Page:Narrative of an Official Visit to Guatemala.djvu/129

CH. VIII.] deliberating on the nature of this aquatic excursion, I was agreeably surprised at finding a large party, chiefly women and young girls, who, it seems, had been to church at a hamlet on this side of the water, and were now returning, already congregated on the bank. They walked boldly into the river, and raising their garments as they advanced, contrived to effect a tolerably dry and decent landing. If the river had been deep enough, it would have been well calculated for a tunnel, for its bed was rocky: the rocks, which are now smooth from the rapidity of the current, will probably be worn through before a tunnel is built under them.

We had progressed, as the Americans properly term it, a small distance on the other side of the river, when we came to a dale, interspersed with plots of rising ground, studded with palm-trees and thick dwarf verdure. It was now midday, and the vertical position of the sun scarce threw a shadow upon the sward; but as the