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NARRATIVE OF A 



CHAPTER XIV. 



The Ravine of Guaramal. — Village and Curate of Ateas. — Precautions 

 against Surprise. — My Military Protector. — Volcano of Isalco. — A 

 View of the Pacific. — Sonsonate. — A Night View of Volcanic Erup- 

 tion. — Separation from my Protector. — The Escort. 



Soon after leaving St. Salvador, we came to a wild 

 tract of country, and travelled along a rough and rocky 

 path, which, after a few miles, brought us to a deep 

 ravine, called el Barranco del Guaramal. This ravine, 

 formed by the waters descending from the neighbouring 

 mountains, is overhung by rocks and bushes, and its 

 banks, which rise to a height of thirty or forty feet, are 

 covered with every variety of fern and moss, and with 

 wild flowers and weeds without number. There was, in 

 particular, a species of bamboo, the branches of which 

 fell in beautiful festoons on either side of us, or spread- 

 ing from bank to bank, formed verdant arches over our 

 heads that looked like the work of art. The bed of the 

 ravine, in some places, consisted of loose stones, and, in 

 others, of solid rock, and was the channel of a stream 

 which, it being now the dry season, was not more than 

 two feet deep in any part. The place was a fantastic 

 assemblage of rocks, trees, and water, forming altogether 

 the most wild and romantic scene I had yet beheld. 



This ravine we were obliged to follow for the space of 

 half a league, making its rough and watery bed our road, 

 for want of any other. At length we succeeded, by clam- 

 bering up the banks, in gaining a smoother ground, and 

 proceeded along a narrow path till we came to a dense 

 forest. Here we had to unravel the mazes of a labyrinth 



