CATHEDRAL OF LA ANTIGUA. 



271 



were broken, and one man snatched off his hat to dip 

 for water. The archbishop slept that night in his car- 

 riage in the plaza. He described to me the ruins of in- 

 dividual buildings, the dead who were dug from under 

 them, and the confusion and terror of the inhabitants ; 

 and though his recollections were only those of a boy, 

 he had material enough for hours of conversation. 



In company with the cura we visited the interior of 

 the Cathedral. The gigantic walls were standing, but 

 roofless ; the interior was occupied as a burying- 

 ground, and the graves were shaded by a forest of 

 dahlias and trees seventy or eighty feet high, rising 

 above the walls. The grand altar stood under a cupo- 

 la supported by sixteen columns faced with tortoise- 

 shell, and adorned with bronze medallions of exquisite 

 workmanship. On the cornice were once placed stat- 

 ues of the Virgin and the twelve apostles in ivory; 

 but all these are gone ; and more interesting than the 

 recollections of its ancient splendour or its mournful 

 ruins was the empty vault where once reposed the 

 ashes of Alvarado the Conqueror. 



Toward evening my young companion joined me, 

 and we set out for Santa Maria, an Indian village at 

 two leagues' distance, situated on the side of the Vol- 

 cano de Agua, with the intention of ascending the 

 next day to the summit. As we entered the valley, the 

 scene was so beautiful I did not wonder that even earth- 

 quakes could not make it desolate. At the distance of 

 a league we reached the village of San Juan Obispo, 

 the church and convent of which are conspicuous from 

 below, and command a magnificent view of the valley 

 and city of the Antigua. At dark we reached the vil- 

 lage of Santa Maria, perched at a height of two thou- 

 sand feet above the Antigua, and seven thousand feet 



