118 
GUATEMALA. 
beautiful liliaceous plant, and some of the mozos we passed 
carried superb clusters of a purple orchid which we after¬ 
wards found parasitic on trees. Another valley and an¬ 
other steep gravelly slope to nearly eight thousand feet, 
and then we had a view over a vast extent of mountainous 
country. No lake or river relieved the thirsty landscape, 
though rain-clouds hung on the horizon and dropped their 
showers in the far west. Corn was in tassel; and where 
we rested at noon on a high plateau, 7,825 feet, we found 
it in milk. There we saw the maguey used as a hedge- 
plant, — and a very impervious fence it made. From this 
high land there was a gradual descent towards the south. 
Far away to the left we saw the church of San Pedro, sur¬ 
rounded by its little adobe village, and soon we caught a 
glimpse of the still-distant Santa Cruz del Quiche, high 
enough, but seemingly in a valley, for mountains like the 
hills about Jerusalem guarded it on every side. The 
soil near the road was very thin, and covered what 
seemed to be indurated tufa. Deep pools of water were 
formed in this hard substance. 
As we came at last, after a hard day’s ride, into the un¬ 
interesting town, we found the streets all carefully named, 
as Avenida de Barrios , salida por Mejico (Barrios Street, 
the way to Mexico), — which was as useful as it would 
be to put a sign on the corner of Broadway, 66 Cortland 
Street, the way to Philadelphia.” All the inhabitants 
seemed to be in the Plaza, listening to a band and watch¬ 
ing some fair acrobats who tumbled on mats and swung 
on a horizontal bar. After waiting some time before the 
locked doors of the Hotel del Centro, the proprietor came 
home and let us in. Tough meat, frijoles, bread, and tol¬ 
erable chocolate were all we could get; and the vile dogs 
