Page:Narrative of an Official Visit to Guatemala.djvu/268

248 happened,) they are raising dwellings in all directions, without the least attention to internal comfort or decoration. Indeed, accommodations are so scarce, that two or three families are obliged to live in the same house; and, as it is the custom of the inhabitants of the Nueva to come hither to recreate themselves by change of air, apartments, at the migrating season, are rather to be obtained for love than for money. This happened to be the case with regard to the season in question, and the town was redundantly full. Besides those who sought the recovery of their health were others influenced solely by amusement; for in addition to the admitted salubrity of the place, the roads between the two cities, although impassable for carriages, are so tolerable as not to offer absolute impediment to invalids, with respect to the journey. The settlers here employ themselves in the cultivation of cochineal and other agricultural pursuits. Without enumerating