3®S INCIDENTS OP TRAVEL. 



cool ; but, at all events, his nephew coming in soon 

 after, they forthwith procured me chocolate. At each 

 end of the long room was a small one, one occupied by 

 the padre and the other by his nephew. The latter va- 

 cated his ; and with a few pieces from the padre's, they 

 fitted me up so well, that when I lay down I congratu- 

 lated myself upon my forcible entry ; and probably be- 

 fore they had recovered from their surprise I was asleep. 



My arrival was soon known, and the next morning I 

 received several invitations to the houses of residents — 

 one from the lady of Don Manuel de Aguila ; but I was 

 so well pleased with the convent that I was not dispo- 

 sed to leave it. As a matter of course, I soon became 

 known to all the foreign residents, who, however, were 

 but four ; Messrs. Steiples and Squire, a German and 

 an Englishman, associated in business ; Mr. "Wallen- 

 stein, German ; and the fourth was a countryman, Mr. 

 Lawrence, from Middletown, Connecticut. All lived 

 with Mr. Steiples ; and I had immediately a general 

 invitation to make his house my home. 



San Jose is, I believe, the only city that has grown 

 up or even improved since the independence of Central 

 America. Under the Spanish dominion Cartago was 

 the royal capital ; but, on the breaking out of the revo- 

 lution, the fervour of patriotism was so hot, that it was 

 resolved to abolish this memorial of colonial servitude, 

 and establish the capital at San Jose. Their local ad- 

 vantages are perhaps equal. Cartago is nearer the At- 

 lantic, and San Jose the Pacific ; but they are only six 

 leagues apart. The buildings in San Jose are all 

 republican ; there is not one of any grandeur or archi- 

 tectural beauty ; and the churches are inferior to many 

 erected by the Spaniards in the smallest villages. Nev- 

 ertheless, it exhibited a development of resources and. 



