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NARRATIVE OF A 



was leaving my chamber, the first person I met was the 

 curate. He had been lying in wait for me ; there was an 

 arch smile on his countenance • he saluted me with the 

 usual buenos diets, and expressed himself with the follow- 

 ing words, " Did you not ask for a miracle ? and did you 

 not require that it should be a safe and direct conveyance 

 to Guatemala? Well, sir, your conditions have been ful- 

 filled. I have just learned the arrival in this town of a 

 convoy of mules laden with tobacco, which, as soon as a 

 party of soldiers appointed by the Government to escort 

 them shall arrive, will proceed to the capital direct. Could 

 you desire a better opportunity ? will you now believe ?" 



I confess that the statement of the curate struck me with 

 surprise. I affected to believe that he was jesting, but he 

 soon compelled me to admit the truth of his assertion. On 

 inquiring, however, into the particulars of the case, I 

 learned that eight days at least would elapse before the 

 arrival of the escort ; that the rate of travelling of the con- 

 voy would never exceed eight or nine miles a day ; that 

 they encamped in the open fields ; and that to get to Gua- 

 temala in this way, would be the business of a month. 

 This being the case, I told the curate that it would not do, 

 and that the miracle was no miracle after all. 



The town of Esquipulas — in itself little better than a 

 village — is remarkable, not only for the church described 

 above, but for a fair that is held there once a year. The 

 principal street consists of two rows of little shops, or 

 booths, which are hired out during the fair to the mer- 

 chants, or dealers, that repair thither with their goods. 

 The concourse of people at that time is so great, that the 

 town is inadequate to their accommodation, and they are 

 obliged to encamp in the open fields. The number, I was 

 assured, is seldom less than twenty thousand. With all 

 these advantages, the town of Esquipulas, singular as it 

 may seem, instead of exhibiting any signs of prosperity, 

 has all the appearance of a poor and insignificant village. 



