ACROSS THE CONTINENT, WESTWARD TO COBAN. 69 
and we entered the old fort, as the only other sight in 
the dirty little town. 
The plan is rather peculiar, but doubtless well suited 
to the defensive warfare of those days. The doorless 
entrance-ports invited us to enter, and we found a court¬ 
yard of paved and level surface occupying almost the 
entire area. At the outer end, commanding the channel, 
the bastion was higher than the main portion, approached 
by narrow and winding steps, easily defended ; and here 
was the most curious part of the whole edifice, — the 
gun-deck. There is a law in the Guatemaltecan code 
forbidding photographing in military works ; but I have 
since wished that T had broken that law then and there, 
so that my readers might see for 
themselves the clumsy guns, the 
carriages with wooden wheels, 
the magazine roofed, indeed, 
but doorless, — the whole bus¬ 
iness as dangerous to the gun¬ 
ners as to any enemy outside. 
Some fine orange-trees were 
growing up through the pave¬ 
ment, and their hard green fruit 
would be suitable ammunition 
for the ancient guns. 
There was nothing whatever 
to attract the most curious trav¬ 
eller in San Felipe, and we sailed 
and paddled on with frequent 
calms and showers. We were completely in the hands 
of our boatmen, whose knowledge of the lago proved 
to be very limited; but as ours was even less, we suffered 
