TECPAN GUATIM ALA. 



147 



pan Guatimala. For some distance before reaching it 

 the road was shaded by trees and shrubs, among which 

 were aloes thirty feet high. The long street by which 

 we entered was paved with stones from the ruins of the 

 old city, and filled with drunken Indians ; and rushing 

 across it was one with his arms around a woman's neck. 

 At the head of this street was a fine plaza, with a large 

 cabildo, and twenty or thirty Indian alguazils under the 

 corridor, with wands of office in their hands, silent, in 

 full suits of blue cloth, the trousers open at the knees, 

 and cloak with a hood like the Arab burnouse. Ad- 

 joining this was the large courtyard of the church, 

 paved with stone, and the church itself was one of the 

 most magnificent in the country. It was the second 

 built after the conquest. The facade was two hundred 

 feet, very lofty, with turrets and spires gorgeously or- 

 namented with stuccoed figures, and a high platform, on 

 which were Indians, the first we had seen in picturesque 

 costume ; and with the widely-extended view of the 

 country around, it was a scene of wild magnificence in 

 nature and in art. We stopped involuntarily ; and 

 while the Indians, in mute astonishment, gazed at us, we 

 were lost in surprise and admiration. As usual, Don 

 Saturnino was the pioneer, and we rode up to the house 

 of the padre, where we were shown into a small room, 

 with the window closed and a ray of light admitted 

 from the door, in which the padre was dozing in a 

 large chair. Before he had fairly opened his eyes, Don 

 Saturnino told him that we had come to visit the ruins 

 of the old city, and wanted a guide, and thrust into his 

 hands Carrera's passport and the letter of the provesor. 

 The padre was old, fat, rich, and infirm, had been thirty- 

 five years cura of Tecpan Guatimala, and was not used 

 to doing things in a hurry ; but our friend, knowing the 



