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NARRATIVE OP A 



miles from the sea, and is the principal part of Central 

 America on the Pacific, being the nearest harbour for ships 

 from Panama and Peru trading with Guatemala. The 

 productions of the neighbouring country, destined for 

 Europe, owing to the difficulty and expense attending 

 their conveyance over-land to the Atlantic coast, are often 

 shipped at this port, notwithstanding the long and circui- 

 tous voyage to be performed ; and, for the same reason, it is 

 the port through which are imported many of the foreign 

 manufactures intended for the south-western coast of Cen- 

 tral America. 



On the afternoon of the day of my arrival, I again 

 mounted my mule, and, in company with one of the in- 

 habitants of the place, rode down to the beach to take 

 another view of the sea. I not only omitted asking the 

 lieutenant to join me, but declined the offer he had re- 

 peatedly made to keep me company. This he took very 

 much to heart, and on seeing me mount, though I pro- 

 mised not to be absent over a couple of hours, he exhibited 

 such symptoms of uneasiness, that I expected nothing less 

 than his putting me under an interdict, and that my ex- 

 cursion would be prevented. He evidently considered me 

 as not possessing the right of locomotion, any further than 

 he might think proper to permit. He regarded me as a 

 prisoner of state, or as a valuable piece of merchandize 

 which had been confided to his care, and which he was 

 bound to deliver in good condition. On my return, the 

 gentleman I staid with assured me that my lieutenant, in 

 a fit of impatience during my absence, had actually sad- 

 dled his mule, and was only prevented from starting in 

 quest of me by his representing to him the folly of such 

 a step. 



That evening, at a late hour, I had another view of the 

 volcano, the eruptions of which, in the darkness of the 

 night, are infinitely more striking and magnificent than in 

 the day-time. At intervals of half an hour, a blaze would 

 issue from the crater to the height of two hundred feet, 



