JOURNEY TO GUATEMALA. 123 



During this day's journey, the only incident worth men- 

 tioning was the appearance of some fifty of Carrera's peo- 

 ple, who showed themselves on a height near the road, 

 but hardly within gun-shot. They gave us a shout as 

 we passed, and abused the soldiers of the escort, but ex- 

 hibited no disposition to interrupt our march. They were 

 uniformly dressed in chamarras of a dark-coloured cloth. 

 The weapons they were armed with could not be dis- 

 tinguished. 



Passing a rocky ridge, we came to one of those charm- 

 ing valleys that occur so frequently in travelling through 

 Central America, and which I have endeavoured to de- 

 scribe in other parts of this narrative. It was enclosed by 

 a range of sloping hills and lofty sierras, or mountains, 

 among which might be seen, towering over the rest, the 

 volcano of Amatitan. In the plain below, the great lake 

 bearing the same name expands to the view, nine miles in 

 length and three in breadth. This lake is fathomless at a 

 distance of fifty yards from the shore ; at least, no bottom 

 has been found with a line of three hundred fathoms. 

 There is a tradition that the Indians, on the arrival of the 

 Spaniards, threw into this lake all their riches. One ex- 

 tremity loses itself round the foot of the volcano; the 

 other is closed in by a natural barrier of rocks and hills. 

 The mountain and the lake, and the general appearance of 

 the country, give evidence of some great natural convul- 

 sion. The road, for a few miles, led along the shores of 

 the lake, and then through a highly cultivated country, 

 till we arrived at the town of Petapa, situated on the bor- 

 ders of the valley. At this town we came to a halt, after 

 performing a day's journey of twenty-seven miles. The 

 fatigue of the soldiers in this march had been greater than 

 usual ; some of the cavalry had been obliged to dismount 

 and lead their horses. They were, accordingly, at the re- 

 quest of Tito, allowed a larger allowance than usual of 

 segars and brandy, in addition to their rations. The officer 

 and myself were billeted on one of the inhabitants. 



