326 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



.rived, and agreed to accompany me. The next morn- 

 ing before five o'clock we w^ere in the saddle. At the 

 distance of a mile we forded the Rio Grande, here a 

 wild river, and riding through a rich country, in half an 

 hour reached the Indian village of Naguisal, a lovely 

 spot, and literally a forest of fruits and flowers. Large 

 trees were perfectly covered with red, and at every step 

 we could pluck fruit. Interspersed among these beau- 

 tiful trees were the miserable huts of Indians, and lying 

 on the ground, or at some lazy work, were the misera- 

 ble Indians themselves. Continuing another league 

 through the same rich country, we rose upon a table of 

 land, from which, looking back, we saw an immense 

 plain, wooded, and extending to the shore, and beyond, 

 the boundless waters of the Pacific. Before us, at the 

 extreme end of a long street, was the church of Izalco, 

 standing out in strong relief against the base of the vol- 

 cano, which at that moment, with a loud report like the 

 rolling of thunder, threw in the air a column of black 

 smoke and ashes, lighted by a single flash of flame. 



With difficulty we obtained a guide, but he was so 

 tipsy that he could scarcely guide himself along a 

 straight street ; and he would not go till the next day, 

 as he said it was so late that we should be caught on 

 the mountain at night, and that it was full of tigers. In 

 the mean time the daughter of our host found another, 

 and, stowing four green cocoanuts in his alforgas, we 

 set out. Soon we came out upon an open plain, and 

 without a bush to obstruct the view, saw on our left the 

 whole volcano from its base to its top. It rose from 

 near the foot of a mountain, to a height perhaps of three 

 thousand feet, its sides brown and barren, and all 

 around for miles the earth was covered with lava. Be- 

 ing in a state of eruption, it was impossible to ascend 



