78 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



The captain introduced me by the title of Senor Minis- 

 tro del Norte America, and I made myself acceptable by 

 saying that I had been to San Salvador in search of a 

 government, and had not been able to find any. The 

 fact is, although I was not able to get into regular bu- 

 siness, I was practising diplomacy on my own account 

 all the time ; and in order to define at once and clearly 

 our relative positions, I undertook to do the honours of 

 the town, and invited General Figoroa and all his offi- 

 cers to breakfast. This was a bold stroke, but Talley- 

 rand could not have touched a nicer chord. They had 

 not eaten anything since noon the day before, and I be- 

 lieve they would have evacuated their empty conquest 

 for a good breakfast all round. They accepted my 

 invitation with a promptness that put an end to my 

 small stock of provisions for the road. General Figo- 

 roa confirmed the intelligence of Morazan's defeat and 

 flight, and Carrera's pursuit, and the "invincible chief" 

 would perhaps have been somewhat surprised at the 

 pleasure I promised myself in meeting him. 



With a very few moments' interchange of opinion, 

 we made up our minds to get out of this frontier town 

 as soon as possible, and again to go forward. I had 

 almost abandoned ulterior projects, and looked only to 

 personal safety. To go back, we reasoned, would car- 

 ry us into the very focus of war and danger. The San 

 Salvador people were furious against strangers, and the 

 Honduras troops were invading them on one side, and 

 Carrera's hordes on the other. To remain where we 

 were was certain exposure to attacks from both parties. 

 By going on we would meet Carrera's troops, and if we 

 passed them we left war behind us. We had but one 

 risk, and that would be tested in a day. Under this belief, 

 I told the general that we designed proceeding to Gua- 



