JOURNEY TO GUATEMALA. 



69 



passes through the plaza, or square, in the centre of the 

 town. This plaza is decorated by a* fountain, and con- 

 tains the church, as also the ayuntamiento, or town- 

 hall. The town is situated near the banks of the river 

 Gualan, and is the largest on the route to the capital. 

 Much of the business between the coast and the interior 

 passes through the hands of agents residing in this place. 



My companion, the ecclesiastic, was the curate of a 

 neighbouring town called Tocoy, and had been com- 

 pelled by the political troubles of the times to abandon his 

 flock, and take refuge in Gualan. The town where he 

 resided had been entered five times by the insurgents un- 

 der Carrera, and each time his house had been plundered, 

 under the pretext that he was a friend and partisan of the 

 Government. The poor curate, thus reduced to utter 

 poverty, had found no sympathy among his parishioners, 

 and, in a fit of disgust, had left them and the place, with 

 the fixed resolution of never returning. 



He seemed, however, by no means dejected by his re- 

 verses, and in the afternoon was the first to propose our 

 setting out for the place where the fiesta in honor of Saint 

 Isidro was to be celebrated. 



About two miles out of town there was a small estate, 

 the residence of an old Spanish officer, who had closed his 

 military career by coming to Central America and turn- 

 ing farmer. He it was who had prepared the fete in 

 question ; he had caused the image of the Saint to be 

 transferred from the church to his house, and had even 

 composed some verses on the occasion. Don Juan and 

 his friends having been invited, a party was formed of 

 three ladies and nine gentlemen, including my two trav- 

 elling companions and myself. We went on horseback, 

 and took with us the maestro de capilla and his band. 

 Dona Chonita rode in an English saddle on a spirited 

 horse, which she managed with considerable skill. Her 

 dress was not a riding habit, but a short silk gown, a hat 

 with a profusion of black feathers, and a sort of scarf, 



