RESPONSIBILITY OF THE C U R A. 171 



sick, and burying the dead, my worthy host was looked 

 up to by every Indian in the village as a counsellor, 

 friend, and father. The door of the convent was al- 

 ways open, and Indians were constantly resorting to 

 him : a man who had quarrelled with his neighbour ; a 

 wife who had been badly treated by her husband ; a 

 father whose son had been carried off as a soldier ; a 

 young girl deserted by her lover : all who were in trou- 

 ble or affliction, came to him for advice and consolation, 

 and none went away without it. And, besides this, he 

 was principal director of all the public business of the 

 town ; the right hand of the alcalde ; and had been 

 consulted whether or not I ought to be considered a 

 dangerous person. But the performance of these mul- 

 tifarious duties, and the excitement and danger of the 

 times, were wearing away his frame. Four years be- 

 fore he gave up the capital, and took upon himself this 

 curacy, and during that time he had lived a life of la- 

 bour, anxiety, and peril ; cut off from all the delights 

 of social intercourse that make labour welcome, be- 

 loved by the Indians, but Avithout any to sympathize 

 with him in his thoughts and feelings. Once the troops 

 of Morazan invaded the town, and for six months he 

 lay concealed in a cave of the mountains, supported by 

 Indians. Lately the difficulties of the country had in- 

 creased, and the cloud of civil war was darker than 

 ever. He mourned, but, as he said, he had not long to 

 mourn ; and the whole tone of his thoughts and con- 

 versation was so good and pure, that it seemed like a 

 green spot in a sandy desert. We sat in the embrasure 

 of a large window ; within, the room was already dark. 

 He took a pistol from the window-sill, and, looking at 

 it, said, with a faint smile, that the cross was his pro- 

 tection ; and then he put his thin hand in mine, and 



