THE PROVESOR. 



221 



CHAPTER XL 



The Provesor.— -News of the Day, how published in Guatimala.— Visit to the 

 Convent of La Concepcion.— The Farewell of the Nun.— Carrera.— Sketch 

 of his Life.— The Cholera.— Insurrections.— Carrera heads the Insurgents. — 

 His Appearance in Guatimala. — Capture of the City. — Carrera Triumphant.—^ 

 Arrival of Morazan. — Hostilities. — Pursuit of Carrera. — His Defeat. — He is 

 again uppermost. — Interview with Carrera. — His Character. 



The next three or four days I passed in receiving and 

 paying visits, and in making myself acquainted with 

 the condition of the country. Among the most inter- 

 esting visiters was the venerable provesor, since the 

 banishment of the archbishop the head of the church, 

 who, by a late bull of the pope, had been appointed 

 bishop ; but, owing to the troubled times, had not yet 

 been ordained. A friend in Baltimore had procured 

 for me a letter from the archbishop in that city, to 

 whom I here acknowledge my obligations, recommend- 

 ing me to all his brother ecclesiastics in Central Amer- 

 ica. The venerable provesor received this letter as 

 from a brother in the Church, and upon the strength of 

 it, afterward, when I set out for Palenque, gave me a 

 letter of recommendation to all the curas under his 

 charge. During the day my time passed agreeably 

 enough; but the evenings, in which I was obliged to 

 keep within doors, were long and lonely. My house 

 was so near the plaza that I could hear the sentinels' 

 challenge, and from time to time the report of a mus- 

 ket. These reports, in the stillness of night, were al- 

 ways startling. For some time I did not know the 

 cause ; but at length learned that cows and mules 



