340 



CHTLT. 



wild-flowers, while the streets were everywhere 

 knee-deep in grass and weeds. 



The Plaza, or great square, generally the resort 

 of a busy crowd, was as still as the grave. At one 

 end stood the remains of the cathedral, rapidly 

 crumbling to dust ; the whole of the western aisle 

 had already fallen in, and the other parts, built of 

 brick, and formerly covered with polished cement, 

 stood bare, and nodding to their fall. A solitary 

 peasant, wrapped in his poncho, stood at the corner 

 of the square, leaning against the only remaining 

 angle of the cathedral ; and in a dark corner, 

 amongst the ruins of the fallen aisle, were seated 

 four or five women round a fire cooking their meat 

 by hanging it in the smoke over the embers. 



In some of the smaller streets there were many 

 more people ; for the town, though stripped of its 

 wealth and importance, was not altogether depo- 

 pulated. The few remaining inhabitants had 

 drawn together for mutual support and consola- 

 tion in these sorrowful times. The children were 

 almost all handsome, and had the appearance 

 of belonging to a fine race : unlike their parents, 

 they were unconscious of the evils by which their 



