72 



INCIDENTS OP TRAVEL. 



plicit faith in what partisans told me, and endeavoured 

 to change the subject. Our host asked me whether 

 we had any wars in my country, and said he knew that 

 we had had one revolution, for he had read La Histo- 

 ria de la Revolution de los Estados Unidos del Norte, 

 in four volumes, in which General Washington appear- 

 ed under the name of Harper, and Jack Lawton and Dr. 

 Sitgreaves were two of the principal characters ; from 

 which I learned, what will perhaps be new to some of my 

 readers, that in the Spanish translation the tale of the 

 " Spy" is called a History of the American Revolution. 



Our muleteer did not make his appearance till late 

 the next day. In the mean time, I had had an oppor- 

 tunity of acquiring much information about the roads 

 and the state of the country ; and, being satisfied that, 

 so far as regarded the purpose of my mission, it was 

 not necessary to proceed immediately to Guatimala, 

 and, in fact, that it was better to wait a little while and 

 see the result of the convulsions that then distracted the 

 country, we determined to visit Copan. It was com- 

 pletely out of the line of travel, and, though distant only 

 a few days' journey, in a region of country but little 

 known, even at Zacapa ; but our muleteer said that he 

 knew the road, and made a contract to conduct us thith- 

 er in three days, arranging the different stages before- 

 hand, and from thence direct to Guatimala. 



At seven o'clock the next morning we started. Al- 

 though both my companion and myself were old trav- 

 ellers, our luggage was in bad packages for travelling 

 with mules over a mountainous country — hard to put on 

 and easy to fall off; and, in keeping with this, we had 

 but one pair of spurs between us. In an hour we ford- 

 ed the Motagua, still a broad stream, deep, and with a 

 rapid current ; and coming out with our feet and legs 



