Page:Narrative of an Official Visit to Guatemala.djvu/421

CH. XXIX.] daughter, a buxom young girl, possessing in a prominent degree all the supposed perfections of negro beauty. She had on a turban composed of an indifferent old handkerchief, which I took off, and, happening to have a handsome maroon coloured China one in my pocket, twisted it round her head, leaving her to tie the knot according to her fancy; which she immediately did, in an off-hand way, and with as much composure as though this was the usual manner in which she had been accustomed to make her toilette. She now asked what else I had to give her; seemed particularly desirous for my shoes, which she tried on her own feet, and made me promise, as I knew the size, to bring her back some when I returned from my country; only to remember that they were to be of the same colour as the handkerchief. This flirtation, which was going on before the assembled population of the fort, caused great amusement and satisfaction. The commandant chuckled at his daughter's address, and was pleased