in 
 a back room, and, afraid of rioters, they had a consul- 
 tation about opening it. The former was unwilling to 
 do so, but the latter, with a mother's apprehensions, 
 said that she was afraid some accident had happened to 
 Chico. The knocking continued, and RafFael, a known 
 companion of their son, cried out that Chico was 
 wounded. The old man rose for a light, and, appre- 
 hending the worst, the mother and a young sister burst 
 into tears. The old man sternly checked them, said 
 that he had always cautioned Chico against going out at 
 night, and that he deserved to be punished. The sis- 
 ter ran and opened the door, and two young men enter- 
 ed. We could see the glitter of their swords, and that 
 one was supporting the other : and, just as the old man 
 procured a light, the wounded man fell on the ground. 
 His face was ghastly pale, and spotted with blood ; his 
 hat cut through the crown and rim as smoothly as if done 
 with a razor, and his right hand and arm were wound 
 
 Vol. I.— K k 
 
258 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 in a pocket-hander chief, which was stained with biood. 
 The old man looked at him with the sternness of a Ro- 
 man, and told him that he knew this would be the con- 
 sequence of his running out at night ; the mother and 
 sister cried, and the young man, with a feeble voice, 
 begged his father to spare him. His companion car- 
 ried him into the back room ; but before they could 
 lay him on the bed he fell again and fainted. The 
 father was alarmed, and when he recovered, asked 
 him whether he wished to confess. Chico, with a 
 faint voice, answered, As you please. The old man 
 told his daughter to go for the padre, but the uproar 
 was so great in the street that she was afraid to venture 
 out. In the mean time we examined his head, which, 
 notwithstanding the cut through his hat, was barely 
 touched ; and he said himself that he had received the 
 blow on his hand, and that it was cut off. There was no 
 physician nearer than Guatimala, and not a person who 
 was able to do anything for him. I had had some 
 practice in medicine, but none in surgery ; I knew, 
 however, that it was at all events proper to wash and 
 cleanse the wound, and with the assistance of Don 
 Manuel's servant, a young Englishman whom Don 
 Manuel had brought from the United States, laid him 
 on a bed. This servant had had some experience in 
 the brawls of the country, having killed a young man in 
 a quarrel growing out of a love affair, and been con- 
 fined to the house seven months by wounds received in 
 the same encounter. With his assistance I unwound 
 the bloody handkerchief ; as I proceeded I found my 
 courage failing me, and as, with the last coil, a dead 
 hand fell in mine, a shudder and a deep groan ran 
 through the spectators, and I almost let the hand drop 
 
SUFFERING AND SORROW. 259 
 
 It was cut off through the back above the knuckles, and 
 the four fingers hung merely by the fleshy part of the 
 thumb. The skin was drawn back, and showed on 
 each side four bones protruding like the teeth of a skel- 
 eton. I joined them together, and as he drew up his 
 arm they jarred like the grating of teeth. I saw that 
 the case was beyond my art. Possibly the hand might 
 have been restored by sewing the skin together ; but I 
 believed that the only thing to be done was to cut it off 
 entirely, and this I was not willing to do. Unable to 
 give any farther assistance, I wound it up again in the 
 handkerchief. The young man had a mild and pleasing 
 countenance ; and as thankful for my ineffectual attempt 
 as if I had really served him, told me not to give my- 
 self any more trouble, but return to bed ; his mother 
 and sister, with stifled sobs, hung over his head ; his 
 father retained the sternness of his manner, but it was 
 easy to see that his heart was bleeding ; and to me, a 
 stranger, it was horrible to see a fine young man muti- 
 lated for life in a street-brawl. 
 
 As he told the story himself, he was walking with 
 some of his friends, when he met one of the Espinozas 
 from Guatimala, also with a party of friends. The lat- 
 ter, who was known as a bully, approached them with 
 an expression in Spanish about equivalent to the Eng- 
 lish one, " I'll give it to you." Chico answered, " No 
 you won't," and immediately they drew their swords. 
 Chico, in attempting to ward off a stroke, received it 
 on the edge of his right hand. In passing through all 
 the bones, its force was so much broken that it only cut 
 the crown and rim of his hat. The loss of his hand had 
 no doubt saved his life ; for, if the whole force of the 
 stroke had fallen on his head, it must have killed him ; 
 but the unfortunate young man, instead of being thank- 
 
260 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 ful for his escape, swore vengeance against Espinoza, 
 The latter, as I afterward learned, swore that the next 
 time Chico should not escape with the loss of his hand ; 
 and, in all probability, when they meet again one of them 
 will be killed. 
 
 All this time the uproar continued, shifting its loca- 
 tion, with occasional reports of firearms ; an aunt was 
 wringing her hands because her son was out, and we 
 had reason to fear a tragical night. We went to bed, 
 but for a long time the noise in the street, the groans of 
 poor Chico, and the sobbing of his mother and sister 
 kept us from sleeping. 
 
 We did not wake till nearly ten o'clock. It was 
 Sunday; the morning was bright and beautiful, the 
 arches and flowers still adorned the streets, and the 
 Indians, in their clean clothes, were going to Sunday 
 mass. None except the immediate parties knew or 
 cared for the events of the night. Crossing the plaza, 
 we met a tall, dashing fellow on horseback, with a long 
 sword by his side, who bowed to Mr. Pavon, and rode 
 on past the house of Chico. This was Espinoza. No 
 one attempted to molest him, and no notice whatever 
 was taken of the circumstance by the authorities. 
 
 The door of the church was so crowded that we could 
 not enter ; and passing through the curate's house, we 
 stood in a doorway on one side of the altar. The cu- 
 rate, in his richest vestments, with young Indian as- 
 sistants in sacerdotal dresses, their long black hair and 
 sluggish features contrasting strangely with their garb 
 and occupations, was officiating at the altar. On the 
 front steps, with their black mantons drawn over their 
 heads, and their eyes bent on the ground, were the dan- 
 cers of our party the preceding night ; kneeling along 
 the whole floor of the immense church wa? ? dense 
 
A COCK FIGHT. 26 1 
 
 mass of Indian women, with red headdresses ; and lean- 
 ing against the pillars, and standing up in the back- 
 ground, were Indians wrapped in black chamarros. 
 
 We waited till mass was over, and then accompanied 
 the ladies to the house and breakfasted. Sunday though 
 it was, the occupations for the day were a cockfight in 
 the morning and bullfight in the afternoon. Our party 
 was increased by the arrival of a distinguished family 
 from Guatemala, and we all set out for the former. It 
 was in the yard of an unoccupied house, which was al- 
 ready crowded ; and I noticed, to the honour of the In- 
 dians and the shame of the better classes, that they 
 were all Mestitzoes or white men, and, always except 
 ing Carrera's soldiers, I never saw a worse looking or 
 more assassin-like set of men. All along the walls of 
 the yard were cocks tied by one leg, and men running 
 about with other cocks under their arms, putting them 
 on the ground to compare size and weight, regulating 
 bets, and trying to cheat each other. At length a match 
 was made ; the ladies of our party had seats in the cor- 
 ridor of the house, and a space was cleared before them 
 The gaffs were murderous instruments, more than two 
 inches long, thick, and sharp as needles, and the birds 
 were hardly on the ground before the feathers of the 
 neck were ruffled and they flew at each other. In less 
 time than had been taken to gaff them, one was lying 
 on the ground with its tongue hanging out, and the 
 blood running from its mouth, dead. The eagerness 
 and vehemence, noise and uproar, wrangling, betting, 
 swearing, and scuffling of the crowd, exhibited a dark 
 picture of human nature and a sanguinary people. I 
 owe it to the ladies to say, that in the city they never 
 are present at such scenes. Here they went for no 
 other reason that I could see than because they were 
 
262 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 away from home, and it was part of the fete. We 
 must make allowances for an education and state of 
 society" every way different from our own. They were 
 not wanting in sensibility or refinement ; and though 
 they did not turn away with disgust, they seemed to 
 take no interest in the fight, and were not disposed to 
 wait for a second. 
 
 Leaving the disgusting scene, we walked around the 
 suburbs, one point of which commands a noble view of 
 the plain and city of Guatimala, with the surrounding 
 mountains, and suggests a wonder that, amid objects 
 so grand and glorious, men can grow up with tastes so 
 grovelling. Crossing the plaza, we heard music in a 
 large house belonging to a rich muleteer ; and entering, 
 we found a young harpist, and two mendicant friars 
 with shaved crowns, dressed in white, with long white 
 mantles and hoods, of an order newly revived in Gua- 
 timala, and drinking agua ardiente. Mantas and hats 
 were thrown off, tables and seats placed against the 
 wall, and in a few moments my friends were waltzing; 
 two or three cotillons followed, and we returned to the 
 posada, where, after fruit of various kinds had been 
 served, all took seats on the back piazza. A horse hap- 
 pened to be loose in the yard, and a young man, putting 
 his hands on the hind quarters, jumped on his back. 
 The rest of the young men followed suit, and then one 
 lifted the horse up by his fore legs ; when he dropped 
 him another took him up, and all followed, very much 
 to the astonishment of the poor animal. Then followed 
 standing on the piazza and jumping over each other's 
 heads ; then one leaned down with his hands resting on 
 the piazza, and another mounted on his back, and the 
 former tried to shake him off without letting go his 
 hands. Other feats followed, all impromptu, and each 
 
SUNDAY AMUSEMENTS. 263 
 
 more absurd than the one before it ; and the whole 
 concluded with a bullfight, in which two young men 
 mounted on the backs of other two as matadors, and 
 one, with his head between his shoulders, ran at them 
 like a bull. Though these amusements were not very 
 elegant, all were so intimate with each other, and there 
 was such a perfect abandonment, that the whole wenl 
 off with shouts of laughter. 
 
 This over, the young men brought out the ladies' 
 mantas, and again we sallied for a walk ; but, reaching 
 the plaza, the young men changed their minds ; and 
 seating the ladies, to whom I attached myself, in the 
 shade, commenced prisoner's base. All who passed 
 stopped, and the villagers seemed delighted with the. 
 gayety of our party. The players tumbled each other 
 in the dust, to the great amusement of the lookers-on ; 
 and this continued till we saw trays coming across the 
 plaza, which was a sign of dinner. This over, and 
 thinking that I had seen enough for one Sunday, I de- 
 termined to forego the bullfight ; and in company with 
 Don Manuel and another prominent member of the As- 
 sembly, and his family, I set out on my return to the 
 city. Their mode of travelling was primitive. All 
 were on horseback, he himself with a little son behind 
 him ; his daughter alone ; his wife on a pillion, with a 
 servant to support her ; a servant-maid with a child in 
 her arms, and a servant on the top of the luggage. It 
 was a beautiful afternoon, and the plain of Guatimala, 
 with its green grass and dark mountains, was a lovely 
 scene. As we entered the city we encountered a reli- 
 gious procession, with priests and monks all bearing 
 lighted candbs, and preceded by men throwing rock- 
 ets. We avcidcd the plaza on account of the soldiers, 
 and in a few minutes I was in my house, alone. 
 
264 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Excursion to La Antigua and the Pacific Ocean. — San Lucas. — Mountain Scene- 
 ry.— El Rio Pensativo. — La Antigua.— Account of its Destruction. — An Octo- 
 genarian. — The Cathedral. — San Juan Obispo. — Santa Maria. — Volcano de 
 Agua.— Ascent of the Mountain. — The Crater. — A lofty Meeting-place. — The 
 Descent.— Return to La Antigua. — Cultivation of Cochineal. — Classic Ground. 
 — Ciudad Vieja.— Its Foundation. — Visit from Indians. — Departure from Ciudad 
 Vieja. — First Sight of the Pacific. — Alotenango. — VolcandelFuega. — Escuint- 
 la. — Sunset Scene.— Masagua. — Port of lstapa.— Arrival at the Pacific. 
 
 On Tuesday, the seventeenth of December, I set out 
 on an excursion to La Antigua Guatimala and the Pa- 
 cific Ocean. I was accompanied by a young man who 
 lived opposite, and wished to ascend the Volcano de 
 Agua. I had discharged Augustin, and with great dif- 
 ficulty had procured a man who knew the route. Ru- 
 maldo had but one fault : he was married ; like some 
 other married men, he had a fancy for roving ; but his 
 wife set her face against this propensity ; she said that 
 I was going to El Mar, the sea, and might carry him 
 off, and she would never see him again, and the affection- 
 ate woman wept at the bare idea ; but upon my paying 
 the money into her hands before going, she consented. 
 My only luggage was a hammock and pair of sheets, 
 which Rumaldo carried on his mule, and each had a 
 pair of alforjas. At the gate we met Don Jose Vidaur- 
 re, whom I had first seen in the president's chair of the 
 Constituent Assembly, and who was going to visit his 
 hacienda at the Antigua. Though it was only five or 
 six hours' distant, Senor Vidaurre, being a very heavy 
 man, had two led horses, one of which he insisted on 
 my mounting ; and when I expressed my admiration of 
 the animal, he told me, in the usual phrase of Spanish 
 courtesy, that the horse was mine. It was done in the 
 
VISIT TO LA ANTIGUA. 265 
 
 same spirit in which a Frenchman, who had been en- 
 tertained hospitably in a country house in England, of- 
 fered himself to seven of the daughters, merely for the 
 compliment. And my worthy friend would have been 
 very much astonished if I had accepted his offer. 
 
 The road to Mixco I have already described. In 
 the village I stopped to see Chico. His hand had 
 been cut off, and he was doing well. Leaving the vil- 
 lage, we ascended a steep mountain, from the top of 
 which we had a fine view of the village at its foot, the 
 plain and city of Guatimala, and the Lake of Amati- 
 tan, enclosed by a belt of mountains. Descending by 
 a wild and rugged road, we reached a plain, and saw 
 on the left the village of San Lucas, and on the right, 
 at some distance, San Mateo. We then entered a 
 piece of woodland, and first ascending, then again de- 
 scended by the precipitous side of a mountain, with a 
 magnificent ravine on our right, to a beautiful stream. 
 At this place mountains rose all around us ; but the 
 banks of the stream were covered with delicate flowers, 
 and parrots with gay plumage were perched on the 
 trees and flying over our heads, making, in the midst 
 of gigantic scenery, a fairy spot. The stream passed 
 between two ranges of mountains so close together that 
 there was barely room for a single horsepath by its side. 
 As we continued the mountains turned to the left, and 
 on the other side of the stream were a few openings, 
 cultivated with cochineal, into the very hollow of the 
 base. Again the road turned and then ran straight, 
 making a vista of more than a mile between the mount- 
 ains, at the end of which was the Antigua, standing in 
 a delightful valley, shut in by mountains and hills that 
 always retain their verdure, watered by two rivers that 
 supply numerous fountains, with a climate in which heat 
 Vol. I.-— L l 23 
 
266 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 or cold never predominates ; yet this city, surrounded 
 by more natural beauty than any location I ever saw, 
 has perhap« undergone more calamities than any city 
 that was ev^r built. We passed the gate and rode 
 through the suburbs, in the opening of the valley, on 
 one side of which was a new house that reminded me 
 of an Italian villa, with a large cochineal plantation ex- 
 tending to the base of the mountain. "We crossed a 
 stream bearing the poetical name of El Rio Pensativo; 
 on the other side was a fine fountain, and at the corner 
 of the street was the ruined church of San Domingo, a 
 monument of the dreadful earthquakes which had pros- 
 trated the old capital, and driven the inhabitants from 
 their home. 
 
 On each side were the ruins of churches, convents, 
 and private residences, large and costly, some lying in 
 masses, some with fronts still standing, richly orna- 
 mented with stucco, cracked and yawning, roofless, 
 without doors or windows, and trees growing inside 
 above the walls. Many of the houses have been re- 
 paired, the city is repeopled, and presents a strange ap- 
 pearance of ruin and recovery. The inhabitants, like 
 the dwellers over the buried Herculaneum, seemed to 
 entertain no fears of renewed disaster. I rode up 
 to the house of Don Miguel Manrique, which was oc- 
 cupied by his family at the time of the destruction of 
 the city, and, after receiving a kind welcome, in com- 
 pany with Senor Vidaurre walked to the plaza. The 
 print opposite will give an idea, which I cannot, of 
 the beauty of this scene. The great volcanoes of 
 Agua and Fuego look down upon it ; in the centre is 
 a noble stone fountain, and the buildings which face it, 
 especially the palace of the captain general, displaying 
 on its front the armorial bearings granted by the Em- 
 
V 
 
ACCOUNT OF LA ANTIGUA. 267 
 
 peror Charles the Fifth to the loyal and noble city, and 
 surmounted by the Apostle St. James on horseback, 
 armed, and brandishing a sword ; and the majestic but 
 roofless and ruined cathedral, three hundred feet long, 
 one hundred and twenty broad, nearly seventy high, 
 and lighted by fifty windows, show at this day that La 
 Antigua was once one of the finest cities of the New 
 World, deserving the proud name which Alvarado gave 
 it, the city of St. James of Gentlemen. 
 
 This was the second capital of Guatimala, founded 
 in 1542 on account of the destruction of the first by a 
 water volcano. Its history is one of uninterrupted dis- 
 asters. "In 1558 an epidemic disorder, attended with 
 a violent bleeding at the nose, swept away great num- 
 bers of people ; nor could the faculty devise any meth- 
 od to arrest the progress of the distemper. Many se- 
 vere shocks of earthquake were felt at different periods ; 
 the one in 1565 seriously damaged many of the prin- 
 cipal buildings ; those of 1575, 76, and 77 were not 
 less ruinous. On the 27th of December, 1581, the pop- 
 ulation was again alarmed by the volcano, which began 
 to emit fire ; and so great was the quantity of ashes 
 thrown out and spread in the air, that the sun was en- 
 tirely obscured, and artificial light was necessary in 
 the city at midday." 
 
 " The years 1585 and 6 were dreadful in the ex- 
 treme. On January 16th of the former, earthquakes 
 were felt, and they continued through that and the fol- 
 lowing year so frequently, that not an interval of eight 
 days elapsed during the whole period without a shock 
 more or less violent. Fire issued incessantly, for 
 months together, from the mountain, and greatly in- 
 creased the general consternation. The greatest dam- 
 age of this series took place on the 23d of December, 
 
268 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 1586, when the major part of the city again became 
 heap of ruins, burying under them many of the unfor- 
 tunate inhabitants ; the earth shook with such violence 
 that the tops of the high ridges were torn off, and deep 
 chasms formed in various parts of the level ground. 
 
 " In 1601 a pestilential distemper carried off great 
 numbers. It raged with so much malignity that three 
 days generally terminated the existence of such as were 
 affected by it." 
 
 " On the 18th of February, 1651, about one o'clock, 
 afternoon, a most extraordinary subterranean noise 
 was heard, and immediately followed by three violent 
 shocks, at very short intervals from each other, which 
 threw down many buildings and damaged others ; the 
 tiles from the roofs of the houses were dispersed in all 
 directions, like light straws by a gust of wind ; the 
 bells of the churches were rung by the vibrations ; mass- 
 es of rock were detached from the mountains ; and 
 even the wild beasts were so terrified, that, losing their 
 natural instinct, they quitted their retreats, and sought 
 shelter from the habitations of men." 
 
 " The year 1686 brought with it another dreadful ep- 
 idemic, which in three months swept away a tenth 
 part of the inhabitants." ..." From the capital the pes- 
 tilence spread to the neighbouring villages, and thence 
 to the more remote ones, causing dreadful havoc, par- 
 ticularly among the most robust of the inhabitants." 
 
 " The year 1717 was memorable ; on the night of 
 August 27th the mountain began to emit flames, at- 
 tended by a continued subterranean rumbling noise. 
 On the night of the 28th the eruption increased to 
 great violence, and very much alarmed the inhabitants. 
 The images of saints were carried in procession, public 
 prayers were put up, day after day ; but the terrifying 
 
ACCOUNT OF LA ANTIGUA. 269 
 
 eruption still continued, and was followed by frequent 
 shocks, at intervals, for more than four months. At 
 last, on the night of September 29th, the fate of Gua- 
 timala appeared to be decided, and inevitable destruc- 
 tion seemed to be at hand. Great was the ruin among 
 the public edifices ; many of the houses were thrown 
 down, and nearly all that remained were dreadfully in- 
 jured ; but the greatest devastation was seen in the 
 churches." 
 
 " The year 1773 was the most melancholy epoch in the 
 annals of this metropolis ; it was then destroyed, and, as 
 the capital, rose no more from its ruins." . . . " About four 
 o'clock, on the afternoon of July 29, a tremendous vibra- 
 tion was felt, and shortly after began the dreadful con- 
 vulsion that decided the fate of the unfortunate city.'* . . . 
 " On the 7th September there was another, which threw 
 down most of the buildings that were damaged on the 
 29th of July ; and on the 13th December, one still 
 more violent terminated the work of destruction." . . . 
 " The people had not well recovered from the conster- 
 nation inflicted by the events of the fatal 29th of July, 
 when a meeting was convoked for the purpose of col- 
 lecting the sense of the inhabitants on the subject of the 
 removal." ..." In this meeting it was determined all 
 the public authorities should remove provisionally to 
 the little village of La Hermita, until the valleys of Ja- 
 lapa and Las Vacas could be surveyed, and until the 
 king's pleasure could be ascertained on the subject." . . . 
 " On the 6th of September the governor and all the 
 tribunals withdrew to La Hermita ; the surveys of the 
 last-mentioned places being completed, the inhabitants 
 were again convoked, to decide upon the transfer. 
 This congress was held in the temporary capital, and 
 lasted from the 12th to the 16th of January, 1774 : the 
 
270 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 report of the commissioners was read, and, by a plu- 
 rality of votes, it was resolved to make a formal trans- 
 lation of the city of Guatimala to the Valley of Las 
 Vacas. The king gave his assent to this resolution on 
 the 21st of July, 1775 ; and, by a decree of the 21st of 
 September following, approved most of the plans that 
 were proposed for carrying the determination into ef- 
 fect ; granting very liberally the whole revenue arising 
 from the customs, for the space of ten years, toward 
 the charges of building, &c. Tn virtue of this decree, 
 the ayuntamiento was in due form established in the 
 new situation on the 1st of January, 1776 ; and on the 
 29th of July, 1777, a proclamation was issued in Old 
 Guatimala, commanding the population to remove to 
 the»new city within one year, and totally abandon the 
 remains of the old one." 
 
 Such is the account given by the historian of Guati- 
 mala concerning the destruction of this city ; besides 
 which, I saw on the spot Padre Antonio Croquer,*an 
 octogenarian, and the oldest canonigo in Guatimala, 
 who was living in the city during the earthquake which 
 completed its destruction. He was still vigorous in 
 frame and intellect, wrote his name with a free hand 
 in my memorandum-book, and had vivid recollections 
 of the splendour of the city in his boyhood, when, as he 
 said, carriages rolled through it as in the streets of Ma- 
 drid. On the fatal day he was in the Church of San 
 Francisco with two padres, one of whom, at the mo- 
 ment of the shock, took him by the hand and hurried 
 him into the patio ; the other was buried under the ru- 
 ins of the church. He remembered that the tiles flew 
 from the roofs of the houses in every direction ; the 
 clouds of dust were suffocating, and the people ran to 
 
 the fountains to quench their thirst. The fountains 
 * Died August fith. 1- : 
 
CATHEDRAL OF LA ANTIGUA. 271 
 
 were broken, and one man snatched off his hat to dip 
 for water. The archbishop slept that night in his car- 
 riage in the plaza. He described to me the ruins of in- 
 dividual buildings, the dead who were dug from under 
 them, and the confusion and terror of the inhabitants ; 
 and though his recollections were only those of a boy, 
 he had material enough for hours of conversation. 
 
 In company with the cura we visited the interior of 
 the Cathedral. The gigantic walls were standing, but 
 roofless ; the interior was occupied as a burying- 
 ground, and the graves were shaded by a forest of 
 dahlias and trees seventy or eighty feet high, rising 
 above the walls. The grand altar stood under a cupo- 
 la supported by sixteen columns faced with tortoise- 
 shell, and adorned with bronze medallions of exquisite 
 workmanship. On the cornice were once placed stat- 
 ues of the Virgin and the twelve apostles in ivory ; 
 but all these are gone ; and more interesting than the 
 recollections of its ancient splendour or its mournful 
 ruins was the empty vault where once reposed the 
 ashes of Alvarado the Conqueror. 
 
 Toward evening my young companion* joined me, 
 and we set out for Santa Maria, an Indian village at 
 two leagues' distance, situated on the side of the Vol- 
 cano de Agua, with the intention of ascending the 
 next day to the summit. As we entered the valley, the 
 scene was so beautiful I did not wonder that even earth- 
 quakes could not make it desolate. At the distance of 
 a league we reached the village San Juan del Obispo, 
 the church and convent of which are conspicuous from 
 below, and command a magnificent view of the valley 
 and city of the Antigua. At dark we reached the vil- 
 lage of Santa Maria, perched at a height of two thou- 
 sand feet above the Antigua, and seven thousand feet 
 
 * Also since deceased He was killed at the banle of Comitan, May 15th. 1841 
 
272 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 above the level of the Pacific. The church stands in a 
 noble court with several gates, and before it is a gi- 
 gantic white cross. We rode up to the convent, which 
 is under the care of the cura of San Juan del Obispo, 
 but it was unoccupied, and there was no one to receive 
 us except a little talkative old man, who had only ar- 
 rived that morning. Very soon there was an irruption 
 of Indians, with the alcalde and his alguazils, who 
 came to offer their services as guides up the mountain. 
 They were the first Indians I had met who did not speak 
 Spanish, and their eagerness and clamour reminded me 
 of my old friends the Arabs. They represented the 
 ascent as very steep, with dangerous precipices, and the 
 path extremely difficult to find, and said it was neces- 
 sary for each of us to have sixteen men with ropes to 
 haul us up, and to pay twelve dollars for each man 
 They seemed a little astonished when I told them thai 
 we wanted two men each, and would give them half a 
 dollar apiece, but fell immediately to eight men for 
 each, and a dollar apiece; and, after a noisy wran- 
 gling, we picked out six from forty, and they all retired. 
 In a few minutes we heard a violin out of doors, which 
 we thought was in honour of us ; but it was for the little 
 old man, who was a titritero or puppet-player, and in- 
 tended giving an exhibition that night. The music- 
 entered the room, and a man stationed himself at the 
 door to admit visiters. The price of admission was 
 three cents, and there were frequent wranglings to have 
 one cent taken off, or two admitted for three cents 
 The high price preventing the entrance of common 
 people, the company was very select, and all sat on 
 the floor. The receipts, as I learned from the door- 
 keeper, were upward of five shillings. Rumaldo, who 
 was a skilful amateur, led the orchestra, that is, the 
 
VOLCANO OF EL AGUA. 273 
 
 other fiddler. The puppet was in an adjoining room, 
 and when the door opened disclosed a black chamarro 
 hanging as a curtain, the rising of which discovered the 
 puppet-player sitting at a table with his little figures 
 before him. The sports of the puppets were carried 
 on with ventriloquial conversations, in the midst of 
 which I fell asleep. 
 
 We did not get off till seven o'clock the next morn- 
 ing. The day was very unpromising, and the whole 
 mountain was covered with clouds. As yet the side 
 of the volcano was cultivated. In half an hour the road 
 became so steep and slippery that we dismounted, and 
 commenced the ascent on foot. The Indians went on 
 before, carrying water and provisions, and each of us 
 was equipped with a strong staff. At a quarter before 
 eight we entered the middle region, which is covered 
 with a broad belt of thick forest ; the path was steep 
 and muddy, and every three or four minutes we were 
 obliged to stop and rest. At a quarter before nine we 
 reached a clearing, in which stood a large wooden cross. 
 This was the first resting-place, and we sat down at the 
 foot of the cross and lunched. A drizzling rain had 
 commenced, but, in the hope of a change, at half past 
 nine we resumed our ascent. The path became steeper 
 and muddier, the trees so thickly crowded together that 
 the sun never found its way through them, and theii 
 branches and trunks covered with green excrescences. 
 The path was made and kept open by Indians, who go 
 up in the winter-time to procure snow and ice for Guu- 
 timala. The labour of toiling up this muddy acclivity 
 was excessive, and very soon my young companion be- 
 came fatigued, and was unable to continue without 
 help. The Indians were provided with ropes, one of 
 which was tied around his waist, and two Indians went 
 
 Vol. I.— M m 
 
274 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 before with the rope over the shoulders. At half past 
 ten we were above the region of forest, and came out 
 upon the open side of the volcano. There were still 
 scattering trees, long grass, and a great variety of cu- 
 rious plants and flowers, furnishing rich materials for 
 the botanist. Among them was a plant with a red 
 flower, called the mano del mico, or hand-plant, 
 but more like a monkey's paw, growing to the height 
 of thirty or forty feet, the inside a light vermilion col- 
 our, and outside vermilion with stripes of yellow. My 
 companion, tired with the toil of ascending, even with 
 the aid of the rope, at length mounted an Indian's 
 shoulders. I was obliged to stop every two or three 
 minutes, and my rests were about equal to the actual 
 time of walking. The great difficulty was on account 
 of the wet and mud, which, in ascending, made us lose 
 part of every step. It was so slippery that, even with 
 the staff, and the assistance of branches of trees and 
 bushes, it was difficult to keep from falling. About 
 half an hour before reaching the top, and perhaps one 
 thousand or fifteen hundred feet from it, the trees be- 
 came scarce, and seemed blasted by lightning or with- 
 ered by cold. The clouds gathered thicker than before, 
 and I lost all hope of a clear day. At half an hour be- 
 fore twelve we reached the top and descended into the 
 crater. A whirlwind of cloud and vapour was sweep- 
 ing around it. We were in a perspiration ; our clothes 
 were saturated with rain and mud ; and in a few mo- 
 ments the cold penetrated our very bones. We attempt- 
 ed to build a fire, but the sticks and leaves were wet, 
 and would not burn. For a few moments we raised a 
 feeble flame, and all crouched around it ; but a sprink- 
 ling of rain came down, just enough to put it out. We 
 could see nothing, and the shivering Indians begged me 
 
A LOFTY MEETING-FLACK. 275 
 
 to return. On rocks near us were inscriptions, one of 
 which bore date in 1548 ; and on a cut stone were the 
 words, 
 
 Alexandro Ldvert, 
 De San Petersbrgo; 
 
 Edvardo Legh Page, ( 
 
 De Inglaterra ; 
 
 Jose Croskey, 
 
 De Fyladelfye, 
 
 Bibymos aqui unas Boteaa 
 
 De Champana, el dia 26 
 
 de Agosto de 1834. 
 
 It seemed strange that three men frorfl such distant 
 and different parts of the world, St. Petersburgh, Eng- 
 land, and Philadelphia, had met to drink Champagne 
 on the top of this volcano. "While I was blowing my 
 fingers and copying the inscription, the vapour cleared 
 away a little, and gave me a view of the interior of the 
 crater. It was a large oval basin, the area level and 
 covered with grass. The sides were sloping, about one 
 hundred or one hundred and fifty feet high, and all 
 around were masses of rock piled up in magnificent 
 confusion, and rising to inaccessible peaks. There is no 
 tradition of this mountain having ever emitted fire, and 
 there is no calcined matter or other mark of volcanic 
 eruption anywhere in its vicinity. The historical account 
 is, that in 1541 an immense torrent, not of fire, but of 
 water and stones, was vomited from the crater, by which 
 the old city was destroyed, Father Remesal relates 
 that on this occasion the crown of the mountain fell 
 down. The height of this detached part was one league, 
 and from the remaining summit to the plain was a dis- 
 tance of three leagues, which he affirms he measured in 
 1615. The area, by my measurement, is eighty-three 
 paces long and sixty wide. According to Torquemada 
 (and such is the tradition according to Padre Alcantara, 
 
276 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 of Ciudad Vieja). this immense basin, probably the cra- 
 ter of an extinct volcano, with sides much higher than 
 they are now, became filled with water by accumulations 
 of snow and rain. There never was any eruption of wa- 
 ter, but one of the sides gave way, and the immense body 
 of fluid rushed out with horrific force, carrying with it 
 rocks and trees, inundating and destroying all that op- 
 posed its progress. The immense barranca or ravine 
 by which it descended was still fearfully visible on the 
 side of the mountain. The height of this mountain has 
 been ascertained by barometrical observation to be four- 
 teen thousand four hundred and fifty feet above the level 
 of the sea. The edge of the crater commands a beau- 
 tiful view of the old city of Guatimala, thirty-two sur- 
 rounding villages, and the Pacific Ocean ; at least so 
 I am told, but I saw nothing of it. Nevertheless, I did 
 not regret my labour ; and though drenched with rain 
 and plastered with mud, I promised myself in the month 
 of February, when the weather is fine, to ascend again, 
 prepared for the purpose, and pass two or three days in 
 the crater. 
 
 At one o'clock we began our descent. It was rapid, and 
 sometimes dangerous, from the excessive steepness and 
 slipperiness, and the chance of pitching head foremost 
 against the trunk of a tree. At two o'clock we reach- 
 ed the cross ; and I mention, as a hint for others, that, 
 from the pressure of heavy water-proof boots upon the 
 doigts du pied, I was obliged to stop frequently; and, 
 after changing the pressure by descending sidewise 
 and backward, catching at the branches of trees, I was 
 obliged to pull off my boots and go down barefooted, 
 ankle deep in mud. My feet were severely bruised by 
 the stones, and I could hardly walk at all, when I met 
 one of the Indians pulling my horse up the mountain 
 
CULTIVATION OF COCHINEAL. 277 
 
 to meet me. At four o'clock we reached Santa Maria, 
 at five the Antigua, and at a quarter past I was in bed. 
 The next morning I was still asleep when Seilor 
 Vidaury rode into the courtyard to escort me on my 
 journey. Leaving Rumaldo to follow, I was soon 
 mounted ; and emerging from the city, we entered the 
 open plain, shut in by mountains, and cultivated to their 
 base with cochineal. At about a mile's distance we 
 turned in to the hacienda of Serior Vidaurre. In the 
 yard were four oxen grinding sugarcane, and behind 
 was his nopal, or cochineal plantation, one of the largest 
 in the Antigua. The plant is a species of cactus, set out 
 in rows like Indian corn, and, at the time I speak of it, 
 was about four feet high. On every leaf was pinned 
 with a thorn a piece of cane, in the hollow of which 
 were thirty or forty insects. These insects cannot 
 move, but breed, and the young crawl out and fasten 
 upon the leaf ; when they have once fixed they never 
 move ; a light film gathers over them, and as they 
 feed the leaves become mildewed and white. At the 
 end of the dry season some of the leaves are cut off 
 and hung up in a storehouse for seed, the insects are 
 brushed off from the rest and dried, and are then sent 
 abroad to minister to the luxuries and elegances of 
 civilized life, and enliven with their bright colours the 
 salons of London, Paris, and St. Louis in Missouri. 
 The crop is valuable, but uncertain, as an early rain 
 may destroy it ; and sometimes all the workmen of o 
 hacienda are taken away for soldiers at the moment 
 when they are most needed for its culture. The sit- 
 uation was ravishingly beautiful, at the base and under 
 the shade of the Volcano de Agua, and the view was 
 bounded on all sides by mountains of perpetual green ; 
 the morning air was soft and balmy, but pure and 
 I 24 
 
278 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 refreshing. "With good government and laws, and 
 one's friends around, I never saw a more beautiful spot 
 on which man could desire to pass his allotted time on 
 earth. 
 
