THE CHURCH. 



209 



had been some show of regard for the tribunals of jus- 

 tice, and the horror of the citizens at this lawless mur- 

 der of their best men cannot be conceived. The facts 

 were notorious to everybody in Quezaltenango. We 

 heard them, with but little variation of detail, from more 

 than a dozen different persons. 



Having consummated this enormity, Carrera returned 

 to Guatimala, and the place had not yet recovered from 

 its consternation. It was considered a blow at the 

 whites, and all feared the horrors of a war of castes. I 

 have avoided speaking harshly of Carrera when I could* 

 I consider myself under personal obligations to him, 

 and without his protection I never could have travelled 

 through the country ; but it is difficult to suppress the 

 feelings of indignation excited against the government^ 

 which, conscious of the enormity of his conduct and 

 of his utter contempt for them, never dared call him to 

 account, and now cajoles and courts him, sustaining it- 

 self in power by his favour alone. / 



To return to the cura : he was about forty-five, tall, 

 stout, and remarkably fine-looking ; he had several cu- 

 racies under his charge, and next to a canonigo's, his 

 position was the highest in the country ; but it had its 

 labours. He was at that time engrossed with the cere- 

 monies of the Holy Week, and in the evening we ac- 

 companied him to the church. At the door the coup 

 d'oeil of the interior was most striking. The church 

 was two hundred and fifty feet in length, spacious and 

 lofty, richly decorated with pictures and sculptured or- 

 naments, blazing with lights, and crowded with In- 

 dians. On each side of the door was a grating, behind 

 which stood an Indian to receive offerings. The floor 

 was strewed with pine-leaves. On the left was the fig- 

 ure of a dead Christ on a bier, upon which every woman 



Vol. II.— D d 



