JOURNEY TO GUATEMALA. 



93 



a good meal, so desirable after an uninterrupted ride of 

 seven hours. 



Leaving el Sacario, we travelled through a broken, rug- 

 ged country, intersected by so many brooks and torrents, 

 that we crossed about twenty of them in the course of the 

 morning. Here and there, delightfully romantic spots . oc- 

 curred, where a refreshing shade, and a rill of cool translu- 

 cent water murmuring over a bed of rock, seemed to in- 

 vite the wayfarer to rest, and breathe awhile, after the 

 fatigue of travelling in a burning sun. Our route, how- 

 ever, was not enlivened by the appearance of a single vil- 

 lage, or even a house, till about noon, when we came to a 

 considerable hacienda, or estate, called Amayo. 



This is one of the finest estates in the country, and is 

 the property of Don Joaquin San Martin, late Vice-Chief, 

 or Governor, of the State of Guatemala. Don Joaquin 

 happened to be on the estate, and to our application for 

 permission to rest under his roof for an hour or two, he 

 replied in the most civil manner, that " his house was at 

 our disposal." Nor was this an empty compliment, for he, 

 at the same time, ordered dinner to be prepared for Mr. M. 

 and me, and that care should be taken of the arrieros and 

 the mules. This repast, which was served up on a long 

 table, with a bench on each side, we took in a spacious 

 hall, where, besides some furniture of a rude and primitive 

 fashion, there were instruments of agriculture of various 

 kinds, and saddles, bridles, swords, fowling-pieces, and 

 hammocks. 



The house was a large substantial building, with the 

 usual court in the centre, surrounded by a corridor. In 

 the rear of the house was a large yard, or enclosure, in 

 which two or three hundred horses were undergoing the 

 operation of being marked. The greater part were colts, 

 as wild as if in a state of nature, and as nimble as deer. 

 They were galloping and racing around the yard at a furi- 

 ous rate, and several men were employed in catching 

 them, one after the other, which they effected by means 



