JOURNEY TO GUATEMALA. 



45 



could not be more poor and homely : the only seat I was 

 able to procure, being a barrel set on end. My compan- 

 ions accommodated themselves on an old chest. He in- 

 sisted on our taking something to drink, and gave us 

 some gin and water out of a calabash. He then, agreea- 

 bly to our request, gave directions for the people to bring 

 to him whatever fruit or vegetables they could spare ; and 

 in a short time, a much larger quantity than we wanted 

 was supplied. This we procured for a mere trifle. We 

 also obtained from the Alcalde a couple of fowls, for 

 which he refused for some time taking any compensation. 

 The two articles we most wished for — milk and wheat 

 bread — could not be procured : the first they only had at 

 certain seasons of the year; the other was a luxury ut- 

 terly unknown there. 



On our way back, we took a better view of the hamlet, 

 and were pleased with its picturesque and primitive ap- 

 pearance. There was a fine spring of fresh water gushing 

 out from the rocks in a shady place. The huts were scat- 

 tered round without any order, each with one or two cocoa 

 trees in front to protect it from the sun, and a patch of 

 cultivated ground in the rear for raising vegetables. The 

 inhabitants of either sex wore scarcely any clothing. We 

 saw nobody at work, though it was not a holy day ; yet 

 they looked quite happy and free from care ; and in this 

 quiet and secluded state, apart from the rest of the world, 

 they seemed to live forgetting and forgotten, 



