SAN MIGUEL, 



air. All along the road we had heard of war, and we 

 found the city in a state of great excitement. The 

 troops of Honduras were marching upon it, and then 

 only twelve leagues distant. There were no soldiers to 

 defend it ; all had been drawn off for Morazan's expe- 

 dition. Many of the citizens had already fled ; in fact, 

 the town was half depopulated, and the rest were pre- 

 paring to save themselves by concealment or flight. 

 We stopped at the house of John, or Don Juan, Den- 

 ning, an American from Connecticut, who had sold an 

 armed brig to the Federal Government, and command- 

 ed her himself during the blockade of Omoa, but had 

 married in the country, and for several years, lived re- 

 tired on his hacienda. His house was deserted and 

 stripped, the furniture and valuables were hidden, and 

 his mother-in-law, an old lady, remained in the empty 

 tenement. Nobody thought of resistance ; and the cap- 

 tain bought a silver-mounted sword from one of the 

 most respectable citizens, who was converting his use- 

 less trappings into money, and who, with a little trunk 

 in his hand containing la plata, pointed to a fine horse 

 in the courtyard, and without a blush on his face said 

 that was his security. 



The captain had great difficulty in procuring mules ; 

 he had two enormous trunks, containing, among other 

 things, Peruvian chains and other gold trinkets to a large 

 amount ; in fact, all he was worth. In the evening we 

 walked to the plaza ; groups of men, wrapped in their 

 ponchas, were discussing in low tones the movements of 

 the enemy, how far they had marched that day, how 

 long they would require for rest, and the moment when 

 it would be necessary to fly. We returned to the house, 

 placed two naked wooden-bottomed bedsteads in one, 

 and having ascertained by calculation that we were not 