 Resuming our ride, we came out upon a rich plain 
 covered with grass, on which cattle and horses were 
 pasturing, between the bases of the two great volca- 
 noes ; and on the left, at a distance, on the side of the 
 Volcano de Agua, saw the Church of Ciudad Vieja, 
 the first capital of Guatimala, founded by Alvarado the 
 Conqueror. I was now on classic ground. The fame 
 of Cortez and his exploits in Mexico spread among the 
 Indian tribes to the south, and the Kachiquel kings 
 sent an embassy offering to acknowledge themselves 
 vassals of Spain. Cortez received the ambassadors 
 with distinction, and sent Pedro de Alvarado, an offi- 
 cer distinguished in the conquest of New Spain, to re- 
 ceive the submission of the native kings, and take pos- 
 session of Guatimala. On the thirteenth of Novem- 
 ber, 1523, Alvarado left the city of Mexico with three 
 hundred Spaniards, and a large body of Tlascaltecas, 
 Cholotecas, Chinapas, and other auxiliary Mexican In- 
 dians, fought his way through the populous provinces 
 of Soconusco and Tonala, and on the fourteenth of 
 May, by a decisive victory over the Quiche Indians, he 
 arrived at the capital of the Kachiquel kingdom, now 
 known as the village of Tecpan Guatimala. After re- 
 maining a few days to recover from their fatigues, the 
 conquering army continued their route by the villages 
 on the coast, overcoming all that disputed their prog- 
 ress ; and on the 24th of July, 1524, arrived at a place 
 called by the Indians Almolonga, meaning, in their 
 language, a spring of water (or the mountain from 
 which Avater flows), situated at the base of the Volcano 
 
FOUNDATION OF CIUDAD VIEJA. 279 
 
 de Agua. The situation, says Remesal, pleased them 
 so much by its fine climate, the beauty of the meadows, 
 delightfully watered by running streams, and particu- 
 larly from its lying between two lofty mountains, from 
 one of which descended runs of water in every direc- 
 tion, and from the summit of the other issued volumes 
 of smoke and fire, that they determined to build a city 
 which should be the capital of Guatimala. 
 
 On the twenty-fifth of July, the festival of St. James, 
 the patron of Spain, the soldiers, with martial music, 
 splendid armour, waving plumes, horses superbly ca- 
 parisoned in trappings glittering with jewels and plates 
 of gold, proceeded to the humble church which had 
 been constructed for that purpose, where Juan Godines, 
 the chaplain to the army, said mass. The whole body 
 invoked the protection of the apostle, and called by his 
 name the city they had founded. On the same day Al- 
 varado appointed alcaldes, regidors, and the chief al- 
 guazil. The appearance of the country harmonized 
 with the romantic scenes of which it had been the thea- 
 tre ; and as I rode over the plain I could almost ima- 
 gine the sides of the mountains covered with Indians, 
 and Alvarado and his small band of daring Spaniards, 
 soldiers and priests, with martial pride and religious 
 humility, unfurling the banners of Spain and setting 
 up the standard of the cross. 
 
 As we approached the town its situation appeared 
 more beautiful ; but very early in its history dreadful 
 calamities befell it. " In 1532 the vicinity of the city 
 was ravaged, and the inhabitants thrown into conster- 
 nation by a lion of uncommon magnitude and ferocity, 
 that descended from the forests on the mountain called 
 the Volcan de Agua, and committed great devastation 
 among the herds of cattle. A reward of twenty-five 
 
280 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 gold dollars, or one hundred bushels of wheat, was of- 
 fered by the town council to any person that could kill 
 it ; but the animal escaped, even from a general hunt- 
 ing-party of the whole city, with Alvarado at the head 
 of it. After five or six months' continual depredations, 
 he was killed on the thirtieth of July by a herdsman, 
 who received the promised reward. The next great 
 disaster was a fire that happened in February, 1536, 
 and caused great injury ; as the houses were at that 
 time nearly all thatched with straw, a large portion of 
 them was destroyed before it could be extinguished. 
 The accident originated in a blacksmith's shop ; and, to 
 prevent similar misfortunes in future, the council pro- 
 hibited the employment of forges within the city. 
 
 " The most dreadful calamity that had as yet afflict- 
 ed this unfortunate place occurred on the morning of 
 September 11, 1541. It had rained incessantly, and 
 with great violence, on the three preceding days, par- 
 ticularly on the night of the tenth, when the water de- 
 scended more like the torrent of a cataract than rain ; 
 the fury of the wind, the incessant appalling lightning, 
 and the dreadful thunder, were indescribable." . . . "At 
 two o'clock on the morning of the eleventh, the vibra- 
 tions of the earth were so violent that the people were 
 unable to stand ; the shocks were accompanied by a 
 terrible subterranean noise, which spread universal dis- 
 may ; shortly afterward, an immense torrent of water 
 rushed down from the summit of the mountain, forcing 
 away with it enormous fragments of rocks and large 
 trees, which, descending upon the ill-fated town, over- 
 whelmed and destroyed almost all the houses, and bu- 
 ried a great number of the inhabitants under the ruins ; 
 among the many, Dona Beatrice de la Cueba, the widow 
 of Pedro Alvarado, lost her life." 
 
CONVENT OF CIUDAD VIEJA. 281 
 
 All the way down the side of the volcano we saw the 
 seams and gullies made by the torrents of water which 
 had inundated the city. Again we crossed the beauti- 
 ful stream of El Rio Pensativo, and rode up to the con- 
 vent. It stands adjoining the gigantic and venerable 
 church of the Virgin. In front was a high stone wall ; 
 a large gate opened into a courtyard, at the extremity 
 and along the side of which were the spacious corridors 
 of the convent, and on the left the gigantic wall of the 
 church, with a door of entry from one end of the corri- 
 dor. The patio was sunk about four feet below the 
 level of the corridor, and divided into parterres, with 
 beds of flowers, and in the centre was a large white 
 circular fountain, with goldfish swimming in it, and ri- 
 sing out of it, above a jet d'eau, an angel with a trumpet 
 and flag. 
 
 Senor Vidaurre had advised Padre Alcantara of my in- 
 tended visit, and he was waiting to receive us. He 
 was about thirty-three, intelligent, educated, and ener- 
 getic, with a passion for flowers, as was shown by the 
 beautiful arrangements of the courtyard. He had been 
 banished by Morazan, and only returned to his curacy 
 about a year before. On a visit to him was his friend 
 and neighbour Don Pepe Asteguieta, proprietor of a 
 cochineal hacienda, and a man of the same stamp and 
 character. They were among the few whom I met who 
 took any interest in the romantic events connected 
 with the early history of the country. After a brief 
 rest in the convent, with a feeling more highly wrought 
 than any that had been awakened in me except by the 
 ruins of Copan, we visited a tree standing before the 
 church and extending wide its branches, under whose 
 shade, tradition says, Alvarado and his soldiers first en- 
 camped ; the fountain of Almolonga, or, in the Indian 
 
 Vol. I.— N n 
 
282 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 language, the mountain from which water flows, which 
 first induced him to select this spot as the site for the 
 capital ; and the ruined cathedral, on the spot where 
 Juan Godines first said mass. The fountain is a large 
 natural basin of clear and beautiful water, shaded by 
 trees, under which thirty or forty Indian women were 
 washing. The walls of the cathedral were standing, 
 and in one corner was a chamber filled with the sculls 
 and bones of those destroyed by the inundation from the 
 volcano. 
 
 After breakfast we visited the church, which was 
 /ery large, and more than two hundred years old ; its 
 altar is rich in ornaments of gold and silver, among 
 which is a magnificent crown of gold, studded with dia- 
 monds and emeralds, presented by one of the Philips to 
 the Virgin, to whom the church was consecrated. Re- 
 turning to the house, I found that Padre Alcantara had 
 prepared for me a visit from a deputation of Indians, 
 consisting of the principal chiefs and women, descend- 
 ants of caciques of the Mexican auxiliaries of Alvara- 
 do, calling themselves, like the Spaniards, Conquista- 
 dores, or Conquerors ; they entered, wearing the same 
 costumes which their ancestors had worn in the time 
 of Cortez, and bearing on a salver covered with vel- 
 vet a precious book bound in red velvet, with silver 
 corners and clasp, containing the written evidence 
 of their rank and rights. It was written on parch- 
 ment, dated in 1639, and contained the order of 
 Philip the First, acknowledging them as conquerors, 
 and exempting them, as such, from the tribute paid by 
 the native Indians. This exemption continued until 
 the revolution of 1825, and even yet they call them- 
 selves descendants of the conquerors, and the head of 
 the Indian aristocracy. The interest which I felt in 
 
FIRST SIGHT OF THE PACIFIC. 283 
 
 these memorials of the conquerors was increased in no 
 small degree by the beauty and comfort of the convent, 
 and Padre Alcantara's kindness. In the afternoon we 
 walked down to the bridge across the Rio Pensativo. 
 The plain on which the Spanish soldiers had glittered 
 in armour was shaded by the high volcanoes, and the 
 spirit of romance rested upon it. 
 
 The day which I passed at the " old city r ' is one of 
 those upon which I look back with pleasure. Senor 
 Vidaurre and Don Pepe remained with us all day. Af- 
 terward, when Padre Alcantara had again been obliged 
 to fly from the convent at the approach of an invading 
 army, and we had all passed through the crash of the 
 revolution, on leaving Guatimala to return home I di- 
 verged from my road to pay them a visit, and they were 
 the last friends to whom I said farewell. 
 
 In the morning, with great regret, I left Ciudad Vie- 
 ja. Padre Alcantara and Don Pepe accompanied me, 
 and, to help me on my journey, the latter lent me a 
 noble mule, and the padre an excellent servant. The 
 exit from this mountain-girt valley was between the two 
 great volcanoes of Agua and Fuego, rising on each side 
 nearly fifteen thousand feet high ; and from between the 
 two, so unexpectedly to me as almost to induce a burst 
 of enthusiasm, we overlooked an immense plain, and 
 saw the Pacific Ocean. At a league's distance we 
 reached the village of Alotenango, where, among In- 
 dian huts, stood another gigantic church, roofless, and 
 ruined by an earthquake, and where, with the hope, in 
 which I was not disappointed, of seeing them again, I 
 took leave of the cura and Don Pepe. The road be- 
 tween the two great volcanoes was singularly interest- 
 ing ; one with its base cultivated, girt by a belt of thick 
 forests, and verdant to the very summit ; the other with 
 
284 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 three bare and rugged peaks, covered with dried lava 
 and ashes, shaken by the strife of the elements within, 
 the working of internal fire<s, and emitting constantly a 
 pale blue smoke. The road bears marks of the violent 
 convulsions to which it has been subject. In one place 
 the horse-path lies through an immense chasm, rent 
 asunder by a natural convulsion, over which huge stones, 
 hurled in every direction, lay in the wildest confusion ; 
 in another it crosses a deep bed of ashes, and cinders, 
 and scorified lava ; and a little farther on strata of de- 
 composed vegetable matter cover the volcanic substan- 
 ces, and high shrubs and bushes have grown up, form- 
 ing a thick shady arbour, fragrant as the fields of Araby 
 the Blessed. At every step there was a strange contrast 
 of the horrible and beautiful. The last eruption of the 
 Volcan del Fuego took place about twelve years ago, 
 when flames issued from the crater and ascended to a 
 great height ; immense quantities of stones and ashes 
 were cast out, and the race of monkeys inhabiting the 
 neighbouring woods was almost extirpated ; but it can 
 never burst forth again ; its crater is no longer la Boca 
 del Infierno, or the Mouth of the Infernal Regions, for, 
 as a very respectable individual told me, it has been 
 blessed by a priest. 
 
 After a beautiful ride under a hot sun, but shaded 
 nearly all the way, at three o'clock we reached Es- 
 cuintla, where was another magnificent church, roofless, 
 and again with its rich facade cracked by an earthquake. 
 Before it were two venerable Ceiba trees, and the plat- 
 form commanded a splendid panoramic view of the vol- 
 canoes and mountains of the Antigua. 
 
 In the streets were soldiers and drunken Indians. 1 
 rode to the house of the corregidor, Don Juan Dios de 
 Guerra, and, with Rumaldo for a guide, I walked down 
 
StNSET SCENE. 285 
 
 to the banks of a beautiful stream, which makes Es- 
 cuintla, in the summer months of January and Febru- 
 ary, the great watering-place of Guatimala. The bank 
 was high and beautifully shaded, and, descending to 
 the river through a narrow passage between perpendic- 
 ular rocks, in a romantic spot, where many a Guatimala 
 lover has been hurried, by the charming influences 
 around, into a premature outpouring of his hopes and 
 fears, I sat down on a stone and washed my feet. 
 
 Returning, I stopped at the church. The front was 
 cracked from top to bottom by an earthquake, and the 
 divided portions stood apart, but the towers were en- 
 tire. I ascended to the top, and looked down into the 
 roofless area. On the east the dark line of forest was 
 broken by the curling smoke of a few scattered huts, 
 and backed by verdant mountains, by the cones of vol- 
 canoes, with their tops buried in the clouds, and by the 
 Rock of Mirandilla, an immense block of bare granite 
 held up among the mountain tops, riven and blasted by 
 lightning. On the west the setting sun illuminated a 
 forest of sixty miles, and beyond shed its dying glories 
 over the whole Pacific Ocean. 
 
 At two o'clock, under a brilliant moonlight, and wJh 
 a single guide, we started for the Pacific. The road 
 was level and wooded. "We passed a trapiche or su- 
 gar-mill, worked by oxen, and before daylight reached 
 the village of Masagua, four leagues distant, built in a 
 clearing cut out of the woods, at the entrance of which 
 we stopped under a grove of orange-trees, and by the 
 light of the moon filled our pockets and alforgas with 
 the shining fruit. Daylight broke upon us in a forest 
 of gigantic trees, from seventy-five to a hundred feet 
 high, and from twenty to twenty-five feet in circumfer- 
 ence, with creepers winding around their trunks and 
 
286 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 hanging from the branches. The road was merely a 
 path through the forest, formed by cutting away shrubs 
 and branches. The freshness of the morning was de- 
 lightful. We had descended from the table of land 
 called the tierras templadas, and were now in the tier- 
 ras calientes ; but at nine o'clock the glare and heat of 
 the sun did not penetrate the thick shade of the woods. 
 In some places the branches of the trees, trimmed by 
 the machete of a passing muleteer, and hung with a 
 drapery of vines and creepers, bearing red and purple 
 flowers, formed for a long distance natural arches more 
 beautiful than any ever fashioned by man ; and there 
 were parrots and other birds of beautiful plumage flying 
 among the trees ; among them Guacamayas, or great 
 macaws, large, clothed in red, yellow, and green, and 
 when on the wing displaying a splendid plumage. But 
 there were also vultures and scorpions, and, running 
 across the road and up the trees, innumerable iguanas 
 or lizards, from an inch to three feet long. The road 
 was a mere track among the trees, perfectly desolate, 
 'hough twice we met muleteers bringing up goods from 
 he port. At the distance of twelve miles we reached 
 .he hacienda of Naranjo, occupied by a major-domo, 
 ivho looked after the cattle of the proprietor, roaming 
 wild in the woods ; the house stood alone in the midst 
 •>f a clearing, built of poles, with a cattle-yard in front ; 
 and I spied a cow with a calf, which was a sign of milk. 
 But you must catch a cow before you can milk her. 
 The major-domo went out with a lazo, and, playing 
 upon the chord of nature, caught the calf first, and then 
 the cow, and hauled her up by the horns to a post. 
 The hut had but one guacal, or drinking-shell, made 
 of a gourd, and it was so small that we sat down by the 
 cow so as not to lose much time. We had bread, choc- 
 
ARRIVAL AT THE PACIFIC. 287 
 
 olate, and sausages, and, after a ride of twenty-four 
 miles, made a glorious breakfast ; but we exhausted the 
 poor cow, and I was ashamed to look the calf in the 
 face. 
 
 Resuming our journey, at a distance of nine miles we 
 reached the solitary hacienda of Overo. The whole of 
 this great plain was densely wooded and entirely un- 
 cultivated, but the soil was rich, and capable of main- 
 taining, with very little labour, thousands of people. 
 Beyond Overo the country was open in places, and the 
 sun beat down with scorching force. At one o'clock 
 we crossed a rustic bridge, and through the opening in 
 the trees saAV the river Michatoyal. We followed along 
 its bank, and very soon heard breaking on the shore the 
 waves of the great Southern Ocean. The sound was 
 grand and solemn, giving a strong impression of the 
 immensity of those waters, which had been rolling from 
 the creation, for more than five thousand years, unknown 
 to civilized man. I was loth to disturb the impression, 
 and rode slowly through the woods, listening in pro- 
 found silence to the grandest music that ever fell upon 
 my ear. The road terminated on the bank of the river, 
 and I had crossed the Continent of America. 
 
 On the opposite side was a long sandbar, with a 
 flagstaff, two huts built of poles and thatched with 
 leaves, and three sheds of the same rude construction ; 
 and over the bar were seen the masts of a ship, riding 
 on the Pacific. This was the port of Istapa. We 
 shouted above the roar of the waves, and a man came 
 down to the bank, and loosing a canoe, came over for 
 us. In the mean time, the interest of the scene was 
 somewhat broken by a severe assault of mosehetoes and 
 sandflies. The mules suffered as much as we ; but I 
 could not take them across, and was obliged to tie them 
 
288 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 under the trees. Neither llumaldo nor my guide could 
 be prevailed upon to remain and watch them ; they said 
 it would be death to sleep there. The river is the out- 
 let of the Lake of Amatitan, and is said to be navigable 
 from the Falls of San Pedro Martyr, seventy miles from 
 its mouth ; but there are no boats upon it, and its banks 
 are in the wildness of primeval nature. The crossing- 
 place was at the old mouth of the river. The sandbar 
 extends about a mile farther, and has been formed since 
 the conquest. Landing, I walked across the sand to 
 the house or hut of the captain of the port, and a few 
 steps beyond saw the object of my journey, the bound- 
 less waters of the Pacific. When Nunez de Balboa, 
 after crossing swamps and rivers, mountains and woods, 
 which had never been passed but by straggling Indians, 
 came down upon the shores of this newly-discovered 
 sea, he rushed up to the middle in the waves with his 
 buckler and sword, and took possession of it in the 
 name of the king his master, vowing to defend it in 
 arms against all his enemies. But Nunez had the as- 
 surance that beyond that sea " he would find immense 
 stores of gold, out of which people did eat and drink." 
 I had only to go back again. I had ridden nearly sixty 
 miles ; the sun was intensely hot, the sand burning, and 
 very soon I entered the hut and threw myself into a 
 hammock. The hut was built of poles set up in the 
 sand, thatched with the branches of trees ; furnished 
 with a wooden table, a bench, and some boxes of mer- 
 chandise, and swarming with moschetoes. The captain 
 of the port, as he brushed them away, complained of 
 the desolation and dreariness of the place, its isolation 
 and separation from the world, its unhealthiness, and 
 tlv? misery of a man doomed to live there ; and yet he 
 
PORT OF ISTAPA. 289 
 
 feared the result of the Avar, a change of administra- 
 tion, and being turned out of office ! 
 
 Toward evening, rested and refreshed, I walked out 
 upon the shore. The port is an open roadstead, with- 
 out bay, headland, rock, or reef, or anything whatever 
 to distinguish it from the line of the coast. There is 
 no light at night, and vessels at sea take their bearings 
 from the great volcanoes of the Antigua, more than six- 
 ty miles inland. A buoy was anchored outside of the 
 breakers, with a cable attached, and under the sheds 
 were three large launches for embarking and disem- 
 barking cargoes. The ship, which was from Bordeaux, 
 lay off more than a mile from the shore. Her boat had 
 landed the supercargo and passengers, since which she 
 had had no communication with the land, and seemed 
 proudly independent of so desolate a place. Behind 
 the sandbar were a few Indian huts, and Indians nearly 
 naked were sitting by me on the shore. Yet this deso- 
 late place was once the focus of ambitious hopes, high 
 aspirations, lust of power and gold, and romantic ad- 
 venture. Here Alvarado fitted out his armament, and 
 embarked with his followers to dispute with Pizarro 
 the riches of Peru. The sun was sinking, and the red 
 globe touched the ocean ; clouds were visible on its 
 face, and when it disappeared, ocean and land were il- 
 luminated with a ruddy haze. I returned to the hut 
 and threw myself into my hammock. Could it be that 
 I was again so far from home, and that these were the 
 waves of the great Southern Ocean breaking on my 
 ears? 
 Vol. I.— O o 25 
 
290 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The Return. — Hunt for a Mule.— Overo. — Masagua.— Escuintla.— Falls of San 
 Pedro Martyr.— Michatoyal River. — Village of San Pedro. — A Major-domo.— 
 San Cristoval. — Amatitan. — A roving American.— Entry into Gnatimala.— Let- 
 ter from Mr. Catherwood. — Christmas Eve. — Arrival of Mr. Catherwood.- 
 Plaza de Toros. — A Bullfight. — The Theatre. — Official Business. — The Aris- 
 tocracy of Guatimala.— State of the Country. — Newyear's Day. — Ferocity of 
 Party. 
 
 At three o'clock Rumaldo woke me to set out on my 
 return. The moonbeams were glancing over the wa- 
 ter, and the canoe was ready. I bade farewell to my 
 host as he lay in his hammock, and crossed the river. 
 Here I found an unexpected difficulty. My spare mule 
 had broken her halter, and was nowhere to be seen. 
 We beat about among the woods till daylight, and 
 concluding that she must have taken the only path open, 
 and set out for home on her own account, we saddled 
 and rode on to Overo, a distance of twenty miles. 
 But no stray mule had passed the hacienda, and I stop- 
 ped and sent Rumaldo back to the port. 
 
 Very soon I became tired of waiting at the miserable 
 hacienda, saddled my mule, and started alone. The 
 road was so shaded that I did not stop for the noonday 
 heat. For twenty-one miles farther the road was per- 
 fectly desolate, the only sound being occasionally the 
 crash of a falling tree. At the village of Masagua I 
 rode up to a house, at which I saw a woman under the 
 shed, and, unsaddling my mule, got her to send a man 
 out to cut sacate, and to make me some chocolate. I 
 was so pleased with my independence that I almost re- 
 solved to travel altogether by myself, without servant 
 or change of apparel. In half an hour I resumed my 
 
FALLS OF SAN PEDRO. 291 
 
 journey. Toward sundown I met drunken Indians 
 coming out from Escuintla, and, looking back over the 
 great plain, saw the sun fast sinking into the Pacific. 
 Some time after dark I rode up to the house of the cor- 
 regidor, having performed in the two days a hundred 
 and ten miles. Unfortunately, there was no sacate for 
 my mule. This article is brought into the towns by 
 the Indians daily, and every person buys just enough 
 for the night, and no more. There was not a spare 
 lock of grass in the place. With a servant of the cor- 
 regidor's I made an exploring expedition through the 
 town, and by an affecting appeal to an old woman, en- 
 forced by treble price, bought from under their very 
 noses the portion of two mules, and left them supperless. 
 I waited till two o'clock the next day for Romaldi 
 and the mule, and, after a vain endeavour to procure a 
 guide to the falls of San Pedro Martyr, set out alone 
 direct for Guatimala. At the distance of two leagues, 
 ascending a steep hill, I passed a trapiche or sugar- 
 mill, in a magnificent situation, commanding a full 
 view of the plain I had crossed and the ocean beyond. 
 Two oxen were grinding sugarcane, and under a shed 
 was a large boiling caldron for making panela, a brown 
 sugar, in lumps of about two pounds each, an enor- 
 mous quantity of which is consumed in the country. 
 Here the humour seized me to make some inquiries 
 about the falls of San Pedro Martyr. A man out at el- 
 bows, and every other mentionable and unmentionable 
 part of his body, glad to get rid of regular work, offered 
 to conduct me. I had passed, a league back, the place 
 where I ought to have turned off; and proceeding on- 
 ward to the village of San Pedro, he turned off to the 
 right, and went back almost in the same direction by a 
 narrow path descending through thick woods choked 
 
292 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 with bushes, and in a ravine reached the Michatoyal 
 River, which I had crossed at Istapa. It was narrow 
 and rapid, breaking wildly over a stony bed, with a 
 high mountain on the opposite side. Following it, we 
 reached the cataract, consisting of four streams sep- 
 arated by granite rock, partly concealed by bushes, 
 and precipated from a height of about two hundred feet, 
 forming with the wild scenery around a striking and ro 
 mantic view. A little below it were a sugar-mill work- 
 ed by water, and an uncommonly fine hacienda, which 
 commanded a view of the falls, and at which I was 
 very much disposed to pass the night. The major-do- 
 mo, a black man, was somewhat surprised at my visit ; 
 but when he learned that I did not come to see the mill, 
 but only the falls, he seemed to suspect that I was no 
 better than I should be ; and when I asked him if I 
 could reach San Cristoval before dark, he answered 
 that I could if I started immediately. This was not 
 exactly an invitation to stay, and I left him. It shows 
 the want of curiosity and indolence of the people, that, 
 though these falls are but a pleasant afternoon's ride 
 from Escuintla, which for two months is thronged with 
 visiters from Guatimala, nobody ever visits them. 
 
 Hurrying back by the same wild path, we reached 
 the main road, and, as it was late, I hired my guide to 
 go on with me to San Cristoval. We passed through 
 the village of San Pedro, which was a collection of 
 miserable huts, with an estanco or place for the sale of 
 agua ardiente, and thronged with half-intoxicated In- 
 dians. As we advanced, clouds began to gather around 
 the mountains, and there was every appearance of heavy 
 rain. I had no cloak or greatcoat, and, being particu- 
 larly apprehensive of fevers and rheumatisms, after ri- 
 ding about a mile I returned to San Pedro. The mosl 
 
A MAJOR-DOMO. 293 
 
 respectable citizens of the place were reeling round the 
 estanco, and urged me to stop ; but my guide said they 
 were a bad set, and advised me to return and pass the 
 night at the sugar-mill. Presuming that he knew the 
 people of whom he spoke better than I did, I was no 
 way inclined to disregard his caution. It was after 
 dark when we reached the trapiche ; some of the work- 
 men were sitting around a fire smoking ; others were 
 lying asleep under a shed, and I had but to 
 
 " Look around and choose my ground, 
 And take my rest." 
 
 I inquired for the major-domo, and was escorted to 
 a mud house, where in the dark I heard a harsh voice, 
 and presently, by the light of a pine stick, saw an old 
 and forbidding face corresponding, and by its side 
 that of a young woman, so soft and sweet that it seem- 
 ed to appear expressly for the sake of contrast ; and 
 these two were one. I was disposed to pity her ; but 
 the old major-domo was a noble fellow in heart, and 
 she managed him so beautifully that he never suspect- 
 ed it. He was about going to bed, but sent men out 
 to cut sacate, and both he and his wife were pleased 
 that accident had brought me to their hut. The work- 
 men sympathized in their humour, and we sat for two 
 hours around a large table under the shed, with two 
 candles sticking- up in their own tallow. They could 
 not comprehend that I had been to the top of the Vol- 
 cano de Agua, and then ridden down to the coast mere- 
 ly to see the Pacific. A fine, open-faced young man 
 had a great desire to travel, only he did not like to go 
 away from home. I offered to take him with me and 
 give him good wages. The subject was discussed 
 aloud. It was an awful thing to go away from home, 
 
294 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 and among strangers, where no one would care for 
 him. His house Avas the outside of the major-domo's 
 hut, but his home was in the hearts of his friends, and 
 perhaps some of them would be dead before he return- 
 ed. The wife of the major-domo seemed a good spirit 
 in tempering the hearts and conduct of these wild and 
 half-naked men. I promised to give him money to pay 
 his expenses home when he should wish to return, and 
 he agreed to go with me. At three o'clock the old ma- 
 jor-domo was shouting in my ears. I was not familiar 
 with my own name with the don prefixed, and thought 
 he had " waked up the wrong passenger." The courage 
 of the young man who wished to travel failed him, and 
 he did not make his appearance ; in the expectation of 
 his going my guide did not come, and I set out alone. 
 Before daylight I passed for the third time through the 
 village of San Pedro, and a little beyond overtook a 
 bundle on horseback, which proved to be a boy and a 
 woman, with one poncha over both. 
 
 The River Michatoyal was foaming and breaking in 
 a long succession of rapids on our right, and we rode 
 on together to San Cristoval. I rode up to the convent, 
 pounced upon the cura at the witching hour of break- 
 fast, mounted again, and rode around the base of the 
 Volcano de Agua, with its cultivated fields and belt of 
 forest and verdure to the top. Opposite was another 
 volcano, its sides covered with immense forests. Be- 
 tween the two I passed a single trapiche belonging to 
 a convent of Dominican friars, entered a large and 
 beautiful valley, passed hot springs, smoking for more 
 than a mile along the road, and entered among the no- 
 pals or cochineal plantations of Amatitan. On both 
 sides were high clay fences, and the nopals were more 
 extensive than those of the Antigua, and more valuable, 
 
A ROVING AMERICAN. 295 
 
 as, though only twenty-five miles from it, the climate is 
 so different that they produce two crops in each season. 
 Approaching the town, I remembered that Mr. Han- 
 dy, who had travelled from the United States through 
 Texas and Mexico with a caravan of wild animals, had 
 told me in New- York of an American in his employ, 
 who had left him at this place to take charge of a cochi- 
 neal plantation, and I was curious to see how he looked 
 and flourished in such employment. I had forgotten 
 his name, but, inquiring on the road for an American 
 del Norte, was directed to the nopal of which he had 
 charge. It was one of the largest in the place, and con- 
 tained 400, 000 plants. I rode up to a small build- 
 ing in the middle of the plantation, which looked like a 
 summer-house, and was surrounded by workmen, one of 
 whom announced me as a " Spaniard," as the Indians 
 generally call foreigners. Dismounting and giving 
 my mule to an Indian, I entered and found Don Hen- 
 riques sitting at a table with an account-book before him, 
 settling accounts with the workmen. He was dressed 
 in the coton or jacket of the country, and had a very 
 long beard ; but I should have recognised him any- 
 where as an American. I addressed him in English, 
 and he stared at me, as if startled by a familiar sound, 
 and answered in Spanish. By degrees he comprehend- 
 ed the matter. He was under thirty, from Rhinebeck 
 Landing, on the Hudson River, where his father keeps 
 a store, and his name was Henry Pawling; had been a 
 clerk in New-York, and then in Mexico. Induced by 
 a large offer and a strong disposition to ramble and see 
 the country, he accepted a proposal from Mr. Handy. 
 His business was to go on before the caravan, hire a 
 place, give notice, and make preparations for the exhi- 
 bition of the animals. In this capacity he had travelled 
 
296 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 all over Mexico, and from thence to Guatimala. It was 
 seven years since he left home, and since parting with 
 Mr. Handy he had not spoken a word of his own lan- 
 guage ; and as he spoke it now it was more than half 
 Spanish. I need not say that he was glad to see me. 
 He conducted me over the plantation, and explained the 
 details of the curious process of making cochineal. He 
 was somewhat disappointed in his expectations, and 
 spoke with great feeling of home ; but when I offered to 
 forward letters, said he had resolved never to write to 
 his parents again, nor to inform them of his existence 
 until he retrieved his fortunes, and saw a prospect of re- 
 turning rich. He accompanied me into the town of 
 Amatitan ; and as it was late, and I expected to return 
 to that place, I did not visit the lake, but continued di- 
 rect for Guatimala. 
 
 The road lay across a plain, with a high, precipitous, 
 and verdant wall on the left. At a distance of a league 
 we ascended a steep hill to the table-land of Guatimala. 
 I regret that I cannot communicate to the reader the 
 highest pleasure of my journey in Central America, that 
 derived from the extraordinary beauty of scenery con- 
 stantly changing. At the time I thought this the most 
 delightful ride I had had in the country. On the way \ 
 overtook a man and his wife on horseback, he with a 
 game-cock under his arm, and she with a guitar ; a little 
 boy was hidden away among bedding on a luggage- 
 mule, and four lads were with them on foot, each with 
 a game-cock wrapped in matting, with the head and tail 
 only visible. They were going to Guatimala to pass 
 the Christmas holydays, and with this respectable party 
 I entered the gate of the city, on the eighth day after 
 my departure. I found a letter from Mr. Catherwood, 
 dated at Esquipulas, advising me that he had been rob- 
 
CHRISTMAS EVE. 297 
 
 bed by his servant, taken ill, had left the ruins, gone to 
 Don Gregorio's, and was then on his journey to Guati- 
 inala. My messenger had passed through Copan, and 
 gone on he did not know where. I was in great dis- 
 tress, and resolved, after a day's rest, to set off in search 
 of him. 
 
 I dressed myself and went to a party at Senor Zeba- 
 dua, formerly minister to England, where I surprised 
 the Guatimaltecos by the tour I had made, and particu- 
 larly by having come alone from Istapa. Here I met 
 Mr. Chatfield, her Britannic majesty's consul general, 
 and Mr. Skinner, who had arrived during my absence. 
 It was Christmas Eve, the night of El Nacimiento, or 
 birth of Christ. At one end of the sala was a raised 
 platform, with a green floor, and decorated with branch- 
 es of pine and cypress, having birds sitting upon them, 
 and looking-glass, and sandpaper, and figures of men 
 and animals, representing a rural scene, with an arbour, 
 and a wax doll in a cradle ; in short, the grotto of Beth- 
 lehem and the infant Saviour. Always, at this season 
 of the year, every house in Guatimala has its nascimi- 
 ento, according to the wealth and taste of the proprietor, 
 and in time of peace the figure of the Saviour is adorned 
 with family jewels, pearls, and precious stones, and at 
 night every house is open, and the citizens, without ac- 
 quaintance or invitation, or distinction of rank or per- 
 sons, go from house to house visiting ; and the week of 
 El Nacimiento is the gayest in the year ; but, unfortu- 
 nately, at this time it was observed only in form; the 
 state of the city was too uncertain to permit general 
 opening of houses and running in the streets at night. 
 Carrera's soldiers might enter. 
 
 The party was small, but consisted of the elite of 
 Guatimala, and commenced with supper, after which 
 
 Vol. I.— P p 
 
298 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 followed dancing, and, I am obliged to add, smoking. 
 The room was badly lighted, and the company, from 
 the precarious state of the country, not gay ; but the 
 dancing was kept up till twelve o'clock, when the ladies 
 put on their mantillas, and we all went to the Cathedral, 
 where were to be performed the imposing ceremonies of 
 the Christmas Eve. The floor of the church was crowd- 
 ed with citizens, and a large concourse from the villages 
 around. Mr. Savage accompanied me home, and we 
 did not get to bed till three o'clock in the morning. 
 
