Page:Narrative of an Official Visit to Guatemala.djvu/193

CH. XII.] riches were thrown in between this immeasurable depth and the land, the probability is that they have, long since, been washed down into the abyss. They all agree, nevertheless, that, not many years ago, their grappling apparatus came in contact with a large jar which they endeavoured, in vain, to raise, as the tackle gave way, and as it has done more than once since, when they have had the good fortune to light upon it.

Close to the lake, nearest the town, is a hot spring: as we were walking by it, we saw three or four women bathing, and a number of young children crying and steaming on the banks as if they had been parboiled. The waters are considered very salutary, particularly in cutaneous disorders, but the women bathe chiefly to promote fecundity: these poor creatures are as anxious to have a family, as many Europeans of the lower and poorer classes, in Liverpool and Manchester, are glad to be without one. They are excessively fond of their children, and seem to think they can