Page:Narrative of an Official Visit to Guatemala.djvu/312

292 materials for recumbent repose. Opposite the door-way of this rural abode, for it had no windows, and at a small distance, was an orange tree, with its pearly flowers and golden fruit, sparkling in the midday sun, and beyond was a partial screen of olives, with their silvery foliage quivering in the light air: through the branches appeared the sky, like a blue, bright, mantle, without freckle or cloud, and the line of the distant Andes softly blended upon its edge, like some airy fringing of Nature's best workmanship. But it is impossible to describe the beauty and tranquillity of the scene, or the feelings with which I beheld it:—one thing I recollect was; that it seemed as though there were no living things in the creation but my companion and myself.

Those who have been accustomed to no other mode of travelling than that which is enjoyed by the rich and luxurious in England, who have their elliptical springs, their air, live-hair, or metallic squabs, their