 The bells had done ringing, and Christmas mass had 
 been said in all the churches before I awoke. In the 
 afternoon was the first bullfight of the season. My 
 friend Vidaurre had called for me, and I was in the act 
 of going to the Plaza de Toros, when there was a loud 
 knock at the puerta cochera, and in rode Mr. Cather- 
 wood, armed to the teeth, pale and thin, most happy at 
 reaching Guatimala, but not half so happy as I was to 
 see him. He was in advance of his luggage, but I 
 dressed him up and carried him immediately to the 
 Plaza de Toros. 
 
 It stands near the church of El Calvario, at the end 
 of the Calle Real, in shape and form like the Roman 
 amphitheatre, about three hundred and fifty feet long 
 and two hundred and fifty broad, capable of contain- 
 ing, as we supposed, about eight thousand people, at 
 least one fourth of the population of Guatimala, and 
 was then crowded with spectators of both sexes and all 
 classes, the best and the vilest in the city, but all con- 
 ducting themselves with perfect propriety. We recog- 
 nised several parties ; in fact, the greater part of our 
 Guatimala acquaintances were present. 
 
 The seats commenced about ten feet above the area, 
 with a corridor and open wooden fence in front to pro- 
 
A BULLFIGHT. 299 
 
 tect the spectators, astride which sat Carrera's disor- 
 derly soldiers to keep order. At one end, underneath 
 the corridor, was a large door, through which the bull 
 was to be let in. At the other end, separated by a par- 
 tition from the part occupied by the rest of the specta- 
 tors, was a large box, empty, formerly intended for the 
 captain general and other principal officers of govern- 
 ment, and now reserved for Carrera. Underneath was 
 a military band, composed mostly of Indians. Notwith- 
 standing the collection of people, and the expectation 
 of an animating sport, there was no clapping or stamp- 
 ing, or other expression of impatience and anxiety for 
 the performance to begin. At length Carrera entered 
 the captain general's box, dressed in a badly-fitting 
 blue military frock-coat, embroidered with gold, and at- 
 tended by Monte Rosa and other officers, richly dressed, 
 the alcalde and members of the municipality. All eyes 
 were turned toward him, as when a king' or emperor 
 enters his box at the theatre in Europe. A year before 
 he was hunted among the mountains, under a reward 
 for his body, " dead or alive," and nine tenths of those 
 who now looked upon him would then have shut the 
 city against him as a robber, murderer, and outcast. 
 
 Soon after the hicadores entered, eight in number, 
 mounted, and each carrying a lance and a red poncha ; 
 they galloped round the area, and stopped with their 
 lances opposite the door at which the bull was to enter. 
 The door was pulled open by a padre, a great cattle- 
 proprietor, who owned the bulls of the day, and the an- 
 imal rushed out into the area, kicking up his heels as if 
 in play, but at sight of the line of horsemen and lances 
 turned about and ran back quicker than he entered. 
 The padre's bull was an ox, and, like a sensible beast, 
 would rather run than fight ; but the door was closed 
 
300 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 upon him, and perforce he ran round the area, looking 
 up to the spectators for mercy, and below for an outlet 
 of escape. The horsemen followed, " prodding" him 
 with their lances ; and all around the area, men and boys 
 on the fence threw barbed darts with ignited fireworks 
 attached, which, sticking in his flesh and exploding on 
 every part of his body, irritated him, and sometimes 
 made him turn on his pursuers. The hicadores led 
 him on by flaring ponchas before him, and as he press- 
 ed them, the skill of the hicadore consisted in throw- 
 ing the poncha over his horns so as to blind him, and 
 then fixing in his neck, just behind his jaw, a sort of 
 balloon of fireworks ; when this was done successfully 
 it created shouts of applause. The government, in an 
 excess of humanity, had forbidden the killing of bulls, 
 and restricted the fight to worrying and torturing. Con- 
 sequently, it was entirely different from the bullfight in 
 Spain, and wanted even the exciting interest of a fierce 
 struggle for life, and the chance of the hicadore being 
 gored to death or tossed over among the spectators. 
 But, watching the earnest gaze of thousands, it was 
 easy to imagine the intense excitement in a martial age, 
 when gladiators fought in the arena before the nobility 
 and beauty of Rome. Our poor ox, after being tired 
 out, was allowed to withdraw. Others followed, and 
 went through the same round. All the padre's bulls 
 were oxen. Sometimes a hicadores on foot was chased 
 to the fence under a general laugh of the spectators. 
 After the last ox had run his rounds, the hicadores 
 withdrew, and men and boys jumped over into the are- 
 na in such numbers that they fairly hustled the ox. 
 The noise and confusion, the flaring of coloured pon- 
 chas, the running and tumbling, attacking and retreat- 
 ing, and clouds of dust, made this the most stirring 
 
THE THEATRE. 301 
 
 scene of any ; but altogether it was a puerile exhibi- 
 tion, and the better classes, among whom was my fair 
 countryAvoman, regarded it merely as an occasion for 
 meeting acquaintances. 
 
 In the evening we went to the theatre, which opened 
 for the first time. A large building had been com- 
 menced in the city, but in one of the revolutions it had 
 been demolished, and the work was abandoned. The 
 performance was in the courtyard of a house. The 
 stage was erected across- one of the corners ; the patio 
 was the pit, and the corridor was divided by temporary 
 partitions into boxes ; the audience sent beforehand, or 
 servants brought with them, their own seats. We had 
 invitations to the box of Senor Vidaurre. Carrera was 
 there, sitting on a bench a little elevated against the 
 Avail of the house, and at the right hand of RiA r era Paz, 
 the chief of the state. Some of his officers were Avith 
 him in their shoAvy uniforms, but he had laid his aside, 
 and had on his black bombazet jacket and pantaloons, 
 and Avas very unpretending in his deportment. I con- 
 sidered him the greatest man in Guatimala, and made 
 it a point to shake hands Avith him in passing. The 
 first piece Avas Saide, a tragedy. The company con- 
 sisted entirely of Guatimaltecos, and their performance 
 A\'as very good. There was no change of scenery ; 
 Avhen the curtain fell, all lighted cigars, ladies included, 
 and, fortunately, there was an open courtyard for the 
 escape of the smoke. When the performance Avas over, 
 the boxes waited till the pit was emptied. Special care 
 had been taken in placing sentinels, and all Avent home 
 quietly. 
 
 During the week there was an attempt at gayety, but 
 all was more or less blended Avith religious solemnities. 
 One was that of the Novena, or term of nine days' 
 I 26 
 
302 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 praying to the Virgin. One lady, who was distinguish- 
 ed for the observance of this term, had an altar built 
 across the whole end of the sala, with three steps, deco- 
 rated with flowers, and a platform adorned with look- 
 ing-glasses, pictures, and figures, in the centre of which 
 was an image of the Virgin richly dressed, the whole 
 ornamented in a way impossible for me to describe, but 
 that may be imagined in a place where natural flowers 
 are in the greatest profusion, and artificial ones made 
 more perfect than in Europe, and where the ladies have 
 extraordinary taste in the disposition of them. When 
 I entered the gentlemen were in an anteroom, with , 
 hats, canes, and small swords ; and in the sala the la- 
 dies, with female servants cleanly dressed, were on 
 their knees praying; in front of the fairy altar was one 
 who seemed a fairy herself ; and while her lips moved, 
 her bright eye was roving, and she looked more worthy 
 of being kneeled to than the pretty image before her, 
 and as if she thought so too. 
 
 In regard to my official business I was perfectly at a 
 loss what to do. In Guatimala all were on one side ; 
 all said that there was no Federal Government ; and 
 Mr. Chatfield, the British consul general, whose opin- 
 ion I respected more, concurred, and had published a 
 circular, denying its existence. But the Federal Gov- 
 ernment claimed to be in existence ; and the bare sug- 
 gestion of General Morazan's marching against Guati- 
 mala excited consternation. Several times there were 
 rumours to that effect, and one that he had actually de- 
 termined to do so ; that not a single priest would be 
 spared, and that the streets would run with blood. 
 The boldest partisans trembled for their lives. Mora- 
 zan had never been beaten ; Carrera had always run 
 before him ; thej had no faith in his being able to de- 
 
OFFICIAL BUSINESS. 303 
 
 fend them, and could not defend themselves. At all 
 events, I had as yet heard only one side, and did not 
 consider myself justified in assuming that there was no 
 government. I was bound to make " diligent search," 
 and then I might return, in legal phrase, " cepi corpus," 
 or " non est inventus," according to circumstances. 
 
 For this purpose I determined to go to San Salvador, 
 which was formerly, and still claimed to be, the capital 
 of the Confederation and the seat of the Federal Gov- 
 ernment, or, rather, to Cojutepeque, to which place the 
 government had been then lately transferred, on account 
 of earthquakes at San Salvador. This project was not 
 without its difficulties. One Rascon, with an insurgent 
 and predatory band, occupied an intervening district of 
 country, acknowledging neither party, and fighting un- 
 der his own flag. Mr. Chatfield and Mr. Skinner had 
 come by sea, a circuitous route, to avoid* him, and Cap- 
 tain Le Nonvel, master of a French ship lying at the 
 port of San Salvador, arrived in Guatimala almost on 
 a run, having ridden sixty miles the last day over a 
 mountainous country, who reported horrible atrocities, 
 and three men murdered near San Vicente, on their 
 way to the fair at Esquipulas, and their faces so disfig- 
 ured that they could not be recognised. Immediately 
 on his arrival he sent a courier to order his ship up to 
 Istapa, merely to take him back, and save him from re- 
 turning by land. I had signified my intention to the 
 state government, which was dissatisfied with my going 
 to San Salvador at all, but offered me an escort of sol- 
 diers, suggesting, however, that if we met any of Mora- 
 zan's there would certainly be a fight. This was not 
 at all pleasant. I was loth to travel a third time the 
 road to Istapa, but, under the circumstances, accepted 
 
304 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 Captain Le NonveFs invitation to take a passage in 
 his ship. 
 
 Meanwhile I passed my time in social visiting. In 
 our own city the aristocracy is called by the diplomatic 
 corps at "Washington the aristocracy of streets. In 
 Guatimala it is the aristocracy of houses, as certain 
 families live in the houses built by their fathers at the 
 foundation of the city, and they are really aristocratic 
 old mansions. These families, by reason of certain mo- 
 nopolies of importation, acquired under the Spanish do- 
 minion immense wealth and rank as " merchant prin- 
 ces." Still they were excluded from all offices and all 
 part in the government. At the time of the revolution 
 one of these families was noble, with the rank of mar- 
 quisate, and its head tore off the insignia of his rank, 
 and joined the revolutionary party. Next in position 
 to the officers f>( the crown, they thought that, emanci- 
 pated from the yoke of Spain, they would have the 
 government in their own hands ; and so they had, 
 but it was only for a short time. The principles of 
 equal rights began to be understood, and they were 
 put aside. For ten years they had been in obscurity, 
 but accidentally they were again in power, and at the 
 time of my visit ruled in social as well as political 
 hfe. I do not wish to speak harshly of them, for they 
 were the only people who constituted society ; my in- 
 tercourse was almost exclusively with them ; my fair 
 countrywoman was one of them ; I am indebted to 
 them for much kindness ; and, besides, they are person- 
 ally amiable ; but I speak of them as public men. I 
 did not sympathize with them in politics. 
 
 To me the position of the country seemed most crit- 
 ical, and from a cause which in all Spanish America had 
 never operated before. At the time of the first invasion 
 
STATE OF THE COUNTRY. 305 
 
 a few hundred Spaniards, by superior bravery and skill, 
 and with more formidable arms, had conquered the 
 whole Indian population. Naturally peaceable, and 
 kept without arms, the conquered people had remained 
 quiet and submissive during the three centuries of Span- 
 ish dominion. In the civil wars following the independ- 
 ence they had borne but a subordinate part ; and down 
 to the time of Carrera's rising they were entirely igno- 
 rant of their own physical strength. But this fearful 
 discovery had now been made. The Indians constitu- 
 ted three fourths of the inhabitants of Guatimala ; were 
 the hereditary owners of the soil ; for the first time since 
 they fell under the dominion of the whites, were organ- 
 ized and armed under a chief of their own, who chose 
 for the moment to sustain the Central party. I did 
 not sympathize with that party, for I believed that 
 in their hatred of the Liberals they were courting a 
 third power that might destroy them both ; consorting 
 with a wild animal which might at any moment turn 
 and rend them in pieces. I believed that they were 
 playing upon the ignorance and prejudices of the In- 
 dians, and, through the priests, upon their religious 
 fanaticism ; amusing them with f£tes and Church cere- 
 monies, persuading them that the Liberals aimed at a 
 demolition of churches, destruction of the priests, and 
 hurrying back the country into darkness ; and in the 
 general heaving of the elements there was not a man 
 of nerve enough among them, with the influence of 
 name and station, to rally round him the strong and 
 honest men of the country, reorganize the shattered re- 
 public, and save them from the disgrace and danger of 
 truckling to an ignorant uneducated Indian boy. 
 
 Such were my sentiments ; of course I avoided ex- 
 pressing them ; but because I did not denounce their 
 Vol. I.— Qq 
 
306 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 opponents, some looked coldly upon me. With them 
 political differences severed all ties. Our worst party 
 abuse is moderate and mild compared with the terms in 
 which they speak of each other. We seldom do more 
 than call men ignorant, incompetent, dishonest, dishon- 
 ourable, false, corrupt, subverters of the Constitution, 
 and bought with British gold ; there a political oppo- 
 nent is a robber, an assassin ; it is praise to admit that 
 he is not a bloodthirsty cutthroat. We complain that 
 our ears are constantly offended and our passions rous- 
 ed by angry political discussions. There it would have 
 been delightful to hear a good, honest, hot, and angry 
 political dispute. I travelled in every state, and I nev- 
 er heard one ; for I never met two men together who 
 differed in political opinions. Defeated partisans are 
 shot, banished, run away, or get a moral lockjaw, and 
 never dare express their opinions before one of the dom- 
 inant party. We have just passed through a violent 
 political struggle ; twenty millions of people have been 
 divided almost man to man, friend against friend, 
 neighbour against neighbour, brother against brother, 
 and son against father ; besides honest differences of 
 opinion, ambition, want, and lust of power and office 
 have roused passions sometimes to fierceness. Tavo 
 millions of men highly excited have spoken out their 
 thoughts and sentiments fearlessly and openly. They 
 have all been counted, and the first rule in arithme- 
 tic has decided between them ; and the defeated party 
 are still permitted to live in the country ; their wives 
 and children are spared; nay, more, they may grum- 
 ble in the streets, and hang out their banners of de- 
 fiance, of continued and determined opposition : and, 
 more than all, the pillars of the republic are not sha- 
 ken ! Among a million of disappointed men, never, 
 
new year's day. 307 
 
 with all the infirmities of human passion, has one breath- 
 ed resistance to the Constitution and laws. The world 
 has never presented such a spectacle, such a proof of 
 the capacity of the people for self-government. Long 
 may it continue ! May the tongue wither that dares 
 preach resistance to the ballot-boxes ; and may the 
 moral influence of our example reach our distracted 
 sister republics, staying the sword of persecution in the 
 hands of victors, and crushing the spirit of revolution 
 in a defeated party. 
 
 January 1, 1840. This day, so full of home asso- 
 ciations — snow, and red noses, and blue lips out of 
 doors, and blazing fires and beauteous faces within — 
 opened in Guatimala like a morning in spring. The 
 sun seemed rejoicing in the beauty of the land it shone 
 upon. The flowers were blooming in the courtyards, 
 and the mountains, visible above the tops of the houses, 
 were smiling in verdure. The bells of thirty-eight 
 churches and convents proclaimed the coming of an- 
 other year. The shops were shut as on a Sunday ; 
 there was no market in the plaza. Gentlemen well 
 dressed, and ladies in black mantas, were crossing it to 
 attend grand mass in the Cathedral. Mozart's music 
 swelled through the aisles. A priest in a strange tongue 
 proclaimed morality, religion, and love of country. The 
 floor of the church was thronged with whites, Mesti- 
 zoes, and Indians. On a high bench opposite the pul- 
 pit sat the chief of the state, and by his side Carrera, 
 again dressed in his rich uniform. I leaned against a pil- 
 lar opposite and watched his face ; and if I read him 
 right, he had forgotten Avar and the stains of blood upon 
 his hands, and his very soul was filled with fanatic en- 
 thusiasm; exactly as the priests would have him. I did 
 verily believe that he was honest in his impulses,, and 
 
308 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 would do right if he knew how. They who undertake 
 to guide him have a fearful responsibility. The service 
 ended, a way was cleared through the crowd. Carrera, 
 accompanied by the priests and the chief of the state, 
 awkward in his movements, with his eyes fixed on the 
 ground, or with furtive glances, as if ill at ease in being 
 an object of so much attention, walked down the aisle. 
 A thousand ferocious-looking soldiers were drawn up 
 before the door. A wild burst of music greeted him, 
 and the faces of the men glowed with devotion to their 
 chief. A broad banner was unfurled, with stripes of 
 black and red, a device of a death's head and legs in 
 the centre, and on one side the words " Viva la reli- 
 gion!" and on the other "Paz o muerte a los Liber- 
 ales !" Carrera placed himself at their head, and with 
 Rivera Paz by his side, and the fearful banner float- 
 ing in the air, and wild and thrilling music, and the 
 stillness of death around, they escorted the chief of the 
 state to his house. How different from Newyear's Day 
 at home ! 
 
 Fanatic as I knew the people to be in religion, and 
 violent in political animosities, I did not believe that such 
 an outrage would be countenanced as flaunting in the 
 plaza of the capital a banner linking together the support 
 of religion and the death or submission of the Liberal 
 party. Afterward, in a conversation with the chief of 
 the state, I referred to this banner. He had not noticed 
 it, but thought that the last clause was " Paz o muerte 
 a los qui no lo quieron" "to those who do not wish it." 
 This does not alter its atrocious character, and only 
 adds to fanaticism what it takes from party spirit. I 
 think, however, that I am right ; for on the return of the 
 soldiers to the plaza, Mr. C. and I followed it, til], as 
 we thought, the standard-bearer contracted its folds ex 
 
FEROCITY OF PARTY. 309 
 
 pressly to hide it, and some of the officers looked at us 
 so suspiciously that we withdrew. 
 
 For the sake of home associations, I called on my fair 
 countrywoman ; dined at Mr. Hall's, and in the afternoon 
 went to the cockpit, a large circular building handsomely 
 proportioned, with a high seat for the judges, who rang 
 a bell as a signal for the fight, when commenced a clam- 
 our : "I offer five dollars!" "I offer twenty," &c. ; 
 and I am happy to say that in this crowded den I saw 
 but one man whom I had ever seen before ; from there 
 I went to the bullfight, and then to the theatre. The 
 reader will admit that I made a brilliant beginning to 
 the year 1840. 
 
310 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Hunt for a Government.— Diplomatic Difficulties.— Departure from Guatimala. 
 — Lake of Amatitan. — Attack of Fever and Ague.— Overo. — Istapa. — A French 
 Merchant Ship.— Port of Acajutla. — Illness.— Zonzonate. — The Government 
 found. — Visit to the Volcano of Izalco.— Course of the Eruptions.— Descent 
 from the Volcano. 
 
 On Sunday, the fifth of January, I rose to set out in 
 search of a government. Don Manuel Pavon, with his 
 usual kindness, brought me a packet of letters of intro- 
 duction to his friends in San Salvador. Mr. Catherwood 
 intended to accompany me to the Pacific. We had not 
 packed up, the muleteer had not made his appearance, 
 and my passport had not been sent. Captain Le Non- 
 vel waited till nine o'clock, and then went on in ad- 
 vance. In the midst of my confusion I received a visit 
 from a distinguished canonigo. The reverend prelate 
 was surprised at my setting out on that day. I was aboul 
 pleading my necessities as an excuse for travelling on 
 the Sabbath ; but he relieved me by adding that there 
 was to be a dinner-party, a bullfight, and a play, and 
 he wondered that I could resist such temptations. At 
 eleven o'clock the muleteer came, with his mules, his 
 wife, and a ragged little son ; and Mr. Savage, who was 
 always my help through the little vexations attendant 
 upon doing anything in that country, as well as in more 
 important matters, returned from the Government House 
 with word that my passport had been sent to me. I 
 knew that the government was displeased with my pur- 
 pose of going to the capitol. The night before it had 
 been currently reported that I intended to present my 
 credentials at San Salvador, and recognise the exist- 
 ence of the Federal Government ; newspapers received 
 
DIPLOMATIC DIFFICULTIES. 311 
 
 the same night by the courier from Mexico were bur- 
 dened with accounts of an invasion of that country by 
 the Texans. I had before received a piece of infor 
 mation that was new to me, and of which it was con- 
 sidered diplomatic that I should profess ignorance, viz., 
 that, though not so avowed, the Texans were support- 
 ed and urged on by the government of the United 
 States. We were considered as bent upon the con- 
 quest of Mexico ; and, of course, Guatimala would 
 come next. The odium of our ambitious pretensions 
 increased the feeling of coldness and distrust toward 
 me, arising from my not having attached myself to the 
 dominant party. In general I was considered as the 
 successor of Mr. De Witt. It was known among poli- 
 ticians that proceedings were pending for the renewal 
 of a treaty, and that our government had a claim for 
 the destruction of property of our citizens in one of the 
 revolutions of the country; but some imagined that the 
 special object of my mission was very deep, and in fa- 
 vour of the party at San Salvador. When Mr. Savage 
 returned without any passport, suspecting that there 
 was an intention to embarrass me and make me lose 
 the opportunity of going by sea, I went immediately to 
 the Government House, where I received the same an- 
 swer that had been given to Mr. Savage. I requested 
 another, but the secretary of state objected, on the 
 ground that none could be made out on that day. 
 There were several clerks in the office, and I urged 
 my pressing necessity, the actual departure of Captain 
 Le Nonvel, my seasonable application, and the prom- 
 ise that it should be sent to my house. After an un- 
 pleasant parley, one Avas given me, but without assign- 
 ing me any official character. I pointed out the omis- 
 sion, and the secretary said that I had not presented 
 
312 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 my credentials. I answered that my credentials were 
 co the general government, and not to that of the State 
 of Guatirnala, which alone he represented; but he per- 
 sisted that it was not the custom of his government to 
 recognise an official character unless he presented his 
 credentials. His government had been in existence 
 about six months, and during that time no person 
 claiming to be official had been near the country. J 
 put into his hands my passport from my own govern- 
 ment, reminded him that I had been arrested and im- 
 prisoned once, assured him that I should at all events 
 set out for San Salvador, and wished to know definitive- 
 ly whether he would give me such a passport as I had 
 a right to ask for. After much hesitation, and with a 
 very bad grace, he interlined before the official title the 
 words con el caracter. I make great allowance for party 
 feeling in a country where political divisions are matters 
 of life and death, more particularly for Don Joaquim 
 Durand, whose brother, a priest, was shot a short time 
 before by the Morazan party ; but this attempt to embar- 
 rass my movements, by depriving me of the benefit of of- 
 ficial character, excited a feeling of indignation which I 
 did not attempt to conceal. To refuse accepting the pass- 
 port altogether, or to wait a day for remonstrance, would 
 cause me to lose my passage by sea, and make it ne- 
 cessary to undertake a dangerous journey by land, or 
 abandon going to the capitol ; which, I believe, was 
 precisely what was wished. I was resolved not to be 
 prevented by any indirect means. I only needed a 
 passport to the port — the best they could give I did not 
 value very highly — in San Salvador it would be utter- 
 ly worthless ; and with the uncourteous paper thus un- 
 graciously bestowed, I returned to the house, and a» 
 
LAKE OF AMATITAI\. 3I£J 
 
 two o'clock we started. It was the hottest hour of the 
 day, and when we passed the gate the sun was scorch- 
 ing. Late as it was, our muleteer had not finished his 
 leave-taking. His wife and little son accompanied him ; 
 and at some distance outside we were obliged to stop 
 in the hot sun and wait till they came up. We were 
 extremely glad when they exchanged their last em- 
 braces, and the wife and son turned off for their home 
 in Mixco. 
 
 Notwithstanding the lateness of the hour, we diver- 
 ged from the regular road for the purpose of passing 
 by the Lake of Amatitan, but it was dark when we 
 reached the top of the high range of mountains which 
 bounds that beautiful water. Looking down, it seem- 
 ed like a gathering of fog in the bottom of a deep val- 
 ley. The descent was by a rough zigzag path on the 
 side of the mountain, very steep, and, in the extreme 
 darkness, difficult and dangerous. We felt happy when 
 we reached the bank of the lake, though still a little 
 above it. The mountains rose round it like a wall, and 
 cast over it a gloom deeper than the shade of night. 
 We rode for some distance with the lake on our left, 
 and a high and perpendicular mountain-side on our 
 right. A cold wind had succeeded the intense heat of 
 the day, and when we reached Amatitan I was perfectly 
 chilled. We found the captain in the house he had in- 
 dicated. It was nine o'clock, and, not having touched 
 anything since seven in the morning, we were prepared 
 to do justice to the supper he had provided for us. 
 
 To avoid the steep descent to the lake with the car- 
 go-mules, our muleteer had picked up a guide for us 
 on the road, and gone on himself direct; but, to our 
 surprise, he had not yet arrived. While at supper we 
 
 Vol. I.— R r 27 
 
314 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 heard an uproar in the street, and a man ran in to tell 
 us that a mob was murdering our muleteer. The cap- 
 tain, a frequent visiter to the country, said it was prob- 
 ably a general machete fight, and cautioned us against 
 going out. While in the corridor, hesitating, the up- 
 roar was hurrying toward us ; the gate burst open, and 
 a crowd rushed in, dragging with them our muleteer, 
 that respectable husband and father, with his machete 
 drawn, and so tipsy that he could hardly stand, but 
 wanted to fight all the world. With difficulty we got 
 him entangled among some saddle-gear, when he drop- 
 ped down, and, after vain efforts to rise, fell asleep. 
 
 I woke the next morning with violent headache and 
 pain in all my bones. Nevertheless, we started at day- 
 light, and rode till five o'clock. The sun and heat in- 
 creased the pain in my head, and for three hours before 
 reaching Escuintla I was in great suffering. I avoid- 
 ed going to the corregidor's, for I knew that his sleep- 
 ing apartment was open to all who came, and I wanted 
 quiet ; but I made a great mistake in stopping at the. 
 house of the captain's friend. He was the proprietor 
 of an estanco or distillery for making agua ardiente, 
 and gave us a large room directly back of a store, and 
 separated from it by a low board partition open over 
 the top ; and this store was constantly filled with noisy, 
 wrangling, and drinking men and women. My bed 
 was next to the partition, and we had eight or ten men 
 in our room. All night I had a violent fever, and in 
 the morning I was unable to move. Captain Le Non- 
 vel regretted it, but he could not wait, as his ship was 
 ready to lie off and on without coming to anchor. Mr. 
 Catherwood had me removed to a storeroom filled with 
 casks and demijohns, where, except from occasional 
 
FEVER AND AGUE. 315 
 
 entries to draw off liquor, I was quiet ; but the odour 
 was sickening. 
 
 In the afternoon the fever left me, and we rode to 
 Masaya, a level and shady road of four leagues, and, 
 to our surprise and great satisfaction, found the cap- 
 tain at the house at which I had stopped on my return 
 from Istapa. He had advanced two leagues beyond, 
 when he heard of a band of robbers at some distance 
 farther on, and returned to wait for company, sending, 
 in the mean time, to Escuintla for a guard of soldiers. 
 We afterward learned that they were a body of exiles 
 who had been expelled from Guatimala, and were cross- 
 ing from Quezaltenango to San Salvador ; but, being 
 in desperate circumstances, they were dangerous per- 
 sons to meet on the road. 
 
 The hut at which we stopped was hardly large 
 enough for the family that occupied it, and our luggage, 
 with two hammocks and a catre, drove them into a 
 very small space. Crying children are said to be 
 healthy ; if so, the good woman of the house was bless- 
 ed : besides this, a hen was hatching a brood of chick- 
 ens under my head. During the night a party of sol- 
 diers entered the village, in pursuance of the captain's 
 requisition, and passed on to clear the road. We start- 
 ed before daylight ; but as the sun rose my fever re- 
 turned, and at eleven o'clock, when we reached Jovero, 
 I could go no farther. 
 
 I have before remarked that this hacienda is a great 
 stopping-place from Istapa and the salt-works ; and un- 
 fortunately for me, several parties of muleteers, in ap- 
 prehension of the robbers, had joined together, and 
 starting at midnight, had already finished their day's 
 labour. In the afternoon a wild boar was hunted, 
 which our muleteer, with my gun, killed. There was 
 
316 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 a great feast in cooking and eating him, and the noise 
 racked my brain. Night brought no relief. Quiet was 
 all I wanted, but that it seemed impossible to have ; be- 
 sides which, the rancho was more than usually abundant 
 in fleas. All night I had violent fever. Mr. Cather- 
 wood, who, from not killing any one at Copan, had con- 
 ceived a great opinion of his medical skill, gave me a 
 powerful dose of medicine, and toward morning I fell 
 asleep. 
 
 At daylight we started, and arrived at Istapa at nine 
 o'clock. Captain Le Nonvel had not yet gone on 
 board. Two French ships were then lying off the port : 
 the Belle Poule and the Melanie, both from Bordeaux, 
 the latter being the vessel of Captain Le Nonvel. He 
 had accounts to arrange with the captain of the Belle 
 Poule, and we started first for his vessel. 
 
 I have before remarked that Istapa is an open road- 
 stead, without bay, headland, rock, reef, or any protec- 
 tion whatever from the open sea. Generally the sea is, 
 as its name imports, pacific, and the waves roll calmly 
 to the shore; but in the smoothest times there is a 
 breaker, and to pass this, as a part of the fixtures of the 
 port, an anchor is dropped outside, with a buoy attach- 
 ed, and a long cable passing from the buoy is secured 
 on shore. The longboat of the Melanie lay hard 
 ashore, stern first, with a cable run through a groove in 
 the bows, and passing through the sculling-hole in the 
 stern. She was filled with goods, and among them we 
 took our seats. The mate sat in the stern, and, taking 
 advantage of a wave that raised the bows, gave the 
 order to haul. The wet rope whizzed past, and the 
 boat moved till, with the receding wave, it struck heav- 
 ily on the sand. Another wave and another haul, and 
 she swung clear of the bottom ; and meeting the coming, 
 
A FRENCH MERCHANT SHIP. 317 
 
 and hauling fast on the receding wave, in a few min- 
 utes we passed the breakers, the rope was thrown out 
 of the groove, and the sailors took to their oars. 
 
 It was one of the most beautiful of those beautiful 
 days on the Pacific. The great ocean was as calm as 
 a lake ; the freshness of the morning still rested upon 
 the water, and already I felt revived. In a few min- 
 utes we reached the Belle Poule, one of the most beau- 
 tiful ships that ever floated, and considered a model in 
 the French commercial marine. The whole deck was 
 covered with an awning, having a border trimmed with 
 scarlet, and fluttering in the wind. The quarter-deck 
 was raised, protected by a fanciful awning, furnished 
 with settees, couches, and chairs, and on a brass railing 
 in front sat two beautiful Peruvian parrots. The door 
 of the cabin was high enough to admit a tall man with- 
 out stooping. On each side were four staterooms, and 
 the stern was divided into two chambers for the captain 
 and supercargo, each with a window in it, and furnish- 
 ed with a bed (not a berth), a sofa, books, drawers, 
 writing-desk, everything necessary for luxurious living 
 on shipboard ; just the comforts with which one would 
 like to circumnavigate the world. She was on a tra- 
 ding voyage from Bordeaux, with an assorted cargo of 
 French goods ; had touched at the ports in Peru, Chili, 
 Panama, and Central America, and left at each place 
 merchandise to be sold, and the proceeds to be invested 
 in the products of the country ; and was then bound to 
 Mazatlan, on the coast of Mexico, whence she would 
 return and pick up her cargo, and in two years return 
 to Bordeaux. We had a dejeuner a la fourchette, 
 abounding in Paris luxuries, with wines and cafe, as 
 in Paris, to which, fortunately for the ship's stores, I did 
 not. bring my accustomed vigour ; and there was style in 
 
318 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 everything, even to the name of the steward, who was 
 called the maitre d'hotel. 
 
 At two o'clock we went on board the Melanie. She 
 was about the same size, and if we had not seen the 
 Belle Poule first, we should have been delighted with 
 her. The comfort and luxury of these " homes on the 
 sea" were in striking contrast with the poverty and 
 misery of the desolate shore. The captain of the Belie 
 Poule came on board to dine. It was a pleasure to us 
 to see the delight with which these two Bordeaux men 
 and their crews met on this distant shore. Cape Horn, 
 Peru, and Chili were the subjects of conversation, and 
 we found on board a file of papers, which gave us the 
 latest news from our friends in the Sandwich Islands. 
 Mr. C. and the captain of the Belle Poule remained on 
 board till we got under way. We bade them good-by 
 over the railing ; the evening breeze filled our sails ; 
 for a few moments we saw them, a dark spot on the 
 water ; the wave sank, and we lost sight of them en- 
 tirely. 
 
 I remained on deck but a short time. I was the 
 only passenger, and the maitre d'hotel made me a bed 
 with settees directly under the stern windows, but I 
 could not sleep. Even with windows and doors wide 
 open the cabin was excessively warm ; the air was 
 heated, and it was full of moschetoes. The captain 
 and mates slept on deck. I was advised not to do so, 
 but at twelve o'clock I went out. It was bright star- 
 light ; the sails were flapping against the mast ; the 
 ocean was like a sheet of glass, and the coast dark and 
 irregular, gloomy, and portentous with volcanoes. The 
 great bear was almost upon me, the north star was 
 lower than I had ever seen it before, and, like myself, 
 seemed waning. A young sailor of the watch on deck 
 
PORT OF ACAJUTLA. 319 
 
 spoke to roe of the deceitfulness of the sea, of ship- 
 wrecks, of the Avreck of an American vessel which he 
 had fallen in with on his first cruise in the Pacific, and 
 of his beautiful and beloved France. The freshness of 
 the air was grateful ; and while he was entertaining me, 
 I stretched myself on a settee and fell asleep. 
 
 The next day I had a recurrence of fever, which 
 continued upon me all day, and the captain put me un- 
 der ship's discipline. In the morning the maitre d'hotel 
 stood by me with cup and spoon, " Monsieur, un vom- 
 itif," and in the afternoon, " Monsieur, unc purge." 
 When we arrived at Acajutla I was unable to go 
 ashore. As soon as we cast anchor the captain land- 
 ed, and before leaving for Zonzonate engaged mules 
 and men for me. The port of Acajutla is not quite so 
 open as that of Istapa, having on the south a slight 
 projecting headland of rock. In the offing were a 
 goelette brig for a port in Peru, a Danish schooner for 
 Guayaquil, and an English brig from London. All the 
 afternoon I sat on the upper deck. Some of the sailors 
 were asleep and others playing cards. In sight were 
 six volcanoes ; one constantly emitting smoke, and an- 
 other flames. At night the Volcano of Izalco seemed a 
 steady ball of fire. 
 
