JOURNEY TO GUATEMALA. 



63 



CHAPTER IX. 



Fording of a River. — The " Hacienda." — A Natural Park. — Apprehen- 

 sions on the Road. — Gualan. — A Christening. — The Curate ofTocoy. — 

 The Fiesta. — St. Isidro. — Rural Theatricals. 



Our route led us still through a mountainous tract j but 

 less wild and woody, and diversified by the frequent oc- 

 currence of little plantations of maize. It was a series of 

 hills sloping into picturesque vallies, where some limpid 

 rivulet might be seen gleaming through the reeds and 

 bushes that fringed its banks. As we proceeded, we de- 

 scended into an extensive plain, called the valley of Gua- 

 lan ; and here, some further signs of human industry were 

 visible in the culture of the soil. An occasional glimpse 

 was now obtained of the river Gualan, which traverses 

 the plain along a channel worn deep by the rapidity of the 

 current. On approaching the banks, which, except at the 

 fording-place, are abrupt and precipitous, some doubts 

 were entertained as to the practicability of the ford, for 

 there was no bridge ; but our guide, pushing his mule into 

 the stream, led the way, and was followed by the whole 

 party. This, however, from the plunging and splashing 

 of the mules, as they waded through, breast high, was not 

 accomplished without some difficulty, nor without a little 

 wetting. 



From the opposite bank onwards, for a few miles, the 

 road gradually ascended, till it terminated in an eminence, 

 affording a wide and delightful view of the plain and river 

 we had left behind. It was a fair and lovely land, smiling 

 with verdant meads and shady groves, where a virgin 

 soil, as yet scarcely disturbed by the labours of the hus- 



