QUEZALTENANGO. 



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troduced us to Don Juan Lavanigna, an Italian from 

 Genoa, banished on account of a revolution headed by 

 the present king, then heir apparent, and intended to 

 put him on the throne, but out of which he basely drew 

 himself, leaving his followers to their fate. How the 

 signor found his way to this place I did not learn, but 

 he had not found peace ; and, if I am not deceived, he 

 was as anxious to get out of it as ever he was to leave 

 Genoa. 



On our return to the convent we found the cura, who 

 gave us personally the welcome assured to us by his 

 housekeeper. With him was a respectable-looking In- 

 dian, bearing the imposing title of Gobernador, being 

 the Indian alcalde ; and it was rather singular that, in 

 an hour after our arrival at Quezaltenango, we had be- 

 come acquainted with the four surviving victims of Car- 

 rera's wrath, all of whom had narrowly escaped death 

 at the time of the outrage, the rumour of which reached 

 us at Guatimala. The place was still quivering under 

 the shock of that event. We had heard many of the 

 particulars on the road, and in Quezaltenango, except 

 the parties concerned, no one could speak of anything 

 else. 



On the first entry of Morazan's soldiers into the plaza 

 at Guatimala, in an unfortunate moment, a courier was 

 sent to Quezaltenango to announce the capture of the 

 city. The effect there was immediate and decided ; 

 the people rose upon the garrison left by Carrera, 

 and required them to lay down their arms. The cor- 

 regidor, not wishing to fire upon the townsmen, and 

 finding it would be impossible with his small force to 

 repress the insurrection, by the advice of the cura and 

 Don Juan Lavanigna, to prevent bloodshed and a gen- 

 eral massacre, induced the soldiers to lay down their 



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