JOURNEY TO GUATEMALA. 



53 



ed mule during a whole day, being scarcely that which 

 a rail-car would advance in half an hour. 



My first inquiries on arriving at Izabal were in 

 reference to the political state of the country, and the 

 chances of reaching the capital without being mo- 

 lested. On this subject I obtained but little informa- 

 tion, except, indeed, that the insurrection had not 

 reached that part of the country. The tranquillity 

 of the neighbourhood had not been disturbed, but of 

 the occurrences in the interior no late intelligence had 

 been received. 



After duly considering the circumstances of the case, 

 Mr. M., the English gentleman with whom during 

 our passage in the steamboat I had formed an inti- 

 macy, and myself, resolved to undertake the journey. 

 A Spanish gentleman and merchant, Don Jose * * * 

 whom we met with at Don Valentin's, was induced 

 to join the party. He had a quantity of goods with 

 him sufficient to load a dozen mules, and was desirous, 

 in the furtherance of his commercial pursuits, of pro- 

 ceeding to Guatemala. 



The first step was to procure the necessary number 

 of mules. This, after a couple of days, was accom- 

 plished 5 and all other preparations being now made, 

 we were ready to commence our journey. 



Previously to leaving Izabal, I felt it in some sort 

 a duty to visit a spot calculated to inspire the most 

 melancholy reflections. It was the grave of Mr. Shan- 

 non, formerly Charge d'Affaires of the United States 

 to Guatemala, and his niece. This gentleman had 

 arrived at Izabal, with his wife and the young lady 

 just mentioned, on his way to the capital. They had 

 scarcely set foot on shore, when a sad instance oc- 

 curred of the mortiferous nature of the climate here, 

 not inferior, in this respect, to that of Balize. The 

 niece, a young and blooming girl, full of health, was 

 attacked by the fever peculiar to the country ^ and in 



