34 
GUATEMALA. 
Some of the incoming canoes were laden with coco¬ 
nuts, others with bananas and plantains from the little 
fincas along the coast, and yet others with fish. The 
last we noted more carefully, as there is no fish-market 
in Livingston, and the fish are always interesting to a 
stranger ; for odd and various as may be the fruits of a 
new clime, the produce of the sea generally surpasses 
that of the land in curious forms. There were some of 
the oddest of the Central American waters ; and the man 
who first ate them must have been very brave or very 
hungry. One of them had flesh resembling beef in color, 
and good and substantial when cooked. 
Paths about'the town are narrow and grass-grown, and 
the hooked seeds of a Desmodmm cling to the clothes, 
and the thorns of the sensitive-plant (Mimosa pudicans ) 
scratch the bare feet of the passer ; but worse than all 
these, in the grass are tiny insects called coloradia , 
which bite the ankles and other exposed parts, causing 
red spots and an intolerable itching, — easily allayed, 
however, by salt-water or bay-rum applications. Mos¬ 
quitoes were not troublesome, and we used no nettings; 
nor did we see any house-flies. 
A bath in the Rio Dulce was tempered by the dread of 
sharks ; and refreshing as the sweet water was, there 
was a self-congratulatory feeling on getting safely back 
to the huge square-hewn mahogany logs that served for 
dressing-room. 
To the outward world Livingston is principally inter¬ 
esting as the free port of Guatemala, — the outlet of the 
coffee of Alta Yerapaz and the fruits of the Atlantic 
coast-region. In its early history it was a settlement of 
Caribs, — those splendid negroes who were driven from 
