Page:Narrative of an Official Visit to Guatemala.djvu/40

20 I drank a little mixed with water, for I was faint and fatigued, but my companion, Don Mateo, assured me that that was a very unwholesome beverage: it ought always, he said, to be drunk neat, a practice which, although a very sober man, he always adopted. The same prejudice prevails universally through these countries, even amongst the ladies; but, with all their recommendation, it was a practice I never could, even out of compliment to them, follow, since the liquor in question is a complete alcohol. About midday we reached the village of los Amates; and the heat being considerable, we stopped to take some nourishment. Whilst planning something for this purpose, the husband of our hostess, a good looking Indian woman of about eighteen, with three or four pretty children, had returned home with a kid which he had just shot. I immediately purchased the animal for a dollar, which was three times as much as he would probably have parted with it for, and dined off of one of the haunches,