110 
GUATEMALA. 
Cruz we found a branch on our left which puzzled us a lit¬ 
tle, as our map gave no indication of its existence. But 
we kept on almost a league, riding through a pine-forest 
on a nearly level road, — which proved to be the right 
one, although the choice was guess-work. Grass grew be¬ 
neath these noble trees, and herds pastured in this park-like 
region. It was most interesting to see the acorns inserted 
by the birds in the pine-bark, precisely as I had often seen 
them in the forests of Nevada and California ; but with all 
my watching I could not catch the birds at work. The 
acorns that I dug out, although frequently dry and appar¬ 
ently abandoned, were free from worms. The common 
species of pine (Pinus macrophylla) had “ needles ” fifteen 
and a half inches long; and the Indios were gathering 
them to strew the floors of the churches, — a more fra¬ 
grant carpet than the rushes of our ancestors. We fre¬ 
quently came across artificial mounds, which, according to 
Santiago, “ were where houses had been.” At ten o’clock 
we halted at a little village which we were told was Uspan- 
tan (our wretched mozo Santiago, who pretended to be 
guide, but knew no more than we about the road, led 
us into this mistake); so we unsaddled and waited for 
almuerzo, with little to amuse us except two turkey- 
cocks, one white, the other dark, inseparable companions, 
who followed us wherever we went, and at last were 
driven nearly wild by their attempts to converse with us. 
Not until two o’clock did we arrive at the true Uspantan, 
and then very unexpectedly; for seeing some women at 
a spring washing, in a wild place where no houses were 
visible, we turned a low ridge, and found ourselves in 
the midst of a considerable Indian town. The church, 
which we did not enter, had huge buttresses at the apse, 