 The next morning the mate took me ashore in the 
 launch. The process was the same as at Istapa, and 
 we were detained some time by the boat of the English 
 vessel occupying the cable. As soon as we struck, a 
 crowd of Indians, naked except a band of cotton cloth 
 around the loins and passing between the legs, backed 
 up against the side of the boat. I mounted the shoul- 
 ders of one of them ; as the wave receded he carried 
 me several paces onward, then stopped and braced 
 himself against the coming wave. I clung to his neck, 
 
320 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 but was fast sliding down his slippery sides, when he 
 deposited me on the shore of San Salvador, called by 
 the Indians " Cuscatlan," or the land of riches. Alva- 
 rado, on his voyage to Peru, was the first Spaniard 
 who ever set foot upon this shore, and as I took special 
 care to keep my feet from getting wet, I could but think 
 of the hardy frames as Avell as iron nerves of the con- 
 querors of America. 
 
 The mate and sailors took leave of me and returned 
 to the ship. I walked along the shore and up a steep 
 hill. It was only eight o'clock, and already excessively 
 hot. On the bank fronting the sea were the ruins of 
 large warehouses, occupied as receptacles for merchan- 
 dise under the Spanish dominion, when all the ports of 
 America were closed against foreign vessels. In one 
 corner of the ruined building was a sort of guardroom, 
 where a few soldiers were eating tortillas, and one was 
 cleaning his musket. Another apartment was occupied 
 by the captain of the port, who told me that the mules 
 engaged for me had got loose, and the muleteers were 
 looking for them. Here I had the pleasure to meet Dr. 
 Drivon, a gentleman from the Island of St. Lucia, who 
 had a large sugar hacienda a few leagues distant, and 
 was at the port to superintend the disembarcation of 
 machinery for a mill from the English brig. While 
 waiting for the mules he conducted me to a hut where 
 he had two Guayaquil hammocks hung, and feeling al- 
 ready the effect of my exertions, I took possession of 
 one of them. 
 
 The woman of the rancho was a sort of ship's hus- 
 band ; and there being three vessels in port, the rancho 
 was encumbered with vegetables, fruit, eggs, fowls, and 
 ship's stores. It was close and hot, but very soon I re- 
 quired all the covering I could get. I had a violent 
 
ILLNESS. 32} 
 
 ague, followed by a fever, in comparison with which 
 all I had suffered before was nothing. I called for 
 water till the old woman was tired of giving it to me, 
 and went out and left me alone. I became lighthead- 
 ed, wild with pain, and wandered among the miserable 
 huts with only the consciousness that my brain was 
 scorching. I have an indistinct recollection of speak- 
 ing English to some Indian women, begging them to 
 get me a horse to ride to Zonzonate ; of some laughing, 
 others looking at me with pity, and others leading me 
 out of the sun, and making me lie down under the 
 shade of a tree. At three o'clock in the afternoon the 
 mate came ashore again. I had changed my position, 
 and he found me lying on my face asleep, and almost 
 withered by the sun. He wanted to take me back on 
 board the ship, but I begged him to procure mules and 
 take me to Zonzonate, within the reach of medical as- 
 sistance. It is hard to feel worse than I did when I 
 mounted. I passed three hours of agony, scorched by 
 the intense heat, and a little before dark arrived at Zon- 
 zonate, fortunate, as Dr. Drivon afterward told me, in 
 not having suffered a stroke of the sun. Before en- 
 tering the town and crossing the bridge over the Rio 
 Gmnde, I met a gentleman well mounted, having a scar- 
 let Peruvian pellon over his saddle, with whose appear- 
 ance I was struck, and we exchanged low bows. This 
 gentleman, as I afterward learned, was the government 
 I was looking after. 
 
 I rode to the house of Captain Le Nonvel's broth- 
 er, one of the largest in the place, where I had that 
 comfort, seldom known in Central America, a room to 
 myself, and everything else necessary. For several 
 days I remained within doors. The first afternoon I 
 
 Vol. I— S s 
 
322 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 went oat I called upon Don Manuel de Aguilar, formerly 
 chief of the State of Costa Rica, but about a year be- 
 fore driven out by a revolution and banished for life, 
 At his house I met Don Diego Vigil, the vice-president 
 of the republic, the same gentleman whom I had met 
 on the bridge, and the only existing officer of the Fed- 
 eral Government. From observation and experience 
 in my own country, I had learned never to take the 
 character of a public man from his political enemy; 
 and I will not soil this page with the foul aspersions 
 which men of veracity, but blinded by party prejudice, 
 threw upon the character of Sehor Vigil. He was 
 about forty-five, six feet high, thin, and suffering from 
 a paralytic affection, which almost deprived him of the 
 use of both legs ; in dress, conversation, and manners, 
 eminently a gentleman. He had travelled more ex- 
 tensively in his own country than most of his country- 
 men, and knew all the objects of interest ; and with a 
 politeness which I appreciated, made no reference to my 
 position or my official character. 
 
 His business at Zonzonate showed the wretched state 
 of the country. He had come expressly to treat with 
 Rascon, the head of the band which had prevented my 
 coming from Guatimala by land. Chico Rascon, as he 
 was familiarly called in Zonzonate, was of an old and 
 respectable family, who had spent a large fortune in 
 dissipation in Paris, and returning in desperate circum- 
 stances, had turned patriot. About six months before 
 he had made a descent upon Zonzonate, killed the 
 garrison to a man, robbed the custom-house, and re- 
 treated to his hacienda. He was then on a visit in the 
 town, publicly, by appointment with Senior Vigil, and 
 demanded, as the price of disbanding his troops, a 
 colonel's commission for himself, other commissions for 
 
THE GOVERNMENT FOUND. 323 
 
 some of his followers, and four thousand dollars in 
 money. Vigil assented to all except the four thousand 
 dollars in money, but offered instead the credit of the 
 Slate of San Salvador, which Rascon agreed to accept. 
 Papers were drawn up, and that afternoon was appoint- 
 ed for their execution ; but, while Vigil was waiting for 
 him, Rascon and his friends, without a word of notice, 
 mounted their horses and rode out of town. The place 
 was thrown into great excitement, and in the evening I 
 saw the garrison busily engaged in barricading the plaza, 
 in apprehension of another attack. 
 
 The next day I made a formal call upon Serlor Vigil. 
 T was in a rather awkward position. "When I left Gua- 
 timala in search of a government, I did not expect to 
 meet it on the road. In that state I had heard but one 
 side ; I was just beginning to hear the other. If there 
 was any government, I had treed it. Was it the real 
 thing or was it not ? In Guatimala they said it was not ; 
 here they said it was. It was a knotty question. I was 
 in no great favour in Guatimala, and in endeavouring to 
 olay a safe game I ran the risk of being hustled by all 
 parties. In Guatimala they had no right to ask for my 
 credentials, and took offence because I did not present 
 them ; here, if I refused, they had a right to consider it an 
 insult. In this predicament I opened my business with 
 the vice-president, and told him that I was on my way 
 to the capital, with credentials from the United States ; 
 but that, in the state of anarchy in which I found the 
 country, was at a loss what to do ; I was desirous to 
 avoid making a false step, and anxious to know whether 
 the Federal Government really existed, or whether the 
 Republic was dissolved. Our interview was long and 
 interesting, and the purport of his answer was, that the 
 government did exist de facto and de jure ; he himself 
 
324 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 was legally elected vice-president ; the act of the four 
 states in declaring themselves independent was uncon- 
 stitutional and rebellious ; the union could not be dis- 
 solved except by a convention of deputies from all the 
 states ; the government had the actual control in three 
 states, one had been reduced to subjection by arms, and 
 very soon the Federal party would have the ascendancy 
 in the others. He was familiar with the case of South 
 Carolina, and said that our Congress had sustained the 
 right of the general government to coerce states into 
 subjection, and they were in the same position. I re- 
 ferred to the shattered condition of the government ; its 
 absolute impotence in other states ; the non-existence of 
 senate and other co-ordinate branches, or even of a sec- 
 retary of state, the officer to whom my credentials were 
 addressed ; and he answered that he had in his suite an 
 acting secretary of state, confirming what had been told 
 me before, that the " Government" would, at a mo- 
 ment's notice, make any officer I wanted ; but I owe it 
 to Seiior Vigil to say, that, after going over fully the 
 whole ground of the unhappy contest, and although at 
 that critical juncture the recognition of the Federal Gov- 
 ernment by that of the United States would have been 
 of moment to his party, and not to recognise it was dis- 
 respectful and favoured the cause of the rebellious'or in- 
 dependent states, he did not ask me to present my cre- 
 dentials. The Convention, which was expected to com- 
 pose the difficulties of the Republic, was then about as- 
 sembling in Honduras. The deputies from St. Salvador 
 had gone to take their seats, and it was understood that 
 [ should await the decision of this body. The result of 
 my interview with the vice-president was much more 
 agreeable than I expected. I am sure that I left him 
 without the least feeling of ill-will on his part ; but my 
 
VISIT TO A VOLCANO. 325 
 
 great perplexity whether I had any government was not 
 yet brought to a close. 
 
 In the mean time, while the political repairs were go- 
 ing on, I remained in Zonzonate recruiting. The town 
 is situated on the banks of the Rio Grande, which is 
 formed by almost innumerable springs, and in the In- 
 dian language its name means four hundred springs of 
 water. It stands in one of the richest districts of the rich 
 State of San Salvador, and has its plaza, with streets at 
 right angles, and white houses of one story, some of 
 them very large ; but it has borne its share of the calam- 
 ities which have visited the unfortunate Republic. The 
 best houses are deserted, and their owners in exile. 
 There are seven costly churches and but one cura. 
 
 I was unable to undertake any journey by land, and 
 feeling the enervating effect of the climate, swung all 
 day in a hammock. Fortunately, the proprietors of the 
 brig which I had seen at Acajutla, bound for Peru, 
 changed her destination, and determined to send her to 
 Costa Rica, the southernmost state of the Confederacy. 
 At the same time, a man offered as a servant, very highly 
 recommended, and whose appearance I liked ; and I re- 
 solved to have the benefit of the sea voyage, and, in re- 
 turning by land, explore the canal route between the At- 
 lantic and Pacific by the Lake of Nicaragua, a thing 
 which I had desired much, but despaired of being able 
 to accomplish. 
 
 Before leaving I roused myself for an excursion. 
 The window of my room opened upon the Volcano of 
 Izalco. All day I heard at short intervals the eruptions 
 of the burning mountain, and at night saw the column 
 of flame bursting from the crater, and streams of fire 
 rolling down its side. Fortunately, Mr. Blackwood, 
 m Irish merchant, for many years resident in Peru, ar- 
 I 28 
 
326 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 rived, and agreed to accompany me. The next morn- 
 ing before five o'clock we were in the saddle. At the 
 distance of a mile we forded the Rio Grande, here a 
 wild river, and riding through a rich country, in half an 
 hour reached the Indian village of Naguisal, a lovely 
 spot, and literally a forest of fruits and flowers. Large 
 trees were perfectly covered with red, and at every step 
 we could pluck fruit. Interspersed among these beau- 
 tiful trees were the miserable huts of Indians, and lying 
 on the ground, or at some lazy work, were the misera- 
 ble Indians themselves* Continuing another league 
 through the same rich country, we rose upon a table of 
 land, from which, looking back, we saw an immense 
 plain, wooded, and extending to the shore, and beyond, 
 the boundless waters of the Pacific. Before us, at the 
 extreme end of a long street, was the church of Izalco, 
 standing out in strong relief against the base of the vol- 
 cano, which at that moment, with a loud report like the 
 rolling of thunder, threw in the air a column of black 
 smoke and ashes, lighted by a single flash of flame. 
 
 With difficulty we obtained a guide, but he was so 
 tipsy that he could scarcely guide himself along a 
 straight street ; and he would not go till the next day, 
 as he said it was so late that we should be caught on 
 the mountain at night, and that it was full of tigers. In 
 the mean time the daughter of our host found another, 
 and, stowing four green cocoanuts in his alforjas, we 
 set out. Soon we came out upon an open plain, and 
 without a bush to obstruct the view, saw on our left the 
 whole volcano from its base to its top. It rose from 
 near the foot of a mountain, to a height perhaps of six 
 thousand feet, its sides brown and barren, and all 
 around for miles the earth was covered with lava. Be- 
 ing in a state of eruption, it was impossible to ascend 
 
COURSE OF THE ERUPTIONS. 327 
 
 it, but behind it is a higher mountain, which commands 
 a view of the burning crater. The whole volcano was 
 in full sight, spouting into the air a column of black 
 smoke and an immense body of stones, while the earth 
 shook under our feet. Crossing the plain, we com- 
 menced ascending the mountain. At eleven o'clock we 
 sat down by the bank of a beautiful stream to break- 
 fast. My companion had made abundant provision, and 
 for the first time since I left Guatimala I felt the keen- 
 ness of returning appetite, In half an hour we mount- 
 ed, and soon after twelve o'clock entered the woods, 
 having a very steep ascent by a faint path, which we 
 soon lost altogether. Our guide changed his direction 
 several times, and at length got lost, tied his horse, and 
 left us to wait while he searched the way. We knew 
 that we were near the volcano, for the explosions sound- 
 ed like the deep mutterings of dreadful thunder. Shut 
 up as we were in the woods, these reports were awful. 
 Our horses snorted with terror, and the mountain quaked 
 beneath our feet. Our guide returned, and in a few 
 minutes we came out suddenly upon an open point, 
 higher than the top of the volcano, commanding a view 
 of the interior of the crater, and so near it that we saw 
 the huge stones as they separated in the air, and fell pat- 
 tering around the sides of the volcano. In a few min- 
 utes our clothes were white with ashes, which fell around 
 us with a noise like the sprinkling of rain. 
 
 The crater had three orifices, one of which was in- 
 active ; another emitted constantly a rich blue smoke ; 
 and after a report, deep in the huge throat of the third 
 appeared a light blue vapour, and then a mass of thick 
 black smoke, whirling and struggling out in enormous 
 wreaths, and rising in a dark majestic column, lighted 
 for a moment by a sheet of flame ; and when the smoke 
 
328 INCIDENT OF TRAVELS. 
 
 dispersed, the atmosphere was darkened by a shower 
 of stones and ashes. This over, a moment of stillness 
 followed, and then another report and eruption, and 
 these continued regularly, at intervals, as our guide said, 
 of exactly five minutes, and really he was not much out 
 of the way. The sight was fearfully grand. We re- 
 freshed ourselves with a draught of cocoanut milk, 
 thought how this grandeur would be heightened when 
 the stillness and darkness of night were interrupted by 
 the noise and flame, and forthwith resolved to sleep 
 upon the mountain. 
 
 The cura of Zonzonate, still in the vigour of life, told 
 me that he remembered when the ground on which this 
 volcano stands had nothing to distinguish it from any 
 other spot around. In 1798 a small orifice was discov- 
 ered puffing out small quantities of dust and pebbles. 
 He was then living at Izalco, and, as a boy, was in the 
 habit of going to look at it ; and he had watched it, and 
 marked its increase from year to year, until it had grown 
 into what it is now. Captain Le Nonvel told me he 
 could observe from the sea that it had grown greatly 
 within the last two years. Two years before its light 
 could not be seen at night on the other side of the 
 mountain on which I stood. Night and day it forces 
 up stones from the bowels of the earth, spouts them into 
 the air, and receives them upon its sides. Every day 
 it is increasing, and probably it will continue to do so 
 until the inward fires die, or by some violent convul- 
 sion the whole is rent to atoms. 
 
 Old travellers are not precluded occasional bursts of 
 enthusiasm, but they cannot keep it up long. In about 
 an hour we began to be critical and even captious. 
 Some eruptions were better than others, and some 
 were comparatively small affairs. In this frame oi 
 
DESCENT FROM THE VOLCANO. 329 
 
 mind we summed up our want of comforts for passing 
 the night on the mountain, and determined to return. 
 Mr. Blackwood and I thought that we could avoid the 
 circuit of the mountain by descending directly to the 
 base of the volcano, and crossing it, reach the camino 
 real ; but our guide said it was a tempting of Provi- 
 dence, and refused to accompany us. We had a very 
 steep descent on foot, and in some places our horses 
 slid down on their haunches. An immense bed of lava, 
 stopped in its rolling course by the side of the mountain, 
 tilled up the wide space between us and the base of the 
 volcano. We stepped directly upon this black and 
 frightful bed, but we had great difficulty in making our 
 horses follow. The lava lay in rolls as irregular as the 
 waves of the sea, sharp, rough, and with huge chasms, 
 difficult for us and dangerous for the horses. With 
 great labour we dragged them to the base and around 
 the side of the volcano. Massive stones, hurled into the 
 air, fell and rolled down the sides, so near that we dared 
 not venture farther. We were afraid of breaking our 
 horses' legs in the holes into which they were constantly 
 falling, and turned back. On the lofty point from which 
 we had looked down into the crater of the volcano sat 
 our guide, gazing, and, as we could imagine, laughing 
 at us. We toiled back across the bed of lava and up 
 the side of the mountain, and when we reached the top 
 both my horse and I were almost exhausted. Fortu- 
 nately, the road home was down hill. It was long after 
 dark when we passed the foot of the mountain and came 
 out upon the plain. Every burst of the volcano sent 
 forth a pillar of fire ; in four places %vere steady fires, 
 and in one a stream of fire was rolling down its side. 
 At eleven o'clock we reached Zonzonate, besides toil- 
 ing around the base of the volcano, having ridden up- 
 Vol. I.— T T 
 
330 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 ward of fifty miles ; and such had been the interest of 
 the day's work, that, though my first effort, I never suf- 
 fered from it. 
 
 The arrangements for my voyage down the Pacific 
 were soon made. The servant to whom I referred was 
 a native of Costa Rica, then on his way home, after a 
 long absence, with a cargo of merchandise belonging to 
 himself. He was a tall, good-looking fellow, dressed 
 in a Guatimala jacket or coton, a pair of Mexican leath- 
 er trousers, with buttons down the sides, and a steeple- 
 crowned, broad-brimmed, drab wool hat, altogether far 
 superior to any servant I saw in the country ; and I 
 think if it had not been for him I should not have un- 
 dertaken the journey. The reader will perhaps be 
 shocked to hear that his name was Jesus, pronounced 
 in Spanish 'Hezoos, by which latter appellation, to avoid 
 what might be considered profanity, I shail hereafter 
 «all him. 
 
SICKNESS AND MUTINY. 331 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Sickness and Mutiny. — Illness of Captain Jay. — Critical Situation — Rough 
 Nursing. — A Countryman in Trouble.— Dolphins. — Succession of Volcanoes. 
 —Gulf of Nicoya.— Harbour of Caldera.— Another Countryman. — Another 
 Patient. — Hacienda of San Felippe. — Mountain of Aguacate. — "Zillenthal 
 Patent Self-acting Cold Amalgamation Machine." — Gold Mines. — View from 
 the Mountain Top. 
 
 On Monday, the twenty-second of January, two 
 hours before daylight, we started for the port. 'Hezoos 
 led the way, carrying before him all my luggage, rolled 
 up in a baquette, being simply a cowhide, after the 
 fashion of the country. At daylight we heard behind 
 us the clattering of horses' hoofs, and Don Manuel 
 de Aguila, with his two sons, overtook us. Before the 
 freshness of the morning was past we reached the port, 
 and rode up to the old hut which I had hoped never to 
 see again. The hammock was swinging in the same 
 place. The miserable rancho seemed destined to be the 
 abode of sickness. In one corner lay Senor D'Yriarte, 
 my captain, exhausted by a night of fever, and unable 
 to sail that day. 
 
 Dr. Drivon was again at the port. He had not yet 
 disembarked his machinery ; in fact, the work was sus- 
 pended by a mutiny on board the English brig, the 
 ringleader of which, as the doctor complained to me, 
 was an American. I passed the day on the seashore. 
 In one place, a little above high- water mark, almost 
 washed by the waves, were rude wooden crosses, mark- 
 ing the graves of unhappy sailors who had died far from 
 their homes. Returning, I found at the hut Captain 
 Jay, of the English brig, who also complained to me 
 of the American sailor. The captain was a young 
 
332 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 man, making his first voyage as master ; his wife, whom 
 he had married a week before sailing, accompanied 
 him. He had had a disastrous voyage of eight months 
 from London ; in doubling Cape Horn his crew were 
 all frostbitten and his spars carried away. With only 
 one man on deck he had worked up to Guayaquil, where 
 he incurred great loss of time and money in making re- 
 pairs, and shipped an entirely new crew. At Acajutla 
 he found that his boats were not sufficient to land the 
 doctor's machinery, and was obliged to wait until a 
 raft could be constructed. In the mean time his crew 
 mutinied, and part of them refused to work. His wife 
 was then at the doctor's hacienda ; and I noticed that, 
 while writing her a note with pencil, his sunburned face 
 was pale, and large drops of perspiration stood on his 
 forehead. Soon after he threw himself into the ham- 
 mock, and, as I thought, fell asleep ; but in a few min- 
 utes I saw the hammock shake, and, remembering my 
 own shaking there, thought it was at its old tricks of 
 giving people the fever and ague ; but very soon I saw 
 that the poor captain was in convulsions. Excepting 
 Captain D'Yriarte, who was lying against the wall per- 
 fectly helpless, I was the only man in the hut ; and as 
 there was danger of his throwing himself out of the 
 hammock, I endeavoured to hold him in ; but with one 
 convulsive effort he threw me to the other side of the 
 hut, and hung over the side of the hammock, with one 
 hand entangled in the cords, and his head almost touch- 
 ing the ground. The old woman said that the devil had 
 taken possession of him, and ran out of doors screaming. 
 Fortunately, this brought in a man whom I had not seen 
 before, Mr. Warburton,*an engineer who had come out 
 .to set up the machinery, and who was himself a machine 
 of many horse-power, having a pair of shoulders that # 
 
 * Died at Mazatlan about six months afterward. 
 
A CRITICAL SITUATION. 333 
 
 seemed constructed expressly for holding men in con- 
 vulsions. At first he was so shocked that he did not 
 know what to do. I told him that the captain was to be 
 held, whereupon, opening his powerful arms, he closed 
 them around the captain's with the force of a hydraulic 
 press, turning the legs over to me. These legs were a 
 pair of the sturdiest that ever supported a human body ; 
 and I verily believe that if the feet had once touched 
 my ribs, they would have sent me through the wall of 
 the hut. "Watching my opportunity, I wound the ham- 
 mock around his legs, and my arms around the ham- 
 mock. In the mean time he broke loose from Mr. War- 
 burton's hug, who, taking the hint from me, doubled his 
 part in with the folds of the hammock, and gave his 
 clinch from the outside. The captain struggled, and, 
 worming like a gigantic snake, slipped his head out of 
 the top of the hammock, and twisted the cords around his 
 neck, so that we were afraid of his strangling himself. 
 We were in utter despair, when two of his sailors rush- 
 ed in, who, being at home with ropes, extricated his 
 head, shoved him back into the hammock, wrapped it 
 around him as before, and I withdrew completely ex- 
 hausted. 
 
 The two recruits were Tom, a regular tar of about 
 forty, and the cook, a black man, and particular friend 
 of Tom, who called him Darkey. Tom undertook the 
 whole direction of securing the captain; and although Dr. 
 Drivon and several Indians came in, Tom's voice was 
 the only one heard, and addressed only to " Darkey." 
 " Stand by his legs, Darkey !" " Hold fast, Darkey !" 
 " Steady, Darkey !" but all together could not hold 
 him. Turning on his face and doubling himself inside, 
 he braced his back, and drove both legs through the 
 hammock, striking his feet violently against the grnjnd ; 
 
334 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 his whole body passed through. His struggles were 
 dreadful. Suddenly the mass of bodies on the floor 
 rolled against Captain D'Yriarte's bed, which broke 
 down with a crash, and with a fever upon him, he wa? 
 jbliged to scramble out of the way. In the interval of 
 one of the most violent struggles we heard a strange id- 
 iotic noise, which seemed like an attempt to crow. The 
 Indians who crowded the hut laughed, and D. Drivon 
 was so indignant at their heartlessness that he seized a 
 club and drove them all out of doors. An old naked 
 African, who had been a slave at Balize, and had lost 
 his language without acquiring much of any other, re- 
 turned with a bunch of feathers, which he wished to 
 stick in the captain's nose and set fire to, saying it was 
 the remedy of his country ; but the doctor showed him 
 his stick, and he retreated. 
 
 The convulsions continued for three hours, during 
 which time the doctor considered the captain's situation 
 very critical. The old woman persisted that the devil 
 was in him, and would not give him up, and that he 
 must die ; and I could not but think of his young wife, 
 who was sleeping a few miles off, unconscious of the 
 calamity that threatened her. The fit was brought on, 
 as the doctor said, by anxiety and distress of mind oc- 
 casioned by his unfortunate voyage, and particularly by 
 the mutiny of his crew. At eleven o'clock he fell 
 asleep, and now we learned the cause of the strange 
 noise which had affected us so unpleasantly. Tom wa? 
 just preparing to go on board the vessel, when the Af- 
 rican ran down to the shore and told him that the cap- 
 tain was at the hut drunk. Tom, being himself in thai 
 state, felt that it was his duty to look after the captain ; 
 but he had just bought a parrot, for which he had paid 
 a dollar, and, afraid to trust him in other hands, hauled 
 
ROUGH NURSING. 335 
 
 his baggy shirt a foot more out of his trousers, and thrust 
 the parrot into his bosom, almost smothering it with his 
 neckcloth. The parrot, indignant at this confinement, 
 was driving his beak constantly into Tom's breast, 
 which was scarified and covered with blood ; and once, 
 when Tom thought it was going too far, he put his hand 
 inside and pinched it, which produced the extraordina- 
 ry sounds we had heard. 
 
 In a little while Tom and Darkey got the Indians to 
 relieve them, and went out to drink the captain's health. 
 On their return they took their places on the ground, 
 one on each side of their commander. I threw myself 
 into the broken hammock ; and Dr. Drivon, charging 
 them, if the captain awoke, not to say anything that 
 could agitate him, went off to another hut. 
 
 It was not long before the captain, raising his head, 
 called out, " What the devil are you doing with my 
 legs ?" which was answered by Tom's steady cry, 
 " Hold on, Darkey !" Darkey and an Indian were 
 holding the captain's legs, two Indians his arms, and 
 Tom was spread over his body. The captain looked 
 perfectly sensible, and utterly amazed at being pinned 
 to the ground. " Where am I ?" said he. Tom and 
 Darkey had agreed not to tell him what had happened ; 
 but, after the most extraordinary lying on the part of 
 Tom, while the captain was looking at him and us in 
 utter amazement, the poor fellow became so entangled, 
 that, swearing the doctor might stay and tell his own 
 stories, he began where he and Darkey came in, and 
 found the captain kicking in the hammock ; and the 
 captain was given to understand that if it had not been 
 for him and Darkey he would have kicked his own 
 brains out. I relieved Tom's story from some obscu- 
 rity, and a general and noisy conversation followed, 
 
336 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 which was cut short by poor Captain D'Yriarle, who 
 had not had a wink of sleep all night, and begged us to 
 give him a chance. 
 
 In the morning, while I was taking chocolate with 
 Doctor Drivon the mate came to the hut with the mu- 
 tinous American sailor in the custody of four soldiers, 
 to make a complaint to me. The sailor was a young 
 man of twenty-eight, short, well-made, and very good- 
 looking, and his name was Jemmy. He, too, com- 
 plained to me ; wanted to leave the brig, and said that 
 he would stop on a barren rock in the midst of the 
 ocean rather than remain on board. I told him I was 
 sorry to find an American sailor a ringleader in muti- 
 ny, and represented to him the distress and danger in 
 which it had placed the captain. Doctor Drivon had 
 had some sharp passages with him on board the brig, 
 and, after a few words, started up and struck him. 
 Jemmy fell back in time to avoid the full blow, and, as 
 if by no means unused to such things, continued to fall 
 back and ward off; but when pressed too hard, he broke 
 loose from the soldiers, and tore off his jacket for a reg- 
 ular fight. I had no idea of favouring a mutinous sail- 
 or, but still less of suffering an American to be mal- 
 treated by odds, and hauled off the soldiers. In a 
 moment the doctor's passion was over, and he discon- 
 tinued his attack, whereupon Jemmy surrendered him- 
 self to the soldiers, who carried him, as I supposed, to 
 the guardhouse. I waited a little while, and, going 
 down, saw Jemmy sitting on the ground in front of the 
 quartel, with both legs in the stocks above the knees. 
 He was keenly alive to the disgrace of his situation, 
 and my blood boiled. I hurried to the captain of the 
 port, and complained warmly of his conduct as high- 
 handed and insufferable, and insisted that Jemmy must 
 
A COUNTRYMAN IN TROUBLE. 337 
 
 be released, or I would ride to San Salvador on the 
 instant and make a complaint against him. Doctor 
 Drivon joined me, and Jemmy was released from the 
 stocks, but put under guard in the quartel. This will 
 probably never r°ach the eyes of any of his friends, but 
 [ will not mention his name. He was from the little 
 town of Esopus, on the Hudson. In 1834 he sailed 
 from New- York in the sloop-of-war Peacock for the 
 Pacific station ; was transferred to the North Carolina, 
 and regularly discharged at Valparaiso ; entered the 
 Chilian naval service, and after plenty of fighting and 
 no prize-money, shipped on board this brig. I repre- 
 sented that he was liable to be tried for mutiny, and 
 had only escaped the stocks by my happening to be at 
 the port ; that I could do nothing more for him ; and 
 he might be kept on shore till the vessel sailed, and 
 carried on board in irons. It was a critical moment in 
 the young man's life ; and, as one destitute of early op- 
 portunities, and whom necessity had probably doomed 
 to a wayward life, and, moreover, as a countryman, I 
 was anxious to save him from the effects of headstrong 
 passion. The captain said he was the best sailor on 
 board ; and as he was short of hands, I procured from 
 him a promise that, if Jemmy would return to his duty, 
 he would take no notice of what had passed, and would 
 give him his discharge at the first port where he could 
 procure a substitute. 
 
 Fortunately, in the afternoon Captain D'Yriarte was 
 sufficiently recovered to sail, and before going on board 
 my vessel I took Jemmy to his. She was the dirtiest 
 vessel I ever saw, and her crew a fair sample of the 
 villanous sailors picked up in the ports of the Pacific. 
 Among them, and as bad as any in appearance, was 
 another countryman, Jemmy's American accomplice, 
 
 Vol. I.— -U u 29 
 
338 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL 
 
 I did not wonder that Jemmy was discontented ; I left 
 him on board in a bad condition, but, unfortunately, I 
 afterward heard of him in a worse. 
 
 A few strokes of the oar brought me on board our ves- 
 sel, and, as before, with the evening breeze we got under 
 way. The vessel in which I embarked was called La 
 Cosmopolita. She was a goelette brig, and the only 
 vessel that bore on the Pacific the Central American 
 flag. She was built in England for a cutter, and call- 
 ed the Britannia. By some accident she reached the 
 Pacific Ocean, was bought by the State of San Salva- 
 dor when at war with Guatimala, and called by that 
 state's Indian name of Cuscatlan. Afterward she was 
 sold to an Englishman, who called her Eugenia ; and 
 by him to Captain D'Yriarte, who called her La Cos- 
 mopolita. 
 
 My first night on board was not particularly agreea- 
 ble. I was the only cabin passenger ; but, besides the 
 bugs that always infest an old vessel, I had in my 
 berth moschetoes, spiders, ants, and cockroaches. Yet 
 there is no part of my tour upon which I look back 
 with so much quiet satisfaction as this voyage on the 
 Pacific. I had on board Gil Bias and Don Quixote in 
 the original, and all day I sat under an awning, my at- 
 tention divided between them and the great range of 
 gigantic volcanoes which stud the coast. Before this 
 became tedious we reached the Gulf of Papajayo, the 
 only outlet by which the winds of the Atlantic pass 
 over to the Pacific. The dolphin, the most beautiful 
 fish that swims, played under our bows and stern, and 
 accompanied us slowly alongside. But the sailors had 
 no respect for his golden back. The mate, a murder- 
 ous young Frenchman, stood for hours with a harpoon 
 in his hand, drove it into several, and at length brought 
 
SUCCESSION OF VOLCANOES. 339 
 
 one on board. The king of the sea seemed conscious 
 of his fallen state ; his beautiful colours faded, and he 
 became spotted, and at last heavy and lustreless, like 
 any other dead fish. 
 
 We passed in regular succession the volcanoes of San 
 Salvador, San Vicente, San Miguel, Telega, Momotom- 
 bo, Managua, Nindiri, Masaya, and Nicaragua, each 
 one a noble spectacle, and all together forming a chain 
 with which no other in the world can be compared ; 
 indeed, this coast has well been described as "bristling 
 with volcanic cones." For two days we lay with sails 
 flapping in sight of Cape Blanco, the upper headland 
 of the Gulf of Nicoya. On the afternoon of the thirty 
 first we entered the gulf. On a line with the point of 
 the cape was an island of rock, with high, bare, and 
 precipitous sides, and the top covered with verdure. 
 It was about sunset ; for nearly an hour the sky and sea 
 seemed blazing with the reflection of the departing lu- 
 minary, and the island of rocks seemed like a fortress 
 with turrets. It was a glorious farewell view. I had 
 passed my last night on the Pacific, and the highlands 
 of the Gulf of Nicoya closed around us. 
 
 Early in the morning we had the tide in our favour, 
 and very soon leaving the main body of the gulf, turn- 
 ed off to the right, and entered a beautiful little cove, 
 forming the harbour of Caldera. In front was the range 
 of mountains of Aguacate, on the left the old port of 
 Pont Arenas, and on the right the Volcano of San Pablo. 
 On the shore was a long low house set upon piles, with 
 a tile roof, and near it were three or four thatched huts 
 and two canoes. We anchored in front of the houses, 
 and apparently without exciting the attention of a soul 
 on shore. 
 
 All the ports of Central America oh the Pacific are 
 
340 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 unhealthy, but this was considered deadly. I had en- 
 tered without apprehension cities where the plague was 
 raging, but here, as I looked ashore, there was a death- 
 like stillness that was startling. To spare me the ne- 
 cessity of sleeping at the port, the captain sent the boat 
 ashore with my servant, to procure mules with which I 
 could proceed immediately to a hacienda two leagues 
 beyond. 
 
 Our boat had hardly started before we saw three men 
 coming down to the shore, who presently put off in a 
 canoe, met our boat, turned her back, and boarded us 
 themselves. They were two paddles and a soldier, the 
 latter of whom informed the captain that, by a late de- 
 cree, no passenger was permitted to land without the 
 special permission of the government, for which it was 
 necessary to send an application to the capital, and wait 
 on board for an answer. He added that the last vessel 
 was full of passengers, who were obliged to remain 
 twelve days before the permission was received. I was 
 used to vexations in travelling, but I could not bear this 
 quietly. The captain made a bold attempt in my fa- 
 vour by saying that he had no passengers ; that he had 
 on board the Minister of the United States, who was 
 making the tour of Central America, and who had been 
 treated with courtesy in Guatimala and San Salvador, 
 and that it would be an indignity for the government of 
 Costa Rica not to permit his landing. He wrote to the 
 same effect to the captain of the port, who, on the return 
 of the soldier, came off himself. I was almost sick with 
 vexation, and the captain of the port finished two glasses 
 of wine before I had courage to introduce the subject. 
 He answered with great courtesy, regretting that the 
 law was imperative, and that he had no discretion. I 
 replied that the law was intended to prevent the en- 
 
ANOTHER COUNTRYMAN. 341 
 
 trance of seditious persons, emigres, and expulsados 
 from other states, who might disturb the peace of Costa 
 Rica, but that it could not contemplate a case like mine, 
 at the same time laying great stress upon my official 
 character. Fortunately for me, he had a high sense of 
 the respect due to that character, and, though holding a 
 petty office, had a feeling of pride that his state should 
 not be considered wanting in courtesy to an accredited 
 stranger. For a long time he was at a loss what to do ; 
 but finally, after much deliberation, he requested me to 
 wait till morning, when he would despatch a courier to 
 advise the government of the circumstances, and would 
 take upon himself the responsibility of permitting me to 
 land. Fearful of some accident or some change of pur- 
 pose, and anxious to get my feet on shore, I suggested 
 that, in order to avoid travelling in the heat of the day, 
 it would be better to sleep on shore, to be ready for an 
 early start, to which he assented. 
 
