Page:Narrative of an Official Visit to Guatemala.djvu/227

CH. XIV.] of the lake of Nicaragua, partly inhabited by Indians, there are at present, some few cattle and cocoa estates; and, with respect to the territory between the lake and the sea, although it is very fertile and has been called by some writers a Paradise, yet I had the testimony of Don Simon, who was a native of it, to assure me that it is the hottest in all the country, being equally so with Realejo and Sonsonate, the port at which I landed. I would mention, here, if I have not done so before, that I felt as hot at the latter place, especially in the night, as in any place I ever visited; but, at the same time, I think it very endurable.

Saturday, 4th. Visited the Convent of San Francisco: the church is one of the handsomest buildings in the town: the monks do not exceed fifty, but they are rich and outvie the other ecclesiastical establishments in the grandeur of their processions and the internal decorations of their temple. I was much struck by some of the