194 
GUATEMALA. 
host brought us new mats for our bedsteads, and pillows 
trimmed with lace in Spanish style; then, after killing a 
very large and crusty scorpion which had established him¬ 
self over the door, presented us with a bottle of Yal de 
Pena, — a fine red wine from Spain, — and left us to our 
rest. 
Sunday morning came, but no signs of our mozos. The 
church was closed, as there was no resident padre; we got 
in, however, while an attendant opened it to do some work 
on the bells. The roof was apparently arranged for a 
fortification. Within we saw the skull of an Indio (?) 
built into the stucco over the agua bendita , and a painting 
representing a padre offering the consecrated wafer to a 
kneeling ass, — apparently in the office of the communion, 
as the padre holds the chalice in his other hand. A 
figure in the background — perhaps the owner of the ass 
— has long mustachios, wears a turban, and holds up his 
hands in astonishment. No explanation of this curious 
subject could be obtained there ; and after rejecting Balaam 
and his ass, we concluded that this was the ass on which 
Christ rode to Jerusalem. As volcanoes are baptized 
into the Church, why not asses ? 
There was a worn-out, poverty-stricken appearance to 
the town; not a cultivated plant to be seen, as all the 
vegetables and fruits are grown at some distance, in the 
more fertile mountain valleys. Some of the larger 
houses, indeed, have a few flowers in their patio; but 
these are quite invisible from the street. No fruit was 
in the shops or for sale in the streets, and our animals 
were fed on squashes. Perhaps at the annual fair 
(November 15) this ancient town, which under the 
name of Xutiapan existed long before the Conquest, may 