 In the afternoon the captain took me ashore. At the 
 first house we saw two candles lighted to burn at the 
 body of a dead man. All whom we saw were ill, and 
 all complained that the place was fatal to human life. 
 In fact, it was almost deserted ; and, notwithstanding 
 its advantages as a port, government, a few days after- 
 ward, issued an order for breaking it up, and removing 
 back to the old port of Pont Arenas. The captain was 
 still suffering from fever and ague, and would not on any 
 account remain after dark. I was so rejoiced to find 
 myself on shore, that if I had met a death's head at every 
 step it would hardly have turned me back. 
 
 The last stranger at the port was a distinguished 
 American. His name was Handy ; I had first heard of 
 him at the Cape of Good Hope, hunting giraffes, after- 
 ward met him in New- York, and regretted exceedingly 
 
342 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 to miss him here. He had travelled from the United 
 States through Texas, Mexico, and Central America, 
 with an elephant and two dromedaries as his file lead- 
 ers ! The elephant was the first ever seen in Central 
 America, and I often heard of him in the Pueblos under 
 the name of El Demonic Six days before, Mr. Handy, 
 with his interesting family, had embarked for Peru, and 
 perhaps he is at this moment crossing the pampas to 
 Brazil. 
 
 Determined not to lose sight of my friend the captain 
 of the port, with my luggage at my heels I walked 
 down the beach for the custom-house. It was a frame 
 building, about forty feet long, and stood at a little dis- 
 tance above high-water mark, on piles about six feet 
 above ground. It was the gathering-place of different 
 persons in the employ of the government, civil and mil- 
 itary, and of two or three women employed by them. 
 The military force consisted of the captain of the port 
 and the soldier who boarded us, so that I had not much 
 fear of being sent back at the point of the bayonet. 
 During the evening a new difficulty arose about my ser- 
 vant ; but, considering myself tolerably secure, I insisted 
 that he was my suite, and obtained permission for him to 
 accompany me. My host gave me a bedstead, with a 
 bull's hide for a bed. It was a warm night, and I placed 
 it opposite an open door, and looked out upon the wa- 
 ter of the gulf. The waves were breaking gently upon 
 the shore, and it was beautiful to see the Cosmopolita 
 riding quietly at her anchor, without even 'Hezoos or the 
 luggage in her. 
 
 At two o'clock in the morning we rose, and before 
 three we started. The tide was low, and for some dis- 
 tance we rode along the shore by moonlight. At day- 
 light we overtook the courier sent to give advice of my 
 
ANOTHER PATIENT. 343 
 
 coming; in an hour crossed the river of Jesus Maria, 
 and at seven o'clock stopped to breakfast at the hacien- 
 da of the same name. 
 
 It was a miserable shell, with an arbour of branches 
 around it, but had an appearance of cleanliness and com- 
 fort ; and 'Hezoos told me that the proprietor had on it 
 two thousand head of cattle, and owned all the land 
 over which we had ridden from the sea. 'Hezoos was 
 quite at home ; and, as he afterward told me, he had 
 once wanted to marry one of the daughters ; but the fa- 
 ther and mother objected, because he was not good 
 enough. He added that they were surprised at seeing 
 him return in such prosperous circumstances, and that 
 the daughter told him she had always refused to marry 
 any one else on account of her affection for him. 
 
 While breakfasting, the mother told me of a sick 
 daughter, asked me for remedios, and finally requested 
 me to go in and see her. The door opened from the 
 shed, and all the apertures in the room were carefully 
 closed, so as to exclude even a breath of air. The in- 
 valid lay in a bed in one corner, with a cotton covering 
 over it like a moscheto-netting, but lower, and pinned 
 close all around ; and when the mother raised the cov- 
 ering, I encountered a body of hot and unwholesome 
 air that almost overcame me. The poor girl lay on her 
 back, with a cotton sheet wound tightly around her 
 body ; and already she seemed like one laid out for 
 burial. She was not more than eighteen ; the fever 
 had just left her, her eye still sparkled, but her face 
 was pale, and covered with spots, seams, and creases 
 of dirt. She was suffering from intermitting fever, that 
 scourge which breaks down the constitution and carries 
 to the grave thousands of the inhabitants of Central 
 America ; and, according to the obstinate prejudice of 
 
344 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 the country, her face had not been washed for more 
 than two months ! I had often been disgusted with the 
 long beards and unwashed faces of fever and ague sub- 
 jects, and the ignorance and prejudice of the people 
 on medical subjects ; in illustration of which Dr. Drivon 
 told me of a case of practice by an old quack woman, 
 who directed her patient, a rich cattle proprietor, to be 
 extended on the ground naked every morning, and a 
 bullock to be slaughtered over him, so that the blood 
 could run warm upon his body. The man submitted 
 to the operation more than a hundred times, and was 
 bathed with the blood of more than a hundred bullocks ; 
 afterward he underwent a much more disgusting pro- 
 cess, and, strange to say, he lived. 
 
 But to return : in general my medical practice was 
 confined to men, and with them I considered myself a 
 powerful practitioner. I did not like prescribing for 
 women; and in this case I struck at all the prejudices 
 of the country, and cheapened my medical skill by di- 
 recting, first, that the poor girl's face should be washed ; 
 but I saved myself somewhat by making a strong point 
 that it should be washed with warm water. Whether 
 they thanked me or not I do not know, but I had my 
 reward, for I saw a lovely face, and long afterward I 
 remembered the touching expression of her eyes, as she 
 turned toward me, and listened to the advice I gave hei 
 mother. 
 
 At ten we resumed our journey. The land was level 
 and rich, but uncultivated. We passed several misera- 
 ble cattle haciendas, the proprietors of which lived in 
 the towns, and kept men on the estate, from time tc 
 time, to gather and number the cattle, which roamed 
 wild in the woods. At eleven we passed the hacienda 
 of San Felippe, belonging to a Welshman engaged in 
 
A MINING ESTABLISHMENT. 345 
 
 mining. It Avas in a large clearing, and a fine situation, 
 and its cleanliness, neatness, and good fences showed 
 that the Welshman had not forgotten what he had 
 learned at home. 
 
 We crossed the river Surubris and the Hio Grande 
 or Machuca, and reached the hacienda of San Mateo, 
 situated in the Boca of the mountain of Aguacate, and 
 from this place we began to ascend. The road had 
 been much improved lately, but the ascent was steep, 
 wild, and rugged. As we toiled up the ravine, we 
 heard before us a loud noise, that sounded like distant 
 thunder, but regular and continued, and becoming loud- 
 er as we advanced ; and at length we came out on a 
 imall clearing, and saw on the side of the mountain a 
 neat frame building of two stories, with a light and 
 graceful balcony in front ; and alongside was the thun- 
 dering machine which had startled us by its noise. 
 Strangers from the other side of the Atlantic were pier- 
 cing the sides of the mountain, and pounding its stones 
 into dust to search for gold. The whole range, the 
 very ground which our horses spurned with their hoofs, 
 contained that treasure for which man forsakes kindred 
 and country. 
 
 I rode up to the house and introduced myself to Don 
 Juan Bardh, the superintendent, a German from Fries- 
 burg. It was about two o'clock, and excessively hot. 
 The house was furnished with chairs, sofa, and books, 
 and had in my eyes a delightful appearance ; but the 
 view without was more so. The stream which turned 
 f .he immense pounding-machine had made the spot, from 
 time immemorial, a descansadera, or resting-place for 
 muleteers. All around were mountains, and directly 
 in front one rose to a great height, receding, and cov- 
 ered to the top with trees. 
 
 Vol. I.— X x 
 
346 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 Don Juan Bardh had been superintendent of the Que- 
 brada del Ingenio for about three years. The Company 
 which he represented was called the Anglo Costa Rieari 
 Economical Mining Company. It had been in opera- 
 tion these three years without losing anything, which 
 was consideied doing so well that it had increased its 
 capital, and was about continuing on a larger scale. 
 The machine, which had just been set up, was a new 
 German patent, called a Machine for extracting- Gold 
 by the Zillenthal Patent Self-acting Cold Amalgamation 
 Process (I believe that I have omitted nothing), and its 
 great value was that it required no preliminary process, 
 but by one continued and simple operation extracted 
 the gold from the stone. It was an immense wheel of 
 cast iron, by which the stone, as it came from the mount- 
 ain, was pounded into powder ; this passed into troughs 
 filled with water, and from them into a reservoir con- 
 taining vases, where the gold detached itself from the 
 other particles, and combined with the quicksilver with 
 which the vases were provided. 
 
 There were several mines under Don Juan's charge, 
 and after dinner he accompanied me to that of Cor- 
 rallio, which was the largest, and, fortunately, lay on 
 my road. After a hot ride of half an hour, ascending 
 through thick woods, we reached the spot. 
 
 According to the opinion of the few geologists who 
 have visited that country, immense wealth lies buried 
 in the mountain of Aguacate ; and so far from being 
 hidden, the proprietors say, its places are so well mark- 
 ed that all who search may find. The lodes or min- 
 eral veins run regularly north and south, in ranges of 
 greenstone porphyry with strata of basaltic porphyry, and 
 average about three feet in width. In some places side- 
 cuts or lateral excavations are made from east to west 
 
VISIT TO A GOLD MINE. 347 
 
 and in others shafts are sunk until they strike the vein. 
 The first opening we visited was a side-cut four feet 
 wide, and penetrating two hundred and forty feet be- 
 fore it struck the lode ; but it was so full of water that 
 we did not enter. Above it was another cut, and 
 higher still a shaft was sunk. We descended the shaft 
 by a ladder made of the trunk of a tree, with notches 
 cut in it, until we reached the vein, and followed it with 
 a candle as far as it was worked. It was about a yard 
 wide, and the sides glittered — but it was not with gold ; 
 they were of quartz and feldspar, impregnated with sul- 
 phuret of iron, and gold in such small particles as to be 
 invisible to the naked eye. The most prominent ob- 
 jects in these repositories of wealth were naked work- 
 men with pickaxes, bending and sweating under heavy 
 sacks of stones. 
 
 It was late in the afternoon when I came out of the 
 shaft. Don Juan conducted me by a steep path up the 
 side of the mountain, to a small table of land, on which 
 was a large building occupied by miners. The view 
 was magnificent : below was an immense ravine ; above, 
 perched on a point, like an eagle's nest, the house of 
 another superintendent ; and on the opposite side the 
 great range of the mountains of Candelaria. I waited 
 till my mules came up, and with many thanks for his 
 kindness, bade Don Juan farewell. 
 
 As we continued ascending, every moment the view 
 became more grand and beautiful ; and suddenly, from 
 a height of six thousand feet, I looked down upon the 
 Pacific, the Gulf of Nicoya, and, sitting like a bird 
 upon the water, our brig, La Cosmopolita. And here, 
 on the very highest points, in the wildest and most beau- 
 tiful spots that ever men chose for their abodes, were 
 the huts of the miners. The sun touched the sea, light- 
 
348 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 ed up the surface of the water, and softened the rugged 
 mountains ; it was the most beautiful scene I ever saw, 
 and this loveliest view was the last ; for suddenly it be- 
 came dark, and very soon the darkest night I ever knew 
 came on. As we descended, the woods were so thick 
 that even in the daytime they shut out the light, and in 
 some places the road was cut through steep hills higher 
 than our heads, and roofed over by the dense foliage. 
 'Hezoos was before me, with a white hat and jacket, 
 and had a white dog running by his side, but I could 
 not see the outline of his figure. The road was steep 
 but good, and I did not pretend to direct the mule. In 
 one of the darkest passages 'Hezoos stopped, and, with 
 a voice that made the woods ring, cried out " a lion," 
 " a lion." I was startled, but he dismounted and lighted 
 a cigar. This was cool, I thought ; he relieved me by 
 telling me that the lion was a different animal from the 
 roarer of the African desert, small, frightened by a 
 shout, and only ate children. Long as it seemed, our 
 whole descent did not occupy three hours, and at ten 
 o'clock we reached the house in the Boca de la Mon- 
 tagna. It was shut, and all were asleep ; but we knocked 
 hard, and a man opened the door, and, before we could 
 ask any questions, disappeared. Once inside, how- 
 ever, we made noise enough to wake everybody, and 
 got corn for the mules and a light. There was a large 
 room open to all comers, with three bedsteads, all oc- 
 cupied, and two men were sleeping on the floor. The 
 occupant of one of the beds, after eying me a few mo- 
 ments, vacated it, and I took his place. The reader 
 must not suppose that I am perfectly unscrupulous ; he 
 took all his bedclothes, viz., his chamarro, with him. 
 The bed and all its furniture consisted of an untanned 
 bull's hide. 
 
LA GAR IT A. 349 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 la Garita. — Alajuela. — A friendly People. — Heredia. — Rio Segundo. — Coffee 
 plantations of San Jose.— The Sacrament for the Dying.— A happy Meeting.— 
 Travelling Embarrassments. — Quarters in a Convent.— Senor Carillo, Chief ot 
 State. — Vicissitudes of Fortune. — Visit to Cartago. — Tres Rios. — An unex 
 pected Meeting. — Ascent of the Volcano of Cartago. — The Crater. — View of 
 the two Seas. — Descent.— Stroll through Cartago. — A Burial. — Another at- 
 tack of Fever and Ague. — A Vagabond. — Cultivation of Coffee. 
 
 The next morning we entered an open, rolling, and 
 undulating country, which reminded me of scenes at 
 home. At nine o'clock we came to the brink of a mag- 
 nificent ravine, and winding down by a steep descent 
 of more than fifteen hundred feet, the mountains closed 
 around us and formed an amphitheatre. At the bottom 
 of the ravine was a rough wooden bridge crossing a 
 narrow stream running between perpendicular rocks a 
 hundred and fifty feet high, very picturesque, and re- 
 minding me of Trenton Falls. 
 
 We ascended by a steep road to the top of the ra- 
 vine, where a long house stood across the road, so as 
 to prevent all passing except directly through it. It is 
 called La Garita, and commands the road from the 
 port to the capital. Officers are stationed here to take 
 an account of merchandise and to examine passports. 
 The one then in command had lost an arm in the ser- 
 vice of his country, i. e., in a battle between his own 
 town and another fifteen miles off, and the place was 
 given to him as a reward for his patriotic services. 
 
 As we advanced the country improved, and for a 
 
 league before entering Alajuela it was lined on both 
 
 sides with houses three or four hundred yards apart, 
 
 built of sundried bricks, whitewashed, and the fronts of 
 
 I 30 
 
350 INCIDENTS OP TRAVEL. 
 
 some were ornamented with paintings. Several had 
 chalked in red on each side of the door the figure of a 
 soldier, with his musket shouldered and bayonet fixed, 
 large as life and stiff as a martinet. But all imperfec- 
 tions were hidden by rows of trees on both sides of the 
 r>ad, many of them bearing beautiful flowers, which in 
 some places completely imbowered the houses. The 
 fields were cultivated with sugarcane, and every house 
 had its little trapiche or sugarmill ; and there were 
 marks of carriage-wheels, and very soon we heard a ve- 
 hicle approaching. The creaking of its wheels made al- 
 most as much noise as the Zillenthal Patent Cold Amal- 
 gamating Machine in the mountain of Aguacate. They 
 were made of a cut, about ten or twelve inches thick, 
 from the trunk of a Guanacaste tree, with a hole in the 
 centre, which played upon the axle almost ad libitum, 
 and made the most mournful noise that can be conceiv- 
 ed. The body was constructed of sugarcane ; it was 
 about four feet high, and drawn by oxen fastened by 
 the horns instead of the neck. 
 
 At the entry of Alajuela I stopped to inquire for one 
 bearing a name immortal in the history of the Spanish 
 conquest. It was the name of Alvarado. Whether he 
 was a descendant or not I do not know, nor did he ; and 
 strange to say, though I met several bearing that name, 
 not one attempted to trace his lineage to the conqueror. 
 Don Ramon Alvarado, however, was recommended to mo 
 for qualities which allied him in character with his great 
 namesake. He was the courier of the English Mining 
 Company for Serapequi and the River St. Juan, one 
 of the wildest roads in all Central America. 
 
 Next to the advantage of the sea voyage, my princi- 
 pal object in leaving Zonzonate was to acquire some 
 information in regard to the canal route between the 
 
ALAJUELA. 351 
 
 Atlantic and Pacific by means of the Lake of Nicara- 
 gua and the River San Juan, and my business with Al- 
 varado was to secure him as a guide to the port of San 
 Juan. In half an hour all these arrangements were 
 made, the day fixed, and half the contract-money paid. 
 In the mean time 'Hezoos was busily engaged in draw- 
 ing a black glazed covering over my hat, and fixing in 
 it an American eagle which I had taken off on ship- 
 board. 
 
 There are four cities in Costa Rica, all of which lie 
 within the space of fifteen leagues; yet each has a dif- 
 ferent climate and different productions. Including the 
 suburbs, Alajuela contains a population of about 10,000. 
 The plaza was beautifully situated, and the church, the 
 cabildo, and the houses fronting it were handsome. The 
 latter were long and low, with broad piazzas and large 
 windows, having balconies made of wooden bars. It 
 was Sunday, and the inhabitants, cleanly dressed, were 
 sitting on the piazzas, or, with doors wide open, recli- 
 ning in hammocks, or on high-backed wooden settees 
 inside. The women were dressed like ladies, and some 
 were handsome, and all white. A respectable-looking 
 old man, standing in the door of one of the best houses, 
 called out "Amigo," "friend," and asked us who we 
 were, whence we came, and whither we were going, 
 recommending us to God at parting ; and all along the 
 street we were accosted in the same friendly spirit. 
 
 At a distance of three leagues we passed through 
 Heredia without dismounting. I had ridden all day 
 with a feeling of extraordinary satisfaction ; and if 
 such were my feelings, what must have been those of 
 'Hezoos ? He was returning to his country, with his 
 love for it increased by absence and hardship away 
 from home. All the way he met old acquaintances 
 
352 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 and friends. He was a good-looking fellow, dashing- 
 ly dressed, and wore a basket-hilted Peruvian sword 
 more than six feet long. Behind him was strapped a 
 valise of scarlet cloth, with black borders, part of the 
 uniform of a Peruvian soldier. It would have been cu- 
 rious to remember how many times he told his story : 
 of military service and two battles in Peru ; of impress- 
 ment for the navy and desertion "; a voyage to Mexico, 
 and his return to Guatimala by land ; and always con- 
 cluded by inquiring about his wife, from whom he had 
 not heard since he left home, " le pobre" being regu- 
 larly his last words. As we approached his home his 
 tenderness for la povera increased. He could not pro- 
 cure any direct intelligence of her ; but one good-na- 
 tured friend suggested that she had probably married 
 some one else, and that he would only disturb the 
 peace of the family by his return. 
 
 A league beyond Heredia we came to another great 
 ravine. We descended, and crossed a bridge over 
 the Rio Segundo. A few months before, this river 
 had risen suddenly and without any apparent cause, 
 swept away a house and family near the bridge, and 
 carried with it consternation and death. But little is 
 known of the geography of the interior of the country, 
 and it is supposed that a lake had burst its bounds. 
 Rising upon the other side/Hezoos pointed out the scene 
 of the battle in which the officer at La Garita had lost 
 his arm, and in which he himself had taken part, and, 
 being a San Jose man, he spoke of the people of the 
 other town as an Englishman in Lord Nelson's time 
 would of a Frenchman. 
 
 On the top of the ravine we came upon a large table 
 of land covered with the rich coffee-plantations of San 
 Jose. It was laid out into squares of two hundred feet, 
 
THE SACRAMENT FOR THE DYING. 353 
 
 enclosed by living fences of trees bearing flowers, with 
 roads sixty feet wide ; and, except the small horsepath, 
 the roads had a sod of unbroken green. The deep 
 green of the coffee-plantations, the sward of the roads, 
 and the vistas through the trees at all the crossroads 
 were lovely ; at a distance on each side were mount- 
 ains, and in front, rising above all, was the great Vol- 
 cano of Cartago. It was about the same hour as when, 
 the day before, from the top of the mountain of Agua- 
 cate, I had looked down into great ravines and over 
 the tops of high mountains, and seen the Pacific Ocean. 
 This was as soft as that was wild ; and it addressed it- 
 self to other senses than the sight, for it was not, like 
 the rest of Central America, retrograding and going to 
 ruin, but smiling as the reward of industry. Seven 
 years before the whole plain was an open waste. 
 
 At the end of this table of land we saw San Jose on 
 a plain below us. On the top of the hill we passed a 
 house with an arch of flowers before the door, indica- 
 ting that within lay one waiting to receive the last sac- 
 rament before going to his final account in another 
 world- Descending, we saw at a distance a long pro- 
 cession, headed by a cross with the figure of the Sa- 
 viour crucified. It approached with the music of vio- 
 lins and a loud chorus of voices, and was escorting the 
 priest to the house of the dying man. As it approach- 
 ed, horsemen pulled off their hats and pedestrians fell 
 on their knees. We met it near a narrow bridge at the 
 foot of the hill. The sun was low, but its last rays 
 were scorching to the naked head. The priest was 
 carried in a sedan chair. We waited till he passed, 
 and taking advantage of a break in the procession, 
 crossed the bridge, passed a long file of men and long- 
 er of women, and being some distance ahead, I put on 
 
 Vol. I.— Yy 
 
354 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 my hat. A fanatic fellow, with a scowl on his face, 
 cried out, " quite ze su sombrero," " take off your hat." 
 I answered by spurring my horse, and at the same mo- 
 ment the whole procession was thrown into confusion. 
 A woman darted from the line, and 'Hezoos sprang from 
 his horse and caught her in his arms, and hugged and 
 kissed her as much as decency in the public streets 
 would allow. To my great surprise, the woman was 
 only his cousin, and she told him that his wife, who was 
 the principal milliner in the place, was on before in the 
 procession. 'Hezoos was beside himself; ran back, re- 
 turned, caught his horse, and dragged the beast after 
 him ; then mounting and spurring, begged me to hurry 
 on and let him go back to his wife. Entering the town, 
 we passed a respectable-looking house, where four or 
 five well-dressed women were sitting on the piazza. 
 They screamed, 'Hezoos drove his mule up the steps, 
 and throwing himself off, embraced them all around. 
 After a few hurried words, he embraced them all over 
 again. Some male friends attempted to haul him off, 
 but he returned to the women. In fact, the poor fellow 
 seemed beside himself, though I could not but obse* 
 that there was method in his madness ; for, after tv 
 rounds with the very respectable old ladies, he aban- 
 doned them, and dragging forward a very pretty young 
 girl with his arms around her waist, and kissing her 
 every moment, told me she was the apprentice of his 
 wife ; and though at every kiss he asked her questions 
 about his wife, he did not wait for answers, and the 
 kisses were repeated faster than the questions. During 
 all this time I sat on my horse looking on. Doubtless 
 it was very pleasant for him, but I began to be impa- 
 tient ; seeing which, he tore himself away, mounted, 
 and, accompanied by half a dozen of his friends, he 
 
TRAVELLING EMBARRASSMENTS. 355 
 
 again led the way. As we advanced his friends in- 
 creased. It was rather vexatious, but I could not dis- 
 turb him in the sweetest pleasures in life, the welcome 
 of friends after a long absence. Crossing the plaza, 
 two or three soldiers of his old company, leaning on the 
 railing of the quartel, cried out companero, and, with 
 the sergeant at their head, passed over and joined us. 
 We crossed the plaza with fifteen or twenty in our 
 suite, or, rather, in his suite, some of whom, particu- 
 larly the sergeant, in compliment to him, were civil to 
 me. 
 
 While he had so many friends to welcome him, I had 
 none. In fact, I did not know where I should sleep 
 that night. In the large towns of Central America I 
 was always at a loss where to stop. Throughout the 
 country the traveller finds no public accommodation 
 save the cabildo and a jar of water. Everything else he 
 must carry with him, or purchase on the spot — if he can. 
 But in the large towns he has not this resource, for it is 
 not considered respectable to stop at the cabildo. I 
 had letters of recommendation, but it was excessively 
 disagreeable to present one from the back of a mule 
 with my luggage at my heels, as it was, in fact, a 
 draught at sight for board and lodging. 
 
 'Hezoos had told me that there was an old chapiton, 
 i. e., a person from Spain, in whose house I could have 
 a room to myself, and pay for it ; but, unfortunately, 
 time had made its changes, and the old Spaniard had 
 been gone so long that the occupants of his house did 
 not know what had become of him. I had counted 
 upon him with so much certainty that I had not taken 
 out my letters of recommendation, and did not even 
 know the names of the persons to whom they were ad- 
 dressed. The cura was at his hacienda, and his house 
 
356 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 Bhut up ; a padre who had been in the United States 
 was sick, and could not receive any one ; my servant's 
 friends all recommended different persons, as if I had 
 the whole town at my disposal ; and principally they 
 urged me to honour with my company the chief of the 
 state. In the midst of this street consultation, I longed 
 for a hotel at a hundred dollars a day, and the govern- 
 ment for paymaster. 'Hezoos, who was all the time in 
 a terrible hurry, after an animated interlude with some 
 of his friends, spurred his mule and hurried me back, 
 crossed a corner of the plaza, turned down a street to 
 the right, stopped opposite a small house, where he dis- 
 mounted, and begging me to do the same, in a mo- 
 ment the saddles were whipped off and carried inside. 
 I was ushered into the house, and seated on a low chair 
 in a small room where a dozen women, friends of 'He- 
 zoos and his wife, were waiting to welcome him to his 
 home. He told me that he did not know where his 
 house was, or that it had an extra room, till he learn- 
 ed it from his friends ; and carrying my luggage into 
 a little dark apartment, said that I could have that to 
 myself, and that he, and his wife, and all his friends 
 would wait upon me, and that I could be more comfort- 
 able than in any house in San Jose. I was excessively 
 tired, having made three days' journey in two, worn 
 out with the worry of searching for a resting-place, and 
 if I had been younger, and had no character to lose, I 
 should not have given myself any farther trouble ; but, 
 unfortunately, the dignity of office might have been 
 touched by remaining in the house of my servant ; and, 
 besides, I could not move without running against a 
 woman ; and, more than all, 'Hezoos threw his arms 
 around any one he chose, and kissed her as much as 
 he pleased. In the midst of my irresolution " le po- 
 
QUARTERS IN A CONVENT. 357 
 
 bre" herself arrived, and half the women in the proces- 
 sion, amateurs of tender scenes, followed. I shall not 
 attempt to describe the meeting. 'Hezoos, as in duty 
 bound, forsook all the rest, and notwithstanding all 
 that he had done, wrapped her little figure in his arms 
 as tightly as if he had not looked at a woman for a 
 month ; and le pobre lay in his arms as happy as 
 if there were no pretty cousins or apprentices in the 
 world. 
 
 All this was too much for me : I worked my way out 
 of doors, and after a consultation with the sergeant, 
 ordered my horse to be saddled, and riding a third 
 time across the plaza, stopped before the convent of 
 Don Antonio Castro. The woman who opened the 
 door said that the padre was not at home. I answered 
 that I would walk in and wait, and ordered my luggage 
 to be set down on the portico. She invited me inside, 
 and I ordered the luggage in after me. The room oc- 
 cupied nearly the whole front of the convent, and be- 
 sides some pictures of saints, its only furniture was a 
 large wooden table, and a long, high-backed, wooden- 
 bottomed settee. I laid my pistols and spurs upon the 
 table, and stretching myself upon the settee, waited to 
 welcome the padre to his house. 
 
 It was some time after dark when he returned. He 
 was surprised, and evidently did not know what to do 
 with me, but seemed to recognise the principle that 
 possession is nine points of the law. 1 saw, however, 
 that his embarrassment was not from want of hospital- 
 ity, but from a belief that he could not make me com- 
 fortable. In Costa Rica the padres are poor, and I af- 
 terward learned that there it is unusual for a stranger to 
 plant himself upon one. I have since thought that the 
 Padre Castro must have considered me particularly 
 
358 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 cool ; but, at all events, his nephew coming in soon 
 after, they forthwith procured me chocolate. At each 
 end of the long room was a small one, one occupied by 
 the padre and the other by his nephew. The latter va- 
 cated his ; and with a few pieces from the padre's, they 
 fitted me up so well, that when I lay down I congratu- 
 lated myself upon my forcible entry ; and probably be- 
 fore they had recovered from their surprise I was asleep. 
 My arrival was soon known, and the next morning I 
 received several invitations to the houses of residents — 
 one from the lady of Don Manuel de Aguila ; but I was 
 so well pleased with the convent that I was not dispo- 
 sed to leave it. As a matter of course, I soon became 
 known to all the foreign residents, who, however, were 
 but four ; Messrs. Steipel and Squire, a German and 
 an Englishman, associated in business ; Mr. Wallen- 
 stein, German ; and the fourth was a countryman, Mr. 
 Lawrence, from Middletown, Connecticut. All lived 
 with Mr. Steipel ; and I had immediately a general 
 invitation to make his house my home. 
 
 San Jose is, I believe, the only city that has grown 
 up or even improved since the independence of Central 
 America. Under the Spanish dominion Cartago was 
 the royal capital ; but, on the breaking out of the revo- 
 lution, the fervour of patriotism was so hot, that it was 
 resolved to abolish this memorial of colonial servitude, 
 and establish the capital at San Jose. Their local ad- 
 vantages are perhaps equal. Cartago is nearer the At- 
 lantic, and San Jose the Pacific ; but they are only six 
 leagues apart. The buildings in San Jose are all 
 republican ; there is not one of any grandeur or archi- 
 tectural beauty ; and the churches are inferior to many 
 erected by the Spaniards in the smallest villages. Nev- 
 ertheless, it exhibited a development of resources and 
 
THE CHIEF OP THE STATE. 359 
 
 an appearance of business unusual in this lethargic 
 country ; and there was one house in the plaza which 
 showed that the owner had been abroad, and had re- 
 turned with his mind so liberalized as to adopt the im- 
 provements of other countries, and build differently 
 from the custom of his fathers and the taste of his 
 neighbours. 
 
 My first visit of ceremony was to Senor Carillo, the 
 Gefe del Estado. The State of Costa Rica enjoy- 
 ed at that time a degree of prosperity unequalled by 
 any in the disjointed confederacy. At a safe distance, 
 without wealth enough to excite cupidity, and with a 
 large tract of wilderness to protect it against the march 
 of an invading army, it had escaped the tumults and 
 wars which desolated and devastated the other states. 
 And yet, but two years before, it had had its own rev- 
 olution : a tumultuous soldiery entered the plaza, and 
 shouting Abajocon Aguila, viva Carillo, my friend Don 
 Manuel was driven out by bayonets and banished from 
 the state, and Carillo installed in his place ; he appoint- 
 ed his father-in-law, a quiet, respectable old man, vice- 
 chief ; called the soldiery, officers, civil and military, 
 into the plaza, and all went through the solemn farce 
 of swearing fealty to the Constitution. The time fixed 
 by the Constitution for holding new elections came, but 
 they were not permitted to be held ; having tried this 
 once and failed, he does not mean to run the risk of an- 
 other ; and probably he will hold on till he is turned out 
 by the same force that put him in. In the mean time, 
 he uses prudent precautions : does not permit emigres, 
 nor revolutionists, nor suspected persons from other 
 states to enter his dominions ; has sealed up the press, 
 and imprisons or banishes, under pain of death if they 
 return, all who speak loud against the government. 
 
360 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 He was about fifty, short and stout, plain, but careful 
 in his dress, and with an appearance of dogged resolu- 
 tion in his face. His house was republican enough, 
 and had nothing to distinguish it from that of any other 
 citizen ; in one part his wife had a little store, and 
 in the other was his office for government business. 
 It was not larger than the counting-room of a third-rate 
 merchant, and he had three clerks, who at the mo- 
 ment of my entering were engaged writing, while he, 
 with his coat off, was looking over p 'pers. He had 
 heard of my coming, and welcomed me to Costa Rica. 
 Though the law under which I came near being detain- 
 ed at the port was uppermost in my mind, and I am 
 sure was not forgotten by him, neither of us referred to 
 it. He inquired particularly about Guatimala ; and, 
 though sympathizing in the policy of that state, had no 
 good opinion of Carrera. He was uncompromising in 
 his hostility to General Morazan and the Federal Gov- 
 ernment, and, in fact, it seemed to me that he was 
 against any general government, and strongly impressed 
 with the idea that Costa Rica could stand alone ; 
 doubtless believing that the state, or, which is the same 
 thing, he himself, could disburse the revenues better 
 than any other authority. Indeed, this is the rock on 
 which all the politicians of Central America split : there 
 is no such thing as national feeling. Every state would 
 be an empire ; the officers of state cannot brook supe- 
 riors ; a chief of the state cannot brook a president. 
 He had not sent deputies to the Convention, and did 
 not intend to do so ; but said that Costa Rica would 
 remain neutral until the other states had settled their 
 difficulties. He spoke with much interest of the im- 
 provement of the roads, particularly to the ports on the 
 Atlantic and Pacific, and expressed great satisfaction at 
 
VICISSITUDES OF FORTUNE. 361 
 
 the project of the British government, which I mention- 
 ed to him, of sending steamboats to connect the West 
 India Islands with the American coast, which, by touch- 
 ing at the port of San Juan, could bring his secluded 
 capital within eighteen or twenty days of New- York. 
 In fact, usurper and despot as he is, Carillo works hard 
 for the good of the state, and for twelve hundred dol- 
 lars a year, with perquisites, and leave to be his own 
 paymaster. In the mean time, all who do not interfere 
 with him are protected. A few who cannot submit to 
 despotism talk of leaving the country ; but the great 
 mass are contented, and the state prospers. As for 
 myself, I admire him. In that country the alternative 
 is a strong government or none at all.. Throughout his 
 state I felt a sense of personal security, which I did not 
 enjoy in any other. For the benefit of travellers, may 
 he live a thousand years ! 
 
