262 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



away from home, and it was part of the fete. We 

 must make allowances for an education and state of 

 society every way different from our own. They were 

 not wanting in sensibility or refinement ; and though 

 they did not turn away with disgust, they seemed to 

 take no interest in the fight, and were not disposed to 

 wait for a second. 



Leaving the disgusting scene, we walked around the 

 suburbs, one point of which commands a noble view of 

 the plain and city of Guatimala, with the surrounding 

 mountains, and suggests a wonder that, amid objects 

 so grand and glorious, men can grow up with tastes so 

 grovelling. Crossing the plaza, we heard music in a 

 large house belonging to a rich muleteer ; and entering, 

 we found a young harpist, and two mendicant friars 

 with shaved crowns, dressed in white, with long white 

 mantles and hoods, of an order newly revived in Gua- 

 timala, and drinking agua ardiente. Mantas and hats 

 were thrown off, tables and seats placed against the 

 wall, and in a few moments my friends were waltzing; 

 two or three cotillons followed, and we returned to the 

 posada, where, after fruit of various kinds had been 

 served, all took seats on the back piazza. A horse hap* 

 pened to be loose in the yard, and a young man, putting 

 his hands on the hind quarters, jumped on his back. 

 The rest of the young men followed suit, and then one 

 lifted the horse up by his fore legs ; when he dropped 

 him another took him up, and all followed, very much 

 to the astonishment of the poor animal. Then followed 

 standing on the piazza and jumping over each other's 

 heads ; then one leaned down with his hands resting on 

 the piazza, and another mounted on his back, and the 

 former tried to shake him off without letting go his ^ 

 hands. Other feats followed, all impromptu, and each 



