﻿VOLCANO-GIRDED 
  SALVADOR 
  

  

  191 
  

  

  Photograph 
  from 
  

   IZALCO, 
  THE) 
  SAFETY-VALVE 
  OE 
  SALVADOR 
  

  

  \ 
  da 
  m; 
  

  

  Some 
  years 
  ago 
  the 
  volcano 
  Izalco 
  ceased 
  its 
  mild 
  daily 
  eruption. 
  With 
  the 
  loss 
  of 
  its 
  

   safety-valve, 
  El 
  Salvador 
  was 
  imperiled. 
  Soon 
  another 
  volcano 
  erupted, 
  with 
  great 
  disaster 
  

   to 
  neighboring 
  towns 
  and 
  coffee 
  estates, 
  while 
  a 
  terrible 
  earthquake 
  nearly 
  demolished 
  the 
  

   capital. 
  

  

  American. 
  So 
  were 
  the 
  sixty 
  Indian 
  

   families 
  living 
  on 
  the 
  estate. 
  

  

  The 
  Salvadorian 
  aristocracy 
  is 
  of 
  Span- 
  

   ish 
  and 
  other 
  European 
  blood, 
  many 
  

   Britishers, 
  Frenchmen, 
  Belgians, 
  Italians, 
  

   and 
  Germans 
  having 
  married 
  into 
  the 
  old 
  

   Spanish-Colonial 
  families 
  ; 
  but 
  the 
  masses 
  

   are 
  of 
  Americ 
  stock, 
  with 
  a 
  Spanish 
  ad- 
  

   mixture 
  — 
  that 
  stock 
  we 
  loosely 
  call 
  In- 
  

   dian. 
  Salvador 
  boasts 
  of 
  having 
  very 
  

   little 
  African 
  blood. 
  

  

  Often 
  on 
  the 
  highway 
  I 
  met 
  a 
  bronzed 
  

  

  man 
  or 
  woman 
  with 
  those 
  pronounced 
  

   features 
  and 
  unique 
  profile 
  typical 
  of 
  the 
  

   ancient 
  Maya 
  people 
  whose 
  temples, 
  in 
  

   jungle-clad 
  ruin, 
  are 
  strewn 
  from 
  Hon- 
  

   duras 
  to 
  Yucatan. 
  Such 
  place 
  names 
  as 
  

   Chalatenango, 
  Cuscatlan, 
  Usulutan, 
  and 
  

   their 
  like 
  hark 
  back 
  to 
  the 
  shadowy 
  past. 
  

   In 
  the 
  evening, 
  we 
  sat 
  in 
  the 
  courtyard 
  

   under 
  a 
  brilliant 
  canopy 
  of 
  stars, 
  listen- 
  

   ing 
  to 
  alluring 
  Spanish 
  songs 
  with 
  guitar 
  

   accompaniment 
  and 
  sometimes 
  a 
  sere- 
  

   nade 
  by 
  the 
  marimba 
  players. 
  

  

  