 In the afternoon I dined with the foreign residents at 
 the house of Mr. Steipel. This gentleman is an in- 
 stance of the vicissitudes of fortune. He is a native of 
 Hanover. At fifteen he left college and entered the 
 Prussian army ; fought at Dresden and Leipsic ; and at 
 the battle of Waterloo received a ball in his brain, from 
 which, unfortunately, only within the month preceding, 
 he lost the use of one eye. Disabled for three years by 
 his wound, on his recovery, with three companions, he 
 sailed for South America, and entered the Peruvian 
 army, married a Hija del Sol, Daughter of the Sun, 
 turned merchant, and came to San Jose, where he was 
 then living in a style of European hospitality. I shall 
 lose all reputation as a sentimental traveller, but I can- 
 not help mentioning honourably every man who gave 
 me a good dinner ; and with this determination I shall 
 offend the reader but once more. 
 
 Vol. I.— Z z 31 
 
362 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 Early the next morning, accompanied by my coun- 
 tryman Mr. Lawrence, and mounted on a noble mule 
 lent me by Mr. Steipel I set off for Cartago. "We left 
 the city by a long, well-paved street, and a little beyond 
 the suburbs passed a neat coffee-plantation, which re- 
 minded me of a Continental villa. It was the property 
 of a Frenchman, who died just as he completed it ; but 
 his widow had provided another master for his house 
 and father for his children. On both sides were mount- 
 ains, and in front was the great Volcano of Cartago. 
 The fields were cultivated with corn, plantains, and po- 
 tatoes. The latter, though indigenous, and now scatter- 
 ed all over Europe, is no longer the food of the natives, 
 and but rarely found in Spanish America. The Cartago 
 potatoes are of good flavour, but not larger than a hick- 
 ory nut, doubtless from the want of care in cultivating 
 them. We passed a Campo Santo, a square enclosure 
 of mud-walls whitewashed, and came to an Indian vil- 
 lage, the first I had seen in Costa Rica, and much better 
 than any in the other states, the houses being of tejas, 
 more substantial, and the inhabitants having clothes on. 
 
 Half way between San Jose and Cartago we reached 
 the village of Tres Rios. From this place the road was 
 more broken, without fences, and the land but little cul- 
 tivated. 
 
 Entries have been found in the records of Cartago 
 dated in 1598, which show it to be the oldest city in 
 Central America. Coming from San Jose, its appear- 
 ance was that of an ancient city. The churches were 
 large and imposing ; the houses had yard-walls as high 
 as themselves ; and its quiet was extraordinary. We 
 rode up a very long street without seeing a single per- 
 son, and the cross-streets, extending to a great distance 
 
AN UNEXPECTED MEETING. 363 
 
 both ways, were desolate. A single horseman crossing 
 at some distance was an object to fix our attention. 
 
 The day before we had met at San Jose Dr. Bridley, 
 the only foreign resident in Cartago, who had promised 
 to procure a guide, and make arrangements for ascend- 
 ing the Volcano of Cartago ; and we found that, besides 
 doing all that he had promised, he was himself prepared 
 to go with us. "While dinner was preparing, Mr. L. and 
 I visited another countryman, Mr. Lovel, a gentleman 
 whom I knew in New- York. He had brought with him 
 a newly-married wife, a young lady from New- York, 
 whom, to my surprise and with great pleasure, I recog- 
 nised as an acquaintance : very slight, it is true ; but the 
 merest personal knowledge, so far from home, was al- 
 most enough to constitute an intimacy. She had en- 
 countered many hardships, and her home was indeed in 
 a strange land ; but she bore all with the spirit of a 
 woman who had given up all for one, and was ontent 
 with the exchange. Their house was situated n one 
 side of the plaza, commanding a view of the volcano 
 almost from its base to its top, and, though one of the 
 best in the place, the rent was only six dollars per 
 month. 
 
 Immediately after dinner we set out to ascend the 
 volcano. It was necessary to sleep en route, and Mr. 
 Lovel furnished me with a poncha from Mexico for a 
 covering, and a bear's skin from the Rocky Mountains 
 for a bed. 
 
 Passing down the principal street, we crossed in 
 front of the Cathedral, and immediately began to as- 
 cend. Very soon we reached a height which com- 
 manded a view of a river, a village, and an extensiv 
 valley not visible from the plain below. The sides ol 
 the volcano are particularly favourable for cattle; and 
 
364 INCIDENTS JF TRAVEL. 
 
 while the plains below were unappropriated, ail the way 
 up were potreros or pasture-grounds, and huts occu- 
 pied by persons who had charge of the cattle. 
 
 Our only anxiety was lest we should lose our way. 
 A few months before my companions had attempted to 
 ascend with Mr. Handy, but, by the ignorance of their 
 guide, got lost ; and after wandering the whole night 
 on the sides of the volcano, returned without reaching 
 the top. As we ascended the temperature became 
 colder. I put on my poncha ; before we reached our 
 stopping-place my teeth were chattering, and before 
 dismounting I had an ague. The situation was most 
 wild and romantic, hanging on the side of an immense 
 ravine ; but I would have exchanged its beauties for a 
 blazing coal fire. The hut was the highest on the 
 mountain, built of mud, with no opening but the dooi 
 and the cracks in the wall. Opposite the door was a 
 figure of the Virgin, and on each side was a frame for 
 a bed ; on one of them my friends spread the bear's 
 skin, and tumbling me upon it, wrapped me up in the 
 poncha. I had promised myself a social evening ; but 
 who can be sure of an hour of pleasure ? I was en- 
 tirely unfit for use ; but my friends made me some hoi 
 tea ; the place was perfectly quiet ; and, upon the whole, 
 I had as comfortable a chill and fever as I ever expe- 
 rienced. 
 
 Before daylight we resumed our journey; the road 
 was rough and precipitaus ; in one place a tornado had 
 swept the mountain, and the trees lay across the road 
 so thickly as to make it almost impassable ; we were 
 obliged to dismount, and climb over some and creep un- 
 der others. Beyond this we came into an open region, 
 where nothing but cedar and thorns grew ; and here I 
 gaw whortleberries for the first time in Central America. 
 
VOLCANO OF CARTAGO. 365 
 
 In that wild region there was a charm in seeing any- 
 thing that was familiar to me at home, and I should 
 perhaps have become sentimental, but they were hard 
 and tasteless. As we rose we entered a region of 
 clouds ; very soon they became so thick that we could 
 see nothing ; the figures of our own party were barely 
 distinguishable, and we lost all hope of any view from 
 the top of the volcano. Grass still grew, and we as- 
 cended till we reached a belt of barren sand and lava ; 
 and here, to our great joy, we emerged from the region 
 of clouds, and saw the top of the volcano, without a 
 vapour upon it, seeming to mingle with the clear blue 
 sky ; and at that early hour the sun was not high enough 
 to play upon its top. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence, who had exerted himself in walking, 
 lay down to rest, and the doctor and I walked on. The 
 crater was about two miles in circumference, rent and 
 broken by time or some great convulsion ; the frag- 
 ments stood high, bare, and grand as mountains, and 
 within were three or four smaller craters. We ascend- 
 ed on the south side by a ridge running east and west 
 till we reached a high point, at which there was an im- 
 mense gap in the crater impossible to cross. The lofty 
 point on which we stood was perfectly clear, the atmo- 
 sphere was of transparent purity, and looking beyond 
 the region of desolation, below us, at a distance of per- 
 haps two thousand feet, the whole country was covered 
 with clouds, and the city at the foot of the volcano was 
 invisible. By degrees the more distant clouds were 
 lifted, and over the immense bed we saw at the same 
 moment the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This was 
 the grand spectacle we had hoped, but scarcely expect- 
 ed to behold. My companions had ascended the vol- 
 cano several times, but on account of the clouds had 
 
366 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 only seen the two seas once before. The points at 
 which they were visible were the Gulf of Nicoya and 
 the harbour of San Juan, not directly opposite, but 
 nearly at right angles to each other, so that we saw 
 them without turning the body. In a right line over 
 the tops of the mountains neither was more than twen- 
 ty miles distant, and from the great height at which we 
 stood they seemed almost at our feet. It is the only 
 point in the world which commands a view of the two 
 seas ; and I ranked the sight with those most interest- 
 ing occasions, when from the top of Mount Sinai I look- 
 ed out upon the Desert of Arabia, and from Mount Hor 
 I saw the Dead Sea.* 
 
 There is no history or tradition of the eruption of this 
 volcano ; probably it took place long before the country 
 was discovered by Europeans. This was one of the 
 occasions in which I regretted the loss of my barome- 
 ter, as the height of the mountain has never been meas- 
 ured, but is believed to be about eleven thousand feet. 
 
 We returned to our horses, and found Mr. Lawrence 
 and the guide asleep. We woke them, kindled a fire, 
 made chocolate, and descended. In an hour we reach- 
 ed the hut at which we had slept, and at two o'clock 
 Cartago. 
 
 Toward evening I set out with Mr. Lovel for a stroll. 
 The streets were all alike, long and straight, and there 
 was nobody in them. We fell into one which seemed 
 to have no end, and at some distance were intercepted 
 by a procession coming down a cross street. It was 
 headed by boys playing on violins ; and then came a 
 small barrow tastefully decorated, and strewed with 
 
 * I have understood from several persons who have crossed the isthmus from 
 Chagres to Panama, that there is no point on the road from which the two seas 
 are visible. 
 
GRAVE OF A COUNTRYMAN. 367 
 
 flowers. It was a bier carrying the body of a child to 
 the cemetery. We followed, and passing it at the gate, 
 entered through a chapel, at the door of which sat three 
 or four men selling lottery-tickets, one of whom asked 
 us if we wished to see the grave of our countryman. 
 "We assented, and he conducted us to the grave of a 
 young American whom I had known by sight, and sev- 
 eral members of whose family I knew personally. He 
 died about a year before my visit, and his funeral was 
 attended with mournful circumstances. The vicar re- 
 fused him burial in consecrated ground. Dr. Bridley, 
 who was the only European resident in Cartago, and at 
 whose house he died, rode over to San Jose, and ma- 
 king a strong point of the treaty existing between the 
 United States and Central America, obtained an order 
 from the government for his burial in the cemetery. 
 Still the fanatic vicar, acting, as he said, under a higher 
 power, refused. A messenger was sent to San Jose, 
 and two companies of soldiers were ordered to the doc- 
 tor's house to escort the body to the grave. At night 
 men were stationed at its side to watch that it was not 
 dug up and thrown out. The next day the vicar, with 
 the cross and images of saints, and all the emblems of 
 the church, and a large concourse of citizens, moved in 
 solemn procession to the cemetery, and formally recon- 
 secrated the ground which had been polluted by the 
 burial of a heretic. The grave is the third from the 
 corridor. 
 
 In the corridor, and in an honoured place among the 
 principal dead of Cartago, lay the body of another 
 stranger, an Englishman named Baillie. The day be- 
 fore his death the alcalde was called in to draw his will, 
 who, according to the customary form, asked him if he 
 was a Christian. Mr. Baillie answered yes ; and the 
 
368 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 alcalde wrote him Catolico Romano Apostolico Chris- 
 tiano. Mr. Baillie himself did not contemplate this; he 
 knew the difficulty in the case of my countryman about 
 six months before ; and wishing to spare his friends a 
 disagreeable and, perhaps, unsuccessful controversy, had 
 already indicated a particular tree under which he wish- 
 ed to be buried. Before the will was read to him he 
 died. His answer to the alcalde was considered evi- 
 dence of his orthodoxy ; his friends did not interfere, 
 and he was buried under the special direction of the 
 priests, with all the holiest ceremonies of the Church. 
 It was the greatest day ever known in Cartago. The 
 funeral was attended by all the citizens. The proces- 
 sion started from the door of the church, headed by vi- 
 olins and drums ; priests followed, with all the crosses, 
 figures of saints, and banners that had been accumula- 
 ting from the foundation of the city. At the corners of 
 the plaza and of all the principal streets, the procession 
 stopped to sing hallelujahs, to represent the joy in 
 Heaven over a sinner that repents. 
 
 While standing in the corridor we saw pass the man 
 who had accompanied the bier, with the child in his 
 arms. He was its father, and with a smile on his face 
 was carrying it to its grave. He was folio wed by two 
 boys playing on violins, and others were laughing around. 
 The child was dressed in white, with a wreath of roses 
 around its head ; and as it lay in its father's arms it 
 did not seem dead, but sleeping. The grave was not 
 quite ready, and the boys sat on the heap of dirt thrown 
 out, and played the violin till it was finished. The fa- 
 ther then laid the child carefully in its final resting- 
 place, with its head to the rising sun ; folded its little 
 hands across its breast, and closed its fingers around a 
 small wooden crucifix ; and it seemed, as they thought 
 
MANAGING A SERVANT. 369 
 
 it was, happy at escaping the troubles of an uncertain 
 world. There were no tears shed ; on the contrary, all 
 were cheerful ; and though it appeared heartless, it was 
 not because the father did not love his child, but be- 
 cause he and all his friends had been taught to believe, 
 and were firm in the conviction, that, taken away so 
 young, it was transferred immediately to a better world. 
 The father sprinkled a handful of dirt over its face, the 
 grave-digger took his shovel, in a few moments the lit- 
 tle grave was filled up, and preceded by the boy playing 
 on his violin, we all went away together. 
 
 The next morning, with great regret, I took leave of 
 my kind friends and returned to San Jose\ 
 
 It is my misfortune to be the sport of other men's 
 wives. I lost the best servant I had in Guatimala be- 
 cause his wife was afraid to trust him with me, and on 
 my return I found 'Hezoos at the convent waiting for 
 me. While putting my things in order, without looking 
 me in the face, he told me of the hardships his wife, " le 
 pobre," had suffered during his absence, and how diffi- 
 cult it was for a married woman to get along without 
 her husband. I saw to what he was tending ; and feel- 
 ing, particularly since the recurrence of my fever and 
 ague, the importance of having a good servant in the 
 long journey I had before me, with the selfishness of a 
 traveller I encouraged his vagabond propensities, by tell- 
 ing him that in a few weeks he would be tired of home, 
 and would not have so good an opportunity of getting 
 away. This seemed so sensible that he discontinued 
 his hints and went off contented. 
 
 At three o'clock I felt uncertain in regard to my chill, 
 but, determined not to give way, dressed myself, and 
 went to dine with Mr. Steipel. Before sitting down, 
 the blueness of my lips, and a tendency to use superflu- 
 
 Vol. I.— 3 A 
 
370 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 ous syllables, betrayed me ; and my old enemy shook 
 me all the way back to the convent, and into bed. Fe- 
 ver followed, and I lay in bed all next day, receiving 
 many visits at the door, and a few inside. One of the 
 latter was from 'Hezoos, who returned stronger than be- 
 fore, and coming to the point, said that he himself was 
 anxious to go with me, but his wife would not consent. 
 I felt that if she had fairly taken the field against me it 
 was all over, but told him that he had made a contract, 
 and was already overpaid ; and sent her a pair of gold 
 earrings to keep her quiet. 
 
 For four days in succession I had a recurrence of chill 
 and fever. Every kindness was shown me in the con- 
 vent, friends visited me, and Dr. Bridley came over 
 from Cartago to attend me, but withal I was despond- 
 ing. The day fixed for setting out with Alvarado ar- 
 rived. It was impossible to go ; Dr. Bridley advised 
 me that it would be unwise, while any tendency to the 
 disease remained, to undertake it. There were six days 
 of desert travelling to the port of San Juan, without a 
 house on the road, but mountains to cross and rivers to 
 ford. The whole party was to go on foot except myself ; 
 four extra men would be needed to pass my mule over 
 some difficult places, and there was always more or less 
 rain. San Juan was a collection of miserable shanties, 
 and from that place it was necessary to embark in a 
 bungo for ten or fifteen days on an unhealthy river. 
 Besides all this, I had the alternative to return by the 
 Cosmopolita to Zonzonate, or to go to Guatimala by 
 land, a journey of twelve hundred miles, through a coun- 
 try destitute of accommodations for travellers, and dan- 
 gerous from the convulsions of civil war. At night, as 
 I lay alone in the convent, and by the light of a small 
 
AN ACCOMPLISHED VAGABOND. 371 
 
 candle saw the bats flying along the roof, I felt gloomy 
 and would have been glad to be at home. 
 
 Still I could not bear the idea of losing all I came for. 
 The land-route lay along the coast of the Pacific, and 
 for three days was the same as to the port. I deter- 
 mined to go by land, but, by the advice of Dr. Bridley, 
 to start in time for the vessel ; and in the hope that I 
 would not have another chill, I bought two of the best 
 mules in San Jose, one being that on which I had as- 
 cended the Volcano of Cartago, and the other a macho, 
 not more than half broke, but the finest animal I ever 
 mounted. 
 
 To return to 'Hezoos. The morning after I gave him 
 the earrings he had not come, but sent word that he had 
 the fever and ague. The next day he had it much 
 worse, and satisfied that I must lose him, I sent him 
 word that if he would procure me a good substitute I 
 would release him. This raised him from bed, and 
 in the afternoon he came with his substitute, who had 
 very much the air of being the first man he had pick- 
 ed up in the street. His dress was a pair of cotton 
 trousers, with a shirt outside, and a high, bell-crowned, 
 narrow-brimmed black straw hat ; and all that he had 
 in the world was on his back. His hair was cut very 
 close except in front, where it hung in long locks over 
 his face ; in short, he was the beau ideal of a Cen- 
 tral American loafer. I did not like his looks, but I was 
 at the time under the influence of fever, and told him I 
 could give him no answer. He came again the next 
 day at a moment when I wanted some service ; and by 
 degrees, though I never hired him, he quietly engaged 
 me as his master. 
 
 The morning before I left, Don Augustin Gutierres 
 called upon me, and seeing this man at the door, ex- 
 
372 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 pressed his surprise, telling me that he was the town 
 blackguard, a drunkard, gambler, robber, and assassin ; 
 that the first night on the road he would rob, and perhaps 
 murder me. Shortly after Mr. LaAvrence entered, who 
 told me that he had just heard the same thing. I dis- 
 charged him at once, and apparently not much to his 
 surprise, though he still continued round the convent, as 
 he said, in my employ. It was very important for me 
 to set out in time for the vessel, and I had but that day 
 to look out for another. 'Hezoos was astonished at the 
 changes time had made in the character of his friend. 
 He said that he had known him when a boy, and had 
 not seen him in many years till the day he brought him 
 to me, when he had stumbled upon him in the street. 
 Not feeling perfectly released, after a great deal of run- 
 ning he brought me another, whose name was Nicolas. 
 In any other country I should have called him a mulat- 
 to ; but in Central America there are so many different 
 shades that I am at a loss how to designate him. He 
 was by trade a mason. 'Hezoos had encountered him 
 at his work, and talked him into a desire to see Guati- 
 mala and Mexico, and come back as rich as himself. 
 He presented himself just as he left his work, with his 
 shirt-sleeves rolled up above his elbows, and his trou- 
 sers above his knees : a rough diamond for a valet ; but 
 he was honest, could take care of mules, and make 
 chocolate. I did not ask more. He was married, too ; 
 and as his wife did not interfere with me, I liked him 
 the better for it. 
 
 In the afternoon, being the last before I started, in 
 company with Mr. Lawrence I visited the coffee-plan- 
 tations of Don Mariano Montealegre. It was a lovely 
 situation, and with great good taste, Don Mariano lived 
 there a great part of the year. He was at his factory, 
 
CULTIVATION OF COFFEE. 373 
 
 and his son mounted his horse and accompanied us. It 
 was a beautiful walk, but in that country gentlemen 
 never walk. 
 
 The cultivation of coffee on the plains of San Jose 
 has increased rapidly within a few years. Seven years 
 before the whole crop was not more than five hundred 
 quintals, and this year it was supposed that it would 
 amount to more than ninety thousand. Don Mariano 
 was one of the largest planters, and had three cafetals 
 in that neighbourhood ; that which we visited contained 
 twenty-seven thousand trees, and he was preparing to 
 make great additions the next year. He had expended 
 a large sum of money in buildings and machinery ; 
 and though his countrymen said he would ruin himself, 
 every year he planted more trees. His wife, La Seno- 
 ra, was busily engaged in superintending the details of 
 husking and drying the grains. In San Jose, by-the- 
 way, all the ladies were what might be called good 
 business-men, kept stores, bought and sold goods, look- 
 ed out for bargains, and were particularly knowing in 
 the article of coffee. 
 
 I 32 
 
374 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Departure for Guatimala.— Esparza. — Town of Costa Rica.— The Barranca- 
 History of a Countryman. — Wild Scenery. — Hacienda of Aranjuez. — River 
 Lagartos.— Cerros of Collito. — Herds of Deer.— Santa Rosa. — Don Juan Jose 
 Bonilla. — An Earthquake. — A Cattle Farm. — Bagases. — Guanacaste. — An 
 agreeable Welcome. — Belle of Guanacaste. — Pleasant Lodgings. — Cordilleras. 
 —Volcanoes of Rincon and Orosi. — Hacienda of San Teresa. — Sunset View 
 — The Pacific again. 
 
 On the thirteenth day of February I mounted for 
 my journey to Guatimala. My equipage was reduced 
 to articles of the last necessity : a hammock of striped 
 cotton cloth laid over my pellon, a pair of alforgas, 
 and a poncha strapped on behind. Nicolas had strung 
 across his alvarda behind a pair of leather cohines, in 
 shape like buckets, with the inner side flat, containing 
 biscuit, chocolate, sausages, and dolces, and in front, 
 on the pommel, my wearing apparel rolled up in an ox- 
 hide, after the fashion of the country. During my 
 whole stay at the convent the attentions of the padre 
 were unremitted. Besides the services he actually ren- 
 dered me, I have no doubt he considers that he saved 
 my life ; for during my sickness he entered my room 
 while I was preparing to shave, and made me desist 
 from so dangerous an operation. I washed my face by 
 stealth, but his kindness added another to the list of ob- 
 ligations I was already under to the padres of Central 
 America. 
 
 I felt great satisfaction at being able once more to re- 
 sume my journey, pleased with the lightness of my 
 equipage, the spirit of my mules, and looked my jour- 
 ney of twelve hundred miles boldly in the face. All at 
 once I heard a clattering behind, and Nicolas swept by 
 me on a full run. My macho was what was called es- 
 
DEPARTURE FOR GUATIMALA. 375 
 
 pantosa, or scary, and started. I had very little strength, 
 and was fairly run away with. If I had Dought my 
 beasts for racing I should have had no reason to com- 
 plain ; but, unluckily, my saddle turned, and I came to 
 the ground, fortunately clearing the stirrups, and the 
 beast ran, scattering on the road pistols, holsters, sad- 
 dle-cloths, and saddle, and continued on bare-backed 
 toward the town. To my great relief, some muleteers 
 intercepted him, and saved my credit as a horseman in 
 San Jose. We were more than an hour in recovering 
 scattered articles and repairing broken trappings. 
 
 For three days my road was the same that I had 
 travelled in entering Costa Rica. The fourth morning 
 I rose without any recurrence of fever. Mr. Law- 
 rence had kindly borne me company from San Jose, and 
 was still with me ; he had relieved me from all trouble, 
 and had made my journey so easy and comfortable 
 that, instead of being wearied, I was recruited, and 
 abandoned all idea of returning by sea. 
 
 At seven o'clock we started, and in half an hour 
 reached Esparza. From this place to Nicaragua, a 
 distance of three hundred miles, the road lay through a 
 wilderness ; except the frontier toAvn of Costa Rica, 
 there were only a few straggling haciendas, twenty, 
 thirty, and forty miles apart. I replenished my stock 
 of provisions, and my last purchase was a yard and a 
 half of American cotton from a Massachusetts factory, 
 called by the imposing name of Manta del Norte. 
 
 In half an hour we crossed the Barranca, a broad, 
 rapid, and beautiful river, but which lost in my eyes ali 
 ts beauty, for here Mr. Lawrence left me. Since the 
 day of my arrival at San Jose he had been almost con- 
 stantly with me, had accompanied me in every excur- 
 sion, and during my sickness had attended me constant- 
 
37C INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 ly. He was a native of Middletown in Connecticut, 
 about fifty years old, and by trade a silversmith, and 
 with the exception of a single return visit, had been 
 nineteen years from home. In 1822 he went to Peru, 
 where, besides carrying on his legitimate business upon 
 a large scale, his science and knowledge of the pre- 
 cious metals brought him into prominent public po- 
 sitions. In 1830 he sold a mint to the government 
 of Costa Rica, and was offered the place of its direc- 
 tor. Business connected with the mint brought him 
 to Costa Rica, and during his absence he left his af- 
 fairs in the hands of a partner, who mismanaged them 
 and died. Mr. L. returned to Peru, but without en- 
 gaging in active business, and in the mean time the 
 mint purchased of him was worn out, and another im- 
 ported from Europe, so complicated that no one in 
 Costa Rica could work it. Offers were made to Mr. 
 L. of such a nature, that, connected with mining pur- 
 poses of his own, they induced him to return. Don 
 Manuel de Aguila was then Gefe del Estado, and on 
 Mr. L.'s arrival at the port he met Don Manuel ban- 
 ished and flying from the state. The whole policy of 
 the government was changed. Mr. L. remained quiet- 
 ly in San Jose, and when I left intended to establish 
 himself at Puenta Arenas, to traffic with the pearl fisher- 
 men. Such is, in brief, the history of one of our many 
 countrymen scattered in different parts of the world, 
 and it would be a proud thing for the country if all sus- 
 tained as honourable a reputation as his. We ex- 
 changed adieus from the backs of our mules, and, not 
 to be sentimental, lighted our cigars. "Whether we 
 shall ever meet again or not is uncertain. 
 
 I was again setting out alone. I had travelled so 
 long with companions or in ships, that when the mo- 
 
WILD SCENERY. 377 
 
 ment for plunging into the wilderness came, my cour- 
 age almost failed me. And it was a moment that re- 
 quired some energy ; for we struck off immediately into 
 one of the wildest paths that I met on the whole of that 
 desolate journey. The trees were so close as to darken 
 it, and the branches so low that it was necessary to 
 keep the head constantly bent to avoid hitting them. 
 The noise of the locusts, which had accompanied us 
 since we reached the mountain of Aguacate, here be- 
 came startling. Very soon families of monkeys, walk- 
 ing heavily on the tops of the trees, disturbed these 
 noisy tenants of the woods, and sent them flying around 
 us in such swarms that we were obliged to beat them 
 off with our hats. My macho snorted and pulled vio- 
 lently on the bit, dragging me against the trees ; and 
 I could not help thinking, if this is the outset, what will 
 be the end ? 
 
 Parting with Mr. Lawrence advanced the position of 
 Nicolas. Man is a talking animal ; Nicolas was par- 
 ticularly so, and very soon I knew the history of his 
 life. His father Avas a muleteer, and he seemed con- 
 structed for the same rough business ; but after a few 
 journeys to Nicaragua he retired in disgust, married, 
 and had two children. The trying moment of his life 
 was when compelled to serve as a soldier. His great 
 regret was that he could not read or write, and his as- 
 tonishment that he worked hard and yet could not get 
 on. He wanted to go with me to Mexico, to go to my 
 country, to be away two years, and to return with a 
 sum of money in hand, as 'Hezoos had done. He knew 
 that General Morazan was a great man, for when he 
 visited Costa Rica there was a great firing of cannons 
 and a ball. He was a poor man himself, and did not 
 know what the wars were about ; and supposed that 
 
 Vol. I.— 3 B 
 
378 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 Don Manuel de Aguila was expelled because Carillo 
 wanted to be chief. 
 
 We continued in the woods till about two o'clock, 
 when, turning off by a path to the right, we reached a 
 clearing, on one side of which was the hacienda of 
 Aranjuez. The entrance to the house was by a ladder 
 from the outside, and underneath was a sort of store- 
 house. It was occupied by a major-domo, a Mestitzo, 
 and his wife. Near it was the cosina, where the wife 
 and another woman were at work. The major-domo 
 was sitting on the ground doing nothing, and two able- 
 bodied men were helping him. 
 
 The major-'domo told us that he had a good potrero 
 for the mules, and the house promised a good resting- 
 place for me. Outside, and extending all around, was 
 a rough board piazza, one side of which commanded a 
 view of the ocean. I seated myself on this side, and 
 very soon Nicolas brought me my dinner. It consisted 
 of tortillas, rice cooked with lard, which he brought in 
 a shell, and salt in his hands. I finished with a cup of 
 chocolate, and could not but think of the blessings 
 wasted by this major-domo. In the same situation, 
 one of our backwoodsmen, with his axe, his wife, and 
 two pairs of twins, would in a few years surround him- 
 self with all the luxuries that good land can give. 
 
 After dinner I led the mules to a stream, on the banKs 
 of which were tufts of young grass, and while I was 
 sitting here two wild turkeys flew over my head and 
 lighted on a tree near by. I sent Nicolas for my gun, 
 and soon had a bird large enough for a household din- 
 ner, which I sent immediately to the house to be con- 
 verted into provender. At sundown I returned, and 
 then discovered a deficiency in my preparations which 
 I felt during the whole journey, viz., of candles. A 
 
RIVER LAGARTOS. 379 
 
 light was manufactured by filling a broken clay vessel 
 with grease, and coiling in it some twisted cotton, with 
 one end sticking out about an inch. The workmen on 
 the hacienda took advantage of the light, and brought 
 out a pack of cards. The wife of the major-domo 
 joined them, and seeing no chance of a speedy termina- 
 tion of the game, I undressed myself and went to bed. 
 When they finished the woman got into a bed directly 
 opposite mine, and before lying down lighted another 
 cigar. The men did the same on the floor, and till the 
 cigars went out continued discussing the game. The 
 major-domo was already asleep in the hammock. All 
 night the wife of the major-domo smoked, and the men 
 snuffled and snored. At two o'clock I rose and went 
 out of doors. The moon was shining, and the fresh- 
 ness of the morning air was grateful. I woke Nicolas, 
 and paying the major-domo as he lay in his hammock, 
 at three o'clock we resumed our journey. I was charm- 
 ed with this place when we reached it, and disgusted 
 when we left. The people were kind and of as good 
 disposition as the expectation of pay could make them, 
 but their habits were intolerable. 
 
 The freshness of the morning air restored my equa- 
 nimity ; the moon shed a glorious light over the clear- 
 ing, and lighted up the darkness of the forest. We 
 heard only the surge of monkeys, as, disturbed by our 
 noise, they moved on the tops of the trees. 
 
 At eight o'clock we reached the River Lagartos, 
 breaking rapidly over a bed of white sand and gravel, 
 clear as crystal, and shaded by trees, the branches of 
 which met at the fording-place, and formed a complete 
 arbour. We dismounted, took off the saddles from our 
 mules and tied them to a tree, kindled a fire on the 
 bank, and breakfasted. Wild scenes had long lost the 
 
380 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 charm of novelty, but this I would not have exchanged 
 for a dejeuner a la fourchette at the best restaurant of 
 Paris. The wild turkey was not more than enough for 
 my household, which consisted of Nicolas. 
 
 Resuming our journey, in two hours we emerged 
 from the woods, and came into an open country in 
 sight of the Cerros of Collito, a fine bare peak, stand- 
 ing alone, conical, and covered with grass to the top. 
 At twelve o'clock we reached the rancho of an Indian. 
 On one side was a group of orange-trees loaded with 
 fruit, and in front a shed thatched with leaves of Indian 
 corn. An old Indian woman was sitting in the door, 
 and a sick Indian was lying asleep under the shed. It 
 was excessively hot, and riding under the shed, I dis- 
 mounted, threw myself into a ragged hammock, and 
 while quenching my thirst with an orange fell asleep. 
 The last that I remembered was seeing Nicolas drive 
 into the hut a miserable half-starved chicken. At two 
 o'clock he woke me, and set before me the unfortunate 
 little bird, nearly burned up, the expense of which, 
 with oranges ad libitum, was six and a quarter cents, 
 which the old woman wished to commute for a charge 
 of gunpowder. I was very poor in this, and would 
 rather have given her a dollar, but could not help add- 
 ing the charge of gunpowder to the coin. 
 
 At two o'clock we set off again. We had already 
 made a day's journey, but I had a good resting-place 
 for the night in view. It was excessively hot, but very 
 soon we reached the woods again. We had not gone 
 far before a deer crossed our path. It was the first I 
 had seen in the country, which was almost destitute of 
 all kinds of game. Indeed, during my whole journey, 
 except at the wild turkey, I had fired but twice, and then 
 merely to procure curious birds ; and most unfortunate- 
 
HERDS OF DEER. 381 
 
 ly, in pursuance of my plan of encumbering myself as 
 little as possible, I had with me but a few charges of 
 duck-shot and half a dozen pistol balls. Very soon I 
 saw two deer together, and within reach of a ball. Both 
 barrels of my gun were loaded with duck. I dismount- 
 ed and followed them into the woods, endeavouring to 
 get within reach. In the course of an hour I saw per- 
 haps a dozen, and in that hour fired away my last duck- 
 shot. I was resolved not to use my pistol balls, and as 
 both barrels were empty, kept quiet. As the evening 
 approached the deer increased, and I am safe in saying 
 I saw fifty or sixty, and many within rifle-shot. Occa- 
 sionally cattle peeped at us through the trees as wild as 
 the deer. The sun was getting low when we came out 
 into a large clearing, on one side of which stood the ha- 
 cienda of Santa Rosa. The house stood on the right, 
 and directly in front, against the side of a hill, was a 
 large cattle-yard, enclosed by a hard clay wall, divided 
 into three parts, and filled with cows and calves. On 
 the left was an almost boundless plain, interspersed 
 with groves of trees ; and as we rode up a gentleman 
 in the yard sent a servant to open the gate. Don Juan 
 Jose Bonilla met me at the porch, and before I had 
 time to present my letter, welcomed me to Santa Rosa. 
 Don Juan was a native of Cartago, a gentleman by 
 birth and education, and of one of the oldest families in 
 Costa Rica. He had travelled over his own country, 
 and what was very unusual in that region, had visited 
 the United States, and though labouring under the dis- 
 advantage of not speaking the language, spoke with 
 great interest of our institutions. He had been an ac- 
 tive member of the Liberal party ; had laboured to car- 
 ry out its principles in the administration of the govern- 
 ment, and to save his country from the disgrace of 
 
382 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 falling back into despotism. He had been persecuted, 
 heavy contributions had been laid upon his property, 
 and four years before he had withdrawn from Cartago 
 and retired to this hacienda. But political animosity 
 never dies. A detachment of soldiers was sent to ar- 
 rest him, and, that no suspicion might be excited, they 
 were sent by sea, and landed at a port on the Pacific 
 within the bounds of his own estate. Don Juan re- 
 ceived an intimation of their approach, and sent a ser- 
 vant to reconnoitre, who returned with intelligence that 
 they were within half a day's march. He mounted his 
 horse to escape, but near his own gate was thrown, and 
 his leg badly broken. He was carried back insensible, 
 and when the soldiers arrived they found him in bed ; 
 but they made him rise, put him on horseback, hurried 
 him to the frontiers of the state, and left him, commu- 
 nicating to him his sentence of banishment, and death 
 if he returned. The boundary-line of the State of 
 Costa Rica is a river in the midst of a wilderness, and 
 he was obliged to travel on horseback to Nicaragua, a 
 journey of four days. He had never recovered the 
 use of his leg, which was two or three inches shorter 
 than the other. He remained two years in exile ; and 
 on the election of Don Manuel de Aguila as chief of 
 the state, returned. On the expulsion of Don Manuel 
 he retired again to his hacienda, and was then busily 
 engaged in making repairs for the reception of his fam- 
 ily ; but he did not know at what moment another or- 
 der might come to expel him from his home. 
 
