Page:Narrative of an Official Visit to Guatemala.djvu/245

CH. XV.] explosions, and the smoke. There were stone benches in the Plaza, which was shaded not only by its great tree in the middle, but by bower-hedges on two sides of it; under these, too, there were seats for the accommodation of the company, who were either availing themselves of them or strolling through the verdant lanes with which the place was surrounded. Having come to the end of one of these in conversation with an English gentleman who had been in Peru, Chile, Guayaquil, and other parts of these republics, I was much amused at the information he was giving me.

We had now come to the verge of a wide undulating tract, covered with grass, and, here and there, studded with thickets of fine trees. My companion had been giving me details of the nature and returns of the indigo and cochineal trade: his observations were full of information, mingled with slipslop, and very disjointed and irrelevant: he did not, himself, seem aware of the value of his materials, but kept talking on,