240 CENTRAL AMERICA. 



(which they always take pure), and wrapping 

 themselves up in their ponchos, stow them- 

 selves away on the thwarts or the bottom of 

 the boat for the night, 



I was much struck with the pleasing sim- 

 plicity of their morning and evening worship, 

 and the more so as I had never seen the 

 slightest sign of any worship in the woods ; 

 the gross adoration of saints, carved and 

 and dressed in the most grotesque, ridiculous 

 mode, is just as barbarous as the fetish wor- 

 ship on the west coast of Africa. I can truly 

 say I joined with pleasure in their devotions, 

 and they were pleased to see it. 



The third day of our voyage produced a 

 very different change in the appearance of 

 the lake ; instead of the vast expanse of 

 water, only bounded on the east by the hori- 

 zon, we had just rounded a head-land, and 

 our view was soon beautifully contracted by 

 a large group of small islands. The largest 

 of them could not be much more than two 

 hundred acres in extent, and the smallest 

 seven or eight ; but there were hundreds and 

 hundreds of them as far as the eye could 

 reach : but so lovely were they, so luxuriant, 

 so graceful in shape, form, and clothing, so 

 beautifully reflected from the transparent 



