GUATEMALA, THE COUxNTRY OF THE FUTURE 



619 



beautiful cascades; above all, the majes- 

 tic head of Santa Maria lazily puffing 

 out soft clouds of steam. 



whe;re: nature: provides stkam he:at 



Still further on the road for miles 

 skirts the edge of a deep ravine, and, 

 looking down hundreds of feet, one sees 

 great columns of steam, rising geyser- 

 like, at regular intervals. Along the way 

 from every little crack and crevice in the 

 rocks small puffs of steam also issue, 

 and we suddenly shiver as the realization 

 is borne in upon us that the path we so 

 gayly pursue lies over the heart of a Hve 

 volcano, which at any moment may again 

 bring devastation and death to this lovely 

 land. 



Here and there were groups of sleep- 

 ing Indians, huddled together wherever 

 steam was coming from the ground. If 

 one must sleep under the stars on frosty 

 nights, it is surely convenient to find 

 already prepared a system of steam heat- 

 ing quite equal, to all intents and pur- 

 poses, to that which in modern homes is 

 the cause of so much trouble and ex- 

 pense. 



This is the great highway from the 

 interior .o the coast, and a never-ending 

 stream of traffic moves constantly up 

 and down, presenting a most interesting 

 scene ; chiefly Indians, heavily laden with 

 every conceivable article : great loads of 

 curious water-jars, earthen pottery, cof- 

 fee, sugar, fruit, and vegetables. Then 

 large droves of hogs and fifty or a hun- 

 dred mules. Most interesting of all to 

 me were the innumerable teams of oxen, 

 patiently drawing great creaking loads 

 of raw cotton destined for the far-away 

 factory. 



The lakes of Guatemala are not numer- 

 ous, but are very beautiful. We have 

 already glimpsed at Amatitlan, and, still 

 further off, again up into the mountains, 

 lies the crater lake of Atitlan, incom- 

 parable for beauty and magnificence of 

 scenery. 



To avoid the heat of the day — for the 

 season was alreadv advanced — we ar- 

 ranged to journey thither by night. The 

 proceeding was a little unconventional 



and rather a shock to our native friends ; 

 but, then, anything was to be expected 

 of "gringos," or foreigners. So just at 

 sunset we mounted our mules at the sta- 

 tion of Cocales and started gayly off on 

 our 30-mile ride. Up and down hill, 

 through the beautiful country bathed in 

 moonlight ; fording numerous mountain 

 streams looking like cascades of silver; 

 through silent Indian villages, where the 

 inhabitants were all sleeping in the open 

 air in front of their queer little bamboo 

 huts. The only sound to break the si- 

 lence which brooded over the land was 

 the plaintive call of the whippoorwill 

 and the occasional song of the nightin- 

 gale. 



ATITLAN, the: CRATER LAKE 



At midnight we reached the borders 

 of the lake, and at the village of San 

 Lucas took a little steamboat that was in 

 waiting to carry us across to the hotel 

 on the opposite shore. The great ex- 

 panse of water lay like molten silver in 

 the moonlight, the mountains standing 

 in serried ranks like giant sentinels to 

 guard this treasure. A soft white haze 

 hung over all, but not too heavy to hide 

 the perfect outline of the two gigantic 

 volcanoes, Atitlan and San Pedro, rising 

 from the water's edge in one magnificent 

 sweep to the height of 12,000 feet. 



As we approached the shore a pictur- 

 esque scene was revealed. The little 

 hotel stood out white and clear against 

 the dark background of the hill, and be- 

 low, at the landing place, a group of 

 Indians awaited our arrival, the red glare 

 from many torches casting a lurid glow 

 over the picture. 



Owned by a German, whose business 

 and pleasure it is to raise countless cana- 

 ries, this little inn is one of the best in 

 Guatemala. The office presents a unique 

 appearance. From every corner comes 

 the twittering of the tiny feathered in- 

 habitants of many cages, and the walls 

 are curiously papered from floor to ceil- 

 ing with $50,000 worth of shares of a 

 steamboat company, whose boats were to 

 have plied the lake between San Lucas 

 and Panajachel, but which failed almost 