 While sitting at the supper-table we heard a noise 
 over our heads, which seemed to me like the opening 
 of the roof. Don Juan threw his eyes to the ceiling, 
 and suddenly started from his chair, threw his arms 
 •around the neck of a servant, and with the fearful 
 
AN EARTHQUAKE. 383 
 
 words "temblor!" "temblor!" "an earthquake!" 
 " an earthquake !" all rushed for the doors. I sprang 
 from my chair, made one bound across the room, and 
 cleared the piazza. The earth rolled like the pitching 
 of a ship in a heavy sea. My step was high, my feet 
 barely touched the ground, and my arms were thrown 
 up involuntarily to save myself from falling. I was the 
 last to start, but, once under way, I was the last to stop. 
 Half way across the yard I stumbled over a man on his 
 knees, and fell. I never felt myself so feeble a thing 
 before. At this moment I heard Don Juan calling to 
 me. He was leaning on the shoulder of his servant, 
 with his face to the door, crying to me to come out of 
 the house. It was pitchy dark ; within was the table at 
 which we had sat, with a single candle, the light of 
 which extended far enough to show a few of the kneel- 
 ing figures, with their faces to the door. We looked 
 anxiously in, and waited for the shock which should 
 prostrate the strong walls and lay the roof on the ground. 
 There was something awful in our position, with our 
 faces to the door, shunning the place which at all other 
 times offers shelter to man. The shocks were contin- 
 ued perhaps two minutes, during which time it required 
 an effort to stand firm. The return of the earth to 
 steadiness was almost as violent as the shock. "We 
 waited a few minutes after the last vibration, when Don 
 Juan said it was over, and, assisted by his servant, en- 
 tered the house. I had been the last to leave it, but I 
 was the last to return ; and my chair lying with its back 
 on the floor, gave an intimation of the haste with which 
 I had decamped. The houses in Costa Rica are the 
 best in the country for resisting these shocks, being, 
 like the others, long and low, and built of adobes, or 
 undried bricks, two feet long and one broad, made of 
 
384 INCIDENTS OP TRAVEL. 
 
 clay mixed with straw to give adhesion, and laid when 
 soft, with upright posts between, so that they are dried 
 by the sun into one mass, which moves with the surface 
 of the earth. 
 
 Before the evening was over I forgot the earthquake 
 in a minor trouble. The uncultivated grounds of Cen- 
 tral America teem with noxious insects. Riding all 
 day in the woods, and striking my head against the 
 branches of trees, had brought ticks down upon me in 
 such numbers that I brushed them off with my hand. I 
 had suffered so much during the day, that twice I was 
 obliged to strip at a stream and tear them out of my 
 flesh; but this gave me only temporary relief; lumps 
 of irritation were left ; and in the midst of serious dis- 
 quisitions with Don Juan, it Avas not polite, but I was 
 obliged to use my nails violently and constantly. I 
 was fain to entreat of him that he would go out and 
 give me the room to myself. He retired, and in a mo- 
 ment all my clothes were out of doors, and I tore the 
 vipers out by the teeth ; but Don Juan sent to my re- 
 lief a deaf and dumb boy, who, by touching them with 
 a ball of black wax, drew them from their burrowing- 
 places without any pain ; yet they left behind wounds 
 from which I did not recover in a long time. 
 
 Early in the morning two horses were at the door, 
 and two servants in attendance for a ride. Don Juan 
 mounted the same horse which he had ridden in his 
 exile, and was attended by the same servants. Here« 
 tofore I had always heard constant complaints of ser- 
 vants, and to do them justice, I think they are the worst 
 I ever knew ; but Don Juan's were the best in the 
 world, and it was evident that they thought he was the 
 best master. 
 
 The estate of Don Juan covered as much ground ar 
 
A CA T TLE FARM 385 
 
 a German principality, containing two hundred thou- 
 sand acres, and was bounded on one side, for a long 
 distance, by the Pacific Ocean. But a small portion of 
 it was cultivated, not more than enough to raise maize 
 for the workmen, and the rest was a roaming- ground 
 for cattle. More than ten thousand were wandering 
 over it, almost as wild as the deer, and never seen ex- 
 cept as they crossed a path in the woods, or at the sea- 
 son of lazoing them for the purpose of taking an ac- 
 count of the increase. 
 
 We had not gone far before we saw three deer all 
 close together, and not far from us. It was exceeding- 
 ly vexatious, the first time I was in a country where 
 there was anything to shoot at, to be so wholly unpro- 
 vided, and I had no chance of supplying myself till I 
 was out of that region. Don Juan was incapacitated 
 for sporting by his lameness ; in fact, deer-shooting was 
 not considered sporting, and venison not fit to eat. In 
 the course of an hour we saw more than twenty. 
 
 I had set out on this long journey without any cargo- 
 mule, from the difficulty of procuring one that could 
 keep pace with the riding-beasts ; but we had felt the 
 inconvenience of being encumbered with luggage ; and, 
 besides Don Juan's kindness to me at his house, he fur- 
 nished me with one which he had broken expressly for 
 his own use in rapid journeys between Cartago and the 
 hacienda, and which he warranted me, with a light load, 
 would trot and keep up with mine. 
 
 Late in the afternoon I left his hospitable dwelling. 
 Don Juan, with his deaf and dumb boy, accompanied 
 me a league on the way, when we dismounted and took 
 leave of each other. My new mule, like myself, was 
 very reluctant to leave Don Juan, and seemed to have 
 a sentiment that she should never see her old master 
 
 Vol. I.— 3 C 33 
 
386 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 again. Indeed, it was so difficult to get her along, that 
 Nicolas tied her by the halter to his mule's tail, after a 
 manner common in Ihe country, and thus leading her 
 along, I followed at her heels. The deer were more 
 numerous than I had yet seen them, and I now looked 
 at them only as animating a beautiful landscape. Ai 
 dark we began to have apprehensions about the road. 
 There was a difficult mountain-pass before us, and Nic- 
 olas wanted to stop and wait till the moon rose ; but as 
 that would derange the journey for the next day, I push- 
 ed on for more than an hour through the woods. The 
 mules stumbled along in the dark, and very soon we 
 lost all traces of a path ; while trying to find it, we 
 heard the crash of a falling tree, which in the darkness 
 sounded appalling, and made us hesitate to enter the 
 woods. I determined to wait for the moon, and dis- 
 mounted. Peering into the darkness, I saw a glimmer- 
 ing light on the left. We shouted with all our strength, 
 and were answered by a pack of barking dogs, and 
 moving in that direction, reached a hut where three or 
 four workmen were lying on the ground, who were at 
 first disposed to be merry and impertinent when we 
 asked for a guide to the next hacienda ; but one of them 
 recognised my cargo-mule, said that he had known it 
 since he was a child (rather doubtful praise of my new 
 purchase), and was at length induced to make us an 
 offer of his services. A horse was brought, large, wild, 
 .and furious, as if never bitted; snorting, rearing, and 
 almost making the ground shake at every tread ; and 
 before the rider was fairly on his back he was tearing 
 in the dark across the plain. Making a wide sweep, 
 he returned, and the guide, releasing the cargo-mule 
 from that of Nicolas, tied her to the tail of his horse, 
 and then led the way. Even with the drag of the car- 
 
B A G A S E S. 387 
 
 go-mule it was impossible for him to moderate his pace, 
 and we were obliged to follow at a most unhappy rate. 
 It was the first piece of bad road we had met with, hav- 
 ing many sharp turns, and ascents and descents, broken 
 and stony. Fortunately, while we were in the woods, 
 the moon rose, touched with a silvery light the tops of 
 the trees, and when we reached the bank of the river it 
 was almost as light as day. Here my guide left me, 
 and I lost all confidence in the moon, for by her deceit- 
 ful light I slipped into his hand a gold piece instead of 
 a silver one, without either of us knowing it. 
 
 As we ascended the bank after crossing the stream, 
 the hacienda was in full sight. The occupants were in 
 bed, but Don Manuel, to whom I was recommended by 
 Don Juan, rose to receive me. On the bank of the 
 river, near the house, was a large sawmill, the first I 
 had seen in the country, built, as Don Manuel told me, 
 by an American, who afterward straggled to Guati- 
 mala, and was killed in some popular insurrection. 
 
 At daylight the next morning, as the workmen on 
 the hacienda were about going to work, we set off 
 again. In an hour we heard the sound of a horn, giv- 
 ing notice of the approach of a drove of cattle. We 
 drew up into the woods to let them pass, and they 
 came with a cloud of dust, the faces of the drivers cov- 
 ered, and would have trampled to death anything that 
 impeded their progress. 
 
 At eleven o'clock we entered the village of Bagases. 
 We had made tremendous journeys, and it was the first 
 time in four days we had seen anything but single ha- 
 ciendas, but we rode through without stopping, except 
 to ask for a cup of water. 
 
 Late in the afternoon we came into a broad avenue 
 and saw marks of wheels. At dusk we reached the riv- 
 
388 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL 
 
 er which runs by the suburbs of Guanacaste, the iron 
 tier town of Costa Rica. The pass was occupied by an 
 ox-cart, with four stubborn oxen, which would not go 
 ahead and could not go back. We were detained half 
 an hour, and it was dark when we entered. We pass- 
 ed through the plaza, before the door of the church, 
 which was lighted up for vespers, and rode to a house 
 at which I had been directed to stop. Nicolas went 
 in to make preliminary inquiries, and returning, told 
 me to dismount, and unloaded the luggage-mule. I 
 went in, took off my spurs, and stretched myself on 
 a bench. Soon it struck me that my host was not 
 particularly glad to see me. Several children came 
 in and stared, and then ran back into another room ; 
 and in a few minutes I received the compliments of 
 the lady of the house, and her regret that she could 
 not accommodate me. I was indignant at Nicolas, 
 who had merely asked whether such a person lived 
 there, and without more ado had sent me in. I left 
 the house, and with the halter of my macho in one 
 hand and spurs in the other, and Nicolas following with 
 the mules, sought the house of the commandant. I 
 found him standing on the piazza, with the key in his 
 hand, and all his household stuff packed up outside, 
 only waiting till the moon rose to set out for another 
 post. I believe he regretted that he could not accom- 
 modate me, nor could he refer me to any other house ; 
 but he sent his servant to look for one, and I waited 
 nearly an hour, up for a bidder. 
 
 In the mean time I made inquiries about my road. 
 I did not wish to continue on the direct route to Nic- 
 aragua, but to go first to the port of San Juan on the 
 Pacific, the proposed termination of the canal to con- 
 nect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The command- 
 
A PLEASANT WELCOME. 389 
 
 ant regretted that I had not come one day sooner. He 
 mentioned a fact of which I was aware before, that Mr. 
 Bailey, an English gentleman, had been employed by 
 the government to survey the canal route, and had re- 
 sided some time at the post, and added that since his 
 departure it was perfectly desolate ; no one ever vis 
 ited it, not a person in the place knew the road to it, 
 and, unluckily, a man who had been in Mr. Bailey's 
 employ had left that morning for Nicaragua. Most 
 fortunately, on inquiry, the man was found to be still in 
 the place, and he, too, intended setting out &3 soon as 
 the moon rose. I had no inducement to remain ; no- 
 body seemed very anxious for the honour of my com- 
 pany, and I would have gone on immediately if the 
 mules had been able to continue ; but I made an ar- 
 rangement with him and his son to wait till three in the 
 morning, then to conduct me to the port, and thence to 
 Nicaragua. At length the commandant's servant re- 
 turned and conducted me to a house with a little shop 
 in front, where I was received by an old lady with a 
 buenosnoches that almost surprised me into an idea that 
 I was welcome. I entered through the shop, and pass- 
 ed into a parlour which contained a hammock, an in- 
 terlaced bedstead, and a very neat catre with a gauze 
 moscheto-netting, and pink bows at the corners. I was 
 agreeably disappointed with my posada, and while con- 
 versing with the old lady, was dozing over a cup of 
 chocolate, when I heard a lively voice at the door, and 
 a young lady entered, with two or three young men in 
 attendance, who came up to the table in front of me, 
 and throwing back a black mantilla, bade me buenos 
 noches, put out her hand, said that she had heard in 
 church that I was at her house, and was so glad of it ; 
 no strangers ever came there ; the place was complete- 
 
390 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 Iy out of the world, very dull, &c, &c. I was so sur- 
 prised that I must have looked very stupid. She was 
 not regularly handsome, but her mouth and eyes were 
 beautiful ; and her manner was so different from the 
 cold, awkward, and bashful air of her countrywomen, 
 .so much like the frank and fascinating welcome which 
 a young lady at home might extend to a friend after a 
 long absence, that if the table had not been between 
 us I could have taken her in my arms and kissed her. 
 I pulled up my check collar, and forgot all my troubles 
 and perplexities. Though living in that little remote 
 town, like young ladies in large cities, she had a fancy 
 for strangers, which at the time I regarded as a delight- 
 ful trait of character in a woman. Her every-day 
 beaux had no chance. At first they were very civil to 
 me, but they became short and crusty, and, very much 
 to my satisfaction, took themselves off. It was so long 
 since I had felt the least interest in a woman, that I 
 gave myself a benefit. The simplest stories of other 
 countries and other people were to her romance, and 
 her eye kindled as she listened ; soon the transition 
 came from facts to feelings, and then that highest earth- 
 ly pleasure, of being lifted above every-day thoughts 
 by the enthusiasm of a high-minded girl. 
 
 We sat up till twelve o'clock. The mother, who at 
 first had wearied me, I found exceedingly agreeable ; 
 indeed, I had seldom known a more interesting old 
 lady ; for she pressed me to remain two or three days 
 and rest ; said the place was dull, but that her daughter 
 would try to make it agreeable ; and her daughter said 
 nothing, but looked unutterable things. 
 
 All pleasure is fleeting. Twelve o'clock came, an 
 unprecedented hour for that country. My ordinary 
 prudence in looking out for a sleeping-place had not 
 
PLEASANT LODGINGS. 391 
 
 deserted me. Two little boys had taken possession of 
 the leather bed ; the old lady had retired ; the beautiful 
 little cartaret remained unoccupied, and the young lady 
 withdrew, telling me that this was to be my bed. I 
 do not know why, but I felt uneasy. I opened the mos- 
 chcto-net. In that country beds are not used, and an 
 oxhide or mat, often not so clean as it might be, is the 
 substitute. This was a mat, very fine, and clean as if 
 perfectly new. At the head was a lovely pillow with 
 a pink muslin covering, and over it a thin white pillow- 
 case with a bewitching ruffle. Whose cheek had rested 
 on that pillow ? I pulled off my coat, walked up and 
 down the room, and waked up one of the boys. It 
 was as I supposed. I lay down, but could not sleep 
 and determined not to continue my journey the next 
 day. 
 
 At three o'clock the guide knocked at the door. The 
 mules were already saddled, and Nicolas was putting 
 on the luggage. I had often clung to my pillow, but 
 never as I did to that pink one with its ruffled border. 
 I told Nicolas that the guide must go home and wait 
 another day. The guide refused. It was the young 
 man ; his father had already gone, and had ordered 
 him to follow. Very soon I heard a light footstep, and 
 a soft voice expostulating with the guide. Indignant at 
 his obstinacy, I ordered him away ; but very soon I 
 reflected that I could not procure another, and might 
 lose the great object I had in view in making this long 
 journey. I called him back, and attempted to bribe him ; 
 but his only answer was, that his father had started at 
 the rising of the moon, and ordered him to follow. At 
 length it was arranged that he should go and overtake 
 his father and bring him back ; but perhaps his father 
 would not come. I was pertinacious until I carried the 
 
392 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 point, and then I was more indifferent. After ail, why 
 should I wait ? Nicolas said we could get our clothes 
 wasked in Nicaragua. I walked out of doors, and 
 resolved that it was folly to lose the chance of ex- 
 amining a canal route for the belle of Guanacaste. I 
 hurried through my preparations, and bade her, I may 
 say, an affectionate farewell. There is not the least 
 chance that I shall ever see her again. Living in a se- 
 cluded town, unknown beyond the borders of its own 
 unknown state, between the Andes and Pacific Ocean, 
 probably she is already the happy wife of some worthy 
 townsman, and has forgotten the stranger who owes to 
 her some of the happiest moments he passed in Central 
 America. 
 
 It was now broad daylight. It was very rare that I 
 had left a place with so much regret ; but I turned my 
 sorrow into anger, and wreaked it upon Nicolas and the 
 guide. The wind was very high, and, sweeping over 
 the great plain, raised such clouds of dust as made ri- 
 ding both disagreeable and difficult. This ought to 
 have had some effect in restoring my equanimity, but it 
 did not. All day we had on our right the grand range 
 of Cordilleras, and crowning it at this point the great 
 volcanoes of Rincon and Orosi. From thence a vast 
 plain, over which the wind swept furiously, extended to 
 the sea. At one o'clock we came in sight of the haci- 
 enda of Santa Teresa, standing on a great elevation, 
 and still a long way before us. The hacienda was the 
 property of Don Augustin Gutierres of San Jose, and, 
 with two others, was under the charge of his son Don 
 Manuel. A letter from his father had advised him of 
 my coming, and he received me as an old acquaintance. 
 The situation of the house was finer than that of any 1 
 had seen. It was high, and commanded a view of an 
 
A GRAZING HACIENDA. 393 
 
 immense plain, studded with trees in groups and in 
 forest. The ocean was not visible, but we could see 
 the opposite coast of the Gulf of Nicoya, and the point 
 of the port of Culebra, the finest on the Pacific, only 
 three and a half leagues distant. The hacienda con- 
 tained a thousand mares and four hundred horses, 
 more than a hundred of which were in sight from 
 the door. It was grand enough to give the owner 
 ideas of empire. Toward evening I counted from the 
 door of the house seventeen deer, and Don Manuel 
 told me that he had a contract for furnishing two 
 thousand skins. In the season a good hunter gets 
 twenty-five a day. Even the workmen will not eat 
 them, and they are only shot for the hide and horns. 
 He had forty workmen, and an ox was killed every 
 day. Near the house was an artificial lake, more than 
 a mile in circumference, built as a drinking-place for 
 cattle. And yet the proprietors of these haciendas are 
 not rich ; the ground is worth absolutely nothing. The 
 whole value is in the stock ; and allowing ten dollars a 
 head for the horses and mares would probably give the 
 full value of this apparently magnificent estate. 
 
 Here, too, I could have passed a week with great sat 
 isfaction, but the next morning I resumed my journey 
 Though early in the dry season, the ground was parch- 
 ed and the streams were dried up. We carried a large 
 calabash with water, and stopping under the shade of 
 a tree, turned our mules out on the plain and break- 
 fasted. I was riding in advance, with my poncha flying 
 in the wind, when I saw a drove of cattle stop and look 
 wildly at me, and then rush furiously toward me. I at- 
 tempted to run, but, remembering the bullfights at 
 Guatimala, I tore off my poncha, and had just time to 
 get behind a high rock as the whole herd darted by at 
 
 Vol.— I. 3 D 
 
394 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 their full speed. We continued our route, from time to 
 time catching glimpses of the Pacific, till we reached 
 a clear, open place, completely protected from the wind, 
 and called the Boca of the Mountain of Nicaragua. A 
 large caravan had already encamped, and among the 
 muleteers Nicolas found acquaintances from San Jos/>. 
 Their cargoes consisted of potatoes, sweet bread, and 
 dolces for Nicaragua. 
 
 Toward evening I climbed to the top of one of the 
 hills, and had a magnificent sunset view. On the top 
 the wind blew so fiercely that I was obliged to shelter 
 myself under the lee. Behind me was the great range 
 of Cordilleras, along which we had ridden all day, with 
 their volcanoes ; on the left the headlands of the bays 
 of Tortugas and Salina, and in front the great body 
 of the Pacific Ocean ; and what was quite as agreeable 
 a spectacle to a traveller, my mules were up to their 
 knees in grass. I returned to the encampment, and 
 found that my guide had made me a casita, or small 
 house to sleep in. It was formed by cutting two sticks 
 about four feet high, and as thick as a man's arm, and 
 driving them into the ground, with a crotch in the top. 
 Another stick was laid in the crotches, and against this 
 other sticks were laid slanting, with leaves and branch- 
 es wound in between them, so as to protect me from 
 the dew, and tolerably well from the wind. 
 
 I never had a servant in Central America who was 
 not a brute with mules. I was obliged to look out my- 
 self for their food, and also to examine that their backs 
 were not hurt by the saddles. My macho I always sad- 
 dled myself. Nicolas had saddled the cargo-mule so bad- 
 ly the day before, that when he took off the aparejo 
 (a huge saddle covering half the beast) the shoulder was 
 raw, and in the morning even pointing at it made her 
 
THE PACIFIC AGAIN. 395 
 
 shrink as if touched with a hot iron. I was unwilling 
 to put the aparejo upon her back, and tried to hire a 
 mule from one of the muleteers, but could not, and, 
 putting the cargo upon the other mule, made Nicolas 
 walk, and the cargo-mule go loose. I left the apare- 
 jo in the boca of the mountain : a great piece of 
 profligacy, as Nicolas and the guide considered it. 
 
 We wound for a short distance among the hills that 
 enclosed us, ascended a slight range, and came down 
 directly upon the shore of the sea. I always had a 
 high feeling when I touched the shore of the Pacific, 
 and never more so than at this desolate place. The 
 waves rolled grandly, and broke with a solemn roar. 
 The mules were startled, and my macho shrank from 
 the heaving water. I spurred him into it, and at a mo- 
 ment when I was putting in my pocket some shells 
 which Nicolas had picked up, he ran away. He had 
 attempted it several times before in the woods; and 
 now, having a fair chance, I gave him the full sweep 
 of the coast. We continued nearly an hour on the 
 shore, when we crossed a high, rough headland, and 
 again came down upon the sea. Four times we mount- 
 ed headlands and again descended to the shore, and the 
 heat became almost intolerable. The fifth ascent was 
 steep, but we came upon a table covered with a thick 
 forest, through which we proceeded until we came to a 
 small clearing with two huts. We stopped at the first, 
 which was occupied by a black man and his wife. He 
 had plenty of corn ; there was a fine pasture-ground 
 near, so hemmed in by the woods that there was no 
 danger of the mules escaping, and I hired the man and 
 woman to sleep out of doors, and give me the hovel to 
 myself. 
 
396 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 The Flores. — The San Juan.— Nature's Solitude. — Primitive Cookery.— Harbour 
 of San Juan.— Route of the Great Canal to connect the Atlantic and Pacific 
 Oceans. — Nicaragua. — Survey for the Canal. — Lake of Nicaragua.— Plan of 
 the Canal. — Lockage.— Estimate of Cost. — Former Efforts to construct the 
 Canal. — Its Advantages. — Central American Hospitality. — Tierra Caliente. — 
 Horrors of Civil War. 
 
 I rose about an hour before daylight, and was in my 
 saddle by break of day. We watered our mules at the 
 River Flores, the boundary-line of the states of Costa 
 Rica and Nicaragua. In an hour we reached Skamaika, 
 the name given to a single hut occupied by a negro, 
 sick and alone. He was lying on a bedstead made of 
 sticks, the very picture of wretchedness and desolation, 
 worn to a skeleton by fever and ague. Soon after we 
 came to another hut, where two women were sick with 
 fever. Nothing could be more wretched than these huts 
 along the Pacific. They asked me for remedios, and I 
 gave them some quinine, but with little hope of their 
 ever benefiting by it. Probably both the negro and 
 they are now in their graves. 
 
 At twelve o'clock we reached the River St. John, the 
 mouth of which was the terminating point of the great 
 canal. The road to Nicaragua crossed the stream, 
 and ours followed it to the sea, the port being situated 
 at its mouth. Our whole road had been desolate enough, 
 but this far surpassed anything I had seen ; and as I 
 iooked at the little path that led to Nicaragua, I felt as 
 if we were leaving a great highway. The valley of the 
 river is about a hundred yards broad, and in the season 
 of rain the whole is covered with water ; but at this 
 time the stream was small, and a great part of its bed 
 
nature's solitude. 397 
 
 dry. The stones were bleached by the sun, and there 
 was no track or impression which gave the slightest in- 
 dication of a path. Very soon this stony bed became 
 contracted and lost ; the stream ran through a different 
 6oil, and high grass, shrubs, and bushes grew luxuriant- 
 ly up to its bank. We searched for the track on both 
 sides of the river, and it was evident that since the last 
 wet season no person had passed. Leaving the river, 
 the bushes were higher than our heads, and so thick 
 that at every two or three paces I became entangled and 
 held fast ; at length I dismounted, and my guide clear- 
 ed a way for me on foot with his machete. Soon we 
 reached the stream again, crossed it, and entered the 
 same dense mass on the opposite side. In this way we 
 continued nearly two hours, with the river for our line. 
 We crossed it more than twenty times, and when it 
 was shallow rode in its bed. Farther down the valley 
 was open, stony, and barren, and the sun beat upon it 
 with prodigious force ; flocks of sopilotes or turkey-buz- 
 zards, hardly disturbed by our approach, moved away 
 on a slow walk, or, with a lazy flap of the wings, rose 
 to a low branch of the nearest tree. In one place a 
 swarm of the ugly birds were feasting on the carcass of 
 an alligator. Wild turkeys were more numerous than 
 we had seen them before, and so tame that I shot one 
 with a pistol. Deer looked at us without alarm, and on 
 each side of the valley large black apes walked on the 
 tops of the trees, or sat quietly in the branches, looking 
 at us. Crossing the river for the last time, which be- 
 came broader and deeper until it emptied into the Pa- 
 cific, we entered the woods on the right, and reached 
 the first station of Mr. Bailey ; but it was covered with 
 young trees and bushes ; the woods were thicker than 
 before, and the path entirely undistinguishable. I had 
 I 34 
 
398 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 read reports, papers, and pamphlets on the subject of 
 the great canal, and expected at least to find a road to 
 the port ; but the desert of Arabia is not more desolate, 
 and the track of the Children of Israel to the Red Sea 
 a turnpike compared with it. 
 
 My beautiful gray, degraded into a cargo. mule, 
 chafed under her burden ; and here obstructed, and 
 jerked first one way and then the other, the girths of 
 the saddle became loose, the load turned on her side, 
 and she rushed blindly forward, kicking, and threw her- 
 self among the bushes. Her back was badly hurt, and 
 she was desperately frightened ; but we were obliged to 
 reload her, and, fortunately, we were near the end of 
 our day's journey. 
 
 On the border of the woods we reached a stream, the 
 last at which fresh water was procurable, and filling 
 our calabash, entered a plain covered with high grass. 
 In front was another piece of woodland, and on the left 
 the River San Juan, now a large stream, emptying into 
 the Pacific. In a few minutes we reached a small clear- 
 ing, so near the shore that the waves seemed breaking 
 at our feet. We tied our mules under the shade of a 
 large tree on the edge of the clearing. The site of Mr. 
 Bailey's rancho was on an eminence near, but hardly a 
 vestige remained ; and though it commanded a fine 
 view of the port and the sea, it was so hot under the af- 
 ternoon sun that I fixed our encampment under the large 
 tree. We hung our saddles, saddlecloths, and arms 
 upon its branches, and while Nicolas and Jose gathered 
 wood and made a fire, I found, what was always the 
 most important and satisfactory part of the day's jour- 
 ney, excellent pasture for the mules. 
 
 The next thing was to take care of ourselves. We 
 had no trouble in deciding what to have for dinner. 
 
PRIMITIVE COOKERY. 399 
 
 "We had made provision, as we supposed, for three days ; 
 but, as usual, it always happened that, however abun- 
 dant, it did not last more than one. At this time all was 
 eaten up by ourselves or by vermin ; and, but for the 
 wild turkey, we should have been obliged to dine upon 
 chocolate. It was a matter of deeply-interesting con- 
 sideration how the turkey should be cooked. Boiling it 
 was the best way ; but we had nothing to boil it in except 
 a small coffee-pot. We attempted to make a gridiron 
 of our stirrups, and broil it ; but those of Nicolas were 
 wooden, and mine alone were not large enough. Roast- 
 ing was a long and tedious process ; but our guide had 
 often been in such straits ; and fixing in the ground two 
 sticks with crotches, he laid another across, split open 
 the turkey, and securing it by sticks crosswise, hung it 
 like a spread eagle before a blazing fire. When one 
 side was burned, he turned the other. In an hour it 
 was cooked, and in less than ten minutes eaten up. A 
 cup of chocolate, heavy enough to keep it from rising if 
 it had been eaten with its wings on, followed, and I had 
 dined. 
 
 Rested and refreshed, I walked down to the shore. 
 Our encampment was about in the centre of the harbour, 
 which was the finest I saw on the Pacific. It is not 
 large, but beautifully protected, being almost in the form 
 of the letter U. The arms are high and parallel, run- 
 ning nearly north and south, and terminating in high 
 perpendicular bluffs. As I afterward learned from Mr. 
 Bailey, the water is deep, and under either bluff, ac- 
 cording to the wind, vessels of the largest class can ride 
 with perfect safety. Supposing this to be correct, there 
 is but one objection to this harbour, which I derive from 
 Captain D'Yriarte, with whom I made the voyage from 
 Zonzonate to Caldera. He has been nine years navi- 
 
400 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL, 
 
 gating the coast of the Pacific, from Peru to the Gulf of 
 California, and has made valuable notes, which he in- 
 tends publishing in France ; and he told me that during 
 the summer months, from November to May, the strong 
 north winds which sweep over the Lake of Nicaragua 
 pass with such violence through the Gulf of Papajayo. 
 that, during the prevalence of these winds, it is almost 
 impossible for a vessel to enter the port of San Juan, 
 Whether this is true to the extent that Captain D' Yriartc 
 supposes, and if true, how far steam tugs would answer 
 to bring vessels in against such a wind, is for others to 
 determine. But at the moment there seemed more pal- 
 pable difficulties. 
 
 I walked along the shore down to the estuary of the 
 river, which was here broad and deep. This was the 
 proposed termination of the great canal to connect the 
 Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. I had read and examined 
 all that had been published on this subject in England 
 or this country ; had conferred with individuals ; and I 
 had been sanguine, almost enthusiastic, in regard to this 
 gigantic enterprise ; but on the spot the scales fell from 
 my eyes. The harbour was perfectly desolate ; for 
 years not a vessel had entered it ; primeval trees grew 
 around it ; for miles there was not a habitation. I walk- 
 ed the shore alone. Since Mr. Bailey left not a person 
 had visited it ; and probably the only thing that keeps 
 it alive even in memory is the theorizing of scientific 
 men, or the occasional visit of some Nicaragua fisher- 
 man, who, too lazy to work, seeks his food in the sea. 
 It seemed preposterous to consider it the focus of a great 
 commercial enterprise ; to imagine that a .city was to 
 rise up out of the forest, the desolate harbour to be filled 
 with ships, and become a great portal for the thorough- 
 fare of nations. But the scene was magnificent. The 
 
ROUTE OF THE GREAT CANAL. 401 
 
 sun was setting, and the high western headland threw a 
 deep shade over the water. It was perhaps the last 
 time in my life that I should see the Pacific ; and in 
 spite of fever and ague tendencies, I bathed once more 
 in the great ocean. 
 
 It was after dark when I returned to my encamp- 
 ment. My attendants had not been idle ; blazing logs 
 of wood, piled three or four feet high, lighted up the 
 darkness of the forest. We heard the barking of wolves, 
 the scream of the mountain-cat, and other wild beasts 
 of the forest. I wrapped myself in my poncha and lay 
 down to sleep. Nicolas threw more wood upon the 
 burning pile ; and, as he stretched himself on the ground, 
 hoped we would not be obliged to pass another night in 
 this desolate place. 
 
 In the morning I had more trouble. My gray mule 
 running loose, and drinking at every stream, with her 
 girths tight, had raised a swelling eight or ten inches. 
 I attempted to put the cargo on my macho, with the in- 
 tention of walking myself ; but it was utterly impossible 
 to manage him, and I was obliged to transfer it to the 
 raw back of the cargo-mule. 
 
 At seven o'clock we started, recrossed the stream at 
 which we had procured water, and returned to the first 
 station of Mr. Bailey. It was on the River San Juan, a 
 mile and a half from the sea. The river here had suffi- 
 cient depth of water for large vessels, and from this 
 point Mr. Bailey commenced his survey to the Lake of 
 Nicaragua. I sent Nicolas with the mules by the di- 
 rect road, and set out with my guide to follow, as far as 
 practicable, his line of survey. I did not know, until I 
 found myself in this wilderness, how fortunate I had 
 been in securing this guide. He had been Mr. Bailey's 
 pioneer in the whole of his exploration. He was a dark 
 
 Vol. I.— 3 E 
 
402 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 Mestitzo, and gained his living by hunting bee-trees, 
 and cutting them down for the wild honey, which made 
 him familiar with all the water-courses and secret depths 
 of almost impenetrable forests. He had been selected 
 by Mr. Bailey out of all Nicaragua ; and for the bene- 
 fit of any traveller who may feel an interest in this sub- 
 ject, I mention his name, which is Jose Dionisio de 
 Lerda, and he lives at Nicaragua. 
 
 It was two years since Mr. Bailey had taken his ob- 
 servations, and already, in that rank soil, the clearings 
 were overgrown with trees twelve or fifteen feet high. 
 My guide cleared a path for me with his machete ; and 
 working our way across the plain, we entered a valley 
 which ran in a great ravine called Quebrada Grande, 
 between the mountain ranges of Zebadea and El Plati- 
 na. By a vigorous use of the machete I was enabled 
 to follow the line of Mr. Bailey up the ravine to the sta- 
 tion of Panama, so called from a large Panama-tree 
 near which Mr. Bailey built his rancho. Up to this 
 place manifestly there could be no difficulty in cutting 
 a canal ; beyond, the line of survey follows the small 
 stream of El Cacao for another league, when it crosses 
 the mountain ; but there was such a rank growth of 
 young trees that it was impossible to continue without 
 sending men forward to clear the way. We therefore 
 left the line of the canal, and crossing the valley to the 
 right, reached the foot of the mountain over which the 
 road to Nicaragua passes. A path had been opened 
 for carrying Mr. Bailey supplies to that station, but it 
 was difficult to find it. "We took a long draught at a 
 beautiful stream called Loco de Agua, and my guide 
 pulled off his shirt and commenced with his machete. 
 It was astonishing how he found anything to guide him, 
 but he knew a tree as the face of a man. The side of 
 
FIRE ON THE PLAINS. 403 
 
 the mountain was very steep, and besides large trees, 
 was full of brambles, thorn-bushes, and ticks. I was 
 obliged to dismount and lead my macho ; the dark skin 
 of my guide glistened with perspiration, and it was al- 
 most a climb till we reached the top. 
 
