404 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



reach the Camino Real. Beautiful as the whole cotin- 

 try had been, I found nothing equal to this two hours 

 before entering Nicaragua. The fields were covered 

 with high grass, studded with noble trees, and border- 

 ed at a distance by a dark forest, while in front, high 

 and towering, of a conical form, rose the beautiful vol- 

 cano of the island. Herds of cattle gave it a home-like 

 appearance. 



Toward dark we again entered the woods, and for 

 an hour saw nothing, but at length heard the distant 

 sound of the vesper bell, and very soon were greeted by 

 the barking of dogs in the suburbs of Nicaragua. Fires 

 were burning in the streets, which served as kitchens 

 for the miserable inhabitants, and at which they were 

 cooking their suppers. We passed round a miserable 

 plaza, and stopped at the house of the Licenciado Pine- 

 da. A large door was wide open ; the licenciado was 

 swinging in one hammock, his wife and a mulatto 

 woman in another. I dismounted and entered his 

 house, and told him that I had a letter to him from Don 

 Manuel de Aguila. He asked me what I wished, and 

 when I told him a night's lodging, said that he could 

 accommodate me, but had no room for the mules. I 

 told him that I would go to the cura, and he said that 

 the cura could do no better than he. In a word, his 

 reception of me was very cool. I was indignant, and 

 went to the door, but without it was dark as Erebus. 

 I had made a long and tiresome journey through a des- 

 olate country, and that day had been one of extreme 

 labour. The first words of kindness came from the 

 lady of the licenciado. I was so tired that I was almost 

 ready to fall ; I had left San Jose with the fever and 

 ague, had been twelve days in the saddle, and the last 

 two nights I had slept in the open fields. I owe it to 



