CHAPTER III.

Bar of Istapa,—Fisheries,—Vampyres,—Rock of Mirandilla,—Alotenango,—Almolonga,— The two Volcanoes,—Ascent of the Volcan del Agua, &c.

From Sapoti to Santa Rosa, and from Santa Rosa to Raudal, a distance of about two and a half leagues, the road is level, but obstructed by immense quantities of bushes and low shrubs. The latter place, only a fisherman's hut, is situated about a league from the mouth of the Michatoyat, which forms a bar at some short distance. There is no other mode of going thither than in miserable canoes, which are polled along the esteros, or inlets of the ocean, the banks of which are lined with mangroves. Near the mouth of the river there are a couple of huts, inhabited by fishermen, who there pack and salt fish for the capital, of which a considerable quantity is dried and sent up. The population of these places consists chiefly of mulattoes and negroes, with a few Indians; they have a small church, but as the climate is not considered good, no priest will live amongst them. The average heat in the

middle of the day is from 88° to 90°. The number of insects is considerable; some of the men were horribly disfigured by the bites they had received. The shore is bold and steep, but the high surf which here rolls itself majestically in a long heavy wave towards the land, frequently dashes over its boundaries, and lightly inundates the neighbouring soil; near the bar of the Michatoyat it is however lessened, and large sailing boats might come up the river generally without danger.

This spot is celebrated as being the place where Pedro Alvarado equipped his armaments in the years 1534 and 1539. Of the advantages which it possesses over Sonzonate as the port of Guatimala, notice has been taken at length in the chapter on the trade and commerce of the republic. In its present state three or four hundred adventurers landing on its banks, might in three days enter the capital without encountering an enemy; and if determined, would be more than sufficient to subdue the troops appointed for the defence of the city. It has been said this bar is formed by the river Guacalate, but this an error; the Guacalate flows near the Michatoyat, but does not join it. Attempts have been made to cut a canal that should unite the two rivers, by which it was supposed the body of water would be sufficiently increased to remove the bar; this

plan however has not yet been carried into effect, and it is very doubtful whether the benefit would be sufficiently great to repay the labour.

At Sapoti we slept under a somewhat better shed, though still greatly annoyed by the multitude of flies, and chilled by the heavy dews which fall near the shore. The following day we returned to Naranjo, where we again passed the night in the open air, drenched by the dews, and tormented by an additional enemy, the vampyre; these animals a few days before our arrival, had killed no less than thirty fowls, belonging to the farm. As we had passed through this place two days before, they had told us that one of the people was somewhat unwell with fever, and inquired if brandy were a good thing for him. We of course warned them against it, and recommended a purgative plant which grows in the neighbourhood; but they persisted in their own remedy, and thirty-six hours afterwards the man was dead and buried.

Returning to Mistan through the woods, we noticed a few deer, the guacamaya or great macaw, and several wild peacocks; these birds on the wing display their splendid plumage to great advantage. Vultures here as in every other part of the republic, are abundant; the body of a calf which had just died on the road, was literally covered with them, struggling in crowds for a

footing upon the carcase. The voraciousness of these filthy birds is almost incredible, and the exactness and rapidity with which they reduce bodies to the most perfect skeletons, cannot be surpassed by the most acute anatomist.

At Mistan we turned from our former route, and crossing the river Guacalate, began to ascend in the direction for the Pena de Mirandilla. The road we found generally woody, and the path so covered with bushes and shrubs, as to be in some places almost impassable; the river in this direction has rapids for nearly a league, and several streams casting themselves down the sides of the mountains, form small cascades of considerable beauty. The Pena or Rock of Mirandilla is a bold projection of granite, which rears its head considerably above the neighbouring mountains, and appears to have been struck by lightning; the middle part has evidently been swept away by the electric fluid, leaving two bare ridges, which from their elevated and solitary situation, present a somewhat singular aspect. At the foot of the mountain is a ruinous trapiche, where we passed the night; the roof had partly fallen in, and some of the walls been opened by the recent earthquake. Between Mistan and the Pena, a distance of not more than eight or nine leagues, we found a difference of temperature equal to ten degrees.

From this unfrequented spot we turned towards the Antigua, passing between the two celebrated volcanoes. In this situation the mountains exhibit themselves in aspects singularly interesting; the one towering to a height of above fourteen thousand feet, presents a rich and diversified soil, clothed with verdure to the very summit, and girded by a belt of thick forests,—the other rising to an elevation equal if not superior, exhibits its three bare and rugged peaks, covered with dried lava and ashes, still trembling under the working of the mighty furnace within, and breathing out a column of pale blue smoke, which perpetually ascends from its crater. The contrast is striking, the horrible and the beautiful in nature, are not often to be met with so closely united, or linked together as these are by the junction of their bases. The greater part of the road between the two, bears evident marks of the violent shocks to which it has been subject; immense chasms formed by the opening of the hills, still remain in the rude state in which nature left them, when she convulsively tore them asunder; huge stones seem to have been hurled in every direction, and lay in the wildest confusion; while in some parts the deep bed of ashes, and cinders, and scorified lava, which at different times have been vomited forth, produce an appearance of desolation, strangely opposed to other