 Coming out into the road, the change was beautiful. 
 It was about ten feet wide, straight, and shaded by the 
 noblest trees in the Nicaragua forests. In an hour we 
 reached the boca of the mountain, where Nicolas was 
 waiting with the mules under the shade of a large tree, 
 which threw its branches fifty feet from its trunk, and 
 seemed reared by a beneficent hand for the shelter of a 
 weary traveller. Soon we reached another station of 
 Mr. Bailey. Looking back, I saw the two great mount- 
 ain ranges, standing like giant portals, and could but 
 think what a magnificent spectacle it would be to see a 
 ship, with all its spars and rigging, cross the plain, pass 
 through the great door, and move on to the Pacific. 
 Beyond, the whole plain was on fire ; the long grass, 
 scorched by the summer's sun, crackled, flashed, and 
 burned like powder. The road was a sheet of flame, 
 and when the fire had passed the earth was black and 
 hot. We rode some distance on the smoking ground 
 along the line of flame, and finding a favourable place, 
 spurred the mules through ; but part of the luggage took 
 fire, my face and hands were scorched, and my whole 
 body heated. 
 
 Off from the road, on the edge of the woods, and 
 near the River Las Lahas, was another station of Mr. 
 Bailey. From that place the line runs direct over a 
 plain till it strikes the same river near the Lake of Nic- 
 aragua. I attempted to follow the lines again, but 
 was prevented by the growth of underwood. 
 
 It was late in the afternoon, and I hurried on to 
 
404 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 reach the Camino Real. Beautiful as the whole coun- 
 try had been, I found nothing equal to this two hours 
 before entering Nicaragua. The fields were covered 
 with high grass, studded with noble trees, and border- 
 ed at a distance by a dark forest, while in front, high 
 and towering, of a conical form, rose the beautiful vol- 
 cano of the island. Herds of cattle gave it a home-like 
 appearance. 
 
 Toward dark we again entered the woods, and for 
 an hour saw nothing, but at length heard the distant 
 sound of the vesper bell, and very soon were greeted by 
 the barking of dogs in the suburbs of Nicaragua. Fires 
 were burning in the streets, which served as kitchens 
 for the miserable inhabitants, and at which they were 
 cooking their suppers. We passed round a miserable 
 plaza, and stopped at the house of the Licenciado Pine- 
 da. A large door was wide open ; the licenciado was 
 swinging in one hammock, his wife and a mulatto 
 woman in another. I dismounted and entered his 
 house, and told him that I had a letter to him from Don 
 Manuel de Aguila. He asked me what I wished, and 
 when I told him a night's lodging, said that he could 
 accommodate me, but had no room for the mules. I 
 told him that I would go to the cura, and he said that 
 the cura could do no better than he. In a word, his 
 reception of me was very cool. I was indignant, and 
 went to the door, but without it was dark as Erebus. 
 [ had made a long and tiresome journey through a des- 
 olate country, and that day had been one of extreme 
 labour. The first words of kindness came from the 
 lady of the licenciado. I was so tired that I was almost 
 ready to fall ; I had left San Jose with the fever and 
 ague, had been twelve days in the saddle, and the last 
 two nights I had slept in the open fields. I owe it to 
 
NICARAGUA. 405 
 
 both, however, to say, that, the ice once broken, they 
 did all they could for my comfort ; and, in fact, treated 
 me with distinguished attention. A traveller never 
 forgets the kindness shown him in a strange land, and 
 I never feit so sensible of it as in Central America ; in 
 other countries, with money, a man can command com- 
 forts ; there, whatever his means may be, he is entirely 
 dependant upon individual hospitality. 
 
 The whole of the next morning I devoted to making 
 inquiries on the subject of the canal route. More is 
 known of it in the "United States than at Nicaragua. I 
 did not find one man who had been to the port of San 
 Juan, or even who knew Mr. Bailey's terminating point 
 on the Lake of Nicaragua. I was obliged to send for 
 my old guide, and after a noonday dinner started for 
 the lake. The town consisted of a large collection of 
 straggling houses, without a single object of interest. 
 Though the richest state in the confederacy in natural 
 gifts, the population is the most miserable. 
 
 Passing through the suburbs, very soon we entered 
 the woods and rode under a beautiful shade. We met 
 no one. Before reaching the lake we heard the waves 
 breaking upon the shore like the waves of the sea, and 
 when we emerged from the woods the view before us 
 was grand. On one side no land was visible ; a strong 
 north wind was sweeping over the lake, and its surface 
 was violently agitated ; the waves rolled and broke 
 upon the shore with solemn majesty, and opposite, in 
 the centre of the lake, were the islands of Isola and 
 Madeira, with giant volcanoes rising, as if to scale the 
 heavens. The great Volcano of Omotepeque reminded 
 me of Mount Etna, rising, like the pride of Sicily, from 
 the water's edge, a smooth unbroken cone, to the height 
 of nearly six thousand feet. 
 
406 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 We rode for an hour along the shore, and so near 
 the water that we were wetted by the spray. The 
 bank was all wooded ; and in one place, on a little 
 clearing by the side of a stream, was a hut occupied by 
 a mulatto, the view from which princes might envy. 
 Farther on we passed some women washing, and at a 
 distance of a league and a half reached the River Las 
 Lahas, according to Mr. Bailey's survey the termina- 
 ting point on the lake. A flock of wild-fowl were sit- 
 ting on the water, and long-legged birds, with wings 
 outstretched, were walking on the shore. 
 
 I had now examined, as well as circumstances would 
 permit, the canal route from the Pacific to the Lake of 
 Nicaragua. A direction had been given to my investi- 
 gations by getting on the track of Mr. Bailey's survey ; 
 but I should be able to communicate nothing if it were 
 not for Mr. Bailey himself, whom I afterward met at 
 Grenada. This gentleman is a half-pay officer in the 
 British navy. Two years before he was employed by 
 the government of Central America to make a survey 
 of this canal route, and he had completed all except the 
 survey of an unimportant part of the River San Juan 
 when the revolution broke out. The states declared 
 their independence of the general government, and dis- 
 claimed all liability for its debts. Mr. Bailey had giv- 
 en his time and labour, and when I saw him had sent 
 his son to make a last appeal to the shadow of the Fed- 
 eral Government ; but before he reached the capital this 
 government was utterly annihilated, and Mr. Bailey re- 
 mains with no reward for his arduous services but the 
 satisfaction of having been a pioneer in a noble work. 
 On my arrival at Grenada he laid before me all his maps 
 and drawings, with liberty to make what use of them I 
 pleased. I passed an entire day in taking notes and 
 
SURVEY FOR THE CANAL. 407 
 
 memoranda, and receiving explanations, and the result 
 of the whole is as follows : 
 
 The measurements began on the side of the Pacific 
 Ocean, and were carried over to the Lake of Nicaragua. 
 The chain was twenty-five varas in length, each vara 
 being thirty-two and a half inches English, and I give 
 the levels as taken from Mr. Bailey's survey. 
 
 At a distance of 
 
 Chains. Elevation in Eng. feet. 
 
 17.50 8.93 
 
 34.37 12.04 
 
 52.38 7.99 
 
 67.50 16.82 
 
 80.95 26.90 
 
 103.06 38.12 
 
 120.07 52.62 
 
 134.94 La Desperansedera de la Quebrada la Palma. Bo- 
 ring 3£ feet, loose sand ; 66 feet, clay, not very 
 
 firm 66.12 
 
 149.61 : 76.12 
 
 164.71 94.66 
 
 185.34 132.95 
 
 201.50 Panama, water on the surface. Boring 11 feet, 
 
 gravel; 24 feet 5 inches, slatt-stone 201.50 
 
 221.87 223.00 
 
 226.14 214.235 
 
 235.48 241.35 
 
 253.63 First limestone rock 284.20 
 
 264.28 356.770 
 
 273.18 389.700 
 
 280.26 425.95 
 
 287.01 461.525 
 
 288.97 519.391 
 
 292.99 Top of the Palma, and summit-level. Boring 5 
 
 feet, yellow clay ; 59 feet, stone, soft and loose. 
 
 No water 615.673 
 
 299.05 570.157 
 
 300.53 Second limestone rock 506.300 
 
 314.11 460.891 
 
 317.05 442.858 
 
 319.27 443.899 
 
408 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 Chains. Elevation in Eng. feei 
 
 332.25 410.524 
 
 336.92 To this point national lands 393.216 
 
 340.28 Third limestone rock. Boring 31^ feet, water ; 
 
 49 feet, limestone, soft and loose 850.776 
 
 358.50 311.152 
 
 361.40 318.235 
 
 370.55 291.419 
 
 373.85 295.160 
 
 382.86 . . . 283.352 
 
 401.04 269.236 
 
 409.30 258.378 
 
 413.51 261.486 
 
 423.75 Water on the surface. Boring 3 feet, sand ; 12 
 
 feet, earth 247.780 
 
 437.55 237.570 
 
 448.90 250.370 
 
 464.78 228.237 
 
 477.76 214.695 
 
 489.29 200.530 
 
 Between this and next, boring 5 feet, earth ; 10 
 
 feet, white clay ; 1 1 feet, water ; 38 feet, 
 soft stone. 
 
 506.22 184.511 
 
 510.53 186.869 
 
 519.47 180.244 
 
 533.04 170.161 
 
 543.25 159.311 
 
 545.98 160.411 
 
 553.85 158.736 
 
 In the next six stations the elevations do not differ 
 
 one foot. 
 
 604.82 153.461 
 
 612.62 160.077 
 
 622.54 Water on the surface. Boring 12 feet, sand and 
 
 hard stone. This station is in a hole of the . 
 
 Quebrada, very deep 149.553 
 
 627.27 150.052 
 
 630.32 149.336 
 
 634.20 157.102 
 
 638.86 147.044 
 
 643.31 154.785 
 
 685.55 143.343 
 
 661.35 155.076 
 
SURVEY FOR THE CANAL. 409 
 
 Chains. Elevation in Eng. feet. 
 
 664.47 140.243 
 
 671.22 151.185 
 
 675.86 139.352 
 
 685.93 150.927 
 
 692.55 146.977 
 
 696.91 148.569 
 
 712.85 144.436 
 
 716.17 149.152 
 
 723.29 142.994 
 
 728.29 148.552 
 
 739.95 139.702 
 
 749.10 164.360 
 
 756.40 142.560 
 
 760.80 144.830 
 
 766.80 141.177 
 
 770.61 Water at 8 feet. Boring 12 feet, black earth ; 22 
 
 feet, white clay ; 4 feet, stone 142.718 
 
 774.73 140.560 
 
 779.49 142.743 
 
 805.50 138.485 
 
 808.31 Water on the surface. Boring 5 feet, sand ; 15 
 
 feet, stone 124.310 
 
 812.01 139.152 
 
 828.77 133.802 
 
 832.24 134.377 
 
 837.43 130.994 
 
 841.76 129.486 
 
 846.45 , 129.994 
 
 In six stations there is a difference of but from 
 one to two feet. 
 880.12 Water on the surface. Boring 9 feet, loose sand ; 
 
 18 feet, soft stone 126.569 
 
 887.23 107.553 
 
 891.96 , 123.903 
 
 901.22 118.112 
 
 910.80 120.628 
 
 In four stations there is a difference of but one 
 foot. 
 
 933.74 Boring 8 feet, black earth ; 10 feet, white mud ; 
 
 18 feet^soft stone 
 
 957.62 117.178 
 
 971.48 108.802 
 
 976.30 135.168 
 
 Vol. I.— 3 F 35 
 
* 
 
 410 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 Chains. Elevation in Eng. reec 
 
 986.06 107.643 
 
 992.93 119.176 
 
 1001.03 108.576 
 
 1006.65 118.592 
 
 1014.28 108692 
 
 1033.51 124.808 
 
 1036.44 126.663 
 
 1043.06 141.416 
 
 1047.39 .... , 157.583 
 
 1062.87 118.042 
 
 1068.43 131.942 
 
 1077.69 120.584 
 
 1083.96 125.784 
 
 1100.19 135.709 
 
 1113.35 152.176 
 
 1128.97 127.201 
 
 1133.79 163.276 
 
 1140.94 129.776 
 
 1145.18 151.401 
 
 1156.44 129.335 
 
 1176.61 140.835 
 
 1190.87 129.396 
 
 1193.77 132.801 
 
 1203.21 128.093 
 
 1210.14 140.985 
 
 1223.50 128.243 
 
 The result of the whole is as follows : The length from the Pacific to ths 
 Lake of Nicaragua is 28,365§ yards, or 15? miles. 
 
 Feet. in. dec 
 
 The sum of the ascents is 1047 5.45 
 
 The sum of the descents is 919 2.4 
 
 The difference is the height of the lake above the Pacific 
 
 Ocean at low water 128 3.05 
 
 "We now come to the communication with the At- 
 lantic by means of the Lake of Nicaragua and the 
 River San Juan. The lake is ninety-five miles long, in 
 its broadest part about thirty, and averages, according 
 
ROUTE OF THE CANAL. 411 
 
 to Mr. Bailey's soundings, fifteen fathoms of water. 
 The length of the river, by measurement, with all its 
 windings, from the mouth of the lake to the sea, is 
 seventy-nine miles. There are no cataracts or falls ; 
 all the obstructions are from rapids, and it is at all 
 times navigable, both up and down, for piraguas draw- 
 ing from three to four feet of water. 
 
 From the lake to the river of Los Savalos, about 
 eighteen miles, the depth is from two to four fathoms. 
 Here commence the rapids of Toros, which extend one 
 mile, with water from one and a half to two fathoms. 
 The river is then clear for four miles, with an average 
 depth of from two to four fathoms. Then come the 
 rapids of the Old Castle, but little more than half a mile 
 in extent, with water from two to four fathoms. The 
 river is clear again for about two miles, with water from 
 two and a half to five fathoms, where begin the rapids 
 of Mico and Las Balas, connected and running into 
 each other, and both together not more than a mile, 
 with water from one to three fathoms. Then the river 
 is clear one mile and a half to the rapids of Machuca, 
 which extend a mile, and are the worst of all, the water 
 being more broken, from running over a broken rocky 
 bottom. The river then runs clear, and without any 
 obstruction for ten miles, with water from two to seven 
 fathoms, to the River San Carlos, and then eleven miles, 
 with some islands interspersed, with water from one to 
 six fathoms, to the River Serapequea, the measurements 
 of one fathom being about the points or bends, where 
 there is an accumulation of sand and mud. It then 
 continues seven miles clear, with water from two to five 
 fathoms, to the Rio Colorado. The River Colorado 
 runs out of the San Juan in another direction into the 
 Atlantic. The loss to the latter, according to measure- 
 
112 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 merit taken in the month of May, 1839, was twenty- 
 eight thousand one hundred and seventy-eight cubic 
 yards of water per minute, and in the month of July of 
 the same year, during the rising of the waters, it was 
 eighty-five thousand eight hundred and forty yards per 
 minute, which immense body might be saved to the 
 San Juan by damming up the mouth of the River Colo- 
 rado. From ihis point there are thirteen miles, with 
 soundings of from three to eight fathoms. The bottom 
 is of sand and mud, and there are many small islands 
 and aggregations of sand without trees, very easily 
 cleared away. The last thirteen miles might be re- 
 duced to ten by restoring the river to its old channel, 
 which has been filled up by collections, at points, of 
 drifted matter. An old master of a piragua told Mr. 
 B. that within his memory trees grew half a mile 
 back. The soundings were all taken with the plotting- 
 scale when the river was low, and the port of San Juan, 
 though small, Mr. Bailey considers unexceptionable. 
 
 The foregoing memoranda were placed in the hands 
 of my friend Mr. Horatio Allen (now engaged as en- 
 gineer on our Croton Aqueduct), who has kindly pre- 
 pared from them the plan opposite. 
 
 I ought perhaps to remark, for the benefit of those 
 who are not familiar with such plans, that in order to 
 bring the profile of the country within a small compass, 
 the vertical lines, which represent elevations and de- 
 pressions, are on a scale many times greater than the 
 base lines or horizontal distances. Of the former, the 
 scale is one thousand feet, and of the latter it is twen- 
 ty miles to the inch. This, of course, gives a distorted 
 view of the country; but, to preserve the relative pro- 
 portions, it would be necessary for the base line in the 
 plan to be one thousand times longer. 
 
 Th° whole length of the canal from the Lake of Nic- 
 
» \ « 
 
LOCKAGE OF THE CANAL. 413 
 
 aragua to the Pacific is fifteen and two third miles. 
 According to the plan, in the first eight miles from the 
 lake but one lock is necessary. In the next mile sixty- 
 four feet of lockage are required. In the next three 
 miles there are about two of deep cutting and one of 
 tunnel, and then a descent of two hundred feet in three 
 miles by lockage, to the Pacific. 
 
 Thus far of the canal across the isthmus. The Lake 
 of Nicaragua is navigable for ships of the largest class 
 down to the mouth of the River San Juan. This river 
 has an average fall of one and six sevenths feet per 
 mile to the Atlantic. If the bed of the river cannot be 
 cleared out, a communication can be made either by 
 lock and dam, or by a canal along tiie bank of the riv- 
 er. The latter would be more expensive, but, on ac- 
 count of the heavy floods of the rainy season, it is pref- 
 erable. 
 
 I am authorized to state that the physical obstruc- 
 tions of the country present no impediment to the ac- 
 complishment of this work. A canal large enough 
 for the passage of boats of the usual size could be 
 made at a trifling expense. A tunnel of the length 
 required is not considered a great work in the United 
 States. According to the plan of the Chesapeake and 
 Ohio Canal, a tunnel is contemplated upward of four 
 miles in length. The sole difficulty is the same which 
 would exist in any route in any other region of coun- 
 try, viz., the great dimensions of the excavation re- 
 quired for a ship canal. 
 
 The data here given are, of course, insufficient for 
 great accuracy ; but I present a rough estimate of the 
 cost of this work, furnished me with the plan. It is 
 predicated upon the usual contract prices in the United 
 States, and I think I am safe in saying that the cheap- 
 
414 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 ness of labour in Nicaragua will equalize any advanta- 
 ges and facilities that exist here. 
 The estimate is, 
 
 From the lake to the east end of the tunnel, from $8,000,000 to 10,000,000 
 
 Descent to the Pacific 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 
 
 From the lake to the Atlantic, by canal along the 
 
 bank of the river 10,000,000 to 12,000,000 
 
 $20,000,000 to 25,000,000 
 
 which is but about the sum contemplated as the cost of 
 our enlarged Erie Canal. 
 
 The idea of a communication between the Atlantic 
 and Pacific is not new. Columbus wore out the last 
 days of his checkered life in searching for a natural pas- 
 sage, and the vastness and sublimity of the enterprise 
 suited the daring imagination of the early Spaniards. 
 
 From the formation of the i ontinent and the falling 
 off in hoight of the range of the Andes, it has ever since 
 engaged the attention of reflecting men. Even during 
 the deathlike sleep of Spanish dominion a survey was 
 made under the direction of the captain-general ; but the 
 documents remained buried in the archives of Guati- 
 mala until the emancipation of the colonies, when they 
 were procured and published by Mr. Thomson, who 
 visited that country under a commission from the British 
 government.* 
 
 In 1825 an envoy extraordinary from the new repub- 
 lic of Central America called to it the special attention 
 of our government, requesting our co-operation in pref- 
 erence to that of any other nation, and proposed, by 
 
 * Thomson's Guatimala. By this survey the work appears much more easy 
 than by Mr. Bailey's, but it purports to have been taken by the water level. Mr. 
 Bailey knew of its existence, and had been the means of procuring it for Mr 
 Thomson. 
 
EFFORTS TO MAKE THE CANAL. 415 
 
 means of a treaty, " effectually to secure its advantages 
 to the two nations." 
 
 A charge d'affaires was appointed by our government, 
 who was specially instructed to assure the government 
 of Central America of the deep interest taken by that 
 of the United States in the execution of an undertaking 
 " so highly calculated to diffuse an extensive influence 
 on the affairs of mankind," and to investigate with the 
 greatest care the facilities offered by the route, and to 
 remit the information to the United States. 
 
 Unfortunately, being far removed from the capital, 
 none of our diplomatic agents ever visited the spot ; but 
 in 1826, as appears by documents accompanying the 
 report of a committee of the House of Representatives 
 on a memorial " praying the aid of the government of 
 the United States in procuring the construction of a ship 
 channel or navigable canal across the isthmus between 
 North and South America," a contract was made by 
 the government of Central America with the agent of a 
 New-York company, under the name, style, and des- 
 ignation of the " Central American and United States' 
 Atlantic and Pacific Canal Company." The names of 
 Dewitt Clinton and others of the most distinguished men 
 of that day appear as associates, but the scheme fell 
 through. 
 
 In 1830 the government of Central America made 
 another contract with a society of the Netherlands, un- 
 der the special patronage of the King of Holland, who 
 embarked in it a large amount of his private fortune ; 
 but, owing to the difficulties between Holland and Bel- 
 gium, and the separation of the two countries, this also 
 fell through. 
 
 On the third of March, 1835, a resolution passed the 
 Senate of the United States, " that the president be re- 
 Vol. I.— 3 G 
 
416 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL 
 
 quested to consider the expediency of opening negotia- 
 tions with the governments of other nations, and partic- 
 ularly with the governments of Central America and 
 Grenada, for the purpose of effectually protecting, by 
 suitable treaty stipulations with them, such individuals 
 or companies as may undertake, to open a communica- 
 tion between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, by the 
 construction of a ship canal across the isthmus which 
 connects North and South America, and of securing 
 forever, by such stipulations, the free and equal right ol 
 navigating such canal to all nations, on the payment of 
 such reasonable tolls as may be established, to compen- 
 sate the capitalists who may engage in such undertaking 
 and complete the work." 
 
 Under this resolution a special agent was appointed 
 by General Jackson, who was instructed to proceed 
 without delay by the most direct route to Port San 
 Juan, ascend the River San Juan to the Lake of Nica- 
 ragua, and thence by the contemplated route of com- 
 munication, by canal or railroad, to the Pacific Ocean. 
 After having completed an examination of the route 
 of the canal, he was directed to repair to Guatimala, 
 the capital of that republic, and, with the aid of Mr. 
 De Witt, the charge d'affaires of the United States, 
 procure all such public documents connected with the 
 subject as might be had, and especially copies of all 
 such laws as may have been passed to incorporate com- 
 panies to carry into effect the undertaking of any con- 
 vention or conventions that may have been entered into 
 with a foreign power upon the subject, and of any plans, 
 surveys, or estimates in relation to it. From Guatima- 
 la he was directed to proceed to Panama, and make 
 observations and inquiries relative to the proposed 
 connexion of the two oceans at that point. Unfor- 
 
PROBABLE COST OF THE CANAL. 417 
 
 tunately, from the difficulty of procuring a conveyance 
 to the River San Juan, the agent went to Panama 
 first, from adverse circumstances never reached Nica- 
 ragua, and died on his return to this country, before he 
 reached Washington ; but, from his imperfect report, it 
 appears to be the result of his observations that a ship 
 canal was not practicable across the Isthmus of Pana- 
 ma. It is therefore valuable as turning attention, which 
 was before divided between the two routes, exclusively 
 to that by the Lake of Nicaragua. In regard to this 
 route much has been written, many speculations and 
 even estimates of the cost of constructing the canal 
 have been made, but the actual knowledge on the sub- 
 ject has been very limited. In fact, the foregoing notes 
 from Mr. Bailey's survey are the most reliable data 
 that have ever been published. I can but hope that the 
 same liberal spirit which prompted the sending out of an 
 agent may induce our government to procure from Mr. 
 Bailey and give to the world the whole of his maps and 
 drawings. 
 
 As yet the subject of this communication has not 
 taken any strong hold upon the public mind. It will be 
 discussed, frowned upon, sneered at, and condemned as 
 visionary and impracticable. Many in established bu- 
 siness will oppose it as deranging the course of their 
 trade. Capitalists will not risk their money in an unset- 
 tled and revolutionary country. The pioneers will be 
 denounced and ridiculed as Clinton was when he staked 
 his political fortunes upon the " big ditch" that was to 
 connect the Hudson with Lake Erie ; but, if the peace 
 of Europe be not disturbed, I am persuaded that the time 
 is not far distant when the attention of the whole civil- 
 ized and mercantile world will be directed toward it ; 
 and steamboats will give the first impulse. In less than 
 
418 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 a year, English mailboats will be steaming to Cuba, 
 Jamaica, and the principal ports of Spanish America, 
 touching once a month at San Juan and Panama. To 
 men of leisure and fortune, jaded with rambling over 
 the ruins of the Old World, a new country will be open- 
 ed. After a journey on the Nile, a day in Petra, and a 
 bath in the Euphrates, English and American travellers 
 will be bitten by moschetoes on the Lake of Nicaragua, 
 and drink Champagne and Burton ale on the desolate 
 shores of San Juan on the Pacific. The random re- 
 marks of the traveller for amusement, and the observa- 
 tions of careful and scientific men, will be brought to- 
 gether, a mass of knowledge will be accumulated and 
 made public, and in my opinion the two oceans will be 
 united. 
 
 In regard to the advantages of this work I shall 
 not go into any details ; I will remark, however, that 
 on one point there exists a great and very general er- 
 ror. In the documents submitted to Congress before 
 referred to, it is stated that " the trade of the United 
 States and of Europe with China, Japan, and the In- 
 dian Archipelago would be facilitated and increased by 
 reason of shortening the distance above four thousand 
 miles ;" and in that usually correct work, the Modern 
 Traveller, it is stated that from Europe "the distance to 
 India and China would be shortened more than 10,000 
 miles !" but by measurement on the globe the distance 
 from Europe to India and China will not be shortened 
 at all. This is so contrary to the general impression 
 that I have some hesitation in making the assertion, 
 but it is a point on which the reader may satisfy himself 
 by referring to the globe. The trade of Europe with 
 India and Canton, then, will not necessarily pass through 
 this channel from any saving of distance ; but, from con- 
 
ADVANTAGES OF THE CANAL. 419 
 
 versations with masters of vessels and other practical 
 men, I am induced to believe that, by reason of more 
 favourable latitudes for winds and currents, it will be 
 considered preferable to vhe passage by the Cape of 
 Good Hope. At all events, all the trade of Europe 
 with the western coast of the Pacific and the Polyne- 
 sian Islands, and all her whale-fishing; and all the trade 
 of the United States with the Pacific, without the ex- 
 ception of a single vessel, would pass through it; the 
 amount of saving on which, in time, interest of money, 
 navigating expenses aind insurance, by avoiding the 
 stormy passage around. Cape Horn, I have no data for 
 calculating. 
 
 On broad grounds, this work has been well charac- 
 terized as " the mightiest event in favour of the peace- 
 ful intercourse of natitons which the physical circum- 
 stances of the globe present to the enterprise of man." 
 It will compose the distracted country of Central 
 America; turn the sword, which is now drenching it 
 with blood, into a pruning-hook; remove the prejudi- 
 ces of the inhabitants by bringing them into close con- 
 nexion with people of every nation ; furnish them with a 
 motive and a reward for industry, and inspire them with 
 a taste for making money, which, after all, opprobrious 
 as it is sometimes considered, does more to civilize and 
 keep the world at peace than any other influence what- 
 ever. A great city will grow up in the heart of the 
 country, with streams issuing from it, fertilizing as 
 they roll into the interior ; her magnificent mountains, 
 and valleys now weeping in desolation and waste, will 
 smile and be glad. The commerce of the world will 
 be changed, the barren region of Terra del Fuego 
 be forgotten, Patagonia become a land of fable, and 
 Cape Horn live only in the recollection of sailors and 
 T 36 
 
420 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 insurers. Steamboats will go smoking along the rich 
 coasts of Chili, Peru, Equador, Grenada, Guatimala, 
 California, our own Oregon Territory, and the Russian 
 possessions on the borders of Behring^s Straits. New 
 markets will be opened for products of agriculture and 
 manufactures, and the intercourse and communion of 
 numerous and immense bodies of the human race will 
 assimilate and improve the character of nations. The 
 whole world is interested in this work. I would not 
 epeak of it with sectional or even national feeling ; but 
 if Europe is indifferent, it would be glory surpassing 
 the conquest of kingdoms to make this greatest enter- 
 prise ever attempted by human force entirely our own 
 work ; nay, more, to make it, as it was once attempted, 
 entirely the work of our city ; for it is to furnish a new 
 field for the action of that tremendous power which, 
 first brought into being under our own eyes, is now 
 changing the face of the whole moral, social, and po- 
 litical world. Is it too much to hope that, in honour 
 of services poorly paid but never to be forgotten, a 
 steamboat, bearing the glorious name of Fulton, may 
 start from the spot where he made his first experiment, 
 and open the great " highway of nations" to the Pa- 
 cific Ocean? 
 
 Thursday, February 27. At three o'clock in the 
 morning we left the yard of the licenciado. The in- 
 habitants of the town were still sleeping. At daylight 
 we passed a village, where, before the door of one 
 of the houses, a traveller was making preparation to 
 set out on a journey. We accosted him, and he said 
 that he would overtake us on the road. At eight 
 o'clock we reached a house, where we stopped to 
 breakfast. The hospitality of Central America is in 
 the country and in the villages ; here I never knew 
 
CENTRAL AMERICAN HOSPITALITY. 421 
 
 it to fail. The traveller may stop where he pleases, 
 and have house, fire, and water free, paying only for 
 the articles which he consumes. We had milk in 
 abundance, and the charge was six cents. Before 
 we resumed our journey the traveller whom we had 
 passed at the last village arrived, and, after he had 
 taken chocolate, we all started together. He was a 
 merchant, on his way to Leon, accoutred in the style 
 of the country, with pistols, sword, spatterdashes, and 
 spurs ; and as he was then suffering from fever and 
 ague, wore a heavy woollen poncha, a striped cotton 
 pocket-handkerchief around his head, and over it two 
 straw hats, one inside of the other. A young man, 
 mounted, and armed with a gun, was driving a cargo- 
 mule, and three mozos with machetes followed on foot. 
 The whole of this region along the coast of the Pa- 
 cific is called the Tierra Caliente. At half past two, 
 after a desperately hot and dusty ride, without any wa- 
 ter, we reached a hacienda, the name of which I have 
 lost. It was built of poles and plastered with mud. 
 The major-domo was a white man, in bad health, but 
 very obliging, who lived by selling occasionally a fowl 
 or a few eggs to a traveller, and corn and water for 
 mules. There were no more of those beautiful streams 
 which had given such a charm to my journey in Costa 
 Rica. The earth was parched ; water was a luxury sold 
 for money. There was a well on the hacienda, and I 
 paid two cents apiece for our mules to drink. There 
 was a bedstead in the hut ; at four o'clock I lay down 
 for a few moments' rest, and did not wake till five the 
 next morning. On a line with the head of my bed was 
 a long log, squared and hollowed out, with a broad lid 
 on the top, and secured by a lock and key, containing 
 the corn and household valuables, and on the top of it 
 
422 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 were sleeping a woman, rather yellow, and a little girl. 
 I took chocolate, and in a few minutes was in the sad- 
 dle. Very soon we came in sight of the highlands of 
 Buombacho, a high, dark range of mountains, behind 
 which stood Grenada, which in half an hour we en- 
 tered. Built by those hardy adventurers who con- 
 quered America, even yet it is a monument worthy of 
 their fame. The houses are of stone, large and spa- 
 cious, with balconies to the windows of turned wood, 
 and projecting roofs, with pendent ornaments of wood 
 curiously carved. 
 
 I rode to the house of Don Frederico Derbyshire, to 
 whom I had a letter from friends in New-York. He 
 had gone to the United States ; but his clerk, a young 
 Englishman, offered me the house, gave me a room, 
 and in a few moments my travelling clothes were off 
 and I was in the street. My first visit was to Mr. Bai- 
 ley, who lived nearly opposite, with an English lady, 
 whose husband had died two years before, and who, 
 besides carrying on his business, received into her house 
 the few Englishmen or foreigners whom chance brought 
 to that place. My appearance at Grenada created sur- 
 prise, and I was congratulated upon my liberation or 
 escape from prison. News had reached there that I 
 had been arrested (I do not know for what), and was in 
 prison in San Salvador ; and as all news had a party 
 bias, it was told as another of the outrages of General 
 Morazan. The house of this lady was a comfort to a 
 battered traveller. I could have remained there a 
 month ; but, unfortunately, I heard news which did not 
 allow me much time for rest. The black clouds which 
 hung over the political horizon had burst, and civil war 
 had broken out anew. The troops of Nicaragua, four- 
 teen hundred strong, had marched into Honduras, and 
 
HORRORS OF CIVIL WAR. 423 
 
 uniting with those of the latter state, had routed, with 
 great slaughter, the troops of Morazan stationed at Ta- 
 guzegalpa. The latter consisted of but four hundred 
 and fifty men, under the command of General Cabanas, 
 and the records of civil wars among Christian people 
 nowhere present a bloodier page. No quarter was giv- 
 en or asked. After the battle, fourteen officers were 
 shot in cold blood, and not a single prisoner lived as a 
 monument of mercy. Cabanas, fighting desperately, 
 escaped. Colonel Galindo, to whom I have before re- 
 ferred as having visited the ruins of Copan, known both 
 in this country and in Europe for his investigation of 
 the antiquities of that country, and to whom I had a let- 
 ter of introduction from Mr. Forsyth, was murdered. 
 After the battle, in attempting to escape, with two dra- 
 goons and a servant-boy, he passed through an Indian 
 village, was recognised, and they were all murdered 
 with machetes. A disgraceful quarrel ensued between 
 Quejanos and Ferrera, the leaders of the Nicaragua 
 and Honduras troops, for the paltry spoils ; and the for- 
 mer got Ferrera into his power, and for twenty-four 
 hours had him under sentence to be shot. Afterward 
 the matter was accommodated, and the Nicaraguans 
 returned to Leon in triumph, with three hundred and 
 fifty muskets, several stands of colours, and as a proof 
 of the way in which they had done their work, without 
 a single prisoner. 
 
 At San Salvador there had been an ominous move- 
 ment. General Morazan had resigned his office of chief 
 of the state, retaining command of the army, and sent 
 his wife and family to Chili. The crisis was at hand ; 
 the notes of war sounded fearfully, and it was all im- 
 portant for the prosecution of my ultimate designs and 
 
424 INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 
 
 for my personal safety to reach Guatimala while yet 
 the road was open. 
 
 I would have gone on immediately, but felt that 1 might 
 exert myself too far, and break down at an awkward 
 place. In the afternoon, in company with Mr. Bailey 
 and Mr. Wood, I walked down to the lake. At the 
 foot of the street by which we entered, built out into the 
 lake, was an old fort, dismantled, and overgrown with 
 bushes and trees, a relic of the daring Spaniards who 
 nrst drove the Indians from the lake ; probably the very 
 fortress that Cordova built, and in its ruins beautifully 
 picturesque. Under the walls, and within the shade of 
 the fort and trees growing near it, the Indian women 
 of Grenada were washing ; garments of every colour 
 were hanging on the bushes to dry and waving in the 
 wind ; women were wading out with their water-jars, 
 passing beyond the breakers to obtain it clear of sand ; 
 men were swimming, and servants were bringing horses 
 and mules to drink, all together presenting a beautifully 
 animated picture. There were no boats on the water ; 
 but about half a dozen piraguas, the largest of which 
 was forty feet long, and drew three feet of water, were 
 lying on the shore. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
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 VOL. I. 
 
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 NEW-YORKl 
 
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