74 



NARRATIVE OP A 



CHAPTER X. 



Departure from Gualan. — St. Pablo. — The Centenarian. — " Tortillas."-— 

 Goitres. — Town of Sacapa. — A Dilemma. — Change of Route. — Valley 

 and Town of Chiquimula. — Cabildos. — The Cautious Ladino. — Moun- 

 tain of Saltepeque. — The Devout Guide. 



Prom the information we were able to collect in Gua- 

 lan with respect to the movements of Carrera and his 

 party, it did not appear that there was any actual danger 

 in continuing our journey to Guatemala. The curate 

 of Tocoy, however, who yet smarted under the injuries 

 inflicted on him by the insurgents, warned us to be on 

 our guard, lest we should fall into their hands, and related 

 so many instances of their rapacity and cruelty, that he 

 almost shook the resolution we had taken of proceeding. 



It was not without a feeling of regret that we parted 

 from Don Juan and his family, by whom we had been 

 so hospitably and agreeably entertained. !W e were dis- 

 missed by them, and by the Padre, or curate, with the 

 best wishes for our welfare ; the latter observing that he 

 probably would see us in Sacapa, a place on our route 

 ten leagues distant, whither he proposed going as soon as 

 he should be satisfied of the safety of the road, and beyond 

 which, he believed, we could not pass. 



That morning we followed for a few leagues the eourse 

 of the Gualan, the banks of which, in some places, rise to 

 a height of a hundred feet above the level of the river. 

 We then proceeded without any incident through a coun- 

 try similar to that already described. The only object 

 that attracted my notice was a tree, of which several spe- 

 cimens occurred, called arbol de la cruz, having a leaf 



