Page:Narrative of an Official Visit to Guatemala.djvu/427

CH. XXX.] glasses of every shape and figure, from the champaigner with its dandified waist down to the broad-bottomed rummer: spruce looking mahogany tables with attendant chairs were arranged in symmetrical order, inviting the guests to their snug, exclusive, repasts: I sat down at one of them, and took up a newspaper; it was the "Times", and, with a feeling of satisfaction which I cannot express, began to fancy myself already in England. Two smart little negro boys officiated as waiters; the landlady was out, but the contents of a cold larder were placed before us, to which we did ample justice, having been almost starved for the last two days: my Guatemalian companions were delighted with the bottled porter, preferring it to the champaign and the rarer specimens of the cellar. In the course of the evening, our good hostess returned, and installed us in possession of the whole house, having requested two other gentlemen who were her guests to remove to some apartments