Page:Guatimala or the United Provinces of Central America in 1827-8.pdf/303

Rh the ruins of the old town of Petapa, which was swept away by a flood, about the year 1750, occasioned by the sudden obstruction of the river, which flows down the mountain. The only vestiges now remaining are the ruins of two churches, which stand near to each other, and are of considerable size; one was devoted to the Indian population, the other to the ladinos and whites. Whether this separation was occasioned by the permission of any mixture of Indian superstition in the worship of the aboriginal population, or whether it sprung from that proud distinction which these strange Christians maintained, even at the footstool of God, over their fellow-worms, we know not; in either case it was disgraceful. This spot possessed some additional interest in our eyes, as having been the curacy of the English friar Tomas Gage, before alluded to. The ruins at a distance are picturesque, and not uninteresting on a close examination. In one of the churches a fine cupola, and several small Grecian pillars still remain entire. In the other the side chapels, some of them ornamented by figures half obliterated, are still to be seen; while the body of the church now serves as a bed for a few orange and lime-trees, and ivy and moss have covered the cracked walls. The three small villages which now bear the name of Petapa formed