JOURNEY TO GUATEMALA. 



75 



precisely in the shape of a cross, and a large white flower 

 called Jior de la cruz, (flower of the cross.) Our mules 

 being in good spirits, from the rest they had enjoyed the 

 day before, we reached the village of St. Pablo about 

 mid-day, having travelled a distance of six leagues. The 

 inhabitants were chiefly Indians, living in little huts, and 

 almost in a state of nature ; the men, and even many of 

 the women, being, from the waist upwards, totally un- 

 covered. We stopped at the house of the alcalde, a Creole, 

 who inhabited a hut, very little better than the others, 

 with his family and his aged father. This old man (the 

 father) I was assured had reached the venerable age of a 

 hundred and two years. He was a native of Spain, and 

 had served his sovereign as a soldier for the space of fifty 

 years. His senses were only partially impaired ; for 

 though his sight was dim, his hearing was good, and in 

 conversation he was perfectly coherent. He had never 

 obtained any pension from the Spanish Government ; 

 "and now," said the old man, "as I am not able to work, 

 my son has taken upon himself to support me. Dios se 

 lo paque (God reward him!)" 



The daughter of the alcalde, a robust girl bordering on 

 twenty, was occupied in making tortillas, or corn cakes. 

 These cakes are an excellent substitute for bread in a 

 country where the cultivation of wheat is very limited. 

 As the preparation of them is one of the most important 

 concerns of a country household in Central America, it 

 may not be uninteresting to describe the process. The 

 corn is first moistened in water slightly impregnated with 

 lime, which removes the husk. It is then placed on a 

 stone of oblong shape, the surface of which is rather 

 rough, and curving inwards. It is now ground into a 

 paste by means of a stone roller, larger in the middle than 

 at the ends, and held by the extremities. This paste is 

 ground two or three times, and then formed by the hand 

 into very thin cakes, which are placed on a heated plate 

 of iron, where, in a few seconds, they are sufficiently 



