172 
GUATEMALA. 
Escuintla is the favorite watering-place of the capital, 
and its baths are certainly attractive, — especially to the 
Guatemalans, whose city is supplied with miserable water. 
The citizens, some five thousand in number, are occupied 
in commerce and agriculture. In the near future Es¬ 
cuintla seems destined to become the railroad centre of 
the republic, as the lines from Puerto Barrios and from 
Ocos will meet there. 
Early in the morning of the third day of our stay at 
this place we started out for one of the best bathing- 
places, on the way taking several photographs. At a 
bath-house w 7 e passed, the men bathing in the tank came 
out frequently through the wide-open door to talk with 
the women who were washing clothes in the brook out¬ 
side. As these men were wholly naked, I wished to pho¬ 
tograph this “ custom ” of the country; but when they 
saw the camera they modestly retired within and shut 
the door. 
Our own bath, an open pool some fifty by a hun¬ 
dred feet, was of a depth increasing from three to eight 
feet. A high brick wall bounded one side, and we were 
told that beyond this was a bath for women. A shed in 
which to undress, and a tile platform on which to dry 
one’s self, was all the apparatus ; but the water was cool 
and of a wonderful clearness, and we prolonged our 
swim. The fee was only a medio (five cents). In the 
season, which extends from December to March, doubt¬ 
less the crowd is disagreeable; but we had the pool 
entirely to ourselves. 
After almuerzo w^e started for Amatitlan; and a weary, 
dusty road it was, although the main road to the capital 
from the port. Frank’s mare seemed as though sunstruck, 
