Page:Guatimala or the United Provinces of Central America in 1827-8.pdf/85

Rh therefore arrange matters so that this service is merely understood to say that dinner is concluded.

From the comedor each individual adjourns to his bedroom to take the siesta and digest his dinner. So universal is the practice that from two to three the streets are deserted. Old and young, masters and servants, are alike reclining on beds and sofas. The very domestic animals at this hour are to be seen stretching themselves in the sun, and, partaking of the infection, “join the general troop of sleep.” Between three and four things begin to revive, and first one and then another, yawning, rubs his eyes, and strolls to the clock to see how time has passed during his slumbers. Towards four the comedor again becomes frequented for chocolate, after which the occupations of the day are once more resumed.

Let us then take a walk into the street and see what is passing there. The daily market is about over, and contains only a few stragglers buying at a cheaper rate the refuse of the day's sales; ten or a dozen half naked Indians are basking in the sun; three or four soldiers are reclining against the pillar of the piazzas, humming a revolutionary air; and a little further on are two or three devoted Catholics most devoutly kneeling before the image of a saint, and apparently in a state of the most perfect abstraction. In a little while the tinkling of a bell is heard, notifying the